Saturday, February 25, 2012

Guest blog by Cheryl Douglas


A Character is Born

For me, the most exciting part of being a writer is watching the characters come to life. My current series, Nashville Nights, was inspired by my love of country music. I enjoy all types of music but the romance writer in me is drawn to country music when I’m looking for inspiration. Every song tells a story and many of those stories revolve around lost love or people who’ve triumphed over adversity to experience love. Sounds like a romance novel, doesn’t it?

The first book in this series, Shameless, delves into the life a country singer who’s finally ready to face his demons. He hopes his journey of self-discovery will help him re-kindle a relationship with the woman who left him a broken man, his ex-wife.

When I first started to write this book, I already had a clear picture in my head of who the hero, Trey Turner, would be. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with each of the secondary characters as well. I was so enthralled with these supporting characters and the outcome of their individual journeys that I had no choice but to give them books of their own. As a result, a single title became a five book series with characters whose lives are inextricably linked.

At the start of each book, I start out with an idea, an outline and a prayer. By the time I’ve finished, the manuscript rarely resembles the outline and the vague idea of who the characters might be has evolved into something completely different. They face challenges I never expected, have reactions I never would have predicted and have developed personalities all their own.

By the time I type the words ‘THE END’, I’m never quite ready to say good-bye to these characters. Unfortunately, I have no choice because another character is waiting to be born.



Feb 24 Tour Intro
Fang-tastic Books

Feb 25 Guest Blog
Roxanne’s Realm

Feb 26 Guest Blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom

Feb 28 Guest Blog and review
Lissette E. Manning

Feb 29 Guest Blog and review

Feb 29 Guilty Pleasures Post

March 1 Guest Blog and review
Cocktails and Books

March 1 Guest Post
Lisa’s World of Books

March 3 interview and review
Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess

March 5 Interview and review
Journey with Books

March 6 Promo and review
A Chick Who Reads

March 7 Interview
Kay Dee’s Place

March 8 Guest Post
Ravencraft's Romance Realm

March 9 Interview
Sarah Ballance

March 10 Guest Blog and review
For The Love of Reading

March 13 Guest Blog and review
Read 2 Review

March 15 Spotlight
Deep In the Heart Romance


Shameless
By Cheryl Douglas
Release Date – February 2012

Trey Turner may be topping the country music charts but his life has been going downhill since his wife left him five years ago. He’s desperate to make amends for the mistakes he’s made and convince Sierra their love deserves a second chance.

Sierra Brooks is happy for the first time since her divorce. She has a career she loves and a fiancé who loves her. Unfortunately, her fiancé isn’t the only man professing his love. He may be able to offer her safety and security but will she decide to risk everything for another chance with the man who broke her heart?




About the Author


It took me thirty-seven years to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I thought I'd found my calling. In fact, I worked as a nutritionist for twelve years before I finally admitted to myself that while I enjoyed my work, I couldn't imagine doing it for the next thirty years.
My sub-conscious knew that I wanted to be a writer long before the conscious part of my mind decided to get with the program.

While my sub-conscious was hard at work creating character profiles, plots and storylines, my conscious mind was telling me it was crazy to give up a successful business on the off-chance one of my manuscripts might rise to the top of someone's never-ending slush pile. After years of listening to that negative voice, I was finally ready to stop making excuses, face the fear and follow my dream of becoming a full-time writer, no matter the outcome. I'm so thankful I did.

I love bringing my characters to life and I am so grateful to have readers who love those characters as much as I do.

When I take a break from writing it's to spend time with my husband (a.k.a. my real life hero), my son, and my writing partner, Tia, a spirited Havanese who enjoys tapping her paw on my keyboard whenever I need a little comic relief.

www.cheryldouglasbooks.com
Posted by Roxanne Rhoads at 4:42 AM 1 comments
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Friday, February 24, 2012

Combining The Paranormal and Psychology Guest Blog with Ann Gimpel

The Paranormal and Psychology

Wikipedia defines Paranormal as “a general term (coined ca. 1915–1920) that designates experiences that lie outside the range of normal experience or scientific explanation or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure.” In this rather hard core definition, werewolves, vampires and other mythical creatures do not meet criteria to be considered paranormal. Paranormal refers to one’s experience of unusual phenomenon, rather than the unusual phenomena themselves. I found that out firsthand when I submitted a werewolf short story to a paranormal magazine. They loved the story, but informed me the topic didn’t fit the paranormal genre.

Psychology is the study of the mind. Because the mind is capable of a great deal, including madness, it’s a pretty broad field. The two come together in a highly specialized field called parapsychology. Those of you who are old enough might remember a television show called The Sixth Sense. It starred Dr. Michael Rhodes, parapsychologist. A university researcher, he was always hanging about in graveyards, crypts and other spooky places doing parapsychological research and solving mysteries. The series only ran for a couple of seasons. I think Night Gallery might have bought it for reruns.

I bet if we were all together in a room and I asked how many of you have had paranormal experiences, between a third and half would raise your hands. These types of things are really fairly common. Interestingly, children have far more in the way of inexplicable experiences than adults. This is because, by the time we’ve grown up, most of the magic’s been drummed right out of us. I’m always grateful whenever I go to a science fiction and fantasy convention and see hordes of adults dressed up like their favorite SF/F characters. It gives me hope that imagination is still alive. At Norwescon last year, I had dinner next to a Klingon family. Mom, Dad and two children all dressed to the gills, including blacked out faces and pointy ears.

Aside from Dr. Rhodes, what is the nexus where the paranormal and psychology come together? To address that, we need one more definition. The psychotherapy relationship is one place where clients can experience unconditional positive regard. No topic is off limits. Nothing is too bizarre. I’ve told clients for years that it’s their hour. They can bring up whatever they’d like. If they want to tell me about their dead Aunt Sara and her nightly visits, that’s just fine. If they almost got into an automobile wreck at exactly the same moment a dear friend died, that, too, is fair game. Part of what psychology does is help people put life experiences into some sort of perspective.

The depth psychologists, like Jung, were intensely metaphysical. He wouldn’t accept anyone as a patient who hadn’t had their astrological chart done. Jung would study their chart, looking for points of concordance between the potential client’s planets and his own. Keep in mind, Jung was an MD. He graduated in 1900 and went to work in an insane asylum long before we had decent medications to quell the severely mentally ill. The only weapon in his arsenal was talk therapy and he had lots of extremely ill patients who got better. In his later years, as his reputation for dream analysis grew, he was able to focus exclusively on private patients and left the asylum behind.

In recent years, psychology has moved away from the paranormal. As third party payor systems (e.g. your insurance company) have proliferated, no one wants to pay for extended depth-oriented analysis. What insurance wants is a highly-structured, time-limited, cognitive-behavioral approach, which works fine for a certain type of client with a particular type of problem. Unfortunately, no one approach works for everyone. We are all individuals. Some of us are more metaphysically oriented than others. Some of us lead with our feelings. Some with our minds. What used to be an intimate relationship between therapist and client has morphed into a ménage á trois: you, me, and your insurance company. Probably time to move on before someone kicks the soapbox out from under my feet!

Circling back to the title of this blog post, psychology is the study of the mind. Paranormal refers to something unusual perceived by the mind. Looking at it that way, the two fit together nicely. I’ve found my psychology background incredibly useful writing science fiction and fantasy. I was the kind of kid who thought monsters lurked in the closet. Now they hang out under the bed. Nothing like the dead of night to stoke one’s imagination.

Tell me your paranormal experiences. I’d love to hear about them.

Psyche’s Prophecy

Book One of the Transformation Series
By Ann Gimpel

What if your psychotherapist could really see into your soul? Picture all those secrets lying hidden, perhaps squirming a bit, just out of view. Would you invite your analyst to take a peek behind that gossamer curtain? Read your aura? Scry your future…?

Classically trained at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Doctor Lara McInnis has a special gift that helps her with her patients. Born with “the sight” she can read auras, while flirting with a somewhat elusive ability to foretell the future. Lara becomes alarmed when several of her patients—and a student or two—tell her about the same cataclysmic dream.

Reaching out to the Institute for answers, Lara’s paranormal ability sounds a sharp warning and she runs up hard against a dead end. Her search for assistance leads her to a Sidhe and ancient Celtic rituals blaze their way into her life. Complicating the picture is a deranged patient who’s been hell bent on destroying Lara ever since she tried to help his abused wife, a boyfriend with a long-buried secret and a society that’s crumbling to dust as shortages of everything from electricity to food escalate.


Amazon Paperback  Amazon Kindle   BN    Smashwords       
ARe        Books on Board


Psyche’s Search

Book Two of the Transformation Series

Born with the sight, Laura McInnis is ambivalent about her paranormal ability. Oh it’s useful enough some of the time with her psychotherapy patients. But mostly it’s an embarrassment and an inconvenience—especially when her visions drag her to other worlds. Or into Goblin dens. In spite of escalating violence, incipient food shortages and frequent power blackouts, Lara is still far too attached to the comfortable life she shares with her boyfriend, Trevor, a flight attendant who lost his job when aviation fuel got so expensive—and so scarce—his airline went out of business. Forced to seek assistance to hone her unusual abilities in Psyche’s Prophecy, Book I of this series, Lara is still quite the neophyte in terms of either summoning or bending her magic to do much of anything.

Reluctantly roped into channeling her unpredictable psychic talents to help a detective who saved her from a psychopathic killer, Lara soon finds herself stranded in the murky underbelly of a world inhabited by demons. The Sidhe offer hope, but they are so high-handed Lara stubbornly resists their suggestions. Riots, death on all sides, a mysterious accident and one particular demon targeting her, push Lara to make some hard decisions. When all seems lost, the Dreaming, nestled in the heart of Celtic magic, calls out to her.
Amazon Paperback  Amazon Kindle  BN   Smashwords ARe

Books On Board
About the Author Ann Gimpel


Ann Gimpel is a clinical psychologist, with a Jungian bent. Avocations include mountaineering, skiing, wilderness photography and, of course, writing. A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction a few years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in a number of webzines and anthologies. Two novels, Psyche’s Prophecy, and its sequel, Psyche’s Search, have been published by Gypsy Shadow Publishing, a small press. A husband, grown children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out her family.

www.anngimpel.com
http://anngimpel.blogspot.com
http://www.amazon.com/author/anngimpel
http://www.facebook.com/anngimpel.author
@AnnGimpel (for Twitter)
Posted by Roxanne Rhoads at 8:00 AM 2 comments
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

My Boyfriend Merlin by Priya Ardis


My Boyfriend Merlin is a YA Arthurian set in today’s world. Merlin goes to high school to recruit Candidates to pull the sword from the stone—one of them girlfriend.

My Boyfriend Merlin is an eBook available through most major book retailers. The next book in the My Merlin series, My Merlin Awakening, will be coming out in April 2012! Add it on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/priyaardis

Find My Boyfriend Merlin at:
Author Website: http://www.priyaardis.com/my-boyfriend-merlin.aspx

Want more Merlin? Watch the “If you can’t trust your boyfriend, who can you trust?” book trailer on youtube at http://youtu.be/dTMiYHRFEt8

Feb 21 Guest Blog
Fiction Fascination

Feb 21 Promo
Sapphyria's Book Reviews

Feb 22 Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books

Feb 23 Promo
Roxanne’s Realm

Feb 24 Interview and review
Butterfly-o-Meter Books

Feb 25 Guest blog
BookSpark

Feb 25 review and promo
The Bornean Bookworm

Feb 27 Guest Blog
the fairytale nerd,

Feb 28 Guest Blog
Mama Knows Books

February 28 Promo
Lisa’s World of Books

Feb 28 Review
Kindling the Fire

Feb 29 review and guest blog
Lissette E. Manning

promo - March 1st
review - March 3rd

March 2 Guest Blog
I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read!

March 3 Interview and review
Romancing the Book –

March 3 review
Letters Inside Out –

March 3 review
book briefs:

March 4 Guest Blog
ReaderGirls

March 5 review and guest blog
Mother/Gamer/Writer

Title: My Boyfriend Merlin

Format: eBook
Available on: Amazon (US, UK, etc), B&N, iBookstore
Released: December 2011
Publisher: Ink Lion Books
Book Trailer on You Tube: http://youtu.be/dTMiYHRFEt8

Novel Tag line: Merlin goes to high school to recruit Candidates to pull the sword from the stone— one of them his ex-girlfriend.

Favorite quotes:
http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/18272097

Novel Blurb:

If you can't trust your boyfriend, who can you trust?

In this teen Arthurian, 17-year-old student president Arriane, aka Ryan, DuLac just found out her badass biker boyfriend, Matt, is a little older than he was letting on. By a few eons.

In fact, he is really Merlin--the Merlin, King Arthur's Merlin, the greatest wizard who ever lived. But Ryan's not impressed. Tired of being a relationship loser, she'd rather kick his legendary behind.

Sure, the world has been crazy ever since the sword and the stone fell out of the sky like a meteor. But despite gruesome gargoyles, a new world of magic, and the guy driving her crazy, Ryan knows that family is everything. Will Merlin sacrifice hers to save the world? Will she be able to stop him?

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/My-Boyfriend-Merlin-ebook/dp/B006C58CMA/ (also available on Amazon UK, DE)

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-boyfriend-merlin-priya-ardis/1107712999?ean=2940013437937

iBookstore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/my-boyfriend-merlin/id485487047?mt=11 (also available on iBookstore UK)

About the Author:


Storygirl, Priya Ardis, loves books of all kinds--but especially the gooey ones that make your nose leak and let your latte go cold. Her young adult novel, My Boyfriend Merlin, came from a childhood of playing too much She-Ra and watching too much Spock. She started her first book at sixteen, writing in notebooks on long train rides. While reading My Boyfriend Merlin, she recommends pajamas first and a pumpkin spice anything for taste.

What does she like to read? YA books! Coming-of-age books. Books with fantasy and magic with a cool heroine that's really just the girl next door. Books about mythology and legends. And, hello, Mr. Darcy anyone?

Her favorite Arthurian piece is the poem The Lady of Shalott by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

A hopeless romantic, she's a longtime member of the Romance Writer's of America

Website: http://www.priyaardis.com/

Blog: http://merlinblogs.priyaardis.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/priyaardis

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/priyaardis

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/priyaardis
Posted by Roxanne Rhoads at 5:04 AM 1 comments
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Character Interview with Lord Arkus from My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond



Interview with Lord Arkus


Rox: Thank you for inviting us to the Blackriver Castle, Your Lordship, and taking the time to answer a few questions for our readers.

Lord Arkus: You are welcome. How do you like the place?

Rox: It is, well, somewhat dreary…

Lord Arkus: Oh, thank you. It takes a lot of effort to keep it in order. So what did you want to ask me about?

Rox: Lord Arkus, you are, by your own admission, a villain. What is it like?

Lord Arkus: It is a lonely profession. And you always have to watch your back.

Rox: You have written this book, My Sparkling Misfortune, detailing your recent adventures. But books usually feature heroes, not villains. Would you like to comment on that?

Lord Arkus: Yes, I would. Heroes are overrated. Villains are never heard or given a chance, they are often misrepresented and underestimated. The latter is fine with me, because when I turn out to be smarter than someone thought, I win. But the overall situation is less than felicitous. I thought it was about time a villain had his say.

Rox: Let us talk about the book a little. It tells about your experience with a mystical creature called a sparkling. What is a sparkling?

Lord Arkus: In short, it is an exasperating clown of a spirit who only does good things.

Rox: This does not sound like something a villain would want.

Lord Arkus: Tell me about it! Of course I wanted something different. I wanted an evil spirit who would help me to settle the score with my enemies. Unfortunately, I ran into some unforeseen contingencies.

Rox: Why didn’t you get rid of him when you realized it was the wrong kind of spirit?

Lord Arkus: An obvious question. It’s trickier than you might think. I found myself stuck with him for five years.

Rox: So how did you deal with it?

Lord Arkus: You work with what you’ve got. Or rather around it, in this particular case.

Rox: We understand that there was also a monster involved. Why was he after you?

Lord Arkus: I’d rather not talk about that. Having to pose next to him for the book cover was bad enough.

Rox: All right, let us address something else. You know, in reading this book, we got the impression that you are actually not as bad as you wish to convey.

Lord Arkus: What?

Rox: Well, you say you’re a villain, yet you ended up helping some people.

Lord Arkus: If so, I was manipulated into it.

Rox: But not on every occasion. You even made some friends, didn’t you? And have shown yourself loyal to them.

Lord Arkus: Another comment like that, and I will cancel the interview.

Rox: Oh, we mean no offense. It’s just something our readers would wonder about. Perhaps this incident with the sparkling has made you less of a villain?

Lord Arkus: All right, that’s it, the interview is over!

Rox: Please, Your Lordship…

Lord Arkus: I said it’s over. Shork! Where is that stupid servant of mine? Shork, show the guests out.


My Sparkling Misfortune

By Laura Lond

Book blurb:

Lord Arkus of Blackriver Castle readily admits that he is a villain and sees no reason why it should stop him from being the protagonist of this book. After all, Prince Kellemar, an aspiring hero, has defeated him in a rather questionable way. Bent on revenge, Arkus attempts to capture a powerful evil spirit who would make him nearly invincible, but a last-minute mistake leaves him with a Sparkling instead—“a goody-goody spirit that helps heroes, watches over little children, and messes up villains’ plans.” Bound to Lord Arkus for five years of service and sworn to act in his best interests, the Sparkling is not easy to get rid of, and of course his understanding of “best interests” is quite different from what Lord Arkus has in mind.

Purchase links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JXVYR2

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-sparkling-misfortune-laura-lond/1103787180?ean=2940012086907

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38174

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/my-sparkling-misfortune/id418425922?mt=11

Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/laura-lond/my-sparkling-misfortune/_/R-400000000000000340276

BooksOnBoard: http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=1149022

DriveThruFiction: http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product_info.php?products_id=97527

About the Author



Serious version:
Laura Lond is an internationally published author of several novels and a collection of short stories. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. Having worked for 2 years at a literary museum, Laura entered the world of business, working for large international corporations like Xerox Ltd. and Fluor Daniel. After moving from Europe to the United States, she has been self-employed as a freelancer.


Funny version:
Laura Lond is a European-born author now living in the United States who still hasn’t acquired the taste for any kind of sweetened meat (“honey ham” sounds as disturbing to her as “salted chocolate cake”). Laura writes mostly fantasy and is slightly less eccentric than her characters. She loves animals and hates talking on the phone.


http://laura-lond.tripod.com/
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LauraLond
http://www.facebook.com/people/Laura-Lond/1577508005
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/913887.Laura_Lond
Posted by Roxanne Rhoads at 12:58 AM 0 comments
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Monday, February 20, 2012

Cat Burglar in Training by Shelley Munro: Quotes


~*~*~*~
Jewel Quote: Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs ~ Malcolm Forbes.

Jewel Quote: I have always felt a gift diamond shines so much better than one you buy for yourself ~ Mae West.

Jewel Quote: Jewelry takes people’s minds off your wrinkles ~ Sonja Henie.

Jewel Quote: I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond ~ Mae West.

Jewel Quote: Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all ~ Mark Twain.

Jewel Quote: Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without ~ Chinese Proverb.



Book Bags and Cat Naps –

Always a Booklover (review)

Lissette E. Manning (review)

Read 2 Review

Sapphyria's Book Reviews

Roxanne’s Realm

Fang-tastic Books

Reader Girls,

Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess

CAT BURGLAR IN TRAINING

By Shelley Munro

Eve Fawkner had no intention of following in her father’s footsteps. But when the thugs harassing him to repay his gambling debts threaten her young daughter, Eve is forced to assume the role of London’s most notorious cat burglar, The Shadow. The plan is simple: pull off a couple of heists, pay back the goons and go into permanent retirement. But things get messy during her first job when Eve witnesses a murder, stumbles across a clue that sheds some light on her past and, worst of all, falls for a cop.

Inspector Kahu Williams would be the perfect man, if Eve were looking, and if there wasn’t the little matter of their career conflict. The man is seriously hot—and hot on the trail of a murderer. A trail that keeps leading him back to Eve…

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Burglar-in-Training-ebook/dp/B006IIX6C2

Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Shelley-Munro/e/B001JOWGNK/

About the Author:


Shelley lives in New Zealand with her husband.

Typical New Zealanders, Shelley and her husband left home for their big OE soon after they married (translation of New Zealand speak – big overseas experience). A year long adventure lengthened to six years of roaming the world. Enduring memories include being almost sat on by a mountain gorilla in Rwanda, lazing on white sandy beaches in India, whale watching in Alaska, searching for leprechauns in Ireland, and dealing with ghosts in an English pub.

While travel is still a big attraction, these days Shelley is most likely found in front of her computer following another love – that of writing stories of romance and adventure. Other interests include watching rugby and rugby league (strictly for research purposes), and curling up with a good book.


http://www.shelleymunro.com
http://www.shelleymunro.com/blog/
Posted by Roxanne Rhoads at 5:39 AM 0 comments
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