The Cellophane Queen

Assessment by a Brutally Honest Reviewer

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Midnight Oil Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdfNTVeMS1s
The book trailer was featured at http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/ on January 20th. Voting is between the 21st and 28th. Drop by and vote for #20.

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I'm just trying to win some sympathy with the title. Gina Salerni is 11 going on 40. She reviews books for kids and her famous writer-mom, Dianne, Salerni, posts them on her blog, In High Spirits.

I'm a little nervous about this review since I have no idea what Gina has to say about Midnight Oil. I hope she likes it.

Here's what she had to say about Bad Spelling, the first book in the Witches of Galdorheim series.

Hostess with Big Bird - Jo Ramsey

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Jo and I are visiting each other so much this month, we're looking like we're related or BFFs. I hope, at least, we're becoming friends with all this virtual traveling. Jo is hosting Midnight Oil on her blog today. If you check back to January 5th, you'll see Jo visited me with her book, Life Skills. And coming up on the 30th, Jo will return for another stop with an all new book. At least we get great mileage.

About Jo

I’ve been reading and writing since I was very young, and I’ve always enjoyed creating new worlds and stories in which someone who considers his/her life bland and boring suddenly finds everything he/she’s always known turned on its ear. In other words, fantasy that starts, and often takes place completely, in the “real world.” That’s the type of story I enjoy reading, as well.

I’m a former special education teacher who now does school visits in addition to writing. I live in Massachusetts with my two daughters, my husband, and a pair of cats.

Hostess with Fairies - Pat McDermott

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

The book trailer was featured at You Gotta Read Videos on January 20th. Voting is between the 21st and 26th. This is the last day to vote. Drop by and vote for #20.

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YA fantasy author, Pat McDermott, grills me to a fare-thee-well on her blog, Across the Plain of Shining Books, today. Find out what I think (scary thought) about my books (especially Midnight Oil) and other important things like how I began writing while still in the womb. That pointy pencil was hard on my mom.

About Pat:

Pat McDermott is a fan of Irish lore. I'd not doubt that at all since her last name begins with Mc (the Irish form) instead of Mac (the Apple form).

Born and educated in Boston, Massachusetts, Pat grew up in a family full of music and myths that have found their way into her stories. She is a member of The New Hampshire Writers' Project, Seacoast Writers' Association, Romance Writers of America, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A frequent visitor to Ireland, she lives and writes in New Hampshire.

Her latest book is "Glancing Through the Glimmer" from MuseItUp Publishing. It's a delightful story of fairy folk and one very lucky (she must have a shamrock) teen girl given an inside look at Fey life.

Vote for Midnight Oil Book Trailer

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Midnight Oil book trailer was featured at You Gotta Read Videos on January 20th. Voting is between the 21st and 28th. Drop by and vote for #20.

Hostess with Zombies - Pembroke Sinclair

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

The book trailer was featured at You Gotta Read Videos on January 20th. Voting is between the 21st and 26th. Drop by and vote for #20.

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Pembroke Sinclair loves her zombies. I wish I had a zombie to share with her from Midnight Oil today. Hm. Just had a thought (well, the thought occurred on January 10th while I'm writing this post). I do have an almost-dead character she can host. Dear old dad, frozen in the glacier and feeling so sad.

About Pembroke:

Pembroke (female) presents us with an apocalyptic future replete with zombies. Nothing like a good zombie fest to keep you up all night. Buy her book, Life After the Undead, from Etreasures Publishing. Check out her blog for information on her other stories and books. Not all are zombified. She has published non-fiction and speculative fiction.

She has much more coming in 2012. She has quite a wide range. I just like to tease her about the zombies.

Hostess with Caged Graves - Dianne Salerni

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

The book trailer was featured at You Gotta Read Videos on January 20th. Voting is between the 21st and 28th. Drop by and vote for #20.

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Dianne Salerni takes over today on her blog with an interview of yours truly about the Witches of Galdorheim series, writing stuff, and other things. Her lit savvy daughter, Gina, will post her thoughts on Midnight Oil on Dianne's blog on the 27th.

About Dianne:

Dianne's blog, In High Spirits, is always a useful place to find historical information, reviews written by her astute daughters (they know their MG/YA books), and regularly posts First Impressions, where writers can have their first pages analyzed by Dianne.

She's the rags-to-riches story that all writers dream of. Starting with a self-published historical novel, she found herself a publisher for "We Hear the Dead" (Sourcebooks). About two sisters in the 19th Century who bilked the public by pretending to relay messages from the spirit world, the book is based on the real rappers of the 19th C.

She's following up that success with her new novel (another historically based), The Caged Graves (Clarion). As if that wasn't enough, Dianne teaches full-time at an elementary school in Pennsylvania. Visit her website for more information on her books and where you can buy them.

Hostess with the Write Stuff - Meradeth Houston

2012-01-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

Midnight Oil Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdfNTVeMS1s

The book trailer was featured at http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/ on January 20th. Voting is between the 21st and 28th. Drop by and vote for #20.

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Today, Meradeth Houston is opening her blog to my new release, Midnight Oil. She asked a lot of probing questions and I answered as best I could. Would you turn off that bright light you had glaring in my eyes now? Ah, that's better.

Visit me on the Write Stuff blog.

About Meradeth

My debut novel, Colors Like Memories will be out in May of next year with MuseItUp (I know that’s not for a while, but it feels like it’s creeping closer and closer!). CLM is a book that is near and dear to me, and I’m so happy it’s found a home and will actually go out into the world for other people to read—and hopefully enjoy a little too ;).

Hostess With Totems - Shellie Neumeier

2012-01-21T00:00:00.001-08:00

The book trailer for Midnight Oil was featured at You Gotta Read Videos. Vote from the 21st through 26th. Poll should be available today.

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Shellie Neumeier is a YA author who participated in the MG/YA blogathon last September. Here's a link to my interview about her book, Driven, back then.

Today, on her blog, she posts important information on Nenets shrines, totems, and asking for help from the heavens. In other words, a major plot point in Midnight Oil.

About Shellie:

Married for almost 20 years, Shellie and her husband have four wonderful children and two goofy greyhounds. After receiving her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin—Madison, she went on to acquire an early childhood education certificate. Shellie also served in youth, children’s, special needs and family ministries for over twenty-two years.

Today she enjoys teaching her teens how to drive and chauffeuring her preteens across the Wisconsin countryside. And once in a while, she enjoys reading a classic tale or new suspense. In addition to writing fiction, Shellie is an avid blogger on her site http://shellieneumeier.com/ and several others including http://samiesisters.com/ , http://www.suite101.com/, and http://thebarndoor.net/.

Hostess with Monkeys - Lorrie Struiff

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Lorrie Struiff, author of "Gypsy Crystal" and "Heap of Trouble" (coming soon to MuseItUp Publishing) plus a lot of short stories here and there, is hosting a couple of important characters in Midnight Oil: Kat (the main character) and Mordita, the ancient sorceress who has taken a liking to Kat. In the excerpt, Mordita provides cookies, advice, and a piece of jewelry.

NOTE: The book trailer for Midnight Oil is featured today on You Gotta Read Videos. Voting begins tomorrow. I'd appreciate your vote. Thanks!

Hostess with Ice Cream - Barbara Bockman

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Barbara Bockman hosts Midnight Oil on her Stories a la Mode blog. Barbara's latest book is Wounds from MuseItUp Publishing. She visited me here on January 9th with information on her newest offering, a picture book titled "Fantastic Flight," as well as participating in last September's MG/YA Blogathon.

About Barbara (according to Barbara)

I’ve always loved stories and the interesting way certain people have with words. So I majored in English and Library Science in college, and later, with a Master’s Degree in English, I taught my subject at Pensacola Junior College. Having long wanted to try my hand at it, I started writing stories for children.

Story ideas are all around me. One of the fun things about traveling is learning new facts and feeling the lives of people who lived in those exotic locales. I especially love folk tales and myths.

I also enjoy stories about contemporary children and situations. I like to turn them into mysteries. My family have been indulgent enough to allow me to write about them, as well.

Hostess with Tiny Canines - Chris Verstraete

2012-01-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

No, Chris Verstraete is not a vampire with small fangs. She just really, really likes dogs. I like dogs too, so we get along great. Great Dane even. She never terriers from her writing duties except to hound other writers to make teensy, tiny little pekingese, no make that chihuahua-sized chairs, tables and dog houses.

Now that you can tell I'm totally baying at the moon, please drop over to Chris' blog, The Candid Canine, while I go on and on about the unfortunately dogless Midnight Oil. There's plenty of other animals though. Just not dogs, not even little itty bitty dogs.

Chris Verstraete: Collector, writer, miniaturist, dog lover! But she also enjoys writing + reading horror. (Zombies too!) If you like dogs or miniatures or zombies, possibly all in the same book, you'll enjoy Chris' writing. For example:

Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery

Sam, her Bff Lita, and a mischievous Dachshund named Petey face a cranky housekeeper, a dog-hating gardener, and an ancient family curse as they search for a missing miniature replica of Van Gogh's famous painting, "Starry Night."

Learn more about Chris on her website, including all her other books about dogs, miniatures, and zombies.

GOING BLACK TO SUPPORT WIKI AGAINST SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

It's Always a Mystery at Heather Haven's Place

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Two departures from the Midnight Oil release today. I was notified that a review of my SFR, Ultimate Duty, should be posted at Red Adept Reviews today. A very nice review written by Jim Chambers. I sure can't complain about 4-1/2 stars.

Another lane change lane away from the fantasy world to the world of murder and mystery. Heather Haven's Alvarez Family series is becoming seriously famous starting with "Murder is a Family Business" and "A Wedding to Die For."

Visit Heather's blog today, the 17th of January, to read about my mystery/romance, "Missing, Assumed Dead."

About Heather:

I am a story teller by nature and love the written word. In my career, I've written short stories, novels, comedy acts, plays, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and even ghost-wrote a book.

One of my very first jobs as a writer was given to me by my then agent. It was that of writing a love story for a book published by Bantam called Moments of Love. I had a deadline of one week and then promptly came down with the flu. I wrote "The Sands of Time" with a temperature of 102 and delivered some pretty hot stuff because of it. The result is on the Short Stories page, along with a contest winning short short called "Socks." I'll be rotating my short stories from time to time because I just love writing them!

My two one-act plays, The Closet Corpse and Baltimore, farcical comedies both, were well received whenever and wherever they've been performed. I had the good fortune to have Baltimore done at Playwrights Horizon in New York City, shortly after The Closet Corpse premiered off-off B'Way, starring the very talented Sandy Faison, of Broadway's Annie fame. Both are featured on the plays page.

Hostess with a Sea Serpent - Sue Perkins

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sue Perkins (Author of Spirit Stealer and Reva's Quest from MuseItUp Publishing) meets a sea serpent with Midnight Oil's heroine, Kat.

Read all about Ceto on Sue's Blog.

About Sue

Born in Devon, England, Sue traveled the world with her husband, including two years living in the Middle East with her young family. A few years later the family moved to New Zealand. Sue, her husband and dog have settled on a three acre block at the top of New Zealand's South Island. Their two children are now the globetrotters.

Sue writing genres include fantasy, romance, young adult and middle grade. When asked if she would ever stop writing she replied "Not until all the plots in my head have been written - which will probably I'll never stop."

Her hobbies include reading, writing and anything to do with crafts. Researching family history is another past time which holds Sue's interest. She works as a graphic artist for a local trade paper.

Most Villainous Hostess - Ardyth DeBruyn

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

My host today is the multi-talented Ardyth DeBruyn. I like her so much, I even named one of my characters after her. She also has a very artistic brother who has illustrated her wonderful YA fantasy, "A School for Villains."

Click here for Ardyth's blog.

About Ardyth

Ardyth DeBruyn is a native Oregonian with a restless nature and a degree in Anthropology. After hiking over 1500 miles across Europe and living on the Mexican border for a year, she settled back in the Pacific Northwest (for now) to write fantasy stories. She has decided she can type herself into adventures faster than walk. She has fiction published in a number of webzines and two children’s novels, ”Chosen Sister,” with Wild Child Publishing, and “A School for Villains.”

Hostess with a Whale - C.K. Volnek

2012-01-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

C.K. is an MG/YA writer with MuseItUp Publishing. Her recently released tween novel, A Horse Called Trouble, and has already been receiving many accolades for this touching story of a young teen who must overcome her abusive past to save the defiant horse who taught her to love and trust again. C.K. will visit me here on February 13th with more information on this book.

She's hosting one of my characters in "Midnight Oil" An Orca Called Salmon. Read all about it on The Mind's Eye blog.

About Charlotte

Everyone has a story. Happy, sad, good, bad, all rolled up in the truth of who we are. We may think we are nothing special, but in fact we are everything to someone. We may just not know it.

I grew up in Nebraska, enjoying life in small town USA; riding horses in summer and sledding the ginormous hills in winter. I am married to my best friend and together we have three children and four Papillon fur-kids. What can I say...Papillons are like potato chips, you can’t stop at one. I like to write, hike, watch movies, and dream about the ‘what ifs’ in life, thus spawning the many stories my muse wants to share. I am proud to announce my first two novels released in 2011, and my third to be released 2012.

MIDNIGHT OIL RELEASE TODAY!!!

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

MIDNIGHT OIL Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series
Shipwrecked on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she can’t even phone home?

My website: http://marvadasef.com/
MuseItUp Buy Page: http://tinyurl.com/6wswbsf
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UTL54A
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdfNTVeMS1s

Read the first review on Lindsay Below's Blog.

Blog Tour Schedule in January. Stop by at my hosts' sites for ebook giveaways.

14 - Charlotte Volnek
15 - Ardyth DeBruyn
16 - Sue Perkins
17 - Heather Haven (Missing, Assumed Dead)
18 - Chris Verstraete
19 - Barbara Bockman
20 - Lorrie Struiff
20 - Midnight Oil on You Gotta Read Book Trailers (vote for #20 from the 21st-26th)
21 - Shellie Neumeier
22 - Meradeth Houston
23 - Dianne Salerni
24 - Pembroke Sinclair
25 - Review by Gina Salerni
26 - Pat McDermott
27 - Jo Ramsey
28 - Barbara Ehrentreu
29 - Anne Duguid

Loglines - Ultimate Duty

2012-01-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Ultimate Duty featured on the Loglines Blog today.

A new book featured everyday. Does the cover and logline intrigue enough to make you want to read the book? Check it out.

Buy the book award-winning (9th Place Best SF on Editors/Preditors Poll 2010) book at:

Eternal Press

Amazon Kindle and Print

Watch the book trailer at YouTube.

Bad Spelling 2nd Place in Preditors/Editors Readers Poll

2012-01-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

The voting ended, the tallies are toted. Two of my books took a top 10 in the polls. Win badges coming soon.

Bad Spelling 2nd Place in Childrens Novels

Missing, Assumed Dead 8th Place in Mysteries

Real or Fantasy Worlds

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

I discuss using real and fantasy worlds in my Witches of Galdorheim series. I say, use both and mix it up.

Read the article on the MuseItUp Blog.

Picture This - Author Barbara Bockman

2012-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

I welcome Barbara Bockman today who'll be telling us about her new picture book, Fantastic Flight. Isn't that the cutest cover? Anyway, I'll leave it to Barbara to fill us in.

Hi Marva,

Thanks for inviting me to be on your blog today and share some good news. In addition to my MuseItYoung novel, Wounds, I now have a picture book published by Guardian Angel Publishing. The title is Fantastic Flight. The illustrations are done by Jack Foster, who has a charming, amusing style. Here is his website: http://jacktoon.blogspot.com/

Just as with many of my stories, I started this one because of an incident that happened in my family. When my granddaughter, Jessica, was a toddler, my husband and I went with her and her parents to Chucky Cheese’s. That is a fun pizza restaurant with games and an animated floor show. A good place for birthday parties. And lots of balloons. Jessica was going to take a balloon home. But as her mom was putting her jacket on, Grandpa offered to hold the balloon. He was a great kidder. So he pretended the balloon was carrying him up into the sky. He said, “Jessica, hold my hand! This balloon is carrying me away.” Jessica thought that was really funny.

That incident stayed with me. I wrote the story with the little girl protagonist being carried away by the balloon. It is she who offers to take Grandpa for a balloon ride. The adventures along the way include places and things that were part of our life when we lived at the beach—but told about in fantastical ways (for instance, the little butterfly on its way to Mexico, carrying a tiny suitcase and a tiny map).

The story gives an idea of how to overcome boredom or homesickness by using one’s creativity. Grownups can give kids a nudge by suggesting ways to keep busy and stretch the imagination.

The book is available in both electronic and print formats at Guardian Angel Publishing and other venues. http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/fantastic-flight.htm Suggested for readers from 4-7.

Thanks again, Marva, and I’ll see you on my blog, Stories a la Mode, on Thursday, January 19. http://barbarabockman.wordpress.com/ Till then…

Thanks for letting us know about Guardian Angel Publishing as well as your new book. See you on your blog on the 19th. Marva

Book Trailer for Midnight Oil!

2012-01-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Midnight Oil is now on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UTL54A/

And in case you didn't see the trailer for Book 1: Bad Spelling...

Sue Perkins - Two New Releases!

2012-01-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

REVA'S QUEST
Reva fights evil in Fey with the help of a garden gnome, elves, griffins and a knight in shining armour.
by Sue Perkins: http://www.sueperkinsauthor.com/
Blogsite: http://sueperkinsauthor.blogspot.com/
Buy Reva's Quest at MuseItUp Publishing

Sue's last book, "Spirit Stealer," is now available at MuseItUp, Amazon, and other on-line bookstores. Now, let's hear from Sue.

Thank you Marva for inviting me to your blog.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and are not feeling too down about returning to school or work.

My break has been very relaxed. I live in New Zealand so we get Christmas in the sun and I have to say the sun really did its best for us. Very hot days with blue skies. The rain set in for New Year though.

My New Year began for on the 30th December when MuseItUp Publishing released my Middle Grade novel "Reva's Quest". This is my second Middle Grade novel, the first one being "Spirit Stealer" which was released by MuseItUp in October 2011. Both are fantasies.

DRAGON FLAME

On the 1st January Desert Breeze Publishing released a Young Adult novel "Dragon Flame" so 2012 has definitely started with all things wonderful.

I have to admit my favorite genre is fantasy. Sometimes on Earth with spirits, ghosts and other scary things. I also visit alternate worlds with magical beings both animals and humanoids.

"Reva's Quest" starts on Earth but rapidly moves to the magical world of Fey. Reva's garden gnome demands she accompany him Fey to rid the magical world of evil which he states is all her fault.

The adventure begins when they start their quest accompanied by two elves and a griffin. The evil has infiltrated most of the land and sometimes the beings of Fey are not as they seem.

Excerpt from Reva's Quest

They walked through the trees for most of the day, but eventually the forest thinned out. Through the trunks she could see rolling meadows with another wooded area in the distance. Distant snow-topped mountains broke the horizon. The creatures of Fey might not be the same as her imagination, but the scenery certainly looked similar. Eager to leave the lurking leprechauns behind, she hurried out onto the lush grassy surface.

“Come back you silly girl.”

Reva ignored Maura. With her arms stretched out to either side and her face turned upward, she spun slowly, enjoying the warm sunshine of late afternoon.

“What does she think she’s doing?” Maura’s voice held astonishment.

“Enjoying the warmth and light I think,” Jarin's words were thoughtful. “I thought she knew about Fey. Doesn’t she know how dangerous it is to rush out in the open?”

“Apparently not,” the female elf replied.

Reva heard their voices, but ignored the actual words. Eyes closed, she tilted her head back even more and lifted her face to the sky, enjoying the warm rays bathing her face. The sunshine wiped away the sense of menace and replaced it with a feeling of ease and contentment.

For several moments, she stood delighting in the sun before something passed across the sky, throwing a shadow on her face. Reva looked up, expecting to see a cloud crossing the sun. Her eyes widened in horror. A huge avian dived toward her at an amazing speed. The beak opened in a challenging scream which went right through her. Sharp talons on its feet stretched toward her as it swooped in for the kill.

The bird zoomed closer and closer. Reva stood open-mouthed, staring. Fear and disbelief pinned her feet to the ground.

Buy Link Reva's Quest: http://tinyurl.com/revasquest

"Dragon Flame" occurs on an alternate planet. Eighteen year old Talei is the eldest survivor of an attack of fire breathing dragons. Talei links telepathically with a dragon, and discovers their goblin riders are holding the female dragons hostage. Talei and her friend Adri lead a group of teenagers to free the beasts. Failure means the end of both dragons and humans.

Excerpt from Dragon Flame

Darth stirred beside her, and thinking he moved to comfort her, she turned toward him. To her horror she saw him crawl from beneath the wagon and move toward a laser gun which had fallen from the hand of a dead defender.

"Darth, no," she hissed. "Don't be stupid."

He picked up the laser, and still lying on the ground he looked toward her, pride glowing in his eyes.

"I'm not stupid, Talei. I'm going to protect my home and people in the only way I know." Without another word he wriggled forward until he reached the dance floor. Talei watched helplessly as he stood. Alone in the center of the dance floor, he fired at a dragon strafing the tents along the eastern side of the open space.

The beast turned. Without appearing to aim, it launched a stream of fire at Darth. He didn't even have time to cry out as his body burst into flames. When the blaze subsided only a blackened husk remained. Talei watched in horror as the residue of her childhood friend fell lifeless to the ground.

The dragon hovered over its kill. Talei screamed in terror, and the huge, triangular head turned in her direction. She stared helplessly into the dragon's brilliant green, cat-like eyes. She froze as the maw opened, and waited for the searing heat to destroy her, too. Somewhere in the back of her mind her brain chanted a litany. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.

Buy Link Dragon Flame: http://tinyurl.com/dragonflame
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI44FEElYmg

Midnight Oil is Burning!

2012-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

The newest book in the Witches of Galdorheim series, MIDNIGHT OIL, just arrived in my email in all the lovely formats: PRC, EPUB, PDF, HTML. Release date is next Friday the 13th, but I now have in my possession, burning my fingers, a book that can be rewarded to faithful commenters in my upcoming blog tour. I'd better figure out a banner of some kind.

Blog Tour Schedule:

11 - At MuseItUp Blog
13 - RELEASE DAY! Announcement Here.
13 - Review by Lindsay Below
14 - At Charlotte Volnek
15 - At Ardyth DeBruyn
16 - At Sue Perkins
17 - At Heather Haven (Missing, Assumed Dead featured)
18 - At Chris Verstraete
19 - At Barbara Bockman
20 - At Lorrie Struiff
22 - At Meradeth Houston
23 and 25 - At Dianne Salerni, Review by Gina Salerni
24 - At Pembroke Sinclair
26 - At Pat McDermott
27 - At Jo Ramsey
28 - At Barbara Ehrentreu
29 - At Anne DuGuid

Guest Blog - Jo Ramsey

2012-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Making a Difference by Jo Ramsey

Whether we’re talking about helping others, ending bullying, or donating to charities, it’s easier than people sometimes realize to make a difference.

Bullying is sometimes the hardest thing for people to realize they can change. Sometimes all it takes is one person to speak up and say, “Hey, stop that.” People are often reluctant to say it, and then the bullying continues.

Some people hesitate to help others because they don’t believe they can do anything, or because they think someone else will help. It’s the same with donating to charities; some people don’t have the money, but others don’t think their money will actually make a difference. Or they figure other people will donate, so they don’t have to.

But the truth is, everyone can help. That’s what Brian Monahan, the main character in my new young adult short story “Life Skills” discovers. Brian’s school requires all students to perform community service in order to graduate, and Brian forgot to submit his proposal. So his school assigns him to volunteer in the Life Skills class. While working there, Brian discovers that some of the kids in the class are being bullied.

He decides to do something about it. Being bisexual, Brian has been bullied plenty himself, and he helps organize his school’s Day of Silence each year; it’s an event where students remain silent for a full day to express their support of GLBTQ people. To help the kids in the Life Skills class, Brian and his friends organize a Spread the Word to End the Word event, in which they encourage their schoolmates to be respectful of students with special needs and to stop using the word “retard.”

Brian considers himself “under the radar” and tries to keep it that way, but he puts himself out there to help others, and he makes a difference. What can you do to make a difference in your life?

“Life Skills” is available at http://www.featherweightpublishing.com/ShowBook.php?HH=JR_LIFESKILLS as part of Featherweight Press’s Helping Hands line, in which royalties from all stories are donated to a charity chosen by the author. Royalties from “Life Skills” will benefit Day of Silence.

Find out more about Jo Ramsey and her books on her website, http://www.joramsey.com/ .

Preditors and Editors Reader Poll

2012-01-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

It's polling time at Preditors/Editors. Please vote for:

Bad Spelling in the Children's Books category. Vote for the one that has Comments.

While Bad Spelling is also in the Young Adults category, and I'd certainly appreciate your vote, I'd like to see my publishing house take a first place. For YA, I ask you to vote for:

If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor by Barbara Ehrentreu

Again, I have an entry in Mystery Novels, "Missing, Assumed Dead." However, I'd like you to show your support for MuseItUp by voting for:

A Wedding to Die For by Heather Haven

My cover for Bad Spelling is totally the best, so I'd be pleased if you honor my cover artist, Kaytalin Platt. There are two entries in this category, so just pick the top one.
Bad Spelling Cover by Kaytalin Platt

If you're not tired of clicking yet, please vote for:

MuseItUp Publishing in the Print/Electronic Book Publishers

Thanks for your support.

MuseItUp Blogging This Month

2012-01-02T00:00:00.001-08:00

Late breaking news: Here's the cover for Midnight Oil! So cool, I'm almost spitting up.

The winner of a free PDF of Ultimate Duty from my visit to Mark of the Stars is:

KAYE MANRO

Visit with me on the MuseItUp Publishing blog on the 11th. All month long, various authors are visiting and expounding on high falutin' topics...like YA books. They don't disappear, so you can catch all the posts throughout January.

2012 THEME Dear Reporter: my struggles and sacrifices to maintain my passion for writing. Plus some genre weeks.

DEAR REPORTER THEME January 2nd - 7th

JAN 2 Christine London

JAN 3 Dianne Hartsock

JAN 4 Mike Hays

JAN 5 Ginger Simpson

JAN 6 Christine Speakman

JAN 7 Danielle Ravencraft

JAN 8 SUN MuseItUp BDAY BLOG PARTY WITH DOORPRIZES

MUSE TWEEN/YA AUTHOR WEEK Jan 9th - 15th

JAN 9
Ginger Simpson

JAN 10
AM:Mindy Hardwick
PM: Mike Hays

JAN 11
AM: Marva Dasef
PM: Anne Johnson

JAN 12
AM: Pat McDermott
PM: Shellie Neumeier

JAN 13
AM: Barbara Ehrentreu
PM: Charlie Volnek

JAN 14
AM:Nick Giannaras
PM: Maggie Lyons

JAN 15
AM:Cheryl Carpinello
PM: Grace DeLuca

DEAR REPORTER THEME January 16th-22nd

JAN 16 Christopher Hoare

JAN 17 Rochelle Weber

JAN 18 Joanne Elder - Post about Alzheimer's and the event in January

JAN 19 Roseanne Dowell

JAN 20 Amy McCorkle

JAN 21 TBD

JAN 22 Rosemary Morris

HORROR/DARK FICTION THEME January 23rd - 26th

JAN 23 Pembroke Sinclair

JAN 24 Brian Knight

JAN 25 TBD

JAN 26 Kristin Battestella

CONTINUING DEAR REPORTER THEME

JAN 30 Addison James

February will continue with more DEAR REPORTER posts and Mystery/Thriller Week (I'll be on Feb.8th).

Happy New Year! January Schedule

2012-01-01T00:00:00.001-08:00

HAPPY 2012!

First, I'd like to announcement the winners of C.K. Volnek's new ebook. Two people who commented on my blog here won "A Horse Called Trouble." Congratulations to Adriana Ryan and Edith Parzefall.

Next, the Preditors/Editors Readers Poll is now open. I'd appreciate any votes people might cast. Here are the links:

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelchildrens.shtml
Vote for Bad Spelling with publisher as Museitup Publishing so as to not split votes. Somehow got entered twice.

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelyoungadult.shtml
Bad Spelling

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelmys.shtml
Missing, Assumed Dead

Now on to the rest of the scheduled events. With a new book release, it'll be an active month. I'll be blog-hopping all over the place. I will be giving away free ebooks, so visit everywhere you can to get into the draw. Here's what's shaping up so far:

1st - 10th - Open Season blog posts

7th - Sue Perkins visits me
11th - At MuseItUp Blog

13th - At Loglines Blog - Ultimate Duty Logline

14th - At C.K. Volnek

17th - At Heather Haven - Missing, Assumed Dead

18th - At Chris Verstraete

19th - At Barbara Bockman

20th - At Lorrie Struiff
22nd - At Meradeth Snow

23rd - Jo Ramsey Visits Me
23rd and 25th - At Dianne and Gina Salerni

24th - At Pembroke Sinclair

27th - At Jo Ramsey

28th - At Barbara Ehrentreu

More Stops and Links coming soon!

It's Official - Midnight Oil Release January 13

2011-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

And a lucky Friday the 13th it is. After all, my books are about witches. A witch coven has 13 members. What's not to like about that!

I gave a preview of Midnight Oil a few posts ago, so you can check that post for the lowdown on this second book in the Witches of Galdorheim series.

The brillian cover artist, Kaytalin Platt, is putting on the finishing touches, so I'll have an official cover soon. Here's a wee bit of what will be the final product.

Oh, yeah. Here's Midnight Oil's buy link at MuseItUp. Not for sale yet, but getting there!

Now, to get back to that galley proof!

Kindlegraphing Your Books

2011-12-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

I decided to check out the Kindlegraph deal. Briefly, authors register their books with Kindlegraph and give out the page to whoever they can shanghai. I'll be adding my Kindlegraph author's page on my website and in my applicable links for all my books.

Go here to see my author's page on Kindlegraph.

Once registered, readers can click to either the specific author's Kindlegraph page or to the front, where they can browse through over 10,000 books from 2500 authors.

Before you go off requesting autographs, you need to fill in some things so you can receive your kindlegraph on your Kindle reader. I know, it's scary to allow somebody to be a valid email on your Kindle, but it's necessary so that the completed kindlegraph can be delivered to your kindle. What you get when you request a 'graph is a PDF of the book's cover with a personalized note to you and a facsimile of the author's signature.

When I registered my books, the site owner immediately requested an autograph (probably has that automated), and I wrote a cheery note addressing him by name. To see what I'd get from other authors, I requested an autograph from a fellow writer. Her book cover and note jumped into my Kindle soon after I turned on the WiFi.

This is a neat way to autograph ebooks, something not so easy to do in the non-virtual world. Try it out with one of your books (if you're an author) or request a signature for one of my books (you don't even have to own it).

Become an autograph collector!

Authors using a touchscreen device can add their real signature. I am not adept enough with a mouse to sign my name, so I used the standard font for both note and siggy. Still, not too bad. Maybe a future featured would allow authors to upload a scanned signature.

Holiday Time In Space

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

I discuss how multiple planets can coordinate Christmas Cheer, or corporate rule as the case may be on Jessica Subject's Mark of the Stars blog. The month is all about SFR and holidays. Should be some interesting stuff.

Seasons of Reading Ebook Winner

2011-12-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

The comments are in, Christmas is behind us. Time to announce the winner of a free ebook for the Seasons of Reading blog hop:

TERRI DION!

Terri selected BAD SPELLING for her free ebook. A good choice.

In addition, I donated a print copy of TALES OF A TEXAS BOY to a Senior Center Library.

Boxing Day Special at MuseItUp

2011-12-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

From the MuseItUp Fearless Leader, Lea Schizas:

December 26, MuseItUp Publishing will be hosting a one day 40% off (wow!) Boxing Day Special. Use the code in the bookstore at checkout before paying via PayPal. The code is:

BDAY2011DEC

The code can be used for any purchase, however, using the code to buy my books would be nice.

Missing, Assumed Dead

Bad Spelling

Happy Chrihanakudwanzsaturnash

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Tis the season, as they say. Say what? Yeah, I made up that combo-holiday greeting. Covers just about everything celebratory throughout the winter doldrums.

Christmas: A usurpation of the mid-winter Saturnalia Festival. St. Patrick was big on keeping the frolicking holidays, but bending them to his own purpose. Historical records seem to place the actual birth of Jesus in March or April.

Saturnalia: The Romans liked mid-winter to celebrate something, so Saturn got the festival. This one was usurped for the Christmas myth. Don't get all twisted. Christmas is not a celebration for Jesus. It's a way to get the Pagans to sign up.

Besides Saturn, other pagan dieties are celebrated for much the same reason. Mithra, Horus, Zeus, even Hercules. Christians didn't steal the celebration until 400 AD. Historical accounts have Christ born in the spring, but that would have interfered with the theft of Oestra, the spring festival of fertility.

Hanakkuh: Festival of Lights for those of the Judaic persuasion. Probably irritated by the Christians trying to usurp this general time period. The Jews should really try to keep their holiday separate from Christmas, so as to not besmirch their own observance. Anyone want a hanakkuh bush?

Kwanzaa: Created in 1966, Kwanzaa was made up by a California guy to highlight African-American culture. Cool thought, but I'd just as soon we'd say: "What? Obama is black? Wow, I didn't know that." Keeping separate ensures separateness. Hey! Doesn't that look like a Menorah?

Ashura is an Islamic holy day observed on the 10th of the Islamic month of Muharram (December 5th this year). Shi'ite Muslims regard it as a major festival marking the martydom of the Prophet's grandson, Hussein. It's a more solemn holiday involving fasting and re-enactments of the martyrdom. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun, so I imagine November's Al-Hijira, the Islamic New Year, is more festive. Marks the migration of the Prophet Mohammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. Uh, yeah. Don't Muslims have any fun at all?

So, whatever you celebrate around this time of year, enjoy, be happy, and don't drink too much (not a problem with the Muslims).

Wizards and Warlocks Visit Adriana Ryan

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

I'm representing the letter D on Adriana Ryan's blog today. This definitely feels like I'm on Sesame Street, give that my book, "Bad Spelling," is all about kids, magic, and mayhem.

About Adriana from her website:

My name is Adriana Ryan. I write supernatural romances.

My books contain a sprinkling of the “what if” side of life. I’ve always wondered at events in life we can’t explain scientifically. My books are an attempt to connect with others out there who’ve felt that sense of wonder too.

My first novella, Nisha, Awakened, is a paranormal suspense with romantic elements. It will be out in January 2012. If you’ve ever thought your connection with your pets might be something science cannot explain, you might enjoy this one!

I also have a contract with Muse It Up Publishing for a contemporary paranormal romance called Her Heart’s Desire, that will be out in March 2012. Hint: The main characters are all human… the magic is elsewhere.

I love to hear from passers-by and blog stragglers, so contact me at: adrianaryansc@gmail.com. I always write back.

C.K. Volnek's New Release - A Horse Called Trouble.

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

A HORSE CALLED TROUBLE
by C.K. Volnek
Published by MuseItUp Publishing

(Q) Thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, please tell our readers where they can find you.

Greetings, Marva. Thanks for allowing me to visit your blog today. It is such a treat to be able to visit. I’m so excited to be here and announce my newest tween novel, A Horse Called Trouble! I would also love to offer a FREE copy of my e-book to one lucky reader who leaves me a comment! (I hope you love free stuff as much as I do.)

My readers can contact me at ckvolnek (at) yahoo (dot) com.

They can also join me on my web page: http://www.ckvolnek.com/, or visit me at my blog: http://www.ckvolnek.com/blog.html

I am on Facebook (C.K. Volnek) or Twitter (CKVolnek), as well as Good Reads and Jacket Flap.

Also, check out my book trailer on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyJ1J9wESEY

(Q) Tell everyone a bit about your books including buy links.

My newest book, a tween horse story called A Horse Called Trouble, just made its debut and is available in both e-book and print.

A Horse Called Trouble

Abandoned by her mother at a young age, Tara Cummings has been passed from foster home to foster home; not wanted anywhere by anyone. At thirteen she’s skeptic and suspicious, with no family, and no friends.

Horse therapy “will teach trust, perseverance, respect, and the value of teamwork,” or so says the program’s instructor. Tara is unconvinced. Trust only broke her heart, perseverance meant more failures, and no one respects or wants to team up with the misfit foster kid.

At the farm, Tara meets Trouble, an angry and defiant horse, bent on destroying everything and everyone around him. Tara is frightened of the enraged horse, until she realizes Trouble is as misunderstood and untrusting as she is. Pushing aside her fear, a special bond is formed, much to the surprise of everyone at the farm. Trouble trusts Tara, and Tara in turn finds hope and acceptance as well as the will to love and trust again herself.

But, Tara’s confidence is shaken as an even greater challenge looms ahead. Trouble’s mean and manipulative owner is the one and only Alissa, Tara’s nemesis. Can Tara overcome her own limitations and fight to save the horse who freed her heart and gave her life value and meaning? Or will Alissa destroy them both?

A Horse Called Trouble can be found at the MuseItUp Bookstore: http://tinyurl.com/7s7asu2

At Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/7vhdo6e

As well as other great on-line bookstores.

I’m also happy to have my tween ghost story, Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island available in both print and e-book as well.

(Q) Where did the concept for the book come about?

I have always loved horses. Such marvelous creatures they are. Proud, elegant, powerful yet gentle, compassionate. And I was fortunate enough to be able to call several of them my friend and confidant as I grew up.

I knew I wanted to immortalize some of my treasured equine friends but I never expected to write the story of Trouble in such a fashion as I did. It was after visiting a horse farm that also entertained a horse therapy program for troubled youth that the story sky-rocketed. Tara came to life and shared her entire sad story with me and I couldn’t help but oblige and put it down on paper. And Trouble? He’s a mix of several of the horses I knew. Full of spunk, spirit, trust and devotion. It’s a horse story, full of conflict, with antagonists you’ll love seeing get what they deserve.

(Q) How long did it take you to finish, from concept to final product?

The story of Trouble spilled out in less than six month, but it took over a year before I had a manuscript I was ready to shop around. I am lucky to have a very thorough critique group. That is a must for any author.

(Q) Which authors have most influenced your own writing?

I love to read. And I take away something from every book I read. So it is hard to pick just a few authors who have really impressed me but two come to mind right away. Jane Yolen and Jay Asher. The book 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher still haunts my thoughts and I adore the rich prose of Jane Yolen. Her book, Briar Rose remains one of my favorites

(Q) What do you do for fun other than writing?

I dabble in a variety of things other than writing…spending time with my family is a priority but I also love love to dabble with flower gardening, jewelry making, hiking, and taking long walks with my Papillon pups… I am officially known as the ‘dog woman’ around our small town. Lol.

(Q) Do you have any favorite place where you feel your Muse is more apt to come and play while you write? Or perhaps you listen to music? If so, what do you listen to?

I’m a night-owl. And I have a laptop. So most of my writing is done sitting in my most comfortable chair in the front room with at least two pups sitting by me or on the ottoman. I have my I-pod, loaded with Yanni, and a Diet Coke at hand and I’m ready to write, write, write.

(Q) If you could time travel (accompanying Doctor Who in the Tardis, of course) to any point in history, when/where would it be and why?

Oh, my that is a pivotal question. I didn’t like history when I was a child…too many dates to remember. But now I am so intrigued by it and would love to witness so many things…like what DID happen to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, were the Knights of the Round Table as valiant as I think them to be, or how would it feel to be standing on the streets of Rome as Emperor Constantine went by. But most of all I would love to witness the time of Jesus’ birth. I would love to be with the shepherds on the hill as the angels announced the glorious birth.

(Q) Plotter or pantser?

Actually I am a bit of both. I do outline some, and then continue to outline as I write by the seat of my pants. I can’t do the whole outline before I start writing or my muse will revolt and take the story a totally different direction. And what my muse wants, my muse usually gets.

As for when I write…I am a night-owl, so most of my writing is done at night. I work a day-job (at least for the time being ;-) and am able to check e-mails and blogs from there, leaving me free to put my feet up in my favorite chair and write, write, write on my laptop. I try to write at least 15 minutes every night on my WIP. If I don’t, my muse gets cranky and will jump ship to a totally new WIP. I already have three WIPs going so I don’t want to give my muse any further reason to start another one. lol

(Q) What are your writing strengths? Weaknesses?

I think my greatest writing strength is my muse. She is incredible with the number of stories she comes up with. I can read a news article and she’s already posing questions to turn it into a story.

My weakness is also my muse! I can’t keep her under control and often find her taking me off on another adventure before I’ve finished the last one. Sigh…she’s a fickle beast but I love her to death.

(Q) Favorite movie of all time?

I blush as I say this, but my favorite movie is Pride and Prejudice. I love watching this type of historical romance…and what woman wouldn’t want a man to look after her the way Mr. Darcy does Elizabeth? Sorry, I’m a romantic at heart.

(Q) Do you have any new projects that you are working on?

I am excited to have two other books to chat about. The first, Ghost Dog of Roanoke Island is a tween ghost story and is already available in both print and e-book. It’s a ghost story with a twist of Native American folklore and based on the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island.

In April, The Secret of the Stones will make its debut. It is the first of a series called The Lost Diaries of Northumberland. It is a lighter story, a Harry Potter meets Merlin the Magician kind of story. . A Merlin-loving tween is thrust into magic mayhem when the gift he’s been entrusted to protect turns out to be the enchanted object detailed in a mysterious prophecy.

(Q) What do you do to market your work? How did you start and where do you learn to market?

That is a loaded question! Marketing is a giant beast, as big if not bigger than writing the novel. When I received my contract one year ago, I knew nothing. I started to build a platform by building a website, getting involved on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Jacketflap. I’ve joined local writing groups and on-line groups. I’ve also joined several boards such as Kindle Boards, Verla Kay, KidlitChat, Shewrites, and BookBlogs. Each day I try to make one small baby step forward. With baby steps, I have come a long way to gaining recognition and setting up my writing platform, but I know I still have a long way to go. I’m still a little fish in a very big pond!

(Q) If you'd like to add anything, please do so.

I would love to offer a free prize to one lucky reader who leaves me a comment. I’m offering a FREE e-copy of A Horse Called Trouble as an early Christmas present!

(Q) How about an excerpt to tantalize the readers?

A Horse Called Trouble…

The massive barn towered up, into the Midwest sky, a prison of whitewashed boards, sunlight glinting off it. Might as well be barbed wire. Tara Cummings blinked, momentarily blinded.

So this was her punishment—horse therapy?

She shook her head, letting her mousy brown hair fall over her face. Another time she would have been thrilled to be here, to see a real horse, to actually touch one, not watch it on TV or the internet.

Her fingers tightened into a fist. This time was different. This was a sentence of shame—for something she hadn’t even done. She didn’t steal Alissa’s purse!

Tara struggled to swallow the lump in her throat, the dryness in her mouth refusing to release the knot. Alissa had set her up—she was sure of it. She’d planted the purse in her locker. Why? What had she ever done? Because she wasn’t cool…or popular…or wear designer clothes? Because she was a foster kid?

Resentment and desire burned as one in her chest. She’d never have money or popularity. She’d been born a have-not and the world was making sure she would always stay a have-not.

A cool morning breeze blew across the farmyard, cold fingers reminding the world that despite the sun and the absence of snow, it was only early spring and summer was still a long way off. Tara shivered and withdrew into her shabby sweatshirt, wrapping her skinny arms up in its scratchy fabric. She should have tried harder to prove her innocence to Principal Jackman. Should’ve made him listen.

A long breath whistled through her teeth. It wouldn’t have made any difference. He wanted to be rid of her, like everyone else in her life. Teachers, foster parents, her own mother. All too happy to wash their hands and dump her onto someone else. No one cared. Why would Jackman be any different? He couldn’t wait to ship her off to Marvel’s, the east side’s alternative to regular school. Marvel was, after all, the best place to dump all the 8th grade scum no one wanted.

Tara gazed from the barn to the crisp, white fences and luscious green pastures surrounding them. Marvel was known for its unusual methods in dealing with problem students. But she had totally not expected this. It had to be some kind of mistake. The other kids had moaned and groaned, certain they were headed for a work-camp, cleaning up horse crap, hauling hay, painting, and all that stuff. Listening to them, Tara had envisioned smelly, peeling barns, and broken-down fences. This was quite the opposite. The farm was actually quite tidy. Nice. Peaceful. Not the kind of place she’d expected juvies to be sent to at all.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

A leaf rustled on the path in front of her, its dry brown contrasting against the spring-green grass. It twirled and danced on the gust of wind making its way from the barn toward Tara…along with the horrible stink. She pressed a ragged sleeve to her nose. Eww! It was everywhere. Like a subway toilet that hadn’t been flushed in weeks.

Who had she been kidding? This wasn’t some nursery rhyme Old McDonald’s Farm. This was a place to be disciplined and chastised. She pressed her sleeve hard against her nose. Her classmates were right—they just wanted to make them clean up the stinky horse crap.

A horse screamed. A flock of sparrows took flight from the tree next to the barn, swirling into the air, a dark cloud of feathers chattering their irritation. Tara searched for the animal and jumped as it screamed again.

“Whoa,” a man’s voice bellowed from inside the gaping doorway. “Blast it, I said, whoa!”

A short, thick-necked man stumbled out, heels digging into the hard dirt as he fought to hold onto the red horse dancing in circles around him. He clung to the thick reins with one hand and pulled a leather whip from his rear pocket with the other, snapping it at the horse with a loud crack.

The horse laid his ears flat, flashed a mouthful of large teeth and dove at his captor, hatred sparking in his eyes. Stumbling backward, the man let loose of the reins, surprise and fear flooding his face.

Tara gasped, a small, barely audible squeak coming from her mouth.

The horse spun around to face her, ears swiveling, black hooves stamping and pawing at the ground. Rage flared his black nostrils.

Tara froze, a scream stuck in her throat, staring wide-eyed at the red horse.

“Get back, Miss,” a voice ordered from behind her. Rough hands shoved her to the side of the path and a dark-haired man rushed forward, grabbing at the horse’s reins. The horse reared, lashing out, black mane rippling like a nest of angry snakes. The dark-haired man held on.

The horse blared again, his eyes wild, white rings surrounding the black.

Tara backed away as quick as she could, unable to take her eyes off the crazed horse. Her heart pounded in her ears. She wanted to get away. She needed to get away from this wild animal. Staring into the horse’s eyes, she couldn’t move. There was something…something in his eyes. She understood his look of pain.

“Are you crazy, Richard?” the black-haired man yelled, glancing back at Tara before turning his sole attention to the horse. “You know we aren’t supposed to have him on this side of the barns today. Beth’s therapy class is here.” He glared at the fancy leather saddle on the horse’s back. “And, what’s this dressage crap doing on him again?”

Richard stepped back toward the barn door, his face a mix of stubborn anger and impatience.

“I had my orders, Sam,” Richard grunted. “Miss Jordan called and told me to saddle him up. She wants to ride him.”

Tara blinked. Jordan? Alissa Jordan? Here? The hair on the back of her neck prickled. Her stomach rolled, the acidic taste of bile rising to her throat. She forced it back down. It had to be a different Jordan.

Sam pulled the horse down the path away from Tara, moving to avoid the dangerous hooves. “No way is anyone riding him, especially not in this get-up. He’s not ready. And this stunt is going to set him back even further.”

Richard snorted. “Don’t know why you’re wasting your time on this stupid animal anyway.” He extracted a dirty handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his glistening brow. “That horse ought to be shot. The only thing he’s good for is dog food.”

Sam stopped and stared back at Richard, anger darkening his eyes, his face turning almost as red as the horse. “I think you better mind your chores, Richard, before I do something I might regret—like tell Mr. McDonald you’ve been slacking on those stalls.” With a loud grunt, he directed the rearing horse toward a small corral between the two barns. “Let me take care of this horse,” he yelled over his shoulder.

Richard stuffed his handkerchief back in his rear pocket, the end sticking out like a grimy plaid tail. “You wait ‘til Miss Jordan gets here,” he scowled. “Then we’ll see who ‘takes care’ of that horse.”

Turning, Richard spotted Tara. He narrowed his eyes and growled to himself. “Slackers. Beth’s asking for trouble bringing these punk kids here.”

Tara shoulders tightened, anger biting at her tongue. Slacker? She wanted to scream, tell him, and everyone there, that wasn’t her. She blinked hard and retreated under her hair, letting her shoulders slump. What good would it do? Everyone assumed she was trouble because of who she was—because of who her mother was. And even though she may not be trouble, trouble always seemed to find her.

Richard pushed the open barn door closed, revealing a large wheelbarrow filled to overflowing with filthy dirty straw. A black cloud of flies hummed around it like bees to honey.

Tara gagged and covered her nose and mouth again with her sleeve.

With a loud grunt, Richard boosted the wheelbarrow’s handles and drove the smelly refuse down a winding path, disappearing behind a large shed at the bottom of the hill.

Finally, with Richard and the wheelbarrow gone, she dared to take a breath, coughing at the leftover stink, wishing she was somewhere else…anywhere but here. She didn’t belong here.

Rejection bit at her.

She didn’t belong anywhere.

Lawna Mackie - Impossible to Hold

2011-12-19T00:00:00.001-08:00

IMPOSSIBLE TO HOLD
by Lawna Mackie
Liquid Silver Books

Raven knows no one will believe her. Giant tiger-like creatures did not just leap from the clouds, and invisible forces do not just save your life during Sahara Desert sandstorms. Impossible, they always said, scolding her at the age of twelve. Ten years later, Raven knows the impossible is possible, and finds herself tormented with many unanswered questions concerning her birth and her mother’s mysterious disappearance.

Perhaps falling in love with Nevar, an emotionless and bodiless Storm God isn’t a good idea, but the attraction they feel for one another is impossible to deny. Soon it becomes clear that he is the only one who can unravel her puzzling past and perhaps save her life. But an evil Sea Goddess knows exactly who Raven is, and even more importantly…what she is.

Q&A

(Q) You must be excited about your new release? Can you tell us a bit about your book?

I’m really excited, more so than I can put down into words. IMPOSSIBLE TO HOLD is an action packed paranormal/romantic fantasy with my different creatures.

(Q) Sounds interesting. What made you decide to write this type of story?

A dream started the idea. Stormcat is one of the characters in my novel, but I had a dream of him, where he pounced down through the clouds at me in a storm. He had no intentions of hurting me, but he was quite annoying. I was trying to get through the storm to save my parents.

While the book doesn’t have that as part of the story, it does have Stormcat jumping from the heavens above down to earth, often.

(Q) He sounds like quite the character. What other type of other characters do you have in the novel?

My hero is very unique, especially in the beginning of the book. He is a Storm God so he has no physical form, other than elements of nature. He takes the form of rain, snow, mist…I think you get the drift. Eventually he ends up with a human type body, but the first part of the book is intriguing. Oh, he also has no emotions.

(Q) Where is the book set?

I jump around all over the world, from the Sahara Desert, the Grand Cayman Islands, the Canadian Rocky Mountains, to eventually scenes taking place under the sea.

(Q) Who is the publisher and where can readers get a copy?

The publisher is Liquid Silver Books. So everyone can go there and check it out.

(Q) Perfect. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us today?

Yes, one more thing. My great friend’s Myriah and James Reed from Sodipop Studios http://www.sodi-pop.net/ have created a wonderful trailer for me. I encourage everyone to visit at my website. It should be read for tomorrow. www.lawnamackie.ca

Thank you very much for hosting me today. It’s been great.

Books by author, Lawna Mackie:

QUINN’S CHRISTMAS WISH – December 1, 2011, Amazon in both print and eBook
http://amzn.to/unsqF7

IMPOSSIBLE TO HOLD – December 19, 2011, Liquid Silver Books
http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/

ENCHANTMENT – January 13, 2012, Muse It Up Publishing
http://www.museituppublishing.com/

Lawna's Bio:

I have always believed in fairy tales. Each story would have typical heroes and heroines but from untypical worlds. Daily, I made up new stories, with perfect happy endings.

I constantly tell my husband, friends and family of the adventures I have during my sleep. Most of the time they just shake their heads in disbelief. Every now and again I’d write them down, but my stories usually end up in the recycling bin, piling up beside my ever-growing stack of read romance novels.

I devoured my first romance novel when I was a teenager. I couldn’t read them fast enough. Years later I stumbled across my first paranormal romance. An injustice would be done if I tried to explain my joy when I found this genre of romance. My passion was finally in print.

One summer, I set aside my fears and began to write a story. It took me a long time to realize I didn’t have to be perfect to write. So I picked up my pen and began to write my first novel. I cried, cringed, laughed and fell in love with every minute of the process. I have many stories to share with you and I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.

I am truly blessed. My husband is my inspiration and knight in shining armor. We live on a small acreage in Didsbury, Alberta, with our most beloved companions, Dozer, Daisy and Mandarin. I love mountains and water even more so. Maybe in my next life I’ll come back as a water nymph, or perhaps in my past life I already was!

Happy reading everyone!

A Preview of Midnight Oil

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

MIDNIGHT OIL Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series

Shipwrecked on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she can’t even phone home?

I haven't got a specific date for the release of Book 2 in the Witches of Galdorheim series. I haven't got a cover yet. But I have seen a first proof from wonderful cover artist Kaytalin Platt. Of course, I can't show you the rough draft. No. Argue all you want, it just wouldn't be ... okay, maybe just a teensy peek at one section. Mind you, it could change before the final.

Kat discovers that an evil forest spirit has kidnapped her brand-new boyfriend. She sets out with her brother, Rune, from her Arctic island home on a mission to rescue the boy. Things go wrong from the start. Kat is thrown overboard during a violent storm, while her brother and his girlfriend are captured by a mutant island tribe. The mutants hold the girlfriend hostage, demanding that the teens recover the only thing that can make the mutants human again–the magical Midnight Oil.

Mustering every bit of her Wiccan magic, Kat rises to the challenge. She invokes her magical skills, learns to fly an ultralight, meets a legendary sea serpent, rescues her boyfriend, and helps a friendly air spirit win the battle against her spiteful sibling. On top of it all, she’s able to recover the Midnight Oil and help the hapless mutants in the nick of time.

Here are a few more images I've been collecting for creating the book trailer. Hang on for a wild ride following Kat and Rune on separate adventures that converge into one crazy finale.

Mordita is always watching out for Kat. When Kat, Rune, Nadia and Ivansi set out to return Kat's frozen father to Siberia, the ancient witch gives Kat a good luck token. Kat wonders how an image of Medusa could possibly be lucky.

Tossed into a stormy sea along with her father's icy coffin, Kat tries to call for her old friend Salmon the Orca for aid. Alas, Salmon is nowhere to be found. Instead, an unlikely legendary creature comes to her rescue.

While Kat is floating atop a large ice cube, her brother and grandfather are sent in another direction. The storm pushes them to the shores of Novaya Zemlya, an island forming the northern end of the Ural Mountains.

The unfortunate Nenets tribe were victims of Soviet nuclear testing during the cold war. Problem is that nobody bothered to tell them to get off the island. The radiation affected the newborn children making them mutant outcasts of their own people.

When Rune and Ivansi show up, the Nenets see an opportunity to obtain the magical healing Midnight Oil. The mutants can't seek out the oil themselves. They are not allowed to ask the Nenets gods for directions. Ivansi is a Sami, a close cousin tribe. He should be able to find the location of the Midnight Oil: In Finnland's forests in a root cellar. Well, sort of a root cellar, if you think of tree roots and the word cell.

Rune and Ivansi begin their journey to recover the oil from a forest elemental spirit, Ajatar. Little did they know that the evil elemental has kidnapped Kat's boyfriend, and is holding him hostage.

In the meantime, Kat is trying to find a way to reach her mother for help. The sea serpent's island is sadly lacking in telephones, so she has to find another means of communication. Atop the volcanic dome of the island, she enlists the aid of a greedy sea bird, who is more than happy to help out if provided a lifetime supply of eggs. Kat can only hope the big bird lives up to his word and brings help.

Buy the book when it's released in January to find out what happens next.

Cheap Reads

2011-12-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

My own cheap reads on Amazon are mostly 99 centers. I think there may be one or two higher, but still well under $3.00:

Loglines - Bad Spelling

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Bad Spelling featured on the Loglines Blog today.

A new book featured everyday. Does the cover and logline intrigue enough to make you want to read the book? Check it out.

Buy Bad Spelling at:

MuseItUp Publishing

Amazon

Watch the award-winning book trailer on YouTube.

Going Once, Going Twice SOLD!

2011-12-10T17:48:00.000-08:00

I received word that another of my middle-grade fantasy books has been accepted for publishing with MuseItUp. That's five now and counting.

I'll admit to all and sundry that the book, "Setara's Genie," has been around the block a time or two. Here's its history, which I think is both interesting and instructive.

Way back in 2006 or so, I switched careers from writing technical documentation and programming to writing fiction. I dragged out all the half-finished stories--some of them a quarter century old--and looked them over. Was there anything salvageable? I thoughts so and proceeded to edited and fill out multiple stories.

There was this story, "Cadida and the Djinn," I wrote for kids. I made it funny and sweet. The short story was published not once, but thrice. Hey, I knew a good thing, so I wrote "Cadida and the Cave Demon," then "Cadida and the Sultan's Horse." I was on a roll, and ended up with "The Seven Adventures of Cadida." It was published as a print book by a small press. I let it run its course in print, then decided to smooth it into a novel. How do you do that with seven separate tales? I had always thought of these stories as somewhat Aladdinesque or 1001 Arabian Nights style. I captured the whole lot within a frame story using an old story teller in a bazaar earning a few coins by relating the tales of the adventurous girl and her genie. I had pulled the character names out of the air when I first wrote the stories. I decided to get a little bit authentic to middle-eastern mythology and selected Arabic names for my characters. The book became "The Tales of Abu Nuwas" and I self-published it since very few publishing houses want reprints.

In the meantime, I'd written and sold a few other books to my current (and forever) publisher, MuseItUp Publishing. A small Canadian startup press, I was immediately drawn to the friendly atmosphere created by the publisher (Lea the Wise), all the editors, cover artists, and the authors. We do think of ourselves as a family. It was such a warm, inviting atmosphere, and I had an excellent experience with my first book with MuseItUp (a murder mystery). I had no hesitation sending Lea the Witches of Galdorheim series. All three books were accepted, the first published in October, and the other two in the queue for January and April 2012.

While perusing my contract, I noticed the clauses about making sure that if a work was previously published that the author had all the rights returned. Ah ha! MuseItUp did reprints! Happy me! I sent off "Setara's Genie" explaining that it had been round the block a few times, but still had some spirit in her. Matter of fact, she was better than ever with the help of my fantastic critique partners (especially Liz Brenaman and Lorrie Struiff).

As you might be thinking, I do have a recycling policy in effect. If I can sell a story once, why not moosh it about a bit and sell it again, or put it together with some other stuff and sell that.

One thing I have never, ever done is leave any of my stories unpublished. I am confident that my stories are good enough for publication, so I make sure that they are published. With the new wonders of ebooks, all sorts of writers--good, bad, and ugly--are self-publishing. I fail to see that as a crime. It's annoying to have to shuffle through the vast numbers of books and stories looking for something with a modicum of story value and a reasonable grasp of grammar and punctuation. That's what sampling is for. You can snag a chunk of a book. Possibly waste a half-hour deciding it sucks, and you're not out a dime, just a bit of time. On the other hand, you might find the newest best writer in the world. You never know.

I will never claim to be the best writer in the world. I'm awestruck by some of the talent I see out there, and that talent is not always published through the traditional routes. I know by my own experience that it's a frustrating business trying to get one of the few slots available with an agent, and then have that agent actually sell your book to a publisher. That frustration has led to a tremendous upsurge in ebook self-publishing. Heck, it's really easy to do. Yes, a lot of it's dreck and why should you waste your time searching for a few gems amongst the slush? Because that's where you find gold. In the mud, sluiced out of a creek bed, a few little sparkles catch your eye. All that mud dredging becomes very worthwhile.

Spotlight on Seasons of Reading

2011-12-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

I'm visiting Jo Ramsey's Seasons of Reading blog hop today on her blog. This post is in conjunction with my own Seasons of Reading Gift Book post of December 4th. I'm featuring two very different books. My gift book post is about how I gifted my father by writing his stories and creating his own book, Tales of a Texas Boy. On Jo's blog, I talk about murder on the Oregon high desert.

Loglines - Missing, Assumed Dead

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Missing, Assumed Dead featured on the Loglines Blog today.

A new book featured everyday. Does the cover and logline intrigue enough to make you want to read the book? Check it out.

Buy the award-winning (Best Cover July You Gotta Read Covers)Missing, Assumed Dead at:

MuseItUp Publishing

Amazon

Watch the book trailer on YouTube

I'm the 99

2011-12-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

Not only am I part of the 99 percent, I also sell a lot of ebooks for only 99 cents. Coincidence? I think not!

Visit my page on Smashwords to be within an easy click away from some good readin' on the cheap.

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mgdasef

or download to your Kindle from Amazon. (Don't buy Fish Story here. It's free at Smashwords.)

If you can't see the header on this blog (maybe you're using Google reader or SMS feeds), here are covers for the 99 cent books.

Seasons of Reading Blog Hop

2011-12-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Gifts and Giving Blog Hop

For the full list of author pages on the blog hop, go to Jo Ramsey's blog.

This hop has to do with the impact of a book, either one you have received or one you have given. Jump from here to Jo's blog to continue the blog hops. Giveaways are available at every stop, so be sure to visit them all.

Now on to my gift book post.

Legend in His Own Time - Tales of a Texas Boy

You've heard the phrase "A Legend in His Own Time." That's when somebody does something so extraordinary they create a legend around themselves. As time moves on, the legendary aspect grows and morphs into something bigger and, well, more legendary.

Then, there's the play on words, "A Legend in His Own Mind." That's when a person's ego grows beyond reality. They believe themselves to be so wonderful, they're a legend. Of course, they are the only ones who think so.

Then there's another type of legend. It's when an author bases a book on a real person, but exaggerates the person's feats to make for good reading; the writer creates the legend. Can you think of a case where this has occurred? I imagine there are many, considering possible biographers who hero-worship their subject past the point of reality.

Then I come to my own mini-legendary person: Little Eddie from Tales of a Texas Boy. The stories are mostly based on some brief vignette passed to me from my father. Those of you who have read the print edition might have slowed down enough to peruse the Foreword where I lay out that Eddie is my father and some additional background on his life. Nothing too exciting there. He just happened to have a few incidents in his life that I could turn from a passing comment into a short story.

I made my father a legend. The stories I wrote about his experiences are so enhanced, they have become the stuff of legends. Yes, a very small part of the population know the stories. However, how long will the Tales books be out in the world? I published the first edition in June, 2007. In four years, more than 3000 people have had possession of the book in some form. They may have even read it. If I keep the book in print, how many people will get to know Eddie in ten years?

What's my point here? Not sure other than to state my realization that even not so famous people can become legendary to some extent from some author deciding to write about them.

I think that my "gift book" that had the most impact is this one. "Tales of a Texas Boy" was a gift to my father. He certainly enjoyed hearing "his" stories and quite a few people now know him who would not have without that book. I think making somebody a legend in his own time is about as big an impact as a book can supply.

***
My giveaway book is obviously going to be "Tales of a Texas Boy." However, the winner, whoever they may be can choose another in my collection. I have descriptive pages with information on my books at my website: http://marvadasef.com/ . I'll select a winner at random from comments on this post and Jo Ramsey's Seasons blog post. I will be donating a copy of Tales to the school across the street. The local library already has a copy on the shelves.

Tales of a Texas Boy is only 99 cents for the ebook version on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other on-line bookstores. The Large Print paperback edition is very popular with the more mature among us, especially if they grew up in a rural area. They often recognize something in Texas Boy that relates to their own coming of age.

Here are some links to buy sites and a link to the book trailer:

Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Tales-of-a-Texas-Boy/dp/B001E3A0RU/

Amazon Large Print Paperback http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1438235453/

Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Nto2Zbars

Penny Ehrenkranz With One, Two Books

2011-12-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

Marva, thank you for hosting me on your blog today. I wanted to announce a contest. Everyone who posts a comment on one of the blogs during my tour will be entered into a drawing. There will be two winners picked. I am giving away one copy of Lady-in-Waiting and one copy of Mirror, Mirror.

First the books in brief, followed by a Q and A and excerpts.

Lady in Waiting
Through a series of misunderstandings, Mabriona is forced to live a lie, but when the man she loves awakes from his coma, will she confess her deceit?
Buy link, released November 18th: http://tinyurl.com/6u4keh5

Mabriona is cousin to the beautiful and spoiled Princess Alana. When Alana is forced to marry a man she despises, Mabriona is torn between her loyalty to her cousin and her attraction to the handsome Prince Blayne.

Tragedy befalls the cousins on the way to Prince Blayne’s castle. Servants, believing Mabriona to be Alana, refuse to listen when she tries to explain.

While she waits for Blayne to recover, Mabriona meets his equally handsome younger brother, Madoc, a bard.

When Blayne awakes, will Mabriona choose life with a future king, will she be sent home in disgrace because of her inadvertent lies, or will Madoc win her love with his poetry?

Mirror, Mirror
Lindsay Baker’s purchase of an antique mirror sends her back in time to salvage a love torn apart by class restrictions.

Blurb: Lindsay Baker is intrigued by everything about the middle ages, but when she purchases an antique mirror and a costume to attend a Renaissance Faire, she suddenly finds herself transported back in time. There she finds she’s been called by a witch to right a terrible wrong.

Graham loves Prudence, but he can’t marry her because he’s landed gentry, and she is only the baker’s daughter. Before Lindsay can return to her own time, she must convince Graham to marry against his father’s wishes. Unfortunately, she also finds herself falling for the handsome gentleman.

Can she find her way back to her own time, or will she be stuck in a time when women had no rights?

QUESTION AND ANSWER

(Q) Thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, please tell our readers where they can find you.

My website is: http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.yolasite.com/
My blog is: http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/
My Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/penny.ehrenkranz
My Twitter is: http://twitter.com/pennyehrenkranz
My author page at MuseItUp Publishing is:
https://museituppublishing.com/musepub/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=130&Itemid=82

(Q) Tell everyone a bit about your books including buy links.

I’m releasing two books this fall from MuseItUp Publishing. Lady-in-Waiting is scheduled for release around November 20th. Mirror, Mirror is due to be released during December. Both books are novelettes and romances. Lady-in-Waiting is set in medieval times, and Mirror, Mirror is a time travel, which takes the female main character, Lindsey Baker, back to medieval times.

Lady in Waiting released November 18th. Buy link http://tinyurl.com/6u4keh5

Mirror, Mirror will release in December. The Muse bookstore link: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2

(Q) Where did the concept for the book (or books) come about?

I’ve been interested in the medieval period for a long time and thought it would be fun to write a story during that time period. Once I started to think about it, I also wondered what it would be like for a woman who fell in love with a man she couldn’t have. Mabriona wanted her story told, and she was the perfect character. Beautiful in her own right, she’s the lady-in-waiting, not the lovely princess.

I am also intrigued by Renaissance Faires. I live in a small community, and we were treated to one several years ago. As I walked around and observed, I decided it would make a great story if one of the folks who frequented these fairs was actually thrown back in time and had to survive. I’d been doing some research for a story with witchcraft and came across scrying mirrors. It seemed like a perfect conduit for a little time travel.

(Q) How long did it take you to finish, from concept to final product?

The actual writing of each of the stories took about a week, including revisions. Sending them off as submissions took another couple of months, waiting for responses. Then the actual editing process with the publisher took another couple of months between content and line edits. Waiting for the cover art took another month. Waiting for final galleys took another couple of months.

(Q) Which authors have most influenced your own writing?

I tend to read a lot of fantasy, but I’m not sure if any of the authors influenced my writing. I have my own style. I like to throw in a little bit of romance in my stories. I also am not good at writing long novels, which are what I mostly read. My stories tend to lean more toward short and novelette size. The closest to novel sized books I’ve written are my two middle grade novels, which will be published next year by 4RV Publishing.

(Q) What do you do for fun other than writing?

I am a grandmother now, and I love it when I can spend time with my grandchildren. I also try to keep healthy by going to water aerobics and walking with a friend. When our Oregon weather cooperates, I like to spend time in my garden or playing with my dogs. My husband I also enjoy going out to ethnic restaurants and spending time with friends. When I’m not busy with other things, I’m reading or crocheting.

(Q) Do you have any favorite place where you feel your Muse is more apt to come and play while you write? Or perhaps you listen to music? If so, what do you listen to?

I don’t like to listen to music when I’m writing. I find it distracting. I tend to “see” my stories playing like a movie as I’m writing. When I write, I’m usually in my office with one or both of my dogs lying on the floor beside me. I have a lovely view of my garden outside my window.

(Q) Do you secretly want to write another genre, but don't think you can do it?

No. I already enjoy writing in several different areas. I write fantasy, soft science fiction, and romance. I also write non-fiction articles in the areas of writing help, parenting help, and teen self-help. In addition, I write for children and have two picture books under contract as well as two middle grade paranormal mysteries.

(Q) Plotter or pantser?

I am definitely a pantser. I have never been able to outline, even in school it was a challenge. I get an idea for a story, or a character begs to have a story told, and I let it go where it wants to go. I will sometimes make a very loose plot line, especially when I’m working on my MG novels. I also will keep track of character descriptions and traits. For short stories, I don’t make notes at all.

(Q) Coffee or tea?

I drink one cup of coffee in the morning with a splash of 1% milk. The rest of the day, I drink tea, chai being my favorite, with peppermint a close second.

(Q) Do you have any new projects that you are working on? If so, what are they? (optional if you don't have a WIP to talk about)

I’ve started a couple of different projects, but am I waffling about which one to concentrate on. I have a teen witch who wants her story told, and I’m working on the next book in my middle grade paranormal series.

(Q) What do you do to market your work? How did you start and where do you learn to market?

I send out press releases to our local newspapers. I contact our local libraries. I send emails to my email contacts and family. I send out tweets with links to excerpts on my author web site. I do virtual book tours when my books are released.

I learned about marketing by taking some classes offered by the MuseOnline Writers Conference, which occurs every October. I have subscriptions to a number of newsletters, including some which offer marketing tips, and I check out blog posts related to marketing. It’s an ongoing learning experience. I know there is still a lot I don’t know about marketing. I tend to ask a similar question to some of my own blog guests, hoping to learn more.

(Q) If you'd like to add anything, please do so.

I write my stories because I enjoy the whole process from the first words to the published book. I hope my readers enjoy what I’ve written. I love to hear from people who have read my stories. Anyone who has questions or comments can reach me at pennylane97053 at yahoo dot com

(Q) How about an excerpt to tantalize the readers?

Definitely.

Lady-in-Waiting excerpt:

“Today’s the day, Mabriona,” Princess Alana said as Mabriona entered the chambers. She wiped tears from her eyes with an embroidered linen. “Prince Blayne will be here, and soon I’ll be his wife. I think the worst part of being father’s daughter is marrying someone I’ve never even met.”

“You’ve always known your marriage would be arranged for the benefit of the kingdom, Princess, but I’m sure he’ll be very nice,” Mabriona replied as she opened the heavy drapes covering the windows. She looked at her cousin and sighed. She wanted to feel sorry for Alana, but they’d had this discussion so many times. Mabriona was tired of it. Alana had known from the time she was a child that she would not wed for love. Why can’t Alana just accept her fate? Outside the day was as wet as the one before and the one before that.

“Nice? Who wants nice? I want someone handsome and dashing. A knight in shining armor who will love me forever. I certainly don’t want someone like my father who will make me do everything I don’t want to do.”

Mirror, Mirror excerpt:

After Stefany left, Lindsey adjusted the water spigots on her tub. A few drops of bubble bath went into the water, and the soothing scent of lavender filled the moist, steamy air. While the tub filled, Lindsey tried on her Renaissance outfit for the upcoming Faire. She couldn’t believe her good luck at finding the perfect pieces. She tested the bath water to be sure it was the right temperature. Then she picked up her antique mirror to get a better view. Was this a scryer’s mirror at some point in time? It slipped from her wet hands into the bathtub.

“Nuts,” she mumbled as she leaned over the tub. She pulled one sleeve up on her blouse and fished around in the bubbles for the mirror. When she pulled the mirror from the water, spots appeared in front of her eyes, and she felt faint. While she watched her reflection in the old mirror, the background changed. She no longer saw the inside of her bathroom. She closed her eyes as the room around her went black.

Mark of the Stars Holiday Hop

2011-12-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Jessica Subject has put together a great Holidays line-up of SF related posts. This is just a heads up to keep an eye on Mark of the Stars blog in December. Here's the schedule of authors. Most (including myself) will show up on Jessica's blog, but I've included the links to the authors' websites so you can check them out on their home turf:

1 – D.L. Jackson http://www.authordljackson.com/
2 – Lisa Lane http://www.cerebralwriter.com/
5 – Gini Koch http://ginikoch.com/
6 – Heather Massey http://www.heathermassey.com/
7 – Jessica E. Subject @ 30 Days of Decadence Holiday Blog http://30daysofdecadence.blogspot.com/
8 – Rebecca Royce http://rebeccaroyce.com/
9 – Bella Street http://www.bellastreetwrites.com/
12 – Sara Brookes http://www.sarabrookes.net/
13 – Maureen O. Betita http://maureenobetita.com/
14 – Jessica E. Subject @ Jennifer Lane’s blog http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com/ TRS Book-a-day Giveaway http://theromancestudio.com/bad_form.php
15 – Ann Mayburn http://www.annmayburn.com/
16 – Jeanette Grey http://www.jeanettegrey.com/
19 – Melisse Aires http://www.melisseaires.com/
20 – Diane Dooley http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/
21 - Jessica E. Subject on Lisa Fox’s blog
22 – Azura Ice http://ablueice.wordpress.com/
23 – Eve Langlais http://www.evelanglais.com/
27 – Ella Drake http://elladrake.com/
28 – Cathy Pegau http://www.cathypegau.com/
29 – Marva Dasef http://marvadasef.com/default.aspx
30 – Misa Buckley http://misabuckley.com/

See you there!

December Events Schedule

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

There's lots going on in December, so don't miss anything!

1st - 30th: Light Up the Holidays on Mark of the Stars. I'll be visiting Jessica's blog on the 29th. She has somebody new every day in December. These won't be just promos, but essays from the authors equating aspects of SF/F/P to the holiday spirit. At least that's what I'll be writing about.

2nd: Penny Ehrenkranz visits me here with a lot to say about not one, but TWO new books.

4th - 30th: Seasons of Reading Blog Hop. See Jo Ramsey's blog for the hop schedule. I'll be hopping. How about you? This hop is all about giving. The authors talk about either books they've received which impacted them or books they have given that have impacted others. I think there'll be a lot of interesting thoughts. AND PRIZES. Giveaways galore. Just hop and comment to win.

8th: I'm in the Spotlight on J Ramsey's blog.

6th and 13th: Visit the Loglines blog to see featured books. Just the cover, buy links, and logline. Would those loglines make you want to pick up the book?

18th: I visit with Adriana Ryan on her Alphabet Authors segment.

29th: Mark of the Stars hosts my SFR Holidays post.

MORE TO COME AS IT IS SCHEDULED

My OTHER Books - Missing, Assumed Dead

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't given enough attention to my murder myster, which was release last July from MuseItUp Publishing. Here's a reminder of what it's about, some buy links, and a short excerpt. If you're a fan of mysteries, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy this book. The main character isn't a cop or a little old lady with knitting needles, but a woman thrust into a situation that threatens her life. She doesn't pack up and go home. She pursues answers with determination and grit, even though she might end up dead. I can almost guarantee that you won't guess the ending until, well, the end.

MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD

Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its secrets.

When Kameron McBride receives notice she's the only living relative of a missing man she's never even heard of, the last thing she wants to do is head to some half-baked Oregon town to settle his affairs. Her suspicions rise when the probate Judge isn't really a judge and tries too hard to buy the dead man's worthless property. Kam probes deeper into the town's secrets and finds almost no one she can trust. She must find out what really happened to her dead relative before someone in this backward little town sends her to join him.

Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EN73FI

MuseItUp Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/Missing-Dasef

All Romance EBooks: http://ow.ly/5VhOu

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/missing-assumed-dead

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97277

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZI_8LgOIb4

July First Place Cover: http://yougottareadcovers.blogspot.com/2011/08/and-winners-are.html

Excerpt:

Kam gasped and jumped down the embankment toward the creek, stumbling through the underbrush. She heard the pickup tires screech and glanced back. Scruffy had gotten out and headed down the slope behind her. She moved faster, gripping her hair spray. A strap broke on her sandal, and she kicked it off. Ignoring the brambles poking into her legs through her jeans, she moved as fast as she could, the terrain preventing her from flat out running.

She heard the crashing of bushes behind her and put on more steam. She knew the pickup would have reached her car by now, but she’d be coming up on the passenger door, slightly downhill from the driver’s side. She switched the hair spray to her left hand and pawed into her purse for the keys. Finding them, she dropped the bag on the ground to free her hands and kept moving.

When she reached the Chrysler, the driver had already skidded down the embankment and was standing on the driver’s side. Thin compared to the other man, but his arms were solid muscle under the tats. She rushed to the passenger side, jerked open the heavy door, dived in, slammed the door and hit the lock button on the key fob.

The driver pounded the window with his fist. The scruffy one had caught up and pulled on the passenger side door handle. Kam hit the panic button on the fob. The deep and seriously loud Chrysler horn went off with honking bursts. Both men jumped back from the car.

The driver yelled, “I’ll fetch the rifle.” He scrambled to climb up the embankment.

Kam’s heart almost stopped.

BAD SPELLING 2nd Place in November Best Vids

2011-11-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

As they say, better than a sharp stick in the eye. The book trailer for "Bad Spelling" snagged second place at You Gotta Read Videos for November.

Thank you, everyone, for voting for my little trailer.

Today's top post features the 3rd place winner. Bad Spelling should be top post the 29th, with the curious winner on the 30th. Leave a comment here explaining why the first place trailer got first place. I'll give somebody a free copy of BAD SPELLING if you have a reasonable and logical explanation. Or even a wildass guess.

Rae of Hope - Debut Novel for Wanita May

2011-11-27T00:00:00.001-08:00

I'm proud to guest YA paranormal author, Wanita May. Isn't that a cool name! Anyway, I had the pleasure of reading an earlier draft of this novel, and I can't wait to read it again.

Rae of Hope
The Chronicles of Kerrigan

Fifteen year-old Rae Kerrigan is used to being invisible. Living in New York with her Aunt and Uncle after having been orphaned at a young age by a terrible fire, her life has been quiet, filled with excellent grades and not much else. Then came the letter from Guilder Boarding School, a mysterious place Rae had never heard of which will change her life. She crosses the ocean to enter a world she's never known existed, one where she's center stage and has a very important role to play.

Will the sins of a father choose her path? Or will she have the courage to change her fate? The decision will be made, by fate or teen, in the Rae of Hope.

The question is, as hero or villain? It seems most of Guilder is voting the later, and it's up to Rae to prove everyone wrong and bring hope to her world. But will she succeed, or will the shadows draw her in and swallow her whole?

Now, on to the Q&A portion of the program.

(Q) Thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, please tell our readers where they can find you.

It’s great to be catching up, Marva! It seems like forever since we’ve chatted…

Where to find me? Are we playing Hide and Seek? ‘Cause if we are, I’ve got to get my 17mth old in on it too – she’s figured out the game and tends to hide in the Tupperware cupboard or the little antique dry-sink we have!

But seriously – I'm home most days – running our online business, or writing/editing or playing with the kids. My website, etc. follow, so cyberly – I’m everywhere.

Website: http://www.wanitamay.yolasite.com/

FB: Author W.J. May

Twitter: @wanitajump

Blog: http://www.wanitajump.wordpress.com/

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iauHkcm6UQo

Where to purchase:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rae-Hope-W-J-May/dp/0983129797/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321326868&sr=1-3

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rae-of-hope-wanita-may/1104663283?ean=2940013021297&itm=1&usri=rae%2bof%2bhope

(Q) Tell everyone a bit about your books.

Rae of Hope is the first book in the Chronicles of Kerrigan. I’ve signed a four book contract so it’s a great series, (obviously biased) – it includes fantasy, mystery, paranormal, bit of romance, bit of everything. Something different than what’s out there now.

(Q) Where did the concept for the book (or books) come about?

I’d written my first MS and wanted to challenge myself to find something different than what I’d been reading (I’m a big YA reader so there is lots to choose from, but still wanted something unique). I’m a huge fan of comic, vampire, action, etc… books & movies so I decided I wanted to combine it all. I’ve always been fascinated with tattoos and why people choose particular ones and locations. The idea of having a tattoo appear on you one day and finding it out is possess an particular ability - well, that hit me as something unique. I wanted to have the females marked on their lower backs (which is often referred to as tramp-stamps, which lead me to the idea of being labelled before getting to know someone, or judging a book by its cover.) The idea manifested and grew.

(Q) How long did it take you to finish, from concept to final product?

I wrote the first draft in about 3 months. Spent another 3 months revising and editing and then off to publishers. I signed my publishing contract with Mitchell Morris Publishing (http://www.mitchellmorrispublishing.com/) on January first and it’s official print date was November 15th. It was preleased in ebook from the beginning of September. It seems to have gone really fast actually.

(Q) What do you do for fun other than writing?

Laugh? Joke around J I love playing with my three kids. We set the tent up in the family room the other day and slept there for the weekend (too cold to be outside, but it doesn’t mean we still cant camp!)

(Q) Do you have any favorite place where you feel your Muse is more apt to come and play while you write? Or perhaps you listen to music? If so, what do you listen to?

I do my best writing in the evening. The day it too busy and full of the unexpected to sit down and get some quality work done. During the day, I do brainstorm constantly and send myself emails and notes on ideas for plotting or foreshadowing or characters. I like listening to music – I can’t say a particular band or group because sometimes a random song will come on and it will fit the scene I am working on perfectly. I could have heard the same song two days ago and not even registered the co-relation. So – the Ipods on shuffle or the radio gets switched to anything and everything ? Right now, I’ve got Adele in the cd player.

(Q) In your ideal world, put in order those of most value to you: true love, family, success at writing, world peace, clean air and water, other.

World Peace (which will help to clean the air/water)

Family (as true love is equal and the same)

Writing success … and a movie made out of one of my books!! J

(Q) What are your writing strengths? Weaknesses?

Dialogue – definitely my strength.

Enough Backstory, skipping time (cause I don’t want to write about the parts that have nothing to do with the main plot of the story), simple character description – those are my weaknesses. I started out having every character stand in front of a mirror. It gets annoying, let me tell you, and I reread the MS too many times to count. I’ve learned and definitely changed that habit!!

(Q) Coffee or tea?

Both! Not in the same cup and always decaf – I’m sure you can tell from this interview I don’t need the caffeine!

(Q) Do you have any new projects that you are working on? If so, what are they?

My agent has two other MSs that we are working on. One is going through a slight rewrite by me and the other is still in the editing phase. And there is always Works in Progress brewing on the backburner.

(Q) What do you do to market your work? How did you start and where do you learn to market?

Rae of Hope is my first published book. I have been learning the tricks of the trade as I go. Social networking is huge, and word of mouth. I’m lucky to have a publisher that knows loads of advertising routes as well. They already have a base so I just chug along for the ride and try my best to add my input. Blog tours are great, book reviews are even better. I also will be scheduling book signings in my area and at Barnes and Nobles shops (I live in Canada, no B&N here… so I’ll be border hopping.)

(Q) If you'd like to add anything, please do so.

Thanks for letting me stop by and visit. You helped with editing the first rounds of RoH so it kinda feels like I’m coming home a bit here. It’s great to be able to share starting projects and then show off the finished project. I’m so excited to see where this road is going to take me.

(Q) How about an excerpt to tantalize the readers?

Chapter 1
Guilder Boarding School

“You can’t undo the past. The sins of the father are the sins of the son, or in this case, daughter.”

Uncle Argyle’s ominous words had echoed in Rae’s head long after he dropped her off at the airport. “A proverb of truth” he had called it. Who spoke like that nowadays? Some good-bye. Tightening her ponytail and futilely trying to tuck her forever-escaping dark curls behind her ears, she looked at her watch, then out the bus window at the tree lined countryside. It seemed strange to see the sun. All she remembered was rain when she had lived in Britain nine years ago.

Trying to get comfortable, Rae tucked her foot up on the seat, and rested her head against her knee as she looked out at the scenery flashing by. A sign outside the window showed the miles before the bus reached Guilder. It’d be another twenty-five minutes. She popped her earbuds in, blew the bangs away from her forehead and stared out the window across the rolling farm fields, trying to let the music from her iPod distract her.

It didn’t work. Just when she felt the tension begin to ease from her shoulders and she started to get into the song, something caught her eye. Black smoke billowed just near the top of a lush green hill. Rae stared, her heart fluttering as an old memory began to take hold. She knew what that smoke meant. She’d seen it before, long ago.

Someone’s house was burning.

Crap, crap crap, no I don’t want to go there. Her heart started racing and her stomach turned over, making her feel nauseous.

Dropping her knee, she gripped the seat in front of her, burying her face in her hands taking deep breathes, like the therapists taught her to do. She’d gone through years of therapy to treat what had been called “panic attacks”. It didn’t matter what other people called it. To her, it was simply hell; like being sucked back in time against her will, to a place she never wanted to revisit. So she breathed the way she’d been taught, slow breathe in, all the way, then slow breath out, all the time chanting it’s not real, it’s not real in her head.

It helped calm her racing heart and made her feel more in control, but it didn’t erase the memory. Nothing on Earth could do that. Being back in England for the first time and seeing the strange smoke, Rae felt six years old all over again. She’d been in the living room coloring with new markers before bed when her mother told her to take them to the tree house her dad had built for her and play there until she called her in. That call never came. The blaze bounced horrific shadows around the inside of the tree house. The stinky black smoke slithered in and scared her little six year old self in ways the monsters under her bed never had.

Rae shuddered and lurched upright, forcefully bringing herself back to the present. Could this school be any further into the sticks? Glancing around the now vacant bus, she wondered if the driver had purposely left her until last. She’d watched the last few people get off at a school about fifteen minutes ago, Roe-something or other. They all looked the same, all pretty girls with blonde hair, not one of them thin, pale, and tall like her. They hadn’t been friendly. Big surprise there… She was used to it. She tended to fly under the radar at best. So she handled them the way she always handled the ones who instantly didn’t like her for no reason she could come up with. Rae avoided making eye contact and tried to appear immersed in the Guilder Boarding School brochure. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to make friends. She’d just never really had any. Most kids her age either didn’t like her or didn’t notice her.

It bugged her that Uncle Argyle had pushed so hard for her to go when Guilder sent the letter. He’d been the one to move them all from Scotland to New York when she’d come to live with them, taking her away from the horrible tragedy of her parents’ death, and now, he suddenly leapt at the chance for her to go back? It didn’t make any sense. It sort of sucked to leave her current high school. She lacked close friends, but she also lacked enemies, which was a plus in her book. The girls there seemed just as stuck up as the ones who’d gotten off the bus earlier, but they’d simply ignored her. Rae always told herself it didn’t matter anyway. Cliques were so passé in her opinion.

Another weird thing that she couldn’t seem to find an answer to was why Guilder would choose her? How did they even know she existed? …

Spellslinger in Multiple Parts IV

2011-11-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Black Friday Weekend: Bad Spelling on sale for only $3.99 at MuseItUp Publishing.

Previously, Rune's old west town had disappeared entirely and he was left stranded on the glacier. Not only that, but the gate into Galdorheim village had disappeared. Rune was definitely in a desperate situation.

SPELLSLINGER - PART IV (Continued from November 19) (Continued from November 12) (Continued from November 5)

He stood, taking a few deep breaths to remind him he was still human, then he quit breathing. His heart stopped beating, blood slowed in his veins. The vampire fever crept into his mind. When he looked up, his flashing red eyes caught sight of the protective bubble. The glimmer of the gate drew his gaze. He swallowed and licked his lips. He leapt toward the gate at inhuman speed, for that was what he was. The vampire reached deep into the legendary past of his species and grabbed hold of an ancient breed, the Fire Vampire of Fthaggua. His body changed to a ball of lightning. The boy who quivered inside this new form whimpered. His last thought was that he loved his mother and hoped she could save him.

This not-Rune creature smashed through the gate and it exploded into flames. He heard a scream and whipped his fiery form toward the sound. He saw only a deep red splotch of light, all else dark except his prey. Blood lust rose up and electricity surged through him. A lightning bolt jetted toward his prey, ready to engulf it and feed from its life force.

The bright white light of his victim separated into three forms, purple, blue, and green. The colors surrounded him and closed in. The hunter became the prey. A boom sounded as the three forms hit Rune at once. Thunder shook the earth, and the flash of multicolored lightning hit him, knocking his fireball to one side. He bent himself like a Beckham soccer ball and splashed down in Lilac’s koi pond next to the rosebush. Rune felt himself cool and his flames dissipate. His vision went black as he lost consciousness.

* * * *

Rune slitted his eyes. He lay in his mother’s arms tightly wrapped in a blanket. Aunt Thordis hovered nearby. His sister’s white face bounced around like a balloon. The healing witch, Glinda, had laid her hands on him and murmured spells. He opened his eyes fully.

Ardyth, his mother, held him closer and wept. Glinda drew back, then stood. “He’ll be fine now.”

The healer moved out of his sight, while Thordis floated nearer. “What happened?” Rune gazed at Thordis. “Your magic quit, then all my magic left. I don’t know why.”

Thordis’s face turned away and she muttered something to someone he couldn’t see. Rune pulled his hand out of the blankets swaddling him and touched his teeth. He was relieved that his canines were back to normal.

“Let the boy up, Ardyth. He’ll be fine.” His mother loosened her hold and Rune sat up.

He touched his head again; it hurt like somebody had laid into him with a frying pan. “I saw the lights. Thordis’s purple, mom’s blue. Who has the orange aura?”

Thordis snorted, then heaved a sigh. “Mordita. She was closest to the gate, so I called on her.”

“Where is she? I’d like to thank her.”

“You can do that later. She went back home right away. You know how she is—a loner.”

Thordis moved to the fireplace in his mother’s home, then faced him. “Where were you exactly when your powers left you?”

Rune thought for a moment, trying to picture where the town had been before it melted away. “I was near the ice cave.”

Thordis glanced at Ardyth who raised her hand to her mouth. She turned back to Rune. “Ah! Well, that explains it then. The ice cave tends to pull the magic right out of a person. The only one who can go there is Kat. She wouldn’t notice whether her magic went away or not.”

“Gee, thanks Aunt Thordis,” Kat said, not attempting to hide the sarcasm. “It’s not my fault if I can’t spell worth a darn.” Kat stomped to the hearth and plopped down with crossed arms.

Rune struggled to his feet, holding the blanket wrapped around his waist. His clothes had disappeared, probably burned to ashes when he’d changed into the Fire Vampire. “Please don’t talk to Kat like that. She can’t help that her magic sucks. You know she’s got plenty.”

“True. But it’d be nice if she could actually do something with it.” Thordis glanced toward her niece. “Sorry. Not your fault.” Rune didn’t think his aunt sounded very sincere.

“I’d like to get dressed now.” Rune headed toward his bedroom, then stopped at the door. “Why couldn’t you tell I was lost out there?”

Thordis’s cheeks turned pink. “I got, ah, busy, but I was going to check on you when the magic booster ran out.”

Rune shook his head. He’d grown up about five years in the last hour. He now knew he could depend only on his own resources. He vowed to double or triple his training to enhance and control his warlock magic. And, more importantly, keep his vampire side in check. No more kid games for him. It was definitely time to get serious about magic.

THE END

I hope you enjoyed all four parts of this story. Remember, leave a comment on any of the parts to win a free copy of BAD SPELLING.

Confessions

2011-11-24T22:58:00.000-08:00

Visit Lindsay Below's lovely blog to read my natterings about writing series.

CONFESSIONS OF AN ACCIDENTAL SERIAL WRITER

I never intended to write any series, but they kind of happened without my acquiescence or thought. My most obvious series is the Witches of Galdorheim, but I will admit to a couple of others that snuck on me. Read the rest here.

Errata

2011-11-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Here's something I've discovered as a reader with a Kindle with that convenient, Make a Note feature.

I should NOT find 25 or more typos in anybody's book. If I find that many, then shame on you, shame on your content editor, shame on your line editor, and shame on whoever else read your work and didn't bother to tell you that your work was loaded with incorrect words, typos, and other junk.

I'm not perfect. I am convinced, after thirty-five years experience writing and editing technical documentation, there is ALWAYS one more typo. It's a Law of the Universe.

But there needn't be these type of mistakes. All are easily searched and corrected.

- Lightening and lightning are different words. Figure it out..
- There, their, and they're are different. Figure it out.
- Sited and cited are different. Figure it out.
- Speared and spurred are different. Figure it out.
- Passed and past are different. Figure it out.
- Sceptical is the UK spelling; skeptical is US. Figure it out.
- Cabaret is correct; caberet is not. Figure it out.
- Pendant is not the same as pendent. Figure it out.
- Surly and surely mean different things. Figure it out.
- Worse and worst have different contexts. Figure it out.
- Do I even need to mention it's and its? Apparently so. Figure it out.
- Bare and bear have different meanings. Figure it out.
- Your and you're are not interchangeable. Figure it out.
- Breath and breathe and different. Figure it out.

That's just a short list. When I read your book for review, then I will be knocking 1/2 star off for every 20 occurrences I find of these errors. Well, probably not since I'm such a nice person. But, please. Figure. It. Out.

Light Up the Holidays on Mark of the Stars

2011-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Jessica Subject has put together a great Holidays line-up of SF related posts. This is just a heads up to keep an eye on Mark of the Stars blog in December. Here's the schedule of authors. Most (including myself) will show up on Jessica's blog, but I've included the links to the authors' websites so you can check them out on their home turf:

December 1 – D.L. Jackson http://www.authordljackson.com/

December 2 – Lisa Lane http://www.cerebralwriter.com/

December 5 – Gini Koch http://ginikoch.com/

December 6 – Heather Massey http://www.heathermassey.com/

December 7 – Jessica E. Subject @ 30 Days of Decadence Holiday Blog http://30daysofdecadence.blogspot.com/

December 8 – Rebecca Royce http://rebeccaroyce.com/

December 9 – Bella Street http://www.bellastreetwrites.com/

December 12 – Sara Brookes http://www.sarabrookes.net/

December 13 – Maureen O. Betita http://maureenobetita.com/

December 14 – Jessica E. Subject @ Jennifer Lane’s blog http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com/ & TRS Book-a-day Giveaway

December 15 – Ann Mayburn http://www.annmayburn.com/

December 16 – Jeanette Grey http://www.jeanettegrey.com/

December 19 – Melisse Aires http://www.melisseaires.com/

December 20 – Diane Dooley http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/

December 22 – Azura Ice http://ablueice.wordpress.com/

December 23 – Eve Langlais http://www.evelanglais.com/

December 27 – Ella Drake http://elladrake.com/

December 28 – Cathy Pegau http://www.cathypegau.com/

December 29 – Marva Dasef http://marvadasef.com/default.aspx

December 30 – Misa Buckley http://misabuckley.com/

See you there!

SF Contario 2 - A Big Success

2011-11-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

Joanne Elder, author of SF thriller, SPECTRA was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. She attended the University of Western Ontario where she earned a Masters degree in Engineering Science. As a Professional Engineer, she spent several years in the aeronautical industry, and thereafter assumed a research position in the nuclear industry. Joanne has published numerous technical papers. On July 1st, 2011 Joanne’s debut novel Spectra was released with MuseItUp Publishing, the first novel in the Spectra Series.

Living in King City, Ontario, Joanne spends her time writing science fiction thrillers—those which will leave readers on the edge of their seats and their minds spinning in amazement.

About SPECTRA:

Light years away from Earth a mining exploration crew makes an amazing discovery…intelligent life comprised entirely of energy. This living energy is so pure and unique, it could provide proof of the existence of the human soul. Those exposed to the entities gain unimaginable cognitive abilities but at a terrible cost.

A rogue scientific group will do anything to maintain the mind enhancing gifts, even if it leads to the destruction of the peaceful beings.

Only two people stand in their way, and they will sacrifice everything to end the slaughter.

Could the quest for the secrets of life lead to the creation of true evil; one so dark it threatens to tear down the walls of sanity and redefine our very existence?

Buy Spectra at MuseItUp Publishing

SF Contario 2 Report

For fans and writers of Canadian Science Fiction, the place to be this past weekend was the SFContario 2! Lots of big name authors were seen cruising the halls, putting on workshops, and stopping to chat. The Guest of Honour for the event was John Scalzi. I attended a workshop on the business of writing and he was there to provide lots of advice on the dos and don’ts in finding an agent or publisher, and the contract negotiations, marketing and advertising that follow.

Then there were the Aurora Awards… Once again, internationally renowned, award winning author Robert Sawyer took the award for the Best English Novel, this time for his novel Wake. I was happy to be able to meet him and offer my congratulations at the end of the day. Best Related Work went to The Dragon and the Stars, a collection edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi. Congratulations to them, but personally I was routing for Douglas Smith’s, Chimerascope. I’m sitting looking at an autographed copy of Smith’s book as I write this.

For me I’d have to say the most entertaining part of the weekend was SF Contario’s version of Idol. A panel of judges were present to critique the opening page of several manuscripts submitted. Yikes!!! They were ruthless, hilarious and insightful with their comments. Kudos to the brave authors who submitted. Personally, I was too chicken.

All in all, it was a great weekend and I’m looking forward to next year’s SF Contario 3.

Joanne Elder
Author of Science Fiction Thriller, SPECTRA
http://www.sciencefictionthrillers.com/

Nanowrimo Tips

2011-11-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm not Nano-ing this year, I'm still full of opinions. Matter of fact, a whole lot of writers are giving out tips this month on The Writers Rainbow blog. There's a new tip posted every day.

As you can see from this badge, the last time I actually completed my Nanowrimo task (50,000 words in one month) was way back in 2006. I've tried a couple of other years and failed for various reasons (I'm sure they were perfectly good reasons).

My one WINNER became a teen adventure novella, "Eagle Quest." Set in the Klamath Wildlife Preserves in southern Oregon, a group of teens hike into the Eagle nesting site at Bear Lake Preserve, only to run into more than one danger, plus several shady characters.

The Kindle edition is only 99 cents on Amazon. The paperback is still a bargain for $6.49 on Amazon.

My Tip for Writers's Rainbow is still preserved in the final book (which is now much shorter than 50K). Since it's a self-pub (ahem, INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER TALKING HERE), the cover is pretty basic. I don't believe in spending money for covers and typesetting. I'm a DIY self-pubber; no vanity presses for me. I don't pay anybody for anything I can do myself (with the help of some terrific crit partners catching my typos).

Voting Begins Today on You Gotta Read VIdeos

2011-11-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Click over to You Gotta Read Videos between now and the 28th (or so). I'd appreciate your vote for #11, BAD SPELLING.

Here's a fun slide from the trailer:

Spellslinger in Multiple Parts III

2011-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Previously, Rune had created his town and had it out with Black Bart. That's when things started getting weird. Really, really weird.

SPELLSLINGER - PART III (Continued from November 12) (Continued from November 5)

Inside, he slid his back down against the wall and peeked under the swinging door. The steel monster was nowhere in sight. He heaved a sigh, and pushed himself up. He really needed a sarsaparilla something awful. But the bartender, the cowboys, and even the saloon gal had disappeared. His mouth dropped open as the bar and the shelves behind it began to drip like burning candles, the wax pooling on the floor.

He tried to stop the melting, but he couldn’t feel the boost of Thordis’s magic. The walls became hazy, then transparent. The glacier rose behind the fast disappearing structure. He glanced at his wrist, activating his built-in magic watch. “Crud. No way is two hours up. Aunt Thordis gypped me.” He tried to rebuild the saloon. When that didn’t work, he changed his western shirt into a heavy anorak with a fur-lined hood. The saloon melted away, and he stood freezing on the glacier.

He searched for any vestige of his western town. Nothing. With tears stinging his eyes from both cold air and disappointment, he began to trudge toward the shimmering bubble protecting the village from the arctic cold.

As he neared, he glanced around trying to find the gate. From the village side, it appeared to be a simple garden gate with a morning glory vine twining around it. From the glacier side, it was barely visible. Mundanes couldn’t see the bubble, much less the gate, but it should have been clear to Rune. It wasn’t where he remembered it. Frantically, he trotted up to the bubble, rubbed his hands where he thought the gate should be. He then moved to his left carefully searching for the extra sparkle encircling the gate. Then he ran back the other way. The gate was nowhere, gone, kaput, disappeared.

Rune stood still, a tiny, sharp edge of anxiety gnawed at his thudding heart. It was only then he realized he was completely and utterly drained of magic. As the bubble faded away, he dropped to his knees and held his face with his hands. He gulped, fighting back the tears, but the sobs rose unbidden in his chest, and he couldn’t hold them back.

When his knees began to freeze, he choked back his crying and stood up. He calmed himself, trying to think this through. Aunt Thordis wouldn’t abandon him out on the glacier, would she? Surely, she’ll be opening the gate any minute, calling him into the village’s warmth. But how long might that take? Maybe she was busy with Council work or taking a nap. He had to find his own way back into the village or risk freezing to death. He didn’t have long before the cold would overtake and drag him down into a final sleep.

All the kids were taught early on that they shouldn’t go out onto the glacier by themselves. It was dangerous, even stupid. He counted on the magic Thordis had pumped into him to work, but for some reason it had disappeared. Why would that happen? It couldn’t be lack of power on her part; she was the strongest witch in the village. It must be something about himself or where he was that caused the magic to go away.

Rune had only one option left. He had to let his vampire out. He’d been trained since he could barely toddle to hold that part of him inside, to never let it out. Mostly, he succeeded, but only because his family kept all temptations away from him. He was not allowed to see human blood. He’d been magically blinded more than once when a witch accidentally cut herself. His mother and aunt had swaddled him in a deep layer of binding to prevent his vampire from coming out. He still had to have blood, but his mother controlled him when he received his daily ration of animal blood.

Now, he had to fight off the damping spell that kept his vampire half in check. With his warlock magic gone, all he had left was the hot blood of the vampire. Vampire speed, vampire senses, vampire strength. But he knew the consequences. If he surrendered to the bloodsucker, then nobody would be safe around him. Even at his age, a vampire is a dangerous creature. He could only hope that the witches inside the village would recognize him and take the appropriate drastic measures. He shuddered, fully understanding it might include his death. But staying outside was out of the question.

TO BE CONTINUED ON NOVEMBER 26TH

My OTHER Books - Quest for the Simurgh

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

Another of my neglected books is "Quest for the Simurgh."

I like the cover picture which comes from an old Arabic text on animals. The bird? Yes, that's a simurgh. The red is also a very nice color for a Christmas present. The reading level is 5th-8th grades.

The book is available in print and ebook on Amazon.

Print Edition is only $6.99.

Kindle Edition is only 99 cents.

The village magician has gone missing. His four pupils think he has left a clue to his whereabouts in the Magicalis Bestialis--the book of magical creatures. They must seek the help of the elusive Simurgh, the mythical birds who know all the secrets of the universe.

However, this is not an easy camping trip into the mountains. Spirits, gods, and demons confront the four friends, who are not aware they’re being set up by otherworldly forces for a much larger task.

The adventurers--a farmer’s daughter, a slave, an orphan and, a rich merchant’s son--although divided by Dev, the evil god of war, must band together to find the Simurgh, rescue their teacher, and stave off Armageddon.

Holiday Blog Hop

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Beginning December 4th, a multi-author blog hop is off and ... hopping!

The full schedule of authors is available on Jo Ramsey's Blog.

Each author will write a post about either a book they received that had a big impact on their life or a book they have given which impacted the lives of another.

In addition, each author is giving away a free book to a commenter AND donating a book to their local library or school in the honor of the winner.

Stay tuned for further developments.

I'll post the full schedule of bloggers with links to their touching and/or hilarious gifting.

Chase by Larion Wills

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

CHASE
by Larion Wills
Despite the threat of prison or death, Chase had to know, did he have a child or had Tiffany lied again.

Eighteen and in deep trouble, Chase is given a choice, keep his mouth shut about the beating they gave him and leave town or go to prison for rape. Twelve years later he can’t leave the doubt alone. Was Tiffany pregnant? Discovering Tiffany didn’t lie, at least that time, he returned. Suffering the lengths they went to be rid of him, he knows what they’d do if they saw him. Only wanting to see the boy, from a distance, not cause trouble, he never expecting to be allowed anywhere near the child. He gets a startling invitation to stay with disturbing results. Tiffany disappeared years before, both her parents are dead, all three under suspicious circumstances. The lone family survivor, Tiffany’s younger sister, inherited the family fortune and his son. Grateful to Sydney for the care she gives Ryan, fascinated by her, he can’t help seeing something is not right even before he’s told were there enough evidence, she’d be on trial for murder.

My guest today is the double-named Ms. Wills. She writes a variety of genres, so uses a different name to differentiate them. I think you can pronounce the names more or less the same. Now on to the Q&A:

(Q) Hi Larriane aka Larion! Thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, please tell our readers where they can find you.

My website where I love visitors and something besides spam advertising in my guestbook

Facebook: Friend me anytime.

I also write a blog appearing on the first of each month at: All Day/All Night writing Divas where you can never tell what will happen with other authors showing up on their days.

(Q) Tell everyone a bit about your books including buy links.

Amazon is a good all in one place for all of my books as they’re a bit scattered with different publishers.

For the book I’m going to tell you about today, you can go straight to the publisher: MuseItUp Publishing

(Q) You write multiple genres. Where do the concepts for your variety of books come from?

Ummm, I wonder how many authors are asked that question and have a brain freeze when it comes to answering. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one. Sometimes I can answer. A phrase pops into my head or incidence occurs that set a story off. Other times an idea kind of stews around and connects with other ideas floating around in there. In many I include several aspects of something I’ve experienced or observed, but they became background, not the main story.

One day while driving and thinking about Halloween, the sentence “It was my birthday,” popped into my head. From where? I have no idea, but Evil Reflection evolved from it. It’s Still Tomorrow was the result of a trilogy I enjoyed reading so much, I wanted to create my own story of a witch with a sense of humor while adding in suspense.

The westerns? You can probably blame Louis for those, along with living in a history rich area of Arizona. The country around here is the home base for many of my stories, western and contemporary.

Science fiction? Hey, you’re hearing from someone who never missed Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate—is it beginning to sound like my head full of stars? I won’t even try to list the books I read in that genre. Space travel, time travel, even travel between dimensions has always fascinated me. My first published effort with space ship is Looking Glass Portal. You’ll have to read it and decide for yourself if it actually involved space travel.

As for fantasy, I could tell you I was lazy and didn’t want to research to write a period piece, but the truth is, this world’s history didn’t fit with the story running around in my head. The solution, of course, was to create a world of my own. If you read The Knowing, (mine, not the one made into a movie—they took my title) you may recognize some similarities to our world only.

For Chase, I truly do not remember what started that particular story. Maybe one of the times I caught myself counting the handfuls of spilled cereal and telling myself, no one, including me, cared how many handfuls it took to gather it up but still I kept counting. I’ve often wondered how frustrating it must be for someone with OCD, obsessive/compulsive/disorder to watch while their hands keep doing something no matter how many times their head tells them to stop.

Being me, I had to mix in a bit of suspense. If they were threatened, how would they cope with it? How would they interact with others? Oh, and who could react well or badly with them?

(Q) What inspires you?

Inspiration-or ideas-can come from anywhere. As for the original question, when I read, I find myself wondering a well, where every did he or she get the idea for this story? I’m impressed and awed at times with detail and complexity and find myself wishing I could write a story like that. Perhaps that’s the real inspiration, or at least a catalyst, to sit down and start writing, dragging out details buried in the subconscious of observations, researching to be sure the details are accurate, fitting them together like a giant jigsaw puzzle to turn them into something enjoyable for others to read. I’ve had other authors tell me they nearly ran off the road when a piece they’d been trying to find the right place for finally fit. Others, more than I can count, have talked about being unable to sleep for the bits swirling around waiting to be grabbed and slid into place or for that one little bridge to make them fit.

(Q) What advice can you give to writers, both unpublished and published?

Another question I’m often asked is ‘How can I become a better writer?’ I’m going to paraphrase a quote from a man whose name nearly everyone recognizes even if they don’t read his writing, Stephen King. ‘Read everything you can read and write, write, write.’ Although I don’t agree or practice his style of writing, a nine to five type, that one phrase stuck with me after reading his book, Stephen King on Writing. Everything you read teaches you on a subliminal level, ‘ugh, that stinks’ or ‘oh, wow, I wish I could write like that.’ Everything you write is practice. Then, of course, you have to edit. I don’t care how good you are, it’s never perfect. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, and keep on saying it; edit is not a dirty word. Every time you edit you’re getting a grammar, punctuation, and composition lesson. Learn from them. That’s an order I give myself and attempt to pass on.

(Q) How about an excerpt from Chase to pique readers' interest.

Despite the threat of prison or death, Chase had to know, did he have a child or had Tiffany lied again.

Eighteen and in deep trouble, Chase is given a choice, keep his mouth shut about the beating they gave him and leave town or go to prison for rape. Twelve years later he can’t leave the doubt alone. Was Tiffany pregnant? Discovering Tiffany didn’t lie, at least that time, he returned. Suffering the lengths they went to be rid of him, he knows what they’d do if they saw him. Only wanting to see the boy, from a distance, not cause trouble, he never expected to be allowed anywhere near the child. He gets a startling invitation to stay with disturbing results. Tiffany disappeared years before, both her parents are dead, all three under suspicious circumstances. The lone family survivor, Tiffany’s younger sister, inherited the family fortune and his son. Grateful to Sydney for the care she gives Ryan, fascinated by her, he can’t help seeing something is not right even before he’s told were there enough evidence, she’d be on trial for murder.

Billmore gave a snort. “Getting involved with her is not a good idea, Ryan. She’s a worse mess than Tiffany ever was. Between the school, things like football, and church, we all keep a pretty tight monitor on that kid of yours. She takes good care of him for whatever her reasons.”

“Don’t tell me you’re buying into Reed’s theory.”

“If you knew her better, you wouldn’t think it’s so farfetched. She gets an idea in her head, and she never lets it go. As long as she stays on her meds and doesn’t feel threatened, she seems to be okay.” He hesitated, took a breath and spoke with determination. “I could never prove a thing, but my advice to you is do not do anything to set her off and get out of here before she decides either you’re a threat to her in some way or she isn’t going to get what she wants out of you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t want any more unexplained disappearances or deaths. I can’t prove she had anything to do with Tiffany’s disappearance or her parents’ accident, but my gut tells me she did.”

“Tiffany called the other night.”

Billmore scoffed. “Right, I played that game with her for awhile. Wasn’t anyone on the other end, right? Ask her sometime to show you how the phone program on her computer works and can be set to dial a number any time.”

He gave a good spit. “Nearest we could figure was she and Tiffany got into it over the baby. Sydney wanted it, and Tiffany wouldn’t let her have it. They were screaming bloody murder over it one night, and the next Tiffany disappeared.”

“You’re crazy.”

“No, but Sydney is, crazy, smart, and tricky. Her father kicked her out because he was afraid to have her in his house anymore. She had the kid so things went along pretty good until she went back, demanding money from him when she’d tapped out the trust fund from her grandmother. Cain was strapped and couldn’t come up with what she wanted. He called me after she left, scared out of his skull. She threatened to kill both of them, and guess what, two days later they were both dead. Tiffany disappeared years before, presumed dead by everyone around here, both parents end up dead, the order of their deaths a little too convenient, and who’s left to inherit it all?”

Melisse Aires - Ten Reasons to Try Steampunk

2011-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Melisse writes Steampunk Romance (duh!). Here are her reasons why you should read Steampunk. By the way, I'm becoming a steampunk fan, partly because of the Firefly, which isn't 19th C., but is so steampunky in tone. I'll really happy to have Melisse on-blog today.

Ten Reasons to Try Steampunk

1 Victorian clothes are so cool.
2 It is the only genre that might pair a governess with a Space captain.
3 You are a secret Browncoat.
4 The Mad Scientist might be the nerdy but hawt hero.
5 Robots and Flying machines abound.
6 Fine hand-embroidered undergarments add a nice touch to love scenes.
7 Your Gallant Hero might pack a laser gun.
8 You enjoy grand adventure in your romance.
9 You secretly desired Dr. Emmet and Clara Brown's Hovertrain in Back to the Future III

10 A Lady can be resourceful and use her parasol, laser or hatpin in sticky situations.

I hope you will give it a whirl. My Steampunks/spacewestern:

The Starlander Frontier Book 1:

Starlander's Myth

Rangy, handsome Jack Starlander--his plan to live as an isolated asteroid miner is foiled by widow ladies. Story includes a gyphon shifter heroine, slavers, a shoot out, widows, small and illegal children, a strange space beast and hot steamy love. Also, bustles and corsets!

*Buy*
*Kindle*

Please check my blog for upcoming steampunk fun: http:melisseaires.blogspot.com

Excerpt

Jack Starlander crept silently over the rocky outcrop to see what was happening on the other side. The newcomers hadn't been quiet at all. Of course, sounds tended to magnify and distort under the bubble. It sounded like an army of flyers descending, but it was really only four.

Now what was that? A woman and a child, both dressed in the latest frilly fashion seen dirtside, surrounded by a bunch of armed men. Not saloon style clothes on the woman, either. Her shirtwaist buttoned clear up to her neck, with no bare flesh at all except her face and hands. The child wore a pink ruffled pinafore over her blue dress, her hair was well kept, curled into ringlets, held back from her face by a floppy pink bow. You didn’t see well cared for kids among the saloon whores. They tended to be wild little beasts in rags, looking to pick pockets or beg for cryst chips.

The woman sat the child down on a large flat-topped rock and watched the men.

These all looked like city dwellers from Hogtie or Abercrombie; well fed, well dressed and well armed, except for two young men. Worker bees. Jack ducked behind a rock. Why was a group of armed men on that empty claim? Were they after him? Records would give his name as being the claim holder of the adjoining property. Why bring a woman and child out to this deserted place?

They didn't need to know he was overhearing their business. He pulled on his protector hood, not because the bubble had a breach, but because the hood had vision enhancing goggles with audio amplification.

He crawled back up the rock, keeping his head low, and found a better spot to observe the group. He could see more details now. The woman was young, with golden blonde hair. Her gown had layers of ruffles over the rear, the latest puffed-out style, which he didn’t care for at all. He liked to get a sense of a woman’s actual shape down below. She looked nervous and held the little girl’s hand tightly. Why the heck would anyone bring a woman and child out to a mining claim?

Jack recognized Galto, a mining official who’d approved his claim here on Yonder Beltway 7, the asteroid that the Collingwood Mining Company had bubbled for mining. They'd got lucky here. There'd been enough ice to form wells and pools once they'd heated things up so they didn't have to import water. Collingwood was making good profits here, but then so was he. He had a nose for cryst. But Galto was not a man to be trusted. Not that any mining officials were. That was why he had half of his haul stuck to a rock in space too small to be noticed by the mining company.

A finely dressed man with a thick gold chain suspended across his protuberant belly, covered in a bright green waistcoat, hobnobbed with Galto. Jewels flashed on his fingers, tie tack and cuff links, and he sported a thick white handlebar mustache. Whiskers were all the style but Jack kept his face military smooth with a shave every morning. Army ways were hard to shake. Even Galto now sported a thin mustache, which looked out of place on his well fed face.

The two simply dressed men rode cheap flyers, the kind that had to enhance their power cell lift with pedal action. Quite tiring on a long journey and this claim was pretty far from the spaceport. They were both big fellows, heavily muscled. Goons. Well armed goons, he amended when he saw their side arms. The woman and child were the only ones in this little group who were unarmed. Interesting.

“Well, I enjoy working with an educated client, such as yourself, Mr. Galto,” the finely dressed man said in a hearty voice. “You are so right, sirrah! Traditionally the gryphon hunted gold. But I have trained this young woman myself to find cryst. Let me demonstrate. Please allow Yurgy here to hide these bags of cryst.” He handed Galto cloth bags. “If you search the bags you will see that some are high grade ore, some are very poor grade.”

“Come here, Mrs. Farrel.” The woman got the child down from the rock and the child clung to her skirt. The mustached man pulled out a scarf and blindfolded the woman. “Here, friend Galto, please check this cloth yourself to verify that it will blind Mrs. Farrel adequately.”

Galto checked the blindfold and appeared to be satisfied.

“You, sir.” Mr. Mustache waggled his jaw at one of the young armed men who accompanied them. “Take these bags of cryst and take off and drop the ore one by one in those rock hills in the distance. Then we'll see my girl do what she's trained to do.” He turned to the young man on the flier. “Oh, and young man? Bury those samples. We all know cryst is rarely found on the ground just waiting to be picked up, don’t we?”

The man flew off with the bags and was soon out of sight.

Jack decided the child must be the woman’s daughter. Though their coloring was different, their facial features were alike. The little girl pressed closer to her mother. What was their role in all this? Perhaps she was the wife of the mustache? Odd that a man of business would bring a woman and child to a place like this. They seemed nervous or afraid, too.

“Now, this is an exceptionally secret procedure, Mr. Galto. Assure me again that we are in a secluded area. I don’t want to have to shoot some miner who stumbles on our little exhibition.”

“Nothing to worry about, Mr. Snurr. The claim over that ridge is Jack Starlander's but he's got a nice vein of cryst on the far side of his land that'll keep him busy for some time. We are unobserved.”

Jack didn’t appreciate Galto knowing so much about his operation but he was a mite pleased Galto was wrong about his whereabouts.

“Starlander? One of the infamous Starlanders?”

“Oh, a cousin or relative, I think. Not the main family. No doubt using the name for clout.”

Jack grinned, Galto was wrong on all points. Yeah, his vein of cryst was making him rich. That's why he’d bought the robots. They could work without supervision, giving him time to sniff out another vein.

The young flier returned after a bit and Galto retrieved a cloth out of his bag. “Here Gentlemen. Stretch this out between you and turn your backs on Mrs. Farrel, please. She has to disrobe for the transformation.”

“You know what to do, Mrs. Farrel.” Not married to the fat man.

The young woman walked behind the sheet, though from Jack’s angle he could see her from the side. She proceeded to disrobe all the way to what nature had given her. Whoa, not expecting a sight like this. Jack felt heat in his face and other places, too. She was perfectly formed and the corset barely made any difference in her high-breasted lithe figure. She took her bright gold hair down from its low bun and it fell to her waist in a gleaming ripple.

The golden hair seemed to grow. He stared in fascination as her skin turned from pale tan to gold, then wings appeared with golden feathers. Strong legs with claws. A hot damn gryphon shifter! He’d heard about them, they were legends in mining camps, but never thought they actually existed.

“Fetch the cryst, Mrs. Farrel,” Snurr said. He picked the little girl up. The little girl held herself rigidly away from the man and looked on the verge of tears but made no sound.

With a swish of powerful wings the gryphon launched into the air. For such a large creature its flight was graceful. Jack suspected the gryphon was incredibly strong.

The child was the insurance that she would comply, he guessed.

A few minutes later, the gryphon returned with the cryst bags in its beak and claws. It dropped them at Mr. Snurr’s feet.

“Please verify if these are the chunks I had Yurgy hide.”

Galto inspected the bags inside and out. “The very ones.”

“Very good, sir!” Mr. Snurr sounded delighted. His rich voice was beginning to grate on Jack’s ears. “Is she not just as valuable as I told you?”

“Indeed.” Galto said. “I'll take her at the price we agreed upon.”

Slavers. God he hated those!

The men shook hands. “She'll do what you want to keep the child safe.” Snurr said. “I've only used her to hunt cryst, but she's an attractive woman. Wouldn’t you agree? I'm sure you can find some good use of her. The child might be of profit too. Resembles her mother and might have that rare gryphon heredity.”

Oh, now for sure they just need to die.

My OTHER Books - First Duty and Ultimate Duty

2011-11-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

I wrote two books with the same plot and characters. The first, "First Duty," is a YA level novella. It was originally published by Sam's Dot Publishing in print form only in 2008. I wanted to turn it into an ebook, so when my contract expired, I did a bit more editing and published it as an ebook and print book with a new cover. The blurb for both books is similar, so I'll just put it here once. The heroine's name is Nyra in First Duty and Remy in Ultimate Duty.

Oath or love...What is her ultimate duty?

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

FIRST DUTY

Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble EPub editions cost only 99 cents.

The print edition is also available from Amazon and B&N. I just dropped the price on the print, but it might take awhile for the lower price to catch up on B&N. At Amazon, print is now $6.99.

At Barnes & Noble, it's $8.99 as of today, but the price should drop soon.

ULTIMATE DUTY

I got to know some CDSF writers (character-driven science fiction) and thought that my plot, characters, and the bit of romance in the book suited it to another reworking. I added 22K words of action and some fairly hot sex. I changed the title to "Ultimate Duty" and most of the character names as well. I submitted this book to Eternal Press and it is now for sale at the usual on-line stores.

Note that this book did receive 9th Place (which placed it in award category) at the Preditors and Editors readers poll. So I guess a few people liked it well enough to vote it up over a few dozens of other SF books.

Since it's longer and published through a pro publisher, it costs more to buy the the novella.

At Amazon, the Kindle edition is $6.69.

The Amazon print edition varies quite a bit. It dropped down to around $4 a couple of weeks ago, so I bought a copy for myself. That was a better price than I could get with my discount with Eternal Press.

Immediately, the print price jumped up to $12.94. Such are the mysteries of Amazon pricing. I guess I should have bought a couple of copies when I had the chance.

Barnes & Noble EPUB is $5.56. Not too bad with the discount. However, the B&N print price is higher at $13.94.

Spellslinger in Multiple Parts II

2011-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Previously, Rune had borrowed some magic from his Aunt Thordis to build his simulation of a western town so he could play at being Sheriff.

SPELLSLINGER - PART II (continued from November 5th)

When the half-town was completed to his satisfaction, Rune spent a moment admiring his handiwork. Then he remembered he only had a couple of hours before the illusion would fade, and he’d be left standing out on a glacier at fifty below zero.

He got his best swagger on, and headed for the saloon. On the way, he added spurs to jingle, jangle, jingle while he walked. He pushed open the swinging door and looked around the smoke-filled room. Deciding he didn’t like that, he cleared the air and added No Smoking signs to the walls.

Rune looked left and added a stairway going up to nowhere. He plunked a piano with a mustached player under the steps. A tinny version of Buffalo Gals overlaid the background chatter. Glancing at the bar, he added a barkeep with a white apron polishing glasses. On the customer side of the bar, he conjured a few cowboys hefting mugs of beer. Looking to his right, he set up a poker table with more cowboys. One player was garbed in a black suit, black hat, black tie, black hair, a black cigar (unlit), and a black pencil-thin mustache. The villain.

Taking a step, Rune paused, and then snapped his fingers. “Right. The saloon gal.” She appeared standing next to the villain with her arm draped over his shoulders. Nodding with satisfaction, Rune clanked toward the poker table. He had to get the action going pretty soon or he’d run out of play time.

“Black Bart,” Rune said with a throaty growl, “I told ya to stay outta my town. Now I’m gonna have ta bring ya in.”

Black Bart jumped to his feet and pulled a derringer from his waistcoat. Rune liked the brocade vest and quickly added a watch chain. Black Bart obligingly stood still waiting for Rune to complete Bart’s stylish outfit.

Rune drew his own gun from its holster. “Don’t make this any harder than it has ta be, Bart.”

“You’ll never take me alive, Sheriff Rune!” Bart pulled the dance hall girl in front of him as a shield. The girl shrieked and grasped the arm encircling her neck.

Rune lowered his pistol. “You can’t hold onto her forever, Bart.”

The villain sneered and dragged the girl across the saloon floor toward the swinging doors. “I can hold her long enough to get out of here.” Rune snapped a glance at the saloon gal, and she put on a show of struggling. When Bart reached the door, he shoved the girl away from him and fled into the street.

Rune chased after him, but stopped a moment to help the girl to her feet. She gave him a simpering smile and a wink. Rune jerked away. “Eww! I didn’t make that up.” Then he forgot about the girl and dashed into the street just as Black Bart mounted his horse—a black horse, of course—ready to ride out of town.

Rune raised his pistol, but knew he couldn’t shoot Bart until the bad guy shot first. It’d be against all good guy rules. Bart obliged by raising his derringer and firing a round at Rune, who easily ducked to the side. The bullet smashed into the wood door jamb. Bart jerked his horse’s head around, and dug his spurs (when did Bart get spurs?) into the steed’s ribs. The horse leapt forward putting Bart’s back to Rune. Good guy rules kicked in again. He couldn’t shoot somebody in the back, even if they were fleeing.

He had to stand and watch Bart’s horse gallop to the end of the illusion and disappear. Rune jammed his pistol back into his holster. This wasn’t right. He should have come out of the saloon after Bart, who’d be standing in the street, then they’d have a shoot out like he had imagined. Bart wasn’t supposed to run. For that matter, Bart shouldn’t have had a horse tied out front at all.

The street stood empty except for Rune. There were people here before; he just had to get them back in place. He closed his eyes and concentrated, imagining the old west folk with their buckboards, cowboys riding down the street on horses. He opened his eyes. Then his mouth dropped open. There were people all right, but not what they should be. Two men dressed in black leather jackets stood next to their Harley Davidson motorcycles. A woman leaned against the wall by the saloon door. Her silver, skin-tight outfit was so not western, and her wraparound silver sunglasses were definitely not. Rune flinched.

He turned around to see his carefully constructed town melting and morphing into something entirely different, a melange of different centuries, none of them the old west he had envisioned. “What the...?” Shaking his head in confusion, Rune disappeared the bikers and the, what was she? A woman from the future or something from a movie he’d watched, he couldn’t tell.

A lightning swift conjure restored the clapboard town. It now milled with cowboys with Stetsons and six-shooters and ladies in long skirts, their petticoats swishing the dust.

Rune scanned the street for any more out-of-place people. Satisfied that only the old west people remained, he turned to go back to the saloon. A horrible metal-shrieking sound made him whip back around. A Conestoga wagon, appearing out of nowhere, began wrenching and twisting, then rising and transforming.

“Aw, jeez! You’ve got to be kidding!” Rune yelled staring up into the face of the impossible robot. Rune grabbed at his holster and drew his wand instead of the gun. He cast a spell toward the metallic giant, but it didn’t poof away. Instead, it took a gut-wrenching, clanging step in his direction. Rune ran for the saloon.

TO BE CONTINUED ON NOVEMBER 19TH

Bad Spelling Trailer on You Gotta Read Videos

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today, the Bad Spelling trailer is featured on You Gotta Read Videos.

Voting begins on the 21st. To be honest, I'm sure my trailer won't win. I'd like to tell you why.

Votes are gathered by the authors by major campaigning via internet and mailing lists. Authors who've been around awhile or are gung ho marketers will find more votes than shy marketers with small mailing lists.

On the trailers, I personally don't vote for any professionally produced trailers. I like it when an author on a shoestring budget (as most of us are) puts together the best trailer they can manage. Choice of appropriate music, clarity of the words on the slides, appropriate stock art or photos are all tools writers have available to them.

Length of a trailer also drives my vote. I've set 1:30 minutes (one minute and 30 seconds) as a prime length target. A few seconds one way or the other is fine, however, I'm not going to vote for your three minute opus. That's just too long to hold my attention. Brevity is the soul of wit as aptly said by Polonius (actually, by Will Shakespeare).

Now, I am running one too long, so I'll end with a plea to take a look at my trailer today (the 11th is easily remembered and a very popular movie release date this year). And when voting begins on the 21st, I humbly ask for your vote.

So, here's my trailer so you don't even have to click over until voting time:

Basquing on the Blog

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

November is all about food and good books on JQ Rose's blog. Look for my recipe and an excerpt from my murder mystery, "Missing, Assumed Dead," on November 9th.

I'll be serving up a Basque-style Chicken and Chorizo recipe.

No Bad Spelling with Bad Spelling

2011-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today, my MG fantasy, BAD SPELLING, is featured on Teen Word Factory.

This blog features many MG/YA books, as well as information useful to teen writers and writers who write for teens.

Operated by Rebecca Ryals Russell, she opens the forum to many writers to provide information not only about teen appropriate books, but also tips, hints, and techniques.

If you haven't added Teen Word Factory to your "Follow" list and you write for MG or YA audiences, then you'd better do so today. Starting small, but this will be a growing venue for the genres beloved by all of us who are young (or at least young at heart).

My OTHER Books - Tales of a Texas Boy

2011-11-06T08:11:00.000-08:00

I'll take the this lull in the regularly scheduled program to tell you about some of my books that have been out in the world for some time. I tend to neglect the poor things.

Tales of a Texas Boy - Large Print makes a really great Christmas present for those who are still spry, yet their danged glasses don't work as well as they should. My mom's like that. With her progressive lenses, the world in general is more or less clear, but the tiny spot left to the reading part of the lens is difficult for her to find.

The 18Pt type is eyesight-impaired friendly. I can even read it without my glasses.

The trim size (dimensions) is an easier-to-hold 9.7 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches with 138 pages. It's priced at only $8.99, which is a freaking bargain for a print book these days.

I've lowered the price on the print copy to $8.99 and it's eligible for free shipping and handling from Amazon.

Tales is also available as a regular print trade paperback for $6.49 and the 99 cent ebook of course.

How do you handle a crazy jackass? Eddie knows. If you ask Eddie, he'll tell you pigs can fly and show you where to find real mammoth bones. Take his word for it when he tells you always to bet on the bear. These are things he learned while dreaming of becoming a cowboy in West Texas during the Depression. Through Eddie, the hero of "Tales of a Texas Boy," we find that growing up is less about maturity and more about roping your dreams. Hold on tight. It's a bumpy ride. A wonderful read for anyone who enjoys books like "Little House on the Prairie" or "Tom Sawyer." A great bit of nostalgia for seniors, too. Bonus story included.

Spellslinger in Multiple Parts

2011-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

While Nano is going on, many writers are madly trying to churn out 50,000 words in a month that not only contains a holiday (Thanksgiving), but also is short an hour because Daylight Saving Time ends. Okay, that's mostly only true for the US of A. Still, everybody's busy. To fill in the lulls between the lovely writers I'm hosting here and where the few bloggers have granted me parking space, I've decided to serialize my short story, "Spellslinger." Now, if you buy "Bad Spelling" from MuseItUp, this is included absolutely free as a bonus. Still, I'm a generous person, so here comes "Spellslinger," Part Une. It's a prequel to "Bad Spelling," but doesn't give away any spoilers. Well, not too many.

Leave a comment, on any of the Spellslinger segments and I'll put you in a draw for a free copy of "Bad Spelling." Sound good?

SPELLSLINGER - PART I

Rune stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and stomped down the street, his shoulders hunched. A clump of dandelions hugging the white picket fence leapt out at him, their squeaky little growls and slashing petals pulled a grin from the eleven-year-old warlock for a moment until he remembered he was in a bad mood.

He punted the attacking flowers with a transforming spell turning them into a tumbleweed rolling along the street. Rune sprinted after and gave it a kick with a Beckham bend. The shrub careened out of control over a picket fence and into a yard. Lilac, a witch who lived in the cottage, stepped out on her porch. “Rune, get that thing out of my garden!”

“Yes’m.” Rune’s cheeks reddened. He pulled out his wand and flicked it toward the offending bush. The shrub shook, then hopped in the air. When it landed, it sunk its brand-new roots into the ground on the edge of Lilac’s koi pond. The rose buds adorning the stems burst into full bloom and a few petals dropped and floated on the water.

Lilac smiled. “Congratulations, Rune. You charmed your way out of a telling-off.” The witch walked back into her home.

Rune continued on his way, his shoulders settling, a frown tugging the corners of his mouth back down. His friend, Dalton, had joined the Wolf Pack and seemed to forget that Rune was his best bud. The Wolf Pack wasn’t exactly condoned in the witch community, but as long as the transformed boys didn’t actually eat anybody, the warlocks turned a blind eye. Rune had promised his mother and aunt that he’d not get involved in the group. As a half vampire, the only vampire, he already had plenty to worry about without also taking on a wolf form. The boys’ play sometimes drew blood. No way could Rune keep from going mega-vampire at the sight of blood.

It sucked. Since he wouldn’t join the pack, they all stopped letting him hang out with them. Now he was stuck in the ?so not cool’ group to which his older half sister already belonged. She couldn’t cast a spell that didn’t blow up in her face, and since Rune couldn’t join the other boys in the Pack, he felt like an outcast. His mind pinged, and the word “outlaw” blazed in his mind. Yeah, that’s what he’d do, spell up a place of his very own. To heck with Dalton and those other boys turning themselves into werewolves. He’d become an outlaw, a real gunslinger. Or how about a spellslinger? That had a nice ring to it.

That’s it. He’d go old west, old U.S. west. He’d watched about a zillion westerns, so he figured he could conjure a proper old west town and he’d be...what? The leader of a bandit gang? The Sheriff of a little town taking on the bad guys? Yeah, he’d be the hero.

Well, that meant a white hat for sure. A huge, white ten-gallon Stetson appeared over his unruly thatch of black hair. He hooked his thumbs in the gun belt that materialized around his waist. An outlaw gleam lit his dark eyes. His walk transformed into a swagger, and cowboy boots made him an inch or two taller. By the time he stood in front of the Witches’ Council Hall, he was well decked out in the western garb he’d seen so many times on the 52” flat screen television stored in the council room.

TV channels couldn’t reach the witches’ island, Galdorheim. No station would bother sending their signals into the far reaches of the Arctic, nor would the signals penetrate the village’s protective shield. Captain Sean, the Irish warlock/sailor, took orders for entertainment and picked up CDs and DVDs when the supply boat made its way to Norway. The witches traded amulets and charms for things they could conjure, like the latest music and movies.

“Aunt Thordis,” he called. Her office door behind the raised dais was closed, which usually meant ?go away and leave me alone’.

This time, though, the door swung open and the tall, blond witch came through. She glanced at Rune, and her lips twitched to an almost-smile. “Well, Rune, it looks like you’ve got something weird planned.” She walked across the platform to its edge, then floated to the floor. Thordis looked him up and down, put her hands on her hips, and snorted. “I do not believe, nephew, that we have any ranches close by.”

“Oh, this isn’t a cowboy outfit. I’m the lawman.” A shiny star appeared on his shirt over his heart saying “Sheriff Rune.”

The regal witch nodded slowly. “I see. What does that have to do with me?”

“I want to spell up a town like in the old west in the United States. It’s got to have some bad guys. Maybe some bandits or cattle rustlers.” He touched his Stetson. “I’m the good guy.”

“Again, why would this interest me in the slightest?”

“I’m not good enough at spellcasting yet to make a whole town. I’m kind of stuck at the saloon. As soon as I try to add a bartender, half the bar disappears.” Rune stuck his thumbs in his gun belt and said, with what he hoped was an authentic western drawl, “I’d be right pleased, ma’am, if’n you’d loan me some magic.”

“A whole town? Where exactly are you going to put this town?”

“Oh, outside the village dome. There’s that big glacier near the ice cave. That should be plenty of room. All I need is the street, a saloon, 'cause that’s where the bad guys hang out, the sheriff’s office, a trading post, and some horses tied up outside the saloon.”

The corners of Thordis’s mouth turned down, and she heaved a deep sigh. “You’re not asking for much, are you?”

Rune pressed his palms together and donned his best begging face. “Pretty please.” Thordis may give him a hard time, but he knew deep down she loved him. He’d just have to wear her down.

Thordis shook her head, but said, “All right, but I’ll only give you two hours of booster magic.”

Rune grinned. “That’ll be plenty, Aunt Thordis. Thanks!”

With a quick spell, Thordis enhanced Rune’s magic for his project. When she finished, she grabbed his chin and leaned over him. “Stay out of trouble, boy. Indiscriminate use of magic can be dangerous.” Rune nodded his head vigorously, and she let him go.

He jogged out of the Council building and rushed down the main street of Galdorheim village. He reached the gate leading out of the protective magical bubble, and hesitated when he thought how cold it was out on the glacier. The translucent shield surrounded the village, maintaining a constant warm spring within. Outside were the harsh conditions of an icebound island sitting in the middle of the arctic Barents Sea.

Rune shivered while he invoked his own little bubble for his project. He went about building the town as he had described to Aunt Thordis. He shivered once more feeling the vast coursing of Thordis’s borrowed magic surging through his body. It almost made him dizzy. He hoped he would someday have that much power for his very own. He smiled when he heard Thordis’s voice in his mind. “Practice, Rune, practice is the only way.” He shook his head ruefully. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll practice.” He felt Thordis slip away, leaving him to his own devices.

TO BE CONTINUED ON NOVEMBER 12TH

A School for Villains - Ardyth De Bruyn

2011-11-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

A SCHOOL FOR VILLAINS

by Ardyth DeBruyn

Available Now on Amazon Kindle

If there's one thing Danny's not, it's evil. But when it's good to be bad, it's nearly impossible to get kicked out of villain school.

Thirteen-year-old Danny is astounded when his father decides to send him to Dark Lord Academy to learn to be a villain. Pa claims it will make him stand out and fulfill his own lost childhood dreams. Being evil doesn’t appeal to Danny, but he’s always been a good and obedient son, so he goes.

Dark Lord Academy’s not just unappealing, it’s downright terrible. His advisor dyes Danny’s blond hair black and changes his name to the unpronounceable Zxygrth. He can’t get the hang of maniacal laughter, his second-in-command servant is a puke-colored monkey, and the cafeteria lady enjoys serving stewed cockroaches or fried bat wings. A run in with a hero results in hate mail and he gets caught up in a rivalry with the school bully. The only way for Danny to stay alive is to find his inner villain.

Bio: Ardyth DeBruyn is a native Oregonian with a restless nature and a degree in Anthropology. After hiking over 1500 miles across Europe and living on the Mexican border for a year, she settled back in the Pacific Northwest (for now) to write fantasy stories. She has decided she can type herself into adventures faster than walk. She has fiction published in a number of webzines and a novel, “Chosen Sister,” available as an e-book. Her second novel, “A School for Villains,” is now available at Amazon, and coming soon to other e-book outlets.

* * * * *

Note from the blogger: I had the pleasure of reading this book in critiques. That was quite awhile ago. I knew that Ardyth's first published book, "Chosen Sister," had been released through WildChild Publishing. I guessed this book would also go through the same publisher. Instead, Ardyth decided to do her own thing based on the success of other Indie authors. One thing Ardyth has is an Ace in the Hole. Her brilliant artist brother, Leo, created not only a stunning cover, but black and white interior illustrations.

This is such a fun book to read. I'm very happy Ardyth is doing it right along with her own way. This is definitely a book that should belong to your read over and over collection of YA fantasy.

Excerpt:

Chapter 2

The Dark Chariot Pays a Visit

Danny woke with a sense of impending doom. The large black envelope, primly propped up against the candlestick on his bedside table, did not suggest today was going to go any better than yesterday. The silver seal, shaped like a devil’s head, seemed to grin mockingly at him. Underneath, in lacy silver lettering, read: Dark Lord Academy—pro peiore potestate. Danny rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nope, still there. He swallowed hard and reached out to poke it with a finger.

The envelope fell flat.

Danny sat up and groaned. It was much too early to deal with something like this. Should he open it? Could he not open it? Danny glowered. He’d let Pa do the honors. That way if it was cursed, it would be justice for Pa to get it. He dragged himself out of bed, carefully picked up the letter, and pinched Dicky’s foot as he passed him on the way out.

“Get up, lazybones.”

“Oww,” Dicky mumbled and buried his head in the blankets.

Danny rolled his eyes and headed into the main room. Amos stood by the fire, stirring the pot of porridge. Pa lounged in his usual chair, discussing horseshoe orders. Resisting the desire to glare at Pa, as it would only get him angry and insistent, Danny shoved the letter at him.

“What’s that?” Pa asked.

“Didn’t you put it by my bed?”

“No.” Pa frowned. “But then, those Dark Lords are uncanny fellows. I suppose they magicked it here.” He handed the envelope back to Danny. “Go ahead, son.”

That was distinctly not reassuring. They’d responded that fast? Danny needed time to think this through, a plan to prove he wasn’t fit for villain school. “What if it’s dangerous?”

Pa laughed. “Oh, come on, it’s not like they’d hurt one of their well-paying students. Open it.”

Danny hid a grimace. Taking a deep breath, he broke the seal. A column of black smoke burst from the envelope. He dropped it and jumped backwards. High-pitched laughter came from inside.

Muahahahahahahahaha!”

The smoke condensed into a squat and contorted creature. Danny squinted. It was pond-slime green, had pointy ears that stuck out sideways, and a nasty leer on its face. Danny had never seen a goblin before, but this had to be what they looked like.

If that doesn't tempt you, then you just aren't a fan of YA fantasy.

What's New in November?

2011-11-01T00:00:00.001-07:00

November 3rd, my guest will be Ardyth DeBruyn. I met Ardyth on Critique Circle and we cross-critted our YA fantasies. She's releasing a hilarious take on wizard schools with "A School for Villains." Her brother created some striking interior illustrations along with a cool cover.

Larion Wells will be stopping by the 16th with a Q&A on the release of her new book, "Chase." I'm looking forward to finding out more.

Adrian Ryan is hosting alphabet authors throughout November and December. I'll be on her blog when she reaches the "D"s.

November 8th, Teen Word Factory hosts a promo for Bad Spelling.

November is all about food and good books on JQ Rose's blog. Look for a recipe and an excerpt from my murder mystery, "Missing, Assumed Dead," on November 9th.

November 11th: My book trailer for "Bad Spelling" is featured on You Gotta Read Videos.

Barbara Ehrentreu stops by on the 14th to discuss how to write about teen physical problems without getting too clinical.

Melissa Aires visits on the 15th with the lowdown on her new Steampunk offering, "Starlander's Myth."

CHANGED TO DECEMBER 2ND. On the 18th, Penny Ehrenkranz will be my guest for the release of two new books (she's a busy gal): "Lady in Waiting" and "Mirror, Mirror."

I talk about writing a fantasy series on Lindsay Below's blog on the 25th.

There's more in the planning stages, so drop in often to see what's going on.

Q&A on Blackwood's Forest

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lisa Blackwood is hosting me and "Bad Spelling" with a Q&A on her blog, Blackwood's Forest.

About Lisa:

Lisa Blackwood is a writer of fantasy romance, gardener, lover of music and all things book related. She grudgingly lives in a small town in Southern Ontario, though she would much rather live deep in a dark forest, surrounded by majestic old-growth trees. Since she cannot live her fantasy, she decided to write fantasy instead. An abundance of pets, named after various Viking gods, helps to keep the creativity flowing. Freya, her ever faithful and beloved hellhound, ensures Lisa takes a break from the computer so they can rid the garden of cats with delusions of conquest.

Lisa has a book release approaching from MuseItUp Publishing. It's titled "Betrayal's Price." Alas, she has yet to receive her cover art since the book isn't scheduled until February next year, but here's an example from another book of hers. Pretty cool, eh?

Blurb for Stone's Kiss:

As a child, a near-drowning accident washed away Lillian’s memories. Now, her earliest and most beloved memory is of her eight-year-old self awaking at the foot of a brooding, stone gargoyle.

Even as an adult, she still finds comfort in Gregory, her gargoyle, never guessing he is more than cold stone until the day she is attacked by demonic creatures calling themselves the Riven. Long buried instincts and her tenacious will to live fuse into a magic-laced cry for help. Gregory rouses at her summons.

After the battle, Lillian persuades Gregory to talk and shortly one surprise is eclipsing the next in rapid succession. The humans she thought were her family are actually a powerful coven of witches at war with the Riven. Lillian isn’t human, instead she’s one of the most powerful workers of magic–an Avatar to the gods. Gregory has been her protector for many lifetimes, but troubles in their homeland forced him to flee with Lillian to the human world. She soon learns it wasn’t a drowning accident which stole her memories; it was Gregory. He fears Lillian is host to an infant demon, one capable of evil greater than the Riven. To further unbalance her equilibrium, she fears she’s falling in love with her guardian.

While she might be able to defeat the Riven with Gregory’s help, she doesn’t know if her fragile new love can survive the evil growing in her own soul. Nevertheless, she will fight her demon for Gregory’s sake and the chance at an eternal love.

BAD SPELLING
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
Now at MuseItUp Publishing and Amazon.
Read reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.

BAD SPELLING The Movie and Reviews

2011-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

So there you have it. Seventeen days (counting today) all about Bad Spelling. If you didn't get to read everything, it's all still hanging out here on my blog. Every day there's something for you to enjoy.

Some of the characters give us their viewpoint, we cover some topics on items or magic from Bad Spelling, and I get to visit other bloggers' sites with extra stuff. I do believe there is not a duplicate anywhere within those seventeen days. If you can find one (October 14th through October 30th), report back here and you'll get a free ebook of Bad Spelling. See how it was worthwhile to read through this whole paragraph?

Movies always have reviews you might read to decide whether you want to see it or not. Readers write reviews on books (not the book trailer), so here are a few readers' thoughts about Bad Spelling. More reviews come along everyday, so check Amazon and GoodReads for more.

By Charlie (C.K. Volnek) ****
Ms. Dasef has pulled off a bewitching story with charming characters you can't help but fall in love with. From Katrina - a befuddled young witch - to her half-brother, Rune - a vampire-warlock cross - to the delightful animal friends and trolls. (Never thought I'd ever call a troll delightful.:-) ... more on Amazon

By L.K. Below *****
Bad Spelling is a book that continues to cling to my mind.

This book held me spellbound, if you'll forgive the pun. Marva is a wondrously witty author, who had me smiling and laughing throughout the whole book. ... more on Amazon

By Elizabeth Bonecher-Brenaman *****
A little something for everyone in this great start to the series. Plenty of action, surprises around every corner, animal friends, an evil shaman...what's not to love? Appropriate for any age, this book stands out as unique and endearing in a world sloughed down with too many cookie-cutter middle grade and YA novels. Bad Spelling holds its own, and author Marva Dasef weaves an original tale that kept me guessing until the last page. Good stuff.

By Lorrie Struiff ****
Bad Spelling is a fun read for any age. Kat's Bad Spelling gets her into more trouble than she can handle. But, she has help from some very imaginative characters. Kudos, Ms.Dasef for bringing these creatures to life and creating an enjoyable adventure and characters.

I loved Rune, and the trollercoaster they ride. I live near an amusement park, I wish they had one like this.

I can say in all honesty, this book is a must read for the pure enjoyment of good storytelling.

Now, on to the movie (otherwise known as a book trailer).

BAD SPELLING: A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?

Now available at MuseItUp Publishing and Amazon Kindle
Read reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.

Character - Rune

2011-10-29T00:00:00.001-07:00

BAD SPELLING
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
Now at MuseItUp Publishing and Amazon
Read Reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.

Rune

My alpha, beta, kappa, and gamma readers (not to mention you, the omegas) are clamoring for another book in the series that will star my MC's little brother, Rune. I'm working on it! But you won't have to wait to get a Rune short story. "Spellslinger" is all about Rune and his own problems: learning magic and keeping his vampire side at bay. The story is included in the "Bad Spelling" release as a bonus.

If Rune is to be the main character of his own book, I first have to send Kat (elder sister) off someplace or Rune needs to leave home on his own adventure. I decided on the latter, so Rune will go to visit his father, Drakos, in Transylvania. However, Kat has a couple more of her books coming up in the Witches of Galdorheim series, so don't hold your breath.

Did I mention Rune is half vampire? I know that sounds like a tired old paranormal trope these days, but I promise you it was my idea first. Matter of fact one publisher told me that it was impossible for someone to be fathered by a vampire and a human mother. I begged to differ.

C'mon! It's paranormal. If vamps can sparkle or hunt their own kind or team up with demons, then my boy can be half vampire. Books I've seen released in the last couple of years have used the half-vamp to good advantage. Just to let all of you know, Rune was first conceived (haha) in 2007, so I'm pretty darn sure I got there first.

The picture above of Rune is not the ideal, but it was one I could get for free (see http://www.cutehotguys.com/). Actually, I picture Rune as a young Adam Lambert, but there just aren't many 12-year-olds around who can take on that drop-dead glam rocker look.

Rune shows up in many excerpts this month on my blog and on my hosts for the month.
Here's an excerpt from "Spellslinger," which takes place before the events in "Bad Spelling."

“Aunt Thordis,” he called. Her office door behind the raised dais was closed, which usually meant ‛go away and leave me alone’.

This time, though, the door swung open and the tall, blonde witch came through. She glanced at Rune, and her lips twitched to an almost-smile. “Well, Rune, it looks like you’ve got something weird planned.” She walked across the platform to its edge, then floated to the floor. Thordis looked him up and down, put her hands on her hips, and snorted. “I do not believe, nephew, that we have any ranches close by.”

“Oh, this isn’t a cowboy outfit. I’m the lawman.” A shiny star appeared on his shirt over his heart saying “Sheriff Rune.”

The regal witch nodded slowly. “I see. What does that have to do with me?”

“I want to spell up a town like in the old west in the United States. It’s got to have some bad guys. Maybe some bandits or cattle rustlers.” He touched his Stetson. “I’m the good guy.”

“Again, why would this interest me in the slightest?”

“I’m not good enough at spellcasting yet to make a whole town.” Rune stuck his thumbs in his gun belt and said, with what he hoped was an authentic western drawl, “I’d be right pleased, ma’am, if’n you’d loan me some magic.”

“A whole town? Where exactly are you going to put this town?”

“Oh, outside the village dome. There’s that big glacier near the ice cave. That should be plenty of room. All I need is the street, a saloon, ‛cause that’s where the bad guys hang out, the sheriff’s office, a trading post, and some horses tied up outside the saloon.”

The corners of Thordis’s mouth turned down, and she heaved a deep sigh. “You’re not asking for much, are you?”

Rune pressed his palms together and donned his best begging face. “Pretty please.” Thordis may give him a hard time, but he knew deep down she loved him. He’d just have to wear her down.

Thordis shook her head, but said, “All right, but I’ll only give you two hours of booster magic.”

Rune grinned. “That’ll be plenty, Aunt Thordis. Thanks!”

With a quick spell, Thordis enhanced Rune’s magic for his project. When she finished, she grabbed his chin and leaned over him. “Stay out of trouble, boy. Indiscriminate use of magic can be dangerous.” Rune nodded his head vigorously, and she let him go.

Excerpt - Grind Your Bones

2011-10-28T00:00:00.001-07:00

Read Reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.

Grind Your Bones

Giants aren’t the most popular neighbors. They tend to be a little selfish, keeping golden-egg laying geese and magic harps to themselves. In Norse mythology, a giant called a jotun (or Jötunn) is literally made of ice or stone (depending on the season, I guess). Frost giants are far more popular in games and fantasy books. There’s just something chilling about a giant made of ice. Since the scene which has the jotun is spring, I went with the stone giants. They could also use the press.

Originally, in Norse mythology, the jotuns live in Jotunheim (well, duh!). The Encyclopedia Mythica (http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/norse/articles.html) says:

Jotunheim is one of the nine worlds, the homeland of the frost and rock giants. Situated in Midgard, on the middle level of the Norse universe, Jotunheim is separated from Asgard by the river Iving, which never freezes over. It lies in the snowy regions on the outermost shores of the ocean. Mimir's well of wisdom is in Jotunheim, beneath the Midgard root of the ash tree Yggdrasil.

I’m not much more enlightened, but who doesn’t love a big, bad giant roaring in to cause havoc? When Kat and Rune meet up with the jotun, she finds that her ability to communicate with animals grows stronger the further away she travels from Galdorheim Island.

BAD SPELLING EXCERPT
Now at MuseItUp Publishing and Amazon

The path was clearly magical. The foliage, although wild and unkempt, glowed with greenery and flowers. Giant mushrooms, some the size of dinner plates, sprouted under the bushes. Birds twittered in the trees. Kat ducked as a bumblebee as big as her fist droned past her head on its way to another blossom. Here it was spring, just like on Galdorheim under the shield.

Kat pulled off her parka and draped it over her knapsack. Rune soon did the same, even though his tolerance for extreme temperatures was usually much higher than Kat’s. They were strolling along, enjoying the warmth, the flowers, and the buzz of the bees, when Kat looked up to see an eagle riding an updraft in a lazy circle above them. “Look!” Kat pointed. Rune glanced up at the bird.

“Interesting…not! C’mon, Kat, it’s just an eagle,” he replied.

Kat looked down at her feet and mumbled, “I thought it was interesting.”

A few moments later, Rune stopped abruptly, holding up his hand.

“Shhh! Do you hear something?”

Kat listened but heard only chirps and buzzing. “No, but your hearing is better than mine.”

Rune turned slowly in place, trying to home in on the sound. Kat watched, puzzled.

The hillside by the path trembled then heaved upward. Dirt and rocks flew through the air. The shaking earth knocked Kat backward. She plopped onto her behind with a yelp, ducked her head, and covered it with her arms to fend off flying gravel. Peeking out from beneath her upraised arms, Kat's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. In front of her, the shaking earth rose and unfolded. Then a monstrous glob of rocks and dirt rose higher and higher into the air. Two huge boulders blinked at her. Kat screamed. A gaping mouth appeared beneath the eyes, and a monstrous nose jerked and wriggled its way to a place between the eyes and mouth.

Rune grabbed her arm, jerking her to her feet. “It’s a giant! Run! Run!”

Kat sprinted after Rune, who quickly outpaced her, as the giant continued to grow and take shape from the rocks and earth. Kat risked a quick glance over her shoulder. A horrendous, rocky fist swung in a downward arc, its target appallingly clear. She tried to force her flying feet to move even faster, hoping to outrace that ponderous, clenched hand. She looked up to see the eagle plummeting downward, its wings folded against its sides. Kat aimed a thought at the eagle. “Help me!” The eagle flared its wings and stopped abruptly in midair. It then turned and flew away. She was disappointed but not surprised when the eagle left. No use. She picked up her feet and raced after Rune.

A wild, high-pitched screech split the air. Kat looked back again. She gasped in surprise, stumbled, and almost fell. Flailing her arms and digging in her heels, she managed to stop upright. She stared with unbelieving eyes as a flock of eagles, dozens of them, circled the monstrous form. The birds dived at the thing’s head, distracting it from its intended victims—her and Rune.

The giant swung its huge hand, batting at the eagles, trying to drive them away. The big raptors easily evaded the lumbering blows. Kat watched as the eagles dove again and again, buffeting the creature’s head with their wings, pecking at its eyes and threatening with their outstretched talons. She wondered how they could possibly hurt stone eyes, but the giant seemed to think they could. It shriveled downward, shedding rocks and dirt as it collapsed. Down and down it went, melding back into the earthen hillside that spawned it.

The eagles flew in a wide gyre around the hillside, preventing the giant from reforming. One of the birds veered away from the flock and flew down to Kat. It landed gracefully on a boulder beside the path. Folding wings and settling feathers, it cocked its head and regarded her with a fierce, yellow gaze.

“Thank you,” Kat gasped, fighting to catch her breath. “Thank you so much!” The great bird dipped its head in what could only be an acknowledgment. Then it spread its wings, uttered a soft “Kkkreeeee,” and launched itself into the air, climbing away with long, powerful beats of its wings.

Rune shut his open mouth and then gasped, “You did it again! Do you believe me now?”

Brynna Curry Nervously Hosts Werewolves

2011-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Read reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.

Brynna Curry is throwing a Halloween Bash on her blog. She's got fun horror stuff all month long.

She's hosting my werewolf pack on her In the Shadows blog at http://www.brynnacurry.com/2011/10/31-days-of-halloween-marva-desef.html

About Brynna:

As Brynna Curry I write light paranormal romance and suspense. The first book in my Elemental Magic series was released Monday December 7th 2009. Since then I've contracted the series with Lyrical Press, Inc. and the fifth and final book will release in February of 2012.

As Brianna Roarke, I dabble in dark paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Gypsy Moon, a shifter novella, is out now with Red Rose Publishing.

So, now I write because I love it. I judge writing contests because I enjoy helping others. I review books of all sorts for You Gotta Read and recently became the moderator for the guest blog there and the review editor for Apollo's Lyre. I still work my 8-5 secretary job and am fortunate to work for great people.

Tada gar irraccht. Nothing without effort.

In the Spotlight with Lindsay Below

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Voting from 10/21 through 10/28 on the You Gotta Read Covers blog. Bad Spelling's cover is #16. Please vote!

Read Lindsay's review of Bad Spelling.

Other reviews at: Amazon, GoodReads

Today, Kat and Rune visit on Lindsay Below's blog in her Author Spotlight where she regularly features her fellow authors. I definitely appreciate Lindsay's generosity in sharing her space with others.

About Lindsay:

From the time she could read, Lindsay Below spent her free time with her nose in a book. Always intrigued by the new worlds her imagination conjured, by the time she was thirteen years old, she was writing books of her own. Throughout high school, she embraced her nerdiness, and by the time she graduated, she was ready to pursue a career in publishing. Her first published young adult novel, Lurkers, was written in November 2009, when she was nineteen years old. Since then, her active imagination hasn’t given her any time off. Even after moving away from the Arctic to St. John’s, Newfoundland, she still spends her days bundled in blankets, typing away at the computer screen.

Her latest book, "Lurkers" was released in July from MuseItUp Publishing (hey! my publisher! what a coincidence!). By the way, isn't that a fabulous cover!

Character - Salmon the Orca

2011-10-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Review from Lindsay Below for "Bad Spelling" on her blog. Nice!

Review from Rochelle Weber for "Missing, Assumed Dead" on her blog. Yay!

Voting from 10/21 through 10/28 on the You Gotta Read Covers blog. Bad Spelling's cover is #16. Please vote!

Chchchchch skreak! That mean hello in human people talk. My name be Salmon Hunter because I so good hunting the tasty fish.

I never met a human person who could talk the orca talk. I talk that speech only to Katrina Witch in her head. She talks back to me and both of us understand the other. Only this one human witch girl. She says it's how she makes magic. That is good for me! I like Kat Witch and help her out.

I even save her life more than one time. She's a lucky Kat Witch to have me be her friend.

First time I save her from a mad whitetooth. Kat Witch says human people call him polar bear. Not nice! But orca is big, strong! Not afraid of the bear. When I hear Kat Witch in my head, I heard scared. I heard help me. Curious, me. I went to look and chased off the mean bear.

Funny thing the whitetooth awake. Should be sleeping this season. Too early to wake up. I think some bad magic wake him up to kill Kat Witch. She says that's truth. A shaman, she says.

The others of my pod don't speak to Kat Witch. They be what human people call stuck up. Think they're too good to speak to her. I think it best thing ever! It like getting a new toy. Orcas love to play. Spend most of time hunting, but playing is important too.

Here's the part in the book where I meet Kat Witch for the first time.

EXCERPT

Kat’s contact with the bear wasn’t very strong, but she got a frighteningly clear impression of hunger and curiosity. It didn’t know what they were, but it was most likely thinking of them as dinner.

She screwed her eyes shut, clenched her fists, and did her best to send soothing thoughts toward the bear, hoping it’d think of them in a kindly, rather than culinary, fashion. Suddenly, she heard a tremendous splash. The bear let out a surprised grunt. The ice lurched under Kat’s feet, almost knocking her over. Her eyes snapped open to see the bear beating a hasty retreat across the ice. Where the bear had stood, a much larger creature now occupied the space attired in startling black and white and sporting a wide, tooth-studded grin. An orca perched before her with nearly a third of its body up on the ice floe—the ice floe that now tilted alarmingly, cracking under the whale’s weight.

“Run!” Kat screamed, grabbing Rune’s arm and pulling her brother around. They went slipping, sliding, and scrambling back the way they came.

Over the cracking and groaning of the ice breaking up, Kat heard a loud chitter, and then a high-pitched whistle. She stopped so suddenly Rune ran into her. Catching him before he fell, she moved him to one side and turned back toward the orca, her eyes wide with surprise.

“What did you say?” she asked.

“Chchchchch skreak!” the orca answered.

Rune looked at the orca; then his sister; then back to the orca. He leaned close to Kat’s ear. “You understand it?” he whispered.

Kat nodded, edging back to the orca, careful of her footing on the slippery ice.

“Kakkakakkak cheechee,” the orca screeched.

“Thank you. I didn’t think the bear seemed very friendly either.”

Kat looked over at her brother, who stood staring at her open-mouthed. “Better shut that, little brother, before your teeth freeze.” Her eyes sparkled with delight. Rune closed his mouth and zipped the hood up over his face.

In a muffled voice, he exclaimed, “You can… You really can talk to animals!”

“Excuse me a moment, Mr. Orca,” she said to the big dolphin. She turned to Rune, her face lit up with a delighted grin. “I guess I can. But why so surprised? You were the one who suggested I could.”

Kat turned back to the killer whale. “I think it’s because he,” she nodded at the orca, “is a highly evolved being. At least, that’s what he’s telling me.” After a pause, Kat giggled and said, “Must be why you can’t understand him, Rune!”

Rune slapped a glare on her then suppressed a smile. “Very funny, Kat. So funny, I forgot to laugh.”

She chatted happily with the orca when several more huge black and white heads popped up through the gaps in the ice. Rune and Kat had to step back again as the ice splintered with sharp cracking sounds.

“Back up, Kat, back up,” Rune said. For the first time in her life, Kat heard fear in Rune’s voice.

“You don’t need to be afraid.”

“I’m not. At least, I’m not afraid of the whales—”

“Orcas.”

“Orcas, then. It’s the ice breaking up. We could get dumped in the water.”

As if saying it made it true, the ice split once more. The crack exposing the frigid sea raced toward Rune and Kat. Before they could get traction to run, the ice floe created by the splintering tipped up and both of them fell into the water.

Kat’s parka filled with the icy water, and she sank. The sudden, intense cold knocked the breath out of her. She tried to claw her way back to the surface, but the weight of the parka kept dragging her down. Looking up, she could see Rune above her, thrashing toward the air. Blackness clouded the edges of her vision, and her struggles weakened.

Strangely, Kat felt warm. This is nice, she thought. Her arms floated out from her sides as she sank deeper.

Something big and black came up under Kat, and she rose up through the frigid water. She reached out with one hand and grasped a rubbery fin with all the strength she had left. The orca pushed her to the surface and shoved her out of the water. She landed face first on the ice.

Excerpt - In the Hall of the Mountain King

2011-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Special Programming Note: Bad Spelling reviewed on the 23rd on Rochelle's Reviews.

Voting from 10/21 through 10/28 on the You Gotta Read Covers blog. Bad Spelling's cover is #16. Please vote!

Trolls. What do you imagine? Maybe something like the big ugly pictured here. In my Witches of Galdorheim series, I wanted a cave-dwelling bunch of uglies, but dwarves didn’t seem right for my book. Then I started hearing music inside my head. You know how that goes, right? It builds and builds until it has you screaming in frustration, willing to even listen to some other music to at least swap the tormenting sound.

But before I could find a MP3 file of "Henry the VIIIth" by Herman’s Hermits, I stopped and listened. My muse was whacking me in the head via earworm. The music was Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt Suite. Duh. Trolls.

Despite the canards on trolls from the likes of Artemis Fowl or Pratchett’s Discworld, I thought they could be heroic if given sufficient ale.

From the Free Dictionary/Encyclopedia:

A troll is a fearsome member of a mythical race from Norse mythology. Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England – to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground in hills, caves or mounds.

Hey! They’re not all flesh-eating giants who turn to stone in the sunlight. Some are devious little guys who live in wilderness areas (no doubt protecting endangered magical species).

In Bad Spelling, Kat and her smart-aleck half-brother, Rune, (also happens to be a vampire, but has absolutely no resemblance to the Twilight guy except they’re both cute as hell) are directed by Kat’s flash-frozen dad (Rune calls him a popsickle) to visit the Troll King. At the Hall, she requests assistance from King Ole, the Norwegian Troll King. He arranges for her and Rune to ride the Trollercoaster, which starts in Norway and ends up in the Ural Mountains. From there Kat, Rune, and a changeling troll named Andy travel to Siberia to find Kat's family.

Clearly, trolls are good. They are nice, helpful, cheerful, and sing fairly well too. Yet aspersions continue to be cast upon these misunderstood creatures. Shame on all of you for making them the bad guys all these years!

Excerpt:

Jtte collected another drop of blood from Kat, smearing it onto a small piece of glass. She looked at her finger and saw the pinprick already closed. Jtte wiped the spindle point clean with a strong-smelling liquid, then collected blood from Andy, perhaps stabbing his finger with a little more vigor than necessary. Jtte bowed to the king. “I’ll go perform the tests in my workshop.”

“How long will it take?” King Ole asked.

“A few hours at most.” The troll disappeared behind the throne.

King Ole turned to Rune and Kat. “It seems we have some time to kill,” he said with a smile. “We’ll have a banquet. You will be my guests, of course.” Every troll in the cavern cheered the king’s announcement, and many dashed off presumably to prepare for the feast. King Ole stepped behind his throne, motioning for Rune and Kat to follow him. “You, too, Andy. Your brothers may come, as well.”

The triplets followed Rune and Kat. Once they exited the throne room, they walked down a long tunnel until coming into another cavern. This one had fewer stalagmites. Trolls had spread heavy wooden tables and benches around the big room. King Ole took his seat on a smaller throne at a table set on a raised dais. He pointed them to chairs at his table. Quite an honor, thought Kat, having dinner with a king!

Before long, the cavern was packed with laughing, boisterous trolls. The party got into full swing when several ogres entered the hall, wearing long white aprons and carrying huge platters stacked with all kinds of meats, breads, and big pitchers of mead. The ogre waiters first served the king’s table, then the rest of the trolls.

“I didn’t know ogres worked with trolls,” Rune commented to the king.

King Ole smiled, showing huge yellowed teeth. “They don’t usually. We’ve tamed a few to serve us. Stupid as they are, it takes a long time to train them, but, once they learn their tasks, they’re pretty good workers.”

Rune waved down an ogre carrying a big plate of meat. “Is there any rare steak? Very rare?” Kat made a face, but thanked the stars they roasted the meat before serving.

The banquet went on for some time. Kat hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she pushed herself away from the table, stuffed with goose meat, crusty bread, and more than one mug of very good mead. During the long trek across the ice and the ocean voyage, they had only eaten snack food–dried apples and raisins, some bread and cheese for sandwiches–and those supplies had run out by the time they got past the jotun.

When everyone appeared to be finished eating, the trolls broke into song.

So Yes, Yes Yes
I must confess confess
There is nothing in this world, you see
That I'd rather rather be
Than a roly-poly, roly-poly
Roly-poly trolly
Yes, I'd love to be
Why what ecstasy
Yes, I'd love to beeeeee a troll!
“The Troll Song” by Jerome A. Holst © 2007 Lyrics used with permission of the author

Buy Lavender Dreams

2011-10-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

Available NOW: This is a special anthology you can purchase to support cancer research at Dana Farber Research Hospital. All royalties donated by the authors. Click the link heading above or go to the MuseItUp Publishing website to find out more. It's only $1.99 and full of great stories.

MuseItUp Publishing Lavender Dreams Link

Lorrie Struiff Rides the Trollercoaster

2011-10-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Special Programming Note: Bad Spelling reviewed today on Rochelle's Reviews.

Voting from 10/21 through 10/28 on the You Gotta Read Covers blog. Bad Spelling's cover is #16. Please vote!

Lorrie Struiff, author of "Gypsy Crystal" and "Heap of Trouble" (coming soon) plus a lot of short stories here and there asked to take on the trollercoaster. Sure thing, Lorrie. I hope you don't tend to barfing on carnival rides.

Lorrie bravely stands up in the car waving her hands in the air with Kat and Rune. Read all about it on her website. It's not a blog, but she posts Read About pages when she's got something fun to post. Like my stuff. She loves my stuff or she's been lying to me all this time to spare my feelings.

On the other side of the coin, I DO love Lorrie's writing. She's her own worst critic, though. When I read her work, I say, "Dang! I wish I wrote that!"

Character - Mordita

2011-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Voting from 10/21 through 10/28 on the You Gotta Read Covers blog. Bad Spelling's cover is #16. Please vote!

In Bad Spelling, Kat wants to leave Galdorheim Island to find her father's Siberian family. With no magic of her own, she needs help...lots of help. Yes, her best bud/bro Rune is always up for adventure, but she has to find a powerful witch to help her out.

She figures it can't hurt to ask Mordita. What's the worst that can happen? Well, maybe electrocution from a nasty door knocker or something crawling up her back.

Still, Kat is not deterred. She goes to the creepy, slimy, unlit shack where the Sorceress (the old lady prefers that over Witch) Mordita resides.

Mordita knows all about Kat's slight, ahem, magic deficit disorder (MDD) and is happy to pull a fast one on Thordis. The two don't get along much.

While Mordita has tons of magic, she prefers to maintain her old hag appearance just to keep the Galdorheim witches from stopping by to visit. Mordita is alone, and she likes to keep it that way. She's not quite alone if you want to count a fat orange tiger cat named Kudzu.

Mordita is a mystery. Why did she come to Galdorheim if she doesn't want to consort with the witches and warlocks? Maybe that mystery will be solved, but not in Bad Spelling. You'll have to wait for the second book in the series, Midnight Oil.

EXCERPT

Mordita leaned back from the scrying crystal with a groan. She had been hunched over it for hours, and her old joints and muscles were protesting. In all the time spent staring into the crystal, she caught only brief glimpses of Kat and Rune, but she’d seen enough to follow their progress.

“Time,” she said aloud.

The clock answered, “Five-fifteen p.m.”

Good. Thordis said she’d come to take up the watch at five-thirty. Mordita stretched once more to take the kinks out of her strained back. When scrying, she lost all awareness of her body and the world around her. She should have set a timer to take breaks and stretch.

The door said, “The Witch Thordis approaches.”

“Open.”

Thordis strode into the older witch’s front room, demanding in her usual bombastic style, “Well, what are they up to?”

“Good Even, Thordis. How nice of you to drop by.”

“Sorry, Mordita. Good Even to you, as well.”

Mordita nodded in the direction of the scrying crystal. “The trolls gave them quite a ride through the Mountain King’s caverns. They came out on the east side of the Urals.”
“Hmm. What are they doing?”

“A werewolf pack carried them by sled north toward a Sami village.” Mordita picked up her teacup and tasted. She made a face. “Cold.” She stuck her finger into the cup and stirred. Steam rose from the cup. “They ran into a small problem with some quickmud, but the werewolves pulled them out.” Mordita gestured to the scrying crystal. “Take a look for yourself.”

Thordis sat at the table and examined the crystal. “Hmm, nice. Hardly any flaws.” She settled in the chair, glancing at Mordita. “I’m going to concentrate on Katrina.” She stared into the crystal, and her eyes rolled up in their sockets until only the whites showed.

An hour later, Thordis looked away from the crystal, rubbed her eyes, and accepted the hot cup of tea Mordita offered.