Title: Return : Lady of Toryn - Book 1
 |
| Charity Santiago |
Showing posts with label Goddess Fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goddess Fish. Show all posts
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Return by Charity Santiago
Title: Return : Lady of Toryn - Book 1Monday, February 11, 2013
Wind's Aria by Tessa Stockton
Sue's Review
Wind's Aria is a battle between good and evil with love bridging the gap. Aria is the songstress who sings each morning and night to the Sacred Flower goddess. Her people believe this tribute keeps the evil at bay. Aria is distracted and falters in her song. All seems well until the following day when a fog shrouds the town and surrounding area. A winged man she names Il Bora, comes to her rescue and love begins to blossom, but evil has other ideas for the future.
This book has a whimsical beginning, but strengthens as the story unfolds. Aria appeared to be a young, naive woman, and Il Bora a troubled young man - or spirit. I wasn't quite sure of his identity. The book takes a few unexpected turns which kept my interest at its peak. Definitely a book that left me with a satisfied, pleasant feeling.
*****
Wind's Aria - Excerpt
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| Wind's Aria |
“Feeling better?” The smooth notes of his words swam through
her ears.
“Mmm.” She nodded. “I guess.”
He continued to stare.
Aria cleared her throat. “Um . . . can I ask you a
question?”
“You may ask . . .”
“But will you answer?”
“That depends.”
“Oh. Well. How did you get to be so huge when all the
Meleyans are rather small? And why haven’t I seen you before?”
“That’s two questions.”
“S-sorry.”
He exhaled a steady stream of air, adding to the mist, as if
deliberating.
Aria felt the strength of his breath, blowing strands of her
hair across her face.
Slow, yet with precision, he lifted a lock from the curve of
her mouth and rubbed the strands between his fingers. He murmured, “Soft and
orange, like the petals of prairie-tails.” Then he bent and smelled her hair,
closing his eyes. “And sweet like the honey of bees.” Again he held her gaze.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward. “Do you have a sting?”
“I asked you a question first—”
“Two,” he corrected. Then he smiled.
****
Tessa Stockton - Bio:
A veteran of the
performing arts and worldwide missions, Tessa Stockton also contributed as a
writer/editor for ministry publications, ghostwriter for political content, and
she headed a column on the topic of forgiveness. Today she writes romance and
intrigue novels in a variety of genres. In addition to her fantasy romance,
WIND’S ARIA, she’s the author of suspense/thriller, THE UNSPEAKABLE, political
intrigue/romance, THE UNFORGIVABLE, and a literary short story, LOVE AND LULL,
with more in the works.
Tessa will be awarding a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate to a
randomly drawn commenter during this tour and her book blast tour.
Follow the tour and
comment; the more you comment, the better your chance of winning. The tour
dates are:
February 11: Maggie's Meanderings
February 12: Sue Perkins, Author
February 14: Long and Short Reviews
February 15: Let's Get BOOKED
February 18: Journey of a Bookseller
February 19: It's Raining Books
February 20: Love Triumphs Past and Present
February 21: The Write to Read
February 21: STOP 2 - The Eclectic Review
February 22: Margay Leah Justice
www.TessaStockton.com
https://twitter.com/TessaStockton
https://www.facebook.com/tessastockton
Purchase links:
Publisher's Bookstore: http://www.soulmatepublishing.com/winds-aria/
Friday, June 24, 2011
Welcome to PJ Jones
Today I have PJ Jones visiting my blog on her blog tour to promote her book Romance Novel. I've read this book and it's a tongue in cheek novel which is hilarious.
Ms Jones will be giving a priz of a $15 Starbucks or Amazon.com gift card to one lucky commenter. Follow the tour. The more comments you make, the more chances you have of winning.
Welcome
PJ Jones began writing Romance Novel in the spring of 2009 when she was seriously ill, thinking that this book would be her last dying legacy for mankind. After you read this book, you will probably wonder if she was trying to seal her fate in hell. Who knows? But PJ Jones has conquered her illness and is much better now. But you probably don't care, as long as her writing is funny. PJ Jones is also an avid reader of real romance novels. So why does she poke fun of them? Consider it comic relief.
Smella Rosepetal must find a millionaire husband to finance her baby’s heart transplant. She flies home to her deputy father’s ranch in Pitchforks, Texas, where she falls in love with Deadward Forest, a wealthy environmentalist vampire.
When a deranged murderer is on the loose in Pitchforks, killing romance heroines, Deadward assumes Smella would be safer without him. Smella turns to her childhood friend, Snake Long, for comfort. But Snake doesn’t have the money to save her baby, so Smella places herself in peril in a desperate hunt for a rich husband.
Time is running out for Smella’s baby, and she must escape the Australian Outback, then face down Flabio, an overweight and disgruntled, aspiring cover model, plus enraged vampire wives and their homosexual, vampire, cowboy husbands, a jealous were-gerbil, James Bond, a drunk rodeo clown and Smella’s strange boyfriend who wants to drain her blood, yet is repulsed by her smell.
Why I wrote ROMANCE NOVEL…by PJ Jones
It’s amazing how a writer can discover her funny bone when wallowing in self-pity. That’s how I discovered my twisted and crude sense of humor. Over two years ago, I was suffering from an unexplained health crisis, and since laughter has always been my best medicine, writing Romance Novel was my source of therapy. I came up with the idea after dreaming about a crude and tacky love scene. I woke up, scribbled the scene on some paper and read it to my husband. We both had a good laugh, so I decided to finish the scene and share it with my critique group, since, at the time, I had been too sick to brainstorm any other novels.
Initially, I never intended to publish Romance Novel, but my critique partners insisted I try to get it published. Surprise, surprise, my tasteless and tacky parody was rejected by the publishers and agents I queried, so I gave up. That’s when my critique group urged me to publish through Kindle and Nook. I’m glad I followed their advice. RN has received great reviews and steady sales since its release.
I’ve posted the love scene that started it all below. But before you read it, I’d like to leave you with this thought - if ever your life takes a nosedive right into the bottom of the toilet, remember that laughter really IS the best medicine. PJ
Smella glared at him while tapping her foot. “Are you going to kiss me passionately or what?”
“Yes, of course.” He sat up and grabbed her in a passionate embrace, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth, moving it about for a reasonable amount of time, until his pants felt so tight, he worried he’d bust a seam. Pulling back a few inches, he looked into her heavy lidded eyes, noting with satisfaction how she panted and swooned. “How’s that?” he asked.
She brushed the sleeve of her tweed coat across her passion-soaked lips. “Gawd, did you have onions for dinner?”
“Sorry.” Snake winced, wishing he’d laid off the salsa when he’d eaten those fish tacos. “Do you want me to brush?”
“No,” Looking like she had her own dirty little secret to share, she toyed her fingers while playfully biting her lower lip. “I haven’t washed my delicate blossoming flower in over a month, so now we’re even.”
“That’s disgusting!” He gagged, releasing Smella’s shoulders. He was so disgusted, that a tiny amount of bile projected into the back of his throat.
She flopped back into her bean bag. “Women hardly bathe in medieval times,” she huffed.
“It’s 2011,” he corrected.
Smella sat up and jammed a finger in his chest. “Are you going to point out every historical inaccuracy in this convoluted story-line?”
Excerpt
“Miss Rosepetal. I’m afraid your baby is gravely ill. As each day passes, his heart beats slower. Eventually, it will stop.” Dr. Wannabush sat on the edge of his desk, twirling the tip of his dark, slender moustache, while he peered down at Smella Rosepetal through small, dark-rimmed spectacles.
“Not my little Joshua!” Hands clasped over her heart, the young mother‘s gaze swept over the rosy-cheeked, crimson-haired, infant sleeping in the basket beside her chair. “Doctor,” she cried, “you must save him!”
Dr. Wannabush stood, adjusting the heavy weight in his crotch while he thrust his pelvis precariously close to the bridge of Smella’s blemish-free, and not overly-large, forehead. “He will need a heart transplant, but the operation is risky.”
Smella managed to look up at the doctor’s face, despite the stiffened protrusion obscuring her vision. “How risky?” she asked.
Shaking his head, the doctor sat back down, the bulge in his plaid polyester pants looking more like an erect circus tent. “There is a fifty-percent chance he will not make it.”
“Oh, my baby!” She cried, her long tresses coming undone from their neat, maidenly confinement, in lush, cascading, dark waves, despite the fact that Smella hadn’t touched her scalp.
The doctor arched a slender brow. “And there’s more.”
“More?” she gasped.
“Your health insurance doesn’t cover this type of surgery.” The doctor leveled her with a hardened stare. “You will need five hundred thousand dollars.”
“Doctor, I’m a vulnerable single mother, desperately in need of a strong man to take care of me.” A hand flew to her brow and she turned pleading violet eyes upon him. “Where am I to get that kind of money?”
Lost in a perfectly staged, yet not painstakingly long, lapse of thought, the doctor rubbed his chiseled jaw. “Might I suggest you marry a young, sophisticated, wealthy Texas tycoon with raven hair and bulging biceps, who’s not afraid of a long-term commitment to a poor, ignorant, yet surprisingly beautiful, single mother, who for some reason has a flat stomach and firm breasts, despite the fact that she recently birthed an illegitimate child?”
“What a good idea.” Suddenly forgetting the gravity of the situation, Smella nearly jumped out of her seat, her perky breasts jiggling once, then coming to a complete, controlled stop. “How can I ever thank you?” she beamed.
Dr. Wannabush shrugged, a sly grin creasing the corners of his mouth. “A quickie on top of my desk.”
Batting long, lush lashes, she shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry, doctor, but I’m saving my virginity for my one true love.”
His forehead wrinkled in obvious confusion. “You have a baby.”
“Yes, I know. He’s the light of my life, and so smart.” She looked down at the baby again, which had somehow sprouted blond hair and a dimple in his chin. “He cries only on cue and knows not to interrupt a scene between Mommy and a minor secondary character.”
The doctor heaved a sigh. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind about that quickie?”
“No, doctor, I’m sorry. I must hurry to Texas if I am to save my baby.” Smella and her breasts quickly stood. She single-handedly lifted the infant’s basket with surprising ease before abruptly turning and heading for the door. “Thank you for everything. Maybe if you’re lucky, you will have sex in a sequel.”
PJ Jones began writing Romance Novel in the spring of 2009 when she was seriously ill, thinking that this book would be her last dying legacy for mankind. After you read this book, you will probably wonder if she was trying to seal her fate in hell. Who knows? But PJ Jones has conquered her illness and is much better now. But you probably don't care, as long as her writing is funny. PJ Jones is also an avid reader of real romance novels. So why does she poke fun of them? Consider it comic relief.
webpage: http://pjjonesramblings.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002264026213
Ms Jones next stop will be 6/24/2011 Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales
Ms Jones will be giving a priz of a $15 Starbucks or Amazon.com gift card to one lucky commenter. Follow the tour. The more comments you make, the more chances you have of winning.
Welcome
PJ Jones began writing Romance Novel in the spring of 2009 when she was seriously ill, thinking that this book would be her last dying legacy for mankind. After you read this book, you will probably wonder if she was trying to seal her fate in hell. Who knows? But PJ Jones has conquered her illness and is much better now. But you probably don't care, as long as her writing is funny. PJ Jones is also an avid reader of real romance novels. So why does she poke fun of them? Consider it comic relief.
Smella Rosepetal must find a millionaire husband to finance her baby’s heart transplant. She flies home to her deputy father’s ranch in Pitchforks, Texas, where she falls in love with Deadward Forest, a wealthy environmentalist vampire.
When a deranged murderer is on the loose in Pitchforks, killing romance heroines, Deadward assumes Smella would be safer without him. Smella turns to her childhood friend, Snake Long, for comfort. But Snake doesn’t have the money to save her baby, so Smella places herself in peril in a desperate hunt for a rich husband.
Time is running out for Smella’s baby, and she must escape the Australian Outback, then face down Flabio, an overweight and disgruntled, aspiring cover model, plus enraged vampire wives and their homosexual, vampire, cowboy husbands, a jealous were-gerbil, James Bond, a drunk rodeo clown and Smella’s strange boyfriend who wants to drain her blood, yet is repulsed by her smell.
Why I wrote ROMANCE NOVEL…by PJ Jones
It’s amazing how a writer can discover her funny bone when wallowing in self-pity. That’s how I discovered my twisted and crude sense of humor. Over two years ago, I was suffering from an unexplained health crisis, and since laughter has always been my best medicine, writing Romance Novel was my source of therapy. I came up with the idea after dreaming about a crude and tacky love scene. I woke up, scribbled the scene on some paper and read it to my husband. We both had a good laugh, so I decided to finish the scene and share it with my critique group, since, at the time, I had been too sick to brainstorm any other novels.
Initially, I never intended to publish Romance Novel, but my critique partners insisted I try to get it published. Surprise, surprise, my tasteless and tacky parody was rejected by the publishers and agents I queried, so I gave up. That’s when my critique group urged me to publish through Kindle and Nook. I’m glad I followed their advice. RN has received great reviews and steady sales since its release.
I’ve posted the love scene that started it all below. But before you read it, I’d like to leave you with this thought - if ever your life takes a nosedive right into the bottom of the toilet, remember that laughter really IS the best medicine. PJ
Smella glared at him while tapping her foot. “Are you going to kiss me passionately or what?”
“Yes, of course.” He sat up and grabbed her in a passionate embrace, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth, moving it about for a reasonable amount of time, until his pants felt so tight, he worried he’d bust a seam. Pulling back a few inches, he looked into her heavy lidded eyes, noting with satisfaction how she panted and swooned. “How’s that?” he asked.
She brushed the sleeve of her tweed coat across her passion-soaked lips. “Gawd, did you have onions for dinner?”
“Sorry.” Snake winced, wishing he’d laid off the salsa when he’d eaten those fish tacos. “Do you want me to brush?”
“No,” Looking like she had her own dirty little secret to share, she toyed her fingers while playfully biting her lower lip. “I haven’t washed my delicate blossoming flower in over a month, so now we’re even.”
“That’s disgusting!” He gagged, releasing Smella’s shoulders. He was so disgusted, that a tiny amount of bile projected into the back of his throat.
She flopped back into her bean bag. “Women hardly bathe in medieval times,” she huffed.
“It’s 2011,” he corrected.
Smella sat up and jammed a finger in his chest. “Are you going to point out every historical inaccuracy in this convoluted story-line?”
Excerpt
“Miss Rosepetal. I’m afraid your baby is gravely ill. As each day passes, his heart beats slower. Eventually, it will stop.” Dr. Wannabush sat on the edge of his desk, twirling the tip of his dark, slender moustache, while he peered down at Smella Rosepetal through small, dark-rimmed spectacles.
“Not my little Joshua!” Hands clasped over her heart, the young mother‘s gaze swept over the rosy-cheeked, crimson-haired, infant sleeping in the basket beside her chair. “Doctor,” she cried, “you must save him!”
Dr. Wannabush stood, adjusting the heavy weight in his crotch while he thrust his pelvis precariously close to the bridge of Smella’s blemish-free, and not overly-large, forehead. “He will need a heart transplant, but the operation is risky.”
Smella managed to look up at the doctor’s face, despite the stiffened protrusion obscuring her vision. “How risky?” she asked.
Shaking his head, the doctor sat back down, the bulge in his plaid polyester pants looking more like an erect circus tent. “There is a fifty-percent chance he will not make it.”
“Oh, my baby!” She cried, her long tresses coming undone from their neat, maidenly confinement, in lush, cascading, dark waves, despite the fact that Smella hadn’t touched her scalp.
The doctor arched a slender brow. “And there’s more.”
“More?” she gasped.
“Your health insurance doesn’t cover this type of surgery.” The doctor leveled her with a hardened stare. “You will need five hundred thousand dollars.”
“Doctor, I’m a vulnerable single mother, desperately in need of a strong man to take care of me.” A hand flew to her brow and she turned pleading violet eyes upon him. “Where am I to get that kind of money?”
Lost in a perfectly staged, yet not painstakingly long, lapse of thought, the doctor rubbed his chiseled jaw. “Might I suggest you marry a young, sophisticated, wealthy Texas tycoon with raven hair and bulging biceps, who’s not afraid of a long-term commitment to a poor, ignorant, yet surprisingly beautiful, single mother, who for some reason has a flat stomach and firm breasts, despite the fact that she recently birthed an illegitimate child?”
“What a good idea.” Suddenly forgetting the gravity of the situation, Smella nearly jumped out of her seat, her perky breasts jiggling once, then coming to a complete, controlled stop. “How can I ever thank you?” she beamed.
Dr. Wannabush shrugged, a sly grin creasing the corners of his mouth. “A quickie on top of my desk.”
Batting long, lush lashes, she shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry, doctor, but I’m saving my virginity for my one true love.”
His forehead wrinkled in obvious confusion. “You have a baby.”
“Yes, I know. He’s the light of my life, and so smart.” She looked down at the baby again, which had somehow sprouted blond hair and a dimple in his chin. “He cries only on cue and knows not to interrupt a scene between Mommy and a minor secondary character.”
The doctor heaved a sigh. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind about that quickie?”
“No, doctor, I’m sorry. I must hurry to Texas if I am to save my baby.” Smella and her breasts quickly stood. She single-handedly lifted the infant’s basket with surprising ease before abruptly turning and heading for the door. “Thank you for everything. Maybe if you’re lucky, you will have sex in a sequel.”
PJ Jones began writing Romance Novel in the spring of 2009 when she was seriously ill, thinking that this book would be her last dying legacy for mankind. After you read this book, you will probably wonder if she was trying to seal her fate in hell. Who knows? But PJ Jones has conquered her illness and is much better now. But you probably don't care, as long as her writing is funny. PJ Jones is also an avid reader of real romance novels. So why does she poke fun of them? Consider it comic relief.
webpage: http://pjjonesramblings.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002264026213
Ms Jones next stop will be 6/24/2011 Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Author PJ Jones will be starting her blog tour tomorrow promoting her book Romance Lover. The tour runs from 20th June to 1st July.
The blog stops are set out below and on Thursday I'm honoured to be the host. Please follow this tour as the book is brilliant, so funny I fell about laughing when I read it.
6/20/2011 Desiree Holt Tells All
6/21/2011 Sugarbeat's Books
6/22/2011 Alisha Paige
6/23/2011 Sue Perkins,
Fantasy, Romance & Young Adult Author
6/24/2011 Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales
6/27/2011 Book Junkie
6/28/2011 Grace Elliot
6/29/2011 Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
6/30/2011 BK Walker Books, Etc.
7/01/2011 Misc. Ramblings
See you on Thursday.
The blog stops are set out below and on Thursday I'm honoured to be the host. Please follow this tour as the book is brilliant, so funny I fell about laughing when I read it.
6/20/2011 Desiree Holt Tells All6/21/2011 Sugarbeat's Books
6/22/2011 Alisha Paige
6/23/2011 Sue Perkins,
Fantasy, Romance & Young Adult Author
6/24/2011 Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales
6/27/2011 Book Junkie
6/28/2011 Grace Elliot
6/29/2011 Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
6/30/2011 BK Walker Books, Etc.
7/01/2011 Misc. Ramblings
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Party! Party! Party!
I'm delighted to invite you to the party for the launch of my
20th Century Historical Novel Blitz.
Visit
Goddess Fish Party Pavilion
and join in the fun.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Blitz - a 20th Century Historical Romance
Blitz - a 20th Century Historical Romance will be released by Desert Breeze Publishing on 1st May. By chance this release coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Blitz of Plymouth, England, the main setting for the book.The story was inspired by my parents romance, but is fictional. However, I have tried to keep the historical facts correct.
To discover more about the Blitz of Plymouth visit the Ford Park Cemetery website or visit the actual cemetery (in Plymouth Devon) if you are close enough. They have an exhibition A Defiant City, Plymouth in World War 2 running from 20th March to 23rd April 2011 and a Blitz Memorial Service to be held on Thursday 21st April at 2:30pm in the Ford Park Cemetery Chapel.
To purchase Blitz by Sue Perkins please visit Desert Breeze Publishing from the 1st May onwards. Also keep watch for my Release Party and Virtual Book tour hosted by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Blurb - Blitz - Release Date May 1, 2011
Velma’s large family refuse to accept she is now a young woman. She falls in love with Jack and her family discuss whether he is a suitable husband for their youngest sister. She is determined to show her siblings she is now an adult and can make her own decisions.
World War II is declared. The engaged couple are forced to cancel their white wedding only days before the service. This puts a strain on the relationship between Jack and Velma. She must choose whether to let Jack go to war as a single man, or to marry in a registry office without the support of family and friends. Can Velma survive the worry of Jack being at the front? Will it be easier to cope if they are married?
Monday, February 21, 2011
Welcome Wendi Zwaduk
Welcome Wendi as you pass through on your blog tour. I understand today is also the day your book "Careless Whispers" is released. Congratulations. Visitors to my blog have come to read what you have to say, so I hand the baton over to you Wendi.
But I’m here to guest blog, too. I should get to that.
What I Wouldn’t Give...
I would like to thank Sue for having me. I’m thrilled to be here at her blog and can’t wait to answer any questions or chatter back and forth with comments.
But I’m here to guest blog, too. I should get to that.There are always things we wish we could either go back and change or things we’d like to have done. Lost chances, passed up opportunities... When I was writing “Careless Whisper” I had those themes running through my brain.
We’ve all had them. I know there were times I thought, gee, if I’d just gone back and gotten another gallon of milk, I’d have saved a dollar. Or what if I’d asked my high school crush on a date? That’s a time I’d like to go back to, if only to be a fly on the wall.
In Ryan’s case, he’s got moments in his past where he wished he’d paid more attention. Times he would’ve acted rather than stood back and watched. As I penned his story, he kept saying, what I wouldn’t give to go back and love her a little stronger. It was hard to write and put the true emotions in the way he wanted. But I did.
And that’s one of the joys or hardships of writing. There are times when I think, gee, what I wouldn’t give for this scene to go smoothly and to just write itself. Other times, it’s what I wouldn’t give to be done. But really, the times I seem to struggle are the times when the story is so wrought with emotion that I have to let it go minute by agonizing minute. Does it always turn out good? Nope. That’s another irritation of writing. It won’t always go well. Sometimes the struggle is just that. A struggle. And those moments I’d like to be done? Yeah, those are a little out there, too. Just because I want the story to be done, doesn’t mean it is. Ryan’s story started out much simpler. He wanted his ex back. Problem? She’s dead. For some paranormal stories, that would be the jumping off point. For me it was, but not in the logical sense. I had him grousing he wanted wifey back, but wifey...well, she wasn’t interested. So my ending quickly and writing a short little story wasn’t going to happen as planned.
I rather like it that way.
The story is more complex and really, I have very little to say, gee, I wish this had gone this way...
Ryan gets to deal with his lost chances just as I did. No, I never really said more than hi and bye to the HS crush, but I went back and worked out “Careless Whisper”. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Do you have any moments you’d like to go back and fix? Revisit? Chances you’d like to have? I’d love to know about them.
Tag line:
He’s her kinkiest desire, if she’s willing to open her heart and believe in him.
Blurb:
The dead don’t always rest in peace. Some stick around to make the lives of the living hell on Earth. Ryan Black knows the frustration of dealing with the dead. He’s a Ghost Explorer. He’s conquered houses filled with apparitions, abandoned school buildings that house angry vermin, and managed to woo the female population of Snake Falls, Ohio. But he’s about to face his toughest challenge, convincing sceptical Samara Jacobs she not only shares his gift, but holds his heart.
Women fall at Ryan Black’s feet and Samara’s determined not to be one of the many—that is until she’s forced to work with him. He’s certain ghosts exist and willing to prove it. The more she gets to know the man behind the television persona, she decides the handsome klutz who chases things that go bump in the night isn’t so silly after all. But is he worthy of her love?
Excerpt One (PG):
“Look around at the scenery. Ohio girls are the stuff of legend. For example, Meredith has those legs a man fantasizes having wrapped around his waist.”
“Engaged.”
“Well, then there’s Caren. She’s got a nice rack and she’s single.”
“Implants.”
“Pick nits.” Eddie snorted and shook his head. “You’ll shoot down all my ideas just to be right.” He scoped the cafeteria room once more. “What about Samara? She’s cute in a girl-next-door kinda way. All peaches and cream. I’ve caught her checking you out once or twice—a day for the last year.” He pointed to Ryan. “She’d make a perfect forever girl.”
“I had my forever girl. But I could be wrong.” Samara checked him out? Hmm... Kinda nice to know the attraction wasn’t a figment of his undersexed imagination. He’d spent many a night fantasizing about her, holding her, making love to her, waking up in the morning and seeing her smile.
At her table across the room, Samara curled up in her chair, paperback book propped in one hand and concentration written on her face. From his position, he couldn’t read the title, but he’d passed her desk enough times to know she liked romance novels. In the two years he’d worked in the same building with her, he’d heard her speak a total of three times but he knew her voice like his own.
“Ryan?”
“What? I’m checking out the scenery. It’s—” he drew a breath, feeling more than the oxygen stirring something within his body. His sex drive? He shifted in his seat. Yeah, there was a definite tingle below the belt. “It’s intriguing.”
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Joselyn Vaughan is here!!
I'd like to welcome Joselyn Vaughan to my blog today. Joselyn's book "Courting Sparks" has recently been released and one randomly chosen commenter of her blog tour will win a copy.
The ending of the first draft of Courting Sparks was rather boring. Not much happened and a reader was likely to fall asleep in the middle of it. In fact, the characters probably could have. It was that dull.
A great critique group.
I give a lot of credit to my critique group to helping my get published. My group has four members and we each write in a different genre and have different strengths. That diversity provides a well-rounded critique of each chapter we submit.
It is also great for brainstorming ideas. Whenever I get stuck, I can ask for help and get a lot of ideas that will give me a complete story.
The ending of the first draft of Courting Sparks was rather boring. Not much happened and a reader was likely to fall asleep in the middle of it. In fact, the characters probably could have. It was that dull. So one day, one of my group and I were on our way home from a writing group meeting and were discussing what we were working on. I complained about the ending and wondered what I should do. She thought for a minute and said, “Noah needs to get arrested.”
I gasped. Noah arrested? Noah would never do anything that would get him arrested. He’s too sweet.
But we kept taking and working the idea, throwing out scenarios where it could happen and what would come next. The ideas were flying all over the place. I could barely wait to get home and start writing. When I did sit down to write, I ended up adding three chapters and a much more fulfilling ending.
They’ve recently helped me when it looked like the underlying motivation for another character would be historically impossible. We worked out the timeline and made the events plausible. We came to the conclusion that a rabbit would have to die as there would be no other way for the character to know the truth. Again, I couldn’t wait to write it.
My critique group is awesome.
Who do you go to when you need help with an idea?
Courting Sparks - Avalon Books - 12/10
Dusting off the ashes of a failed relationship, Daphne Morrow decides she is ready to date again. But when her scorched prom photos are discovered to be the ignition point for a small forest blaze, marking her as the prime suspect for the arson, she finds they’re not the only part of her past sparking interest. After a friend’s wedding provides a romantic interlude with her longtime friend Noah Banks, Daphne tries to explain away her attraction to him: the atmosphere of the wedding, his resemblance to her ex, his heroic efforts as a volunteer firefighter. Still, their desire just won’t sputter out.
When the arsonist strikes much closer to home, Daphne fears she must risk Noah’s friendship to find the culprit and clear her name. She’ll know their love is real if his interest isn’t put out by her need to uncover the truth.
Courting Sparks – Excerpt 2
Noah waved her over. “Want to dance?”
“Sure.” She followed him to the dance floor. He pulled her into his arms and they swayed to the music. She expected the casual comfort she usually felt when Noah touched her. She didn’t get it. Her nerves sparked like downed power lines. Miranda and Max playfully bumped into them as they spun around the floor. Miranda grinned at Max like he was her prince. They kissed.
“It’s the romantically tinged atmosphere of the wedding,” she muttered, as Noah twirled her around and they proceeded to bump Beth and Jake.
“What was that?” Noah asked.
“You know I’ve danced at weddings in every color. Purple, blue, yellow, Barbie pink, several times.” She nodded to her dress. “But never white.”
“It’s not a bad thing it didn’t work out with Aaron.”
“I know. It’s better to know he’s a weasel now rather than be stood up at the altar, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. At least he could have had the guts to break up with me in person. Maybe then I wouldn’t be taken in every time he calls. Sorry, I shouldn’t say things like that about your cousin.” She sighed. “But whenever he calls…”
“It reminds you of it all over again,” Noah finished for her. “You’re the only one he calls anymore. I think he’s really messed up.”
“He sounds so contrite about cheating on me. About how much he regrets it. I’ve stopped falling for it and I shouldn’t dwell on it.” She shook her head. “What about you? Do you think you’ll ever get married?”
Noah looked away. She saw resentment and disappointment cross his face. “I want to. But it’s complicated.”
Daphne wanted to ask why but the tight look on his face told her he didn’t want to talk about it. The first beats of the hokey pokey blared from the speakers. Noah hurriedly steered her off the floor and toward the bar. “Do you have any practical jokes planned for Miranda’s apartment while they’re on their honeymoon?”
Friday, January 14, 2011
Joselyn Vaughan - Blog Tour
I'm honoured to have Joselyn Vaughan visit my blog on the 20th January. Please come back and read Joselyn's excerpts of her novel "Courting Sparks". Below are the other blogs Joselyn is visiting. Leave her a comment so she knows you've visited.
January 7: Goddess Fish Party Pavilion
January 10: Grace Elliot - gripping historical romance
January 11: The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object
January 12: D. Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters
January 13: Long Live Chick Lit
January 14: Jennifer Shirk
January 17: Authors by Authors
January 18: Just Views
January 19: The Skylarverse
January 20: Sue Perkins, Fantasy, Romance & Young Adult Author
January 21: My Odd Little World
See you next week.
January 7: Goddess Fish Party Pavilion
January 10: Grace Elliot - gripping historical romance
January 11: The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object
January 12: D. Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters
January 13: Long Live Chick Lit
January 14: Jennifer Shirk
January 17: Authors by Authors
January 18: Just Views
January 19: The Skylarverse
January 20: Sue Perkins, Fantasy, Romance & Young Adult Author
January 21: My Odd Little World
See you next week.
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