Friday, August 31, 2012

Blog Hop: Romancing the Hop!


 Romantic Ideas...

     Welcome to my blog! I hope you're taking notes or book marking many of the sites so you can revisit them later. There are so many ideas out there to take note of. They'll keep you busy for a long time along with all the new books and authors we hope you're book marking, too! I'm no different in wanting to give you some ideas on keeping that flame alive between you and your partner. Love is what makes things happen but we know it takes more than just love to keep the heat level going! I'll go through a list but I know that list can be added to so mark us all and come back later. Here goes...

1. Mutual trust begins with a strong self-esteem and knowing who YOU are. If you're comfortable in your relationship, you'll not have mistrust seeping in to destroy what you two share.

2. Give each other space to spread the wings and be yourself. Feeling trapped in a relationship will only feed resentment.

3. Compliment each other even if it's to say I'm glad you're with me today.

4. Give each other a sexy wink several times a day!

5.  Hugs are NOT over-rated! Give them out!

6.  Post sticky notes on the bathroom mirror, inside cupboard doors, etc.

7.  Holding hands while you're watching TV or walking outside confirms what's in your heart.

8. Old but true...never go to sleep mad at each other.

9.  Be a good listener...ask how their day was.

10.  Make eye contact when you say 'I love you'. 


         What is your favorite thing about Romance? Well, we authors are ready to share our romantic tips and favorite romance reads! Over 200 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about romance, reading romance, and dating.

       And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways and on each blog, a giveaway hosted by that Author or Blogger.

       But that's not all....

     We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, leave a comment and you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!


       Yep. ALL of that! Whoot! Be sure to visit as many blogs as you can over the weekend to enjoy some stories and facts about our favorite Romance events and reads and enter to win!

My Prize Package:

A Spa Package!

(Twilight Woods or Lime Coconut)

Body lotion, body shampoo, body mist, shower glove, 
bath sponge and one of my new tee shirts! 

Rules:
1 - Leave a comment so you're entered in the Grand Prize Packages - be sure to include your name and email address!! Remember, comment 200 times today! There are over 200 blogs in this hop!
2 - Enter the RaffleCopter to be in my contest. Earn several entries! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, August 27, 2012

Hauntings and Paranormal Happenings


Death and Ghosts Go Hand in Hand?

       People love to chat about hauntings, paranormal and ghostly orbs so come join me in talking about your experiences with ghosts and spirits in your life. What type of interaction have you had? What intrigues you the most and what shows do you enjoy watching about paranormal?



     Ghosts from the past are everyone whether we want to agree on that or not. Spirits from ships that sank at sea can also make their way to local lighthouses and mine is no exception. Whispers at Ghost Point has it's own ghost that I can't wait for you to meet!


Due out Mid-October 2012



     In that glow beyond the stairway, if you look close, there's a spirit beyond that is watching you back! He loves causing havoc with the inhabitants of the abandoned lighthouse as they try to get the remodels done.



     In late October, I'll be visiting the old lighthouse at St. Augustine, Florida and can't wait to experience the spirits there! What experiences have you had that you want to share us so we can all chat about it!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Need help editing your manuscript or screen play?

Karen Cole
Ghost Writer

Ghost Writing is not all Fun and Games


     I have been a ghost writer for over ten years now, on a steady basis. I mostly find I do a lot of editing, but editing always seems to involve writing and writing always seems to involve editing. So I don't always make a complete distinction between them - you really need to do both all the time in this profession. Meanwhile, I have many different projects coming in on a steady basis, about one or two per day.

     It always amazes me, the different kinds of clients I seem to be attracting. My step-daughter just introduced me to a former Mr. USA winner, and he wants us to ghost write his biography. The family of a young man who committed suicide would like us to pen his memoir, and someone else wants us to write a fictionalized autobiography of a former drug user. You get all types in this business - sometimes sad ones.

     I love it, though. The rewards for a ghost writer are endless, and don't involve just the great pay. In fact, I tend to charge lower than most ghost writers, as I always work within my clients' needs and budgets. So do many other ghost writers - and we always strive to find ways to stay within our clients’ budgets. The average ghost writing service probably does charge more than many people can afford, to offset their costs for running an agency. But I have to admit, many such services do charge the proverbial “arm and a leg” when it comes to ghost writing. I have heard horror stories about services charging the client $85,000 and paying the ghost writer only $5,000 to perform the actual work, for example.

     Usually, however, it is a matter of “you get what you pay for,” so you don’t want to underpay your ghost writer either. You should look at it this way: your professional writer is going to work on your book for three months, so at say $5,000 per month that would be $15,000 total for the project. So $15,000-20,000 is a more than reasonable rate for writing a book, or even a script, unless your writer charges union scale wages for a screenplay, which are higher. I haven’t written any screenplays lately, but I do ghostwrite and copy edit books, so I know that you need to charge at least reasonable rates in order to complete book and screenplay projects.

     I also have written over 100 commercial articles that have gotten over 100,000 views over time, on subjects such as ghost writing, health, fitness, and African American history. I like the fact that I can put my name on my own articles in most cases. The most name credit I usually get when I am the ghost writer or copy editor for a book is a brief blurb on the acknowledgments page. So it's nice to see people reading my work where they actually see my byline, although I really don't mind not having a byline normally - at least if people don't like my work, I don't hear them complaining!
 
     Karen, thank you for being my guest this week! Please feel free to comment and ask Karen any questions you may have; she'll be hanging out with me until Friday!
 
 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Enjoy English Historical Romances?

Life on the high seas
wasn't all fun and games!

     If you've not read my historical romance set in England in 1778, (I know, ignore that American flag, sorry) these are the characters I'm bringing back to life in Whispers at Ghost Point and filtering in things about their life during the story in No Turning Back. I've been very happy with how Whispers is going so far and also scaring myself in the process. Perhaps that means it will be an engaging story for you!

       The relationship between the main characters grows as they discover they've had a past life with each other but they discover so much more. Other characters in the story are also reincarnated and I hope you can figure out who everyone is. I can't wait for you to read it.

      While you're waiting, and if you've not decided to try No Turning Back, I hope watching the book trailer may change your mind.


Buy Links can be found HERE

Available at All Romance, Amazon & B&N, & Smashwords

Share links are also listed below and I thank you for 
sharing with your friends who love to read historicals.





Monday, August 13, 2012

Author Interview w/Jennifer Brown


Jennifer Brown
Paranormal Romance


      Welcome to our interview with Jennifer at the coffee shop! Waiter, can we please get our guest of honor a Chi Tea Latte? Thanks so much! Readers, we're glad you stopped in to meet her. You won't be disappointed, we promise. She's also giving away THREE e-copies on her book so be sure to get your entries in at the bottom. Leave a comment to chat with Jen, she'll be here all week!

Deanna:  Jen, thank you for hanging out with me all week! Let's get started. Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Jennifer:  Hi, Deanna, thanks for having me here today. Let’s see, I grew up in the Chicago area but moved around a lot during my childhood and again after college. Circumstances eventually forced me to settle down in the quite countryside just over the Wisconsin boarder, but I still consider myself a city girl at heart and long to return to someplace that doesn’t shut down at 9PM. I’m a night owl so I miss the night life that comes with urban living. In fact, one of the reasons I started writing was to give myself something to do to escape.

Deanna:  I hear you about places closing at 9 PM! For an evening out, would it be dinner or a movie? What would the dinner be? What might the movie be?

Jennifer:  Either one is fine with me; I love food and movies, lol. My dinner of choice would be sushi or something ethnic and healthy, but I’m not picky. I’d be just as happy with a BigMac, lol. My movie choices depend on my mood. Favorites are comedies or action flicks. When I’m at home, though, I like to snuggle up with a corny chick flick, haha.

Deanna:  Those are fun to watch too. We do need our down time! Do you prefer wine, whiskey, scotch, or ice tea?

Jennifer:  Well, of those three choices, I’d go with ice tea, but I’m really a vodka/tequila/coffee drinker. For the record, I don’t drink much alcohol, just a margarita occasionally with dinner. Caffeine, on the other hand, is my one vice. I’m pretty sure I drink an unsafe amount of coffee each day, lol.

Deanna:  But that's what keeps us working! What do you do to relax when you aren’t writing?

Jennifer:  I read while soaking in a hot bath or I watch t.v. – usually teen dramas like the Vampire Diaries, or Teen Wolf, or Pretty Little Liars. Those three are my favorites right now.

Deanna:  Do you have to split your writing time between a day job?

Jennifer:  Thankfully, I don’t right now, but I have before! I was working full-time when I started writing Dark Heirloom and that was hectic. I count my blessings now and hope I never have to go back to that.

Deanna:  As authors, we’ve sometimes been accused of being several people. How many personalities live in your mind?

Jennifer:  Jeeze…a lot? LOL. I have so many characters running through my head at any given moment; I’m surprised they haven’t locked me up in a padded cell yet.

Deanna:  Only another author understands that! How many plots do you include in one of your books?


Jennifer:  It depends on how long and complicated I want the story to be. I don’t limit myself to any number unless I’m writing a short story. But with novels like Dark Heirloom, I just let the action and emotions flow naturally from the characters. Characters are complex, just like real people. They have needs and wants and feelings and all of those elements account for how things turn out.

Deanna:  Readers love to know how writers spend their day. Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Jennifer:  Oh, gosh, it’s really nothing special, lol. I spend 90% of my time on the computer either writing or doing something related to my writing career (like this interview). The fun part about being an author is when readers contact you to say how much they enjoyed your book. That really makes all the work worth it; it’s such a soul-lifting feeling.

Deanna:  That is definitely the high point. I love hearing from readers! What one thing would you pass on to new writers?

Jennifer:  Keep writing and don’t stress too much over marketing. I have author friends who really let marking and promoting get to their heads to the point that they’re so stressed out they can’t write anymore. I understand marketing is the stressful side of this industry, especially when you put yourself out there and get nothing back, and it’s a necessary evil if you want readers. But there’s no reason why marketing can’t be fun. Don’t look at it as work; look at it as the opportunity to brag about what you’ve accomplished, especially if you’re published! That’s a huge deal, don’t undermine yourself. 

Deanna:  I love marketing and reaching out to readers. Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Jennifer:  Well, the Dark Heirloom series will definitely have a common theme binding the books together. I love my genre – urban fantasy – and I’m positive no matter where the wind blows me, there will always be a character nearby with some sort of paranormal ability or ancestry that makes them larger than life.

Deanna:  What are the physical characteristics that you admire in a man?

Jennifer:  How about the simple fact that they’re men? Haha. I’m a sucker for sexy eyes, specifically blue or green eyes with dark hair. A sexy smile is also important.

Deanna:  Tell us about your latest book and the type of reader it may appeal to.

Jennifer:  Dark Heirloom is book one of the Ema Marx series. Ema is a young woman who is attacked, knocked unconscious, and abducted by a vampire. But not just any vampire; he’s the prince of vampires. When Ema awakens, she immediately finds out that she’s no longer human. I’ll leave you with the official blurb below this. The series as a whole will follow Ema and the mysterious aspects of her transition – there’s a lot more to it than just what was solved at the end of book one – as well as the three dangerous vampires who fight over her.
     Dark Heirloom is an adult series, but I’ve had a few older teenagers (17-18 year old) also enjoy reading it. It’s not heavily graphic, but I still caution parents to read it first because there is some adult language and some violent and sexual scenes. Dark Heirloom is a unique twist for the avid vampire fan who’s tired of the puny humans and whiney Bella’s.

Official Book Blub:  “You’re a vampire” is so not what Ema Marx wants to hear when she wakes from a two-day coma in a cryptic yet exquisite castle in northern Finland. Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like why she’s able to see in the dark and walk through solid objects. What she doesn’t understand is why the other vampires expect her to have all the answers. It’s their fault she turned into one of them…right?
       Jalmari’s hatred for his old-man intensifies when he’s ordered to bring that troublesome girl to their castle. He has a clan to run, there’s no time for babysitting newborn vampires no matter how they were converted to their culture. But when a two-thousand-year-old premonition threatens to take the crown and his life, Jalmari sees no other choice than to take out the catalyst. Ema Marx. Fortunately for Ema, she could also be the clan’s only savior.
       The race to figure out her vampiric origins is on. And maybe she’ll get the hang of the blood-drinking gig along the way…

Deanna:  Our vampire readers are sure to want this one! Tell us about Jesu, the hero of your latest book.

Jennifer:  Jesu is Jalmari’s younger brother and thus also a prince, but without the load of responsibilities that comes with it. However, it’s Jesu who is Ema’s true savior – though Ema is still undecided about how she feels having a savior. Jesu gets premonitions and let’s just say he’s been in love with Ema long before she was even born…

Deanna:  ooo...a bit of mystery, too! Tell us about Ema, the heroine of your latest book.

Jennifer:  Ema is a 23 year old college graduate who majored in history. Imagine her surprise when the ancient myths start coming true before her eyes! She’s working on suing her college professors now. She’s the strong loner type that grew up with a broken family and never quite figured out what a relationship is supposed to be like. Also, she likes to dish out sarcasm from time to time and she has a bad habit of gorging on blood.

Deanna:  Where does the story take place and why?

Jennifer:  Dark Heirloom takes place in modern-day Finland. I wanted a foreign location so that Ema would be completely out of her element and unable to run away, since she can’t speak or read Finnish. The setting also had to be rural so my vampires were “out of the way” of the human public. Northern Finland lies within the Arctic Circle and is covered in wild forest preserves not unlike Alaska’s wilderness. I love that Southern Finland, though, is much more urban. It provides more diversity and possibilities to the setting and the story. When I researched Finland, I just fell in love with it. It’s a beautiful country full of culture and history and the more I read, the more I loved it. I secretly hope my writing will take me there one day.

Deanna: Definitely a different locale. What makes your vampires unique from the countless others in the media right now?

Jennifer:  The most obvious is that my vampires are not undead. Instead, I’ve made them a human-nephilim hybrid that are more animalistic and slightly demonic in nature than a lot of the undead vampires you see today that just look like normal people with fangs. I researched the old vampire myths from around the world, both the pre-Christian lore and the stories that cropped up as a result of the crusades, and while I didn’t use all of it, I did implement some of the physical features as well as the magical abilities they were said to possess.
      There are other more subtle elements that make Dark Heirloom a unique story and readers have pointed out many of them in their reviews. Among those, people reported really enjoying the way the vampire world is set up in Dark Heirloom, specifically the different clans and the different abilities each clan possess. Also the mix of science and mythology explaining the vampires’ origin and the way they are so tightly laced with real-life historical events.

Deanna: Where can readers get a copy of Dark Heirloom?

Jennifer:  Dark Heirloom is available in paperback and e-book from Amazon/Kindle and Barnes&Noble/Nook and other major book retailers. Readers are welcome to try Dark Heirloom free of charge by downloading the first ten chapters from my website. You have the option use your e-Reader or just load them onto your computer.

Deanna:  Readers, are you taking notes here? Wow! Can you give us a peek into book two?

Jennifer:  Ah, it’s hard to talk about book two (Dark Liaison) without giving away the ending to book one! But I will tell you this; I’m very pleased at how Dark Liaison turned out. There’s far more action, laughs, tears, twists, and romance than book one. I’m so excited to share it – and actually, I have been naughty and have been posting little snippets on my facebook page for the fans! I just can’t resist. Look for it coming in 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Enjoy your summer!


       I hope your summer is going well and you're making memories with your families. If you enjoy being outside in your gardens, I invite you into mine. This is a view of only one area of our backyard gardens and it's so peaceful out there. The morning brings us the sound of chirping birds enjoying the birdbaths and shade makes it cooler in the afternoon.

     I've also been busy writing, getting the word count up, scenes are happening that I can't wait for you to read and the characters are having fun...can getting scared by a ghost be fun? But it is because it's bringing them all together.

        Come back later this week when you get time. I've got another Fantasy author I know you'll enjoy. Many of the books and author this month are great for kids and it takes them into a world they can only reach through a book. Thanks for stopping in to check on me. I'm staying busy but also spending time with friends and family. I do miss my girls back in Michigan but they send me pictures of their girls so I don't miss seeing them grow but are growing so fast!

      Until later....know that you only need to think of what you want to accomplish, envision it happening and follow your heart!