Blog Stop: Red Zone by Sherri Hayes
Today, Sherri Hayes is here on a blog tour stop for her new novel Red Zone. I had a chance to pick her brain a bit in an interview (below), and you can read my review. Enjoy!
About Red Zone:
After a case ended badly for Rebecca Carson, she’s losing her mind sitting around her apartment waiting on her superiors to allow her to return to work. Since she was a teenager, the only thing she’d ever wanted was to join the FBI. Now that dream was in danger.
Gage Daniels has made a pretty good life for himself. A nice house. A career he loves. As a professional football player, he’s used to getting almost everything he’d ever want with just the snap of his fingers. This includes women. A well-timed smile is usually all it takes to attract the opposite sex, especially in Nashville.
When a stalker threatens Gage, the team owner calls an old friend, Rebecca’s ex-partner Travis Hansen, to help protect his star quarterback and find the person responsible. Hansen offers Rebecca the job, and she jumps at the chance. It’s work, and it will get her out of her apartment. How bad can it be?
Posing as Gage’s girlfriend, however, isn’t as easy as it seems. The man is relentless. Rebecca must work to protect Gage while staving off his advances. She’s there to do a job, nothing more. The last thing she wants is to be another notch on a hotshot athlete’s belt.
As the stalker continues to up the ante, Rebecca finds it harder and harder to keep her distance from Nashville’s star quarterback. He isn’t what she expected in one of the city’s most notorious playboys. Now all she has to do is keep him safe until they can find his stalker, and hope she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.
My interview with Sherry Hayes:
Tell readers a little bit about your journey to becoming an author.
My journey wasn’t traditional. I was thirty before I began writing my first story. English wasn’t something I excelled at in school, so I never considered becoming a writer. After posting a few of my stories online, I was approached by my publisher. They’d read one of my stories and wanted to know if I had anything I was looking to have published. After getting some feedback online, I did happen to have such a story I’d been tweaking, so I sent it to them. Two weeks later I had a contract for my first novel, Hidden Threat. That was two and a half years ago.
In Red Zone, you introduce Gage Daniels. After reading it, I discovered this wasn’t your first book about the sexy Daniels brothers. What other stories are there, and what else do you have planned for them?
Red Zone is the second book in my Daniels Brothers Series. The first book, Behind Closed Doors, introduced readers to the second oldest brother in the Daniels clan, Chris and his lady, Elizabeth. There will be a book for each of the four brothers. Next up is eldest brother Paul. I’m hoping to have that novel out to readers sometime next year.
What are your biggest frustrations/stumbling blocks as an author, and how do you deal with them?
The biggest challenge I have writing is getting ‘in the mood’. I’m an emotional writer, so if I’m not feeling it, it’s difficult for me to put anything of worth into the computer. Sometimes that means finding some music that fits the characters. Other times it means walking away for a while and doing something else.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given?
Write what you like to read. You’ll never please every reader, but you can please yourself. That’s what’s important.
The sex scenes in Red Zone were pretty steamy. How do you write your love scenes? (Music, visual stimulation, etc)
It depends. Sometimes, I write love scenes as I would any other scene in a story. Given the playfulness and passion with Gage and Rebecca, that was the case more often than not. If I’m having difficulty, however, I close my eyes and let the scene play out in front of me while I type. Having my eyes closed also helps with the logistics. It’s never good to have body parts in strange and unnatural positions. 😉
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
I get inspiration everywhere. Behind Closed Doors was originally inspired by the memory of a book cover, and my Finding Anna series began with an idea spawned from my new interest in BDSM fiction and a news story about Jaycee Dugard.
Tell us something about Sherri, the woman, most people don’t know.
I love to sing, and in my early twenties I went down to Nashville to record a demo with a live band. It was loads of fun, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
What upcoming books do you have cooking in that creative mind of yours?
Truth, Finding Anna Book 3, is in edits right now, so I’ve been working hard on that. It’s scheduled for release this summer. I’m also writing the fourth and final book in my Finding Anna series. That one should be out to readers the first part of 2014. I’ve also been brain storming Paul Daniels’ book, and have already begun writing the first chapter of that one. He’s ready for his Happily Ever After, too.
Thanks to Sherri Hayes for the terrific interview!
Author Bio:
Sherri is the author of five novels: Hidden Threat, Slave (Finding Anna Book 1), Need (Finding Anna Book 2), Behind Closed Doors (A Daniels Brothers’ Novel), Red Zone (A Daniels Brothers’ Novel), and a short story, A Christmas Proposal. She lives in central Ohio with her husband and three cats. Her mother fostered her love for books at a young age by reading to her as a child. Stories have been floating around in her head for as long as she can remember; however, she didn’t start writing them down until she turned thirty. It has become a creative outlet that allows her to explore a wide range of emotions, while having fun taking her characters through all the twists and turns she can create. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found helping her husband in his woodworking shop.
Buy the book:
Cover Reveal: Straddling the Edge by Julie Prestsater
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Straddling the Edge blurb:
Blog Stop & Giveaway: Edie and the CEO by Mary Hughes
An excerpt from
Edie and the CEO
Copyright © 2013 Mary Hughes All rights reserved — a Crimson Romance publication
Edie wants to make her 60s protester grandparents proud. But championing the little guy gets her in trouble with sexy CEO Everett Kirk. Someone’s trying to force Everett out of his job, and Edie’s latest escapade hasn’t helped. A snowstorm and an empty cabin makes them confront their attraction.
Chapter One
Smack in the middle of the workday, because her brain was fried, Edith Ellen Rowan made her computer chirp Old MacDonald. Naturally that got her into trouble with The Bitch.
At first, Edie didn’t even register the problem. Four sunny bars bee-booped before it hit her—her computer was playing a children’s nursery song in an office full of conservative, nitpicky ears. Houghton Howell Enterprises was staid like an insurance company’s gray suit (fun was something you had on the golf course, or once a year at the Christmas party, but never ever on the job).
“Suck it to shell.” Edie hit the escape key. As ee-eye-ohhh died, she braced against the proverbial fan scattering the proverbial manure in the form of Bethany Blondelle, known to most of the company as The ‘B’ if they were feeling kindly, adding the ‘itch’ if they were not.
Shoulders hunched and breath held, Edie waited. She’d only been trying to motivate her people. Managing a team of programmers at HHE, a firm that sold innovative (read: expensive) solutions in accounting for large companies (read: deep pockets) wasn’t easy. Her team members were getting as fried as she, and so she’d proposed the music-writing contest.
Nothing happened. Edie gradually relaxed.
The Star Spangled Banner burst lustily from Jack’s cubicle next door. Edie groaned.
“What the HELL is that NOISE?” Bethany had her vocal caps lock on again. This would be bad. “Who’s making all that racket? Edie? Edie!”
Edie face-palmed. The contest was supposed to be a bit of fun, not cause for Armageddon. She’d have preferred to ignore The B, but “Bethany” and “proactive” were so synonymous they were hyperlinked on Wikipedia.
Sure enough, a long leg popped through the opening of Edie’s cubicle, followed by the lady herself in eye-bleeding red. Bethany’s fashion sense was from the DoMeHard channel. Her snappy skirts were hemmed just below her panty line. Today’s suit also featured a plunging sweetheart neckline, a chunky citrine necklace getting suffocated in her Wonder-enhanced cleavage. Her long, sleek hair was dyed crayon yellow #6.
Edie looked down at her own lacy teal tee, navy pants and wool blazer and wondered if she was underdressed.
Nah.
“What is the meaning of this racket?” Bethany leaned on Edie’s desk, looming over her. Invading personal space—“A” in the ABCs of corporate dominance.
“Project Pleiades. We had a month to deadline—until your good buddy Junior chopped that to a week.”
“Respect, Edie. Mr. Howell, not ‘Junior.’”
“I’ll respect Mr. Pharaoh Howell when he respects the workers. That deadline is a nightmare. My team has been working twelve-hour days and more. I’ve tried to push back, but you know Junior. Only the Evil Overlord can buck him.”
“Stop it.” Bethany tossed her head, a fleeting remnant of the girl Edie once knew. “The issue is not our executives. The issue is that…racket.” She waved her hand toward Jack’s cubicle, where the anthem was on its final verse.
“Handling Stress 101, Bethany. Work on something else.”
“Playing music on company time?” Bethany glared down her high-bridged nose.
“Stupidity 101. You should listen to me if you want to go anywhere in this company.” She pointed to her cleavage, fingertip disappearing to the first knuckle. “After all, my team’s twice the size of yours.”
“Bigger isn’t better. It’s all about how you use it.” Edie grinned. “How about you run your team and I’ll run mine?”
“You don’t run your team.” Bethany sneered. “They run you.”
“It’s called empowerment.” Edie took pride in her outspoken team. She wanted her grandparents, hard-core sixties protesters, to be proud of her. They’d raised her from a little girl when her parents had died, and she loved them to pieces. “It’s a proven management style.”
Jack’s computer shifted to A Hundred Bottles of Beer.
“Management?” One corner of Bethany’s perfect lips curled. “The only management I
see is mis-management.”
“Ba-dum-bum.” Edie was suddenly tired of the whole conversation.
And, as Jack’s computer continued to tweet bottles down, doubt gnawed at her. It was quite a racket.
“Other people are trying to work.” Bethany went for the kill. “Keep your hooligans under control or I’m going to have to tell Mr. Kirk.”
Edie suppressed a moan. Of all the straight-laced overbearing big shots at HHE, Edward Everett Kirk, president and CEO, was the biggest, straight-laciest. Like laced corsets…naughty corsets in Kirk’s competent hands—
“The way you two fight, it’s only a matter of time before he gets fed up and fires you.” Mme La B’itch drew a red-enameled nail across her slim throat.
Edie winced. “It’s called ‘corporate unfriending’ now. And I couldn’t help the janitor incident. Or the thing with the Super Soaker. Look, I’ll talk to my people. Just cut us some slack, okay? We’ve been working ridiculous hours.”
“Edie, you idiot. Has it ever occurred to you that your ridiculous hours are because of you?”
Them’s fightin’ words. Edie raised narrowed eyes. “I beg your pardon?”
Bethany leaned knuckles on the desk. “Only one kind of project manager confuses effort with efficiency: a bad one.”
“Enough.” Edie jumped to her feet, nearly head-butting Bethany. “Outside. Now.”
“And freeze my butt off? Hardly.” Bethany’s nose was inches from Edie’s. “You have absolutely no decorum, do you? That shouldn’t surprise me, considering the hippies who raised you.”
Edie lost it. “My grandparents were heroes! They fought for what they believed in, rallied at protest marches—”
“Pretty stories. Your grandpa was a long-haired unwashed bum. Your grandma wasn’t much better than a free love hooker.”
Edie snarled. “Now you listen here, you b—”
“If Mr. Kirk were here—”
“Mr. Kirk,” a deep voice rang with power, “is here. And I want to know what, precisely, is going on.”
February 4
February 5
February 6
February 7
February 8
February 11
Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost!!
February 12
February 13
A Little Fiction of Every Flavour
February 14
Blog Stop & Giveaway: The Dragon Shield by Dianne Lynn Gardner
Today, Dianne Lynn Gardner, author of The Dragon Shield, joins us. Enjoy the excerpt, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!
About The Dragon Shield by Dianne Lynn Gardner
Ian’s Realm: The Dragon Shield
As a young man, Ian returns to the Realm to help his friends, and to fight against the tyranny that has befallen them. But the Realm is a different place, the forest is dying, the Kaemperns have lost the shield that protected them from the dragon, and Ian has a hard time proving his allegiance when trouble follows him through the portal. His struggle to do right buries him in confusion, and he must fight his own will to prove his integrity.
“The Dragon Shield is packed to the rafters with incident and peril. Ian’s resolve is tested like never before, the camaraderie of his supporters and their combined efforts will keep the reader engrossed…There is a constant battle being waged between hope and despair and you are never quite sure how things will develop. By the novels end I felt that things were only just beginning for Ian and I wanted more – a mark of Gardner’s skill as a storyteller.” Review from the Independent Review UK Daniel Cann.
Excerpt:
When Ian returns to the Realm, and finds himself a prisoner alongside Brad, a boy he seemed to have picked up as a hitchhiker from the real world, he’s awaken by the dragon and the realty of the state of affairs that the Realm is now facing.
A full moon and the wind woke him. The flap to the window beat viciously against the skin of the walls, the door rolled eerily to the tune of the gale. Pieces of bark and dust flew in through the window. Ian jumped out of bed to tie it closed and was traumatized by what he saw.
Flames rose in the distance, wielding out of control. Smoke hovered over the forest, a thick incense of burning evergreen. Worse than the fire, a dark shadow flew over the inferno, weaving in and out of the destruction like a killer whale breaking the surf. Then he heard the screech, a terrifying shrill. He had heard that sound the night his father went back to the prairie to fight the dragon. It was the sound of death.
“What’s that?” Brad asked as he jumped up and ran to Ian’s side. The boy’s face paled and his mouth dropped open. “Oh no, oh no.” His cries turned to sobs until his body trembled and Ian had to rest his hands on the boy’s shoulders to steady him.
“You’re safe here,” Ian assured him.
The wind picked up speed, and as it did the flames spun in a furious circle, like a funnel, a tornado of fire. It lifted the dragon high into the sky. Thunder rumbled and lightening tore through the clouds. Brad gasped.
Ian closed the flap to the window, tied it tight and shut the door.
“Go to bed. Morning will come,” he said walking the boy back to his fleece and covering him. Thunder rolled in the heavens and Brad let out one last cry of fear.
“It’s OK.” Ian whispered.
But the lump in Ian’s throat told of his own fears. It wasn’t long ago that Elisa hinted the war had begun, and now Ian realized that her connection with the Realm was greater than he had suspected. The Kaemperns had already made their move. How long they had been fighting, he didn’t know, but this was probably the battle his father wanted to be a part of. How close they were to finding the sphere that would seal the window to the Realm was anyone’s guess, but he reckoned his part in the battle was soon to come.
Ian’s hands trembled as he tucked the covers tight around Brad. He felt somewhat helpless being held prisoner here alongside a frightened boy. His only hope was that Amleth would understand their predicament and release them. Perhaps then he could send Brad home. Otherwise, it was his duty to keep the boy safe, and he wasn’t exactly sure he could do that.
Author Bio
Dianne Lynn Gardner
Author-Illustrator
Young Adult Fantasy-Adventure Fiction
Dianne Gardner is both an author and illustrator living the Pacific Northwest, Olalla Washington. She’s an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the National League of American Pen Women. She has written Young Adult Fantasy novels as well as articles for national maga zines and newspapers and she is an award-winning artist.
Dianne spent many years living out in the desert wilderness of the American Southwest, lived in a hogan made from adobe and cedar for thirteen years, co-owned 25 horses both pure bred and Native American ponies, traveled horseback and by wagon throughout the Navajo reservation, herded sheep and goat, worked in the forest planting trees and piling, farmed on barren soil and even lived in a teepee for a short while. She spent many long years using survival skills as a way of life.
Later she studied pastoral counseling and was a Pastor’s appren tice at a mainline church. She and her husband have been feeding the homeless for over twelve years. Today she shares both her survival experiences and her love for people, especially young people, into her writing as a way to not only to give her readers a firm understanding of her stories’ characters, but a rich appreciation of nature.
Author Links
Blog http://dragontargeseries.blogspot.com/
Hydra Publications link http://www.hydrapublications.com/our-authors/dianne-gardner/
Facebook Ian’s Realm link https://www.facebook.com/TheIansRealmSaga?fref=ts
Twitter @DianneGardner
Pub Day Book Blast: Wildflowers by Schledia Benefield
Darkness
often skulks in the blood of unsuspecting victims, but Aster McGrath is
acutely aware of the violence coursing through his veins. After all, he
is the son of a murderer, and everyone in the town of Bayville,
Mississippi says he will end up just like his father.
When Susan
Blackman moves into town, Aster has already embraced his brutal nature,
but her gentle spirit draws him in and slowly melts the icy exterior of
his heart. Taming his savagery, she professes her love, but will the
good within him be able to overcome the evil lurking deep inside? Or
will the fiend break free of its fetters and seek blood?
More secrets revealed . . .
Blog Stop and Guest Post: To Serve is Divine by R.E. Hargrave
Today, I have author R.E. Hargrave on the site as part of the blog tour for her debut novel To Serve is Divine. You can read my review here. Not only that, but due to my nosy nature, I asked her to tell us about the research that went into writing a BDSM novel. It turns out, she did in depth as well as personal research before writing this erotic tale. Want to read about it? Yeah . . . me, too! I have to thank her in advance for being so forthcoming.
Howdy darlin’, let me start with a thanks for having me!
Boy, you don’t beat around the bush do you? Ironically, you’re not the first to ask me how I went about researching for To Serve is Divine. However, until now I don’t think I’ve been asked point blank, and I’ve managed to be a little evasive of the topic because the research did turn “personal.” *knowing wink*
In previous guest posts I’ve explained how the idea for the first version of TSID came about in 2010: basically reading fan fiction which triggered curiosity and then “research.” That research began with the anonymity of continuing to read any fan fiction I could in the BDSM genre. It didn’t take me long to figure out that while there were some similarities, there were also enough dissimilarities to indicate if I wanted to know what was ‘real’ versus what was ‘made up’ I would have to extend my reach.
Insert the wonderful world of Google; and might I add that if you’re going to be researching this kind of subject matter, be conscious of the virus scans your operating system provides. If it’s green, it’s clean.
For several months I watched various video clips – hey, it was research, not hours wasted watching porn. Believe it or not I was paying attention to the way the Dominants wielded their choice of impact toy (be it flogger, crops, canes, whips, etc.); to the look on the submissive’s faces and in their eyes as they received the attention which they obviously longed for.
Granted, there were also times I’d see something and question how in the world anybody could enjoy having that done to their body – thus I learned about limits. Those things which made me cringe would be my hard limits. Likewise, I have no doubts there are images I’ve seen and “reacted” to that while I would say I was “Green” or okay with having them done, the next person would cringe at them and call “Red.”
Therein lays the beauty of BDSM. The acronym has many components – just like the lifestyle. Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism or simply, D/s: Dominance/submission. Everyone has different likes and entering into this lifestyle affords one the opportunity to explore those with like-minded people. Whether whips and chains are your thing, or hot oil, wax and feathers – if you can think of it, odds are there’s another person out there who enjoys it too. And no, you will not be judged for what gets your juices flowing.
Stepping up my “research” led me to seeking out some of these like-minded folk in public forums – again through the safety of my computer. What I discovered was that the BDSM community is quite similar to an extended family which runs on trust and respect. Safe, Sane, and Consensual is a common motto you’ll come across in the lifestyle and it’s quite apt. Rules are in place to enforce living by this motto, but the bottom line is that the people (Dominants and submissives) choosing to live this way do it of their own FREE WILL.
If they aren’t, it’s no longer BDSM, it is abuse.
Seeing images, reading various blogs, chatting with members of the lifestyle were all helpful, but still not quite enough. I wanted to be able to actually portray in my writing the sensations and the physical experience so yes, “I went there.”
My husband has taken this journey with me. Without communication between yourself and your partner (be it husband, wife, male, female) misunderstandings can and will happen. How can you trust and respect someone if you can’t even hold an honest conversation with them? So, talking is key. In my case it led to the purchase of some basic supplies and impact toys, more video watching (for instructional purposes this time – as much as I wanted to know what a flogger on my ass felt like, I really didn’t want to just turn my husband loose to start swinging at me willy-nilly!), and the best part: the experimenting.
won’t go into details, those are my private moments after all, but I will say I can’t regret the journey thus far. It has been enlightening and amazing. Is my journey over? Far from it I hope.
The book definitely had a ring of authenticity to it, and I can see why. R.E. Hargrave’s research made this a much better story.
Catherine O’Chancey is a reserved, demure, and graceful submissive. All traits she trained hard to enhance when she discovered the world of Dominance and submission in college. In an attempt to start fresh after the unexpected death of her last Dom, Catherine moves to Dallas, TX to escape the shroud of darkness he left behind in her life. She has tried to fight the need that resides deep within her to submit, but finally has to admit she can’t for it is not a choice, but part of who she truly is. After months of mental preparation, she ventures back into the lifestyle by attending a coveted open-night event at Dungeons and Dreams, an exclusive BDSM club.
Is it fate or coincidence that Catherine garners the attention of one of the club’s board members who happens to be on the hunt for the perfect sub – a partner who enjoys receiving pain and pleasure as much as he enjoys doling it out?
Jayden Masterson is many things: a firm Dom, a shrewd businessman, and a gentleman. What he isn’t, is someone who partakes in relationships outside of contractual ones with his multiple, un-collared, regular submissives. While he likes rough sex, he is not an animal, and can find pleasure only if it is consensual. What his harem is missing is a pain slut; could there be one in his future?
Upon meeting Catherine, Jayden feels an instantaneous spark inside him that has him wanting to know not just her body, but her mind. He wants to unravel her mysteries and discover her secrets. Through pain can they find the pleasure they seek? Can part-time pain lovers find full-time fulfillment when it’s not in their contract?
R.E. Hargrave is a fledgling author who has always been a lover of books and now looks forward to the chance to give something back to the literary community. She lives on the outskirts of Dallas, TX with her husband and three children.
Author Links
Facebook * Author Website * Twitter * Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Blog Stop and Giveaway: Solomon’s Throne by Jennings Wright
Today I have a guest post from Jennings Wright, author of Solomon’s Throne. Enjoy learning about her writing journey, read my review, and enter the giveaway!
About Solomon’s Throne by Jennings Wright
An impenetrable safe is breached and a secret artifact is stolen. Containing information that could change the course of the world, its desperate owner sends Gideon Quinn, his head of security, and Gideon’s wife Rei, an art preservationist, to find it at any cost. What they discover is a clue to the lost throne of King Solomon, the real object of the theft. They are thrust out on an adventure that leads them halfway around the world. Following letters left by a Jesuit in 1681, they must weave through ancient sites along the Portuguese Spice Route, keeping ahead of a secret militant order that is determined to beat them to Solomon’s Throne.
Filled with fast paced action and having broad appeal, Solomon’s Throne is an ingenious treasure hunt adventure that sweeps the reader around the globe in a race against time.
Let’s turn over the floor to Jennings Wright.
At 47, I have a new career. I feel a little like Paula Deen without the big hair and butter. Thanks to a crazy worldwide phenomenon called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which I did for the first time in November 2011, I am now an author. A published author! And not only that, I’m selling books. Weird.
I’ve always written, but other than ad copy and business writing, with the occasional letter to the editor or article, I haven’t been published. I had, in fact, decided after several aborted attempts at fiction that I just wasn’t very creative. My husband is a nonfiction writer, and I can always talk about… well, most anything, especially strange and useless facts, so I figured I’d join him in the nonfiction world once my homeschooling days were over.
Then along came NaNoWriMo. I discovered it accidentally when browsing the writing section at our now-closed Borders; I came across a book called “No Plot No Problem” by Chris Baty. Turns out he is the founder of the event, which started as a lark with about ten friends and now has over 300,000 people participating each November across the globe. As more of a bucket-list, get it over with gesture, I signed up in July for the upcoming challenge.
Honestly, I was fully prepared to write crap. I knew I could write the 50,000 words needed to win, but I also knew it would be bad. I’d never been able to write more than 5,000 words of fiction in my life! But at least I’d have done it, and no one else ever had to read it. One thing crossed off the list.
That novel ended up being my first published book, “Solomon’s Throne.” Since then I’ve won five NaNo events and written one other novel in the NaNo format of 30 days. I’ve published two (the sequel to “Solomon’s Throne” called “The Hoard of the Doges,” and a Christian historical romance set in the Civil War called “Undaunted Love”). I have a YA sci-fi fantasy trilogy that will be released between February and June, and several other things slated for 2013.
In short, NaNoWriMo uncovered and unleashed a passion and a dedication that I’d never felt or shown in anything other than raising my family. I’m a type-B personality, and type-B personalities don’t do stuff like this. We aren’t really cut out for it! But somehow, some internal button somewhere has been pushed, and I think it’s stuck, because I don’t feel like slowing down (except for the occasional trip or day at the beach, and even then I take work!).
I love being a writer. I love finding cool historical facts and places and incorporating them in a book. I love hearing from readers that they were entertained. That’s my goal. I’m not trying to write the next great piece of literary fiction that will be taught and analyzed for years to come. I’m trying to entertain. I’m hoping to sweep the reader away for a while, and get them invested in the story. If I do that, I’ve succeeded.
I also love the indie author community. I’ve never met such a great group of people, who are from all over the world and all walks of life, who so generously share their experiences (good and bad), their contacts, and their knowledge. There are blogs, tweets, Facebook groups and professional organizations full of people just waiting to cheer you on, pick you up when you fall, and teach you what they know.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time. My husband and I have talked for a couple of years about moving once our youngest child graduates from high school. That happens in May. Our daughter is getting married in June, and then we’re going. Where? We don’t know! But now I know that, wherever we end up, I’ll be able to continue doing what I love.
Giveaway
Author Bio
Born and raised in Rockledge, Florida, Jennings spent her early years reading anything she could get her hands on, when she wasn’t spending time in and on the water. She won a prize in the 6th grade for her science fiction stories.
Jennings attended the University of the South and the University of Tampa, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science, and almost enough credits for B.A.s in both English and History. She spent time over the years doing various kinds of script doctoring, business writing, editing, and teaching writing, but mostly having and raising her family, homeschooling her children, owning and running a business with her husband, and starting a non-profit to Uganda.
Thanks to a crazy idea called NaNoWriMo Jennings got back into creative writing in 2011 and hasn’t stopped since. She’s written four novels and a screenplay in less than a year, with more ideas on the drawing board. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, also a writer, and two children, and travels extensively.
Author Links
Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/Solomons-Throne-ebook/dp/B008NBRYV6/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1351777545&sr=8-3
Print Edition: http://www.amazon.com/Solomons-Throne-Jennings-Wright/dp/0985784016/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1351777545&sr=8-3
Print Edition – CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/3937851
Website is www.jenningswright.com
Writing blog is http://jenningswright.wordpress.com
Twitter is @JenningsWright
FB author page is www.Facebook.com/JSWwrites
Independent Author Network page is http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/jennings-wright.html
Blog Stop: Affirming the Faith by Michele Richard
Today Michele Richard is stopping by as part of her blog tour for Affirming the Faith. Ms. Richard has several published novels under her belt and has gone on to start Renaissance Romance Publishing. Enjoy the fascinating guest post and then read about the book!
Play it again, Sam!
Music and writing go hand and hand. I have found having playlists on Youtube to match the story’s emotions and flow that I am writing helps keeps me on track. Ever wonder what I could have been listening to when I wrote your favorite story? Have a peek: http://www.youtube.com/TheMicheleRichard .
You can also find the video trailers that have been made for my books there as well. Book trailers are a great way to help readers with connecting to how you see your characters or settings in your book.
I am fortunate that I have been graced with two personal songs written for two of my books. The Mocked by Faith Trilogy and Parasouls both have songs written for them by Lisa Bilbrey and Boston’s local songwriter and singer Born Gotti.
I had the pleasure of meeting Born while working on the movie set for Here Comes The Boom. Yes! I’ve been an extra in a movie! From that day on, I’ve been grateful for the honor of his friendship. We have a system of working together that has made it a pleasure to work with him. The man is so talented with writing songs that match my stories. Check him out on Youtube as well! http://www.youtube.com/Borngotti8
Lisa Bilbrey is a talented songwriter and author. She’s also my partner at Renaissance Romance Publishing. Seeing her base for Standing There being mixed with Born’s music and voice was surreal. They make up a talented team and I hope I get to see it happen again.
If you have a book out there that you’re looking to promote, please consider cross-promoting with a local musician. You get the pleasure of music for your own trailers, while the artist gets the same video for their song. Working together can further you both in ways you never expect.
So what do I listen to at moments like now, writing blog posts or promotions? Right now I am listening to “Take a letter Maria” by R.B. Greaves while I wish I had a secretary to do it! Of course, now that I use Dragon Voice Recognition I sort of do have one.
My suggestion for writer’s block is to make a playlist that keeps the creative juices flowing. If you’re writing a fight scene find songs that match the tempo and aggression. For romantic moments, search out ones that show if it’s sweet, rough, or hot. Only you can say which songs will be perfect for your book. Be sure to share it with your fans!
I love to tweet songs I am writing to. More than once, I’ve had other writers say they loved the song and it inspired them, too. Music is a powerful emotion inducer, so use it, let it bring your writing to new highs, and most of all, enjoy it!
Thank you for letting me stop by!
About Mocked by Faith: Affirming the Faith by Michele Richard
The time has come for Alexia and Justin McNear to move out of their beloved home at The Gates, a hidden gated community where time doesn’t change the way of life. It’s time for a new start with the birth of a new community, and children to raise in the faith they cherish. Alexia and Justin’s challenges are far from a thing of the past. Life’s not always perfect. This is a fact these two know all too well. Together they’ll have to remind each other nothing is ever perfect.
Alexia has grown to accept her husband and her role in life, but now, new issues will arise, and force her to fight to keep her family together and safe. Her days of insecurities may be behind her, but she’ll be tested to see if she’s really ready to be a minister’s wife.
Justin has learned the error of his ways and will stop at nothing to protect his family and faith. Now a minister, he must show his parishioners he’s more than capable of leading them. There are no challenges or disabilities too great to overcome.
Together they’ll have to select the perfect spouses to contract for their children and lead L’île d’anges, the new community left in their trust to build. In a world of arranged marriages and dominating husbands, things are not always as they seem. Even with the small progresses their faith has made, they’ll cling to the ways of the past generations.
They’re in for an uphill battle when Mother Nature sets her eye upon them. Locked away from anyone to help them, they’ll have to rely on each other and their faith to see them through.
Is history repeating itself? When one son has no match, what then? Can they beat the clock before it’s too late?
Author Bio
Michele Richard has created the Mocked series. From Mocked by Destiny to the trilogy Mocked by Faith, she writes what comes from the heart. A wife and the mother of two preteen girls, she spends her days spinning tales about what happens when what you believe in mocks your every turn.
When she’s not writing, her days are filled with her family, her bunny Geneva, and friends. Her greatest passions are learning new languages and traveling. She currently resides in the Northeastern part of the United States; however, her family members live down the east coast as far as North Carolina.
She’s currently learning French and Spanish, and one day hopes to be fluent in both. Learning new things is always something she enjoys.
Author Links
Éire’s Captive Moon ebook Giveaway Winner!
Congratulations to LV Lewis, the winner of my ebook giveaway of Éire’s Captive Moon! I know this is one book that will stay with you long after the last page is done.
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