Pt II:Alicia Dean with Death x2
23 May 2012 24 Comments
in Blogs, book to read, death, fun, getting the word out, giveaway, guest blogging, Interview, Promotion, Welcome, Writing Tags: #TWRP, alicia dean, Calisa Rhose, death offerings, giveaway, guest, northland chronicles, Pen of the Dreamer, Tales of the Scrimshaw doll
Osiyo~
Today I put Alicia in the corner with some tough questions. 
We’ll just get right to it.
1-If your book was going to be made into a movie who would play your characters? Patrick Dempsey would play Lane and Kate Beckinsale would play Monroe.
Great choices. Love Kate.
2-What is your favorite genre to write? How many genres do you write?
Suspense and Paranormal. Both because I make my paranormals like suspense with some magic.
That’s why I enjoyed Heart of the Witch so much!
3-Tell us what inspired your latest story? My latest work in process is actually a gothic romance novella. Mel Odom wanted to do a series together, and it was his idea to bring back the gothic romance. I’m really excited about it. I used to read them years ago, but haven’t come across one in ages. I’ve barely begun but I’m starting to feel more comfortable and so far it’s a lot of fun.
Gothic, huh? Sounds like something to check out.
4-When I write it’s usually stuffing words around other chores around the house and running errands. What is your typical writing day like? I don’t have a typical writing day. I’m involved in so many different things, I have so many duties and responsibilities, not to mention a full time day job, that I have to grab writing time whenever I can. So, I’d say it’s pretty sporadic, but somehow I manage to grab time here and there so that I can actually complete manuscripts.
5-What do you like to do besides write? I love MLB and I used to play golf, though it’s been a while, but I miss it and would like to get back to it. I also like watching A LOT of tv.
Me too, though mine stays on country videos while I’m writing usually. Inspiration, ya know!
Pick one word to describe yourself: Easy –
Really!? 
Uh…by that I mean that I am a bit of a pushover, and I readily agree to almost anything people ask of me, even if I don’t have time. So maybe instead of ‘easy’ I should say ‘overburdened.’
Oh- right, I knew that. I know that feeling. I just can’t seem to say “no” to anyone!
Favorite animal: To eat?
Err… 
Oh…that’s not what you meant? Sorry if I’ve offended PETA and pet lovers alike, but I’m not an animal person. I don’t dislike them, but don’t have the desire to own one. I suppose it would be something of an aquatic nature…dolphins maybe? Are they animals?
I think they are mammals.
Favorite comfort food: I don’t have a particular favorite, and don’t think of it as ‘comfort’ but I like cheese on pretty much everything. So, maybe cheese.
Mm, cheese. I love me some Pepper Jack! Good answer.
Spring, summer, autumn or winter? WINTER
Favorite book: I can’t possibly name one book, but probably in the top would be Gone with the Wind, Mystic River, All of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, All of Dennis Lehane’s Patrick Kenzie series. (You know you can’t ask a writer to name their favorite book)
A girl can try!
Favorite movie: Gone with the Wind <g>, Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, Imitation of Life, Pride and Glory.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you want to do? I would want to own the Cincinnati Reds. Or, be Ian Somerhalder’s massage therapist.
Best vacation ever: I’ve taken some trips to Cincinnati for baseball games, and that was amazing. I’ve also been to Fenway Park, which was incredible. And, my sister and her husband took me to Memphis for my 40th birthday and she and I were able to enjoy the ‘Elvis’ experience together for the first time ever, even though we grew up together loving Elvis. Truly a wonderful, special experience!
Ok, that was fun, wasn’t it? At least not painful. 
Well, folks are chomping at the bit around here (pun intended!), so how about a blurb and excerpt for Death Offerings, book two of The Northland Chronicles? I’ll throw in the awesome cover while you dig out your cheat-sheets.
Blurb:
Newspaper columnist Monroe Donovan’s best friend was the victim of a serial killer years ago, when they were only twelve.
The murders stopped, but the killer was never caught. Now it seems that a series of articles Monroe published about the victims has caught his attention.
The maniac begins killing again, but this time, he leaves macabre gifts for Monroe at the crime scenes.
When someone close to Monroe is kidnapped, it leads to a volatile showdown where the prey might teach the hunter that sometimes, victims aren’t as weak as they appear to be…and paybacks can be a bitch.
Excerpt
Moments after Lane drove away, my cell rang. The caller ID showed a number I didn’t recognize and the words “Magic Construction.” Frowning, I answered the phone.
A male voice—gruff and unfamiliar—said, “Did you like my gift?”
“Gift? What gift?” There was something unnatural sounding about his voice. Like he was purposely disguising it.
“The gift I left you in the park.”
The strength drained from my legs and nausea tightened my gut. I dropped onto the edge of the recliner. “Who are you? What kind of sick joke is this?”
“No joke. It’s very real. You don’t sound happy.”
“Happy? Are you out of your mind?”
I knew it was unlikely this jerk was really the killer. He was probably just some a-hole screwing with me. But the fact that anyone could be this sick made me ill.
A raspy, unsettling laugh rumbled across the line. “I did it for you. Your articles were ending. I liked reading them. Liked that you were writing about me. Now, it doesn’t have to stop.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and tried to still the heavy thud of my heart. Instinct told me this guy was for real.
Oh my God…
I was talking to the killer.
***
How do we find you again?
Website: AliciaDean.com
Twitter: @Alicia_Dean_
Facebook: Alicia Dean
And your book?
Death Offerings
Nook: http://bit.ly/GWb7To
Kindle: http://amzn.to/GTBCoM
Trailer:
Watch for my new paranormal romance, Soul Seducer, available from Adams Media June 4, 2012
BIO:
Alicia Dean writes paranormal and romantic suspense and is the author of five published novels, two novellas, and a handful of short stories. She has three grown children and lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. Alicia loves nothing more than crafting spine-chilling, edge-of-your-seat suspense.
Remember to leave your email in a comment for a chance at a B&N gift card or an Amazon gift card!
Dodadagohvi~
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You won’t believe who my guest is today!
09 May 2012 32 Comments
in Author guest, Blog Tour, book to read, Debut release, giveaway, Promotion, Shapeshifters, TWRP Tags: #TWRP, Calisa Rhose, excited, faeries, Free books, Gift of the Realm, giveaway, interview, Irish, mackenzie crowne, mystical, Pen of the Dreamer, Winner, wolf, Writing
Osiyo~
I know you’re jealous. Admit it. I’m the lucky one today and I am verra thrilled to be the caboose of the multi-blog scavenger hunt for sister TWRP debut author (and I’m proud to say, my friend!), Mackenzie Crowne’s Gift of the Realm. We’re doing an interview and she’s here to tell you more about why you will want to read this book—besides that enchanting and haunting cover and the scrumptious Colin! So let’s get this ranch jumping! Please give a Ranch welcome to Mac Crowne! *indicates the screen door in a grand gesture…gawks…at…*
Donovan O’Brian Quinn be me name.
Calisa: Wha-? Wait a minute…
Donovan: I’m pleased to make yer acquaintance. The lovely Calisa was kind enough to invite me to visit today, to tell ye about me book. Gift of the Realm, it’s called. Oh, I didn’t do the actual writing of the thing. Mackenzie Crowne had that honor, but the story is mine. I’m the star, ye see.
Calisa: Uh-huh… *glances around for the hidden camera then back at the dog talking? to her* Hello? *a talking dog! pinches her arm and winces* Am I being Punk’d? I thought Mac was supposed to be here today. Where’s Ashton? Oh, well. Who am I to turn away a talking dog? Welcome to the ranch, Donovan, was it?
Donovan: I know what ye be thinking’. A dog? Really? Dogs don’t type and they certainly don’t blog.
Calisa: Of course you know “what I be thinking.’ I just expressed that. What I want to know is…how?
Donovan: Well now, I’m here to tell ye, if ye hadn’t noticed already, an ordinary dog I’m not. An Irish wolfhound I be, living in the world of folklore and 
fairies in the mystical village of Dunhaven, Ireland, where strange and wonderful happenings are the norm. My people are Halflings, ye see. Ye might have heard of them. Keely and Colin Quinn be their names.
Calisa: Actually, I have— Ooh! That’s beautiful! I’ve always dreamed of going to Ireland and seeing a cliff like this one. *sighs*
Mac: Donovan!
*Calisa jumps from her reverie*
Donovan: *Yelp* Oh, Mac! Ye frightened a full seven years off me life. I didn’t see ye there. Tis the author herself, me friends. Say hello, Mac.
Calisa: Mac, what a pleasant surprise to see you! *eyeballs Donovan suspiciously*
Mac: Hello, everyone, nice to meet you. What are you up to, Donovan? Sorry, Calisa. I hope he’s not bothering you.
Calisa: Not at—
Donovan: I like that! Invited, I was. Calisa and I are having a wee visit. The lass smells of sweet, cinnamon candy, don’t ye know. I like that in a human.
Calisa: I didn’t actually know it was going to be Donovan, Mac. But since he’s here… He does say such kind, flattering things about me. And I do enjoy spicy cinnamon now and again…which Donovan noticed. Flattery…
Mac: Yes, she is a sweetheart. *winks at Calisa* A wee visit, huh?
Calisa: I don’t mind, really. And you are a sweet darlin, Mac. And he was about to tell me some of his story which I’d love to hear! I’m sure my Ranch guests are all ears, as well. I mean, how often does one have a chance to *chat* with a talking Irish dog?
Donovan: Aye. I’m sharing a bit of our story with the lads and lasses who’ve popped in for a visit. It’s a fine tale ye’ve woven, even if it tis a romance.
Mac: Keely and Colin don’t seem to mind Gift of the Realm is a romance.
Calisa: My guests and I LOVE romance! *bobs head back and forth between Mac and Donovan wondering if either are really listening to her*
Donovan: Hah! Humans, even those with fairie blood running through their veins, are silly with it when they find their one true mate. But I didn’t say I minded. After all, it’s a tale full of curses and fairies, and an ancient ring of stones. And then of course, there’s me. Who doesn’t love a tale includin’ a charmin’ Irish wolfhound?
Calisa: *raises hand, whispers* I do.
Mac: I’m not sure Keely would use the word charming. Not when you have a habit of digging up her lilacs.
Donovan: Ah, that. Well, I’m a dog, ain’t I? It’s what we do. And Keely doesn’t mind so much, not when her black wolf has a paw in that bit of mischief, more often than not.
Mac: Hmmm. *grins* She does have a soft spot for that Halfling of hers.
Donovan: And isn’t that how it should be, I ask ye? No matter. She can’t stay mad at me. Not for long, anyway. I helped her solve the mystery of the ring, after all.
Mac: Yes, you did, but you don’t want to share too much with your new friends here. You’ll spoil the story for them.
Donovan: Aye. Ye have a point. Still, we might tease them with a bit of our tail. An excerpt, I believe it’s called. Ye have one, don’t ye? And are ye still running yer scavenger hunt contest, over at yer own web home? The one where me friends have a chance at winning a free copy of Gift of the Realm and a $25 Amazon card?
*Calisa’s ears perk at this idea*
Mac: I do have an excerpt, and the Virtual Scavenger Hunt runs through today.
Donovan: And I’m thinkin’ ye should give away a free copy of our story right here, to one of the lovely Calisa’s friends.
Mac: That’s an excellent idea, Donovan. I’m glad you thought of it.
Calisa: *claps hands and hops in joy*
Donovan: Then what are ye waiting for? Give me friends the chains, so they can find out more about me…I mean, yer book.
Mac: I think you mean the links.
Calisa: *snickers*
Donovan: *snort* Dog, remember?
Mac: *laughs* Here are the excerpt and the links. And don’t stay too long. You’re scheduled for a grooming today.
Donovan: *growl* I thought to chat with me new friends a bit. There be dog lovers here, ye know. I’ll be gifting our book to one of them, after I hear what breed, other than Wolfhound, take their fancies. I’ll be along in me own good time.
Calisa: Erm… I love my Chihuahuas and cried when I had to find a new home for my beautiful Boxer… *eyes the cover of Mac’s book hungrily* Too bad hostesses can’t win. *pouts*
Mac: *waves at Calisa* Thanks, my friend. Don’t let him climb on the furniture. He sheds like crazy.
Calisa: That’s ok, Mac. I have plenty of duct tape around here I use for my own four-legged hair balls. *waves Mac off*
Donovan: *snort*
Calisa: What? I use the tape to remove hair from the furniture! Oh… Just let the visitors read the excerpt… *rolls eyes*
Excerpt:
She tossed a thick stalk onto the small pile at her feet and set the claw at another. Her continued silence said she was done with him and expected him to go.
He abused her of that expectation by taking a seat at the small table beside the garden. He sat with his legs spread, elbows propped on his knees. Donovan lifted his head to stare at him, his dark brows puckered above darker eyes that seemed to plead with him to bring peace to the garden once more.
“I am your friend, Keely,” Colin told her, “and I’d like to help if I can.”
She paused at her chore, tilting her head to eye him suspiciously from beneath the brow of the hat. “Why would you want to do that?”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Well, now, there’s a question. It turns out I’m not the sort of man who can ignore a mystery.”
“That’s not the impression you gave yesterday.”
“Yesterday I was near to being speechless.” A slow smile spread across his face as he decided how to break through her pique. “A man can be excused for being a bit rattled when sitting across from a lovely woman who’s just admitted to dreaming of him for the better part of a decade.”
She fell back on her heels, her eyes widening. “I didn’t admit to dreaming of you, Quinn.” She jabbed the claw in his direction. “I said you joined me in the dreams.”
“You’d consider that a distinction, and yet you admit you’ve been dreaming of me. I prefer my own interpretation.” Confusion knit her brow, and he could see she wasn’t sure if she wanted to blast him for being an arrogant ass, or smile. He pressed the advantage. “I’ve a clearer head this morning, darlin’. I’m here to offer my help.”
She didn’t react to his use of the endearment, but he didn’t miss the flash of interest in her eyes at his offer of help. “How, exactly, do you propose to do that?”
“These dreams we share.” He paused, pleased to see a faint blush spreading color on her cheeks. “They always take place at the Door?”
She nodded.
“The way I see it, you’ve made Dunhaven your home, but you’ve spent little time here. I, on the other hand, have lived the whole of my life in Dunhaven, except for the time I spent at university, and you’ll not be holding that against me.”
“I won’t, huh?”
He grinned. “No, darlin’, you won’t.”
“Hmm.” She glanced away, fiddling with the tool clutched in her lap. He winked at Donovan, and gained a dog grin. Now they were getting somewhere.
Find Mac at: http://mackenziecrowne.com (The details of the Scavenger Hunt are there, as well as all the clues)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MacCrowne
Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/MackenzieCrowne
Buy Links:
The Wild Rose Press http://tinyurl.com/84agxz2
Amazon http://tinyurl.com/84mxmrj
What a great excerpt, Mac!!! And I really think I might print and frame that cover just so I can drool over it. Remember, black wolf shifter fan here. Thank you so very much for the contest, Mac!
Donovan…it was wonderful, and interesting to meet you. Thanks for surprising me with your visit. What more can I say but, stay away from my lilacs—don’t lift that leg there! Go get your groom on.
For everyone else, don’t forget to visit Mac’s cyber home- which is one you don’t want to miss, it’s gorgeous! Leave a note in the ranch comment box telling Donovan your email and what your favorite dog breed is (except Wolfhounds- no buttering allowed on the ranch unless it’s by me!) for the chance at a FREE copy of Gift of the Realm!!!
Dodadagohvi~
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A Personal Dedication
07 May 2012 107 Comments
in book to read, Debut release, dreaming, fun, giveaway, Home, Promotion, Release date, TWRP, Win, Writing Tags: Calisa Rhose, Debut book, excited, Free books, giveaway, HOME, Nan Swanson, Pen of the Dreamer, Rhonda Penders, RJ Morris, Tales of the Scrimshaw doll, The Wild Rose Press, Tina Lynn Stout, Writing
Osiyo~
I am so excited today! 
Because, because, because, becaaaaaause………. Because of the wonderful things she does!
Ok, I love The Wizard of Oz. I’m no Dorothy for sure, though I live in tornado alley with a tiny dog, Cocoa the temperamental Chihuahua.
But I’m singing praises for a wonderful woman by the name of Nancy Swanson today. Who? Let me explain.
Exactly one year ago I got an email with these words in it:
“thumbs up for HOME”
That email started out:
“Just got word from my senior editor…it’s a go! As soon as I can get a mouse to work with my laptop I’ll send you the contract documents…”
So, the reason for my excitement today is that it was the beginning of my dreams all coming true. I would finally be a published author! And true to her word, Nan Swanson- my beautiful editor at The Wild Rose Press- sent me the contract soon after! She was on her way to the annual TWRP retreat when she sent me the first email and just home again when I got the second one. That was the longest week in my writing history, let me tell ya!
Now a year later I’m waiting for my first payday for that Vintage Rosette, my Scrimshaw Doll short story, HOME, proudly listed under this lovely Logo on the website.
Of course, my editor isn’t the only one I have to thank for my first book becoming a splendid reality. It wouldn’t be nearly as appealing to look at on Kindle, PC or Nook (or whatever you use to read it) without the stunning job Tina Lynn Stout did on my gorgeous cover! I adore the colors and soft appearance Tina chose to bring out the effects of the era. That car is perfect to reflect the 60′s. 
Most of all, I have to thank Rhonda Penders and RJ Morris- 
- for taking a chance on me and over-looking my neurotic tendencies and offering that coveted contract! And to Lisa who made getting my baby out there possible with her talented marketing skills!
Here’s to The Wild Rose Press!!! 
In the acceptance of my story, TWRP also enabled me to meet the bestest group of writers in Cyberland or print! I adore and love my Sister Roses!!!! They (ya’ll) have made this last year a fun ride. Thank you and raise your glasses in a toast to all Roses!
So…in celebration of the event– I’m giving away a copy of Home to one lucky commenter and I’ll throw in a real signature Rose Rock from my town here in Oklahoma! These are sandy rocks that, because of the sulphur in the dirt and sand in this area and the way water runs over the terrain, forms unusual and unique rose-shaped formations.
They are not always distinct as you can see by these pictures.
(Rose Rock for a USA commenter only)
And since my name is Rhose…
Neat. Huh?
Join me in my celebration and win a book and a Rose!!! I’m verra excited to gift someone with my book!!!!!!
Leave your email with your comment and share what your most exciting or memorable event was as a writer. If you’re not a writer, what was your most memorable day in your adult life (weddings and baby births aside, because those always trump any other day!)?
Dodadagohvi~
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INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL AWARDS- what is it?
02 Mar 2012 14 Comments
in awards, Contests, Followers, fun, getting the word out, judges, Promotion, published authors, Word of Mouth, Writing Tags: Calisa Rhose, ebook contest, Free books, giveaway, HOME, International Digital Awards, OKRWA, Pen of the Dreamer, Winner
Osiyo~
Many of my followers know I am a proud and semi-active member of RWA and an active (and also proud) member of OKRWA. I’m an OUTLAW! In a good, no–great way. Many of you know I am a category coordinator for the National Reader’s Choice Awards; a contest began by OKRWA many years ago for print-published authors only (because that’s all there was when dinosaurs roamed). Yes, I dream of the day I can enter that exciting contest! But until that day arrives– I have another option to tell you authors and readers about. Listen up!
Yes, we need author entries, yes, we need volunteer judges. Last year OKRWA decided to create a new contest. It’s not just any old contest though. As an electronically published author, how many times have you wished you could enter your ebooks in a contest in which readers can judge and choose the best book of the year, like print authors can? I know as a short story-published author I have wished there was a contest for enovella authors to enter. Well, guess what? Thanks to OKRWA there is a contest that covers both those author sets!
Now I’m going to feed you the information YOU need to sign up as an author and/or judge!
The contest is the INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL AWARDS and you can read everything you want or need to know about how to sign up for it as an author or judge at this link http://bit.ly/wOlGR2 !!!!!
So what is the IDA Contest? It’s a digitally enter and judged contest strictly for electronic books. That’s where DIGITAL comes in. WOOT!!! Do you live in any country where contests are allowed? You qualify. If your book is only accessible by getting your Nook, pc or Kindle to swallow it in, then it qualifies. If it is 10,000 words or more, it qualifies, if it was an original release in 2010-2011…it qualifies!
IF, however, your book is also available in print format–it DOES NOT qualify. Hence the contest name- International DIGITAL Awards, or as we fondly nicknamed it, the IDA Contest.
Are you a reader and addicted to your EReader? We need you! Are you a writer, but would love to judge? Super!! We need you, too!
Now, I’m not gonna tell you anymore because I want you to hurry and click that link up there ^^^ and check out the fantabulous website that a super Outlaw created just for the IDA! On it you will find everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING you’ll need to get started. What you don’t find will be in the FAQ page, or you can go to the Contact page and ask the wonderful Chairlady.
Still here? What are you waiting for? GO! NOW! Hurry because there is an entry number limit and a deadline to enter! GOgogogogogo! I can’t wait to see ya’ll there! And thank you if you choose to judge! Did I mention there’s FREE BOOKS involved? Good luck to those who choose to enter!
If you want to offer feedback, or just gush about how much you love this contest opportunity, my comment line is open. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks.
Know what? I’ll even give a FREE PDF of HOME to one lucky commenter who provides all the social media links they’ve shared this news to. There is a few buttons on the IDA site, below on this blog, or just make your own with a link back to the contest site. One link or ten, just show me. I don’t have one of those fancy contest widgets, so if you would just copy and paste ALL of your Tweet/Facebook/whatever-social media-links-you-use-and-share-it-on in a comment (easy to paste these to a word .doc and then cut and paste your list in your comment all at one time) and I’ll draw the winner next Friday from those who qualify. Bottom line… I’m bribing you to help me get this contest out into the literary world fast. By bribe, I mean an impromptu give away to celebrate the coolest contest to break out this year!
Dodadagohvi~
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Lovely Blog Award recipients
16 Feb 2012 4 Comments
in awards, Blogs, fun, Promotion Tags: blog, Calisa Rhose, giveaway, Pen of the Dreamer, Publicity
Osiyo~
Your name is on this list because I’ve visited and re-visited your blogs and enjoyed each trip! All you have to do to walk away with a Lovely Blog Award is:
1. Mention my blog with a link back to it. http://calisarhose.wordpress.com
2. Regift the award to ten (10) lovely and deserving bloggers (hint: visit and make sure they don’t already have it- unless you want to give them a second one- there’s no rule as to how many a blog can have.;) )
3. Email your awardees to let them know they have an awaard awaiting them on your blog. Post their instructions so they can link back to your blog!
4. Tweet and/or facebook your new award with my blog link http://calisarhose.wordpress.com to direct visitors back here!
Done with those? Great!
Here’s your award! Be sure you post it to your blog side bar for all to see!
I wish I could give more than ten at once. Who makes these rules? If you aren’t on this list- it is absolutely NOT because I don’t think you have a lovely blog!
Congrats to those who receive the award!
Dodadagohvi~
NaNo and LaVerne Clark
31 Jan 2012 28 Comments
in Author guest, TWRP, Writing Tags: Calisa Rhose, giveaway, Guardian of the Jewel, guest, LaVerne Clark, NaNoWriMo, Pen of the Dreamer, The Wild Rose Press
Osiyo~
It is my distinct pleasure to have my TWRP sister and friend, LaVerne Clark on the ranch today. It has come and gone without my participation once again. Not so for LaVerne! She took on NaNoWriMo for the first time this last November and came to share her experience.
Welcome, LaVerne! Why don’t you start by telling why you’re here?
My name is LaVerne and I’m no longer a NaNoWriMo virgin. Whoo, boy! Does that ever feel good!
Each year, November came and went without my participation or even the possibility I’d sign up. You see, here is the ugly truth…I’m a lazy writer and the Queen of procrastination. I loved the idea of writing furiously for a month with other like-minded madmen and women, but there were always reasons why I couldn’t. My three-year old needed mummy’s attention; I was helping with school excursions for my son; the dog needed a walk or my house needed tidying – oh – and I needed my sleep. All very valid excuses, but that’s what they were. Excuses.
One day, a couple of online writer buddies of mine mentioned they were going to do the upcoming NaNoWriMo and would I like to do it with them? Out came the excuses – and I had a new good one too. My second book had been accepted and I was expecting edits sometime during the month of November. Why start something I may not be able to finish? And then it hit me. I was being negative! I’ve always prided myself on being a positive person, and the reality I wasn’t when it came to one of my greatest loves gave me a start. So without thinking too much more on, I found myself signing up. Gulp! Now there was no going back, at least in my mind. Have I mentioned I hate to leave anything unfinished?
Well – it was the best thing I could have done at that stage of my writing career. I wrote religiously every day and night and finished with just over the 50K requisite. What a buzz! And I was so thrilled to celebrate with those special writing buddies who’d succeeded too. One had even powered through to over 100K! We’d done it!
So, did I write the next bestseller during the month of November? Uh, no. Definitely not. But that was not the point of the exercise for me. Instead, it taught me a great deal about what I was capable of and reminded me of my love for the written word. Even though the pressure was on – I had so much fun! Maybe one day I’ll revisit my novel and rework it, or maybe not. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is I proved to myself I can make time for myself each day to write and to make realistic goals. Now I know what I can achieve, suddenly the idea of writing three books a year is more than doable. How exciting is that? Bring it on!
How about you? Are you a NaNoWriMo virgin? What’s holding you back? Or are you an old pro and what was the experience like for you?
I’ll be giving away an e-book of my first book, Guardian of the Jewel (a romantic suspense) to a lucky commenter.:) Good luck!
Woot! A give away! Where can readers find you?
Blog: Novel Natterings
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaVerneClark
That is a great cover, too. Thanks for visiting LaVerne!
Come back next Tuesday, Feb 7th when I’ll have Soulmate Publisher author and my critique partner, Donna Shields, back to share her latest release!
Dodadagohvi~
Christina Wolfer and The Daughter
24 Jan 2012 38 Comments
in Author guest, book to read, getting the word out, Home, TWRP, Writing Tags: Calisa Rhose, Christina Wolfer, giveaway, HOME, Pen of the Dreamer, romantic suspense, social work, Tales of the Scrimshaw doll, The Daughter, The Wild Rose Press, Turquoise Morning Press
Osiyo~
WooHoo! Gonna have a party on the Ranch today! My Diva Christina Wolfer is here with the beer and I have the weenies. I think I see Joelene and Lo trailing in with wine! Ruth and Clancy will be good for the food and chocolate if they make it in. So let’s get started! Go for it Tina. The round pen’s all yours!
Hi Ya’ll,
I’m thrilled to be guest blogging on the ranch today. I’ve spent enough time here over the last year and a half and often behind the scenes sitting on the porch with Calisa and a few other Diva’s throwing back a few drinks, eating little weenies and discussing men, writing and life as it comes at us.
Before I go any further though, I want to give a big shout out to Calisa, on her debut release, HOME. A fabulous story.
Aw dang, thanks Tina. *blushes*
So why am I here, you may be asking? I’m not just filling a hole in the calendar, well, I am doing that too, but more than that I’m here to tell you a little about me and my newest release, THE DAUGHTER, which came out January 14th from Turquoise Morning Press.
Like Calisa, I’m a small-town country girl through and through and I share her passion for horses. Writing, like reading, has always been a part of my life. I write romantic suspense and romance with strong elements of suspense set in current times.
When I first headed off to college, my plan was to get my degree in Social Services with my primary desire to work with children, to save them really and help them have better lives. I went to work at a runaway shelter near my hometown and learned the realities of what I would really be able to do. During that time, I got to work along side some great Social Workers who invested emotionally in the lives of others. Okay, so now you’re probably wondering what all this has to do with anything. The heroine in THE DAUGHTER is a social worker; however, she’s working to get prostitutes off the street.
Back book blurb:
Abandoned by her mother at birth, social worker Katie Delynski believes love and relationships are learned—and she hasn’t learned anything good about either. She avoids both love and relationships by focusing on her career and by getting prostitutes off the street. But when a man she’s never met commits suicide and names her as his daughter, leaving her millions of dollars and a family full of new relatives, things change. Her new family invites her into their lives, stirring a sense of belonging she is afraid to believe in.
Determined to put her windfall to good use, Katie buys an old building for a women’s shelter. Her newfound family puts her in touch with Conner Patterson, a family friend, to help rehab the building. As work progresses, Katie finds herself falling in love with Conner, but fear keeps her from acting on her feelings. It soon becomes apparent, though, that Conner may be her only hope for survival, when someone hurt by her father’s past indiscretions is determined to make Katie pay for her father’s sins.
Please leave a comment to be entered to win an e-copy of THE DAUGHTER.
Other books by Christina Wolfer
Sounds like a keeper to me. That cover is breathtaking. Where can we find you when you’re not kicked back on my porch?
You can find me at the following:
Facebook: Christina Williams Wolfer
Twitter @christinawolfer
www.christinawolfer.com
www.christinawolfer.blogspot.com
It’s been awesome having you talk about The Daughter, Christina. I’m so thrilled for your success since we met! You are on fire girl! Thank you for being my guest today.
Now who wants a copy for your own of The Daughter? Raise your hands folks. Better yet, leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!
Dodadagohvi~
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What do you like about the golden era?
16 Jan 2012 27 Comments
in Author guest, book to read, giveaway, inspirations Tags: 1945, Brenda Whiteside, Calisa Rhose, giveaway, Honey on White Bread, movie stars
Osiyo~
OMG(osh)! I am so thriled and honored to have Brenda Whiteside on the ranch today! I have been staring at this book cover for weeks hoping I can win it (vs buying it which has no fun of chance but may be my only avenue if I want to read this book-and I do) and read this book! But seriously… LOOK at this cover! Doesn’t it make you want to read her book? So, I’m going to give Brenda free rein on the ranch today while I cuddle my mocha and enjoy her visit. I’m pleased you’re here too.
Take it away, Brenda!
Thank you for joining me today. My name is Brenda Whiteside and I write romance and women’s fiction. I’ll be drawing for the winner of an ebook of Honey On White Bread. Don’t forget to leave your email address in your comment.
Mine’s calisa(dot)rhose…oh, you mean our guests… sorry. So everyone else leave your emails! Proceed sweetie.
What fantasies did you have as a child that you carried forward into adulthood? Hopefully, you haven’t grown up while you’ve been growing older.
As a child, I was prone to fantasy – not necessarily the stuff of magic but the stuff of romance. I can blame much of my imagination on black and white movies of the 1930’s and1940’s. During the hot afternoons in Phoenix, Mom would draw the living room drapes and turn on The Channel Five Movie Matinee which ran the old black and white movies from her teenage years. On Saturday mornings we’d watch The Shirley Temple Hour. My mother loved to sing. She could sing all the songs from the movies and taught them to her two daughters.
*Calisa says: I love the Shirley Temple movies!*
Movies were set on sound stages mostly and they didn’t worry about too much realism. My heart pattered over Gene Kelly dancing in the rain, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing around a perfect garden under perfectly spaced stars and Dorothy dancing through the Land of Oz.
As a result of my starry-eyed fascination with that era, the book of my heart is a novel set in 1945. Writing Honey On White Bread let me submerge myself into those magical, romantic movies and in a time that seems simpler by today’s standards. My heroine, Claire Flanagan, is caught up in that fantasy called Hollywood. She loves those old black and white movies as much as I did. Of course, for her they’re not old. Her hero, Benjamin Russell, in her eyes, is as dashing as any movie star idol. But it wasn’t all bliss and glitz.
Blurb:
When seventeen-year-old Claire Flanagan is wrenched from her father and deposited at the Good Shepherd’s Home for Wayward Girls, all dreams for Hollywood stardom are lost. But when twenty-year-old Benjamin Russell helps secure her release, she starts to believe in a happy future with him…until she discovers his ex-girlfriend is pregnant.
In this post WWII coming of age novel, Claire discovers the silver screen can’t compare with the fight she takes on for the leading role in her own life.
If you romanticize days gone by like I do, I’d like to give you an ebook of Honey On White Bread. Leave me a comment and your email address and I’ll draw for the winner.
I do and this blurb is fantastic! Even more, you have an excerpt for us.
EXCERPT:
“I’ve never snuck into a theater before. Sneaking into a dark theater with Arnold …” Paulie laughed. “Are you sure this isn’t supposed to be a date?” Paulie appeared at once timid and suspicious.
“I’m sure. He’s getting me … us in to see a movie for free. Dick Hames! He’s so dreamy.”
“Arnold’s dreamy.”
“You know, Paulie, Arnold is a dear friend …”
“Oh, pooh, Claire.” Paulie batted at my skirt.
“Okay, okay, a special friend. We haven’t made any promises to each other or anything. He’s cute, he’s fun … but …”
“But what?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” A hint of guilt over the difference between how I felt about Arnold compared to how he felt about me passed like the breeze drifting over the porch boards. His were childish whims of infatuation, pushy, uninvited. “It’s kind of hard to explain…” I toyed with the folds of my skirt. If most of the girls at North High were stuck on Arnold, a great catch I didn’t appreciate, then I wished my best friend could change places with me. If only …
“Hey, ladies.” The blur of a male figure in jeans had ascended the porch steps, not pausing to pass pleasantries.
He opened the screen door and stepped into the house. Benjamin. My second encounter brought on an unexplained reaction; my heart pattered even though I’d barely caught a glimpse.
“Oh, hey, Ben,” Paulie said. “You look tired, big brother.”
Her words stopped him. “Little bit.” He paused behind the screen door.
“This is Claire.”
He tipped his head to me. “Nice to meet you, Claire.” He continued on into the house.
“Same here,” I muttered as the screen door shut.
“Now, where were we?” Paulie put a finger to her mouth.
I looped an arm through my friend’s. “We were going to see if your momma could use some help. Come on.” I pulled her from the seat. “Let’s help then freshen up before dinner.”
We let the screen door slam behind us and turned into the kitchen in time to see Benjamin lift his mother from the floor and spin around twice.
“You stop that, Benjamin Willis. Man or no, I can take a hand to your hide, if I need to.” Her hands flailed gently at his chest.
He laughed as he set her down, steadying her before letting go. Taut muscles on the back of his arms flexed with the effort; his deep laugh filled the kitchen. I couldn’t help being drawn into this entirely pleasant scene, comical and radiating warmth, inviting me to take part in their joy. His mother snatched a dishtowel from the counter and swiped at his legs.
“Hold off now. I give, I give.” He withdrew what appeared to be a check from his back pocket.
Mrs. Russell accepted the paper without comment and stuffed it into the frayed pocket of her red checked apron. He kissed her on the forehead, took the bottle of beer she offered him, and leaving the kitchen, nodded in my direction.
I sniffed the sweat of hard work and the yeasty smell of beer as he passed by. My head reeled for a moment with the warmth of the kitchen and the people within, combined with the essence of what I labeled man.
**************************
Buy Honey On White Bread at these places:
Honey On White Bread ISBN: 978-1-61235-267-1
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/brendawhiteside/honey.html
Honey On White Bread Amazon ASIN: B006LWJ6VU
And her other newest releases are available if you can’t get enough of Brenda’s voice!
Warm Christmas Wishes ISBN: 978-1-61235-265-7
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/anthologies/WarmChristmasWishes.html
Tattoos, Leather and Studs ISBN: 978-1-61235-258-9
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/brendawhiteside/tattoos.html
Convinced she was born to be an artist, Brenda never took her love of writing seriously. One day, sometime after college, marriage to a man doing a stint in the army and the birth of her son, she discovered she gained more satisfaction by filling a blank page with words than an empty canvas with color. She left her paints behind. After publishing several short stories, she turned to writing novels. Regardless of the length of her story, the characters drive her forward, taking her on their journey of discovery and love.
Brenda and her husband are gypsies at heart currently making Minnesota their home and sharing it with their dog, Rusty. True to their nature, they’re planning to move once again in 2012 to Northern Arizona. When she’s not at her laptop writing, she enjoys hiking, motorcycle riding and the company of good friends.
Visit Brenda at www.brendawhiteside.com.
Or on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor
She blogs on the 9th and 24th of every month at http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com
She blogs occasionally on her personal blog http://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/
What a super excerpt, Brenda. Thank you for sharing and hanging on the ranch with us today! Remember- emails in your comments! And Brenda will contact the winner!
Dodadagohvi~
One More Summer with Liz Flaherty
03 Jan 2012 18 Comments
in Author guest, giveaway, Promotion Tags: Calisa Rhose, Carina Press, giveaway, Liz Flaherty, One More Summer, Pen of the Dreamer
Osiyo~
Liz Flaherty is on the ranch and in the round pen today! I just love the cover of her book, One More Summer. Love. It. So I’m gonna sit here with my mocha and enjoy this. Let’s give a huge ranch welcome to Liz!!!
Calisa, thank you so much for having me here today. I’ve been following you around enough to know you’re a very busy lady these days. Congratulations on your success with Home. It’s a beautiful book!
Thank you Liz! I think so, too.
I always have some down time after the holidays. The weather usually stinks and I’m tired from being constantly busy from the beginning of Thanksgiving week through taking down the Christmas tree sometime during those strange days after Christmas. If I’m going to get depressed—and I do try hard not to—this is when it’s going to happen. Chances are good I won’t see some of the grandkids for several months, I’m wearing a few pounds I didn’t have a month ago, and the house needs cleaning. By someone. Because I’m certainly not in the mood to do it.
But it’s different this year. My fifth book and first one with Carina Press, ONE MORE SUMMER, was released yesterday, and I couldn’t be more excited. The house probably still needs cleaning, but I’m in too good of a mood to care. I don’t even mind about the weather.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a $5.00 gift certificate from Amazon. And thanks for coming by.
ONE MORE SUMMER is available from these retailers:
http://ebooks.carinapress.com/19C28077-E8B2-400A-ACBF-FAE0579EE2F0/10/134/en/Default.htm
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-more-summer-liz-flaherty/1107412429
http://www.amazon.com/One-More-Summer-ebook/dp/B006BE6HAG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324908781&sr=8-1
I’d love to have you visit my website http://lizflaherty.com or http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ where I hang out with some of my best writer friends.
Blurb:
Grace has taken care of her widowed father her entire adult life and the ornery old goat has finally died. She has no job, no skills and very little money, and has heard her father’s prediction that no decent man would ever want her so often she accepts it as fact.
But she does have a big old house on Lawyers Row in Peacock, Tennessee. She opens a rooming house and quickly gathers a motley crew of tenants – Promise, Grace’s best friend since kindergarten, who’s fighting cancer; Maxie, an aging soap opera actress who hasn’t lost her flair for the dramatic; Jonah, a sweet gullible old man with a crush on Maxie.
And Dillon, Grace’s brother’s best friend, who stood her up on the night of her senior prom and has regretted it ever since. Dillon rents Grace’s guest house for the summer and hopes to make up for lost time and past hurts – but first, he’ll have to convince Grace that she’s worth loving…
Excerpt
It was no use.
Grace had taken her lengthy bath in the claw foot tub, shaved her legs and nicked her ankle right on the bone where it hurt most, and put on her chenille robe. She’d poured a tumbler full of the expensive wine Steven had brought a case of and sat on the couch with the book she’d gotten at the library when she’d read to the kids earlier in the week. Louisa May slept on the couch back, twitching her tail occasionally and smacking Grace in the face with it. Rosamunde dozed contentedly in the baseball cap Dillon had left on the lamp table. The window behind the couch was open, affording Grace a cooling breeze scented by the rain that had fallen that evening.
She’d already gotten up once and closed the pocket doors between the living room and the dining room. But she could still hear it.
Laughing. There were Jonah’s guffaw, Maxie’s theatrical trill, and the husky whoop that was always such a surprise coming from Promise’s soprano throat. Now and then another laugh slipped in, quieter than Jonah’s but no less gleeful. Dillon was there too. They sat on the screened porch, a good forty feet from where Grace sat with her feet up, and still she could hear them.
They were playing Monopoly. Grace hadn’t played that since the day before her mother died. She remembered that last game, the board balanced on a bed tray across Debbie Elliot’s legs in the room that smelled of Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder and sickness and medicine. Faith had sat on one side of her mother, Promise on the other, and Grace at the bed’s end.
“Sit on my feet a little, baby,” Debbie had said. “You keep them so nice and warm.”
Grace had won the game, and the next day—when Debbie was dead and life for the rest of the Elliots had irrevocably changed—she had hated herself for buying Boardwalk and Park Place and forcing her mother into bankruptcy.
“I made her die,” she’d told Steven.
“Her heart made her die,” he’d responded, but Grace hadn’t really believed him until he became a cardiac surgeon.
Sometimes, she still wondered. If Debbie had napped in the evening as she often did, would that hour of rest have made the difference? If Grace hadn’t sat on her mother’s feet with her eighty-five pounds of almost-twelve-year-old exuberance, would the final heart attack not have happened?
But she refused to think about those things now, nor would she consider the game of Monopoly with an inward shudder of dread. She thought instead of the laughter that was dancing along her nerve endings, and wondered if anyone else was using the little iron as their token for moving around the board. The iron had always been her favorite. She liked the way it felt between her fingers.
If she just got off her couch and wandered toward the porch like she was bored with her own company—which she was—would anyone make a big deal out of it? If Promise or the others acted surprised by her presence, Dillon Campbell would think she’d joined them just because he was there. Which was nonsense.
Of course it was.
She remembered how Dillon’s hand had felt when he pulled her to her feet the night before. She’d avoided unnecessary touch all her adult life, and one squeeze of Dillon Campbell’s fingers had her wondering if that hadn’t been a mistake.
More nonsense.
She tried again to devote full attention to the book, but finally gave up and laid it aside. She sat in the harsh light from the reading lamp and sipped her high dollar wine and listened to the laughter of the others. Isolation and loneliness wrapped around her, not new feelings by any means, but somehow deeper and darker tonight.
Maybe this time, as Promise often accused, she was excluding herself and the loneliness was of her own making. Maybe if she stepped onto the back porch, no one would make a fuss and no one would make her feel as though she didn’t belong. It was, after all, her porch.
Carrying her glass, she whispered open the pocket doors and strode barefoot through the deserted dining room and the kitchen with its ever-present light over the sink. After a moment’s hesitation, she pushed open the door to the porch.
“Replacement power. Just in time.” Promise’s smile was wide and brilliant. Welcome to the human race. Grace heard the words she didn’t say. “Now that I’ve been trounced, Grace can take my place while I make popcorn. No one’s using your iron, so have at it.”
Grace sat in the chair Promise vacated, taking the little metal iron from the Monopoly box. It still felt nice between her fingers.
“I’m the banker,” Jonah informed her, passing money around the table. “Since I’m better at losing money than anyone else, I was unanimously elected.”
“I don’t even know why I play.” Maxie sighed, fluffing her blond hair with heavily be-ringed fingers. “I seem to spend all my time in jail. Unless Dillon rescues me with his ‘get out of jail free’ cards,” she added with a flutter of eyelashes.
“I’m just a soft touch for a pretty lady.” Dillon smiled at her, his eyes glinting silver in the dim, yellow light on the porch.
Grace’s heart hammered against her ribs.
Geezy Pete, Grace, grow up.
Great sounding book, Liz! Thank you for sharing with us. Now- questions? Comments? I know I’m not the only one who thinks that cover and excerpt are worth checking this book out!
Dodadagohvi~
You’ll find me at Jill James’s tomorrow. http://www.jilljameswrites.com/
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Happy New Year and the end of the official tour
01 Jan 2012 20 Comments
in Blogs, book to read, Contests, Debut release, dreaming, Followers, fun, getting the word out, giveaway, Home, My writing, Promotion, published authors, Release Day, The Wild Rose Press, Word of Mouth, Writing Tags: #TWRP, Blog tour, Calisa Rhose, Debut author, Debut book, excited, Free books, giveaway, HOME, Pen of the Dreamer, Poppy Tippen, released, Sam Callahan, Tales of the Scrimshaw doll, Writing
Osiyo~
It’s January 1, 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Today ends the countdown to my New Year’s release party for my first book publication. I’m sure many of you have heard a LOT about HOME from The Wild Rose Press during this last week if you’ve been following the tour. Blurbs, interviews and tidbits about me have been plastered all over the world via the internet thanks to my wonderful, gracious friends who have hosted my week-long blog tour. I have to take this time now to thank you all! YOU. ARE. AWESOME!!!!!
Second order of business- if you missed any of those blogs you should hop over now and leave a comment before ten o’clock (GMT) tonight. Why? Because tomorrow I will be drawing a winner for a FREE copy of HOME!!! The more times you comment the greater your chances to win so hurry and get those last minute names in the drawing.
To make it easy for you, here are those links:
26th- Anna K. Lanier
27th- Silver James
28th- RELEASE DAY– Vonnie Davis AND AJ Nuest!!!
29th- W. Lynn Chantale
30th- Maeve Greyson
31st- Authors By Moonlight
What are you waiting for? GO!
I want to tell you what this week has been like for me. To do that I’m going back a year and a half. I’ll even include some pictures to please the eye. 
When Alicia Dean first brought this project to Oklahoma Romance Writers I was hesitant to get involved in a series. I mean, I wasn’t even published on my own yet, how could I possibly pull off writing one book in a series? But I did it anyway. It was an experience and we had fun. As of this post there are six books in the Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll series under contract. It was decided that how much the doll played in the books would be determined by each individual author according to their story. Some feature the doll very heavily, as the main theme of the story. I contemplated how much it would feature in HOME and had all sorts of ideas. Unfortunately (not in a bad way I don’t think, so maybe I should say fortunately), it didn’t turn out the way I first imagined as a pantser.
Sam Callahan seemed to have a greater story to tell than that of a doll his mother was obsessed with. A war veteran who loved the town that raised him, idolized him, had suddenly turned its back on their one-time football star and future doctor. That became the story to a certain degree. Moreover, how he dealt with those horrible nightmares of the war became the story. I let him have his way.
How did he cope? With the courage and strength of a gypsy girl who had lived with stigmas all her life. What was alien to him was a way of life for Poppy Tippen. He learned to shuck the opinions of others by her steadfast, if not graceful, example. Popeye’s mantra became Sam’s unintentionally; I am who I am, and that’s all I can be.
Witchy voodoo curses and all that mumbo-jumbo belief and such were more wive’s tales in those days than actual curses and acceptable black magic. Yes, there were witches and such—at least according to my witchy aunt–it just wasn’t readily acknowledged as that in those days. So the doll took a back seat in my story. But for my time period (Vietnam 1967) that worked.
But I still hadn’t really thought as I wrote my story that HOME would sell. Have I mentioned that I’m a tad insecure? Lol When I finally felt ready to submit I got a wonderful editor in Nancy Swanson. She requested to buy it within three weeks of receiving my manuscript! To say I was shocked is a gross understatement. J But I was so excited. Then the excitement waned over the next month. A little. When I got the email with my cover attached it ramped up again. Again when I got my fifteen minutes worth of revisions. Yes, it took me that long to make changes she asked for. What can I say? I worked on this story, had fellow Okie Outlaws read and crit, until it was a clean ms. Then I sent it in before I could screw it up by over editing! Lol Round two revisions was a matter of basically accepting a few punctuation changes the proofreader suggested, the tap of a button and I was finished. Do I expect revisions on my next ms to be so easy? Hells NO! I wish, but I’m realistic enough to know better.
So back to this week. Most know my release date coincided with my own birthday so that was my favorite gift this year, though my lovely daughters competed very well and I will smell nice for a long while! Of course, any gift from my husband and partner of twenty-eight years will trump anything in my life so I won’t count him now. He is a gift I can’t beat if I sell a hundred books that become best sellers! But this week I’ve been up so high that next week will be boring for sure! I’ve been riding high on friends and family buying MY book! My creation. That’s a feeling impossible to explain. Incredible, scary, wonderful! And I already have a four and a five star review on Amazon! How cool is that? When I wrote HOME I worried I wouldn’t quite hit the emotional mark the Vietnam war left on so many since I was born two years into it, no more than eleven when it ended in 1973 (officially the final troops and POWs were brought out in ’75 just before Watergate took over the news airways). I remember my dad calling it the Eleven-Year-War, saying it was the longest and deadliest war in the history of the USA. I think that length has possibly been beaten more recently beginning with Desert Storm in 1991, but I haven’t researched that yet.
But I digress. I was sure no one would “get” the story, what I was trying to convey. Was I able to get across what was deep inside of me? The fears and recovery a soldier must go through, that he has to face those fears head on to conquer them? What about the era itself? Did I portray it correctly? Does the love and growth of my characters show?
After all, this is pretty much the extent of my memories of that time. I was almost five when this picture was taken. We lived in the middle of alfalfa fields like this one on a race horse ranch. I remember the horses more than I recall the strains of that war my uncle and cousins fought in (they came home). And, even though both Mommy and Daddy are gone now, they both knew I wrote way back when I was a teen, and I know they are smiling on my success today, partying in heaven for me!
I had my doubts until a few days ago. Read those reviews and you’ll see how wrong I was again. My family knows I hate being wrong, or admitting if I am, but in this process I’ve been wrong about a few things I’m happy to admit to!
HOME is out and available NOW at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon. If you don’t win here today I sure hope you’ll feel inclined to go buy it.
Now, to end this tour, here’s one last brand new peek from HOME to make you smile.
Excerpt:
Hearing Sam laugh did crazy things to Poppy’s insides. But she hadn’t forgotten the last time she’d said something to make him laugh. She’d avoided him in the days since. It had been dumb luck that she was out now instead of at work. Mother had sent her on an errand, and she was heading back to the shop.
Seeing Sam sitting at the stop sign had made her cringe. He’d looked like he was in another land, and she couldn’t help speaking up. Maybe he had been. It had startled and surprised her that he pulled over, since he was angry at her the last time she saw him.
She hadn’t forgotten the hurtful words he shouted under the big trees. “So what are you doing? Hiding from Mrs. C. again, I imagine.”
“Something like that. What about you? Can I offer you a ride?”
“You can offer, but I’m going right there.” Sam turned to look where she pointed, across the street to her mother’s doll shop.
He stared, for what seemed to Poppy a long time, before he swiveled back to her. “I’ll walk you over.”
“Yeah? Why?”
“To look at a doll. What else would a guy do in a doll shop?”
Poppy gauged his response and noticed the twinkle in his eyes. He was up to something fishy, but dang it if she knew what. Shrugging, she moved to cross the street. “Fine, soldier. Walk me across the street like a good Boy Scout.”
As she stepped off the curb, she felt his hand touch her elbow and she glanced up at him. “I am a good Boy Scout. Remember that.”
“Yeah? Prove it.” She had no idea why she said that. How did a grown man go about proving he was a Boy Scout? Not her best line, she admitted, and smiled as she softly whistled her favorite song, “He’s So Fine.”
“Why do you always whistle that song? There are a lot that are better and make more sense.”
Poppy stopped in the middle of the street to stare at Sam. “Are you serious? No one is better than the Chiffons! They say exactly what a girl wants to. You take that back, Sammie.”
Sam took her hand and led her from the street and into the nearest building’s shade, out of the August heat. She stood back against the brick and stared up, waiting for him to take back what he’d said.
“Do the Chiffons say what you’d like to say, Poppy? Why do you think of that tune around me?”
She thought she’d choke as she gulped air and looked away in embarrassment. How had she stuck her foot in so deep? Did he know what she’d been so diligent in hiding from him? “Just, they are a great group, is all.”
His eyes bored into hers for a fast count of fifteen before he raised his gaze to look out over her head at the street. “Hmm.”
“Hmm, what? What are you thinking, Sam Callahan?” Did she really want to know?
His eyes fell on her again and he leaned against the wall, one hand propping him to block her view of anything around them. He leaned close. She felt his warm breath on her cheek, could smell butterscotch on his breath. He’d been eating those cream candies Dr. C. used to give out. Now she knew where he’d been before finding her. Maybe he was getting ready to take over his dad’s practice. Holy Joe, he’d be her doctor!
“I’m thinking we need to visit the woods again, soon.”
“The woods? Why?”
He chuckled and leaned closer, so close his mouth almost brushed her hair. “I’d like to fix something that I can’t fix here on Main Street.”
Poppy forced her eyes to look at him so near, to gaze into his almost purple eyes. Her chest pounded with each breath punched out as she whispered, “What?”
Sam slid his lips across hers before backing away to a respectable distance, then smiled lazily. “That.”
Oh, my golly! It didn’t seem to matter how he’d hurt her, when he stood so close she could smell his shower soap. Poppy shivered and looked away from his intense gaze. “I don’t… We can’t…”
“Relax, Poppen. Let’s go look at dolls.”
What? Just like that he turned off the heated charm that left her legs feeling soft and gushy like chewed gum in sunshine and her head spinning out of control. It wasn’t fair he should be able to make her feel like heaven was touchable and then just walk away.
Dumbly, she followed him around the corner to her mother’s store. He opened the door and held it for her to enter ahead of him. Poppy knew she wouldn’t sleep soundly until she discovered the heart of Sam’s charm, why he was so easily able to heat her blood so thoroughly with a word, a kiss.
Maybe he was trying to charm her. But…why?
She was nothing more than a gypsy’s daughter, a doll store owner, a “bad” girl—the wrong girl, from the wrong side of the tracks. What could Sam want with her?
Ok, I’m gonna offer MORE chances to win! Tweet this post, Facebook– with the buttons below this post– RT it, and then tell me that you’ve done these. I’ll take your word for it. Just tell me which you did in a comment and I’ll add your name an extra time into the drawing for each thing you do. That’s three plus more chances!!!
Until tomorrow-
Dodadagohvi~
PS- don’t forget to check my schedule in the news>blogging news tab at the top of the page to see where I’ll be through January and February. You might have more chances to win a copy of HOME if you don’t get one now.
I write contemporary and paranormal romance, with sensuality as the key ingredient and spice for kick.
