I have a cover for Stone of Cruento

I was really worried if they would be able to come up with a cover since a centaur vampiress having a menage with an ogre, a vampire, and a centaur was kind of difficult to imagine. But they did it! I am so jazzed!!!

Stone of Cruento is available at Cerridwen Press

on May 1.

Guess What Happens in 3 Days?

Guess What Happens in 3 Days?
Stone of Cruento comes out.
CataUniversity at http://catauniversity.com/?p=126 is holding its very first
Novella in a Month - a challenge of writing 25,000 words in the month of May.
I have entered. So I will be blogging about Stone of Cruento and about my progress in the NIAM (initials are mine) Novella In A Month by CataUniversity. Lots of authors will be doing the challenge with me. You should stop by their site and see who is writing up a storm.

What if you were the artist?

Imagine if you will, you are the artist given the job of designing a cover for Stone of Cruento. You have to create a cover that represents the story line. One that shows the potential reader something about the heroine and the world she exists in.
Now, try to imagine what you would design to picture this:
Claren is a young woman who has grown up as a normal Earth girl. You know, boyfriends, college, a good career, a lover and prospects of marriage. Then she is bitten by a vampire, but she doesn't become a normal vampire. She can go out in the daylight, although she does burn badly. She can eat garlic, go to church, and has no problem with crosses or holy water. She can eat regular food but it is blood that sustains her. She is stronger than humans and has many of the "normal" attributes of the real vampires. She is guarded by an ogre.
Then she discovers that she is from another planet. And she has been sired by centaurs. In fact, she is a centaur.
Now as the artist, how do you convey that?
Well, that is what I have put the artists of Cerridwen Press through. Stone of Cruento is on the Coming Soon page, but with only a place holder. The artists are still struggling with the concept of a vampire centaur from Earth. Whatever they come up with, I am sure it will be phenomenal. After all considering the fantastic cover they designed for Prophecy of Vithan, how could I doubt their talents?

Adventure

April 24
Adventure
Genreflecting.com defines Adventure in this way:

What Is Adventure/Suspense Fiction? Lusty spies; deadly plagues; courtroom intrigue; fanatical terrorists; murderous psychopaths; state-of-the-art
weaponry; destructive acts of nature; political conspiracies; evil Nazis; Russian crime kingpins, and international drug cartels are but a few examples of the elements that can be found in this genre. Oftentimes lumped under the catch-all label of thrillers, It is hard to precisely define adventure/suspense as authors often combine situations from other genres such as mystery, horror, science-fiction, and even romance. Although an eclectic mix, all adventure/suspense novels have a few basic commonalties.
The characters (and the reader) can always expect the worst - the main characters can,and usually do, have everything thrown at them. Action, action and more action are hallmarks of a good adventure/suspense book.
The entire read is a roller coaster ride of chills and excitement with the last stop (and page) not always ending in
happiness. And finally, there must be a villain, for without a foe…without an adversary, there can be no adventure…no suspense.

Know how I define it? Danger Zone Authors! Be sure to come for the Launch on May 11. You will meet authors who write the kind of books Genreflecting.com is talking about.

Danger Zone Authors

Danger Zone Authors

Danger Zone Authors launches on May 11.I will be the first blogger on Sunday and will blog each Sunday after that. http://www.dangerzoneauthors.com/The Site is a site dedicated to action and adventure writers. Some write romance as I do, some write mystery, science fiction, thrillers, horror. There is something for everyone.

The Danger Zone Authors will be a different kind of site. There is no other place on the Internet that speaks to action and adveture.

Come by, read a blog while you are jogging on your treadmill. Buy a book to read while your take some me time. I can guarantee the books will get your heart racing.

Here are the authors you can expect to find there in alphabetical order.

Danger Zone Authors

Denise Agnew

Cyndi Friberg

Lise Fuller

TL Gray

N.D. Hansen Hill

Marianne LaCroix

Charlene Leatherman

Shelley Munro

Was today a good day?

Today I finished the cleaning of the yard. this evening I had to make a cake for a goodbye party we are having for a friend who is moving away. I am not the best of cooks, in fact, when I suggest that I cook for my sons, they take me out to dinner. My hubby used to say that I made great cajun water - in other words I burned water really well. So anyway, I was making this package cake. No problem. Baked fine, perfect in fact. Then its time to put the frosting on. I am tired and not thinking clearly so I start frosting the cake. Its a two layer 13 in x 9 in oblong cake. First layer frosted just fine. Second layer frosting goes on. The cake splits down the middle and both sides are sliding off the edges. White frosting all over everything. I hollar for help. Aunt Charlene (90 years old) comes hobbling back into the kitchen. She says she was tempted to call 911 cause she thought I had burned myself or fallen and broke a leg. (that kind of emergency is normal around here with Ken a quadriplegic and Charlene falling and breaking bones) She comes into the kitchen and sees this cake escaping off the counter and me all covered in white frosting. She starts laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall down. I grab her. Now she is covered with frosting. We both are laughing so hard we cry. The result? The broken, cracked up mutilated cake has a sign on it that says "We are all broken up about Bobby leaving."I guess today was okay after all.

Friday!

Friday, April 11, 2008

It Is Friday

Posted by Charlene Leatherman at 6:27 PM 0 comments
Labels: tgif

May Equals All Sorts of Goings On

Not just the Maypole - Exciting Events in May
Lots of things are happening in May.
I thought I would share them with you.
(This list comes from information found on Wikipedia. The items that look like links are not but can also be found in Wikipedia. The items in bold are the days that are significant to me. The item in red will be of interest to all those sons and daughters and husbands in the United States)

Stone of Cruento is released May 1 (more on this later)
In the Roman Catholic calendar, May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the worker.
In the neopagan Wheel of the Year May begins on Beltane in the northern hemisphere and Samhain in the southern hemisphere.
In the Irish calendar May 1 is Beltane (Bealtaine), the first day of Summer, and a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
In many countries, May Day is May 1.
This is celebrated as Labor Day in many countries.
In the United Kingdom, May Day is May 1, but a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
In Germany it is an old custom to plant a "tree of May" to honor someone. Often young men set up an adorned birch in front of their girlfriend's house in the night before May 1.
The first Saturday in May is the date of the annual Kentucky Derby, the most famous horse race in the United States.
May 4th in the Netherlands is the day of Remembrance of the Dead, commemorating all the casualties in military conflicts involving the Netherlands.
Cinco de Mayo or the Batalla de Puebla is celebrated in Mexico on May 5.
May 5th is the Children's Day in Japan and Korea.
May 5th is Liberation Day in the Netherlands, celebrating the ending of the German occupation.
In Western Europe May 8 is VE Day.
In Eastern Europe it is celebrated on May 9.
In the European Union May 9 is Europe DayGolden Spike Day (1869 - Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad - Promontory Summit, Utah)
Danger Zone Authors debuts on May 11. (more on this later)
Mother's Day is May 11th this year. It is always the 2nd Sunday in May in the United States.
On May 12, International Nurses Day is celebrated.
Finland's Day in Finland on the 12th of May.
May 12 is also International Awareness Day for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases (CIND). These diseases include Neurofibromatosis, Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS)/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Fibromyalgia, Gulf War Syndrome and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
On May 17, the Norwegian Constitution Day is celebrated.
In Chile, the Battle of Iquique (Combate Naval de Iquique), is celebrated on May 21, and its a national holiday.
Eritrea celebrates its Independence Day (Independence from Ethiopia) on May 24.
In Argentina, the May Revolution (or Revolución de Mayo), a national holiday, is on May 25.
Towel Day is celebrated in May in tribute to Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (do you have your Babel Fish?)
Under the French Ancien Régime, it was of habit to “plant a May” or a “tree of May” in the honor of somebody.
The County of Nice saw girls and boys “turn the May” with the sound of fife and drum, i.e. to dance rounds of May around the tree of May planted on the place of the village.
Each year in May, the Eurovision Song Contest is held
The Indianapolis 500 is held on the Sunday before Memorial Day
Labor Day in Queensland, Australia is celebrated on the 1st Monday in May.

My Lucky Day

Every day a friend of mine drives to the post office and picks up the mail. Most of the time it is bills or catalogues. Today I got a surprise.
You see, Today I won $10,000,000 from the Magazine’s Editing Cottage.
The envelope says so.
Now all I have to figure out what I will do with that $10,000,000.

I opted for the cash payment so really all I won was a little over $3,000,000.

Taxes will take about half. So I will have $1,500,000.

My relatives will want their share. (Oh, you know relatives. Whether they deserve anything or not they want their share of the pie)

So now I have $1,000,000.

I want to give to my church. So I give 10%.

Of the Gross.

I threw the envelope away.

My Lucky Day

Every day a friend of mine drives to the post office and picks up the mail. Most of the time it is bills or catalogues. Today I got a surprise.
You see, Today I won $10,000,000 from the Magazine’s Editing Cottage.
The envelope says so.
Now all I have to figure out what I will do with that $10,000,000.

I opted for the cash payment so really all I won was a little over $3,000,000.

Taxes will take about half. So I will have $1,500,000.

My relatives will want their share. (Oh, you know relatives. Whether they deserve anything or not they want their share of the pie)

So now I have $1,000,000.

I want to give to my church. So I give 10%.

Of the Gross.

I threw the envelope away.

Excerpt of Stone of Cruento

Stone of Cruento
Charlene Leatherman
Cerridwen Press

Excerpt of Stone of Cruento (unedited) Release Date May 1, 2008

Claren wanted to leave. The chanting and the color shining from the stone made her uncomfortable. Yet, something deep in the stone called to her. Deep within her belly, the place that held her sex drive and her instinctive drive to exist, to stay alive, ached and yearned for whatever the stone offered. She pushed the curtain aside and stepped toward the stone.
“Claren,” Belgretor and Daniel both said her name at the same time. She jumped as though she was shocked.
“Sorry. Let’s get the stone and get out of here. All of this is creeping me out.”
“Agreed,” Daniel said. “Belgretor, I owe you an apology. Geoffrey is indeed a stupid king.” He turned to Claren. “Geoffrey has evidently succumbed to insanity. He believes that if he opens the stone he will achieve power over all vampires here and throughout the galaxies available thru the portal.”
“Me get stone,” Bel said, pushing the drape out of his way.
Claren inhaled raggedly, expecting the shades to attack. They didn’t move. Neither did the king.
Belgretor stepped past Claren and Daniel.
The portal shimmered as though a stone had been tossed into a pool of water. Circles rippled from the center out. Belgretor, Claren and Daniel turned to the unexpected disturbance.
“Ah, all three of you are together.”
Belgretor turned at the voice. It was a language he knew from long ago. Something familiar about the words. He turned to see a man step through the portal. The ogre was torn between desire to go to the stone and the need to keep Claren from harm. He paused a moment too long.
Jamros read the DNA signatures on the KumPl bands. He tossed the metal mesh into the air. Tiny whirling self-propelled spinners darted through the air. Claren held up her arm in defense. The KumPl struck her wrist. Instead of bouncing off, it wrapped around and locked.
Claren heard foreign words then felt a mist fall over her mind as the mesh seemed to penetrate her skin. There was no pain, only a fog that separated her from reality. She watched as the metal straps attached themselves to Daniel’s neck and to Belgretor’s ankle. She observed, detached as though she watched a movie. The man who came through the portal was dark and tall. His black hair was curly and long, with touches of red that caught the light. His eyes were dark and strangely shaped. He was naked and beautifully formed. Claren wanted to go to him and wrap herself around him. She wanted him to be inside her. She wanted to have his babies. He was meant for her and her alone.
This is insane.
She couldn’t move. Strangely, this feels like a good thing. That I can’t move I can’t do what my body tells me to do with that man.
The man uttered words, sounds that Claren did not understand. Yet, she knew what they meant. She had to move. She had to follow the man through the portal.
Claren began moving past the hypnotized vampires. Her body moved of its own accord, following commands she did not understand. She couldn’t turn her head but she could hear the footsteps of Belgretor and Daniel. They too were following the commands. Moving slowly, she and the other two made their way to the portal. Claren left the banquet hall. She faced the portal. Belgretor and Daniel stood beside her facing the portal as well.
The chanting stopped.
Claren felt rather than heard the electric snap. The air shivered.
She heard a moan and a sigh. Then she heard screams. She wanted to run. She couldn’t move. Neither Belgretor nor Daniel moved. Claren could see Daniel’s eyes from where she stood. His eyes shouted with fear, frustration and anger. His eyes screamed at the stranger. Claren couldn’t see Bel’s face or eyes. He stood an inch or two behind her. She guessed his situation was the same. He wore the same weird thing she and Daniel wore. At least that is what she assumed. If he was free, he would have attacked the strange man by now.
Claren studied the dark man who had control of her body. Something familiar. The horse-man in her dream. The chest, the arms look so much like him. Could her dream have been a warning? Claren’s eyes wandered further down. Or a promise?
The man looked over Claren’s shoulder. His eyes widened in terror. He glanced at the ogre then at Claren and Daniel. Taking one more frightened glance at the scene behind them, the man stepped toward the portal.
“By the shield,” Jamros cursed as the screams got louder. “I will not stay in this two-legged hell any longer. Earth will have to take care of itself. Crudak can deal with you three.”

Bel wanted to talk to the stranger, tell the man that preventing him from taking care of the stone and the power that came from it was the worst mistake of the stranger’s life. Bel knew that he could stop the creature of the stone. He could prevent the disaster that hung in the air like spider webs. But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak.
Belgretor understood the words the man said. He knew the name Crudak. The man from the portal gave a command to follow him. Try as he might, Bel could not resist the command. He watched as his feet walked into the portal behind Claren and Daniel. Bel’s mind screamed that he belonged where he could stop the stone. He wanted to make sure Claren was safe and if the stone remained where it was, no one would be safe.
As Belgretor put one foot into the swirling portal, a singsong voice touched his ears. The voice sent chills down his spine.
“My beloved, don’t go. I’ve only just begun to play.”

Spring Brings New and Fun Stuff into Our Lives

Blog April 3, 2008


Spring is showing up.
I know the first day of spring was in March.
But Spring seems to be popping up all over.
Ads on the Internet for flower gardens are springing up.
Babies are being born, kittens are showing up in droves.
Little chicks are hatching.
New TV programs are blossoming.
My favorite catalogues are offering an easier way to grow tomatoes, strawberries, and a greener lawn.
Most of all, my cat has revealed her inner personality.
You see my cat is an alien. She comes from another planet and is saving me from
Invisible Space Alien Vampires.
She jumps up with no warning and scoots up the curtains in pursuit of the little monsters.
She hides under the bed and attacks them on my ankles, saving me from destruction.
She runs and pounces on the invisible critters outside.
And she watches.

Oh, and the most important,
I have a release date for Stone of Cruento May 1, 2008