Charlene Leatherman

100 Words in 100 Days

2011-04-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

I am a member of Coffee Time Romance site. Granted I am a very inactive member, but every now and then I get notifications of seminars and so forth.
This week I got a notification of a seminar called Nuts & Bolts of Writing Better presented by Robyn DeHart. It is presented in the form of several posts. Today I read Day 2. The title is Tough Love and Setting Goals.
The article is self-explained by the title. Determine what you're wasting your time on. Determine how much do you really want to be a published writer. Set goals. Break big goals into small bite-sized goals.
Not any new information.
Important information but not new.
One of the "this is my type of goals" Ms. DeHart mentioned was writing 100 words in 100 days.
Now that is a goal I can keep. Sometimes the idea of finishing a book is daunting. After all it can take a year to finish a 400 page book. Committing a year to a project is something that can kick your knees out from under you. I mean, I can't even commit to staying in an exercise program for a year.
But writing a simple 100 words for the short period of 100 days is do-able.
So today is Day 1 and my first 100 words.
Well, not my first 100 words on a novel but my first 100 words in this 100 day goal, challenge, pursuit. Whatever it is called.

Update on Ken - More strokes, more loss, and loss of part of his foot due to gangrene. Yucky things happening to a wonderful man.

A New Member of the Family

2011-03-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of the family. Her name is Skittles.

This is Ken and Skittles.

He is not unhappy - remember I said he could no longer smile.

She has been on his lap since getting here. They both seem very happy.

Skittles is a 3 year old Chihuahua.

She is Ken's Emotional Support Animal.

I will keep you updated.

Japan - Then and Now

2011-03-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this link

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

It is an interesting site. You can use your mouse to move a black line between photos.
The photos are of areas of Japan before the quake and tsunami and after. The devastation is incredible.

When the tsunami hit Indonesia, it was horrible but because it was not a developed country it seemed less horrible. I'm not saying that the destruction in Indonesia was any less horrific, but I don't think (based on the news coverage) it hit "us" Westerners as much.

Japan is so "civilized" with actual houses and factories etc - things we can relate to - it makes it seem even worse. I noticed most of the crop lands were gone. They subsist on rice and with rice fields gone - it will take years to rebuild them and grow rice - this disaster is going to affect people in Japan for many years to come. It's not a matter of simply rebuilding houses and factories - their whole economy is gone. It's as though a huge tornado wiped out all of our corn, and wheat fields. Also, the fishing is going to be gone for a long time - the tsunami wreaked havoc on the ocean bed as well - the Japanese have fish as their primary protein mainstay. How would we work out if all of our cattle, chickens, pigs etc were gone in a day? This trial for the Japanese has only just begun.

Now, I realize I am making these statements without concrete evidence. I don't know that it will take years to rebuild the rice fields. But I do know that rice takes longer to grow than some other grain. I don't know that the fishing is gone, but common sense says that any storm that destructive would cause problems. And with the water coming up into the land, how many tons of fish were washed up on shore? How long for the fish population to come back? No, I haven't researched this, but this is a blog and my opinion.

It is scary.

Oh, not end of days scary, although that does run through the mind some times. If it is end of days then I simply have to make sure I am ready. That is not the point, though. The point is that when we look at a disaster that has us gasping for air, the news keeps us up to date for days, weeks on end. Then another "show-stopping" story shows up and we no longer hear about the last disaster.

However, Japan has been changed forever.

Perhaps, after all the hulla balloo is over, we should remember to keep them, along with the people who suffered disasters that we no longer hear about, in our prayers, good thoughts, minds.

Tragedy may make the headlines for one day - but continues to plague the life for many.

Book Drum

2011-02-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

I have discovered a really neat website.

It is Book Drum

They say of themselves:

Book Drum is the perfect companion to the books we love, bringing them to life with immersive pictures, videos, maps and music.

Whether it’s video of the Rockettes in The Catcher in the Rye, the Italian opera tracks that accompany Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the historical context and maps of The Odyssey, stunning South American photography for In Patagonia, or video of Kabul kite fighting for The Kite Runner, we take readers beyond the page to enjoy interactive content alongside their favourite books.

It is an intriging site that takes a book and expands it with the use of pictures, reviews, a glossary, videos, maps, voice samples, music and everything else you can imagine by way of the Internet.
Imagine for a moment -
You are reading Vampire Academy.
You want to know where Portland is, or what a honda looks like or what a duster actually is.
Voila`! You pull up Book Drum and then pull up Vampire Diaries. On the first book mark you find pictures of each item. You can find clips of Russian speakers so you can actually hear a Russian accent.

Book Drum is having a tournament.
According to their website:

Welcome to the 2011 Book Drum Tournament, in which book lovers from Australia to Zambia can delve deep into a favourite book and, by building an illustrated profile, share their enthusiasm for it with the rest of the world.

The 2010 Book Drum Tournament saw seven Contributors share £2,000 of prizes, and led to eight talented writers being commissioned to write and edit new profiles on the strength of their entries. Hundreds of people took part, creating many of the excellent Profiles now freely available for everyone to enjoy.

To enter the 2011 Tournament, choose a published book and create a Profile of it, consisting of a Summary, a Review, a Glossary, an illustrated Setting page, a biography of the Author, and a comprehensive set of illustrated Bookmarks. Book Drum's interactive system makes it easy to do, and the chance to research a book in detail is richly rewarding.

The awards this year,2011, are
First Prize: £1,000 Second Prize: £500 Third Prize: £250 5 Runner-Up Prizes: £100

About the Tournament:

A list of Recommended Books is provided, but you can choose a different book if you prefer. It should be published by a mainstream publisher, and must be widely available. Please check your choice with us in case there’s some reason why it might not be suitable: editor@bookdrum.com.

Only one person may profile any given book. Where a profile already exists, or is under construction, the book may not be chosen. Check your choice here: Profiles under construction or already published. Please note that to ensure popular titles are not reserved and left untouched, we may reclaim titles if no significant progress has been made within three weeks.
Profiles of your own books are not eligible in the Tournament. Authors may however create and publish profiles of their own titles as normal while the Tournament is running.
The Tournament is open to anyone over 18 other than the winners of the 2010 Tournament first and second prizes. The five runners-up in the 2010 Tournament are free to enter. People under 18 can ask a parent, teacher or other trusted adult to register for them (Book Drum is not able to store minors' contact details at this stage).
Groups may enter under a single registration. Book clubs or literature classes may like to divide up the sections of a profile between their members. Teachers can set up a profile of a study text for their students. Prize money will be paid to a bank account designated by the registered email address holder; Book Drum will not be responsible for ensuring fair division of any prize won by a group.
The prizes will be awarded by three distinguished and independent authors. Results will be announced on 31 May 2011.

I am entering a profile of Gulliver's Travels.
The profile in under construction at present. Since it is under construction, it doesn't seem that you can find it. At least I couldn't find it when I was looking as though a visitor. But hopefully, when I win, you will be able to find it and enjoy how I expanded a delightful satirical book.

Antigravity, The Feline Butterology Theory and The Argument Against

2011-01-31T10:38:00.000-08:00

(I belong to a mailing list called Humor List. This was priceless.)

Antigravity, The Feline Butterology Theory

Captured from the Usenet Oracle, 19930625
This question was posed to the Usenet Oracle:

If you drop a buttered piece of bread, it will fall on the floor
butter-side down. If a cat is dropped from a window or other high and
towering place, it will land on its feet.
But what if you attach a buttered piece of bread, butter-side up to a
cat's back and toss them both out the window? Will the cat land on its
feet? Or will the butter splat on the ground?

And in response, thus spoke the Oracle:

Even if you are too lazy to do the experiment yourself you should be able
to deduce the obvious result. The laws of butterology demand that the
butter must hit the ground, and the equally strict laws of feline
aerodynamics demand that the cat can not smash its furry back. If the
combined construct were to land, nature would have no way to resolve this
paradox. Therefore it simply does not fall.

That's right, you clever mortal (well, as clever as a mortal can get), you
have discovered the secret of antigravity! A buttered cat will, when
released, quickly move to a height where the forces of cat-twisting and
butter repulsion are in equilibrium. This equilibrium point can be
modified By scraping off some of the butter, providing lift, or removing
some of the cat's limbs, allowing descent.

Most of the civilized species of the Universe already use this principle
to drive their ships while within a planetary system. The loud humming
heard by most sighters of UFOs is, in fact, the purring of several hundred
tabbies.

The one obvious danger is, of course, if the cats manage to eat the bread
off their backs they will instantly plummet. Of course the cats will land

on their feet, but this usually doesn't do them much good, since right
after they make their graceful landing several tons of red-hot starship
and pissed-off aliens crash on top of them.

Flaws In the Flying Cat Theory: A Response

Special to the Coastal Beacon

A logical analysis of the BFAD (Buttered Feline Antigravity Drive)
propulsion theory clearly demonstrates the impossibility of such a system.

Let us begin with a simple analysis.

1) Buttered bread must fall butter side down.
2) A cat always lands on its feet.

While both theorems are indisputable, the oracle offers no proof of the
construct. The oracle implies that anyone who 'would' test this construct
would immediately find the secret of BFAD.

This is clearly nonsense.

Let us assume a normal Einsteinian universe (although a Euclidean universe
would serve our purposes just as well, the Einsteinian is both cheaper and
drinks are readily available.)

To test BFAD, one must procure:

Bread
Butter (margarine, for some reason, will not work)
A cat
A strapping device.

Let us assume that all of these are readily available.

Attach the strapping device to the cat.

See?

No cat.

What has happened? We have run up against a priori universal law. By a
priori, we mean that it takes priority over either the Buttered Bread
Principle or the Law of Feline Landings.
What happens is that the instant a strapping device and a cat occupy the
same four dimensional space, the cat disappears.

Now, this can easily be tested, and has been repeatedly. There are two
schools of thought about this phenomenon.
The first holds that a cat and a strapping device are constituted out of
different fundamental building blocks. According to this theory, a cat is
constituted primarily of superquarks (called meows by current theorists).
These superquarks demonstrate qualities that are both atomic (constituted
as they are of groupings of normal quark particles) and feline (because
these quarks exhibit characteristic of "charmed" or "lucky" particles).

Again, according to this theory, strapping materials are fashioned out of
non-charmed particles. Bringing the two together causes one or the other
to cancel out. One aspect of this theory that has not been sufficiently
explained to date is the fact that it is always the cat, not the strapping
device, that disappears.

The second school of thought, and it is one that appears to be gaining
ground in academic circles today, holds that cats are, in fact,
super-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who exist in our four dimensional
universe only because there is plenty of good food and a lot of creatures
stupid enough to provide the food, along with plenty of attention.
Whenever a strapping device appears, the cat simply opens a door to a
different series of dimensions, and goes on an extended tour.

According to this theory, purring is a cat's way of maintaining a constant
balance cycling across multiple dimensions. This school holds that
antigravity is impossible, but that theoretically, a REALLY good grip on a
cat, while reaching for a strapping device, could result in our ability to
cross dimensions with ease (barring scratches, that is.) Pessimists argue
That if there was anything really interesting in those other dimensions,
cats wouldn't spend so much time here, so why ask for a good scratching?

Aftermath

2011-01-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

During the last year or so I have been fiddling with three different books all stemming from the same occurrence. The occurrence is the Rising of Atlantis. How would it effect the world if this continent suddenly rose? Would the Atlanteans be considered human or non-human? Would humans, trying to recover from the devastation of earthquakes, tsunamis, and utter destruction, be able to accept a new species or several new species? When did Atlantis sink? Could that coordinate with the Flood of Noah? And if so, could that explain why we no longer have the creatures of myth?

Like I said, I have been working on three different angles. So I decided to focus on one angle. My blogging is going to help flesh out my characters.
I have a series of personality questions - from real personality tests and from ideas that other writers use - to interview my characters.
You won't be able to find the characters in any book - yet. But if you follow this blog, when the book is published, you will be one step ahead of those that haven't.

Also, in the aftermath of Ken's latest strokes, when something good, or fun, or interesting occurs, I'll write about it. We also have a ongoing joke between the two of us - if there was a mistake that could be made in caregiving I've made it.
As I remember them, I'll write about my mistakes like:
I have to use a Hoyer Lift to move my husband from his front room bed to his night time bed - different mattresses, different pressures plus we sleep in the same bed. It's less likely for me to start seeing him as a patient instead of my husband plus the different pressures from different mattresses keeps his skin integrity better. I also use the Hoyer lift to move him to his wheelchair and I have tried to use it to move him into a car.
We used to live in Desert Center. Now, Desert Center is in the middle of the Mojave Desert, all sand and very few paved roads. So, when I had to get him into the car by myself I had to load him into the Hoyer lift, wheel him out of the house, onto the 40 year old board porch, down the wooden ramp, onto a 10X10 cement slab and over to the car. However, as anyone who ever used a Hoyer lift on any surface other than a slick hospital floor knows, The Hoyer Lift is top heavy and unruly. And when ever Murphy is around (his law says if anything can go wrong it will go wrong) the Hoyer Lift misbehaves. In my case, the wheels went off the cement and into the sand which decided at that moment to become quicksand and eat the Hoyer Lift. But only one side.

Okay - Lesson number one for Caregivers - if you are about to drop the person you are helping and you are using a Hoyer Lift, let the person down gently to the ground, re-position the hammock around the person and let the Hoyer Lift do the work of picking up the invalid. DO NOT TRY TO RESCUE THE TIPPING HOYER LIFT WHILE TRYING TO KEEP THE PERSON FROM FALLING. More injury occurs when you try to do that than if you simply let the person float down by releasing the Hoyer Lift pressure. The piston will slowly lower the invalid.
Of course, if you are a caregiver and use a Hoyer Lift get all the training you can to avoid these type of incidents. And if at all possible don't live where you are forced to push a Hoyer Lift through sand.
Kenneth wasn't terribly hurt in that incident. He got a bruise on his shoulder and not even a large one. he was laughing at me. I was banged, bruised, frustrated, and frantic. We never did get into the car.

By the way, Hoyer Lift is a fantastic piece of equipment. Without it I would be next to helpless in moving my husband from one point to another. It was in no way an equipment problem, it was an operator problem. But then I guess you always learn from your mistakes. ;-}

From Great Days to Very Bad Days

2011-01-24T19:46:00.000-08:00

From Good Days to Very Bad Days

It’s been a week since my last blog which was about a Great Day.

After that great day, the days sort of tanked. Kenneth was ill. Unfortunately, when you are caring for an invalid, being ill is not the sniffles. It escalates and escalates.

So, Ken no longer smiles. He has lost that ability. He needs more help than before.

We will weather it.

Tomorrow I will think of something more fun and interesting to write about.

Great Day, A New Word and a Weird Discovery

2011-01-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a great day. Ken and I discovered the basketball court. We went for a walk, him in his electric wheelchair and me beside. We had heard there was a basketball court in the apartment complex. So we loaded up and headed out. 45 minutes later we found it. It is a biiiiiiig apartment complex. Some kids were playing basketball so we watched for a few minutes then headed home.
We walked the direct route through the parking areas to find the basketball court.
Ken wanted to walk back through the apartment itself. We did. We got lost and had to have some kids lead us back. There are miles of wandering, twisting and turning paths. However, About an hour later we got home. I roasted some boneless ribs with potatoes for supper.
It was a good day.
Yes, that is a good day for us. Our life is slow and probably considered boring, but that was a good day.
That evening I looked for something to blog about.
I discovered a new word.
Remember the hoopla about the dead birds and fish around the world? Well it has a name to designate it.
AFLOCKALYPSE
There has been deaths of fish, birds, insects, animals all over the world. And as I touched on in an earlier blog, it has happened again and again. It's just that we are more connected than ever before with cell phones, twitter, ad nauseum to the point that nothing happens without everybody and their duck knows about it.

Kenneth and I like watching Fox news. This morning a comment made that made me crinkle my brow and ponder. The head of Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical break. The news commentator asked the question "Why the secret?" referring to the fact that Mr. Jobs has not disclosed the why of his medical leave.
My question is WHY SHOULD HE? Have we completely forgotten the idea of privacy?
IT IS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS WHY.
But again, we are connected to everyone around the world with our gadgets and whiz-bangs so that everyone knows everything. Which leads us back to Aflockalypse.

When we lived in Desert Center, population 150, there was a homily. If you wanted to start a rumor simply whisper it in the store, McGoo's, and it will meet you in the cafe 5 miles away when you get there 5 minutes later. It was even worse than that. We have lived at Desert Center off and on for the last 30 years. The ranch my aunt lives on is 160 acres and has been in the family since 1920 when my grandmother purchased it. So it is kind of a refuge for the family. We moved there from Fort Worth some 15 years ago. We drove there with our dog and our two teenage sons. Our car broke down several times so we were delayed in arriving. When we finally arrived, a man I never met came up to the car in the gas station and said:

"You're Charlene Carney's niece aren't you? You're late. You were supposed to be here a week ago."

We had not called, written or what-not yet the whole town knew we were coming and that we were late.

With all the twitter, cell phone, computer, email, website, communication out there, the whole world is becoming like Desert Center. Everyone knows everyone's business. It may be a good thing in some ways, but in others it causes aflockalypses. Maybe we should call it -- Nyah, I don't have a coined word for it.

The weird discovery is a prehistoric bird that clubbed its rivals and its prey. I discovered the information while trying to find out about the aflockalypse.

According to Discovery.com
A flightless Jamaican ibis bird evolved wings that functioned like a club or flail.

Researchers believe the birds swung their club-like "weapons" during fights with predators or over territory.

Some birds also use their wings as weapons, but no other known vertebrate fought like this extinct Jamaican bird did.

You can find the full article here.

Oh, and I got about 1,000 words written on my WIP Lion of Dyad.
It was a great day.
Charlene

New Horoscopes, Dead Birds and Magnetic Rotations, Oh MY!

2011-01-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Blog 01/14/2011

New Horoscopes, Dead Birds and Magnetic Rotations, Oh MY!

Last night I was watching the news. They had a story, and it is all over the news channels today, that the horoscopes have changed. I used to be a Virgo – rational, practical, intelligent, perfectionist, industrious, efficient, critical, with a calm intensity. Now I am a Leo – dominant, powerful, loving, lives in the moment, quick to give affection, self-confident, a leader, idealistic, philosophical, a born entertainer with a huge ego.

At LifeScript.com there are quizzes that tell you how true you are to your zodiac sign. I took the test for Virgo then the test for Leo. I matched 10 out 10 qualities of Virgo. I matched 3 out of 10 qualities of Leo. And according to Tarot.com but many other sites, Western astrology is based on the seasons not on the stars.

Speaking of the stars and the zodiac, there is a “new” zodiac sign – Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer.

Funny thing, I moved up one sign from Virgo to Leo. Ken, whose birthday is October 28 and is a Scorpio, moved 2 signs from Scorpio to Virgo. He’s not a Virgo. At times, Ken and I have discussed me getting a tattoo. I’m basically a coward so I never got one. The one I wanted was a dragon and a scorpion. I am a dragon in the Chinese Horoscope and Ken is a Scorpio. Now the tattoo would be a dragon and a virgin. Can you imagine it – Someone sees my tattoo and comments on it. Yeah, I answer, it represents me and my husband. Oh, they say, the dragon is your husband? No, my husband is the virgin.

I’m sorry. I think that would be hilarious. I may get that tattoo just for that giggle.

Another giggle comes from The Christian Science Monitor. They have discovered dozens of new constellations that make up new horoscope signs.

On another note, in writing I ask “What if” and try to make links between weird thing 1 and weird thing 2. You know, like the heroine uses a can of cranberry sauce and realizes that the scent is the same as the scent in the murder scene. Now she knows which alien is involved – the cranberry smelling 4 legged zibdik. (no that is not a real scene, but you get the idea)

So weird thing 1, in this instance, is dead birds and fish all over the world.

Weird thing 2 is an airport having to close down so they can correct the navigation designators because north is no longer north and south is no longer south.

Now weird thing 3 is a whole new horoscope.

Come to find out, the poles are shifting. They’ve done this time and time again. We’re just more aware of it now due to internet, cable tv, twitter, cell phones and everything else that supplies us with information.

Does this blog have a point? NO

Is this blog moving, meaningful, important, or otherwise noteworthy? NO

It’s just a blog.

New Horoscope???

2011-01-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

I just heard a promo for the nightly news. I may have a new horoscope sign. Somehow the signs are changing? That means I may no longer be a Virgo - a Virgin.

More about this tomorrow.

What is a Blue Wombat?

2011-01-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

My blog was getting depressing so I decided to write about something lighter.

Last night Ken and I were watching a marathon on SyFy Channel. It was a

Green Hornet marathon staring Van Williams and Bruce Lee as Kato. I used to love that series. It’s still good but it is slower and less NOW than current series are. Of course. The thing that caught my eye was the commercial for

The Green Hornet movie.

I plan on watching the new movie but probably won’t get to until it comes out on dvd or Netflix or until it comes out on TV not because I want to wait but because getting to the theater is difficult. However, the one scene of the commercial that made me giggle was where Green Hornet played by Seth Rogen is talking to Kato played by Jay Chou.

Green Hornet says “I’m the Green Hornet and you will be the Blue Wombat.”

So I got to wondering what is a Blue Wombat?

So I looked it up on the Internet.

1. There is a Blue Wombat Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/people/Blue-Wombat/1261377415

2. I found a Maternity T-Shirt at www.cafepress.com/wombania.339141301

They also have a ton of Wombat stuff if you're interested.

3. There’s a publishing company in Ohio. You can find information about it at national.citysearch.com/.../blue_wombat_publishing_llc.html

4. There is an Australian Musical for Kids.

5. There’s even a Wombat State Forest in the Blue Mountains in Australia.

I also found out what a Wombat is. According to Wikipedia:

Wombats are Australian marsupials; they are short-legged, muscular quadrupeds, approximately 1 metre (39 in) in length with a very short tail. They are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia and Tasmania. The name wombat comes from the Eora Aboriginal community who were the original inhabitants of the Sydney area.

So now, when you go see The Green Hornet you will be in on the joke.

Charlene

Self Defeating Behavior and New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

I was reading blog by Suzanne Johnson about writing goals for the New Year. Her blog can be found at Write in the Shadows. I am horrible at making or keeping New Year’s Resolutions. Right about January 15th all my resolutions are in the trash. Yep, I don’t even make it to February. However, what caught my eye about Suzanne’s blog was the phrase Self Defeating Behaviors.

According to psychwiki.com “ self-defeating behavior is the idea that sometimes people knowingly do things that will cause them to fail or bring trouble. It is just it is defined as "any deliberate or intentional behavior that has clear, definitely or probably negative effects, self, or on the self’s projects.”

Wikipedia has a page discussing a “Self-defeating personality disorder”. These pages discuss self-destructive behaviors ranging from procrastination to smoking to alcoholism to over-eating and as far as suicide.

For my conversation, and I believe Suzanne’s as well, self-defeating behaviors are the little things we do to sabotage our lives. She mentioned obsessively checking her email instead of writing. That’s the kind of thing I want to address.

For a full year I did little more than care for Ken and play an online video game, Wizards101. It’s a great family oriented fun game. However, spending 8 hours a day playing it is not good. Why did I do that when I could have been writing, interacting with others or any number of things? It was my way of coping. Ken had just had congestive heart failure on top of his condition caused by stroke. Everyone from doctors to nurses to family were convinced he was about to be dead – at any moment. I shut down. I took care of him but my muse left and my creative juices dried up.

Just recently I grabbed my girdle and pulled up my stockings and looked at what was happening. Ken was still alive but I was doing like the witch in Wizard of Oz. I was melting. Not from being splashed by water but by curling up into a little emotional ball.

There was an adult cartoon many moons ago, I don’t remember the name of it, that had a scene of a creature who began eating its own tail. It continued eating until it finished and “poof” the critter was gone because it ate itself all up.

That is what self-destructive behaviors do. Whether it is as serious as suicide, or doing drugs and alcohol, or whether it is as silly as playing a video game for too long. And whether it is a true personality disorder or simply a way to survive, it is what we do when we practice them – we begin eating our own tail and just keep eating until “poof” we disappear. No, we don’t do like the cartoon character and literally disappear but we do vanish from living life.

One of the sites I found about Self-Destructive Behaviors gave an excellent remedy. The article “How to Overcome Self-Defeating Behavior” by Merriment on eHow . The first instruction was what caught my eye:

“First thing we need to do to overcome self defeat is to take responsibility for our own lives and our outcomes. Let go of blaming other people, circumstances, fate, or even luck for your problems and your choices; to do so is self-defeating because it releases you from taking responsibility for your own thoughts and behaviors. No matter what goes on in our lives, or what others do around us or even advise us to do, whatever actions and choices we make are ultimately our own.”

Mark Goulston, MD stated in the article Secrets of Defeating Self-Defeating Behavior for Bottom Line Secrets

“What's the best way to stop defeating ourselves? Learn to reflect instead of react. The next time you're faced with the consequences of negative behavior, take out an index card and write down your answer to this question -- "If I could do this over again, what would I have done differently?" Carry the card with you, and look at it the next time you are tempted to do the same dumb thing.”

Self-Defeating, Self-Destructive behaviors are complex and can’t be overcome with a sentence. I do believe that we have to be self-aware and take responsibility for ourselves. We have to reflect, to think. We need to reach out. When we devour too much of ourselves, we need to remember what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “It takes a village.” The statement she used referred to raising children. We, as adults, as teenagers, all ages, need to stop thinking we are alone. When we find we are in danger of disappearing , we need to reach out to someone to help us see what we are doing and to help us take responsibility for our actions. Me – I actually reached out to Ken. It was getting hard to walk, hard to turn him. I was losing strength because I wasn’t using my muscles. I was sitting and playing video games. I realized if I continued I would not be able to take care of him.

I still play Wizards101. I love the game. It’s fun. But I take responsibility and I don’t play for long periods at a time. I also exercise. Not because I enjoy exercise but because I know if I don’t I will gnaw on my tail even more. I am back writing again too. I can’t speak to anyone else’s behavior. All I know is that one of my New Year’s resolutions is to examine my life and take responsibility and stop destroying and defeating myself.

Love in All its Forms

2011-01-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

Love comes in many forms.

In romances Love is the stirring of the heart, the desire to be with the one loved, even the hot, lusty need for another person.

My thoughts go out to the families of those injured in the shooting the other day. A Senator, a Judge, a little girl and others.

In situations like these Love takes on a very different aspect.

When the loved one is gone, Love is being with the survivor giving hugs when needed, speaking when words are wanted and silently grieving when that is what is called for.

When the loved one survives but is not unharmed, then Love is spending hours upon hours, days that turn into months and years at a hospital, a rehabilitation facility while a loved one learns how to hold a spoon, how to put on socks, how to live again. Love is watching at the one you felt that stirring of the heart over, the one you lusted for become a whole person, but that whole person may not be the same person.

Ken and I did not fall in love. We fell in lust with one another. Love followed. Love is still there even though Ken is not the same man I fell in lust with. He is mentally and physically different yet he is still the same wonderful person. I wouldn’t leave him for the world. When I dream I dream of Ken, the healthy, vivacious, intriguing, sexy man I love. During the day, I care for the wonderful, mischievous, quiet, loving man I married. He has not spoken a word in seven years, yet with his eyes I see he cares for me as much as I care for him.

Would I change things? Yes. If I could. But backwards or forwards time travel is only a thing in the novels I read and write.

However, circumstances are not what determine my love for Ken. My heart determines that.

I understand those that choose differently. Sometimes the burden is too heavy, too painful and too heart wrenching to endure. The Love never leaves even then.

Right now, my heart goes out to not only those families and victims of the latest shooting, but to everyone who loves someone and cares for someone who is no longer there or no longer who they once were. It is a hard, heart-rending activity. If I had to choose between taking part of this kind of adventure and turning away from my husband I would always choose this adventure.

Love, after all, Endures in Many Forms.

Besides Being A Writer

2011-01-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

Besides being a writer, which could be called into dispute since I have not published in a very long time, I am a caregiver. My husband of 40 years has been laid low by stroke and congestive heart failure. He is a quadriplegic. I could put him in a nursing home and “get on with my life”, but he would get care that would be substandard to which I can give him. After all, I am a “nurse” who is on call 24 hours a day and at his bedside every day. I don’t have 30 or more patients to care for besides him. I care only for him. I have been doing this 7 years.

There is a down side to this, however.

I look at other blogs and see written accounts about incidents at work, incidents about the strangeness or wonderfulness of life in and among the world.

I am home. I have one chore – besides the usual required to maintain a home – take care of hubby. It is not the thing of blogs. Not many people want to hear about bed-baths, caring for a gangrenous wound, or turning and propping him up with pillows to prevent bed sores every couple of hours. No, most people do not want to hear that. People look to blogs to be entertained, to gain information about whatever, not to be brought down or grossed out (unless it is a gross blog but then it is grossness that over the top and not what is a day to day drudgery in grossness).

So, why do I bring this up? Well, I have tried again and again to write a blog. I have tried to be entertaining. But the problem I have is that the day to day drudgery of caregiving always rears its ugly head and my blog falls to the wayside.

This time I am going to try to blog every day. Be forewarned. This blog is going to include all my warts, wrinkles, and drudgery because I have three things in my life. Caring for hubby, writing adventurous romances, and the rest of the world which occasionally peeks in.

If you check by off and on, you might read something that interests you and at other times you might scratch your head and say Huh? Why did she write that? The reason? It’s the only thing I could think of that day, it was the only thing that happened that day. But it was my day so I blogged about it.

Hope to see you around now and then. Leave a comment so I will know you dropped by.

Charlene

New Year 2011 -- Year of the Rabbit

2011-01-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

A New Year - Year of the Rabbit 2011

This year 2011 in the Chinese Horoscope is the Year of the Rabbit.
Last year was the Year of the Tiger - all teeth and claws - at least in my neck of the woods.
The Year of the Rabbit, which is on February 3rd, is just the opposite.
According to The Holiday Spot the Year of the Rabbit is:
     A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year.
Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force. A congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations and politics will be given a front seat again. We will act with discretion and make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty.
     A time to watch out that we do not become too indulgent. The influence of the Rabbit tends to spoil those who like too much comfort and thus impair their effectiveness and sense of duty....
     ... Money can be made without too much labor. Our life style will be languid and leisurely as we allow ourselves the luxuries we have always craved for. A temperate year with unhurried pace. For once, it may seem possible for us to be carefree and happy without too many annoyances.

This year is going to be concerned with writing, writing and more writing and with the Rabbit on my side books will be flowing with ease.
2011 -- Welcome, Warm and Prosperous
Charlene

Tirissa and the Necklace of Nulidor

2009-11-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

Tirissa was a normal ten year old who lived with a family that she loved. Well, normal in that she was ten and did chores and . . . talked to trees and saw a giant bird.

When her family and village are put under a spell, for some unexplicable reason Tirissa is not affected. With the help of a herbwoman, a troll, and a chatterbox, Tirissa searches out the way to break the spell. She presses on to save her family and discovers her inner strength in doing so.

A wonderfully written coming of age story, Tirissa and the Necklace of Nulidor, the author Willow tells us a tale of a young girl who faces and overcomes hardships of all kinds to save her family. She discovers her strengths, her past, and in the end she is no longer a child but a young woman. Full of fantasy, adventure and danger with fantastical characters who are written well enough to walk off the page, this book would make a welcome addition to any preteen's library. If you are an adult who enjoys reading coming of age stories that are well written you should add this to your library as well.

Charlene

strong women, nanowrimo 2009 and life interruptus

2009-11-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Many of you who know me know that Iam my husband's caregiver. I also write novels about women who overcome adversity. Sometimes the adversity gets the better of us in real life. Two years ago,Ken suffered another stroke on top of his other 6. It was more than I could handle at the time. I retreated into my little corner, stopped writing and blogging. I hid. Understand my husband did not die. I just hid from everything but his care. In August I crept out of my cave. I started writing again. I did not restart my internet presence though. I was fully intending to. Then on the 26 my husband had a massive heartattack and was not expected to live. He is my energiser bunny. He is not only alive but getting well enough to go home soon. Instead of playing ostrich again I have instead decided to follow the lead of my heroines - pick up the pieces and charge forward. So to honor my ever going hubby I am. (1) writing this on my blackberry from the hospital. So if there are any glaring error please ignore them. I have never done this kind of thing before. (2) I have entered NANOWRIMO 2009.I will keep a running talley of my word count here and other places. (3) I will be reviewing, interviewing and having as a guest blogger Willow, the author of Tirissa and the Necklace of Nulidor this month. And (4) I will be posting a book by half-chapters (1/2 chapter per day)here and everywhere else I have a internet touch. I don't fight dragons, vampires or save planetary systems. But I can get back to working and associating with all of you. So if you have the inclination, stop by and say hi.

Meet Mark La Flamme

2008-12-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Mark LaFlamme is a crime reporter and columnist at the Sun Journal in Lewiston, Maine. In his weekly column Street Talk he often vents his frustration with and disdain for editors, comparing them to bats, spiders, extraterrestrial slugs, and other beings too diabolical to describe. The column has been named both Best in Maine and Best in New England. Mark is also the author of several novels, all of them just fantastic. The latest is Dirt: An American Campaign

Blurb:
A grieving man disappears with the body of his dead bride and a mad race is on to find him before he can destroy his father's campaign for the White House. An exploration of the dark side of politics, "Dirt: An American Campaign" delivers a plot teetering on the cliff-edge of madness as one candidate tries to bury his own scandals while exposing the dirt of others.

Interview

1. Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?

It doesn't seem like I was given a choice in the matter. When I was a kid, I used to write weird, gloomy stories about ghosts in the woods around my house or rocking chairs that rocked all by themselves. I don't remember not being a writer. I wrote long before I realized that a person could do this as a career.
In 1994, I became a newspaper reporter and columnist and started making money for my efforts. But I still wrote short stories and eventually novels. Some people gamble, others build birdhouses.
I think if you're a writer, it will never occur to you to ask yourself whether you are or are not.

2. What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?

No matter what's going on in my life, I know that when I get home, I'll be flying off into that make believe world and doing anything I want to do. I like that quite a lot. An alcoholic will remind himself, during a particularly rough stretch, that if he can just tough it out for a while longer, he can get home and get that fizzy fix. It is the same for a writer. At the end of the day is the sweet relief (and occasional indigestion) of words.
There is nothing I dislike about being an author. There is the grind of query letters and long nights with The Writer's Market, but the act of authoring itself is apart from that.

3. How do you balance your personal and writing time?

I work in the newsroom until late in the evenings, covering live crime or other forms of chaos. Sometimes, that chaos brings me back out in the wee hours of morning. But no matter what, I'm coming home at some point to pound out a minimum of 2,000 words of fiction because to not do so makes me itchy.
If you're a writer, you tend to crave it. You will delay heading to that bash downtown until you get the night's writing out. Or you will lock yourself in your room when the bash is over and sensible people have gone to sleep. If you're a writer, you have an inate need to write and will find the time for it without much of a fight.

4. How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?

Typically, I have one little dot of an idea that might make an interesting novel, just one simple scene or scenario. When I pursue that thought further, a character naturally develops to fit into the role. I begin to explore him, wondering about his background, his motivations, his strengths and weaknesses. I'll give him a history and hopefully, a name. With this personality born, the original story idea begins to broaden. I see strange things happening, other people being introduced. At that point, I'll start jotting down some notes or throw caution to the wind and just start writing.

5. What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?

I write a lot of horror and a lot of thrillers. I make conscious efforts to steer away from these genres and find myself back there, anyway. I'll be five thousand words into what is meant to be a simple drama and suddenly, a dead girl is creeping from a closet or a plant is attacking a man as he drinks a martini.
A girlfriend once challenged me to write a love story and I took on that challenge with confidence. I started out alright, but within two or three pages, four people were dead and many others were on their way there.
I don't know why my writing tends toward the grim. Writing is often a supreme exercise in self-psychoanalysis and for now, I find it best to ignore what that might imply.

6. What is the biggest misconception about being an author?

I hear this all the time: "I hear you have a few books out there. Man, it must be nice to have money."
You want to give these people noogies until they fall down. With my first couple of books, I spent more money than I made. Easily. Advertising, buying your own copies to flog to the brick and mortar stores, promotional efforts that don't work, more advertising...
Smart writers will tell you that writing a book is the easy part. Promoting and selling is like a real job. Absolutely true. Ultimately, you want to discover the winning formula or get that big break (I'm still waiting for your call, Oprah) and that job becomes easier. When that dude makes the comment about all the big money that comes with book writing, you won't be there to hear it because you'll be in Biminy.

7. Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

I might pilfer a particular quirk or characteristic from a real person, but generally, characters in my book are complete works of fiction. The exception, sometimes, is their names. In desperation, trying to name a character on the fly, I am sometimes forced to recall an old school teacher or boyhood friend to come up with a fast moniker. I love you, Miss Mayberry.

8. Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?

Presently, it's a tie between the drunken author Billy Baylor, and the wisecracking mercenary Thomas Cashman, both from "Dirt: An American Campaign." Individually, they are marvelous characters, each very dynamic. Together, they become some SUPER character, somehow elevating one another to new levels of richness. Plus they bicker a lot, like a married couple, and that is just entertaining as hell.
I was also very fond of Jonathan Cain from "The Pink Room." I identified with his personality quite a lot, though he was much, much braver than I about things like haunted closets.

9. If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?

When a producer from Paramount approached me about the rights to "The Pink Room," a group of my bloggers actually created an entire cast for the potential movie. A slightly known actor named Peter Hermann (husband of actress Mariska Hargitay) won the lead role of Jonathan Cain. Angie Harmon (from Law & Order) was cast as his deceased wife.
For "Dirt," the only role we've nailed down is that of Thomas Cashman, the mercenary. That one was given to Patrick Warburton, most known as Elaine's boyfriend on "Seinfeld" as well as the voice of Joe in "The Family Guy."

10. What would you want readers to take away from your books?

I want the readers to remember and carry with them whatever it is about the book that strikes them. I've heard from hundreds of people who have read "Dirt" and they do not all report the same thing. Some rave about the story itself, all the gorgeous twists and turns. Others have fallen in love with the characters. A few insist that the story has changed the way they view politics in general. Almost everybody who has read the novel have been struck by something and they continue thinking about it long after the last page has been read. That's good enough for me.

11. Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?

Just sit yourself down and get going. Make a few notes if you want to and give your initial characters some names. I know so many people with great ideas they want to write out but they never do. They get stalled because they fear that first chapter won't be great. Or they can't get going because they don't know how their story is supposed to end. Pure procrastination. Start writing and let the weird, writer's voodoo take over.
In "The Pink Room," I was two-thirds finished before the ending came to me like a poke to the eye. I don't know where it came from exactly, but I loved it and I began writing 4,000 words a day after that just to get to that beautiful conclusion.
In "Dirt," I was probably halfway through when I had an "Aha!" moment that led me to the ending. A powerful relief it was, too, because before that point, I was wary of how I would wrap things up.
I think writers who become overwhelmed in the thick of their stories should put a little faith in the writing mind's ability to sort things out. The next great twist or mind-blowing idea for an ending might come in a firecracker flash while you're sitting at the keyboard, or it might come when you're not working on it at all. A good bulk of unexpected inspirations have come to me while shaving, showering, driving or – in one inconvenient incident – trying to enjoy an intimate moment.
Doctors tell insomniacs all the time that no matter how long they stay awake, the body will eventually insist on going to sleep. I think my rambling point here is, if you start writing, things will work themselves out naturally.

12. Who are your favorite authors?

Edgar Allan Poe is my man, of course. I started reading him when I was too young to really understand the intricacies of his stories but the music of his work always played nice in my ear. I head down to Baltimore every other Halloween to ghoul around his grave.
I'm a huge fan of the recently deceased Ira Levin. Read "Rosemary's Baby" or "The Stepford Wives" and I challenge you to find one wasted word. He was a master of conciseness and I try to emulate that style in my own work.
Robert Bloch and Richard Matheson are other influences. From Jack Ketchum I learned to never take the easy way out and I consider John Sanford, of the Prey series, to be the master of dialogue.
Of course when it comes to sheer story telling brilliance, Stephen King can't be beat. I grew up on his work and blame him for both warping my mind and teaching me the fundementals of the craft. His book "On Writing" is very good for aspiring authors.

13. What are you reading right now?

I'm taking a break from novels and reading real accounts about the Donner Party, the unfortunate group who became stranded at the Sierra Nevadas during the westward expansion and were forced to eat each other. There are a lot of books on the subject and they won't cost you an arm and a leg. You can really sink your teeth into this stuff.
I could go on and on.

14. Do you have a belief in certain spiritual things? (For instance, souls, nirvana, God, invisible pink unicorns, flying spaghetti monsters, or heaven.)

On all of that, I consider myself supremely openminded. I have no firm beliefs, but I'm also not arrogant enough to dismiss anything outright. In recent years, I've become enamored of things like string theory, m-theory, parallel dimensions and the associated weird concepts. I think everything we've believed in for millions of years is rooted in science. We just haven't made all the big discoveries yet.

15. Which of the following motivates you more to accomplish something?

I consider my motivation blind faith. I have a nagging feeling that's always with me and it tells me that things will work out – that they are meant to work out and I just need to put in the work. It's not fatalism, exactly, or any sort of religious notion. Just a hunch, I guess, and I believe in hunches.

16. Which of the following best describes you? And give us an example of how emotions or logic show up in your work.

Seems like I might be missing something here. The "of the following" part does not appear to be listed.

17. Tell me about a decision in your book that you made which was a bad one for your character. Did you keep the scene in the book or did you delete it?

In the original first half of "Dirt: An American Campaign," it occurred to me that Calvin Cotton, who made off with the body of his dead wife, was appearing far too much in the story line. I began to believe that he was better off on the periphery, imagined but not directly seen by the reader. How is the poor yutz going out to eat, checking into motels, stopping to take a leak, when he has a cadaver riding along with him? I wanted the reader to ponder those ideas on their own. So I hacked out some of those scenes and only alluded to them. The impact is obvious. It makes for a more titillating read and only adds to the squirming uneasiness of the plot.

18. What strengths and weaknesses do you bring to writing?

My strengths are my characters. To the reader, they are real people. This is not my own assessment, it is something repeated over and over as I talk about my books with those who have enjoyed them. I also write with tautness and avoid veering off into dreamy digression. I want the reader to get hooked and stay hooked.
My weakness is impatience. If I have a great idea for a new twist or development, I can't wait to get there. I might hurry through a scene with childlike ancitipation and the result is sloppiness. I have to scold myself and then go back to clean it all up.

19. Describe a time when you had to sacrifice quality for a deadline, or visa versa. Would you try to extend a deadline to stay true to the quality of writing you aspire to?

Sacrificing quality for a deadline is something that happens in journalism quite often. Many of the stories I get break just minutes before the paper is due to go to press. I have to crank out a piece on a downtown shooting in ten minutes or less, so there is no room for flowery writing. You rely on the inverted pyramid style, reporting the most important elements at the top. The beauty of this is that deadline writing in journalism utterly prepares you for writing outside of the newsroom. You write more concisely and waste few words. You have greater discipline because you know that to not finish on time is to invite chaos. I have never blown a deadline in 15 years of reporting and don't plan to in the writing of novels. Agents and publishers take note.

20. Tell me about a project you have been working on and how you organize the your paperwork, chapters, writing goals, etc.

These days, when I have an idea for a story, I start poking around various websites to research the areas on which I need educating. Right now, I have an idea for a book about what happens in the mind during the final seconds of life. I've pulled up some good websites on the workings of the human brain and created a folder into which to bookmark them. I've also taken notes on some of the characters I have in mind and created folders for them, too. The idea is to have the basic research either done or materials at the ready. When you get hot and start writing like a fiend, you don't want to have to pause to run for an encyclopedia. You will have to make such pauses here and there, but the fewer the better. Interruptions to the writing spree are enemies to an author.

21. Describe for me two improvements you have made in your writing in the past six months. Greater word count. More emotions. Better able to describe a character. Etc. What have you improved?

I think every new day of writing comes with improvements. You look over last night's work and find something sloppy. You think: "Man, that's horrible. I won't make that mistake again."
Since writing "Dirt," I've reminded myself that the first draft is for writing. You can go back and weave in all that clever symbolism and foreshadowing the second time around. I don't get as hung up on these things when I'm on a roll.

22. What aspect of your past books did you enjoy the most?

It's always the "Wow!" moments, when a knot in your plot suddenly becomes loosened. One moment you don't know where your story is going and then, bam! Out of nowhere, a gift of inspiraton from the literary gods. It happens several times with every new book. I love those moments. They lift you out of periods of pessimism (of which there will always be many) and back up into the grand idea that, hey! This story is going to work after all.

23. Now that we know you better, how can we buy your book "Dirt: An American Campaign?"

The book can be ordered through Amazon, Barnes & Noble or any of the other major booksellers or directly from Splinter Press. Links to all of that can be found at my website, found at www.marklaflamme.com. There is a ton of information about my work as a journalist and novelist in there as well as a lot of less serious stuff, like my blog "The Screaming Room." Readers should feel to contact me through the website if they have thoughts or questions. I get lonely, you know.

Meet Pamela Samuels Young - Author of Murder On The Down Low

2008-12-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

Pamela Samuels Young
Author of Murder on the Down Low

1. Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?

I knew pretty early that I wanted to be a writer, having worked on school newspapers in junior high, high school and college. When I decided to major in journalism at the University of Southern California, I didn't give much thought to creative writing. At the age of 18, I didn't have the guts to even consider a career as a novelist. The writers I enjoyed reading—James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, Joan Didion—were incredibly talented literary writers. I knew I didn't have that kind of poetic writing talent. So I pursued a career in journalism, working as a news writer at WXYZ-TV in Detroit and as a news writer and associate producer at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.

I later found myself burned out after a few years of the daily newsroom grind and decided to go to law school. Flash forward several years and I somehow gathered the courage to give fiction writing a try. As it turns out, writing legal thrillers is the perfect combination of my journalism and legal careers.

I'm so proud to have published three books: Murder on the Down Low (2008), In Firm Pursuit (2007) and Every Reasonable Doubt (2006). Getting published was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but nothing has been more rewarding.

2. What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?

I love sitting down at a computer and seeing my imagination come to life on the page. It's so cool to get an email from a stranger who enjoyed one of my books. It can be a little weird, however, when someone sees me at a book signing and wants to discuss a character like she's a real person. I don't particularly like the business side of the publishing industry. Many writers will tell you they don't see eye to eye with their editor regarding cover design, promotional angles etc. But it comes with the territory and you just have to deal with it.

3. How do you balance your personal and writing time?

Personal time? What's that? I have none. I work fulltime as a lawyer for a large corporation. All my free time goes to writing.

4. How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?

The story premise is where I begin. I will then spend anywhere from a few weeks to as long as three months outlining a book before I sit down to write. I also mull over my story quite a bit. I'm thinking about it in the shower, while I'm standing in line at the grocery store, during my 45-minute commute to work. I can almost see each chapter as if it were a scene in a movie. Only after I have a completed outline do I start writing. And when I write, I go from page one to the last page without doing much editing. For me, it's psychologically motivating to complete that first draft, even if it's so bad I'd never dare show it to anyone. Once I have a first draft, then the real writing starts. I revise, and revise and revise some more. That process can last six months or more.

5. What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?

All three my books fall within the legal thriller genre. I'm a lawyer and I've always loved reading mysteries, particularly those that involve fascinating legal cases. My desire to see more diversity in legal fiction is what caused me to take a stab at writing my first book. It bothered me that the legal thrillers I read never depicted women attorneys or African-American attorneys as lead characters. So . . . I decided to fill the void.

6. What is the biggest misconception about being an author?

That you're making lots of cash. Not so! (At least not yet!)

7. Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

Many of the characters in my book are based on people I know. Some are from my imagination, and some have some element of friends and family members. It's so funny when friends ask me, "Did you base that character on me?" Even if I didn't, I tell them I did.

8. Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?

Special who is in all three of my novels.! She is indeed Special. She's smart, street savvy and a true friend.

9. If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?

If I were casting Murder on the Down Low, I'd like Jada Pinkett Smith to play Special, Sainaa Lathan to play Vernetta, Queen Latifah to play Nichelle, Angela Bassett to play J.C. and LL Cool J to play Jefferson.

10. What would you want readers to take away from your most recent book, Murder on the Down Low?
I often have a hard time recalling exactly when or how the idea for a particular novel originated. For the most part, the ideas simply pop into my head from some unknown place. That's not the case with Murder on the Down Low. I have a crystal clear recollection of watching an Oprah show featuring J.L. King, author of On the Down Low. As I listened to him discuss this secret world of men on the down low—guys who insist that they're heterosexual but have sex with other men—I was completely stunned. My emotions went from shock to anger to fear. The next day, while driving to work, the premise for the book popped into my head: What if attractive, prominent, successful married men were being gunned down on the streets of L.A. and no one knew why? And what if they all shared a dirty little secret?

Writing Murder on the Down Low gave me an opportunity to both entertain and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. It's my hope that Murder on the Down Low helps people understand that HIV is not a gay disease. Many people – male and female, straight and gay -- don't know their status because they haven't been tested, so they're unwittingly spreading the disease.

11. Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?

Don't let the naysayers discourage you. Agents and editors have rejected lots of writers who went on to major success in the publishing world (e.g., John Grisham, Terry McMillan, Stephanie Meyer, J.K. Rowling). So when you get that rejection letter, take a minute or two to whine about it, then move on. Your day will come. Just keep writing!

12. Who are your favorite authors?

Too many too name, but here are just a few . . . Terry McMillan, Greg Iles, Tami Hoag, Sandra Brown, Walter Mosley, and a new writer Scott Pratt.

13. What are you reading right now?

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffrey Deaver and I'm loving it. This is my first novel by Deaver. I am now a fan for life!

14. Do you have a belief in certain spiritual things? (For instance, souls, nirvana, God, invisible pink unicorns, flying spaghetti monsters, or heaven.)

Without my faith in God, I wouldn't have the success I've had so far. My day begins with prayer. I couldn't survive this tough publishing industry without it.

15. Which of the following motivates you more to accomplish something?
The prospect of fame or self-fulfillment.

Definitely self-fulfillment. I wrote for three long years without making a dime and, unfortunately, I still haven't socked away a fortune though I have published three books. I write because these engaging stories drop into my head and I feel compelled to put them down on paper so I can share them with others.

16. Which of the following best describes you? And give us an example of how emotions or logic show up in your work. I am emotional and base my decisions and writing on feelings. I am a thinker and I base my decisions and writing on logic and research

I am definitely emotional. Just ask my husband! I want readers to feel what my characters feel. I'm pleased when readers tell me they identify with my characters' rage or fear in Murder on the Down Low. That was indeed my goal. One of my favorite characters, Special in Murder on the Down Low, is a good example. Her rage over her cousin's death leads her to do some crazy things. I actually felt her rage as I wrote the scenes.

17. What strengths and weaknesses do you bring to writing?

My strength is my background as a journalist, specifically a television news writer. I spent seven years writing news under the gun, so I can get my first draft down on paper pretty quickly. I also write quite a bit as a lawyer, so writing comes pretty easily to me since I do it so much. I love writing dialogue, but I have a lot of room for growth when it comes to the narrative portions of my chapters. I often have to close my eyes and try to imagine the scene where the chapter is taking place. Descriptions, whether people or inanimate objects, are difficult for me.

18. Describe a time when you had to sacrifice quality for a deadline, or visa versa. Would you try to extend a deadline to stay true to the quality of writing you aspire to?

I'm glad to say I've never run up against a deadline I couldn't meet. (Knock on wood!) I hope to never have to sacrifice quality. If I wasn't happy with the final product, I wouldn't send it in. I would definitely ask for an extension if I thought I needed more time. Readers are very unforgiving. It you write something that sucks, they will never forgive you.

19. Tell me about a project you have been working on and how you organize the your paperwork, chapters, writing goals, etc.

I'm working on a new thriller called Buying Time. It's the tale of a recently disbarred lawyer who unwittingly finds himself in the middle of murder scheme where his former clients are the victims. I practice law full time, so I write whenever and wherever I can. Usually in the evenings and on weekends. I recently started using Dragon, a voice recognition software. It allows me to dictate into the computer. It's amazingly accurate. I recently dictated a few chapters into my digital recorder during my 45-minute commute home, then downloaded them to my computer when I got home. It allowed me to use time sitting in traffic writing my book!

20. Now that we know you better, how can we buy Murder on the Down Low?

All three of my books, Murder on the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit and Every Reasonable Doubt, are available wherever books or sold. If you don't find them on your local bookstore shelf, please ask the stores to order them.

Pamela Samuels Young is a practicing attorney and author of the legal thrillers, Murder on the Down Low, Every Reasonable Doubt and In Firm Pursuit. You can find Pamela's articles on writing at BizyMoms.com, where she is a featured fiction writing expert.

Murder on the Down Low by Pamela Samuels - Young

2008-12-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

REVIEW:
This is not the kind of book I normally read. I'm more of a sci-fi and fantasy kind of girl. To be honest, when I picked up the book with reviewing in mind, I felt a bit of trepidation.

However, I discovered an author, Pamela Samuels Young, who writes a riveting mystery. You see, one reason I generally don't read mysteries is that I get tired of knowing who dunnit before the book ends. Ms. Young did an excellent job of dropping hints of who the criminal was and an even better job of misdirection. The criminal was in plain sight from the beginning and yet wild geese were everywhere.
I really enjoyed the mystery.
More importantly, I learned some imperative information. MURDER ON THE DOWN LOW is based on some horrifying facts of which every woman should be aware.
Imagine for a moment -- You are dating an amazing, gorgeous, wonderful man who by his actions or his inaction kills you. Now go one step further. You have the ability to stop being murdered by very simple steps but you refuse to take those simple steps.
MURDER ON THE DOWN LOW addresses this very real scenario. It's a must read for every modern woman.

EXCERPT:
D r. Quentin Banks was a man's man. The kind of guy other men liked being around. Handsome, but not a pretty boy. Wealthy, but not a showoff. Versatile enough to host a fundraiser one night and chill out with his buddies over a game of dominoes the next. Standing outside Exam Room 5, the doctor scanned the chart of the first patient he was scheduled to see after his lunch meeting. His office suite in the Horton Medical Plaza was tastefully decorated with muted walls and dark slate tile. Colorful prints of jazz musicians lined the long, bright hallway. The place was classy, but not over the top. Just like Dr. Banks. He checked his watch. It was almost eleven-thirty. Time to leave. The doctor closed the chart and dropped it into the plastic casing posted at eye level outside the exam room. He strode into his private office, locked the door, then retrieved a throwaway cell phone from his desk. "I'm about to leave," he said. "The President's Suite, right?" It was always that cut and dry. He was a happily married man who did not have the time or the need for emotional connections. His lunch meetings were all about the sex. The doctor slipped out of his white coat and hung it on a metal rack. Casually but impeccably dressed, he wore a khaki-colored shirt and black slacks made from an expensive linen fabric. The kind that didn't wrinkle much. He was forty-two years old, just shy of six feet, and a hearty 215 pounds. He had the build of an aging ex-football player. Not nearly as lean as in his prime, but thick and firm enough to advertise that he still hit the gym on a regular basis. After telling his office manager that he'd be back by one-thirty, Dr. Banks took an elevator to the parking structure. He eased his black Jag onto Hillcrest Street. At the light, he turned left on Manchester Boulevard and headed for the northbound ramp of the 405 Freeway. Without question, Dr. Banks was one of the best OB/GYNs in Southern California. From the day he had applied to Howard Medical School, he had vowed to return home to Inglewood to set up shop. And despite the sacrifices, he'd kept his word, turning down opportunities that were far more lucrative, in terms of both prestige and compensation. Having a predominantly black and Latino patient base meant keeping late office hours and working one, sometimes two, Saturdays a month. The people he served couldn't afford to take time off from work. Not even for medical care. When he wasn't working, the doctor cherished his family life. Though he now lived just a few miles from his childhood stomping grounds, in many respects it was a world away. View Park was a haven for L.A.'s black elite. Professionals with six and seven-figure salaries who actually liked the idea of having neighbors who looked like them. The doctor's residence spanned five thousand square feet and had a full-length basketball court, a circular swimming pool, and a guesthouse. The Mrs. was a stay-at-home mom who loved her job as wife and mother to their two sons as much as she loved her husband. All in all, life was good.

Happily Ever After or Not?

2008-09-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Happily Ever After or Not? Current mood: annoyed Category: Writing and Poetry
.. I write Adventurous Romance. That means, at least to me, the heroine and the hero are thrown into danger, intrigue, harrowing escapes, monsters, betrayal, suspicion, disaster and so forth. They run, they fight, they hide and they sometimes distrust each other. But each and every time, they discover that they are the ones they can trust in. The hero discovers that no matter what happened, he can rely on the heroine. She learns that no matter how badly things have gone, the heroine is able to trust the hero. By the end of the book, The monster has been destroyed; The villain has been defeated; All is right with the world; and The hero and the heroine live happily ever after.
Some how that seems to be changing.
The other day I was reading a book that was heralded and reviewed as a romance. It was Urban Fantasy and both the location where I bought it online and the numerous reviews I read of the book before I bought it touted it as a romance. (No, I am not going to tell you the author, the name of the book or the place I bought it.)
The book was exciting. The plot was a page-turner. I stayed up until 2 AM reading it. The hero was dashing, handsome, tortured, heroic, all the things you want in a hero. The heroine was heroic, strong, self-assured, independent, learning to rely on the hero, growing, opening up, becoming less of a pain in the ass and more of the love of the heroe's life, in other words, everything you want in a romance heroine. I wanted to finish the book - I had to finish the book. I had to see how everything turned out.
..Everything Went to Crap.
The hero was killed. The heroine was mentally and physically destroyed. The object of the adventure was taken away and not rescued. The villain disappeared, not defeated, and not destroyed. The bad guys won, the good guys lost.
Now, I will admit, perhaps this is a book that is supposed to be the beginning of a series, sort of like the Star Wars saga. But I was terribly disappointed with the ending. The adventure throughout the book was great but the ending ruined the entire book for me.
I want a happy ending when I read. Life, the Universe, and Everything (with a nod to Douglas Adams) gives me enough of bad endings. If I want heroes to die, all I have to do is listen to the news. The same thing for the bad guys winning - listen to the news. I want my heroes to stomp the daylights out of the bad guys. I want my heroines to be taking a deep breath of contentment when everything is said and done. I don't want my heroine to be left crying her eyes out feeling bereft and alone when the book says The End.
What about you? Do you want your romances to be reflective of real life - as in the good guys do not always win and the bad guys walk away untouched? Or do you want a Happy Ever After in your romance?

A Mini-Adventure

2008-08-03T19:16:00.001-07:00

A Mini-Adventure
This last week I encountered a mini-adventure.Well, it may not have been an adventure to anyone but me. You see, my current computer, a laptop, decided to start giving up, rolling over and expiring. I say start because I am currently using it. But I have an added keyboard because the laptop keyboard no longer works. So the added keyboard is attached at the usb hub. My dvd/cd drive no longer works. It tells me that there is no disk in the drive, no matter how many times I put a disk in. The memory (I discovered I only have 37 GB of memory on the harddrive) is now half full - and that is only with my writing and some cover art. The other half has to be used to actually make the programs work. So the computer is slow, at a crawl. It doesn’t save like it is supposed to. At times it doesn’t even hibernate when told to. Basically, the 5 year old laptop is tired and needs to retire.So I set out on my adventure to find another computer at a reasonable price.Yeah, I know, an impossible mission, but that was my quest.My adventure took place on the internet. You see, because of being caregiver for two invalids I can not go out shopping for a computer. So I have to do all my shopping online.Fifteen years ago, I was a computer whiz. I knew computers backwards and forewards. My hubby used to say I could make the computers do everything including make coffee and dance. Sadly, this week, I discovered that I am a has been. You see, (I seem to be saying that alot) technology has passed me by.I entered a jungle with brands I never heard of: Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Vaio, to name a few. i was surrounded by them. I feared for my life, my sanity. And the alphabet soup was fearsome. XGA, WXGA,NVIDIA, HDD, GMA threatened to overwhelm me. It was all I could do to slog my way through. I approached Consumer Reports, asking if they could guide me through the pathways of confusion. They gave me a map. With that map I traveled the world of online computer dealers.First, one wanted to roll over me with prices too high and memory too low. I escaped, only to find myself face to face with dealers that wanted me to settle for less memory than I have now. Ah, the life of an adventurer.Finally, after wrestling the internet into submission, I found my treasure. In a place called http://www.newegg.com/ the pyramids of LapTop were opened to me. I wandered euphorically through tunnels and passageways filled to the brim with laptops of every discription, size and price.I had to choose carefully. I could only take one.A Sony Vaio NR, rated excellent in performance and display by Consumer Reports, is the prize I walked away with.Well, I didn’t walk away with it. The lovely little beauty will be shipped to me in 3-4 days.Then I get to delve into the adventure of tranferring my data from one computer to another and hope I don’t lose anything.I’ll let you know how that adventure goes

Stone of Cruento reviewed by Simply Romance Reviews

2008-07-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

Stone of Cruento reviewed by Simply Romance Yea!

Stone of Cruento

Charlene Leatherman

Cerridwen Press

May 2008

ISBN: 9781419916984

Fantasy

Order from Cerridwen Press

Synopsis:

Claren Maxwell felt she was misplaced, like she belonged somewhere else. Even as a vampire she was not like the others. Claren didn’t like to kill. She avoided intimacy with human men. It was too dangerous. Claren wanted to fit in. She wanted to be loved and protected. So she dreamed, but the dreams were becoming too real. She dreamt of three men. In real life she would have to choose one, right?The three men in her dreams materialize. Belgretor, a giant of a man from Cruento, protects her. Daniel is a vampire from Earth who desires her. Jamros is a centaur from Cruento who is drawn to her by destiny. Together the four of them must find a way to stop the destruction of Earth and Cruento.Can Claren choose between the three men she loves while saving the worlds she inadvertently put in jeopardy?

Lynda of Simply Romance Reviews gives Stone of Cruento the SRR GRADE: A

Vampires, goblins, centaurs….a vastly different alternate reality, that’s what you get from the Stone of Cruento. I loved the depth of the characterization and the story building in this riveting fantasy.Claren was a vampire but not the same as other vampires. Repeated dreams of three men and love only served to make her desire a love of her own. Though attracted to vampire Daniel, she doesn’t trust him and resists his charm. Her constant companion is Belgretor but she has yet to learn his full potential, and then there is the prophecy.One plot twist after another with love, sex, intrigue, back stabbing centaurs, you name it this story delivers. Charlene Leatherman weaves this story tighter than a rug and hands us a story that will leave us breathless and hoping for more.The Stone of Cruento is a great story and so much more. Claren has to juggle the relationship of three totally different beings let alone men while being in the middle of a prophecy she has no idea about. This is just excellent story telling. Don’t hesitate to pick up this exceptional book. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Hazel Statham's Book His Shadowed Heart

2008-07-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

His Shadowed Heart at http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook69078.htm?cache
Get your copy Now!!!

Blurb:

Can a shadowed heart be healed? Can love grow where least expected? The Earl of Waverly believes not. How wrong can he be!

After the death of his wife, the Earl of Waverly, believing his heart irreparably damaged, enters into a marriage of convenience. However, he is not prepared for the healing influence his new young bride has on his life.

Despite the couple’s new-found happiness, nefarious deeds abound and strange happenings are attributed to the ghost of his former wife. Will their love stand the test or will the perpetrator emerge the victor?

Excerpt:

Traversing the long corridor to his bedchamber, he paused momentarily outside his wife’s door, but as no light shone from beneath, he continued on to his own apartment. Closing the door quietly behind him he paused in the centre of the room. All was in darkness except for the pool of light cast by the candles he held and for a moment, their flickering caught the handle to the connecting door. Yielding to an irresistible temptation, he pressed the handle, and finding no resistance there, entered the chamber.

As in his own room, all was in darkness, but turning to where he knew the bed to be he raised the candles higher so that their glow spread across the room, illuminating the sleeping figure there. Crossing to the bed, he knelt at her side and extinguishing all but one of the flames, placed the candelabra on a small table at the side of the bed.

The shadows of the remaining light played across Caroline’s sleeping countenance and he smoothed a lock of hair that had strayed across her forehead. He knew the desire that his lips should follow his finger’s course, but even in his state of inebriation, he knew this would be foolish. For several minutes, he watched his wife sleep, eventually placing his head upon the pillow beside her. His lips curved into a loving smile as his eyes drank in her sleep-softened countenance and he felt her breath caress his cheek. The longing to hold her became an almost physical thing and his arms ached with the suppressed desire. Eventually she stirred, muttering incoherently in her sleep, and he raised himself up. What foolishness is this, he thought. I am acting like a callow youth, and immediately he was on his feet. Snatching up the light, he went quickly out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
~ * ~

A Rose By Another Name

2008-07-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Lovac followed the trail with ease. Like most lionesses, this one did not give him much of a challenge. He sighed. Except for the entertainment of the audience Lovac didn’t see the need for the hunt at all. It would be easier on him and the lionesses if they just threw them in a room and recorded their sex act. A different type of entertainment, probably not one that the people would want to broadcast to an audience filled with children. Better to have the thrill of the hunt ended with copulation.
Still, he thought the way the lioness looked at him at the starting gate she would have given him a greater challenge. She was not hiding her tracks at all. He didn’t have to look for the bent blade of grass or search for the gentle press of a foot print. This lioness wanted him to follow her, wanted him to catch her, and wanted him to bed her.
Or so Lovac thought.
He pulled up short when the tracks took on a decidedly different feel. Instead of being hard footed and obvious, the lioness began to step softly. The tread became lighter and lighter until no one except a trained hunter like he was could have followed the trail. Lovac knelt beside a single bent sprig of grass, the only sign the lioness passed by.
“What are you up to, my pretty?” Lovac asked no one in particular and everyone on the broadcast feed. He followed the barely noticeable trail to the edge of forest next to a tunnel of some sort.
Lovac had never been in this part of the hunting field before. He saw delicate, soft tracks near the cave-like entrance. He also saw the deep claw marks on the tree limbs as though a large cat had scrabbled up the tree in a hurry.
“Exactly what you want me to think,” Lovac whispered. One of his requirements as a participant in the ‘Hunt’ was to make sure the audience was aware of his deductions. “Yet, these prints near this…this tunnel seem a bit too convenient as well. Where are you, my pretty?”

Zna rankled when he called her his ‘pretty’. She had a name. She was introduced to him, yet he continued to view her as a piece of property. From her hiding place above the Hole she watched the hunter stand and look around. He was better than she thought. Better than other hunters she encountered.
Better looking too. Zna let her eyes swing over the hunter below her. What is my attraction? Zna smiled to herself. Besides the broad chest, and narrow hips. He is muscular. I wonder what it would be like to have his arms wrapped around me? My legs wrapped around him. Zna caught herself. His pheromones must be extremely high. I want to crawl down from this tree and make him mine. From what I hear he is quite a stud.
Zna swallowed her feelings. Bescjen is my only concern. Besides, his is a hunter. I am a lioness. No matter what my body desires I have to stay focused.
She had to wait until he stepped into the entrance of the Hole following her fake foot steps. Then she could push him through its mouth. It would take him more than thirty ticks to get out of the Hole, even if he was only at the mouth. Doing it that way, she would be free of the Hole and would achieve her lead. The mouth of the Hole would not do Lovac a tremendous amount of harm, merely delay him. She did not want to push him deeper, nor did she want to follow him into the Hole. It would mean possible death for him and the end of her winning the hunt. It would take too long to get out of it. Bescjen would be in jeopardy.
Zna tensed, ready to pounce.

Lovac raised his head, sniffing the air. He was a skilled hunter. He followed tracks that no other hunter could. He shot truer and knew traps from superbly simple to agonizingly complex. He knew a trap when he saw one. He also knew scents.
He was looking at a trap. He smelled the scent of a lioness.
His pheromones were biologically enhanced. One of the reasons he was a preferred stud was that the lionesses were attracted to him by scent. For some reason, this lioness, this Zna, resisted him. She played the game of making him think she wanted him, leaving well defined tracks. Then, at the mouth of this…cave, her method changed.
Lovac backed away from the blackness facing him. He slung his rifle over his shoulder. The weapon was armed with two kinds of ammunition. The first was a marking pellet. It would mark Zna showing that he captured her. The second type of bullet was a tranquilizer. It wouldn’t put her to sleep. What amusement would that give? It would relax her and make her willing to accept his mating with her. Most of the lionesses he hunted never needed the second bullet. Lovac couldn’t remember when he fired a second bullet.
Looking around the trees that edged the clearing he stood in, Lovac wondered if he would need the second bullet this time. Would he need a real bullet, one that killed? Would she be one of the lionesses that attempted to kill her hunter? It happened rarely, but it happened. Most of the time, death during a hunt was of the lioness. Hunters, poor hunters, got carried away with adrenaline and the lionesses scent. The feline woman was beaten to death.
Lovac gave a bitter laugh. Another thing that was destroying the true beauty of the Hunt. The government gave hunters carte blanche. They could kill lionesses with immunity. Unconsciously he reached for the knife in the sheath at his belt.
Was she one of the ones that refused to give in to the government? According to her profile she has not been mated since she was inducted into the Hunt. Lovac racked his brain trying to remember if any of the hunters had been injured or killed. He had not read the file on Zna as he should have. He committed a cardinal sin of hunters. He did not know his enemy.
A bird flew out of a tree nearby jerking Lovac back to the Hole. He scanned the tree line and saw nothing that indicated a lioness. Either she was gone through the trees like her deep claw marks indicated, or she was hiding in the trees watching him. Lovac did not believe that she went into the cave in front of him.
Cave. Tunnel. Neither name seemed appropriate. He could admit he was whipped and communicate to the Handlers for information about this area of the hunt zone. He had not traveled to this location before. It was an unknown. And he was led here.
Lovac put his hand into the darkness of the cave mouth. In a normal cave, he would see his hand in the shadows. He would see the gradation from light to dark on his skin. He didn’t. His hand simply disappeared. Lovac pulled his hand back. It was his hand, unharmed. Yet when he put his hand into the darkness it was as if his arm ended at his wrist.
Backing from the cave Lovac searched around the ground for a long branch. He found one and moved to the darkness. He stuck the branch into the darkness about three feet into the darkness.
Nothing, just the illusion that the stick ended where the darkness began.
Suddenly something took hold of the stick and tugged. The branch was pulled out of Lovac’s hands. He jumped back, bringing his rifle forward in one fluid motion. Whatever was in the darkness would not be hurt with the bullets he carried, but maybe he could slow them down. If it was the lioness he would fire twice rapidly, subduing her. He was tired of this game she played. He wanted to get the mating done and get back to his quiet life.

Zna bit her lip to keep from growling in anger. The hunter was not supposed to test the Hole. He was supposed to walk in, following her steps. Her whiskers twitched as she tried to decide her next course to take.

“Lovac,” the Handler’s name spoke over the com-link the hunter wore at his ear.
“Here,” Lovac answered. It was voice activated. He did not move his hands from his rifle. It was useless against a real attack, but it made him feel better as he stared at the darkness that swallowed the branch.
“I took the com off line. The audience is getting restless. Do something.”
“Give me a reading on that,” Lovac nodded his head toward the darkness.
“Are you giving up?” the voice on the other end asked. “I don’t think I have ever heard you ask for a reading.”
“You said we were off line, right?” Lovac waited for the assent. “Give me a reading on that cave or you will be my next target. I won’t have these useless tranquilizer bullets either.”
Lovac smiled as the pause on the other end lengthened beyond the normal for checking equipment.
“Mister Lovac,” the voice of the Handler was respectful and wavering. Lovac heard the voice of the Handler’s supervisor in the background. Lovac was valuable. He was not to be mocked. “According to the readout, there is nothing there.”
“Can you see what I am looking at?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you still tell me there is nothing there?”
“I can see the…the whatever it is, but according to the scanners nothing is there.”
“A hologram?”
“No,sir. Just nothing. It’s like there is a hole in the universe where nothing is. Not even anti-matter like a black hole. Just nothing.”
Lovac took in a deep breath. “Where is the lioness?”

Zna heard the hunter talking to the Handlers. They were off-line according to what she heard. No audio, no vid for the audience. Probably some kind of government announcement going on. And they were going to pinpoint her location in just a second. She had to act, now.
Screeching from her perch, Zna leapt for the hunter. She angled her leap and landed square on his back. She sank her claws into the heavy jacket Lovac wore. The hunter rolled as she knew he would. Instead of trying to gain purchase and get to her feet to fight, Zna used the momentum of the roll to continue forward. She pushed with her back legs and her tail and shoved. Zna and Lovac rolled into the Hole.

“Lovac? Lovac? Come in. Lovac? What in the name of the Spirits is going on?” the Handler’s voice shouted over the com-link that was knocked off Lovac’s ear as he and Zna fought. The handler looked at his supervisor. One moment he had readings on the hunter and the lioness. The next they were gone. Not moved. Simply gone. The scanner said there was no one there, only a space of nothing.

His Shadowed Heart by Hazel Statham

2008-07-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

I hope you will allow me to introduce you to the romance of Regency and Georgian England.

Romance means many different things to so many different people. A glance, a word, just a little unexpected gesture, all have the power to charm. In Regency and Georgian times when young girls were chaperoned in almost every situation, the language of the fan was used to convey messages to would-be suitors and lovers. Hearts could be broken across the space of a ballroom if a lady’s gestures were not favourable.

There were fans for every occasion and the owners lost no chance to wield them to their advantage. A fan placed close to the heart means I love you. A half-opened fan pressed to the lips – you may kiss me. The fan resting on the left cheek, means no, the right cheek, yes. However, there are many gestures and all are not favourable, for example a fan held over the left ear means I wish to be rid of you.
Gentlemen, not to be outdone, often resorted to the language of flowers to express their feelings and whether it be a single flower or a huge bouquet, the message would be clear. There appears to be a flower for every emotion, Acacia - Secret love, Ambrosia - Love returned, Anemone - Unfading love, Arbutus - Only love. Not only did they show love, but withered flowers show rejected love.
These are just a few examples of the messages that could be conveyed by these methods but give you some idea of how love could be lost or won without a word being spoken.

Let Me Introduce Guest Blogger and Author Hazel Statham

2008-07-08T14:08:00.001-07:00

Hazel Statham will be gracing us with a visit during her Virtual Blog Tour during the month of July. She will be talking about her lastest book

His Shadowed Heart

Here is a blurb:

Let me introduce Hazel:

Hazel lives in Staffordshire, England. She started writing at fifteen and has written on and off ever since. She has always been fascinated by history, especially the Regency and Georgian eras and it is the romance and elegance of these times that she tries to recreate in her work.
When she was a child, she often told herself stories and this just progressed to committing them to paper to entertain family and friends. There have however, been gaps in her writing years where marriage and employment intervened, but now that she no longer works, she is able to return to her first love and devote her time to writing. She had her first two novels published in 2005.

She has been married to her husband Terry since 1969 and they have a grown daughter and beautiful grandson. Apart from reading and writing historical novels, her other ruling passion is animals and until recently, she was treasurer for an organization that raised money for animal charities.She currently shares her home with two lovely yellow Labradors named Lucy and Mollie, who are her constant companions. Mollie is a recent addition to the family and at five-months-old is keeping everyone on their toes.

Writers, Emotions and Reviews

2008-07-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

One major attribute of a fiction writer - whatever the genre - is to feel emotions. The writer has to be able to feel the emotions so they can put those same emotions on paper well enough so the reader feels the same emotions. Adventure writers have to make their reader's heart pound, their pulse quicken and those pages turn. Romance writers have to make their reader's heart go pitter-pat, their pulse quickens and depending what kind of romance, tears fall, body parts go 'oh my' and a sigh escapes when the happy ever after happens. Mystery, suspense, thriller, horror writers all have to feel the emotions they want the readers to feel - fear, tension, anxiety, startle, checking behind doors and under the bed for spookies. Writers have to know and feel these emotions so they can write them.

But therein is the problem. Writers also live in a real world with real life that creates real emotions. That is probably why, historically, writers are drawn to alcohol and drugs. Because writers feel things intensely, whether it is in real life or in imagination.

So, when a writer gets a bad review, life crashes around them. After all, it is not just rejection of an object. It is rejection of the outpouring by the writer of personal emotions into a medium that everyone can see and someone had the audiacity to reject.

We all learn how to deal with negative reviews. We pout, stomp our feet, drink, eat chocolate, and myriad other things to get rid of the negative emotions the review puts into our psyche.

This blog is not about a negative review.

When a writer gets a good review there is just as much emotion - but this time there is dancing, singing, yelling it from the rooftop, eating chocolate (there is always chocolate no matter what emotion, at least for me there is) and all sorts of things to do to savor the wonderful emotions we gratefully receive.

I was doubly blessed this week. I got good reviews for Prophecy of Vithan

and for Stone of Cruento.

Jean of Fallen Angels Reviews gave Prophecy of Vithan 5 Fallen Angels and said it is a recommended read.

Every once in a while, I find a book that grabs me and draws me into the emotional life of the protagonist, making it almost impossible for me to stop reading. Prophecy of Vithan is such a book. This is a complex, multi-layered science fiction novel with a great love story mixed in. It includes the stories of a mentor protecting her student, a woman trapped by slavery, a man and woman chained together by an emotional connection they cannot resist, a rogue organization attempting to gain absolute control over the true government, and the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy that will save the world. That’s a lot to cover in one book! The love story will be very satisfying to the romantics among us, with a few moderately explicit erotic love scenes for spice. I wholeheartedly recommend this very interesting science fiction romance as great summer reading.

Amy of Bitten by Books gave Stone of Cruento 4 Grave Stones and said

This is an enjoyable story of adventure, love, betrayal, faith and belief that kept my full attention from the moment I started reading the first page. Did I mention the love scenes are hot and wild?

So, I am breaking out the chocolate, dancing on the rooftop while yelling and soaking in all these good feelings. I will then sit down and write like crazy a scene that will give my readers something to feel deeply.

Serial Novel - The Hunt

2008-06-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

The lioness sniffed the air. Lovac was near. Zna slowed him down by giving him a false scent trail to follow. The hunter was fooled for only one hundred ticks or so, but it was enough for her to find what she was looking for.
The only way she would be able to keep the thirty tick advantage Mister required would be to run the hunter through the ‘Hole’. Most lionesses did not want to risk the hole. Most hunters didn’t either. The Ministry did not have vids that could follow into the area. If she and the hunter went into the hole, the only way the audience would be able to follow the hunt would be through the biological cameras imbedded in each of their skins. It would be less exciting than watching the big bad hunter chase the sensual exotic lioness, but it would serve her purpose. Mister did not say he needed a good show. He only needed a thirty tick advantage.
Zna raised her head to the wind. Her whiskers twitched. Lovac was nearing.
This hunter is good. I wonder if he is good in bed as well. Spirit Leana, what am I saying? Zna snorted in derision. Of course he is good in bed. Has a high sperm count as well I bet. Otherwise he wouldn’t be the most successful hunter. I wonder how many lionesses have simply let him catch them. I wonder how many half-breeds he has sired.
Zna walked into the mouth of the hole. She could only take a few steps without it closing around her. She only needed to take a few steps into it to accomplish what she wanted. Pressing down with her foot, allowing her claws to sink into the soft ground, Zna made a foot print. She then stepped away from the track into the hole. Moving to the side the lioness again stepped into the soft soil. This time the prints barely made any impression. She moved several steps forward into the hole in this manner.
Leaping with all the strength she could muster, claws extended, Zna caught hold of the edge of the hole. The ‘Hole’ was really a cave entrance. About fifty steps into the cave was a field that was black. No light penetrated it. No sound came from the cave. Lionesses and hunters alike who passed through the field were lost for hours at a time. Very rarely did the biological cameras record anything but darkness. The times the cameras did, the images were erratic, frightening, and bloody and filled with sounds that came from the depth of hell itself. The lionesses and hunters that came out of the Hole were never the same. Some went insane. Some simply didn’t care what happened to themselves. Others became violent and uncontrollable. Then there were the ones that made it back whole.
Zna had a secret. She knew what was on the other side of the field and how to battle it. Her mate and she had ventured into the hole when they were young. Stupid, foolish, dangerous, and very informative. As far she knew, no one else, lion or hunter, had ever gone into the hole.
Zna never ventured into the hole during a hunt. She never needed to. All Mister needed on previous hunts was for her to avoid being caught and mated. This time he wanted a thirty tick advantage.
For Bescjen’s sake I have to lead the hunter here. I don’t like what it does to people, but I can’t risk not having the thirty tick lead and losing Bescjen. I will emerge unscathed. Lovac will not.
Finishing her leap from the leading edge of the cave into the trees above, Zna scratched first one then another and then another tree further and further from the hole. the scratches were deep and obvious. Moving among the branches without a sound, Zna moved back to the first tree she leapt into. She pulled herself into a small package, curling her tail around her body, crouching on a smallish limb. her breathing slowed to less than a whisper. She watched, waiting for the hunter to come, to show himself, to fall into her trap. The lioness waited for her prey.

Adventure Peril and Intrigue All Day Long June 18

2008-06-17T15:34:00.001-07:00

I am co-hosting Danger Zone Theme Day on Catanetwork Message Board on June 18. It's an all day marathon where you can come read some excerpts from authors of Action and Adventure novels. You'll have a chance to ask questions, participate in contests, and discover that perfect book for your summer reading.
Authors, if you write Action, Adventure, Suspense, Thrillers, and everything that makes the reader's pulse race, then stop by and share some of your work.
You have to register first, so be sure to do that today so you will be able to participate in the Theme Day first thing Wednesday, June 18th. The link to the registeration form is
http://ping.fm/gk9sI

Look forward to seeing you there!

Zna Menita - The Serial Continues

2008-06-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

Zna moved, twisted first one way then the next, stretching in preparation for the hunt to begin. There always seemed to be something that delayed the beginning of the hunt. Sometimes it seemed the broadcasters did something purposefully to increase their viewers. Suspense! Anticipation! All the elements of drawing in a larger audience. She glanced at the hunter, Lovac. He seemed as nervous and edgy as she was. Zna wondered what went through a hunter’s mind prehunt. She slightly shook her head. No, she didn’t wonder what went through hunters’ minds, only this hunter’s mind. She watched as the referees discussed something in low tones. She caught herself just before she reached for the key Tosca gave her. She couldn’t give away the location of the key.
The Minister of the Hunt appeared on the floating vidscreen hovering over the starting gate.
“We at the Ministry of the Hunt regret to announce that due to the lack of audience each night, we must cut back on expenses. As such we will be eliminating certain positions.”
Tosca and the other Handlers walked quietly onto the staging platform. Tosca had a look of resignation on his face, uncovered by his mask. The other Handlers looked confused, a little frightened. The referees moved away from the platform.
A light flashed brilliantly.
Zna blinked, partly at the light, partly to keep the tears from falling. Her feline eyes adjusted to the light immediately. She knew the humans, the referees, the hunter, all were blinded for several seconds. They did not see the bodies destroyed, disintegrated by the light ray. Rather they only saw the empty platform when the light cleared.
“We no longer need the Handlers. They have been transferred to another place,” The Minister announced over the vidscreen .
Zna heard the humans in the audience murmur in understanding. Those standing on the platform had been moved from one place to another place where they would be useful. Zna resisted the urge to extend her claws, leap into the audience and rip the throats out of the people. They are so stupid. They choose not to see the truth. Some day the government will turn on them. Leana will have her revenge someday.
The Minister of the Hunt bade everyone a good night. The vidscreen shimmered and changed to the view of the first lap of the hunt. Cheery lights and popular music danced around the staging area.
The hunt was about to begin.

Failure

2008-06-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts about failure:

There is much to be said for failure. It is more interesting than success. Max Beerbohm

There s no failure except in no longer trying. Elbert Hubbard

From The Internet from unknown sources

Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
If there exists no possibility of failure, then victory is meaningless.
Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
The only real failure in life is the failure to try.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
Life’s real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.
Success builds character, failure reveals it.
There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them.
Failure is the tuition you pay for success.
A man may fall many times, but he won’t be a failure until he says that someone pushed him.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Moshe Arens

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Agan. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett

Success doesn't come to you . . . you go to it.- Marva Collins
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.- Fred Shero

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.- William Feather
Half the failures in life arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping.- Augustus Hare
If you stop every time a dog barks, your road will never end.- Arabian Proverb
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. - Albert Einstein
In order for you to profit from your mistakes, you have to go out and make some.- Unknown
Success doesn't mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.- Edward Bliss
Failure is success if we learn from it.- Malcolm Forbes
Success does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making them a second time.- George Bernard Shaw
The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.- Paramahansa Yogananda
Get up one more time than you're knocked down.- Peter's Principle of Success
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.- John Kenneth Galbraith
We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction. - Douglas MacArthur

My favorite and the reason for this blog:

From my close observation of writers, they fall into two groups: 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review. - Isaac Asimov

I recieved my first review of Stone of Cruento. If you would like to read the review here is the link http://goodbadandunread.com/2008/06/01/review-stone-of-cruento-by-charlene-leatherman/#more-5132

My response to the review? I thanked the reviewer for her reviews, it gives me another direction in which to advance, and give me something to learn from. I let you, the reader, know that Stone of Cruento might be something for you to think about. I will get back to writing Vials of Aquilonia all the while making corrections in my writing course.

A Rose By Any Other Name continues

2008-06-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

Lovac rolled his shoulders, stretching, readying himself for the hunt. He despised what the government called entertainment. The hunt was a tradition centuries old. His father and grandfather were hunters. In the old days, a hunter sought a lioness, pursued her then if he captured her he was given the right to compete against the lions for her attentions. It was the way of Dyad to keep the gene pool level between the feline based humanoids and the covjecji, or the non-lion humans.
Female covjecji used to hunt with the lionesses, bringing game to the lions to compete for the attentions of the male feline. The government stopped the female covs, as they were called, from hunting. Human females could only mate with human males.
Lovac watched as the gene pool became weaker. It had been ten years since a healthy baby was born to a totally covjecji couple. Dyad was simply not meant to have the species separated. Lion and cov were meant to compete, to couple, to mate. It was the way the Ancients planned it. The Spirit of Dyad, Leana was pictured as a woman with the head of a lion. The two species combined.
The government changed the way it was meant to be. The government chose blood-thirsty hunters out of the thousands of registered hunters. They sent the men out to destroy the lions. Wiped out hundreds of lions. Orphaned thousands of cubs and widowed hundreds of lionesses.
Probably took the husband of the beautiful lioness standing before him. She certainly held the look of hatred in her eyes.
The government also took advantage of the mating instincts of the lionesses. The female felines were almost driven to mate. The powers that be wanted to keep the lion gene pool unchanged. They wanted the lioness to mate with the covs.

Lovac didn’t know the reason why, he didn’t care.

The government also wanted the process broadcast over the moon-wide holovision.
Lovac took a deep breath. He hadn’t been given a choice. If he had he certainly would not have chosen to be part of some twisted Minister’s idea of entertainment. His father, in his old age, became a prolific gambler. Lost everything his family ever owned. Lost more than everything. The government took Lovac as a young man and enslaved him. He could have run, but the government still had his mother and sister as hostage. If he didn’t hunt, the Ministers would kill his mother and sister. So, Lovac hunted. And he hunted a lot since he was the choice of most of the audience.
Hunters were chosen for their gene appropriateness. Lovac was considered a perfect mate.
Perfect! Yeah, I’m perfect. A perfect stud. I hunt, or pretend to hunt depending on how badly the lioness wants to mate. I capture and impregnate. There is no hunt anymore. No thrill in the chase, no pursuit, no competition. All there was any more was a moon-wide broadcast of my sexual exploits. I’m perfect alright, a perfect whore.

Lovac eyed the lioness before him. Perhaps she would be different. There was something challenging about her. The way she stood perhaps. The confident swish of her tail. The way her ears laid back. Not to mention her curvaceous body. The hunting jumpsuit did nothing to hide her lush hips, the full globes of her breasts and her flat stomach.

Lovac could feel arousal thrumming through his veins. He inhaled deeply, pulling from his training as a hunter to remove the evidence of his attraction. The Ministers would not be happy if he displayed too soon.

Congratulations to Winners of the Contest

2008-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Cathie, Rain, and Ute in the contest I had. Each of them emailed me with the correct name of the heroine in my serial novel "A Rose By Any Other Name". The heroine's name is Zna Menita. Each of them won a copy of Stone of Cruento. Hope you have a good time reading, Cathie, Rain, and Ute.

Zna Menita

If you would like to purchase a copy of Stone of Cruento, visit CerridwenPress.com.

Charlene Leatherman

Author of Adventurous Romances

Defeat the Villain, Destroy the Monster, Deliver the Hero, and Never Break A Nail

A Rose By Any Other Name page 3

2008-05-30T20:16:00.001-07:00

Zna suppressed the growl growing in her throat as the Handler locked the collar around her throat. Of all the humiliating and maddening parts of the Hunt, having a collar locked around her throat like she was some kind of house cat, was the worst. The Handlers always had masks on to protect them from any kind of retribution. But they couldn’t suppress their smell.
“Do you ever get tired of being a Handler, Tosca?” Zna asked the hooded Handler.
“As much as you are tired of the hunt. We each have to do what we must to survive,” Tosca answered.
The Handler was a friend of Zna. They had known each other since childhood. Tosca was from the species Grlica. Zna had heard off-world hunters call him a turtle. She was sure that was misspoken. Tosca did have a beak instead of whiskers like she did. He also had scaly skin and a hard shell on his back. But he also had wings. Tiny useless wings, but wings nevertheless.
Zna was knocked out of her revelry when Tosca pressed a tiny object into her hand. She opened her hands slowly, under cover of their two bodies. Shiny and hard, a metal key rested in her palm.
“What is this?” Zna asked.
“The key to the collar,” Tosca whispered as he pretended to adjust the collar. “You know I see visions sometimes.”
“Yeah, your mother was a Psy. So?”
“I don’t know anything precise. All I know you will need the key and,” Tosca leaned in. The mask touched Zna’s check. She felt Tosca’s beak touching her, kissing her cheek. “This is good bye. You will not see me again. I want to give you a present, that is why the key.”
Zna placed the little piece of metal in one of her pockets in the jumpsuit she wore.
Tosca backed away as the hunter approached.
Zna inhaled steadying herself for the first look at the man who would hunt her, and if she lost, mate with her. She always dreaded this instant.
The last hunt she ran the male was not only humanoid, but he was white and pasty as though he had not gone outside for several moon cycles. His belly hung over the belt that held his trousers up. His face was jowly and pock-marked. Zna had suspected that he was a hunter more due to money paid in the dark than hunting skills. It would have been an easy hunt if it had not been for the fancy tech traps he used. She had nearly lost her leg with one of the traps he set. However, she won and the Mister had his money.
Turning toward the harsh, solid thunk of boots walking along the wooden platform, Zna let her breath out with a whoosh. She had to consciously remember to start breathing again.
The hunter coming at her was breath-taking. His powerful well-muscled body moved with easy grace. The rich outlines of his shoulders strained against the fabric of his hunting jacket. His compelling blue eyes pierced raked over her taking in her body in one swift glance. The set of his chin suggested a stubborn streak. The hunter smiled at one of the people sitting beside the platform, not at her. His teeth, even and white, contrasted pleasingly with his olive skin. This hunter spent a lot of time active and outside. He had an air of authority and the appearance of one who demanded instant obedience.
The tantalizing smell of his spicy after-shave and the musk of his masculinity wafted to Zna. She felt her body respond to his pheromones. Zna bit into her tongue to put her body back where it belonged, ready to win a hunt. She raised her eyes to find him watching her. His captured her eyes with his, holding her mesmerized for an instant, studying her. The light of desire flashed in his eyes. He looked at her for a sign of objection or acceptance. Zna kept her face passive and her eyes hooded. She wanted to give nothing, not a shred of advantage to the hunter.
“Well, now, let’s get this thing on the road,” the hunter said breaking his gaze away from Zna.
The referee, a member of the Ministry, came forward. “Lovac, this is the lioness you will be hunting, Zna Menita. She has triumphed in seventeen hunts. She will give you a good run.”
Lovac laughed. The sound rumbled deep within his chest. Zna felt his laugh all the way down to her toes. The last time she felt this draw toward a male was when her husband was alive.
The remembrance of her husband, his mane matted with blood from a hunter’s machete, dying in her lap made her blood run cold. It was this type of human that destroyed her family. It was this type of human that held her daughter hostage.
Zna vowed that no matter how much she was drawn to this human male, she would not lose this hunt. She would not be mated to a despised human. And to make the thirty tick advantage she would kill this Lovac if necessary.

Contest

2008-05-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

I am having a contest.

I have put up a couple of pages of a serial novel. Here and on www.myspace.com/charleneleatherman

The contest is this:

Find the name of the heroine in the Serial Novel A Rose By Any Other Name and email me the name at disonij@aol.com

Whoever emails me the name of the heroine wins a copy of the eBook Stone of Cruento.

No picking name. Everyone wins. Just email me the name.

A Rose By Any Other Name, page 2

2008-05-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

If you like reading fantasy with an adventurous twist. If you like erotica but like it as part of the story instead of the focus of the story. Check out my latest book Stone of Cruento available at Cerridwen Press.
Charlene Leatherman
Defeat the Villain, Destroy the Monster, Deliver the Hero, and Never Break A Nail.

Now for the next installment of A Rose By Any Other Name

Zna shifted nervously as she waited for the hunter to arrive. She glanced at the com-link on her wrist. She didn’t want to here from the person on the other end of the com. She jumped when the device on her wrist buzzed.
“Another hunt?”
“You know all about it. You arrange all my hunts,” Zna said with venom.
“Yes, I do. We are almost to the end of our relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship. You have my daughter. I am trying to get her back. That does not create a relationship.”
“I have a lot of money riding on you this hunt.”
“When don’t you? Let me speak to my daughter.”
“Perhaps after you win.”
“No, now. Let me speak to her or I don’t run.”
The voice on the other end of the com-link chuckled. “You are not in a position to barter. If you don’t run, your daughter dies.”
“She may as well be dead already, since I never see her. If I don’t run you lose your money.”
“You have a point. I do not want to lose my money nor do I want to kill your daughter. She is too valuable to me, to you, to Dyad for that matter. I will concede, but with a condition.”
Zna sighed. “There is always a condition with you. What do you want this time?”
“I want a larger spread on the points. You have won each hunt but there has not been any odds on the outcome. I want you to win with a thirty tick advantage over the hunter.”
“Thirty ticks? I am out there running for my life and the life of my daughter. How do I know the hunter is not going to want to kill me? Six lionesses were killed instead of mated last cycle. I have to run as though it is my life. I am not willing to slow down. Not only do I not want to mate with a hunter, but I want my daughter back. But how in Leana’s name do I run a hunt and win with a thirty tick advantage?”
“The how is not my concern. If you want to talk to your daughter you have to agree to win with a thirty tick lead. If you only want to win, then you do not need to talk to your daughter. It is simple.”
Zna felt defeated, trapped. “Very well. You will have your thirty ticks. The hunter doesn’t have to survive, does he?”
The voice at the other end of the com-link laughed. “Not at all. Losing a hunter might even create more audience. But that is your call. Here is your daughter.”
“Mama?” A tiny voice timidly spoke over the communications device.
“I am here Bescjen. I wanted to hear your voice before I ran again,” Zna could feel the tears building behind her eyes and a lump of emotion grew in her throat.
“I am well Mama. I do as I am told and I behave myself. The Mister allowed me to have some sweets last night. He said that you ran very well and made him a lot of money. Mama, if I refuse sweets will you come home and stop running the hunts?”
Zna wanted to cry. She wanted to hold her baby in her arms and hear the soft purring deep in her child’s chest as they nestled together.
“Bescjen, the choice for me to stop running the hunt is up to the Mister. Although, if I win this hunt there will only be two more to run.”
“Then we will go home?” Bescjen asked.
“You had better get ready for the hunt. Bes has school work she must complete,” the voice of Mister interrupted. “And remember thirty ticks.”
“Yes,” Zna replied. “Thirty ticks and only two more hunts, then you free her.” Or else. Zna said in her thoughts.

If you would prefer that I not have your art on my blog, please notify me at my email disonij@aol.com and I will take it down immediately.

A Rose By Any Other Name - Serialized Novel

2008-05-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

A Serial Story

I am writing a serialized novel. You can catch the serial at http://www.charleneleatherman.blogspot.com/
Here is the first installment. For the rest of the story, stop by my blog or stop by www.myspace.com/charleneleatherman
Title
A Rose By Any Other Name
“I hear you. I hear you,” Zna slammed her hand onto the annoying alarm.“Zna Menita, hunt commences in 45 ticks. Report to hunt initiation site in 45 ticks.”Zna grit her teeth against a growl rising in her throat. She hated the mechanical voice that nagged at her every time she was scheduled for a hunt.
And she was scheduled almost every day. By her choice. But still, it was tiring and irritating to hear the computerized voice call out her name.Zna stepped from her bed and into the shower. Water was scarce on Dyad. Zna couldn’t remember when she last had a water bath. Pressing the button to start the cleansing cycle, Zna let the sonic pulses tap over her body. The sound waves were at a range she could not hear. The waves pushed dirt, sweat, dead skin off her body and left her fur silky smooth and shining. She twitched her ears and wiggled her whiskers. The sonic pulses tickled. She heard the computerized voice calling her again. Flicking her tail, Zna punched the off switch and went to her closet. She pulled out a skin-tight jumpsuit. It fit her like a glove, and moved with her. It did not hinder her in any way. It was the perfect outfit to wear for a hunt.She liked at her image in the mirror. She was desired in the hunt. Her curvaceous body was covered with the tawny colored fur of the lionesses. Her hip-length red hair framed her face and the pert ears that sat on top of her head. Her whiskers were sensitive and strong. The claws on her hands were sharp and retractable. Likewise she had human feet instead of the clawed feet of the less desirable lionesses.

Zna slipped the tools of the hunt into specially made pockets in her suit. A small compact phaser. It was set always on stun. It was the desire of the Ministry that lionesses have an equal chance against the hunters, not kill them. A knife that would slice through metal. Her claws were effective against cloth, flesh, wood, and most other substances other than metal. Some hunters used metal nets to trap lionesses. The knife gave the lionesses equal footing. The whole idea of the hunt was not only to give the hunters access to the best of the lionesses as mates, but to give the Viewers a show.

Zna sighed. She had run and won seventeen hunts. Each hunt she won gave her greater prestige, kept her out of the mating market, and kept her daughter safe. She had to win.

If she lost her daughter would lose her life. She only had to complete three more hunts to win her daughter’s freedom.

“Zna Menita, please report to the hunt staging area,” the mechanical voice intoned.

Zna took another deep breath.

Only three more.
Charlene Leatherman
Author of Adventurous Romances
If you would prefer your picture is not posted on this blog, please contact me at www.disonij@aol.com and I will take the picture down.

Guest Author Marianne LaCroix

2008-05-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Marianne LaCroix is an Author who writes Award Winning Action, Adventure Novels about yummy swashbuckling heroes.

You got a taste of the novels yesterday. Today, you meet the author.

Marianne LaCroix has had a passion for romance since reading Gone With the Wind when she was a high school sophomore. Voracious reading eventually spawned another passion—writing.
Mari is an active member in Romance Writers of America and holds a B.A. in English Literature. She lives in southwest Georgia with her husband, their twin daughters, two rascally dogs, a noisy cockatiel, and one demanding cat.
Thanks for dropping by to do an interview. I know readers want to know more about you and your writing.

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I’ve wanted to be a writer for a long time. Even as a kid, I wanted to create stories to entertain people. In fourth grade I wrote a children’s book about a Christmas celebration under the sea with an eel, whale and octopus. It was really cute. I got to read it for the first graders and they loved it. Since then, I wanted to write. I didn’t seriously think about making it a career until I was pregnant with my twin girls. I would sit in my recliner with a word processor on my tummy. (The whirr of the machine calmed them from the constant turning.) It wasn’t until the daze of their first year was over that I went ahead and completed my first novella.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I think my favorite was Fredrick from Crossed Swords. I fell a little in love with him as I wrote that book. Big hunk of a blond man with a commanding stature and a heart of gold...what’s not to love?

If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
Hmmm...either Gerard Butler or Hugh Jackman. Of course, I would HAVE to be on set too!

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
To be entertained. I don’t go for teaching a lesson. I like the action and romance of a satisfying tale.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Write what you read. And read a lot!

What are you reading right now?
I just finished Rita Herron’s In the Flesh, a Harlequin Intrigue. I liked it until she introduced a character the reader never heard of for the entire book until the very end—and make him the killer. I hate that. If you write a romantic suspense with a mysterious killer on the loose, don’t bring in a brand new character into the mix at the last possible moment. I liked the story until that point. I felt jipped...

Describe a time when you had to sacrifice quality for a deadline, or visa versa. Would you try to extend a deadline to stay true to the quality of writing you aspire to?
I do not want to think I sacrifice quality for a deadline. I have asked for extensions in the past. In fact, Crossed Swords was 2 weeks late, but I was given an extension. I don’t think a book is worth writing unless you devote yourself to writing quality—even if it means asking for more time.

Tell me about a project you have been working on and how you organize your paperwork, chapters, writing goals, etc.
Right now I am working on a novel I plan on submitting to agents and Harlequin Blaze. All I will say is it is 1) hopefully the beginning to a series, and 2) features a sexy cowboy.
To organize I use WriteWayPro (http://www.writewaypro.com/) I like the storyboard feature. I have a basic outline of plot points I need listed like “Turning Point” or “Dark Moment”. I also use Deb Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, Conflict to map out my characters. (There is a character building feature in WriteWay as well.)
I do get suggestions along the way from my writing pals at Romance Writers Unlimited. (http://www.rwunlimted.org/) Those ladies rock!

What aspect of your past books did you enjoy the most?
I like the romance intertwined with action and adventure. I love action movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Ladyhawke, or Pirates of the Caribbean. I try to infuse that love into the books I write. I noticed if my book doesn’t have someone wielding a gun or sword, I get bored. Something about a man with some sort of weapon...I love it. Must be some sort of psychological thing on my part. LOL!

Now that we know you better, how can we by your books Royal Bondage and Pirate’s Mistress?
Royal Bondage is in bookstores everywhere right now. It is also available on the Simon & Schuster website, Amazon.com and B&N, etc.
Pirate’s Mistress is available for order through EC’s print store, Jasmine-Jade at http://www.jasminejade.com/p-3944-pirates-mistress.aspx

Marianne LaCroix
www.mariannelacroix.com

Do you like Pirates? My Guest Author Writes About Them

2008-05-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

BY THE WAY, MARIANNE LACROIX IS COMING BY TOMORROW TO DO AN INTERVIEW. DROP BY, COMMENT AND SHE WILL TRY TO ANSWER YOU. MORE EXCERPTS TOO.

PIRATE'S MISTRESS
Marianne LaCroix
Ellora's Cave
trade paperback
ISBN: 9781419957437
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-3944-pirates-mistress.aspx

Torrid Tarot - Crossed Swords By Marianne LaCroix
Arabella Prescott's dreams of marriage were shattered when her fiancé was murdered by pirates. When she is kidnapped by the roguishly handsome Captain Fredrick Thorne, Arabella is determined to fight him with every inch of her being. She will not become the pirate's lover — no matter her body's unexpected desires.Fredrick quickly discovers Arabella's weakness — him. Her feisty spirit amuses and her sweet innocence inflames, and when she resists his seductive touch, he forces her to submit to his desires — awakening intense passions even he had not foreseen. But with her sensual defeat comes a price neither are prepared to pay.At the news of her kidnapping, Arabella's father, Governor Prescott, begins the hunt for Thorne's ship, Neptune's Sword, to save Arabella — and finally capture the most dangerous pirate upon the Caribbean. He will stop at nothing to see Thorne pay for his crimes at the end of the hangman's rope.Reader Advisory: Crossed Swords contains scenes of forced seduction.

Sea Hawk's Mistress By Marianne LaCroixOn summer vacation from grad school, Shelley Hanover takes part in a modern-day treasure hunt on a newly discovered Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys. During the dive, Shelley finds a silver bangle, and when the clasp opens, she is swept into a sudden water vortex — and into the arms of a sexy-as-sin pirate.Captain Jason Flint finds a woman floating in the wreckage of his latest victory, strangely dressed and wearing a sex-slave band. He decides to keep her as his private pleasure captive, and they enjoy each other's hot flesh as they sail the cool Caribbean waters. But when a rival captain kidnaps Shelley, Jason realizes he's lost something greater than any pirate treasure.

Reviews for CROSSED SWORDS:
4 1/2 Stars, RT Top Pick! - “LaCroix has outdone herself. This swashbuckling tale will have you offering to swab the decks, if it will put you in good graces with the wickedly handsome pirate captain! There’s plenty of action in and out of the captain’s quarters to keep you flying through the pages of this sizzling story.” ~ Romantic Times BOOKClub

“5 Stars…wonderfully written story about the powerful sea Captain and his prisoner falling in love…If you are looking for steamy sex, that will leave you seeking your own release, look no further…It’s perfect!” ~JERR

Reviews for SEA HAWK’S MISTRESS:
“4 Stars…a fun blast-from-the-past…This was a terrific, sexy little romance…The romance is sweet and tender; the sex scenes are vanilla with a touch of dominance and bondage. Sea Hawk’s Mistress was good to the last drop…” ~JERR

Another New Beginning, A Serial Story And a Guest Author

2008-05-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

A Serial Story
I blog sporadically. You've probably noticed.I am always at a loss of what to blog about. So I end up blogging about Invisible Space Alien Vampires (see Wednesday, May 14 on GoddessesofStorytelling.blogspot.com)I decided to start a Serial. Whenever I blog I will write the next installment. This serial will be written off the cuff, so I have no idea where it will go. You will find out as I do. I will let the Characters write the story.Now, since I wrote about cats yesterday, I decided to develop a story about a moon in the thirteen planet system called Dyad. If you have read Prophecy of Vithan and/or Stone of Cruento you know that there is a Twin Planet System in which there is two planets Dkr and Sonij encircled with thirteen moons. Each moon has its own ecosystem, its own type of inhabitant based on different animals and mythic creatures.

Dyad is a moon based on the lion. The Spirit is named Leana. She is a lion-headed woman holding an onyx staff. The heroine's name is Zna Menita. The hero's name is Lovac.That is all I am going to tell you tonight. Stop by for the next installment tomorrow.

If you haven't read Prophecy of Vithan or Stone of Cruento you can go here to purchase your copy. Simply click on the cover picture of the book you want to purchase.

Today’s Guest Author is Anita Birt.
Anita Birt writer, avid reader, knitter lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, three African violets, a Christmas cactus that never blooms at Christmas and a demanding computer that sulks when neglected.

For Anita, writing romance novels is like having a love affair with words. Characters emerge. Plots develop. Crises erupt. Her historical stories are set in England, Scotland and Wales, countries she knows well.

Isabelle’s Diary available at Cerridwen Press
Blurb for Isabelle's Diary

On a sunny June morning in Llandrindod Wells, Sally Carter stops for coffee at the Celtic Café. She notices a beautiful young woman dressed in somber Victorian black sitting at a window table weeping over the pages of a diary. When the girl disappears without a trace and the waitress insists the table had been vacant all morning, Sally is compelled to discover the girl’s identity.

Unraveling the mystery leads Sally on a wild goose chase with the assistance of Dr. Dan Conway, a handsome Welsh history professor. But it’s not until she returns home to Toronto that the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

Even then the question lingers. Why was Sally the only person to see the girl?

Excerpt from ISABELLE'S DIARY, a contemporary romance by Anita Birt

Sally was brushing her teeth when the phone rang. Spitting out foaming toothpaste, she rinsed her mouth and dashed to answer it.
“Dan Conway, Ms Carter. Are you free this afternoon?"
“Sure, any time you are.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Where shall I meet you?”
“In the lobby.” Before leaving the bedroom she scanned her reflection in the bathroom mirror and hoped the dear old professor wouldn’t be shocked at her short shorts and clingy T-shirt. After sending her hiking clothes to the hotel laundry, her wardrobe choices were limited. She had one summer dress, too pretty to waste on detective work.
She freshened her lipstick, picked up her handbag with her notes, hurried downstairs and dropped into a chair facing the entrance. He arrived within five minutes looking very professorish. About five eight, slightly stooped, gray hair, thick glasses perched on the end of his nose. Sally hurried over to greet him.
“Dr. Conway, thank you for coming.”
The man backed away. A worried frown creased his brow. “Oh dear me, you’ve made a mistake. I’m looking for my wife. She’s supposed to meet me here.”
“Ms Carter?”
Sally recognized the voice and whirled around. Momentarily speechless, she stared at Dr. Conway. A solid six foot and then some with broad shoulders, a strong, well-muscled neck and dark brown curly hair. He was handsome in a rugged kind of way, more like a street fighter than a history prof. The sleeves of his faded blue denim shirt were rolled up to his elbows. He had a sports watch on his left wrist.
Sally pulled herself together, smiled and held out her hand. “Dr. Conway, I presume? I’ve frightened that elderly gentleman. I mistook him for you.”
“Please drop the doctor, I’m Dan.”
Humor lurked in his green eyes. He held her hand for a few seconds and the earth moved under Sally’s feet. Unreal.
She withdrew her hand and dropped her gaze to the safety of his denim shirt. His touch had triggered an aftershock, probably from surprise when she’d expected a musty old professor.
“I’m Sally. I hope I haven’t dragged you here on a wild goose chase.”
“Not at all, your story interests me.”
His matter-of-fact comment reassured her. “I’ve made some notes,” she said. “Let’s sit in the garden behind the hotel. It’s pretty back there.”
In her sexually deprived condition Dan was too overpowering male for her to cope with but he’d changed his plans to accommodate her. She could hardly fall ill, plead a headache and retreat to her room. That would be cowardly, but two years as a single woman had made her wary of men’s intentions. Dan Conway wasn’t on trial. Not yet. Depended on whether he kept his hands to himself while they solved the mystery of the girl in the café.
All the same she wished she hadn’t sent her loose cotton shirts and jeans to the hotel laundry. Her navy shorts were too short and her white T-shirt hugged her breasts leaving nothing to the imagination. Maybe he wouldn’t notice.
She dug into her shoulder bag for the notes as she walked ahead of him through the lobby and on to the patio.
Happily ambushed by this attractive woman, Dan admired her sensational tanned legs. By the time they reached the garden and sat at a glass topped wicker table, he hoped they’d spend days together searching for the mysterious girl.
Maybe a night or two?
He dismissed that thought as unworthy; interesting but unworthy. For the few seconds he’d held her hand and gazed into her eyes a spark had crackled between them. Meaning what?
Male desiring female? Female desiring male?
Forget it. She’d quickly looked away and almost snatched her hand from his but he couldn’t be shot for thinking.
Like a student arranging an essay in front of a critical professor, she smoothed out sheets of hotel paper on the table.
“I hope my notes are coherent. I still can’t make sense of what happened yesterday. It’s still not clear to me whether I was dreaming in the café or really saw the girl.”
Dan picked up the papers and began reading as a group of noisy hotel guests strolled out on the patio and seemed to be settling in for an afternoon of drinking.
He folded the notes and gave them to Sally. “Let’s go across to the park. It’ll be quiet there and cool under the trees. We can go to the café later for a coffee.”
Out on the street he grasped her elbow and hustled her safely across the road to the park. The feel of her cool skin against his bare arm distracted him into thinking more unworthy thoughts.

2008-05-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

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Too Young To Die Contest

2008-05-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Anita Birt, is having a contest. The prize is a copy of her ebook

Too Young To Die. To enter you have to answer a question that is posed in her blog at http://www.anitabirtstoryteller.blogspot.com/

Stone of Cruento

2008-05-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

Stone of Cruento is available at CerridwenPress.

You can read Stone of Cruento on an Amazon Kindle.

Cerridwen Press has some information about the Amazon Kindle here.

I have a cover for Stone of Cruento

2008-04-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-12T21:07:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-04-11T16:29:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

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 Day Golden 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

2008-04-05T18:17:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

Excerpt of Stone of Cruento

2008-04-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-03T15:36:00.001-07:00

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

Are you ready to WIN?

2008-02-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to win an ebook reader? Or downloads of you fantastic romances, including a copy of Prophecy of Vithan? Have you wanted to buy some romances from Cerridwen Press, but haven't got around to it.

Now all you have to do is participate in a scavenger hunt and you will be eligible to win downloads of romances from Cerridwen Press.

Starting March 1 through March 15 you will have the opportunity to hunt for a tree icon and for secret words.

Go to www.charleneleatherman.com and check out the rules.

Be a winner in the First Annual Cerridwen Spring Giveaway.

FIRST ANNUAL CERRIDWEN SPRING GIVEAWAY

2008-02-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

The Cerridwen Press Spring Contest
READERS!!! BE SURE AND CHECK OUT THIS VERSION OF THE RULES FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL CERRIDWEN SPRING GIVEAWAY. IT CONTAINS THE UPDATED LIST OF THE WEBSITES YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT.
Here are the rules for the First Annual Cerridwen Spring Giveaway:
· The Grand Prize winner must be a United States resident (due to mailing and custom costs, we cannot ship the grand prize out of the country).
· You must be a member of the Cerridwen Chat Yahoo group to participate in this contest. All clues and contest information will be posted on that loop. To subscribe, send a blank email to: cerridwenchat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
· You cannot share information about the contest with other readers. All participants should act independently.
· Every day, starting on March 1 and ending on March 15, a clue will be posted on the Cerridwen Chat loop. This clue will lead you to a specific web site or blog location. You must find the hidden/special word on that web site or blog. There will be fifteen words to find, one for each day of the contest. The word will be in a special font, something like this so it will stand out and you should be able to see it easily. If you want to be eligible for the grand prize, you have to find these words. Note the word and the location where you found it.
· You also need to find a tree icon and note that location. Beginning on March 1, look for the tree icon on the web site or blog of the participating authors (see the author list at the end of this page). Make a note of the location of the tree icon or blog.
· The contest ends on March 15 at 5 PM. The tree icons and the 'secret words' will be removed from the author locations at that time.
· Assemble the words you've found into a sentence. Send the sentence and the location of the tree icons you found in the following format in the body of an email to GreenBookFriend@yahoo.com.
Sentence: write your sentence here
Location of Secret words:
1st word: http://www.websitename.com/website page.htm
2nd word: http://www.blogorwebname.com/date (if blog)
3rd word:
4th word: and so on ....
Tree Location 1: http://www.websitename.com/websitepage.htm
Tree Location 2: http://www.blogspotname.com
Tree Location 3:
and so on .....
· You will need to find 15 words and 13 trees for a total of 28 entries. Sound like a lot? It is, but the prize is pretty big, too!
· E-mail your response by 5 PM (central standard time) on March 16. No entries will be accepted after that time.
· The grand prize winner will be chosen from those who submit correct responses.
· Winners will be announced on the Cerridwen Chat loop on March 20, the first day of spring, at 5 PM (central time). Winners will also be notified by email.
Prizes
· Grand Prize: A Rocket 1200 Ebook reader with 7 downloads already loaded. A picture of this model is at the end of these rules. Complete instructions will be provided for using the reader and for transferring books to the reader.
THIS IS NOT AN EBOOKWISE ebook reader. You cannot directly download books to the Rocket Ebook reader. In order to use the Rocket Ebook reader, you will need to use GEB Librarian software or the REBlibrarian PC software. Both are available for purchase for a minimal cost ($20-$30).
You will also need a Compact Flash reader/writer device for your PC. These are available at any computer store for approximately $15-$30.
See http://www.chromakinetics.com/REB1200/move.htm for an overview of the process used to transfer content to this reader. We will also provide instructions for device use.
This is a used device. The cover is slightly scratched but the reading screen is clear and unmarred. The device is in good working order. It will be shipped to you with the winning books already loaded and will include instructions for adding new content, a spare rechargeable battery, and a power adapter (to recharge the unit). This device operates for 5-6 hours on a fully charged battery.
· Runner-up: 6 downloaded books, emailed to you
· ..:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />1st place: 5 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you
· 2nd place: 4 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you
· 3rd place: 3 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you
This contest is sponsored by the authors listed here.
It is not sponsored by Ellora's Cave, Cerridwen Press nor affiliated with that company.
These authors will have a tree icon on their web site or blog for you to find starting on March 1:
Amy Corwin: http://www.amycorwin.com
Charlene Leatherman http://www.charleneleatherman.com
Catherine Berlin http://www.CatherineBerlin.com
Dorothy McFalls http://www.dorothymcfalls.com
J L Wilson http://www.jayellwilson.com
Janet Miller http://www.janetmillerromance.com
Lise Fuller http://lisefuller.com
Liz Jasper http://lizjasper.com
Marianne Stephens http://mariannestephens.net
Ariana Dupre http://melissaa.com
Micqui Miller http://www.micquimiller.com
Vicky Burkholder http://www.vickyburkholder.com
Jude Atkins http://www.judeatkins.com
Jean C. Gordon http://www.JeanCGordon.com
These authors are participating in the Secret Word part of the contest (some authors may be participating in both: tree and word). You will receive a clue by noon on each day to find out where to find the secret word.
Amy Corwin Jenyfer Matthews Liz Jasper
Frances Stockton Mary Ann Chulik Vicky Burkholder
Sam Cheever N.D. Hansen-Hill Eilis Flynn
Terri Thackston Terry Odell Micqui Miller
Karen McCullough Jude Atkins Sharon Horton

Enjoy the hunt!
And let's all look forward to spring!!!

A Spring Contest in the Air

2008-02-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

The Cerridwen Press Spring Contest

READERS! Here’s the information you’ve been looking for!

Here are the rules for the First Annual Cerridwen Spring Giveaway

1. The Grand Prize winner must be a United States Resident. (due to mailing and custom costs, we cannot ship the grand prize out of the country)
2. You must be a member of the Cerridwen Chat Yahoo group to participate in this contest. All clues and contest information will be posted will be posted on that loop. To subscribe, send a blank email to cerridwenchat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
3. You cannot share information about the contest with other readers. All participants should act independently.
4. Every day, starting on March 1 and ending on March 15, a clue will be posted on the Cerridwen Chat loop. This clue will lead you to a specific web site or blog location. You must find the hidden/special word on that web site or blog. There will be fifteen words to find, one for each day of the contest. The word will be in a special font, something like this so it will stand out and you should be able to see it easily. If you want to be eligible for the grand prize, you have to find these words. Note the word and the location where you found it.
5. You also need to find a tree icon and note that location. Beginning on March 1, look for the tree icono the web site or blog of the participating authors (see the author list at the end of this page). Make a note of the location of the tree icon or blog.
6. The contest ends on March 15 at 5 PM. The tree icons and the ‘secret words’ will be removed from the author locations at that time.
7. Assemble the words you’ve found into a sentence. Send the sentence and the location of the tree icons you found in the following format in the body of an email to GreenBookFriend@yahoo.com
Sentence: Write your sentence here
Location of Secret Words:
1st word: http://www.websitename.com/websitepage.htm
2nd word: http://www.blogorwebname.com/date (if blog)
3rd word:
4th word:
And so on…
Tree Location 1: http://www.websitename.com/websitepage.htm
Tree Location 2: http://www.blogspotname.com/
Tree Location 3
And so on…
8. You will need to find 15 words and 1 trees for a total of 28 entries. Sound like a lot? It is, but the prize is pretty big, too!
9. E-mail your response by 5 PM (central standard time) (3PM pacific time) on March 16. No entries will be accepted after that time.
10. The grand prize winner will be chosen from those who submit correct responses.
11. Winners will be announced on the Cerridwen Chat loop on March 20, the first day of spring, at 5 PM (central time). Winners will also be notified by email.

Prizes

1. Grand Prize A Rocket 1200 Ebook reader with 7 downloads already loaded. A picture of this model is at the end of these rules. Complete instructions will be provided for using the reader and transferring books to the reader.

THIS IS NOT AN EBOOKWISE ebook reader. You cannot directly download books to the Rocket Ebook reader. In order to use the Rocket Ebook reader, you will need to use GEB Librarian software or the REBlibrarian PC software. Both are available for purchase for a minimal cost ($20-$30).

You will also need a Compact Flash reader/writer device for your PC. These are available at any computer store for approximately $15 - $30.

See http://www.chromakinetics.com/REBl100/move.htm for an overview of the process used to transfer cntent to this reader. We will also provide instruction for device use.

This is a used device. The cover is slightly scratched but the reading screen is clear and unmarred. The device is in good working order. It will be shipped to you with the winning books already loaded and will include instructions for adding new content, a spare rechargeable battery, and a power adapter (to recharge the unit). This device operates for 5-6 hours on a fully charged battery.

2. Runner-up: 6 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you
3. 1st place: 5 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you
4. 2nd place: 4 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you
5. 3rd place: 3 downloaded ebooks, emailed to you

Here is the tree icon you will be looking for

To see a picture the Rocket E-book reader available as a prize go to http://www.goddessessofstorytelling.blogspot.com/ and look at February 21 at 9:09 PM . It will be pre-loaded with 7 Cerridwen books.

This contest is sponsored by the authors listed here.
It is not sponsored by Ellora’s Cave, Cerridwen Press nor affiliated with that company.

These authors will have a tree icon on their web site or blog for you to find starting on March 1.

Amy Corwin http://www.amycorwin.com/

Charlene Leatherman http://www.charleneleatherman.com/

Catherine Berlin http://www.catherineberlin.com/

Dorothy McFalls http://www.dorothymcfalls.com/

J. L. Wilson http://www.jayellwilson.com/

Janet Miller http://www.janetmillerromance.com/

Lise Fuller http://www.lisefuller.com/

Liz Jasper http://www.lizjasper.com/

Marianne Stephens http://www.mariannestephens.net/

Ariana Dupre http://www.melissaa.com/

Micqui Miller http://www.micquimiller.com/

Vicky Burkholder http://www.vickyburkholder.com/

Jude Atkins http://www.judeatkins.com/

Jean C. Gordon http://www.jeancgordon.com/

These authors are participating in the Secret Word part of the contest (some authors may be participating in both: tree and word). You will receive a clue by noon on each day to find out where to find the secret word.

Amy Corwin Jenyfer Matthews Liz Jasper

Frances Stockton Mary Ann Chulik Vicky Burkholder

Sam Cheever N.D. Hansen-Hill Elias Flynn

Terri Thackston Terry Odell Micqui Miller

Karen McCullough Jude Atkins Sharon Horton

ENJOY THE HUNT!

And Let’s all look forward to Spring!!!!

Letter to My Lover

2008-02-01T21:02:00.001-08:00

Dear Lover,

This is February. The month of Lovers. Valentine’s Day. The month of chocolates and adorable stuffed toys.
This is also a Leap Year. That means this February has 29 days.
Just like that Leap Year.
The year I almost lost you.
This year I am writing you this letter to tell you how I love you.
There is a poem that starts:
How do I love thee, let me count the way.
So here is my list of how I love thee.
I love you because when we were able to have sex you always put my pleasure first. You said my orgasms made me feel more wonderful to you. (Yeah, I know as a writer that sentence should be written better, but I reserve the right to write badly.) You always made me feel wonderful – oh, not just the orgasms part although that was phenomenal. You made me feel special. Not just a piece of meat that you used.
Granted there were days when I wanted nothing to do with you and you were persistent beyond belief. But those were the exception instead of the rule.
Even now, you rub my back to console me. You hold my hand and twirl my wedding ring around my finger at night. You still think I’m gorgeous - all 55 years, wrinkled, overweight, graying parts of me.
I love how you let me overwhelm the house with my dragon collection.
I love how you support my writing. How you put up with my wanting you to rehearse scenes of the book. How you encouraged me to submit. How you came in your wheelchair to my first book signing at the library.
Of course there was the time when you were mad at me for writing too much and I trashed 300 pages of writing. And you were happy.
But then you encouraged me to start writing again. You understood that my writing is an important part of my life. And you embraced that part of me.
I love you because you are a wonderful father. Your sons love you, respect you and think you are the best. You spent time with them. You were in agreement with me in discipline. You helped me raise some fantastic boys.
I love you because even without being able to speak, you make me laugh. When you had the ability to speak, you told the worst jokes. Frog jokes. Now, with out speech you still make me laugh. You give me a giggle when I am low.
I love you because you protected me. I love you because even now you attempt to do everything in your power to protect me.
But especially I love you because you are the man God blessed me with. You are my soul mate. And I hope I have another 5 Leap Years with you.

Happy Valentine’s Day Lover,
From Me.

Achieving My Dreams in 2008

2007-12-31T13:52:00.000-08:00

Every step I take brings me closer to the realization of my dreams”
With 2007 behind us and 2008 on the horizon, it’s time to reflect on how we want the rest of our journey here on earth to go. Do we settle for letting life happen or do we take steps toward achieving our dreams? Do we think about it or do we DO it? Judi Moreo has written a book Achievement Journal. In it you are supposed to track your progress toward your dreams. Track you achievements.

This month, January of the new year 2008, as part of Judi’s Virtual Book Tour, I am supposed to let you know what I am doing to being me closer to the realization of my dreams.

My lifelong dream of being a published writer was fulfilled last year 2007 in August with the release of Prophecy of Vithan with Cerridwen Press. For 2008 I have a new dream. Not to simply be a published author, but be a prolific author.
Have you heard of the National Novel Writing Month each November? Nanowrimo.com is a yearly competition with yourself to see if you can write 50,000 words in 30 days November 1 thru November 30. Last year I won, this year I didn’t. However I did start a new novel.
So to bring the dream of being a prolific writer closer to fruition I plan on running my very own personal nanowrimo each month of 2008. My goal is to write 2000 words each day. It is a daunting goal and I may not make it. But if I aim for the 2000 words I may hit 1000, or 500. It won’t matter. I will have set up a habit of writing every day in 2008 and I will be finishing novels left and right.
Another dream of mine is probably the same as 99% of the women out there. That is to lose excess weight and get this body of mine in better physical shape.
Have you ever wondered where the fat that you lose goes? I mean, if you lose something, don’t you normally want to find it again? Well, I have lost and found my weight waaaay too often. So I have come up with a solution.
I do not plan on losing weight this coming year. I plan on giving it away. To whom, you might ask. To the Hollywood stars. They are much too thin and are finally beginning to realize it. So in an attempt to bring health to those hardworking actors and actresses that have too long deprived themselves of nutrition and are now underweight, I will generously give my excess weight. I do not need thanks nor do I need to have it returned. The excess weight is a gift and not something I am lending. In fact I do not want it back.
With that in mind, the steps I am taking to get my body in healthy shape and to donate my excess weight are: 1) begin a workout program. Start slow and work up to a more active workout. I am an dyed in the wool couch potato. So I will start with being active for 10 minutes at a time and work my way up until I can do aerobics with out stopping for 30 minutes then keep up the 30 minutes a day for the rest of the year. And 2) I will change my eating habits. I know what good stuff I am supposed to eat. I just don’t do it. This year, I will make a serious effort to consciously change the way I eat. That means be aware of what I am putting in my mouth and then be just as aware of what I should put in my mouth and make the two match.
Perhaps something else I should make a dream and take steps to accomplish is to be a consistent blogger. You wonderful people come by and read my blog, so I should at least make sure you have something to read.
While I am preparing to be a consistent blogger, you can work on achieving your dreams during the year 2008. You can start that process by getting Judi’s book Achievement Journal at Amazon.com. Have a wonderful and dream filled 2008.

Welome to Theresa Chaze, Author of Awakening the Dragon

2007-12-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

Theresa Chaze, thanks for stopping by on a leg of your virtual book tour. Yesterday we read some exciting reviews of your novel

Awakening the Dragon. Today you agreed to answer some questions.

Why did you become a writer?
It is who I am. I’ve always been very imaginative. Most people daydream about TV shows that they like and take the place of their favorite character; I created my own characters that entered the show in my daydream and changed the direction of the plot. I remember watching Dark Shadows back in the late 60’s. My character’s name was Shannon Marie. She was one of Barnabas’ sisters. She knew what he had become and loved him anyway. When their father caught her trying to help him, he disowned her and erased all mention of her in the family history. Shannon used magic to become immortal until he could be free from the curse. Angrily she disappeared until Barnabas was released from the coffin. She then returned to Collinwood.

Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I always wanted to help cats. My father hated them so I wasn’t allow to have one as a child. I once told my mother that when I grew up I was going to have a hundred. I do have ten not a hundred, which is enough. But I do cat rescue. One of my dearest dreams is to help create the nation’s largest no-kill shelter. Every book of mine that is bought brings me one step closer to making that a reality.

What do you love about being an author?
I love giving my imagination free reign. Of telling myself tales that I just happen to share with others. It is a way of exploring my inner world and the universe beyond. By allowing my characters to act and react, I heal my old wounds and show others how to do the same.

Is there anything you dislike?
The editing process. The long rewrites. Creating the story is easy. Making it readable to others takes time and hard work.

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
If you tell me how to do that, then we will both know. I have a tendency to be a bit compulsive and a workaholic. It is easy to get caught up when you love what you do.

How do you write?
I write on the computer. However, I do make hand written notes. I’ll get plot ideas or pieces of dialogue and I’ll quickly jot it down. The third novel is not only in my head but also on a stack of pieces of paper.

Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
I’ve done both. Mostly I start with the characters. However, with the current project, I started with the plot.

What genre(s) do you write?
I write magical fantasy and science fiction. I am following in the footsteps of Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley. I submitted a story to MZB many years ago. I got a handwritten note from her ripping me a new one about my print size and style--she also said I was capable of doing better. She told me to get to work and do what I was capable of. It was good advice.

Why do you write the stories that you write?
I like fantasy novels. Both McCaffrey and Bradley introduced me to female characters who were strong and capable. They didn’t just yell for help; they helped themselves.

What is the biggest misconception about being an author?
That it is exciting and easy. That all authors are famous. Writing isn’t just about writing. Even when you create your own worlds, you have to do a lot of research. It is time consuming and tiring. It you want to make your work believable, it has to be based in reality.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
I take pieces of people and put them together to make characters. You might call me Dr. Frankenstein. But instead of body parts, I put together character traits and personalities.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I like them all--even the ones who are not so nice. Even though, I take pieces from others, there is some of me in all of them. Hum--I wonder what that says about me?

If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
I have writing two screenplays: Never Can Say Good Bye and Eye of Ra. I wrote Katherine Hepburn a letter requesting that she take part in one of the projects. The grand woman she was, she wrote back, thanking me for the offer but she had retired and wasn’t taking on anything new. I would like to see Goldie Hawn play Rachael. The character was some what modeled after her. Demi Moore would play Carmen. Whoopi Goldberg would play Raven. There are also characters in the last book for Angelica Huston and Tina Turner. I sent Angelica a copy of Awakening the Dragon through her agent, hoping she would like it enough to endorse it. It would be a major Yule gift if she did. There is also a character that is mentioned in Dragon Domain that will have a larger role in the third that would be good for Adrian Paul.

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
There are two things. I would like people to have a clearer understanding of what earth-based religions are so they can release their fear of the stereotype. Secondly and more importantly is that we can all get along when we come from respect. We don’t have to look, act or believe the same in order to find common ground. If we respect each other and ourselves, we can find a way to live peacefully.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Read what you want to write and just plain write. Also you need to be curious about the world. Ask questions. Study everything. You never know when you are going to run across that one piece of information that will inspire you. They also need to be ready for hard work both during the writing and after. Promotions and marketing are the most important aspect of making a book successful. You could have written a fabulous book, but if people don’t know about it, it will just gather dust. Writers need to be wary of unethical publishers and agents. There are many who make grandiose promises to get you money, but never carry through with their obligations. I was caught by two such publishers. They had an issue about paying royalties. It is the reason I started Valkyrie Publishing. Not only do I publish my own work, but also I am a consultant who helps other authors prepare their work for the printers, create covers and help with publicity. It is easier and cheaper to publish and distribute than most people think.

Who are your favorite authors?
Marion Zimmer Bradley and Anne McCaffrey. Dragon Riders of Pern is the book that started me on the fantasy path. There is also a warped little novel by William Nolan called Space for Hire. Imagine Sam Spade in the future. It is silly, warped and totally wonderful. Twenty years after I first read it, I spend twelve bucks on a used copy just to be able to read it again. It’s out of print but if you can find a copy, it is worth every penny.

What are you reading right now?
Ripples on a Cosmic Sea. It is about gravitational waves.

Thank you for coming, Theresa!
Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Awakening the Dragon and
Both are distributed by Ingram and Baker & Taylor, so they are available through most bookstores. In addition, they are on Amazon. However, two things about ordering online. The previous versions are still listed. Please only buy the new versions that have been released by Valkyrie Publishing. They both have the Dragon Clan Trilogy listed in the title. Plus, I have my own store through Amazon. It’s listed as Easternguardian. When you buy books from me, I will autograph them. The direct link is can be found here.

Awakening the Dragon Authored by Theresa Chaze

2007-12-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Theresa Chaze has been described as the woman who plays with dragons, especially the dragons of the mind. She leads her readers to magical realms and others worlds. Her work is based on her philosophy that all peoples can live together in peace as long as we come from respect, not only for ourselves but those who follow different paths or beliefs. Whether fiction or non fiction, Ms Chaze uses her talent to help others find the path to healing and take back their own power. In many ways, she is a life coach who helps others find alternative life paths and regain their passion. Her work has been compared to Marion Zimmer Bradley and Anne McCaffrey with an adult version of Harry Potter mixed in. Theresa Chaze's major works so far include the first two novels of the Dragon Clan Trilogy , a ebook of Shadows, Out of the Shadows and Into the Light, and a free fantasy ebook called, Sisters, Mother, Daughters. Her screenplay, Never Can Say Good-bye, is one of the 2006 winners of the Gloria Film Festival. She publishes an ezine called, Messages From the Universe, which is available on her site http://www.theresachaze.com/.

Reviews:

Buy this book! I found myself smiling when I finished the last page of Awakening The Dragon--Book One of the Dragon Clan Trilogy (formally Dragon's New Home), by Theresa Chaze. I've read a pretty good number of books in my life, but none have given me quite the mix of emotions that this books has.
Joe Murphy, The Dragon Page http://www.dragonpage.com/

Magic, Mystery, and Murder. The three M's! Ms. Chaze shows colorful, visual language that will even keep the romance novel buff obsessed in finishing this novel in one read! The pacing is excellent the main character strong and likeable, and the hint of romance to come in the final installments of the trilogy. I must say I'm already addicted to Ms. Chaze's writing style! A guaranteed page turner! Bring on the rest of the trilogy!
Catherine J. St. Amour, author

Therese Chaze draws her readers in from the first page and refuses to release them until the last word of this fantastic tale of witches, magic, love and betrayal. Set in the village of Coyote Springs, Dragon Domain is a book of lessons; lessons on love, forgiveness, and above all truth to oneself. In the grand traditions of Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley, Therese Chaze captures the imagination as well as the heart of her readers. Dragon Domain is an open door to a world of wonder, and from the first page to the last, you will be hard pressed to put it down.
Linda Rucker, author

Thank you for coming, Theresa!

Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Awakening the Dragon and

Both are distributed by Ingram and Baker & Taylor, so they are available through most bookstores. In addition, they are on Amazon. However, two things about ordering online. The previous versions are still listed. Please only buy the new versions that have been released by Valkyrie Publishing. They both have the Dragon Clan Trilogy listed in the title. Plus, I have my own store through Amazon. It’s listed as Easternguardian. When you buy books from me, I will autograph them. The direct link is can be found here.

Welcome Marilyn Morris, Author of Diagnosis: Lupus

2007-12-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome Marilyn Morris, Author of Diagnosis: Lupus

Thanks for dropping by on your Virtual Book Tour. Yesterday we learned a little about you. Today we learn about your book and you have agreed to answer some questions.

Diagnosis: Lupus : The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient

Book Description: When she was suddenly assaulted by myriad baffling symptoms of joint pain and extreme fatigue, the author embarked on an intensive search for diagnosis and treatment of what would be diagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus, a little-known autoimmune disease that promised to destroy her body, her mind and her spirit. From the pages of her intimate daily journal, we travel with her through chronic joint pain, frustration, anger and grief for her former self to her current state of remission. Far from being a litany of complaints, the author’s pages reveal her unexpected spiritual growth and gratitude for life itself, and she hopes she can be of help to others who suffer from this disease or other chronic illnesses.

Thanks for answering some questions about your writing.

1) How old were you when did you start writing?

I've always written, since I was in kindergarten and had a pencil in my hand. I figured out right away that the letters on the blackboard made words, and words made sentences, and sentences made stories. I was off and running!

2) Why did decide you wanted to be a writer?

I think the answer is "revenge." I was in a very troubled marriage, too afraid to escape it, so I turned my energies to writing for publication. My husband, in the divorce decree, wanted to include a clause that stipulated any income I derived from my writing while I was married to him would entitle him to half the proceeds. I squashed that right away, and when 'Sabbath's Room" came out, I felt such a thrill. It was also kind of "See, I told I could do it!"

3) What was the first job you had with writing?

Actually, I began with a local newspaper, writing a couple of columns. Then I turned my attention to Sabbath's Room. I had been editing some work for a friend who had his book published, and I thought, hey, if he can do it, so can I.

4) In your life who has influenced you the most?

I pull on my parents, who recognized my drive early on, and encouraged me.

5)How many books have you written?

Three, so far. Or four, really, if you can count the one that's hanging out there in limbo.

The first book and my first novel is Sabbath's Room, Publish America, 2001. It's a paranormal murder mystery:
When New York writer Joanna Elliott flees her abusive husband to the Texas Hill Country, she and her six-year old son Jason unwittingly become a killer’s prey.
Despite Realtor Tommy Joe Greenleaf’s warning that Wanda and Ralph Spencer had mysteriously disappeared from the remote farmhouse ten years earlier, Joanna moves in, and makes the sun room into her office.
Joanna adopts a cat from the local veterinarian, Sam Kelly, who tells her that Sabbath “had belonged to a witch.” Immediately, unexplained events unfold: Joanna is locked overnight inside the storage shed, footprints appear under the sun room windows, and Jason’s dog, Mournful is found poisoned.
Sheriff Judson Pollard investigates. He is puzzled by Wilma Foulkes’indifference to her sister’s fate, the activities of an itinerant evangelist, Brother Adam, and Joanna’s former husband has arrived in town.

My second publication is Once a Brat, Publish America, 2002:
As one of the first dependents to be sent overseas at the end of WWII, eight-year old Marilyn Celeste Morris received her very own orders from The War Department. From Seoul, Korea to Linz, Austria, she traversed the globe from 1938 to 1958 with her Army Officer father, mother and younger brothers. Between assignments in the primitive world of the Far East, to the sublime luxury of exploring castles in Bavaria, the family shuttled between the various Stateside Forts: Bragg, Bliss, Hood and Sill. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes gut-wrenchingly sad, her narrative is part travelogue, part therapy session. She still cries at “Taps” and stands tall when the colors pass; yet she realizes she carries an odd mixture of pride and resentment over her nomadic way of life.
Her conclusion, however, is that she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Once a Brat, Always a Brat.

My third publication is Diagnosis: Lupus: The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient, PublishAmerica 2005.An intimate journey of a lupus patient taken from personal journals as she embarks on a three-year, five doctor search for a diagnosis of her baffling symptoms.

My fourth published work is The Women of Camp Sobingo, released on June 9, 2007 as an ebook by Mardi Gras Publishing.Four women of diverse backgrounds form a bond while en route to join their Army officer husbands in Korea in 1946.
Their experiences in a far-flung military compound strengthen three of the women, but a fourth chooses to end her life, and during a reunion twenty-five years later, long-held dark secrets and sorrows are revealed.
The site has since closed down and this novel will probably be tied up in bankruptcy proceedings for quite some time.

6) Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?

I'll take my lupus book as an example for that. I can deal with making up stories and characters who encounter various difficulties, but with my lupus book, I laid my feelings bare. I exposed all my little secrets, like having a melt-down in my parish priest's office because I couldn't afford my prescription meds that month; raging at God for allowing this to happen and admitting that I had difficulty accepting help from others and from various government agencies such as the country health system. But I also recognized that I learned much about myself and was willing to share it with others so they won't feel alone.

7) Which did you enjoy most? Why is this?

I found my work just flowed, explaining why I wrote the book, what I had learned and how this book might help others, thus setting the stage for the actual journal entries.
What sets the book apart from the other things you've written?
It's factual, and I expose my shortcomings.

8)How did you get to be the writer that you are?

Applying the seat of the pants to the office chair. No matter what. I consider writing every day to be my occupation, and my "paycheck" is the thrill of holding MY book in my hands.

Marilyn Celeste Morris may be reached by email: marilyncmorris@sbcglobal.net to schedule a speaking engagement or arrange for editing services.

Her book is available at http://www.amazon.com/

An Excerpt of Marilyn's Blog

Someone You Know Has Lupus
4:35 PM PDT, May 15, 2007
Half of the Proceeds from the Sale of This Book Will be Donated to The Lupus Foundation of America for Research to Find a Cure for This Disease.

The Story Behind Diagnosis: Lupus: The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient

Like many lupus patients, I had suffered for years before finding a diagnosis and treatment for this baffling disease. As part of my ongoing personal therapy, I had kept a daily journal, venting my frustrations, pain, hope and despair as this disease progressed and no progress was on the horizon. I wrote of losing jobs, applying for food stamps standing in line at the Unemployment Commission, filling out volumes of paperwork for various agencies, and seeing a “shrink” at one of the Alphabet Soup social services agencies, all the time in physical pain that responded to no treatment.
***
First, Some Facts…..
Some symptoms of lupus:

Do you have/ever had/been told you have:

Achy, painful and/or swollen joints for more than three months;
Fingers and/or toes becoming pale, numb or uncomfortable in the cold;
Sores in the mouth for more than two weeks;
Been told you have a low blood count, anemia, low white cell count or a low platelet count;
Ever had a prominent redness or color change in the shape of a butterfly across the bridge of your nose and cheeks;
An unexplained fever over 100 degrees for more than a few days;
A sensitivity to the sun where the skin breaks out after being in the sun (not a sunburn);
Had chest pain with breathing for more than a few days (pleurisy);
Been told you had protein in your urine;
Experienced persistent, extreme fatigue and weakness for days or weeks at a time even after 6-8 hours of restful nighttime sleep.
If you have 3 or more symptoms, you should see your doctor.

According to the Lupus Foundation of America, Lupus is more common than Leukemia, Hodgkin’s Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis and Multiple Sclerosis. And yet, the average person rarely knows about lupus and is generally misinformed, vaguely believing it to be “kind of like arthritis, isn’t it?” While my symptoms first presented themselves as “kind of like arthritis,” and I was thus diagnosed and treated for two years for RA, other symptoms soon presented themselves, until, after three emotionally charged and pain-filled years from the onset of symptoms, laboratory tests confirmed the presence of SLE, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
There are two distinct types of lupus. One is discoid lupus, where the skin shows large “splotches” or red rashes in clusters, mostly on the face, across the cheeks and the bridge of the nose, creating a “wolf-like” mask. One can have discoid lupus and systemic lupus at the same time; generally, those who suffer with the discoid form of lupus do not develop the systemic form.
The second is systemic lupus; that is, it is throughout the body. It has been classified as “an autoimmune disease.”
Lupus has nothing to do with AIDS, I must point out. I like the ‘short’, understandable description of what lupus is: Think of the body as a fort, like in the Wild West Days. Every now and then, Indians would attack the fort, and the soldiers inside the fort (white blood cells) would repel the Indians (the infection). Then the fort (body) would settle down and go back to its usual routine, until the next Indian attack
Only with lupus, THERE ARE NO INDIANS. The soldiers inside the fort are ever ready for an attack, but the Indians don’t arrive, so the soldiers (stressed) turn on each other, fighting among themselves, eventually destroying the fort itself: lungs, kidneys, central nervous system, etc.
As of this printing, there is no cure, but it is treatable.
*****
For more information or to make a donation, go to http://www.lupus.org/
Marilyn Celeste Morris

Yet I also found in these pages, as I looked back on them from my current stage of remission, a spark of hope, a determination to survive and even thrive, and a realization that God had not forsaken me. I joined a local Lupus Support Group, sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America, and discovered many members had felt the same as I had; yet they had also felt so alone in this disease’s symptoms. That was when I decided to take the best – and worst – of my journal entries and put them into a book format, which was released in 2005.

This book has been designated in the Lupus Now magazine, Spring 2007 edition as earning the LFA Education Committee Seal of Approval.

Let me Introduce Marilyn Morris, Author of Diagnosis Lupus

2007-12-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

Marilyn Celeste Morris Author of Diagnosis: Lupus will be dropping by on Monday during her virtual book tour for an interview. I'd like to introduce her today.

Although she was raised as a Military Brat, Marilyn Celeste Morris was born in her grandfather’s house in Toronto, Texas, a small Southern Pacific Railroad Section six miles west of Alpine. Perhaps as an omen of what would be the next twenty years of her life, the railroad’s abandonment of this settlement shortly afterward left her with no “permanent” home.

Schooling consisted of Dependents’ Schools while overseas, in Seoul Korea, 1946-47 and Linz, Austria (1949-1952) and various schools stateside. A rarity for a Military Brat, she was fortunate enough to have attended all three high school years and graduated at Lawton Senior High School, Lawton OK. Further education was attained at Cameron State College, Lawton OK, Tarrant County College, Fort Worth TX, and North Texas State University. She received an AAS Degree in Mental Health in 1995.

After studying under the late Grace Nies Fletcher (author of Merry Widow and In My Father’s House), Marilyn began her writing career as a guest columnist in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and for ten years wrote a weekly humor/human interest column for Suburban Newspapers in the Fort Worth TX area. Besides receiving a First Place award in the Nostalgia category at an Ozark Mountain Writers’ Conference, two “confession” stories were published (under pseudonyms) in the magazines “Jive” and “Bronze Thrills.”

She has taught creative writing at Tarrant County College, Fort Worth TX, survived numerous book signings and speaking engagements, and her first novel, Sabbath’s Room, a paranormal murder mystery was published in 2001. In August 2002, Once a Brat was released. Described as “part travelogue, part therapy session,” she relates sometimes hilarious, sometimes wrenchingly sad experiences of an Army officer’s daughter from 1938 to her father’s retirement in 1958. Her newest book, Diagnosis: Lupus, The Intimate Journal of a Lupus Patient, chronicles her intensive three-year, five doctor search for diagnosis and treatment of her baffling symptoms, her struggles with God and society her anger and frustration (“But you don’t look sick!”) vividly expressed in her daily writings from first symptoms to current remission. Ms. Morris’s intent is to inform other lupus patients, both diagnosed and still searching their feelings are valid, normal and they are not alone.

She is co-facilitator for the Fort Worth Lupus Support Group, North Texas Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America and member of the Board of Directors. When not writing or editing emerging writers’ manuscripts, she enjoys searching for former classmates and true to her Brat heritage, she has a suitcase packed under the bed, ready to travel at a moment’s notice.

For more information about Lupus go to www.lupus.org

Welcome Sydney Molare, Author of Devil's Orchestra

2007-12-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

This evening we have a Guest Blogger.
Sydney Molare, Author of Devil's Orchestra is stopping on one leg of her Virtual Book Tour.
Thanks for stopping by Syndney.

On www.charleneleatherman.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/charleneleatherman we learned a little about you and about your book Devil's Orchestra. Today you have graciously agreed to answer some questions.

1) Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life? I was a late bloomer. I actually began writing as a way to vent when my marriage was going the way of the dinosaurs. So I actually wrote my first piece in 2001.

2) What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike? Love? Gushing emails trumpeting my greatness to that particular person. Dislike? Author jealousy I've encountered on tours.

3) How do you balance your personal and writing time? I can't honestly say I've got it all balanced. Right now, it feels like life has got me by the hinny and I'm just swinging in the wind. But what I try to do, is work as a veterinarian during the day and then become Sydney Molare nights and weekends. LOL.

4) I have visited your website The Devil’s Orchestra at http://www.devilsorchestra.blogspot.com/
It seems like you enjoy stirring the pot a bit. Is that something you have always been interested in doing? Did your desire to shake things up come from a particular incident in your life? I like pushing the envelope, tackling controversial subjects people shy away from, scratch a soul or two. As far as where it came from, I've always been my parent's rebel child. They tend to be too pacifist for me. Where they say, walk away, I like to stay until both parties have an "understanding" about the situation, whatever it is. Yes, I got punished plenty as a kid. LOL.

5) How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story? It's really a mixture. I know people talk about outlines, but a character will pop into my head and I tend to shelve them if they aren't applicable to what I'm writing currently. Then when a plot pops into my head, I got back to my character shelf, pluck one off, and see where they lead me.

6) What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write? I'm cross-genred: Short stories, erotica/romantica, mystery/suspense, quasi-Christian and mainstream. I will tell anyone, i write stories I would like to read.

7) Is there any type of book you would not want to write? Is there something you would like to try but have not written yet? Honestly, I feel that to be a great writer, you should be like a great actor: able to write anything with a little research. I can't think of a genre I abhor. I read everything so I think giving a shot at writing in a new genre would be a pleasant challenge. There are many books in my head to be written. I recently finished a paranormal erotica. I thought that was great fun! But an unchartered genre I'm planning, probably the children's fiction arena.

8) What is the biggest misconception about being an author? That you make plenty of money and that it is easy.

9) Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination? Actually, my characters are compilations of real and imagined. I may use a mannerism from this person, with a speech pattern from that, add in what I'd like to see, and voile' we have a character.

10) Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why? I'm a Southern fiction junkie so Madame A in Grandmama's Mojo STill Working is definitely my favorite. This is a feisty 75 YO grandmother who has two boyfriends. She lives life on her terms and to heck with those who have something to say about it. Shucks, I want to be her when I get older. Something about those sharp women in those flamboyant hats down here in the South. Can't wait!

11) If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie? This is a tough question. An big name would get the movie seen...but I'm also partial to the unknown underdog. I don't have anyone "penciled in my mind" yet, so I think the best course would be to put the script out, let them duke it out and to the winner goes the spoils. LOL.

12) What would you want readers to take away from your books? I want my books to scratch their souls, make them think, leave them rubbing their chins going, "Hmmmm." Every book has a message or theme to it, so I'm hoping they "get" it.

13) Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book? Sydney Confucius says, "The road to publication will not be without bumps, bruises, many reams of paper and red ink."Don't take too much advice from too many people. Use common sense and talk to other published authors and you should be fine.

14) Who are your favorite authors? James Patterson, Eric Jerome Dickey, Jude Devereaux, John Grisham

15) What are you reading right now? The Heretic by Andrew Feder. It's the second part to, When Angel Have Risen

Thanks for having me over!

Syd

http://www.sydneymolare.com/

I'd like to Introduce Sydney Molare Author of Devil's Orchestra

2007-12-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

Sydney Molare Author of Devil's Orchestra will be visiting tomorrow on a leg of her Virtual Book Tour.
Sydney Molare' is one of the latest crop of Southern authors to watch. Her novel's messages cross genres, ethnicities and locales. Her goal is to always have "little message for everyone." Her books are garnering her awards from bookclubs and reviewers across the country. Sydney was recently named, "Mississippi Hometown Hero, Most Likely to Succeed" and the 2006 Mississippi's BEST Author. She is the host of "You Don't Know Jack" radio show on Blog Talk Radio.

DEVIL'S ORCHESTRA SYNOPSIS:

Tab McGrifth- 1 radio personality on the Eastern seaboard. He made his money the old way--by stepping on one person at a time. He's lied, cheated and "misrepresented" whatever needed to be as he clawed his way to the top of the pile. Now the man that taught him everything he knows, his old mentor Whitey Ford, has returned....

Deva- Hip hop princess extraordinaire. Many are under the impression that she is just a gorgeous airhead. But nothing could be further from the truth. With her shrewd business mind and amazing "luck", Deva is worth somewhere in the upper nine digit range. Deva, like all of us, has her faults. She loves the money--and what accompanies it--just a bit TOO much. In fact, she is slap out of control. When an old friend from back home, Ed Burris, confronts her about her lifestyle, things get explosive...

Juan Rodriguez- gay author and proud of it too. With his life partner, Zeus and son, Loam, Juan's life is definitely on track. That is, until Bodie pops back into his life. Bodie. Blond, beach boy tan, Juan's first lover. He put the w-h-o-r in whore...and doggonit if Juan wasn't still feeling him...

And then there's Luke....

December, New Year and Resolutions

2007-12-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

December, A New Year and Resolutions
Today is December 1. Can you believe it? This year as sped by and has crawled by.I don't usually talk about personal things. I don't think the Internet is the place for personal things. But today I am going to write about my personal last year.The year before, 2005, I made a resolution to write a book. On December 2006 I signed a contract with Ellora's Cave/Ceridwen Press for my first novel Prophecy of Vithan. For 2007 I have finished a second novel - Stone of Cruento and am starting a third novel - Vials of Aquilonia. My resolution is to finish Aquilonia and write oh, let's say two more books.January 2006 I made a resolution to lose 50 pounds. I lost 50 and regained 40. I guess that is a 10 pound score for the resolution side. So, for 2007 I am resolving to lose those 50 pounds again and maybe lose another 50. (Yeah, I'm that big, but beautiful too)In 2006 My quadriplegic husband started showing some improvement. Just this morning he started moving his paralyzed arm. He is eating two meals a day - where he had to have tube feedings last year. He has an electric wheelchair and we have a small hoist to put him in and out of the car so we can go places. 2007 resolution is to continue to work with him to get him improving even more.In 2006 I had my first experience with blogs, websites, chats, and yahoo groups. I have 15 blogs. Just in trying to understand what I was doing, I over did. I also have 3 websites, or is it 4? In 2007 my resolution is to manage them all and to blog regularly instead of sporatically.How many resolutions will I manage to keep? Who knows. The fun in resolutions is making them. The hard work is doing them. Maybe I will be able to keep one or two. Maybe none. But I had fun this year - granted life got in the way occaisionally - but I had fun anyway.So I will make my resolutions. And break them. What resolutions are you planning on breaking this year??

Welcome Sheila Roberts on her Virtual Book Tour

2007-11-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

I'd like to welcome Sheila Roberts, author of On Strike for Christmas

Thanks for dropping by. We learned a little about your book and about you yesterday. Today, you have agreed to answer some questions for us. Well, here we go.

1) If you could start over with your writing career, what if anything would you change? I would have started writing contemporary stories right from the get go. I got my beginnings writing Regency Romances - not surprising since I love them, but they have a limited readership. Plus although I tried hard, I really was terrible at research and it seemed I was always getting some historical detail wrong. Very embarrassing. I really think I would have done better writing about my own time period right from the get go. But, writing is a learning process, and I don't know any writers who ever got it all right at the beginning.

2) What was the best piece of advice you received regarding the life of a writer? Never give up.

3) If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Actually, that list is rather long. But, to name a few: Stephen King, Dr. Phil and his wife, Steve Martin, Dustin Hoffman, and Cliff Richard, the British singing star

4) If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be? Jane Austen's Elizabeth Darcy, Heathcliff from "Wuthering Heights" and Dickens's Mr. Fezziwigg

5) In the next century, what do you hope people will remember you for? That would be remarkable to be remembered in the next century. Down the road, I'd like to be remembered as a writer who inspired people to be their best.

6) How do you balance your personal and writing time? I write during the day, just like a job, but unless I'm under deadline, I don't write more than a couple hours at a stretch. Then I go do something else. Fitting in time to be with friends and get other work done is important.

7) How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story? What usually comes to me first is a story idea - something following the words, "What if?"

8) What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write? I've been published under different names in Romance, but I've also written for gift books and written non-fiction. I love to write about things that are important to women. And I like to write humor. Everyone needs to laugh.

9) Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why? Some of my favorite characters have never seen the light of day. They all made guest appearances in manuscripts that never sold. Right now my favorite character is in a book that will be coming out next summer. She's a ditz and I love her.

10) If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie? Hmmm. Maybe some of the angry housewife chicks.

11) What would you want readers to take away from your books? A smile.

12) Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book? Finish the book. Many writers spend more time talking about writing than they do actually writing. Being able to type "the end" on something you've created is hugely satisfying.

13) Where can readers buy a copy of your book? At their nearby Barnes and Noble or Borders. And, of course, there's always Amazon. It's a fun book and I hope readers will give it a try.

14) What other projects are you working on right now? I just turned in Bikini Season, my second book for St. Martin's Press. It's about diets, true love, cheating, and friendship. I should have an excerpt posted on my website (www.sheilasplace.com) in the new year.

Sheila Roberts Author of On Strike for Christmas

2007-11-28T12:15:00.001-08:00

Introduce Sheila Roberts Author of On Strike for Christmas

Tomorrow Sheila Roberts is dropping by on a leg of her virtual book tour to talk about her book
On Strike for Christmas
So today I would like to introduce her to you.

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She's happily married and has three children. She's been writing since 1989, but she did lots of things before settling in to her writing career, including owning a singing telegram company and playing in a band. When she's not speaking to women's groups or at conferences or playing with her friends, she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women's hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.
Romantic Times Magazine Reviewed On Strike for Christmas and said:
ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMASby Sheila Roberts
RT Rating: 4½ Stars
Category: MAINSTREAM FICTION
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: November 2007
Type: Mainstream Fiction
Roberts' witty and effervescently funny holiday novel will warm hearts. Realistic characters populate the pages of this captivating story, which is a great escape from holiday hustle and bustle.Summary: In the town of Holly, some of the members of the Stitch 'n Bitch knitting club have decided to teach their husbands a lesson. Led by Joy, one of the club's older members, the women have collectively decided to go on strike, forcing their husbands to provide all of the holiday preparations.As the men get together to complain, the women remain steadfast in their strike efforts. But Carol, a knitting club member whose husband and son are both deceased, thinks the women should be thankful for their husbands and hectic lives. And when Jerri, another knitting club member, suffers from the ill effects of chemotherapy, the women unite to support their friend. (St. Martin's griffin, Nov., 352 pp., $13.95)—Sheri Melnick

Boji Stones by Sandra Cox

2007-11-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

Boji Stones by Sandra Cox

Review by Charlene Leatherman

Sandra Cox writes a suspense story that has you sitting on the edge of your seat.
Maureen or as her friends call her “Marnie” inherited a special bracelet from her mother. Someone wants it and is willing to kill her for it. The Boji Stones of the amulet give her the ability to heal. The person who wants to steal the amulet runs her off the road, injuring her to the point of death. She heals quickly and returns home with her friend and farm hand Hank.
Her healing attracts the attention of the police. She was a hit and run victim and discharged herself from the hospital much earlier than the doctor advised. She must be hiding something.
The day of her leaving the hospital, she met at her home by Jack Wolfe, author and horse owner. He has come to her ranch so she can heal his horse. Or at least that is what he says. It seems every time there is an attempt on Marnie’s life, Jack is just out of sight, or just stepped out of the room.
Could he be working for the person who wants the amulet?
The attraction between Marnie and Jack builds, yet the tension between them because of Marnie’s and Hank’s suspicion of Jack and his part in the threats make for good reading. If you like a good suspense with keep you on your toes romance, you will enjoy Boji Stones by Sandra Cox. Available at Cerridwen Press (http://www.cerridwenpress.com/)

Welcome Dyan Garris

2007-11-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

WELCOME Dyan Garris to the blog on her Virtual Book Tour.

She has graciously agreed to an interview.

Hello Charlene. Here are the answers to your questions for the interview:

1) If you could start over with your writing career, what if anything would you change?
In high school and college when others cringed regarding creative writing assignments, I embraced them completely. I viewed writing as an interesting and effective way to create and communicate. If I could change anything, I would have perhaps written historical romance or mystery novels. I always appreciate a good story.

2) What was the best piece of advice you received regarding the life of a writer?
The best piece of advice I received regarding anything was from my mother and it was that I have the ability to create anything that I want if I hold myself responsible and accountable for creating it.

3) If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
I would like to meet everyone and anyone that I could because I believe that we learn something valuable from everyone. I am fascinated by what is on the inside of people and interested in what makes them unique. I am interested in the perceptions and ideas of others. There is so much to learn! I think Mother Theresa would have been a very interesting person to have been able to visit with. She had so much wisdom and compassion.

4) If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?
I would like to meet Captain Kirk or Doctor Who. Imagine the interesting stories of life they would be able to tell!

5) In the next century, what do you hope people will remember you for?
I hope that people would remember the loving vibration that hopefully shines through my words, music and books. Someone told me once that the thing people remember most about you is the way you made them feel.

6) How do you balance your personal and writing time?
To me, so much is about rhythm and timing and balance. I like to adhere to a schedule, yet remain flexible enough to go with whatever comes along. So, I usually have a good idea of how I want my day to show up. Organization and setting priorities are key for me. But then I like to factor in the mood of the day and the unexpected elements that may crop up. If I need personal time during the day, I make time for it. If I feel I must write during the middle of the night, I do it. I find life easier if one simply goes with the flow and respects and honors their unique rhythms.

7) How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
Whatever I write is based upon real life experiences. I weave real life into stories for teaching purposes. For example, I wrote a short story called, "Fish Tale of Woe - Lost at Sea." The plot is based upon people I have met and experiences that I've had or observed in real life. There is always a teaching element involved. The story always has a deeper meaning designed to teach the reader something valuable and about life. It is meant to be a catalyst to deeper examination of the reader's own life. In my cookbook I wrote twelve food related stories or messages. One of those is, "Johnny and Susie - Ode to Popcorn." This was based upon a story that my grandmother used to tell us, which really was rather a non-story in actuality. So wanting to honor her I simply embellished a bit. I based the character of Susie on a person that I knew in childhood. The plot is based on an event that really happened. It is a story about how two people can have an almost identical experience - in this case the experience was about learning how to make popcorn - and how circumstances and reactions and perceptions can have a quite different, life altering and lasting effect. I wove that all together and in the end, in addition to challenging me to look at the deeper meaning of things, it also made me laugh and that is always good! I also write a daily message on my website, which is meant to inspire and help the reader delve into the more mysterious and esoteric areas of life. It challenges one to examine their thinking and perceptions.

8) What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I write fiction which is really non-fiction. It is based upon truths. I like to write short stories. I like to write messages that inspire the reader to grow and learn and think.

9) Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I don't really have characters per se because I'm writing mostly messages that are non-fiction. I like the mother in the Johnny and Susie story because when faced with a choice she inspired her child to grow and learn from experience, thus leading to an awesome adult. It could have gone either way, based on certain choices made in certain moments.

10) If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
Anyone who can make me laugh and make me cry, as well. Anyone who can naturally express the gamut of emotions that is the full range of being alive.

11) What would you want readers to take away from your books?
I would like my readers to take with them the feeling of satisfaction that comes with learning something new and applying it in a positive way that makes a difference in their lives.

12) Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
My advice is to focus, get and stay organized, have a plan, and keep a good solid vision of what you want to accomplish and what you want to impart.

13) Where can readers buy a copy of your book?

http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/page/65 or http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Angels-Cookbook-Talk-Intuitive-Cooking/dp/0977614026

14) What other projects are you working on right now?
I just finished my eleventh New Age music CD in my relaxation series for vibrational attunement of mind, body, and spirit. It's called "Release." I just finished "The Book of Daily Channeled Messages," which is a compilation of 180 inspirational messages from the last year. I am almost done with a line of greeting cards that are different, deep, and inspiring. I'm in the beginning stages of creating a meditation journal. I'm toying with the idea of doing another CD. It's always nice to have music to cook by!

Nanowrimo Word Count and Dyan Garris

2007-11-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

:-( Sadly my word count is abysmal. I have 19,000 words and should be at 35,000. But all is not lost. This holiday weekend will hopefully give up some made typing time and I will be able to recover.

;-> Now for some great news. Guest Blogger Dyan Garris is going to be here tomorrow. She says about herself and her book:
I’m a psychic, clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient. I could say I was ordered by Divine guidance to write the book and that would be true. It was a natural segue. However, one of the main reasons I wrote it was because when my mother was dying she tried desperately to write all her recipes down and make them into a cookbook for her family. She mostly finished it, but I think it was not in the complete way that she really wanted to do it. What I wanted to with my own cookbook was to do it in a way that I know she would have done her own if she had had the time, energy, and opportunity to do so. I dedicated my book to her and that’s why. It’s a loving tribute to her.

5 STARS Simple, fun, and delicious, November 11, 2007
By
D. Campbell (Chicago) - This cookbook is a "10"! Dyan Garris is a master in the kitchen. I have tried many of the recipes and they have all been great. For a "non-cooker", I am now getting pretty comfortable in the kitchen. Most recently, the Chicken Cinnamon was very tasty and a big hit with my dinner group. The directions are all easy to follow and the pictures are excellent. I can't wait to try the desserts. A great addition to any cookbook collection.

Guest Blogger Dennis Griffin, Author of Cullotta

2007-11-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Guest Blogger Dennis Griffin, Author of Cullotta

This review appeared on The Literary World site on July 17 2007.

July 17:Jim Agnew On Crime
Cullotta--The Life Of A Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness (Huntington Press Publishing)
This is the best book written on the Chicago crime syndicate and I've read them all. Virgil Petersen summed up the Chicago crime syndicate in the title of his 1950's book..."Barbarians In Our Midst".It's the best book because its all first person, gloves off and very rough.Frank Cullotta was a very active...bomber, killer, master burglar, fence, and criminal confidant to the mob lords of Chicago and Las Vegas. He describes these roles and capers as they happened with lots of play-by-play details.Cullotta also describes real prison life and the Witness Protection Program...up close and personal.I read Cullotta in one afternoon and so will any true-crime fan. Its just a real-good read about very dangerous professional criminals.

WELCOME DENNIS GRIFFIN.
Thank you for dropping by on your Virtual Book Tour. Our readers are interested not only in your book but in you as an author as well. Thanks for taking your time to answer some questions.

1) If you could start over with your writing career, what if anything would you change?1 – For one thing, I’d have started much earlier in life rather than waiting until after retirement. I would also have done a lot more research about the writing business — including publishing options and marketing — while working on my first manuscript.

2) What was the best piece of advice you received regarding the life of a writer?2 – Try to do something writing-related every day. That can include the actual writing, conducting interviews, doing research, and marketing.

3) If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?3 – I’m a World War II buff and would have enjoyed discussing those times with President Franklin Roosevelt.

4) If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?4 – I’d like to meet Superman.

5) In the next century, what do you hope people will remember you for?5 – I’d like to be recognized as a good researcher who produced accurate books regarding the Tony Spilotro era in Las Vegas.

6) How do you balance your personal and writing time?6 – Although I’m retired, I treat my writing as a job that requires a minimum of three hours per day.

7) How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?7 – For my fictions the plot comes first. For non-fiction I take an interest in either a character or an event.

8) What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?8 – I write mystery/thriller fiction and true crime non-fiction. I imagine my prior career in investigations and law enforcement was the primary influence for those choices.

9) Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?9 – My favorite character that I’ve created is Steve Garneau, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department homicide detective.

10) If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?10 – I’m partial to the movies Casino and Goodfellas. I think Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro did outstanding jobs in those films and I’d like them in my movie.

11) What would you want readers to take away from your books?11 – For my non-fictions I want the reader to come away knowing they learned the true story of the people and events in the book.

12) Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?12 – I’d tell beginners to do their homework before they start. Learn what’s involved to be a successful writer. Know what publishing options are available and study marketing and promotion methods. The more knowledge a writer has, the better the decisions he or she will make.

13) Where can readers buy a copy of your book?13 – My books are available through the online sites such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They can be purchased at or ordered through the brick and mortal outlets as well.I also have purchase links on my site, http://www.authorsden.com/dennisngriffin.

14) What other projects are you working on right now?14 – I’m currently finishing the third book in my Las Vegas trilogy featuring Detective Garneau. I’m also looking at three true crime stories and will soon make my decision on which one to write.

Nanowrimo and Visiting Author Dennis Griffin

2007-11-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Last post for Nanowrimo I was ahead. Life, the Universe and trying to finish a wip has put me behind word count. Ah, well, that just means burning the midnight oil to catch up.

Now, for an Introduction:

Dennis Griffin will be visiting my blogs for an interview on his Virtual Book Tour.

I'd like to give you a little background information from Mr. Griffin himself.

Mr. Dennis Griffin said:
I began my investigative career with Pinkerton's Inc. and finished with the Dept. of Health. There were stops as a Sr. Child Support Investigator and deputy sheriff in Madison County, New York in between.
I started writing in 1996 to tell the story of what I learned while investigating the operation of a medical examiner's office. It was an eye-opening experience for me and I felt compelled to share it with others. I eventually produced a fictionalized account called The Morgue. I found to my chagrin that readers didn't believe anything in the book could actually happen, but they liked the story and my style; rough edges and all. That response caused me to write Red Gold, also based on personal experience. I now have a total of six fictions in print.
In January 2002, I decided to try my hand at non-ficton and began writing Policing Las Vegas. This book covers the history of law enforcement in Las Vegas and Clark County from 1905 thru 2004. Policing was released in April 2005.
My second non-fiction, The Battle for Las Vegas, is the story of the Vegas reign of Chicago mob enforcer Tony Spilotro. In the movie Casino, actor Joe Pesci played a character based on Spilotro. Battle was released nationally on July 1, 2006.
My third Vegas-based non-fiction, CULLOTTA - The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness was released nationally in July 2007.
If you try one of my books I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

nanowrimo word count and excerpt

2007-11-08T21:38:00.001-08:00

NaNoWriMo word count today 2579 bringing the total word count to 14012. I am above the required amount which is 1667 x 8 days = 13336. Yay!
Found this fantastic picture of a mermaid. It personifies the look I want for Jaden, my mermaid of Aquilonia. Unfortunately it is copy right protected so I can't post it here. However I can share an excerpt with you.
Here is a little excerpt of Aquilonia:
Chapter Two Aquilonia
Jaden slapped her tail in the water again. She sat on a boulder near the beach of a deserted island. Landers generally were not a problem but sometimes they tried to capture mermaids. Jaden never understood the desire of landers to own a mermaid. Away from water she had legs like the landers. Yet the land dwellers seemed to think owning a mermaid was somehow magical.
This island had no landers on it. Jaden had explored the island on foot time and time again. She learned about the food and the animals that existed on land. Today she stayed on the boulder near the beach. Today she wanted the satisfaction of slapping her tail in the water.
She smacked the large fin at the end of her tail on the water. Tiny fish scattered. Crabs no bigger than her finger nail dodged into their tiny holes.
“How could my father dismiss me like that? He treated me like a child,” Jaden said to no one particular. She wanted to vent but she didn’t want the entire ocean to know she was having a temper tantrum. “Imagine my embarrassment when he told me, in front of the entire court, that I was picking up someone’s nightmares. That this Emperor Khai had been kidnapped two years ago and nothing I dreamt about him mattered.” Jaden picked up a small crab and stuffed it in her mouth. Her teeth crunched the shell that satisfied more than her hunger. “I am not a child. I am at the age of joining. I’ve seen twenty-five years.”
Jaden looked at her reflection in the water as it calmed around her tail. Her long hair reached to mid-tail. When she had legs her hair came to mid-thigh. Green tresses with blond and red highlights she decorated her hair with shells and coral. Her princess crown made of pearls encircled her forehead. Her lips were full with a slight green tint. Her eyes were golden with long lashes. Green with gold accents covered her eyelids. High cheekbones and a long slender neck completed the image she saw in the water.
Jaden sighed. She was indeed the age of joining. Soon her father will find a prince in another undersea kingdom and marry her off. She would be joined with some scaly tailed merman who probably blew bubbles while he slept.
“Old enough to be joined and still dismissed as a child,” Jaden huffed. She dove into the water. She had to talk to her father. She had to let him know that she was not a child. She was an adult and a dreamer. She should be treated like an adult and with the respect a dreamer deserves.
First, she would swim until her anger wore off and she could talk to her father in a calm, adult manner.
Jaden propelled herself as fast as she could go. She didn’t pay attention where she went. She just paid attention enough to keep from running into rocks, and other sea creatures. She headed out to sea.

Maureen Fisher's Virtual Book Tour

2007-11-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome Maureen Fisher, Author of The Jaguar Legacy on this step of her Virtual Book Tour.
Thank you, Maureen for stopping by. In the last few days we have learned a little about you, and enjoyed learning about The Jaguar Legacy.
Today you are here for an interview.

So Let's get started.

1. If you could start over with your writing career, what if anything would you change?

I gave this question considerable thought before answering, and came to the happy conclusion that I wouldn’t change anything. Nada. Not one painful, gut-wrenching moment of despair; not one beginner’s mistake (and I made every one of them in the book and then some, but oh, how I learned and grew!), and not one glorious, miraculous moment of triumph. I must admit, though, that looking back at the bright and sunny June morning in 2002 when I made the fateful decision to hang up my hat as a management consultant to write romance, I had no concept of what lay ahead.

2. What was the best piece of advice you received regarding the life of a writer?

I think the best advice was, “Never edit your first draft while you are writing it. Get the thing written, THEN you’ll have something to edit.” I’m still trying to master this one, and finally broke down and told my critique partners that they won’t be seeing any more of my next manuscript until I have reviewed and edited it and am ready to unveil it for critique. Another great piece of advice was, “Eat chocolate.”

3. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533 - 1603). She was one of the most powerful women in history, and her story has always fascinated me. A decisive ruler during a time known as The Golden Age, Elizabeth negotiated the slippery slope of male-dominated politics with ease, dealing ruthlessly with any opposition. Despite the fact that she might lop off my head, I would love to ask her about the personal stuff -- for example: Did you love your daddy, Henry VIII, in spite of the fact that he executed your mom, Anne Boleyn? Do you have any issues around being locked in the Tower of London by your sister? Why did you never marry? Is it because of physical deformities in the, ahem, most private areas of your body as some claim, fear of childbirth, or merely a desire to avoid male dominance? Do you feel any guilt over killing off Mary Queen of Scots, your cousin and main rival to the throne? Were you really a virgin when you died or did you indulge in at least one mad, passionate affair?

4. If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?

It’s a toss-up. Janet Evanovitch’s Stephanie Plum because I think she’s a hoot and Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser because he’s the most sympathetic hero I have ever encountered -- I guess I prefer Beta males with Alpha moments. And he’s hot. And he’s not afraid to show his emotions. And he knows how to pleasure a woman, oh yeah.

5. In the next century, what do you hope people will remember you for?

I hope people will remember me for my humor, intelligence, strength, integrity, and insight into human nature. I hope they will say, “Maureen Fisher touched many lives. I wish I could be just like her.”

6. How do you balance your personal and writing time?

I have no idea how other authors manage to tend to young children, work outside the home, prepare gourmet dinners, and still crank out wonderful books between feedings and diaper changes. I salute these authors. I take my hat off to them. I’m jealous of their dedication. And consider myself blessed that I do not have a ‘day job’, other than my writing, to worry about.

My two sons are adults and long gone from the family nest, allowing me to focus most of my creative energy on writing. My husband respects my writing and is very good about giving me my space. He now understands (after many gentle and not-so-gentle hints) that any interruption breaks my train of thought, jolts me out of the story.
I try not to schedule any activities other than writing before noon, but this self-imposed schedule conflicts with my new bike riding regime. And coffee with friends. And doctors’ appointments. And household chores. Truth be told, if I am in the throes of writer’s block, which is most of the time during the first draft, morning writing conflicts with almost everything.

7. How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?

I generally start with a high level concept. The characters come next (using a character template), followed by the plot, though these tend to be iterative as the plot drives my characters’ back story and vice versa. For example, when beginning The Jaguar Legacy, I knew I wanted to write a story about a hunky archaeologist and smart-mouthed heroine, a lost city, and past life flashbacks triggered by the dig’s energy. Initially, I planned to set the story in Egypt, but changed the location to Mexico because my husband and I had recently visited Monte Alban, a Zapotec city built on top of ancient Olmec ruins. I settled on the Olmecs because they were an advanced race and so ancient that only a smattering of conflicting information exists. Archaeologists agree, however, that the Olmecs worshipped the jaguar and that the priests believed they could shape-shift into the jaguar. Hence, The Jaguar Legacy was conceived.

My second book started the same way -- with a high level concept. A newspaper article describing the Fur Ball, a hoity-toity charity extravaganza to raise money for the animal shelter, inspired Fur Ball Fever. Also, I wanted the book to take place in an upscale condominium complex on the Jersey Shore, a setting guaranteed to provide an unlimited supply of quirky characters doing outrageous things.

8. What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?

The Jaguar Legacy is a paranormal romantic suspense, though I would call it more of a mystical romantic adventure, akin to Raiders of the Lost Ark with hot sex. An avid fan of romance ever since I laid hands on my first Barbara Cartland novel, I am a firm believer in reincarnation and past lives. Furthermore, archaeology has always fascinated me to the extent that, as a child, I wanted to be an archaeologist.

People tell me my voice lends itself to humor (though others claim this is debatable). Fur Ball Fever, a romantic suspense with comic elements, is the first-born in The Condo Capers mystery series. Hopefully many siblings will follow.

I also have a couple of great ideas for more paranormal romantic suspense novels and would love to write a women’s mainstream fiction. Some day, I might even write a how-to book on writing after I figure out how to do it properly.

9. Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?

I haven’t written many characters, but I must admit that the heroine of The Jaguar Legacy, Charley Underhill, is my favorite. While loving the flaws and foibles that make her human, I admire her complexity, spunk, and wit. Never boring, Charley is full of contradictions and more than a few hang-ups. And no wonder. An independent woman at heart, she has lived under the thumb of her manipulative and alcoholic mother her entire life. While honest and ethical, she sees no alternative but to tell a lie that nearly destroys her in order to save her mother’s life. Her passion for life bubbles over, while her tendency towards bossiness, rash actions, inquisitiveness, and mulish obstinacy trip her up at every turn. When feeling nervous, which happens a lot around Alistair Kincaid, she falls back on smart-assed comments, witticisms, and a quirky sense of humor to mask her discomfort. She will do anything in the world for her friends and is intensely loyal. Courageous and resolute, if she believes in a cause, nothing will stop her from doing what she feels is right. In the end, Charley finds within herself the strength of character to overcome emotional trauma, supernatural evil forces, and mind-numbing fear to save the man she loves.

10. If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?

The Jaguar Legacy would require a hunky dark-haired hero (Clive Owen playing a Scot) and a blonde woman with curly hair as the heroine (Scarlett Johansson).

I also like Josh Holloway and Dennis Quaid as male actors; Jennifer Anniston and Sandra Bullock as female actors.

11. What would you want readers to take away from your books?

Emotional healing is possible when denial is stripped away, and anything is possible, if only you have the courage to take a chance.

12. Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?

· Don’t give up because of rejections or stinging critiques. Keep on writing.
· Mistakes are inevitable. Every writer makes them. Learn from your mistakes and keep on writing.
· Send that manuscript out. I was amazed at the number of authors who won’t submit their manuscript to an agent, editor, or contest because they fear criticism.
· Pitch your book at every opportunity. Practice first on a fellow writer.
· Eat chocolate and keep on writing.

13. Where can readers buy a copy of your book?

The Jaguar Legacy is available at Borders and Barnes & Noble, though you may have to order it online. It is also available at www.amazon.com or www.amazon.ca.

14. What other projects are you working on right now?

My next book is a comic romantic suspense, Fur Ball Fever, the first salvo in the Condo Capers Mystery Series.

Whirlwind action alternates between the seamiest side of Atlantic City and an upscale Jersey Shore condominium complex called Saltwater Village, proud sponsor of a hoity-toity pet charity extravaganza called The Fur Ball.

Sporting a dwindling bank account, an overwhelming debt load, and her family’s censure for a lifetime of impetuous mistakes, renegade Grace Donnelly faces catastrophe. Her family poodle, last year’s Fur Ball winner, disappears, the apparent victim of a dastardly dog-napping. How can she launch her new career as private investigator if word of her incompetence spreads? Unless she nails the perp, Grace faces not only the loss of her furry companion, but also the humiliation of failure and bankruptcy when yet another career bites the dust.

Grace’s suspicions focus on several candidates: a neighbor’s trophy wife, a slick televangelist, and her former flame, Nick Jackson, finest PI east of the Rockies. Her persistent investigation nearly blows his cover in his quest to nail the phony preacher whose corruption killed his twin. Unable to save his brother’s life during Desert Storm, Nick finds himself re-living his worst fears when confronted with Grace’s rash actions. To salvage his case, his sanity, and Grace’s skin, Nick sees no choice but to join forces with the sassy crusader who rubs him the wrong way -- and so many of the right ways.

Locked in an uneasy alliance, their joint investigation leads the reluctant couple into unexpected romance against a wacky backdrop of animal politics, drag queens, a dominatrix or two, the swinging scene, and a fascinating underworld of fetishism and bondage. The two cases converge in a zany roller-coaster ride of murder and mayhem, culminating in a Fur Ball extravaganza the locals will never forget.

Thanks so much for dropping by Maureen. And good luck with The Jaguar Legacy and your latest book Fur Ball Fever.