New Release -- PROTECTING HER HEART by Diana Tobin

After years on the run from her past, Rose Kelley is happily settled in Webster, Maine. Content to stay in the background for safety’s sake, she has learned to hide any hint of being a young, vibrant woman.  But when she finds a dead animal on her porch, she fears her abusive stepfather has found her, despite her precautions.   Though Rose has learned not to trust anyone, she must turn to the one man who can help her—the local game warden.

Drew Zimenski has dedicated his life to making a difference wherever he can—and being a game warden enables him to do just that.  Rose Kelley needs his help, but she is a puzzle to him—she goes out of her way to hide her beauty, but his body is on red hot alert every time they come into contact.  A gruesome discovery at her house has Drew charging in like a knight in flannel armor—and he’s determined to save the lady from whatever she’s running from.

Drew’s need to protect Rose becomes all-consuming, but his fear of failure holds him back. Will Rose’s love be enough for Drew to see the man he truly is?   

EXCERPT:

     Game Warden Zimenski followed Ethan to the back of the house where a blue tarp was tented over a sawhorse.  Ethan removed the tarp and stepped back with a motion of his hand to what lay beneath.
     Drew stepped closer.  Not the most gruesome sight he’d seen, but not a pleasant way to start the day, either.  “You got kids, Ethan?”  Too many footprints trampled the snow between the patio and a house closer to the lake.
     “Yes, two daughters.  The youngest was looking for the cat this morning.  Fortunately, one of my guys found it first.”  When Drew gave him a narrowed look, he added, “My hockey players.”  Ethan gestured toward the guest house.  “I coach the Wolves, and we billet a few of the players.  They’ve been sleeping in the guest house, but come up to the main house for meals.  The plumbing isn’t finished in the guest house, so we’ve been leaving the back door unlocked so the boys can get in.  Depending on what you tell me, that’s going to come to a stop until my contractor gets the work done.”
     “That explains all the footprints,” Drew nodded to the snow-covered ground.  “An animal killed your pet.”  He straightened to stare into Ethan’s eyes.  “A two-legged animal.”

     

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I'm a slow writer at the best of times. I'm in awe of authors who churn out multiple books a year. I will never be in their ranks. Most of the time I'm okay with that. Right now it's a bit of a struggle.

I began the year with big plans:

✓ Revise and submit Saved by the Belle (It was published by Fire Star Press on Aug 8th.)

✓ Complete and publish the next entry in my Paws and Effect series (It's Meow or Never was published in February.)

__ Complete and submit Dances with Werewolves, the next full-length novel in my Kudzu Korners series

__ Complete Something Whiskered This Way Comes, the 3rd entry in my Paws and Effect series, and submit it to the Kindle Worlds program

__ Use National Novel Writing Month in November to write a rough draft of my first inspirational romance, Finding Faith

As you can see, I only have two of the items on my list checked off. And, I'm struggling a bit with that. You know from some of my earlier posts that my mom passed away earlier this year. For me, grief and writing were not a good mix.

About the time I started getting my writing groove back, we decided to start looking at houses. My husband and I both grew up in the country (some would say the boonies) and we wanted to get back to a rural environment. Almost every evening after work was spent driving endless miles looking at what seemed like hundreds of houses. As exhausting as it was, the process was totally worth it. We closed on our new house at the end of July and moved in the first weekend in August. The past six (eight?) weeks have been filled with a plethora of boxes (packing and unpacking) and next to no writing. As a matter of fact, this post and a post for my personal blog are the only things I've written in the past couple of months. But hey, it's a start!

Our new house, aka The Cabin

I'm the queen of beating myself up over things both big and small and it would be easy to get discouraged about the lack of progress I've made this year. But, in my ongoing effort to stop being so hard on myself, I'm choosing to look at things from a different perspective. I have six published stories - six. That's not too shabby for someone who, a decade ago, wouldn't even have dreamed of being a published author. Take that, negativity!

Now that we have our house in a livable state, it's time to dust off my laptop, find a quiet corner, and get back to work on Dances with Werewolves. I'm looking forward to that magical feeling that occurs when the words start flowing. After all, the only way to fail is to give up. Right?

How do you pick yourself up when you're feeling down?

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Which Book? By Michael E. Gonzales

I have often asked myself, “What makes the reader, of any given genre, choose one book over another?”

Number one, of course, is author recognition.

However, as I can a test, new, unknown authors oft times get their books read too.

There are many factors, the synopsis, the title, the cover, the reviews, and of course a good marketing plan.

But when the rubber meets the road it’s a reader, sitting at his computer, or standing by the shelves in a bookstore, who makes the final choice. With luck, it’s your book (or better yet, mine) that she purchases.

But why?

On Amazon, there are over six million titles. What induced the reader to select one book over the other?

Oh…I wish I knew.

There have been studies, of course, they can tell you what age group of what gender buys what genre, in what quantiles, at what time of year…during a full moon.

I’m sure keener, cooler, more analytical minds than mine can put this data to good use. Would that I was one of them.

Characters too, will aid a reader in that decision. A fellow writer recently asked, “What is it that makes a character memorable?” an outstanding question!

Memorable characters have been both protagonist and antagonist. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo is as well remembered as Sauron.

Few remember Professor Pierre Aronnax, but none can Forget Captain Nemo.

Do we look for ourselves in the hero of a story? And what if we see our reflection in the villain?

In a comment from a woman who read Dark Moon Rising, my first novel, she lamented that I had spent too much time on character development, she thought I should jump right into the action. In fact, we’ve all read stories where you get to know the characters as the main body of the action unfolds.

This is not at all wrong, of course. It has been said that if you don’t grab the reader’s attention on the first page, better the first paragraph, then you never will. No pressure there.

I like to have my protagonist, and some of his back story, developed before I drop him, or her, into the thick of things. Think of the Wizard of OZ, we pretty well know Dorothy before she piggybacks a ride on that twister.

In Across a Sea of Stars, we’ll get to know Captain Chris Salazar, before he’s off the see the wizard. But as the story unfolds we’ll learn he is a very troubled young man who is, literally, haunted by his past.

The plethora of characters Chris meets on his journey will of course develop as the story unfolds. We will like some of them a great deal, love several more, and totally despise others.

In Across a Sea of Stars I have blended Science-Fiction with Fantasy, and Romance, and created a story that I believe will captivate every reader no matter your age, gender, or favorite genre. It will enthrall you no matter how many you purchase, regardless of the month of year…and during any phase of the moon.

You may have noted that I failed to answer even one of the questions posed in this piece, that's because I'm still learning. And frankly I think the answers to the questions will all be very subjective. I don't believe, as I once did, that there is a magic writing formula out there kept a closely guarded secret by a select kabal of wildly successful authors.

The real answer is talent and imagination, and though you can get a definition for each in the dictionary, the concepts are still subjective. We've all discussed popular books with others, and though most love them, there are always those who consider the author a no talent bum. 

I believe it was PT Barnum who said, I will paraphrase him here,

"You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."

By this I mean to say, there is an audience out there for every author.

Please Visit my page, Michael Gonzales, fictionist:http://www.mikegonzalesauthor.com/home.html

https://www.amazon.com/…/B01CB…/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top… https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Broken-Moon-Un…/…/ref=asap_bc… 

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HISTORICAL FICTION IS EASY?

Historical fiction sounds relatively easy, right? You take an event from history, do a little research to get the appropriate costumes and setting, then add dialogue. Voila! You’ve got historical fiction.

Not so fast.

I recently wrote a book of historical fiction and I can say honestly that not a single step was easy. My book called LONDON SPIES occurred at the end of WWII at the American Embassy in London. I spent months learning what kind of clothing people wore, how Americans behaved, what sort of expressions were spoken, English and American, and what life was like for the ordinary English person during wartime.

But there was also the military aspect: the U.S. Army staffed American Embassies, so I learned how officers dressed, spoke and behaved. Military protocol. I researched what Military Attaches did in overseas assignments, what duties my character, Phyllis Bowden, a secretary at the Embassy, would have and her difficulties as a civilian working for the Army. Nothing was easy.

My second book in the series is more problematic than the first. The wartime experiences of Phyllis are taking her to Oslo, Norway, just after German occupation ended. I want to include the issues of the Quisling girls, women who followed the leadership of Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the Nazi Party in Norway, and the Lebensborn children. 

The Lebensborn project, particularly in Norway, was a pet project of Heinrich Himmler, Reich leader of the SS for the Nazis. The goal of this secret Nazi project was to increase the Germanic/Nordic population of Germany. Himmler encouraged SS and Wermacht officers to have children with Aryan women in the belief that Lebensborn children would grow up to lead a Nazi-Aryan nation. Norwegians viewed the project most unfavorably and local women who participated were sent to labor camps after the war. Many children were sent to mental institutions. Phyllis Bowden enters this world after the victory in Europe. 

As I see it, nothing is easy about historical fiction. What my character does, sees and says becomes so important because of the tremendous events swirling around her. As a writer, do I tread softly around the obvious political landmines? Will Norwegians be upset that I’m writing about a dark chapter in their history? The fates of both Quisling girls and Lebensborn children were very dark indeed, but my character was there, amidst the events as they were evolving. She would have been caught up in the danger of being an American and offering sympathy. 

Not an easy subject, so why write it? Because I’m a writer and storyteller, and this is one interesting story.

jeanneharrell.com

https://www.amazon.com/SJ-Slagle/e/B00U33WYZI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1504363339&sr=8-1-spell

New Release -- Cool Water by Jeanne Harrell

Trail guide Natalie Coleman has her perfect job in Yosemite National Park—until she and a group of riders come face-to-face with the biggest, meanest grizzly she’s ever seen! When the bear attacks, she must not only save her group, but also a lone rider who comes out of the woods—unaware of what’s happening.

Wes Evans is down to his last good nerve. Camping in Yosemite to study owls—and get away from his life—seems like the perfect solution. Though he’s just been fired, been served divorce papers, and had his head set afire by his brother, Fate still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve for him. Charged by an angry bear, he’s bucked off his horse, knocked unconscious, and left with a case of total amnesia. The only bright spot is that Natalie takes him under her wing until he can remember…something! With his lack of memory, things get complicated with parents, jobs, and ex-lovers.

The longer Wes stays with Natalie, the more uncertain he is about returning to his former life—whatever it might have been. And although Natalie has sworn off men, she can’t help but enjoy having Wes in her life—even with the chance that their friendship is about to go into forbidden territory! How can she fall for a man she knows nothing about?

EXCERPT

Natalie

My mother always said that I was usually in the wrong place at the right time. Now, generally that didn’t make too much sense to me because I really didn’t understand what she meant. All I’ve ever done is live around Yosemite, ride horses and try to be the best person I can be. And things that have happened to me like…dodging that bolt of lightning in a sudden storm, or dropping a hymnal in church and having the cute guy next to me pick it up…or maybe getting close enough to the altar right before the floor collapsed below my feet. Well, would they classify? I never was much sure.

But when I saw that bear, it hit me smack between the eyes what my mom meant by wrong place, right time. But I’ll get back to that.

Wes

None of it made any sense. At that time, the world made no sense to me. Divorced, adrift, jobless and hairless all added up to my pointless existence. My father told me to buck up. Shovel through the shit that had landed in my lap and be a man! My friends all felt sorry for me – too much happening and all at once.

But that’s the way life is sometimes, or so the professor down the hall told me. Just because I’d been bucked off didn’t mean I shouldn’t get right back on that horse again. It was an insane metaphor for a biology professor to use, but it turned out to be prophetic. Who knew?

     

CAT POETRY, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

Haiku by Cat, "Bit"

Last month  I told you about two new ways I’m expressing the writer part of me: Flash Fiction and Cat Poetry. In my previous blog, I discussed Flash Fiction; now let’s consider the second subject, Cat Poetry.

Like flash fiction, a successful poem needs to convey a story (or a feeling or a mood or an image) to the reader. The two forms of writing can be very similar, yet to me, the difference is huge. Poetry is easier than flash fiction. Where sitting down to pen flash fiction feels something akin to doing homework when it’s sunny out, composing poetry is as natural as breathing.

I began writing poems many years ago, long before I’d written or even imagined writing a book. Poetry was something that came to me, artwork in words. Once I’d begun listening to the poem muse, the writing of poems morphed into a sporadic yet integral part of my life.

From poetry to cat poetry was only a simple step, yet it was one I had never considered until I began to read the work of other cat poets. ( Marc-Andre of the Katzenworld blogsite has a weekly post dedicated to cat poetry. You can read my poem, Night Muse, here) The love of cats is so strong in me that the pictures flowed easily once I began to look.

Cat Poetry appears in all sorts of guises. There are haikus and limericks; sincere poems and funny ones; lamentations and harsh realities; scenes from the cat’s point of view and scenes of cats per the poet.

Cat poetry is nothing new. Many of the greats chose cats as their theme. William Butler Yeats wrote The Cat And The Moon;  Emily Dickinson wrote a sweet verse, She sights a Bird – she chuckles; T. S. Eliot is famous for his collection of whimsical poems, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) that was adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the musical, Cats; Margaret Atwood, the author of the current hit series, The Handmaiden’s Tale, wrote the poem, February, which may be about a cat and may be about sexual repression or overpopulation or the life principle (it’s Atwood, after all).

Here is the favorite of my cat poems so far:

Stray cat in Strasbourg

THE CAT WHO PASSES

The cat who passes by

Outside the window

Through the yard,

The long grass

That I do not cut,

The wild weeds that I do not pull.

He weaves like a tabby tiger,

Slinks shadowlike with the ease of air,

So beautiful in his ferality.

He claims his territory

With his scent and his spray,

And levels his yellow glare

At me through the window.

Defiant, daring.

The slightest twitch and he will be gone.

He is a wild one, this cat who passes by.

Have you read or written cat poetry?

Check out more by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:

MollieHunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!

Do you really need to go there?

Many fiction writers set their books and stories in interesting or exotic locales, making the reading as well as the writing process entertaining, and often providing a much-needed escape from reality for both author and reader.  They talk to their accountants about the tax write-offs of traveling to Paris or Italy to research their next book.  But do you really need to actually visit the particular setting you are writing about?  

Many writers make up fictional worlds of their own - places they could not possibly visit.  Or could they?  Even the most fantastical setting could be based on an actual place a writer has visited.  Or maybe they place their characters in a generic fictional town in the certain part of a particular state, but they likely have a place or places in mind when they craft their stories.  Although it may not be exotic, it’s familiar to them.   

The locations in which I have set my stories are usually ones with which I am quite familiar.  Examples are San Francisco, where I lived for six years, and New Orleans, where my husband lived and I visited quite often for many years.  To me, these places have an intriguing mystique and make the stories more interesting because of where they are set. The feel and flavor of a place soaks into your psyche and seeps into the writing, making the fiction realistic enough to draw in the reader.  It’s more of a feeling that you get from a place that influences the writing, rather than coordinates on a map.

Like the sights, smells, and sounds of a Mardi Gras crowd.  

Or the serene and magical gardens of San Francisco. 

I have to admit that, with the help of Google Maps Street View, I have lounged on my couch and taken myself on a tour through the streets of North Beach in San Francisco.  I then decided that I should visit the physical spots, just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.  After this small experiment, I discovered that I didn’t learn anything new upon making a personal visit.  Of course, I had been to the area before and just wanted to verify that my memory was correct.         

So, do you really need to go there?  I vote in the affirmative.  It makes the story more real, and if it’s more real in the writer’s mind, it’s more real on the page.  You might be able to get away with a quick scene in a foreign locale that you haven’t visited, or even an entire book.  But you would miss the small nuances - all the nooks and crannies you would never see unless you had been there.  For instance, you might miss the fellow walking down the sidewalk leading his Shetland pony by a leash.  Or the flock of red and green parrots flying overhead on Telegraph Hill.  

Now, I better get started on that story set in Maui.

What do you think?  Do you really need to go there?

Angela Crider Neary is an attorney by day and writer by night. She is an avid mystery reader and especially enjoys reading novels set in interesting locales. She was inspired to write her first mystery novella, Li'l Tom and the Pussyfoot Detective Bureau: The Case of the Parrots Desaparecidos, by one of her favorite areas in San Francisco, Telegraph Hill.  Stay tuned for her second book in the series, Li'l Tom and the Case of the New Year Dragon. To learn more, visit her on Facebook and Amazon.