Colleen Collins's Blog, page 13
November 29, 2013
Sleepless in Las Vegas Contest! #bookgiveaway
Drop by Coffee Time Romance and leave a comment at my blog post "Who’s Your Favorite Female Private Eye Character?"to be eligible to win a print copy of my December release Sleepless in Las Vegas, along with a box of Las Vegas's Ethel M's chocolates. A winner's name will be selected this Sunday, December 1.
Click here to enter contest.
Good luck!
November 26, 2013
Guest Post by Luke Murphy: How Important Is Setting in Fiction?
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October 25, 2013
Book Giveaways, Crime Chats and Who's Emma Peel?
Greetings from the deadline trenches! I've been hard at work writing the third book in my private-eye-romance series, featuring a cat-burglar heroine, a Las Vegas private eye and an international mastermind jewel thief. Working title is THE HEART OF THE MATTER, which will likely change before its release.
Book Giveaway: Sleepless in Las VegasContest Closes November 20, 2013My December release, Sleepless in Las Vegas, is the second book in the private-eye-romance series, and is available for pr...
October 10, 2013
Paranormal Investigations: Ghost Hunting Haunted Hotels and Frank Sinatra
I've visited three supposedly haunted Colorado hotels, including The Stanley, where Stephen King first starting penning The Shining. Heard some scary, freaky, ghoulish stories…but didn’t bump into any ghosts, unfortunately.
Below I’ve included excerpts (nonfiction & fiction) from two of my books that reference ghost hunting, as well as some ghostly links, including a link to the existing old-time radio recordings of Inner Sanctum Mysteries, with great titles like “The Skull That Walked,” “Death Has Claws,” and “Corpse for Halloween.”
And now, let’s kick off this spirited discussion of my visit to a hundred-year-old-plus building in downtown Denver, formerly a brothel run by the Denver’s infamous madam, Mattie Silks.
The Queen of Denver’s Former Red Light District…and Resident Ghost?
(Except from Secrets of a Real-Life Female Private Eye)
Seven or so years ago, I was writing a novel that featured a ghost character (Sweet Talking Guy). My fictional ghost lived during the late nineteenth-century silver-boom days of Colorado, and in my research I read where a famous madam, Mattie Silks, from that era was supposedly still haunting her old living quarters (called the House of Mirrors).
She ran multiple successful brothels, but her most famous was probably her House of Mirrors. A quote from Mattie on being a businesswoman:
“I went into the sporting life for business reasons and for no other. It was a way for a woman in those days to make money, and I made it. I considered myself then and I do now-as a businesswoman. I operated the best houses in town and I had as my clients the most important men in the West."
One spring afternoon, I visited the House of Mirrors, which had morphed into a bar/restaurant. The place was closed, but a friendly bartender let me in to walk around and look at spots where the madam’s ghost had supposedly been seen and possibly heard (whisperings and giggling on a certain staircase was one of the more popular). Did I see or hear any ghostly goings-on? Sorry to say, no.
But the bartender wanted to share his personal stories with me. Claimed that late at night, when he was alone cleaning up, sometimes the elevator would suddenly start working, its doors opening…and no one would be inside. And then there was the night when, alone again, an entire shelf suddenly fell off the wall.
I wish I could imagine ghosts in those happenings, but it seemed to me that both the shelf and elevator were in serious need of repair.
Ghost Hunting Frank Sinatra
In my upcoming release, Sleepless in Las Vegas (Harlequin SuperRomance, December 2013), my private-eye couple conducts a “ghost hunt,” which the tough-as-nails Vegas P.I. Drake Morgan thinks is about the most stupid case he’s ever accepted, but takes it because he needs the dough.
I set the ghost hunting scene at the Riviera hotel in Las Vegas, where people swear Frank Sinatra not only haunts the penthouse suite he stayed in for years, and which is named after him (you can rent the Frank Sinatra penthouse for $200+ a night) he’s hosting ghostly cocktail parties!
How could I not set a scene in the Frank Sinatra suite?
The below excerpt takes place in the penthouse suite with Val and Drake, where Val gives an inventory of their ghost-hunting equipment, which I thought would-be ghost hunters might find of interest.
(To read the full blog post, please go to http://thezenman.com/2013/10/ghost-hu...
October 7, 2013
The Rockford Files: Magical Surveillances in a Gold ’78 Firebird
Rockford's Shiny Gold Firebird
I'm a huge fan of the old TV series The Rockford Files, staring one of my all-time favorite actors James Garner -- in fact, my husband and I own the entire series on DVD. But gotta say, how'd he pull off all those surveillances in a shiny gold Firebird? Magic.
Having co-owned a private investigations agency for a decade, I can say it was magic because in the real world, a P.I. driving a shiny metallic muscle car is gonna get burned sooner or later, more likely...
October 4, 2013
THE NEWSROOM TV Series and Regional Dialects in These United States
When I as growing up in the 1940s and '50s you could easily tell what part of the UnitedStates one came from by the way they spoke. I have wondered recently whethertelevision, movies and the Internet have worked to make us all sound more alike? Areour regional dialects disappearing?
The Newsroom: Dialects True to Their RegionIn watching the seriesThe Newsroom on television, one of my favorite shows, I am thinking our regional dialects are not disappearingso much. Or...
September 6, 2013
Book Excerpt: SLEEPLESS IN LAS VEGAS
Book #2 in Colleen Collins's Las Vegas private-eye-romance series
Available December 2013 - To pre-order, click on cover below
Sleepless in Las Vegas (Harlequin Superromance)
Blurb
After nearly destroying each other’s careers, PI-intern Val LeRoy and seasoned Las Vegas P.I. Drake Morgan are forced to work together. If each had their way, they’d walk, but when threatened by a dangerous criminal who jeopardizes their lives and families, they put aside their differences to solve the case.As th...
Book News: Contest, Excerpt SLEEPLESS IN LAS VEGAS
Some fun stuff is coming up...from abook giveaway contest that kicks off September 9 to therelease of my next private-eye romance, Sleepless in Las Vegas,book #2 in my Las Vegas private-eye-romance series.
Contest Kicks Off September 9! [image error]Mark your calendars! On September 9, the below Rafflecopter contest will be open for entries. Prizes: Three free copies of Secrets of a Real-Life Female Private Eye and a $25 Amazon gift card!
a Rafflecopter giveawayBook Excerpt: Sleepless in Las Vegas
Book #2 in...
August 29, 2013
Book Blast - Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! Contest Closes Sept 4
Join me in celebrating my new release Secrets of a Real-Life Female Private Eye! Visit any of the below book sites and enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card! Contest closes September 4.
http://www.omnimysterynews.com
http://www.girl-who-reads.com/
http://wantedreaders.blogspot.com/
http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/
http://thepenmuse.net/
http://frellathon.com/
http://yellsworld.blogspot.com/
http://www.celticladysreviews.blogspot.com/
http://ilovebooksclub101.blogspot.com
http://thebookconnectionccm.blogs...
August 30th Book Blast - Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card!
Join me on Thursday, August 30th, to celebrate the release of my new nonfiction book Secrets of a Real-Life Female Private Eye, and enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card at one of these fabulous book sites:
http://www.omnimystery.com/omnimystery.htmlhttp://www.girl-who-reads.com/
http://wantedreaders.blogspot.com/
http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/
http://thepenmuse.net/
http://frellathon.com/
http://yellsworld.blogspot.com/
http://www.celticladysreviews.blogspot.com/
http://ilovebooksclub101.blogspot.co...
