Sandra Cox's Blog, page 207

IWSG Wednesday

www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.comThe first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Members post about their doubts and fears, discuss struggles and triumphs, and offer words of encouragement to others who are struggling.
Triumphs is an exaggeration, though, this book was like a foster child who almost had a home on several different occasions, and for one reason or another, continued to be bounced from pillar to post. At one publishing company, the editors didn't want it but the publisher did. That didn't sound doable to me. At another: the editor/director of the line wanted it, but the publishing company didn't. Another publishing company and their editor wanted it, but their contract made me very....nervous. Finally, Ghost For Sale wound up living in the Kensington household. It's scheduled for release the twenty-ninth of this month. 
Blurb:
Caitlin King can’t believe that her shopaholic cousin actually bought two ghosts off of eBay. But she can’t ignore the truth when she starts seeing sexy Liam O’Reilly, who’s been dead for over a hundred years. He’s a fascinating specter, and the more time Caitlin spends with him, the closer they become—sending them both spiraling into a star-crossed tailspin. No matter how desperately they long for each other, there’s just no future with a guy who’s already stopped breathing.

In order to help Liam and his twin sister, Anna, leave their earthly limbo and cross over into the light, Caitlin must find the ghost of Anna’s fiancé. But a malevolent spirit is dead set against Anna moving on. Now Caitlin will have to unravel the mystery surrounding the twins’ past lives in order to keep Liam’s spirit safe—even if it means sacrificing her heart in the process. 
Excerpt:

As we reached the car, my breath went out in a whoosh. Arms and legs crossed, Liam leaned against the shiny Corvette. The street lamp limned his high sharp cheekbones and sparked the blue highlights in his hair. Plain black cotton trousers framed long legs. My heart tightened and my bones loosened. He was just so darn pretty, in a manly-man sort of way. His stormy eyes shifted to me. He stared, unsmiling. The ghost was still in a snit. Well fine, I was in a bit of a snit myself. We drove home in silence. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Liam stared straight ahead, his arms crossed, pensive. At least he wasn’t white knuckling the side of the car. How strange this must seem to him. I surfed the satellite radio till I found a channel that played old Irish ballads. A beatific expression came over his face, making my breath catch. How could a man be so good-looking? Maybe it was a ghost thing. His expression changed to one of abject terror. “Watch out,” he shouted at the top of his lungs. I turned the wheel sharply to the right, just missing a little old lady driving a bright red sports car. She laid on her horn and stuck her third digit out the window. Liam stared, his gorgeous mouth open. I think a senior citizen giving me the finger shocked him worse than my driving.

Warning: Contains ghosts and shopaholics
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Deception: The Demon Hunters Book 2

Genre: Historical PNR
Publisher: Kensington/Lyrical
Date of Publication: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 9781616505622ASIN: B00ONTR7WS
Number of pages: 232Word Count: 78,957
Cover Artist: Morgan Pielli
Book Description:
When Demons threaten Regency London, only a Lady can stop them.
Lillian Dellacourt is beautiful, refined and absolutely lethal. She’s also the most feared and merciless demon hunter in The Company. She’s come a long way from the penniless seamstress’s daughter sold to the highest bidder, and it wasn’t by trusting a man, let alone an exiled Marquis with more on his mind than slaying the hellspawn . . .
For Dorian Lambert, Marquis de Montalembert, being sent to keep track of Lillian is no mean task. He’s wanted the fiery vixen since he first heard of her five years ago. But wooing the lady while fighting the demon uprising is no easy feat, especially when the lady’s tongue is as sharp as the Japanese sai blades she favors for eviscerating the spawn of hell.
These two will have to learn to trust each other fast, because the demon master is back, and he’s planning to turn Edinburgh into a living hell…
Amazon    BN     Kobo     iBooks     KensingtonExcerpt:
Gripping the chair arms to keep herself seated, Lillian fought an urge to leave and never set foot inside Castle Brendaligh again.It had been a demoralizing battle and they had lost, but they had lived. They had done all they could, but still the demon master had ascended into man’s world.“You failed and we are all likely to die because of it. I hold every person at this table responsible for the state of England. You have ruined us.” Lord Clayton’s voice grated on Lillian’s nerves.Accounts of the battle were clear. Nearly everyone in the room had risked their lives trying to disrupt the ascension, not to mention keep the earl’s daughter, Belinda, from becoming a demon sacrifice. Making such a show of ferocious reprimands insulted their brave and selfless efforts. If not for the fact that he was her best friend’s father, she might have indulged her desire to pull a sai blade from her boot and slice his throat.As if Lord Clayton, the Earl of Shafton, needed to attract more attention, he waved his hands. “You had one mission, to keep the master from entering our world. All you had to do was kill one demon, but you failed. You should all be shot for treason. Treason!”His bright red face gave her hope his heart might fail and save her the trouble of killing him. Other hunters at the table murmured, but no one spoke out.Everyone in this room is to blame. You had the perfect opportunity to end this mess. Nowthe master is free of his realm and living in ours. It’s only a matter of time before he is strong enough to destroy everything we hold dear. When your families are killed mercilessly, will you sit here so unrepentant about failing in your duty?”“Father, really.” Belinda Thurston rolled her eyes.Lillian missed Reece’s steadying presence. Reece might have even been able to stop his lordship’s tirade with a few quick-witted remarks. Her partner had nearly died, and now lay upstairs recovering from demon poisoning.“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Belinda. You are equally to blame. You were with the master for days and made no attempt to destroy him.”Gabriel, Belinda’s husband, bristled. It was of course a ridiculous statement. The Earl of Tullering was not used to public abuse of his family. “Just a minute, my lord. You are out of order. Belinda was in no position to defeat the demon master. The information she gathered will be very helpful in our eventual victory.”Shafton pointed a fat finger. “I do not want to hear about information that will take years to decipher. You, Tullering, are by far the most culpable. You and that woman”—he pointed at Lillian—“made a conscious choice not to destroy the master.”Lillian reached toward her boot and let the hard steel of her sai blade handle bring her comfort. One second and Shafton’s head could be rolling down the long table and land in Drake Cullum’s lap.
About the Author:
A.S. Fenichel gave up a successful career in New York City to follow her husband to Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She’s never looked back.
A.S. adores writing stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.
Multi-published in historical, paranormal, erotic and contemporary romance, A.S. is the author of The Demon Hunters series, the Psychic Mates series, and more. With several books currently contracted to multiple publishers, A.S. will be brining you her brand of edgy romance for years to come.
Originally from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in the East Texas with her real life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she enjoys cooking, travel, history, and puttering in her garden. Her babies are both rescues and include a demanding dog and a temperamental cat both of which bring constant joy and laughter.
Web Site- http://asfenichel.net/ Blog - http://asfenichel.net/blog/ Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5154640.A_S_Fenichel Twitter - https://twitter.com/asfenichel Tsu - https://www.tsu.co/ASFenichel Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/A.S.Fenichel Google +1 - https://plus.google.com/113195747154467378107/posts Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/asfenichel/boards/ Tour giveaway 4 ebook copies Deception
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc1140 ~*~Congrats to A.S.on her latest release.

It's Over!

Can you believe it's the last day of August? Tomorrow is the first of September, it's nearly fall, and not far behind...Halloween.
 
Quickly followed by...Uh, huh.  But enough of that. What did you do over the weekend?We went to see No Escape. OMG. It was the most intense movie I can remember seeing. First twenty minutes or so, nothing unusual then BAM! From that point on there's no relaxing back in your seat until the movie is over. I can't say I liked or I didn't like it. It was a bit too violent and too intense for my taste, but it certainly held my interest. Pierce Brosnan did a great job. It wasn't the usual suave role he normally plays.Owen Wilson more than held his own, as did  Lake Bell. Unfortunately, I can't see her without thinking of the 'other wife' role she played in It's Complicated. Anyhoo...have you seen it? Did you like it?

It's The Weekend

Thursday's Heart

For Robyn and Mat

Wacky Wednesday

Remember this show?

Weird Facts Day

President George W. Bush was a cheerleader during high school and at university.

The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery ticket is great than your chances of winning. (I'll never convince the hh of this.)

 Smelling bananas or green apples (smelling not eating) can help you lose weight. (This one sounds a bit like buying swamp land in Florida to me.)

More Monopoly money is printed in a year than real money throughout the world.

In Quitman, Georgia, it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road.

When you look at someone you love your pupils dilate. They do the same when you look at someone you hate. 

Men who kiss their wives in the morning live five years longer than those who don't.

Bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers were all invented by women.

In France it is legal to marry a dead person.

The most children born to one woman was 69, she was a peasant who lived a 40 year life, she had 16 twins, 7 triplets and 4 quadruplets. (This must be where the Old Woman in a Shoe nursery rhyme came from.)

From FUNFACTZ.COM

It's Monday.....

Or a cuppa for the blogsters that don't partake in java
Welcome back blogsters. How was your weekend? On this end, no big gambling junkets or wild parties but we did get to see the grands and for the first time they said Mimi and Grandpa. Yes, it was a Kodak moment. Unfortunately, the hh didn't hear it:(
How about you? Was it exciting? Relaxing? Or business as usual? Your buds want to know.

It's The Weekend

Wishing you a relaxing weekend, Friends.

Free E-Books

What's your view on free E books for promotional purposes?
My thoughts are of the oxymoron variety, and please don't place too much emphasis on the moron. grin. Honestly, I've been reading them all summer. If I like the author, I leave a review and buy more.  If it doesn't appeal, I just move on to the next book and author.
On the oxy side of the equation: an author bud of mine wrote an article on her blog that really gave me food for thought. She's against giving free E books. All her negative reviews have come from freebies. As she points out, if the first review you get is negative, it's the kiss of death and whatever readership might have been out there is gone.
If you are interested in reading the post, here's the link: http://sherryink.blogspot.com/2015/08/trashed-by-readers.html
On this point, I agree with Sherry. Almost all my reviews that have been less than I liked have been from free E's.
Right now a reader could probably read a new book every day for a year or more and not pay a penny. I.E. The market is saturated, not only with E books but with free E books. Even so I wonder what makes some readers prone to give out not just negative, but hurtful reviews. One of my pet peeves is people that use the excuse, I-tell-it-like-it-is to say something deliberately cruel. I just don't get it. But back on topic. Maybe when you pay for a book regardless if it's ninety-nine cents or fourteen ninety-nine, you take the time to make sure its a book you really want before you plunk down any money. On the other hand...there are a lot of freebies on the top kindle one hundred list.  It's a quandary.
What do you think? Do you feel free E's have helped or hurt you?