Sandra Cox's Blog, page 277

The Nebelung

Today, I'm blogging at Night Writer's on The Nebelung. If you're in the vicinity stop by and say hey.

VBT Love's Debt

With us today is Rachel Brimble. Welcome Rachel. Your heroine runs the Red Lion Tavern. What difficulties does she run in to?
Ooh, I can’t give too much away here! Let’s just say difficulties do arise in Milly’s story but not so much with the tavern. The tavern is an important part of the story and where she is the happiest. She is a popular, fun, hardworking barmaid with ambition. The difficulties come when she meets the hero…
What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
I really don’t have an opinion – A few of my writer friends have gone down this route and never looked back. Others haven’t enjoyed the process after trying and wouldn’t do it again. I admire the people who self-publish and achieve success because it’s a lot of hard work and commitment to edit, proof read, create cover art all single-handedly. It’s not for me though – I wouldn’t know where to start!
What is your favorite genre to write in?
Victorian (obviously!) and romantic suspense are my favorite to write. I have also written mainstream contemporary and comedy, both of which have been published but with recent contract signings with Harlequin and Kensington, from now on I will only be concentrating on Victorian and romantic suspense.
What is your favorite genre to read?
Romantic suspense is my absolute favorite to read but as a bibliophile I read right across the genres, from all types of romance (except paranormal) to crime to historical to biographies. I love to read! I don’t know a writer who doesn’t. I usually have two or three books I’m reading simultaneously at any one time J

BUY LINK(S):The Wild Rose Press - http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4967
BLURB:To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Millie Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern. The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies. Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.
Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison. Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers.  Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.
As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Millie and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?
EXCERPT:Joseph Jacobs closed the tavern door behind him and paused a moment to take in his surroundings. As a man used to looking over his shoulder and sensing trouble, experience taught him to be aware of others before they became aware of you. He narrowed his gaze. The meager number of patrons at the tables surprised him at an hour when he expected the bar to be fairly busy. He glanced at the clock; maybe it wasn’t time for the workers yet.
He shifted his gaze to the woman standing beneath the clock and his heart kicked. Her green-gold eyes held him where he stood. She stared and Joseph swallowed, willing some words to come forth from his frozen tongue or at least a smile to curve his paralyzed lips.
She lifted her eyebrows and slowly pulled a cloth from her shoulders. Her hair was a mass of fire-tipped curls around her oval face, her skin creamy-white and her parted lips, a soft delicate pink. Joseph cleared his throat and belatedly removed his hat.“Good evening, miss.”
Her smile slipped easily into place. “Good evening to you, sir.” Her voice was smooth, clear and full of confidence. “Are you looking to quench your thirst or just planning on soaking up the atmosphere?”
Joseph inhaled a long breath through flared nostrils as if trying to smell her. Something told him she’d smell of lavender…or maybe musk. Something to throw a man off guard, to lower his defenses.
He stepped forward. “Neither. I am looking for the landlord. Would you happen to know if he’s available?”
Her gaze lingered on his a moment longer before she looked to the four glasses at the table beside her. She grasped them expertly between her fingers and carried them behind the bar without answering his question.
Joseph couldn’t take his gaze from the natural sway of her hips beneath the deep burgundy dress she wore, the bustle a little too prominent for the current fashion showing her lack of money to afford better. Why else would a woman with the features of an artist’s model be working in a tavern unless necessity demanded it? ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.  She started writing short stories about eight years ago but once her children were at school, she embarked on her first novel. It was published in 2007. Since then, she’s had several books published with small presses as well as securing her first contract with Harlequin Superromance in May 2012.
Represented by US agent Dawn Dowdle, of Blue Ridge Literary Agency, Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family.  Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England. And in the evening? Well, a well-deserved glass of wine is never, ever refused…
Contact Rachel at: Website - http://www.rachelbrimble.comBlog - http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.comTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/rachelbrimbleor @rachelbrimbleFacebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Brimble/181873201887441


http://cblspromotions.blogspot.com/2012/09/scheduled-vbt-loves-debt-by-rachel.html

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VBT Away From the Spotlight

With us today is Tamara Carlisle on her virtual book tour. I asked her  how she researched law school and what other research was necessary. Here is her response. In writing Away from the Spotlight, I wrote what I knew so extensive research was unnecessary.  I am a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law and lived in Los Angeles for over 20 years.  That said, it has been a while since I graduated and I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area several years ago.  Consequently, I had to perform some research to determine what, if anything, had changed since I went to law school and lived in L.A.Based upon that research, I made minor changes.  For example, my law school graduation ceremony took place at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, but the law school now holds its graduation ceremonies in the McCarthy Quad.  In addition, in my day, I would have gone to Commons for lunch.  However, the old Commons was demolished and replaced with the Ronald Tutor Campus Center in recent years.I ignored some of the differences I found because changing them would not work for the story as I envisioned it.  For example, when I took my Bar Review course, recorded lectures were replayed during the day classes and live lectures took place at night.  Now, the live lectures take place during the day and the recorded lectures are replayed in the classes held at night.  I preferred my schedule of studying during the day, going to a live lecture at night and then going out afterward so I kept it that way in the story.  Had I kept my old schedule, but substituted the recorded lectures for the live lectures, I would have had to remove some of the commentary that was based upon my experience, such as heckling the USC professor who delivered one of the Bar Review lectures.  I didn’t want to do that since peppering in some of my experience gave the fairytale some of its realism.   The other thing I had to deal with that might have required research was the issue of using appropriate British idioms.  However, I have spent a lot of time in the U.K. and my husband is from Scotland.  I hope that Will and his friends and family sound like proper Brits.  If not, my fallback position is that, at least with respect to Will, Stephen, Colin, Kate and Gemma, they had been living in L.A. and working with a lot of Americans so any slips can be attributed to their having adapted American terms and speech patterns.  In addition, even though most of the places I mention are fictional, they were often based upon real places.  I therefore reviewed the relevant websites to ensure my memories and reality matched.  For example, the manor house hotel where Will and Shannon got engaged was based upon Cliveden, where one of my best friends got married.  The Royalist was based upon the Ye Olde King’s Head Pub in Santa Monica, where I met my husband when he was on holiday and where my Bachelorette Party was held.  With respect to Shannon’s travels through Europe, I checked tourism websites to confirm my memories as well as Eurail train schedules and routes to ensure that Shannon’s trip worked logistically.While the plot and characters are purely fictional, it is my hope that the supporting details from my experience and confirmed through research make it easier for the required suspension of disbelief.Thank you for the “spotlight” on my novel, Away from the Spotlight, today. 
BLURB:
In the closing weeks of law school, Shannon Sutherland meets handsome and charming Englishman Will MacKenzie. Initially swept off her feet, Shannon finds that Will has a secret that, once discovered and the consequences realized, could destroy their fledgling relationship. Will and Shannon take great pains to have a normal relationship but, ultimately, find it impossible to do so. Will the pressures of their careers and the temptations of others drive Will and Shannon apart? Can Will and Shannon live a happy life away from the spotlight? EXCERPT:
“I met someone.  His name is Will.  He’s English, I think.”
“That would be different for you.”
She wasn’t wrong.  I had very casually dated a number of men I had met in the various pubs in Santa Monica.  They were from all over Europe, but not one of them had been English for some reason.  There were Scottish, Irish and Welsh men among them, but never English.  I had commented on occasion on the fact that I never seemed to meet English men at the English pubs I frequented.
“I’m going to see him again tomorrow night.”
“What’s he like?”
“Drop-dead gorgeous, smart, funny and with excellent taste in music.  Just my type.  Well, better than my type, actually.  It’s hard to believe someone that perfect has any interest in me.”
“Please” Rachael said.  “You get hit on every time we go out.”
“That’s overstating things quite a bit.”
“You seem oblivious to it half the time.”
I guess I did ignore some of it.  When you spend time as part of a female minority in bars full of drunk men, it was hard not to think that some of them would have hit on me for no other reason than that I was female, regardless of how I acted, what I said, or what I looked like.  I therefore learned that getting hit on wasn’t necessarily a compliment and, the later it happened in the evening, the less of a compliment it was. AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tamara Carlisle is a former attorney and business consultant.  Away from the Spotlight is her first published work of fiction.  She currently is working on two additional novels:  one is about love in the music industry and the other is a work of paranormal fiction.  Tamara currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her British husband and daughter.  For further information, go to http://www.tamaracarlisle.com. 
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Away-fr... Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...  http://www.shelfari.com/books/2953130... Thing:  http://www.librarything.com/author/ca...  https://twitter.com/Tamara_Carlisle
Tamara’s Goodreads Author Page also includes a blog detailing trivia relating to Away from the Spotlight.    Tamara will be awarding two $25 Amazon GCs to randomly drawn commenters during the tour.

We Survived

Yay, it's Friday! Enjoy your weekend. I'll see you (in the cyber sense) Monday.

VBT Devil's Mountain

AVAILABLE ATAmazonhttp://www.amazon.com/Devils-Mountain-Devlin-Legacy-ebook/dp/B008BGICYG
B&Nhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/devils-mountain-bernadette-walsh/1109558411
iTuneshttp://itunes.apple.com/us/book/devils-mountain/id535770891?mt=11
All Romance eBookshttp://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-devil039smountain-832980-140.html

BLURBYou will hate Him for all that he's taken, but you will love Him. God help you, you will love Him.
Mary Devlin accepted her fate years ago, to serve Slanaitheoir, the mountain spirit who saved her ancestors from the Irish Famine. The hauntingly beautiful woman submitted to His every caress, His every humiliation, but He’s gone too far by threatening her family.
Mary’s daughter-in-law is now an unwitting pawn in the fickle spirit’s game. Mary must challenge her fate and that of all future Devlin women, but Slanaitheoir is the most powerful being in the land. And when part of her still yearns for His touch and love, how can she fight him and win?
EXCERPT:Marcie, one of the Wanna-Be Manhattan Moms who had also experienced success, lived a few blocks away on East 85th Street. A group of successful Wanna-Be Manhattan Moms had formed a little Upper East Side sorority. We would go to Mommy-and-Me classes, play dates and at times babysat for each other. I’m not sure exactly what happened to the not-so-successful Wanna-Be Manhattan Moms. None of us mentioned them.
Marcie agreed to babysit Aidan while I went to my acupuncture appointment at the Yorktown Natural Fertility Clinic. Bobby refused to go back to the New York Infertility Institute. In fact, it was all I could do to convince him not to use condoms. “I’ve got my beautiful wife and my beautiful son,” he said in a sing-song voice whenever I raised the topic of another child. “That’s all I want. That’s all I need.”
Why wasn’t that all I needed?
The first few months of Aidan’s life, I was completely satisfied. I’d never been so happy or imagined I could be so happy.
But then, the old familiar niggling started. I’d take Aidan in his stroller through Central Park and see a woman pushing twins in a stroller. Or a mother holding the hands of a small boy and a girl. And I would get that sour taste in my mouth, the same one I had tasted for years whenever I saw a pregnant woman.
And so it began.
I couldn’t very well steal a vial of Bobby’s sperm and take it with me back to Dr. Feinberg’s office. But we had, somehow, managed to conceive Aidan on our own. Perhaps with some Chinese herbs and acupuncture we could conceive again. Marcie swore by acupuncture, and after she had been thrown out of two Manhattan IVF clinics she tried traditional Chinese medicine and conceived her own miracle baby. Why couldn’t I too, conceive a little miracle baby with the help of magic teas and shiny needles?
Just one more, I thought to myself as I opened the heavy glass doors of the Yorktown Natural Fertility Clinic. “Just one more miracle. And then. Then I’ll be happy and content.”
I promise, I silently swore to God, the universe or whoever else might be listening to my thoughts.  AUTHOR BIO Bernadette Walsh has been writing contemporary and paranormal romance for four years. She has published three novels to date (The House on Prospect (Echelon Press) and Gold Coast Wives (Lyrical Press)) and the first book of her paranormal trilogy, Devil’s Mountain -- Book One of the Devlin Legacy. While Bernadette has hopped around genres, all of her books to date have a common theme: strong women handling what life throws at them the best way they can. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bernadette-Walsh-Author/196567653686807Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5321197.Bernadette_Walsh


~*~
Milson has won a copy of Golden Chariot. Milson, please send your email addie to sandracox1@gmail.com.

Milson

has won a copy of Golden Chariot. Milson, please send your email addie to sandracox1@gmail.com.

Animal Charities

In case you donate  to animal charities, I'm passing on information that was sent out on a rescue loop .



The Humane Society of the United States does not run any shelters for companion animals. HSUS 2010 Annual Income: $148Million The ASPCA (New York City) runs one single animal shelter in New York City.. In 2010 they adopted out 3389 animals there.ASPCA  2010 Annual Income:  $133MillionPETA runs a single facility in VA that they call an animal shelter but has no living areas or holding wards. It's an office building with a walk-in freezer. In 2010 they killed 93.8% of animals they took in - 2200 animals.PeTa 2010 Annual Income: $35Million

Strong Women

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says~~  "Oh Crap, She's up!"

VBT Heroes Live Forever

BLURB:
A lifetime later fate intervenes. Basil, still in love with Elinor, is told her spirit lives on in a young woman and he is given another chance at life to find her. 

At the top of the stairs, goose bumps suddenly dotted Elinor’s skin and the hair on her arms stood on end. She glanced back, but didn’t see anything strange, or more to the point, Lucy’s ghost knight.
Author Bio:
I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history professor and my mother was, and is, a voracious reader. I grew up with a love of history and books.
My parents also love traveling, a passion they passed onto me. I wanted to see the places I read about, see the land and monuments from the time periods that fascinated me. I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and North Africa.
I am a retired police detective. I spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. My desire to write came in my early teens. After I retired, I decided to pursue that dream.
I currently live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband, four rescue dogs and a rescue horse. 

 Links: http://www.chriskarlsen.com/index.htmlhttp://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/chriskarlsenwriterhttp://pinterest.com/chriskarlsen/

It's The Weekend

Time To Howl