Debra Parmley's Blog, page 10

Guest Author Lucy Monroe: Writing About Dragons

Writing about Dragons

One of the things I love most about writing my Children of the Moon series is the fact that I get to create my own mythology, my own world.  That doesn’t mean I completely disregard commonly held beliefs or story avenues, but that I build on them.   

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When the idea for my shape changing Chrechte first came to me, it was the result of asking, "What if the Picts (a mysterious people of Northern Scotland who disappeared from written history) were actually werewolves who integrated with the clans for survival?"

That grew into a world that had bird, wolf and cat shifters and ultimately...the Prince of the Éan, a dragon shifter.  As protector of his people, Eirik is the most fearsome of living beasts.  A huge, red dragon who can cast fire and fly undetected through the night sky.  Pretty cool, right?

Dragon mythology has commonality in most cultural oral and written histories.  The Western dragon isn't only found in European storytelling, but Native American (albeit a different type of dragon) as well.  And the Eastern dragon is popular throughout Asia.  The concept of the dragon has always and continues to fascinate us all.  Is it any wonder we are seeing a resurgence of them in current fiction?

My particular dragon is a solitary one, a shifter who can do what no other Chrechte living can.  Eirik is both dragon and raven, Prince and clan member.  He is a conflicted hero whose ability to cast fire is as much a burden as a strength.  When he meets his mate for the first time and realizes his fire killed her brother, he knows their journey to happiness is not assured.

That does not stop him claiming her, or insisting their paths are entwined.  Ciara is no shrinking Medieval maiden, frightened of the only living drakon.  She is a strong woman more adept at hiding emotions than giving into them.

The future of the entire Chrechte race depends on these two finding their way to each other and the trust and love they will need to succeed at their quest.

What about you?  Are you as fascinated by dragons as me?  What aspect to dragonology do you find most intriguing?

 

Hugs,

Lucy

 

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http://www.lucymonroe.com/
http://lucymonroeblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LucyMonroe.Romance

http://twitter.com/#!/lucymonroe

 

DRAGON’S MOON

by Lucy Monroe

 

ISBN-10: 0425246620

ISBN-13: 978-0425246627

Children of the Moon Novel #4

Berkley Sensation - September 2012

 

“A LUCY MONROE BOOK IS A TREAT NOT TO BE MISSED.”

—#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Lora Leigh

 

Bestselling author Lucy Monroe returns to her “stunningly sexy”* paranormal world where one woman has but one choice for her people’s salvation—her sworn enemy...

 

When Eirik, the only living dragon shifter, and prince of the Ean, killed her brother, Ciara was left alone to face her prophetic dreams. Now, in order to find the wolves’ sacred stone and save all the Chrechte from destruction, she needs her enemy’s help.

 

Eirik was only protecting the children of his people, but that day in the forest left a mark on him as well. Controlling his dragon’s fire is the most difficult thing he’s ever done—until he and Ciara are forced to face not only their shared tumultuous past, but a hallowed bond stronger than they realize. As avowed enemies and predestined mates, their quest ushers them into a world of great danger, and a passion hotter than the dragon’s fire.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=813Aw8DCy-s

Guest Author Sue Perkins

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Thank you for inviting me to your blog Debra. My latest release is called "Dragon Clans" and I wrote this book and the "Dragon Flame" the first in this young adult series because I love reading books about dragons. Ann McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series have a been a favorite with me for many years.

Sie is a young woman lost at sea. Rescued by one of the red dragons she jumps at the chance to join them as she has nothing to go back to on the human continent.

Joining the clan means learning to cook, hunt and use weapons to defend the home caves. The other dragon clans believe the red dragons, or Valdra Clan, are outlaws and attack as soon as they see a red in the sky.

When the dragons agree to talk, Sie becomes the intermediary with the humans, in particular Byron from Maass. The two of them join together to help obtain peace.

I hope you read the excerpt below. Don't forget to leave a comment to be in the draw to win a copy of "Dragon Clans" at the end of the blog tour.

Buy Link:  http://tinyurl.com/dragonclans

Webpage:  http://www.sueperkinsauthor.com

Excerpt

Good morning. Sie turned to see Essi looking at her, the dragon's huge cat like eyes blinking in the morning light. Did you sleep well?

"Yes, I did. Thank you for looking after me last night." 

You are welcome. Benare would like you to attend a clan meeting this morning. We must eat before this. 

Essi shooed Sie out of cave and took her to the food enclave. This morning, Sie took more notice of the food preparation. Several large, flat rocks lay in a curve around a sandy corner under an overhanging rock. Each surface held different types of food. One for fruit, one for vegetables, and two for meat.  

I hope to goodness they don't eat it raw. Sie blushed in case any of the dragons had heard her.

A small cave to one side held several big baskets of grain. Behind the rocky work surfaces, small fires flickered in canny little fireplaces with holes in the rock above to let the smoke out.

"Would it be all right if I made myself some nuweet?"

I don't understand. What is this nuweet?

Sie tried to explain without success. They decided it would be best to make some nuweet to show Essi. One of the grain bins held seed which looked like oats. After mixing a small amount in a bowl with water, Sie took one of the long handled spoons to the fire. Essi followed. Sie smiled at the curiosity her friend showed.

A few minutes later the nuweet had finished cooking, and Sie moved away to sit on a small rock and eat her breakfast. Essi found a small spoon for her, although in Sie's hand it looked huge. The dragon sniffed the bowl and shook her head.

I've never seen grain prepared this way. We use it in recipes with fruit or with meat, but never on its own.

Sie had her mouth full of nuweet, so she tried to answer with just her mind.

I have this every morning. It starts my day in just the right way.

Well please help yourself each day, although I don't think it will catch on with the clan.

"Hey, you understood me even though I didn't speak out loud." It hadn't occurred to Sie speaking with her mind might be a possibility.

You have been mind talking ever since you got here. Did you not realize this? Essi looked at her curiously.

"No. I didn't realize I sent out mental messages as I spoke. Perhaps I'd better concentrate on mind talk instead of using my mouth."

You may use whichever is most convenient for you. Come it is time for the meeting.

The Call (My Ping-Pong Call)

 

Receiving the call.

It's something we dream of before we sell our first book.

Receiving the call stories are requested often enough authors post them on our websites to share these personal stories with our readers. It's something I've held off on for a long time, though readers and interviewers have kept asking.

Why have I held off?

Mine isn't the typical exciting jump up and down screaming with excitement type of story. Mine was what I can only describe as a ping-pong experience.

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You see I'd made the decision to fire my agent when I received the call. I'd returned home from the RT convention (Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention) just two days before, firm in the belief severing was the best decision. There were a number of reasons why, which I usually answer by saying he was not a good match for me. (The author/agent relationship is frequently compared to a marriage and this is the typical response most authors give when asked why the relationship with their agent didn't work out.)

The call came in while I was seated at my desk, severance letter right in front of me. It lacked one thing. A stamp.

My agent called to tell me Samhain Publishing wanted to publish A Desperate Journey, my American Title II finalist manuscript. I was thrilled! Hurray!

Then I glanced at the letter on my desk.

Ping-pong.

The game began in my head as I listened to my agent.

Hurray! Oh shit.

This continued back and forth in my head accompanied by my heart leaping and crashing with emotion up until the call ended. I don't remember what I said to him other than something along the lines of that's great and I looked forward to looking over the contract. Probably not the response he was expecting.

The problem was, the letter needed to be sent and I was now forced into a waiting position until the ink was dry on my first publishing contract before I could send it. I resolved to send the letter once the ink was dry. Thirty days later our business relationship would be ended. The one smart move I had made when signing with my agent was adding an addendum, which stated either party with thirty days notice, could sever our relationship. He hadn't been happy with that at the time but had accepted it. (Looking back his response had been an early sign I should have paid heed to.) The original agent contract had allowed severing only at the one-year renewal date. And the only reason I'd known to add the addendum was the advice I had received from my writing mentor.

I remember staring at the letter on my desk when the call ended and I believe I was somewhat in shock. I couldn't sever with him and then take this contract. It would not be ethical and there were legal reasons as well. At this point I also realized I couldn't sever with him and then take any contract on this manuscript because I didn't know for certain where he'd sent it. He'd neglected to inform me he'd submitted the manuscript to Samhain. So his call had been a combination of surprise and shock.

While waiting for the contract to arrive I did something bold. I emailed the publisher and explained I was excited about the publishing opportunity but wanted to let them know in the future this agent would not be handling my work. It was a short simple informative email, which required no response.

When the contract came in it was a standard first contract. There was one unexpected portion I was thrilled with. The publisher had split the payments. I would not have to go through my agent for anything and the relationship could truly be severed. I will always be grateful for that. It's always good to be able to move into the future without baggage to lug along.

For each author receiving that first call is a unique and special experience. For me it was the ping-pong call. My career as an author has been a bit of a roller coaster ride with highs and lows and has taught me so much. Perhaps by sharing the story of my ping-pong call it may help other authors to make wise decisions. This is why I am sharing it today.

Shimmy Mob Memphis - What Dancing For A Cause Taught Me

 A year ago I was honored and blessed to be the team leader for Shimmy Mob Memphis. It was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life and certainly one of my greatest challenges. Looking back from the distance a year brings, the lessons are tapping me again on the shoulder as memories take me back to that time. This is what I wish to share with you today.  

But first, what is Shimmy Mob?

Shimmy Mob is an event created by Sabeya, also known as Francesca Anastasi, and internationl dancer instructor, choreographer and performer. Shimmy Mob is a choreographed and planned "Flash Mob" type event, aimed to be the largest event of its kind by having a huge geographical territory covered in one day to raise funds for local shelters protecting women and children. International headquarters is up in Canada, where Sabeya is based.

I first heard about Shimmy Mob on March 28th 2011 and it called to my heart. I contacted Sabeya and asked her if anyone from Memphis had signed up. Cities from around the globe had signed up but there was no mention of Memphis. Her answer was no one from Memphis had. So on the evening of March 28th I listened to my heart and leaped. I signed our city up and agreed to become the team leader for Memphis. Memphis would be hosting a Shimmy Mob event to raise money for our local women's and children's shelter. It would be my job to enlist as many dancers as possible and get everything in place to dance on May 1st. This left us little time to get ready.

By March 31st we had 27 dancers signed up and by April 5th we had 35 dancers and just 25 days to learn the choreography. We would be dancing with our belly dance sisters around the world, everyone doing the same choreography on May 1st, 2011. One of our local dance instructors agreed to lead rehearsals and to act as fundraising chair. One agreed to be my assistant. So I would have help, but there was still a lot of work for the three of us to do to pull this off.

I did not know when I signed up for this job that adapt and adjust would become my mantra.

One great challenge was the choreography which was a blending of different styles. Dancers who joined from different groups and weren't trained in all the styles. There was a big learning curve. Many of the dancers had to learn new movements from other styles of dance and many of our dancers had never performed in public before. Some of our dancers were brand new and still learning basic moves. Yet each signed up for the cause and did their best to learn the dance. We were adapting, adjusting and learning.

Finding a place to dance proved difficult. Unfortunately in the US there have been flash mobs which were distructive. Memphis has had police called out for flash mobs in the past. That history was making it difficult to find a place. I was hearing one 'no' after another when asking for a place to dance for less than five minutes. Some places wanted us to carry one million dollars worth of insurance. The most frequent answer I heard was 'no'. The date came closer and closer. I lined up one site.  Then they backed out. Adapt and adjust I told myself as the search began again. Working with center city commission I was able to find a site downtown, on the cobblestones by the trolley line. 

Everything was finally set. But there was a bigger challenge to come.

None of us knew when we signed up how great our challenges would be. We thought the biggest challenge would be the choreography itself. None could have predicted Memphis would battle flooding with the Mississippi River rising, or the many tornados which ran through our city.

On May 1st, we gathered on the Mid America Mall on the corner of Main Street and Peabody to perform the dance and heighten awareness of issues important to women. The women had one thing in common - the passion to make this unique event occur for the benefit of women and children requiring sanctuary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0TB-ZiCi1Y

Here is the official video of our dance. What you won't see or hear are the mutliple starts and stops, the tornado sirens and the many times we moved back beneath shelter to get out of the rain. It took several attempts to get all the way through a dance which was less than five minutes. We did not give up. We were a bit tenacious. We kept on until we got the job done.

As I was driving away, my phone rang. It was the photographer from the Memphis Commercial Appeal, our local paper, and he wanted to know if he'd missed us. He had indeed and because of the tornados and other extreme stories the news media was following, not one reporter was there to take notice of what we had done and report it to our fellow Memphians and the world. We were a small blip which did not even show on the news radar that day, as they passed us by for bigger stories. 

We had pulled this off dodging tornados, extreme weather, flooding, illnesses and property damage. Any one of those things might have made another person back away and say, I can't do this, I have too much going on, and these challenges are too great.

There were over a dozen lightning rods dancing in downtown Memphis that day dancing in between tornados though few were there to see us and I am proud to call them my Shimmy Mob sisters.

Our efforts and tenacity did not go unnoticed. Sabeya of international shimmy mob, acknowledged Shimmy Mob Memphis by awarding us honorable mention for enduring perseverance in the face of danger and potential harm.

http://www.shimmymob.com/ack2011.html 

It was both an honor and a blessing to be acknowledged in this way.

We pulled it off and made history! We did it in the face of tornados, storms and with the river rising. Weather didn't stop us, sound problems didn't stop us, and video problems didn't stop us. We have tenacity. We know how to adapt and adjust. That is how we raq in Memphis.

In between tornado sirens we danced on May 1st and not only met our fundraising goal, we surpassed it. We doubled it.

There will never again be another event just like the first Shimmy Mob event which took place in Memphis in 2011 and around the world and I am proud to say we showed them how we Raq in Memphis. I am proud of my Shimmy Mob sisters for never giving up or giving in, for taking the time and the energy to support a cause which helps many women and children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fwvJZBZeAg&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LL27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw

This is the compilation of our shimmy mob sisters all around the world, dancing together for one cause in the first Shimmy Mob event in 2011.

What I learned from my experiences leading this event in 2011 goes beyond what I can put into words here. I learned about tenacity, how to adapt and adjust sometimes quickly and somewhat frequently. I learned how people will rise to a challenge if you ask the best of them, if you encourage them. I learned it is not our difficulties that define our experiences but how we respond to those difficulties. I learned how deep people can reach into their hearts and their wallets to help people who aren't currently able to help themselves. These are lessons to carry for a lifetime.

When I think of all the woman and children that will benefit from this event and how it unites us with our sister all around the world, it makes my heart glad. This is why we dance. This is why I signed up on March 28, 2011 and this is why I signed up again as team leader for Shimmy Mob Memphis 2012.

On May 12th, 2012, Shimmy Mob Memphis will once again be dancing in unity with our sisters around the world to raise funds for our local shelters.

We have three events:

11:00 a.m. public performance (free event)
 First Congo
1000 South Cooper, Memphis TN 38104


12:00- 1:00 book signing and reading
Java Cabana Coffeehouse 
2170 Young Ave ·  Memphis TN
I will be signing copies of A Desperate Journey
reading from the book and talking about the shelter and Shimmy Mob
$15.00 trade paperback limited to 25 copies
 (proceeds benefit the shelter)
(coffeehouse is within walking distance of First Congo)

7:00 pm performance:
we will dance at the opening of Bluff City Bellydance Showcase
Rumba Room 
 303 S. Main

Memphis TN (an event which gathers several Belly dance groups from Memphis to perform and raise money for our local shelter)

 $10.00 admission (proceeds benefit the shelter)

donations may also be made to Shimmymobmemphis@yahoo.com

all funds raised by Shimmy Mob Memphis benefit

YWCA abused women's services Memphis

Cortisol and Weight Gain: How I Gained Weight Without Eating When My Husband Nearly Died

Cortisol and Weight Gain: How I Gained Weight Without Eating When My Husband Nearly Died

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This is a story I haven't shared publicly before now. Certainly at the time I was too overwhelmed by the events happening in my life to share it, even though I was very much in the public eye and it's unlikely readers would have been anything but supportive. I'm sharing it today as an example of what extreme stress can do to your cortisol levels and weight gain.

Back in 2006 my manuscript A Desperate Journey, was selected to be in the American Title II contest. This contest was similar to the American Idol contest, but for writers. Eleven of us were competing for one publishing contract. It was an exciting and busy time, putting up a website, asking for votes, doing PR before any of us even had a book contract. Round one went great; I made it to round two.

Then my husband was told to go in for a "simple surgery." The doctor would put one stint in and he would either come home the same day or the next. No worries. When they wheeled him away, I went to the waiting room and read.

The first inkling something was wrong came when the doctor entered the waiting room, sweat visible on his brow and appeared shaken. He told me they'd almost lost my husband and whatever he said next I don't remember because I went into a state of shock. He led me into the surgical room without having me scrub or gown. My husband was on life support, tubes everywhere. The nurse said, "You can touch him if you want to."

He'd flat lined after they injected the dye and had been gone for three minutes while they sent for a larger defibrillator because the one in the surgical room wasn't big enough. Everyone was visibly shaken.

He was moved to the ICU. I sat by his side not knowing when or if he would come to, or what state he'd be in if he did. The doctors and nurses were worried. Three minutes is a long time.

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I was in a state of shock. Though I'd never heard of cortisol before, mine had to have sky rocketed. During the week he was in the hospital, I was unable to sleep and stopped eating. Food didn't look or sound good and I couldn't taste anything.

When he did come to, he awoke angry and fighting the restraints and the tubes. But he was alive. And he is alive and fine today, five years later.

During the week he was in the hospital I gained weight rapidly yet I wasn't eating enough to keep a bird alive. One day all I ate was an apple. Another day my sister-in-law brought me half a sub and I only took bites because she was concerned I wasn't eating. Some people would drop weight eating as I was. But I was gaining. Later I would look back and not understand why.

Since then, I have learned what cortisol and stress can do to our bodies. And this is what I want to share here today. Because while we cannot control what happens to us, we can be informed and aware so we can take steps to combat the effects of stress when they happen.

That month I went from the roller coaster high of being in the contest and making it to the next round, to the plummet of almost losing my husband, to the high of having him wake again. I was bumped in the second round, a low, though a smaller one compared to what would have been a larger loss. But still a low, because my dream was to be a published author sharing my stories with readers all over the world.

Even the good roller coaster highs can come with stress, though it is of the good kind. And stress affects the body.

Cortisol is one of your stress hormones, which is secreted in times of stress. ANY kind of stress: physical, mental, or emotional.

If the stress continues any length of time and the hormone is released consistently it causes fat to be stored instead of burned and the place it usually stores it is on or in your belly.

Cortisol is even called the "stress hormone." It's one of the hormones released by the adrenal glands during the fight or flight response and helps prepare the body for stress by burning fat in the short term. It's the long-term effects of cortisol, which create weight gain. Why?

Because it remains in the blood for a long time. Adrenaline metabolizes quickly, but cortisol does not and continual stress will cause fat to be stored. It also breaks muscle down to use it as sugar and protein, one muscle being broken down to feed another, and it uses dense muscles like your thighs and glutes.

Fat in your midsection contains the greatest amount of cortisol receptors. So we end up with belly fat, love handles, possibly a pendulous and sagging abdomen. Fat from other parts of the body is moved to the abdomen. That stomach acidity or sour stomach along with increased digestive sensitivity you experience may be the cortisol at work.

Cortisol raises blood sugar which if you are not active releases insulin, which is a fat storing hormone. It also causes water retention due to potassium - sodium imbalance and cravings for salt. Sleep patterns are disturbed because adrenal hormones are there to prepare the body for action.

We need cortisol to help the body respond to stress as part of that fight or flight response. It becomes a problem when the body doesn't return to normal following a stressful event. Living in our high stress culture, the body can be activated so often it doesn't have a chance to return to normal. So it is important to find a way for the body to relax as soon as possible after stress triggers our cortisol levels. Making lifestyle changes can help keep our bodies from reacting to stress and well learning stress management techniques can help us to manage it when it happens.

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Ways to decrease Cortisol levels:

 

1.) Talk to someone about the things that are stressing you. Or write them in a journal. Holding things inside is holding on to them instead of releasing them so your body can begin to relax.

2.) Get enough sleep

3.) Eat a healthy breakfast with protein, carbohydrates and water (skipping breakfast causes more cortisol to be released)

4.) Reduce sugar.

5.) Don't allow your body to get hungry. Hunger creates stress. Eat something small every three hours.

6.) Exercise (at the right intensity for you. The goal is to decrease stress not add more.)

7.) Yoga

 8.) Meditation

 9.) Hypnosis and self-hypnosis, guided meditation

 10.) Listening to music

 11.) Breathing exercises

 12.) Sex

 13.) Reduce the sources of stress in your life if possible. (Saying no, even briefly to a stress you can't control by taking some time out for you will help. If that stress isn't going anywhere it will still be there waiting for you if you take a 15 min. walk, or do some yoga, or take quiet time to meditate.)

 

These weekly fitness tips are offered every Friday as part of my contribution to the Lucy Monroe Reader Fitness Challenge.

http://lucymonroe.com/ReaderFitnessChallenge.htm

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This is a 12 week challenge where readers and authors have joined together to get fit and healthy. Organized into teams, we encourage each other on and share tips for exercising and getting in shape. Every week there are prizes, but the real prize is better health and a longer life for each of us. 

To read past fitness articles, visit the articles section of my website.

Till next time, love and light,

Debra

What The Heck Is Bretagne? - by Guest Author Vijaya Schartz

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WHAT THE HECK  IS  BRETAGNE? - by Vijaya Schartz

So many readers asked me this question that I have to answer it.

Bretagne is a French province, a rocky peninsula at the extreme west point of France (not Britain), and is sometimes called Brittany.

 

Its inhabitants are called Bretons. Sounds familiar? During the Roman invasions and into the dark ages it was an independent kingdom called Armorica, and the old religion was Druid.

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There you’ll find many stone circles and alignments (Menhir and Cromlechs).[image error]

Bretagne has undeniable Celtic roots and still remembers dialects akin to the old Celtic languages of Ireland, Cornwall, and Wales. The Bretons have been sailors and fishermen from the start and frequently crossed the English Channel, even in ancient days.

If you travel there, you can visit the magic forest of Broceliande, domain of the great sorcerer Merlin. You can even visit Merlin’s grave... a modest Druid site with sticks and stones. A few miles away, at the café by the lake (yes, that lake), a sword set in a stone was later added for the benefit of modern tourists who love to take pictures of such gaudy things. According to the local folklore, Lancelot was born in Broceliande, so were Merlin and Vivian the Fae. From there surged many Arthurian and post Arthurian legends all through the Middle Ages.

By 806 AD, Bretagne was an important kingdom under king Salomon, who had just sworn allegiance to the Emperor Charlemagne. Lady Pressine, the heroine of Princess of Bretagne and Pagan Queen, was an illicit daughter of King Solomon of Bretagne, born from a Lady Fae of Broceliande...

Mystery solved. Now you know all about Bretagne, and you can impress your friends at dinner. And if you want to know what happened to Pressine, read Princess of Bretagne and Pagan Queen.

But first, here is what the CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE series is about:

From history shrouded in myths, emerges a family of immortal Celtic Ladies, who roam the medieval world in search of salvation from a curse. For centuries, imbued with hereditary gifts, they hide their deadly secret, stirring passions in their wake as they fight the Viking hordes, send the first knights to the Holy Land, give birth to kings and emperors... but if the Church ever suspects what they really are, they will be hunted, tortured, and burned at the stake.

PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE: March 2012 release

806 AD - Alba (Ancient Scotland) - As the Vikings raid the coast of Alba, Pressine of Bretagne sets out to seduce King Elinas of Dumfries, chosen by the Goddess to unite the tribes against the foreign invader. Elinas, still mourning his departed queen, has no intention to remarry. Head-strong and independent, Pressine does not expect to fall for the very attractive, wise and noble ruler... Furthermore, her Pagan nature clashes with the religious fanaticism of the king’s Christian heir, who suspects her unholy ancestry and will stop at nothing to get rid of her.

PAGAN QUEEN: Late April 2012 release

810 AD - Alba (Ancient Scotland) - Queen at last, Pressine brings victory to her beloved Elinas and prosperity to their growing kingdom. But she has to contend with the intrigues of Charlemagne's bishops, spurred by her Christian stepson. While Elinas, on the battlefield, remains unaware of his son’s machinations, Pressine fends off repeated assaults against her life. She also fears the curse that could bring her downfall. For the love of Elinas, she will tempt fate and become with child. But when her indomitable passion challenges the wrath of the Goddess Herself... can she win that battle?

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About Vijaya Schartz:

Born in France, award-winning author Vijaya Schartz never conformed to anything and could never refuse a challenge. She likes action and exotic settings, in life and on the page. She traveled the world and claims she comes from the future but also writes about the far away past. Her books collected many five star reviews and literary awards. She makes you believe you actually lived these extraordinary adventures among her characters. Her stories have been compared to Indiana Jones with sizzling romance. So, go ahead, dare to experience the magic, and she will keep you entranced, turning the pages until the last line. Find out more about Vijaya and her books at http://www.vijayaschartz.com

 

Find her books on Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/author/vijayaschartz

To Lose Weight and Gain Health Prioritize Sleep and What Happens With Sleep Deprivation

This weeks Friday Fitness Tip was delayed because I needed to rest up after the Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention last week.

My topic this week is sleep. How it can help you with weight loss and what can happen when you are deprived of sleep.

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I was very excited about my trip to Chicago for the RT convention, not just because it's a week of meetings, parties and networking as well as a chance to connect with my readers, but also because I was taking the train and it was my first time to travel via Amtrack. One thing I love to do is travel and any time I am heading to a new place or taking a new form of transportation I get excited. It was my first time to Chicago as well, so by the time my train rolled out of Memphis some time around 11:00 p.m. I was as wound up as a little kid. I'd made sure not to eat or drink anything sweet and figured after the first couple hours the newness would wear off and I'd be able to sleep at least part of the way before we rolled into Chicago at 9:00 a.m. This simply did not happen. Even with the lights off, leg rest and foot rest out so I could stretch and sprawled across two seats, I couldn't sleep. I watched the sun come up and even took a few pictures but rested I was not. Disembarking from the train, I collected my bags and found a taxi to take me to the conference hotel. Arrived around 10:30 and checked in. 

It's not the greatest of things to be starting off a week at RT with your sleep bank already in the negative. So I knew I had to do something about this. I got a hot shower, a full breakfast from room service and put myself to bed for a nap. With two hours in the sleep bank I felt less cranky and more like talking to people so I made it down to registration before 5:00 when that closed. Then RT was off and running. The week became a mad dash, making it to all the events I was required to be at as well as trying to fit in time for meals and a few minutes of rest in between events. 

Here are some things I noted about sleep deprivation during that week. I was hungrier than I usually am and thirstier. And the foods I was craving were comfort foods. Pastas, potatoes, sweets. I wasn't exactly reaching for the salads though I usually love a good salad. For the first time in a year I started ordering Pepsi. I don't drink coffee or tea unless it is green tea and I gave up soft drinks well over a year ago. But I needed the caffeine to keep going. In the evening I would grab a hot cocoa from the Starbucks in the hotel. Ordinarly sugar in the evening will keep me up at night but the thing about being so sleep deprived is once I got into bed and relaxed my mind and my body I dozed right off. The alarm clock going off in the morning made me want to throw something. My ankles were swollen by day two and that continued to be a problem all week. I had to keep going to my room and elevating them so they wouldn't keep getting worse. My entire system was thrown off just by missing one nights sleep at the beginning of the week. I had trouble remembering things and relied more on taking notes and double checking my schedule. I was somewhat absent minded and kept having to double check I had what I needed before I left the room. The week was physically exhausting. 

Now you'd think being so tired I would have slept on the train on the way back. It rolled out of Chicago around 8:00 pm and got into Memphis around 6:30 am. But I didn't sleep other than a few short dozes. Not more than an hour added all together. When I got home I took a hot shower and went to bed for the entire day. It's taken nearly a week to catch up on sleep and to start feeling normal again. I'd gained weight on the trip and was feeling stiff and sluggish when I returned home.

So for my topic this week I am focusing on sleep and why it is essential. There are several articles I could cite along with research about sleep and why it helps with weight loss, but I found a video which I feel explains this more clearly than I could and also gives tips for getting a good nights sleep. According to Dr. Mark Hyman 'Besides eating whole foods and moving your body, sleep is the most important things you can do for your health.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA9jw3Snt9Q

Wishing you all a good night's sleep!

Love and light,

Debra

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy Hearts And Happy Spirits

Today I'm going to talk about healthy bodies, healthy minds, healthy hearts and happy spirits. I'm also going to share part of my personal journey with you.

A couple of years ago I had a wake up call. The kind that makes you re-evaluate everything. It was a rainy day, I was driving and a truck t-boned my Honda Accord, totalling it. I was blessed to be able to walk away with nothing more than a re-adjusted bone structure. Because the truck hit my car on the right side, my entire right side shifted. My clavicle and hip were off balance, the right sides higher than the left and my right leg was one quarter inch shorter than the other. As you might imagine, I was in a lot of pain. Doctors handed me pain pills which numbed the pain for a time, but didn't correct the source of the pain. So I began going to the chiropactor for adjustments and took myself off the pain pills. They'd been making me sleep, eat and gain weight. I went to the chiropractor every other day at first, but by the end of four months my bone structure was back in alignment and the pain was gone.

My accident was in Dec. just before Christmas and by January I had taken a new job, working part time as a receptionist at Better Bodies Yoga in Memphis. This allowed me the time to make all those chiropratic apts. and also came with the benefit of free yoga classes. I had done some yoga prior to this because of the years I'd spent bellydancing. Teaching and performing the dance had at one time put me into pretty good shape when I was dancing every day with a professional dance troupe. But at the yoga studio I soon learned the warmups and cool downs using yoga in the dance were different than an hour long yoga practice. Far different than making yoga a practice, part of your every day routine. During my first year at the yoga studio I slowly began to bring the rest of my body into alignment along with my bone structure. It was a long, slow and sometimes painful process. By the end of that year I was able to do most yoga poses again and could dance again. I felt much better. However I was also left with the weight I had put on and this weight was quite determined not to come off.

Weight has been something I have struggled with since the accident and somewhat before, if I am to be honest. So many things beyond what we eat go into weight gain and weight loss. These are the things I will be talking about during Lucy Monroe's Reader Fitness Challenge. I'm excited to be a team coach for the fitness challenge and grateful to Lucy for the opportunity.

Ah, but what is the reader fitness challenge?

 

It's a chance for readers to get in shape, losing weight in a supportive environment while giving readers the chance to win books and even an ebook reader!

Trading extra weight you don't want for extra books you do sure sounds like a good trade off to me. ;-)   

Here is how it works. Readers sign up for the fitness challenge on Lucy's website then add the My Fitness Pal app. which can go on your computer and/or your mobile phone. My Fitness Pal is a good app. which has you log in what you've had to eat for the day along with whatever exercise you've done. There's also a place to log in your weight (or your inches which is what I do) and a place to log in your water intake.  We're able to comment to each other inside the app. which is where your team captain will be cheering you on. 

Each team captain will bring their own presonality, stories and experiences to their team. My background is in dance,  yoga and Reiki (I'm third level Reiki in the Usui traditon). So my approach will integrate these aspects along with my experiences. For me, health and wellness is a balance of mind, body and spirit. Each week I will be blogging here on my website about some aspect of health and wellness as well as my personal journey. Look for these usually on Fridays, depending on my travel schedule.  

Each week during the fitness challenge there will be prizes and I am giving away one signed copy of my first book, A Despearate Journey, for each of the twelve weeks. For more about the prizes and how to win the ebook reader visit:

http://www.lucymonroe.com/ReaderFitnessChallenge.htm

Check it out! Sign up today! You have a whole team ready to encourage you on!

Love and light,

Debra

My Little Space Book

[image error]Back when Myspace was the big hot thing and everyone was flocking to it, some writer friends convinced me I needed to be there too. So I joined and had a blog where I posted my poems, fresh off the page for the most part and received feedback and encouragement. I also enjoyed reading blogs written by my friends.

Then just as everyone had flocked to Myspace, they flocked to Facebook and once again writer friends convinced me I needed to be there too. Myspace is now a ghost town and most people who had blogs there have moved them somewhere else. Those that I enjoyed reading the most I followed to their new blog homes.

A very dear friend has a blog at Word Press called My Little Space Book.  She's posted my first book trailer there   

http://mylittlespacebook.wordpress.com/

So check that out and while you're there, read some of her archived blogs. I think you will enjoy them. 

I don't follow a lot of blogs. There's only so much time if a writer is to get any writing done, but this is one I do follow and enjoy. :-)

The Book Blog Tour: What It Is And Why We Do It

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The Book Blog Tour: What It Is And Why We Do It

What is a blog?

"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others." - taken from Blogger, one of the largest sites which publishes blogs.

What is a book blog tour?

A book blog tour is set up when you have a book to promote and you visit as a guest blogger, either giving an interview, writing a blog to post, or if your blog host does them, having them write a review of your book. This is the book blog tour and it has rapidly gained popularity.

When my first book, A Desperate Journey, came out, it came out first as an eBook and six months later came out in print. So I have had experience with the blog tour as well a book signing tour, which took me to four states.

Book blog tours are replacing book-signing tours for many authors and there are good reasons for doing a book blog tour. We can reach many more readers, in fact thousands from all over the world with one blog post. We can visit anything from a handful of blogs to dozens, over just one week, or an entire month when our books launch. And we can do it from our homes, or wherever we are traveling with a laptop.

Most authors before they are published dream of the glamorous book signing tour. We may continue to dream of this even after we are published, but with a bit more reality once we've experienced enough signings to get a good taste of them. Some authors love book signings and some do not. Whichever side an author falls on this subject, two facts remain. Book signings require travel, which can be expensive, tiring and time consuming and they require time.

Before you begin to lament the loss of the book signing tour, that grand old institution, let me share something many of you may not know.

The author book tour was invented in the 1960's by author Jacqueline Susan. She rented her own plane and flew around the country to visit as many bookstores in as many towns as she could. Memorizing the names of store employees before she arrived, she was marketing herself, not just her books and she did it in that grand and glorious way of Hollywood stars. It was a new way of hand selling books to retailers who would then hand sell her books to readers.

Oh, but what about authors such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde, who toured the world selling books before Jacqueline changed the way things were done?

Yes, they did tour and sign books, however it was their lectures that brought in the crowds. They offered more than a signed book, they offered entertainment.

Most booksellers would likely tell you the average book signing doesn't bring in much revenue for them. My experience has been that signings where the bookseller asked me to read a portion of my book were way more successful than a simple book signing.

Now having said all that, I still love a good book signing. Why? Because I love connecting with my readers. Writing a book requires quite a bit of time spent alone, creating a world and getting it down on paper. A good book signing is a chance to connect with my readers, a chance to hear which books they like and what they want more of. The best book signings do that. So I am certainly not saying do away with book signings.

Authors must spend their time wisely. This, for me, means being selective of where and when I will sign books. One simple fact remains for an author of any level, the beginner all the way to the multiple NYT bestselling author. Time spent doing anything else is time not spent writing your next book.

I believe the most valuable thing the book blog tour does for the author, is to give the author back more of that time. It is possible to visit the blog where you are a guest, read comments, reply, then go back to your writing for an hour before repeating the process. I have done this and it is one of the things I like best about the book blog tour.

My most recent book, Dangerous Ties, came out as an eBook almost two weeks ago and I am currently on a book blog tour to celebrate which will continue through March and part of April. To follow my blog tour, I'll be cross posting on my facebook page, where my readers can find all my interviews.

To follow, visit:  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Debra-Parmley/19909053561

Photo is taken from my first book signing/reading at Burkes Books, Memphis, TN

Monica Parks Photography