Susan Hanniford Crowley's Blog: From Nights of Passion Blog, page 236

Giving Thanks by Gerri Brousseau

Every year on the fourth Thursday in November we in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving. Usually this is the day of a lot of cooking, preparation, friends, family, and eating. This year will be no different, and I’m always thankful for my wonderful family, but as I sit here writing this blog I couldn’t help but think of all I have to be thankful for. It’s been a hectic year for me, not only because I moved, and lost one of my beloved pugs, but I also tried something a little different. Actually, a few things. Normally I write a historical type of romance, but recently I began writing a contemporary romance. I admit it’s not flowing as easily as the historical, but at least there is minimal research. I also got invited to participate in a holiday anthology. When first asked I thought it would be fun, and was it ever. I stopped writing the contemporary romance smack in the middle to write a little holiday themed novella. What was unique about this little box set I am part of is that I’m the only historical style romance. We have 5 stories, 4 are contemporary, 4 are Christmas (or in my case Yuletide) and one is a Chanukah story. It was fun to work with the other four authors, to pick titles and cover art and to work together to promote. I’m thankful for the experience, but I’m most thankful for our dear readers who have managed to drive this little holiday anthology to the Best Seller List! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This little anthology is now available on Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/season-of-magic-marian-lanouette/1120721249?ean=2940150442801

as well as for Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Season-Magic-Holiday-Box-Set-ebook/dp/B00OZ136A6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416874417&sr=8-1&keywords=Season+of+Magic+Holiday+Box+Set

And if that’s not enough, a little birdie (thankfully not a turkey) told me that this lovely little box set will soon be available in print. Stay tuned for details.

Now, if you happen to be one of the readers to whom I am so thankful, would you please leave a review on Amazon? The authors would be most thankful.

Please leave a comment below and tell me what you are thankful for this year. Who knows, maybe one lucky person might receive a little surprise.

Filed under: romance

What I’m Thankful For

I’m making the assumption that this site is read by mostly adults so when I say “you” or “we” I really mean we adults. Do you remember the times when people actually used to care about whether you were sick or not? Do you remember others taking care of you? Somewhere throughout our aging process, we seem to reach an age when we are no longer the ones cared for (with chicken noodle soup and medicine and steam baths, etc.), but we are instead, the caregivers.

I experienced this the past couple weeks as myself and my two kids all got sick. In fact, I’m still trying to get over this rotten cold but at least it is somewhat bearable at this point. And the truth is I’m not here today to complain about being sick but to be thankful that we all seem to be getting through it (mostly my kids) and to remember all that I’m thankful for each and every day but most especially tomorrow.

Thanksgiving is always a bit of a reality check for me as I realize how thankful I am for many of the things I “whine” about. And then I realize that perhaps I should just be quiet and not complain less I have those things taken away. My job for instance. Would I prefer to be writing full time. Yeah, I would if I could do it at my leisure and choose what I write while making what I make at my day job. Unfortunately, that is not currently in the cards for me. So am I thankful for my current day job that at times I find frustrating, definitely. I’m thankful for my family and my health (however sickish I’ve been) and I’m thankful for the country I live in and those who fight for my and my kids rights. The truth is I’m thankful for quite a bit and my only resolution as we end 2014 and move into 2015 is to realize that and give cheers to it more often.

Happy Thanksgiving and feel free to share what you all give thanks for and cherish. Happy writing this week!

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life

Final Week Nanowrimo by Mandy Rosko

I’ve pretty much been ignoring my Facebook as much as I can lately with the exception of a clicking Like a couple of times, and maybe some small comments, because I’m just totally drained. I’m at 44k words for Nanowrimo, and I’m so close that part of me just wants to say that it’s enough and take the rest of the month off so I can finish working on my Siren books for this month.

I’m being slightly stubborn about this, and also a little crazy, and probably mean to myself. So many nice new videogames and books I have, and I can’t touch any of them until November is over ;_; At least not a lot. I can get small reading and game sprints in, but it feels like forever since I’ve been able to sit down and do something other than writing.

There’s also been a little bad news this month, and a children’s birthday party I need to attend on the 30th, so in order to get everything done that I need, I should probably try to get everything finished on the 29th.

I really wish that November had 31 days in the month instead of 30.

At least I will be done the 50k when the month is up. Not sure about the story itself, but I am close to just wrapping it up, which is nice regardless :) Also, because I was a backer for the Fiction Unboxed projecting being done by the Self Publishing Podcast guys, my brother and I will get an hour to speak with them on the 1st of December. I asked for December because there was no way I could do anything else this month without needing to explode.

Anyway, just needed to get that off my chest. If anyone else is doing Nanowrimo, are you feeling like your head is about to explode as well? Are you on time? Behind? Or done? If it’s the last one then I’m super jealous already :)

Cheers,

-Mandy Rosko

Filed under: romance

Freezing but Still the Paranormal-Scope by Susan Hanniford Crowley

Storms are coming and for some storms are here. Always have extra edibles that store well and don’t need to be cooked. Have extra blankets, water, batteries, flash lights, and if you can manage it a source of heat that doesn’t not depend on electricity.

While I am not qualified in any way to read neither stars nor planets, I am intimately linked to the paranormal in the world in many ways. So are you.

The paranormal-scope is for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to guide your life by.

The week for:

Aries:

Goblins are checking their accounts and moving money to the best benefit. A goblin usually makes a holiday gift budget and sticks to it.

Taurus:

Griffons are preparing their caves to be extra warm by gathering wool. The sheep are still attached, so they are bringing in extra food too.

Gemini:

Dragons fly south for the winter.  If you have the money or chance, they might be good for you.

Cancer:

Werewolves seek out caves but if all are taken they will burrow.  The pack is gathering for mutual comfort, cooking and party time.

Leo:

Unicorns love fashion but pass up that thin shiny coat up if you’ll be in a cold climate. Dress for the weather.

Virgo:

Gnomes are packing for a week or two of warmth. Review your resources and make plans.

Libra:

Elves love a bit of  magic for a party.  Think of doing a theme for your holiday party.

Scorpio:

Aslan roars, “Success is in your grasp. Dress better at work and be early and leave late.  Be sure to say something nice about each person every day.”

Sagittarius:

Shapeshifters love keeping in shape even in stormy times.  Check with your doctor what exercise would be best for you.

Capricorn:

Mermaids take you for a swim and tell you a secret.  Your strength will out ride any storm.  Drink tea and don’t seem to mind. Embrace that wild part of yourself and have fun with your career.

Aquarius:

Faeries will walk you through some tough stuff. Hang in there.  There is wonder awaiting you.

Pisces:

A vampire has given you a gift.  Dress your best and sparkle this week with a smile for everyone.  Your work is starting to get noticed.

-Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Where love burns eternal and whispers in the dark!

Vampire King of New York available at Amazon Kindle and print, Barnes and Noble Nook and print and in Kobo

A Vampire for Christmas in Kindle

 

Filed under: A Vampire for Christmas, Max Vander Meer, paranormal, paranormal romance, romance, Susan Hanniford Crowley, vampire books, Vampire King of New York, Vampire King of New York In Print, Vampire Maximillion Vander Meer, vampires

Thankful For Traditions

Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

With Thanksgiving approaching this Thursday, I though a look into my  Thanksgiving traditions might be in order.

Thanksgiving at my house has always been about family and tradition. Not very surprising as this is the holiday for families. But during my childhood it was THE one day my family could be together.

I am an only child and when I was growing up my dad tried to work as much as he could, especially holidays, so he could get double time. Every Christmas I had to wake up at the crack of dawn and go open my presents because he always worked on Christmas and had to be at work at 7am. So in order for him to see me discover what Santa had brought, I had to get up early. And then he was gone for most of Christmas Day.

Thanksgiving, however, was completely different. As far back as I remember my father was always off on Thanksgiving Day. I’d wake up and sit in front of the television and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with my dad while my mother finished the preparations for the feast. My dad always had a garden in the summer and fall and Thanksgiving dinner saw all that bounty on the table: butter beans, potato salad, squash, snaps (non-southerners call them green beans), sweet potatoes, and my father’s famous collard greens. We also had turkey of course, and my grandmother’s dressing that was made in cakes rather than loose. And a pumpkin pie. We used a linen tablecloth and napkins, special goblets and a set of dishes all only used for Thanksgiving dinner. It was served on the stroke of 12 o’clock noon in the dining room, also only used on this one day of the year. It was the only day of the year when you could be sure all three of us would eat together.

Things change. My parents are gone, I have a family of my own, we moved an hour away from my childhood home. However, this Thursday we will travel back to central Virginia to be with family who have come from all parts of the country. But we will gather around several tables, we will laugh and talk because we haven’t seen each other in a year, and we’ll have that special food. I proudly carry on the tradition of my father’s collards. :)

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Especially at Thanksgiving at my house.

Safe travels and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Splendid male turkey

Filed under: Holidays, Jenna Jaxon

What I’ve Learned This Week: My Vampires are Different and the Mystery Patient

Mia, a reader on Amazon, wrote the following 5 star review for

Available in Kindle

A Vampire for Christmas.

Heart warming romance! Love her books!

Very creative ! You never know what is going to happen next. I didn’t like vampire books until I read hers!

I was excited to read this. When The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais came out, a colleague told me that she didn’t like vampire books.  I said that’s okay. What else can you say. I don’t go out of my way to convert people to liking my vampires.  Then I ran into her again a few weeks later, and she brought up again that she didn’t like vampires books, but loved The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais.  She loves David.

Recently an old friend contacted me on Facebook and said that she loved Max. She was reading Vampire King of New York.  I was happy to hear from her but sad that she is fighting cancer.  I was glad she was having fun reading about Vampire Max.

I love writing and when people enjoy it, it just makes me smile all day.  Since my readers have requested more vampires, they will be getting more vampires and other rare supernaturals.

What else did I learn this week?  When you go to the hospital for the tests, be prepared for anything.  One of the tests was an ultrasound and they found something different, so my tests were expanded into two more tests. The hospital staff called me the Mystery Patient, as what I had was a mystery to them. It was finally decided that I have an inflammation, and that my doctor will call me.  I may need medication.

Smiles.  Laughs.  What am I going to do?  I’ll write.

I want to take this time to thank all the readers of my books and also of Nights of Passion and our wonderful authors.  We appreciate each and every one of you.  Random Acts of Gifting are bound to occur in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes open.

Waves and goes back to writing.

-Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Where love burns eternal and whispers in the dark!

Vampire King of New York available at Amazon Kindle and print, Barnes and Noble Nook and print and in Kobo

A Vampire for Christmas in Kindle

 

 

Filed under: A Vampire for Christmas, Author's Wild Life, Characters, fantasy romance, Holidays, Norse, paranormal, paranormal romance, romance, romance novels, Susan Hanniford Crowley, The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais, vampire books, Vampire David Hilliard, Vampire King of New York, Vampire King of New York In Print, Vampire Maximillion Vander Meer, vampires, Viking, Writer's Life, Yule

Those Dreaded Ants by Stacy Hoff

I’ve got a problem. The very second after I finish doing something, I lament how tired I am. But after siting around idle for a few minutes, I run off to embark on a new endeavor. And I run fast, too – like there’s fire on my heels.

Why? I’m pretty sure I don’t hate myself.

Do I have a case of ants-in-the-pants? Maybe. But for me, continuing on my life’s journey means getting things done. Likewise, continuing on my author’s journey means the same thing. There is always another story to be told. Another theme to develop. More characters to create.

It’s not surprising then that I just finished another manuscript. I danced joyously for a day. Then I declared I was exhausted. And two days after that, I was back at my computer, typing away on yet another story.

As my husband would say, maybe I am crazy. Well, what can I tell you? The ants are biting.

Are you able to sit still? If not, what compels you to keep going, even when you’re tired?

Find Stacy on Social Media:

www.facebook.com/authorStacyHoff Twitter: twitter.com/authorStacyHoff   Web: http://www.stacyhoff.com

Desire in the Everglades available now. http://www.amazon.com/Desire-Everglades-Stacy-Hoff-ebook/dp/B00NFSMCYG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410289138&sr=8-1&keywords=desire+in+the+everglades

Filed under: A writer's life, Stacy Hoff, Writer's life, Writing

Getting Into The Spirit by Gerri Brousseau

I’ve been so busy lately that I failed to realize that next Thursday is Thanksgiving . . . already! One would know that the holidays are upon us just by walking into any store. I remember when I was a kid no store put out the Christmas decorations or advertised holiday sales until after Thanksgiving. Boy, things have changed. I saw Christmas things up in stores before Halloween!

In my family, we don’t put up any Christmas decorations until the day after Thanksgiving. No, we don’t go out shopping on Thanksgiving Day. That’s a family gathering day and we are together as family and devote our day to (only in America) food. Still, next week I can assure you that in my family we will be putting up holiday decorations, shopping, and baking our annual Christmas Cookies.

I know each family and faith have their own traditions, and I invite you to share yours with us here today. On Thanksgiving we have a pasta dish (usually stuffed shells), turkey, stuffing, twice baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole (not the recipe with marshmallows), home-made cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, glazed carrots, corn, rolls, gravy, and, of course, pies. Then at some point over that LONG weekend, between putting out decorations, listening to Christmas CDs, and watching Christmas specials on TV, we will begin the holiday baking frenzy.

I love to bake for Christmas, which is why when I was invited to participate in the holiday box set anthology, Season of Magic, and was asked to share one of our favorite holiday recipes I was eager to print one of my family favorites, Thumbprint cookies. It seems that no matter how many dozen are made, it’s never enough of these. In this anthology, all five of the authors have shared one of their favorite recipes. Yes, at the back of each author’s story is one of their recipes. So, if you love the holidays, what better way to get into the spirit than to gift yourself with 5 fun and romantic holiday tales AND get 5 new recipes.

Season of Magic (Holiday Box Set)

Weather and the Writing Mood

I grew up back east. Not exactly the cold New England but neither the temperate southeast. I grew up in good ol’Virginia, right around DC. I loved the summers and hated the cold winters. I loved and still love the spring and fall but that unforgettable cold of winter, the kind that seeped into my bones, made the move to the southwest extremely appealing. It was beyond a matter of how warm or cold I felt but really how weather motivated and inspired me to work and act.

Have you noticed how the weather affects your mood? I’m sure if you think about where/when you’ve felt your best and most inspired or where in general you feel a bit “down in the dumps,” weather may have some sort of influence.

My trip up to northern Arizona this past weekend only brought back some memories of cold and gloomy winters where I have been less than motivated. I have a different view now. I still am not wild about the cold but I find it strange that now I am excited by the rain (something I definitely wasn’t when I lived in Virginia). It’s something so rare in the desert that when it does happen it creates an almost surreal environment which can be quite beautiful at times and very inspiring for my mood and my writing.

What about you all? When it comes to the weather, what inspires you to write or how does it affect your mood? Hopefully wherever you are, this November weather is proving helpful.

Happy writing this week!

 

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life

Nanowrimo Week Three By Mandy Rosko

I really feel a little on the dead side at this point. The later hours are starting to catch up, and I’m torn between how much I’m enjoying myself, and how much I wish I could take some more time off of writing. I missed two writing days for Nanowrimo this month so I could catch up on working on my Siren books. I think I still need to hand in a cover questionnaire that’s a couple of days overdue, as well  -_- But I’m going to stick with it! I’m really happy with the word count I have for the next book in my series, even if I’m still fairly sure that it sucks. A lot.

Really suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks

:>

Anyway, I’m 36k words into it, on top of the writing I got done for Siren, so even if I don’t finish it at 50k, that’s still a nice chunk of writing done on another project in a short amount of time. I just wish I would stop getting other ideas in my head that look so amazing. The other books are shorter. The first book in the series is novella length at 45k, and when I’m done with the second one, I imagine it will be about 50 or maybe 55k.

With the rough draft of this one topping off at 50k for Nanowrimo, I’m not sure how long it will be. I do delete paragraphs on my edits, but I also add in a lot more that was previously missed. I’m weird like that.

Anyway, aside from Nanowrimo, I’ve also spoken to Eve Langlais and a little bit to Opal Carew at the last book signing they went to at the big Chapters near my store—I bought a ton of books! ;)—and after talking it over I’ve decided that Burns Like Fire won’t just be exclusive to the box set anymore. It’s been exclusive for a couple of months, and now I’d like to try and put it into print and get it up on kindle by itself to see how it does. I’ll  need to update the cover first, and get it formatted to be by itself, but I think this is the right decision, especially if I want to publish the sequel by January.

My only worry is that I might annoy people who bought the set because the story was exclusive for the time, but I don’t have nearly a big enough fan base for that to be much of a problem. Hopefully :)

Cheers,

Mandy

Filed under: romance