Lydia Storm's Blog, page 2

Happy Holidays! Cleopatra's Secret on sale for .99 cents.

Happy Holidays!  For all you lucky people who receive an ereader as a gift, Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light will be on sale from now through January 1st for just .99 cents.

Health, Wealth and Happiness to you all this holiday season!

11:11 and November 11th 2011

I have been haunted by the digits 11:11 for over ten years now. Where ever I went they seemed to follow me around, showing up on dinner checks and clock faces.  Not to get too personal, by my nurse even announced in a loud voice just as my water broke while giving birth to my beautiful child that the time was exactly 11:11.

I thought it was just my own personal thing between myself and the universe or my good angels.  But low and behold, I eventually discovered that this is a world wide phenomena.  There are many websites, books, films and even political movements associated with 11:11.  Go ahead and Google it and you'll be amazed!

For my own part, I just try to pause and say a prayer when ever I see the familiar numbers popping up and I find they creep into my writing quite a bit too.  Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light does not have 11:11 coded into it, and yet, I feel the very nature of the esoteric teachings of the ancient pharaohs and their priests do have a link to sacred math and geometry.


So in honor of the upcoming day 11/11/11, Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light will be absolutely free to download on Amazon for that one day only.  I hope you enjoy it!

And next time you see 11:11, I pray you will pause and turn your thoughts to the Light.  Maybe I'll be sharing the moment with you in my own little corner of the world.

UPDATE: Amazon will not allow me to give away Cleo for free.  My sincerest apologies and hopes that my dear readers will have a great 11/11/11 anyway!

Final Days of 99 cents sale for Cleopatra's Secret

The 99 cents sale for Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light ends after Labor Day.  So if you were thinking of downloading a copy, now's the time to get it while it's cheap!  The ebook can be purchased at:  Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Enjoy the last days of summer!

Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light on sale for .99 cents until Labor Day

Just in time for summer's last lazy days, Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light is on sale for just .99 cents until Labor Day.


Hidden beneath aveil of incense inside Egypt's most sacred temple lies the door to a secretchamber Cleopatra must guard with her life. Within resides an ancient mystery the pharaohs and their high priests,The Keepers of the Light, have protected for thousands of years. 
But with therise of Rome's first Emperor, Augustus Caesar, Cleopatra is forced to fight tosave her sacred order from the Roman invaders. If she fails, the brutal Emperor will twist the light The Keepers guardinto a fierce darkness, laying waste to the world and destroying the harmony ofthe universe forever.
Can she trustanother Roman, Marc Antony, the lover who has blinded her with desire, even asAugustus and his legions stand poised at the gates of Alexandria?  And will her soul-stirring passion for Antonyendure when Cleopatra is forced to sacrifice her life for the secret she issworn to protect?

Read an excerpt, or buy now, at:


Amazon


Barnes & Noble


Smashwords

Self Publishing - Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light

When my firstnovel, Moonlight On Diamonds ,received an offer for publication from The Wild Rose Press, I was thrilled and wenton to have a great experience with my publisher.              But the curiosity is killingme.  So I'm taking the leap into selfpublishing with my new historical fantasy romance, Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the Light.              The allure of total control over myproduct was the first enticement.  As anatural-born control freak, I love knowing I have final say over my cover,distribution and release schedule.              I also like the idea that I canprice my book at $1.99 and make it accessible to lots and lots of readers, because,let's face it, we're still in a recession.             I agonized over the whole, Kindlevs. Smashwords vs. Nook thing.  To DRM ornot to DRM?  At the end of the day, Idecided to go with Kindle, Smashwords andNook and just let go of the whole DRM debate. If people are going to pirate your book, they're going to pirate yourbook.  C'est la guerre!  At $1.99, I hope most people will choose tobuy it.             Cleopatra'sSecret: Keepers of the Light comes out in August.  So stay tuned for more on the upcomingrelease!

Empire State Book Festival April 2nd at the Egg

This Saturday, April 2nd, I'll have the pleasure of speaking on a romance writer's panel at the Empire State Book Festival.  Come join me!

Writing Under the Covers: Breaking into Romance: 
Learn what you need to know to break into the 21st century world of romance publishing.  Bonnie Hazard will moderate this panel from the Albany chapter of Romance Writers of America.  Ebooks are the fastest growing segment of the romance market, and several of these authors have had bestselling titles for the Amazon Kindle. Hear from Lydia Storm, Jean C. Gordon, K.A. Mitchell, and Lisa Lewis.


The second annual Empire State Book Festival, an initiative of the Empire State Center for the Book, takes place April 1-2, 2011 in Albany, New York. Presented by the New York Library Association (NYLA), this free, family-friendly educational event celebrates New York State writers, literature and literacy. It takes place at the Empire State Convention Center Meeting Rooms and Base of the Egg
Events Include: Author talks * Writing Panels * Books available for sale and autographing * Antiquarian Booksellers * Meet your favorite children's author or illustrator * Children's book characters 
ADMISSION IS FREE AND THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME For more information visit online at www.empirestatebookfestival.org 

Elizabeth Taylor in her Jewels

While researching my jewel thief novel, Moonlight on Diamonds, I had the pleasure of spending hours reading about famous gems and their glamorous owners.  I had the most fun researching Elizabeth Taylor and her treasures.  She had a rare, almost spiritual, appreciation for power of diamonds, sapphires and emeralds.  The extraordinary Burton-Taylor diamond even bears her name linked with that of the great love of her life.  With her passing, an era of old Hollywood beauty and glamour fades more distinctly into the past.
Rest in peace Liz!

Happy Dark and Stormy Valentine's Day

In keeping with the spirit of Valentine's, Dark and Stormy has assembled a few favorite tortured lovers.  Here are some of the most deliciously brooding heros and passionate heroines, all caught up in a love which (for some reason or other) they can never have.  Yet they cannot resist the siren call of the beloved, and despite the consequences, abandoned themselves to Love - though some of our couples do have to wait for the afterlife to find eternal bliss.

In no particular order:  My Favorite Tortured Lovers.

Maxim de Winter and his poor little bride fight the ghost of Rebecca.


Antony and Cleopatra - perhaps the most famous tortured lovers of all time, played by real life tortured lovers, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
Bram Stoker's Count Dracula and his soulmate, Mina, take ill-starred love to paranormal extremes.
Saving my favorite for last, Cathy and Heathcliff give us all the tear-jerking drama a true romantic could crave in Wuthering Heights.  And nobody broods like Olivier!

Great Christmas Reads

If you're looking for a few last minute stocking-stuffers, or just a great Yuletide tome to curl up by the fire with this Christmas, here are a few suggestions.

Of course the first, and most obvious choice for this Dark and Stormy blog, has to be the perennial classic, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  With fantastic passages like the one below, this story manages to capture the spirit of Christmas (no pun intended), while also maintaining a suitably brooding and gothic atmosphere for those of us inclined towards moody gaslight romanticism.


Once upon a time -- of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve -- old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.  It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.  The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already -- it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air.  The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms.  To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.



My second recommendation, Mary Balogh's A Christmas Promise, is quite possibly the best Christmas regency romance of all time.  Full of angsty passion, jolly times at a snow-covered country estate and an ending so heartwarming it brings tears to your eyes, this book has become a holiday classic.   


If you're in the mood to download a more whimsical holiday treat, try out Sweet Inspiration by Penny Watson.  Christmas elves, Santa and one fabulous romance!  


Merry Christmas!

5 great books to be thankful for

As Thanksgiving approaches, I wanted to give thanks for the hours of pleasure I derived from 5 books I read this year.  Listed here, in no particular order, are my favorite reads of 2010.

1) Gail Carriger's debut novel Soulless

 Witty and fun streampunk at its best!2) Sepulchre by Kate Mosse Gothic supernatural suspense set in a remote estate in Provence.  Wonderful! 
3) The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

A lovely sweeping gaslight romance set in Victorian London.  No wonder they're making a Broadway musical out of it!
4) Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore YA steampunk with echos of Jane Eyre.  I was up till 4 a.m. reading this book. 
5) Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander
Victorian suspense set in a Sultan's harem.  Book 4 in the amazing Lady Emily series.   
What are some of the books you're grateful for this year?