Cindy A. Matthews's Blog, page 12

And now a word from Brandi Whyne...

Hello again, darlings!

Yes, it's me, Brandi Whyne interrupting Celine's Dreams blog in order to get my ghost writer Celine's attention. The darn woman is just too busy for her own good! She has promised me that she will write the next chapter in my saga soon... That is, after she's written the next chapter in the Kindred vampire series! Sheesh! Of all the nerve!



 Actually, Celine's vampires are quite hot and the latest, Blood Bond, is not too bad a read if I say so myself. Check them out at eXtasy Books. You can even purchase Kindle ebooks direct from the eXtasy online store now. Saves you time and makes more money for those poor slaving authors! A win-win all around, if I don't say so myself...



(You can read more about me and my series at my blog: http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com or find them all for sale at http://www.extasybooks.com/index.php?route=product/series&series_id=988)

Well, until we meet again, please continue reading my Incredibly Erotic Adventures and tell all your friends with new Kindles or Nooks or whatever to keep reading them as well.

Love,

Brandi

X X X

P.S. If you're into the tamer, mainstream romance stories, don't miss the MFRW Mainstream Blog Hop February 10 - 13. Lots of great prizes, ebooks, and giveaways to be had. Never say that Brandi isn't a romantic at heart! Click the link for more info about the blog hop:

Marketing For Romance Writers Blog Hops

We now return this blog to its rightful owner... :)

Book Review: Master and God

Master and God by Lindsey Davis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There's a reason why I don't put any author's books on an "automatically buy" list. Even if I love their earlier books, I don't necessarily believe I will love their later works. Such is the case (unfortunately) for Master and God. Having enjoyed Davis' Falco detective series, I thought I'd give this story a try--and trying it was.

 In the Falco series the Roman history, culture and setting are seamlessly intertwined with fascinating and sympathetic characters, but the same can't be said of this book. The first part is a head-hopping nightmare. The point of view hops from omniscient to one character to the next (even within a paragraph). Then there's a head hop to a fly on the wall. Really! Having to edit and fix head-hopping problems in my own and others' manuscripts (Yes, I'm an evil editor), I don't care to read it in a professionally published book.

The second part of the story is a bit less head-hoppy, and the lovers Flavia Lucilla and Gaius Vinius are worth cheering for, but long "telling/info dumping" passages slow up the love story and cause frustration for both the lovers and the reader alike. It seems as if Davis couldn't figure out if she wanted to write a straight history of the reign of Domitian or a love story set in Rome. I wish she would have stuck with the second choice and edited the head-hopping and info dumping.

If readers could get a feel for Rome in the Falco series without chapter upon chapter of info dumping, surely Lucilla and Vinius' love story could have been written likewise. But if you enjoy Roman history and don't mind the romantic interruptions and head-hopping, Master and God might appeal to you.

Book Review: Steampunk Unloaded

Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded by Ann VanderMeer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded is a good anthology as far as anthologies go, but not all its stories are equal. The inequalities are evident both in entertainment value and even in meeting the very definition of being an actual steampunk story. A rather surprising inclusion is a recently translated piece written in 1870 by Danish author Vilhelm Bergsoe. "The Flying Fish Prometheus" is by far the best of the group. It truly has every element in it that a steampunk story should have--including the Victorian values and social structure along with the wildly creative steam tech. Stories by Cherie Priest of Boneshaker fame, G.D. Falksen and Tanith Lee are also outstanding. Artwork that includes "Lovelace and Babbage" and essays on what exactly is the steampunk movement are also strong offerings. A good intro into the genre for those who have stumbled into steampunk through fashion or other creative endeavor.

View all my reviews

Happy Naughty New Years!

We've made it through the Mayan apocalypse... We're still struggling with the economy and other weighty matters, and we've still got the majority of the winter to get through (at least in the northern hemisphere). Thank the stars 2012 is now behind us!  Cue the music--it's time to party like it's 2013!

Some folks suffer from triskaidekaphobia or the fear of the number thirteen. I'm not one of them. I figure we've had enough bad luck already this past year, so 2013 is going to be worth the wait.



New Year's resolutions? I have a few. I hope I can meet them with a minimum of fuss. One resolution is to finish up my current naughty work-in-progress entitled Blood in Berlin. It features the vampire Edwin Carstairs. Blood in Berlin takes place on the eve of World War II. Edwin is recruited to stop an evil and kinky Nazi scientist named Madame V. The genius blonde bombshell has tricked Edwin’s former lover, Ophelia Jones, into helping her create super soldiers with paranormal powers... Will Edwin be able to rescue Ophelia and stop Madame V before all out war begins? 


Edwin Carstairs is my idea of a vampire hero. Edwin can also be found in my latest release from eXtasy Books, Blood Bond . Although he is transformed from mortal to immortal at the  young age of 23, Edwin is all man. He enjoys his bedroom romps with his lovers Ophelia and his vampire sire, Hamlet. When a vampire hunter threatens their safety, he doesn't cringe or stay away from danger. He faces it head on.



I love stories about good ol' fashioned vampires who suck blood and are wonderful lovers. They don't need to do much else to make me happy, but if they can transform or shapeshift into creatures of the night, so much the better. The one thing they don't have to do is remain chaste until their wedding day or look extremely anemic or pretend to be Tinkerbell. After all, they're powerful paranormal heroes--they're drop dead gorgeous! Their lovers can't wait to experience that first bite, so Why should any vampire look like he needs a blood transfusion? Come on!



After Edwin is let loose on the unsuspecting public (Bwahaha!), I'm not sure what my next naughty work-in-progress will be. I'd like to finish up my Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures saga, but current sales don't motivate me to want to spend time on something I'm not sure will sell. But Brandi is a very dominant character and she doesn't want to leave me alone... She wants her tale of sex, space adventure, piracy, more sex, romance, group sex, rollicking action, occasional spanking, more sex, and a happy ending to be told. Given that, I guess I'll let Brandi take over my consciousness and pen the remainder of her tale. Perhaps in 2013, readers of comedic-erotic-space opera will spring forth from the sidelines and make Brandi a Kindle best-selling title after all? I just have to have a bit of faith, right?

Here's to a wonderful year of exciting erotic-romance tales!



Now it's time for the giveaway portion of the blog... Please leave me a comment below telling me what sort of naughtiness you'd like me to write for you in the coming year. Be sure to leave an email address where I can contact you if I draw your name. My giveaway is an e-copy of the first chapter in the Brandi Whyne series, Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures: Chapter 1: Captured by Space Pirates!


Follow the link below to leave a comment at each of the Naughty New Years blog hop member's site to be entered in the grand prize giveaways, a $100 gift card to Eden Fantasys and a digital gift basket of ten erotica books. All comments across the blog tour are entered, so be sure to leave one here and elsewhere. Good luck!




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Book Review: Abraham Lincoln -- Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Should anyone mess with a historical personage to the point of creating a "history" that never happened? Do we owe our idols some loyalty in keeping their reputations clean and their hands free from blood? Seth Grahame-Smith does a very good job of researching Lincoln's formative years growing up in Indiana and his early years in Illinois politics. He creates a credible world in which vampires might have lived and gives plausible situations in which Lincoln might have interacted with bloodsuckers. The one point where the whole conceit falls down, I believe, is with the title character. Do most Americans see our beloved Lincoln as a blood-thirsty killer or as the savior of the republic? Possibly creating an original character living in the time period of the Civil War fighting off the evil vampires in league with southern slave owners would have worked just as well without the unpleasant aftertaste of the betrayal of a cultural icon... Still, it is a very well written book, with the caveat that it's not possibly to everyone's tastes.

View all my reviews

Happy Holidays to All My Readers!

Happy Holidays to all my readers! Here's to a healthy and happy holiday to you and yours. I hope to see you in the New Year with a new title... another vampire tale, Blood in Berlin.



(Until then, don't forget to purchase and read my other e-books!) ;)

Book review: State of Change

Doctor Who: State of Change by Christopher Bulis


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


There were never enough stories featuring the sixth Doctor and Peri, in my humble opinion, so the chance of reading one of their "missing adventures" is something I couldn't pass up. I enjoyed most of STATE OF CHANGE and really give kudos to Christopher Bulis for his expert research in ancient Rome. The apparent "Roman world" that the Doctor and Peri find themselves transported to is very realistic, and the mortal peril they encounter is well presented. My one complaint is that I never felt that the Doctor and Peri were that important in the scheme of things... There are many, many characters--all of them interesting in their own right--but I longed for more pages featuring interactions with Peri and the brightly dressed Doctor alone. Still, on the whole, a very well written novel that is sure to please fans of the classic series.




View all my reviews

Xmas Party Time at eXtasy/Devine Destinies Books is full of Prizes!!

We'll be traveling this week, but handsome hubby and I will do our best to show up at the first party. We'll attend the second party for certain. So drop by the chat room and chat with some wild and crazy authors. Your name will be included in the drawing to win some fantastic prizes--including a Kindle e-reader. The parties will be held at http://www.extasychat.com


Ho, ho, ho! Santa's little helpers are certainly alive and well at eX/Devine Destinies Books. :)

Lots of Vampires to be Thankful For!

Happy Thanksgiving all you vampire erotic-romance lovers! And man-oh-man, do you have a lot to be thankful for in the next few weeks...

 I'll be blogging and doing an ebook giveaway of my latest release Blood Bond on December 3 at the V Spot Blog, but first I'll be hanging out with fellow Vampire Realm writers on November 30 at the Coffeetime Romance Latte Lounge.  Please join us then for more prizes and giveaways and good ol' fashioned non-sparkling vampire romance fun. ;)

NaNoWriMo On the Road!

November is the month for NaNoWriMo--that's the "write a novel in a month challenge" for those not familiar with the program. I successfully wrote a novel (or a series of novelettes) a few years back in my first NaNoWriMo, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to at least start and finish a proposed novella I've had in mind for a few weeks now this coming November. 

(You may have heard of my first NaNoWriMo success--Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures. I wrote the first five chapters in one month. It was fun "channeling" Brandi!)

 

The added challenge to my "novel challenge" is that we'll be on the road for the next few months quite a bit. 

Yet I still think it's a doable feat. Why? Well, for one thing I won't be able to access the Internet quite as often as I can now. I'm one of those dinosaurs who don't access the Internet via my mobile phone. (My cell phone is not "smart".  It only lets me talk and listen on it. I prefer it that way.) So while we're traveling, I'll be without Internet distractions. I hope this means I'll be able to concentrate on developing my story and finishing it before the end of November. 



I have two story ideas actually, but my best bet this NaNoWriMo is the next story in the continuing tale of the young vampire Edwin Carstairs, first introduced in my Celine Chatillon novella, Blood Bond. I had a dream that Edwin survives and thrives as a vampire and 35 years later, at the onset of World War II, he is recruited to find a rogue vampire in league with a Nazi scientist... none other than his former lover, Ophelia Jones. The tentative title is Blood in Berlin.

If that story idea doesn't get the creative juice flowing, then I have a romantic-comedy idea about two lonely people who watch each other from afar and dream what life would be like if they were together. But will they ever get together in reality? That's the rub! 

Hey, why don't I let the readers decide? You tell me which one of these story ideas strike you as one you'd like to read in the comments below. Thanks and Happy NaNoWriMo to us all! :)