Karilyn Bentley's Blog, page 12

Michelle Miles: Finding Inspiration in the Weirdest Places (With Parenthetical Thoughts)

This past weekend was a “stay at home and work around the house” weekend. The husband was in the yard most of Saturday and Sunday and I cleaned up around the house, did laundry, hung a ceiling fan (instead of baking a cake – I was super proud of NOT baking a cake even though I was dying for cake). While the Man was in and out and I was puttering around the house and also browsing Amazon Prime, I ran across this show called Just Add Magic.

Now, I will tell you I am definitely NOT the demographic target for this show. Nor do I have a pre-teen girl in the house. But the premise sounded cute and I ended up watching the first episode on my laptop.

Guess what? I got hooked.

Silly, right?

In a nutshell, the story is about three best friend girls in middle school who find a magical cookbook in the attic in one of the girls’ house. Kelly has learned to bake from her grandma (played by Dee Wallace – you’ll remember her as the mom in E.T.) but something is wrong with Grandma and she no longer speaks. Kelly figures out she’s under some magical spell. Kelly is determined to break the spell on her grandma. She drags Hannah and Darby along for the ride and lots of funny things happen when they bake the recipes from the magical cookbook.

It’s a 13 episode season and I ended up watching the first 7. I was drawn into the storyline and, naturally, each episode is a cliffhanger so you HAVE to go to the next one to see what happens. No word on whether or not it will be renewed for a second season. (And, by the way, I’m still trying to wrap my head around these series that are only on streaming media like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Makes me wonder if Network TV will be a thing of the past anytime soon.)

Anyway...so what does this have to do with writing? I have a magic story about a witch that’s been brewing (did you see what I did there?) for a while and I just couldn’t figure out a few things about it. The show has given me some new ideas on what I need to do to go back and revise the storyline. Not that I have time to work on that, of course, because I have 230948 projects ahead of it. So right now I will enjoy the remaining shows while that story continues to brew.

What about you? Hooked on any streaming shows lately?

Under the Princess Crown: Zoe Forward & her new book Playing the Witch's Game #ParanormalRomance #newbook #MFRWorg

Zoe Forward is a hopeless romantic who can’t decide between paranormal and contemporary romance. So, she writes both. When she’s not typing at her laptop, she’s a small animal veterinarian caring for a wide range of furry creatures.

Speed Round:Favorite movie: Toss up between: 12 Angry Men and Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite book: I need a genre, please! I love so many.
Last book read: Adult book - Mercury Striking by Rebecca Zanetti;  Kids book- Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick
Favorite color: green
Stilettos or flipflops: flipflops
Coffee or tea: coffee
Ebook or paperback: ebook
Pencil or pen: penFavorite song: Hooked on a Feeling by Blue SwedeStreak or not: notFavorite dessert: anything chocolateChampagne or gin: champagneParanormal or Historical: ParanormalGinger or Mary Ann: Mary AnnFavorite TV show: Top ChefHot or cold: hotPOV: third personI'd die if I don't have: my family


Even a good witch knows how to play dirty.
Excerpt from Playing the Witch’s Game:“You want me to do what?” Nikolai’s mind stalled on her verbal bomb.
“I want to hire you.” Jen leaned against the kitchen counter, far too casual.
“You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend? On TV?” He stared into Jen’s wide-set blue-gray eyes and the grin of her generous mouth, a mouth he’d spent a lot of time contemplating, far more than he should have. Her brown hair was shorter, more professionally cut than last year. He missed her long locks, but the cut matured her in a good way. She was closer to thirty than the barely twenty-one vibe she projected.
“There’s this reality show I plan to audition for tomorrow. But it’s a couple’s show. Since I’m technically single at the moment I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
He liked the thought of her not having a boyfriend, but not this scenario. “On television? Which TV show?”
“Extreme Survivor.”
A snort escaped him. She had to be messing with him. Her eyes narrowed in warning.
Oh shit, the woman wasn’t kidding. “You want to go on Extreme Survivor? You, the art museum PR coordinator?” 
“Well, I figure with you I’d have a better chance of getting through a few days.”
“You couldn’t have formulated this plan more than about fifteen minutes ago. You can’t be serious.”
Her eyes widened with momentary fear, but her back stiffened and her shoulders went rigid. She gave him a confirmation nod. Respect and admiration for her rose. She recognized the dangers, but something important pushed her.
He said, “I might be able to deal with the left field bullshit they toss the competitors on that show if I could get past it being television and un-reality. But you? You do realize you can’t wear stilettos on that show.” Why was he even analyzing this juvenile scenario as a possibility?
“Oh, good. You’ve seen the show before. I do own other shoes.”
“They make you do crazy things on that show like climb mountains with your bare hands and no ropes, or swim across the rapids of a half-mile-wide river that’s infested with piranhas. There might be snakes and spiders. You might even have to eat them.” He chuckled when her face paled.
She notched her chin up. “Can you make them taste good?”
Laughter bubbled from deep down in a release of tension he hadn’t experienced in a long time. Actually, he hadn’t laughed this hard since he last tangled with Jen. He shook his head. “No. Nothing makes them taste good when you’re in the middle of nowhere. I’m not a covert ops soldier or a survivalist. We can’t be on national television.” Find Zoe Forward at: Website - http://www.zoeforward.comFind PLAYING THE WITCH’S GAME at:  Choose your favorite vendor here - http://www.entangledpublishing.com/pl...

Under the Princess Crown: Jennie Marts & her new book Romancing the Ranger #ContemporaryRomance #newbook #MFRWorg

USA TODAY Best-selling author Jennie Marts writes for Entangled Publishing and is addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends. Her books include the contemporary western romance Hearts of Montana series, the romantic comedy/cozy mysteries of The Page Turners series, the hunky hockey-playing men in the Bannister family in the Bannister Brothers Books, and the small town romantic comedies in the Cotton Creek Romances.  Visit her at www.jenniemarts.comand sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the latest news and releases.

Speed Round:Favorite movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Last book read: Girl On A Train
Favorite color: pink
Stilettos or flipflops: flip-flops
Coffee or tea: coffee
Ebook or paperback: paperback
Pencil or pen: pen (with purple ink)Favorite song: Give Me One ReasonStreak or not: hmmm…I have a pink streak in my hair-does that count?Favorite dessert: DQ BlizzardChampagne or gin: MoscatoParanormal or Historical: ParanormalGinger or Mary Ann: Mary AnnFavorite TV show: Downton AbbeyHot or cold: hotPOV: thirdI'd die if I don't have: Todd (hubby)
A romantic comedy about Reese Hudson, a city girl, who meets a hunky park ranger when she accidentally burns down a structure in his state park and is required to rebuild it under the sexy ranger’s supervision.

Excerpt from Romancing the Ranger: 
The sound of an engine startled Reese, and she looked up as a green Park Service truck pulled into the parking lot.  “What the hell are you doing?” the park ranger asked, stepping out of the truck. Reese registered blue jeans and cowboy boots on a tall, muscular frame. The man’s sandy blond hair held the natural highlights she paid dearly to achieve every month at the salon. He wore a brown uniform shirt and a scowl on his otherwise handsome face. A whooshof flames burst at her feet. She jumped back as the fire spread to the tall dry grass in front of the outhouse. Oh no! What have I done? Panic welled in her chest as she pulled off her suit jacket and whacked the ground, trying to stamp out the fire. As if it had a mind of its own, the flames headed straight for the dry timber of the outhouse, searching for more fuel to sate its fiery hunger.Focused on the fire, she didn’t look up, but heard the ranger swear and radio for help. Then he ran up beside her, a fire extinguisher in his hands as she vehemently tried to put out the flames. “Get back,” he yelled.Her dog barked feverishly in the car. She wasn’t sure if it was at the fire or the man wielding the big red canister. A glance at the car showed the dog scrambling out the open window, his yapping replaced with a painful yelp as he fell to the ground. “Bagel!” she cried as the injured dog limped toward her. She ran for the dog, oblivious of the ranger wielding the extinguisher. Intent on getting to Bagel, she ran right in front of him. “Aahh!” she cried as a shot of white foam hit her in the chest. Shocked, she stumbled, her heel broke, and she fell to the ground. The little dog whined as it limped to her. “Come here, baby.” She pulled it into her arms, cradling its hurt leg while trying to keep it from licking the white foam from her bare arms. “Are you okay?” the ranger called to her as he continued to fight the flames that now engulfed half of the park’s outhouse. The sound of a siren filled the air, and another Park Service vehicle arrived, equipped with a water tank and hose. Two men jumped from the truck and had the fire extinguished within a few minutes. One of the men patted the ranger on the back. “You all right, Wade? Lucky for you, we were already coming up the pass when we heard your call.” Wade ignored the fireman and turned to her, his face full of anger. “What the hell were you thinking? You could have set the whole forest on fire. This is a state park, and we’re under a fire ban.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She awkwardly tried to stand, wobbling on one foot with the hurt dog in her arms, her broken shoe lost somewhere in the chaos of the fire. A low chuckle sounded from one of the firefighting rangers as he glanced at her chest.She looked down to see the liquid from the extinguisher had turned her ivory camisole see-through. The white lace bra she wore was no help in concealing her assets, and her headlights took advantage of that moment to shine. That’s just great. She lifted the dog higher as Wade stripped off his shirt and held it out to her. Distracted by his broad shoulders and seriously muscled chest, she clumsily handed him the dog and took the shirt. Tearing her eyes from his slim tapered waist and tanned bare skin, she pulled the warm shirt around her. It smelled like aftershave and campfire smoke. “Thanks. Look, I really am sorry. I’m happy to pay for the damages.”She felt horrible for starting the fire. Her stomach ached at the thought of what could have happened. But her regret was lost on the ranger. His face darkened with anger. That had apparently been the wrong thing to say. “What’s wrong with you people from the city? You think you can come up here with your fancy clothes and your flashy cars and disregard all the rules. You could have caused some real damage here. You don’t care about anyone but yourselves. Money doesn’t fix everything, lady.”Whoa. This guy was hot. And not just in a handsome way. In a seriously pissed off way.She needed to tread lighter. Not make him any angrier. Hmmm. Why did this feel familiar? Because this was what she always did. With her father. With Brock. Hadn’t the purpose of her drive up here been to take back control of her life? To throw away not just the mementos but the bad habits of trying to please everyone else and bending over backward to not get anyone upset? The only way to quit being weak was to be assertive. No time like the present. She squared her shoulders and stared the ranger in the eye. “Look, mister. It was an accident. I said I was sorry and offered to pay for the damages. That’s my offer. What are you going to do about it?”Thirty minutes later, she was reconsidering her decision to test her newfound assertiveness on Ranger Wade as she cooled her one dusty heel in a jail cell.

Find Jennie Marts at:  https://www.facebook.com/JennieMartsBooks/   Find Romancing the Ranger at: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/romancing-the-ranger/

Revisiting a #classicbook - LITTLE WOMEN #MFRWorg #RssosSisters #amreading #familyvalues

I’ve belonged to a book club for eleven or twelve-ish years now. We read new and old tomes. So at a recent meeting, one friend suggested we read  Little Women .
I’d read Little Women many, many years ago. I would have rather read Alice in Wonderland because a recent article came to me about how Alice is the book most people say they’ve read, but haven’t and I hadn't. The others were up for Little Women .  Wikimedia
I had a hard time starting the book. The first thing I noticed is the writing is very different. The point of view changes constantly, even has a narrator. Pops in and out of internal point of view. Uses “commanded she,” “demanded she,” etc. instead of what has been drilled in my head-“she said,” “he asked.” There’s a whole lot of narration not attributed to a character.
Yet...
The tales about the sisters are sweet. There’s a large influence on family values, money, and religion. The importance of friendship. The characters are well-defined and grow. Each faces a dilemma per chapter which reads like a short story.
Last summer, Handsome and I went to see the Hitchcock film of Daphne du Maurier’s book, Rebecca . I discovered Rebecca at age thirteen and have always loved it. I’d seen it on the small screen several times, but not the big one. So when a local theater announced their summer series and Rebecca was included, I was in. But once there and viewing, I became aware the audience was tittering at certain parts. I glanced at my fellow theatergoers and noticed the younger ones in particular were laughing. So I looked at specifics and found the overacting of the hero was silly. Afterwards, I discussed this with Handsome and we agreed being involved in the story was more important, and most likely, the younger people didn’t comprehend the kind of acting from back then.
The same for me and Little Women . My takeaway is to take off my writer’s hat and leave the mechanics behind. Go for the story and immerse.    Have you revisited a story and found you felt different about it?




 Have a minute to vote? The Season of Surprises anthology is in The Romance Reviews Readers Choice Awards.Ours is in the Anthology category. Here's the link and thank you!  http://www.theromancereviews.com/bookvote.php

@sloanebcollins I Spy... #PlottingPrincesses #spies #undercover #amwriting #amreading #MFRWorg

Spies. Espionage. CIA. Covert ops. MI6. 
I love anything to do with spies in movies and books.  I honestly think I fell in love with that type of stuff when I first read Helen MacInnes umpteen years ago.
Or, it could be because my five times great-grandfather was a spy in the Civil War.  My aunt and cousins have done extensive research into our undercover relative. The most astonishing fact is that while he is from my mother’s side of the family, his name and my dad’s are actually the same.  I’ve searched the internet and books about the Civil War for mention of him…but as any good spy would tell you, there are not a lot of stories about him.  Rumor has it he was a very short man, and once when he was in the North on a mission, he had to hide under a lady’s hoop skirts so the Yankees wouldn’t catch him.
Oh, the things I could do in a book based on his escapades! And one of these days, I’ll write it.
The spy game is not just for men. Several years ago, we visited the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.  If you’ve not had the chance to visit, I highly suggest it.  That’s where I found out that Julia Child actually worked for the OSS during the war.  While she herself was not a spy (supposedly), I think it’s amazing that she had the courage to work for that agency.  And many other women throughout history have been spies.  Girl Power!
I know it’s not all romance and high adventure to be a spy, but that’s the way I choose to see it, and why I read those books or see the movies.  That’s why I loved reading Helen MacInness’ books – and from what I read in Espionage’s Most Wanted by Tom E. Mahl, her second novel, Assignment in Brittany (1942), was given to Allied intelligence agents who were sent to work with the French resistance against the Nazis. The Unconquerables, published in 1944, portrays the Polish resistance so accurately that some people thought she was using classified information given to her by her MI6 intelligence husband.
And of course, there’s always James Bond, the most famous spy of all.  

How about you? Do you like movies and books about spies?  But more importantly, which James Bond is your favorite? (Sean Connery for me!)

Michelle Miles: Worldbuilding with Maps

I posted on Facebook a while about back how much I love maps. Not only are they great for research purposes, but I also love to stare at them for hours end and imagine all the possibilities. I’ve been a map nerd pretty much all my life.

On a recent bookstore visit, I purchased a couple of maps for my current WIP, which is set in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. I find I’m particularly fond of Knopf Mapguides with the fold out maps because you get a really good bird’s eye view of the city itself. Plus they have it sectioned off by areas so it makes it super handy when working in a small grid like I am. AND it’s small enough to fit into my purse so I carry it everywhere.

The really cool thing about the Knopf Mapguides is it lists “best of” places from restaurants to hotels to entertainment, as well as transportation for the city. There’s even an index of streets, monuments and places to visit in the back.

The highlighted box is the boundary of my world for this novel (and subsequent novels if there are any *wink*). And even though this isn’t my usual sort of worldbuilding where I build everything from the ground up, there is still some worldbuilding involved because I have to know where me people live, work and play. And sometimes have sex. *grin*

What I love about doing this is I can pinpoint exact areas and notate them on the map. I don’t know if you can see it, but I do have two places notated in pencil of where a major part of the story takes place as well as a secondary character’s home (which I’m thinking will come in handy for book two if there IS a book two and I’m thinking there probably will be. Ha).

For me, setting is one of the most crucial pieces I need to have in place before I start writing. Or at the very least shortly after I start writing. Deciding where to put the story is just as important as deciding who my characters are because oftentimes the setting itself can become a character, especially with a city New York.

When I know my setting, I build the story around it and use things within that setting to create the type of world I need for the story. For instance, I wanted a grittier world for this story so it’s set in a nightclub in the middle of Hell’s Kitchen. It was fun doing research for clubs in that area of the city to see what I could model mine after (and mine is completely fictitious). It was also fun to think of the types of people who would populate this world and how they would interact with each other, where they lived and why.

I’ve used this technique before on my as-yet-unpublished urban fantasy which is largely set in Hong Kong. I purchased a Knofp Mapguide of Hong Kong and it became invaluable to me as I wrote the story and figured out how my main character navigated the city.

But I don’t just love maps for research purposes. I love them for other purposes, too. Like planning a vacation! When the husband and I traveled to the Black Hills one summer, we studied roadmaps to plan our route to and from. He navigated us there and I got us home and no, I didn’t get us lost. Even though we took two different routes through Nebraska and Kansas, they looked the same—lots of corn and hay. *grin*

What about you? Do you love maps?

The Hoochie Coochie Girls #cleaninghouse #familyhome #RssosSisters #MFRWorg

Last July, my dad passed away, and in November, so did my mom. They had lived in their home for 57 years—a very long time. Both of them were Depression Era babies, and the value of saving and not wasting anything was instilled. The keep it because someone might need it idea was what the generation lived by.

Last weekend, my sisters and other family members gathered at our childhood home and began to weed through the contents. Financial docs were saved. Items each of us specifically wanted were set aside. Cupboards cleaned out. Contents taken from bathrooms, bedrooms, hall closets were sorted for the Disabled Veterans store or went to the trash. The attics got special attention, too. Anyone need four fans? Or six Dremels?Then we tackled the garage. Pops saved way too much under the someone might need it umbrella. Drawer contents were dumped into old shoe boxes for sorting. People claimed tools, and stuff identified for a second look was placed on a table.

My brother-i-law and I sorted shoe boxes of household junk. I picked up a long tube which looked as if toothpicks would have been stored inside it. Dangling from the same chain was something else. I collect Viewmasters and single shot viewfinders.


I suspected the item was indeed a single shot one and peeked through the clear end. “What??!!!” I looked at the device and lifted it to my eyes again. I laughed. My B-I-L said, “What is it?” I said, “This will make your day,” and passed it to him. His laugh was loud and drew the family’s attention. “What is it?” “A viewfinder.” We all had a look.

The truth is I never thought my dad would have one with hoochie coochie girls. LOL. I’m betting it was a Navy thing.The three women in the pix had bare chests with sombreros strategically placed over their thigh juncture. Curls of blonde hair artfully arranged on their heads. Three legs in a matching jaunty pose. Worthy of a second look.

Yeah, everyone wanted this treasure. Have you ever found a treasure that really surprised you? Join Hattie Cooks in her hilarious adventures in employment where someone is bound to end up dead and the detective is totally a hunk at: Amazon

What if you were a Living Accident? #TrueStory #MustRead #TexasTale

I had the pleasure of editing this wild tale! Check it out! It's now available at Kindle for only .99! ~ Princess Alisha


Book Description: The Living Accident is the true life story of Steve Edmonds who beat the odds time and time again. Beating death over and over is a theme for this wild man's life. So much so that he ends up working at a funeral home. Buckle your seat belt and get ready to ride the waves of gut busting hysteria in this coming of age autobiography about a good ole boy who just won't die but helps others who do.

Excerpt: I guess I was what I have heard folks call being all boy throughout your childhood. I went through my period of killing birds with my BB gun. My dad’s sister, Aunt Bertha and her husband, Uncle George owned a couple of rent houses a couple houses down from us and they spent most weekends there fixing it up over a period of time.
Uncle George was what they call a goosy person. If you snuck up on him and poked him in the side he would punch the nearest person to him, or even if there was just a sudden loud noise near him he would punch anyone who was near.
They just happened to be there on this day while I was up the street with my BB gun searching for prey in this wooded area behind a neighbor’s house. It was getting dark and I looked up in this tree and saw a young owl.
I had never seen one before. My BB gun wasn’t very powerful. It was the kind that was lever action and you could just cock it once. The owl was about ten feet up and I took aim and shot it. He never even jumped. I cocked it again and shot once more. He still never moved.
It was nearly dark by now. I heard a strange noise and it was getting louder by the second. All of the sudden this huge owl landed on the limb right beside the baby.
It was huge, appearing to be at least three feet tall and over a foot wide. When it landed, the limb dropped way down and raised back up. I was scared to death. I began to ease backwards ever so slowly and felt my foot slide up against something, thinking it was probably a tree, I turned towards it.
At the same moment I saw it, it began flogging me. It was another owl and it appeared even bigger. I dropped my BB gun and started running. I could hear something rustling behind my heels and could feel a breeze over my head.
I just knew that I couldn’t make it home without being attacked again, so instead, I headed for my aunt and uncle’s house. As I ran up the drive I could see their wooden door was open but the screen door wasn’t.
I hit that porch running full blast, grabbed the door handle and flung the screen door open so hard that it slammed against the side of the house.
As I ran into the kitchen I saw Uncle George right in my path. My next thought was to duck. As I ran right past, he took a swing at me while simultaneously screaming at the top of his lungs. He said, “Here!”
I just fell out in the floor. I looked back and he had grabbed a knife and was braced as though someone was fixing to be coming right behind me. My Aunt said, “Who you are running from?”
“Owls!”
“What?” she asked.
“Owls!”
After quickly explaining what had happened, they laughed and agreed that it should teach me a lesson. I guarantee you; I learned a hard lesson from that experience. I stopped killing anything after that.
After I was there for a while they told me to head home. I told them I was too scared to go out. Uncle George stepped out and came back in and said there isn’t anything out here.
I still wasn’t convinced. My aunt finally called Momma and told her what had happened and she said Momma told her to tell me to get home right now. I told her to tell Momma to have the front door open.
I stepped out and ran as hard as I could, straight for the house. I know I heard them coming after me as I ran home. When I hit that door and Momma saw my face she laughed like crazy. She said, “I bet you won’t be shooting anything else, will you?”
“No, ma’am,” I said.
The next day I wouldn’t even go outside and everybody sure enjoyed watching me sweat.
I don’t think I went out that whole day but the next day was Monday and I had to go to school. I decided to sneak outside and test the waters on my own without having everyone laugh at me.
I opened the door and eased out as quietly as possible. I walked onto the driveway and heard something. As I turned towards the sound I looked up and there was a huge owl bearing right down on me. It hit me right in the back and top of my head as I screamed bloody murder while running up the steps into the house.
My momma came running into the kitchen. “The owl attacked me!” I screeched.
She doubled over from laughter. I wouldn’t doubt it if she wet her pants too. She tried her best to calm me.
“I’m not going outside!”
“You have to go to school!” she hollered back.
She finally went outside to check for killer owls and found no insane birds so she opened the car door for me. “Come on,” she ordered.
I jumped off the porch and the owl swooped down from the tree, heading straight for my head.
“See! I wasn’t lying! I told you they were after me!”
She enjoyed a good laugh, seeing me get what I deserved. This went on for several days. I had to resort to trying to fool the killer owls by wearing disguises and hats. They weren’t fooled at all. Everyone enjoyed the show while I couldn’t go out without being dive bombed by one of them.
I guess the owls decided I had learned my lesson because the aerial attacks finally ceased. I assure you, my momma enjoyed the heck out of seeing me get my just desserts.

KINDLE BUY LINK

A New Release for You!! Demon Kissed by Karilyn Bentley #NewRelease #urbanfantasy #TWRP

I'm happy to announce that Demon Kissed, the 2nd book in the Demon Huntress series, is out now!! I'm really excited about this book as I love getting into Gin's head. New adventures await Gin and Smythe as they track a new demon. Pick up your copy at your neighborhood e-store and enjoy!

Blurb:
Gin Crawford, the world's latest demon huntress, has no time to mourn her dead lover as she's called in to determine why a demon attack occurred at the local medical school. And not just any demon, but the one demon that gives her demon-killing bracelet the shivers. A dead professor, a lab full of missing anthrax, and a demon who turns good people into minions complicate her life. Can Gin and her mentor Aidan Smythe solve the mystery of the missing anthrax and the identity of the demon before someone else dies?
Excerpt:     The scent of sulfur hangs in the air like a demonic stink bomb. I want to slap a hand over my nose, but no one else seems affected by the stench. Must be a demon huntress thing.     “Justitian,” Smythe mutters. “Not demon huntress.”     “If you don’t like my new title, then stay out of my mind.”     He glares. I swallow. Cross my arms. Refuse to take a step back. I’m learning not to be intimidated by his anger. Go me.     My justitia vibrates, throwing me out of my internal battle, pulling me back to the land of death and minions. The blob of colors pulsates, a glowing reminder of a moment of terror. The moment the demon appeared to the grad student.     Granted, I’m still taking Demons 101, but I thought demons formed minions in private.  Usually after the human committed a crime, not before. A tryout, so to speak. And maybe that happened, but it sure seems to me like the black blob of demon force appeared to the grad student smack in the middle of the hallway.     Or maybe that always happens, and I just now noticed it.     The justitia’s vibration grows stronger, trembling my arm, my veins. Not its normal excited tremor upon seeing a minion or demon. A rush of images spikes through my mind, scenes of terror coupled with blood and death, memories of the justitia’s former wearers captured in time by the entity in the bracelet.     I’m not the only one freaked out by the colored blob. How bad was this demon to scare a justitia?
Buy Links:Amazon | iBooks | TWRP | B&N
Find Karilyn:Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Newsletter

What is Love? @sloanebcollins #plottingprincesses #amwriting #marriage #love #MFRWorg

What is Love?Merriam Webster’s definition of love: a  (1):  strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (2):  attraction based on sexual desire :  affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3):  affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates>
The definition just doesn’t seem to encompass the feeling of an all-consuming romantic love, does it?  I write Romance, about two people falling in love, and encountering pitfalls along the way, things they have to overcome to profess their love to each other and end up happily ever after. So that’s romantic love, with the hero sweeping the heroine off her feet, seducing her with the best sex ever, and proposing in a unique and romantic way.
But that’s not always real life. Love goes so much deeper than what’s in the pages of a book. Yes, my husband completely surprised me with the proposal. We’d already been talking about getting married, even had the rings picked out, but had talked about doing it at back at home (I was in college, he was in the army). So one weekend he drove up to Mizzou, and wanted to walk around the campus. He had asked me what my favorite spot was, so I took him to the columns on the quadrangle. It was night time, the spotlights were shining, and he took me to the middle column and pulled the ring out of his pocket. He couldn’t kneel because it had been raining that day, but it was still so romantic.

And almost twenty-eight years later, he’s still showing me how much he loves me. I don’t get flowers because the cats will eat them. But last Friday night he surprised me with my all-time favorite meal of steak and baked potatoes.  And this was after he’d worked twelve days in a row and hadn’t been to sleep since nine pm the night before. Now that’s love.
My husband shows me love every day in big and little ways. When he plans our vacations (which take months in the planning) he always throws in a surprise for me, like visiting the actual house where my favorite Christmas movie was filmed. Or finding unique bookstores or scrapbook stores. Or having the hotel add anniversary surprises to our room.
So when I write romance, I think about the love of my husband, and try to throw in little things to honor him, and how much I love him.

What about you?  If you’re in a relationship, what are the little things you do for each other?