Nancy Straight's Blog, page 2
March 31, 2013
Centaur Rivalry's COVER!!
Happy Easter!! I hope you've all had a great day with your families!! The dishes are done, and there is some serious napping going on in my house, so, now seemed like the perfect time to share Centaur Rivalry's Cover!
Here's the synopsis:
The Centaur world is rocked as news spreads of the Lost Herd, Camille's existence, and her Centaur protector. A death order against Camille's father and family sends all into hiding.
Camille and Drake leave the country pursued by the Lost Herd as well as by Centaur Council enforcers. Camille's twin brother Cameron is manipulated by the Council Head and is quickly becoming her newest enemy.
Amid unexpected new protectors, enemies, and romances, Camille and Drake make their plans to travel to Africa to confront the Centaur Council. They hope acceptance of Camille as Chiron's heir, yet knowing that her link to the Lost Herd could require them to kill or to be killed.
Release Date: May 15, 2013
Status on Centaur Rivalry: I emailed the final copy to my editor yesterday (Saturday) morning. Based on the amount of time it has taken for my other books, I'm expecting that Centaur Rivalry will release early, but I won't know how early until I receive the last set of changes from my editor.
Here's the synopsis:
The Centaur world is rocked as news spreads of the Lost Herd, Camille's existence, and her Centaur protector. A death order against Camille's father and family sends all into hiding.
Camille and Drake leave the country pursued by the Lost Herd as well as by Centaur Council enforcers. Camille's twin brother Cameron is manipulated by the Council Head and is quickly becoming her newest enemy.
Amid unexpected new protectors, enemies, and romances, Camille and Drake make their plans to travel to Africa to confront the Centaur Council. They hope acceptance of Camille as Chiron's heir, yet knowing that her link to the Lost Herd could require them to kill or to be killed.
Release Date: May 15, 2013
Status on Centaur Rivalry: I emailed the final copy to my editor yesterday (Saturday) morning. Based on the amount of time it has taken for my other books, I'm expecting that Centaur Rivalry will release early, but I won't know how early until I receive the last set of changes from my editor.
March 24, 2013
Latest Adventure
So, it feels like forever since I wrote a post here. I've been trying to finish up Centaur Rivalry and have done a horrible job blogging. Centaur Rivalry went to the Beta readers last night, so I thought I'd take a minute to check-in and say, "hello."
Most of you know I'm not a full-time author. I have a regular job that I love, which requires me to travel - a lot. Most of my books are written on planes, in airports, in hotel rooms, etc. If any of you are ever at an airport and see someone with their nose in their laptop who looks suspiciously like my profile picture - yep, it's probably me! So this week, my schedule was supposed to be:
Sun: fly from Charleston, SC to Detroit, MI,
Tue: fly from Detroit, MI to Baltimore, MD
Wed: work in Quantico, VA
Thurs: work in Washington DC
Fri: work in Quantico, VA then fly home to Charleston from Baltimore, MD
Busy week, right? Yeah, well it got even busier. Many of you know I'm a magnet for crazy, so, sit back, grab a drink, and keep reading.
Sunday: I fly into Detroit as planned. It's supposed to be a 1 hour and 40 minute flight. Ten minutes after take-off it's okay to breakout my laptop so I figured I had a full hour plus to edit Centaur Rivalry. Just about an hour into the flight the pilot came on the intercom, "Ladies and Gentleman, we are making our decent into Detroit. Temperature is a cool 29 degrees. Flight attendants prepare the cabin for landing."
I looked at my watch and was thinking to myself that something must be wrong with the plane, because the pilot was obviously in a hurry to get to Detroit. Sure enough, I stowed my laptop and we were on the ground at 1 hour and 5 minutes. I was thinking - this is GREAT! As we were taxiing the pilot came back on the intercom. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we arrived a little early. When the aircraft comes to a stop I'm going to have to ask that you keep your seat belts fastened and stay seated. Law enforcement will be meeting the plane, they'd like to talk to one of our passengers."
Hmmmm, that explained why he was in such a hurry to get to Detroit. No biggie. Sure enough, as soon as the door opened, one of the passengers was taken away in handcuffs. A few minutes later a second passenger was taken away in handcuffs. (Neither of them was me!) I had the privilege of sitting next to a lady who had been to Charleston for a religious retreat for the weekend and she was VERY anxious to try out her new found knowledge trying to convert me to her religion. Thirty solid minutes of why I should convert - man, I was ready to get off the plane.
When we were finally let off the plane there were fifteen+ law enforcement folks standing outside the gate. I watched the news that night looking for a blurb about my flight and never did hear what the two detained passengers had done, but that was how my week started. Stepped out of baggage claim and wanted to curl into a little ball for warmth - It had been 73 degrees when I got on the plane in Charleston - let's just say 29 degrees was a total shock to my system. Check out the snow on the ground in Detroit - Brrrr!
Monday: In Detroit as scheduled. I was hoping to go to dinner with Amy Bartol (Absolutely love this lady - if you haven't read her Premonition Series, you need to!) She was coming back Monday afternoon from Boston, so we were going to have dinner Monday night. Buuuuuut, my Tue afternoon appointment in Maryland cancelled, so I didn't have anything "work-wise" to do until Wednesday and couldn't justifying hanging out in a hotel room, so I decided to leave Detroit Monday and fly back to Charleston for a couple days. Sounds simple enough, right? Go from a major city to a smaller city in the middle of the afternoon. Yeah, not so much.
I was standing at the Delta ticket counter in the airport for forty-five minutes trying to change my ticket. Eventually the lady was able to get it done and she was very sweet about it. As a way of making my day a little brighter she upgraded me to first class - Niiiiiiice!
Unfortunately I couldn't fly directly to Charleston and had to route through Atlanta - no problem, because I was going to be riding in a lazy boy! (Or at least Delta's equivalent to it). Check out all the legroom!
Yeah, I thought that was awesome, too! Until some freak hail storm happened in Atlanta. So, we circled for over an hour waiting for the storm to pass. Okay, if I had to be stuck on a plane for a couple hours longer than necessary I was glad I had the seat that I did. The pilot came on the intercom, "Ladies and Gentleman, the storm is moving slower than we'd hoped and we've circled as long as we can. We'll need to divert to Huntsville to take on some more fuel." Okay, so I won't make it home for dinner, but I should still be home for bed-time. We got fuel and eventually did make it to Atlanta, unfortunately the plane that was to take me home to Charleston had been on the ground when the storm blew through and my plane had hail damage and couldn't fly!! Wonderful. I was in good company because there were literally thousands of us in Atlanta for many, many, many hours! I eventually did get back to Charleston and walked through my front door at 4 am on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday: I flew back to DC and the rest of the week went off without a hitch, well a couple hick-ups, but nothing funny enough to write about. Home Friday night to one of my favorite scenes - that's my youngest sporting his Halloween costume on the trampoline! Yes, I know it's March. It turns out, when you're eight years old, it doesn't have to be Halloween to be dressed like Scooby Doo!
For anyone looking for a Centaur Rivalry update, I'm still looking at about May 15 for a release. So, anyone interested in participating in the cover reveal feel free to send me a message, tweet or comment here and I'll put you on the list. Hope you've all had a great week!
Much Love,
Nancy
Most of you know I'm not a full-time author. I have a regular job that I love, which requires me to travel - a lot. Most of my books are written on planes, in airports, in hotel rooms, etc. If any of you are ever at an airport and see someone with their nose in their laptop who looks suspiciously like my profile picture - yep, it's probably me! So this week, my schedule was supposed to be:
Sun: fly from Charleston, SC to Detroit, MI,
Tue: fly from Detroit, MI to Baltimore, MD
Wed: work in Quantico, VA
Thurs: work in Washington DC
Fri: work in Quantico, VA then fly home to Charleston from Baltimore, MD
Busy week, right? Yeah, well it got even busier. Many of you know I'm a magnet for crazy, so, sit back, grab a drink, and keep reading.
Sunday: I fly into Detroit as planned. It's supposed to be a 1 hour and 40 minute flight. Ten minutes after take-off it's okay to breakout my laptop so I figured I had a full hour plus to edit Centaur Rivalry. Just about an hour into the flight the pilot came on the intercom, "Ladies and Gentleman, we are making our decent into Detroit. Temperature is a cool 29 degrees. Flight attendants prepare the cabin for landing."
I looked at my watch and was thinking to myself that something must be wrong with the plane, because the pilot was obviously in a hurry to get to Detroit. Sure enough, I stowed my laptop and we were on the ground at 1 hour and 5 minutes. I was thinking - this is GREAT! As we were taxiing the pilot came back on the intercom. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we arrived a little early. When the aircraft comes to a stop I'm going to have to ask that you keep your seat belts fastened and stay seated. Law enforcement will be meeting the plane, they'd like to talk to one of our passengers."
Hmmmm, that explained why he was in such a hurry to get to Detroit. No biggie. Sure enough, as soon as the door opened, one of the passengers was taken away in handcuffs. A few minutes later a second passenger was taken away in handcuffs. (Neither of them was me!) I had the privilege of sitting next to a lady who had been to Charleston for a religious retreat for the weekend and she was VERY anxious to try out her new found knowledge trying to convert me to her religion. Thirty solid minutes of why I should convert - man, I was ready to get off the plane.
When we were finally let off the plane there were fifteen+ law enforcement folks standing outside the gate. I watched the news that night looking for a blurb about my flight and never did hear what the two detained passengers had done, but that was how my week started. Stepped out of baggage claim and wanted to curl into a little ball for warmth - It had been 73 degrees when I got on the plane in Charleston - let's just say 29 degrees was a total shock to my system. Check out the snow on the ground in Detroit - Brrrr!
Monday: In Detroit as scheduled. I was hoping to go to dinner with Amy Bartol (Absolutely love this lady - if you haven't read her Premonition Series, you need to!) She was coming back Monday afternoon from Boston, so we were going to have dinner Monday night. Buuuuuut, my Tue afternoon appointment in Maryland cancelled, so I didn't have anything "work-wise" to do until Wednesday and couldn't justifying hanging out in a hotel room, so I decided to leave Detroit Monday and fly back to Charleston for a couple days. Sounds simple enough, right? Go from a major city to a smaller city in the middle of the afternoon. Yeah, not so much.
I was standing at the Delta ticket counter in the airport for forty-five minutes trying to change my ticket. Eventually the lady was able to get it done and she was very sweet about it. As a way of making my day a little brighter she upgraded me to first class - Niiiiiiice!
Unfortunately I couldn't fly directly to Charleston and had to route through Atlanta - no problem, because I was going to be riding in a lazy boy! (Or at least Delta's equivalent to it). Check out all the legroom!Yeah, I thought that was awesome, too! Until some freak hail storm happened in Atlanta. So, we circled for over an hour waiting for the storm to pass. Okay, if I had to be stuck on a plane for a couple hours longer than necessary I was glad I had the seat that I did. The pilot came on the intercom, "Ladies and Gentleman, the storm is moving slower than we'd hoped and we've circled as long as we can. We'll need to divert to Huntsville to take on some more fuel." Okay, so I won't make it home for dinner, but I should still be home for bed-time. We got fuel and eventually did make it to Atlanta, unfortunately the plane that was to take me home to Charleston had been on the ground when the storm blew through and my plane had hail damage and couldn't fly!! Wonderful. I was in good company because there were literally thousands of us in Atlanta for many, many, many hours! I eventually did get back to Charleston and walked through my front door at 4 am on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday: I flew back to DC and the rest of the week went off without a hitch, well a couple hick-ups, but nothing funny enough to write about. Home Friday night to one of my favorite scenes - that's my youngest sporting his Halloween costume on the trampoline! Yes, I know it's March. It turns out, when you're eight years old, it doesn't have to be Halloween to be dressed like Scooby Doo!
For anyone looking for a Centaur Rivalry update, I'm still looking at about May 15 for a release. So, anyone interested in participating in the cover reveal feel free to send me a message, tweet or comment here and I'll put you on the list. Hope you've all had a great week!
Much Love,
Nancy
February 4, 2013
Win a $50 Gift Card!!
Title: Meeting Destiny
Author: Nancy Straight
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
FREE from ALL bookstores
Age Group: New Adult
Link on Amazon: Meeting Destiny
Link on Barnes and Noble: Meeting Destiny
Book Description:
Lauren is visited in her dreams for years by a stranger claiming to be her destiny. Destiny becomes reality when paths cross during a failed robbery attempt. Lauren and the stranger experience chemistry like no other and now her doubt over her long time relationship with her high school sweetheart is not her only secret…someone else knows about her keen intuition and sixth sense.
A mysterious clairvoyant seeks Lauren out and tells her not only of her life now but what the future may hold. Soon Lauren is in the middle of a murder investigation and a questionable friendship with the key suspect. Law enforcement, friends and family are concerned for Lauren but unfortunately they are unaware of the true danger…Sinister forces are at work and will stop at nothing to destroy Lauren’s abilities.
Enter in the Rafflecopter and you could win a $50 Amazon (or Barnes and Noble) Gift card!
January 5, 2013
Update Jan 2013
I hope everyone is having a fabulous 2013, so far!! Now that the holiday's are over I'm getting back into my routine and thought I should update you on what's been going on.
Blood Debt is on sale for $.99 from now through Jan 15! Yes, I extended my Christmas sale but it will go back to it's normal price of $3.99 on 1/16/13. So if you haven't picked yours up yet, now is a great time!
Centaur Legacy has been out since Thanksgiving. A big, heartfelt thank you for all the fabulous reviews and wonderful comments on my FB page!! No author could ask for a better group of friends!!
The third book in the Touched Series is still not titled, but the first draft is nearly complete. I am HORRIBLE at coming up with titles so I'll likely be running a contest in a few weeks and get some help from all of you on the title. As far as an expected release date? May is a safe bet. I've been writing books 3 and 4 together so hopefully the two won't be too far apart - we'll see!
For anyone who will be at UTopYA in Nashville the last week of June, I WILL BE THERE!! I cannot wait!!
Something that made me *SQUEEE* like a little girl, Blood Debt was nominated for an award at Sizzling PR. I wasn't aware of the contest until a friend tweeted it to me, but if you'd like to vote, here is the link: http://sizzlingpr.com/sizzling-award-... There are some really awesome books to vote for in 27 different categories!
As always, stop by my regular blog for author interviews, book reviews and promos for other authors. http://authnancystraight.blogspot.com/
You can usually find me on FB around 9 pm EST most nights, too! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-S...
I'd love to hear what's going on with all of you, as well!
Blood Debt is on sale for $.99 from now through Jan 15! Yes, I extended my Christmas sale but it will go back to it's normal price of $3.99 on 1/16/13. So if you haven't picked yours up yet, now is a great time!
Centaur Legacy has been out since Thanksgiving. A big, heartfelt thank you for all the fabulous reviews and wonderful comments on my FB page!! No author could ask for a better group of friends!!
The third book in the Touched Series is still not titled, but the first draft is nearly complete. I am HORRIBLE at coming up with titles so I'll likely be running a contest in a few weeks and get some help from all of you on the title. As far as an expected release date? May is a safe bet. I've been writing books 3 and 4 together so hopefully the two won't be too far apart - we'll see!
For anyone who will be at UTopYA in Nashville the last week of June, I WILL BE THERE!! I cannot wait!!
Something that made me *SQUEEE* like a little girl, Blood Debt was nominated for an award at Sizzling PR. I wasn't aware of the contest until a friend tweeted it to me, but if you'd like to vote, here is the link: http://sizzlingpr.com/sizzling-award-... There are some really awesome books to vote for in 27 different categories!
As always, stop by my regular blog for author interviews, book reviews and promos for other authors. http://authnancystraight.blogspot.com/
You can usually find me on FB around 9 pm EST most nights, too! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-S...
I'd love to hear what's going on with all of you, as well!
November 29, 2012
Chat with me TONIGHT!!
Hi Everybody!
Tonight (Thursday 11/29/12) at 6:30 p.m. EST SUPA GURL tours is doing a live chat / internet radio call in with me on BlogTalkRadio. If you've got any questions or just want to chat I'd love for you to call in and/or chat with us!!
Here's the link.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/supagurl...
Hope you'll be there!!
Tonight (Thursday 11/29/12) at 6:30 p.m. EST SUPA GURL tours is doing a live chat / internet radio call in with me on BlogTalkRadio. If you've got any questions or just want to chat I'd love for you to call in and/or chat with us!!
Here's the link.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/supagurl...
Hope you'll be there!!
November 15, 2012
Centaur Legacy Release 22 Nov 2012
Centaur Legacy update: I'm soooo bummed! I'm going to reschedule Centaur Legacy's release to 22 Nov. Thanks to all of you who have sent messages today letting me know you're excited for its release. Sometimes events are beyond my control and if there is any way to release it before next Thursday, I WILL!! 11/22/2012 is the LATEST I will release it!
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September 23, 2012
The Next Big Thing
Thanks for stopping by! You can see this same post with active links and pictures incorporated in the post on my primary blog at: authnancystraight.blogspot.com
There’s this blog hop post going around lately called WIP: The Next Big Thing. Two authors, who I think are a riot on-line, both tagged me in their posts. So before a third points me out for being a slacker I figured I’d better get hopping. Thank you Paulina Ulrich and Christie Rich!
Alright, let me explain how this "blog hop" works. Once you’re tagged in this blog hopping post, you need to do a few things. One of them is to thank the person who tagged you...THANK YOU PAULINA and CHRISTIE! It’s wicked cool that you both thought to include me in this new-generation chain-letter, LOL!
The next thing is for me to answer the questions that go along with the post. The questions are about my work in progress (WIP).
Lastly I’ll be choosing 5 other authors to tag at the end of my post.
Here it goes!
What’s the working title of your WIP?
Centaur Legacy is in the final stages of editing now. It is the second book in the Touched Series and is on schedule for a November 15 release. (Yay!!!)
Where did your idea come from for your book?
I’ve always thought Centaurs were interesting, but there is almost nothing written about them, at least not any I’ve enjoyed that were devoted to a Centaur theme. Although I LOVE to read about Vampires, Werewolves, Demons, Angels and pretty much any paranormal creature – I really wanted to create a series that was unlike any other. This was the inspiration behind the Touched Series.
What genre does your book fall under?
The Touched Series falls under young adult / new adult paranormal romance with a heavy dose of Greek Mythology.
Which actors would you pick to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Anna Kendrick would be an exceptional Camille, and Josh Hutcherson for Drake.
What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
This is tricky but here it goes: When Camille’s mother died she felt alone in the world; she dared to find a father she’d never met who welcomed her into a new world she never could have imagined.
Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
Proudly self published! I like having full control over my novels, using the words or phrases that I want the characters to use, and the ability to publish on my schedule.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft took two months, and it’s been followed by four months of editing. Centaur Legacy is on its fifth draft right now.
What other books would you compare this story within your genre?
Wow, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say. . . nothing. I read a lot. Like all the time, and I haven’t run across a story that is anywhere close to this series in terms of the Centaur story line. From the romance perspective, it’s a little bit of a “forbidden fruit,” scenario and it has similarities to Reed and Evie’s relationship in Amy Bartol’s Inescapeable.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A lawyer made me do it! I used to work with a lawyer who I had a great deal of respect for, one day out of the blue he said, “Mrs. Straight, you are one of the most compelling writers I’ve ever known.” That was one of the most unexpected and flattering compliments I had ever received. His compliment stuck with me for months, until one night, I started typing.
What else about your book might pique the readers interest?
There is an unexpected villain in the story. If I write about who it is, it could spoil the moment. There is also a point in the book (85%) where I inevitably get tweets and messages on Goodreads from angry readers, only to have those retracted twenty minutes later. I can’t tell you why, but there is definitely a shocking part of the story that most don’t see coming.
Now that I’ve answered the questions, I’ll tag five authors who I think are amazing. I’d love to know what they’re working on!
· Shannon Dermott (Cambion Series)
· Rachael Higginson (Star-crossedSeries)
· Charlotte Abel (Channie Series)
· Tiffany King (Saving Angels Series)
· Georgia Cates (Going Under Series)
There’s this blog hop post going around lately called WIP: The Next Big Thing. Two authors, who I think are a riot on-line, both tagged me in their posts. So before a third points me out for being a slacker I figured I’d better get hopping. Thank you Paulina Ulrich and Christie Rich!
Alright, let me explain how this "blog hop" works. Once you’re tagged in this blog hopping post, you need to do a few things. One of them is to thank the person who tagged you...THANK YOU PAULINA and CHRISTIE! It’s wicked cool that you both thought to include me in this new-generation chain-letter, LOL!
The next thing is for me to answer the questions that go along with the post. The questions are about my work in progress (WIP).
Lastly I’ll be choosing 5 other authors to tag at the end of my post.
Here it goes!
What’s the working title of your WIP?
Centaur Legacy is in the final stages of editing now. It is the second book in the Touched Series and is on schedule for a November 15 release. (Yay!!!)
Where did your idea come from for your book?
I’ve always thought Centaurs were interesting, but there is almost nothing written about them, at least not any I’ve enjoyed that were devoted to a Centaur theme. Although I LOVE to read about Vampires, Werewolves, Demons, Angels and pretty much any paranormal creature – I really wanted to create a series that was unlike any other. This was the inspiration behind the Touched Series.
What genre does your book fall under?
The Touched Series falls under young adult / new adult paranormal romance with a heavy dose of Greek Mythology.
Which actors would you pick to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Anna Kendrick would be an exceptional Camille, and Josh Hutcherson for Drake.
What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
This is tricky but here it goes: When Camille’s mother died she felt alone in the world; she dared to find a father she’d never met who welcomed her into a new world she never could have imagined.
Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
Proudly self published! I like having full control over my novels, using the words or phrases that I want the characters to use, and the ability to publish on my schedule.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft took two months, and it’s been followed by four months of editing. Centaur Legacy is on its fifth draft right now.
What other books would you compare this story within your genre?
Wow, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say. . . nothing. I read a lot. Like all the time, and I haven’t run across a story that is anywhere close to this series in terms of the Centaur story line. From the romance perspective, it’s a little bit of a “forbidden fruit,” scenario and it has similarities to Reed and Evie’s relationship in Amy Bartol’s Inescapeable.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A lawyer made me do it! I used to work with a lawyer who I had a great deal of respect for, one day out of the blue he said, “Mrs. Straight, you are one of the most compelling writers I’ve ever known.” That was one of the most unexpected and flattering compliments I had ever received. His compliment stuck with me for months, until one night, I started typing.
What else about your book might pique the readers interest?
There is an unexpected villain in the story. If I write about who it is, it could spoil the moment. There is also a point in the book (85%) where I inevitably get tweets and messages on Goodreads from angry readers, only to have those retracted twenty minutes later. I can’t tell you why, but there is definitely a shocking part of the story that most don’t see coming.
Now that I’ve answered the questions, I’ll tag five authors who I think are amazing. I’d love to know what they’re working on!
· Shannon Dermott (Cambion Series)
· Rachael Higginson (Star-crossedSeries)
· Charlotte Abel (Channie Series)
· Tiffany King (Saving Angels Series)
· Georgia Cates (Going Under Series)
July 20, 2012
My Detroit Adventure
Grab a cup of coffee, because this will be a long post. Keep in mind, I write fiction so you may think some of these events are a figment of my imagination or have been embellished for story purposes – they haven’t!!
So, I was in Detroit last week and had quite an adventure. I arrived on Sunday and had driven there so by the time I got to my hotel, I was exhausted. I didn’t do any of the normal preparations, like hanging up / ironing clothes for the next day because I was spent. I grabbed my kindle, read a little and went to bed. I have this pesky internal alarm that wakes me up nearly every morning around 5 am. (Detroit is on EST so it was okay but it doesn’t re-adjust when I go to cities in different time zones). I set the hotel alarm clock for 6 am just in case – a habit I’ve had for years.
Monday morning I awoke, looked at my watch and sure enough, it was 5 am. I reached over to un-set the alarm clock and noticed it was flashing. I didn’t think much of it, other than there had to have been a “power hit” sometime during the night. I went down stairs, grabbed a newspaper and began my usual morning ritual. When I returned to the room I turned on a light switch and was frustrated to find the light bulb had burned out. I went to another light switch and got the same dark response. “Crap, no power.” Oh well, I don’t need lights to take a shower, I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower and nothing happened. “GREAT, no power and no water.” I called the front desk and in my most polite voice said, “Hey, this is Nancy Straight in room XXX, I don’t have any power or water in my room.”
A hurried voice answered, “We’re going to make an announcement.” I heard – Click as the front desk promptly hung up on me. As I stood there looking at the receiver, the intercom in the hotel blared to life, “There is an emergency in the hotel. Please evacuate the hotel immediately. Do not use the elevators, use the stairs.” The person making this announcement made it no less than ten times and it’s surprising how loud the emergency intercom is in a hotel. I very methodically picked up my cell phone, my iPad, my kindle and my purse – always be prepared, right? I looked around the room to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important. I smelled an odor that I hadn’t smelled since the day my husband and I installed a new oven improperly in our kitchen – that’s right, melting electrical wires. I joined fifty or so people on the stairs making my way the eight floors down.
As I stood outside I looked at the structure, there was no billowing smoke or spreading flames so I assumed whatever the problem was it would be fine soon. Then it hit me, my laptop was up in my room and the first draft of my latest book, Blood Ties, was on it and I didn’t have it backed up anywhere. YIKES! I kept watching the windows hoping not to see flames appear. Not too long after this revelation, we got the “all clear” and were allowed to return to the hotel. *Wipes sweat from brow.* (Incidentally, I have since backed up Blood Ties to a USB Key).
I called the people I had meetings scheduled with for Monday morning and successfully moved them to Monday afternoon. Two hours passed, the power and water were still not restored so I went down to the front desk and was told the hotel would have power by 9:30 pm that evening. Obviously, this wasn’t going to work for me so I had the hotel relocate me to another property in downtown Detroit and they worked it so that I could check in early in the morning rather than wait for the customary 3 pm check in.
I loaded up my car, programmed the address to the new hotel into my GPS and was on my way. Three blocks into my trip, the display inside my car gave me a message that I had four flat tires and told me to pull over immediately. Yes - this is the point that I nearly screamed.
I pulled into a parking lot with a few cars. I got out and looked, all four tires appeared to be okay to me. I turned off the car, turned it back on and the car was still convinced that my tires were flat and I shouldn’t be driving. I called roadside assistance and told them what was going on, that I believed some sort of sensor had gone haywire and asked for the address to the closest dealership. After finding my location, the roadside assistance operator said there was a truck that was only a few minutes away and he’d send it just to check me out. No problem, things are looking good now.
I picked up my phone and started checking out emails when I heard: KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK – there was a man standing outside my window. I rolled it down and he said, “I’m really hungry.” Without thinking I blurted out, “You know what, pal? I’m really hungry, too.” Now, when speaking to a homeless man, it’s probably bad form to complain about: a hotel fire, the fact that you’re in a city you aren’t familiar with, your car believes it should not be on the road, or the fact that you haven’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours. I politely told him, “I don’t carry cash” – which I don’t. (Cash mysteriously evaporates out of my wallet every time I put some in there.)
The homeless man who was hoping for a sandwich walked away. (I did offer him a bottle of water that I happened to have with me, but he declined). I looked off to my left and another homeless man was standing against a building, with a sword. Yes, that’s right. Not a switchblade, not a hunting knife, not a dagger - a sword.
Right about now a normal person would say, “Screw it, I’m outta here,” and drive away. Instead, I did a not so smart thing and called a friend of mine that was in Arizona. In my mind, if I was going to be attacked by the Samurai wanna-be to my left, I wanted the attack on record. Yes – a week after the fact and I DO know this was stupid, but at the time it seemed like a good plan. My window was still rolled down from the first homeless guy that had stopped by so I was sure Samurai-man could hear me. My conversation started with, “You’re not going to believe what my morning’s been like. . .” I told her about everything up to that point and added, “. . . and to top it all off, there’s some Fruit Loop with a sword standing 20 feet away from me.” (Yes, I called him a Fruit Loop and yes, I know this was a dumb idea, too.) Before said Fruit Loop could respond by gouging out my eye or scratching the paint off my car, the cavalry arrived – the tow truck driver. He confirmed that I did indeed have air in my tires and my car was mistaken.
The tow truck driver noticed the man with the sword and asked if he’d been bothering me. He hadn’t. He hadn’t brandished it, or asked me for money for a sandwich, or anything, but really – Who carries a sword in downtown Detroit? Isn’t there a city ordinance against something like that? If not, I think one should be passed because homeless people with swords have got to be bad for tourism!
So, I got to the dealership, my car checked out okay, they were able to get the message to stop displaying that I was driving on four flat tires, they washed my car, and even gave me a rose! All in all – this was a day that I will be talking about for years to come.
Can you believe after all that, Monday still wasn’t the most memorable part of my trip to Detroit? The most memorable part was, Wednesday night when I got to go to dinner with Amy Bartol – Author of the book: Inescapable. I am a huge fan and I was super excited to get to meet her! For any of you that are also her fans, YES – she is just as cool in person as I thought she’d be. We had a great dinner, great conversation, and made plans to meet at the Decatur, GA Book Festival over Labor Day!! (Swords will be optional).
So, I was in Detroit last week and had quite an adventure. I arrived on Sunday and had driven there so by the time I got to my hotel, I was exhausted. I didn’t do any of the normal preparations, like hanging up / ironing clothes for the next day because I was spent. I grabbed my kindle, read a little and went to bed. I have this pesky internal alarm that wakes me up nearly every morning around 5 am. (Detroit is on EST so it was okay but it doesn’t re-adjust when I go to cities in different time zones). I set the hotel alarm clock for 6 am just in case – a habit I’ve had for years.
Monday morning I awoke, looked at my watch and sure enough, it was 5 am. I reached over to un-set the alarm clock and noticed it was flashing. I didn’t think much of it, other than there had to have been a “power hit” sometime during the night. I went down stairs, grabbed a newspaper and began my usual morning ritual. When I returned to the room I turned on a light switch and was frustrated to find the light bulb had burned out. I went to another light switch and got the same dark response. “Crap, no power.” Oh well, I don’t need lights to take a shower, I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower and nothing happened. “GREAT, no power and no water.” I called the front desk and in my most polite voice said, “Hey, this is Nancy Straight in room XXX, I don’t have any power or water in my room.”
A hurried voice answered, “We’re going to make an announcement.” I heard – Click as the front desk promptly hung up on me. As I stood there looking at the receiver, the intercom in the hotel blared to life, “There is an emergency in the hotel. Please evacuate the hotel immediately. Do not use the elevators, use the stairs.” The person making this announcement made it no less than ten times and it’s surprising how loud the emergency intercom is in a hotel. I very methodically picked up my cell phone, my iPad, my kindle and my purse – always be prepared, right? I looked around the room to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important. I smelled an odor that I hadn’t smelled since the day my husband and I installed a new oven improperly in our kitchen – that’s right, melting electrical wires. I joined fifty or so people on the stairs making my way the eight floors down.
As I stood outside I looked at the structure, there was no billowing smoke or spreading flames so I assumed whatever the problem was it would be fine soon. Then it hit me, my laptop was up in my room and the first draft of my latest book, Blood Ties, was on it and I didn’t have it backed up anywhere. YIKES! I kept watching the windows hoping not to see flames appear. Not too long after this revelation, we got the “all clear” and were allowed to return to the hotel. *Wipes sweat from brow.* (Incidentally, I have since backed up Blood Ties to a USB Key).
I called the people I had meetings scheduled with for Monday morning and successfully moved them to Monday afternoon. Two hours passed, the power and water were still not restored so I went down to the front desk and was told the hotel would have power by 9:30 pm that evening. Obviously, this wasn’t going to work for me so I had the hotel relocate me to another property in downtown Detroit and they worked it so that I could check in early in the morning rather than wait for the customary 3 pm check in.
I loaded up my car, programmed the address to the new hotel into my GPS and was on my way. Three blocks into my trip, the display inside my car gave me a message that I had four flat tires and told me to pull over immediately. Yes - this is the point that I nearly screamed.
I pulled into a parking lot with a few cars. I got out and looked, all four tires appeared to be okay to me. I turned off the car, turned it back on and the car was still convinced that my tires were flat and I shouldn’t be driving. I called roadside assistance and told them what was going on, that I believed some sort of sensor had gone haywire and asked for the address to the closest dealership. After finding my location, the roadside assistance operator said there was a truck that was only a few minutes away and he’d send it just to check me out. No problem, things are looking good now.
I picked up my phone and started checking out emails when I heard: KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK – there was a man standing outside my window. I rolled it down and he said, “I’m really hungry.” Without thinking I blurted out, “You know what, pal? I’m really hungry, too.” Now, when speaking to a homeless man, it’s probably bad form to complain about: a hotel fire, the fact that you’re in a city you aren’t familiar with, your car believes it should not be on the road, or the fact that you haven’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours. I politely told him, “I don’t carry cash” – which I don’t. (Cash mysteriously evaporates out of my wallet every time I put some in there.)
The homeless man who was hoping for a sandwich walked away. (I did offer him a bottle of water that I happened to have with me, but he declined). I looked off to my left and another homeless man was standing against a building, with a sword. Yes, that’s right. Not a switchblade, not a hunting knife, not a dagger - a sword.
Right about now a normal person would say, “Screw it, I’m outta here,” and drive away. Instead, I did a not so smart thing and called a friend of mine that was in Arizona. In my mind, if I was going to be attacked by the Samurai wanna-be to my left, I wanted the attack on record. Yes – a week after the fact and I DO know this was stupid, but at the time it seemed like a good plan. My window was still rolled down from the first homeless guy that had stopped by so I was sure Samurai-man could hear me. My conversation started with, “You’re not going to believe what my morning’s been like. . .” I told her about everything up to that point and added, “. . . and to top it all off, there’s some Fruit Loop with a sword standing 20 feet away from me.” (Yes, I called him a Fruit Loop and yes, I know this was a dumb idea, too.) Before said Fruit Loop could respond by gouging out my eye or scratching the paint off my car, the cavalry arrived – the tow truck driver. He confirmed that I did indeed have air in my tires and my car was mistaken.
The tow truck driver noticed the man with the sword and asked if he’d been bothering me. He hadn’t. He hadn’t brandished it, or asked me for money for a sandwich, or anything, but really – Who carries a sword in downtown Detroit? Isn’t there a city ordinance against something like that? If not, I think one should be passed because homeless people with swords have got to be bad for tourism!
So, I got to the dealership, my car checked out okay, they were able to get the message to stop displaying that I was driving on four flat tires, they washed my car, and even gave me a rose! All in all – this was a day that I will be talking about for years to come.
Can you believe after all that, Monday still wasn’t the most memorable part of my trip to Detroit? The most memorable part was, Wednesday night when I got to go to dinner with Amy Bartol – Author of the book: Inescapable. I am a huge fan and I was super excited to get to meet her! For any of you that are also her fans, YES – she is just as cool in person as I thought she’d be. We had a great dinner, great conversation, and made plans to meet at the Decatur, GA Book Festival over Labor Day!! (Swords will be optional).
July 14, 2012
BLOOD DEBT is available now!
I'm so excited! BLOOD DEBT is now available!!
Link on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008L79YRO
Happy Reading!
Twitter: @NancyStraight
Blog: http://www.authnancystraight.blogspot...
Facebook: http://alturl.com/en5ia
Link on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008L79YRO
Happy Reading!
Twitter: @NancyStraight
Blog: http://www.authnancystraight.blogspot...
Facebook: http://alturl.com/en5ia
July 4, 2012
Advanced BLOOD DEBT Copies are HERE!
Guess what the mailman brought me on Tuesday? That’s right, the advanced PB Copies of Blood Debt are here!!
Thanks to everyone that entered the Blood Debt Contest! Only 11 Days until I hit “publish.” I ended up with twenty-two entries, so on Jun 30 I made the decision that everyone who helped spread the word on Blood Debt’s release would be a winner.
I can’t thank you all enough. I’ve said since my very first book that I am much better at writing than I am at marketing or blogging – so I’m grateful to everyone who entered!
Happy Reading!
Twitter: @NancyStraight
Blog: http://www.authnancystraight.blogspot...
Facebook: http://alturl.com/en5ia
Thanks to everyone that entered the Blood Debt Contest! Only 11 Days until I hit “publish.” I ended up with twenty-two entries, so on Jun 30 I made the decision that everyone who helped spread the word on Blood Debt’s release would be a winner.
I can’t thank you all enough. I’ve said since my very first book that I am much better at writing than I am at marketing or blogging – so I’m grateful to everyone who entered!
Happy Reading!
Twitter: @NancyStraight
Blog: http://www.authnancystraight.blogspot...
Facebook: http://alturl.com/en5ia
