Chris Karlsen's Blog, page 3
June 9, 2018
Summer Fun Reader Scavenger Hunt – Win a Kindle Fire HD
Hi Readers,
Are you ready to win a Kindle Fire HD 8, Amazon cards and books!
I’m one of the sponsors of the Night Owl Romance Summer Fun Scavenger Hunt.
During this event I’m going to help you find some great new books. Make sure to check my featured title out along the way.
Enter Now at: https://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Blog/Articles/Summer-Fun-2018
Event Dates: June 14 – July 5
April 7, 2018
Historical Factoids – Victorian Era England
Historical Factoids – 2018
Victorian Era England
London’s famous fog of the period is not exaggerated. At time during the year appeared yellow in color, was at the worst in November. In the winter months, the fog stretched to the surrounding towns and villages. Coal stoves were the main culprit for the filthy air. Dust from the pulverized stone that paved the streets was another major contributor to the poor air quality.
**
Sir Robert Peele created the Metropolitan Police Force in London in 1829. The slang or common terms-peelers and bobbies were derived from his name. The more formal term was constable. Constable has had a “patch” they were assigned to work comparable to a modern officer’s “beat.”
Source Material:
What Jane Austen Ate & Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool.
**
One of the most popular forms of entertainment in Victorian times was the music halls. Music halls offered a large variety of entertainment; singers, dancers, magicians, conjurers, strongmen were a few. The most popular were singers and audiences were known to join in with the choruses and enthusiastically sing along.
Source Material:
The Book of London by Michael Leapman
Historical Tidbits – Recipes
Medieval Recipes
A modest list of spices available to the medieval cook:
Cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cubeb (tailed pepper), galangal, ginger, grains of Paradise, mastic, nutmeg, mace, black pepper, long pepper, saffron, sugar, sumac, salt.
Source material: Spices in Medieval Europe by Maitre Chiquart translated by Jean-Marc Bulit
**
Pork Roast with spiced wine
4 lb. pork loin on the bone
1.5 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp pulverized caraway seeds
1 large clove of garlic crushed with salt
½ tsp pepper and 1 tsp of salt
¾ cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
Preheat oven to 425, strip skin off pork joint and prick the fat all over. Mix spices, garlic and seasonings into wine and rub meat all over with wine mix. Enclose roast in foil and leave a space at the top. Pour remaining mixture over roast, close foil packet and cook at 425 for 7-10 minutes, then reduce temp to 350 and roast 30 minutes per lb. plus 30 minutes. Open foil for last 30 minutes to brown.
Let roast rest, make sause with spiced wine and meat drippings, stir in stock, simmer for a few minutes and add seasonings as needed. Strain and serve with meat.
Fried Fig Pastries
1 lb. dried figs soaked, drained, and minced (save liquid)
Add Powder Fort-this is a combo of 1/8 tsp. ground ginger & cloves, with pinch of black pepper (you can make this sweeter using Powder Douce, which is 1/8 ground coriander, pinch of cinnamon, and brown sugar to taste.
¼ tsp. saffron strands moistened with the fig water
¼ tsp. salt
1 egg with yolk and white separated plus one more egg white
6-7 sheets filo dough
Oil for frying
1 cup warmed honey (optional)
In a food processor combine the minced figs, spices, saffron, salt and egg yolk. Beat egg whites until liquid. Brush pastry sheets with whites. Cut sheets into strips. Put a dollop of fig mix on one end of sheet and roll strip like Swiss roll. Pinch ends to seal. Brush with egg white again. Fry rolls in deep or shallow oil. Serve with warmed honey dripped over top.
**Powder Douce could almost always contain black pepper, ginger, cloves or cumin and other strong spices.
Source Material: The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black
April 1, 2018
Victorian Period
Victorian period
In Victorian London each parish in the city had a jakesman (refuse officer) who cleaned out the public facilities. The carts of “refuse” was transported out of the city at night.
During the Victorian period, powdered chalk and cuttlefish provided tooth polish and acted as a gentle abrasion. They were the two most common ingredients in dentifrices of the time.
Cynisca, the daughter of a Spartan king and sister to a king, loved horses. She persuaded her brother to allow her to participate in Olympic Chariot Races. In the Olympics of 396 and 392 B.C.E., she won first place.
Medical treatment in the Middle Ages consisted mainly of bloodletting or “bleeding” for more serious illnesses. Other, less serious ones, were treated with disgusting substances like: urine, animal feces, & powdered earthworms.
Arsenic was a major component of many household items during the Victorian era. It was also widely consumed in different forms by both men and women.
Arsenic was a major ingredient in many cosmetics at the time. It was said to make skin look younger. Men were told that consuming arsenic pills could stimulate their libido.
As you might expect, none of that worked. These products likely caused extreme sickness and accidental death before people figured out how terrible arsenic is.
Source Material: Life in Medieval Times by Marjorie Rowling, 4000 Years of Uppity Women by Vicki Leon, and How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman.
Medieval
Medieval
Three of the most celebrated medieval English victories are: Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt. All three took place during the Hundred Years War between England and France.
Crecy: 1346. Poitiers: 1356, and Agincourt: 1415.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest women of her time was the wife of two kings and the mother of two kings. In 1137 she married Louis the V11 of France. She traveled with him on the Second Crusade. In 1152, the marriage was annulled. That same year she married Henry the 11 of England.
Her son Richard by Henry became Richard the First of England also called Richard the Lionheart. He led the Third Crusade.
A younger son, John, became John the First, also called John Lackland. A brutal and despised monarch, he reluctantly signed the Magna Carta in June of 1215.
Pigs could be a real danger
In medieval times, pigs were kept as meat animals, often in a type of extensive husbandry that included foraging in forests and on common grounds. People thus had much more contact with live pigs than we do today – this could be dangerous, and even deadly.
There were multiple accounts of pigs eating children. From the 13th century, lawsuits could in theory be filed against the porcine perpetrators – this usually resulted in a death sentence for the pig. Such lawsuits were rare in England but were more common in France, especially in the region around Paris.
Not everyone was Christian, or white
There were Jews and Muslims in medieval Europe, and there were also practitioners of other religions, such as Paganism. The percentage of followers of each religion in each region varied according to history and culture. Paganism was for a long time common in the north, for instance, and Islam in the Iberian peninsula.
Race wasn’t defined according to modern terms, so ‘white’ and ‘black’ were far less important than one’s religion: a black bishop from north Africa was considered more civilised and of far higher rank than a white slave from eastern Europe, for example. People were more likely to be discriminated against according to religion than skin colour, with Cathars, Jews and known heretics among those who suffered greatly.
Historical Recipes
Recipes from all Ages
Here’s some of the spices they had in the 1300’s in England. Most came back with the English knights who went to the Crusades.
black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, nutmeg, cloves, mace,
Spiced wine taken from cathedral archives and called “Piment.”
Take one ounce of cinnamon, one ounce of ginger, a dram each of cloves, nutmeg, lavender, cubebs, long pepper, galangal. Add two drams of grains of paradise and a half ounce of black pepper. Once these have been pounded in a mortar and well pulverized, put them in two pounds of brandy that has been distilled twice. Stir well and keep for 15 days. After this time, has elapsed, pour off gently the liquid from the bottle that is above the spices. And then, when you wish to make piment, put three or four drops of this liquid in a bottle filled with good wine and it will become fine quality piment.
*cubebs are a spice in the pepper family
*galangal is an aromatic in the ginger family
In my story, In Time For You, Electra made a haddock dish with gravy for the prince. I used a recipe found in a book called “Out of the East” by Paul Freeman
Here is the recipe:
Bear with me as this is Middle English! This was my best interpretation from that Middle English version.
Cut the haddock and roast the body til it be “ynowghe” (which I took to me just a little done as it was to be stuffed). Steep bread in broth of salmon or other fish, add parsley, a great deal of red wine, cloves, mace, pepper powder, canell, and the liver of the haddock and the stomach. Make a pouch and boil it together with currants, saffron, saunders and salt. Later add the ginger powder and juice of unripe grapes, cut the skin from the haddock pour this gravy over the fish.
The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age ship, the Uluburun (circa 1300 BCE) discovered by Turkish fishermen and recovered by divers from INA (Institute of Nautical Archaeology in Bodrum, Turkey)is considered one of most important shipwreck discoveries of the 20th Century.
Bronze is the result of a combination of copper and tin. The Uluburun shipwreck carried among its cargo, 84 copper ingots. For many centuries the amounts of copper to tin varied. Then, in the early middle ages, the standard became 1 lb. copper to 2 oz. tin or 8-1.
Bronze Age Civilizations
The Bronze Age civilizations of the Near East are perhaps best known for their glorious culture and avant-garde innovations. The ancient Sumerians were perhaps the oldest and the best known among the Bronze Age civilizations of Mesopotamia. Not only were the Sumerians the earliest society to be based on religion and political administration, they also invented the wheel, boats, and ships.
Metal and Metal Works
The most significant characteristic of the Bronze Age was the surge in metallurgy. The early part of the Bronze Age was referred to as the Chalcolithic Age. Copper and bone were the materials used to make the tools and implements that humans began using. Copper metal works were first known to the people of the Mesopotamian regions and gradually spread to other civilizations. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was soon discovered and manufactured in large quantities because of its durability. By 1200 BC, the discovery of iron ended the Bronze Age and then commenced the Iron Age.
Research Sources
KNIGHTS IN TIME SERIES
***Books***
1.The Black Prince by Barbara Emerson
2.The Life and Campaigns of the Black Prince (from contemporary letters, diaries, and chronicles including Chandos Herald’s, the prince’s personal chronicler) by Richard Barber
The Black Prince on AMAZON
3.The Hundred Years War by Christopher Allmand
4.Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitane by Richard Barber
5.A Traveller’s History of the Hundred Years War in France by Michael Starks
6.The Knight series by Ewart Oakshott (medieval historian and expert on knights and their lives)
7.The Medieval Sword by Ewart Oakshott
8.The Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen Turnbull
Knights by Andrea Hopkins
9.The Historical Atlas of Knights and Castles by Dr. Ian Barnes
10.A Dictionary of Chivalry by Grant Uden
A Dictionary of Chivalry on AMAZON
11.Great Medieval Castles of Britain by James Forde-Johnston
12.Inventing the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor
13.British Costume by Mrs. Charles Ashdown
14.Medieval Costume in England by Mary Houston
Medieval Costume in England on AMAZON
15.Dress and Decoration in the Middle Ages by Henry Shaw
16.Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince by Stella Newton
17.Life in Medieval Times by Marjorie Rowling
18.Life in a Medieval City by Joseph and Frances Gies
19.Who’s Who in the Middle Ages by John Fines
20.The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy by John Cannon and Ralph Griffiths
21.The Future of Spacetime by Kip Thorne, Stephen Hawking, Igor Novikov, Timothy Ferris and Alan Lightman
22.Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe by Dr. Richard Gott
Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe on AMAZON
Articles and sites
1.www.thegeneralhospital.co.uk/medieval
2. www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval clothing, music
4.www.royalarmouries.org/leeds
8.www.judoinfor.com/judoforblindathletes-article by Neil Ohlenkamp
***DVD***
1. Castles of War presented by Travel Channel
DANGEROUS WATERS SERIES
***Books***
1.The Iliad by Homer (translated by Samuel Butler and additional translation by Alexander Pope)
2.The History of Our Seas by Tufan Turanli
3.Beneath the Seven Seas by George Bass
3.The Sea Remembers edited by Peter Throckmorton
4.Troy and Homer by Joachim Latacz
Troy and Homer on AMAZON
5.The Trojans and Their Neighbors by Trevor Bryce
6.Maritime Archaeology by Jeremy Green
7.The Trojan War by Barry Strauss
8.Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry
9.Homer by Barry Powell
10.The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle by Jonathan Burgess
11.Loot by Sharon Waxman
12.Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership by Colin Renfrow
13.Stealing History by Roger Atwood
Stealing History on AMAZON
14.Project Troia from University of Tuebingen & Department of Classics University of Cincinnati
***DVD’s***
1. In Search of the Trojan War –BBC Presentation
2. Troy-History Channel
Troy on AMAZON
3.Digging for the Truth-History Channel
4.Cities of the Underworld (Gods of War) –Arts and Entertainment Production
5.Voyage from Antiquity –Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Celtic
Celtic
The Celts used beet juice to dye cloth red.
In approximately 60-61 CE, Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, a Celtic tribe, and known as the Warrior Queen led an uprising against the Romans harsh occupation of Briton. Upon her death, her people buried her in an unknown location which the Romans could never discover.
The Celts Loved To Trade
In around 600BC, the Greeks established the trading colony of Massalia (Marseilles) which paved the way for trading relations with the Celts. The ancient tribes finally got to sample exotic Greek goods such as olive oil and grapes but the most popular import at that time was wine. The Celts probably traded items such as furs, tin, salt and amber which were gratefully received by the Greeks as these items were rare in the Mediterranean.
They Were Excellent Warriors
We already know the Celts liked a fight but it is often assumed they were ill-disciplined compared to their Roman counterparts. However, the Celts were actually very well-trained and more than a match for any army they came across. Such was their reputation for fighting that King Ptolemy II of Egypt enlisted the help of Celtic mercenaries during the 3rd Century BC. However, they were a little bit too good for Ptolemy’s liking; he feared they would turn on him so he had them shipped to a deserted island in the Nile!
One of the reasons why the Celts ultimately lost to the Romans was due to a lack of unity as opposed to a lack of combat training. It was common for Celtic tribes to fight among themselves and this enabled the unified Romans to band together and defeat a dangerous foe.
Incidentally, the Celts did NOT fight naked! They actually used metal plates, chain mail and leather padding as armour.
The Celts Created A Road Network Before The Romans
The early Celts created a trading centre of their own near the source of the Danube river in 625BC. It was the most important trading location in the Celtic world for around 150 years; by 450BC, the Celts expanded they’re trading network throughout Europe and traded in luxury goods. At this time, the Celts created the famous Tin Road which began in Massalia and spread to Britain and the Amber Road through the Moravian Gate into modern day Danzig.
Yet this road building skill was not only used for long distance trade; historian Graham Robb analysed the positioning of Celtic towns in Ireland, France and Britain and found the Celts had positioned them deliberately to mirror the paths of their Sun God in what has now been called the ‘most accurate map in the ancient world’. The Romans probably based their road building on what the Celts did and with a lack of written language to outline their achievements, what they did was lost in the mists of time (and Roman propaganda!)
Sources… https://www.celtic-weddingrings.com/celtic-history/10-interesting-facts-about-the-celts.aspx
February 15, 2017
Code RedHead Release Tour
CODE REDHEAD
Genre: Multiple Genres
Content Warning: Sweet Contemporary to Erotica
Thirteen authors have come together to be part of a fundraising project called Code Redhead – A Serial Novel. Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Chris Karlsen, Angela Ford, Tammy Tate, Carol Ann Kauffman, Ella Medler, N.D. Jones, Laura Strickland, Kim Knight, Tina Donahue, JR Wirth, Sibelle Stone
Each writer has their own interpretation of the title ‘Code Redhead’. There’s a story to satisfy and entertain most every reader in Code Redhead. Genres ranging from; Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Historical Romance, Mystery, Romantic Time Travel, Suspense/Thriller, Victorian Romance, Science Fiction Romance, Erotic Romance, Time Travel Romance, and Dystopian.
Books To Go Now will donate the proceeds from the sale of the Novel to The Children’s Cancer Research Fund.
Amazon US ✯ Amazon Int’l ✯ Goodreads
REDHEADS HAVE MORE FUN by Sharon Kleve
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Ambrosine Dubreauil owns Who Do Voodoo, a voodoo shop on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that her grandmother left to her.
Her life is quite, calm, and relaxing until the sexy Remy LaCroix charms himself into her life and heart.
REDHEAD DEAD by Jennifer Conner
Genre: Romantic Suspense
As a plant chemical biologist, Aiven, always has her mind buried in her work. When her co-worker talks her into going out for a night of fun Aiven reluctantly agrees.
Coleman just wants to spend the night with a pretty girl and forget about the brutal underworld where he’s an undercover cop.
Neither expects death to be waiting around the corner when Coleman and Aiven get pulled deeper into danger and life on the run.
MOONLIGHT SERENADE by Chris Karlsen
Genre: Historical Romance
It’s 1945 and the world is at war. An American Marine on leave in Melbourne, Australia, a pretty red-haired big band singer, and one of Glenn Miller’s greatest songs come together for a weekend. In their brief time, they find love in the chaos of war.
REVEALED by Angela Ford
Genre: Mystery
The tears came. Some days in waves. She realized it was okay to cry, not to cry, and that time doesn’t heal all wounds. Grief changed Maya Delcort.
After her sister’s death, she disconnected from the world she knew, and the man she loved. Maya’s new world became the CIA, as a covert operations agent.
An assignment takes her to Ireland with only one contact; a man she never met. Maya only knows him as Blue; he only knows her as Red. When her identity gets jeopardized, and Blue isn’t answering; she fears the worst. Emotions run high, danger lurks, and she realizes she’s ready to love again.
Will Maya escape death and find love?
STARLIGHT KISSES by Sibelle Stone
Genre: A Victorian Love Story
Tatiana Langdon is an heiress, which makes her a target for many bachelors in Gilded age New York. The fact that she’s beautiful, educated and from one of the oldest families in the city isn’t as important to many of the men as the millions she’ll inherit when she marries. When she meets Merritt Barclay, she knows he’s different from the other men who are pursuing her but her Aunt Olivia is doing everything in her power to prevent Tatiana from getting to know the handsome man.
Merritt Barclay loves a mystery and something happened years ago to cause a rift between his family and Tatiana’s. It involves her Aunt Lorelei and his father, but no one in either family will divulge the secret. Merritt joins forces with Tatiana, a young woman who has bewitched him with her beauty and intelligence, to discover what happened.
But Tatiana’s aunt will do everything in her power to keep the couple apart, and as their attraction grows stronger, the danger rises. What lengths will some people go to in order to keep a family secret?
REUNITED by Tammy Tale
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Ten years after a nasty breakup, Tara and Ryder surface for a class reunion and when Tara gets struck by lightning, all memory of Ryder vanishes. Will Ryder use it to his advantage to win her back?
DAY OF THE DEAD by JR Wirth
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Two adolescents find themselves on a hunt for their friend, Cali, after she is abducted, on Halloween, by a psychopath who kills on “Dia De Los Muertos” (Day of the Dead).
RITUALS by ND Jones
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Jackson Glory introduces his Serenitarian wife, Nevaeh, to an old Earth custom—hot and sexy for some, not enough for others.
Red-HOT by Tina Donahue
Genre: Erotic Romance
A chance meeting between strangers, a steamy hook-up that burns the sheets, now if only he can find her again…
ONE NIGHT IN LONDON by Kim Knight
Genre: Contemporary Romance
When the lights shine bright, and the city is lit up, Rita Lane will show you a good time.
THE CLUE OF THE RED TRESSES by Laura Strickland
Genre: Time Travel Romance
Chasing a beautiful thief through time, Stephen Longstreet never imagines the peril he faces—Nazis, ancient Britons and courageous Bridie Maguire, who might just steal his heart.
THE FREEDOM GENE by Ella Medler
Genre: Dystopian
In a dysfunctional society where ‘bottle’ redheads are the height of fashion, real redheads host a gene that protects them from brainwashing. Two men fight to rescue a redheaded girl, for different reasons. The guard because he loves her. The scientist because he wants to give the human race a way to rebuild and take itself out of its brain-dead slavery.
RED SARAH by Carol Ann Kauffman
Genre: Time Travel Romance
Sarah works for an organization that fixes broken timelines in history. She has a very special skill set involving time travel. Her mission is to save the life of Lucas, a young man who will be pivotal in the progress and advancement of his planet.
Links will take you to the authors’ websites or Facebook pages
Sharon Kleve was born and raised in Washington and currently lives on the Olympic Peninsula with her husband.
Sharon is a multi-published author of contemporary romance. She loves romance. She loves reading romance, living romance, and especially loves writing about romance. She gets no greater feeling than watching her characters come alive in each other’s arms. Most of all, she loves giving her characters the happily ever after they deserve—with a few bumps and bruises along the way.
Jennifer Conner is a best-selling Northwest author who has over eighty short stories and books in eBook, print, foreign language editions, and audiobooks. She writes in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, and Erotica. She has hit Amazon’s top fifty authors ranking, and her books have been #1 in sales.
Chris Karlsen I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history professor and my mother was, and is, a voracious reader. I grew up with a love of history and books.
I am a retired police detective. I spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. My desire to write came in my early teens. After I retired, I decided to pursue that dream. I write three different series. My paranormal romance series is called, Knights in Time. My romantic thriller series is Dangerous Waters. The newest is The Bloodstone Series. Each series has a different setting and some cross time periods, which I find fun to write.
Bestselling Romantic Suspense & Contemporary Romance Author, Angela Ford originates from Nova Scotia…Canada’s Ocean Playground! Her love of the ocean and sunsets are always in her heart and give her inspiration. Her love for words keeps her turning the page. She is never without a book, whether she’s reading or writing. Her dedication to volunteer and involvement with cyber safety seminars gave her an Award of Distinction and sparked the idea for her Cyber Crime series. In between mysteries, Ms. Ford writes short contemporary romance…sometimes sweet…sometimes spicy…and sometimes with a dash of suspense!
Sibelle Stone is the pseudonym for award winning historical romance author Deborah Schneider. Sibelle writes sexy steampunk and paranormal stories, filled with mad scientists, dirigibles, automatons, and fantastical creatures. Between them Deborah and Sibelle have published six books and two novellas. In her spare time Sibelle enjoys dressing up in Victorian ensembles, modding play guns into something that looks a bit more sinister and wearing hats. She owns some very nice hats!
Tammy Tate was born and raised in Hollywood, Florida but has lived most of her adult life in Texas. Her passion to write began in high school. It follows her everywhere she goes…creating a world where anything is possible. She’s been married to the same wonderful man for over thirty years. Her secret to a long marriage? It’s easy when you marry your best friend. In her world, Friday night is still date night.
Since she believes reading is the next best thing to writing, she enjoys romance, fantasy, science fiction and thrillers. In December of 2013, she signed her first book contract with a traditional publisher. Her books have made Amazon’s Best Seller list.
JR Wirth is a practicing psychotherapist, which helps provide insight into the human mind and condition, and gives him a strong understanding of the emotions of a moment in time, as well as the inner workings of his characters. JR has several pieces published—including a poem and several short stories in online venues.
In all of his works, J.R. combines ordinary people with extraordinary circumstances, to create characters that jump off the page and straight into the readers’ heart and psyche. He remains dedicated to the craft of writing, highlighting the conflict, frailty, and hero in all of us.
N. D. Jones lives in Maryland with her husband and two children. She is the founder of Kuumba Publishing, an art, audiobook, eBook, and paperback company. Kuumba Publishing is a forum for creativity, with a special commitment to promoting and encouraging creative works of authors and artists of African descent.
A desire to see more novels with positive, sexy, and three-dimensional African American characters as soul mates, friends, and lovers, inspired the author to take on the challenge of penning such romantic reads. She is the author of two paranormal romance series: Winged Warriors and Death and Destiny. N.D. likes to read historical and paranormal romance novels, as well as comics and manga.
Tina Donahue is an Amazon and international bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic novels (Freeing the Beast, Come and Get Your Love, and Wicked Takeover) were Readers’ Choice Award winners. Another three (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and Deep, Dark, Delicious) were named finalists in the EPIC competition. Sensual Stranger, her erotic contemporary romance, was chosen Book of the Year at the French review site Blue Moon reviews. The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for her erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights. Two of her titles (The Yearning and Deep, Dark, Delicious) received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition. Take Me Away and Adored both won second place in the NEC RWA contest (different years). Tina is featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.
Kim Knight is 34, and from London in the UK. She’s a qualified teacher and mother to a beautiful toddler. As a reader, she’s head over heels in love with romance, historical fiction, crime fiction, African- American, suspense and thriller genre books. A Stranger in France (republished January 2017) is her first romantic suspense novel. Her second romance novella Not Just for Christmas was published November 2016. At present Kim is writing her third thriller novel, to be published in 2017. As a writer, Kim enjoys creating stories within the romance, romantic suspense and general thriller genres. Kim also writes beauty and book related articles for Love Life, Live Magazine. When she’s not reading, or writing stories of her own, her other passions include practising her French, fashion and spending time at her sewing machine dress making. Watching make –up and beauty tutorials on YouTube, letter writing and being a mum.
Award winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Born and raised in Western New York, she’s pursued lifelong interests in lore, legend, magic and music, all reflected in her writing. Though she’s made pilgrimages to both Newfoundland and Scotland, she’s usually happiest at home not far from Lake Ontario with her husband and her “fur” child, a rescue dog.
Ella Medler is a U.K. author and editor. She writes fiction in many genres in a seemingly vain attempt to slow down her overactive brain enough to write non-fiction on subjects she knows a thing or two about. She also does not believe in the starchy use of English and ignores the type of rule that doesn’t allow for a sentence to be finished in a preposition. Her books are action-driven, and well-developed characters are her forte. Loves: freedom. Hates: her inner censor.
Carol Ann Kauffman is the author of eighteen books to date, from short stories to full-length novels. Her novels, classified as romantic action adventures with a sci-fi/ fantasy twist, and mysteries. They’re about life, love, loss, and lunacy. She is a retired teacher from a local school district in Ohio, where she taught for thirty-five years. She has worked as a printer, managed a department store office, worked as an insurance agent, and worked in the hardware and automotive departments of a large store. She was a Red Cross volunteer. Carol loves to travel; her favorite places being Italy and Aruba, which show up in her novels quite a bit. She loves to play Bridge and to garden. She grows African violets and orchids. Carol loves dachshunds and trains.
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