Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 47

No Friday Fun Facts Today- It’s Cover Reveal For Me!

I am so pleased to officially reveal my cover. Echoes Of The Heart will release on Amazon and other e-publishers around the world on November 9, 2015! It will also be available for print-on-demand so all of you who’d rather have a “real” book will be able to hold it in your hands.

I’m excited to share this with you. It is a culmination of six years of honing my craft and several re-writes to this one novel. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating my damaged heroes. I believe we all deserve a chance at redemption and love. All it takes is a leap of faith and courage.

 

Available for pre-order here:

http://www.boroughspublishinggroup.com/

Hump Day Kick Start – Up To No Good Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

Some of you will know who this is. And if you do, then you are in league with me and after my heart. You, devil, you.

With Halloween this weekend, I couldn’t pass up this wickedly handsome knife-wielding scoundrel. Who is he and why is he smiling? Could he be a crafty fellow who has just devised a plan—using the crude but effect means of intimidation—to steal away his beloved from another? A thief planning to jimmy open a lock to something very valuable? Is he a killer? A rogue mercenary out for blood? An ingenious inventor plotting an escape from his unjustified incarceration during the dawn of the Industrial Age? How about a man-for-hire? Perhaps not for hire, not for the sexy woman seeking his services, but, rather, for a delicious trade?

Or, maybe, just maybe, he is carving the name of his favorite blonde author into the table. Yessss…

Give me a treat. Caption the pic or tell a tale. Let me hear from you.

 

Link Of The Week- Boroughs Publishing

This blog was created for readers and authors to provide a peek into the world of writing and publishing. This week’s link is definitely meant for both of you!

As a reader, you’ll be happy to discover Boroughs has an amazing line-up of authors. You want historicals- they’ve got ’em. You want suspense- they’ve got ’em. They have a library covering most any romance genre you could possibly be interested in.

Am I biased? Yes. Yes I am! Boroughs is my publisher and I’m about to release my very first book. (Check back in on Friday for my cover reveal. :-)

http://boroughspublishinggroup.com/

 

“If you’re an avid reader of Romance fiction then you’ve found your new home. New to Romance? Let us entertain you, thrill you, make your heart pound, tickle your desire, bring on a few tears and have you smiling from ear to ear.”

As an author, you’ll be thrilled to know they are actively looking for new talent! Check out their web site and see the wide span of material they are hunting.

Enjoy and have a great day!! 

 

Friday Fun Facts- Civil War Trivia You Might Not Know!

This period of time in America’s history was hard. Hard for everyone concerned. It’s a fascinating time to study and you won’t believe some of the nuggets I found!

In 2009, a woman visited a museum in Richmond Virginia to show the experts something that had been in her family since the Civil War. They had never seen ANYTHING like it. It was made out of brass, approximately 1″ in length and looked very much like an acorn. There were no marking or inscriptions and the museum was stumped! The woman explained that her family’s history passed down the story of a Confederate soldier using it to smuggle secret notes across enemy lines. It was….smuggled in his bum. She said it was called a “Rectal Acorn”. She did not donate the item.
In 1862, a Virginian farmer gave Robert E. Lee a flock of chickens. Unfortunately, another general’s men ate them all except for one. She had made her roost up in a tree and they missed her when they were preparing dinner. Robert E. Lee took a real liking to her and left the flap of his tent up so she could come and go as she pleased. Over time, she started leaving him fresh eggs under his bed every morning. On the eve of a large battle, the General invited all of his generals to a dinner. The only problem was there wasn’t enough food. (You see where this is going.) His slave cook, even though he hated to lose her, stuffed her and cooked her as part of the meal. He said it was the only time in 4 years the general scolded him. “The general don’t like seein’ nothin’ get killed- not his soldiers and especially not his chicken.”
There were many rules for women at this time in history, right down to how they were to mourn for their loved ones. If a woman lost her child, she was in mourning for 1 year, a brother, 6 months, and a husband for 2 1/2 years. That time was broken into heavy, full, and half mourning- mostly shown in how they dressed. Mary Todd Lincoln stayed in heavy mourning after the loss of her son, Willie. She dressed in black veils, black crepe and even black jewelry. A confederate wife stayed in heavy mourning for 59 years after her husband was shot! Men were only expected to mourn for 3 months and could signal that by a simple black arm band or a black strap on their hat.
There were 2 General Jefferson Davis! What?!? Yes. One for each side of the war. This didn’t really cause too many problems except for this one time…During the battle of Chickamauga, night approached and darkness fell. A group of soldiers from Ohio saw another group approaching but they couldn’t tell if they were friend or foe. (That’s a problem!) They called out, “What troops are you?” They all answered as a group. “Jeff Davis’s troops.” The guys from Ohio relaxed, believing it was their Jeff Davis. Wrong! The group belonged to the Confederate Jeff Davis.

I couldn’t find a picture of the Union general.

Did you know they had glow-in-the-dark wounds? I kid you not. After the bloody battle at Shiloh, over 16,000 men were wounded. It was overwhelming to both sides. Soldiers layed in the mud for 2 rainy days or more and noticed that many of them had glowing wounds. In fact, it seemed that the ones that glowed fared better! It wasn’t until two teenagers, working on their science fair project in 2001, solved the mystery. The wounded became hypothermic, and their lowered body temperatures made ideal conditions for a bio-luminescent bacterium called Photorhabdus luminescens, which inhibits pathogens.
After President Abraham Lincoln was killed. His wallet was found to contain a $5 Confederate bill with the Confederate President Jefferson Davis printed on it. Hmmmmmm

Hump Day Kick Start – Taking a Bite Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

 

Yowzers!

Nothing like things coming back to bite you in the ass.

Tell me about today’s prompt. Who are they and what’s going on? Are they lovers having a fight? Friends indulging in a little rough and tumble? Is he frustrated with the girl who wants him, but keeps pushing him away? Is he branding his girlfriend after another guy tried to snake her from him? Could they be participants in a sexy drinking game? Maybe he is a hungry shape-shifting carnivore who prefers rump roast.

You know what to do. Caption the pic or tell me a tale. I’d love to hear it.

Link of the Week – Fair Use & Copyright

Seems authors’ rights, as well as any under the creative umbrella, are slowly being chipped away. Recently, New York Second Circuit ruled in favor of Google and against the Author’s Guild on Goggle’s right to scan books under fair use protection. I will be honest, I understand and will often agree with the use of and benefits from searchable comprehensive online databases. However, what about compensation to authors?

Read more about this on Author’s Guild v. Google

https://www.authorsguild.org/where-we-stand/authors-guild-v-google/

The recent ruling: Author’s Guild – Second Circuit Leaves Authors High and Dry

https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/2nd-circuit-leaves-authors-high-and-dry/

For added reading pleasure, the government’s Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright.

http://copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.pdf

 

Friday Fun Facts- Boo! I’m A Ghost

‘Tis the season! The season of strange and unusual things happening all around us. Ghost stories are as old as time so let’s see if we can learn something new.

When we die, we sometimes refer to it as an eternal sleep- not so much with ghosts. They are not sleeping and roam constantly, especially is they’re seeking justice for an untimely death.
Spirits have absolutely no sense of time.
Ghosts are more active during the nighttime hours. Some folks think it’s because there is less electronic interference at night than during the day. That way they can produce more energy to do things.
Not all ghosts are “trapped”, many choose to stay in this realm for a variety of reasons.
A lot of activity will center around children or young adults and that’s because they produce more energy than older people. The ghost, in turn, can absorb more of their “life force”.
Ghosts may actually exist in a perpetual state of confusion. They have no idea what happened to them, where they are, or even what they should do. These are the ones that most often cause trouble.
Spirits have been know to protect the families that they haunt.
Sound of footsteps, smell (rose, sandalwood, pungent and rotten eggs) and knocks at the door are the most common symptoms of a haunted place.
There are ghosts that are known as crowd demons. They are attracted to particular venues with a lot of people. They may be attracted to the noise, or a photographer’s flashes. These type of ghosts also appear in numbers and not as a singular apparition.
“In a residual haunting, the apparition is on loop, doing the same things over and over again. They may even do these things at certain times, which explain why some hauntings seem to be triggered or heightened at specific times of the day. Well, a residual historical haunting is a regular residual, but amplified to the tenth degree, usually involving multiple apparitions and whole scenes out of history replaying itself. One of the most famous cases of a residual historical haunting is the “Versailles Time Slip.” This occurred in August of 1901, while Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain were touring Versailles. They both experienced intense feelings, then they discover themselves walking among people dressed like they were in 18th century Paris. Everything seemed to turn unworldly at this point and Moberly even thought she witnessed Marie Antoinette, sitting on the grass, sketching. It was over as quickly as it started.” Listverse
Spirits have a profound sense of smell and are attracted to certain scents.

Hump Day Kick Start – Held Up Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

Look carefully. You might recognize him.

Tell me about today’s prompt. Who is he? Why is the woman pointing a gun at him? Is he a private detective and the woman who hired him is now double-crossing him? Could he be a mobster who has angered his feisty girlfriend? Maybe he is a dapper serial killer. What if she were a desperate lounge singer needing to pay off a twisted debt? Imagine if he were a  federal agent in love with the beautiful fugitive. Is she only half-heartedly keeping him at bay? That would be…arresting.

Caption the pic or tell me a tale. I’d love to hear it.

Hump Day Kick Start – My Life, My Way Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

 

Hoo boy. So much hotness.

Tell about today’s prompt. Who is he? Undercover cop? Mercenary? Navy SEAL? Zombie hunter? What is he doing? Getting ready to leave on a mission? Just returning? Stripping for a shower? Is he debating on what to do with the sexy prisoner/partner/witness in the room with him? What do his tattoos signify? What does “My Life My Way” mean to him? Why did he get it? I see a pirate ship on his right bicep. Does that imply it’s a pirate’s life for him? Take all that he may and leave nothing behind? And, please, please someone tell me why he’s biting his lower lip. *sigh*

Tell me your take or caption the photo. I’d love to hear from you.

Link Of The Week- Tips!

Whether you are a new writer struggling to understand this crazy path, or a seasoned, published pro, this is a great site! Every day another nugget of advice and wisdom is shared. Topics can be anything from grammar, to a writer’s life, to writing politics. You name it, if it’s good for a writer to know, it’s here.

 

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/