Barbara Edwards's Blog, page 15
November 24, 2014
#sale Late for the Wedding, five days only
#Sale Late for the Wedding a Christmas Love story by Barbara Edwards A blizzard, a car crash and a handsome hero http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5937#.VHNU74EZ5WU.gmai
Excerpt:
She strained to see past the broken windshield. Her throat hurt when she swallowed. 
Other vehicles lay tangled in a mess, not just the truck and her car. She prayed another car wouldn���t hit her again and inhaled to calm her racing pulse. She finally got the seatbelt lock to release, forced her door open and stood. Her knees shook and she had to hang onto the sagging door for support. She stared around. Headlights glittered like monster eyes. Her vehicle was at the edge of a horrendous multi-car pile-up.
Sirens wailed like lost children. Blinding red and blue lights flashed everywhere as emergency personnel rushed by. Her hands shook as she dragged on her cashmere coat. Time squeezed and expanded like an accordion being played. A fireman asked if she was okay and ran on at her nod.
She brushed moisture from her face and realized she was crying. She pillowed her head on her arm, the roof supporting her as she wept.
���Hey, lady, you okay?��� A gentle hand gripped her shoulder.
This time the questioner stopped to listen.
She looked up into scorching blue eyes so bright they could have been a propane flame. ��Her skin warmed and her pulse leaped as if it recognized the message in them. They promised heat and comfort and strength like the hand on her shoulder.�� He���d pulled his knit hat down over his forehead and his lower face was covered with dark stubble that matched his thick black eyelashes. His hands were splotched with grease and he smelled like oil and fuel fumes. His quilted jacket was stained and patched, his boots wet and cracked, but he exuded strength and caring.
She swallowed. Her mouth was suddenly dry. Another fixer-upper, like her ex, she briefly thought, although with those gorgeous eyes he might be worth the trouble.
Filed under: My Books Tagged: Barbara Edwards,, blizzard, Boston, Christmas, Late for the Wedding
November 20, 2014
Guest Christy Effinger #release Say Nothing of What You See
Welcome my guest and fellow Wild Rose Press author, Christy Effinger. She’s going to tell us about her new release Say Nothing of What You See.
Blurb:
When her aunt steps off a grain elevator into the emptiness of a prairie evening, Mira Piper loses her one protector. Chloe, her flighty mother, impulsively drags her daughter to Bramblewood, an isolated spiritualist retreat in northern Michigan, run by the enigmatic Dr. Virgil Simon.
Chloe plans to train as a medium but it’s Mira who discovers she can communicate with the dead. When her mother abandons her, Mira discovers a darker aspect to Bramblewood: the seemingly kind doctor has a sinister side and a strange control over his students.
When one winter’s day Troy Farrington arrives, to fulfill his mother’s dying wish and deliver her letter to the doctor. But calamity strikes and he finds himself a captive, tended by a sympathetic Mira. Haunted by her dead aunt and desperate to escape Bramblewood, Mira makes a devil’s deal with Dr. Simon. But fulfillment comes with a steep cost…betrayal.
Excerpt:
���You are absolutely stunning, Mira.���
I stole another glance in the mirror. The material was a rich, shimmery gold that fell from my shoulders in folds of liquid light. It looked like something a Greek goddess might wear. Oh, how I wished the girls from Amberville High School could see me in this dress!
���When you came here,��� said Dr. Simon, ���I had a vision of you like this. I looked at the girl before me, but I saw the woman you are now.���
���Thank you,��� I murmured, gesturing toward the piles of clothes on my bed. ���You���ve been so generous. I know you���ve spent a good deal of money on me������
���Money means nothing,��� he interrupted abruptly. ���I have more than I could ever spend, more than I know what to do with. Don���t consider the cost.���
His tone was brusque, and I wondered if I had offended him.
But the next moment Dr. Simon smiled. ���I think of you as my charity case. You were like a doll thrown out in the garbage. I simply rescued you from the trash, cleaned you up, and dressed you in something decent. But the beauty was present all along.��� He touched my cheek. ���Here.��� Then he touched my forehead. ���Here.��� Then he touched my chest. ���And here.���
I knew he was referring to my heart, but even so, his hand on my chest made my face warm with discomfort.
���You blush so easily,��� he laughed. ���You���ll never be able hide anything, Mira, with such a transparent face.���
���That���s all right,��� I said, taking a small step back. ���I don���t have anything to hide.���
Buy Links:
The Wild Rose Press:
Amazon:
November 16, 2014
Guest Laura Strickland #Holiday release The Tenth Suitor
I’m excited to host Laura Strickland who has The Tenth Suitor: The Twelve Brides of Christmas Book Ten for The Wild Rose Press.
It’s an enchanting Historical Romance
Blurb:
When Edwina Armstrong’s father invites ten titled lords to spend Christmas at his estate so Edwina may choose one for a husband, she finds the idea romantic. She dreams of gazing into the eyes of one of her suitors and falling deep in love. But it soon becomes apparent the lords in question are far more interested in gaining her father’s estate than Edwina’s hand.
Thorstan’s in attendance but he hasn’t been invited and he’s no lord. A former mercenary, he’s come disguised as a fool to get near Edwina, long adored from afar. Edwina quickly falls for his charm and quirky humor even though she fears her father will never approve of a commoner for her husband. But when Edwina is abducted, only Thorstan—a skilled swordsman— has hope of rescuing her in time for the promised Christmas wedding.
Excerpt:
Edwina quickened her steps, and the fool drew her arm more closely against his side. Oh, highly improper, but at the moment she did not care.
A guard stood at the gate. Edwina nodded to him, and they passed into the chill of the evening, and a wash of moonlight.
A stone wall lay to the left; Edwina urged her escort there and drew a deep draught of air. “You are right, Lord Fool. Much better.”
“’Lord Fool’?” he questioned, his mouth beside her ear.
“If you can call me ‘lady,’, I can call you ‘lord.’.” She turned her head and found her face very near his. Aye, most improper – but it was such a luxury to be with a man taller than she.
Too bad he was just a fool.
He leaned on the wall beside her. “My fool’s wisdom tells me you are not enjoying this great pageant staged for your benefit.”
“That I am not.”
“Yet I hear there is much gaiety and frolic yet to come–a play, and even a masked dance.”
“Aye. Perhaps you can attend as a fool.”
“Perhaps I will. If I do, will you dance with me?” He caught both her hands and, in true fool’s fashion, whirled her about in the cold air until her breath came fast and she laughed aloud. Edwina could no longer hear the music from inside, but the fool hummed a tune in a deep, velvety voice. The moonlight flickered around them, striping his face in brightness and then shadow until all she could see was the laughter in his eyes. When they came to rest at last, she leaned against him.
“You should laugh more often,” he said. “It makes you even more beautiful.”
Suddenly Edwina felt breathless from more than the whirling dance.
Buy links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tenth-Suitor-Twelve-Brides-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00OFAM3JW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414942086&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Tenth+Suitor
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tenth-suitor-laura-strickland/1120674789?ean=2940150723146
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242_176_138&products_id=5912
All Romance Books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thetenthsuitor-1660806-161.html
Author Web Page: http://www.laurastricklandbooks.com
Author Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Strickland/e/B001KHSACW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1414942330&sr=1-2-ent
Filed under: My Favorite Books Tagged: Laura Strickland, The Tenth Suitor, The Wild Rose Press, Twelve Brides of Christmas
Guest Nancy Fraser #release Home is Where The Hunk Is
Welcome Nancy Fraser and let her talk about her book, Home is where the Hunk is.
About the Book:
When globe-trotting photographer Allison Cain comes home to her family ranch in Montana it’s to get to know her nephew and to make amends with the widowed brother-in-law she’s left alone to raise his young son.
Evan Carver could never deny his late wife’s younger sister anything, despite the fact she’s been conspicuously absent over the past three years since her sister’s death. Now she’s home again on what she’s called an extended vacation. Evan’s first concern is for his son, Cody, and how his aunt’s visit will affect the five year old when she decides to return to her high profile career.
Allison has no intention of going back to work. In addition to getting to know Cody, she needs to confess her biggest secret to Evan. How do you tell the man you’ve always loved that you’re not just his son’s aunt, but also his mother?
Excerpt:
Slowly she raised her head. Unshed tears filled her eyes, making them glisten like liquid stars. Evan felt a lump form in his own throat. She blinked rapidly in what Evan suspected was a conscious effort to hide her emotions. A knot tightened his gut. He had the sudden urge to take Ali in his arms, as he’d done the day she arrived, and bury her face against his chest, preferably without the argument that followed.
In the very back of his over-used imagination, he could see her coming willingly into his arms. He could feel the heat of her tears against his chest. His reaction surprised and frightened him in equal measure. He didn’t want to feel this way about her, especially when he knew she wouldn’t stay.
“Me, too,” she admitted softly, drawing Evan’s attention from her teary eyes to her soft, pink lips. The tears she’d been fighting back so tenaciously now pearled on her lashes, threatening to spill forth at any second.
Evan moved away from the tree, inching his way around Cody and close to Allison’s side. Cautiously, he lifted his hand and caught the first tear on his thumb, uncertain of exactly what had made her cry, yet knowing he selfishly welcomed the chance to offer her comfort.
“When I left South America, the only thing I could think of was coming here. I wanted desperately to feel the lush grass beneath my bare feet and to smell the fresh, clean air.”
“I don’t care what made you decide to come home. You’re here now and welcome to stay as long as you like.” Drawing her into his arms, he held her close and tilted her chin up with his fingertips until their gazes met.
At the first touch of his lips to hers, Evan tasted the cinnamon and apple of the dessert they’d just consumed. He pressed his lips more firmly to hers. She hesitated only briefly before returning his kiss with one of her own. He barely had time to consider what they’d done when Ali’s trembling voice broke through his consciousness.
“Evan,” she whispered. “Don’t, please.” Pressing her hands to his chest, she pushed lightly. Yet, when he would have backed away, she clenched the front of his shirt tightly in her fists. “We can’t . . .” she warned, still seemingly unwilling to let him go.
“Ali, it was only a kiss.”
She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and Evan knew if he didn’t let her go he’d likely do something they’d both regret. Gently, he grasped her hands in his and pulled them from the death grip she’d taken on his shirt. With his thumb he wiped away a final spent tear then released her completely. A moment later he was on his feet and walking back toward the damaged fence. It would take every ounce of strength he possessed, he realized, to keep from turning around and taking her into his arms again.
Author Bio:
Like most authors, Nancy Fraser began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or, heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the English teacher’s pet, which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing. Still, it was worth it.
When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five beautiful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people. She invites you to visit her website (www.nancyfraser.ca) and follow her on Twitter (@nfraserauthor). Or, more importantly, just enjoy what she writes.
Media:
Website: http://www.nancyfraser.ca
Blog: http://nancyfraser.ca/wordpress/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nfraserauthor @nfraserauthor
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nancyfraserauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7206382.Nancy_Fraser
Buy Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Where-Hunk-Nancy-Fraser-ebook/dp/B00OPJECVU/
Rafflecopter:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/21df08a23/”; rel=”nofollow”>a Rafflecopter giveaway
Filed under: My Favorite Books Tagged: Home is where the Hunk Is, Nancy Fraser, New release
November 13, 2014
Guest Chrys Fey #release 30 Seconds
Chrys Fey, Author
Chrys is proud of her romantic suspense release 30 Seconds with The Wild Rose Press. Here’s more:
Tagline:
When a woman finds herself in the middle of a war between a police force and the Mob, 30 SECONDS is a long time.
Blurb:
When Officer Blake Herro agreed to go undercover in the Mob, he thought he understood the risks. But he’s made mistakes and now an innocent woman has become their target. He’s determined to protect her at all costs.
The Mob’s death threat turns Dr. Dani Hart’s life upside down, but there is one danger 
she doesn���t anticipate. As she’s dodging bullets, she’s falling in love with Blake. With danger all around them, will she and Blake survive and have a happy ending, or will the Mob make good on their threat?
BOOK LINKS:
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5801
NOOK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/30-seconds-chrys-fey/1120324958?ean=2940150711938
KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/30-seconds-1
Amazon US: http://amzn.com/B00N26EU9G
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N26EU9G
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22591698-30-seconds
Excerpt:
She panted with fear. What if they see the chest? What if we get caught? What if my breath stinks and I���m breathing right into Officer Hottie���s face? She shut her mouth and let oxygen flow through her nose.
Her eyesight slowly adjusted to the darkness and she could see Officer Herro���s silhouette. His head was turned and he was listening to the thuds of heavy boots getting louder; the intruders were coming their way.
Then the thunder of footsteps sounded right next to them. ���There���s no one here, Red,��� someone announced.
���Look for documents,��� a man ordered, who Dani could only assume was Red. ���I want the name of the person I���m going to kill.���
A moment later, there was a reply. ���All the mail is addressed to a Dr. Hart.���
Hearing her name said aloud by one of the men who had ransacked her place made her want to gasp. Her mouth fell open and her breath was reversing into her lungs, but before she could make a sound, Officer Herro lowered his lips to hers, silencing her. Stunned, she could only lie beneath him with her eyes wide and her body tense. She couldn���t believe he was kissing her. She wanted to push him back, but knew if she did he might hit the inside of the chest, giving away their hiding place. That was when she realized he was kissing her so she wouldn���t gasp.
She let her body relax. After her initial shock faded, she was able to feel his lips. They were comforting and caused a reaction deep inside her. She couldn���t stop her lips from reacting to his. It was an innocent connection, a soft touch of lips. Until his hand slid from her shoulder to her neck and the kiss deepened into something else.
Bio:
Chrys Fey is a lover of rock music just like Dani Hart in 30 Seconds. Whenever she’s writing at her desk, headphones are always emitting the sounds of her musical muses -especially that of her favorite band, 30 Seconds to Mars, the inspiration behind the title.
30 Seconds is her second eBook with The Wild Rose Press. Her debut, Hurricane Crimes, is also available on Amazon.
Discover her writing tips on her blog, and connect with her on Facebook. She loves to get to know her readers!
Author Links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chrysfey
Blog: http://www.writewithfey.blogspot.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ChrysFey
Discover her writing tips on her blog, and connect with her on Facebook. She loves to get to know her readers!
AUTHOR LINKS:��http://www.facebook.com/chrysfey”>...
http://www.writewithfey.blogspot.com/”>Blog
https://www.goodreads.com/ChrysFey”>Goodreads
Filed under: family and friends, My Favorite Books Tagged: 30 Seconds, Chrys Fey, The Wild Rose Press
November 7, 2014
#Release Ancient Curse on #Sale
I’m so exited! Ancient Curse is on sale for five days at The Wild Rose Press.
Blurb: Evil never dies; and for psychic Rainie Gamble who accepts a job to weed out evil artifacts, this could not be more true. When she arrives at the home of Thomas Broquette, her new boss, she isn’t sure what to expect. But the handsome and intriguing Thomas is only the tip of the paranormal activity she encounters while going through his library.
After several near misses when Rainie is injured by evil forces, she wonders if her new boss is hiding a secret? What does t he previous owner Mason have to do with the threads of doom encasing the estate? And why does Thomas bring her father, a well-known art thief, into their midst.
The attraction she feels for Thomas grows, as does the evil winning its battle against the inhabitants of what could be her new home. Rainie wonders if she will find and defeat the inhuman force causing all their problems before she and Thomas are sucked into its evil forever.
Ancient Curse Excerpt: She studied him closely. Although he was older than her, he was too young to be retired. He affected her the same way as his home: a combination of fascination and dread.
When his hand brushed the elaborately decorated sculpture, Rainie shuddered. The thick stone pedestal crawled with astrological creatures. Instead of numbers the face displayed tortured patterns.
She bit her lip. Something about the elaborately figured faceplate niggled at her memory. She’d have to research it on-line. The dial or gnomon that would indicate the time was missing. She didn’t need to touch the surface to know it had been part of some hideous ritual.
Rainie swallowed her warning. He obviously didn’t feel the dark vibrations oozing from the surface.
Please follow, friend or like me. I love to hear from my readers.
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GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Filed under: My Books Tagged: Ancient Curse, evil, paranormal, paranotmal
November 3, 2014
Find the Magic by Alicia Dean #sale
Award winning author and editor, Alicia Dean, shares her process of creating a story, along with bonus tips in Find The Magic – How to Plot a Story in 10 Easy Steps.
*** ON SALE – 99¢ through November 15, 2014 ***
How to write a novel? That is the question. There are probably as many answers to that question as there are people who ask it.
Wanting to write and actually doing it are two very different things. I am well acquainted with the sometimes grueling process of churning out a story. Over the years, I have tried many methods for creating and completing manuscripts, and have tweaked and honed it down to a workable (for me) process.
Using specific examples from one of my own novels, Without Mercy, I share my method in this mini how to book. The first eight steps actually deal with plotting while the last two are designed to help expand your outline into a well-developed draft. There is no one, perfect way to create a story, but there will be a method, or methods that work for you. I’m not sure if this is the one, but it works for me. Only you can decide if it also works for you. Fingers crossed that it does!
Kindle:
Nook:
Find Alicia Here:
http://www.AliciaDean.com
Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. She has three grown children and a huge network of supportive friends and family. She writes mostly contemporary suspense and paranormal, but has also written in other genres, including a few vintage historicals.
In addition to being an author of more than twenty published works, Alicia is both a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press, under the name, Ally Robertson, in their suspense line.
Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL (she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and watching her favorite televisions shows like Vampire Diaries, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, Haven, The Mindy Project, and Dexter (even though it has sadly ended, she will forever be a fan). Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Sharon Sala, Jordan Dane, Ridley Pearson, Joseph Finder, and Jonathan Kellerman…to name a few.
Find Alicia here:
Website: http://aliciadean.com/
Blog: http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008364070487
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aliciamdean/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/468339.Alicia_Dean
Filed under: writing Tagged: Alicia Dean
November 2, 2014
Winner of Ancient Curse by Barbara Edwards
The winner of an ebook copy of Ancient Curse in the Snarkology Halloween Blog Hop is joelybogan@aol.com
My new paranormal romance, Ancient Curse, is available in all formats at http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/mai...
Excerpt: She studied him closely. Although he was older than her, he was too young to be retired. He affected her the same way as his home: a combination of fascination and dread.
When his hand brushed the elaborately decorated sculpture, Rainie shuddered. The thick stone pedestal crawled with astrological creatures. Instead of numbers the face displayed tortured patterns.
She bit her lip. Something about the elaborately figured faceplate niggled at her memory. She’d have to research it on-line. The dial or gnomon that would indicate the time was missing. She didn’t need to touch the surface to know it had been part of some hideous ritual.
Rainie swallowed her warning. He obviously didn’t feel the dark vibrations oozing from the surface.
Visit my website for more excerpts: http://www.barbaraedwards.net
Filed under: My Books, writing Tagged: Ancient Curse, Barbara Edwards,, evil, New England, paranormal
October 27, 2014
Dudleytown, A haunted place in Connecticut by Barbara Edwards #Giveaway
Dudleytown doesn’t exist anymore, but stories of madness, suicide and horrible happenings keep it from fading into history. Hikers report a dead zone minus any animal activity. Similarly birds are absent except for the day-time hooting of owls.
Map featuring Dudleytown
Map featuring Dudleytown
Was Dudleytown haunted by something evil? Does the haunting continue even though the houses have fallen into the ground and little remains to mark the spot? I don’t know. According to some local historians, the town’s remains have witnessed madness, suicide, fatal accidents, natural disasters, and vanishings
A curse befalling residents from the mid-1700’s to the early-1800’s makes a scary story. The curse has been traced to an English nobleman, Edmund Dudley, ancestor of the Dudley brothers who settled the town. His head was chopped off for plotting against King Henry VII. A curse on Edmund followed his family to the New World.
One of the Dudley brothers went insane. Other strange incidents included a barn raising where a man fell to his death. Lightning struck and killed a Dudleytown woman on her porch. The curse destroyed a sheep-herder’s family. His wife died of tuberculosis, and his children disappeared. When his house burned down, he wandered into the woods, never to return.
Rev. Gary P. Dudley, a Texas resident and the author of The Legend of Dudleytown: Solving Legends through Genealogical and Historical Research (Heritage Books, 2001), traced the genealogy of his name, found no historical basis for Dudleytown’s cursed reputation or genealogical link to Edmund Dudley.
The final resident of Dudleytown was Dr. William Clarke, a New York City physician who built a vacation home in the early 1900s. The traditional story alleges that Mrs. Clarke was left alone overnight while her husband was summoned to an emergency in the city, and she descended into madness. Rev. Dudley says Mrs. Clarke committed suicide, but in New York, not in Dudleytown.
Before leaving, Dr. Clarke helped found Dark Entry Forest, Inc., an association of property owners that designated the area a nature preserve. As Dudleytown fell to ruin, the land reverted to forest.
Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, CT
Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, CT
The Cornwall Covered Bridge is nearby and worth a trip.
Anyone can follow directions in a guide to nature walks in Connecticut to the preserve’s main entrance at the end of Bald Mountain Road in Cornwall. The way is blocked by a locked gate and signs announcing “No Parking” and “No Trespassing.” Instead enter Dudleytown from the Mohawk Trail, a bit farther north. Dudleytown is about 1.5 miles from the trail’s entrance.
It’s obvious why Dudleytown’s neighbors don’t cotton to strangers.
The town’s legend attracted paranormal investigators, journalists, hikers, the occasional birder, curiosity-seekers, and just plain folk inclined toward the supernatural. Until in 1999, after the release of The Blair Witch Project (the hugely popular movie about haunted woods in Maryland), trespassers got out of hand.
The internet spread the legend far and wide.
The members of Dark Entry Forest, Inc placed Dudleytown off-limits after complaining of drinking parties, campfires, littering, disorderly conduct, and vandalism. A news release they issued stated in a single year, “law enforcement officers have been summoned 79 times”.
A sign in the Mohawk Trail parking lot warns hikers to keep out from October 25 to November 4. The trail crosses a corner of Dudleytown. The Connecticut Forest and Park Association closes this trail section for several days around Halloween.
I’ve personally hiked the fabled Litchfield Hills in their autumn colors.
A brook bubbling near Dudleytown
A brook bubbling near Dudleytown
The Mohawk Trail follows Dark Entry Road, which climbs steeply past houses and towering tree before narrowing near Bonney Brook. In the forest, a broken stone wall crosses the brook. Once it was a dam—Witches’ Dam, some now call it. Nearby, a hollow moaning comes from a thin stream of water spouting into a rocky pool.
A half-mile beyond the brook is Dudleytown. The trail guide calls it “an abandoned community.” It is so quiet around the doomed settlement’s stone ruins that belief in a dead zone is brought to mind.
Visitors have experienced vortexes and cold spots in Dudleytown; others have seen spirits. A few are recorded on film although cameras and other battery-powered equipment are unreliable here. A few claim to have been chased, even slapped, by ghosts.
I can’t claim to know if the stories are true, but it does make me shiver.
First Posted on October 12, 2012 by Barbara Edwards
a Rafflecopter giveaway Please visit all of our participants for prizes or gifts.
http://melissasnark.blogspot.com/p/the-last-week-in-october-authors-will.html
For those commenting here during the five day Snarkology Halloween Blog Hop, I’m drawing one name to receive an ebook book of Ancient Curse, my November release from The Wild Rose Press.
Evil never dies; and for psychic Rainie Gamble who accepts a job to weed out evil artifacts, this could not be more true. When she arrives at the home of Thomas Broquette, her new boss, she isn’t sure what to expect. But the handsome and intriguing Thomas is only the tip of the paranormal activity she encounters while going through his library.
After several near misses when Rainie is injured by evil forces, she wonders if her new boss is hiding a secret? What does the previous owner Mason have to do with the threads of doom encasing the estate? And why does Thomas bring her father, a well-known art thief, into their midst.
The attraction she feels for Thomas grows, as does the evil winning its battle against the inhabitants of what could be her new home. Rainie wonders if she will find and defeat the inhuman force causing all their problems before she and Thomas are sucked into its evil forever.
Visit me, Friend me, Follow or Tweet. I’d love to hear from you.
Website: http://www.barbaraedwards.net for excerpts and buy links
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/barb_ed
Authors Den: http://authorsden.com/barbaraedwards
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/barbaraedwards
Filed under: writing Tagged: Barbara Edwards,, Dubleytown, Haunted town, Snarkology Halloween Blog Hop
October 14, 2014
Guest Helen C. Johannes talks about her fantasy
Please welcome my guest, Helen C. Johannes with her new release: The Prince of Val-Feyridge.
Tell me why you wrote THE PRINCE OF VAL-FEYRIDGE.
THE PRINCE OF VAL-FEYRIDGE is the book of my heart. I conceived the storyline and characters the summer before I began college. I’d been reading THE FOUNTAINHEAD, GONE WITH THE WIND, and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. The world was full of turmoil in the Middle East (no change there) and racism in the US (not much change there either). I wanted to tell a story about a broken country and the characters that would stitch it back together again. They would have to overcome class and ethnic divisions to do so.
While thematically that was the premise, the heart of the story was the against-all-odds love that grows between my warrior prince hero and my displaced healer heroine. While everything is stacked against them, what binds them together is honor. They can—and do—trust each other with their lives.![ThePriceofVal_Fey_w3415_680[1]](https://barbaraedwardscomments.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/thepriceofval_fey_w3415_6801.jpg)
You’re multi-published. Which of your heroes is your favorite and why?
That’s a hard one. I love my heroes, never more than when I’m writing their individual books, but they are very different people.
Prince Arn is a swashbuckler, a charismatic leader of men who puts his life on the line—recklessly, some would say—to single-mindedly pursue the lost Crown and restore the Kingdom. Having survived the assassination of his family at age 12, he loves no one, trusts but a few, and gambles daily to achieve what’s rightfully his.
Durren Drakkonwehr of BLOODSTONE was once a warrior, descendant of a long line of dragon-keepers, but his personal failure has led to his land’s collapse and the curse that makes his life a living hell. He lives in isolation, determined to protect his people from his cursed appearance and too proud to die at the hand of subhuman beings.
Flip sides of the warrior coin, one could say—success versus failure—but both scarred inside and out, with stone walls around their hearts that have to be chipped away by the heroines.
My heroes are two stubborn, prideful men whose emotional journeys are equally satisfying, but I think I had more fun torturing Durren. Still, if I had to choose, I have to go with my ‘firstborn’ Prince Arn because he’s been with me so long.
How do you keep writing when the ideas flow slowly?
Slowly? How about slogging through molasses? Normal speed for me.
One thing that works is having a critique partner who is a prolific writer and keeps expecting me to return the favor. Another thing is simply writing something, even if it seems like crap, because the act of getting words on screen/paper gets the juices flowing. Finally, I sometimes have to start a later scene because the current one isn’t going where I want it to. Then I can go back and fill in the gaps.
Thanks for hosting me, Barbara! It’s a pleasure to visit with a fellow Wild Rose Press author.
Blurb:
THE PRINCE OF VAL-FEYRIDGE
2011 EPIC Winner in Fantasy Romance
A warrior with a destiny, a woman with a gift. Can loving the enemy restore a broken kingdom? Or will forbidden love destroy it—and them—first?
Prince Arn has a destiny—an ancient throne—but he’s not waiting for fate to deliver when he can act now, before his enemies organize against him. The healer Aerid longs for her barely remembered homeland. Marked out by her gift and her foreign looks, she insists she is no witch. The swordsman Naed hopes to honorably defend his uncle’s holding, but he harbors a secret fascination for the exotic healer. Prince Arn’s campaign against Aerid’s homeland throws them into a triangle of forbidden love, betrayal, and heartbreak. Only when they realize love is blood-kin to friendship, and neither is possible without risk, can they forge a new alliance and restore a kingdom.
Excerpt:
The Prince’s arm tightened, drawing her hard against the planes of his chest.
Aerid sucked in breath, digging her fingers once more into his tunic sleeve. Every movement reminded her, perched sideways as she was on the saddle pommel, all that kept her out of the water and away from trampling hooves was the strength of his arm—and that arm was trembling. Not with the fear still rattling through her, for he was Tolemak and a warrior. Nor with weakness, though the wound she had stitched a scant seven-night before could yet give him cause.
No, in that moment when he had recognized her—in that awful moment after the shock—she’d seen all too clearly the fury vibrating through him now. And the knowledge that it had not abated even a whit made her flinch when he bent and his voice lashed at her ear.
“Tell me, witch, and tell me true—does Krenin know who you are?”
The question itself startled Aerid, not its harshness, for she had expected that. Twisting her head, she caught a glimpse of eyes like coals in a face dark and set.
“I mean,” he said, each word measured and knifesharp, “either who you are or who you pretend to be.”
She flushed, knowing full well what he meant. “I—I think not, m’lord. ‘Twas dark and—”
“Then you’ll do nothing to enlighten him. Hear?”
She heard him clearly despite the water-song and hoof splashes she was sure prevented their voices from carrying to Krenin. She understood, too, what underlay his warning. He wanted no one to know that he, the exalted and invincible Prince of Val-Feyridge, had been tricked—trapped—into sparing the life of an Adanak—and a woman!—only to cover the fact he and all his army had been duped into believing—for weeks!—that she was a boy, and a D’nalian. Oh, he had chosen well the moment for his question, Aerid thought, a rush of indignation beating back her shivers.
“Aye, m’lord, ‘tis safe with me, your secret.”
Buy Links:
The Prince of Val-Feyridge: http://amzn.com/B003JH8CO2
Bloodstone: Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00G8GTHRC
Helen C. Johannes lives in the Midwest with her husband and grown children. Growing up, she read fairy tales, Tolkien, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Agatha Christie, Shakespeare, and Ayn Rand, an unusual mix that undoubtedly explains why the themes, characters, and locales in her writing play out in tales of love and adventure.
Blog:
Brave Men, Bold Women—Hearts in Search of Home:
http://helencjohannes.blogspot.com/
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