L.S. Murphy's Blog, page 20

5 Questions with Debra Kayn

Multi-published Romance Author, Debra Kayn, lives with her family in the beautiful coastal mountains of Oregon on a hobby farm. During the summer, she enjoys riding motorcycles, gardening, playing tennis, and fishing. During the winter, you’ll find her outside playing in the snow. A cold weather nut, she lives for the days she’s snowbound and fighting with the woodstove to keep the house warm when the power goes out. A huge animal lover, she always has a dog under her desk when she writes and chickens standing at the front door looking for a treat. She’s famous in her family for teaching a 270 lb pig named Harley to jog with her every morning.

Her love of family ties and laughter makes her a natural to write heartwarming contemporary stories to the delight of her readers. As someone who met her husband on a blind date when she was nineteen years old, she’s a believer of love at first sight and happily ever after.

Website           Facebook         Twitter     Goodreads

Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS

 

1. What was the spark of inspiration for Rodeo Rebel?

So many romance novels have stereotypical heroines…the nurse, the business owner, the office worker. I wanted a heroine who bucked the norm. So, Florentine turned out to be a professional bull rider. I really enjoyed putting a woman smack dab in a man’s sport to show how tough women can be when they have a dream.

2. Have you ever ridden a LIVE bull?

No, and I don’t think I would if given the chance. I have ridden a cow, and a hog—don’t ask. I much rather ride a mechanical bull, or a motorcycle.

3. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Don’t give up, and write what you know. There’s comfort in knowing how your characters live and what’s involved in their everyday living. Use your experience to keep your interest in the story up, and write from the heart.

4. If you could travel to any place in the world, where would you go?

North Dakota! Don’t laugh. We have our place for sale right now, and our destination is North Dakota when the farm finally sells. It’s where my hubs is from, and I’ve never been there. So for me, it’s like going to another part of the world. The flat part, but beautiful in its own way.

5. Finally, Beatles or Rolling Stones?

Rolling Stones!

About Rodeo Rebel

When widower and land baron Cole Reardon acquired the Turner Grain Corporation, he didn’t know the company sponsored a bull rider. He refuses to support thrill-seekers dumb enough to get on the back of a crazed animal. He’s not willing to risk his fortune and livelihood when he has his daughter’s well-being to consider. Not even when the bull rider is the sexiest woman he’s ever seen.

Bull rider Florentine McDougal plans to turn pro after the season championship, fulfilling her lifelong dream of succeeding in a man’s world. That is, until Cole Reardon shows up and threatens to break his sponsorship contract with her. Now everything she’s worked for is less than eight seconds away from being destroyed.

Cole distracts Florentine with his sexy mouth and unreasonable demands, and he’s not going to compromise his integrity. But she’s not going to let him loose until she has pro status. And neither will come away from this dust-up unscathed.

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Cowboys, Fiction, Fun, Interviews, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Writers, Writing

Waiting on Wednesday: The Diviners

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, showcasing books that we are waiting to read hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Libba Bray can do no wrong in my mind. So glad the wait for this is almost over.

About The Diviners:

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City–and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult–also known as “The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies.”

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer–if he doesn’t catch her first

Tagged: 2012, Books, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Teens, Waiting on Wednesday, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Book Review: A Midsummer’s Nightmare

Synopsis: Whitley Johnson’s dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She’s just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée’s son? Whitley’s one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin’ great.

Worse, she totally doesn’t fit in with her dad’s perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn’t even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she’s ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn’t “do” friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn’t her stepbrother…at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger’s most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

The First Line: “Hangovers are a bitch.” Truer words have never been spoken. J I like that Whitley’s voice is so strong from this first line.

The Good: One of the best things about Kody Keplinger is her brutal honesty.Her characters are realistic and act/react like teenagers. She tells it like it is and holds nothing back. More books should be like this.

Whitley comes across as a likable … well, a likable bitch. We all knew this girl in high school. She puts people off with her actions, but everyone knows she’s really lonely. As much as I wanted to smack her from the beginning, I couldn’t help but like her.

Nathan is fabulous. He’s smart, funny, and an all around nice guy. It’s hard not to like him. It’s also hard to watch Whitley push him away.

The Bad: It was pretty easy to see where this was going, but not enough to put it down.

Recommendation: If you are looking for smart, funny, well written YA, pick this up.

Tagged: 2012, book Review, Books, Fiction, friends, Fun, High School, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Contemporary, ya romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Cover Reveal: Silent Echoes by Aimee Laine

Silent Echoes

Games of Zeus #2

by Aimee Laine

Release Date: March 11, 2013

Back of the Book

For years, Ian Sands has enjoyed his life as a bachelor, taking advantage of singlehood and exploring his own definition of passion—whoever she may be. Blonde. Brunette. Tall. Short. Hot. Not. Five months ago, all that changed.

Ian’s been celibate, frustrated and desperately seeking answers to why one woman, who doesn’t play by girls’ rules, haunts his every waking moment.

As a renovations specialist, Taylor Marsh lives, works and breathes construction—a profession her southern belle of a mother would rather Taylor not touch. The same goes for Ian; Mama Marsh would never approve of him.

Like Ian, though, each time he and Taylor draw near, something compels her to get closer.

Something else tells her to run away.

Fast.

As much as their histories suggest they shouldn’t be together, neither Taylor nor Ian can deny the pull, and the two succumb, indulging in a relationship that brings pleasure to body, mind and soul.

Doing so, though, also ushers in a series of events both should have foreseen as well as one final outcome neither expected.

URL: http://www.jtaylorpublishing.com/books/26

Other Books in this series include:

Hide & Seek

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Cover Reveal, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Romance, Writers, Writing

Cover Reveal: Stalked By Death by Kelly Hashway

 

 

Stalked by Death

Jodi knows that any slip-ups made by the Ophi–a special group of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac–will fall on her shoulders… and that Hades is just waiting for them to screw up so he can wipe out the Ophi line.

When the only Ophi Jodi can convince to come to the school and train with her is a gorgeous guy named Chase, it spells more than trouble for Jodi and Alex. Her mixed emotions for both guys send her powers surging out of control, and she begins raising the dead without even meaning to. Jodi doesn’t want to lose Alex, but Chase is offering her something Alex can’t. His very touch enhances her powers, making her stronger than any Ophi ever has been–maybe even powerful enough to stop Hades from threatening them all. But Chase’s offering comes with a huge price. One that may cost Jodi everything she has.

Jodi needs to figure things out fast–because death is stalking her at every turn.

 

The first book of the series, Touch of Death (http://www.site.spencerhillpress.com/Touch_of_Death.html), will be released in January 2013… and the launch party will be a ZOMBIE PROM in Boston! Keep an eye out for news of the coming aPROMcalypse (you know you want to be a “prombie”).

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (www.spencerhillpress.com)

ISBN: 978-1-937053-56-7

Release Date: July 23, 2013

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Cover Reveal, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

5 Questions with Katee Robert

Katee Robert learned to tell stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her favorites then were the rather epic adventures of The Three Bears, but at age twelve she discovered romance novels and never looked back.

Though she dabbled in writing, life got in the way—as it often does—and she spent a few years traveling, living in both Philadelphia and Germany. In between traveling and raising her two wee ones, she had the crazy idea that she’d like to write a book and try to get published.

Her first novel was an epic fantasy that, God willing, will never see the light of day. From there, she dabbled in YA and horror, before finally finding speculative romance. Because, really, who wouldn’t want to write entire books about the smoking-hot relationships between two people?

She now spends her time—when not lost in Far Reach worlds—playing imaginary games with her wee ones, writing, ogling men, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Website     Facebook     Twitter     Goodreads

Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS

 1. What was the spark of inspiration for Wrong Bed, Right Guy?

I had spent some time talking about the wrong bed plotline, and I started wondering exactly how something like that would happen, if it were a good girl trying her hand at seduction.

2. Elle Walser’s seduction technique needs some help. What advice would you have given her?

LOL, I’m not great at seduction. But my (VERY questionable) advice would be to throw some alcohol at the problem. Either she and Nathan would hook up, or she’d confess her feelings and he’d turn her down…. You know, this really isn’t good advice. Don’t do that.

3. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Throw some alcohol at it. Oh wait…no. Or maybe yes? No, all right. Best advice I can give aspiring authors is to get your ass in a chair and write. You can’t edit, and get rejected, and rewrite, and edit more (and so on) until you have that first draft done.

4. If you could travel to any place in the world, where would you go?

I’m dying to visit Australia.

5. Finally, Beatles or Rolling Stones?

I might be the only person on this planet who doesn’t like the Beatles. So…definitely Rolling Stones.

About Right Bed, Wrong Guy

Seducing Mr. Wrong has never felt so right…

Prim and proper art gallery coordinator Elle Walser is no good at seducing men. Heck, she’s been throwing hints at her boss for months, but he’s completely clueless. Desperate to escape her mother’s matchmaking efforts, she comes up with a plan—buy some lingerie and climb into her boss’s bed. The plan goes brilliantly…until she accidentally seduces a sexy stranger instead.

Bad boy nightclub mogul Gabe Schultz just had the best almost-sex of his life. Too bad the smoking hot blonde thought he was his brother and bolted before he could finish what they started. Though her holier-than-thou attitude puts a serious damper on his mood, Gabe’s never been one to give up on something he wants. And he wants Elle. But does a man who lives on the dark side really have a chance with a proper lady?

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Fun, Interviews, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Reading, Romance, Writers, Writing

Waiting on Wednesday: Senshi

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, showcasing books that we are waiting to read hosted by Breaking the Spine.

I loved Katana by Cole Gibsen and this follow up looks like it will live up to the first novel.

About Senshi:

After learning she is a reincarnated samurai, nearly getting killed (several times), and reuniting with a past-life soul mate, Rileigh Martin decides to put her warrior life on hold to focus on her senior year of high school.

But a reincarnated kunoichi (female ninja) has other plans—including destroying the world if Rileigh doesn’t stop her! When evil ninja assailants nearly kill Rileigh and kidnap her best friend Quentin, she must choose between saving the world and saving him. Rileigh’s only ally in this impossible quest: the spirit of a man who killed her in a past life.

Tagged: 2012, Books, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Teens, Waiting on Wednesday, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

REAPER Excerpt

Guys!!!!! We still have a few months to go before Reaper is out in the world, but I can share a snippet of the beginning with you NOW! Isn’t that exciting? Yeah, I’m totally excited too. Without further commentary from yours truly….

HERE IT IS:

 

A spitball stops in mid-air less than an inch from my nose.

It hangs there. I assume everyone else notices the wet wad of paper too, but when I turn to my bestie Jordan, her mouth is stuck open with her eyes half closed.

She was just laughing. Now she’s … frozen?

The sudden silence is louder than a room full of gossiping teenagers.

Mini-quakes creep up my spine like a centipede hurrying toward my hair.

I’m not entirely sure my heart is beating. I wave my shaking hand in front of Jordan, hoping this will break her free of whatever happened.

No reaction.

Why am I moving?

So many times, I wished Jordan would stop talking. Now is the one time I need her high-pitched voice to pierce my ears.

Quin, relax. It’s okay. No way this is real. I pinch my arm hard, but it doesn’t change anything.

A loud pop makes me spin around in my seat. A man stands in front of the chalkboard in a bluish-white robe staring at me through blizzard white eyes. He holds a staff in front of him that looks like melting glass.

“Hello, Quincy,” he says in a deep velvet voice. “How would you like to see your future?”

I stand and stumble toward the back of the room. “Who are you supposed to be? Gandalf?” I’m unable to keep the tremor out of my voice.

“One person dresses up like me in a movie, and that’s all I hear.” He leans back on Mr. Spragg’s desk. “I’m far more attractive than him and so much more fun.” He winks and lifts his robe, revealing a pair of yellow and red striped Bermuda shorts and orange flip-flops.

My eyes pop wider at the mismatched mess, but I keep my thoughts about his sense of fashion to myself. “Who are you?”

His sigh echoes off the walls. “I’m Destiny.”

“Who?”

Rolling his eyes, he raises the staff high to his left. Like a swordsman, he stabs and swooshes it down in an arch. The air ripples as a dark slit opens. A man in a deep brown pinstripe suit steps through. His cheap sneakers don’t match the formality of the tan fedora and horn-rimmed glasses.

A pony-sized white German shepherd saunters in behind him, and I take an automatic step back. The dog turns his head, black orbs where its eyes should be.

Pinstripe man glances my way before turning toward the person who calls himself Destiny. His features contort and a maroon tint creeps over his face.

“What the f—”

Destiny flips his finger and the new guy shuts up. After a moment, he does another finger move.

“We said when she was eighteen, Des.”

“I’m aware of that, Forsyth.”

“She’s not eighteen.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” Sarcasm fills each word as Destiny raises his eyebrows like a flag on the Fourth of July.

Forsyth glares. “Then why am I here?”

“I let you pick the date, but I never agreed to honor it.” Destiny pats the dog on the head with sneer and wipes his hands on his robe. “Now is the time. Teach her.”

What’s going to happen next? Mark your calendar for January 7th and find out.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Tagged: 2012, Books, Fiction, Musings, Novels, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Reaper, Romance, Teens, Urban Fantasy, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, YA urban fantasy, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Book Review: Surrender by Aimee Laine

Synopsis: Face the past or look to the future? Both will hurt. One could kill her.

All her life, Lily Crane has suppressed her childhood memories, masking the signs of abuse with a variety of looks. From brunette to blonde, tall to short — as a Mimic, changing shape is her gift. Her right. Her Achilles heel.

It’s Lily’s latest likeness, chosen simply by accident, which threatens to repeat a history she’s desperate to forget. Worse, she must do so without the one man who takes all her pain away: Cael Aldridge.

Cael has no intention of leaving Lily on her own. He never has. Now, with the woman he loves in the hands of a predator who wants Lily for her genetics, Cael will do everything he can to bring her home.

Alive.

He can only pray he isn’t too late.

The Good: Lily Crane’s curiosity about her past is what drives her. At times, she seemed weak, but it’s one of her strengths. I grew to love her character the more I read. She’s full of self-doubt and has more confidence than she realizes, but the reader catches on pretty quick to Lily’s true nature.

The plot has enough mystery to keep you intrigued without giving away too much. I wasn’t 100% sure what was going to happen and I loved that.

While this is the second in a series, you definitely don’t need to read the first book to get into this one.

The Bad: Cael’s needed some anger management counseling.

Recommendation: If you’re looking for a paranormal/urban fantasy that’s outside the box, check this out. It’s worth your time.

Tagged: 2012, book Review, Books, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Writers, Writing

5 Questions with Gennifer Albin

Gennifer Albin holds a Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Missouri. During her student years she served as an editor for Pleaides and The Missouri Review, and since then she’s founded the tremendously popular blog theconnectedmom.com.  She lives in Kansas with her ridiculously supportive husband, two small children, and a Tuesday cat.

Her debut novel, CREWEL, was written during NaNo ’10 and will be published on October 16, 2012 by FSG/Macmillan.  She is represented by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

  Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS

1. What was the spark of inspiration for Crewel?

CREWEL was inspired by a painting by Remedios Varo called Bordando El Manto Terrestre that depicts girls embroidering the world from a tower.  I’ve been obsessed with the painting since college and one day I sat down and wrote a page about one of the girls who is destined to go work in the tower.

2. How has your Master’s degree in English specializing 18th Century Women’s Studies helped you as an author?

Graduate work in English is really about dissecting stories thematically, historically, and structurally, and since the18th century is considered the birth of the novel, I was working with a variety of novels that experimented with structure and storyline.  I can be a bit of a tough reader because of this, but I’m also able to clearly discern what I like about novels that work for me.  So when I set out to write my own novel, I wrote a story combining all the elements I love into one book.

3. If you could go back in time, where would you go?

Now that’s a tricky question.  Can I go back to the beginning and settle the whole big bang theory?

4. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Just write.  It’s the only thing you have any control over.  Every single author’s experience differs when it comes to agents, book deals, marketing plans and publicity.  I could tell you to keep believing, but there will be days when that feels impossible.  But you can always write, and that’s most important.

5. Finally, Star Wars or Star Trek?

It’s like flippin’ Sophie’s Choice, but I have to go with my first love: Star Wars.

Synopsis: Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, Fun, Interviews, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult, Young Adult Books