Ute Carbone's Blog, page 29
December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas
Hope you have a holiday filled with love and joy!
December 23, 2013
It's All About the Romance!: #BookTour #Giveaway: "To the Wind" by Ute Carbone ...
The To the Wind blog tour begins today with a stop at It's all about the romance. There's a contest for a chance to win a copy of Sweet Lenora
It's All About the Romance!: #BookTour #Giveaway: "To the Wind" by Ute Carbone ...:
It's All About the Romance!: #BookTour #Giveaway: "To the Wind" by Ute Carbone ...:
December 21, 2013
Saturday #Snippets To the Wind
The To the Wind Blog Tour starts on Monday. To the Wind is part two of the Anton and Lenora series. It's a historical novella, set on a clipper ship in 1852. Anton Boudreaux, the ship's captain, tells the story. Here's the opening.
The world is a wicked place, full of lies and deceit. A man must stand strong against the force of evil, lest he perish. So I thought before Lenora came into my life. She was an angel, appearing in a moment’s time upon the deck of Sweet Lenora, the ship named for her. The ship I commanded. She seemed so fragile a creature I knew I must protect her from the world. And protect her I vowed to do for all my days on this earth. I had locked my heart away in a box of iron, but Lenora broke the seal and set my poor heart free.
We had gone through much in our brief days together, Lenora and I. As we ran from the trouble that pursued us from Rio port, my heart flew against the wind and I believed again in love. I had my Lenora beside me and where, but a few hours before, I dwelt in the shadow of a hangman’s noose, I was free now to gaze into her green-as-emerald eyes and run my fingers through her long, red-gold hair.
Yet even as Sweet Lenora heeled into the current, trouble had not departed us in its entirety. We left a dead man in our wake. We sailed with but half a crew, a motley lot of rag-tag ruffians assembled from the few willing to sail on with me.
Those among them I trusted could be counted on a single hand. Rupert, my cook, was one. A New Orleans man I had known since I was a child, he had served on the Carmen Anne, where I had been first mate. Maurice, the cabin boy, was another. He was but a child of ten, on his first voyage and the son of a good friend to my mother. I promised her to keep him in my care. And there was my heart, Lenora, to whom I entrusted my very life.
To the Wind is the second novella in the Anton and Lenora Series.
Learn more about the series here
You can purchase the novella at
CBG
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
The world is a wicked place, full of lies and deceit. A man must stand strong against the force of evil, lest he perish. So I thought before Lenora came into my life. She was an angel, appearing in a moment’s time upon the deck of Sweet Lenora, the ship named for her. The ship I commanded. She seemed so fragile a creature I knew I must protect her from the world. And protect her I vowed to do for all my days on this earth. I had locked my heart away in a box of iron, but Lenora broke the seal and set my poor heart free. We had gone through much in our brief days together, Lenora and I. As we ran from the trouble that pursued us from Rio port, my heart flew against the wind and I believed again in love. I had my Lenora beside me and where, but a few hours before, I dwelt in the shadow of a hangman’s noose, I was free now to gaze into her green-as-emerald eyes and run my fingers through her long, red-gold hair.
Yet even as Sweet Lenora heeled into the current, trouble had not departed us in its entirety. We left a dead man in our wake. We sailed with but half a crew, a motley lot of rag-tag ruffians assembled from the few willing to sail on with me.
Those among them I trusted could be counted on a single hand. Rupert, my cook, was one. A New Orleans man I had known since I was a child, he had served on the Carmen Anne, where I had been first mate. Maurice, the cabin boy, was another. He was but a child of ten, on his first voyage and the son of a good friend to my mother. I promised her to keep him in my care. And there was my heart, Lenora, to whom I entrusted my very life.
To the Wind is the second novella in the Anton and Lenora Series.
Learn more about the series here
You can purchase the novella at
CBG
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
December 20, 2013
To the Wind Blog Tour
The sails are unfurling! To the Wind is going on tour.Anton and Lenora will be visiting these blogs:
December 23It’s All About the RomanceDecember 24Blue Rose Romance Rose Caceres
December 26Dawn’s Reading Nook
December 30Harlie’s Books
January 2Book Reviews by Xunaira J.
January 33 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!
December 16, 2013
Meet Hannah Lokos
Newly minted author Hannah Lokos has stopped by today. Her first book, Labyrinth of Lies, was released earlier this month
Hi! I’m Hannah.
Who am I?I’m an author who happens to be a full-time college student (biology/pre-med major). I’ve been writing short stories and poetry since I was five. I’ve loved writing for literally as long as I can remember. As soon as I could read, I wanted to write. I started writing short stories and simple poetry when I was in kindergarten. Of course, I wanted to use words that I often couldn’t spell. So, I would wait for my dad to come home from work and then ask him to help me spell them. Ever since then, I’ve dreamed of becoming a published author. I wrote my first full-length novel when I was fourteen, but to this day, it remains under my bed. When I was eighteen, I attempted the feat again, this time going all the way. I did all of my own representing and wrote all of my own cover and query letters, and last spring, I received an offer of publication from Champagne Book Group for my novel entitled Labyrinth of Lies. It was released on December 2, 2013, and I couldn’t be more excited! What is my book about?
Labyrinth of Lies is historical fiction mixed with a smidgen of romance. Basically, it's the backstory to a Greek myth. Because every story—even a myth—is based on a kernel of truth, my tale proposes a truth at the heart of a tangle of lies.
Here’s the blurb from the back cover:
"Something foul is afoot in Ancient Greece. Athens is bruised from a previous war with Crete. Worse still, King Minos annually demands fourteen Athenian youths to be fed to the Cretan Minotaur, which is locked inside a maze. Theseus has grown up amidst this tangle of pain. When his own beloved, Zosemine, is taken to be fed to the Minotaur, Theseus finds himself at the heart of a web of conflicting motives, with the sense that even those closest to him cannot be trusted. Questions abound. Why is his father so ashamed? What is King Minos hiding? Is the Minotaur even real? And if not, what truly lies at the heart of the labyrinth? Little does Theseus know that all the various plots, motives, and secrets all weave around one terrible truth. Theseus must navigate the labyrinth and see past the masks, to slay the Minotaur."When I was writing Labyrinth of Lies, I wanted to write a story that took an old and dusty tale, twisted it a bit, and gave to it a surprising rebirth. Hopefully, that is what I have done. Please help me spread the word!
What I would have done differently:
Most authors will agree that writing a book takes a lot of effort. It was no different in my case, yet after all that I’ve been through with this novel, I have learned some things. One of the major lessons I’ve learned is this: there is very little that cannot be accomplished by hard work. You do not need a publicist. You don’t need an agent. You don’t even need to be an adult or have an English degree. What you do need is a goal, the determination to both gather and use the skills needed to get the job done, and the perseverance to see it through. I wish I would have learned that a bit sooner.
Also, I would have started outlining earlier! I read a book once that said something to the effect of: “Well, see, you don’t really need to write an outline for your book. Just simply sit down at your computer, start typing, and see what happens. Wing it!” This is probably the WORST advice I have ever been given. Maybe you don’t NEED an outline to write a book, but it is certainly very, VERY helpful. If you don’t have an outline, you have to reorient yourself with your story every time you sit down to write. You have to constantly worry about where your plot is going next. But if you already have at least the core points written down, then it takes much of the stress out of writing. You can sit down and write a bit as you work your way gently down the outline. I find it helps me to preclude numerous bouts of writer’s block. All in all, having an outline to refer back to can make the difference between spending ten years writing your novel and ten months. Where can you find my book and/or me?
You can buy my book from my publisher at: http://burstbooks.ca/product.php?id_product=114
You can also buy it for Kindle on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-Of-Lies-Hannah-Lokos-ebook/dp/B00H1ZC0NW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
And you can get in touch with me through:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hannah-Lokos/358739397569904
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HannahLokos
My website: www.hannahlokos.com
December 14, 2013
Saturday #snippets Openings--Sweet Lenora
The sails are unfurled and the crew is ready for the To the Wind on a blog tour which begins next week. (I'll be posting blog stops and dates later this week, stay tuned)
Before To the Wind came Sweet Lenora, the beginning of the love story that has become Anton and Lenora.
Here is how the story begins
On the day of my father’s funeral, the gray October sky opened and shed copious tears. It was good that the sky was so willing to cry as I could not find my own sorrow. It seemed I buried it upon learning of his death.
We stood around the gravesite as he was laid next to the mother I had never known. My Aunt Louise looked up now and again from under the awning of her black umbrella to insure herself that I had not jumped in after the coffin or run off into the rain. To Aunt Louise, I was a spoiled and fractious child, not a young woman of twenty with a mind of my own.
“High time you found her a husband,” she had said to Father on more occasions than I cared to count. “It will not do to let her run wild.”
Father hardly let me run wild. I suppose he was indulgent after his own way. My mother died giving me life. My only brother, Edward, eight years older than I, had sailed on the MaryAnne five years before and we’d had no word of him since. As I was left sole heir, Father had deemed it necessary that I know about the shipyard. He allowed me free run of the yard’s books. I learned firsthand how
the ribs are covered with planks, how to caulk to make the ship watertight and seaworthy.
My father and my Uncle John ran the largest shipyard in all of Salem. They had shipping interests throughout the seven seas, clipper ships that sailed to the ends of the earth and came back deep
laden with China silk and India spice.
Despite whatever Aunt Louise may have thought, there were suitors aplenty. Letters of introduction forever filled the salver. I wished them all away. I knew well enough that marriage meant an end to my days at the shipyard. Once married, I would not be able to read as I pleased from Father’s library or walk as I pleased about the town. My days would be filled with endless calls to ladies sitting in
dim parlors. In short, I would be as miserable as my Aunt Louise.
The young men came by despite my wishing. They took my handkerchiefs and kissed my hand. They danced me over the floor and promenaded me through the rose garden. I knew they would never love me for the woman I was. When they looked at me, they saw a dowry kindly wrapped in a pretty package.
Father felt differently. He did love me for myself. He taught me about ships so I could someday know enough to run the business if need be. He was not so anxious to sell me to the highest bidder. I
felt blessed by such an arrangement. Until Father died, quite suddenly, when his carriage overturned.
After the burial, I went to my room. I stared into the mirror at my reflection, a green-eyed girl with red-gold hair and a pale face,and I wondered why my countenance refused to crumple into grief.
What was wrong with me that I had not broken under the weight of my father’s death?
For more on Anton and Lenora, please visit my Anton and Lenora page
Before To the Wind came Sweet Lenora, the beginning of the love story that has become Anton and Lenora.
Here is how the story begins
On the day of my father’s funeral, the gray October sky opened and shed copious tears. It was good that the sky was so willing to cry as I could not find my own sorrow. It seemed I buried it upon learning of his death.We stood around the gravesite as he was laid next to the mother I had never known. My Aunt Louise looked up now and again from under the awning of her black umbrella to insure herself that I had not jumped in after the coffin or run off into the rain. To Aunt Louise, I was a spoiled and fractious child, not a young woman of twenty with a mind of my own.
“High time you found her a husband,” she had said to Father on more occasions than I cared to count. “It will not do to let her run wild.”
Father hardly let me run wild. I suppose he was indulgent after his own way. My mother died giving me life. My only brother, Edward, eight years older than I, had sailed on the MaryAnne five years before and we’d had no word of him since. As I was left sole heir, Father had deemed it necessary that I know about the shipyard. He allowed me free run of the yard’s books. I learned firsthand how
the ribs are covered with planks, how to caulk to make the ship watertight and seaworthy.
My father and my Uncle John ran the largest shipyard in all of Salem. They had shipping interests throughout the seven seas, clipper ships that sailed to the ends of the earth and came back deep
laden with China silk and India spice.
Despite whatever Aunt Louise may have thought, there were suitors aplenty. Letters of introduction forever filled the salver. I wished them all away. I knew well enough that marriage meant an end to my days at the shipyard. Once married, I would not be able to read as I pleased from Father’s library or walk as I pleased about the town. My days would be filled with endless calls to ladies sitting in
dim parlors. In short, I would be as miserable as my Aunt Louise.
The young men came by despite my wishing. They took my handkerchiefs and kissed my hand. They danced me over the floor and promenaded me through the rose garden. I knew they would never love me for the woman I was. When they looked at me, they saw a dowry kindly wrapped in a pretty package.
Father felt differently. He did love me for myself. He taught me about ships so I could someday know enough to run the business if need be. He was not so anxious to sell me to the highest bidder. I
felt blessed by such an arrangement. Until Father died, quite suddenly, when his carriage overturned.
After the burial, I went to my room. I stared into the mirror at my reflection, a green-eyed girl with red-gold hair and a pale face,and I wondered why my countenance refused to crumple into grief.
What was wrong with me that I had not broken under the weight of my father’s death?
For more on Anton and Lenora, please visit my Anton and Lenora page
December 10, 2013
On Trailer Tuesday
The book trailers for Afterglow and Searching for Superman are featured today on Joanne Guidoccio's Trailer Tuesday.
http://joanneguidoccio.com/2013/12/10...
http://joanneguidoccio.com/2013/12/10...
December 9, 2013
Long and Short Reviews Weekly Contest
Did you know Long and Short Reviews has a weekly contest? And this week, Sweet Lenora is one of the prizes. The novella, not the ship. :) Come stop by and enter, why doncha?
Weekly Contest
Weekly Contest
December 8, 2013
The Writers Vineyard: Opening Lines
I'm in the vineyard today, musing about opening lines.
The Writers Vineyard: Opening Lines
The Writers Vineyard: Opening Lines
December 4, 2013
Visiting with Charlotte
I'm over at author Charlotte Otter's blog today talking about writing and books and things. Come say hello!
http://charlotteotter.wordpress.com/2...
http://charlotteotter.wordpress.com/2...
