Sara Daniel's Blog, page 61

Friday Friends - Samantha Combs

For those you are anti-Valentine's Day. I thought I'd offer something from the other end of the spectrum from Samantha Combs. Take it away, Samantha...

No, really. I didn't misspell it. HELLOWEEN is my new book. My eighth publication and my third adult horror collection. I am pleased to announce it is available on Amazon .

To give you a little taste of it, I'm including the first few lines of each of the six stories. Hope it whets your appetite and makes your skin crawl, even the tiniest little bit.

Samantha Combs delves into the darkness of the Halloween season, the decadence of October, and the evil of All Hallows Eve. And as usual, she asks you along for the ride.

Come meet all her new friends; an inventive chef, an abused wife with an unusual solution, the invisible friend so different in adulthood than when you were a kid, the self-made woman who learns everything comes with a price, the woman of circumstance who learns neighbors can be more than just nosy,and finally, a quiet, unassuming wife who has paid far too much attention to her husband's, um, hobby.

So, go ahead, mix, mingle, enjoy meeting them all, but remember...the scariest monsters are the ones safely tucked away, hidden in the normal, the regular, the mundane. And in the end, Good does conquer Evil....just not EVER the way you'll expect.


Eat at JOE’s
Reynaldo “Rey” Claude leaned over the wooden crate of tomatoes and inhaled deeply. The farmers market was always the best place to find the freshest ingredients for his culinary creations and Rey enjoyed his visits to gather the tasty produce. He strolled along the bustling wholesale market, making his choices and filling his basket. He was known there, and most vendors stopped to say hello and offer Rey a free sample of this, that, and the other. Which he took willingly. His food creations were like art pieces to him; each had to have its own special sauce. Pasta was pasta, but it was all about the sauce. He only wished his patrons felt the same.

DEMON IN THE GPS
Nadine Keller was running late. She still had a million things to do and had most of them on her mind, so when the GPS started talking to her, she didn’t immediately notice it. She had jumped into the Range Rover and flung the dry cleaning into the back seat. She dumped her overstuffed purse on the passenger seat and backed out of the mall parking lot. When she heard the calm, modulated voice telling her to turn left, she just obediently flicked on her signal and made the turn. Later, she would realize she didn’t remember programming an address into the GPS. She should have been wary then. GPS units didn’t just start talking to you out of the blue, demanding things.
Not like husbands did.

SKIN DEEP
Darla Demples punched the elevator button to the tenth floor. She shifted back and forth on her fashionable high heels and transferred her briefcase from her right shoulder to the left. Impatient, she poked the button again and began to tap her slender foot. Damn! You’d think the head of one of the largest cosmetics company could get a damn elevator when she wanted it. Her gaze fell on her company logo, proudly emblazoned on literally every surface in the lobby: Dollyface Cosmetics. She read the catch phrase underneath, pride welling within her: Look like a living doll, forever. Dolly smiled wistfully, remembering how she came up with the slogan, after a sleepless night with a very cranky baby daughter. Denise was almost an adult now, in college hundreds of miles away. She knew she didn’t see her near as often as she should, but she always found a way to validate that. I’m working for her future. She knows that. My success will set her up for the rest of her life, her and her future children.

IMAGINARY FRIEND
Just because I’m telling you this story, doesn’t mean I’ll be alive at the end of it. I just want to clear that up. So there aren’t any surprises at the end. It’s how I kind of like to do things. I’ve never been one for surprises. Even when I was younger, when my birthday would come around, I made sure I knew all the plans ahead of time. I never wanted the surprise party all the other kids were begging for. Neither did Lenny. He hated them even more than me. Only, he couldn’t tell anyone. You see, Lenny was my imaginary friend.

Or maybe I should say is. I’m fully grown now, with an education, a great job and even my own office. In fact, that’s where I am right now. Lenny is here, too, somewhere. He doesn’t always come out, only when he thinks I need him. I guess I needed him earlier.

I suppose I should get the whole story out now, before they arrive. Just looking down at the bodies makes me a little scared of what they will think. What they might do to me. Lenny keeps saying I didn’t have a choice. He told me I had to do it. If not, I’d never be my own person. I’d never be free.

New Neighbors
Mindy Jasper hollered down the hall of her new house to her children.

“Jackson! Danielle! Hurry or we’ll be late for your first day of school.” She peered down the hall, then had to flatten herself against it to avoid being crushed by both of her children as they came hurtling toward her. Her daughter came first and spun around Mindy’s jeans-clad legs, hiding from her brother, who was only seconds behind her. He stopped when he reached his mom and sister, but only because he’d tired of the game. His sister didn’t look terrified anymore, not now that she was next to Mom, and to him, it was only fun if she was.

THE SERIAL KILLER’S WIFE
She heard the back door creak open and shut. Even though he always tried to be quiet, she never missed that unmistakable sound. Elaine Gardner had heard that sound a million times. Most of the time, it meant that her husband Roland was coming in from work, or from tending the garden, or from taking out the trash. She knew when it didn’t mean that. When he came in way past midnight, she knew it had an entirely different meaning: it meant her husband, Roland Gardner, was returning from a kill.

So, if any of these sound interesting or compel you to read them in some way, buy the book for a buck at Amazon and don't forget to tell me what you think.

Please click the titles to check out any or all of my SEVEN books!
SPELLBOUND
EVERSPELL
GHOSTLY
THE DETENTION DEMON
TEETH AND TALONS
WAY PAST MIDNIGHT
WATERDANCER

I am a Southern California author with seven published books, including the Global Ebook Award-winning debut title SPELLBOUND. I enjoy writing YA paranormal romance and supernatural fantasy, but I also dabble in the horror and sci-fi genres as well, and writing for the Middle Grade audience. I have plans for many more books in the future!

When I'm not writing, I work full time and enjoy spending time with my husband and two children. My guilty pleasures include reality television, the Food Network channel and shoes. I truly believe I can accomplish anything if I have the right pair of shoes. And I adore totally inappropriate earrings.

I love writing and publishing my work and I am in awe of the technological advances of our lives. E-readers and similar gadgets are bringing the written word to a generation that might never have discovered books otherwise and every time I see a kid pick one up to read something it fills me with joy to be a small part of that process. If a child can connect with literature because he or she did so electronically, a connection still was made. I am excited to see what our world has in store for literature and thrilled to be along for that ride.

CONNECT WITH ME!
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Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

~Samantha Combs

Indie-Kissing Blogfest

Below is Zane and Julianne's first kiss in fifteen years in their reunion story, Zane's Art:

Julianne sank into the driver’s seat of her car, hoping for a quick second alone before he sat down next to her and looked at her again. She was an idiot. She was still hot for him after all these years, but he was completely out of her league now. It wasn’t enough that she knew it. He made sure she knew that he knew it too.

“Julianne.” His voice compelled her to turn to him as he took his seat in the car. No one said her name quite like Zane did. “We’re both wondering. Let’s find out and put it behind us.”

He caressed his hand over her cheek, as he leaned across the seat toward her, leaving no question about his intention. His lips touched hers, sweetly, the merest brush of warm soft lips, like she was a canvas he was going to paint.

His mouth was a wonder she couldn’t back away from. She leaned into him, needing more, needing to show him she was his partner in this masterpiece he was creating. She bit lightly on his lip.

His hand slid up her cheek, his fingers combing through her hair and massaging her scalp. He delved his tongue into her mouth. She shifted, desperately wanting to move closer to him.

A car horn blared, and she straightened immediately. She looked around, but the parking lot was empty.

“I believe that was you,” Zane said, with a pointed look at her elbow resting against the steering wheel. His damp, flushed lips curved in amusement.

“Oh.” She turned to face forward and pulled her seatbelt, hoping he wouldn’t notice how much her hands were shaking. Putting that kiss behind her was absolutely impossible as long as he sat next to her.

Tuesday Toolbox - Book Giveaways, Part 2

Last week I talked about the promotional tool of giving away copies of books you’ve published that readers would otherwise have to pay for. Readers have to comment or register to be entered to win a copy of these books.

Today, I’d like talk about a giveaway where you don’t have to pick a winner. Everyone wins with free book/short story downloads.
The great thing about free reads is an unlimited number of readers can download the story and read a sample of your writing. Hopefully, they’ll love it so much that they’ll want to pay money to read everything you've ever written!
Free read story involving a character from a “for sale” book: In December 2011, I did a free story that followed two secondary characters from Mr. Forever that followed up with them after Mr. Forever ended, an epilogue essentially. This was available from my publisher’s website for a couple months, and then I used it on blog hops last spring. (If you want a copy of Penelope’s Pleasure’s, email me or leave a comment with your email address and file format preference and I’ll shoot it out to you.)
Free read stand-alone story: Last Valentine’s Day, I wrote a short story entitled Second Chance Valentine. This is still available for free from Musa Publishing, All Romance eBooks, and Bookstrand. Anyone searching for free reads on these sites can download it. Hopefully, they’ll read it and love it and want to check out other books I've written…or at least remember my name.
Both of my free reads were done through and edited by my publisher. I highly recommend that if you give away free reads, make sure they are professionally edited and of the same caliber as your “for sale” books. You don’t want your free reads to be so riddled with errors that they turn off potential readers! 
Second Chance Valentine

What would you do if you got a second chance at love…with your husband's best friend?

Rick has always been a shoulder for his best friend's widow to lean on, but to him she will always belong to his friend. Gianna is ready to move on with her life, and no other man affects her like Rick. To give them both a second chance at love and life, Gianna must convince him that her husband would have wanted him to be the man she moves on with.

Friday Friends - Rita Monette

The Truth Behind the Legend
by Rita Monette

I read somewhere that almost every author’s first attempt at writing is personal. Perhaps it is a story from their past that has haunted them and needs to be released. But it also said that most of those stories don’t make it into the world. Once written, they sit on a shelf, while their creator moves on to more adventurous and exciting projects. I read this after completing my middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, and thought perhaps this was my cathartic tale that would go unpublished.

The Legend of Ghost Dog Island is indeed a personal story. I wanted to tell the story of the Louisiana Cajuns. Ask a child today about Cajuns and they may tell you that it is about hot food, or about shooting alligators (Incidentally, I started my book long before Swamp People over took the History Channel.) I figured there was no better way to tell the story than to start with my own childhood.

I was raised in the Louisiana bayous. My father trapped and fished crabs for a living, and moved our family three times a year in search of better fishing spots. Being new in school was common place for me. My father was also fond of telling legends about what might be living in nearby swamps. Perfect for a children’s story, right? My historical fiction novel, set in the 1950s, is told through the eyes of my ten-year-old protagonist, Nikki Landry. But it would be rather boring if she’d stuck strictly to my routine, so Nikki (braver than me) sets out to discover the truth behind one of the legends she feels poses a threat to her dog, Snooper. She gets herself into trouble more than once, and has many spooky mishaps and adventures, but in the end, Nikki discovers the truth and solves the mystery behind the decade old legend.

However, being true to my mission, I made sure to inject some of my father’s stories about the lifestyle and treatment of the Cajun (Acadian) people of his day, and about learning a new language… something today’s immigrant children might relate to. Heads up librarians! I’ve included an author’s page, which encourages more reading about the history of the Acadian people and their exile from their homeland in Canada.

I wish to thank Musa Publishing for believing in me and my debut novel The Legend of Ghost Dog Island.

Papa says every legend starts with a truth. But what is the truth behind the legend of Ghost Dog Island?

BLURB:
Moving is nothing new for ten-year-old Nikki Landry. Her fisherman father relocates their raggedy old houseboat several times a year in search of better crab fishing spots. However, their latest move has brought her to a mysterious bayou where she feels like something is watching her and her beloved dog Snooper from a nearby island. But when Papa tells her about a local legend that something sinister might be living nearby and stealing the souls of dogs, she fears for her constant companion’s life. Join Nikki as she seeks to discover the truth behind the legend…before it’s too late.

EXCERPT:
Mama closed the door behind her. She knew once Papa got going on one of his tales, there was no stopping him.

The last traces of daylight seemed to disappear in a hurry, as if Papa had ordered it away. The glass globe of the kerosene lamp clinked. He touched a match to the wick and adjusted the flame until it filled the room with pale light and gray shadows. He motioned me to sit next to him on the worn sofa.

I hurried to his side, not knowing what spooky legend he was going to tell this time. But as scared as I’d get, I always enjoyed hearing ’em.

“Mais, there’s a legend told around these parts.” That was how they always started out. He leaned down so the light from the lamp made eerie shadows across his face.
I rolled my eyes, determined not to get spooked this time.

“Folks say there’s something living out yonder,” he went on. “Legend has it the monster lures dogs to the island using evil spells. Then at the peak of the full moon, they’re turned into hollow spirits with glowing eyes.” Papa put on his eeriest sneer. “That there’s Ghost Dog Island.”

“Ghost dogs?” I pulled my knees up against my chest and wrapped my arms around ’em tight. My mind conjured up images of a huge monster with drippy fangs and dogs with bright yellow eyes. I thought about the feeling I had of something watching us. Was there really a creature out there? Did it have its eye on my best buddy? I shuddered.

IEEEOWWWOOOO-oooooooo! The howling sound echoed again across the bayou.

BUY LINK

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and paint. Five long years later, Musa Publishing offered her a contract for her debut middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island , which also includes her artwork. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. Rita now resides with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.

Learn more about Rita Monette on her website and blog . Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter .

Love is in the Air Blog Hop

Love is in the air, so Valentine's Day must be right around the corner. And this is a great time to make everyone a winner. Second Chance Valentine is a short story that occurs on Valentine's Day. It is available for free download from Musa Publishing, All Romance eBooks, and Bookstrand.

Second Chance Valentine

What would you do if you got a second chance at love…with your husband's best friend?

Rick has always been a shoulder for his best friend's widow to lean on, but to him she will always belong to his friend. Gianna is ready to move on with her life, and no other man affects her like Rick. To give them both a second chance at love and life, Gianna must convince him that her husband would have wanted him to be the man she moves on with.

Download your free copy and enjoy! If you like, leave comment letting me know how you're planning to spend the most romantic night of the year.

Return to blog hop here

Tuesday Toolbox - Book Giveaways, Part 1

Today, I want to talk about a tool for authors after you've published a book (or ideally more than one book): book giveaways. Who doesn't love a free book, right?

There are several different avenues for book giveaways:

Goodreads: If you have a new or upcoming PRINT release, you can do a giveaway on Goodreads. You choose what countries you’re willing to ship to and how many books you want to give away. Be aware that you’re responsible for shipping costs to the winner. They also give you the code to put a widget for the giveaway on your website or blog. I've been doing a giveaway of one of my promotional print copies of Construction Beauty Queen. Over 250 potential readers have seen my book cover, seen my name, and taken the time to sign up. I think of it as an ad to gain exposure of my name and my books.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Construction Beauty Queen
by Sara Daniel

Giveaway ends February 08, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter to win

E-book giveaways: The great thing about giving away a copy of an ebook is you send it through cyberspace, so there’s no shipping cost. If you’re self-published or if your publisher gives you author copies for giveaways, then it doesn't cost you anything. Now that I have multiple books, I can promote a new book and give away a copy of an older title. Below are a couple ways of setting up an e-book giveaway.
[image error] Blog hops: I participate in blog hops, where I post on my own blog and use e-books as my giveaway prize. I usually pick my winner from a random commenter. You can look back over my posts for the past couple weeks and notice that I've participated in two different themed blog hops.Blog tours: Similar to blog hops, I use e-books as my giveaway prize, but I reach readers through guest blogging on other blogs through an organized tour. The prize is awarded at the end of the entire tour instead of each separate prize for each blog. Rafflecopter is an excellent tour for picking a random winner. You can see my blog tour for Psychic Lies that’s going on now. Feel free to enter the giveaway too!
I’ll discuss one more book giveaway tools in next week’s Tuesday Toolbox. 

Friend Friends - Nancy DiMauro

Today I have the delightful and effervescent Nancy DiMauro as my Friday Friend.

Welcome, Nancy, and thanks for coming out. Tell us about yourself.

I’m a mommy, writer, lawyer, and farmer. Wow, that’s a mouthful.

My condo-raised husband agreed to move out to the country with me 12 years ago (almost to the day) because living on a horse farm was my dream. So, we have two horses in our front yard, and two dogs, three hermit crabs and four cats in the house. My dear hubby has managed to resist the pleas for a partridge in a pear tree so far. But, he doesn’t realize I planted a pear tree this last spring.

Anyway, I am lucky enough to have two boys (soon to be 14 and 12). I’ve been a practicing trial attorney since 1995, and in my free time, I write. Actually, I’m pretty regimented about when I write – between 9pm and 11pm 4-5 nights a week. After all, being a writer is one of my jobs.

Tell us about your book.
My newest release is Apollo Rising about Apollo’s quest to break Daphne’s curse and restore her to her true form. In seeking to enlist the aid he needs, Apollo bargains with Hades for Daphne’s soul. But the god of the underworld may demand too a high price.

Here's the official BLURB:

Shot by a golden arrow, Apollo has only truly loved Daphne. He visits her each eclipse, and longs for reunion. He seeks the Fates’s advice and learns he may finally restore Daphne to her true water nymph form by enlisting other gods’ assistance.

If Apollo fails Daphne will be lost to him forever. To regain Daphne’s soul, Apollo must deal with the devil, King of the Underworld. Love-torn and treacherous, Hades would slay the pantheon to remain with his wife for the full year. Apollo’s quest might just give Hades the leverage he needs to do so.

Will Pheobus Apollo surrender the sun to try to reclaim love? Can he break Daphne’s curse or will his attempts destroy her forever? Will she still love him after millennia as a soulless tree? With the end of the quest see Apollo rising, or in sunset?

You can find Apollo Rising on Amazon .

Who is your favorite character from one of your books and why?
Has there ever been a question designed to cause more strife? It’s like asking which child is your favorite. I love them all.

Vonna, from the Flashes of Life story in Paths Less Traveled, is probably my favorite to play with right now. While I have other characters with supernatural powers, Vonna’s ability to recover memories from the dead is pretty out there. Also, Vonna sees emotion as color so I’ve had to create a color wheel of emotion. That was really challenging. The other neat thing about Vonna is she’s living in a near future Washington, D.C. so I get to mix in politics with the vampires, psychics and weres. Oh my!

Vonna’s talents also make her a target for anyone wanting to get away with murder.

What are you working on now?
I’m in different phases on three novels.

I’m editing/ rewriting The King’s Falcon, which follows Falcon from Lightning Strikes in Paths Less Traveled. I’m hoping to turn that in for consideration by the end of the year.

I’m almost done with the first draft an erotic romance called New Bohemia: Just One Night in which May has a favor to ask of her best friend and housemate, Pete.

I’m outlining The Nocebo Effect, which follows Vonna as she tries to solve a string of murders that initially appeared to be natural deaths before the killer finds her.

Do you listen to music when you write, if so what?
I don’t listen to music, but I tend to have the TV on for background noise. I notice silence, but I can ignore the TV if I’ve seen the show before. So, my DVR gets a lot of play while I’m writing.


Which of your covers is your favorite?
Wow. That’s tough. Kelly Shorten did all the covers for my four Musa books. They are all really wonderful and tie in so well with the stories. Since I have to pick, I think the Shots at Redemption cover is my favorite. I love the ghost ship.

Check out the cover and blurb at Amazon , Musa Publishing , or Barnes and Noble .


Where do you find inspiration?
My family. My boys (all three of them) do and say the most outrageous things. My youngest son also loves telling stories so he and I will spend hours talking about worlds that only we can see.

Name 5 things that are on your desk right now?
Pictures of my boys as babies; The Describer’s Dictionary by David Grambs; The Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon; a list of e-mails from Dave Farland’s Novel Rewriting workshop participants; and a stack of business cards I still need to scan into my contact list.

What is your biggest distraction when it comes to writing?
The need for sleep. Because I write so late in the day, there are times when I just can’t stay awake long enough to get the words on the page. I’ve learned just to give up and try again the next day.

When did you discover the need to write?
Back in high school. I’d been writing poetry for years, and wrote my first novel when I was a sophomore. Of that fan-fic novel, let’s just all be glad that the changes in technology since the 1980’s have made the story unrecoverable.

How do you handle writers’ block?
I don’t really believe in writers’ block. For me, when I hit a point I’m struggling to find the words, it generally means one of a few things. Usually, it means I haven’t taken the time I need to pre-write the scene. Because my keyboard time is limited, I spend a lot of time daydreaming scenes before they ever hit the page. The ones I struggle with are often the ones where I haven’t spent the time visualizing them first. I’ll log off for the day and imagine what I’m missing. It might take another day to get to the point where I can write the scene, but my high word count days are ones where I’ve been daydreaming a lot about the story.

Another reason I can’t write is because sometimes I need more research. In New Bohemia, I have a significant section of the story in the Swiss Alps. When it came time to write it, I realized my visualization of the area came solely from my memories of The Sound Of Music. So, not so good. I spent about two weeks researching locations, building construction, and most importantly snow rescue techniques. When I went back to the keyboard, the scenes were much easier.

The final reason I can’t get words on the page is exhaustion. My other jobs (mommy and lawyer) are demanding. Sometimes they take everything I have. When that happens I have to give into the inevitable and use my writing time for sleep.

Where can readers find you?
On my website and blog . I’m also on Facebook and Twitter .

I have to run now. Thank you for interviewing me, and thanks to everyone who took the time to read it.

~Nancy DiMauro

Tuesday Toolbox - Character Names

I can brainstorm an entire story using words like hero, heroine, hero’s best friend, heroine’s mother, the bad guy, etc. But once I start actually writing, I need names for my characters. And thinking off the top of my head, my brain tends to freeze and come up with nothing.
So, sitting on my desk within arm’s reach, I have The Last Word on Baby Names by Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran and The Baby Name Survey Book: What People Think About Your Baby’s Name by Bruce Lansky and Barry Sinrod. I picked up these particular books years ago when I was pregnant. While they have outlived their purpose in my personal life, they have become a staple in my writing life.
There are no “rules” for naming characters, but over the years I’ve incorporated some guidelines that I hope make for a better reading experience.
The names of the hero and heroine begin with a different letter. If possible, I try to have every character in the book start with a different letter. Although I sometimes have secondary characters with the same beginning letter, I try not to do it too often. Anything I can do to help the reader keep the characters straight translates into a better reading experience and more enjoyment of my books.
Give names a different cadence and length. No to Melanie and Valerie. No to Kate and Nate. No to Max, Sam and Pat. Yes, to Melanie, Kate and Samantha.
In the front of The Baby Name Survey Book , there is a “First Impressions of Girl/Boy Names.” I often use this as a starting point. If my heroine is smart (and what heroine isn’t??), I look at the list of “smart” girl names and see if any of them speak to me.
For last names, I try to follow similar guidelines. I often use this If you start with a character name and later realize it is less than ideal, “find and replace” is a wonderful word processing feature. When I sold the proposal for A Man Worth Fighting For, the heroine’s name was Cassie. Two-thirds of the way through writing the book I had to change it. Two secondary characters in the Wiccan Haus world already began with a C, and having them both in the same scene with her was too much C for me. A consultation with my baby name reference books and a quick “find and replace all,” and Cassie was reborn as Holly.
One final caveat: “Find and replace” is wonderful for most names, but be careful if you have a character named Matt that you want to change to, say, George. Everywhere you used the word “matter” in your manuscript, it is suddenly going to read “georgeer.”

Romance Madness Hop

For the Romance Madness Hop, I'm going to do one better that tell you why I love a romance book, I'm going to tell you why I love an entire romance series, specifically The Wiccan Haus series.

The Wiccan Haus is a paranormal shared world series, so many book will be written by a handful of different authors.
The books are stand alones and can be read in any order, but it is encouraged to read Shifting Hearts first as it will introduce the readers to the world of the Wiccan Haus and its residents. The cast of continuing characters are quirky and well-loved that I feel like I am visiting an old friend every time I write a new book, and I get to see each character in a new light when I read Wiccan Haus books by other authors.
For me writing a multi-author series is the best of both worlds. I have a great author community that's as invested in this world as much as I am, and I get to focus on what I do best--writing romance, emotion and bringing my characters to the happily ever after they so desperately need.
1. Shifting Hearts by Dominique Eastwick
2. A Man Worth Fighting For by Sara Daniel
3. An Apple Away by Kate Richards
4. Siren's Serenade by Dominique Eastwick
5. Psychic Lies by Sara Daniel
6. Shifter's Dance by Vanessa North
7. Unveil my Heart by Nya Rayne

The Wiccan Haus: Psychic Lies Fiona must keep her ability to read minds during sex a secret from those determined to exploit her, especially a sexy truth-finding investigator who needs her psychic power to save his job.
Fiona has spent her life hiding her sexual mind-reading power at the risk of being exploited by the government. Instead, she pretends to have lifebond vetting powers like the rest of her family. When her fake power results in the death of an innocent woman, her life of lies unravels and she retreats to the Wiccan Haus.
Armando is the head of the Department of Truth-Finding for the Syndicate. To prove his unit’s worth to the government, he follows Fiona to the Wiccan Haus to expose her as an infiltrator of an enemy faction. The truth about Fiona is even more valuable to his people and his career.
Fiona uses her power to seduce Armando and stop his plans to betray her. But nothing is strong enough to keep her from falling in love with this man whose power threatens to destroy her. Now she must trust him, not only with her life and her psychic lies, but also her heart.
I will be giving away a copy of Psychic Lies to one random person who leaves a comment telling me their favorite romance series and subscribes to my newsletter by entering their email address on the right side of this blog. For extra Brownie points, like my page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and follow my blog here. Make sure to include your email address and your preferred file type (Kindle, Nook or pdf) in your comments. Contest is open internationally.

Tuesday Toolbox - Story Structure

Last week we talked about goals, motivations, and conflict making up the core of a story. Story structure is essentially framework that holds up this core, a map if you will from the beginning to the end of your story.

If you take a minute and Google images for “story structure,” you’ll see graphs, triangles, circles, connect-the-dots, etc. All of these methods must have worked for someone, and many of them share very similar elements expressed in different ways. I’m not going to tell you that a certain method mustbe used to structure your story. That’s for you to experiment with and discover what works for you.
I will tell you that I am a huge fan of Michael Hauge’s Six Stage Plot Structure. You can see the image here, and you can read the application of each stage and the corresponding five turning points for the movies Erin Brockovichand Gladiator here.
If you feel like you’re muddling through your book and you’re not sure how far along your story should be progressing by now, I highly recommend borrowing Michael Hauge’s brilliance to reorient yourself. My friends once pulled me out of line at a writers’ conference to drag me to his workshop with the promise that what he had to say was so good “it will change your life.” I won’t go that far, but if you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, I emphatically urge you—DO NOT pass it up.