Liv Rancourt's Blog, page 26

Discovery!! What Does The Fox Say?

It’s not an uncommon thing around here…I’m digging around for blog post ideas, and Noni comes to the rescue. She posted the video below to her FB stream, and O. M. G.

Trust me, you really have to see it to believe it.

It’s by a group called Ylvis, which Wikipedia says is “a variety show group” started by two brothers from Bergen, Norway. And apparently in Norway, the elephants say ‘toot’.

Please, do yourself a favor and watch. This video is the perfect combination of serious talent and screwball WTF. Then leave me a comment with what YOU think the fox says…

Peace,

Liv

For more WANAFriday Discovery! themed posts, check out these…

Cora Ramos – All Those Pretty Little Apps

Rabia Gale – WANAFriday – a new-to-me author

What’s on your list?

So here’s the WANAFriday prompt for this week: What’s on your bucket list for fall? What do you want to experience or spend time doing?

Good questions.

It’s rare for me to plan ahead more than about a week or so. That’s what happens when you work full time and have a family and try to start a writing career. That’s what happened to me, anyway. So it’s kind of cool to think ahead a little…but not too far. I don’t want to get dizzy.

So here’s a (short) list of (three) things I want to experience this fall…

 

#1 (Those of you who read this blog can get ready to laugh now.)

Solid. Surface. Countertop.

That’s all I’m going to say.

I mean, except to mention that the only way I can figure out how to get this done is to keep yapping about it. I gotta believe someday all that hot air will translate into action.

#1a There’s also a front yard project I’d like to make some progress on…

 

#2 I would love to experience the satisfaction that comes from finishing the Margie Lawson-inspired re-write of Hell…The Story and get it sent out to agents & editors. Oh, and I’ll also be pitching it at the Emerald City Writers Conference, where I expect to have a blast.

 

#3 Most importantly, I want to watch the Lake City Braves Seniors play some football (7th & 8th graders), and hear my daughter sing Mass with her choir. This desire will be challenged by my work schedule, which is basically two night shifts every weekend, but I’m going to do my best.

 

There you have it – my bucket list for fall 2013.  What’s on your wish list for the next couple months?

Peace,

Liv

 

And for some other fall wish lists, check out these WANAFriday posts…

Ellen Gregory – Spring Wishes (She’s from Australia, so gets a pass on the fall thing.)

Kim Griffin – WANAFriday Fall Bucket List

Remakes: Really?

Noni’s responsible for this. She sent me an email today bemoaning the casting of Stephen Moyer as Captain von Trapp in a remake of The Sound Of Music. Her actual quote was, “I don’t think I want cable anymore. No; I probably don’t even want electricity anymore.”

Georg von Trapp

Here’s a link to the article that had her in a swivet.

And here’s my response:

Actually, I think he’s a pretty good choice for Capt von Trapp. I mean, the reason he works as a Civil War-era vampire is he’s got that kind of stuffy, vaguely-pained, stiff-upper-lip gentleman thing down, which is how I remember the good Captain. I can’t actually think of a better choice. I mean, Hugh Jackman’s too old and Harry Connick Jr is too Southern and no one would believe Neil Patrick Harris and while Seth McFarlane has the musical chops I don’t trust him not to slip in something about Cartman.
 
What are you going to do?
 
I struggle a lot harder with Carrie Underwood as Maria. Carrie has that ‘pretty girl who swears and does shots with the boys’ thing, which really is NOT Maria. Maybe Jennifer Lawrence, if she could sing? Maria’s kind of awkward and wholesome. Hollywood doesn’t make that anymore.

Stephen Moyer at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, 2013

 
None of these meanderings answer the bigger question, which is whether there should be a remake of Sound of Music in the first place. My general answer to that question is YES. It’s more than likely going to go down in flames, but there are some very good remakes, and it’s a great story, so why not? I mean, what if they remade The Ten Commandments? How cool would that be? They could cast Channing Tatum as Moses and Jason Momoa as Pharaoh and Jessica Biel as Nefertiti. Am I right?
 

Nope, they won’t top Mr. Plummer.

Noni is horrified at the thought of this sacrilege, this desecration. If you need her, she’ll be curled up in a corner, eating a grilled cheese sandwich and humming “My Favorite Things.”

What do you think? Are there some movies that just SHOULDN’T be remade? Wouldn’t Jason Momoa make the hottest Pharoah EVAH?!

Peace,

Liv

The Back To School Edition

Yesterday I hit the wall.

You know what I mean. It happens when you reach the point where you’re absolutely, positively, exhaustively tired of whatever situation you’re in. Right now, I’m that way with summer.

Yeah, the sunshine is pretty and it’s nice to walk the dog without an umbrella and hanging out at the beach doesn’t suck, but…

BUT!

Bring on the change of season. More importantly, get these kids back in school!

Note the date in the corner. These pictures are eight years old. The kids are…taller…now.

I’m done with the hour-long daily battle to drag them out of bed. I’m done with trying to think of clever things for teenagers to do to entertain themselves. And I’m beyond done watching them fritter away their summer messing around on the computer.

There. My dirty secret is out. My kids have spent the entire summer logged on to Tumbler and TFT.

Sigh.

At the risk of sounding incredibly old and crotchety, that’s not how things were when I was a girl. Summertime was fun, but back-to-school was better. August in Seattle meant cool damp weather and wearing wide-legged, buttonfly Swabby jeans with a flannel shirt I borrowed from my Dad. It meant crisp spiral notebooks and picking blackberries and gearing up for swim team.

Well, my daughter did pick blackberries yesterday, so maybe there is hope.

What I remember from late August is a sense of excitement and anticipation. What I get from my kids is, “are you done with the laptop yet?” and “do I HAVE to go to football practice?”

Amazing how your perspective can change.

Of course, if I asked my own mother what she remembers from late August 1976, give or take a couple years, she might flash back to raging sisterly cat fights and “did you do what I asked you to?” and “turn off the TV and go outside.”

It’s quite possible things aren’t all that different.

We’re heading into the last week before school starts, and while I’d like to think the kids and I will spend our last days of freedom taking advantage of the beautiful weather by spending time in the great outdoors, I suspect it’ll be more of the same. They’ll do what they need to do to get ready for the demands of the academic year, and I’ll look forward to the week after next, when I can use the laptop all day long if I want to.

Peace,

Liv

Today’s WANAFriday theme is “Your favorite back-to-school memories”, so for some other takes on that topic, check out these blogs…

Kim Griffin – No More Pencils, No More Books

Love Through Time

It’s been a little while since I had an interview on the blog, and today I’m very pleased and excited to play hostess for Nana Prah, whose book Love Through Time was released last week. While I’ve never met her in person, I can tell Nana is someone who lives life full-on, and I can’t wait to dive into my copy of Love Through Time. She’s got some fun things to say in this interview, too, so keep reading…

Thank you so much for having me on your blog Liv. I kind of feel like ‘I’ve made it’ because I respect you so much, and no I’m not trying to make your head explode.

(*blushes*    Thanks Nana!) 

LR: What’s the most compelling thing about Love Through Time, the thing that’s kept your butt in the chair through hours of writing and revising?

NP: It’s the intuitive, past life experiencing, heart sore, kick ass heroine. I mean she literally kicks ass. She can get a little gung ho (um, crazy) with the fighting, but for the most part she fights for good reasons.

LR: If you had to recommend one writing resource, either a class or a book or a workshop, what would that be? What’s had the most impact on your work?

NP: Kristen Lamb’s blog has had the most impact on my work. Not just my writing, but my blogging as well.

LR: Love Through Time is a paranormal romance. Do you always include a paranormal angle in your writing, or have you tried, say, straight contemporary romance?

NP: To be honest, I didn’t realize that the past lives aspect was paranormal until the acquiring editor from Black Opal Books told me they would categorize it as paranormal romance. A head slap occurred because it never hit me. So far everything else I’m working on is contemporary romance.

LR: You say you’ve read romance novels since you were a teenager. Who’s your favorite author? Are there one or two books in particular that you read again and again?

NP: My favorite author is Dorothy Koomson. I love the way her writing is colloquial, but it has such a depth of emotion that I feel as if I am with the character. Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do by Pearl Cleage and the non- fiction book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert are two of my favorite books to re-read.

LR: You look like you’re having a lot of fun with your blog, between the book reviews and the ‘celebrate small things’ feature. (And the Bad Kisses post ROCKED!) Do you enjoy blogging, or is it frustrating because it keeps you from writing?

NP: Thanks for reading my blog, Liv. I love blogging. My head is full of random thoughts that I can’t incorporate into a book, but are too big to post on Facebook or Twitter so I use blogging as an opportunity to express those sometimes crazy ideas.

LR: Clutter or quiet? Describe your perfect writing situation.

NP: An oceanfront setting where my gorgeous manservant brings me food and drinks when I ring for him in between writing thousands of words at a stretch. Okay, since that NEVER happens, I’ll take quiet space in my living room.

LR: So tell me a little about being a nurse educator in Ghana. I’m a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner in my day job (and could honestly have written a whole series of interview questions solely about nursing  - which would have done nothing to promote your book, so I restrained myself). Anywhoodle, did you practice as a nurse in the US? How does your day job influence your writing?

NP: LOL about the restraint.  I went to nursing school and worked in the US as a nurse for two years before coming to Ghana where I worked as a nurse for another four years before becoming a teacher. I love teaching, it is one of best jobs I have ever had. I incorporate both my love of nursing and teaching into the heroine, Jasmine. I have written five novels so far and four of the heroines have been nurses. I love the profession and think that the good in it should brought to light.

LR: What’s next on your horizon? Describe your current WIP(s) or other upcoming project.

NP: I have signed a contract with Decadent Publishing’s Ubuntu line, for books set in Africa. Ora (a nurse) falls in love with Jason on her vacation to South Africa, but forgoes that love in order to return to Ghana to marry her fiancé.  After a few years he ends up following her to Ghana to try to rekindle the flame, but she has some major commitment issues that they must deal with.  I am very excited about it.

Blurb:

Defending her family – no problem. Recalling past lives – maybe just a small problem. Taking a chance on love again – well…

Jasmine Gibson has her world turned upside down when she meets gorgeous Sean Taylor. He’s the first man she’s been attracted to since her fiancé dumped her two years ago. But when the disturbing daydreams start, Jasmine begins to fear that her actions in a past life may have finally caught up with her.

 

Sean finds it impossible to stay away from Jasmine even though he can’t shake the inexplicable feeling of betrayal, simmering deep inside him every time he sees her.

To complicate things, someone is out to hurt Jasmine and every time she and Sean are together, the police have to be called. Even if Jasmine can make Sean trust her, the two of them may not stay alive long enough to enjoy their love this time around.

BUY LINKS FOR LOVE THROUGH TIME:

Buy Links: Black Opal Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |Smashwords|ARe  

 

Find me at:

Blog : www.nanaprah.blogspot.com

Twitter: @NanaPrah

Facebook: Nana Prah, Author

BIO:

Nana Prah was born in Ghana, West Africa, raised in the US and currently resides in Ghana where she loves her job as a writer and nurse educator. She has been writing since she can remember (in her journal) and has been an avid reader of romance novels since the eighth grade. She has finally been able to utilize the years and years of inadvertent research into writing her own romance novels where love always conquers all.

The Road Trip From Hell!

Road trip.

Is there anything more American than that? Road trips are a right of passage for families, for college students, and for leftover Grateful Dead followers everywhere. So when I saw today’s #WANAFriday prompt (write about a long drive you took), I had plenty of material from my RL. Like, say, the five hours I spent yesterday in the car with the PsychoTeen, or the drive across country with my family in 1979.

Nah, that stuff’s boring.

Instead, I’m offering a snippet from Hell…The Story, the novel I’ve been working oh so hard on since the Margie Lawson 5-day intensive workshop I took a week or so ago. In this bit (which is pretty clean but will likely get another edit) half-demon Ophelia and her best bud (and deity) Sally have conned a guy into taking them to San Francisco…

            Between LA and San Francisco, I5 is a gunmetal seam across buff-colored hills. We caught some wind in the Tejon pass and the sun set soon after, making it too dark to see much more than starbursts of light as we passed the little farming towns that clustered along the freeway. Walker muttered curses as he fought for space between packs of semi trucks who apparently owned the road. They were kind of crazy, running right up behind the Jag and forcing us from one lane to another. We totally needed those dudes from CHIPs to come bust them, at least until Walker decided the speed limit was more of a recommendation than anything else.

            We hit a rest stop in Buttonwillow because we all needed a break from Sally’s whining, and then stopped at a AM-PM MiniMart outside of Los Banos for gas and another pack of Marlboro Lights. They wouldn’t sell us beer because Walker’s license expired four months ago and Sally and I didn’t have ID, so to get back at them I paid for our snacks with a little imaginary demon dime.

            A whiff of sulfur burned my nose as I reached for the passenger door. “Brimstone.”

            “Nah, it’s the damned manure smell.” Sally pushed past me to crawl into the back. “I’ll never get it out of my hair.” 

            I dropped into my seat and slammed the door. “Yeah, it’s brimstone.”

            She tossed back another shot and thrust the flask forward. Walker grabbed a hit and this time I did, too. Being chased up I5 by one of Hell’s Escorts was so not my idea of a good time. “Can we get off the freeway?”

            Walker played with his phone for a minute. “We’re almost to highway 152 which’ll take us through Gilroy. Then we pick up the 101.”

            “Just keep driving,” Sally snapped from the back seat. She’d morphed her shortie shorts into a pair of faded Levis, but still wore sky high heels and a top that’d give young boys an anatomy lesson.

 I glanced over at Walker. “Don’t want them shooting for real next time.”

He put the car in gear, letting it growl a little before easing out of the parking lot.

Calling road number 152 a ‘highway’ stretched the term, because, except for Sally in the back seat, there wasn’t much ‘high’ about it. We drove through fields of darkness, the only illumination coming from our headlights and those of the occasional oncoming car. The memory of rotten sulfur didn’t clear completely until we hit Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the World, where, even out of season, the pervasive odor of the bulb permeated the Jaguar’s fancy ventilation system. Sally bitched about the smell and kept taking hits off her flask, passing it forward so Walker could share. It might have made them laugh, but I sent one up to Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ right then and there, asking for a safe ride as the blue Jaguar of Misery shot through the dark California night.

            We rolled into San Francisco right around midnight. For the last stretch we got occasional glimpses of the water – more echoing blackness, this time studded with lights from the city on the other side of the Bay. We didn’t have much competition for roadspace and Walker let the wild car fly.

            “Okay, we’re here. Which exit do I take?” He slid me a glance, keeping most of his attention on the road.

            “I’m not exactly sure.”

Borrowed from www.airheadparts.com/blog/

Here are the other WANAFriday posts…

Kim Griffin – An Unexpected Trip

Krystal Shannon’s Saving Margaret Tour!

 

SAVING MARGARET

Vegas Mates, Book 2

By

Krystal Shannan

Successful, but lonely, Margaret Taylor finds her mate in the body of a man she least expects it in. A bear! Her human half tries to reason her way out of the match, but her wolf is through with her excuses. Crossing the species line isn’t unheard of, but it’s not often done.

 

Try as she might to avoid him, fate makes sure the big grizzly bear is nearby at all times. But, will his presence be enough to protect her from the evil stalking her?

 

The power of the magick between them can’t be avoided. But, Scott O’Hearn thinks the beautiful Taylor wolf is doing a fine job of just that —avoiding him. He can’t help he’s a bear shifter and he’s determined to convince her it doesn’t matter. She is his mate and he’s waited over a century to find her.

 

Will he convince Margaret she’s his true match before it’s too late?

When Chase Michaels, Henry’s nephew, had shown up, claiming Samantha as his mate, her wolf had broken through the walls she’d built.

“This place isn’t enough to hold her. She’s going to hurt you. She’s going to hurt everyone. You have to stop me,” she cried, the salty taste of tears coated her lips.

“I won’t let the Council put you down. We can beat her.”

She shook her head, sobbing. “No, not this time.”

“I will find a way,” he replied, determination set in stone across his face.

She shivered. Slivers of cold and darkness curled around her heart. Control was slipping away like hot Vegas desert sand through her fingers. Magic rippled across her body. She was shifting. Her silk dress shredded and fell to the white carpet.

Peter released her and stepped back into the doorway.

An angry snarl tore from her lips. She lunged at her husband, helpless to stop the bloodlust in her wolf. A sharp pain coursed over her shoulder and she yelped when he knocked her roughly to the floor. She was just relieved she’d not injured him.

“I’m sorry, Renata. I’m so sorry.”

Renata whined, meeting her husband’s sorrowful gaze. She knew and she forgave him, but the wolf, now in charge of her body again, snarled through the whine and snapped at his hand.

The prick of a needle pinched the scruff of her neck. Then darkness came. Her wolf’s control receded as they both lost consciousness, but the fight was far from over.

To be continued…

_____________________________________________

Available Now @ Amazon | Smashwords | ARe

Novel – 40K word count – Paranormal / Witches/ Shifter Romance

Vegas Mates in series order…

CHASING SAM (novella)

SAVING MARGARET

CLICK HERE for RAFFLECOPTER!

Krystal will be awarding a $40 Gift Card as the Grand Prize for the Rafflecopter!

And two $10 Gift Cards to two lucky commenters.

So… BE SURE and leave a comment and don’t forget to put your email addy!

Also, you can join us for the Face Book Launch Party HERE!

 

Meet the Author:

Paranormal Romance author, Krystal Shannan, lives in Texas and is married to the love-of-her-life. They have a spunky young daughter who believes in fairies. Krystal professes to loving shoes, but avoids wearing them at all costs. She teaches in the public schools and writes as much as she can in her free time. If any more spare time can be squeezed from her day, she enjoys reading romance in all genres, but especially paranormal. If it has a ‘Happily Ever After’, she’s on board!

Krystal Shannan

Magick, Myth, and Legendary Romance.

___________________________________

Follow my NEWSLETTER, gift card giveaways every month!

www.krystalshannan.com

www.theromancetroupe.com

www.satinsheetsromance.blogspot.com

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TOUR LIST

Excerpt #1 – Find Your Next Read – Aug 5

Excerpt #2 – Jeannie’s Books and Bling – Aug 6

Excerpt #3 – Liv Rancourt – Aug 7

Excerpt #4 – Suzan Tisdale – Aug 8

Excerpt #5 – Regina Ross – Aug 9

Excerpt #6 – Book Infatuation – Aug 10

Excerpt #7 – Sapphire Kande – Aug 11

Excerpt #8 – Sarah J Carr – Aug 12

Excerpt #9 – Up All Night Read All Day – Aug 13

Excerpt #10 – Jinni James – Aug 14

Excerpt #11 – Snifferwalk – Aug 15

Excerpt #12 – Harlie’s Books – Aug 15

Excerpt #13 – Kitty B – Aug 16

Excerpt #14 – Lynda K. Frazier – Aug 17

Excerpt #15 – Obsession Is A Book – Aug 18

Excerpt #16 – She Likes It Verbal – Aug 19

Excerpt #17 – Aine P. Massie – Aug 20

Excerpt #18 – Christina McKnight – Aug 21

Excerpt #19 – Ms. Romantic Reads – Aug 22

Excerpt #20 – EDH Graphics – Aug 23

Excerpt #21 – Krystal Shannan’s Blog – Aug 24

Excerpt #22 – KatsRead – Aug 25

When I was very young…

When I was very young, my family was into recycling. We had a cat named Lucy. She died. We got another one and named her Lucy Two. Then we had a dog named Honey. She died. We got another one and named her Honey Two.

See? Recycling. We were ahead of our time.

When I was very young, my family was nomadic. The first time I moved, I was three weeks old. I went to four different grade schools and three different high schools. It took years before I could unpack groceries without having flashbacks.

Moving around is a great way to keep down the clutter.

When I was very young, my family was busy. We each had a role: one sister was The Swimmer, one sister was The Dancer, one was The Artist, and the fourth was The Horsewoman. And Mom was The Driver. She did a lot of it.

We had no time to get into (too much) trouble.

When I was very young, my favorite food was fried clams from Howard Johnson’s. They’re basically little gobs of fried sinew with a vaguely fishy taste, heavy on the salt and grease. Now I get them from Ivars. Yum.

Some things never change.

When we were very young, my sisters and I talked and played and fought nearly every day. Now, through the magic of the internet, we still do. Okay, we’ve substituted shopping for playing and for the most part we keep the fighting down to a few well-placed zingers, but The Fabulous Dunn Soeurs are still a team.

Mom and Dad, you done good.

Although, next time can we skip the …aw heck, I wouldn’t change any of it!

Peace,

Liv

Today’s #WANAFriday theme is: share an early childhood memory, or a photo that brings back a memory of childhood or family. You can check out the other #WANAFriday posts here…

Ellen Gregory – A Campfire Memory

 

Irresistible Darkness – The Story Behind “Godspeed”

My guest today is February Grace, whose new novel Godspeed looks like a fabulous Steampunk read. This post gives some insight into her dark hero, Dr. Godspeed…

 

What is it about a dark, brooding hero that draws me in like no other? Men with a secret, a tormented past, or some other reason to keep the world at a distance…those are the sort I have always been fascinated by.

 They speak to me in a way that no other can— and so a dark hero is the focus of my Literary Romance/Steampunk novel, GODSPEED.

Originally, the book was supposed to be much different. I started writing it in third person, from the perspective of a teen boy who sought out a kind, brilliant doctor for help.

A few thousand words in, however, a different voice began to whisper to me—that of a young woman. It was her plight that was to be the catalyst for revealing the most important part of the story: the true nature of the tormented Doctor Quinn Godspeed.

From then on, it was Quinn’s own will and stubbornness that directed the story. What I could tell, and when. What I couldn’t tell, and why. For almost two years as I worked on the book, the very idea of the man would keep me up at night as he seemed to urge me on, and kept me working on the story in my head even at times when I was too ill to write. He gave me pieces of the puzzle one step at a time and only as much information as needed to keep writing.

Writing GODSPEED was like being on a grand treasure hunt— and in the end, I found the trove.

I had no choice but to tell the story his way because, like heroine Abigail, I wanted so much to unlock the mystery of who he had become, and why.

Even though he warned her, and thereby me, during the writing process that this was not going to be an easy task, as is shown in the following excerpt:

 “Many evenings of my youth were spent here, in that garden.” He paused, his words becoming strained and seeming to get stuck at the back of his throat. “Days and nights among the flowers. I have… many memories here.”

“Do you have a favorite?” I asked.

He paled, only slightly, but enough that I couldn’t help but notice even in just the rising moonlight. “Memory?”

“I was going to say flower, but if you prefer to tell me your favorite memory, I would be most interested in knowing it.”

His jaw set. Any indication that he may finally begin to tell me a little about what lay within disappeared, and I hated myself for having not been clearer as to what I was asking…

 “It is time to end this discussion,” he declared, taking back his coat. He spun toward the glass door and held it open. “Inside.”

My throat ached, and I wondered again just what I had done wrong.

I moved back into the red room. I was trembling, not from cold but from the sheer force of holding back my emotions — and my tongue.

Quinn observed me, and, as ever, nothing got past him. He tossed his coat onto a chair, strode forward, and held the door that led to the hall open for me. As I moved to walk past, he spoke softly, in an almost impassioned tone. “You must beware curiosity most of all, young woman.” His whole body seemed to stiffen, his shoulders thrust back with bitter indignation. “I know what it is that you are thinking. You are thinking that there is some deeply held secret within me that, could you but free me of it, would cause me to behave more as normal men do. Men that you may have known in the past, in the life you refuse to speak of.”

I looked away. My cheeks burned, and, I was certain, turned scarlet.

“I should warn you that I have never been a normal man… and the secrets that I keep are deeper and darker than any ten men of abnormal nature. So it would be to your peril to persist in your wondering.” He drew a breath and continued. “Beware the answers,” he warned. “You are in no way prepared to even consider the questions they belong to.”

~~~~

If you are drawn to the irresistible darkness of a brooding hero the way that I am, I hope that you will enjoy meeting Doctor Godspeed. You may find him to be wounded, but oh, the soul that lies beneath that nearly impenetrable, shining suit of emotional armor.

“What is a heart if not the ultimate clockwork?”

Abigail’s young life was saved by the kindness of strangers: Schuyler Algernon, the man who found her collapsed on cold city streets, and Quinn Godspeed, the doctor who risked everything by breaking the law to keep her fragile heart beating.

As the truth about what she’s become and her feelings for her savior overtake her, Abigail is forced to ask what constitutes life, living, and what dark secrets are contained within Godspeed’s past and the walls of Schuyler’s house.

Godspeed is a literary romance with steampunk embellishments and February’s debut novel.

Available from…

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Godspeed-ebook/dp/B00DIKHGFQ

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Godspeed-ebook/dp/B00DIKHGFQ

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/godspeed-february-grace/1112111553

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/godspeed/id668503924

 

Godspeed on  USA Today 

Godspeed was featured on July 5th, 2013 as a New Release Recommend in the Steampunk genre

The feature can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2013/07/05/paranormal-steampunk-sci-fi-romance-new-releases-july-2013/2490549/

Author Bio:

February Grace is a writer, artist, and poet who lives in Southeastern Michigan. She sings on key, plays by ear, and is more than mildly obsessed with colors, clocks, and meteor showers. GODSPEED is her debut novel.

You can learn more about Bru by visiting her website: www.februarywriter.blogspot.com

Twitter: @FebruaryGrace

Facebook: www.facebook.com/FebruaryGrace

Paranormal Hotties At Night

Hi! Welcome to my stop on the Hot Paranormal Nights Blog Hop!And thank you, Kallysten & Tricia, for organizing everything!

Since it’s July – when the days are hot and the nights are hotter (heh!) – I figure we should talk about our favorite paranormal heroes. Or maybe my inspiration is coming from the fact that I just finished the new Anita Blake book, Affliction, and if any writer knows how to create a hot hero, it’s Laurell K. Hamilton. At any rate, I’ll share a few of my favorites, and you can list your main squeezes in the comments. When the hop is over, I’ll draw a winner for a e-copy of my newest release, Forever & Ever, Amen.

Image borrowed from DILF_encre.tumblr.com.

The hardest part about a post like this is knowing where to start! You have your traditional vampire heroes…Lestat comes to mind, or maybe Jean Claude from the Anita Blake books. Charlaine Harris might have wrapped up the Sookie-sweepstakes, but I’ma guess at least some of her fans would still be open to a little Bill vs Eric debate.

I know which one I’d choose!

Jeaniene Frost has created a couple of fine paranormal heroes. Bones – from her Night Huntress series – is just about everything you’d want in an undead guy, and Vlad (Night Prince series) is all that and tortured, too.

Don’t you just want to save him?

JR Ward has created a whole posse of hot, hunky heroes, and the cover of MacRieve, Kresley Cole’s newest in the Immortals After Dark series, is so pretty I can almost taste it. Barons from the Fever Series pretty much defines his own category, and let me tell you, I’d totally go there if I could.

In all honesty, though, I find off-beat characters just as appealing as your standard-issue buffed, bad and gorgeous. I have a long-lasting crush on Criminy Stain, from Delilah Dawson’s Wicked As They Come. He’s a vampire – more or less – and a magician, whose mix of courage, humor, and danger is addicting. His world is a Steampunk fantasy, and I love every story that comes out of it.

I totally have a crush on Jean Lafitte, too, or at least the version created by Suzanne Johnson in her Sentinels of New Orleans series. Jean’s charming and funny (and hot!) and while he’s not a vampire, he’s one of the historical undead, who exist as long as humans remember them.

And if Ms. Johnson has anything to do with it, we’re going to remember Jean a long, long time.

Finally, I’m quite infatuated with Felix Harrowgate and Mildmay the Fox, from Sarah Monette’s books. Felix is a wizard who plays for the other team, and he can be a total a$$hole. Somehow neither of these factors keep me from crushin’ on him. Mildmay’s got more a lot more common sense, though he’s a thief and sometime-assassin. He does his best to keep Felix out of trouble, which can be a pretty big job, and his combination of loyalty and deadly danger is very appealing. These are fantasy novels, not romances, and so amazingly well-written that I want to shout from the rooftops every time I finish one.

“You. Must. Read. This.”

There, did you hear me?

There you have it – my personal favorite paranormal hero-types. Make sure you mention anyone I forgot in the comments, because I’d love to give away a copy of Forever & Ever, Amen! Happy Hopping!!

Liv