Melissa Snark's Blog: The Snarkology, page 18

Crossing Genres: The Ultimate Mash-Up by Tabitha Conall @WolfPackReads #PNR

I didn’t start out writing paranormal romance. I didn’t even start out writing romance at all–my very first story, back when I was seven, was science fiction. Since then, I’ve written science fiction, fantasy, Y/A, mystery, non-fiction, and of course romance, of several different flavors–paranormal, contemporary, historical, romantic suspense. I think it’s my love of all sorts of different genres that makes it absolutely impossible for me to resist trying to mash them up.

Take my Colliding Worlds series, for instance. It’s paranormal romance, sure. It’s also got some of that medieval/fantastical/historical flavor to it in the castles and swords and lineages. But at it’s heart, the idea for Colliding Worlds is based on science–it’s an idea born from the Many Worlds theory of quantum physics, to be exact. My characters aren’t scientists, so when describing the “colliding worlds” they gloss over anything too technical, but that doesn’t change the fact that my entire paranormal romance series wouldn’t exist if I weren’t a science fiction geek.

So I love genre mash-ups, and I’m not the only one. Crossing genres has become more and more popular in recent years, which is no doubt how paranormal romance finally managed to gain some ground (after existing for a looong time in the shadows…pun intended…). Romantic suspense is a mash-up too, albeit one that’s been around a while. As is science fiction romance, fantasy romance, and post-apocalyptic romance (a small sub-genre, but one I enjoy).

Read more here

Future Winds by Kevin Laymon (Contest) #Sci-Fi #Goddessfish

 

Set in a science fiction setting with elements of twisted horror, Future Winds is a strange yet wondrous tale of species self preservation and the all out moral cost of survival. Forced to leave earth, humanity discovers a planet capable of supporting life and hatches an audacious plan that will warp them across the universe to settle and begin anew. There is a darkness that resides below the planet’s surface, but with no option to turn back, humanity must find a way forward.

Available on Amazon

 

Chapter 12 excerpt:

Though humanities new planet is mostly desert, there is an abundance of lush and complex alien life that dwell below the hot surface.

The channel was lit up by neon flora of green and blue, beautiful little plants that swayed back and forth despite the lack of a breeze or draft to give them a push. Reaching out to touch one with his glove, the little blossom reacted by illuminating brighter, so much so that the exterior became transparent, and Tyler could see the thousands of cells within, that made up life for the spectacular flower.

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Kevin will be awarding a $20 gift card to Thinkgeek.com (international) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

My name is Kevin Laymon. My passions are space exploration, music, sailing, snowboarding, wildlife, and of course writing. I have been writing for some time but the focus has been primarily on short stories and dark poems strictly for personal use. Future Winds is the first of a handful of novels I am working on for publication. I grew up in upstate New York and have lived up and down the east coast. New York is a location that holds a very special place in my heart. After working a wide range of jobs that I hated for far too long, Sara my significant other, and I decided earlier in 2015 to make some dramatic changes and travel. We scraped together some cash, I quit my job, and we moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we live a libertarian life as vegetarians. We share our desertscape living quarters with an aquatic turtle named Taz and a rabbit named BunBear. On October 9th 2015 Sara & I got married in Las Vegas, Nevada. The sunshine in New Mexico has helped immensely in illuminating a greater perspective as to who I am and what I was placed on this planet to do; that is to teach and inspire. I have a hunger to awaken humanity so that we may break away from our programed way of thinking. Our minds are powerful and I encourage everyone to open them up, exercise them, and tap into the potential I know every living man woman and child has. Though my stories at times can be very dark there is a reason for everything I do. Perspective, perception, and relativity are everything in the world of literature.

Website:

AuthorKevinLaymon.com

Facebook:

Facebook.com/AuthorKevinLaymon

Twitter:

Twitter.com/Kevin_Laymon

 

 

Why Shapeshifters? by Tami Lund @WolfPackReads

Here’s a question: why shifters? I now have two series centered around shifters – the Twisted Fate Series (Of Love and Darkness was released in June, 2015, and Prim and Proper Fate will be released in 2016, followed by the final book in the series, in 2017) and the Lightbearer Series. Twisted Fate is entirely about shifters, while Lightbearer was supposed to be about magical beings called, well, Lightbearers. Yet when I threw shifters into the mix in that series, it became about them. How did that happen?

The answer is simple: shifters are one of my favorite genres to read. So not coincidentally, I also happen to enjoy writing about them. They are sexy, strong, powerful, hot, did I mention sexy? In my reasonably extensive research, I have learned a few things about these seductive alpha beings.

I’ve learned they all have one thing in common. All shape shifters have the ability to change from human form into…something else. And that, as far as I have been able to determine, is the single aspect that defines every shifter in every book I’ve ever read or written. Beyond that, well, every author interprets them a little differently. Which is the way it should be, right? We’re talking magic, and magic is defined by the imagination of the person writing it – and reading it.

Some shifters can only change into the form of one animal. These are typically referred to as were-animals (werewolves, were-bearers, were- you get the picture). Others are able to shift into pretty much any animal, or, as I like to explain in my books, the form of any warm-blooded creature. The shifters in my Lightbearer Series can even shift into the form of birds, if they are so inclined. This comes in handy when one wants to escape rapidly and he’s on the second floor or at the top of a cliff (both situations occur in the first book in this series).

Many shifters’ clothing cannot shift with them. The clothing is either shed before the shift or, if the shift must occur with little notice, the clothing is torn to shreds when the body changes and alters, and the shifter must figure out another means of covering his naughty bits when he returns to human form.

The shifters in my books can shift while wearing clothing, and when they return to human form, their clothing returns to their body exactly as it was before the shift. I admit, I made this decision out of convenience. I considering the no-clothing route because, let’s be honest, that makes more sense, from a non-magical standpoint. But I was having a difficult time writing the whole, “Hold on, I have to strip and hide my clothing for later” aspect into the various scenes and plots and sub-plots of the series. So I decided if magic can make a person change from human to animal, then magic can make that person’s clothes reappear when they return to human form.

Read the rest here.

On Writing #Wolves : Best Alpha Females by Heather Long @WolfPackReads

I can recite chapter and verse the number of “best” werewolf Alpha posts, of the best males or sexy heroes. Of course I can, I’m a romance author and paranormal romance is one of my favorite genres. In the best shifter books, we love the sexy growl of a male who is driven to protect his mate and his pack. We love their loyalty, their need to keep those around them safe and their power in defense of their world. I love a strong hero, but strong heroes need to be complemented by their powerful heroines so let’s talk about the best wolf females.

[image error]Intelligence
The best wolf females are not only strong, they are intelligent. They know how to face off against the world and enhance their own personal best. While some wolf worlds are written as a man’s show, that they do all the fighting and the little women stay home and behave, the best wolf females aren’t competing in a ‘man’s’ world, but a wolf’s one.  

One fantastic example of that is Elena Michaels from the Women of the Otherworld series. She’s that world’s only female werewolf, and it had been a real man’s world there with only their male offspring developing the wolf gene. Women usually didn’t survive the transformation until Elena. She didn’t let her ‘uniqueness’ go to her head, instead she made the best of what was to her a horrible situation. Her strength is not only in her ability to track, but in how she can utilize the strengths of the people around her.

Compassion
In addition to being as tough and protective as their male counterparts, the best wolf females are compassionate. They know how to care for those around them, even when their hearts have been trounced upon or they have suffered. Anna Cornick from the Alpha & Omega series is a woman of heart, she cared even when the level of abuse she experienced could have broken others. Her mate is the second most powerful wolf in the U.S. yet she not only handles him, she handles the wildest and maddest among them because her compassion seems without compare.

Read the rest here

Why We Love the Alpha by Kristen Strassel @WolfPackReads #Romance

When romance readers are asked what they want in a hero, they overwhelmingly say that they want to read about someone who can get the job done, both out in the world and behind closed doors. An Alpha. Romance novels have come a long way from the bodice rippers of old, but the Alpha character, while he’s evolved from the rakish rogue, still prevails. A quick scan of the bestsellers list reveals Alphas in all forms: billionaires, rock stars, athletes, bikers, and characters that shape shift into predators.

Why do we still love the Alpha so much?

So we’ve totally got this. We shattered the glass ceiling, woman can go in combat, and there are women coaches in the NFL and NBA. There are two female candidates for president and no one bats an eyelash about it. We can be anything we want to be. But sometimes, it’s nice to sit back with a glass of wine and let someone else handle it.
Alphas take chances and get things done. Fear isn’t in their vocabulary.
Power respects power.
Alphas like the concept of forever. Happily Ever After. In a world that we throw things out and start over when something’s broken, forever is a comforting concept.

Read more here

Interview with author, Elizabeth Varlet! @WolfPackReads

Welcome to PNRLovers, Elizabeth.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

Okay, where to start? I’m originally from Upstate NY, but have been living in Europe for about 10 years now with my husband. We love to travel and have driven through most of the Western European countries during one trip or another. My favorite place, so far, is probably Prague, Czech Republic. Although Salamanca, Spain is a close second.

I am an artist and have been painting in some form or another since I was a pre-teen. It’s the same for writing, whether it was poetry or short stories, if I didn’t have a paint brush in my hand, then I probably had a pen.

Can you tell us a couple of random fun facts about you that we couldn’t find out by doing a Google search?

I am a plan-a-holic. I’m addicted to my planner. I use the Erin Condren Life Planner and I go so far as to decorate each week with cute stickers. Seriously, it’s a problem.

My five favourite Shifter #Romance reads by Kim Faulks #Paranormal @WolfPackReads

So I’m neck deep in my exciting new dark shifter series and out of the blue I thought of a few of my favourite shifter reads. If you’re a paranormal junkie like me you have your secret go-to list. But there’s always room for more, so I’ve listed some of mine.

Drop me a line, let me know what shifter book is in your must read bookshelf, or your kindle for that matter.

 

Moon Called
The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs

What an awesome way for a kick-ass series. A mechanic by day, a ‘walker’ by night Mercy Thompson desperately wants a quiet, normal life… but there’s nothing normal about Mercy.

Raised by a pack of wolves Mercy is a Native American skin walker who can shape shift into a coyote. She’s neck deep in the ‘paranormal’ world. Her next door neighbor’s the alpha to a local werewolf pack and she’s been working on a VW bus for a vampire.

Mercy’s life changes when a young, homeless man walks through her door looking for work and cast her headlong into a dark and dangerous plot to hurt those she cares most about. There’s everything in this book, a gripping plot. Kickass heroes and heroines. If you’re looking for an all-round good read, then this book is for you.

You can grab Moon Called here on Amazon

Click here

 

Read the rest on Kim Faulks’s blog

 

A Duchess in Name by Amanda Weaver (Contest) #Historical #Romance @Goddessfish

Victoria Carson never expected love. An American heiress and graduate of Lady Grantham’s finishing school, she’s been groomed since birth to marry an English title–the grander the better. So when the man chosen for her, the forbidding Earl of Dunnley, seems to hate her on sight, she understands that it can’t matter. Love can have no place in this arrangement.

Andrew Hargrave has little use for his title, and even less for his cold, disinterested parents. Determined to make his own way, he’s devoted to his life in Italy, working as an archaeologist. Until the collapse of his family’s fortune drags him back to England, to a marriage he never wanted and a woman he doesn’t care to know.

Wild attraction is an unwanted complication for them both, though it forms the most fragile of bonds. Their marriage of convenience isn’t so intolerable after all–but it may not be enough when the deception that bound them is finally revealed.

 

A Duchess in Name links:

Goodreads:
Amazon: http://tiny.cc/qyox4x

B&N: http://tiny.cc/5zox4x

 

Excerpt:

It was too good to be true. The heir to a duke and also unspeakably beautiful. For so long, she’d struggled to avoid thinking about the physical aspects of marriage, since for her, it might have involved Sturridge or someone equally odious. But looking at Lord Dunnley, it wasn’t at all a trial to imagine that part. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a humiliating indignity to be endured. At the moment, surprising as the thought was, she couldn’t imagine disliking anything about submitting to this man’s attentions.

Then Lord Dunnley’s fierce eyes landed on her and she couldn’t breathe. He was so handsome, and to feel his regard on her, to see those eyes looking straight at her, seeming nearly to look inside her, shook her right to her core. The power of it pooled low in her belly. She’d met her share of handsome men, but this immediate and powerful attraction was all new. All her social training fled her as her pulse beat frantically in her throat. As they stood locked in some sort of unspoken communication, she was helpless to do anything but stare at him as he stared back.

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Amanda will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Please use this rafflecopter code on your post:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Amanda has loved romance since she read that very first Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel at fifteen. After a long detour into a career as a costume designer in theatre, she’s found her way back to romance, this time as a writer.

A native Floridian, Amanda transplanted to New York City many years ago and now considers Brooklyn home, along with her husband, daughter, two cats, and nowhere near enough space.

 

Contact Me:

Website: http://www.amandaweavernovels.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.weaver.167527

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AWeaverWrites

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AWeaverWriter/

 

 

(¸¸.➷•*¨)¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨) #GIVEAWAY (¸¸.➷•*¨)¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)

Wolf Pack Mystery Tote Week #3

Prize is one Fashionable blue Wolf Pack tote containing a minimum of three mystery items.

Shipping/handling limited to the U.S.

In the event the winner chosen is from outside the U.S., then a $20 gift card will be substituted as the main prize.

Click here to enter:
 http://goo.gl/forms/TqOlW3WDTN

Winner will be chosen at random on 11/21.

Timeless Passion by Kayden Claremont #Romance @Goddessfish

GENRE: time travel erotic romance

Museum director Tasha Banner needs a miracle. Without a great deal of luck and even more money, the pioneer museum will close. But when they demonstrate a Scottish New Year’s tradition, a tall, dark, and yummy stranger walks through the door. Have the faeries sent her a miracle wrapped around the man of her dreams or will altering time bring disaster to them all?

Blacksmith Dougal MacBride walks into his home after a long day and finds strangers celebrating Hogmanay when it’s just days before Christmas. Confused beyond belief and incredibly aroused by the curvaceous bundle in front of his hearth, he is torn between the need to return to his time or remain in the present with the woman who may be his soul mate.

 

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1LpzfdE

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1RNrBhA

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1LThAR3

ARe: http://bit.ly/1MIZGzd

The Wild Rose Press: http://bit.ly/1PNtLhY

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27274754-timeless-passion

iBooks: https://itun.es/us/cApN-.l

 

Excerpt:

She motioned for him to stand by the table like the others. Defiantly he remained by the door. “Welcome to my home on New Year’s Eve.” “Are ye daft woman? We’ve not even had Christmas yet.” Dougal didn’t know what they were doing pretending today was New Year’s Eve, but he’d have none of it. All he wanted was his sup and his bed. He turned and opened the door. “Be gone with ye. And take yer friends with ye.”

When she took a step closer to him, he saw the storm brewing in her eyes. “I’m Mrs. MacBride, a Scottish woman in the village and we are celebrating Hogmanay, a Scottish New Year’s tradition.”

“I know what Hogmanay is.” Dougal leaned into her. Her scent was one of sweet baking and spicy woman. He’d never been so instantly attracted to a woman before, but he had to keep his wits about him. “I also know yer not Mrs. MacBride and, with that accent, ye’re not Scottish either. Now be gone with ye.”

The brazen woman raised her hand to stop the others from leaving. Anger flared in her eyes, turning them a thunderous gray. She clutched his elbow, and her heat rushed up his arm and through his chest, causing his breath to catch. The pot of stew in his hand swayed and its lid crashed to the floor.

“How dare you order me out of here!”

Dougal brushed her hand from his arm. “How dare ye be here!”

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Kayden will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kayden loves sexy, well-crafted stories of lust and love. Her sensuous style drives the characters in lustful romps. When she is not crafting erotic romantic stories, she can be found crocheting or making jewelry.

Kayden is a member of Romance Writers of America, Toronto Romance Writers, and Writing Community of Durham Region.

She hopes you enjoy her other books, Hell’s Bounty, Timeless Passion, and her soon to be released Red Hot all published by The Wild Rose Press.

Kayden loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her on Facebook or at her website: www.KaydenClaremont.com

Blog: https://kaydenclaremont.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaydenclaremont

FaceBook: https://twitter.com/kaydenclaremont