Eleni Konstantine's Blog: Eleni's Taverna, page 25

Musa Monday ~ Sloane Taylor

Welcome to Musa Monday. My special guest today is my fellow Musa author and Musa blogmistress,  and all round nice lady, Sloane Taylor.

So over to Sloane...


Time to Say Goodbye 
Authors write great prose we remember long after the book has been set on a shelf or secreted in a Kindle. Songwriters express the trauma with meaningful lyrics we hum for months, even years. Saying goodbye is a constant in our lives. Sometimes the end is coupled with sadness and pain. Other times it’s a euphoric feeling because the stress is gone.

It’s inevitable there will be such a moment for us all and seems to happen when least expected. Lovers part, friendships fade, our children move on, and family members leave us. Yet we hang on, not wanting to let go.


Is it easier when you cut the tie? It is for me.

MASQUERADE was my fourteenth book and the hardest to let go. My heart still aches for strict and stiff, but hot as hell, Vittore with his deep hidden secrets as he oversees his 5-Star hotel in Venice. Of course, Chicagoan Clancy and her sassy mouth have a special place in my heart. We worked hard to overcome her low self-esteem after her rotten partner screwed her over. Then later, it almost killed me when we had to give up her delicate mask with the lilac feathers. She doesn’t know this, but I’ve kept it as a souvenir and love to tease Studs with it. That mask is something I need to remember my girl and all it took for her to move forward. How I miss Vittore and Clancy with all their conflict and tension while they dealt with a sexual attraction neither could deny over their five day sex fest.


But do they ever think of me? Do they care that I miss them? Want them to at least acknowledge I was once a part of their lives? Probably not now that they’re out into the world, out amongst readers who laugh, cry, and savor their most intimate sexual details as their story unfolds. I am forgotten, deleted from their minds faster than a used condom.


Of all the books I’ve written and had published, not one of my babies, my children I slaved to create, ever thanked me.


But I really can’t complain. Other characters have paid attention to me and my hard work. Recently, I received an email from a nice lady who said God had sent me to her to teach her better sex techniques. Hmm, but maybe I’m confusing her with the Foreign Princess who emailed that her royal family had perished and she needed my help. All I had to do was give her my bank account number along with a few other pertinent facts and she would deposit thousands of dollars in my account so she could safely come to America. Of course she would split the funds with me for making it all possible.


What could I say to these two people I couldn’t say to the sexy characters who stole my heart and favorite positions? For once it was easy. Goodbye!


Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey…Hotter than Hell
www.sloanetaylor.com


Behind every mask is a fragment of truth.
BLURB:Chicagoan Clancy Marshall has planned her dream vacation in Venice down to the last detail. From gondola rides to masked balls, and anything else that just happens along, she is determined to experience all pleasures. But those careful plans fly out the door when she literally falls into the arms of a masked stranger. 
Vittore Ricci comes from an old Venetian family that claims two doges in their lineage. A straight-laced Count and owner of a prestigious hotel, he never does anything without serious consideration. Until a sexy American tourist offers an opportunity no man can refuse.
To read an excerpt from Masquerade, please click HERE.
Please check out my website and blog to learn more about my work. You can also stay connected with me on Facebook  and Twitter. 

~~~Thanks for joining me at the Taverna, Sloane. I'm looking forward to reading Masquerade!
 
~yia~

Musa Monday ~ Musa Blog Hop

I've got a real treat for you today - 2 blog posts on Musa.

This one - on the Musa Blog Hop - and a second one featuring Musa author and blogmistress, Sloane Taylor!

 *
* this is only for US and Canada but International residents can get a $50 Musa Publishing Voucher *

Exciting isn't it!


I'm very lucky to part of this really innovate publishing house and in it's first year as well. I've had two releases with them in the last few months. 
Enchanted Realms, which is a short story speculative fiction duo, and Gateway to Hell , a paranormal romance novella. 
ENCHANTED REALMS

STORMY DIVIDE - Will Ellie ever find a way home?    ANGEL EYES - What if the man of your dreams only existed in your dreams?
STORMY DIVIDE
Thom may be used to the dangers of the forest, but nothing has prepared him for this. When he stumbles across a woman dressed in weird clothing lying on the ground during a storm, he has no choice but to help her.

Ellie finds herself in another world, having travelled through time and space thanks to what Thom calls The Rifts. The question is whether she will ever be able to find her way back, or if she will be stuck in this new world forever. Or if she will even want to go home…

ANGEL EYES
Vera’s dreams are haunted each night by a man she only knows as Angel Eyes. He feels more real to her than anything else in her life, including her fiancé. Vera must try to forget her childish dreams of soul mates and happily ever after… but are they really only dreams or can she find a way to be with Angel Eyes forever?

GATEWAY TO HELL: A WARDER TALE Book 1
Zeta will protect the one she loves, even if it means living in Hell.

Mastering a unique power was much safer for Zeta Kosmos with a mentor to help her along. Now that he’s disappeared, Zeta must continue alone with her calling—closing Gateways to Hell.

Daniel Richards is in the family business—Warding supernatural evil from causing havoc on humans. As such, he’s only interested in the safety of one-night stands. Until Zeta. This bad boy now wants a long, lasting relationship.

But Zeta can’t let go of her past, nor can she ignore the secret demonic threats against Daniel’s life. She’d rather fight demonic spawn and be dragged into Hell than allow anything happen to him. Can Daniel convince her to stay? Will she have to pay the ultimate price?

You find my books on the Musa site | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks


Contest time...

For your chance to win a copy of your choice of my releases, please make a comment below and mention this blog hop on one of the following:FacebookTwittervia a blogor  let your friends know via email. 
You'll also go into the running for the Musa prizes.

And don't forget to join my fellow Musa authors and comment on their blogs for more chances to go into the Musa prize pool. 








~yia~

Trailer Thursday: The Hobbit

Can you hear me squeeing from where you sit?

Yep, I'm a tad excited about The Hobbit movie coming up. They've got a new trailer and it looks magical, and brings Middle Earth to life.



Youtube link


Can't wait to see it.

~yia~

Writing Buddy Wednesday: Anna Hackett interview

You may recall that I'd done a overview of Anna's work in December (check the blog post here). Today, however, I have Anna visiting my blog - yay! And I've asked her a few questions.

Welcome Anna to the Taverna!




Thanks for having me, Eleni. I always love hanging out at the Taverna.


Was it a conscious choice to publish shorter fiction? What is it about it that attracts you to it?

No, it wasn’t a conscious choice. I started out writing novels and was targeting Harlequin’s paranormal line, Nocturne. I saw an online pitch opportunity for Nocturne Bites (15,000 word short stories). I thought it would be a great foot in the door.

I sold my story, Savage Dragon and ended up falling in love with writing short. Since then, my focus has been short fiction (generally under 50,000 words). My latest release, Time Thief is 25,000 words.

I love to write short fiction and read it. I’m a busy working mother, so having something I can fit into a crazy busy lifestyle really works for me. I love the intensity of a short – the story starts with a bang and draws you straight in. And there’s nothing like sitting down to read an entire story in one sitting!



What or who inspired you to write?

Usually answers to this question include something about always dreaming of being a writer or of writing stories since I was three. Not me.

I never grew up wanting to be a writer, I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was younger, I couldn’t get enough of books by Nora Roberts and Linda Howard. That love of reading is what sparked my desire to write. I was away on a work trip at a gold mine in Quebec, Canada and had read all the books I’d taken to read. I thought I’d try writing my own romance!


You were recently on the ‘Not Your Normal Paranormal’ panel at the Romance Writers of Australia. What is ‘not normal’ about your paranormal fiction?

It was such fun being on the panel with some fabulous paranormal authors and an editor from St. Martin’s Press. We got to discuss some very interesting paranormal beasties!

I am a huge ancient history buff and my idea of a fantastic holiday is wandering around ruins. I love to put mythology and myth into my paranormal stories. I have written some vampires, werewolves and dragons but I’m very attracted to unique mythology.

My WindKeepers series is based on Roman mythology about four sexy brothers who can control the wind. I’m currently working on the last few stories in the series, so watch this space. My current series,  The Anomaly Trilogy, features humans with mutated genes who have extraordinary abilities, like the ability to stop time. I love that in the paranormal world, anything goes!


You have now delved into self publishing with Time Thief. (Love the cover btw). How did this come about?


Well, I figured everyone else was having a go at self publishing, so I would too!

So pleased you love the cover for Time Thief ! The Anomaly Trilogy was written exclusively to self publish and see what the process was like. I have loved working with my freelance editor and cover artist. There is something very refreshing about having ultimate control of your product. I’ve done my utmost to create a quality book. The downside is that you have to sacrifice some writing time for all the “extra” work your publisher would ordinarily do – editing, proof reading, conversions, writing copy, uploading etc.

I see self publishing as just another avenue for my work. I will still publish with traditional and epublishers (I have a novella, Winter Fusion coming out in December from Carina Press) but now I have choices to find the best publishing fit for each story I write.



 Can you tell us a little about Time Thief?

The idea for Time Thief sparked from the image of a woman about to rob a bank by stopping time. No idea where the idea came from but I knew I needed to work out how she was able to stop time and what she was there to steal! I’ll let the blurb do the rest of the talking:

Hunted for her ability to steal time, Bay North lives a life on the run. All she wants is to make the crime lord who slaughtered her family pay. But now he's set the ultimate hunter on her trail and Bay will need all her skills to carry out her revenge and survive.

Ex-Navy SEAL Sean Archer saw his team killed by a time thief in Afghanistan and came back a broken man. He's made a dark deal with a criminal to hunt down all time thieves and now Sean's tracked the wily Bay North to Denver where he plans to rid the world of one more dangerous mutation.

But during a shootout, hunter and hunted find themselves depending on each other for survival. Joining forces to exact payback by stealing a priceless treasure, their reluctant alliance shatters both their defenses. Can Bay find the courage to trust? And can Sean convince a woman honed in revenge that she can have more than vengeance, blood and killing?


Where can people find it?

Time Thief is available for download at: Amazon | Smashwords | All Romance. You’ll also find it at the Apple ibooks store and very soon, Barnes and Noble.



Thanks again for having me. I love to hear from readers and can be found at all the usual places. To learn more about Anna, visit her website, www.annahackettbooks.com, follow her on Twitter or like her on Facebook.
~~~

Thanks Anna! I know I'm looking forward to reading Time Thief .

Tuesday Tunes: Trampled Underfoot

Some of the fans may have recognised the name of the song. Trampled Underfoot is by the legendary Led Zeppelin.

This is the music that my older cousins used to play ~ hard rock and heavy metal, so I've always loved it. And I totally adore this track. It has a real rock but groove feel to it. You can actually dance to this one. It has the 70s psychedelic feel in the instrumentals, and it has a great bass throughout.

Enjoy!



Youtube link



And here a few of the iconic images:








The album known as Led Zeppelin IV even though there is nothing on the album cover. Gutsy marketing move. 

~yia~

Manic Monday: taking stock

It's Monday. How many of you have Monday-itis? I get this too to some extent even if I do work from home. You know, I really don't get a 'day off'. I'm constantly thinking about story-lines or designs. The brain doesn't switch off.

But on Monday, there's the other paperwork and appointment shuffle that gets added to the mix as I usually have a break from these over the weekend.

I'm on school holidays - makes me sound like a kid - and need to catch up on all the work that I missed out on this term. So I'm writing a schedule to deal with all this. A loose schedule because I know things always come up in the mix. It's why those time management books don't really work for me - if I have a bad CFS or fibromyalgia day, I can't keep up with a full schedule. It's why I'm home working and not in an office somewhere.

I'm taking stock of what I need to do, what I would like to do, and those things that I've been putting off for a while, or never seem to get to it.

I am hopeless at keeping to time limits. Though I've been getting good on Facebook with this, but when I get into a project, I seem to let time slide away. So, it's time to put time limits on things and stick to them.

So wish me luck on this Manic Monday as I attempt to put a certain flexible routine into my life. :)


And each week will not be a Manic Monday post. On every second Monday, I'll be hosting a fellow Musa authors on my blog, and you guessed it it will be called Musa Monday. I am SOOOO imaginative. But it does have a certain ring to it, right? *wink*

~yia~

Super Sunday: Sassy Gay Friend

It's been a while since I had quotes from the Quotable Bitch...


"I’m wonderful at playing bitches."
~Elizabeth Taylor

"I love playing bitches. There’s a lot of bitch in every woman- a lot in every man." ~ Joan Crawford


"After all, God made man and then said: I can do better than that – and made woman."
~Adela Rogers St Johns



Which brings me to.....


The Sassy Gay Friend is back. I just love the concept that tragedy could be avoided if they had a sassy gay friend. :) In this case, it's Eve.

Sassy Gay Friend:  Eve, a comedy video from the Second City Network

Youtube link



Have a great week all.

~yia~

Trailer Thursday: RED

I saw this movie a little while back and I thought it was an all round great movie - it had humour, wit, action, adventure, some romance,  and yep, they blowed shit up. What more can you ask for?

RED has a who's who of the best actors - Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich (who steals the show), Helen Mirren, Brian Cox (who is funny as an ex-Russian agent), Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss, Mary-Louise Parker and Karl Urban.

It's based on a comic book but I'd never heard of it before. I should track it down.





~yia~

Writing Buddy Wednesday: Nikki Logan

I've showcased Nikki before but I'm really excited for her this week as she's just released a brand new book with Enchanted Publishing, in their Dead Sexy Line.

I read some of Wild Encounter in it's early days and I've been waiting for it to be published. I'm so happy that my Bootcamper buddy has found a home for this story.


And I just love the cover as well - it has the suspense and the African setting right there. How cool!

Wild Encounter

A wildlife release mission in Africa turns deadly when the convoy is hijacked by smugglers, and veterinarian Clare Delaney is taken hostage. Terrified for her life and her animals, the intrepid Clare establishes a rapport with the man she believes is the criminals’ leader, and reluctantly finds herself under his protection…and falling hard for the enigmatic man.

Alpha-to-the-max Simon deVries sees right through his sexy captive’s attempt to seduce her way to freedom. So when their simmering attraction flares into true passion, it takes them both by surprise. Now he’s torn between completing his secret mission and letting her escape without telling her his true identity. He knows if he lets her go, he will be risking his career, his life…and his heart.

Details including an extract is on the Entangled Publishing site, where they are links to Amazon and B&N.  I've already got my copy! :)
And you can visit Nikki at her website. 

Congratulations, Nikki!!
~yia~

Tuesday Tunes: P!nk

In a P!nk mood. I've seen her live and she's has a wonderful voice and is the consumate performer. Thoroughly rocked the house.










Rock on!


~yia~