Maggie Nash's Blog, page 16

MONDAY MAGIC - JA Lesley

Please welcome a very close friend of mine, and a wonderful writer - YA fantasy author JA Lesley.  Thanks for joining us here today JA!

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I'm a history nut. I'm also a mythology nut. The wonderful thing about being a writer is to be able to reconfigure past reality however you like. Or take a past event and bring it into our own time.

What reality would you bring forward? What era calls to that romantic 'inner you'?

My favorite time is ancient Egypt. Why Egypt? I guess the romantic concept of a man who is also a god, is hard to go past – especially if that god can succumb to love.

In their art, the Egyptians embodied the alpha hero. Almost every depiction of Pharaoh is one of the physically perfect, potent male, valiantly striding forward to take command. And pharaohs did command. Like most alphas, the world was theirs to control. Wholly and completely. It is difficult to imagine such power.

Yet from our modern perspective, the idea delights our imaginations.

And the women were also portrayed as ideal. So we can't really berate our obsession with perfect magazine images. Airbrushed and idealistic depictions have been around since the dawn of time. Which says a lot about our 'human' psyche, I think.



Perhaps this is why fiction, and especially romance, holds such appeal for us as both writers and readers. We can indulge our imagination and be whatever we want to be; love whoever we want to love; be desired by the most dangerous of men or step across those invisible barriers into places of taboo. And enjoy them all without guilt or consequences.

Egypt, like most times of the distant past is a time fertile with promise for a writer. Because we know relatively little about the world in which the everyday person lived, we can overlay it with all our desires, all our fears, fill it with our demands and prejudices. And all with a happy ending!

Next time you read a book set in a different era, ask yourself what attracts you about this time. What magic draws you?



J A Lesley

COINS OF POWER by JA Lesley

Paige loves stories about myths and monsters but she never thought she'd become part of one. When Paige's crazy Welsh aunt sends her the last in a series of ancient talismans for her fifteenth birthday gift, her whole world turns upside-down. Cam, the new boy in school has mystical secrets too and when he sees Paige's birthday gifts he realizes his grandfather's warnings weren't nonsense, after all. Danger looms in the form of Balor and his band of sea monsters. Along with friends Tegan and Jacko, Paige and Cam must learn how to wield their mysterious powers if they are to protect their treasures, their families and maybe even the world

CLICK on the COVER to buy the book!


Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 142 pages
Publisher: Parker Publishing (March 25, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1460995988
ISBN-13: 978-1460995983

Monday Magic - Gabriella Hewitt

Gabriella Hewitt – Out of the Shadows Blog Tour


What scares you?
There are some pretty scary mythological creatures in the Aztec lore. In OUT OF THE SHADOWS, there are a few monsters bent on destroying humanity and the love of Carolina and Tomás. 



One fearsome creature is the TZITZIMIME (don't ask me how to pronounce it),  an ancient celestial being sent down to earth to destroy humanity and cultivate the souls and bodies of people who have lived evil lives or disobeyed the gods.




The other creature is the ancient serpent god, XIUHCOATL: A deity known as the Fire Serpent and God of Drought. He threatens to extinguish the world with his mighty fire breath.
Both are frightening and have immense power.  Now Aztec deities were neither completely bad nor completely good. They ostensibly offered their human servants protection and continued life in exchange for sacrifice and human blood to survive.  Appeasing the gods dominated the day to day Aztec life.
As a child I used to read stories or listen to my parents tell me stories of creatures from their home countries. Freaked me out! I swear I used to look for monsters under my bed.
What mythological creatures scare you?
Leave a comment to be entered to win a $25 gift certificate from Samhain Publishing. It's that easy!
All entries must be in by August 24th. The winner will be declared on Gabriella Hewitt's blog August 26th. Contest starts June 5th and ends midnight August 24th (EST).One winner will be chosen at random.  For more details, see the guidelines on www.GabriellaHewitt.com


Thanks so much for being here today Gabriella!  It looks like a fabulous book, and since I love all your books I'll have to make sure I buy it really soon!
 

Monday Magic - ASHLYN CHASE

The Life of a Loser WriterAshlyn Chase
As I sit here, gumming my breakfast of cottage cheese and peaches, I'm feeling a little "off." Whether that feeling is due to the root canal I had yesterday, or the splinter in my index finger, causing me to type funny, is anyone's guess. The thing is, it's one of those days.

Either I can give up and read all day, or I can bravely soldier on, typing with the hunt and peck method, sans my right index finger. (Sheesh, I couldn't even play "chopsticks" on the piano today.) But I'm a writer. It's what I do, day in, day out, rain or shine, three-hundred and something days a year. I might miss a few days for an illness or family holidays. It's rare though.

Okay, I just made my fifth typo in this short article. I'm now weighing the frustration of typing like this vs. the frustration of not writing at all. Ah, hell. I'll keep going.

Many writers think I'm "prolific." I laugh because even on a good day, I type about seventeen words per minute. The truth is, I never learned to type, but I can't not write. (Pardon the double negative.) Many writers know exactly what I'm talking about. If you think I'm feeling "off" now, imagine me on a day (or several) without writing! It's such a habit that without it I'm apt to wander around bumping into things, because I don't know what to do with myself.

Stephen King says he usually lies in interviews and claims to write every day except Christmas and Easter…but the truth is, he writes every day, three hundred sixty-five days a year. I guess he didn't want to feel like a loser who can't take a day off for family or friends. I know what he means, but that kind of obsession doesn't make you a loser. It makes you an author. He even tried to retire a few years ago—and couldn't.

I had friends visit from the other side of the world and spend a week in our guest room recently. I'd looked forward to seeing these wonderful people, yet I was also trembling as I predicted hours away from my keyboard. If that makes me a loser, so be it. I'm a loser.

But considering I wouldn't even know my Australian friends if it weren't for writing, I have to say I've gained far more than I've lost. I have friends and fans all over the world now. My friend Rebecca is an author whose talent of handling description without bogging down the pace captured my attention. I wrote to her and told her about my admiration for her writing. Soon she was critiquing for me. Not long after that, I was returning the favor and critiquing for her. The bonus was how much I enjoyed getting an early peek at her stories.

You'd be surprised how well writers connect, even with very little else in common. I'm almost twenty years older than my Aussie friend. She writes coming of age stories for children and I write hot, steamy love stories for adults. It doesn't matter. We share the craft and business of writing along with the writer's life.

Similarly, I have a local critique partner. We couldn't be more different, personally, but I admired her writing and knew she could teach me a thing or two. She writes historical romances, and mine are always set in a contemporary time period. But when she put out a call for a critique group or partner I was right there, raising my hand.

If anything, she's more dedicated than I am. She knows how to type and puts my daily word count to shame. We just returned from attending a writer's convention together. Even with all kinds of scheduled events going on we managed to critique a few pages.

Hey, look at me. I've written an entire blog article with an aching gum and throbbing finger. It just underscores my point. If you're a loser like me and can't not write, you just might be "prolific."

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Thanks Ash for joining me today!  I can relate to the frustration at being away from the keyboard. I have it every day when I go to the day job!

Ash has a wonderful new book coming out soon...here's the information about it:

THE VAMPIRE NEXT DOOR
by Ashlyn Chase

Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Sensuality: MILD

Description: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/images/star-4.5.pngRT Rating

Vampire Sly has been suffering a broken heart since he lost his wife 26 years ago. What Sly can't imagine is that his family and friends are desperately trying to get him involved with a Wiccan woman whose psychic powers may end up not only easing his heart, but saving his undead life as well. In a literary world chock full of vampires, this is one that's absolutely fantastic. With its humor, dialogue, theme and heart, Chase has put together an outstandingly fun romance with a great twist!

Sly is one of those undead creatures that you actually want hanging around. He spends his time walking around the neighborhood and keeping it safe from crime. Unfortunately, to save a young woman one night, Sly bites into a bad guy who's wearing more bling than Mr. T, and his fang gets chipped on a bit of sterling silver — poison! He rushes to his friend Morgaine's apartment for her help in curing what ails him. Morgaine yearns for the hot, dark vampire. She is psychic and can stir up any pot of elixir or poultice that Sly needs. When the werewolf downstairs moves out of 1B, Sly's daughter Merry plans to move her father in and get him hooked up with Morgaine. Add to this a vamp on the prowl named Malvant, who wants nothing more than to stop Sly and Morgaine's happiness, and Sly's undead life becomes extremely real. (SOURCEBOOKS, Aug., 384 pp., $6.99)

Reviewed By: Amy Lignor

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Okay folks - Giveaway time!

For all those who leave a comment here, you'll go into the draw to win a download of my favourite Ash book of all time VAMPIRE VINTAGE!

So comment away and add your email to the comment so we can contact the winner!

And thanks Ash for being my guest today for Monday Magic!

Monday Magic - Nicole R Murphy

Writing sexually active women

In 2003, when I decided that I was fooling myself if I thought I was anything but a romance author, I started thinking long and hard about the type of romance author I wanted to be.

I love romance – have from the moment as a teenager I discovered the towers of Mills and Boons in my grandmother's cupboard. Later on, some friends showed me into the single title world and I found folks like Amanda Quick and Joanna Lindsey.

But there was one thing about romance that was starting to bug me – the virgin heroine.

I know that there are women who are virgins for some time – I was one myself. I know there are women who have only slept with the one man and have made quite a happy life for themselves in the doing so.

But as I read book after book with virgin heroine, and at times saw the authors do INCREDIBLE things to maintain the heroine's virginity until she met the hero, I started to wonder what was this saying about women's sexuality.

We all know that there are a lot of women, probably the majority nowadays, that have more than one sexual partner. There are some women that never settle down with just one person. There were open relationships, and couples that swung and so on.

Because these women had a different sexuality, did that mean they were incapable of recognising true love? Was that the message all the virgin heroines were sending me?

So when I sat down to write the initial drafts of the books that would become the Dream of Asarlai trilogy, I had just one message I wanted to send – that sexually active women could find happiness with their perfect man too.

To make my point as firmly as I could, the very first sex scene in the first book was not with the hero. My heroine, excited by having achieved an ambition and wanting to celebrate, finds a cute guy at the local nightclub and takes him home.

It doesn't work out – he's too selfish to be a good lover. It provided me with a perfect counterpoint to the heroine's first encounter with the hero – his utter selflessness in wanting her to experience pleasure proves that he's a much better choice.

In the second book, I've got a heroine who's a single mother. Her son is her first priority, and so she steers clear of dating when he's around. The moment he goes to stay with his grandparents – she's over the nearest guy she sees. Luckily for our hero.

In the third book, our heroine actively sets out to seduce the hero – at first for nefarious reasons, but then because she just wants him.

In each of them, the woman is actually more confident, more secure, even more experienced than the man is.

I loved it.

And I'm not done in my quest to show non-virginal women finding true love. I'm writing the sequel trilogy to Dream of Asarlai at the moment and I'm having fun with a girl who is not a virgin but is sexually inexperienced finding herself; with a woman in her 50s who finally gets the raunchy romance she deserves; and with a woman who doesn't actually believe in love, but doesn't see anything wrong with dating multiple men :-)

In a world where the word 'slut' is still too powerful, I'm pleased that I get to combat it in such a fun way.


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Thanks so much for visiting me today Nicole.  I love this series!  I can recommend it to everyone who loves great characters with a lot of sexy romance. 

Nicole has a copy of her third book in the Dream of Arsalai series - Rogue Gadda to give away!  It's easy to win...

So leave a comment (including your email address) for Nicole and you'll go into the draw to win!  Good luck!

You can find Nicole at http://nicolermurphy.com/

Monday Magic: SHANNON CURTIS

No Troll Zone

I'm going to tell you a secret.
I'm no supermodel.  Surprised you, I know, but there you have it. I'm not a supermodel, and neither is my heroine, Maggie Kincaid, from my new romantic suspense novel, Viper's Kiss, due for release today (yes, today!) from Carina Press (http://tiny.cc/kr2ta).
As I'm not a supermodel, I found it sometimes tiring to read about heroines who are supermodel material. It was difficult to connect with someone so far removed from my own experiences. The last time I stopped traffic was, well, um – never. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a troll, but I wanted to write a heroine that I could relate to, and hopefully others could, too.
Maggie is mistaken for a centrefold model, though – and as she's so obviously not one, I had a great time writing about it. She's also mistaken for a notorious spy-for-hire, Viper.  Maggie is a librarian, and is constantly trying to convince others that she's not who they think she is – even as she wears disguises.
And the funny thing is, every time she shows how smart she is, every time she does something inventive, or says something intelligent, the hero, Luke Fletcher, thinks she's getting sexier and sexier. So, while Maggie isn't a centrefold, she's no troll, either. And not being a centrefold troll can be very, very sexy! So for all you readers out there who think you're more toward the Troll end of the scale than the Centrefold end – STOP!  You don't realise how beautiful and sexy you really are!
I hope you enjoy VIPER'S KISS!No trolls were harmed in the making of this blogpost.
Follow me on Twitter: @2BShannonCurtisFind me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shannon-Curtis/Visit my website: www.shannoncurtis.comVisit my blog: http://shannoncurtis.wordpress.com/

Here's a brief excerpt from Viper's Kiss:Chapter One
"Maggie? What the hell are you wearing?""It's my disguise," Maggie Kincaid answered, stuffing the rolled-up knitting she carried into her laptop bag and placing it on her desk. She was working on a scarf to match the knitted cap she had on. She removed her tattered gloves, along with the cap and the curly gray wig she wore beneath it, and patted the honey-blond hair she'd pulled back into a tight bun. Tossing the aviator sunglasses on the desk, she reached into her shirt pocket for her customary red-rimmed spectacles. Oh, thank God. Now she could see much better.Susan Delaney laughed as Maggie doffed a garish overcoat to reveal the white shirt and tie and pleated, gray, no-nonsense skirt underneath. "That coat is hideous. Why are you wearing that get-up?"Maggie turned her head and nodded to the crowd of male students clustered outside the front doors of the University of Washington's undergraduate library. "I had to get past the fans. I borrowed from the costume department over at the School of Performing Arts." She kept her voice low. "I didn't want them to notice me coming in."Susan handed her a steaming mug of coffee. "Clever.""Thanks." She wrapped her hands around the mug. The weather outside was brisk, the walk from her apartment long, and she relished the opportunity to return circulation to her near frozen fingers.Susan leaned a hip against Maggie's desk. "So, what did your mother say about Miss April Hotrod?"Maggie rolled her eyes as she set up her laptop. "It took me nearly two hours to convince her it wasn't me in the picture." She opened the top desk drawer and pulled out the calendar she'd tossed there. The nude woman in the picture, sprawled suggestively over the hood of a car stared up at her. Maggie still wasn't used to that almost familiar face gazing back at her with lowered eyelids and a seductive pout.She tossed the calendar into the trashcan underneath her desk. "She's everywhere, damn it.""Um, have you seen the website yet? With our resident librarian centerfold?""There's a website?" The words came out as a whisper and Maggie closed her eyes to try to stop the heat that flooded her cheeks. She'd aced her exams and had attended the University of Washington on a full scholarship. She'd taken pride in her academic achievements. Over the years she'd built a good, solid reputation at the university. Now she was popular for the size of her boobs and a likeness to a nude centerfold. It was frustrating. And possibly career-ending."It's amazing how much the woman looks like you."Maggie turned her laptop on. "Ms. Kandy Karamel is making my life hell." She swiveled in her chair and reached for her mug while she waited for her laptop to boot up. "I've got to wear disguises to avoid oversexed students wanting autographs at the front door. The Library Director talks to my chest, and my mother nearly had a heart attack when the delivery boy asked if I was home to sign his calendar." She looked down at the trash can on the floor next to her desk. "Did you ever have that nightmare where you turned up to work naked? Well, welcome to my life."

Click HERE to buy the book!



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Thanks Shannon for being my first Monday Magic guest! I love your excerpt!  Are you sure you didn't model Maggie on me? LMAO!

New release: ILLUMINATIONS is out!

I'm so excited to see this release.  It's my first historical release and I'm also very nervous :-)

In honour of this release I have an excerpt for you:

BLURB:

When you dip your finger in the fire – you get burned!

When Darius and his friend Jamie find Gemma, a young scullery maid, peeking through a shaded window at a ménage scene with one of their guests, they have just the right punishment for her.

Gemma finds she is unable to tear her eyes from the scandalous scene in front of her. Why didn't she run from this act of depravity? And why did watching it make her body feel heat in places she'd never felt heat before?
Before the hot summer evening is over Gemma finds herself at the mercy of not one, but two very handsome young men who not only want to teach her a lesson, but as she soon finds out – she is the lesson, and this time she is the one with an audience.

Reader Advisory: This book contains hot scenes featuring voyeurism and m/f/m sex that some readers may find illuminating.


EXCERPT from Illuminations (from the Summer Spectacles Seasonal Collection)


Genre Historical/ Mild Bondage/ Ménage/ Voyeurism Book Length Short Story Erotic Rating Total-e-taboo eBook Format ePub/HTML/PDF/MSReader(lit)/Mobipocket(prc) eReaders Supported All current eReaders Send direct to Kindle? Yes Cover art by Posh Gosh ISBN# 978-0-85715-601-3

Click HERE to buy the book


"Give me your hand," the voice demanded.She stood upright and glanced down at her outstretched hand in confusion. Why was she obeying this stranger? Did she know him?"That's right, Gemma. Give me your hand, and do it now."Oh Lord, he knows who I am!  Before she had a chance to retreat, his warm hand gripped her wrist and he pulled her closer, giving her a view of his face. "Master Darius," she whispered. She looked into the stern expression on Darius' face and stopped struggling against his firm hold. She needed the chance to offer an explanation. She didn't want to jeopardise her employment by refusing his orders, and there was something in the way he spoke that compelled her to obey him. She wanted to obey him. And why did the sound of his commands send shivers across her already sensitive skin?Darius smiled, his blue eyes sparkling in the candlelight as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. Keeping a firm grasp of her wrist, he raised her hand towards his face. Before she knew what he was doing he leant forward, breathing in deeply."What do you want with my hand, Master Darius?" she whispered."To confirm my suspicions, of course, my lovely Gemma."She swallowed hard and lowered her eyes. "Suspicions, sir?""I believe you saw something you should not have seen, " he said, his face shuttered.Her face burned. He knows. There seemed little point in hiding the truth so she remained silent.He smiled. "I also believe that you touched yourself."Oh, Lord. She stared at the floor, her body shaking at the thought of one of her superiors being privy to her wicked thoughts and the wanton things she had done."I d-did not mean to w-watch sir. I found this hallway by accident.""And did you mean to pleasure yourself also?" Oh, Lord, send a thunderbolt to strike me down here where I stand. She wrenched her hand back and ran down the hallway away from his laughter as fast as she could. She did not know where she would end up, but anywhere was better than the embarrassment of staying."Do not leave until I say you can leave," he said.At the sound of his voice she stopped, but didn't dare to turn her head and face his scorn.Darius threw back his head and laughed. "You are perfect."Gasping, she turned her head back to find his clear blue eyes staring at her. She did not see any scorn, only curiosity. "Perfect?""Oh yes," he replied. "You will do very nicely indeed."



So where do you BUY it again?  CLICK HERE


I hope you enjoy it!

Harry Potter movies recap!

So just in case you forgot the rest of the story...here's a recap before you go and see the final Harry Potter movie!

It's Total-e-bound's birthday this Friday!

 http://www.total-e-bound.com


All books will be 25% off!   A great way to get your hands on the entire Maggie Nash collection!

Remembering the first time...

The first email I opened this morning was from a good friend of mine who'd been offered a contract for publication. Amongst the happy dancing and grinning faces it took me back to my very first sale back in 2005. There's something special about that first book sale...nothing ever eclipses that, so I thought I would share with you all that special feeling. I wrote this as a blog post for Romance Divas and I'm reliving it now with you all.

SHOUTING WITH MY FINGERS

When I started writing I used to read "the call" stories with awe. Stories involving messages on answering machines, of lots of screaming and blabbering over the phone while patient editors waited on the end of the line. One day that surreal experience will be mine, I confidently told myself. Then, of course, I quickly descended to my usual mindset of wondering if I'd ever be good enough. Oh, the sighs…I can tell you!

Then as I became a more experienced writer and heard my friends and acquaintances get these calls I wasn't only in awe…I was downright jealous! Don't get me wrong…I was thrilled for them, but at the back of my mind it was a toss up of feeling happy for my buddies or feeling guilty for wishing it was me…does this make me a bad person?

No, I hope not, but what it meant to me was that I was determined to get there. I wasn't giving up. And it paid off for me when I sold my first book last Sunday morning. Yay Me!

So how did it all happen?

Well it wasn't actually a "call". It was an email...though no less exciting! I'd been in editing hell for about a month and I was waiting on the word from a couple of friends who were giving the book a last read through. When I got the word that they thought it was okay, I submitted the requested full manuscript by email to my publisher. This was seven in the evening on the Friday night. I tried to stop thinking about it because realistically I knew it would be a couple of weeks at the earliest before I would hear anything. But I still checked my email all that night. The Executive editor emailed to let me know she had it and how she was looking forward to reading it. I had a really good feeling.

Still not thinking I'd hear anything for some time yet, I spent the next day checking the email anyway, telling myself what an idiot I was. But I couldn't seem to stop myself, silly me. But on Sunday morning when I turned on the computer on my way to the kitchen to put the kettle on for a cup of tea and opened my email, there staring me in the face was an email from the executive editor. Oh my God…was this good or bad news? It was too soon wasn't it? Or was it? Was this a good sign? Or bad? My hands were shaking as I clicked on the email to open it. But I had to do it. It seemed to take forever to open but —Holy mackerel! She loved the book and could she buy it? It was only 36 hours after she'd received the book that she made the offer!

Hearts really do slam chests…and gasping happens! True…I have the bruised sternum to prove it! And my youngest son tells me I gasped so loud it woke him up! I was actually going for a low key response given that the family was still asleep, or so I thought. Ha! But not for long…I made a bee line to the bedroom and woke up the husband…then found a couple of sons awake and told them…I even messaged number one son in his room on MSN! The next three hours were spent emailing and phoning everyone I could think of to tell them the news and then answering the overwhelming number of congratulatory messages and emails I received. Romance writers all over the world are the most supportive people I know.

I really was shouting with my fingers!

And I never did get that cup of tea.


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I'd love to hear your stories too...doesn't have to be a first book sale. It could be a first job, or a first kiss, or the first time with a lover...? 

My July release cover is here!

I got this fabulous promo pack made up by the fabulous Art Director at TEB - Emmy Ellis...thanks so much!

Here is a taste...enjoy!