Maggie Nash's Blog, page 8

The Executioner is available for free today!

Don't forget to pick up your copy before it's too late!

Click HERE to get it :-)




    A team building exercise at a remote location reignites the heat between former lovers Madeleine Smith and Nicholas Garabaldi . When team members start dying they must learn to trust again so they can outwit whoever is killing off the group one by one. Is this the “Executioner” from the indigenous Dream Time legend of the local Bilbulmun tribe? Or is someone closer to home responsible?

Who doesn't want to rewrite a classic story?

There's a lot of fuss going around the world about Total-e-bound's new Clandestine Classics line. If you've been under a rock and haven't heard, it's a line of classic novels with added scenes. You know - the erotic and sexy bits that were missing! I love the idea! Here's Jimmy Kimmel's take on it: http://youtu.be/x5ZIlC5vZ48

Maybe it's because I was always meant to be a writer, but there are so many books that I've read throughout my life that I would have loved to have rewritten. Who didn't want to smash that vial of poison out of Romeo's hands before he killed himself?  Who didn't want Scarlett O'hara to be less annoying so Rhett wouldn't leave her?

What a fun concept!

As a few of my fellow authors have pointed out - there is a long line of "rewritten" classics around already, especially of the movie variety.  It's all about entertainment - and creating a different spin on the classic. It's meant to be fun!

And you know what? It might get a few more people reading :-)  That can only be a good thing right? Unlike most of the books on the list below, the Clandestine Classics contain the original author's prose as well as the new scenes which stay true to the era and the characterizations. 

The following list is taken from Michael Sullivan's Blog so I take no credit in compiling it...but it's a great list and gives you an idea of what's already been retold:


[image error] Frank Cammuso. The Dodgeball Chronicles. [Knights of the Lunch Table] (Scholastic, 2008)
[Retelling of The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, by Howard Pyle]

Neil Gaiman. The Graveyard Book. (HarperCollins, 2008)
[Retelling of The Jungle Books, by Rudyard Kipling]

Stuart Gibbs. The Last Musketeer. (Harper, 2011)
[Retelling of The Three Musketeers, by Alexander Dumas]

Tim Green. Pinch Hit. (Harper, 2012)
[Retelling of The prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain]

Michael Mucci. Dracula. [All-Action Classics] ( Sterling , 2007)
[Retelling of Dracula, by Bram Stoker]

Tim Mucci and Rad Sechrist. Tom Sawyer. [All-Action Classics] ( Sterling , 2007)
[Retelling of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain]

Rodman Philbrick. The Young Man and the Sea. (Blue Sky Press, 2004)
[Retelling of The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway]

Michael Sullivan. Escapade Johnson and the Phantom of the Science Fair. (PublishingWorks, 2009)
[Retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux]

Doug TenNapel. Bad Island. (Graphix, 2011)
[Retelling of The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne].
 
Doug TenNapel. Ghostopolis. Graphix, 2010.
[Retelling of The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum]
 
J.R.R. Tolkien, illustrated by David Wenzel. The Hobbit. (Random House, 1990)
[Retelling of The Hobbit, or, There and Back, by J.R.R. Tolkien]
 
Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. (Quirk Books, 2009)
[Retelling of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen]

A.C.E. Bauer. Gil Marsh. (Random House, 2012)
[Retelling of The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous]
 
Libba Bray. Going Bovine. (Delacorte, 2009)
[Retelling of Don Quixote, by Miguel De Cervantes]

Timothy Carter. Evil? (Flux, 2009)
[Retelling of The Crucible by Arthur Miller]

Carl Deuker. On the Devil's Court. (Little, Brown, 1988)
[Retelling of Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]

Gareth Hinds. Beowulf. (Candlewick, 2007)
[Retelling of Beowulf, by Anonymous]
 
Gordon Korman. Jake Reinvented. (Hyperion, 2003)
[Retelling of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald]

Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran. Mangaman. (Houghton Mifflin, 2011)
[Retelling of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare]

Mahiro Maeda and Yura Ariwara. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. (Ballantine Books, 2008- )
[Retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas]

Christopher Moore. Fool. (William Morrow, 2009)
[Retelling of King Lear, by William Shakespeare]

Donna Jo Napoli. The Wager. (Henry Holt, 2010)
[Retelling of Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]

Daniel and Dina Nayeri Nayeri. Another Faust. (Candlewick, 2009)
[Retelling of Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]

Kenneth Oppel. This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein. (Simon & Schuster,
2011)
[Retelling of Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley]

William Shakespeare, illustrated by Emma Vieceli. Hamlet: Prince of Denmark . [Manga Shakespeare]
(Harry N. Abrams, 2007)
[Retelling of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare]

William Shakespeare, illustrated by Sonia Leong. Romeo and Juliet. [Manga Shakespeare] (Amulet
Books, 2007)
[Retelling of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare]
So it seems I'm not alone :-)  Why not retell a classic story in a different way or add extra scenes? Just for fun!

And for all those who love the originals? So do I, and you know what? They're still the same as they ever were...so if a retold classic is not your cup of tea, no problem. You can still read the originals :-)

I know I'll be checking out the Clandestine Classics when they come out at the end of the month.

What about you?

Apocalyptic Cataclysmic Abominable Disasters

 Romance Writers of the Apocalypse: Apocalyptic Cataclysmic Abominable Disasters: What is it about stories featuring world-flattening disasters that fascinates us? Is it that ‘I’m all alone and anything could happe...click the link to read more! If you dare!

The Alien and Viral Apocalypse. It's closer than you think!

Romance Writers of the Apocalypse: The Alien and Viral Apocalypse: Okay, so we’re all worried about the approaching army of zombies, with their gnashing teeth and skin oozing with goddess only know... (Click the link to read more - if you dare!)

Romance Writers of the Apocalypse

CLICK to read about the Romance Writers of the Apocalypse Welcome to Friday the 13th! Our official launch party! Let the End Begin!!!  Head on over and tell us what your weapon of choice is for fighting Zombies!...there are tons of prizes!

Romance Writers of the Apocalypse: Bi-Brides of the Apocalypse...

Romance Writers of the Apocalypse: Bi-Brides of the Apocalypse...: Welcome to Friday the 13th! Our offical launch party! Let the End Begin!!!  Head on over and tell us who your BI-Bride would would be...there are tons of prizes!

The Executioner Returns!

Whoo hoo...my hot romantic suspense thriller returns to fight another day!

NB: This book is a re-release and has been previously published. It was originally in the BOYS DOWN UNDER anthology.

THE EXECUTIONER is now available for download from Amazon and it's only 99c!

Here's the blurb:

A team building exercise at a remote location reignites the heat between former lovers Madeleine Smith and Nicholas Garabaldi .  When team members start dying they must learn to trust again so they can outwit whoever is killing off the group one by one. Is this the “Executioner” from the indigenous Dream Time legend of the local Bilbulmun tribe?  Or is someone closer to home responsible?


EXCERPT:


Whoever said it was warm in Western Australia lied. It was bloody freezing as they speed-hiked through dense scrub the next morning, heading for some special spot off the beaten track. Although Gary said there was a clearing up ahead, Maddie had her doubts. All she could see was bush and more bush. After a cold outdoor shower with just a canvas sheet for privacy, and a greasy breakfast consisting of leftover sausages, she wasn’t in the mood for any of this. Not that she had any choice. The whole camp population was there on the track. All ten of them. Ouch! Another twig scraped across her calf as she trudged further forward in an attempt to reach the others. Oh Joy. The group had stopped. The sun streaked through to an area where the trees were less dense, so she moved quickly to stand in and soak up its warming rays.Gary clapped his hands and stood up on a fallen log, elevating him above the crowd. “Gather round folks. Let’s get ready for our first group exercise.”The J-boys—Jason and Jerome—jumped to attention, first in line, to hear the day’s activities. What a couple of brown noses. Maddie slowly made her way over to the group, making a mental note to never look that eager. Geez Louise, if her new boss didn’t take her at face value then they could find someone else. Honesty had always worked for her in the past—if you didn’t count her relationship with Nick. Honesty got her where she is now. Alone and trying to make a new life for herself, but she would not dwell on that. All men are bastards! She knew that for a fact, but with Nick she’d forgotten for a while. Not anymore. Playthings, they are just playthings. She intended to use them and have fun, but that was as far as it would go.“Everyone clear on what you’re doing?”Oh shit. What did she miss? “Um, er…actually, not quite, Gary. Could you run that by me again?”Jason raced to her side. As he reached out to take her arm, he changed his mind quick smart when she gave him her best ‘Don’t even think about it’ look. “I’ll look after you Maddie, don’t worry.”Goody. “Thanks Jason. I feel really safe now. Let’s get going and you can tell me what the plan is while we’re on the track." God, she hoped he hadn’t heard her moans last night when he’d come into her tent. Jerome sidled up to her other side and Gary smirked at her. “Looks like you’re in good hands, Maddie. I’ll let the boys explain. See you this afternoon, and remember dinner is at six.”She didn’t know what the objectives were, but she did know their best chance of success was to work as a cohesive team. “Okay guys, what’s the plan?”Jason pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and waved it in front of her face. “Plan? Oh yes, I have the map and we need to reach the checkpoints by a certain time and then make it back to camp in time for dinner.”Maddie looked around and saw the rest of the group looking at her expectantly. Four faces looking to her for guidance. What a joke. Why did they think she would have any answers? They knew nothing about her. “Look, one of you guys must have an idea about how to go about this?”They alternatively shook their heads or turned away. Just great. “No one?”Jo, the only other girl in the group spoke up. “You look like you’ve done this before Maddie. You have all the right clothes on and your boots look like you’d be right at home in the bush.” Maddie laughed out loud. This was absurd. “You’re kidding, right? I borrowed my girlfriend’s hiking boots and the khakis are all new. I have no idea what to do." She looked at them all in turn. “Didn’t anyone here do the Scout thing?”The Bobsy twins actually blushed. Blushed. Oh shit, they were screwed. The other group were already picking up their gear and heading off like they did this sort of thing every other day.Taking a deep breath she braced herself for action. Okay, she could do this. Breathe in, breathe out. “Alright then, what’s the deal again? I missed some of the instructions.”Jason shoved the crumpled paper into her hands. “This is the map we have to follow." He pointed to a red cross at the bottom of the page. “This is where we are now”—he slid his finger across the page to the top where there was a green circle—“and this is base camp. These small blue crosses along the way are the checkpoints where we find a clue as to how to get to the next checkpoint.”Not too tricky. “Okay then. All we have to do is make sure we get on the right path. Anyone got a compass?" Blanks looks met her visual sweep of their faces. “Right. No compass." Shrugging, she picked up her backpack and slid her arms through the straps, pulling it in place on her back. “Not to worry, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so the sun is over to our left, so that makes North right in front of us. We need to go south." She turned completely around and scanned the scrub for signs of a track. “Everyone locked and loaded?”Jerome shrieked. “Huh? I didn’t think we had any guns?”“Sorry mate, it was just an expression. Are you all packed?”Jason smirked lasciviously, tucking his thumbs into the rim of his jeans. “Oh, we’re packing alright.”Jo lightly slapped him over the back of the head with her open palm as she walked past. “Keep it in your pants, you perve!" She walked over to Maddie and started to walk beside her. “Don’t worry about lover-boy there. He’s all talk.”Maddie laughed. “No worries, I figured that one out for myself last night when he brought dinner to my tent. I’ve been handling dickheads like him all my life.”“I’m sure you have, what with boobs and legs like yours.”“Yeah, the curse of the boobs!”They turned and looked at each other before they both burst into gales of laughter. “I think I’m gonna love working with you, Maddie.”“I was just thinking the same thing, Jo.”“When you two women have stopped gossiping can we get started?”Maddie turned back to Jason and smiled. “Sure. Just make sure you can keep up with us. We’d hate for you big macho guys to get lost.”Turning back to Jo, she smiled as the woman nodded in silent agreement. They both picked up the pace and headed down the track while the blokes scurried to catch up. Maddie smiled to herself as they both tunneled through the branches and further into the scrub. Jerome had dropped his water bottle in the rush and the other two guys just gave up and ran.This day just might be fun after all.
Available NOW from AMAZON and at 99c it's a cheap read!

"Suspense, a crazy killer, and some sizzling sex make The Executioner an exciting story..." Nanette, Joyfully Reviewed

 

One Night in a Bar - new release by Louisa Masters #TEB #EroticRomance

The Art of the One-Night Stand As shocking as it may seem, I've never had a one night stand with a complete stranger. Too much information about me? Sorry, but it does lead toward my point. Anyway, my one-nighters—not that there've been a lot, mind you—have always been with guys I know. Friends of friends, mostly. The occasional work colleague that I didn't work closely with. But not ever a stranger.Which is why my latest release, One Night in a Bar—released today! Yee!—was really exciting to write. I cast my mind back to all the guys I could possibly have picked up in a bar. Sad to say, many were completely unexciting, which is probably why they didn't tempt me. But there were a couple that I feel a pang of regret over...Daniel, my hero, is an amalgamation of those guys, plus a little bit more—of course. He's arrogant, hot, and super-sexy. Interestingly, Daniel is the only one of my heroes who has facial hair, and is probably the only one who ever will. I've never been attracted to men with beards. But he just didn't seem complete until I added that goatee...and after that, I was sold.Daniel does have his sensitive side, something that's not immediately apparent, considering we meet him in a bar that's, in my heroine Karen's opinion, "...a few very small steps away from being a biker bar." However, Dark, Dangerous Daniel is actually a world-renowned sculptor...Ever had a one-night stand who didn't want to go away? What happens when your one-nighter comes back into your life...?
Karen comes home unexpectedly to find her boyfriend cheating on her with her (male) boss, and another man. Can she really be blamed for pulling out the mace when they invite her to join in?
She mourns the loss of her job at a bar, gets a little tipsy...and somehow, she ends up having sex in an alley with tall, dark, and sexy Daniel. Something she’s never done before. Good thing they'll never see each other again, right?

Wrong...

One month into a new job, she lands a fabulous new client, world-renowned sculptor Crogan. Except, Daniel Crogan turns out to be her one-hour stand. And professionalism is the last thing on his mind.
What's a girl to do in this situation? Should she insist on a working relationship only, or give in to the demands of her body? And what happens when Daniel wants to sculpt her...in the nude?

You can read an excerpt and buy One Night in a Bar here and please visit my site to see what else I'm working on—including the story of Karen's best friend, Mandy.In the meantime, tell me about your one-night stands...

Who won?

Okay, thanks so much for all the people who played the Sexy Summer Competition with Total-e-bound authors!

The winners of my part of the competition have been notified.  If you haven't heard anything from any three of the participating authors, head over to Chris Lange's blog (link below) and leave a comment and someone will answer you!

http://chrislangeauthor.wordpress.com/

You are all awesome!

It's my turn! Trivia fun on Day 3 features ME!

Hear you go...head on over and play!

http://chrislangeauthor.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/sexy-summer-contest-with-total-ebound-authors-day-3/

There's books and gift vouchers up for grabs!