Anna Abner's Blog, page 43

The Bitten By Paranormal Review of Spell of Binding

Or, A 3 Star Review For My Latest Release

You can read the original review here.

Bitten by Paranormal’s Review:

We briefly meet Dani when she helps our main characters in book one, Spell of Summoning.  A preschool teacher and powerful witch, Dani has a fear that if she physically touches someone, she may accidentally hurt them with her powers.  David on the other hand, is a perfectly normal human – with no special powers or abilities that he is aware of.  So why did these crazy people kidnap him and Dani – and why do they think he’s a necromancer?

A lot of the history between Dani and David comes out in the beginning while they are locked in the basement – but the first part of the story moved a little slow for my taste.  Once they escaped from the basement things got a lot better story-wise.  David was forced to confront the fact that he may be more than he thinks he is – and he will have to deal with it and learn how to use it in order to save his son and Dani.

David was a great character.  I love when people don’t blindly accept it when they discover the paranormal in books.  David fought it tooth and nail and it made it that much easier to just fall into the story.  His fear for the safely of his son drags him kicking and screaming into the paranormal world.  Dani’s fear seems a bit irrational at first, and I totally related to David’s feelings towards her.  As we learn more about her though, things are explained and her past has it’s own share of hardships.

Dani and David try to find a way to rediscover themselves and find romance in the middle of everything.  They seem to be perfectly matched, but their pasts and their present are working both for them and against them.

 

Flirty Clip Friday #11

Or, I’m Sharing My Favorite Romantic Video Montages

In honor of my new obsession with Castle here is a compilation of all their sexy moments!

My Published Works Flyer From RWA National

Or, My Publicity Poster

I made this myself (miracle!) to take to the RWA national conference and publicize my published works, and I’m so proud of it I wanted to share it with you.

 

One Fun Summer (Georgia Edition)

Or, A Photo Timeline Of My Summer Trip!

The RWA National Conference was in Atlanta this year, and I was lucky enough to attend. I had so much fun! In between workshops, luncheons, and impromptu chats with fellow writers I tried to absorb the mass of information available. Meta data, back matter, and SEO. I’m still processing.

Before I even left California I met two little cuties at the airport.

I’m always strangely giddy to find birds living in airports.

My room on the thirtieth floor was so comfy all I wanted to do was curl up in the bed and order room service. But the best part was the view.

Fancy dinners in the hotel didn’t exactly fit my budget so I made do with cold cereal, granola bars and hummus.

Spoon? Who needs a spoon? Rather than hike all the way back downstairs and search for plastic silverware I went all MacGyver on my cereal.

I’m getting ready to hit a workshop before Kristan Higgins’ speech and luncheon.

The best part of the conference? Free books by your favorite authors!

Since I’m writing a book about a civilization destroying virus I couldn’t wait to hear the CDC panel on infectious diseases. They did not disappoint!

There’s nothing like conference week. I look forward to it all year and leave super-charged and inspired to write. Thank you, RWA. See you next year!

Luckily, the fog over Atlanta on my last day in town didn’t delay my flight home.

 

Spell of Binding Soon To Be An Audiobook

Or, Update on Our Progress

I’m very excited that Elizabeth Siedt has agreed to narrate book two in the Dark Caster series. Currently it is in the production stage, but I’ll let you know when it is available (Hopefully soon!).

You can pick up the audiobook of Spell of Summoning, the first novel in the series, now at Amazon and iTunes.

 

I’m In Love With My New Banner!

Or, You Can Never Have Too Much Lavender In Your Life

Check out the gorgeous new banner on all my social media sites. The very talented Jaycee DeLorenzo with Sweet N Spicy Designs sent me this present this morning and I couldn’t wait for you to see it!

One Fun Summer (California Edition)

Or, A Photo Timeline Of My Summer Trip!

After leaving Colorado, we jetted to sunny, southern California for some more summer fun. The best part? Fast food I can’t get in North Carolina. El Pollo Loco. Wienerschnitzel. In-N-Out. Mmmm…

Yummy fast food. I had to make up for lost time!

I didn’t spend a lot of time in Hollywood. Just long enough to pose with a couple costumed knuckleheads and take a pic in front of the Twilight handprints.

 

Yes, there are swimming pools and backyard BBQs on the east coast, but they’re just more fun when you’re surrounded by family.

That leg coming out of my head? My daughter sneaking up on me like am adorable Great White.

Our BBQ host, bless his heart, soaked the briquettes in lighter fluid before tossing in the match. Let’s just say he’s lucky he still has eyeballs, let alone eyebrows.

On the menu–beef ribs, turkey burgers, and potato chips.

I had so much fun at Medieval Times. We got to eat like barbarians and watch hot guys swing swords and lances at each other. The best part was catching the green knight’s token. (I’m still heartbroken he didn’t win.)

 

The final stop on our whirlwind California adventure was Universal Studios to get a behind the scenes peek at how movies are made and–of course!–catch up with Bumblebee.

 

 

I Wish I Could Write Blurbs Like This

Or, Lori Wilde’s The Cowboy Takes A Bride

I have a hard time writing back cover copy, but because I’m an indie author I’m responsible for doing it (as well as the cover, the editing, the marketing, etc.). I’m always reading my favorite author’s cover blurbs to get a sense of what works and hopefully some of their genius will soak in through osmosis.

 

 

I started reading The Cowboy Takes a Bride and I haven’t gotten very far, but I was so impressed with the back cover blurb and the first chapter that I had to share. Here is her blurb:

 

Ex-champion bull rider-turned-cutting-horse cowboy

Joe Daniels isn’t quite sure how he ended up sleeping

in a horse trough wearing nothing but his Stetson

and cowboy boots. But now he’s wide-awake, and a

citified woman is glaring down at him. His goal? Get

rid of her ASAP. The obstacle? Fighting the attraction

he feels toward the blond-haired filly with the big,

vulnerable eyes.

When out-of-work wedding planner Mariah Callahan

learns that her estranged father has left her a rundown

ranch in Jubilee, she has no choice but to accept it. Her

goal? Redeem her career by planning local weddings.

The obstacle? One emotionally wounded, hard-living

cowboy who stirs her guilt, her heartstrings, and her

long-burned cowgirl roots…

 

Isn’t that lovely? And to make it even better, Lori doesn’t start the story with Joe’s phone call to Mariah (like most writers would). Nope. She starts it with Mariah standing over a sexy, naked cowboy and then Lori sprinkles in the backstory. I love it! The writing is quick-paced and sparkling. I already know it’s going to be a fun read.

 

 

Flirty Clip Friday #10

Or, I’m Sharing My Favorite Romantic Video Montages

One of my favorite monster movies–Warm Bodies.

My 1st Writing Award — For Poetry!

Or, The Poem That Made Me Believe I Could Be A Writer

When I was seventeen I wrote a poem (one of dozens I scribbled in my diary) and submitted it to the Victor Valley College’s annual writing contest. I won an honorable mention, which seems to amount to 4th place. This was the first time I ever made anything I wrote public, let alone allowed it to be judged. The validation certainly had an impact on my decision to continue writing.

So, thank you VVC. And here’s the poem. It’s untitled because I was awful at writing titles, even then.

 

Yes, once upon a time,

Good princes got the girls,

Old dragons lived on rocks,

And ev’rything was nice.

*

Yes, once upon a time,

Was over long ago,

Now princes are just shot,

And dragons live in homes.

*