Shehanne Moore's Blog, page 35

The May Author Interview…3 In One… with Mishka Jenkins

Hmmmm. Give me time fellahs. I must say the last blog had some very interesting reactions.

Noelle Clark got quite carried away about that parking ticket and dramatized our adventures Chez les Sheys……




Putting that aside and refusing to be upstaged by you hamsta dudes,  I’m sounding it today, ironing the banner and all,  for Mishka Jenkins, who commenters will know as Harliqueen. Mishka…

Mishka…

Mishka is here today talking about the exciting week she’s had, finally coming to the end of her publishing journey by putting out her books. So, without further hamsters, or ado
HERE SHE IS.

Shey.  So big week for you Mishka, can you tell us how hectic on the hectometre?

Mishka. I think it would have broke the scale! After editing was finished, everything just started to come together at a really fast pace. One minute it was formatting and worrying about what the covers would look like and then BAM! Release day.
 

Shey.  Can I ask what prompted you to put the three books out at once? Insanity or what?

Mishka. I think insanity would probably about cover it. Nah. I read some advice somewhere that it was more advisable for new authors to put out more than one book, so as potential readers could see the writer was serious in their craft. And I thought, ‘Well, why not? How can three books be harder than one?’ A statement which seemed so simple at the time.


Shey. You had a blog up the other week I loved http://awriterslifeformeblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/bad-boys-aliens-and-romance-oh-my/
about the bad boy hero and of course you have come to the right place for that. What can we expect from your heroes?
Right..that’s it…..


Mishka. I do love a bad boy, I can’t help myself, I know I shouldn’t.

My heroes are… all quite different actually now I think about it. Bane (from Stolen Bloodline) is a vampire with a chip on his shoulder, very broody and mysterious, but someone to make you swoon!


Shey. Gorgeous cover.

Mishka. Cassian (from Heart of the Arena) is a good guy, but he’s one of those men that has got an ego on him and as much as you wish you didn’t like him due to his ego, you can’t help yourself!

The Queen’s Jester is a little more complicated, love triangle kinda complicated. But if you want REAL bad boy, then you’d have to go for the Jester… Writing that guy got me in a bit of a tizzy that’s for sure!
Shey.  And your heroines?

Mishka. I do like my heroines, again, they’re very individual, but one of the my main goals when writing female leads is to make them real. For example, if you get kidnapped, you’re going to be terrified, no matter how strong you are, you’re going to be scared. I wanted readers to connect with my heroines, and feel them on a level where they could relate and think, ‘Yeah, I’d do that too!’.


Shey. Do you have a fav amongst them all, hero and heroine wise?







Mishka. Ahhhhhhh, you can’t ask me that! That’s like choosing your favourite child…

….Well, if you insist! Sabina is probably favourite heroine, from Heart of the Arena, due to all the horrible things I piled on her and how she came out stronger for it, but in a way that felt true to her.

Bane is my favourite hero. He’s a character I’ve had in my head for about ten years, so I am biased though!

Shey. Which hero or heroine was the hardest to write?

Mishka. You know, I think Cassian was the hardest. He was a good guy in a difficult situation, and I struggled with really understanding how to make him react, though I think that worked to the story’s advantage. You get a real sense of uncertainty in him, which is exactly how it should be in his place.

Shey.  You’ve a fabulous blog where you have detailed your writing journey.

http://awriterslifeformeblog.wordpress.com/

But what about you Mishka, can you tell us a bit about you? What made you want to write.


Mishka.  First of all, thank you.

Writing has been something I’ve always loved to do. Creating stories and characters is a part of me. I used to try and achieve this through comics and art, but I was too impatient to finish a comic! Writing is something I took to as long as I can remember. I love to get lost in characters and love stories and excitement! Who doesn’t want that?

Shey. You didn’t go down the traddy route, let’s face it the publishing industry is like shifting sand these days. Why did you decide to self publish?

Mishka. A good question! Part of the reason that I decided to start writing was because of the fact that self-publishing is open to us now. I didn’t want to go traditional publishing because I didn’t think it suited me as a person. I like being able to think that if my books do well, it was because I put that hard work into it. I am incredibly independent and self-publishing suits me perfectly in this way.

Also, I could make my books unique. The blurbs and covers are specific to the books, and I could achieve that because I knew the book inside out and chose what I wanted. (Though not so keen on the fact I had to model for the photos myself!- I really need to find some model friends.)

Shey. What’s been the biggest headache? I mean what wouldn’t you do again?

Mishka. I would never release three books at once again. I’m glad I did it, but blimey! Never again.


Shey. There’s a lot of folks follow this blog who are like you were last week!! That is as yet unpublished but aspiring.  What advice would you give them?

Mishka. Write as you want, write what you want. There is tons of advice and ‘rules’ out there, but in the end, if you want to write a story in a certain way, then do it! Your stories are your own and unique, and people will enjoy them for that reason.


Links:

Blog: https://awriterslifeformeblog.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mishka-Jenkins/260588067439282
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MishkaJenkins
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WriterLifeForMe

The Queen’s Jester:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/The-Queens-Jester-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBISGG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_tnr_1

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Queens-Jester-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBISGG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_6TCG

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442154

Stolen Bloodline:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Bloodline-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBS4BU/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_tnr_2

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stolen-Bloodline-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBS4BU/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442160

Heart of the Arena:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Arena-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBT0G8/ref=la_B00KLDXDDW_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401274839&sr=1-1

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Arena-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBT0G8/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_2

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442163

Favourite bits:

The Queen’s Jester:

“Because he is my husband.”

“He is but a boy.”

“He is King,” she said, reminding herself as well as him.

“And yet.” The smirk on his face widened. “He is not the one you came seeking,” he said.

Stolen Bloodline:

“What is wrong with you?” Caden asked as though Bane had been replaced by an impostor.

“That is enough, Caden.”

“She’s put a chink in your armour, Bane, you better hope no one aims for it,” Caden replied. Even Imogen could understand the threat in his words.

Heart of the Arena:

“Cassian,” Sabina called as he made to stand and move away, forgetting to mask her voice, but the helmet helping to disguise its feminine tone. The gladiator glanced over his shoulder at her. “You win too.” It was a feeble statement, but once again his gaze had left her tongue-tied.

He spread his arms out wide. “Is there any doubt?” he asked with a grin and then moved back to the feast, lost within moments to a gaggle of excited women happy at his return.

Filed under: Author Interviews, heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Heart of the Arena, heroes, heroines, Mishka Jenkins, Stolen Bloodline, The Queen's Jester, writing

I have often walked down the street before, or there weren’t any parking wardens in Regency London

I sense a little rebellion in the ranks today.

which I would never have believed.

Excuse me, Fez, Ratsy and you others,  there is no need to be quite so aggressive. The squirrel is here to make a point.  The point is that as writers we need to be a bit like that…that is the cute little fellah

squirreling stuff away. I don’t just mean the hoards of stuff we accumulate in drawers.

 

Sorry…wrong picture. Of course I meant…Though, seriously, yesterday Mr Shey was wondering how an area looked c1914 and there, to my squirreling credit I was able to unearth from a rom someone sent me when I used to edit, an exact picture.

There is it, the long gone, Carbet Castle, home to certain Dundee Jute Barons…And not just Carbet, there’s Kinettles Castle,

There ‘s Broughty Ferry from Carbet Castle….

 

 

Some of the inhabitants of Carbet Castle out for a stroll in Angus Glens.

In fact that rom is an archive. I could bore on all day on the subject of Carbet Castle. Interiors, dogs, motor cars,

fashion, not to mention everywhere the family and their servants went.

This is  judicious squirreling. Then there’s the other type. You know the kind where non writers just see a house, or a street, but the writer type is busy cataloguing it all for later use.

My apologies. Of course that should have read….

Yes cataloguing.  And not the most obvious bits of places  either.

Mount Grace priory in Yorkshire

didn’t interest me half as much as what was built on the back of it-here seen as a model obviously…I am saying nothing this time… the monk’s cells, or rather the only one that was left… Ooh look, Saff and Dev are even standing there…not quite, since he probably had her pinned to the door for immoral purposes…  but I have to say I loved the idea of a cell that wasn’t. A place  that, to quote the  hero of Loving Lady Lazuli, was a

‘nicely appointed dwelling. An upstairs, a down, with pleasant rooms and a square of garden.

 It helped me create the character of a woman who was done with certain things and wanted to hide away, so she lives there instead of in the house itself. And its simplicity does quite interest Devorlane too…

Christ. All there was, was a bed. If he ignored the candelabras, the bedside table, and the simple wooden chest in the furthest corner that was.

Let’s face it , it is mainly what he is interested in…. Did I say hero?  I lied. He’s an anti hero.

Vikings? Well, obviously when a rat ran over my foot in a recreated farmhouse…I think it was at the Hollufgard…I certainly squirrelled that one away.

I don’t have a photo. Don’t be silly. I think the camera is still in there unless the rats stuffed their ratty gubs on it.

Glencoe…..?  I have blogged Glencoe and all the bits of it that appear in His Judas Bride to bits.

That little jewel of the Regency north…Richmond?

Well, what really interested me about Richmond was the Georgian Theatre

certainly before Mr Shey got a parking ticket  and then into a pissing contest with the head of the roads services or whoever he was. But you can see it is an amazing place.

And I’ve just loosely used it in a scene in my second jewel thieves WIP. Not the parking ticket bit. There weren’t any traffic wardens in Regency London.

As for the history and that of the amazing Butler family who owned it as part of a circuit of five theatres and the actors and actresses who trudged that circuit on foot in all winds and weathers? Well, that  may  turn up yet in another story. Who knows? What I do know is……..

Hmmmmmmm…..

 

 

 

Filed under: Glencoe, heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Broughty Ferry, Carbet Castle, KInnettles castle, Location, Mount Grace Priory, Richmond, The Georgian Theatre, writing, Yorkshire

Hey Starkadder Sisters……

 

 

 

 

It’s okay little hamstahs, you are in the clear. This is your spesh new little friend hamsta….

wearing the romance jumper and all, sent specially from the lovely Kate Furnivall author of…

Given that Adrienne deWolfe, author of…

was kinda shocked by all you naked hamstas the other day, maybe I should get you all the romance jerseys.  Or make Kate’s hamstah the big boss hamsta?  What do you say?

Seriously, as well as thanking Kate, I want to say a huge thank you to Paul Ruddock.

http://echoesofthepen.com.

Paul is a writer….he says he’s  an aspiring amateur, I am not going to debate that one with him, today….with a love of the outdoors.

He also writes book reviews…these vital things as authors we need and value. Something he generously gives of his time doing which is also why I’m not missing him out here.

Anyway, Paul and I follow one another’s blogs and he asked a few weeks ago about reading one of mine. I got to tell you now, I started quaking in my stilettos.

He was straight upfront about the fact it was not his genre. AT ALL. So I was no help to him whatsoever in suggesting which one to read, largely cos I was thinking I am so gomna lose a follower here.

Anyway he went with His Judas Bride because it is set in an area we both love, while I went and hid, thinking I hope I never meet you there…

GLENCOE

 

Yesterday he very kindly put his review up on his blog and on Amazon UK………

Despite being your typical neanderthal bloke

His words not mine!

http://echoesofthepen.com/2014/05/18/his-judas-bride-book-review/

Nuff said, except - I thought you’d like this better than floo-ers!

So, where are we today, well, it’s quiz time. Yes. I did this quiz for a blog a few months back–the blog of my lovely doodling, we’re officially in the weird club,  buddy, author Elyzabeth M. Valey.It’s so high tech literary I though I’d share it here.  SO bring it on hammies…… Cue Cinnamon and Ginger…

 
The Starkadder Sisterhood London Jewel Thieves  From Loving Lady Lazuli

Okay, so, you just pulled your latest heist and now you need to escape with the loot. Just how far will you get? In other words which jewel thief are you?

Sapphire, Pearl, Ruby, Amber, Jade, Splendor or Diamond?
You’re stuck with a set of diamonds in a locked room. Do you

A. Think what a mess the girls made, I really need to tidy up

B. Don the chimney sweep’s outfit and start climbing.

C. Cower a bit but hide under the desk till the coast is clear.

D. Not a clue. Just get caught. But drink that glass of wine first.

E. Take down anyone who gets in your way

F. Panic and take off your clothes to woo some sexy man

G Hope you will be rescued

It’s Christmas Eve and having nicked a necklace you accept a lift home but the coach slows. Do you

A. Say the floor needs cleaned

B. Kiss the smexy guy and shove the jewels in his pocket

C. Say what is a necklace?

D. Open a bottle of gin and offer some to the sexy guy

E Kill everyone including the sexy guy

F Leap out the coach and hope for the best

G Deny you are even here

You are crawling a long a rooftop with a sack of silver plate when someone below sees you

A You wouldn’t be doing this

B. Keep going cos you know what you’ll get if you don’t

C Say what is a roof?

D Throw the sack away now you’ve been discovered. There’s more to life.

E Berate the world

F. Deny everything. You are carrying this for some smexy guy

G Say what silver plate?

You’ve had enough of old Starkie, the man who has enslaved you. Do you

A Clean up the mess after someone runs him through.

B. Fake your own death and run away

C Run away cos you’re told to

D Run away and hope there’s gin

E Run him through

F Take the first offer that comes along, especially if it’s from a smexy guy

G Put up with it. What else is there?

You are going straight but now you must steal again. What do you think?

A You were never a thief

B I said I was straight and I mean it

C Well, if people say so

D Long as there’s booze..

E Never. Not if it kills me and it might

F What is in it for me?

G You would die first.

So how did you score?

Well mostly A’s…Splendor

B’s Sapphire

C’s Pearl

D’s Ruby

E’s Diamond

F’s Amber

G’s Jade.

Happy heisting.

Filed under: blogging, Glencoe, heroines, writing Tagged: Book Reviews, His Judas Bride, Loving Lady Lazuli, Paul Ruddick, Quiz, The Starkadder Sisterhood

A rootin…tootin….Viking

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.etopiapress.com/

 

‘GIRD YOUR LOINS AND SLAP ON YOUR CHASTITY BELT

 

It tends to get a little dangerous when I muse. Buildings burn, bullets fly, unspeakable baddies come out to play, and gosh…love hurts–a lot. But, in the spirit of Nothing ventured. Nothing gained, Hazardous Idea #1: Give anti-advice–not what one should do, but what one should, categorically, absolutely, cup-your-precious-parts, NOT DO.Hazardous Idea #2: Why should I take all the blame? Why not let others chance their reps?And, so birthed the idea for a new blog series, ’5 Things You Should Never Do…’ written by the intrepid, the daring, the oh-well-what’s-the-worst-that-can-happen incautious….otherwise known as Writerly Guests. And guess who was first to volunteer (no coercion necessary–much), Shehanne Moore, writer of historical romance in extremis, to share sound anti-advice related to her current project: VIKINGS. So handing over to her…..
5 Things You Should Never Do…With A VIKING














Firstly I want to thank the amazing  Incy Black for (that tenner she sent me earlier)  asking me here today on her superb new blog feature. Five things not to do with a Viking.Sorry, maybe I should specify before you get too excited here, haul off your undies and otherwise start waving them,  it’s five things not to do with various things, people, whatever. You’ve got the Viking and you’ve got me because having been through pirates and hot Scots I thought let’s bring on the Vikings.  Sort of, anyway.So, having researched them for my present manuscript in the making, what five things do I suggest NEVER doing with a Viking? Well, maybe we should ask Malice, she’s only the poor, little heroine, who gets to spend a lot of time with them after all. Malice…kid,  or should I say,




















Owner of,





































What do yah think?What would you tell the Strictly Business galz in your employ, never to do with a Viking?











































I was lucky, I had the book…although having said that it was no real advantage once I was actually there, in Scandinavia with them. To do to them is one thing. The list there might be endless and include things like using their helmet as a cooking pot, or vying for their attention against other women on a longship. It’s not the best place. They rock…the longships that is… and well, let’s just say it really depends on how good a sailor you are. But if you’re not, it then depends on how nice a Viking they are.However this is categorically five things never to do with them. So, having been strengthened by my ordeal, the advice I would give my Strictly girls is….

1  Never get in a kissing bout with them. Vikings are not only seriously over-sexed, they are also seriously good at dragging you upstairs. They may pretend this is only to annoy the hell out of their fiancées, let me tell you they are all of them, without exception, excellent liars, they are hot ones too, who really don’t care how much the bed creaks. In fact they want it to creak.

























2 Never share any kind of bed with them. If you are so unfortunate as to find yourself in this position through no fault of your own, do not, under any circumstances suggest any fancy moves to them, especially when they’ve had a few noggins of ale at their best buddy’s homestead. That is asking for absolute trouble. I won’t say how. Only that it might involve a slave’s collar and being sold. Just lie far away from them and face the wall in the hope they won’t notice you. That way you won’t be going to the slave market in the morning. 





















3 Sharing any kind of bath is also an absolute no no.

Again, this is a ploy on their part to pretend to make their fiancées jealous. They may even pretend that is the sole reason they are carrying  you in to their bathhouses. They may even pretend that you stink. Do not fall for this. Without fail they will then bar the door, make you take off all your clothes and refuse all offers to give you other ones.  They may even make you walk barefoot across a yard in their tunic.  So if one should throw you over his shoulder, you know where to kick him.  Don’t  think twice. Just do it. 


























4Under no circumstances should you ever have actual sex with them. They are not only notoriously hot and greedy, they don’t even care if they’ve just dragged you from the foaming waves. This plays havoc, not just with the cushion you may have stuck up your dress in a bid to make out you are pregnant, but it could ensure you are.  What is more you may have no idea where you are going to end up. The best thing if a Viking wants to have sex with you, is to pretend you are a walrus, or infuriate him, by cooking seaweed in his helmet. Alternatively you could just pretend to be asleep.  

5 Be shipwrecked with them. Especially not with an icy but hotly sexy one, with a ton of baggage. You just might fall in love and it could be very tricky.       

Extract…..completely unedited.

“Well, that depends.”

She was clutching the tunic fit to tear it. The best thing was to put it on the floor, then she could consider the door. “What on?”

“The thing is Malice, I may not be the kind of man to put a thrall’s collar around your neck.”

A what?

“But I don’t want you thinking of escaping.”

Oh really? She would see about that.

“You give me any more grief that way, you’ll  be beaten. Then, of course, there’s the fact I can kill you if I want. Or any of my family, or friends, can. They would have to pay me recompense of course. There’s a lot of them about in the yard right now. A lot of them about in all the neighbouring homesteads too. So…”

How nice of him to tell her. Was that why he’d let her face the door, to spell out his mastery of her? Why she heard him take a step towards her?

“…The rest of the clothes, Malice.”

 

 

 

Filed under: blogging, Guest bloggers, heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Adrienne deWolfe, Cowboys, Incy Black, Vikings

Pistols, Petticoats and the Big Bad Wolf Girl

 

 

 

 

http://incyblack.weebly.com/1/post/2014/05/gird-your-loins-slap-on-the-chastity-belt.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bawdy Songs for a Sassy Siren:

 

                              By Adrienne deWolfe

Schlock.  That’s what my high school English teacher called my best attempts at poetry when I was enrolled in his Creative Writing class.

But the joke’s on Mr. Snooty, ‘cause nowadays, I’m a bestselling author, who writes bawdy rhymes for her latest heroine:   a wise-cracking, pistol-packing torch-singer, who headlines in Dodge City’s infamous Long Branch Saloon (1879.)

I have to admit, I’m having a ball writing schlock.  (So go suck a lemon, Mr. Snooty.)

I’m not exactly sure where the inspiration for Sadie Michelson’s songs came from in my new novella.  SHADY LADY is featured in PISTOLS AND PETTICOATS, an Historical Western Romance Anthology that includes works by two other bestselling authors: Barbara Ankrum and Sharon Ihle.

For decades, I’ve been terrified to write anything even remotely like poetry for public consumption, thanks to a certain harrowing writing class.

To make matters worse, I get knee-knocking scared whenever I have to sing.  In another of my high-school era tragedies, I stood in an auditorium, packed with students and parents, and forgot the lyrics to my Christmas solo.

(Did I mention I HATED high school?)

Needless to say, Sadie is nothing like me.  A red-headed siren with a rapid-fire wit,  my lusty heroine isn’t intimidated by corrupt lawmen, drunken hecklers, raunchy gamblers, or sniveling high school teachers.

Sadie gave me the courage to write poetry again – even if some of it might raise a stodgy eyebrow.  Here’s a snippet of her cowboy song from Shady Lady: 

 

“Then came a Texas cowboy,

A downright orn’ry guy.

Bulgin’ at the chaps, he was,

With notches on his fly …”

Sadie sings the previous verse about her hot-headed, gun-slinging lover, whom rival bawds have nicknamed the Rebel Rutter.  (I’ll leave the reason to your imagination.)  William “Cass” Cassidy also sings bawdy songs, as you’ll see in the excerpted scene, below.

But not all of my lyrics are bawdy. (Darn, huh?)  I penned two ballads and a love song, called Destiny, for Sadie to sing when she and Cass return in my upcoming Historical Western Romance, DEVIL IN TEXAS (Book 4, Velvet Lies, Summer 2014.)  Here’s a sneak preview of Destiny:

Suns may rise, stars may fail.

Worlds collide; love prevails.

Through all time, you and me,

Heart to heart, destiny.

So now you’re probably wondering:  Did I ever muster the courage to sing solos again?  Yes, I did!  Years and years later (in another state, under another name,) I appeared in a variety show.  Nobody booed.  (And I’m pretty sure none of them were comatose!)

 

Excerpt from

SHADY LADY , a Novella

By Adrienne deWolfe

from the Anthology

PISTOLS AND PETTICOATS

“Cass, I’m busy. Can’t you see I’m writing a song?”

He recalled that Sadie turned into a fire-breathing dragon if someone dared to interrupt her creative frenzies. He cocked his head, plotting his strategy to whisk her off to the river.

His ornery lover was sitting with her spine propped up by pillows against the headboard of her unmade bed. Her glorious red-gold curls tumbled in every conceivable direction over the sagging, ebony lace of her night wrapper. A sea of yellowed papers surrounded her exquisitely long legs, bared up to the thighs. Those papers had lots of black lines, little bitty symbols, and tea-cup stains.

In fact, the whole room smelled like mint and rosehips, Sadie’s favorite brew. The teapot – and a pair of greasy, sunny-side-up eggs – sat forgotten where she’d left them: on a chipped china platter atop the traveling trunk at the foot of her bed.

“The sun is shining!” he cajoled.

“Yes, well, it’s daylight, isn’t it?” she retorted absently, her bare toes wiggling to some inner rhythm as she scribbled a few more symbols on the paper in her lap.

She’d barely glanced his way. He steeled himself against a flare of temper. He was Coyote Cass, after all. He could charm the rattle off of rattlers.

Strolling to the side of the bed, he was careful to keep his expression enthusiastic rather than provocative. There would be plenty of time for romping in the daisies and buttercups, where he planned to spread a blanket, pop a bottle of champagne, and practice all the creative ways that Sadie had taught him how to use whipped cream and berries. Maybe even honey.

“What’s that chubby, black dot with the flagpole rising out of it?” he asked, knowing full well that it was a musical symbol.

“Music.”

“What kind of music?” he persisted, undaunted by her growl.

She blew a curl off her forehead. “The usual kind.”

“A love ballad?”

Her stylus paused as those tawny Tiger eyes glared up at him. He just loved when Sadie glared. He didn’t mind arguing with the hellcat one bit. Not when her make-up sex was so divine.

“When have you ever heard me sing about love?” she snapped.

“Maybe it’s time.”

She muttered something under her breath that sounded like, “Dreamer.”

Smirking, he thought fast. The only person in the world who thrived on competition more than he did was Sadie. Calling upon a credible baritone – one that she had once described as “lyrical” – he belted out an improvised rhyme:

“With looks that drive the gals insane,

He rides them like a hurricane . . .”

His musical lampoon succeeded. Her lips twitched. Her stylus actually lowered.

“Not bad,” she conceded grudgingly. “Where did you hear that? From Wilma’s piano player?”

“Hell, no. I made it up.”

“You did not.”

“I did too!”

She hiked a challenging eyebrow. “Right here? On the spot?”

“Damn straight! Wanna hear another?”

Hooking his thumbs over his gun belt, he swaggered around the room, acting adorable.

“He rides like greased lightning atop his black steed,

The handsome young Ranger, renowned for good deeds,

To rescue the damsel, alone in her bed

From cold eggs and boredom and songs in her head.

Away to the river, he carries the lass

To woo her and feed her and kiss her bare . . . ”

“Cass!” she shrieked, her laughter ringing through the room in merry peals.

He chuckled, enjoying her earthy humor.  “I reckon Cass rhymes, too.”

“You are a pest. And pests should be spanked.”

“Never argue with a lady. That’s my motto.”

“Is it, now?” She tossed aside her stylus and swung her naked feet to the floor. “Since when?”

“Since I was… uh… ” He gulped. “Sun-up?”

He’d lost the use of his brain the moment she’d started shrugging off that scanty black waterfall of lace. Nothing but freckles adorned her alabaster flesh now.

“Maybe you’ve confused me with someone else, lover,” she drawled.

She was prowling closer, all sizzle and sin. By the time she halted before him, his loins were hot, and his mouth was watering. Those wicked, feline eyes laughed up at him.

“Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?”

“Uh… ” Trick question, some lucid part of his brain warned. “You look like my heaven,” he rallied gamely.

“Aw.  Isn’t that sweet?”  A dimple flirted with her cherry-red lips. “Who taught you how to lie so prettily? That Injun half-breed?”

“Lynx doesn’t like to be called -—”

“I’m more interested in what I like,” she purred. “And what I like is naked cowboys . . . “

PISTOLS AND PETTICOATS

BOOK DESCRIPTION

From bestselling authors Barbara Ankrum, Adrienne deWolfe and Sharon Ihle come three fresh novellas, featuring three firebrand ladies, each determined to make her mark while making her match.  ETHAN’S BRIDE – 27,000 word sequel to CHASE THE FIRE (Wild Western Hearts, Book 4) Violet Bradford desperately wants a child. Believing herself barren, she answers Dr. Ethan Walker’s advertisement for a mail-order bride in Colorado, knowing he only wants one thing: a mother for his young daughter. Surely the joys of motherhood can compensate for a loveless marriage. But Ethan’s broken heart won’t stop tugging at hers. And Ethan soon realizes he must risk his heart again or risk losing it all.  SHADY LADY – 26,000 word prequel to DEVIL IN TEXAS (Velvet Lies, Book 4) Fiery singing sensation, Sadie Michelson, thinks falling in love is bad for business—until William “Cass” Cassidy, a hotheaded gunslinger, sets his sights on wooing her. But when a Texas Ranger arrives in Dodge City to extradite Cass for a crime of passion, Sadie must use all her wits and wiles to lure the law from her man’s trail. And that means risking everything—including Cass’s love.  BAREBACK BRIDE – 25,000 word sequel to THE BRIDE WORE SPURS (The Inconvenient Bride Series, Book 1) Expert horsewoman, Shannon Winterhawke runs away from home to join the Buffalo Bill Wild West extravaganza. Shannon is hired on the spot, but the show’s head horseman, Seth Edwards, simply sees another flighty gal looking for a cowboy fling before settling down with some unsuspecting fool. But all bets are off as Shannon slowly sneaks into Seth’s heart and lassoes him with his own rope.

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1i8PkpT

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

About Adrienne deWolfe

Adrienne is a #1 best-selling author and the recipient of 48 writing accolades, including the Best Historical Romance of the Year Award.  When she’s not blogging on her websites, she loves to mentor aspiring authors and offers story critiques.  Learn more about Adrienne’s mentorship program for fiction writers at http://WritingNovelsThatSell.com.  Follow Adrienne on Twitter at  http://Twitter.com/AdriennedeWolfe.

Filed under: blogging, Guest bloggers, heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Adrienne deWolfe, Barbara Ankrum, BAREBACK BRIDE, ETHAN'S BRIDE, Incy Black, Pistols and Petticoats, SHADY LADY, Sharon Ihle, Western Romance

What lies in wait tomorrow at Linden Manor with Catherine Cavendish

 

 

All right, all right, so I did release you and we all know about the little book deal you guys struck with Catherine but you are a day early. Catherine’s fabulous new book isn’t out until tomorrow. But I can’t wait to have her over either. I’m so excited for her because this isn’t just any old story….it’s an anthology win story with Samhain Publishing.

YAY!!!! And it being a horror story,  the fangs are good fellahs, so we’ll let it go.

Okay….but I am also  seeing words here like SCOTISH BRIDE….YES! I mean we know there are some wonderful horror stories about them. And not just that. I’m just back from a fabby weekend in  Glencoe…voila the Lochan yesterday….

Where the lot of us actually discussed Sir Richard Grenville. I mean yes. Wow! Did we not have better things to do? BUT I do see he is menshied right here in Cat’s special blog. SO naturally I am desperate to share it with you. So TAKE IT AWAY CAT and………….. Let me tell you this is one talented lady and her horror stories will have you on the very edge of your seat.

 

 

 

 

 

By CATHERINE CAVENDISH

 

“My ladye hath a sable coach, And horses two and four; My ladye hath a black blood-hound That runneth on before. My ladye’s coach hath nodding plumes, The driver hath no head; My ladye is an ashen white, As one that long is dead.”

My novella – Linden Manor – features the ghost of Lady Celia Fitzmichael, about whom a scary nursery rhyme was written, which haunted my main character, Lesley Carpenter. In it, Lady Celia is never mentioned by name. Instead, she is referred to as ‘The Scottish bride.’ And woe betide you if you laid eyes on her ‘blackened face’.







This made me research other notable hauntings by tormented brides (and women generally) and, inevitably, my path led to Devon, home of so many wonderful hauntings and folklore. Here, I found a tale which has all the hallmarks of a Daphne du Maurier dark story (OK, I know she wrote in neighbouring Cornwall, but you get my drift.) The tale of Lady Mary Howard is a dark and tragic one. Every night, her ghostly carriage and massive black dog, regularly travel sixteen miles from Okehampton Castle to Fitzford House and back again. Each time, the purpose of their journey appears to be to transport a single blade of grass. So who was Lady Mary? And why does she perform this repetitive ritual?She was born Mary Fitz in 1596, only legitimate child of Sir John Fitz, a man whose inherited wealth made him too rich, too young (at age 21). He spent his money, sinking into depravity and degeneracy to Dorian Gray proportions. His wickedness eventually alienated him from the whole of Tavistock – the town near his home of Fitzford House. Then, two men were killed on the steps of his house. They included his best friend. John Fitz slid into insanity and committed suicide at the age of 30, leaving nine year old Mary alone. She was sold by King James I to the Earl of Northumberland. He married her off to his brother, Sir Allan Percy, to ensure her fortune passed to their family when Mary was just twelve years old. Her new husband was 31. The enforced marriage was shortlived as Percy caught a chill while on a hunting trip and died in 1611. Soon after, Mary eloped with her true love, Thomas Darcy. Tragically though, he died just a few months later. Mary had yet to celebrate her sixteenth birthday, so she was technically still the Earl’s ward. He married her off to husband number three – Sir Charles Howard, fourth son of the Earl of Suffolk. They had two children who both appear to have died in infancy. Then he too succumbed and died – of unknown causes – leaving Mary a widow for the third time at the age of just 26.By now, tongues were wagging. That’s a lot of husbands to lose in rapid succession. Had the father lived on in his daughter? After all, didn’t Sir John Fitz become mixed up in murder at one time?

By now, perhaps as a result of her experiences at the hands of unscrupulous men, Mary had learned a little about keeping her hands firmly on her own purse-strings. She was now a wealthy and desirable widow and married husband number four – Sir Richard Grenville – who no doubt thought he was onto a good thing. He soon found out his new wife wasn’t to be taken advantage of. He didn’t like it and vented his wrath cruelly on her. Mary refused to relent, and kept her money safe.

In the end, Sir Richard’s cruelty became too much for Mary and she sued for divorce, between 1631-32. From then on, a series of extraordinary events saw Sir Richard imprisoned for debt, his subsequent disappearance for seven years and terrible injustice heaped on Mary when he returned and a court ordered that he could seize Fitzford House and her possessions. When Mary eventually turned up there (she had been living in London), she found the mansion wrecked.

Her marriage to Grenville was the only one to produce children – a son, Richard, who died young, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary – neither of whom Mary had anything to do with as they served as a constant reminder of their father. She did keep one child with her though. Her son, George, born around 1634 and whose father is unknown (possibly Theophilus, Earl of Suffolk).

As she grew older and remained, with her son, at the restored Fitzford House, Lady Mary became noted around Tavistock for her strong will and imperious temper. When her son died unexpectedly in 1671, she never recovered and died soon after. Then the legendary hauntings began.

It is said that, at dead of night, the gates of Fitzford House creak open and a massive black hound, with flaming red eyes bounds forward. Behind it rattles a coach made of bones, driven by a headless coachman. Its single passenger is a ghostly lady. Sixteen miles up the road, the coach stops at Okehampton Castle where the dog picks a single blade of grass. Back at Fitzford House, the dog lays this carefully down on a stone. Legend has it that when all the grass has been thus transported from Okehampton castle, Lady Mary will finally be at rest.

We just don’t know why!

Now, here’s a flavour of Linden Manor:

Have you ever been so scared your soul left your body?  All her life, Lesley Carpenter has been haunted by a gruesome nursery rhyme—“The Scottish Bride”—sung to her by her great grandmother. To find out more about its origins, Lesley visits the mysterious Isobel Warrender, the current hereditary owner of Linden Manor, a grand house with centuries of murky history surrounding it.  But her visit transforms into a nightmare when Lesley sees the ghost of the Scottish bride herself, a sight that, according to the rhyme, means certain death. The secrets of the house slowly reveal themselves to Lesley, terrible secrets of murder, evil and a curse that soaks the very earth on which Linden Manor now stands. But Linden Manor has saved its most chilling secret for last.

 

Linden Manor is available from: Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk  Amazon.ca  Amazon.com.au  Kobo B&N

About the author

Catherine Cavendish lives with a longsuffering husband and mildly eccentric tortoiseshell cat in North Wales. Her home is in a building dating back to the mid 18th century which is haunted by a friendly ghost, who announces her presence by footsteps, switching lights on and strange phenomena involving the washing machine and the TV.

When not slaving over a hot computer, Cat enjoys wandering around Neolithic stone circles and visiting old haunted houses.

www.catherinecavendish.com

https://www.facebook.com/CatherineCavendishWriter?ref=hl

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4961171.Catherine_Cavendish

http://twitter.com/#!/cat_cavendish

 

 



Filed under: blogging, Guest bloggers, writing Tagged: Catyherine Cavendish, Horror, Horror Novella, Lady Mary Howard, Linden Manor, Richard Grenville

Popping corks and cherries

 

HMMMMMM? You might say…

Hmmmmm?Well……..

 

 

Well…isn’t this nice? You guys would do anything to get back into favour.

OKAY. Fine…maybe not.

 

 

 

Loving Lady Lazuli… ferocious outbursts of anger or equally fierce bouts of sex.     Kate Furnival, author, The Russian Concubine.

 

 

Hmmmmm Dudes…. answers next time.

 

Filed under: writing Tagged: Adrienne deWolfe, Catherine Cavendish, Hard To Hold, Incy Black, The Unraveling of Lady Fury, tips for writing sex scenes, Writing tips

Happy Release Day Incy Black!

 

Straight off today, it’s my absolute pleasure to get all the hamstahs in order, after the recent mayhem….AND the taking of ADVANCE book orders…yes….excuse me?

to welcome an extra special gal…..

What can I say about Ince? Apart from the fact we were aspiring unpublished writers together, keeping one another sane–something you know I’m not– not to mention going in that fishpond and she’s a damn good friend?

Well, she’s also a damned fabulous writer and today, after waiting for what seemed like eternity….. take it away Dook …

You too Cinnamon and Ginger…

It’s RELEASE DAY for her very first book!!!!!!!!!

Fast, sch-mart and furious let me tell you. I LOVE IT. And I’m so touched by her dedication…I’VE  GOT TO SHOW IT!! Ince is here today with a special blog post. OOOOOH…all about the dangers of sex…  In Books. And you thought they were safe to read?  Take it away INCY…………………

‘Rather than thank Shehanne for inviting me to post on her blog, I prefer to commend her.  For her bravery.  All sense of the ridiculous and the inevitable traces of smut are entirely my own.

Shehanne cannot be held responsible for the shameless ramblings of my psyche from which I offer a tongue-in-cheek caution against using trite phrases when writing. Yup, we are all guilty and we need to try harder.  Why? Because some images just don’t bear thinking about.  For example, take the following:

 

Seems innocuous enough, we’ve all read similar variations on this description of hitting orgasm, male or female. But take a closer look at the word ‘exploded’ and consider the ramifications of what this would mean in actuality.  To illustrate, I’ll add a sentence.

Hmm…not quite the sexy image intended.  Here’s another, my current favourite, the grossly over used, ‘shattered’.

She shattered in his arms…  Well hell, every time I read this phrase (way too often for my liking), I want to chime in and add to the inevitable wails of ecstasy, ‘Mind the frigging shards of glass!’

 

And in case you need more:He dropped his hand/head/foot… (how very unfortunate, and not a little disconcerting)

She rolled her eyes…(not doing this one, it has been done before, but think game of marbles)

Without breathing… (so she’s dead then?)

He felt his rod/staff grow hard…(umm, rods & staffs are already hard, ‘tis why they are used as supports or for reinforcement)

He ploughed her lady-garden planting seed…

 

nope, not even gonna comment, because I found one even worse.

Her secret inner canal…

 

this one is so bad,

I feel no guilt at dissecting it. For a start, a canal is a man-made feat of engineering, a trench dug with the toil and sweat of navvies—how very romantic.

Two: given the way he was strumming a Hendrix solo in said canal, there was precious little’ secret’ about it. Three, and here I am really plumbing the absurd, how many people have you encountered with ‘canals’ on the outside, let alone the inside?

And the point of this lecture? Well, bore your reader with sloppy phrasing and trite images or paint a spade purple because wood/steel is too prosaic, and the hole you dig might just be big enough in which to bury yourself.  For good. Because the reader won’t be coming back for more, no matter how gripping the plot or how fascinating the characters.

Thanks for thinking, and as an aside, if you are easily riled by statements/suggestions that women are a bimbo-brained, sub-species, avoid researching the ‘Careless talk costs lives’ propaganda campaign used in Britain during WWII.  Took me ages to find the image below which at least acknowledged men could be equally ‘loose-lipped’—umm, I’ve yet to kiss anyone with loose lips.

Thank you Incy. What do I have to say about this book?

1. Setting… Uniquely for it’s suspense genre it’s got a Brit setting. ♥

2. Pacing. Thats fast. In fact I’d say it’s fast schmart and furious. There is never a dull moment. the action ratchets up with every scene and never stops. ♥

3 The characters. Are not just gritty and real–I expected no less of Ince and she delivered in spades—Nick’s so into Anna and he won’t let himself be. He won’t let himself be a lot of things because of the man he believes he is inside. I ain’t spoiling this saying whether he is that man or not. Anna is a tough, independent  cookie. But she’s never gotten over him.  Ever. AWWW. ♥

4 The background. Their background is a tough one. I like how they were fostered themselves and the book is about..well it’s not all about that…but there’s a baby involved ok…and the route Anna’s gone down to have it is a nice touch given their backgrounds. These backgrounds aren’t just foster care, Nick’s is that horrendous something he’s been trying to overcome all his life. ♥

5 The heat index… Oh yeah.. Suspense isn’t all about the sex scenes or the lovey dove but it’s purty clear from chapter one Anna is a magnet  for Nick and us the man drawn. ♥

Overall, it’s a knock out. A stunning debut and I can’t wait to  read more by Ince.

Pop over and read author Jane Hunt’s review if you don’t believe me.

http://jolliffe01.com/2014/04/28/release-day-blitz-hard-to-hold-incy-black-5-review/

Congratulations Incy you got there. I always knew you would. And please pop over tomorrow to Furious Unravelings where Lady Fury will be interviewing Nick Marshall… I do hope he survives… http://furiousunravelings.wordpress.com

BLURB.

‘Anna Key Marshall is about to get what she’s always wanted: a baby. Granted, it’s through a sperm donor instead of her ex-husband, but you can’t have everything. She has no idea why someone wants her dead, but she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her unborn child—even if it means turning to her ex, the Black Ops specialist who broke her heart.
Five years ago, British Intelligence agent Nick Marshall slammed the door on the woman who betrayed him. But now Anna’s back in his life with a vengeance, pregnant and full of attitude. He’d like nothing better than to walk away, but with her life on the line, he has no choice but to do what he does best—protect her at all costs.
As old wounds resurface, Nick begins to doubt his version of what went down with Anna so long ago. And he begins to believe they might have a second chance together. But with Anna’s would-be killer on the loose—it will take the full force and fury of his protective instincts, fueled by a powerful love he can’t leave behind, to hold on to the woman he still loves.

 

Buy Links
Amazon UK
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

FIND INCE HERE>

Website. http://t.co/tLMFyyWcjY

https://twitter.com/IncyBlack

http://en-gb.facebook.com/incy.black

Filed under: Guest bloggers, heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Entangled Publishing, Hard To Hold, Incy Black, new Release, Suspense, Writing tips

The hamster’s head. The importance of POV part 2

Abso…and so you should well be praying little hamstahs after that little display the other day. The general..

AND, the fact WW3 was declared over point of view in a story.  PLUS the signing of a publishing contract with Catherine Cavendish, author of to name a few AND a few to come soon too, keep your eyes peeled for Linden Manor,

to produce works of great hamster merit, such as

 

DO step aside Mr Dickens.

All that has saved you from going back to the cages on this occasion is that you did SORT of get it right re point of view.

 

You must have read the lovely Sharon Struth’s post on the subject.

http://writerswow.blogspot.com/2014/03/wwow-writing-from-guerillas-point-of.html

SO….Point of view. Well, cards on the table, this is one of the things I found hardest setting out to try and get published. You see you think you can have as many viewpoints as you like in a scene and in a story. But to quote my heroine, her ladyship Fury, herself…

there are rules.

You can argue this all you like…

but as Sharon Struth also says, it makes that manuscript you’ve slaved over like the proverbial hot stove, look unprofessional, which is not the name of the game.

Okay. Some of it is a matter of trend. For example ….

God wouldn’t have the scene or the story–sorry Ratsy–because the omnipresent is out of fashion. Yep and some  of the best known writers ever, wrote that way too. Mr Dickens to quote but one.

The rabbit, if he’s a secondary character wouldn’t have the scene or the story either.

Don’t shoot me. I’m only the poor writer trying to get it right the very same as you are. The rabbit is just …..the rabbit.

One of my first efforts, a western story  penned at the age of 17 started with 6 people–none of whom were what they seemed– arriving in a small town.

There was the hooker, the hooker’s sister, the hooker’s jack of all trades, the ranch hand, the bank robber, the housewife. Each with a little secret in tow, plus the potential to blow the town apart.

Of course I gave the scene to the stage coach driver. Well.  He was best placed to give us the low down, wasn’t he?

Abso.

To this day I still think he was, cos the story was about the impact this six had on the town. I might still think so. But that would be all. AS Fez would say to the coachman…

cos he wasn’t after that scene. Not only that he had a touch of the Clint Eastwood’s about him.

No name.

But there’s probably worse mistakes to make. There’s……

 Head hopping in other words. You know where one minute we’re with one character and then with each successive paragraph we’re with another. Again you can argue it’s great to know what each person is thinking. Till you’re blue in the face too.

Meantime the slush pile reader has also hopped...it…to the next submission. Yours is in the trash basket.

Yeah, yeah, I know. you look at books from 20 years ago and they are full of head hopping. But this is 20 years on. It’s a tough biz for those who want to succeed.

So?  POV. What are the rules?  Well, these days it seems you tell the story from one or two viewpoints. Probably, unless you’re Tonto’s horse or something, taking  a new slant on The Lone Ranger,  you tell it mainly from one with a  dash of two.

You decide at the start of the scene whose head you’re in. You might stick in that head for the whole scene. The whole chapter, or chapters too. If you switch, the advice is don’t then switch back again in that scene. Do it afterwards by all means.

Personally, in terms of viewpoint I start the scene in the head of the character with the most to lose at this particular point.

Sharon Struth makes great points about why it’s good to have, or not have the other person’s viewpoint. Think of the suspense for a kick off if we don’t know what a character is thinking, while the other is busily hamstering beavering away.

Then there’s the fun to be had from them coming at something from entirely opposing angles…….

extracts copyright The Unraveling of Lady Fury. Etopia Press.

You can also mirror what your other characters…any of them, no matter  how minor…are thinking. so your scene isn’t white space that way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under: heroes, heroines, writing Tagged: Catherine Cavendish, Hard To Hold, Incy Black, Linden Manor, Point of view, Sharon Struth, The Hourglass, the Second Wife, The Unraveling of Lady Fury, writing, Writing tips

Whose head? The importance of POV

 

 

 

GUEST BLOG-23rd April

http://antoniavanzandt.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/oh-my-lady-fury-youre-out-in-print.html

 

 

 

 

 

 guest blog……….about………….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: POV. Antonia Van Zandt, Writing tips