L.H. Nicole's Blog, page 12

I'm back!

Hello my lovelies! I realize it has been quite a while since my last post and I greatly apologize for my absence. But I think you will understand why when I tell you that it was because I am finishing writing book 2 of my Legendary Saga and getting everything in line with my publisher for the release of Legendary! I am so thrilled it is less than 3 weeks away! February 25, 2014.In addition to writing  and planning for the release of my first book, I have also been having conversations with my dear friend, MissLittleBookAddict, and her newest addition to her blog- a YA blogger posting under the moniker of DynoMoon. Now I have made it know that I will never give a "review" of a book I read because of the fact that, as an author,  I am a bit more picky of a reader, and on the off chance that I pick up a book I don't like, I don't want to have to disparage  a fellow author's work. BUT after reading a few of DynoMoon's reviews- I love them- so I've decided that I will most likely re-post those reviews here as well, with the permission of  MLBA of course.Now on to the next order of business. I am apart of the YARWA-a young adult chapter of the RWA and we are thrilled to announce  our first chapter contest-The Rosemary contest. Here is the official post with all the information, I highly encourage all un published authors of YA and NA to enter.The YARWA Chapter is proud to announce the Rosemary Contest, the only RWA contest specifically for YA writers in all genres.Final round judges will be two editors and an agent in each of the following categories:New AdultYA ContemporaryYA HistoricalYA Fantasy, Futuristic & ParanormalYA Fusion (Any YA novel that doesn't fit into one of the above categories.)Romantic Elements in the novel are NOT required to enter this contest.Eligibility: Authors must not be published or contracted to be published in book-length fiction (40,000 words or more) in the genre of Young Adult Fiction, which for purposes of this contest includes New Adult fiction.In addition, any author who has been published but not contracted in their chosen category for a minimum of five (5) years may also enter this contest.Fee: $15 YARWA members/$25 non-membersThis contest will run from March 1 - March 31. Finalists will be announced by June 1and winners will be announced at the 2014 Day of YA event in San Antonio, TX.For a complete list of rules, visit http://yarwa.com/contest-2014/Questions? Please contact Contest Coordinator Rebecca Lynn at YARWAContestCoord [at] gmail [dot] com.I  love this contest for many reasons, and not only because I am on the contest committee and I had a hand in helping to organize/run this one of a kind contest.  But because we have branched out to include New Adult in our contest and the YA manuscripts DO NOT need to have romance as the core of the story. Something that many other major contests require and keep many great authors from entering their stories. We are a totally unique contest and have managed to get many great authors, agents and editors as the judges for The Rosemary Contest.Till next time lovelies!<3 always L.H.

Guest blogger book review: Miss Little Book Addict

If you've seen any of my other posts you will know that I have said I would never do reviews of books, that still stands, BUT I do know some great book bloggers whose reviews I love and rely on to find new books to read. That being said, I want to introduce a very good friend of mine--who is also a member of MY ROUND TABLE. She is MissLittleBookAddict and she has a special review for us today. So without further delay I give you MLBA's review of Colleen Hoover's Hopeless

Hi guys! So happy to be guest blogging on my dear friend, L.H. Nicole's, blog today. I have a great book for you all to check out. First of all I have to say this that I freaking <3 Colleen Hoover she is a kick ass writer who does not disappoint. I have read Slammed, Point of Retreat and This girl books and she will never disappoint nor will she have you bored with reading any  of her books.
When first introduced to Sky Davis she is your average teenager who sneaks boys into her bedroom the same time her best friend Six(that's her nick name but Seven is her real name lol) who lives next door. There is a catch to why Sky is sneaking boys into her room. She want's to feel absolutely nothing. All that changes when she meets Dean Holder in a grocery store. He give her butterflies which she mistakes as the beginnings of a stomach virus lol. But it's evident in the beginning when they first meet that Holder recognizes her but ending up thinking it's a case of mistaken identity.
Sky and Holder run into each other again when Sky is out on her daily run. She ends up stopping in front of his house by coincidence. Holder is a really intense guy and has Sky nervous to be around him in the beginning. It didn't help things with the two when Sky's best friend Six tells her to stay away from Holder.
But all that changes when Sky is starting to understand Holder and his mood swings but she still feels that he holding something back from her. This is where I posted the other day saying I was hoping that they were not related. I am happy to report that they are not(whew) but its when Sky discover what Holder was holding back from her, Sky's past and all of her memories that were repressed start to break free, causing her world that she lived in to be snatched right out from under her.
This story line was well played out having you first guess why Holder was so guarded around her and why he was hot then cold towards her. It did have some light humored spots sprinkled in from Sky joking around with her best friend Six, to her text messages between her and Holder to her adopted mother Karen joking about having boys sneak into her room(if she only knew lol). I loved the fact that Sky has lived a sheltered life(Karen didn't believe in technology) it added a realness to it as to see a 17 year old struggle with texting lol. But I also loved the fact that when Sky begged to attend public school her senior year(she was homeschooled) that instead of running for the hills when she was teased she spun it around and didn't let it phase her.
There are way more points to this book I wanted to discuss but we will be here all day, But I will say a few more.The story line flowed so smoothly that I didn't realized I was halfway finished with the book until I looked at the page I was on. You could easily get swept away in this story with the plot and characters. Even though I am writing everything that i'm feeling about Hopeless it still feels like I didn't get enough in. This book is indeed the book to read. I highly recommend you all to read(if you already read it please re read it lol).MissLittleBookAddict House of Book's http://www.misslittlebookaddict.blogspot.com http://www.facebook.com/misslittlebookadict
There you have it! I hope you've enjoyed this guest post/review!Till next time!<3 alwaysL.H.

The Militant Baker: THINGS NO ONE WILL TELL FAT GIRLS...SO I WILL

The Militant Baker: THINGS NO ONE WILL TELL FAT GIRLS...SO I WILL:  (All images by the incredible Liora K ) Things that I wish I knew earlier  Things that I've learned in real life.  Thing...

The best book store ever!

Joseph Beth's Booksellers--- Hands down the BEST bookstore I have ever had the pleasure of camping out in! A treasure trove of precious book gems. This particular business has been in Cincinnati for decades and, back in my high school years, provided me with a location to sit and read what ever YA book I found on their shelves that interested me.What I find most interesting is that all those year ago, the YA section consisted of only 2 of the book shelves you see in the photo above. My my my how the years have changed the landscape of YA and NA books. According to a very nice bookseller that works there, the YA section is the 3rd largest in their entire store. AMAZING! And here's an even more wonderful, cherished and fantastical fact: Joseph Beth's shelves more than just YA books from the "big 5 book houses"; they also shelve books from small and independent press houses!!!That is so beyond wonderful because my fantastic publisher--Omnific publishing--is a small press house and their books are sold through one of the distributors that Joseph Beth's uses! AAAHHHH!!! I am so excited at the mere possibility of having my book Legendary stocked in their amazeballs YA section.Now nothing is official yet, especially since my book does not release until Feb 25th. I just have to hope my amazing publisher and publicist can help me pull this off! Wish us luck ;-)I am hoping to have a special book review posted by a dear friend of mine. Her book blogger handle is Miss Little Book Addict's House of Books. So if you are interested check back around Wednesday and check it out.'Till then,<3 alwaysL.H.

Movie fixations

I apologize for the long absence, I have been working furiously on edits for Legendary and writing book 2 of the series. I am finally at a happy place for both so I wanted to talk about MOVIES!

So I have few things that de-stress me after a crazy day of work and writing: those are Movies and TV shows. I have already done a bit on my favorite shows of the new TV season but I wanted to talk about movies.
I'll start with he one I've seen most recently: Frozen
Pictures owned by Disney
I had some expectations going into the movie and some questions, the biggest question being what's the whole plot. From what I gathered from the previews I thought the sisters were separated from childhood and there was no clear storyline outside her searching for her sister.
So I was pleasantly surprised when the movie started (and I was so excited because I went early in the day so I was the only person in the theater!) and I got most of my questions answered. 
My thought over all: Disney has out done themselves again! 
I loved the movie and the music and the animation and the plot. It is everything we've come to expect from Disney Pixar movies and so much more. 
I will admit to not being the best at picking up what is going to happen in movies, TV and books but I have gotten much better since I started writing. But the Frozen writers hit me with a curve ball I didn't see coming. And I LIKED IT!
I would totally recommend you going and checking out FROZEN if you can!

Now on to other great movies for this year. I won't go into why I love each movie But I will give you the list of my top 10 (excluding Frozen since we've covered that)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Man of SteelThor: the Dark WorldNow You See MeJack the Giant SlayerThe Mortal Instruments: City of BonesPercy Jackson and the Sea of MonstersParanoiaOlympus has FallenThe Fifth EstateInteresting mix right? True several of these movies didn't really hit the blockbuster status of others but I don't pick my favorite movies on their sales or the opinion of critiques. I pick movies that grab my attention and ALL of these movie have many things I love about them. Those things vary from starring many of my favorite actors, VERY HOTTT actors, great story plots, amazing action sequences and outstanding world building and special effects.SO that being said I need to get back to the grind and get the next chapter of Legendary #2 started; and hopefully finished tomorrow!till next time lovelies!<3 alwaysL.H.

The Disney lover in me

Those who know me know that I am, have always been and will always be a HUGE Disney girl. When I was younger I wanted to work for Disney as an animator because the movies and cartoon shows they made always took my breath away! They where so beautiful, so amazing and the artistry that goes into hand drawing each and every second of the films blows my mind.  That being said, clearly that plan didn't work out. I can draw, and I think I'm pretty decent at it, but I knew I would never be good enough to work for Disney studios.  But I still love art- looking at it, creating it- and Disney art is some of my favorite. But I found a new love for photography and graphic design. One of the biggest things to know about me is that for my junior and senior years of high school I attended a vocational school because I HATED my high school and didn't feel like I knew who I was and nothing at my HS would help me figure out who I am and what I want to do. So I signed up for my VOTECH schools and selected my top 2 programs: graphic design and imagery or Culinary arts (though I will admit I choose that because I wanted to be like Sailor Jupiter). I got my acceptance letter but was informed that my first choice, Graphic design was already full so I was enrolled in the culinary arts program.This was the best consequence of being late to ever happen in my life. When I started school and met all my Chef instructors and the other students, I found myself. My Pastry Chef- Chef Milli was the first to realize that I had a thing for art and she kinda took me under her wing and kept me focused in the pastry kitchen for the school. The greatest thing for me was that I realized I could still do art and put it into cakes and show pieced and plated desserts. From there I did competitions and ended up earning enough scholarships to go to culinary school and get my associates degree in Baking and Pastry Art. Now yes I have gotten away from Disney but there is a tie in here.Part of my degree was doing an internship with any company that was affiliated with my college. Disney just so happened to be one of them. When I realized that it was like a dream come true. (pun fully intended) So it came down to two choices for me: Enter into the college program with Disney or try for an internship spot abroad in Ireland at a "Castle resort" there. Clearly I chose Disney. Yes I had plenty of people ask me if I was crazy for passing up a chance to live abroad, but Disney was my dream, the goal I had wanted for myself since I was little. I wasn't passing up this chance, not even for a life abroad.  And working for the mouse was the 2nd best choice I had made in my life. I had already figured out who I was during my VOTECH years and at college, but working at Disney made me more. It helped me open up to people, embrace my inner child and not try to hide it because I was afraid of people thinking me a freak for it. If you work at Disney it's because you are a Disney freak yourself. I met the most amazing people, definitely had my fair share of romances, and got to live a dream for four of the happiest years of my life. The friends I made there where some of the best, many of whom I still talk to, even though I left Disney in 2008 because I needed to be back home with my family in Ohio. But just because I left does not mean I am over Disney. Not even by a long shot. Since my departure I have been back several times and I am hoping to go back again this year with some of my old Disney friends for a reunion of sorts.   The pictures I have up here are all ones I have taken myself, evidence of my love for photography, from my latest trip last Halloween. Clearly romance, and the Princesses and Princes, are my favorite part of Disney. But there is one other thing that comes in a very close second. DOes anyone remember the Disney cartoons of the 90's and early 00's? I do! I proudly admit to having a lot of them on DVD (yes I watch them by myself) and I hope to share them with my niece and nephews- and hopefully my own kids some day- when they are old enough. These shows- Gargoyles, Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, Aladdin, Little Mermaid and many others- are still a huge inspiration to me, especially with my writing!  Well there you have it. A little bit about me and my Disney love (ahem obsession) and some of my personal favorite photos.

Laters my lovelies,
<3 always L.H.

Meet King Arthur

Her eyes, those sparkling emeralds, had been my only companion since the fae queen cast her spell on me. Her voice, her laugh mesmerized me. I wanted to draw her in close, to feel her lips on mine- her sweet taste is still on my mouth. Yet a memory- a ghost- is holding me back. ~Arthur

photo taken from Pinterest 
Yeah! It’s finally time to meet our King Arthur! If you have seen or read any of my other of my character sketches you already know my pension for taking the Arthurian legends and turning them upside down and inside out. I have chosen to tell King Arthur’s story my way- and make no mistake, this is as much his story as it is our heroine Aliana’s.
As you can tell from the quote above, Arthur is clearly enchanted but also torn about our heroine and this mystery girl- a ghost. Yes I will tell you right now there is a love triangle in my series.!!!! Oh no she said the dreaded words “love triangle”…… that’s right folks I did and I will say it again and again. I don’t care what people may say or think about it (‘the love triangles are over done’, ‘teens and readers don’t want to read another triangle’, ‘another YA love triangle- how done’…. You get the point)
And you heard me right….I don’t care! I love reading the triangles and no matter how many people smack down movies and books that feature the ‘so over’ love triangles, I am going to write the story that I want to read and tell you guys the story that my characters are telling me! And King Arthur and Sir Galahad have both declared that they will win our Aliana. ;-P                 Though if Aliana heard them say that I'm sure she'd pull out a Princess Jasmine quote:                                                      "I am not a prize to be won!"Besides how anyone can possibly think that a King Arthur story shouldn't have a love triangle is beyond me. The triangle is a major part of the 12th century story- which, let’s face it, is the best known version of King Arthur. Now I am not resting on my laurels here and using the same old triangle… no no no…. I have changed it up to feature Arthur/Aliana/Galahad. Lancelot and Guinevere got their Happily for now (HFN), though it didn't last nearly as long as I’m sure they wanted it to.
However there is one thing I would like you to take to heart though all this rambling; that is the fact that while ‘Legendary’  is a love story, it is also so much more! It is a story about finding yourself- learning who you really are, dealing with the crap 'destiny and prophecy' throw at you, and learning to find your inner confidence to save the world. 
As always you can hit up my other pages and learn and see more about the characters and even me! You can find me at my webpage, Facebook, Tumblr and now Instagram. I hope that you can find the time to read my first book when it releases in Feb 2014.
Till next time lovelies
<3 always L.H.

I am officially addicted

So this fall had a bunch of great tv shows returning and premiering! I was thrilled for several of the premiers and mildly excited for others. Reign, on the CW, was one I was mildly excited for.

But boy was I blown away! Of all the new shows this season, I had suspected that this would be in the middle of the pile as far as shows I became addicted to; but after just one episode I was so hooked I went on to iTunes and bought the season pass! Since then I'm pretty sure that I have watched each episode sever a times while waiting impatiently for thursday nights so I can see the next episode.

I have heard the show begin blasted because it doesn't really follow history exactly, but common..... did anyone really expect it to? I didn't. I know that the CW has a platform that works for them and so I figured they would stick to it: beautiful girls, way HOTTT guys, amazing clothes and great music and of course a love triangle. It has a very big record of working for the CW's biggest shows so why mess with a good thing?

They have created characters that didn't exist in history (Bash- Francis's bastard half brother) and Nostradamus is young and very good looking; just to name a few. But the things that have me jonzing for the next episode it the quality of the writing and the stories that they are telling. I love the innocence of Mary, the feistiness of her ladies and the tasteful sexiness -said to be a toned down Tudors; which I am perfectly okay with!- and the amazing chemistry between Francis and Mary!


If you decide to give this show a chance I will say now don't expect it to be what history tells us. This is the CW's interpretation for teens and young adults chalk full of sexy goodness.

I was reading an interview featuring the cast of Reign and they said they never intended the show to be an accurate historical retelling. They went on to say that the show is going to be more than just a love triangle and renaissance drama, it is also going to be a ghost story and have elements of horror and occult. I personally like this and am very excited to see where this show will go. 

The CW admittingly took a big risk, and financial investment, to make this show and I personally hope it pays off in a big way! I appreciate when we can see that a network has committed to an investment and it SHOWS in each episode with everything from the music, costumes, filmography and effects used! 


If you are looking for a fun, exciting and sexy new YA/NA show I would highly recommend you checking out Reign on the CW thursday nights after The Vampire Diaries.
till next time<3 L.H.

My first Steampunk book

I will be the first to admit that I may be a little....picky.... about what books I read, but I think everyone is to a certain point.
I personally love paranormal, romance, fairy tale retelling, fantasy and urban fantasy. But I am not adverse to reading other genre's, just cautious. I have found many contemporaries and mysteries and thrillers that I have liked..... They just have to catch my eye first.To do that I like good blurbs and great covers that draw me to them,You'll notice Steampunk was not one of the genre's I listed above, that's because I normally have a difficult time getting my head around the descriptions of the cool gadgets and steampunkie ideas as well as the Victorian language.HOWEVER, at long last, I have found one that has grabbed and held on to me!It is called The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason 
I want to say right now this is not, nor do I intend this to be, a "review" of this great book. It is my thoughts on it and a recommendation  but not a review like so many great bloggers and reviewers out there do! I just felt like I wanted to start sharing the books that I'm reading and why I like them with any one who visits my sites.
The first thing that grabbed me was the great cover but what sealed the deal for me was the blurb**cover pic and blurb pulled from goodreads page**


Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you’re the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood. And when two society girls go missing, there’s no one more qualified to investigate.

Now fierce Evaline and logical Mina must resolve their rivalry, navigate the advances of not just one but three mysterious gentlemen, and solve murder with only one clue: a strange Egyptian scarab. The stakes are high. If Stoker and Holmes don’t unravel why the belles of London society are in such danger, they’ll become the next victims.
Amazing right? Pretty much any thing with Sherlock Holmes or Bram Stroker will be a sure fire way to catch my attention. This goes to the next level by not starring the great characters or their children, but the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock. Points for originality! 
I also appreciate that while there was a bit of romance in this story, it wasn't all about the romance. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for a great romance in my books, but it was nice to have a YA that wasn't all about it; there was just enough romantic tension to keep me going.

I would highly recommend this book for those who are just getting into steampunk, love a good mystery with a healthy dose of time travel and magic, and love Sherlock Holmes and Bram Stroker.

Later lovelies!
<3 L.H.

Sir Galahad Returnith

Fury twisted through my gut. I loathed this magic keeping me from my king’s side and Lady Aliana. Watching her in that canyon- helpless to aid her- was torture. Again I am cut off, unable to protect her and see that my king- my friend is indeed safe. I failed to protect Arthur and now Lady Aliana. I swear I will not allow this again! ~Galahad

Forgotten Knight by =sinakasra on Deviantart.comFor those who keep tabs on my facebook page, you will have seen my post earlier today about being torn about what to say about Galahad, since we get another look at him today with this character sketch. We have already established Galahad's physical look with the two actors I showed you all last time but I really like this picture from Deviantart called Forgotten Knight because I think it also shows a bit of his character's essence in Legendary. What we have also established is that he's a very loyal guy- with a stubborn streak that rivals superman- but there is more to him than that. Being able to deal with your good aspects is easy, but people who are able to deal with the bad bits of their personality are the truly strong ones.To see just how much more there is to Galahad, and see how he deals with his trials and tribulations you will have to read Legendary after it is released early next year!And for those dedicated fans go over to the Legendary website and check out the newest post; you might just find a nice little easter egg surprise!
later lovelies!<3 always L.H.