L.H. Nicole's Blog, page 7

Legendary Scene Clip

I've said it many times now, and here it is again! Another scene clip from my debut book LEGENDARY. All of this is leading up to the release and sneak peaks of book 2 of my Legendary Saga: Claiming Excalibur.  The sound of the blades cutting the air sent chills down Aliana’s spine. Dagg leaped from her shoulder, his gray wings carrying him soundlessly through the air as her warriors took up their attack positions. She was scared. Not only of what was out there, but because the forest surrounding them didn’t leave much room to move if this turned into a battle. “Whatever you do, do not leave our side,” Arthur cautioned. Six towering creatures melted out from the shadows of the forest. They surrounded the trio on two sides, their long, sharp swords held in front of them. Their black armor was dented and scratched as if they had seen too many battles, too much death. Hatred and evil rolled off them in waves, making the air thick. But what terrified Aliana the most was the total darkness behind the helmets where there should have been eyes. The black knights were even more terrifying in person than they had been in her dream. The one standing in front of Arthur took a step forward. A horrific red glow lit its helmet from within. Aliana’s blood halted as the black knight’s choppy, metallic voice rang out. “So the Destined One has finally come forth.” Its hellish, red gaze fixed on her. Her hands trembled worse than they had when she’d been trapped in that forgotten room, but she took a deep breath, trying to think past the fear.  “Mordrid,” Galahad snarled, his eyes furious as he studied the enemies surrounding them. By now you've seen the pattern, but don't get to comfortable yet. You never know when I may throw in a scene from Claiming Excalibur! Until then you can buy Legendary here: Amazon   or   Barnes and NobleReview and add to your TBR list on Goodreads or even get a signed DIGITAL copy from me on authorgraph!<3 always LH

Scene peak of Legendary

So I am doing this promo post project across all my platforms. The biggest difference is, the scene clips of Legendary that I post on this site are different than the ones on my Legendary book site. 

Aliana followed the woman down the corridor, taking in every detail she could. The cave walls had been covered with elegant, beautiful drawings. Standing side-to-side, eight valiant knights formed a line facing a small army of thirty or more black-armored knights. “What are these drawings?” Aliana asked, fascinated by the ancient art.“You have searched a long time to know the truth of Camelot and its king, but the truth may not be what you wish it to be,” the woman answered cryptically.“No disrespect,” Aliana said, glancing back at the woman, “but I have just found out that Dragons, Elves, Nymphs, and Goblins are real. I had to save a legendary knight, escape those crazy Sidhe, and I’ve been told I have to awaken one of the most famous men in history. I’ve kinda accepted that everything I thought I knew about Camelot and King Arthur is nothing close to the truth.”  “You have spirit, girl. That is good. You will need every ounce of it and all the courage you can muster to do what is needed of you.” The woman looked past Aliana to the drawing on the walls. “This shows the Fae’s account of Arthur and his men during their last battle with the evil Mordrid.” The woman held out her aged hand. Colored sparks of magic burned under her skin before they jumped to life, circling tightly in her palm. The old woman blew a gentle breath. Aliana watched, transfixed as the magic sailed from her fingers to the drawings, giving them life before her eyes.
Well there is the newest clip! Hope you enjoyed it and the meme that was created!You can buy Legendary here: Amazon   or   Barnes and NobleReview and add to your TBR list on Goodreads or even get a signed DIGITAL copy from me on authorgraph!<3 always LH

Sailor Moon then and now

Hey lovelies! One of my absolute, hardcore favorite things of all time is the 90's TV show and Manga Sailor Moon. This show was and is such an inspiration to me because it got my imagination soaring and jumping and really expanding. It had everything that I love in books/TV shows/entertainment   
Amazing look and artwork and story lines that just sink their claws into youA lovable and relateable main character and supporting castA hot prince who is a bad-ass warriorStrong themes of romance, but more than that friendship and loyalty and all forms of love.Let's not forget the action and EPIC battle scenes.Then, of course, there's the music!
Not only did Sailor Moon inspire my creativity, it gave me ideal to strive for. I was not the greatest of kids growing up, and dealing with my parents divorce, for several hard years, didn't help. Serena (AKA Usagi AKA Sailor Moon AKA Princess Serenity) started out as a very lazy, not very smart character who was a bit on the slacker side, very naive and a total cry baby! She beat her first monster by crying so much and wailing like a banshee for goodness sake.  
But as the show progressed she grew as a person and as a hero; and that showed me that I could do it too. Not to mention she had a HOTT Hot male lead beside her.......Darien (AKA Tuxedo Mask AKA Mamoru AKA Prince Endymion) In some ways he inspired my Sir Galahad. But don't try and compare the two, they are still very different characters.This may sound stupid, but I always thought that if I was as good as her I would find my own Darien! But what pre-teen and teenage girl doesn't hope for that?If you follow me on twitter or Facebook (though more so on Facebook) you'll notice I put up a lot of Sailor Moon links and shares. This is because the amazing creator of Sailor Moon and Viz media got together and decided, in honor of the 20 year anniversary of the "Pretty Sailor Guardian", they were going to relaunch the show in a totally new format! Sailor Moon Crystal!
Don't get me wrong. The original Sailor Moon TV show that I watched growing up is still my total favorite! BUT the original series was 200 episodes plus 3 movies........way more story and variation than what was in the original manga. I personally loved the expanded story lines. Some of my favorite episodes and  events were things that didn't even happen in the Manga!Sailor Moon Crystal, however, is sticking to the original Manga story line. And I'm okay with that too. I am actually really glad they did it that way, because I don't think that I would have liked it as much if the redid all the original episodes. I like having these different variations. With the relaunch also brings new music, animation styles and fantastical opening and closing bits.I don't love the Sailor Moon Crystal opening as much as the 90's version, but it is still wonderful and has the same feel of the original. And I like the new opening song "Moon Pride" and the new closing song "Moonbow". The 90's theme song was called "Moonlight Destinu" or "Moonlight Legend", in English.
Clearly, the one just above is the Japanese version of the new "Moon Pride" opening.And just below is the newly released English version of the same song! Love it And this video below is the new closing song/vid "Moonbow". Of the new themes for Sailor Moon Crystal, I like "Moonbow" the best!
There is so much more I could say about Sailor Moon and what it means to me, on so many levels, but I'll leave you with this one last secret only a few people know about me. The first story I ever tried writing was a Sailor Moon fanfiction!
I look back at that original doc now and think OMG what the F was I on, but still. No writer ever forgets their first story. And for me, Sailor Moon was the start of my path to become a writer when I was eleven years old.See ya lovelies next time ;P
<3 always LH

Goodreads contest winners

Hey lovelies! So I've been running a two month long contest on goodreads for a chance to win one of 2 signed copies of Legendary! The contest ended this morning at 12 am and I have my two winners!

And here they are:
Dakota Hurlburt 
AND
Dave Erickson
Congratulations to my two winners! I will be sending out your books in the next few days, with a few extra goodies!And THANK YOU to everyone who entered in the giveaway! I truly can't believe I had over 1600 people request my book #Humbled <3 always LHP.S.- Next Goodreads giveaway will be in late November for copies of Legendary AND Claiming Excalibur, book 2 of my Legendary Saga!

Updated site, books and life

Hey lovelies!
I promised weeks ago that I would be making come changes as I continued down the road on my writing journey and here is another! If you've been here before you know what my site used to look like.....well here is the new and improved version!
What do you think?
I love it! I'm sure some will think it's a little too girlie, but hey, I'm a girlie-girl......most of the time, so it fits me. Major thanks to Megan and Chri of These Paper Blogs design studio for working with me to create something so unique and wonderful!
I know Dagg was thrilled when I told him he'd be getting his own icon :) Love Aliana's Dragon guardian!

Also, as promised I've been doing posts other than those that relate to Legendary and it's universe. My favorite on being the Sea of marshmallows because it was one of my most recent projects in my bakeshop at work. And I've got more coming from that angle!

I haven't been able to do as much posting as I had hoped this summer, mostly because we started edits on book 2 of the Legendary Saga--Claiming Excalibur, literally days after my June post. Then there's also the fact I'm writing book 3 at the same time with the deadline quickly approaching. I hope this isn't too spoilerish, but when I first started putting everything together to write Legendary, and even during most of the time I was writing Legendary, I swore that I wouldn't do anything set back in the past with Camelot because...well...it's just so done. But the deeper and deeper I sank into Legendary, Claiming Excalibur and the overall series arc I realized one big thing: I have to take Aliana back to Camelot. And guess what that's happening in book 3.
She won't spend the entire time back there, but for everyone to continue to see the growth and changes characters and situations, felt I had to do what I swore I wouldn't. Some times I feel so James Moriarty.                                       
But, the main thing is that it works for the story, so that makes it all good. Okay, writing a time travel deal-io is a little harder than I first anticipated........BUT I think I've got it all sorted. My poor closet doors, they've been turned into huge plot timelines........

In addition to what I've just told you, I'm also trying to get more progress done on my WIP. You remember it, the YA para/fantasy that features Italy's first crime family the Borgias! Okay, well my WIP uses the name Borgia, but the characters are all my own creation. Reminder, it's NOT a historical! Think of a cross between...well......humm.....I can't really think what to compare it to. Needless to say I've still got a lot to do on that one!

If you've checked out the tabs at the top of the site you'll also see a new Tab: Cover Lust! For me, what grabs my attention about a book is the cover. You want me to read it, you need to have a cover that gets me. (And then have a killer book blurb) There are so many amazing covers out there, especially with young adult books! Now I've created several images that feature some of my favorite covers--I've even included some covers from book that I read and didn't like.
I'm putting the finishing touches on that page right now, so keep an eye out for it!

Well, that's about all I've got to say. I really need to get back into my Legendary writing mode so off I go, back down the Dragon hole!
Let's just hope Santiago Cabrera --aka my favorite Aramis ever-- doesn't distract me again with that look . 
  Just be sure you mind his needle work!Okay, I'm distracted again.........I'm going away now! I hope you lovelies will enjoy the rest of your weekend!<3 always LH

Sea of Marshmallows

Once you get to know me in person it becomes pretty clear that I have a major sweet tooth. I always have. I blame my parents for it! When I was in elementary school, if I came home with a 100% on any tests they would give me a dollar to got to the candy store with. Okay, that doesn't seem like a lot in 2014, but in 1992, holy-moly I could make out like a bandit with a filled bag of confectionery crack! (And yes, I mean Smarties and Pixi Stix) But on occasions I would pass my normal addictions and go straight for the marshmallows! Now, the shop by us didn't make their own marshmallows, or if they did I don't remember it, but they always had chocolate dipped marshmallows or those freaking awesome marshmallow twist lollipops! YUMMY! I think my love of everything sweet is why I chose to specialize in Baking and Pastry Arts in school. Great fun food, bright colors, and SO MUCH of pastry is art. And I am all about the artistic---"Jack of many arts" as I call myself. With that said, as I was working my way up the chain of command, in the many kitchens and companies I worked for, I was exposed to a LOT of cool recipes, ideas, ways of thinking and just flat out cool things. Also, many of the places I lived had local shops that made their own taffy, pralines, chocolate, bon bon's and so on. It wasn't until about 5 years ago that I got the chance to really dive into my creativeness, since I was a newly promoted Pastry Chef! Yes, they actually trusted me with my own little pastry area and a team! Many what a blast! I had so many different things I wanted to do, but two of the highest priorities on my list was to make the perfect marshmallows and macarons. (And yes I want that spell macaronwith only 1 o because I am referring to the Parisian pillows of fluffiness! Look to your right!)
So, with those goals in mind I had my course. Imagine my surprise when I didn't get it perfect with the first recipe I used....... o_0  YEAH.....I ended up with a very loose blob of stickiness all over my marble table. My Exec Chef was trying not to laugh too loudly. Thanks for the support Levi! ;P But I didn't give up and I tried many different recipes and ended up creating my own from the mix--And I've been told repeatedly from guests that my marshmallows were the best they've had! Not to brag or anything (darn right I'll toot my own horn, I worked HARD to get this $h!T just right.) I'll spare you all the technical details, but I ended up breaking up 5 recipes into percentages of each ingredient and put together MY recipe, which I happily share with you.
Marshmallows by LH20 sheets gelatin or 1 oz gelatin powderBloom in VERY cold water (add a little ice if using sheets) --If using sheets of gelatin, you don't need to measure your water amount, just have enough to cover the gelatin. If you are using the powder gelatin follow the bloom  instructions on the package20 ½ ounces sugar8 ½ ounces water7 ¾ ounces honey12 ¾ ounces glucose--or switch out for corn syrupPlace all ingredients in pot and cook to 248 degreesPull off the stove let cool to 215 degrees in your small mixing bowlflavoring--you can use ALMOST any kind of flavoring or jam or even purred fruit as flavorings. I recommend using candy flavorings, which you can buy at any Michael's stores or cake&candy store or Sur La Table. They come in many different flavors and a little goes a long way!Food color--powder colors give you strong pigments, but gel colors work best, and you can find liquid colors in the grocery store. Again, a little goes a long wayMix gelatin into hot sugar mix until all dissolvedPut on the mixer and let whip till stiff-ish peaks form. (you can add in your coloring at this point)Once done spread into a pan lined all the way up the edges with wax paper or plastic wrap dusted with marshmallow snow (50/50 mix of powder sugar and corn starch)Level out (use pan spray on your spatula to keep the mix from sticking because it is one clingy-gooie mess of yumminess!) then sprinkle heavily with marshmallow snowNow your creation is made, but don't get too excited. You need to let this now powdery concoction set and firm up, otherwise you'll never get it out of the plastic wrap.
In my shop we do this in two different ways. 1-we put the mix on a silpat lightly sprayed with pan spray and covered with M.snow and then put a rectangle or circular frame, also sprayed and dusted, before spreading out the hot mix. 2- we pipe it into flexi molds- molds made of food grade silicon- sprayed and dusted, and then let it set for a few hours and flip them out.

Back to your mix though. Once firm to the touch--like store bought marshmallows--flip the mix out onto a dusted cutting board and peel away plastic wrap or wax paper. It will be slightly sticky, and you might see little dots of the pan spray, that's okay. Next, take a big, clean pair of scissors and cut the mass into what ever size or shapes you want. You can also use a knife, but scissors are quicker for me. Or you could use cookie cutters!
 And there you have it! Don't get discouraged if it's not exact the first time, trust me, it takes practice. But man what fun -and sugar high- you'll have along the way. If you're feeling fancy you can cover your marshmallows with many different things: chocolate, sprinkles, colored sugar crystals, chocolate shavings, your options are only limited to what you can come up with. The marshmallows on your right have orange sugar (they are peach flavored) and the green (Key lime) have the corner dipped in chocolate than covered with chopped pieces of nuts. Literally, you can do hundreds of different things with these.

And now I'm done with this crazy long post, so if you have issues or questions contact me through this site, or leave me a comment! I'm happy to chat with anyone!
<3 always LH

Where has 2014 gone?

Oh me, oh my lovelies! Where has 2014 gone? How is it July already?
This Friday is July 4th, and in addition to it this day being the birthday of my country the United States of America USA! USA! USA! it also marks the one year anniversary of my first publishing offer! I remember it so clearly, I was at a stop light in DuPont Circle, doing a bad thing of checking email while at a traffic light.....sorry....when I saw the email subject line.
I automatically pulled over, thank god for all the taxi parking areas in DC--wow never thought I'd say that one!--and I opened the email, expecting another rejection.
Hot damn was I ever wrong! Dr. Harper, owner of Omnific Publishing, had emailed me and offered me a contract for all 4 books of my Legendary series! OMG!!!!! I don't really remember much after that except calling my Momma and freaking my sh!t out. Then the celebratory dinner with three of my Lady Knights a few days later. Margaritas and Mexican food abound!
Since then..........WOW. Total whirl wind journey. Recap of this one year:
I have had my debut novel published-->LEGENDARY.  I've turned in book 2 of the series--> CLAIMING EXCALIBURAm currently writing book 3 of the series like a mad womanHad my first ever book signing, at the RT convention 2014 no less 

Started another YA project based on the Orion mythology--with a yummy dose of the Borgia family! (no this is not a historical!)I have made some amazing new friends: authors, bloggers, beta readers and fans! And of course my fantastical publicist Jenn--girl I love you <3I am currently in editing process of CLAIMING EXCALIBUR--Bev you are the best editor EVER!!I've cannon balled right into the deep end of social media and blogging. I even took on the daunting A to Z challenge and lived!AND I've even gotten to stretch my wings with my photography and graphic skills!Now don't get me wrong, this hasn't been all rainbows and Disney sing alongs--although I have some amazing, life long friends who I KNOW would join my in less than a heart beat! But the fact is there has been so much more good, in my writing world, baking world, and my personal life that, upon reflection, makes the few annoyances and bumps feel like nothing!
In the spirit of continuing my amazing literary journey I have started two new social media projects:
My ATO- Author Takeover-Every Tuesday a fellow YA/NA/MG authors is going to take over my author website and tell us all about their books and themselves. Several will have giveaways, some will have special extras and Easter egg content and ALL will feature great books of all different genre's and sub genre's. Today--July 1, 2014-- is week 2 and is showing off one of my critique partners: Brenda HiattThis blog is going to see a bit of a makeover and will feature more posts about my world outside of writing. Don't get me wrong, there will still be plenty of book and King Arthur fun, but I'm also going to start sharing things from my other life as a Pastry Chef. Benefit of running one of the largest hotel bakeshops in DC is I get A LOT of time to play and experiment. Really what could be better? So keep on rolling 2014, keep on rolling! I will be forever grateful and eager to see what challenges and fun you bring next!
AND LETS GO USA!!!! I believe that we can win! I BELIEVE that we can win! I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN WIN!
But win or lose- the US men's soccer team should be damn proud of all that they have accomplished and shown the world! And yes, my eye makeup is Red, White, Blue and all kinds of spangly! Glad I have an Exec Chef who lets me get away with it :)
Later lovelies!
<3 always LH

I Believe That USA will win! And they did

Next to college football--Go Buckeyes! Scarlet and Gray till the day I die!--soccer is the only other sport I really love watching! And there is no better place to see the best the world has to offer than at the World Cup. The @014 World Cup has started out as one of the most exciting, nail biting, heart breaking and heart soaring ones yet. 3 teams making huge upset wins against the heavy favorites and tonight made the 4th with USA's 2-1 victory over Ghana!

I've only just now caught my breath and I ca't wait to see what happens next in this wonderful sport.

One thing I know for sure, I'm gonna be rubbing it in to all the naysayers at work who said USA didn't have a chance!

I 

I believe

I believe that

I believe that we

I believe that we will

I believe that we will win!

I believe that we will win!

I believe that we will win!

I believe that we will win!

My hero authors part 3 Cate Tiernan

I won't really go in to the intro that I did for part 1 and part 2 of this post series, so let me say this as briefly as I am able to. Today is the intro and chat about the 5th of my hero authors. Day 1 was Tamora Pierce and Joan Lowery Nixon and day 2 was Meg Cabot and L.J. Smith.
Wow, go me! All in three sentences!
Okay, neither here nor there. Down to business.
Cate Tiernan-- Goddess of YA Paranormal Witches  So Cate Tiernan is only a pen name, but it is the name of which I know her best. Cate's real name is Gabrielle Charbonnet and she has written over 70 books under her real name, Cate Tiernan, other pen names and as a ghost writer. Cate also teamed up with James Patterson to write two books Witch & Wizard and Sundays at Tiffany's. But there is one series that she has written that has left it's wicca shaped stamp on my imagination. It is her Sweep Series aka The Wicca series.  Like with my other hero authors, Sweep was the first book/series about witches that I read and loved. And like L.J.'s Forbidden Game, the Sweep books were just so well written that they FELT so real. I seriously thought that Morgan, Hunter, Bree, Sky, Cal and Robbie were gonna just show up at my school one day and I was going to be able to join their coven. But more than that, there was a lot of authenticity to her books.This is one thing I didn't really touch on with my other hero authors, but I'll touch on it now. RESEARCH! All authors need to do it. Research is how you make your stories feel so real and get the readers sucked in. Because it not only feels true, but it makes your books that much more believable. Not that my parents were thrilled with the interest in Wicca I took up after starting to read this series. And I admit, I want Hunter! I think I can officially say he was my first book boyfriend. Oh look another first by one of my 5 hero authors...... ;P  But without Cate doing all the research she did, I don't think that her stories would've gotten their claws into me the way they did. It just goes to show that no matter how good you are at world building, character developing, or genius plot creation  without the foundation to root your stories in, it's not going to work on any level.I guess my main point that I hope came across over these last three posts is that as an author each of these 5 goddesses excel at things that I hope that I will as a writer and why those elements are so important. And I don't mean that just as an author, I mean that also as a reader. When was the last time you heard a reader say they liked a book that was so full of plot holes and flat characters? Never in my experience. I still have all of my original copies of Sweep series books, and believe you me, the first time I see a chance to meet Cate or Gabrielle rather, I will totally fan girl out then have her sign at least one of the series books!
It feels a little wrong saying it like this, but I have to include Nalini Singh--Goddess of Adult Paranormal and frankly HOTT-HOT Changelings and Psy men as an honorable mention.  Like these other 5 hero goddess authors, Nalini is as amazing in person as her books are fantastical. (Not that I've met all of my five, but I'm working on it.) Nalini is a genus at building so many different characters, plot arcs, worlds and romances. I can't really say that there is one book of hers that follows the same formula as her others. Sure there is a certain structure, but each story in all her series are unique and wonderful and memorable.Plus she's crazy smart and so normally humble for being such a world wide successful author. She has all the same qualities and talents as my 5 hero authors!Ad that's the end of it my lovelies!Check y'all laters, time to go back to actually writing my books<3 always LH

My hero authors part 2 Meg Cabot & L.J. Smith

If you've been keeping an eye on my page you'll have noticed my last post was about my 5 hero authors. Or rather two of the 5--Tamora Pierce and Joan Lowery Nixon. I was originally going to do all this in one post, but as you'll see or have seen, I just have too much to say about all 5 of these goddesses of literacy and how they inspire and ignite my imagination and my writing.Today we're taking a look at Meg Cabot and L.J. Smith.
Meg Cabot aka Jenny Carol--Goddess of YA Ghosts and Princesses  I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Meg back in October at the Baltimore Book Fest when she came in to sit on a panel or two and talk about her amazing books! I went just for the chance to meet her! And I was NOT disappointed. Meg was so open, and funny and friendly and willing to talk to you, even when she had to leave or had others waiting to talk to her. Meg is the author of over 50 books, but I'm only focusing of on two of her series, right now at least. Not that I haven't read a lot of her other books, because I have. And here's a funny fact, I first read Meg, not realizing it was her. How is that you ask? Simple: She had a series, The Mediator, published under the name Jenny Carol. And that series is by far my favorite of everything she's written. Now one thing you're going to notice about all five of my hero authors is that I'm gonna say their books are the first ones that I read of those genres that stuck with me and made me love reading. And Meg is no different. Now I admit, I can't remember which I read first, but both of these book series have done the the same thing for me. The Mediator series was not the first paranormal I read, but IT WAS THE FIRST GHOST STORY that I read that I just fell in love with. And I'm not only talking about the hottest ghost to ever grace the pages of a YA series, Jesse. There are just so many reasons why the Mediator is still one of my favorite YA series, for me to mention, but I'll try... after I tell you about the second of Meg's series that has stuck with me. The Princess Diaries was the first YA contemporary series I ever read (and if I can say, one of only 7 that I have read and liked over the last 15 years) and loved so much. They were brilliant and funny and it was so easy for me to relate to Mia--even though I'm only a princess in my head--I could still relate to what she was feeling and the personal things she went through. I also liked that everything in the Princess Diaries series just flowed so well together over EACH book of the series, and that saying something of a 10 book series. But oh wait....Meg's just announced that she's going to be returning to Mia's world with 2, that's right, 2 new books in that universe.Needless to say I am crazy anticipating reading these two new books to see just how well Meg weaves these new tales in to the original series.And speaking of new books by Meg Cabot, Meg told me back in October that the Mediator series is being re-launched! ***SQUEEEEEE*** But wait, they're being re-launched because she written a NEW BOOK IN THE SERIES!!! **Insert freak out white girl happy dance around my house**The reason the Mediator is so amaze-balls to me because again, the world building, the plot and characters were so expertly done, so tight and well woven together you can't not remember them and fall in love with Suze and Jesse. Right from book One I was cheering for Suze to find a way to have Jesse come back to life so they could be together. Just like Tammy and Joan, Meg is a master of building tension, worlds, characters and intricate stories.

Speaking of Masters: Here's the next of my 5 hero authors.L.J. Smith-- Goddess of YA Paranormal and Vampires  Most people, now a days, especially younger readers, only know L.J. Smith because of the Vampire Diaries TV show. Honestly the only reason I watched the first few seasons (a year or two after they started airing) was because I heard Meg was involved in the script writing. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of the series, especially after I heard what happened to her when she said she wouldn't write the characters the way her "bosses" wanted. But you can read more about that here.  L.J. is the author of over 30 novels, and that's not including her smack in the face to Alloy stories that she self pub bed and sold on amazon's new platform. But again you'll read about that in the link above. Of those over 30 books L.J. created many series that area wonderful, and catching and perfect in my opinion. Here is my top 3. But I am telling you there are in no set order because if you asks me today, tomorrow and the day after, which is my top of the three, each day will be a different answer.   1) The Forbidden Game Series     2) The Night World series     3) The Secret Circle series.  You'll notice I didn't include TVD, that's because of all she's written, they are my least favorite--not that they're bad, I just didn't like the TVD vampires and story as much as I do her Night World Vamps and story arcs. Like my other hero goddess authors, and many other great authors I love, L.J. is a genius at building worlds and characters that are not only believable but also so well written that you can easily connect with all the characters and imagine yourself in those situations that the characters go through. But more than that I can still remember almost perfectly the events of The Forbidden game books, and that's for one very good reason: IT WAS JUST SO REAL! A lot of books are good at pulling you in, but the Forbidden Game, especially the first book, felt so real that I was terrified of one of Julian's brethren--The Shadow Men--lived in my a closet in my Grandpa's basement and that they would try and suck me in if I got too close. Also, the entire first book of the series is about Jenny and the other characters having to face their worst nightmares, their fears. The fears they had to over come were not the stereo typical fears a lot of writers use. There were facing off swarms of bee's covering your body, fading out of existence, fear of technology and losing the one person you love the most. (Okay maybe that last one is a bit typical, but the way L.J. wrote it was so different and terrifying.) As a writer and reader I appreciate L.J.'s work on a lot of levels, but as a writer I really admire the way she can make things real and the way she makes me care for all her characters and root for them, especially with her Night World series when we continue to get to see couples and characters even after their books are done.And one last thing I'd like to say and give L.J. props for: Not being afraid to not give the characters a Happily Ever After. When I first read that particular book in the Night World series I was upset at first, but then a year or so later I read it again and I got it. And no one has ever been able to do that to me since. I think I would die if I ever got to meet L.J. Smith, but man would I die happy! After I got her to sign several of her books (that I still have 15-13 years later) that are my fav's.Okay that's enough fan girling for today, let me tell you about the hero author who's going to be featured in part 3 of this post series: Cate Tiernan.Late lovelies<3 always LH