Lily Bishop's Blog, page 8
May 5, 2014
The Appeal of Indie Publishing
If you’re wondering why anyone would go to the trouble to self-publish (and by trouble I mean finding cover designers, hiring an editor, doing all the marketing, and paying for all of the above out of pocket) here’s one of the most cogent and best explanations I’ve seen. Brava!
Originally posted on Deborah Cooke & Her Books:
This morning, I was interviewed by Matt Galloway on the CBC’s show
Metro Morning
. This was a result of the announcement on Friday that Newscorp is acquiring Harlequin. There’s been a suggestion in the media that Harlequin’s sales are down because of authors choosing to self-publish or go indie. I’d been interviewed on that show in 2009 when I was the writer-in-residence at the Toronto Public Library, so they called me again.
Matt asked me why I would leave traditional publishing to go indie. The answer is much longer than the format of a short radio interview could possibly allow, so I thought I’d elaborate here today.
There were several contributing factors to my decision, so let’s have a peek. It wasn’t an easy choice to make after 20 years in traditional publishing, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
1. The way that…
View original 1,424 more words
Filed under: Uncategorized








May 4, 2014
10 Dialog Beats Contemporary Writers Can’t Use
Do you realize that as writers we have lost whole action steps/plots to technology? Dialog beats are those little actions that you use in dialog to both tell who is speaking and provide characterization. I had a mental image of my 2013 character twisting a phone cord around her. Sigh. Not happening. Now I’ve got to come up with something else. So here are some other things we’ve lost.
Related to the Phone
She twisted the phone cord around her body. What a great way to show nervousness! I actually used this with a hotel room phone in No Strings Attached.
She slammed down the phone. (Not with a $200 cost and no forthcoming upgrade subsidy)
She knocked the phone off the hook. Our kids don’t know what a hook is.
Her finger dialed the operator, hooking her finger in the 0 and pulling it all the way around. See number 3.
She looked up a number in the phone book. Do 20-somethings even know what a phone book is?
Bash someone on the head with the receiver. I’m sure it’s been done before in fiction noire. Those were heavy receivers.
She stretched the cord as far as it would reach. Gained – Replace with held the phone up in the woods to try to get service.
He twisted the phone cord around his victim’s neck, tightening slowly. How are we going to strangle people now?
The line “He’s calling from inside the house” goes away, since GPS can’t be that accurate. “He may or may not be calling from within 500 feet of your house?” isn’t quite as bone-chilling.
A busy signal. Now we just get people who hit that send to voice mail button.
What we’ve gained…
Cell phones even in remote locations, which can be challenging for crime stories. There’s always the battery died…
Personal databases on cell phones, including calendars, social media, and contacts. A wealth of information for would-be criminals.
GPS – it’s harder to get lost, but if your character relies on your phone maps in the country with no Internet you could get lost even worse.
The fantasy of being unconnected or off the grid. When I was in college, you would go hours without anyone knowing where you were. Friends had a general idea, or you may tell someone you would be at the library, but that was it. Now, not so much.
DNA evidence. That has its own problems.
What we still can’t do….
Predict the weather with confidence. Sure, we get generalities, but we don’t know exactly where hurricanes will hit. They can always turn at the last moment.
Rivers still flood.
Blizzards still hit. (seeing a trend here?)
We can do very little without electricity these days.
Force someone to fall in love.
For more technology troubles with writing, check out this post from 2012 on technology.
I hope you enjoyed this little walk through time. Carry on.
(Picture by ProhibitOnions at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)
Filed under: Editing, Indy-Publishing, Writing Tagged: eighties, telephones, Writing








May 3, 2014
10 Reasons We Don’t Need Homework
Homework is a horrible thing. Yes I said it. And here’s why.
I’m taking a break from talking about publishing, indie books, and writing today to talk about one of my pet peeves–HOMEWORK!!
It doesn’t help academically.
Most of it is busy work. Kids who need the extra practice need help understanding why they aren’t getting it. Parents can’t always provide that help.
Parents shouldn’t be correcting homework for their child. How else will the teacher know that the student is having trouble with subject-verb agreement if the parent corrects it?
Don’t get me started about projects.
Projects stink. They should be done at school from a pool of materials, not at home where the parent provides the materials. Elementary children can’t use hot glue guns. So who does part of it? Mom and dad.
Projects should be based on what the kids can do, not what the parents who already have advanced degrees can do. The fifth grade geographical cities project at our school comes to mind. The children of architects had elaborate cities with intricate banners and signage. I’m sure those kids did that. (That was in a sarcasm font)
Projects for a mandatory competition don’t get us excited. Whether it’s the invention convention, or a science fair, or whatever, no, we’re not excited. So stop sending us materials that say “We know you’re excited”. No, we’re not. Our kids wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t mandatory. Because see number 3. Projects stink.
It doesn’t lead to a well-rounded life.
Life shouldn’t be all work and no play. In our school district, elementary kids are in school from around 8:00 until 2:30, middle school students until 3:30, and high school students until 4:00. Homework often takes hours each night, especially for middle and high school students. After you work all day, do you really want to take home things to work on? Certainly on an occasional basis I’ll do it, but every single day?
The obesity epidemic keeps growing. Schools have cut PE and recess. Now kids get home and they are expected to spend another hour or two doing work, whether it’s in front of a computer screen, table, or more traditional paper based homework, it’s not involving movement.
Kids lead complicated lives that at times require logistics and flow-chart scheduling, and this isn’t necessarily bad. We limit our children to one or two activities at a time, and it’s still difficult to schedule, and we just have two kids. Dance class, piano lessons, soccer teams, baseball teams, basketball teams, karate lessons, girl scouts, boy scouts, church volunteerism and religious education – all of these activities help our children become well-rounded adults and grow as a whole child. School work should just be part of a child’s life, not all of it.
Kids need to learn life skills, such as how to cook, how to clean, how to wash their own clothes. My husband asked me the other night why I didn’t have my middle school child do his own laundry, since he had started doing that last summer. My answer was that he doesn’t have time with all of his homework. At times, it’s like an adult having a second job.
And the number one reason why kids shouldn’t have homework is I don’t want to fool with it. After working all day, the last thing I want to deal with is homework. I’d like to spend time talking to my kids about their day, letting them learn how to cook, playing games as a family, or going on walks. Not talking about their homework assignment.
My suggestions:
Teachers, think about how you communicate with parents: include key dates (big assignments due, dates field trip money is due, key event dates, etc.) in a corner of your weekly newsletter. This would help parents, as we tend to lose track of stuff. We’re all human, right?
I’m not beating up on teachers. I know they have administrative requirements that they deal with. But I also know that teachers vary widely in the amount of homework they assign or expect, and sometimes it’s just bad luck who you get stuck with your child gets.
I know I can’t single-handedly get rid of homework, but here is what I would like teachers to do:
Decide at the beginning of the week what homework there will be, and make it due Friday. We have one fifth grade teacher who did that this year, and that worked well. That way the child will have all week and can fit in in with their schedule. The child can also balance it out between teachers.
Teachers should make sure assignments are posted on the website when you say they will, and deadlines and expectations are clear. (I say this after my son had to text friends last night trying to find a science assignment that the teacher failed to post on her website as she said she would. One friend took a pic, but my son expected to find it on the web so he did not. Other moms were texting me with the same issue, so I know it wasn’t just my son missing something.)
For older kids: For major milestone grades (big research paper, book reports, etc.), provide intermediate turn-in steps to keep students on track.
Stop assigning homework during testing weeks to keep the kids’ morale high, or at least keep the load light.
What do you think about homework? Is it one of the solutions to our education woes or part of the problem?
For my regular fans, I know normally I talk about books and such, but sometimes I like to switch it up. If you haven’t joined me on my journey, follow my blog or sign up for my monthly newsletter here. The inaugural issue is coming out this month! I promise recipes, book recommendations, and a few other surprises.
Filed under: General Life Tagged: education, homework, kids








May 2, 2014
Free Flick Friday – Scents and Sensuality by Joan Reeves
Despite my best efforts, I didn’t get another blog done this week, but here I am for the second week in a row with Free Flick Friday. I’m hoping to continue to share book trailer love, so here is another. Welcome Joan Reeves and her book Scents and Sensuality.
SCENTS and SENSUALITY
Amanda Whitfield is desperate for a man. She’ll do anything — well, almost anything — to get a date for her snooty cousin’s wedding. When a matchmaking mama proposes her son for the wedding date, Amanda agrees. After all, what choice does she have? Men aren’t exactly falling at her feet and beseeching her for the pleasure of her company.
Harrison Kincaid has had it with his mom’s matchmaking. Desperate to put an end to her meddling, he decides to teach her a lesson as well as get out of the date she’s “guilted” him into accepting.
Two desperate people, each determined to achieve their goals. Desperation makes for interesting bedfellows. Lies, seduction, and hot passion. Is it Love or just Lust? Will the truth set them free or rip them apart?
Amazon Link: www.amzn.com/B00BTIDUHW/
Now, without further adieu, here’s the promised trailer:
I love it! It really shows the potential conflict between these two characters. Sexy!!
Since Joan has a wealth of experience with videos, she took some time out of her busy day to give us some tips. Take it away Joan:
5 Quick Video Tips
Thanks, Lily, for having me here today. Here are 5 Quick Video Tips that will make it easier to create a video whether that’s one of your vacation or a business video or a book trailer.
1. Select your theme, or premise, or message you want the video to put across. Write it down so you keep your focus on the message you’re trying to convey. For a book, this might be a logline or a couple of sentences that sum up what the book is about. For a vacation, this might be the scope of the vacation–start to finish or the 1 week spent at a resort.
2. Select your art work. If you’re working with photographs, lay them out before you scan them. If art is in your computer, sketch a storyboard with squares to represent the art work and tag each rectangle, i.e., Bryan building sand castle or first kiss scene. Use a square for each photo you want to include so you can estimate the size of the video.
3. Match text, i.e., a caption, for each photo or a text block inserted between photographs. (You’ll see what I mean if you watch my videos.)
4. Music sets the tone. Hollywood has sound editors, and so do videos–you. Select the music you want playing in the background. If it’s a book trailer for a dark vampire romance, then you want moody, dramatic music. If it’s a romantic comedy, you want something lighthearted that invites the listener to smile. If it’s urban young adult, then you want something that makes one think of urban young adult, not a twangy country music soundtrack.
5. Time is crucially important. In a video for commercial purposes, like a book trailer or a product showcase, short is not better, but best. Try to make your video between 30-60 seconds long. If the video is personal, then time isn’t really a problem. It can be as long as you want IF it’s entertaining and holds the audience’s attention.
Let me know if these tips help you. I can be found online at my blog: http://SlingWords.blogspot.com / my website: http://www.JoanReeves.com / Twitter @JoanReeves / and my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/JoanReevesAuthor. Watch my other videos http://preview.tinyurl.com/Joan-Reeves-Video. I’ll be publishing new videos every month, including writing instruction and humor pieces aimed at authors, so SUBSCRIBE so you won’t miss any of them.
Leave a comment with your email on my post here and tell me which of my videos you like best, and you’ll be entered to win a 60 second video created and produced by Joan Reeves Productions! Contest open until May 8. Winner will be emailed directly and announced here in the comments on my blog post.
Wow, Joan is being really generous. So that your email isn’t spammed like crazy by those Internet bots we all hate, you don’t have to put your email in the actual comment, but include it when you submit the comment and I will be able to see it in the background and forward it to Joan. Good luck! Also go check out Joan’s website and blog. She has some great tips.
If you haven’t seen the book trailer for No Strings Attached, you can find it here… If you’re a romance writer interested in visiting my blog or you have a book trailer to share for Free Flick Friday, let me know here.
Filed under: Book Trailers, Indy-Publishing Tagged: Book trailers, books, indie authors, perfume, Publishing, Romance, scents and sensuality








April 25, 2014
Free Flick Friday – Book Trailer for Depth of Desire by Jill Blair
I’m featuring book trailers on my blog on Fridays, and up first is Jill Blair, with her book trailer for Depth of Desire.
Sarah Templeton finds adventure and romance when she visits her brother’s best friend’s dive resort on the tropical island of Cozumel.
Gentle warning: I love this video, but it’s got some spice to it. It may be a bit heavier than PG-13 if you know what I mean.
Check it out here: bit.ly/15oklOS
Like what you see? Then give it a thumbs up on YouTube and leave a comment. Share the love!!!
View the book on Bookstrand: http://bit.ly/1597pNp
View the book on Amazon: http://amzn.to/18gSFSZ
Other books by Jill Blair:
The Thirty Day Gamble, BookStrand Publishing, December 2012
The Depth of Desire, BookStrand Publishing, August 2013
Early Surrender, BookStrand Publishing, September 2013
Find and follow Jill Blair at:
Twitter @BlairRomance
www.Facebook.com/BlairRomance
www.Amazon.com/Author/JillBlair
Thanks for stopping by. Show us some comment love in the comments.
Share on Twitter: Visit @BlairRomance and her #booktrailer at bit.ly/15oklOS #steamyromance #romance via @BishopLily
___________________
In the mood to watch book trailers? Check mine out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDZjY5l_Ym8.
If you are interested in being featured on Free Flick Friday, use the Contact Lily information above and send me a line. Happy writing!!!
Filed under: Book Trailers Tagged: Book trailers, diving, Jill Blair, resort, Romance, steamy romance








April 23, 2014
Writer Wednesday – Meet Marissa St. James
Today I’m featuring Marissa St. James, who has written several time travel and contemporary romances. Come join us and get lost in the mists of time.
What’s your favorite thing about writing time travel romance?
I think time travel opens up a whole lot of possibilities. You can write fact, fiction or something in between. You can do things with your characters that other genres wouldn’t allow. You can plunk down a character in a situation that doesn’t have to be logical, and what they do with it can be a lot of fun.
Many time travel romance writers stick with one time alternate period, but you’ve written stories set in two, one on Scotland and one in the early American Revolutionary. What are some of your favorite research techniques?
Actually, I also have set a time travel story in medieval England.
I try to keep the research to a minimum for two reasons. Authors are always told to research their stories before getting into the writing. I get an idea for a story but I never know in what direction it’ll go or what will be involved. I’ve had stories that did a total turn-about so that whatever research I’d done early on was no longer valid. The second reason is that researching can be ‘dangerous’. Imagine doing research about a specific battle. You find the information, then a side note distracts you. After reading that and making some notes, something else distracts. It might keep going that way until you’ve completely forgotten what you were originally researching. I tend to research the point I need exactly when I need it. This way I avoid the distractions. If it’s something I’m really interested in, I’ll make a note of it and return another time.
If you could go back in time, what period would you choose and why?
LOL. Now that’s a tough one. I’d probably want to be like my namesake character, Meryl Spellbinder, from the Highland Eyes books. Different situations put her in different times, although she is kind of tethered to the early fourteenth century. There are two time periods I find fascinating. One deals with the Plantagenets, family of Richard the Lionheart and the other deals with the Tudors, Henry VIII, his children and his wives — all eight of them.
Of the books you’ve had published, do you have a favorite?
My favorite would have to be The Heart Remembers. (set in England) This story deals with a young woman who is subtly prevented from marrying the love of her life. Sylvia and Aubrey are sent back in time during the reign of King John. They have no memory of their contemporary lives. The romance in this story deals with two couples, one middle-aged, the other, teens. Both couples have trials they must face if their love is to survive and grow. It was fun, as well as a challenge to write.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
During the winter months I do a lot of knit and crochet. I’ve got quite a collection of afghan patterns and I’m trying to get the hang of lace knit/crochet. The afghans go to a couple groups to be auctioned off. I’ll also be working on a quilt for my son and his wife. In between the craft work, I read as much as I can. There’s never enough time for that so I try to fit it in wherever possible.
What’s next in store for Marissa?
LOL Even Marissa isn’t sure of that. I’ve been working on several projects: the sequel to Band of Gold, called Ring of Truth; book 3 in the McKinley’s Jewel series, A Diamond In the Rough; and a paranormal western trilogy, Those McAllister Girls. One story involves a shape-shifter, but all three stories involve some time travel.
Where can you find Marissa? All of her books are listed on her bookshelf, and you can also check out her blog.
http://www.msjbookshelf.blogspot.com/
http://www.marissastjames.blogspot.com/

Thank you for stopping by, Marissa. I’m a sucker for a time travel romance, so I’m definitely adding The Heart Remembers to my reading pile.
If you’re a romance writer and want to be featured on my Writer Wednesday meet and greet sessions, contact me through the contact page above.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: England, Marissa St. James, medieval, Romance, time travel, time travel romance








April 16, 2014
Writer Wednesday – Meet Cynthia Woolf
Today I’d like you to meet a writer that I’ve discovered recently. Her name is Cynthia Woolf, and I just finished her scifi romance published under the pen name CA Woolf, entitled Centauri Dawn (Centauri Series). I thought I would introduce her to all of you, and let her talk about how she manages to write in two genres – western romance and scifi romance. Cynthia, take it away.
Writing in Two Genres and Other Ramblings
My books are historical western romance and scifi romance. Two very different genres. Or are they?
When you think of western, what do you think of? Cowboys. Settler crossing the prairie in covered wagons. Saloons. Showdowns in the street. Cattle drives. You get the idea. These are the images we have from our modern media. TV, films and even books. Essentially brave people settling an untamed land
When you think of scifi what do you think of? Space pilots. Space ships. Ray guns and phasers. Our media images are Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica and in my case, Firefly. I love that show. Anyway what you have, essentially is brave people settling untamed space and planets.
Not so very different are they?
I started writing westerns first. My first book, TAME A WILD HEART, was written because I fell in love with the story of how my parents met on a ranch in Southern Colorado. Mom was from Texas and up there as a nursemaid (nanny) to a young boy with asthma. Dad was a cowboy who worked on the ranch.
I found the idea of ranch life fascinating and decided to write a story about it. That’s all I had to begin with. Just an idea. Now I’m not a plotter. I’ve tried and tried to plot my books. I’ve tried using GMC, the hero’s journey, the W plot. You name it I’ve tried it. The problem is when I get the book plotted, I don’t want to write it anymore. To me it’s already been written. Now it’s just fill in the blanks. As a pantser (a non plotter) the book unfolds before me much as it does you when you read it. It’s a surprise.
My current western, REDEEMED BY A REBEL, is the first in the Destiny in Deadwood series. The books are about the Black Hills Gold Rush in 1876-1877. My hero is on the run from the law and he and his brothers come to Deadwood, where there is no law. There they each meet their destiny.
The second book I wrote was CENTAURI DAWN. It came about because of a dream I had when I was fifteen. My mother and I were going through a rough patch. My dad died when I was five and Mom was both mother and father to me. It was tough on her, but as a selfish kid I didn’t think about that.
But I digress. We were having a difficult time as most teenagers have with their parents. During the time, I had a dream. I was a princess from Alpha Centauri. I’d been sent to Earth as a baby in order to save my life. Bad men wanted to kill me. But now it was time to go home and they’d come for me.
That was the premise of my second book. This one had a space captain not a cowboy flying to the rescue of the princess not a ranch owner.
I guess what I’m trying to show is that these two genres are not so very different. A different place and different time but still the same story. Battlestar Gallactica is just a retelling of the old TV show Wagon Train. Star Trek is the old show Gunsmoke, where the sheriff (Matt Dillon or Captain Kirk) attempts to keep the peace in their town or universe.
What it comes down to is write what you love whether western or scifi or romantic suspense or romantic comedy or thrillers. Whatever it is, they all have some elements that are the same if they are romance and all of mine are. They must have a happy ending. The guy in the white hat (good guy) always wins. The hero always gets the girl. Always.
Amazon Buy Links to the first book in each of my series:
REDEEMED BY A REBEL – http://amzn.com/B00I1GZAU0
CAPITAL BRIDE – http://amzn.com/B00AM3CNQ4
TAME A WILD HEART – http://amzn.to/vu62X7
CENTAURI DAWN – http://amzn.to/uDMkCY
THE SWORDS OF GREGARA – JENALA – http://amzn.to/JFXEQv
WEBSITE – www.cynthiawoolf.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/CynthiaWoolf
Twitter – @CynthiaWoolf
Here’s an excerpt of Redeemed by a Rebel:
CHAPTER 1
August 1876
He’d been dead. Deader than a doornail in a rotted-out door. Becky Finnegan remembered finding Horace Sutter splayed across the rocks like the annual sacrifice to some unknown god. Heck, that wasn’t something she was likely to ever forget. She’d had to leave him to collect her no good, drunkard father, Billy, from The Gem where he spent all the gold she worked her butt off to get.
She’d lied to Billy once again, only given him part of their gold. If she gave him all of it, like he wanted, nothing would be left to buy food or the pans and other equipment she needed to work their claim. And then there’d be no gold for him to go drown his sorrows. Sorrows that were her fault, according to him, since Becky killed her Ma by getting born. And then he’d beat her and she wouldn’t be able to work so there’d be no gold and the cycle would start again. Better to lie to him.
Resigned, she grabbed the mule’s bridle. Buster snorted at the small jerk she gave the gear as she started walking downstream along the narrow path that followed the creek. She’d made this path, going back and forth to their claim on a daily basis. After collecting Billy from The Gem, after he’d spent another night drowning his sorrows. Better there than at their campsite where he’d just complain and then beat her for the hell of it.
She and her father, Billy, originally came from the coal mines of West Virginia. Some said they were rebels because West Virginia was in the south during the War of Northern Aggression. But that was so long ago and there’d been many, many stops along the way. Becky barely remembered the place anymore. She supposed the only reason she didn’t forget it altogether was because she’d lived there with Grandma Bess. Those were the memories she liked to remember. Grandma Bess was so good to her, but then she had to go and die. Then there was just Billy and new place after new place
Every time she hoped this might be the spot, the one where they could put down roots. But it never was. Billy leached the goodwill from the townsfolk until there was none left and they had to move on.
She’d gotten lucky with her education. One of the ladies she worked for took pity on her and taught her to read, write and speak so she was able to get better jobs as time went on. But not good enough to keep Billy supplied which was why she spent all day in the cold river panning for whatever gold, flake or nugget, she could find.
She went into The Gem and saw Billy, face down on one of the tables next to the door.
“Hi, just came to get Billy,” she said to the man behind the bar.
“Ah, if it isn’t Miss Finnegan. Where are your bruises Becky? Guess Billy’s been keeping his fists to himself lately.” Al Swearengen, owner of The Gem and procurer of flesh, said from in front of his second floor office.
“No thanks to you and all the whiskey he downs here,” she said. There was a running dialogue that she had with Al, every time she picked up Billy.
“Thanks for that. I love the gold Billy spends here every night. He almost single-handedly keeps me in business.”
She rolled her eyes and looked over at Billy, wondering if she really could be related to the reprobate. She’d get the barkeep to load him on the mule and then, when they got back to camp, she’d untie him and let him slip to the ground. She used to try holding him up, to slow his fall, but too many times, she’d ended up trapped beneath him until she could shove his heavy body off her. Totally ignorant of the whole situation, he blissfully slept off the effects of his alcohol fueled stupor.
There’d been just as many times she left him at The Gem and let them deal with his sorry ass..
Dan, the barkeep said, “you get your father and get out. I keep telling you, this ain’t no place for a girl like you to be seen.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Dan,” said Al looking dapper in his black three piece pinstriped suit. He wore no tie and his shirt was open at the collar. Becky craned her neck to look upward at him. “We could give her a job that’s a lot easier than working that claim. Wouldn’t you like that Becky? No more standing in the cold river. You’d be flat on your back, but you’d be warm.”
He leaned on the hand rail of the second floor walkway. The small porch like structure went along the whole back of the building, all of the doors to the whores rooms were off of it and visible from the bar where the barkeep could keep track of the comings and goings of the men from the rooms.
“Not today, Mr. Swearengen, but I’ll be sure and keep your offer in mind.” She hoped the sarcasm came through in her voice.
Swearengen laughed. A great rumble from deep in his chest. “You do that. Help her load Billy on to her mule,” he said to the barkeep then he turned away and went back into his office. “See you tomorrow, Becky,” he called over his shoulder.
She nodded, then looked at the fancy women lounging around the room in varying states of undress and silently agreed with Dan. She should get out. She didn’t understand how they could do what they did. She’d rather work day and night in the creek than let any man with a dollar in his pocket touch her in that way.
A little bit more about Cynthia:
Cynthia Woolf is the author of six historical western romance books and one short story with more books on the way. She was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.
Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.
Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance Tame A Wild Heart, was inspired by the story her mother told her of meeting Cynthia’s father on a ranch in Creede, Colorado. Although Tame A Wild Heart takes place in Creede that is the only similiarity between the stories. Her father was a cowboy not a bounty hunter and her mother was a nursemaid (called a nanny now) not the ranch owner.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she’s made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
TITLES AVAILABLE:
REDEEMED BY A REBEL, TAME A WILD HEART, TAME A WILD WIND, TAME A WILD BRIDE, TAME A SUMMER HEART, CAPITAL BRIDE, HEIRESS BRIDE, FIERY BRIDE, LOVE AND MISERY, a very short story
I hope you enjoyed this little chat with Cynthia. I know I did. In the next few months I’ll be buying more of her books. She has a natural, clean style, and her books are well-edited. I fell in love with the men of Centauri (ssshh don’t tell my husband). I could picture the space ship and all of the wonderful technology she described, but she didn’t paint with a heavy hand. The story blazed along and kept me guessing.
So, phasers or six-shooters up — give Cynthia Woolf (and CA Woolf) a try.
And remember if you’re looking for a sample of my work, head over to No Strings Attached.
Filed under: Favorite Books, Guest Authors Tagged: book reviews, indie authors, Romance, sci-fi, western








April 8, 2014
Easy Homemade Strawberry Shortcake
It’s coming on strawberry season here in South Carolina, and one of our favorite desserts is strawberry shortcake.
Last year I started making the cake part of strawberry shortcake from Bisquick, and it’s a quick and easy dessert that even a non-baker like me can do.
(Now, don’t be a Bisquick snob. You can wave your hand over this flour mixture and the most fabulous things happen! Our joke is that if you are using Bisquick, you have to tell it what you are making, and it will magically adjust.)
You can find the directions on the back of the Bisquick box, but I change it up a little bit.
Heat oven to 425.
Mix 2 1/3 cups Bisquick mix, 2/3 cup milk, 3 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp butter or margarine melted
Mix these ingredients together until a wet dough forms. I add a splash more sugar, enough so that the top of the batter is covered. It’s maybe 1/2 cup of sugar total.
Drop the dough in biscuit sized bits onto a baking sheet or stone (I use a stone), and cook for 12-15 minutes. The ingredients above make about 6 little cakes. You may want to experiment with the sugar levels. The first time we thought the basic recipe wasn’t sweet enough, hence our additions.
For the strawberries, cut them up and sprinkle with a bit of sugar or honey. For the topping, we use Cool Whip Lite, but you can also whip your own cream if you have time on your hands. If you’re a busy working mom throw a dollop of Cool Whip or ice cream on the top and mission accomplished.
Share your favorite spring desserts in the comments.
Filed under: General Life, Recipes Tagged: Bisquick, desserts, spring dishes, strawberries, strawberry shortcake








March 20, 2014
Books I Read in January 2014
I’ve been meaning to do these monthly posts, but the months have gotten away from me. So here is January and expect February soon.
January was a light reading month for me. I finally picked up Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, which I had never read, and it’s a big one, coming in at 896 pages according to its Amazon page. Then I stuck my toe into serial fiction, but that didn’t quite go as well.
Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon –
Have you ever had a book that too many people told you it was good, so you refuse to read it because you didn’t think it could be THAT good? That’s how I felt about Outlander. I look time travel romance, but the book description put me off. How could you have two love interests? I failed to realize that Outlander started a whole sub-genre.
Time travel is a familiar trope, and reading one is usually like settling into a favorite sweater. This book pushes the romance genre to its edge and back. Women’s rights have come a long way since 1743, and many books time travel back to this era. However, often when they do, we find that amazingly enough, the male characters have modern sensibilities when it comes to women. This book doesn’t do that.
Time travel, whether through a magic stone, potion, or an existing portal, is always complicated, but the trope usually goes like this: a young woman, not well established in life, travels back in time, falls in love, and stays with her new life. But what if she is leaving behind a life she was happy with? What if she happened to be already married and happy with her husband? If she falls in love with another man while she is in the past, is it adultery? Very few authors have the guts to go there. Diana Gabaldon went there. Well done. I don’ t think I gave too much away here, but if you haven’t read it yet, do it. Although I think I’m the last person who reads time-travel romance who hasn’t read this one. You can find an Amazon buy link in my store.
Yesterday’s Gone, Season One, by Sean Platt, David Wright – I hate to admit that I did not finish this one. The book was billed as similar to LOST, which it may be, but I couldn’t get far enough to tell.
The thing about LOST (which people who say their thing is like LOST forgets) is that the island started out fairly normal. Sure, we saw a polar bear, and there were some strange things, but nothing that could be defined as paranormal or alien happened until after season one. By the time the weird stuff really started, generally viewers cared about the characters and stuck around. I didn’t care about any of these characters.
This book tries to be similar to The Stand, Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic book, which has multiple groups all over the country that eventually come together. The authors may eventually get these groups together, but I couldn’t stay with it long enough to tell. There were too many different character groups, and I couldn’t remember which was which. The writing itself was well-edited and there weren’t any issues there, but the jumping around between different threads was too much for me.
On to February. Book count for the year: 1.5
I’m going by the purchases on my Kindle for my official count for the year.
Writing update: I m sending Under His Protection to my editor a chapter at a time, and I’ve send ten chapters so far. I’m still hoping for a May release date. No Strings Attached is now available on the Nook, Kobo, and the iTunes bookstore if you don’t do Kindle.
Filed under: Book Reveiws, Favorite Books, Uncategorized Tagged: books, Diana Gabaldon, Outlander, reading, reveiws, Romance, time travel romance








February 25, 2014
Recipe: Barbecue Boston Butt in the Crockpot
I am visiting over at Debra Salonen’s blog today, with my recipe for barbecue pork in the crockpot. Come on over and give it a look!
Filed under: Blog visits Tagged: Blog visits







