Stephanie Queen's Blog, page 3
April 24, 2015
Create a Quirky Character Contest
The good news is I'm offering a TERRIFIC Prize Package!
The not as good news is you'll have to put on your thinking cap to win this contest.
BUT, if you want some fun and to exercise your creative muscles, then this is it!
What is it?
CREATE A QUIRKY CHARACTER CONTEST!
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE--IT'S SIMPLE AND FUN!
What I need:
1. Character Name
2. What do they look like?
(bald with nose ring, wrinkly, tall, skinny with gray afro)
3. What's their quirk?
(i.e.refuses to trim nose hairs or drools, etc)
4. What do they usually wear?
(i.e. red spike heels or dirty blue bathrobe)
5. What do they say a lot?
(i.e. 'Hey man" or 'not in this life', etc)
Any other quirky characteristics you want to include!
Contest entry submission automatically transfers all rights to use of character to Stephanie Queen
How to Enter:
1. To be eligible entrants must subscribe to SQ Newsletter
(contest entry automatically subscribes you)
2. Visit my website www.StephanieQueen.com or send email with above info to stephaniequeen@rocketmail.com
subject line: Create a Quirky Character Contest
3. Deadline April 30th
THE PRIZES!
Acknowledgment in the next Beachcomber Investigations Series novel!
Bundle of print books!
$50 Amazon Gift Card!
The not as good news is you'll have to put on your thinking cap to win this contest.
BUT, if you want some fun and to exercise your creative muscles, then this is it!
What is it?
CREATE A QUIRKY CHARACTER CONTEST!
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE--IT'S SIMPLE AND FUN!
What I need:
1. Character Name
2. What do they look like?
(bald with nose ring, wrinkly, tall, skinny with gray afro)
3. What's their quirk?
(i.e.refuses to trim nose hairs or drools, etc)
4. What do they usually wear?
(i.e. red spike heels or dirty blue bathrobe)
5. What do they say a lot?
(i.e. 'Hey man" or 'not in this life', etc)
Any other quirky characteristics you want to include!
Contest entry submission automatically transfers all rights to use of character to Stephanie Queen
How to Enter:
1. To be eligible entrants must subscribe to SQ Newsletter
(contest entry automatically subscribes you)
2. Visit my website www.StephanieQueen.com or send email with above info to stephaniequeen@rocketmail.com
subject line: Create a Quirky Character Contest
3. Deadline April 30th
THE PRIZES!
Acknowledgment in the next Beachcomber Investigations Series novel!
Bundle of print books!
$50 Amazon Gift Card!
December 4, 2014
Contest Winners, Book Lovers and All Around Astonishing People!
That's YOU--all of you who entered or even thought of entering my contest.
You were all a wonderful help to me!
THE NAME THAT CHARACTER CONTEST WINNERS:
First, let me say thank you to the many contestants who participated--it was great fun for me to read all the names--every one of them contenders!
After reviewing all the killer entries to name the conniving doctor in PLAYING UNTIL THE END, my work-in-progress, I chose the following name:
The winning name is a combination of two entries by two diabolically creative contestants and the WINNERS ARE:
Linda Q and Bud M
Congratulations! And THANK YOU!
You will both be acknowledged in
PLAYING UNTIL THE END!
In addition, you've each won a prize package including gift cards and books!
Thank you so much,
Stephanie Queen
You were all a wonderful help to me!
THE NAME THAT CHARACTER CONTEST WINNERS:
First, let me say thank you to the many contestants who participated--it was great fun for me to read all the names--every one of them contenders!
After reviewing all the killer entries to name the conniving doctor in PLAYING UNTIL THE END, my work-in-progress, I chose the following name:
Baxter Hogarth
The winning name is a combination of two entries by two diabolically creative contestants and the WINNERS ARE:
Linda Q and Bud M
Congratulations! And THANK YOU!
You will both be acknowledged in
PLAYING UNTIL THE END!
In addition, you've each won a prize package including gift cards and books!
Thank you so much,
Stephanie Queen
October 1, 2014
NAME THAT CHARACTER CONTEST!
Yes, that's right! I need help AGAIN with naming a character. This time he's the conniving doctor in charge of medical research in PLAYING UNTIL THE END!
Submit your entry by emailing me at:
stephaniequeen (at) rocketmail (dot) com
Subject Line: Conniving Doctor Character Name Contest
Deadline: I need the name fast, so the deadline is October 25th!
Prize: Something Mysterious with a healthy twist!
The WINNER will be named in the acknowledgements!
Submit your entry by emailing me at:
stephaniequeen (at) rocketmail (dot) com
Subject Line: Conniving Doctor Character Name Contest
Deadline: I need the name fast, so the deadline is October 25th!
Prize: Something Mysterious with a healthy twist!
The WINNER will be named in the acknowledgements!
June 21, 2014
The Only Chauffeur Driven Convertible in Town
Now that it's summer time, the top is down and Myren, my chauffeur, keeps heading toward the beach like a compass arrow heading north.
I said, "But Myren, I need to buy eggs at the grocery store and I'm wearing heels and my crown and we don't even have a beach towel in the trunk."
After some brow beating and a threat to actually wear a bathing suit, Myren turns the convertible around and we get our groceries.
But at least we're driving under a blue sky with nothing but warm sunshine that lasts until nine o'clock at night--or there about - I'm not sure since I go to bed before the sun even sets. It's not that I'm old.
Maybe I just want to re-live my childhood when my mother sent me to bed before sundown in spite of my tantrums and threats of breath-holding till I turn purple. (My mother was tough) (Or maybe she knew I was bluffing).
I hope Myren doesn't learn any time soon about my tendency to bluff. Don't tell him.
In the meantime, I'm stocking up on books to read at the beach since I won't be able to hold him off from reaching the sand and surf much longer.
I have a few favorites, like every romance story in Weddings on Main Street, a boxed set of 10 novellas by the Authors on Main Street and Small Town Glamour Girl Wedding, my novella in the boxed set.
How about your favorites for settling in at the beach for a long read? Tell me! (But, don't tell Myren)
I said, "But Myren, I need to buy eggs at the grocery store and I'm wearing heels and my crown and we don't even have a beach towel in the trunk."
After some brow beating and a threat to actually wear a bathing suit, Myren turns the convertible around and we get our groceries.
But at least we're driving under a blue sky with nothing but warm sunshine that lasts until nine o'clock at night--or there about - I'm not sure since I go to bed before the sun even sets. It's not that I'm old.
Maybe I just want to re-live my childhood when my mother sent me to bed before sundown in spite of my tantrums and threats of breath-holding till I turn purple. (My mother was tough) (Or maybe she knew I was bluffing).
I hope Myren doesn't learn any time soon about my tendency to bluff. Don't tell him.
In the meantime, I'm stocking up on books to read at the beach since I won't be able to hold him off from reaching the sand and surf much longer.
I have a few favorites, like every romance story in Weddings on Main Street, a boxed set of 10 novellas by the Authors on Main Street and Small Town Glamour Girl Wedding, my novella in the boxed set.
How about your favorites for settling in at the beach for a long read? Tell me! (But, don't tell Myren)
April 9, 2014
Myren says FREE!
Myren, my chauffeur, insisted that I post about my FREE book promotion to make sure you all didn't miss out.
THE ROMANTICS ebook is on sale at a big discount--all the way down to $0.00--for a limited time--until April 15th (the tax day coincidence is a coincidence).
The Romantics is a romantic suspense novel with a James Bond bent only with real characters, no assassins, no world-ending villains, but definitely a beautiful woman in trouble. Joe the big bad body guard from Boston goes to London undercover to baby-sit/protect the young seemingly vulnerable Lady Veronica Grace after she's lost her parents and now someone is threatening her.
At first, Joe thinks this is a cupcake mission, but after they discover the first dead body, the cupcake is out the window and Joe is ready to face down his worst nightmare and secret fear to save the woman who's pulled at his heart, royal or not.
Share the adventure, the laughs, the pulse-jumping excitement of romance and the joy!
THE ROMANTICS ebook is on sale at a big discount--all the way down to $0.00--for a limited time--until April 15th (the tax day coincidence is a coincidence).
The Romantics is a romantic suspense novel with a James Bond bent only with real characters, no assassins, no world-ending villains, but definitely a beautiful woman in trouble. Joe the big bad body guard from Boston goes to London undercover to baby-sit/protect the young seemingly vulnerable Lady Veronica Grace after she's lost her parents and now someone is threatening her.
At first, Joe thinks this is a cupcake mission, but after they discover the first dead body, the cupcake is out the window and Joe is ready to face down his worst nightmare and secret fear to save the woman who's pulled at his heart, royal or not.
Share the adventure, the laughs, the pulse-jumping excitement of romance and the joy!
January 18, 2014
NAME THAT CHARACTER CONTEST!
Yes, that's right! I need help with naming the mysterious French con man in THE BEACHCOMBERS!
Submit your entry by emailing me at:
stephaniequeen (at) rocketmail (dot) com
Subject Line: Con Man Character Name Contest
Deadline: I need the name fast, so the deadline is January 25th!
Prize: Something Mysterious with a French twist!
The WINNER will be named in the acknowledgements!
Submit your entry by emailing me at:
stephaniequeen (at) rocketmail (dot) com
Subject Line: Con Man Character Name Contest
Deadline: I need the name fast, so the deadline is January 25th!
Prize: Something Mysterious with a French twist!
The WINNER will be named in the acknowledgements!
January 5, 2014
A Quip from THE ROMANTICS by Stephanie Queen
Stephanie QueenHappy New Year!
It's going to be a fabulous year for readers with books abounding and deals everywhere! I love it - because I LOVE BOOKS!
In the meantime, I wanted to share a Quip, since Quipping from the Queendom is what I'm all about (when I'm not busy doing anything else).
NOTE: I'm using the term "Quip" interchangeably with the terms "Clip" or "Short Excerpt".
This is our erstwhile hero from THE ROMANTICS in action. Joe Allario is a big bad bodyguard posing as a U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot in London:
"The only sane thing he could think to say was, 'Introduce me to your friends, Lady Ronnie.' He looked away from her brilliant aura to save himself from turning to stone--or at least certain parts of him--and flashed his woman-charmer smile at her friends."
Not sure who's charming who here--well, actually I am pretty sure since I wrote it, but you might need to read more to know.
More Quips from THE ROMANTICS soon! We'll hear from Lady Ronnie next time.
Stephanie Queen
It's going to be a fabulous year for readers with books abounding and deals everywhere! I love it - because I LOVE BOOKS!
In the meantime, I wanted to share a Quip, since Quipping from the Queendom is what I'm all about (when I'm not busy doing anything else).
NOTE: I'm using the term "Quip" interchangeably with the terms "Clip" or "Short Excerpt".
This is our erstwhile hero from THE ROMANTICS in action. Joe Allario is a big bad bodyguard posing as a U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot in London:
"The only sane thing he could think to say was, 'Introduce me to your friends, Lady Ronnie.' He looked away from her brilliant aura to save himself from turning to stone--or at least certain parts of him--and flashed his woman-charmer smile at her friends."
Not sure who's charming who here--well, actually I am pretty sure since I wrote it, but you might need to read more to know.
More Quips from THE ROMANTICS soon! We'll hear from Lady Ronnie next time.
Stephanie Queen
October 21, 2013
The Writer Ghost & Myren the Chauffeur
Okay, I was going for a play on the oldie but goodie TV series/movie, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, but unless you're of a certain age--not that I am--you would never get it.
Plus, well, Myren is not a romantic interest. He's barely an interest. More like a dysfunctional side-kick. Kind of like the painter in Murphy Brown. You know the guy she hired to paint her walls and he never left for three years--practically moved in with her just so he could paint the walls and she'd have someone to bounce things off besides her walls.
Well, there you have it. Me and Myren. I bounce things off Myren. He's the perennial hanger-on as chauffeur because I don't/can't/feel like it/bother to drive. (I'm joking of course--of course I can drive!)
(Don't tell Myren. We don't want him going into a depression.)
Maybe I should have titled this post: Myren Explained.
But then I'd have to come up with an explanation.
How about a few tidbits instead? Here they are--
TID-BITS ABOUT MYREN THE CHAUFFEUR:
He's good for an honest opinion on how I look in a hat.
He lets the cat in and out--mostly out.
He scrapes the cat's *gift* mice off the castle walkway
He shovels and drives, not necessarily in that order.
He eats my concoctions/tasty meals --when I feel in the mood to cook something up (I'm not sure why he does --he never seems to enjoy it--more like endures it as if it's his duty.)
He's very dutiful. Stoic. Humorless.
It's my daily challenge to make Myren crack a smile. If I watch closely I sometimes see a rise in one corner of his lip where a bit of tooth might show. I count this as a laugh. (I think he was secretly raised by Buckingham Palace guards after being left on the palace doorstep--this would explain a lot of things..)
Okay, so that's all about Myren the Chauffeur. As promised.
As for the writer ghost--I'm writing on deadline. So I turn into a person more resembling a ghost.
But don't worry, I'm still Stephanie Queen!
Plus, well, Myren is not a romantic interest. He's barely an interest. More like a dysfunctional side-kick. Kind of like the painter in Murphy Brown. You know the guy she hired to paint her walls and he never left for three years--practically moved in with her just so he could paint the walls and she'd have someone to bounce things off besides her walls.
Well, there you have it. Me and Myren. I bounce things off Myren. He's the perennial hanger-on as chauffeur because I don't/can't/feel like it/bother to drive. (I'm joking of course--of course I can drive!)
(Don't tell Myren. We don't want him going into a depression.)
Maybe I should have titled this post: Myren Explained.
But then I'd have to come up with an explanation.
How about a few tidbits instead? Here they are--
TID-BITS ABOUT MYREN THE CHAUFFEUR:
He's good for an honest opinion on how I look in a hat.
He lets the cat in and out--mostly out.
He scrapes the cat's *gift* mice off the castle walkway
He shovels and drives, not necessarily in that order.
He eats my concoctions/tasty meals --when I feel in the mood to cook something up (I'm not sure why he does --he never seems to enjoy it--more like endures it as if it's his duty.)
He's very dutiful. Stoic. Humorless.
It's my daily challenge to make Myren crack a smile. If I watch closely I sometimes see a rise in one corner of his lip where a bit of tooth might show. I count this as a laugh. (I think he was secretly raised by Buckingham Palace guards after being left on the palace doorstep--this would explain a lot of things..)
Okay, so that's all about Myren the Chauffeur. As promised.
As for the writer ghost--I'm writing on deadline. So I turn into a person more resembling a ghost.
But don't worry, I'm still Stephanie Queen!
September 21, 2013
New Cover for Playing the Game
I've been super busy--how busy?
So busy that my fingers are an inch shorter than they used to be from pounding the keyboard!
(kidding!)
Check out the new cover at www.StephanieQueen.com or your favorite ebook outlet!
Playing the Game won the International Digital Award for best contemporary novel. This contest was sponsored by the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America and I was thrilled to receive an elegant etched glass paperweight to put on my (otherwise empty) trophy shelf. I'm hoping to stack up more awards after I've written a few more books--I'm still starting out in this business after all!
Another milestone!
I told you this was a busy summer--for writing and milestones. Right around the same time I won the IDA, the Murder, Mirth & Mystery boxed set that I contributed The Throwbacks to hit the USA Today Bestseller list! Yes! The MMM ladies are fabulous and I thank my lucky stars to be associated with such a wonderful group.
In fact, we'll be putting out another boxed set this fall--a romantic suspense boxed set called Malice, Men & Mischief.
But that's not all, the third book in the Scotland Yard Exchange Program series, another romantic suspense, will be released within a month and I'm even more thrilled with this installment! Joe, the driver from The Hot Shots is the star of The Romantics which mostly takes place in London. My chauffeur Myren approves. He's standing behind me right now nodding his head with his starched chauffeur cap on. He's okay. He grows on you.
Okay, back to business--because there's more!
I'm contributing to the Authors of Main Street Boxed Set of Christmas Romance stories! That set will be out in November. My Christmas story is a new novel called, Small Town Glamour Girl Christmas.
After all that, I think I'll spend December sitting by the fireplace drinking eggnog--if Myren doesn't tsk-tsk me in disapproval that is. Maybe I'll get him to chill and join me if I spike his vegamatic juice ...
More on my books (and Myren too) soon!
So busy that my fingers are an inch shorter than they used to be from pounding the keyboard!
(kidding!)
Check out the new cover at www.StephanieQueen.com or your favorite ebook outlet!
Playing the Game won the International Digital Award for best contemporary novel. This contest was sponsored by the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America and I was thrilled to receive an elegant etched glass paperweight to put on my (otherwise empty) trophy shelf. I'm hoping to stack up more awards after I've written a few more books--I'm still starting out in this business after all!
Another milestone!
I told you this was a busy summer--for writing and milestones. Right around the same time I won the IDA, the Murder, Mirth & Mystery boxed set that I contributed The Throwbacks to hit the USA Today Bestseller list! Yes! The MMM ladies are fabulous and I thank my lucky stars to be associated with such a wonderful group.
In fact, we'll be putting out another boxed set this fall--a romantic suspense boxed set called Malice, Men & Mischief.
But that's not all, the third book in the Scotland Yard Exchange Program series, another romantic suspense, will be released within a month and I'm even more thrilled with this installment! Joe, the driver from The Hot Shots is the star of The Romantics which mostly takes place in London. My chauffeur Myren approves. He's standing behind me right now nodding his head with his starched chauffeur cap on. He's okay. He grows on you.
Okay, back to business--because there's more!
I'm contributing to the Authors of Main Street Boxed Set of Christmas Romance stories! That set will be out in November. My Christmas story is a new novel called, Small Town Glamour Girl Christmas.
After all that, I think I'll spend December sitting by the fireplace drinking eggnog--if Myren doesn't tsk-tsk me in disapproval that is. Maybe I'll get him to chill and join me if I spike his vegamatic juice ...
More on my books (and Myren too) soon!
November 25, 2012
Stephanie Queen's Quirky Quips
Since I'm quipping, I'll keep it short!
I just added a new release to my body of work (thinking body size of a pigmy).
THE HOT SHOTS is installment #2 in the romantic comedy suspense series, The Scotland Yard Exchange Program. I love mixing up the British with the Bostonians in post-post-revolutionary war battles of the sexes!
But, since I'm an Audiobook Junkie, I'm even more excited about my soon to be released AUDIOBOOK, The Throwbacks, which is book 1 of the series!
I'll keep you posted on my new blog--which I think I'll re-name the Quip Block.
The Hot ShotsStephanie Queen
I just added a new release to my body of work (thinking body size of a pigmy).
THE HOT SHOTS is installment #2 in the romantic comedy suspense series, The Scotland Yard Exchange Program. I love mixing up the British with the Bostonians in post-post-revolutionary war battles of the sexes!
But, since I'm an Audiobook Junkie, I'm even more excited about my soon to be released AUDIOBOOK, The Throwbacks, which is book 1 of the series!
I'll keep you posted on my new blog--which I think I'll re-name the Quip Block.
The Hot ShotsStephanie Queen
