C.J. Burright's Blog, page 29

Winter Wonder Man Blog Hop

Happy Friday, everyone! The simple fact it’s Friday is tough to beat, but the chance to win a gift card for $50 and a butt-load of other prizes? Oh. Yeah. All you have to do is sit back in your recliner with beverage of choice and tip-tap on your laptop.

By now, you should know the subject, but in case you took a snooze and forgot, I’ll remind you.

WHAT MAKES A HERO CURL YOUR TOES (IN A GOOD WAY)?

I love lists, so here are my five top traits a hero must own to earn a piece of my heart.

1. DAMAGED. Sure, a good guy is hard to find, but when he’s too good, I get a case of the yawns. Not that I like thugs, but a bit of tortured brooding makes my pulse thump-a-thump.

 

 

photo by angelinchains67

2. SENSE OF HUMOR. Even if it takes a while for him to warm up, sarcasm gets me every time.

3. SKILLS. Nunchuck skills. Computer-hacking skills. Oh, wait. We’re not talking Napoleon Dynamite, but the kind of guy who knows how to get it done with swords, knives, or even a paralyzing death-glare. Fangs are acceptable too (ahem, Eric Northman).

4. DEVOTION. Once he finds his one and only, he’s driven to possess her, sometimes even to the point of obsession, and will sacrifice everything for her.

5. CONFIDENCE. No whiny-boys allowed. He knows what he wants and will do whatever he must to get it, even if there’s some trickery involved.

So who is the latest character who’s made your toes curl? For me, it’s Wrath from J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. I CANNOT believe I haven’t read this series before now! Comment to be entered for the grand prize gift certificate (don’t forget to leave your email addy). Extra-brownie points for my prize for each of these:  following me on Twitter, signing up for my blog, liking me on FB, and/or signing up for my newsletter. I promise I won’t flood you with frivolous junk – I’m too busy.

Since my book Wonderfully Wicked won’t be released until April/May of this year, I’m giving away one of the following books (winner’s choice) – all of which contain heroes who made my toes curl. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Blog Hop – so share the love!

H. D. Thomson – Paranormal & Suspense-Int

2




2.
Caris Roane – Paranormal Romance Author

3




3.
Bad Girls Need Love Too. . . JD Faver Blog

3






4.
Tara Manderino

2




5.
Romancing The Law

4




6.
Arabella Thorne – Fantasy Romace Author

3






7.
Sharon C. Cooper, Just Thinking. . .

3




8.
Sharon Kleve Romantic Ramblings

3




9.
Lisa Chalmers

3






10.
Joanne Jaytanie~This is not your mothers romance

3




11.
Iyanas Rainbow

3




12.
Natalie-Nicole Bates

3






13.
Connie Flynn: Imagination Gone Wilde

3




14.
Renea Mason Paranormal Erotic Romance

3




15.
Elise Logan

3






16.
Cait Jarrod, Romantic Suspense

3




17.
Nancy Lee Badger-Where Happy Ever After. . .

3




18.
LENA HART

2






19.
Author Susan Mac Nicol

3




20.
Draven St. James

4




21.
Natasha Blackthorne

3






22.
CJ Burrights Blog

3




23.
Sasha Hibbs YA Author and Book Blogger/Reviewer

3




24.
Deena Remiels Place

3






25.
Victoria Adams

3




26.
Unfiltered Speech in a Politically-Correct World

3




27.
MYTHICAL BOOKS (INT)

3






28.
Jessica Jayne

4




29.
Thea Landen

3




30.
Anne Lange (Int)

3






31.
Andrea R Cooper Blog

3




32.
Joanne Wadsworth – Romance Author

3




33.
Cd Brennan – Love for a Wandering Heart

3






34.
Tera Shanley

3




35.
Gemma Brocato – Gemmas Giornale

3




36.
Mary Abshire – Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy

3






37.
Beth D. Carter – Written Butterfly

3




38.
Nicki Elson (International)

3




39.
Alana Lorens–Love, Romance, Adventure and More

3






40.
Feathers Passion

3




41.
Cathy Brockman romances

3




42.
BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY (INT)

3






43.
Kiru Taye Writes (INT)

3




44.
Love Bites and Silk (INT)

3




45.
Jess Schira-Whimsical Quests

3






46.
Nana Prah

3




47.
Flirty & Feisty Romance Blog

2




48.
Curious Tales of Love, Magic and Mystery

3






49.
AReCafe

4




50.
Leigh Ellwood – Romance Author

5




51.
Nancy Gideon . . . Romance by Any Other Name

3






52.
Kimber Vale

5




53.
Leigh Curits: Sweet and Sexy Wild West Romance

4




54.
Tabitha Conall






55.
Danielle Duncan

 

Shout Out

Hi everyone! Today’s the day to share some love for your favorite writing teacher, mentor, or organization. I’m guest blogging on Savvy Authors and going all fan-girl on a few  people who have helped pave my writing path. Stop in and toot the horn of someone in the writing world who deserves some warm and fuzzies on a Monday.

My New Favorite Holiday

Happy 2014, everyone! It’s gonna be a fantabulous year!

Back to blogging, I discovered a new holiday, which is celebrated today, January 10. An amazing festivity I can’t believe I’ve missed all these years…

PECULIAR PEOPLE DAY

While this wonderful national holiday’s origins are a bit sketchy, I’m not one to quibble over greatness. I mean, how often are we given the opportunity to honor the unique, quirky, weirdness inside? Not enough, I say! So be sure to celebrate your own oddities in your own freakish way today. Samba into a board meeting. Imitate Gomer Pyle when you order coffee. Tell your friend you love his/her strange attraction to chicken feathers.

 

Photo courtesy of photobucket

What’s your quirk? I’ll share one of mine, if it makes you feel better:  I love villains, especially Disney villains, and even memorized the lyrics to “Cruella de Ville” from 101 Dalmations and the unbeatable “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid.  Bonus question:  what Disney character are you? Take the test here and let me know! For the record, I’m Maleficent. Pretty spot on there.

It’s In the Stars

Ever have your star chart plotted? A friend of my boss had asked eons ago to plot my chart. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not much into zodiac signs (I’m a Leo, but no one ever believes me because I’m so NOT a Leo) or horoscopes, but I humored the dude. He’s super-nice and what can I say? I’m a sucker for people who want to do stuff for me. All he needed was my date and time of birth and I promptly forgot all about it.

Until he popped in and handed me the chart below (I blocked out my year of birth. Sorry, identity thieves).

We talked about the chart for over an hour. It was fascinating, not only all the interconnecting planets and the effects they have on each other, but the personal knowledge he gained of me. Stuff there was no way he could know. From the stars. So weird.

I’m definitely going to revisit the chart in a later blog, but for today, I want to point out one aspect I found particularly interesting. At the top of the chart, in the yellow dotted lines – that’s where I am now, going from green to yellow. He told me I’ll be changing careers. Green represents legal (which was a no brainer. I work for an attorney), but the yellow represents something “artsy.” I had to work hard not to freak while he was spewing off potential upcoming careers, such as a painter, working in a museum, book store owner. “A writer?” I asked him very calmly (my boss doesn’t even know I write – he’d panic at the possibility of me quitting). He said, “Exactly.”

And in 18 months or so (or a year now, as time has passed), something really, really good is supposed to happen, such as a windfall. Winning the lottery would be nice, I suppose. But a big book deal? Even better. I’ll let you know what happens.

Hey baby, what’s your sign? Do you share any traits common to your sign?

 

Naughty and Nice Blog Hop

Good luck on landing the grand prize, a Kindle Fire HDX 7” plus lots of awesome books to go with it!! My apologies, but winners of items in need of shipping must be in the US or Canada. Shipping costs are a bummer. Want to know the hop rules and how it works? Follow the link to the Safari Heat site. And on to the fun!

In honor of all the glamour and glitz of the yule season (and the fabulous Naughty and Nice blog hop), I sat down with the main characters from Wonderfully Wicked (in separate rooms, of course), and asked them two quick questions. Tag along!

CJ:  How do you celebrate the holidays?

Kalila:  “Celebrate. Right.” Arches eyebrow. “It’s always party time for me. Nothing better than sharing snoozes with my freakin’ nightmares, fighting to keep them in. Snow angels and sparklies don’t slow them down. If you want to get me a present, find a cure.” Taps finger on chin. “But I do love the seasonal candy cane mochas.”

Lydon: “I don’t do holidays. Great season for nightmares, though. Fruitcake sends spikes of fear into a surprising number of people, not to mention the horrifying scenario of a weekend with family. I once picked up from a lone man’s dreams a flock of carnivorous snowmen, Randolph the demon reindeer, and a four-eyed punk toting a Red Rider hellfire bazooka – all in the same night. Score. My nightmare collection usually doubles during the winter festivities.”

CJ:  Ohhhh-kay. Well, if you could choose one person to spend the holidays with, who would it be?

Kalila:  “I’m not one for gush and mush, but in between my nightmares I actually had a good dream. Smokin’ good. Of this guy…” Shudders and glares. “Forget it. I spend the holidays with Mel, of course. She’s my family.”

Lydon: “There is a particular dreamcaster whose nightmares I recently invaded.” Smirks. “Tasty. I’d like to explore her…” coughs “er…cache more. Can’t, though. She’s marked to die. Shame.” Shrugs. “I’d keep her if I could, but disobeying my master? Not conducive to a V’alkara’s health.”

CJ:  I guess Kalila and Lydon don’t waste much time bothering with the holidays. Can’t really blame them – they’ve got issues.

What about you? What was the best present you ever received? Comment to be entered for the grand prize, and don’t forget to leave your email address and country.  If your info is wrong and you win, you’ll get skipped over, which would suck, right?

You don’t have to, but earn extra drawing points (and brownie points! Plus I’ll love you forever) if you sign up for my blog, like my FB page, and join the growing ranks of Twitter groupies. I promise I won’t bombard you with annoying info – I’m too busy writing. Be sure to note your extra credit brownie points (followed blog , FB, Twitter, etc.) in the comments!  I have an exclusive prize to give away too, and one more point for that if you sign up for my newsletter…

 

 

 

 

An ornament to match Lydon’s eyes and dark chocolate covered coffee beans. Kalila takes coffee in any form possible. 

My best present?  I walked into the garage and found a car with a giant red ribbon on its hood. Best. Present. Ever. My hubby rocks. 

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY! AND PASS THE LOVE ON…

To keep hopping (and you know you want to) follow THIS LINK.