Devika Fernando's Blog, page 50

Book Club Blog Tour - "Only Wheat Not White" by Varsha Dixit

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Only Wheat Not White  by  Varsha Dixit  [image error]


The Blurb


What if the one you completely love is the one you simply can't! Twenty-six-year-old Eila Sood moves to America to mend fences with her estranged older sister, Sheela. Eila and the rest of the family in India had cut off ties with Sheela after she married Steve Jacobs, 'out of caste, and out of color'. Elia soon realizes that Sheela's marriage is on the rocks. To help pay Sheela's household bills, Eila takes a second job at an afternoon strip club. When she crosses paths with the owner, the handsome Brett Wright or 'blue-eyed ogre' as Elia calls him, he both infuriates and fascinates her. Brett turns out to be her reluctant and unquestionably sarcastic knight in shining armor. As Eila and Brett spend more time together their desire for each other builds. However, when Brett discovers the true reason for Eila's refusal he storms out of her life, accusing her of being a prejudiced coward. Will Eila find the courage to break stereotypes and embrace her love? Will Brett find solace in the arms of his ex-girlfriend Cate? Will Sheela and Steve divorce? All of these questions and more are answered in Varsha Dixit's latest and humorous and steamy love story.
Buy @
Amazon.in | Amazon.com| Amazon.co.uk|Barnes and Noble | Smashwords

Meet the Author
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I'm the author of four books and the genre that I write is contemporary romance. Penning stories defines and completes me.I thinks of myself as a borderline obsessive-compulsive dreamer who thinks deep but writes light. A true ‘feel good’ junkie seeking quick fixes, I love a good laugh and a good book. A voracious reader of who dunit mysteries and legal dramas, I did sit down to pen a book on serial killers but finding it impossible to maim or kill anyone, even on paper, I penned a romantic story instead. Thus, I found my true calling – at least for the time being.Even though creativity is gender free, I feel blessed and enriched to be a woman.
Currently, with my family, I'm settled in the US.

You can her @

                              
         

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Featured - TRIPTYCH by M. S. Spencer (Guest Post & Spotlight)

About the Book In my latest romance, Triptych, my heroine Miranda wrestles with the question of true love. She also wrestles with recalcitrant sisters, mysterious machines and art thieves.
 
What is true love? Can unrequited love be true love? Must true love be reciprocal? Can true love be bad for you?  Can unrequited love be good for you? If loving someone makes you sad all the time, is it still love? If someone loves you and you don’t love them as much, is it still true love? Does true love have to last forever?  Can you find true love more than once?  What exactly does “true” mean?  Honest? Everlasting? Exclusive?
 
In my new romantic suspense, Triptych, Miranda Cabot finds out.
 
​
Triptych, by M. S. Spencer
Ebook 67,300 words; Print 213 pp.
Romantic suspense/Adventure
M/F, 2 flames
 

Blurb:
Take lost masterpieces, brilliant inventors, and stolen prototypes. Add the Three Sisters, Indian spirits who guard the Potomac River. Stir in three sisters and their lovers. Result? Jealousy, genius, larceny and love. Who will end up with whom, and will the Three Sisters take another life as the legend demands?


Buy Links:

Triptych is available in both eBook and Print-on-Demand.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Triptych-M-S-Spencer/dp/1519142102/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/triptych-m-s-spencer/1106339037?ean=2940152457995
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/triptych-17
IBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/triptych/id1057493922?mt=11
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/591713
AllRomanceEBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-triptych-1923917-149.html
Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/5846670
​ Excerpt:

Sybil dropped a pebble and listened to its clicks and clacks as it hit every crag and spur on the way down to the water. It took a long time, for she stood very high above the river. She waited, hand to ear, to catch the tinny, far-away splash, then gently tossed another pebble over the cliff.
“Sybil! Where are you?”
The girl turned swiftly, her simple white shift catching on the bark of an ancient elm tree. She pulled at it impatiently, tearing a bit of the delicate lace from the sleeve. “Here I am, Miranda! By the sun house!” She flew up the path.
A woman of about thirty-five, beautiful but stone-faced, waited on a flagstone patio wreathed in a thickly branched wisteria. To her right a large flower garden ambled down to a grassy verge. Behind her loomed a vast, Queen Anne-style mansion complete with tower. She crooked a finger at the girl. “Sybil, Honor needs you. She has to measure the hem.”
“I’m coming. It’s almost finished then?”
The woman began to smile, but then her thin lips tightened as though she’d caught herself just in time. The glow of the afternoon sun backlit a rivulet of well-worn grief seeping from the closed face. “Of course it is, Sybil. You need it for the tea dance tomorrow, don’t you? Honor has been working on it day and night.” A soft chestnut curl escaped from her severe French twist to graze the heart-shaped mouth. She raised a thin, ring-less hand and plucked the strands from her lips. “Do hurry in and help her.” As Sybil ran eagerly past her, she blinked a tear away.
Miranda gazed out over the cliff and down to the river. Directly below her, three small rock formations, known as the Three Sisters, reared out of the water like iceberg babies. When she was young, she loved to observe the intercourse of river and rocks from high atop her hill. In the spring the Potomac River, heavy with silt, rushed headlong past, shooting plumes of whitecaps up and over them. In the summer, the calm water filled with boats—canoes, punts, motorboats. A few months later, when the oaks and hickories turned the cliffs into a mass of scarlet and gold, the water would thin to a gentle trickle, and people forgot how strong the currents could surge, and grow unwary.
She shaded her eyes and looked north, where the steep canyons of Great Falls split the folded metagraywacke rock, the river slicing through it as easily as if it were paper. The Three Sisters marked the upper limit of the Potomac’s navigable waters. There, at a dangerous part of a dangerous river, Miranda and her sisters had helplessly watched many a hiker or kayaker flounder in the treacherous channels between Great Falls National Park and Teddy Roosevelt Island.
She no longer came out to watch the boaters, not after seeing Edward die when he crashed his Donzi 38 ZR on the rocks. He and the woman he left her for. The nightmare still haunted her though. In the dream she waited, hidden in the summer house on the edge of the cliff, as the sleek, sexy, Italian-made speed boat slammed into the half-submerged Sisters in the middle of the river. Alone in the dark she relived the sight of the flames as they shot up almost high enough to singe her bare toes. She heard again Wanda’s Banshee shriek as she died in agony. Her husband never appeared in the dream. True to form, Edward had disintegrated in the maelstrom, leaving nothing behind to remember or bury, not even a belt buckle. About the Author Although she has lived or traveled in every continent except Antarctica and Australia (bucket list), M. S. Spencer has spent the last thirty years mostly in Washington, D.C. as a librarian, Congressional staff assistant, speechwriter, editor, birdwatcher, kayaker, policy wonk, non-profit director and parent. She has two fabulous grown children, one fabulous grandchild, and currently divides her time between the Gulf coast of Florida and a tiny village in Maine.
 
Contacts
Blog: http://msspencertalespinner.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msspencerromance
Twitter: www.twitter.com/msspencerauthor
GoodReads:http://www.goodreads.com/msspencer
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/msspencerauthor/
About.me: http://about.me/msspencerauthor
Tsu.co : http://www.tsu.co/msspencerauthor
Linked in: www.linkedin.com/in/msspencerauthor
 
AUTHOR PAGES:
I Heart Book Publishing:
http://www.iheartbookpublishing.com/m-s-spencer.html
Romance Books 4 Us: http://romancebooks4us.com/Romance%20Author%20M.%20S.%20Spencer.html OR
http://bit.ly/1d6ehza
Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/M.S.-Spencer/e/B002ZOEUC8/
GoodReads:http://www.goodreads.com/msspencer
​

Featured - Guest Post by Laxmi Hariharan of "The Ruby Iyer Diaries"

Guest Post by Laxmi Hariharan ​What is the biggest challenge and joy in writing dystopian fiction?

I prefer to call it a magic realist fantastical future, but yes my themes do often involve exploring a time and space when society as we know it has tipped over the edge, when everything has come to an end and we have the chance to start over. When we have to deal with the excesses of the past, the wastage of humanity today, the selfishness and corruption that is systemic and  when time itself is speeding up and we are heading towards something a collision of some kind, don’t you think? At the same time many of us, and especially the millennials are much more in tune with themselves. They want to do something for the greater good, they want things to be more ethical, they don’t accept blind capitalist sales talk promising the moon, they don’t trust the media, or those in power. They question their teachers, their parents, and they can see through that which is not real. So I like the freedom to enjoy these themes in my fiction. Challenge is to always ground what I write in a feeling of reality, in the today so it’s easy for people to identify with it. Challenge is to yet focus in on human relationships and human emotions. To portray our need to understand ourselves better, to belong to a tribe, to a society, to a country, our search to find where we belong. To be able to yet bring this out in nuanced ways while all the time the world outside the window is exploding with uncertainty. And then the freedom to explore all this through a layered plot line; through suspense, mystery, conflict and twists and turns.  Yes, that the challenge and the joy.

While writing, I always draw on intense emotions I have experienced ... which are caused by real life experiences of myself or of people I have met. But then I build on that, dramataise it. So often the characters are a mix of many people I know...
​
The challenge for me is to get so absorbed in the story and in the characters of the book, that real life became an intrusion. I resented having to live my own boring life and go to work and do the things one does to live. I wanted to live in the world I was creating which felt infinitely more awesome! It was like living in two different worlds and very disorienting. About the Author She had an awesome time launching TV channels for MTV and NBCUniveral (Syfy) around the world, when a near death experience convinced Laxmi Hariharan that she had to get writing. NOW. A one time journalist with The Independent, she is now the author of the multi award winning fantasy adventure, The Ruby Iyer Series.
She also blogs for the Huffington post, has written for The Guardian and has been featured in publications including The Economic Times, The Times of India and Verve.
Married to a filmmaker and fellow author, her life often resembles a dramedy of errors film script. Born in Bombay she now lives in London, where she writes while listening to electronica and is an avid street art photographer. She is also the proud owner of a mononym Twitter handle @laxmi

Receive a free copy of THE RUBY IYER DIARIES when you sign up to her newsletter http://bit.ly/NewsletterLH
Reach Laxmi, on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/laxmihariharanauthor
on Twitter https://twitter.com/laxmi
on Instagram http://www.instagram/com/laxmiwrites

Suggested reading order in The Ruby Iyer Series (Each is a standalone book)
The Ruby Iyer Diaries :   http://bit.ly/RubyIyerDiariesAmazon
Many Lives (of Ruby Iyer) :  http://bit.ly/ManyLivesofRubyIyer
First Life (of Vikram Roy) : http://bit.ly/VikRoy
Inside Dark (The Elusive Life of Kay Braganza), coming soon
Second Lives, coming soon
Secret Life, coming soon

Stories set in the Ruby Iyer universe
UnTamed : Leana the Wolf Girl (Part of the UnCommon Bodies Anthology)
​ ​Enter a $10 festive giveaway HERE > http://www.laxmihariharan.com/p/ruby-iyer-giveaway.html

Featured - Release Blitz for "Married by Christmas" by Lindsay Downs

About the Book Blurb - Married by Christmas

When Nash, Marquis of Renfield, learns of a plot to make his love, Lady Amelia, marry someone else he marshals his friends, their wives along with both sets of parents and retreat to the Fenwick ducal estate.
Everyone starts planning for a Christmas Eve ball until things go awry, in the name Smedley, allegedly the only son of the Earl and Countess of Rosewood.
At first it was thought Rosewood, supposedly in the dun, was after Amelia’s dowry. It turned out the earl and countess were seeking more. Power. Great power which could bring England to its knees.
When Nash is kidnapped it falls on Amelia and their friends to rescue him. With the assistance of Justin, Nash’s groom, they devise a plan to save him from certain death.
Once back at the ducal palace Nash keeps his word to Amelia just as the ball starts.
The duke and duchess are also hiding a secret from everyone in regards to the Rosewood earldom.


Excerpt - Married by Christmas
​
Strolling up to his valet, Nash saw the man frowning which wasn’t a good sign.
“M’ lord, welcome. It seems the ride with the maids was interesting, to say the least, enlightening at most.”
“Let’s wait until we’re out of earshot then you can tell me,” Nash stated.
He accepted a nod from his valet, then followed Ryan into the tavern and up the stairs to the first floor then down the opposite hall from the ladies. The fact they were a distance away made him happy.
Nash shrugged out of his jacket followed by his cravat and shirt. After he dropped them onto the bed he took care of his needs. With his hands washed, he splashed water on his face then ran his wet fingers through his unfashionably long hair. Dried off, he returned to where Ryan awaited.
Accepting a clean shirt, he fastened it then waited while a new cravat was tied. That done he turned to his valet. “All right what had you distraught earlier and still does.”
“What I’m going to tell you was told me in confidence but with permission to inform you. It would seem the true reason for Lady Amelia to travel in your company wasn’t to see how you both dealt with it but something more sinister. Her Grace didn’t collect Lady Amelia but the other way around.”
“I don’t understand, why did Her Grace say it differently?”
“The eldest son of an earl, close to being in the dun, is trying to marry her under his father’s direction. They are hoping the dowry will rescue them from debtor prison.”
“So, by sending Lady Amelia to London with me, her parents are hoping to throw the son off the scent?” Then, he remembered the note from his father. Stepping over to his jacket, freshly brushed out, Nash retrieved it, broke the seal, and read.
Son,
I’m sure by now you are aware of why Lady Amelia is traveling to London with you and your mother. Both myself and The Duke of Appleton have complete faith in you protecting her, your future bride.
I’ve remained behind but will shortly be joining you all.
Finally, might I give you a piece of advice, which I pray you’ll heed?
We men, in general, tend to forget important days in the lives of our wife. On that, I would suggest you marry by Christmas, if not on that date. This way you’ll never have to worry about overlooking your anniversary.
Thomas
Now it all made sense. The strange worried look in her eyes two days ago. Not to mention what the ladies had talked about when he’d returned to the sitting room before luncheon.
Nash marched over to the fireplace, took a lucifer stick, rubbed it against the stone mantle’s rough surface then touched the flame to the paper. He waited until the paper was almost engulfed, before throwing it in the hearth and watching the rest of it burn.
 
Buy Links - Married by Christmas
​
US- http://tinyurl.com/pcol7gw
UK- http://tinyurl.com/oosse7c
CA- http://tinyurl.com/pwe9tcg
AU- http://tinyurl.com/q5kwlyx
IN- http://tinyurl.com/ppzq4mh
​
​I’ve been an avid readers ever since I was old enough to hold a red leather bound first edition copy of Sir Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake in my lap.
So it only seemed natural at some point in my life I take up pen and paper to start writing. Over time my skills slightly improved which I attribute to my English teachers.
My breakthrough came about in the mid 1970’s when I read a historical romance written by Sergeanne Golon, Angelique. This French husband and wife team opened my eyes to the real world of fiction. Stories about romance, beautiful damsels, handsome heroes and plots which kept me hooked. Of course, being a man, I had to keep my reading hidden from others as that wasn’t appropriate reading for men.
With this new found appreciation of the written word I took up other books and devoured them as a starving person would a plate of food. I them attempted to write again. I still wasn’t satisfied so I put it aside for years as other events entered my life.
Finally, in the early years of the new millennium I tried again to write and once again met with limited success. At least now I was able to get past the first page or two. Then, in 2006 a life changing event brought me back to my love, I took a job as a security officer. This allowed me plenty of time to read different genres.
My favourite was regency. As I poured through everyone I could get my hands on I knew this could be something I wanted to attempt.
In 2012 when my debut regency romantic suspense released I was hooked and have, except for a few contemporaries, focused on this genre.
Since 2012 I’ve lived in central Texas. I’m also a member of Romance Writers of America and their local chapter.
 
Where you can find me -

Facebook- http://tinyurl.com/pgq8vzz
Facebook Pages- http://tinyurl.com/nresq5j
Twitter- @ldowns2966
LinkedIn- http://tinyurl.com/e8t56
Goodreads- http://tinyurl.com/prcdmml
Lindsay Downs-Romance Author- http://tinyurl.com/kvfz468
Amazon- http://tinyurl.com/ktem76c

Featured - 5-Day Blog Tour for the "Second Chance Cafe" Anthology - Day 5

Click here for the introductory post for the anthology. Spotlight on ABBIE JACKSON's story Sometimes life gets in the way of books... Aussie author Abbie Jackson is busy moving house with her family today, so this will be a shorter, more general spotlight. I'm wishing her and her loved ones all the best in their new home! :-)
​

Shannon’s Legacy - Blurb:
Shannon's cancer has spread and she is running out of time.  Fast! She is determined to find a miracle for her death sentence, but what she discovers along the way may be just the second chance she needed.
Her husband, Matt wants to enjoy her remaining time as a family, not in a hospital, and Shannon must also prepare her young son for a future without her. Will Shannon's determination be enough?

Two line Tag:
Shannon’s time is running out. Fast. The love of her family pushes her to find a cure for the cruel hand she’s been dealt. Will determination be enough? About the Author Abbie Jackson is a young mum of four toddlers, runs her own business, and in her spare time (that’s a joke), she writes novels and enjoys cooking and baking.
Abbie lives in South-East Queensland and has travelled extensively around the world prior to having her family. Abbie loves writing across multiple genres including fantasy, sci-fi, romance, crime and children’s stories.
 
Email:  abbiejacksonauthor@gmail.com
Website: www.abbiejackson.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AbbieJacksonAuthor
PayPal: abbiejacksonauthor@gmail.com
​ Second Chance Café buy links:
 
iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/second-chance-cafe/id1055312419?mt=11
 
Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-chance-cafe-susanne-bellamy/1122908100?ean=2940152444353
 
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588802
 
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Z7V4SC/

Featured - Book Blitz for TO EACH HIS OWN by Anna Albergucci

To Each His Own by  Anna Albergucci Series: Falling In Deep Collection
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Scottish HistoricalRelease Date: August 30, 2015


Douglass McGrail is a Scottish water horse—his clan the deadliest in the British Isle. When the shifter chooses to save—rather than eat—a young lassie, he never expects her innocent face to mark his memory so strongly.

Months later, he stumbles onto a perceived attack in progress and plays the hero once more. He’s shocked to find the victim is the same lass who haunts his dreams.

Jinny Fairchild is an English miss who’s come to the Highlands to live with her last remaining family. She is pursued by her handsome older cousin, Lachlan Brockhouse, but he has a dark side that lands her in the path of the mighty Douglass McGrail.

Douglass wants Jinny for himself, yet discovers she is connected to the attacker she denies knowing. He’s determined to find the truth.

Jinny loves Lachlan, even with his dark side. And she loves Douglass, even with his dark secret. Her heart is torn, but one thing is certain—no matter which of these men she chooses, she will be choosing a monster.






Click HERE to listen to the Anna's Playlist for TO EACH HIS OWN!




Anna Albergucci has always had a vivid imagination. When she was a child, she entertained her mother and anyone who would listen with the telling of her intricate dreams. Now she puts that inspiration to paper, weaving her stories into deeply passionate characters that live lives the rest of us only dream about.

Married to her high school sweetheart, Anna lives in Texas surrounded by her ever-growing family and her fur babies. She serves as president of Cisco Writers Club, and is the founder of a yearly writers’ retreat she hosts at her estate each fall.

She loves mornings, coffee, and sitting on the porch appreciating her life. She’s a sucker for hosting parties, especially historical costume parties. And in her spare time you can find her touring old mansions, shopping for antiques, or curled up reading a romance, paranormal, or thriller, whether historical or contemporary.

Featured - Author Interview with Jo Lambert

Author Interview with JO LAMBERT ​What do you like most and least about being a writer?
 
Since I was a small child I’ve loved storytelling and I guess, for me, that is one of the pleasures of being a writer – creating your own version of the world for other people to read and enjoy.  I also love working with my cover designer to create that all important front image. And, I guess the best moment of all is holding the finished book in your hand and saying to yourself, ‘I did this’.
 
The worst?  Well that has to be the editing – checking, cutting, changing, and rewrites.  I know it’s an incredibly important part of the process but after the great buzz of actually writing the book it certainly brings you back down to earth! Thank heaven I have a brilliant editor!
 
I read and enjoyed your book “Summer Moved On”, and I think the title fits perfectly. How do you come up with titles and what do you think is important about them?
 
Apart from one, all of my books have been named after song titles.  I love music and my playlists, which are in constant use while I’m writing, are so important to me. It seemed quite natural then once the writing was completed to explore the idea of using songs for my book titles.
 
For my very first novel I chose When Tomorrow Comes by The Eurythmics.  My second book was more difficult and I eventually abandoned the song theme and came up with Love, Lies and Promises instead. However, I was soon back on the song title track - The Ghost of You and Me (BB Mak) came next, Between Today and Yesterday (Alan Price) and The Other Side of Morning (a slightly altered This Side of the Morning by Scottish band Del Amitri) followed. Summer Moved On came from Norwegian band A-Ha and my current WIP’s title comes from Swedish duo Roxette.   And…I know of at least two other writers who use this method, so I’m not alone.
 
What inspired the story of “Summer Moved On” and its underlying theme of new beginnings and second chances?
 
While my fifth book, the last in my Little Court series, was away being edited I decided to work on some ideas for my next project.  I’d had a lot of thoughts about ‘Life after Little Court’ but nothing I came up with made me feel I’d found the story I was looking for.  Then suddenly it was there - the idea of two people from totally different backgrounds meeting and falling in love and all the complications and drama that could bring with it.  On this occasion although I wanted to write a contemporary romance there were going to be similarities to my Little Court novels.  It would have a village background, involve family issues and have my trademark love-to-hate female antagonist.
 
This time I created the fictitious village of Lynbrook in South Devon, one of my favourite parts of the UK.  Once I had developed bios for my central characters - middle class Jess, gypsy Talún and the incredibly obnoxious Lily -  I sat down at the PC and began to weave a story around them and Summer Moved On was born.
 
Did you have to do a lot of research for your book? How did you do it?
 
Actually I needed hardly any for this book.  As I’m familiar with village life it was very easy to create and populate the fictitious community of Lynbrook with characters. The Black Bull was based on a country pub I know well and yes, it does have its own cricket team! The only thing I did have to work on was Jess’s career as a teacher. Luckily I have a good friend who teaches and she was able to give me a lot of help and valuable information.  When I initially undertook this research, Summer Moved On was planned as a single novel. However as I wrote it was evident from the rising word count and the way the story was progressing that it was going to spill over into a sequel.  When I came to fully plotting the second book, I tweaked Jess’s story slightly which meant I didn’t require the teaching information after all – but as I never throw anything away  it’s on file in case I need it in future!   
 
Any hidden talents or crazy facts about you?
 
I confess to having a bit of a  ‘thing’ about notebooks.  In fact I can’t pass a stationery store without going in to check out the notebook section. I’ve a large collection, including project books, and yes, I do use them, but there are one or two special purchases which are so lovely I couldn’t bear to write in them.  
 
Your book “The Other Side of Morning” is set in England and Italy. Is there any other country you’d like to write about?
 
Italy is one of my favourite holiday destinations – Tuscany in particular. I love the country, the history, the people and, of course, the food.  In my other books I’ve also used Spain, Bali, Gran Cayman, Australia, New York and California.  This means I’m already quite a ‘well-travelled’ writer.  However, I think a return to the States would be nice. New England in the Fall maybe?
 
Tell us about the one thing you can’t write without.
 
Music.  I can’t work without it.  I set up playlists and use them in the background while I’m working. Scottish crime writer Iain Rankin was being interviewed on Breakfast television the other morning and he was talking about his use of music when working.  He said it created a bubble, something that shut out the world and allowed him to concentrate on his writing.  I thought ‘yes, that’s exactly what it does for me’.  
 
Oh and I couldn’t be without my muses.  I always have one for each of my principal male characters pinned to my notice board for inspiration while writing.
 
Do you have any advice for (aspiring) authors?
 
a) Read as much as possible, especially those books which are similar to your own work.
b) Stay focused.
c) A social media presence is a must – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and, of course, a blog and/or website.   
d) Finally and most important of all – get the services of a professional editor.  They are absolutely essential.
 
If you were suddenly forced to marry one of the characters you’ve written, who would it be and why?
 
Oh it would definitely have to be Marco from The Other Side of Morning. Of all the main male characters I have created he is the ‘special one’.  He’s a tall, dark, good looking Italian who runs the European restaurant side of his father’s multi-million pound business empire. He is a man who loves women and knows how to treat them.  He’s also a great mix of masculinity and vulnerability - probably one of my best character creations to date.
 
What are you currently working on?
 
I’m 11,000 words into the sequel to Summer Moved On – Watercolours in the Rain.  We catch up with Talún, Jess and Lily six years after the end of book one.  During those years there have been quite substantial changes for all of them - and more to come as fate brings them back together again.
​SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
 
Website: http://jolambertbooks.com
Blog:   http://jolambertwriter.wordpress.com
Googleplus:  google.com/+JoLambert
Twitter: @jolambertwriter
Facebook.com/joannalambert
​

Featured - 5-Day Blog Tour for the "Second Chance Cafe" Anthology - Day 4

Click here for the introductory post for the anthology. Spotlight on ELIZABETH ELLEN CARTER's story ​Excerpt – September Harvest
 
She inhaled the smell of his sweat mingled with the tang of lemon soap and Tilly, all thought of Nathaniel’s taunts about another girl gone from her mind, was transported back to the previous September night, her lips tingling in memory of the kiss.
The press of his body against hers awakened something surprising, unfamiliar to her, but she instinctively knew it had something to do with the kiss.
She blinked away tears and when she could see clearly once more, she could tell he remembered too. His head lowered an inch and stopped. As he started to raise it, Tilly stood on the balls of her feet to fill the gap.
The kiss and embrace was as she remembered, an utter contradiction – soft lips and hard muscles, warm mouth and cool breeze at her back.
“Tilly, you don’t know what you do to me.” His urgent, almost pained whisper answered something deep within. Then there was more, his lips coaxed hers open.
Then she knew he wanted her, needed her, loved her, and she gave everything in return in that kiss.
Then he held her away from him. Tilly frowned not knowing the reason why. Andrew’s eyes widened as though alarmed and he scrubbed his hand over his face. She couldn’t fathom the reason until the blood rushing in her ears stopped and she heard a female voice, young, perhaps her own age...
“Andy?” the voice called. Blurb​

​Seasonal crop picker Andrew is still a boy himself when he introduces 12 year old Tilly to reading. Instantly besotted both with Andrew and with books, Tilly eagerly awaits his return to her village over the course of 7 summers. Childish adoration is now a young woman’s love but has she misread his feelings for her over the years? About the Author Elizabeth Ellen Carter’s debut novel, Moonstone Obsession, was published in 2013 by Etopia Press. Earlier that year, the Regency adventure romance had been shortlisted in the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Set in England and France during the French Revolution, it was heralded as ‘edge-of-seat adventure and intrigue’ and ‘a rollercoaster of love, blackmail, ill-gotten gains, treason and trickery’ with Carter described as ‘a writer worth keeping an eye on’ with ‘a hint of classic suspense novelist Daphne du Maurier’.
Her second novel, Warrior’s Surrender, was published by Etopia the following year. Set in Northumbria in 1077, it sets the relationship between a displaced Saxon noblewoman and a Norman baron against the turbulent backdrop of England in the years following the Norman invasion of 1066. Reviewers found the novel ‘a fast moving and passionate read’ with ‘strong characters, an intriguing plot, and plenty of action… a sexy romance to be savoured’. Readers agreed, voting Warrior’s Surrender Favourite Historical Fiction in the 2015 Readers & Writers Down Under Readers Choice Awards.
Also in 2014, the short story Moonstone Promise, spinning off from Moonstone Obsession as part of Etopia’s Valentines Heat anthology, followed the fortunes of one of the supporting characters back home to 18th century Pittsburgh in a tale of ‘second chance romance’.
Warrior’s Surrender (now in print as well as eBook) was named Favourite Historical Fiction at the 2015 Readers & Writers Down Under Readers Choice Awards in March this year.
Carter moved up to 1802 for the light-hearted romantic short story Three Ships, part of the Christmas 2014 anthology A Season To Remember, and ventures briefly into contemporary romance for the first time with her Romance Writers of Australia annual Little Gems competition placegetter, The Tin Bear, publishing in August 2015.
And another Moonstone Obsession character, the sinful Lady Abigail Houghall, features in the full length novel Moonstone Conspiracy, coming from Etopia Press in 2015.
Carter is currently working on her fourth novel, set in ancient Rome and tentatively titled Dark Heart, which will bring together the elements for which she has become known in just a few years – in-depth historical detail woven through gripping adventure and captivating romance.
The author lives in Australia with her husband and two cats. A former newspaper journalist, she ran an award-winning PR agency for 12 years.
 
Web: http://eecarter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethEllenCarter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EECarterAuthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/eecarterauthor/

​ Second Chance Café buy links:
 
iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/second-chance-cafe/id1055312419?mt=11
 
Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-chance-cafe-susanne-bellamy/1122908100?ean=2940152444353
 
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588802
 
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Z7V4SC/

Featured - 5-Day Blog Tour for the "Second Chance Cafe" Anthology - Day 3

You can find the introductory post for the anthology here. Spotlight on NOELLE CLARK's story Tag line for ‘Encore’
The roar of applause fills her ears. Louisa Frank has never forgotten a line, so why is she doomed to a life of waiting off-stage in the shadows?
​

Excerpt of ‘Encore’ by Noelle Clark
 
When she’d first met James, he had a girlfriend. A pretty young thing—if you liked them flat-chested, bony, and brainless—whose name was Carole.
Carole had many annoying habits, but the worst was how she followed James around like a puppy. At one point, Louisa thought of buying her a bag of liver treats and locking her in the bathroom. James and Louisa had lines to learn, scenes to practice. Having Carole underfoot every moment was a most unsatisfactory situation.
Eventually, Louisa told James that if he wanted to be her leading man, he had to ditch the blonde. Not permanently, but long enough for them to rehearse. It was James’s idea to head off to Café Cleo after every performance. He apparently told Carole that it was a ‘Director’s Meeting’, where they went over the night’s performance and fixed any issues. He told her she wouldn’t be at all welcome. Instead, as soon as the curtains went down, Carole caught a taxi home. On her own.
Those hours spent in the Café Cleo were the start of a great—a magnificent—love affair.

​
​BLURB for Encore
 
Louisa Frank is a creature of habit, borne of years of discipline.
She lives with one foot in the glorious past, the other in the mundane and lonely present. If it wasn’t for Alfie Baretto, she might have been forgotten, lost in a sea of successful young starlets.
In the narrow streets of Hell’s Kitchen, in a small but atmospheric diner called Café Cleo, Alfie ensures the Broadway star—Louisa Frank—will forever be feted by theatre-goers, and remembered for her amazing performances. For fifty years Café Cleo has supported the Off-Off-Broadway stars—the non-Equity actors who were forbidden from performing in the big name theatres on and off Broadway. Instead, the rebel movement grew, allowing actors to tread the boards in tiny establishments where they achieved their own brand of fame.
But the years have passed slowly for Louisa. Will the endless quest for a return to the glory years ever end?

About the Author Bio for Noelle Clark
Noelle Clark is an Australian author of contemporary romance novels, rural romance, and historical fiction. Her books weave romance, intrigue, and adventure into colourful and interesting settings. They feature characters who deal with love and loss; and who experience the often difficult facets of life, such as forgiveness and redemption.
Noelle lives close to the sea in sunny Queensland, Australia, and shares her home with one cat and two dogs. She has two grown up children and four very small grandchildren. When Noelle's not writing and travelling, she procrastinates a lot thinking about travel, and perfecting ways to avoid housework.
 
Other books by Noelle Clark
Let Angels Fly
Rosamanti
Honor’s Debt – Book 1 Robinhill Farm Series
Honor’s Promise – Book 2 Robinhill Farm Series
Honor’s Legacy – Book 3 Robinhill Farm Series
 
Contact Noelle Clark
www.noelleclark.net
https://www.facebook.com/NoelleClark.Author
​ Second Chance Café buy links:
 
iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/second-chance-cafe/id1055312419?mt=11
 
Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-chance-cafe-susanne-bellamy/1122908100?ean=2940152444353
 
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588802
 
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Z7V4SC/

Featured - 5-Day Blog Tour for "The Second Chance Cafe" Anthology - Day 2

Click here for the introductory post for the anthology. Spotlight on SUSANNE BELLAMY's story More about The Wish List:

In the throes of beginning my short story for this year’s Christmas anthology, I had written about three thousand words of a story that began at the Mackay Airport and featured a hero named Jax and a daytime soap star who had been friends when they were younger, before life and ambition drew them along separate paths. Partly inspired by the song, ‘Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?’, the story was travelling along at the pace of the tropical cyclone bearing down on the Central Queensland coast when, over Queen’s Birthday long weekend, our beautiful German Shepherd, Anna, passed away suddenly. She was almost 13 years of age, old for her breed, and her passing devastated us. So much so that I stopped writing for several weeks.
 
And when I set fingers to keyboard again, Jax and the cyclone were blown away by a need to remember Anna and her winsome ways, the conversations we’d had, and her beautiful nature. Anna in my story is the younger version of our lovely girl. I hope you enjoy her story, and that of her mistress, Julie, whose Jack owns a Shepherd remarkably like our Ricky of many years ago.
 
In loving memory of Anna and Ricky 
​ ​
​The opening scene of The Wish List:
 
Julie Aster sat in the middle of the oval in Toowoomba’s main park and leaned back on her elbows. Turning her face to the sun, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift back to last night’s dream. Fantasy man ticked all her boxes of course, but his face was frustratingly unclear. “If only you hadn’t woken me before I got to see his face.” She stretched out a hand to pat her German Shepherd and met empty air.
“Anna? Where have you got to, girl?” Champion novice dog at puppy training school, Anna simply did not wander far from her mistress. Flutters of concern stirred in Julie’s belly and she put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. Queen’s Park off-leash area was a sea of red, gold and every shade in between. Two streaks, one golden and the other, black, raced out of dense shade at the edge of the park, sending a flurry of autumn leaves flying in their wake.
A huge black Shepherd, the biggest Julie had seen, followed Anna across the lush green grass. Anna came straight to her and sat on her left, smiling to show she was very pleased with her discovery, or so Julie interpreted.
“Found a friend, did you? Where’s your owner, boy?” Julie presented her closed hand for the dog to smell then hunkered down to pat both Anna and her new friend. “He’s a handsome fellow, isn’t he, Anna? Seems like this park is doggie-dating heaven.”
A shadow fell across them and a deep voice rumbled above their heads. “Bear’s been making friends, I see, and with the best-looking females in the city.”
Tingles of awareness ran down Julie’s spine at the whiskey-smooth voice. Anticipation throbbed at the image it created. Silly, you know you’ll be disappointed. Wanting to hold onto the image a moment longer, she fiddled with Anna’s collar and patted her blonde head. Gentle chocolate-brown eyes looked up, and a pink tongue flicked her nose as she waited, body quivering with anticipation.
“Bear? Suits him.” Steeling herself against inevitable disappointment, her gaze lifted, up a pair of denim-clad legs and Jimmy Barnes T-shirt that showed off a toned and muscled torso, and into the face of Bear’s owner. Unshaven and with light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, his smile charmed as cinnamon-brown eyes crinkled at the corners.
The belly flutters that had subsided with Anna’s reappearance returned as full-sized butterflies swarming around their favourite plants. Ruggedly handsome in an outdoorsy way, Bear’s owner had a killer smile, and a German Shepherd. And despite the cheesy pick-up line, entries two and three on her wish list stood before her rolled into one very tall . . . and attractive package.
Add the sexy voice and she was probably drooling as much as Anna.
Julie’s hand tightened on Anna’s collar as she struggled to come up with a witty comment. Her mouth opened and closed while Bear’s owner hunkered down and wrapped an arm over his dog and stroked Anna’s head.
“Your dog is lovely. No wonder Bear was—interested.” His eyebrow rose cheekily as he stood and held out one hand. “Jack Schulz.”
She shook his hand, surprised to find him towering above her. At five-feet-nine, she usually looked guys directly in the eye. “I’m Julie Aster and this is Anna.”
“So, Julie and Anna Aster, can Bear and I interest you in a coffee? 
​ Second Chance Café buy links:
 
iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/second-chance-cafe/id1055312419?mt=11
 
Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-chance-cafe-susanne-bellamy/1122908100?ean=2940152444353
 
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588802
 
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017Z7V4SC/
​