Mishka Jenkins's Blog, page 9

Romance Weekly #lovewritechat

It’s Romance Weekly Blog Hop time! :D

If you’ve come from Fiona Riplee’s blog, then welcome! If not, why not check out her post?

This week we’ve been challenged with writing another flash fiction based on this GIF: http://weheartit.com/entry/101884590

So here’s my attempt! (I combined this with another writing exercise, where it was a challenge not to use any names. Hope you enjoy it. It came out at 364, instead of 300. I really need to practice hitting word counts on flash fiction :D ).

-

Sunlight, which once offered a warm embrace, beat down upon them like the fires of a volcano as they stood in the graveled courtyard together. There was a heavy silence, filled with unspoken words that battered against them as hot as the heat of the sun.

“My car will be here soon.” She kept her gaze cast on the ground.

He said nothing in reply, but a small furrow appeared between his thick brows, strands of black hair falling into his eyes.

She shouldn’t have been surprised by the lack of response, but deep down it hurt her to receive nothing.

The gravel crunched beneath the tyres of the gleaming Mercedes, the engine purring as it drew to a stop.

She glanced up at him, his gaze averted from hers. “Goodbye.”

She moved to take a step away, but he gripped her arm. Still he said nothing.

When his thumb raised to her lips, her breath stuttered. A simple, gentle touch that was more intimate than anything she’d experienced before and sent a shiver coursing through her.

His face was only inches from hers, his breath whispering over her skin. For a long moment his lips danced on the edge of touching hers, his thumb still pressed against her bottom lip, parting her mouth slightly.

Her heart beat so fast she thought it would rip from her chest, but she stood unmoving, waiting.

His lips were like wings against her own as they teased at the edges of a kiss she was desperate to receive.

The car beeped its horn, startling him out of the moment which had caught them. His eyes widened, realising his actions and he took a wide step back.

It was as though he took the air from her lungs, her throat tight at his dismissive action.

She bit her lip, half to stop from crying and half to capture the teasing feel of his lips upon hers.

She turned away.

“I would have given you everything.” He talked so rarely, she almost didn’t recognise his voice.

She glanced over her shoulder, a sad smile dulling her eyes. “I didn’t want everything,” she whispered. “I only wanted you.”

-

Another fun challenge! Think I’m definitely going to have to attempt more flash fiction in the future :D

Now why not check out the very talented S.C.Mitchell, author of Son of Thunder, and see what he’s written for this challenge!

-

Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Editing. (Nearly there!)

Books read: 2/4

Mid September book review: Written and ready.

Good to be back :)

So, I am back from my vacation :D Which was an amazingly good time and I loved it!

Some pics:

Me reading in my amazing colourful pyjamas!

Books we took to read.

Harli enjoying the beach.

A pic of the amazing sunset by my very talented mum- Twisted Pixel on Flickr- Click on pic to go to photostream

I had planned to do some writing and reading whilst I was there, but ended up staring into space for the entire week. I think my brain really needed to do nothing for a whole 7 days.

Whilst on vacation I realised just how stressed out I had gotten. I was so busy and overwhelmed that I was not in a good place! Although I have tried my best to be organised and keep to a schedule, I think I was trying to pour too much into a working day and it was getting too much to handle.

Then I saw this post this morning- http://nhwn.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/remember-to-make-time-for-yourself-not-only-work-and-family/, and it inspired me to make a change that was most definitely needed.

Most of my day is taken up by social media (blogging, facebook, twitter, etc), which I know is very important in building an author platform, but surely, it can’t be more important than doing the actual writing when taking on a writing career, right?

So, my plan from now is to only do 2 hours of social media a day. A big cut from the 5+ hours I was spending on it before! But I really think it needs to be done. It means I won’t be able to comment as much on blogs or re-tweet so much, but I will hopefully learn to utilise those two hours more effectively, rather than letting the social media side of my career drag on and on throughout the day and into the night!

And that was pretty much all that came out of my vacation: a much needed revise of my schedule! I did manage to read one book, but that was about it, I really did just sit, stare, and walk on the beach.

It was the perfect vacation :D

How long do you spend on social media? Do you ever need to revise your schedule? Are you good at sticking to a schedule? If you have any tips, then please let me know! :)

-

Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Editing. (Finally has a title though! :D Will do reveal soon).

Books read: 2/4

Mid-September Book Review: Written and ready.

The Queen’s Jester- A passion fuelled, fantasy romance.

The Queen’s Jester

Fantasy romance.

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Barnes and Noble

Blurb:

An exquisite wedding gift. A husband whom she loves. A Jester who she craves. A Kingdom in peril.

After receiving a beautiful emerald amulet at the celebrations of her wedding, new Queen Marie finds solace in the stunning, yet strange amulet. A warm comfort that fills the hole that her husband has left with his distance at her every affectionate touch.

That is until the new Jester arrives, his presence fuelling in Marie an instant burning need.

The more she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic man, the quicker she realises he is anything but the fool.

Marie must make a choice, one that could not only affect her marriage and her life…

But her entire Kingdom.

Heart of the Arena- A fast paced, historical romance.

Heart of the Arena

Historical Romance

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Barnes and Noble

Blurb:

Ancient Rome is a dangerous place, in more ways than one.

Captured by slavers, distraught but determined Sabina is thrust into the world of gladiators. Disguised as a man, she struggles to remain undetected whilst navigating through her new life.

But love forces its way into her focus again and when a haunting figure from her past re-emerges, the couple’s fate is to be decided in the Heart of the Arena.

Promote Yourself!

Seeing as I’m away this week and having my own marketing posts scheduled, I thought why not let others promote their work as well?

It’s always nice to find some great new books to read or blogs to follow!

So go ahead and post your links to blogs or books in the comments, maybe add a bit of detail about what the book is about or what your blog deals with :)

I will be certain to check them out when I get back!

Have a great week everyone and I will be back on Monday 15th to reply to comments and emails then!

Stolen Bloodline- A Paranormal romance.

Stolen Bloodline

Paranormal Romance

To Buy:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Barnes and Noble

Blurb:

Stolen away from her humdrum life, Imogen is thrown into a dark world where the creatures from tales are not only real, but rule the realm.

Vampires.

In this world of dark, moonlight is Imogen’s only source of safety, but the moon’s glow reveals a lot more than she ever realised. She soon learns her heritage and bloodline are what put her in danger, and the reason these vampires are keeping her hostage. But with a father who doesn’t even care enough to call, how was she supposed to know?

Held captive by the vampire leader, Bane, and his brother, Caden, Imogen must find a way to keep herself alive. Yet, the longer she remains, the more she wonders whether those she feared are the ones she should trust, as new truths continue to shine through.

When Bane shows Imogen that life in a world of dark can be more enlightening than her own sunlit realm, it seems that, though he may have stolen her from home, she risks him stealing her heart as well.

Prophecy of Stones- A fantasy, romance, adventure!

Prophecy of Stones

Fantasy, adventure romance.

To Buy:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Barnes and Noble

Blurb:

The bond of love can conquer all, but only if it is accepted.

-

Prophecy states that three champions imbued with the best virtues of the mortal race: heart, strength and soul, will be the ones to save them all from an enemy which threatens to steal the life from their world and those who live upon it.

These three, along with their scribe, his bond mate, and an overly sarcastic oracle, must set off on a journey which will take them through forest, city, swamp and mountain. On this quest they activate the magical stones which charge the only weapon powerful enough to defeat Tildar and his cult of Dwell.

Yet the closer they draw to journey’s end, the more it seems that it is not the evil which will be their downfall, but the fear of a champion unwilling to accept the bond of their destiny.

Prophecy of Stones is a tale of adventure, love and magic.

Trailer:

Time for a refuel!

Photo by Twisted Pixel on Flickr

So, tomorrow I am going on vacation (as I may have mentioned already a few times because I’m very excited! :D).

To keep to schedule I was supposed to have finished my edits on my manuscript to send to my readers today, but I found myself rushing through editing to get it out in time. Instead, I have decided to finish my first round of edits and leave it. I will come back to editing after my break and send it out later to my readers.

I will not compromise on the quality of my books in order to keep to schedule! :D I’d rather release a quality piece of work at a later date then publish something that isn’t at the highest standard on the date I’ve set. If that makes sense?

I will have a few scheduled posts up next week, but they will be marketing posts. I will make sure to reply to emails and comments the day I get back (Monday 15th September).

Until then, I hope everyone has a brilliant week! :D

Reblog Thursday!

My reblog button is having a hate on me again, so I’m having to link this week’s post :D

http://writeitonmywall.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/breathe-life-with-your-words/ – We’ve all been through doubting our writing and struggling, and this post really resonated with me because of it.

I won’t be around much today, so if I haven’t commented on your post I am super sorry! I am reading them, but I also just realised that I don’t have the weekend to do editing as I’m going on vacation Saturday, so now I’m scrabbling around trying to get it finished ready to send to readers!

Have a great day everyone and if you have any posts to recommend to others, why not leave them in the comments? :)

August 2014 Round-Up and September 2014 Plan

Books and Reading Wednesday postponed until Friday, because I am currently writing it! :D

So, September already!

Actually this month felt rather normal compared to the others which have whipped by! It was still a busy month, but a bit more manageable at least.

Now a round up of August:

- Kept to schedule even though I completely skipped a week of writing.

– Posted every scheduled day.

– Started posting scheduled posts on a weekend.

– Got some great reviews for my books, including my newest, Prophecy of Stones.

– Connected regularly with other bloggers, who I have to say are some amazing, talented, and very supportive people!

– Found the ‘Home’ button on Facebook! :D Meaning I can share other authors links more effectively.

– Read 5 books (1 over target, oh yeah!)- Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee, In Search of a Love Story by Rachel Schurig, Sins of the Father by Melissa Barker-Simpson, The Unraveling of Lady Fury by Shehanne Moore, The Camelot Code by Sam Christer

– Started my Books and Reading Wednesday posts!

– Managed to write a couple of short pieces.

– Had an amazing interview done with DKC

– Didn’t do well on marketing :(

I really am going to have to market better and in an imaginative way!

I have hardly done any marketing and seeing as I am trying to make this my career I am just going to have suck it up and get to it :D

I’m still tempted by trying my hand at drawing, which I took back up this month after having a break. I did a couple of fan art pieces (sorry about quality, my scanner hates me so I took pics with camera):

Daniel and Teal’c from Stargate SG-1

Anders and Hawke from DA2 (Far too obsessed with this game!)

Maybe a teensy bit obsessed with this Stargate SG-1 too!

Would illustrations of scenes from a book be the type of thing that might get you interested in it? Any idea for other forms of imaginative marketing?

Anyway, moving onto September.

Plan:

1st-5th- Self edits of manuscript/ Hopefully come up with a title!

6th-14th- Vacation! Woohoo! :D

6-21st- Off to the readers/Work on cover/ Work on blurb/ Create interest in my other books (aka. The dreaded marketing!).

17th- Mid-September Book Review.

22nd-29th- Final edits and read out/ Finish formatting/Drum up interest!

24th- End of September Indie Book Review.

30th- Release day!

Wow, that was a bit confusing :D

Goals:

- Read 4 books (which I should hit as I plan to read A LOT on my vacation).

– Do some actual marketing instead of grumbling about doing it :D

– Continue to actively support others and find new inventive ways of doing so.

– Write short and prompted pieces on regular basis.

Some other stuff that went on this month:

Elaine Jeremiah released her latest book, Reunion of the Heart!

The Amazing Winter (which should be her title with the amount she manages to accomplish!) got signed twice!

I won a copy of A Gift of Wings by Stephanie Stamm on the blog of L.Marie!

Blimey, that was a lot longer post than I meant it to be! Should be an exciting month :D



How was your August? Have you got much going on in September?

-

Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Editing first draft.

Books read: 1/4

Mid-September Book Review: Read, need to write review.