Contests and Fun with the Incomparable Gothic Author Leanna Renee Hieber and the Totally Paranormal Susan Hanniford Crowley
A Visit, Fun, and a Contest with the Incomparable Leanna Renee Hieber
My favourite thing about the holidays is the scents. Scent is a powerful sense in my books, and 
the fact that one of the heroes of my Strangely Beautiful series, Professor Alexi Rychman, smells of clove tea and leather-bound books is one of my favourite details. And one of Alexi's favourite things around this time of year is what his friend, Vicar Michael Carroll, concocts for the 'darkest nights of the soul'; freshly mulled wine. Mulling wine is simple, and you can add delicious spices as you see fit:
Vicar Carroll's Mulled Wine:
- Procure lovely red wine of your choice (we like a good Cabernet)
- Pour a bottle or two or five into a tall cooking pot
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, possibly some orange peel, add amounts to taste
- Cook on a light, slow warm heat to get all those wonderful spices into the wine, just don't overcook, the whiffs you'll get while stirring it carefully are worth standing over the stove for.
[image error]My holiday novella "A Christmas Carroll" (Strangely Beautiful #2.5), featured in A MIDWINTER FANTASY novella shifts our heroic focus from Alexi to Vicar Carroll. In the timeline of the series, this novella occurs between the last chapter of The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful #2) and the epilogue of that same novel. The novella brings us into a Dickensian event, wrought by familiar spirits from the Whisper-World, that will force Vicar Michael Carroll, and the woman he has loved for nearly 20 years, Headmistress Rebecca Thompson, to be wholly and dangerously honest with one another, else the souls that hinge upon their happiness be trapped forever in purgatory.
Here's how mulled wine stars in Chapter One of "A Christmas Carroll"
(© 2010 by Leanna Renee Hieber)
Vicar Michael Carroll turned the ladle in his pot of mulled wine and let the scented steam rise to his nostrils, unlocking emotion, memory and all those forces that such smells do around the Christmas holiday. He glanced out the window of the kitchen in his small Bloomsbury flat, which looked unflatteringly down upon an alley, and was pleased to witness a solitary flake of snow brush the thick, uneven glass before vanishing. It would be the first of many firsts this season, if the fates allowed.
Drawing himself a heaping tankard of Josephine's favourite Cabernet, procured from the stores of her café and heated with bobbing chunks of cinnamon, fruit and cloves, he moved into his small dining room. The corners of the chamber were plastered at uneven angles, having settled awkwardly at the beginning of the century when the building was new. The window here only gave half a view of the avenue beyond, but he could see lamplighters plying their trade and nearing his street. It was not yet dark, and a purple sky reigned over parapets and smokestacks that grew ever higher and higher, the churning wheels of industry cranking them upward to challenge twilight's celestial throne.
He sat at a rough-hewn wooden table worn smooth by use, by company and the press of his own hands. Sliding his palms forward onto it, he eased into his chair, bracing himself and his heart, connecting with something solid and simple. The odd powers that had coursed through his body had once made his fingers twitch. Those powers were no more. Nonetheless, holding his palms firmly down, rooting himself to the table and to humanity, was one of his usual exercises. It brought him peace.
(end of excerpt)..
I hope you'll check out what I think is a great holiday treat; A Midwinter Fantasy anthology, including "A Christmas Carroll" – available digitally in eBook form via all major
To keep abreast of the latest in my Strangely Beautiful series as well as my upcoming Victorian Gothic YA series Magic Most Foul, follow me
on Twitter: http://twitter.com/leannarenee
on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/lrhfbfan check out my blog at http://www.leannareneebooks.blospot.com and always at http://www.leannareneehieber.com
Here's the hot off the press just released link for my anthology!! Yay!
Contest: Now it's your turn: What is your favourite holiday scent?!
Share with us your favourite holiday scent for a chance to win a copy of The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker. This contest is for US residents only and the deadline is December 9, 2010 at midnight. Good luck!
Contests, Sweet Memories, and Giggles with the Totally Paranormal Susan Hanniford Crowley
My favorite memories of the Yule are in New York City and of looking at the windows of the big 
department stores like Lord and Taylor, Macy's, Saks, and Bloomingdale's. I especially loved the animated windows, where trains ran through little villages, ballerina dolls twirled, stuff bears growled, and snow fluttered down. I remembered when Saks did their entire store in silver stars and blue-white icicles.
Since this time of year always leads me back to New York, I decided to drop in on my favorite vampire secret society, the Arnhem Society. David Hilliard greeted me at the door.
"Lily!" (They call me Lily.) He hugged me. "Come in. You're just in time." Then he dragged me down the hall and into a beautiful ball room. They have a huge tree, and the vampires were putting on ornaments. Laura Cordelais floated up to the top and put on an angel.
"Funny, in my family we always use a ladder." In examining the ornaments, I found them unique and handmade. Some of them have names on them—stars with names and dates. Candy canes dangle from limbs.
"When is it coming out?" asked David.
"What?" I helped Trevor untangle lights.
"You're latest book—Mrs. Bright's Tea Room. It's about a floating brothel and a handsome airship captain, isn't it?" Laura asked.
"I've been told it's coming out soon at All Romance Ebooks. http://www.allromanceebooks.com I don't have the exact date."
"I'll have to watch for it," giggled Laura.
I loved just watching the vampires from the Vampires in Manhattan series all together. There must have been fifty or more vampires in the room all laughing and having fun, decorating this huge tree. Yes, I've only written four books in the series, so I'll have to write more.
Time for a sneak peek at Mrs. Bright's Tea Room!
Blurb:
The sky above Alternate Victorian London is filled with dirigibles, one being the notorious lavender brothel–Mrs. Bright's Tea Room.
Euthalia has no choice but to work for Mrs. Bright.
In walks handsome Airship Captain Travers, the Queen's spy.
Sparks aren't the only things flying with Travers, Euthalia's first customer.
Excerpt:
Travers smiled. Although he'd like to think that the pleasantries at Mrs. Bright's were merely a distraction until his business arrived, the truth was he took special pleasure in the opportunity to initiate a woman into lovemaking. He pulled out her demanded amount.
"Quite." With a smile, Mrs. Bright counted out the funds then handed him the key to #2, and he left.
Having been a patron of her girls' fare before, Captain Travers always thoroughly enjoyed himself. He unlocked the door and found a young women dressed in only a corset setting the tea. The usual savories were abound on the little platters, but in seeing her, he fully intended on tasting the sweet first.
Her young and tender face filled him with longing. Oh, to kiss her pale pink petal lips. To gaze into her deep lavender eyes. He wondered if her pale skin was soft to touch. Her ebony curls were crafted into a clever design framing her face and partially hanging down to her shoulders. The French cut blue corset revealed creamy white breasts. It was festooned with pink ribbons with ruffles culminating around her bare derriere.
"Would you like some tea, sir?"
Contest: Now for some games. I have three prizes. Answers can be found at my website: http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com but you must answer here to be eligible.
No. 1 is for current residents of the US and Canada. It a beautiful Vampire in the Basement T-shirt in XL. To enter the drawing for this shirt, put the name of the vampire Lorraine falls in love with in the comment box as well as your name.
No. 2 is for currents residents of the US and Canada. It's a signed copy of The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais. Yes, it's been released as a limited print edition and is available through my website. To enter the drawing for the book, put the name of the vampire that pulled Laura Cordelais out of the river in the comment box as well as your name.
No. 3 is worldwide. To enter the drawing for a PDF ebook of A Vampire for Christmas, tell me why you want a vampire for Christmas.
Contests are void where prohibited by law and the deadline for all the contests today are December 9, 2010 at midnight. Good luck and have fun.
–Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley
Where love burns eternal!
My Publisher: http://www.teasepublishingllc.com/
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHCrowley
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