Guest Blogger: Julie Kenner

Magic, magic all around…..


I love being a writer, partly because I get to be so many different things. For example, in my books (on shelves and upcoming), I’ve been a cat, a spy, a demon hunter (different demon hunters, actually), a vampire, a succubus, a werewolf, a demon, a psychic, a fireman, a bookstore owner, a werecat, a ferret, a codebreaker, a spy, a film producer, a superhero, and even a mom.

One thing you might notice is that my books often have paranormal elements, which is great for me because the paranormal market has really taken off, and that’s the natural direction of my imagination. There was actually a time (in relatively recent memory) when paranormal books weren’t nearly as hot. But I was always confident that couldn’t last. Why? Because paranormal stories strike a chord in people.

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we, and I'll show you what I mean.

Think about all the stuff that’s been out there in pop culture for years:

Dark Shadows -- this one's a bit before my time, but even I can't miss the allure of Barnabus.
My Favorite Martian
Lost In Space
Star Trek (and the 8 bazillion sequels and spin offs it spawned and still spawns)
Bewitched
I Dream of Jeannie -- anyone who's read my lighter stuff can probably tell that I was weaned on Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. In fact, I had it so bad that I used to go to flea markets with my mom and check out the old bottles, convinced that one of them would have a genie.
Batman
Battlestar Galactica
Star Wars
Close Encounters
It's a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th St.
Salem's Lot
Star Man
Highlander
Dracula
Frankenstein
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Invasion of the Body Snatchers,
Rosemary’s Baby
ET
X Files
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
And the list goes on and on.


Those stories cover the gamut. We've got pure fantasy, future worlds, magic, demons, vampires, immortals ... all inbred as part of our pop culture now.

So where were all these wonderful paranormal ideas coming from? Well, they come from the very beginnings of storytelling. Mythology, Homer, the Brothers Grimm.

The paranormal is nothing new.

In fact, have you every thought about how much classic children's fiction is fantasy or paranormal?

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings
Alice in Wonderland
A Wrinkle in Time
Half Magic
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Peter Pan
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Pretty much all the fairy tales

So what does that mean? Fantasy -- make-believe -- is a huge part of childhood. And it's spilled over into television and film and books. It's grown up with us, and its woven right in there as part of pop culture. No, not even pop cultures. Culture.

And, yes, maybe there was a period when the books weren’t a direct reflection of these paranormal worlds, but I have a thesis. I think that paranormal is inherent genre fiction, if not all of fiction. Heck, that it’s inherent in writing itself. Authors, after all, are creators. And if that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.

Thomas Carlyle said--All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books.

"Lying like magic" ... and authors put those thoughts and deeds into the books, and make a little magic of our own.

Visit Julie at her website, www.juliekenner.com, where you can learn more about her books, and even listen to her current release, TAINTED, in podcast format!

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Julie will give away a copy of one of her books to a commenter. The winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you won.

New! Holiday Gifts: Download versions of my hypnosis CDs

My wonderful web woman, Shelley of Webcrafters, has added downloadable versions of my hypnotherapy CDs -- along with the regular CDs -- for sale on my website. The downloads are half the price. 7 to choose from.

You can see/buy them here:
http://www.lyndahilburn.com/main.htm

If you try one, let me know what you think!

Guest Blogger: Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Danielle's winner is: Ari Thatcher! Congratulations, Ari. Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Danielle. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Put A Little Magic Into It

The world is full of wonder. Sometimes we forget about that. Everything that happens is a little bit of magic or miracle. As writers, particularly paranormal writers, we need to focus on that.

One of my favorite things is to take an event…just a normal event, and put a twist to it. Think what would make it different. Just an early example of this, in my eighth grade English class we had to write a story. My story was about the splendor of a moonrise, so overlooked and under appreciated in comparison to the sunrise. Now that is unusual in itself.

My narrarator…a rubber band dropped in a garden.
What can I say; I’ve always been odd that way.

Writers are in a unique position where they get to reorder the readers’ perception of the world. Give them rules and a framework for understanding and you can do anything you imagine. One way to do this is to create a social structure of knowledge for your characters. Think out the hows and whys and what-fors. Just remember, even with fantasy, logic has to be in there somewhere, or you better be prepared to explain why it isn’t. Once you have that in place you can play in the new reality you’ve created exploring character dynamics and heroic challenges with your imagination the guiding force. Nothing to hold you back but yourself. This can be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun for the author. Kind of like the first time you received a box of crayons…at first you were a two-year-old Jackson Pollock, then as you gained control and understanding a recognizable order began to take shape. First squiggles corresponded with the rough area on the page they belonged, then a little while later you understood the concept of coloring within the lines, until ultimately, you learned the joy of telling the lines to take a flying leap and made your own image.

In the speculative genres, we have no lines we do not impose ourselves.

One of the ways I like to explore this open field is to take the tropes everyone is familiar with and re-arrange them. Currently I’m playing in the faerie realm, just as an example. My faeries are bikers. Now, I know most people will say “What the heck?” But my bikers are modeled on the concept of faeries that kept generations of villagers leaving offerings on their hearths and hanging scissors over their cradles. Old World faeries had teeth…and worse. They were tough and harsh and malevolent. They were warriors. I mingled a bit of the old-world with the new, channeled magic into wings of energy and introduced the peculiar nature of the biker culture, complete with legends of their own, to revitalize the Disney-fied fae.

There is so much of world myth that has been lost to common knowledge, but not lost to time. A little bit of exploring on the internet or at your local library and you can find so many forgotten treasures to revamp your paranormal playground.

A good example of this are vampires. Yes, everyone has their own concept…from the Anita Blake novels to Sookie Stackhouse and beyond. But how much of what you read is made up from whole-cloth and how much is based on an actual existing myth? You would be surprise about how much everyone “knows” about vampires just from the Stoker novel is unsubstantiated by the actual legends found in nearly every culture. I have done research on vampires around the world for a current—unconventional—vampire novel I am working on and discovered only one legend that actually credits their version of vampires with not being able to go into the sun. If you want to explore an overdone subgenre do a little research, draw in uncommon knowledge about the common populous of our paranormal world…and if there is something so entrenched the readership will be in an uproar if you try and mess with it…rearrange what you cannot change.

One of my favorite things to do is find or devise an unanticipated reason for the assumptions everyone makes about a myth cycle. Just as an example, most elf or faerie fiction will claim that these creatures covet human young because they do not have many of their own, and why don’t they have many of their own? It is popular belief that it is because immortal (or near immortal) beings do not have the same need…compulsion…to reproduce so energetically. Since they live so long they don’t need to worry about replacing themselves before it is too late…basically. For me, I wanted a different reason, one that had at least the illusion of being grounded in the existing mythology. My elves rarely have young because the Irish believe in reincarnation, but they believe that you come back as your descendents. With that in mind, in my novels, Yesterday’s Dreams and Tomorrow’s Memories, which are based on Irish mythology, the elves are incapable of having young unless one of them dies…because that frees up the soul to return. Finite amount of souls, death equals birth. Some implication that there is a mythological basis.

I like to play that way. There is so much that you can do out of your own imagination or by exploring the underutilized aspects of existing mythology that can breathe new life into the paranormal genre, setting your work apart from the cookie cutter books that invariably begin to surface with the popularity of any particular fantasy denizen.

Play, have fun, don’t tie yourself down to what everyone expects. Above all, create.

www.sidhenadaire.com

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Danielle will give away copies of her ebooks to one commenter. Her winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

LA Times Article, VampBash & All-Day Halloween Chat

I was quoted in an LA Times Halloween story recently. How excellent. You can check it out here:
http://www.latimes.com/features/image/la-ig-monstermash25-2009oct25,0,6973459.story


Author Michele Hauf is holding an event -- VampBash -- on her blog. You can participate to win several books, including mine (DARK HARVEST). The DARK HARVEST scavenger hunt is dated Monday, October 26. Stop by and take a look:

http://vampchix.blogspot.com/

Also, Authorisland.com is holding an all-day Halloween chat today. Lots of great excerpts, blurbs, contests and conversations. Here's the official announcement:

ALL DAY HALLOWEEN CHAT
Clear your calendar for a fun and spooky AuthorIsland all day chat on Thursday the 29th as we share ghost stories, talk about great books and give away prizes!!! The festivities start at 8 am EST and go until the witching hour or until we all go to bed, whichever comes first ! Please stop by, join in the fun and bring your scariest ghost story!

TO JOIN THE CHAT - simply sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/authorislandchat you can set the group to INDIVIDUAL EMAILS to be in on the action from the get go, but be warned - it will get crazy!! - Or you can follow the chat on the group's home page.

Guest Blogger: Chris Marie Green

Chris's winner is: Rosie! Congrats, Rosie. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Chris. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Legend Tripping

Halloween!

Ghosts, goblins…things that go bump in the night. As a writer of vampire books, it’s a season when I’m in my element. I have scary movie marathons. I read all the short horror stories I can get my paws on. And, loveliest of lovelies—I get some fun ideas for my own work because I’m so steeped in thrills and chills.

Actually, when people ask me how I get ideas for my Vampire Babylon series at any time of the year, I tell them about how these “things that go bump in the night” can inspire me. Okay, maybe when I’m lying in bed thinking that I hear a serial killer in my closet (as with my second Vampire Babylon book, Midnight Reign), I’m not all that cool with the situation. But in the morning, when the light spills through my window?

Very thankful.

I’d like to tell you about one “bump in the night” element in particular though. I suppose you could even say that I grew up preparing to write vampire tales that include a touch of urban legends or folk tales because of this.

When I was a teenager, I was a legend tripper.

What’s that, you ask? Well, evidently, it’s a sociological thing where “young people” go to places like graveyards and haunted houses to prove their courage and, thus, impress whoever they’re trying to impress. Back then, I had no idea I was participating in such an activity. Sure, my friends and I (and the guys we were targeting) started off with your basic scary movie parties and visits to those haunted houses that civic groups put on at Halloween. But, after a few of those, it wasn’t enough to keep our hippity hormones hopping.

So, one nippy night, we decided we’d go to the Ol’ Mud Meetin’ House.

There was supposed to be a caretaker with one eye who watched over the scattered graves as well as a church-like building where slaves used to gather for worship. We crept past the chained gate, then snuck up the dead leaf-strewn hill, hoping to catch a flicker of a ghost.

Alas, after several visits, we didn’t see much besides beer cans--evidence of other hopeful legend trippers. So we graduated to more so-called haunted places around the area.

For instance, there was an isolated old home that was said to be a former civil war hospital. Inside, we thought we saw bloodstains on the wood floor. But outside was where the real terror was supposed to manifest: when a ghost was in residence, the window shutter would be open and, perhaps, a face would be visible.

Of course, on the night we went, it was closed.

Foiled yet again, we set off to another deserted house on a different weekend. At this location, legend had it that if you went upstairs, you’d find a chair in front of a mirror in a bedroom. And, if you looked in the mirror, you’d see the ghost of an old woman.

We never got that far, mainly because, this time, we were freaked out right off the bat.

On the first floor of this house lay a spread of toys: dolls, action figures, cars. Seriously, we had to wade through them, and the question of why they were there got to us. Where had the kids gone in such a hurry? More importantly…why?

Finally spooked, we ran out of the house. Outside to the right, I thought I saw a dark shape, and I “eeep”ed!

It turned out to be a cow, and it was the scariest bovine creature ever.

Yes, as legend trippers, we were perfect candidates for victims in a slasher movie. We were setting up ourselves to be ducks in a row for Jason Vorhees or some up-and-coming psycho who’d just escaped from a nearby facility with a hook instead of a hand.

But, oh, the research I ended up with!

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Chris Marie Green, who writes urban fantasy, also creates romances as Crystal Green. Her latest release is The Path of Razors, Vampire Babylon, Book Five, which continues the adventures of Dawn Madison and her vampire hunting team. Book Six, Deep in the Woods, will be released in March of 2010. To learn more, you can go to her Web site at www.vampirebabylon.com or follow her at Twitter at http://twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen.

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Chris will give away signed mass market copies of Night Rising, Vampire Babylon, Book One, and Midnight Reign, Book Two to one lucky commenter. Her winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Please stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Michelle Picard

Michelle's winner is: Penny Watson. Congrats, Penny! Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Michelle. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Thank you, Lynda, for inviting me to guest blog today. As part of my celebration of my Friday release, RULING EDEN at Crescent Moon Press, I’ve been reflecting on the nature of dreams. I’ll tell you why in a bit. RULING EDEN is part fantasy romance; part urban fantasy. In it I introduce my heroine, Rachel, a tough, modern woman who grew up on the streets, to a new existence including paranormal and mythological creatures galore.

I wanted to crash Rachel immediately into her unusual new world and show readers both her vulnerabilities and her strengths. In my research I’d come across a mythological creature called the baku. Baku are Japanese supernatural beings that, when called, devour dreams and nightmares. They ensure that a person’s day can begin in peace without the shadow of nightmarish fear. The idea fascinated me. I thought, what if Rachel woke from a recurring nightmare and found one of these sniffing around her bed?

So I wrote the scene and found out. She arms herself for a fight, that’s what she does. Later, when Gabriel, the half-angel, half-demon hero comes to her rescue and explains the nature of this beast, and that it’s been attracted to her nightmare and wanted to eat it, Rachel shows no relief. You’d think after a lifetime of bad dreams a person would want to be rid of them. But she’s never interested in this for herself. Why, I wondered?

Theories about dreams and their meanings abound. Sometimes seen as projections of parts of the self that have been ignored or rejected, or as representing aspects of the dreamer. Freud had suggested that bad dreams let the mind learn to gain control over distressing emotions. According to these thoughts, as well as other historical understandings, dreams can be used for healing. Assuming you don’t just view a dream as the “junk” floating around your head trying to be purged, they have meaningful roles in our lives and reflect who we are and who we’re trying to become. Should we be willing to let the baku take away a piece of ourselves altogether?

Rachel isn’t eager to erase her nightmares because she wishes to keep her fear. She sees it as a useful tool in helping her control her explosive anger, and as a check on the enormous magic power she gains in her new reality. She’s familiar with her “issues” and, sometimes, no matter how much we say we want to change and remove the burdensome shackles in our lives, changing is less desirable than the familiar. Change means hard work. Heck, it means an entire character arc must be played out through the story to lead my heroine down that road of transformation.

So what do you think of your dreams and the idea of the baku? Would you choose to have it come and eat your nightmares to make them disappear? Let me know.

www.michellepicard.com

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Michelle's winner will be selected and posted on Friday night. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Mile Hi Con, Denver, October 23-25

I'll be at Mile Hi Con this Friday evening and during the day on Saturday. If you're going to attend, please come and find me and say hello. I'll be participating in Author Alley Friday night, as well as a panel about vampires, and on Saturday I'm doing a Rapid Reading with several other Broad Universe members, where we read from our books. Mile Hi Con is always an excellent experience. Here's the link for the con website:

http://www.milehicon.org/

Guest Blogger: Lina Gardiner

The winner of Lina's book is: Candace! Congratulations, Candace. Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Lina. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Hi everyone! I’d like to thank Lynda for the chance to post on her great blog. I love to read other authors’ success stories. I appreciate the opportunity to tell you mine.

How it happened for me: I had written around six full length novels before I decided to try my hand at writing paranormal. Paranormals were just getting big on television. Buffy was at her peak when I realized I should be writing a paranormal. When I started writing book one in the Jess Vandermire Vampire Hunter series, my characters came alive in the fictional world I’d created. They had substance and angst and excitement. I thought if they can hold my interest, maybe they’ll hold other peoples’ interest as well. And they did.

Shortly after Grave Illusions was written and polished about eighteen times, I sold the book to ImaJinn Books and was offered a series before it even hit the shelves. That was in 2007. In 2008 Beyond the Grave came out, and in 2009 Grave New Day is at the publishers. My first book, Grave Illusions, won the Kiss of Death’s Daphne Award Paranormal-Time Travel-Futuristic category and the Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal First place in the Prism Contest for Best First Book. I couldn’t have asked for better validation that I was on the right track.

I’m pleased to say these characters have been popular with readers. My good little Catholic girl vampire, Jess Vandermire and her tough, ex-cop, Lieutenant John Brittain have developed and grown since that first year. Their world is ever active and getting more and more dangerous. In book three, the world as they knew it has changed forever. And poor John never knows what kind of situation I’m going to put him in. His worst fear – bones. He has a phobia, poor dear. Not the best occupation to be in with that kind of fear. Regent Vandermire, Jess’s younger brother, is a seventy-two year old priest. My readers seem to have taken quite well to Regent. I’ve gotten more than a few emails telling me that nothing had better happen to him! LOL

I’d found my niche!

In retrospect, I’m probably as likely to write paranormal as anyone out there. I lived in a haunted house as a teenager. The house my grandfather built. We moved back to our hometown when I was thirteen. Talk about a shock to a young girl’s system. Going from a normal world into a world where someone walked the house at night, opened doors, turned on lights and touched people on the shoulder when they weren’t looking. An eye opener. What it taught me is there are more things in our world than can be scientifically explained or categorized. That aspect of my experience fascinated me. Can’t say the same for our house. I was terrified to be there alone. Our ghost wasn’t vindictive but she was mischievous. My family has since sold the family homestead and I hear from my cousins who live across the road that she is still there. Still haven’t written a ghost story, but I’m sure that day will come.

Luckily for those of us who write paranormal, the genre and its many sub-genres are growing in popularity and in imaginative scope. I’m always amazed at the wonderful stories out there. And, with all of the teens gobbling up YA paranormals, odds are they’re going to want the same genre of books when they grow up. By my way of thinking that means paranormals are likely to be around for a few years to come.

“BEYOND THE GRAVE” Back Cover Blurb:

Vampire Police Captain Jess Vandermire is hunting a serial killer vampire. The trouble is, Jess is experiencing blackouts, and every time she does, another woman turns up dead. Has she slipped over the dangerous slope into full vampirism? Is she the serial killer she’s hunting?

Lieutenant John Brittain makes it his job to find the killer and prove Jess innocent, but it’s hard to be human in a world of super-strong, super-fast vampires. His best weapon is his tough-cop intellect and he’s using it for all he’s worth. Yes, Jess is a vampire, and yes, she’s capable of killing. He knows, however, that she hasn’t committed these crimes, and he has the horrible feeling that if doesn’t catch the killer soon Jess will be the final victim.

As Jess and Britt wage war against this evil vampire, it becomes a battle for the last vestiges of Jess’s own humanity. Soon the question becomes, who will draw first blood?

“GRAVE ILLUSIONS” - Back Cover Blurb

New York City is in the grasp of a deadly, unseen enemy. At least unseen by normal society.

Lieutenant Jess Vandermire, New York City police officer, is uniquely specialized to recognize and fight this threat. It’s her job to forge a black ops team, an assortment of men and women who wouldn’t be considered for the job under normal circumstances.

But these aren’t normal circumstances. The team has to be tough, and if need be, they have to be expendable. Jess understands what she’s fighting and what’s at stake. For her, it’s all about retribution until ex-cop John Brittain is recruited to her team.

Suddenly, her priorities aren’t quite so easily definable. John Brittain has a chip onhis shoulder and is as tough as they come. But is he ready for the whole truth? That combating “super” vampires whose primal need for blood and the addictive drug “Sunshine” is only the beginning of their problems? And when Jess tells him the truth about herself, will he stay and fight or will he turn against her and not only threaten their lives but destroy the fragile relationship developing between them?
www.linagardiner.com

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Lina will be giving away a signed copy of Grave Illusions, along with a pen and bookmark, to one commenter. Her winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Bitten By Books: Kismet and Victoria Interview

Hi, everyone. Kismet Knight and Victoria Essex will be interviewed on Monday, October 19 at Bitten By Books.

We're holding a contest (details at the link below) and giving away an excellent prize.

Please take a minute to go here:

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=11650

to RSVP that you'll attend the event. All RSVPs give the participate an additional 25 entries into my contest.

Guest Blogger: Jessa Slade

Jessa's winner is: Rosalie Drawbaugh! Congrats, Rosalie. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Jessa. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Thanks, Lynda, for letting me guest muse with you today. Since my debut urban fantasy romance, SEDUCED BY SHADOWS, came out last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about fate.

Fate—aka destiny, aka doom—plays a vital role in my storyworld where vulnerable souls are possessed by repentant demons and struggle together to earn their way back into grace. In my telling, those vulnerable souls are marked by a “penance trigger.” The newly possessed heroine of SEDUCED BY SHADOWS, Sera, get the explanation from the hero, Ferris Archer:
______________________________

“When I had the vision of the demon, it said I’d called it.” She fixed her gaze on her hands wrapped around the coffee cup. “It said I was lonely. It said it loved me. How desperate is that?”

Love. The word exploded in an empty place in him, as if that powder had burned to the end of the line. He clamped down until the echo died. “Desperate on the demon’s part? Or yours?” When she glared at him, he shrugged. “It makes a bargain to fill what’s missing in us and then takes what it needs.”

“But why me?” She wilted a bit. “Seems a little conceited to think I’ve had any more tribulations than the next guy.”

“Haven’t you?” He waited while she considered. “But it’s not about the quantity of your suffering. It’s the quality. Demons are quite the connoisseurs of pain.”

She grimaced. “Me too lately, I guess.”

“Exactly. When the demon crosses over, it seeks a matching target, a soul that resonates with its energy. Somewhere in your past is a penance trigger. It defines the headwaters of an invisible fault line in your soul, cutting a path right to the moment when the demon breaks your life in two.”

“A penance trigger?” Some memory brought a hazy glitter to the corner of her eye. “So it was because of me.”

The tear never fell, but his muscles tightened as if reacting to a mortal threat. He held himself still with effort. He wouldn’t reach for her again. “Whatever it was doesn’t necessarily make you guilty, Sera. It just made you vulnerable.”

Despite his soft tone, her instant focus pinned him. Her narrowed eyes left no room for tears. “I still can’t believe any of this. I should have my head examined.”

“You mean your soul.”
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For these Marked Souls, their penance trigger made them uniquely vulnerable—fated them—to demonic possession.

Which makes Bulfinch’s Mythology and Andrew Lang’s Coloured Fairy Books my penance trigger. I loved those stories: The good and evil, the princesses, the youngest sons, the talking animals, the nasty magicians. My first grade school poems were about unicorns and the Gates of Tomorrow. But in the intervening years, I wrote everything except paranormal. I wrote Regencies, a medieval, a rom-com and a chick lit, even a romantic suspense futuristic. In the end, though, the one that sold? A paranormal going all the way back to my good and evil roots. I was obviously fated.

But then, shouldn’t fate be easier? It took me almost a hundred rejections over more than a decade on nearly a million final draft words to finally get “The Call.” If it was fate, shouldn’t it feel inevitable instead of like really hard work?

Ah, maybe I’m forgetting how fate plays out in the Greek tragedies, where everyone struggles mightily over many years and many battlefields against their fate. They run, they hide, they fight and murder, they bribe various gods, and—eventually—they succumb anyway.

And honestly, I guess that does make the better story.

What do you think, is fate a real force, like gravity? Or is it more like the “gravity” that brings me and the bag of dark chocolates together against our will? Have you ever found yourself at a moment, looked back and realized you were fated to be here?

http://jessaslade.com

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Jessa will be giving away a copy of her book and some cool tatoos to one lucky commenter. The winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Stefanie Worth

Stefanie's winner is: Boone Brux! Congrats, Boone! Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Stefanie. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Out of the mouths of babes

On a hot summer day nearly eight years ago, I was driving my family from Detroit to St. Louis to visit relatives there. The trip is about nine hours (a little less if you drive like me) and we’d been in the van, clipping along for several hours.

My younger son was four at the time; that age where kids are either constantly on your leg begging for attention or lost in their own universe and barely know you exist. At this moment, he was the latter, caught up in some game of imagination far beyond our immediate realm.

I listened peripherally to his backseat murmurings. You know, the way you tune in to make sure disaster isn’t imminent because somebody touched the child next to them. His chatter grew louder and louder and something in me riveted on what seemed to be far more than playtime banter. The conversation sounded so lifelike that I sensed an exchange taking place.

(Perhaps at this point I should tell you I only had two boys – and his 12-year-old brother was asleep.)

“Who are you talking to, Sweetie?” I asked as unobtrusively as I could.

“My sister,” he said, with an unspoken air of “Duh.”

“Silly, punkin. You don’t have a sister! Are you talking to that ball?”

“No. My sister.” He insisted. “She doesn’t have a body yet, though.”

Okay, folks. I was totally freaked out. Why? Because I come from a very spiritual family: part superstitious, part devoutly religious, some parts both. Among my religious superstitious clan, there are those who profess to have prophetic dreams and see spirits. Comments like, “He’s been here before!” abounded about my oldest son because of a tiny mole near his ear or the way he looked so serious so soon in life. While many people pass those words in jest, I know somewhere deep inside that many of my folks take the sentiment to heart.

All of these beliefs left varying impressions on me as a child that I’ve questioned, researched, poo-pooed, or accepted over the years. As a result, I’ve become one of those people who believe that young children can see, hear and observe occurrences in the universe that adults have long since lost touch with.

So, I absolutely believed that my son felt he was talking to some formless soul on that long stretch of countryside highway in middle America. What troubled me most was the “Who.” I’d suffered a miscarriage several months before and the still-sad mommy part of me thought perhaps that the lost child had sought out and found his/her sibling.

Fast forward a month or so.

I am not feeling well. I’ve been suffering terrible indigestion and heartburn all summer and simply can’t take it anymore. I go to the doctor who immediately asks if I am pregnant. I scowl and say no, upset because this doctor knows my recent ordeal. Her perceived insensitivity raked across my heart, especially when she so matter-of-factly said, “Well, let’s just be sure.”

I trekked down the hall to the restroom, tiny cup in hand, increasingly dismayed. But I obliged. And you know what happened next, right?

Yes, I was pregnant.

And after the physical exam, my doctor felt like I was VERY pregnant. This would be my fourth pregnancy so you’d think I’d know what was going on. Yet there were no symptoms whatsoever – not even a missed monthly. No nausea, no fatigue, no tenderness. Nada.

The next week we found out I was ten weeks pregnant. OMG. I was stunned. And five weeks later through a follow up ultrasound, I discovered I was having a girl.

My son was right. He was talking to his sister.

She is now seven and he gives her nothing but grief. But I occasionally remind him of how he was her introduction to the world. And now I get to enjoy real-life conversations between my favorite cherubs all the time (even when they’re words are anything but angelic.)

For me, the backseat incident confirmed and continues to reaffirm a personal need to tune into the outer world. Maybe my son’s remarks made me eat better or rest more or subconsciously perform some act that helped ensure his sister’s prenatal health. I have no idea really. But, I can’t help but bring such experiences into my writing; weaving such extraordinary occurrences into every day circumstances.

My latest novella is HeavenSent.com in the Holiday Brides anthology. It’s the story of a man and woman who work together and have all the qualities they both seek in a mate, yet can’t seem to find their way to each other. They get a little help from a pair of guardian angels. The story is dedicated “to all those angels – earthly and above – keeping watch over me and mine.”

What about you? Have you ever had a hunch, a dream, a well-placed word from a friend or stranger that changed your outlook or direction? Do you write this off as coincidence or consider it destiny? I’d love to hear your thoughts. And one lucky person who comments today will receive an autographed copy of Holiday Brides.

Thanks for joining me at this stop on my HeavenSent Holiday Brides blog tour. You can learn more about me and my work at www.stefanieworth.com. I’d also like to extend an extra special thanks to Lynda for hosting me today and allowing me to share such a fond memory.

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Stephanie's winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Check back to see if you've won.

Sirens Conference and German Version of The Vampire Shrink

Here's the German cover for The Vampire Shrink, due to release on January 11, 2010.

The Sirens Conference, up in Vail, CO, is an interesting mix of academic presenters and sword & sorcery fantasy fans. Here are some of the workshops offered:

Fantasy Women in Harry Potter

A Cross-Cultural Look at the Origins of Fantasy, with a Nod to Sci Fi

Psyche's Ugly Sister: The Woman Warrior in C.S. Lewis's books

The Rise of the Vampire Romance Novel

Love Lives of Women Warriors

The Crone Witch in Modern Fantasy

Bite Me, I'm Yours

Twilight of Empowerment: Bella Swan

Feminist Role Models and their Male Creators

Mary Sue: An Intervention

A Woman Warrior's Battle for Redemption

Why Don't More Girls Carry Swords?

Buffy, Bella and Boys

Finding Femininity in a Warrior's World

Tough Love: When Partnership Becomes a Paradox

Dramatic Dialog

and much more

I met some wonderful women. Today I participated in a small group session led by Dr. Kathleen McConnell, who teaches in the English department at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. We talked about the notion of "paradise," and how various female characters found "redemption." Very lively discussion! Then I went to the Buffy vs. Bella panel and the room was full. Everyone had an opinion! (Not that Bella and Buffy can actually be compared. Completely different archetypes.) Great insights. After that panel I was walking out into the hallway wearing one of my Vampire Shrink t-shirts, and a woman pointed to my shirt and said something nice. I thanked her and said I was happy she was interested in in my work. She didn't realize I was the author and her delightful enthusiasm was such a warm fuzzy for me! Her name is Bertena Varney and she lives in Lexington, KY. She said she had quoted me her presentation at the conference (she had read my article, "Why Women Love Vampires") and she didn't realize I was there. We sat together at lunch and it was such a joy to speak with Bertena and all the other sharp women at the con. I also got to talk to Betsy, who used to work at The Boulder Planet, the wonderful newspaper that existed for too brief a time. The Planet ran my Psychic Counselor column. Small world!! Something I did notice is that 85% of the participants at the con are under age 35. Hmmm. I wonder what that means? And the attendees came from all over the world. A great start for a new con.

Sirens Conference in Vail This Weekend

I'm heading up to the mountains on Friday for the Sirens conference. It sounds like fun. Very different from other cons I've attended. They've been really nice about having the book store order copies of my books since I'm a local author. I hadn't expected that. I though I'd just drag some up with me and sell them on consignment at the store. I'll take some extras (eternal optimist) but it will be nice for them to already be there.

http://www.sirensconference.org/

It's supposed to snow up there tomorrow, but the roads should be clear by Friday afternoon. I love driving up to the mountains but am not a fan of driving in snow. Snow on mountain roads just seems more terrifying to me, for some reason. As if no matter how far away from the edge of the cliffs I'm driving, I'll be dragged over the ledge by unseen forces.



I've been incredibly excellent about staying on my low carb eating for the last almost-9 weeks (feeling MUCH better) and I just might give myself some leeway up at the resort in Vail. I mean, how often do I get to stay in a fancy ski town hotel, surrounded by tempting opportunities to eat and drink?

I'll post my impressions of the con (hopefully my new little netbook will work) during the weekend.

Guest Blogger: Allison Paige

The winner of Allison's book is: Mary. Congraulations, Mary! Give me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Allison. Thanks to everyone who participated.

A different kind of hero

Thanks so much, Lynda for inviting me to guest blog. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to talk about my latest Harlequin Spice Briefs, RAVEN.

I have to admit this story isn’t your typical romance because the hero isn’t your typical romantic hero. He’s a demon. To be more specific he’s a non-corporeal soul eating demon. And the heroine is his enslaved Raven shape shifter huntress, forced to find him one-hundred souls and one Raven shape shifter to replace her when the last soul is captured. Not your typical romantic couple and the odds against them finding love under those circumstances are pretty steep. So when they finally do come together it’s all the more passionate because they’ve had to overcome so much.

When I sat down to write RAVEN I knew Akram, the Leshii demon hero, wasn’t going to be easy to love. The woman who loved him would have to really know him, all his faults, all his needs, and love him anyway.

As strange as it might seem, Morrigan, Akram’s Raven huntress, is in the perfect position to be that woman. No one knows Akram the way she does and with her help he can be more, better, than he ever could without her.

Morrigan isn’t without her faults and needs either. Ravens are a lot like the old gypsies, nomads roaming the world as they pleased, never having a real home anywhere. Their gifts would provide them everything they needed and more, if they could resist their carefree, wasteful urges. With Akram Morrigan has a home, a place she belongs and wants for nothing except her freedom.

One thing that makes this odd, explosive, sexy couple even more inevitably romantic is the setting. Sorrento Italy is a slice of heaven here on earth. A beautifully romantic town on the Mediterranean coast across the bay of Naples from Mount Vesuvius. Anyone would be hard pressed not to fall in love there.

Old and new mix seamlessly in the scenic town, cell phone stores in buildings that stood when Julius Creaser ruled his empire and tour buses and scooters buzzing along the same volcanic stone roads chariots once rumbled over.

With cafés on every corner and some of the world’s best food, golden sunsets and warm sea breezes in RAVEN Sorrento is a character all its own. Sorrento is the perfect place for a couple who never realized what they needed most was what the other had always given them. In the end, Akram needs someone who can love him despite what he is and Morrigan needs someone who can ground her without tying her down. What they both need is trust.

RAVEN is my third Spice Briefs. I also wrote, DARK MOON GATHERING and MEDUSA’S FOLLY. But I have to admit RAVEN was my favorite to write. As seemingly insurmountable as the odds were for Akram and Morrigan to overcome the obstacles that are keeping them apart, their attraction and feelings for each other were the most undeniable. I loved bringing them together and allowing them both to find the kind of soul deep love they could only find with each other.

I’d love to hear from the blog readers some of your favorite stories where the hero wasn’t the most heroic character in the beginning and overcoming his faults made him all the more undeniable in the end.

Thanks again for having me Lynda!!!

http://www.allisonpaige.net/

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Allison's winner will be selected and posted here on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Annette McCleave

The winner of Annette's book is: RKCharron! Congrats! Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Annette. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Do You Believe in Second Chances?

I betting you do. Most people make mistakes — it’s human nature. Fortunately, we tend to learn from our mistakes, so failing doesn’t always mean disaster. Not that I always understood that. I was born a perfectionist — one of those high-strung people who avoid making any kind of mistake, who aim for nothing but smooth sailing all the way. It took me a long time to notice that life lessons sunk in faster when I failed (sometimes spectacularly), and that the folks who gave me a second chance weren’t just being nice, they were teaching me to get back up and try again.

Perhaps that’s why I imagined the world of the Soul Gatherers the way I did. Because we all need second chances. My Soul Gatherers are strong and capable, but imperfect — each one of them is serving a term in purgatory, trying to earn their way into heaven after making some serious mistakes in their lives. They’re sinners. On the surface, it may be hard to understand how a sinner could be a hero — but that’s where the second chance comes in.

In the Soul Gatherer world, even sins aren’t black and white. What matters is how tattered their honor is. Here’s how one of my Soul Gatherers explains it to the heroine if my debut novel, DRAWN INTO DARKNESS, Rachel:

She glanced up. “How reassuring, they pick morons to be Soul Gatherers.”

“Ouch. But for the record, Death doesn’t pick morons, just sinners. Morons don’t last long in this job.”

“Don’t all the sinners go to hell?”

“No, believe it or not, a lot of them make it into heaven. God’s big on the whole forgiveness schtick. Only the completely unredeemable souls go to hell.” He grinned. “I didn’t qualify. We Gatherers aren’t rotten enough for hell and aren’t sweet enough for heaven. We’re getting one last chance to prove ourselves.”

“I see.” Sort of. “But Gatherers are all men, right? What happens to the women who fall into a similar limbo?”

“Doomed to an eternity as high school guidance counselors, I think.”

“Very funny.”

His eyes twinkled. “Seriously? The odd woman passes muster as a Gatherer, but you’re right, most don’t. They and the guys who aren’t natural warriors end up working somewhere in Death’s bureaucracy, managing her messaging system, extracting relevant information from the huge volumes of data she collects on humans, giving us our job assignments, that type of thing.”

“Ugh.”

“Hey, no one said purgatory would be fun.”

Second chances can often turn a failure into a success. My first attempt to get published with NAL — with a manuscript titled A Dragon’s Oath -- met with a nice, but very firm No Thank You. If the editors at NAL hadn’t been willing to give me a second chance and read a later manuscript, DRAWN INTO DARKNESS would not be on store shelves proudly displaying their signet Eclipse logo today. Obviously, that’s one second chance that changed my life.

Do you have a second chance story? Did someone offer you the opportunity to turn things around — one that ended up making a huge difference in your life? Do you have a reason for believing in second chances? If you do, please share. To encourage you to wade into the conversation, I’m offering one lucky commenter a copy of my debut paranormal romance DRAWN INTO DARKNESS.

p.s. This is also a stop on my “Cross into Darkness” blog tour, so feel free to visit my website at

www.annettemccleave.com for a chance to win the tour grand prize. If you’ve been following the tour from the beginning, here’s the clue....

Paranormality clue: Second word of the two-word answer is a varied spelling of an African animal.

Good luck, and thanks for joining me today!

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The winner of Annette's book will be randomly chosen and posted here on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won!

Boulder Writers Alliance Expo and Dexter

I'll be adding my two cents as an "expert" on September 22 at the Boulder Writers Alliance Expo. I'll be offering feedback about "Writing Genre Fiction" and "Expanding Your Creativity As a Writer Through Hypnosis." Sounds like fun. If you're going to be in the Boulder, Colorado area that day, please stop by and say hello. Here's a link:

http://www.bwa.org/showcase/showcase.htm

I just read the fourth installment in the "Dexter" novels -- Dexter by Design -- by Jeff Lindsay. So, what (you might ask) does a serial killer have todo with the paranormal? As I read these books, I'm often reminded of my favorite creatures of the night: vampires. Dexter feels most comfortable at night, he has a dark secret and he's an unrepentant predator. Sounds vampiric to me. The other three novels are: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter In the Dark. I have no idea why books about serial killers stroke my fur, but they do. I must be even weirder than I thought. Some parts of these books makes me laugh out loud. No wonder I can't write happy endings. LOL.

Guest Blogger: Viola Estrella

Viola's winner is: Cari Quinn! Congrats, Cari. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Viola. Thanks to everyone for participating.

Can a person be both practical-minded and open-minded?

I’ve always thought I had a practical mind. When life’s happenings haven’t made sense to me, usually I could think it through rationally and come to a logical conclusion. I’m big about getting to the bottom of things . . . which isn’t very fun for people who want certain aspects of life to remain a mystery. Where I dissect and analyze, other people might wonder and, after time, disregard without further questioning.

You might then ask how or why I’ve decided to write about angels and demons in one book, and ghosts and psychic events in another. These paranormal elements can’t be proven with science (yet). The worlds I create are far from what most would consider realistic. BUT to get lost in the paranormal as a writer and as a reader is so thrilling.

Isn’t paranormal fiction a wonderful thing? To toss everything you’ve ever known about anything out the window and just trust that the story will entertain you is the ultimate adventure. A paranormal writer must believe in his/her characters, whether that character is an angel or a werewolf or a vampire. They put rational thought aside and create a world that only existed in their minds up until that moment when fingers hit keyboard. And the reader turns those pages and gulps every word down and trusts that the author will show them this new world.

We all want to believe, if only for that moment in time.

In my eBook, Angel Vindicated, I write about an organization called Angels, Inc. It consists of three departments: Demon Control, Guardian Angels, and Angels of Death. My heroine, Abby, is a Demon Control agent. It’s her duty to police the demons and send them packing back to hell if they get out of control. Although she’s an angel, she’s easily tempted by half demon/half human, Simeon Keller. When Angels, Inc. is threatened by malevolent demons, she must trust Simeon to help her find the bad guys.

I’ve always believed angels exist. Watching over us. Protecting us. Perhaps shaking their heads at us. And I thought it would be fun to bring them to life. I know I probably didn’t do them justice since the angels in Angel Vindicated are a little less than perfect, especially my heroine, Abby, who is as flawed as most humans, or more so. But I’m hoping my readers will have a sense of humor and fall in love with the characters, just like I did when I wrote the story. I’m hoping they’ll open their minds, pitch all practical thoughts aside and indulge in the world I created.

Have you ever read a story that made you believe in something completely improbable? As you turned the pages did you ask yourself what if? Could you imagine yourself as the heroine, kicking demon butt or possibly falling in love with a vampire, werewolf, or insert-imagination-here?

Let’s analyze this together. Share your thoughts with me and be entered to win a free PDF copy of Angel Vindicated.

Thanks for sharing your blog with me, Lynda!!

Viola
www.violaestrella.com
Bewitching You – Available 10/30/2009

Angel Vindicated – Buy now! http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7216-angel-vindicated.aspxm

~5 out of 5 Cups from Coffee Time Romance – http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/angelvindicated.html
“The world building is extraordinary and totally unlike anything I have read in this genre.”
~4.5 Hearts from The Romance Studio –
http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/angelvindicatedestrella.htm
“I loved Abby Angel.”
~4.5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies –
http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/Angel_Vindicated.shtml
“Abby’s spunky attitude and Simeon’s sexiness were too fun for words and their sizzling chemistry had me fanning.”

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Viola's winner will be selected and posted here on Tuesday evening. Check back to see if you've won.

Maddie James Interviews Lynda and Kismet

I did an interview a while back with author Maddie James for Examiner.com

Here's the link:

http://www.examiner.com/x-4981-Romance-Novel-Examiner~y2009m9d5-Paranormal-romance-author-Lynda-Hilburns-Vampire-Psychologist-series

Kismet got a chance to do a little venting, too!

Free Tiny Download

I got the rights back to a tiny erotic paranormal I wrote -- Trick or Treat. I'm giving it away for free on my website. If you'd like to read the little quickie, just go here:

http://www.lyndahilburnauthor.com

Go to "books," and scroll to the bottom.

It's for over-18 only.

Fantasy Con in Vail, Colorado

I registered for this interesting-sounding con up in Vail the first weekend of October. Check it out:

http://www.sirensconference.org/

Guest Blogger: Elissa Wilds

The winner of Elissa's prize is: Cecile! Cecile, check Elissa's comment to get her email address to contact her. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated!

Divine Dreaming

I’m flying above my neighborhood. I see the houses all dark and quiet. I hear the faint noise of sporadic cars rushing by in the distance. I smell the air, heavy with a tinge of metallic as if it would rain soon. I’m light and free. I suddenly wonder what my husband is doing right then. And whoosh – I’m standing next to our bed. He’s asleep, his long legs and arms curled around a woman with dark hair. What?? Anger rushes through me only to be replaced with confusion when the woman murmurs and shifts in her sleep and her face turns toward me. The woman is me. Instantly, I’m lying in my bed. My eyelids pop open. I’m staring at my familiar popcorn ceiling, keenly aware of the weight of my husband’s arm across my mid-section. The low-pitched hum of the baby monitor next to me breaks the silence.

I tell my husband about this experience later, and he says – Oh, you were just astral traveling. You think? I say with a half-smile.

Nighttime is my favorite time of day. I love writing late at night. I can focus and connect and tap into my inspiration much more easily when everyone around me is asleep. The quiet peacefulness of night seems to open up my senses in ways that the hours bathed in sunlight just don’t seem to do. I also, however, love my sleep. Lately, like most new parents, I don’t get enough of it.

I have always had vivid dreams. Dreams in full color, filled with weird places and faces and adventures. My dreams range from the seductive to the frightening to the exhilarating. Rarely, are they boring. The best dreams, though, are those like the one I had last night. My husband called it astral travel. That’s a subject in and of itself, but suffice it to say that many folks believe that our soul selves leave our bodies when we sleep and travel to other realms or dimensions, or sometimes, we just hang out in this one and check out the sights. Have you ever had a feeling as you were drifting off to sleep that you were falling – and then jerked awake, heart racing, wondering what the heck? Did your conscious mind, perhaps, just wake up in the middle of your spirit body’s exit, sending yourself slamming right back into your physical body? Ever had a dream like the one I just described above? Maybe you were astral travelling.

What about prophetic dreams? Have you ever dreamed something, then it came true? Some believe that loved ones who’ve passed on, spirit guides, angels, etc. talk to us in our dreams because it’s easier for us to hear them in that highly attuned, relaxed state. They guide us, give us inspired ideas and important information, or just say hello. There is even a type of guided dreaming that you, yourself can control. Seriously. Want to dream about walking down the aisle with Hugh Jackman? There are techniques you can master that allow you to engage in what is known as Lucid Dreaming. That’s a fascinating subject. As someone who has upon occasion become aware when I was in the middle of dream that I was indeed dreaming – and decided I didn’t need to be in this scary dream anymore and would rather dream I was on a cruise sipping pina coladas, and suddenly was on said cruise – I know this is actually something that is possible to do.

It’s clear from my books that I have a fascination with the possibilities of the paranormal that occur when we slide into bed at night and prepare to drift off to sleep. In both Between Light and Dark and Darkness Rising, astral travel plays a role in the plot. Prophetic dreams pop up in Darkness Rising. The entire series was inspired by a very vivid dream I had where the hero of Between Light and Dark, Axiom, pulled me into his godly embrace and swept me off my feet. I wouldn’t change one second of that particular dream. (smiles)

What about you? Share one of your nocturnal experiences and be entered to win a signed copy of my new release Darkness Rising and a copy of Scott Cunningham’s wonderful book: Dreaming the Divine: Techniques for Sacred Sleep.

http://www.elissawilds.com/

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Elissa's winner will be chosen and posted here on Tuesday night. Check back to see if you've won!

Win an Amazon.com gift card for helping me brainstorm

The winner of the gift card is: Cassie J. Congratulations, Cassie! Contact me with your info and I'll send along the card. Thanks to everyone who participated. This guy definitely could be a vampire.

I'm still working on the third book in my Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist series (thanks for all the emails asking about the book's progress: Kismet and Devereux will show up again at some point!), and thinking about what else I want to write. I'm going to expand a cool novella I sold (and got the rights back to) a couple of years ago into a novel. It's about an assassin vampire and a Detroit female rock guitarist. I just can't give up on those characters.

And, in addition to those things, I'm ready to tackle something totally new.

Help me out! What would you like to see me write about next? What plots, paranormal situations and characters appeal to you?

I'll randomly select one commenter to win a $10 gift card from Amazon.com

Deadline for entries: September 20, 2009

Be creative! Enter often! Winner will be posted here on 9/20. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Linda Robertson

The winner of Linda's book is: Candace! Congratulations, Candace. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Linda. Thanks to everyone who participated.

CONTEST! WIN a signed copy of VICIOUS CIRCLE

Hello! I am Linda Robertson, author of VICIOUS CIRCLE and I’m delighted to be a guest blogger here on Lynda Hilburn’s Paranormality! Because Tarot is part of my main character’s life, this post is about Divination.

It’s easy to look at the word divination and see the etymological link to the word divine. Divine, in verb form, means “to discover by intuition or insight” according to Merriam Webster, and in adjective form, “of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God or a god.”

That said, how do Tarot cards, runes and other auguries actually work?

There are probably as many opinions and theories as there are practitioners. My thoughts are that the aura or spirit of the querent, (the person seeking an answer who may or may not be the reader as well) subtly strokes the shuffling of the cards, or the stirring of the runes. In my experience, I just know when to stop shuffling, when to pull the rune. I’ve found that this is true both of self-readings, and reading for others. If doing the latter, I let them shuffle first while considering their question. I follow by shuffling the cards and cutting them myself—according to my sense of knowing. This method produces a reading the querents have felt accurately addressed their question, whereas if just one of us shuffled/cut, the reading has felt unfocused. You’d think it would be the opposite, unless you consider that my cards are attuned to me, and know how I will read them.

So, if the divination tools work because of that sense of knowing, can we define what that knowing is?

In my opinion, it is belief, faith, and/or spirituality in whatever religious path calls you. Plugging into your divine outlet to power your Tarot cards isn’t unlike a prayer or quick ritual, and neither is it unlike (in method if not voltage) the power enabling your computer to work.

Here's a blurb:

Witches and werewolves don't mix . . .

Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full--even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with wolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home, and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered...and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer, a powerful vampire named Goliath Kline. Seph is a tough girl, but this time she bites off more than she can chew. She needs a little help from her friends--werewolf friends. One of those friends, Johnny, the motorcycle-riding lead singer for the techno-metal-Goth band Lycanthropia, has a crush on her. And while Seph has always been on edge around this 6'2" leather-clad hunk, she's starting to realize that while their attraction may be dangerous, nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them.

"I read Linda Robertson's Vicious Circle in one sitting and enjoyed every moment of it. It's a rare book that gives you a protagonist you'd like to actually be friends with." -- Tanya Huff, bestselling author of the Blood books

"This urban fantasy has a good plot told in the first person by a feisty heroine with a sense of humor. Well-developed supernatural characters, mystery and a touch of romance add up to an out-of-this-world thriller." (4 Stars) -- RT Booklovers

"Ms. Robertson blends tried and true supernatural elements with some fresh ideas of her own, creating an entertaining combination. Vicious Circle moves forward at a steady pace, provides paranormal action, and takes readers on an adventure filled with strong characters and their tangled human emotions. I'm looking forward to the next book in the Persephone Alcmedi series, Hallowed Circle..." -- Darque Reviews

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What’s your opinion? And let’s use this sharing as the contest! I’m open to other opinions, and I welcome you to share your thoughts on divination in the comment section. Or, if you have a question about the book, ask away! Anyone who comments will be in the drawing for the book, but you’ll have to check back to see if you’ve won. The winner's name will be posted here on Tuesday evening.

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth L' Inconnu

Elizabeth's winner is: Patricia Altner! Congrats, Patricia! Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Elizabeth. Thanks so much to everyone who participated.

Twice bitten

What happens when a newly turned vampire bites a werewolf and vice versa? We will find out in my new novel, To Hunt a Wolf, the second book in my werewolf series. Natalie Cash knew nothing of either one until she discovered the wounded wolf she had been nursing back to health was actually a werewolf, trapped in his wolf form until he had convinced her to have the silver bullet removed from his rump. Freed at last, Adrian Gentry rediscovers his human side and falls in love with Natalie.

When his angry master tracks him down at Natalie’s, the vampire bites her and turns her, knowing the werewolf in Adrian will hate the vampire in her.

Distraught by this knowledge, Natalie knows she must do something drastic to keep the love of her werewolf, and knows they must both escape the vampire’s lair. Problem is that Adrian is now stuck -- courtesy of another silver bullet -- in his werewolf form, half man, half beast.

Now a vampire who still has to master her own new powers, Natalie tries to find a way to help her wounded lover. Trading bites and DNA gives them both aspects of the other’s powers. Armed with the werewolf’s DNA, Natalie finds after her escape that she can walk in the daylight still with nothing more debilitating than a headache. Armed with Adrian’s DNA and his scent, she is able to track down Adrian’s family and enlists their help to rescue him and his sisters.

To what extent will they both be changed however? And how will the changes in them affect their future offspring?

These questions fascinate me and I hope to explore some of the answers in the third book, To Save a Wolf, which I am now starting to work on.

To Save a Wolf will be the story of finding Deborah, the one werewolf sibling who is still a captive of the vampire Cedric. Her siblings, Adam, Adrian and Delilah will be looking for her. In this book I hope to explore some of the changes that affect Adrian and Natalie from being twice bitten.

Both To Catch a Wolf and To Hunt a Wolf are available now in print on Amazon, or as eBooks from:

http://absolute-x-press.com/catalog/ or http://www.allromancebooks.com

and To Save a Wolf will hopefully be an October, 2009 release.

http://www.est-linconnu.com

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Leave a comment here for Elizabeth to be entered into her giveaway for a copy of one of her books. The winner will be chosen and posted here on Tuesday evening, so stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Cindy Carroll

The winner of Cindy's prize is: Sandy J! Congrats, Sandy! Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Cindy. Thanks to everyone who participated.

They’ll be back

Ghosts. They seem to be everywhere these days. Just check out the internet to see how many cities have haunted tours or ghost walks. Or check out TV to see the shows about ghosts and ghost hunting. I’m not talking just Ghost Whisperer either. There are a number of shows out there about tracking ghosts – America’s Most Haunted Inns. America’s Most Haunted Towns, Creepy Canada, Celebrity Paranormal Project. And don’t forget the movies. Movies about ghosts are popular whether they’re scary (GHOST STORY) or funny (GHOST TOWN).

But have you ever wondered if a ghost chose to haunt a certain place? From books, movies and television we think we “know” why ghosts come into being and why they haunt wherever it is they’re haunting. Violent death, unfinished business. But what if we got it wrong? Maybe they didn’t die some horrible death at the ranch that forced them to roam the stables looking for justice. What if they wanted to remain here? Maybe the ranch was the only place they were happy so in their afterlife they wanted to stay there. Have you ever said, “If anything happens to me I’m going haunt you”? I know I’ve said it on more than one occasion. And my friend says it me all the time. What if it were that easy? They just decided to come back and hang out for a while longer.

There has to be some sort of order to the afterlife. Maybe the ranch was a promotion. What if they did such a great job haunting their original place that they got promoted to a place of their choosing? Could they also get demoted? They were haunting a mansion but didn’t scare enough people so they end up having to haunt an outhouse.

We had a ghost when I was growing up. I have no idea who she was or what happened to her. But I always wondered why she was haunting our house. And why the adults could never hear her. Just my friends and I could hear her. We never saw her either. But we heard her typing at night when no one else was home. And we could hear her walk past our bedroom doors when no one else was there. She talked to my boyfriend once when he picked up the phone to call his mother. And two of my friends had a whole conversation with her thinking it was me. They were in the kitchen and they thought I was in the living room. I wondered why she didn’t follow us when we moved. The house felt different somehow. Maybe she was just lonely. The family that moved into the place after we left had three teenage daughters.

Whatever the reasons for ghosts haunting us, they’re not going away any time soon. Books, movies and TV will continue to bring us tales of ghosts, spirits and poltergeists and I for one am looking forward to them. Maybe I’ll even get a visit from a ghost wanting to make friends.

www.cindycarroll.com
www.proseriesalumni.com
www.scriptscene.org - Go ahead. Make a scene.

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Cindy will give away her complete 8 lesson workshop Is That Hollywood Calling? (with the extras) to one commenter. The winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Rising From the Ashes

I met with a group of authors recently, and the subject of "starting over" came up. They shared some wonderful, inspirational stories about the twists and turns of a publishing career, and I wish I'd asked permission to tape the discussion. It really was very helpful to hear how these successful authors rose from the ashes at some point in their careers. In many cases, the authors in question were certain their careers were over -- that they'd never sell again.

Do you have an inspirational story? Words of wisdom based on a dark time in your writing career? It would be great if you'd be willing to leave a comment here with the general info about your "starting over" situation (no specific identifying details needed) or if you'd write a brief article I can post to the blog. If you'd like to send your story to me directly, please send it to:

boulderboomer@aol.com

All inspiration is good inspiration.

July 22, 2009:

I will start adding stories here as they trickle in.

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Brenna Lyons

I've had to start over, more or less, twice in my career. The first time was after a seven-year dry period. I'd lost my muse. In rebuilding my life during a separation, I rediscovered writing and held on with both hands. It revitalized me, brought me back to life and reminded me what had always meant so much to me.

The second time was when the publisher I'd placed most of my work with finally went too far, and I pulled everything. It was my choice to do it. It was necessary. It was exhilarating. It had me shaking in terror. But within a few months, I'd placed everything again. I had publishers asking me for one series or another. At that point, I realized that a resume and name will travel with you, even if you've had to leave a bad situation.

Brenna

http://www.brennalyons.com http://www.myspace.com/brennalyons

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Susan Kearney

When I started writing my first manuscript I knew nothing. I didn't even have chapters in the book or commas. Eventually, I had an agent take me on and then drop me because she was intimidated by the size of the box I'd sent the manuscript in. But after writing 5 manuscripts in 16 months and rewriting each one about 5 times, I finally got the call!! Kensington books offered to buy my Viking Historical romance. On proposal!! Of course I told everyone!! And then had to fisnish the book in 2 months. And when I sold the second book, I finally got another agent. But some people didn't believe that I'd really sold a book. But I had an advance, an editor, a contract and an agent. I was on my way. And then Kensington dropped the Heartfire Line. I kept the advance and got back the rights, but those 2 books were never published. And my agent dropped me at the same time. My career was over before it had begun--or so I thought.

People didn't say it to my face, but I just knew they thought I'd lied about selling a book. I worried I'd never sell again, but I didn't think about giving up. I don't know why--I was very stubborn. Four months later I switched from writing historicals to romantic suspense and targeted the old Intimate Moments line at Harlequin. But after she rejected the story, the editor suggested I send the proposal to Harlequin Intrigue. So I did. And an editor called to make an offer. Now bear in mind I had never read a Harlequin Intrigue. When the Intrigue editor called she offered to buy the proposal and said that of course for Intrigue I'd have to put in more action and quicken the pace. I answered, "Of course." But I didn't really have a clue. :) So I went out and bought ten Intrigues and then revised. And went on to sell over 50 books. I bet that agent who dropped me wishes she hadn't. :) But I also learned that this book business is crazy. That so much is simply out of our control. I don't take anything for granted. And with each new contract I'm thankful to sell another book.
http://www.susankearney.com/

Laura Resnick

Years ago, I wrote a proposal for an urban fantasy series about a struggling actress who has fantastical adventures in New York City. My then-agent sent it out to three houses. They all rejected it, and the agent permanently retired the proposal, refusing to send it elsewhere and refusing to discuss it again.

A few years later, I left that agent. Shortly thereafter, I sent out the urban fantasy proposal on my own to see what would happen.

Within 2 months, I had a good offer for it from Luna Books. So I hired my next agent, who negotiated the deal for this offer.

Luna released the first book in the Esther Diamond series, DISAPPEARING NIGHTLY. However, the packaging was generic and off-target (you couldn't tell anything at all about the book from the cover, not even that it was fantasy), the book was released without promotion or support in mid-December (the worst month of the year for fiction, unless the book is positioned to be a Christmas gift), and sales were poor.

A few months later, Luna cancelled the second and third books, and they terminated my contract. Next, my relationship with my agent (who was my fourth agent) quickly began to resemble that of a dinner guest whose hostess starts yawning copiously and glancing often the clock. So I left.

I still believed in this urban fantasy series, so I wanted to try to sell the second book and relaunch Esther Diamond. So I began looking for a fifth agent to represent me. Everyone I queried rejected me. Some were polite, some were not, and all of them thought this series was unmarketable. Nor were these agents at all interested in discussing my other projects.

I had already, prior to these events, had a very bumpy career, having been through (did I MENTION?) four agents and multiple publishers. But I was feeling badly winded by the events of the past few months, and I found myself just lying there on the floor, gasping for air. I began wondering if I would look back on this period -- years later, doing something else for a living -- as the point where my writing career had entered its death spiral.

As I started eventually regaining my breath (fortunately, I have a lot of innate resilience), I decided that rejection by agents was not accomplishing anything at all besides making me feel depressed and discouraged. So I resolved to forget all about agents and send the proposal for book #2 in the Esther Diamond series out on my own. This way, I reasoned, I'd get rejected by people (editors) in a position to publish the book, which seemed at least marginally more productive than being rejected by people (agents) not in a position to publish it. I compiled a list of markets that published urban fantasy or that had said they were interested in it, and I began submitting to them.

Three weeks later, DAW Books, a major fantasy house, put an enthusiastic 3-book offer on the table for Esther Diamond, for slightly BETTER money than my fourth agent had negotiated for me at this series' former publishing house. Rather than hiring a fifth agent, I instead hired a literary lawyer to negotiate the contract for me. It's an arrangement that worked so well, it's how I've been handling my career ever since then; I run my career and make my deals, and my literary lawyer negotiates my contracts for an hourly legal fee. Not only am I making more money that I used to, I'm also getting better contractual terms now, too.

Since making the sale, I have delivered the next Esther Diamond novel, DOPPELGANGSTER, to DAW Books -- where it has met with tremendously gratifying enthusiasm and support. Additionally, DAW comissioned award-winning cover artist Daniel Dos Santos to do the cover illustration, and it's fabulous! The cover art is eye-catching, dynamic, clever, sexy, fun, and sets exactly the right tone for this urban fantasy novel -- and also for this series, which DAW is relaunching with this book in January.

We don't have a final bookcover yet, but you can see Dos Santos' illustration for DOPPELGANGSTER (January 2010)at his website:

http://www.dandossantos.com/gallery/illustrations/full_doppelgangster.jpg

http://www.lauraresnick.com/

Elissa Malcohn

Ever since I was a kid, I knew that whatever job I worked would support my writing. That equation became dicey when I faced steady multiple shifts, for various reasons. In each of my long-term jobs, I ended up serving two departments simultaneously while freelancing to supplement my income.

My first professional sale (to Asimov's in 1984) made me a John W. Campbell Award finalist, and suddenly I had more attention than I knew what to do with. The attention was wonderful, and I tried to respond to requests for more work. But there came a point where my submissions failed consistently, and for good reason, because I was living my life in a state of exhaustion. On top of the workload, I was also dealing with a debilitating physical condition finally remedied by hormones.

Treating that condition gave me the confidence to quit my job and freelance fulltime for two years, but my writing and editing were corporate rather than creative. I produced subpar fiction drafts that I knew were not submission-worthy; whatever I'd had before, I seemed to have lost it. I kept a journal. I published articles and book reviews. During the 1990 recession I again entered regular employment that included all-nighters. Other circumstances made me the sole wage-earner for my household. I saved my creative sanity by experimenting with mixed-media art, and managed to exhibit and sell some pieces.xI returned to fulltime freelancing in 2003 and started writing for submission again. Completing my first short story in more than a decade told me I still "had it."

My personal mantra is, "Nothing is wasted." The frustrations and heartaches of my years away let me reach a place in myself that ultimately benefited my writing. It had less to do with craft than with a state of being. I am thankful for every work I can produce, every sale I make, and now for every release. My most recent challenge involved Aisling Press, which published the first volume of my Deviations series in 2007 and tanked in 2008 before it could publish the sequel. With a six-book series drafted and readers asking me when the next book was coming out, I began to release the series as free downloads, with plans to make the third volume available in December. I am very grateful to people willing to review what are now self-published e-books, to Manybooks.net for making those books available, and to everyone who has downloaded the work from there and from my website. And I am thrilled that publications are again picking up my short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and articles.

http://home.earthlink.net/~emalcohn/index.html

Shanna Swendson

I sometimes say that I've had two writing careers: the training wheels career and then the real one. At least, that's how I like to rationalize that long dry spell that came in the middle. I sold my first book when I was very young and very naive about the business. Because I sold the first book I wrote to the second publisher I sent it to, selling a book seemed easy to me. I sold two more to that smaller publisher, then with my next book, I sold to Silhouette. I did have a couple of proposals rejected, but did end up selling another one. All of this came within about four years.

And then I hit a brick wall. My editor left and then my line folded, and I didn't seem to fit anywhere in the house. I tried writing a single title and got an agent, but kept getting those "we like it, but not enough to buy it, send something else" rejections. The "something else" sat for more than a year with no response, and then my agent stopped responding to my e-mails and calls -- and didn't even respond other than to sign the registered mail card when I sent the official break-up letter. During this time, I got laid off from my job and was trying to get a freelance writing business off the ground, so I was even more frantic to sell something. I got really busy, writing a lot of proposals, rewriting older books to better fit the market, and submitting to both agents and editors. Whenever I seemed to have a positive response -- like an editor at a conference telling me to submit -- I ended up feeling like I was taking a step back -- getting a form rejection letter from the editor who'd told me to submit. I reached the point that writing wasn't even fun anymore, and I felt like a pariah, like there was some blacklist in New York with my name on it.

During all this time, I'd had this wacky little idea about a book I thought of as "Bridget Jones meets Harry Potter," combining my two favorite genres, fantasy and chick lit. I hadn't done anything with it because I wasn't sure there was a market for it. I hadn't found anything quite like it, which I worried meant no one wanted it. I was afraid that the chick lit elements would keep fantasy editors from liking it and that the fantasy elements would keep it from being chick lit. But when I was chatting with an editor about it at a conference and she got excited, I decided to give it a shot. I wrote it mostly because I wanted to write it, because it was what I wanted to read that I couldn't seem to find anywhere, and when I was done, I had a feeling I had something special. I still wasn't sure if it was chick lit or fantasy, so I sent a query to one of the few agents I could find who represented both, and she asked for it, then took me on as a client.

The book did get rejected all over the place -- including by the editor who'd initially been excited about it -- but it only takes one, and Ballantine Books bought it, eight years after my last contract. Enchanted, Inc. was published in 2005, went on to be published in multiple countries and has even been optioned for film by a major studio, with the screenwriter of P.S., I Love You, Kate and Leopold, and Hope Floats hired to write the screenplay. There have been three sequels, also published internationally. I think I appreciated this phase of my career more because of what I'd gone through, and the early phase of my career gave me the experience and knowledge to handle what came later, without it counting against me, since it was so long ago and in a different field. I was a debut author and a veteran, all at the same time, so I knew how to deal with editors and generally what to expect from the process even though I was making a fresh start. I don't know that I'd plan my career to go exactly the way it's gone if I had it to do over again, and I wouldn't say that I have no regrets, but it did work out for me, and I remind myself of that whenever I hit some kind of set-back.

Shanna Swendson
ENCHANTED, INC., ONCE UPON STILETTOS, DAMSEL UNDER STRESS and DON'T HEX WITH TEXAS
Now available from Ballantine Books
Fairy Tales for Modern Times
http://www.shannaswendson.com/" href="http://www.shannaswendson.com/

Vonna Harper

Boy can I relate to the starting over topic. I entered the book writing field doing category romances for H/S and danced that dance for maybe 10 years. Then my mss. started languishing on my editor's desk and I finally got it that my services were far from highly sought.

Around that time my then agent told me to try historicals because the genre was taking off. I dragged my heels saying I didn't read historicals and wasn't interested, blah, blah. Her reply: "You live in a national historic landmark. Quit pissing and get writing." So I did and that led to a 7 book gig with Tor doing mainstream Native American historicals which I loved.

Then a combination of several things including NA sliding out of favor with readers and a total change in my cover art that went from action/people oriented to literary severely pulled down my numbers and I was out on the street again.

Because the bills kept coming in, I started working as a writing instructor. That sucked up my brain and left no time for my own writing. Then my mother broke her pelvis. During one of the many, many driving trips to see her, I had one of 'those' moments. Life was too short not to spend it doing what I wanted to. My priorities became 1. family. 2. writing. A few months later I attended a writers' conference where I met Kate Douglas who is Kensington Aphrodisia's lead erotica writer but started with Ellora's Cave. "Erotica is going to soon be HOT," she told me so I read a few of her stories. When I pulled my tongue off the floor and my eyes back in my head, I decided to give it a shot.

I now write for Aphrodisia, EC, and LooseID. That said, romantic suspense continues to whisper to me so who knows.
www.VonnaHarper.com

A touch, and more, of erotica

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth Amber

Elizabeth's winner is: afstone3! Congratulations! Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Elizabeth. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Are you paranormal?

I just looked up the word “paranormal” in the giant Random House dictionary I’ve had forever. To my surprise, it’s not there. The dictionary’s copyright date is 1983, so I guess the word wasn’t part of the lexicon back then. Things have changed, especially in romance novels. Paranormal has never been more popular.

“Para” means “beyond.” Beyond normal. I like that. I’m pretty normal in my everyday life, and I didn’t really recognize any particular paranormal traits in myself until I wrote my first romance novel, Nicholas, The Lords of Satyr. I wrote it because I had read romances forever, and because I had an idea. But it was an idea outside of the normal realm of romances I was comfortable reading. My idea was about men who are satyrs -- the carnal followers of Bacchus in Roman mythology -- who own a vineyard in 1800s Tuscany, where they guard ancient secrets and engage in rituals that secure their heritage.

This idea was “beyond normal.” It was erotic and it unexpectedly rushed from my brain to my fingers and on to paper. When it was finished, I let my bf, and only my bf, read it. She pronounced it kinky and urged me to submit it to a publisher. When it was published by Kensington, along with three more in the series, my family was supportive, but confused. Why was their normal daughter/sister writing erotic historical paranormal romance? I’d gotten out of the box they’d grown used to seeing me in.

My mom was delighted when one of my book covers (Dominic) was featured on The Today Show in an interesting video about the current boom in romance novel sales. See it at:

http://snackfeed.com/videos/detail/6d5c18d2-7667-102c-8c08-00304897c9c6

For my mom, the world had now righted itself. After all, if my work was on a show she watched religiously, I must be just as normal as she’d hoped after all!

How about you? If you had to check a box that you’re “normal” or “paranormal” in your everyday, work, or dating life -- which would you check and why? The same in all three? Is there any one thing about your personality that’s paranormal? If you’re pretty average/normal in other respects, do you read paranormal? Why do you think that is?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave a comment. Lynda will choose someone to win a copy of my fourth novel, Dominic, The Lords of Satyr! Visit http://www.elizabethamber.com/ to read excerpts of my erotic historical paranormal romances.

~ Elizabeth AmberNicholas

Raine Lyon Dominic : The Lords of Satyr series

Coming soon: Daneerotic historical paranormal romance

Kensington Aphrodisia

http://www.elizabethamber.com/

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Elizabeth's winner will be chosen and posted here on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Eilis Flynn

The winner of Eilis's book is: PamK! Congrats, Pam. Give me your contact info and I'll send it along to Eilis. Thanks to everyone who participated.

No matter how far out we get, some things remain the same

One of the things I appreciate most about fantasy and science fiction is the universality of the most basic elements. Food, shelter, love, family . . . no matter how exotic and foreign some details get, our characters still have certain needs. In ECHOES OF PASSION, Daegon Bosaru has to protect the good name of his dying father . . . find out who the woman is who's been haunting his dreams for the past twenty years . . . and get some of that good old-fashioned Neoti cooking (um, yes. It didn't occur to me that I actually went into the cuisine of Neotia Prime until I reread the book when I got the final copy). It wasn't intentional, but eating is as basic as you can get with living organisms, right? I couldn't imagine what could evoke memories of home more than the smells of home cooking, no matter if that home is far, far away, or even as alien as alien could be (here's a hint: the dude's green. Very, very green).

Here's a bit more about ECHOES OF PASSION, which is part of the sci-fi Hunters for Hire series, available from Ellora's Cave and Cerridwen Press! Here's a bit about it:

Neotia Prime . . . The home world of the Neoti and the Vozuans was destroyed by a doomsday device twenty years ago, but the troubles and unrest that led to the event still plague those who resettled on the twin planet.

When Daegon Bosaru arrives on the unnamed world, determined to uncover who is out to smear his dying father’s good name, he discovers that the tragedies of that civil war still haunt those who remain. Not only that, the mysterious, beautiful woman he’s been seeing in his dreams over the past twenty years may have information he needs. But when he finally meets Imreen Dal in the flesh, she seems not to know him — and furthermore, she runs from him every time she encounters him. Why?

Rumors persist that the crazed dictator who set off the doomsday device may still be alive . . . with fresh plans for conquest. Bosaru needs to find out how his father, the mysterious Imreen and the madman are related . . . and stop another world from being destroyed.

You can find it now at: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7007-echoe..s-of-passion.aspx

Now, what kind of food smells evokes memories for you? For me, it's the smell of roasting sweet potatoes on a cold winter morning. One lucky person who comments will win a download of INTRODUCING SONIKA (and come to think of it, there's food in that book too -- but that's plain old-fashioned human food)!

ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale now

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The winner of Eilis's book will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop by to see if you've won.

Food: Life Force (and a photo of a vampire cow)

Yesterday I posted a rant about the movie, "Food, Inc." As often happens, I have a large reaction, burn up the keyboard with my opinions, then -- after sanity returns -- erase whatever I wrote. I used to do that with emails, and it kept my life in turmoil, because they mostly couldn't be "unsent." Live and learn. So, here's a calm post about food.

The movie is very good. Thought-provoking. Upsetting.

I don't know why I didn't get enthusiastic about the notion of eating real food until now. I've certainly heard about organic/natural food for the three decades I've lived in Boulder. But, for whatever reason, I didn't click into the words REAL FOOD before. And, as I've just discovered, products labeled "organic/natural," aren't always REAL FOOD. As usual, there's lots of razzle-dazzle going on in the marketing of "organic/natural" foods.

Anyway, watching the movie and listening to Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" on CDs has startled me into expanded consciousness. Something about the way Michael explains things just works for me. There's no pretentiousness or self-righteousness. Just extremely helpful explanations. He says we've gotten lost in "nutritionism," and are eating "food-like substances" rather than REAL FOOD, which leads to disease, obesity, and fouling our own nest.

I'm in the midst of a paradigm shift. New neurons firing. Channeled anger. I need to learn about real ingredients, grass-fed beef, real organic chicken, buying local veggies and fruits. Whew. I need to rediscover the joy of food. Or maybe discover it, since most of the vitality-sucking of our foods began even before I was born.

So, I recommend Michael's books and the movie. Here's a link to the "Food, Inc." trailer on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0

p.s. if anyone knows about any classes in the Boulder area on finding and cooking REAL FOOD, please leave a comment.

Guest Blogger: Jody Wallace

Jody's winner is : Pamk! Congrats, PamK! Thanks to everyone for participating.


I've been reading a book called BLACK AND WHITE this week, by authors Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittridge. The book's a full blown "superworld" novel -- that is, speculative fiction in which superhero type characters take center stage. It's not like an urban fantasy or paranormal, but more like a classic "costumed crusaders" kind of plot. And I am seriously enjoying it.


In fact, I'm thinking, "Why aren't there more books like this?"


In the Wikipedia entry for Superhero, the definition is: "A superhero (also known as a super hero) is a fictional character of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest." That's one kind of superhero. There are others, of course, in particular the grim, "Watchman" style of worldbuilding and storytelling, but the premise is roughly the same -- characters who (somewhat) openly fight crime in ways and with skills that are not exactly standard police procedure. Here is a 2008 column by Cat Rambo about Superhero fiction in which she is nominating a tv episode for the Nebulas and talking about books she enjoys: http://www.nebulaawards.com/index.php/guest_blogs/superheroes/


Here on Lynda's Paranormality blog, obviously there's a lot of talk about vampires and werewolves and hot gargoyle heroes. These are enduring and popular subgenre staples. What began as a somewhat narrow subgenre (paranormal romance) has definitely been branching out in the past couple years, as readers demand variety and new storylines in addition to their beloved blood suckers and shifters. As many successful years as superheroes have captured our imaginations, in both comics and on the big/small screens, why do you think there haven't been more superworld style novels, particularly romances?


Yes, there have been some fun ones. The first I recall is the Aphrodite series by Julie Kenner. I also read and enjoyed the Jennifer Estep Bigtime series (KARMA GIRL, JINX, HOT MAMA) and INTRODUCING SONICA by Eilis Flynn. I have heard Gena Showalter's book PLAYING WITH FIRE described as a sort of superhero romance, and certainly there is the aforementioned BLACK AND WHITE.


It's quite possible there have been more superhero style romances (or chick lits) published, particularly from smaller, more flexible publishers, and I have missed them. I know my good friend Natalie Damschroder participated in an erotic superhero series called The Lusty League from Amber Quill, for example.


What gems am I missing?


I think there are some in YA series, but for the life of me I can't remember the names of them.


Do mainstream publishers feel this particular subgenre wouldn't interest the primarily female romance reading audience? Do they think only boys like superheroes? What do you think?


I will give away either an electronic or a paper copy of my paranormal romance from Samhain Publishing, SURVIVAL OF THE FAIREST (not a superhero romance but does feature some pint-sized supervillians!), to one lucky commenter. And I hope a lot of you comment -- I'd love to see a good discussion about the potential for great stories in the subgenre of superhero romances, as well as lots of suggestions for books I can track down!


Thanks to Lynda for giving me access to the brains of her blog visitors -- and you're safe, I'm not a zombie (today) :)


Jody Wallace http://www.jodywallace.com/ * www.meankitty.com


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Jody's winner will be posted on Tuesday evening. Stop by and see if you won!

I'm having a very nice contest year! Dark Harvest finals again!

What a wonderful surprise! I just got an email saying DARK HARVEST is a finalist in the First Coast Romance Writers Beacon Published contest, in the Novel w/Strong Romantic Elements category. Yay!

Guest Blogger: Marilynn Byerly

Marilynn's winner is: Ingrid Foster! Congrats, Ingrid. Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Marilynn. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Glenn Miller's song "Moonlight Serenade" makes me cry.

It always has, and I've never known why. I grew up during the heyday of Elvis and the Beatles, but my passion was Big Band music. Ancient Egypt and Rome enthralls me, and at ten I could understand Shakespeare's Elizabethan words.

Some things just come naturally to me, like I've done them before, and some historical places feel as comfortable as the town I grew up in.

If I have lived before, I can name some people, times, and places. A Big Band musician with classical training who died during World War II. An American intellectual during the Romantic movement. An Elizabethan. One of Chaucer's drinking buddies. A Roman. An Etruscan. An ancient Greek. An Egyptian peasant.

No, I can't remember any of these lives. Except for some intense dreams in my childhood, I've never remembered those other times. I've pieced them together from my natural interests, and my frisson of recognition at historical artifacts.

Every time I've attempted to delve into my past lives, my subconscious has told me "don't do this" in a very loud voice.

When I was researching my reincarnation romance, TIME AFTER TIME, I read a book on how to remember past lives. The author suggested that you ask your subconscious every night before bed to give you information on a past life.

The author told of how he'd done this to gain more information on his life as a military man in the late 1700s. He dreamed that he'd seen a night sky, and the stars had formed the name of the famous battle site where he'd died.

"Cool," I thought to myself. "Just think of all the book material I'd find from past lives." I began to ask my subconscious to give me information.

Finally, one night I dreamed I saw a night sky and letters began to form. My letters spelled out "buffoon."

My subconscious has a wicked sense of humor.

Wondering what it would be like to recall past lives, I came up with the premise for TIME AFTER TIME. My hero Justin Lord remembers all his lives and the one woman in each of them. When he meets Alexa West, he knows he's finally found this soul mate.

Determined to win her by making her remember, he romances Alexa by restaging and retelling their past lives and their loves. But he doesn't tell her she has rivals for his love, and she is all twelve.

Unless he can give up his obsession with those past loves, he will lose Alexa.

Remembering past lives proves to be as much a curse as a blessing for Justin, and his problems made me realize that maybe my subconscious isn't so wrong, after all, in telling me not to try to remember. One life is confusing enough.

http://www.marilynnbyerly.com/

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Marilyn will give away a copy of her book to one person who leaves a comment about her/his own past life exploration. Winner will be posted on Tuesday evening. Check back to see if you've won.

Dark Harvest: Finalist, Book Buyers Best Contest and nice words on the CAL website

DARK HARVEST is a finalist (along with such wonderful authors as Brenda Novak, CJ Lyons and Susan Swift) in the Romantic Suspense/Mystery with Romance Elements category of the Orange County Chapter's Book Buyers Best Contest, 2009! What an excellent surprise!

And, some of the judges who selected the winners of the "Top Hand" awards given by the Colorado Authors League have posted comments about the books they judged. Here's what a couple of them said about Dark Harvest:

CAL Award for Genre Fiction
Dark Harvest by Lynda Hilburn

“This is a finely crafted novel which not only entertains—it leaves the reader hoping for more! [This] story is so original and is so full of fun, snappy dialogue, elegant and graphic sensuality, and fast-paced action that I found it difficult to put down.” Susan Ciazza, Reader’s Advisor, Arapahoe Library District.

“Great book. The flow from one scene [to another] is outstanding.” Sandy Whelchel, Executive Director, National Writers Association.

Whee!!

Guest Blogger: Linda Nightingale

Linda's winner is: Bridget3420! Congrats, Bridget. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Linda. Thanks to everyone who participated.

I’m excited!

Both the trailer and the cover for Black Swan, my spicy vampire romance from The Wild Rose Press, are nominated for awards at The New Covey Trailer Awards and The New Covey Cover Awards! Think of the trailer awards as an academy awards for book trailers. Pam Roller produced and I wrote my trailer. Voting for the most intriguing trailer ends June 19. Voting for the covers ends June 14. I’d really appreciate your vote if you like the trailer and cover!

Cover, Entry #21, Black Swan: http://thenewcoveycoverawards.blogspot.com/
Trailer, Entry #2, Black Swan: http://thenewcoveytrailerawards.blogspot.com/

Black Swan was number 1 on the publisher’s bestseller list for 6 weeks, and I’m delighted that it is still on the list.

Excerpt:

The fact that the man she loved was in bed with another woman ceased to be important when Holly saw the blood. Her heart, which had been running on empty until she met Tristan, stuttered and stalled. Horror freeze-framed time -- the shutter snaps of images flooding her brain almost audible. She couldn’t breathe or move, knew she hadn’t made a sound, but Tristan's head snapped up. Wild red eyes honed in on her. Blood smeared his mouth, drizzled from two wounds on his partner's throat. The woman he'd been screwing appeared deathly pale and deadly still.

She should run before he shouted, "What the hell are you doing here?" but fear had turned her to ice. Holly hadn't blinked but Tristan stood on his feet. Her heart tripped over a beat. No one could move that fast. Burning eyes captured hers.

Black Swan is available from The Wild Rose Press. http://thewildrosepress.com/

Please visit my web site for a continuing story, Vampire Hunt. http://www.lindanightingale.com/

Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a Black Swan coffee mug!

Thanks Lynda for having me as a guest!

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Linda's winner will be selected on Monday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

Guest Blogger: Rick Taubold

I put the names in my mini-coffin and picked a winner: Cecile! Congratulations, Cecile. Send me the email address you'd like Rick to send your download to, and it will be on its way. Thanks so much to all who participated.

Lynda and everyone, thanks for having me. It's a privilege to be here.

What if vampires really existed? What if they were mortal, not predators, and didn't have fangs?

I'm Rick Taubold, and that's the premise of my second published novel, Vampires, Inc., co-authored with Chris R. Hosey, and which just released last week as an e-book from Double Dragon Publishing.

Chris and I set out to make our vampires different. We wanted them to exist in our world without most people knowing of their existence. Our idea was to show how they deal with the stigma of what they are. My co-author has a gift of being able to create three-dimensional characters with real flaws and a lot of baggage, the kind of characters who feel genuine.

The novel has a multi-cultural character set, and not all of the characters are vampires. You'll find the bad guys every bit as interesting as the good guys. There's even a love scene, which my wife helped me create.

Excerpt from Chapter 13 -- the love scene.

New Orleans, May, 1884.

After being changed into a vampire, Eli has wandered the back woods of the South for 25 years. He has just come into New Orleans where he meets Sophie Benoit . . .

They walked along Royal Street and into the nighttime crowds of humans. He would later learn the names of all the streets. For now, he was an innocent child, amazed at the splendor of this newfound place. All of his senses came alive. Sights and scents, more wonderful than he'd ever experienced, flooded over him. More amazing, a beautiful white woman walked at his side and treated him as her equal.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"Chez moi."

He was confused.

She laughed. "To my house. You need a place to stay, non?"

"Yes."

He didn't remember all he saw or how long they walked, but they came to a place of many magnificent buildings. "This is Storyville," she said, "where the sporting women live. For us New Orleans is une bonne ville. There is so much crime. The officials and the police -- les poulets we call them, the chickens -- are like dogs who so stupidly chase their queues. Men's queues always lead them to Storyville." What a sweet laugh she had.

He would learn later what all this meant.

She took him inside a building finer than his slaveholder's plantation house. The carpet was thick; fine draperies adorned the windows. He rubbed his hand over a deep-red, velvet-textured wall. A crystal chandelier, larger than he'd ever seen, hung in the center of this room.

"This is my sporting house, les filles à ton service," she said. "Women to serve you."

He saw women everywhere, many beautiful women. Some wore full dresses, some were half-dressed. Some were alone, some were talking to men, some were escorting men out of the room. He didn't see any others of his race here.

One woman came up to them. "Madam Sophie, is he your new servant?"

He avoided looking at her bare breasts.

"He will serve me," she said. She took hold of his chin and turned his head back at the woman. "Do you not like what you see?"

"She is..."

"Naked? Oui. What is wrong with a beautiful, naked woman?"

"N-nothing."

Sophie laughed her sweet laugh again, then she led him up a grand stairway. At the top, she opened a door. "Here is my room."

If possible, the room was more elegant and luxurious than downstairs. The bed, covered with pillows, was large enough for three people and covered with pillows. Inside the fireplace to his right a roaring fire heated a huge kettle. In front of that sat a bathtub for two people. He'd only seen its like once before. Next to the tub was a wooden toilet.

She'd been holding his hand and now let it go. "Wait here." When she returned, a Negro woman much darker than he was accompanied her.

"This is Elba, my maid."

"What you lookin' at, boy?"

"His name is Eli," Sophie said, "and you will not speak to him that way again. Prepare my bath then leave us."

"Yes, ma'am." Her tone was chilly. On the plantations he'd seen skin color sometimes mattered among the Negroes.

Sophie took his clothing bundle and tossed it on the floor. She bid him sit on the bed while she disappeared behind a dressing screen. He watched Elba use a wooden bucket to dip water from the fireplace kettle and fill the tub. He marveled at the crystal oil lamps that lit the room. Some were mounted on the walls; some sat on tables.

Elba finished and left. When Sophie came from behind the screen, she wore a thin, green silk robe, open in front. "Do you like what you see?"

She had unfastened her hair so it now touched her shoulders. The robe fell open next to her nipples. A string of pearls around her neck hung halfway down her breasts. His gaze drifted down past her stomach. She paused in front of him then walked around the room dimming the lights and glancing playfully at him.

Now that he understood what was about to happen, a memory of his brother Jonas flashed through his mind.

She came over to him. "Mon pauvre petit, I am so sorry for you. Do not be afraid. No one will do that to you here." She placed her hands on his cheeks; her eyes smiled at him. "Sophie will not let them."

She pulled him to her and kissed him lightly with her moist and wonderfully warm lips. "It is time pour l'amour. Take off those old clothes."

He didn't move.

"For your bath, mon chou. Do you take a bath in your clothes? We will burn the old ones and I will buy you fine new ones."

She stood up with him while he took off his cotton shirt. She ran her hands over his chest and shoulders, down his arms, squeezing his firm muscles. Her hands slid over his chest; her palms brushed his nipples.
He shivered.

"You like how Sophie touches you." Again she pulled him to her. Her lips came to rest gently on his. He opened his mouth; their tongues touched. Before he realized it, or could stop her, she had untied the rope holding up his pants. In cooler weather he would be wearing long johns underneath, but those were in the bundle on the floor.

She took a step back and took in his nakedness. "Mon dieu! Quel cigare."

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So, we have something for everyone. Even if you say, "I don't read vampire novels," you might be surprised by this one, and maybe you'll want to read Vampires Anonymous when it comes out.

To find out more about the novel go to Double Dragon's website: www.double-dragon-ebooks.com. You can read the whole first chapter there. For those of you who prefer print books, we're expecting the print version of Vampires, Inc. to follow in a few weeks.

To learn more about me and my writing, and for updates on my various projects, visit my website: www.ricktaubold.com. There's a link to the Vampires, Inc. website, or you can access that directly at www.vampiresinc.net. While you're browsing my site, check out my first novel, More Than Magick. It's a science fantasy, and it's not vampire-free. You can also read my first published short story there, So, You Want To Be a Vampire.

I've got some neat things planned for the Vampires, Inc. universe. Adrian Shadowhawk, one of the fascinating characters in the novel, has his own website that he'll have up and running next month. Keep checking back. I'll also be doing a quarterly newsletter. Email me at magick46@rochester.rr.com if you want to be added to the mailing list.


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Rick will be giving away a download of his new book to one person who asks him a question here. The winner will be posted on Tuesday evening. Check back to see if you won!

Excerpt: Blood Song (my short story in the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance)

“Are you sure you should walk home alone, Grace? Even in a small town like Boulder, women can’t be too careful,” a female voice called out.

Grace finished locking the door to her sound-healing studio and turned to the group of attendees still lingering on the sidewalk in front of the building. She looked into their sincere faces and smiled. It was the same every time. People got so energized after participating in the sound circle that they tried to stretch the evening out as long as possible. She, on the other hand, yearned for peace, quiet and a large glass of wine. After a session, she needed to be alone to recharge. Walking home through the quiet, tree-lined streets at the end of the evening had become a private pleasure.

Grinning, she reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a small aerosol canister. “Don’t worry about me.” She raised the container. “I’ve got my trusty pepper spray. I’m armed and dangerous. Besides, my house is only a few blocks up the hill, and in all the years I’ve lived here, nobody’s ever bothered me.”

She almost mentioned she’d never even encountered a mountain lion, but decided not to raise the issue. It wouldn’t be wise to give the group any more ideas about why she might need company – whether she wanted it or not. Nothing scary had ever happened to her – fanged predators or otherwise. Unfortunately, she thought, nothing exciting, either.

“I’ll see you at the next sound circle.” She waved and hurried down the street before the singers could foil her escape. She loved all her clients and circle members, but it had been a long week and it wasn’t over yet.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, she felt herself begin to unwind. She walked until she came to a dead end, then turned toward the foothills, climbing the gentle trail that lead to her house. She gazed up and smiled. The full moon illuminated the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, outlining them in breathtaking detail against the star-studded tapestry of the night sky. Lights from the houses sprinkled across the canyon glittered like suspended fireflies in the magical darkness.

The late summer air held a subtle hint of fall, her favorite season, and she fantasized about the Autumn Equinox sound ritual she’d be creating again this year. She had invited sound healers from all over the world to participate. Thinking about the event, she remembered the face of the handsome Brazilian musician she’d met at the Summer Solstice celebration in Rio.

He’d smiled at her with those amazing, full lips – displaying wicked dimples and beautiful white teeth – and she’d lost the ability to speak. His eyes were the color of the Mediterranean Sea, and she’d longed to dive in. That memory caused heat to shimmer through her body, and she unbuttoned her jacket.

Of course, she hadn’t had the courage to take him up on his unspoken offer. So, what else was new?

She’d mailed him an invitation to her Equinox ritual, and she didn’t know what worried her more – that he wouldn’t attend, or that he would.

She shook her head, thinking how pitiful it was that even the thought of the musician caused her body to overheat. She was too old for that kind of reaction. She wanted to get over her dating anxiety and find a relationship – like a normal woman. How could she be so confident as a performer and healer, yet such a basket case about men? Why did she turn into a tongue-tied teenager every time a handsome guy came near?

A rustling sound a few feet away snapped her attention from the Brazilian. Startled, she stopped and raised the pepper spray, scanned the bushes and trees, and listened. Her heart pounded against her ribs, adrenaline shot through her system.

That’s what she got for being cavalier about mountain lions. She should know better. Simply because she’d never come across one of the beasts, didn’t mean they weren’t there. Her hands trembled so badly she almost lost her grip on the canister, and her knees threatened to fold. She’d heard the deadly cats stalked their prey. Was one watching her now? Her mind spun as she tried to remember what the article in the newspaper said about the lions: try to look big and never run. Run? Even though that was what her brain demanded, she didn’t think her legs could manage, since they seemed to be made of rubber.

She waited in the thick silence with her finger poised over the canister, her stomach tight. The seconds passed like hours. She finally let out a shuddering breath, relieved that her imagination had probably exaggerated the sound of a deer or a raccoon. She’d just relaxed her shoulders and taken a couple of shaky steps up the path, when something large burst out of the bushes.

Pivoting toward the movement, she screamed and pressed the spray button, sending a shower of the caustic substance into the eyes of a large man who’d lunged at her, hands clutching, mouth gaping to reveal long, bloody fangs. He shrieked as the irritant coated his eyes and face, but still managed to tackle her ferociously, slamming her body down onto the asphalt path. Her canister bounced against the ground and rolled away.

The man – or whatever he was – had outrageous strength. He pressed against her like a concrete slab, easily holding her down, while madly swiping at his eyes with one of his hands. The treacherous, long, razor teeth she’d glimpsed as he’d leapt at her were poised over her neck, dripping saliva and blood. She could feel the slimy, wet substance oozing down her shirt as she choked on the hideous stench of his breath.

His long, dark hair hung filthy and stringy, his skin deathly pale, his clothing torn and foul.

She kicked and flailed, pushing against his powerful shoulder, trying to dislodge the unnatural, unbelievable beast. Her arms ached from the useless pounding, her throat went raw from screaming. His body weighed so heavy against her chest, she feared her ribs would snap any second. Her heart thundered in her ears as if about to explode from the terror.

He’d kept up a growling rumble, punctuated by yelps and groans, as he frantically worked to clear his eyes and wipe his face.

Struggling for air, she made gasping noises, all the fight gone out of her limbs.

The tips of his pointed fangs broke through the skin of her neck, sending a wave of pain radiating down her body. This is it! As she braced for the expected horror, suddenly the monster was gone. His weight no longer pressed on her chest so she could breathe. Shocked, she blinked her eyes – realizing she must have closed them in her panic.

For a moment she felt certain she’d died – that the thing had torn out her throat or crushed her heart. She hadn’t seen a white light or a tunnel. There were no idyllic scenes – no relatives coming to guide her to greener pastures. And, it was strange that her body still hurt, but she had to be dead – there was simply no other possible explanation.

She’d looked up and seen the perfect face of an angel.

And then nothing.

* * *
“Shit!” Ethan yelled. He grabbed the back of the undead troublemaker’s filthy shirt, jerked him off the woman, and dangled him in the air. “Nelson! Come and take this disgusting specimen, would you?”

He turned his gaze to the frightened eyes of the beautiful woman sprawled on the path, gave her the command to “Sleep,” and watched her eyelids close.

Of all the rotten luck. He’d lost sight of the brainless newbie for one minute and look what happened? Of course there had to be a mortal walking around. Why didn’t these humans stay in their houses at night, like they’re supposed to?

Guest Blogger: Judi Fennell

The winner of Judi's charm is: Lil. Congratulations, Lil! Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Judi. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Hi everyone and thanks for having me!

My debut novel, In Over Her Head, is out and about in stores now. In Over Her Head is the story of Erica who is afraid of the ocean and a Mer man named Reel, "The Spare" heir to the Mer throne, and the undersea adventure they have to recover stolen diamonds and escape a sea monster.

I'm eagerly awaiting feedback from readers, but have had an initial idea of what people will think because this story was in an online contest, similar to American Idol, on the social networking site, Gather.com. The contest, First Chapters Romance, took place in August 2007 and those of us who entered had to post our first chapter for people to read and be able to comment on. The story made the Top 5 finalists and caught the eye of one of the judges who was instrumental in helping me sell it to Sourcebooks.

The minute the contest opened, the fish puns started flowing fast and furious. And now the reviewers have gotten in on the act, and I have so enjoyed them. It's been as fun to read what people say about the story as it was to write the plays-on-words, the double entendres, puns, and tongue-in-cheek poking fun at language and culture. Here are some:

"a hurricane of sensuality"

"Judi Fennell dives into the paranormal scene with a splash"

"This debut has grabbed me hook, line, and sinker!"

"I truly found a pearl in my oyster when I read this delightful tale"

"From the beginning you feel the chemistry flowing between he and Erica."

I've been asked where I came up with the idea for the story since there aren't any Mer men stories out there. In Over Her Head came out of a series I was working on that was a twist on fairy tales: Beauty and The Best, Cinda Bella, Fairest of Them All. I wanted to do a twist on The Little Mermaid. The most natural way was to make the guy the Mer. Toss in some talking fish and a bunch of mythology and there you have it.

I wrote the story more for me than any thought to getting it published; it's the kind of story I would love to read. Gather had had a previous contest, First Chapters, for all genre fiction and Beauty and The Best was the only romance to make it to the Top 20 finalists in that contest (out of 2700 entries), so when they announced the First Chapters Romance contest, over a hundred people emailed me to ask me to enter the contest. I didn't want to enter the same manuscript and In Over Her Head was almost finished. I figured, why not? What did I have to lose?

Well, I didn't win the contest, but selling the book - and the next two in the series certainly made up for it.

To celebrate the release of each of my books, and to keep with my "contesting" mindset, as well as a great tie-in to the sea theme of the stories, I'm offering readers a chance to win one of 3 romantic beach getaways on my website, www.JudiFennell.com. All the information and rules to enter are there - no purchase necessary.

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About The Author:
Judi Fennell has had her nose in a book and her head in some celestial realm all her life, including those early years when her mom would exhort her to "get outside!" instead of watching Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie on television. So she did--right into Dad's hammock with her Nancy Drew books.

These days she's more likely to have her nose in her laptop and her head (and the rest of her body) at her favorite bookstore, but she's still reading, whether it be her latest manuscript or friends' books.

A three-time finalist in online contests, Judi has enjoyed the reader feedback she's received and would love to hear what you think about her Mer series. Check out her website at www.JudiFennell.com for excerpts, reviews and fun pictures from reader and writer conferences, and the chance to "dive in" to her stories.

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www.JudiFennell.com
In Over Her Head, coming from Sourcebooks, 6/09
Wild Blue Under & Catch of a Lifetime, books 2 & 3 in the Mer trilogy
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Judi will give away a mermaid cell phone charm to one person who comments here. Check back Tuesday evening to see if you won.

Dark Harvest Wins!, Book Signing with Carrie Vaughn and Esri Rose, 5/26, Great Contest on Cecile's Blog and Guest Bloggers Wanted

I just got this email from Colorado Authors League:

Dear Lynda:

This is to let you know that your entry, Dark Harvest, won the Genre Fiction category of the 2009 Colorado Authors’ League “Top Hand” Awards. Please watch for your plaque and $50 check to arrive in the mail. Congratulations!

OK. That's just cool.

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Carrie Vaughn (Kitty the werewolf series), Esri Rose (Bound to Love Her, Stolen Magic) and yours truly will be holding a signing at Boulder Bookstore (Boulder, CO) this Tuesday, May 26, 7:30 p.m. Stop by and say hello!

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My cyber-pal Cecile has created a week-long contest for me and my books on her blog. She's my #1 supporter. Drop by and check out her efforts on my behalf!

http://alliwantandmore.blogspot.com

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And -- I'm looking for more paranormal guest bloggers for Mondays. I have openings starting this summer. Send an email to this address if you're interested: boulderboomer at aol.com. The topic is anything paranormal.

Signed copies of my books

I've gotten requests, so I thought I'd post this information again.

A while back, I signed all my books at a Denver book store and the owners (lovely people!) are great about offering a discount price for the books and fair shipping. If you'd like a signed copy of one of my books, you can contact:

Nina and Ron Else
Who_else@att.net
303-987-0281

Two Great Sites to Choose From!

My sweet reader friend Cecile is holding a week-long event on her blog for me. She's posting excerpts of my short stories and my books throughout the days, and will share the interview we did. There are lots of giveaways! Check it out:
http://alliwantandmore.blogspot.com

Also, I'm guest blogging today at Silk and Shadows. Stop by and leave a comment to enter a giveaway where you can choose one of my books:
http://www.silkandshadows.com

Guest Blogger: Angie Fox

(I posted this earlier, but for some reason, it disappeared.) The winner of Angie's book is: Phoebe! Congratulations, Phoebe. Give me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Angie. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Hi, my name is Angie Fox and I write a series about a preschool teacher turned demon slayer who has to run off with her grandmother’s gang of geriatric biker witches. But what cracks me up is that nobody ever asks me about that.

Biker witches? Sure! Demon slaying preschool teachers? Why not? What readers most want to know is why the hero of the books, Dimitri, is a shapeshifting griffin.

My answer is always – why not? Don’t get me wrong – I love werewolves and vampires and all kinds of heroes. But frankly, I’m surprised we don’t see more griffins in paranormal books.

Aside from being sexy as all get out, griffins are known to be loyal, intense and strong. Griffins were even a symbol of marriage in the Medieval church because they mate for life. I can’t think of a better quality for a hero to have. And while griffins may not be your classic Alpha “my way or the highway” type of guys, they are tough and absolutely willing to leap tall mountains (literally) for the women they love.

In honor of Dimitri, and griffins everywhere, I’m giving away a copy of my latest book, The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. And if you’d like to learn more, be sure to visit www.angiefox.com

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Leave a comment here to enter the drawing for Angie's book. The winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Check back to see if you won!

German version of The Vampire Shrink

I discovered a link to my book's upcoming German version:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.droemer-knaur.de/autoren/Lynda%2BHilburn.1421188.html&ei=etEKSuf6PJ6ktAPgpNzrCA&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLynda%2BHilburn%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D150

I hadn't seen the cover, nor did I realize they'd changed the name. And the blurb is very interesting (at least the Google translation from German). What fun! Last I heard, it was being released in November of this year. Click on the book cover.

Guest Blogger: Nancy Haddock

The winner of Nancy's book is: Kerry Nelson! Congratulations, Kerry. Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Nancy. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Where Are the Weres?

I write a paranormal mystery romance series for Penguin/Berkley starring Cesca Marinelli. Cesca is a 228-year old vampire who was born in St. Augustine, Florida in 1780, turned in 1800, then buried in a coffin in a half-basement and forgotten for over 200 years. When Maggie discovers Cesca during the restoration of a Victorian house, Cesca has a second shot at afterlife, and lot to learn to catch up to the 21st century.

You may surmise that my series is not dark or edgy, and you would be right!

After La Vida Vampire was released, several readers asked me why I didn’t have werewolves (or tigers or leopards, etc.) in my books. Several more asked why I killed off the werecreatures entirely.

The short answer is I didn’t want Weres in my story world. Not because I don’t like werecreature characters – oh, no! Far from it! I’ll read stories with Were characters all day long, be they the throat-ripping bad guys, the sexy good guys, or a mixed bag. Weres are an integral part of the paranormal and urban fantasy genre I love.

But let’s face the facts, folks. We have werelions and weretigers and werebears, oh, my! We have wereleopards, werewolves, werepanthers, wererats, and about any other werecreature an author wants to create.

Given that, where and when do Weres wear thin?

I did consider including Were characters during the early stages of my world building. After deliberating the pros and cons, I thought it was enough of a risk to write a vampire book when so many authors already wrote vampires so very well. The same applied to werecreatures. So many authors wrote them well – and so many populated their books with both Weres and vampires – I figured I didn’t need to go there. I “killed off” Weres for my story world, partly to take care of the question in the reader’s mind. I also made that choice so I could highlight the difference between lycanthropes and my magical shape-shifting character, Pandora, the Florida Panther.

As the time has neared for Last Vampire Standing to be released, a sneaky, savvy, darling reader pointed out that I killed off the Weres in the US, but made no mention of them being wiped out world wide. Might I, the reader asked, ever write a story line in which Weres from Europe trickle into town?

Hmmmm. Now there’s a fun possibility. And, since I’ve learned never to say never, who knows what may show up in future stories to challenge Cesca’s “normal” afterlife?

That’s a question for later. For now I hope that readers will embrace the old and new characters in Last Vampire Standing. Triton, Cesca’s first love from her girlhood, makes an appearance in the new book, and, of course, Maggie and Neil, Saber and Pandora figure prominently. Jo-Jo the Jester, the wannabe stand-up comic, was a scream to write for the sequel, and a paranormal investigation geek is also introduced along with a few more vamps in Daytona Beach.

What is your reading pleasure in paranormal and urban fantasy – the more supernaturals the better, or do you prefer a cast of fewer? Which kinds of supernaturals do you most like to see Weres paired with – vampires, witches, other Weres? Do you like to see new supernatural characters and elements brought into sequels, or do you like all the ingredients in the soup from the get go?

I’d love to discuss these questions, so please leave a comment. If you’re a published author and leave a comment, please also leave your web URL or title of your last or upcoming book! I like sharing the stage!

Nancy is giving away a copy of Last Vampire Standing, but you must leave an answer to one of the questions to be entered. For more opportunities to win a book, see the Beach Party page on Nancy’s web site – www.nancyhaddock.com. The winner will be posted here on Tuesday evening. Check back to see if you won!

Multi-Author Book Signing, Saturday, May 9

If you're going to be in the Greeley, Colorado area this Saturday around noon, stop by the Borders Books and say hello to Elaine Levine, Melissa Mayhue, Robin Owens, Tara Janzen and me. We'll be signing our books for a couple of hours and would love to see some familiar faces.

Guest Blogger: Stephanie Julian

The winner of Stephanie's book is: Amber! Congratulations, Amber. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Stephanie. Thanks to everyone who participated!!

At last month’s RT Booklovers Convention in Orlando, Florida, I gave a talk on worldbuilding, “Beyond Celtic Fairies and Greek Gods,” with Jessica Andersen, Lynne Connelly and Melissa Mayhue.

I first came up with the idea when I decided I was going to RT and knew I wanted to get my name out there other than only at the book signings.

Being a relatively shy person (no, really, I am), public speaking is so not my thing and I hate making small talk. But I love to talk writing.

And I love to write, particularly paranormal series. Seduced by Danger, the sixth story in my Magical Seduction series from Ellora’s Cave, was released Friday and in it you’ll find many of the characters from the previous books, along with the main couple, Michael and Cara.

I love writing series because it allows you to revisit favorite characters, to catch up with them every now and then and see what they’re doing.

And I adore writing paranormal series. There’s just so much more you can do with paranormal. You aren’t bound by the traditional rules of nature, except those you choose to follow and the ones you create yourself.

I chose to play with an Etruscan mythology in my books, mainly because no one else was. And my dad’s family is from Italy. It was a natural fit. And I didn’t want to do the traditional Greek gods. I wanted to do my own twist. But how do you find that twist?

When I started cruising the Internet for information on Etruscan mythology, I discovered the wild and wonderful world of speculative non-fiction. Sites dedicated to theories on who really built the sphinx and the pyramids and crystal skulls and the Piri Reis map.

I was fascinated by lost civilizations (yes, I mean Atlantis but also Ra and the Lost Mines of Murabeca and etc.), artifacts unearthed in Middle Eastern deserts that appeared to be ancient electrical equipment and cryptozoology.

I felt like I’d hit the goldmine of idea. The very nature of their being sparks little ideas that grow into big ideas.

Here are some of my favorite places on the Internet to find weird and wonderful ideas.

Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.pantheon.org/
The mythology section is divided into six geographical regions: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Oceania. Each region has clearly defined subdivisions. The folklore section contains general folklore, Arthurian legends and folktales from many lands. There is also a bestiary, legendary heroes, image gallery and genealogical tables of various pantheons.

Crystalinks Ancient and Lost Civilizations
http://www.crystalinks.com/ancient.html
Good jumping off point if you’re looking for something to kickstart your creativity.

Pib Burns Cryptozoology
http://www.pibburns.com/cryptozo.htm
Want to read about weird creatures? Here’s the place to find some.

World Mysteries
http://www.world-mysteries.com/index.html
Another weird stuff site but full of interesting tidbits to make you go hmm.

Skeptic’s Dictionary
http://www.skepdic.com/
The other side to some of the weird stuff you’re going to find on the other sites.

Rick Richards
http://www.rickrichards.com
A little bit of everything here, from Jesus to Mayan temples with lots of pictures.

www.stephaniejulian.com

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One commenter will be selected to win a copy of Stephanie's book. The winner will be posted here on Tuesday evening.

Dark Harvest a finalist in the Colorado Authors League "Top Hand" Awards, Genre Fiction AND Colorado Romance Writers Conference, 5/1 & 5/2, Denver

I got an excellent email this morning, telling me that DARK HARVEST is a finalist in the Colorado Authors League "Top Hand" Award, Genre Fiction. The winners will be selected at the CAL banquet on May 19. You can read about it here:

http://www.coloradoauthors.org/

Here's the info on the wonderful Colorado Romance Writers conference in Denver this Friday and Saturday:

http://www.coloradoromancewriters.org/conference.html

Guest Blogger: Jeri Smith-Ready

The winner of Jeri's book is: The Ink Gypsy! Congrats! Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Jeri. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Urban fantasy worldbuilding: a place like ours, or not

We usually associate the daunting word “worldbuilding” with science fiction or traditional fantasy, where an idea becomes a system of rules and details that astound us with their complexity and completeness. But the same rigor must also be applied to urban fantasy. While traditional fantasy usually involves an invented world—think Middle Earth or Narnia—urban/contemporary fantasy is by definition set in a world we recognize. It might be a well-known city like Las Vegas, or it might be a place that doesn’t exist but feels real, like Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Even in urban fantasy, these visions of “our world” can vary. They can be identical to the one we know, where the supernatural remains secret; or a parallel world, in which magic is integrated into society. As it so happens, I write one of each, so I’ll try to describe some of the challenges I’ve faced.

My WVMP RADIO series (WICKED GAME and next month’s BAD TO THE BONE) is solidly set in our world. The truth about vampires, including the station’s disc jockeys, is hidden from the public (though it is eventually used as a marketing gimmick). Therefore, their existence has not changed the world we know. The only addition is a covert paramilitary organization known as the International Agency for the Control and Management of Undead Corporeal Entities (aka the Control), which works with federal agencies in various nations at top levels of secrecy.

I incorporate real-life details such as music, technology, and even sports. In BAD TO THE BONE, the actual November 5, 2007, Steelers-Ravens football game plays a role in one of the subplots. I worked the game into the backdrop of a dramatic scene, and the final score sharpens the rivalry between Shane and David. (In real life, I was heartbroken at the Ravens’ crushing defeat, but then realized, “Hey, I can use this!” Great art comes from great pain. ;-)

The characters’ close ties to the real world allows them to step out of the books into our reality. They might even, oh, hypothetically speaking, have MySpace and Twitter accounts. They can communicate with readers about current events and music, because they share our culture.

To build this series’ world, I must decide which real-life elements to include. Which kinds of events are relevant to the characters? In BAD TO THE BONE, a single football game causes a cascade of conflict and confusion.

On the other side, how much of Ciara and Shane’s world should be brought into our domain? Does their online reader interaction enhance the world building, or could “breaking the fourth wall” make their fictional world feel less special?

My other project is a young adult urban fantasy series, which will begin in 2010. It takes place in our world (Baltimore, which many people think already exists in a parallel universe), and also mentions modern music. But this world has one major addition: the heroine (Aura) and everyone younger can see ghosts, due to a mysterious event called the Shift, which took place at her birth.

Proof of the supernatural sends shock waves through Aura’s society, even for those who can’t see them—i.e., anyone seventeen and older. The government forms the Department of Metaphysical Purity (DMP, whose agents are colloquially called “dumpers”). An obsidian-based technology called BlackBox™ is developed to keep ghosts out of sensitive areas such as bathrooms and military buildings.

To build this fictional world, I had to decide how much of our world would change over the course of sixteen ghost-filled years. Adults would be slow to adapt and accept the new reality, especially since they can’t experience ghosts directly. This reluctance would manifest in religions clinging to the old ways, or pop culture fetishizing ghosts in a cynical attempt at profit. The youngest generation would feel isolated and misunderstood by the larger world. They wouldn’t have the influence to mold their culture—yet.

So in building this world I have to think about how the two vastly different segments of society would react to the existence and presence of ghosts. One would fall into denial and paranoia, and the other would find ways to adapt, since they have no other choice.

Along with a few other individual, the heroine Aura is determined to discover why the Shift occurred in the first place, maybe even figure out how to reverse it. Until her boyfriend dies and becomes a ghost.

I hope that in my own rambly way, I’ve helped illustrate a few of the different challenges involved in urban fantasy worldbuilding. Turns out, it’s just as complicated as any other kind.

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To enter to win the last Advance Review Copy of BAD TO THE BONE (release date May 19), just leave a comment below. It can be about worldbuilding either from the perspective of a reader or a writer, or a reaction to what I’ve written above.

Or, you can suggest a title for my YA series. I am desperately seeking a name, both for the series and for Book One, so any help would be very appreciated!

A name will be drawn at random on Wednesday evening, April 29, and posted here.

Jeri can be found on all the internets, including:
www.jerismithready.com
www.myspace.com/jerismithready
http://twitter.com/jsmithready
http://twitter.com/CiaraGriffin
http://twitter.com/ShaneMcAllister

Romantic Times Convention, Orlando, FL, April 21-26

I'll be winging my way to Orlando tomorrow for the Romantic Times convention. If you're going to be attending, please come and say hello! I tend to be shy in large crowds, so if you see me cowering in a corner (or sitting with my nose buried in a book in a restaurant) please come over and say hi. I love meeting other book fanatics.

I'll be here:

TUE 7 pm
I'm hoping to join other FF&P writers for dinner (I think at the Golden Corral)


WED 10:30-11:30
Vampire Panel
VAMPIRE: A BITE WITH A TWIST: INFUSING NEW BLOOD IN THE VAMPIRE GENRE: A discussion about transfusing blood from other genres to keep vampires flourishing. Examine the cross-genre vampire novels of today with some of the genre's top authors.
Moderator: Caridad Pineiro Panelists: Lynda Hilburn, Jeaniene Frost, Jaye Wells, Mario Acevedo

WED 5:30-7:30
I'm going to try to attend the FF&P Happy Hour Gathering

THURS 10:30-11 and 3-3:30
I'll be at a table in Club RT

SAT
Book Signing!

I look forward to meeting as many old/new friends as possible!

First Place, Lories Best Published Contest, Book Trailer and Weekend Events

I'll be here:

Saturday, April 18, 10-4, Carbon Valley Regional Library Author Event, Firestone, CO http://www.susanjtweit.com/Susansite/Where_I_am_files/flyer.pdf
CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW STORM

Sunday, April 19, 1-3, Author Open House, Englewood Public Library, Englewood, CO
http://www.englewoodgov.org/Index.aspx?page=971

Yay!

I just got this from the contest coordinator:

It is with great pleasure I inform you that your novel, Dark Harvest, has taken First Place in the Mainstream category of The Lories Best Published Contest. We had a wonderful turnout for the Mainstream group this year and you should be proud of your accomplishment. On behalf of From The Heart Romance Writers, you will receive an e-certificate and e-logo.

Your winning novel will be sent to Debbie Meredith, Romance Manager at The Bookstore, for ranking alongside the seven other First Place category winners in The Lories Best Published Contest. Final rankings will be announced on or around June 5th with the Grand Prize Winner being awarded the conference registration of his/her choice.

Guest Blogger: Barbara Sheridan

The winner of Barbara's books is: Dawn McClure! Congrats, Dawn. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Barbara. Thanks to everyone who participated.

That Was Then, This is Now

It's hard to believe that ten years has gone by since April 1999 when my first book, Timeless Wish was published as part of the old Jove Time Passages line. I can still remember seeing it for the first time and thinking. The cover is so green, the photo album so wrong, the back blurb so very dull . . . *grin*

I was sad when the line folded and TW went out of print a few years later, but by then e-publishing was starting to take off and I was fortunate to have Cerridwen Press love the book as much as I did. They gave me a lovely new cover and allowed me to use the blurb I wrote, the one I used in my original query to Berkley/Jove:

At the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1898, Sheriff Corby Hillhouse makes this heartfelt wish: "Please send me a woman my love won't kill." Corby doesn't realize it, but his wish is granted in the form of 20th century interior designer, Laura Bennett. Like Corby, Laura harbors many regrets, but when she's hired as nanny to Corby's motherless daughter she finds the happiness she'd been searching for. But before Laura can enjoy her new life she has to get past Corby's suspicious nature, his spiteful ex-lover, and the man who wants both Corby and his daughter dead.

I suppose the oddest thing about Timeless Wish is that it's actually the third book in a loosely connected trilogy featuring members of the Hillhouse & McNamara families of the old Indian Territory/early Oklahoma. Only my Muse would be whacked enough to stick a paranormal in with two historical romances.

Then again . . . my formative years were spent being influenced by TV shows like Bonanza, Big Valley, and Gunsmoke as well as all the "woo-woo" happenings of Dark Shadows, Time Tunnel, and our local weekly Saturday night B-movie fest-Chiller Theater, so it all makes perfect sense.

If you'd like to see how my mad Muse managed to combine those early influences, leave a comment to this post. The winner will receive electronic copies of Bittersweet Surrender, Sweet Medicine and of course Timeless Wish.

www.barbarasheridan.com

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Barbara's winner will be selected and posted here on Tuesday evening.

Paranormal Gift Basket for Brenda Novak Online Auction

Here's a photo and the author line-up of the Paranormal Gift Basket we're donating for Brenda Novak's Online Auction. Basket Kase of Boulder, CO put the basket together for me, and co-owner Kathy Donnel did an awesome job. They ship everywhere. Here's their contact info:

www.bbkase.com

Here's the auction website:

http://www.brendanovak.com/auction.shtml

Donating Authors:

Lynda Hilburn:
Signed copy of THE VAMPIRE SHRINK
Signed copy of DARK HARVEST
Relaxation guided hypnosis CD
Shower gel and body lotion
Chocolate Fudge
Bookmarks

Nancy Haddock:
Signed copy of LA VIDA VAMPIRE
Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Starbucks Gift Card
La Vida Vampire key chain
Bookmark

Esri Rose:
Signed copy of BOUND TO LOVE HER
Bookmarks
Assorted chocolates

Carrie Vaughn:
Signed copy of KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND
Copy of Kitty's play list on CD

Jeanne C. Stein:
Signed copy of THE BECOMING
Signed copy of BLOOD DRIVE
Signed copy of THE WATCHER
Signed copy of LEGACY
Chocolate
2 pens
Set of book cover magnets

Jamie Leigh Hansen
Signed copy of CURSED
Signed copy of BETRAYED
Paper and pen set
Bookmark

Mario Acevedo
Signed ARC of X-RATED BLOOD SUCKERS

What's so good about men?

I'm serious. What is it about the male of the species that makes our hearts flutter and (sometimes) our brains shut down? What's that magical thing? What do you think? (PG rated, please!)

Guest Blogger: Linda Wisdom

The winner of Linda's book is: Becky! Congrats, Becky. Send me your contact information and I'll pass it along to Linda. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Witch’s Night Out

Even witches need to unwind, which is why Stasi, Blair, Jazz and ghostly Irma are vegging out in Stasi and Blair’s family room. Scented candles are scattered throughout the room, Van Helsing is on TV since they need that Hugh Jackman fix and, bottles of wine dot the coffee table, and any form of junk food you can imagine is within reach.

The witches are wearing their form of loungewear that involves pajama pants and t-shirts while Irma is wrapped in a plush robe and netting wrapped around her hair to hide her pincurls.

“Okay, this is has been the absolute worst Samhain in history,” Stasi sighed, rummaging through the bowl of snack size candy bars until she found a Snickers bar.

“Oh I don’t know, there’s been a few that come to mind. What about 1723? So not a good year.” Jazz batted at Fluff and Puff who were too close to her stash of See’s Bordeaux chocolates. “Do not even think about it,” she warned them. “This has been more than totally weird, but we’re here in one piece, aren’t we? And Stasi’s got a totally sexy wizard in her life.” She grinned at the red hearts that seemed to enjoy dancing around Stasi’s head. ‘And look at you with your hearts and Trev having hearts too. Good thing humans can’t see them. No way we could explain those away.”

“Terrific, everyone’s having sex but me!” Blair wailed, sniffing as she ate a Hostess cupcake.

“Excuse me, but it’s been some time for me too,” Irma reminded her, staring mournfully at the wine and a box of HoHos on the table. Since food didn’t stay inside ghosts’ stomachs, Irma could only look and not touch. “I don’t understand how you all can eat like this after what’s happened?”

“Precisely why we can eat.” Stasi stole one of Jazz’s precious chocolates and grinned at her friend as she bit into the brown sugar cream. “We knew that Mercury retrograde along with a lunar eclipse on Samhain would cause problems, but considering everything else that went on, it’s amazing we, and the town, are in one piece. Of course, there’s so much snow out there, that I feel like we’re living in a snow cave and power outages haven’t been all that much fun either. A normal life would be good.”

“And maybe we won’t be called witch as if it’s a bad thing,” Blair chimed in.

“And you have a sexy wizard in your life now. With luck the lawsuit won’t continue and now maybe the lake will have a chance of recovering from that nasty magick blasted at it,” Jazz said, conjuring up a bottle of nail polish and repairing her chipped manicure. “Once again, we’ve shown our stuff and do we rock or what?” She grinned at her friends who she’s known for over 700 years.

Stasi’s smile said it all. “Yes, I do. Witches rule.” They exchanged high fives that fairly sparkled with their combined power.

What about you when you’re spending a girls night out? Do you worry about big bads coming up with nasty magick?

There’s a video teaser of me over at YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/user/RITBSvideos

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Linda will give away a copy of Wicked By Any Other Name to one commenter. The winner will be selected and posted here on Tuesday evening.

5 Author Book Signing

I'll be participating in a multi-author book signing tomorrow in Ft. Collins, Colorado with authors Elaine Levine, Melissa Mayhue, Robin Owens, and Tara Janzen.

Reader's Cove Bookstore

1001 E. Harmony Rd., #C

Ft. Collins, CO

970-266-1618
2-4 p.m.

See you there/then!

Random Thoughts: promo and social networking sites

We got dumped on today, here in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains -- and throughout Colorado. All the snow that's been MIA showed up today. I made a futile effort to go to work in Denver this morning, but only drove up the street a mile or so. After sliding across the road every time I hit my brakes, I decided it would take hours to get to the community mental health center I work for and I'd be a stressed-out, white-knuckled, basket case by the time I got there. So I turned around and crawled home. Turns out the center closed about an hour later. I'll even get paid for the snow day! YAY!

Okay. I'll admit it. I don't jump into things quickly. It took me a very long time to buy a computer (I finally bought one some time in the late '90s) because I was fine with my word-processing typewriter thingy and saw no reason to change. Email? I don't need no stinkin' email! And, what's up with all the www.coms? After watching a friend surf the Net and be able to communicate instantaneously anywhere in the known universe via email, I was sold. (I'd be lost without email now -- and blogs!)

But I wasn't totally on board yet. Every new experience threw me into a tizzy. Copy and paste? What the hell is copy and paste? I'm too embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to realize how basic and easy the process is. I think the problem was that I didn't understand what the words MEANT. I'd somehow missed the "click and drag your mouse along the line and highlight it" part. And, I complicated things by buying an iMac and having a dial-up connection. I couldn't do half the things I should have been able to do because it took for-frickin'-ever to do the simplest stuff. So, I just assumed I hadn't been born with the computer gene. More evidence of my inadequacy (I feared).

Which brings me to all the social networking options. Once again, I resisted MySpace. I thought it was a place for kids and teenagers. I couldn't see how it could possibly benefit me. Until, that is, I read a post by an author on one loop or another about her use of MySpace as a place to promote her books, then the light bulb went off over my head. I started friending 20 people per day until I reached 3,000, then I was able to simply accept the people who asked to friend me. MySpace has been a marvelous promo and communication tool. I got phished once, but I learned my lesson and am very careful what I click on now.

Facebook is a different story. I created a page a long time ago but I've never been able to figure out how to use it to my advantage. Unlike MySpace, where I can find friends who like vampire books (for example), on Facebook I have to know who I'm looking for. I think. So, I barely go there.

And Twitter? I'm still at the "what's the point?" point.

What about you? What's your experience with these places (and others). What am I missing about Facebook and Twitter? And then there's Second Life. A couple of my author friends are very excited about SL. What's your experience with it? What's the next big thing? If you were going to recommend one best author promo option, what would you choose?

Guest Blogger: Keena Kincaid

The winner of Keena's book is: PJ von Detweiler. Congrats, PJ! Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Keena. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Writer Almighty

Playing God is a heady, addictive experience. As paranormal authors, we get to build our own worlds. We make the rules, and if our characters misbehave we can simply delete, delete, delete. And though world building is most often associated with paranormal and science fiction writers, every writer in every genre becomes a supreme being when she sits down to tell a story.

But we’re not omnipotent. If we want to woo and keep readers, we need to play by the rules — and not just the rules for good storytelling. We need to live by the rules of our worlds so the characters act and react logically within the covers of the book. Few things annoy a reader more or faster than an author who breaks those rules.

I understand the temptation. Sometimes you’ve written yourself into a corner, and the only option that presents itself is to break the rules, but the challenge is to make the story work within the rules of that world to make a better story and leave your readers satisfied.

For example, in my historical paranormal series about Druids one of the “rules” is magic come at a cost. Sometimes the cost is relatively mild, a headache. Other times the price is steeper, such as knowing someone you love is going to die and being unable to stop it. Although I write paranormals, the need for rules within your universe is always the same. To be effective and believable, the rules must:

Identify the world’s boundaries. For instance, if you are writing a contemporary romance set in a small, rural community the townspeople have unspoken rules that are well understood and apply powerful social pressure toward conformity. Conflicts arise when these rules are broken.

Separate the heroes from the villains. Heroes don’t always follow the rules, but they always have a good reason for breaking them. Villains break them because they can (or think they can). Readers need to know what the rules are before our heroes break them.

Rules make our characters more interesting and identifiable. The average reader has rules in her life, even if it’s only a “no dessert except on Sunday” restriction. She understands how important and frustrating it can be to follow the rules. Similar to this is the rule that your characters remain “in character.” In other words, if the heroine has trouble keeping secrets, she’s not going to remain mum on the hero’s real reason for being in town even if her silence is required. Either don’t tell her or make the blabbing part of the story.

Rules make us better writers. We may be gods in our own worlds, but it’s much more satisfying to write a resolution from within the rules even if the process drives us to drink. The benefits of following rules are many, but the most notable is a better story.

In my book ANAM CARA the rules of my world, along with my characters’ personalities, put me in a corner from which I could see no way out. My HEA was in serious jeopardy and even my CP was at a loss for suggestions. Nothing I thought of worked . . . it either broke the rules or would be untrue to my characters. After weeks of angst, I happened upon a solution that worked on all levels. It abided by the rules, was true to my characters and had a happy ending. My readers think so, too. They were as baffled as me as to how Bran and Liza would end up happily together, and were surprised, but satisfied by the resolution.

So, what rules have you established in your world? And have you ever been tempted to break one?

About ANAM CARA:

Branwyn ap Owen knows it’s appointed for men “once to die, then the judgment” but his hell is to live again and again until he rights an ancient wrong. Unlike other such souls caught on a karmic wheel, he remembers the past, and he always remembers her.

Liza knows nothing of the vow trapping her in Bran’s judgment, yet when he walks into her inn, she knows he could destroy the life she has carefully built over the years if she lets him get too close. Trouble is, Bran can’t take a hint, no matter how blunt she is.

Determined to repair the damage of his first betrayal, Bran uses the knowledge of a thousand years to woo Liza. Yet just as he begins to regain her heart, a fresh betrayal threatens their last hope for love.

ANAM CARA Excerpt:

Bran frowned at the bite in her voice. “I do no’ ken yer anger with me, Liza. No’ even the Scots are this combative. Do I remind ye of yer husband or a lover who ill-used ye?”

“I have had no lover but him.”

“Perhaps that ‘tis the problem. Ye want what ye can no’ have.”

She made a sound between disgust and laughter. “Oh, I am quite certain I can have it if I but ask.”

“Aye, ye could.”

She stared at the river.

“Liza.”

Her name on his tongue pulled her agitation into a sharp-pointed need. She ached.

“I can no’ offer ye the morrow. Even if I ne’er leave Carlisle, this moment is all that is mine to give.”

She made the mistake of looking at him. He claimed her attention, kept it. Heat sparked between them. Nervousness swarmed like excited bees in her stomach. Wulfric had never made her tingle with expectation, and Aelric for all his sweetness never caused her body to knot like a Celtic brooch. Bran did both just by breathing.

Keena Kincaid is author of ANAM CARA and ART OF LOVE from The Wild Rose Press. Her second book in the Druids of Duncarnoch series, TIES THAT BIND, will be released in late 2009. You can learn more about Keena at http://www.keenakincaid.com, as well as MySpace, FaceBook and Twitter.

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Keena will give away a copy of her book to one commenter. The winner will be selected and posted here Tuesday evening.

Guest Blogger: Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

The winner of Linda's book is: Vickie! Congratulations, Vickie. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Linda. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Can we say that "supernatural" is super ?

We sure can. Whether creepy, spooky, funny, or just plain whacked-out, supernatural fare seems to be ruling the day.

And I, for one, am loving every second of it.

I'm a "paranormal" writer, through and through. No matter how hard I try to write a straight novel or romance, it turns south toward that big "P." It's just something in my blood, I guess. In our family, when I was growing up, telling spooky stories or watching spooky movies was a part of our weekend routine. At that time, supernatural and paranormal were considered "out of the box." Today, it's everywhere.

Do any of you have the need to delve into the supernatural realms? An experience with it that lends a twitch of reality to your lives?

My first book was fantasy called Cafe Heaven (An autobiography of the Afterlife), about a guy, a diner, a blonde recruiter for the devil's side of the pavement, and the infamous old Route 66. That book was dedicated to my father, who I'm sure whispered the words to me from the Great Beyond.

My next story was a Kensington Brava's first vampire story. The anthology created around it was titled Immortal Bad Boys. My tale was dark historical vampire fare.

Then I just had this story in my head that was so opposite from the dark vampire historical, that I took an entire year to write the whole book: Barbie & the Beast. Light, fluffy, girl, werewolfy fun. Not serious in the least, my blurb on this book would be: A romp through the world of paranormal dating.

And Barbie & the Beast will arrive on bookstore shelves this April 1st from Dorchester. Yay !

Lo and behold, after that, I turned back to my darker side, and garnered a 5 book contract from Silhouette's Nocturne imprint. More Werewolves. Blackout was a January Nocturne Bites novella ebook release at eharlequin.com, and Wolf Bait followed last month in February, also as a Bite. Now I'm writing the full books that will make this a series, and am thrilled to be back into the paranormal realm of my imagination.

So - I write both light and dark. Two sides of my paranormal personality - for different publishers. I write what I want to because the fun and joy of writing is what counts. Selling is supernatural in itself these days, so I believe that writers have to keep a good outlook and write what makes us happy.

I am so thrilled to be writing these days, that I can't wait to get to a keyboard, or hold a blank piece of paper in my hands. Though I do have a day job (teacher), and a family (adorable), and some acreage that needs tending (country girl) . . . I have to share with all of you my love for writing.

The beauty is this journey goes from mind to paper. The process of telling a story from start to finish was and continues to be, for me, the ultimate reward.

Anyone here love the paranormal, and writing, as much as I do?

Love, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
http://www.lindathomas-sundstrom.com/

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Linda will give away a signed copy of one of her backlist to one lucky commenter. The winner will be posted Tuesday evening here.

Dark Harvest book video!

Guest Blogger: Allison Vandiepen

Allison's winner is: Davina! Congratulations to you. Send your contact information and I'll pass it along. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Some people have asked me why I’ve written a paranormal when my first two books were “realistic.” But nobody who knows me was surprised.

I grew up open-minded to most things paranormal. There seems to be a psychic gene in my family (which I haven’t inherited – and that’s fine with me). Several people I grew up with could speak of encountering ghosts, having premonitions and leaving their bodies. At a fairly young age, I had to decide for myself if these people were crazy, or if there might be a side to this world that wasn’t always visible to the naked eye.

The idea for RAVEN came when a psychic friend told me she’d seen a homeless person possessed by a spirit. She said that addiction can pierce holes in a person’s aura, leaving an addict vulnerable to the dark spirits that are out there. The idea fascinated me. And I wondered what would happen if there were beings who walked the earth preying upon people made so vulnerable by addiction that they couldn’t protect their own souls.

In doing research for RAVEN, I discovered the Chinese legend of the Jiang Shi, popularized by Hong Kong horror films of the 1980s. Jiang Shi are undead beings, sort of like vampires, who stay alive not by drinking blood, but by absorbing the souls of others. In RAVEN, the Jiang Shi prey upon the souls of addicts who have overdosed and are near death. They do not believe they are doing anything immoral. The Jiang Shi believe that the soul dissipates once it’s left the body, so there is no life after death.

The heroine of RAVEN, Nicole, finds herself falling for a sexy Arab breakdancer named Zin. She’s madly in love with him before she realizes what he really is – a Jiang Shi. The worst part is, her own brother is a meth addict. She’s terrified that he could become the victim of one of Zin’s kind. Nicole has fallen in love with a man who represents her greatest fear – the loss of her brother’s soul.

In many paranormal romances, a woman’s greatest fear and greatest love are found in the same person. I think that dichotomy is one of the things that attracts me to the genre. What is it about paranormal romance that attracts you?

www.allisonvandiepen.com

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Allison will be giving away a copy of RAVEN to one person who comments. Winner will be chosen Tuesday evening and posted here.

Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance!

Amazon.com says the release date for MAMMOTH BOOK OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE is March 9. That's a whole month early. I read on Anya Bast's blog that pre-orders are already being mailed out. I hope you'll buy a copy. My story is called, "Blood Song." (And it would be excellent if you like the anthology and my story, if you'd post a nice review at Amazon.com!)

It's a great lineup (I copied this from Anya's blog):

THE TEMPTATION OF ROBIN GREEN by Carrie Vaughn

SUCCUBUS SEDUCTION by Cheyenne McCray

PARANORMAL ROMANCE BLUES by Kelley Armstrong

JOHN DOE by Anna Windsor

TAKING HOLD by Anya Bast

HOW TO DATE A SUPERHERO by Jean Johnson

DANIEL by CT Adams and Cathy Clamp

LIGHT THROUGH FOG by Holly Lisle

THE TUESDAY ENCHANTRESS by Mary Jo Putney

TRINITY BLUE by Eve Silver

GRACE OF SMALL MAGICS by Ilona Andrews

ONCE A DEMON by Dina James

NIGHT VISION by Maria V. Snyder

PELE’S TEARS by Catherine Mulvaney

PACK by Jeaniene Frost

WHEN GARGOYLES FLY by Lori Devoti

THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER AND HIS WIFE by Sara Mackenzie

BLOOD SONG by Lynda Hilburn

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEAS by Alyssa Day

AT SECOND BITE by Michelle Rowen

BLUE CRUSH by Rachel Caine

THE WAGER by Sherrilyn Kenyon

IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING by Meljean Brook

THE DREAM CATCHER by Allyson James

Here's a link to buy: http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-Paranormal-Romance/dp/0762436514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236139304&sr=1-1

Guest Blogger: Natale Stenzel

Natale's winner is Cecile! Congratulations, Cecile. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Natale! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Between a Rock and a Heart Place

My current release, BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HEART PLACE, is the third book in a series of funny paranormal romances, all rooted in the mystery of the stone circle of Avebury in Wiltshire County, England. Sure, my stories are set in contemporary Richmond, Virginia, and feature pucas (my own version), faeries (again my own version) and modern Druids (and these are incredibly my own version), but there never would have been a story to tell if it weren't for the stone circle.

A lot of people haven't heard of this particular stone circle, so I first have to assure them that I didn't make it up. No, it was truly a gift whose existence I discovered while surfing the web one day. It's real. What's it like? Picture Stonehenge, except older, much bigger and less preserved. Only a fraction of the roughly hewn stones are still standing today. Most have been knocked down, buried, or demolished beyond recognition. Oh, and did I mention the real-life stone circle of Avebury literally encloses the real-life, populated village of Avebury? I'm not kidding. We're talking streets bisecting the circle, inhabited cottages, a museum, shops, a pub and even a church. I understand, too, that sheep graze freely among the mammoth Sarsen stones. Ironic, eh?

So. We have a stone circle, implying all kinds of mystery and history and that can only spur the imagination, right? Well, one thing in particular about this circle really started my creative juices flowing. You see, some of these fallen stones were busted into smaller pieces and used in the construction of various structures in the area. Tell me that's not worth a few goose bumps. I know it was for me. Imagine a fragment of a huge Sarsen stone monument, much like the stones comprising Stonehenge, cemented into the foundation of your home. Would there be spirits tethered to it? Magic? Legends? A curse? What if someone used that stone fragment as the building's cornerstone, a hollowed brick serving as sort of a time capsule? What would be the motivation behind it? And what might it contain?

Or who?

The who in this case -- as you might know if you've been following my series -- was a puca named Riordan, the sexy shape-shifter from Pandora's Box. If I tell you any more, however, I'll be spoiling secrets for that book, and for its sequel, The Druid Made Me Do It. Just understand that by book three -- Between a Rock and a Heart Place -- we have renegade magical powers trapped inside that cornerstone. A half-spell, a blow to the right person, and suddenly those powers are loosed to find a new host in the form of my heroine, Daphne Forbes, the ordinary accountant daughter of two mostly immoral and control-freak Druid parents. (You might notice me taking a few -- dozen -- liberties here for the sake of craft and entertainment.) Now Daphne must learn to control these powers, which are at war with the untrained Druid powers she's so far managed to ignore. If she does not, if these warring powers drive her insane as has been threatened, then it falls to one man, Tremayne, to stop her by whatever means necessary.

Who is Tremayne? He's a nature spirit with the wondrous ability to undo any kind of magic -- even warped puca/Druid powers like Daphne wields uncontrollably and involuntarily. He's also the one guy who can destroy Daphne, should it prove necessary, so he's been assigned to that duty. Never mind that he's been watching and wanting her for months now . . . Kinda makes for a rocky romance, don't you think?

But not a boring one, I hope.

So tell me. Would you want a fragment of Sarsen stone from a mysterious stone circle embedded in your home? Why or why not? Better yet, if that special cornerstone were to gift you with anything at all, what would you like best? A ghost? Mysterious papers? Exciting powers? A sexy shape-shifting puca with a curse on his head? Have you ever visited Avebury or Stonehenge or some other place that gave you that tickle-along-the-spine feeling? I'll be giving away a free book to a commenter on this post. Winner gets to choose a copy of either Pandora's Box or The Druid Made Me Do It. As I mentioned before, these are the two prequels for Between a Rock and a Heart Place. Thanks so much for participating and helping me celebrate my new release!

http://www.natalestenzel.com/

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Natale's winner will be posted here on Tuesday evening.