Rounding Up Some Hot Cowboys #RB4U #bookbundle

Cowboys…just saying the word conjures up images of Stetsons, Wranglers, horses, rope. Oh and the smells—hay, manure, leather. Add to that, strong men who work hard and care for their land and animals and you have a winning combination.

Growing up in a small Midwestern town, we didn’t have many cowboys. After all, Ohio isn’t really the Wild West. I was more likely to run into a football star than a cowboy in my hometown. However, two of my good friends from high school were honest to goodness cowboys. They worked at Dude Ranches out West, each summer. They were the real deal to me. One of them went on to own his own ranch and raises and trains horses. His horses and riders have won numerous awards for jumping and barrel racing.

It was Scott and Rob that I drew on when I created the character of Jake Kyncade for The Heartsong Cowboy. They are the kind of guys who would go out of their way to help someone and have been my biggest supporters. Who doesn’t want friends like that?

I’m sure in the book bundle “Cowboy Up” you will find a cowboy that will touch your heart. After all, you can’t go wrong with a guy in Wranglers and smelling like horses and leather.

Seven men as tough as the west…

          Seven women who know how to...

Cowboy Up

A boxed set of seven romantic novellas by seven award-winning authors experienced with writing about the men of the West.

The Heartsong Cowboy by Melissa Keir

Can two people, one horse and the power of love cure a little girl?

Angela French blames herself for her daughter’s lack of voice. Determined to do anything to correct the situation, she seeks out Jake Kyncade, the owner of The Heartsong Ranch.

Jake Kyncade hides his own sorrows behind his no-nonsense demeanor. Helping children becomes one way to correct his past. Using equine therapy, he sets out to make a difference.

Can Jake help Angela’s dreams come true or will Jake’s past bring more heartache? Will love save them all?

Excerpt:

With Taylor asleep on the couch, Angela snuck the magazine out of her daughter’s sleeping hands before carrying her to her bed. After making sure her baby was tucked in, she turned out the lights and went to the kitchen. She sat down at the table to study the article about the horse whisperer. The photos gave off a peaceful feeling—so much so, she longed to jump into the images. Along with the horses, there were shots of children laughing and petting the animals. The article mentioned a little boy with Down’s Syndrome whose language increased after a week of animal therapy. The Heartsong Ranch. Even the name sounds encouraging. Dare I get my hopes up?

One photo in particular captured her attention. The owner, Jake Kyncade, wore jeans and a cowboy hat as he stood next to the ranch sign. She took a deep breath as butterflies circled in her abdomen. He’s sexy. Very different from Mike. Mr. Kyncade has this wounded look in his eyes. I wonder what his trauma was. I’ve gotten better at noticing it in others. Still, he’s good looking. Probably married with his own children.

Only $0.99!!

BUY LINKS:

All Romance Ebooks

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Guest Blog: Paloma Beck: Character Interview About Author

We’re sitting down with the Sinster sisters from Paloma Beck’s paranormal romance series, Seven Sin Sisters. We have all seven sisters with us today. Since they love to gossip when they get together, we’re hopeful that they’ll tell us more about their author.

Who wants to start?

Layla: I’ll start since I had the first book. I like to think that I broke Paloma in for my sisters. She had all these grand ideas when she started on my book. I mean, I’m the easy-going one in the family but even I couldn’t let her get away with some of her plans.

Can you give us an example?

Layla: Well, she wanted me to fall instantly in love with Madden. I mean, really, who does that? Sure, we had the mated connection that bound us to one another but love… no. That took some time.

Eloise: Her patience is definitely something Paloma has to work on.

Really? Tell us more.

Eloise: Paloma likes everything to be neatly tied-up and organized. Sorry but when you’re writing a seven book series, that’s just not possible to do. Even as she finished each book, she’d try to bring some of the important story lines to conclusion and we’d have to rein her back. You can’t give it away too soon.

Gemma: She’s a problem-solver. That’s really what the trouble is. She tries to solve the problems that come up in our books for us. It’s up to us to let her know that we’ll figure it out on our own.

What about her writing time? Does she keep you up late writing?

Layla: No. She writes during the day.

Paige: Well, she sometimes writes at night. There’s these times when Paloma jumps in and goes all crazy writing. She can go hours without taking a break to eat. Once we realized this wasn’t healthy for her, we started reminding her to eat.

Eloise: Or just get up and stretch.

Amelia: And her sons… I’m not sure she’d have fed them dinner every night if we hadn’t been around to make her stop and get those hungry boys some food.

Are there times she doesn’t write at all? Have you ever given her writer’s block?

Paige: It’s not really writer’s block. It’s more a difference of opinion. Paloma wants the story to go one way and we know it really needs to head in a different direction so we have to tell her how it is.

Eloise: She’s absolutely stubborn.

Amelia: Pot, meet kettle. Eloise is the most stubborn of us all. When Paloma wrote her story, we weren’t sure who was going to win. It was a battle of wills.

Eloise: Seriously, I think I should get major kudos. After my book, she never tried to take over the stories again. She learned her lesson and began listening more for our guidance.

Gemma: That’s true. Sometimes she’d head out to her garden to plot. She started opening up and letting us tell her our stories and then she’d go back in to her office and write.

Sadie: And just when we’ve gotten good at working with her, our series is nearly at the end. It’s actually quite sad.

Right. Your book has just been released and then it’s just Grace for the final book, is that right?

Sadie: Yes. Paloma wrote my book while she was in Las Vegas on a business trip with her husband and did we have fun! Let’s just say that we went to some sexy-sexy shows to do some research.

Paige: But it’s Grace’s book that will rock our fans world. I mean, I couldn’t believe it when I’d heard Grace’s story. Paloma insisted we not give anything away –

Grace: Let’s just say that my book is a trifecta. Watch for it to be released later this year.

BLURB: Series: Seven Sin Sisters Series, Book Six
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance

The seven Sinster sisters are entwined in a legacy originating back from the time of the Italian Wars in the 1500s. One by one, they’ll find their mates from the immortal Valendite Breeds and secure their place in history.

After escaping a kidnapping, Sadie returns to her carefree life as a dancer, turning away once again from the realities of her destiny as a Sinster sister. This time, she takes a job in Vegas to hide away. Burdened by the soul sin of Sloth, Sadie can’t seem to care about the prophecy that consumes her family.

Granger, on assignment with TEU, heads to Vegas to protect her. Everything is going as planned until he discovers Sadie is his mate and then all bets are off. Now his mission is not only to protect Sadie until the prophecy is fulfilled and the danger abated but he must also convince her that accepting their destiny will make her stronger. He doesn’t have much time because as they hide out in the city of sin, her sisters await her to join their circle and forge a magic stronger than steel.

Sadie is about to find out that she holds the final key to saving her race.

 

BUY LINKS
Secret Cravings Publishing
Amazon
Bookstrand
ARe

BIO:
Paloma Beck is a Romance Author living a life of contradiction... she's a happily married carpooling mom writing steamy romance. It's almost naughty but she loves it! Paloma writes both contemporary and paranormal romances that are anything but PG. She published her first book in 2012 and hasn't slowed down since. Look for more information on her Website.

With her husband and three sons, the Blue Ridge mountains have been her home for nearly twenty years. There's still a special place in her heart though for New England where she spent her childhood. The lakes of Maine call her name and someday she hopes to find her way back there.

Paloma believes a daily dose of coffee and a good book make any day better.

BLOG: http://RomanceBeckons.blogspot.com
WEBSITE: http://RomanceBeckons.net
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/PalomaBeck
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/SevenSinSistersSeries
GOODREADS: http://goodreads.com/PalomaBeck
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Paloma-Beck
TUMBLR: http://palomabeck.tumblr.com/
PINTEREST: http://pinterest.com/PalomaBeck

Interview of Author Sue Swift

Today I'm pleased to present an interview of romance author Sue Swift.

Latest Book: Lord Devere’s Ward
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/DeveresWard

BIO:
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a. Suz deMello, has written seventeen romance novels in several subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense, plus a number of short stories and non-fiction articles on writing. A freelance editor, she’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Liquid Silver Books and Ai Press, where she is currently Managing Editor. She also takes private clients.

Her books have been favorably reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, won a contest or two, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.

A former trial attorney, her passion is world travel. She’s left the US over a dozen times, including lengthy stints working overseas. She’s now writing a vampire tale and planning her next trip.

Q: How did you celebrate publishing your first book?
A: I bought myself a diamond ring :)

Q: Your novel is being made into a TV series/movie. Who’s in your dream cast?
A: Quin, Lord Devere, is not conventionally handsome, so I’d choose Benedict Cumberbatch. For the heroine, Kate, I’d love to see Jennifer Lawrence play her, but I’d like to see her play just about anyone. She’s sooo talented. Anne Hathaway would also do a good job.

Q: What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day?
A: I wish! Life is far too tumultuous for that. I’m lucky if I can wrote a page or two. But that’s okay. Life isn’t lived in front of a screen.

Q: What is the most important thing you do for your career now, as compared to when you first started writing?
A: Promo and marketing. When one first starts, there’s nothing to promote.(Those were the days!)

Q: How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?
A: Nothing deliberately hidden, though I’m sure that my characters reflect me in some way or another. After seventeen books and a number of short stories, I can’t really draw on myself or folks I know. That would be boring, and boring the reader is fatal.

Q: Of all your characters, who’s your favorite, and why?
A: I’m extremely fond of Kate Scoville, the young heroine of Lord Devere’s Ward. She’s kind, smart and plucky.

Q: If you could change something about your first book, what would it be?
A: Nothing. I loved it. Maybe the size of my royalty statements LOL.

Q: Do you eat comfort food/listen to music when writing?
A: I don’t eat anything around my computer and drink water, which I keep a safe distance away—I’m notoriously clumsy. I create a playlist for each book I write to get me into the mood for writing that specific book. For example, I wrote two sheikh books for Silhouette romance, and listened to music from the Kite Runner, which evoked the Arabian theme nicely.

Q: Give one advice tip to an aspiring author.
A: Read excellent writing. The usual advice is “read within your chosen genre,” but candidly, there’s a lot of bad writing out there. Read excellent craftspeople—Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Rita Maw Brown. And read the classics.

Q: If you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be?
A: Shed fear. That advice is based on my view of the universe, which is itself based on science. Everything is composed of energy—even solid objects are slow energy. Einstein taught us that. And, as energy is neither created nor destroyed, but conserved or transformed. We have always been here and will always be here, eternally. Thus, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Fun Stuff:
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
A: OMG, I only get one? It would be either Thanksgiving or Halloween. I love autumn to begin with, and Halloween is just fun,fun, fun, all the way. And I love the meaning of Thanksgiving, to be grateful for the many blessings we all enjoy.

Q: What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?
A: I dream about climbing the face of Half Dome with nothing but a bottle of Snapple peach iced tea and sunscreen as equipment.

I’m a part time Dominatrix.

Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I really didn’t know, but I can say that writing was the furthest occupation from my mind.

Q: Favorite food.
A: My go-to grub is pasta.

Q: Favorite happy memory.
A: Hanging out the window of my then-boyfriend’s Mercedes the night that the Raiders won the Super Bowl...we were in Jack London Square, and everyone was happily smashed, chanting, ”We’re Number One!” It was hella fun.

Q: Favorite drink.
A: Prosecco.

Q: Hot summer days or chilly winter nights?
A: Hot summer days, absolutely!

Q: What is the top thing on your bucket list?
A: Living in southern Italy or Spain for an extended period of time.

Q: If you could have a super power, what would it be?
A: Enlightenment.

Tell us where to find you: website(s), publisher’s page(s), blog(s), Facebook page(s), etc. List them all!
Find her books at http://www.suzdemello.com/
For editing services, email her at suzswift@yahoo.com
Befriend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sueswift
and visit her group page at https://www.facebook.com/redhotauthorscafe
She tweets her reading picks @ReadThis4fun and @Suzdemello
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/suzdemello/
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/SuzATGoodreads
Her current blog is http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com/

BLURB:
Orphaned Kate Scoville is trapped in a tower prison by her scheming uncle, who plans to wed her to his loathsome son in order to gain control of her fortune. Plucky and resourceful, Lady Kate escapes to London to ask for help from her guardian. She's sure the elderly Earl of Devere will help her in her plight.

Kate is astounded to find that the Earl has died, and his son has become her guardian. Quinn, the present Earl, remembers Kate from his childhood as an awkward child he loved to taunt and tease.

But now his ward has grown into a beautiful young woman. Though honor prevents Quinn from making Kate his, their attraction is irresistible…

Will Kate tempt Quinn into abandoning honor? Will the wicked uncle trap Kate, compromise her and steal her fortune?

EXCERPT:
Kate smiled at Quinn. "I believe I've won your prize, my lord."

"So what shall you demand of me, sweet Kate?"

She tipped her head to one side and regarded him, still flirting with her eyes, her smile. He could tell she was nervous, yet expectant. He did not know if he should encourage her.

"I'm not quite sure yet." She touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. "What do you have to give me, my lord?"

His voice rasped in his throat. "Quinn. Please, call me Quinn."

"My lord Quinn," she said, with just a trace of mocking good humor in her tone.

"Kate," he said, taking her chin gently between his long, strong fingers. She quivered slightly but did not pull away as he stroked her cheek. Her response rippled through her body as he drew her into his arms.

Yes. The first kiss was as sweet as he had known it would be. For a few moments, he forgot why he had denied his desire, and hers, for so long.

As he touched his lips to hers, it was as though a spark flashed between them, igniting their emotions. Their mouths caressed and danced. When his tongue sought admission, she did not refuse him entry. He groaned as his embrace tightened, pulling her onto his lap. She reached up, touching his shoulders, tentatively at first, then with more confidence as their kiss deepened. Her arms wound around his neck as he held her close. He could feel her breasts, barely confined by the flimsy muslin, pressing against his chest. Her heartbeat was quick as a rabbit's, and knowing she was excited aroused him all the more.

When they finally parted he regarded her with amazement. "My darling Kate. Where did you learn to kiss like that?"


Anything else you’d like to add?
Not really LOL—you’ve covered it all!

Wicked Takeover - coming September 19

My newest release!

Tats - Tats - and more Tats

Blurb:

She’s just inherited a tattoo parlor…and the hunk who comes with it.

Lauren’s in a helluva mess. Not only has she lost her corporate job, her long-absent father just left her a struggling tattoo parlor along with the virile dude who runs it. Dante’s sinfully hot with a killer smile and inked biceps. Lauren’s full-figured, sorta pretty and wanting him badly. Dream on. She’s here to sell the place as quickly as possible for some much-needed cash.

Dante sees the heat in Lauren’s eyes despite her conservative appearance. He recognizes the dynamite woman she could be if she’d just loosen up and have some wicked fun. Dominance and submission. Making love in a public place. Having her lush body always accessible to and ready for his.

Carnal games that seduce them until lust turns to surprising need and friendship to something deeper that might just change their futures.

Excerpt:

At a sound from behind, she turned. A guy came down the hall, his attention on the clipboard he held.

Lauren’s heart stalled then raced.

She guessed him to be in his early thirties, a mountain of a man, possibly six-three, not a trace of fat on his hard body, just smooth bronze skin and slabs of muscles. Lord, lord, lord. He wore faded jeans and a gray sleeveless tee. His bulging biceps sported tats. The one on his right arm was an armband of what appeared to be thorns. The design on his left arm had a tribal look about it, possibly Celtic, a series of thick black swirls that intertwined.

Lauren pressed her toes into her heels to keep from swaying or moving closer.

His hair was shoulder length, like a pirate’s, a dark brown color, thick and silky that encouraged a woman to run her fingers through it to ease those strands away from his gorgeous face. Masculine. Decidedly Latin. Virile to the extreme. Even though it was barely two o’clock, he already had five o’clock shadow and more testosterone pumping through him than the law should have allowed.

She imagined him nude. Hell, she imagined both of them naked, his bristly cheeks tickling the insides of her thighs, his tongue lapping her cleft, settling on her clit but not rushing her climax. No damn way. Lauren figured a guy who looked as great as he did wouldn’t let her come quickly. He’d make her wait for pleasure. Once she was blubbering in delight, he’d bend her over the front counter and warn her to behave, which meant she couldn’t moan too loudly as he spanked her. Her cries of delight would come later when he plunged his meaty cock into her juicy cunt, taking what he wanted, because that’s the kind of man he was.

Uninhibited. Alpha to the core.

Lauren whimpered.

Despite the strains of Spanish guitars flowing from the sound system, he’d obviously heard the noise she’d made. Halting suddenly, he lifted his face, his dark brown eyes meeting hers. He smiled easily, confidently.

Her bones went soft.

“Hey,” he said.

Lauren’s belly fluttered at his deep, rich baritone.

Noting her office wear, he put the clipboard on the front counter and moved closer, his stride smooth and assured. His fragrance wafted toward her. Something clean and citrusy that reminded Lauren of summer days, an ocean breeze, sun baking naked skin.

She locked her knees to keep her balance. Her attention inched from his impressive Adam’s apple to his luscious mouth, his full, kissable lips.

“Did you lose your way?” he asked.

With him, any woman would. Not only was he beautiful, intelligence burned in his eyes and reflected in his surprisingly educated speech. “I’m sorry, what?”

He regarded her suit and heels. “Are you looking for another shop?”

“No.”

Surprise registered on his face. “You’re here for a tat?”

Lauren stared at the ones on his biceps, unable to help herself. Damn, they were hot. “Not exactly.”

He nodded. The ends of his hair swayed over his broad shoulders. Mesmerized, Lauren watched.

“A piercing?” he asked.

“What?”

“Are you here for a piercing?” He gestured to another wall filled with pictures. The muscles in his upper arm flexed.

Lauren bit back a sound of approval at that and the silky dark hair in his pit. She pictured her face pressed to it as she smelled his wonderful, male scent.

“You can see what we offer in those photos,” he said. “We also have binders of what we’ve done for past clients to give you an idea of what you might like.”

Lauren nodded absently, wondering if he was dating the young woman who’d left here earlier. If not, the spring in her step was probably from him inking a hidden part of her. “Do people really get their tongues tattooed?”

He grinned, showing perfect teeth. “You bet.”

“Why?”

He shrugged good-naturedly. “Why not?”

Clearly, he wasn’t uptight as she’d always been. How Lauren envied that. “Have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Had your tongue tattooed? Or are the ones on your arms all that you have?”

His smile broadened. He spoke conspiratorially. “I have another, though not on my tongue.”

Uh-huh. Lauren wondered if he’d inked his balls and cock, hoping he hadn’t. His equipment had to be as awesome as the rest of him. No way could anyone improve on nature’s perfection.

She sighed.

He regarded her thoughtfully, really taking in her short blonde hair, clothes and finally her features, including the small mole near the side of her mouth. There, he lingered, as though he liked the beauty mark.

Are you nuts? A guy like him? Get real.

He continued to study her mouth.

A wave of desire and embarrassment rushed through Lauren so quickly, her throat and cheeks got hot.

He smiled softly this time, as though he felt bad for making her uncomfortable. Lightly touching her arm, he murmured, “Let me get those binders so you can look through them.”

“No, don’t. Please. That’s not why I’m here.”

His dark eyebrows lifted a bit. “You’re selling something?” His attention went to her purse as though her product line was in there.

“Uh no. I’m here to take over.”

“Take over?”

“Uh-huh.”

He looked lost. “As in what?”

“This place.” At his continuing confusion, she blurted, “I own this place and everything in it, including you.”

Buy: http://www.ellorascave.com/wicked-takeover.html

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It's That Time of the Year...

I'm running a little behind this year but sometime in June I usually start thinking about all of the things that I have or haven't accomplished. This year, I took a few RWA workshops that have been quite helpful and still chalked up the time not spent writing as productive. Learning anything that will make this business easier is worth every minute or dollar spent.

I'm just now polishing a project that I had planned to have finished in June but I'm not beating myself up. In the long run, what I learned in the workshops and taking some much needed time off was well worth the effort. The hardest lesson I think I've ever learned is that I'm in charge of my career.

Every year, I swear that I'm going to pay closer attention to my health. I make notes. Somehow, the activity always makes me feel better. At the half-year mark, my calendar is full of things like: Make your breast exam appointment. It's time for a physical. Schedule eye appointment. Check to see if anything still fits because your son is getting married this month and you can't show up in jeans, and a tee shirt that says "I'm still hot. It just comes in flashes." Yes, that is an actual note that I wrote on my September office calendar.

My desk calendar has me checking to see which project I'm working on next and how much research is required. I either have the books or they need to be ordered. I know people who research online and use the library but I like the physical book because I forget stuff and then misplace the notes for said "stuff".

It's also time to start a file for next year's career plan. This can change, sometimes from month to month, depending on my commitments but it's nice to have an outline. Did I mention that I've learned to be a little more flexible? It doesn't drive me as crazy as it once did but I still like the feeling of having everything under control--hence, all the notes.

Someone posted on my Facebook page (I can't remember who) that there were 18 Fridays until Christmas. That can't possibly be right because that's when I start thinking about taxes. Where did the year go?

How about you--do you have any mid-year rituals you'd like to share?

Until next month,
Happy Reading!

Paris Brandon
http://parisbrandon.com

Writing Large & Small by Rose Anderson

Writing Large

If asked to describe me, the people who know me well will tell you I am a shy and reserved person. They'd say I'm mostly quiet-- a person who observes more and speaks less. That's all true. The whys of shy are hard to define, but shy people know what I mean. I'm happy to say computers and internet have given me the voice I wouldn't easily possess in my day to day, face to face communication with the world. Technology has allowed this shy person to push beyond those inner constraints. Place a keyboard in my hands and I transform into a chatterbox! (a.k.a. a wordy writer.) My son, also an author, often marvels at mom's word counts. hehehe.


There's a reason I write large. Every bit of fiction I write starts as a personal challenge from me to myself. Can I take this idea or concept, no matter how farfetched or off the wall, and make it plausible? Can I make the storyline believable? Will it make sense? Sometimes it takes a lot of words to make this happen. Call it  possession. When the words are flowing, even Leo Tolstoy has nothing on me.   ;) 
 
Writing Small

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (2071 words)
Brokeback Mountain  by Annie Proulx (58 pages)  
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  by F. Scott Fitzgerald (64 pages)

Many authors write large and small. Catherine Cookson, Isaac Asimov, O. Henry, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, Agatha Christie, Stephan King, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others, have all produced fabulously interesting short stories. Many small works have even made notably large transitions to film. O. Henry's very small Gift of the Magi was made into at least five movies. Big literature is often found in small format.

Some of my author friends write short stories in addition to their larger works. Their deft hand at small craft has left me amazed on more than one occasion. It has never been particularly easy for this wordy writer. A while back, I stumbled upon a weekly writer's prompt online. One-word, pretty straightforward. Participants use the chosen word in a short story and do so with 100 words to work with.  It was the challenge that drew me in.

The internet is full of online writer communities for writing of all sorts and most I've found have weekly writing prompts. Some have specific themes. I've participated in prompts that post a single word to craft a story around. There are others using picture prompts. All have word-limits and some of them call for very small writing.  I surprised myself the first time I was forced to create inside such limiting constraints. Each word and sentence must be weighed and measured. Their relationship to what comes before or after must be considered. I find this experience has made my larger stories tighter.
The following are just a few results from those I've particpated in. No editing, just raw, what pops out of your head, writing.


The Restless Wife (100 words for a picture prompt)
This restlessness always came on her when the seasons changed and stirred an overwhelming urge to spring clean. Her husband didn’t understand the need to put one’s life in order. It was a monumental task but well worth it to purge the house of things they didn’t use and never would. Life got so cluttered otherwise. Determining her husband’s unused bowling ball had to go, she unzipped the bag and gasped at what he’d concealed inside. She penned a goodbye note then quickly stripped naked. Gathering her spotted skin, she walked out the door and headed to the sea. 
(if you guessed she's a Selkie, you're right.)

Love Grows Where Rosemary Goes (200 words for a picture prompt)

He boxed the artifacts of a lifetime: her second-grade penmanship ribbon, a tassel from her high school graduation, a tiny paper parasol – all proof that his wife had once lived. Spying Polaroid pictures of their trip to Hawaii, his heart gripped. He lovingly touched a fingertip to Rosemary's smiling face before setting them aside. The rest he piled by the door for the morning’s charity pickup. Grabbing another trash bag for the bathroom, he cleared cabinets and drawers filled with toiletries never to be used again. Sunlight glinting on her comb drew his eye to the russet strands tangled in the teeth. She’d had amazing lustrous hair. It grew so fast between trims, she once joked that it would grow even if she planted it in the ground. Unable to bear the thought of throwing the strands away, he took them to the garden and buried them between her roses and lilies. Completely drained of emotion, he took himself to bed. Waking in the night to a heavy scent of damp earth in the room, he found her standing beside the bed naked, soil-dusted and smiling. Miraculously, she was newly regrown and very much alive. Together they wept with joy.

Ester's Bees (250 words on a creative murder) 
The Darwin Murders Anthology

Ester lowered the net around her face. Smoker in hand, she gently puffed at her bee hive until the bees emerged. As they fanned the smoke away with their wings, she carefully cut off a small slice of bee-covered honeycomb and set it aside. Bees were so essential to the world, without them there would be no crops, no food, no flowers... Ester loved the unselfish selflessness of bees. The same couldn’t be said of neighbors who woke at 6:00 a.m. and mowed down anything that might attract a gentle bee into their yard. When the Petersons lived next door, they shared her honey and loved her bees as much as she did.

Ester had hoped to be friends with Myrtle, Lord knows she tried. It just wasn’t meant to be. Not only was Myrtle deathly allergic to bees, she mowed the grass daily and was hostile when Ester asked her to stop. There wasn’t so much as a dandelion or clover in that lawn. Worse, Myrtle callously mowed down forty-two years of beautiful flowers grown by the Petersons. The bees missed that flower-filled yard. They missed those gentle bee-loving Petersons too. Ester could tell.

Silently moving through the hedge, Ester found Myrtle’s mower and quietly lifted the cover. She set the honeycomb inside and told the bees she loved them before closing them in. When the mower started a short while later, Ester heard a scream followed by gurgling cut short by silence. Ester loved the unselfish selflessness of bees.

Star of Wonder (2000 words --winter theme) A multi-author anthology. Too large to show here. Download it free.
The Exquisite Quills Holiday Anthology Vol. 1

I have a few more small projects coming up. The soon-to-be-released Tasteful Murders has my Une Sauce à Mourir Pour (A Sauce to Die for). And the Exquisite Quills group has two upcoming anthologies -- one for Halloween and The Exquisite Quills Holiday Anthology Vol. 2. Both shine a light on short stories 1000 to 2000 words. If you're feeling wordy, join in.

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About Rose 
Rose is multi-published award-winning author and dilettante who loves great conversation and discovering interesting things to weave into stories. She lives with her family and small menagerie amid oak groves and prairie in the rolling glacial hills of the upper Midwest. 

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Guest Blog: Kelley Heckart: Research Isn't as Boring as I Thought!

One of my favorite things about writing in ancient time periods is the research. I know that probably makes me sound like a nerd. I won’t deny that I have a nerdy side. But what I enjoy is discovering new information about civilizations and people that I wouldn’t normally find if I wasn’t doing research for a book. This wasn’t always the case for me. Until I actually got down and started doing research, I dreaded the thought of having to do something that sounded like homework to me. In order to write the books I wanted to write, I had to accept research as part of that process. And now I can’t believe all the cool things I’ve come across.

When researching for Daughter of Night, a historical fantasy romance set in ancient Crete and Anatolia, I discovered that the palace in Knossos, Crete had one of the first flushing toilets. This was in 3000 BC. I also discovered that the Hittites in Anatolia, a civilization that flourished from 1600-1200 BC rivaled the Egyptians and Babylonians in wealth and power. They also built advanced cities with clay water pipe systems and grand temples for their gods. The Hittites (Hatti) were the first people to smelt superior iron. I had never even heard of these people until I did the research.

What really excites me is when I discover something that works with my story. This has happened to me more than once and it’s kind of magical in a way to think of a plot line that really happened. For Daughter of Night, I needed a way for the Hittites to come to a mysterious end. In reality, when they battled the Egyptians, some of the Egyptians that were taken prisoner carried a plague that wiped out the Hittite people. In my story this plague happens as a result of the superior iron they smelted—it was cursed.

I realize how nerdy I am, but I can’t help it. I really enjoy picking through textbooks and searching the Internet to research a book I am writing. For me, research is like looking for buried treasure.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com/
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Blurb for Daughter of Night:
Their destiny began in ancient Anatolia.

Becuille is a Daughter of Night and a servant to the Great Goddess, created to wield Her vengeance. Callileon is a prince of the Hatti, who may be the one she was sent to punish.

When love finds them, they are cursed by the gods and surrounded by tragedy, which even the Fates are powerless to change.

Can two mortals fight the will of the gods?

BIO:
Multi-published Arizona author Kelley Heckart brings to life long ago places filled with warriors, bold women, magic, otherworldly creatures and romance. When not writing, she works as an editor/proofreader and practices target archery.

From Page to Picture

The 1939 American epic historical romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel

While watching a movie that has been adapted from a book, have you ever wondered what the author thinks of the film? Do they approve of the choice of actors? Are they displeased/pleased with the deletion of scenes? Dialogue alterations? Are they happy with the musical score? How much say did the author have in any of these choices?

The movie version of Stephen King's The Dark Half  led me to decide not to watch movie versions of books I'd read. The screen versions of Stephen King's books cannot do justice to his creepy, angst filled, psychologically wacky characters. In one interview with King he said he was disappointed with how Stanley Kubrick directed The Shining, that Kubrick "just couldn't grasp the sheer inhuman evil of The Overlook Hotel."  He also didn't like Jack Nicholson’s performance. In the book, Jack Torrance didn't go crazy until he got to the hotel and King felt that Nicholson made the character crazy right from the start. I don't recall that detail but I do remember not wanting to turn lights out at night after reading a chapter of The Shining, and cringing over Nicholson's maniacal acting skills. (or maybe he wasn't acting!)

I admit to breaking my book-but-not the-movie rule, several times actually. As with the 1985 film version of Out of Africa. I'd read Isak Dinesen's memoir, pen name used by Danish author Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, (1885 –1962), years before the film and was so taken by her writing I had to see the movie. Hollywood's depiction of the grandeur of Kenya would likely be the closest I'd ever get to that country.

Out of Africa is a multifaceted romance;  the baroness loved Africa, she loved her farm and the native tribes and she dearly loved big game hunter, Denys Finch Hatton. It's a gorgeous movie that aptly and beautifully supports Ms. Dinesen's book. And the musical score is simply breathtaking. All in all, the film is an excellent screen adaptation of a book.

Some of the other book-and-movie pairings I broke my rule for are below. They're "rated" from:
Should've Stuck To My Rule (!) to I Could Sit Through This Again (!!!!)

~  To Kill A Mockingbird !!!!
~  the Twilight series   !!
~  Misery  (S. King)  !!!!
~  Papillon !!!!
~  Jane Eyre !!, !!! and !!!! 
     (there have been several  film versions since the first in 1943 with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine)
~ at least one of the 21 film versions of Jane Austen's six most well known novels (that's got to be a movie

               adaptation record) ! to !!!!

Jane Austen....would she approve of how directors and producers transformed her novels into films or be a naysayer of their works?

 

 

 

~ films adapted from Shakespeare's works that keep to his time period and dialogue 
        rate a !!! and !!!!  The  1993 version of Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite.
~ Of Mice and Men.......1939 !! and 1992 !!!
~ A Christmas Carol; not a fan of the film versions I've seen, but the 1984 television version with George C. Scott as Scrooge gets a !!

Outlander, Diana Gabaldon's first book in her Outlander series, now a TV series, is one I read back when it was released in 1991. I watched one episode and probably won't watch another.The acting just didn't captivate me enough to be a fan of this series.

One of my favorite films of 2014 is Divergent. I've been told it accurately follows the book, which must make Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent Series, very happy. I'd surely do a happy dance if one of my books made it to the screen, just as I'd written it! 

Any favorite books-made-into-movies of your own? Any that deserve no more than a ! ?

One of My Favorites

Sweet-SalvationSweet Salvation is a full length, over 100k word novel, and is the 3rd book in Nicole Morgan’s Navy SEAL series, Sweet Awakenings

Falling in love with his best friend wasn’t what Rex had intended, but it seemed that when it came to Shelby all bets were off. After a rocky start, the two fall in love, completely unaware of the danger that lurks in the distance. Plagued with nightmares, Shelby begins to remember memories of abuse she suffered as a teenager, which were long ago buried and forgotten. Dealing with the pain of her past brings her and Rex closer together.

Someone else wants Shelby for himself though and is determined to get her by any means necessary. As he sets his plan into motion, the question of who will survive and who will be destroyed remains unanswered as a surprise from Shelby’s past may be the key to finding Sweet Salvation.

You can purchase Sweet Salvation for 50% off the cover price for a limited time at: http://www.bookstrand.com/sweet-salvation at only $3.50

EROTIC TEASER

“Rex? Is there something wrong? You’re so quiet.” She gave him a triumphant smile. “Penny for your thoughts.” She continued to taunt him as she walked toward the bed.

He stared at her. She did it! He couldn’t believe it. She had shaved all the hairs from her sweet, succulent pussy. All that stood in between him and her glistening, swollen flesh was her smooth, creamy skin. “Jesus, baby. You are so damn gorgeous. Come over here and let me taste you.”

She laughed. “Rex, did you forget the rules? I’m in charge right now. You do as I say, not the other way around.”

He threw his head back in frustration. He wanted so badly to touch her there and to taste her. He brought his head back up when he felt the bed move. She was getting on top of him but not the way that he would expect. She was facing the other direction. He was ready to bless her for her ingenuity when he found himself wanting to curse her. She had purposely positioned herself right in front of him, but just barely out of reach. His tongue darted out but couldn’t reach her. She was at least six inches away from his mouth. And the sight. Jesus, the sight of her was amazing.

She raised her bottom up higher and sank her mouth down on top of him. It happened so fast he hadn’t been expecting it. He let out a groan as she took him deep and fast, clasping her lips tightly around his shaft.

For more on the Sweet Awakenings Series, please visit Nicole’s website: http://www.authornicmorgan.com

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