Saturday, August 10, 2013

Eve's Amulet by Carole Avila--Release today


Welcome everyone. I would like to introduce Carole Avila. He novel Eve's Amulet is releasing today. Make sure to get your copy. 
 
      Dawn: It is great to have you with me today.  First tell us a little about yourself.  Your likes and dislikes, your favorite foods, your special pets? What makes you…you?
      Carole:  I have so many likes that they’re too hard to name. If the food tastes great and is healthy, I’ll eat it. If the music makes me “feel,” I listen to it. If the art attracts my eye, I take it in. I love being with my three daughters and thankfully, we’re all very close. My dogs, Kayla and Bostrum, are both like furry kids. What makes me me is that I am very spiritual and intuitive. As a life coach, generally attracting people who have endured childhood sexual abuse, I help others move forward beyond fear toward their personal goals. As an abuse survivor, I have to constantly remind myself to take care of my needs, too. Writing is a great part of my life, the easiest form of expression for me. 
      Dawn: What is the title of your current work and what is it about?
      Carole:  Eve’s Amulet, Book 1 is a fun, time-travel western adventure. It’s partly romance and historical fiction. Mandy Ruhe is swept back in time to Texas 1845, into the body of ranch owner, Carmena Luebber. Mandy must assume Carmena’s role until she finds a way back to her own time. She is caught in the lives of her new employees, and ends up torn between two men in love with the real Carmena. Mandy's amulet is stolen by a historical figure and she needs it to get back home before she destroys lives in the past as well as the future, but the only way to get it back is to participate in a criminal act that may be doomed to failure.

Buy Links:

      Excerpt
     Captain Charles Sanders rose above insanely gorgeous. He could turn the head of a mannequin. He was the classic image of a steroid muscle man on the front cover of a paperback romance, an easy six-feet-four—maybe five—inches tall. And the captain was much closer to my age than Carlos.
      No wonder I, or rather, Carmena, was attracted to him. I wanted to gobble the officer up like milk chocolate, and in testimony, my mouth remained opened a bit too long. The captain’s smile grew wider and Carlos cleared his throat rather loudly.
      I swallowed. “Captain. It’s absolutely wonderful to see you.” And it was.
      Carlos, out of the captain’s line of sight, rolled his eyes heavenward. I stumbled past the chairs behind my desk.
       “Thank you, Carmena.” The captain’s masculine voice wrapped invisible arms around me. “And may I say that it’s always wonderful to see you?”
      He glided across the room with the heat of a professional tango dancer. He took my hands and placed a long, slow kiss on the back of each one. Goosebumps rose on my arms, shivers did the whole up and down thing along my spine, and I wanted nothing more than to be alone with the man.
      “I’m so glad you have recovered from that unfortunate circumstance.” No matter what he said, his words oozed masculine sensuality.
      “Carlos,” I kept my toothy grin on the officer, “I’ve changed my mind about our last discussion. Perhaps you can attend to that other matter we were just dealing with.”
      “And what matter would that be, Carmena?” Carlos asked. He enunciated every syllable in the name and stood like a permanent fixture with his arms crossed.
      I waved my hand. “Whatever. Just take care of it.”
      The captain’s blue eyes glittered like the crown jewels under a spotlight and his smile caressed me like a cashmere blanket.
      “I don’t understand, Carmena,” Carlos said. “We were just discussing your poor condition after the lieutenant’s attack.”
      “Is it true?” the captain asked, deep concern evident in his tone, and he held my hands tighter. “Are you unwell, Carmena?”
      “Oh, no. I’m feeling much better now.”
      “Why don’t we sit down?” Charles said. He took my arm, and I felt a girlish flutter in my solar plexus. We sat down on the leather settee, and Carlos seated himself on the matching chair directly across from us.
      “How are you, Captain?”
      “I’m very fine, especially now that I’m here, knowing you’re well.” His voice, smooth as French butter, made me want to melt into it.
      We continued to hold hands and my eyes held fast to his. “Carlos, is there something else you need?”
      "Yes, actually. We need to finish the conversation we were having moments before the captain arrived in which you told me how fatigued you still felt since the attack.”
        Alarm washed across the captain’s handsome face. “Please, Carmena. You mustn’t try to be brave for me.” The captain unwittingly joined the enemy’s side in the verbal tussle I was having with Carlos and he abruptly stood. “Perhaps I can return another day.”
       I practically jumped on top of him and dragged him back down. “But I’m much better today!” I turned to Carlos and gave him a ferocious stink eye. “Aren’t I looking much better, Carlos?”
      “Well…” He rubbed his chin. “Now that you mention it, you do look a little pale.”
      The captain squeezed my hands and I wished he would kiss them again. “I’m ashamed that I didn’t consider your physical health more thoroughly before riding out.” I made to protest, but he quickly added, “I’m also flattered that you don’t want to send me off, Carmena, but we really do need to put your frail condition before all else. I shall call on you next week.” He glanced at Carlos. “I’m sure you’ll be feeling better by then.”
      Warm lips brushed the back of my hands yet again and the captain smiled. “Good evening, Carmena.” He started for the library doors.
       I trailed the captain like a love-struck teen, hoping he’d change his mind about staying. “It’s much too late for anyone to be riding at this time of night.”
      “Surely you don’t doubt the ability of a captain in the Texas Cavalry to take care of himself?” Carlos said.
      “I don’t mean to insult you, Captain, but I fear for your safety,” I lied. “There are so many highway men and all manner of vicious beasts out at night. We’ve plenty of guest rooms to see to your comfort.”
      “Ay, Diós!” Carlos muttered.
      Charles took my hands in his. His smile couldn’t get any wider, and my heart tried to jump out and rest in his dimples. “Don’t worry about me, Carmena. Several of my men are waiting at the gate. Now, I insist that you get your rest so that we may enjoy a proper visit upon my return.”
      “But I’m really feeling fine!”
       “Thank you, Captain, for seeing to Carmena’s needs before your own,” Carlos said.
       The Adonis made a gracious bow to Carlos. To me the captain said, “I will call on you next week when you’re feeling much better, if I may?”
      I pouted despite the offer of another visit. “Of course.”
      He kissed my hands for the umpteenth time, and I wanted him to stay all the more. Like a needy little puppy I followed the captain to the door, but he said, “I will see myself out, Carmena. I’d prefer it if you sat down and rested.”
      “Of course. Anything you want, Captain.” And I meant it.
      He kept his smile in check, and Carlos huffed behind me.
      The captain’s long pointer finger stroked my cheek to my chin, and he whispered, “Perhaps we’ll have time later to share a few private moments together.”
      I sighed and brazenly admitted, “I’d really like that.”
      Carlos grunted. The captain grinned as he closed the library doors behind him.
      I whirled around to face Carlos who openly smirked. I jabbed my fists on my hips and glared, but my dirty look had no impact.
      Carlos took his seat at the desk and pointed to my own. “Now, let me think.” He tapped the side of his cheek. “Where were we before you said how you wanted me to stay in the library with you during the captain’s visit, no matter how awkward?”
      “Diós,” I griped and stomped across the room. I plopped down hard into my chair and crossed my arms.
      Carlos laughed.
      “Get on with it,” I said. “What were you going to say?”
      “I was about to tell you everything I know of the real Carmena Luebber.” 

       Dawn: How long did have you been writing and when did you know that writing was what you wanted to do? What kind of writer are you, a plotter or a pantser?
        Carole:   When I was 3 years old I knew, after reading Go, dog. Go! that I would be a writer. I didn’t learn how to properly write until I was in the first grade and my first story was cut to shreds by a substitute teacher. I got a big red F on the paper, like a flag telling all the other kids what a terrible story I had written. Although I was only six years-old, the paper was marked off for poor spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and there wasn’t one mention on the content of my story. I crumbled it up and vowed never to write again. Of course, I did write but I kept my poetry, fiction, and non-fiction to myself until my best friend, Laura, told me on her death bed that I was called to be a writer. As soon as I recovered from her passing, I wrote my first novel, a romance based on a dream that I had seven nights in a row.
      I am a pantser writer. I dream most of my stories (in full color with surround sound) or with fingers on the keyboard, I am inspired and just take off. 
 
      Dawn: Share your social profiles with us. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest…where do you spend your cyber-time?
      Carole:  I am still learning how to discipline myself as a writer with regards to anything outside of the actual writing process. I am (slowly) learning how to improve my website, www.caroleavila.com, and I answer all e-mails there and at info@caroleavila.com. I am at Facebook and Pinterest under Carole Avila. I try to use my writing pen name at all my social media sites. I’m also at writeme1 at Twitter. My blog can be reached from my website or by going to caroleavilablog.wordpress.com. 

      Dawn: If you could travel to any-where or any-when…when and where would that be? What would you do when you got there?
      Carole:  I think I would like to remain in America at the turn of the last century, when so many great industrial discoveries were being made, like the telephone and automobile. It seems to me that at that time our technology united people, whereas today, computer technology puts a “safe” distance between us. Honestly, I’m a very private person so I get hung up in that, too. I feel better sending texts and e-mails rather than calling or sending a snail-mail card to someone.  

      Dawn: What draws you to the genre or genres in which you write?
      Carole:  I think that if I had to claim a genre, it would be romance, but that’s normally not the main focus of my stories. I love to develop my characters and give them something meaningful to do, or have them search for meaning. (The Eve’s Amulet series is about women connecting to their inner resources and using their natural talents wisely.) My writing is inspired–the thoughts flow in, and I grab hold of them, which explains why I write romance, adventure, young adult horror, non-fiction, mystery, poetry, contemporary literary works, and other genres.

      Dawn: Who is your favorite author and why? Which book speaks to you the most?
      Carole:  That’s like asking “What is your favorite food or music?” There are just too many fabulous authors out there! I met Ray Bradbury several years ago and had the most amazing 2-hour conversation with him on the craft of writing. I met Nicholas Sparks after The Notebook first came out and liked that he wanted to write romance, not common for most men. Well written books speak to me the most, regardless of the genre. It wasn’t until recently that I started reading sci-fi. Once I read Divergent, The Hunger Games, and The City of Bones, I was hooked. 

     Dawn: What do you like to listen to when you write? Music, TV, silence?
     Carole:  I can’t listen to anything! Music and movies grab my attention, especially if it’s something I like. I write in silence but my mind is filled with words, action, and the characters who live there! 

      Dawn: When do you find the time to write? Are you an early morning person or a late at night writer?
      Carole:  Honestly, Dawn, it depends on how much caffeine I’ve had! If I have one cup of black tea or coffee after 9 a.m., it’s enough to keep me up past 1 a.m. If I drink a cup at night, I usually see the sunrise! I love chai tea with cream and hazelnut coffee. It’s sooooo hard to refuse a cup! My usual internal clock would probably put me more in the night owl category, although I write during the day as well. Like most dedicated writers, I write for hours and lose track of time. 

      Dawn: Tell me about any promotions or contests you are running? Where can we go to sign up and what are the rules?
       Carole:  Aarggh 
! I’m still working on it. I am still too new to the marketing world, but I see that I have more to do!
 
                                Thank you, Carole for being with me today.  I enjoyed learning about your book and look forward to reading it.

      Carole:  Thank you, Dawn, for generously having me at your site. I really appreciate your time and energy!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Fifth and Final Day of the Blogger Book Fair with Michelle Birbeck


Well today is the last day of the Blogger Book Fair. I hope you are ready for my last guest author from the fair. Today I have with me Michelle Birbeck.
 
Dawn:Michelle, it is great to have you with me today.  First tell us a little about yourself.  Your likes and dislikes, your favorite foods, your special pets? What makes you…you?

Michelle: Pizza! And chocolate. Or even better, chocolate and marshmallow pizza, with sliced bananas on top. And now I’m hungry… Anyway! About me, well, I got married when I was 18 and everyone told me it would never last. Twelve years later, and my husband and I are still happily married, with our newly toothless cat, Loki, and our adorable bunny rabbit, Poppy.

I love my book collection, which spans the whole house, and my faeries, which also span the entire house. Things I hate are thunder, but only when I’m inside. If I’m outside, then I’m fine with it, and I love watching for lightning.

And that’s me! Well, part of me, anyway.  

Dawn: What is the title of your current work and what is it about?

Michelle: I have a couple of books out at the moment, both in the same series. The first is called The Last Keeper, and its sequel is called Last Chance. Both are available for all ereaders and in paperback, and are paranormal novels.  

Buy Links:


Excerpt:

The Last Keeper

Serenity Cardea's race has been hunted to near extinction. She's a Keeper, with the ability to influence others, including those immortal beings who want dominance over the world. Ray Synclair is a history professor in training with a passion for times past. Fascinated by Serenity, he has no idea that the world is filled with immortals, most of whom want him dead. Because the only way to kill a Keeper is to kill their partner...

 
 
 
 
 
Last Chance

With her race saved from the brink of extinction, Serenity’s life could not be better. Married, finally, to Ray, and back in London for the first time in a century, retirement isn’t coming easy. Being a housewife was never in her make up.

But when Lizzy calls to say the Keepers’ records have been stolen, retirement is preferable over the danger they now face.

Targets once more, Serenity’s isn’t inclined to sit back and let her brothers and sisters face the losses she witnessed, but the order to move an entire race comes at a price.

Whoever is behind the threat, they show none of the mercy The Seats once did. No broken families left to suffer the loss of parents, aunts, uncles. This time they’ve gone too far, and when they take the lives of the race’s children, Serenity’s mind is made up.
This time they will be no threats, no mercy.

     This time there’ll be no survivors.

 

Dawn: How long did have you been writing and when did you know that writing was what you wanted to do? What kind of writer are you, a plotter or a pantser?

Michelle: I started writing when I was in school, just daft little bits and pieces, but then when I got married, work took up most of my time, and it wasn’t until I left work that I really took it up again. That was six years ago now, and ever since then, I have been writing as often as possible.

As for what type of writer I am… a bit of both. If I have a very tight deadline, then I like to have an idea of where I am going, because otherwise, I keep thinking I’ve forgotten to include one of the plot points. But for the most part, I like making it up as I go along. And no matter which way I write, there are always a high number of little bits and pieces that will pop us as I’m writing and take me by surprise.  

Dawn: Share your social profiles with us. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest…where do you spend your cyber-time?

Michelle: I spend a lot of time on twitter, and even more time than I should on Tumblr. You can find me here:






Dawn: If you could travel to any-where or any-when…when and where would that be? What would you do when you got there?

Michelle: I’ve seen a lot of people answer this question with Hogwarts or Narnia, but though I love Narnia, neither of those really appeal to me. If I had the choice of absolutely anywhere, I would have to choose the holodeck of Star Trek. Not because there is any particular person there that I want to me, but because everyone I ever wanted to meet could be there. I could input all the books I love and all the times and places I want to visit and go be part of them.

That, and the whole travelling through space sounds like so much fun!

      Dawn: What draws you to the genre or genres in which you write?

Michelle: I adore the paranormal genre. Vampires, witches, wereanimals… there are just so many things that you can do with them. So many little changes that alter their whole dynamic. I love that I can take any time period, any country, and throw in some paranormal and supernatural creatures and have a whole new story. The genre, to me, seems to endless with the things that you can do with it.
    
      Dawn: Who is your favorite author and why? Which book speaks to you the most?

Michelle: My favourite author is Richard Laymon. I have all of his books, and I love every single one of them. They have their own shelf in amongst my books, and I have a whole load of first and signed editions, too.

If I had to pick one book of his that I love the most, it would be The Lake. I adore the way all the bits and pieces of the plot twist about and come together in the end. Seeing the past influence the present in the way that it does was fantastic, and I have read the book several times since I discovered it.

       Dawn: What do you like to listen to when you write? Music, TV, silence?

Michelle: I have to have my music on. Doesn’t matter what, as I have an eclectic selection to choose from, but it has to be music. The TV distracts me and makes my mind wander, and silence is even worse for doing that. So for me, it has to be music. For some reason it focuses my mind and helps me keep at it longer.

Also, I love to sing. I’m not any good at it, but I still love to do it, at the top of my voice.

       Dawn: When do you find the time to write? Are you an early morning person or a late at night 
       writer?

Michelle: Early and late evening are the times for me. Mornings and I don’t get along very well. Mornings like to try and wake me up when the sun is still attempting to rise, but I fight back most of the time and lie in as long as I can. That way I can stay up later and get more writing done. Although, I prefer summer mornings to winter. At least in the summer the mornings are light and bright. I can’t stand having to get up on a winter’s morning when it’s still dark and cold.

But for editing and interviews and blog posts, it has to be late morning and early afternoon. That seems to be my work portion of the day, the time when I get all the non-writing bits out of the way. Then I get to spend the rest of my night in my own head making things up.
    
      Dawn: Tell me about any promotions or contests you are running? Where can we go to sign up  
      and what are the rules?

Michelle: There are a couple of promotions that I am part of at the moment. The first being the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale. My short stories are now all free to download for this month only, and my second book, Last Chance, is half price!

You can also check out https://www.facebook.com/writercmwright to see when her big 1000 like giveaway is, as there will be a chance to win a copy of my first book, The Last Keeper, as well as some signed bookmarks! There will also be chances to win a whole host of other goodies from other authors.

 

Dawn: Michelle, I want to thank you for being with me today.  I enjoyed learning about your book and look forward to reading it.
 
 
Thank you all for joining us on the Blogger Book Fair and thanks to everyone who voted in the Reader's Choice Awards. Please check out our winners at http://bloggerbookfair.blogspot.com/p/readers-choice-awards.html 
 


 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Day Four of the Blogger Book Fair with Marsha Canham


I hope everyone is having a great time with all the authors from the Blogger Book Fair. We have had some exciting books so far. Today my guest is here to sweep us away on a journey. Come fly with us as we travel Through A Dark Mist with my guest Marsha Canham. Marsha, it is great to have you with me today.
This year's Blogger Book Fair theme is to let your imagination travel to far-away places. Since I love to travel, but can't always match my wishes with my budget, I let my writing take me where ships and planes can't go. Even better, since I write historical romances, I can sail the high seas in breeches and a cambric shirt, ride the moonlit moors as a highwayman, stalk the Highlands of Scotland in a kilt or...visit the dark forests and castles of medieval England.

Through A Dark Mist is book one in a trilogy of stories I wrote based around my interpretation of the legendary forest thief known as Robin Hood. Since there was no such person in existence, and since most of the history of that time was passed down through songs and poems told by travelling bards, Robin Hood was most likely a composite of many heroic stories attributed to the same man. As the stories and songs were passed down from generation to generation, his legend grew, as did the feats of his "merry men". In my trilogy, I researched the period thoroughly and found how the many *real* stories and characters could possibly have been combined to produce the Robin Hood created by those bards so many centuries ago.

Here is an excerpt from Through A Dark Mist:

Servanne glanced slantwise at the men who comprised the bulk of her escort. They all looked as if they broke their nightly fasts by chewing nails, and as if they could and did slit throats for the sheer pleasure of it.

Which raised another question, and another icy spray of gooseflesh along her arms. Why were such fearsomely huge and bestial men flinching at every snapped twig and crinkling leaf they passed?

Servanne did not have to wait long for the answer. A faint hiss and whonk broke the silence of the forest; a gasp, followed by an agonized cry of pain sent a guard careening sideways out of his saddle, his gauntleted hand clutched around the shaft of an arrow protruding from his chest. A half dozen more grisly whonks struck in close succession, each resulting in a grunt of expended air and a bitten-off cry of pain.

Shouting an alert, Bayard of Northumbria cursed loudly and voraciously at the ineptness of the scouts he had dispatched ahead to insure against the possibility of just such an ambush occurring. In the next wild breath, he reasoned that, without a doubt, they must be as dead as the ox-brained incompetents who had allowed their concentration to wander to the curves and smiles of a flock of tittering women rather than remain fixed on the deadly dangers of the forest.

A second round of curses forced Bayard to acknowledge how efficiently the trap had been laid and sprung. Four of his best scouts had been silenced, seven guards already dead or dying, the rest of the cavalcade corralled and surrounded in a matter of seconds, with no real or visible targets yet in evidence.

“Lay down your weapons!”

The command was shouted from somewhere high up in the trees and Bayard’s gaze shot upward, rewarded by nothing but swaying branches and splintered sunlight.

“Bows and swords to the ground or you shall all win the privilege of joining your fallen comrades!”

The breath hissed through Bayard’s teeth with impotent fury. His keen eyes searched the greenwood but he could see nothing—no pale flash of skin or clothing, no movement in the trees or on the ground. A further lightning-quick glance identified the arrows protruding from the chests of the dead soldiers. Slim and deadly, almost three feet long and tipped in steel, they were capable of piercing bullhide or mail breastplates as if they were cutting through cheese. Moreover, the arrows were shot from the taut strings of the Welsh contraptions known as longbows. In the hands of an expert, an arrow shot from a longbow could outdistance the squatter, thicker quarrels fired from a crossbow by a hundred yards or more. Many a train of merchants had been waylaid and fired upon from such a distance that they could not even distinguish their attackers from the trees.

As was the case now, Bayard thought angrily. He and his men were like ducks on a pond and, unwilling to fall helplessly to a slaughter, he had no choice but to reluctantly give his men the signal to lower their weapons.

“Who dares to challenge our right of way?” the captain demanded, his voice a low, seething growl. “Who is this dead man? Let him step forward and show his face!”

A laugh, full and deep-throated, had the same effect on the tension-filled atmosphere as a sudden crack of thunder.

Servanne de Briscourt, her hand tightly clasped to Biddy’s and her shoulders firmly encircled by the fierce protectiveness of a matronly arm, was startled enough by the unexpected sound to twist her head around and search out the source of the laughter.

A man had stepped out from behind the screen of hawthorns and had moved to position himself brazenly in the middle of the road. His long legs, clad in skin-tight deer-hide leggings, were braced wide apart; his massive torso, made more impressive by a jerkin of gleaming black wolf pelts, expanded farther as he insolently planted one hand on his waist and the other on the curved support of the longbow he held casually by his side.

Standing well over six feet tall, his body was a superb tower of muscle that commanded the eye upward to the coldest, cruellest pair of eyes Servanne had ever seen. Pale blue-gray, they were, twin mirrors of ice and frost, steel and iron. Piercing eyes. Eyes that held more secrets than a soul should want to know, or, if knowing, would live to tell. They were strange eyes for so dark a man—hair, clothing, and weathered complexion all combined to make it so—and it was with the greatest difficulty that Servanne relented to the tugging pressure of Biddy’s hands and turned her face away, burying it against the muffling shield of ponderously soft bosoms.

    “I bid you welcome to my forest, Bayard of Northumbria.” The villain laughed softly again. “Had I known in advance it was you daring to venture across my land, I should have arranged a much warmer welcome.”

My website is http://www.marshacanham.com

I am on Facebook as well:  http://www.facebook.com/marsha.canham


And my blog, Caesars Through the Fence http://marshacanham.wordpress.com/ 

Through a Dark Mist can be found at


Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/64689

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/through-a-dark-mist-marsha-canham/1100271655?ean=2940011342738
 

 http://www.marshacanham.com  visit my website


find me on Twitter @marshacanham

Thank you Marsha, I have enjoyed having you with me and I look forward to reading your work.

Everyone please go check out all the other great blogs and meet the rest of the authors at the Blogger Book Fair this year by clicking the picture below.


Blogger Book Fair