Favorite Author 9!

Moira Rogers

Moira writes a wide range of genres; Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Steampunk, Historical, Furturistic, and Fantasy. I have her whole collection of the Last Call series. It was the first one I read of hers. Hooked me within 5 pages. It is an erotic paranormal romance and though they are novellas they are packed with everything. I am working on her Southern Arcana right now and it has me venturing out of my regular genre.

Last Call

Being a supernatural creature in a human world can be tough. Humans might not understand why their phoenix lover’s passion burns so literally, or what dark urges lurk beneath the eyes of the friendly neighborhood werewolf cop.

Luckily there’s Last Call. Owned and operated by a dangerously adept wizard, this bar & club has a very special menu designed to connect needy supernaturals with understanding lovers. Buy a drink, pick a compatible partner, and retire to the warded upstairs hotel rooms for a night of supernatural loving that’ll satisfy the most outlandish of paranormal problems.

Though listed in order by release date, the Last Call stories stand entirely independently of one another, each focusing on one night, one couple and one need. They all have an edge of romance and a satisfying ending, but should be considered erotica instead of erotic romance.

Last Call novellas are all $0.99 with the first for free!

Series
Southern Arcana
Sanctuary
Bloodhounds
And The Beast
Last Call
Down & Dirty
Children of the Undying
Temple of Luna

Get them at Barnes and Noble
Get them at Amazon
Not sure which series you would like to start with check them all out here...Moira Rogers Books

Release Dates

January 7th, 2014: Haunted Sanctuary (print)

February 10th, 2014: Marked (as Kit Rocha)

March 2014: Beyond Jealousy (as Kit Rocha)

April 1st, 2014: Shattered Moon (print)

Spring 2014: Enigma (digital)

Summer 2014: Haunted Wolves (print)

Spring 2015: Enigma (print)

Find her on Facebook, Web, and Goodreads.

*In accordance with FTC guidelines/regulations for bloggers and endorsements, please note that all the books reviewed on this blog were either purchased by me or provided to me by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review and nothing else. I gain nothing in return for the review other than the book itself. My reviews are my honest opinion and remain uninfluenced despite the source(s) through which I obtained the book(s).
*Disclaimer - I am not the owner of these pictures. I found them on the web for causal fun use on my blog for which I receive no compensation. If this picture belongs to you (you are the copyright owner) please let me know and I will remove it.

Awesome Deals!

Get Awesome DEALS right now..... 

14 books for $0.99 and 6 for $0.99. You can't beat the price.
I have NOT gotten to reading either set but I am glad I have them. I have read a few of the authors but now I get to read new ones! I love finding box sets with authors I haven't read. Always leads me to more wonderful book.
Get these NOW, I have no idea how long this special pricing will last.


Riding Desire: Alpha Bad Boy Biker Boxed Set
(14 BRAND NEW limited edition contemporary romance books)

Get it at BnN
Get it at Amazon 

Love's First Bite Boxed Set 

(6 vampire romances)

Get it at BnN

Get it at Amazon 

Favorite Author #6

Nicky Charles 

Nicky lives in Canada and I try to use Canadian spelling in her work, which may throw some readers off but it's my way of supporting my country. She likes reading, writing and gardening.  Her favorite food is dark chocolate. She loves to travel and cats. She is an avid supporter of animal shelters, nature conservancy, food banks and a wide variety of other charities.

When I bought my NOOK, Nicky's The Mating was the first book I downloaded. Why? you ask. Well, it's free as well as the others in Laws of The Lycans series. They are around 800pgs. each or more given the book. I was amazed at how well written a free novel was. She catches your attention in the first few chapters and you don't want to put it down. As I finished The Mating I had to immediately download the next. Thinking it would cost a bit, wrong...FREE again.

My reading order was as she wrote them: The Mating, The Keeping, The Finding, Bonded, Betrayed

 Chronological order:  Bonded, The Mating, The Keeping, Betrayed, The Finding  
Following the story strands: Bonded, Betrayed and then The Mating, The Keeping, The Finding

Nicky is one of my fall-back re-reads I love and never get tired of. After reading it several times I still find things I missed the first few. Like a landscape, an emotion or implied feelings.

Nicky's books:

The Mating

Betrayed

The Finding

The Keeping

Bonded

Forever in Time

Find her on her webpage, facebook, or nicky.charles@live.ca & nicky@nickycharles.com

Favorite Author #5

Jacquelyn Frank

Jacquelyn is one of the authors that have inspired me to read and even write. Her worlds she builds and shares with everyone are beyond belief.

She is the second author I couldn't stop reading. I started with the Nightwalkers series. Jacob had me hooked in the first chapter, which is hard for me to do.





Nightwalkers Series 
 A group of demons have the normal human issues; fighting among races, love, trust (or there lack of) and many others.

About Jacob(book 1):
Jacob the Enforcer belongs to one of the many Nightwalker races that thrive on the dark of night. He has a job to do for his species and it's rather straightforward. He polices his people. During the full moon their animal urge to mate overcomes them, and if they stay within their race they never need to encounter the Enforcer. But if they cross the line and turn their lust to another species...say humans...it's Jacob's duty to prevent them and then to punish them severely for it. As this 'madness' grows worse and worse for his people, there is hardly a family who hasn't felt the brutal sting of Jacob's justice. Punishment is so dire and so feared, Jacob can call very few others his friend and the life the Enforcer leads is a very solitary one.

Then one night during a hunt for one of his own, he encounters the first human woman who will tempt him in all of his 622 years of life. Isabella is a simple Bronx gal who works at her local library, lives with her sister and owns a cat.

She hardly expects a night of moongazing to change her life forever and send her falling for a man like Jacob in all kinds of outrageous ways. Heck, she certainly doesn't expect that he isn't exactly a 'man'... although he sure looks like one, smells like one and boy-oh-boy does he feel like one!

As for the Enforcer, Jacob finds himself tempted beyond reason, needing Isabella to the point that he begins to strain against every law he has always upheld.

But before long the couple finds themselves fighting for their lives against evil, Jacob's bretheren, and even their own desires for each other. How can they find the way to resist one another before Jacob faces his own punishments...or before Bella ends up dead, torn up from the animal passion inside of him that she, as a human, is too frail to ever endure?

As Jacquelyn expanded her world she added
Shadowdrellers
The Gatherers
The Three Worlds
The World of Nightwalkers
Drink of Me
The Bid

On January 7th, 2014 the release of Forsaken, the 3rd novel in The Wolrd of Nightwalkers, was released. I still have it on my TBR (to be read) list. Hoping to get to it very soon.


Find Jacquelyn Frank on the web at Jacquelyn on Twitter and Facebook.

Favorite Author #4!

Tina Folsom

Tina is one of my found by mistake authors. Yep that's right. I wasn't really looking for her but her 'Scanguards Vampires' found me.

I think 'Sampson's Lovely Mortal' was on sale for $0.99 when I decided I would try her out. Low and behold I was hooked. I ended up buying all that were out and then threw a fit when I wanted more and had to wait.  I have yet to find the funds in my tight budget to start her other series but they are on my LIST TO BUY!

About Scanguards Vampires:

Scanguards Vampires  Book #1
Vampire bachelor Samson can’t get it up anymore. Not even his shrink can help him. That changes when the lovely mortal auditor Delilah tumbles into his arms after a seemingly random attack. Suddenly there’s nothing wrong with his hydraulics – that is, as long as Delilah is the woman in his arms.
His scruples about taking Delilah to bed vanish when his shrink suggests it’s the only way to  cure his problem. Thinking all he needs is one night with her, Samson indulges in a night of pleasure and passion.

However, another attack on Delilah and a dead body later, and Samson has his hands full: not only with trying to hide the fact he’s a vampire, but also with finding out what secrets Delilah harbors for somebody to want her harm.

As the story continues with each and every book you get more and more drawn into it. Always left wondering "what if, who's book is next, holy cow I didn't see that coming." 'Thomas' Choice' was one that I wasn't sure I'd like to read. It's a male/male, book. I read it and I loved it just as much as the others. 

Tina has books published all over the world and in several languages. Take the time to read one of her wonderfully engaging novels. Find her on her website Tina Folsom, Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to sign up for her newsletters too.

Tina's Other Series

Out of Olympus

Venice Vampyr

Stealth Guardians

Eternal Bachelor's Club

Favorite Author #3!

Sherrilyn Kenyon

New York Time and International Best Seller

*My neighbor got me hooked on Sherrilyn's Dark-Hunter Series. Once I read Fantasy Lover I couldn't stop. Since I started reading it just a few years back I bought all that were available at the time, just before Retribution was released. My dad helped me in supplying the money. I read them all in about a week and was left wanting more! This series was the first real adult series I read. I think it's safe to say Sherrilyn got me hooked on reading. I haven't stopped and keep finding new authors I fall in love with but Sherrilyn will always be first in my heart.

About Fantasy Lover:
Being trapped in a bedroom with a woman is a grand thing. Being trapped in hundreds of bedrooms over two thousand years isn’t. And being cursed into a book as a love-slave for eternity can ruin even a Spartan warrior’s day.
As a love-slave, I know everything about women. How to touch them, how to savor them, and most of all, how to pleasure them. But when I was summoned to fulfill Grace Alexander’s sexual fantasies, I found the first woman in history who saw me as a man with a tormented past. She alone bothered to take me out of the bedroom and into the world. She taught me to love again. But I wasn’t born to know love. I was cursed to walk eternity alone. As an ancient Greek general, I had long ago accepted my sentence. Yet...

Dark-Hunter Series is about, well to sum it up, tragedy, love, loss, and patience. You have your dark-hunters (who can only be out in the dark), were-hunters (a.k.a. shifters), dream-hunters, and much more. Read and find the humor I found with Simi! Might want to grab some BBQ sauce first though.

*Chronicles of Nick is for young adults and if connected to The Dark-Hunter series. As Nick is a major character in both.

About:
At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough, and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.
Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead. But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh-eating zombies—and he’s next on the menu.
As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chain saw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?


Sherrilyn has several more series I haven't had the pleasure of getting to YET!
The League
Dream-Hunter (part of Dark-Hunter)
Were-Hunter (part of Dark-Hunter)
Hellchaser
Lords of Avalon
Belador and more.

Check Sherrilyn out at 

Facebook/Twitter/Website

Get her books at

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

*Disclaimer - I am not the owner of these pictures. I found them on the web for causal fun use on my blog for which I receive no compensation. If this picture belongs to you (you are the copyright owner) please let me know and I will remove it.

What Are They Doing?

My characters are not cooperating with me. 

The last few days my MC (main character) and her bestie have decided they don't want to do what I want. This point in the novel is hard enough to write. Now with them ticking me off it just makes it harder. Dalara's bestie is having issues with not wanting to be in this part and I need her here. It's almost as if she wants to be the MC now and I can't have that. I have had this issue before but she is stubborn. I am hoping by Friday she will start cooperating. I need wordies. 

I am going to word sprint with my lovelies over at @TheSprintShack on Twitter today, or at least try. Friday will be an all day and night sprint fest with @FriNightWrites for #writeclub. For those who are unfamiliar with either one check out their blogs. The Sprint Shack and FriNightWrites. The sprints are hosted by fellow writers. We write for a set time and see how many wordies we can get out of our fingers. 

I want this novel done and ready for my beta readers before April 1st. Camp NaNoWriMo begins then and I want to start the next novel in the series. I was thinking it would be Dalara's pack-mate but it might have to be her bestie instead. Which that is all fine and dandy with me. I know part of her story already and have tons of notes and research done. 

Camp NaNoWriMo is like NaNoWriMo I did in November; 50k words in a month. I won in November and I want to in April and July for Camp NaNoWriMo too. That's where the sprinting comes in handy. On a good sprint I have forced out 900+ wordies in 30 minutes. I wouldn't be able to live without my lovelies on Twitter. They keep me going with encouragement and ideas when I get stuck like I am now. 

Don't forget Friday I will be posting about another favorite author of mine. 

Book Release!

Released Tuesday December 31st 2013

Shatter 
by Joan Swan

For seven years, Halina Beloi has been in hiding. But she’s never forgotten Mitch Foster, the long, lean man she had to leave behind. Until, that is, Mitch shows up with a list of questions and a 9mm in his hand.

All Mitch knows is that Halina broke his heart and disappeared. But new information has surfaced implicating her as a player in the deadliest game of Mitch’s life. This time, he’s not letting go without answers. Now terror, danger and heat will fuse them together or shatter the future. . .









This is the fourth book in the series. The others are:
Fever
Blaze 
Rush

Get them all at:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Follow her on Twitter/ Facebook

Favorite Author #1

Patricia Briggs is an urban romance/paranormal romance author. She currently has 6 series; The Mercy Thompson Series, Alpha and Omega Series, Raven Duology Series, Hurog Duology Series, The Hob, and Siamin Series. I am partial to The Mercy Thompson series.
Mercy Thompson Series- Mercedes is Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. Her Native American heritage has gifted her with the ability to take the form of a coyote at will. She's surrounded by far more powerful supernatural beings, including werewolves, vampires and an assortment of fey.

Patricia Briggs has a new book in The Mercy Thompson Series coming out on March 11th 2014. It is book 8 in the series called Night Broken.

Night Broken 
An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s stalker is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.


My Opinion: In the series Mercy, an skinwalker of sorts, deals was raised in a pack of wolves. The pack was ran by the leader of the werewolves and she was an outcast because she wasn't a wolf. On her own she moves but only to have to deal with another pack that arrives after she does. Working for a fae and eventually purchasing the mechanics shop she has adventures with the wolves, fae, ghosts, and vampires. Everyone says she attracts danger and misfortune. Read and fins out if that's really true of if it just seems that way.

Find her books on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.


I will be trying to get in a post of my favorite authors once a week until I get through them all. The list is below.
Alexandra Ivy
Laura Wright
Jasinda Wilder
Tina Folsom
Maya Banks
Selena Blake
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Nicky Charles
and more

Release Day!

Today two of my favorite authors, Skye Jordan and Joan Swan, released 'Rebel (Renegades)'. 

Rebel 
A Renegades Novel #2
by Skye Jordan & Joan Swan

Overview: 

Sassy, smart, and sexy, former supermodel-turned-tech guru Rubi Russo has it all—looks, money, confidence and freedom. Her life is a whirlwind of fast cars and fleeting affairs—and she likes it that way. With a past like Rubi’s, forever isn’t part of her vocabulary. So when studly Renegade stuntman Wes Lawson wants to take their friendship to the next level, she’s all out. 

Raised a simple country-boy, Wes knows the brazen Rubi isn’t his type. But after spending time with her, he discovers she’s everything he’s ever wanted in a woman. To win her wild rebel heart, he’ll have to prove he sees behind her smokescreen to all the goodness she tries to hide. Then it's just a matter of crushing her fears, shattering her barriers, and convincing her that loving him is everything she’s been missing in her life, too.

Piece of cake.

Get it at Amazon

Get it at Barnes and Noble

I haven't read it but it is on my list for this week. I have always enjoyed Skye's and Joan's writings and I doubt this one will be no different.

 *If you haven't read 'Reckless'  you should. Here's the links to make it easy for you.
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Check them out on twitter
Skye Jordan
Joan Swan

The Long Process

As I sit in front of my computer trying to write, I can't help but think it's not good enough. Nothing seems to flow nor does it seem like a book I would read. Some think that an author just sits down and writes a story without trouble, well NOT! Many of us aspiring authors and even New York Times best sellers have this issue of being stuck.
Once I get started I end up going back and reading through what I have several times. Yep, you guess it; I change a lot. I need to learn to write it then edit it. I doubt that will ever happen which is something slowing me down.
I have however' learned to ask for help when I get stuck. I was hard at first because I didn't want to hear, "What the hell are you thinking? This sucks."  Now I have a few people I trust to tell me the truth and I can listen to their hating on parts of my book.

Things I learned in 2013

1. I can write any time of day, not just in the middle of the night.
2. I can't read when I'm in the process of writing.
3. Editing isn't as hard as I thought it would be.
4. My son can drive just fine and I had no need to worry.
5. I can clean and write in the same day.
6. I love my washer and dryer being in the kitchen. I do loads while typing at the table.
7. Scrivener is something I will never be able to live without.
8. Aeon Timeline is almost as needed as Scrivener.
9. My time management skills improved.
10. I love my son's laptop!

My for 2014!

1. Finish editing novel 1 and self-publish
2. Finish WIP1 and edit
3. Start WIP2
4. Keep house clean while writing...yeah harder than said with 2 teenagers in the house.
5. Save enough for my own laptop for X-mas 2014
6. Do more mommy/kid things with the kiddos

Excerpt:
"Dalara was laying on the couch in pain, it had never been this bad before, she thought. Every muscle and joint felt as if they were on fire, she was shaking with the fever and then her thoughts went fuzzy. She could here Sage and Naleena talking but they sounded as if they were far away. Her mind drifted to her dreams of the black wolf. It had haunted her since the first night." from WIP1 "Dalara"!

Challenge!

As you may know; I am at a loss as to what the title to my Lycan series should be. I am in need of suggestions. Starting January 1st I will start taking suggestions and on the 15th I will put them to a vote. In essence one of you will be naming the series. On the 1st I will post several excerpts and brief descriptions of the main characters. Plus a few things that will go on in the series.

The person who's suggestion is chosen will receive a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

The people who made suggestions will receive a free copy of the 1st e-book published, 'Dalara'.  Hoping by November 2014.

So, start thinking and make sure you follow this blog. That way you will be ready come the 1st of the year.

Back to the 'Writing Cave' for me.

Back To The Beginning

So, after NaNoWriMo I realized that I needed to rewrite the first novel in the series. Basically delete 3/4 of it and make it flow better. That's what I'm doing. It is a long process but I am getting to it little by little. I really hate when my characters decide they aren't going to go along with what I had planned for them.
I have a title for the book but not for the series yet. The first book will be "Dalara". She is the main female character (MFC). She has had loss but yet is strong and independent. A family secret comes to light and she is courageous to embrace it. Along the way she finds love and tragic events.   Learning that she is Coveted by many and feared by most, she must learn not to let it go to her head. In "Dalara" we get a sense of a new world that is hidden to humans, yes Lycans or more like werewolves.

Here are the titles I have so far, though I have no idea what order they will be in.
Dalara
Tasmina
Naleena
Zakaira
Zacharius
Drewdon
Lucas

Any suggestions for a series title is much appreciated. Leave a comment or ask other things in order to get a better idea of what a good title would be. I think I will do a giveaway to the one with the title I choose. Not sure what's gonna be given away yet. Stay tuned to see.

1st Week of December!

As I sit here and wait for the 5th I am thinking back over what I accomplished in November. Though it is the hardest month of  the year for me, I wrote 3/4 of a novel hitting over 50k words. I won NaNoWriMo! I never thought I could do it, but with the support of @TheSprintShack, @WriteChain, @FriNightWrites and many others within them, it would take forever to list all that helped and are still helping me. Always pushing me to sprint and get those words out of my head and on the computer screen. You guys *ROCK*.
As I have not completed my NaNo novel, I have begun finishing up the PREQUEL to it.  It is a shorter process after doing 50k+ in 30days. I am so glad I took the challenge and if I hadn't won, it still would have been awesome.

With winning I get to purchase Scrivener from Literature and Latte at 50% off on the 5th. Along with AEON Timeline. Both helped me so much I would never had made it without their NaNo Trials. With Scrivener I had everything from places, character bios, and relationships all in one place. I didn't have to open another program. Aeon Timeline allowed me to track the timing of each event and I never forgot what day it was in my novel.

There are tons of tools for writers and these are the only ones I have tried and I don't think I will try anything else. This is it for me. Each writer has their own way of doing things and Scrivener and Aeon Timeline is what I need.

With all that said I will definitely be participating next year in NaNoWriMo! I only wish I could make a financial donation this year. If you wish to help out the non-profit organization of NaNoWriMo please do so on their website (Link is above). Thanks!

Half-Way!

Today marks the halfway point for NaNoWriMo! I am well past halfway through the 50k words. I passed 38k a little bit ago. I can't wait to hit 40k. I'm getting really excited.

A Bit of background on me:
My mom passed away 10 years ago the 28th of this month. Yesterday she would have been 57yrs old. She was my life and the only one who ever supported me throughout my life, no matter what I did wrong or right. I usually have a really rough time but since doing NaNoWriMo this year it seems my ghosts aren't so inclined to haunt me. Yes, I had a crying spell but it was short. I am dedicating my NaNoWriMo piece to my mother. She was an avid reader and I know she would be proud of her dyslexic daughter working hard on a story. I thought of doing one she would love to read, but sci-fi really isn't my cup of tea. So, werewolves it is.

As for my NaNoWIP, well it is going to need a lot of rework once I am done. I have tons of notes about things I want to change. Though, not as many as I thought I would have.
Zared and Tasmina and even Azri are going to surprise readers. Twists and turns of their lives will not be seen until it happens. I'll post a excerpt later this weekend.

Again I need to thank @FriNightWrites (Twitter) for all the help and encouragement you give me. And this week @NaNoWordSprints for the help with MC. Without you he would not feel.

NaNoWriMo Day 12

Here it is Day 12 and I am just over halfway to the finish line with 26,866 words done. My novel is taking shape and getting interesting, well more than it has.  Another excerpt for you:

“I know that I also know she has a tough choice to make very soon. Her first heat is upon her.”

“She knows?”

“Yes we have talked about it. Now it is up to her to decide what she will do.” Zared explained hoping it would let Azri know that since he gave up his claim he had no say in what she does.

“I see, and I suppose you offered to help her through it?”

“No, she asked if I would if she chose that route.”

Azri was shocked by the look on his face. “She asked, even after all she’s been through? You know she may never be able to carry.”

Wow, Zared thought. Azri was really trying to keep him from being with Tasmina. “It is her choice and I will accept it no matter if she chooses to be alone or another male. You gave up your claim. She could rightfully be yours if you hadn’t. Now you say things that would have a male rethinking about her request? What the hell gives you the right?”

“ENOUGH!” Someone shouted. Turning they saw it was Eldest. Crap they were in trouble now.

“Eldest.”

“Yes, it is I. What is going on in here?”

“Azri was trying to keep me from Tasmina.” Zared stated.

“I see, Azri you have no claim. You refused it. Zared has every right to be around the pup.”

“She has asked him to mount her during her first heat.”

“That is her choice, Azri.”

“Yes, of course, Eldest.” Azri stated.

Males are always causing trouble with the order of things, even in real life here in Iowa. 

About Tasmina, she has a horrible past. Not much different than my own. Which is making this novel rough to write. Somethings are just hard to deal with and writing them out is harder. I have learned a lot about myself as I write of Tasmina's life. 

Now, working through plot twist 1, thinking maybe a total of 3. That is if Tasmina lets it happen. She has already had me make changes to what I intended. Yes I do not know what I will write, my characters have a tendency to take over the story.

NaNoWriMo Day 7

Today is day 7 of National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short. I am impressed by how well I am doing and the fact I am sticking to it. I hit 15k and am still going. Just look at the progress at the upper right side of this page. Many of my NaNoPals are pushing their little fingers to the keyboards as much as I am. Today I did  1k1hr, 1k words in 1 hour, with one and did over that. The sprints at #NaNoWordSprint is keeping me going... Here is a list of the sprints I partake in:
@TheSprintShack, @FriNightWrites, @NaNoWordSprints

What is a word sprint you ask?

Well, you get together on Twitter with buddies and challenge yourselves to improve your word count. There are many different places I do word sprints and it keeps us all on track. @FriNightWrites we sprint for 30 minutes and take a 10 minute break. There are writers from all over the world that join in.
Times:
UK: 7pm-7am
US EAST COAST: 2pm-2am
US WEST COAST: 11am-11pm
You can always jump in to any of them, whatever your schedule allows. I am there off and on during the day here in US Central and a lot at night. There we use the hashtag #writeclub and the #StatsGuy keeps track of how many words for each sprint. It is quite amazing to see the numbers pop up.
Want to learn more about FriNightWrites check it out, Write Club @FriNightWrites

Is there anything I couldn't live without during NaNoWriMo?

Yes, Scrivener. I love the software from Literature & Latte, it has made writing and keeping track of facts, characters, ages even. It's all in one place and easy to access. I downloaded the free trial version and loved it. Then when I signed up for NaNoWriMo I found they offer a special free trial to NaNoWriMo participants. It got even better, if I complete my 50k words I can buy Scrivener for 50% off.

I have just found out how helpful their split-screen is. I now can look at a character sheet and type at the same time without leaving either. There are tons of features I have not worked with and can't wait to buy it after NaNoWriMo and find all the wonderful things I can do with it. It has definitely made NaNoWriMo experience easier and less stressful. I think once November is over and less frantic I will use Scrivener for my blogs and all my books.

I also couldn't live without my kids running up and down the stairs when I am in the middle of a sprint and need a fresh soda or some snack. They are the best in helping me out and not fighting with each other. Being 16 and almost 12 it amazes me as I wait for a fight and I hear them talking with each other rather than at each other.

Now it's time to get back to my story but before I do here is another excerpt:

Tasmina started crying once Azri left. She didn't understand what she was doing. He had caused the challenge and could die. That would probably get her sent back to Johnathan’s pack and to her father. The Warrior had told her that Azri was a strong fighter and would do well, at least that’s what she got from the conversation they had. Why was Azri risking his life to protect her? Why does he care so much when no one else had. Her mother watched the abuse and did nothing while the other did as they pleased. If only she had someone she trusted to answer her questions about Azri, but there was no one.  Someone that knew about males in a way she didn't.

NaNoWriMo Day 3

NaNoWriMo is going great. Especially with the help from my friends on Twitter, @TheSprintShack, @FriNightWrites, @NaNoWordSprints. They are doing an awesome job keeping us Wrimos going. 

Here is my synopsis...

Tasmina, a young one of 18, is shy and a bit introverted. Her life is going great, she started college and has a good job. Then the Council plans a gathering to allow mates to find on another and that's when her life falls apart. Her past is back and haunting her. Unknown to her she will have a knight in shining armor come to her rescue. After that she will experience the unknown.

Azri is a warrior and protector but doesn't have ant females looking to mate because he is always looking mean and scary. Like someone you'd warn your kids would come and punish them for misbehaving (the boogie man). Not looking to mate but the thought to mate after his first one died has crossed his mind a few times. He faces though choices and decisions when it comes to protecting.

And an Excerpt: 

The water burned as Azri had settled Tasmina into the tub. She had forgotten the pain and feelings after each bout with James or any of them. She had lived in fear all her life until she came to Sage’s pack. Now it began again. It would be worse if James got a hold of her. Escaping always made it worse. Tears fell as she wished Azri wouldn’t have found her. Tasmina jumped when she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“Tasmina the doctor is on his way.” She heard Azri say through the door. 

Great, another male, just want she was afraid of. Martin was going to look over her entire body and would know what had happened. No way was there any way to hide now; Azri made sure of it. Slowly she climbed out of the tub and dries off; not bothering to put clothes on, just her robe. Martin would have he remove clothes and it was too painful to do. She avoided the mirror cause the pain was always worse when she looked in it and saw the wounds. The signs of it all would be gone in a few days. She healed as all wolves do, quick. Not wanting to go out into her room she sat down against the door and pulled her knees to her chest. Even that hurt.

“Tasmina, Martin is here. You need to come out.” She heard Azri. It amazed her that he hadn't tried to get her to come out before.

Opening the door she saw not only Martin and Azri but Sage, Takoda and Dalara. She turned and slammed the bathroom door shut. There was no way she could face all of them. It was bad enough Azri had seen her and Martin had to see her. As she sat against the door shaking and trying not to break down and cry again. Tasmina could here the others talking in her room but wasn’t paying much attention; though it was about her. The sound of her bedroom door closing got her attention.

“Tasmina sweets, they left, it’s just Martin and I here. Please come out. If you are healing too fast he may have to re-break something.” Azri told her through the door.

Again she opened the door and saw he was right; it was just the two males. She hobbled over to her queen size bed and sat at the edge wincing in pain. 

There were no gasps or comments about how she looked, which made her a bit more at ease.


So, what do you think?????

Book Release Tuesday!

Officer Off Limits 
(A Line of Duty Novel)
by Tessa Bailey

Only on Nook!

Overview
His need to possess her is non-negotiable.
Story Brooks’ fiancé just called off their wedding two weeks before the happy day. As if that isn't bad enough, her semi-estranged father, an infamous NYPD hostage negotiator, has suffered a heart attack. Not wanting to examine her lack of emotion over the broken engagement, she hops on a plane to reconnect with her father before it’s too late.

Playboy hostage negotiator Daniel Chase has never, not once, been refused by a woman, so when a debate over hospital snack foods with a delectable kindergarten teacher ends in flat-out rejection, he makes it his mission to seduce her. His only obstacle? She’s the daughter of his mentor who implicitly forbade Daniel from pursuing her.

Despite her father’s warnings and Daniel’s troubled past, Daniel and Story can’t resist their intense attraction to one another. But when the reason for her fiancé’s abrupt wedding cancellation comes to light, can Story and Daniel's already forbidden relationship survive?

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Flirting with Disaster: 

A Loveswept Contemporary Romance

by Ruthie Knox 

Only on Nook!

Overview
In the latest eBook original novel in RITA finalist and USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox’s scorching-hot Camelot series, a no-strings fling looks an awful lot like falling in love—or flirting with disaster.

Fresh out of a fiasco of a marriage, Katie Clark has retreated to her hometown to start over. The new Katie is sophisticated, cavalier, and hell-bent on kicking butt at her job in her brother’s security firm. But on her first assignment—digging up the truth about the stalker threatening a world-famous singer-songwriter—Katie must endure the silent treatment from a stern but sexy partner who doesn’t want her help . . . or her company.
Sean Owens knows that if he opens his mouth around Katie, she’ll instantly remember him as the geeky kid who sat behind her in high school. Silence is golden, but he can’t keep quiet forever, not with Katie stampeding through their investigation. It’s time for Sean to step up and take control of the case, and his decade-old crush. If he can break through Katie’s newfound independence, they just might find they make a perfect team—on the road, on the job, and in bed.

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Sons of Zeus: A Novel

by Noble Smith

Overview
In 431 B.C., Ancient Greece experienced its own “Pearl Harbor”—a treacherous sneak attack that would mark the start of the bloody war between the democracy of Athens and the tyranny of Sparta. Caught between these superpowers, the independent city-state of Plataea became the arena where their battle for control of all of Greece would begin.

In Plataea, the young Greek warrior Nikias dreams of glory in the Olympic games as he trains for the pankration—the no-holds-barred ultimate fighting of the era—until an act of violence in defense of his beloved threatens to send him into exile. But before his trial can take place, a traitor opens the city gates to a surprise attack force.

Suddenly trapped inside their own fortress, the Plataeans are fighting for their lives. As Nikias seeks to discover the identity of the man who betrayed the city, he makes a daring escape, gathers an army, and leads this ragtag band into a suicidal battle at the gates of the citadel—a battle that will decide the fates of his family, his friends, and the woman he loves.

In the vein of Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, and Steven Pressfield, Sons of Zeus marks the beginning of a richly detailed new action-adventure series.

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Book Release Tuesday!

Joyland
by Stephen King

Overview
A STUNNING  NEW NOVEL FROM ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING AUTHORS OF ALL TIME!

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

"I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book." – Stephen King

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Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling Series #12)

by Nalini Singh

Overview

In 2006, Nalini Singh introduced the beguiling and sensual Psy/Changeling world in Slave to Sensation, which spawned a series that has had readers and critics cheering. Througout the incredible 11-book run there has been one question that has tantalized Nalini’s legion of fans. Now, in the eagerly-awaited twelfth book in the series, Nalini Singh finally reveals the answer to the biggest Psy/Changeling mystery—an answer so surprising we wouldn’t dare spoil it. Even if we knew.

Dear Reader,

I'm delighted to have this chance to chat to you about HEART OF OBSIDIAN. This is a book I've been making notes for over the past several years, adding material into the file with each new release in the Psy-Changeling series. Last year, when I sat down to write it in earnest, the words just flew. I was so incredibly excited that I worked late into the night for months, putting down scene after scene as fast as my fingers would move across the keyboard.

HEART OF OBSIDIAN is many things, but first and foremost, it's a love story between two people who've been through terrible darkness. They've survived, but the toll it's taken has been a brutal one, fundamentally altering who they once were. I adore both these characters and as I wrote, I wanted only happiness for them, but I knew their journey was never going to be easy, and that no matter if it hurt, I had to be true to them.

As I wrote, I saw through the eyes of the hero and heroine, learned of the scars that marked them both, smiled at the unexpected moments of laughter, felt my heart race at the heat that smoldered between them, and cried at the keyboard because finally, finally, it was their time. HEART OF OBSIDIAN ripped out my heart, shredded it into confetti, then put it back together a little battered, but stronger for it.

I think despite—or perhaps because of the darkness that has shaped both the hero and heroine—this may be one of the most deeply romantic books I've ever written, and it's one that continues to make my heart clench when I open the manuscript to read it. That isn't to say that the Psy-Changeling world is ignored here. On the contrary, this is the book that changes everything — the events that take place in HEART OF OBSIDIAN will color every aspect of the world going forward.

In the book blurb, it says "The day of reckoning is here" and that I think, is a potent representation of the story as a whole. The time has come not only for a staggering change in the world, but in the lives of the hero and heroine. Neither will ever again be the same.

I hope you find HEART OF OBSIDIAN as passionate and as romantic a read as I still do, and that you laugh, cry, and get angry right along with the characters.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. I truly love hearing from my readers.

With the warmest regards,

Nalini

www.nalinisingh.com

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Darkness Unmasked (Dark Angels Series #5)

by Keri Arthur

Overview
Half-werewolf, half-Aedh Risa Jones is beginning to believe that the only way to find the keys she’s been searching for and save her friends is by dying. And when Wolfgang Schmidt, the lover of her boss at the vampire council, is found dead, her worst fears are confirmed. With the first portal of hell permanently open, the energies of the dark path are leaching into the world.

Searching for Schmidt’s killer and the keys at the same time, Risa and reaper Azriel track a shape-shifting spider spirit capable of changing her form into a seductive woman. But when they finally find the second key, the Aedh Lucian snatches it and disappears.

Risa is intent on finding Lucian and fighting him to the death—for in her mind, she knows that neither can remain while the other lives....

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Midnight's Kiss

by Donna Grant

Overview

Bound by the gods. Champions against evil. The Dark Warriors have taken their battle from ancient Scotland to the modern world—where a woman’s love is the greatest danger of all…

DEEPER THAN DESIRE

Dr. Veronica Reid is a world-renowned archeologist whose Druid abilities help her to unearth ancient magical items. The arrival of the all-too-attractive and charismatic Arran MacCarrick puts her on the defensive when he begins to question how she really finds her artifacts…until an unknown foe attacks and Ronnie discovers that Arran has a secret as great as her own. Together, they unleash an all-consuming passion that won't be denied...

STRONGER THAN FATE

Immortal Warrior Arran is on a mission to find the spell to bind the god within him. But one look at the impossibly beautiful Ronnie and he knows there is more to her than meets the eye. With danger lurking around every corner and an undeniable hunger that grows with every kiss, Arran must reveal who he is to keep Ronnie from his nemesis. Now he is left with no choice but to fight—or fall—for the woman he loves...

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