February 15th, 2016 - Meet the Author

Hi, it’s Christina!

Remember how I said two weeks ago that I would be featuring three authors on my Monday Meet the Authors, but would revisit the idea when I had authors who had more than five books in their library? Well, this week’s featured author, with more than twenty-five books under her belt, more than qualifies.

Anne Kelleher

Since first being published in 1993, Anne Kelleher has been a busy little bee. Don’t worry, I won’t be featuring ALL of her books here, but I will be giving you a healthy sampling of what she has to offer, and I think you’ll find, she has quite a variety, and no matter which variety/genre you choose, you’ll find Anne has received critical acclaim for the story.

Daughter of Prophecy (Power & the Pattern): A blend of science fiction and fantasy, Daughter of Prophecy, set in the ruins of an empire destroyed by magic, tells how the love and power of two people can change the course of fate.

Children of Enchantment (Power & the Pattern): In a sequel to Daughter of Prophecy, two young strangers discover the love they were preordained to share, and a fratricidal war for the crown is loose upon the kingdom.

The Misbegotten King (Power & the Pattern): An ancient prophecy tells Amanander that he is the real heir to the throne of Meriga presently held by King Abelard. He uses his magic to probe the king's mind but kills him instead. All is set for a final conflict between him and his half-brother Roderic.

Silver's Lure (Through the Shadowlands): Through the Shadowlands: Where the touch of silver was protection, power and peril through battle, blood and sacrifice—only thus could the world be saved… or so the bards sing. But at the dawning of the world, Catrione, a gifted Druid, knew only that the realms of Shadowland and Sidhe faced the gravest of danger from the goblin hordes and treacherous mortals.

Now wary allies come together to wreak a spell to avert evil magicks, but the cost will be high. For much is needed to make the Silver Caul, and the songs don't speak of the price demanded. There will be duplicity and deceit, battle and blood and sacrifices—willing and unwilling. Only through death will the balance of life be preserved. For now…

Silver's Bane (Through the Shadowlands):

An Otherwordly Intrigue…

With the courts of both the Sidhe's Otherworld and the mortals' Shadowlands in contention, nothing seems safe anymore. Now blacksmith's daughter Nessa is caught up in political and military intrigues that might lose the goblin horde. Widowed queen Cecily is fighting for a throne she never expected to have. And Delphinea, lady in waiting to the Faery throne, is caught between the powers of Sidhe and her destiny.

A Desperate Peril

The first battles are over, and devastation wracks both lands. With Nessa crossing between worlds to further understanding of each people, Cecily and Delphinea must fight to contain the evil that edges ever closer. Because their honor demands that their countries come before anything—even love. And life…

Silver's Edge (Through the Shadowlands):

Unwillingly Entwined…

There is more danger than usual in the Otherworld of the Sidhe and the mortal world of the Shadowlands. An unlikely group of conspirators—both mortal and Sidhe—plot to overthrow both thrones. They have stolen the silver caul that protected the borders between the realms—and set into motion a most perilous war….

A Blacksmith's Daughter, A Sidhe Lady, A Mortal Queen

Three women stand against the encroaching evil. All they have is a girl's love for her father, a lady's for her queen—and a queen's for her country. Nessa, Delphinea and Cecily are each driven by a personal destiny, yet share a fierce sense of love, justice and determination to protect what is theirs. Will the spirit and strenght of these women be enough to turn back the tide of the goblin hordes waiting to overrun the kingdoms? Perhaps. But the battle must still be fought….

How David Met Sarah (David series Book1): Reading specialists, special education teachers and librarians agree that there are no other titles like this available. "How David Met Sarah," the first in a series of five books written for intellectually or developmentally disabled individuals, uses vocabulary appropriate for a third-grade reading level.

David is a young man who works in a mailroom and lives at home with his parents. When a young woman named Sarah moves to his neighborhood and begins to attend his church, David believes she’s the girl of his dreams. First, however, he has to figure out to meet her.

David’s carefully structured world seems to contain all sorts of roadblocks, but David is determined to get to know the girl with the long red hair. Through a series of adventures (and a few misadventures) that illustrate the challenges and rewards of life as a differently-abled person, David indeed gets his wish at the end of this first installment in the series: David and Sarah are well on their way to becoming good friends.

A Once and Future Love: England, 2014. When Richard Lambert’s beloved wife dies, he thinks he will never find love again. Until, while exploring a medieval tower, he falls from the steps—and into another time…

England, 1214. When Richard wakes, he’s in the body of his ancestor, who is near death from battle. As his wife nurses him back to health, she finds he is not the cruel man she knew. And he discovers a second chance—with his one and only love…

Wickham's Folly: an erotic romance (Wickedly Wickham Book 1): Evie Alexander was the girl your mother warned you not to be, until a decade into her settled, suburban marriage leaves her feeling slightly numb, as if some part of herself has gone to sleep.  When a psychic tells Evie an old flame is looking for her, Evie is startled to realize how quickly her desires are reawakened.  How far will Evie go to rekindle the sleeping passions of her own unsatisfied heart...and body?"

The Ghost and Katie Coyle: A cry for help, echoing across the centuries, inspires a young teacher to rewrite history and rediscover a passion she only dreamed about…

Life is good for Katie Coyle. She’s delighted with her new position as a professor of Irish literature and history, and enchanted by the old cottage on the cliff overlooking a beach that she now calls home. But she can’t shake the feeling that something— or someone— else calls the cottage home, and that in the night, echoes of an anguished voice calling for help haunt the beach below.

When Katie first meets Derry O’Riordan, an Irishman claiming to study a set of standing stones in the middle of the woods, she takes his story at face value. But when her life is threatened and her job is jeopardized, Katie realizes that more is at stake than just the confirmation of a fascinating historical footnote. In the end, a man’s honor, the truth, and her own life hang in the balance.

Conjuring Johnny Depp: a short story: When Kelly decides to celebrate her friend's birthday with a really spectacular surprise, even she is astonished that the spell works... eventually. What will Olivia do with the charming package that arrives on the doorstep, enchanted and sweetly asleep, but stark naked under his blanket? (I’m fairly certain this is the first book in her Celebrity Supernatural Series although it doesn’t say so.)

The House on Lake Jasper: A Tilton Chartwell Mystery (Tilton Chartwell Mysteries Book 1): Psychic medium Tilton Chartwell is trying to get her life in order: her ex seems intent on running her out of town. When an unexpected client invites Tilton and her sister to spend the weekend at an old Victorian on a secluded lake, Tilt finds she might have tackled more than she handle when one of the ghosts tells her she's "next." Can Tilton solve the mystery of the former owner's disappearance before her own life is threatened?

Okay, I’m going to stop now, but as I said, Anne has MANY more books for you to choose from – and if you happen to be bored with reading books in English, and want to challenge yourself, Anne’s books are offered in several different languages as well.

Until next time… wishing you a wonderful day & Happy Writing!

April 13th 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! It’s been eons, I know, sorry! With our anniversary, my birthday, our celebrations, and then a house full for Easter, all in under a week’s time, I needed a few days to recover. My brain and my body were fried.

I am hopelessly behind on Camp NaNoWriMo. I checked this morning, and at the rate I’m going, I’ll hit 50K on January 16, 2016. LOL! I need to figure out how to get my butt in gear.

Kobo is still giving me fits. There tech team won’t even respond to my issues now. Corporate Blues STILL isn’t up on their site, even after I went back, deleted what I had, and started from scratch. I have given up on them. A Second Chance & Taking Chances are up there, and I’m just going to forget about them. If they sell, great, if not, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. Kobo is only one of many sites. I know one thing for sure, I won’t be generating any traffic their way until they fix their issues.

I will have a good chunk of time to write today after I return from a funeral. One of my friends, Sally, she was only 58, wasn’t feeling well right before Christmas. She thought she’d been fighting a cold, which then had turned into pneumonia. When she continued to get worse instead of better, even with medication, they ran some tests. Turned out she had stage 4 lung cancer.

She kept this information pretty much to herself. She didn’t want anyone to know or treat her differently. She wanted to be remembered as she was. That’s why, when I got the news on Saturday, it was such a shock, then I had the unfortunate displeasure of making several phone calls to relay the news. God, I hate doing that! The thing is, after I say one or two words, the person on the other end of the line invariably asks me, “What’s wrong?” Apparently, I’m not the best at concealing my emotions. I guess I’d never make it as an actress, huh?

My brain can so completely understand her decision, but my heart wishes I had one last time to tell her how much she meant, how much she was loved, and how much she’ll be missed. I was having a really hard time with that yesterday, but when I saw her at the viewing, that all went away. As strange as that sounds, I have to smile and think – typical Sally, always trying to make those around her feel better.

I was sad, heartbroken even, as I approached the casket. Then I looked down at what used to be my friend, and I felt nothing. It wasn’t her, just a shell. Then images of her flashed rapidly through my memory – her laughing, being silly, making a funny face at me in church while I was trying to sing in the choir, giving me a hug – and that’s when I knew she was still right there, with us all.

I may not be able to pick up the phone and call her anymore, but I can think about her and fondly remember the memories we made, and that will have to do until I get to see her again.

Okay, I have to go get ready. I will try to be more diligent with the blog posts. Chat with you soon.

I hope you have a fantastic day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is use the following:

If only I had more time…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

April 2nd 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Okay, I’m sore! I mean, really sore.

There I was, after I came home from work, minding my own business, sitting at my laptop, replying to Facebook and Twitter birthday and anniversary well wishes, all prepared for a quiet evening at home, when my youngest cherub decides I need to go bowling for my birthday. Bowling? I haven’t picked up a bowling ball in almost ten years. Lord have mercy!

I make her call the closest bowling alley, thinking (praying) they were going to tell her sorry, it’s Wednesday, they have leagues all night. No such luck. They tell her first come, first served. So when my hubby got home from work, off we went.

I did manage to find his bowling ball bag in the garage, but mine must be somewhere buried deep. Oh joy, rented shoes and a lane ball. This just keeps getting better.

We get there, and all the non-league lanes are full, but there’s full alley open bowling at 9:30. Woo Hoo! The kids know I go to bed early, they won’t make me stay up. It’s my birthday. They have to be nice to me on my birthday.

“So why don’t we go have dinner first, and then come back for bowling?” My husband suggests. And I married you why? I paste a grin on my face, and drive to Carrabba’s. Their bread was eh, nothing like the bread at Uncle Vinnie’s, but other than that, dinner was fine.

Just before nine, we head back to the bowling alley. Some lanes have opened up, so we can get on early. Hot Dog! Let’s bowl our game and then we can go home.

 

“So you would like the special, right? Bowl all you want until 11:30, for only $15 a person.”

At this point I am convinced the entire universe is plotting against me.

My hubby hands over the $60, the helpful man behind the counter hands us three pairs of the ever fashionable red, white and blue bowling shoes (Paulie’s were in his bowling bag), and we head off for a ball hunt, or in my case, a left handed wind shifter. I had tried several on for size and decided a 10 was too light and a 12 was too heavy; a far cry from the 15 I used to throw when I was on a league, back in the day.

Balls at this alley range in weight from 6 – 16, and in finger hole size XS – XL. Believe it or not, I actually saw a 15lb ball with XS finger holes – who’da thunk it?

I didn’t think I was looking for something unreasonable. I wanted an 11lb ball with medium holes – middle weight, average size. It took looking in every ball rack along one side of the alley before I found what I was looking for – and it was even in my favorite color – Bonus! Okay, maybe this is a sign the night won’t be a total disaster.

Randy, Dani’s boyfriend, is up first. He throws his ball, a couple pins go down. He’s thrilled because he’s only bowled a few times in his life. The second ball gets him a few more, and then it’s Dani’s turn. She doesn’t get double gutter balls, so she’s pleased.

Now it’s my turn, and the brain had gone into overdrive – Don’t fall, Don’t twist your back wrong, Don’t drop the ball. Sure enough, there must have been something on the bottom of my shoe, because I couldn’t slide, stopped abruptly, stumbled, BUT did not fall, nor did I tweak my back. There is a God! I walked away from that frame with an eight – not great, but not embarrassing.

Paulie gets up, and throws a strike. Seriously? The man hasn’t picked up a bowling ball in fifteen years at least. Oh, this is going to be a LONG night.

 

He finished the game with only one open frame and a score of 153. Randy didn’t break 100 all night, Dani hovered around 100, and so did I. For me it’s frustrating not to do well at something you used to be pretty darn good at.

When I was bowling in a league, I had a 163 average, so the 112, 104 & 97 I bowled bruised my ego a bit, but I was relieved to find out, I could still bowl. This was the first time I had gone since my last back surgery, and I was truly concerned I wouldn’t be able to do it. By the end of the night, I was tired so I wasn’t throwing the ball correctly, but I had loosened up and my form was returning.

It gave me hope, that with some practice, I would actually be able to bowl again. Paulie and I used to have so much fun bowling on the league, and now, maybe it can be something we’ll be able to do together again.

Next time though, I will have my own shoes – the lane ones hurt my feet and gave me a blister - and I will start with one or two games, not three. My legs are really sore. My back is a little sore. My thumb nail shattered and has broken off below the quick, so that’s sore. However, it was all worth it because we had a blast. It was the best birthday in a long time. I only wish PJ, Alex and Lys could have been there to share in the fun, then it would have been perfect.

I hope you have a fantastic day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is use the following:

“You thought I would bring you into the Tunnel of Love to corrupt you?”

Bonus points if you use it as either your first or last sentence.

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

Quote from Lizabeth Scott’s A Star for Annie. Available now in just about every ebook format you can think of. Hey Lizabeth, I think I may have to disqualify you from participating in today’s challenge. Sorry.

April 1st 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Today marks the 50^th April Fool’s Day I have been on this planet. It’s amazing how much this world has changed in half a century! I don’t miss having to be tethered to a wall in order to talk on the phone, nor do I miss having to get up to change the channels on my TV (having the pictures in color has also been a bonus), but there are things I do miss.

There’s a lot to be said about the way we grew up – playing outside all day, riding our bikes with the wind blowing through out hair, drinking out of the garden hose if we got thirsty, things kids nowadays have no knowledge of. I guess we’ve just got to take the good with the bad, right?

Last night my husband and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary with dinner at UncleVinnie’s Clam Bar, on Somerset Street, in Raritan, New Jersey. If you are ever in central New Jersey, I HIGHLY recommend a stop there – and this is coming from a total seafood snob. While I was growing up, my father owned seafood shops and restaurants, so I know what fresh seafood is, and I know when it has been prepared correctly. Let’s face it, bad seafood could put you in a world of hurt.

You won’t have to worry about that at Uncle Vinnie’s. The stuff is practically flopping on the plate. I have a favorite dish at Vinnie’s, and even though it’s not always on the menu, they still make it for me. I get pan seared sea scallops in a pink brandy cream sauce, which is absolutely TO DIE FOR, and as luck would have it, they also had asparagus. Now asparagus has never been my first choice of vegetables, heck, if I was honest, it’s not my 10^th choice, but Vinnie’s is delicious. It’s fresh, pencil thin, and still has a crunch to it, and it is the perfect pairing for the scallops.

The owners and staff over there are such dolls, each and every one of them. Paulie and I were there for over two hours last night – ten minutes of which went for waiting for a table, because even on a Tuesday night, the place was PACKED – because we were chatting with the staff. They were all blown away we chose to celebrate such a milestone with them. In my mind, there was no place I would have rather celebrated – yeah, the food is THAT good.

Today also marks the beginning of thirty days of insanity. It’s camp NaNo time again, and that means I’ve got a month to get 50K words down on paper… er… laptop. (Another huge change brought about in the past half century.) My goal is to finish up the started projects I have going, but some characters are invading my subconscious, so I may very well end up spending some time with them as well. The trick this time around is going to be keeping up with my Twitter account as well as my blog, and still carve out time for actual writing. I guess I can sleep in May…

On that note, I should probably get going. Oh wait, I can’t go yet. I forgot to tell you that A Star forAnnie is now LIVE! Go check it out, and check out all the other books by Lizabeth Scott.

Okay, now I’m really leaving. I hope you have a marvelous day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

How things have changed…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

March 24th 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! How have y’all been? I feel like I haven’t chatted with you in ages. Sorry about that, it’s been a little hectic around here, but what else is new, right?

Today’s blog is going to be a little different. A special little treat for you…

As has happened several times before, through social media I have found a real friend, a kindred spirit, and I would like to introduce her to you. Please meet author Lizabeth Scott. 

Lizabeth Scott… in her own words…

In middle school I discovered my first romance novel by Emily Loring. I quickly read everything “romance” my small town library had on its shelves. I needed more, so with the bravery and/or ignorance of youth, I began to write my own stories. Just for me, nobody even knew that I was writing. 

Years go by and writing became dormant as my life evolved. Other things like school, husband, and children took precedence in my life. But through it all, my love for reading never dimmed. I was and still am a voracious reader. I can never get enough!

Our two children are now grown and out on their own and that little spark that had been in hibernation for years began to sizzle and then burst into blazing flames. Thanks to a Facebook friendship with my favorite author of all times, I began to write at her prompting. Just a scene at first, I was actually shocked that is wasn’t too bad. 

It happened slowly. The more I wrote, the more I loved it. No one was more surprised than I was when months later I finished my first book. And absolutely no one was more surprised than I was when I published Sweet Surrender.

Currently I am working a full time job, squeezing writing in when I can, and dreaming of one day…

***

Lizabeth is well on her way to fulfilling that dream. She has two different series, The Royal Vow & Hearts of Gold. Royal Vow starts off with Sweet Royal Beginnings – A FREE Novella. (You know how much I like a bargain – and with it being FREE, you can check out her writing style to see if you like it.) The link to it, as well as all of Lizabeth’s books, can be found under the photos. Below is a brief blurb about each of her books.

Royal Vow Series

SweetRoyal Beginnings - Jane & Mike

Sweet Royal Beginnings

Abandoned at birth, Jane Smith didn’t have much experience with the elusive emotion of love. Frankly, she didn’t even believe that any such emotion existed. After all she had gotten along just fine all on her own for twenty some years. She certainly didn’t need some obnoxious, over inflated, egotistical man coming into her world and turning it upside down.

“Mike” thought entirely too highly of himself, and Jane was one woman that would not fall at his feet just because he was a prince (and probably the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life). His strong broad shoulders and dark brown hair or his midnight blue eyes did nothing for her, nor did his whiskey smooth accent send messages of warning to her female parts.

Sweet Surrender – Mari & Ki 

Sweet Surrender

Small town waitress, Mari Roe, can’t believe the tall, dark, and tasty guy that just walked into her restaurant. There is something about him that makes her lose all reason. When he invites her to join him on the remainder of his business trip, Mari puts her foot down. Someone like him is only interested in someone like her for one reason.

Prince Kiliad SuMartra can’t believe his eyes when a feisty harem girl accosts him in the parking lot of a greasy spoon restaurant. Mari excites him in ways that he has never experienced before. He is totally smitten by her gentleness and innocence. Keeping his identity from her is a decision that he may live to regret.

Sweet Denial – Ella & Zahir 

Sweet Denial

Ella had loved Prince Zahir secretly since she'd met him at her sister’s wedding. She'd thought he'd felt the same way, only to have her heart crushed when he chose another. For years she avoided him at all costs. She tried to move on, but it just wasn’t in the cards. When circumstances brought them back together, Ella found out some hard truths. Could she forgive him? Could they start over? Or had too many secrets spoiled what might have been?

Zahir made the decision to send her away for her own good. It was the hardest thing he had ever done. He spent years secretly watching over her until he thought she was ready for what he had to offer. Did he make the biggest mistake of his life? By never revealing his secrets could he have lost the love of his life? He refused to accept that. He must prevail and convince Ella that what they felt for each other was too strong to ignore.

Sweet Seduction – Kassie & Taj  

Sweet Seduction

Kassie had no time in her life for Prince Tajeria SuMartra. Her focus had to be on helping her mom raise her four younger sisters and keep their business going. So, when Prince Taj literally knocked her off her feet, she couldn’t understand why she allowed him into her life and into her arms.

Taj knew the moment he saw Kassie that she would somehow change his life. The only problem was she ran away before he could even get her name. The second time their paths crossed he not only found out her name but also the location of her family’s bakery. Now he had to get Kassie to admit that what they had together was more than just a passing attraction.

Sweet Temptation – Chellie & Siran COMING SOON

With exams over, Chellie was on her way to Cabo with her college roommate to celebrate the end of their junior year until her roommate had to cancel. After driving for hours to get to her parents’ house, she was only interested in falling into her bed and sleeping around the clock. What she didn’t expect was to have her fantasy dream come to life and derail her future. Her one night of passion cost her the respect of her parents and friends, ended her college career, and made her boss think she was an easy target. What that one magical night gave her was her most precious possession.

Siran had quite the playboy image as the fourth SuMartra son. He worked hard, and he played hard. If you believed everything written about him, he had a different woman every week, drank to excess, and loved the fast life. So of course he took advantage of the warm and willing body in the bed he fell into to sleep off his drunken stupor.

Hearts of Gold Series

A Sheik for Rose

A Sheik for Rose

Rose overheard her boss, the only reason they chose her to represent Royston Oil was because Sheik Rashid had a thing for blonde busty women. Instead of getting angry at their obvious stereotyping she decided to show them a thing or two. She would get the Sheik's signature on the oil processing rights by using nothing more than her skills and intelligence. It was time she shook up the “Old Boy’s Club.”

What Rose hadn’t planned on was the infuriating rudeness of Sheik Rashid. But, she had a plan. He had cancelled on her for the last time. Little did Rose know, but her plan would lead to a night of unrivaled sensuality and pleasure at the hands of one annoying Sheik.

***

Okay, so now we come to the real reason behind this blog post. Lizabeth’s BRAND NEW book A Star for Annie is coming out Wednesday, April 1^st, on our SHARED birthday. How cool is that? She gets to release a book on her birthday, and I get to ask for the book as a birthday present (I dropped a not so subtle hint to my hubby.)

A Star for Annie

A Star for Annie

Come on board The Carter Ryan - World Storm Tour with an all access backstage pass. Go behind the scenes and become part of crew who take the world by storm!

Dr. Sylva Ann Gold found herself without a job and music’s headliner Carter Ryan discovered he needed a nanny for his daughter. But not just any nanny, he wanted Dr. Gold.

Annie and Carter jumped on the tour bus and clashed at every bump in the road, the chemistry between them became impossible to ignore. An innocent slip of the towel and their attraction finally reached the boiling point.

Were they victims of circumstance, or was there something more?

***

Sweet Royal Beginnings, as I said, is a novella, and it’s only around 50 pages. Sweet Surrender is a little over twice as long, but the remaining books are in the 155-165 page range. They are all $2.99 (except the free novella). They are all intended for mature audiences, so don’t let the “sweet” name or sweet covers mislead you (like what happened on my book, A Second Chance).

You can find Lizabeth's books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Kobo. Her website will give you excerpts from each of the books, as well as links to her blog, Twitter and Facebook page.

Oh, and by the way, the third book in Lizabeth’s Hearts of Gold series, A Cowboy for Mary, will be coming out soon as well – so you won’t have to wait too long.

I don’t know about you, but all of these look fabulous. Obviously I won’t be able to get through the whole Royal Vow series before my birthday, but I will definitely try to squeeze in A Sheik for Rose between now and then.

As always, when I’ve been away from y’all for a while, my first day back’s blog tends to be lengthy, so I will stop this here. I’ll check back soon and update you on what’s happening in my world and with the actual link to A Star for Annie.

I hope you have a fantastic day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

Don’t let her get away…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.