Archive for June, 2011

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Fantasy and me. A Love Affair.

Julia_Knight | June 30th, 2011

I can tell you how it started, my love affair with fantasy. My Mum brought me a book back from a jumble sale. It cost 10p. Stories of King Arthur. I loved that book. I still do, and I still have it. It had so many great stories in it: The White Dragon and the Red, The Fairy Hunt, The Pig-Sty Prince. It had colour plates (remember them?) and noble knights and epic loves and….and I was hooked. Romance with a capital R.

Fast forward a few years, and I picked up a book by CJ Cherryh. The Chronicles of Morgaine. How I loved that book. And Vanye, I’m still a bit in love with Vanye. In my head, I began making stories like that, and because of my love of epic romance and fantasy, when it came to writing, it couldn’t be anything else. I wanted to write books that made other people feel as I had. I wanted people to fall for my characters as hard as I fell for Vanye. And it had to be on a far world where everything was strange.

The more I wrote fantasy, though, the more I appreciated what it did for me. If I set my stories in this world, I was constrained by what is actually real here, and history. If I wrote a story about medieval knights set in Britain, well there’d be certain restrictions. My ladies would, to be blunt, have not a lot of things to do. Apart from sewing a bit, or feeding the pigs. But in fantasy—in fantasy I could do anything. So if I wanted a pirate culture where the women were at least as respected—and deadly—as the men, then Bam! I could have it. If I wanted knights and nobleness, and also my lady to have a choice of what to do other than be a virgin and then a wife, Bam! I could have that too.

Of course, it’s not total freedom; things still have to make sense and have an internal logic. In the words of the wise Sir Terry Pratchett, “If you create a world where pigs can fly, you need to allow for the fact that everyone would have to carry umbrellas all the time.” And that is where I found my most favouritist part of fantasy. Making sure it all works. Well, it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble…mostly!

Julia Knight was born and lives in Sussex, UK. Hence the funny spelling. She spends way too much time in her own head, but when she isn’t dreaming of noble knights and rascally thieves, she tries to spend time with her husband and two children. Her latest release, Ten Ruby Trick, is a fantasy pirate caper with added dollops of romance.

Posted in Authors | 6 Comments »

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley…

Michael_Merriam | June 29th, 2011

Last Car to Annwn Station started life as The Phantom Streetcar Novel. Actually, it started life as the The Phantom Streetcar short story, but it took on a life of its own and morphed into a novel. It became The Dark Urban Fantasy Relationship Driven Paranormal Romance Revenge and Redemption Supernatural Horror Novel with Fairy Tale and Mythological Overtones and Lesbian Protagonists Featuring the Ghost of the Defunct Twin Cities Streetcar System and was eventually titled Last Car to Annwn Station. In many way it was written as two different books: a short urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel with Mae and Jill as the protagonists and a long horror novelette in diary format featuring Fay.

It was my second novel written and is my first one published. With Last Car to Annwn Station I had a lot more seasoning as a writer, with several pieces of published short fiction behind me and a whole load of shiny new things in my Writer’s Toolbox. The novel has phantom streetcars, Minneapolis / St. Paul magic, and Welsh mythology. This was also the novel where I learned about tight plotting and really digging in and doing deep rewrites, and it was good.

And there were rewrites. Before I ever submitted the novel to Carina Press, I worked on it diligently. I rolled a few characters together and cut others completely. There was a consensus from my early readers that it started too slowly and in the wrong place. It fell apart at the end and at no point had I explained why the phantom streetcars were helping Mae. When my editor at Carina (Melissa Johnson) handed me the developmental edits, there was even more rewriting and tightening, including trimming some excess play-by-play, making the point-of-view consistent, and bringing a character that had been hovering near the edges closer to the center of the story.

I discovered on a closer read all the unintentional echoes of early Arthurian myth and stories from Mabinogion. There is bit of the Mabon ap Modron myth, heavily disguised, but it is there. A champion receives a sword from a Gwaragedd (a female lake spirit) to aid in the rescue of her love. No one received wisdom from a salmon, but they did receive wisdom from a fey-creature, so I get partial credit. There’s a kidnapping, stolen identities, talking to animals, dark betrayal, and a descent. There’s a triple death that ends with the character hung from a tree. All I really needed was a cattle raid, symbolic or otherwise, to round it out. I even accidentally named my main character after a Celtic warrior-queen.

I had a blast writing it, and I hope you have as good a time reading it. I really can’t thank everyone at Carina Press enough. I’ll leave you with a little taste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jill’s eyes lit up. “You said there was a story.”

Mae looked down at her half-eaten cheesecake. “I think it might be more of a—”

“Third date story?” Jill supplied. “Because if that’s the case, then what say we go out to dinner tomorrow night and you can tell me all about it.”

Mae frowned. “I was going to say it was more of a ‘one year into the relationship’ kind of story, and did you just ask me out?”

“That must be some kind of story and yes, I did.” Jill scooped up another huge bite of cheesecake on her fork. She paused before popping it into her mouth. “So?”

Mae rested her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together in front of her. She settled her chin on top of her fingers and tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible. She thought Jill was interested in her, but Mae also knew she was lousy at reading signals. “I thought you liked the ‘hot, hot boys’ down at the Fine Line.”

Jill swallowed her cheesecake and gave Mae a little smirk. “I do.”

Mae sat up straight in her chair in an attempt to, as a friend from college once said, “Get the girls up where they can draw attention.” Mae was not sure if the effort was having the desired effect, but it was the best she could do short of taking off her blouse. She could not stop a slight smile from forming on her lips.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a boy. I mean, I realize I’m a little—”

“Waif-like?”

“I was going to say ‘boyish’ but that works as well. However, I am not a boy.”

Jill rolled her eyes and took a drink of her coffee. “Yes, Mae, I realize that. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I like hot, hot girls as well?”

Mae’s posture relaxed and she leaned back on the table again. “Oh. Well, then…”

“Or maybe I like hot, hot lawyers.”

“I could introduce you to some, if you’d like.”

Jill reached across the small table and placed her left hand on top of Mae’s right one. “Maybe I like hot girl lawyers named Mae.”

Mae gave her a soft smile. “Jill—”

Jill released Mae’s hand and leaned back. “This is the part where you tell me you’re not interested in me as girlfriend material, and I get to feel like a damned fool, right?”

“Actually, this is the part where I tell you I’m terrible at relationships, and that right now may not be the best of times for me to start something new.”

Jill’s face broke into a wide grin. “So you are interested!”

Mae looked straight into Jill’s pale blue eyes. “Jill, I’m not going to lie to you. There is a lot of—weirdness—going on in my life right now.” Mae sighed. “There are things I’m not sure I can talk about, not without sounding like a complete loon.”

Jill crossed her arms. “Try me. I’m into weird.”
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Purchase Last Car to Annwn Station at the Carina Press website!

Posted in Authors, Books, Carina Press, Excerpt | 10 Comments »

Where is your Atlantis?

David_Bridger | June 29th, 2011

David BridgerWhen you’re living through a tough time, do you go somewhere lovely in your mind?

I do. I experienced two periods of unhappiness in the navy. One was on my first ship, when the captain allowed his first lieutenant free rein to make everyone’s life hell, and I was too young and inexperienced to do anything but endure my two years on there. The other was later in my career, when I worked for three years in a small team doing dangerous work in bad conditions, only saw my wife and our little ones for a few weeks each year, and had no communications with them while I was away.

Five bad years out of twenty isn’t a bad ratio, but they were grim at the time. That’s when I developed the ability to be elsewhere in my mind when I didn’t have to focus hard on the immediate present. I lived in the happy past and the hopeful future, sometimes both at once, and always with my loved ones. It was their presence that made the place lovely.

In my urban fantasy Quarter Square, lovers Joe and Min do the comforting memories thing while living through a dark and dangerous time. Min is immortal. Joe is her reincarnated lover. War in the magical realm is spilling over into our world; everyone the lovers hold dear is in danger; and a crazed immortal werewolf is hunting them to murder Joe again. They’re on the run, and to jog Joe’s memory and help him recover the strengths he had in the past, Min tells him stories of his lives. The oldest story is of their time together in Atlantis, thousands of years ago.

Atlantis is the happy place Min and Joe go to when their world turns hellish.

Do you have an Atlantis? What’s yours like?

Tell us about it and enter the draw for a free copy of Quarter Square. Leave me a comment and I’ll draw a name at 8am GMT tomorrow and post the winner’s name in the comments!

Quarter Square


English carpenter Joe Walker thinks his life is over when he discovers his wife and best friend having an affair. Restoring an abandoned theatre offers little hope for a fresh start…until he follows a group of strangers through a hidden door into a world he never could have imagined.

In the haven known as Quarter Square, Joe encounters a community of supernatural street performers who straddle the mortal world and the magic realm known as the Wild. Here, Joe finds a sense of belonging he’s never known before—and a chance to uncover the truth behind the frightening visions that have haunted him since childhood. He also meets Min, an enchanting singer who quickly captures his heart.

But as Joe settles into Quarter Square, he learns their haven is under attack, while an ancient enemy threatens to tear him and Min apart. Now, Joe must learn to wield his own powers in order to save the life he’s come to love…



David Bridger settled with his family and their two monstrous hounds in England’s West Country after twenty years of ocean-based fun, during which he worked as a lifeguard, a sailor, an intelligence gatherer and an investigator. He writes urban fantasy and paranormal novels, and you can find him on his blog, Twitter and Facebook.

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Posted in Authors, Books, Carina Press, Contest/Giveaway | 30 Comments »

The Problem with Princesses

Bettie Sharpe | June 28th, 2011

Princesses are everywhere. You can’t avoid them, can’t escape them. Cinderella, Snow White, Waity Katie. There are princess parties, princess pedicures, princess diaries and princess diets. Little girls dress up in tiaras and tulle; big girls buy out the entire run of a certain royal blue Issa dress hours after the engagement photos hit the net.

According to the media, no matter what heights of personal independence and professional success modern women achieve, we still want the fairy tale. I can’t argue with that—I do want the fairy tale. Just, not the Disney Princess™ version.

Growing up, my favorite fairy and folk tales were “Puss in Boots,” “Brer Rabbit,” “Jack the Giant Killer,” and “Hansel and Gretel.” These stories do not star pretty, passive princesses who sit and wait to be helped, to be saved, to be married. No, my favorite fairy tales feature adventure, danger and derring-do! They are stories where the little guy triumphs over big odds through cleverness, cunning, and courage. Unfortunately, in these tales the “little guy” is almost always just that—a guy. Princesses aren’t the protagonists, they’re the prize. And therein lies the problem.

Most popular female-centered fairy tales are about princesses, but princesses are only special because of who their parents are or who they’re married to. Just as their importance is by proxy, so, too are their adventures. Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White don’t really do anything, except suffer virtuously while waiting to be found and rescued.

So what do you do when you love fairy tales, love adventure, and long for a strong heroine who can be clever and courageous and flawed, and still get her Happily Ever After? You write it yourself.

Catriona, the heroine of my novella, Cat’s Tale: A Fairy Tale Retold, is about as far from the typical fairy tale princess as you can get. There’s nothing long-suffering or virtuous about her. She may be beautiful, but at the start of the tale she’s also vain and indolent, a wicked woman with the morals of an alley cat.

After an evil wizard transforms our heroine into the feline she so resembled, Cat has to try to counter the curse without the aid of her looks, her money, or her killer wardrobe. What’s a pampered princess to do? Find a man to fix it, of course.

When she meets Julian, a handsome and kind-hearted miller’s son, Cat thinks she’s found the perfect patsy to buy her a pair of boots and aid her plans. But Julian turns out to be attractive, intelligent, and a bit too honest for his own good. Cat comes to respect him, to like him, to love him.

And all the while, Julian thinks she’s just a talking cat.

If Cat can keep her secret and regain her human form, she’s certain her beauty will win Julian’s heart—even though it means she’ll be gaining a lover at the cost of her only friend. But that’s a sacrifice she’ll have to make. After all, everyone knows men want women who are modest, chaste and virtuous—and Cat is anything but. A good man like Julian could never love a woman with such a wicked past. Could he?

If you’re like me, and you love fairy tales but have a problem with princesses, give Cat’s Tale a read. I guarantee Cat isn’t like any fairy tale heroine you’ve read before. If you’re hesitant to buy an unknown author, try me out first with Ember, my retelling of Cinderella. It’s available for free at my website. I’m also giving away an epub copy of Cat’s Tale to a randomly selected commenter. Tell me how you feel about princesses—love, hate, tolerate? All opinions are valid and welcome.

Bettie Sharpe is a Los Angeles native with a fondness for hot weather, classic cars and air so thick it sticks in your teeth. When she’s not busy attempting to metabolize smog into oxygen, she enjoys romance novels, action movies, comic books, video games and every other entertainment product her teachers said would rot her brain. She loves to write almost as much as she loves to read. As a child, she dreamed of seeing her name in shiny gold cursive on the cover of a luridly titled paperback book.

Bettie’s next release is a short story retelling “The Little Mermaid” called  ”Each Step Sublime.” Find out more at her website.

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Posted in Authors, Books | 21 Comments »

Confessions of a Closet Monarchist

Jane Kindred | June 28th, 2011

I didn’t expect to be writing novels about the unjust persecution of misunderstood monarchs. It just sort of…happened. I blame The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I loved that story as a girl; I loved the 1934 movie with Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon on the late-night movies, and I loved the made-for-TV movie in the 80s with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, and just recently as I was scanning Netflix for streaming videos to watch, I loved the 90s version with Richard E. Grant and Elizabeth McGovern. (And just about died of swoonage at the line Grant delivers to McGovern at the end, as Sir Percy realizes he’s in love with his wife; as they’re going in for the romantic final kiss, she says something that ends with “…in a word, marriage,” and he replies in his fabulously perfect foppish drawl, “Marriage i’n’t a word, it’s a sentence.”)

Okay, so maybe that says more about how I have a thing for somewhat effeminate men with foppish drawls, but that’s a story for another time.

It was while watching The Scarlet Pimpernel that I had this twinge of guilt: I was rooting for the French aristocracy. Shouldn’t I have been on the side of the poor and oppressed? Shouldn’t I feel downright evil for loving The Scarlet Pimpernel?

And then I got to thinking about the world of my novella The Devil’s Garden and how the divine monarchs are wronged during a violent revolution. Well, it’s one little story, I told myself. It’s not like I—and then I remembered I was writing a series inspired by the tragedy of the murdered Romanov family during the Bolshevik Revolution. That was when I realized it: I am a terrible, terrible monarchist.

So what is it with me siding with the ruling class of an outdated and oppressive form of government against the peasants who suffered under it? It isn’t that I think the peasants were wrong to resist oppression or that those monarchies should have remained in place (though I won’t deny there’s something romantic about royalty; I didn’t watch the recent British royal nuptials, but I got up at 3:00 a.m. to watch Charles’ and Di’s wedding live when I was a kid).

I suppose what it comes down to is that in all of these cases, it wasn’t just governments being overthrown, it was individuals being blamed for all the ills of their societies and then being brutally murdered as scapegoats. It’s the people caught up in situations beyond their control—like Tsar Nicholas and his Alexandra, and their four daughters and son murdered with them—who tug at my heart.

Perhaps my sympathies are misplaced, but I’ve always found these events in history deeply tragic. And tragedy, well—to me, it’s always the beginning of a great story.

Whether you’re a dirty monarchist like me or it’s vive la revolution all the way, I’d love to hear about your favorite classic stories. The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask are some others I’ve always adored. Tell me yours and I’ll pick one commenter at random to win a free copy of The Devil’s Garden.

The Devil's Garden by Jane Kindred

In The Devil’s Garden, appearances can be deceiving…

Ume Sky enjoys her place of honor as temple courtesan for the reigning Meer of In’La—until an assignation with a client ends in violence. Her elite status stripped away, Ume is forced to return to a life on the streets as Cillian Rede, the boy she used to be.

Cillian finds temporary harbor with dockhand Cree Sylva, where fear keeps him from revealing his former identity, but as the two become lovers, Cillian learns Cree is not without secrets.

When Cillian has the opportunity to regain his position through a liaison with the Meer himself, he is torn between his feelings for Cree and his need to live as Ume. But there’s even more at stake when Ume finds herself entangled in a plot to rid the Delta of divine rule…

The Devil’s Garden is available now.

* * *

Jane KindredJane Kindred began writing fantasy at age 12 in the wayback of a Plymouth Fury—which, as far as she recalls, never killed anyone…who didn’t have it coming. She spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. Although she was repeatedly urged to learn a marketable skill, she received a B.A. in Creative Writing anyway from the University of Arizona.

She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed.

You can find Jane on Twitter: @JaneKindred
on Facebook: www.facebook.com/somewherebetweenheavenandhell
or on her website: www.janekindred.com

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Posted in Authors, Books, Carina Press, Contest/Giveaway | 28 Comments »

Fantasy Week: The Cast of Thousands

JoelySue | June 27th, 2011

If you’re a reader of fantasy, you know that some of the most successful series have large character casts.  Consider Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, with Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Moiraine, Thom, Lan (just to name a few without even pulling the books out), each of which has their own story line that supports the overall story arc crossing literally thousands and thousands of pages.  Not to mention all the other miscellaneous characters that might be shadowed.  As a die-hard RJ fan, I have to admit that at one time I had a little black notebook in which I listed each character’s name in the entire series with notations about whether or not I thought they were shadowed.  *sheepish – I was trying to figure out the Forsaken in the White Tower*

As I’ve gotten older, I find myself struggling more and more to keep track of all these characters.  I even gave up reading some of my favorite series because I just couldn’t remember the characters and plots any longer (worsened by years in between releases).  I mean, all those character names, starting with the same letters, only mentioned once in book 1 and now we’re in book 10…. Sigh.  I just couldn’t keep it straight.

Getting older sucks.  Or maybe I can blame it on having children, because most of these beloved series were started before we had kids.

Anyway, I was reading Save the Cat by Blake Snyder the other day, and something he said really resonated with me, especially as I’ve been watching George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones on HBO.  In the section “A Limp and an Eye Patch” Blake recommends that you give every single character an identifying trait — something like a limp or an eye patch — that makes each character unique.  It could be something like always wearing pink or collecting penguins, not just a physical trait, but it has to be memorable.

What I think Martin accomplished so very well in his series are great, identifiable, unique characters despite a huge cast.  Notice not just the likeable characters, either.  Some of the “villains” may end up surprising you as the series goes deeper. 

The more identifiable each character is, the easier it becomes for us to care about each one.  (Which makes their deaths all the more difficult to bear – a word of warning if you’re not familiar with Martin’s series!  It became a standing joke as I read the first three books that if I started to like a character, he/she’d probably die in a few pages.)

Most of Martin’s characters make me think of a single word or key phrase.  The most obvious is Tyrion, the Imp.   

Jaime, the Kingslayer.

The honorable Ned Stark. 

The spunky Arya Stark.

Jon Snow, the bastard.

Khal Drogo, the hunk.  I mean, the barbarian.  ;-)

King Joffrey, the spoiled brat.

Sansa Stark, the stupid.  (Sorry, I’ve never liked her.)

Each of these characters exemplifies their trait.  It’s their strength, but also their greatest weakness.  Arya’s spunk costs her wolf, but saves her life when Ned is arrested.  Sansa’s stupidity might have landed her with the Lannisters against her family, but she’s so stupid, she’s not really a threat, so they don’t have to kill her.  Ned’s honorable determination to stand for what is right costs his life.  Jon struggles with being a bastard his whole life, but it leads him to the Wall where his destiny awaits.  [I have a little theory about Jon Snow....  I have a really hard time believing he's the HONORABLE Ned's bastard.]

Winter is Coming.  Or as Martin was probably muttering to himself as he wrote A Dance with Dragons:  More characters need killing.

What makes a minor character stand out from a cast of thousands for you?

~ * ~

Joely always has her nose buried in a book, especially one with mythology, fairy tales, and romance. She, her husband, and their three monsters live in Missouri. By day, she’s a computer programmer with a Masters of Science degree in Mathematics. When night falls, she bespells the monsters so she can write. Find her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and check out some of her free reads!

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Posted in Authors | 8 Comments »

Photo Friday: San Diego

Angela James | June 24th, 2011

We’re going to try something a little new here on the Carina blog. Since I do so much traveling (and often take a lot of pictures when I go), we’re going to share a picture every Friday here on the blog. But the pictures won’t always be of my travels. Sometimes they’ll be behind-the-scenes photos (don’t tell the team members, they might start hiding from the camera!)

Today’s photo is courtesy of my trip to San Diego last week to visit the San Diego RWA chapter. Many times, when I travel, I get to see only the hotel, some restaurants and wherever I’m speaking. This time, I purposely flew in a day early so I could enjoy a day in San Diego. I spent all day (8 hours!) at the San Diego Zoo and it was awesome. If you’re interested in more photos from my trip, you can view them on my blog next week.

I got up close and personal with this pretty girl at the Backstage Pass tour. Isn’t she gorgeous? You can read more about the clouded leopard here.

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Posted in Carina Press | 4 Comments »

RWA Nationals: Let me tell you something important!

Angela James | June 23rd, 2011

Next week is RWA Nationals, and we have some special events going on that I’d like to tell you about–and not just for authors, but for bloggers as well. Read on.

First, on Tuesday from 9a-4p (with a one hour break for lunch) all Harlequin authors (for anyone out there who’s a doubter, Carina Press authors are Harlequin authors. Their contracts even say so!) are invited to attend a digital-training workshop. We’ll have stations set up to help teach you about things such as Twitter, Facebook, and the different digital devices. We’ll tell you about Calibre, and do website evaluations (if you’re brave) and give you a chance to test drive various digital readers. No extra cost to you, it’s all part of our author program! You don’t need to be there at any set time, you can wander in and out as you need to. Location information is on the email sent out to all Harlequin authors. If you didn’t receive one, please ask your editor for the location!

Wednesday at 3:15p is the Carina Press spotlight. I have a feeling you might want to attend this one, authors. We have a presentation packed full of marketing and promotional information, and will be answering all of your questions. I just have this feeling there will be some very specific questions…and no, I won’t say more!

Wednesday at 4pm is a special tea, just for bloggers and reviewers. Do you run a reading and review blog or site? Then we’d love to meet you. We have gifts. We have party favors. And not to mention the tea and tasties.  Join us for a Book Blogger Tea on Wednesday, June 29th from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Times Square room at the conference hotel. Join us for tea & scones and “fascinating” conversation! Fascinators, hand-made by the Digital team, will be provided to set the mood – or bring your own tea-party appropriate headgear

Thursday at 4:30 I’ll be moderating a panel/Q&A on reviews and reviewers. My special guests are Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, Rose Fox from Publishers Weekly and Elissa Petruzzi from RT Books Magazine. They’ll be sharing some insight about their respective sites and publications, and we’ll also be discussing reviews, including this question: Can you be friendly with an author and/or publisher and still offer a critical review. I hope you’ll visit the panel and hear what they have to say!

Friday at 11am is the Harlequin PAN session. PAN authors will have an opportunity to see presentations and do a Q&A with top Harlequin team members. There are some interesting developments afoot, so you won’t want to miss this.

And if you’re at RWA, I hope you’ll stop me and say hello. I may be speeding in one direction or another, but I’d still love the opportunity to put faces to names and know who’s out there.

See you at RWA!

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Posted in Carina Press | 4 Comments »

Going Back to My Roots

Karen_Erickson | June 22nd, 2011

Long, long ago when I stumbled upon my first adult romance book (I started out reading the teen romances by Silhouette. Anyone remember those? Oh, how I loved them.), I devoured my mom’s tattered copy of The Flame and The Flower. I was hooked. I then found a book by Jude Deveraux and proceeded to read every single book she had out. Which was a lot. Followed by Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, Karen Robards…you get the picture.

The common thread? They were all historicals. Grand, sweeping, filled with jerk Alpha heroes that made me (and the heroine) swoon. Oh, I thought excitedly one late night after finishing a particularly satisfying Lavyrle Spencer book, I could so do this. I’m going to write a historical!

So I marched on down to the local library (this was a long time ago, folks. Pre-Internet days) and looked at all the research books I’d need to check out in order to start my grand, sweeping historical attempt.

I then promptly freaked out.

Oh, I tried my hand at writing historicals back then. Let me tell you, they were awful. Terrible. Like, give-up-the-ghost-what-the-heck-were-you-thinking terrible.

When I dove back into the writing gig years later, I stuck with what I knew. Contemporary setting, erotic (hey, I like writing the sexy, what can I say?) and so far, I’ve done pretty well. I enjoy writing contemporaries with sassy, modern heroines and the men who love them. Yet I always secretly yearned to write a historical…

I finally gave in to my yearnings and made a few valid attempts. One was awful. A few were decent but not quite ready for prime time. I finally struck gold with Lessons In Indiscretion. And now here I am, my first historical novella available to the masses and I’m thrilled.

Okay, I’m also a little (a lot) nervous but I can’t help it!

In celebration of Lessons In Indiscretion releasing this week, I’ve extended the contest I’m having over on my blog! Plenty of prizes are still available and the grand prize drawing for a KINDLE will be held this Friday, June 24th! So head on over to my contest page for all the details!

Anyone remember the title of their first romance they ever read? Leave a comment with the answer and I’ll be giving away a $10 gift card to Amazon to one lucky commenter! Drawing will be held at 9 p.m. PST and announced here in the comments so check back!

* * * * *

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Widowed Lady Julia Renwick is still young enough to crave a man’s touch; but she’s too old to think that the Earl of Bedingfield could see her as anything more than a family friend. Garrett Walker is handsome, charming and only 26 years old—the perfect catch for any one of this year’s debutantes.

Garrett has no interest in the maidens vying for his attentions. He wants only Julia. With just two weeks left in the season, he makes a bold move by asking her to dance. When she counters with a shocking request of her own, Garrett eagerly agrees.

Soon, they are stealing away for passionate encounters at every society event they attend. Garrett introduces Julia to excitements she never knew existed, and her newfound confidence quickly attracts other eligible men. It’s not long before Garrett realizes he must find a way to keep the lady all to himself…

Available at Carina Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Read an excerpt and watch the trailer for Lessons in Indiscretion here.

Review:

“Recommended for fans of widows daring to be scandalous, young rakes blindsided by love, and a sweetly romantic Grand Gesture.

A very enthusiastic 4/5 Stars.”

– The Romancaholic

* * * * *

After leaving the working world to become a stay at home mom eight years ago, Karen Erickson soon wanted to pursue her life long dream of being a published writer. It came true in 2006. A full-time writer and busy mother of three, she fits her precious writing time in between chasing her children, taking care of her wonderful husband and pretending she has a maid. She lives in California.

Please visit Karen at her website and blog, hang out with her on her Facebook page or chat her up on Twitter (@karenerickson).

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Posted in Authors, Books, Carina Press | 38 Comments »

Books…lost worlds waiting to be discovered

Misty_Evans | June 21st, 2011

Every time I crack open a new book, I feel like I’m uncovering a lost civilization. A world, new to me but possibly old to others, with its own rules, structure and inhabitants. I become an anthropologist. An archeologist. A treasure hunter.

My thirteen-year-old twin sons have long been fascinated with lost civilizations, both real and mythical. Their interest sparked a similar interest in me, especially about North American groups such as the Anazazi and Hopewell. I studied Monk’s Mound, which is located in the ancient site of Cahokia, across from St. Louis. Monk’s Mound had a footprint bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and Cahokia’s ancient population is estimated to have been greater than that of London or Rome.

My sons and I are also fascinated with the Bermuda triangle and the idea of people and things disappearing with no scientific explanation. There are natural explanations for the disappearances in the Bermuda triangle, but it is the anomalous phenomena—the naturally occurring phenomena that science cannot define or explain—that captivates my imagination. Combining this element with the idea of an ancient civilization, I built a fictional world around a lost tribe of Native Americans for Soul Survivor, the first book in my Lost Worlds Series, debuting this week from Carina Press. Digging deep into this world, I had to become anthropologist, archeologist and treasure hunter. I loved every minute of research and every scene I wrote for the story!

So tell me what mysterious fictional worlds do you plan to uncover this summer? What’s on your reading list? Like me, do you feel you’ve discovered treasure when you read an outstanding book?

*****

Their souls were bound forever…

Haunted by tragedy, FBI profiler Rife St. Cloud is driven to find the person who brutally attacked six women. Unfortunately the only survivor, Keva Moon Water, has no memory of what happened, and the evidence makes her the prime suspect.

Keva cannot die. She has waited a thousand years to be reunited with the man she loves, whose soul sleeps within Rife. Though he refuses to believe her claims of immortality, there’s no denying the passion that burns between them. Keva desperately hopes their sexual connection will be enough to awaken Rife’s memories of the love affair that started a war and bound their souls together for all eternity.

But when Keva’s own memories come trickling back, she realizes that a future with Rife depends upon confronting the mistakes of the distant past…

Buy Soul Survivor from Carina Press

Buy Soul Survivor for Kindle

Buy Soul Survivor for Nook

Coming soon to Audible.com!

Misty Evans writes the award-winning Super Agent Series, Witches Anonymous series, and now her new Lost Worlds series with Carina Press. She’s won numerous awards with her Super Agent Series and been on several Kindle Best Seller lists.

Misty is currently at work on the next books in all her series. She likes her coffee black, her conspiracy stories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. Learn more about her books and sign up for her newsletter at www.readmistyevans.com. Like her author page on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.  Join her week-long release party in her Yahoo! Group and win a free copy of Soul Survivor!

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Posted in Authors, Books, Carina Press | 13 Comments »

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