Posts Tagged ‘Carina Press’

Countdown for blastoff

I’m lousy at math. When I’m at the supermarket, I can do a simple pennies-per-ounce cost evaluation, but that’s about it. An accountant does my taxes, I don’t balance my checkbook, and I don’t do Sudoku. Where’s the fun if there’s no words?

So whatever possessed me to put numbers into Zero Gravity Outcasts, I don’t know. Maybe I thought the math would be simple enough. If there’s 10 warships threatening the peace conference, and 4 leave to fight my heroine, and she disables 2 of those, then how many warships are left?

“I think the numbers are wrong,” came the note from my fabulous editor, Lynne Anderson. “How many warships end up at the peace conference?”

Um, there were 10. Take away 4. Six are left.

“Except on page 15 it says 8. Right?”

Well, yes, it does say 8. I need those odds to be overwhelming! Readers must be worried! I need 8 warships threatening the peace conference!

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Lynne says. “So what happened to the other 2 warships?”

Okay, reasonable question, what did happen to those other 2 warships? Perhaps they needed to have an extrasensory outer-space tune-up and oil change. On their way to the fabulous Macy’s one-day clearance sale. Because people just had to get those fringed, pink leather boots.

“Maybe the heroine disables four warships,” Lynne says cheerfully.

Yeah, the heroine doesn’t have any weapons. Disabling four warships would be tough, even for those superheroine-type people who can make nuclear bombs from paper clips, which my heroine makes no claims to be able to do. Although she’s handy. But nuclear-bombs-from-paper-clips handy, no.

“Actually, you don’t really say exactly how many warships start out threatening the peace conference,” Lynne says. “Maybe there’s just 8 to begin with? And then…”

I could see that my math problems were transferring to Lynne. Not good.

“How about this?” Lynne says. She’s sounding desperate, but I know she’s better at math than I am. I see a solution coming!

“There’s 10 warships threatening the peace conference,” she says. “Four leave to fight the heroine. She disables 2. The other 2—”

“Go back to the peace conference!” we exclaim simultaneously.

The warships probably would have had more fun going to the Macy’s one-day clearance sale than getting shot at in the battle at the peace conference. On the other hand, this way they didn’t have to do any math figuring out what 35 percent more off the last 25 percent markdown was, either. Although those fringed, pink leather boots would have been worth the effort. At any price.

And next time, there’s going to be 10 warships threatening the peace conference, and they’re all going to stay put. Because only a dope messes with outer space math.

(And a final note to readers: this story is true, but I’m sure the numbers are way, way off.)

Finding Romance in Everyday Life

Like many of us, I hit the ground running on Monday morning and don’t come up for air until Friday night. My days are a blur of work, chauffeuring, homework supervision, pet care, errands, cooking and laundry. (Mountains and mountains of laundry.) Usually my weekends are just as busy, too, what with birthday parties and family obligations and all those chores that never get done during the week.

I write in the evenings, once my kids are asleep, and often in the mornings, too, if I can haul myself out of bed early enough. Practically speaking, this often means I spend less time with my husband than any other member of the family, the dog and cat included.

So where does romance fit in? And how can a romance writer like myself find inspiration amid the craziness of everyday life? It took me a while to figure out the answer, mainly because it was so different from the larger-than-life scenarios that figure in my favorite books.

My husband has never rescued me from a burning building, a sinking ship or a blood-starved vampire. He has never nursed me back to health after I was struck down by cholera or consumption or childbed fever. Nor has he fought in hand-to-hand combat to defend my honor, although in all fairness he has studied martial arts for many years and I’m certain he could do so if necessary.

We’ve been married for ten years, and he’s never surprised me with flowers or jewelry, has never written me a poem, and has never whisked me off to Paris for the weekend. Ahem.

And yet…

When I was felled by the worst cold ever while working on the final round of edits for Improper Relations, he brought me mugs of tea and rubbed my back and took care of everything so I wouldn’t worry.

He encouraged me every step of the way when I decided I wanted to focus on writing, and he never stopped believing I would be successful one day, despite abundant proof (in the form of rejection letters) to the contrary.

When I told him that Angela James at Carina Press had phoned to say “yes” to Improper Relations, he was so overcome he could only say, “I’m so proud of you.”

And when our daughter was born, five years ago this spring, he waited until the baby was settled and the delivery room had quieted down and then he took my hands in his, kissed me, and looked me in the eye without saying a word. In that moment—the most romantic moment of my entire life—I knew without a doubt that he loved me, was proud of me, and would cherish me and our children forever.

It’s because of these moments (and countless others that I don’t dare mention because the poor man would likely curl up and expire of embarrassment) that I believe in romance. It may sound corny, but it’s true.

In this I know I’m not alone. We’re all searching for romance in our lives. Sometimes we find it in the pages of a book. Sometimes we find it in the quiet moments of our own lives.

And sometimes, if we’re really lucky, we get to write about it.

An editor by profession but an historian by inclination, Juliana Ross lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and young children. In her spare time she cooks for family and friends, makes slow inroads into her weed patch of a garden, and reads romance novels (the steamier the better) on her eReader.

You can find Juliana on her website, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook and—her newest obsession—Pinterest .

You can buy Improper Relations through Carina, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and All Romance.

Blimey! Pirates Need Love, Too

Some might say I have an obsession for pirates. By the looks of my office filled with pirate paraphernalia, skulls, and emptied rum bottles, lots of emptied rum bottles, they might be right. Long before Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl sailed onto the silver screen, I had a great interest in pirates. From Peter Pan, to the Goonies, to Erroll Flynn, to Russell Crowe’s Master and Commander, and of course, Captain Jack, these tall sea-worthy tales tickled my fancy.

But Hollywood romanticizes pirates. Truth be known, pirates were a nasty, often blood-thirsty lot. However, there was once a pirate, Sam Bellamy, driven to his occupation by one of the most powerful sources of motivation—love.

Bellamy arrived in Cape Cod from England around 1714 where he met a young woman named Maria Hallett. Together they fell madly in love. But he was a penniless sailor and her wealthy family denied him her hand. To win their favor, he set out to seek his fortune by the quickest means – he joined a pirate crew, of course. With a strong will and expertise in his craft, it wasn’t long before Bellamy became one of the most successful pirates of his time. During his reign of terror in the Caribbean, he captured some 50 ships, including a fine slave ship, the Whydah. He chased the Whydah for three days. Without ever shooting his shipboard guns, the Whydah surrendered and Bellamy took the prize for his own. Now laden with riches, Bellamy charted his course north, back to his love, Maria. But as he reached Cape Cod, a terrible storm raged. Just a mere 500 feet from the shores of Cape Cod, the Whydah broke apart, tragically taking nearly all on board, including Bellamy.

PhotobucketAh, those swashbuckling pirates. Bellamy could easily be the inspiration for a redemptive hero in a romance novel. And who doesn’t love a pirate captain who needs redemption? Are you thinking Captain Jack Sparrow? Yeah, me too.

In A Kiss in the Wind, Captain Blade Tyburn pulls double duty as not only an opportunistic pirate but also as an infamous libertine known far and wide by swooning ladies, jealous husbands, and watchful fathers. Even the mighty fall and he may have met his match in Marisol, a knife-wielding, beautiful thief. Batten down the hatches. There are stormy seas ahead for these two.

Click here to read and excerpt from A Kiss in the Wind.

Want more? Click here for your copy of A Kiss in the Wind.

Do you have a favorite pirate, either fictional or real? How about a favorite pirate movie? I’d love to hear from you.

Jennifer Bray-Weber hopes to one day live out her life as the island goddess she was meant to be somewhere in the Caribbean. Until then, she lives in her native state of Texas with her real life pillage-and-plunder husband and two spirited daughters. Catch up with her at www.jbrayweber.com.

Diamonds Are A Nerd Girl’s Best Friend

Take one nerdy gemologist heroine guarding a fabulous pink diamond, a James Bond-style hero, and a sneaky jewel thief known as The Chameleon and you’ve got the basis for GENTLEMEN PREFER NERDS.

I was describing my story to an editor at a conference once, saying, “It’s kind of a comedy/action/adventure/romance/mystery….”

She nodded wisely, and said, “Oh, a caper.”

I was writing a caper and I didn’t even know it! I love the word caper. It implies fun and mischief. It makes me think of old Cary Grant movies. In fact, there’s a fair bit of Cary Grant in my hero, Fabian. Sophisticated, handsome, witty, charming, intelligent with a cool head in times of danger. He just might be my ideal man. Sigh.

Maddie was such a fun heroine to write. I’m a bit of a nerd myself, I have to confess. Before I became a writer I was a marine biologist. I’ve spent many a long hour sitting behind a microscope and conducting experiments in the laboratory. A lot of that time I was dreaming of being swept away by a smoking hot–yet awesomely intelligent–hero. I didn’t know it then but I was already in training for my future profession as a romance writer.

I had a ton of fun writing Gentlemen Prefer Nerds and letting my imagination run wild with Fabian and Maddie’s escapades in search of the stolen pink diamond. But while NERDS is a teeny bit OTT there’s plenty of emotional depth in the characters and their relationships with each other and their families to satisfy readers.

Fun also describes researching fabulous pink diamonds on the Internet. I spent hours drooling over photos and wishing I was rich so I could buy one. Australia, where I live and where the book is set, is the major producer of pink diamonds in the world. An exceptionally large one was found recently and was in the news. It’s gorgeous but it’s not as big or as valuable as the one in the book. (I might have taken a bit of artistic license on that. Shh, don’t tell anyone.)

Fun, too, is Maddie’s transformation from a nerd to a glamazon. She’s an ordinary woman who is plucked from her ordinary world by an extraordinary man and taken on the wildest adventure of her life. In the process she’s transformed into the bravest, sexiest, smartest version of herself possible. Now that’s what I call a fantasy!

Back Cover:

Self-professed nerd Maddie Maloney is an expert on jewels. Jewel thieves are another matter entirely! So
when a mysterious Englishman warns her that a thief known as The Chameleon is after the rare pink
diamond on display in her aunt’s shop, she tells herself it’s just a joke. Even if she can’t get Mr. Tall, Dark
and Handsome out of her mind…

But Fabian Montgomery doesn’t give up easily. He’s everywhere she goes, convinced the thief will strike.
And when the diamond does go missing—and Maddie is suspected of stealing it—he whisks her away from
the police and together they pursue The Chameleon. Fabian plunges her into a glamorous world far from
her humble workshop and transforms geeky Maddie into a sophisticated siren capable of espionage. Her
mission: to seduce The Chameleon and steal back the diamond.

But Fabian isn’t telling her everything—like who he works for, and why he’s so interested in The
Chameleon…

86,000 words

About The Author:

Joan Kilby is the award-winning author of over twenty Harlequin books. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children. For more information check out her website . Follow Joan on Twitter and Facebook or look for her on GoodReads

Read an extended excerpt of GENTLEMEN PREFER NERDS

Buy the book at:
Carina Press, Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Steampunk – Under Her Brass Corset

As with paranormal, steampunk often incorporates a handful of genres, and I like variety, something you can tell by visiting my book list page on my website. When I first started writing Under Her Brass Corset, it wasn’t Steampunk. Rather, it was suppose to be a Victorian historical romance. But then my hero, Jasper Blackthorn emerged from the darkness of a alley, and he had to be different than anything my heroine, Abigail Thatch expected. Every step of the way, something had to be a little off kilter about this world. So instead of chance meeting with an old man, Abigail meets a troll. When the ship’s sails fold into kites, she sails upon the wind rather than the sea. Everything she never knew existed becomes a real magical fairytale.

In the story, Abigail tastes a chocolate confection from a hidden place on Jasper’s desk. While I could give you the recipe to that one, I think after you read the story, you will agree, this one is far more appealing.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

12 ounces creamy peanut butter

8 ounces unsalted butter

1 pound powdered sugar

12 ounces of melting chocolate

Mix first three ingredients thoroughly. Chill in refrigerator 4 hours. Form into 1 inch balls or desired shape. Freeze balls until very firm. Melt chocolate. Dip each ball and set on wax paper until chocolate has re-hardened. Store in refrigerator.

Photobucket

Since the loss of her father, Abigail Thatch’s life has been in turmoil. Her social status is in shambles, her finances depleted, and she’s on the verge of losing her beloved home. But everything changes when she meets the dashing flying machine captain Jasper Blackthorn. Not only does he introduce her to a world she thought only existed in myth and legend, he awakens sensual feelings deep within her…

Jasper may be immortal, but he hasn’t truly lived in years. Having secretly watched over Abigail as a favor to her notorious grandfather, he can’t resist arranging a “chance” meeting with the beauty. But he has an ulterior motive: to retrieve the mystical Crystal Compass hidden in her house before it falls into the wrong hands. He never imagines he’ll be tempted to love again…

When Abigail learns the truth, she and Jasper embark on a journey that will change both of their lives—and possibly the world…       Read an Excerpt

Looking for a giveaway?

Visit my blog, An Eclectic Author to find out how to enter for a chance at a $50 Jewelry Shopping Spree!

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Brenda Williamson

~ Seductive in Any Era ~

~ Website ~ News/Chat Group ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~

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How Ready Are You?

The last time I was here, I called it my virgin blog. I can safely say that not only did I lose my blog virginity with a bang, but I jumped right back in the blog sack pretty quickly. Getting my feet wet with a series of blogs has helped me come out of my shell. Oh, wait, I was never in a shell. LOL. So what can I talk about today since I bared my soul a handful of months ago with the release of Dangerous Race?

How about change? How many of you deal well with change? I’m pretty good at it, but that’s probably because I’ve worked in show business for so long. Change is inevitable in life, but in Hollywood it’s not only inevitable, it’s constant. Change can be really hard, but it does prepare you for the ever important facet of life that is always present… We have no control. Sure, we decide the little things in life, like I’ll take a turkey and cheese sub for lunch, but when it comes to the big decisions, the life changing ones, sometimes those decisions are simply out of our hands. And what happens when our life changes drastically? We have to cope, right? For some people, coping is easier than for others because some people simply are not good with change. Can you guess the most important part of change? (I’ll give you a hint.) Letting go. You have to let go of the past to enjoy your future. Gee… is there a couch anywhere around here? And can someone pass me a box of tissue?

But seriously, there is a reason I bring all this up. In Danger Zone, my heroine, Ellie, has to face immediate change and it scares her to death. She has no idea how to face her future. I couldn’t imagine that kind of fear so I’m glad I’ve worked in a business that’s prepared me for change.

Let me tell you, change is an acquired taste and not everyone is used to it, but everyone should learn to face it. What about you? Are you good with change or does it get the better of you?

(FYI – You can also find Dee J. over at Suzanne Brockmann’s countdown for her next release, Born to Darkness, due out March 20! Check out Suz’s FaceBook and website for the interview.)

Follow Dee J. on FaceBook and Twitter @deejadams. Visit her website at DeeJAdams.com.

Gothic Dreams

My husband and kids were away camping in the snow this past weekend and I had the rare opportunity to have the house to myself. This naturally led to me curling up by the fire with the dog and the cats, a glass of wine and a pile of books.

And I did something extremely foolish.

I’ve been teaching gothic literature this week and though we focused in class on Edgar Allan Poe, we also talked about gothic novels (such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights as well as more current reads such as The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield) before moving on to modern films (such as The Woman in Black.) We discussed the key archetypes of the genre: the old country house miles from everywhere, the darkness, the feeling of suspense that marks the action, the main character on his or her own, and the sinister feeling that something isn’t quite right.

You would think knowing all that and living as I do in an old country house miles from everywhere…well, let’s just say I should have known better than to indulge while I was alone for the weekend.

Instead, I read Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. And wished I hadn’t. It looks innocent enough by light of day – but it was quite another thing at night! My house was dark and quiet. Too quiet. The back door creaked as I opened it to let the dog out into a snowy, wind-whipped night, and standing there waiting for her to come back in, I felt a chill as if I were Mary Yellen standing on lonely Bodmin Moor waiting for smugglers to rattle by.

Next I finished Kate Moreton’s The Distant Hours, which is another book just filled with a charged atmosphere and gloom and deep layers of secrets that must be revealed.

Then I took my Kobo to bed, and wouldn’t you know, I couldn’t resist another peek at Janis Patterson’s The Hollow House which we published last year, and which I thoroughly enjoyed. It too has elements of gothic throughout—the invalid, the secrets, the house itself. Delicious.

After all that, I let the dog sleep on the bed…something she is never allowed to do under normal circumstances.

Do you like gothic elements in the books you read? What books have you read and enjoyed in this genre?

Dinosaurs Terrorize Steampunk!

[Stay tuned for a contest at the end of this post.]

When did you first encounter dinosaurs? In a children’s pop-up book? A school field trip to the local museum? On the big screen in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park? Maybe in the classic King Kong, or the not-so-classic Doug McClure fantasy outings (okay, we’ll let him off for The Land That Time Forgot)?

I think everyone is on some level fascinated by dinosaurs—either giddily on the surface (Me! Me!), or deep down in the primal swamp of the subconscious (also me). Over-sized mythological creatures like the dragon, the kraken, and the Roc are frightening and attractive to us at the same time because while we can imagine them being real, we know they aren’t/never were. Not so the case with dinos. They occupy a unique place in our imaginations in that they really did walk the ground we’re walking and could easily—but for fate’s intervention—be stalking us now. And we’re discovering new, bigger ones all the time!

To answer my own question, I first encountered dinosaurs as a five year old one Sunday afternoon, when my dad and I watched Ray Harryhausen’s brilliant cowboys and dinos film, The Valley of Gwangi, on TV. Those cowboys on horseback lassoed that scary Allosaurus and tried to capture it but it kept biting their ropes and getting free and eventually it ate one of them and just like that I was hooked on dinosaurs. Forever.

When I was 13, Spielberg’s Jurassic Park blew my mind. Later I discovered Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and Edgar Rice Burroughs’s The Land that Time Forgot, and I fell in love with the romance of prehistoric adventures. Especially Victorian/Edwardian English adventures.

So when it came time to write my first steampunk novel (after The Mysterious Lady Law, a novella), there was only ever one choice. The frightened five year old, the ecstatic thirteen year old and the spellbound man all agreed—wind back that clock, that Prehistoric Clock—and let’s have the adventure of a lifetime.

For a chance to win a free eBook copy of Prehistoric Clock, simply leave a comment on this post. I’ll pick the winner on Friday 10th Feb. Good luck!

Robert Appleton is an award-winning author of science fiction, steampunk and historical fiction. He lives in Bolton, England. Soccer and kayaking are his two favorite outdoor activities. Though he’s traveled far, he loves the comfort of reading books or watching movies at home. His mind is somewhat mercurial. His inspiration is the night sky.

Catch him online at his website: www.robertappleton.co.uk
Blog: http://robertbappleton.blogspot.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/robertappleton
Facebook: www.facebook.com/robertbappleton

It’s All About the Boots

Amazon Heat is the product of a great friendship, a long car ride, and the general goofiness that accompanies us wherever we go.  On a car pool to the monthly Liberty States Fiction Writers meeting, we decided that the paranormal market needed an injection of fun. We all love vampires, but they’re all so dark and broody. What about fun stories? Stories more campy than melodramatic?

Ideas were tossed around, silliness ensued, and we finally settled on a kick-butt, Wonder Woman and Greek mythology inspired world in which to drop our heroine. We totally cherry picked the good stuff from the myths, like super strength and a military-like civilization. We tossed out the things that are too weird even for us, like the fact that the mythological Amazons sliced off their left breasts so their aim with a bow would be truer. Ouch, and ewww.

The entire story was outlined at a New Jersey diner, and Amazon Heat was born just a few, thoroughly enjoyable weeks later from a love of Wonder Woman and the Amazons of Greek mythology. Cause who doesn’t love a girl who can kick butt, in cool boots no less?

Who is your favorite kick-butt heroine? Why? And does she wear cool boots?

AMAZON HEAT released January 9th from Carina Press.

Two years ago, ethnobotanist Dr. Elizabeth DeMarco, driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, left her lover mid-proposal to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon Rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by warriors from the secret all-female civilization of the ancient Amazons. She has been kept prisoner since in the Amazon’s supernaturally hidden valley.

Despite Elizabeth’s rejection, anthropologist Logan Spencer never stopped searching for her.  While consulting on a mass grave uncovered in the remote Brazilian interior near the place Elizabeth was kidnapped, Logan falls from a cliff.  On the brink of death, he is collected by the Amazons and magically healed. When Logan wakes, the first person he sees is his beloved Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, their reunion is less than joyful. The mystical medicine is changing Logan.  But there’s no time to study the side-effects. The Amazons plan to steal Logan’s DNA, then kill him.  Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan is doomed.  Getting him out of the hidden valley won’t be easy.  The Amazon’s supernatural powers make the task all but impossible.

Amazon Heat is now available at Carina Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble. Read an excerpt here.

Melinda Leigh is a mom, a dog lover, and a second degree black belt in kenpo karate. In addition to writing paranormal romance for Carina Press, she is also the author of She Can Run, a kindle bestselling romantic suspense released in November 2011 from Montlake Romance. Find out more Melinda: website / facebook / twitter

Rayna Vause is fascinated by the paranormal and she loves a good romance as well, which probably explains why these two elements perpetually crop up in her writing. When she takes off her writer hat she is a martial artist, video game lover, Disney enthusiast, and a Pop Tart aficionado.  Find out more about Rayna: website / facebook / twitter

Melinda and Rayna blog together at http://AttackingThePage.com

Escape Velocity: Falling In Love All Over Again

On the product page for Escape Velocity, beneath the blurb, is a short sentence in italicized type:

First published as Runaway Star, newly revised by the authors.

We first wrote Runaway Star in…probably 2006, and it was first published in January 2008. That was a long time ago, in e-publishing years. This business moves at the speed of light, bringing us new romances as fast as we can read, and we love it.

It was a long time ago in terms of character creation too. When we started talking about revising the novel, using what we’ve learned in the years since it was first written to make it better, we were both a little nervous about it.

It wasn’t the idea of putting all that work into an old manuscript that seemed daunting. No, what made us nervous was one question: Would we still love the characters?

We would be diving headfirst into another year of commitment to these characters, getting inside their heads, living their lives from the inside out, and we’d both grown and changed a lot as writers since 2006, so the question wasn’t an idle one. The most compelling reason we had to go back to the book was to share Elios and Sender with the world one more time. We had to fall in love with them all over again if we were going to write their story.

At first, we decided to read through the old manuscript independently, and we’d report back our findings—Was the old work still good enough to rework? Were the old characters still interesting?

Not a week later and we had our answer: a resounding YES. We were both excited to start, to jump in and get to work on the story. We had so many ideas, and most importantly, we still loved Elios and Sender as much as we ever had. While we gave their story new spark and excitement, we didn’t have to change a thing about our heroes.

We hope you love them too—so much that we’re giving them away to launch them back into the world again!

One commenter to this blog post will receive a copy of Escape Velocity.

And, to spread the love, another commenter will receive a copy of our previous Carina Press book, One Real Thing.

—Anah Crow & Dianne Fox

Websites: www.anahcrow.com & www.foxwrites.com
Twitter: @anahcrow & @diannefox