Month: July 2014

Summer reads are here again!

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Can you believe it’s week nine already? I know I can’t! But just because we’re nine weeks in doesn’t mean that we’ve run out of great reads. Keep reading to find out which books Michel Prince recommends for your literary enjoyment this summer!

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Nine
Michel Prince

Week nine in the Summer Blogs Tour is here and I’m hoping you’ve been enjoying meeting new faces and trying new reads. It’s time to welcome Michel to my blog tour, another friend I met through Authonomy when we were all just newbies starting out. You won’t want to miss out on her reads list and her own books. Check them out – if you’re a romance junkie like me, you won’t be disappointed!

Michel Prince is an author who graduated with a bachelor degree in History and Political Science. Michel writes new adult and adult paranormal romance as well as contemporary romance.

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Do you want to sneak a peek?

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Anná Artwork by Hazel Butler

Anná
Artwork by Hazel Butler

If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I was tagged in another writing game by my friends Afe Smith and Valerie Willis.  The idea for this one is to share the first sentence from the first three chapters of your current WIP.  I chose to share three lines from The Price of Mercy (Book One of the Lokana Chronicles) and it’s sequel, Fog of War (Book Two of the Lokana Chronicles).  As always, titles – and lines, for that matter – are subject to change because, well because I’m a writer (read: perfectionist) and I’m my own worst critic.

Chapters One, Two, and Three of The Price of Mercy start out like this:

1. Dirty tears carved grooves through the layers of grime on the poor farmer’s face as he fought and lost the battle for his dignity.

2. Vegin pulled the rough brown hood lower over his eyes as he sauntered through the dusty marketplace.

3. She ambled down the steps, lost in thought.

<!–more While Chapters One, Two, and Three…While Chapters One, Two, and Three of Fog of War start off like this:

1. Anna Martoka snuggled into the embrace of her fiancé, John Briant.

2. A month passed.

3. Anna stumbled on a tree root.

I have yet to revise (for the dozenth time) FoW, as I’m currently stuck on revisions for TPoM.  But I’m up to Chapter Six now, which is huge progress, given that Chapters Five and Six did not heretofore exist.  I still have a lot of work ahead of me with these books, but hopefully I’ll be able to finish revisions by the end of the year and start querying again in January (I know, I know, I’ve said that the last couple of years, but this time, I’m gonna make it happen).

And who knows?  Maybe this time, I’ll catch someone’s eye…

What are you working on at the moment?

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

Inspiration, or, What’s in a name?

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spongebobOne of the new blogging buddies I met during April’s Blogging U. course is hosting a Guest Blogger Week over at her place, and today it’s my turn to share!  If you’re not familiar with the Avid Reader blog, you should definitely check it out.  Lots of neat stuff there.  And there will be guest posts all week!

My post is on the inspiration behind my humble blog’s title and tagline.  To read more about my inspirations, head on over and check out my post.  Then have a look at yesterday’s guest spot and some of the other booky news!

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

This week’s Summer Reads guest is…me!

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This week, it’s my turn! I hope you’ve enjoyed everyone’s recommendations so far – this has been a whole lot of fun, and I’m tickled to share my summer book picks with you. Read on to find out what they are, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post! There’s lots of awesome prizes, including a copy of my poetry collection, Tuesday Daydreams!

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Eight

Kay Kauffman

Tick tock, tick tock, it’s week eight in our Summer Reads Blog Tour and I’ve come to welcome Kay Kauffman to our madness!  Kay is another lovely online friend from Authonomy who I’ve been chatting with now for a number of years.  She’s fun, has a gentle spirit that I simply adore, and will be the first to gather her popcorn bucket when Sam and I start our online battles!  Let’s hear it up for Kay!

As a girl, I dreamed of being swept off my feet by my one true love. At the age of 24, it finally happened…and he’s never let me forget it. A mild-mannered secretary by day and a determined word-wrangler by night, I battle the twin evils of distraction and procrastination in order to write fantastical tales of wuv…twue wuv…with a few bad haiku thrown in for good measure.
I reside in the midst of an Iowa corn field with my hopelessly devoted husband and his mighty red pen; four crazy, cute kids; and an assortment of adorable kitties, chicks, and bunnies.

My first novel…

All aboard! It’s a Voyage of Desire!

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Today, I’ve got another review.  This time, the book is Voyage of Desire by Natalie Kleinman.  It’s a straight-up romance novel, which is not my usual read, though I’ve read a few here and there.  I wanted something light and fluffy this time around, and here ’tis:

What do you do when you discover your boyfriend of two years is married to someone else!

Beth Walker seeks to escape her heartbreak by taking temporary work on a cruise ship. Instead, on the very first day she meets Ryan Donovan and is drawn to him by his soft Irish lilt and mischievous eyes. Her plan to forswear men recedes like the waves at the stern of the ship…but it isn’t quite that simple. There are many obstacles that stand in the way of her happiness – and then she learns she is pregnant.

It seems her problems may only just be beginning. Antagonism between Beth and Ryan abounds and there are misunderstandings aplenty. Can these two warring factions find a happy ever after? Find out what happens in Voyage of Desire.

In my opinion…

Our very own Muggles

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To the Non-writing (which is like our own brand of Muggle), the whole journey is completely alien.  They really don’t know what it means to be querying agents or to have an agent or to be on submission or whatever the heck it is you’re trying to tell them.

There’s no universal translator.  If we try to explain, we get blank stares.  And sometimes polite nods.  –Authoress

I read this this morning over at Miss Snark’s First Victim.  It’s a great site, and I really enjoy all Authoress’s posts.  This post was full of great things, but the reference to non-writers as Muggles really made me smile.  You can find the rest of the post here.

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

Let’s review, shall we?

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Inquisitor - RJ BlainBack in May, if you’ll recall, I hosted author RJ Blain for a stop on her blog tour promoting the release of her latest book, Inquisitor.  Today, I’ve got a review for you!

I know, I’m a bit of a slow reader.  Life keeps happening.

Anyway, in case you don’t recall (or in case you missed it), here’s the blurb:

When Allison is asked to play Cinderella-turned-Fiancée at a Halloween ball, the last thing she expected was to be accused of murder on the same night. She has to find the killer and quick, or she’ll be put to death for the crimes she didn’t commit. To make matters worse, the victims are all werewolves.

On the short list of potential victims, Allison has to act fast, or the killer will have one more body to add to his little black book of corpses.

There’s only one problem: One of the deaths has struck too close to home, and Allison’s desire for self-preservation may very well transform into a quest for vengeance…

This is not the sort of novel I normally read.