A Great Quickie

I just finished listening to a quickie story called Possession In Death by J.D. Robb. I bought the audiobook version and its FANTASTIC! I love her In Death series and this was a great addition, absolutely hilarious.

Possession In Death takes place between Indulgence In Death and Treachery In Death. In fact, at the end of Indulgence Eve and her hubby are about to have a barbeque to help out her friend Morris who is still reeling from the loss of his girl with whom he'd been getting serious. But with her murder Morris has been locked into himself so Eve throws a barbeque to help remind him he's not alone.

The actual barbeque takes place in Possession and we get to see the party. But afterwards, while driving one of her guests, Father Lopez home, an old woman stumbles onto the street bleeding from multiple stab wounds. Before she dies, she tells Eve to find her great grand-daughter who's trapped. She makes Eve promise to find her.

Then, while clutching Eve's hands she dies. Now all of a sudden Eve can speak Russian and Hungarian, she sees the old woman's murder as it happens, and she can see and talk to dead people.

Turns out Eve made a promise to a real life Romany Gypsy and until she finds out who killed the old woman and abducted her great grand-daughter, Eve's possessed. It's a race against time to catch an obsessed killer, hopefully before Eve's new abilities drive her insane.

This story had me roaring with laughter. It's just a short but is a great tale. The reaction of Eve's cat to the new and somewhat improved her had my side splitting. Also, when she reads a Russian saying to her partner, Delia's reaction is priceless. I got the audio version from Audible. It runs just over three hours and I am so glad I decided to buy it.

Possession In Death is available now. And you can find a complete list of all the full length novels at Nora Roberts website.

On With The Bash

This week I have Kim Cresswell with me helping me to celebrate summer. Hi Kim and welcome to the bash!

REFLECTION:  Why a (Good) Book Cover is Important

As an author, reader, and an artsy-fartsy graphic designer type, I have to admit it...I love book covers! I particularly love romantic suspense covers.

Even though I try not to, I am guilty of judging a book by its cover. I'm sure I've passed on many fantastic stories after only reading the blurb simply because the book cover didn't convey the story inside.

In my award-winning romantic suspense, REFLECTION, reporter Whitney Steel is investigating an alleged human cloning project when she meets up with the hero, FBI Agent, Blake Neely, who's searching for his own answers. Everything from this point on focuses on Blake and Whitney discovering whether or not the villain has produced the world's first cloned human. They don't set out to fall in love. A relationship between the hero and heroine evolves because of the suspense.

How does an author and cover artist come up with a book cover that conveys both romance and   suspense?

My cover artist (Marion Sipe) began by gathering the perfect images. I loved the graphics. The DNA chain reflected the human cloning aspect of REFLECTION and the seductive image of the man and woman showed the book had a romance plot but the cover was missing something...an anchor for the suspense.

Before:   

So why is a good cover so important? Because a book cover is a window into the soul of a book, an author's first chance to impress by taking the reader on a visual journey.

After:  The final version was a perfect fit for REFLECTION.

BLURB

Florida investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, has lived in the shadow of her legendary father long enough. To prove herself she needs to find the “Big” story.

She found it.

Now it may kill her.

After Whitney receives a lead pointing to the world's first cloned human, now a small child, she vows to unravel the truth. However, sifting through the facts proves to have dangerous results, including death threats and murder.

When she's nearly killed, but is saved by undercover FBI Special Agent, Blake Neely, he refuses to let her get in the way of his own objective—at least not right away.

Caught in a lethal game between a billionaire obsessed with genetic perfection, his hit man’s thirst for retribution, and a Colombian drug lord fresh out of prison determined to make Blake pay for his twin brother’s death over a decade ago...

Can they save an innocent child before it’s too late?

Faced with tough choices, with deadly consequences for many—Whitney soon realizes that sometimes a story becomes more than just a story.

Praise for REFLECTION

UP Authors Fiction Challenge Winner (2013) "Cinematic writing, powerful visuals, sleek, fast, utterly sexy, notches above anything we have read before!" ~ UP Authors

"Action packed from page one...an impressively laid out passionate thrill ride!" -InD'Tale Magazine

MuseItUp Publishing | Amazon | AmazonUK | Bookstrand | Smashwords | CoffeeTime Romance | Omnilit | ARe | ibookstore | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Sony | iTunes

Available in paperback at Amazon & Createaspace

You can learn more about Kim and her current and upcoming releases by visiting

her web site:  http://www.kimcresswell.ca

Or her Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/KimCresswellBooks

Summer Bash Rolls Into July

And welcome back to the summer bash. I hope you all will have a great July 4th holiday. In the meantime, my guest this week is Heather Greenis. Welcome Heather.:-)

Hi Kat - thanks for hosting me. You certainly got me thinking with your questions. I’m a ponderer and you succeeded in getting my mind going. On some blogs the silly me surfaces. You hit the more serious and thought provoking me. The me that enjoys some great conversations.

01: What is the first story you’ve published. Tell us a little bit about it.

Natasha’s Dream which launched a few days ago, June 21 is my first book. It’s the first of a four part saga. It was never my attempt to write a saga, but the story and characters continued to evolve in my mind. Suddenly, well, maybe not suddenly, knowing I spent 10+ years writing, I had a saga.



02: What inspired the story?

Initially I dreamed about the two main characters. My dream was the ending of ‘Natasha’s Dream’. I couldn’t get the characters out of my head and I began thinking about a life that would lead to events happening. I had a story.



03: Do you have a writing process? If so what is it?

I write when I feel inspired. When I have an idea. I write my thoughts and go back a million times to reword, and rewrite. This section would be much better if... I want this to happen, but for it to make sense, this should have happened back when... No wonder it took me ten years.



04: What do you currently have in the works? Give us a small preview.

My saga is keeping me busy

Natasha’s Dream has just launched

Natasha’s Diary begins the edit process this month and is due to launch in December

Natasha’s Hope is due to launch in March 2014

Natasha’s Legacy - I hope to submit it by the end of the month. With any luck, it will be accepted and launch June 2014.

My focus will be ensuring this happens.



05: Who are some of your favorite authors?

Favourite authors - I don’t really have a favourite. I enjoy a good gripping drama or a bit of suspense. I love reading novels that are based in another country. It’s an opportunity to learn a bit about other cultures. Occasionally I want something light. A comedy or something I don’t have to think about.

Currently I’m reading books by muse authors and authors I have connected with through my FB page. I’m enjoying the books by relatively unknown authors. I’m also widening my reading genre list a bit. Some I’m enjoying, others, not so much. Personal preference - I’m not writing reviews for books that simply aren’t my cup of tea. That isn’t fair to the author or their potential readers.



06: Do you have one author in particular who inspired your writing career? Who and why?

Not really



07: Are your stories based on real events or people?

My story isn’t, but different events in their lives are. As my husband read my book he would comment, “I remember that happening’, or ‘I remember that conversation’ You never know.



08: How much research goes into your work?

I do a fair bit of research. The Natasha series has two story lines. One is modern, the other is not. Technology is mentioned, but can’t be discussed before it was invented. I messed up with one piece that Nancy my editor caught. I had the characters using a gramophone to play records. It was invented, but the quality sucked when I was using it. It hadn’t been tweaked enough. Oooops. Needing music, a few sections were edited to have characters humming or singing. Clothing is big. What was fashionable?

Common terms were also interesting. I had a good cyber discussion with Nancy to keep one. My main characters are avid readers of novels and poetry. If they weren’t, the word couldn’t be used. Now I have your curiosity, haven’t I.

Never say never, but I don’t plan another book that steps back in time although I enjoyed writing the entire series. It’s my baby.



09: Have you ever killed off a character based on someone real? If so why?

Not yet, but you never know. Never piss off an author.

10: If you could visit any period in history, what time would you go to? Why?

Probably the 60s. People were standing up for causes they believed in. They were working together even though most of them were stoned. (considering I was never tempted by the drug scene, I doubt I would have jumped in with both feet if I had been around, but I would have been active with the cause) It was a time with less wide spread greed. Less me, me, me. There was more personal interaction. Today, we blame it on being busy. It’s convenient to email, and text. I’m terrible, I email before I pick up the telephone because the people I want to talk to are busy. My parents are the exception. I phone them.

Even in the world of publishing, I’ve never spoken to the Lea, my editors Nancy & Teale or my cover artist, Marion. I would not recognize the sound of their voice if I heard them from across the room. All communication has been cyber. Technology is a wonderful thing, and we complain when we’re without out, but...



11: If you could gather any three people in the world, living or dead together, whom would you want to meet and talk with?

Three amazing leaders

Mahatma Gandhi - he is described as a spiritual/political leader and humanitarian. He made some mistakes, but he fought for the people. I admire his compassion, his will and his perseverance.



Jesus - a blue collar working man whose goal was to help the people - need I say more.

I would take Mother Teresa.



President Obama - Another man with a huge heart, full of compassion, not greed. I wish he was Canadian and could run this country. Canada would soar under his leadership. I admire him and his wife Michelle.



It would be an amazing conversation with some laughter. Three of us have a sense of humour although you’re not seeing mine in this particular conversation. You have me thinking and pondering.

Notice I did not mention our own so called leader. Thanks but no thanks. He isn’t known for listening or too much of anything else.

I’m in trouble if you’re a fan of republican. No interest sitting with anyone from that party, but I would love to sit with Bill Clinton and or Al Gore. Obama, Clinton and Gore. I’d just sit back and listen, taking it all in. Once I got past being intimidated, if I got past being intimidated, I’d be in my glory.


12: What do you do for fun when you aren’t busy writing?

Fun! In the summer I garden, putter in my gardens. Seeing the weeds, I should be attacking my gardens with vengeance. I learned how to golf this spring so perhaps we’ll take the clubs out once or twice.

I’m involved with the charity “The Healing Cycle” raising funds for Hospice Palliative care. My best friend died a few years ago and raved about the care she received. I’m fundraising in Patti’s memory. Our big event takes places two days after I launch. I’ll be busy that weekend. I plan to start volunteering with our local hospice once this series has a manageable schedule.

During the winter months, I curl. The club is active October through April. I manage the junior league (4 coaches teaching 30 kids ages 6-16) with two hour lessons once a week. I play 2 to 3 times a week, with different teams. One night is competitive. My husband is also a curler which is wonderful even though we play on different teams. A social sport, there is a lot of laughter on the ice. I love it!

In between, we love to travel. Meeting people, exploring places, investigating things. Life is never dull. I wouldn’t want it to be.


13: What is the one thing people believe about writers that upsets you?

A little too early for that question. Ask me again in a year or two... or five. I don’t have enough experience to give a knowledgeable answer

I’ll turn that one back on you!


14: Is there any genre you haven’t written that you’d like to try your hand at?

Where to begin!! - Someday, I’d like to write a comedy. The Natasha series had comical lines to lighten a scene, but it’s a drama. With any luck, it will bring a tear or two to your eye.

I’d like to try a kids book. Not young adult, but kids picture book. Something Mommy Daddy or whoever can read to them at bedtime.

I’d love to work with someone and co-write a book. Something creepy. I don’t read this genre, nor do I plan to. I don’t need inspired to get bad dreams. I have ideas but need help to get them on paper. I wouldn’t know where to begin writing this.



15: If you were independently wealthy what is the one place on Earth you’d most like to visit? Why?

India, Africa, even Northern Canada. It breaks my heart knowing there is so much humanitarian work that needs done. So much suffering in the world. I’d like to be known for making a difference. I was put on this earth for a reason, I’m not getting any younger, and I haven’t scratched the surface. The best is yet to come, I hope.



16: What is your favorite color? Hum- I think that depends on my mood and where I am.



17: What is your favorite food? Chocolate - dark chocolate, but not bitter. Yummy!



18: What is your favorite movie? - Sound of Music. Here I go back to the sixties again. I’m too young for this.



19: What is your favorite TV show? Last year I would have said ‘Flashpoint’ but they took if on the air, the rotten poops. Not impressed.

‘Doc Zone’ although my answer will probably be different a year from now. Flavour of the month. A program that makes me think. It’s weekly themes are all over the map.



20: What is your favorite holiday? Christmas - life doesn’t interfere at Christmas. Family gets together and that’s important, especially with nieces and nephews getting older. We stopped exchanging gifts and give donations to the receivers choice of charity. Obviously, money intended for this household goes to the Healing Cycle. It feels good knowing we are helping other, hoping giving someone out there a reason to smile, someone like Patti.

Natasha’s Dream - June 21, 2013

Natasha' s Diary - December 2013

Natasha's Hope - March 2014

Natasha's Legacy - submitted...



https://www.facebook.com/heather.greenis.5?ref=ts&fref=ts



the link

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=667&category_id=69&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

The Summer Heats Up

We are getting well into summer now and my guest is just as hot as the weather. Please welcome Julie Eberhart Painter. Hi Julie. Glad to have you.

01: What is the first story you’ve published. Tell us a little bit about it.




“The Paper Caper” placed third and was published in The Writer magazine in 1994. I got the idea a few years earlier when our bank moved its main office and its safety deposit boxes by truck from the old location to their new one. They asked us to okay relocating our “treasures. “Most people were fine with it.



02: What inspired the story?



Fear spawned the story—knowing what could happen after writing it—I removed my things until they opened the new branch. It occurred to me how vulnerable the safety deposit boxes were out there on the street, and what a great opportunity for thieves to waylay the truck and take their time inspecting the goodies from each box without the problem of being observed—or caught!



03: Do you have a writing process? If so what is it?



I’m pretty amenable to anything that’s working.



04: What do you currently have in the works? Give us a small preview.



Aside from blogging, Morning After Midnight, a saga about a clash of cultures North and South will be released in January 2014. It’s a family dynamic story.



05: Who are some of your favorite authors?



Harlan Coban, Greg Isles, Scott Turow, John Grisham, Alice Seibold, Anne Tyler, Jan Ruth, and Alice La Plant for her brilliant mystery, A Turn of Mind.



06: Do you have one author in particular who inspired your writing career? Who and why?



I have two in a manner of speaking. Hometown boy makes good, James A. Michener, whose love for the South pacific inspired me to write Daughters of the Sea. He was THE author from our hometown, Doylestown. My mentor, Robert Walker taught me structure. The authors mentioned above gave me freedom to expand on Walker’s tutelage.



07: Are your stories based on real events or people?



Most are based on real events, but “I did it my way.”



08: How much research goes into your work?



I pick familiar locations and histories and fine-tune the research after writing the first draft.





09: Have you ever killed off a character based on someone real? If so why?



Not real, but redefined. Murders took place in my grandmother’s retirement home. I based the Ponytail Perp in Mortal Coil on that case.





10: If you could visit any period in history, what time would you go to? Why?



Currently I’m stuck in the late 60s. This might have to do with my enthusiasm for Morning After Midnight. It’s a rich period with Women’s Lib, new fashions, the upheaval in the South with desegregation, and the Vietnam War that inspire the music we still listen to.





11: If you could gather together any three people in the world, living or dead, whom would you want to meet and talk with?



I don’t know how they would get along, but Peter Ustanoff (dead); Alice Seibold (alive), and my birth mother, Laura Jones (also dead). We’d have to arrange this is a Swedenborgian style after-life similar to Eben Alexander’s Proof Of Heaven venue. I wouldn’t mind including Emanuel Swedenborg (long dead) either.





12: What do you do for fun when you aren’t busy writing?



Despite the activities I’ve had to forgo, I never gave up reading!





13: What is the one thing people believe about writers that upsets you?



That we make a lot of money. Hah!





14: Is there any genre you haven’t written that you’d like to try your hand at?



Fragmented nonfiction or truly literary fiction: I do some of that in my unpublished memoir, Elephant Walk, re grieving. It would be satisfying to write a thought-filled and culturally rich book.





15: If you were independently wealthy what is the one place on Earth you’d most like to visit? Why?



I’d like to revisit New Zealand, and live there.



16: What is your favorite color? Aquamarine



17: What is your favorite food? Olives, any olives, all olives!



 18: What is your favorite TV show? The Good Wife



19: What is your favorite holiday? The Fourth of July—no gifts

Bio:

Julie Eberhart Painter, a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania and has nine books published. The tenth releases in January 2014. Previously, Julie worked with nursing homes as a volunteer coordinator and later as a community ombudsman. She spent eighteen years with a local hospice in Port Orange, Florida, her hometown for 26 years.



She is a regular blogger on The Writers Vineyard, and a columnist at Cocktails, Fiction and Gossip Magazine, a quarterly online slick. She’s a frequent blogger on http://thewriterbeat.com, where nothing is sacred.



Reach her at



Twitter: @JulieEPainter

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com  (Search) Julie Eberhart Painter

http://www.linkedin.com/search/fpsearch?type=people&keywords=Julie+Eberhart+Painter&pplSearchOrigin=GLHD&pageKey=member-home&search=Search

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AJulie+Eberhart+Painter&keywords=Julie+Eberhart+Painter&ie=UTF8&qid=1321374034&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B005EYUYSK



Or, for paperbacks www.lulu.com

www.champagnebooks.com

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Published-Authors-Network-84480?homeNewMember=&gid=84480&trk=EML_downshift_home&ut=2V-Y8nkUGC9lg1

www.thewritersvineyard.com

http://www.books-jepainter.com

Julie’s books:



Mortal Coil uses the nursing home setting because to murder a helpless old woman in her bed, cut off her hair and repeat that crime is the antipathy of what nursing homes are about, a safe place to be treated and rehabilitated. The subplot is driven by a behind-the-scenes scandal of greed and neglect.



Tangled Web begins with a Welsh family in 1934.



The cohesive Welsh community was a haven of Protestant values and mutual support. It was also a hornet’s nest of gossip. Neither a canary’s death nor a girl’s fall from grace escaped the community chatter.

Good girls avoided the attention of the grandmothers’ grapevine by behaving--in public--as ladies were expected to behave with good manners and self-control. In private, emotions roiled, passions were explored, appetites satiated, and the end results “talked about.” Or hidden.



Kill Fee, Penny a young environmentalist and occasional bridge director shows that even a friendly duplicate bridge game can lead to murder. (Although, bridge players have been known to feel the urge.) When she inherits, a beach house and a lot of money, everything changes. Medium Rare is the sequel, set among a bunch of hospice workers who can’t stay out of trouble, or crime.

Daughters of the Sea , is set in the South Pacific where legends create magic, danger and love.

Thanks for being here Julie. I'll see you all next week. In the meantime, stay cool.:-)

Rolling On With The Bash

Welcome back to my summer bash. Hope you're summer is full of fun, swimming and barbecues. Here with me this week is Kelly Whitley. Hi Kelly and thanks for coming by this week.:-)

01: What is the first story you’ve published. Tell us a little bit about it.


Into the Red; it’s a paranormal romantic suspense about vampires.

02: What inspired the story?

I work in the medical field; over the years, I evolved my own idea about how vampires might have come about.

03: Do you have a writing process? If so what is it? Most of the time, I make an outline and then fill it in. I often add things as I revise.

04: What do you currently have in the works? Give us a small preview.

I’m working on a contemporary romance about a doctor working at a medical mission in Africa.

05: Who are some of your favorite authors?

Julie Lynn Hayes; John Sanford; Patricia Cornwell.

06: Do you have one author in particular who inspired your writing career? Who and why?

I’d say Anne Rice. Those were the first vampire stories I read.

07: Are your stories based on real events or people?

I’m sure bits of real people work their way in, but no, nothing is a factual account.

08: How much research goes into your work?

It depends on the subject; I’m comfortable with medical topics, so not a lot of research in that arena.

09: Have you ever killed off a character based on someone real? If so why?

No.

10: If you could visit any period in history, what time would you go to? Why?

Hmm…I’d say the time of Christ. I’d love to hear him in person.

11: If you could gather any three people in the world, living or dead together, whom would you want to meet and talk with?

No good answer here—sorry!

12: What do you do for fun when you aren’t busy writing?

Painting; movies; gardening.

13: What is the one thing people believe about writers that upsets you?

That it’s easy! It’s not—at least for me, it’s very labor-intensive.

14: Is there any genre you haven’t written that you’d like to try your hand at?

Urban fantasy and steam punk.

15: If you were independently wealthy what is the one place on Earth you’d most like to visit? Why? Italy! I’ve always wanted to visit there. The light is supposed to be fabulous for painting.

BIO:

Once upon a time, Kelly dreamed of becoming an entomologist. Instead, a career in healthcare became the chosen path. After years of devouring other people's books, Kelly decided to give writing a try. An arduous journey and many hot fudge sundaes later, the first paranormal romantic suspense debuted in July 2012.

Now Kelly writes a variety of fiction, spanning the genres from humor to paranormal, and flash fiction to full-fledged novels. A career in the medical field and interests like painting and home restoration provide plenty of inspiration for the characters who find themselves populating the stories.

An ideal day consists of coffee, no phone, and writing quirky characters for fans to fall in love with. Stop by www.kellywhitley.com, where the paranormal is an everyday occurrence and get your fix for vampires, werewolves, shifters and more. Kelly loves visitors, human and otherwise.

Kelly lives in the Rocky Mountain Midwest. Contact Kelly at kelly_book_maven@yahoo.com.

BUY: Muse It Up Publishing http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=513&category_id=32&manufacturer_id=248&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Into-the-Red-ebook/dp/B008LBAW58/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1371317668&sr=1-1&keywords=into+the+red

Thank you so much for being here Kelly. I'll see you all next week. In the meantime...PARTAY!