FINDING YOUR STRENGTH (NICHE) BY HOPE CLARK



C. Hope Clark and her blind dog Dixie

Today it's my pleasure to welcome guest C. Hope Clark. She heads "Funds For Writers," a newsletter of inspiration as well as opportunity. Funds for Writers began in March 2000 after a women's writing group in Georgia opened Hope's eyes to the fact that it's hard to write when you can't afford ink for the printer or postage for the manuscripts. As a guest speaker, she initially planned a topic on the writer's need for the Internet. That subject quickly eroded to finding funds for all aspects of writing. Since her day job involved financial management and government grants, she offered a few words of advice. Boy! Did that ever blow into a bigger deal than she imagined!

Now she heads http://www.fundsforwriters.com/, which received the designation of 101 Best Web Sites for Writers by Writer's Digest Magazine - for 2001 through 2008. All because she likes writers to feel good about themselves and have as many tools at their fingers as possible. Readers say they sign up more for the editorials than anything else. She says she just has fun writing them.

You can find out about her newsletters at her links below. Hope and her husband live in Chapin, South Carolina. She graduated from Clemson University with honors and a degree in Plant Science/Agrinomy. Her honors and awards are far too many to list here. In spite of her prestigous background, she says she gets up in the morning to write, garden and be a decent person.
 
By day she manages FundsforWriters.com - 37,000+ readers.
 
By night she pens mysteries in her series. She just landed a contract for her Caroline Slade mystery series with Bell Bridge Publishing. Hope says she's combined her education and history with agriculture, and her experience in federal investigations, with her husband's career as a federal agent. Agriculture now has more flavor than beans and corn. It has crime, intrigue and a splash of Southern humor amidst the mystery.
 
"I enjoy these stories so much sometimes I can't tell the difference between my past and the antics of Carolina Slade."


Wow, Hope, that series sounds terrific. I can't wait to read the mysteries as soon as they're published, can you? Now, here's Hope's guest post:

     FINDING YOUR STRENGTH


"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." ~Einstein

When my children were small, I used to remind them not to make fun of people who didn't excel. I'd cup my hands and say that everyone had the same amount of talent. It was just that some people spread theirs across lots of areas, and others concentrated theirs in one or two. For instance, someone who performed well in math might not be able to write an essay or draw a picture.


Because one writer creates great thriller novels doesn't mean he can write poetry. Pat Conroy, one of my favorite authors of all times, reads poetry each day before he writes. But he doesn't write it. He just wants the beautiful word flow of great poets to enter his mind before he tries to formulate his prose. I now understand why he writes such marvelous sentences.



Hope and her friend Sherlock



I cannot tell a joke. I have terrible balance. I can't sing (though I try). I sketch with some mediocrity. Same goes for my cooking. And about the time I think I'm doing well at gardening or chicken raising, someone puts me to shame.

THE POINT IS TO FIND WHERE YOU DO WELL AND ENJOY THE TASK.

If you judge me on how well I dance ballet, I come across clumsy, klutzy and inept. Put me in a room of ballerinas, and I'm the ugly duckling. Never let me try anything but dancing, and I think I'm the biggest dunce that ever lived.
 

Hope on her home's porch

















As a personnel director, I attempted to guide managers to place employees according to strengths. I tried to make them realize that just because you had five clerks at the same pay rank, didn't mean that they were equally strong in all areas. One might be a better receptionist, another a typist, another a multi-media expert, another an expert organizer.

My suggestion? FIND YOUR NICHE, then judge not lest ye be judged. Focus on finding your talent, then work incessantly at perfecting that talent.

Hope

THE BLOG - http://hopeclark.blogspot.com/
TWITTER - http://twitter.com/hopeclark
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
FUNDS FOR WRITERS http://www.fundsforwriters.com/


Thanks for stopping by, Hope. Please let us know when your Carolina Slade mysteries are for available!

RENEWAL FOR SAGGING SPIRITS!

Congratulations to Nikita, who won my portion of the Fool For Love Giveaway Hop. I'll contact you by email, Nikita.

What drags your spirit down, down, down?  Makes you blue as a country western love song? For me, it's when my writing doesn't go well.

This past weekend was the bi-annual Dreamin' In Dallas writers conference sponsored by the Dallas Area Romance Authors (DARA). What fun to visit with friends I hadn't seen recently, hang with my BFF's, and talk writing, writing, writing.

My favorites--other than talking with friends--were the workshops by Margie Lawson and Allison Brennan. As a psychologist, Margie is able to get into what makes characters and their actions and their dialogue marketable. Allison Brennan writes scary romantic suspense books, but she is a delightful person who kept the audience laughing even as she imparted wisdom.


Me just before the bookssigning opened,
photo taken by Ashley Kath-Bilsky, author of  
the terrific historical, THE SENSE OF HONOR


Writing is a lonely profession. If we're fortunate enough to write full time, we sit at our computers all day. Sure, we have online friends we see on writers loops and email, but that's not personal. Not face-to-face. Visiting online is helpful, but not the same as laughing with a friend over iced tea and snacks.

So, attending the conference was a renewal for me. Yes, my spirit was sagging. Dragging the floor. Maybe even in the basement. I was discouraged because my latest WIP (work in progress) was not going well. In fact, I hated it. Very annoying to say the least!

Now, I feel energized and ready to face the dizzying publishing world again. I am woman, hear me roar! Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. At least now I can growl and hold my own. Grrr!

Do you get discouraged? If so, what helps renew your spirit?

PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES - ANOTHER BLOG HOP!

Happy April Fool's Day! Yes, here's another chance to win prizes from over 200 blogs. Don't let the staggering number dampen your enthusiasm. You have two full days to comment on as many blogs as possible. The hop is sponsored by  "I Am A Reader, Not A Writer" and "The Bookish Snob." Each of the more than 200 hosta is offering a prize. Most blogs offer a free e-book, but there are several other types of giveaways as well. Here's the link to the complete list of giveaways and blogs:
http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/gratitude-giveaways.html


My giveaway is one PDF download of SAVE YOUR HEART FOR ME, a March release from The Wild Rose Press. To qualify, just leave a comment and include your email address. Easy, right?

But wait! There's more! (Hey, it works on TV.) Signing up for my newsletter with the form on the sidebar at right counts as a second entry. If you sign up for the newsletter or if you're already a subscriber, please mention it in your comment so I know to put your name in twice for my drawing. The monthly newsletter also includes a drawing for a free book or other prize, a recipe, news, and miscellaneous stuff I think is interesting.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll read all of my blog and return many times in the future.

Here's the 5 HEARTS Review from Vicky at SIZZLING HOT REVIEWS:




Gorgeous cover by Rae Monet



SAVE YOUR HEART FOR ME by Caroline Clemmons


Sometimes, the past can haunt us too much! “Just get over it” is easy to say, but much harder to do. Both Beth and Matt have real issues to overcome in Save Your Heart for Me. They both are special people and are worth the necessary effort to deal with any problems each has so they can be together.

Six years ago Beth Jeffers fled her abusive husband. Now, she wants nothing more than to protect her son Davey and help her mother operate a boarding house. The women in her family have no luck with men, and she has no intention of letting any man mar her son's life. Not even Matt Petrov, no matter how much her heart urges otherwise.


Federal Marshall Matt Petrov fell in love with Beth the first time he saw her. She was another man’s wife, so he kept his longing to himself. But when he and the lovely widow cross paths again, he intends to seize his chance at happiness.

Beth made one very big mistake years ago. She fell for the charms of a man and married too quickly only to learn the hard way everything was lies. Turned out Lionel Jeffers had married her for her ‘nest egg’ thinking she had more money. The abuse, both physical and mental, started even before he gambled away what
little money she had. When she ended up pregnant a few months later, he sent her away, not wanting a ‘brat’ around. She is still ashamed over this while being glad her son has never been exposed to the abuse.

She helps her mother run the local boarding house and raises her son much as she was raised: an absentee father with the town gossiping about the mother and never knowing if the drunken father is going to show up. So she holds herself to the highest standards, giving the busybodies nothing to talk about (not that that stops them).

Matt Petrov is haunted by his own past. At one time, he had a small ranch but married a (semi) rich girl more suited to city life. His wife never adjusted to ranch life and when she got pregnant wanted to return to town. He didn’t see the need and she, and the baby, died when the baby came early. He has never forgiven himself. This is why he was a gambler and drunk when he knew Beth and her husband six years ago. (Later) Beth’s husband framed Matt for his own counterfeiting and the judge happened to be Matt’s dead wife’s father. Still blaming Matt for her death, this judge accepted any evidence to send Matt to prison, but let him use a different name to spare everyone’s families. Between how poor a husband he was and that he has been in prison, he doesn’t feel like he deserves to be around decent people. He helps, does good in general, as a Federal Marshall, but doesn’t stay in one place long.

That is why Matt is in Winton Crossing. His friend, Ivan, has sent for him after being shot while trying to claim the land/ranch the king of his country (Bayergrovenia) gave him. But Matt was also sent undercover in his Marshall capacity it see what is going on at this ranch that has so many solider-like men at it. When Matt arrives in town, Ivan is missing. And Beth, the woman he still pines for but feels he can’t have, is running the boarding house where his friend has been staying. Matt figures that the people at the ranch have Ivan. But he will have to find a way to save him before they kill him. And fight his attraction to Beth. When the boarding house is broken into, Matt moves into Ivan’s old room to keep an eye on things and make sure everyone is safe. But this puts Beth and Matt too close together…

Will Matt be able to save Ivan? Will Beth be able to get over her issues with her drunken father and abusive husband to see how great Matt is? Will Matt be able to forgive himself his past to offer Beth a future?

Save Your Heart for Me is unexpectedly good. The abusive husband has left a strong impression, yet we don’t have to deal with ugly flashbacks. Matt has always longed for Beth, yet doesn’t feel good enough for her. It is nice to have the guy be the one with angst for a change, and you can really feel it here. He is not 100% blameless; after all he did drown his guilt in drink for a few years. That he ended up framed for a crime and in prison is a hard way to learn any lesson. And there is no doubt he has become a hero. Beth has had it hard. Given the facts above, she sounds bitter, but really she is more scared than anything.

Scared for her son, scared that her husband will come back, and worried about the future. She is not afraid of hard work and doesn’t blame her mother for her childhood issues (gossip or her father). And she is doing an amazing job with her son on her own. The surprising thing is that these two are not bitter after everything that has happened to them. In fact they still have a sweetness to them, not obvious but it still comes across. And together, they just make me want to go ‘ahhh’ and smile.

Save Your Heart for Me is a good western historical (not really cowboys this time). The ‘adventure’ aspect is light (so it doesn’t take away from the character story) but still very entertaining. Caroline Clemmons has written rich characters with issues we can relate to even today. With a full cast of supporting characters
adding detail and humor, I was pulled in and didn’t want to put Save Your Heart for Me down until finished.

My thanks to Vicky for "getting" my book. If you're interested, here's the buy link: www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html from the publisher, The Wild Rose Press. It's also available at Digi-Books Cafe, Amazon, and other online stores.

SAVE YOUR HEART FOR ME is set entirely in Central Texas, but refers to the country of Bayergrovenia. Since no one but me had ever heard of Bayergrovenia (because I made it up), here's a map my sweet Hero husband made for my fictional country. The grandfather of the book's hero and Ivan, the man Matt is sent to help, are from Bayergrovenia, the tiny country in red in the map's center. I wanted Bayergrovenia to border French and German speaking countries.

There's Bayergrovenia, snuggled in
below Germany and above Switzerland,
and between Austria and France

Thank you for stopping by. Please come back again.

REVIEW OF MILLICENT, BY DARYN CROSS

Daryn Cross

Today I’m reviewing my friend Daryn Cross' novella MILLICENT, now available from Smashwords and Amazon Kindle.

Daryn is a Southern Belle now isolated in the cotton fields of West Texas. What a culture shock! She is surviving by writing a gazillion words a day and turning out books like crazy. Hmm, there must be something to be said for being stranded in the middle of nowhere with only a chololate lab for companionship. LOL On with the review of MILLICENT.

Millicent Robinson began life as the daughter of an abusive father whose drunken anger horrified her. Imagine the terror of a child whose mercurial parent routinely beats everyone in the house without cause. As the story opens, we see her cowering in hiding, crooning to her doll while Mr. Robinson beats her brother. All the while, her father yells at her that she’s next and he is going to beat her with his belt. Millicent falls back on her weak-willed mother’s training to overcome frightening situations.


“Think summer and the lake is there, not cold but warm and inviting. We’re taking a boat ride, Mil. Don’t you see the birds in the air?”

Available Now!

This time, even Mil’s imagination cannot disguise the situation. Her father’s abuse kills Millicent’s brother and begins beating her mother. Finally, her mother defends herself and kills the father. Life is better for Mil for a while, until her mother remarries and has additional children. Her new siblings are much favored by Mil’s stepfather and her mother is no stronger with this husband than the first.
 Eventually a marriage is arranged for Millicent with William Davis. Neither Mil nor William wants the marriage. He intends the union to be chaste because he is in love with Julia Cash, a woman below his station who he is not allowed to wed.

Millicent is a woman scorned when she learns the reason William does not want to be intimate with her. She plots her revenge and oh, she excels in her task.


William and Millicent have much to learn about themselves, one another, and the future. Don't miss this prelude to the CASH CHRONICLES series. This is a saga fantasy and steampunk sci-fi fans will not want to miss!

MILLICENT is available from Smashwords and Amazon Kindle.

As for the rest of the story, here is Daryn Cross’ description of her series:

First of the Chronicles

"The Cash Chronicles is a series of books that tell the story of subsequent generations of the Cash family, starting with William Davis and Millicent, his wife. William, though not a Cash, is Caleb Cash's father, and it is because of William and his diabolical wife, Millicent, that the Cashes are faced with centuries of trials and tribulations to steady the plight of man and establish peace throughout the planet.


Please note this is not a timeline, for time is not linear but a spiral. The Cash Chronicles transcend time.


There are gaps--on purpose. For some stories need to be told in longer works than novellas. I'll let readers tell me which parts deserve to be highlighted. These will be released as ebooks, but later packaged in print."

Watch the great video:

April 1-2

No April Fool's Day tricks here! Instead, a genuine treat awaits you. Please return Friday, April 1st, for the FOOL FOR BOOKS GIVEAWAY HOP when over 200 blogs will be offering prizes drawn from the names of those who comment on each host's blog. The FOOL FOR BOOKS GIVEAWAY HOP is sponsored by the blogs Book Snobs and I'm a Reader Not A Writer.

I’ll be giving away a copy of my new release, SAVE YOUR HEART FOR ME, a western historical from The Wild Rose Press. SAVE YOUR HEART FOR ME is very special to me, and has received a 5 HEART review from Sizzling Hot Book Reviews.

MET A NICE WEREWOLF LATELY? ASK AMANDA E. ALVAREZ

Werewolf stories have attracted readers since there've been readers. Please help me welcome Amanda E. Alvarez, author of a an exciting new werewolf tale which promises to frighten and tantalize readers.

Caroline: Readers love to get to know authors. Please tell us about growing up. Siblings? Locale? Were you the shy kid or the tomboy? Married, single? Children? Share anything that lets readers get to know the real you.


Amanda E. Alvarez

 Amanda: I grew up all over Texas, we moved roughly every four years when I was a kid. As I result I now find I tend to have itchy feet. I was both a tomboy (always into sports) and very shy until I hit my later years of high school where I finally found my stride. I have one younger brother whose contribution to my writing endeavor was to offer to be the cover model. (He’d fit right in on romance novel covers but that would just be flat out weird!) I’ve got two cats, one massive, one shrimpy. I currently live in Dallas and spend far too much time working, writing or avoiding the gym to manage a relationship.

Caroline: So nice to host a fellow Texan. Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

Amanda: Tough question! I love the Harry Potter series and I really enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy. As a young adult I read a lot of Stephen King and Dean Koontz (there’s always a well thumbed copy of LIGHTNING around my house). I didn’t start reading romance novels until I was in law school. Iris Johansen’s THE UGLY DUCKLING was my first and I never looked back from there. Paranormal romance and romantic suspense continue to be my sub-genres of choice.


Caroline: How many books and what genres do you read a month? What are you reading now?

Amanda: I’m a binge reader so some months I won’t read anything. (This is especially true if I’m trying to get a lot of writing done.) Other months I’ll read several books a week. I generally stick to romance and its varying subgenres, mostly because I know that if I branch out, say into YA, I’ll get ideas…

Caroline: Oh, yes, those new ideas can distract us from our projects! When you’re not writing, what’s your favorite way to relax and recharge? Hobbies?

Amanda: I go to the gym as often as I can fit it in and talk myself into it. In the fair weather months I play tennis and just recently I’ve started going to the driving range with a friend of mine. I’m also an avid movie attendee. I can’t wait for the summer blockbusters.

Caroline: Perhaps you could lend me some of your energy. I hate exercise. Describe yourself in three or four words.

Amanda: Procrastinating cupcake aficionado.

Caroline: Would you like to share any guilty pleasures that feed your muse?

Amanda: I like having various finger foods. Twizzlers are good because they’re like a toy and food. And I’m a strong believer that M&M’s raise IQ and skittles are vitamins.

Caroline: I hear that Nora Roberts keeps M&M’s on her desk at all times, so they must be good for authors, right? At least, that's my story and I'm sticking with it. How long have you been writing?

Amanda: HUNTING HUMAN was my very first project, so since about 2008. I wrote for school and such but it wasn’t ever something I thought I’d pursue seriously. But I like a challenge and eventually I just wanted to see if I could. Then I discovered that I also enjoyed it.

Caroline: Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet or music or solitude? PC or laptop?


Amanda: Laptop – it’s the only computer I own. I research on my iPad and I never work in silence. Working productively from home is a challenge (I’m getting better!) so I love to go to Starbucks or The Pearl Cup, a local coffee shop with the best mochas on the planet.

Caroline: Are you a plotter or a panzer?

Amanda: Plotter, plotter, plotter, plotter… PLOTTER. I’m physically incapable of writing if I don’t know where I’m going. This is often a problem.

Caroline: I’m a plotter also. Do you do your research before you begin a new project, or as you go along?

Amanda: It really just depends on the project. I usually do research as a method of getting my feet wet, learning the terrain and working out my direction. This includes everything from character sketches to general information to surfing name generators.

Caroline: Tell us about your writing schedule. Do you set goals? Do you write daily?

Amanda: I wish I wrote daily, but that simply isn’t realistic for me. I try to write every Saturday and once I hit a groove on a project I’ll write every single day until I get the first draft down. Finding this groove however, now that’s a challenge.

Caroline: Isn’t that groove wonderful once you hit it? Do you write full time or do you have a day job. If you have a day job, what is it?

Amanda: I’m a lawyer by day so I only get to write in my spare time.

Caroline: I would imagine you have very little spare time. What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

Amanda: That sense of escape that novels have always provided me. I think the best compliment in the world would be for a reader to e-mail me because they fed their kids cereal and slept through their alarm because the simply couldn’t put the book down.

Caroline: Yes, those are words that thrill an author’s heart. What advice would you give to unpublished authors?

Amanda: Keep writing! And set realistic goals; don’t hold yourself to other people’s stories or standards. You have to make your own.

Caroline: So true. Tell us about your latest release.


Available Now From Carina Press



Amanda: Here’s a blurb for HUNTING HUMAN:

For two years, Beth Williams has run from the past, and the beast that dwells inside her. She is haunted by memories of being kidnapped and the savage attack that killed her best friend. Now Beth finally thinks she's ready to move on...with Braden Edwards, a charming, irresistibly sexy man who tempts Beth to embrace the present.

But the past lurks closer than Beth realizes. Markko Bolvek, one of the werewolves who kidnapped her, has tracked her to Portland, Oregon, his pursuit fueled by a hunger for vengeance. Only Braden, a werewolf himself, senses the danger shadowing her steps. The Edwards and Bolveks have been enemies for centuries and despite the instant connection he feels with Beth, Braden isn't sure which side of the war she's on.

With suspicion at odds with their attraction, Beth and Braden must learn to trust one another to stop Markko for good. Can Beth accept the wolf within and love a man who embodies everything she fears?

Caroline: Oooh, sounds enticing and the cover is beautiful.

Amanda: Here’s the Excerpt: (PG)

Liz shivered. Nights in Estonia, even in the height of summer, were cool. As silence settled around them, cold began to creep in, spreading across the cobblestones and seeping through her clothes. Liz looped her arm through Rachel’s and urged her to walk a little faster. “Come on Rach, a couple of blocks and you can be horizontal in no time flat.”


“I’m dreading the morning.” The giggle attached to the statement said Rachel had no idea what she was in for. With any luck, she’d sleep straight through the worst of it.


They rounded the last turn and started the uphill walk, their destination finally in sight. The street, with lots of little shops and cafés, was empty but well lit. A white delivery van sat parked in an alley, nestled between a bakery and a tourist shop. In just a few hours, the street would start to come alive with residents and tourists walking up and down the cobblestone ways. There wasn’t a chance in hell she’d be awake to experience it.


Rachel let out a long yawn followed by a groan. “I’m exhausted. Are we there yet?”


Liz shot her an amused grin over a shoulder. “Watch it, missy. Or you could share his fate.” She inclined her head toward the kid slumped on the stoop of a small shop. He was propped up sideways against the brick wall and the store’s blue door. His head hung at an undoubtedly uncomfortable angle, curly brown hair obscuring most of his face, an open bottle of beer next to him.


This was their routine. Rachel partied, Liz studied. Rachel drank, Liz drove. Rachel got them into trouble; Liz got them out of it. It had been that way since they were kids, and as annoying as it was, Liz wouldn’t change it. It was who they were; it just worked.


Up ahead on the other side of the street, someone leaned against the wall, the red embers of a cigarette the only thing distinguishable in the shadows. The small flame arched through the air. A man emerged into the lamplight, crushing out his dying cigarette as he went. Liz’s pulse stuttered into overtime as she recognized him as the man from the bar. She pulled Rachel closer and focused on the hostel up ahead in the distance.


Walking parallel across the street, the man called out, “I figured you for the hostel.”


His words shot through darkness, thick and heavily accented, clearly Eastern European. Increasing her pace, Liz narrowly avoided a collision with a man who stepped out of a shadowed doorway and into her path. He was shorter than the man across the street, but broader in the shoulders. The sleeves of his dingy white shirt were pushed partway up his forearms, revealing angry vines of tattoos that disappeared under his shirt and reappeared at his neck, twisting around his throat like a noose.


“Lizzy?” Fear now, more than alcohol, tinged Rachel’s voice.


“It’s alright,” Liz murmured. “Excuse us.” She focused past the man and stepped off the curb with Rachel clinging to her side. In her peripheral vision, she tracked the other man moving parallel along the street. They were only two hundred yards away from the hostel. It felt like miles.


Liz stumbled as Rachel jerked away from her, letting out a terrified squeal. Refusing to relinquish Rachel’s hand, Liz spun. A third, younger man had grabbed at Rachel’s shoulder. Fear slid down her back. The kid from the café doorstep stood grinning, rocking back and forth on his heels, looking neither drunk nor harmless. Rachel backed up, pressing herself as close to Liz as she could. They took a few steps back in tandem.


Staccato barks sounded next to them, sending Rachel spinning wildly in panic. Liz forced her fingers into an iron grip on her friend’s sweater and yanked, keeping Rachel from bolting from her side. Tears of fear and frustration welled in Rachel’s eyes.


“Shh. Listen to me. Stay with me,” Liz murmured, trying to keep Rachel out of panic’s grasp. The man across the street stepped off the sidewalk, ego lengthening his stride.


“Poor little Americans. Alek, I think you’ve frightened them,” he taunted.


Alek’s face stretched into a wide, pleased grin, his mass of tattoos contracting over the muscles of his neck.


Liz glanced over her shoulder; the kid was still behind them, though he had fallen back a few yards. She and Rachel might be able to rush past him, but to where? Beads of sweat began sliding down the back of her neck, slipping along her spine and eliciting a chill unrelated to the temperature.


An ignition fired, the hum of an engine filled the air; hope sparked in her chest.


Please.


The van parked by the bakery edged onto the street, creeping toward them. Hope twisted and died when the van’s headlights remained dark. They’d have to run.


Decision made, Liz spun back toward Alek, who’d gone from barking to panting, his tongue lolling obscenely in Rachel’s direction in a sick imitation of an animal. There was a small gap between him and the man in the middle of the street. Liz knew she and Rachel could never get past both men. Squaring her shoulders, she threw her foot into Alek’s crotch with enough force to have him choking on his balls. His animal-like pants turned to howls of pain and rage as he doubled over from the blow.


Shoving past him with every ounce of her strength, Liz propelled Rachel forward, placing herself between her friend and the remaining two men.


“Run!” Liz commanded.


Rachel didn’t need to be told twice. She hurtled up the cobblestone street, Liz following close at her heels.


One hundred yards.


White-hot pain erupted in the back of her head–someone had caught hold of her hair and wrenched. The force pulled her off her feet and she hit the street, breath snatched from her lungs and tears of pain burning her eyes. Relief mingled with terror. Rachel hadn’t realized what had happened.


Almost there, almost safe.


Seventy-five yards.


She grasped at the wrist that viciously gripped her hair, pulling her back up to her feet. She didn’t need to see his face to know that the body pressed against hers belonged to the man she had encountered in the bar. “Call her back,” he demanded.


“No,” Liz ground out, proud her voice didn’t waver.


Fifty yards.


“Stop!” The shout startled Rachel enough to glance behind her and slow. “Come back, or I’ll have to hurt your friend.” He shifted his grip, freeing up his right hand. The heavy swish-clink of a butterfly knife opening reached her seconds before the blade bit into her throat. To Liz’s horror, Rachel stopped.


“No!” The tip of the knife nicked her, a bead of blood trickling down to join the sweat running down her neck. Rachel stared at her, eyes wide, mouth open in terror. “Rachel, please, just go.” The pleading tone —so typical of Rachel and so alien to Liz, kept Rachel from moving forward. But she didn’t move back either.


“She won’t go. She won’t leave you.” Amusement laced his voice.


Alek moved forward, taking a few cautious steps toward Rachel. In seconds Rachel would have no chance of escape at all. Liz opened her mouth to yell at her again, but the blade slid up to press tightly to the underside of her chin.


“None of that.” His lips pressed close to her ear, his warm breath sending unwelcome shivers down her spine. “Come here, Rachel,” he ordered.


When Rachel remained frozen, his knife widened the nick in Liz’s neck to a shallow cut. “I will slit your friend’s pretty throat.”


His promise skittered down Liz’s spine.


“It would be such a waste.” Panic clawed through her as his tongue stroked the shell of her ear.


“Lizzy…” Rachel’s torment resounded through Liz’s chest. In that instant, she knew Rachel would never leave her. Liz wanted to be mad. She wanted to scream. But she couldn’t have left Rachel either.


Time snapped forward. Alek grabbed Rachel roughly by the elbow and propelled her forward. The van pulled up right next to them, the sliding door screaming open on a rusty track. Liz didn’t get the chance to brace herself for the impact as she was shoved to the floor of the vehicle, cheek pressed against the cold metal, her hands yanked behind her back and secured with plastic ties. The last thing she saw was Rachel’s tearstained face as she was forced down next to her. Then the sliding door slammed closed, plunging them into absolute darkness, leaving only Rachel’s terrified sobs to focus on, echoing in her head and slicing through her heart.


Caroline: Wow, that captured my interest and gave me goose bumps! Where can readers find your books?

Amanda: Carina Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Caroline: What’s your next project?

Amanda: Right now I’m working on a new romantic suspense novel with strong paranormal elements.

Caroline: How can readers learn more about you?

Amanda: You can find me here:

Twitter: @amandaealvarez
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amandaealvarez1
Web: http://www.amandaealvarez.com/

Caroline: Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?

Amanda: Nah, I’ll just get boring. Thanks for having me today, Caroline. It’s been a lot of fun!


Caroline: I doubt you are ever boring. Thanks for sharing HUNTING HUMAN with us.

A STEP BACK IN TIME WITH RUTH G. ZAVITSANOS

Thomas Jefferson on his
way to visit a cobbler

The other day I ran into Thomas Jefferson. It’s true. I’d been adjusting the setting on my camera while crossing the dirt road in Old Williamsburg, Virginia when we came face to face. He offered a faint smile, tipped his tri-cornered hat and said, “Good day, Madame.”

“Oh, yes,” I stumbled for the words. “Good day, sir. ‘Tis a lovely day.”

“Truly, it is. My apologies, my eyes were fixed on my worn shoes,” He smiled and looked across the street, “I’m off to the cobbler.”

I looked down at his pointed shoes with his stocking covered legs and did my best to conceal a laugh. Truthfully, our founding father looked very dapper, but I was picturing my husband in the 18th century apparel/attire.
 “Madame, I believe something sounds of music in your handbag.”

“Oh,” I said and pulled out my cell phone. I’d lost my husband somewhere between Ye Olde Coffee house and the Governor’s mansion. I excused myself and took the call. Mr. Jefferson nodded politely and walked on.


Ruth and new friends
at Williamsburg VA




I told my husband he interrupted my conversation with Thomas Jefferson. He said to meet him by the shackles. Oh, no!

Not to fear, we found each other and took a shuttle bus over to William and Mary University. We walked the grounds in awe of the school’s historical value and scholarly reputation.

My “Step back in time,” proved to be more than what the entrance of Colonial Williamsburg boasts. For me it was an experience of the 18th century coming alive and reeling me in.

Available from Whiskey Creek Press
http://tinyurl.com/456r93m

Though I write historical/romance, my writings take place a century later. Perhaps the most visible contrast to the times, Levi’s. And, of course, a country that was growing well beyond the thirteen colonies. However, it is these thirteen colonies and our founding fathers with their great insight and integrity that brought our country to where it is now.


I thought about my brief conversation with Thomas Jefferson later that night. There is so much I would’ve like to have said to him. Of course, I would’ve been careful, not wanting him to think I was a witch. Though he had it in his mind to get his worn shoes repaired, I might have deterred him with a cup of tea. Certainly, a lady did not go to the pub for ale. How improper.

Thomas Jefferson

Over tea, I would share with him my concerns for the natives of this “God laid land.” And for the people placed in slavery simply by the color of their skin and the rigorous journey that had taken them from their African tribes forever. Without changing too much of our future, I’d hope to eliminate prejudices, persecution and strive for equal rights to be attained for all. As a woman, the latter would prove to be most difficult.

Of course, I realized the following day another tourist would most likely “run” into Thomas Jefferson. And, he would once again be polite with light conversation taking one in with his eloquence. He’d have no time to discuss politics with such worn shoes. “This is not the time,” he might say, prioritizing the writings he labored over to thoroughly discuss his resolutions for the growing nation. Resolutions that were ahead of his time.

I am grateful for the leaders of this era and their determination. No doubt, the cobbler had a great deal of shoes to repair in a time when things were not taken in light stride.

Who would you want to “bump” into from the past? What would you ask or discuss with this person?

Ruth Zavitsanos

Ruth G. Zavitsanos has been writing since the age of 12. She has three books published, FLIGHT OF LITTLE DOVE is a historical romance and her two children’s chapter books, THE VILLA DOG (nominated for the EPIC award, the recent conference took place in Williamsburg, VA) and THE OLD FORTRESS DOG. Please visit her website at http://www.ruthzonline.com/.


Ruth's children's books are available from Wild Child Publishing at http://tinyurl.com/4omn2T4.

KELLY MORAN STOPS FOR A BREATHER!



Author Kelly Moran


Please welcome award-winning author, Kelly Moran to the blog. Kelly is an author of several published books, recipient of an Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement, inducted into the Who’s Who Book of Americans, placed as a Finalist in the 2008 Best Books Award, a Finalist in the 2009 Indie Excellence Book Awards, a respected reviewer for Bookpleasures, a former staff writer for Poetic Monthly Magazine, and a Romance Writers of America member. Whew! As if that’s not enough to keep her swamped, she also interviews authors on her blog and offers Manuscript Critique Consultations. Though most of her family is in the Carolinas, she resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband, twin sons, and black lab. Welcome, Kelly.

Kelly: Thanks for having me, Caroline!

Caroline: How did you get into writing as a career? Do you write full time or still have a day job? If so, at what?

Kelly's children's book about
friendship and forgiveness

Kelly: I began writing when I was very young with poetry and short stories. I quickly learned that my calling was romance, though. After having kids, I began writing children's books too. I learned everything I could about the craft by reading blogs, books, and joining groups like RWA. I work part time in the healthcare field when not writing, reviewing, judging writing contests, interviewing authors on my blog, or chasing kids.

Caroline: What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

Kelly: Romance is such a hard market, though a high selling one, because you have to strive to stand out and be unique. I like my stories to not only be about the joys, but the heartache too. I incorporate illness, loss, etc. because those things are life. I hope readers can take away a good cry, and a good laugh, after reading.

Caroline: Ours is a very hard market, but I think all markets are difficult in today’s molten publishing environment. In what genres do you write? If more than one, why?

A Romance

Kelly: Why would be because my brain never shuts off. I wrote a literature novella, IDLE THURSDAY (2009), two poetry and short story collections, AN INSOMNIAC'S DREAM (2005) and BEYOND THE CLOUDS (2010), two romances, WHEN THE LEAVES STOP FALLING (2007) and SUMMER'S ROAD (2011), and a children's book, THE TINY CATERPILLAR AND THE GREAT BIG TREE (2009). From here on in I'm sticking to romance and children's books, both genres of which I actively have a work-in-progress going on.

Caroline: Who are your favorite authors?


Kelly: There's just too many to mention, but topping my list are: Carla Neggers, Nicholas Sparks, Caridad Pineiro, Denise Hunter, Lisa Dale, Gina Showalter, Annie Solomon, and Susan Crandall.

Caroline: Describe yourself in three words.


Kelly: Stubborn. Organized. Tired.

Caroline: The tired I can imagine! Mothers of small children are always tired--but twins? Tell us about your writing process. Are you a plotter or a panzer?


Kelly: Plotter, mostly. Ideas will come, or characters, and from there all the plotting on how to make that work comes. There's twenty stories in my head right now. Kinda crowded up there.

Caroline: Do you have a writing schedule?


Kelly: That depends on the kids or work schedule. I usually try to fit writing in the morning or afternoon, some on weekends. I have to write in near silence.

Caroline: Are you attending any conferences this year or scheduled as a speaker? Blog tours or other promotions?


Kelly: I'm pregnant and due in July, so I am unable to travel for conferences this year. I'm am doing a blog tour in March for my new release though. See my blog or Web site for details, http://www.authorkellymoran.com/, http://authorkellymoran.blogspot.com/

Caroline: Our youngest was born in July. Very hot weather for a pregnant lady. Any guilty pleasures or vices you’d care to share?


Kelly: You mean like coffee, chocolate, hot baths and sleep? That would be it really, LOL.


Caroline: When you’re not writing, what do you do to relax?


Kelly: What is this 'relax' thing you speak of? I am not familiar with the term. Seriously, I read before bed, or take a hot bath. That's about it.

Caroline: I imagine you have very little time to relax. Amazing you find time to write. What advice would you give to pre-published authors?


Kelly: Too much to mention in great detail, but for starters, join a writer's group--enter contests, attend workshops, and get a critique partner. Read and study your genre. Do NOT query editors or agents without properly learning how. Steer clear from clichés. Most importantly, do not give up. This market changes constantly. Dreams die when hope does.

Caroline: Very sound advice, Kelly. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself?


Kelly: If interested, I offer manuscript critique consultations for new writers. I also have helped other writers do their book trailers. Check out my site for details. My trailers can be found on my site, or on YouTube at, http://www.youtube.com/user/AuthorKellyMoran?feature=mhum


Caroline: Please tell us about your latest release.




Available March 25th
from The Wild Rose Press


Kelly: SUMMER'S ROAD-- Contemporary romance coming March 25th, 2011. Blurb:


After her father’s death, Summer Quinn realizes just how alone she feels in the world. With no family to fill her life now, she finds comfort among friends, but yearns for true love, contentment, and family. When her boyfriend, Matt, suggests they raise their relationship to a higher level, Summer jumps at the chance to get everything she’s always wanted. Only, she doesn’t expect the heat arising between her and her best friend, Ian – a man who never seems to settle down. A man the complete opposite of what she’s looking for. But when her estranged mother reappears after twenty-eight years, Summer’s world completely flips upside down. As secrets from her family’s past and Ian’s true feelings for her emerge, Summer’s now faced with choices she’s not sure she can make. The rest of her life’s happiness hinges on her confronting a past she’d rather deny and legitimately opening her heart to love, even if it’s not where she expected to find it.

Caroline: Your book's cover is beautiful. Makes me want to step in and enjoy the peaceful scene. Can you share an excerpt with readers?


Kelly: Here’s a PG excerpt:


Summer stepped onto the pier and gazed out over the ocean. Nighttime here was different than back home. There weren’t any city lights to disguise the stars. The ocean looked black, as dark as the sky above, so that across the horizon, she couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the water began. It was kind of like looking into heaven, like looking into the earth’s soul.


The drum of footsteps behind her broke her from her reverie. Turning, she saw Ian coming toward her. Shirtless, he hadn’t even bothered with the button on his jeans, he strode closer in bare feet with a bottle of wine in one hand and glasses in the other.


All she could think was how damn delicious he looked in the moonlight. Heat pooled in her belly and spread throughout her body like a wildfire. Ian Memmer. Not good.


“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself,” he said, pouring a glass of white wine and handing it to her, the look in his eyes saying it looks like you need this.


She took the glass from him and sipped before answering. “That’s the point, to be by myself.”


He raked a gaze over her. “And if you fell in?”


Maybe it was the moonlight. Maybe it was the call of the ocean. Whatever it was, something made her want to test the boundaries between them again. Matt or not. Friendship or not. Consequences be damned. “Then you’d save me. You always do.”

Caroline: Wow, great excerpt! Where can readers find your books?


Kelly: All of my books can be found at the usual retail sites like Amazon, B&N, etc. Here is the link to my Amazon Author Page, http://www.amazon.com/KellyMoran/e/B002BOHE8Y/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1299343054

Caroline: Kelly, your life sounds complicated and hectic, but readers like me are glad you find time to write. How can readers learn more about you?


Kelly: If interested, you can find trailers, reviews, my books, and more on my Web site at http://www.authorkellymoran.com/,
or my Blog at http://www.authorkellymoran.blogspot.com/. I'm also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authorkellymoran,
Myspace at www.myspace.com/authorkellymoran,
Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/authorkellymoran, and
Twitter at www.twitter.com/authorkmoran.

Caroline: Is there anything else you'd like to tell readers?

Kelly:  It is with great sadness that I announce my previous blog is gone. I woke up Sunday a.m. to find the blog, my 500 plus followers, my 100 plus author interviews, and my 200 plus reviews gone. Blogger gave no explanation. I have reloaded the interviews and reviews, plus redesigned the blog. But if you could, please hit the "follow" button so I can reclaim the fellow bloggers I miss. Please also pass the link around and spread word for me.
http://kellymoranauthor.blogspot.com

Caroline: Kelly, that's tragic for any author. I scooted over and "followed" you again. I'm sure many others are doing the same thing. Best wishes for continued success!

SURVIVING THE FRENCH FLOODS WITH RACHEL BRIMBLE

Before I introduce you to a guest with an extremely interesting  story, let me remind you that we are in the midst of our Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop. For more info on the blogs participating and the prizes, check out the 273 blogs participating in the Lucky Leprechaun Hop giveaway at http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/giveaway-hop.html
Now, to our fascinating guest, Rachel Brimble:



Rachel Brimble and Max

 I live with my fantastic husband, our two young daughters and my beloved black Labrador, Max in a small market town near the famous Georgian City of Bath. Having always ‘played’ with writing, I didn’t seriously sit down and write toward publication until I became pregnant with my second daughter – then I told myself to get my butt in the chair and get on with it before she grows up and I’m forced to get a real job!
 


Rachel Brimble and family 
on a 2008 Zante vacation

 
Lots of short stories followed as did lots of rejections! I took a few distance learning courses, joined some online writers groups and basically, learned my craft. Finally deciding short stories weren’t working for me (they are an art form in themselves!), in 2006 I decided to embark on my first novel and voila SEARCHING FOR SOPHIE was born! Since then, my other books have followed each year. I love writing and although I work part time for at my husband’s financial adviser’s firm, I write at every opportunity…and I mean EVERY opportunity!!


And when I’m not writing? You’ll find me with my head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with my family. And in the evening? Well, a well-deserved glass of wine is never, ever refused.


SURVIVING THE FRENCH FLOODS!

In an interview recently, the interviewer ask me to tell her something interesting about me that few people know…so I told her I was rescued by helicopter from the center of the flash floods that hit and nearly destroyed the beautiful hamlet of Frejus, in Southern France last June.

When Caroline read this, she asked me to tell her the whole story on my visit today – and I am happy to oblige!


It all started with a phone call at 2 am from my friend who was holidaying with us in a caravan park in the hamlet. We’d had a gorgeous four days there already with the temperatures in the high eighties, the kids swimming in the three pools, drinks on the decking, outside eating…glorious.

But then on day five, it rained like we had never seen before – and bearing in mind with live in England, we are used to rain! It didn’t stop from the minute we woke until we went to bed at midnight. Two hours later, my friend rang telling me to grab as much as my husband and I could carry, wake the kids and get out of the caravan – my friend had already been evacuated because their caravan was situated closer to the river, which had burst its banks. We leapt out of bed, woke the kids, filled a backpack each with a change of clothes, some bits and pieces and then left.



The sight that greeted us outside was unbelievable. While we had been asleep for two hours, the entire caravan park had been covered in a half a foot of filthy dirty, muddy and rapidly running river water. We got in the car but within minutes the road to the center of the park was gridlocked and cars were abandoned. When my husband opened the car door, the interior immediately flooded and that was when we realized how quickly the water was rising.

Not what you hope to see on
your vacation!

We grabbed our two daughters and together we waded through the water into the park’s restaurant where we were reunited with our friends. We all embraced as though we hadn’t seen each other for weeks. That’s when I knew all of us were silently thinking the same – how are we going to get out of here?


From the time of my friend waking us to 5 am, the rain didn’t stop and when the sun rose we saw the extent of the devastation. By this time, all 500 of the park’s residents had been moved to the roof of the clubhouse, which is where we stayed until we were rescued at 2 pm.



Not the way to spend time at the club house

 

This is a picture of us on the roof taken by the circling news cameras – family, my friends and me are standing by the red and white umbrella!


The ordeal of waiting and watching as the police and army helicopters rescued five people at a time in a relay was as traumatic as it was surreal. The four children with us were amazing, so well behaved and calm – the after affects came out the next day when my eleven year old slept in our bed with my husband and I for the first time in eight years…

Happy sight

Being involved in a natural disaster like this changes you. I have a huge respect for life, for the power of water, for the men and women who put their own lives on the line to save others and most of all, the courage and unity of people thrown together in crisis – God bless the 25 people who lost their lives that day.

For the entire twelve hours we were on that roof (in one hundred degree heat), there was no arguing, fighting or scuffling. Thankfully, the park staff managed to rip off the roof of a storeroom and a line was formed to pass out water, Coke, lemonade and tinned fruit. It was humbling to see…




Five people at a time rescued



















And here I am to tell the tale! The next question is when I finally write about this in a novel, who will the heroine in the helicopter be??

Rachel’s latest novel is GETTING IT RIGHT THIS TIME – available from Lyrical Press.

Blurb:

She's back, but this time she’s a mother…intent on protecting her young.


Two years after her husband’s death, Kate Marshall returns home seeking security and stability for her three-year-old daughter. But when her path crosses with ‘the one who got away’…her husband’s best friend, she has to fight the desire to be with him for the sake of further heartbreak for her and her daughter.

A tough, straight talking theatrical agent, Mark Johnston is dangerously handsome, exceedingly rich, irresistibly charming – and branded by the tabloids as one of the UK’s most eligible bachelors. So even though Mark lost the girl of his dreams to his best friend, he finds no hardship in being single. Or so he thought.

Determined not to lose her a second time, Mark has to find a way to convince her they can work. But can Kate cope with the media interest and ruthless, money-hungry clients surrounding him, being anywhere near her daughter? Or accept that Mark Johnston is really the family man he claims to be?


Buy Link

http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_25&products_id=296

In addition to her recent release (and isn't that a gorgeous cover?), Rachel has other books available at The Wild Rose Press at
http://tinyurl.com/6c7zo63 Those books include: RELUCTANT WITNESS, SEARCHING FOR SOPHIE, THE ARRIVAL OF LILY CURTIS, and TRANSATLANTIC LOVING.

Thanks, Rachel, for sharing a harrowing experience. Thanks also for sharing a bit about your new novel, GETTING IT RIGHT THIS TIME. Don't we all wish we could do that?

Keep reading!