Mary Beth Bass – Writer Wednesday

Mary Beth Bass – Writer Wednesday

Mary beth bassI love authors who touch my heart and soul, who make me think and grow with their words. One day I was hunting around the Boroughs Publishing Group’s website, checking out their products and looking for something to read, and I stumbled onto in the place where she fell by Mary Beth Bass. It being a Lunchbox® romance, it was bound to be short and at only .99, affordable.

But having bought it, I forgot about it until a few weeks later when I was perusing my Kindle, and the cover caught at me. And so I read this story on my lunch hour, and found myself so moved, so changed, that I had to write a review of it. And then I had to talk about it on my blog.

That’s when Mary Beth and I got to talking and becoming friends through Facebook, and through both of us being published by Boroughs. So I want to share my beautiful, talented, soulful friend and the magical world she inhabits.

CA: On your website, you talk about walking through the woods and memorizing poetry on an almost daily basis. How does poetry influence your writing?

MBB: When I first started hiking I used to think, this is great, but wouldn’t it be awesome if some beautiful-voiced, English-accented man was following me and reciting poetry. Kind of like a lyric lady’s maid with a voice like Benedict Cumberbatch. Needless to say I couldn’t quite make that happen. So I became my own Benedict Cumberbatch (without the butter-and-whisky voice). The cool thing about hiking and reciting is that concentrating on steep terrain and not tripping over rocks means I don’t worry that I’m doing the poem wrong. I found that I understood the poems much better than I would have from a place of stillness on the couch. Hmm, I didn’t really answer your question. Probably because I’m not sure how to answer it. I think poetry influences my writing the way everything influences writing. Something grabs a corner of your brain and makes a home there until it pops up in a book. Maude, the sister of the heroine in my young adult fantasy, everything you know, loves poetry. She was born in part from one of my favorite Keats’ poems The Eve of St. Agnes. Maude’s story doesn’t exactly follow the story of that poem but it echoes elements of it. The Eve of St. Agnes is gorgeous and sexy and deceptively dark. You should go read it right now, and imagine your voice-of-choice is reciting it. Over red wine in an old inn. In a snowstorm.

CA: I love Keats, but haven’t read him in a long time. I’ll get right on The Eve of St. Agnes, though… So, I’ve noticed on Facebook that you’re often championing local theater productions. I used to be an actress/dancer/director, and my husband is still vital in the business. How did you become so involved?

MBB: I wanted to be an actress and studied in some fancy-pants theatre schools but I realized soon after I graduated that I didn’t want that life. I love theatre. And I really love supporting other artists. Theatre is my favorite art form. It still feels like actual magic to me. I started occasionally acting again a few years ago. Last summer I was in an amazing production of The Tempest in the woods in a huge nature preserve. The show ended as night fell. Almost every actor I went to school with is a writer now. Or a lawyer.

in the place where she fell_coverCA: Oh, don’t I know it – acting, show biz, is a tough business and crumbles a lot of young people’s dreams, especially if they come out to Hollywood. Very few of the people I acted with 30 years ago are still doing it…okay, moving on or we’ll be here all night talking about theater! Tell me how being a parent has influenced your writing.

MBB: When I first started writing my kids were very young. On the way to the bus stop one morning my youngest son told me he couldn’t wait to see my name on a book someday. I decided then to write under my own name. People still assume if you’re writing romance you must be writing under a different name. My first book came out when my youngest was in kindergarten. He gave the book to all his teachers and his bus driver!

My daughter edited my first book when she was still in high school. (Don’t judge. If you’d seen her insightful peer-editing of her classmates’ work, you probably would have made her stay home from the Halloween party until she finished editing the manuscript you were submitting.) She interned at Soft Skull Press in college and is a freelance editor now. She also manages a restaurant in New York City and is awesome.

CA: Wow, how wonderful to get such support from your kids! Now, tell me. You call yourself a writer of “dreamy, lyrical, science fiction and fantasy romance novels for adults and teens.” The words dreamy, lyrical, and science fiction don’t usually go together. How did you come to realize that was a strength of yours?

MBB: Well, I’m pretty dreamy and lyrical by nature. I didn’t realize I was writing science fiction-ish stories until readers started pointing that out. That being said, I have a huge crush on science. My fantasy jobs are hacker or virus hunter. The hero of my work in progress, The Language of the Thread, is an eighteenth century astronomer who is working towards the discovery of Neptune, using mathematics. (Neptune was the first planet to be discovered that way.) The heroine of my first book, Follow Me, is a medical researcher and works covertly as a doctor in the early nineteenth century. I read medical journals from that time period and made up a disease. It was kind of awesome.

CAA: Okay, now I just want to sit you down with a margarita in your hand and talk science, lol! With all that going on, what is your next book about, and when will it be out?

MBB: My next book is All That We See. It’s the sequel to everything you know and picks EverythingYouKnow_Cover_wquote (1) (1)up right where that story ends. Emma and Joe’s story continues in this book but the heroine of All That We See is Thalia Salic. I’m super excited about this book. It comes out this December.

CAA: Very cool! I have everything you know but, in my typical fashion, haven’t read it yet. I’ll be looking for All That We See. Thank you, so very much, for letting me pry into your life.

MBB: It was my pleasure. Thanks for the great questions!

Okay folks, so here’s where you can find Mary Beth Bass around the Internet. And do yourself a favor – do pick up in the place where she fell. You won’t regret it!

Links:

Website: www.marybethbass.com

Newsletter: http://marybethbass.com/subscribe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/marybethbass

tumblr: http://marybethbass.tumblr.com/

pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marybethbooks/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/845083.Mary_Beth_Bass

Teresa Noelle Roberts on Writer Wednesday on a Thursday

Teresa Noelle Roberts on Writer Wednesday on a Thursday

Folks, I double-booked Writer Wednesday this week, so instead of putting both authors on the same day, I’m giving Teresa her own day. Please give Teresa a warm welcome! I first met her when she staggered into the hotel room she was sharing with me and two friends, at two-something in the morning, RWA Conference in Dallas, several years ago. I’ve been privileged to call her friend since then.

Teresa Noelle Roberts, on a beach Somewhere in Maine.

Teresa Noelle Roberts, on a beach Somewhere in Maine.

CA: First off, get comfy and kick those shoes off. Now – what can I get you? Coffee, soda, beer, wine, or a mixed cocktail?

TNR: Wine, please, preferably a rich Cabernet.

CA: Speaking my language, woman, but then I knew that. So, what drew you to writing?

TNR: It was inevitable, perhaps genetic. My mom was an English teacher, the grandmother who helped raise me was an avid reader, and though I didn’t know my father, he was a poet and nonfiction writer. My mother has stories I dictated to her before I even knew the alphabet.

CA: Oh, I totally understand the genetics! So for our reading audience, what genre(s) do you write in, and why?

TNR: I write erotica, fantasy and romance, so it’s not surprising I write a lot of erotic paranormal romance, combining my three loves. I admit I first dabbled in romance because the genre seemed friendlier to new writers than fantasy, but as soon as I got started, I got hooked. I love happy endings, I love writing sexy, and I love incorporating my fascination with myth and legend into some of my stories.

CA: How did you start this particular book, Witches’ Waves – with a title first, a character first, or a situation first?

TNR: I started with the character of Meaghan the blind seer. She’s mentioned briefly in the first book of the series, Lions’ Pride, as “the Agency’s tame seer.” As soon as I wrote that line, I started asking myself “What if she’s not as tame as they think and wants to escape them?” That idea burbled in the back of my brain until, in a later book in the series, Cougar’s Courage, I created an infant likely to grow up with unusual powers. Well, the seer might have a vision about this baby…and the story of Witches’ Waves was born.

CA: What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a Day Job?

TNR: I cook a lot, bellydance, do yoga, hike, and work on our “suburban homestead.” As for a day job, I’m a part-time admin for a Realtor®, working from home with flexible hours. So I’m pretty busy.

CA: That sounds fantastic. I’ve seen the things you do with your garden harvest, and totally wish we were neighbors. Okay, now name three things your fans would be surprised to learn about you.

TNR: 1. My favorite day job ever was picking grapes at a small winery in the Finger Lakes of central New York.

2. I can say “I can’t eat pork” in five European languages.

3. I’ve lived in Manhattan and Paris, but these days I can’t imagine living in a big city. (OK, maybe that won’t surprise my readers, considering most of my books aren’t exactly urban.)

CA: The fact that you can say “I can’t eat pork” in five languages makes me giggle! And I’m so jealous that you’ve lived in both Manhattan AND Paris! Which brings me to my next question. Where would you live, if you could live anywhere in the world?

TNR: The coast of Maine…except you can’t really enjoy it during summer because all of us tourists are cluttering up the place. Drat! So much for that fantasy.

CA: LOL! I’d love to spend a summer on the coast of Maine!  Name 3 simple joys in your life.

TNR: 1. Eating a sun-ripened tomato from the garden, or brushing snow off the floating row cover to harvest some cold-sweetened kale.

2. Sitting with an overstuffed cat in my lap reading a good book.

3. Sipping an adult beverage by a fire in the backyard with my husband (a.k.a. the Cat-Herder), while watching the sunset over our domain.

CA: Ah, all of those sound lovely and very similar to my simple joys. If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead or fictional, who would it be and where would you go to eat?

TNR: I feel like I should say someone famous like Jane Austen, but honestly, if dining with the dead is an option, I’d take one more evening with my friend Gregg. As for where we’d eat, I’d ask him, because if you’re back among the living for one dinner, you get to pick the meal.

CA: I love that! *wipes tear* and I totally agree, they get to choose. *sniffs* Okay. If you could give just one piece of advice to a writer just starting out, what would it be?

TNR: Write the book already, or the story, or the poem. It may stink, but remember: you can’t revise a blank page, but you can revise absolute dreck.

CA: Perfect, and I totally agree! Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?

TNR: Witches’ Waves ties up a major plot thread in the Duals and Donovans series. I’m not done with this world of witches and shapeshifters yet, but the next book(s) will go in a different direction. Possibly to Europe. I have an idea for a Duals and Donovans book set in Venice. I wonder if I can do a GoFundMe for a research trip…

Thanks so much, Teresa! Folks, below is the blurb and a brief snippet of the book. Sounds absolutely yummy! So excuse me while I go push the “buy” button…

witches waves

Witches’ Waves (Duals and Donovans: The Different, book 4)
Out 11/18/14 from Samhain Publishing.

“The overall message is one of hope and the healing that love can help bring, w/some really hot sex […] for good measure.” four stars—Romantic Times

“This novel definitely hooked me for this series.”—From Me to You Video, Photography and Book Reviews

“Well written and full of emotional depth.”— Manic Readers

The ocean is on their side. But the fight is on land—and it’s about to get dirty.

Duals and Donovans: The Different, Book 4

Long held captive as the Agency’s secret weapon—a blind witch with visions—Meaghan has come to a line she refuses to cross. Rather than betray the infant “child of five bloods” to the Agency’s scientists, she chooses death. Except when she throws herself into the ocean, she doesn’t die. Her repressed water magic comes to life.

When the sodden, delirious witch drifts into Kyle’s arms, his otter dual instincts tell him to get her to the Donovans as fast as possible. Even though one particular surfer-dude Donovan broke his heart.

Declan Donovan continually kicks himself for pushing Kyle away, but his touchy combination of water, earth and lightning magic is too volatile, and Kyle wanted more than Deck was ready to give.

When they come together to help Meaghan control her new magic, it leads the Agency straight to the child of five bloods. They’ll have to dive head-first into total trust—in their magics, in themselves and in each other—to save the child and stop the Agency once and for all.

Warning: Contains an oceanful of sex between an ethereal blind heroine who swears like a pissed-off Marine, an overly serious otter shifter, a would-be beach bum who may be descended from a Norse god, in permutations as fluid as the sea – and themes of abuse and recovery.
Excerpt:
Water splashed around her legs. Meaghan had reached the water’s edge. That had been her plan all along, to run to the water and keep running and let the waves carry her away. Let the Agency think she’d had a seizure and drowned. Hell, let them realize the truth, that she’d died to get away from them and the weight of betrayal on her soul.

But as soon as the water—frigid, yet somehow welcoming, bracing—hit her skin, her plan washed away. She kept running along the water’s edge, letting the wavelets carry away some of her burden of guilt.

The world shifted suddenly to the left, the way it did when she was about to have a seizure, but she didn’t seize or even get dizzy.

Instead, she was thrown headlong into a startlingly beautiful vision. She felt a man’s arms around her, a man’s body taller and younger and stronger than Shaw’s pressed against her, his long hair brushing at her skin erotically. Another man was beside him, touching them both, only that lithe, slender man was sometimes an animal of some kind. He was the size and shape of a human—a well-built human, probably handsome—but Meaghan felt dense, short fur as she stroked him.

He must be a dual. They were some of the Different people that Shaw had used her to destroy, but this dual didn’t seem to hold that against her. No, instead, he held himself against her.

They were in the water, bobbing gently as they made love.

The way the men touched her was like nothing in her limited experience. A little rough at times, a little controlling, but with an underlying affection and gentleness that was new. She couldn’t see them—even in her visions, she could rarely see—yet she somehow knew they were touching each other, enjoying each other, as well.

In her vision—or maybe it was just a vivid daydream, but she didn’t really care—she could orgasm without seizing. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did, just as she knew that soon one of the men would penetrate her while the other fucked him, and she craved that moment so much it hurt.

She sank to her knees at the water’s edge, lost in the vision, lost in pleasure.

Then her vision was bathed in blood and she heard a baby’s piercing, panicked cry.

She’d had this vision before. A child of five bloods, she’d said, and everyone had been excited about that. She’d prayed she’d never learn more about this child, nothing that would help the Agency find her. But prayers weren’t always answered.

She heard the dangerous words again, the ones that would betray the child if she spoke them: Oregon and Donovan.

A wave broke over her, drenching her, knocking her down, jarring her from the vision.

Oregon. Donovan.

It was only a matter of time before she had another vision at the hospital and those words slipped out, dooming that child and all the child’s family—if they hadn’t already. She didn’t always remember clearly after a vision.

The smell of the salt air, the cry of the gulls, the blood pounding in her veins still called her to live, but she owed it to the baby, and the baby’s parents, and the lion man, and the others she’d inadvertently helped Shaw capture. No more. Never again.

Shakily, Meaghan got to her feet.

Then she walked straight into the roar of the surf.

Series blurb:

Welcome to an America where the non-human Different and magically gifted humans live among ordinary people. Witches are both feared and honored, but shape-shifting duals are treated as second-class citizens. The Agency, a government agency that’s supposed to monitor illegal uses of magic and Different abilities, has developed its own dangerous agenda. But when Duals and witches join forces, the Agency and other bad guys aren’t going to know what hit them.

And neither are the witches and Duals. Witch magic grows from the positive energy of love and sex–and the only thing better than one dual for sex magic is two of them!

Buy links: Samhain /Amazon / Amazon UK / B&N Nook / Kobo

Bio:
Teresa Noelle Roberts started writing stories in kindergarten and she hasn’t stopped yet. A prolific author of short erotica, she’s also a published poet and fantasy writer—but hot paranormals and BDSM-spiced contemporaries are her favorites. Or they were until she discovered that SF romance offers new possibilities for wild sex, imaginative adventure and love beyond boundaries, so she’s added that sub-genre to her repertoire. Oh, and she’s also half of the writing team known as Sophie Mouette, writing mostly light-hearted spicy romances (with occasional forays into erotica).

Teresa is a crunchy granola girl who enjoys belly dance, yoga, medieval re-creation, playing in the ocean, cooking, and growing more vegetables than she and her husband can possibly eat.  She’d enjoy sleeping, too. She thinks. But it takes so much time!

She shares her home in southern Massachusetts with her husband, a Leo in law enforcement, and two overstuffed cats. She and her husband often plan vacations around food, history, and/or proximity to water.

Find Teresa at www.teresanoelleroberts.com, like her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTeresaNoelleRoberts or follow on Twitter, where she’s @TeresNoeRoberts.

And check out her alter ego Sophie at www.sophiemouette.com.

Writer Wednesday – Scandal At Almack’s

Writer Wednesday – Scandal At Almack’s

Scandal At Almacks - Tour Banner

Today I have Gloria Gay on Writer Wednesday, with an interview and a bit about Scandal At Almack’s, her latest release with Boroughs Publishing Group. Sit back and sip some coffee with us!

Author Gloria Gay

Author Gloria Gay

CA: First off – what can I get you? Coffee, soda, beer, wine, or a mixed cocktail?

GG: Coffee would be fine, thanks.

CA: There you go. Now, let’s chat. What drew you to writing?

GG: I knew that someday I would write a book because I loved to read so much. In high school I read a lot of the classics. But books like Tess of the D’Urberville’s were romantic but most of them ended in tragedy. I wanted books with happy endings. Then one day I discovered by chance a gothic novel. I read hundreds of books by Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, etc. My husband encouraged me a lot and he bought me a typewriter for my birthday. I wrote gothic romances first but the gothics of the day had very little romance in them, it was more the mystery that was emphasized.

CA: I remember those books. They got me hooked on mysteries. So, what genre do you write in, and why? Do you write gothics, since you loved them so much?

GG:  No, surprisingly. After going through all the gothics, I discovered Regency romances and that is the genre I love to write, although I’m also branching out into romantic suspense. Hopefully I will be doing both.

CA: How did you start this particular book – with a title first, a character first, or a situation first?

GG:  Scandal at Almack’s is a book that had always been at the back of my mind as I wrote and published my other Regency romances. I wanted to write about a scandal that happened in Almack’s, a place where girls could not even dance the waltz without permission by one of the patronesses that signed the coveted vouchers without which they could not enter the place.

I knew that it was during the waltz itself that my scandal would occur, but what would occur? For a long time I just let it percolate in my mind. Then one day as I was watching television, my mind elsewhere, the thing that happened at Almack’s to my heroine, the scandal itself, popped into my mind.

My heroine, feisty, funny and pretty is someone you would want as a friend. She began to form in my mind and it was her character itself that led to the incident that happened. That happens a lot to writers, you know, problems with your books solve themselves if you just let them. I knew then what my hero would do that would cause my heroine to faint!

CA: Oh, how fun! So, tell me. What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a Day Job?

GG: I’m retired. I dedicate my time to writing and painting, because I’m also an artist.

CA: My hubby’s an artist. How wonderfully creative you are. Okay, so, name three things your fans would be surprised to learn about you.

GG:   a) I write poetry, too, and lately, mostly about the sea. It’s incredible but I start to walk and the feel of the sand under my feet, the lovely sky above and the sound of the sea starts my mind going toward a poem.

b) I love cats but don’t have one. My husband and I feed a stray cat that will eat the food that we set out for it in the porch but won’t come near us. He’s very shy. But we feel good feeding it. He comes twice a day for his food and the rest of the time he wanders around back yards. We named him “Boots”. He’s grey with white on its paws the length of boots.

c) I firmly believe there is a writer inside every person.

CA: Very cool. Where would you live, if you could live anywhere in the world?

GG:  I live in San Diego, California, where I have lived most of my life, and I can’t imagine anywhere else where I would rather be. It’s beautiful.

CA: Okay, now I’m jealous. I was born in San Diego and would love to move back. Maybe some day! Now, name three simple joys in your life.

GG:  My husband, children and grandchildren are my three joys other than my writing and painting.

CA: Wow! Not what I would call simple though – all three are bound to be complicated in some way, don’t you think? Still – lovely sentiment.  Onward! If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead or fictional, who would it be and where would you go to eat?

GG:  I would love to have dinner with Van Gogh. We would go to a French café in the Champs Elise and I would ask him about this or that painting that I love and how he got the idea to paint it. It would be thrilling beyond belief.

CA: Oh yes. Van Gogh would be a wonderful person to have dinner with! Now, if you could give just one piece of advice to a writer just starting out, what would it be?

GG: My piece of advice to a writer starting out is to join their local chapter of Romance Writers of America as soon as their legs can take them. Had I done that from the beginning, I would have saved myself a lot of strife and would have published sooner.

CA: I love my local RWA chapters, so I have to agree with you on this. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?

GG:  I think RWA writers are some of the most generous people in the world. They go out of their way to help other writers, especially those starting out, and I feel proud and happy to belong to such a group.

CA: Agreed! Thanks so much for dropping by, Gloria – it was great getting to know you.

Folks, here’s the cover, and a blurb…check it out!

Scandal At Almacks - Book Cover

EXCERPT

Lord Corville was surprised that Lady Jersey had led him directly into a vision of lovely youth. Usually wallflower duty was how it sounded, giving an opportunity to dance a few sets to girls who were in their first season and not likely to obtain dancing partners on their own because they lacked pedigree or were pretty enough but lacked an attractive dowry. The Almack’s patronesses took their duty to young girls in their first or second season very seriously, and in every ball the two in charge could be seen walking about, matching young ladies to reluctant young men.

Sebastian seldom if ever glanced toward the wallflower area, but now he regretted it. The moment he gave his gloved hand to this girl and led her to the dance floor, it was all he could do to keep his balance until they began their waltz.

Her touch was so sensual, he felt her hand not on his but directly on his groin. A hot frisson coursed along his nerve endings, and his whole body shuddered in anticipation. If he felt so much with only the soft touch of her hand on his, what would he feel with her in his arms?

Suddenly realizing where his mind was going, he shook off such outlandish thoughts. He was a bit foxed and couldn’t even remember what Lady Jersey said the girl’s name was during the introduction. He should have skipped that stop at Rothyn’s townhouse, as they’d dipped into bottles of claret before coming here.

Of course, it was turning out amazingly easy to keep his promise to his sister Camie. One dance with a wallflower debutante? Why this beautiful girl lacked dance partners was beyond his understanding. She was as lovely and as rare as an orchid, and her scent intoxicated him even more than the claret.

He had never felt such jumping sensations as he was now feeling while waltzing with her. Her eyes as she looked at him were sparkling blue aquamarines, and the tingling ripple the mere touch of her hand had started now throbbed along his groin so that his hand tightened on hers even as his breeches tightened. He quickly forced his eyes away from her lithe form, for just a quick glance at her curves unhinged him.

They swayed around the vast ballroom, and the lights from a thousand candles and the twirling couples confused him. The lovely girl in his arms became three identical girls who twirled round and round like the racing dials of a mad clock. He heard the waning notes of the waltz as it was coming to its end and felt so dizzy that, had he not held her, he would have lost his balance. He looked into the girl’s beautiful eyes and his gaze drifted downward. Her breasts, the tops of them peeking alluringly from her filmy gown, were so fetching that he wondered when he had ever seen a better pair. There was a small dark mole on her left breast, and a tiny rosebud by it, and so compelling was the tiny beauty mark that he was hypnotized.

The music had stopped. He looked into the girl’s lovely blue eyes and wondered why they were wide with alarm, and her voice was loud and clear in the silence that followed the conclusion of the waltz.

Oh!” she exclaimed.

Her hand on his shoulder slipped away as she fell to the floor, her crumpling body settling softly on his feet. Sebastian leaned down toward her prone body.

After a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes. A crowd had rushed forward, and there was a large circle of people around her and Sebastian, three or four deep, looking down with concern. And silence, as everyone just stared.

The girl was helped up by two gentlemen while Lord Corville continued to stare, speechless.

Lady Jersey broke the silence. “What happened to you, my dear?”

A twittering of exclamations rose like a deafening wave, and then sudden silence fell again as the crowd waited in suspense for the girl’s reply.

The girl spoke slowly but clearly, so that everyone heard her words. She looked directly into Lord Corville’s eyes and said, “Lord Corville touched me inappropriately.”

AUTHOR BIO

Gloria Gay has lived in San Diego, California the greater part of her life, where she worked as a legal secretary for twenty-five years and as a stringer for a local newspaper. Her heart, though, has always been with art and literature and it was one of the happiest days of her life when she wrote her first book.

Boroughs Publishing Group recently published her fifth Regency romance, Lovely Little Liar. Scandal at Almack’s, with the same publisher is Gloria’s sixth Regency romance. Her debut novel, First Season, earned a four-star review from Romantic Times Book Reviews. She is also the author of Forced Offer, Canceled Courtship and Known to All.

She lives with her husband, Enrique, an architect, in San Diego, California, and couldn’t be happier that their children and grand-children live nearby.

Here’s where you can find Gloria on the internet…

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – http://www.amazon.com/Gloria-Gay/e/B0065TEP9M/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

BLOG – http://gloriagay.com

FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/gloria.gay.58

TWITTER – https://twitter.com/gloria_gay_

GOOGLE+ – https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl

GOODREADS – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/745568.Gloria_Gay

SHELFARI – http://www.shelfari.com/books/37891656/Scandal-at-Almacks

WEBSITE – http://Authorsden.com/gloriagay

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Kendall Grey’s Hot Blooded Cover Reveal!

Kendall Grey’s Hot Blooded Cover Reveal!

Here is the blurb and COVER REVEAL for Kendall Grey’s latest, HOT BLOODED! Read on and share…

If Robert Rodriquez (Sin City), Tony Soprano, and David Lynch (Twin Peaks) made sweet love to a Hawaiian version of The Bride (Uma Thurman’s character from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill), the resulting spawn might look like Kendall Grey’s upcoming mystery/suspense/supernatural thriller, HOT-BLOODED.

The first installment in the Ohana series, HOT-BLOODED is set on the island of Maui and is wrapped in the light and dark watercolors of Hawaiian culture, history, and mythology. It’s about guns, drugs, surfing, and tiki monsters. HOT-BLOODED tells the tale of a ballsy, half-Hawaiian angel-turned-demon, the duplicitous assassin who falls for her, and the blessings and curses of family—all wrapped up in freaky, supernatural gift paper.

Here’s the description:

WARNING: HOT-BLOODED does NOT end with a happily ever after. It contains drug use and graphic sex, language, and violence. The story is intended to entertain, not to condone or glorify illegal or immoral activities. This book is unsuitable for sensitive readers and those under the age of 18.

*Written in 3rd person. Contains a massive cliffhanger and multiple POVs.

Ohana is everything…

When an accident claims her mother’s life, Keahilani Alana must take charge of her ohana (family) or risk losing what little they have. With an underage brother to care for and no education, she has few options. The door to a heavenly hellish opportunity opens when she stumbles upon a valuable secret her mother left behind on the slopes of an extinct volcano—a legacy that tempts the family with riches beyond their wildest dreams. But the secret is much bigger and more sinister than they realize. As reality unravels and exposes eerie truths about the ohana that should have remained deep under the mountain, Keahilani must either resist the call of her blood or risk being consumed by its darkness.

Blake Murphy is an assassin working to infiltrate a new Hawaiian cartel. His investigation reveals that Keahilani, the sexy surfing instructor he pegged as an informant, is much closer to the drug ring than he thought. Passion ignites between them in the bedroom, but their ironclad ties to opposing interests pit them against each other everywhere else.

When tensions reach the breaking point and her ohana is threatened, the only cure for Keahilani’s hot-blooded fury is a loaded clip with a body bag chaser.

They don’t call her Pele for nothing.

Kendall Grey's newest book, coming soon!

Kendall Grey’s newest book, coming soon!

This looks totally awesome! And I’m willing to bet more than a few men out there will really enjoy this series…

)O(

What do you think? Does the blurb make you want to read it? She’s definitely got ME curious!

 

 

Kat Martin on Writer Wednesday!

Kat Martin on Writer Wednesday!

I swiped this from Kat's website!

I swiped this from Kat’s website!

I am thrilled to have Kat Martin on Writer Wednesday. Kat and her husband, Larry, have been friends with my parents for many years, so it was of particular wonderfulness to be able to go see them and have lunch with them last month.

Left to Right, Julia Blake, me, Kat, and Tonya Plank - a lovely lunch!

Left to Right, Julia Blake, me, Kat, and Tonya Plank – a lovely lunch!

Let’s jump right in to the interview, shall we?

CA: They say every writer remembers when they got “the call” (or the letter) for publication. Would you share your story?

Kat: I was sitting in a restaurant with my hubby and my 3 best friends.  Agent called.  Said I had sold my book.  She said I got 4.  Since I had been turned down by every other publisher in New York, I assumed that meant $400.00  I didn’t care.  As far as I was concerned, my career was launched.  Later I found out it was $4,000!  Which was a whole lot better since we really needed the money!

CA: Wow! That’s totally awesome. What is the hardest part of writing for you? Characters? Story? Sagging middle? What’s the easiest part?

Kat: There is no easy part.  Characters seem to take care of themselves, so that isn’t tough for me.  I worry about saggy middles.  I worry about making all the pieces and parts come together in a way that makes sense.  I don’t relax until I reach the end and know I actually have a book.

CA: Wow – I was so hoping for an easy part! What was the best decision, writing-wise, that you ever made?

Kat: Remains to be seen.  I’ve changed publishers, agents, editors, many, many times.  Always with the idea of moving forward, moving my career ahead.  They were all tough decisions and there is no real way to know if they were the right ones.  At  least not yet!

CA: So maybe it’s continuing to write? What was the worst decision, writing wise, that you ever made?

Kat: Probably leaving Pocket Books.  They really wanted to make me a star and they had the power to do it.  Trouble was, they were really difficult to work for.  It was affecting my health and my creativity, so I  moved somewhere else.  Lost a great chance.

CA: But you have your health, and your creativity, so maybe you didn’t lose anything?You’ve written and had published over 60 novels, many of which landed on the NYT Bestseller list. Is getting on the list still as exciting now as it was the first time you hit it?

Kat: It’s just as exciting for sure!  And you never know if you are going to hit so it makes you edge-of-your-seat nervous.  Thrilling when it happens.

CA: Do you have a ritual that you do before you begin writing each day?

Kat: As with most women, my ritual starts with coffee, showering, make-up, hair, and getting dressed.  Then I do my email, check in on Facebook, then start working on my novel.  I go over what I wrote the day before and charge forward.

CA: I guess what I’m really asking is, do you ever procrastinate from writing, or do you just jump right in?

Kat: No way to procrastinate if you have a contract.  You don’t get paid if you don’t deliver, so if you plan to pay your bills, you go to work, just like any other job.

CA: Well, yeah, that’s totally true!  You live part time in California, and the rest of the time in Montana. In five sentences or less, what are the highlights of both places?

Kat: I live in the two of the best places in the world.  In California, it’s all sunshine and blue skies.  I live on one of the harbor channels so I get to watch the boats go in and out all day.  Seals come up to our dock.  In Montana, beautiful mountains, rugged landscape.  It’s a hard life, nothing like the beach.  70 mile round trip to the show.  But the wilderness is exhilarating.  Lots of wildlife, eagles, deer, Osprey.  You can be in the high mountains in about 5 minutes.   Whoops, that’s more than 5 sentences!

CA: Oh, that’s okay – like I’d edit you, lol!  So, do you go to writers’ conferences, readers’ conferences, or both? Why or why not?

Kat: I go to both.  I don’t like to fly or I would go to more of them.  I do it, but don’t like it.  My husband goes with me.  We usually hit RT, RWA, Western Writers of America.  I love Thrillerfest but its usually close to RWA, so I try to alternate.

CA: How big a role does social media play in your marketing strategies?

Kat: Since I don’t understand how to use it, not a lot.  I have a Facebook page.  I’m  on it.  I don’t understand the likes and all of that.  I don’t have any idea how that works.

CA: LOL – well, I can aim you at classes in Facebook if you want! So is marketing your novels now much different than when you first started?

Kat: It’s totally different.  We traveled the country talking to book buyers.  There were 1200 at the time.  Now there are about 5 and you can’t get in to see them.  And digital plays a new and extremely important role.

CA: Wow, I had no idea. Do you feel the marketplace is now more open for new writers, or is it more difficult, with the advent of self-publishing?

Kat: Way more difficult for newbies and for writers published in print.  New authors are buried in the hundreds of thousands of old and new books (particularly in romance) that are being put up as e-books.  Established authors have a thousand times more competition.

CA: Ouch. What do you wish someone had told you when you first started writing?

Kat: Nothing anyone said would have mattered.  I would have just kept on going, even if someone told me how hard it was going to be.  It’s a calling for some of us…a compulsion that seems to have no end.

CA: Oh  yeah, I totally resemble that.  So what is your favorite genre to read?

Kat: Romance is my fav.  I read across a lot of different genres, though.  A good book is a good book.  Period.

CA: Can you read fiction when you’re in the first draft of a novel, or do you stick to non-fiction? Because “they” say you shouldn’t read in the category you’re writing in while you’re writing…

Kat: I constantly read.  Anything and everything.  Little things pop into my head as I move through a story, things the author is doing that remind me of things I need to be doing.  Movies, TV, books.  All are great for ideas.

CA: Awesome! Okay, now for some quickies…

Cake or pie?  Pie!

Seafood or beef?  BEEF!

Coffee or tea? Coffee

Hugs or kisses?  I love kissing, but it depends on whose doing it!  Hugs are almost always good.

Potatoes or dessert?  Rice

Peeps or Cadbury Eggs? Cadbury.

CA: Anything else you want to talk about?

Kat: A little advice?  If you want to be a writer, keep writing and don’t let anyone stop you.  Persistence is the key.

Find me at:

My website ; Facebook ; and Twitter is @luvromance.

 

A novella, only 99 cents!

A novella, only 99 cents!

Against the Heart, a novella is out in e-book only for $.99  cents.

Devil’s Prize, historical, just re-issued with a gorgeous new cover.

AGAINST THE WILD, my next Against novel, is out May 27th

I’m so GLAD Kat could stop by! I’m hoping she’ll hang out today and answer questions, if you’ve got them for her.

Until next time – happy reading!

 

 

)O(