Monday, December 30, 2019

HERE BE NEWS for December 30, 2019 - and Happy New Year!

Posted by: Dani Harper, Author


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It's a CRAZY-busy time of year! From pirates to Yule monsters and from new releases to holiday romances, here's a list of our posts from December that you might want to catch up on ...  as soon as you catch your breath!


Tuesday, December 3 -
"EXCERPT FROM FERAL" - read a sample of the latest shapeshifter release from Nicole Luiken. 

Saturday, December 7 -
This week's Bring It Back(list) feature is THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT, a Paranormal Christmas Romance by Dani Harper.

Tuesday, December 10 -
"A HOLIDAY TOAST" - Some gifts don't come in boxes. Author Shawna Reppert shares memories and a toast to readers.

Wednesday, December 11 -
THE ‘LURE’ OF THE PIRATE LIFE” –  Author Ruth A. Casie explores the history of pirate Bartholomew Roberts, and the reasons why many like him chose such a path.

Thursday, December 12 -
"COFFEE IN THE SHOWER" - What do YOU do when you're too tired to think anymore? Author Linda Mooney reveals her brain revival secret. 

Saturday, December 14 
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This week's Bring It Back(list) features THREE sweet Christmas romances by Linda Mooney: The 13th Gift of Christmas (Contemporary Fantasy Romance), Breath of Christmas (Contemporary Fantasy Romance) and Sand Castle (Contemporary Romance)

Tuesday, December 17 -
"THE MANY MONSTERS OF CHRISTMAS" - Ghost Horses, Giant Cats, Demons and Werewolves – the Christmas season is both magical and strange. If you thought scary things only come out at Halloween, read Dani Harper's latest post! 

Wednesday, December 18 -
"TAKING IT TO THE MAT" - Author PG Forte finds meaning in yoga and some unexpected similarities to writing. PLUS she has a gift for readers: two Christmas stories that you can READ FOR FREE this holiday season.

Thursday, December 19 -
"JUST PRESS PAUSE" - Many of us feel like we're living our lives in 'fast forward' and would like to hit RESET. But a good story needs exactly that kind of momentum. Author Maureen Bonatch offers tips on both.

Saturday, December 28 -
This week's Bring It Back(list) feature is OAK, a Celtic Legends romance by PG Forte. Featuring both the Oak King and the Holly King, it's perfect for Yuletide reading! Check the blog post HERE for an excerpt.



And to wrap up our list for December, a brand new holiday love story:


TUFFY CLAUS
Contemporary Fantasy Romance
by Linda Mooney


Warning! Contains German chocolate cake, a modified red Harley, Sadie, justice served, a child's letter to Santa, a coffee date, and the promise of love when no hope of love had ever existed.


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Monday, December 23, 2019

HERE BE NEWS for December 23, 2019

Posted by: Dani Harper, Author

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Monday, December 16 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic.

Tuesday, December 17 -
"THE MANY MONSTERS OF CHRISTMAS" - Ghost Horses, Giant Cats, Demons and Werewolves – the Christmas season is both magical and strange. If you thought scary things only come out at Halloween, read Dani Harper's latest post on Here Be Magic! 

Wednesday, December 18 -
"TAKING IT TO THE MAT" - Author PG Forte finds meaning in yoga and some unexpected similarities to writing. PLUS she has a gift for readers: two Christmas stories that you can READ FOR FREE this holiday season.

Thursday, December 19 -

"JUST PRESS PAUSE" - Many of us feel like we're living our lives in 'fast forward' and would like to hit RESET. But a good story needs exactly that kind of momentum. Author Maureen Bonatch offers tips on both.

Saturday, December 28 -

This week's Bring It Back(list) feature is OAK, a Celtic Legends romance by PG Forte. Scroll below for all the details, or check the blog post HERE for an excerpt.





OAK
Celtic Legends
Book 2 
by PG Forte

Twice each year, Aine Murphy ventures into the woods to hold ceremonies to honor the Oak King and the Holly King, never dreaming these Lords of the Forest could be anything more than myth. When the legends spring to life in front of her, how can she help but fall for the sexy demi-gods she's loved all her life?

From midwinter to midsummer, Fionn O'Dair rules the Greenworld as the Oak King--a role he feels is beyond his abilities, and one that dooms him to a loveless future, forever craving the one man he can never allow himself to have. How can he resist what Aine offers--the sweet devotion that soothes his aching soul, and the slim chance to live a "normal" life as her husband, if only for half a year?


Holly King Kieran Mac Cuilenn never desired a human lover--until now. Seeing Fionn and Aine together fills him with longing for the love he threw away and awakens feelings he thought he'd buried with the last Oak King. Is there enough magic in the solstice to correct the mistakes he made years ago? Or is he doomed to be forever left out in the cold?

Buy link:  https://www.amazon.com/Oak-Celtic-Legends-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07GJCYKTL
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Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday season
from all of us at Here Be Magic


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Saturday, December 21, 2019

Bring It Back(list) ~ Oak, by PG Forte

Posted by: PG Forte

Happy Winter Solstice everyone! I posted a few days ago about yoga and how similar a yoga practice is to the act of writing, but I was in class again today—on the Solstice—and we did several variations of Tree Pose, which took my mind right to OAK. For those of you who don’t know this book (which was previously released under the title The Oak King) it’s a reframing of the Oak King, Holly King story as a Solstice-centric, MMF, holiday ménage romance, set in 19th century Ireland.

Because who doesn’t love a little genre blending? And it just wouldn’t be the holidays without a Holiday Menage (I’m looking at you, Finders Keepers).

Anyway, back to yoga. Several of us were having more problems this morning than usual with our balance (in life as well as on our mats, I think!) and so my teacher spent a lot of time discussing the importance of finding the balance between alertness and relaxation. While we were in Reclining Tree Pose she also talked about how the mind has a tendency to drift away from the body…

Which was when my mind left the room entirely, and went directly to this scene at the end of Oak. It’s the morning of the Winter Solstice, and Fionn has just begun his six-month reign as The Oak King:

The world was not what it once was. Of that Fionn O’Dair was certain. It was a bright and beautiful place this pristine morning. A world reborn. Though it still slumbered in its snowy bed, he could feel the life within it. Curled up and folded in upon itself, it was like a seed in the dark, awaiting the light of the sun’s rays to quicken it and bring it forth. As his mind expanded outward, Fionn was aware of the joy that lay at the center of all creation. He could feel it aching to break free and explode into the world in swollen creeks after a spring thaw, in sweet-scented blossoms unfurling on a leafy branch, in newborn lambs dancing in the meadow.

He felt like dancing himself, if only that were possible. It was not, however. It would be several long months before he could dance again. This morning, even that was all right. He was content to stand here, tall and proud, ruling over the woodlands, protecting all that he held dear…

the Oak King’s thoughts drifted and spread, traveling throughout the forests and the woodlands, all across the Greenworld; life calling to life. Far and wide his thoughts went, to the ends of the earth and back again, whispering the world awake on this perfect winter morning.

* * * * *

Twice each year, Aine Murphy ventures into the woods to hold ceremonies to honor the Oak King and the Holly King, never dreaming these Lords of the Forest could be anything more than myth. When the legends spring to life in front of her, how can she help but fall for the sexy demi-gods she's loved all her life?

From midwinter to midsummer, Fionn O'Dair rules the Greenworld as the Oak King--a role he feels is beyond his abilities, and one that dooms him to a loveless future, forever craving the one man he can never allow himself to have. How can he resist what Aine offers--the sweet devotion that soothes his aching soul, and the slim chance to live a "normal" life as her husband, if only for half a year?

Holly King Kieran Mac Cuilenn never desired a human lover--until now. Seeing Fionn and Aine together fills him with longing for the love he threw away and awakens feelings he thought he'd buried with the last Oak King. Is there enough magic in the solstice to correct the mistakes he made years ago? Or is he doomed to be forever left out in the cold?


* * * * *

Just as a reminder, I'm still offering these Free Reads for the Holidays! Also, I'd like to invite you to join my Facebook Group, The Crone's Nest. I'm not sure yet what I'll be giving away to my group this year, but join it and find out! 

Free For The Holidays


This Winter Night
Winter Hearts 0.25

Newlyweds Dario and Ophelia Leonides are passionately in love. There are only two things marring their happiness this holiday season—Lia's homesickness and her continued inability to conceive a child.

Dario would do anything to make his wife smile again. He's hoping to use the miraculous technology his father-in-law has pioneered, combined with the magic inherent in his native land. But calling upon the forces of Kokopeli may have unintended consequences. 

This prequel to This Winter Heart is available as a FREE READ.
Click HERE  to download.



Counting On Christmas
An Ugly Christmas Sweater Story
This Ugly Christmas Sweater short story features the characters Mike and Claire from Let Me Count the Ways (LA Love Lessons, book 3). Mike's been a very good boy this year and Santa Claire has the perfect present picked out for him--one that's both naughty and nice!
***This story was originally released as part of the Nine Naughty Novelists' Ugly Christmas Sweater story collection ~ Volume I***
Click HERE to download.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Just Press Pause

Posted by: Maureen
By Maureen Bonatch


My clock in my office 

The last year has left me feeling as if I’ve been living my life in fast forward. There have been many changes in my life, and that of my family, that have resulted in the months flying by. The swiftness of passing time has often left me fatigued from trying to keep up, although It’s struck me that as a reader this pace is something I enjoy in a book, and as a writer, it’s something I’ve strived to achieve.

Fast Forward


Start with the action. That’s the advice often given to writers, and what I look for as a reader. I don’t want to be weighted down with a lot of backstory before I even get invested in the character. As a writer, it can be challenging to achieve since I know these characters, and I want you to know them as I do and either love and hate them the same. Thus it tempts me to share all those little idiosyncrasies that make up their character right from the get go, and to tell you their whole backstory so you know why they act like they do.

Don’t Constantly Rewind


As a reader, I don’t care to learn everything about a character as soon as they walk onto the page. It’s as if the rewind button is constantly on during the story and we aren’t making any progress. Consider that when we meet a real person—not that our characters and book buddies aren’t real to us in our mind—we don’t usually start with hearing their whole life story. There are those people. You’ve probably met them. I know I have and most of the time I'm tempted me to flee, or to try to avoid running into that person again.

Press Pause


The trick is finding that balance between learning just enough about the character to become invested, but not too much that you want to CTLR- ALT-DEL the story just to make it stop. When I read I love the action, but I also want some dialogue, and perhaps to pause a minute and tell me what’s going on in the environment. To allow me to see through the characters eyes and pause and reflect on what’s happening now and what might happen next.

Hit Reset


This hurried pace of this year has caused me to neglect some areas of my life as other areas demanded all of my time and attention. As the year rapidly comes to a close, I hope to spend some time reflecting on the things that make up a good story and apply some to my own. To make more time to pause so the fast pace doesn’t prevent me from appreciating the little things that make up each day.

One thing I have achieved this year was to find more time for reading. There’s nothing like a good story to reduce stress and add adventure into an ordinary day. If you’re still finishing up your shopping, or perhaps you deserve a few gifts yourself, you can check out this Holiday Gift Guide. A few of my books are featured, but there’s a variety of books to choose from. 


 

What Was the Pace of Your Year?


Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her websiteFacebookTwitter

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