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Thursday, June 27, 2019

Summertime Reads

In Monday's Here Be News post, I told the world all about some exciting news: the contracting of some of my older, out of print books with vibrant new publishers. I couldn't be more excited, and I promise to share more when the release dates approach.

But I went and missed the most timely piece of news. A favorite novella has resurfaced this week in a smashing collection called Hot Fun in the Summer Time. While Nailed is only very lightly paranormal, it's a fun summer story, with just enough nerd humor to be amusing to me. So here's the scoop:

 The weather is heating up, but it's not just the sun and the sand which will keep you hot.

This summer anthology brought to you by the authors of Romance Books 4 Us will bring temperatures to your eReader that will set unheard of heat records. Burning the tips of your fingers while you turn the pages.

Sultry temperatures.
Passionate couples.
Unbelievable desire.


This is your ticket to... Hot Fun in the Summer Time.



Including:
Just Tell Me What You Want by Tina Donahue
Second Chance at Love by Marianne Stephens
Curating Love by Cara Marsi
Pleasure Quest by Tina Donahue
Ripped at the Seams by Deelylah Mullin
Building Up To Love by Joanne Jaytanie
Nailed by Cindy Spencer Pape
More Than Friends (Friends to Lovers Book 1) by Krista Ames
Cowgirls Don't Cry by Janice Seagraves
Dare to Feel by Nicole Morgan
Firecracker by Desiree Holt

Find it here: or wherever ebooks are sold. https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Fun-Summer-Time-Limited-ebook/dp/B07RRRZP2Q/

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

How Do You Shelve Your Books?

Okay, I admit it. I thrive in chaos. Just take a good look at one of my bookshelves

The other day, my neighbor came into my office to pick up a package UPS had left with us instead of leaving it on their porch, where it could have been stolen. Anyway, she asked me how I could find a particular book "in that mess". Actually, I don't have a problem. I pretty much know the general area (which shelf, left or right side) where each book is. But it got me to thinking.

How do you shelve your books?

I thought about starting a poll, but decided not to. Instead, just post a comment below.

For your print books, do you do it:

1. alphabetically by title
2. alphabetically by author name

3. somewhat chronologically -- latest bought goes at the end of the row (or top of the pile).
4. by genre
5. other (explain)


Same for your books on your ereader. 

As you can see, I go by number 5 when it comes to my print books. By "other", it's basically sticking it wherever I can find an empty spot. And on my kindle, it's chronologically.

Please tell me I'm not alone!
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New!

THE TRUNK
Sc-Fi, Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic, Time Travel Romance
Word Count: 44.6K
$3.99 e / $9.99 p

In the not too distant future, the human population is nearly wiped out by an alien invasion. Six years after the initial attack, Emlee Dow isn’t too worried about the continuing alien presence any longer. It’s the few humans left who pose a greater threat. Food and supplies are hard to come by, making survival an ever increasing struggle. Luckily, she finds refuge in an undiscovered basement room, containing enough supplies to last weeks.

Feeling full and relatively safe, Emlee decides to rest while she can. She wasn’t expecting her world to be turned upside down when she woke. Or for the already upside down world to be flipped right side up, pre-destruction. Thrown into the past, she meets Mykail, and has only days to convince him she’s not crazy before history repeats itself…or is it the future?

In these difficult and trying times, it’s hard to know who to trust. Just when you find someone, they’re lost just as quickly.

Can love be found again in the future? Or is it a thing of the past?  

Warning! Contains several outfit changes, broom handle self-defense, a spare key fob, expired food, freckles, the sound of thunder, a never-ending search for sanity in a world gone insane, and two people forced to wait years before love triumphs.

Excerpt and Buy Links

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

A Tale of Two Stories


I am not a multi-tasker. I generally like to work on one project at a time. So the idea I'd willingly assign myself the task of writing two stories at once—both of which need to be finished by the end of the year—seems farfetched. And yet...

It all started with the Common Elements Romance Project (more about that HERE). The idea appealed to me, the lead time was luxurious, and I had several story ideas that could easily be modified to include the “common elements” ie a lightning storm, lost keys, a haunted house (really haunted or rumored to be), a stack of thick books, and a person named Max.

Easy enough, right?

The first story I fixed on was Lightning in a Bottle, a steampunk story I’d had in the back of my mind for years. True, it was originally slated to be the third story in the as-yet-unwritten Winter Hearts quadrilogy, but with the addition of a short prologue, it works even better as book number one. Given the story, the characters and the set-up, it was a no-brainer adding most of the elements. Although I may have stretched the idea of what constitutes a person. 

A robotic dog totally counts…doesn’t it?

So, I settled down to work, interrupted by the occasional necessity to re-release some of my previously published books whose rights had reverted to me, and by the pressing need for an updated website.  And, yes, I knew going in that my non-multi-tasking muse would not be happy with me, but what I didn’t expect was that the witch would seek revenge by planting an irresistible plot bunny square in my path. 

I really should have known better.

It happened while I was editing Going To The Chapel, and making notes for the sequel, Going Up The Country. It occurred to me that I already had a lightning storm and haunted house built right into the flashback scenes. That lost keys would be a perfect goad to increase my heroine’s frustration as she attempts to storm off following a major blow-out with the hero, and there was even a minor character named Max (he and his wife keep trying to insist I call him Maxwell, but I’m not listening). All I need to add are some books.

Umm…yeah, that’ll be hard.

The clincher was that the book was set between Halloween and Thanksgiving—exactly when the Common Elements books are set to release.

How could I not write this book now?

So here I am, juggling two books at once and wondering if I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. Theoretically, I should be able to finish both books in time, but life has an annoying way of not going according to plan.

To be continued…


Monday, June 24, 2019

HERE BE NEWS for June 24, 2019








News from Cindy Spencer Pape:

After a long spell of not much, Cindy is pleased to report that almost all of her Ellora's Cave backlist has been picked up by Jianlai, Inc. for serialized digital publications. This platform will be mainly marketed at Chinese readers who love to read English-language fiction, which is a surprising large and largely untapped market. The novels to be republished include:
Dragon in the System
Djinni and the Geek
Teach Me
Wrong Side of Town
Novellas will be grouped into four additional bundles:
Love Me Like a Rock: Between a Rock and a Hard Dragon, Stone & Earth, Stone & Sea, Three for All, Stone & Fire, and Stone & Sky.
Holiday Hearts: Yuletide Enchantment, Like Bunnies, Valentine's Heart, Midsummer Magic, and All Hallows Evie.
Immortal Cravings: , Exploring Ari, Dani's Demons, Just for Jess, and Sporting Wood
Love Through the Years: Beltane Lion, Georgie and the Dragon, Unawakened, Marry Me, Marietta, and Where There's Smoke.

In other great news, Supernovie Indie Publishing, which currently offers Sea Change, and One Good Man (Co-written with the marvelous Lacey Thorn), will be picking up Cindy's Geek Love trilogy (Dragon in the System, Djinni and the Geek and Teach Me) for non-serialized digital and paperback publication. Hopefully these will be back on the shelves very soon.

Meanwhile, while she's not reformatting her backlist for serialization, Cindy is working on a new historical romance proposal and playing around with some new paranormal realities.


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Monday, June 17 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic.


Tuesday, June 18 -

"WRITERS and their FURRY ASSISTANTS" -  June 17-21 was "Take Your Pet to Work Week®". But you can still meet some of the four-footed sidekicks of the Here Be Magic authors!

Saturday, June 22 -
This week's Bring It Back(list) feature is OAK, Book 2 in the Celtic Legends Series by PG Forte. Scroll below for all the details.







OAK
Book 2 of the
Celtic Legend Series 
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?

Read an excerpt on HERE BE MAGIC 

Buy links: AMAZON, NOOK, APPLE, KOBO

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Saturday, June 22, 2019

Bring It Back(list) OAK 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?

Excerpt: 

At the time of the summer solstice

The Holly King was not happy. Kieran Mac Cuilenn, Lord of Misrule and Ruler of the Waning Year, had been awake since before the dawn, intent on making the most of every last minute of freedom before his six-month reign began. He was also eager to be reunited with his lover, if only for a few short hours. But the day was swiftly passing, and the Oak King had yet to make an appearance. This made the third time since sunrise that Kieran had climbed to the top of this lonely hill to stand beside the Oak King’s tree, to lay a hand against the oak’s rough bark and whisper words of encouragement. But, just like the last two times, his pleas went unanswered. Naught but the faintest of pulses emanated from within the massive trunk, letting him know that his friend and lover continued to slumber.
“Damn you, Rory,” Kieran grumbled as worry and disappointment ate away at his temper. “What ails you? Why won’t you wake up?” He struck the tree with his fist, feeling more like a petulant child than a mature dru just settling into midlife.
He sighed in exasperation. Every summer it grew harder to coax the older tree spirit from his tree. At this pace, it would not be long before the only time they saw each other was at the winter solstice, which was under Kieran’s control. If that was to be the way of it, he was half-tempted to play the same sort of game this next December.
Why should he not pay Rory back in kind for worrying him so? But he knew he would never carry through with the threat. Their time together was already so short; anything less was unacceptable. All the same, however, something would have to be done. Kieran had been as patient as he knew how. The time had come for action.
“I’ll be back soon, you old goat,” Kieran promised, dealing the heavy trunk another sharp blow. “And, when I return, I will have you out of there if I have to set fire to your roots to do so.” Then he turned and headed back down the hill, a foggy idea already beginning to take shape.
He’d tried soft words and sweet enticements—they hadn’t worked—and Kieran was no longer in the mood for gentle coaxing. He would find another way to rouse Rory and draw him forth. All he needed was the proper goad, something to ignite the Oak King’s passion and force him from slumber. But what?
He’d gone no distance at all before the exact thing he needed appeared to him in the person of a handsome young dru lurking in the shadows of the trees adjacent to the path Kieran trod.
Kieran’s footsteps slowed. The lad was vaguely familiar, though Kieran did not know him by name. Something about the self-conscious expression on the youth’s face, the flush on his cheeks, the awkward way he dived for the shelter of the trees as though attempting to conceal himself, caught Kieran’s attention. He stopped in his tracks and fixed the lad with a piercing gaze. “You, there. Come out here at once and tell me what you are doing.”
The young man flushed even harder. “Why, n-nothing, sire. I mean, Y-your Majesty.” Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders, then stepped boldly onto the path. “I was just… I’d hoped…” Abruptly the lad dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “I wanted to wish you a H-happy Solstice, m-my liege.”
“Happy?” Kieran repeated the word thoughtfully. He did not consider either of the solstices to be joyful occasions. Once he might have done so, he supposed, but they’d long since become the dreariest of days, forever associated with sacrifice and loss.
“Aye, Your Majesty. And also…to wish you well as your reign commences.” He paused, tongue darting nervously out to wet his lips, then continued in a rush. “I know you are always with us, my liege, whether we see you or no. But the world will seem a bleaker place until you return again to grace us with your presence.”
“I see.” Kieran felt a rush of attraction such as he could not remember feeling in a very long time. It was followed almost immediately, however, by one of regret. What a shame they had not crossed paths earlier in the year. As it was, he now had no time to pursue anything with… “Stand up, my boy. And, tell me, what is your name?”
“F-fionn, m-my liege,” he said rising slowly to his feet. “Fionn O’Dair.”
Fionn. Kieran repeated the name silently. He would really have to try and remember that. “Well, I thank you, Fionn, for your well wishes.” The boy was delightful, bright as a summer morn—an oak, obviously—and, perhaps because of that, Kieran was suddenly reminded, most forcefully, of Rory.
It was then that the half-realized ideas in Kieran’s head coalesced into a plan. What better way to gain the Oak King’s attention than to flaunt a new lover in front of him, to make love to this lad right in the shade of Rory’s branches? Why, nothing could be more perfect! He could indulge in a harmless flirtation with Fionn and roust Rory from his bed at the same time.
Knowing Rory as he did, Kieran was certain the oak would waste no time in making Kieran pay for his insolence. He’d be wont to take his wayward lover hard and fast—very much in the same manner as Kieran planned on taking Fionn, if he were willing. The thought only added to Kieran’s excitement.
A smile overspread Kieran’s face. “I wonder, young Fionn, how sincere are you in wishing me happy? For, if you’re willing, I can think of a way in which you might assist me in making this solstice a very happy one indeed.”