New! MATTOX, The D'Jacques Dynasty, Book 3, a Futuristic/Post-Apocalyptic Romance by Linda Mooney

New!

MATTOX
The D'Jacques Dynasty, Book 3
Futuristic/Post-Apocalyptic Romance
By Linda Mooney
Word Count: 61.4 K
$3.99 e / $9.99 p

Every five years, Yulen D’Jacques, Battle Lord of Alta Novis, holds a conference to continue strengthening relations between the Normals and Mutah. Both battle lords and Mutah councilmembers from far and wide are invited in an effort to prove how important they could be to each other, and to dismiss any misconceptions Normals may still have toward the people they once considered their inferior enemies.  

This time, it’s determined Mattox D’Jacques, Battle Prince of Alta Novis, should take on some of the responsibilities of running the conference. After all, he eventually will be the one to take the reins from his parents, but his Mutah “tell” usually scares people off rather than gains him respect.

Caralas Edge is the battle princess of Vega City, the biggest compound in the west. But she doesn’t want to just be a princess, and have someone coddling her because of her title. She can hold her own. It’s moot anyway. She knows she’ll never take over Vega City, fearing someone wants to get her father out of the way so they can claim it for themselves. She’s long had her suspicions, but her father will hear none of it.

She and Mattox clash like two swords when they first meet. They’re too much alike in temperament. But when the red-eyed battle prince saves Caralas’ life, they discover the danger is not over. It seems someone is interested in the inner workings of the compound, and it’s more than a little suspicious. But who? With this many battle lords in attendance, trouble is sure to be found.

A possible takeover is brewing, but everyone is completely taken off guard when faced with an enemy no one can fight off. And when it becomes a battle to the death, Mattox and Caralas discover a deeper connection between them than they ever thought possible.

Warning! Contains flying weapons, tasty grilled snake, massive troop employment, head-butting, the destruction of a compound, treachery and deceptions, and a deadly force of nature that makes two people realize they need each other physically and emotionally in order to survive. 

Excerpt and Buy Links

Additional Scene from The HEARTFAST Series, by Linda Mooney

This month, I'm offering up a FREE additional scene from my HEARTFAST series!

It’s been twenty years since StarLight and Master Hunter rescued their daughter from the clutches of StarLight’s father. Since then, there have been a few changes at Guardian Command—friends and comrades lost, members retired, and new recruits initiated into the elite group of super-powered heroes.

One day when they’re to interview prospective new members, of the three applicants, two are a pleasant but not unexpected surprise. But the third one solves a long ago mystery they never thought would be answered.

HERE BE NEWS for Monday April 26, 2021

 

                            

Monday, April 26, 2021 

Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:

Tuesday April 20, 2021: Deborah Bailey gives us Ten tips for Blog Tours

Thursday April 22, 2021: Sign up for PG Forte's new giveaway!

 I was looking for a scene with an April theme, and I  found one here in the opening chapter of A Taste of Honey--a book I always associate with May. Go figure. 

A Taste of Honey

Oberon, Book Four 

by PG Forte 

Paranormal Romance/Romantic Suspense 

This title is currently out of print. However, I'm currently in the process of re-booting the entire series. Join my FB group for updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheCronesNest and get a FREE novella (details below).

BLURB: 

For Lucy Greco Cavanaugh, life is a dream come true. She has it all. The perfect family. The perfect husband. The perfect marriage. What more could she wish for? Other than the chance to do it all again. To experience once more the agony and ecstasy of falling in love with the man of her dreams. To recapture the joy and uncertainty that comes with starting over.

​ As far as Dan Cavanaugh is concerned, his life has become a nightmare. His storybook marriage is on the line when Deirdre Shelton-Cooper, the runaway daughter of a former girlfriend arrives in Oberon intent on proving Dan is her father. Even though he's convinced the girl's claims are false, Dan decides his only chance to keep from losing everything lies in keeping her very existence a secret from his wife and family.

But, sometimes, what you don't know can hurt you—and those you love. When Deirdre, masquerading as a surfer girl named Monica, accidentally hooks up with their son, Seth, Lucy and Dan are left to wonder: has their perfect, fairy-tale romance, turned into a classic Greek tragedy?

Sometimes you get exactly what you wish for. And it's more than you'd ever dreamed.

EXCERPT:

The present. Mid April. 

In a lot of ways, Oberon is typical of any one of several small towns to be found along California’s Central Coast. Clinging to sheer, corrugated green cliffs above a windswept strand of pale, golden sand, it lacks a little of the endless sunshine boasted by its neighbors to the south, enjoying instead a milder, more temperate climate and, for much of the year, a lot of fog.

The area surrounding the town lacks one other very important California mainstay as well: the plethora of freeways that grace most of the rest of state are largely absent here. Bounded on the west by the broad, brilliant blue crescent of San Bartolo Bay, and to the east by the majestic bulk of Mt. Totawka, the ‘sacred mountain’ of local lore, Oberon is virtually isolated. Set amid a tangled network of canyons and creeks, undeveloped wilderness and—where the landscape and the environment have cooperated—acres of agricultural fields, it’s a hard place to get to. It can be an even harder place to leave behind.

But if Oberon was ever the type of funky beach town where teenaged girls with sun bleached hair, driving station wagons with surfboards tied to the roof was a common sight, it certainly is not that way anymore. So when Lucy Greco-Cavanaugh did happen to spy one, rolling down Main Street one sunny morning late in April, followed only a few minutes later, by a longhaired young man in a VW convertible rabbit, also with surfboard, she knew something strange was up. 

 Perhaps someone was making a movie, she reasoned. Or maybe—and being a lifetime resident of Oberon this was of course the theory she favored—a sudden tear in the fabric of space-time had inadvertently allowed her to take a nostalgic glimpse back in time to the California-dreamin’ fantasies of an earlier age.

Not coincidentally, this time displacement theory was one that she found herself applying to more and more events of late. She was thirty-seven years old, and she had memories that spanned most of those years, albeit, with varying amounts of clarity. But somehow, lately, it was almost as if all those memories didn’t quite add up the way they should. 

 For several months now, she had been aware of a vague sense of dissatisfaction growing within her, coupled with a worrisome preoccupation with the past. As if some invisible anchor line that had once kept her mind tethered in the present had been cut. No matter how hard she tried to stay focused, her mind kept drifting back to places it had already been.

Perhaps it had to do with the fact that while everyone around her seemed suddenly immersed in fresh new lives and new loves, she’d had to content herself with more of the same old, same old. Not that there was any part of her life that she wanted to change, she reminded herself sternly. She took a moment to rap her knuckles against the side of one of the wooden half barrels that served as planters on the terrace of the tea shop where she and her two best friends were having breakfast. The same old everything she had was pretty damn great.

She had two wonderful kids, satisfying work, a comfortable house, and she’d been happily married to the love of her life for the past sixteen and a half years. It was just that, after all those years, everything seemed to have gotten the slightest bit stale. She couldn’t help but remember how things used to be—

“Okay, Lucy,” Marsha snapped, “What’s wrong? You’ve been sitting here sighing to yourself for the past half-hour. You’re driving me nuts.”

Lucy frowned as she reached across the table for the pot of lavender honey. “Nothing’s wrong,” she answered. She could feel both Marsha and Scout eyeing her curiously as she occupied herself for several minutes deliberately drizzling the honey over the buttered French baguette on her plate, but she refused to return their gazes. “And anyway, I was not sighing.”

“You were sighing,” Marsha insisted. “Wasn’t she sighing, Scout?”

Lucy looked up impatiently as Scout turned weary hazel eyes in her direction. “What can I say, Lucy? It sounded like sighing to me, too.” Scout shrugged, absently stroking her baby’s head. Three-week-old Cole, who was turning out to be one of those preternaturally alert infants who have to be held all the time, had finally fallen asleep at her breast.

“Well, you’re wrong. Both of you.” Lucy took a big bite of bread and honey, and stared defiantly at her friends: Marsha with her new boyfriend, and Scout with both a new husband and a new baby. There was no way she was ever going to discuss what was bothering her with either of them.

She couldn’t believe that, with everything she had to be grateful for, she could still be so petty. She couldn’t believe that she would actually begrudge her two best friends a little happiness. But the plain fact of the matter was that she was so jealous of both of them, it was a wonder she wasn’t as green as an avocado. She saw the way Sam acted around Marsha, the way Nick looked at Scout, and she knew that once, she and Dan had been that way, too. Somewhere along the way it seemed they had lost that.

And she wanted it back. Oh, how she wanted it back! But, after all these years— she wasn’t sure that was even possible.

You couldn’t recreate newness could you? You couldn’t expect to discover anything too different about the same old person you’d been regularly and intimately exploring for almost two decades. And how could anyone ever hope to recapture the exquisite torture of doubt and uncertainty that so often accompanied the first stages of love? She wasn’t even sure she wanted to--except when she remembered the way the agony transformed into ecstasy…

Be careful what you wish for, a soft voice seemed to whisper in her head. She shivered as a gust of wind swept across the terrace setting the wind chimes to tinkling in the trees around them. Lavender spikes swayed on their long stems and the tiny pink Cecile Brunner roses that covered the arbor over their heads shed a few more petals onto the table. Cole whimpered slightly. Lucy watched as Scout wrapped his blanket more snugly around her baby and Marsha picked the petals out of her teacup.

Such Fleeting Pleasures
An Oberon Prequel Novella, 0.5
by PG Forte
Paranormal Romance

BLURB:

Love wasn't always strawberries and cream for Lucy and Dan Cavanaugh...or was it? In this Oberon prequel, we travel back in time to see how it all began. 

Most of the material in this prequel novella (which is set some eighteen years before the series begins) also appears as flashback scenes in A Taste of Honey. But you can download it (and read it NOW) for FREE when you join my Facebook group: The Crone's Nest

Read an excerpt HERE

Bring It Back(list) A Taste of Honey by PG Forte

 I was looking for a scene with an April theme, and I  found one here in the opening chapter of A Taste of Honey--a book I always associate with May. Go figure. 

A Taste of Honey

Oberon, Book Four 

by PG Forte 

Paranormal Romance/Romantic Suspense 

This title is currently out of print. However, I'm currently in the process of re-booting the entire series. Join my FB group for updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheCronesNest and get a FREE novella (details below).

BLURB: 

For Lucy Greco Cavanaugh, life is a dream come true. She has it all. The perfect family. The perfect husband. The perfect marriage. What more could she wish for? Other than the chance to do it all again. To experience once more the agony and ecstasy of falling in love with the man of her dreams. To recapture the joy and uncertainty that comes with starting over.

​ As far as Dan Cavanaugh is concerned, his life has become a nightmare. His storybook marriage is on the line when Deirdre Shelton-Cooper, the runaway daughter of a former girlfriend arrives in Oberon intent on proving Dan is her father. Even though he's convinced the girl's claims are false, Dan decides his only chance to keep from losing everything lies in keeping her very existence a secret from his wife and family.

But, sometimes, what you don't know can hurt you—and those you love. When Deirdre, masquerading as a surfer girl named Monica, accidentally hooks up with their son, Seth, Lucy and Dan are left to wonder: has their perfect, fairy-tale romance, turned into a classic Greek tragedy?

Sometimes you get exactly what you wish for. And it's more than you'd ever dreamed.

EXCERPT:

The present. Mid April. 

In a lot of ways, Oberon is typical of any one of several small towns to be found along California’s Central Coast. Clinging to sheer, corrugated green cliffs above a windswept strand of pale, golden sand, it lacks a little of the endless sunshine boasted by its neighbors to the south, enjoying instead a milder, more temperate climate and, for much of the year, a lot of fog.

The area surrounding the town lacks one other very important California mainstay as well: the plethora of freeways that grace most of the rest of state are largely absent here. Bounded on the west by the broad, brilliant blue crescent of San Bartolo Bay, and to the east by the majestic bulk of Mt. Totawka, the ‘sacred mountain’ of local lore, Oberon is virtually isolated. Set amid a tangled network of canyons and creeks, undeveloped wilderness and—where the landscape and the environment have cooperated—acres of agricultural fields, it’s a hard place to get to. It can be an even harder place to leave behind.

But if Oberon was ever the type of funky beach town where teenaged girls with sun bleached hair, driving station wagons with surfboards tied to the roof was a common sight, it certainly is not that way anymore. So when Lucy Greco-Cavanaugh did happen to spy one, rolling down Main Street one sunny morning late in April, followed only a few minutes later, by a longhaired young man in a VW convertible rabbit, also with surfboard, she knew something strange was up. 

 Perhaps someone was making a movie, she reasoned. Or maybe—and being a lifetime resident of Oberon this was of course the theory she favored—a sudden tear in the fabric of space-time had inadvertently allowed her to take a nostalgic glimpse back in time to the California-dreamin’ fantasies of an earlier age.

Not coincidentally, this time displacement theory was one that she found herself applying to more and more events of late. She was thirty-seven years old, and she had memories that spanned most of those years, albeit, with varying amounts of clarity. But somehow, lately, it was almost as if all those memories didn’t quite add up the way they should. 

 For several months now, she had been aware of a vague sense of dissatisfaction growing within her, coupled with a worrisome preoccupation with the past. As if some invisible anchor line that had once kept her mind tethered in the present had been cut. No matter how hard she tried to stay focused, her mind kept drifting back to places it had already been.

Perhaps it had to do with the fact that while everyone around her seemed suddenly immersed in fresh new lives and new loves, she’d had to content herself with more of the same old, same old. Not that there was any part of her life that she wanted to change, she reminded herself sternly. She took a moment to rap her knuckles against the side of one of the wooden half barrels that served as planters on the terrace of the tea shop where she and her two best friends were having breakfast. The same old everything she had was pretty damn great.

She had two wonderful kids, satisfying work, a comfortable house, and she’d been happily married to the love of her life for the past sixteen and a half years. It was just that, after all those years, everything seemed to have gotten the slightest bit stale. She couldn’t help but remember how things used to be—

“Okay, Lucy,” Marsha snapped, “What’s wrong? You’ve been sitting here sighing to yourself for the past half-hour. You’re driving me nuts.”

Lucy frowned as she reached across the table for the pot of lavender honey. “Nothing’s wrong,” she answered. She could feel both Marsha and Scout eyeing her curiously as she occupied herself for several minutes deliberately drizzling the honey over the buttered French baguette on her plate, but she refused to return their gazes. “And anyway, I was not sighing.”

“You were sighing,” Marsha insisted. “Wasn’t she sighing, Scout?”

Lucy looked up impatiently as Scout turned weary hazel eyes in her direction. “What can I say, Lucy? It sounded like sighing to me, too.” Scout shrugged, absently stroking her baby’s head. Three-week-old Cole, who was turning out to be one of those preternaturally alert infants who have to be held all the time, had finally fallen asleep at her breast.

“Well, you’re wrong. Both of you.” Lucy took a big bite of bread and honey, and stared defiantly at her friends: Marsha with her new boyfriend, and Scout with both a new husband and a new baby. There was no way she was ever going to discuss what was bothering her with either of them.

She couldn’t believe that, with everything she had to be grateful for, she could still be so petty. She couldn’t believe that she would actually begrudge her two best friends a little happiness. But the plain fact of the matter was that she was so jealous of both of them, it was a wonder she wasn’t as green as an avocado. She saw the way Sam acted around Marsha, the way Nick looked at Scout, and she knew that once, she and Dan had been that way, too. Somewhere along the way it seemed they had lost that.

And she wanted it back. Oh, how she wanted it back! But, after all these years— she wasn’t sure that was even possible.

You couldn’t recreate newness could you? You couldn’t expect to discover anything too different about the same old person you’d been regularly and intimately exploring for almost two decades. And how could anyone ever hope to recapture the exquisite torture of doubt and uncertainty that so often accompanied the first stages of love? She wasn’t even sure she wanted to--except when she remembered the way the agony transformed into ecstasy…

Be careful what you wish for, a soft voice seemed to whisper in her head. She shivered as a gust of wind swept across the terrace setting the wind chimes to tinkling in the trees around them. Lavender spikes swayed on their long stems and the tiny pink Cecile Brunner roses that covered the arbor over their heads shed a few more petals onto the table. Cole whimpered slightly. Lucy watched as Scout wrapped his blanket more snugly around her baby and Marsha picked the petals out of her teacup.

Such Fleeting Pleasures
An Oberon Prequel Novella, 0.5
by PG Forte
Paranormal Romance

BLURB:

Love wasn't always strawberries and cream for Lucy and Dan Cavanaugh...or was it? In this Oberon prequel, we travel back in time to see how it all began. 

Most of the material in this prequel novella (which is set some eighteen years before the series begins) also appears as flashback scenes in A Taste of Honey. But you can download it (and read it NOW) for FREE when you join my Facebook group: The Crone's Nest

Read an excerpt HERE

Surprise Giveaway!

 It was a big surprise to learn that my novel, In the Dark, had been released on the KISS App. To be honest, I didn't know a lot about the App before that, and I've been scrambling a little to catch up. But thanks to the lovely people at KISS I have a stack of coins to give away (50 coins to each of 4 winners). 

So here's all the info you need to get in on that action!

KISS is a new and exciting way to experience Romance stories of all genres. Enjoy serialized quality content from NYT and USA Today bestselling authors, available right from your phone.

KISS has hundreds of titles and authors to choose from, including new and exclusive content from some of your favorite voices!

Best of all, you can choose just how much to read with our pay-as-you-go format!

Where can I download it? 

IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kiss-read-write-romance/id1508942129

Android: Kiss: Read & Write Romance - Apps on Google Play

Link to PG's Giveaway:  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ten Tips for Using Blog Tours in Your Book Marketing Plan

Book marketing can be incredibly daunting, especially when you're the writer, publisher, and marketer. Wearing all the hats is difficult enough when it comes to "indie" publishing, so why not look for ways to make the process less stressful?

When I wrote my first novel I had no idea that blog tours existed. As you can imagine, writing a first book while learning about book marketing was a lot. These days social media adds yet another wrinkle as authors struggle with trying to post on a multitude of platforms.

So, here are my tips for using blog tours when you want to get your book out there.

1. You can let someone else handle the work – if you hire a blog tour company they're the ones that take care of scheduling. They already have a listing of blogs at their disposal, which saves you time.

2. The blogs are specialized to your genre – the tour companies I've used can gear your tour to blogs that want to promote the type of books you write.

3. They can design marketing materials for you – often the tour banner and other promotional images are included in the price of the tour. Sure, I've created a lot of graphics on Canva, but it takes time to do even if you use templates.

4. You can pick the type of tour – for instance, if you want to do one book blast, or do weekly stops, that's up to you.

5. It's a good way to connect with bloggers – when I've done tours I've often maintained relationships with the bloggers after the tour has finished.

6. Doing it yourself can be tough – sure you can set up your own blog promos, but sometimes you find that bloggers who used to feature books are no longer active or on hiatus. Doing a tour with a company usually ensures that the blogs are active and available to post.

7. Social media alone doesn't work - as we all know by now, social media has it's own challenges. Algorithms limit the visibility of posts (unless you pay) so unless you post multiple times per day you may not be seen. Being promoted on a blog gives you the chance to be seen by their regular visitors (and their social media followers) which increases your reach.

8. You can share information about yourself –you can introduce yourself to new readers by sharing interviews and guest posts.

9. Keep the focus on marketing – sure we all want to sell books, but in my experience, book tours are more for marketing than selling. Blog commenters like to interact with authors and that's a great way to make those connections – and let them know about your other books!

10. Keep reviews optional – I host blog tours on my site but I don't host the review-only tours. Why? Because unfortunately I don’t have time to read and review all of those books (in addition to managing real-life responsibilities). My TBR list is challenging enough! Often a blogger will review a book if they want, so it's not to say you won't ever get a review. But, for me, being featured on the blogger's site is more important. You may not get a lot of reviews up front, but you never know who will see your book and want to read it (and ultimately review it).

 After the pandemic hit, a lot of authors were forced to focus on online marketing. There's nothing wrong with having a mix of ways to reach your audience, but at least for now, online is essential. If you can reach your ideal readers (and not have to do it all yourself) it's worth giving blog tours a try.

 

HERE BE NEWS for Monday April 19, 2021

 

                            

Monday, April 19, 2021 

Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:

Thursday April 15, 2021: Author Maureen Bonatch resolves to be happier through reading in this post from the archives. 

From the Archives: Resolve to be Happier Through Reading by Maureen Bonatch

This post first appeared on January 1, 2019

  "I don’t read.” 

I’m always amazed when someone tells me this with a little pride in their voice, as if reading is an unsavory vice.

Or when someone says, “I don’t have time to read.” As if reading is a waste of time when there are more pressing things to attend to in life. 

Reading= Happiness

If you’re here, most likely you’d agree that there are many positive things that come from reading, most importantly, happiness. For isn’t that the root of most New Year’s resolutions? Finding happiness? 

Whether it’s through losing weight, getting more money, more time, of other goals that aren’t always easily achieved, if at all. While reading can bring peace, happiness, and more with no cost other than a little bit of your time.

For the Reading Nay-sayers

The next time someone says that they don’t read, or they have no time for it, perhaps the best response would be to say, that’s a shame. Then proceed to mention the benefits that come along with the happiness at escaping from the worries of the world. Thing like:

• Mental Stimulation and memory improvement- To hold off cognitive decline by engaging our minds
• Stress Reduction and Tranquility– We all look forward to escaping for a vacation, or a getaway, but sometimes it’s a long wait. Reading allows us to escape for a magical reprieve, anytime, anywhere.
• Gaining Knowledge – Through exposure to new words, different cultures, and perspectives that may help you think more analytically 
• Expanding Vocabulary– Which can help you become more articulate and maybe even increase your self-confidence 
• Free Entertainment – We all like to be entertained. Reading is one way to enjoy this luxury for no more than the cost of a book, or free if you belong to a library 

…Just to name a few. 

Must Love Books

Some might even say that all these benefits may mean that reading makes you a happier person. It’s certainly one of the easiest resolutions to keep, and one of the most enjoyable. 

Perhaps instead of making resolutions that you feel obligated to make, that you might dread just a little, or the same one you make year after year. Perhaps to resolve to make more time for reading, and have a happier new year.

Happy New Year!

Does Reading Make You Happier?

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 website, Facebook& Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazon and/or signing up for her newsletter

HERE BE NEWS for Monday April 12, 2021

 

                            

Monday, April 12, 2021 

Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:

                                       

Friday April 9, 2021: Author PG Forte talks about some of her recent struggles with visibility and her author name. 

MINE UNTIL MIDNIGHT

Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Western Romance

by Linda Mooney

Word Count: 39.9K

$3.99 e / $9.99 p / $14.95 a 
Narrated by Guy Veryzer
Length: 4 hrs, 14 min
Hear a Sample  

He gambled and won something more valuable than money. He won love.

It started off as a little R&R on a backwater planet. All Ruce Haulk wanted was a place where he could breathe some fresh air, have a stiff drink, and perhaps while away a few hours at a game of chance. He should have known better. Before he's aware, he's embroiled in the middle of a flesh-peddling scheme, and the woman he "wins" is someone he never expected to find.

The moment Remi Clysonne saw the stranger take on Yarnell and his men single-handedly, she knew he was her only chance at escaping. She doesn't blame him when he doubts her claim that she's there to bring Yarnell to justice. What's more, she suspects there may be another reason why he's reluctant to offer aid.

What should have been a brief layover quickly becomes an all-out struggle for survival as Haulk and Remi battle their way out of an increasingly tangled mess. But the secrets they're keeping from each other may tear them apart before they manage to get away from this world and to safety.

Warning! Contains a clothes swap, levitating locomotives, watery soup, a pretty silver star, thousand-degree heat, attack dirigibles, and two people totally unprepared for whatever the future might hold for them.

Excerpt and Buy Links

Bring It Back(List) - MINE UNTIL MIDNIGHT, a Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Western Romance by Linda Mooney

MINE UNTIL MIDNIGHT

Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Western Romance

by Linda Mooney

Word Count: 39.9K

$3.99 e / $9.99 p / $14.95 a 
Narrated by Guy Veryzer
Length: 4 hrs, 14 min
Hear a Sample  

He gambled and won something more valuable than money. He won love.

It started off as a little R&R on a backwater planet. All Ruce Haulk wanted was a place where he could breathe some fresh air, have a stiff drink, and perhaps while away a few hours at a game of chance. He should have known better. Before he's aware, he's embroiled in the middle of a flesh-peddling scheme, and the woman he "wins" is someone he never expected to find.

The moment Remi Clysonne saw the stranger take on Yarnell and his men single-handedly, she knew he was her only chance at escaping. She doesn't blame him when he doubts her claim that she's there to bring Yarnell to justice. What's more, she suspects there may be another reason why he's reluctant to offer aid.

What should have been a brief layover quickly becomes an all-out struggle for survival as Haulk and Remi battle their way out of an increasingly tangled mess. But the secrets they're keeping from each other may tear them apart before they manage to get away from this world and to safety.

Warning! Contains a clothes swap, levitating locomotives, watery soup, a pretty silver star, thousand-degree heat, attack dirigibles, and two people totally unprepared for whatever the future might hold for them.

Excerpt and Buy Links

What's in a Name, Part Two

 So I'm having issues with my author name. This is not entirely a new thing. Who knew that using just initials, rather than my whole name, would cause such problems? Well, actually... 

There was a numerologist I met at my first book signing who tried to warn me that it was a bad idea, for some reason--but, by then, I had multiple books published, contracts signed for half-a-dozen more, and had invested several years  in websites, email addys and author promotions. It seemed a bad idea to switch. 

But if I'd 'd known then what I know now...I think I would have done it. Apparently it makes a lot of difference if you use periods between the initials or not. And given that my first publisher decided to add an extra space between the P. and the G.? World. Of. Pain.

A lot of the time, online searches don't recognize that PG Forte and P.G. Forte are the same author--even though we're both showing the same books. Goodreads still doesn't recognize me without the dots. Amazon has finally learned not to care...although Author Central still insists on greeting me as simply P. rather than PG...which drives me low-key crazy. Facebook, OTOH, insists on styling it as Pg--which confuses everyone.

 How would you even pronounce that?

As someone whose given name is Patricia (and who's been through Patty, Pattie, Patti, Pat, Patricia, Patrice, Patsy, Tish and probably a few more that I can't recall). And as someone who can't even agree with all her own siblings on how our long-ass, Sicilian last name should be pronounced, let me just say that I. DON'T. GET. IT. 

It's not that hard! Really. It isn't. And yet...

It's been difficult to get traction--and that's not even counting any of my other issues, like writing in multiple subgenres, or changing taglines and website layouts to suit my mood. 

Which reminds me. Have you seen my latest tagline/website banner? I wrote a blog post about them HERE.

To make things worse, in the last few years--while I've been less productive than usual--some pharmaceutical company in India has started selling pain medication (or, I don't know...it could be a vitamin? It's not real clear) called PG FORTE. 

You can't make this shit up. 

I mean, I guess it's better to be associated with something that takes away pain and leaves you radiantly healthy rather than the opposite. But seriously???

Which leads me to this week's fixation. Google's Knowledge Panels. I lust after them. I google other authors' names simply so that I can drool over how pretty and full they are. I'm turning chartreuse with envy. But, google my name and no adorable little box pops up to greet you. Le sigh.

HOWEVER, if you google author P.G. Forte books you'll find a box with some of my currently-out-of-print books. AND if you google Forte PG (although why, for the love of all that's sane or rational, would you ever do that?) you'll find a box with some of my indie books. My traditionally published books are just missing altogether.

Which kind of makes you wonder what those PR departments are doing, doesn't it? No? Just me?

Anyway, I've been working with Google to try and "claim" my knowledge panels, with an eye toward updating and consolidation, but it's been hit or miss. They've verified me as P.G. Forte, but they can't find proof that I'm Forte PG. 

Well, duh.

To make matters worse, it seems Chrome had set all my profile links to private. And Safari was pleased to inform me that they've been actively preventing Google Analytics from "profiling" me across nine different websites--including all my own blogs. 

Look, as an introvert, I do like to hide from time to time. And, yes, privacy is very  important, and sadly lacking in the world today. But TOTAL INVISIBILITY just doesn't strike me as being a good promotional strategy for a business.

I  guess maybe I should have paid more attention to what that numerologist was saying all those years ago.

HERE BE NEWS for Monday April 5, 2021

 

                            

Monday, April 5, 2021 

Welcome to HERE BE NEWS, where each Monday we bring you all the latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic:

Nicole Luiken's teen werewolf novel, FERAL, is a finalist for the Saskatchewan Snow Willow Award.

 Seventeen-year-old Chloe fears she’s a Dud, a child born to two werewolves who can’t change into a wolf. If she’s still a Dud by the time she reaches adulthood, she’ll be exiled. In the meantime, she’s at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. But Chloe is a natural Alpha, unable to bow her head meekly.

While running through the woods, she encounters a feral werewolf with the opposite problem: he’s trapped in wolf form. Chloe suspects the feral is her old classmate, Marcus, who everyone believes died along with the rest of his family in a mysterious plane crash last year. Chloe vows to help Marcus regain his human self because giving up on him would mean admitting possible failure for herself, too. But she must act quickly. Pack law mandates killing ferals.   

Amazon  Kobo/Chapters

 

Tuesday March 30, 2021: Author Linda Mooney shares an additional scene from her sensuous Sci-Fi romance, JEXX.

Wednesday March 31, 2021: Author PG Forte offers a sneak peek at the covers for two upcoming, vampire romance stories!