From the Archives: 4 Stories that Stuck with Me

 Today's post was originally posted on September 9, 2018. Enjoy!

I’ve read too many books to count over my lifetime, and the list keeps growing. I’ve picked up some books and then realized I

already read them before. It wasn’t that the book wasn’t good, or the title wasn’t memorable, it’s just that I’ve read so many. I immerse myself in that world while I read it and then move on to the next.

But there are some books that lingered in my mind for years after I finished. Something about the book, a character, or another tidbit of their fictional world altered my reality a little. 

Twilight

A friend recommended Twilight by Stephenie Meyer long before the stories became all the rage and the movies that followed. I admit, I was skeptical. I’d only enjoyed a few vampire books previously and Salem’s Lot (Stephen King) and Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice) and neither seemed anything like this story, but I needed a good beach read. 

I can’t say exactly what it was about the story that pulled me in and left me desperate for the second book. Unfortunately, this was before I had a kindle and I was left plotting for somewhere to stop on the way home from vacation to buy the next book. 

When I find a new author that I enjoy, I seek out their website and interviews to learn more about them and their books. I discovered the playlist the author used for writing the Twilight books, and with that, I found a new band to enjoy, Muse. Now when I hear their songs, I wonder if certain ones inspired a scene for the stories.

The Stand

I love Stephen King’s books. I’ve mentioned the character, Randall Flagg, before and how I’ve never looked at a crow the same way again. The Stand is the only book I read more than once, even if the second one was the extended version. Besides the fear of a villain taking the form of a bird to stalk me, the story was written with such detail that it, and the characters within it, lived on in my mind. 

The Hollows

Kim Harrison’s books ignited my love for Urban Fantasy. The snark, the first person POV had me hooked and inspired me to pursue writing in first person POV myself.

Little House on the Prairie

My mother read the books from the Little House on the Prairie to my sister and I before I could read them for myself. This spawned my love of reading, my obsession with the television show that came later (that I’ll still watch if I see that it’s on) and my desire in fourth grade to learn to play the fiddle (that didn’t happen). 

 

What Books Have Lived on Long After the Last Page for You?

P.S. There’s still time to enter the All Things Magical Giveaway. Check it out right here. 

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 new releases by following her on Amazon or BookBub

MY FAVORITE MONSTER + MULTI-AUTHOR GIVEAWAY - We have winners!!!

With a blog name like Here Be Magic, it's certain that our gang loves fantasy -- and all the creatures that go with it. This month is the perfect opportunity to talk about our favorite monsters and magical characters, whether villainous, friendly, or downright romantic. 

And we asked for YOUR favorite creature or character too! Check out all the great comments, and also the LIST OF WINNERS in our Halloween Giveaway at the end of this post!

~~~~~~~~~

MAUREEN - "Anything paranormal and supernatural holds my imagination, but magic and witches fascinate me the most. Unlike other monsters and fantasy creatures, witches don't have a known weakness or limitation. Reading and writing about magic and spells is a fun way to expand my imagination." ~ Maureen Bonatch

PG - "Ooh, hard question. I think I'll have to go with the Fae—the Tylwyth Teg, the Seelie Sidhe, or whichever group you favor. Will I incur their wrath if I call them monsters? Hopefully not!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE vampires to death, but there are A LOT of vamps out there and I'm picky. Currently, I'm getting my fae-fix via Dani Harper's awesome Grim series." ~ PG Forte 


LINDA - "My favorite monster is the classic Frankenstein. Here is a creature who terrifies people, but has no idea why. He is an innocent who never had a chance at a real life because of his appearance. You can’t help but feel for it." ~ Linda Mooney

RUTH - "My favorite monster is Godzilla. My son and I watched Godzilla movies every Saturday morning when he was in grammar school." ~ Ruth A. Casie

CINDY - "My favorite monster is definitely the dragon. My only tattoo is dragons twined around my ankle in a Celtic knot. I have dragon statuettes and other dragon artwork all over my writing space. I think the appeal is the mix of strength, magic, and knowledge. Also, in most artwork, they're simply gorgeous." ~ Cindy Spencer Pape

DANI - "I LOVE MONSTERS!!! When I was a kid, our local station ran a double-feature every Saturday afternoon: a horror movie and a sci-fi movie. I never missed it, and even today, my family knows that if there's any sort of monster involved — movie, tv show, book, museum or event — I'm all in! My favorites are creatures from folklore and legend, from werewolves to ghosts to faeries and beyond. If it has a history attached to it, I want to know everything about it. And it's even more fun when I get to write about monsters in my novels!" ~ Dani Harper

ANGELA – "It's nearly impossible for me to choose only ONE monster I love — Loch Ness Monster, Frankenstein, werewolves! — but for the sake of this post, I'll go with vampires. I am a huge fan of the Universal Horror Movies of the 20s-40s, and Bela Lugosi's "Dracula" is iconic for a reason. He creates a layered character you're not sure if you want to root for or against. One of my top five favorite movies of all time is also "The Lost Boys." So is 1985's "Fright Night." Maggie Shayne's "Wings in the Night" series are some of my favorite books. Vampires can be sexy, scary, or tragic, depending on which trope you care for most. Shoot, sometimes, they even sparkle!" ~ Angela Campbell

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WINNERS OF OUR HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY

1. Brenda Rezk wins an EBOOK of "Old Sins, Long Shadows" by PG FORTE
2. Amber Terry wins an EBOOK of "A Hunt by Moonlight" by SHAWNA REPPERT
3. Debbie Plesha wins her choice of an EBOOK by DANI HARPER
4. Tammie King wins a "Boxed Set" (ebooks) of the Ravensblood Series by SHAWNA REPPERT
5. Mandy Baker wins her choice of an EBOOK by CINDY SPENCER PAPE
6. Melannie Savell wins an EBOOK: "Between a Rock and a Hard Dragon" by CINDY SPENCER PAPE plus a Halloween short story
7. Gayle Oreluk wins a signed PRINT copy of "Queen Takes Knights" by JOELY SUE BURKHART
8. Beverly Laude wins her choice of an EBOOK by LINDA MOONEY

and our GRAND PRIZE WINNER is: 

Reyna Herrera wins a $60 Amazon Gift eCard from all the authors at Here Be Magic

...

All winners will be contacted by email shortly. 
THANK YOU to everyone who entered! We had a lot of fun and hope that you did too!

STRANGER THINGS - What authors learn while writing!

If you live in fear of someone reading your browser history, you just might be an author.

The gang at Here Be Magic share a few of the unusual topics they've researched, or things they've learned, while writing a story:


PG - "The odd bit of research that has stayed with me the longest is the fact that a bullet can travel for miles before falling to earth if nothing gets in its way. I realize that YMMV and a lot depends on the kind of gun it's fired from, the angle at which it's shot, weather conditions, etc, but someday I will write a murder mystery, in the country setting, where the victim is (apparently) accidentally killed that way." ~ PG Forte

CINDY - "I had to determine when rubber condoms were introduced to see if they would fit in a story. I ended up doing an entire essay on the history of condoms that ended up in one of my publishers' newsletter and those of a couple RWA chapters." ~ Cindy Spencer Pape

JODY - "Not strange so much as fascinating – when I was writing Survival of the Fairest, I researched Area 51 very thoroughly. Not Area 51 per se, but the places that people hike to in order to spy on Area 51. What the trail was like, if there were a lot of snakes, where to park, photos taken from those vantage points, and so on. It’s been awhile since I did this research so things could have changed, but people who wrote these hike diaries talked about being buzzed by black air craft as well as how they used to be able to climb this one peak and get fantastic shots but now the protected area has expanded.

"And yes, there are snakes 😊." ~ Jody Wallace
 
NICOLE - "Okay, the strangest bit of research I ever had to do was for my fantasy novel Gate to Kandrith, which featured a healer character. I wanted him to heal someone who had just been beheaded, and I needed a time frame. This was in the pre-internet days, so I phoned up the reference desk at my public library and asked how long a severed head would stay alive. Unsurprisingly, the librarian couldn't help me. 

"But about a week later I got a call back. The reference librarians had a monthly meeting where they discussed hard questions and pooled their knowledge. Another librarian remembered running across a book about a patent for keeping severed heads alive (eep!), which they then put on hold for me. (The answer is about five minutes in case you're curious.) ~ Nicole Luiken 

Image: Bigstock.com

DANI - “Dirt. Graveyard dirt to be exact. My browser history wouldn’t reveal much murder and mayhem, but it would convince most people that I’m a practicing sorcerer! I’ve had to learn a lot about the history and traditions of many types of magic in order to build worlds for faeries, shapeshifters, human witches and ghosts.

"Still, I never imagined needing to read up on “how to properly harvest and use graveyard dirt”. (Note - using a shovel is a big no-no. Trust me.) The creepy stuff has surprising uses – even "good" ones – and ended up in the novel I’m working on for my Haunted Holiday series!” ~ Dani Harper 

MAUREEN - "I've looked up some unusual things for stories, but one of the creepiest things was for my story, DESTINY CALLING. I wanted a really, old evil book within the story to be made of something that made your skin crawl. It turns out, some books actually do—kind of. Apparently during the 17th century it wasn't unusual to use human skin to bind books and that Harvard discovered a few books with these strange-looking leather covers in their library.

"So if you come across binding books with human skin in my browser history, think nothing of it. Really..."  ~ Maureen L Bonatch

Author Linda Mooney has learned a lot about bloodstains!

LINDA - "When you're maiming characters, it's useful to know the size of a hole that certain size bullets will make when they enter and exit a body.

"And after the shooting, someone always has to figure out whodunnit... It's been fascinating to learn how blood stain pattern analysis works!" ~ Linda Mooney

Bring it Back(list): EVIL SPEAKS SOFTLY

Get in the spirit of the season with this limited time 

.99 cent sale for EVIL SPEAKS SOFTLY!

Fantasy, Romance, Suspense, Ghosts, Spirits, Demons

Everyone has a story to tell. Even the dead.

They were never supposed to meet. 

Fame came easy for Liv by following in the footsteps of the female writers in her family. The cycle repeated for decades…until Liv changed the story. Her villain doesn’t like the revision—and he isn’t a fictional character. In his story, the bad guy always wins.

They were never supposed to find love. 

Liv never questioned her demanding nocturnal muse, or the strange incidents in her old, family home until she met Gage. His job was to watch her from afar, not reveal the truth about the curse and the stories of the dead. 

They’ve broken all the rules. 

Together they unravel secrets as they strive to stop the cycle. Liv’s ability to find love, and protect her loved ones, hangs on the fickle whims of the dead—and they’ve got nothing to lose.

Purchase your copy of EVIL SPEAKS SOFTLY:  here.

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 September 10, 2018

All the latest 

from the authors at 

Here Be Magic

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In Case You Missed It:

Monday, September 3 - "HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the authors at Here Be Magic.

Tuesday, September 4 - "Characters I'd love to have visit my work" - Angela Korra'ti imagines how her favorite characters from other fantasy authors would fit into her own magical universe.

Wednesday, September 5 - "4 Stories that Stuck with Me" - author ...Maureen Bonatch talks about books that have lived on long after their last page.

Thursday, September 6 - Author Marie Harte has a secret identity as the force behind the Romance Junkies review site. This week she shared a giveaway from RJ on the blog. (Closed now, but you can see who won!)

Saturday, September 8 - This week's Bring It Back(list) feature is "The Hairy-Legged Girls Club" by author Linda Mooney writing as Carolyn Gregg. ON SALE this month for 99 cents! See all the details below!

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Bring It Back(list) Feature:

THE HAIRY-LEGGED GIRLS CLUB

By Linda Mooney writing as Carolyn Gregg
Contemporary Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Word Count: 33.9K
$0.99 ebook 
$9.99 paperback

From September 1st - 30th, you can get the ebook for just 99 cents! (Available at this price only on Amazon and my website. Note: Click BUY EBOOK to get the Nook or PDF version.)

Fresh out of the military, the last thing Brint Cirrus needs is trouble. Besides, he has a secret to protect. But when he parks his motorcycle at a Texas roadside bar and meets sexy Heleema, the lead singer of the country band, The Hairy-Legged Girls Club, it's clear trouble looks mighty good. The feeling is definitely mutual.

Intent on consummating their mutual attraction, Brint and Heleema leave the bar, and a group of drunken men who had been harassing Heleema earlier follow them. The men ram their pick-up into the motorcycle, sending the bike and both riders into a bar ditch along the side of the road. When Brint comes to, he finds Heleema on the verge of being raped. Secret or no secret, he has to rescue her. But as he shape shifts into his dog persona, he sees Heleema shift into a coyote. Together they dispatch the attackers, killing one of them, then escape. But their enemies aren’t so easily deterred and they want revenge.

From the very beginning Brint and Heleema are drawn together in lust. Now they are drawn together in danger as shape shifters and as humans.  In Heleema, Brint has found a woman he can trust and love. In Brint, Heleema has found a man to satisfy her passion and her heart.

EXCERPT & BUY LINKS

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Sales, Contests, and Events
that HBM authors are participating in!

There's still time to enter this one at BookWrapt!

https://bookwrapt.com/things-magical-giveaway/

GENRE PARTY!

Romance readers, discover new authors and stories in YOUR favorite genres all this month on Facebook. 

Miss a day? No problem! 
You can search by hashtag for the genre you want!

Check it out at 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/487252568382193


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4 Stories that Stuck with Me

I’ve read too many books to count over my lifetime, and the list keeps growing. I’ve picked up some books and then realized I

already read them before. It wasn’t that the book wasn’t good, or the title wasn’t memorable, it’s just that I’ve read so many. I immerse myself in that world while I read it and then move on to the next.

But there are some books that lingered in my mind for years after I finished. Something about the book, a character, or another tidbit of their fictional world altered my reality a little. 

Twilight

A friend recommended Twilight by Stephenie Meyer long before the stories became all the rage and the movies that followed. I admit, I was skeptical. I’d only enjoyed a few vampire books previously and Salem’s Lot (Stephen King) and Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice) and neither seemed anything like this story, but I needed a good beach read. 

I can’t say exactly what it was about the story that pulled me in and left me desperate for the second book. Unfortunately, this was before I had a kindle and I was left plotting for somewhere to stop on the way home from vacation to buy the next book. 

When I find a new author that I enjoy, I seek out their website and interviews to learn more about them and their books. I discovered the playlist the author used for writing the Twilight books, and with that, I found a new band to enjoy, Muse. Now when I hear their songs, I wonder if certain ones inspired a scene for the stories.

The Stand

I love Stephen King’s books. I’ve mentioned the character, Randall Flagg, before and how I’ve never looked at a crow the same way again. The Stand is the only book I read more than once, even if the second one was the extended version. Besides the fear of a villain taking the form of a bird to stalk me, the story was written with such detail that it, and the characters within it, lived on in my mind. 

The Hollows

Kim Harrison’s books ignited my love for Urban Fantasy. The snark, the first person POV had me hooked and inspired me to pursue writing in first person POV myself.

Little House on the Prairie

My mother read the books from the Little House on the Prairie to my sister and I before I could read them for myself. This spawned my love of reading, my obsession with the television show that came later (that I’ll still watch if I see that it’s on) and my desire in fourth grade to learn to play the fiddle (that didn’t happen). 

 

What Books Have Lived on Long After the Last Page for You?

P.S. There’s still time to enter the All Things Magical Giveaway. Check it out right here. 

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 new releases by following her on Amazon or BookBub

Where Do Writers Write?

We often wonder how a story gets written. But do you ever wonder WHERE it was written? Thanks to today's technology, authors are no longer tied to a typewriter and a desk. 

In this post, some of the Here Be Magic authors have shared their favorite writing locations, unusual places to work, and sometimes getting the work done any which where you can! 

...

MAUREEN:
"Usually you can find me writing in my home office in front of my window but since I have a laptop I take my writing with me everywhere. I'll write in the living room, on my standing treadmill desk and even at lunch time at the day job.

"A few unusual places I've worked on my laptop include my car while waiting for the kids activities, on an airplane and at the beach." ~ Maureen  L. Bonatch

JODY:
"I am best in my nest. I confess, it’s a mess. It’s a couch, I’m a grouch, I don’t like to go out...

"But when I had young children, the strangest place I ever wrote was in the after school pickup line on an Alpha Smart because my laptop was too big to fit behind the steering wheel. I am not what you’d call a flexible writer when it comes to my work setting." ~ Jody Wallace

P.G.:  
"My favorite place that I've written is on the deck of a cruise ship. We took a cruise to Hawaii during spring break one year and the trip included 4 days at sea. This was back in the day when my kids were still at home, so normally I'd have been on mom duty. But not that week!

"I saw my family at meals, of course, and after dinner as well, but other than that... the kids were safe, supervised and happily occupied. My husband was off doing his own thing. And I got 7 hours a day of uninterrupted writing time--not to mention a perfectly gorgeous view of sky and sea, as well as unlimited coffee delivered right to my table. It was glorious." ~ P.G. Forte

LINDA:  
"I have a sweet little Chrome laptop that’s small enough to fit into my purse. I take it EVERYWHERE with me, because you never know when you’ll get stuck somewhere for any length of time.

"I’ve found myself writing at the automotive shop when I needed to get my car’s tires rotated (2 hrs.), or the oil changed (45 min.) I’ve written while waiting at the doctor’s office, and once while stuck at  a railroad crossing, waiting for the train to go by. I’ve gotten as little as a couple of paragraphs done, up to a whole chapter! But every little bit helps, right?" ~ Linda Mooney

DANI:  
"At home I have an exercise bike with a desktop plus an office. In spite of that, its the kitchen table that seems to get used the most. Away from home, it's always been "have laptop, will travel" for me. In the car, in the library, in a coffee shop, in an airport, at a campground picnic table... Name the place, I'll try to write there.

"When we lived in Alaska, we were commercial salmon fishermen. My hubs built a tiny little desktop in front of the mate's chair in the wheelhouse for me, and that worked fairly well during downtime if the ocean wasn't too rough. One time, a big wave caught us broadside and green water swamped my open window while I was typing. Like any true writer, my first instinct was to SAVE THE STORY! I slammed the laptop shut just in time! I was soaked, but my work survived." ~ Dani Harper

NICOLE: 
I don't have a formal home office, rather my laptop is set up in the almost-never-used dining room. (And on those rare family dinners when I do use it, I have to dig it out from under a blizzard of paper first.) But that's only half the picture. I plan out my novels and edit them longhand while curled up on the much comfier living room couch. ~ Nicole Luiken

Here Be News for August 6, 2018

All the latest 

from the authors at 

Here Be Magic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Case You Missed It:

Monday, July 30 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the authors at Here Be Magic.

Tuesday, July 31 - 
"FALLING INTO ROMANCE - how one writer found the genre" by Dani Harper

Wednesday, August 1 - 
Magic can take many forms. Check out "WEATHER AND ELEMENTAL MAGIC IN SF/F" by author Angela Korra'ti

Thursday, August 3 - 
"PREPARE TO PROMOTE BEFORE YOU FINISH THE BOOK" - Advice for authors by Maureen Bonatch.

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Upcoming:

Image: Bigstock.com

As readers, we often wonder how a story gets written. But do you ever wonder where it was written? 

The Here Be Magic authors are getting together to share their favorite places to hang out with their laptop in "WHERE DO WRITERS WRITE?"  

Watch for it here on August 17th! 

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Prepare to Promote Before You Finish the Book

Most authors realize very quickly that finishing the book is only the start of the journey. Marketing 

Taking advantage of our Halloween decorations last year for promo.

and promotion are a huge ongoing part of the writing journey that most authors would prefer to avoid.

Because often preparing to promote a new release, while marketing past books, and finding time to write (and having any kind of a life!) can become overwhelming.

I discovered this the hard way with the release of my first book years ago, and have worked since then to streamline the process. Since finding more time in the day seems to be an impossible task, my best bet is to squeeze additional time out of the hours I have by multi-tasking, or ramping up my organizational skills. 

1.     Start with Organization- Make a folder for your book on your computer, even if you don’t have the title yet, to keep all the information in one place. Be sure to label appropriately so you can easily identify the most recent copy. (I’ve learned this the hard way–more than once!)

2.    Tweeting & Pinning– While you’re doing final edits, save those lines that jump out on a separate document to use as promotional tweets, graphics and other media to entice readers. 

       Make Pinterest boards specific to each book and share pictures that inspired the story, links to information relevant to the story (such as if the heroine has a medical ailment, or save pictures from the time period or location of your story).

4.    The Making of the Media Kit– As you surmount each baby step in the birth of your latest book, don’t wait to start your media kit until everything is done. Develop your media kit template and then as each piece is completed begin to add in the cover, the blurb, the tagline, keywords, tweets and links so it’s not so much to undertake when you’re overwhelmed once release time arrives. 

      It will save you time if it’s ready to go once you’re ready to send information out for promotion on blogs and book reviewers.

5.    The Inside Scoop- Don’t know what to share in your newsletter while you’re waiting for your new release? Share the process of your book. Where you were inspired for the story, photos that might be tacked upon your inspiration board, let them have first dibs to the intricate workings of the author mind and let them see things first such as the cover, excerpt and release dates. 

Creepy picture that helped inspire my upcoming release NOT A CHANCE. 

      Everyone wants to be the one with inside information and it allows them to get excited with you as you wait for your new release. 

6.    Recycle- Recycling isn’t just good for the environment. It can save you time if you do it with your marketing material. If you’re participating in Facebook, or other promotional parties    with other authors, develop graphics (I use Canva) related to prior books and your upcoming  release. Recycle these posts ongoing as you schedule tweets, on your blog, Facebook page, or newsletter. 

 

 

Be Marketing All the Time

It’s often difficult for authors to have a marketing mindset, or some tend to market heavily when they have a new release and then you don’t hear a peep from them until the next book. 

One of your older books can still be new to someone. Don’t neglect ongoing marketing even when you don’t have a new release coming out. Being prepared with organized information at your fingertips can make the process easier and less time consuming. 

Share Your Tips for Ongoing Promotion Tips 

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