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Paranormal Romance Author

Hello and welcome. You'll find all sorts of happenings here. I have many interviews lined up this year with authors of various genres. I'll have contests, giveaways and much more. So keep popping back for some fantastic interviews, articles and new release information.

Click cover to order

Pick of the week

I am honoured that my new release Abigail Cottage has been named Pick of the week by thriller writer Lorrie Struiff

Check it out!!

Abigail Cottage

When Abigail falls in love with Justin she can’t begin to know the world of hurt she is heading into. Gorgeous, kind, rich – he’s the man we all dream to meet. BUT, all is not what it seems because Justin is a true demon from hell, disguised as a mortal being. He wants her and will do, kill or maim anyone who tries to stop him. Namely Shaun the real hero, who wants Abigail more! So what does a mortal man do against a demon? He enlists the help of a gypsy of course. But not any old gypsy. Rosa knows Justin very well and has the powers of the spirit world on her side to fight him. Using crystals as a powerful weapon, the light of the spirit world to lead them, they embark on a battle with the whole of the underworld. Many loved ones will lose their lives. This isn’t a book where everyone survives. In real life, bad things happen. In Abigail Cottage, terrible tragedies occur too. Believe... not every story can have a happy ending.

Got a kindle? Go here and download a FREE chapter of Abigail Cottage.



For Everyone

For new followers leave your email and you could win a gift from me. Also, I'll randomly choose the best comment of the week, EVERY week, and they will also win a unique gift from me. As well as author free gifts and prizes, you'll be in for a treat. Follow the blog and don't miss out.







The magazine to be in.

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Wednesday 26 January 2011

Self Publishing



I am proud to be involved in a new venture. It is called The Authors Collective. It is for authors who are looking to republish their books or looking down the self publishing route. Please stop by and give your thoughts, This is a new venture and so worthwhile if everything goes to plan.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

An Award




Wow, my flabber is ghasted. I have just received a 'Stylish Blogger award' from Heather Kuehl
BUT, I see there are rules attached to this award.You have to thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

Thank you Heather!

Share 7 things about yourself.

Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers and contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.
So here are seven things about me.

1. I have a degree in Parapsychology
2. I can hear, see and talk to spirit people
3. I'm a real romantic at heart
4. I'm addicted to chocolate
5. I also have a paranormal blog
6. I eat too many chips
7. A lot of my spiritual experiences are in my books

My 10 awards go to these fab blog sites, where you'll find me lurking most days!!

Ginger Simpson
Stephanie Gamm
Julie Hayes
Louise Wise
Lorrie Struiff
BK Walker
StephanieLoves
Carole Owens
Yolanda Sfetsos
Savannah Rose

Friday 14 January 2011

News!!!



The new follower prize goes to Cathie. Thanks for following.

Now for bigger news.



Buy Abigail Cottage from Lulu quote read2011 and get 10% off...BARGAIN



Got a kindle??




Download a chapter FREE


It's all happening here today!!

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Tommy Batchelor

A warm welcome to Tommy Batchelor



Here is a bit about him.


Growing up in central Georgia gave Author Tommy Batchelor many outdoor adventures either in the woods or along the banks of the Flint River. Tommy's first book, a picture book for ages 5 - 9 , "Sunday's with Papa T, A River Adventure. “Lost on Spirit River”, is Book 1 of the Spirit River Trilogy and Tommy’s first Middle grade fiction for ages 9 – 12 He resides in Middle Georgia with his wife, Cathy.


Here is his latest release.




Thirteen-year-old Tony’s parents are in the middle of divorce, his mother sends him to his Grandpa’s along the banks of the Flint River in Southwestern Georgia. With his younger cousin Kathryn, they set out to look for a Christmas tree for the holidays, along with Grandpa’s aging beagle, Sally. The three become lost in a snowstorm, Finding shelter in a hidden cave, stumbling upon Native American wall art. Now the adventure really begins.



Good morning Tommy. It is lovely to have you here today on my blog, is there anything you would like to say before we have a chat?

Good Morning Margaret and thanks for having me here today. As the world around us changes from day to day, so does the world of books. I remember as a small child, I’d sit on the library benches to read or curl up in bed with books before bedtime. A good book in my hands made me feel grown up, it felt as if I was on the same level of my sisters and parents. I can read, I kept telling myself. Least I never told this to my school friends. Each year, as I progressed to the next grade level in school, we were given at least one new book to use. I loved the smell of a new book.

The books I read were my escape from everyday life. I could catch a plane across the ocean or dive to the deepest bottom of a lake. I might blast off for the moon or end up on Mars, march with soldiers across Germany or France. I was there with General Lee in Virginia and I was there when the first Englishman came to the Americans. I greeted the Native American with open arms, sat down with them and ate a meal together.

Our book world changes to e-books on Kindle’s and Nooks, even though I haven’t bought one yet. My Dad bought my Mom a Kindle this year for Christmas, she loves curling up on the sofa or reading chair with a hardback book in hand. That’s changed now. I guess this is best for her, since she is now in her eighties. It doesn’t smell like a new book and it’s too small to curl up with, I think, I’ll wait another year or longer to buy an e-reader. Maybe I’ll wait until they smell like a new book each time you turn it on!

How lovely that would be. I have to agree that I just can’t think of anything better than a book in my hand. I have many writers who inspire me, but mainly life does that job. Can you tell us who inspires you to write?

It was mainly my Grandchildren, several of them had problems getting into reading and I knew this would hurt them once they started school. I began writing short stories to use for bedtime stories. They seemed interested in my stories, inspired by Grandpa’s books they began to reach out for other books to read.
How fascinating. It looks like there is a real niche for your type of writing. Now you can share it with your family as well as others. Something to be very proud of.
I’m always looking for something special to leave for my Grandchildren, I believe a book is the perfect gift. Maybe two hundred years from now, I’ll pop back in to see my great-great grandchildren and there on the book self is only a single book, entitled “Lost on Spirit River, Book One”

Do you have any more books planned?


I’m working on several project’s, book two of Spirit River is one and a memoir non-fiction of growing up in the sixty’s as a young boy from Central Georgia. This is something I’ve wanted to do for quite awhile now, before my memory gives out.
That’s very different from your new book. So while it’s still fresh in your mind, can you pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them
Tony is my favourite character; he’s hurt and bitter in the beginning with his parent’s divorce. He feels his father and even his friends have abandoned him. He decides to not accept anybody’s help for anything, he feels he doesn’t need anyone. That’s far from the truth as the story progress farther into the book. Can he change ? Will he accept his cousin’s help? You have to read the book to find the answer!

Do you have any advice for new writers just starting out?

Patience, is the key. Since I self-published through Mirror Publishing, most self-publish author seem to rush to get the book out and on the shelf. That’s the big publishing houses and consumer’s weapon against the self-publisher. You might have written a great story, but it hurts you and the self-publishing authors to rush your book. Take a little time to have everything set up before you publish. Have Patence’s!

Being self published, would you use the ‘publisher’ route now or do you consider self publishing the way forward? Do you edit your own books?

I like being in control with my books, doesn’t everybody who self-publishes. You can pick your Illustrators, editors and cover designers. You can control the cost of your book and/or e-books. You do most of your books marketing. I think we’ll see more and more of the big name authors getting into self-publishing their own books and e-books.

Before you go can you tell us where can your followers find you?

Website
Author site
Barnes and Noble

Thank you so much for popping in Tom and I wish you lots of luck with your new release. Please come back when your next book is out and tell us about it.

Sunday 9 January 2011

Katie Salidas

Thanks to everyone who commented for the small compo. Country Queen gets the pendant.


To kick of a brand new year, I have Katue Salidas as my guest today. She is the author of the hot new Urban Fantasy series, Immortalis, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she's dreamed up fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires at an early age, she devoured every book, featuring those mysterious, blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find. She claims that, of all the monsters out there, vampires had always been the most interesting.
It was only natural that a love of reading about vampires, and a love of writing, turned into a desire to write her own stories.
A Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin, Katie loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories.


You can find Katie here:



Good Morning Katie, can you tell, us who do you think inspires you to write?


Everything inspires. It’s just a matter of working with it. The novella, Karma & Melodies was inspired by a concert I desperately wanted to go to. I couldn’t make it but was able to catch scenes from it on YouTube. Hunters & Prey was inspired by a question I asked in my first book Immortalis Carpe Noctem, “could vampire’s and humans really ever be friends?” You can find inspiration everywhere!

Thats so true. I'm inspired by life and all the muddle that goes on inside it. What’s next on your writing agenda?

I’m finishing up a Paranormal Romance novella called , Karma & Melodies. That one should hopefully be out by Valentine’s day. After that I have revision work on book three in my Immortalis series to complete. Pandora’s Box will hopefully be ready by October of 2011. I’m always working on something. If I’m not writing, I’m revising something.

My, you're a busy bee. How about you pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them.

Here is a small taster.


Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She’s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum’s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she’s missed more than anything.
Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.
If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she’ll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan’s support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum’s new threat.

Click here to buy.




I’d be in big trouble if I didn’t say Alyssa was my favourite. She’s my troublemaker. She’s stubborn to a fault but also just as loyal. She’s a magnet for trouble and often welcomes it with open arms. Needless to say she keeps you on your toes. Sometimes she pushes your last button and you just want to smack her and then she turns around and does or says something that makes you love her all over again. The best part of writing her in the Immortalis series is that you get to see her character learn and mature as each book progresses. She may be an adult by our standards, but as vampires go, she’s a baby and makes plenty of mistakes.

Sounds interesting. It doesn't seem to go along with the usual vampire scene. Do you have any advice for new writers just staring out.

It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there. Being published whether it’s traditional or indie is hard. There are days where doubt creeps into our minds. We think we are terrible. We think no one will ever like our stories. We wonder if people will laugh at us after reading our words. We hear whispers and think people are saying terrible things; calling us hack writers and suggesting a kindergartner has more of a vocabulary.
Don't allow those thoughts and feelings to stop you.
Look at yourself in the mirror and say “I am a good writer!” three times. Hell, say it more if you need to. Say it until you believe it.

Tell yourself you are good and always keep writing.

Good advice. Even when those rejections come, think of it as just a stop gap to another publisher. How do you make your characters so true to life?

You have to know your character before you can write them. If you don't you'll end up writing a flat, cookie-cutter, person. You don't want that, do you?

Of course not!

So, how do we get to know these fictional characters we just pulled out of thin air?

We give them a life and history all their own.

And the simplest way to do this is to give them a resume. Pretend they are sitting down in front of you, applying to be a character in your story. Treat it like a job interview. You are the interviewee, so ask them the questions you would want the answers to.

Start with the basics. (beyond the image stuff, which I assume you have already come up with; hair color, eye color, skin color, height, etc...)

What is their full name?
How old are they?
Where do they live?
How long have they lived there?
Did they ever attend school? If so, where? (I write vampires, so school could mean listening to the great Socrates, discus philosophy back in the A.D. days)
Any specialized degrees?
Previous work history? (The jobs we do help to shape us as much as our education. Did your character have to work some menial job they hated? Were they some high powered executive? For fantasy stories, rulers of Kingdoms and peasants count as well)

Now, once you have the basics out of the way. Ask your "applicant", what qualifies them to be a character in your story?


Are they applying for a main character or a secondary character position?
What special powers and/or abilities do they possess?
Ask them to list one good and one bad quality about themselves.


And finally, your character needs to provide references! What kind of friends do they have? What is their family like? Do they have any enemies that they wouldn't want listed on a resume? List a few of those people in their life, both good and bad.

If you (or your character) can answer all of these questions, you’ll be off to a great start. The goal is to have a character that not only feels real to you, but reads as a real person to your audience.

A background and history help to create that "real" feeling.


Thanks for stopping by Katie and good luck with your books. You can buy Katies book at Smashswords or Barnes & Noble

Monday 3 January 2011

Welcome to Tommy Batchelor

Today I have Tommy Batchelor with me.





Here is a bit about him.


Growing up in central Georgia gave Author Tommy Batchelor many outdoor adventures either in the woods or along the banks of the Flint River. Tommy's first book, a picture book for ages 5 - 9 , "Sunday's with Papa T, A River Adventure. “Lost on Spirit River”, is Book 1 of the Spirit River Trilogy and Tommy’s first Middle grade fiction for ages 9 – 12 He resides in Middle Georgia with his wife, Cathy.


Here is his latest release.




Thirteen-year-old Tony’s parents are in the middle of divorce, his mother sends him to his Grandpa’s along the banks of the Flint River in Southwestern Georgia. With his younger cousin Kathryn, they set out to look for a Christmas tree for the holidays, along with Grandpa’s aging beagle, Sally. The three become lost in a snowstorm, Finding shelter in a hidden cave, stumbling upon Native American wall art. Now the adventure really begins.



Good morning Tommy. It is lovely to have you here today on my blog, is there anything you would like to say before we have a chat?

Good Morning Margaret and thanks for having me here today. As the world around us changes from day to day, so does the world of books. I remember as a small child, I’d sit on the library benches to read or curl up in bed with books before bedtime. A good book in my hands made me feel grown up, it felt as if I was on the same level of my sisters and parents. I can read, I kept telling myself. Least I never told this to my school friends. Each year, as I progressed to the next grade level in school, we were given at least one new book to use. I loved the smell of a new book.

The books I read were my escape from everyday life. I could catch a plane across the ocean or dive to the deepest bottom of a lake. I might blast off for the moon or end up on Mars, march with soldiers across Germany or France. I was there with General Lee in Virginia and I was there when the first Englishman came to the Americans. I greeted the Native American with open arms, sat down with them and ate a meal together.

Our book world changes to e-books on Kindle’s and Nooks, even though I haven’t bought one yet. My Dad bought my Mom a Kindle this year for Christmas, she loves curling up on the sofa or reading chair with a hardback book in hand. That’s changed now. I guess this is best for her, since she is now in her eighties. It doesn’t smell like a new book and it’s too small to curl up with, I think, I’ll wait another year or longer to buy an e-reader. Maybe I’ll wait until they smell like a new book each time you turn it on!

How lovely that would be. I have to agree that I just can’t think of anything better than a book in my hand. I have many writers who inspire me, but mainly life does that job. Can you tell us who inspires you to write?

It was mainly my Grandchildren, several of them had problems getting into reading and I knew this would hurt them once they started school. I began writing short stories to use for bedtime stories. They seemed interested in my stories, inspired by Grandpa’s books they began to reach out for other books to read.
How fascinating. It looks like there is a real niche for your type of writing. Now you can share it with your family as well as others. Something to be very proud of.
I’m always looking for something special to leave for my Grandchildren, I believe a book is the perfect gift. Maybe two hundred years from now, I’ll pop back in to see my great-great grandchildren and there on the book self is only a single book, entitled “Lost on Spirit River, Book One”

Do you have any more books planned?


I’m working on several project’s, book two of Spirit River is one and a memoir non-fiction of growing up in the sixty’s as a young boy from Central Georgia. This is something I’ve wanted to do for quite awhile now, before my memory gives out.
That’s very different from your new book. So while it’s still fresh in your mind, can you pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them
Tony is my favourite character; he’s hurt and bitter in the beginning with his parent’s divorce. He feels his father and even his friends have abandoned him. He decides to not accept anybody’s help for anything, he feels he doesn’t need anyone. That’s far from the truth as the story progress farther into the book. Can he change ? Will he accept his cousin’s help? You have to read the book to find the answer!

Do you have any advice for new writers just starting out?

Patience, is the key. Since I self-published through Mirror Publishing, most self-publish author seem to rush to get the book out and on the shelf. That’s the big publishing houses and consumer’s weapon against the self-publisher. You might have written a great story, but it hurts you and the self-publishing authors to rush your book. Take a little time to have everything set up before you publish. Have Patence’s!

Being self published, would you use the ‘publisher’ route now or do you consider self publishing the way forward? Do you edit your own books?

I like being in control with my books, doesn’t everybody who self-publishes. You can pick your Illustrators, editors and cover designers. You can control the cost of your book and/or e-books. You do most of your books marketing. I think we’ll see more and more of the big name authors getting into self-publishing their own books and e-books.

Before you go can you tell us where can your followers find you?

Website
Author site
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Thank you so much for popping in Tom and I wish you lots of luck with your new release. Please come back when your next book is out and tell us about it.




New Release's





I'm hoping everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. Mine was quiet and I decided to have a break from reading and writing. But I'm back now and so excited about my TWO, yes I said TWO, new releases. Abigail Cottage came out in December and Spirit Intervention will be out on January 7th 2011. My question today is do we prefer paranormal's or are we still romantics at heart and prefer a good old fashioned love story? The best comment wins a selenite pendant.



Abigail Cottage is a dark paranormal. I wrote it long before computers were out and the electric typewriter was the ‘in’ thing. It’s not your usual paranormal romance. This one has dark elements where you are not really sure who is the hero and who is the enemy. It is full of twists and turns and characters you will love to love and love to hate. With this book is a very special offer. When you buy it, let me know and I will send you my hand made demon in the dark soap. Blended from essential oils, its dark mystery will sooth your skin and add a bit of adventure to your shower time.






Spirit Intervention will arrive on January 7th. It is a light hearted comedy romance. When a dead mother decides to come back to her daughter and help her find a man, all sorts of things happen. Not all of them good. The spiritual laws are there for a purpose. If you meddle with life, there will be consequences. Patricia’s consequences are that’s because of her interference, her grandchildren may never be born. Can she put everything right before it’s too late? Not without the help of a very angry grandmother in the spirit world,, who is not at all happy Patricia has interfered with the physical life of her grandson and changed his life maybe forever.

With this book there is a very special giveaway. I will send out to the first three buyers a bag of Angel crystals. These can be worn to calm you and help focus your mind. As an angel therapist, I have attuned these crystals myself. They do work.

Katie Salidas

To kick of a brasnd new year, I have Katue Salidas as my guest today. She is the author of the hot new Urban Fantasy series, Immortalis, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she's dreamed up fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires at an early age, she devoured every book, featuring those mysterious, blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find. She claims that, of all the monsters out there, vampires had always been the most interesting.
It was only natural that a love of reading about vampires, and a love of writing, turned into a desire to write her own stories.
A Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin, Katie loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories.


You can find Katie here:

GoodReads



Good Morning Katie, can you tel, us who do you think inspires you to write?


Everything inspires. It’s just a matter of working with it. The novella, Karma & Melodies was inspired by a concert I desperately wanted to go to. I couldn’t make it but was able to catch scenes from it on YouTube. Hunters & Prey was inspired by a question I asked in my first book Immortalis Carpe Noctem, “could vampire’s and humans really ever be friends?” You can find inspiration everywhere!

Thats so true. I'm inspired by life and all the muddle that gpes on inside it. What’s next on your writing agenda?

I’m finishing up a Paranormal Romance novella called , Karma & Melodies. That one should hopefully be out by Valentine’s day. After that I have revision work on book three in my Immortalis series to complete. Pandora’s Box will hopefully be ready by October of 2011. I’m always working on something. If I’m not writing, I’m revising something.

My, you're a busy bee. How about you pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them.

Here is a small taster.


Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She’s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum’s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she’s missed more than anything.
Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.
If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she’ll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan’s support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum’s new threat.

Click the cover to buy.



I’d be in big trouble if I didn’t say Alyssa was my favourite. She’s my troublemaker. She’s stubborn to a fault but also just as loyal. She’s a magnet for trouble and often welcomes it with open arms. Needless to say she keeps you on your toes. Sometimes she pushes your last button and you just want to smack her and then she turns around and does or says something that makes you love her all over again. The best part of writing her in the Immortalis series is that you get to see her character learn and mature as each book progresses. She may be an adult by our standards, but as vampires go, she’s a baby and makes plenty of mistakes.

Sounds interesting. It doesn't seem to go along with the usual vampire scene. Do you have any advice for new writers just staring out.

It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there. Being published whether it’s traditional or indie is hard. There are days where doubt creeps into our minds. We think we are terrible. We think no one will ever like our stories. We wonder if people will laugh at us after reading our words. We hear whispers and think people are saying terrible things; calling us hack writers and suggesting a kindergartner has more of a vocabulary.
Don't allow those thoughts and feelings to stop you.
Look at yourself in the mirror and say “I am a good writer!” three times. Hell, say it more if you need to. Say it until you believe it.

Tell yourself you are good and always keep writing.

Good advice. Even when those rejections come, think of it as just a stop gap to another publisher. How do you make your characters so true to life?

You have to know your character before you can write them. If you don't you'll end up writing a flat, cookie-cutter, person. You don't want that, do you?

Of course not!

So, how do we get to know these fictional characters we just pulled out of thin air?

We give them a life and history all their own.

And the simplest way to do this is to give them a resume. Pretend they are sitting down in front of you, applying to be a character in your story. Treat it like a job interview. You are the interviewee, so ask them the questions you would want the answers to.

Start with the basics. (beyond the image stuff, which I assume you have already come up with; hair color, eye color, skin color, height, etc...)

What is their full name?
How old are they?
Where do they live?
How long have they lived there?
Did they ever attend school? If so, where? (I write vampires, so school could mean listening to the great Socrates, discus philosophy back in the A.D. days)
Any specialized degrees?
Previous work history? (The jobs we do help to shape us as much as our education. Did your character have to work some menial job they hated? Were they some high powered executive? For fantasy stories, rulers of Kingdoms and peasants count as well)

Now, once you have the basics out of the way. Ask your "applicant", what qualifies them to be a character in your story?


Are they applying for a main character or a secondary character position?
What special powers and/or abilities do they possess?
Ask them to list one good and one bad quality about themselves.


And finally, your character needs to provide references! What kind of friends do they have? What is their family like? Do they have any enemies that they wouldn't want listed on a resume? List a few of those people in their life, both good and bad.

If you (or your character) can answer all of these questions, you’ll be off to a great start. The goal is to have a character that not only feels real to you, but reads as a real person to your audience.

A background and history help to create that "real" feeling.


Thanks for stopping by Katie and good luck with your books. You can buy Katies book at Smashswords or Barnes & Noble

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