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Showing posts from September, 2016

Special Sale on Scandals with Bite Book!

Hey everyone! His Ruthless Bite ( Scandals with Bite , Book 4) is on special for $0.99 cents today! So be sure to snag it while you can!                     Apple                      Amazon                        Kobo                      Google Play                      Nook Here's the blurb: Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author The Lord Vampire of Rochester doesn’t do a favor without a price. And now it’s time to collect. Gavin Drake, Baron of Darkwood is being pestered by nosy neighbors and matchmaking mothers of the mortal nobility. To escape their scrutiny, he concludes that it’s time to take a wife. After witnessing the young vampire Lenore’s loyalty to the Lord of London, he decides she is sufficient for the role. After surviving kidnapping and abuse from rogue vampires, Lenore Graves wants to help other women recover from their inner wounds. She befriends physician John Elliotson and uses her vampire powers to aid him in using m

A Michaelmas Harvest (+ Book Giveaway)

Michaelmas Daisies As a writer of historical romances—most set in Victorian England—I find I have to pay close attention to the calendar. Not just the modern American calendar with which I’ve grown up, but the British calendar too: all the rituals, traditions, and observances that are part of their culture and heritage.   So, in that spirit, Happy Michaelmas! One of the annual quarter days, Michaelmas is observed on September 29 and marks the end of the harvest and the start of the year’s accounting. It also marks the onset of autumn, the beginning of the fall terms at British schools and universities, and the opening of the law courts. Blackberry Pie (Devilishly Good?) According to custom, special foods are eaten at Michaelmas, like bannocks and “stubble goose.” And a Michaelmas pie is often made from the last blackberries of the season, which are not picked thereafter, owing to the legend of the devil cursing the fruit after St. Michael expelled him from heaven and h

To Find a Viking Treasure by Gina Conkle

I'm pleased to share To Find a Viking Treasure , the second installment in my Viking romance Norse series.  Viking romance was my first published sub-genre. Book one in this series, Norse Jewel , is also the first romance I ever wrote. Originally a single title length, I was asked to cut the story down to what's called category length. To my regret, I did. Aren't mistakes the best teachers? Over time, I reworked the chopped parts from Norse Jewel and revamped the series. The result turned into an expanded world, including six books and one short story. Here's a taste of  To Find a Viking Treasure.   I call this excerpt  “I’m good at taking what doesn’t belong to me”   “I’m not a highborn woman to sit aside and do nothing,” she said, planting a hand on her hip. “I can help. You know I can.” Sestra tried for her usual brazenness, but sleepy-eyed and draped in his bulky fur she was no more ferocious than a kitten. She stood her ground, red cur

Support Your #FavAuthor! Save Your Computer by Not #IllegallyDownloadingBooks! Why? Read on...By @kathrynekennedy

THE WIZARD'S VIRUS      “Aw, crud no.” The wizard banged his hand on his keyboard and then frantically clicked around with his mouse checking all his spell files: Text documents of magic words, pictures of runes, spreadsheets of magical creature species. He looked through his entire computer and almost all his data was ruined and hacked. Files missing and damaged.      “What happened?” He muttered.       His Internet browser was still open from the night before. Looking at that, he realized what had happened. He downloaded pirated enchantment data for school. When he downloaded it he thought, “What's one stolen spell gonna cost me?”      But apparently whoever uploaded the data for the enchantment file, hid a virus inside. All the magically formed programs and files loaded into the mystic gems on his hard drive (wizards favored gems over disks and other data storage means) had all been ruined. And maybe even some of his spells had been stolen from him .       A cree

Happy Autumn?

We've had a post or two about fall being upon us, and although the equinox occurred last Thursday, the only evidence of the change of season is the prevalence of mums and pumpkins. I haven't bought a pumpkin yet, but I did get some fall flower arrangements and draped a lighted garland of leaves over the doorway where I normally put the Christmas lights. I planted asters and iris and made curried pumpkin soup from last year's frozen pumpkin. The flowers are lovely and the soup was delicious, but nothing I've done has brought on the cooler weather. I'm remembering last winter when someone posted (probably on Facebook) that it was too hot to wear her Christmas sweater and she didn't have any Christmas capris. Neither do I, and I'm hoping this winter won't be a repeat of the last one. Speaking of Christmas, I bought something the other day that I've been asking Santa to bring me for nearly thirty years. I'd already gotten that sporty red car every

Sold! Three More Books for 2018

Have a super day! Terry Spear “Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.” Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear

Giveaways All Around

by Shana Galen Right now I'm in Spokane, Washington at the Historical Romance Retreat. I hope to bring back lots of books and swag that I'll pass on to my readers, of course! But why wait? You can enter to win books and other goodies right now! First of all, check out the giveaway on my website . I have one every month. This month win an Outlander tote bag (see front and back images), a copy of Earls Just Want to Have Fun , and a poster for Sophie Jordan's next historical. After you enter to win those goodies, check out the Fall Into Historical Romance giveaway. Win signed books and swag from some of the hottest names in historical romance (and me too!). I hope to see some of you at the retreat. I'll share pictures on my next blog!

How Can I Write Christmas when it’s 97 Degrees out???

Okay, White Wolf Christmas is not up for preorder yet, but will soon be. I’ll post when it is. Between a Rock and a Hard Place is available for preorder. They’re working on the cover now. Between a Rock and a Hard Place April 2017 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Wolf-Hard-Place-Silver/dp/1492645117 Kobo: Coming iBooks: Coming Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/between-a-wolf-and-a-hard-place-terry-spear/1123951848?ean=9781492645115     Tiger says he doesn’t even want to hear about another cat shifter story that is about a big cat other than him. I took this picture of the tiger at the San Diego Zoo. Isn’t he beautiful? A Very Jaguar Christmas is coming in October. It’s hard, but this is often how it works. It’s freezing out, I’m writing about the jungle heat. It’s steaming out and I’m writing about a blizzard. So how do I get in the mood?  Believe me, I really don’t feel in the mood to watch Christmas stories ri

Why I Love the Fall!

Tomorrow is the beginning of fall and I am so looking forward to the season. I know January is technically the beginning of the new year, but September always feels to me like the start of the year. Why do I love fall so much?  Well, let me count down the reasons I love the fall!  10.  Sweater weather. I enjoy when the weather starts to cool and it’s time to break out the comfy sweaters. Pair that with leggings and my fuzzy boots and I’m in wardrobe heaven. 9.  Great deals on office supplies.  I love the deals, the smell of fresh binders and notebooks. A new notebook holds endless possibilities! 8.  Rain. Strange as it might sound, I look forward to the rain. What can I say? I’m from the Northwest. I like rain. I especially love to listen to the rain fall on the roof as I drift off the sleep. Of course, by January I’ll be desperate for some sun, but now I’m happy to have a little rain. 7.  Fall colors.  I admit I probably take trees for granted. But in the fall they

Get to Know Me and My Weirdness.

It's my first official blog post as a Casablanca author and I couldn't be more excited. I'm not a good blogger, just getting that out of the way first and foremost. At times I tend to ramble and make absolutely no sense, but I can talk. AND I can write books too. So why the heck is blogging so hard for me? God I wish I knew. Either way, I'm here and I 'm ready to chat about life, books, book boyfriends of the broody, shirtless, bearded kind especially, and maybe even a little about me...which I suppose would be a good place to start, yeah? Okay, here we go then. I'm Heather Powell, but I write as Heather Van Fleet for various reasons. I'm married to my high school sweet heart, Chris. We've been together since he was fifteen and I sixteen. (Yes I robbed the cradle...and yeah, I'm proud of it too.)  Chris and I met at this cheesy, teenage night club where booty shaking was all the rage, and baggy jeans and halter tops made for the perfe

Fun Wine Facts (that won't make you drunk, although they might make you happy)

by Adriana Anders I used to hate doing research… until I started writing romance. I’m pretty sure it’s because research isn’t a boring trip to the library anymore. It’s crazy internet searches on natural poisons and tattoo removal, hours-long conversations with hot Jiu-Jitsu instructors and trips to wineries (tastings included). The third book in my Blank Canvas series, In His Hands, takes place on a winery in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The location is loosely based on  Ankida Ridge , which is possibly the most beautiful winery around, and well-worth a visit. Oh, and the wine is fabulous. For this book, I spent a day with one of the lovely owner/winemakers at Ankida and learned a ton of useful things about wine. Here are just a few other things I've learned along the way:  Grape juice is clear before skins and stems add color. The hole used to take samples of wine from a barrel is called a bung-hole and the instrument used to take the sample is