AlyCat and the Monday Blues Release Day Guest Post and Giveaway!

Release Day! by Alysson Foti Bourque

The release of the very first Alycat book, Alycat and the Thursday Dessert Day, was so unbelievably exciting. I think that I would rank it at the top of my “most amazing experience” list—right after my wedding day and birth of my children, of course. We have added some really enticing aspects to the upcoming author visits to make the kids jump for joy! This time around, the author visits will have an Alycat mascot that will make an appearance with a bright blue dress covered with sparkly musical notes! She is super cute! During the Monday Blues reading, there will be a music video shown of Alycat’s talent show performance with the original song from the book. This song is written by myself and produced by The Music Box and Holbrook Multi Media —both located in Lafayette, LA. The book will contain the lyrics of the song at the end—just like Thursday Dessert Day had a recipe for Alycat’s Popcorn Popsicle.

I am looking forward to meeting new smiling faces at upcoming book events and introducing them to Alycat. I cannot wait to reconnect with those who I have met from the previous book tours, school visits, and events also. I want to hear what they think of Alycat's newest adventure and how they think it compares to the first book. The greatest part of the Monday Blues book is that it provides tools to young readers to turn a not-so-good day into a great day through lessons learned by Alycat. I am thrilled to imagine that Alycat is a part of people’s home library and bedtime routine. She is a part of my family and I’m happy to get to share with the world!

Alycat and the Monday Blues

by Alysson Foti Bourque

See my review HERE.

GIVEAWAY

Win one of 5 prize packages which includes:

• a signed copy of Alycat and the Monday Blues,
• an Alycat plush toy,
• a bookmark,
• a drawstring Alycat Sports pack
• and a wristband (open to USA and CAN only)

(Ends Oct 14)
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Or link to the giveaway:
https://goo.gl/3LMybL

Lance Erlick Guest Post, Book Spotlight and Tour Giveaway

Please see my review post HERE.

AUTHOR GUEST POST:

INTERVIEW WITH ELENA PYETROV
Where are you from? Tell us a little about your family.

My parents were very much the odd couple. My mom was Navajo. My father immigrated to the United States as a boy from Eastern Europe. They met in college and fell in love, which caused my mother’s family to disown her. In return, she turned her back on her culture, depriving me of my heritage, though to be honest, I was more interested as a child in my father’s stories about space. After winning my mom’s hand in marriage, my father was accepted to the astronaut program, which involved us moving and him being absent in training or on missions. He finally got what he really wanted, a trip out to Jupiter to explore. That’s where he disappeared, eighteen years ago. His ship vanished with no further communication.

How did that make you feel?

His mission caused him to miss my sixteenth birthday, for which I cursed him. Then my brother Leo committed suicide and my mom died shortly afterwards of a broken heart. I was full of anger over my father abandoning us. Yet somehow he’d gotten under my skin to the point I had to go into space myself, to see what he saw. I guess on some level I thought it would bring me closure and help me move past looking up to him and then losing him. We didn’t even have a body to bury. Now I’m left with regrets that I’d run off his last night on Earth. I wanted to punish him and ended up punishing myself.

Is that why you’re so obsessed, some would say, to venture out to Jupiter?

Obsessed? I’ve heard that many times from those who don’t think we should explore. My father and I used to play this game about first contact with an alien species. How would we be able to communicate? What would be our basis for working together cooperatively as opposed to how humans often react with suspicion when confronted with strangers? Actually, my goal is Europa, the water moon of Jupiter. We’ve speculated for some time that there could be life or the precursors of life beneath or even in the ice sheets. Even if what we find is a primitive life form, it would be a giant step toward exploring the questions my father used to ask. Humans are a curious species. We have a need to know. I certainly do, and not just because of my dad. He opened worlds for me to explore. What really is out there and what can we learn from what we find?

So what did you find on your journey to the outer solar system?

I wouldn’t want to give away too much of the story, but let’s just say we didn’t land where I expected, we didn’t find what we were looking for, but it was vitally important that we found what we did before it was too late for the human race.

Xenogeneic: First Contact
by Lance Erlick

Book Description:
Xenogeneic is a science fiction thriller about first contact with an alien race that lost their civil war and wants to take over Earth.

Dr. Elena Pyetrov’s father vanished in space 18 years ago while searching for extraterrestrial life. As an aerospace engineer, Elena travels into space to search for answers and continue his work. Her ship is pulled off course and crashes. She suspects extraterrestrial interference.

The alien Knoonk lost their civil war in a distant star system and fled to Earth’s neighborhood to hide and regroup. They seek a new home—Earth. Unable to live in Earth’s toxic environment, the aliens kidnap and use humans to genetically modify their species to adapt.

Surviving the crash, Elena and her shipmates are transported to a closed cave system where the Knoonk monitor and control everything. Elena tries to make a connection with her hosts and find ways to work together, but Knoonk leaders rebuff her and force the humans to submit as slaves. The aliens use illusions, distractions, and social experiments to learn from their hostages and keep them off balance. Resistance by captive humans brings swift punishment to break the human spirit.

While Elena continues to look for ways to cooperate with the Knoonk, it becomes apparent that there can be no compromise. The Knoonk want to capture Earth for their species. It is winner take all. With time running out, Elena must dig deep to uncover the alien plan and find a way to stop them before the human race faces enslavement and extinction.

Buy the Book:  Amazon  ~  Add to Goodreads

Author's Bio:

Lance Erlick writes science fiction thrillers for young adult and adult readers. He is the author of The Rebel Within, The Rebel Trap, and Rebels Divided, three books in the Rebel series. In those stories, he explores the consequences of Annabelle Scott following her conscience. He authored the Regina Shen series--Resilience, Vigilance, Defiance, and Endurance. This series takes place after abrupt climate change leads to the Great Collapse and a new society under the World Federation. His latest novel is Xenogeneic: First Contactabout encounters with an alien race aiming to take over Earth.

Connect with the Author:  Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Pinterest 

Tour Participation Available HERE.

Giveaway:​

Win a copy of Xenogeneic: First Contact. One person will also receive a $25 Amazon gift card (print open to USA and ebook for int’l) 2 winners total
Ends April 15
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Guest Post: Story Ideas Ripped from the Headlines PLUS #Giveaway

Story Ideas Ripped from the Headlines

By Lauren Carr

“Where do you get your story ideas?”

“How do you come up with these ideas?”

Some readers, and a few of my relatives, think that I’ve got a twisted mind to have come up with some of my murder plots. Actually, in my own defense, I don’t always come up with the murder. Sometimes, I simply twist it around a bit.

Truth be told, often the germ of my ideas are—
Ripped from the Headlines!

Like all writers, I love stories. I like telling them, I also like hearing them. I have found that readers love to tell mystery writers stories about … you guessed it—murder. Often, it is a true story in which the story-teller will inject their own view of the facts.

Well, writers do the same thing. We just go further and actually write it down. Then we continue to twist and turn and stir and drain the facts until we come up with a book that more often than not, has no resemblance to what we had when we started out.

It’s a fact. Truth is stranger than fiction. Think about what you see in today’s headlines. Real people, especially those who are twisted, are much more imaginative than most writers. Good writers ask the right questions (usually, What if…) to make a great mystery out of it.

Such was the case for my latest Thorny Rose mystery, A Fine Year for Murder. A combination of headlines had captured my attention. From the discovery of a murder weapon, a hammer, warming up the cold case of a family murdered (Keddie Murders) to the sleepwalking defense—a defendant claiming he was innocent because he committed murder while sleepwalking.

The sleepwalking idea bloomed from a discussion at my table during a bridal shower. After a few games and sweets, the conversation turned to accidents in the bedroom. One young lady confessed that she had a tendency to be quite athletic after falling asleep. This young woman didn’t have nightmares, she just simply kicked and punched her husband. Unfortunately, she was unaware of how physical she was until after she had given him a black-eye on their honeymoon.

What if, I asked, Jessica Faraday gave Murphy a black eye on their honeymoon … as a result of nightmares … because she had witnessed a murder and had tucked the memory deep into her subconscious?

It is entirely possible. There have been numerous cases of victims of violence or witnesses to traumatic incidents repressing the memories only to have them re-emerge years, even decades later.
As these various ideas swirled around in my head, the writer in me asked What if…
there had been a tragically brutal murder of a family—a case that has long gone cold. And what if, somehow, someway, Jessica Faraday had been a witness to this murder but has buried that memory deep into her mind—only to surface in her sleep—causing her to strike out at Murphy in her terror.

The cause for her nightmares remains a mystery until investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre. Then, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family living near a winery owned by distant relatives she was visiting.

Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?

As a murder mystery writer, I don’t make up the news, I only give it a special twist from the imagination.

Learn more about the book and the author in the Book Spotlight Post HERE.
#mystery, #ThornyRoseMystery, #giveaway

Giveaway:​

One winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card (Open internationally);

Ends April 22

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Guest Post by Author William Michael Davidson

The Most Difficult Thing On My Road to Publication

There are many difficult things that come with the long wait until publication, but I suppose the uncertainty comes when you start to face rejections. You always expect some rejections (because it’s just part of the process). But when the start to come in droves, it makes you step back and wonder if what you’ve created is worthy of being in print.

Yet I have to be honest: The road to publishing The Remnant was very easy compared to other works I’ve done. I really only sent this novel out to a few publishers, and my contract with Dancing Lemur Press came very quickly. I was stunned, but when I looked closer at the publisher, what their mission was, what kind of books they published, I realized why it happened quickly. I think we were a good fit. It was like being on a blind date and walking into a room to meet that person and realizing, from the get-go, that there was chemistry. That was what it felt like.

Ironically, I wrote The Remnant while trying to publish another work of mine entitled Storm Taken. Publishing that novel has been a long, arduous journey, and if there’s anything I’ve learned it’s this: Every writer should be writing something new while trying to publish something old. If I would have focused all of my energy on publishing Storm Taken, The Remnant wouldn’t exist. At the time it was a side-project—just something to fill the time—but it has evolved into much, much more. I’ve already finished writing the first draft of the sequel and am excited about writing the third book in the trilogy.

But back to the question at hand: The hardest part of the publishing process, for me, is the angst that comes with handing over your manuscript to a publisher and wondering if it’s good enough. And then dealing with the rejections and wondering if you’ve completely deluded yourself into believing that what you have is publishable.

But maybe, in the end, it wouldn’t matter. I’ll be the first to admit that even if The Remnant never would have seen the light of day, I would have still written it. And even if nobody wants to publish the second or third book, I’ll still write and edit them.

Because the joy is in the process, right? The best part about writing—in my opinion—is sitting in front of the computer, typing away, and losing yourself in your idea. If that’s all that ever happened with The Remnant or any other novel I’ve written, at least I have that.

And that’s a lot.

Thank you to Mr. Davidson for sharing his book and sharing his thoughts on the publishing process. 
Please check out my review with giveaway post.

Guest Post: REGINA SHEN WORLD by Lance Erlick

REGINA SHEN WORLD by Lance Erlick

The seed of the idea for the Regina Shen stories and her world was a challenging realm of the future that tested a resilient young woman every step of the way. In fact, the budding scene was of the outcast, Regina, adrift in a storm with no safe port.

In the story’s mythical past, abrupt climate change, rising seas, famines, and wars caused a collapse of the old order. In the final days, an all-female militia rose up, denying men procreation rights until they became extinct. The heroic, three-century-old Grand Old Dames saved the world and created an all-female society, vowing that there would be no more wars and no more gender strife. They created the World Federation to restore peace.

Before the Grand Old Dames took over, they were able to perfect fertility research to enable two women to have a child without men. This enabled them to make this a foundation for building their new society. Then, as a means to maintain order and control, they introduced a defect into the human genome so that only regulated Federation fertility clinics could bring forth new life. Only those who receive the blessing of the new order are allowed to have children.

This gave the new leaders complete control over the people and their futures. Then something happened so that the process began to decay and fail until there were no live births. For unknown reasons, Regina Shen’s DNA does not have the defect; she was not the product of a Federation clinic. Now the Federation is hunting her down to control her genes amidst a power struggle over a successor to the dying World Premier.

Because of desperate times after the worldwide collapse, the Federation adopted a caste system to help maintain order and to fill the necessary roles in society with Working Stiffs on the bottom, Professionals and Elites in the middle, and the Grand Old Dames at the top. Outcasts like Regina Shen were thrown over massive barrier walls built with slave labor to hold back the rising seas. The outcasts were left to fend for themselves, and fend they did, becoming stronger and more resilient than citizens of the Federation. In fact, many are captured as slaves to work the toughest Federation jobs.

The Federation created the Department of Antiquities in its early days to find and destroy all evidence of life before the Federation. The Grand Old Dames banned all print books and took control of their mesh, a future version of the Internet with one distinction. All information resides in Federation cloud-type databases and can be rewritten or purged in support of Federation goals. Rising in power and requiring military resources, the Department of Antiquities became the police and military rolled up into one, enforcing the laws of the Federation.

It is the Department of Antiquities that discovers Regina Shen’s DNA, turning her into a pawn of a worldwide power struggle.

Author's Bio:

He was raised by a roaming aerospace engineer, growing up in various parts of the United States and Europe, as well as traveling through Asia. He took to stories as his anchor, including the works of Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein, and has been writing since age eleven.

Growing up, he was inspired by his father’s engineering work on cutting-edge aerospace projects to look to the future.

In an ideal world, Lance would find time loops where he could step out for a week at a time to read and write. Then he would return to the moment he left, without life getting in the way. Of course, since everyone would have the same ability, he suspects life would still sneak in.

Lance is also the author of short stories and novelettes.

Connect with the author:  Website   Twitter   Facebook   Goodreads

I have found the series engaging. My reviews of the four books (and giveaway links) can be found through this link.

Guest Post: Scribbling or Writing by Mannah Pierce

Scribbling or writing?

I always used to call my fiction ‘scribbles’. The stories were written by me, for me. I never allowed anyone to read them. They were a physical manifestation of my imagination. Every so often I would open a notebook or a file and read it, like other people look at photographs.

Then I turned fifty. After four decades I was ready to make the next step. I would write a book with a beginning, a middle, an end and readers.

The world was easy; my imaginary world of the far future. Earth is a merely a myth, traces of which appear in languages and cultures. Humans have spread across outer space along routes linked by ‘holes’. Countless human civilizations have prospered and then declined. Some were restricted to a single planet. Others cut a swathe across Known Space.

Characters were more difficult. I knew that the main characters in my scribbles were a bit too perfect. Even if they have been damaged by past events, they rose above it. They preferred solving problems to creating them. They built rather than destroyed.

So I created Jax. I am three books in and I still do not know how Jax will turn out. Like his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather, Jax was conceived and raised to be a hereditary dictator. His task, like theirs, is to unite the clan. His great-grandfather was a megalomaniac. His grandfather was a monster. His father murdered two of his sons for political gain. All three were utterly ruthless. Could any or all of the three have been like Jax when they were young?

The other main characters are easier for me to write: Rae with his shadowy origins and non-human genes; Tre whose life was destroyed by Jax’s father and yet is sworn to protect Jax; Ean with his unflinching determination, limitless patience and clear-sighted morality; Kip who is intent on living his own life rather than becoming a weapon of mass destruction.

My characters are human so they behave like people today; like people have ever since Homo sapiens became a species. They have to balance personal wants, even love, with responsibilities. They are influenced by the cultures in which they are raised. They make decisions that they have to live with, some of which they regret.

As for the themes, they are familiar. What is family? Is humanity a matter of genome or behaviour? Are some people more valuable than others? Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?

So now there is a book, Cast Adrift, and it is published. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. Will it have readers? Will you be one of them?

I invite you to my imaginary world (www.mannahpierce.com).

I appreciate this candid post shared by Ms. Pierce. Now that you have learned a little bit of the characters, please see my review of this gripping Sci Fi story - next post.

Guest Post On Jujitsuffragettes by L Davis Munro PLUS Giveaway!

On Jujitsuffragettes
by L Davis Munro 

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by readers is: How did you come up with the idea to make Emmy learn Jujitsu?

I didn’t, it is based on true historical events!

The suffragettes learned Jujitsu when they started experiencing violence from the police and especially when the Cat and Mouse Act took effect. This act allowed women to be released from jail early due to health issues, caused by hunger striking, and then re-arrested under the same charge and sentence when they were healthy. This brought huge stress on their bodies and caused some serious medical issues. The suffragettes needed a way to protect themselves from being re-arrested, so a group of women formed The Bodyguard. They were taught Jujistu from Edith Garrud and learned how to defend themselves. The Bodyguard protected prominent suffrage leaders during public events and engaged in hand to hand combat with the police on many occasions. It was a really fascinating piece of their history that I discovered during my research for this book. These women were knicknamed Suffrajitsus or Jujitsuffragettes by the media at the time.

Tony Wolf has written a short biography of Edith Garrud and also a fascinating graphic novel called “Suffragitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst’s Amazons”, an alternate history of The Bodyguard women. I am a huge fan and highly recommend it!! And if you are interested in more, many of the women who were part of The Bodyguard wrote autobiographies. One book I particularly loved is “With All Her Might: The Life of Gertrude Harding Militant Suffragette” by Gretchen Wilson.

“Emmy Nation: Undercover Suffragette” only starts Emmy’s journey in Jujitsu. The second book will delve more into this part of the history and The Bodyguard.

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

Image from Wikipedea, article on Emmeline Pankhurst

SEE MY REVIEW POST FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR.

GIVEAWAY!
Win 1 of 2 prizes!  A copy of Emmy Nation + $15 Amazon gift card

(print book USA & Canada) (ebook International

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Book Review, Guest Post and Giveaway: Two Hearts: When I Said I Do, I Meant Forever by James Richey

This is an easy read dealing with marriage, mining and a dash of danger.
Two Hearts: When I Said I Do, I Meant Forever
by James Richey

• File Size: 3068 KB
• Print Length: 435 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0990918106
• Publisher: JER Books; 1 edition (December 23, 2014)
• Publication Date: December 23, 2014
• ASIN: B00REM92NS
• Genre: Contemporary Romance
• My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Jaxon Tagget is a cattle-rancher's son, born and raised on the Double T, just outside of Dillon, Montana. In love with his high-school sweetheart, Annie, Jaxon proposes on graduation night, presenting her with a wedding ring made from gold he mined himself. Annie accepts immediately, to the horror of her bitter, man-hating mother.
Jaxon's a wonderful husband, but the warnings of Annie's mother linger in the young bride's ears. And it doesn't help that women continue to fall all over the markedly handsome Jaxon.
Unaware of his wife's persistent doubts, Jaxon is struggling with his own troubles when he finds out his dad is sorely in need of money to save the ranch. But hope glimmers gold when he rediscovers the old mine on the Double T.
While Jaxon travels to verify the mine's productivity, Annie grows increasingly suspicious. Is Jaxon's absence what it seems, or does he have another, less faithful reason for his travels? When Annie sees a picture of the beautiful laboratory owner whom Jaxon is visiting, she's sure the only gold he's interested in is long, blond hair. Is Annie right, or will it be her doubts that forever sever their Two Hearts?

Review:
Annie was a beautiful and popular high school student when Jaxon approached her. They became an “item” from that night on. Jaxon is handsome man and his farming work has built attractive muscles any woman would admire. Annie is thrilled when Jaxon proposes the night of graduation and presents her with a handmade double heart pendant as well as a handmade ring. Annie’s mother has a different reaction. Annie was ten years old when her mother found her father with another woman. Annie’s mother is bitter and reminds Annie consistently not to trust any man, especially one as handsome as Jax.

Annie and Jax marry a few years later. After college he secures a job with a mining company in South America. Jax is a rising star and all is going well until the boss’s younger wife takes an interest in him. Jax tries to avoid the ‘viper’ woman but one night she corners him. Events erupt causing Jax to be fired and Annie to suspect her husband in spite of his reasonable explanation.

Jax and Annie arrive back at his ranch to discover his father suffering with cancer and the ranch suffering financial difficulties. As Jax tries to find ways to save the ranch Annie takes every rumor as evidence that he has been unfaithful. Will she be able to overcome her distrust or will she forever regret her attitude when danger strikes?

There are women who could relate to Annie’s insecurities and jealousies, especially when fueled by having witnessed her father’s infidelity and neglect. I, however, had trouble with her distrust which could be a surefire way to kill her relationship with Jax. Even though I found Annie’s attitude difficult, I enjoyed the story which the author built around the trust issues in marriage and poisonous influences outside a marriage. Jax is a great guy and I found all of the mining details very interesting. His four friends also add interest to the story as did the excitement of a plane crash and hired killers. One of the friends brings not only rumors but danger to Jax and Annie.

The story is well written and makes for a quick read. I recommend this to readers who enjoy sweet contemporary romance with conflict and a dash of danger.

I received this title from iReads for an honest review.

Where to buy the book:

Amazon

Meet the Author:

James Eric Richey was born and raised in California. He attended Brigham Young University, studying English with an emphasis in Literature. After graduating from BYU he returned home to California to further his education by attending law school. After passing the bar, James practiced in California for several years, but he quickly learned that he did not have a passion for the law.

In 1998 James obtained his real estate appraiser license, which has given him a flexible work schedule and allowed him to pursue his true passion, writing books. Besides his writing, he also enjoys reading, running, and sailing. James currently lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with his wife, Heather, and their two daughters.

Connect with the author:   Website  ~   Twitter  ~    Facebook

AUTHOR"S GUEST POST:
Facing Life’s Challenges:
     Life is full of trials. No one is exempt. It is not a matter of if, but rather, when we will face them. Life’s trials can be small or large, and no matter the size, success in our trials depends upon our attitude as we face them and our ability to persevere through them to the end. Will we and can we endure to the end?
     We live in a disposable society—if something is broken we throw it away. This same philosophy is applied to marriage—divorce is the first answer for any little problem that comes up.
     At the beginning of Two Hearts Jaxon digs for months to find enough gold to make Annie a wedding ring. He could have purchased a ring for her, but that was the easy way. Jaxon wanted to work for it, to show to Annie what kind of man he was. Jaxon was willing to do anything for her. He knew of her past and knew the challenges she carried with her, and yet, he still wanted to marry her. For Jaxon, they could work together and solve any problem that came their way. No matter the size of the trial, Jaxon wanted to work together side by side with Annie to face life’s challenges.
     Reading a story about facing trials maybe boring and mundane, but adding a bear attack, finding a gold mine, suspected infidelity, hired killers, and plane crashes adds spice to the story to keep readers turning the page. I think with all of the things that Jaxon and Annie faced, their undying love for each other helped to propel the story forward.
     Jaxon never faltered. Annie struggled with trust due to her being raised by a mother who hated men. Annie struggled, but in the end she stayed true to Jaxon and the vows she made at marriage. Ultimately their love grew stronger because of the trials they suffered together. They battled the storms and survived. Reading stories about other peoples’ struggles and successes gives us each hope and strength to endure our own trials.

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Prize: Win one of 10 copies of “Two Hearts”. Two winners will also each get a $20 Amazon Gift Card (open to USA & Canada) Ends Aug 8

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GUEST POST: Author's Hilarious Tips for Married Women to Survive Valentine's Day

Surviving Valentine’s Day: Pauline Parril’s Advice for Married Women

by Pauline Daley-Parril

Valentine’s Day hashtags are proliferating on Twitter. That means one thing: #valentinesdayiscoming. For single women, the 14th of February is tough enough when it’s #nodate and #aloneagain. But for married women, Valentine’s Day is a #minefield #forgetaboutit #norosesforyousister #fml.

For women in general, Valentine’s Day is like trying on a new bikini: single girls hope to find something nice that handles the girls effectively but all too often end up with lingering regrets and maybe a yeast infection from the previous person who tried the bathing suit.

All that married women can hope for is that the top half can still work the old black magic while the bottom half still fits the base.

Meanwhile, the average man is completely oblivious to the whole #chocolates #romance and #finedining thing. That’s because he hasn’t set foot in a shop since the day before Christmas when he did his annual shopping trip. Only women know that, just minutes after New Year’s Day is over, every store and mall in the country turns into a raging river of pink and red hearts with fur-trimmed bralettes on display in every window.

It’s not enough to avoid the flood of lacey crap at the mall. You better stay away from the drugstores too. Trouble is, you forgot to get your flu shot last fall, didn’t you? Now you need lozenges for the bug that is shredding up all the real estate in your throat. In you go, determined to make it past the heart-shaped candies and roses-made-of-chocolate aisle. You quickly skirt the section with the wide selection of ribbed condoms, cherry-flavored lubricants and estrogen massage cream. But, suddenly, you’re confronted by the greeting card aisle. Love is in the air. And it’s sucking all the oxygen from the store.

You pause to look at all the pretty, pretty cards. Maybe it’s a good idea to inject a little romance into your plodding relationship and get your man a special valentine? You pick up a card with a pink satin bow. It says: “You are my forever best friend.” But, last time you checked, your husband wasn’t a Golden Retriever. The card with the velvet trim says, without the tiniest trace of irony: “Every moment I spend with you is a dream.” Every last card is festooned with curvy fonts, cupids, roses, arrows and hearts. As if you weren’t feeling sick enough with the flu before.

Image from Wallpaperput.com

The sad fact is there are no realistic cards for wives to give to husbands. Clearly, companies need to offer cards with more truthful messages, such as: My darling, you deserve the best of me. (Sorry I called you a moron yesterday. The stupid of you got the better of me.)

Or: You can be my Valentine, but only if you stop being a prick.

For newer brides, the card could read: Be mine. (Unless you cheat on me. In that case, I will cut you.)

Or: Let’s get married all over again! (Without your drunk cousins this time.)

Together forever. (Unless you screw it up.)

Middle-aged marrieds have even more options: Loving you is my mission. It’s right up there with gaining control of the remote someday.

You are still hot to me. Mostly. (I’m still sleeping in my socks tonight because your feet are freaking blocks of ice.)

You make me smile. (To be honest, sometimes I smirk. Sometimes, it’s an evil grin. And sometimes I laugh hysterically. You say tomato …)

For older marrieds, the card could say: I can’t believe I’m still putting up with your shit. But, wonder of wonders, I am!

Nothing can compare with you! Dude, you could win a snoring contest.

Together, we are stronger. Especially when we fart at the same time.

Never mind. Skip the card aisle. You have a bad head cold. It’s February for goodness’ sake. Your man doesn’t want a card anyway. He’d prefer a roughly hand-drawn coupon for an anytime, anywhere blowjob-on-demand.

Buy yourself some chocolate and don’t forget the cough syrup.

###

Collette Yvonne graduated from York University in Toronto with an Honor’s BA in Creative Writing. Her short stories, including From the Cottage Porch and Wild Words 2010, appear in several anthologies. She's written numerous articles in national Canadian publications, plus over 150 pieces for various Ontario newspapers. Her short story, Snapshots for Henry, was made into a short film, directed by Teresa Hannigan, and received a 2007 Genie nomination for Best Live Action Short Drama.
The Perils of Pauline— http://bit.ly/1Ki2LE0  is her first novel.

The Perils of Pauline BOOK LINKS:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1zbZrnS

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1DGMuXv

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1tqQBDq

Astor + Blue: http://bit.ly/1Ki2LE0

Guest Post by Author Lisa Becker: Online Dating

Online Dating Inspired Click: An Online Love Story and Double Click
By Lisa Becker

I first met my husband while wearing my pajamas. Really! No, we weren't at some kinky singles party. I was sitting comfortably in my apartment and he was hanging out in his. But, I will never forget his email introduction via an online dating service, which invited me to check out his profile. It was sweet, endearing and intriguing enough for me to log on to learn more about him.  After a week of emails, followed by a week of phone calls, we met for our first date - a traditional dinner and movie outing. Even before I opened the door to greet him, I knew he was "the one."  Considering he lived 30 miles away, I'm not certain our paths would have typically crossed. But after nearly 13 years together - including 10 years of marriage (which in Los Angeles is apparently no small feat!) and two beautiful daughters, I have no doubt he is my soul mate.

After my now-husband and I met online, I was recalling some of the hilarious experiences that I had during the whole online dating experience.  How could I forget the guy who started every story (no joke!) with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night.”  I decided to capture some of them in writing and, from there and based loosely on my own experiences, my novel Click: An Online Love Story emerged.  The entire story is told in emails between our heroine, Renee Greene, her three best friends and the gentlemen suitors she meets online. The format felt like a modern way to tell the story that fit the topic, and allowed readers to develop an intimate relationship with the characters.

Clearly, I’m a big fan of online dating and find it to be a useful tool for young professionals who are busy working and finding it difficult to make the right connection at the gym, bar, coffee shop or grocery aisle. I say, people today are “married” to their cell phones and laptops, so why not use that technology to really get married, right?

While Click doesn’t end with a wedding (sorry for the spoiler!), during Renee’s road to happiness, we find many advantages to online dating.  My five favorite are:

·    On Your Own Terms – Online dating provides a relaxed, anytime and on your own terms experience.  Share as little or as much information as you want.  Avoid people you are not interested in.  Communicate at your convenience.   But, don’t send a message at 2:30 am.  Nothing smacks more of desperation than an email from someone trolling the Internet for a date in the wee hours of the morning. 

·    Multi-Tasking Enabled – Flirt while filing your taxes.  Chat and trim your nails.  Meet a mate while making breakfast.  It’s a well-known fact that women are great multi-taskers.  Take full advantage of that skill.  As Shelley, the over-sexed character in Click says to the about-to-try-online-dating Renee, “A whole host of hot and horny single men that I can review, chat with, judge and mock – all while sitting in my office looking very busy.  Maybe I should give it a try myself.”

·    Trade the “Meat Market” for the “Meet Market” – Now you can avoid the “meat market” scene of bars and clubs and instead enjoy a “meet market” – an international bazaar (but let’s hope not too bizarre) of prospective mates.  The Internet allows you to make an online introduction to thousands if not millions of people around the world.  So, if you want to meet someone in Katmandu, well then, can do!

·    Save Time, Money and Energy – Let’s face it.  Dating isn’t cheap.   It takes time, money and, likely your most valuable and scarce resource, energy.   With the “try before you buy” environment of online dating, you don’t have to meet for a drink, grab a coffee or sit through a long dinner only to discover there’s no physical attraction, you have nothing in common, conversation is lacking, etc.    

·    Rejection Made Easy – In Click, Renee gets an email from someone halfway across the world looking to meet someone willing to move for him.  After sending a polite and diplomatic “thanks but no thanks” email message, she proclaims to her friend, “It’s so much easier to reject someone over that Internet than in real life.  Score one for online dating!”   While rejection is easier for both parties when done online, it’s important to remember that people still have feelings.


As I've said many times before, if it happened for me, there's hope for you.  So log on and take a chance. To purchase Click or Double Click, please click here. To follow updates on the Click saga and share your stories about online dating, visit the Click Facebook fan page.

A Few Words on Gambling - Guest Post by Ashlyn Macnamara with GIVEAWAY!

I don’t know whether England possessed an official national sport during the Regency period, but I would argue if it did, that sport was gambling. The betting books in gentleman’s clubs such as White’s hold the evidence of wagers on anything from raindrop races to whether a certain couple might wed at the end of the season. They wagered on cock fights, horse races, and boxing matches. Even such seemingly staid venues as balls and Almack’s were incomplete without their card rooms—where entire fortunes might be won and lost.

The compulsion to lay a sporting wager or two wasn’t restricted to the men, either. No one thought anything of a lady sitting down to a respectable game of whist.

But the real gamblers haunted gaming hells. While White’s and Brook’s and Boodles all had card rooms, such clubs mainly served as an exclusive spot for men of the upper class to gather and discuss various issues of the day. Gaming hells were more like a casino, and they existed to relieve a man (or a woman, although I can’t imagine any respectable woman haunting such a place) of his blunt.

A time-traveller from our era might even recognize some of the games of the day. Played with dice, hazard was a forerunner of craps. The object of vingt-et-un was to see which player could come closest to twenty-one without going over—just like the game we call blackjack. Roulette has existed since the 18th century or earlier—physicist Blaise Pascal accidentally invented the roulette wheel in his search for a perpetual motion machine. Contract bridge traces its roots, in part, to a less complicated game called whist.

One of the more famous of these establishments was Crockford’s. Founded in 1793 on St. James street among the other gentlemen’s clubs, its true raison d’être was to separate wealthy young bucks from their allowances. At its height, the club was the most famous gaming house in Europe in spite of—or perhaps due to—a reputation for boisterousness. The casino’s eponymous owner invented the principal that the house always wins, which allowed him to amass a vast personal fortune, enough to rise from his working class roots to own more than one home, including one in fashionable Mayfair.

And what of the poor members of the aristocracy he fleeced? A gentleman considered his markers debts of honor—and accordingly paid them off before he paid tradesmen such as his tailor.

Now you may ask yourself what any of this has to do with my upcoming release,  A Most Devilish Rogue. As you might imagine, a gentleman with roguish qualities might well find himself within a gaming establishment within the course of a story. He may even land himself in a spot of trouble. To find out how this comes about, you may want to read the book. Here is the blurb:

Years ago, when Isabelle Mears was still a young miss too infatuated to know better, she surrendered her innocence to a dishonorable man. Though ruined and cast out from society, she has worked hard to shelter her illegitimate son, Jack. Having sworn off men in her quiet but dignified life, Isabelle is unprepared for the deep longing that rips through her when a handsome stranger rescues her rambunctious six-year-old from the pounding ocean surf.

George Upperton is a man in trouble with debts, women, and a meddling family. He is, by all accounts, the last gentleman on earth Isabelle should be drawn to. But loneliness is a hard mistress, and caution gives way to desire . . . even though Isabelle is convinced that happiness can’t be found in the arms of such a devilish rogue. Only when Jack is kidnapped does Isabelle discover the true depth of George’s devotion—and how far a good man will go to fight for the woman whose love is all that matters.

In the meantime, plenty of other romance heroes have found themselves in a similar situation. Others have even owned the casinos. Tell me about your favorites in the comments.

Ashlyn Macnamara writes Regency romances with a dash of wit and a hint of wicked. She considers this writing gig her midlife crisis, but figures it’s less risky than rock climbing or skydiving. When not writing, she looks for other excuses to neglect the housework, among them knitting, reading and wasting time on the internet in the guise of doing research. Despite her insistence on looking toward the past, she can be found on her website, Facebook, and Twitter. She also likes to play at being a Duchess from time to time.

 A Most Devilish Rogue                       

Ballantine Books * Coming August 27, 2013

ISBN-10: 034553476X  * ISBN-13: 978-0345534767

Paperback:

Please watch for my review which will be posted mid-day on Thursday, August 22.

GIVEAWAY!

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Guest Post: C.C. Humphreys, Author of Jack Absolute

CREATING A STORY FROM A PIECE OF HISTORY

This is a most interesting topic for me – because this ‘piece’ comes with two distinct types of ‘history': - the Period and the Personal.

    The latter first: The idea of writing ‘Jack Absolute’ came because I’d played the role of Jack Absolute in Sheridan’s 18th Century comedy, ‘The Rivals’ in 1987. Toured Britain with it for six months and ‘absolutely’ (sorry, that comes up a lot!) relished the part. Mourned him when the gig was over. But that was long before I became a novelist. 17 years later, I thought of being him again – by writing a novel based on him.
    Yet what could he do? In the play he’s a roguish army officer, a bit of a scoundrel and a passionate lover – and I wanted to keep all that made him such fun to perform. But I also wanted to cater to many of my other passions (my writing tip: write what you totally love!). Such as, in no particular order: swordplay; theatre; beautiful women; beer; battles; spycraft. So then I looked into the history of what was going on at the time of the play’s first production -1775 – et voila! The American Revolutionary Wars. And once the principal conceit was established –that Sheridan stole the name and story of my hero, the real Jack Absolute – my course was set.
    The piece of history I then set his story against is, of course, so exciting. The closet historian I am relishes the research, reading a ton and, as importantly, going to the places. I’d narrowed down the novel’s scope to the Saratoga campaign – plenty of drama in those six months to fill five books let alone one. So I was able to visit both the battlefield itself and a re-enactment of the fight, where I met and talked with experts in uniforms blue and red – and in wolfskins, because one of my main characters was Jack’s blood brother Ate, a Mohawk. (Native history, another passion!)
    After that, it was back to my desk, to select from all that research, to narrow down both action and detail.
I love history - but I write novels; it’s the characters’ journeys that count most. Yes, a reader need to know some of the history to understand their choices from the macro of grand strategy to the micro of small sword play. But I try only to reveal facts through a character’s need to know it. Make it vital to them - and so us. No info dumps!
    One of my favourite writing words is ‘oscillation’. I oscillate between the drive of the plot, the necessities of period detail and, especially, the wishes of my characters, set against both. It is challenging, unnerving and, often, sheer bloody fun! Especially in this case, when I got to both live my Jack again, and watch him grow in all sorts of new directions.
My wife says he is my fantasy alter ego. Maybe. He’s certainly a fun guy to spend time with – even when he cocks up big time. Perhaps especially then!

 C.C. Humphreys is a novelist, fight choreographer, and actor who played Jack Absolute in The Rivals for a six-month run in London in the mid-1980s. When he became a full-time writer a decade ago, he decided to transform his leading man into a title character. Humphreys has written seven historical fiction novels including The French Executioner, which was runner-up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers 2002. The Jack Absolute series will feature three books: Jack Absolute, The Blooding of Jack Absolute, and Absolute Honour.  

Author Website
Author Blog
AMAZON LINK
BARNES AND NOBLE LINK

Please check out my review with ARC Giveaway to be posted midday on May 3.

Guest Post by Micahel Wallace, Author of The Blessed and The Damned

Child Lost. Writer Found.
by Michael Wallace

When I was eight, I got lost in the Fiery Furnace while hunting lizards. Caught in the maze of fins, spires, hoodoos, and other weird sandstone formations in Arches National Park, I realized I’d taken a wrong turn and backtracked, only to come upon a gorge scoured in the slickrock that I hadn’t crossed. I followed a set of footprints in the sand, which vanished, and then scrambled up a sandstone fin, hoping to catch a glimpse of the edge of the maze. It didn’t work. Everything I tried seemed to take me deeper into the labyrinth. The search party found me three hours later, thirsty and dehydrated. I don’t remember being particularly frightened.


That incident in the Fiery Furnace lingered in my memory and emerged twenty-five years later when I started to write The Righteous, the first book in my series set in the polygamist enclave of Blister Creek, Utah. There is a sandstone labyrinth called Witch’s Warts in Blister Creek that serves as a secret entry in and out of the valley, as well as a focal point of violence and other weirdness. It is a strange, otherworldly landscape, and I’ve had readers write to ask me if such a place could be real.

The wilderness of southern Utah may be an alien place to most of my readers, but to me, it sends me to my childhood and makes me think about my father. He would take me into the desert armed with a guidebook of roadside geology to dig up trilobites and fossilized shark teeth or to look for geodes—hollow, spherical stones packed with crystals. We went to a ghost town in a dry canyon once and returned with 19th century medicine bottles turned lavender in the sun. On another occasion, we camped on the desolate edge of a sand dune wasteland and listened to a murder mystery that came in and out of focus from a distant AM station. The stars were so bright under the thin desert atmosphere that it felt like I was clinging to the skin of the earth as it hurtled through the universe.

The desert was a cornucopia of cool stuff to discover: arrowheads and potsherds, topaz and other valuable crystals, and of course snakes and lizards. My brother and I once cornered a Gila monster that hissed and lunged as we tried to figure out how to get the venomous lizard into a can. It disappeared when we ran back to camp to get our father. Mom was relieved; we already kept a rattlesnake in a locked cage in the shed.

I’ve seen zillions of rattlesnakes and scorpions—have you ever watched a death match between a scorpion and a dozen angry soldier ants?—and that stuff doesn’t frighten me. Sandstone cliffs with thousand foot drops like Angel’s Landing or Dead Horse Point? Yes, that’s scary stuff. Of course, I don’t take foolish risks like I did as a boy, but whenever I’m back in the desert I find myself thinking about how I’d get food, water, and shelter if I were lost.

The same thoughts come to my mind whenever I revisit the polygamist community of Blister Creek. The desert wilderness is a good place to drag characters if you want their struggles to play out against a beautiful, deadly canvas, where civilization remains distant and weak. And it’s a good place to dig up memories of my own childhood, stir them up with pure imagination, and set them loose on the world.

Michael Wallace Website

Please see my Review of the fourth book The Blessed and the Damned.

Guest Post by Jade Kerrion Author of The Double Helix Series

When it’s no longer science fiction—A peek behind the Double Helix

For the past several years, our attention has been consumed by faltering economies, unstable governments, an epidemic of bullying, and an explosion of social media. In the meantime, largely ignored by mainstream media, the genetic revolution marches on quietly and inexorably.

Let’s test your knowledge of bioengineering. Which of the following is true?

1.    We used genetic engineering to create hybrid creatures, like the goat-sheep, and the camel-llama
2.    We used genetic engineering to transfer bioluminescent genes from coral and deep-sea jellyfish to create glow-in-the-dark mice, cats, dogs, pigs, and monkeys
3.    We cloned animals, including sheep, dogs, and horses
4.    We used genetic engineering to create animals that excrete pharmaceutical products in their milk and other bodily fluids
5.    We used genetic engineering to preserve endangered species, creating animals that possess the nuclear DNA of the endangered species, and the mitochondrial DNA of the host species…in effect, a genetic hybrid
6.    We created bug-bots by implanting wires in the central nervous system of insects, and we can now control their movements, including flight
7.    We created organic robots by implanting wires in the central nervous system of rats, and we can now control what they do
8.    We wired a monkey to control a third artificial arm entirely through its brain waves
9.    We genetically engineered rats with pliable skin in order to grow human organs (e.g., ear) under their skin for eventual transplant to a human
10.    We used organic computer chips made out of rat neurons to control a flight simulator
11.    We isolated a brain of a lamprey eel and placed it in a nutrient medium, surrounded by electrodes. The living, intact brain controls a machine that moves toward the light (in much the same way a lamprey eel moves toward the light)
12.    We used a DNA synthesizer to create an artificial organic cell. (Isn’t that an oxymoron?) The computer is its parent

If you answered “Yes” to all of these, you are right. All of these are true. Science fiction is now science fact. Today, we possess an unprecedented control over bioengineering, an area that remains largely unregulated by governments.  Our scientific advances raise many ethical questions, such as “Is it right to control the autonomy of another creature, even if it’s just a rat?” Other more pragmatic questions focus on timing, “When will we start applying directed evolution (i.e. design) to humans?”

I majored in Biology and Philosophy at the Johns Hopkins University, and the philosophical implications of genetic engineering naturally combined my two interests. I started by asking myself, “What would the world look like to the perfect, lab-created human being?” And then, I wondered, “How would the world change for the people whose genetic templates were used to create the perfect human being?” The Double Helix series sets out to answer both those questions from the point-of-view of Danyael Sabre, an alpha empath whose genetic code was used as the physical template for the perfect human being.

In the world of the Double Helix, directed evolution has become the norm, but is accessible only to those with financial resources. Historical personalities are reincarnated as clones. Genetically optimized in vitros abound, and they tend to succeed at the expense of normal humans who struggle to keep up. Nevertheless, normal humans still form the political majority, and thus, the world of the Double Helix is deeply stratified by genetics, wealth, and politics. Into this already chaotic mix, I added mutants and their dangerous variants of psychic powers, and finally Galahad, the lab-created, perfect human being.

The story explodes into a “highly-enjoyable, brainy guilty pleasure of a novel: a perfect mixture of non-stop action, gripping plot, thought-provoking philosophy, and beautiful visuals.” Set in Earth’s near-contemporary future and frequently compared to X-Men, Heroes, and Alphas, the Double Helix series is highly accessible, even for non-science fiction readers.

I invite you to check out a world that is closer to science fact than science fiction. Welcome to the Double Helix.

Author Bio:

Jade Kerrion unites cutting-edge science and bioethics with fast-paced action in her award-winning Double Helix series. Drawing rave reviews for its originality and vision, and described as “a breakout piece of science fiction,” Perfection Unleashed, and its sequels, Perfect Betrayal and Perfect Weapon, are available in print and e-book through Amazon and other major retailers.

About The Double Helix series: 

His genetic code sourced from the best that humanity offers, Galahad embodies the pinnacle of perfection. When Zara Itani, a mercenary whose abrasive arrogance exceeds her beauty, frees him from his laboratory prison, she offers him the chance to claim everything that had ever been denied him, beginning with his humanity.

Perfection cannot be unleashed without repercussions, and Galahad’s freedom shatters Danyael Sabre’s life.

An alpha empath, Danyael is rare and coveted, even among the alpha mutants who dominate the Genetic Revolution. He wields the power to heal or kill with a touch, but craves only privacy and solitude—both impossible dreams for the man who was used as Galahad’s physical template.

Galahad and Danyael, two men, one face. One man seeks to embrace destiny, and the other to escape it.

The award-winning Double Helix series, consisting of Perfection Unleashed, Perfect Betrayal, and Perfect Weapon, will challenge your notions of perfection and humanity, and lead you in a celebration of courage and compassion. Science fiction, urban fantasy, and action-adventure readers will enjoy this thrilling roller-coaster ride as it twists and turns through a world transformed by the Genetic Revolution.

Social media and buy links:
Connect with Jade Kerrion: Blog / Facebook / Twitter
Perfection Unleashed: Amazon / Amazon UK / Smashwords
Perfect Betrayal: Amazon / Amazon UK / Smashwords
Perfect Weapon: Amazon / Amazon UK / Smashwords

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See Giveaway Link Here.