Category: Books & Authors

Mentoring Mania with Kylie Brant

Author Kylie Brant (who guest-blogged here not too long ago) is hosting a cool contest on her website this month. Here are the deets, peeps (in Kylie’s words, hence the quote block…)

For the November contest we’re doing something a bit different. Have you ever wanted to have an in-depth conversation with a multi-published author about your manuscript, plot idea, getting an agent, publishing houses, etc? MENTORING MANIA with Kylie Brant offers multiple chances to win an intensive mentoring opportunity of your choice—a thirty minute phone conversation or a 24 hour email exchange.

The contest runs from November 2–November 27. The grand prize winner will be announced on my website by Tuesday, December 1. You can be entered multiple times, according to the number of points you earn. Here’s how you earn points:

1 point for sending me a short paragraph on why you need a mentoring opportunity. What writing hurdle to you need help with?

1 point for subscribing to my newsletter.

1 point for mentioning the contest with url on any social network (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc. One point per site.)

1 point for becoming a Facebook fan of Kylie Brant

5 points for posting a paragraph about my current series, The Mindhunters and the contest in a blog post.

Visit Kylie’s website for more information.

Welcome Guest Blogger Anthea Lawson

Celebrating Romance!lawson_pic

Thanks for having us here at Muse Interrupted! Today marks the release of our second historical romance, ALL HE DESIRES. One of the themes of the book is the healing power of love—how love can transform us and give us hope no matter what lies in our past. We are glad to be writing in a genre that honors connection, love, and the willingness to overcome obstacles that keep us apart. So today as we celebrate the release of our book, here are some thoughts celebrating Romance.

Romance affirms the power of the emotions, and the power of love.

lawson_all_desiresToo much emotion is frowned on in our culture, especially where men are concerned. And love? Maybe because love is the most powerful emotion of all, it’s scary. Too capable of changing the world, changing who we are. It’s easier to shove love in a container, laugh at it or dismiss it as unrealistic. But romance is important. It moves us, gives us hope, lightens the load of our day-to-day lives where we have to deal with so many things that are sad, hard, and worrying.

Romance shows a positive and frank expression of female sexuality.

Not only are we talking about the big scary power of love, we’re letting it spill over into and inform physical desire. Modern romances are not afraid to describe the physical side of a relationship in a way that honors and celebrates feminine power. Despite the fact that we’re constantly bombarded by sexualized images, sex-plus-love and especially sex-plus-lasting-committed-relationship, doesn’t get shown a lot in popular media. Sex In The City was over when everyone hooked up with a mate. Do we really need the illusion that only those who aren’t in a ‘real’ relationship get to have hot hot lovin’? And how is that message going to play out after marriage?  Romance novels in any subgenre show strong, loving relationships that will endure for years—and don’t shy away from the physical aspect of the relationship. Maybe that’s why, according to a study reported in Psychology Today*, romance readers make love 74% more often than those who don’t read romance. That’s a pretty persuasive reason to read romance!

Romance speaks to the heroine inside us all.lawson_passionate

Romance novels acknowledge how hard it can be to get to that happy ending—we all know there’s going to be lots of conflict, trouble, and hardship along the way. But the heroines (and heroes) persevere. They stumble forward. They embrace the good times. And they win. They give us the heart and courage to keep going, even when things are looking their bleakest. Romances hold out hope, and they remind us that love and connection to other people is not weakness, but the best kind of strength.

So embrace your love of reading romance, celebrate the people in your life who are important to you, and honor that spark of hope and joy. All you need is love—and a good book.

*Harold Leitenberg and Kris Henning, “Sexual Fantasy,” Psychological Bulletin 117

WIN A BOOK! WIN TWO!

To celebrate our release day, we’re giving away a signed copy of ALL HE DESIRES, plus a copy of our first book, RITA-nominated PASSIONATE. A second winner will receive a copy of ALL HE DESIRES. Leave a comment below for a chance to win, and please tell us:  How has reading Romance made a difference in your life?

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To read Anthea’s bio and the back cover copy of ALL HE DESIRES, visit yesterday’s post. To learn more about Anthea and her/his/their books, please visit their website!

Anthea Lawson Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

Historical romance author Anthea Lawson visits tomorrow! Anthea’s blogging about celebrating romance and is offering not one, but two—count ’em, 2—giveaways!

The first winner drawn from the comment trail will win Anthea’s new release, ALL HE DESIRES, as well as Anthea’s first book, PASSIONATE. The second winner drawn will win a copy of ALL HE DESIRES.

Back Cover Copy for ALL HE DESIRES:

And then he kissed her…

Far from home and her noble relatives, Miss Caroline Huntington has been injured in a fall from her horse. Called to her side, Alex Trentham knows he must assist her, though he has not practiced as a physician for a long while. Just to see so lovely a woman in a state of undress is a hard test of his self-control. Caroline is all that is warm and feminine, beautiful and pure. Brave to a fault, she does not flinch under his hands, and soon she is on the mend. Alex struggles to hide his feelings, knowing that his dark past shadows any hope of a future. But Caroline’s radiant innocence is dangerous to a worldly man, and she seems achingly eager to experience all the pleasure he could show her…

About Anthea:lawson_pic

Anthea Lawson is the pseudonym of a husband-and-wife writing team. Their first novel, PASSIONATE, was a 2009 RITA(r) finalist for Best First Book. Musicians as well as writers, they make their home in the Pacific NW, where they are working on their next project, a series set against the glittering backdrop of 19th century musical celebrity.

To learn more, please visit the Anthea Lawson website.

Miss Me?

I’ve been locked out of my website since Monday night when I couldn’t remember the password for one of my domain email addresses, the one that’s supposed to forward email from my blog to my personal email addy. I’m finally back on-line.

However, I’m still having a problem with two domain emails not forwarding to my personal email addy. My ISP has blocked them as spam. This means I don’t get any notifications of comments unless I pop over to the blog to visit, and I don’t get any of my Facebook notifications or fan email unless I remember to visit the webmail versions of my domain email address. It’s very aggravating.

When I designed this website and Penny’s site, I made sure to only have an email address on one page (the Contact page), to cut down on spam. And then I used an email addy jumbler. But it doesn’t seem to have helped. After about 18 months, the spammers found a way to use my addies anyway. Or maybe it’s because I use both domain addies on Facebook and MySpace, and they got to them that way. Whatever, my personal ISP currently likes Penny’s email but not Cindy’s email. I’m trying very hard to remember to check Cindy’s webmail at least once a week, if not more often. But the whole thing ticks me off.

When I get a chance, I’ll replace my email jumblers on both websites’ Contact pages with an image of my domain email addresses. Maybe that will help.

I’ve had one of those weeks where issues like this have chewed up a lot of my writing time, so you won’t see me around here until next week. I’m hosting guest blogger and historical romance author Anthea Lawson on Tuesday, November 3rd, and she’s giving away three books! She’s giving two books to the first name I draw (rather, that the Randomizer draws…) and then she’s giving a second copy of her new release to another lucky commenter! So make sure to pop by on Tuesday for double the chance to win.

Welcome Guest Blogger Linda Wisdom

Going Hexywisdom_pic

Thanks to Cindy for having me here to talk about what makes people remember your books.

One fun part with all the hex titles is that they’re a fun play on blurbs and I tend to make use of it.

Another nice thing is it has the readers remembering the books. Exciting characters also help such as my magic bunny slippers, Fluff and Puff and snarky gargoyle, Horace. They’re excellent counterparts for the witches. Sure, we’ve got the sexy males, but there’s nothing like comic relief.

Over my years in writing I’ve enjoyed writing humorous romance, and the few paranormals I wrote were a blast, but what I’m writing now is like a roller coaster ride.

wisdom_hex_heelsAny paranormal reader will tell you they have incredible choices in the genre. That means we writers have those same choices. I mixed up a witch with a vampire in 50 WAYS TO HEX YOUR LOVER and HEX APPEAL. A witch and wizard in WICKED BY ANY OTHER NAME and a witch and Were Border collie in HEX IN HIGH HEELS. My witches carry their charge cards in one hand and witch flame in the other.

They’re close friends, loyal to the max and always ready to help out each other. I value my friends and I think what I’ve done is give them all a witchy persona. Another good thing about writing paranormal. Anything can be done. I decided the Were didn’t have to be a wolf but a dog, because Border collies are just darn cute.

That’s my mix of characters and creatures. Ones that are fun to work with. Ones that I know I’d like to hang out with and I hope my readers feel the same way.

Blair, my latest witch, is sassy, gifted in the art of revenge, and ready to exact justice for anyone who’s been wronged. She’s ready for romance; so no wonder she’s actively pursing local hunky handyman/Were Border collie Jake Harrison. She deals with gross elves you’d never see in Santa’s workshop, villainous Weres who also happen to be Jake’s family members, and Fluff and Puff without breaking a nail. And when those Weres throw down a nasty spell on Jake, be sure that Blair does her best to save her guy from the unthinkable.

That’s what my witches do. And why they’re so much fun to write and so real to me. Probably why my bunny slippers never seem to be where I left them!

What about you? What do you love in paranormal books?

Linda

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Please leave a comment to enter to win a copy of HEX IN HIGH HEELS. To read the back cover copy, Linda’s bio, and my FCC Blahblahblah, please visit yesterday’s post.

To learn more about Linda and her books, please visit her website!

Linda Wisdom Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

Paranormal romance author and two-time RITA™ finalist Linda Wisdom visits the blog tomorrow! Linda’s blogging about what makes readers remember your books and is giving away a copy of her October release by Sourcebooks Casablanca, HEX IN HIGH HEELS. Be there, or be…not there. But it’s no fun if you’re not there. So definitely be there! Or here, as it were. Ahem.

Back Cover Copy for HEX IN HIGH HEELS:

Fourth in the popular, light paranormal romance series by an author whose books have sold 13 million copies.

In this sexy, funny paranormal romance by bestselling author Linda Wisdom, it’s all beautiful witch Blair Fitzpatrick can do to keep a lid on her talent for revenge spells, but things are about to get a lot more complicated…

Blair loves running her vintage shop and hanging out with witchy friends Stasi and Jazz. She’s forever had a crush on hunky carpenter Jake Harrison, whose Were nature (he’s a Border collie) makes him loyal, lovable, and fierce when need be. Just as sparks are beginning to fly, Blair is served with a big surprise when Jake’s mother shows up along with his pack leader, who threatens to make Jake heel! When the alpha does the unthinkable, Blair is pushed over the edge. No one messes with her boyfriend-to-be, even if he does shed on the furniture!

About Linda:wisdom_pic

Linda Wisdom was born and raised in Huntington Beach, California. She majored in Journalism in college then switched her major to Fashion Merchandising when she was told there was no future for her in fiction writing. She held a variety of positions ranging from retail sales to executive secretary in advertising and working for a personnel agency.

Her career began when she sold her first two novels to Silhouette Romance on her wedding anniversary in 1979. Since then she has sold more than seventy novels and one novella to four different publishers. Her books have appeared on various romance and mass market bestseller lists and nominated for a number of Romantic Times awards and Romance Writers of America Rita Award.

She lives with her husband, Bogie, her spoiled rotten Chihuahua/Yorkie, Barney, also spoiled mini white Schnauzer, Syd, an equally spoiled parrot in Murrieta, California, and Florence, her tortoise with attitude.

A number of Linda’s book backlist, including her Hex paranormal series, has been optioned for film and television.

For more information about Linda and her books, please visit her website.

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FCC BlahBlahBlah:

Muse Interrupted Guest Bloggers is provided as a forum for readers to learn about new releases and authors. I do not request nor receive free copies of my guest bloggers’ books for my own reading pleasure in exchange for appearing on my blog. I don’t review the books, either. ‘Nuff said.