Last Friday of the Month Recipe Featuring Tina Russo Radcliffe's Likamias and The Rosetti Curse

Tina, this sounds so yummy, I can't wait to try them ~L.A.

Italian No-Bake Cookies: Likamias (leak-a-mias)

  

 

This recipe is something that Tessa Rosetti from The Rosetti Curse would make!

2 cups sugar
½ cup cocoa
½ cup butter
½ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
3 cups quick oatmeal
1 cup shredded coconut

Bring vanilla, sugar, cocoa, butter, salt and milk to a bubbling boil. Boil for 2 minutes and no more. Remove from heat. At this point you have to work quickly so have your coconut and oatmeal measured out and ready to add. Stir fast.

 

Working quickly as chocolate will harden, drop onto waxed paper by teaspoon full. I use a small ice cream scoop. Makes 2 dozen large or 4 dozen small cookies.

Caveat: It is best not to make this on a humid day or the cookie will not harden. I ran out of quick oats and used regular this time, chewy but still delicious.




BLURB: The Rosetti Curse

A Romantic Comedy of Italian Proportions...

She may look good in black, but Tessa Rosetti is not testing the family curse again. Three generations of women buried the men they love and confirmed Tessa’s belief in the Rosetti Curse.

Los Angeles cop, Thomas Riley, arrives back home in Silver Ridge, Colorado, to settle his grandmother’s estate, but while he's there he stumbles into trouble in the night. If his suspicions are correct, someone's cooking up more than biscotti at the local cookie factory.

Together, Riley and Tessa renew their old bond and battle a curse that leads them on a journey of destiny to the love of a lifetime.

 Buy Link: http://amzn.to/17jGRNj



BIO:
Tina Russo Radcliffe writes romantic comedy as Tina Russo and inspirational romance as
Tina Radcliffe. From Western New York, she's lived in Massachusetts, Alabama, Germany, Oklahoma, and Colorado. She now lives in a cave in Phoenix, Arizona and comes out for coffee and writing supplies. A former Specialist 4th Class in the U.S .Army, Tina has been a registered nurse, a library cataloger, a pharmacy clerk and now writes full-time at home. You can reach her tinarusso.com or tinaradcliffe.com

 

Meet Beverly Ovalle, Author of Lightning Strike

It's my pleasure to introduce you to Beverly Ovalle.

READ COMMENTS FOR EXCITING BEVERLY UPDATE!!!

 

BO:  Hi Leslie Ann, thank you for hosting me on your blog today. I'm excited to meet your audience.
 

LA:  Hi Beverly, tell us about your current series.

BO: I’m currently working on a second book in my wood nymph series. In Lightning Strike, Levi called for help. Willow’s Cry is the ranger on his way to answer that call. The ranger is Levi’s cousin Alex.

LA: What’s next for you?

BO: I’m hoping to have a military romance accepted soon. It is submitted, but you know what that’s like. Wait, wait, wait all the while your fingers are crossed.

 

LA: That's seems like a departure from your established genre.  Why military? How much time do you spend promoting your books? What works best for you?

BO: Probably at least an hour a day, I find that being on different blogs seems to be the best way to gain a larger audience. Promoting on the different facebook sites and twitter helps to keep my books ‘out there’. Blog Hops are also a great way of promoting also.

LA: What is your writing routine like?

 

BO: I have no routine, no set routine. I try to get a couple of hours in whenever my husband is at work when I’m off. Sometimes I wake up early and write and when I come home for lunch, if I’m not promoting, I’m writing. NaNo helped me sit down and try to write daily, so I try to do that even if it is only 100 words or 5000. It depends on how well it flows. Usually I can get out around 500. I just have to do it and the lure of facebook and games (Yup, I’m a gamer) easily pulls me away.

LA: Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

BO: The most rewarding thing is to have someone tell me how they enjoyed it. I love when I have someone tell me that want to know when my next book is coming out. Happily I can say I have a few.

LA: Which aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?
 

BO: I love to write. Pouring my imagination out for others to read is a trip. I hate promoting. I’m not a real outgoing person with strangers and feel funny asking for people to like me. I have to force myself to go up to a stranger to even talk to them. If I could write and just send it out on the sales sites I’d be great. Once I’m comfortable with a person, I’m good. Or bad J depending on your point of view!
 

LA: What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

BO: Nothing to do with writing! I have wonderful children, outgoing and not at all shy. My son is a US Marine. He’s served for four years and has reenlisted. He has been deployed to Korea and Afghanistan and is currently in Kuwait.

 

My daughter is a Certified Nursing Assistant and enjoys working with the elderly. She lives nearby and visits a lot and is working on getting into a Radiology program. More power to her, she loves that kind of thing. Me, I don’t even want to see a paper cut and I’m usually the one applying band aids at work.
 

LA: Describe for us, if you will, your writing style, as in plotter vs. seat of the pants, and do you put more time into developing characters or plot or are they equal?

BO: Oh boy, that’s hard and easy. When an idea comes to me, I know the beginning and end. Getting there is the problem! I can’t plot further than that because I end up stalling, like I was going through a maze and hit a brick wall.

 

The characters, like my plotting are nebulous ideas. They develop as I write. I’ve often had to go back and change speech or reactions to bring the character in the beginning more in line with how they develop. In Willow’s Cry, Alexander, my main character is defined by his name, a defender and protector. But his story is taking a turn I didn’t expect. Usually my stories are very erotic, but I’m not sure this one will be. It is developing differently, but it’s not over yet and with the nymphs, well, their trees required sexual healing. A good excuse, right?
 

LA: Grammatical pet peeve … sound off.

BO: Use punctuation dammit! It’s there for a reason! I’m a grammar nut. If I’m not sure of something, I pull out my school house rock. Conjunction junction, what’s your function? (You have to sing it!)

My son hates submitting his chapters to me, but I tell him that better I do it than anyone else. He is working on a fantasy novel-quite good if I say so myself. As much as I don’t like to say it, I think he is a better writer than me! But I made him so that’s okay.

LA: Someone has cut you off in the checkout line. How do you handle it?

BO: Roll my eyes. If they are in that much of a hurry, I don’t worry about it. I don’t go shopping if I’m short on time. If I go for only a couple of items I go to the express lane or self check out. If I have a ton of stuff, I’ll usually let someone with less go in front of me anyhow. I figure don’t sweat the small stuff.

LA: Do you have a day job, too?

BO: I have to pay the bills! And for my lovely new car, a sweet lime green hybrid Ford Escape. I am a Postmaster in my town. I’ve been working for the government for over three decades.   

LA: Are you superstitious?

BO: It depends. I won’t allow a Ouija Board in the house. I know they are evil. I do believe in ghosts from personal experiences. Black cats, ladders and broken mirrors, no. I lived in one house where I couldn’t do that rhyme at midnight about Medusa in the mirror because when I’d start, all the hair on my body stood on end. *shrugging* I was a kid, it was a dare and that house was evil.

LA: Do you have a favorite quote, quip, or saying? What is it?

BO: Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. LOL it’s not just a Navy saying, it applies to all walks of life. The other is Smile Somebody Loves You. It is a special saying between me and my best friends, which is why we named our blog that.

Blurb: For generations Levi’s family had guarded a sacred glen in the mountains. Still far from man this isolated area was a favorite spot of his grandfather. Levi grew up listening to his tales and fell in love without ever having stepped foot there.

Now Levi’s family, led by his grandmother, wanted to sell the land. With only his grandfather and Levi against it, Levi has to prove to the rest of the family why they needed to continue their guardianship. Believing in his grandfather’s tales despite himself, Levi went armed with his camera and his well-known expertise behind the lens and headed out for proof.  

Providing that proof and protecting the secrets of the glen from the world, Gaia needs to convince Levi to continue that protection. Daphnaie, the embodiment of his every dream, is sent to show him why, stealing his heart in the process to save her world.


Links to Books:

Secret Cravings Publishing
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

ARe

Kobo

Smashwords

Bio:

Beverly Ovalle lives in Wisconsin with her husband Edmond of 24 years and two Chinese Water Dragons. Her son Nicholas is in the US Marines. Her daughter Susannah lives nearby and is a CNA.

Beverly has traveled around the world thanks to five years in the US Navy. Beverly and her brothers have travelled most of the continental United States as children due to the station wagon from Hell. Still active with veterans, she is adjutant for her local AMVETS.

Beverly Ovalle has two published books out. One, Dragons’ Mate with Boroughs Publishing Group came out March 2, 2013 in their Lunchbox Romance Line. Beverly’s second, Lightning Strike was published with Secret Cravings Publishing on November 2, 2013 in Weekend Getaways.


Find Beverly:

Website

Blog 
Facebook
Tumblr
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

And don't forget Beverly's excerpt from Lightning Strike on Saturday!

 

 

Excerpt From Dorothy A. Bell's, The Cost of Revenge, A Laura Creek Western Romance

As promised, today is an excerpt from Dorothy A. Bell's, The Cost of Revenge,

A Laura Creek Western Romance.

Blurb:

Quinn O’Bannon knows it’s time he settled down. He has two likely candidates, both sensible, attractive, young women. However, his fantasies keep straying to Tru McAdam, that thieving, sloe-eyed vixen with a grudge against the whole darn O’Bannon family.

Tru McAdam wants to believe the O’Bannons, all of them are rotten, heartless cheats. God help her, most of all she wants to believe the handsome, arrogant flirt Quinn O’Bannon is the worst of the lot.

Stanley O’Bannon, Quinn and Royce’s old man, is on a mission to destroy his traitorous sons, and the folks who turned them against him. It’s up to Quinn and Royce to stop the crazy old fart. 

Tru believes destiny deliberately lead her to Laura Creek to lose her heart to her sworn enemy, the handsome Quinn O’Bannon, for a reason. She’ll know that reason when the time comes. All becomes clear when Quinn’s life is threatened and Tru strikes the fatal blow. 

When destiny shuffles the cards, strange pairs show up in the hand. Who can fight destiny, not the handsome, flirtatious Quinn O’Bannon, not the thieving, sloe-eyed vixen, Tru McAdam.

Excerpt:

Quinn, turning his attention back to the lump of hostility sitting on his step, put his hands on his hips, steeling himself for battle. “All right, Miss McAdam….”

Her black eyes glittered and flashed, meeting his challenging grin. Obvious loathing oozed from her every pore. “Don’t you dare touch me.” she said, her words reminding him of a snake’s hiss of warning before it sank it’s fangs into flesh.

“Oh, I’m going to touch you,” Quinn assured her with a wag of his head. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to pick you up and carry you upstairs to my bed.”

“I’ll bite your nose off. I’ll scratch your eyes out if you try it.”
He leaned down, his face inches from her nose. “I should leave you right where you sit. You can’t walk,” he said, pointing out the obvious, his eyes traveling the length of her, finally settling on the sight of her fat foot and her bandaged ankle. Deliberately, raking every inch of her body with his eyes, his gaze traveled back up to her shoulder. “You’re right-handed, if I’m not mistaken.” Recalling how she’d carried the baby on her left hip, leaving her right arm free, he knew he had it right. “I doubt you can feed yourself, not with that sling on your arm and your wrist all bandaged up. No, Miss McAdam, I don’t think you’ll give me too much trouble. You see, I have what you hold most dear.”

“You have nothing.”

“Oh, but I do,” he said sweetly. “I have your brothers and your sister. Ah, you see, I’ve lured them into my lair with the promise of food and shelter. The way I see it, you have no choice in the matter, and I can and I will carry you inside. Your only alternative is to sit here like a stubborn, broken-down mule. I can’t let you stay out here, I’d have to sweep you off my step in the morning.”

“Go to hell.” she said. When he picked her up, she screeched and cursed him in a language he couldn’t understand, but got the meaning behind every utterance as he carried her around to the back entrance of the mercantile.

* * * *

Tru tried to kick, but couldn’t, at least not without inflicting a great deal of pain upon herself. He had her good arm snugged up against his chest, and her other arm was useless, swelling fast. She had a headache, and she could feel a fever coming on—in more ways than one.

The first time she’d seen him, she’d thought Quinn O’Bannon too pretty. Up close this fact became strikingly disturbing. He even smelled pretty—spicy and clean like soap. He had tan skin, his features almost perfect. Almost, except for that bump on the bridge of his nose. But even that defect enhanced the rakish, dangerous air he projected. To notice his nose, she couldn’t very well avoid looking into his dark, brown eyes. She regretted doing so, instantly. Those laughing eyes mocked her indignation.

One thing they could probably agree on—she was a fool. She had to be, to feel this emotion, cradled here in his arms...heart racing...pulse pounding. She could feel every muscle in his arms, and the warmth of his hands through the fabric of her skirt, pressing against her thigh. His touch sent ripples of aching desire through her veins. They were so close she could feel the heat of his chest against her side. Angry and in pain, it thoroughly disgusted her that she could be so affected by his nearness, by his touch. It wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to hate Quinn O’Bannon. She wanted his touch to sicken her, not set her on fire with longing.

Bio: 
Hi, everybody, Dorothy A. Bell here. I would like to thank Leslie Ann for putting me up on her blog today. As an introduction, I thought I would give visitors a glimpse into my life so far.

I grew up in southern Iowa, moved to Oregon’s Willamette Valley at the age of eleven. I was in the sixth grade when I started school in Oregon. On my first day of school, I encountered the boy I would eventually marry. He kept pestering me, trying to kiss me. I held out until I turned sixteen, then I kind’a got the hang of the kissing thing. We’ve been married for forty-eight years, he’s still a pest, bless him.

I started out writing Regency Romances to entertain myself. I took writing courses, but I think I learned the most by submitting my work to publishers, editors and agents, and getting feedback. Laid low for nearly twenty-five years with arthritis, forced to use a battery-powered cart, I took up aquatic exercise and became an instructor. After two surgeries to replace my knees, I went to work on myself and lost eighty-five pounds, which I have kept off.

My husband and I live in Central Oregon with two West Highland White terriers, an energetic, longhaired Dachshund and one big, angora tuxedo cat. When I need a break from writing Oregon historical western romances, I work in the yard or my garden.

This year I am proud to announce the release of two Laura Creek romances “The Reprobate” and “The Cost of Revenge”.

Find Dorothy at:
Blog

Links to her books:

The Reprobate:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes and Nobel
Freyasbower

The Cost of Revenge:
Amazon
Freyasbower

Meet Dorothy A. Bell, Author of The Laura Creek Western Romance Series

Hi, everybody, Dorothy A. Bell here. I would like to thank Leslie Ann for putting me up on her blog today. As an introduction, I thought I would give visitors a glimpse into my life so far.

I grew up in southern Iowa, moved to Oregon’s Willamette Valley at the age of eleven. I was in the sixth grade when I started school in Oregon. On my first day of school, I encountered the boy I would eventually marry. He kept pestering me, trying to kiss me. I held out until I turned sixteen, then I kind’a got the hang of the kissing thing. We’ve been married for forty-eight years, he’s still a pest, bless him.

I started out writing Regency Romances to entertain myself. I took writing courses, but I think I learned the most by submitting my work to publishers, editors and agents, and getting feedback. Laid low for nearly twenty-five years with arthritis, forced to use a battery-powered cart, I took up aquatic exercise and became an instructor. After two surgeries to replace my knees, I went to work on myself and lost eighty-five pounds, which I have kept off.

My husband and I live in Central Oregon with two West Highland White terriers, an energetic, longhaired Dachshund and one big, angora tuxedo cat. When I need a break from writing Oregon historical western romances, I work in the yard or my garden.

This year I am proud to announce the release of two Laura Creek romances “The Reprobate” and “The Cost of Revenge”.

LA: I'm so pleased you're with us today. What’s next for you?

DAB: On the queue with Freya’s Bower awaiting edits is the next book “Dance Hall Road”, another western romance. I have high hopes of seeing a release before March.

LA: How much time do you spend promoting your books?

DAB:  I spend a couple of hours each day with promoting, following up on blog guesting and hosting. I’m your typical absentminded, bubble head. I write things down on the calendar, save e-mails, I do everything and nothing works, I lose stuff, names and dates, and the requests for posts for blogs and hops.

LA: What works best for you?

DAB: Nothing works, I’m telling you, I stumble around and do the best I can. I’m doing so much more now than I ever have before. I think I’m doing pretty good, all things considered.

LA: What do you do when you find yourself overwhelmed with all the stuff that goes along with writing and publishing?

DAB: I whine a lot. You know, stomp around, growling and howling, then I settle down and wade through the muck, sort it out and get it done.

LA: Any advice you want to offer our readers about the dreaded Blurb writing ?

DAB: I love blurb writing. If you know your story, really know it, you can encapsulate it. You know that story forwards and backwards, you know the characters, you know the plot. My problem with the blurb is there are so many ways to write it. I’m constantly tweaking it, poking it and prodding it to say more with fewer words.

LA: Ha, it's the fewer words that get me.  But I'm working on it all the time. Key advice for other writers?

DAB: Don’t procrastinate. If you start a story, finish it. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfect, but end it. If you don’t like it, set it aside and go back to it later. By later, I mean weeks later. Then read what you wrote and maybe, maybe you will see what’s missing, or what you forgot to say, or how to make it work, make it what you want it to be. But don’t give up on it. You had a great idea, a great story. It didn’t go anywhere, it simply wasn’t time for it to manifest itself on paper.

LA: Great advice.  Here is a fun question; You’re having a dinner party. What character from your novel do you hope doesn’t show up? Why?

DAB:  From “The Reprobate” The O’Bannon brother’s old man; he’s a loudmouth, drunken, cruel son-of-a-bitch looking for a fight.

LA: Tell us something about yourself we might not expect!

DAB: I now weigh one hundred and twenty four pounds. Two years ago, I weighed two hundred and four pounds. For thirty years I weighed around two hundred pounds. One day, two years ago, I said stop, and lost the weight over the next nine months. I intend to keep it off. I do exercise daily, I do aquatic exercise and I walk and I watch very carefully what I eat and how much.

LA: So it's exercise and portions, or do you eat specific diet?  I'm very impressed.  Do you have a favorite quote, quip, or saying? What is it?

DAB: “Be careful what you wish for”, I think is my favorite one. “If you come to a curve in the road, it’s not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.” I like that one a lot.

LA: Societal pet peeve … sound off.

DAB: It seems to me, a lot of folks have grown extremely intolerant in this age of facebook and instant media. Kids bullying other kids, shootings, politicians and religious folks sounding off, insisting on inflicting their beliefs on everyone who doesn’t believe as they do. I like this new Pope. He is showing a great deal of tolerance, and he’s instructing his bishops and priests to empathize and become more inclusive instead of exclusive with their parishioners. I’m not at all religious. I would never tell anyone who is, that they are wrong in how they believe. But they certainly do love to shove their beliefs down my throat every time I walk into a public room with their prayers. If they want to pray, then pray, but do it silently, one on one with their God. I don’t want them to stop praying. I simply don’t want to be included, leave me out of it. A moment of silence will do nicely. A moment that everyone can share and use as they choose.

Blurb:

The Cost of Revenge: A Laura Creek Western Romance

Quinn O’Bannon knows it’s time he settled down. He has two likely candidates, both sensible, attractive, young women. However, his fantasies keep straying to Tru McAdam, that thieving, sloe-eyed vixen with a grudge against the whole darn O’Bannon family.

Tru McAdam wants to believe the O’Bannons, all of them are rotten, heartless cheats. God help her, most of all she wants to believe the handsome, arrogant flirt Quinn O’Bannon is the worst of the lot.

Stanley O’Bannon, Quinn and Royce’s old man, is on a mission to destroy his traitorous sons, and the folks who turned them against him. It’s up to Quinn and Royce to stop the crazy old fart.

Tru believes destiny deliberately lead her to Laura Creek to lose her heart to her sworn enemy, the handsome Quinn O’Bannon, for a reason. She’ll know that reason when the time comes. All becomes clear when Quinn’s life is threatened and Tru strikes the fatal blow. 

When destiny shuffles the cards, strange pairs show up in the hand. Who can fight destiny, not the handsome, flirtatious Quinn O’Bannon, not the thieving, sloe-eyed vixen, Tru McAdam.

Find Dorothy at:
 Blog

Links to her books:

The Reprobate:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes and Nobel
Freyasbower

The Cost of Revenge:
Amazon
Freyasbower

 

Don't forget Dorothy's excerpt on Saturday from

The Cost of Revenge
 

Margaret Daley's Excerpt from DANGEROUS PURSUIT

 

 

As promised here is Margaret Daley's excerpt from Dangerous Pursuit.

 

 

Blurb:

Reading about danger never prepared Samantha Prince for the desperate phone call from her brother in Brazil that sent her from the safety of her New Orleans bookstore into the rugged, inhospitable Amazon in search of him and a hidden treasure. And reading about romance never prepared Samantha to resist the mysterious appeal of Brock Slader, a guide she hired to help her in her quest.

Alone with Brock in an alien world of orchids and anacondas, primitive headhunters and very up-to-date gunmen, she struggles to keep their relationship strictly business. Will Samantha survive the dangers in the jungle only to have her heart broken by a man who lives on the edge—no strings attached?




Excerpt:

     Samantha entered the lobby of the Grand Hotel and instantly understood why Mark had said the hotel didn’t live up to its name. The furniture with its faded material and scratched wood had seen better days. The tiles were worn and several ceiling fans were the only means of cooling the room. The humidity of the jungle city at the “wedding” of two mighty rivers, the Amazon and the Rio Negro, was stifling.

    But at the moment Samantha didn’t care about those things. She only wanted to locate her brother, and this was the last place he had been heard from. Mark hadn’t returned to Rio as she had hoped; no one there had seen him in weeks.

    She squared her shoulders and walked up to the reception desk, setting her suitcase on the floor beside her, then rummaging through her purse until she found the pamphlet she had been looking for. Spanish for the Traveler was the only thing she had had in her store, and though she had known Spanish wasn’t the official language of Brazil, she had grabbed it as she had left her store. 

    She flipped through the pamphlet until she came to the phrase she wanted, praying her high school Spanish would be enough in a country that spoke Portuguese. Why hadn’t she stocked up on some phrase books in Portuguese?

    “Do you speak English?” Samantha winced at her awful imitation of Spanish. She had barely made passing grades in the subject in high school.

    The young man behind the desk frowned and looked at her questioningly.

    “Uhh…” Samantha scanned her phrase book. Weren’t the Portuguese and Spanish languages alike, at least enough for her to be understood? She tried again in her stilted Spanish, “Do you speak Spanish?”

    The clerk began to speak rapidly, but not in Spanish or English. Samantha didn’t understand a word he said. Why did Brazil have to be the only country in South America that didn’t speak Spanish? Then she would at least have a fighting chance—well, maybe a fighting chance to be understood.

    Samantha held up her hand to stop his flow of words, but it seemed he didn’t even understand sign language. She glanced about frantically, and her gaze collided with a man’s across the lobby. Amusement brightened his gray eyes. He rose to his feet and strode toward her in one fluid motion.

    “May I help?” he asked in flawless English with a slight Texan drawl.

    “You’re American!” Relief fluttered through her, and she smiled.

    “I couldn’t help overhearing your little exchange with this gentleman. Trouble, ma’am?”

    His silver-bright eyes took an inventory of her features and left a heated trail where they roamed. He catalogued and assessed, all in a minute’s time.

    Samantha blushed. She waved her clutch purse in front of her face as if she were flushed because of the heat, not the stranger before her. She knew she should say something in reply to his question, but she kept wondering what the result of his appraisal was. She couldn’t tell by his closed look.

    One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Ma’am?”

Buy Links:

 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Apple

Bio: 

Margaret Daley, an award-winning author of eighty-seven books, has been married for over forty years and is a firm believer in romance and love. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread and corralling her three cats that think they rule her household.


Find Margaret:

• http://www.margaretdaley.com/
• http://www.margaretdaley.com/margarets-blog
• Facebook
• Twitter: @margaretdaley
• Goodreads

Meet Margaret Daley, Author of 93 Books ~ Traditionally and Indie Published

I'm so pleased to bring you Margaret Daley.  Author of 93, yes, you read that correctly, 93 novels. Traditionally and now indie published with more coming.  This woman is my idol :)

Please welcome Margaret Daley.

NEWS FLASH: 

Margaret has graciously offered to give away a digital copy of
DANGEROUS PURSUIT to one lucky person who comments!

LA: Welcome Margaret, tell us about your current series.

MD:  The Protectors series is loosely connected, but each book is a stand alone story. The first one, Dangerous Pursuit, is about a twin sister who goes looking for her brother in the Amazon. Talk about a lady out of her element, but she is convinced her brother is alive and will do anything to find him, even work with a mysterious guide. The second book is Dangerous Interlude and tells her brother’s story. It takes place in the Austrian Alps at Christmas where the brother is involved with a government operation that goes wrong with a school teacher on vacation thick in the middle of it. The third story is Dangerous Paradise and features the government agent in book two trying to take a vacation but trouble seems to find him wherever he goes.

LA:  Well, those sound like must-reads!  What’s next for you?

MD:  I’m working on the fifth book in my Second Chances series (Love Gone to the Dogs, Yours, Mine and Ours, Love Triumphs and Captive Hearts). I haven’t named it yet, but it is about a lobbyist and a congressman who spend a week on a bicycle tour through Virginia. Did I mention they are on opposite sides of a bill?

LA:  How has your experience with self-publishing been?

MD: It has been a different experience. I’ve always promoted my traditionally published books but not as much. It takes a lot of work on top of writing the book. But I like the possibilities it offers. I’m going to be doing two new novellas with other authors in a collection this year.

LA: When your published rights reverted to you, did you change the book(s) much before you self-published?

MD:  I updated each one and changed some of the story. The book is still the same storyline, but I published them 10 to 20 years ago and there were things that I needed to change.

LA: Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

MD:  Being able to work at home. Some days I don’t get out of my pajamas.

LA: Which aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?

MD:  I love coming up with the story and brainstorming ideas. Promoting takes more of my time than I wish.

LA: What do you do when you find yourself overwhelmed with all the stuff that goes along with writing and publishing?

MD:  I make a list of what needs to be done and put them in order of importance. Otherwise I would shut down when I have a lot to do and not a lot of time.

LA: Key advice for other writers?

MD: Keep writing and learning the craft. I sold 20 books then went through an 8 year dry spell before going on to sell 73 more books. If I’d given up like I wanted (but kept coming back) several times during those 8 years, I would never have gone on to sell 73 books.

LA: Coffee, tea or other?

MD: Definitely tea. I can’t stand coffee.

LA: And I can't seem to kick the coffee habit :)  Do you have a view in your writing space? 

MD: Yes. I can look out at a small garden from the window in my office. It has a butterfly bush, which in warm weather gets different butterflies stopping by or a hummingbird or two. Love watching them.

LA: What does your space look like?

 

MD: I have lots of flamingoes in my office and even a Christmas tree with flamingo ornaments. The walls are hot pink. I have five bookcases crammed with books. I also have a desk I don’t use anymore because I write on my laptop and sit on the couch in my office.

LA: Favorite chore?

MD: None. I hate housework.

Blurb:

Reading about danger never prepared Samantha Prince for the desperate phone call from her brother in Brazil that sent her from the safety of her New Orleans bookstore into the rugged, inhospitable Amazon in search of him and a hidden treasure. And reading about romance never prepared Samantha to resist the mysterious appeal of Brock Slader, a guide she hired to help her in her quest.

Alone with Brock in an alien world of orchids and anacondas, primitive headhunters and very up-to-date gunmen, she struggles to keep their relationship strictly business. Will Samantha survive the dangers in the jungle only to have her heart broken by a man who lives on the edge—no strings attached?


Links to book:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Apple

Bio:

Margaret Daley, an award-winning author of eighty-seven books, has been married for over forty years and is a firm believer in romance and love. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread and corralling her three cats that think they rule her household.


Find Margaret at:
http://www.margaretdaley.com/
Facebook
Twitter: @margaretdaley
Goodreads

Don't forget Margaret's excerpt on Saturday!!

 

 

You Just Never Know Who Is Going To Be An Angel

Angels come in all forms...

Mary Gray, owner of the Placitas Salon and Day Spa read a couple of my novels that my mom had brought her as a thank you gift for being so sweet to her, and this Christmas, Mary asked if she could put my books in her salon. 

Of course I said YES, actually yelled it once I got back to mom's house.

When I got back home, I ordered books, made the poster, and postcards and got everything sent to her by Thanksgiving.

So, if you're in the Albuquerque, Rio Ranchos, Bernalillo, Placitas area, stop by the Placitas Salon and Day Spa, pick up an autographed book and while you're there, have a spa treatment, hair styling or nails done! 

Best of all worlds.

 

Visit their website to check out their services: http://www.placitassalon.com/

 

And here are pictures of how Mary set up my books. Pretty isn't it?  She told me the colors of the covers stopped her patrons, made them interested enough to pick them up and look at them...and even, yes, buy them.

I made the poster and postcards, so if people didn't want a hard copy, the information on the back would give them e-book links. And I put a QR code on it that took them directly to my website.

Thank you Mary, for making this a wonderful experience.

Geri Taylor's Novel ~ The Kitchen Dance

 

News Flash

Geri Taylor is a MARSocial "Author of the Year"

Competition Finalist!

(click here link to find out more)

As promised here is the excerpt from The Kitchen Dance by Geri G. Taylor


Blurb:

Joule Dalton, a successful interior designer with a prestigious architectural firm, lived her life choreographed by her loved ones until a tragedy forces her to learn her own steps. Allen Brooks has endured his own share of manipulations and all his hard work and sacrifice has left him with nothing. He wears his troubles like the too large overcoat he picked up at a mission while living on the streets.

This coat brings them together in an unexpected way. Joule takes the misfortunate Allen into her home in hopes of turning his life around. She gives him a place to live, a job, even introduces him to her wealthy friends. What she does not give him is her trust. This he must earn. The two combine their dreams and create a wonderful relationship. Then Allen gets a call that will challenge his sense of responsibility. He makes a choice, one that Joule cannot begrudge. Allen struggles with his decision while Joule goes back to her old life until they both realize what they really want.

"The Kitchen Dance" is a slice of fiction with a serving of mystery, a side order of suspense, a dash of crime and an extra helping of romance for dessert.

Excerpt:

He stood over me, his face in shadow, as I scrutinized his thin frame, long dingy hair, and scraggly beard. His jeans and work boots looked extremely worn and not in a fashionable way. He was wearing an oversized tan trench coat that I suddenly recognized. I froze, as if my heart jumped into my throat and I coughed to release it. The coat was like an ethereal being taking the form around this thin, pale, scarecrow of a man. I grabbed the sleeve of the coat and found the stain on the sleeve. It was Daniel’s trench coat.

“Where did you get this coat?” I blurted out almost accusingly.

The poor man attempted to pull free. “Look lady, I didn’t steal it if that’s what you think.”

“I’m sorry.” I stood to face him. He stooped, not much taller than I. “Where did you get it?” I spoke gently, but still hung desperately to the coat.

“There’s a soup kitchen a few of blocks over.” He did his best to assure me of his innocence. “I just got it from there.”

“God, I’m so sorry.” I realized I sounded like a lunatic. “It was my husband’s. I sent some boxes of his belongings to the soup kitchen just this morning.”

“Do you want it back?” the poor man asked.

I was still clutching the sleeve. I released my grip and looked into the frazzled man’s face. “Come with me. I want to buy you something to eat.” I touched his forearm and turned him towards the diner. At first he hesitated. I was certain by the anxious look on his face he thought I was crazy. Then he relaxed and graciously, like a true gentleman, helped me with my bags and followed me into the diner.

To Buy:
Melange Books
Amazon


Bio:

I was born in West Monroe, LA (but I do not know the Robertsons) but I now live in Ruston, LA where I attended high school and college. I have lived and taught in Texas, so my southern accent is an amalgamation of all three.

I have always been creative, usually expressing myself with art, but the last ten years have been spent on stage and screen as an actress portraying a number of interesting characters. I use this experience every time I create the characters for my own works of fiction.  

Find Geri:

Blog
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Meet Geri Taylor and Her Novel ~ The Kitchen Dance

News Flash

Geri Taylor is a MARSocial "Author of the Year"

Competition Finalist!

(click here link to find out more)

 

 

Happy New Year to you all.  WOW, 2014 is here.  It's my pleasure to introduce you to Geri Taylor...and don't you just love the title of her book. It brings all sorts of images to mind. 

 

I can't wait to read the excerpt on Saturday!

GT: Thanks for having me, LA, it's an honor to be your first guest in 2014!

LA: What’s next for you, Geri?

GT: I am currently working on two more pieces of women’s fiction. One is a suspense/thriller/mystery and the other is more of a human drama between two people suffering from health issues and how they try to overcome the pain and make the most of their lives. I vacillate between these two but I have other screenplays I wrote that I want to use to create future books.

LA: How has your experience with self-publishing been?

GT: I did a lot of research on self-publishing and even set up a Kickstarter project to help me earn money to pay for some of the costs of editing, etc. by pre-selling the book. Melange Books, LLC, an independent publishing company, published “The Kitchen Dance”, but I intend to self-publish one of my next two books because I want more control over sales and more of the profits. I will even consider creating another Kickstarter project or other form of crowdsourcing.

LA: I'd love you to come back to the blog and tell us more about Kickstarter.  Will you?
What sort of promo do you do? Do you have help? Use a publicist?

GT: In regards to publicity, I spend too much unsuccessful time promoting via the Internet and social media. I have found book signings are my best way to generate sales and I really enjoy meeting the readers. I am considering using a publicist once I have three books published.

LA: What is your writing routine like?

GT: My writing routine is pitiful right now. Because I am an artist who creates original Santa Claus figures from gourds and cypress knees, I spend a lot of time during the months of October through December painting. I have also been performing with a professional dinner theatre that has kept me busy for the past two months. However, I usually write in the mornings and can easily spend the entire day writing. I love taking my camper to the park and to spend a weekend doing nothing but writing. 

LA: Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

GT: I have found that being a published author opened a few doors, including joining the local chapter of Romance Writers of America (NOLA STARS) and Sisters in Crime’s chapter called Grave Expectations. I have joined numerous writing groups online and in social networks that I would never had considered had I not published. I am rewarded with the people I have met and the education I gain from them in becoming better at my craft.

LA: Which aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?

GT: I love the character development. Good characters will create the story by their reacting to different circumstances. For example, if I put Joule (from The Kitchen Dance) into the same situation as the heroine from my current work, Joule would react totally differently acting more out of emotion and fear than the trained response of Kakie, who is a detective with the sheriff’s department.

What I hate…EDITING!!!

LA: If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be, and what would you talk about? 

GT: Kathy Bates. I have always loved her acting style, especially the way she brought Stephen King’s characters to life. I would want to go camping with her and just chill.

LA: Wow Kathy Bates, I love her.  Can I come too?
Coffee, tea or other?

GT: All of the above.

LA: Tell us something about yourself we might not expect!

GT: I’m a hoarder. Not the trash kind…the shopaholic kind who loves thrift shops, garage sales, and estate sales. 

LA: Do you have a day job, too?

GT: I am a substitute teacher. It doesn’t pay much but I do it for the kids.

LA: Do you have a favorite quote, quip, or saying? What is it?

GT: Yes.  A real writer knows when to hit the delete key.

LA: LOVE IT.

 

 

Blurb:

Joule Dalton, a successful interior designer with a prestigious architectural firm, lived her life choreographed by her loved ones until a tragedy forces her to learn her own steps. Allen Brooks has endured his own share of manipulations and all his hard work and sacrifice has left him with nothing. He wears his troubles like the too large overcoat he picked up at a mission while living on the streets. This coat brings them together in an unexpected way. Joule takes the misfortunate Allen into her home in hopes of turning his life around. She gives him a place to live, a job, even introduces him to her wealthy friends. What she does not give him is her trust. This he must earn. The two combine their dreams and create a wonderful relationship. Then Allen gets a call that will challenge his sense of responsibility. He makes a choice, one that Joule cannot begrudge. Allen struggles with his decision while Joule goes back to her old life until they both realize what they really want.

"The Kitchen Dance" is a slice of fiction with a serving of mystery, a side order of suspense, a dash of crime and an extra helping of romance for dessert.

To Buy:

Melange Books
Amazon

Bio:
I was born in West Monroe, LA (but I do not know the Robertsons) but I now live in Ruston, LA where I attended high school and college. I have lived and taught in Texas, so my southern accent is an amalgamation of all three.

I have always been creative, usually expressing myself with art, but the last ten years have been spent on stage and screen as an actress portraying a number of interesting characters. I use this experience every time I create the characters for my own works of fiction.

Find Geri:

Blog
Website
Facebook
Twitter