CAUTION: Brainstorming session in progress

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Friday, November 1, 2013


I’ve become superb at starting stories. Mountain climbers, Sherpa guides in tow, are gathering at the base of my Work in Progress (WIP) pile in the hope of being the first to plant a flag on the summit. For reasons I haven’t yet fully identified, my imagination is in overdrive, spewing out plots and characters faster than I can keep up with them. I have a computer file titled “Random Musings” that has grown to over fifty pages of book titles, characters complete with accompanying traits and idiosyncrasies,  plots and twists in a variety of genres, and some pretty interesting endings. What I don’t have are finished books. 

Obviously, my problem isn’t the notorious ‘writer’s block.’ I’m writing every day. It would just be nice to get beyond the first three or four chapters of something without a new idea sprouting in my mental garden. Yesterday, I even wrote the first chapter of a nonfiction book. 

Some might say I have the ‘shiny distraction’ syndrome, but I don’t think it’s that either. When a new story idea hits, I have to write it down before it vanishes like a sock in the dryer. Unfortunately, once I do that, I rarely return to the story I was working on. 

Right now, I have no clue how to break this pattern of unfinished books begun with the best of intentions. I suspect a locked room with intravenous feedings of caffeine may be looming on the horizon. 

This isn’t like me. I’ve always been focused and driven. Currently, my mind is the ball in a racquetball game.  

If anyone has any solutions, realistic or not, I would love to hear them.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A 53-word Story


Karaoke Nostalgia

The man resembled the scarred plank floor and the boozy, nicotine stained air. The music started, he missed his cue, never caught up to the beat. The song was “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” The night, the first anniversary of his wife’s passing.

Why is it so damn hard to order more napkins?

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

DEAR K Is Out!


DEAR K is a fictional website devoted to making fantasies reality.
This initial offering by HC Brown and myself is a trilogy of erotic short stories.

Lynda wants to learn to submit.
Danielle wonders what an unrequited high school crush is doing now.
Brianne needs revenge on the man who hurt her.

What they don't know is that the brooding, coffee addicted K is about to make their deepest, and even darkest, desires come true.







ATTENTION

Due to Noble Romance Publishing closing its doors, a number of my books are currently not available to readers. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Hopefully in the near future, I'll find these stories new homes.

The books not currently for sale are:

Out of the Closet
Back in the Closet
Sunday Awakening
A Dance with Bogie and Bacall
Desire Damned
Catherine's Toys - Volumes I thru IV
The Zombie with Flowers in Her Hair

Thursday, August 15, 2013

What's The Best Writing Advice You Ever Received?


For me, it came after a thirty-eight year writing hiatus, and my deciding, for whatever ridiculous reason, I needed to have a book published. Obviously, age doesn’t always pack common sense in its wrinkled baggage. I quickly gathered enough formatted rejections that I could have conducted an intense study rivaling many universities on the subtle differences utilized by the majority of recognized agents and publishers in telling writers to go away. The commonality was that none of those responses provided a clue as to what I was doing wrong.

So, I figured that since I’d been rejected by the best, and a few of the worst, why not humiliate myself further and ask one of the most notable and respected editors in the business to take a gander at my work. To my total amazement, he agreed. As a courtesy I won’t mention his name so he doesn’t start receiving a flood of similar requests; not that anyone here would do that, of course. I asked him to be frank and blunt. His frankness was a rapier; his bluntness a circus tent stake sledge hammer. His final comment was a suggestion that I write for personal pleasure and never allow anyone to see my writing.

I accepted the gauntlet thrown at my feet as a challenge and opened my eyes and mind to the fact I lacked the education, the knowledge, to climb the literary ladder. I read, and read, and read some more about how to write. But reading doesn’t garner experience. I joined several critique groups, moving on when they became too nice, too complimentary. I finally found one, ERA, that kept its membership small in order to work one on one with each other, and where the members weren’t shy about slicing and dicing, all the while sharing how I could improve my writing. My stories have since won four legitimate awards and I write a nationally distributed column for a news service. However, I’m not content with my writing, and as a result I keep practicing and working to get better at what I love.

For me, the lesson was to step back and accept that learning is a never-ending journey and no
matter how good I think I am or can be, there is and will always be another rung in the ladder a fingertip out of reach. Because of that, I view everything I read and write as part of my education, a way to hone my craft.

By the way, that editor and I still stay in contact.

Friday, August 9, 2013

20th ANNUAL CALLIOPE FICTION CONTEST




 
20th ANNUAL CALLIOPE FICTION CONTEST

Theme: “Fair and Square”

Deadline: February 15, 2014

^   ^   ^

Used in a phrase, both words mean the same; but what if you separate them?  Use the phrase or the word(s) “fair” or “square” in your story. But don’t lose sight of what makes a story come alive: sharp characterizations, vivid imagery and artistic use of language. Winners will not be separated into categories, but entries will be compared to others within their respective genres for judging purposes.  Neatness and manuscript presentation count.

^   ^  ^                                                      



Word Count


Up to 3,000 words.

 

Form

All types of fiction (including genre) accepted: this includes general audience/mainstream; magical realism; science fiction, fantasy, light horror, mystery, romance, or cross-genres thereof; young adult and juvenile. NO picture books.  NO explicit sexual content, excessive profanity, gory violence and/or extreme horror, please.

 

Entry forms/fees

No entry form required.  Entry fees: Calliope member/subscribers—$5 first entry; $2 second; next 3 entries: Free.  (Write “Member” on upper right corner of title sheet.)  Non-members: $10 first entry; $5 for each additional story. Maximum: five stories per entrant. Membership special: $16, includes a one-year subscription to Calliope (4 issues) and one free entry. 

      Make checks or money orders (in U.S. Funds only) payable to: Writers’ SIG.  (We will also accept fees in mint, U.S. stamps in lieu of checks or money orders.)  To make payment via PayPal, go to www.paypal.com, click on “send money,” and put in Cynthia@theriver.com when it asks “which vendor.”

 

How to Submit/Format

Entries accepted from September 15, 2013 to February 15, 2014, and must come by regular mail. No other method will be accepted.  Use standard manuscript format: 1” margins; double-space for stories more than 500 words.  Name, address, phone number, e-mail address, word count, and title of story should be on a separate cover sheet, stapled to the manuscript in upper left corner. Print only title and page numbers on manuscript.  State “End” below last sentence of story.

      Work must be original—no reprints. Winners must retain sufficient rights for publication in the BIG Summer 2014 issue of Calliope, or their entries will be disqualified.

 


Prizes


Although final determination depends upon the total amount of entry fees received, a minimum $50-1st Place, $25-2nd Place, and $15-3rd Place is the goal. Also, an anonymous benefactor has pledged to donate an additional $100 to the cash awards, if more than 20 entries are received.    

      Gift subscriptions to Calliope will be at the editor’s discretion.  All winners and honorable mentions will receive certificates suitable for framing. Other prizes depend on donations received.

      Receipt of entry will be acknowledged if email address or a self-addressed postcard is included; manuscripts will not be returned.

      All stories submitted will be considered for future publication.

      nInclude a SASE for the winner’s list, and receive a free mini-critique of your entry.

 

Notification


Winners will be notified by mail or email; state preference on cover sheet.  Formal announcement will appear in both print and electronic versions of the Summer 2014 issue, together with the First through Third Place winning stories.  Other winning stories will be published in appropriate subsequent issues. We use one-time rights only.

 

About The Judging

Winners will be selected by The Fiction Editor, with comments, opinions and concurrence solicited from other Calliope editors, and/or others the Fiction Editor deems appropriate.  The decision of the judge will be final; every attempt will be made to render a fair and unbiased decision.

 

Mail entries and fees to:

Calliope Fiction Contest

5975 W. Western Way, PMB 116Y

Tucson, AZ 85713

*  *   *

For membership information and a sampling of stories visit our web site:

 
Calliope is a publication of The Writers' SIG of American Mensa, Ltd.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Zee Monodee's Latest Release: The Other Side


Title: The Other Side

Series: Book #1 in the Island Girls Trilogy

Author: Zee Monodee

Line: Ubuntu (geared to African Romance)

Publisher: Decadent Publishing, LLC

Release date: July 30, 2013

Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Romantic Comedy/ Interracial Multicultural Romance/ Bollywood

Length: 272 pages

Heat Level: Sensual/ 2 flames

Blurb:

Divorce paints a scarlet letter on her back when she returns to the culture-driven society of Mauritius. This same spotlight shines as a beacon of hope for the man who never stopped loving her. Can the second time around be the right one for these former teenage sweethearts?

Indian-origin Lara Reddy left London after her husband dumps her for a more accommodating uterus—at least, that’s what his desertion feels like. Bumping into him and his pregnant new missus doesn’t help matters any, and she thus jumps on a prestigious job offer. The kicker? The job is in Mauritius, the homeland of her parents, and a society she ran away from over a decade earlier.

But once there, Lara has no escape. Not from the gossip, the contempt, the harassing matchmaking...and certainly not from the man she hoped never to meet again. The boy she’d loved and lost—white Mauritian native, Eric Marivaux.

Back when they were teens, Eric left her, and Lara vowed she’d never let herself be hurt again. Today, they are both adults, and facing the same crossroads they’d stood at so many years earlier.

Lara now stands on the other side of Mauritian society. Will this be the impetus she needs to take a chance on Eric and love again? 

Buy Links:



Trailer:


About the author :


Zee Monodee

Stories about love, life, relationships... in a melting-pot of culture

Zee is an author who grew up on a fence – on one side there was modernity and the global world, on the other there was culture and traditions. Putting up with the culture for half of her life, one day she decided she'd stand tall on her wall and dip toes every now and then into both sides of her non-conventional upbringing.

From this resolution spanned a world of adaptation and learning to live on said wall. The realization also came that many other young women of the world were on their own fence.

This particular position became her favorite when she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing – her heroines all sit 'on a fence', whether cultural or societal, in today's world or in times past, and face dilemmas about life and love.

Hailing from the multicultural island of Mauritius, Zee is a degree holder in Communications Science. She is a head-over-heels wife, in-over-her-head mum to a tween son, best-buddy-stepmum to a teenage lad, an incompetent domestic goddess, eternal dreamer, and an absolute, shameless bookholic. When she isn’t penning more stories and/or managing the Ubuntu line at Decadent Publishing, you can bet you’ll find her with her nose in her tablet, ‘drinking in’ a good book. 

Tidbits about this book & series (please choose 1 or 2, whichever you feel more relevant for your blog): 

- The Island Girls trilogy follows the 3 Hemant sisters – Lara, Neha, Diya – over the span of the 2000-2010 decade, chronicling the changing face of the Mauritian society over that crucial period. 

- Book 2, Light My World, is Diya’s hilarious quest to find Prince Charming in the sea of frogs that is Mauritius (well, what it is according to her perception!). Follow her on this desperate mission in September 2013. 

- Book 3, Winds of Change, follows Neha as she must come to terms with widowhood and the fact that her marriage has always been a sham. In waltzes a man with the ability to make the perfect, ‘saintly’ widow she is burn with passion like she never suspected existed. Will the saint turn into a sinner, or find her rightful place simply as a woman? Find out in November 2013.

 

Thursday, July 18, 2013

A Message for Ego-Stroking Authors


In my search for authors I might be interested in reading and ultimately interviewing, I visit a wide variety of social media sites. As such, I’ve been encountering some authors who openly refer to readers as ‘idiots, dolts, and dopes who should shut up and keep their opinions to themselves.’
Don’t get me wrong; the vast majority of authors are fantastic people. They write because they can’t stop. Every word, every story is a piece of these authors’ hearts and souls they gladly share with the world. But, being human, and an avid reader, I do notice the rotten apples spoiling on self-constructed podiums of deluded grandeur, shouting their disdain of the readers who have yet to comprehend the author’s magnificence.
So, here’s my personal message to any author who truly believes that stroking their ego is far more important than satisfying readers with the best story a writer can produce:
You’re an asshat.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Big Six or Big Five, Does it Really Matter? – by KevaD


The “Big Six” publishers are now officially the “Big Five.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/book-publishings-big-gamble.html?hp&_r=0 

Does it matter? Not in my opinion. At least, not by the way readers shop. 

Times have changed, which is exactly why the Big Five are changing.
Once upon a time it was commonplace to find at the end of a shopping aisle a revolving metal tree filled with a specific publisher’s books. Often, paperbacks were lined in wooden bins by the publisher and genre. Those days are gone. In the brick and mortar stores, books are housed by genre/category for the buyers’ convenience. Who the publisher is has become mostly irrelevant to shoppers. We only have to examine book covers to confirm that belief. Publisher logos have been reduced to the size of footnotes, a postage stamp advertising the delivery method if you will. 

The method of shopping has changed dramatically because of the Internet. Book covers are digital thumbnails potential buyers browse past in their search for a good story. Even Harlequin, a once testament to visual branding, is redesigning their covers to try and adjust to the split second of attention they have from potential Internet buyers. Bookstores rarely, these days, have the space to isolate a publisher’s books and now mix them on the shelves with other publishers by genre, not the brand name. Alphabetical listings are by the authors’ names, not the publisher. 

Yes, there are and will always be some readers who connect with a specific brand such as Harlequin. But the bulk of readership, inundated by the steady supply of books hitting the digital bookshelves from unknown and untested publishers, not to mention the self-publishing gold rush, has relegated the publisher’s importance to a ‘second thought’ status. That said, there is an area of reader importance publishers still hold a fingernail grasp over – genres not yet considered mainstream. 

Readers looking for books such as same sex stories, erotica, or extreme mental/visual images such
as gore, still tend to migrate to publishers focused on providing high levels of editing and a ready stable of skilled authors in a specific genre. However, as the smaller indie publishers vie for a foothold, these indie publishers aren’t the least bit shy about expanding their interests to swaying genre readers to their own book lists. Few “romance” publishers now limit their inventory to strictly vanilla heterosexual tales. They want those erotica and same sex readers, those book buyers, to give their authors a try, too. 

Young Adult (YA) and MM (men with men) books are two of the hottest rising genres. Simply put, there’s money to be made. Wiley publishers are quickly adjusting their strategies to accommodate those readers and expanding their once rigid publication interests. Many MM publishers now have a YA division. The reverse is also true. And, there’s nothing wrong with that. Publishing is a business – a constantly shifting business still whirling in a funnel of confusion brought on by the Internet and its endless opportunities for entrepreneurs. To survive, publishers have to sell books, and that means finding readers willing to invest in their product. And, due to the waterfall of books gushing into the daily pipeline of availability, publishers have to spread their literary nets to gather in all the potential customers they can. The same holds true for authors. Few limit themselves to one publisher and aren’t afraid of self-publishing should a publisher quaver on a project. Authors understand they need to keep their own supply of books flowing to readers or risk becoming yesterday’s news. As I said, publishing is a business, and authors depend on the sales of their books to pay the bills. 

And there it is in a nutshell. The methods of selling books have changed. Authors have no choice but to compete by keeping their names and books in front of readers. The publishers who understand this have kicked their production lines into high gear in order to compete against indie publishers and the self-publishing industry. One person, one self-published author, can make a difference; a financial difference publishers must offer high paying contracts to in order to corral that author’s fans. 

There will, hopefully, always be those large, big-named, pie in the sky publishers authors dream about. However, readers just aren’t that worried about who published the book they love anymore. My generation, the one raised with bestselling books lined up below racks of camera film at the end of grocery store checkout lanes, is fading. New generations of readers are finding their own way to shop utilizing the palm-held technology they are being raised with. Where I thought my first AM portable radio was a public symbol of my growth into puberty, there are now some teens who don’t know what AM radios were. It is quite possible a generation that will never hold a print book in their hands beyond curiosity at how their ancestors used to read may be a mere decade or two away from being born. 

How can publishers adjust? Some already have. Kensington Books, a publisher I believe has yet to receive the industry respect it deserves, has opened an e-publishing division. Even Trident Media Group, a renowned literary agency representing authors, has opened an e-publishing division with hundreds of books available to consumers. 

Many authors, my daydreamer self included, will continue to hold a contract with a Big Five publisher to be the holy grail of writing. For those who achieve that perceived pinnacle of success, their author friends will congratulate them with toasts of digital champagne. But the reality is, while we authors continue to gravitate to publishers who can provide professional editing, marketing and help generate sales, readers will simply ask, “When’s your next book coming out?”. 

Welcome to the future.
 

By the way…. HC Brown and I recently signed a contract with Steam EReads, a romance publisher located in Australia, to publish our co-written erotic romance trilogy DEAR K. We’re really excited about this partnering and hope readers will be too. Look for DEAR K this August.
 

Friday, July 5, 2013

A Not So Random Musing

I'm officially fed up with authors who believe they live on a golden mountain and the only purpose readers serve is to keep that mountain growing.

The majority of authors I've encountered are kind, wonderful people, just like the readers. Then there are those who think readers should swallow whatever the author decides to feed them, and the readers should fork over their money and shut up until the next book.

Readers deserve no less than the best work an author can produce. Anything less is disrespectful.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

We Pulled Sea Games, Night Games, and Jungle Games from Sales Points. Sorry.

The Game Play series of erotic romance stories is no longer available to readers. HC Brown, my coauthor, and I apologize for this inconvenience. The stories are currently being considered by a new publisher and will hopefully be back in readers' hands very soon.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Random Musing


The fact the signers of the Constitution didn’t include a ‘common sense should apply’ clause proves their inability to see into the future.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

KILLER GIRLFRIEND; THE JODI ARIAS STORY – An Instant Book, An Instant Success


KILLER GIRLFRIEND is an in depth day by day portrayal of the Jodi Arias trial. Written by Brian Skoloff, edited by Josh Hoffner, and published by Waterfront Digital Press the book includes lots of information about Travis Alexander and Arias before the fateful day of Travis’s brutal murder. The book is well done, concise, and definitely interesting.
I have to admit to more than a degree of seat squirming that this book was released even before the jury’s verdict was read, and modified once the verdict was handed down. Judging by a couple of reviewers comments, I wasn’t alone in that discomfort.
Brian Skoloff was in the courtroom for every minute of the trial. He wrote the book, and Josh edited, as the trial progressed. It was only a matter of writing the last few pages and using today’s technology in order to make the book immediately accessible to readers once the trial ended. And I think that’s my real discomfort factor – technology.
Skoloff and Hoffner did an outstanding job putting this story together. Folks interested in Travis Alexander’s murder should definitely buy the book. But, back to my shoulder shudders.
Technology allows us to view the world in all its instant magnificence and horror. Livestream and videos uploaded within seconds of an event can be found almost anywhere on the Internet. The world is literally just a keyboard away now. KILLER GIRLFRIEND just happens to be the first time this same technology has been used to produce a book about a crime that captured the public’s interest. It won’t be the last.
KILLER GIRLFRIEND is a well written, quality book. That may or may not continue to be the primary concern as writers and publishers line up for future opportunities to be the first book published on a subject that enthralls the public. Our appetites have now been whetted. We will be expecting instant gratification from now on instead of having to wait weeks or months for the books to hit the shelves.
Good or bad, the tide has changed, the page has turned. We can only hope quality doesn’t become a casualty in the race for readers’ dollars.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Ellie Heller and A Matter of Fate

I want to first congratulate my friend Ellie Heller on her latest release. Now, I'll introduce her:

Ellie and I have been friends for several years. We met in a critiquing group, and she was always encouraging me with kindness and honesty. Ellie's a nice lady. She really is, and I am so happy to see this particular book be published because I saw parts of it in the early days.
So, without further ado, here's the talented, generous, and all around nice gal, Ellie Heller.


Hi David! Thanks so much for letting me come and hang out. Nice, comfy couch you've got here. Ooh, and lots of rings from too hot mugs on the coffee table. You get a lot of great visitors here. 

My story, A Matter of Fate – which David saw a couple of different iterations of – came out April 22. It's about a full elf woman, Mona, who finds out her best friend has a death spell on her and her job guarding both elves and mortals from misused magic is a lot more complicated than she was told. Totally doesn't help that her mentor/boss is mysteriously silent on it all. To top everything off, she meets her sexy shifter mate. He's a distraction from work she will not succumb to, no matter how much he says he's fighting the attraction too.  

A question I often get is where I got the idea for the story. And I typically respond that this story is an outcropping from another novel I wrote set in the same 'world'. Then expend on how my first effort, filled with backstory, long descriptive passages of how magic worked, and detailed dialog on non relevant topics will never see the light of day.  

But then I thought, why not share the very first germination of the story? I know if I read my response, I'd be curious about the never-to-see-light-of-day novel.  

So here you go, the very first bit I ever wrote in the world that I created for A Matter of Fate. This very first draft is quite a bit different than even the later completed version – this has more of a chic-lit feel, I even titled it Elves in Suburbia (which I still love as a title!). Oh, and this character isn't Mona, it's someone else entirely. Needless to say this is rough, no copy editor's been through this bit. 

The change of tone of the radio announcers dragged me out of my slumber. I was on the Lazy boy, working on a sun renewal session in the feeble late afternoon sun. As I became more awake the gist of the catastrophe filtered through the remnants of my dreams. 

“We are receiving reports that one of the Erie Shore wind turbines has collapsed onto the Route Five freeway causing major damage.”                       

The rest did not sink in right away. My first sleepy thought was 'too far away to use to hide my leaving'. I really needed to shake the ever-annoying Agent Hynson and disappear soon. 

As I listened more, the extent of the damage and the potential lives lost became clearer. I truly felt guilty about my first reaction. Yes, I know, there is a common misperception that elves do not have feelings. All hooey. It is part of a female elf's nature to help people, it really is; I just had other, pressing things on my not quite awake mind. The dreams that had been holding me down in my slumber contributed to my urgency to leave. 

I paced and awaited more reports, even going so far as to turn on the television, which I simply deplore but accept as a necessity. The tone became more frantic as reporters hit the scene. Severe weather hampered the rescue effort. A plan formulated in my mind. I still had my Red Cross badge from helping during Katrina, I could be there in forty five minutes if I cut a few corners. I would help, which I fully planned to do anyway, my energies were thrumming in reaction, and at the same time assuage my guilt for my uncharitable first thought. Once done, I could use the event to disappear. Everyone would benefit, the best type of plan. 

An emergency bag was packed; I only needed to add seasonal accoutrements and my spare Russian army snowsuit. As soon as I was done, I made two phone calls. The first was to Randal. He and his crew would empty the place and hold everything until I told them where to forward it. I could have had him do it before I left and taken the dimensional warp bags myself, but I didn’t want to wait. Plus I’d have to unload everything at the other end without help, always a bit tricky when you couldn't tell the size of what would come out.  

The second call was to my dear old thorn in the side Hynson. I’d picked up the habit of calling him to let him know when I flitted off somewhere and thus lessen the annoyance he caused in my life. Neighbors and coworkers do not look kindly upon being pulled out of their daily lives and questioned regarding my whereabouts. Sometimes for hours. Okay only once did that happen, when I went to help during Katrina, which is outside of my region. Not that Hynson would take my word on where I’d gone. He’d still check, but at other end, and not disrupt my home life. It was an uneasy, if complacent, truce. 

On his voice mail I duly recorded I was going to the turbine collapse site and I expected to be there for the next day or two. I didn’t add when I planned to be back home, since I didn’t want to lie to him. Not that I can’t, another elfin myth which is full of hot air, it is just so much easier to omit information. 

I do admit, I found I could not keep up the tone and quickly switched to third person, so there isn't much written in that style, fun as it is for me to read now.  

As I wrote more and developed the world and magic system and how the groups interacted, well, it's just too much to keep in, and even more to edit out. Instead I stepped sideways and wrote about the same events from a different point of view.

Just for kicks, here's the same 'scene' in A Matter of Fate: 

With no way for her to get off the overpass in time, she needed the protection her car afforded. Counting seconds, as if she had a clue when the blade would hit, she hurried back to her car as fast as she dared on the slippery slope, worried she wouldn’t make it in time. As she climbed in, the road shuddered, rocking the chassis. She turned off the engine. 

The sound of nails scraping a blackboard magnified a hundredfold shrieked out as the tip ground against the concrete. Covering her ears, Mona leaned into the steering wheel. 

The barren stretch of road where the skyway leveled out imploded under the impact. The concrete tumbled, and the cars rose and fell as the skyway buckled. 

The car ahead of Mona was hit by the car in front of it as the sedan slid back. Mona sat back up and crossed her arms in front of her face a moment before her airbag exploded. 

Fuck, that hurt. 

The car swayed along with the overpass, but her section remained aloft. As the jostling slowed, the airbag deflated and she could see again. 

The blade stuck straight up in the dusk tinted sky, the road on either side gone. 

If she hadn’t sent the Jeep careening across the road, and there hadn’t already been a snarl-up, more cars would have been on the collapsed section.

So very different, and not just because of the change from first person to third, the person is there, not just hearing about it on the radio. Action, baby! 

Now, I admit I often struggle quite a bit with where to start the story. This is the only instance, though, where the struggle wasn't just where to start, but with whom to start and where in the story line I should be. I hope I've gotten it right. Only time will tell. 

A Matter of Fate was released by Crimson Romance on April 22 and is available from Amazon,
ITunes, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. 
 

Someone is setting death-spells targeting mortals and elf blood alike. With her mentor out of commission, it’s up to half-trained Warder Mona Lisa Kubrek to stop the magic. Despite being told repeatedly her job is to nullify spells and not go after the source, too many people are at risk for her to not track the spell-caster down. Even meeting a sexy half-elf shifter won’t distract her from her goal. 

Except Cart Dupree is fully trained and has the team to search for the evildoer, so she’d be stupid to not use his expertise. Stupid is something she can’t afford to be, not with her enemy’s henchmen after her. Later she’ll deal with Cart and his questions about her special abilities and the non-standard training her mentor has given her. Right now, they need to unravel where the magician is, and who he is, before he builds enough power to decimate them all. 

First, though, they need to stay alive.

Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Where all I can be found:





Twitter @elliewrites2

 

Many, many thanks to David for letting me come ramble!