My First Time by Barbara Edwards

I've reached a point in my life where there is very little new.
So I was taken by surprise yesterday.
My son had me try his VR unit.
What is that asks the other computer illiterate people in this world.
A Virtual Reality unit looks like a boxy set of binoculars and fit over your eyes by way of headgear. He also fit me with headphones.
My son was talking about using the unit to overcome a fear of heights using one of the programs.
Well, I can tell you I don't want anyone virtual or not dangling me over a long drop.
He laughed and put in a short free program about dinosaurs.
I didn't know what to expect when it was fit to my head and he turned it on.
OH my goodness.
I watched and participated in a short episode with a dinosaur. A brontosorous I think. Is the spelling right?
Theis huge animal slept at my feet. I could see it breathing and looked all around. Up, down, left, right. Everywhere I looked was like I turned my head and actually focused on details.
It was fascinating. The animal woke and stretched. It got up and walked up to me to sniff my face.
I went cross-eyed it was so close.
Then it turned and laid down again.
I was hooked.
I want one of my own.
How much does it cost i demanded. His reply knocked my dream to the ground. Several hundred dollars plus the still expensive programs.
Sigh.
He didn't bite the hint he should give it to me. I don't blame him.
And maybe I'm lucky.
I can see how this new invention could be addicting. I already spend too much time on the computer doing social media. I don't need to eat up more of my time no matter how fascinating.
Although I will double check under the Christmas tree this year.

Check out Another Love by Barbara Edwards

 A Historical Romance

Available at Books by WingsEpress

Check www.barbaraedwards.net for more excerpts

http://www.books-by-wings-epress.com/another-love

Blurb: 

Some promises are made to be broken.

Caught in a web of political intrigue, graft and threats to a beloved child, Meg Warren and Drew Larkin hunt the men threatening the downfall of President Cleveland and the economic fabric of America. From a poor farm to the ostentatious world of New York’s elite, they sift lies, discover trust and an attraction they cannot resist. The last thing they expect to find is a love worth more than gold.

Excerpt: 

Meg quivered like a trapped bird in his arms. Her slender bones were as fragile and delicate as the lace edging her collar. Alarm widened her eyes.

"How can you prove your innocence? I can think of a way.”

 His mouth locked over hers, smothering her protest. His tongue probed the seam between her lips and she moved head back. He instantly slipped his hand to the back of her head to hold her still. His tongue coaxed.

Her thick hair loosened from its knot. The heavy length cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. Drew groaned when the silken tresses brushed his hands. His fingers twined in the softly scented curls. He tugged gently. Upon her gasp, his tongue surged between her lips.

Her hands stilled, then she caught his lower lip with her teeth and bit down, hard. She whirled away to face him from the other side of the small room. If he thought she looked regal before, now she looked magnificent. A Greek goddess, breasts uplifted with pride and rage, her hair flowing like dark water over her slim shoulders.

She pointed an accusing finger at him and he fully expected a bolt of lightening to char him to a cinder.

"I will not prove anything by going to bed with you," she cried.

"Quote." – Pat Potter, award winning author calls Another Love…“A real page turner with wonderful characters and a unique plot. You can’t miss with this one.”

Review from Romantic Times Magazine **** 1/2 (four and one-half stars)

Please follow, friend or like me. I love to hear from my readers.

Blog http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com/

Website http://barbaraedwards.net

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraEdwards.Author

Twitter  https://www.twitter.com/Barb_ed

Amazon Author’s Page http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003F6ZK1A

GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/496095.Barbara_Edwards

I hate blubbering in public! ~ By Leah St. James

I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned before, but my younger son is getting married in July. As the Mother of the Groom (MoG, as I call myself), my involvement in the wedding planning has been fairly nonexistent in the year or so since the couple set the date. Things have ramped up in the past few weeks as the MoB (Mother of the Bride) asked for some help, which I’m happy to give. Plus I still have to find a venue for the rehearsal dinner which will be in a town where the couple grew up, 400-something miles away...meaning I can’t get there in advance to check it out... Oh, and I still have to buy a dress.

But it's all good. It's a happy stressful. Here's a picture from their Senior Prom, more than ten years ago, and they're still together. Aren't they cute?

Anyway, with all that on my mind, I had completely forgotten about the one part of the big event where I’ll really be in the spotlight–the part where my son and I do the groom/mother dance.

I realized this, ironically, when I was riding with him on the trip that I wrote about last month. We were on the way home with my sister, listening to his play list on his iPod, when I said, “Hey, (Son No. 2), do we have to pick a song to dance to for your wedding?” (I think there was a hint of panic in my voice.) “Uh...yeah....I guess so,” he answered, equally enthused.

Neither of us likes being in the spotlight, and neither of us is a skilled dancer. The chances of us breaking into one of those choreographed routines posted on YouTube are probably zero, so picture us swaying to some ballad in the middle of an empty dance floor for an interminable three or four minutes ... if not longer depending on which song we pick...

Determined to tackle this task head on, I pulled out my phone and started Googling “Mother/son dance songs for weddings.” Of course I got pages of suggestions and started scrolling through one that said “Top 50 mother/song dance songs for weddings.” Certainly I could find a song among 50!

First on the list: Josh Groban’s “You Lift Me Up.” Hmm...it’s a nice song, but doesn’t really give me a mother/son vibe.

Next was “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It’s one of my favorite songs by Diana Ross and the Supremes, but again, not a mother/son song, to me.

On I searched through a lengthy list of songs by country music artists. All seemed perfectly acceptable, but my son really, really loathes country music, so they were out.

Next came some pop groups like Boyz 2 Men. My son hates pop music.

Moving on... “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole. Okay, it has an island-type beat (which makes sense since he’s Hawaiian), which my son (oddly) does love. Unfortunately...he HATES The Wizard of Oz!

Good grief, I thought as I continued scrolling. There must be a song...

Finally my eyes lit on “Child of Mine” by Carole King.

“I love Carol King!” I announced as I clicked on the YouTube video.

I listened to the lyrics (briefly excerpted here):

“Although you see the world
Different from me
Sometimes I can touch upon
The wonders that you see
All the new colors
And pictures you’ve designed
Oh yes, sweet darling
So glad you are a child of mine...”

Oh dear...my chest tightened, my eyes began to fill, and just that fast I burst into tears. “Are you CRYING, Mom?” the object of my emotion shouted from the front seat. I couldn’t answer so my sister passed a handful of tissues back to me. They didn’t help.

I kid you not, I cried like that for ten straight minutes...then I stopped for a few and started crying some more. I’m crying now just thinking about it. (Who was it who wrote the blog a few weeks back about criers??)

Obviously sentimental songs are out, which probably means ballads are out. Which means we might have to do one of those choreographed mother/son dances that will keep me so busy and focused I won’t think about the fact that my BABY is GETTING MARRIED!

I’m sure everything will be fine. I’m sure as I’m blubbering in front of all these people, and my face mottles, my nose swells and turns an unattractive shade of burgundy, everyone will understand. Right?

Just in case...any of you who’ve married off your sons and had to go through this, HELP! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

<><><><><><><><><>

Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil and the power of love. She blogs here on the 6th and 22nd of the month and promises to share pictures of the mother/son wedding dance when the time comes, as long as they don’t show her face. 

Visit Leah at LeahStJames.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/leahstjames

Promiscuous Point of View by Alison Henderson

No, I don't mean your heroine is a shameless tart. I'm talking about frequent, almost random head-hopping in fiction. After having been schooled in the highly-focused point of view promoted in modern romance fiction, I thought head-hopping was a thing of the past. Oh, no; not so!

For the past couple of months, I've been doing most my leisure reading outside our genre. I think it's healthy for a writer to expand her exposure beyond her own genre, but also--and there's no gentle way to put this--I'm bored with romance. 

First, I chose a contemporary village mystery set in Quebec. I enjoyed the setting,exotic but not too much so, and the plot was sufficiently intricate to keep me guessing. However, the author made a habit of popping in and out of characters' points of view for a paragraph or two here and there. And these weren't just the major characters, either. There was a large cast of characters, and nearly every one managed to score a brief place in the sun. By the time I was half-way through the book, my head was spinning. To be fair, this was the author's first book, written a number of years ago. She's become very successful, and I need to read a more recent volume in the series to see if she's still doing it.

My most recent read was a VERY long literary novel written by a well-known and well-regarded Minnesota author that followed the life of an ordinary woman in a small town in Minnesota from the turn of the twentieth century through the nineteen fifties. To my amazement, this author did the same thing--giving a POV paragraph to whichever of the umpteen characters struck her fancy, seemingly willy-nilly. This woman has also been writing for many years and has won a number of awards.

When I first started writing twenty-seven years ago, the issue of POV was largely ignored in popular fiction and certainly in romance. Nora Roberts ignored it, so I ignored it, too. I wrote intuitively; I wrote what I read. It was only after joining RWA and my first critique group in the mid-nineties that I was introduced to the term. I will always be grateful to the leader of that group, who patiently explained and corrected my manuscript until I figured it out.

Most romance writers these days employ deep, third-person POV because it is best for conveying characters' feelings, and that's what we strive to do. Neither of the books I mentioned above focused on feelings, but that's the primary reason our readers buy our books. I know that even if I decide in the future to experiment with other genres, I'll stick to limited, deep POV. I can't imagine writing any other way.

I wonder if the successful authors I mentioned write the way they do because they've always written that way and their editors don't try to change them, or if POV isn't important in other genres the way it is in romance. What is your experience reading outside our genre? Do you think POV matters, or is it merely a stylistic technicality we get wrapped up in when we should be concentrating on the meat of a story?

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com 

High Maintenance Furry Friends by Christine DePetrillo

If you hang around Facebook at all and are friends with me there, you know The Werewolf. He’s my 120-pound, all black German shepherd dog, whose real name is Anubis. Unusual name, I know, but Google it and you’ll see why it makes sense. Of course, I call him every other name you can think of and probably some you’d never guess like Jimmy, Tuna, The Buddy, and when he’s being difficult, Mephistopheles.

While Anubis is a sweetie to my husband and I, his grandparents, and one other friend we have, he basically doesn’t “do” people (which we don’t really either, by the way). Everyone is considered dangerous in his eyes and must receive the warning growl which quickly escalates into the foaming-at-the-mouth bark of a raving lunatic dog which can sometimes result in a hole being nipped out of your pants if you don’t move fast enough.

Yeah, anxious dog? A bit. Okay, more like a lot of bits all piled together to make a pooch who would rather scare you first before you get the chance to be scare him.

And let’s not forget car rides. Oy.

A four-hour ride to Northern New England is a festival of whining, whimpering, crying and dramatic yawning the likes of which you can’t even imagine.

Did I mention we make that drive almost every other weekend?

Yeah, so…

We’ve tried the following to alleviate his complete and utter loathing for car rides:

-calming tablets and chews

-aromatherapy sprays

-toys/treats

-spraying him with a water gun

-making stops along the way

-several car harnesses

-therapeutic Native American flute music (or Rage Against the Machine blasting to drown him out)

-completely removing the back seats in our truck and stuffing his mattress-sized bed into that space so he could travel in leisure

-Benadryl

-XanaX (prescribed by vet)

-begging him to stop

-screaming at him

-consulting an animal medium who described his troubled past lives

None of them helped with any lasting results. The only two things that seem to work are:

1. spending the entire day outside, walking, playing, running, chasing, fetching, before having to go on the car ride, which is only feasible in the summer when I’m home from the real job. Thank the goddess for July and August!

2. a sedative prescribed by the vet, which we don’t love giving him, but knocks him out for the four-hour ride and gives us peace and quiet

I always laugh when I see dogs on TV or in movies or read about dogs in books who just hop into a car, bundles of excitement and joy radiating off them as they hang their heads out the windows, tongues lolling and ears flapping in the breeze.

Not my dog.

My dog’s what you call “high maintenance.”

But I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

What “quirks” do your furry friends have?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

Maple Leaf Series, Books One to Six, available now, Book One always FREE!

The Shielded Series, Books One to Three, available now, Book One always FREE!

Wolf Kiss, Warrior Wolves Series, Book One, coming soon

When Your Grandson Asks About Your Homework ... by Vonnie Davis

Last month I posted about all I had going on in my writing world. Well, I've made some progress on my list. Believe me, it's not necessary to applaud.  What I've done are small steps we all do during the course of our career.

I've contracted Mr. OH under the name Renae DeVeau and our own Alicia will be my editor. Pray for her, folks. It's my first erotic.

I self-published NIKO: Licensed to Kill on April 25th. JEAN-LUC: Once is Never Enough releases on June 13th. I still have BASTIAN: The Spy Who Loves Me to finish. I'm two-thirds through, maybe more. I'm hoping to release it the end of August or the first half of September.

That only leaves A STRANGER'S DARE, a Kindle World's novella, a novel--A GOLDEN CHARM, and two bear shifter books to finish. Oh...and...two more Kindle World's novellas I've been asked to write. A cowboy romance set in Texas--yee-haa!--WHAT BELONGS TO RYDER. My street team chose the heroic cowboy's name--Ryder Kolins.

The third Kindle World's project is a paranormal tied into my shifters. Title for it is BEARY SASSY. Pink-haired Effie plays a matchmaking role in this story.

See how much progress I've made? Three things done and two things added. That's good. Right?

So I'm doing my Friday texting time with Ryan at MIT. "How's the writing going, G-ma? Are you finished with the one for Amazon?"

"I'm over halfway done."

"That's all?" (I cringed. There's nothing like getting fussed at by your grandson.) "I've got all my required work completed for my Internship on the 2020 Mars Land Rover. I gave a report to representatives from NASA. What I'm doing now is extra." (Show off.)

"That's awesome, sweet boy." My nickname for him since he was an infant.

"G-ma, you really should have more of this project completed. I notice you spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter." I could sense the censure in his text. (And how would smarty pants know if he wasn't on Facebook and Twitter, himself, I ask you?)

"You know I hate a smart a$$ scientist."

"Hahaha. See if you can't do better next week." (So much for the Final Exams care package I was going to send him. I'll eat the chocolate, energy bars, and homemade trail mix myself!)

Me thinks I've been put on notice and I'll need the nourishment.

My Book was almost a Movie...by Jannine Gallant

I thought I'd share a funny story with you. This happened a few months ago, and honestly, I'd forgotten all about it until something triggered the memory the other day. Have you ever imagined turning your book into a movie? Yeah, I think we all have, but I got one step closer than dreaming...

I was checking my email one morning when I noticed something from a production company in England asking about my book, Road To Serendipity. My immediate thought: What the hell? Who's trying to scam me now? I didn't want to click on the link to their website in the signature line...just in case it took me to some awful virus. So I typed their company name into a search engine instead. The same website came up, so I check it out. They seemed legit, small but they had a few actual movies and TV shows out with offices in London and Los Angeles. My second thought: What do I have to lose? So, I emailed the owner of the company back saying sure I'd be interested in a movie deal for my book and gave him my phone number. He emailed back that he'd be in touch the next day.

No phone call came, and I figured it was all a big misunderstanding. Mind you, Road To Serendipity is a self-published anthology made up of three novellas revolving around a high school reunion. It was originally part of a Wild Rose Press series called the Class of '85. I'd taken my rights back to my three stories, changed the location, and published them in a single book. How would anyone even have heard about this book that didn't sell squat?

Shockingly, a phone call came after the weekend. A man with a British accent asked me if I'd be interested in a movie or perhaps TV deal for my book. I, of course, said yes. Then he asked me what the book was about. (Head-desk. Seriously?) I told him then asked why he was interested. He said he'd had an idea for a movie or TV series that was a compilation of short vignettes in the vein of the Twilight Zone called Road To Serendipity, though not necessarily with a supernatural theme. When he googled the title he wanted to use, my book popped up. So he contacted me through my website. Un-freaking-believable, right? What are the chances? He asked if I'd be interested in turning my book into a script and assured me there were guidelines for this process. I said, "Sure, I can handle it!" Probably a lie, but whatever. LOL Then he said he'd buy my book and read it and get back to me.

This time I waited in vain for a call that never came. But I did sell a copy of RTS a couple of days later. I figured he needed time to read it. Well, this was back in February, so I think my movie debut is shot. LOL Obviously, my romances weren't what he had in mind for his series/movie. Still, it was fun to dream about while it lasted. However, it just goes to show strange things can happen when you least expect it. (Cue Twilight Zone music...)

If for some odd reason, you'd like to read Road To Serendipity, buy it on Amazon. It really is a great series of stories. Or check out all my books on my website. Happy reading.

Promo Problems: How Bad Can This Book Signing Be? by Rolynn Anderson

Happy May 1!  The concept: Gathering around a pole in May to celebrate Spring.  http://www.historicalharmonies.org/mapypoledanceorigins.htm Beautifully dressed people, a beribboned post, happy folks dancing around the pole to the right, entwining their ribbons, then dancing to the left, untangling themselves.  Sounds sweet and simple, doesn’t it?  Ha!  As “sweet and simple” as choreographing a book signing, I’d say. 

On my website I’m spending the next months talking about the five follies of book signings: http://rolynnanderson.com

But today, I want to tell you a story about the book signing I recently held at a golf pro shop for BAD LIES http://a.co/0DuYNPn, giving you an example of how we can never predict promo problems.

It’s an hour before the book signing and I’m hauling my stuff into the pro shop to set up my table.  I am over-prepared and early…my usual self.  My arms are full of stuff as I stumble into the room.  I see James, who’s working behind the counter, and I can tell from the look in his eyes, he’s startled to see me, even after all my e-mail reminding, press releases, posters, and newspaper articles.  I give a heavy sigh mentally (we shoulder on, after all), and as I put my things on the floor (no table in sight), I notice that a pall has come over the room.  The Masters Tournament is playing on two TV’s, with the sound turned off.  I glance at the TV to see a pro hitting a great tee shot.  Why is it so quiet in a room with twenty men eating and drinking and watching the Masters?

The first thing I think is: These guys have no time for an author of romantic suspense.  They want to drink beer, eat hamburgers and watch the damn Masters.  Get this writer out of my pro shop.

I look around the room again.  All the men are ignoring me, and since James has been surprised by my appearance, his day has gotten complicated.  Again, I suppress a sigh, thinking I may have picked the wrong venue for my golf novel.  How can I build interest with a group of men who are shunning me?

James goes off to find a table for me while I watch the men.  Now I see fellows gesturing to each other.  Smiling.  Not laughing.  Pointing to the TV.  Giving high fives.  Gutteral sounds of happiness or anguish.  The bartender gives me a look but doesn’t say a thing.

And then I see fingers flying with sign language and men standing up to get the attention of other guys across the room by waving their hands. 

Yes.  You have it now, don’t you?  The mystery solved.  Every single man in the room was deaf except for James.  For the next hour the only males entering the room were speechless.  I set up my table quietly among golfers who had recently finished 18 rounds of a Tournament for the Deaf.  A yearly event at Cypress Ridge Golf Course.  Who knew?

The experience teaches me a thing or two about promo.  Never think the worst about an audience that does not respond to your glorious novels.  They might be deaf to your pitch (or not readers, or not readers of fiction, or not readers of your genre, or audio only, or Kindle only…). 

We mush on no matter what the ‘condition’ of the environment.  The goal: put our novels in the hands of readers.  (Postscript: The booksale was a great success.  I sold 24 books, made some new friends, and made history by holding a book signing in a pro shop!)

So here’s my golf/pro shop novel, BAD LIES http://a.co/0DuYNPn:

Italy’s haunted caves spell danger for an American golfer and a NATO geologist

****

Sophie Maxwell is a late-blooming, unorthodox golfer, and mother of a precocious thirteen year-old. Determined to put divorce, bankruptcy, and a penchant for gambling in her past, Sophie goes to Italy for a qualifying golf tournament.

Jack Walker turned his back on a pro golfing career to become a geologist. As a favor to his ailing father he’ll caddy for Sophie; off hours, he’ll find caves on the Mediterranean coast, suitable for NATO listening posts for terrorist activity.

Someone is determined to stop Jack’s underground hunt and ruin Sophie’s chances to win her tournament.

On a Rome golf course and in the Amalfi coast’s haunted caves, all the odds are stacked against Sophie and Jack.  In their gamble of a lifetime, who wins?

Seven Suspense Novels Spiked with Romance

Web and Blog:

http://rolynnanderson.com

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rolynn-Anderson/188767867821613 

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/rolynnanderson

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4990049.Rolynn_Anderson