You may know I’m a Virginian living in the lovely Shenandoah Valley, but did you realize my family has been here for several hundred years and were among the earliest settlers in the valley, that the driving force behind my writing has been my passion for Virginia and its rich history, and reaches even further back to my English/Scots-Irish roots?

I find inspiration in the stories and places known to the people who’ve gone before me.  Many of these homes were dear to them and still are to us today.  I’m also an enormous fan of old gardens, mills, churches…if it’s historic, I’m on board.

Some of the old Virginia homes I’ve found most intriguing and inspiring are described and illustrated below.  This is only a sampling of the many beautiful houses that date to various time periods in Virginia’s extended history.

Mount Vernon, (above), the home of George Washington (built in 1757).  Mount Vernon is absolutely exquisite and the grounds are too.  I can’t rave enough about Mount Vernon.  The gardens are wonderful and the last time I was there, they sold heirloom flower seeds you can grow in your own gardens.  Same thing at Monticello.  Many of these historic sites are accompanied by museums and gift shops that offer items and books unique to that place.  Excellent for doing research on any particular site or time period.

Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson (Built in 1772). I love Monticello, a wonderful old home, and the grounds and gardens are fabulous.  It’s filled with Jefferson’s inventions.  He was an amazing man whom I much admire.  We are proud to claim him as a Virginian, along with a number of other outstanding founding fathers, including George Washington mentioned above.   Not to neglect the founding mothers of whom my favorite is Abigail Adams.  If you haven’t seenThe Adam’s Chronicles, you really should.  Extremely well done series, produced by Tom Hanks,  much of which was actually filmed in Virginia.

The beautifully historic homes in Colonial Williamsburg…all of Williamsburg, actually, are wonderful. Largely restored in the 1930′s, Williamsburg is a major tourist attraction for visitors from all over the world.  My dad tells me his aunt had an antique shop there he used to visit, now gone.  Sigh.  Wish that was all restored and still in the family.  How kewl would that be?  I’m a huge fan of colonial Williamsburg.  You haven’t lived until you’ve visited Williamsburg, but if at all possible go during the less crowded and more pleasant seasons of spring or fall.  Summer can be quite hot and humid, but anytime is better than missing it altogether and they do have air conditioning in most of the buildings.  The last time I was there the weather was cool and the crowd thin.  Just the way I like it.  I toured once in cold wind-driven rain, but the crowd was light.  Come to think of it, it’s high time I went back for another visit.

The magnificent Carter’s Grove Plantation (Completed in 1755)  An amazing place!  We visited Carter’s Grove repeatedly on our honeymoon as we went to Williamsburg and it’s not far.  Carter’s Grove is spectacular.  Definitely one of the most impressive colonial homes I’ve ever visited.  I try to imagine actually living there.

Shirley Plantation (Completed in 1738) Fascinating old home and outbuildings.  Shirley is part of the inspiration behind light paranormal romance Somewhere My Love. I have a separate post about Shirley’s famous ghost, Aunt Pratt.  That’s an amazing tale in itself, and one I've featured on this blog and my home blog at One Writer's Way. For the ghost story of Aunt Pratt click here.
The idea of haunted homes has also influenced my work.  But I digress... 

Berkeley Plantation (Brick home built in 1726 but the history of the site extends much further back into early America).  I was particularly struck by Berkeley, part of the inspiration behind light paranormal Somewhere My Love.  Berkeley has beautiful gardens too.  I have a separate post on Berkeley, the actual site of the first Thanksgiving.

Chapel Hill our Virginia family home place (Circa 1816) *the snowy pic below of the home decorated for Christmas.  This beautiful old house had enormous significance in my life and undergirds every story I tell set in an old plantation.  That ‘snake incident’ in historical romance Enemy of the King happened right here.  Those of you who think snakes can’t wind themselves around the antlers of a buck mounted up on the wall best think again.   And they like to do it at night when small children are on route to the bathroom.

I recently completed the next story in my 'Somewhere' series entitled Somewhere the Bells Ring, a light paranormal Christmas short set at this old family home in 1968 with flashbacks to 1918 and the World War One era.

The Joshua Wilton House: “The Joshua Wilton House…is a superb small inn and restaurant” – The Sunday New York Times ~ To quote from their website: “Joshua Wilton House offers guests an oasis of quiet charm and gracious living in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. In an elegantly restoredVictorian home, Joshua Wilton House occupies a corner in the historic “Old Town” district of Harrisonburg, Virginia.”

This lovely old home (lit up at night) is part of the inspiration behind light paranormal romance Somewhere My Lass. I used a compilation of Victorian era Virginia homes, some of which I’ve lived in, for the mysterious house in historic Staunton Virginia where the story begins~

Books I’ve written most influenced by old homes thus far include:

Colonial American Romance Novel Enemy of the King

Light Paranormal Romance Novel Somewhere My Love

Light Paranormal Romance Novel Somewhere My Lass 

A Warrior for Christmas,  in An American Rose Christmas Anthology.

I explored my fascination with castles in light paranormal time travel romance  Somewhere My Lass as part of my Scottish roots. This is the beautiful Eilean Donan. I hope you share my passion for the past and these wonderful old homes in particular.  But whether you do or not, I will always cherish these places and my memories of them.

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If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.

Oscar Wilde

Any of these quotes with take you to the Quotations Page where you can enjoy more Wilde quotes.

Happy Easter, all!
I hope you are having a good hare day.




No I did not hide an egg there!















Or there





What am I doing this lovely Easter weekend? Well, I played Mama Thursday night so my daughter is now able to work over the weekend. Hey, working is a good thing.


I am working to self-publish a book of my heart, actually 2 books of my heart. Why would I do that? The truth is that I have tons of rejections and want folks to be able to read my stories. I am still working on stories I hope to sell, of course.

I found a gem of a cover artist who asked me questions and prepared a mock up for me. Bet you'd like to see it. Well, not yet! As soon as it's ready, you'll see it here! Just a hint. It rocks, so far.

Now back to reading the directions to upload it or download it or whatever. I am so technically challenged!

Enjoy your

On May 20, my erotic novella Celestial Sin releases from The Wild Rose Press, The Wilder Catalog, under the name Bianca Swan. I enjoyed writing this novella and am glad to swim out to sea on the next great wave of paranormal romance/urban fantasy. Demons and fallen angels are the vampires of yesterday. Not that vampire novels aren’t still popular—and I’m glad they are. My short, Black Swan, is about a society of humans who willingly submit to the vampire to experience the ecstasy of the Kiss.

So my offering as the demon/fallen angel wave crests:

Blurb:
Early on, Essie McBane set her standards high and waited for true love. She never expected the answer to her prayer to literally fall from heaven in the shape of a warrior angel with chestnut curls and a celestial body. As much as she'd love to teach the divine creature a thing or two about sex and lust, can she be responsible for leading him into temptation?

Sinfully handsome Cam-ael, an angel, is wounded in the second war between heaven and hell and plummets into the arms of a beautiful human. But Cam knows he must return eventually, no matter how much he likes the material pleasures of earth. Not to mention the sensual pleasure he's found with Essie.

But when his mortal feelings for Essie draws a demon into the midst, can Cam protect her or will he learn the true meaning of the word sacrifice?

Excerpt: (edited for a PG-13 site)
“Do you eat? I didn’t think to ask.” Essie continued soaping and stroking his wings.
He bit his lip to stifle another groan of ecstasy. “I never have eaten, but the soup smelled delicious.”

“I guess there’s a lot you’ve never done. Tell me about Heaven.”

“Later.” He couldn’t think of home in this condition. Guilt stabbed through him, his stomach clenching, but why should he care anymore? He and his brothers had been betrayed.

She patted a wing. “There you are. Rinse before you get a chill.”

Reluctantly, Cam dipped his wings in the pond. He’d promised not to read her mind, but she was broadcasting on such a strong frequency he couldn’t help hearing her thoughts.

Now, big boy, strut out naked.

He gave Essie her wish, emerging from the water fully erect. He didn’t try to hide anything as water and cold glazed his skin.

She inhaled slowly, her lips parted. Her expression robbed him of breath. The phenomenon of unintentionally hearing her thoughts must occur in intense situations—and they were both emotionally and physically charged. Cam felt like he was ionized.

Essie peeled her gaze off his equipment and looked into his eyes. “I thought angels were supposed to be androgynous.”

“No.” His grin tasted wicked, and he knew that mischief sparkled in his eyes. “We come fully equipped.” He shook the hair back from his face. “That’s the hell of it. I’m not supposed to use it.”

Trailer:

I wrote the script, our own Toni Sweeney and I chose the pictures, she chose the music and produced this New Covey nominated trailer for Celestial Sin.

For the SO sinful cover, another excerpt and a free erotic read, Bianca invites you to visit Bianca’s blog.

Hope you’ll drop by May 20th for the Release Day party. Prizes are involved!

I confess. I’m one of those people who watch American Idol every week and tape it to make sure I don’t miss anything. I’ve had several people ask me why I like it and I tell them the truth. It inspires me to write better.

Huh? You might say.

Seriously, think about it. All the performers on the show are good singers or they wouldn’t make it to the final ten. Their voices must adapt to different song styles while remaining true to themselves. The judges listen to them sing and offer criticism—a lot of which is to give something more to the performance.

Beginning to sound familiar?

For me, the writing process, which is difficult at best, is about bringing different components to a story - honesty, emotion, brisk pacing, intriguing plot, etc. etc. Each of us has her/his own voice, history and style. But all of us are on a stage presenting what we’ve written to people who judge us.

In a way, I feel like I’m on the stage with those singers, listening carefully to what they are being told. And each time they grow and improve, I’m encouraged to think I can do the same-- reach down inside of me and give a little more to the words which are my songs.

Yep, the man missed his calling. He could spin some big ones. He'd make up a lie and use another one to prop it up. I grew up watching him and listening. He'd make up a lie when the truth would suit the best. After about the third time he told the tale, he came to believe it was true. Just proud as a peacock!

That's call revisionist history. If I'd know it then, I'd have realized my daddy marked me for my future career. You see, I am an historian. In spite of my Dad's influence, I try to keep my history on the up and up. None of my daddy's little lies.

Then there's the other thing that my daddy gave me. The ability to lie really well. He was a pro and I grew up following in his footsteps. But I use my talent differently. I lie all I want, make up whopping tales and embellish them something terrible. I bend the truth and torture the words into shapes my English teacher would be hard pressed to unwind. I write fiction.

Yep, that's what I do. I make up lies and embellish the truth and paint little ditties for the world to see and it's all because my Daddy lied. Thanks Dad, you gave me quite a gift.

What do you do when your family has been declared traitors to the Crown, your mother and father are killed in a rebellion, and your estate confiscated?

If you’re the sons of Riven kan Ingan—sellsword’s son and Francovian warlord—you do the only thing you can: flee the country and wait to grow up and take your revenge.

In Barbarian Blood Royal, the fourth in the Chronicles of Riven the Heretic series, that’s exactly what the boys do. Being young (the eldest not quite twenty-one, the youngest barely nine) and until this moment war-virgins all (eldest son Val was scheduled to receive his knight’s gauntlets that ill-fated Spring), the five bury their parents and split up, each going to a different country, in hopes that way some will survive.

Riven’s son and heir Val heads to Ghermia, the country where his mother was born, only to be attacked and left for dead by the King’s Black Shields who track him through the mountains. Surviving but badly wounded, he’s nursed back to health by a beautiful but deadly creature called a Stroilika…a forest witch…and she wants Val for purposes all her own…

Twins Hroric and Shael head East into the country of Chaleit, where no one asks questions of two identical strangers. There, they find not only deadly magic but love waiting in the form of twin female thieves…

Riven’s bastard son, the soldier-priest Ilke, takes youngest son Merigan and travels through the freezing blizzards of the Snow King into the deserts of Izhmir, where Ilke must make a heartbreaking decision concerning his little brother. When temptation comes in the form of a beautiful village girl, he faces his own doubts as to why he became a priest…

In their new roles in new lands, these exiles grow into men, make friends, and put down roots, but always…in the back of each mind…the desire for revenge burns like a never-dying coal…

This series, the fourth in the story of the rise of the kan Ingans to become the dynasty ruling the Emeraunt Galaxy and the plant Arcanis, sets the stage for my later series The kan Ingan Archives. It’s medieval in tone, a romantic fantasy in which love and war, revenge and hope all play important parts, where sacrifices are made through love so a family line may continue. There’s plenty of action, adventure, and love scenes enough to satisfy the most romantic. I think you’ll like it.

EXCERPT:

The fox was run to ground and the hounds attacked.

Val barely had time to draw his sword and brace himself before they were upon him. Fending away one sword, he turned to block the thrust of the second Black Shield's blade, trying to maneuver into a position where he could face all three. They continued to circle, darting in, moving away. If they'd bayed and growled, 'twould've been appropriate.

The fox was at bay and they were waiting to pull him down.

Drel's devils! he thought frantically, despairing at the odds. Prince of Demons, help me! Three against one's too unequal!

***

...the clouds burst into crimson light. Ripping them away with his taloned fingers, Drel forced his dreadful way into the gods’ heavenly cavern.

Father, did you hear? He called for me! The words were a liquid stream of scarlet, directed at Ildred as if in challenge.

I heard, Ildred replied, unmoved by neither Drel's blood-smeared aspect nor his words. And you shall have him--for now.

Y-you relinquish him? A look of puzzlement appearing on what could be seen of Drel’s gore-stained face under the cheek-guards of his horned helm.

For this moment. The boy's belonged to you in body for some time, my bloody son. The Bloodsong rages through his veins and 'tis your path he'll follow for many years. Go! Send your minion to answer his call and make him your own, but be ready to release him when the time comes. Take his body--but I'll keep his soul!

With a roar sweeping through the sky as a screaming wind, darkness gleaming through the rents in his blood-dark robes, Drel rushed from the Cavern...

***

Val swung his sword but the man leaped away and the blow which should've driven the point through his chest merely struck his shoulder. Still, the Black went down, weapon falling from his hand.

One out of the way!

'Twas awkward, fighting with his left hand, trying to swing the sword around to meet theirs. One moved in, and as their blades clashed in the air, the other Black stepped behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, Val saw the man raise his sword.

Even as he dodged and lifted his own weapon to catch the downward-moving blade, he knew 'twas too late. He had a sudden glimpse of metal glittering in the sun as it fell to bury itself through forehead, eye, and cheek.

Dropping his sword, Val clutched at his face, and the world burst into a raw and crimson wound.

Barbarian Blood Royal and other entries in the series are available at: http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/

I love to be entertained and romantic stories and movies do it for me. Stories where two people meet, sparks fly, and stuff happens. Stories that have you, turning pages or popping popcorn into your mouth, and wondering how in the hell the pair will work things out and earn a happily ever after life together. I’m no different from anyone else. Reading or watching them provides an escape from the pressures of real life and we all need to do that once in a while.

In a really great story, each act of the story lives up to its purpose.
The beginning not only has to grab its audience’s attention but it also has to set the tone of the story, introduce characters and make you care about at least one of those characters. The story should start at the dire point in one of the main characters lives. This character doesn’t necessarily need to be the hero or heroine. The event could occur to a secondary character, but their predicament does have to have a direct affect on the hero or heroines lives within a reasonable time period. A perfect example of this type of opening in a book is Brenda Novak’s story The Perfect Couple. I don’t want to give away too much for those you haven’t read this awesome book, but in the opening scene you see a young boy escaping from one of the two villains. His escape drives the villain to immediately capture another victim which is the heroine’s daughter. Exciting, right?

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and soon found myself entering the meat of the story, otherwise known as the middle. Most writers hate writing the middle as they fear it will sag. Sagging middles leave the audience dozing off, lying the book down—never to return, or leaving the theater. In order to avoid a sagging middle, the author has to up the stakes, create a twist, change a character or introduce a subplot that conflicts with the main plot. We’ve all seen GOT MAIL, right? At the crest of the middle, Joe Fox realizes he doesn’t want to rack up failed relationships like his father and decides ShopLady is his perfect mate. He just needs to convince her they were meant to be. The author changed the hero and created a twist. And yes, up the stakes. We were no longer dealing with a business take over tale, the story becomes the personal, a relationship starts and romance blooms. At this point, I was totally invested in the lives of the characters, and wouldn’t budge from my chair until I knew the heroine and hero would be alright.

Which brings us to the end. Simply it has to be satisfying. The end should wrap all threads and be so thrilling, it’s the first thing your audience recalls when thinking about your story. Right now, I’m thinking of the moment when a trembling hero, despite his fear of heights, climbs a couple floors of a fire escape with roses in his mouth and then while holding the heroine says “What does she do when he saves her?” The response from the heroine, “She saves him right back.” You got it. Pretty Woman.

Do you have any examples you’d like to share?

We’re delighted to have you join us at the Fuzzy hangout, Faith. To get us started, I have some questions for you to ponder, the sorts of things all of us, readers and writers alike, wonder about. So kick back, pour yourself a cup of coffee and spill. (Your thoughts, not the coffee.)

 1) What was it that made you want to be an author? Are you one of those writers like me whose been scribbling since childhood, or did the burning desire to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard strike far later in life?  

I’m like you. I’ve been writing something or another since the sixth grade. Of course, I did not get serious about it, by actually following though on a book until 2000.

2) And a follow up question, are you a diehard romantic (like me) and is that what prompted you to write romance?   Have you ever written in another genre or considered it?   

I am a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to reading. It has to be romance, but I have tackled different genres since I first found “Mann Of The Medical Wing,” a Harlequin romance my brother’s wife had. I was fifteen. Now, I pretty much read paranormals, time travels, and historicals. And they just happen to be what I love to write! However, I may get around to writing a non-fiction book sooner or later.

3) Also along those lines, what draws you to write paranormal romance? And how do you come up with your ideas? I’m assuming a fabulous imagination enters in.   

I never thought I would ever pen a vampire romance. I am a chicken at heart, (Me too :) and don’t like to look at scary things, but I wanted to enter a contest, and after taking a nap one afternoon, I dreamed about a guy who seemed to be a vampire. He was a bit arrogant, handsome, and oh so possessive…lol.  After I wrote “Kensington’s Soul” the first book in my “Bound By Blood, The Legends” series, I was hooked. How do I come up with these ideas? Well, it’s like this. My brother asked me if I just had stuff rattling around inside my head. I told him yes, and that was as good thing or I wouldn’t be able to write.

4) Do you ever struggle with writer’s block, and if so, what are some of your coping strategies?  Apart from bribing yourself with chocolate, as some of us do. 

Beth, I don’t think I do, or I haven’t in a long time. For me it’s mostly finding the time to write at the moment. But for me when I did get it, reading a book, chocolate, all kinds of things helped. A tip an instructor gave me years ago when I did an article on his solution for writers block, is to turn off the monitor and just let your fingers type. At that time back in 2001 or so, I needed that advice, and it did help! And one of my problems is turning my characters off…lol. They like to jabber in my head way too much when I’m supposed to be doing something else.

5) Is there someone in your life you consider to be your inspiration, or many such individuals?   

There are several someones! First I would have to say God, his son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Without the peace of mind this heavenly host brings, I couldn’t write. Next on my list would be my daughter, who took care of her dad while he was sick so I could work. I know it was hard on her, and I hated it so badly. She is awesome.  Then there is my brother Rod. He has always believed in me, and makes me feel like I’ve arrived…lol.  Of course, there are so many authors out there who have supported me, picked me up when I got rejected, and gave me sound advice!

6) Do you base any of your characters on people you know?  Of course, as it says in the start of our books, ‘any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.’  

Actually, I don’t. I do however use unusual names of people I meet.

  

7) What would you consider to be your favorite book you’ve written?   

Well, I love my first book, which has yet to find a home. It is a medieval. After that it would be “Dunbar’s Curse” the second book in my vampire series. And I love “Viking, Go Home.” A time travel with, you guessed it, a Viking. I am especially pleased with the first book in my “Immortal Executioner” series. It allows me to explore how archangels work and how they look on the evil that is in the world. Of course, readers will love the Highlander hero who fights demons.

8) Who are some of your favorite authors? Favorite books?   

Okay, let’s see, I know Beth Trissel is one of them! You rock with your time travels. (Awww, shucks.) And let’s just say I love a lot of the paranormal authors out there. If I tried to list them we’d be here a week…lol.

9) How do you--or have you--coped with rejection?   

Well, I’ve learned not to get as upset as I did with my first two or three…lol. I wanted to rip my manuscript apart. Now, I leave it alone for a day or so and go back and then read the reasons why it was rejected. Sometimes you can find a beacon of inspiration in the editor’s words, and then again sometimes you just write up a scene and kill people off…lol.

10) Any new projects you’re at work on, or new directions you’d like to tell us about?   

Oh yes, I am working on a series that will deal with the Archangel Michael heading up a group of immortal executioners. I also have book coming out with Siren Bookstrand in May 2011. It is also a paranormal.

Wow.  Fascinating, Faith, and you're an amazingly productive author.  An inspiration to us all.  I've decorated this post with your lovely covers and didn't get all of them up here.

Thank you so much, and for having me back here! I love you and this blog!  Hugs!

Faith

 

For more on Faith please visit her website at: http://www.faithvsmith.com/

During the mid-nineties, I often traveled to Russia and Belarus for business and I was quite impressed by the Russian culture and hospitality. As a frequent visitor to these exotic places, I collected pictures and notes and decided to set my new book in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

With my heroine, Dr. Jillian Burton, you will discover a different civilization, visit interesting cities and towns, marvel at the Russian architecture, taste the exotic food, toast with vodka, wear a fur chapka, experience many of the local customs, and fall in love with a gallant Belarusian doctor.

In Minsk, I often toured the bazaars, malls and boutiques. The amber jewelry captured my attention and I bought a few items f0r myself. With the strong exchange rate of the dollar, Belarusian articles were not expensive at the time. Soon my whole family and several friends asked me to bring them back an amber piece: earrings, pendants, necklaces, or brooches. I even found a small amber elephant that delighted my daughter. Belarusian friends advised me to wear an amber necklace in winter to keep warm.

Amber is known to radiate heat to the skin. Most amber is golden yellow to golden orange, but green, red, violet, and black amber have also been found. Amber is the fossilized resin of trees. Transparent to translucent, amber usually occurs as nodules or small, irregularly shaped masses, often with a cracked and weathered surface.

One of my colleagues bought an amber belt-buckle containing an insect imbeded in the amber. Although I didn’t care for an amber brooch with an insect or lizard trapped in it, this type of amber is more rare and expensive. Insects or moss, lichen or pine needles could have been trapped millions of years ago while the resin was still sticky. Air bubbles may give amber a cloudy appearance, but heating the amber in oil will clear this. When rubbed, amber produces a negative electrical charge that attracts dust. This is one way of determining whether the Amber is natural or not.

Amber has been attributed a number of medicinal uses, but today it is used almost exclusively for jewelry. The most famous despots of amber are in the Baltic region, particularly along the coasts of Poland, Russia, and Lithuania.

The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo, near Saint Petersburg is a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors.

Due to its singular beauty, it is sometimes dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World". It covers more than 55 square meters and contains over six tons of amber.

Here is a short synopsis for my new contemporary romance, set in Belarus. PRESCRIPTION IN RUSSIAN:

Dr. Fyodor Vassilov is a thirty-eight year old widower and devoted family man with four little boys who need a caring mother. Still emotionally crippled by the loss of his wife, Fyodor can’t allow himself to get close to a woman again. Having a fling is okay but love? Forget about it! He has to protect his kids, and his heart, from any further harm.

Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on an official mission to improve health care conditions in Belarus. A few years ago, she lost her son and her illusions about men, marriage and family, and she won’t risk being hurt again. Feeling guilty about her son’s death, she travels to third-world countries to cure and save children but she never allows herself to get emotionally attached to a child.

Fyodor’s mother presses him to marry a healthy woman who wants a big family and loves children. The last woman who fits the bill is Jillian, a woman who considers herself incapable of mothering a child, a doctor who can’t stop roaming the world.

When Fyodor and Jillian work together in Belarus, their cultures clash and their painful memories still hurt, but their attraction defies all odds. Can love overcome duty and guilt?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

Rx IN RUSSIAN is a new release at TWRP in print and ebook.

http://www.monarisk.com/

Hi Everyone,
Lots of great deals for this lovely Monday. First, the freebies:

Blockbuster express offers a free DVD rental on Monday. Use code MONDAYCOMP

Sign up for Earth Fare's new Welcome Home club. You'll immediately be issued a free coupon for 1 lb. of homemade rotisserie chicken salad with a $10.00 purchase. Hurry, though, as this deal ends in a couple of days.

CVS is offering a free gift of either candy or beverage with your twitter account.
Here's the link:
https://secure.ed4.net/cvs/enroll/social/signup.cfm

CVS is also offering a free Essence of Beauty gift through your Facebook account.
https://www.facebook.com/cvsbeautyclub?sk=app_161582440546564

Sam's club is offering a free sample of Huggies. If you have no need for it, pass it on to a homeless shelter.
http://www5.samsclub.com/showcase/KC-Baby-Showcase.aspx

Hi everyone,
It's another Sunday of fabulous savings, so here goes:

First the Freebies:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is offering a free "Celebrate Urban Birds Kit", for bird lovers as well as a fun activity for kids.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/GettingStarted/kit

For that special man in your life, Mercury magazines is offering a free subscription to Car and Driver magazine:

http://www.mercurymagazines.com/pr1/121/121572

The every day steal at Old Navy is their comfy t-shirt for $4.99. Comes in assorted colors. Orders of $50.00 or more ship free.

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=26194&vid=1&pid=634295

I hesitate to mention this next deal, because of the credit card issue involved. However, for those who might be interested, BritishAirways.com is offering 50,000 miles for a Visa Card sign-up. If you use the card and spend $2500 within the first 3 months, they will add an additional 50,000 miles to your account. Considering the expense of air travel, this may be enough for 2 flights to Europe. A $75.00 membership fee will probably apply.

Feeling lucky? Check out SweetiesSweeps. Her website and newsletter list the free sweepstakes offered daily. You never know--this might be your lucky day! :)

Favorite quote: "I can't afford to save any more money".

How swiftly time slips away! I had intended to post a blog on yet another great experience at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in September of 2010, but never got that “round tuit.” Of course, being the piano lover, the recital was piano. The guest artist was Henri-Paul Sicsic, a Canadian pianist. My friend Beda, who shares with me a love of sports cars, and I went straight from work in the Medical Center (very near Rice), sashayed into the Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall and took our seats.

I wish I could YouTube this performance for everyone to hear. The program was all-Chopin, beginning with the Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 41, no.1. When the pianist played Sonata No. 2, in B-flat Minor, Op. 35, Marche funebre: Lento, I learned something new. This is the traditional funeral march. It was so eerie, played first hand, on a concert stage that I actually shivered. This link will take you to a YouTube performance by the master pianist, Arthur Rubenstein playing the March funebre: The Funeral March.

Being a writer of dark paranormal fiction, this piece resonated with me. Though my vampires never died in the traditional sense, they were transformed from normal meat-and-potatoes kind of folk to eternal hunters by a blood-borne pathogen (another story). I could imagine my British lord, concert pianist and vampire playing Chopin’s Funeral March on a dark, lonely night when eternity weighed too heavily on his shoulders. If you’d like to meet Morgan, please visit my web site for a free read, called Vampyre Hunt. http://www.lindanightingale.com/

As I pen these words, I am listening to Mr. Rubenstein’s rendition, and even now, I shiver, thinking that the young Chopin, who died at 39, wrote his own funeral march. His grave monument in Clesinger is Euterpe (Greek muse of music) weeping over a broken lyre.

On a happier note, maybe in my next blog, I’ll write about the romance between the immortal Chopin and the novelist George Sand (Aurore Lucile Dupin, later Baroness of Dudevant, 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876).

There are several movies about this love affair, none of them historically accurate, but my favorites are Impromptu and Chopin: Desire for Love. Don’t expect a history lesson. These films are romantic fantasies, but both feature his music.

How much do you know about wine? My expertise consists of recognizing a white or red wine or a rose Zimpfandel. Yes, I know my colors. Two weeks ago we visited Napa Valley and I listened with fascination as wine experts explained the properties of their wines and allowed us to taste samples. I usually don’t drink. One can of beer or a glass of wine greatly improves my mood. More would make me tipsy. Imagine, by 11:00 am I already drank three glasses, by 1:00 pm I added four more, and by 4:00 pm I totaled ten glasses of delicious wines. Yes, I was giggling, kissing my husband and loving every bit of the beautiful Napa Valley. In spite of the daze shrouding my brain, I learned a few things about vines, grapes and wines: The smaller the grape, the more concentrated the flavor. Skin color and thickness give wine (red and rose) its color and its aromatic qualities. Acid and sugar level in the fruit determine the wine’s sweetness and percentage of alcohol. An average temperature of 57-59o F is ideal and good vineyards need very well drained soils. Slopes which have concentrated sunlight and better drainage are more suited to vines than flat lands.

PRESCRIPTION IN RUSSIAN available in print at the Wild Rose Press.

Excerpt: Fyodor handed Jillian her shot glass and raised his. “Welcome to Belarus. I’m sure we will have a great working relationship.”

Jillian considered her shot glass without touching it. A deep scowl furrowed between her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Is there a bug floating in it?”

“You expect me to drink this, straight? No ice, no water, no orange juice?”

“Why would you spoil the taste of vodka? We always drink it straight. Try it.” He clicked his glass against hers. “Nazhtrovia.”

She sighed, stared at the clear liquid in her glass, and slowly raised her drink.

“It’s not a medicine. Believe me, you will like it. Nazhtrovia.”

“Cheers. I mean Nazhtrovia.” At first, she sipped it slowly, then took a good swallow, choked, coughed, and cleared her throat. “Not too bad.”

Fyodor laughed. “You will get used to it.” With time, she would get used to their vodka and hopefully to their food and traditions. Maybe she could get used to him and his children. Bozha moy, Good God, what was he thinking?

Cursing himself, Fyodor grabbed his shot glass and emptied it. She’d just arrived in his country and had acted as the conscientious delegate, dedicated doctor, and perfect guest, but otherwise she’d been assertive, poised, reserved, and somewhat aloof. Da, but she had lovely eyes and fabulous assets. And he was hard-put to deny his attraction.

Blurb:

An American Pediatrician

A Russian Surgeon

A woman who lost a son and frantically avoids marriage and family

A man with four adorable sons who badly need a mother

Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?

“Mona Risk writes heroes with heart, heroines with spunk in stories and settings that are simply unforgettable!" -- Roxanne St. Claire, Killer Curves, National Bestseller.

Hey, Danica! Welcome to the Pink Fuzzy Writers place this Monday morning. What do you have there? Oh, my! What a hot cover.

Does everyone have something to drink and munch? Take it away Danica!

The Moral of the Story

Do you remember when you were little and you read Aesop’s Fables? There was always a moral to the story, some lesson to be learned that I suppose our teachers and parents hoped we would take with us when we left that classroom. I’m sure I learned something, but I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was. However, I have discovered that as a writer, I follow almost the same formula Aesop did in his storytelling.

When I began to write, I never set out to write a story with a moral. Why would I want to? I was writing about romance and how love conquers all! But then I realized there’s a moral in every romance.

As readers, we want characters in the books we read to be complex and flawed; who wants to read about perfect people? Not me. I want someone who has issues, like me (not necessarily my issues, but you know what I mean). I want to read about someone who triumphs in the end and yes, love conquers all. As a writer, however, I never made that conscious connection. It was only during a recent discussion with someone that I discovered that I write modern day romantic fables.

In the first book of my Veil series, Ruby: Uncut and on the Loose, the heroine has a painful past and she believes being independent from everything and everyone is the only way to be. The hero has…well, a hero complex. He’ll sacrifice everything, even his own love, to make the world a better place. The moral of that story was discovering what’s really important in life. It’s learning to compromise, not just with a loved one, but also with yourself. Deep, huh?

The second book, Succubus-in-Waiting was perhaps a little more blatant than that. That book was about acceptance and prejudice. The heroine knows she’s different, a freak. And really, how could anyone want her because of that? The hero hates succubi because of what one did to his brother. The moral of this story is that hatred and prejudice can blind you to what’s right in front of you. It’s also about accepting and loving who you are, no matter how different you are from “normal” society.

Then we get to the third book, Lifestyles of the Fey and Dangerous. This book is darker than the first two. When I wrote it, I didn’t even ponder a moral or the darkness. I just knew the heroine was going to have to overcome an awful lot. Why? Because I made her an assassin who was out to kill the hero (who, by the way, has his own demons to deal with). How could an assassin be a lovable heroine? How could a former bad guy (the hero) become a sympathetic hero? I made them suffer. There. I said it. I tormented them and then I threw them together and made them fall in love. The moral of this book is that no matter how horrible things can be, how utterly hopeless things seem, there’s always hope. It may not look the way you expected it to, but it’s there just waiting for you to find it.

I never set out to do any of this. It was never my intention to delve deeper into the underlying themes of my stories, but I find I can’t help myself. My brain wants to pick it apart to see what I was really thinking and I was amazed. So to my fellow writers, have you noticed any morals in your stories that you hadn’t before? To the readers, I have to ask the same question. What morals have you discovered in reading romance and has it ask the same question. What morals have you discovered in reading romance and has it helped you in your day-to-day lives?

I'll be giving away a hand-painted mask to one (or possibly two, depending on how many comments) commenter.

The buy link for the book is http://bookstrand.com/lifestyles-of-the-fey-and-dangerous.

http://danicaavet.wordpress.com/

http://danicaavet.blogspot.com/


Hey let's get lots of comments and make her give away 2 masks!

It's that time of the year again.


Color abounds in my neighborhood just north of Atlanta and all around Georgia.






Pollen paints our cars and porches and we complain, cough, sneeze, wipe our eyes, and even grin!

I wish I could name the blooms in the pictures, but I'm not good at that.

Hey, did you think I would wax poetic? Nah, I'll let nature do the work for me.

Enjoy from the safety of your computer. The pollen count was over 3,000 before the rain earlier last week and it's climbing back up past 1,000, even as I write!