To recap: Join more than 200 authors taking part in five days of fun and prizes. Visit the participating blogs and leave a comment and your contact email on that day’s post. Be sure to visit every blog on the list and comment each day to increase your chances of winning the grand prize: a $100 Gift Card to EdenFantasys.com (an adult toy store), and a 10-book bundle of ebooks.
You could walk away from the Hop with a lot of prizes. Every author is offering additional prizes on their blogs. Mine is an ebook copy of Loving Leonardo –An unusual polyamorous, bi, Victorian love story with a touch of interactive art history. This part one in a two-book story. Loving Leonardo — The Quest comes out sometime late January or early February.
Unable to deny his own translucence, Dr. Jason Bowen determines his lack of physical substance could only mean one thing—he’s a ghost. Murdered more than a century before, Jason haunts his house and ponders the treachery that took his life. When Lanie O’Keefe arrives with plans to renovate her newly purchased Victorian mansion, Jason discovers, ghost or not, he’s still very much a man. Despite its derelict condition and haunted reputation, Lanie couldn’t be happier with her new home, but then she has no idea a spirit follows her every move throughout the day and shares her captivating warmth at night. Jason soon discovers he can travel through Lanie’s dreams and finds himself reliving the days before his murder with Lanie by his side. It took one hundred and twenty years for love to find them, but there’s that insurmountable little matter of Jason being dead.
::Fun Fact::
On the outside, Dreamscape, with its haunted house and gentleman ghost, is a story set between two time periods. But on the inside, it’s actually much more than that. This unlikely love story is also a murder, a suspense, a mystery, a time travel (via dreams) and if all that wasn’t enough, it’s also an Easter egg hunt for readers. Easter eggs, in this sense, are intentionally hidden messages. I tried to make them as visible as I could and in such number that readers would say to themselves, Was that intentional? It must mean something!
Why did I write a secondary story running parallel to the ghost story? Growing up, I was a huge fan of author Agatha Christie’s work. Many of her books were filled with arrows pointing at clues. Some of these were veiled, some intentionally hidden in plain sight, and all pointed to the truth even if details around them said otherwise. I remember my delight the first time I discovered a clue left out in the open for the reader to trip over. With that moment of discovery in mind, I wrote Dreamscape to tickle the imagination while turning expectations on their ends.
::Dreamscape’s Best Ah Ha Moment:: Resisting the overpowering urge to touch her again, he closed his eyes instead and whispered, “Dream, sweetheart. Show me where you go each night.” And, just as he projected himself from room to room, the energy of his spirit plied her synapses…and to his complete and utter surprise, he fell into her dream.
Whew. Three blog hops later, it’s time to take a breath. I’ve offered gift ideas you can make yourself, a few tasty recipes relevant to the season, video book trailers, blurbs, quotes, links, and excerpts. I’ve met some fun people, mailed some swag, given most of my prizes, and packed the rest to mail after the holidays. And, as I’d hoped, I’ve expanded my horizons by introducing myself to people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I’ve had over 700 guests, the majority of them new. Of these, a portion left comments, a portion subscribed, a portion Liked, a portion complimented, and a portion followed my link to Amazon because my books are selling! Hopefully my writing will gain a few more fans.
If you’re stumbling to my blog for the first time and you’d like to see those do-it-yourself gift instructions and recipes, simply scroll back to earlier posts. If you’re coming back to see if you’ve won my prizes, you’ve heard from me by now if you have. I hope you enjoy.
Only days left to December and January is already simmering. Starting off 2013 with a bang – The Naughty New Years Blog Hop! After that, I’m laying off the Hops for a while (lol sounds like I’m talking about beer)…though I might talk myself into one for Valentine’s Day.
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Being a Midwestern gal, I love snow. We’re supposed to have a blizzard today and the me that’s a little kid at heart, is excited. The larder is stocked with the requisite milk, eggs, bread, and peanut butter. Let the winds blow, let the snow fall, we’re safe from the storm. I may lose power, I think I’ll bake something and perhaps make a pot of soup. Being in the country, I’m sure I’ll lose internet. But I’ll be back. Until then, from my family to yours, have a safe and happy holiday season. And don’t sweat the Mayan’s end of the calendar/world tomorrow. Cultures have been erroneously picking that date for millennia. Remember, calendars are a human invention and to err is human.
To end this post, I’m sharing one of my favorite snow lover’s videos from youtube.
Have a smile on me.
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If you’d like to learn more about my books, thoughts, future projects, and things I’ve found to navigate the author’s world, pour yourself a spot of tea and dig into my blog. You’re sure to find something useful or entertaining.
Well that was fun. Fours days of The Hot Winter Nights Giveaway Hop = a slew of nice comments, an increase in subscribers, a surprising number of swag requests in my inbox, and 311 total guests. May they each buy four books for some hot winter night’s reading…I’d be tickled if they bought just one! Sometime this week, I’ll look through the comments and pick Dreamscape’s winner and send it on. The winner of the larger $100 prize of gift cards and ebook bundle will hear about the win in email but might also be announced here: Hot-Winter-Nights-Giveaway-Blog-Hop
I have guest appearances all through December and two more blog hops. This one first -
Coming next week –
More than 300 authors and publishers are participating in a month of goodies at The Romance Reviews’ big Year End Splash Party. Stop by to discover new authors and read hundreds of excerpts and grab your chance at over 300 prizes! To see my part in the whole thing, you’ll need to visit my satellite blog. Rose Anderson’s Satellite blog on blogspot.com There you’ll find an excerpt of my recent release — Loving Leonardo.
That week of December 9th my question will be posted on The Romance Reviews site. Simply find my name on the participant list. Follow the link given to my excerpt posted on my satellite blog, read it, then go back to answer my multiple choice question on The Romance Reviews site. Play the other games and amass more points and you’ll have a pretty good chance to win an ebook copy for yourself!
Whew, so busy!
It’s the last day of The Hot Winter Nights Giveaway Hop
If it’s your first time here, you still have a chance to win prizes at all the blogs. Just visit them, scroll back to the posts of the last three days and comment on each one. We’re giving away an ebook package and $60 in eGift Certificates ($50 Amazon gift card and $10 Bookstrand Bucks) in a grand prize drawing and it’s valued at over $100! Winners are chosen from among the comments so be sure to leave your contact email.
Recap: About those ebook prizes ~ If you don’t own a Kindle but still want those ebooks, no worries. Here’s a download for a computer version: Free Kindle for PC
How better to show your love than to spend imagination, creativity, and precious time on the people you love by giving something you’ve made yourself. Whether it’s a delicious baked or canned goodie, or something cute or practical, it all says I appreciate you. As stated before, I love to repurpose things — that is — to make nice useful things out of discarded things just because I love the challenge. It not only gives someone something unique and cool, it keeps junk from filling our landfills and cuts back, albeit slightly, on pollution caused by the mass production of stuff that society considers gift-worthy but often ends up in the landfill ridiculously fast. It doesn’t have to look like trash either. The following are two such handmade gifts with instructions. Again, I’m sorry I don’t have pictures. The steps should be easy to follow though.
Repurposed Stationary Set ~
I started this project by buying a sustainably grown bamboo pen for my daughter (off ebay). Then, using two sizes of opened and flattened envelopes as templates, I made crazy envelopes out of full page magazine ads and catalog pages. A fine bead of regular old Elmers glue sealed the sides of my new envelopes. I could have used a glue stick but having had glue stick projects come unglued before, I opted for the sure thing. I bought a 100% recycled paper writing tablet and made a custom cover for it from a very nice picture I found online depicting the recycle symbol as the top of a stylized tree. I also found a Save a Tree/ Reuse Paper self-inking stamp. I bundled the envelopes in two stacks and put it all into a cigar box that I covered with cancellation marks from all over the world. These were found by doing simple image searches online. Cancellation marks are not necessary, but quite cute. It was one of my more fun projects that looked like it came from one of those fancy and pricey catalogs. Come to think, all four of the gifts I’ve given how-to’s for in the past few days looked snazzy and were well-received.
Ransom Note Refrigerator Magnets ~
Picture one of those TV crime show ransom notes where the words are glued together from newspapers and magazines. Now picture these individual letters sticking to the front of your refrigerator. Cool huh? Being a Scrabble fan I was confident words could be made if I followed the number and ABC count of Scrabble letters. I also added questions marks and exclamation points for emphasis. After cutting large alphabet letters from cereal boxes, glossy sales papers and magazines, I stuck them on peel and stick magnet sheets. I bought those, but it’s also a great way to use up those freebie ad magnets and out of date magnetic calendars. Just carefully peel away the text or picture to get to the sticky base underneath. Tip: arrange them this way and that to save space. I then used a matte finish Modpodge coating. After they dried, I cut them out. They came out just great and got a lot of laughs. You could also make your own Poetry Magnets this way.
Imagine if you will a story begun in the halls of Mount Olympus long before this modern tale was conceived. It was a time when the god Hermes flew on his winged sandals and carried messages from the gods to the mortals below. And between that time and this, couriers became postmen and handwritten letters became bytes. It is said the gods still speak to those who listen…
Left bruised and brokenhearted after a cruel breakup, Vivienne Bennet finds herself mired in a world of self-doubt. To her surprise, she receives an email that challenges her to rediscover the sensual woman she once was. Together Vivienne and the enigmatic man known only as S embark upon the world of anonymous Internet communication where suggestive emails lead to erotic chat, where cybersex leads to Skype, and C2C sends both into the arms of a love they’d believed lost forever.
Best Quote:
Allow me to pay homage to the goddess you are. Let me begin at your little feet. Feel me lightly kiss, and yes, you will feel me bite ever so slightly, for the need to devour you is great.
Reply lover.
I await.
S
Dreamscape – A haunting, a murder, a mystery, a reader’s puzzle, and a love story that transcends time.
Unable to deny his own translucence, Dr. Jason Bowen determines his lack of physical substance could only mean one thing — he’s a ghost. Murdered more than a century before, Jason haunts his house and ponders the treachery that took his life. When Lanie O’Keefe arrives with plans to renovate her newly purchased Victorian mansion, Jason learns, ghost or not, he’s still very much a man. Jason soon discovers he can travel through Lanie’s dreams and finds himself reliving the days before his murder with Lanie by his side. It took one hundred and twenty years for love to find them, but there’s that insurmountable little matter of Jason being dead.
Best Ah Ha Moment: Resisting the overpowering urge to touch her again, he closed his eyes instead and whispered, “Dream, sweetheart. Show me where you go each night.” And, just as he projected himself from room to room, the energy of his spirit plied her synapses…and to his complete and utter surprise, he fell into her dream.
Loving Leonardo – An unusual polyamorous, Victorian love story with a touch of interactive art history
Bound by limits dictated by society, Art Historian Nicolas Halstead lived a guarded life until a tempest in the form of Elenora Schwaab blew into his world. At first Nicolas can’t decide if the audacious American is simply mad or plotting blackmail for not only does she declare knowledge of his homosexuality, she offers him a marriage proposal.
After Ellie tells him of a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci, a book of erotic love poems and sketches dedicated to the artist’s long-time lover Salai, Nicolas joins her in a race to save the book from destruction. Along the way they encounter Historian Luca Franco and discover a comfortable compatibility that comes to redefine their long-held notions of love. The trio embarks on an adventure of sensual discovery, intrigue, and danger. Little do they know Leonardo da Vinci’s book is far more than meets the eye.
Best Love at First Sight: When in the presence of true beauty, my mind often imagines the person unclothed as the artists of the ages might have seen him. Sitting at my table was a statue carved in marble by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; an artist known for his remarkable ability to capture the essence of a narrative moment. And I found Luca Franco to be exactly that — a moment indelibly captured in time — a moment of meeting the mind could revisit in its entirety.
From every angle, he was beautifully made: black-haired, of medium build, and physically fit. He possessed a warm hue to his skin, his lineage no doubt stamped centuries past by the darker Moors or Turks. In startling contrast, and quite handsomely framed by black lashes, he had striking eyes the color one might see in a shadow falling across snow — not quite sky blue nor exactly steel gray, but a blending of the two in gradated rings.
I rose to shake his hand and felt the unmistakable current of compatibility. If this man weren’t forward in his mutual attraction, it was there nonetheless.
The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo- Based upon a very real modern day sighting of the Wisconsin Wolf Man
What does an immortal Native American shaman do when the grave he’s sworn to watch over for all eternity disappears under urban development? His purpose of guarding his wife’s burial mound gone, Ashkewheteasu seeks to end his immortal existence. In his despair, he assumes the form of a wolf and steps in front of a moving car and into the life of Dr. Olivia “Livie” Rosalini. The veterinarian saves the animal’s life, and in the process saves the man within. Unbeknownst to Livie, the dog she’s taken into her home and grows to love is a magical being seeking to win her heart as a man. While Ash is learning a new world filled with new love, friendship, and happiness, an old menace makes plans to steal it all away; just as he had 3000 years before.
Best Slapstick by an Ancient Shaman: Knowing he had to resume his wolf form at Livie’s home, he took a deep breath and shifted, but his inebriated mind was not concentrating and he ended up with a raven’s head atop his man’s body. He tried again. Forgetting that he still wore clothes, he found himself a small bird, pinned and struggling under the heavy garments that had fallen to the ground in a heap. He shifted into a feathered snake before taking the form of a mouse and working his way out of a sleeve.
The movement caught the attention of an owl on its nightly hunting foray. Just as it was about to swoop low on silent wings, intent on nabbing the large field mouse, a naked man with a mouse tail and whiskers appeared. The owl, clearly startled, flew off into the night. Laughing, Ash raised his arms and yelled after it, “This is not your night, my brotherrrr!”
Tail and whiskers absorbed into his changing form and once again bare skin grew feathers. He shifted into a raven — a six-foot-tall raven. Laughing at himself, he made his body small and flew fast to Livie’s home, albeit not in a straight line.
Collectors of Romance Memorabilia, Would you like some soon-to-be-famous author swag? *grin*
Scroll back to the first blog hop post to choose,
send me an email with your address, and I’ll mail your choice.
(sorry, the bumper stickers went fast)
roseanderson4858(at)yahoo(dot)com
And…
Join me and more than 300 authors and publishers for a month of goodies at The Romance Reviews’ big Year End Splash Party. Discover new authors and read hundreds of excerpts and grab your chance at over 300 prize! Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m there the week of December 9th. To see my part in the whole thing, I need to send you to my satellite blog. Rose Anderson’s Satellite blog on blogspot.com There you’ll find an excerpt of my recent release — Loving Leonardo.
The week of December 9th my question will be posted on The Romance Reviews site. Simply find my name on the participant list. Follow the link given to my excerpt posted on my satellite blog, read it, then go back to answer my multiple choice question on The Romance Reviews site. Play the other games and amass more points and you’ll have a pretty good chance to win an ebook copy for yourself!
Thanks for joining me in this fun little event.
The Dreamscape winner will be hearing from me this week.
My best wishes for the happiest of happy holidays to you and yours.
Hello again!
It’s day 3 of The Hot Winter Nights Giveaway Hop
Follow the Hop! We’re giving away prizes valued over $100 (an ebook package and $60 in eGift Certificates: $50 Amazon gift card and $10 Bookstrand Bucks) And every author is in on the fun and offering more prizes on their blogs too. Stop by each and comment on that day’s post — more comments = more chances to win goodies. Winners are chosen from among the comments so be sure to leave your contact email when you do. Ask questions, be chatty. We authors just love reader participation! Here’s the link: Hot-Winter-Nights-Giveaway-Blog-Hop
Scroll back to see what’s been offered here in the past two days. The following how-to is one of the many gifts I’ve made over the years. Sorry I don’t have pictures, but I’ve made the steps as detailed as possible so you should be able to follow along. You’ll see. Cute and easy.
Snowmen vs. Santas Checker Set ~ A friend of mine drinks different types of beer and saves bottle caps of all colors and brands for me. A few years ago I thought up a twist on an old standard game – checkers.
You’ll need:
24 bottle caps. Be sure they’re not bent or sharp.
1 bottle of clear Diamond Glaze (check your craft store) or two or three bottles of cheap dollar store clear nail polish
12 pictures of Santas and 12 pictures of Snowmen thought really it could be anything as long as there are 12 of one and 12 of the other. I cut mine from a catalog with vintage pictures but you could also check the dollar store for inexpensive holiday greeting cards. It’s possible to cut the small circles (bottle cap size) by hand by tracing a quarter. Or buy yourself a nice quarter-sized hole punch. I eventually did that. Much easier and super fast.
Glue
Once you’ve assembled your supplies, dab a dot of glue inside the bottle cap and carefully center the picture inside. Smooth out any bubbles and lumps. Allow to dry then slowly fill the bottle cap with Diamond Glaze or nail polish. I found simple checkerboards at my local dollar store and used those to go with my games. You can easily make your own. A search online will show you the exact count of squares needed. The completed project really is adorable. You could even mix is up for other holidays or themes — jack-o-lanterns vs. skulls, bunnies vs. chicks, moons vs. stars, cats vs. dogs, Edward vs Jacob…ok now I know I’m out of ideas. lol
About those ebook prizes ~ Need a Kindle to read your ebook prizes on? Here’s a freebie to use right on your computer. And all the books you accumulate there are transferable to your future hand-held Kindle. Free Kindle for PC
I’ve giving away an ebook copy of Dreamscape as my prize in the Hot Winter Nights Giveaway. Written in homage to Agatha Christie, Dreamscape is a haunting, a murder, a mystery, and a love story that transcends time. Above all, this sensual tale is a reader’s Easter egg hunt in the truest sense. Peppered throughout are hints suggesting a story behind the scenes. Will you find them all before it ends? It’s not necessary to the telling of the tale, I put them there just for fun. I’m a sneaky author that way.
Here’s what readers say about Dreamscape:
5-Stars ~
“I wondered as I read this how the lovers were ever going to solve that problem, but was totally surprised at how Anderson arrived at the HEA ending I was hoping for, as I read far into the night. Great read with a surprising twist ending.” 5-Stars ~ “There is no doubt in my mind that this is one heck of a novel, one that had me introspective and thoughtful when I finished, a kind of wonder that someone could have crafted such a wonderful book.” “So readers who love erotic romance wrapped in the mists of dream and fantasy and time-travel will find this to be a delightful reading experience, an entertaining way to spend some time, and an exercise of the mind and imagination. This novel is already on my favorites list as well as my “to read again” list.” “This is not a story that should be missed. I feel it has been a true delight and privilege to read this tale.” 5- Stars ~
“Dreamscape is phenomenal! I will rant and rave about this novel’s amazingness because it is rocks in all aspects of writing style, character development, plot, and story line. Rose combines history, mystery, romance, intrigue, and sensuality seamlessly and beautifully in Dreamscape.” 5- Stars ~
“Every once in a while you read a book that is so well written and the story so real that when you finished reading it, you almost want to cry because the story is over. This book is one of those. It seamlessly combines it all, history, romance, mystery and sensuality. Without a doubt, this was one of the BEST books I’ve ever read.”
Scroll back two posts to read the blurb and see the book trailer and leave your comments — you just might win!
Hello, I’m Rose Anderson, the author of these scorching romances:
The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo, Loving Leonardo, Dreamscape, and Hermes Online.
You can find me just about anywhere these days. I’d love if you’d stop by my various social media sites listed below. Check out my books or just say hi.
Take a peek inside the book for the entire first chapter on Amazon!
After the burial mound is excavated. Excerpt:
Cora called to the others, “See you in the morning guys. We’re starting at six to beat the heat. Don’t forget to drink water tonight to rehydrate, and eat a pretzel or something like that. You’ll need the salt.” Her words were met with nods and good byes. Alone now, Cora crouched beside the opened mound and carefully unrolled the last sheet of plastic canvas. Before she turned and walked away she spoke softly, as if the bones could hear. “I’m so sorry we’re disturbing your peace. I wish I could have stopped all this, but I’m powerless.” With that, she left.
A large curious field mouse scurried over the top of the burial mound. He watched the people, his gaze pulling time and again first to the fire-haired young woman leaving with the others, then to the slightly older woman who’d stayed behind to spread a blue covering over the soil with obvious care.
Sensing the people were gone, the mouse drew a deep breath. Suddenly his form changed from mouse to rabbit, from rabbit to fox, and then from fox into a wolf with unusual black markings on its face. This higher vantage allowed him to check the area before continuing. Confident he was alone, his legs lengthened as he slowly shifted from wolf on four legs to a wolf on two. His muzzle shortened, as did his ears. A moment later he stood as a man.
His throat tightened as he walked amongst the tables and pails. A small bone caught his eye and he bent to pick it up. He stared a long while, seeing but not seeing the hand it belonged to so long ago. It was his task to watch over this resting place, and his task alone. Coming here later than usual today, there was nothing he could do to stop the white man’s destruction. His eyes filled with tears as his fist closed around the finger bone. Slumping to the ground, he sobbed in anguished sorrow.
There was no sense to this. What kind of people disturb the dead? Couldn’t they see this was sacred ground, a resting place? Composing himself, he wiped the tears from his eyes before reverently setting the small bone back in the opened mound.
Twilight fast approaching, he faced the setting sun, his palms held up to the sky. He hadn’t spoken for a very long time and doing so now, his voice sounded dry and strange to his ears. “Sky Father I have failed, I beg your forgiveness!”
Kneeling, he pressed his hands to the ground. “Earth Mother, I beg forgiveness. I have failed in my task…”
Rising, he turned his back to the sun and held his arms out wide. “Wind Spirits of the East, I beg forgiveness for this failure.” Turning, he croaked, “Wind Spirits of the South, I beg…”
He rasped his plea to the remaining directions and the spirits who dwelled there, and then addressed the mound and the body that lay within, “Aiyanna my love, my heart. I have watched over you through time but I can watch no longer. Please forgive me, I have failed you….” His throat choked close. Swallowing hard, he whispered to the earth that half-covered his wife, “Again.”
Kneeling beside the dirt-encrusted bones, he pulled the cover away to expose them fully. The small bones of the baby he knew laid with its mother had dissolved in the acids of the soil. Gently digging through the loam between the exposed rib bones, his fingers found the bird stone, its cord long since returned to the earth. Holding it now, he remembered…
As a reader, I enjoy unusual love stories. As a writer I get a kick out of stretching my creativity to come up with a story that will please the reader I am. My recent release, Loving Leonardo, began this past summer in response to hateful topics in media news. The thing is, they were OLD topics — whom we could love, women’s rights to control their destiny, prejudices and hatred. Before I knew it I’d crafted a Victorian love story and wouldn’t you know, the same issues fit right in. The average person can’t control everything in our world and make it right, but writers can! I find I enjoy shaking the snowglobe. Muahahahahaaaaa!
Here’s the book trailer for part one of Loving Leonardo.
Collectors of Romance Memorabilia, I have Rose Anderson Goodies for you!
Would you like some soon-to-be-famous author swag? *grin*
Scroll back to yesterday’s post to see what I have,
then send me an email with your address and I’ll mail your choice. roseanderson4858(at)yahoo(dot)com
And…
Join me and more than 300 authors and publishers for a month of goodies at The Romance Reviews’ big Year End Splash Party. Discover new authors and read hundreds of excerpts and grab your chance at over 300 prize! Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m there the week of December 9th. To see my part in the whole thing, I need to send you to my satellite blog. Rose Anderson’s Satellite blog on blogspot.com There you’ll find an excerpt of my recent release — Loving Leonardo.
The week of December 9th my question will be posted on The Romance Reviews site. Simply find my name on the participant list. Follow the link given to my excerpt posted on my satellite blog, read it, then go back to answer my multiple choice question on The Romance Reviews site. Play the other games and amass more points and you’ll have a pretty good chance to win an ebook copy for yourself!
See you tomorrow for Day 4 of the Hot Winter Nights Giveaway Hop!
I’m participating in The Romance Reviews’ big Year End Splash Party! Join me and more than 300 authors and publishers for a month of goodies. There are hundreds of excerpts (you just might find that next great read) And there are over 300 prizes too! I’m there at the TRR the week of December 9th but lots of other authors are there right now. Several games are all set up and ready to play and you get points to win! How fun is that.
There you’ll find an excerpt of my newest release Loving Leonardo. The week of December 9th my question will be posted on The Romance Reviews site. Simply find my name on the participant list. Follow the link given to my excerpt posted on my satellite blog, read it, then go back to answer my multiple choice question on The Romance Reviews site. Play the other games and amass more points and you’ll have a pretty good chance to win an ebook copy for yourself.
Note: Firefox users might have a little trouble seeing the party page in its full glory today, but they’re working on that. Try InternetExplorer or Google Chrome as your browser. You don’t want to miss hundreds of prizes and cool excerpts!
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Want to see what else is going on? That’s an all around terrific site if you’re looking for books and favorite authors. The Romance Reviews
Why do I have a satellite blog? The TRR party lasts for a full month and this blog will be part of several blog hops at the same time. My part in the TRR party can stay live and easy to find on blogspot on the CalliopesWritingTablet satellite.
Madness and method. Initially I made a blogspot blog for myself but wasn’t thrilled by the limitations. The images in my head were much more than what these humble hands could do with those simple tools. Then I made this one. And I’m not thrilled by the limitations here either. I just can’t get it to look how I want. Call me picky. I had plans to make a WordPress website but what they call simple makes me look like a chimp fishing for termites with a twig. After trying and exhausting my brain, I decided to put my creativity where it needed to be for the time being – in my novels.
I really do have plans for an actual website sometime in 2013. The blog will be attached to it and I’ll still muse away like I do now, but I’ll also have room to showcase the fabulous authors I’ve met along the way.
Once again, I’ve set out a teaser — six evocative sentences from my newest release Loving Leonardo. Being hitched to the Six Sentence Sunday site has been a fun tag-a-long that’s broadened my web exposure immensely. I’m sad to see this weekly event coming to a close.
Compatibility growing comfortably in the close confines of the ship, Nicolas, Ellie, and Luca share an afternoon discussing Leonardo da Vinci.
My Six:
I believe we were all aware of a sexual tension growing in the intellectual-rich loam. There were little things at play now: the way Ellie moistened her lips and looked at us with eyes that lingered from one to the other. The way Luca’s irises had darkened from snow shadow to moon shadow as he looked upon her. The way I’d catch myself with a reminder to breathe as my eye was drawn to these small distinctions. Like da Vinci’s sfumato, our mutual attraction hung in the air, and I was struck by the notion that the smoky quality depicted in his art was desire. Desire like this.
Bound by limits dictated by society, Art Historian Nicolas Halstead lived a guarded life until a tempest in the form of Elenora Schwaab blew into his world. At first Nicolas can’t decide if the audacious American is simply mad or plotting blackmail for not only does she declare knowledge of his homosexuality, she offers him a marriage proposal.
After Ellie tells him of a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci, a book of erotic love poems and sketches dedicated to the artist’s long-time lover Salai, Nicolas joins her in a race to save the book from destruction. Along the way they encounter Historian Luca Franco and discover a comfortable compatibility that comes to redefine their long-held notions of love. The trio embarks on an adventure of sensual discovery, intrigue, and danger. Little do they know Leonardo da Vinci’s book is far more than meets the eye.
Tempted? I hope so!
Check out the other talented authors taking part in Six Sentence Sunday.
You just might find that next great read.
http://www.sixsunday.com/
~oOo~~oOo~~oOo~~oOoOoOo~~oOo~~oOo~~oOo~
Find my books at Barnes&Nobel, Books-a-Million, and at many online booksellers
You can also buy Rose Anderson books on Amazon.com
An author’s life involves more than the creation of literary worlds, it’s an endless sea of self-promoting. It’s necessary because there’s also a Grand Canyon full of books out there and people won’t read yours unless they find them. Now there’s a needle in a haystack. For an introverted person such as I, this takes no less than monumental effort.
Beyond that, I was told early on that the backlist, that stack of previous novels written, was the path to success. It’s definitely a slow go. My stories come to me one line at a time. I’m not a formula writer so I can’t mechanically churn out plug-n-play stories. I find it fascinating that some people can do this successfully. It sort of looks like this…
Story – It doesn’t matter when or where or even who, but the hero must marry against his will or lose his inheritance.
He is:
A. A playboy in London high society 1818
B. A Viking in 900AD
C. The son of a prosperous American Industrialist 1915
D. The hereditary leader of a Vampiric coven 2012
She is:
A. A penniless orphan with an undiscovered royal lineage
B. A Celtic high priestess
C. A salesperson in a high end department store living on public assistance
D. A goth chick working at an all-night diner.
External forces working against a happy outcome = their obvious differences.
It can simply be he chafes at the idea, acts like a jerk, but inexplicably falls in love anyway or love triumphs despite one of these:
A. It’s hard to break into the social strata lacking social graces
B. It’s hard to get over the pesky master/slave relationship
C. It’s hard to explain to wealthy mom and dad that she’s the working class
D. It’s hard to get past the deadly love you/love your blood boundaries
There you go. I’ve just created four separate books out of one story line. I know of authors who crank out a book a month using this formula. I have to wonder though… do repeat readers eventually burn out on all the same stuff different day scenarios? I wonder because I’ve had this happen to me and it was like a long time love affair had ended for me. As a reader, I have my favorite authors. I’ve read one for 20 years. Last year I eagerly bought her latest and couldn’t get past the third chapter. Damn. I’d read it before…several times. Only the names, dates, characters and location were different than the last several books she’d written. The fan I was never saw it until that moment. I sorted through the years to my favorites and kept those on the shelf. The formula books had to go because I knew my reading tastes had moved on. Sad business that.
As a writer, I don’t think I could put the emotion I do into formula books. Still…the idea of the mega backlist appeals to me!
>>>oOo<<<
Eleven months of health drama immobilized my author promotion. During all that, I mainly focused on writing. Since launching Loving Leonardo, I’ve gotten back in the swing of things. In other words, I’ve put myself out there again.
I’ve scheduled several blog appearances and interviews for November and December in anticipation of the big Kindle sales. One of these is the large month-long Year-End Splash Party 2012 on November 15th held by The Romance Reviews. The ad poster came today and until the promo party starts ends at midnight on December 15th, anyone stopping by will see it here. I’ll blog all the other useful things too.
You’ve seen the small banner ad at the end of each blog post I put on. TheRomanceReview.com (TRR) really is a terrific site for Romance readers – they have reviews, the latest news in the world of romance literature, and reader contests. And for authors, they have a bevy of author-related things to highlight and showcase our works. I’ve always found them friendly people too.
The Year-End Splash Party 2012 features more than 200 authors, several publishers, and more than 200 prizes. Like I said, it’s a large event. Between now and November 15th, I’ll be busy putting together my event contributions. I plan on offering excerpts and author insights from all of my published novels and a few of my up-and-coming works. I’ll also offer a few mini-contests.
I found a word today – Dénouement. This word came into my life while looking up Washington Iriving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Wordie that I am, I looked it up.
The final clarification or resolution of a plot in a play or other work. The solution or outcome of the plot of a play or novel:
“In the dénouement of many tragedies, the main character dies.”
Origin:
1745–55; < French: literally, an untying, equivalent to dénouer to untie, Old French desnoer (des- de- + noer to knot < Latin nōdāre, derivative of nōdus knot) + -ment
Washington Irving’s story takes place in 1790 in Sleepy Hollow, the secluded countryside glen near the old Dutch settlement of Tarrytown, New York . The area is famous for its ghosts and unexplained occurrences, and the most infamous spectre of all is the Headless Horseman. The creepy ghost is said to be the disgruntled spirit of a Hessian soldier who lost his head to cannon fire in a nearby battle during the Revolutionary War. Because of this, he “rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head”. (just love it)
Enter Icabod Crane, a superstitious and somewhat nervous schoolteacher, made even more so by the scary stories shared at a social gathering that evening. After failing in the business of love, he rides home that dark night and passes the old cemetery. As the legend goes, he encounters the Headless Horseman in his ghostly quest, and is never heard from again.
Dénouement. As a writer I struggle with the character dies part of this. I’ve mentioned before that family and friends regularly say I should up the ante by killing off beloved characters in my unnamed 5-book Magnum Opus where the battle between light and dark is rather intense. They also suggested I kill off one of my main characters in Loving Leonardo. I can see raising stakes in mainstream fiction, but does romance truly need this? On the other hand, the story does have a despicable bad guy (one of my best if I do say so myself). He’s certainly able to end a few lives for emotional impact. With a few chapters left of Loving Leonardo -The Quest, I may or may not. The story and the characters themselves will have to give me a solid reason either way.
From my vantage point as fiction creator, I find this so hard. These people who live on the page don’t necessarily spring forth from a writer’s head fully formed. Oh sure the concept of them often does, but their personalities don’t always arrive until later. In my experience, they slowly reveal themselves and I grow to love them as we become acquainted. At least that’s how it is for me. They’re my lovers and friends, they’re my desires and dreams, my secrets and aspirations. They’re also my laughter and joy, my doubts and pain. My characters are the sum of me, and then some. Yes my bad guys, as dark and murderous as they are, are me too.
Yep, I’ve a lot of skeletons rattling around in the closet of my imagination. It’s a good time of year to acknowledge them!
It’s Six Sentence Sunday! The idea is to find six interesting evocative sentences from your novel and put them out as a teaser. Here are my six from my newest release Loving Leonardo.
My Six:
In my mind, this meeting could go one of two ways — she’d out me for a sodomite if I didn’t do as she asked, or I’d be saddled with an insane wife. While Parliament abolished the death penalty for deviants like me years before I was born, my truth wasn’t fodder for the masses. “You have me at a disadvantage, madam, what madness would spur you to make such an outlandish proposal?”
She set her cup down and leaned forward as a man might when sharing an inside stock tip. I found myself oddly attracted to her forthright and almost mannish American attitudes. Looking me square in the eye, she said, “You are an authority on Leonardo da Vinci, correct?”
Bound by limits dictated by society, Art Historian Nicolas Halstead lived a guarded life until a tempest in the form of Elenora Schwaab blew into his world. At first Nicolas can’t decide if the audacious American is simply mad or plotting blackmail for not only does she declare knowledge of his homosexuality, she offers him a marriage proposal.
After Ellie tells him of a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci, a book of erotic love poems and sketches dedicated to the artist’s long-time lover Salai, Nicolas joins her in a race to save the book from destruction. Along the way they encounter Historian Luca Franco and discover a comfortable compatibility that comes to redefine their long-held notions of love. The trio embarks on an adventure of sensual discovery, intrigue, and danger. Little do they know Leonardo da Vinci’s book is far more than meets the eye.
Tempted? I hope so!
Check out the other talented authors taking part in Six Sentence Sunday.
You just might find that next great read.
http://www.sixsunday.com/
Welcome to day 3 of the Naughty New Year’s Blog Hop!
Sometime this week, I’ll look through the comments and pick Dreamscape’s winner and send it on. The winner of the larger $100 prize of gift cards and ebook bundle will hear about the win in email but might also be announced here:
