Author Archives: Joanne Guidoccio
An Unexpected Second Act
Welcome to my Second Acts Series!
Today, we have Mabry Hall sharing insights from her multi-act life and her novels: An Engaging End and A Regrettable Reunion.
Here’s Mabry!
As I prepared to guest on Joanne’s blog, I looked over the stories that have come before mine. So many of my fellow writers seem to have known since childhood that they wanted this career. Not I. It never occurred to me that I could spend my life making things up for fun and not get in trouble for it.
If I could have chosen my studies based on my interests, I’d have been an English or history major. In the interest of practicality, I became a nurse. As my mother said, I’d always be able to get a job wherever I moved. Within a month of graduation, I came to the stark reality that hospitals are open every day of the year. And at night. And on holidays. And as a new grad, it would be years before I moved my way into a semi-normal schedule. (Yes, I admit I should have faced these unwelcome facts earlier.)
I returned to graduate school and became a nurse anesthetist, which gave me much more job flexibility. I was able to work part time while raising our two sons, and I also had more time to read for pleasure. My attention span had dwindled since high school, and I found myself devouring historical romance novels rather than history tomes. It wasn’t long before I complacently said to myself, “I could write one of these.” It certainly wasn’t as easy as I thought, but four years later I’d completed three books and progressed to receiving encouraging personalized rejection letters from agents and editors. I promise you those are much better than form letters, but at the end of the day, I was still rejected.
I stopped writing and focused on my garden, sewing, and taking care of two, by now, teenage boys. I continued to work, and occasionally my husband would prod me to give writing another go. Two instigating factors prompted my return to the computer. The first was the end of my anesthesia career following a dramatic slip-and-fall in the operating room. Since I worked at a children’s hospital, I couldn’t even go to their emergency room. EMS came in, slapped on a neck brace, and scooped me off the floor onto a stretcher. I was wheeled through the front lobby to a waiting ambulance to the bemused interest of patients and family members. Truly a day to remember, and by the way, it was our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Needless to say, my husband did not take me out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate that evening.
As I pondered what to do with my untimely retired self, I became aware that I could now publish my books on my own. At my point in life, I wasn’t willing to spend months waiting for replies and requests for revisions to suit the taste of someone else. There’s a saying that if you aren’t a control freak before you go into anesthesia, you soon will be. I love the fact that I can write what I want, hire the editor that I want, select the cover that I like, and publish on my own schedule.
I love antique jewelry, so Annalee Wyatt, my protagonist, buys and sells it. This gives me excuses to create gorgeous Pinterest boards and do some serious window-shopping when I travel. I love the South and miss my childhood on my grandparents’ farms. I’ve recreated that experience for Annalee by having her inherit her family’s Goat Hill Farm. I’m even thoughtful enough to have her pasture land leased out to a neighboring farmer, so all she has to do is enjoy the view. The fictional community I created in northern Louisiana is populated by people who remind me of someone I like, or in the case of villains, someone I don’t like. Thank goodness the murders come totally from my imagination.
The most rewarding aspect of this new career comes when someone I’ve never met tells me that my books made her laugh and took her away from reality for awhile. With the state of the world these days, that almost qualifies as a public service.
Last July I underwent another reinvention when I became grandmother to a sweet baby girl. Much to my authorial surprise, Annalee’s best friend is pregnant in the book I’m currently writing. I began the first page, and poof, it was a done deal. Finally there’s one part of my life where I totally call the shots!
18 Karat Sold? Or 18 Karat Cold?
Blurb
Antique jewelry dealer Annalee Wyatt recently moved from Houston to Goat Hill, her family’s ancestral farm in Louisiana. Okay, admittedly she knows jack about farming and makes her living selling expensive baubles, but she’s returned to her roots and wants everyone, including the citizens of nearby Berryville, to be as enthusiastic about it as she is. Her goal of acceptance gets a boost when the scion of an old family pays her big bucks for an engagement ring. When his intimidating mother invites her to attend the ceremony, she really feels like she’s made it.
Unfortunately, “Happily ever after” turns into “Happy never again” when the young bride shockingly dies at the wedding reception. Soon Annalee is dealing with a grieving, hostile groom and unpleasant accusations regarding her honesty.
Though there seems to be no way to prove her integrity, Annalee can’t afford to give up. With the help of her hunky cattle-rancher neighbor and the town book club, she sets out to solve the mystery that threatens her reputation. It comes as a nasty surprise to find that her life is in jeopardy, too!
Blurb
Antique jewelry dealer Annalee Wyatt has settled into life on recently-inherited Goat Hill Farm, and gamely agrees to accompany her new boyfriend to his class reunion. Former football star Ryan Dawson shows up with his adoring wife and slides right back into his role as big man on campus. By evening’s end, he’s bragged to the guys, pawed the women, and generally convinced everyone he isn’t the great guy they remember.
No one is sorry to see him leave the party, but someone is angry enough to make sure he’s gone for good. Though short on detective skills, Annalee’s jewelry expertise pulls her into his murder investigation when an unusual brooch is found in the possession of the accused killer. Doubtful someone would commit murder for the small, salamander-shaped pin, she’s convinced there’s more to the story and can’t resist poking her nose into small-town secrets.
Join Annalee and her cohorts as they traipse through northern Louisiana and east Texas in avid pursuit of another 18 Karat Cold criminal.
Bio
Mabry Hall is a Southerner who writes what she knows, except for the murder part. She’s traveled the globe but always comes back happy to be with the friendly and quirky people who populate Louisiana.
Where to find Mabry…
Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Follow me on Instagram @18karatcold
Joanne here!
Mabry, thanks for sharing your journey and insights. Best of luck with all your creative endeavors.
Movie Review: Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman is a shoo-in for an Oscar win. Having already received Golden Globes, British Academy Film, and Screen Actors Guild awards, he is poised to add another statue to his collection.
At first, Oldman didn’t want to play Sir Winston Churchill. He felt that too many great British authors, among them Albert Finney and Brian Fox, had already conquered this role. He also wondered about the heavy makeup and other alterations that would be required.
He needn’t have worried.
His physical transformation—made possible by prosthetics and the expertise of make-up artist Kazuhiro Tsuji—is extraordinary. Add in a heavy, deliberate gait and indistinguishable mumble, and the transformation is complete: Gary Oldman disappears into Sir Winston Churchill.
In a recent interview, Oldman commented: “Churchill was funny as hell…He was leaping around at 65 like he was 20. And he had this cherubic grin on his face, and very often a twinkle in the eye, which you could see even in the old black-and-white.” I was happy to see the lighter side of the curmudgeon emerge in this film.
While Oldman dominates the screen, he is surrounded by an exceptional cast. I was impressed by Kristin Scott-Thomas’s depiction of Clemmie Churchill. Practically minded and unimpressed by her blustering husband, Clemmie takes charge of the household and doesn’t hesitate to reprimand Churchill when he behaves badly. But she also encourages him during challenging times. My favorite line: “You are strong because you are imperfect.”
Ben Mendelsohn delivers an understated but effective portrayal of King George VI. He speaks slowly but doesn’t overplay the King’s speech impediment. His encounters with Churchill provide much of the humor in the film. I couldn’t help chuckling during their first encounter. The king’s awkwardness is evident as he struggles to acknowledge Churchill’s appointment as Prime Minister. When the King suggests a weekly meeting at four o’clock in the afternoon, the following conversation takes place:
Churchill: I nap at four.
King: Is that permissible?
Churchill: No, but necessary.
At one of their lunches..
King: How do you manage all this drinking during the day?
Churchill: Practice.
I highly recommend this dramatic and inspiring story of a pivotal period in world history: four weeks in 1940 during which Sir Winston Churchill rallied the British nation and orchestrated the rescue of over 300,000 Allied soldiers on the beaches of Dunkirk.
The Secret to Serenity
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
When I received this Zen parable in an email attachment, I couldn’t resist a smile. And I knew I had to share it.
Enjoy!
A harried Type A businessman went to a yogi, high on the top of a hill.
“They say you have the secret to serenity,” the businessman puffed, mopping at his brow. “I have high blood pressure, I am stressed beyond belief, and I am at the end of my rope. Teach me the secret.”
The yogi smiled beatifically (as yogis tend to do.) He then rummaged around and presented the man with a large bottle. Inside the bottle was a live duck, swimming placidly in the water trapped inside.
“This will teach you,” the yogi said. “Get the duck out of the bottle, without breaking the bottle, or killing the duck.”
The businessman was baffled, but he’d faced tough challenges before. Swearing to have it solved in two weeks, he took the bottle and went about solving the problem.
In two weeks, he returned, looking more frazzled than before. “There has to be some trick,” he groused. “This is impossible. There has to be a cheat or something.”
The yogi simply smiled, then told him to come back in two weeks.
In another two weeks, the man looked half insane. His eyes were bulging, his clothes were unkempt, and he was furious. “I am going to smash this bottle and wring the duck’s neck if you don’t tell me how to get it out!”
The yogi simply smiled, and told him again: “Come back in two weeks.”
Another two weeks, and the man returned. This time, he was the picture of calm.
“I figured it out,” he said. “The secret to serenity. I finally got it.”
He then handed the intact bottle to the yogi, with the duck still swimming inside.
He grinned. “It’s not my bottle. And it’s not my duck.”
Be Ruthless!
I’m happy to welcome award-winning, Soul Mate author Sofie Darling. Today, Sofie shares insights from her writing journey and her debut novel, Three Lessons in Seduction.
Here’s Sofie!
Today, I’d like to talk about my journey to publication. In 2015, my friend and critique partner, Kate Ramirez, won the Writers’ League of Texas’ Manuscript Contest in the romance category. Her win gave me good incentive to finish the book I was working on and enter the contest the following year, even though I was somewhat hesitant to do so.
I’d entered a contest before—that’s right, one contest—and it didn’t go anywhere. I took this “failure” as confirmation of my deepest fear that my writing wasn’t connecting with anyone, even though my critique partners were telling me differently. But they liked me. What did they know?
Still, in 2016, I entered the WLT’s Manuscript Contest, and I won . . . to my utter and complete surprise.
In addition to the WLT win, I received a pitch session with the agent who selected my entry as the winner. We had a good chat, and she requested the full manuscript. Ultimately, she passed on it, but she did give me some good advice. In regards to getting the manuscript ready to send to her, she looked me straight in the eye and said, “Be ruthless.”
Buoyed with a bit more confidence after the win and full request, I moved past my fear of contests and entered two more. I finaled in both, and in two categories in one. While this led to conversations with editors, I was still having no agent luck. I made it pretty far down the road with another agent, but she, too, passed.
The process of querying agents and either getting rejected or ignored led me toward a bold decision: I researched every single romance publisher who accepted direct submissions from authors and submitted to all of them. Out of the twelve publishers I queried, I received five requests for more material. Within five months, I’d connected with an editor who was truly enthusiastic about my work and had a signed contract with a publisher.
I still think about the agent’s words, “Be ruthless.” It applies to the writing, of course—adverbs can be pesky little irritants—but it also applies to the career of the writer. It wasn’t until I decided to take my fate as a writer into my own hands and stop waiting for an agent—any agent, please!—to accept me as a client that I was able to forge the beginning of the career I’d been dreaming about for years.
The path toward publication is going to look different for every writer, and my journey won’t be the right fit for everyone. In retrospect, it’s clear that conquering my fear and taking those first few steps was the most difficult part of the process. Each step forward on the path toward publication was easier than the last as my confidence grew, and with the release of Three Lessons in Seduction last fall, my dream became reality!
Blurb
Paris, September 1824
Lord Nicholas Asquith needs his wife. Too bad he broke her heart ten years ago.
Can he resist a second chance at the love he lost?
When Mariana catches the eye of the man at the center of an assassination plot, Nick puts aside their painful past and enlists her to obtain information by any means necessary, even if it means seducing the enemy agent.
Even if the thought makes his blood boil.
Only by keeping his distance from Mariana these last ten years was he able to pretend indifference to her. With every moment spent with her, he feels his tightly held control slipping . . .
Can she trust the spy who broke her heart?
Mariana spent the last decade forgetting Nick. Now she has the chance to best him at his own game, an opportunity she can’t resist, even as her view of him begins to shift. Increasingly, she wants nothing more than to seduce her own husband . . .
It’s only a matter of time before mad passion ignites, a passion never convincingly extinguished. A passion that insists on surrendering to the yearning of the flesh and, quite possibly, of the heart.
Excerpt
“A girl like you is a girl one could marry,” he murmured. They were heedless and dangerous words that fell from his lips, and he couldn’t understand why he spoke them.
“A girl like me?”
“You.”
“One could marry?”
“I.”
“Careful,” she whispered into the space between their lips. It was the only space that mattered in the universe. “I might hold you to such words.”
“I might hope you do.”
Again, words fell from his mouth of their own accord, and he’d proposed to her. There had been no biting it back.
And he hadn’t wanted to.
At least, not for another five seconds.
He’d proposed to Lady Mariana Montfort, a girl he didn’t know.
That wasn’t precisely true.
In the ways that mattered, he knew her.
Buy Links
Bio
Sofie spent much of her twenties raising two boys and reading every book she could get her hands on. Once she realized that she was no longer satisfied with simply reading the books she loved, that she must write them, too, she decided to finish her degree and embark on a writing career. Mr. Darling and the boys gave her their wholehearted blessing.
When she’s not writing heroes who make her swoon, she runs a marathon in a different state every year, visits crumbling medieval castles whenever she gets a chance, and enjoys a slightly codependent relationship with her beagle, Bosco.
Where to find Sofie…
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads
10 Interesting Facts About Diana Rennie
I’m happy to welcome Wild Rose Press author Cat Dubie to the Power of 10 series. Today, Cat shares ten interesting facts about Diana Rennie, the protagonist of her latest release, The Queen of Paradise Valley.
Here’s Cat!
Diana Rennie is the flawed heroine of my Historical Western Romance, The Queen of Paradise Valley. Her story is loosely derived from the old Western TV series The Big Valley. What if, I mused, the lovely daughter was the complete opposite of compliant, easy-going, sweet? What if she’s stubborn, argumentative, not afraid to cuss when necessary? What happens when she meets her match? [Hint: sparks, flames, explosions…]
The Big Valley Cast
I’ve read many romances where the tortured hero is saved by the love of a woman. This book attempts the opposite, with a strong hero battling his own flaws. Can these two save each other?
10 interesting facts about my protagonist:
1. Diana started piano lessons when she was six years old, after her mother brought her to a concert featuring the music of Chopin and Liszt. She loved playing and practiced for several hours a day. Music helped her cope, with loneliness, with her self-absorbed mother, with the knowledge that, after he had the son he wanted, her father sent her to live with her mother in New York.
2. She received her first pet when she was nine, a small terrier she named Ludwig [after Beethoven, of course]. How she loved that pup! But she wasn’t allowed to keep him long because her mother complained he yipped, he smelled, he made her sneeze [though she was rarely home.] Heartbroken, Diana gave Ludwig to the family of one of the servants.
3. When she was 15, Diana began a four year program at the Bennington Music Academy. At the urging of her piano teacher, she planned to continue her studies in New York, her goal and dream to become a concert pianist playing in the great music halls of Europe.
4. By the time Diana was 19, her mother was flitting from lover to lover, from wine to morphine pills. Her addictions soon caught up with her, and she died from mistakenly taking too much belladonna. Stunned, hurt, lost for a time, Diana became determined to live as she had planned. Angry at the strictures “society” imposed on her, she defied convention by attending concerts with her mother’s last lover, a handsome Spanish count. The scandalous behavior had tongues wagging, telegraph messages flying. A few days later, Diana received a letter from her father’s solicitor with a firm request to appear at his Colorado ranch.
5. Diana inherited her father’s flaxen hair, blue eyes, stubbornness, pride, sometimes volatile temper, and a propensity for holding anxieties and worries inside. [She had already learned to conceal her insecurities and fears]\
6. She did not inherit her mother’s buxom figure or flighty behavior; if she inherited anything from her mother it was a latent tendency to rely on medicine [drugs] to alleviate her internal and external pains, a tendency that would nearly cost her everything.
7. Diana’s father gave her a graceful black Half-Arabian colt named Paladin. She loved him fiercely, almost as much as she loved her newfound father and the glorious Paradise Valley ranch. A new ambition took root — to learn everything she could about the ranch, the people who worked there, and the father who had only sent her away because her mother had to insisted a ranch was no place to raise a girl.
8. A mere four months after Diana was reunited with her father, a tragic riding accident ended his life. She was devastated, inconsolable for months. Then she pulled herself together, determined to run the ranch in the same manner her father did, and keep it successful as a continuing tribute to him. There would be no room in her life for a man, any man. Ever.
9. Diana adopted a black pup from a litter drop by one of the ranch dogs. At the same time she took delivery of a beautiful white Steinway grand piano, ordered by her father as a gift. She vowed to keep it pristine and never play it. Ever.
10. Due to an unfortunate incident when she was a young witness to a gory carriage accident in New York, she developed a severe phobia at the sight of human blood.
Blurb
Diana Rennie, daughter of a wealthy rancher, attempts to persuade mystery man Del Russell to leave his grievances behind and forgive her father for past mistakes. Her careful plan goes awry and results in a shotgun wedding and a prison sentence for Del.
Four years later, Del is back in her life with a vengeance—back for his rightful share of Diana’s ranch, back to prove he isn’t the criminal she thought he was, back to finish what the two of them started years ago in a passionate daze. And he isn’t going anywhere, no matter what beautiful, treacherous Diana does or says to try to get rid of him.
Buy Links
Amazon | The Wild Rose Press | Barnes & Noble | Chapters/Indigo
Bio
Cat Dubie has traveled the world in books. She has traveled back in time and into the future in books. Her keen interest in history determined the nature of her books, and the first Historical romance novel she read, settled the genre.
After working for various levels of government, she retired and now lives in the beautiful province of British Columbia, where she indulges in her need for creating stories about romance, adventure, passion, mystery, love …
Where to find Cat…
Movie Review: I, Tonya
I can vividly recall the drama surrounding Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan during the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer. Along with millions of television viewers worldwide, I watched as this sensational scandal unfolded on the ice. I cheered when Nancy earned the silver medal. As for Tonya…I remember her tearful plea for a re-skate after a shoelace snapped and an eighth-place finish.
Back then, it appeared clear-cut: Nancy was the American princess who deserved a gold medal, and Tonya was the rough redneck who didn’t deserve to skate in the Olympics.
But the truth is much more complicated. And there is more than one victim in this story.
In I, Tonya, Australian Director Craig Gillespie explores different truths, told from the perspectives of Tonya (Margot Robbie), her mother LaVona Golden (Allison Jannie), her abusive ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), and her bodyguard Eckerd (Paul Walter Hauser).
Alternative truths emerge with back-to-back scenes contradicting each other.
Who is telling the truth?
Who is embellishing?
Who is lying?
In spite of all the ambiguity, I found the movie even more addictive than the actual events.
Horrified, I watched as LaVona physically and emotionally abused Tonya throughout her childhood and adolescence. To survive, Tonya develops an abrasiveness that sets her apart from the budding princesses on the rink. Not even a kind and supportive coach could crack through that hardened shell.
Tonya’s skating ability is extraordinary, and she easily wins in local competitions. But when she moves to larger venues, she loses to less talented skaters. She complains to the judges, only to be told: “We also judge on presentation.”
Her relationship with Jeff Gillooly is fraught with tension and escalating abuse. I wondered why she kept going back to him. The truth is revealed in a telling scene with LaVona. Told that she needs to cobble together a “wholesome American family” to be considered a contender for the Olympics, Tonya approaches her mother for help. LaVona proceeds to berate Tonya, leaving the younger woman no other choice but to reconcile with Jeff.
In the lead-up to the “incident” where Nancy Kerrigan is knee-capped, the truth becomes more obscure. It is clear that Tonya considered Nancy her main competition, but the two women were also friends, rooming together during competitive events. While Tonya focuses on her skating, Jeff and Eckerd set in motion the “letter threats” plot that morphs into a poorly executed physical assault on Nancy.
The tragic ending of this fall from grace is inevitable. Still, it is hard to watch as Tonya Harding receives a harsh punishment that derails all her skating dreams.
Allison Jannie has already received Golden Globes, British Academy Film, and Screen Actors Guild awards for her stellar performance as the abusive stage mother. I wouldn’t be surprised if she won an Oscar. Margot Robbie also deserves an Oscar nod in the Best-Actress category.
A must-see film!
On Becoming Aware and Present
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In 2008, I participated in a ten-part series presented by Oprah Winfrey and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle. Oprah and Eckhart took millions of viewers on a chapter-by-chapter journey through A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Eckhart’s seminal work).
Their intention: To teach viewers how to focus and become more aware and present.
Since that time, I have reread A New Earth several times and also picked up Eckhart Tolle’s other book, The Power of Now. I highly recommend both books.
Whenever Oprah hosts Eckhart on Super Soul Sunday, I make a point of watching and taking notes. I was inspired and entertained by the following interview segment from the November 12, 2012 broadcast:
Oprah: How do you accept an unpleasant situation, if change is not possible?
Eckhart: You must accept a situation, even if change is not possible. The basis for effective enlightenment is to come in alignment with the present situation. When you accept the “isness” of life, greater intelligence arises. If you are angry and resist the unpleasant situation, you will remain stuck in it.
Oprah: How do you calm the voice in your head?
Eckhart: This question implies you know that your mind can’t stop. This is a good first step. Take the energy away from these thoughts, by asking yourself if you can feel the energy in your hands. Wait and you will feel it. Then move to your legs and other body parts. The inner body serves as a wonderful anchor for a sense of presence. This allows you to be distracted from your other thoughts.
Oprah: How does one clear the mind of bad memories?
Eckhart: Recognize that these memories are thoughts only in your head. They are not realities because they have already happened.
Oprah: How do you have fun?
Eckhart: I enjoy the present moment wherever I am and that’s fun for me.
Oprah: Are you happy?
Eckhart: I am in a state of peaceful aliveness.
Oprah: What do you believe in?
Eckhart: I believe in nothing in particular. LOL
Oprah: What are you grateful for?
Eckhart: I am grateful for always this moment…the now, no matter what form it takes.
Science Fiction at a Snail’s Pace
I’m happy to welcome Guelph author and screenwriter Cindy Carroll. Today, Cindy shares her writing journey and new release, The Princess Prophecy.
Here’s Cindy!
I want to thank Joanne for hosting me today! I’m super excited about my new release and my continuing journey as an author.
Like most writers I knew for a long time that I wanted to write. My favourite assignment in English class was writing short stories. When I was in grade six I started my first trilogy about three astronauts who travelled to other planets and met interesting aliens. Back then, I modelled the characters after myself, my cousin, and our favourite singer. He happened to also be a soap opera star, so his name in the stories was Noah. I wrote the first story in grade six and the other two in grade seven. I had the same English teacher both years, so she got to read the entire trilogy. She commented on my love of science fiction after the third story. The science fiction affection didn’t stop at the written word. I loved scifi movies and television shows. I watched all the scifi I could and some of those obscure shows that no one has heard of would come back later to inspire The Princess Prophecy.
Throughout the rest of school I wrote stories here and there, when I had time. In high school I even took a creative writing class. Of course, I was also an avid reader. I loved a variety of different genres and would go through at least a book a week. Sometimes more. I read one of Dean Koontz’s books in a day. Even though I knew books were written by authors, it never occurred to me that I could decide to be an author. That I could write things and send them out into the world for publication. It took a visit to my cousin one summer to turn that light bulb on. She had a typewriter out and I asked what she was doing. She said she was writing a book. My mind exploded with the possibilities and I’ve been writing for publication ever since.
It hasn’t been an easy road. Back then I wanted what most writers wanted. A New York publishing contract. I didn’t even care how much the advance was, though I was hoping for life changing money. I submitted to publishers, and agents. Until 2013 I was still chasing that dream. Then a friend introduced me to self publishing. I haven’t looked back since.
The Princess Prophecy took forever to write by self publishing timelines. The initial idea, a cross between The Princess Diaries and Out of This World (a scifi show from the 80s), sparked in June, 2015, but the book didn’t see the light of virtual bookshelves until a few weeks ago. What took so long? The story was basically written over a year ago. I’d been fiddling with the cover for months, never quite happy with what I’d come up with. Then there was the fear. All other stories (save a few short stories) had been published under super secret pen names. It’s a whole different ball game when you’re publishing something under your own name. But, I squashed down the fear, finished the edits and put it out into the world. With a shiny new cover that I’m in love with.
I just hope the next book won’t take as long to set free.
Blurb
An ancient throne. An unknown prophecy. A reluctant princess controls the fate of the world…
Sophie thinks she’s a typical college freshman. She spends her days making friends and coping with classes, until her whole world changes forever. A group of strange men try to kidnap her, and the only thing that saves her is a long-lost friend who’s sworn to protect his princess…
Nathan tells Sophie that she’s not only half-alien, but she’s royalty on another planet. To make things more complicated, she’s forced to go to that planet to take the throne… or her entire kingdom will suffer.
As Nathan helps her train for her second life, she can’t help but fall for him. But when their ship comes under attack, she wonders if any of them will survive the journey.
Bio
Cindy is a member of Sisters in Crime and a graduate of Hal Croasmun’s screenwriting ProSeries. Her interviews with writers of CSI and Flashpoint appeared in The Rewrit, the Scriptscene newsletter, the screenwriting Chapter of RWA. She writes screenplays, thrillers, and paranormals, occasionally exploring an erotic twist. A background in banking and IT doesn’t allow much in the way of excitement so she turns to writing stories that are a little dark and usually have a dead body. She lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two cats. When she’s not writing you can usually find her painting landscapes in oil, playing video games (Sims 3 and Sims 4 are favourites), or watching her favourite television shows marathon style.
Where to find Cindy…
Website | Twitter | Facebook Page | Facebook Readers Group | Instagram | BookBub
Spreading Love Will Change The World
I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Kathryn Jane to the Power of 10 series. Today, Kathryn shares an inspiring and timely post about a much-needed shift in our world.
Here’s Kathryn!
In light of the horrible event in a high school last week, I am here to talk about how each and every one of us can have an impact on the change we need in our world.
My Power of Ten, is all about love.
Many years ago, when I was taking a creative writing class in university, my instructor remarked on one of my submissions… “Another good piece, but why do all your stories end up about love?” This was meant as a criticism. She wanted to see more angst and suffering in my stories, more fantasy-like qualities, wanted them to be grittier, without happy endings.
Fast forward thirty-plus years to when I started writing novels after decades of not writing anything.
I sat down to write a mystery, and a love story happened on the page. I wrote a second novel, and again, in the swirl of suspense and mystery, two people found each other and fell in love.
And now I believe.
I believe that love is the strongest and most powerful emotion/entity in life. Yes I say entity because to me it is one.
Back to the Power of Ten. Here’s my list of ten simple ways you can manifest more love in your life, spread it to others, and change the world, one person at a time.
1. Gratitude – before you go to bed at night, think of just one thing you’re grateful for—it can be a simple as a pretty blue flower you saw on a roadside, or the fantastic burger you had for lunch, or the co-worker who had your back when you had to take an important phone call.
2. Kindness to others – can be a simple as holding a door for someone, or reaching something down from a high shelf for another shopper at the grocery store.
3. Kindness to self – cut yourself some slack, because perfection is highly overrated—maybe today you don’t have to do all the chores on the list, or maybe you could take a walk instead of answering all your emails, or you could just sit and stare out the window, listening to the purring cat in your lap.
4. Compassion – compassion for others (or lack thereof) is how we connect with the world outside of ourselves. When you see someone at the big box store who is wearing something you think is appalling, consider why they are doing that which you think is outrageous. Is it just them expressing their individuality? Bravo! Is it them trying to put one foot in front of the other and buy groceries for their family with almost no money in their pocket, or is this how they look after they’ve heard devastating news, or lost their job, or…. We don’t know what another person could be going through and NO ONE has a right to judge another. At any time, for any reason. Period.
5. Concern – be concerned about other’s situations. If you notice someone who seems unhappy, or in a dangerous/dubious/uncomfortable situation, reach out a hand or call help for them.
6. Interest – Show interest in the people you are with. Put away the phone and talk to people, interact. Ask about their day, their family, where they got the cute shoes…
7. Listen – Listen to what others are actually saying, not what you think they are saying. Hear their words, don’t just try to get your answer ready.
8. Support – offer support. Ask the question “What can I help you with right now.” “What can I do to help you get through this?”
9. Empathy – is not sympathy. Here’s a fun way to learn the difference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
10. Help – In helping others, you help yourself. It’s true! Try it.
My latest book, Into The Sunrise, is about a woman who could have been broken by the events in her life, but she found her way through, found a way to spread love and help others thrive, and found far more than just the love of her life.
Blurb
Dusty thought love was simple, and all about good sex…until she found the real thing and discovered the universe wasn’t ready to give her fairy dust or a happy ending. At least not yet.
Soul destroying questions and equally stunning answers have Dusty digging deeper than she ever thought possible, and when she discovers her Self, in an entirely foreign landscape, she begins anew, more determined than ever to achieve her lifelong dream.
If you love stories about women who pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get on with living no matter what life tosses in their path, this book is for you.
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Bio
Author Kathryn Jane writes the kind of stories she loves to read. The fast-paced kind filled with love, life and adventure along with a smattering of special abilities. She dearly wants to be the perfect combination of Nora Roberts, and Kay Hooper when she grows up!
Kat fills her non-writing time with rescuing cats, painting rocks, and walking on the beach not far from her Pacific Northwest home. She’s blessed to have a charming prince who bakes bread from scratch, and knows to not interrupt while characters are being created. He and his beloved mutt are also adept at staying out of the way of the feline diva who guards the writing cave.
Where to find Kathryn…
Joanne Guidoccio 