Thursday, March 4, 2010

Interview: Linda Poitevin

Today I have some interview questions/answers from a wonderful author and a sweetheart of a lady; Linda Poitevin.  Linda lives just outside Canada's capital, Ottawa, with husband, three daughters, a dog, two cats, a rabbit, and a Bearded Dragon lizard. She cans and freezes her family’s winter fruit and vegetable supply, knits, and crochets! A very busy lady indeed!
 
Thank you for the interview and kind words Linda! {{Big Hugs}}
 
 
Q: What if you woke from a dream to realize you were a character from your book knowing everything that happens in your book -- who would you be and why?

A: Is there any question? Lol! I would absolutely choose to be Gwyn – who wouldn’t? Gareth is a totally hot Hollywood star who is mature, sexy, secure in himself, and ready to commit (though he doesn’t know it yet!). Knowing what happens in the book and that he’s going to…and then he’ll…oh, I would SO definitely be Gwyn! J



Q: Would you make any changes in the story?

A: As the author, my first inclination is to say no. And if I were Gwyn? Still no. I think Gwyn is a lot like me, believing that everything happens for a reason. If one thing were to change in the story (or in my/her life), it could affect everything else…and knowing how the story turns out, I absolutely wouldn’t want to change a thing!



Q: Would you choose to stay inside your own story and carry out the rest of your life or would you like to "wake" up again in your "real life"?

A: Lol – questions like that are so unfair! I think it would totally depend on the kind of day I was having when you asked me, because there are some days….

Seriously, though, I think I’d like to wake up again in my own life – in spite of its ups and downs – because I like who and where I am. Although I must admit it would be tempting to lose a few years off my age…except that would mean going through all kinds of life experiences a second time around…so nope, my life definitely wins. J

Plus there’s the whole Hollywood aspect to consider…it’s one thing to write about a character dealing with being in the spotlight like that, and quite another to live it myself!



Q: Can you give me a quick overview of your current project? I believe you’re working on a paranormal next?

A: My work in progress is a dark paranormal suspense with strong romantic elements – a series, actually (I hope!). The first book is complete and sitting with my agent, who is waiting for me to polish and send the synopsis for the second book before she starts the submission process. The story takes place in today’s world but draws heavily on angel mythology – I’m really excited about it and have already started the second book.

Q: Can you share an excerpt with us from A Fairy Tale for Gwyn?
A: I’d be delighted – here’s one no one else has seen yet:


He rose from the couch and raised his hands over his head in a slow stretch. “Thank you again for dinner, and for coffee. I hope I didn’t keep you from anything too important.”

Gwyn didn’t think much could be more important than watching a thin denim shirt strain across a broad chest, but neither did she think it wise to say so. She simply smiled and shook her head. “Nothing at all,” she said, and trusted that he wouldn’t hear the slight strangulation in her voice.

She uncoiled her feet and leaned forward to put her mug on the trunk. When she straightened up, she found Gareth’s hand extended to her. She hesitated, exhaled shakily, and then put her own hand out and let him pull her to her feet, inches away from the broad shoulders she’d just admired—along with all the rest of him.

No amount of reasoning with herself could make her raise her gaze to his. Long seconds ticked by, alive with electric expectation. Gareth cleared his throat. “I should go,” he said, his voice low and husky.

A tremor twisted through Gwyn’s belly. She stared at a button at eye level on his shirt. The one that marked the beginning of an open vee that exposed a glimpse of dark hairs. “I know.”

“Gwyn—”

She inhaled sharply at the rough sound of her name. Gareth’s fingers tightened for an instant on her own, then began a slow slide up her arm to her shoulder, around to the nape of her neck. A strand of hair, not her own, brushed her cheek. Gwyn closed her eyes.

“Mommy, my head hurts.”
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Review: Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis

Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (April 27, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061799254
ISBN-13: 978-0061799259
Rating: 3/5

An enjoyable read but I cant help feeling that it lacked something that I can't put my finger on. I really think I had higher expectations than the book delivered.

The main character, Joy, was plum annoying and ignorant. If ever I could reach out and touch someone I'd like to reach thru my pages and smack her one or two times. At first I felt sorry for her because it appeared like her sister always ruined her life so to speak but then she just developed this holier than thou attitude like it was all about her and I totally turned my sympathy to the "bad sister".

I dont think the book was without some merit though. I did enjoy the family interactions strange as they were and I did appreciate how the two sisters came together at the end each having a better understanding of what the other was feeling and going thru.

Review Copy Provided by Author/Courtesy of Around the World Tours.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Guests: Angelica Hart and Zi

SPICY HOT VANILLA
BY: Angelica Hart and Zi

Angelica Hart and Zi are writers published by Champagne Books.

In all romances there is that moment when sex finds fruition, that instant when all the tug and pull, the laboring through emotional upheaval and external complications finally finds its way to culmination. It does happen. Sometimes the reader has to wait until nearly the end of the story, but then there it is, the reward, the prize in the cracker jack box called a romance novel. We cannot and will never trivialize that. The challenge for the writer is to make the reader want to be a page turner voyeur. This has to be accomplished by getting one to root for the story's couple to share lovemaking, but also for the reader to want, crave, and desire the outcome as much as the hero and heroine, to have a stake in their lives, and at times to relate to the situation in that they nearly meld with one of the characters, experiencing all there is to experience. But as important as is that, it is also crucial to make that scene interesting. The same old same old must never feel as if so. The act in of itself would be simple and maybe boring if not dressed in all the luxurious trappings a writer's imagination can provide. We want to put the fiery desire into those moments. We owe it to characters and the readers. So how?

"Would you like to
With Elinor Glyn
On a tiger skin?
Or would you prefer
To err with her
On some other fur?"
- (author unknown)

The afore poem was written about Elinor Glyn a 20s writer of torrid love stories. My Grams watched the soaps and she call them her stories. "Got to get done so I can watch my stories," she'd say, or "Run out and play during my stories." She'd grab a cup of coffee and a snack and sit in the big chair, losing herself to the scenes unfolding in a way that made her part of the characters' world. She loved the edgy.

We are lead to believe that Glyn found a certain amount of sensuality having the feel of fur on her skin. We are in a time where toys and kink are becoming more and more commonplace, and the usage of them is no longer a hidden secret. There are even fetish parties that play out just like a Tupperware party used to be demonstrated with a group of ladies in someone's home. We most certainly believe that traditional love making holds a profound import not just because of the grandness of all sensations but those sensations begin in the largest sex organ the brain. But there is much to be said that spicing up the act can be good. Perception of what is exciting varies from person to person and catching segments of that perception is what stirs readers, encouraging them to devour the scenes.

We as a society get our paraphilias, our sexual arousal, from a variety of sources. Glyn in the 20s was not vanilla but she is very much so in this day and age. We live in a world of adventurous lovers.

Our role if we use such fetishes is to give them value within the relating, because at the end of the day when you tally up the score, it is not the color of the condom on the talliwacker, or whether they score, but truly the honest exchange of emotions that facilitate meaningful physical expression. All the other paraphernalia and erotic action is just fun.

Our proclivity is spicy hot vanilla. That is apparent in KILLER DOLLS and stretched toward rare uniqueness in SNAKE DANCE.

What would you like in love scenes found in your favorite genre?

Our release KILLER DOLLS is a wonderful romantic thriller based in bio-terrorism. SNAKE DANCE which is about to be released is a sci/fi-fantasy adventure romance placed in a unique culture. CHASING GRAVITAS is a gentle paranormal romance which provides an unfolding mystery.


SNAKE DANCE
The Story:

On the planet Starling wRen defies her heritage so she can be with VeIper, an outcast bent on freeing his species from ethnic cleansing. Mong, a slayer, quells their ambition as he plots the subjugation of wRen and the death of VeIper.


EXCERPT:

With lithe movement he followed that scent, in wavy patterns slipping one way then the other catching it at its greatest strength. Coiled, flexed, and slowly rose ever so little as not to be seen, and saw for the first time in his short life something that gave him a shiver to his soul, rattling, and he noticeably trembling. This was not chills of fear, no, but a far different emotion. The full magnitude of this he could not discern but it was there like tiny flickers of fire bursting under his skin.
There captive in his gaze was a female, white and peach toned, similar to others yet nothing at all alike. She stood out against the natural background of color as if apart from it, and yet she somehow was all of it. Her face held an intricate balance of beauty and emotion. It was as if you could see the swirl of them real and raw with no apology for them. Her body held the lushness and enticement of her kind, but the enticement was somehow different. It was as if her curves had been sculptured just for his hands; as if her breasts and buttocks would fit perfectly into his palms; as if her flesh would respond instantly to the trace of his fingertips and as if her lips would curve into his with perfection. Their fingers would entwine naturally, the tender spurt of her pulse would match his.

ABOUT AUTHORS

Their combined accomplishments include book publications in print and/or electronic versions of twenty-four titles, fifteen romance specific, ten manuscripts pending, EPPIE finalist for three books, Cecil Whig award, Hob-Nob Reader's Choice Award, written over 500 shorts with numerous published in both nationwide and small press magazines, articles published in various local, city and statewide newspapers, including four as a Guest Columnist in addition to trade articles. Both are members of various writing groups.

We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at angeliahartandzi@yahoo.com and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.

Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS ~ September 2009
SNAKE DANCE ~ February 2010
CHASING GRAVITAS ~ July 2010

angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com
angelicahartandzi.com

KILLER DOLLS and SNAKE DANCE can be purchased at
Champagne Books
http://www.champagnebooks.com/

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Friday, February 19, 2010

Review: Double Trouble by Susan May Warren

Double Trouble by Susan May Warren
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (January 11, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414313136
ISBN-13: 978-1414313139
Rating: 4/5

I have really found a passion for books/series such as Double Trouble here lately with women PI's especially the comedic ones with the heroine always getting into tight spots and having men fighting over them for one reason or another.

This is the second book of the series and while it can be read as a stand alone I do suggest reading book one, Nothing but Trouble, first so you'll have more background into the characters and all.

In this story PJ is hired as a stand in look a like for a material witness while she is hidden away until the trial. Add in a marriage proposal, a sulky sister, and some new Russian family to the mix.

Review Copy Provided by LitFuse
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Giveaway and Review: Hasta la Vista, Lola by Misa Ramirez


Hasta la Vista, Lola by Misa Ramirez

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (February 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312384033
ISBN-13: 978-0312384036
Rating: 4/5

This is Misa's second Lola book and if you enjoy Stephanie Plum then you will love Lola because she is a saucy little PI in Sacramento, Calif that tends to get into some funny spots just like Stephanie.

Lola is working late one evening and returns home to a wake. Come to find out it's her own wake! Everybody is led to believe she is dead after a news reporter on television says so.

Turns out to be a huge case of stolen identity and now Lola has to set things straight, but that will be a big task that includes finding out who the dead lady is, why she stole Lola's identity, finding a missing child, putting up with Lola's ex Sergio, and trying to convince her grandma she is alive and not a spirit! Good thing she has her boyfriend Jack for help and support!

This was a great book full of fun and laughs especially Lola's crazy family! I Look forward to more adventures in this series!

Review and Giveaway Copy Provided by Author

If you'd like to win a copy of this wonderful book just leave a comment below. Giveaway ends February 28. No emails will be sent. Winner will be posted on blog.
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