Be Warned: These are the scribblings of a writer unruly, unsupervised, and largely unrepentant

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

HIS VOW by Alexandra O'Hurley - sizzling new release!

After a brief hiatus from writing, she's BAACKKK! Alexandra O'Hurley, a good friend of mine, has a new release out and I'm excited to feature HIS VOW on my blog today. If you're in the mood for a steamy, time-travel romance (with a touch of Voodoo!) please check this book out.

HIS VOW
 
I’ll return for you. I vow it.

When Cami DuBois winds up on a Manassas battlefield, she stumbles across Confederate re-enactors too deep in character. One of the men looks at Cami and she feels an instant connection, a familiarity she can't ignore and a lust she doesn't want to. Until he vanishes before her.

Left in limbo, Christophe Sinclair is bound by his vow. Promising to return to his love after the end of the Civil War, he’s overjoyed to have his Camille back—and to truly have her in his arms again is his singular focus.

Christophe’s tie to Cami is strong, one that might defy the rules of space and time.

If the Voodoo Gods allow it.
 
Excerpt:
 
“Is it polite to point a weapon at a lady?” Jasmine smiled widely as she spoke.

Slightly lowering his weapon, the man eyed her closely. “What’re you doing out here? There are a few thousand men converging for battle. You need to seek refuge.”

“Jasmine, they’re just re-enactors. Leave them be,” Cami said, feeling uneasy.

The leader’s eyes swung to Cami after the last syllables dropped from her lips. His dark stare roamed over her, and a look of utter shock took over as his jaw slackened and his eyes widened. His uniform made her nose wrinkle as she glanced over him once more. He was quite handsome, even with the silly goatee and handlebar moustache he wore, although his overgrown beard was filling in around that from lack of upkeep. Make that stunningly handsome, even with all that facial hair and the rebel costume. He was all male, and her body reacted to his steely glare, even with her misgivings. There was a light in his eyes that pierced through her very soul and made her crave to grow closer, touch him, and crawl into his embrace.

His eyes raked over her from head to toe and back again, and she felt heat flooding her in response. Her nipples pebbled against the thin cotton dress she wore. Her body swelled, even with the cool air around her, and she felt a throbbing in her pussy. Cami wanted to jump up and run into his arms.

Am I insane?

“Camille? What’re you doing here?”

A chill moved down her spine. No one had called her Camille in years, not even her own parents. It was usually reserved for when she was in serious trouble as a child. Hearing it now made her uncomfortable, especially considering her emotional reaction to him. “Do I know you?”

“Camille, it’s me, Christophe. Has the war changed me so much?” He stepped closer to her, the air getting colder as he approached.

The war? Was he so deep into character that he couldn’t get out of it? Or was he simply crazy? “Christophe, I’ve never met you before. I don’t know who you are.”

“Ma Belle, it’s me. Your love. How’d you get here?” Christophe moved another few steps closer, a smile stretching his handsome face. Her heart began to beat harder again as his gaze locked with her own and she felt drawn into his enchantment. “I don’t know how you got here, but I’ve missed you so.”

He walked to her and pulled her close with one arm, lowering his gun away with the other. His embrace was ice cold, yet it warmed her through and through. Cami sighed as she melted into him, her brain fuzzy. She tried to rationalize what was happening, but her thoughts were drowned out by the emotional response of being in his embrace again.

Again? She’d never met this man, let alone been in his arms.
 
Do you want to read more? Find HIS VOW at these buy links: 
 
Amazon  * All Romance  * Bookstrand  * Smashwords
 
Do you want to  know more about Alexandra O'Hurley's work, check out these links:
 
 
 

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Please Welcome -- Shana Galen

Well, HOPEFULLY the new season isn't too far off. Now we've put January and February behind us, I know I am more than ready for a positive change of weather, longer days, sunshine and some sprouting flowers! How about you?

Today, I'm thrilled to have the lovely Shana Galen here to bring us some of that sunshine with her merry smile, her stunning new cover and a jolly chat about the sometimes upside down, inside out world in which we writers live and write.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please help me welcome Shana, and don't forget to leave a comment for her below!

Where Am I?
by Shana Galen
 
Have you ever packed for a trip somewhere with weather quite different from yours, and despite checking the weather in your destination, you still packed for your current location? I do this all the time. I attend several writing conferences a year, and many of them are across the country from my home base in Houston, Texas.

I remember the year I attended a conference in Chicago in April. In Houston, April is warm, temperatures in the 80s. In Chicago, the weather was in the 50s. Despite knowing logically that the 50s is colder than the 80s, most of the clothes I packed were sundresses and sandals. I froze the first day I arrived and tried not to venture out of the hotel where I was staying. It’s hard to imagine 50-degrees when you’re living in 80-degrees.

The converse is also true. A few years ago my family and I went to Disneyworld in December. Orlando and Houston have similar weather, but that week Houston was in the 30s and Orlando was unseasonably hot with temps in the 80s and low 90s. I still packed jeans and coats and sweaters and then was too hot as I walked around Disney.

I run into this problem a lot when I’m writing. It’s very common for me to be scheduled to write a Christmas novella set in England in the middle of a sweltering Houston summer. How do I do it? I use my imagination. A lot.

Most authors who write historical fiction have to use their imaginations. We can read first-hand accounts of life in London or Paris, and even if we’ve been to the cities on vacation, the London of 2015 is not the London of 1820. At most, we hope for a glimmer of what was to spur our imagination.

Another element of setting I pay attention to is location. My most recent release, EARLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN, is set in London. It’s filled with descriptions of busy streets, street hawkers, jostling crowds, and of course, that ever-present London fog. But not all of London was the same. Part of the book is set in the wealthy area of Mayfair, while the rest of the book is set in the slums of Seven Dials. I really wanted to juxtapose the two settings, because even though they are geographically close, they are miles apart in setting. Mayfair had open spaces, clean (by the standards of the day) streets, posh houses, and was considerably quieter than other areas of London. I once read that the really rich had straw put on the streets in front of their houses so the sounds of carriages passing would be muted.
 
Seven Dials was dark and filthy with rubbish in the street and walks. Unkempt children ran free. Gin houses were prevalent, which meant drunk men and women were commonplace, as were prostitutes and thieves—not that there was much to steal in Seven Dials. I read an account from a physician who attended a sick person in one of the London rookeries, and he mentioned the room where the family lived was so dark, even in the middle of the day, he had to bring extra lamps with him to see.

Quite a contrast from those whitewashed mansions in Mayfair!

 My next book, WHILE YOU WERE SPYING, will be out in April, and while it takes place in England during the early 1800s, it’s set in the Hampshire and Yorkshire countryside. Not only was the country quite different from the city, Hampshire and Yorkshire have very different landscapes as well.

 It’s no wonder I sometimes look up from writing about a rainstorm in the chilly Hampshire countryside to be momentarily confused at the hot sun outside my window, with its view of the sprawling city.

 Readers what sorts of settings do you enjoy? London? New York? Small towns? Exotic locations? One person who comments will win a copy of EARLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN (open internationally).

 

Earls Just Want to Have Fun--on sale now!