Easter's Lilly

Saturday, December 14, 2013


Author Interview
Candace L. Bowser

What was the driving force behind your current novel? As a writer of dark romance blended with horror, I am always looking for a different take, an element someone else hasn’t tried before, something that will take the reader by surprise. I have 5 vampire books to my credit, and though I love a vampire just as much as the next gal, I really wanted to do something never before seen in literature, hence the creation of Remy Broulette.

What personality traits do you most admire in other authors? The courage to persevere is a trait that I admire so deeply. Being an author isn’t easy. In fact, sometimes it’s pure hell when you get right down to it. Self-doubt is a mean little monster that plagues every writer at some point and time. Anyone who says it doesn’t creep into his or her head is not being truthful. You look at book sales, what you have accomplished, and sometimes think, “wow, this really should be doing better! Should I have done something different? Is it really worth the frustration?” But at the end of the day, if you are truly a writer, all those things get pushed to the back of your mind and you persevere. It isn’t always easy but it’s always worth it.

If you could offer a word of advice to an aspiring author who wants to venture down the road of self-publishing, what would you tell them? You aren’t going to be an overnight success, so don’t expect it. Don’t take criticism to heart; there will always be naysayers and critics. If you love to write, write because it is your passion. Fame might come. It might never come, but that shouldn’t be what you strive for as an author. You should write for yourself. The fans will eventually come later.

Do you find inspiration in the works of other authors? If so, who and why? I find authors like Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker to be inspiring. They wrote outside of the norm for their time period and did so for themselves, not for the critics, not because they wanted it to be their crowning achievement, but because it was what was in their hearts begging to be written.

How would you describe the method behind your writing? Sheer madness at best on most days is the easiest way to describe it. I have no rhyme or reason to how I write. Hell, sometimes the final chapter gets written before the third one is even finished. I let the characters tell me how they want their story told. In the end, it works for me, but it probably wouldn’t work for anyone else!

Are you an aficionado of any of the great classic authors? Which one do you feel has left their mark in the world of writing and changed the world the most? I, of course, mentioned Bram earlier, but there are so many. Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Fred Saberhagen, and Tolkien, just to name a few. They all bridged great divides in order to present their craft and left a mark on this world is unmistakable.

Is there any special preparations you take when you are about to sit down and write? I prefer for it to be silent but that rarely happens in my household. More often than not, I choose music to write by that has some sort of meaning to the piece I am writing. I found I listened to a great deal of New Orleans based music and Mozart when writing Dark Days of Remy Broutlette. They were pieces, which just fit him perfectly.

Which of the books you have written is your favorite and why? Is there a single character that stands out from the others? Drusil is by far one of my favorite characters from the Origins Vampire Series. He is dark and brooding, contemplative, and sexy as all get out. But favorites sometimes change depending on what I am writing, and with 15 published books there are so many. Right now, Remy is heavy on my mind with his pending release. He too is a dark and brooding immortal, bent on personal destruction. Half Choctaw and half French, he is the perfect part of two separate worlds to which he never belongs. He is complicated and deep the way any character should be in print.

Is there anything else you would like to share with your readers? I have a deep, heartfelt appreciation toward every person who has read any of my books. The biggest compliment any author can hope for is a single purchase of your book, followed by how much it was adored, and will you write a sequel? Praise makes any author’s heart soar, but when you can touch them enough that they reach out to you, there is no forgetting that moment. I am so grateful for each of those moments, and I will never forget any of them.


Here is an excerpt from, Dark Days of Remy Broulette. (Potential release January 2014, awaiting submission status).

The constitution of a man is not always defined by his destiny but occasionally by the circumstances of the life he has lived.
Revel DeMarquis stood watching as the waves lapped against the shore depositing copious amounts of shells and seaweed now that the storm had lessened. The sun was beginning to rise as he lifted the window allowing the salty scent of the ocean to fill his room. The air was heavy and dense as it rolled through Royal Street and into the French Quarter, nearly so thick it was difficult to breathe. The heaviness of the waves had ceased and was replaced with the placid rolling of the inward bay. Beams of the breaking dawn shed their light across the caps coloring them with tinges of red, crimson, and orange.
His moment of bliss, of enjoying the city as it was meant to be enjoyed, was broken by the harrowing screams of Remy Broulette.
It was common and occurred every morning with the same result. Revel hastened his pace, picking up a towel before exiting his room, to walk the long corridor to the room of his friend.
Remy stood in the corner gasping for air. His eyes were wild, nearly feral, as they swept the room. The full length of his hair was dripping with sweat. It was a scene Revel DeMarquis had witnessed a million times before. Remy seized the towel from his hand and stormed out of the room, slamming the door to the lavatory behind him. The sound of water was not enough to drown out his angry screams.

Author Bio
Candace L. Bowser is a freelance writer of fiction. She was a featured columnist for PRS in Kansas City during the 1980's and was voted one of the Top 20 Prolific Writers of 2011 at AKGmag. Though her favorite genre to write is dark romance/horror, she does not like to be limited to a single genre. Candace also writes adventure, suspense, intrigue, and mystery. Her books are an interesting blend of historical events, people, and places blended with fiction.  Under the pen-name of Hargrove Perth, Candace writes new adult as well as dark romance/eroticism. Originally from Altoona, PA, she currently resides in Kansas City with her husband Todd of twenty-seven years.


Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4152675.Candace_L_Bowser
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CandaceLBowser
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candace.bowser
Blog:http://www.candacebowser.blogspot.com
Website:http://www.candacelbowser.com






Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Blog Hop | 12 Days of Christmas | Eleventh Day of Christmas

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop
Event Date: December 1st - 12th 2013
Hosted by: As You Wish Reviews & Confessions of the Paranormal
Sponsors: As You Wish Tours & Book Dragon Designs

Challah Bread

Here are some simple directions for busy moms, who love that fresh baked touch to their bread machine bread.

Ingredients:
  • 
1 cup warm water
  • 
1/2 cup white sugar
  • 
1 tablespoon honey
  • 
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 
2 eggs, room temperature
  • 
4 ½ cups bread flour
  • 
2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast
  • 1 Tbs of margarine or butter
  • 
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Add water, sugar, honey, oil, salt, flour, margarine, and yeast to the bread machine. Turn it on to the dough setting. After it begins to spin, add the eggs one at a time. Make sure the dough is a round ball and not too mushy.

When it is ready, pour it onto a cutting board with flour on it. Cut it into two pieces. It will make two loaves of bread. Braid each one. In a separate bowl, scramble a Tbs. of olive oil and an egg. Brush it on each loaf. Pick them up and put them on a non-stick pan. Cook at 350 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

SYNOPSIS

Moving to Sedona was the only way Ivy could think of to start over. She would meet her high school sweetheart and work on making things right between them. Her psychic abilities were gradually becoming a curse and she needed a new start. Little does she know that when she applies for a waitressing job at a local, upscale French bistro, she will come in contact with the dark and mysterious Eli Dubois. What she doesn’t realize is she has just walked into the middle of the Vortex Murders, which involve a great deal of paranormal activity. Elijah’s army of seers are being murdered, one by one, which seems to be magnifying Ivy’s special abilities.

Eli's best friend, Jake, arrives on the scene and reveals the secret that changes everything. With nowhere to turn, Ivy leans on the two men who offer her solace. And who is the old woman in the shroud? Is she a vision, a dream, or is she real? Only time will tell.

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First Prize: One (1) eBook from Every Participating Author 

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For more Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes & Giveaways - Hop along the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop!

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Saturday, November 23, 2013



Black Rose Author, R.C. Larlham, brings the 40’s and 50’s back to life.


Today we are lucky enough to hear from author R.C. Larlham. He is going to talk about his new release, ‘The Old Man and Me.’

Please tell us a little about your new release? When is it scheduled to go live?

‘The Old Man and Me’ was released on September 19. I'm not sure what "released" means, because it took me another ten days to get copies of the book. Meanwhile, I was biting my fingernails, back to the elbows.

As far as the book goes, let’s start with the fact that it’s not really a novel. The Old Man and Me is a book of true short stories ... a memoir of mostly my boyhood and teen years in the '40s and '50s.

Tell us about the cover of the book. Is there any history there?

The cover photo was chosen by Black Rose's people out of about two-dozen I sent them. We boarded the two horses for the winter one year. The little black and white pinto was a mustang named Domino. He was a wild horse, captured when he was about four-years-old. That's me riding him. I think I'm about thirteen years old. The brown mare my sister Lyndella is riding was a harness racer named Tango. A harness racer is a racehorse, which trots or paces around the track, pulling a two-wheeled "sulky" with a driver instead of a rider. Tango, unfortunately, was subject to nosebleeds. Both horses were owned by a day camp. No one who rode them knew anything about horses. Both horses pretty much cordially hated children. The man holding the horses for the photo is “the old man,” Dick Larlham, my father.

2) What inspired you to write your novel?

I had pretty much given up on inspiration to write a book of any sort. I'd tried novels, but I always got bored with them. However, I am, and always have been, a storyteller. My daughter introduced me to an Internet site called Gather, which catered primarily to storytellers. I began to write some short stories and poems in response to various prompts (themes for the month in various genres), but some of them were pretty outrageous, and some were of no interest to me. However, I discovered that I could simply tell whatever story came to mind and publish it for folks to read and comment upon. So, I did it a lot.  As I wrote stories about my years growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, people began to comment that I should stop and write a book. My response was always that stories were the best I could do.

Do you have any writing rituals?

Yes, but they're pretty loose. If I'm working on book two of the memoir, I'll start by sort of mining my memories for basic events that happened, and then write down two or three sentences for each of them. Just give me a glass of ice water and a full 1 1/2 ounce shot of Bushmills over ice sitting next to the computer and I'm ready. I write narrative style, front to back. I do some go-back as I remember details so I don't forget them, but mostly I do a second read and write as soon as I've finished the first. I can finish-write about a thousand words in about three hours.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am most definitely a pantser. This may explain why I get bored in the middle of my novels. I don't know where they're going next.

Do you have any new projects on the horizon? 

Oh yeah... ‘The Old Man and Me’ is envisioned as a three (or more) volume series of overlapping books. Book two carries the subtitle, ‘Stories I Didn't Get To Tell You.’ It begins with several new high school stories, adds more college and Army stories and then moves to marriage and graduate school in the isolation of Northern Utah. I married the prettiest girl in Hiram College. She was a sophisticated young lady from Falls Church, Virginia and I plunked her down in a place where they got ten feet of snow every winter and religious prejudice was the reverse of anything she'd ever experienced. Not my best plan by a long shot.

Do you have any advice or aspiring writers?

Write every time you can (and some when you can't). When I'm not working on editing a finished manuscript, I try to write a thousand words a day. Sometimes the whole thing gets junked the next day, and sometimes two or three days' worth will yield one good thousand-word chapter or story. But I write them.

Do you have a muse?

I have the lovely Laura. We were married forty-four years before she had to go. When she died, I nearly crawled into a deep, dark place in my head and pulled it shut behind me. But I wrote about her instead. I wrote about our life together (the good and the awful), about her long fight against MS, her failing end, and her final hours. And all that kept me sane. If I couldn't have written, I don't believe I would have survived emotionally. Now, she rides my heart and keeps me writing.

Please tell our readers where they can get more information on your books.

Well, they can begin by visiting www.blackrosewriting.com/books and buy directly from the publisher. Through November, there is a 25% off sale in which they can participate. The book is also available through Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Smashwords and other e-book platforms.

Well, looks like our time is pretty much up. Thank you so much for the opportunity, Judy. I enjoyed this very much. Good Reading!

Chuck


Friday, November 15, 2013

Final Tour Stop | Easter's Lilly (Book 1 - The Easter's Lilly Series)

Book Title: Easter's Lilly
Author: Judy Serrano
Release Date: December 16, 2010
Genre: Thriller, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Romantic Thriller
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Presented by: As You Wish Tours
Banner Made by: Camelia Miron Skiba

Brother Number Three 
(Book 2 - The Easter's Lilly Series)
BLURB

Coming in third place was something that was all too familiar to Hector Montiago. As his strength and grounding personality pushes him into first place with the woman he loves, lines are crossed and sides are chosen. In the second book of the series, Brother Number Three depicts family ties in a light unequal to any other. Lilly tells the story of how the brothers unite in the effort to recover her missing son, as blood becomes both the indestructible bond that holds them together and the opposing force that pushes them apart. They fight temptation, while the enemies of the Montiago cartel unleash their wrath, only to discover that the true danger lies within.

TEASER

Max hit the FBI panic button to alert them that we were in trouble. Diego grabbed the kids but I refused to go.

“Lilly get out of here!” Max shouted. “Go with Diego and the children!”

“No! I’m not leaving you!” I shouted back.

“Lilly, go!” he yelled again.

“You won’t let them take me, Max. I can’t leave you.” I didn’t move. Hector was giving us the blow by blow from his phone.

“They’re at checkpoint number two,” Hector said.

“Lilly,” Max looked at me sorrowfully. “If anything happens to you…”

“It won’t if I’m with the two of you.” I looked at Diego. “Take the children, I’m staying.”

“Damn it, Lilly!” Max yelled. “Go ahead Diego, we’ve got her.” Diego took the kids and the nanny.

Hector laughed. “Now, she reminds me of Olivia.”

“What happened to my, ‘Yes sir?’” Max asked me.

“Max, you and Hector will keep me safe. Diego will be distracted by the children.”

“You’re afraid, I get it,” he told me. “I don’t blame you. We’ll watch you.”

“Check point number three,” Hector said. “Brace yourselves.”

With their attention on the door, someone came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my neck. “I’ve got her this time, Max,” he warned. Max turned around and shot him right between the eyes. The guy dropped, right there behind me. Max grabbed me and put me between him and the wall.

“Say no more,” Hector said as he ran to the kitchen. We heard two gunshots.

“Hector!” Max yelled.

“I’m good, Max! I dropped them.” It was quiet for a moment. “FBI are starting to show up!” Hector shouted.

He took my hand and walked around the house a little. Then he wrapped his arms around me. “Next time I tell you to go to the safe room, you’re going to do what?”

“Say, ‘yes sir’ and do it,” I said. “But look, you didn’t let him take me.”

“He wouldn’t have even seen you if you were with Diego.” He smiled. “We had better go get Diego and the children out of the safe room. Just as we said that Hector came out with Diego and my babies. They all ran to me and hugged me until they saw the body. We all pushed them out of the living room and up the stairs.

“Damn, you’re good,” Hector said. “Right between the eyes, no hesitation at all.”

“That’s how I roll,” Max said laughing.

Easter's Lilly
BLURB

It was Easter Sunday; the day Lilly's life went from safe and comfortable to dangerously unfamiliar. Her transformation takes her from a small town girl having an affair with a low ranked gangster in the Montiago crime syndicate, to a woman of grace and fortitude married to the head of the organization. Easter's Lilly is an inspired journey from the idyllic to the darker side of self-discovery. Read as the over-privileged brothers embark on their journey that twists and turns down the road of unbridled passion in this first book of the series.

AUTHOR BIO
Judy Serrano graduated from Texas A&M University, Commerce with a BA in English. She is a substitute teacher at her children’s school district and teaches developmental writing at a local college. She is also a freelance writer for certain on-line periodicals. She is the author of The Easter’s Lilly Series, which falls under romantic suspense, and The Linked Series, which is paranormal romance. Although she is originally from New York, she currently resides in Texas with her husband, four children, (all boys) and five dogs. She is also a singer/songwriter in her spare time.

AUTHOR LINKS

BOOK LINKS 
Easter's Lilly
Brother Number Three
  Amazon


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