Moonlight Romance Authors

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Easter Break

I'm going away tomorrow for the Easter weekend. As I am in Melbourne, and Melbourne is highly known for its unpredictable weather, it is still summer-ish in this state. Although that has had it's days of being annoying up till now, I must say, it is terribly convenient, for I am going to be going to a beach house for the next four days!!

Wonderfully well wishes and safe times to everyone here over the holidays, and I will be back again some time next week.

xx

Nikki Watson. ;)
http://nikkiwatson.blogspot.com/
Changeling: Of Elves and Men. Available Now! From NCP
http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/changeling.htm

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

North and South!

Here's a video I found on You Tube from the screen adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, detailing the difference of life between South England and North England during the Victorian Era. It's one fine production! The romance will sweep you away! Richard Armitage as John Thornton is just so hero worthy! *sigh*

~Marly

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Wearin' of the Green

Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day and, for those of Irish decent, it's a day of celebration and pride. There's the whirl of bagpipes, penny whistles, fiddles and drums. Nothing sounds better than a sweet, mournful Irish ballad sung by an Irish tenor. Although some of us aren't entirely Irish, we can still enjoy a cold green beer and wear a bit of green just the same. I wish you all a wonderful day tomorrow and hope you'll enjoy a parade and remember those of us who share a common thread: we weren't always Americans and we weren't always loved by those who came here before us but we found freedom here and a chance to change our lives. We made America our home.
Slan's beannachdl! (Health and a blessing!)
Sarah McNeal author of The Violin, The Dark Isle and Lake of Sorrows
www.sarahmcneal.com

Saturday, March 15, 2008

SRR Reviews Doorway to the Stars!

I just found the review that Simply Romance Reviews gave to my futuristic novella, Doorway to the Stars! Thank you Melissa for the fantastic review! She gave it an A!

Here's a snippet of the review and the link to take you to the full review!

Freya Kirkland has the soul of a fighter, always trying to do the right thing. Aries D’Halen might have gone about procuring his wife in the wrong way, but it is easy to see that he has deep feelings for her early in the relationship. The gradual change in Freya makes you want to cheer for Aries as he slowly, persistently works to get her to trust him and eventually love him. Marley Matthews went the right way in working these two star-crossed lovers together. Details that are normally overlooked are fit into place like pieces of a puzzle. Though it might be a short story, there is nothing lacking from the characters to the colorful planet of Gaian. And the hunk of the story- six foot six—now that’s my kind of man!

~Melissa, Simply Romance Reviews

SRR Review of Doorway to the Stars!

~Marly

Opinions on Writing ;)

I've just written a scene in my latest WIP that makes me wonder about the evolution of characters. How they start on a page with one fairly distinct personality, but within a scene can suddenly embody a person that you actually know, or just appear in a slightly different light than the one in which you had originally viewed your character.

I think I'm going to state that this is a good thing. Suddenly you have this character on a page that you are going to get to know. While you are on the train, you might hear his or her opinion to something that you are seeing out the window, and you might have a little bit of a chuckle. Sure, the people in the seats around you might think you are crazy, but you know that you are just a writer. And that this is the way that things just happen to us sometimes. ;)

Things like this signal, at least to me, that the characters you have chosen, out of all the possible choices, are the right ones, and that, like real people, they are multi-faceted. They should be. I like it when my characters do something that surprises me. Sure, in the next moment I then have to get out my notes and figure out how I'm going to suit any future scenes I may have in mind to suit this new character development, but yeah, overall, it's a good thing.

Likewise, I like to have the ending of my stories kept from me until I am very near the end. This sounds really silly to some people, because how can you write a story when you don't know how it's going to end, right? Wrong. At least for me, it is. I have a vague idea, maybe three main plot points through the story that I know I'm going to have to cover, but the very end result to come out of these things? That's as much a mystery to me as to the reader. At least I hope so. I like to think that my stories do not have predictable endings.

Nikki Watson.
http://nikkiwatson.blogspot.com/
Changeling: Of Elves and Men. Available Now! from NCP.
http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/changeling.htm

Friday, March 14, 2008

Something different

Today I want to tell you about a book I recently reviewed for Red Roses For Authors/Reviews. the title is The Wise Woman's Tale and the author is Phillipa Bowers. the book is published by Piatkus Books. This is a really intriguing story. It flashes between WWI and some time in the dim and distant past. Kate is living with her grandmother, who is the local wise woman and she has just discovered that she also has the sight. In her dreams she goes back to the life of an earlier wise woman or witch.

http://www.redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com/

If you would like a review check us out and mail in.

On a personal note. A Kind Of loving/Linda Sole/Red Rose Publishing released this week. fingers crossed it will do okay. A Shameful Secret/Anne Ireland/Amira Press is still in the best sellers at the historical section fictionwise.

I have been working hard recently, but this week I intend to relax and do a few reviews before I start on my next book.

Best wishes, Linda

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

New Romance Writer/Reader Community!

I'm a member of:

View my page on Romance Book Junction

I just joined Romance Book Junction yesterday. It was easier to sign up for than my MySpace account was, now, I just have to become an old pro at it like I am with MySpace. LOL
This community is set up for writers and readers, which I think is a great concept!
Also, if you're looking for a chat to attend tonight, please drop by RWA Online's Chat Room, where we will be talking with the lovely Monica Burns about her latest release, Dangerous!
The chat starts at 9 PM EST and ends at 10 PM EST!

RWA ONLINE CHAT ROOM!

~Marly

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Regina Paul

Natalie-Nicole Bates

Natalie-Nicole Bates may be new to the world of publishing, but she’s always been a fan of books and is an active book reviewer. Now she gets to see what’s it’s like on the other side of the book fence when her paranormal romance, Antique Charming, is released through Books To Go Now Publishing this fall and her contemporary romance, Change of Address, will be published in January 2012 by Secret Cravings Publishing.

In addition to her love of books, Natalie also has an uncharacteristic love of hockey which can be attributed to the fact she was born in Russia. Natalie now resides in the UK with a collection of Victorian and Edwardian era photography, her favorites being the post-mortem photographs. Visit Natalie-Nicole online at Natalie-Nicole Bates.com

Tara Fox Hall

I'm an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. I have a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. My writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. I am the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. I also coauthored (with Eric Dietrich) the nonfiction book Forbidden Conversations. I divide my free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice. Visit me at Tara Fox Hall.com

Lindsay Townsend

Lindsay lives in Yorkshire, England, where she was born, and started writing stories at an early age. Always a voracious reader, she took a degree in medieval history and worked in a library for a while, then began to write full-time after marriage.

Her first unpublished historical found her an agent and the second got a publisher in London interested. They wanted her to write with a modern setting, which she did – several romantic thrillers set in Greece, Italy or on Dartmoor in the English West Country - and enjoyed it, but historicals are really her first love. Lindsay is currently writing medieval romance for Kensington, who published ‘A Knight’s Vow’in 2008 and are following it with ‘A Knight’s Captive’ in spring, 2009.

She is also fascinated by the ancient world, especially Rome, Egypt and the Bronze Age. ‘Flavia’s Secret’, set in Roman Britain, came out from Bookstrand in 2008, and two more historicals, ‘Blue Gold’, set in ancient Egypt, and ‘Bronze Lightning’, set in Bronze Age Greece and the Britain of Stonehenge, have also just been released early in 2009.

Please visit Lindsay's blog.

Linda Sole

Linda writes as herself and under several other names. As Linda Sole she iscurrently published by Severn House of UK and USA. She also writes as Anne Herries for Harlequin Mills & Boon. She is happily married and lives in England with her husband. Linda enjoys visiting Spain where she loves to walk, swim and lie in the sun. Writing is her passion and she manages a few words every day, but she also loves animals and especially squirrels. She is known as the squirrel lady at her local supermarket because of all the nuts she buys for them!

Visit her website for more information.

Sarah J. McNeal

I became interested in writing at a young age. My parents didn’t allow us to have a television so my sisters and I became avid readers. We read everything from Shakespeare to my mother’s True Detective Stories that, by the way, scared the hell out of me. I submitted my first story and received my first rejection when I was thirteen years old.

I am particularly drawn to writing fantasy and time travel and have created a magical place called Valmora where winged people with various magical abilities are in constant struggle against the evil forces of the Dark Isle. Two of the books in this series are presently available at New Concepts Publishing: THE DARK ISLE and LAKE OF SORROWS. I am writing the third now: THE LIGHT OF VALMORA. I have written a time travel novel in which a woman goes back to the 1920’s to save a man from dying in THE VIOLIN that has been submitted to New Concepts Publishing. I intend to write a series of musical instrument stories including THE PIANO and one that I intend to start in the near future titled, HARMONICA JOE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE.

Until recent years, I wrote short stories, two of which were the early inspiration for the Valmora series and three other stories that were sci-fi and paranormal.

I have also written nonfiction including an article in The Charlotte Observer and a monthly newsletter from the emergency department of CMC Mercy Hospital that, unfortunately, I no longer have time to write.

Writing brings me a joy and fulfillment that nothing else can. I love creating magical worlds and people who want to make a difference. I hope that anyone who reads them will love them, too.

Please visit her website for more information.

Patricia Richardson

My desire to write began at a young age; my mind was always filled with great stories. However, my dreams, and aspirations were put on the back burner and even at times forgotten after I became married with children. Later the divorce came, which meant I had to become both mother and father to my children. I worked overtime and weekends just to support my family. The struggle to survive and give my children a healthy, loving home lasted until they were grown. Late author, Gracie Cornish, Ph.D. inspired me to follow my destiny. I met her at a place of employment, "just sit down and start writing," she told me and I did just that. I wrote every chance I got; at work, on the subway, and in my spare time at home. This all started in the latter part of 1998. That very same year God impressed upon my heart to relocate from New York to Maryland. I was obedient and moved.

The move meant that once again I had to put my writing on hold to become familiar with my new environment and learn to cope with the conditions of a highly stressful job. Most evenings when I arrived home the only thing I wanted to do was turn the ringer off the telephone and sleep. I seldom picked up my manuscript, which was kept under my bed just waiting for me not to be too tired and stressed to write. The time for writing again did not come until late in 2001 when I finally came to the realization I would always be stressed and tired from working and if I did not use the gift God gave me I would never achieve the independent financial freedom I wanted. After this epiphany I set a goal for myself; to have the manuscript completed and sent to my editor in March of 2002. Finally, in March of 2003 the book cover for my first novel, "A Place for Ida," was approved and I was published! This of course came with a price. I lost work, I cried, and I virtually had no social life. I was on a personal lockdown. I was on a mission. Most of my spare time was spent researching publishers, cover letters, and anything else I felt was pertinent to my success. Since then I established Leap of Faith Publishing and republished "A Place for Ida" and soon after published the sequel, "A Time for Jonathan."