DRAGON IN THE MIST Cover

28. August 2011 by admin.

 

Here is the cover for my latest novella, DRAGON IN THE MIST. Using my ideas, Florina Romoser at www.ThinkFlowDesign.com created a beautiful design.

Available soon everywhere!

Nancy

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EARTHQUAKE & HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS

25. August 2011 by admin.

On Tuesday, an earthquke shook along the east coast of America, from North Carolina up to the New England area. Now, Hurricane Irene is headed for the same coastal areas, with category three strength. I live in North Carolina, about three hours inland from the Outer Banks, but we might get some of the wind and rain. Here’s a handy reminder of what you should have JUST IN CASE.

* A battery-powered radio (check the batteries!)

* flashlights with fresh batteries, lamps or candles; matches

* packaged food, non-perishible types, that you can eat without having to cook or keep cold. If the power goes out, you might need to use an outdoor gas grill or a propane or sterno@ type stove for heating food. Sandwiches are easy and filling.

* plenty of fresh bottled water for drinking; tubs & buckets of water for cleaning and toilet flushing.

* a basic first-aid kit. In the middle of a storm, emergency personnel will not be able to respond.

* a full tank of gas in family vehicles. Again, if the power is out for days, no gas pumps will work.

* have extra cash on hand. No power? No ATMs

Before the storm, simple precautions will save your personal property as well, so make sure you store any lawn or deck furniture that could blow away in a hurricane. This includes lawn ornaments like birdfeeders and birdbaths. Flags, too.

Watch television or listen to the radio. Be ready! Know where you raingear is. Any communities that are told to evacuate should heed these warnings. If you have to evacuate, bring plenty of prescription medicines.

Place important papers in waterproof containers and take them with you. If you are in a zone prone to flooding, move valuables to a higher level.

Don’t forget your pets! Have extra water and food available for them, too. For small pets, have a carrier ready in case you must leave your home due to loss of part of the structure, a lightning hit, or other calamity.

As a writer, my next step is to back up my computers so I don’t lose everything I work on as well as all my photos. My sister reminded me I can use the AC adapter I bought to recharge my laptop by plugging it into my car’s ac outlet. Which reminds me…I had better go charge my cell phone.

Keep safe, stay aware, and good luck!

Nancy

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POSITIVE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

18. August 2011 by admin.

Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination—Voltaire

 

I believe in this, and my latest romantic suspense, LOVE TO THE RESCUE mixes the beauty found in the mountains of New Hampshire with hard-won love between a young woman and a man with a deep, dark secret. Find out more at Red Rose Publishing.

Nancy

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RELEASE DAY!

12. August 2011 by admin.

 

My latest novel, LOVE TO THE RESCUE, is now

available for download from

Red Rose Publishing.

BOOK BLURB

     The clashing relationship between tomboy Josie Miller and fellow paramedic-firefighter, Pete Miller, escalates after he realizes Joe is not just one-of-the-boys. Pete has a sketchy history and has earned a reputation for one-night stands in the small town of Parmenter, New Hampshire nestled between the Mercy River, the mountains, and the small college. Since he arrived a year ago, Josie suspects he is hiding something. Something too horrible to share, even with her. Working side by side, Joe loves her job, and Pete.

They respond to accident calls, medical emergencies, and fast-moving forest fires amid sparks of another kind. Joe’s clumsiness and baggy uniform work against her when she yearns to be the kind of woman Pete wants like the pretty blonde they must rescue after her car hits a moose.

Outside influences come to play when the sister of Pete’s alleged victim shows up and accuses him of something even worse…her sister’s recent death. Once on track to be a doctor, the sister’s betrayal and lies caused Pete to run far away and keep women at a distance unless they agreed to share his bed…and nothing more.

     Pete plans to skip town while Josie worries she has given her heart to a monster. A suicide note, some well-landed fists, stolen moments of love, and a desire to listen to their hearts lead these two heroes toward a climax filled with tension, pain, bloodshed, and atonement.

Check out my 1st Review fro Babs Book Bistro!

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MYTH OR MAGIC? What Research Has told Me…

29. July 2011 by admin.

  Myths are often considered an aspect of folklore, but not all. Mythology might include the belief in the supernatural, where as folklore and folk tales derived when people had the need to explain mysterious events. Pre-Christianity might have had a hand in old world myths and folklore. A people’s yearning to believe in the hereafter, or in some type of entity, lived on through stories passed generation to generation. Once Christianity became widespread, mythological creatures, such as the “Fairies”, faded away.

Scotland has a rich Celtic History going back over 2,000 years, at a time when superstition was rife and where unusual events were ‘explained’ by legends and whimsical stories. It is therefore not surprising that Scotland has an extensive heritage of myths and folklore. Many objects, including castles, have accumulated their share of myths and legends, such as circles of stones or cairns. These standing stones, and megalithic remains, highlight these reminders of the ancient inhabitants of Scotland.

Some believe that religion was an adaption from stories and memoires or evolutionary biology. In other words, religion evolved as byproduct of psychological mechanisms that evolved for other reasons. These mechanisms might have told early people how to watch for things that could cause them harm (omens). This morphed into an ability to come up with causal narratives for natural events (folk tales) while other people had minds of their own with their own beliefs, desires and intentions (mythology and the precursors of organized religion).

Unexplained observations (thunder, lightning, movement of planets, and other complicated events of nature) were the basis of stories. These word-of-mouth explanations changed with the frequency of their telling which is why one myth could have many different descriptions or endings.

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The distinctive features of Scottish Folklore are filled with the characteristics of Scotland’s varied scenery. The serene lap of the deep mountain loch, the trickling of a tiny creek, the harsh splendor of the mountains, the solitude of the moor, reflect in their folk tales and myths. The fairies, the brownies, and the bogles of Scotland are similar to those the Irish believe live in their own hills. Their Irish nooks and crags, streams and meadows might be different, but many legends are told with similar aspects except, maybe, for how they dress.

An example of the similarity between the land of the Highlands and the land of the four-leaf clover is the legend of the Selkie. In Scotland, this mythical Selkies are shy marine creatures in the shape of a seal, usually found near the islands of Orkney and Shetland. A female can shed her skin and come ashore as a beautiful woman. If found, a man could force her to be his wife. Of course, as the legend goes, if she recovered the skin, off she’d go. Male Selkies are said to be responsible for storms. What better explanation for the sinking of a ship?

Selkies of Irish lore are said to come from Co. Donegal in Ireland, which happens to be where many people made their living from the sea. Living by the sea might cause people to craft stories as a way to explain its mysteries. The Irish considered the Selkies to have the same characteristics as those of Scotland, even though they considered other sea creatures more malevolent. Most scholars believe the seals and sea lions from which these myths evolved had sweet, non-threatening dispositions. This might have allowed them to easily be transformed by myth into non-threatening Selkies. At least, the females!

Religion changed much of the thinking of the people who listened or read the more popular beliefs which were often rammed down their throats by the hierarchy of a given land. Myths and folklore slipped to the back burner, but never disappeared. Many tales are quite popular today and have thousands of followers. Think of the legend surrounding the Blarney Stone in Ireland or the Loch Ness Monster. Even Girl Scout troops around the world call their youngest recruits ‘Brownies’ after helpful creatures that do good deeds.

Myths and folk tales live on because people need to believe in them. There are hundreds of wonderful stories out there about kelpies, fairies, banshees, and the like. I recommend the following websites if you would like a taste. You might even recognize one or two stories!

www.compassrose.org/folklore/scottish/Scottish-Folktales.html
http://www.sacred-texts.com/

Portions of this article by me were posted Sept. 2, 2009 on History Undressed

Nancy

 

Portions of this article by me were posted Sept. 2, 2009 on History Undressed

 

Nancy

 

 

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POSITIVE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

8. July 2011 by admin.

It is well that war is so terrible—

we shouldn’t grow too fond of it.

Robert E. Lee

We recently celebrated America’s 235th birthday. Such an event was only achieved by the heroic bravery of our ancestors. We salute ‘all those that came before’ and everyone around the world who risk their lives in service to our country.

Nancy,

proud mother of an American soldier

Posted in Quotes | 4 Comments »

Interview With Author Starla Kaye

23. June 2011 by admin.

 

Nancy: Today I’m interviewing Starla Kaye. Her book, Their Lady Gloriana is an historical erotic romance and was released on May 7, 2011. Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.   

Starla: THEIR LADY GLORIANA is an erotic romance, in particular an erotic ménage romance. It is the journey of two medieval warriors who have become not only men willing to die for each other and good friends, but also they became lovers almost by accident. This is a story of how the two powerful knights have created a strong bond between them and struggle to keep it.  In the midst of their complicated relationship they must find a way to add a third person, a woman that one of them is ordered by their king to wed. Further, it is a story about how a very special woman discovers an attraction for both men and is determined to find a way they can all be together.

Nancy: What is your writing routine like?  

Starla: My writing routine is wild since I have projects going for three of my four publishers at all times. Not only do I have to find time for all the many facets of promoting my published works, but also I have to squeeze in time to work on new WIPs. I am fortunate enough to have an understanding husband who supports me in my writing career. I work for his accounting firm as a community coordinator on a very part-time basis. Beyond that I am pretty much a full-time writer. My days start early, around 6 in the morning, and go to whenever I declare myself “brain dead” for the day. I also give myself time off some days to hang out with family, to volunteer in the community, to play around with one of my hobbies, or to just do whatever. All work/writing and no free time can burn a write out…been there, done that a few times.

Nancy: What sort of promo do you do? Do you have help? 

Starla: As time has gone on during my life as a published author, I have learned more and more about the importance and hard work of promotion. I use a number of Yahoo group loops to announce book releases, share excerpts, announce blog dates and contests. I am getting more involved all the time with Facebook, Twitter, Authors Den, Goodreads, and various authors’ blogs. And I’ve just begun doing book trailers. While I do a fair amount of promotion for my works, I also like to give back to other established authors and not-yet-published authors. I have given a lot programs at local writers’ groups on different writing craft topics. I judge in the occasional contest and mentor a couple of beginning authors. I am also very excited about having guest authors to my website’s blog to share their thoughts on writing and to promote their work. 

Nancy: Are you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped  

Starla: I have belonged to RWA (Romance Writers of America) since I started writing romance about fifteen years ago. While I’m not sure being a RWA member has helped me a lot, networking and belonging to some of its chapters has helped. I belong to WARA (Wichita Area Romance Authors), a former RWA chapter, and to KWA (Kansas Writers Association), a multi-genre writers group. I feel that networking, supporting each other, and learning from one another as writers is extremely valuable. Only another writer can really understand what a writer experiences and gets frustrated with. Only another writer understands those “voices in your head,” those moments of being jarred awake in the middle of the night with an epiphany for a problem in a story you are working on. 

Nancy: What’s next for you?  

Starla: I am always working on multiple projects and usually in different sub-genres. Sometimes I struggle with remembering what character is in what story, which is why I have specific character-conflict-plot sheets for each story. Working in different sub-genres helps my mind focus and not run the story lines together. Currently I am doing a follow-up for Their Lady Gloriana to be released, hopefully, this Christmas. For the Love of Rowan will, obviously, focus on finding Rowan’s true HEA, but all of the characters (and more) from “Gloriana” will return. I am also working on new projects for my other two main publishers, a contemporary Western romance and a contemporary time travel.

BOOK BLURB

In medieval times honorable men had to do what was required of them by the kings to whom they were loyal…

Thomas Lancaster, a widow with bad memories of marriage and a young son he barely knew was a hardened knight loyal to his king. In reward for his efforts fighting in the Crusades, King Edward gave him Middlemound Castle to hold for the crown. But the king decreed that he must marry the beautiful young widow of the castle’s previous lord.

Lady Gloriana Stewart had suffered brutally in her first marriage and had no desire to marry again. Yet she had no choice. She had to protect her people and obey her king.

All she wanted was for her new husband to give her a baby.

Having already lost one wife in childbirth, Thomas refused to even consider it.

Sir Rowan Montgomery, Thomas’s first knight, friend, and lover complicated the situation even more. Thomas didn’t want to give up Rowan and Gloriana didn’t want to admit she had feelings for her husband and for Rowan.

Excerpt

Lady Gloriana could barely draw in a breath. Her life with Geoffrey had done this to her. He’d battled down her self-worth, her dreams of having a happy family, and her natural zest for life. She needed to find the strength to face this new marriage to this war-hardened warrior. She had to make him respect her. Most of all, she had to endure relations with him until he got her with child. 

The great hall rang with the sounds of joyous reunions. She heard the deep tone of an unfamiliar voice. It rang with authority, with power, much like Geoffrey’s voice had. Yet something about it drew her instead of repelling her. Something about it called to her woman’s place and she felt warmth spreading there. The reaction surprised her. 

Her focus moved to the raised dais. Two such different—and yet the same—men stood there drinking cups of ale. Neither smiled. Both seemed to study her. 

Gerald guided her to the dais. “Lady Middlemound, my lord.” He nodded toward the two powerfully built men. “Lord Montrose, my lady. And Sir Montgomery, his first knight.” 

“Thomas,” Lord Montrose said and stepped down in front of her. He towered over her by at least a foot. His breadth and brawn made her heart race. Yet she didn’t feel intimidated by him. 

Then the other man stepped down. As she glanced up, he gave her a crooked smile. “And you may call me Rowan.” 

She felt her heart race even more. 

A little bit about the author

I love all kinds of settings, themes, and people. I’m an observer of everything around me, especially the romantic things I see and hear. When I read or watch movies, I want to be deeply drawn into the story line…I want to experience highs and lows, tears and laughter. With each book I write, I try to get stronger at giving my readers those kinds of experiences. To date I’ve been fortunate to have had 19 novels, 19 novellas, and 5 anthologies published with Blushing Books, Black Velvet Seductions, Decadent Publishing, and Red Rose Publishing. 

Nancy: Hmmm…interesting triangle brewing, I see. This might prove to be a very interesting read. How can my readers buy your book?   

Starla: Readers can go to the publisher’s home page at Black Velvet Seductions. 

Check out my book trailer, too.    

You can find more information about Starla Kaye and my book, Their Lady Gloriana by visiting my website.  

Posted in Interviews | 10 Comments »

Happy Anniversary to my own hero

14. June 2011 by admin.

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved—William Jennings Bryan 

 

Our 35th wedding anniversary will be celebrated June 19th surrounded by family and friends. How wonderful! I love you, R-G! I am so lucky to have found my own Highland hero.

Nancy

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POSITIVE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

5. June 2011 by admin.

Hope and ideas are two things that always matter—Anonymous

Hope is a crazy thing, but I have it.

I hope to gain the attention of a literary agent looking for a hard-working, college-educated, writer who is full of ideas.

I hope to sell my two completed full-length manuscripts.

I hope to finish my current work-in-progress within the week.

I hope to be ready for the release of my 5^th novel, LOVE TO THE RESCUE, which comes out on July 14^th from Red Rose Publishing. Who knows…this might be the one that earns the right to someday be published in print.

I can only hope.

Nancy

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POSITIVE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

26. May 2011 by admin.

Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting terms—Andrew Jackson

This coming Monday, Americans will be celebrating Memorial Day.

I thought these words fit the mood.

Take care, and don’t forget to honor a soldier.

Nancy

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