by Angela Smith | Dec 18, 2013 | Guests
Liza will be awarding a digital copy of “Worst Week Ever” to a randomly drawn commenter at every stop, and a grand prize of one $50 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and her Virtual Book Tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Welcome to today’s blog tour with author, Liza O’Connor. I’ve invited Liza to answer some questions I had for her, and he’s what she had to say. Also, be sure to check out the rest of her blog tour (click banner to follow her tour) and enter for chance to win a digital copy of “Worst Week Ever” or a $50 Amazon GC!
Two sexy English brothers. One irresistible ghost. Who would you choose as your lover?
Completely broke and with a criminal record to boot, Senna Smith is one day from eviction from her apartment when Brendon, her promiscuous roommate from London, suggests she go to England, marry him, and manage his fortune. With few other options, she agrees to an open marriage. But she’ll never, ever, have sex with him, knowing if she falls in love with him, he’ll break her heart.
As trustee of Brendon’s family fortune, there is no way Brendon’s older brother, Garrison Durran, is going to let him marry a self-professed American gold-digger. As Senna tries to embrace castle life and English society for Brendon’s sake, Gar discovers Senna is the perfect woman for him–beautiful and intelligent, kind and caring. Now, if she wasn’t already engaged to his brother…
The ancestral ghost of Durran Castle has to intervene if the Durran brothers have any chance of an heir. He can’t leave them to fix matters on their own. They are useless buggers when it comes to love. As counselor to Gar, matchmaker for Brendon, and lover to Senna, a ghost’s work is never done.
CONTENT WARNING: Allergy warning: Ghost cat in book.
Excerpt…
“So my brother steals all your money and to compensate you, he suggests you come to England, marry him, and he’ll give you his trust fund.” Only his brother could contrive such an absurd plan.
“Yes.” By her brief answer, he gathered she thought it a perfectly reasonable solution.
His brother might be an idiot, but this gold digger would soon discover Gar a force to reckon with. “Did he steal a half million from your bank account?”
Brendon laughed. “Do you have any idea how long that would take? Cash machines only allow you two visits a day at two hundred dollars a pop.”
“How much did he take?” Gar restated his question.
“Four hundred,” Senna replied.
Gar stared up at the ceiling praying for patience, then glared at Ditz. “So why didn’t you pay her back the four hundred?”
Ditz stubbornly refused to answer, and instead glanced at the girl.
She sighed and faced Gar. “Precisely what I asked. He said he didn’t have the four hundred, but if I married him, he would come into a half million. Since the landlord planned to evict me, I really had no choice but to accept the offer.”
Author Interview:
What intrigues you about Ghost Lover?
Since I have a ghost in my house, I believe they really exist. Therefore letting them in my books as another character occurs on occasion. However, one morning I woke from a dream where I made love to a sexy male ghost. That sent me downstairs to my computer to determine if making love to a ghost can actually happen. Turns out people have been reporting ghost lovers all through history. Thus, I declared it fair game, and wrote the book.
Who or what is your greatest writing influence?
Reality triggers a great deal of my stories. Turns out reality is far stranger than fiction. It is so weird, that people block out a great deal so they can pretend to live in a sane, understandable environment. I, however, was not destined for this simplified view of life. My world is complex and incomprehensible, and often just downright freaky. Thus, I accept in my works of fiction a great deal more than the average person believes possible. Ironically, most of what I write about has happened, or is widely reported to have happened, even though many readers, while enjoying the book, declare me way over the top.
When did you absolutely know that you had to be a writer?
Before I knew how to write. I used to entertain my friends with verbal stories when I got old enough to wander out and find other little people. I believe I was 3. From there onward story making, then writing took a major role in my life.
What was your favorite part of writing Ghost Lover?
I love the beginning when Senna agrees to marry Brendon to manage his half a million dollars, even though she doesn’t love him and will never ever have sex with him. It really gets funny when she tries to explain this to Brendon’s older brother, who thinks her the most brazen gold-digger he’s ever met. Then there comes a crisis that forces the sexy ghost Lassier to make love to Senna in order to keep her from leaving the castle, only he does his job too well and falls in love with her, and then there’s the fabulous happy ending, which I can’t tell you about. I can’t decide. Let’s just say, I love the book.
What is your favorite aspect of reading a novel?
Being surprised. I can usually guess how the novel will end by the first chapter, so I enjoy a book that keeps me guessing. However, the game has to be fair. You can’t have the villain show up on the last page.
Are you a plotter, a panster, or both?
I create my characters and they create my plot. Some wear pants, some wear dresses, so I avoid the word pantser.
Do you have a certain theme in all of your novels?
Not that I am aware of. Right now I’m bringing out my humorous novels, so you can expect to laugh presently, but somewhere in the future, I will turn in a different direction. However, one thing won’t change: I present life lessons in all my stories. So maybe that’s my theme: Bizarre Life Lessons from Liza.
Is there a message in Ghost Lover you want readers to grasp?
Off hand, I can think of several:
Emotions can make you illogical, both anger and love;
New beginnings can be good for you;
A person can love many people in different ways.
Never be afraid to love.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I have a definite voice, which has been called unique by several reviewers. I spend a great deal of time protecting it during the editing process.
Do you ever use your life experiences in your novels?
All the time. It’s normally the crazy things in my book that you might think could never happen.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one book with you, what would you take?
I would take a notebook so I could write new stories while I waited to be rescued.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one song with you, what would you take?
I have thousands of songs in my head and I like to hear me sing, so I don’t think you can limit the number of songs I take. However, you are starting to worry me with your questions beginning with me stuck on a deserted island. If your next question is who would I like to be stranded with, my answer is President Obama, because I don’t want to be stranded on a desert island away from my pc, electricity and the internet. However, if Obama is with me, I’m pretty sure the Secret Service would be there to rescue us before I could finish telling him about one of my stories.
Are you working on any projects right now?
I should be finished with edits on the last book of my series A Long Road to Love: Coming To Reason, coming out in Feb 2014.
And working on edits for my Xavier and Vic series to begin in April 2014.
Do you see writing as a career?
Yes. I work at it 17 hours a day, so it’s definitely a profession, but it is without doubt the WORST PAYING JOB EVER!
If you had the career of your choice, what would you choose and why?
Writing. I had a great career in business, which I gave up to be a poor starving author because all I’ve ever wanted to do is write.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Even at three, I wanted to tell people stories. It’s a compulsion that has never waned.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Nothing. It’s a pure joy to do.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t change my future. I’m very happy now.
Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?
I would like to meet President Obama. I think we’d get along really well. Michelle can join the conversation, but I’d want the Secret Service guys to leave. Otherwise, they’d probably shoot me when I just wanted to hug those two. I get into trouble all too easy.
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
I suppose I would be Jane Austen, and I’d be writing Pride and Prejudice. It’s my favorite book. I get such a great sense of peace when reading it. Jane manages to write a brilliant love story without a mention of sex.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Website & Blog: http://www.lizaoconnor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Liza.O.Connor.Wakes.UpTwitter: @Liza0Connor
Lnkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=187609819&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lizaoconnor/ghost-lover/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Liza-OConnor/e/B00A82LHNO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6537428.Liza_O_Connor
Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview!
Thank you for having me.
ebook: http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Lover-Liza-OConnor-ebook/dp/B00H1J5OS6/
Print: http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Lover-Liza-OConnor/dp/1493667386/
by Angela Smith | Dec 10, 2013 | Guests
Welcome to today’s tour of Blood and Gold, by Hawk MacKinney. Hawk will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Please click banner above for other tour stops, and be sure to comment for your chance to win.
Blood and Gold, the third book in The Craige Ingram Mystery Series, once again tests the instincts and skills of retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram. Lust, greed, body parts and unrestrained wild sex parties are what await Craige Ingram when he leaves the comforts of his South Carolina home to visit his former SEAL buddy, Detective Spinner Krespinak. Set in the Colorado underbelly of a sordid sable and faux glitz ski mecca, Detective Spinner Krespinak suspects drugs have made their way to the snowy playground that is Aspen. An Olympic ski hopeful is brutally murdered, Spinner vanishes, and Craige Ingram is shot as events spin out of control with a Catch-22 no one anticipates.
Excerpt…
The drive up the narrow mountain rutted road was a risky, hands-on-the-wheel icy slid-and-skid. With a grim set to his jaws, Spinner didn’t say a word the whole way. They parked among the jumble of squad cars. Craige avoided the taped-off areas while Spinner huddled with Loopy. Silently they paced-off and studied the layout of each room of the mansion…each room except the one where death waited to greet Spinner. No one except Craige and Loopy knew how Spinner wasn’t as detached as he appeared. Spinner traced and retraced his steps. Seeing beyond Spinner’s detached veneer of the professional, Craige could read the surly stir of emotions Spinner was struggling to control.
Finally…there was nothing left except to face the grizzly business of felony homicide and the dead. Spinner went back to where Loopy was busy. As though wanting to avoid seeing what waited in that room, he said, “Any ideas about the time of death?”
Loopy said, “Only a rough approximation at this point. I’d approximate somewhere between eight in the morning and two or three in the afternoon. We haven’t moved the bodies yet, but from what indications of livor mortis I could see, I’m leaning toward it being earlier. Central heat was off…fireplace ashes are still warm. Once we determine algor mortis changes in the body temps, I’ll be able to narrow that some. We’ve already picked up thirty to forty different sets of prints. Could easily be twice that before we finish. Most so smudged they’re no good. The rancher who lives at the valley turnoff said cars were going back and forth all night. How it wasn’t the first time they had all-night mountaintop blowouts up there. We bagged used condoms from all over this place—bedrooms, baths, all over the house. We’ll compare DNA with that of the victims. See if we get any matches that narrow down any persons of interest. Looks to be marijuana and freebase by the fireplace and in the breakfast room. And what is likely Mexican black heroin on the carpet in the den. Lord only knows what else we’ll turn up. I’ll be surprised if we don’t find Silk or S-K. There’s at least a case of empty aerosol cans, probably for heavy-duty huffing. We’ll see what the lab tells us…hopefully that’ll fill in more details.”
Spinner said, “Before Frannie left for Denver last night, Ski came by and borrowed my wheels to get here. Brought them back about noon. Christy and the two men had to be alive at the time Ski left. Depending on road conditions, it takes about an hour to get from here back into town. The low last night was below zero, but there was no heavy weather—no wind.” His eyes flashed hurt and anger, a silent reckoning stirring somewhere deep and hidden. “Ski would party ’till the last minute.” Spinner hesitated. “Least, I’d like to think it was that. I wouldn’t like thinking he’d use me as an alibi.” The thought of the possibility was a heart-pain that sliced deep into his soul. “Give me a few minutes before you zip them up.”
Loopy nodded. “No hurry. Take what time you need.”
A very still Spinner turned a masque-face back to the bed…emotions churning his features. A lump knotted his throat. Looking down at Christy’s lifeless body, the bullet hole a vulgar insult to a death mask of frozen beauty…it seemed somehow otherworldly. “…never could trust your flighty-canary way of life.” The niche occupied by carefree fun-loving Christy seemed stark and empty.
Author Bio:
With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.
Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.
“Without question, Hawk is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy–these are the things that take Hawk’s main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation’s capital and across Europe and the Middle East.”
Barbara Casey, President
Barbara Casey Literary Agency
Links:
www.hawkmackinney.net
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
by Angela Smith | Dec 6, 2013 | Introspective
Welcome to today’s post, featuring Lara Reznik’s The Girl from Long Guyland. Be sure to comment and follow the tour!
$50 Amazon gift card will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter.
Laila Levin enjoys a successful marriage and a thriving career as an I.T. executive in Austin, Texas, but she can’t quite shake her lifelong sense of not truly belonging anywhere.
When her company announces a major layoff, Laila finds herself caught between an unscrupulous CEO and her promiscuous boss. Then news of her college roommate’s suicide stirs up a dark secret involving three devious friends from her past. One has betrayed a vow, another wants to rekindle their romance, and the third is out for revenge.
Suddenly for Laila, it’s 1969 again. She’s only seventeen, and she’s left her sheltered home in Long Island for college in Connecticut. Amid protests of the Vietnam War, she’s tempted by the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll that rule her generation. Laila gets swept up in a deceptive love triangle with two older locals and initiated into their unethical hippie family. Too late she realizes her search to belong has led to tragedy.
Laila must now juggle the demands of her perplexed husband and her baby boomer past forcing her to make choices that endanger her survival and challenge her conscience.
She learns that the lines between right and wrong are often blurred, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
Excerpt…
CHAPTER ONE
Lost in Texas
Austin, Texas, 2012
A couple dozen stars and the eye of a yellow moon pierce light through a sky filled with smoke. I look out the broken window to the ground below. Crumpled in the weeds is a lifeless body with red-flecked eyes, a bushy mustache, and sweet smile.
Vapor seeps into the room. I can barely breathe. Ben wraps his arms around me as I weep. Denise lies in a catatonic state perched on the bed. Why is she only wearing her bra and panties?
Chris stumbles inside the room. His eyes glow like diamonds. He cranes his head out the window. “We gotta do something, man.”
“I’ll call for an ambulance,” I say.
Ben gulps, “That’s not a good idea.”
“We have to,” I insist. “For Godsakes.”
He’s dead, Laila,” Chris says.
Tears sting my eyes.
WITH A JOLT, I awake whimpering. The nightmare has infested my dreams for years. It may be time to see a shrink.
The anxiety subsides when my husband Eduardo arrives with a cappuccino and the morning paper. “Are you okay? It sounded like you were crying.”
I clear my throat. “No, no, I’m fine. Just a dream, I guess.” I’ve never discussed these recurring nightmares with him. Eduardo’s got his own problems. He was recently laid off in a corporate downsize and refuses to talk about it. There’s lots of tension in our home right now. Maybe we should both see a shrink.
Author Bio:
Lara Reznik grew up on Long Island but escaped to New Mexico in 1970 in a Karmann Ghia that she and her boyfriend jump-started cross-country. As an English major at the University of New Mexico, Lara studied under esteemed authors Rudolfo Anaya and the late Tony Hillerman. She also attended a summer program at the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop.
Ambidextrous from birth, Lara preferred her right-brained creative side, but discovered she could make a better living with her left-brain skills, so entered the I.T. field in 1985.
Lara published her first novel, The Girl From Long Guyland in November 2012. The novel ranked #1 during its recent Amazon Kindle promotion and has over 115,000 Kindle downloads. In addition to her novels, Lara has written and optioned three screenplays that have garnered semifinalist and finalist wins in the Austin Heart of Film, Southwest Writers, TV Writer, Chesterfield and Writer’s Digest contests. Currently, Lara is working on a new novel based on her screenplay, The M&M Boys.
LINKS
AMAZON LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Long-Guyland-ebook/dp/B00A45OYD0/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1369930673&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+GIRL+FROM+LONG+GUYLAND
FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/LARAREZNIK23?ref=hl&bookmark_t=page
WEBSITE
https://www.larareznik.COM
by Angela Smith | Dec 5, 2013 | Introspective
Welcome to Today’s Blurb Blitz Tour!
MaryAnn will be awarding an autographed print copy of the book (international giveaway) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on Banner for more stops, or find it here at GoddessFish.
Instead of feeding her late-night appetite, a midnight food run nearly gets 28-year-old Katherine O’Brian killed. She’s the only person to see the man who brutally murdered a local woman, and the killer is hell-bent on making sure she doesn’t talk.
Scott Mitchell left a broken engagement behind when he moved to Reno, and the last thing he needs is more melodrama. But when he and Katherine are paired for a college project, that’s what he gets. It can be very distracting when someone is out to kill your lab partner. Together, they try to figure out what the police haven’t been able to—the identity of the murderer. Passion flares, but with Katherine’s life in danger, romance seems like more than a bad idea.
Scott and Katherine will face jealousy, misunderstandings, lust, and rivals, not to mention attempted murder—and all before their first real date.
Excerpt…
The following night, Katherine got a call from Scott.
“Hey, I did some research on the lady who got killed.”
“Oh, good.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I probably didn’t find out anything you didn’t already know. I’m gonna come over.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Five minutes later, Scott arrived. He walked to the kitchen table where Katherine was sitting.
“Hey,” he said, “so here’s what I have so far. The woman’s name was Jeanette Churchill. She’d lived in the house for twenty years. She worked for a company called CTS. The police say it’s being treated as a robbery gone badly. ”
“That’s it?”
“No. I know a few people who work where she did, reliable people. They say there were rumors she was embezzling from the company.”
Katherine sat forward, her elbows resting on the table. “Do you think the police have heard those rumors, too?”
“Well, they wouldn’t have heard them from the people I know, but yeah, it’s likely they have.”
“Sounds like a motive for murder to me.”
“Sure, but she’d worked for that company twenty years, so I’m not sure I’d believe she was stealing. Plus, if she was, it seems like the obvious killer would be the owner, and he’s a real big shot. The people I’ve talked to seem to think he’s the person most likely pulling in favors and putting pressure on the police to find her killer.”
Katherine looked skeptical. “But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be kind of risky to fund an investigation into a murder you committed?”
Scott sat down across from Katherine. He pulled his coat off before answering. “This isn’t the movies. I don’t know if she was stealing or not, but I think the police are probably right. Someone tried to rob her and something went wrong. I have a friend who’s a cop. Not in Reno, but maybe he can find something out.”
“Amy said they have a suspect. Did you hear anything about that?”
“No, I didn’t hear anything like that.”
“Thanks for all this, Scott.”
“Aw, I didn’t do anything. So, you and Michael—you two hitting it off?” he said, trying to sound casual.
“So far. He does wear me out, though.”
“Please, no details—you’re like a sister to me.”
“That’s not what I meant, you perv. I just mean when we get together, it’s usually for something active.”
“When are you going to buy a bike? It’s great weather right now for biking, not too hot, not too cold. I go out as often as I can, which isn’t often enough.”
“I can’t afford a nice bike right now. Maybe when I get my tax refund back. I get out plenty enough as it is. You know, Michael actually talked me into going kayaking on the Truckee River.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Hey, it’s nearly April.”
“In two months!”
“Close enough, and it’s been warmer than usual this year. We did go to see a show downtown. At least that was indoors.”
“Again? Didn’t you two go see a show not that long ago?”
“Yes, we’ve been twice now, and I don’t know how many more half-naked people wearing feathered headdresses I can take.”
“Feathered headdresses, huh? You haven’t gone kinky on me, have you? Please say yes, please say yes.”
“Yeah, real kinky. We even have safe words. Mine is sugar cookie. Who has time to be kinky anyway? Except for the shows, we hardly spend any time indoors. How’s Verna?”
“Fine. She likes to read those real-life crime books, so if I mysteriously kick the bucket—”
“I’ll thank her,” said Katherine, laughing.
About MaryAnn Kempher
MaryAnn Kempher’s writing is infused with romance and mystery. Her love of romance stories goes back to her teen years spent living in Reno NV where Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder is set. MaryAnn’s travels have taken her to beautiful cities in Italy, Southeast Asia and the sultry desert country of Qatar. She met her husband on one of her romantic misadventures. She has two children and currently lives in Florida where she and her family share their home with two dogs and a cat. Her writing influences include favorite authors Jane Austen and Agatha Christie. She’s also a huge fan of the Hercule Poirot mysteries.
Her guilty pleasures include any and all sweets, including a good cup of Mocha.
For more about MaryAnn Kempher, visit mkempher.com
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mocha-Moonlight-Murder-MaryAnn-Kempher-ebook/dp/B00CD4AYVG
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mocha-moonlight-and-murder-maryann-kempher/1115124644
by Angela Smith | Nov 26, 2013 | Introspective
This Thanksgiving, I have so much to be grateful for, and I have some super exciting news to share!
Burn on the Western Slope received a 5 heart review by the Romance Studio!
And . . . Amazon.com chose Burn on the Western Slope to be part of their Kindle Big Deal promotion starting December 8-22. So if you haven’t decided whether or not you want to read the story, Dec 8-22 would be a perfect opportunity to download it for less than a dollar! (or a dollar and some change with tax). What a fantastic way to treat yourself this holiday season, for next to nothing!
I just completed my 3rd book in this series and sent it on to my Beta Reader for her comments and critiques. Meanwhile, I’ve been (semi) participating in NaNoWriMo. While I might have slowed down in my word count, my idea is (basically) plotted and ready to go. The way I participate in NaNo (my friend says I’m crazy) is to write by pen and paper in a notebook. This notebook way is a very rough and outlined draft but once my ideas meld as much as they will, I’ll then start rewriting into my computer. I have so many ideas, I just wish I had time for them all!
I hope you’ll take the time out to appreciate the things around you and in the hectic season ahead, take the time out to spend with your family, and also time for yourself.
Happy Thanksgiving!
