Today is the first day of my LIZZIE MONROE blog tour!! I'm so excited to be here talking about my new book and to answer three reader questions. I recently asked on facebook for any questions my readers had for me. I've been answering some of them on my tour. I have to have it to my readers. They asked really great questions! *deep breath-- it'll be okay... ;) Three Questions with Kelly Martin 1. If you had to write a book that was outside your comfort zone, what genre would it be? Regency. I’d love to write a regency, but I’m pretty sure I’d mess it up. I may write one someday just to prove to myself I can. 2. Which of your characters is most like you, least like you? Brittany in BIG is Beautiful is a lot like me. I think Rachel in Crossing the Deep is a lot like me. Lizzie in The Afterlife of Lizzie Monroe is a lot like me (except the zombie part… ;) ). Who isn’t like me? Um… I’m going to say Devin in The Deception of Devin Miller is probably the least like me. I think that’s why she was so fun to write. 3. Do you write in an organized space, or do you do better in utter chaos? I work a fulltime job (I’m a special education preschool teacher) and have 3 kids (8,7, and 3)) so it doesn’t matter where I ‘do better’… my house usually is in utter chaos lol. In fact, I’m not sure I could write in an organized space lol. I wouldn’t know what to do. Do you have any questions for me? If so, you can chat on my facebook author page or twitter. I'd love to answer it. Not sure you'll like LIZZIE? Do you watch FOX's show Sleepy Hollow? How about The Vampire Diaries (actually, the idea for LIZZIE came from a dream I had after watching TVD... you'll probably figure out which part when you read it ;) ) Basically, that's LIZZIE. It's FOX's Sleepy Hollow meets The Vampire Diaries with a little faith thrown in for good measure (of course... there is a lot of faith in Sleepy Hollow too lol). SO if you like Sleepy Hollow-- you'll like LIZZIE :) It's one of my favorite books! Thanks for having me here :) ~Kelly Blurb: If Shane Davis had it to do over again, he wouldn't have gone out that night. He wouldn't have burned down the church. And he sure wouldn't have taken the annoying dead girl home with him. Now that Shane has her, he has no idea what to do with her. He can't release her into the "wild" because people will recognize her (being a hundred and fifty year old town 'legend' will do that). He can't send her away because she can't take care of herself yet. And she can't stay because if people find her, they'll know he burned the church. Being eighteen now, Shane definitely doesn't want that fact coming out. Unbeknownst to Shane, someone has figured out the girl's secret and will do anything to get it for himself... even kill the girl who isn't so immortal after all. Kelly Martin a southern girl who writes... a lot. She is the author of 5 Young Adult novels. Her favorite reviews are from the people who 'know' they aren't going to like her books... but end up loving them :) She loves God, is addicted to chocolate, and would rather write than sleep. Kelly loves a good mystery and believes in Sherlock Holmes. Social Media Links: Website: http://kellymartinbooks.blogspot.com/ twitter: https://twitter.com/martieKay facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-Martin-Author/136506059763138 tumblr: martiekay.tumblr.com Newsletter: http://kellymartinbooks.blogspot.com/p/subscribe-to-our-newsletter.html One lucky reader will win a $5 Amazon Gift Card! Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Good Luck!
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1/21/2014 1 Comment Perfect Summer by Karen KingGrowing up in a society so obsessed with perfection that the government gives people grants for plastic surgery, 15-year-old Morgan can't help being a bit envious of her best friend Summer. Summer is beautiful and rich, her father is a top plastic surgeon and her mother is a beauty consultant with a celebrity client list. Her life seems so effortlessly perfect. Whereas Morgan isn't so rich or beautiful and her little brother, Josh, has Down's syndrome - which, according to the Ministry and society in general, is a crime. Then Josh is kidnapped and the authorities aren't interested so Morgan and Summer decide to investigate. They, along with another teenager, Jamie, whose sister, Holly, has also been kidnapped, uncover a sinister plot involving the kidnapping of disabled children and find themselves in terrible danger. Can they find Josh and Holly before it's too late? Prologue They were on their fourth game of poker. The air was tense; they played in silence, speaking only when they had to. The burly man glanced at the five cards in his hand, his expression unreadable. “I’ll see you.” He took a drag of his cigarette and waited. The woman sitting next to him studied her hand of cards and sighed. “I’m folding.” She placed the cards face down on the table, crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. They both watched the bald man on the other side of the table. He looked at his cards and frowned. The burly man took another drag of his cigarette and sent a spiral of thick smoke into the air. Then a shrill ring broke through the silence, making them all jump. The burly man grabbed his nanophone and the others waited as he flicked it open. The air was electric with suspense. “Yes,” he said brusquely. He was silent as he listened, then replied, “We will leave immediately.” He switched the phone off, threw his cards down and stood up. “It’s on,” he said, scooping up the handful of coins in the middle of the table and putting them, and the phone, in his pocket.“Let’s get going.” The woman left her cards and followed him. They both hurried outside to a dark blue van. The man climbed into the driving seat, the woman sat beside him. She took a slip of paper out of her pocket and keyed an address into the E-Nav. “We’ll be there in a couple of hours,” she said. “How old’s this one?” the man asked. “Three,” the woman replied. “Shouldn’t be too difficult then.” The man started up the van and they set off. Welcome Karen. We are so glad to have you with us today. I just have a couple of questions. How did you get started writing? I've always written. I had my first poem published when I was 11. I started my writing career with Jackie magazine, writing articles and photo stories. Are you a Plotter or a Pantser? It depends whether I'm writing to a commission or not. If I'm commissioned I have to plot as I have to send a synopsis and the first couple of chapters to my editor. If I'm not writing to a commission I plot at first so that I know the basic outline of my story but once I get going I write 'by the seat of my pants.' Are you most productive in the morning or evening? Morning. Often I get out of bed and start writing right away. I'm full of ideas in the morning. What’s the most frequent question people ask you. When I visit schools kids always ask me either if I'm rich. I usually say "No, I'm really poor so please go and buy some of my books!" Karen King has had over one hundred children’s books published. She’s written for many children's magazines too including Sindy, Barbie, Winnie the Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine. She writes for all ages and in all genres; story books, picture books, plays, joke books and non-fiction. Perfect Summer is her first YA. It was runner up in the Red Telephone books YA Novel 2011 competition. Want to find out more about Karen? Then visit her at the links below. Website: www.karenking.net Author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn&__adt=7&__att=iframe#!/KarenKingAuthor Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard Twitter: @karen_king 1/20/2014 1 Comment My Writing Process BlogToday is "My Writing Process" blog tour day, when writers answer questions about their writing process. Last week, fellow author Patricia Kiyono posted hers. You can check it out at http://creative-hodgepodge.blogspot.com/2014/01/writing-process-blog-tour.html.
Patricia writes Regency stories – but with a difference, as they are set in exotic places. Many thanks for the invitation, Patricia. So, what is my writing process? A lot of my writing process revolves around my kitchen table. I have a wonderful and spacious office in my basement, which only lacks one amenity—HEAT! This keeps me sequestered upstairs most of the time. What am I working on? The question is what am I not working on! At the moment I’m working on several different projects. I just finished publishing three novels in the last three months all of which have sequels either being edited by editors or myself. Once those sequels are complete I plan to return to my YA paranormal series. If I ever get all the written novels off my shelves, who knows what I’ll come up with. How does my work differ from others of its genre? I write in different genres, but overall I think my work differs from others because I put my own unique style in each book. My life experience mold and shape my stories whether in a big way or a small one. Why do I write what I do? I write what I write because it comes to me. I don’t have it mapped out or pre-planned. How does your writing process work? Generally my writing process starts with a simple idea. For instance with my chick-lit book, Love Octagon, a statement had been made in my presence, a very dangerous thing, I assure you, that if a man wanted multiple wives he ought to have to live with them all at the same time. I took that premise and carried it to its logical conclusion and let me tell you it wasn’t pretty. I don’t sit down and plot out the entire story. Trust me when I say that I’ve tried. The sequel for The Ruse, which I’m working on right now, has about seven chapters plotted out. By the time I reached the seventh chapter the characters had taken a completely different turn and I was forced to flow with them. Next week the following three authors will be telling you about their writing process: Andrea Buginsky - Young Adult and Middle Grade fantasy author. http://www.andreabuginsky.com Debbie Brown - An author of early Victorian stories with suspense and sweet romance. http://authordebrabrown.blogspot.com/ Elaine Ivey – Author of childrens books and romantic suspense http://elaineivey.weebly.com/kikis-blog.html Felicia: Well she's done it again folks. Verna has written another novel I know you're going to love! I'd like to welcome guest blogger, Verna Clay, to my website.
Verna: Thank you, Felicia. I appreciate your hospitality in asking me to visit your blog. Felicia: I see you've just released another book and that it's also the beginning of a new series. Please tell us about the series and what your inspiration was. Verna: The new series is title Oasis, and I received my inspiration after traveling throughout Arizona. I love the Grand Canyon State! Anyway, hubby and I stayed in many RV and trailer parks and met some wonderful people who were unique and real and so much fun to be around. For the quirky characters in my series, I used an amalgam of those people. The first book is titled Stranded in Oasis. The second and third books, coming out later this year, are Branded in Oasis and Landed in Oasis. Felicia: Please share what the series is about. Verna: The series started in my mind about a year ago when I began asking myself some "what if," scenarios. I wondered what would happen if a young, good looking, corporate magnate, suddenly found himself ordered to the backside of the desert to manage a trailer and RV park. And I wondered what would be the catalyst to send him there. As my hero coalesced in my mind, he became Maximilian Rutherford III and the reason he ended up in the desert was because his grandfather gave him an ultimatum, do it or lose his inheritance. I also created a mystery as to the reason his grandfather gave the order. Next, I asked myself what kind of heroine would be best for my hero. I wanted someone completely opposite of him, and that's when Pilar Armstrong came into being. She's a divorced mom who loves living in the desert. She's also feisty and stands up to "Max" when she thinks he's out of line--something he's not accustomed to. As for books two and three, the characters are introduced in book one. Book two is the love story between Max's sister and Pilar's cousin. As for book three, the details are still being mulled over, but it will be a romance that involves a hunt for treasure. And there you have everything in a nutshell. Felicia: Verna, thank you for stopping by. Please give us the setup for this excerpt. Verna: Felicia, it's been my pleasure visiting with you and I thank you for this opportunity to share. As for the excerpt, it's when Max visits "Desert Princess Diner" where Pilar works as a waitress. Except: For five minutes Max studied the waitress-with-attitude prancing around the room as if she owned it. She was short and a little overweight by maybe fifteen or twenty pounds. However, she was shapely as hell with a nipped waist, generous hips, and a stacked topside—not his type at all, especially with her attitude. The women he dated were tall, sleek legged, physically fit, with breasts that fit the symmetry of their bodies. Most of all, though, they loved being around him and played to his every whim. In reality, however, he knew his money and power had a lot to do with their attitudes. If Ms. Testy knew my true identity, she wouldn't act so smart ass. Maybe someday I can throw it in her face. One of the criteria emphasized by his grandfather during his "trial by fire" was that he couldn't flaunt his money or connections. He supposed he'd maybe broken the money rule by showing up in an RV that cost as much as a condo in Vail. The gal returned for his order. Without a pad in hand, she said, "Are you ready to order?" Max decided to have a little fun. "Sure am. I'd like a burger, medium rare, salted, not peppered, with mustard and ketchup, no mayo, one tomato slice, two pickles, one lettuce leaf, one half of the bun toasted, the other not, and peppered fries, not salted. Oh, and a coffee refill with cream from the fridge, not this peel-the-paper-off-a-tiny-carton-fake-stuff. Think you can remember that?" Ms. Prissy Pants replied, "If I don't, I'm sure you'll remind me." She gave him a phony smile and acted like she received orders like that every day. The other waitress, within earshot, and a couple of nearby patrons, gaped at them. Verna's website: http://www.vernaclay.com Email: [email protected] Stranded in Oasis Buy Amazon Buy Amazon UK Thanks Verna for stopping by. We wish you much success! Thank you, Felicia, for hosting me here on your blog! Since beginning my writing career, which I thought was a hobby till my first book was published, I have found many amazing people who are intensely interested in the same things I am—namely the history of England and Britain and the fiction set therein. We really are a rabid bunch. Someone once suggested I write stories set in earlier America, and I thought—I can’t do that! It is the rigid class structure of England and its rules that make my stories. It fascinates me to no end. I wanted to learn more about Britain while finding a way to market my book, and I had the idea to create a blog about British history. The English Historical Fiction Authors blog has the goal of a new British history post daily, and many people have said they visit with their morning coffee or tea. One of our authors suggested we put together a book with some of the great posts of the first year, and I would like to introduce that thick and beautiful book to you. It is a fascinating collection of “truth stranger than fiction” articles, Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors. I’d like to share some of the subjects with you here. Have you ever wondered who all those kings and queens were? If you are not a learned historian, perhaps that is of interest to you as it was to me. I began a series of posts called “Monarchy” which discusses the succession of kings from after the Romans left through the tug of war between Steven and Matilda. Some items of interest from those posts answer the questions: What teenage king was killed, likely by his stepmother so her younger son could inherit the throne? What heir to the throne, though brought to safety himself, died trying to save his sister in a shipwreck? What happy royal married couple was unwillingly split up because a religious leader said they were too closely related, though less so than today’s Elizabeth I and Prince Philip? The posts are arranged in chronological order. Perhaps with last year’s discovery of the body of Richard III under a car park, you’d be interested in knowing more about the man himself and his rival for the throne, Henry VII. Which of them was the “good guy”? Did Richard kill his reigning nephew and his brother to get the throne? Henry would have us believe so. Judith Arnopp wrote a post discussing this question titled “Richard III vs. Henry VII: Naughty or Nice?” Henry’s victory in war over Richard ended the Plantagenet dynasty and began the well-known Tudor era. Our Tudor authors have written many intriguing posts: Why were orphaned heirs sold by the monarch to other nobles? Barbara Kyle brings out the reason. Sandra Byrd discusses how “the art of courtly love” played a part in the downfall of Katherine of Aragon and the crowning of Anne Boleyn. And what superstition played a role in choosing the length of cut of the umbilical cord by midwives of this period? Sam Thomas informs. Katherine Pym explains why a “Pirate Extraordinaire” became a “Friend to the Crown” during the Stuart times. In her post she also tells what became of a pirate if he was captured. Have you heard of Jack the Lad? Mike Rendell tells the story of a young man who made many daring escapes from jails—and was finally strung up for it all, still youthful. I was quite shocked at what he could accomplish. I suppose that since you could be hanged for a minor infringement at that time, you might as well become a legend for breaking free! Anita Davison brings out what injustices during the Georgian era resulted in men dressing as women and burning and destroying tollgates while crying out “Rebecca!” You might be interested in her post, “The Rebecca Riots”. How were clothes cleaned then? What was used before “Tide” could be bought? Maria Grace tells in “Ashes, Tallow and Turpentine: Coming Clean in the Regency Era”. And how was the table spread? Read “Nom nom nom: Regency Style” by M.M. Bennetts. Have you read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens? Where did he get the idea for his great character Miss Havisham, a recluse benefactress to the young protagonist Pip? Could there have been such a strange person as she? Katherine Ashe will astound you with the tale “The Harlot Who was Dickens’ Muse, or Even Greater Expectations”. If you are a rabid lover of British history, whether you purchase the book or not, you may want to read the current posts at the English Historical Fiction Authors blog. Each day’s tales are fascinating, and many unbelieveable—though true! Thanks for giving me a few moments of your time. Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors can be purchased at:
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Felicia RogersWriting clean romance with laughter and love. Archives
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