COMBUSTION by REBECCA SAVAGE

Sherri Marconi-Sandoval is a 25 year old, petite red head, brought up in a loving Italian home, and is an only child. She thought she met the man of her dreams in George Sandoval.

George Sandoval is a handsome, filthy rich businessman with major connections throughout the community. He also possesses another side of himself that no one knows about.

After a whirlwind romance, Sherri married George after knowing him only 3 months, but before the ink dried on the marriage license, George began to show his true colors. He began beating Sherri and forcing her to perform her “wifely duties,” all the while threatening to kill her and her family if she ever left him.

The final straw comes with George beating Sherri within inches of her life, leaving her for dead, and setting fire to their home...with Sherri still inside. So, with money Sherri stashed away for months, she leaves George, beginning the true hell of her life.

Bouncing from motel to motel, having alienated everyone she knows and loves, Sherri continues to run from George and his goons. Eventually, she finds herself at a women’s shelter as a volunteer nurse. Upon the recommendations of others at the shelter, she answers an ad for an apartment; the landlord is the owner of the women’s shelter, a downright saint and gentleman, John Tarentino.

John Tarentino is a well off, gorgeous firefighter with a few skeletons of his own. John has an internal need to help and protect everyone around him, especially a particularly beautiful red head with serious trust issues in regards to the male species.

With George’s relentless attempts to get Sherri back, or kill her, John finds himself falling hard for Sherri. But will she ever allow herself to trust him, allow him to love her completely? Better question, will Sherri stay alive long enough for John to try?

Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens every day in the real world. If only every woman had a John Tarentino to care about her, protect her, and prove that not all men are bad. There is a shining knight out there for every girl. Never give up and always believe in yourself.

Rebecca Savage shows a special talent for making you feel as if you are living the hell that Sherri Marconi-Sandoval is living; feeling her pain, both physical and emotional. My eyes even welled up at one point, which is not an easy accomplishment. Her attention to detail, making scenes come alive on the paper, is incredible. This is a remarkably well written story of courage, never giving up on life, and holding onto hope for a real life with real love. A definite recommended read.

I’m deadlining…   which is different from being on a deadline.  It’s a BS excuse.  If writers are working writers, we’re ALL on deadlines and that means—we’re employed.

I’m at the last 30 pages, the ‘get the bad guy and make ‘em pay dearly’ pages of the story.  In this book, Damage Control (Dragon One #5)  I’m pretty much telling two different stories that collide. I do that with almost every book, just not to the extent of Sebastian and Olivia’s story.  I think I'm pushing the limits, but its fiction.  There are no limits and nothing is illegal.  

Recently, I had a letter from a reader saying she’d bought my last book but wouldn’t read the past the first 100 pages because my evil bad guy had body guards and guns.  She claimed that they didn’t have them in Singapore, reserved for the government officials.  Bad guys, as we’ve see in the news daily, don’t play by the rules, that’s why they are...oh gee… BAD.  !

Most times I just gaff off stuff like this.  The average reader has no idea that the author of a book is NOT that last person to touch it.  Any published author can sympathize.  Personally, the instant I get a copy of my book, I check it against the galley proofs that I’ve corrected and I’m always disappointed.  My second book was missing about 8 pages of a very critical scene because the copy editor, not my editor, decided she could write better than me.   And (here's the real heartbreaker) despite that I took 24-hours to correct and Fed Ex the proof pages to NYC (after flying 36 hours from Okinawa to CA with 2 toddlers) it went to print without a single correction.  So you see, we authors have less control than anyone thinks.

I started thinking about all the great books that were just panned by reviewers or readers.  Books that didn’t sell well, yet went on to become world classics.

And here’s where payback is sweet, albeit, late.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare - performed in London in 1662.  "The most stupid ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life." - Samuel Pepys, Diary.

Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift - 1726.  "..evidence of a diseased mind and a lacerated heart."  - John Dunlop, 'The History of Fiction', 1814.

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - 1857.  "Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer." - Le Figaro.

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - 1877.  "Sentimental Rubbish"  - The Odessa Courier.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925. "What has never been alive cannot very well go on living. So this is a book of the season only."  - New York Herald Tribune.

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - 1961.  "Heller wallows in his own laughter... and the sort of antic behavior the children fall into when they know they are losing our attention." - Whitey Balliett, New Yorker.

So my dear bloggers…. readers and writers alike.  Tell me your worst reader letter, review, publishing mistake, horrific cover, or name a great book that was panned... or just bitch. 

Come on, the mic is yours!

AMY

 I've been trying to rein in some of my fat-making eating habits lately because I find if I don't nip it at my booiiiiing weight, it's a quick slide to the next size.

Ever noticed how when you're trying to lose a few pounds that all you think about is FOOD?  Especially food that's not going to help you lose weight such as ripple potato chips and french onion dip, chocolate layer cake with frosting, guacamole, fried onion rings... Okay, enough! 

When I was a little kid, I was a very picky eater.  I think in some ways it would be great if I were a bit more picky now.  That said, I thought it would be fun to talk about foods I dislike.  Foods that make me want to sew my lips together.  Foods that I might not eat even if I were on a desert island starving.

1.Raw Beef-- For some it's a delicacy, but the very idea of it makes me go yuck!

2.Raw Fish -- Yes, that includes sushi.  Do we see a pattern here?  I like my meat cooked.

3.Brussel Sprouts.

4.Organ meats. 

5.Insects. 

I could name several more, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What are your least fave foods?

xo,

Leanne

FLAMES IN THE SKY by LINDA LAROQUE

As legend has it, over 1000 years ago in the time of the Chacon Anasazi Indians, a perfect turquoise stone existed, holding special powers. The stone fell into the hands of evil, and because of this, the gods struck the evil holder of the stone, Nukpana, with lightning, breaking off two small pieces of the stone, now referred to as “the twins.” Nukpana never received a proper burial; his body burned, and the ashes stored and sealed in a clay bottle, trapping his evil essence but never allowing him closure.

Current time: An innocent Rita Santiago accidentally damages Nukpana’s containment bottle, releasing his essence. He is now free, ready to take revenge on the Anasazi people and wipe out any sign they ever existed.

Madison Evans, a fiery red head, substitute violinist in the Houston Symphony with a PhD in art, finds herself on a quest to learn more about her ancestry and the history of the special turquoise locket left to her after her mother’s death.

Since acquiring the locket, Madison has been having dreams, almost nightmarish, and they always include a certain warrior and witch woman. What could these dreams mean? Are they trying to tell her something?

Madison’s journey lands her at the Chaco Canyon in New Mexico where she meets the handsome Lonan Stone; a native, National Park Ranger with important ties to more than one of the local tribes.

After several terrifying mishaps, they soon discover that someone is desperately wants Madison’s locket—but why? Could it be the ancient prophets were right? Are Madison and Lonan truly the chosen ones to reunite the twins with the mother stone and lock Nukpana away once and for all? If so, how can they accomplish this seemingly impossible feat? According to the prophecy, the expectations are high, the sacrifices even greater.

Linda LaRoque does it again! Her true talent as an author shines brilliantly in this mystical adventure of time travel, Native American heritage, urban legend, and love. In addition, Ms. LaRoque’s gift for setting a scene is so well done and precise that you can close your eyes and actually see the vivid colors of this beautiful area, smell and feel the air around you, and hear the faint whispers from times past on the light breeze surrounding you. She has you believing in her characters and wanting to believe the legend, the whole story, is true. I highly recommend this book.

Flames in the Sky will light a flame in you...all the way to the last word.

5 Shoes!!

Find Ms. Savage at:  www.lindalaroque.com

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Purchase at: www.thewildrosepress.com

I'm back form the New Jersey Romance Writers Conference, and if you've never been, I encourage you to go!  These people know how to throw an awesome conference.  Starts off with a limited special speaker on Friday.  This year, it was Jenny Crusie.  They feed you COOKIES on Friday afternoon and heavy appetizers on Friday night before the awards ceremony.  There's a whole passel of great workshops and exciting keynotes.  And I actually WON something!  Yes!  That just doesn't happen to me, but this time I won a basket with all kinds of cool things in it.  Funnest thing in the basket?  A bottle of specialized liqueur.  The name of this specialized liqueur?  Hot Sex!  haha!  NO LIE!

One of the best things about this conference is because of the proximity to New York, it is attended by a large number of editors and agents!  Plus, they offer editor/agent appointments.  It's not unusual to see an attendance at the conference of 200-300 people.  Enough to make it exciting without feeling overwhelmed.

I managed to work in one bonus outing to see HAIR on Broadway.  I forgot all about the fact that there was going to be nudity. Haha!  It was a great show, great voices, and the actors interacted with the audience quite a bit.  At the end of the show, everyone was invited to join the actors on stage while dancing.

FROM PLAYBOY TO PAPA!  Silhouette Desire  January 2010

You’re looking for Rhonda, right?  As par for a writer on deadline, her computer bit the dust in a big way.    Rhon will be posting on Thursday and I’m sure she will be more interesting then me. 

Onto my subject o' the day.... the weird stuff.  I love it.  The paranormal, ghost hunting, myths, legends or those odd facts you’ll never use except for Trivial Pursuit or  ‘Are you smarter Than a Fifth Grader?’ show.  Today is a mix of both.

Levitation--The most celebrated levitator in history was St Joseph of Copertino, a dimwitted monk who would soar into the air whenever he felt religious ecstasy. He had no control over his 'flights', which could last for minutes and were attested to by scores of witnesses from the Pope downwards.  So did the pope make him a saint for flying?

In ancient Rome, when a man testified in court he would swear on his testicles.  That why they grab them all the time? 

In space, astronauts cannot cry properly, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow down their faces.  So now I’m wondering…. what’s peeing like?

There are more fake flamingos in the US than real ones and they turn pink from eating shrimp.  It the high alpha and beta-carotene that does it.  In Brazil, they’re paler and Australia darker.  Shrimp pink…who knew?

A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons of fuel.  At $2.65 a gallon right now that means it’s over $150,000.00 to get that thing in the air.  I know jet fuel and automobile gas aren’t the same, but you get the idea.  A 250 seater and that’s $600 each.

Dowsing rods--US Marines in Vietnam had marked success in dowsing with coathangers to detect tunnels used by the Vietcong.  I saw it used on TV (Holmes on Homes) to locate the leech lines of a septic tank and he was using a coat hanger! 

It's estimated that 4 million "junk" telephone calls, phone solicitations by persons or programmed machine are made every day in the United States.  This one I know is true, I get a scam phone call at least once a week!  

This week a man received a DWI ticket while in a motorized lazyboy chair.  Okay, I think that’s hysterical.  It’s something my husband would try. (rather than fix all the broken stuff in this house!  oops that's another blog)

Miss Plastic Hungary beauty pageant.    Yes, a contest for the most beautiful surgically enhanced woman in Hungary.  So it’s who’s the best fake beauty?  Apparently contestants show off their enhancements to promote plastic surgery. (does that mean they shake their fake tah-tahs?)

If Barbie were life-size her measurements would be 39-23-33.  She would stand seven feet two inches tall and have a neck twice the length of a normal human’s neck.  Personally, I think she’d just fall over.

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.  It was the fashion Renaissance Florence to shave them off.  (No Rhon, she didn't draw them on)

More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

Nearly a third of all bottled drinking water purchased in the US is contaminated with bacteria. (Fuji water contains arsenic!)

Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.   Ear cooties!

This category makes me ask, they actually wasted taxpayer money to pass legislation on this?

In New York, it is against the law for a blind person to drive an automobile.  Huh? 

In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket.

In parts of Alaska, it's illegal to feed alcohol to a moose. (Even if they're dating?)

It's illegal in Newcastle, WY to have sex in a butcher shop's meat freezer.  A butcher shop? So curing cow meat is a turn on…? Ew.

You wouldn't believe how many predictions of Nostradamus are a hoax.  Have a read, especially the ones pointed at 9-11. 

http://strangegr.tripod.com/strangeandparanormalactivities/id35.html

So bloggers, any strange, twisted facts in your bag? 

Happy Monday everyone!

AMY

FDA by Rick Giernoth

Jack is a journalist who seems to find himself continuously in trouble due to his brutal honesty and obsession with conspiracy theories. He has befriended, Martini, a man with underground connections. Unfortunately, Martini has more knowledge and connections than is good for anyone to have and of the not so good to know kind.

When Jack stumbles into the ultimate conspiracy, he finds himself in a bad position, and people around him begin dropping like flies. Time is running out, and he must turn to a group of strangers for help, as well as an unlikely, recently discovered enemy.

This is an interesting outlook on the possibility that a government could play such a major roll in everyone’s life without anyone being the wiser, costing innocent, unknowing people their lives, all in the name of a dollar.

Very interesting story, good characters, would make a great Sylvester Stallone movie.

2.5 Shoes

Rick Giernoth Webpage: http://rickgiernoth.com/default.aspx

Purchase FDA here: http://www.champagnebooks.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_9&products_id=300

Author: Rick Giernoth

Genre: Suspense/Thriller

ISBN: 978-1-897445-90-7

Publisher: Champagne Books

Life is a never ending lesson in humility AKA "BALL BUSTIN".

I spent the last six weeks of my life working like a mad fool doing a project that I wasn’t crazy about. At the beginning of September – Heather’s conference, to be exact – I asked all of my friends (old and new!!) about whether or not I should go against the grain and totally remake a story that I already loved. BUT. Despite a lot of close almosts, it never sold. So. Total remake?  Or continue trying to find a home?

I went against all my intuition and remade the book.

At the end of six weeks of no fun, all work, all writing all the time ( I have a small touch of OCD, lol) I turned my project into my agent, who is also sort of a friend. Thank God

She called me up. Asked me if I had any fun writing the new book.

Fun?

She said my manuscript was technically perfect. But my voice was gone – the FUN – was gone.  I thought I was going to die of mortification, or I might have, if it hadn't gone out of style back in the 20's

Anyway, I’ve already shared this with my great Florida Romance Writer friends, but other than that, I’ve kept quiet.  Mostly because after seven books which have all gotten great reviews etc. I suddenly felt like I didn’t know how to write.

I’d failed. Which, a week later, remains true – I’d  written a ‘technically perfect’ paranormal romance. But it wasn’t GREAT (which in this market means unsellable!!) because I wasn’t into it.

The moral of the story being, again, forgive me FRWers for repeating, that our voice is what turns the words on paper into magic, and if we aren’t true to that inner nag, lolol, the magic won’t be there.

You can write a structurally correct novel, and it can still lack what it needs to sell.

Write, everyone, write – and read.  Fill the well.

I have been inhaling books – Pride, prejudice and zombies –loved it – the devil’s kiss – faerie wars – the graveyard book – and up next is the demon king.   For the most part it is sheer heaven to sink into someone else’s well created world!!!! 

Happy Wednesday,

Traci 

Speaking of hot, here he is!  The hero for my January Silhouette Desire  FROM PLAYBOY TO PAPA! (not my title)  I could carp a little and say his hair's not dark enough and his face isn't what I imagined or submitted for cover art info, but I kinda forget about those when I look at his body.  And Yvonne Lindsay (another Desire author) made a wonderful suggestion.  The cover shall from now on be referred to as "The Body".

I think he resembles an extremely buff Mark Wahlberg.  Who do you think he looks like?

Have a great Tuesday!

FROM PLAYBOY TO PAPA!  Silhouette Desire  January 2010

Technically, I suppose it could be considered a re-education, but then I happen to believe writing always has a learning curve.  I’ve mentioned before - and probably will again - I like power writing.  I like 20-hour sessions in front of the computer.  There’s nothing better than printing out a whole ton of new pages at the end of the day.  However . . . (this is the re-learn part) sh*% happens.  Usually at the most inconvenient time.  I can’t imagine writing 5-10 pages a day and no, that isn’t because I’m super-writer or that everything I type stays in, or even that the idea will germinate into a fleshed-out story. 

I think in chapters.  I really don’t get the 5-10 page thing.  I tried it and well, for me it was like eating one rectangle of a Hersey’s candy bar (which Leanne can do!).  I eat the whole candy bar - or squirt dark chocolate syrup in a mainlining furor if that’s all I’ve got.  I think it’s because (I know I’ve said this time and time again) the best path to success is to stick with what works.  I approach writing the same way I approach all the other stuff in my life - a fixed, quick schedule for completion.  I won’t start something I can’t finish - which probably explains why I’m not very crafty - and once I’ve started, I can’t stop until I drop.

That’s great unless something or someone sticks a pole in the spokes of your warp-speed wheel.  I’m pretty proficient, I normally have decent time-management skills and I somehow managed to learn that since I am not a brain surgeon, I can ignore a ringing phone or email.  The stuff that normally derails me usually has something to do with family, but I can usually regroup and make up time.  How?  Wanna know the last time I checked my email?  October 11th.  Yep - and the world didn’t come to an end.  What will I do with the 3,000+ emails?  I’ll probably sift through 200 but then I’ll get really bored and just delete everything.  Anyone who knows me knows that if you really need me, call.  If you sent me something via email that needs attention, call me and tell me to check. 

Wanna know the last time I checked my home voicemail?  Last Wednesday.  My cell voicemail - this morning.  Texts?  This morning . . . ah ha!  Yep, I have a child who will text if she needs anything.  But, when I’m in the house, my cell is usually charging in my car.  Quite honestly, I often return calls or make them when I’m waiting in a car line or playing ATM/Chauffeur.  I don’t use the phone when I’m driving, I don’t even answer it until I come to a stop somewhere.  I try really hard not to roam through stores with a phone to my ear, having one of those loud ghost conversations.

So that’s my long-winded way of saying I think email is great.  I think the internet is the best invention since the wheel.  I love my iPhone.  Hell, I love technology more than anyone out there (fyi - I don’t care that I’m in the middle of a book - I want Windows 7 on 10/22!).  But I control the technology time.  Frankly, I’m astounded when I see listservs and loops and links and chats with (usually) 3-4 people posting several times a day.  Hell’s Bells - if you have that much free time, work on your flipping manuscript!  Yes, I have chapter links and a few other listservs BUT, I have it set-up so that I don’t see those emails.  They go directly into a separate folder and if I have time, the inclination, whatever, I may go read a few.  Ask anyone who knows me on this one, too - I NEVER post.  Okay, maybe not never, but probably not more than one time a year - I’m pretty sure that doesn’t even count.  My experience has been that the acquisition of an agent generates about 50 one-line congrats responses.  I’m not for a minute saying congrats isn’t in order.  I’m just saying do it in private.  Personally, I think a blanket congrats e-note is kinda like the snail version of a chain letter.  I like to send my friends a congrats.  I like to go to Amazon and comment on their books.  If I want sales or personnel info, I’ll read Publishers Marketplace. 

So . . . yes, my message may be getting diluted - DO NOT GIVE YOUR TIME AWAY, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED IT FOR YOURSELF!  Spend about 30 days reading any listserv and you’ll soon be able to recognize the two categories - People in love with the craft of writing vs. People in live with the idea of being a writer.  There is a HUGE difference.  Please don’t confuse this with the inane RWA Pro thing that actually makes it possible for someone to be more unpublished than someone else (ridiculous!).  I get that RWA gives benefits to Pro folks and I guess that makes it worth it.  I’m talking about the difference between people willing to preserver - in the middle of a ton of rejection - and keep going vs. the person who spends more than 2 years ‘polishing’ a manuscript or doing drafts.  Find a working writer (my definition - someone who can support themselves with their writing) and you’ll probably find someone who has gotten his or her fair share of rejection.  Had hurt feelings, a lousy editor, a multi-page, single-spaced revision letter that arrivers Christmas Eve morning, late nights, bleary eyes, caffeine shakes and any of the other unpleasant realities of being a working writer. 

Know when I think I’m doing my best work?  When I look down and realize I’ve had the same unattractive t-shirt and boxers (the girly kind) for a few days.  When I’ve rammed my disgusting hair into a baseball cap to make car line.  When I realize that somehow, the idea has taken shape and I’ve breathed life into that idea.  That is such an incredible feeling.  In that moment, you don’t think about years of rejection or any of the other stuff.  You just sit back and listen as your printer spits out page after page.

Do some pages!!!

Rhonda

Reviews by T!!!!

Witches Anonymous by Misty Evans

Amy, longtime witch and girlfriend of Lucifer, has sworn an oath to herself to become good, never use her witch powers again, and become a normal human after catching Lucifer cheating with her goody-to-shoes sister, Emilia.

Amy knows it won’t be easy being good, so she joins Witches Anonymous. On the way to her first meeting, she meets Adam, a fireman, perfect gentleman, and absolutely gorgeous. Little does she know, Adam has a few secrets himself.  This relationship could quite possibly change the world.

Lucifer relentlessly tries to tempt Amy into her old ways while Emilia is fuming mad and, with the help of Gabriel, tries to destroy Amy.

Can Amy hold true to her oath? Can she find the strength within to beat the evil forces and save Adam, all on Halloween night?

Amy is not a nice girl in the opening scene, but by the end, I found myself cheering for her.

This is a fun short story, especially with Halloween just around the corner. Misty Evans keeps the story light, has a sense of current day humor throughout, but still manages to get a great message across at the end.

3.5 shoes!!