Have a Safe and Happy Halloween!

The Blog Hop is Over!

The blog hop is over! And I want to thank everyone who participated. The excerpt yesterday was from JOURNAL, my best-selling zombie book.

The final winners are:

Ebook - Ann Q
Amazon gift card - Misha
Starbuck gift card - spamscape

All winners for this hop will be notified within the next few days. Thanks again for entering!

Lisa Kessler Returns as my Guest Author Tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio

I'm delighted to announce that Lisa Kessler is returning to "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio, where she'll be reading an excerpt from her paranormal romance, Night Thief, a Night series novella from Entangled Publishing.

Show time is 11 pm et/ 10 pm ct

Don't miss it!
* * * *

After the fall of the Mayan civilization, Kane, an immortal Night Walker, has taken refuge in France for over 800 years. The modern world holds little interest for him until the night he meets the Golden Thief and is robbed of much more than his pocket watch.

Marguerite Rousseau is living a double life. By day she is the assistant to an eccentric French artist, Antoine Berjon, and by night she dons elegant evening gowns to woo French dignitaries before lifting their wallets.

Sparks ignite when Kane captures the thief, but Marguerite harbors a dark secret that could ruin them both.

Today is the Last Day of the Howloween Blog Hop!

Today is the last day of the Howloween Blog Hop, and I want to thank all the people who have been participating!

Yesterday's excerpt was from X-Troller, and my winners are:

Ebook - Cherry ganzer
Amazon gift card - Merry (I need your email addy!)
Starbucks gift card - vitajex

Remember, just posting a comment could make you a winner! Don't forget to include your email address. And International posts are more than welcome!

Now, on to today's excerpt.
***
When you’re that scared, you can’t scream. When you’re so terrified that everything you do comes from that primal need to save yourself, you don’t think. You just DO.

I kicked with my other foot, catching the side of his skull. I heard a popping, sucking sound, like when you take a Tootsie Pop from your lips. The dead thing’s head still clung to my jeans, but it was no longer attached to the body. The hand managed to grab my jeans on the same leg. Incredibly it tried to pull itself up toward my waist and chest area.

My revulsion was like thick waves of vomit. Somewhere inside me I found the courage and ability to reach down with both hands and take hold of the skeletal claws. I can’t begin to tell you what they felt like, but what I remember most is how cold they were.

I pulled on the claws until they released me. With a couple more good solid kicks, I knocked the skull away. Then, by placing the bottom of my feet to its chest area, I rolled backwards and cartwheeled it over my head. It landed on its back where it remained motionless, or motionless long enough for me to grab my stuff and run for it.

It's Day Three of the Howloween Blog Hop!

It's day 3 of the Howloween Blog Hop. Thanks to all who have been participating!

The answer to yesterday's excerpt was The Tub, and I want to congratulate my Saturday winners:

Ebook - spamscape
Amazon gift card - JYL22075
Starbucks gift card - BLHmistress

There's just two days left to put your guess in! Remember,  you could win even with the wrong answers! All you have to do is comment, and be sure to leave your email address. All excepts listed here are also on my website.

Now, on to today's excerpt.
***
A woman she didn’t know ripped open a sterile packet and handed her the cloth. She knew what it was for without having to be told. She quickly wiped the demon blood from the front of her jumpsuit, ignoring the stain that would permanently mark it, then tossed the rag into the container marked with the little nuclear waste symbol.

“Would you like something to drink?” a man asked. She knew him, but his name eluded her at the moment.

“Yeah. Please. Thanks.”

“Take a seat,” Dirrin ordered her. Not asked, ordered. She knew that serious tone all to well, although she had been lucky in the past not to have been on the receiving end of it. Looked like her luck had run out. She took the one deliberately left unoccupied chair in the room.

The man quickly got to the heart of the matter. “What do you know of the BENT project?”

“Just the name. I don’t know what it means, or what it entails.”

The man who had inquired about something to drink stepped forward to hand her a pouch. She thanked him and drank. It was real spring water, fresh and sweet. Not the re-filtered stuff. They waited for her to finish before continuing. When they did, it was the water man who took the lead.

“It’s the acronym for Biological Entity Neuron Transmitter.”

His name popped up in her head. Nickkels. Still, it didn’t mean anything to her. The scientists kept to themselves within their own little enclave at the far end of the second circle. She gave him a blank stare.

“Think time travel,” Nickkels added.

“All right. I’m thinking time travel. Which way? Forwards or backwards?”

There were eight people in the room. With a wave of the director’s arm, that number filed down to four: her, Nickkels, Dirrin, and the woman scientist who had handed her the sterile wipe.

“This is Phoebe,” Nickkels introduced.

“Assistant?”

The woman smiled. “Co-creator.” Although the smile had been genuine, there was a trace of bitterness behind it. Apparently a lot of people must take her for Nickkels’ assistant.

Crossing her legs, she rested her arms on the arms of the chair and tried to look relaxed. “Forwards or backwards?” she repeated.

Phoebe replied. “Back.”

“How far?”

“If we can manage, forty-seven years ago,” Dirrin answered.

“And you’re telling me this because...” She already had a lump of ice freezing the inside of her stomach. It was beginning to chill her blood, numbing her senses as it deadened her nerve endings. They had called her in to tell her about this project that few had heard of, and which practically no one ever spoke of, because it was supposed to be all hush-hush. Which told her BENT was marked in the upper echelons as Top Top Secret. Or higher. Was there such a thing as Top Top Top Secret?

Regardless, she knew what was coming. In a way, the wait was almost worse than stalking demons.

“We’ve come to the point where we either go ahead with the project, or shut it down,” Nickkels admitted. “BENT was created to send a human back through time.”

“Back forty-seven years?” She looked over at the woman scientist. “Forty-seven years ago was when Lambruchet imploded and its demons took over the planet.”

Phoebe nodded. “We know. That’s why we want to send someone back to try and warn the corporation before that happens.”

“Warn it? Or stop it?”

Phoebe’s face hardened. “Either. Whatever you can manage.”

“Me?” Stunned, she looked around, but the same determined look was on everyone’s face. At the last possible second, she had realized the truth. But hearing the words come from their mouths still surprised her. “You...you want me to change the past so that this future doesn’t happen? Is that what you’re saying you want me to do? Is it even possible?”

“We’re hoping it is,” Dirrin said.

She sat up straighter. The coldness had seeped into her face, making her skin feel like an immobile mask reflecting her rising fear. “And I’m the lucky person who got tapped to go back?”     
“Yeah,” Nickkels responded with a half-hearted smile. “Tag, you’re it. Congratulations.”

It's Day Two of the Howloween Blog Hop!

It's a Howloween Blog Hop, and I'm highlighting my books with horrific elements. I want to congratulate my winners from yesterday! The excerpt was from CUT GLASS: JEWELS, BOOK 1 - DIAMOND. The winners are:

Ebook - Mostly Misha
Amazon gift card - Ann Q
Starbucks gift -  pgeorgiap
Remember, I'm giving away 3 prizes DAILY, so make a guess as to which book I'm highlighting, and leave your email addy when you do. All excerpts here are also posted on my website. But don't worry if you can't find it. Even a wrong answer could be a winner!

Now for my next excerpt.
***

A tiny green sign flashed by so fast, she didn’t get the chance to read it. Hitting the brakes, she put the car into reverse and backed up until she could see it again in her headlights.

Itsy 14 mi.

By God, there really was a place called Itsy. “My cup runneth over,” she dryly murmured.

The fourteen miles seemed endless. At last, she caught the faint glimmer of light on the horizon. As she drew nearer, the lights of the town became more focused. There weren’t many of them, she noted. “Probably trying to save on their electric bill.”

The city limits sign passed by.

Itsy

Pop. 221

“Oh, wow, Milton. You guys really had to scrounge to find this place, didn’t you?”

But she knew there was more to the stats than just this town. There were all the other little towns and burgs in this county, and within the surrounding counties, that the company considered. It wasn’t just the immediate population. It was the combined population that made the executives determine whether to build a RiteCost at that location or not.

Whether the locals wanted a RiteCost built in their back yards or not.

It's a HOWLOWEEN BLOG HOP!

 

 

Whoohoo! It's ghoulies and ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties, and things that "hump in the night"!

 

Okay, so I took a little creative license with the original quote. But the truth is, I'm giving away THREE prizes every day - an ebook (winner's choice), an Amazon gift card, and a Starbucks gift card - from the 26th to the 29th! And here's all you have to do. I'll post an excerpt from one of my books that has horror elements. The excerpt is taken directly from my website. Post your guess as to the name of the book the excerpt is from. I will pick 3 winners with the correct answers first. If there aren't enough correct answers, I will select from other posted guesses. In other words, you could still win, even if you don't have a correct answer!

So, here we go with the first excerpt! Tomorrow I'll post the winners and a new excerpt. Oh, and DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT!

Good luck!
****
Shakily, she got to her feet and stumbled from the deck overlooking a panoramic view of Pike’s Peak. She went through the house, not minding if she left behind a trail of bloody footprints or any handprints. When the scene was finally discovered, the cops wouldn’t find anything to lead them to her. Technically, to the world, she did not exist.

She made it to the front door then out to the driveway. Del Toro’s slick little foreign import sat on the dirt turn-around, and she held the keys in her hands.

As she slid under the wheel, she caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror. She looked tired and disheveled. So what else was new? She deliberately kept her dark hair short. It was easier to manage, and it was one less thing for jewels to grab on to during a struggle. Her eyes were blue, but there was nothing impressive about their color. Her features were ordinary and average. And smeared with gore. A fleck of green glistened above the left side of her lip. She licked it away as she gunned the engine.

Little Known Heart-Tugging Fact

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Wrapping

 

Click on the picture to get a bigger version. With the holidays coming up, I thought this was rather interesting.

We Are the Introverts

Jane Kindred is my Guest Author Tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio

Jane Kindred is my guest author tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio. She'll be reading from her paranormal romance, The Midnight Court, Book2 of her "House of Arkhangel'sk" series.

Show time is 11 pm est.
Don't miss it!
***

Against the pristine ice of Heaven, spilled blood and a demon’s fire will spark celestial war.

The exiled heir to the throne of Heaven, Grand Duchess Anazakia and her demon companions, Belphagor and Vasily, have made a comfortable home in the Russian city of Arkhangel’sk, but their domestic bliss is short lived. When their daughter Ola is taken as a pawn in Heaven’s demon revolution, the delicate fabric of their unorthodox family is torn apart—threatening to separate Belphagor and Vasily for good.

Anazakia is prepared to move Heaven and Earth to get her daughter back from Queen Aeval, risen in Elysium from the ashes of temporary defeat. But Aeval isn’t the only one seeking Ola’s strange power.

To conquer the forces amassing against them, Anazakia is prophesied to spill the blood of one close to her heart, while Vasily’s fire will prove more potent than anyone suspected. In the battle for supremacy over Heaven’s empire, loyalties will be tested and secrets will be revealed, but love will reign supernal.

Broken

 

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” — Barbara Bloom

A Trampoline Bridge in Paris

 

Made of inflatable tubing and three giant interconnected trampolines, designed by AZC Architecture Studio. It would provide a newer and more playful path in the form of an inflatable bridge equipped with giant trampolines, dedicated to the joyful release from gravity as one bounces above the river.

Dearest Creature in Creation

 

"If you can correctly pronounce every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

- B. Shaw

 

In the movies...

Science Stunts

For parties. For bets when you're drinking with your friends. Or for science experiments with the kiddos. (And it's fun to watch!)

13 Brilliant Science Museum Billboards

I had to pick a tamer one for my blog. But you can go here to see some of the more outlandish ones. Advertising genius!

Victoria Danann is my Guest Author Tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio

Join us tonight when Victoria Danann appears on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio, and reads an excerpt from her paranormal romance, The Witch's Dream, Book Two of the Order of the Black Swan series., from 7th House Publishing.

Show time is 11 pm et. Don't miss it!
* * *
From New York to Ireland to Edinburgh to Siena to the Texas Hill Country to Napa Valley, a secret society, a witch, a demon, a psychic, a berserker, an ex-vampire, modern day knights, heroes, werewolves, elves and fae come together where emotions intersect. The story maps a trail from rages to epiphanies, but, in the end, proves that true love can find you in the strangest places, when you're least expecting it, even when you're far, far from home.

SYNOPSIS: He was left behind when Elora Laiken made her choice. Now he’s had it with love, but a transplanted witch who happens to be the world’s best tracker hopes she can change his mind.

The Witch’s Dream begins with B Team on temporary assignment to Black Swan headquarters in Edinburgh where they are supposed to fill in for stretched-thin resources and assist with a werewolf issue. They’ve been given permission to stop in Ireland for a few days and help celebrate a handfasting at the palace in Derry.

When they reach Edinburgh, the afterglow of an elftale wedding quickly turns all business. A missing person report turns into a demon abduction. A simple werewolf sanction becomes a diplomatic issue requiring the one thing Elora is no longer willing to give - finesse.

Fashion AND Function!

Just what every office spy needs!  According to this web site, "It's an earring with a wireless storage up to 10GB designed by Ma. It uses the bluetooth technology for the data transfer; 'new millennium of the storage'."

A photo of wrestling dolls by Cecilia Timms

Says the photographer, "This is one of my favourite photographs. I love to play with scale and these wrestling dolls are my favourite photographic subject. Making these inanimate dolls look as though they are feeling something is my ultimate goal and it doesn’t hurt if it’s also a beautiful image."

I totally agree!

Then vs Now - The Music Business

I read this, and I can't help but compare it to the publishing industry.

Common Sense?

20 Things to Start Doing

Dear Linda

Dear Linda,

You haven't had a new book released in a while. What is your next book out? What are you working on now?

***
Thank you for your email! I love hearing from people who've read and enjoyed my stories. I even like the complaints!

There's been a few upheavals recently in my life. None of them bad, thank goodness. My husband and I (soon to celebrate 30 years together in January) are finally empty nesters. In addition, I was transferred to teach Pre-Kindergarten several weeks after this school year began, so that made for a rush of moving to a new room, adjusting to a different schedule and curriculum, not to mention getting to know 24 4-year-olds! But the changes in both my personal and professional lives have skewed me away from my normal routine, thus disrupting my writing.

The good news is, I don't have any deadlines hanging over my head, which means I can work on anything I damn well please. So I've been flipping back and forth between the following:

HeartStorm - book 3 of the "HeartFast" series
Runner's Moon: Yarrolam - book 5 of the "Runner's Moon" series
One Battle Lord's Fate - book 4 of the "Battle Lord" saga

In addition, I have one book currently in submission with a new publisher, and I have another brand new stand-alone already finished and awaiting edits before I submit it.

Thanks again for your email! Please don't hesitate if you have any further questions or comments!


Jennifer Turner is my Guest Author Tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio

Join us tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio when Jennifer Turner reads from her urban fantasy romance, Redemption.

Show time begins at 11 pm est.
Don't miss it!
****
Half-angel Savannah Mantas smells the sulfuric stench of wrath when it enters her city, Iron Point. Resurrected by the archangel Michael, she's hunting for redemption and half-demon Nico Montenegro is her prey. He comes from the Fringes, the border between the city and the toxic wasteland beyond.

When they meet, Nico tells her a story, one of genocide and confiscated bodies. Not revenge, but justice is his purpose and his target is the most admired family in the world-Commander Hathaway and his daughter.

Hathaway's soldiers are slaughtering Fringers and secretly feeding them to Revenants, mutants who survived the bio-bombing of 2120. They have a twisted idea they can train these clever creatures like dogs and keep them out of the city long enough to mobilize an evacuation for the wealthy and well-connected.

Savannah knows better. Revenants are what killed her. When they attack, the last of humankind may be wiped out completely. Stopping Hathaway might just be enough to gain her redemption and escape a hellish fate.

The Bucharest Metro Digital Library

Paper Action Scenes

Zombies, ninjas, and cowboys - David Reeves meticulously cuts out these actions scenes from black paper, and photographs them to appear as silhouettes. Check out more of these incredible pieces here.

Finger Play

These finger and toe images are absolutely hilarious! Check them out!

World's Best Father, Take 2!

Didn't get enough of Dave Engledow and his daughter Alice as the "World's Best Father"? Well, go here for more of those hilarious photos!

World's Best Father

These photos by David Engledow are absolutely hilarious. Calling himself the "World's Best Father" (the coffee cup says so), he's created pictures that prove that title is dubious, at best. Go check them out!

Now Available and FREE! Passionate Cooks Cookbook

Food and love have had a long association, for Passionate Cooks: Free Recipes From Today’s Hottest Romance Authors, over 150 authors of the genre have put their pens and computers aside to don aprons, get down and dirty in the kitchen, and share their love of food.

Much like romance novels themselves, the dishes range from spicy to sweet. There is something for every taste and every level of culinary expertise. The cookbook includes New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mari Carr’s “Wild Irish” Cream of Crab Soup recipe. Western GBLT author BA Tortuga contributes a dish as spicy and colorful as the straight-shooting author herself with Ranch Hands—a blend of Tabasco, salsa, onions and cumin, added to pinto beans, eggs, Canadian bacon and cheddar cheese and served in a tortilla. And for those of you who are feeling extra creative and sexy, there’s the Avocado Dip that doubles as body paint from mystery writer Marcia James.

Some recipes are simple, such as Down Home Mac & Cheese, while some are more exotic, such as Spicy Shrimp Risotto. There are even some gluten-free selections, like the Sweet and Spicy Gluten-Free Lo Mein-ish Noodles from erotica author Sommer Marsden. And a few are perfectly timed for a Halloween, such as Tracey H. Kitt’s Gamberi del Diavolo or Shrimp of the Devil. Then check out my "Southern Lovin' Chicken and Dumplings"!

Best of all, they are FREE! Get your copy from All Romance eBooks by clicking here!

Annabelle Blume is My Guest Author Tonight on "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio

Don't miss tonight's episode of "Other Worlds of Romance" on Blog Talk Radio, when Annabelle Blume joins me to read an expert from her sci-fi novella Frozen Heart, from Inkspell Publishing.

Show time is 11 pm et/ 10 pm ct/ 8 pm pt
***

A decade surviving on her own. Three days with the enemy. Can love conquer all?

Cressenda knows how to survive. With her sled dogs as her only companions, she’s spent the past ten years hiding in the snow covered wilderness from the oppressive regime of the Affinity. When a routine trip to civilization takes a turn for the worst, Cressenda is forced to take refuge with the enemy or lose her life to the frozen countryside.

But Beckett, a Guard of the Affinity, is more than a man in uniform. His desperate need to help Cressenda escape both the blizzard and the Affinity, makes her feelings for him all the more troubling. Will Beckett be true to his word and set Cressenda free? Will her heart let her leave after all they’ve shared?