Just in time for the holiday season, I’m happy to feature six wonderful authors and their new book, Merry Chick Lit!

In the spirit of giving, six chick-lit authors “present” a charming collection of seasonal shorts sure to inspire holiday cheer-plus love and hope throughout the year, with all proceeds donated to Rocking the Road for a Cure!  Featured authors & stories include:

Carolyn Ridder Aspenson 

In “Santa’s Gift,” journalist Jessica thinks Santa’s just a silly myth for children, so when he asks what she most wants for Christmas she tells him the one thing she knows he can’t deliver–true love. Or can he…?

Sarah Hitchcock 

In “The Christmas Lights,” one competition pits two families against each other…who will win this war?

Francine LaSala 

Pretty Izzy knows exactly what she wants for Christmas: hunky sales manager Jake Harrington wrapped up with a shiny silver bow–and nothing else. Except Santa may have other plans in “Carol of the Belles.”

Nikki Mahood

In “Spinster Christmas,” Cara’s looking forward to spending Christmas alone until she learns her old–and she believes very gay–crush needs a place to stay. Though it soon becomes clear that while still hot, Ronan isn’t gay after all…

Holly Martin

Ella’s dreams of making a better life for her and her daughter seem further away than ever in “Iced Dreams.” But as Christmas approaches, and she wishes for a fairy godmother to wave a magic wand to fix her life, things begin to change in ways she never imagined!

K.C. Wilder 

In “The Mermaid,” Allie’s content to spend Christmas by herself at a vacant beach house to make good on a promise made to her true love lost, Jeff. Until Jeff’s gorgeous college roommate Tim crashes in on her with his own promise to keep…

Check out the Merry Chick Lit website HERE  and their Facebook page HERE 

This compilation book is available for 99 cents on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble and will soon be available in paperback:

BUY AT AMAZON

BUY AT BARNES & NOBLE

Learn about Rocking the Road for a Cure

Rocking The Road For A Cure is tickled PINK to be selected as the recipient of proceeds from your purchase of Merry Chick Lit.

We are a growing 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the New York City/Long Island area, dedicated to improving the quality of life of people undergoing the often energy-depleting and emotionally draining treatments for breast cancer.

Our name came from our founder and President, Dawn Frey, a musician, who learned through personal experience that “it takes a village” to get through the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, and not every individual has the support network they need.  Rocking The Road For A Cure provides free, in-home housekeeping, health and wellness services to restore strength and confidence, and to rebuild spiritual, emotional and physical well-being.

So, when you settle back and relax to enjoy reading Merry Chick Lit, please know that you have helped us help a breast cancer patient to also settle back and relax…and heal.

VISIT ROCKING THE ROAD FOR A CURE

I’m so excited to welcome author Chrissie Parker to my blog for the first time. She’s just penned her debut book. It’s a novella titled Integrate and it sounds intriguing. As you can see the cover is quite striking (no pun intended) and here’s a little bit about the book, too:

A battered and broken body lies in the road.  A discovery that leaves the local community gripped with fear.  Suspicion as to who killed the woman is rife. Corinne’s peaceful life is shattered by the tragic death, forcing her to struggle daily with overwhelming grief and loss. A chance meeting with a stranger helps Corinne through the hurt and pain, but can she really trust Jack?

Because Chrissie incorporated the metaphysical world into her book’s plot (which fascinates me) I’ve asked her to share with us what inspired that aspect of the book. Here’s what she had to say…

I have always been fascinated by the unexplained. Why do people choose to read their horoscope each day and live their lives according to what they learn? Why are some people convinced they have seen ghosts or claim to have them living in their houses? Why is there a continued tradition of psychic ability and practice amongst certain groups of people?

These are all interesting questions. I never really used to believe in that side of life, the ‘unexplained’ that some people insist is there and is real. ‘The unexplained’ is generally something that most people cannot see and so don’t believe in it, dismissing it as hokum or madness. I have quite an open mind, and even though there are some things I still don’t believe in, there are some things that I have encountered in the past, such as dealings with a ghost at the theatre I used to work at and other phenomena, which made me wonder if some of it could possibly be true.

When I started working on Integrate I wanted to write something that had some dark elements or elements of the unexplained. I thought about how to do this, and the idea came to me via someone I worked with in the theatre (the one with the ghost). I used to get my Tarot cards read by one of my colleagues, they weren’t always right but occasionally the odd thing did ring scarily true.  It intrigued me, so one day I bought a deck of my own and began to study them.  With the knowledge I gained, I decided that using tarot would be a great idea, both visually and descriptively. So my female protagonist Corinne became a tarot reader.

I felt it wasn’t enough though, so I gave Corinne a sister, an identical twin called Helena. I liked the idea of Corinne and Helena being close and having ‘that twin thing’ that people talk about, a close connection that no-one else seems to have unless they were born as twins. But I wanted to make it more than that.  So I gave Corinne the gift of premonition. Premonitions are usually thought of as future visions or foresight. They can be fleetingly subtle or sometimes strong, overwhelming and confusing. I have never had visions myself, but I have researched them and will admit to having encountered the strange phenomena of déjà vu. It is a strange experience, one minute you are sitting having coffee with a friend, and the next you suddenly get the feeling you have been there before and know exactly what is going to happen next, like you have seen or experienced the entire scene before. I get them often, and it can be more than a little unnerving.

I decided to expand on the idea of visions (premonition) by turning it on its head and throwing in the idea of déjà vu. Rather than seeing the future, the visions became a tool for Corinne to subconsciously reach into the past to see and learn what happened to her sister Helena. These elements push Corinne to the limit; at one point she even thinks that receiving the visions means she is going to be able to save her sister, but that would never happen. Fate always had a plan, and whatever happened, there was no way it could be changed.

I like the idea that there are elements of the unexplained out there, that some people believe they can see ghosts, or that they can predict the future from the way the cards fall or from how the tea leaves settle. But just because you think you can see the future, it shouldn’t automatically mean you get to do something about it. Sometimes it should just be about how you deal with it, the actions you choose to take from that moment on, and how you learn from what happens next. After all, if we were all meant to see the future and be able to change it, we would have been born with super powers. Wouldn’t we?

I am a sucker for ghost stories, near death experiences, psychic phenomena, and the mysteries of the Other Side, so I love when authors explore such things in their books. Thanks so much for dropping by, Chrissie, and best of luck with your book!

Thank you, Bonnie, for allowing me to guest post on your fantastic blog today!

Chrissie lives in London with her husband and is a freelance Production Coordinator working in the TV, documentary and film industry.  She is also an Author.  “Integrate” a suspense Novella, is her first release.  She is currently working on two suspense books due for release in 2014.  One is set in Egypt and the other on the Greek Island of Zakynthos.

To find out more about Chrissie visit her website www.chrissieparker.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ChrissieParkerAuthor

Twitter – @Chrissie_author

Blog – http://chrissieparker.blogspot.co.uk

Buy Integrate at Amazon US 

Buy Integrate at Amazon UK

Okay, so my third novel is taking a bit longer to write than I hoped (I hate when my books don’t write themselves!) so I decided to release a book in the interim. It’s one that I wrote a few years ago and always wanted to publish. Unfortunately, I never seemed to find the time once my first novel, Wedlocked, took off. I felt bad about ignoring this little baby of mine, so last month, when it called out to me for attention, I decided it was high time I finally shared it with the world.

And so, today I present The Fine Art of Delusional Thinking: Happiness Means Never Having to Have a Reality Check. It is a funny, satirical book that teaches readers how to delude themselves to a happier life. With the explosion of books on the subjects of creative visualization, now more often called the laws of attraction, I thought a fun little parody was in order. As I reflected on all the years I spent floating through life in a delusional haze, I knew I was the perfect person to write it. Talk about books that write themselves—this one practically did! That’s probably because during my ten-year stint in Los Angeles, I packed a wealth of wild experiences, colorful people, and nutty behavior patterns into my daily life, all of which helped to inspire this book. I think it will appeal to an awful lot of people, because aren’t we all a little delusional sometimes? Enjoy!

Have you always wished you had a glamorous career? A spouse who worships you? An awesome set of wheels? A fantabulous social life? With The Fine Art of Delusional Thinking, all these goals can be within your grasp. You’ll never again fret about your weight, your monthly bills, your love life, or your bank account. This witty and concise how-to book from best-selling author Bonnie Trachtenberg teaches you everything you’ll need to know to turn your humdrum existence into a lifestyle others will envy. So delude your way to a happy life—with help from an expert.

EXCERPT FROM THE FINE ART OF DELUSIONAL THINKING:

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF FANTASY

You can begin the journey of deluding your way to a happier life by studying and implementing the basic principles of the delusional thought process. Incorporate them into your daily life. Never stray from them lest you reap the wrath of resistance: a crude and devastating reality check.

1.      Turn a deaf ear to “practical” advice and criticism.

We all know them too well—the Naysayers. They dictate, advocate, and pontificate. They’ll beseech, belabor, and belittle you. They’re those vexing meddlers who think their all-knowing cynicism is the key to improving your life. Don’t fall prey to their prying antics. They don’t know better than you. Their advice is geared to bring you down to the depressing depths they’ve established as their own reality. They aim to burst your blissful bubble, and thereby validate their own depressing lives.

Take Jason, for instance. He always heeded the “good sense” his parents painstakingly instilled in him. When he said he wanted to be a performance artist, they sent him to law school. When he said he wanted to move to a commune and live off the land, they convinced him to get married. When he told them he wanted dogs and cats instead of children, they goaded him into starting a family.

Now he’s a miserable Capitalist who represents the privileged few, and is driven by the almighty buck. He’s beholden to his boss, his family, and his ulcer. He wonders from time to time what could have been had he developed a backbone early in life and stood up to his overbearing parents. “I used to dream about peace, love, and understanding,” Jason reflects, “now I’m lucky if I can get any sleep at all.”

And then there’s Elizabeth, a thirty-three-year-old legal secretary, who dreamed of quitting her boring job, packing up her belongings, and moving out to The Coast. She had always heard Hollywood calling her name and she wanted to claim her glamorous life before it passed her by. She didn’t have a job, an apartment, or friends out West, but she decided to follow in the footsteps of the brave pioneers and let adventure blaze the path for her.

Her family and friends urged her to come to her senses and get a grip on reality. How could she consider such an impulsive move without any definitive plan? They lectured and badgered, but they couldn’t convince her she was making the biggest mistake of her life. They tried to scare her, to shame her, and even to mock her “silly notions,” but Elizabeth managed to hold a tenuous grip on her dream.

When all else failed, the group got together and performed an intervention. They cornered her, locked her in her room, and pestered her until she finally broke. Anxiety and fear overtook poor Elizabeth and drove her back to her crappy job, her head hung in shame.

“I hated my job before my family and friends convinced me it was the path I was meant to take,” says Elizabeth. “Now I hate my family and friends.”

Don’t let anyone break you! The next time you are confronted with harsh opinions and admonitions that declare your blissful outlook to be naïve or preposterous, stare blankly at your accuser and IGNORE EVERY WORD. Think about other things as you drown out their negativity. Imagine the Publishers Clearing House people have just knocked on your door with your check and some colorful balloons. Daydream about the moment Martin Scorsese spots you having lunch in a downtown eatery and begs you to star in his next film. These images, and others like them, will help muffle the irksome voices that strive to destroy your delusional pleasures.

Find out my other four fundamentals of fantasy and much more HERE!

BUY The Fine Art of Delusional Thinking for ONLY 99 cents at AMAZON

BUY The Fine Art of Delusional Thinking for ONLY 99 cents at BARNES & NOBLE

I recently introduced a new book by my friend and colleague, YA author Andrea Buginsky. It’s called Destiny. I’m thrilled to have Andrea back to tell us what it was that inspired her to write the book. Welcome back, Andrea!

Thanks, Bonnie! The idea for Destiny came from my love of updates to the King Arthur story. I love the newer movies, such as First Night and Avalon High. But my favorite is Mists of Avalon. This is the only version I’ve seen that focuses primarily on the women of Avalon. I loved the story lines of these women. And so, I was inspired to create my own.

I decided I wanted to create my Avalon in the present time, not the past. So, I came up with a plan to do so, using a modern young girl who struggled to fit in to portray my story. Elena is very near and dear to my heart. She reminds me a lot of me… Writing her character gave me a lot of insight into myself. When she learned of her destiny in the story, I could almost feel exactly what she was feeling. It was very easy to write about her, and develop her character.

Of course, there were times when Elena took me by complete surprise and showed me parts of herself that I wasn’t aware of. But that’s my favorite part of writing: when the characters take over. I ended up totally reworking the plot of the story, and that gave me the ability to create something bigger than I imagined at first: a new series. And several additional characters to go along with the series. I loved getting to know these girls and am looking forward to learning even more about them in future books of the series.

Part of my inspiration for creating these additional characters is the friendship I got to develop between them. I love storylines with a group of friends who are inseparable. I’ve had wonderful friends in my life, some of which are still in my life, and I want to continue to portray that kind of bond in my books. Since I write for teenagers, I feel they too will understand the need for this connection. It’s something I hope each of them has in their own lives.

Destiny is very near and dear to my heart. The inspiration behind it comes from so many places, both inside me and in the wonderful creative world we live in. I truly hope my readers will embrace it as one of their favorites. I know it’s one of mine.

It sounds like a wonderful fantasy! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Andrea! And readers, don’t forget to enter Andrea’s rafflecopter giveaway and check out the other stops on her blog tour, below!

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Andrea Buginsky is a freelance writer and author living in Overland Park. “The Chosen,” a middle-grade fantasy novelette, was her first book, and was followed by “My Open Heart,” an autobiography about growing up with heart disease. “Nature’s Unbalance” is the second story in THE CHOSEN series. Andrea is currently working on her new YA fantasy series, “New Avalon.” To learn more about Andrea, visit her on her website.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/Andrea.Buginsky.Author

Twitter: @andreabuginsky

Google+ https://plus.google.com/#117234398007434496419/posts

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/andipandi10/

TO GET YOUR COPY OF DESTINY, CLICK HERE

I’m very happy to welcome author Carolyn Ridder Aspenson to my blog. This is her first visit, and she’s here to introduce her new book, Unfinished Business. As you can see, the cover is beautiful! Here’s much more about the book including an excerpt. Also, don’t forget to enter the rafflecopter to win a FREE copy!

Unfinished Business

An Angela Panther Novel

By

Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

________________________________________________________________________

Sometimes the dead need our help and sometimes, we need theirs

ANGELA PANTHER HAS A PERFECT LIFE:  A lovely home, an attentive, successful husband, two reasonably behaved children, a devoted dog and a lot of coffee and cupcakes. But while her life might border on mundane, she’s got it under control. Until her mother, Fran dies-and returns as a ghost. It seems Fran’s got some unfinished business and she’s determined to get it done.

Now Fran’s got some nifty celestial superpowers and isn’t opposed to using them to levy a little ghostly retribution on her granddaughter’s frienemies and even her own daughter, which doesn’t make Angela happy.

While Angela’s shocked and grateful to have her mother back, she’s not thrilled about the portal to the afterlife Fran opened upon her return. Now every ghost in town is knockin’ on Angela’s psychic door, looking for help-and it’s a royal pain in the butt.

Now Angela’s got to find a way to balance her family life with her new gift and keep her mother in line. And it’s a lot for one woman to handle.

________________________________________________________________________

Carolyn Ridder Aspenson tackles, with comic cleverness, the serious subjects of mother-daughter relationships, death and raising teenagers in this smart, funny take on the love of family and the uncontrollable paths our lives take.

“It’s about ghosts, the love of family, the never-ending love of mothers and daughters…add some humor and it’s the perfect combination of adult/chick- lit/paranormal (all in one book).” – The Book Trollop

“Aspenson hits the ground running with her debut novel and carries the reader along on a rollicking adventure highlighting both the joys and conflicts of mother-daughter relationships.” – Katrina Rasbold

READ AN EXCERPT FROM UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

The air in the room felt frigid and sent a chill deep into my bones. Searching for comfort, I lay on the rented hospice bed, closed my eyes, and snuggled under Ma’s floral print quilt. I breathed in her scent, a mixture of Dove soap, Calvin Klein Eternity perfume and stale cigarettes. The stench of death lingered in the air, trying hard to take over my senses, but I refused to let it in. Death may have taken my mother, but not her smell. Not yet.

“You little thief, I know what you did now.”

I opened my eyes and searched the room, but other than my Pit Bull, Greyhound mix Gracie, and me, it was empty. Gracie sensed my ever so slight movement, and laid her head back down. I saw my breath, which wouldn’t have been a big deal except it was May, in Georgia. I closed my eyes again.

“I know you can hear me, Angela. Don’t you ignore me.”

I opened my eyes again. “Ma?”

Floating next to the bed, in the same blue nightgown she had on when she died, was my mother, or more likely, some grief induced image of her.

“Ma?” I laughed out loud. “What am I saying? It’s not you. You’re dead.”

The grief induced image spoke. “Of course I’m dead, Angela, but I told you if I could, I’d come back. And I can so, tada, here I am.”

The image floated up in the air, twirled around in a few circles and floated back down.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to right my brain or maybe shake loose the crazy, but it was pointless because when I opened my eyes again, the talking image of my mother was still there.

“Oh good grief, stop it. It’s not your head messing with you, Angela. It’s me, your Ma. Now sit up and listen to me. This is important.”

As children we’re conditioned to respond to our parents when they speak to us. We forget it as teenagers, but somewhere between twenty and the birth of our first child, we start acknowledging them again, maybe even believing some of what they tell us. Apparently it was no different when you imagined their ghost speaking to you, too. Crazy maybe, but no different.

I rubbed my eyes. “This is a dream, so I might as well go with it.”

I sat up, straightened my back, plastered a big ol’ smile on my face, because it was a dream and I could be happy the day my mom died in a dream and said, “Hi Ma, how are you?”

“You ate my damn Hershey bars.”

“Hershey bars? I dream about my dead mother and she talks about Hershey bars. What is that?”

“Don’t you act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, Angela.”

“But I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ma.” I shook my head again and thought for sure I was bonkers, talking to an imaginary Ma.

“Oh for the love of God, Angela, my Hershey bars. The ones I hid in the back of my closet.”

Oh. Those Hershey bars, from like, twenty years ago, at least. The ones I did eat.

“How do you know it was me that ate your Hershey bars? That was over twenty years ago.”

The apparition smirked. “I don’t know how I know, actually. I just do. I know about all of the stuff you did, and your brothers too. It’s all in here now.” She pointed to her slightly transparent head.

She floated up to the ceiling, spun in a circle, and slowly floated back down. “And look, I’m floating. Bet you wish you could do that, don’t you, Angela? You know, I’d sit but I tried that before and fell right through to the damn basement. And let me tell you, that was not fun. It was creepy, and it scared the crap outta me. And oh, Madone, the dust between your two floors! Good Lord, it was nasty. You need to clean that. No wonder Emily’s always got a snotty nose. She’s allergic.”

“Emily does not always have a snotty nose.” She actually did but I wasn’t going to let Ma have that one.

The apparition started to say something, then scrutinized the bed. “Ah, Madone, that mattress. That was the most uncomfortable thing I ever slept on, but don’t get me started on that. That’s a conversation for another time.”

Another time?

“And I hated that chair.” She pointed to the one next to the bed. “You should have brought my chair up here instead. I was dying and you wanted me to sit in that chair? What with that uncomfortable bed and ugly chair, my back was killing me.” She smiled at her own joke, but I sat there stunned, and watched the apparition’s lips move, my own mouth gaping, as I tried to get my mind and my eyes to agree on what floated in front of me.

“Ah, Madone. Stop looking at me like that, Angela Frances Palanca. You act like you’ve never seen a ghost.”

“Ma, I haven’t ever seen a ghost, and my name is Angela Panther, not Palanca. You know that.” My mother always called me Angela Palanca, and it drove both my father and me batty. She said I was the closest thing to a true Italian she could create, and felt I deserved the honor of an Italian last name. She never liked Richter, my maiden name, because she said it was too damned German.

“And that recliner of yours was falling apart. I was afraid you’d hurt yourself in it. Besides, it was ugly, and I was sort of embarrassed to put it in the dining room.” I shook my head again. “And you’re not real, you’re in my head. I watched them take your body away, and I know for a fact you weren’t breathing, because I checked.”

Realizing that I was actually having a discussion with someone who could not possibly be real, I pinched myself to wake up from what was clearly some kind of whacked-out dream.

“Stop that, you know you bruise easily. You don’t want to look like a battered wife at my funeral, do you?”

Funeral? I had no intention of talking about my mother’s funeral with a figment of my imagination. I sat for a minute, speechless, which for me was a huge challenge.

“They almost dropped you on the driveway, you know.” I giggled, and then realized what I was doing, and immediately felt guilty, for a second.

Ma scrunched her eyebrows and frowned. “I know. I saw that. You’d think they’d be more careful with my body, what with you standing there and all. There you were, my daughter, watching them take away my lifeless, battered body, and I almost went flying off that cart. I wanted to give them a what for, and believe me, I tried, but I felt strange, all dizzy and lightheaded. Sort of like that time I had those lemon drop drinks at your brother’s wedding. You know, the ones in those little glasses? Ah, that was a fun night. I haven’t danced like that in years. I could have done without the throwing up the next day, though, that’s for sure.”

Lifeless, battered body? What a dramatic apparition I’d imagined.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes and considered pinching myself again, but decided the figment was right, I didn’t want to be all bruised for the funeral.

There I sat, in the middle of the night, feeling wide awake, but clearly dreaming. I considered telling her to stay on topic, seeing as dreams didn’t last very long, and maybe my subconscious needed my dream to process her death but I didn’t. “This is just a dream.” I tried to convince myself the apparition wasn’t real.

She threw her hands up in the air. “Again with the dreaming. It’s not a dream, Angela. You’re awake, and I’m here, in the flesh.” She held her transparent hand up and examined it. “Okay, so not exactly in the flesh, but you know what I mean.”

This wasn’t my mother, I knew this, because my mother died today, in my house, in this bed, in a dining room turned bedroom. I was there. I watched it happen. She had lung cancer, or, as she liked to call it, the big C. And today, as her body slowly shut down, and her mind floated in and out of consciousness, I talked to her. I told her everything I lacked the courage to say before, when she could talk back and acknowledge my fear of losing her. And I kept talking as I watched her chest rise and fall, slower and slower, until it finally stilled. I talked to her as she died, and because I still had so much more to say, I kept talking for hours after her body shut down. I told her how much I loved her, how much she impacted my life. I told her how much she drove me absolutely crazy, and yet I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

So this wasn’t Ma, couldn’t possibly be. “You’re dead.”

The figment of my imagination shook her head and frowned, then moved closer, and looked me straight in the eye. I could see through her to the candelabra on the wall. Wow, it was dusty. When was it last dusted?

“Of course I’m dead, Angela. I’m a ghost.”

I shook my head, trying hard not to believe her, but I just didn’t feel like I was sleeping, so God help me, I did.

My name is Angela Panther and I see dead people. Well, one dead person, that is, and frankly, one was enough.

Unfinished Business is on sale Sept. 19 – 23 for only 99 cents. Buy it here:

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Carolyn Ridder Aspenson is the author of two novels, Unfinished Business An Angela Panther Novel and Unbreakable Bonds An Angela Panther Novel, both of the chick-lit and paranormal genres.

Carolyn wrote her first novel, Unfinished Business shortly after her mother died. She felt the need to let the world know a little about the woman who drove her absolutely crazy but loved her with intensity unknown to normal people. While some of the book is loosely based on events surrounding her mother’s death, the author swears she’ll never tell if she really did bury her mother illegally.

An avid fitness buff, Carolyn writes a monthly health and fitness column for Northside Woman Magazine. She also writes several freelance articles monthly for various Atlanta area media outlets including the Forsyth Herald, the Milton Herald, The Revue and News, The Johns Creek Herald, Countyline Magazine and many Internet publications.

www.carolynridderaspenson.com

www.facebook.com/unfinishedbusiness

www.carolynridderaspenson.com

www.twitter.com/awritingwoman

Andrea Buginsky’s latest book, Destiny, has just launched! I absolutely love the cover and the book sounds like a great read. Andrea will be back here on Sept. 29th with a guest post, but in the meantime, here’s a preview. Also, check out her blog schedule below!

Coming Soon

Constantly teased and taunted by the popular girls, Elena Baxter desperately wants to fit in. On her sweet sixteenth, she receives two shocking gifts: telekinesis and the surprising truth about her heritage. With high hopes that things will be different now, Elena returns to school to find that nothing has changed. Only this time her hurt feelings and frustration boil into something even she cannot understand.

When her powers explode, chaos ensues and she learns that her new ability is greater than she ever desired. As she learns to control her powers, Elena discovers there’s so much more to her heritage than she ever imagined.

Excerpt:

As Elena bounded back up the stairs, her mom watched, smiling, thinking about the last 16 years, and of all this next one would bring.  She knew there would be a lot of changes, more so than Elena could possibly know, and she was looking forward to every one of them.  She could hardly wait for Isabel’s arrival the next day so they could finally tell Elena the truth about who she was, and help her to blossom and start to become whom she was meant to be.

TO GET YOUR COPY NOW, CLICK HERE 

Andrea Buginsky is a freelance writer and author. “The Chosen,” a middle-grade fantasy novelette, was her first book, and was followed by “My Open Heart,” an autobiography about growing up with heart disease. “Nature’s Unbalance” is the second story in THE CHOSEN series. Andrea is currently working on another series: a YA fantasy. To learn more about Andrea, visit her on her website.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/Andrea.Buginsky.Author

Twitter: @andreabuginsky

Google+ https://plus.google.com/#117234398007434496419/posts

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/andipandi10/

Welcoming Rachelle Ayala back to my blog.  She has a new novel out (love the cover!) and it sounds great! 

Knowing Vera, a thrilling romantic suspense and cross-cultural family drama, released September 6 on Amazon.

Vera’s dating Zach, casually, not committed, when she finds out her long-departed father is the killer of Zach’s mother many years ago.

Meanwhile, Zach reevaluates his life after a tragic accident and realizes he’s falling in love with Vera.

Can their timing be so wrong? Vera knows the relationship is doomed, but she cannot resist the tugging of her heart and Zach’s panty-melting grin.

Caught in a web of family secrets and hidden agendas, Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival. A dangerous killer is on the loose, and Vera must find the truth, wherever that leads, even if it’s shocking news for Zach.

From the Author:

Vera Custodio is possibly my most favorite character. I never planned on making her a heroine, but she grew on me. In Broken Build, she first appears as the sister of a dead man, and then as the flirt enticing Dave Jewell with her pancit malabon. From there, she grew to be Maryanne Torres’ best friend in Hidden Under Her Heart. She met Zach Spencer, a playboy triathlete, and succumbed to his charms, but under her terms. Since she was a side character, she had several bad traits she had to grow out of to become a true heroine. She was a flirt, had trouble keeping her panties on, and dropped boyfriends like used nail extensions. But she was also caring, loyal, and a darn good cook. When Zach Spencer suffers a crippling injury, I knew Vera would be the perfect woman for him. But first, she has to overcome the mystery in her past and open her heart enough to trust. And that’s the theme of Knowing Vera.

So, download Knowing Vera for 99c, kick up your heels and enter my awesome Giveaway, featuring the all NEW Improved Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, a paperback, and gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My friend and colleague Emma Calin is visiting my blog for the first time and I’m very happy to have her. She has a boxed set of novelettes/short stories she’d like to share with us today. Welcome Emma!

Thank you! It’s great to be here on Bonnie’s blog to blow my own trombone for the launch of my new boxed-set the Love in a Hopeless Place Collection.

So here it is… from the heat of a sunny bandstand in July, a blast from the band to celebrate my book launch: part one of Rock-a-my-sax (can you spot me and my instrument?).

http://youtu.be/1-NrncBp7GM

(For the part 2: jump forward to tomorrow 26th July with Patricia Sands . For other tunes, e.g. The Muppets, Eidelweiss, go see the other posts in my tour below.)

The Love in a Hopeless Place Collection‚ is a set of five of my titles amalgamated into one. A bargain way for you to get your hands on my gritty tales-with-a-twist. Initially available for e-books (Kindle, iPad, Android, iPhone, Mac, PC etc on Amazon), the paperback will follow and an audiobook is in production.

The five titles in the collection are all novelettes or short stories. They stand alone in their own right but are linked by a common theme: the universal quest for survival, love, passion and respect against the gritty backdrop of working class life.

Today I would like to give you a few snippets from ESCAPE TO LOVE  a suspense/romance novelette from the collection.

A Character:

He must have been about 6’4″, a foot taller than her. His broad shoulders almost filled the doorway as he stepped out of the shadows. She let him pass. He smelled of man sweat, mud and wet clothes.

A Location:

Maria knew for herself the fear of sirens. Now a helicopter hovered over woods at the edge of the estate. On the air of deepening dusk, she caught the sound of dogs. Outside in the strange darkness there was trouble. She shuddered, feeling even more alone and glanced at the clock. Lucy had not come home from school

An end of scene sentence:

If he touched her now she would let go completely.

Escape To Love, along with all my titles, including the new 5-in-one collection is reduced to 99c/76p/89, for my Worldwide Summer Sale until the 3rd August so fill your suitcases!

USA: http://astore.amazon.com/realifaccto09-20

UK: http://astore.amazon.co.uk/realifaccto02-21 

Canada: http://astore.amazon.ca/realifaccto0b-20

Germany: http://astore.amazon.de/realifaccto0e-21

I would like to thank Bonnie for having me here as part of my ‘Blowing My Own Trombone Book Launch Blog Tour’. I will be sounding my horn at the following locations until the end of July…

17th July Anneli Purchase

18th July Love a Happy Ending Lifestyle Magazine

and Real Life According to Emma

20th July Sheryl Browne

21st July Nicky Wells

22nd July Melanie Robertson-King

25th July Bonnie Trachtenberg

26th July Patricia Sands

27th Stephanie Keys

28th Linn Halton

31st July Venture Galleries Authors Collection

About Emma Calin:

Emma Calin was born in London in 1962. She currently lives part of the year in the UK and spends the rest in France.  She has been writing since childhood and has won numerous local, national and international prizes for poetry and short stories.

Emma enjoys writing love stories firmly rooted in social realism.  She blogs about the contrasts in life on both sides of the English Channel, which she likes to explore on her tandem whenever weather and fitness coincide. She is a Lifestyle Contributor on Loveahappyending Lifestyle.

She defines herself as woman eternally pedaling between Peckham and Pigalle, in search of passion and enduring romance.

Emma Calin Links

For more books by Emma Calin:  http://www.viewAuthor.at/EmmaCalin

Emma Calin Blog: http://www.emmacalin.blogspot.com

Emma Calin Website: http://www.emmacalin.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emma.calin

Facebook Page for book: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaCalinBoxedSet

Twitter:@Emma Calin

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/emmacalin/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4915751.Emma_Calin

I’m happy to have my friend and author Andrea Buginsky back on my blog to share her new edition of The Chosen and an excerpt from the book. First, here is its beautiful new cover…

Now here’s more about the book…

Expanded to include even more action, romance, and adventure!

The Chosen has been revised and expanded to give it a more polished look. You’ll love all of the new additions, including:

• Two new characters essential to The Chosen
• A light romance story
• More action scenes

All of this topped off with a beautiful brand new cover.

Synopsis:

Halli is a shy, young dwarf who has no idea of her true calling. When the evil Prince Gastle sets out to detroy the world of Phantasma, Queen Laurali of the Elves comes to tell Halli she’s a Holy Paladin with the power to heal, and will join The Chosen, a group of brave warriors being sent to defeat the evil beast and save Phantasma. Will Halli be accepted by her group, and be able to keep them alive through their adventures? Will the evil Prince Gastle be defeated, freeing Phantasma from his destruction? Only time will tell.

Excerpt:

“Halli, you have a wonderful calling.  You are a Holy Paladin, with powers that can heal the sick, and even raise the dead in certain cases.  Holy Paladins are very rare, and very coveted.  To protect you, we agreed to come to Drumple to live with the other dwarves, so we could blend in, and appear to be no different than them.  We all planned on telling you of your calling when you were done with school, but as Queen Laurali has said, Prince Gastle’s attacks have made the day we tell you come sooner than we anticipated.”

Halli sat staring at her mother as she heard the tale.  She knew all about The Castle of the Elves, it’s subjects, Priestesses and Holy Paladins from her studies and readings.  She grew up hearing stories about them all.  She absorbed everything she could find and read about them.  It was as though somewhere inside her, she knew she was a part of it all.  But hearing what her mother was telling her was surreal.  She started to shake her head.

“This can’t be,” she whispered.  “You can’t be serious.  How can I possibly be what you say I am?  You know me, Mom.  I’m not strong and powerful.  I’m shy, I’m quiet, I like to be alone and not surrounded by a lot of people.  I have problems facing confrontations, and do everything I can to avoid them.”

Queen Laurali smiled at Halli’s description of herself.

“Halli, everything you just said are the classic traits of Holy Paladins, from a certain point of view.  They don’t get involved in conflicts themselves, but rather keep those that are involved alive from a distance.  They don’t get directly involved in confrontations and arguments.  They think things through and come up with solutions that will work for everyone.  In essence, they keep the peace within the groups with which they’re involved.  From a distance, this can make them seem quiet and shy, but anyone who knows them knows it is their quiet ways that keep this peace.”

Halli stared at Queen Laurali as she listened to her, and again began to shake her head.

“I don’t think that’s how I am.  I am shy, I do avoid confrontation.  And even if what you’re saying is true, how can I possibly do anything to help the fight against Prince Gastle?  I’m just a student!”

“Halli, this is your destiny,” Queen Laurali assured her.  “This is what you’re meant to do.  I know it’s a shock to hear all of this, but it’s your birthright.”

Available at Amazon and Smashwords

Andrea Buginsky is a freelance writer and author. “The Chosen” was her first book, and was followed by “My Open Heart,” an autobiography about growing up with heart disease. “Nature’s Unbalance” is the second story in THE CHOSEN series. Andrea plans to write more in the series. She’s already done with the first draft of book 3 and has a concept for book 4. You can find Andrea on her website, Andi’s Realm. Her books are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Remember to sign up for Andrea’s newsletter to stay up-to-date on all of her exciting events.

Today I’m welcoming author Lawrence Fisher to my blog. Lawrence has written a book that sounds hilarious, called Kill Me Now! I’ve added it to my TBR list and after checking out the excerpt below, you may want to also!

First, a little bit about the book…

Kill Me Now! is about Lawrence, a man in his late 40s dodging bullets deep in the dating battlefield while searching for the ONE. In Kill Me Now! Lawrence tries to decode the signals of his enigmatic opponent, often resulting in his hasty retreat. Why is she resting her head on her hand? Is she bored? Or is she interested? He finds himself in many humorous situations where he has no idea what he is doing and no idea how to maneuver through the skirmish. Trapped in the epicenter of the courting conflict, the motivating thought that sustains him is his strong belief that somewhere out there, she awaits. Join Lawrence as he painfully stumbles through the mating minefield in search for his SOULMATE while silently wishing that he was elsewhere. Be warned, you will laugh!

Now for an excerpt from Kill Me Now!

February 2: A Steep Learning Curve

No date again, woe is me! How many of us have sat at home wondering why we don’t have a date? How many of us have gone to a bar to look for a girl, found someone interesting and just froze? What should we say to her? What is a good pick up line? Questions, questions, questions! Help!

Those of us who know how to use the internet instinctively say, “Google it!” In the search tab, you type in, “how to pick up girls” and hope for the best. You then receive a plethora of websites offering you information from the best of the best. THE experts! Or so you assume. One site says there are plenty of people who are good at picking up girls, but cannot explain their art. If they cannot explain, then what good are they to us? Do they describe which girls are they trying to pick up? What kind of girls were these, real or imaginary?

One night, I decided to try a line from one of those websites. Me, myself and I, the holy trio, decided to go to a bar. A stunning brunette caught my attention as she eyed the crowd. Somehow she managed to avoid eye contact with me. I walked up to the lady, took out my iPhone, and hoped it impressed her.

I read off my iPhone, “Baby, I’m no Fred Flintstone but I can make your Bedrock.” OK, I agree with you. That is a lame line.

She leaned toward me seductively and said, “Go Google again!” Was she being rude to me or not? I still have no idea. I think she had learned the true art of diplomacy, which is the ability to tell someone to go to hell so that he actually looks forward to the trip.

It is very important to make a good first impression. The first impression is vital. It is difficult to correct a bad first impression. Oh, the pressure, the pressure. There is only one chance to do it right!

Going up to a girl at a bar saying, “What is a girl like you doing in a place like this?” will probably earn you a smirk. Not only is the line antiquated, but it seems to work only in the movies, and sometimes not even there. The only time I tried that line, the girl said it was her bar and that I should not refer to it as “such a place”.

Oh, what should I do? What should I do?

The internet provides contradicting information. What’s new? When we search for something in our field of expertise, we understand whether it sounds right or not. But if our understanding is close to zero, how can we define what is right and what is not?

Somehow I need to hone my non-existent skills. Somehow I need more practice. Somehow I need experienced friends.

Looking at my friends and hearing their stories, I wonder, does experience really help?

Oh, crap! Kill me now!

Lawrence Fisher has been out on countless dates in search of his soulmate. Like most people he has found himself in many strange situations. However, he found that he could see the humor in each situation. Lawrence is a single guy in his late 40s. He has worked in computers and education for about 25 years and also holds a personal fitness trainer certification. He currently lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. Lawrence Fisher spends his days writing software tutorials and his nights in the endless search for the ONE. Will he find her? Or will there be book two out?

Buy Kill Me Now! at Amazon US

Buy Kill Me Now! at Amazon UK