Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

Happy Christmas to all. As a gift, how about a very fun, heartwarming holiday movie rec? It's a film I'd not heard of until my lovely Brit sister passed the DVD to me yesterday. Last night I watched with my little family, and we give it an enthusiastic Eight Thumbs Up: Click image for a preview May peace be in your heart and on your lips and all around you.  See ya next year, cheeky monkeys. ;)

It’s Embrace ’s Book Birthday and to celebrate the success of her debut novel Cherie Colyer is giving away a copy of her book plus swag. Before we get to that, here is a brief excerpt and some information about Embrace . “I’m beginning to realize I’d do whatever it took to keep someone I care about safe—expose what I am, harness my anger, let my darker side take over. That’s one promise I know I can make without regret.” […] I was about to protest when he then asked, “What about you? Just what are your feelings toward me?” I must have hesitated because he laughed, light and warm, yet there was a bitter edge to it. “I just told you I’d embrace the dark to protect you, and you still can’t open up to me?” Embrace by Cherie Colyer From Omnific Publishing How far would you go to save the people you love? Synopsis: Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of he...

What better way to celebrate An Unexpected Journey coming to the big screen than with a Hobbit Blogfest , hosted by Tyrean Martinson and M. Pax ? Here are my answers to these very hobbitty questions: What is your favorite hobbit characteristic/or the one that you think closely resembles you . . .? Hairy feet.  Just kidding!! Blech! I like to think that I have the loyalty of Samwise Gamgee. If you could choose between a scrumptious second breakfast and a perilous unexpected journey – which would you prefer? I'm getting better at it, but I'm still not comfortable with anything unexpected, so I'll take that second breakfast, please.  Have you ever left behind something on a journey (expected or unexpected) and wished you could have it over and over again? (a pocket handkerchief?) Oh yes. I still occasionally think about the camera I left behind in a Denny's during a family trip out west. We must've been pretty far away by the time I realized,...

Look who's arrived at the second-to-last question for The Next Big Thing : 9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? As I'm sure you all know, there's a difference between being inspired with a story idea and being inspired to invest the months and months it takes to write the thing out. We covered the inspiration behind the idea for Divine Temptation  in my answer to question #2 , but the credit for the inspiration to actually write it goes to my very good friend, the pre-reader I mentioned in my answer about first drafts . The idea for the story was born before I knew him, but through his curiosity about this story in particular (he's also currently working on a very different kind of angel story) and his persistent interest in seeing more and more of my writing, he made me want to put this one into words. And he was there every step of the way to encourage me to continue until it was finished. Ya might say he's rather like my real life angel. Spe...

Today's the day we make this kind and generous soul squirm.  But I'm not the evil one---it was all Mark “The Madman” Koopman,   “ Marvelous” Morgan Shamy,   Stephen “Breakthrough” Tremp &   David “Kingpin” Powers King's   idea. Let's get to this, shall we? What does Alex look like? I'm not sure why, but I'm betting heavy on mustache.  Who could play Alex in a documentary? Lenny Kravitz. With a mustache, of course. Who does Alex remind you of? Santa Claus. Flash Fiction: The  Ninja  crouches. He is alone, but far from lonely, for he's accompanied by the imagined classical  guitar  riff that he mentally jams to while biding his time. Waiting. Watching. There it is! He leaps into the  Cosbolt  and speeds to his target. As always, the spacecraft is first on the scene—comments are still at zero. “Not for long,” he murmurs, his mustache twitching ever so slightly. He delivers a witty one-liner, maneuve...

Whether you're having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit or are already fully Kris-Kringlefied, Kate Evangelista 's blog is a great place to be. Since December 1, she's been posting Christmas-themed guest posts, and each one includes a giveaway! It's a marvelous way to stoke your festive fires in the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve---and you could end up with a whole bunch of gifts before Santa even makes his way down your chimney.  My post is up at Kate's today, so please stop by to learn of the top 5 things on my Christmas wishlist.    What's at the top of your list? 

If you're here for IWSG, you can find that post below, and on your way down, you just might want to check out this super awesome Kindle Giveaway.  THREE Kindles, actually---each loaded up with a collection of Omnific Publishing books:   Season of Sweetness ( YA Collection) , Haunted Holidays ( Paranormal Collection) and Holiday Hotness ( Adult Contemporary Collection) . Be sure to stop by the Omnific Publishing Blog for holiday-themed posts by the authors, a new one each day of the giveaway.  I made an 80s Christmas Mix for the occasion. a Rafflecopter giveaway Here are two authors featured in the Holiday Hotness Kindle--me with Marian Vere at the book signing for her debut novel, Once Upon a Second Chance , a modern day retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. 

I'm multi-tasking today and at the end of this post you'll get cookies!  First up is the monthly meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group , brainchild of Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh, whom we'll incidentally be roasting...I mean honoring... next week during the Cheers Cavanaugh Blogfest  (brainchild of  Mark Koopman,   Morgan Shamy,   Stephen Tremp,  and  David Powers King) . Is not too late to get in on the fun. My next  The Next Big Thing question conveniently ties in w/ an insecurity, or really, more of a frustration:  #8  What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I don't understand this question.  Don't we write because we have stories in us that no one else is telling?  So how then, am I supposed to identify a book that mine is like? If I'd found one like it, I would've just read that one instead of writing this one and saved myself a whole lot of time and trouble. But when something's...

Whoops, sorta got swept away in various blog hops & parties and the business of my non-e life and haven't answered a Next Big Thing question in a while. But I'm back at it and will continue to answer at least one a week until I've finally stuck a fork in this thing. As a refresher, I'm answering these questions in relation to my upcoming novel, Divine Temptation , scheduled for release in early 2013. 7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 6 months.  This story had been playing in my head for years, since well before Three Daves was ever published, but as you can gather from the opening paragraph of this post, I'm easily distracted, and so it took me a year and a half to recover from my squirreliness with the first novel and get serious about writing the second one. When I decided it was time, I wrote a rough outline of the sequence of events and set a goal of writing out one chapter every weekend. The deal I made with m...

I just love it when authors get creative with their release parties, and that's exactly what M. Pax has done with her latest release,   The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear . She's celebrating with a jousting tournament and contest at  www.mpaxauthor.com . Cheer for the knights to help them win the grand prize, and you’ll be put in a drawing to win an ebook copy of  The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear . Five will be given away. Huzzah! Let the Jousting begin! A New Adult Urban Fantasy, The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear is the first book in a new series. And it’s now out! The main character, Hetty, is a twenty-two-year-old, stumbling about in an effort to become a full-fledged adult. She struggles with self-esteem, weight, relationships, and making the transition between college and the real world. Graduation from community college isn’t the magic elixir Hetty Locklear counts on for becoming an adult. Her parents, who work the Renaissance fair circuit...

Thank you Alex , for this monthly opportunity to share our woes and garner much encouragement.  Hey!  I haven't told you yet, Big Al, but I mentioned you and IWSG in my interview in Insatiable Magazine . :) My post this month builds off something I read in an earlier IWSG post by Allison over at Geek Banter: Why I Like Scrivener . I'd not heard of Scrivener before and was intrigued by Allison's account of how the writing software eased organization and navigation through manuscripts and manuscript-related documents. I've downloaded the program and am finding it to be a delightful way to get organized for my impending book release. With my first novel, I had no idea what I was doing marketing-wise. When it was released to the world I was like...I was going to say a deer in the headlights, but that's not quite right.  I was more like a squirrel who jumps impetuously into the middle of the road and upon realizing he's in over his head, darts back and forth t...

Today Tara Tyler and Vikki are giving us an opportunity to thank our especially special readers in this lovely pre-Thanksgiving hop.  The best thing anyone can do for a writer is to read what they've written; therefore, I'm grateful to anyone who's ever read anything I've ever written. And I'm especially grateful to those readers who take the time to let me know what they think, whether in person, through a private e-mail or in a public review at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, a blog, or all of the above.  Life is busy, and sometimes the simplest things are the first ones to get brushed aside (don't I know it) so whether someone puts together a multi-paragraphed, thorough review or types out a couple sentences highlighting their overall thoughts on the story, I appreciate it so very much.  One particular person I need to thank is someone who's real name I don't even know.  I only know her as ILoveNeville over at harrypotterfanfict...

First up, congratulations to these 5 winners of a Three Daves eBook from the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop! Thank you,thank you to everyone who played along. a Rafflecopter giveaway Next up, I've been tagged by Jennifer Lane in U Got the Look (tell me you're not singing  THIS  in your head right now).  This is how it works: take your current manuscript, search for the word “look,” and post the surrounding paragraphs. Lastly, tag 5 blogging authors.  Ready?  Here's my first instance of "look" in my upcoming novel, Divine Temptation .  Maggie researched private schools in the area and presented the list to Carl. Although she and her ex--husband had attended Sunday Mass often enough to look respectable and dutifully fostered their children through the sacraments, Carl seemed surprised to see mostly Catholic schools on the list. “You do realize that divorced parents are going to be more a rarity at a parochial school than a public one, don’t you?” he...

Welcome to Monstrous Monday, hosted by Tim Brannan at The Other Side blog. The rules to this one are simple: talk about monsters. For my post, I've decided to tell you about the first monster to ever make me legitimately scared to walk outside at night...eh, daytime too if I'm being honest. I was pretty young when I met this monster, young enough that I don't remember exactly how young, but I'm going to guess about 7ish. I'm fuzzy on memories from that age, but this one is fairly sharp. My family and I were visiting our old neighbors, the Taylors, at their new house in Hanover Park. We sat as a group in their family room watching a movie on TV: Or "Son of Blob" as it was dubbed for its TV release.  My little heart started pounding the moment that woman inadvertently thawed the blob, thinking it was tomato sauce. The first victim, a fly. The second... Nooooo!!!  With each kill the blob grew, as did my conviction that my parents should'v...

That's right folks, it's here - one whole week of Spoooooktacular giveaways, hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer . Hop around this list of over 400 participants to win so many prizes, it's scary! At my place, I'm giving away an eBook of my 80s chick lit/romance novel, Three Daves , to 5 winners. To enter, all you have to do is answer the very personal and revealing question in the Rafflecopter below (tweeting, liking & following are optional but will win you extra bats in the bellfry). The answers coming in through the Rafflecopter are cracking me up!  Neon sweatshirts. Definitely. no mobile phones or internet. big hair and mullets YECH! You get the picture. Now...tell me your 80s fears... And what do you get when you cross the retro 1980s with the current zombie trend? Thriller! a Rafflecopter giveaway

To commemorate the release of Kyra Lennon's new novella, If I Let You Go , Kyra's hosting a bloghop in which we talk about our personal experiences with letting go. And to kick up the celebration a notch, today only, If I Let You Go is absolutely FREE in Kindle ! I didn't get past my 4th decade on this Earth without having had to let go of a lot of things. It's never easy, but the good news is, every heartache is given to us for a reason, to either teach us something or lead us somewhere better, even though it often doesn't feel that way at first (e.g. giant spiders in Lord of the Rings, remember ?) A change that proved pivotal for me, because it both taught me a lesson and led me to a better place, was when I had to let go of my beloved little house---the one where my babies were born, the one I Martha-Stewarted the bejeezus out of, the one I thought I'd never leave---to move my family out west.  I'm talking 1/2 hour west, practically straight down R...

Today we resume The Next Big Thing , in which I answer questions about my current work in progress .  Since I skipped last week, I'll answer two questions today. Question #4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I hesitate to answer this question.  Y'see, when I read, I like to form my own picture of a person and I don't like it when I read something after the movie's been released, because then I can only picture those actors.  So I don't want to put pre-pictures in your heads and would rather have you form your own, okay? Although...well, there is one character for whom I pictured a certain actor, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give you a peek at him.  This is Maggie's ex-husband, Carl Brock: Richard Burgi .  Recognize him?  He's been on a bunch of TV shows, including Burn Notice, Chuck, Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill, Castle, CSI: Miami, Harper's Island, NCIS, plus a bunch of shows I've n...

We talk often in the blogverse about how supportive writers are of other writers, and it's true.  We're all very blessed to have found each other.  And then there are those who take it a step further and not only cheer us on, but give us a platform in which to share our writing and receive useful feedback. One such person is D.L. Hammons, who's turned his Cruising Altitude 2.0 blog into a stage for writers---or more accurately, a fighting ring.  But it's the friendliest fighting ring you'll ever see. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday D.L. pits two anonymous writing samples of under 500 words against each other and anyone who signs up on this linky  gets to vote for the one that knocked them out.  We're also invited to offer constructive critiques of both pieces. It's a highly educational exercise just to scroll through the comments.  So what does all this have to do with the Insatiable vixen above?  Welllll, I dusted of...

Where to begin?  How about at The End ? As in today is release day of the final book in the Light Series by Jennifer DeLucy: Circle of Light Congratulations, Jennifer! This is a truly lovely series by a truly lovely person and I can't imagine anyone who appreciates a realistic romance set amidst a paranormal backdrop of lingering spirits, dark astrals and malevolent creatures will be disappointed.  Here's my 5 star review , but don't take just my word for it, here's what A Life Bound by Books has to say: "Her world and those that live in it are in a word, stunning." The Beginning As I said, this is the last book in the series, so if you haven't yet discovered the world DeLucy has created you now have a great opportunity to get started because for a very limited time, the first book, Seers of Light , is available for only 99 cents in Nook and Kindle . Before the Beginning If you jump on the new release right away and buy Circl...

Welcome Insecure Writers, and much thanks to our fearless leader, Alex J. Cavannaugh (insecure, sometimes; fearful, nevah!). As my regular visitors know I've embarked on a quest for  The Next Big Thing  and am answering one question a week about my current work in progress, which happens to be in progress at a publisher . :)   I'm taking a question out of order this week because it fits perfectly with an insecurity of mine. Question #5:  What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Are you kidding me???   One sentence?  Do you have any idea how long I struggled to reduce the thing into a 2-5 page synopsis?  And a 2-3 paragraph summary for the query? And even after all my work, I'm pretty sure the only reason that drivel made it beyond the acquisition editor's wastebasket is because I already had a relationship with the publisher. So there it is, my insecurity: I suck at hooks and blurbs.  With a new book coming out---one I'm tru...

Welcome to Blogfest 2012, hosted by A Journey of Books .  It's all about hopping from blog to blog to widen your circle and WIN PRIZES! Since September is Back-to-School month, I though it would be appropriate to help you build your library - the prize at my place is a collection of Omnific eBooks by authors whom I've featured here: Contemporary Romance: Indivisible by Jessica McQuinn Three Daves  by Yours Truly With Good Behavior by Jennifer Lane Paranormal Romance: Seers of Light by Jennifer DeLucy The Guardian's Wildchild by Feather Stone Young Adult Paranormal Romance: Breaking Point by Jess Bowen To enter to win the collection, simply take the one-question "Pop Quiz" in the Rafflecopter below (the tweeting & following are optional but will earn you extra credit). a Rafflecopter giveaway Now, to keep this blogfest moving, please visit these awesome blogsters who are also hosting giveaways: Kelly's Lucky Y...

This is the third installment of The Next Big Thing.  To see what it's all about, see my first post on TNBT and let me know if you're in so that I can link to you on my future posts. My answers pertain to my upcoming novel Divine Temptation , to be released by Omnific Publishing in early 2013.  (This week I'm posting on Wednesday instead of Thursday because tomorrow I'll be getting ready for Blogfest 2012 .) Question #3:  What genre does your book fall under? Paranormal Romance.   Also, I think Women's Fiction would apply. Christian Lit is pushing it (as I don't believe in fading to black ), but the story does have Biblical elements.  It's slightly Suspense too. This is a departure from the Chick Litty feel of my first novel, Three Daves . What can I say? I don't write from a marketing perspective---I write the story I want to tell and that's not going to line up neatly into a consistent genre. But as I said in the press release:  Wh...

This is the 2nd installment of THE NEXT BIG THING, a blog challenge in which we answer 10 questions about our current works in progress. The challenge was started by  Gail Baugniet , and the idea is to answer one question each week and by that point have our WIPs moved on to the next phase. I'm basing my answers on my upcoming novel, Divine Temptation (due out from Omnific Publishing in early 2013). By the end of the 10 weeks I hope to have  it through the meatiest part of the editing process. You can play along by either answering this week's question in the comments below or posting your answers at your own blog. See my first post on TNBT for the full set of questions.  Right then, ready for the second question? Where did the idea come from for the book? If I recall correctly...I was in the midst of reading too many Young Adult paranormal novels, and I thought it would be interesting to instead see how an adult woman---an experienced, mature, responsible,...

Welcome to the Genre Favorites Blogfest , hosted by the illustrious AJC .  Today we're going to fess up to our favorite genre in 3 categories plus a guilty pleasure.  Here are mine: Movies My gut answer is classic Romantic Comedy,  like When Harry Met Sally , Four Weddings and a Funeral , and Notting Hill . But if we consult my favorite movies ever: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pirates of the Caribbean (all of them), and Star Wars IV,V & VI , we can't ignore my thirst for Adventure .   Music Come on, who are you talking to here?  The answer to that would be 80s Alternative , like the Cure, Madness, INXS, The Clash, REM, etc, etc. etc, though I'm liking lots of current alternative bands as well, like Stone Sour, Hollywood Undead and Egypt Central Books Fantasy , with The Hobbit , all the Harry Potters, and  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe  being among my all time favorites. But I'm also a sucker for a Classic Rom...

Cover reveals might just be my most favorite part of the whole publishing biz, and today I get to host my very first. And it's extra cool because its for the awesome YA author, Trisha Wolfe, who you might know from her debut novel earlier this year: Destiny's Fire . Right then, shall I stop babbling and show you the cover already? Fireblood: Fireblood #1 By  Trisha Wolfe Release Date: 2013 From Spencer Hill Press To save a kingdom, Zara must choose between a prince who could be the answer and a rising rebellion that threatens to take control. When Zara Dane is chosen to marry Prince Sebastian Hart, son of the man who ordered her father’s capture, Zara knows she must fight to save everything she loves from ruin. Being betrothed to the prince means a life trapped behind the towering stone walls of the Camelot-forged realm. Under the watchful eye of the prince's first knight, Sir Devlan Capra, changing her future becomes difficult. When an unlikely rebel...