Merry, Merry Christmas!

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. ;)

Happy Book Birthday to Embrace

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 her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

~

To view the book trailer click here. If you’d like to curl up with Embrace today you can download the eBook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

To win a copy of Embrace, all you have to do is fill out this form. 

Find Cherie: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter 

Hobbit Blogfest & Cover Reveal

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, because my Dad would not turn the station wagon around to retrieve it. It wasn't so much the camera that I longed for, but rather the black vinyl case decorated with a single pink puffy pony sticker---it had googly eyes and everything. 

What is your Favorite part or quote from the book that you hope will be in the movie?

Confession time: I don't actually remember any details of the book. I haven't read it since the 5th grade and yet I always cite The Hobbit as one of my favorite stories from childhood (right next to Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). That's because I remember the absolute awe it evoked in me and how whenever I was away from the story, I couldn't wait to dive back in. So this is the perfect situation---I get to have my inner hobbit reawakened without being disappointed by any possible deviations from canon. 

~.~.~.~.~

And now for a cover reveal for a brand new series to immerse in...

Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn

(Book Three of the Mindjack Trilogy)
Now Available!

When your mind is a weapon, freedom comes at a price.

Congratulations to Susan on completing this very successful series of unique YA Paranormal reads. As you see by all the book cover below, she's been a busy lady. Visit Susan's website to learn more about the series and see the great reviews she's been getting---you can also ENTER TO WIN one of FIVE ecopies of the Mindjack Origins Collection.

All Mindjack stories available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and iTunes (Note Free Souls is not yet available on iTunes)

Thanks for including me in your reveal, Susan, and thanks Mary & Tyrean for the fun fest! So when will you be seeing the movie?  I've already got my tickets for Sunday in the IMAX!  I typically don't brave opening weekends, but when my favorite hobbit enthusiast happens to be my 15-year-old son and he actually wants to see the movie with his mom---in public!---I'm not going to make him wait.

More Hobbit Blogfesters:

Inspiration

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.

Speaking of inspiration...the Holidays Without Rules Kindle giveaway sponsored by Omnific Publishing inspired me to put together an 80s Christmas Mix, includes a bonus image of all Three Daves playing with their Christmas lights....

Ho, ho, ho!

One more day left to enter to win an eBook of Three Daves at Kate Evangelista's 24 Days of Guest Posts and Giveaways. 

Cheers! To Alex J. Cavanaugh

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, maneuvers around the word verification, and is off to the next post. “IWSG!!!” His infamous battle cry reverberates throughout the blogosphere. He is victorious. He is…Cavanaugh.


Bonus:
Behind every good man is an excellent woman, ergo the mystery Mrs. Cavanaugh is one terrific lady. As for “sharing” Alex...speaking as someone who's come to appreciate my husband's away time, I'm thinking it's a win-win situation. Hehe.

Read more Cheers to Alex, who makes blogging more fun for all of us.

24 Days of Guest Posts & Giveaways

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? 

Holidays Without Rules Kindles Full of Books

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. 

Insecurity Goes Well with Cookies

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 hot, people seem to just want more, more, more of the same. So although I don't understand this thirst for monotony, I'll soon have a new book to market and should probably come up with a short list of best-selling novels that I can twist into a comparison with mine. Help me out?  I'm looking for something that combines realistic, contemporary romance and women's fiction with supernatural elements and spirituality. Throw in some dark mystery too. Got anything?

Quinn's Cookie Exchange

To celebrate the release of Angela Felsted's novel, Chaste, she's hosting a cookie recipe exchange throughout December, and I'm honored to be one of the stops. Below is the beautiful book cover and intriguing blurb, then my recipe for three-ingredient shortrbread. That's right folks, only THREE ingredients.

When he steps into his physics class on the first day of senior year, Quinn Walker is too exhausted from staying up all night with his three-month-old nephew to deal with moral dilemmas. As a devout Mormon who has vowed to wait until marriage for sex, the last thing he needs is a very hot and very sexy Katarina Jackson as his physics partner. Regrettably, he has no choice.

Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’ attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.

Um, while you were reading about Angela's book, I got a sneaking feeling that I'd already shared that recipe, so I checked the Bueller...Bueller, and yep, I posted it last Christmas! Now you know: these are the only cookies I've made for, like, the last five years, ehe. But when you discover something this easy and this good, why bake anything else? They'll be the perfect thing to munch on while enjoying Angela's story.

link to Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe 

 Congratulations, Angela!!!