Beyond Words

I'm honored to host author, Michael Thal, on my blog today. Today marks the release of his latest novel, Koolura and the Mayans (Koolura series Book 3) which is available on Amazon . I want to wish Michael the very best of luck with his new endeavor. Blurb: Koolura is no ordinary girl. Neither is her best friend Leila. While visiting Mexico, the girls discover a device which hurtles them back in time to an early Mayan civilization. The Mayans have troubles of their own—the alien Aquari people have all but enslaved them. They need a goddess to set them free. Could Koolura be the one? Excerpt: Twelve-year-old Koolura Akopyan stood in the middle of her bedroom, staring at the open suitcase on her bed. She looked at what she had already packed. “Okay, I think I have everything. Laptop and books are in the backpack. Clothes and bridesmaid’s dress in the suitcase.” She paused and flopped onto the bed. “Gosh, I can’t believe Daddy and Terri are finally getting...

For a short time, Invisible will be available for 99 cents Lola’s not pretty. Lola’s not popular. Lola wishes she could disappear … and then one day she does just that... For seventeen-year-old Lola Savullo, life is a struggle. Born to funky parents who are more in than she could ever be, Lola’s dream of becoming a writer makes her an outsider even in her own home. Bullied and despised, Lola still has the support of her best pal Charlie and Grandma Rose. Not only is she freakishly tall,  Lola’s a big girl and when forced to wear a bathing suit at her summer job as a  camp counselor, Lola’s only escape from deep embarrassment seems to be to literally vanish. Soon after, she discovers the roots of her new  “ability”. Slowly, with Charlie’s help, Lola learns to control the new super power. The possibilities are endless. Yet power can be abused, too… Then, when tragedy strikes, Lola must summon her inner  strength, both at ho...

I'd like to welcome Erika Lindsen to my site today. Take it away, Erika... So when it came time to find an excellent topic to blog about, Jeanne told me to write about “whatever blows your skirt up.” Which got me thinking…as a female paranormal romance writer, what does blow my skirt up? First the paranormal. It seems to be a hot genre at the moment. Of course vampires (which I’ve written about: see Tyran’s Thirst) are on top. I think it has to do with the sucking of blood, the exchange of body fluids and the act being so intimate itself. All of that alone equates to one thing: sex. And as the saying goes, sex sells. Let’s hope since my second book is about vampires lol. A close second would be shifters. Now, I love a good shifter novel, but I’ve never quite understood the sexiness of them. If someone, anyone, has an idea, holler at me! Angels are also big, which I think has to do with them being so innocent. We like taking the innocence, equating to virginity, fro...

A new year is upon us, and that makes it the perfect time to evaluate ourselves and determine just what we want for ourselves in the coming year. Now’s the perfect time to look at the changes you want to make in your life, whether it’s your personal life or your professional life. If you’re looking to make changes in your personal life, such as living a healthier lifestyle, doing something that will make you happier, changing a bad habit, or starting a project that will make you feel better about yourself, now’s the best time to begin planning for it. If you’re looking to lose weight, or just start living a healthier lifestyle, begin to eat healthier and exercise more. If you’re trying to break a bad habit, do it in small steps that are easy to reach. If you’re looking to start a project that will make you feel good about yourself, check out local volunteer organizations in your neighborhood. If you’re looking to make changes in your professional life, start by determining what kind ...

It’s my pleasure to welcome Bob Stewart to my blog today. Welcome Bob :) Tell us something about yourself and how you became a writer. I studied three years for the ministry before I decided to become a heathen journalist. But the years were not wasted, the protagonist in Hidden Evil is a minister with a tragic secret. I wrote my first journalism piece my junior year in college (about the top Bible salesman in America), met this beautiful blonde and got married. I haven’t looked back since, spending my life in a career uniquely suited to my personality. I have often felt sorry for anyone who got up each day and went to the same job; putting lids on tin cans. With me, I never knew if I was going to the scene of a murder or a high society tea party or rub elbows with an electric celebrity.     I have been managing editor of three small dailies (one named the top newspaper in its category in the state by the Associated Press Managing Editors) and knocked around at big cit...

I'd like to welcome, Geoff Gander to my blog today. Take it away, Geoff... Hello everyone, I’m delighted to be here!   First off, I’d like to thank Jeanne Bannon for being so kind as to host me on her blog (yay!)   I’m excited that my first major release is out, and I appreciate every opportunity to spread the word.   I’d like to talk a little bit about myself, before treating you to a little excerpt of The Tunnelers . Growing up, I didn’t have any siblings, so whenever my friends weren’t available I just turned to the nearest book to entertain myself.   That wasn’t a problem, because there were books everywhere, about nearly everything.   The books that interested me most, however, were the ones about dinosaurs, the universe, and world history (especially if they had a lot of maps).   I remember staring at the pages, and imagining myself flying to other worlds and doing all sorts of fascinating things.   I guess you could say I got hooked on s...

Samantha wasn’t expecting what she got for Christmas this year. Her doorbell rang and there sitting on her porch was a baby in a basket. This changes her life for the good. But then something happens. The baby’s father comes for his child. How can Samantha convince him that she is the best thing for the child? This Book Previously titled: "Somebody Else's Child" Won 4th place in The Love is In The Air Contest. Hosted by Reader Jack Price: $0.99 Buy link http://www.amazon.com/A-Surprise-For-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00570IBZO/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318793422&sr=1-9 Find Lizzy: http://twitter.com/ LizzyStevens123 www.lizzystevens.blogspot.com www.lizzystevens.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lizzy-Stevens/190503464326261 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lizzy-Stevens/190503464326261#!/profile.php?id=100001030391242

I'd like to welcome Andrea Buginsky to my blog today. What is your most recent novel and if you had to sum it up in 20 or less words, what would you say? My most recent novel is The Chosen, Book 2: Nature’s Unbalance which is still on spec with my publisher. It’s about The Chosen searching their world for the cause of a shift in nature that has everyone spooked, and learning how to put a stop to it. What or who inspired you to start writing? And how long have you been writing? My own imagination, I guess. I’ve always been an avid reader, and enjoyed writing papers in school. I started thinking about writing as a career in college, and decided to try my hand at books after I graduated. What book are you reading right now? And in what format? Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster in PDF on my Kindle. Do you have any advice for other writers? And what’s the best advice that you have been given when it comes to writing? Just start. If you get stuck, take a break, and then go...

Posted on July 23, 2011 by mtmuse As I finished writing my debut novel, Lucidity , I had difficulty determining what genre the story fit into. I was stuck. It certainly didn’t meet the criteria for the traditional romance genre, nor was it an exact fit for the realm of paranormal. Eventually I was given a bit of advice and it was determined that Lucidity would be categorized as mainstream fiction containing a love story. Ah…a love story. Of course. And what exactly is that? I suppose a love story could be considered a new term for the old tragedy. True to its name, a love story must contain, well, yes, love. But it is the element of misfortune that sets apart this unique sub-genre from most romantic stories. A love story doesn’t guarantee a happy ending and yet, it is the critical component of tragedy that makes it unforgettable. Life is full of contradictions – the night versus the day, the winter cold versus the summer heat, femininity in contrast to masculinity. To recognize...

It's my pleasure to host author, Penny Estelle on my blog today. Penny, take it away! My name is Penny Estelle and I am a retired school secretary. During school and high school I never read. I thought it was a bore and I had better things to do. After I was married and had children – crawling, crying, children – I discovered escaping to other times/places was not a bore at all. As a matter of fact, it helped to keep my sanity in tact! The more I read, the more I thought, “I would not have ended that story that way! I would have...” And so I started writing on a regular electric typewriter. It was a historical/western/romance. It took five years to finish. That was approximately twenty-five years ago. I put the finished book in a box, put it in my closet, and it is still there to this day! My genre, at this point, is MG/YA. After working with kids for twenty-one years, I have a fondness for their sense of humor, actions, excuses, etc. They make me laugh. A year ago I wrote H...

Today I welcome author, Felicia Rogers to my blog. Felicia is a prolific author with many books under her belt. About Felicia Felicia Rogers, born and raised in the southern part of the United States, is a Christian wife and mother. She is just your average, ordinary woman, with a side interest - writing. For eleven years, every waking moment of her life was consumed with changing diapers, wiping noses, and kissing scrapes. But now that her children have grown and she enjoys a modicum of freedom, in addition to taking care of hearth and home, she writes! She enjoys adding a flavor of realism and humor to her all too real romance stories. For what is love without a little laughter? Welcome, Felicia...take it away How I became an author is an interesting story.   Sometimes I think it happened by chance, by accident, completely without my help.   Although if I calculate all the hours I’ve invested into my writing, I realize that’s not entirely true. About two years ago, I told m...