The Medici Protectorate, on Lisa Burton Radio #RRBC

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories


Don’t touch that dial! You’ve found the Lisa Burton Radio show. I’m Lisa the robot girl, coming at you with 1.21 jigawatts of power. Today we’re talking to an actual member of the famous Medici family.

Today’s sponsor is Mind Control, Book Two of the The Medici Protectorate, by Staci Troilo. “Welcome my special guest, Jo Notaro.”

“Hello.”

“Jo, my bio says you’re calling us from a secret Medici Protectorate compound. What can you tell us about that?”

“Not much. Not allowed to talk about where we are or it could put me and my sisters in danger. I’ve already endangered us enough. The Brotherhood, especially Vinnie, would be furious if they even knew I was talking to you.”

“Why would you need protecting?”

“An accident of birth. <sigh> We’re not supposed to talk about it, but I hardly think it’s a secret anymore, if our lives are…

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7 Ways to Enjoy the Outside While Working Inside

Yahoo Image Search

Yahoo Image Search

  1. Claim it’s ‘Send Your Child to Work’ Day.  Similar to ‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day, but you don’t show up.  This may require a little set up, so make sure the check the weather at least 3 days in advanced.  Takes a while to change all the calendars and forge an official office email.
  2. Repeatedly scratch at the walls of your cubicle.  Add some whimpers and make sure speakerphone is on, so your boss can hear that you want to go outside.  After all, they keep you sectioned off like a dog in a kennel, so you might as well act like one.  Just know where to draw the line.
  3. Keep losing your office supplies, which requires that you go down a few floors to inventory.  Just so happens that Joe down there needs to go to Staples to pick up what you need.  Even worse, both of your cars won’t start and now you have to walk the five blocks.  The things you do for post-its and paper clips.
  4. Put your chair outside with a small table for your wireless mouse and keyboard.  Move your desk against the wall, so that the computer is facing outside where you are.  Now you do work and enjoy the outdoors.  (Note:  This method is ONLY for people who work on the first floor of a building.)
  5. Paint all of the office windows black and lock the front doors.  Then swallow all of the keys.  If you can’t be outside then you don’t want to know it’s there.  Everyone else will have to take one for the team. By team, you mean you and the cackling voices inside your head.
  6. Demand a lunchtime game of Hide & Seek.  Drive home when nobody is watching and come back the next morning in the same clothes.  Ask why people stopped looking and point out that you were hiding all night.  Break down in tears and ramble about the wild animal that forced you to climb a tree for safety.  Now you have an extra day to enjoy the weather.
  7. Call in sick.  Seriously, do it and hang out in your backyard.  Don’t go anywhere that you can run into someone from work.  If need be, practice your fake coughs the night before.
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Heroes of Windemere: Delvin Cunningham

Cover art by Jason Pedersen

Cover art by Jason Pedersen

Hair– Brown
Eyes– Blue
Race– Human
Hometown– Yagervan Plains; Osprey Tribe
Career– Mercenary
Weapon(s) of Choice– Shield and Bastard Sword
Debut Book– Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune

The protege of Selenia Hamilton and the famous Mercenary Prince, Delvin Cunningham is a laid back and relaxed warrior.  Having been separated from his family as a child, he survived on the streets until taken in by Selenia.  A natural at battle tactics and a quick study at swordplay, he proves to be a valued member of the champions, especially when their enemies become more cunning in their plans.  Delvin tends to go with the flow of a situation and waits for the perfect opportunity to buck.  The exception is his immediate attraction to Nyx, which repeatedly results in him being at the wrong end of a mild wind spell.

Much like Timoran, Delvin is rather mild of temperament and personality.  He is more talkative and prone to take charge of a situation, which reveals his laid back persona is to make people underestimate him.  This is similar to his fighting style that relies heavily on blocking and countering once he sees an opening.  Many times, his skill will rise and fall to meet his opponent, which is a source of frustration for his mentor.  The only time he will overpower an enemy is if he wants to get the fight over with.  Because of this, many people refuse to believe Delvin is the Mercenary Prince.

There is a strange power within Delvin that he is only vaguely aware of.  It appears in subtle ways like never scarring or showing to be more durable than an average human.  With a blinding aura, one would expect him to be a caster, but his ability with magic is on par with an untrained child.  Being trained a warrior, he tends to think with his sword and the abilities of his companions before trying to do something that he isn’t sure he is capable of.  He does get curious about what is within him, but it depends on how much coffee he has had.

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At the Whim of Weather

Yahoo Image Search

Yahoo Image Search

One of the most difficult things about being an author is factoring in the weather.  At least for me, this can determine my energy, mood, drive, and all the other internal requirements for getting any work done.  If it’s too hot then I get lethargic.  If it’s rainy and cloudy then I get slightly depressed.  Don’t even get me started on the cold when I’m made sleepy and then it gets worse when I try to warm up, which brings me back to the first scenario.  Given how wild the last two years have been, it’s amazing that I get anything done.

I’ve become rather curious about this connection.  Is it a genetic/species reminder from when humans were wild animals?  Maybe ancient man was prone to hide during the bad weather and wait for the perfect moment to come out.  Kind of like an instinctive fear of the dark since we lack the night vision and heightened senses of nocturnal predators.  I think I’m going off topic here.  My point is that this doesn’t feel like anything I can control, especially when stressed.  Probably a reason why my more recent breaks have gone from a week or two to a month.  Coming into a project seems weather and mood dependent at times.

Another part of this might be the weather I grew up with.  Someone raised in a hot or cold or rainy region might see that as the norm.  So they won’t have any alterations in mood for what they’re used to.  Being from Long Island, NY, most of the year was temperate with summer and winter being the extremes.  This means I’m more comfortable in a more narrow range or I’m simply screwed if the wacky weather keeps up.  I used to be better at handling the cold, but 4.5 years in Florida killed my resistance.  This does mean that we can adapt if given time.  I hope.  Really want that ability to wear shorts in October back.

So, does weather have any impact on your mood and energy?

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20 Questions with Marcia Meara

Unknown's avatarDon Massenzio

626smallsToday’s installment of 20 Questions features fellow Floridian and author, Marcia Meara. Marcia fulfilled her lifelong dream to be an author and sat down to tell us about her work, her inspiration and a bit about herself.

Please enjoy this edition of 20 Questions.


Q1) When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

When I was five years old, filling yellow legal tablets with penciled poems about cowboys and horses and cats. I was going to live on the beach in a house full of cats, and write best-selling books. In fact, I went all the way to my senior year in high school, sure that was how my life would go, but my parents thought writing was impractical, and insisted I get a business diploma and a “real” job. Back in those dark ages, most of us did what our parents told us to do, and…

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#BookRelease Bad Bloods: November Rain!

Shannon A Thompson's avatarShannon A. Thompson

Bad Bloods: November Rain released TODAY!

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, Goodreads

Bad Bloods: November Rain book reviews Bad Bloods: November Rain book reviews

I cannot express how grateful I am to be here today. Bad Bloods was my first publication, but it is so much more than that. On March 16, 2003, my mother suddenly passed away from a drug overdose, and I was left with an overwhelming range of emotions to cope with. At eleven years old, I decided I would live my life doing what I wanted to do, and I began researching and writing novels. I finished the original Bad Bloods two years later, and in 2007, it was published. Now, almost a decade later, my first book is getting a second chance, and I’ve been blown away by everyone’s support. For every little girl or boy out there who has lost a parent, know…

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How Far Is Heaven by J.E. Spina #mystery #romance #asmsg

How Far is Heaven

Parker and Priscilla Wilfork are happily married with two children. Life seemed perfect and peaceful until Parker goes on a business trip and does not return. Priscilla finds her world turned upside down when she searches for answers to how and why Parker disappeared.

One night Priscilla has a dream that Parker is an angel. Does this mean that Parker is now dead? After two years and no sign of Parker except in her dreams, Priscilla makes the decision to tell her children that their father has gone to Heaven.

Priscilla tries to get their lives back together until one day Deanna disappears too. Now Priscilla must go on a quest to find her daughter before it’s too late. She fears her daughter’s disappearance might be connected in some way to her husband’s. Can Priscilla go on with her life if she loses Deanna too?

With the help of a handsome police Sergeant, Blake Furelli, they work together to try to find Deanna and solve the mystery behind Parker’s disappearance. During this trying time, Blake, who suffered a loss of his own, feels drawn to the ethereal beauty of Priscilla.

jbfacebk_edited-3

Excerpt from How Far Is Heaven

Priscilla’s thoughts were of her daughter and she could see Deanna being pulled away from her. She could hear her daughter’s cries for help. Priscilla looked around in her dream but couldn’t find Deanna. She saw a blinding white object coming toward her. It floated and blinked as it moved. She felt a kinship to this now familiar light.

The white object came closer and closer but it never touched her, but she felt calm and safe, not at all threatened. Priscilla tried to talk to the white object to ask it to help her daughter who was crying. Priscilla felt that the white object would take care of Deanna and that she shouldn’t worry about her daughter. She felt a calm presence around the white object as it hovered over and around her. It was not a dream. It was really in her room. Something touched her face fleetingly like a butterfly and then flit away. Priscilla watched in awe once again as Parker appeared in front of her and flew away on a pair of large white wings into the bright white light.

Janice Spina’s Bio

Janice SpinaJanice Spina is an award-winning author with nine children’s books, Louey the Lazy Elephant, Ricky the Rambunctious Raccoon, Jerry the Crabby Crayfish, Lamby the Lonely Lamb, Jesse the Precocious Polar Bear, Broose the Moose on the Loose, Davey & Derek Junior Detectives, Book 1 and 2, Sebastian Meets Marvin the Monkey, copy editor, blogger, and writer of poetry. Hunting Mariah is her first novel to be published under J.E. Spina. A new novel, paranormal/ mystery, How Far Is Heaven, is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Create Space.

Janice’s children’s book, Lamby the Lonely Lamb, received a Silver Medal from Mom’s Choice Awards in Picture Books Category and Davey & Derek Junior Detectives, Book 1, The Case of the Missing Cell Phone won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award in Preteen Category.

She is working on two more children’s books, Books 3 & 4 of Davey & Derek Junior Detectives Series, a mystery/romance novel, and plans to write a mystery series for girls.  Janice will eventually publish these books over this year and next.

Her logo is Jemsbooks – books for all ages! Her motto is – Reading Gives You Wings to Fly!

Janice lives in New Hampshire with her husband, John, who is also her illustrator/cover creator. Her hobbies besides writing are crocheting, exercising to keep in shape, going to the movies with her husband or out to lunch or dinner (reason for all the exercise), reading, book reviewing, blogging, traveling, hula hooping, and spending time with her five grandchildren.

Jembooks

She loves to hear from her readers and looks forward to new reviews of her books. She is a staunch supporter of fellow authors and features them on her blog. Get in touch with Janice by email jjspina@myfairpoint.net or through her blog and website.

Janice can be followed on her blog: http://jemsbooks.com

Website: http://jemsbooks.wordpress.com

Facebook links:

http://Facebook.com/Janice.spina.9

Http://Facebook.com/janicespina7

Http://Facebook.com/jespina77

Goodreads:  http://goodreads.com/user/show/17094469-Janice-Spina

LinkedIn:  http://LinkedIn.com/com/pub/Janice-spina

Pinterest:  http://Pinterest.com/janicespina

Twitter: http://twitter.com/janice_spina

Amazon Author Page http://Amazon.com/author/janicespina7

How Far Is Heaven Trailer by Chris Graham:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2gGPwyh2TugSUdDSmExeDVNYnc/view

Hunting Mariah Trailer by Chris Graham: https://youtu.be/JZTu5R-kXhM

Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Janice-Spina?store=allproducts&keyword=Janice+Spina

Cold Coffee Press: http://www.coldcoffeepress.com/janice-spina/

Moms Choice Awards http://store.momschoiceawards.com/index.php?entry_id=3571

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I Did A Thing!

Crud.  I was looking for the video of the song I heard on the Anime Pandora Station I listen to and forgot what the title referred to.  Uh . . guess I’ll put section titles and see what comes from that.

Life

It has been hot and humid here, which has slowed me to a crawl some days.  I try not to put the AC on until an hour before my son comes home from school.  Unless my dad does it first since he pays the electric bill and has the say on it.  So, there are times where I’m so overheated that I can’t write or do much other than think under the ceiling fan.  This has led to a few things coming to mind that I’ll touch on later.  Summer is a very lazy time due to the heat and my son having a shorter school schedule.  Now it’s definitely only 2 chapter sections of writing a day instead of 3.  I’m also getting up a lot earlier and diving right into email and Twitter than getting food ready for him.  So I’m exhausted by noon.

Going to see ‘Tarzan’ tomorrow because I’m curious and wouldn’t mind time away from the house.  Need it now and ‘Suicide Squad’ isn’t out for another few weeks.  Fingers crossed that I can do some writing afterwards too.  It looks like I’ll be busy the next couple of weekends too.  Birthday parties, family gatherings, and a few other things that will have me on the go.  Thankfully, the blog gets rather dead, so my not being able to access comments isn’t a bad thing.

Bedlam

As I mentioned before, I’m working on the sequel to Crossing Bedlam even though the first book still won’t sell.  Probably won’t release until next year, but it’s a low stress project that I can work on until my son goes back to school for a fuller day.  Anyway, this is slow going because I keep having to look stuff up.  This has included: oil refineries, gun silencers, exploding oxygen tanks, pelicans, the Mississippi River, riverboats, bull sharks, and Smackover, Arkansas.  At least you know which region Lloyd and Cassidy are in.  The destructive duo are still fun to write too, which is a plus.

I’m actually going to break one of my personal rules with Crossing Bedlam and mention pre-existing stuff in a few promos.  It happens a lot and I never liked it when I was writing fantasy.  Yet, a point was made that it couldn’t hurt to try.  Also, this book was heavily inspired by real life things.  Whenever I’ve said ‘Deadpool Meets Mad Max: Fury Road’, I get a good reaction.  So maybe stuff like ‘The lobotomized child of Deadpool & Fury Road’ or ‘The child of Deadpool & Fury Road who loves paint chips’.  Using ‘child’ might be a dangerous thing though.  This is foreign territory to me and I’ll admit to being a bit scared here.

Super Earth Almost Returns

For two days, I considered putting my superhero characters back into their own world.  It would be Super Earth again, which is our world with superheroes.  This changed again for a really bizarre reason.  After seeing all the hate, violence, and vitriol online and around the world, I can’t see this idea working.  Sure, Bedlam can feed off this because it can be seen as a possible, exaggerated future.  Yet, I can’t see superheroes existing or doing anything worthwhile on Earth.  That sounds incredibly apathetic, harsh, depressing, or whatever.  It’s just that I would be putting them into the real world.  Would any of this stuff be happening if Superman, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Batman, or even friggin’ Slapstick existed?  I’m starting to go on a rant, but my point is that I think they’re going to be left in Windemere.  For better or worse, so I’m going to need to comb over them and figure out how to fit all of them in.  Really hate to say that I can’t do it, but it just doesn’t work in my head right now.

For those wondering:

Slapstick from Marvel Comics

Slapstick from Marvel Comics

Windemere

According to the line graph, the sales are going great.  According to the Month-to-Date numbers, it’s going okay.  The books are definitely doing better than they were two months ago.  The cover and editing for Charms of the Feykin are moving along.  Still not 100% certain that I’ll make a September 1st release, but maybe around Labor Day.  Feel free to volunteer for the book is live post that I’ll inevitably do.  Still deciding on if I’ll do guest posts like last time since I’m burnt out on topic ideas.  If you have one then I’ll do it for the new release, but my brain is twitching.

Raven’s Game

October will see the return of Dawn Addison!  The sequel to Raven’s Hold is actually 31 sections, so it’ll be a new one every day.  Not sure if I should do any other posts that month, but I’ll have the new Windemere one out.  Maybe I’ll only do the Sunday guest posts and a few Monster Mashes with a Feykin theme.  This is going to be tough, so opinions would help here.  (Need to find a picture for this thing too.  Maybe I can find a site that has 31 haunted hotel pictures.)

Post is getting much longer than expected, so onto the list:

  1. Make goal list.  (DONE!)
  2. See Tarzan and rest.
  3. Write more Chasing Bedlam.
  4. Continue reading with son for his library program.
  5. Biking, cooking, and the usual.
  6. Tap pencil against superhero list.
  7. Test Crossing Bedlam promo ideas.
  8. Read over the outline for Path of the Traitors.  Going to be weird writing that one, especially since it’ll leave only the final book.  Crap.  I think I forgot that final title again.  The Forgotten Baron?
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#RRBC SPOTLIGHT Author, Micki Peluso!!

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories

As a member of the Rave Reviews Book Club, I occasionally get to showcase some awesome authors here. Today Micki Peluso is here to talk about her personal journey, and her book The Whippoorwill Sang. Take it away, Micki.

Facing My Fear of Public Speaking

I have always had a fear of public speaking and being the center of attention. That said, while other authors may enjoy the thought of speaking in front of strangers, for me it was about as much fun as facing a firing squad. My local Red Hat Ladies Club cajoled (forcefully pushed) me into doing a speech and book signing at a local restaurant. Panic set in as all kinds of catastrophic phenomena settled in my gut like a bag of cement.

The day arrived way too quickly but I’d gathered a few helpful hints from other writers. One told me to picture the audience…

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Meet Guest Author Dan Alatorre…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

headshot bw 2Like a lot of writers, it’s a little difficult to figure out where and when I started writing because it was always kind of there. As a kid, I drew cartoons for my older brothers. Teachers would notice my unique sense of humor. I prompted Saint Veronica’s to start a grade school paper newspaper – so I could write it – and in high school I became editor of the BHSRamble.

I could always write, so I wrote.

Then, college came and then… Then nothing happened with writing for a while. But even as I wrote reports for work, my bosses noticed that I had a very fluid and easy to understand style.

Fast forward a few years – okay, more than a few – and my wife and I had a baby on the way.

Because I was pretty active on Facebook (by way of a…

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