Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Q&A with Ryshia Kennie!!!! (with giveaway)

1. Tell us about your newest release.
Picture 1072 England in a place called Hafne. Everything is dreary and
dry. But it is a land that echos with the sighs of all things magical.
Long ago a Norman’s hand destroyed Hafne’s peace and laid the way
for the Ancients’ curse that has left the land barren and taken the gift of immortality.

Now the Normans have returned. Vala is drawn to one man, a Norman, and torn between two worlds human and Ancient. With one chance to break the curse and immortality hanging in the balance, will Vala choose the love of a mortal man over the gift of immortality?

2. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
There wasn't an actual moment. As a child I was always penning short
stories. By the time I entered my teenage years I knew I wanted to be
a writer – I just didn’t know how to accomplish that. I do
remember when I was twelve that my English teacher praised my opening line where the character dies. Yes, even then I had a fascination with the macabre. Maybe that’s why now, except for my first book, I can’t promise that despite the fact that it’s a romance, that every character will live until the end.

3. Where do you get your information or ideas for your stories?
My ideas for my stories come out of my own interests and travels. My first book was written because of the depression era stories that seem to haunt the prairies. My second came out of a love of history and all
things medieval. And the stories that follow dabble in modern day in other countries and cultures and another love, travel.

4. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I can’t write a book without a title. The title always has to come first – it breathes life into the first lines of the story and gives me a rough compass. I didn’t know that myself until my latest story that was fumbling it’s way through the opening chapters. It wasn’t until I took another look at the title that I realized why – the title was just – wrong!

And there’s the collection of good luck charms I keep by my desk.
I’m not superstitious but I’m not taking any chances either…

5. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
I learned that a love of words, a good idea and the muse does not make a book, that there’s an apprenticeship like any other trade, where skills must be learned to create an enduring story.

6. What authors or friends influenced you in helping you become a writer?
The authors I read as a teenager influenced me the most as I think the teen years are a time when you look up to people for inspiration and guidance. That said I have to say my first influence, well before my teenage years was - Lucy M. Montgomery and Jack London and then as a teenager; Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Margaret Mitchell. Those authors solidified my intent to be a writer as their stories stuck long after the last page. There's been many authors in the years since - I wish I could list them all.


7. What does your family think about your career as a published author?
With each new book they’re excited and many have dived in and rolled up their sleeves to deliver the news as far as they can.

8. Can you tell us about what’s coming up next for you writing wise?
My next books are set in Asia where romance tangles with the undercurrents of crime. The stories travel everywhere from the Borneo jungle to Beijing and the shadow of China’s lost girls - through Burma with the scrutiny of an unforgiving military junta to Cambodia and an illicit drug trade.

******

Learn more about RyshiaKennie by visiting http://www.ryshiakennie.com/  Ring of Fire is available from Black Lyon Publishing.

Ryshia is giving away a copy of Ring of Fire to one lucky winner. Got a question? Ask away!

Falcon's Prey winner is....

...Karen H from NC wins the copy of Falcon's Prey by Penny Jordan!  Congrats and please email me at pattifischer@yahoo.com with your snail mail address. :)

Chat with Robin Owens Wed 11/25/09!


Robin D Owens chats at Romance Reviews Today!!!!

Date: Wednesday November 25, 2009
Time: 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm (eastern time)

Location: http://client0.addonchat.com/sc.php?id=102122
Notes: Author Robin D. Owens joins us to discuss her book, HEART CHANGE. Door prize: Two lucky winners will win their Choice of Book (including HEART CHANGE) and one lucky winner will receive a full set of the Summoning books! Moderated by CrazyMo.

Learn more about Robin at her website http://www.robinowens.com/

Monday, November 23, 2009

Guest Blogger: Disappearing Act by Laura Griffin


(UNTRACEABLE is available from Pocket Star, Nov. 24, 2009 and will be in most bookstores)


Have you ever wanted to disappear? If your home is filled with visiting relatives this holiday, maybe you can understand this impulse. But I’m not talking about just taking a few hours off, I’m talking about really disappearing--vanishing from your life and starting over somewhere.

The heroine of my latest romantic suspense novel, UNTRACEABLE, makes people disappear. Her name is Alex Lovell, and she’s made a niche business for herself helping women whose lives are in danger drop off the radar. When one of her clients goes missing for real, Alex turns to sexy, cynical homicide cop Nathan Devereaux to help uncover the truth. When he finally agrees to launch a murder investigation, their adventure--and their romance--takes a dangerous turn.

Writing UNTRACEABLE was fun--almost as fun researching Alex’s unique profession. Who knew helping people get lost would be so difficult? Turns out, it is. We leave digital tracks everywhere, so disappearing from your life and starting over someplace isn’t just about changing your appearance, but dramatically changing your lifestyle, too.

UNTRACEABLE hits bookshelves this week, and I’m celebrating by giving away autographed books and gift cards just in time for the holidays! For a chance to win a signed copy of UNTRACEABLE and a $20 gift card to Starbucks, just drop me a line at laura@lauragriffin.com. Put “Romance Reviews Today” in the subject line, and I’ll enter you in the drawing.

Happy holidays and happy reading!
Laura Griffin

Book Giveaway: Falcon's Prey by Penny Jordan


FALCON'S PREY - Penny Jordan
Part of Harlequin's Famous Firsts
This is a reissue, originally published in 1981

Blurb:

Englishwoman Felicia Gordon should be floating on air. After all, she's engaged to a man who is kind, charming, considerate…. But he doesn't inspire the least amount of passion in her blood.

It isn't until Felicia flies to Kuwait to meet her fiancĂ©'s family that she finds the electricity she's been missing—in her fiancĂ©'s uncle, Sheikh Raschid al Hamid al Sabah! Raschid is hardly the "uncle" she imagined—tall, powerful, unnervingly masculine and shockingly arrogant. But beneath Raschid's contempt lies a passion that burns hotter than the desert sun, a fire Felicia never knew she craved…until now.



Question for readers (and a chance to enter to win a copy of this book)...

Do you remember the first romance novel you read? What was the title, or if you can't recall, then what was the plot?

I'll pick a winner on Wednesday night! Good luck.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

NAUGHTY BITS winner is.....

Congrats to CHERIE J who wins the copy of NAUGHTY BITS! Please email me at pattifischer@yahoo.com with your snail mail. Stay tuned for another contest on Monday!!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Spotlight Review: POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT by Shayla Black



POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT - Shayla Black The Doomsday Brethren, Book 3
Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1-416-57846-8
November 2009
Paranormal Romance


Great Britain - Present Day


While magickind does not actually have royalty, if it did, Sabelle Rion would be its princess. A powerful witch who is also the granddaughter of Merlin and a member of the Privileged class, Sabelle is also a kind, giving person who draws the admiration of many, including Isdernus (Ice) Rykard. Ice has wanted the sexy witch since the first moment he met her, but he knows that a union between them is impossible. First, because he is Deprived, the lower class of the magical Social Order, and mixing the two classes does not happen. Second, the enmity between Ice and Bram Rion, Sabelle’s brother, would be enough to prevent any relationship, even without the fact that Bram plans a mating for his sister that will strengthen his political position. That doesn’t stop Ice from wanting Sabelle, or sway him from his growing conviction that Sabelle is his mate.


With her brother laid low by a mysterious spell and Sabelle taking over his Council duties, Sabelle knows that it’s more important than ever to do her duty to both her brother and her bloodline. She’s aware that Bram would like her to mate with one of the two men who will inherit a Council seat in the future and had always planned to follow his wishes. But meeting Ice has changed things for her. She’s intrigued by the supposedly mad wizard and is more attracted to him than she has been to any other man she’s met in her eighty-five years. When the evil wizard Matthias sends his Anarki troops to her home, Ice is the one to help her and her comatose brother escape. As the magical war escalates around them, Sabelle also has to fight the attraction she feels towards the very desirable, but inappropriate Ice.


The Doomsday Brethren face a new challenge in POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT, as Matthias comes up with another devious plan. In the months since Ice joined Bram’s army, he has struggled with his hopeless desire for Sabelle, but when they are stranded virtually alone together, the temptation to Call to her becomes impossible to resist. In spite of the fact that she is an adult witch, Sabelle’s loyalty to her brother --- the only family who matters to her --- urges her to wait until he is well enough to resume his duties before making any decisions, especially one she knows he won’t like. The romance between Sabelle and Ice, and the complications due to the conflict between Ice and Bram, overshadow the fight between the Doomsday Brethren and Matthias for much of the book, but there is still plenty of action.


As the battle between good and evil is a continuing thread throughout the series, and there are a lot of things that carry through from one tale to the next, it’s helpful to read the stories in order. The latest novel in The Doomsday Brethren is as captivating as its predecessors, and the intriguing characters, caught in an impossible relationship, make POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT a book you won’t want to miss.


Jennifer Bishop