... Enjoying Paranormal, Urban Fantasy & All Things Romance!
Erotic romance author, Vivian Winslow, is celebrating the release of Uncovering Camila. She’s here today with Camila Cohen, the third wildflower from Vivian’s Wildflowers series. These New Adult stories explore the sometimes fun but often messy or complicated process of falling in love and opening yourself to experience love. Camila isn’t the easiest person to set-up on a date, just ask her cousin, Shoshanna, who made the mistake of fixing Camila up with the perfect date, only for Camila to ruin it. Between law school and her bartending job, she doesn’t think she has time for a relationship or to fall in love. It’s not until she meets Marshall James, that she’s forced to decide if it’s worth opening herself to not only love someone, but to receive it. Please help me welcome Vivian and Camila. When I first started bartending, I wasn’t even twenty-one. It was at some dive bar in Morningside Heights near Columbia University. I did it to supplement my work-study job at the Columbia library, which barely covered the rent on my cockroach-infested apartment on 129th and Amsterdam. The late shifts prepared me for the even later shifts I work at L to supplement the meager financial aid I received to attend New York University School of Law. New York is expensive, and I can pretty much count on spending the next twenty years of my life paying off my loans, if I manage to get a six-figure salary when I get out. In this economic environment, the odds are not in my favor. At least I have four years of bartending under my belt. In a city like New York, that’s not insignificant, especially if you work at a place like L, where the cocktails start at $20 and the clientele are eager to tip well just to prove how wealthy they are. The thing is, I know what real money looks like. My last name is Cohen, and if anyone bothered to ask, it makes me a part of one of New York’s real estate dynasties. But I’ve never seen a cent of that fortune because my father gave it up to marry my mother. Talk about setting a high bar for love. I grew up seeing money as the thing that corrupts and breeds misery. I have to confess, though, that when I close the bar at 4 a.m., I find myself occasionally thinking money might let me have a few extra...
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Today I have Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, the authors of one of my favorite series, here on the blog to celebrate the release of The Ghost Rebellion, book five in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. The series features agents Eliza Braun and Wellington Books, and their action-filled adventures. I thought it’d be fun to find out some of Eliza’s more interesting adventures that have not been highlighted in the series. Please help me welcome Pip and Tee to That’s What I’m Talking About… Eliza D Braun picks her favourite adventures not seen in the books 5. I love Paris, so when I got a chance to join my partner at that point, Harrison Thorne in a bit of investigating, I jumped at it. We were having a spot of bother with Marquise de Savoie, but the surroundings made up for it. It also happens to be one of those missed opportunity moments, but you can’t always be looking back, can you? I still love Paris. 4. Wellington and I had an unusual callout one Christmas. I am not a fan of ghosts, but they do seem to pop up around the holidays. Anyway I did get to try out some new armaments from R&D, though the old man who called us was not very pleasant. Still I would rather be on assignment with Wellington than sitting around eating Christmas pudding. 3. Don’t tell Bruce Campbell this, but he does make my list…well at least our very first case together does. It was in Melbourne one of my favourite cities in Australia. Although he isn’t my preferred agent to work with, we managed to have some fun, tracking down some House of Usher agents embedded in the city. Oh and there were trains…I love trains. 2. Back in New Zealand, woman were fighting for the right to have a vote. Naturally I was on board with that, but not everybody was. The outcome worked out in the end, but it was a bit hairy for a while. Still we had a nice car ride, and a bit of a fight in a burning building. 1. My favourite happened in Egypt actually. At first we were sent to Cairo to do some collection of records for the archives. It didn’t start off well, but through a fortuitous turn of events, we were soon investigating the mysterious ancient silver coins that were causing people to act in homicidal and suicidal ways. I...
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Today we welcome Tiffany Shand to That’s What I’m Talking About. She’s celebrating the release of Denai Bound (Excalibar Investigations Series #2, March 26, 2016) and is here sharing about her inspirations for her main character, Cate McCray. What inspired me to write my main character? I got bored of contemporary fiction when I was a teenager. My first urban fantasy novel was Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison and I absolutely loved it. I’ve always had a fascination with witches and it was nice to read about them being betrayed in a good way instead of being persecuted. I think this was probably what inspired me to start writing my own paranormal/urban fantasy novel. I’d had this character floating around my head for a long time and always knew her name was Cate McCray and that she was a witch. Reading about immortals was something I always enjoyed in paranormal novels so that inspired me too. The story went through several different incarnations before I finally settled on one idea. The idea was there would be a woman who was extremely powerful and born with a lot of authority over people. Her working in law enforcement seemed to fit with that idea. I wondered, what would this woman be like? And what kind of person would love her? She turned out to be a very strong and independent woman, feisty and she tells it like it is which is one of the things I love about her. But she always has a vulnerable side too. Excerpt: “Damn it, they must have followed us here,” Jason groaned. “What’s to stop them from destroying the temple?” she asked. “I know Devas can’t set foot on holy ground, but…” “Their power can’t destroy anything on hallowed ground,” said Emrys. “They can try, but we’re safe inside these walls.” “You’re welcome to come to Elaris with us,” Cate added. “It would be good to see the Serenity again.” “I–” Another tremor cut her off as power stirred the air. “The portal!” Emrys grinned. “Someone is trying to open it.” “They must be having trouble getting through.” Vivienne touched the wall where the large circle of Silveron stood. “Can’t you open it?” Jason prompted. “Not from this side, no,” replied Emrys. “If the Devas on their side catch them they are as good as dead.” “Devas can come and go through the old portals,” explained Vivienne. “Only the Ashralis have power over them.” “I’m half Ashrali. What...
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Amanda J. Greene is here today, celebrating the release of the Rulers of Darkness Box Set. Hi all! I’d like to start out thanking That’s What I’m Talking About for allowing me to take over one of their posts. This is one of my favorite blogs and I’m honored to be here today. So, let’s jump right in! 10 Things Reader’s Might be Surprised to Know about Me 1. One of my favorite movies of all time is the Godfather Part I. I watch it every time it’s on and love it so much so that I walked down the aisle to the Godfather Love Son rather than the traditional Bridal March. Also, when my husband and I were introduced as Mr. & Mrs. for the first time, the DJ played the Godfather Trilogy’s theme song. Hey, I’m Italian – it fits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMGE8pks9UE 2. Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss was the first true romance novel I ever read. It was one of my grandmother’s favorite romances that she allowed me to borrow. This historical is written in the true bodice ripper fashion and was originally published it 1972. Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/896623.The_Flame_and_the_Flower 3. My love of vampires started in middle school when I read my first Y/A paranormal novel but Dark Gold by Christine Feehan was the first adult paranormal romance I ever read and I was hooked. Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108385.Dark_Gold 4. I have a terrible habit of starting series on book 3. Dark Gold is the 3rd installment within the Dark series. I don’t know what it is, but the 3rd book almost never fails to capture my attention and then I have to go back and read books 1 and 2. 5. My husband and I met when we were 10. We were in the same 5th grade class and actually “went out” that year. Lol We went to different middle schools and high schools, but reconnected when he joined the military. 6. We have 2 fur babies: Kelly (cocker spaniel) and Barrette (blackmouth cur mix). We didn’t have either name picked out when we got our pups. To be honest, Kelly was supposed to be a cat. We went out with the intention of bringing home a kitty, but got a puppy instead. Her name came from a car commercial that was playing when we picked her up. Barrette wasn’t planned at all. We saw an adoption event going on and decided to stop by. He is...
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Today author Kathy Bryson returns to That’s What I’m Talking About to celebrate her latest release, Fighting Mad (Soul Mate Publishing, December 23, 2015), and to share a little about her leprechauns. A Grand Tradition Did you wear a silly hat or raise a glass of Guinness stout over St. Patrick’s Day? I did. Having written three books about leprechauns now, I love to celebrate Irish culture in all its various forms. An estimated 80 million people worldwide identify themselves as having Irish roots, so it’s a widespread culture. For example, New York, Dublin, Sydney, Montreal, and the island of Montserrat all hold St. Patrick’s Day parades. Chicago dyes the river green as part of its celebration. Since Irish immigrants spread far and wide, so did their stories. Most everyone’s heard the tale of the leprechaun and his gold or they’ve seen a movie. But the details changed in the telling! The original leprechauns were not wee, green men or worse, but warriors of ancient legend, the ‘luch-chromain’ or the sons of Lugh, the Celtic god of commerce and war. And they were not alone. The leprechauns were only part of a rich tradition populated by fairies to water-horses, from gods to shape-shifters. Clurichauns are another part of the tradition. They’re the ornery, fighting cousins of the leprechauns who shun clan loyalties, but are fierce defenders of hearth and home, especially the beer and wine cellar! But don’t think clurichauns are just harmless drunks. As with leprechauns, the clurichauns’ story is a whole trickier than it first appears! About Fighting Mad Laid off from her job at the bank, Carla turns to her friends for support only to find they’re more concerned about their jobs. The one person she can count on is local bartender Murphy, but what kind of example is he for her daughters? Having learned the hard way, Carla’s not depending on any man, even if he is cute, charming, very kind, and some kind of leprechaun? Murphy is used to sneers. Clurichauns are the redheaded stepchildren of the leprechaun world and then there are the late night throw downs at his bar. What he wants, however, is to protect the dainty, little mom who ogles him when she thinks no one’s looking. He knows she’s fighting overwhelming odds, but she’ll need more than bravery when the conflict between the King and Queen of the Fairies becomes outright civil war! Excerpt: “Honestly, Murphy, there has to be an...
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Today we welcome Rachel Dunning, who has brought with her Logan, the sexy hero from Debt. Interview with The Debt Collector “Debt Collector, welcome to Twimom. Before—” “It’s Logan.” “Logan?” “Yes.” “But everyone knows you as the Debt—” “Logan. In the cage, it’s Debt Collector. Out here, it’s Logan.” “I see. Tell us about the cage. What brought you into underground fighting?” Doesn’t answer. “Debt— I mean, Logan, you seem bashful.” Doesn’t answer. Looks around. “Are you looking for Kyla?” “Yes.” “You love her, don’t you?” Eyes flick away… Swallows. “What’s it to you?” Interviewer shifts in her seat. “OK, different topic. Are there any things about yourself you’d like to discuss?” “No.” “Logan, you understand we’re doing an interview for Twimom here, don’t you? Their readers need answers.” “At what cost?” “Excuse me?” “Everything comes at a cost. Life, living, breathing—you pay for all of it. So, at what cost?” Interviewer shifts again. “Now it is you who is uncomfortable.” Logan grins. Interviewer blushes, feels the heat climb up her cheeks. Logan’s body, his piercing eyes, everything, are now distracting her— He smiles knowingly. “Next question?” Interviewer clears her throat, feels the sweat pour down her brow, fans her blouse. “Logan, I…I…” “You’re speechless.” Interviewer is now embarrassed, totally mortified. (And Interviewer is starting to wonder what the Debt Collector looks like without his shirt on…) “Your ink,” she says quickly. “Tell us about your ink. What does it mean?” Logan, still smiling, leans back, looks down at Interviewer with a satisfied smirk on. “The lion,” he says. “He is a ferocious animal. He is kicked out of his home as a boy and made to fend for himself. He learns to hunt for himself, to survive for himself. He does everything alone. If he makes it, he is rewarded with a family, with territory, and he protects that territory with his own body.” “So you are the lion.” “I never said that.” “But you are.” “I never said it.” Logan goes silent. Interviewer realizes this subject is closed. “And the wolf?” she asks. “He’s stoic. Persecuted. Hated. But loyal. And loyal only to one, loyal forever.” “Like you and Kyla.” Logan’s eyes narrow. The mirth is gone from his face. “Did I say something wrong?” He leans forward, looks at Interviewer threateningly. Interviewer feels a sudden sweat trickle down her back. “Yes,” he finally says, “like me an Kyla.” “And—” But Interviewer doesn’t get a chance to...
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Today we welcome Camilla Isley who is celebrating the release of her latest title, A Sudden Crush. How I ended up writing a shipwrecked-on-a-desert-island novel by Camilla Isley One day I was visiting the Chicago Zoo (if you ever find yourself in Chicago and are in the mood for a walk, you should visit the zoo at Lincoln Park, it’s free!) However, as I was passing through the monkey compound I spent a lot of time watching this or that baby scurry around, how adorable they were, how human, the way they wrapped themselves around their moms’ belly in the cutest way possible. My husband literally had to tear me away from the exhibition, left to my own designs, I would have probably spent the entire day there. Anyway, the image of the cute little baby monkeys stuck with me, I always like to have a furry cutsie in my novels, and so I was thinking… I already did the kitty, so the next obvious choice would be a puppy, but how cool would it be to have a baby monkey? This is how the conversation between me and myself went off in my head: Me. “Yeah, it would be very cool, but perhaps not very realistic.” Myself. “Um, you’re right I don’t think you’re even allowed to have a pet monkey.” Me. “Nope; and we wouldn’t want our protagonist to be a smuggler of exotic wildlife, now, would we?” Myself. “Eh, no. You’re probably right. It’s a pity, I liked the idea of adopting a baby macaque. Are you sure there’s no way to get one as a pet?” Me. “Not unless you went to live in the jungle for some reason, no, I don’t think so.” Myself. “Live in the jungle you say, uh?” And that’s when the light bulb appeared above my head. Just like that, my brain started whizzing with excitement and I decided I would shipwreck my lead character, Joanna Price, and have her crash on a deserted island. I also instantly decided on the title of the book. Playing with the similar spelling between “crash” and “crush”. The gruff, handsome stranger, Connor Duffield, who would inexorably land on the island with Joanna was almost a given, as I’m a sucker for love/hate relationships. To add some complications, I decided to have Joanna find herself in this scenario on the day of her wedding—no less, just after she leaves the reception to go on her honeymoon...
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Please welcome Jen McLaughlin, who is here to celebrate the release of her new title, Dare to Run
. Hello! I’m Jen McLaughlin (though I also write as Diane Alberts) and I’m excited to be here today to talk about my latest release, Dare to Run, which is the first book in a new series called The Sons of Steel Row! The hero of the book is Lucas Donahue, and he’s a member of a gang that deals in selling illegal firearms…among other things. The series takes place in the darker dirtier streets of Boston, and it’s a gritty series that’s a lot darker than my other books. Today, I thought it would be fun to have Lucas do a few quick questions in an interview of sorts, to let you get to know him. I brought Heidi along, too to keep him in line. Here goes! Q: What’s your favorite color? Lucas: I don’t know. Color is color. Who the hell has a favorite one? Heidi: Blue. His favorite color is blue. Lucas: WHAT? Why would you say that? Heidi: Blue. Q: Okay, then. Favorite food? Lucas: Heidi’s lasagna. Heidi: Well…that’s true, actually. I make a kicka$$ lasagna. Q: Favorite thing about yourself? Lucas: stares silently Heidi: Ask another one. Q: Favorite thing about Heidi? Lucas: Everything. Her smile, her personality, her body, everything. Heidi: blushes Q: I’m sensing a trend here. You don’t like talking about yourself, do you? Lucas: stares silently Heidi: ding, ding, ding. Q: I thought so. Favorite song on the radio? Lucas: I don’t listen to the radio. Heidi: He likes Shake it Off by Taylor Swift. Whenever I play it, he dances a little bit without realizing it. Lucas: I DO NOT. Heidi: stares at Lucas Lucas: avoids her eyes Heidi: Shake it Off by Taylor Swift. Q: Tell us one thing about Dare to Run. Lucas: It’s a dirty place that does dirty things, and I do dirty things to Heidi. Lots of dirty things. Heidi: LUCAS. stares at him There’s gangs, and antiheroes, and guns, and fighting, and bad guys, and love. Lots of love. Lucas: Ugh. Q: Okaaaaaay then. Well, this was fun. Thanks for coming and— Lucas: picks up Heidi Lets go do dirty things now…with love. Lots of love. Heidi: Deal. Q: Well, I guess that ends the interview. Thanks for having us here! Be sure to check out Dare to Run, Lucas and Heidi’s book in The Sons...
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M/M Reading Life Hacks My journey into reading m/m started with Anne Rice, but now that I’ve discovered the massive body of m/m books available, I naturally want to read them all. Of course there are limitations to reading everything, both in terms of time and money. Since I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s run into such roadblocks, I’ve decided to share some life hacks that can help you read more with fewer constraints. First of all, with respect to time, eBooks have opened up plenty of opportunities, but there are two big time savers that are quite significant. One is audio books, which are limited and costly, and the other is text-to-speech, which works with almost every book. Both allow readers to digest more books without having to dedicate exclusive time to sitting down to read the old fashion way. Personally, I listen to books while I do housework, while driving, and while shopping. I’ve met others who work on crafts and art projects while listening to their favorite authors. I’m not sure about other devices, but Amazon has a text-to-speech option on all Kindle Fires, and the only way it won’t work is if an author has opted out. If you’re not sure how to turn on text-to-speech on your device, the best thing is to call Amazon and they are really good about helping you locate it. Now that you’ve discovered a few tricks to having time to read, here are some ways to have unlimited m/m without severely damaging your pocket book. First of all there are many freebies available online. You just need to know where to find them. A good place to start is Goodreads. The M/M Romance Group has writing events and publishes large volumes of m/m novellas and stories that are absolutely free. There is so much to read that I haven’t even made a dent in it. Additionally, there are lists on Goodreads that have unpublished books along with the links to the download. Another great way to find freebies is to set up an alert on eReader IQ. This tool notifies you about price drops on Amazon for authors and books you are looking for. If you’re like me and you’ve identified some favorite authors, you might want to read everything new they put out. The good news is that there are several ways to read new releases without investing a fortune. The first thing you should...
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Today we have author Alexis Radcliff here celebrating her newest title, A Vanishing Glow (Mystech Arcanum series #1) and sharing a bit about writing steampunk. Please welcome Alexis to That’s What I’m Talking About! On Writing Steampunk: Brass, Glass, and Victorian Sass Steampunk is exploding right now: From conventions to toys to graphic novels, and even to major bestselling authors like Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson dabbling their toes in it, the world of shiny brass and steam-powered mechanics seems to be everywhere these days. What is it that’s so appealing about the steampunk genre? Is it the Victorian aesthetic? The glass and leather fashion style that pairs shiny metal with black corsets? Or is it the retro-futuristic mish-mash of gaslight occult fantasy and Jules Vernian industrial-tech that shows up in works like Lady Mechanika and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Whatever it is, people love it, and it’s a total blast to write! Today I’m going to talk about some of the inspirations behind my own unique flavor of steampunk in my novel A Vanishing Glow, and maybe even inspire you to incorporate some steampunk elements in your own writing. Mechanisms, Inspiration, and Ideas One of the cool things about steampunk is that you can do all kinds of neat things with it that walk the line between science fiction and fantasy. Because steampunk works often blend 19th-century technology with occult elements, you can bend the tech to do just about anything you like and still have your story fit into your choice of science fiction, alternate history, or fantasy. If you’re looking for inspiration for some really fun mechanisms, you need look no further than the popular steampunk fiction already authored. Lighter than air ships that cruise through the sky and wrench-wielding engineers with goggles on their foreheads are good. Steam-powered mechanical limbs are a perennial favorite. But the key is that steampunk is (and has always been) a hybrid genre. Use the elements you find fascinating and ditch what you don’t like — personally, I feel the stylistic and architectural aesthetics of burnished brass, Victorian-era clothes, and cool and inventive technology are the most important hallmarks of the genre. Another great place to look for ideas is the plethora of recent videogames that draw on steampunk elements in their design — both the Bioshock and the Dishonored series come to mind. In both cases you can enter the world and take an up-close, three-dimensional look at an environment steeped...
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