Monday, January 21, 2008

Book News, Yvonne Walus, an Excerpt from Static


Free ClipartNews & Networking

It's been an absolute incredible month! The contract's official - I can now announce the publisher for BoneSong and Relic: Drollerie Press. Red Rose Publishing also signed Of Dragons and Emerald City this month, and All Romance eBooks contracted a short story called Cut and Polish.

Phew!

Only BloodWorks is waiting in the works. If I have any time left, I'd like to get Art & Soul, Artifact, and Sqweams rewritten and out to publishers this month, but the month is going quickly...

WIP: my haunted house story is sitting at 38,400 words, and I only plan on bringing it up to just over 50K. You'd think I'd be able to just whip that out, wouldn't ya? It's going veeeerrry slowly.

Other things: I have interviews this week on both Crystal Adkins' new interview site, and the Fallen Angels Review Blog (scroll down until you find my work). The FAR blog has numerous excerpts from my books, so if you'd like a sample of my writing, please pop over there in thanks to Cindy for doing such a nice job. Crystal is also working hard to develop her two sites (interview and review), so please consider paying her a visit.


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Friends of Note: Yvonne Eve Walus has made the grade! She's one of the Amazon Finalists. A bit about her, and her book, Substitute Wives (in Yvonne's own words):

"I'm one of those women who are unable to have one night stands. Sex is a very intimate thing for me. So the idea of selling it to strangers has always puzzled me: what circumstances would make a woman go through with it on a regular basis? That's how "Substitute wives" was born, a literary novel that claims marriage is prostitution dressed up.

Joy is a twenty-three year old sex worker who has over a million dollars of inherited money in her bank account. She donates all her earnings to charity, goes to church and is counting the days she has left as a sex worker before she can return home to reconcile with her family. When a married client declares his love for her, Joy tries to let him down gently, and falls for his clichés in the process. Joy’s friend and co-worker, Caro, refuses to take her stalker seriously, even though she knows that her past is bound to catch up with her and endanger the safe haven Caro has created for her daughter.

Theirs is not the world of drugs or pimps or backstreet quickies. They charge top dollar, they are in control of their lives and of the choices they’ve made and they realise that the glitter that surrounds them is only skin-deep.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the book delivers emotional punch by telling the story of everyday ever-important relationships: between a father and a daughter, between a daughter and a mother, between husbands and wives and substitute wives.

You can find my entry on Amazon.com via the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001200CFK " Please consider visiting Yvonne's entry and voting. Every opinion counts!

Yay!


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Tempter (I may want to stick this in a book some time): functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans indicate that culture has a physiological impact on the brain, that can be seen in brain activity patterns. Culture has long been thought to affect development in terms of eating patterns, environmental influences, and tastes, but it can now be seen to affect perspective and judgment. Alterations to brain activity occur in exposure to other cultures for as little as six months. Read more. Sounds like an excellent reason to travel, and definitely contradicts the "old dogs can't learn new tricks". It may never be too late to change our outlook!

Save Your World: learn and donate at the same time. Free rice is donated for every correct word. I LOVE this charity!


Now, an excerpt from one of my books - Static, methinks. Enjoy!

Today he’d found a path he’d never taken before—and he’d already promised himself he’d never take it again. Nature had been communing with him big time. He’d been tramping for less than two hours when the skies suddenly opened. Rain and hail—and they were coming down so hard it hurt. Nate was soaked before he could drag his rain gear out of his bag.
Good thing Aje isn’t here, Nate thought. I’d never hear the end of this…
I probably won’t, anyway. Aje, despite his protestations, would have half an ear tuned on the weather report.
Nate had never expected him or Brandon to come along. It was just a way of covering his ass, without sacrificing his pride. Brandon always insisted he needed to tell someone when he was going hiking on his own, and Aje had been adamant about it since that ledge goof-up. So, he’d tell them, they’d give him a hard time, and that was that. Except he’d always get a call on Sunday—just in case. In Aje’s words, “If I have to save your stupid hide, I want to know before I make other plans.”
Nate’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumble, and a flash of brilliant white, that lit up half the sky. Lightning!
No! It was the thing that terrified him more than anything else. The thing that sometimes invaded his dreams. There was probably some name for it—for this kind of irrational terror, but right now, he didn’t know—or care. The lightning was coming—heading his way.
A burst of adrenaline shot through him and he started to run, slipping and sliding in the muck and leaves. Panicked, he ran off the trail, heading toward an overhanging knob of rock.
Solid. Safe. It can’t get me there.
It’s okay, Leighton. You’ll make it…
Only, he wouldn’t. It was at his back, watching him ominously from the skies, and it was going to get him.
There was a tingling in his shoulder blades.
It was going to stab him, right in the back.
He’d never told anyone. How, when a lightning storm came, he’d hide behind the door, or in a closet. Deep in his house, or burrowed beneath the desk in his office.
His mother had said he’d been struck once, when he was little. A baby. He didn’t remember it, but some part of him did. He’d been running from the stuff ever since.
It was coming. His hair was standing on end and his gooseflesh was doing a shivery dance. The pressure in the air was so thick he couldn’t breathe…
The next moment, his world exploded, and was gone—in a massive blast of overwhelming white.


Cheers,

ND Melody

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Saturday, January 12, 2008

A Visit with Lonnie Cruse, Book News, & Excerpts


Free ClipartThis month has been one of the most thrilling in my writing career. Not only was In Flames released on January 1st, but that same day I received a contract offer for both Relic and BoneSong! Now, in the dozen days since, I've also been offered a contract for one of my Melody Knight titles, Of Dragons, and a contract for a short story for All Romance eBooks, Cut and Polish. The only one with a release date so far is Cut and Polish, which will go live March 14th.


I'll wait for all the contracts to arrive before I post the details here. Still...


Free ClipartYay!


Author Friend: A Few Words from Lonnie Cruse, author of Fifty-Seven Heaven


"I began writing Fifty-Seven Heaven after hubby bought a '57 Chevy to restore and joined a car club. I wondered what would happen if a club member found a dead body in the trunk of a pristine, trophy winning car. Knowing how car club members feel about their babies, writing the book was great fun. I love my character Kitty because she's who I'd like to be when I grow up. Never mind that she's younger. She gets to do a lot of things I'd like to do, and a few I've
already done.

The setting for the first book which just came out in December is Metropolis, IL, the small town where I live. It's a fun place to live and write about. The next book, which is finished but not yet contracted
for, is set at a car show in Pigeon Forge, TN. I love that area and enjoyed spending time there again, even if only inside my head, writing the book. I'd had the idea for a long time, and even took pictures to inspire me on a visit. I'm writing the third book now, set in Metropolis again, where a new character is wreaking havoc on my lead characters, driving them to consider murdering her. Muwhahaha!

For more information, please check out my website:
http://www.lonniecruse.com/ and you'll find links to my blogs and websites where I hang out. http://www.lonniecruse.blogspot.com/ and
http://www.poesdeadlydaughters.com/)"


Thanks for this, Lonnie! Lonnie's one of my fellow Five Star authors.


***


Tempter (I may want to stick this in a book some time): CT scans are being used to study ancient tumours in dinosaur bones. Palaeontologists and med students are working together to gain a better understanding of tumour origins and growth patterns. Amazing!


Save Your World Stuff: If you're looking to give world-saving a "personal touch", why not your bone marrow to someone who needs it? Check to see whether you're compatible with a simple blood test. More info is available at The American Bone Marrow Donor Registry.


Now, an excerpt from one of mine - ErRatic, methinks. Enjoy!

Emma glanced blearily at the clock. Three a.m., and Studley obviously needed to go out. He was whimpering, deep in his throat, and his cold nose kept nudging her arm.


Damn dog! She reached out and gave the silky coat a pat. Zombie-like, she stumbled across the room, to the front door, and unfastened the lock. “Out!” she commanded, punctuating it with a squeaky yawn.


When she opened her eyes again, the man was standing on the grass, just off the porch.


It was a very small porch.


She slammed the door and locked it, then raced through the house. She kept picturing Him running, trying to beat her to the back door.


It’s locked. It’s got to be locked.


It was, but she didn’t feel any better. No one had any business standing there, on her property, at three in the morning. He was up to no good.


She ran for the kitchen and picked up a knife in one hand and the phone in the other. The knife shook in her frozen fingers. Not a good thing. He’ll use it on me.


He damn well better not try. Her shadowy reflection in the window glass was that of a madwoman, brandishing a blade. Her staccato movements glinted across the toaster face, and she jumped, slashing the air.


Hysteria burbled up, like an unwanted belch, before sense clunked in with a nearly audible jolt. Window. Nightlight. He’ll see me. Frantic, she dropped onto the floor, and punched in a fumbling “911”.


If he saw me, I hope he saw the knife, too.


She shouted into the phone, “There was—!”, realized she was shouting, and quickly hissed, “There was a man!”


Why the hell hadn’t Studley barked?! The damned dog had practically dumped her in the killer’s lap!


The Police Operator was offering instructions now, and Emma listened to them blankly. She’d just recalled something very pertinent to her case.


“N-Never mind,” she said, replacing the receiver with shaking hands.


A dream. It had to be a dream.


But it wasn’t and she knew it. It was what she’d tell them, though, when they asked.


She sat there, huddled, too scared to challenge the near-dark. Her eyes were already scrunched closed, but now she drew up her knees and buried her face in her arms.


Shielded. Safer.


Not really.


She couldn’t afford to move now, even if it meant lighting the house. She was too afraid of what she might see.


She nestled her head deeper, to block her ears.


Too afraid of what she might hear.


She hummed a little whimper, deep in her throat the way Studley had. Just enough noise to challenge any other whimpers in the room.


When they came with the squad car to check out her call, she’d have to get up—but not till then. Then, it’d be okay—maybe even safe.


Why hadn’t Studley barked? That one was easy—now that she’d remembered.


About Studley.


He’d been dead—for almost a week.


From ErRatic


Cheers,


NDMelody


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