Wednesday, November 28, 2012


My book tour starts on Dec. 2nd.  I hope everyone will join me through the month of December on my tour.  There will be some giveaways, interviews, excerpts from the novel, and of course, reviews.  Join in and learn a little more about me and my writing.

Take note of the schedule below, book mark the sites now and mark your calendars!

December 2   Interview  SnifferWalk

December 5 Guest Post/Review Dakota Trace

December 13 Review/Interview House Millar

December 19 Review  I am, Indeeed

December 20 Pod cast LIVE radio interview with Elaine Roco Chase

December 23 Review/Guest Post   Harlie's Books

December 27 Review Buffy Kennedy

December 27 Interview…TBR

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Black Friday Blog Hop





While the rest of the US is out handling the crowds, fighting for their holiday gifts, some of us like to stay in, shop online, or just ignore Black Friday all to together. This year, join us in our second annual Black Friday Blog Hop! It's a ONE DAY hop where we're giving away prizes, talking about books we love, and most likely  eating left over turkey. :-)

The hop is November 23rd and is ONE DAY only.


But that's not all....


We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!


And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.



Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $75 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

Post a comment with an email addy for a chance to win a $5 gift certificate to Wild Child Publishing!


Black Friday.  Ever wonder where that name came from?  Does it mean that’s the day the stores move their red sales figures into the black?  Or could it mean that you’ll come away form the stores black and blue from all the elbowing to get those bargain prices—but they left off the blue?

Wikipedia had this to say: The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black". 

I’m trying to figure out why they would give that name to traffic, do all people in Philly drive black cars?

I know one thing I avoid the stores from Black Friday onward.  I don’t like crowds, I mean seriously some of these people don’t need to worry about that deal on a laptop, but worry about the sale on deodorant in isle 5. 

On the few occasions I have been to a store on Black Friday I did not come away impressed with humanity.  The last time I went was in 2006, no that’s wrong it was in 2005.  One retailer had laptops on sale, and I needed one.  I had this thing about needing to feel something, reach out and touch it before I bought it.  Black Friday can give new meaning to reach out and touch someone.  Just ask the people who got sprayed with pepper spray last year so some woman could get that new Xbox for her kids.

That year I went back to the electronics department, it wasn’t very crowded, but there were none of the laptops on the shelf. A small group of people were standing by the stock room door.  One man said the clerk had gone back to get more.  So I stood there with everyone else waiting,  One woman near the front had two carts and nothing in either one.  She stood in front of those double doors like she was manning a police barricade and no one else was getting through with ID and registration.  Or at least a cart with a battering ram.

The clerk comes out with a flat utility cart (you know the ones you see sitting in the store and so want to have someone push you around the store on while you giggle like an idiot?) and the woman in front grabs a laptop off the stack.  Her kids also grab one each, so now she has four.  The clerk is explaining to her that the limit is one per adult shopper.  Another shopped manages to break through her cart barrier and she screams at him: I was here first, put that back! I’m telling.

I’m telling? Really?  Who is she going to tell?  Do they have laptop police in the store, or maybe her mom works there?

Next another shopped manages to get one and the woman starts to threaten the clerk.  Now two things here, one: she has four already, make that six, as her kids have continued to add boxes to her carts, and two IS SHE NUTS?  She’s already been told she can’t have more than one.

Suffice to say I had no interest in this little play of human stupidity.

I get in line ot check out, I’ve had enough be banged by carts by insane people who are sure I am going for that one item they wanted.  Unless it’s aspirin for the headache I now have, they have no worries.

I get to the front and low and behold I am in line behind the laptop hog. She has at least 8 of them.  I hear her tell her oldest kid, wait until we get these listed on e-bay we are going to make a killing. I kept looking at those boxes as she put them on the belt thinking, all I wanted was one, one for me to use, to have and to hold, not make money on.

I am startled out thoughts of my one true love named Dell, but the woman’s loud voice as she went to war with the cashier: I don’t care what your stupid add says I can have as many as I want, that’s the law, you can’t stop me.

Law?  Is there a law that says you can buy as much of whatever you want even when the store clearly stated one per adult shopper?  I tried several searches involving quantity and shopping in the search criteria, apparently the internet isn’t up on any such law, but I did get quite a few returns for places selling Viagra.  I think google was trying to tell me something, make love not war on Black Friday.

Security comes out and they confront the woman.  I say to the cashier, I’d really like one of those laptops, do I have to wait for them to be taken back to electronics before I can get one? The words were no sooner out of my mouth when there is a loud crash as the woman pushes all the laptop boxes with the laptops inside onto the floor and tries to stomp on them screaming, it’s not right, it’s not fair I was here first . . .

The cashier looks and me and says do you want one, you don’t have to wait for them to be taken back to the department?

Is she kidding me?

Apparently the store didn’t care that they’d been dumped on the floor, and some of them stomped on—because that backroom clerk was there with his silver trolly picking them up and as he headed back people were eager to grab them off his transport.

I think I will just stay home, read a good book, drink some spiked egg nog, maybe put up the holiday tree, 

 Please check out my newest release, available in print and ebook from B&N and Wild Child Publishing, and Amazon.

Medicine Man I: The Chief of all Time.


Shannon Running Deer is American Indian by blood, he has forsaken his people's ancient ways to embrace the "modern" world as a wealthy, highly successful trauma surgeon.


His comfortable existence begins to unravel when, seemingly by chance, Shannon finds himself gradually drawn into the past. Pursued by an ancient evil, he knows he can change the future, if he can survive the past.


In the tradition of Diana Gabaldon, S.R. Howen's MEDICINE MAN is a distinctive and atmospheric novel full of spirituality, mystical time travel, romance, passion, and suspense.


Please check out my newest release


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Nov. AW blog chain.

This month's prompt: 
NaMoReMo (National Mock Review Month)

In the spirit of NaNoWriMo, write a mock review of a writing project that you have done or would like to do. Make sure to either give a brief, one-sentence description of what the project is or work it into the review somehow. You can review anything (poetry, prose, collected blog posts) and in any way you like (funny, serious, Dadaist).


This is a tough one, last year I wrote over 167 k fro NaNo then another 2oo plus k in Dec.  This is a review of the raw draft of that epic . . . monster.


Reading The 12th World was like watching a bad rendition of Frankenstein.  Told in omni POV with a host of characters that would have taken a separate book just to categorize and profile for the reader to understand the story, it is a tome of over 400k words.  

The story head hops from one character to another, and while the reader can keep track of who is seeing the story, there is too much confusion, and the twists and turns often don’t make sense and require the reader to go back and reread to find their place in the story.

The story starts on Earth with no explanation for the almost post apocalyptic conditions there, martial law seems to be in place, until one of the many main characters leaves Earth through a system of magical gateways that the reader is never given an explanation for.  One of many parts that don’t make sense.

Once on the alien world where tech should be high on the SciFi list it seems totally absent, the reader is tossed into a world that seems more primitive than a trip to medieval world.

Like Frankenstein’s monster this novel is a conglomeration of parts, that don’t look very pretty when stitched together. And like Frankenstein's monster it would be better off locked away where no one will ever see it.

I give it a read if you want a headache rating.



Please visit these other blogs and see what they think about their past NaNo efforts.


Participants and posts:
orion_mk3: http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to post)
bmadsen - http://hospitaloflife.wordpress.com (link to post)
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com (link to post)
writingismypassion - http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
meowzbark - http://www.lizzylessard.com/ (link to post)
randi.lee - http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.com/ (link to post)

SRHowen - http://srhowen1.blogspot.com (link to post)
pyrosama - http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
wonderactivist - http://luciesmoker.wordpress.com (link to post)

Bumped:
Angyl78 - http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com (link to post)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Autumn Harvest Blog Hop


What do you love about Autumn and Fall? What does it remind you of? What about reading? Do you think it's a good subject to read? Tell us your favorite Autumn stories! Well, we authors are ready to share our favorite Autumn stories. Starting on Friday and ending on Nov 12th, over 200 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about Autumn.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.


But that's not all....


We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!
Now what are those prizes?





1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet 

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card 



3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!




On top of that I will be giving away a $10 gift card to WCP or Freya's Bower on my blog. Leave a comment to enter to win! Follow my facebook author's page for a second chance to win. And tweet this blog for a third entry! Please be sure to include your e-mail address in your comments for you entry or we won't know how to contact you if you are the winner!


Autumn, cooler temperatures, the start of the holidays right around the corner, and of course the bronco ride on the edge of plastic to fill the stockings. Am I the only one who hates that Christmas has taken over everything—even earlier this year? Every ad on TV is filled with Christmas trees, gifts, and super early before black Friday sales already. So here are some thoughts on this time of year, the theme of what the retailers think we should be focused on.


On the first day of Autumn, I expected temperatures to fall. It was 101 under the trees.


On the second day of Autumn, I turned on my TV and political ads for the two who would run would not fly away.


On the third day of Autumn the three neighbor kids egged my house, it wasn’t even Halloween yet.


On the fourth day of Autumn four people in white coats came to my door, good lord we’ve been here before. The crazy person lives next door.


On the fifth day of Autumn five rolls of TP appeared in my trees. 


On the sixth day of Autumn my family gave to me six frozen turkeys and said see you for dinner on turkey day.


On the seventh day of Autumn I got stung by seven bees. When will these things go away?


On the eighth day of Autumn I drank eight homemade eggnogs, I think the milk was bad.


On the ninth day of Autumn I stayed in bed, pain dancing in my head.


On the tenth day of Autumn ten ads arrived in the mail, the mailman a leaping.


On the eleventh day of Autumn eleven piles of leaves and many more to go, why or why is there a burn ban?


On the twelfth day of Autumn I jumped twelve times naked into the leaves with glee. The men in little white coats have come again . . .


Please check out my newest release:



Medicine Man I: The Chief of all Time.

Shannon Running Deer is American Indian by blood, he has forsaken his people's ancient ways to embrace the "modern" world as a wealthy, highly successful trauma surgeon.

His comfortable existence begins to unravel when, seemingly by chance, Shannon finds himself gradually drawn into the past. Pursued by an ancient evil, he knows he can change the future, if he can survive the past.

In the tradition of Diana Gabaldon, S.R. Howen's MEDICINE MAN is a distinctive and atmospheric novel full of spirituality, mystical time travel, romance, passion, and suspense.
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