Saturday, February 22, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Meet the Authors
Critters at the Keyboard presents
Meet The Authors!
http://www.Luckys-Charm-Jenn-Nixon-ebook/dp/B008RG8V4Q
http://www.amazon.com/.../B00DVN.../ref=la_B008H7H6SW_1_2.... Here's the banner.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
"Virtual Blurb Blitz Tour: The Opposite of Wild by Kylie Gilmore"
Critters at the Keyboard
Welcomes
The Opposite of Wild by Kylie Gilmore
Kylie will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card + The Opposite of Wild Romance Trading Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $10 Amazon gift card with The Opposite of Wild Romance Trading Card to two randomly drawn hosts.
BLURB:
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Welcomes
The Opposite of Wild by Kylie Gilmore
Kylie will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card + The Opposite of Wild Romance Trading Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $10 Amazon gift card with The Opposite of Wild Romance Trading Card to two randomly drawn hosts.
The Opposite of Wild
by Kylie
Gilmore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unleash
the wild woman…?
Ex-cop
Ryan O'Hare takes one look at buttoned-up control freak Liz Garner and just
itches to loosen the woman up. Not that he’s into her. Because a woman like
that comes with way too many expectations. Not to mention, she practically
works for him, and he didn’t hire Liz to watch after his beloved
Harley-stealing Gran so he could turn Liz loose in his bed. Still, there’s
something about her, a hidden wild side, that makes him wonder what it would
take.
Liz
must be crazy to work for the insensitive, arrogant, horribly…hot man she's
avoided for years. Unfortunately, she needs the money and Ryan's grandmother
needs a keeper. (Midnight tango lessons and ziplines with Gran, anyone?) Ryan's
rare smile and swaggering confidence have Liz torn between throwing her
favorite pinot grigio at his head or throwing herself at him. Can this control
freak find a way to let loose with the tough, no-strings guy who once broke her
heart?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt One:
Ryan just stood there, his sharp eyes studying her.
"You're a puzzle, Liz."
"I am?"
He reached out and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear,
and her heart caught in her throat at the gentle gesture. "You seem
so…uptight," he said. She stiffened and took a step back. "But I know
you were checking me out when I was mowing."
She flushed, but rallied quickly. "I was only bringing
you water." She crossed her arms and said primly, "You surprised me
when you dumped the water on your head. I was merely looking to see if you were
going to do any other…surprising things."
His lips twitched. "You're like a librarian just
waiting to let loose."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" she
bristled, hands on her hips.
"There it is." He smiled and stepped close,
crowding her space. She drew in a quick breath, but held her
ground. "The
puzzle—fire and ice."
She put both hands on his solid chest and pushed him out the
door. "Next time, mail it." She shut the door in his face, turned and
leaned against it. "Urgh!"
"That's what I'm talking about," he said through
the door.
She ripped open the door. "Go away."
His head cocked to the side while he bit back a smile.
"Is that any way to talk to your employer?"
"Gah!" She slammed the door and locked it. She
heard his low laugh as he walked away.
Excerpt
Two:
Ryan handed her the check. "Not going to let me
in?"
"I'm having a movie night with Daisy."
"You know I've met Daisy before. She was only a grade
behind me."
"Thank you for the check."
He put a hand on the doorframe above her head and leaned
close. "Gran says she's having fun with you." His silky voice sent
shivers through her.
"Yes," she breathed. He was so close she could see
the golden flecks in his hazel eyes framed by those long lashes.
He grinned. "So you do know how to have fun."
She stiffened at his teasing tone, whirled around and
grabbed the doorknob. He placed a hand over hers on the knob. She looked at his
large hand covering her smaller one and her heart seemed to stop and lurch
painfully forward. "I'm not a puzzle," she told him quietly.
"I’m not fire and ice. You just don't know me."
"I think I do."
She could feel the heat of his body on her back. If she turned
around, she'd be in his arms.
"If you hand deliver my next paycheck"—she
scrambled to think of a suitable threat—"I'll-I'll—"
"You'll what?" His breath was hot on her ear.
"I'll dump ice on you!" She slipped inside and
shut the door. Again she heard his low laugh as he walked away. She wanted to
rip open the door and yell at him some more, but stopped herself because she
didn't want Daisy to see the insanity he provoked in her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kylie Gilmore
was lucky enough to discover romance novels at a young age as they were strewn
all over the house (thanks, Mom!). She writes quirky, tender romance with a
solid dose of humor. Her first book in the Clover Park series, The Opposite of
Wild, will launch in January 2014 featuring the oldest of three brothers and
his lady love. The next two books in the series give each brother his dream
girl (eventually).
Kylie lives
in New York with her family, two cats, and a nutso dog. When she's not writing,
wrangling kids, or dutifully taking notes at writing conferences, you can find
her flexing her muscles all the way to the high cabinet for her secret
chocolate stash.
Website:
http://www.kyliegilmore.com
FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/KylieGilmoreToo
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/KylieGilmoreToo
Good Reads:
https://www.goodreads.com/KylieGilmore
BUY LINKS
BUY LINKS
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1eGozty
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1iKGCiX
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/KgQMv2
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
"Virtual NBtM Tour: RETURN TO AUDUBON SPRINGS BY ROSEANN DEFRANCO"
Critters at the Keyboard
Presents
RETURN TO AUDUBON SPRINGS
BY ROSEANN DEFRANCO
RoseAnn will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
BLURB:
When Emma Grant
returns to her family's Audubon Springs beach house to fulfill the stipulations
of her father's will, she has every intention of forcing her former lover out
of the house for good. She's never fit into her wealthy family and would prefer
avoiding her past, but with her brother threatening to reveal her young
daughter, she has no choice. Rafe Iuliano has other
plans. The wealthy Grants tried to bribe him out of Emma's life years ago, but
he's determined to prove once and for all that a master carpenter is worthy of
Emma and the house. Their ridiculous and
steamy battle for the house reignites the love and passion that bloomed between
them years ago. But when Rafe discovers she's kept their daughter a secret for
two years, can he overcome anger and pride to claim his family and the love of
his life, or will the deception drive a final wedge between them?
Excerpt
“It’s good to see you too, Emma.” Rafe smiled. A flash of dimples tugged on her memory and heart. “Is falling into men’s flower beds a habit or should I feel special?”
“As it happens, I don’t see this as your flower bed, but rather my own.”
Covered in dirt, Emma feasted her eyes on
Rafe.
She didn’t try to stand. Instead she pushed her hands further into the sticky
mulch, needing something to hold on to, momentarily thankful to be on solid
ground. She licked her lips. He looked good. “Finally here to claim what’s yours?”
“Are you going to help me up or not?” Rafe took a deep breath, and reached out
a hand. When they touched, the same powerful jolt of electricity that used to
exist between them ran up her arm and straight to her heart. He pulled harder
than necessary and Emma slammed into his chest. She took a quick step back,
needing space, and almost landed in the garden again. Rafe held on and steadied
her.
“Whoa, easy. I don’t think the shrubs can take anymore.” Her stomach twitched at the sound of his voice, so close it resonated in her ear and vibrated down her spine. His scent, masculine and fresh from-a-shower-clean, mesmerized her. He surrounded her even though he only stood in front of her, balancing her.
“Let go of me,” she whispered. He complied by raising his hands, palms out, in the air as if they’d been burned. His heat lingered on her skin, and she ached with the loss of his touch. Emma went to work brushing the gritty mulch from her shaking hands.
“You always were a bit clumsy, huh, Ems?”
She snapped her head up, and her eyes
landed on his playful grin.
The Author's idea writing space
Hello and thank you for having me as a guest at
Critters at the Keyboard! Today I have been asked to describe my ideal writing
space. It could be old man winter has me down and feeling rather like a
shut-in, but honestly when I think of my ideal writing space, I think of Emma
and Rafe’s ocean side home in my fictional town, Audubon Springs. The town is a fictionalized version of my personal
favorite Jersey shore town, Spring Lake. The house itself is a mix of two homes
you’d find on pristine Ocean Ave. The
homes are lovely sprawling Victorians with large covered porches and amazing
views of the ocean.
So what does the ideal space within the home look
like? The office is on the second story of the house with a set of French doors
leading to a porch that boasts a white wraparound railing. This setting affords
me the opportunity to work indoors with the doors flung open wide, the long white
curtains billowing in the wind, carrying the fresh scent of the sea into the
room for inspiration. Outside on the porch, I’d have a chaise lounge for when I
take a break to read, or from where I can work on my printed edits. The porch
would also have a table with chairs so I could sit and have a meal while jotting
down notes for my current work in progress.
The sights from the porch, that of the ocean and nature, and knowing my
family was close by within the home…that is my ideal setting in which to
write.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
RoseAnn DeFranco
grew up in upstate NY with her nose in a book and a song in her heart.
Following the pursuit of a musical theatre career in NYC, she turned her
creative energy to writing romance. RoseAnn blogs about her writing experiences
with her critique partners at www.the violetfemmes.com. A NJ shore transplant,
she enjoys time spent at the
beach with her family. She would love to one day live in a quaint shore town
like the fictional town Audubon Springs from her BROTHERS OF AUDUBON SPRINGS
series. More information about these
Contemporary Romantic
Comedies can be found at www.radefranco.com.
Web links: www.radefranco; www.thevioletfemmes.com;
@radefranco; https://www.facebook.com/#!/roseanndefrancoauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18586846-return-to-audubon-springs
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Return-Audubon-Springs-Brothers-ebook/dp/B00FDSL792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380163799&sr=8-1&keywords=return+to+audubon+springs
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1gUBz1o
Monday, January 20, 2014
"Virtual NBtM Book Tour: AN UNLIKELY GODDESS BY MOHANALAKSHMI RAJAKUMAR"
Critters at the Keyboard Welcomes
AN UNLIKELY GODDESS
BY
MOHANALAKSHMI RAJAKUMAR
Mohanalakshmi will be awarding a free ecopy of An Unlikely Goddess to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop, and a Grand Prize of a $50 Amazon GC will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
|
http://goddessfishpromotions.
BLURB:
Sita
is the firstborn but since she is a female, her birth makes life difficult for
her mother who is expected to produce a son. From the start, Sita finds herself
in a culture hostile to her, but her irrepressible personality won’t be
subdued. Born in India, she immigrants as a toddler to the U.S. with her
parents after the birth of her much anticipated younger brother. Her father’s
academic ambitions take the family all over the United States, as he chases
grant funding at universities in several states. His financial challenges make
life at home stressful for Sita, her mother, and younger brother – but the
women of the family bear the brunt of his frustrations – both physically and
emotionally. Hers is a South Indian family, from Tamil Nadu, one of the most
conservative states in the subcontinent.Enjoy this excerpt:
The Hindu goddess, Sita, is said to have been born from the
Earth.
King Janaka discovers the beautiful infant and in her
beauty, believes in her divinity. He raises her as his own daughter……
Prologue
Unlike her namesake, Sita's first mistake was being born.
A girl, her mother thought, eyes dark in abject terror. What
if he leaves me? She swallowed, increasing the dryness in her post-delivery
mouth, the stiches across her abdomen itching. No water. Only ice chips until
her bowels passed the tests. Mythili pressed back against the pillows. She
closed her eyes, pushing her fingers into the sockets until the darkness was
punctuated by bone-white stars. She wished she could as easily tune out the
gurgles of the baby in the bassinet beside her.
Yet, even premature and unwanted, Sita was obliviously happy
to enter the world, beaming her infant smile at anyone or anything she saw: the
nurse, her aunt, her mother's back, the noxiously-pink cement walls of the
Madras hospital in which she found herself. Several pounds underweight, she was
otherwise fine—a petite, brown-skinned baby with tufts of black hair crowning a
smooth scalp. How could she be expected to know that from her first breath she
was, and always would be, a living reminder of her mother's failure to produce
a first-born male heir?
“Look at that smile,”
the young nurse said, cradling Sita against her flat bosom.
“Aamam,” Priya, the childless aunt, agreed, rubbing a
forefinger across the baby’s somewhat wrinkly face.
Instead of replying, Mythili, Sita’s mother, pulled a
see-through blue sheet up to her chin and turned her face away.
Did that Really Happen to You?
By Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
I was at a book talk a few weeks ago and someone in the
audience asked the author, a survivor f the Khmer Rouge, how much of the book
“had happened” to her. She was referring to a novel in which the main character
suffers abject abuse and horror while still a child. I was appalled at the
question; it seemed voyeuristic somehow, as if the suffering of the character,
and the thousands of unnamed people in real life, didn’t matter as much as if
the author hadn’t experienced suffering herself.
The “did that really happen?” is one of the most awkward
questions you can ask a writer after reading his/her book. We want the reader
to be lost in the narrative, not wondering how much of it is autobiography.
My latest release, An
Unlikely Goddess, will no doubt spark a similar set of questions. The story
of an Indian girl who immigrates to the United States with her parents, suffers
much heartache, and finds solace in academia, is not that different from own.
Sita’s trajectory, however, is a composite of many people’s journeys as
immigrants, not only mine. In some ways she is the Everywoman of the female
coming of age for South Indians.
I found this story also important to tell because it shows how the immigrant experience is not always the making good on the American dream we have come to expect from the “Model Minority” of Asians in the United States. The recent interest in Indian Literature in English, depicts a very specific part of the Indian diaspora – often well educated, Bengalis – did not speak to my experience or those who I knew growing up.
This book is a testament to all of the above.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is a South Asian American who has lived in
Qatar since 2005. Moving to the Arabian Desert was fortuitous in many ways
since this is where she met her husband, had a baby, and made the transition
from writing as a hobby to a full time passion.
She has since published seven e-books including a mom-ior for first time
mothers, Mommy But Still Me, a guide for aspiring writers, So You Want to Sell
a Million Copies, a short story collection, Coloured and Other Stories, and a
novel about women’s friendships, Saving Peace.
Her recent books have focused on various aspects of life in Qatar.
From Dunes to Dior, named as a Best Indie book in 2013, is a collection of
essays related to her experiences as a female South Asian American living in
the Arabian Gulf. Love Comes Later was the winner of the Best Indie Book Award
for Romance in 2013 and is a literary romance set in Qatar and London. The
Dohmestics is an inside look into compound life, the day to day dynamics
between housemaids and their employers.
After she joined the e-book revolution, Mohana dreams in
plotlines. Learn more about her work on her website at www.mohanalakshmi.com or
follow her latest on Twitter: @moha_doha.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Dohmestics-ebook/dp/B00AREGO36
Twitter: www.twitter.com/moha_dohaFacebook: www.facebook.com/themohadoha
Pintrest: www.pintrest.com/mohadoha
YouTube: www.youtube.com/themohadoha
website: www.mohanalakshmi.com
Friday, January 10, 2014
"Virtual Book Tour: RUBY HEART BY CRISTELLE COMBY"
Critters at the Keyboard
Welcomes
RUBY HEART
BY CRISTELLE COMBY
Cristelle will be awarding a signed paperback of Ruby Heart plus a signed copy of book 1, Russian Dolls, to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. (US ONLY)Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
Some thoughts on Writing from Cristelle Comby
Now, in the present tense
Writing in present tense is the reality TV
of literature. You can tune into Big Brother at any time and begin watching the
action. People like action, so why not tell a reader what is happening, as it
is happening? You see it real time, you are in the thick of the action. But
what happens if this is the first time you have watched Big Brother and its
half way through a series? Who are these people? What are they arguing about?
What was the big event yesterday that has resulted in two people trying to
escape from the Big Brother house? This is precisely the reason why so few
books written in the present tense and why the ones at do, rarely succeed in
achieving what they set out to achieve.
The challenges to the author when writing in
the present tense are numerous. How do you introduce prior events, maintain
perspective and filter the stream of consciousness? I’m not trying to say that
any fiction written in present tense cannot have its merits. I am just
concerned about the growing trend of “trash” literature which uses the present
tense and by doing so, seems to feel like it was written with half an eye on
something other than writing.
I will detail some of the problems that
someone might and people often do, encounter when writing in the present tense.
If a scene is well written it should have
only one perspective. Readers focus on one character and the scene is described
through that characters experience in the novel. By definition the focus is
often on the protagonist. Through the protagonist we experience the scene. In
the past tense, if the author wishes, that same scene can be depicted again
from a different characters perspective. The author can do this because the
scene is written in the past tense. We know what has happened.
Present tense writing has an immediacy
which makes writing about events very difficult. We read about what is
happening as it is happening, not about what has happened. Therefore there are
obvious limits to the author showing a scene from multiple perspectives. The
author can “lose” the reader by shifting focus into a different perspective as
the scene becomes disjointed and less believable. When it has been achieved,
this is a powerful tool, but it is rarely achieved. Some Science Fiction
novelists, who often write in the present tense, have mastered this art.
As I mentioned, introducing prior events is
always going to be tricky in the present tense. There will always be an
experience before the current experience, but in order to describe them in a present
day story, the author must shift to the past tense. If the author did that, it
would no longer be a present tense narration. A character can look entirely
without motive in their actions if the author hasn’t adequately described
something in the past, motivating them to perform in the present. It is very
difficult to accomplish as the reader can begin to wonder when the previous
event being described actually happened. The author must separate the present
and past, without it becoming disjointed, losing flow and therefore affecting
the readers’ engagement with the present events.
The human brain is always thinking. If the
author tells us everything a character is thinking it could very
Good examples of present tense writing can
be found in the Science Fiction genre. My advice is to go to any book stop,
find the darkest deepest corner. Look at the science fiction section, which
will no doubt be found there, and spend some time looking at a couple of
chapters from some different novels. There will definitely be an author using
the present tense. It is a difficult skill, but those that have mastered it,
grip the reader through the journey of the novel.
Blurb for Ruby Heart
When elderly client Doris Hargrave informs private investigator Alexandra Neve that her beloved antique ruby heart necklace has gone missing for the second time in a period of over sixty years, Alexandra knows this is no ordinary jewellery theft. The ruby heart is a family heirloom and the only thing that connects an ailing Mrs. Hargrave to her parents, who were murdered during the Holocaust.
To solve the case, Alexandra and her business partner, blind history professor Ashford Egan, must sift through obscure Holocaust documents to find out the truth. It’s that way that they learn of a secret World War II-era love affair which could hold the key to all the answers they are looking for. Meanwhile, Egan is under immense pressure from the university to quit his private investigating business, and Alexandra is afraid that a man she trusts will leave her. Again.
When Alexandra begins to receive anonymous threats and her flat is vandalised, this all becomes personal. Knowing that there is someone out there to hurt her, Alexandra vows to find that elusive ruby heart if it’s the last thing she ever does.
To solve the case, Alexandra and her business partner, blind history professor Ashford Egan, must sift through obscure Holocaust documents to find out the truth. It’s that way that they learn of a secret World War II-era love affair which could hold the key to all the answers they are looking for. Meanwhile, Egan is under immense pressure from the university to quit his private investigating business, and Alexandra is afraid that a man she trusts will leave her. Again.
When Alexandra begins to receive anonymous threats and her flat is vandalised, this all becomes personal. Knowing that there is someone out there to hurt her, Alexandra vows to find that elusive ruby heart if it’s the last thing she ever does.
About the Author:
Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides.
Thanks to her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English is fluent.
She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.
Ruby Heart is her second new-adult novel, and she’s hard at work on the next titles in the Neve & Egan series.
Website: http://cristelle-comby.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cristelle.comby
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Cristelle,br> Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Cristelle%20Comby&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/CristelleComby
Thanks to her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English is fluent.
She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.
Ruby Heart is her second new-adult novel, and she’s hard at work on the next titles in the Neve & Egan series.
Website: http://cristelle-comby.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cristelle.comby
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Cristelle,br> Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Cristelle%20Comby&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/CristelleComby
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