Please welcome Kerri Nelson for the next three days

Guest Blog Day #1:

Author Bio:

Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After a fifteen year career in the legal field, Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also writes young adult fiction under the penname K.G. Summers.

A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing southern gentleman and three adorable children for whom she often bakes many homemade treats.

Kerri is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and her Presidency of Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Read more about Kerri’s books at her website: www.kerrinelson.com
Follow her on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/kerribookwriter
Visit her industry blog here: www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

Buy Links (print and e-book versions available 9/15 wherever books are sold but here’s the publisher link—free gift available with purchase of print copy—while supplies last):
http://jupitergardens.com/Courting-Demons-by-Kerri-Nelson-print.html

or

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Courting-Demons-ebook/dp/B005OAY7TG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316621839&sr=8-1

Giveaway for the day:

Leave a question or comment on each day of my appearance here at Sherry’s blog to be entered to win one of 3 daily prizes:
Day #1 (A Custom made Momwitch Bread Bag Clip)
Day #2 (An autographed PRINT copy of Courting Demons)
Day #3 (A Gift Card to Amazon.com)!

Then, enter to win my book tour Grand Prize Kindle by following me on tour and e-mailing me the answers to each question of the day at the end of tour. The more questions you answer, the more entries you gain.

Question of the Day (good for 1 entry each day you comment here at the blog):

In what month and year did my first book release occur?

Details on how to enter to win the GRAND PRIZE Kindle at the end of my “Dark Days of Demons Tour” located here:

http://kerribookwriter.blogspot.com/2011/09/courting-demons-blog-tour-win-kindle.html

Excerpt link for Courting Demons: http://www.jupitergardens.com/excerpts/kn_cd.html

Book Title: Courting Demons

Blurb:
Paisley Barton was already having a bad day before she turned her husband into a rat.
First, she was fired by her boss and then came home to find hubby in the shower with a naked blonde chick. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but this break-up may just unleash hell on Earth when Paisley casts a spell of vengeance against her philandering husband.
After her spell casting inadvertently opens a portal between dimensions, Paisley finds her family home transformed into a nightly courtroom for settling disputes between demons of the underworld and she’s the judge! If that’s not enough, she’s got to deal with a charming, ancient demon named Camden who wants to be her personal bodyguard while trying to explain her husband’s sudden, mysterious disappearance to sexy police Detective Dalton Briggs.
But Paisley will show them all that an everyday working mom is better equipped than most to deal with the mystical mayhem…and with a tempting demon hottie and a flirtatious young detective vying for her affection, she soon learns that being single again isn’t so bad after all.

“When a wronged wife turns her cheating husband into a rat, you know you have to keep reading! Kerri Nelson offers up a lot of fun and wild magic in Courting Demons!” --Bestselling author, Linda Wisdom, Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend

An Interview with Judge Mom:

Today, I’m doing something a little different. I’ve decided to interview my main character from Courting Demons, Paisley Barton. Here’s what she had to say…

Kerri: Hi, Paisley and welcome to the book tour for the book which tells the tale of your recent adventures in small town Georgia.

Paisley: Thanks Kerri, but I may not be able to stay long…I’m having “kid issues”.

Kerri: Yes, I can understand that completely. I have quite a few kids myself.

Paisley: Yes, well…I appreciate your understanding but you have no idea what I’m dealing with here.

Kerri: Really? So, has something happened since we left you at the end of Courting Demons?

Paisley: (sigh) Really, I can’t talk about it here (looks over shoulder). They could be listening in.

Kerri: (looks around suspiciously but sees nothing) Okay then, let’s get back to the interview.

Voice cries out nearby: Mom! Moooooom!

Paisley: Oh, Crap. That’s my son Marshall, I’ve got to go check on him.

Kerri: Sure, go ahead.

5 minutes pass.

10 minutes pass.

Small elf wearing bowler hat enters the room.

Kerri: Uh, hi…where’s Paisley?

Elf replies: She’s a little tied up at the moment. You know, Judge duties and all that. I’m Zelef and I’ll be completing the remainder of her interview, if you don’t mind.

Kerri: Uh, well…okay…hmmm…but my interview was really supposed to be all about “regular moms” and how we might handle it if our life got turned upside down by suddenly becoming a Judge for the Underworld.

Zelef: (raises eyebrows) And you’re questioning my abilities as an interviewee?

Kerri: No, no…of course not. I…just…well…you’re not a mom…are you?

Zelef: (glares at Kerri)

Kerri: Okay then, perhaps we should just reschedule for when Paisley has more time.

Zelef: (taps foot impatiently) That won’t be happening anytime soon. She has…new issues…

Kerri: Could you give us a hint about the new issues she’s facing?

Zelef: Let’s just say…the new drama in her life makes the rat drama look like a day at Disneyland.

Kerri: (giggles) Disneyland. That makes me think of Mickey Mouse and well…you said rat drama…and…

Zelef: (annoyed grunt) This is no laughing matter, girlie. You have no idea what is going on here in Georgia. You’ll be lucky if the entire state doesn’t go down in flames any minute.

Kerri: (stops laughing) Okay…this sounds serious…shouldn’t we get out here then?

Zelef: (snaps fingers and disappears into thin air)

Kerri: I guess this concludes our interview, folks. I’m not sure what is going on but I’m heading west and out of here…

(Rumbling from beneath.)

Kerri: (jumps to feet, drops interview notebook, runs towards door)

To be continued….

Thanks for hosting today, Sherry. See you back tomorrow with more fun!

Cupid Gone Wild - A complete Overview

Cupid Gone Wild

Sometimes true love needs help. Five Cupids take on a challenge this Valentine's season: To match the most unlikely couple they can find.

Love Transposed by Pepper O'Neal and Chelsy Day 
One arrow straight through two chests was all it took for carpenter/painter Dan, and trust fund baby Jane to go from making each other crazy, to being crazy about each other. The match that won Cupid X the Challenge in 1981...

Love Potion No. 2-14 by Pepper O'Neal
White witch Kole Trillion has a successful business, customers who swear by her potions and spells. Unfortunately, she also has the bad luck to fall in love with a man who doesn't believe in magic, Police Detective Gage Corwin.

The Bachelor by Heather Hiestand
Abbie Harper didn’t mean to buy the date, but one look at Jake Cordalys and she’s ready for red-hot romance. Jake is not looking for something complicated, but when Cupid is involved, all plans go out the window and romance flies in. 

The Boss Wore Red by Delle Jacobs and SamMarie Ashe
Alexandria Bergstrom was chosen because she desperately needed to alter the course of her life. Clint Riordan doesn’t know what will make him completely happy until he meets Alexandria. By giving Alexandria this opportunity to discover her true past, the pairing of Alexandria and Clint will repair past mistakes and produce a new brighter future. 

The Wrong Target by Sherry Gloag
Headmistress, Tina Blackberry and Ryan Thomas can't control events after Ryan's daughter steals his coveted golden arrow and takes it to school, But put Cupid on the job and nothing can go wrong, or can it?

The Hollywood Hookup by Chelsy Day
Actor Casey Jones and Stunt Woman Sandra Benson have a history. Can Cupid get them past the animosity and prove that true love in Hollywood is NOT impossible?

The Wrong Target available in February

The Wrong Target ~

a short story a part of the

Cupid's Gone Wild anthology

 released by eTreasures

in February.

Blurb:
Headmistress, Tina Blackberry, and business magnate, Ryan Thomas, can't control events after Ryan's daughter steals his coveted golden arrow and takes it to school, But put Cupid on the job and nothing can go wrong, or can it?

Excerpt:-
“You’ve got to admit, Tina, it’s a bit spooky.”
“Spooky?” Her wandering attention snared, she looked from the food choice in front of her to the man at her side. “What are you talking about?”
“The arrow! I mean, it’s not as if the head is embedded that deeply in the wood. If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you’d glued it in for a joke, but you’re not that sort of woman.”
The unintended insult slapped at her composure. On top of the day’s combined incidents, it nailed her morale to the floor.
“Not that sort of woman? What kind of woman do you think I am?” Casting a dark glance at her companion she snatched up the first sandwich in front of her and plonked it on her tray. “On second thought, Sam, I’m not interested.” She moved down the line, picked up the biggest plastic beaker and held it under the cola dispenser. Tonight the rights and wrongs of too much caffeine intake failed to concern her as she carried her tray toward the till.
“Got it out yet?” The cashier grinned while she stabbed a finger at the keyboard, waited for the cash drawer to open and handed over the change.
Had the news spread all over the school? Of course it had. She shook her head, too afraid to unleash her mounting temper on the unwary woman and strode over to the only vacant table in the room hoping Sam wouldn’t follow her.
Before she finished her drink, it occurred to her she’d neglected to arrange additional security for her office until someone released the arrow.
Tomorrow she’d look into the possibility of using a chain saw.

Linda Banche is my Guest today :-)

Hi Linda, Welcome to The Heart Of Romance, thank you for joining us today.

Hi Sherry, thanks for having me.

Please will you share a little bit about yourself with the readers?
I’m an American romance author who writes Regencies. I live in New England, where the winters can be very cold and snowy, and the summers very hot and humid. I like birds, especially ducks. Actually, I’m a duck fanatic. My house is full of duck stuff—my excuse is, my husband bought some of it. And turkeys come to my bird feeder. Gobble, gobble.

Why writing?
I love romances and especially Regency romances. I’ve always read a few and been happy. But then, one day I went on a romance reading binge. I went to the library twice a week. I took out tons of romances. All the librarians knew me. I had a wonderful time wallowing in romance.
And then the unthinkable happened—I ran out. Panic! Where could I find my romance fix? My favourite authors can write only so fast, and I didn’t like the second string. So, I wrote my own. Which may or may not be a happy ending, depending on whether or not anyone likes my books.
LOL, I know just what you mean about running out of choices in the library, as for folk for not liking your books, two Epic finals kinda contradict that :-)

If you couldn’t write, what would you like to do?
Read romances! If I didn’t write my own, I would spend the rest of my life ferreting out romance authors I like and gorging on their books. Especially now, since my favourite authors are uploading their backlists to the web. Drowning in romance—ah, what a life.

Do you enjoy cooking, and what’s your favourite recipe?
Cook, me? Are you kidding? I can boil water. I love tea, so boiling water is a necessity, but about all I can cook is spaghetti (the boiling water motif again). My husband is the cook in the family. He can cook Beef Wellington and Baked Alaska. Ah, heaven. Thank you, dear.

Have you always been interested in history?
I’m not so much interested in history as that I’m trying to escape the present. Tuning out the real world is very difficult for me and I need something that will take me far, far away. Fantasy is one way to leave the real world behind. So is the past. And, of course, romance is a necessity.
That's an unusual and facsinating concept, and in your case, very fortunate for your readers.

What is it about the regency period that attracts you?
Whatever I read, I want to recognize part of that book’s world. The Regency, at two hundred years ago, is far enough in the past for fantasy, but not so distant as to have a completely different world outlook. I also like my romances set in foreign lands, but not too foreign. Both British people and Americans speak English. Although some might disagree. *g*
I will admit 'translating' into American English for publication does give pause for thought!

Do you consider humour is an integral part of your novels?
Oh, sure. My tag line is “Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!” My stories tend to be wacked out and I’m not quite sure why. I suppose I could be serious if I tried, and my stories do contain serious themes. But they’re cloaked in a veil of laughter.

Have you ever written a main character who insisted on being glum? And if so, how did you cope?
I have a hero named Ernest, and that’s what he is—earnest. I’m going to have to work hard to get humour into that story. 

Are you a pantser or plotter?
Pantser am I, no two ways about it. I get an idea and write a general outline. Once I have a few pages, I start the story by filling in detail to the events in the outline. Then, I add more scenes as I need them and the story grows. I can understand why the alternate, or to some, preferred name for “pantser” is “organic writer”.

Do you do a lot of research for your books? If you are a pantser, do you research as you progress with your story, or must you have all –or as much as possible- done before you start writing?

The idea comes first. Then I’ll write what I can of the story. I’ve been researching the Regency for several years now, so I know a lot of the general stuff. If I need something more detailed, I google. I google a lot. Google is my friend.

How many books do you write in twelve months?
At this point, me output is pretty meagre. I find, what with all the promo, I’m down to about one novella a year. Gotta find what promo works and concentrate on that. And, of course, the day job really cuts into my writing time.

How did you feel when you finalled for an Epic award this year?
WOW is too small a word to describe my feelings. I’ve never finalled in a contest before. Grant you, I haven't entered many, either. Of the few I entered, I received some very high scores and some not so high ones.

And now I've finalled in not one, but TWO contests. Lady of the Stars, my first EPIC contest finalist, started out as a loser (natch) in a time travel contest run by The Wild Rose Press. But they told me how to fix the story and said to resubmit. I did, and Lady of the Stars, my time travel back to the Regency, finalled in the 2010 EPIC EBook Competition in Science Fiction Romance. My second entry, Pumpkinnapper, finalled this year in the 2011 EPIC EBook Competition in the Historical Romance category.

I'm two for two now. I've entered the EPIC contest twice, and I've finalled twice. Will I win? I'd love to, but who knows?
Congratulations, and best wishes on the outcome.

Many aspiring authors have big dreams and when they don’t materialise immediately may feel like giving up. Do you have any advice for them?
Hey, I’m one of them. I just received a rejection on a manuscript that I thought was a sure thing. I think the editor’s comments were valid and I’ll incorporate them into my story. She said to resubmit and I will, but the work is so hard, especially with all the promo, that I often wonder why I’m doing it.
But then, you have to try, and try hard. No one gets anywhere without a lot of effort, whether we’re talking about writing or your local aerobics class. I see a lot of people dropping out of aerobics once they find out how difficult it is. Tell me about it. I’ve been going for fourteen years.
:-)

Your book Mistletoe Everywhere came out on November 3rd, please will you tell us something about it and where we can get it?
I was researching Christmas legends (I love Christmas) and I was reading up on mistletoe. Everyone knows about kissing under the mistletoe, but mistletoe is also the plant of peace. In medieval times, two enemies meeting under the mistletoe had to lay down their arms and declare a truce for twenty-four hours. Hopefully, they used the time to talk out their differences instead of planning yet another way to kill each other. Mistletoe’s plant of peace legend fit right into Mistletoe Everywhere's story of two estranged lovers.



Please will you entice us with a blurb and excerpt for Mistletoe Everywhere? BLURB:
A man who sees mistletoe everywhere is mad--or in love.
Charles sees mistletoe. Not surprising, since he's spending Christmas at Mistletoe Manor. But why does no one else see it? And why does it always appear above Penelope, the despised lady who jilted him after their last meeting?
Penelope wants nothing to do with the faithless Charles, the man who cried off after she accepted his marriage proposal. But he still stirs her heart--and he stares at her all the time. Or rather, he stares at the empty ceiling over her head…What does he see? According to folklore, mistletoe is the plant of peace. Can Penelope and Charles, so full of hurt and anger, heed the mistletoe's message and make peace?

EXCERPT:
After Charles had heaped his plate with more food than he wanted, he took one of the empty chairs at the table bottom, as far from Penelope as possible.
His tensed muscles eased as he joked with his friends. Smythe made a comment and Charles turned to answer. He caught sight of Penelope…and a monstrous bunch of mistletoe above her.
"Gordon? What is it?" Smythe swiveled in the direction Charles was staring. He looked up and down, and from one side to the other. "I say, with your mouth hanging open like that, you must see something spectacular, but damned if I know what it is."
With an audible click, Charles clamped his jaw shut. "I thought I saw…" He forced his gaze back to his companion. "Nothing. I imagined I saw mistletoe."
Smythe's eyebrows rose. "Mistletoe?"
"Yes. The house is named 'Mistletoe Manor', so the place is filled with mistletoe decorations. Pictures, wall hangings, ceiling trim, whatnot."
"Indeed." Smythe's eyebrows rose higher. "That 'mistletoe' you saw is over that Miss Lawrence. Lovely little filly." His lips curved into a knowing grin. "My jaw dropped the first time I saw her, too."
Charles stiffened. "I was not looking at Miss Lawrence. I believed I saw mistletoe over her."
"'Mistletoe'." Symthe's grin widened. "Of course."

Mistletoe Everywhere Buy link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/mistletoe-everywhere-p-4295.html
Lady of the Stars Buy Link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/lady-of-the-stars-p-1111.html
Pumpkinnapper Buy Link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/pumpkinnapper-p-3685.html
Linda's Website: http://www.lindabanche.com 
Blog: http://lindabanche.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LindaBanche
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LindaBanche
Thank you Linda  for talking to us about your books and your writing.  Best wishes with all of them and your Epic result. :-)