Sunday Snippet ~ 1st June ~ Duty Calls

 Duty Calls (15% off all versions) is one of Black Opal's Books featured books throughout June. 

 

 

Here is another snippet from Duty Calls, which is now available in large print as well as print and kindle editions.

 

He resurrected images of the first time he’d seen Cadmore’s fake sister. She reminded him of a long term druggie, with her lank, shoulder-length, dyed hair, cheap white cotton blouse, and black skirt. Her scrawny, flat-chested body repulsed him, and he wondered why Cadmore presumed he’d accept the woman over his twenty grand. Then Rafe had wondered why he’d accepted the bet. He’d seen her unsuccessful attempts to disguise her fear when he’d handled her like a piece of meat on a butcher’s slab during the card game.

 

He hadn’t gone to the decrepit house to play poker. He’d gone to learn more about the man who claimed to be the rightful heir to Lord Kinsale’s estates. And to do that, he’d
accepted Cadmore’s invitation to join him in an evening’s poker game. 

Then he remembered the woman’s old scars, small and round running down her arms, and across her chest mingled with new bruising from their brush with death. And the crisscrossed welts on her back, he’d assumed she received while immersed in the raging river.

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SNIPPET SUNDAY

My Writing Process #mywritingprocess

My Writing Process #mywritingprocess

Today is "My Writing Process" blog tour day, when writers answer questions about their writing process. Last week, fellow author of romance, Paula Martin, posted hers.

You can check it out at http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.com/  Thank you Paula for inviting me to join.

1) What am I working on?

I have more than one work in progress at the moment. Although it can have its disadvantages, the characters move in and out of each others' story, the advantage of letting one sit, is to work on another when you are blocked on the original.

 

The project I am struggling with is a compilation of stories, a collection of myths that come together is several differing stories, of various lengths under an umbrella title of The Magpie Chronicles.

 

The other, and at the moment, current project, Born Again, is a big challenge and requires a vast amount of research. Information which will create the background to and be twisted to become incidents my characters experience. What is making this project so challenging is that unlike previous stories I am writing this one by the scene, and then having to patch them together rather like a jigsaw puzzle. And for a 'pantser' writer that just adds to the challenge.

 

Days before her death my heroine's grandmother reveals a shocking family secret that changes my heroine's life and forces her to take a long hard look at herself and to decide how and what she is going to do about the information she's received as, depending upon her actions, many other lives, strangers' lives will be changed forever too.

 

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

The first two books I wrote, that were published came out in reverse order. But the common denominator with these books was I took years to write them. When The Brat, published in Oct 2010 by The Wild Rose Press, was released I was blessed with my first review... 

Sherry is daring. She doesn’t hesitate to develop a story that touches on the darker side of life. Death. Jealousy. Hate. Fear. Pain. By fearlessly exploring these emotions, it makes the journey real, human, and reading about the rewards after experiencing a hard fought struggle is that much more pleasurable. 'The author' has stayed true to herself and her original thoughts, and that uniqueness definitely shines through in her work.
I'd like to think I have maintained that uniqueness. I write across two romance genres, contemporary and Regency, and in all of them I like to add a dash of mystery.

In my Christmas Regency, Vidal's Honor, my hero and heroine had to flee across a divided Spain, over the Pyrenees into war-torn France and across the Channel to England.

 

3) Why do I write what I do?

I have always read romances, especially Regencies, I found and read every one of Georgette Heyer's books I found on my mother's bookshelves, And now I have every one of them on my own.

 

I like to take strong characters and strip them down to their basics and watch them rebuild themselves, their characters and their strengths. I enjoy watching their priorities change and see how they cope with all the challenges they (and I) set them. And of course, I like to read a story with a happy/feel-good ending.

 

4) How does your writing process work?

I'm tempted to ask, 'what process' but I'll refrain. :-) Because I don't - can't- sit down and write out a plot line of my story, I write by the 'seat of my pants' in other words I'm a 'pantser' writer.

 

My ideas come from nowhere and everywhere. I could be in the kitchen working and a character will come to me and tell me the beginning of their story --as happened in The Brat, and Duty Calls-- or I may get a title. On the other hand the title may not come until I am writing something down and just 'know' that is the title for the story, as happened with From Now Until Forever.

In my current Christmas novel, Name The Day I have been to a craft fair and got talking to an artist who did characatures as a side-line to his portrait commissions.

 

When I write, I may write all day or hardly at all the next. I do try to write something each day. I prefer to edit as I go along but when I become bogged down I try to write through it, even if that means side-stepping and freewriting on a clean page. Sometimes it is included in the story on others it goes straight into my discard file. But usually I garner a kernel of an idea on how to proceed.

 

Edits are a love-hate relationship.

 

I love to hate them.

 

But I can't, I learn so much from them :-)

 

* * * *

 

Next week the following three authors will be telling you about their writing process:
 

Jillian Jenkins ~ http://adragonslove.blpgspot.com

Jillian says  "I write everything" When asked to elaborate she added "Mostly YA I suppose."

I'll add, I just love her writing and am so pleased she will be sharing her writing process with you.

 

Karen King ~ www.karenking.net
Karen writes for chidlren from preschool including teens, picture books, fiction, joke books, plays, anything really under the name of Karen King.
She also writes romantic short stories and novels under the name of Kay Harborne.
 

Kay Springsteen ~http://kayspringsteen.wordpress.com/
Best-selling author Kay Springsteen alternates between writing contemporary and Regency novels.

 

Tuesday's Tales 20th Aug ~ Rough

Welcome to

Tuesday's Tales
A place where books are born.

 

This week's prompt is 'Rough' and I am going back to chapter six in my WIP

She nearly leapt from her chair when her phone rang. Who would ring her at two in the morning?

Then, without hearing his voice, she knew. Rafe. Heat flamed into her face and without thinking she pulled the folds of her dressing gown over her legs.

“Hello?”

“I wasn’t sure you’d be awake.”

She heard the rough edges of emotion in his voice.

“I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, I’ve come down for that chocolate drink.” She’d heard his intake of breath, followed by a muffled string of curses.

“You were asleep by the time it was done.”

Amusement at Rafe’s obvious discomfort booted her earlier embarrassment right out the window. Not wanting to add insult to injury she stifled the laughter that bubbled in her throat. Better not to go there, she decided, and changed the subject.

“What are you calling about?” Had he really said, ‘To hear your voice.’

“I intended to leave a message for you to get back to me so we can arrange a meeting.” Nothing in the cool tone of his voice indicated the frustration she thought she’d heard in his muttering, but then she probably imagined them.

“Oh, right.” Was that disappointment she heard in her tone? She must still be addled from her short sleep.

“I have a couple of overseas conference calls in the morning that I can’t cancel, but I hope to be clear by midday. Do you have any free time around then?”

Finishing her hot chocolate, Samantha rose and headed for her studio. “Give me a moment to check. I don’t think so, but I do know I have an early afternoon sitting booked. I can’t remember the time.”

She flicked on the light and stopped dead in the doorway. It wasn’t a mess, but whoever had been in here was either sloppy in hiding his efforts or didn’t care if she knew someone had invaded her inner sanctum. Paintbrushes lay scattered over her work surface and her pictures set against the wall had been shifted and not replaced in the right order.

 

Thank you for reading this week's offering, I love hearing your thoughts.

You'll find more great reads at

 Tuesday's Tales

Tuesday's Tales 13-08, Picture prompt

 

Welcome to Tuesday's Tales
A place where books are born.

 

This week is picture prompt week, and I'm jumping well forward in my wip, and setting my heroine and hero on the beach.

 

 

Escape became essential to Samantha. The further away the better. Preferably abroad. Bbut with the ongoing police investigation all she could contemplate in her immediate future was the loathing in her eyes every time Adele looked at her. Had Adele known the truth all this time? If so, in Samantha’s eyes that made her an accessory to the fact, whether before the fact, or after, mattered little to her. It was the knowledge that the woman who’d always shown her kindness had been party to, and benefitted from the theft of her inheritance. And now she acted as if Samantha was the villain of the peace.

 

The audacity of it.

From Adrian she’d expected nothing less than the vitriolic attack, from his wife, her step-mother, well no; it turned out she wasn’t even that. The one truth Adrian had uttered in his whole life was about his status as her parent.

She needed a hug and could only think of one person whose arms would fit round her so perfectly, but Rafe was in Italy consulting with his father. Guilt ripped through her. She’d been instrumental in exposing his step-bother’s actions. How could she turn to Enzo’s son for comfort when she’d caused so much grief to his family?

The beach. Never mind a December gale was blowing; walking on the beach always comforted her. Without a second thought she shot through the house turning off light, collecting her bag, coat and car keys and slammed the front door behind her.

Fifty minutes later, with the evening sun glowing golden on the waves racing up the shore, Samantha bent down, tugged off her shoes and stood upright to see Rafe standing yards away dong the same.

“What—”  

“I saw you leave and followed you. What else could I do?”

Thank you for reading this week's offering, I love hearing your thoughts.

You'll find more great reads at

 Tuesday's Tales

 

Today Elaine tells us how Matt Gets Jilted

Matt Gets Jilted

Welcome to Sherry’s blog! My name is Elaine Cantrell, and I’ve been blogging for Sherry for the last two days. If you’re interested in me and my writing, check out my website at http://www.elainecantrell.com. I have some nice free reads there.

If you’ve been following for the last few days, you know I’ve been talking about people who get jilted-just like my heroine Marley Matthews in The Table in the Window. The book is coming out in the next few days and can be purchased at http://www.astraeapress.com. Continuing with my jilted theme, I’d like to talk a bit about my other Astraea Press release A New Dream.

Here’s a blurb about the book.
What do you do when you lose everything?

After an auto accident destroys his NFL career, Matt McCallum struggles to find a new dream for his life, but nothing engages him the way football did. After a stint in rehab, he takes a job managing a grocery store where he meets Violet Emerson.

Violet works in the bakery department, but her dreams carry her far beyond the doors of Chef’s Pantry. As soon as she can save the money, she plans to open a catering business. And she thinks the new manager’s broad shoulders and blue eyes are simply divine.

Thrown together at work, Matt and Violet find a common dream for their lives, but a loose end from Matt’s past returns to jeopardize their future. Will love be enough to save their new dream before it turns into a nightmare?

Of course, before Matt meets Violet he had a fiancée, Stacey Thomas. In this excerpt from A New Dream Stacey agonizes over the accident that took Matt’s football career away.
~~~

Stacey shuddered and splashed some more water on her face. The nausea had passed now. She staggered back into her bedroom and threw herself across her bed. Matt’s legs looked horrible! She’d give anything not to have been at the hospital when the bandages came off. It had been bad enough when a sheet covered Matt, but to actually see his mutilated legs turned her stomach and made her feel faint.

She knew one thing, though. Until this afternoon she hadn’t really understood that Matt’s football career had ended. Oh, she realized he had lost a leg, but somehow it hadn’t been real to her until she saw it for herself. Rolling over, she curled into a tight, little ball. She had had such fun going places with Matt. People always recognized him
and wanted his autograph. He had plenty of money too, and he wasn’t stingy with it. The fame and money had thrilled her, but it was all over and done with now. No more autographs or big money.

Her stomach lurched again. She had more than just fame and money to worry about. Matt had wanted to kiss her this afternoon. In fact, when the doctor came in to take off Matt’s bandages he had caught her sitting on the edge of the bed kissing Matt. The doctor had kidded him about it, but she hadn’t minded being interrupted at all. She…didn’t like to touch him too much now.

Her thoughts drifted to the afternoon of their accident. Their parents wouldn’t approve, but she and Matt had gone to Greenville and checked into a luxury hotel that morning. They had spent his last day of freedom in bed together. She drew a deep, shaky breath.

The day had been everything she’d dreamed it could be. Her body tightened with the faint echo of passion. Matt was a good lover.

Oh, why did they have to have such a terrible accident? What would happen to Matt now? Her engagement ring winked and twinkled as it caught the light. She stared at it for a moment and began to cry.

~~~
Pretty bad, huh? Yeah, she jilted him the next day. She didn’t have the nerve to do it face-to-face. She returned her engagement ring by messenger. What a witch! Oh, well. If she hadn’t jilted Matt, he never would have met Violet. In my story Violet works in a bakery before she opens her own catering business. If you’ll leave me your email address in a comment I’ll email you a PDF copy of her favorite dessert recipes.

Can I brag for a minute? Romance Junkies gave the book a 4.5 out of 5 stars and said, A NEW DREAM is a wonderful contemporary romance with heartwarming characters and heartfelt moments. Elaine Cantrell creates a beautiful, believable relationship with old fashioned values that adds sweetness to the story. All of her characters were likable with emotions and reactions that one can relate to. My favorite though had to be the hero Matt, who had to face a very difficult reality. His growth and the way Ms. Cantrell portrayed his struggles with coming to terms with the changes in his life was nicely done. This is one of the best inspirational romances I’ve read in a while.


Romantic Times gave it four and a half stars and said, Readers will love this touching and inspirational story in which a former football player learns to live his life under new terms after a tragic accident.

I’m also tickled pink to tell you that A New Dream is on the publisher’s bestseller list!


The book is available at http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=677872&mode=product&product=2676585 or at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell&sprefix=a+new+dream+

In a few days I’ll pick the winner of the contest I offered yesterday. I hope each and every one of you have the merriest holiday season ever, and don’t forget to give books to the readers on your list. Sherry, thanks so much for letting me come. I’ve enjoyed being with you and your readers.

Congratulations, Elaine, and best wishes with your new Christmas book, thank you, too, for visiting with us here these last few days.

Elaine Cantrell introduces us to Marley's New Guy

Marley’s New Guy

Welcome back to the blog! I’m romance writer Elaine Cantrell, and Sherry was kind enough to invite me to her blog. If you’re curious about me and my writing, check out my website at http://www.elainecantrell.com. You might also like my blog which is found at http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com

Yesterday I promised I’d tell you what my heroine in A Table in the Window did when her fiancé jilted her. Uh, I mean what happened after she cried a river and went shopping to make herself feel better.


In this excerpt, Marley is Christmas shopping and stops to eat at the restaurant where her fiancé jilted her.

Excerpt:

Barton’s hostess picked up a menu. “Table for one?”
“Yes.” Marley’s eyes prickled, but she swallowed hard and followed the hostess to a small table near the kitchen. Guess they saved the nice window tables for hunks like Michael.
She sat her purse and packages in the empty chair beside her and tried not to stare at the table where it had all occurred. Her heart burned. Maybe she shouldn’t have come here after all.
“Hi, may I take your drink order?”
Marley looked up and saw Robert, the waiter who’d served her and Michael on that awful day when Michael broke up with her. She blushed and hoped he didn’t know why. “Maybe some hot tea,” she decided, “and I know what I want to order. I’d like a chicken salad plate.”
He smiled at her. “Coming right up.”
As he vanished into the kitchen, Marley heard someone yell, “Hey, Rob, what are you doing here? Your shift’s over.”
So Robert’s friends called him Rob. Marley liked that name better. Robert sounded like someone her father’s age, but Rob sounded young and upbeat. Wonder why he wanted to hang around Barton’s after his shift ended? Didn’t he have some place he needed to be at Christmastime?
He returned to her table and set her tea in front of her. “Have you ever tried tea the way the English drink it?” he asked. “I brought you some cream in case you’d like to try it.”
“Thank you, that’s very thoughtful,” Marley answered. “Maybe I will try it.”
She thought he’d go away, but he remained standing beside the table. “Uh, is there anything else?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “My shift’s over. If I’m not bothering you, I wondered if you’d like some company for lunch.” His eyes twinkled. “In case you’d like to know, you’re the first customer I’ve made that offer to.”
How strange. She’d seen this guy in Barton’s for over a year now, yet she couldn’t have described him to save her life. She paused for a quick inspection. He wore black trousers and a long-sleeved white shirt with a red and black striped tie. A green bib apron covered his shirt and tied around his neck and waist. He’d spiked his short, blonde hair ever so slightly in front. He had blue eyes and a square jaw and definitely wasn’t as buff as Michael who spent a lot of time in a gym. Michael was taller too.
The sparkle in his blue eyes decided her. “Sure. Have a seat.” She swept her packages and purse into the floor, and he sat down beside her.

Oh, she’s done it now! Can Rob be the one to mend her broken heart, or will she find that rebound relationships never work?

If you like the sound of A Table in the Window, please check it out at http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=1651593&mode=product&product=7885677 or at Amazon. By the time you read this it has released. Find it at: http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=7885677

Marley works at a bakery in New York City. I nagged her until she agreed to share her recipe for chocolate cake. If you have a better recipe, let me know. This is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. In fact, if you post a recipe for us I’ll throw your name in a hat for a book giveaway.

Marley’s Chocolate Cak
2 cups flour
4 TBSP cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 stick butter
1 tsp soda
½ cup cooking oil
2 eggs
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Sift flour and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Place butter, oil, water, and cocoa into a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. When mixture boils, remove from heat and pour over sugar and flour mixture. Mix well with spoon and add buttermilk, soda, eggs and vanilla. Beat lightly and pour into greased and floured 13 X 9 X 1 ½ inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Wet Chocolate Frosting
1 stick butter
4TBSP cocoa
6 TBSP evaporated milk
1 box powdered sugar

Place butter, cocoa, and milk in saucepan. When mixture comes to a boil remove from heat and add 1 box powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Pour over cake while hot.

Jilted! Elaine Cantrell explains...

Jilted!

Have you ever been jilted? Once upon a time I was, but even though he didn’t mean to do me a favor, he did anyway. If he hadn’t wanted to date that silly little girl… Well, if he hadn’t wanted to date someone else, I never would have met my husband, the love of my life. I always thought that term was probably invented by romance writers who wore rose colored glasses, but I was wrong. I found my soul-mate, and I can truthfully say I love him more today than I did the day we got married.
It’s interesting to see how people cope with being jilted. This picture was taken in China when a jilted bride tried to jump out of a window. Notice that she’s wearing her wedding dress. Lucky for her the guy who caught her had plenty of strength in his arms.

And what about this? The Farmers Almanac tells the story of one jilted woman who invited people to her wedding reception (She couldn’t get her money back.) and asked them to contribute to a couple of charities she had selected.

In my new Christmas short The Table in the Window, my heroine, Marley Matthews, also gets jilted. The skunk called her and asked him to meet her in their favorite restaurant. Here’s what happened...


“Hey, there,” she called, even before she reached the table. “Seeing you makes up for the lousy weather.” She smiled as she took her seat and busied herself with removing her wet coat.

Michael, who wore the wheat‑colored sweater she’d bought him last month, stared out the window as if he saw something far more fascinating than rain and fog. He hadn’t met her eyes once, and he didn’t have the hint of a smile on his face. “Hello, Marley.”

The waiter, a guy whose name tag identified him as Robert, approached to take their order. “What’ll it be?” he asked with a smile. “Hot chocolate? Coffee? Or do you need something stronger to warm you up?”

“Coffee,” Marley answered.

Robert offered them a menu, but Michael waved it away. “I’m not having lunch.”

Marley’s eyebrows shot up. As the waiter left the table, she said, “I thought you wanted to have lunch.”

“No, I said I wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay, talk.” Marley reached for his hand, but he drew it away and put it in his lap.

“Uh…Marley…I have something to tell you.” He cleared his throat, and this time he stared at some point right behind her left shoulder.

Marley’s heart thumped. “What is it, Michael? What’s wrong?” Was he ill? Had he lost his job?

He stared at a burned spot on the rustic table as if it had come to life and tried to bite him. “I…I’ve met someone.”

Marley cocked her head. “Who did you meet?”

He’d pitched his voice so low she had a hard time hearing him. “Her name is Heather.”

Everything clicked. He wouldn’t hold hands with her. He wouldn’t look at her. Cold more intense than that outside settled into her veins and almost took her breath away, but she clung to the hope that she was wrong. “I...I don’t understand.”

His eyes met hers briefly before they slid away. “Yes, you do. I’m sorry, Marley, but I can’t marry you after all.”

Pretty tacky to do it in public, wouldn’t you say?

If you’d like to find out how Marley copes, check back tomorrow.


The Table in the Window is published by Astraea Press, and available at
://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=1651593&mode=product&product=7885677

Six Sentence Sunday 9th Oct

As always, my thanks to everyone who stops by. I appreciate your company and your comments.

This week I am again posting six sentences from my current WIP.  Today's offering carries on from last week.

“I have come to look through your accounts before I speak with Brandon.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You are a woman.”   Worth paused for the effect of his words to sink in.
“I am aware of that!  And,” she huffed out a breath, her intention to maintain her temper abandoned, “if you are implying that as a woman I am incapable of running my late husband’s estates... estates, moreover, that Harold left in my sole charge, I suggest you acquit yourself of that misconception.”


To enjoy more SSS offerings  Click HERE

Six Sentence Sunday

 Thank you to everyone who visited last week. I appreciate your company and comments.
This week's 'six' follows on from last week's.

The memory of her straggly, dirty, shoulder length hair, wide frightened eyes and hands that sought refuge in the skimpy black cotton skirt hanging limply against her bare legs, still haunted his dreams. And turned them into nightmares.

Rafe swallowed. No way could he kid himself. The memories of the night would haunt him for the rest of his life. He‟d treated her like a side of beef hanging in a butcher's shop in an effort to maintain a cover already blown.


Duty Calls is available ~ HERE HERE & HERE

Please visit my website to learn more, and read the reviews.

You will find other participants of Six Sunday Sentence HERE

Six Sentence Sunday 17th July

Hi, I'm participating in Six Sentence Sunday for the first time, so thank you to all who come by.
The snippet is from my current contemporary release, Duty Calls, from Black Opal Books and available at Amazon.com

“Other than the fact you’re stretching our friendship very thin, if you think I’ll set foot on Kinsale territory again.”
Brilliant blue skies overhead offered a large playground for the early summer sunshine, and the fluffy white clouds sailing by. He saw the high chimney-tops through the trees.

“Do you really think I’d bring you here without a very good reason?” Arthur remained in his seat, his hands on the steering wheel, watching Rafe pace up and down the soft verge beside the open-topped car.

"I can't think of a single reason good enough that justifies you resurrecting events that nearly cost me my life, and possibly cost the life on an unknown woman."

For more details, please visit my website: www.sherrygloag.com

Check out all the awesome Six Sentence Sunday authors

The importance of 'The First Kiss'

Mention the word 'kiss' and it evokes memories in everyone. 

Mention Cupid and everyone thinks of February 14th!

Be we Cupids work all year round.

So while getting our targets together may seem easy to the innocent bystander, ensuring they stay together may depend a great deal on the kind and quality of their kisses. 

Kissing in Western cultures is a fairly recent development and is rarely mentioned even in Greek literature. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of greeting, affection, respect, love, and passion. Depending on the culture, relationship and context,  may carry a different social significance.  The French are renowned for kissing the fingers, whie embracing each other the Mediterraneans' kiss each cheek, to name just two of the most obvious.
In the Middle Ages it became a social gesture and was considered a sign of refinement of the upper classes while in China rubbing the nose against the recipient's cheek is a sign of affection. 

There are so many different kind of kisses there just isn't space here to begin listing them, so I won't!

But do you remember your first kiss?  You know the one I mean.  The one between you and that first 'someone special'?

On January 10th 2011 The Guardian.co.uk posted an article asking that question.
They say that according to Sheril Kirshenbaum, a scientist at the University of Texas, a first kiss is likely to be one of your most vivid memories.

Sadly I must be an exception, or else the kiss was so unmemorable it never rated even the vaguest memory! As an author of romance that’s a shameful admission, but true.  As an author of romance I wish I’d written Judy Garland’s line of 1939 "Twas not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

This so represents what I search for when writing.

In my short Valentine novella, The Wrong Target, published by eTreasures as part of the Cupid’s Gone Wild anthology and still available at http://www.etreasurespublishing.com/  and http://tinyurl.com/6ys4h6a there is explosive emotion between Tina and Ryan all the way through the story, but their first kiss does not come until near the end of the story.
It may have resulted from a challenge from my heroine to my hero, but indeed, that kiss reached their souls and sealed their future.

 BLURB:
Headmistress Tina Blackberry and business tycoon 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:
“Goddamit,” he exploded, “Can’t you stand still for one second? I have something to say, but I can’t while you’re jogging round the room.”

She halted toe to toe in front of him. “You have me dismissed from a job I loved, because I upheld the safety of my pupils, and still have the audacity to stalk me to my holiday destination and demand I listen to you because you have something to say?” Flapping her hands at her sides, she spun away and back again, planting her hands on the chair arms, she pinned him in his place and snarled, “Let me tell you something. I’ve come here to enjoy myself and your presence isn’t part of my plan.”

“What is your plan?” he demanded.

“To get laid!” Astonishment pushed her away from the chair, her eyes wide, her lips curved up in a defiant sneer. “I intend to find myself a man and screw the living daylights out of him. And,” she paused deliberately, “I don’t need you for that.”

To find more information about Sherry Gloag's other books, The Brat and Duty Calls -

visit her webiste and blogsite at




Website: www.sherrygloag.com
Blogspot: http://tinyurl.com/68oomm6




and other places online:-
Duty Calls – http://tinyurl.com/4rxo5sw
And The Brat, her debut novel - http://tinyurl.com/5spkumm
The Wrong Target - http://tinyurl.com/5vadzhq

Today Kay interviews her hero

Kay explains 'This questionnaire was invented by the noted French author Marcel Proust'

Interview with hero, Dan Conway: 

Kay - What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Dan Smiles - Making Captain with USMC

Kay - What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Dan - To be worth something, able to contribute in a positive way.

Kay - What is your current state of mind?
Dan frowns thoughtfully, rubs jaw - Confused, unsettled, lonely, contemplative, frustrated.

Kay - What is your favorite occupation?
Dan leans forward a bit - I've been a Marine my whole adult life.

What is your most treasured possession?
He sighs and gives it some thought. Grandfather's dog-tags, mother's box of recipes.

Kay - What or who is the greatest love of your life?

 Dan - It was being a marine. shrugs - Currently . . . my dog and being alone.

Kay - What is your favorite journey?
Dan - Was always a tossup between leaving for deployment and coming home, with all the missions in between.

Kay - What is your most marked characteristic?
Dan sighs and takes a moment to consider - Afraid it's blindness, so do anything not to be noticed.


Kay -When and where were you the happiest? 
Dan - As a marine.

Kay - What is it that you most dislike?
Dan - That slightly helpless feeling when I can't do something sighted people take for granted—that I always used to take for granted. Like see a sunrise or seeing someone you love in the distance. He offers a sad smile.

Kay - What is your greatest fear?
Dan shrugs - That I will never be worth anything/make a contribution again.

Kay - What is your greatest extravagance?
Dan - Computer equipment for things like reading mail, going on internet.

Kay - Which living person do you most despise?
Dan - It's not worth despising others. Takes too much energy and clouds your judgment.

Kay - What is your greatest regret?
Dan turned a fierce glane in my direction - That I couldn't save the little boy who had the bomb strapped to him.

Kay - Which talent would you most like to have?
Dan - Don't know.

Kay - Where would you like to live?
Dan - If I have to put down roots, I like my beach house.

Kay - What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Dan shifted in his seat - Failing someone...failing to help them when they are in trouble, being helpless when they need you.

Kay - What is the quality you most like in a man?
Dan - Honesty.

Kay - What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Dan - Honesty and understanding/empathy.

Kay - What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Dan - Moodiness but can't seem to change it. 

Kay - What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Dan - Pity toward me.

Kay - What do you most value in your friends?
Dan - Unconditional friendship

Kay - Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Dan leans back in his chair and crosses his legs - Captain America, other superheroes. Especially like superheroes who have no superpowers.

Kay - Whose are your heroes in real life?
Dan sits taller, straighter - U.S. Marines

Kay - Which living person do you most admire?
Dan - Marine commandant General James T. Conway

Kay - What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Dan - Bravery, especially in context of just performing my job, or being brave because I handle being blind so well—I mean, do I have a choice? How does that make me brave?

Kay - On what occasions do you lie?
Dan - In order to protect someone else or keep them calm (as in telling the little boy with the bomb "it's going to be okay.")

Kay - Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Dan chuckles - Probably "okay."

Kay - If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Dan - I wouldn’t brood as much.

Kay - How would you like to die?
Dan gives my questions some thought before replying - Assuming it's not from old age after a productive life, then let my death have meaning.

Kay - If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
Dan - Pit bull

Kay - What is your motto?
Dan, without hesitation and a grin - Semper fi

You've met Kay's hero. Come back tomorrow and meet her heroine.

Heartsight is available at the Astraea Press website

To read the blurb and excerpt come back on Tuesday 22nd

and learn more.
Don't forget to come back for Kay's interview with her heroine tomorrow.

Guilty Pleasures revealed by Linda Morris

Guilty Pleasures

I can't spend all my time writing (although sometimes I feel like I do), so what do I do when I'm not writing? Like everybody else, I've got some guilty pleasures that I fall back on when the deadline pressure and long hours get to be too much. For some reasons, two things seem to call my name when I'm burned out.

My first guilty pleasure is chocolate. I don't think I'm anywhere close to being alone when I say that I crave it when I'm stressed, tired, or in need of a lift. It's a magical elixir as far as I'm concerned. I love it. Looking at this picture gets my mouth watering:

As a recently dianosed prediabetic, I can't eat much these days: I have to pretty much be satisfied with one or two pieces. And I can't really go for these truffly things either with their sugary syrups and fillings --

I'm more of a dark chocolate kind of girl these days, maybe with almonds or hazelnuts thrown in for extra fiber and protein. (Dark chocolate with nuts, especially in small portions, is a surprisingly healthy sweet fix for diabetics.) Something like this is just what the doctor (or diabetic nutritionist) ordered:

But as I said, I'm limited to a square or two a day, and I have more stress than can be alleviated by just a bite or two of chocolate, so where to turn? To my second guilty pleasure, home shopping.

Let me say up front that I seldom buy things from QVC or HSN, although I have. But I enjoy watching nonetheless. Why? Sometimes it's simple window-shopping. I may not be able to buy everything I like, but I can admire it anyway. Sometimes it's simple entertainment when my brain is tired and the news is depressing, the sitcoms aren't funny, and it's three more months until baseball season resumes.

Other times, though, I find the relentless cheer of the hosts and hostesses kind of amusing, especially in the face of unpredictable live TV. Watching the call-it-like-she-sees-it Joan Rivers bluntly describe the way a model was wearing her jewelry as "ugly" and then hearing the hostess scramble to cover for her through her laughter is a hoot. So is hearing a popular middle-aged clothing designer drop the "sh" bomb on live TV (as in, "I like to get together with my girlfriends so we can talk about what sh*ts our husbands are") as the friendly smiling host tries to stave off apoplexy. Or this classic moment, when a host (very understandably) mistakes a moth for a horse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5woNs9WRE&NR=1

Well, who can blame him? Horse, moth, they're all the same. Callers bring a whole different kind of fun, like when they're supposed to be raving about how great a product is, but start complaining instead, forcing the host to furiously backpedal and end the call.

Home shopping is my second great guilty pleasure: free, fun, and it doesn't elevate my blood sugar a bit.

Please come back on the 15th to learn more aboout me and my books Montana Belle and Forget-Me-Not



Caroline Interviews Dallas

Hello, I’m Caroline Clemmons and I write historical, contemporary, and paranormal romance. Thank you for stopping by Sherry’s blog. Today, I want to interview the hero of my current release. Yes, I know he’s a fictional character—to you. To me, he’s real because he lived in my head, nagging at me until I wrote his story. Please welcome the hero of THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE, Dallas McClintock. Dallas, come in and have a seat while we talk. 

Dallas: (He tips his western hat, removes it, and sits across from me.) Ma’am. Thanks for inviting me here today. 

Caroline: Thanks for coming, Dallas. Tells us about your childhood, Dallas. 
Dallas: I was born in Georgia right here in the U.S.of A. That’s where my mother’s people lived, you see. They had escaped the removals by hiding in the forest.

Caroline: I had relatives in Georgia. Would I know any of your mother’s family?
Dallas shrugs: My mother’s family were Eastern Cherokee. Robbers wounded my dad—his name was Houston McClintock—and left him for dead. My mother’s family found him and nursed him until he recovered. By then, Ma and Pa had fallen in love. 

Caroline: How romantic. Do they still live in Georgia?
Dallas looks down, shakes his head: No, ma’am. They were killed when I was twelve. Grandpa feared the killers would find me and kill me too. That’s when my grandfather brought me to Texas for my Uncle Austin and Aunt Kathryn to raise. 

Caroline: I’m sorry if I stirred up painful memories. Tell us about your life in Texas.
Dallas: It was different, but fine. Uncle Austin and Aunt Kathryn treated me like their own son, and their boys Josh and Daniel treated me like a brother. To the townspeople, though, I was just a sorry halfbreed, so mostly I hung around the ranch. Then, saving up what Uncle Austin paid me for helping on his ranch, I was able to buy my own place. I was all set raising the finest horses in the state. That is, until I heard a woman’s screams and came upon those two no accounts misusing Cenora. Naturally, I rushed to help her.

Caroline: How commendable, Dallas. I believe that brings us up to the beginning of THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE. Thanks for coming today. I hope readers will want to read the rest of your and Cenora’s story. 
Dallas: Thank you, ma’am. I’ll be getting back to the ranch now.  

If you want to be entered into the drawing to receive a free PDF download of THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE, please leave a comment including your email address and mention that you’ve subscribed to my newsletter using the form on the sidebar at http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com. Each issue contains a free short story, recipe, news, and miscellaneous stuff I think is interesting.

Thanks for reading today, and I’ll see you tomorrow.