Today's Alternative Read blog hop question is provided by author: Victoria Blisse QUESTION:What is the strangest thing you've done in the name of research?
It's not that I don't enjoy research, more a case of not being vry good at it. I tend to get so wrapped up in the pursuit for answers, I have been known to forget the original question!
Now when that happens during a conversation with a member of the local constabularly, it does nothing for your credability! LOL
Fortunately for me, I knew the officer and we both had a good laugh about it!
Showing posts with label debut novel The Brat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debut novel The Brat. Show all posts
22 September 2011
19 September 2011
AUTUMN HARVEST: FALL BETWEEN THE PAGES BLOG HOP TOUR (SEPT 19-26)
In 'olden times' ~ when crops were harvested by hand ~ farmers would band together during the havesting of their crops. They'd move from one farm to the next helping each other gather in their crops, ready for winter.
When they came to cut the last swathe of corn in a field, the men used this last corn to make Corn Dollies.
Three straws can be plaited using the hair plait or a cat's foot plait. Favours can be made with two, three, four or more straws.
It is an art form dating back to pagan times, when the Corn Dolly was originally made out of the last sheaf of corn to capture the “corn spirit”.
A countryman's favour was usually a plait of three straws and tied into a loose knot to represent a heart. It is reputed to have been made by a young man with straws picked up after the harvest and given to his loved one. If she was wearing it next to her heart when he saw her again then he would know that his love was reciprocated.
The Corn Dolly was kept over the winter, before being returned to the fields in Spring and burned or buried to ensure that the coming years harvest would be successful.
GIVEAWAY
To win the pdf copy of my Valentine Novella
The Wrong Target,
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include your email if you want to participate
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.”
Please check out the rules below
~ ~ ~
**OFFICIAL TOUR RULES TO BE POSTED:**
1) HAVE FUN!!!
2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!
3) THIS TOUR STARTS: Monday, September 19, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, September 26, at Midnight (Arizona Time) Winners will be drawn and posted September 27th! ***
4) MEET AND MINGLE WITH ALL THE AUTHORS & BOOK PAGES! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY BLOG CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!!
5) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!
6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? WHOO! HOO!!
HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***
27 August 2011
Sweet Saturday Samples
#4 Thank you to everyone ho visited last week and to those joining us all on the second week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy.
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
The Brat is pg rated and a contemporary romance.
~ ~ ~
"No.” The man shifted in his seat. “I don’t think Mrs. Kouvaris ever bothered to find out.”
“She never…” Shocked, his gaze slid from the road to the man sitting beside him. “Impossible!”
“Take the next left.”
With difficulty Ben refocused on his driving. “How can she not have known?”
“You have to understand, she took the child in for one reason.”
“Yeah!” The long-subdued bitterness spilled over. “She wanted a daughter to replace the son who wasn’t good enough for her.”
“Contrary to your belief, she did not bring the girl into the house as your replacement.” The older man sighed. “Mrs. Kouvaris was not a kind woman, but the one act of kindness I remember her for is sending you to your father.”
“How can you describe such an action as akindness?” Ben demanded. “Where now?”
“Left, then left again, between the first double gates.” Mr. Cranborne waited until Ben drew the hired Jaguar up in front of a modern detached house of warm red brick and large windows. A well-kept lawn sloped away to the right, bordered by lofty rhododendron bushes. To the left a double garage stood back from a paved area.
“My mother could afford a place like this?” Ben gaped at the extensive, well-kept gardens surrounding the property and tried to equate his knowledge of the woman who’d given birth to him with the building in front of him. Whoever called it a
cottage had windmills in their attic at the time. “She must’ve had several influential clients.” He gave a derisive snort.
“Her clients had varied tastes, I believe.”
“That doesn’t explain why she dispatched me to Greece and replaced me with another child.”
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
The Brat is pg rated and a contemporary romance.
~ ~ ~
"No.” The man shifted in his seat. “I don’t think Mrs. Kouvaris ever bothered to find out.”
“She never…” Shocked, his gaze slid from the road to the man sitting beside him. “Impossible!”
“Take the next left.”
With difficulty Ben refocused on his driving. “How can she not have known?”
“You have to understand, she took the child in for one reason.”
“Yeah!” The long-subdued bitterness spilled over. “She wanted a daughter to replace the son who wasn’t good enough for her.”
“Contrary to your belief, she did not bring the girl into the house as your replacement.” The older man sighed. “Mrs. Kouvaris was not a kind woman, but the one act of kindness I remember her for is sending you to your father.”
“How can you describe such an action as akindness?” Ben demanded. “Where now?”
“Left, then left again, between the first double gates.” Mr. Cranborne waited until Ben drew the hired Jaguar up in front of a modern detached house of warm red brick and large windows. A well-kept lawn sloped away to the right, bordered by lofty rhododendron bushes. To the left a double garage stood back from a paved area.
“My mother could afford a place like this?” Ben gaped at the extensive, well-kept gardens surrounding the property and tried to equate his knowledge of the woman who’d given birth to him with the building in front of him. Whoever called it a
cottage had windmills in their attic at the time. “She must’ve had several influential clients.” He gave a derisive snort.
“Her clients had varied tastes, I believe.”
“That doesn’t explain why she dispatched me to Greece and replaced me with another child.”
20 August 2011
Sweet Saturday Samples
#3 Thank you to everyone ho visited last week and to those joining us all on the second week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy.
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
* * *
“Perhaps my mother… No.” He sighed. “Why would she keep any photos of me? And where would she get hold of one? Come on. Let’s see if we can find out. I imagine she’ll go back to the house.”
“She may.” The solicitor studied the handle of his briefcase while Ben released the car locks, then settled back against the supple leather of the passenger seat.
“Anything left in the cottage after the funeral automatically becomes part of your
mother’s estate. If she attends the funeral, she no longer has access to the property once she leaves the cemetery. If she hadn’t attended, the ban on access applied at the start of the service.”
Ben swept his gaze from the road to the man beside him and back again. “That’s a bit ostentatious, isn’t it, for a woman with nothing to leave? Why the unusual stipulation?”
"Mrs. Kouvaris was…” Obviously choosing his words with care, Cranborne continued, “a complex woman.” The words dropped into a silence and left much to the imagination.
“So my mother left nothing to the child she took in after sending me to my father’s home in Greece?”
He swallowed the taste of bitterness in his throat.
“And nothing to this Miss Williams who cared for her for the past five years?”
“Quite so.”
“Do you know the identity of the child my…”
Ben hesitated. “The name of the child she replaced me with—do you know her identity?”
“No.” The man shifted in his seat. “I don’t think Mrs. Kouvaris ever bothered to find out.”
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
* * *
“She may.” The solicitor studied the handle of his briefcase while Ben released the car locks, then settled back against the supple leather of the passenger seat.
“Anything left in the cottage after the funeral automatically becomes part of your
mother’s estate. If she attends the funeral, she no longer has access to the property once she leaves the cemetery. If she hadn’t attended, the ban on access applied at the start of the service.”
Ben swept his gaze from the road to the man beside him and back again. “That’s a bit ostentatious, isn’t it, for a woman with nothing to leave? Why the unusual stipulation?”
"Mrs. Kouvaris was…” Obviously choosing his words with care, Cranborne continued, “a complex woman.” The words dropped into a silence and left much to the imagination.
“So my mother left nothing to the child she took in after sending me to my father’s home in Greece?”
He swallowed the taste of bitterness in his throat.
“And nothing to this Miss Williams who cared for her for the past five years?”
“Quite so.”
“Do you know the identity of the child my…”
Ben hesitated. “The name of the child she replaced me with—do you know her identity?”
“No.” The man shifted in his seat. “I don’t think Mrs. Kouvaris ever bothered to find out.”
6 August 2011
Sweet Saturday Samples
#2 Thank you to everyone ho visited last week and to those joining us all on the second week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy.
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
* * *
The sound of crunching gravel brought his attention back to the reverend as the manapproached them. “Mr. Kouvaris.” The clergyman extended his hand and held out the sealed envelope.
“I am delighted to carry out this small commission for Miss Williams.” He looked over his shoulder to the open grave, then continued, “Please accept my condolences at such a sad time.”
“Thank you.” Ben took the envelope. What else could he say?
“By your mother’s request, there’s no formal gathering after the funeral, but you are welcome to join me and my wife at the vicarage.” His gaze encompassed them both as his arm waved in the direction of a large house overlooking the graveyard.
“Thank you, but I’m leaving for Greece this evening.” Ben wished himself gone, then wondered aloud, “How did you identify me?”
The clergyman had moved away but swung round with a puzzled frown. “Miss Williams pointed you out when she asked me to give you this.” He indicated the envelope in Ben’s hand.
“I see.” He didn’t, but kept his own counsel.
"Thank you,” Ben repeated and, with Mr. Cranborne, headed for his hired car.
The man beside him voiced the question running through Ben’s mind. “How did she know who you are?”
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
* * *
“I am delighted to carry out this small commission for Miss Williams.” He looked over his shoulder to the open grave, then continued, “Please accept my condolences at such a sad time.”
“Thank you.” Ben took the envelope. What else could he say?
“By your mother’s request, there’s no formal gathering after the funeral, but you are welcome to join me and my wife at the vicarage.” His gaze encompassed them both as his arm waved in the direction of a large house overlooking the graveyard.
“Thank you, but I’m leaving for Greece this evening.” Ben wished himself gone, then wondered aloud, “How did you identify me?”
The clergyman had moved away but swung round with a puzzled frown. “Miss Williams pointed you out when she asked me to give you this.” He indicated the envelope in Ben’s hand.
“I see.” He didn’t, but kept his own counsel.
"Thank you,” Ben repeated and, with Mr. Cranborne, headed for his hired car.
The man beside him voiced the question running through Ben’s mind. “How did she know who you are?”
30 July 2011
Sweet Saturday Samples
#1
This is the first week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This is part of the opening scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press
From the shadow of the ancient yew tree, Benedict Kouvaris observed the two people standing at his mother’s graveside. The clergyman’s voice carried on the still air, as he intoned the funeral rites for the woman who’d sent him to another
country on his tenth birthday, two and a half decades ago.
He thrust his anger and confusion beneath the surface of his consciousness and focused his attention on the elegant Armani-suited woman, whose blonde hair contrasted with her black suit and concealed her face from view. The wind sighed through the branches, and the man beside him shifted from one foot to the other.
“Who is she?” He raised an eyebrow in query.
“Miss Williams, sir.” His mother’s solicitor, Mr. Cranborne, cleared his throat. “She cared for your mother for the last five years.”
This is the first week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This is part of the opening scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press
country on his tenth birthday, two and a half decades ago.
He thrust his anger and confusion beneath the surface of his consciousness and focused his attention on the elegant Armani-suited woman, whose blonde hair contrasted with her black suit and concealed her face from view. The wind sighed through the branches, and the man beside him shifted from one foot to the other.
“Who is she?” He raised an eyebrow in query.
“Miss Williams, sir.” His mother’s solicitor, Mr. Cranborne, cleared his throat. “She cared for your mother for the last five years.”
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