Where am I?

Wow... other than guests popping in on occasion, I've really left this place in the dark. I've been writing, but not much fiction. Right now my passion is in resurrecting an old love... music. Specifically, working in the entertainment field. I've been doing interviews, reviewing albums and books. Most of who I work with on a daily basis are Texas entertainers, though every once in awhile a Nashville guest walks through the door.
If you'd like to check out this side of me, you'll find me almost daily at KellysCountry

The other area keeping me busy is freelance for Polymer Cafe magazine. I began working with their editor about three years ago with the occasional "The Last Word' column - more of an editorial style. It was a nice foot in the door for what is becoming more steady work with this editor. I love working with Polymer Cafe and this editor. I'm hoping to step through other doors under the Scott Publishing umbrella next year.

I have done some short fiction pieces for competitions and little things are pulling me back to the longer items I want to finish.

And then there is always NanoWriMo and JANO on the horizon.

I'll pop in here more regular over the closing of the year. 2013 will find me writing full-time and sharing it all with you.

What are you working on?
Best
~Angela

Spotlight Author - Bethany Aan

Today I'm honored to introduce you to a dear friend. Bethany and I began chatting on-line almost 20 years ago. I've watched her grow as both a person and an author. Her first release, Hearts of Ishira is the product of that growth. I hope you'll enjoy reading her book as much as I am.


Bethany has been a fan and a writer of romance, science fiction/fantasy, and erotic fiction for more than twenty years and is thrilled that the reading market has finally caught up to her love of all three so that she can share the stories she's always dreamed of writing.

Bethany Aan lives in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina with her husband and their dog, Loki. You can find her author's page on Facebook, follow her blog at http://bethanyaan.blogspot.com, or keep up with everything at once by visiting www.bethanyaan.com.

Q & A for Bethany Aan

1. What is the most difficult for you to write: Characters, conflict, emotions?

Believe it or not, the conflict is the hardest for me to write. My characters tend to tell me about themselves through their thoughts and actions. Emotions kind of come natural to me, for some reason. I’ve always been sensitive to emotions and very self aware of my own, so maybe that’s why. But conflict? I don’t like conflict. And I love my characters, so usually it’s hard for me to figure out who wants to hurt them, and why. I think that’s why my heroes and heroines rarely fight with each other… most of their struggles are internal, but the love is rarely in doubt. I like having them bond together and work towards defeating the big nasty, who or whatever that might be. 

2. If you could time travel would you go forward or backward?

That’s a tough one! I’d much rather be able to do both, to be honest. I’m just as interested in ancient history and the way people lived from day to day, as I am in what’s coming long after I’m ashes. 

3. You’ve been ‘at rest’ for awhile. What prompted you to jump back in with such a vengeance?

This is sort of a spiritual thing. I tried going back to college, and I did okay at first, but then things started happening that showed me that what I thought I wanted to do wasn’t right for me. So I changed majors, from Art Education to Entrepreneurship. I planned on opening my own bakery and cake decorating business, here in the small mountain town my husband and I live in.

The final straw was when both my rampant clinical depression and a severe chronic back pain issue flared at the same time. My depression meds stopped working and so did my back. That showed me that I wasn’t going to be able to do the cake decorating thing, as that’s a lot of hours on your feet and in weird positions. 

So I had a talk with the universe (my personal name for the almighty is Bish… He/She/It/Bob… ), and the universe told me to sit down, quit fighting it, and WRITE. I hadn’t been able to write much of anything in nearly 20 years, but when I finally stopped fighting ‘my destiny’, sat down and started writing… it just flowed out of me. It hasn’t stopped for much of anything, and I have several stories, a few novels, and an entire new world that is involved in an epic space opera. 

4. Tell us about your real life romance.

My real life romance… 

Well, the short version is that I was assistant manager at a bookstore. Sal came in to buy a box of Magic the Gathering booster packs. We started talking, I found out he liked Robert Jordan, and not even an hour before, my boss had told me to go ahead and put a special-ordered Robert Jordan book out. It was autographed, but the customer had never come to pick it up or pay for it.

We like to tell folks that I sold Sal a book he already had and we fell in love, but there’s so much more to it than that… as there is with any great love story. We’ve been together for 16 years this November, married for the past 5, and are more in love now than we were back then, if you can imagine!

 About Hearts of Ishira

When Arianna wakes on a strange planet, she is the only human able to communicate psychically with the big, sexy Thorsani warrior who rides in with his men to rescue the Earth women from their crashed space transport. The Thorsani, humanoid but descended from sentient cats eons ago, are also marooned on this planet they have named 'Ishira'.

Hunter and his brother Jace are Commander and lead physician of Ishira colony. When the captured women tumble into their lives, the small Earthlings turn the men's world upside down. The girls bring drama and heartache, laughter and light...not to mention the first opportunity for sex in more than ten years. And though she's the oldest of her group, Hunter and Jace find themselves drawn to the lovely, curvy Arianna.

For Ri and her ladies, their tumultuous new life takes a very interesting turn when they discover that the Thorsani way is to marry in teams of men...

Excerpt:

“Then why did you cry out?” Jace thundered. “You scared ten lives out of me!”

“I… I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I just didn’t… I wasn’t expecting… “

She threw a helpless look at Hunter, who merely grinned hugely and offered no assistance whatsoever. The beast.

“Did not expect what?” Jace asked angrily, crossing his arms over his muscular chest.

“That,” Arianna pointed, then covered her flaming face with her hands. Hunter nearly doubled over with laughter.

Jace looked down at himself, where she was pointing, and found nothing out of the ordinary. 

“What?” he asked, throwing a bewildered look toward his brother.

“I do not think she has seen men of our… er… endowments before, brother,” Hunter chuckled. “We appear to be more impressive than the men of her world.”

“They’re huge!” Arianna cried, peeking once more before hiding her face again. They continued laughing until she threw a pillow at each one. “Oh, stop it!”

“Your face, little one!” Hunter laughed, leaning back against the wall. “It was as though you have never seen one before.”

5. This is the first book in a series. Can you give us a sneak peek into Book 2? 

It’s hard to pick one that doesn’t reveal too much from book one, but I’ll give it a shot!

Sean?” 

Ri wandered around the large balcony, wondering if he was hiding from her. When she reached the sitting area, she saw that he had slept on the couch out there. Again. The restless energy that had made sleep almost impossible for him still lingered on his pillow. Caressing the spot where his head had left an indentation, Arianna shook her head. She knew that she was the cause of his restlessness, but wasn’t sure what to do about it. Well, that was a lie. She did know. She just didn’t want to admit it, to him or to herself. 

The simplest answer to their issue was the most obvious. She could just take him as her lover, as her third mate. His brothers would welcome him, since the five brothers had been a team long before Arianna had crash landed on Hunter’s world. Ri had touched Sean’s mind far out into space, guiding him home to Ishira, the world where Hunter had built their colony when his people were driven from their home planet. 

I want to thank Bethany for popping in today. 

Happy Reading

Angela

We have a Winner!

Congratulations to Barbara Huddleston. She won the free eBook from Candace yesterday.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and for Candace for taking time from her immensely busy schedule to answer a few questions.

I also encourage everyone who stopped by to check out the blogs of the commentors. They are all very talented authors. It's all about the networking ;-)

Happy Writing!
Angela!

Get your Vamp on- with Candace Havens

I am happy to introduce you to today's guest. Candace Havens is an amazing woman with more energy than a power plant. I've been a part of her Write_Workshop Chat (yahoo) group for several years. She always provides us with top-notch workshops for FREE from people who've been there, done that. Her networking skills are a big part of her weaponry. See, when she's not writing an outstanding book with powerful characters, she's interviewing celebrities like George Clooney and Tom Cruise for her day job! Dang!

Here's her official bio: 

Bestselling author Candace Havens has written six novels for Berkley including, Charmed & Dangerous, Charmed & Ready, Charmed & Deadly, Like A Charm, The Demon King and I and Dragons Prefer Blondes. Her books for the Blaze line at Harlequin include Take Me If You Dare, She Who Dares, Wins, Truth and Dare, and The Model Marine. She is also in the anthology Spirited, and the proceeds go to help literacy. In addition to Take It Like a Vamp, she has the steampunk novels Iron Demon (Oct. 2012) and Iron Blood (April 2013) from the Maisy Clark series debuting with Entangled Publishing.

Her books have received nominations for the RITA's, Holt Medallion and Write Touch Reader Awards. Model Marine is a National Readers Choice Finalist. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation's leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities including Tom Hanks, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and many more.

Her entertainment columns can be read in more than 600 newspapers across the country. Candace also runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers, and teaches comprehensive writing class. She does film reviews with the Dorsey Gang on New Country 96.3, and is the President of the Television Critics Association.

Here's a sneak peek of 'Take It Like a Vamp':

Vampire Nick Christos might have been born in the Middle Ages, but those days seem tame compared to the last eight years spent ruling the Supernatural Council. The only respite in his long days of governing is with his sweet neighbor Casey Meyers. Sure, he’s forced to take a cold shower after every encounter, but no way will he risk anything more with a human. Not with his blood thirsty ex on the prowl and out to ruin Nick’s life. But when said crazy ex shows up at the ball and flies her freak flag high, Nick has more to worry about then keeping his hands off his neighbor. He’ll have to stay closer than ever if he hopes to keep her alive, but will she want to leave him forever when she learns the truth?

Today, Candace has graciously agreed to answer five questions from me. I hope you'll leave a comment as you just never know when Candace will pop in for a few moments to say Hi! Just for a moment of your time, you'll have the chance to WIN your very own copy of the eBook - Take It Like a Vamp

Let's check in with Candace...

 You weren’t excited about writing a vampire story at first. What was it about the story that changed your mind? And is there another already in the works? 
There is another one in the works, with the best friend Linc. I know that will make some Linc fans very happy. And I really did swear I would never write a vamp story. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good vampire stories. It just felt like they’d been so done. Then, my editor, Liz, made a suggestion and the story popped out of my head so fast. I’ve never had a book fall out of my brain like that. 

You have a very impressive release schedule over the next fourteen months. What started the ball rolling? And did you expect the giant snowball that has followed?
No, I didn’t expect it all. A couple of years ago I was wondering if I had what it took to survive the business. It can be heartbreaking at times. But there always seems to be a carrot when I’m at my darkest moment. The day after I thought about quitting, my fantastic editor, Kathryn at Harlequin Blaze, asked if I might be interested in writing for them. Then, last fall I was wanting to dive into something new and I ended up writing steampunk (Iron Demon (Oct 2012), Iron Blood (April 2013). A few months later the whole thing with the Vamp story came around. And in the midst of all of that, Harlequin asked if I would do another Marine story and be in a Christmas novella with Lori Wilde and Kathleen O’Reilly – I mean, they’re two of my favorite authors. It was like, why the heck are you even asking? Of course, I’ll do it. It’s been a little nuts but I wouldn’t trade any of it. Oh, and there’s another paranormal that I can’t talk about, that will probably be out in the next few months. Again that’s my Entangled editor’s fault. (Smile)

There’s nothing like a crazy ex to bring a little interest to any story. Was their anything about their past relationship that affected how Nick views things now?
Oh, he and Casey have trust issues. And that nasty ex brought that all to a head. Oh, Alvinia how we all love to hate you so. I think she really screwed with Nick’s idea of what a woman could be. That’s why Casey is so special to him. She has helped him see what a real relationship is all about.


It appears Nick isn’t the only one with the power behind Take It Like A Vamp. 
Would you please tell us about the Vamp Squad and their importance?

These are the most amazing group of people. They tweet, they facebook, they tell all of their friends about Take It Like A Vamp. I’m giving away prizes, but most of them don’t care about that. They just love the book so much they want everyone to know about it. How great is that? I’m so darn lucky and I know it. If I was Oprah, I’d buy them all a car. Some day, gang. Some day. (Smile) Oh, and no one has won the iPad3 yet, so there’s still time to join through my website.

You are one of the busiest people I know. What is your one best time management tip for writers who are serious about this journey?
Stop talking about it and do it. It’s after midnight. I’ve been up since 6 a.m. and I have another two hours of writing ahead of me. Sleep is for the lazy. (I’m only sort of kidding.) You have to make writing a priority or you’re never going to make it. 

Thanks so much for letting me hang out!!!!  Candy 

Thanks for being here, Candy. Now I'm off to write!
For the rest of you, if you've not done so yet, I encourage you to join the Vamp Squad. You're in for some very cool prizes just for helping a girl out!
You can also follow Candy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CandaceHavens  She's always looking for writer buddies to help keep her awake and writing.

Happy Reading!
Angela

Week of August 20th

Happy Monday, everyone!

I have 1 GOAL for this week. Rough out 3 contest entries.
The writers retreat last weekend was more about the stamping convention so I wasn't too upset with the fact that all I managed was an article for Polymer Cafe magazine. It's the first of three I have coming due so that's okay.

But the OCW contest deadline is coming up fast and I need to get my butt in gear. I may have found what to write about for the travel article category and I did get a thumbs up on a critique for one of the shorts. There's still time for you to submit something and/ or get in on the early registration for this awesome conference!

So my GOAL for this week:
1- paranormal short story
2 - My Favorite Things creative non-fiction
3 - 1 other short

Tomorrow, we have a very special guest so you won't want to miss her!
Keep Reading, Keep Writing!
Angela

Weekly Goal

Happy Monday, everyone.

Yes, I know I'm behind. The last post was about Bob coming home. I don't do a lot of computer time when he's home. I do the writing I need to do and that's it. He is the most important person in my life and when he's home, it's all about him. He truly is my hero.

That said, he leaves out tomorrow for his three weeks of playing riverboat Captain and I'll be back to my regular routine. Beginning Thursday I'll be spending four days with a friend from my Peoria crit group. We're looking forward to an intensive writing/ critique session - just us girls.

So tomorrow I'll work fast and furious on the rough draft of a paranormal/ time travel short story. Think the Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I love doing these kinds of stories. Part history and part contemporary, letting me play in both worlds. I'm planning to enter the story in the OCW competition. The deadline for entries is the end of this month and I have 'a few' I want to have done.

What are you working on?
Creative Blessings
Angela

Weekly Goals

Good morning everyone!
It feels good to not only be writing, but posting on a regular basis. Before I delve into what's on my plate for the week, I hope you'll stop by my friend Annie Bancroft's blog. I am her guest blogger and I'd love to see you over there! You'll find out 8 things you may or may not know about me, including which two authors I'd most love to chat at length with.

Bob comes home on Wednesday so I'm trying to get a jump on posts for the week. I've discovered the auto-post feature on blogger so I can write my posts the night before and set them to run the next morning while I enjoy coffee on the deck with my real-life hero.

Last week I was able to finish one of the contest entries for OCW. They're due the end of August. I also mapped out and researched for a second entry and know where I'm going with a third. My goal is to get the roughs of the contest entries out of the way so I can focus on the novel again for NanoCamp in August. Any of you participating?

Traditionally for Nano events you are supposed to write 50,000 words of a NEW piece. Well, for August I'm going rogue and hopefully finish the rough of my HonkyTonk Hearts target novel. I can't start something new right now. If I can get it finished then I'll reward myself with a whole new concept in November for the official NaNoWriMo2012.

Here's to another fabulous week on the writing journey.
Angela