Friday, November 6, 2009
Interview with Carolyn Brown (The Lucky Series) w/ a Give Away!
Thanks Carolyn for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit Wendy’s Minding Spot and answer some questions.
Thank you so much for having me as a guest today. It’s a pleasure to be here. I love your logo: Living in a small town with big dreams and loving to read! I write about small towns because I truly believe they have a heartbeat and a pulse of their own, and folks who love to read … well, that’s why we write, so bless your heart.
1. Where did you come up with the name Luckadeau? It’s very unusual.
My husband used to talk about a family who lived way back in an obscure valley in the mountains of
2. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
I really like to write in the morning when things aren’t cluttered with the toils of the day. However, if a scene pops into my mind I’m quite adept at brushing the toils under the bed to visit with the dust bunnies. I write everyday in some form. It may be original writing, rewriting or proofing. My nephew told me it’s like a perpetual course in Comp 101.
3. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I throw salt over my left shoulder, turn around three times and do a little jig to whatever country song is playing! Not true, but I might try it if it would help get the words from my brain to the computer. I do have a writing quirk though. I listen to country music while I write. It zones me right out there into la-la writing land. I used to listen to Floyd Cramer’s piano, now it’s the older ballads.
4. What author, not living, would you like to talk with?
Margaret Mitchell. Her book continues to live on and on! I’d love to sit and visit with her.
5. What do you read for fun?
Words fascinate me so anything I read is usually fun. I love O’Henry,
6. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
Let’s see, I had to learn to make soap and to make moonshine. I also had to take a wagon train of mail order brides over the Oregon Trail from
7. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I’ve sold fifty two books but I’ve written a few more than that. To name a favorite would be as difficult as choosing which of my three children is my favorite. A story: When my children were young I heard the worn-out old line about how I loved this one more than that one because he had more chores, couldn’t go to the school dance, etc. You get the picture. So one day I set them all down and told them that I had to work and didn’t have time to love them all every day of the week. So they each got two days and their father got Sunday. It was my prerogative to choose the days and they could change at my whim and will. So it goes with my books. My favorite tends to be the one I’m working on at the time because those characters are so close to me. Tomorrow it will change!
8. What is the most important idea or thought that you would like readers to have after reading your book?
To want more, to love the characters enough that they are real people to them and they want to know what happened the next week after THE END. One of my readers said once that she got so engrossed in the book that she wondered if those folks attended her church on Sunday. Now that’s honey in a writer’s ears, let me tell you!
9. What are you currently working on? And can we expect to see more of those hunky cowboys in your future works?
Getting Lucky, the third and final book in the Lucky Series, comes out Jan. 1, 2010 so there’s one more of those fine lookin’ Luckadeau feller’s stories to be read. And I’m currently working on The Honky Tonk series, my next one with Sourcebooks Casablanca! Yes, hunky cowboys and an old beer joint in
Thursday, November 5, 2009
How to Be Famous by Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt : Give Away
I'll have my review up in a few days, but I wanted to go ahead and get this fabulous give away up!
From braving the wilds of Los Angeles to the Costa Rican jungle, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have learned a thing or two about reality...television, that is. But while dominating the airwaves and tabloid covers every week may look like all fun and mind games, Speidi is here to tell you: becoming wildly famous requires hard work and a no-fail blueprint for success. Now, for the first time ever, Heidi and Spencer invite you behind the scenes as they reveal the ten-step plan that took them from nobodies to notorious! You will:
* Learn how to say I hate you without opening your mouth--Heidi's exclusive tutorial
* Increase your capacity for evil with Spencer's "Villain-o-meter"
* Discovery why getting and talking about plastic surgery is a must
* Unlock the secrets of celebrity couple math (e.g. Speidi > Heidi + Spencer)
* Mesmerize the media with outrageous behavior
* Bow down to the power of the paparazzi
...and much, much more!
With Heidi and Spencer as your personal coaches, you, too, can transform yourself into a red-carpet-ready superstar!
Become a fan on Facebook or MySpace.
Hatchette Books is allowing me to give away 5 copies!
USA and Canada Only - No Po Boxes
Leave a comment with your email for one entry
For an extra entry, blog about this on your blog or sidebar (leave link please)
Deadline to enter is November 15th, Winners announced on the 16th.
Murder on the Cliffs: A Daphne du Maurier Mystery by Joanna Challis
To solve a murder mystery while on holiday is no way to catch a suitable husband. Daphne du Maureer gave up her London season to study and research ancient scrolls at an abbey on the Cornish coast. She stays with an old friend of her mother's, Ewe Sinclair. Ewe is a self-proclaimed busybody who knows almost everything about everyone in the small quaint town. Not long after Daphne's arrival, she takes a walk along the coast and hears a terrifying scream. Running, she spies a young girl with a body at her feet. The young lady's name is Lianne and she is terrified to tell her family about the death. Daphne speculates about the dead woman. Did she jump to her death from the cliffs or was she pushed? Daphne reassures her and follows Lianne to the most magnificent mansion she has ever seen named Padthaway. The woman who died was Lianne's brother's, Lord David, fiance'. An investigation ensues and the death is ruled accidental. However, Daphne and Ewe don't believe it was an accident, but murder. Daphne begins to spend more and more of her time with the inhabitants of Padthaway trying to unravel the puzzle surrounding the murder on the cliffs. MURDER ON THE CLIFFS: A DAPHNE DU MAURIER MYSTERY is a gothic mystery full of suspense and unique characters. The setting is eerie, yet relieved with sporadic and unexpected humor. The plot twists and spirals like a morning mist that doesn't dissipate until all is revealed. MURDER ON THE CLIFFS; A DAPHNE DU MAURIER MYSTERY will have you up late burning the midnight oil. A stellar read!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Guest Blog: Judi Fennell, author of Wild Blue Under , with Give-away!
Thanks for having me on your blog today, Wendy!
I get asked a lot about my inspiration for my Mer series and while the specific answer is "fairy tales," and even more specifically, The Little Mermaid, I'm going to go broader and say the stories I read and saw growing up are what influence my writing.
My favorite shows growing up were Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, and The Addams Family. Greatest American Hero, The Man From Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, Wonder Woman.
Are you seeing a theme here?
And then there were the books I checked out of my elementary school library--so many times I couldn't count: the complete Oz collection. The Wizard of Oz is only one of the stories written by Frank L. Baum. The entire Doctor Doolittle series by Hugh Lofting. I remember seeing my name written over and over on the sign-out slip in the back. They had magic, quests, fighting against the odds and talking animals.
An older cousin was a magician in high school and my mom hired him for one of my birthday parties, and I was fascinated. I love the idea of people having magical powers, so Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were guaranteed hits with me. To this day I love the name Tabitha. (I wanted to name our new kitten that, but everyone else in my house nixed that idea.) No one loves that name more than me--mainly because I always wanted to be that character growing up.
[Fan girl moment: I was watching a celebrity reality show and they had Erin Murphy on, who, along with her twin Diane, portrayed Tabitha, and I was so happy to see her all grown up. I jumped online, friended her on MySpace and did a total giddy squee when she accepted within 45 minutes.]
Those shows and books captured my imagination and fueled it. As I grew, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg fed that imagination with Star Wars and the Indiana Jones series. I was one happy mom when the 4th Indy movie came out. I love the humor, I love the magic/powers, I love the romance, and I love the tongue-in-cheekiness when they poke fun at themselves. That's what I strive to do in my writing.
The proverbial "they" tell you to write what you know, what you like to read, and I'm so thrilled I've gotten the chance to do that. In Wild Blue Under which comes out this month, the second in my Mer series, I giggled to myself when the hero's unwanted sidekick shows up: a seagull. Named
Total cornball, I know, but it still makes me laugh. And what makes it even more fun for me is that I don't plan these things. I'd like to think that my subconscious has this Grand Plan, but I highly doubt it. I just know that I love when it pops into my head and figure if I can't stop giggling and rolling my eyes, readers will do the same.
I had such a blast remembering all those titles of the television shows. What ones (or others) did you watch?
And please stop by my website, www.JudiFennell.com to register to win one of two remaining Romantic Beach Getaway Weekends to celebrate the release of the Mer series books. The next drawing is November 30 at the Atlantis Inn in
About the Author
Judi Fennell is an award-winning author. Her romance novels have been finalists in Gather.com's First Chapters and First Chapters Romance contests, as well as the third American Title contest. She spends family vacations at the
You can read my review of Wild Blue Under here. The publisher is allowing me to give-away a set of Judi's books, In Over Her Head and Wild Blue Under, to one winner! USA and Canada Only please.
Leave a comment with your email, along with your answer to Judi's question: What ones (or others) did you watch?
Winner will be announced on November 10th.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Guest Blog: Why I am a Closet Southern Belle by Dianne Castell with Give-away!
One of the reasons I wrote Hot and Bothered and Hot and Irresistible was I wanted to set a book in the South, the real South. It has a flavor all its own from the way folks talk...How’s your mamma and daddy?...to the food...anything that has a stick of butter and cup of cream has got to be delicious! Just ask Paula Deen...to the way gals and guys behave.
So my question today is... Are you a closet Southern Belle? Now you ask, Okay what the dickens makes a Southern Belle? Well, I just happen to have a little list...
Do you never wear white after Labor Day or before
Easter
Do you own a strand of real pearls and wear them
with pride
Always drink sweet tea and love it when they
have it on the menu
A part of you truly believes in those Yankees
Civil War? What Civil War? Now that unfortunate
Northern Occupation...that you know about
Have Lee as part of your name or your children’s
Fav movies are GWTW and Steel Magnolias and Fried
Green Tomatoes
Actually read GWTW and reread parts from time to
time. Wish you had the name Scarlet
Have a tiara hidden in your panty drawer and
know how to twirl a baton
Have an umbrella that looks a bit like a parasol
Make sure your children know manners and use them
Love Red-eye gravy, grits, country ham and make
your own biscuits
Know that prime real estate is The Mall,
The Country Club and The Beauty Salon
Buy more then one can of hair spray at a time
Have actually said Y’all come back, Bless your
your heart, Drop by when you can, How’s your
mamma?
Love white gloves and wear hats
Have a subscription of Southern Living or ripped
a recipe from that magazine at the doctor’s
office
Have a pineapple decoration somewhere in your
House
Think the magnolia is a piece of heaven on earth
And what about the food? Do you own a Paula Deen Cookbook? Catch her on TV whenever you can? Actually copied a recipe and made it and know how to make cream gravy from scratch and would rather poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick than put cool whip on your homemade pumpkin pie! Is there anything better than southern cooking? Well maybe Italian but that’s another blog.
So, how do you measure up? Is a part of you a Southern Belle? Know someone who is? I really tried to keep these characteristics in mind when writing Hot and Bothered. A gal in NY city is way different than a gal in
I am definitely a closet Southern Belle! I do make fried chicken and bathtub gravy. That’s what my kids call my cream gravy because they could eat a bathtub full of it. I do make my own pies, have white gloves, crab at my kids if they don’t use their manners, buy extra-hold hair spray, subscribe to Southern Living, have a fancy umbrella that I’ve been known to twirl from time to time and do know how to twirl a baton for real. Even took lessons.
On the Southern Belle scale I’m about a 7. What about you? What is your Southern Belle Score?
Thanks for being here!
Hugs, Dianne Castell
Thanks Dianne for visiting my spot today!! You can read my review of Hot and Irresistable here. I'm giving away an autographed copy of Hot and irresistable to one winner!
USA Only
Answer Dianne's Question: What about you? What is your Southern Belle Score?
Winner will be announced on November 9th.
One Lucky Cowboy by Carolyn Brown
Ellacyn Jane Hayes is about to have the happiest day of her life. But on the eve before her wedding day, she sees her fiance' making out with his "sister". She also overhears their plans to murder Ellacyn on the honeymoon. Ellacyn knows she needs to hide for six weeks until her twenty-fifth birthday, the day she inherits the family ranch and oil business.
She leaves in the middle of the night and fortune shies down on her hours later at a bus station. Nellie Luckadeau has been wanting to hire some extra help and "Jane Days" will fill the job nicely. The only drawback to the situation is Nellie's grandson, Slade, who believes Jane is a con artist.
Slade does everything he can think of to get Jane to leave, but she is bullheaded. But when a flyer is being posted around town about the missing heiress, Jane knows she must come clean and reveal her past.
Slade and Jane go on the run for a few weeks, hiding out until her birthday, and trying to stay a step ahead of her ex-fiance' and his partner who are still looking for her to finish the job. They fight like cats and dogs, but soon find themselves heating up the sheets.
Wonderful characters, seamless writing, and a firecracker romance has Carolyn Brown at the top of her game. ONE LUCKY COWBOY will have you craving a cowboy of your own. Loved it!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell
Valerie Dumere has always been restless, searching for that something to complete her life. Unable to find it, she returns home to run her late mother's souvenior shop.
Rod Tritone is the Heir to the Kingdom of Atlantis. The council needs someone to go fetch the human, Valerie, to claim her birthright, and they choose Rod to do it. He vows he won't be like his brother and fall in love with the human as he loves the sea and his tail.
When Valerie and Rod meet, sparks fly. Instant attraction, and Valerie wants nothing to do with her inheritance, as she believes her father left her. She never knew him and she doesn't want to now. But when she finds out about back taxes owed on the shop she knows she needs her inheritance to keep it.
She agrees to go to the beach with Rod and his talking bird Livingston even though she is deathly allergic to the sea. But along the way, they are attacked by fish and other anamolies that make their journey treacherous. Rod may never get Valerie to the sea to show her her inheritance, and if he doesn't get his legs back in the water soon, he will lose his tail forever.
Wild Blue Under is another under-the-sea adventure that is simply marvelous. The talking birds had me grinning ear to ear and the romance between Valerie and Rod was sweet, yet passionate. I love this series, and Judi Fennel's imagination knows no bounds. If your looking for a light romance with some comedy and a great plot, pick up WILD BLUE UNDER - there's nothing fishy about it!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Blog Tour: Hot and Irresistible by Dianne Castell
Bebe Fitzpatrick is a cop who knows how to take care of herself. She was adopted when she was just a baby and her upbringing has been a rough one. She has her friends, her work, and her cats. She's been investigating a thirty year old murder, looking for the missing diamond necklace worth millions in an old morgue, but she hasn't had much luck yet.
Donovan McCabe is a cop from Boston who is Bebe's new partner. He's hoping to bust local Ray Cleveland for illegal gambling, but Bebe or any of the townsfolk will help him out. To them, Ray can do no wrong. If that isn't frustrating enough, his dead partner's ghost keeps popping up with advice and his attraction to Bebe is out of this world.
AS Bebe and Donovan investigations heat up, so do their sizzling passions. Hot! Hot! Hot! and to top it off, as the heat sizzles someone else is murdering folks in town. It gets a bit too close too home for Bebe's benefit and she will stop at nothing to solve the crimes.
HOT AND IRRESISTIBLE is filled with quirky and lovable characters, a mystery to solve, and romance bursting with passion. The townfolk come to live from Castell's writing and the Southern living made want a glass of sweet tea. Fantastic!
About the Author:
Dianne's love for the romance genre began when her daughter tossed her a dog eared, clinch cover Harlequin. She said it was "great," then confessed it had been passed around the eighth grade class as a "supplement" to their sex ed class. Some supplement! But Dianne was instantly hooked on Harlequins, and it wasn't long before she started writing stories of her own.. She lives with her husband and four kids in Milford, Ohio and write humorous, sexy stories set in small-town USA because there's nothing more fun than falling in love.
Thank you to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for my review copy - www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/
Dianne's Website: www.diannecastell.com/
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16-oz - Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil - 1 pint
