Romance Writers Weekly – To whom, and for how long.

Welcome to the romance Writers Weekly blog hop, where every week a great group of romance writers answer questions and accept challenges. Diverse in what we write, we are unified in the quest to bring you, the romance reader, a very happy ever after.

You can join us daily on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RomanceWritersWeekly/

If you’re starting your blog hop here, or just hopping over from Leslie Hachtel’s wonderful blog post welcome.

Today’s question comes from Jenna Da Sie– If you had to give up something – TV? Wine? Starbucks? What would it be and share how you handle it (or don’t).

Seeing this I instantly thought about Lent, and the act of giving something up. Then I was reminded of a rather off-color joke which ends:

…and he said, “I can’t have sex with you because it’s Lent.”

She answered, “Oh my! To whom, and for how long.”

I’ve never done the whole Lent thing. Giving something up I like doing completely for a limited time. I’m a ‘life is for living’ and ‘all things in moderation’ kind of guy.

The idea of giving something up that I like doing, never really enters my head, making this week a real challenge.

I did give up smoking when I was in my teens because it was expensive and stupid, but I can’t say I ever really liked it anyway. I could buy a couple comic books for the price of a pack, so that was really win-win.

Let’s see. What could I give up?

Wine – No way.

TV – We did give up cable a couple of years ago, but still have internet (Netflix, Hulu, Etc.) so does that really count? I haven’t missed live TV at all, except for Green Bay Packer games.

Starbucks – Probably, but not coffee. Hard to believe nowadays one comic book costs about the same as a cup of anything at Starbucks.

Probably the hardest thing I ever gave up was comic books. I collected and read the darn things well into my forties.They just got too damn expensive, plus the plot lines turned into running soap operas instead of the superhero stories I grew up with, so i cut that cord.

As for something I currently have that I’m willing to give up? Nope. I’m in a good place. No reason to rock the boat.

So what is Carrie Elks thinking of giving up? Find out as the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop continues at: https://carrieelks.com/blog/

And check out Carries wonderful Love in London series:

 

 

Romance Writers Weekly – Stranger on a train.

Welcome to the romance Writers Weekly blog hop, where every week a great group of romance writers answer questions and accept challenges. Diverse in what we write, we are unified in the quest to bring you, the romance reader, a very happy ever after.

You can join us daily on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RomanceWritersWeekly/

If you’re starting your blog hop here, or just hopping over from Jenna Da Sie’s wonderful blog, welcome.

Today my good friend Marc Stevens offers up a writing challenge – Flash Fiction Challenge: Planes, trains, and automobiles (or even boats) give us a quick scene set on/in a moving vehicle.

Fun stuff, and I’ve been playing around with a couple of new characters for a future novel, so here’s a quick peek at them.

Stranger on a train.

Brakes squealing, the dingy subway car lurched to a halt. Doors slid open and grumbling commuters shuffled out.

A seat opened up across from the doors and Katherine slid into it. She let out an exhausted sigh, but let the soft smile linger on her lips. She’d had that dream again, waking her in the middle of the night. This time he’d taken her farther, almost to the point of . . .

Around her, voices stilled.

A lone figure stood in the train car’s doorway. The kind of man that attracted attention in any crowd. A man of mystery, dressed formally but with a dark blue cape on his shoulders, like something out of the past, or the future.

Light from behind cast the form in shadow, but familiarity sent tingles creeping up Katherine’s spine.

It couldn’t be.

As the man crossed into the train, the interior lighting illuminated his features.

Raven haired, a scruffy five-O’clock-shadow darkening his granite jaw, the man scanned the car. Dark, sullen eyes, the kind that burned into your soul, were suddenly directed at her. Eyebrows arched. “Katherine?”

The doors swished close behind him, the train lurched back into motion, as their eyes locked. Trapped in his gaze, her heart thundered in her ears as moments turned into centuries.Then his gaze wavered, dropping to the floor as his cheeks reddened.

Katherine steeled herself. “Damien?”

Her core clenched. Gooseflesh crept up her arms. She’d never met him. Yet, she knew him.

His name, his visage, and his touch were oh so familiar to her. Every night for the past two weeks he’d haunted her dreams, stripping her bare, kissing her crazy, and taking her farther and farther every night toward an inevitable climax. Each night closer, but never there.

He stepped nearer, took the seat next to hers, then gently took her hand. “I thought, maybe, it was time we met.”

***

What do you think? Want to know more about these two? I have a new series percolating that I think they’d fit into perfectly. We will see.

Now check in with the high-flying Marc Stevens, as the Romance Writers Weekly blog tour continues at: https://marcstevenserotica.wordpress.com/

And check out Suburban Spies, part of the Cherished Secrets novella collection:

 

Conquering William – by Sarah Hegger

I just finished reading this book, and it’s awesome:

 

 

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Release Date: August 30, 2016

Series: Sir Arthur’s Legacy, Book 3

ISBN-10: 1601839162

ISBN-13: 978-1601839169

Blurb

A practical marriage…

He married for convenience, but William of Anglesea had hoped for more than piety from his new bride. Raised in a convent and thrice widowed, prim Lady Alice of Tarnwych seems like an innocent when it comes to the marriage bed—except for the tentative passion he senses in her touch, and sees in her eyes. It seems the bold knight has a new challenge in alluring Alice. But will seducing his intriguing wife lead to his downfall?

An inconvenient desire…

Everything about charming, free-spirited William defies the cloistered world Lady Alice comes from. Duty brings her to their bed—and a long-held hope for a child. Yet after three indifferent husbands, the desire William shows her awakens her own. Little did Alice expect the powerful feelings he would inspire, emotions that make her ready to abandon her rigid beliefs, and the only family she’s ever known—when William’s life is on the line….

 

Buy Links:

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Conquering-William-Sarah-Hegger/dp/1601839162/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

iBooks : https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/conquering-william/id1088652673?mt=11&at=1010loXM

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/conquering-william

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/conquering-william-sarah-hegger/1123105724?ean=9781601839169

 

 

Bio:

 

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Colorado with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

Sarah is the recipient of the 2015 EPIC Award for Historical Romance.

She is represented my Nalini Akolekar of Spencerhill Associates.

 

Giveaway (to enter please go to sarahhegger.com):

To celebrate the release of #3 Sir Arthur’s Legacy, Conquering William I am giving away 3 copies of Conquering William (US winners may receive their copy as an e-book or paperback, international winners will be provided their copy as an e-book only) and 3 $20 Amazon Gift Cards.

To enter, simply become a subscriber to my quarterly newsletter. If you’re already subscribed, or wish to gain additional entries, leave a comment on one of the two blog posts below:

Why I Find That Mindfulness is Vital to My Work & What Cultivating Compassion Shares with Writing Romance

Writing and Research in Historical Fiction: A Peek Into My Method and My Madness

For even more entries, Like my Facebook page and Follow me on Twitter!

 

 

 

 

Social Media Links:

Website: http://sarahhegger.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/sarahheggerauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahHegger

 Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/100057781039257025684

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sarahhegger7/

Tumblr: sarahhegger.tumblr.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahheggerauthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28109716-conquering-william

 

Romance Writers Weekly – Things are getting in-tense.

Welcome to the romance Writers Weekly blog hop, where every week a great group of romance writers answer questions and accept challenges. Diverse in what we write, we are unified in the quest to bring you, the romance reader, a very happy ever after.

You can join us daily on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RomanceWritersWeekly/

Ascension by A.S. Fenichel
Now just 99¢

If you’re starting your blog hop here, or just hopping over from A. S. Fenichel’s wonderful blog, welcome.

Check out Fix You by Carrie Elks

Today’s topic comes from the wonderful Carrie Elks – Writing can be in-tense. Do you have a preferred POV (First, second or third person) and do you like writing in past or present tense? How about when you choose a book to read – do the tense and POV come into that choice? Have you ever written or read a book that breaks all your rules yet is so much better for it?

I am very partial to third-person past-tense in reading and writing. it just feels more natural to me. I have read and enjoyed many first-person novels but unless I can really identify with the character, I find it had sometimes to stay in their head in first-person.

That said, I have started writing a novel in first-person that is also present-tense. More as a test to see if I can actually write like this, I also feel the way the main characters point of view changes over the course of the novel makes putting it in present tense more impactful.

Here’s a snippet of Destiny: Cloud Fist

An explosion rocks the ship, throwing me out of bed, and across the cabin. I slam into the wall bruising my head and opening a cut on my left hand. By the time I bandage my hand, throw on some clothes, and make my way to the bridge the hull is already breached and power-suited Korg commandos are on board the Cloud Fist.

“I want those shields up now,” Captain Pulsian is saying as I rush through the hatchway, “and get security to all the main corridors. Keep those commandos off the bridge.”

It’s a relief to see the Captain already on the bridge and in charge. I think maybe we still have a chance. Maybe. It’s my job to be at his side whenever I am on duty and to get to his side whenever there is an emergency like this attack. I’m the ship’s boy, the Captain’s errand runner.

“Anders,” the Captain says. He always calls me by my last name.

“Yes, sir,” I say. Proud to be serving such a great man.

“You’re on Com Two until someone show’s up who knows what they’re doing.”

There’s a body on the floor lying in a pool of blood behind the Com Two station chair. It looks like Matt Chandler, but I can’t be sure. I like Matt. He’s a good guy. But I don’t take time to see if he’s still breathing. I know combat protocol. The Captain drills us all on it constantly. So I sit down in front of the big communications control station.

I know very little about the shipboard communications panel. I’ve never been trained, and I wonder what the Captain expects me to do here. I start to look over the Com Two station to see if it makes any sense, ‘cause that’s orders, and it’s my job to follow the Captain’s orders. It’s to my luck that beside me at Com One is Maura Reuter. She reaches over and flips a few switches on my panel then hands me the head set.

***

I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it. It’s a lot of work to stay in present-tense. I’d love to know what you think of the story and the way I’m telling it.

Let me know in the comments below then slip over to Brenda Margriet’s post as the RWW Blog Hop continues at: http://www.brendamargriet.com/blog

Click to check out Brenda’s wonderful new novel, When Time Falls Still