Category Archives: romance novel

Book Covers & Cover Model, Caroline Kelly

13 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in Book Cover, Book Covers, historical romance, Lilly Gayle, romance, romance author, romance novel, Time Travel

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When an author signs with a publisher, he or she has little or no control over the book’s cover. In self-publishing, the author has full control. The author can hire a designer or download images from sites such as http://123rf.com or http://fotolia.com to create a cover using Photoshop or some other photo editing software. There are also sites such as Jimmie Thomas’ http://romancenovelcovers.com where an author can buy individual images or a pre-made cover.

The only problem with these sites is that thousands of authors and the smaller publishing houses use the same images to create their covers.

But I wanted something unique for the cover of my time travel romance, Winds of Time. So, when my friend, Jennifer, suggested I use her daughter on the cover, I jumped at the chance.

Caroline has recently gotten into modeling and acting. She has blond hair and blue eyes and can pass for a young woman of sixteen to twenty-five, depending on her hair, makeup, and clothes. In Winds of Time, Selena Tillman is a twenty-five year old posing as her twenty-year-old ancestor, and like Caroline, she has blond hair. (See book details following Caroline’s interview.)

My brother is a graphic designer with an impressive portfolio (agwvisual.myportfolio.com) and he agreed to make my cover. He used one of the dozens of pictures Jennifer sent of Caroline dressed the way Selena was dressed in Chapter One, the tornado  and locket images I purchased from Fotolia, and a Photoshopped picture of my son-in-law, who’s one quarter Lumbee Indian.

 

 

Once my brother manipulated the images, he added the title in a cool, wind-blown font and my name. Then he sent me the proof, and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s one of my favorite covers. And Caroline Kelly is definitely my favorite cover model. She’s also the only one I personally know, so I could be biased. She helped with marketing and promotion, and her mom, Jennifer, taught me how to use Instagram.

 

 

Both before and after the book’s release, Caroline promoted it on  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/clkblue21 and Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cross promotion was an added bonus I wasn’t expecting. She even agreed to answer a few interview questions, posted below.

Caroline Kelly Interview

 How do you like the cover? Did it meet your expectations? 

I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I love how it turned out. I can honestly say I don’t know anyone that is on a book cover, and to see myself as a book cover model is surreal. 

Tell me about some of your recent modeling jobs.

It’s been an exciting year for me. I’ve been in a couple of fashion shows in Charlotte NC. I have also had an opportunity to be an extra in a couple movies and a cable show. 

What can you tell me about the modeling gig you have coming up in the next couple of weeks?

I’m going to be in the Charlotte Summer Seen Fashion Show representing a swimsuit designer.

Swimsuit in picture is NOT from the Charlotte show or the designer.

What types of acting roles have you had?

I haven’t had any speaking roles yet. I have been a church extra several times for It’s Supernatural a religious cable show. I was a softball extra in a movie this past Spring that was filmed in Charleston SC. My most recent movie set experience was a cheerleader extra in a Clint Eastwood movie filmed in Atlanta GA. I really hope that scene doesn’t get cut 

What did you think of your experience with the film industry, and would you do it again?

Definitely. I love being on the movie set, and the experience I’ve gained as an extra has been amazing. I hope one day, it will lead to something bigger.

Would you like to be on another book cover?

Absolutely. Being part of this book cover has been a fantastic experience and is something I would love to do again. I have a real interest in doing print work, especially formal wear and wedding dresses.

How can other authors contact you if they’d like to discuss using you on their covers?clkblue21@gmail.com or https://www.instagram.com/clkblue21

Thanks so much to you and your mom for working with me on the cover and making Winds of Time my favorite book cover.

Winds of Time

Release Date: June 21, 2018

Tagline:

The past is her future, the future, her past, but can she save an innocent man’s life before history repeats itself? 

Blurb:

As long as Selena Tillman dreams of her ancestor, Mary, who disappeared without a trace in 1871, she’ll never find peace. As long as she dreams of the half-Native American army scout accused of killing Mary, she’ll never find love. Hoping to end the dreams and learn the truth, Selena goes to Texas where Mary and the scout died and sees more than ghosts. She sees a tornado kill Mary in real time before it jumps to the twenty-first century to pull Selena into its vortex and send her back to the nineteenth century. Selena believes she’s fated to prove Dylan’s innocence and save his life, but Dylan isn’t just the man of her dreams; he’s her destiny.

Fed up with the army, bigotry, and women—especially white women, Captain Dylan Casey dedicates himself to solving the mystery of Mary’s disappearance, proving his innocence, and trying to stop a war between the whites and the Indians. Then Mary’s cousin shows up, claiming a tornado killed Mary. Dylan doesn’t trust Selena, but she’s his only ally in Canyon Creek. Yet despite their common goal, growing mutual attraction, and a Comanche shaman’s prophecy of a white woman who will change his destiny and foretell the fate of the Indian Nation, Dylan refuses to take a chance on another spoiled, white woman—until fate changes his mind.

Excerpt:

Captain Casey stepped closer and raked his eyes over her, taking in her disheveled appearance. With surprising gentleness, he swept her hair from her forehead. When his fingers touched her flesh, her breath froze in her lungs, and every muscle in her body coiled. Shocked by the electricity in that brief touch, her knees buckled, and she sank back down to the sofa. When he hunkered down in front of her and took her chin in his strong hand, her breath caught in her throat.

“You really are hurt. What happened?” The deep timbre of his softly spoken question was like the man himself—sexy.

She met his probing gaze before lowering her eyes to the floor. “My horse threw me and ran off. I don’t know what spooked him, and I don’t know where he is.”

He rose to his feet and curled his lip. “Where are your trunks?”

“They’re due to arrive from Pecos later this week,” she said, unable to meet his gaze.

“Why would you leave your trunks in Pecos and travel alone on horseback? Why not wait at the hotel for the next stage to Canyon Creek?”

She was nervous enough without him towering over her, so she rose to her feet and forced herself to hold his intimidating gaze. “I felt a lot safer taking my chances on the road dressed as a man than I did staying in some skeezy hotel in Pecos where everyone knew I was a woman traveling alone.”

It was a reasonable explanation. She was wearing jeans in a time when women didn’t even wear slacks, and she had just shown up without taking the stage. He might have actually believed her if it hadn’t been for her modern vernacular.

He raked his eyes over her with a quirked mouth and skeptical lift of his brows. “You couldn’t fool a blind man in those clothes, and no man would wear an undershirt that color. You even smell like a woman,” he added, sniffing the air around her neck. When his nose grazed the tender flesh behind her ear, goose bumps raced down her arms.

Pages: 250

Print ISBN: 978-1-7323904-1-6

Digital ISBN: 978-1-7323904-0-9

ASIN: B07D989VQJ

Buy Links:

 Universal buy link: https://www.books2read.com/b/mvKKwX

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D989VQJ/ref

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/winds-of-time-lilly-gayle/1128772241;jsessionid

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1388810657

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/winds-of-time-7

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lilly_Gayle_Winds_of_Time?id=BAJeDwAAQBAJ

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40207097-winds-of-time?from_search=true

Contact Information:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram| The Wild Rose Press | Amazon

Look for all my books online and in print at your favorite online retailer.

Historical Romances:e

Wholesale Husband

Slightly Tarnished

Slightly Noble

Helpless Hearts

Wilder Hearts

Winds of Time

Paranormal romances:

Out of the Darkness

Embrace the Darkness

Winds of Time

Release Day!

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Alpha males, Amazon, author, Black Rose. Lilly Gayle, ebooks, EMBRACE THE DARKNESS, OUT OF THE DARKNESS, paranormal romance, paranormal romantic suspense, paranormal vampire romance, romance novel

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Lines from Folks I KnowToday is the official release day of Embrace the Darkness, book Two in the Darkness Series. You can now find ETD om print and digital formats from The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.  It should soon be available in digital format from other retailers like Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and Soni. Book One, Out of the Darkness is also still available and on sale at most retailers.

A Secret Revealed

Embrace the Darkness~

An experimental vaccine gives vampire Gerard Delaroche hope for the first time in two centuries–until two people are brutally murdered, and he suspects a conspiracy between vampires and mortals. To solve the crime, he must put his trust in a beautiful detective. But is former soldier and MP turned detective, Amber Buckley, a threat to his existence? Or the answer to his prayers?

Amber Buckley and her partner are assigned to do follow up interviews in the Lifeblood of America slayings. Amber believes she and Reid are just new eyes on a cold case. That is, until she meets Gerard Delaroche. Something about him teases long-buried memories Amber would rather not chase. However, the two join together, falling into more than resolution of a murder case. It seems Amber has some dark secrets of her own.

To find their way into the light, Amber and Gerard must first EMBRACE THE DARKNESS.

I hope those who’ve read Out of the Darkness liked it enough to read Embrace the Darkness. The books are a series but they don’t have to be read in order to make sense. You don’t even have to read the first book to read and understand the second book. But I hope you will.

So, come celebrate with me! I’ll be giving away a $7.00 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press on Saturday. For your chance to win, leave a comment. and you’ll automatically be entered in a random drawing. No purchase necessary and your chances of winning depend on number of comments posted.

 

An Otherworldly Interview

10 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Book Covers, books, new release, romance, romance author, romance novel, Uncategorized

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Happy Friday. And happy Mother’s Day weekend to all the moms, including mine.  Today’s post is another Character Corner interview. These interviews are uniquely different from my author interviews because they involve make-believe people who exist only in the pages of a novel and in the mind of the author who created them.

My character today is Tempest from the novel Be Still My Lover’s Heart  by author Lisa Hannah Wells. Cover Art Clearer_Lg

Welcome to my blog, Tempest. You are my first guest at my new site. So, where were you born?

(Sits Regally) I was born on the Planet Tishnaiyah approximately 5,700 of your years past the death of your Planet Earth.

Cool! Another first. You’re also my first alien guest. Where do you live now and what do you do for a living?

(Looks intently into Lilly’s eyes with his dark gaze) I live on the Amazzi Moon Fourteen, a man-made mobile station in the Mesak Galaxy. I co-own and run the Exchange, a popular night club with my partner and best friend. 

Well, the night club part sounds very Earth-like. What’s going on in your life right now?

(Gives a ghost of a grin) I’m attempting to convince a certain young woman that she is destined to be with me.

Do you consider her that special person in your life?

Yes, thank the Divine One.

How did you meet?

(Laughs warmly) She was nearly thrown out of my club for starting a fight with her superior officer. I convinced my partner she is my bondmate, a rare and fortunate happenstance for our race, and had her brought to me.

So, what’s keeping you two apart?

(Growls menacingly, sits straighter) Her superior nearly had her killed and it is by the strength of my will and my healing blood that she barely hangs on to life. He is still trying to arrange her death.

Oh, no. That’s not good. How would you like to see this situation resolved?

(Jaw clenches, eyes harden) That I could take his life and erase the misery he has caused my Shea.

What obstacles stand in your way?

(A sadness comes into his eyes) Shea’s squeamishness for the exchanging of blood for the final bondmate ritual to be sealed, and the call to return to my people to lead them after the passing of my mentor. I am next in line to rule and Shea’s position with the Universal Military will not let her go.

  That does sound complicated. Do you think there’s a happily ever after in your future?

(Give a half grin) If we can find a way to surpass these problems and get rid of the man determined to destroy Shea, yes, I believe there certainly can be. I’ve only prayed to the Divine One for four hundred years to give me a bondmate and now that I’ve found her, I can’t just let her go.

 Any last comments before I turn this interview over to Lisa Hannah Wells?

(Stands to full 7′ height) Only to thank you for your time and interest in mine and Shea’s plight.

Thanks for being here today, Tempest. I certainly hope you and Shea can work things and become bondmates for life.

And now a bit about Tempest and Shea’s creator.

AUTHOR BIO:
2011 Photo of MeLisa Hannah Wells has been telling stories from the age of 5 and writing them since the first grade. It is second nature to her and her greatest love. She has won numerous awards for her poetry and high reviews for her previous “Hearts” trilogy, a Paranormal Romance series she wrote under the pseudonym of L. H. Young and published by Romance at Heart Publications. All rights have reverted back to her but she has plans of a future anthology including all three.

She is a multi-genre author writing in Paranormal, Time Travel, Shape-shifter and Contemporary romance and series, Young Adult, Science Fiction, and Epic Fantasy series. Creating worlds of imaginary elegance and splendor, new ways to use magic and fascinating new races of characters is a real joy for her.

Lisa is also a freelance writer/editor and proofreader. She currently lives with her husband, three male cats.

BOOK BLURB:

Ethereal beauty Shea, a Lieutenant in a Universal military, has spent the last four years protecting Colony supply freighters on a small space station. If not for her partner and the hopes of a better assignment, the loss of her husband and a devastating illness would leave her little desire to live. That is until she meets Tempest, an alien whose species is rumored to be the origin of the vampires, a man who makes her feel alive in ways she’s never felt before.

Tempest has prayed to the Divine One for countless years for his bondmate. Shea is his long-awaited answer and so much more. One night will not be enough for a man who has waited a lifetime, but he is determined to make Shea his forever. With a madman out to destroy them and certain death nipping at their heels, will Tempest and Shea outwit Remi and survive to share a future together, or die protecting all they hold dear?

EXCERPT:

“You must be Shea,” he purred, deep in his chest.

The deep, magnetic voice vibrated all the way to Shea’s center. Warm, peaceful currents flowed through her blood, calming her. She looked across the table into the face of the alien male, much more attractive in a royal way. His presence was powerful; he exuded self-confidence, and the air around him nearly sparked, taking her breath away. He looked as though he topped six-feet eight inches, and for the first time since her husband died, her heart clenched.

An air of intensity, way beyond her most wonderful fantasies, surrounded him and reached with invisible tendrils to surround her. A delicious chill ran up her spine. He was beautiful.

Large black eyes fringed with dark lashes assessed her with a mix of emotions and, she suspected, a small measure of danger. A dusting of dark stubble ran along the edges of a sculpted, masculine jaw. His blue-black hair was longer than hers by about three to four inches and looked as fine as silk, falling loosely down his back and over his shoulders, but it was his lips that drew her eye, full and dark red. Lips that made hers tingle.

Shea mentally shook herself and smiled.

“The door guard said you wanted to see me,” she said. Her voice came out more breath than vocal, and her heart paused as she glanced around the empty room.

Author links, webpages, fan pages:

Amazon Buy Link

The Wild Rose Press Buy Link

Barnes & Noble Buy Link

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.h.wells.71?ref=tn_tnmn

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6541291.Lisa_Hannah_Wells

Blog: http://memorymakerscreator.blogspot.com/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Hannah-Wells/e/B009POR3KC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Doveleahr

Lilly, I want to thank you for hosting Tempest on your blog today. He’s a very noble creature as all Vatamps are. I enjoyed sitting in with both of you today.

Thanks for being here, Tempest. And thanks for letting me be on your blog.

Lisa and I did a blog swap today, and she’s interviewing me at http://memorymakerscreator.blogspot.com/2013/05/embrace-darkness-with-lilly-gayle.html

Valentine’s Day – The Morning After

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Cupid, romance author, romance novel, Roses, Sandra Dailey, The Wild Rose Press, Twice the Trouble., Valentine's Day

≈ 17 Comments

Belated Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope it was a day filled with love and romance. Or at the very least, a good romance novel.

My guest blogger today is Sandra Dailey. Welcome, Sandy!

Did everyone wake up this morning to the sweet, rich aroma of roses and chocolate?

You may have had a date night or just a romantic dinner at home. Be honest, is that little black dress still lying on the floor? However you celebrated Valentine’s Day, I hope it met your expectations.

Now it’s time to get up, stretch and return to your daily routine. That’s right, it’s the morning after. Bizarre things will happen to off-set the magic.

I offer you an excerpt of a morning after from my newly released story, TWICE THE TROUBLE:

Looking in the bathroom mirror, she saw that her eyes were still a little swollen. She pressed a cold, wet cloth to them. She’d just started brushing her teeth when sounds came from downstairs loud enough to be a herd of buffalo in her kitchen. They were accompanied by a chorus of howls and laughter. What were those kids doing?

With toothbrush in hand, she raced down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sliding to a stop in the doorway, Lacey found Jerrod lying on his back in the middle of the floor. Alex was over the top of him with Jenna on his back. It was an Alex sandwich. They were all laughing hysterically.

Lacey nearly choked on her toothpaste when she saw Jerrod’s face covered in peanut butter. All three offenders froze in place and turned looks of wide-eyed innocence her way. They slowly got to their feet and faced her.

“We really screwed up this time, kids,” Alex mumbled. “She’s so mad, she frothing at the mouth.”

Both kids turned red and covered their mouths. Their eyes watered from the effort it took not to laugh.

Lacey rinsed her mouth, and then picked up the overturned peanut butter jar. “Would someone please tell me, what’s going on?”

Alex cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. He gave her a serious expression. “I’m sorry. I had no choice. Your son called me a sissy. He had to be punished.”

Jerrod scraped a finger down his cheek and into his mouth, looking unrepentant. “I stand by what I said, Mom. The man wears hair gel.”

Perhaps the blurb will explain:
Lacey Carlyle has worked for years to create the perfect blend of home, business and family. Now she risks losing everything when the land she farms is bought by the man who abandoned her thirteen years ago.

Alex has never understood why Lacey walked away from him. Now, he holds the deed to her farm and intends to make her pay. The only problem – two kids weren’t part of the plan.

Jenna and Jerrod may not see eye-to-eye but they are both determined to find happiness for their mom and keep their home safe.

Can Lacey and Alex put their pasts behind them and embrace a future together?

Still confused? That’s okay, I know it’s early. Perhaps you should read TWICE THE TROUBLE. It’s currently available on Amazon. http://amzn.to/Wrxm6B

If you’d like to leave a comment I’ll be hanging around today. I’d love to hear about your morning after or answer your questions about TWICE THE TROUBLE.

About me:
I’m an avid reader and lifelong story teller.  I caught the writing bug after winning a short story contest.  The Chief’s Proposal was my first published work and now I’ve added Twice the Trouble, but I have many more stories to tell.

I currently live with my husband and house plants in north Florida.
http://www.sandradailey.com
http://www.sandradailey.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/sandradailey.author
http://www.twitter.com/sdaileyauthor

The End is Near–Or is it?

20 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in Colorado, faith, historical crimes, history, hope, Lilly Gayle, Mayan Calendar, romance author, romance novel, The Wild Rose Press

≈ 20 Comments

Will there ever come a day when we turn on the television or open a newspaper without seeing horrific headlines?

This morning’s news brought tears to my eyes: Gunman kills 12 in Colorado movie theater: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-shooting/index.html

The story is everywhere, as well it should be. People need to hear about such tragedies. They need to know the world isn’t always a beautiful place. They need to be aware. And they need an opportunity to pray for their fellow man.

But are we getting bombarded with tragic news too often? Is it warping our minds, warping our children? Is a constant diet of death and destruction eroding our faith and creating sadistic killers?

Are they Mayan’s right? Are we headed for the inevitable destruction of mankind? Is the Mayan calendar accurate?

Inarguably, there seems to be an increase in violence throughout the world.  Murder and mayhem are everywhere. So much death and tragedy.

Is it any wonder some believe the world is coming to an end on December 12, 2012?

Or is it just the numbers that make it seem as if the world is a more violent place?

In 1350, the world population was only 370 million. By the early 1900’s it had exploded to 2 billion people. Today, there are over 7 billion people living on our planet from 196 different countries.

With more people, comes a greater need for news. Countries are divided and subdivided into smaller cities, towns, and provinces.  Each of those smaller divisions has news outlets in the form of television, newspapers,  radio and the internet.  And each of those outlets is competing for its share of the public audience.

So, is there more violence in the world? Inarguably.  But is that violence disproportionately greater than in the past when compared to the current population?

News-grabbing headlines are nothing new. More people will pick up a paper to read about a tragic event than about a man saving a child from drowning. It’s like a train wreck. We don’t want to know, but we can’t look away. It’s been that way since cavemen painted the news.

Crimes against humanity have been occurring since those caveman days. Per capita, there may not be more crimes, but there are faster and better outlets for spreading tragic news.

In 1807, a London headline read: Murder and Indecent Mutilation of Young Harlot.

Ann Webb had moved to London from the country and found “the streets of Convent Garden are paved with bawds waiting to entice woud-be servants into a life of shame.”

It enticed Ann. She changed her name to Elizabeth Winterflood and accepted “protection” from a carpenter named Thomas Greenway. a cruel, abusive man. When Miss Winterflood attempted to leave him, he tracked her down to her favorite street corner where the two got into a heated argument.  Around 2:00 a.m. Miss Winterflood was found raped and beaten on the sidewalk. Her breasts had been cut off and tossed under a cart.

Mr. Greenway was charged but later acquitted of the crime because the jury was more appalled by Miss Winterflood’s occupation than by the untimely death she’d met.

On December 7, 1811 around midnight, Timothy Marr sent his maid to buy oysters. When she returned home, she found the door bolted. No one answered her knock.  When a watchman helped her break in, they found Mr. Marr beatened to death by a seaman’s maul left on the counter. His throat had also been cut.  His wife, apprentice, and infant child were killed in a similar manner as they slept.  A week later, a landlord and his wife were also viciously attacked and killed.

In 1812, a British Prime Minister was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons. And an 1820’s headline read: Conspirators Kill Constable after Bombing Plot. 


A headline story from an 1828 Edinburgh paper read: “The hanging of William Burke in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket two days ago made Christmas merry for the citizenry. When his body was taken to Surgeons’ Square for dissection, there was almost a riot as it seemed the multitudes who wished to see him served like his victims would be unable to gain access.”

For more than a year, William Burke and William Hare had killed 16 people and sold the bodies to the local surgeon’s porter. Hare ran a boarding house and when one of his tenants died of natural causes, he sold her body to the local surgeon for dissection practice. He made so much money that he and Mr. Burke devised a plan where they enticed the poor into Hare’s Inn for food and libations. When the victim was too drunk to stand, Burke suffocated the unsuspecting victim with a pillow. Hare then sold the body to the surgeon’s porter who in turn, delivered the body to the surgeon who believed the victims died after an evening of imbibing too freely of intoxicating spirits.

Despite such a gruesome crime, I doubt anyone in this day and age would recommend hanging and subsequently dissecting the body as appropriate punishment. Then again, we’re more civilized now. That’s one less strike against humanity.

In 1879, a London maid murdered her mistress and put the body in boiling water. After stuffing the boiled corpse into a trunk, she tossed it in the river. She sold the fat as drippings.

The crazed housekeeper was caught after she moved into her mistress’s home and attempted to take over her life.

The past is filled with gruesome tales and horrific crimes. Besides Jack the Ripper and Lizzy Borden, there were the notorious Gangs of New York and Wild West Crimes committed by Billy the Kid and The James and Younger Gangs. Not to mention the atrocities committed in Kansas in the years leading up to the Civil War.

War is hell and there have been wars since there has been man. But now people are committing crimes against strangers and their own children without remorse. Is this the end?

Matthew 24:6- “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

The end is not yet. Maybe there’s still hope for humanity. I like to think so. I’d like to think there’s still beauty and goodness in the world. I firmly believe there is. I take joy in a baby’s cry and a breath-taking sunset. I wish the media felt the way I do.

I’d love to see more positive, heartwarming stories in the news. I think humanity needs affirmation that all is not lost—that there is still goodness in the world.

If violence begets violence, then why can’t goodness beget goodness? Why must the media concentrate on news of the worst tragedies man can inflict?

Wouldn’t it be nice if Good news was on the front page and every news cast ended with something uplifting or positive?

Would that make a difference? Would it give us hope?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, families, police, and hospital workers dealing with the tragedy that occurred in Colorado last night. May they find peace, comfort, and the faith to hold on.

What Men Want

06 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Harlequin Special Edition, Lilly Gayle, Lynne Marshall, Medical Romance for Mills and Boon, romance novel, romance novelist, The Wild Rose Press

≈ 66 Comments

Today I welcome sister rose, author Lynne Marshall who’s going to tell us women what men really want.  I’ve been married 30+ years, and I still can’t figure it out. lol! And since today is also the day after my birthday, I’m going to draw a name from those who leave a comment today and give that person a free PDF copy of my historical romance, Slightly Tarnished.

So, Lynne, what do men want?

WHAT MEN WANT by Lynne Marshall
I recently noticed an article on Yahoo about what men notice first about women.  Surprisingly, it isn’t a super figure. Nope.  Seventy-four percent of the men questioned said it’s the hair that makes them first notice a woman.  The article said gorgeous hair trumps a curvy figure every time.  Surprise, surprise.  Here’s the link:
http://yahoo.match.com/y/article.aspx?articleid=12717&TrackingID=526103&BannerID=1099738  
Is it any wonder authors write the characters that most attract men? The point of the story in romance is to find two people, often complete opposites, and make them fall in love, so first they have to notice each other. As a woman who has had short hair for many, many years, it is difficult to accept that men only want long, lustrous hair.  Especially since my husband likes my short hair! However, looking back, I did have long hair when we met.  Maybe he’s just humoring me now? Something to think about anyway.
I think the key to this immediate attraction is being well groomed.  If you read the article, you’ll notice that grooming is a big part of the equation when it comes to attraction. Continuing on with the theme of attraction, one thing, both men and women have in common in many surveys is that a physically fit person is very appealing.  As romance writers and readers, I think we all know that.  All anyone has to do is look at the latest batch of romance novels and it is very apparent the fitter the model, the sexier the book cover. 
Good thing Paul Valverde, the hero in An Indiscretion, my latest book from The Wild Rose Press, is a slim hipped Spanish-American who knows how to dance the rumba and Paso Doblé. Who also takes total control of his partner in many inventive ways, and is a top notch doctor at St. Stephen’s Hospital in Los Angeles, despite his setbacks earlier in life.
In An Indiscretion, my current offering in the Champagne line, one of the first things the hero remembers about the heroine (they’d known each other as young teenagers) is her gorgeous red hair.  See, there was a method to my ponderings. The book cover doesn’t feature this trait because Carrington Hanover, who is an RN, is wearing surgical garb – a mask and OR cap – but her beautiful blue eyes tell a story all of their own.  By the way, I was given a special dispensation from WRP editor – Kinan Werdski – allowing me to write a red-headed, blue-eyed heroine JUST THIS ONCE!  According to her, in submitted manuscripts, 99% of the women on the planet have “auburn tresses and emerald (or blue) eyes.” See Rachel Brimble’s blog – March 15, 2012. http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.com/2012/03/interview-with-wild-rose-press-editor.html
I’ve also seen reader boards at Amazon chastising romance authors for writing too many red-headed heroines. According to some of them, it is an ongoing joke amongst readers.
Yes, maybe redheads have been overdone in romance novels, but I think it all goes back to what the guys find most attractive about women in that article – beautiful hair!  How often have we noticed a woman with natural red hair and thought, wow, that’s the most gorgeous color I’ve ever seen?  And what do we suppose is the most popular hair dye color requested by women in salons?  Just look around.

Here’s a picture of the lady with great hair that I envisioned when I wrote Carrington Hanover.


An Indiscretion by Lynne Marshall:

A doctor…a nurse…an indiscretion. RN Carrington Hanover leaves her money-hungry fiancé at the altar insisting the next man in her life must love her, not her rich father’s money.                                                                                                                             
All work and no play has made Dr. Paul Valverde an unfulfilled man, and the resurrected redheaded crush from his youth is driving him to distraction, but can their complicated past become untangled by their newfound attraction–or will their love be doomed by mistrust and long-held resentment?

What is your favorite color of hair on guys or ladies? 
I’ll give one of my backlist books away to one commenter.
Thanks so much for having me, Lilly!

Great post, Lynne. So, there’s a chance today to win one of TWO prizes if you leave a comment.

Now, as to a man’s hair color, I love a bit of contrast. I love to see a handsome man with blond hair and brown eyes or dark hair and brown eyes. And although my husband once had very dark hair and blue eyes, his hair is now silver leaning toward white with a few dark strands remaining. Oh, and of my two daughters, the oldest has the most beautiful long red hair and blue eyes. So, I don’t find the abundance of red haired heroines odd at all. Now, if every woman in the same book had red hair…

Thank you so much for joining me today, Lynne.

Lynne Marshall is a multi-published author of contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition and The Wild Rose Press, and Medical Romance for Mills & Boon. Her latest book for Special Edition is, Courting His Favorite Nurse, March 2012. Lynne hopes you’ll give her redheaded heroine of An Indiscretion a chance at her happily ever after. You can find out more about Lynne at her website: www.lynnemarshall.com

Unexpected Journey

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Germany, historical romance, Matthew Perry, Munich, paranormal romace, romance, romance author, romance novel, The Wild Rose Press, Weiden, Werewolf

≈ 10 Comments

Earlier this month, I made an unexpected trip to Germany to visit my daughter. She was having some minor surgery and needed her mom. So, off to Europe I went.

I flew out of RDU in Raleigh, NC the last Friday in January for a week-long vist. It was 70 degrees that day, which is unusual, even for North Carolina. But we’ve been having a mild winter. It’s not uncommon to have wild temperature swings in February and March. During those months, it can be sunny and 70 one week and below freezing and snowing the next. But I’ve never gone from 70 to 17 degrees in less than twenty-four hours before. I did that day.

My connecting flight was in Philadelphia where I expected it to be much colder than in NC. Apparently, Philly is having a mild winter this year too. I arrived at the airport in the City of Brotherly Love late in the afternoon and the temp was still hovering around 58 degrees. Not bad. I had on a sweater so I didn’t even put on my coat when I stepped off the plane and rushed through the airport to make my connecting flight to Munich. But when I arrived in Germany nine hours later, I was in for a real surprise. It was snowing.

As we circled the runway, the pilot announced the current time and weather. The time was 8:00 a.m. and the temperature outside was 17 degrees Fahrenheit with snow flurries.

Flying over Munich
Munich Airport

Flurries? I could see the snow covered fields from the sky.
I about froze the moment I stepped off the plane.

 Luckily, my daughter had warned me about the bitter cold so I was prepared. And my son-in-law’s car has heated seats.

It’s 193 kilometers or approximately 120 miles from Munich to Weiden, where my daughter was recovering from surgery at the hospital there. But thanks to the autobahn and no speed limits in sections, my son-in-law made the trip in just under two hours, despite the snow. Than again, the snow plows and brine trucks had started clearing the snow the moment it started falling. Despite the somewhat scary speed at which we traveled, I was able to enjoy the beauty of the Bavarian countryside. 

(Left)Hops field covered in snow.Windmill in background.(Right) German Village outside Munich.

I’ve been to Germany twice before but this trip was different. It wasn’t a vacation, and I hadn’t planned for it. I’d gone to be with my daughter after her surgery, which turned out to be less invasive than originally expected and with a much better outcome. While I was there, I got to visit a German hospital which isn’t something I’d normally do on a visit to another country. But it was educational.
In the US, I work in a hospital, but it’s nothing like the one I visited in Weiden. For starters, US hospitals don’t sell beer in the hospital cafeteria. The hospital in Weiden did! 

The rooms look similar, but the beds looked more like glorified stretchers. Some of the equipment looked the same as in the States but in the US, most hospitals use IV bags. My daughter’s IV was in a plastic bottle the hospital recycles. 

Thank God, my daughter’s hospital visit was brief and she recovered quickly–more quickly than anticipated. So, what started out as a visit to take care of her turned into something fun. We got to spend quality time together without her having to stay in bed.

near my daughter’s neighborhood.
View of Rauher Kulm from Eschenbach

 By the middle of the week, we were able to get out and take a walk through her neighborhood and town.

Downtown Eschenbach
We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant where I enjoyed a nice, dark Dunkelweizen. We visited some of my daughter’s friends, went to a German deli, and on the last day of my visit, we went shopping in Weiden.

Although this wasn’t my first trip to Germany, it was the first time I’d every traveled alone. I was a bit intimidated at first, but on my international flight to Munich, I slept with a handsome 31 year old man. Just kidding!

My “seat mate” on the plane was a cutie from Texas and we did sleep a bit on the plane. He was traveling to Munich on business. He’d previously spent two years in Germany while working for the same management firm. The woman who’d taken his place when his work Visa expired was taking some time off for maternity leave and my handsome seat mate was going back to Germany to fill in for her.

Although we never exchanged names, he was a nice young man. He was also quite handsome. Standing well over six feet tall, he reminded me of Matthew Perry from the Friends TV series. We had a nice chat and I thought of several ideas for a possible romance novel that could start on a plane. Imagine falling in love on an international flight and getting separated in the airport only to realize you’d never exchanged names or information to help you find that person again.

I was intrigued by the concept of writing such a story. But I write historical and paranormal romance. Perhaps I could change the plane to a coach. Or, my handsome Matthew Perry look-a-like could be a werewolf returning to Germany in search of a cure. Since the first recorded Werewolf sighting was around the countryside of German town Colonge and Bedbur in 1591, I could incorporate some of the sites I’ve seen in Germany. Or, maybe I’ll have to try my hand at writing romantic suspense.

What do you think?

Release Day is Today!

28 Wednesday Sep 2011

Posted by in historical romance, Lilly Gayle, new release, romance novel, The Wild Rose Press, TWRP, Wholesale Husband

≈ 2 Comments

Today is release day for my American historical, Wholesale Husband.

Blurb:

She needs his name. He needs her money. But can a rich New York socialite and a poor Irish immigrant find true love in the gilded age?
Betrayed by her fiancé and heart sick over her father’s death, Clarissa Burdick is further devastated when she learns she can’t inherit her father’s company—the company she loves—until she’s twenty-five or married. And Clarissa is neither. So she sets out to find a husband strong enough to protect her from her uncle’s thugs, too uneducated to run the company himself, and poor enough to marry a woman in name only.  But Irish immigrant Devin Flannery is smarter than he seems and more educated than Clarissa expects.  Her Wholesale Husband soon proves a greater risk to her heart than her company.
Excerpt:

“This is a serious proposal,” she insisted, gnawing her lip.
            “Who are you codding?” He leaned forward, stretching his leg, ready to descend from the suffocating confinement of the hansom cab.
            Again, she stayed him with a touch and again, his body reacted to the contact in a most unwanted way. He narrowed his eyes and pried her hand from his wrist.
            “Surely, you’ve heard of marriages of convenience,” she insisted rather desperately as she rubbed her wrist. “Well, this is an honest proposal. If you come with me to Mr. Tate’s office, I can give you a copy of the contract outlining a proposed marriage agreement between us. If you don’t trust my word or that of my attorney’s, then you can find someone to read the documents to you before you sign them.”
            She rubbed her wrist again. He considered apologizing for his rough handling but after her last comment, he thought better of it. Even after he’d confessed to some schooling, she still thought him too stupid to read.
Well, if she wanted a dumb Irishman, he’d give her one.
            “Aye, lassie. I’ll not be taking yer word for it and that’s fer sure.”
            “Then you’ll come with us?” 
            There must be something seriously wrong with me. But he’d play along, just to see how far Miss Burdick would take this dangerous game she played.
            “Aye,” he all but snarled. “I’ll go with you to the lawyer’s office, but I ain’t signing nothing until someone I trust has a look at those papers.”
            Miss Burdick’s luminous smile shone like the sun bursting through the clouds on a stormy day. Devin’s heart dropped to his stomach. Fiona would smile like that if he had the money to send her to that fancy boarding school.

Damn if he wasn’t actually considering her proposal.

The book is available through the publisher at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191&products_id=4651 

Or from Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Wholesale-Husband-Lilly-Gayle/dp/1601549768/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317161945&sr=8-1

Or, you can come to Stovall’s Gifts in Oxford, NC on Saturday October 1st where I’ll be autographing copies of Wholesale Husband and Slightly Tarnished. Hope to see some new faces there!

Blog Hopping

19 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by in historical romance, Jennifer Jakes, romance novel, The Wild Rose Press

≈ Comments Off on Blog Hopping

I’m blog hopping today. And telling secrets. Today I’m over at Jennifer Jake’s blog: http://authorjenniferjakes.blogspot.com/?zx=e0226df2592ed0e6 . So, stop by and learn some of my secrets and see who I’d pic to play the part of Chad if my latest historical, Slightly Tarnished, ever became a movie.

Jennifer has a fun blog with lots of eye candy on Mondays.