Posted by: Author | February 8, 2013

Friday Facts- February 8, 2013- Locks of Love

I bet when you read the title you thought I was going to talk about the Locks of Love organization in the USA. Nope. It’s a great organization with an awesome goal of providing wigs for medical patients who lose their hair, but that’s not what I want to share today.

Today’s topic is more related to love of another kind- Love Locks. Since Valentine’s Day is coming soon, I thought I’d tell you about a cool idea that started in Rome and then moved on to the various bridges in Venice, Italy, including the Rialto Bridge. Lovers buy padlocks and take them to the bridges. They inscribe their initials on them and hook them to the bridge railings. The next step is to throw the key into the water as a symbol of eternal love and passion.

London’s new Millennium Bridge has also become the home of many love locks. The idea is quite romantic but the cities are not enamored of these locks. Each of the cities has cracked down on the idea but people are still doing it. The cities each have crews who come and cut them off periodically. What do you think? Eyesore or cool idea?

Rialto Bridge

Rialto Bridge

Millenium Bridge, London

Millennium Bridge, London

Posted by: Author | February 6, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

door

Posted by: Author | February 4, 2013

Cake Tasting

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After

After

Before

Before

We went over to St. Augustine this past weeknd (6 hour each way-ugh). We had appointments with the bride and groom and her parents to check out photographers, florists and the baker for the cakes. The cake tasting was by far the most fun. She had baked chocolate, white and red velvet cupcakes. She had about 12 fillings for us to try including dulce de leche, pistachio, strawberry, mocha, chocolate mousse, guava, coconut, raspberry, lemon, etc.

It was a tad overwhelming but sooo good. They decided on a three tier wedding cake with cream-colored layers on top and bottom that will have piping in the middle tier color in a kind of loose swirl design. The middle tier will be blue/grey with a kind of lattice pattern with a very Parisian look to it. Their theme is based on Starry Night, the impressionist painting by Van Gogh and Midnight in Paris, the movie. It’s going to be lovely. The cake will be white with lemon and raspberry filling. I’m going to see if I can find a similar picture to share.

This baker is amazingly talented and for the groom’s cake- which will be chocolate infused with Kahlua with mocha icing, she’s going to re-create Salisbury Crag and the ruins at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh as that’s where they got engaged.

Posted by: Author | February 1, 2013

Friday Facts- February 1, 2013- Space Shuttle Columbia

Ten years ago today, the space shuttle Columbia broke up upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. I was reading some articles about this the other day and they were discussing the fact that NASA engineers knew before the shuttle even tried to re-enter that the astronauts wouldn’t survive. The damage that had been done on take-off was not repairable and they didn’t have the right equipment up there to do it anyway. They made a decision not to tell the astronauts about the issue. They let them die in ignorance of what was coming.

They also considered an option of letting the astronauts know and then allowing them to orbit until they ran out of oxygen. They eventually decided against that. There was also no time to send another shuttle up to rescue them.

So, ethical question for you today. Would you, as a person in the situation of the astronauts, want to know you were going to die on re-entry or would you want to die in ignorance?

Oh yeah, I’m guest blogging on Naughty Author Chicks today- The lovely Casey Crow invited me over to chat about Doctor, Lover, Baronet. Click here to read.

Posted by: Author | January 31, 2013

I’m Out and About On the Web

I’m guest blogging today with my guest from earlier this week, Elizabeth Morgan. We are release week buddies. I’m chatting about Carver’s Fall over at her place. Pop on in and say hello here if you get a chance.

Posted by: Author | January 30, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

Shush. I know this is wordless wednesday but it’s also release day for Carver’s Fall. Here’s a link to the blurb, etc and the buy linkphoto-22

Posted by: Author | January 29, 2013

New Cover Love (and I mean LOVE)

I got my latest cover this past weekend. I’m over the moon thrilled with it. It perfectly evokes the era and the tone of the story. The story is a short one, set in 1925. Dawne Dominique is an excellent cover artist who really seems to get me and my visions for my covers. She’s made wonderful covers each time I’ve been published with Secret/Sweet Cravings Publishing. This story was contracted to come out in March, got moved up to February 22 and as of last Friday, is to be released on January 30, 2013. So, early is good, right? Better than being in trouble for being late, in my opinion. Lol.

Here is the cover. What do you think?

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Posted by: Author | January 28, 2013

Special Guest- Elizabeth Morgan

Elizabeth is a friend from one of my publisher’s loops and has a new release today with Secret Cravings Publishing. It’s called Creak and sounds like a great read to me. I love the old motel sign on the cover, don’t you? Here’s some info, blurb and an excerpt. Check it out.

Creak_MED

Creak

(An Erotic Thriller)

By Elizabeth Morgan

BLURB:

“What happens in Silver Creek, stays in Silver Creek.”

After spending the summer as a recluse due to a bad break-up, Nicole Saunders agrees to go to The Heat Wave Festival with her best friends, Kacey and Tyler.

Along with three other friends they plan to take a shortcut through the small town of Silver Creek; the last thing any of them expected was to become lost and end up pulling in to a motel for the night.

The Creek Motel is isolated and the last place Nicole wants to be, especially after meeting the glacial owner, but her discomfort is soon forgot as she finally gives in to her feelings and asks Kacey and Tyler to spend the night with her.

A decision she quickly regrets when she discovers that their friend has mysteriously disappeared from her locked room in the middle of the night. Worried, Nicole presumes the worst, but quickly discovers that Jayne’s disappearance is more disturbing than any of them could have guessed.

BUY LINK:

http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=book_info&cPath=4&products_id=514

~ * ~

EXCERPT:

Chapter Two

Friday, September 12th, 2014

9:38 p.m.

We had lost the sun about two hours ago, the helpful lights of the other cars and the freeway about an hour after that.

We had all agreed to cut through the small town of Silver Creek in order to knock an hour off our journey—a decision I was beginning to regret.

My face had been practically glued to the window for the last half an hour as I tried to figure out where the night sky ended and the ground began. It was pitch black out there. Not the kind of night painted in a mixture of dark hues with the added color jumping out once in a while. This was total and complete darkness, the type that seemed to move with us. The half moon and clear blanket of stars above had become our only indication that we hadn’t just driven into a tunnel with no end.

The headlights of Kacey’s green camper van continued to guide us along the narrow road and further toward Silver Creek, which I still wasn’t sure if we had arrived in or not.

In the dim orange glow of the overhead light, I turned to look at Kacey. The blood had drained from his knuckles due to the grip he had on the steering wheel, and his plump lips were set in a firm line. He was pissed. I would even say livid. Which meant only one thing, we had gotten lost.

“Kay?” I said softly. “You might as well pull over.”

His eyes narrowed to slits. His focus stuck to the ongoing road. “No.”

“It’s pitch black. There are no lights anywhere. No sign of life. Pull over, and let’s all spend the night in the van. We can set off early tomorrow, when we can actually see, and figure out where the hell we are exactly.”

He may have been a mechanic, but puncturing a tire or crashing into a tree was the last thing any of us needed.

“There’s a Motel.”

I looked at the surrounding darkness with wide eyes. “I don’t see one.”

He turned the GPS we had attached to the dashboard toward me, and pointed at a small blue square. “It should be here somewhere.”

I stared at the small screen and then back out the front window. Who the hell would put a motel out here? Then again, I suppose if it’s a small trade town, and people did cut through like we’re doing….

“There’s the f***r.” Kacey declared and put his foot on the gas.

The van jolted as we went over a bump in the road, and a groan came from the back. “What the hell, Kay?” I turned to see Tyler rubbing the back of his head, and looking at us through hooded lids. “Are we there yet?”

I shook my head. “We’re lost.”

“We’re not lost.” Kacey stated sharply. “I came down the right route. It’s just fucking taking forever because I have to go at a tortoise pace because some stupid asshole didn’t think about putting up lights on this shitty back road.”

Tyler yawned. “So, we’re lost?”

Kacey growled. “We’ll stop here and set off in the morning.”

I looked back out at the road and watched the speck of light that had suddenly emerged from nowhere, growing bigger and bigger, and finally forming in to a readable size and shape.

The tall sign to the “Creek Motel” flickered in the on-going darkness. The faulty light to the isolated establishment appeared to be the only indication that actual people lived in the area. After an hour of nothing but darkness, the sight caused a pop of relief to tickle my stomach.

Kacey slowed and turned the van in to the small parking lot.

Apart from the two cars sitting along the front of the L-shaped building, the only other sign that the motel operated came from the dull light seeping through the curtains of a few rooms. The van filled with soft groans as Tyler woke up the others and Kacey maneuvered into a free space.

“Are you kidding me?” Disgust leaked in to Jayne’s sleep-filled voice.

Kacey scrubbed his hands down his face. “What did you expect, the Hilton?”

“I expected to be in a packed parking lot with tons of people, and lights and loud music.” She yawned. “Where are we?”

He cut the engine, and slid out of his seatbelt. “We’re stopping here for the night.”

“Where is here?”

“We’re in Silver Creek.”

“Yeah, which is just another name for we’re in the middle of f***g nowhere.”

Kacey twisted in his seat. “Look, it’s too dark. So we’re stopping here. We’ll set off in the morning and be at the festival in no time. Deal with it.”

Dry laughter scraped her throat. “You’re so grumpy. Jesus. It’s not my fault we had to set off at half past five. We should have set off tomorrow morning.”

Kacey popped his jaw, and slid a look at me. “I’ll go get us signed in, shall I?”

“I’ll come with you.” I pushed the door open, and climbed out of the van.

I pulled my jacket tightly around me as we made our way across the rough gravel ground toward the entrance. In the silence, I could hear each small gust of wind whipping around the solitary building.

I followed Kacey through the open doorway in to the dingy, snug reception, which had bare brick walls with old photographs lining them and a heavily worn and scratched wooden floor. Kacey hit the small brass bell sitting on the reception desk and we both stood looking at the closed office door.

~ * ~

BIO:

Elizabeth lives in a small country village in Cheshire, England, with two cats. You will always find her on the computer, blasting music and writing away. She started life wanting to be an actress because she loved performing. She enjoyed nothing more than being able to make people laugh, to distract them from reality for a few hours. She studied Musical Theatre in college, but during her second year, her mind started to overflow with ideas for scripts and she began writing plays. Slowly over the following three years, she was writing more and more, channeling her imagination into more detailed manuscripts…

Here she is, years later, hiding away like a hermit, writing like crazy and loving every minute of it.

 

Where to find Elizabeth Online:

Website: www.e-morgan.com

Blog: www.xxxxmyworldxxxx.blogspot.com

Twitter: @EMorgan2010

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ElizabethMorgan

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.morgan.944

Blog: (Shared with Dianna Hardy): http://notjustastiffupperlip.blogspot.co.uk/

Cobblestone Publishing: http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/author/elizabethmorgan.htm

Noble Romance Publishing: https://www.nobleromance.com/Authors/184/Elizabeth-Morgan

Decadent Publishing: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=201&osCsid=6c1232251c1e45744bd0b3ee7262f414

Secret Cravings Publishing: http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=191

Manic Readers:
http://www.manicreaders.com/ElizabethMorgan/

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elizabeth-Morgan/e/B006WR1WLQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_al1?_encoding=UTF8&refinementId=368165031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0ZHQ1BAH0E7X2S7KTJ9M&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=317828027&pf_rd_i=468294

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Morgan/e/B006WR1WLQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1351550906&sr=1-2-ent

All Romance Ebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/elizabeth-morgan

Posted by: Author | January 25, 2013

Friday Facts- January 25, 2013- Quarter Horse

As you all know I got a new kitten about a month  ago. He’s now three months old. He’s adorable and very rambunctious. Every time I send my older son a picture of Hobbes, the son says, “He’s getting too big.” I keep telling him that the animal is going to be a cat. He can’t stay a kitten forever and he will grow.

Last night, #1 son mentioned it again since I sent him another picture. I said, “look at the size of Hobbes’ paws, he’s going to be big. As big as a quarter horse.” (Yes, I like to exaggerate).

Son then asked me what a quarter horse is. Before I could answer, he said, “Ah, a horse that does well on a short track, I bet.” He’s a smart man because that’s exactly right.

A quarter horse is a horse that is a good sprinter and can run fast for quarter mile distances. American quarter horses have compact bodies and are used in barrel racing and roping events as well. I have cousins who are champions at these events and the animals are magnificent to watch. Some can run 45-55 mph. That’s wild.

So, even though I know Hobbes won’t get as big as a horse, I think he may can be clocked at 30 mph the way  he runs through this house.

Happy Friday!

Posted by: Author | January 23, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

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