Buy ONE Bargain Beach Read and get TEN - F*R*E*E*

How would you like to buy one beach read for 99 cents and get 10 beach reads as a free gift? If you’re like many people, you’d love to load up your e-reader with beach reads for summer vacation, but don’t have time to spend browsing retail sites clicking on book covers. Every day on Twitter, book lovers tweet pleas such as “Help! I need Kindle suggestions!” That’s the focus of #BeachReadSOS – to help book lovers load their e-readers with quality books so they won’t need to call SOS. SOS also refers to Sink or Swim, the fictional TV game show featured in Stacy Juba’s mystery novel of the same title. The show takes place on a Tall Ship and contestants must walk the plank, including her heroine Cassidy who gets kicked off in chapter one. After she returns to her normal life as a personal trainer, Cassidy needs to call SOS for real when a killer follows her every move.

Anyone who buys Sink or Swim before June 1, 2013 (it’s on sale for 99 cents for a limited time at many retailers) can contact Stacy for 10 free books through her BeachReadSOS promotion. The free books represent a wide range of popular genres including romantic comedy, mystery, suspense, thriller, contemporary romance, and fantasy, and are only available for free through this promotion.

My contemporary romance SHOPPING FOR LOVE  is one of the 10 free reads so it’s a great chance to sample my writing.

Love can find you in the strangest places - but it's never for sale!

Greg and Emma meet - of all places - buying tomatoes in the supermarket and there’s no denying the attraction is mutual.  But Greg, a software developer, is still raw from his painful divorce and Emma, his children’s teacher, is recovering from her own heartache.  Then the reappearance of Emma's career-obsessed ex-boyfriend and Greg's spiteful ex-wife threatens to kill their new love before it has even begun. Added to these complications are the very real needs of the two old people for whom they shop...for love.

Is Emma’s love strong enough to survive Greg’s demanding past and the threats to both their careers?  What will be the cost of falling in love in a world where everything comes with such a high price tag?

Stacy is also highlighting bargain beach reads from the 10 donating authors, so visit her blog for the list of free gifts as well as some fantastic, inexpensive books to keep you entertained this summer and beyond. She will be posting individual spotlights for bargain beach reads throughout May, including my bargain book SHOPPING FOR LOVE about a couple who find romance in a supermarket but quickly discover that love comes with a very high price tag.

Authors participating in the promotion are:  Dianne Venetta, Elaine Raco Chase, Lorraine Bartlett, Evelyn David, Stephanie Queen, Susan R. Hughes, Sydney Jane Baily, Libby Fisher Hellmann, Darcia Helle and myself. Visit BeachReadSOS at http://tinyurl.com/BeachReadFree10 so you can get organized now and relax later!

Wednesday's Writer - Vicki Taylor

I'm very excited to welcome the talented Vicki Taylor - whose latest novel OUT FOR JUSTICE I'm currently reading and enjoying enormously - to my blog today.  

Vicki M. Taylor  is an award-winning author who writes dramatic fiction with strong, unforgettable, real women characters involved in real life situations. 

She attacks the hard issues and brings them to the forefront with a deftness that outshines most other authors. Her ability to sink her teeth into these headline issues and pull the reader into the story makes her one of the best authors of this new century. 

No issue is too controversial for Vicki. Murder, teenage suicide, domestic violence and more, you'll find Vicki M. Taylor's stories not only give you the harsh realities of the character's life but she wraps you up in their private emotional lives as well - daring you to not care, not feel, not read. 

She lives in Florida with her husband, their American Eskimo dog, and Sun Conure parrot.

So without any further ado, welcome to my blog Vicki.

Hello Lynette, thank you for having me as your guest blogger for Wednesday’s Writer. I’m excited to be here and share my novel OUT FOR JUSTICE and a bit about myself.

I like to put my guests under the spotlight with just a few probing questions to help everyone get to know you better so let's start with this one:  What inspired you to write your first novel and did you always know your genre would be romance?

My first novel, FOREVER UNTIL WE MEET, was a romance that had a unique story that I felt needed to be told. I didn’t set out in my head to write a romance, it just ended up that way. Very much like all my novels. The stories tell themselves, in whatever genre it happens to be in. I just love being a conduit for my stories.

Fascinating.  I've noticed that myself.  Sometimes stories seem to evolve independently from the writer - which can be a little scary at times!  I see you describe your work as dramatic and controversial – about real women and real life. Does this reflect what you like to read yourself? Do you find fictional heroines in general to be realistic or over-glamorized?

In general, I love to read. And I read just about every genre and type of story. I enjoy romance, suspense, horror, science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, you name it, I’ve probably read something in that genre. My library is quite extensive.  As far as fictional heroines, I tend to enjoy stories more if the female protagonist is strong willed, confident and realistic. If I find the character to be more of a “Barbie doll” or unrealistic, I probably won’t finish the story.

It's true, stronger heroines are far more readable - and what most female readers demand these days.  From my reading so far, I'd say your latest heroine, Karen, fits that description.  But I wonder if any part of yourself has ever crept into the heroines of any of your novels?

I think my heroines are independent of me. You see, they create themselves. I don’t have much of a part in their evolution. They come to me with their stories and I write them down. 

And I'm sure you do full justice to each one.  What is the most desirable characteristic you’ve bestowed on one of your characters and is this something you would secretly yearn in yourself?

I love that my characters are so self sufficient and confident. I would love to have those abilities. They are extroverts and I’m an introvert. I would love to have more of their qualities.

Hmm, I wonder if they might therefore be described as your alter-egos?  Maybe we can pursue that idea another time, but for now we must move on.  Do you think you’ll always write women’s fiction or do you have desires to experiment and if so, in what way?

As I’ve said earlier, I write whatever story comes my way. And, yes, some of them are outside of the women’s fiction genre. I enjoy spreading my writing wings and challenging myself to write in whatever genre the story ends up. I’ve written paranormal, science fiction/fantasy, mystery, and others. I think I’ll just write the best stories I know how, regardless of genre. 

That's all any reader can possibly ask for :)

Here is the blurb for OUT FOR JUSTICE, which I'm currently reading and loving - but no spoilers from me! 

Rookie Detective Karen Sykes is out to prove she is good at her job, finding justice for a darkness in her past through law enforcement. She gets her first chance to shine with a case that hits a little too close to home. Like her younger sister, a four-year-old boy, has been brutally murdered. The case pairs her with Mike Connelly, an attractive crime scene technician, and sparks fly between the two of them. Mike resists the attraction and only adds more emotional conflict to the case.

PROLOGUE

The boy knew he shouldn’t wander too far away from the campsite, but it was too tempting. Not a baby anymore, but a big boy of four years old, he fought the urge, but in the end, curiosity won out. He followed the large white bird as it ambled and picked its way up the beach. The sleek curved line of its long white neck silhouetted in the sky. 
The voices of his mother and sisters grew fainter in the wind as it whipped along the shore. Small waves crashed into the sandy beach strewn with broken shells and seaweed.
He left his shoes next to the pile of shells he’d collected for his mom. He tried hard to remember to pick them up on his way back because he knew his mom would be upset if he lost them. Never had he seen such a big bird on the ground before; he would follow for a little while longer. 
Careful where he placed his little bare feet, the boy skipped along to keep up with the bird. Ignoring him, it appeared more intent on finding bugs to eat and unconcerned with the antics of one small boy. 
The sun was setting and the shadows were long. Bird and shadow mingled together. 
The boy had no trouble keeping up, until a quick movement in the small brush near the trees caught his eye. Another animal. Smaller. Quick footed. The boy knew the name of this animal. Squirrel. The bird forgotten like an abandoned, used toy, the boy ventured closer to the chattering brown squirrel.
The light from the setting sun didn’t reach far into the trees. The boy’s sun kissed skin shivered in the cooler shade, a small breeze making its way through the tall branches, whistling noises among the tops of the trees. With only his short bib overalls, and no shirt, he wasn’t dressed for a trek through the woods. Branches from the low-lying brush and kudzu vines grabbed at his skin and scratched his arms and back.
A small voice in his head told him he’d better turn back and return to the campsite. At the same time, he heard louder voices just beyond a large rock covered with green vines. The voices sounded interesting. The squirrel forgotten, he moved a little closer. There, he could see who was talking.
He stepped on a stick that broke beneath his foot. The sharp end punctured his tender skin and he cried out in pain. 
The voices stopped.
Suddenly realizing he had gone too far, the boy turned only to find himself tangled and confused in the kudzu vines and low branches. He shivered again. This time not from the coolness of the woods.  
Long forgotten, the big white bird ambled its way down the beach, toward tastier prospects and away from the humans.

And here is just a brief excerpt from Chapter One 

to whet your appetites further:

It had been a slow morning at the Warehouse, the loosely affectionate term the detectives gave to the large county building that housed their offices along with the rest of the Hillsborough County Sheriff department, and they didn’t want to waste any of the good weather that temporarily graced them. 
Throughout her thirty-odd years, she’d led a competitive life. Girls against boys. Karen against everyone else. Karen dribbled the ball, looked up at the basket, then back down to the ball. She set her feet and bent her knees. She held her breath, ready to push off with her arms.
“Sykes, Anderson. Get in here.” 
Karen hissed a sigh. “Damn, I had it too.” She wiped at the sweat rolling down the side of her temple. She didn’t like leaving anything half finished. Even if it was a friendly game of basketball.
Sam walked over and patted her on the shoulder as they headed into the office. “Good game.”
“You too, Sam.”
Lieutenant Santiago waited for them in the main room. “I need you to check out a new case. Over in the Hamilton Davis Park Campground.”
Back inside, the air-conditioned air felt cold and refreshing. “Sure, no problem, Lieutenant.” Karen accepted the folder the lieutenant held out. She grabbed her dark blue blazer from the back of a chair and shrugged into it.
“Hey, wait a minute,” the lieutenant said.
“Yeah?” Sam hesitated then turned around while Karen stood expectantly.
“It’s a kid.”
Eyes widened, Karen’s throat tightened. She swallowed hard to work past the lump that suddenly developed. This was it. She’d waited more than two years for this moment. Her first homicide case. Already, their lightheartedness on the basketball court faded into a distant memory. Real life had a way of crowding in and changing moods.
“Shit.” Sam swore. “All right. Thanks for the heads up, Lieutenant.”
Karen could feel Lieutenant Santiago’s eyes watching her as she headed out the door. He probably thought Sam competent enough to handle the case. But what did he think about her? She was tough. She had to be, growing up with parents that barely recognized her existence. It wasn’t their fault. The blame lay with her and what happened a long time ago. She lived with the guilt for more than twenty-five years. The guilt kept her company and almost felt like a familiar, comfortable sweater on a chilly night.   
Following Sam out of the Warehouse to the parking lot, Karen knew he would help her along with her first homicide case. She couldn’t have a better teacher than Sam. She’d been told that plenty of times from the other detectives. She trusted his judgment. If he figured she was ready then damn it, she’d show everyone how ready she could be.

You can find out more about Vicki by clicking on any of the following links:

Vicki's Website

Your Writing Coach Blog

Vicki M. Taylor's Blog

Facebook Author Page

FACEBOOK PERSONAL PAGE

Amazon Author Page

Linked In

Pinterest

And click here for the following:

Out For Justice Paperback edition

Out For Justice Kindle edition

Readers Writes - Mickey Reed aka 'I'm a Book Shark'

Mickey

I always think people who spend a lot of time reviewing books must quickly become discerning readers or drown in a sea of requests from authors desperately seeking reviews for their titles.  I'm therefore always interested in chatting to reviewers to learn about their reading likes and dislikes.  Today's interviewee is is reviewer Mickey Reed, whose blog is I'm a Book Shark and who kindly agreed to let me put her in the spotlight this week.

Firstly, I'd love to know a little bit about how or why you became a reviewer (and which came first, the reviews or the blog?)  How do your reading commitments fit in with your lifestyle?  

I have posted my reviews for books on Goodreads for as long as I’ve known about Goodreads. My husband asked why I wasn’t trying to get paid for writing reviews for a paper or something, and in Googling that I discovered book blogs.  I read whatever I want and post those reviews to the blog. Lately it’s been a blog for promoting other books as my reading time has decreased dramatically.

You must receive numerous requests for reviews - how do you choose which books/authors to take on?

I do get quite a few review requests, even though I’ve mentioned that I won’t really be able to take any on right now.  Quite honestly I don’t really read too many of the emails either. I don’t have much time to read, but I do skim all of the emails to see if anything catches my eye. And I do keep them all in case I want to go back and accept a request.

For me a 5* review means a book is literally 'unputdownable'.  How do you 'measure' a good book?  

A 5-star book keeps me guessing, makes me laugh/cry, sucks me in, and never lets me forget. It’s memorable and treasured. On my blog, books rarely get a 5-star review. I’m very picky, but when you earn it, I let the world know.

How do you feel if you really like or thoroughly dislike a book you've agreed to review?

I’m so happy when I’m pleasantly surprised by a book I’ve taken on to review. It’s happened a quite a few times. Then there have been those times when I just can’t get through a book. If I’ve agreed to review it but couldn’t stand it, I usually will still review it on Goodreads but not on my blog. Just my policy.

Do you receive feedback from writers or other readers on your reviews?

I get comments about my reviews, sure. But no one has ever told me to change my format or anything. I love having discussion, so if anyone ever has a question about my reviews I’d love to chat!

Do you know if your reviews influence the success (or otherwise) of a new title?

I’m not sure. I’ve had people buy books because of my reviews, and I’ve had people say they won’t pick up a title because of my reviews. But I don’t think my little blog will make or break a novel. :o)

Now some more general questions about reading   Did you have a favourite book or author as a child?

I would always go to the library and pick up Lurlene McDaniel’s books even though she made me cry every single time!

What is your happiest reading memory?

I wish I could truly remember reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time, but I do remember going back to it at different points in my life, rereading passages that made me giggle or get all sappy. 

What was the first book you remember reading independently and really enjoying?

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. However, I recently went back to it and discovered that my tastes had dramatically changed. Haha.

How significant was reading to you as a child?

As a child, I enjoyed reading. I was good at it, so I kept on doing it. I was curious and loved to learn, so it helped me achieve many things.

How important is reading in your life now?

Now, reading is an adventure, an escape, and a journey. It opens me up to new worlds. Plus, I’d love to just be a fly on the wall somewhere, and it really allows me to be that for these characters.

Have you ever wished you could change places with any character from a story?

I don’t think I’ve truly wanted to change places with any character, but I’ve loved books so much that I’d wish to live in their world, be friends with the characters, and fit right in.

What are you currently reading and in what format (hardback, paperback, e-book)?

I’m actually listening to the audio book version of Moby-Dick for my English class.



Do you think the young of today read enough, and if not, how might you try to encourage them to read more?

I think some do, but many don’t. We live in a fast-paced, technologically advanced world. It’s easy to just watch the movie instead. I’d love for them to read more often, and perhaps if they discovered a world they could get lost in, they’d enjoy reading more too.


Do you prefer print or e-books?

Quite honestly I prefer print. I do read e-books, and I don’t mind reading them at all. But nothing beats the brand new book smell. Ahhh. :o)


Do you think e-books will ever totally replace print?

I think they might, which would be incredibly sad. But the newspaper still exists, so there is hope!

Do you think books transfer to films well?  What is your favourite/worst book-to-film transfer?

It all depends, which is a lazy answer, but it’s how I feel. Some books do and some books don’t. My favorite book-to-movie versions are The Help, Shutter Island, True Grit, Shopgirl, The Princess Bride, Water for Elephants, Silver Linings Playbook, and Pride and Prejudice (almost any version). My least favorites are the Hannibal movies (I love them on their own, but not as book-to-movie versions), PS I Love You, Twilight, The Lucky One, and My Sister’s Keeper. I mostly like film versions when they are cast well and agree with the book.

Is there a book you know you'll never read or found impossible to finish?

I’ll probably never read the Fifty Shades of Grey series, but I never say never ;o) Books that are impossible to finish to me are the poorly edited ones.

Do you think there is anything new and exciting in modern fiction, or has it "all been said before"?

I think there can be new and exciting in modern fiction. We just need some writers with great imaginations. I’m sure they’re out there! We just need to discover them.

Thanks Mickey - that was every bit as interesting as I knew it would be.
Why not pop over to Mickey's blog to get to know her better?  Just click on the image below.

Wednesday's Writer - Gloria Harchar talks about Steampunk

I'm wildly excited about today's guest being on my blog because she's the first writer of Steampunk I've come across and I think this is quite an exciting genre.  She is the hugely talented Gloria Harchar, whom I just had to get to know after seeing her wonderful book covers!  Who couldn't be impressed by these?  

Gloria is an author who gets ideas by exploring historical places, reading old documents/records, (such as letters, newspapers, marriage certificates, diaries, journals, documentaries—well, you get the idea), visiting cemeteries and historical buildings, finding unique antique gadgets that never gained popularity with the public. In Gloria's opinion, there's no better way to explore a countryside, village or city than while gripping the handlebars of a bicycle.

She has two Bachelor's degrees: One in Education with a concentration in English and the other in Accounting. Too, she has a Master's of Science degree in Instructional Design and Technology.

Her love is writing romance novels and young adult science fiction, and being able to write stories that are begging to be told! Her series, called The Lumière Romances, is in an alternate Steampunk World. To find out more, please visit her at her official website at http://gloriaharchar.com.  Be sure to subscribe to her newsletter to discover when the next book is released, to participate in contests and blog hops, and to win prizes

Anyway she's here today to tell us all about Steampunk, so let's see how many questions we can cram in while we have her on the blog.

Welcome, Gloria.  First off, what exactly is Steampunk?

Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy. It's the Enlightenment Period. It's Industrial

Revolution. It's an attitude of brainstorming inventions in societies, and any idea deserves deep thought and consideration. Per Gail Carriger, there are two types of steampunk: 
i. The first, traditional steampunk, envisions a future as the Victorians imagined it. The writings of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne are good examples. 
ii. The second, industrial steampunk, sees a far future world that harkens back to Victorian culture, for example a bustle dress made of kevlar. There are also other temporal options like clockpunk (c. 1500s) and dieselpunk (WWII).
b. Both of my series fall into the traditional steampunk with minor tweaks. The Lumière Romances have fantasy creatures in them--pixies, faeries, elves, werewolves, vampires, immortals, etc. Miss Marquet's School of Inquiry is straight traditional steampunk in that there are no fantasy creatures. Both are written for YA and YA Crossovers. 

Fascinating.  What is your favorite thing about steampunk or writing about steampunk?

I've always adored creating alternative history. I love world-building. I imagine myself in a steampunk world where you can see steampunk technology nearly everywhere you look, mixed in with Victorian clothing fashions--slightly altered--and historical architecture. I love carriages--phaetons, (in fact, my pixies in Lies & Crinoline made a photon phaeton), Town coaches, brougham, barouches, landaus--and "steampunking" them up. 

What is your favorite steampunk accessory

My steampunk clock. I love it!

What turned you on to steampunk? 
 
My father was an aerospace engineer. I always wondered how different our world would be if we would have chosen to develop different types of hydrogen-propelled airships instead of the jet-fueled airplanes of today. What if we had stuck to steam-powered appliances instead of electricity? Or used electricity instead of gunpowder for guns? Or had walking legs in addition to wheels on cars? Before actually writing steampunk, I've always tried to include inventions in my stories, even in my straight historical romances.

Cars with legs - imagine that!  My brain is doing summersaults.  Do you have any upcoming Steampunk stories you can tell us about?

Mudlark Girl is book 1 in my new series, Miss Marquet's School of Inquiry. Lulu Jardine is a girl who lives by the River Thames. A washed out poet, down on his luck, found her clinging onto a piece of a steamboat. The poet raises her, and together they dredge the river in search of her identity. One gift the poet has given her is a thirst for knowledge. She likes solving problems, making life easier, and has made a metal radar to aid her search. A girl from Polite Society asks her to participate in a study of environment versus bloodlines—she wants to see if she can make a lady out of Lulu. Lulu refuses. But when Lulu witnesses a famous scientist who commits murder, and overhears part of a plan to attack Queen Victoria, it's a mudlark girl's word against a lady of the haute ton. Lulu becomes a fugitive on the run. The only way to escape is to hide in plain sight by becoming a test specimen. 

What an intriguing plot.  It sounds like a combination of Dickens and Dr Who but with your own unique twist.  I love it.  Who is your favorite character of all from one of your Steampunk stories?

Botheration, that is a difficult question to answer because the character I love the most is the one about whom I'm telling the story. So, as of the present, I am enjoying tremendously the spunkiness that is Lulu Jardine. She is creative, intelligent and frightfully spunky--she just doesn't know it.  

I love self-effacing characters who are sublimely ignorant of their own charisma.  Lulu sounds great!  What's the hardest thing about creating a Steampunk universe?

Research because I love science and I can spend hours thinking about crazy inventions. In writing courses I've been taught not to show my research. However, lovers of steampunk want to learn/understand a little bit of how things work in my world since this is what steampunk is all about. I have to rely on my beta readers to tell me what to cut and by how much.

Well I suppose readers could do their own research but personally I like to have as much information as I can get in the actual book.  That way I feel I'm being educated as well as entertained.  What's the easiest thing about creating a Steampunk universe?

Allowing my imagination to take over. I particularly enjoy action scenes and using bizarre devices or vehicles in the chase scenes. 

That sounds highly visual and very exciting.  What does steampunk allow you to do as a writer that no other genres can?

I can create an atmosphere that is totally my own. Although I've studied British history and know it quite well, I can tweak that history; I don't have to be historically correct. I love having smart characters who know how to put together a bilocycle, an airship, or a photon phaeton.The otherworldly atmosphere of seeing something strangely brilliant--like a blimp with wings and a boat hull, or a barouche with mechanical legs and feet. Thinking up new ways to do mundane chores such as washing clothes. I can't do all this in any other genre!

I'm quite sure your own clear enjoyment enhances your stories for your readers.  What are the challenges and advantages to writing a steampunk story?

One of the challenges I have is making up names for gadgets. But I have a lot of fun with the task. And I have to remember the name of the object. I've started a spreadsheet to keep track. I would love to have drawings of them someday and post them on my site. But for now I need to have a list of devices that are in my stories and upload that.

Oh yes - do try to make sketches for posterity - like Leonardo da Vinci.  And what fun thinking up new names for gadgets/inventions - I'd love to try to help with that.  Maybe you should set that as a quiz question somewhere?  You give the basic information of what the machine does and ask readers to come up with the best name?  (Just a thought).  How much research does it take and how much imagination?

As I stated above, it sometimes take a lot of research. Sometimes I research as I write; sometimes I make a note to research and keep going with my story. Imagination? I have an abundance of it. Hey, you're looking at a woman who, as a girl of seven years old, coerced her little sister of four to ride in the mechanical dumb waiter so that she could describe all the worlds and denizens that existed between the walls, (to my extreme disappointment, all she could tell me is, "It was dark and scary!"). Needless to say, to write steampunk, an author has to have a lot of imagination. Mix imagination with scientific findings and principals, tweak those, add plot plus characterization as major elements and you've got yourself a steampunk story! 


It's been wonderful talking to you Gloria - I could go on and on as every fascinating answer seems to generate more questions.  I hope you've enjoyed yourself - I know I have.

Now Gloria wants to turn the tables and ask YOU a question - and it's one I love asking readers as well: What do YOU like to read?

You can buy Lies and Crinoline on Kobo or by clicking on the cover 

and discover more about Gloria by clicking on any of the following links:

    http://gloriaharchar.com/blog

    https://www.facebook.com/gloriaharcharfanpage

    https://twitter.com/the_harchars

    http://pinterest.com/gloriaharchar/

I really recommend you do - she's amazing!  Thanks, Gloria.

Authors in Bloom Blog Hop - Lynette Sofras has TWO Romances for You to Claim

I'm no gardener - I'll own up to that from the start - I've tried to grow my own vegetables but simply ended up making my garden resemble a scene from The Day of the Triffids (probably because of over-fertilisation) but yielding very few edible vegetables.  Living in an early Victorian cottage, I yearn to have a typical cottage garden filled with pretty flowers and, most importantly, lots of herbs, and with these I have been a little bit more successful.

For my Authors in Bloom contribution, here are my six golden rules gleaned from years of trial and error and an extra tip for preserving your herbs once grown.

1)  Be ultra careful when buying herbs from garden centres; in my experience it's better (and more rewarding) to grow them from seed.  Having an array of herbs in pots on the kitchen windowsill is very satisfying for aspiring chefs.

2)  Pay attention to the directions on the seed packs regarding spacing requirements.  It can be fiddly handling tiny seeds but never crowd them

3)  Keep them well-watered but don't allow them to stand in water for too long.  Good drainage is essential for healthy roots.

4)  Move the pots around regularly for even light-distribution.

5)  Never overfeed (I've lost so many that way, mistakenly believing they'll grow better if well-fed).  In fact herbs will grow well in relatively poor soil conditions.

6)  Don't be tempted to harvest the leaves too early.  Allow them to grow up to 8 inches and strip leaves sparingly.  Then wait for regrowth before snipping more.  For the herbs you use most frequently, grow extra pots.

Top Tip:  If you want dried herbs - a brilliant way to dry them quickly is to cut them and spread them onto newspaper on a sunny window ledge or in the back of the car on a sunny day.  Close all the windows and they'll be dry in no time - leaving your car deliciously aromatic at the same time.  

My heroine, Juliet in my giveaway novel The Apple Tree (winner of Inspired Romance's inaugural writing competition) has, like me, very little knowledge about gardening and plants.  When she visits the gardening centre owned by an old family friend, she meets Nicholas and immediately mistakes him for a gardener.  This is something Nicholas, if only the demands of big business permitted, would happily embrace.  The misunderstanding is soon cleared up, however, but Nicholas' love of gardens is certainly one of the reasons Juliet falls in love with him.

Here is the blurb for Giveaway One: The Apple Tree.

Escaping from your past is never easy, as young hospital doctor Juliet discovers when she tries to start afresh, leaving both her marriage and her career behind.  Love blossoms rapidly when she meets the mysterious and forthright Nicholas, who seems to herald the new beginning she craves.  

The past quickly dissolves into insignificance as their all-consuming romance propels them forward but Juliet has to learn the price of happiness in the cruellest way possible.  Will she be able face the painful roots of her past in order for her future to grow strong and healthy?


Giveaway 2:  Shopping for Love

Now when it comes to cooking, I know much more, believe me.  I love nothing better than experimenting with exotic cuisine and frequently globetrot in my kitchen.  In my second giveaway novel Shopping for Love, my lovely hero Greg fancies himself as a bit of a Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen.  In this excerpt he prepares a Thai fish meal for Emma.

He handed her a glass of chilled wine and she leaned against the tall fridge sipping it as she watched him busy himself with a wok and bamboo steamer.  “I feel guilty just standing here.  Can I help?”

“You already are.  Just by decorating my kitchen, making eye candy – it’s almost ready, anyway,” he told her with a grin. “It’s all in the prep, you see.”

He had steamed the fish over banana leaves in a bamboo basket and poured sizzling sesame oil over it at the last minute.  It was accompanied by little bowls of perfectly cooked rice and vegetables and Emma was almost too impressed to think about eating.

“This is wonderful.  Where on earth did you find fresh banana leaves?” She asked peering into the bamboo steamer in the centre of the table.

“Oh you’d be amazed at what  wonderful things you can pick up in supermarkets these days,” he said with a knowing wink which reduced Emma to helpless laughter for some time until he apologised and ordered her to begin eating, which she did, accompanied by appreciative sound-effects.

“How can a man who cooks like this possibly be divorced?” she asked at length.

Greg laughed, genuinely amused.  “Spoken like a true foodie.  But, you know, it takes more than culinary skills to make a marriage work.”

“Not for me, it wouldn’t,” Emma said with a smile, transferring more of the succulent white flesh from the sea bass onto her plate before coaxing it between her chopsticks.  “If I could eat like this every day, I would ask for nothing more in life.”  She paused before bringing any more of the food to her mouth.  “Would it be out of order for me to ask what happened?”

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Recent research claims that the smell of the herb rosemary can help what?  (Hint - Shakespeare had a fair idea about this 400 years ago - so it's hardly new research!)

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Manic Scribbler's A-Z Challenge - I is for I'm Terribly Sorry!

I'm Terribly Sorry

I've really enjoyed this A-Z Challenge and hope I'll be able to pick it up again in a few days and see it through to the end.  At the moment, however, I must call a halt to my participation.  The reason - and I sincerely hope all animal lovers will understand - is that our little cat is very poorly at the moment. She's been in and out of the vet surgery and hospital since Saturday and still isn't really showing signs of improvement.  We're having to force-feed her at the moment and it's very distressing for all of us - but especially her.  She's a little monkey but we're very fond of her and desperate for her to get better, but it looks like an operation is on the cards in the next few days.

This has just taken up so much of my time and energy that I've fallen behind on everything else.  I have at least a thousand emails (and increasing daily) still waiting to be read and blog posts to put together for others and so I have to re-appraise my priorities right now.

I hope I'll be able to pick up again a little later in the alphabet.  I've really enjoyed the experience so far and appreciate all the great comments from visitors to my blog.  Hope to be back soon.

Thanks all.

Manic Scribbler's A-Z Challenge - H is for Houses (with attitude)

H is for Houses


I love stories featuring houses with history; stories in which the houses become almost another character as their secrets are gradually disclosed.  Houses like Wuthering Heights, Thornfield Hall, Satis House, Northanger Abbey to name just a few become so real in the stories that you feel you could make a pilgrimage to them even today.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, houses have played a significant part in some of my stories, not least my forthcoming release which features Chichester Court, once an elegant Georgian family home but now renovated to make social housing for single mothers and their children.  Chichester Court is haunted by more ghosts than one and seems desperate to yield up its secrets to anyone who will listen.

Here's what Joanna (a former resident) tells Anne - a current resident whose young son has suffered recurring nightmares since moving into Chichester Court about the house's history.

"No house is ever just bricks and mortar.  It's an extension of the people it shelters and Chichester Court has sheltered a lot of damaged, angry people in the last forty or so years since the scheme began, not to mention those before the Housing Trust took over!  Just think of all that negative energy, from all those discordant lines, seeping into the bricks and mortar.  Now my question to you is: what do you think happens to it?" Joanna's voice had taken on that melodramatic quality of a teacher acting out an extract from a Gothic story for a class of ten year olds, making Anne smile properly for the first time that morning and then, in an expansive gesture, reaching into the biscuit tin, from which she pulled out a plain digestive.

"Oh yes, Chichester Court has sheltered a lot of angry people.  And anger breeds anger, especially in idleness and stagnant spaces,  and then spills into this cauldron of resentment and conflicting emotions and simmers and bubbles over the years until all this ill-feeling spills over and leaks into the nooks and crannies, the bricks and mortar of its confinement.  Where does it go?  Where can it go?  There are no channels to release it, only an old tangled web of discordant lines and too many empty spaces in which to breed.  Oh, that house is one huge, voracious parasite for the wrong kind of energy."