Monday, July 23, 2007

Quaint Q&A for Writers and Readers

Amy Wallace, my friend and a fellow suspense author featuring FBI characters, tagged me with a unique Q&A especially for writers and readers.

1. What's the one book or writing project you haven't yet written but still hope to?

One day I hope to finish my medieval fantasy series. My hero rocks, and his love interest will steal your hearts! The first book in the series, Kingmaker, is the book of my heart, but fantasy is a tough sell. However, the Lord will light the way at the appropriate time.

2. If you had one entire day in which to do nothing but read, what book would you start with?

I’m well into Robert Liparulo’s Comes a Horseman. Excellent read! Of course, I love reading books by other authors who feature FBI characters. I always learn something I didn’t know about the Bureau from my own research, and I always find validation for my portrayals, too.

3. What was your first writing "instrument" (besides pen and paper)?

A PC that is now a dinosaur and extinct, but I sure gave it a workout!

4. What's your best guess as to how many books you read in a month?

Difficult question. Some months I read 5 – 6. Other months I have no time to read any. Depends on where I’m at on deadline or with family and church commitments. During the three years I served as Senior Inspirational Reviewer for Romantic Times magazine, I read 12 – 15 books per month.

5. What's your favorite writing "machine" you've ever owned?

I adore my Dell Inspiron laptop. It goes with me any time I travel, and I use it every day. It’s got loads of memory, which is so handy when you’re dealing with full length manuscripts.

6. Think historical fiction: what's your favorite time period in which to read?

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but I probably enjoy either the medieval or Regency periods the most.

7. What's the one book you remember most clearly from your youth (childhood or teens)?

The Hobbit. That book entranced me from page one. I think my desire to be a writer was born with reading that book over and over again. Could I ever draw a reader into a fictional world so completely? Naturally, I had to move on into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also enjoyed Lloyd Alexander’s series that starts with The Book of Three. Loads of great imagery, wonderful characters, and deep themes. Madeline L’Engles’ A Wrinkle in Time was also a favorite, along with any of the YA books by C. S. Lewis. Oh, and I always enjoyed a good Encyclopedia Brown or Nancy Drew story. Evidently, my favorite genres are fantasy and mystery/suspense.

This Q&A is interactive for writers and readers. Go ahead and respond with your unique answers to one or more of these questions. Have a delightful day!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

New Release from Queen of Romantic Comedy


I loved this book! The characters grabbed my heart and the plot snagged my attention from page one. I was particularly moved by the painful love between father and daughter.

Wedding Bell Blues is the first in a new series, The Piper Cove Chronicles, that follows four women who grew up as best friends in a small community on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They have returned home from their successes and failures at college and life, determined to pursue their dreams in the town they'd once vowed to leave in the dust. True love has eluded the four friends until one by one they encounter their soul mate. Next in the series is FOR PETE'S SAKE, on sale from Avon Inspire in April 2008.
Alex Butler is a successful home decorator who hopes she has finally gotten her life together. But when Josh Turner, the man who ran away and broke her heart sixteen years ago, returns to Piper Cove to be the best man in her sister's wedding, Alex can't escape the butterflies in her stomach. But Alex has no time for distractions. Her family has enlisted her to make this the wedding of the century. To pull the event off, she pools the talents of her three best friends - Jan, who creates desserts to-die-for will help with the cake and catering, tomboy Ellen, who works at a landscaping business will handle the flowers and decorations, and Sue Ann, who can…well, Suzie Q can give Alex a much-needed reality check in the course of the wedding planning chaos.
But fate won't be stopped in this small town as Alex and Josh keep running into each other at every turn. When sparks fly, Alex soon finds herself caught in a paralyzing battle of the heart between her old-fashioned Southern father, who fiercely resents Josh for breaking his little girl's heart, and her feelings for the one man she ever truly loved.

As the wedding approaches, the Butler family faces a threat to their reputation that will shake this Chesapeake clan to their very core. In the midst of it all, can Alex and Josh resist the many forces that seem to be drawing them together?

Buy now at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061171379


About the Author:


Linda Windsor, a native of Maryland's Eastern Shore, is the author of eighteen historical novels and nine contemporary romances for both the secular and Christian market. A Christy Award finalist, Linda has received numerous awards in both the ABA and CBA, including the Romantic Writers of America's Beacon Award. She lives in Salisbury, Maryland.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Dynamite Military Series!

The Task Force Valor series by Chuck Holton are great reads for the fan of military fiction. If you like Tom Clancy books, you'll like these. And Holton's series adds a little extra zing of romance, so the gals will find as much to like as the guys. Isn't this a great cover?

To make this book your own, click here:

ABOUT THE BOOK:

EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE DISPOSAL--THE BOMB SQUAD
As the global war on terror heats up, the U.S. deploys a team of highly trained special operators overseas to locate and neutralize threats, bringing EOD expertise to dangerous missions that have no room for error.

A DEADLY EXPLOSION
A new specialty explosive is on the black market: ITEB looks like water, but when it's exposed to air, the effects are lethal! The United States government is frantic to keep it from our shores. Staff Sergeant Euripides "Rip" Rubio knows how destructive ITEB can be. He has already risked his life to thwart a horrific terrorist plot involving the chemical. Now Task Force Valor heads to Panama, on the trail of an arms dealer who plans to use ITEB to make a killing...literally.
AN ADVENTURE ABROAD
Fernanda Lerida is a University of Florida grad student who jumps at the chance to join a biological expedition to a mysterious former prison island. But the snakes, bugs, and crocodiles are soon the least of her worries as the group stumbles upon something they were not meant to see. To Make matters worse, Fernanda soon finds herself alone and being pursued by an unseen foe.

A RISKY RESCUE
When Rip's path collides with Fernanda's, they find themselves caught in the midst of a brutal turf war. Can they use the chaos to their advantage, or will one false step set the entire island ablaze?

"Island Inferno is a boy-meets-girl story. But in Chuck Holton's world, boy meets girl in the middle of a jungle at 25mph. hanging under a parachute with an assault rifle strapped across his chest. You'd better plan on reading this in one sitting. And once you're done, you'd better give yourself time for your pulse to calm down."----TOM MORRISEY, Author of Deep Blue, and Dark Fathom

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chuck served four years in the Elite 75th Ranger Regiment–the same unit profiled in the movie “Black Hawk Down.” Chuck saw combat in Panama in 1989. After leaving active duty, Chuck flew helicopters in the Wisconsin National Guard while attending the University of Wisconsin.

In 2004, after ten years as a stockbroker, Chuck left that profession to pursue full-time writing. At the same time, he began working as the "Adventure Correspondent" for CBN.He is the author of five books, including A More Elite Soldier, Bulletproof, andAllah's Fire, the first of three books in the Task Force Valor series.

Today, Chuck, Connie, and their five children live on a farm in Appalachia, where Chuck now pursues his varied interests of farming, writing, adventure travel and public speaking, among other things.