Thursday, March 10, 2016

Troy Seate, new author to BWL, introducing myself





Hello, my name is Troy Seate and I am new to the BWL family. 

After reading a few of my stories, my parents booted me out of the house, but it didn’t stop me.  
 
I’ve been offered this opportunity to share a few ramblings with all of you. Many writers don't want to be bothered by the real world. It doesn't fit with the world of their words, a world they would rather to be in. I don’t go to this extreme, but I do believe when it comes to the future or the past, everyone writes fiction. 

I like to think of fiction as a mirror version of reality set to a greater or lesser degree of distortion depending on what genre a story is cast. Make-believe can be a great healer. Sometimes it can even save us. Turning words into people and places, and then mining the trivia of daily life to uncover the emotions beneath can sometimes be a difficult task, but it is the essence of what keeps us at it. So I say, wherever your dividing line between fiction and reality falls, keep at it.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Unveiling the Emperor's Concubine Song




http://amzn.com/B01BD2OGE4


Romance and Song
Unveiling The Emperor’s Concubine Song.

For those who have not read my latest release, The Emperor’s Concubine, my post-apocalyptic romance, you might be wondering what music has to do with the story. As a romance author music inspires me. When I am writing I always have a song in mind which fits with the theme of my book. For the Emperor’s Concubine my end theme song was, ‘Incredible’ by fellow Canadian Celine Dion and Ne-Yo. It is a very inspiring song and, I must confess, I am a HUGE Celine Dion fan. Alas I have yet to see her in concert, which makes me sad. There is another song that inspired the flowers on the rooftop love scene between my hero Sol and my heroine Ocean that not only inspired it, but made it into the actual book. The song is called A Story Forever and is written and sung by a friend of mine from California, Mike Peralta. Mike is an amazing young up and coming performer and when I heard his song I just had to have it in my book. I am thrilled to say Mike very generously allowed me to use the song. What a sweetheart right? It isn’t the first time I have had a singer/song writer loan me a ballad. Back in Gowan, a 2011 Canadian Juno winner and now lead singer of STYX, loaned me his ballad, ‘Love Makes You Believe’, for my Guilty Kisses’ debut. *Note the book is now republished as The Cracksman’s Kiss.
Anyway, I don’t normally do book trailers anymore, but I felt ‘A Story Forever’ really deserved one as the theme in The Emperor’s Concubine. Check it out. And if you like the song, please give Mike Peralta a little love! Thank you!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Books We Love's Tantalizing Talent ~ Author Joanie MacNeil



Hi, my name is Joanie MacNeil and I’m an Australian contemporary romance author. You can find me at http://www.bookswelove.com/authors/macneil-joanie/

While most of my novels are set in Australia, two of my earlier books are set in Scotland. My novels are a blend of sweet and sexy heart-warming stories about new love and second chances. I hope that some of my stories will make you smile.
As home, family and friends are important to me, I have blended these elements into some of my novels.
Story locations are usually places I’ve visited. I love to travel with my own romantic hero and later this year we plan to spend some time visiting countries we haven’t travelled to before. Maybe I will be inspired to set future stories in these new and interesting places.
While my introduction to romance reading began with historical romances, I was drawn to write shorter contemporary stories.
Three of my Books We Love novels, all contemporary romance and set in Australia:

The Trouble with Natalie
No Boundaries
December Heat



The Trouble with Natalie
Amazon
Natalie Harrigan knows from past experience that men are trouble, and having a man in her life is not on her agenda. She'd much rather focus on her career. Success in her new appointment to the coveted position of CEO in the recently established Training Advisory Council is her number one priority and she intends to prove she will be the best CEO ever.

Enter Luke DeMarco: newly appointed Director of Public Affairs in the Training Advisory Council, and her young brother’s best friend. Luke DeMarco has always loved Natalie from the moment he first set eyes on her at eight years old. Now, twenty years later, she’s more woman than ever, and Luke’s not too worried about the twelve years difference in their ages. Surely his gentle wooing will convince Natalie that age is no barrier to love? But Natalie is his boss. Will she allow him to move from their boardroom to her bedroom?

Amazon
No Boundaries
Attractive Paige Delaney is more woman than Jack Shannon wants in his life, though he's in serious need of her award winning skills in web design. Paige believes her sexy new boss thinks he's God's gift to woman. Both are single parents with shattered dreams and damaged hearts, having suffered betrayals of trust in previous relationships. Each desires to love and be loved, but they are afraid to trust the opposite sex again.
When Jack moves into his new house and discovers Paige is his next door neighbor, their protective barriers and personal goals are threatened. Is it fate or their teenage children conspiring to push them together?

Amazon
December Heat
Following the death of her husband, Nicolette Oliver concentrates on re-establishing her career as a dancer, though still dealing with emotional issues relating to her life with Mark. When his friend appears on her doorstep, Nicolette honors her late husband’s invitation and invites Jake to stay.
Jake Harrigan has always been attracted to Nic and sees her as untouchable, even though she is now on her own. They are opposites, their lives and expectations literally worlds apart. Drawn into a romantic interlude, the parting is difficult when Jake returns to Europe to resume his career as TV news journalist and Nic moves to Sydney to begin rehearsals for the show that will resurrect her career.
Jake returns to Australia to see Nic again and also to finalize details with his network to sail around the world making documentaries. Will Jake follow his heart and ask Nic to give up all that she’s worked for and sail away with him?

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Spring Forward? They're Kidding, Right? by Gail Roughton

It's almost that time again.  Next Sunday, you'll awake to that time when man, in his infinite wisdom, exercises the power to stroke his ego by imposing Daylight Savings Time on a helpless populace, thus supporting his ILLUSION that humans, as the superior of the species, can even control time by manufacturing more hours in the day.  I don't know what genius came up with the idea of manipulating time. One of the big Eastern Syndicates, I suspect.  Because what, exactly, does Daylight Savings Time do? Other than upset most folks' internal circadian clock, I mean?

Think about it.  Does setting your clock ahead one hour REALLY give you more hours in a day?  No, it does not.  In  the early weeks of the change, it makes you get up in pitch black and it adds a little bit of pre-sunset time to the end of the day.  By the middle of summer, you're getting up in the light again, unless you're someone whose job requires you to get up at 5:00 a.m., and if you like to go to bed early -- like that someone I just mentioned who has to get up at 5:00 a.m. -- then you're going to bed in the light.  'Cause it won't actually get dark till close to 9:30 p.m. down here in the Deep South.  Think about it for a minute. Here's this poor mother with three small kids.  Let's say, seven, five, and three years in age.  Since they're not teenagers, they've probably been up since at least 7:00 or 8:00 a.m.  And even if the three year old still takes a nap, you can bet your booty the seven and five year old don't, or if they do, it's under so much protest it's hardly worth the effort.  So this poor mother, who has absolutely NO time that she can call her own till the kids are asleep, can't even THINK about suggesting bedtime till close to 10:00 p.m. because what kid alive is going to go to sleep in the daylight?  It's got to have been dark at least thirty minutes before a young child is going to unwind enough to actually go to sleep.  There's that Circadian Rhythm thing again.  You know, the built-in internal clock in most lifeforms that respond to LIGHT and DARK?  That thing that Daylight Savings Time so arrogantly attempts to manipulate to his whim?  (Needless to say, I'd never survive in Alaska.)

I get particularly upset at this time change because when I was a child, back in the Dark Ages, THIS was the original time.  The time we're in right now.  We didn't "Fall Back" because we didn't have to "Spring Forward".  They left time alone.  The sun rose around 6:00 a.m. and it got dark around 8:30 p.m. Nobody expected it not to.  Nobody wanted it not to.  Ah, life was simpler then. Then some genius had to come up with this revolutionary idea to increase "energy efficiency".  I especially remember this line being chanted back in the winter of 1974-1975 when the first oil crisis hit.  The country stayed on Daylight Savings Time for the entire winter.  Because it "saved power".  I was in college that year, and I had an eight o'clock class.  I didn't live at college, I commuted, which meant I was up at 6:00 and on the road by 6:45.  I went to class in the dark, and it was only just beginning to get light when I walked out of my 8:00 o'clock class at 9:00 o'clock.  The floodlights were still on, all over campus.  So PLEASE explain to me how that saved any energy? It's quite simple.  If it's dark in the morning, folks turn on the lights.  If it's dark in the evening, folks turn on the light.  And really.  Be honest.  Is there a house or an office building so flooded with natural light that nobody turns on the lights during the day?  No, there is not.

So America, I implore you.  Stand up as one and send forth your message when you are told it's time to spring forward!  Tell them your spring has sprung!  As for me, I'll be manipulating things that I CAN manipulate.  Like the worlds I create in my books.  Where the characters do as I tell them -- Oh, dear Lord!  Now I've gone over the deep end myself.  My characters NEVER do what I tell them!


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