Please join me on Monday, June 2 for my special guest from "Down Under" fellow LBR author Jane Beckenham. Her book No Sex Necessary is available from Red Rose Publishing. Also available from Linden Bay Romance are He's The One and Hiring Cupid.

A little bit about Jane:

Author Jane Beckenham lives in New Zealand and first found literature as a teenager during the many months she spent in hospital. In books she discovered dreams, hopes, and stories that inspired a love of travel. Years later, after a blind date, Jane found her own true love and married eleven months later.

Life has been a series of "dreams" for Jane. She believes she can "just do it". Dreaming about walking again, dreaming of raising a family and adopting her girls from Russia, dreaming of writing.

With her family growing up, her life—apart from scraping every moment she can at the computer—is a round of playing Mum's taxi service, all the while wondering what her hero and heroine are up to behind her back! Writing is Jane's addiction…and it sure beats housework.

Well, I'm on a roll now. Here today is my friend and Chapter mate, Amy Ruttan! Hi Ho Matey, Arrghh!! *Aside: I'm practicing the pirate speak since one of Amy's TWO May releases is a fantastic pirate romance, but I have a feeling I may just have to leave that to the crew on board the Romance Writers' Revenge!

JK: I want to thank you so much for um..."offering" to be my special guest today. Try not to pull too much on that rope. You wouldn’t want to chafe your wrists.

Amy: He he he, well I do write for Ellora’s Cave. Thankfully, they teach us all about chaffing.

JK: So, let’s start with the most important question: Don’t you think my blog totally rocks? It’s just too bad nobody comes by to read it. I did mention that didn’t I? Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you actually wanted to get something useful out of this. But with that in mind, I guess you’ll want to mention your new book?

Amy: I love your blog. I visit! Aren’t I somebody? Ooh that’s pretty bad grammar, LOL. Sure, I can mention my books, since I have two releases this month. My first release this month was May 22nd at Ellora’s Cave and it’s titled Oh Yum! Love Thy Neighbour. The Oh Yum! Series is about older women and younger men. My second release this month is through Cerridwen Press and it’s titled Fox’s Bride. It’s a historical romance about a woman pirate and her aristocratic husband.

JK: Ok, enough about that. What really matters is that you promise to name your next character after me. What do you mean you don’t know my real name? I thought we were friends. Do you want me to have to keep that rope on all day? Oh wait, you’re not writing a historical are you? I don’t know if I want to be in a historical. I swear way too much for that kind of character. What is your next book about by the way? Details woman. Details.

Amy: LOL!! Ooh you really do crack a whip don’t you, and you always seem so shy and unassuming. I just finished a historical that is set in 1880 Scotland. I also just finished a book that I targeted at the Shomi Fiction line. Currently, though I’m working on a couple of stories for Ellora’s Cave and one for Harlequin.

JK: Wow, you’re pretty busy. I'm flattered that you made time for this interview, but now I feel kinda bad about the hundred emails I sent you. Um, anyway, moving right along, here’s a question I’ll bet you’ve never had before. What’s your favourite colour? Food? Place to visit?

Amy: Nope, never been asked that. Colour Pink. Food pasta and favourite place to visit, Northern Ontario. I love me some Muskokas.

JK: Are you bored yet?

Amy: Always. Just kidding I have no time to be bored.

JK: Oh, okay, I’ve got a good one. If you were magically transported through time via the awesome magic of television what character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer would you most want to be? (Um, I wouldn’t pick the Inca Mummy girl...she dies)

Amy: I don’t watch Buffy. I’ve never seen Buffy. *shaking head in shame*, but I guess I would want to be a character that snogs James Marsters aka Spike. I do know who he is via Torchwood.

JK: Yeah, Spike is hot. But geez, you’ve never watched it? Even once? And you’re my friend? Something is wrong here.

Okay, was there anything else you wanted to tell my five readers? (*whisper* This is your only chance, better make it good)

Amy: PRESSURE!!! ACK!! I don’t think I can handle it. Well, don’t give up on your dreams. I always wanted to be a writer, and I just kept working and now my dreams are coming true. Umm, watch Torchwood. And if you sign up for my newsletter you have a chance to win some pretty cool prizes. I love having contests. Ok, that was pretty pathetic, but that whip crack hurt me back a bit. (Talking in a Welsh accent). LOL!

JK: Right, like I’m gonna watch Torchwood now that I found out you never saw one Buffy episode.

Great, I guess that about covers everything anyone would ever want to know about you. So why don’t we just put that gag back in...

Thanks so much for visiting!

Amy: Mmfank froo fro mraving ree.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT!

I want to let you know about a fabulous interview (if I do say so myself) that I did with author Amy Ruttan, who'll be visiting the blog on May 30, 2008 to celebrate the release of TWO books this month!

Love Thy Neighbor is out from Ellora's Cave as of May 22, 2008.

And Fox's Bride will be available from Cerridwen Press May 29, 2008. You don't want to miss these books, but more importantly, don't miss the interview on May 30!

I'm all about the firsts here on the blog these days. Celebrating the release of my first book, hosting my first interview, welcoming my first guest author, and now everyone should be impressed I'm doing my first review! For an author that I absolutely love. EVE SILVER!

Eve writes sexy gothic historicals under the name Eve Silver, and speculative romantic fiction as Eve Kenin. Hidden will be released under her Kenin name by SHOMI (Dorchester) in July, 2008. It's a futuristic romance set in a post-apocalyptic frozen waste that you don't want to miss.


Tatiana has spent her life hidden. Imprisoned underground by a vicious madman bent on exploiting her unique genetic gifts to further his sadistic scientific experiments—experiments that he has used to create a devastating plague that is about to be unleashed on the people of the Northern Waste.

Now that she is free, she has two things on the immediate agenda: to find her family and save the world. Both of which are probably impossible. Adding to her frustration is the mysterious and sexy Tristan, who is a complication she doesn’t need, a temptation she is uncomfortable with, a piece of the puzzle she needs to figure out.

This sequel to Kenin’s award winning first book, Driven, is an intense, sensual story that stands all on its own with vivid characters and fast-paced action that drew me in from the beginning right through to the very end. I can’t wait to read more from this gifted author.


And with that, I'll let you all in on a little secret...Eve Silver/Kenin is going to be a guest with us over at the Vauxhall Vixens on July 7, 2008!

As promised, today I have debut author Maria Zannini with me, who has graciously agreed to submit to torture--Um, I mean do an interview!

J.K.: Hi Maria, before we start, let me tell my five readers how fabulous you are. *Aside: She’s fabulous guys, trust me.* Ok, so now I need to apologize for getting these questions to you at the very last minute. I promise, if the answers are lame and hokey, my readers will know that it is totally my fault. *Aside: It’s totally Maria’s fault.* So, let’s move along then, shall we?

J.K.: Touch of Fire is your first book. How did you feel on release day? Were you nervous about how readers would react to it?

MARIA.: Well, let’s see, release day was May 20. On that day, I was running a fever, my head was stuffed up and I was recovering from eye surgery. But I had a book coming out! So all in all, I was feeling pretty peachy!

J.K.: Oh sure, I’ll bet. But I guess it could be hard to see that first book if your eyes are glued shut.

MARIA.: It's probably for the best I was under the weather or someone would have had to tether me to the ground. There’s nothing like a first book. It’s like having your first kiss, your first chocolate, your first…well you get the idea.

J.K.: Mmm. Yes. Yes I do. Okay, mind’s out of the gutter now, I promise. So, how long have you been writing? What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create such compelling characters?

MARIA: Are your readers going to crucify me if I say it's only been about three years?

J.K.: Yes they will, but please go on.

MARIA: I was a graphic and fine artist my entire adult life. About three years ago, I was rattling about my house looking for something to do on a rainy day. I sat down and wrote my first science fiction short story. It finaled in the Writers of the Future Contest. By then the writing bug was fully entrenched in my bloodstream and I was hooked. I haven’t stopped learning (or writing) since.

J.K.: That’s great, Maria! So what do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?

MARIA: Oh, do you have a few hours? LOL! If I were to give only one piece of advice it would be to get your website and blog established long before you get published. You will not have time once that contract is signed. Trust me. When you sign on that dotted line, the time-space continuum warps and you will forever be trying to play catch-up.

J.K.: That’s great advice, and don’t I know how true it is. Good thing I have a little brother I was able to blackmail into doing my website for me. So what genre do you want to try your hand at but haven’t yet?

MARIA: I've never told anyone this, but I would love to try a YA historical. Maybe I'm the exception, but I would've loved to have read more historical novels when I was a kid.

J.K.: Woo hoo, we know something no one else knows yet! (ha ha ha Take that Maya Reynolds!) And what do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

MARIA: I still want to sign with an agent even though I seem to have pretty good luck attracting editors. A good agent might relieve me of all the legwork I have to do in finding the right publishing house.

J.K.: Most people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. What’s the most unglamorous thing that you’ve done in the past week?

MARIA: Where are these glamorous authors? Tell me, please! I want to see how the other half lives. When it comes to writing, the most unglamorous thing I've done this past week is untangle my computer's cabling. Somehow I ended up with an extra cord and I have no idea where it goes. Good thing no one at my house is on life support.

J.K.: So now the important questions. What books are currently on your nightstand?

MARIA: I've been reading a lot of dry research material lately. The sequel to Touch Of Fire will deal with time travel and I've been taking notes on all the latest theories.

J.K.: Do you have a pesky day job?

MARIA: Yup. I'm the art director at a major communications corporation. In other words, I save the world from bad advertising.

J.K.: Oh, maybe you should have saved the world from that Sumo wrestler commercial for Subaru. Now, if you had to write yourself as a heroine, what kind of heroine would you be? What would you be named?

MARIA: Oh, I much prefer to stay on the sidelines wreaking havoc. I suffer from demi-god syndrome. Isn't that why we all become authors?

J.K.: Um, sure. I thought it was for all the free books from other authors, but whatever. If you were a world ruler and you were given a choice of 3 laws to enact, what would they be?

MARIA: There's only one law necessary. Maria is always right. At least that's what my husband says, and he's a man of impeccable logic.

J.K.: You're the heroine of your book, why do you fall in love with the hero?

MARIA: I love a confident man! If I were the heroine in my book, I would instantly be drawn to a man with a large…

JK: Hmmm.

MARIA: JK! Get your mind out of the gutter! Honestly. I thought this was a family blog.

JK: You started it. By the way, who said it was a family blog? I didn’t say that. (She turns to cute little five-year old boy child who is pulling on her leg asking for dinner as if he didn’t just eat four hours ago—‘Honey, why don’t you raid the cracker box and leave mommy alone for a few minutes to finish this, ‘kay?’)

Maria, thank you so much for being here. You’re my very first interview. Don’t tell anyone how awful it was, or how unorganized I am. And before we go, let us know what’s next for you.

MARIA: I'm so glad I was your first. Another round of virgins for all of us! Thank you so much for having me over! You were a gracious hostess and I loved the virtual wienies on a stick.

J.K.: Thanks! Next time leave some of them for the hostess, ‘kay?

Maria's Bio:
As relentless as a Rottweiler in a Chihuahua's body, she's interested in everything and everyone and loves to meet new people. Visit her often. The doctors say she's safe now. The rabies test came back negative.

Links:
Find me here:
http://www.mariazannini.com/
http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/mariazannini

Buy TOUCH OF FIRE here:
http://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/product_info.php?products_id=973

Those Raven Nights!

Raven Radio, as mentioned in Romantic Times Magazine, is moving to nights! Tune in every Wed at 11-12 PM EST and join Authors Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth as they talk about everything, nothing and the paranormal. Guests include NY Times and USA Today Bestselling authors as well as those wonderfully talented authors soon to be there, editors, paranormal tour guides, psychics, ghost hunters, specialists and more!

www.ravenhappyhour.com or http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravenradio


Listeners are welcome to join the live chat or call in to the show to talk to us and our guests. The show will move to its new evening schedule, May 28th where listeners can catch us every Wednesday at 11PM to 12AM EST. We have a lot of authors on the upcoming line up and you can see a full schedule of guests here: http://ravenhappyhour.com/raven_podcast_schedule_of_guests.htm

WANT TO JOIN THE VIRAL CONTEST AND HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT RAVEN NIGHTS? Go to Raven’s blog to learn how you could win free advertising packages! Contest open to authors, readers and other groups! http://ravenhappyhour.com/ravenblog/?p=463

I am very pleased to introduce my friend Melody Knight, who graciously agreed to prepare a post to celebrate the release of her book GlassWorks from Red Rose Publishing, which is out TODAY! Welcome her with many posts!

Simply Horror-ble

I write horror novels. When I tell people that, they have a difficult time believing it. After all, I look much more like a blonde bimbo than someone who creates monsters in the privacy of her living room. But I just love writing horror…

I didn't begin with any intention of writing scary stuff. I wrote fantasy at first. When a movie company told me they liked my "voice", and asked whether I could write science fiction, I said "Of course", then proceeded to learn how. The horror crept in, though, from that first fantasy draft. It was a product of the thrill, the suspense, the edginess. It wasn't until I hit my paranormal stride that the true horror hit the surface. Now it just sits there much of the time, treading water…

How did my romance novels sprout? Frankly, it was a matter of expediency. I felt that my SF, fantasy, and horror novels weren't really acquiring enough of a public, which meant I needed to push my personal envelope. I'd already done that with book in a month, so I decided to push it further. Romance-writing friends assured me I could do it. I just needed to learn how.

Talk about your learning curves! Romance is very different from science fiction and other speculative fiction genres. The characterization must be shifted, from response/react to a situation, to response/react to one other person. And to be honest, in romance the storyline is not nearly as important as the emotional journey. The setting is window dressing to illustrate your protagonists' qualities, whether good or bad. Qualifiers for the interaction.

Which do I enjoy writing more? The books of my heart, of course, which you might automatically assume are books of The Heart. Wrong! I love writing my SF, fantasy, and paranormal suspense novels much more than romances. I like romances for their brevity, and the fact I can produce twice the number of books and know there are readers out there for them.

Does this sound awful? Not to me, because the romance genre has been an eye-opening experience! Never have I met more authors I like, or experienced the camaraderie, the interaction with readers, the appreciation by the public, or the fun that I have experienced writing romance. As far as "emotional journeys" go, writing romances can't be beat! Just as the characterization in romance novels is different, so is the relationship between writers. Romance novelists, from what I can see, are more open and eager to network, to help out their fellows. I love it!

If I had a chance to do it over, would I still write romances? Yes, but I'd begin writing them sooner. Romances are a hopeful genre, with Happily Ever Afters around every curve, and a horror writer needs that kind of upbeat feedback.

Three cheers for the romance novelist!

Thanks, J. K., for inviting me to blog today!

Regards,
Melody

Excerpt from GlassWorks

Cate picked up the slab of glass from its tilted resting spot. It had dropped nearly intact. Her fingers shook as the first tracings of shimmery silica began to move beneath the surface. All those crystalline lattices somehow rearranging themselves…

She froze, her breath frosting the glass from the sudden chill. Gooseflesh rose on her skin as the air around her grew cold.

It had never happened this way before.

The man was lying there, in the glass, his body sprawled with the indignity of all things dead and unburied. Cate's breath caught in her throat, the unspent fog almost choking her. Oh, God!

It wasn't here—hadn't happened here—but it was happening now.

There was an argument lingering, on the air. She couldn't see the moment of confrontation, or the altercation, but it had been about the mutilated body on the ground. About how to deal with it, to cast off blame with as much ease as they'd cast away his life.

Only, they didn't realize he could hear them still. Hear them and hate them.

Because it had always been about his looks. His looks, and justifying what he was. The grave they were giving him, the twisted notoriety they were planning, would leave him neither looks nor justice.

Cate's eyes focused on his face. What they'd done, what they were doing to the rest of him didn't bear watching.

But, apparently, she did. Bear watching, that is.

The corpse's eyes opened, to stare straight at her.

Cate flinched, twitched, recoiled, but she couldn't let go. Some part of her was screaming, but she was no longer sure whether it was her...or him.

She clung to the pane, trapped. When, a forever it seemed, later, she freed her fingers enough to fling it, she remained there rigid, staring, as the moonglow image shattered in a hundred spiky shards.

Some part of her was still recoiling, as if in reflex to a striking snake.

God help me!

In those instants of metaphysical contact, she felt as though one shriveled digit had touched her. Spanned the gap between life and death—

I'm not a medium!

She'd never been a medium—never even come close. It had been the one blessing, in an otherwise twisted gift, that however conversant she might have become with a dead person's past, she was never conversant with the dead!

Until now, it seemed. Cate backed away, panted white puffs coiling and twisting in the otherwise still air.

I'm not alone.

It should have been comforting, that there was a taxi driver waiting just outside, but somehow, it came out differently. That "I'm not alone" was filled with horror. The taxi driver might be outside, but something else moved within. In a dreadful moment, she knew she'd brought this on herself—that by coming here she'd been willing, demanding almost, a contact with his person—had wanted so badly to save him, that she'd drawn in a soul barely severed from its body.

Cate backed, tripped, twisted, and ran. She tore the length of the room as though the Devil were at her heels, and slammed open the end door with a loud squawking thunk. Using two hands, Cate wrenched the door closed again, locking evil within. She stumbled back, the small door pane fixing her into its framed panel.

He wasn't within. Behind her, his hatred ever so much more pronounced in proximity, was the mutilated visage of the recently deceased.

http://www.redrosepublishing.com

Another Announcement!

Fellow Linden Bay Romance Author Melody Knight, who also writes fabulous sci-fi and horror novels as N.D. Hansen-Hill will be visiting the blog this Thursday, May 22 to talk about her new book GlassWorks from Red Rose Publishing. She's going to do all the work for me, which means I owe her big time, so everyone make sure to stop by and comment often!

I have great news! My friend and fellow writer Maria Zannini's debut novel, Touch of Fire is released TODAY by Samhain!

Be sure to visit me on Monday, May 26 to read my interview with Maria, and in the meantime don't forget to check out her book!


Between mage and man lies fire.

Leda has been ordered by the House of Ilia to use her fae gifts to find an alchemist’s bible, no matter what the cost. In a world where technology has been replaced by Elemental magic, this book is more dangerous than any spell or potion.

A ragged scrap of parchment is Leda’s only clue and it leads her to the last man known to have had the book—a savagely handsome ex-soldier turned scavenger. Greyhawke Tams. He’ll serve her needs nicely, in both her quest, and her bed.

The last thing Grey remembers is a bar brawl leaving him flat on his face. When he awakes, his situation hasn’t improved. He’s been bound in service to a contemptuous little fire mage with luscious curves and a deceptively innocent face. Grey’s not fooled—he’s hated the Elementals ever since he lost his younger brother to their brutal rites of passage.

But something about Leda tangles his brain faster than any woman he’s ever known. And soon it becomes clear she needs more than his “services”. A barbarous overlord wants that book and he’s willing to shatter Leda—body and spirit—to get it.

She needs his protection. Whether she wants it or not.

Sorry to anyone who tried to come chat at Romance at Heart tonight. Apparently there were "technical difficulties" and the chat will be rescheduled.

_____________________________________________

Hey everyone! I'll be chatting in the Author's Grill at Romance at Heart tonight, Monday, May 19th at 9pm Eastern Standard Time about My Immortal, book 1 in my Immortals Series! I really hope to see you there! One chatter will win a free copy of the book.

The chat room link is: Romance at Heart

I hope to see you there and look forward to chatting with you.

[PHOTO REMOVED]



I find this photo soothing. There's a sense of peace here, a serenity to this scene that calls to me, which is good because serenity isn't something that I've been able to call upon reliably in the last little while. But I try, and it also helps to think of why I started doing this in the first place. My family and friends who showed me unending support and understanding. And all of the new friends I've met who have come to mean so much to me.

It's been interesting times. Thank you all for sticking with me along the way.

My Immortal

Now available in print!

ORDER YOURS






Evil lurks in the darkest of shadows, but a band of warriors stands ready to defend humanity against hell’s own monsters—Immortal men hand-picked by destiny and taken out of time hold the fate of the world in their hands.

One of the oldest of his kind, Immortal warrior Rhys Morgan spends his nights on the streets of Chandler protecting the city’s innocents from the demons that hunt them. Unyielding in purpose and uncompromising in battle, Rhys thought he’d never meet his match, until he met Amy Bennett.

Rash and impetuous, Amy dashes into a fight, taking Rhys by surprise. He can’t decide whether she’s incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. But when the fight is over and Rhys is unable to get the beautiful human out of his head or his dreams, he knows his life is about to get complicated.

The barriers between the unlikely pair may be as thick and strong as the evil that threatens them, but some things can’t be denied…and dark, mysterious, sexy Rhys Morgan is one of them.

Jump on over to my blog at the Vixens today and help me out with my new book The Trouble With Destiny. One commenter will win a free e-book of My Immortal on the release day of May 15, 2008. But you have to work for it!