Tarol Nation: Marketing 101

Tarol Nation: Marketing 101: Today, Shen Hart, the prolific and unstoppable force behind Literary Plus, joins us to talk about a subject near and dear to all of our hear...

In the Midst: About Author Glynis Smy

In the Midst: About Author Glynis Smy: About  Author Glynis Smy: In 2005 I emigrated to Southern Cyprus. At 48 years old I no longer worked long nursing shifts. Out came my ...

History Trivia

November 19

1095 The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, began.

1367 League of Cologne (medieval military alliance against Denmark signed by cities of the Hanseatic League on their meeting called Hansetag in Cologne) approved war against Denmark and Norway.

My Next Big Thing

Mary Ann Bernal was invited by the Green Wizard to participate in a blog-chain called “My Next Big Thing” (started by Andy Duncan, author of “The Badger-Boy Brouhaha).  The Green Wizard is featuring Mark Barry’s books, which can be found at:

http://greenwizard62.blogspot.co.uk/

 

As for me, The Briton and the Dane:  Concordia will be available in January 2013.

Now down to the nitty gritty!

What is the working title of your book?

The Briton and the Dane:  Concordia

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Concordia is a character from The Briton and the Dane trilogy, who wanted her own story, and naturally I had to comply.  The novel will be available early 2013.

What genre does your book fall under?

Historical fiction/romance

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The manuscript took me five months to complete.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Novels by Philippa Gregory come to mind.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

After reading Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe,” I became enthralled with early British history, and admit to being an incurable romantic Anglophile, and less nobly, and much more irritatingly, a Romanphile, accordingly to my favorite Brit and staunchest supporter.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Concordia is a flaxen-haired Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, coming of age in the reign of Alfred the Great. Spoiled by her indulgent father, cunning, manipulative, stubborn and willful, she is nevertheless full of energy and an explorer by nature.

Though besotted with a mysterious Moor, a diplomatic guest of the King's Court, she honors her promise to wed a besotted Anglo-Saxon warrior on condition that he accompany her to Rome prior to consummating their marriage.  In transit, their ship is boarded by bloodthirsty Saracen Corsairs.  Her husband slain, Concordia finds herself at the mercy of a dashing young Captain who considers her precious virginity his bounty.

Using only feminine cunning, Concordia must defend her honor and plot her escape while Anglo-Saxon warriors come to her rescue, somewhere inside steamy, unconquered, Moorish Hispania.

And now, I'll pass the baton to the following writers who kindly agreed teo participate in the blog chain...stay tuned to read about their Next Big Thing.

Bill Jones
http://thisblogblank.wordpress.com

Elise VanCise
http://gladiatorspen.blogspot.com
 

 

Mary Ann Bernal: Mary Ann Bernal: Great Winter Giveaway

Mary Ann Bernal: Mary Ann Bernal: Great Winter Giveaway: Mary Ann Bernal: Great Winter Giveaway : Great Winter Giveaway ceciliaspark.com/Giveaway/Index… Enter to Win ... bundles of prizes! http:...

An Interview with author Suz Korb

Welcome to Meet The Author! Today Suz Korb has stopped by to give us a little insight into her life and her books.  So let’s get started.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’m Hawaiian. Well, not really. I say I’m Hawaiian because I was born there and sometimes it’s just easier to say I’m Hawaiian than saying I’m White, Japanese, Black and Native American. Although, I am proud of my heritage, so sometimes I do tell my full nationality background. And then I go off on a monologue about my ancestry and etc., and by the time I’m finished people really regret asking me about meself. lol! Anyway, I was born in Hawaii, raised in Utah and now I’m living and writing in England. Sorry, that didn’t turn out to be a “little” bit about me, did it?

 When did you start writing?

I’ve written bits and bobs throughout my life. Stories as a kid. Journalism and PR work as an adult. It was in 2009 that I started writing novel length fiction. My first ever novel was a supernatural Chick Lit about the devil, who was a woman.

What projects have been published?

All three books in my Bedeviled trilogy are available on Amazon. They are FREE to Prime customers. The Bedeviled trilogy novels are supernatural teen comedy-horror reads, each containing a *ting* of magical romance.

 
Tell us about your novels.

 Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde was my first novel in the Bedeviled trilogy. The premise of it kicked off the series with Eve being forced to rid her small town of zombies with her newly- found supernatural abilities. These books will be available in paperback soon.

 

How did you select the title of your novels?

I knew it was always going to be Eve against the forces of evil, so all my titles in this series are Eve (good) vs. Bad Guys (evil) but I couldn’t just title all the novels Eve vs. Evil. Although, that short title is not half bad either! lol

What was your inspiration?

Fallen angels. I think they are so cool looking with their black wings.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently swapping genres to write some Christmas Chick Lit stories in time for the holidays. I’ll return to writing Paranormal Young Adult Romance in the New Year.

What are you reading at the moment?

Aloha From Hell by Richard Kadrey. It’s book 3 in the Sandman Slim series. I love Kadrey’s cynical and sarcastic writing style. The demonic situations combined with clever whit makes the characters leap from the page.

What do you like to do in your free time when you're not reading or writing?

Faff about on twitter, facebook and youtube for their makeup tutorials. I like watching films, mostly actiony movies. My fave TV shows that are on at the moment are The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Game of Thrones and Red Dwarf X.

Do you have any advice for other authors?

 For self-published authors I’d say: keep at it. I’ve been a self-published author for a year now. There have been tremendous ups and downs throughout my short career. The one thing I’ve always been able to count on when things get tough is online support. There’s a massive writing community online. Establish contacts. Create friendships. Support each other and you’ll come out winning. Giving each other book exposure online can lead to your work being listed in Amazon’s bestseller lists and that’s where you want to be for real readers to see.

 And finally, can you tell us some fun facts about yourself, such as: crossed skydiving off my bucket list.

 I used to be so much more fun when I was younger. Been white water river rafting. Moved countries. Worked on films and TV shows as an Extra. Broke my left arm in half when I was twelve and needed two surgeries to fix it over the course of a year. Now? I write. Not that writing isn’t fun. It is. So much fun, and incredibly painful to leave your characters after creating them when you get to the end of a novel, or worse, a whole series!

 

To find out more about Suz Korb visit

Suz’s webpage:  www.suzkorb.com where you can “like” her Facebook page. Follow her on Twitter: @SuzKorb and visit her blog for writerly advice and support anytime.

 To purchase

http://www.amazon.com/Suz-Korb/e/B006CEVGJ2/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

 

 

 

History Trivia

November 18

326 Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was consecrated.

942 Saint Odo of Cluny died. The second abbot of the great monastery at Cluny, Odo achieved exemption from all but papal authority for his monastic community and reformed monasteries in Gaul and Italy.

1105 Maginulf elected the Antipope Sylvester the IV.

1210 Pope Innocent III excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV.

1302 Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam (One Faith).

1307 William Tell shot an apple off of his son's head.

1421 A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands broke, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people.

1477 William Caxton produced Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, the first book printed on a printing press in England.

1494 French King Charles VIII occupied Florence, Italy. 

1626 St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome was officially dedicated on the same day the Old Basilica was consecrated 1300 years earlier.