Returned

Hi folks, I’m back. This time of year can easily become a whirlwind of busy. That is putting it mildly. However, it has been one of the best Christmases/ Yuletides ever. First we managed to get Charis into the country and into our arms in time for Christmas. Awesome for us all.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas / Happy Holiday everybody!

Love and Hugs from our house to yours.

New Author, Shah Wharton

Hi folks, this will be my final post before Christmas. It’s time to introduce you to another great new author. This is one hard working great storytelling lady; her name is Shah Wharton.

Shah met many authors and bookworms galore when she began blogging in 2010, after she moved to Dubai with her husband. She’s since learned a lot about blogging and writing, mostly from the awesome advice of her online peer-group.

She uses her imagination to write short horror stories as well as poetry, but stumbled into writing her first novel after falling in love with Luna, a character in a short story she wrote back in 2010. That story grew into Finding Esta, the beginning of Luna’s journey to self-discovery. 

Finding Esta is her début novel and the first of The Supes Series.

Her passions include blogging, writing, reading, movies, photography, music, theatre, travel, and fine dining. Her qualifications include BSc (Hons) psychology, counselling, and mentoring and she's worked in retail, counselling, and social care. Her favourite genres include anything dark with fangs and/or that will make her squirm or jump or scream out an expletive. She is an avid Kindle abuser and adores the indie writing community and being part of the e-publishing revolution.

She also has one short story published 'The Dead Party' & two poems published in anthologies.

After three years of writing, re-writing, beta readers, editors, cover designing, book trailers, yet more edits and many agonizing hours of formatting, the first installment of The Supes Series if ready and finally up on Amazon. There are five e-copies (your choice of file: ePub/Mobi or PDF) up for grabs, so please have a go and get Finding Esta FREE for Christmas. It's $2.99 on Amazon, and will be for sale on Smashwords and Kobo in by February.

RAFFLECOPTER CODE

<a id="rc-01fc3111" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/01fc3111/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a> <script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>

BRIEF Blurb: A young journalist sets off to find Esta, but is unprepared for all she finds, and soon realises it's a journey from which she may never return. This is a new adult, urban fantasy about one woman's struggle to retain her identity while everything she knows crumbles around her. Finding Esta is the first book of The Supes Series.

Please enjoy the book trailer

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tfUUr2NjvSk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

BLURB

An unusual young woman and fledgling journalist, Luna has various restrictive oddities, all of which prevent any kind of physical intimacy. Abusive parents take pleasure in Luna’s misery and isolation, yet Luna strives to make them proud, to finally earn their elusive love – something she craves almost as much as the painless touch of a lover.

When she learns of a tragic story involving the kidnap of baby Esta, she jumps at the chance to investigate, dragging her Shadows along for the ride within the murky depths of her mind.

Meanwhile, a dark stranger visits Luna’s dreams and stalks her reality. In lieu of the real thing, their intimate moments excite rather than terrify. Nestled within his presence, she begins to sense an urgent message of danger - a message she struggles to interpret, until they finally meet....

Her investigations lead Luna to a vibrant seaside town, hiding copycat aliens and an underworld of Supernaturals. Here, she comes face-to-face with her own, terrifying identity. Confronted with life-changing decisions and the harshest of truths, Luna questions her sanity, searching for logic, feeling deceived by both.

Is Luna trapped in a newfound supernatural world, or within her own delusions? And will anyone care enough to save her?

Get Social With Shah

BLOG - Amazon - Goodreads - Email - Facebook - Google+ - Linkedin - Pinterest - 

RSS - StumbleUpon - Twitter

Acknowledgements.

Praise to Derek Murphy at Creative IndieCovers who developed the incredible book cover

& AubrieAnne at Who's Your Editor? who did a wonderful job of the final edit.

And huge thanks to all the beta readers, patient and enduring online friendships,

and to the mass of wonderful writer resources, all of which took me from thinking,

 "Could I do that?" to "Hell yeah!"

Happy Christmas to everyone and good luck on the giveaway!

_________________________________________________________________

Success

It is going to be a Merry Christmas after all. We now have Charis safely across the border and all is well here in the north. 

However, with all the upset and confusion, I haven’t got a lot of writing done, as you might guess.

I have, however, made a good start on the next book in the Novan series, I have finished most of my Christmas shopping, I have wrapped the gifts, and am looking forward to a few days of a slower pace.

Let me now wish all of you the happiest days of the season, no matter what name you give it. May it be a season of peace and joy, of love and sharing, of hope for a better and brighter year to come.

Now for the last Row80 check-in of this round.

Goals:

1.      Write 5000 words per week until first draft of WIP is complete.

Not much accomplished this week.

2.      Accept more requests for interviews. (Currently I only do about one in five. Bad me!

I’m told I need to open up and get over my shyness.)

There were no requests this week.

3.      Read and comment on at least one blog per day.

I did manage this one, but just barely.

Well that’s the round for me folks. I started off with a bang, but ground to a halt near the end. How did you all do? Successful, I do hope.

Saddened and Outraged

This was supposed to be a happy day, the day our friend Charis arrived to spend six months with us. Instead, K and I are still in shock by what has transpired.
Last night K got a Facebook call from Charis. She was in Toronto and being detained by Customs and would not be allowed to enter the country. Why? Because she was honest about her circumstances.

She had a one-way ticket. When asked who bought it, she told the official her friends had bought it for her. Strike number one.

She doesn’t have a bank account, doesn’t have piles of money, so she had to find someone to move into her trailer, to change the utility account over, etc. The officer asked her if she had any other “assets” in the USA (read: reasons to return). She mentioned the second cat, the one she couldn’t bring with her because the airlines would let a single person travel with two cats. The second cat wasn’t enough as it was too easy to abandon. She has no bank account balance. She has family and friends, but apparently having a utility bill in her name would be considered a better reason. Strike number two.

She was then asked how she would support herself while she was in Canada. She replied that her friends had invited her to stay for up to six months and had agreed look after her while she was here. She in turn would help out around the house, watch our dogs from time to time, etc. The Customs Officer then informed her she would be taking a job away from a Canadian (because I guess if we can afford to host our friend, we must be able to afford paid domestic help?). Strike number three.

K asked to speak to the Customs Officer to verify her story that we had indeed agreed to support her. He called her number and informed her that Charis understood and “was in full agreement” with the reasons why she was being denied entry. (So because she didn’t argue or cause a fuss she must be in agreement?) K broke down on the phone, but was calm and civil as she did not want to aggravate the situation. 

According to Charis, he suggested to her later that K had given him a very hard time on the phone. I guess he didn’t appreciate it when K told him she was never so ashamed to be Canadian as she was at that moment. Our friend who has been hit hard by the recession, who needed a break from the crap she has been dealing with was being denied entry into our country to be hosted as our guest because Customs thought she was a bad return risk. Merry Christmas to you too Mr. Customs Officer!

So in the wee hours of Sunday morning, she was escorted to a detention area and told she would be deposited back across the border in the morning with her luggage and the little bit of money she has in her pocket. She spent the night on the floor, cuddled up to her poor cat who was still in the carrier, trying to catch a nap while K watched over her via Skype and her laptop.

Charis managed to talk Customs into sending her to New York. K has just finished sending info to the hotel desk to cover her bill and she is on her way there now to sleep and get her cat out of the carrier for a few hours. We have no idea what will happen next.
Since when did it become a crime to accept a friend’s offer of help? Since when did being responsible about your obligations turn a person into a “bad return risk?”

If anyone in Internet land has any suggestions regarding how to help Charis get here for Christmas, please let me know. Please share our story. Someone out there must be able to help us make this right for her.

Row80 update. Not much accomplished.

Advice Taken, Problem Solved

Hi folks, sorry this post is a bit late. I had internet connection issues and was off line for a few days. Actually it was a bit amazing what all I managed to get done without the distraction. It is a bit scary really.

Last post I was in a bit of a quandary as to the direction I should take with my writing. I got lost of great advice and feedback, some in the comments section and some by e-mail. The consensus seems to be that I should write whatever story my muse is telling me and not try to schedule it.

Heeding that advice, I began the third book in the Novan Witch series. Assassin of Nova should be coming in late January. The working title of the third installment is Beyond Nova and I hope to get it out by summer. Wish me luck. I've already got a good start on it.

http://www.amazon.com/Novan-Witch-Revised-Nova-ebook/dp/B007P3RF3K/ref=la_B0079XOY8U_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1355414548&sr=1-6

Now for the ROW80 check-in.

Goals:

1.      Write 5000 words per week until first draft of WIP is complete.

I've already managed 4000 words on a new project.

2.      Accept more requests for interviews. (Currently I only do about one in five. Bad me!

I’m told I need to open up and get over my shyness.)

No requests for interviews this week.

3.      Read and comment on at least one blog per day.

I love reading blogs and am always on the lookout for something new. This one was easy and I may have set the bar a bit low here. Ah well, it was a success and I’ll take it.

Well, that’s it for me today folks. It is getting harder and harder to stay focused with Yuletide almost here. How are you doing? All ready for the holidays? Yes? Good for you, you’re my hero. 

No? Welcome to my world. Stress! Eek!

Busy Thinking

Hi folks, I've got a rainy day going here and a house full of people and dogs who are all asleep. It would be a great time to get some writing done, but my thoughts seem to be a bit scattered.

The problem? I write in two genres. After I finish a sci-fi adventure I like to turn to a romance for the next project. The difficulty is in getting my focus back into the different genre. Another part of the problem is that I have at least three series on the go right now and shifting from one to the other is tricky. Gotta keep the characters straight, right?

So, in that vein I am wondering if I should shift my work habits a bit and focus on each series in turn. Finish the six books in one series before starting on the next. I’m pretty sure I can get a lot more done that way, a lot more. I am giving this some serious thought.

(me giving serious thought to a problem)

Ok, on to the ROW80 check in:

Goals:

1.      Write 5000 words per week until first draft of WIP is complete.

Sadly, I only managed two thousand words last week. Gotta pick up the pace here somehow.

2.      Accept more requests for interviews. (Currently I only do about one in five. Bad me! I’m told I need to open up and get over my shyness.)

Didn’t get a request this week. sigh

3.      Read and comment on at least one blog per day.

I managed this one, no problem.

Well, that’s it for me today, folks. I would seriously be interested in your thoughts about my dilemma. Please don’t be shy, tell me what you think. J