Interview: Helen Hanson, author of 3 Lies

This week over at Good Book Alert, I reviewed Helen Hanson's thriller, 3 Lies. I enjoyed it so much, I invited Helen over for a little interview so I could pick her brain a bit more about the book.

1) Please tell us about your novel.

At CIA headquarters, a young officer discovers that terrorists may have commandeered their computer systems to launch an unauthorized mission. Elsewhere, conspirators abduct nine people to manipulate the rules of their game. Two disparate ambitions — Clint Masters becomes the reluctant link in the chain of danger.

Ever since Clint’s almost ex-wife dumped him, he bobs along the Massachusetts coast in a sailboat with his black lab for company. He avoids all forms of technology, a counterintuitive effort for the burned-out founder of CatSat Laboratories. Tired of clutching the brass ring, he needed to untether, step off the corporate treadmill, and smell a flower. Fortunately, he met one, a beautiful, unspoiled woman who doesn’t treat him like a commodity. His relationship with Beth offers more promise than his marriage ever did, even if she is on dialysis for her recovering kidneys, until she disappears.

In spite of the evidence, her family refuses to admit she’s in danger. Without routine dialysis, she won’t survive. As Clint realizes that he loves Beth, damn-near ex-wife Paige sashays back into his life with disturbing news.

While the CIA young gun tracks his quarry, Clint enlists the help of two men to find Beth, a blithe Brit named Merlin, and Todd, his playboy partner-in-tech. But Clint must find Beth before her kidneys fail. And before someone unloads a bullet in his head.

2) What was your inspiration for this novel?

We live with a level of convenience and comfort unimaginable in prior centuries.  My husband and son visited Abraham Lincoln’s Springfield, IL home, and the man had a three-hole outhouse. Yet, all our technology and connectedness create tethers that generate a constant level of tension.  For some it’s a comfortable companion, but for others it can form another set of chains.  I know it’s unrealistic to think that life was idyllic at any point or place in history, but I occasionally pine for more simplicity.  However, I am immensely grateful for the strides of modern medicine, as is  my character Beth.

3) In this book, you have a character kidnapped who requires dialysis. This element added an unusual tension to the search for the character. What made you decide to include this as a character aspect?

We all meet someone with chronic illness, eventually.  How we treat them reveals our character. And while they may be down, we must never count them out for good.  A friend of mine has a condition that could lead to reduced kidney function.  In studying this, I made some discoveries that altered my assumptions about the dialysis process.  The first successful dialysis treatment occurred in 1945, and while the basic process remains the same, the equipment has vastly improved. Research always sparks my story lines. 

4) Given the way the book ends, I can easily see a sequel featuring some of the characters introduced in 3 Lies. Are you working or do you plan to work on a sequel? 

Currently, I’m final-editing DEEP POOL, and it does contain one of the characters from 3 LIES in a minor role.  So far all my stories exist within the same timeline, consequently, my characters have opportunity to meet.  I’ve given thought to a sequel, but Maggie and Travis Fender, from DEEP POOL, were anxious for me to tell their story next.  Travis is fresh from jail for hacking, but maintains that he was framed. His step-sister, Maggie, a struggling waitress, is legal guardian to Travis and their father who has Alzheimer’s.  After billions of hedge fund investment dollars go missing,  investigators and mobsters decide that the Fenders merit watching. 

5) There are some fairly obscure aspects of technology involved in several key scenes in the book. Were these informed by your background or research? 

Background, research, and imagination.  The premise presented, regarding satellite technology, is not entirely factual, to my knowledge.  It is a science fiction element that is theoretically plausible.  I’ve worked in technology fields my entire professional career, so it spills over into my writing.  Marrying a bigger geek than myself offers another brain for mining.  That said, since the book came out, I’ve encountered some articles on the web that indicate the techno ideas may actually be in operation.  However, I’m still waiting for my replicator . . . 

6) Are there any authors who have influenced you?

If you read, you’re influenced, whether pro or con or positively or negatively.  As a writer, every book you read binds another protein to your DNA, though some you may wish to excise.  My gratitude to other writers started with Dr. Seuss, who gave me a  love for silly and a delight for the rhythm of words, and progressed to John le Carré, who gave us George Smiley and a glimpse into the dreary world of spies.   

7) Tell us a little about your writing process?

I start with a basic premise and the main character, and then I create a timeline of events.  As I research, I add points along the timeline and list ideas for consideration.  My plan is more of a list of possibilities rather than a specific outline.  I need details for a few chapters out from wherever I am, then I write it and see what happened.   I liken the process to taking a road trip from New York to Los Angeles; I know where I’m going, but I’ll decide which attractions to visit after I’m driving.  Maybe I’ll want to check out an albino squirrel or eat the world’s biggest turnip.  Too much planning and you lose your own sense of adventure. 

8) If you had one piece of advice for an aspiring author, what would it be?

Read books on writing until the information oozes onto your page.  Find other writers who will come alongside you and tell you what works and what doesn’t.  You want people to help you strengthen your voice and corral your excesses.   Sorry, I guess that’s really two. 

------------------------------------

Thanks, Helen.

For those who are interested in a great thriller, you can purchase 3 Lies at a variety of vendors:

Amazon

Amazon UK

Smashwords

iBooks

Barnes and Noble

Good Book Alert Review: 3 Lies

Over at Good Book Alert, I review Helen Hanson's thriller, 3 Lies.

Six Sentence Sunday #12: Sun Tzu Teaches The First Principle of Social Warfare: Always Bring a Friend

This week, I return to my Regency paranormal romance WIP, A Woman of Proper Accomplishments. Rather than jumping around, I'm continuing shortly after the last AWOPA snippet, in which rich snob Jane Thornton, has insulted the heroine, Helena. Helena's friend, Cassandra, decides she's not going to stand by and let her friend get dissed so decides to bust some caps . . . oh well, maybe not quite that:

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“That is most presumptuous, Jane Thornton," Cassandra said, her face scarlet.

 “As are you, Cassandra Mitchell,” Jane said with a sneer.

Helena’s mother stepped forward, but at the sound of Lord Johnstone's shouting, turned her attention to the distant baron rather than the rude Jane.

“Let us quiet down.," Lord Johnston called out. "Lady Johnstone has an announcement.”

Jane smiled, curtsied once, and looked toward Lord Johnstone.

---------

For other snippets from a variety of wonderful authors writing in many genres, or if you want to get involved yourself, please visit sixsunday.blogspot.com.

Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday #2: Chilling With the Empress

Welcome to #SFFSat – Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday -  a chance to post six sentences from a piece of speculative fiction. Want to join in? Check out the site and links to other great speculative fiction authors at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday and follow the hashtag #SFFSat on Twitter.

This six is from my fantasy WIP Mind Crafter.

In this six, the protagonist finds herself summoned to the imperial palace after an act of heroism. Instead of a small private meeting, she instead has meet the empress in a formal audience with hundreds of people watching.

With her heart threatening to break into a sprint, Shala forced her face into practiced neutrality. She walked forward with her head down until she stood before the stairs to the throne dais. After she lowered herself to her knees, she placed her forehead and hands on the carpet. Whatever respect and deference a member of the Fifth Circle of House Lran might expect from common citizens, she knelt now before the Empress of the Larangian Empire and would pay proper respect.

“You are before Empress Tua of the Van,” a man’s voice announced. “She who sits on the Silver Throne. Defender of the land, protector of the people, head of Larang and heart of the empire.”

Blog Tour: Kelvin O'Ralph, LS: The Beginning

Today, I'd like to welcome Kelvin O'Ralph. As part of his blog tour to promote his book, LS: The Beginning, we chatted for an interview.

Mr. O'Ralph is giving away two e-copise of LS: The Beginning to two winners who comment on today's post. He'll list out the names of the winners from each stop of his blog tour on the last day of the tour, June 27th.

1) Tell us a little bit about your novel.

A handshake between strangers has never held so much promise for discovery.

When Stephen Wilson meets Lisa Morgan at his new school in Sloutenville, it is the simple act of extending his hand in greeting that flips both of their worlds upside-down. With the gesture, both discover that in some way they are connected, and that they share the ability to manipulate the elements, fire and water. Though their abilities vary, they share the gift of telepathy allowing them to communicate without words, which creates a bond between them stronger than either had expected.

As the two begin to spend more and more time together, David, Lisa's ex becomes wild with jealousy, and launches multiple attacks on Lisa. In the fight against the dangers that await them around every corner, Stephen and Lisa soon discover that they are up against much greater odds than they had originally known, and that their struggles are far from over

2) What inspired your current novel?

I always wanted to write a fantasy novel, but never got to it. So, after watching the second film of twilight(New Moon), I decided to write a paranormal novel that hasn't been written before.

3) Paranormal romance is a crowded genre right now. What sets your book apart from others?

Not only is LS: The Beginning written a male's perspective, it's creativity and uniqueness is overwhelming. In this book, you'd find a complete different aspect of fantasy than most books.

4) Tell us a little bit about your writing process.

It took a me three months to write the first draft of LS: The Beginning and that was in 2009. Since then, it's take me close to a year to edit and style it. I always give a break between the writing phase and editing phase. This doesn't mean I take a break off writing; it just means I leave that particular manuscript and pick up a new one.

5) You've self-published this book. What made you decide to go down that route?

Like some indie authors, I decided to self-publish because getting a literary agent seemed like a dead end for me. Therefore, I decided to work hard to earn their respect, so they'll be the ones wanting to represent me.

6) If you had one piece of advice for an aspiring author, what would it be?
Other than the normal technicalities of researching about the world of publishing, two important tools an aspiring author needs is to be determined and to have passion for the art. "If you don't love your work, then who will?"

Please do follow me on twitter @Kelvin O'Ralph and like my Facebook Page. Also, you can always get updates on my blog, Kelvin's World.

Your Brain is a Traitor: Neuroprocessing and Editing

I subscribe to Bloomberg Businessweek. My two year-old son, upon seeing this cover a few weeks ago, declared, "Oh no! The phone is sad."

Although I found that adorable, it's also rather fascinating from a neuroprocessing standpoint. Two crude dots and a crude mouth and my young son, without any explicit teaching on proper phone empathy, can look at the picture, parse it as a face, connect the facial expression to a specific feeling, and then put it all together to realize the phone was supposed to be sad.

My son is equipped with a complex parallel processing biological computer in the form of his brain. Although this particular computer is terrible at rapid, discrete calculation, it excels at something that even many very powerful super-computers have trouble with: pattern recognition. In an effort to improve computer pattern recognition, computer scientists long ago turned to neural networks, a type of programming, that attempts to operate in a roughly similar manner to our own brains.

Key to this pattern recognition ability is our brains' ability to rapidly fill in gaps based on incomplete information, particularly when we have any sort of cues to suggest a context. This makes life easy in all sorts of ways. We're able to recognize people from a variety of angles even if we can't see their entire face, for instance. Sometimes this can be fun too. Many optical illusions rely on our brain's ability to "fill in" gaps in received sensory information.

In writing, this can be a particular pernicious problem. When you write something, you know what you intended to write. You've set up expectations that are going to affect your parsing of sentences. A missing word here and there, a plot point that isn't resolved but that you think you resolved, et cetera. You very well may not notice them no matter how careful you are.

Now just keep that in mind the next time you hear some aspiring novelist insist that content editors and proofreaders aren't a necessity for every manuscript (and yes, I hear this all the time). Whatever one thinks of the modern publishing industry, it does provide some useful services on the author side in that regard. If you're a person who intends to walk a publishing path that doesn't involve some form of publisher, you better darn well find some other way of getting those other eyes (and other brains) on your work whether they are beta readers, critique partners, freelance editors, or magic genies. Whatever works. Just get the help.

Your traitorous brain will fail you, and your readers will notice.

Guest Post: Tamara Rose Blodgett: Why Write YA with a Male Lead?

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jeremy for graciously hosting me on his blog!

Why Write YA Lit with a Male Lead?

Writing Death Whispers from a teenage boy's perspective wasn't difficult (my four sons and all their friends were fodder for the novel!). I fell in love with the idea of a fresh premise told from the male POV as soon as I had the story in my head.

Caleb Hart has the same problems all teens have except the pesky zombie-raising that rears its ugly head at the worst possible times. Just like everything in teen-dom it's about finesse, and that is a learning experience that he suffers through along with all the other fun puberty stuff. This is a novel about real teens in extraordinary circumstances. Many of the events that take place in this book challenge Caleb morally. I like putting my protagonist(s) under pressure from the beginning all the way to the end. Action and crisis are part of the reading pleasure (for me). I've heard other authors describe that they write books they'd want to read and when others love them too: bonus. That's what I did here: writing a book with real dialogue that teens actually use, lots of action and romance that unfolds naturally.

I don't write a “clean” or sanitized story where everybody comes from perfect families that robotically interact in an expected way, hence: my main character falls for a girl he's hopelessly attracted to that hails from a nightmare family. This strife is part of what makes the story's heartbeat tick-tock along. Caleb matures during the story, his experiences begin to shape him, he begins the journey of self-discovery, making decisions that will shape him into the man he will become.

****

I love genetics but am far from expert. I did do enough research for the premise (DW) to be plausible. All three series' I'm working on and will work on have their basis in the “what-if” factor. [The] human potential is intriguing to me.

In Death Whispers we have a group of teens that are given a “booster” inoculation before high school that sends them down a slippery slope of power and choice. The Pearl Savage, (paranormal romance, publishing in June) addresses what happens when genes are tampered with and a group of humans become...other: bred to protect. Bloodsingers (Publishing in fall 2011) deals with a sub-species of human beings that balance the “food load” for the vamps and give the Were's a chance to become moonless changers. This rare group, Bloodsingers, are but a fraction of the human population and have a skill set that makes them as dangerous as the vamps and shifters. Finally, a group of humans that can fight against them on equal-footing because of evolutionary circumstance.

My hope [for you] while reading Death Whispers is (besides being wildly entertaining!) is some of the stereotypes will be debunked about boys. There are some things that will be stereotypical because they're simply true. Conversely, there will also be the moments when the reader's mental light bulb goes off with an “Ah-huh!” The girls are clever as well and not diminished one bit in their respective roles in the book. All the characters have flaws which makes the reading of it more real; that was the goal for me, a unique read that was entertaining, imaginative and resonated with all who read it. (And encouraging teenage boys to read feels pretty snazzy!)

Thanks for reading my stories.

Author Bio:

Tamara Rose Blodgett is a 'thinking-out-of-the box' paranormal enthusiast who believes there's a 95% chance zombies do not exist; but loves to write as if they do. I'm from Alaska and have worked as an online journalist in the past. I enjoyed writing, Death Whispers, and am hard at work on book two, Death Speaks, (pub. Aug. 2011). My paranormal romance, The Pearl Savage, is due to publish in mid-June. In my spare time I'm a [reluctant] serial-re-modeler, project-slave and big time, in-my-pants reader (surprise!). I do a great deal of day-dreaming about impossible scenarios and events, writing books to capture them in stories for you~ Side note: Gnomes should be exterminated.

-----

Thanks for stopping by Tamara. 

Tamara can be found at http://tamararoseblodgett.blogspot.com/.

Death Whispers can be found at the following vendors:

Amazon.com

Amazon.com.uk

Barnes & Noble 

Smashwords

Six Sentence Sunday #11: Music Appreciation

If you're unfamiliar with Six Sentence Sunday, the idea is simple. You post six sentences from one of your works (published or unpublished, WIP or complete). Normally, there is the fine Six Sentence Sunday blog, so you can easily find other people doing the same thing, but alas they are moving servers this week.

Today, I'm going back to my YA urban fantasy, Osland. In this scene, the protagonist, Gail Dorjee is a bit embarrassed after tearing up due to her music teacher's performance. It's made worse by the fact that Nick MacEvoy, the boyfriend of her social archenemy is in the class. However, she's in for a surprise:

"Tears! Everyone, boy and girl, crying just like me. Some, like Leandra, only would have to explain away misty eyes, but a lot had turned on the waterworks something fierce. Miss West somehow moved an entire classroom of bored teens to tears with opera, and without a single Italian among us. After a moment, I noticed one person wasn’t crying—Nick MacEvoy. Of course."

For other snippets from a variety of wonderful authors writing in many genres, or if you want to get involved yourself, please visit sixsunday.blogspot.com.

Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday #1: Reading someone's mind isn't always fun--for them

Welcome to #SFFSat – Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday -  a chance to post six sentences from a piece of speculative fiction. Want to join in? Check out the site at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday and follow the hashtag #SFFSat on Twitter.


This six is from my fantasy WIP Mind Crafter.


In this scene, the protagonist, a type of crafter (mage) specializing in mind magic is about to be interrogated telepathically by her superior about a massacre she witnessed. Here we see just why this type of mind magic isn't casually used as he begins to probe her thoughts:


The small tap grew into the prick of a needle. Shala quashed her defenses and instead concentrated on the Cleanser incident. Again, the bodies, the wailing, and the blood filled her mind. The prick of the needle became the throb of a dull ache. A long moment later, the pain coalesced into a ball of fire. Her breathing quickened and she dug her nails into her palms.

Six Sentence Sunday #10: The Claws Come Out

This week, I return to my Regency paranormal romance WIP, A Woman of Proper Accomplishments. We're jumping way forward from the last AWOPA snippet. In this snippet, the heroine Helena is speaking with a local daughter of wealth, Jane Thornton, after they both finish competing in an archery competition.

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“I have heard Lord Johnstone and Lady Johnstone are very pleased with this event," Jane said. "They are considering starting an archery society.”

“I shall have to put serious thought into joining,” Helena said. “Will you?”

“Unfortunately, I have many important considerations on my time. I am sure a girl of your modest background would not understand such a problem.”

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For other snippets from a variety of wonderful authors writing in many genres, or if you want to get involved yourself, please visit sixsunday.blogspot.com.

Hon no sekai no kakumei oh suru tame ni

I've been writing on and off for years. For most of that time, I never thought much about publishing. I wrote mostly because I have a deep urge to tell stories. All sorts of different types. I love developing characters, pondering their psychology, generating plots, et cetera. Sometimes I like to weave in complex themes and sometimes not.


Until recently, it didn't really matter. I participated in things like National Novel Writing Month, but those were nothing more than an exercise in fun. A couple of years ago, for a variety of reasons, I decided to get serious about my writing. Some of this related to me having very few creative outlets left. I started writing a lot more than I had been. 


They say you need to write a million words before you produce something publishable. Well, I may not have published yet, but I've produced my million words.


When you plan to do anything, you should know what you are doing. To that end, I began studying the business side of publishing--everything from querying to how film rights worked. Yes, in the end I'm just someone who wants to tell stories, but what good is a story without an audience?


A funny thing happened in the last two years. The e-book market has exploded. I blew it off at first. 


"Who cares?" I asked. The agent and editor blogs I was reading didn't seem to think it meant much.


The numbers starting growing exponentially.


"Well, it's easy to grow when you're starting at the bottom," I said. 


Yet, things kept growing. Even now, I'm dubious they'll continue growing as fast as they are but they could easily reach 25% within a year or two (if not more). It may grow or maybe it will stall out there. Despite what many people may think, CDs are still the predominant music format compromising 60-70% of music sales. So, let's assume (even though we have no reason to necessarily equate the two) that ebook sales hit at least around a third of total book sales. That's a good chunk. All the arguments about ebooks not "being there yet" or not satisfying some aesthetic urge are kind of pointless if a third of the sales are ebooks.


In 2010, 10% of total book sales were e-books. In the first few months of 2011, 20%. Now some of that may be the post-Christmas effect. I'll grant that. So, let's cut the increase in half. Say, it was 15%. Keep in mind here, it's not a matter of adding customers, it's a market of readjusting the existing market share. We could easily end up at 15-20% of total books sales (if not more) by the end of 2011.


So, why am I harping on all of this so much?


In April, author and small-press veteran Kristine Kathyn Rusch wrote a rather lengthy blog post where she offered evidence that the Big 6 publishers are significantly underreporting e-book royalties. While I encourage you to read the post (which discusses royalties in general), one thing I'll point out here is that she did not attribute this to active conspiracy. Instead, she suggested instead it may stem from archaic accounting procedures.


Now, many people have been critical of Ms. Rusch for her often rather strident indictments of the Big 6. I found her post rather frightening, but I kind of filed it away.


At the end of May, veteran agent Kristin Nelson (who is the agent representing several delightful authors I've discovered in recent years) had a post that ended with the following chilling statements:


"In four short days, I can already tell you two important things about this digital revolution.

1. Pricing is everything. Pricing a title appropriately will move a great number of books in a short period of time.

2. Publishers are under-reporting electronic book sales in any given period on the royalty statements we are seeing.

That's a fact."



Chaos! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!


Last week, agent blogger Nathaniel Bransford gave an interview at Writer Unboxed where he talked about the industry and his reasons for leaving agenting. Though he was most insistent that his agenting career was fine, and he was just more interested in being more involved in social media, one section really caught my eye:


But I won’t try and say that the flux in the publishing business played no role either. In my Year in Books post at the end of 2010 I talked about the “Big Squeeze,” and how hard it is for a book to sell to a traditional publisher and how difficult it is for young agents to start their career.


Let's sum this up. We have e-books growth exploding, we have the Big 6 underreporting royalties, likely due to archaic business practices, and we have agents having a hard time even selling books to the Big 6, anyway.


This does not sound like a sustainable system to me. It also sounds like a system in the middle of tremendous transformation.

Now, I've cited these three people, but I see these sentiments all over. I follow a -lot- of writing and publishing relating blogs and forums. People can stick their fingers in the ears and pretend it's 1999 (Hat tip to Ms. Rusch) all they want, but the old order is being swept away. Electrons are flowing over our paper and changing everything.

The question becomes: what happens when it finally all comes tumbling down?


I haven't a clue. We have agents now becoming publishers. Some have already received criticism for perceived poor quality efforts.


Author David Gaughran had a fascinating post the other day that points out the increasing trend of agents, including those closed to submission, of signing successful self-published authors.


This is all terrifying yet exciting. A tradition-bound, slow-to-adapt industry is being ripped to pieces and forced to change. Is this creative destruction or something far more sinister?


I've been following all of this unfold with great attention. For me, I just want to get my stories out to people, and yes, I want to make a little money. Currently, I have two jobs. I have two jobs because I need the money to support my family. I love telling my little stories, but I'm not in a position where I can simply just quit my jobs to concentrate on writing. My children enjoy eating. I enjoy electricity. Occasionally, I also enjoy water. 


It'd be nice, for instance, if I could replace at least of some my modest part-time freelance job with a modest amount of writing income. After all these years of improving my craft, this year I've started toying with queries and the like. Life overwhelmed me though and I'd only sent out a relatively modest amount.


Now, I find myself watching this huge revolution unfold and wondering what to do? Seriously pursue an agent? That takes a huge amount of time, they can't always sell a book and besides poor royalties, there will be the de facto "underreporting" tax on your royalties. Given the molasses-like speed at which the Big 6 have reacted throughout the decades, I'm dubious they'll get the royalty situation in-hand soon.


Should I start trying to submit to small presses? Submit to an e-press? Self-publish (oh, how what was once verboten is now permissible)?


I honestly don't know. People say, "Shut up and write" and I've been doing that. I'm at the point  where I'm a bit dubious of spending a huge amount of time focusing on getting an agent until the fundamental structure of the publishing industry has settled a bit. So, perhaps a two-armed approach. Though the bulk of my million words over the last ten years aren't fit for the consumption of the gentle reader, I have been slowly revising and editing (with the help of many wonderful critique partners) a couple of novels that I actually feel someone might pay a modest sum to read. One, I think, I shall perhaps try and submit to a smaller publisher. The other I could use as part of a self-publishing experiment.


Decisions, decisions.

Good Book Alert Review: Falling Star

Over at Good Book Alert, I review Philip Chen's Falling Star.

Six Sentence Sunday #9: Letting The Ginger Ale Fly

If you're unfamiliar with Six Sentence Sunday, the idea is simple. You post six sentences from one of your works (published or unpublished, WIP or complete). Normally, there is the fine Six Sentence Sunday blog, so you can easily find other people doing the same thing, but alas they are moving servers this week.

Today, I'm going back to my YA urban fantasy, Osland. In this scene, the protagonist, Gail Dorjee (who is of Tibetan descent) deals with a rude boy using a bit of a rather pathetic racially-tinged come-on in a wet way:

 “Too bad you didn’t have a Coke,” I said. “Better stains.” I turned back to Jason. “Well, if you have a fever, yellow or otherwise, you need to cool down.” With a quick flick of my wrist, I tossed the remaining ginger ale into Jason’s face. Some might consider it a bit of an overreaction, but the satisfaction would be more than worth it.

In a few days (once the move is complete), check out sixsunday.blogspot.com to see how to join their list that gets posted on Sundays.

Check out Heart Stealer

For any contemporary romance fans out there, I encourage you to check out my friend Tiphanie Thomas's recently released book, Heart Stealer. It's available in both physical and electronic formats. 


Here's the blurb:


"After years of disapproval for his fast lifestyle, movie star Randall Rowe returns to his small hometown and persuades stubborn Kayla Denton to help with his new home. With their close proximity, Randall starts seeing independent Kayla as an alluring woman with whom he can be himself, though he knows she's all wrong for him. 

Meanwhile, Kayla has already been abandoned by one man in her life, and she's determined not to endure it again. Yet underneath Randall's devil-may-care persona lies more than she could've imagined.

Can either of them ever trust the deep connection they share when faced with crippling fears and Hollywood tearing them apart?"

Look, I'm a versatile blogger

My friend and sci-fi author Cindy Borgne awarded me the above. Thanks, Cindy.

Now according to the rules I have to list seven random facts about me. 

Here are the rules:

Award Rules:
1) Thank the person that gave you the award.
2) List seven random facts about you.
3) Pass it on to three other bloggers.

Random Facts:

1. I'm currently working on my Ph.D. in microbiology.
2. I have two kids.
3. I lived in South Korea for two years.
4. I love cheese.
5. I've been to Canada but not Mexico.  
6. I'm an American, but I prefer the metric system. ;)
7. My favorite books (at least today) are One Hundred Years of Solitude and Midnight's Children.

I'm passing the award on:

Tess St. John

Tiphanie Thomas

OxyJen

Good Book Alert Review: Cinderella and the Sheikh

Over at Good Book Alert, I review Teresa Morgan's contemporary romance, Cinderella and the Sheikh.