Grab a chair...

Congrats to Sandra Stixrude on her release Marya.

I'll interview Sandra at a later date. For now, read the blurb and watch her trailer.

Is this a beautiful cover or what?

Know he will succeed when all others fail you…so reads the fateful letter of introduction which heralds the beginning of Marya's desperate journey.

When the Ktar chooses Marya to watch over the heir on his confirmation journey, she has no illusions about a pleasant trip. A prophecy concerning the heir's death, ominous dreams of a mysterious city, and the certainty one of the heir's companions will betray him all weigh heavily on her.

Unfortunately, the discovery of the assassin in their midst is only the beginning. His menace pales in comparison to the ancient evil lurking in the mountain city. When Marya and her party are trapped and the men with her enslaved, she is forced into a battle of wills and hearts with two remaining choices: give in to the alien being who offers her power and prestige, or join forces with the same handsome assassin she sought to thwart. Lives are at stake and so are her heart and her honor - how can she choose?

Pick up your copy HERE.

Release Day for Angel Martinez

I just wanted to scream out Happy Release Day to my friend and critique partner Angel Martinez.

Her short companion Christmas story for Finn is up and for sale at Red Rose Publishing.

Finn's Christmas is a fantasy m/m romance. I usually get the honor of reading Angels stuff before it hits the publisher, but last summer I was in The Big Rolling Turd when she hammered this short story out... so I haven't had the pleasure of reading it. But I did pick up my copy and look forward to taking it in.

Male/Male romance is a fascinating genre for me. Unfortunately, the romance world labels all these books as erotic and IMHO many are simply romance, no real erotic elements in play.

Here is the trailer to titillate your taste buds.

Interview with Brthany Cagle aka Brynna Curry aka Brianna Roarke

Today my guest is Bethany Cagle, a fellow author from Red Rose Publishing.

Good Morning, Bethany, can you tell us about your new book out now:

Earth Enchanted, which was released December 7th, is the first book in my Elemental Magic Series.

BLURB: Writer Liv Corrigan has the worst luck with men -- her telepathy tends to make them run for the hills. When she meets widower and ex-cop Jack Roarke, she decides to keep her talent hidden. Things are looking up until their third date crashes and burns as the man who murdered Jack’s wife turns out to be after him too.Injured, Jack retreats with Liv to his house under armed guard. But with Liv’s mysteries rapidly coming unraveled, a diamond-thief killer to stop and passion in the air, the safe house is anything but safe for their hearts!

There will be five books and all I'm pleased to announce will be released from Lyrical Press, Inc. For more information and a free read, visit http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.webs.com

Also out now from Red Rose Publishing is Gypsy Moon a shifter erotic romance.

Blurb: When witch and veterinarian Ana Brannon finds a wounded stranger in the woods surrounding her cabin, she is determined to save his life. Little does she know her gentle way with animals and powerful magic may be just what the werewolf ordered. Howl Raven is a private investigator with a past and a secret. When he shifts outside of the full moon, he finds himself at the mercy of a werewolf hunter. Can Ana’s magic help banish the wolf from his blood or will she be doomed to suffer the destiny of her mate?

Wow, you've been very busy. Tell me, how do you respond when someone says... "Oh, you write THAT kind of book?"

I used to shy away from any book readerwise beyond the heat level of a Harlequin, that was until I met my crit partner Alvania. I'd read a little of her story and it intrigued me, so I decided to give her brand of romance a shot. Since then I've reviewed just about every genre and style of romance novel. I decided to try my hand at erotic paranormal romance and Brianna Roarke was born. Brynna Curry's books are more sweet and sensual, while Brianna's are passionate no holds barred parnormal romances. I'm proud of both identities and often get on my soapbox to defend romance writers. We recreate that rare fall into true love, now that my friends is something special.

Don't be shy, what are your goals as a writer?

I want to see one of my books in print. (Alot of them would be cool too. lol) I want to give my readers escape from their everyday lives. Ultimately, I'd love to write full time.

Sometimes when a romance reader starts to write, they forget to pick up a book and read it. How many books do you read a month? A dozen or so, most of those are review books. There are four authors I read habitually and will buy their books regardless of genre. Nora R., Sherrilyn Kenyon, Amanda Quick (& other pens) and Catherine Coulter.

Do you have anything new in the works?

Oh, boy do I. My office is buzzing with new stuff. A vampire romance that will probably turn into a series, another shapeshifter novella called Cullen's Luck, and of course the remaining four books in the Elemental Magic Series. Those are my focus at the moment, since they are on a set timeline. The last one, Fire's Ice, will be finished by December of next year. No release dates are set for those at this time.

Where can we find you?

http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.webs.com
http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.blogspot.com
http://paranormalwriters.blogspot.com
On Twitter as BrynnaCurry
On Facebook as Bethany Cagle
I'm also a book reviewer for You Gotta Read Reviews as Brynna.

Where can we find your books?

On my author page at Lyrical Press, Inc.
http://www.lyricalpress.com/brynna_curry
Or on my author page at Red Rose Publishing
http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/index.php?manufacturers_id=264&osCsid=87c7f11d42caa61f5cc6490304d91da0

Thanks, Catherine, for inviting me to join you today!

Bethany Cagle aka Brynna Curry & Brianna Roarke

Thank you for coming, oh woman of many names. LOL

I'm over at Dayana's today.

I've posted a whole new excerpt of Soul Mate over at Dayana's blog today...

I'm also chatting about some new and exciting stuff coming up this year.

So don't delay... stop on over and wave.

http://dayanaknight.blogspot.com/

I'm up for Best Book at LASR.

Calling all votes... Calling all votes...

Soul Mate is up for best book of the week at LASR. I could sure use your vote.

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/recentrev.htm

Stop on over on Saturday and Sunday to vote.

Top Ten!!!

Yeah!!!!!! Soul Mate is in the top ten best sellers at Red Rose Publishing!

AND~~ Soul Mate is the #1 bestseller in the paranormal category in their mainstream romance!!!

So, yeah! I'm doing something right!

Interview with Editor Lea Schizas

Award Winning Author and Editor Lea Schizas has agreed to an interview from me today. Lea is wearing her editor hat that she wears over at Red Rose Publishing.

So pull up a chair and feel free to ask questions that you may have for my guest.

Thanks for coming today, Lea. Tell us a little bit about yourself and the publisher that you work for.

What can I say? I wear several hats for various venues. At Red Rose Publishing I am the Head Lines Editor, meaning I make sure the last stage of the editing process meets the deadlines and I collaborate with the art department to get the art work done for all books once they are finalized.

As for me, I’m a mommy of five children, two dogs, and tons of various types of fish. I joke most of the times that I finally woke up out of my self-induced coma of taking care of everyone else and now enjoying my passion – writing.

What do you enjoy most about your job? What do you like least?

I love the interaction with writers. It’s an amazing feeling to know you’ve helped shape someone else’s writing before publication. Besides that, you end up with cyber friends, cheering and applauding their careers as they move along, and there’s nothing in the world that can connect you like that without even having met these writers as our great world wide web. So there’s one invention I’m happy for. I think I have about 5,000 cyber friends right now.

The least? Hmm…
When writers don’t listen…
When writers say they approve changes and then you find they snuck the grammatical mistakes back in the manuscript…
When writers don’t follow guidelines…

Wow, 5,000 cyber friends is a boat load of people. Tell us, what are you looking for in a new author?

What every editor seeks – fresh material, twist endings that surprise me, a writer’s voice that is clear, vivid in portraying their fictional world, a writer who allows his character to paint each scene instead of the passive and telling narrator.

Writers need to remember there are thousands of other writers all vying for publication. It’s not the same thing to offer a similar storyline and simply change character names and occupations. A writer needs to stray a reader with a hook thinking the book will end up one way and then surprise. However, having said this, remember that surprising them means to tie in every single subplot smoothly – don’t surprise with a Dallas dream theme.

Careful... Dallas dream theme is kinda dating you... uh, and me. lol Where do you see e-publishing going in the next 3 - 5 years?

The e-publishing world is growing, and fast. When you see schools and libraries stocking on ebooks, big traditional houses offering ebooks…well, that kinda gives you a good idea where the ebook world is headed. I’m sure as soon as ebook readers lower in price, they’ll be a boom to this market.

If there was one thing about the publishing world that you could change... what would that be?

Oh, that’s easy – to respond that a manuscript was received and to send rejections. I really despise some houses that state ‘if you don’t hear from us in x amount of weeks, assume your book was not a right fit for us.’ If they don’t acknowledge receipt there is no certainty that it was received, thus a writer is left hanging. Writers are the backbone of publishing houses. I do know how many submissions pile on, but a form rejection letter sending a mass email to those who didn’t make the cut would take a few minutes. Perhaps it’s just me who tries to respond to writers and acknowledging their presence, but the respect you dish out is what you will receive at the end.

Amen to that, sister. What is your biggest pet-peeve when you're reviewing a manuscript?

My biggest pet-peeve is when writers rush to send a manuscript that clearly resembles a first draft. There are so many common mistakes within the manuscript that can be fixed before submitting that it’s not funny. This only tells me that the writer hasn’t done their homework to fully flesh out a manuscript. A character is not supposed to be portrayed as a stick-person. They need to ‘feel’ alive for a reader, with emotions, personalities, goals, upsets - the whole trials and tribulations path. A reader wants to ‘see’ the surroundings, smell the flowers/cologne/etc – using as many of the five senses without going overboard is another area so many lack to bring the book to a ‘realistic’ level.

Right now, Red Rose is closed to submissions but are accepting a few genres. We are strict with our guidelines so I highly recommend reading them carefully before submitting your work to the acquisitions editors.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us and giving the all important insight to an editors view.

For those stopping by, feel free to ask questions. Lea was the editor on my new release Soul Mate. Feel free *** plug, plug, shameless plug... to stop by Red Rose Publishing and check out what they have to offer.

August play dates...

I have kids, so when I talk about getting together with friends I think of play dates.

I have some wonderful interviews and fun scheduled this week. First, on Thursday the 20th right here on my blog I'm going to be interviewing my editor from Red Rose Publishing, Lea Schizas. Lea is not only a big cheese at RRP she is also a very talented and mulitpublished author. So be sure and stop by and pick her brain while I have her undivided attention.

Since the 20th is my release date for Soul Mate, my female werewolf novella from Red Rose Publishing I'll be yakking with Kim Smith on her blogspot.

http://writingspace.blogspot.com/

Kim is a multipublished author with RRP and has her very own blog-talk radio show.

I'll be with the Fuzzy Slipper ladies on Friday the 21st.

http://pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com/

and Helen on the 24th... OMG.... I haven't finished up that interview! Damn, I knew I had homework this weekend. lol... be right on it, Helen.

http://helensheroes.blogspot.com/

And for all of you who took the time to help me reach the top ten bestselling list at TWRP for Kilt Worthy... Thank you! Your support and comments mean the world to me.

Soul Mate's Trailer is up for an award!

Here I go again...

Soul Mate's trailer is up for 'You Gotta Read's Best Trailer Award'.

So by all means... take a look for yourself and mosey on over to:

http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/

And vote from your heart.

Special Guest Angel Martinez

Please welcome, friend, CP and fellow Red Rose Publishing author, Angel Martinez. Angel and I met through an on-line crit group and she's introduced me to a whole new world of romance. Male / Male romance written by women for women. And I have to say... Whoa Nelly! So please sit back, open your mind and your heart and say hello to Angel.

Tell us about your new book out now:

Gladly. Finn releases at Red Rose Publishing July 2, 2009 - a story about a pooka lost in the modern world. What’s a pooka? You’ll have to read the story. But I will tell you he’s a very sexy, handsome one.

A little blub and a short excerpt to whet your appetite:

When Diego rescues a naked man from the rail of the Brooklyn Bridge, he just wants to get the poor man out of traffic and over to social services. He gets more than he bargained for when Finn turns out to be an ailing pooka, poisoned by the pollution of the city. To help him recover, Diego takes him north to New Brunswick where Finn inadvertently wakes an ancient, evil spirit, the wendigo.

While Diego and Finn struggle to find a way to destroy the wendigo before it can possess Diego or kill nearby innocents, Diego wrestles with his growing passion for Finn. Can they succeed in destroying the monster and in navigating a relationship between a modern man and a centuries-old fairy?

Excerpt:

The figure crouched on the bridge shocked Diego so thoroughly he drove a hundred yards before he realized what he had seen.

A man squatted on his heels on the rail, one hand on a cable, the other clutching a ragged blanket at his throat. Threadbare cloth flapped around bare ankles. The persistent wind yanked it this way and that to show flashes of naked legs.

“Holy shit,” Diego muttered, as he wrestled his ancient Toyota into the nearest side street to park. This was none of his business. Didn’t he have enough problems? Even as he argued with himself he ran, dodging traffic and ignoring angry epithets as he pelted back up the bridge against traffic. The inevitable gaper delay had slowed the flow at least, making his precarious journey easier.

People stared from the safety of their vehicles as they inched along, but no one stopped to help.

Diego ignored them. His primary concern was not to startle the man into falling. He slowed his approach, ready to offer soothing words, but the man heard his footsteps. Long black hair whipped and snaked in the wind, hiding his face, though Diego caught a glimpse of bared teeth.

“Did you come after me?” the jumper snarled. “I won’t go back.”

“Go back where?” Diego seized the opportunity to start the man talking.

The jumper shook his head to clear the hair from his eyes and peered at Diego with black eyes – not dark brown, but black, set in deep, shadowed sockets. “No, I suppose you don’t look like one of those,” he said in a softly accented, weary voice.

“One of who?” Diego edged closer to stand next to him.

“The ones who shut me in the iron cage. I changed. I escaped.” His words seemed to stick in his throat and even above the traffic, Diego heard him swallow hard. “But now I’m too tired. I can’t...and the river is so filthy. I think it might kill me.”

At least he doesn’t sound like he wants to die. “Look, if you don’t want the police catching up to you, or the hospital staff, or whoever it is, this is about the worst thing you could do. You’re upsetting all these people and attracting a lot of attention. They’ll be here any minute.” Diego reached out a hand, palm up. “Please come down. Let’s get you safe and out of the wind. Then we’ll see about straightening all this out.”

The man regarded him through the shifting curtain of hair for a long moment. “What are you called?”

Depends who you talk to. “My name is Diego. Diego Sandoval.” He lurched forward, his stomach plummeting to his feet, when the man swayed, but the jumper retained his place on the rail.

The man repeated his name a few times as if trying it out, and then nodded. “It’s a good name. Pleasurable to say.”

“And you?”

“I am called Fionnachd.”

Diego tried to repeat it and won a hint of a smile from the man when he mangled the pronunciation. “Could I call you Finn?”

That got a shrug. The blanket fell back from his shoulder to reveal all-too-prominent bones. “You could. Some have. I don’t mind.”

“Climb down, Finn,” Diego urged again. “I’ll help you. Let’s get you somewhere quiet where you can rest.”

Finn took his fingers in a light grip and Diego caught a whiff of rotten orange rinds as he slid from the rail.

What the hell am I doing? He could have Hepatitis or HIV or tuberculosis, or worse. He’s probably crazy. Maybe even dangerous.

The intense plea in those black-on-black eyes silenced his practical objections. Lost and alone, this man needed someone. Diego had never been good at walking away.
　



Okay, you know I'm gonna ask why... Why Male / Male romance? I know this is one of the first questions I had for you and I'm sure others want to know and are afraid to ask. I, however, am not afraid and can never be considered shy. LOL Why, Angel? What prompted you to weave worlds of love featuring two men?

Three reasons. I started writing male/male fiction as both an experiment as a writer and as a reaction to the social environment of the time. I found I enjoyed writing for males and there is something at once so fierce and so tender about male/male relationships which I find endlessly fascinating. It certainly doesn’t hurt that there’s an ever-growing market out there for GLBT fiction as well.

I ask this in all my interviews but for you I imagine you're asked all the time. How do you respond when someone says... "Oh, you write THAT kind of book?"

You know, I’d honestly been quite fearful when I began writing erotic fiction that there would be a lot of censure and hostility over it. Here I am, a wife and mom with a regular 40-hour a week job - what would people think? Funny thing is, I’ve had more people wrinkle their noses when I tell them I write Science Fiction than they have over the erotic work. The girls at work all want to know when the exciting ‘smut’ book is coming out.

I think the genre’s assimilation into the mainstream has really escalated over the past couple of years as the variety and popularity of erotica grows.

What are your goals as a writer?

To keep the voices in my head from making me bonkers. Seriously, I write because I must, because if I don’t, the stories have nowhere to go and we all know that’s not a good thing. I’ve always told stories, since I was very small, and I think every society has folks like me, the folks who stand up at the fireside and hold back the dark in the dead of winter by weaving tales. I write to entertain, sometimes to inspire, to get people to think about something new. My short terms goals involve getting everything out there to share with as many people as possible. Long term, the sky’s the limit.

How many books do you read a month?

Four or five, usually. I do love to read and, as Catherine knows, I don’t simply read, I devour books.

Do you have anything new in the works?

Oh, there’s all sorts of fun stuff coming down the pike. Lioness on the Knife - a collection of eight stories about women in power, has just been contracted with Red Rose. I also have a series of seven SF novels under my given name, Sandra Stixrude, which I’m hoping they’ll pick up soon as well.

Where can we find you?

Several places:
My website: Angel Martinez - Erotic Fiction for the Hungry Mind
Facebook
On Yahoo: ravenesperanza@yahoo.com
And on Goodreads: Angel Martinez

Where can we find your books?

Exclusively at:
Red Rose Publishing

Thanks for stopping by today, Angel.

And for all of you readers out there who have never considered reading Male / Male romance, I encourage you to check out Finn. Especially if you love Science Fiction and paranormal romance. I loved this story and can't say enough about it. I know I'm a little bias, but I truly think anyone who loves romance would swallow this story in one sitting.

Release date!

Yeah!!! I have a release date for

Soul Mate.

~~~AUGUST 20th~~~

Whoo Hoo... Lookie what I have

Ohhh isn't it pretty? And just a tad yummy? I'll let you know of my release date as soon as I have it. I'm told late summer - early fall. Whoo hoo.

Blurb:

Kari Pearce lives the life of a lone werewolf. No one knows of her affliction, not even her sister. When she hears of a missing child up in the Sequoias, Kari goes on the hunt to find the child and her abductor before tragedy can occur. Saving the child is easy, avoiding the FBI agent associated with the case, is not.

Agent Nick Murdock knows he's seen Kari before but damn if he can remember where. There's one thing he knows for sure. Kari Pearce with her blonde hair and piercing blue eyes is hiding something. And Nick is going to find out what.

Excerpt:

“I know how this sounds,” he paused, took a breath, “but do I know you?”
She shifted and swallowed her mouthful of food while her eyes raked his form. Tilting her head back, she replied, “No, I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure? I never forget a face.”
“Now that sounds like a line.”
He put out his hand. “Nick Murdock.”
After wiping a hand on her napkin, she reached over. “Kari.”
Small, soft, and confident, again, not the combination he expected. By his estimates, she couldn’t be more than one hundred and twenty pounds yet she shook hands like a politician. She let go all too quickly, but not before he felt her pulse quicken. “Just Kari?”
“A girl can never be too careful, even to seemingly innocent men who wear FBI jackets in a Podunk diner.” Raising her fork she pointed to the paper with the dark headline, “You must be here because of that missing girl.”
Small, soft, confident, and he needed to add smart. Nick was impressed. “Found girl,” he corrected.
“Oh, I didn’t hear she’d been found. She’s all right I hope.”
“Safe with her parents as we speak.”
Kari nodded and finished the last of her pancakes, which meant she’d be leaving soon. He hadn’t placed her yet and didn’t want her to leave. “So, you must be here on vacation.”
She put down her fork and stared across the counter at the wall. “Maybe I live here.”
Nick shook his head. “You called this a Podunk diner. Your shoes are meant for walking on Rodeo Drive and not the trails of the forest.” He leaned forward and sniffed. “And you smell like expensive perfume, not bug spray. No, Kari, I don’t think you live here.” Odd though, she wasn’t wearing a ring and didn’t have any trailing boyfriend or children at her side. Vacationing alone in the Sequoias struck him as odd.
“This is a nice place to visit,” she clipped out as she reached inside her purse. Removing a ten-dollar bill and placing it by her plate, she stood up. “It was nice talking to you, Mr. Murdock. I’m glad the girl came back to you safe and sound.”
“Leaving already?”
Her smile was lethal, her laugh seductive. “I need to get back to Rodeo; Gucci is calling out to me.”
His chest rumbled in laughter.
As she walked away, his eyes followed the gentle sway of her hips. Damn, she was something to watch.
Once out of sight, he turned in his seat and brought the coffee cup to his lips. As he swallowed, his eyes landed on the car keys sitting next to Kari’s empty plate.
With a wicked smile, he covered them with his hand and headed toward the door.
Outside he watched her fumbling through her purse while standing in front of a four-wheel drive rental car. A strand of blonde hair slid over her face; she tossed it back in frustration and mumbled a curse.
“Looking for these?” He held up the keys and shook them with a jingle.
Her head shot up, eyes narrowed.
“You left them on the counter,” he found himself explaining.
Taking a step in his direction, she reached out to capture them from his fingers. Nick playfully pulled them out of reach. She cocked her head to the side and dropped her hand.
“Have dinner with me,” he spoke before she could say anything.
“What?” She looked at him as if he was crazy.
“You know, dinner. Kind of like breakfast, only later and with wine.”
“Are you always so forward, Mr. Murdock?”
“Nick.”
“Are you always so forward, Nick?” she emphasized his name to express her annoyance.
“I believe in being direct.”
She took another step in his direction and smoothed her hair back. Her tongue shot out and moistened her lips. The action shot heat to his groin. “I’m glad to hear that, Nick. I believe in being direct, too.” Stepping closer, she brought one hand up between them, tilted her head back to gaze into his eyes. Low lashes fluttered in a way that proved she knew her affect on him.
A small shock registered when she trailed a finger down his arm. “I think you are very attractive.”
“That’s a start.” His voice grew husky. “But...”
“But,” she sighed and walked her fingers down his arm. “I don’t like being held hostage for a date.” With that, she grabbed her keys from his hand and turned to walk away.

Interview With Delilah K. Stephans

Today my special guest is debut author Delilah K. Stephans. Delilah is a fellow Red Rose Publishing author and on top of that her new novella, Sarah's Story is a time travel romance. My personal favorite genre.

Welcome Delilah, and please tell us about your book.

Sarah's Story is the first in a Time Travel series. Time Travel has always fascinated me and I ended up postulating my own theory of how it could be accomplished. This series takes that theory and puts it to work - putting researchers back in the past to observe events and get the truth of history. Sarah was sent back to observe the years prior to the American Civil War but she was never retrieved. Matthew is the top Retrieval Agent at the agency and has been sent back to locate her - even his bosses didn't expect him to find her.

I have to tell you... after reading the excerpt this hit my top 'need to be read' list.

How do you respond when someone says... "Oh, you write THAT kind of book.."

Haven't had that happen yet... But my answer would be - I write what I enjoy reading. My books aren't erotica, they are more sensual romances than erotic - I'm working on that. Romance novels have always had a bad reputation among the literary minded - but they are the guilty secret of millions of women and a few men.

What are your goals as a writer?

I have several goals.

1. To entertain the readers
2. To banish my shyness at writing sex scenes.
3. Increase my word count - I tend to be very compact in word use which keeps my word count low.
4. To increase the complexity of my stories - it's there but I'm not sure the reader sees it.

There are a few others - To join RWA, to attend the RWA conference and to attend the RT Convention

How many books do you read a month? Are they all romance?

I read about 30 books a month - yep I'm a book a day person. Most are paranormal romances with a few romantic suspense and historicals thrown in for variety but I do read some fiction particularly the Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan novels and the occasional non-fiction - usually books on how to write.

Wow! That is a lot of books. Good for you!
Do you have anything new in the works?

I have several things in the works. A Vampire story that has been a 3 year project and is finally one fight and HEA away from being done.
A soft BDSM short, I say soft because it doesn't really fit a lot of what I've read of BDSM novels - think more along the lines of Diane Whiteside's Irish Devil just a bit more explicit
A Romantic Suspense is in the early planning stages - I've met the hero and heroine, know the where and what - still figuring out the whys and hows.
I also have a co-written book releasing November 2nd called Black Velvet from Lyrical Press which is about a race of Dragon shifters.
Where can we find you? Your book?
I'm pretty easy to find on the web... Website - Blog - Twitter

To download your copy of Sarah's Story stop by Red Rose Publishing.
Trailers:DKRenders - http://dkrenders.blogspot.com/

Thank you for the lovely introduction to your work. I personally can't wait to get my copy of Sarah's Story.

RRP's Egg Hunt 2009 = Free books.

Red Rose Publishing is having an egg hunt! Have you collected yours?


Duration: April 01 - 30, 2009 (EST)
How to Play:
Egg icons have been hidden all around the RRP site and you (the player) have to find them. Some of the eggs lead off site to the homepages of a few authors who have hidden an egg somewhere on their site. Find those eggs for an added bonus.
Email your (a) name, (b) answers, (c) print choice, and (d) mailing address to contests@redrosepublishing.com, subject line "April Egg Hunt".
All correct answer entries with full information will be entered into a lottery.
Winner announced 02 May 2009

Now... I know you can find my egg on my website. All you have to do is look.

Coming soon page is up at RRP

I'm such a geek sometimes... okay, most of the time... but I have to tell you that my excerpt for Soul Mate is up on the Red Rose Publishing site. Stop by and take a look and tell me what you think.

Video Blog!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Abby MacInnis for winning the free download of Having Faith, and Julie Robinson for winning Eternal Obsession. I hope your Christmas glows all the more after reading such wonderful books by two very talented authors. Contact me at catherinebybee@yahoo.com so I can see that Nancy O'Berry and Dayana Knight have your e-mail addresses.

Interview with Nancy O'Berry

Author Nancy O’Berry

Today I’m interviewing one of my critique partners and someone I like to call my friend. Now before I ask Nancy questions so you can all get to know her a little better, I’m going to tell you a little story.

Sometime last summer, Nancy and I hooked up over at The Trellis at The Wild Rose Press. Funny thing is… In this critique group you are asked what romance genre you write and what you’d like to critique. If I’m not mistaken I wrote down that I really didn’t care much for westerns at the time, and Nancy really didn’t do erotic. Well to make a long story short, Nancy wanted a second set of eyes to look at a historical western and I went ahead and raised my hand. She sent me a few chapters which I really liked and we started exchanging regular e-mails. Then one night, via Instant Messenger, Nancy chimed in and said.. “Oh, oh, oh… I have a great idea about three women working in a brothel. One is named Faith, the other Hope and the last, Charity.” She went on to send me her opening scene of Faith’s story. At this point I screamed over the internet – well as much as one can on-line. “Stop working on your current WIP and write these stories.” I mean come on folks, the women working the oldest profession in the book whose names are Faith, Hope and Charity? What’s not to love about that?

And so the birth, as I see it, of the Sweetbriar Academy was born.

So please welcome, Nancy O’Berry. And yes, you heard it right. Nancy will randomly pick a winner out of all who post a comment on this blog for a free download of Having Faith. I believe she’ll be drawing a name at ‘High Noon’ December 13th. Grin. Virginia time.

Welcome Nancy, why don’t you tell the cyber world a little about you.

I am a wife, mother, and grandmother. My husband and I have been married for over 30 years. We have three children a girl, and two boys. Our house is never dull. One son is still at home, believes he’s Ben Cartwright has been raising cows in my backyard. The last bunch would not get in the cattle trailer to go off to “THE SALE” so I had to get them in there. I told him no more unless I could keep them. So we have two heifers, Abilene and Esmeralda.

I have been writing for many years without the courage to send to an editor or agent until 2006. I belong to an online chapter of RWA and another chapter that meets once a month near the mall in Chesapeake, Virginia. I have written a fantasy story about mermaids finding love and these three stories taking place in the 1870’s with that western feel. There are many others on my computer in various stages of completion so I do suffer from writers ADD.

I have a critique group and Catherine is one of those folks who keeps me on the straight and narrow. I am working on a group for authors to promote their work and for readers and fans. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nancyoberryromance/



Tell us about Having Faith.

Wait, I have to open my fan because to talk about Faith, one has to have the presence of a southern belle. Ah, yes, Faith.

Faith is an interesting concept. I wanted to do a story about a woman set in a historical period but the morals were so constricting. It was considered a Victorian no no for women to even enjoy sex but you could not allow your husband to forgo using your body because it made a man unsettled. Quite a contradiction, so in this quandary, I created Sweetbrier Academy a high end brothel that served gentlemen in the class of Leland Stanford, Diamond Jim Brady and such. I wanted then to have a comfortable feel so I set them from the south.

I had done some research on the Civil War, or what my grandmother called the “Late Great Unpleasantness” and found that General Butler or the Beast as he was referred to when he left Hampton Virginia to take control of New Orleans placed an military law against fraternizing with “loose women”. “Nawlins” as we southerners call it has always been a mystical place for high romance so such edicts would have cut into “the business”. Truth be told, the “ladies” had his likeness put in the bottom of chamber pots in order to relieve themselves on his face and often saved the full pots to toss on the Union soldiers as they went by. Hence poor Miss Opal and her “ladies” decided that it might be a bit more profitable to move to the Wyoming territory and set the tale just after the War of Rebellion.

In this story, Faith has been given the chance to find a sponsor or a paramour that will provide her with money for a year or longer. Miss Benedict gets together a card game with several men from the railroad that have very large pockets. The game will be played in the backroom of the house away from distractions. The winner of the last hand wins a night with Faith.

There is a slight hitch in Miss Benedicts’ plan when her own paramour Howard Stetson comes up a man short. Big John the bouncer is sent out into the house to find another hand. The card player chosen is none other than a Calvary officer, Major Abrams. Quite a spit and polish dandy he is. Yet, he has been rather rough with the women and his reputation precedes him. In the mix of gamblers, a young man by the name of Thaddeus Oakley stands out. There is an immediate attraction between he and Faith that rankles the Major. Of course, Mr. Oakley fought for the Southern cause which doesn’t help his standings in the Major’s eyes. As luck will have it these two gentlemen will be the last two players pitted for the pot.

Discretion will not allow me to reveal the ending. However being the first in the series, Faith will have a promise of a happy ending, but to find out for sure, I’m afraid the reader my have to pick up a copy of Hope to see.

Having Faith will come out at Red Rose Publishing on December 11th, for $2.99.


How soon can we expect Hope and Charity’s stories?

Both Hope and Charity are at the editors now. I hope to be editing the second book through the holidays and have it ready for release in the New Year, sometime in January. Charity is a much longer story that Hope so they have each grown as Sweetbrier develops I hope she will be given the go ahead by February. But you will have to check to see. Charity right now is the only multicultural character I have done.



Where else can we find you on-line?

Oh my dear, I am around. You can get find me at my website.
On the second pages are several free reads one called the HOLD UP that was featured on LASR another TEXAS WALTZ was featured on Coffeetime Romance

Please feel free to get in touch with me at Ms. Opal's Myspace.
or at my MySpace.
my blog is
I love to hear from readers.

Here is a bit of what you’ll see in Having Faith.


In side the room, she moved in deliberate slow motion pulling out the drawer and replaced the new deck of cards on the table. The pot seemed to shimmer ominously in the lamp light. The fun of the evening soiled by the argument and crass words, Faith wondered what Miss Benedict could possibly be saying to each man.

Her unsteady hand tipped the decanter pouring the sweet wine into the fluted glass. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tilted the goblet back allowing the drink to slide between her lips. The taste sweet, she felt the false sense of warmth move along her backbone. She didn’t want to prolong the end. If the winner proved to be the Major, the night would be one long ordeal.

Dropping her head she took a deep ragged breath. “Please, let it be Oakley,” she prayed placing the glass on the tray. It’s just a job. She told herself, you must not think anything more than it’s just a job. A way to gain my future. As the door opened, Faith did her best to plaster a smile upon her lips and greeted the players.

Neither Mr. Oakley nor Major Abrams looked her in the eye. Faith glanced to the older gentlemen. Mr. Stetson gave her a reassuring wink. She felt a bit of relief. As the men mulled around their chairs, the door opened one last time and Miss Benedict entered.