Welcome to Paradise by Chris Keniston

I love Paradise. Technically I love any beach with warm blue water, soft sand, and if you throw in a piña colada and a cabana boy- I’m in hog heaven.

Three years ago a dear friend invited me to join her on a vacation to Hawaii. One week in Kona. It didn’t seem right to travel that far and not go to Pearl Harbor, so I arrived a day early in Honolulu.

The first thing I remember is stepping outside the hotel door at oh dark thirty in the morning (all tours to Pearl start v-e-r-y early) and mumbling to the driver “what beautiful weather”. His response- “There’s a reason they call this Paradise.” Of course the writer in me immediately thought-- Gotta put that in a book somewhere.

Dragon Lover is out Now! by Karilyn Bentley

Yes, you read that correctly! I'm excited to announce that Dragon Lover, the third book in the Draconia Tales series, is out NOW on Kindle only. And will be everywhere on May 7th. Excitement! If you've been wondering what's been going on with my dragons, pick up your copy. :)

Here's a blurb and excerpt for you.

You MIght Be a Writer/Reader If..........

This is a post from a few years ago, and I decided to resurrect it in a new way. Here we go.

The New Year has just gotten underway, and I wanted to have a little fun. I’ve been reading “You might be a writer IF…” posts and cracking up. I’ve decided to make up a few myself and then throw it out to you great readers to come up with your own.

If someone with a cold tells you he's blocked and you suggest he read a good book until his muse returns...you might be a writer.

If you have a special gadget on your night stand that lights up when you pull out the pen for writing down great dialogue that comes to you at two AM….you might be a writer.

If for two solid weeks, you eat bologna sandwiches and Hostess HoHOs because that’s what your heroine likes…..you might be a writer.

If you’re convinced your writing sucks one day, then dream about how brilliant you are the next….you might be a writer.

Barb Han: Release Day for Rancher Rescue

I remember the day I got 'the call' vividly. It was the first Monday of Spring Break, March 11, 2013. I spent the day working while my children enjoyed their day off. My college son was home for the week and brought his girlfriend, so the house was full of games, running, and laughter. And nervous energy, too. My agent had told me the Friday before that an editor had good news about my manuscript. I hoped for a sale but decided it was most likely a friendly Revise and Resubmit invitation.

As the day wore on and the phone remained silent, tension grew. By two thirty, I was a bundle of nerves. My oldest suggested we get out of the house and go to an arcade to get my mind off the clock, which felt like it was ticking louder with each passing minute. We piled in the car. Halfway to our destination, my cell phone rang. I made an immediate right turn into a parking lot, and then answered.

My agent delivered the news, I'd sold to Harlequin Intrigue! I don't remember much else about our conversation, except that there was total silence inside the car while we spoke. Until I ended the call. Then, shouts erupted and tears slid down my face.

Just as they did yesterday when I walked into Barnes and Noble and saw that very book on the shelf. My book. There were tears on that day, too. And lots of joy.

Michelle Miles: Bring on the Olympics!

Now that 2014 is in full swing, the holiday food comas have passed, we’re getting used to the back-to-normal traffic and back to school…I’m here to tell you this:

I AM EXCITED FOR THE OLYMPICS!

I LUUUUUUUUUUUUURVE the Olympics – especially the winter games. They are probably my favorite. Why, you ask? Because they are made of awesome sauce, people.

One of my favorite sports is the ski jump. Let’s examine that, shall we? I am not afraid of heights but THIS…this would make me queasy. They are riding down a giant ramp on two sticks and then LEAPING from the edge (puke) and landing as far out as they possibly can. When I was a kid, we had this Commodore-64 computer and the Winter Olympics was one of those games on FLOPPY disk (geeze, I’m old) and we would play it all the time. And my favorite game was the ski jump because if you didn’t do the joystick just right and jump off the edge in time then the jumper would go SPLAT at which point I would laugh hysterically and then do it all again.

Vicki Batman ~ Who is an Everyday Hero?

Who is an Everyday Hero?

Last December, my girlfriends and I went on our annual Christmas getaway. We ate a great food and checked out historical homes decorated for the holidays.

After we returned to our rooms and put on our comfy jammies, we exchanged gifts and then, chatted about stuff. All kinds of stuff. This time, the topic turned to handsome hunky heroes.

Yeah, we went through all the normal attributes heroes are perceived to be, like firefighters and policemen, military, etc. Out of nowhere, I added, "My heroes are handymen--plumbers, carpenters, and fixer-uppers like the guys on HGTV."

Needless to say, hysterics took over us.

But it's the truth. Nowadays, we'd rather have someone who could clean the pipes, patch a hole in the wall, fix a light fixture, and keep our computer running. Those are real men.

The giggles continued on when we began discussing the HGTV hosts that rock our world. And we did wonder if they were as helpful at home as they appear to be on television. LOL

Michelle Miles: Release Day for A Knight to Remember

It’s here! It’s here! IT’S HERE!

*throws confetti*

I’m so excited that today is the release day for book 3 in my fantasy romance series, Realm of Honor. A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER hits e-store shelves today and already has two good reviews to go along with it.

“The way Henry longed for Maeve is heart-felt and very deep. Their romance is a testament of the unexpectedness of falling-in-love and staying in love.” – Francine (Goodreads)

“I loved this story and will recommend it to anyone. It is full of action, suspense and romance.” –Cindy (Goodreads)

This was one of my favorite books to write and follows the story of Henry and Queen Maeve. Henry is looking for his missing daughter in Scotland (Maggie from ONE KNIGHT ONLY) when he’s transported to the Otherworld. He is instantly smitten with the Fae queen, Maeve, and does everything in his power to seduce her. There are two problems with that: she dislikes humans AND the Goddess of War is out to kill her. Henry takes it upon himself to protect her from the goddess’s wrath. But can he, really?

Plotting Princesses ~ Who is our guest today?? MaryAnn Kempher!!!

The PP girls welcome guest author MaryAnn Kempher to our blog. Let's check her out:







How did you get from your day job to writing romance and mystery?   I was in the military for 20 years. I retired in 2007 and was lucky to have to luxury of staying home vs going back to work. For the first year I relished the role of stay-at-home wife and mother, but soon needed more. Finally after a lot of thought, I decided to write my first book; Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder—a romantic mystery set in Reno.

Three favorite books of all time? That’s a hard question. Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind, and Light a Penny Candle. But honesty, I love to read, so those were just off the top of my head.

Morning, afternoon, or evening person? I’m a morning person, once I’ve had my coffee. ;)

Music--with or without? What kind? Do I listen to music when I write? Nope, ideally I have complete quiet.

First or third POV? Oh, third all the time. 

How's tricks? Do you juggle multiple projects? I don’t juggle multiple books, but my plate is full. I’m trying to finish my bachelor’s degree, so soon I be writing book three, taking two classes, and reading five books for a contest I’m helping to judge.

Summer Sweat or Winter Chill?

Yeah, I know it’s winter, and we’ve just survived ice apocalypse 2013 where I live and now we’re experiencing the Polar Express. But we don’t have it as bad as many parts of the country. I thought the picture of the Dallas Arboretum in summer would maybe warm everyone up today.  I’ve always considered myself more of a winter person than a summer girl just because the temperature in Texas gets so freaking hot. When the temperature climbs, higher than 98 I’m indoors. The heat makes me cranky, irritable and I hate to sweat. The feel of sweat trickling down your back and your hair sticking to your head makes me want to shower again. In the summer, I’ve been known to take more than one shower a day, just to get the sweat off.

Being an outdoor person, when the temperature climbs so high it’s miserable, I have to stay indoors, and that’s when I stop liking summer. In the winter, I’ve always felt like you can add more clothes. Yes, it can be bundle some, but still you can get comfortable once you have enough layers. Before I hurt my ankle, I loved to ski. There is something about being outdoors, in the pines, gliding through the snow. My husband and I like to hike in the winter, even when there’s snow. It’s fun to walk the back country and spend time outdoors.