Move Over Marley, You've Got Nothin' On Me #crazydog #plottingprincesses by Karilyn Bentley

I'm sure you've all heard of Marley, the lab that ate his way through his owner's home. I often wondered what the owner did to cause their dog to go so crazy. So, for my audacity, the universe blessed me with a couple of crazy pooches. At the end of this tale, you can tell me what we did wrong.<g>

Hop in your time machine and journey back with me several years ago when we had first moved into our brand new house and Clara, aka Jaws, still walked among us. Warning: never buy a new house if you own a crazy dog (or a puppy for that matter). Just saying.

Okay, back to the story. Let me set the scene. Clara (the usual eater of the home) had to have surgery (no, it had nothing to do with eating the house, she'd calmed down by this point and only snacked on mail or any other paper item lying around, which BTW worked better than any other shredder). Hell Hound had torn a gash on his leg and was forced to wear the cone of shame so he wouldn't lick the boo-boo. Outdoor maintenance men were coming over, and since HH had a nasty habit of jumping on the doors and windows while barking, snarling and drooling, hence scaring the crap out of the guys, we had to lock him in the bedroom (why not the crate, you ask? B/c he ate through a solid steel crate to get to the windows and the UPS guy. Crate had a broken door and was therefore a no-go.).

When we got home we were met at the door by Hell Hound. A very excited, Hell Hound.

@MichelleMiles presents #TuesdayTeaser

Happy Tuesday! Today, we're going to tease you, baby, with some super sexy snippets from some of the Princesses. AND I have freshly delivered print copies of ONLY FOR A KNIGHT, book two in the Realm of Honor series, so leave a comment and you can win a signed copy! My tease for that is last, but in the meantime, here are some perfectly sexy snippets! Happy reading!

#FREE on Kindle: Dragon Lover by Karilyn Bentley

 Yep! You read that correctly! Dragon Lover, the third book in the Draconia Tales trilogy, is FREE today through Saturday, 3/15, on Kindle. This book ends the trilogy and wraps up the overarching villain. Not literally, but close. <g> I'm excited it's out and really excited about the cover. Isn't it gorgeous? Here's a blurb and excerpt to tempt you to stop by Amazon and pick up your FREE copy. And while you're there, check out Magical Lover and Warrior Lover, the first two books of the series.

Happy Reading!

Karilyn Bentley: Cupid Comes Calling - Blind Date

 
By the time I hit grad school in my mid-twenties, I was single and tired of dating jerks. One morning I woke and decided enough was enough and there was nothing wrong with living the rest of my life by myself. I had friends, why did I need a man?

And that's when Cupid struck.

After an hour of bemoaning the latest dating mistake to one of my grad school buddies, she asked if I'd like to meet one of her friends. "He has long hair. You don't mind long hair, do you?" Of course not, all the better to run my hands through. <g>

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.

New Release After the Moon Rises by Karilyn Bentley

I'm excited to let you know that my werewolf anthology, After the Moon Rises, is now available on Kindle! After the Moon Rises features two novellas, Werewolves in London and Wolf Mates, two stories about the Flying Fur Dude Ranch werewolf pack.

Blurbs:
Werewolves in London:
Werewolf Vonda Diaz has sworn off men, until she meets sexy rancher, Tom McGowan. Try as she might there is something about him she can’t ignore. Determined to keep their relationship professional she finds herself unable to keep her distance. Since his wife died, Tom has no interest in dating, but one look at Vonda and passion ignites. There is something different about her that draws him in. What he can’t understand is why his dog finds her so fascinating. When Tom’s daughter is kidnapped, the two join forces to save her, not realizing the quest will unlock hidden mysteries. Will their budding love survive the secrets they discover or will those secrets tear them apart?

Wolf Mates:
Margie McLean loves her life just the way it is. As the single Alpha of the London, Montana pack, she leads her wolves and makes her own decisions. When she stumbles upon an injured wolf she has no idea that her quiet life is about to take a dramatic turn.
Zane Moskos never imagined that the mission his tryranical alpha sent him on would lead him to his mate. Now he is faced with the choice of defying the man who holds his sister hostage or losing the woman that fate has decreed is his.
In order to save his sister and gain his freedom, Zane must convince Margie he can be trusted. Can they work together or will the passion they feel overwhelm them both?

After the Moon Rises
www.karilynbentley.com

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Karilyn and the Flat Tire by Karilyn Bentley

 #car problems #flat tire

I've got to admit I'm recycling this story. It's a couple of years old but still cracks me up. Hope you enjoy!!!

Growing up my dad owned an auto salvage with his dad and brother. I used to spend summer days out there learning all sorts of things. Mainly my twin cousin and I would take the Green Machine - a Pinto minus the hatchback, the hood and the doors - and drive it up and down the rows in between wrecked cars. Our fathers, who were supposed to be watching our 12-year-old selves, thought this would be a safe activity, considering we couldn't really damage the GM and the rest of the cars were already wrecked. The GM didn't go very fast and supposedly taught us how to drive (if you ever saw Cousin drive, you'd think twice about this assessment).

Little did they know what we did with it.

At the time, Dukes of Hazzard was a really big show (I've dated myself, haven't I???). Not the cheesy movie either, but the real Mccoy, with Bo and Luke Duke. Hoo-wee. Gotta go get my fan. Okay, I'm back. Anyhoo, since the Dukes could leap into a traveling car, Cousin and I figured we could too. So one of us would hop behind the wheel of the GM, gun the puny engine until it whined in protest and the other one would run as fast as her legs could carry her and leap, mostly gracefully, into the car. The driver would then tell the other how fast she could run.

Lots of good old-fashioned fun.

Do You Believe in #Ghosts? by Karilyn Bentley

#ghosts #Halloween

(Image courtesy of digitalart/www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Tis the season for spookiness and things that go bump in the dark. I don't know about you but I love fall. Here in Texas, it usually doesn't get very cold this time of year, but it does cool down into the 70s, which makes for great trick or treating weather. And seeing all the Halloween decorations around my neighborhood makes me think of the more spooky side of the holiday.

Yep, I'm talking about ghosts. Do you believe in them? I do. Maybe not the way they're portrayed in the movies, but I do have a healthy belief in otherworldly spirits. Perhaps that's because as a child I used to be able to see the occasional ghost or feel their spirits haunting certain houses. But my favorite ghost story really isn't mine, it happened to a colleague.

NEW BOOKS FOR BOOK LOVERS

It's been a while since the Princesses shared our current books with you. So here you go, in one handy, dandy, all-in-one list: The current releases for several of the Plotting Princesses. Included is a short blurb about the story, the cover and (of course) links to buy the books!

ENJOY!

The Reluctant Santa by Sylvia McDaniel

Blurb: Since his mother abandoned him on Christmas Eve never to return, Colin McDermott has hated Christmas and sworn never to have children. But this year two angels are giving him everything he didn't want. A Santa suit, a child and a chance at love again. This is his last chance to learn the true meaning of Christmas.

Buy Link: Amazon

Losing Cassie (Destiny's Desire Series #2) by Kathy Ivan

Blurb: Welcome to Destiny's Desire Lodge, where The Fates can manipulate the threads of life at their whim and the Fate-Keeper battles to unite the predestined souls of true love.

Firefighter Jake Stone lost the love of his life when his high school sweetheart disappeared. The arrival of a mysterious letter promising answers draws Jake to Destiny's Desire.

Cassie Daniels has been running for seven long years. At Destiny's Desire she might finally have a chance for a happy future, if she can face the evil from her past.

When Fate and Destiny collide . . . can Love survive?

Buy Links:
Amazon
B & N
Smashwords

Social Media by Karilyn Bentley

#writing #social media

I love this sign! And what does it have to do with my blog today? Um, nothing much, but it cracks me up and is so true. Rather reminds me of a product I used to use, a shower cleaner where a bottle of cleaner went in a battery-powered holder. Push a button and voila, spray comes out and cleans your shower. Since this meant less work for me, I bought one as soon as it came out. Pretty soon I started noticing a warning on the bottle: This is not a body wash. Nah, REALLY? Can you picture that? Someone jumping in the shower, pushing the button and thinking the chemical cleaner would clean their body? Cracks me up. And what about the Do Not Use In Shower tags on hairdryers? Didn't we learn that electricity + water = very bad in Kindergarten?? Stupidity knows no limits.

Anyway, on to my take on social media. Does it help? Of course it does. Can you find readers in social media land? Sure you can. But this blog is for those of us who get shivers when we think of getting out there and marketing and promoting. Now, I know I'm not the only author out there that has to suck it up and promote even though I'd rather be reading or writing or even hand scrubbing the shower. Lots of other things to do besides try to come up with ideas for social media. And there are plenty of blogs, etc. about what to share/write about in online digital land.

Childish Writing by Karilyn Bentley

I'm sure you've read interviews with authors that when asked how long they've been writing they reply since childhood. That's the case with me. One of my first stories was similar to Nancy Drew, a mystery where the sleuth found a key trapped in tree roots from a century before that unlocked some chest holding some treasure. I'm not sure what ever happened to that story, perhaps Mom has it hidden in her closet. <g>  But I did find another story I wrote in sixth grade and thought it might be fun to post parts of it here. Hopefully my writing has improved since then. <g>

This is the story of my childhood dog that I wrote for an English writing assignment. And as you can see in the pix above, I typed it on our ancient typewriter (that's me on the couch and my bro smiling for the camera while Mom pets Tasha). My teacher liked it so much she let the principal read it. His comment was: "Sprightly is a word that I think I have never used ('til now). I can think of no other which so fittingly describes this." The teacher said she loved the humor. After reading it now, I cringe at all the exclamation points. Yikes. Anyway, here goes the condensed version with all the exclamation points left in (get ready to cringe):

Hi! My name is Natasha Golden Amber, but they call me Tasha for short. I heard that you wanted my life story. Did you? I'm glad to hear that! I'll tell you all about me!

Tales from the Crate by Karilyn Bentley

In case you didn't know, we lost our "little girl" in February. Clara, aka Jaws, had been with us for eleven years and it was quite the emotional hit to lose her. I'd like to honor her by telling a, hopefully, humorous story about her favorite thing to do: hunt.

Until Clara came into our life, I never thought about dogs hunting. On their own, I mean. Sure, I knew plenty of people who went hunting with their dogs and the dog would retrieve whatever the owner shot. I knew dogs liked to chase rabbits and cats. But I never realized they liked to catch critters and bring them to their owners as some sort of trophy prize. I thought only cats did that. Talk about being wrong!

Warrior Lover - #FREE on Amazon on 2/13! by Karilyn Bentley

Yes, you read the title correctly! My latest release, Warrior Lover (the sequel to Magical Lover), is free at Amazon for 5 days starting Wednesday, 2/13.  My publisher is trying something new to boost sales on all their books. I’ve got to admit, I’m a bit nervous, but mainly really excited. It’s free! What do you have to lose to try it out? Go on, you know you want to download it to your Kindle. Really. You do. How’s that for a not-so-subliminal message? :)

To celebrate the FREE cost, my blog today is a blurb and an excerpt from Warrior Lover. I hope you enjoy!

Halloween Hauntings by Karilyn Bentley

Happy Halloween! I love this time of the year. While it's not my favorite holiday - that spot goes to Christmas - it is definitely up there in second place. What's not to love about leftover chocolate candy? We all know Halloween is a special time for kids - and some adults - to dress up and go around begging for treats, but do you know how the traditions started?

Halloween has its history in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-en). Samhain is a celebration of the end of harvest season and the upcoming winter. November 1st was their New Year's Day. October 31st was New Year's Eve for the ancient pagans and it was on this day that they believed the walls between the world of the living and the world of the dead thinned, allowing the deceased to come into the world of the living and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops. A bonfire was part of the Samhain celebration.

Wolves and Werewolves by Karilyn Bentley

wolf image creator Gary Kramer, National Digital Library

What are the similarities and differences between wolves and werewolves and how does this play into my werewolf novellas? If you’re dying to know the answer, you’ve come to the correct place today! 

Let’s start with the differences. First and foremost, real wolves don’t change into humans. There. I’ve said it. You can stop looking for your favorite sexy werewolf in a wolf pack. If you go to Yellowstone, Idaho, Montana or Wyoming and run into a wolf, it will not change into a human. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, what about similarities?

Out Today! Werewolves in London by Karilyn Bentley

Just a little blurb to let you know that my novella, Werewolves in London, is out today! Squee!!! Check it out!

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=177_136&products_id=4876

Plotting Princesses at Latte Lounge on Saturday

Plotting Princesses Day at the Latte Lounge!

The Plotting Princesses are a group of writers who first met at a local RWA (Romance Writers of America) chapter meeting and began to brainstorm each other's story plots and provide support as they moved from idea to final book. The PP will be celebrating it's first anniversary in August 2012 and will be having some special events on our own blogsite (http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com/). On Saturday, the PP gals will be at Coffeetime's Latte Lounge to share our experiences as "Many roads, same destination--publishing romance today." 

Blog: Karilyn Bentley: TALES FROM THE CRATE

Do you have a pet? I know you do. I’ve seen them on Facebook, brown eyes shining at you as they silently beg you to stop writing and pay them attention, much in the same way the chocolate candy and coffee machine do.

Pull up a chair. This blog is for you.

Have you ever read my bio and wondered about my two partially psycho dogs? Let me introduce you to my two: Jaws, the oldest, a beautiful female mutt of indeterminate origin, probably German Shepherd mix, and Hell Hound who is two years younger, a black Lab/Bloodhound mix.