Saturday, June 29, 2013

Pyxi Rose Stopped by for a Visit!

Hi Pyxi Rose! Welcome to my blog! It’s so good to meet you!

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, I am a single mom and lover of all things books. When I am not writing, I am reviewing books for fellow indie writers. I live out in the sticks in PA so I do spend a lot of time connecting with other bookie friends through Facebook.

I have relatives in PA! :D

When did you first start writing ? 
I have always written. It has been my therapy through some of the rougher times in my life. But these past two years, it became what I really wanted to do for a living. J

What do you love about writing?
EVERYTHING! It is therapeutic, challenging, amazing way to express oneself. It is real magic to create worlds to escape into. I love it.


What do you need when writing? Music, candy, silence, etc.
Music. I listen to my headphones blaring and I do eat a lot of blueberry dum dums. J


Yum!

How did you go about building your world and characters?
With me, my characters are in control. I can plot out a book entirely but if they have other plans for it, they get there way. Trust me, I never try to argue with them. It won’t end well if I do. As far as place go, I like to use real places. Redemption takes place in Saluda, NC and it is one of my favorite places in the world.


Can you provide us with an excerpt? (Excerpt and book cover :D)

The Ninth Taghairm: Redemption
Book One of the Taghairm Chronicles


There are far worse fates than death, but that is a truth Gadin Wilde knows all too well. He had to come to terms with his immortality from a sire that relished in the kill. He had eventually grown to accept the fact he was one of the damned; a vampire, an irredeemable beast driven by blood and blood alone. That was until he met the very complicated and alluring Talula Delphina and was shown another way of existing. In a blink of an eye, his whole world changed.

Cursed with a fate worse than death, Talula is destined to watch the world die. Punished with the cruelest form of immortality, she knows all about the devastation of death and the agonizing pain of rebirth. For almost thirteen hundred years, she has relived its vicious cycle time and time again. For a crime of retribution, her soul bares the mark of immortality, but suffers it in a mortal shell.

So when the dark and sensual, Gadin began hunting her, she welcomed the prospect of being his prey. After all, there are far worse ways to die. But nothing could have prepared her for the fire he lit within her.

And as their passions grow more intense, powerful forces fight to keep them apart. Will their love be enough to overcome their fated paths? Or will the secret crime Talula committed centuries ago, be so damning that Gadin won't be able to forgive her?



 Sounds Cool! I can't wait to check it out! 
Fun time!
Do you play games? If so what kind? If not, why the heck not?
 I do love video games. Silent Hill being my favorite series of horror survival games. Interesting fact, I live only 30 minutes away from Centralia, PA. And Centralia is the actually place Silent Hill was based on because of the underground coal fires started in 1962 that still burn today. Non video game? Scrabble! I am a Scrabble master! J

The real Silent Hill place Centralia, PA... looks SPOOKY! :D

Favorite author?
Seriously? That is like asking me my favorite child. I can give you a few. Rue Volley, R.K. Ryals, M.V. Freeman, Jeaniene Frost, Samantha Young and Anne Rice to name only a few. J

Love her! 

Favorite TV guilty pleasure?
American Horror Story or Lost Girl.



Love that show! 
Favorite Action Hero?
Thor. Grrr. ;)



Either/ or Lightening round!
Are you a dog person or a cat person? Dog all the way!

Me too!

Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream? Rocky Road.

Fruits or Veggies? Both. I have a slight addiction to apples. J

Coke or Pepsi? Fresca


Soda or Pop? Soda

Sweet or Sour? Spicy





If you traveled to an alternate universe, whose universe would it be? What would you do there?
For me, it would be R.K. Ryals’ Scribes of Medeisia universe. She paints the most exquisite worlds and I would love to just wander among the trees and magic there.


If you traveled back in time, what time period would you want to visit most? Who would you hope to meet?
I would love to travel back to 18th century Scotland and I would be happy to meet any sexy Scottish Highlander preferably in the full Scottish garb, kilt and all. Grr. J


The Important stuff!

Any advice for aspiring authors?
Write every day. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s crap just do it. My biggest thing is I write for me, there will be people who will hate it, but there will also be people who will adore it. Never let a bad review make you feel less of a writer. Just write every day.

Where can we stalk… I mean find you?(Links baby!)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTaghairmChronicles?fref=ts

Twitter: www.twitter.com/taghairmpyxi

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/PyxiRose

Personal Blog: http://thetaghairmchronicles.blogspot.com

Review Blog: http://trudysallthingsbooks.blogspot.com/

Email: Taghairmpyxi@gmail.com

Cover Artist’s Webpage: http://www.strongimageediting.com/

Editor Webpage:  http://www.lookingglassediting.blogspot.com/

Publisher: http://www.crushingheartsandblackbutterfly.com/

Where can we buy your books?

Amazon, BN (I think) and there will be a few local indie book stores in PA that will carry signed copies.


Well Pyxi it has been so much fun getting to know you! Thanks so much for being here today! Good luck with your new release! <3 o:p="">

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Welcome to my Crazy World, Elodie Parkes!




Hi Elodie! Welcome to my crazy world!

Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for inviting me to the blog.

You are so welcome! I’m glad you could join me!

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, Elodie?

I live in southern rural England, United Kingdom and I work in an antiques shop as well as writing. I have two dogs that keep me fit with their need for walks. I love the countryside and the coast.
I write romance, contemporary, and erotic with a twist of mystery, suspense, or the paranormal, now and then. I like to make the story unusual in some way, by a quirk in the tale.

When did you first start writing?
I started writing when I was seventeen. Life intervened in my writing time and I stopped serious writing for some time. I started writing again seriously a couple of years ago, because I had so many stories in my head.

Below you can find links to all of Elodie's books :D

What do you love about writing?

I love the sudden unfolding of other lives and places. They are suddenly real to me and I can actually see the places and people as I write. I love my characters and even though I have created them, I miss them all long after the book is published.


What do you need when writing? Music, candy, silence, etc.

I don’t need much really, except the time and the laptop.

Time, something we all need more of! :D

How did you go about building your world and characters?
They unfold as I tell the story that has dropped into my head. It just happens. Sometimes I will have seen something that inspires me and so I have a picture that might be the initial scene. In general it’s like magic.


Can you provide us with an excerpt? (Excerpt and book cover :D)
From my new release with Hot Ink Press, The Winter Girl



Lily Prescott is only just over a relationship break up when she decides to take up residence in a house left to her by her recently deceased grandmother. Her corporate law job takes a back seat as she licks her wounds in the small country town. She looks around the main shopping street and discovers people who will befriend her, but she also runs into the town’s most eligible bachelor and secret bad boy, Starr Forrester.
Loved for his lifelong association with the town, Starr hides his methods for staying single well from his friends. He’s nearly thirty, gorgeous, a designer, owns a business and on the lookout for his ‘Winter Girl’….
Will it be Lily? What is a ‘Winter girl’?

Love the cover by the way!

Read an excerpt: Rated: General

As Lily passed ‘Stone Magick’ on the high street, Ash was out on a ladder checking his awning was going to pass muster for the sunnier days ahead. The sun would shine directly in and it was too harsh on the display and in the front part of the shop. He knew Lily’s car, and he saw it pass. He stared after it.
He had accepted that he was in love with Lily. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn’t. He felt feverish with the need for it to spill from his lips when he was with her, but it stayed locked in his heart. He was sure she loved him too. She hadn’t said it, but her looks and the way she had made love to him in the last few days told him so.
He climbed down the ladder and called for his friend who was in the shop putting new lights over the middle cash desk.
“Colin, get out here and give me a hand with this ladder, it’s a real nuisance to take down the alley to the back.”
Colin came to the door with a tool of some kind in his hand.
“Sure, hang on.” He put the tool down and they both lifted the ladder to walk it down the alley by the side of the shop and up to Ash’s garage where it was stored. It was cumbersome, because it was an extendable ladder with three layers and lots of ways to trap your hand as you carried it.
“Can’t you get a new one Ash, this is old and the new ones are so much lighter?” Colin winced as a foot of the ladder hit him in the knuckles when they rounded the corner of the garage.
Ash grinned and nodded. “Just for you Colin.”

****
Sounds great! I can't wait to read it! 

Elodie is running a giveaway to celebrate the release of The Winter Girl.
Win a $10 or £10 Amazon Gift card, enter via the rafflecopter.



Fun time!

Do you play games? If so what kind? If not, why the heck not?

I don’t play games any more, just simply don’t have any time. The fact is I work 18 hour days what with the day job, writing and marketing needs.


Favorite author?

I read so widely and from different authors that I don’t have a favorite.

Favorite TV guilty pleasure?

Watching The Vampire Diaries

Favorite Action Hero?

Not sure what to answer here, action hero implies ordinary human and I generally find the action heroes I like are guys such as Ironman, Thor, that kind of character.


 Well, you certainly can't go wrong with Ironman! :D

Either/ or Lightening round!

Are you a dog person or a cat person? Dog

Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream? Neither I can’t eat ice-cream

Oh dear!

Fruits or Veggies? Fruit


Coke or Pepsi? Again, can’t have it, there are additives that give me asthma

Oh that stinks!

Sweet or Sour? Sweet 


If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have 3 things with you, what or who would they be?

Laptop, satellite phone uplink, smartphone


The Important stuff!

Any advice for aspiring authors?

Just to keep going in the face of the hard slog and disappointments that are usual. If you love writing do it.

Where can we stalk… I mean find you?(Links baby!)
Find Elodie online:

Where can we buy your books?

Find Elodie’s books:


Thank you so much for visiting with us today Elodie! Don’t forget to leave a comment if you like Elodie’s books! And don’t forget to check out Winter Girl! 

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Danielle Farman came by for a visit! :D

Please help me welcome Danielle Farman to the blog! Hi Danielle! It's so good to have you on my blog! 

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well I am 21 years old and live in Aberdeen in Scotland. I am expecting my first child on the 3rd of November and VERY excited about it! Home is a cute bungalow just now, but may be moving to a bigger place soon. I live with my boyfriend, Rory, and our ten rodents! I adore animals.




I have always wanted to visit Scotland, part of my family is from there, though I'm not sure exactly where in Scotland :D

When did you first start writing ?


As soon as I could spell! And even before then I was telling stories. I Have always loved making up stories and writing them down.  

What do you love about writing?

So many things! I especially love the feeling of accomplishment when something that has been bubbling away in my brain for so long finally comes to life on paper.

What do you need when writing? Music, candy, silence, etc.

Silence, and a full day in my pajamas! To get ideas I go for walks, listening to music.

How did you go about building your world and characters?


I listened to music to inspire me. A lot of my ideas are based on small things I see in my dreams, and I develop them. I also discuss my ideas in the car with my boyfriend, and they evolve!

Can you provide us with an excerpt? (Excerpt and book cover :D)
Yes, of course!

At some point down the line I had tried to walk through that forest again. I had tried to face those trees. They stood tall, hanging over me, knowing the truth. The earth beneath my sodden boots had tasted her blood, and so had the fallen leaves and overgrown grass. Nature was a hushed spectator. The trees whispered words of judgment as I passed by them. Gently, they moved together, watching me. I had felt their presence that day as well. The day I found Jemma. The world had been silent like the grave, holding its breath as it waited for me to find her. Nature would judge me for loving Adrian.
When I had found her lying there I debated whether she was just sleeping. Her dead body lay there perfectly, like someone lying in their coffin. Her hair was tainted red, but it was placed so caringly on her shoulders. The white dress had been made presentable, just passing her knees. Her hands were positioned on her stomach, one on top of the other. My mind had discarded the wound on her neck, and the blood on her dress. It was her fingers, and the missing nails. All ten fingers and thumbs rested on her dress without nails. I just stood there, staring at her hands. I noticed the blood underneath them, and so curiosity took over. Blankly and mechanically, I had lifted her hands, cringing at how cold they felt.
I screamed and threw myself away from her, landing on my front as I attempted to turn away. My scream had ripped through the silent air. It was too loud, so I covered my mouth. I twisted my body around to check what I had seen was real. Seeing it again made me taste vomit in my mouth. It burned in my throat. It was then I noticed the gaping hole in her neck. This image was the beginning of so many tainted dreams.
Those memories were vivid in my mind as I walked there once more. I recalled phoning the police, and then waiting for them. I had just stood there staring at her. The trees watched all of this, and the wind gently wept.
I could see her everywhere. Her face appeared in the bark of the trees. The knots in the wood became her eyes. Every branch on the ground was her listless body, still waiting to be found. A supermarket bag became her dress, and the red leaves on the ground was a sea of her blood. I swore I could still smell her rotting body. It mixed together with the smells of nature, and cold air.
The sleeping zombie still lay slumbering in my mind, and I could see her everywhere I looked in the forest. Her blood tainted my mind, while Adrian’s secret tainted my life.
This sick reality was eating away at my already fragile mind. Adrian’s blood was contaminated by sinful desires. Those dreams of his blood falling into milk were a reality. Nicholas seen me as the problem. He seen it as my milk was contaminating Adrian’s blood. Nicholas, my antagonist. I hated him with ever inch of my body and soul. But I would keep Adrian sane. He is my love. I was the prayer to his tainted dreams, even though he was the cause of mine.


Fun time!

Do you play games? If so what kind? If not, why the heck not?

I love to play all sorts of games! Video games that I usually play are fantasy ones, such as Zelda, Fable and Devil May Cry. When I worked in a creche with children I also enjoyed played games like Simon Says and Fruit Bowl. Does that count?




Yes they do! :D

Favorite author?

Stephen King!

He scares the pants off of me! :P

Favorite TV guilty pleasure?

A guilty one? Spongebob Squarepants. I should feel bad about it, but I really don't. It makes me smile.



LOL I'm a Spongebob fan too! 

Favorite Action Hero?

That is a tricky one! I LOVED the X-men cartoons when I was a child, as well as Spiderman. Gun to my head, I would have to choose Gambit.


Either/ or Lightening round!

Are you a dog person or a cat person?
A dog person.
Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream?
Vanilla ice cream.

Fruits or Veggies?
Aww! Can't I choose both? I will say fruit, because I have to.

Coke or Pepsi?
Pepsi.

Soda or Pop?
I don't know the difference. It's all 'fizzy juice' here.

Oh! I like it!!! :D

Sweet or Sour?
Sweet.


Pick at least one :D
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have 3 things with you, what or who would they be?

I have ten pets! HOW CAN I CHOOSE?! Haha! I would probably choose my boyfriend as he makes me laugh and would stop me from going insane and my 3DS and Kindle to pass the time. Or perhaps I should have said food and drink? Or maybe a tent...

If you were stranded on a different planet, what planet would it be, what 3 things would you want with you and what 2 people would you hope got stranded with you?

Does it have to be a real planet? Or can it be a made up one? Hmm...If it was a planet with intelligent lifeforms I would make a few alien friends! I would hope someone like Stephen King would be there with me. He seems like he would know what he was doing. And Morgan Freeman. If the aliens got violent he would just have to speak and they would settle down. The three things I would take would be a sandwich, juice and some fruit. This is because when I told my Mam I was going to be doing 12 hour shifts at my job she told me to bring these things and it made me giggle. So I always make sure if I am going out for a while I will bring a wee sandwich for lunch. Maybe something like a baseball bat would be good as well. Just in case Morgan Freeman's voice doesn't work. Not like that would ever happen!


If you traveled to an alternate universe, whose universe would it be? What would you do there?
Can I choose Middle Earth? I would visit Tom Bombadil and never leave. Oh! And I would visit the shire and eat all their fruit! And steal an elf's tiara! And probably slay a few orcs just to say I did it.










If you traveled back in time, what time period would you want to visit most? Who would you hope to meet?

I know he isn't real (or is he?) but I would want to travel back in time and meet Lestat, the vampire. I would stare at him while hoping he doesn't drink my blood. He is my vampire idol.


The Important stuff!

Any advice for aspiring authors?

Never give up on your dream! If you want something bad enough it will happen!

Where can we stalk… I mean find you?(Links baby!)

Here are my links, my honey:

Twitter https://www.twitter.com/Danielle_Farman

Where can we buy your books?

From Amazon! Available as an ebook, and soon to be available in paperback!