CRUISING by Rolynn Anderson

You'll be reading this blog entry when I'm on my way through Rocky Pass and El Capitan in Southwest Alaska, two tricky passages we'll traverse for the first time on our way to Dixon Entrance.  Not only are these routes serpentine and narrow, but they are shallow and we'll need to watch out for strong currents in some places.  So you might ask why we don't take a less tricky route on our way south.  Good question.  One reason is this is a shorter 'road' to Dixon Entrance.  Better: other boaters tell us the scenery is gorgeous.  My husband would add this reason: this is a challenge for us and a new experience.

We've enjoyed returning to familiar places on this, our last trip to Alaska by boat, but we've taken pleasure in new experiences as well.  Take a look at our journey in our blog: http://steveandrolynn.blogspot.com/  and follow our 'bread crumbs' on our SPOT GPS (you'll find the site on our blog).

Happy summer to you all.  Forgive me if I don't respond to comments...I won't have access to the internet for all of July.  Rolynn

SHOUT OUT TO IND’TALE MAGAZINE by Rolynn Anderson

“Everything stays in Las Vegas,” except for this important ‘tale.’ Before I leave glittery LV, I have vital information to share with the world of Indie writers.  InD’Tale Magazine, a sponsor of the 1^st Annual Romance Novel Convention in Las Vegas (August 7-11), is changing the world for those of us self-pubbing or contracted with small presses!

TJ Mackay, dynamic founder of the magazine, realized more than a year ago that Indie writers needed a voice, a review site and a source for information.  In one year, working out of her home in Santa Barbara, California, she has completed the herculean task of delivering a fabulous magazine, leading her staff to write thousands of professional reviews, and co-sponsoring the RomNovCon.  On August 9^th, she announced the winners of the very first RONÉ awards for authors of novels and novellas, books that earned four or five stars as well the interest of the public, then were judged further by people in the writing profession.  Winners of Best Covers for 2012 also earned recognition from InD’Tale.

The energy and optimism of TJ Mackay and her staff is something to behold, giving us all hope that our efforts as Indie writers will earn the respect of readers all over the country.  Take a look at the site: http://www.indtale.com  Consider sending your book to be reviewed by their able crew. 

Viva Las Vegas and InD’Tale!

Here's FADEOUT, which was runner-up in the thriller/suspense category for  the RONÉ.  Yahoo!  Check out other details on http://www.rolynnanderson.com

Jan Solvang has spent her life avoiding conflict and commitment. Six months ago, she left a marriage proposal and a job in Seattle to care for her dying mother. Now she's stuck with her mother's California house and her mother's dog, filling her mother's shoes as a memorial planner with her estranged father.

Roman Keller thrives on conflict, writing documentaries that reveal the flaws of the famous. Jan’s challenge is to help him write a positive eulogy for a grandfather he disliked, but Roman is more interested in her other client: a powerful attorney with a dark past his family wants buried with him. If Jan stands behind the family and Roman goes for the exposé, who’s in danger and who wins?

The tension between them pulls tighter as each discovers the other is keeping secrets.  But if they tell the truth, will they destroy any chance for love?  

Fear and Emotion

In a thriller, or even in a romantic suspense, fear is an essential emotion. The protagonists are exposed to unusual scary situations. As a result, they are thrown out of their comfort zone into traumatic experiences. We can’t expect them to act naturally. Fear may be one of the important emotions they feel, either because they are facing an enemy determined to attack them or because the enemy wants to hurt someone dear to them. Even the macho hero is exposed to fear as he tries to protect his beloved heroine, or a child, or a defenseless person threatened by evil.

I’m often thrown out by characters so tough they can fly through horrible situations without blinking an eye.

In my new book, NEIGHBORS AND MORE, a romantic suspense, available at Amazon, http://tinyurl.com/96bjqcm   the heroine Alexa is trying hard to be strong in the face of adversity, crime, and a baffling situation that gets more complicated by the hour. Every time she copes with a problem, she deals with her emotions and promises herself she won’t let anything affects her from now on, until a new crisis challenges her, until she’s pushed to the limit of endurance.

Of course, Dante is at her side, playing his hero part.

As writers, we strive to convey those feelings of suspense, fear, and expectation to the reader.  

As readers, we love to bite our nails, feel our pulses racing as we study the scene of the crime, analyze the details, and try to guess who’s done it.

Have you ever been exposed to fear? Real fear?

I did when an intruder entered my house years ago, stole the stereo, my children’s piggybank, and my gold bracelets. When I heard from my then three-year old daughter that she saw a nice man with a big heavy suitcase in our fenced backyard and he patted her on the head, I almost collapsed. But this story is for another time.

 

NEIGHBORS and MORE: Life in a high rise, 300 neighbors & a man dead in a Jacuzzi.

"Neighbors and More was a fun #sexy read that kept me guessing until the end." D. Johnson. #romance, #suspense, http://tinyurl.com/96bjqcm

 NEIGHBORS and MORE: Can she count on her dear neighbors, including Dante, for help? #romance, #suspense, http://tinyurl.com/96bjqcm

 

A BOOKSTORE ON THE BANKS OF THE SEINE by Vonnie Davis

There’s a delightful bookstore in Paris called Shakespeare and Company. It sits on the Left Bank, within steps of the Seine and in view of the Notre Dame Cathedral. When we were in Paris, Calvin insisted I had to see it. He claimed it was the most unusual bookstore in the City of Light. I wasn’t prepared for the maze of narrow hallways leading to more alcoves of dust-covered books.

This Paris institution has an interesting background. Shakespeare and Co. was first opened at another location by Sylvia Beach, an American expatriate, in 1918. During the 1920’s, it was the gathering place for writers of the “Lost Generation” -- Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray and Ezra Pound. During this period, the store was the epicenter of Anglo-American literary culture and modernism in Paris. It is featured in Woody Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris.”

 

When the Nazis occupied the city, the store was closed down and never re-opened until another American, George Whitman, opened a bookstore in 1951 in a building that was once a monastary. Later he renamed his English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company in tribute to Sylvia Beach. This store became a focal point for literary culture in bohemian Paris.

 

Now here’s where it gets really interesting to me. Whitman, in his youth, had hiked his way through Central America and Europe. He was deeply touched by the generosity of citizens who opened their humble homes to him and shared all they had. This universal-family-ideology stuck with him and, as a result, he opened his bookstore to starving artists and writers. The bookstore includes sleeping facilities, with 13 beds, and Whitman claimed as many as 40,000 people have slept in the shop over the years. His only requirements were that his guests, whom he called “tumbleweeds”, read, work at their art/writing and help out in the bookstore for two hours a day.

 

A delightful book, Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare and Co. by Jeremy Mercer, tells of a writer’s month living in the famed bookstore. Imagine! Free room and board in Paris. Granted one had little privacy. Bathroom privileges were on a scheduled basis. You had to be up and moving about when the store opened. But this is Paris, y’all!

 

Here’s the book’s description that reinforces what I’m sharing about the place. “Wandering through Paris's Left Bank one day, poor and unemployed, Canadian reporter Jeremy Mercer ducked into a little bookstore called Shakespeare & Co. Mercer bought a book, and the staff invited him up for tea. Within weeks, he was living above the store, working for the proprietor, George Whitman, patron saint of the city's down-and-out writers, and immersing himself in the love affairs and low-down watering holes of the shop's makeshift staff. Time Was Soft There is the story of a journey down a literary rabbit hole in the shadow of Notre Dame, to a place where a hidden bohemia still thrives.”

 

Regular activities that occur in the bookshop are Sunday tea, poetry readings and writers’ meetings. George Whitman died there at the age of 98, nearly a year ago. His daughter, Sylvia Beach Whitman, now runs the shop and continues to allow young writers to live and work in the store.

 

 

So, of course, I just had to include a scene at Shakespeare and Company in my recently released romantic suspense. AND TO ONE LUCKY COMMENTER, I'M GIVING AWAY A PDF COPY OF MONA LISA'S ROOM--Make sure you leave your email address in your comments. ~ ~ ~ To introduce my excerpt, I must tell you that because my heroine Alyson Moore has unwittingly foiled a terrorist’s bombing attempt, she’s been placed under the protective custody of French agent, Niko Reynard. They’ve argued outside Shakespeare and Company and are now inside the store. Niko’s looking for a little gift as a making-up gesture to his charge, who is pretty upset with him…

 

“Where are you from?” Niko detected an Aussie accent.

“Australia. Brisbane. I’m here to experience Paris, study art and do a bit of poetry writin’.” Eddie’s eyes were scanning the shelves. “Ah, here we go, mate.” He climbed a stepstool to reach what he was after. Turning, he leaned down to hand the two books to Niko.

“Thanks. Sketches of Parisian Rooftops and Sketches of Gardens of Paris.” He quickly scanned through the pages. Aly would love these.

Eddie hailed a greeting at two men, dressed in suits, when they entered and ambled through the narrow store, quietly talking as they climbed the few wooden steps to the next section.

Niko briefly glanced at them before flipping the books over to check the prices. “I’ll take all three.” He waited for the total and paid his bill. “Wrap them please so my lady friend can’t see them. They’re a surprise.”

“Oh, lucky her. I just love…”

Suddenly, screams followed by loud thumping and books falling filled the bookstore. Niko sprinted in the direction of the high-pitched shrieking, gun in hand. He bounded up the steps and rounded the corner. “Aly! Aly! What the hell.”

He skidded to a halt. One of the well-dressed men he saw entering the store earlier was on the floor, books covering most of his body. His companion was staggering, holding his hands over his eye and screaming like a banshee as blood ran down his face.

In the corner stood a pale and trembling Aly, her frightened blue eyes dominated her face. “They…they grabbed me! Said they’d kill me if I resisted. I…I karate kicked them.” She swallowed, obviously trying to gain control. “Kung…kung-fooed the hell out of them, too. And…and…”—she pointed to the screaming man still on his feet—“I think I poked his eye out with one of my stilettos.”

Niko ran a hand down his face, keeping it over his mouth to hide the smile. What a piece of work. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to hug her. And damned if he didn’t want to shake the daylights out of her for stepping out of his sight. Hadn’t he told her to stay with him?

“You okay?” Niko’s gaze swept over her, looking for injuries. He fought the urge to pull her to him and embrace her until her trembling stopped. Frankly, if he were honest, his nerves weren’t the greatest right this moment, either. When he heard her scream earlier, cold fear did a free-fall straight through his system.

Some professional he was. While buying books, Aly had to defend herself. His gaze took in the shambles. By the looks of things, hell if she hadn’t done a damn fine job. “Answer me! Did one of these bastards hurt you? Are you okay?”

“I…I gotta pee.” She was shaking violently. No doubt going into shock. Today’s events finally took their toll.

“I’ll show her to the dunny,” came the Aussie accent behind him. “Ain’t no wonder she’s gotta use the loo. The woman beat the bullocks out of the blokes, she did. Gobsmacked ’em, I’ll wager. Shall I call the police or will you?”

“I am the police. Counterterrorism unit.”

View the Book Trailer: http://bit.ly/MonaTrailer

BUY LINKS:

THE WILD ROSE PRESS (digital) -- http://bit.ly/MonaLisaDigital

THE WILD ROSE PRESS (paperback) -- http://bit.ly/MonaLisasRoom

AMAZON (paperback) -- http://amzn.to/QQZGyD

AMAZON (eBook) -- http://bit.ly/MonaLisasRoomeBook

I'm on the Journey to Promotion Overload -- by Vonnie Davis

I have three releases within twenty-seven days. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled--thrilled and incredibly lucky--but all the self-promotion ahead gives me pause. I'd sooner be writing. How do you handle the demands of selling yourself? Of pushing your work in a nonpushing way?

TUMBLEWEED LETTERS, part of The Wild Rose Press's Love Letters series released on Wednesday. In the historical Love Letters series, a life-changing letter must arrive within the first three pages of the story.

BLURB:

When rancher and single father Cam McBride finds a letter tucked in a strip of cloth tied to a tumbleweed, he is captivated by the mysterious author. Finding a second tumbleweed letter further pulls him under the lonely writer's spell. He needs a mother for his little boy and a wife to warm his bed. Could this mysterious woman fill his needs?

Sophie Flannigan is alone, scared, and on the run from a rogue Pinkerton agent. She spends her days as a scrub lady at Madame Dora's brothel and her nights writing notes to the four winds. Her life holds little hope until a small boy lays claim to her and his handsome father proposes an advantageous arrangement.

Can these three benefit from a marriage of convenience, or will a determined Pinkerton agent destroy their fragile, newly formed bond?

 

 

On November 9th, my first romantic suspense releases from The Wild Rose Press. MONA LISA'S ROOM is book one of a trilogy involving mahem created by a terrorist group called The Red Hand.

BLURB:
Gwen,

You won't believe this email. I'm sitting in a French safe house, eating caviar and drinking champagne with a handsome government agent, Niko Reynard. He's wearing nothing but silk pajama bottoms and mega doses of sex appeal. I'm in big trouble, little sister. He's kissed me several times and given me a foot massage that nearly caused spontaneous combustion. I'm feeling strangely virginal compared to the sexual prowess this thirty-year-old man exudes.

 

When I came to Paris for a bit of adventure, I never imagined I'd foil a bombing attempt, karate-kick two men, and run from terrorists while wearing a new pair of stilettos. I've met a German musician, a gay poet from Australia, and the most delightful older French woman.

 

Don't worry. I'm safe--the jury's still out on yummy Niko, though. The more champagne I drink, the less reserved I feel. What an unforgettable fortieth birthday!

 

Alyson

 

I also have a short story releasing from Still Moments Publishing on November 27th. A TASTE OF CHOCOLATE kicks off their Matchmaker Series. A short, magical read.

BLURB:

Hope Morningstar has the worst luck with men. One boyfriend wrote her a “Dear John” letter while serving overseas. Her latest romantic interest broke up with her in a text. When a traffic detour puts her in an unfamiliar neighborhood, she stops at Freya’s Coffee Shop where she gets more than directions. She gets another chance at finding love.

 

Declan Fleming, scarred by a cheating ex-wife, has given up searching for love. He’s taken the route of a few other men and engaged the services of Freya, the matchmaker. Still, he’s been waiting for a year and he’s just about given up hope. Then Freya sends him Hope.

 

When feelings of insecurity and trust issues come into play, can finding love stand a chance? Can the magical influence of this matchmaker create a happy ending? After all, finding that one special love often involves a bit of special magic, does it not?

Researching Romantic Suspense

Today is my first blog post here at Voices From the Heart. I am very excited to be a part of such a great group. I look forward to exploring the world of writing, reading and life with all of you and expect to have a lot of fun along the way. Look for me on the 11^th of every month. Now here goes:

Before writing paranormal romance, I wrote romantic suspense. My first novel with Samhain Publishing, Dark Waters, is a sensual romantic suspense set in Puerto Rico. My hero is an ICE agent.

A what agent? ICE? Does he track down ice cubes for a living? No, but you might need some after you read one of the love scenes. ;)

ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At the time I wrote the story most people hadn’t heard of ICE. Nowadays, you can flip on any TV station and hear about them protecting the border, stopping drug traffickers or rescuing illegal border crossers being smuggled into the U.S. in overcrowded, suffocatingly hot truck trailers.

As happens with many writers, I got an idea in my head and wanted to tell Frankie and Rico's story.

But even when I started to write the story I knew very little about ICE.

Research was the key to creating a credible hero and a story that was plausible.

So I had to do a lot of digging. It took time, energy, a lot of web surfing, making phone calls to ICE agents and calling up family members to track down an actual ICE agent.

I got FBI, ATF, TSA, and NYPD detectives, but no ICE agents. I finally had to call the main office in Washington D.C. I did get one special agent in charge but he could only give me the basics--his superior shut down talks for more details. :(

But that was okay. I was hooked and determined to do my homework.

I went to the ICE website. At that time it had limited information as it was so new.

Then I spoke to an FBI agent who was able to clarify small bits of information about the job and some of the things all agents share in common.

Once, I had all my facts, I was able to plug them in here and there into the story to make it more genuine. Now, I didn't use every fact because my story was a love story not an ICE handbook.

As I begin to ponder the next installment (way overdue) for the second in the ICE Files series, I am back to doing the research. This time I want to delve more into the Puerto Rican culture and the way law enforcement is viewed on the island.

I am lucky enough to have family and friends who either grew up in Puerto Rico or visit every year to help me write a more authentic book. I find firsthand information really adds to the flavor of a story and provides a more personal touch.

Also, I am gathering my information via the Internet and books from the library.

Research takes time but is well worth it and in the long run makes for a better book.

I would really love to know, what was the most interesting fact you learned from doing research? Anything shocking, cool or just plain weird?