No More Lies



Smashwords bookcover



I did it!!!

I self-published a book.

I am so pleased the final product looks good. To start I printed their Formatting Guide, read it once to highlight the important items, practiced on a draft file.

When I was convinced I finally understood the requirements, and I had my favorite picture transformed into a bookcover--no small job here-- I tackled the real file after making a copy. Did I say that every few minutes I called my DH for help?

The first time I uploaded on Smashwords, it told me something was wrong. I had to go back and fix it, and re-upload. Then a friend told me I had an extra word in the blurb. Again fix and re-upload.

Then the bookcover I spent so much time preparing was too small, although I used the dimensions they gave me. So I had to buy a bigger picture and start all over modifying and preparing the picture. Then they said I had to ask for an ISBN and assign a price. Don't forget to add the corresponding tags that will attract readers. Finally my reborn book was up on Smashwords to stay. Now they need to check it before putting it in their catalog.




Amazon Kindle bookcover

 Then came the Amazon Kindle hassle. Formatting was a little different. Also the bookcover didn't work because it has white border and blends in the white background of the page. So I had to figure how to frame it in a different color. Later I discovered the bookcover that goes on the site is of a different size than the one that goes with the book file. Again more work. It's supposed to appear on the site tomorrow or in a few days.

To be honest, it was an interesting education and an eye-opener. Now I understand why it takes so much time to our publishers to get the books published, if they have to go through all that work for every book!

I still have to see if it's worth it or not. I personally wouldn't hesitate to buy a book at $0.99, especially one that was an EPIC award finalist, but you never know.

This book received fantastic reviews and contests awards in its previous life. I still haven't decided whether to add them or not.

CONTESTS: First Place: Central Ohio Ignite the Flame Contest. Second Place: Heart of Denver, The Molly Contest. Third Place: FTHRW Golden Gateway.

Night Owl Romance ~ Top Pick
[Prescription for Trust] [NO MORE LIES] was a fantastic read. I enjoyed the slow relationship between Olivia and Luc and how he was so caring toward Melissa and Olivia’s family. The plot was also very well thought out and the pacing on target. The wonderful healing that took place in this book also made it a very sweet read.

Got Romance! ~ 4.5 Diamonds
Mona Risk writes a charming story. Keeping the reader entertained with the twists and turns in the plot. With great characters like Luc and Olivia the reader will enjoy the world that she has built. Luc is a wonderful Hero with a great sense of fairness and loyalty and Olivia is an intelligent and wonderful heroine. The secondary characters like Olivia’s mother and daughter are just as pleasant. The emotional ride that these characters take is a hard one but worth it.

The Long And The Short Reviews~.4.5 Books. Nominated for Best Book of The Week.
[Prescription for Trust] [NO MORE LIES], is full of emotion, suspense, intrigue, good intentions and determination, depending on which character POV you are looking from. Mona Risk’s writing sweeps you into the story from the first page, and keeps you turning the pages. When you have read this one, I’m sure you’ll add the next three to your wish list.

Readers Favorite~ 5 Hearts 2010 Best Contemporary Romance.
This is the first book of the Doctors Orders Series by Mona Risk. If the rest of the books in this string is of this caliber, MS Risk will find herself with a very successful series on her hands.

Happy Ever After~ By "Kris M. McConville" (Scotia) - Beautiful love story about second chances, April 14, 2011

Mona Risk writes a beautiful love story about second chances and being afraid to take a leap of faith. Fans of Mona Risk will not be disappointed with her latest book, [Prescription of Trust] [NO MORE LIES]. It is a fast paced book that you just can't put down until the end.
  Will Olivia give Luc and herself a chance at happiness or will she slam the door in Luc's face once again in order to protect Melissa? Will Olivia trust Luc enough to help her face her demons and tell Melissa the truth?
  It is a wonderfully written book about true love and the rarity of second chances. I would prescribe that anyone wanting a lighthearted fast-paced love story should read this book.

I'll let you know in a few months if I prefer Self-pub at $0.99/ ebook or a conventional publisher at $6.99/ebook.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

What Type of Vehicles Do Your Favorite Characters Drive?

The chauffeur, Parker, is my favorite character in the movie Thunderbirds. I love the fancy pink Ford-designed car he drives. Owned by Lady Penelope, the car gives us insight into her character. The same can be true about vehicles in books.

What does the vehicle used by a character in a book tell us about the character's personality or situation, or mood of the story?

In this post, I'm using the terms vehicle and drive loosely, meaning personal mode of transportation.

In a fantasy novel, the heroine might fly high above the village on a horse with wings such as Pegasus or on a dragon's scaly back to reach a distant land. As the reader is seduced into the story, they develop a fondness for the woman because she overcomes her fear of flying to save her people and she develops a magical bond with the animal.

Another character might get from point-A to point-B in an historically based story on a velocipede—an early bicycle where the rider uses his feet to propel himself. The reader is drawn to him because of his simplistic life. Maybe as a counterpoint, the villain rides in a fancy carriage with a ducal crest, flaunting his noble lineage. The sexy hero drives a fast and dangerous phaeton pulled by a matched pair of horses from the finest breeding stable, displaying his skill and daring in front of the heroine.

In a gothic paranormal, a vampire travels on the wings of a large hawk over a castle, setting a dark mood.

With a steampunk novel, a character might be the pirate captain of a steam-powered airship whose honor is evident in the way he respects the laws of the sky. Or a wealthy merchant traveling in a private luxury boxcar on a steam train who first appears frivolous until he removes his cape and the reader learns the reason he desires to travel alone—his mechanical prosthesis arm would cause him to be shunned.

The character of a contemporary might drive a pimped-out hearse to hint at his contrarian's traits or a top of the line black sedan with tinted windows to declare his wealth. Whereas the tattooed hero from an urban fantasy cruises the city on an awesome crotch rocket to fuel his bad boy image.

What about futuristic vehicles? I'm sure you can think of some cool space vehicles that say something about the character(s) that flies them.


In my uncontracted Garden Gate series, Finn appears as a minor character in the first book. He is the CEO of a business consulting company who loves history and genealogy and on weekends participates in Scottish reenactments. As a sign of his wealth and status, he drives a super truck. That is, until a NYC magazine names him the Best Catch in Manhattan and marriage seeking woman stalk him.

His cousin calls him out on his choice of vehicle as a means of flaunting his wealth. As the hero of the second book, he drives an old beater pickup truck to keep a low profile. But when the Fae have their way, Finn is tossed into the past with nothing but his kilt and the tunic on his back. Oh yeah, and a very special sword. He's more than happy to have a borrowed horse as his mode of transportation.

Read excerpts from the Garden Gate series at DawnMarieHamilton.com

I modified this article from one I posted at Castles & Guns in July. At the time, Author Theresa Meyers commented: "My latest Vampire hero drives a Bugatti Veyron, sang noir edition. One of the fastest supercars around (courtesy of watching BBC's Top Gear). When I found out the sang noir edition (black blood - which is what my vampires have) could be ordered with a crimson red interior, I knew it was the car for him." Doesn't that sound sexy?

Leave a comment and share with us the vehicles your favorite characters drive.

Thanks for stopping by. I expect to be off-grid for a few days and will respond to comments when I have access to the internet again. Have a great weekend!

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Reminder: Join the fun! The Night Owl Reviews Full Moon Halloween Web Hunt continues through October 31. Details here. Win great prizes!

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Dawn Marie Hamilton writes Scottish inspired time travel romance with fantasy and paranormal elements. http://www.dawnmariehamilton.com/ You can also visit Dawn Marie at Castles & Guns on Tuesday October 11 & 25. Twitter: @DawnM_Hamilton

Research: Scottish American Style

I didn't have an opportunity to go to Scotland before writing my Scottish inspired fantasy time-travel series—Garden Gate. I read dozens of books and ran internet searches on the clan, time period and setting. I also traveled to North Carolina and attended the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering O' Scottish Clans where the stories begin.

To immerse myself in the culture of my characters, I continue to attend Scottish gatherings in the US. If you're on the East Coast and so inclined here are a couple of upcoming events you might consider attending:

New Hampshire Highland Games on September 16, 17 & 18 at Loon Mountain, Lincoln, NH.
Maryland Renaissance Festival with guest Albannach from Scotland on September 24 & 25 near Annapolis, MD.
Virginia Celtic Gathering & Highland Games on September 30 & October 1 at Rockahock near Williamsburg, VA.
Stone Mountain Highland Games on October 14, 15 &16 at Stone Mountain Park, GA

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Dawn Marie Hamilton writes Scottish inspired fantasy and paranormal romance. You can also visit Dawn Marie at Castles and Guns on Tuesday September 13 & 27. Twitter: @DawnM_Hamilton

Shape-shifters in Mythology

Today shape-shifters, werewolves, and others are a big hit in romances. While doing intensive research for my paranormal fantasy set in mythological Egypt, I discovered that the concept of shape shifters is as old as the world and often associated with Romance.

In Greek Mythology, the god of gods, Zeus seduced many pretty women, but he had to switch to bull or shift his lovers to swan, or heifer, or other animals to protect her from his jealous wife Hera.

In the Egyptian Mythology, the gods use their shape-shifting power to perform their duties, attack enemies or defend followers. Let me introduce to some of the shape-shifter gods who play a direct role in my paranormal fantasy: OSIRIS’ MISSING PART, based on the myth of Isis and Osiris.

Isis was the goddess of family and health, and the most beautiful goddess in the pantheon. Her crown was decorated with the horns of a cow, encasing a solar disk between the horns. Sometimes she was represented as a cow, or a woman with a cow's head. Isis, wanted a son and spent years hoping that the handsome Osiris would stop flirting and propose to her.

Osiris, the god of knowledge, work and agriculture, was probably the only Egyptian god who never shifted to another form. His subjects adored him because of his kindness. With his Atef cone over his hand, his scepter and a key of life in his hands, he was so handsome that women and goddesses alike fell in love with him.

Seth, Osiris’ hateful brother, threw iniquities on the Egyptian people who called him god of storm and darkness. Seth usually wore a red mantle to match his red hair and eyes. Because of him, Egyptians considered the bright red to be a color of evil. Osiris’ brother was often represented with a human body and jackal’s head. He could switch to a black pig or hippopotamus, or even to a crocodile or a shark, as when he tried to capture Isis underwater in the Red Sea.

Nephtys, Seth’s wife, is a protective goddess who symbolizes the death experience. In the funerary role, Nephthys often was depicted as a bird of prey called a kite, or as a woman with falcon wings, usually outstretched as a symbol of protection. Nephthys' association with the kite or the Egyptian hawk (and its piercing, mournful cries) evidently reminded the ancients of the lamentations usually offered for the dead by wailing women.

 Anubis, believed to be the son of Nephthys and Seth, was associated with the mummification and protection of the dead for their journey into the Afterlife. He was usually portrayed as a half human, half jackal, or in full jackal form wearing a ribbon and holding a flail in the crook of its arm.

Nut, mother of Isis, was the goddess of the sky. She spent hours bending over the earth or reading the star constellations to decipher the future and wisely explain the world plans.

Sobeck, the crocodile god, protected the justified dead in the netherworld, restoring their sight and reviving their senses, but he often ate their insides before mummifying their bodies. Because of his ferocity, he was considered to be the patron of the army.

Everyone hated the ferocious Kismet, also called Sekhmet. The goddess of destruction had a statuesque woman body and a lioness head adorned with the solar disc and a cobra. Her hatchet man, Nekhoret the vulture, helped her in her attacks.

Min, the gloating dwarf who loved to exhibit his long erect penis and instruct young men on improved performance, was the god of the desert. Osiris didn’t like him as he tried to court Isis. Min often claimed that his member beat all others in length.

Horus is the son of Osiris and Isis. His favorite shape is a human body with a falcon head bearing an orange sun disk wrapped with a golden cobra serpent. Ancient Egyptians believed that the Sun was his right eye and the Moon his left eye.

OSIRIS’ MISSING PART

When the evil god, Seth, killed his brother, Osiris, cut him into fourteen pieces and spread them over Egypt, Isis, goddess of family, found and reassembled thirteen body parts. She used a human substitute to replace the fourteenth missing part, his male organ, where his godly power is stored.

Love blooms between the charming Osiris and Isis as they fight evil gods and search for the missing member, but can Isis forgive the sins of his past and their unexpected consequences?

This book is dedicated to the many friends, readers and fans who love Ancient Egypt, a fabulous civilization, shrouded in mystery, glamour and mysticism.

At Ellora’s Cave Blush $5.24: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9394-osiris-missing-part.aspx

What readers and reviewers say about OSIRIS’ MISSING PART

1-By H. M. Taylor "silvarie" - 5 stars

If you are looking for something a little different you have found it! Full of adventure, romance and humor this is a great holiday read. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews.

2-A NIGHT OWL REVIEWS BOOK REVIEW 4 stars

Mona Risk draws upon Egypt and the mythology of the Egyptian gods. Join her for the adventure as she takes you on a trip into the past and into an enjoyable realm. I enjoyed this tale and look forward to more Mona Risk titles.

3-By Steph "Author of "The Giving Meadow, 5 stars

Risk crafts an exotic adventure filled with supernatural happenings, greed, betrayal, and love. The novel is sophisticated for romance readers with love scenes that are graphic, sensual, and tasteful. Risk's imagination shines against the lush backdrop of ancient Egypt. "Osiris' Missing Part" is a wonderful escape to another time and place that proves love does conquer all.