ECHOES AT DAWN WON THIRD PLACE AT YOU GOTTA READ REVIEWS VIDEO CONTEST

 THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOTED FOR ECHOES AT DAWN'S VIDEO AT YOU GOTTA READ REVIEWS VIDEO CONTEST!  IT WON THIRD PLACE!


MY FRIEND DEENA REMIEL WON SECOND PLACE FOR HER VIDEO FOR RELIC! SUPER CONGRATS TO DEENA!

http://yougottaread.com/category/video-contest/

FLIRTING WITH LOVE: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ROMANCE BLOG HOP TOUR (FEB 24-26)

TOUR RULES!


1) HAVE FUN!!!


2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!


3) THIS TOUR STARTS: Friday, February 24th
THIS TOUR ENDS: Sunday, February 26, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
***Winners will be drawn and posted Monday, February 27th! ***


4) MEET AND MINGLE WITH ALL THE AUTHORS & BOOK PAGES! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY BLOG CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!!


5) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!


6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? WHOO! HOO!! HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!


***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***




February is the month for celebrting love!  Even thought Valentine's Day is over,  the message it carries stays with us long after it's gone. 




ROMANCE IS ALL AROUND US!




SENSATIONAL SUNSETS

  FLOWERS OF LOVE

NIGHTS OF PASSION

CLASSIC ROMANCE

Echoes at Dawn is available in print.  It's a story for those of you who enjoy reading about in the magic of love!  
 
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE;

http://cosproductions.com/videos/view/echoes_at_dawn

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

COMMENT TO BE ENTERED FOR A PRINT COPY OF ECHOES AT DAWN, AND  THREE TRUE ROSE SCENTED, VOTIVE YANKEE CANDLES.


MORE CHANCES.


FOLLOW MY BLOG TOP RIGHT.


FIND ME HERE:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000735541011

https://twitter.com/#!/Kathleenwrites

 http://kathleenanngallagher.net/Home.html

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.

CLICK TO HOP TO NEXT BLOG

LOVE TO HAVE YOUR VOTE FOR ENTRY # 5, ECHOES AT DAWN AT YOU GOTTA READ REVIEWS VIDEO CONTEST

POLLS ARE OPEN FOR VOTING!  ECHOES AT DAWN IS ENTERED IN YOU GOTTA READ VIDEOS.  STOP BY TO VOTE TODAY!  I APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT! 





ECHOES AT DAWN IS ENTRY # 5. 


WATCH VIDEO HERE!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjgI7Isi8tU

VOTE HERE! http://yougottaread.com/category/video-contest/

Thank you everyone!

  

Pimpin' Reads: Welcome Deena Remiel and Relic

Pimpin' Reads: Welcome Deena Remiel and Relic: It’s not everyday I get to sit and talk with a powerful Brethren such as Raphael, so when he said he was available today I couldn’t pass up ...

A VALENTINE TREAT & GUEST POST BY AUTHOR ANNE HOLLY

A Valentine’s Day Treat

Aside from all the love notes and such, my favourite thing about Valentine’s Day has to be the indulgence in sweet treats. Coming a month and a half after Christmas, which gives us plenty of time to get over our last major sugar shock, it seems the holiday is made for chocolate.

Today, I wanted to share with you one of my favourite, richest, most indulgent recipes…

Turtles Cheesecake:

Crust:

•  1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
•  1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
•  1/4 cup salted butter, melted
•  2 tbsp granulated sugar

Filling:
•  2 pkgs light cream cheese, softened
•  1/2 cup granulated sugar
•  1 tbsp vanilla
•  2 eggs; - 2 tbsp flour
•  3/4 cup evaporated milk
•  1/2 cup sour cream
•  14 Nestle Turtles, chopped

Stir together the graham crackers crumbs, pecans, butter and sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Press into bottom and up sides of 9-inch (23cm) springform pan. Bake in 300F (150C) oven for 12 minutes or until golden and firm. Refrigerate until chilled.

In large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the flour. Gradually beat in the evaporated milk and sour cream. Stir in the chopped Turtles and pour over prepared crust. Bake in 300F (150C) oven for 25 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until edge is set and centre jiggles slightly. Let cool in pan on rack to room temperature. Run small paring knife around edge of pan and remove pan side. 

Share with someone special and enjoy!

Plus, I’d love to share with you a glimpse of my new Valentine’s Day erotic romantic-comedy, V-Day…

It all started with a serenade…

A family like Daniel’s and the solitary pursuit of musical excellence is enough to make a young man crazy. No wonder all Daniel Vouks dreams of is getting away. He knows his violin will take him places in life, but the only place he really wants to be is next door. He’s been in love with his neighbor since he was fourteen, but can he ever make her see him as more than just a lovesick kid?

V-Day is the story of a Valentine's Day weekend Daniel fears he may regret, but will never, ever forget.

Excerpt:

Daniel retreated to the music room, thankful he didn’t have a class or a practice scheduled on campus today. He didn’t even have to give any lessons until next week. The weather really didn’t look all that welcoming and he was grateful he could huddle inside as his family bustled off to their various destinations. After school, his parents would be off for the weekend, dropping his sister and her flotilla of luggage off at Kayley’s so the girls could get ready to go to the dance together, which meant leaving Daniel officially on his own until at least Sunday afternoon. Glorious.

Allowing the noise of their departures to roll off him as he sat absently at the piano, he plucked out a few strains and watched the sun glint off the fresh snow in the backyard. It was really beautiful when you could view it from a cozy place.

Blah! Another Valentine’s Day. His nineteenth one as a single guy. And, he thought ruefully, his nineteenth year as a confirmed virgin.

Jesus, even his baby sister had more going on than he did. Selby, his girlfriend in tenth grade, had been about as close to any action as he’d ever gotten. Her pathological fear of pregnancy made it absolutely essential that he keep his pants on at all times. Other than that, any girl he’d ever liked had tossed him into the “friend” basket and never bothered to reassess him.

Kelly, his best friend, did that. After Daniel followed the cute redheaded soprano around for weeks like a puppy, she finally took pity on him and explained he was simply too nice to attract her. After that, they formed an easy relationship through which both had a pal, and a no-fuss “emergency date” when necessary.

Flipping open his phone, he hit Kelly’s number.

“This better be good,” she grumbled after the fifth ring.

“Hey early riser,” he chuckled.

“Well, if I had my mom bringing me my morning coffee in bed…”

“Okay, truce,” Daniel winced. “And my mom doesn’t let me drink coffee.”

“Why not? Afraid it'll stunt your growth, stretch?” Kelly asked with a crystal clear laugh despite having just woken up.

“Something like that,” he said, flecking a flower petal off the top of the piano. “Listen…You’re probably…I dunno…busy tonight, right?”

“Are you trying again, Danny?” she groaned.

“Well, no. I just thought if you weren’t, maybe we could do something.”

“I have a date.”

“Right,” he forced a chuckle. “Yeah, I figured you would.” He straightened in his chair. “Being Valentine’s and all. No problem, just wanted to check.”

“Ahhh, Danny,” she sighed. “What about you?”

“I got a hot date all weekend,” he said over a grimace. “With that friggin’ tango, I guess.”

“Danny, do yourself a favor,” she said firmly. “Go get yourself laid. I told you that’s what’s missing from your tango.”

“Well then,” he quipped. “Support the arts and break your date. I can be there in an hour.”

“Har har har,” she said and then laughed for real. “Seriously, go fall for someone. Preferably someone who will fall for you back.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “For you, I'll try my best.”

Daniel hung up and pounded out a few more notes on the keyboard in front of him, contemplating Kelly’s method music theory that said you could only sing or play what you’d experienced. If that were the case, his tango would remain a virginal one if his luck so far was any indication.

*

For more information about my Valentine’s Day erotic romantic comedy, V-Day, please see my holiday stories website: http://annehollyholiday.webs.com/valentinesdaytales.htm

*

Anne Holly is a Canadian writer of romance and erotic-romance, as well as a mother and teacher. You may visit Anne at her blog or website, or find her on GoodReads, Facebook and Twitter  (@anneholly2010). Sign up for her newsletter here. Email: anneholly2010@gmail.com.

GUEST APPEARANCE & GIVEAWAY WITH MAUREEN O. BETITA

I'm excited to have Maureen O. Betita as my special guest at Kathleen's Place to Reflect.  She is my friend and fellow Decadent Publishing author. Her third book in The Kraken's Caribbean,The Pirate Circus, will be released Friday Feb. 4.  I'm giving her the floor today to talk about World Building. Her ability to write books with characters who live in places we could only dream of, continues to fascinate me. 


Welcome, Maureen!

How to Build a World

I love to build worlds. I can’t say I’m an expert at it, but I love to play the great creator and dally with this or that. I’m not big on rules but since the majority of my world building starts in a dream, I tend to let the rules settle in as I meander.

For example, the world of the Kraken’s Caribbean, is partly the result of chatting at a blog I’m part of, The Romance Writers Revenge and partly came from my back to back to back to back reading of every Nightside novel by Simon R. Green. That is a man who knows how to spin a tale and create convoluted worlds that dance on the head of a pin - or pen, if you would.

The Revenge blog models itself as the writer’s version of Pirates of the Caribbean and the crew are all writers. After numerous discussions regarding historical accuracy in writing, flying by the seat of your pants, a list of why I shouldn’t do this or that and can’t do something else…I had to fire back. And sat down to write a story set in a Caribbean with a different set of rules, totally turning my back on historical accuracy of any sort.

Blending in the total everything and the kitchen sink, shower, tub and outdoor faucets technique from Nightside I came up with the Kraken’s Caribbean. He’s in charge, he’s the guardian…he may not be a he, I haven’t decided yet…

That’s pretty much the way I world build. I set rules as I go, almost nothing beforehand. I don’t like to limit my imagination.  I did come up with a few fairly iron-clad rules. Inhabitants born to the Kraken’s Caribbean can’t travel to other worlds or times. Though technology can travel through the portals, weapons of mass destruction can’t. (No machine guns, ray guns, explosives – though I do make one exception eventually.)

So, how did I build this world? Flying blind and wielding a determination to have fun. I gave the world portals because I love tossing modern terminology and concepts into the past, which I have fun with in The Kraken’s Mirror. I needed a reason for the technology to work so I answer all of that in the second book, The Chameleon Goggles. I needed a rational for why the place hadn’t been overrun by machine gun hauling travelers, or space aliens with ray guns…so I made the Kraken the guardian of the portals and of the Caribbean in general and he says no advanced weapons. He/she is also a romantic.

I also wanted to acknowledge that the world isn’t defined by Tortuga standards, so in The Pirate Circus, available on February 3^rd, the main conflict is more one of preconceptions of Old World vs. New World. Not a lot of otherworld stuff in the third book! But plenty of adventure, an evil circus ringleader and a few younger characters who can’t seem to stay out of trouble! (No, this is not YA!)

This is the norm. I decide what I want to include and then establish the rules as I go. Or decide to have no rules.

The Kraken’s Caribbean, where anything can happen. And usually does!

I’m Maureen O. Betita and I write adventure for the experienced individual. Seasoning everything I write with life and pushing it to the edge. I can be contacted through my website, www.maureenobetita.com, where you can sign up for my newsletter. I also blog regularly at www.romancewritersrevenge as 2^nd Chance and I’m often at A Daily Dose of Decadence http://decadentpublishing.blogspot.com/. Come find me on Facebook as Maureen O. Betita Author or on Twitter.

Questions, anyone? Come on! Post a question, or an observation…include your e-mail and I’ll chose one comment to receive a copy of The Pirate Circus!