What to Read Next

I have a problem.

If you’ve read my posts on Happily Ever After Thoughts, you all know that my TBR pile (To Be Read) has overrun my house.

I’m one of those kinds of people that usually has several books going at once – I can put one down, pick up another, and another, then go back to the first book without missing a beat – read a paragraph and I’m right back in the story where I left off. However, I have finished all the books I had in various stages of being read, so here’s my conundrum. I don’t know what to read next!

What am I in the mood for? A historical romance? Horror? Fantasy? Mystery? Something light and fun that will make me giggle in the most inappropriate places and give my poor brain a rest? Something deep and dark that makes me think? Or something that will scare the living daylights out of me and make me not want to close my eyes?

So what are you reading at the moment? Care to suggest a book or two or three?
Happy Reading!

Marie

Husband Support

Today, I’m departing from my usual observations as a reader and writing to you as an author because of an incident that made me think. I had lunch with a writer friend – we talked about our current works in progress, ideas for new novels, problems with story arcs – you know, the usual - when she lamented over the fact that her husband has never read anything she’s ever written.

My first thought was “Oh, you poor thing!” My second? Well hell, girl, neither has mine. I doubt he ever will (except for a few lines over my shoulder when I’m working).

My husband is not a reader. Never has been. The only book he’s ever read (aside from technical manuals and sports periodicals) was the biography of Willie Mosconi, one of the greatest pool players to ever play the game.

Does that mean he doesn’t support the choice I’ve made to write?

No, it does not. It simply means he doesn’t read for pleasure, doesn’t “get” what I find so wonderful about books. He supports my desire to write and encourages me to do so. He bought me my first electric typewriter. He hurts with me when I receive a rejection and feeds me chocolate until I feel better. Does he do the dishes, the laundry or the grocery shopping so I have more time to write? No. No. And no, but he never quibbles when I spend time with my writer friends or spend more time with my characters than him or when I get lost in my research (he’s even helped me with my research but that’s another topic) or when I go to conferences.

He has never, not once, told me my writing was a waste of time. He’s proud of my accomplishments, tells anyone who will listen that his wife is an author and hands out my business card. He’s even sold a book or two for me.

And that, to me, is more important than him reading my work.

Happy Reading and Writing
Marie

A Place in the World - Guest Post by Kay Springsteen

Giveaway below

Have you ever felt out of place? Most people have at one time or another. An awkward social situation, a feeling of just not belonging. Can you imagine feeling that way about your entire life? What if everything you ever worked for was suddenly ripped away? What if you suddenly could no longer be who you were born to be? What if the pages of your life were no longer already written but were suddenly blank and you had no way to fill them?

Dan Conway, the hero in Heartsight, was born into a family of Marines. His entire life was geared toward serving in the USMC. But a tragic incident in Afghanistan robs him of his sight. There isn't much call for a wounded warrior, let alone one who can no longer see. This story is 100% fiction, but, like most stories, it imitates real life. War injuries happen, and they always change the lives of those suffering them as well as their families.

I can think of no more painful outcome to serving our country than for those who were wounded to be forgotten. What must it feel like to know others consider you unfit for work? What is it like to go from being a fierce protector of all America holds dear, to being someone who is at best the object of pity, and at worst someone who has become a burden? It would be easy to fall into the trap that because they may be missing limbs, or not have the ability to walk, or because they cannot see, or carry out business in the way non-injured people do, they have no productive place in the world.

But all persons have value and worth. Everyone has something to contribute to the world. Sometimes it just takes a little push—from inside, from circumstances, even from God—to find our purpose. Heartsight is the story of a Marine who had been blinded and was struggling to find meaning in his life. When a young mother and her mentally challenged daughter arrive in his sanctuary, a friendship is forged, and when circumstances look their gravest, it is the blind hero who shows he really is still a hero.

One's life doesn't have to be as extreme as Dan's to relate to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness when life pitches a curve ball. Help is available for people in all circumstances, not just those in Heartsight, or those related to military service. The important thing is to reach out to others when a person is in need.

If you’re a vet or you know a vet who needs a hand, please reach out. The help is there. If you can offer a hand, please show our vets that you care.

http://www.bnwest.woundedwarriorregiment.org/

http://www.militaryonesource.com/MOS/MarineCorps.aspx?MRole=Family&Branch=MarineCorps&Component=Active

http://www.uso.org/

Each purchase of Heartsight through the Astraea Press website from now until June 1, 2011 will generate a $2 donation to the USO Wounded Warrior Program. Thank you for taking the time to care about our men and women in the military service.
http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662249&mode=product&product=2626233

Excerpt of from Heartsight

Using the sound of the surf and the sun's warmth for orientation, Dan sat on a large rock facing east and enjoyed the sunrise. The kiss of waves on sandy shoreline became louder, more insistent, as the gentle predawn breeze turned into an early morning wind. The air around him warmed rapidly, and the beach life started to awaken as well.
 
The cries of gulls in the distance held an eerie, human-like quality, which could as easily have been the delighted squeals of children playing or the terror-filled shrieks of children dying.

Dan breathed slowly in then out, and re-oriented himself to his surroundings. The sand beneath his feet was the foot-sucking grain-like consistency found on the beach, not the diamond-hard dust he'd grown used to in the desert. The air surrounding him was humid, not arid.

Beach grasses whispered, stroked by the onshore ocean breeze. Nearby, scuttling ghost crabs bulldozed the sand, each tumbling grain sounding like a rockslide to Dan's sensitive ears. The air smelled a bit of midsummer rain, hinting of possible relief from the early summer swelter by mid-afternoon.

His hand rested on the old guitar, unmoving, the instrument silent, as he considered a future in the dark. He had few options and limited time to make a decision that would affect the rest of his life. Did he try to maintain a semblance of the life he'd once planned for himself? Or leave all that and carve a new niche elsewhere?

Who was he kidding? No one wanted a wounded warrior, let alone one who could no longer see.

He caressed the low E string with his thumb, frowning at the dull, not-quite-in-tune sound. Automatically, he adjusted the string until he was pleased with the pitch, repeating the process for the rest of the strings.

Leaning over her, Dan hugged the guitar to him in the manner a man should embrace such a lady. She'd been his best friend since he was a kid, had never failed to bring him comfort and healing through the secret language they shared.

Dan played a few soft chords, walking his fingers up and down the fretboard, not playing anything specific, the tones coming more easily than he'd expected them to. He stopped to adjust the G string, then played a few more chords, falling into a slow rhythm, one good for thinking.

Without conscious thought, he inserted a simple, impromptu melody, making love to his lady in earnest now, expressing the deepest, most vulnerable aspects of himself through the movements of his fingers. The lonely sound drifted across the beach to join the cries of the gulls, as he laid bare the layers of pain for the audience of his solitude.

As he lost himself in the haunting music, Dan felt the first stirring of a curious sense of freedom. Recent memories were pushed to the rear in lieu of less troublesome ones from his boyhood, when scuttling crabs had held him enthralled, and thoughts of where driftwood came from had fascinated him. The music swelled under his hands as he revisited that time of innocence.

At his feet, Jack stirred and whined. Dan stopped playing, abruptly pulled back into the present. Barely a second later, he heard something shuffling through the beach grass behind him and the scents of caramel and cotton candy wafted into his awareness.

His private beach had been discovered.

The air next to him stirred softly as whoever it was took a seat on his rock. Dan was about to ask if the intruder had noticed the private property sign at the entrance to the beach, when sticky fingers were thrust against his palm. Startled by the sudden invasive touch, Dan nonetheless instinctively closed his fingers about the delicate hand that had placed itself into his.

"Well, hello." Dan listened for the sound of someone else approaching but heard nothing. "Is your mom or dad around?"

The only answer he received was a tiny contented sigh. He could feel the rhythmic movement of the child's feet swinging over the edge of the rock on which they sat.

For a chance to win a copy of Heartsight leave a comment for Kay. Winner will be drawn Wednesday morning :-)
 
To visit Kay, go to http://kayspringsteen.wordpress.com/

Review: Heart of Lies by M.L. Malcolm

How unfortunate to find the love of your life when you have to run to save your own.

Leo attempted to live outside the political pressures of WWI in Hungary. His Jewish faith, communist adoptive parents, and even his talent with languages worked against him. Offered an opportunity to serve as a multi-language interpreter for a business meeting, Leo assumed he made the right decision to accept.

Waiting for the meeting, he met Martha and left his heart in her lap.

He wasn’t informed of the national security and counterfeiting of the meeting. Murder or be murdered. He chose the first and then defected to Shanghai, the only country that accepted new residents with little concern for their past. Yet he left Martha with a promise.

Years later Leo made his fortune in the Asian city and sent for his love. She traveled to his side and they lived with love, money, and everything they wanted.

The beginning of WWII with Japan’s invasion brought on the Great Depression and Leo lost his fortune. Love was most important, yet he had to begin again.

A great read to experience the strength of love and to follow a man of great talent through the myriad of lives he was forced to live, some favorable and some not. Grab some tissues because tears are inevitable.

Dawn

Guest Author: Lisa Greer

I'm so happy to be a guest on the blog today. Thank you!

My debut gothic romance novel, Magnolian, is on sale today in e-book format. It's an exciting day for me.

I wanted to talk a little about setting today because setting plays a huge role in my writing. I've lived in two countries and four states now, and I'm so happy that I have. Moving wasn't always fun, but I've realized that I have a rich base of experience to draw from because of my moving. I can write about Western Pennsylvania and do it with a genuine voice. The same goes for Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Vancouver, BC, Canada. I like to really know the places I write about. One of my pet peeves is reading a novel that has a sketchy setting. My favorite settings are in the South in small towns.

If you like the South, ghosts, romance that keeps you guessing, and old family estates, I invite you to check Magnolian out. Here's a little more about it:

When her father dies, college dropout Lillian Mullins steels herself for a future of nothing special in Pittsburgh. An invitation to Magnolian holds promise, but nightmares, ghosts, and murder threaten to derail her attempt to get a life.

Lillian heads to the South, leaving Donovan Ross, an angsty potential lover, behind. After she finds her mother's old journal at Magnolian and learns a shocking secret, Lillian resolves to find out what happened nearly forty years ago to her mother's African American lover, Samson Jones. Mysterious accidents and threats make her wonder whom she can trust: her enigmatic distant cousin Willoughby Tate, who is running his father's gubernatorial campaign, her Aunt Lorelei, who warns of a dire future, the ghost who beckons her in the night, or her father's voice in the recurring dream that will not let Lillian rest.

I've enjoyed being here! Since today is release day for my novel, I'm giving away a copy of Magnolian. Just tell me what type of setting you like in the comments, and I'll use the Random Number Generator to pick a winner by March 9th at 12pm.
Facebook: Lisa Greer

http://www.lisalgreer.com/

gothicked.blogspot.com (gothic novels review blog with contests and give aways)

To read an excerpt from Magnolian or buy the novel, visit: www.bookstrand.com/magnolian

Did They Really Say That?

Have you ever picked up a book and the dialogue simply exploded off the page? Have you ever been struck by the sparkling, witty exchange between hero and heroine? Or sarcasm so thick, you needed a chainsaw to cut through it (sorry, that’s a cliché but I couldn’t help myself)? Or the fights, where the words are thrown like missiles through the air (and not one of them is the F bomb)? Have you ever wished you could have said that in the heat of an argument? Or wished your loved one could be that romantic?

I’ve often wondered how authors do that – you know, take simple ordinary words and make them come alive, make the reader feel the anger of a quarrel or feel the romance blossoming just by the dialogue. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve giggled out loud by something the heroine said or gasped because the venom in the words hit me like a sledgehammer or sighed because the hero said something so sweet, so beautiful, it made my heart melt.

As a writer, I find this the most difficult thing to do – twist those common place, everyday words into something that makes the reader gasp or sigh or laugh, but there are some authors who do it effortlessly (or so it seems). And isn’t that one of the pleasures of reading? To see what a normal, mundane word can become in the hands of a master?

Happy reading!

Marie

Guest Author Interview: Terri Brisbin

Alexis: Hi Terri. Welcome to Happily Ever After Thoughts. Thank you so much for coming. Your website is so beautiful. It puts me in the mood for one of your many books right away! Why did you decide to write historical? I mean, besides the hunky men and strong willed women :-)

Terri: I have always loved history and loved reading historical romances, so I’m not sure it was a choice? Actually, my first book (which is now hidden away in a closet) was a contemporary and I discovered quickly that I enjoyed writing historicals more and that my voice is definitely historical.

Alexis: As a lover of historical romances, I have to say I’m glad you found your voice in historical :-) And speaking of, you have a new romance being released this month. Can you tell us about HIS ENEMY’S DAUGHTER?

Terri: HIS ENEMY’S DAUGHTER is a story of a man who has survived a horrifying battle wound fueled by hatred and the need for vengeance who discovers that vengeance isn’t enough to live on.

Soren lived on his looks and was called the ‘beautiful bastard’ but all that changed at the Battle of Hastings. Seeking out the family of the man who destroyed all that he was, Soren finds the daughter who has been blinded in his attack on her home. And he finds the only woman who cannot see the monster he has become.
 
Sybilla knows she is the only one who can protect her people from this conqueror’s wrath but she wonders if she can survive blinded and as his wife. Slowly, the man within the monster begins to live again and she falls in love with him, helping him even more than he helps her.
 
But, when her sight is restored, Soren knows he will lose her and the love he never expected to find. Can love overcome the terrible wounds of the flesh and the soul and help him be the man he should be rather than the monster he is?

Alexis: Wow, I’m so hooked on this. What a wonderful, emotional plot. Where did you get the idea for this story?

Terri: Hmmmm. I’m not sure where the idea of the three bastard knights fighting for William the Conqueror came from but once I got that idea, I began thinking about who the knights should be and what linked them together. I knew they must have been raised together and then began playing ‘what if…?’ with that idea. When Harlequin asked me to write a short story (A KNIGHT FOR HER PLEASURE) to introduce them before the trilogy began, I got the chance to show Soren before the battle. And when I did, I realized he would have to lose everything in order to become the hero I knew he could be. What better way to bring that hero out than to take away the one thing that made him who he was – his looks? So I did that and Soren came to me as he is in his story – wounded, damaged, half-blind and not knowing who he should be. Sigh…. I guess I love ‘beauty and the beast’ stories so much, they just run to me now? LOL!

Alexis: Those are my absolute favorite types of stories as well. What are your favorite character traits of Soren and Sybilla?

Terri: I think both of them are fiercely loyal and I like that about them. I think what drew me to them is that they’re both lost and damaged and seeking a way to be a better person.

Alexis: What kind of research did you have to do for this novel?

Terri: I had to do lots of research about the time period and specifically about William the Conqueror, Normandy, Brittany, warfare, England and so much more to write this series (there are three novels and the short story all connected as the Knights of Brittany). I did discover that the Bretons got a bad rep in the Battle of Hastings for running and nearly causing William’s defeat, but I decided to change history a bit for my stories after meeting a very sexy Breton harpist and deciding that they were a noble, courageous breed of men! LOL!

Alexis: I guess that is one advantage to writing fiction; you can make your characters how you want them. Now, you just released a Scottish Romance KIDNAPPING THE LAIRD. You are one busy lady. Can you tell us a little about that book? I have to admit to loving a good Scottish romance.

Terri: Actually KIDNAPPING THE LAIRD is a short story that was released in the print collection – MAMMOTH BOOK OF SCOTTISH ROMANCE in January. Since I retained the digital rights to the story, I decided to make it available to readers. So, it’s now available for Amazon’s Kindle and B&N’s Nook. It should be available for Sony ereaders and in iBooks later this month!

KIDNAPPING THE LAIRD is about a marriage of (in)convenience which fails miserably on the wedding night. The laird and lady live almost separate lives, each though secretly wanting more. Catriona, the lady, finally decides she’s had enough and wants a husband. . . HER husband and kidnaps him in order to give him her ultimatum and to find her happily-ever-after.

I set this story in a location I visited while in Scotland in late 2009 – there really is a ‘lady’s house’ of stone next to the River Moriston just before it meets Loch Ness. I realized it was a perfect location for a kidnapping and the designer even used one of my photos from my trip in the background of the coverart!

Alexis: I love Scotland and have been inspired myself by the buildings and scenery there, so I can understand the draw. How wonderful that your cover is so in-line with your story!

You have over 16 romances published now, right? Which one has your favorite hero?

Terri: Actually, I have had 25 or so romances published since 1998! Overall, I would say that I have 2 favorite heroes – Orrick of Silloth (from THE KING’S MISTRESS and “Love at First Step”) and Rurik Erengislsson (from SURRENDER TO THE HIGHLANDER and all the HIGHLANDER stories). Orrick was a real beta-hero in an alpha-male and I just loved him! Rurik. . . well. . . sigh. . . Rurik is just a man who loves women who love him and I fell hard for the half-Norse/half-Scot warrior who lives life to its fullest!

Alexis: Hmm, they do sound perfect, at least for those of us who love historical men :-) Do you have any other men, I mean, romance novels in the works that we can look forward to?

Terri: Yes! I am currently working on the first book in a new trilogy for Harlequin Historicals – I’m returning to the Highlands with a kind of ‘Highlanders-Next Generation’ series about the children of those relationships from my previous HIGHLANDER books! The first one features the daughter from POSSESSED BY THE HIGHLANDER – Ciara – and the Highlander she swore to marry when she was five years old! No titles or release dates yet but I’ll post info on my website when I know it.

Alexis: I love continuation stories and Ciara sounds like my kind of heroine.

We like to give our readers some great stories to check-out, but we also like to learn a little about the wonderful authors who create them. Could you share something about yourself with our readers that they may not know about you?

Terri: Hmmmm….not sure if there’s anything readers don’t know? LOL! But I’m open to questions!

Alexis: Thank you so much for visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts. We like talking about romance novels here and learning about the writers who create them :-)

Terri: Alexis, thanks so much for having me visit today! I hope readers will check out my website – http://www.terribrisbin.com/ or friend me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/terribrisbin
 
Alexis: Ask Terri a question or make a comment and you will have a chance to win one of her romances. Terri will be giving away TWO of her stories so you have double the chance to win :-)

Check out Terri's excerpt from HIS ENEMY’S DAUGHTER:

Sybilla, Lady of Alston, stood up straight and moaned as her back spasmed in response to the movement. Pressing her fists into her lower back, she tried to ease the pain caused by leaning over too much and by carrying too many large rocks to the wooden palisade. They must shore up the defenses, Gareth said. So, she helped as much as she could. Lady or not, another pair of hands lightened the work of all and gave her the hope that the wall could be strengthened to protect the keep from the coming invader.
 
Sybilla accepted a cup of water from the servant girl passing by, tightened the leather ties around her braid and began anew. They had little time to finish this task before the invader king’s pawn arrived at their gates. After receiving the message that he traveled there to claim the lands of her father, Sybilla and her late father’s steward and the commander of those who yet defended her and the keep decided to protect themselves from the devastation committed on their neighbors and kin when faced with the same situation. She did not believe they could hold out long, but if they presented their strength, she and they hoped to negotiate a peaceful transition—one that allowed her people to live and her to travel to her cousin’s convent and live out her life there in peace and contemplation.

With her father and her brother dead, with no other Saxon kin able to come to her rescue or to stand against these invaders as they moved inexorably north towards her lands, Sybilla knew she and her people had few choices and little power.

They worked until nightfall, taking advantage of every moment of summer’s daylight to build the wall as high and strong as they could. Gareth had nodded his approval of their efforts in that stern, serious manner of his, but Sybilla knew it was not enough. Still, they had two days, possibly three, before the invaders arrived and they would take every moment given to them to prepare.
 
The birds’ song that heralded the dawn also brought terror to their doors, for the invaders crested the hill across from the keep and formed their lines to attack. Sybilla quickly gathered the children and took them to the back of the keep and carried out whatever Gareth ordered. Though she’d lived there for all her life, never once had they needed to defend it from outsiders. Even when her father and brother went off to fight alongside their king, her brother to Stamford Bridge and then her father to Hastings, their defenses here were perfunctory and never needed.
 
Now though, it meant the difference between life and death.
 
When things were settled in the keep, she climbed to the top of the wall to see what forces they faced. Gareth ordered her away, but Sybilla thought that meeting the enemy face to face might ease the situation. If the duke’s man thought them no threat, he might not attack before they could negotiate. Holding her hand over her eyes to shade the growing light of the rising sun, she shivered when she saw him.
 
Black. Everything he wore was black, except for the slash of red on his shield, angling to the left that she understood spoke of his bastardy. Or his duke’s? She knew not which, but once more her body trembled. His armor was black, not reflecting the rays of the sun above him. His horse, a huge, monstrous destrier, was the color of midnight, without any markings to lighten his coat. And Sybilla felt as though death stood before her on the field.
 
Or the devil incarnate?

Alexis: Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win one of two of Terri's stories!