The Claimed #Paranormal #Romance #FreeRead

THE CLAIMED Paranormal RomanceI’ve been busy re-reading and taking notes from THE CLAIMED as I will shortly be starting the next book in the series, THE SHATTERED.

For those who have been asking, YES the hero and heroine are Sammie and Ryan. I so loved both of them in THE CLAIMED and I hope you will not be disappointed with their story. It’s going to be a very emotional one as Sammie and Ryan deal with all the changes in their lives while getting sucked even deeper into the war between the united Hunter clans led by Adam, Bobbie, Christopher and Victoria, and the Dark Shadow Hunter clan led by Christopher’s father, Alexander.

Plus, there will be some very interesting new Hunters in the mix, from new life for the Hunter leaders and some totally unexpected visitors who bring a warning about how life can be if the Hunters do not end the war between the Light and Dark factions.

So excited! Plus, I’ve heard all of you about the Carrera family and you will be seeing more of Mick, Caterina, Liliana, Jesse as well as younger brother Tony. I’ve missed them also. By the way, if you’re looking for the books from the SINS series on the site, try in the Suspense section. Although they were released as “paranormals”, I always thought of them as suspense books.

Since I’ve been reading THE CLAIMED, here’s a sexy – VERY sexy – excerpt from the book for you. WARNING – 17 and over please for the read.

If you can’t see the excerpt below, you can click here to read it.

THE CLAIMED #Paranormal #Romance by Caridad Pineiro

Sharing My Weekend Writing Retreat

I wish that Google+ photos actually allowed you to do a slideshow. For the life of me, the little create slideshow link just isn’t showing up! So, you can go to visit the album here, but in the meantime…

I headed out on Saturday with my friends Melinda Leigh and Rayna Vause for a writing retreat weekend! Our destination: The Inn at Boonesboro and the Turn the Page Bookstore where we got to meet Nora Roberts as well as a number of authors.

I got up at 5, was on the road by six and picked up my friends shortly after 7. We hit the road and got to Boonesboro just before 11. It was the open house day at the Inn so we got to visit all the rooms, but first we met my friend Lora and then headed to the book store to pick up our books and get ready for the signing. Here’s a picture of my buds in front of the Inn.

Rayna Vause and Melinda Leigh

At the bookstore, we got our purchases and since Vesta’s pizza was packed, headed to Crawford’s Guns, Ammo and Restaurant for a bite before the signing. Where else can you pick up ammo, check out the rifles and get some delicious sweet potato fries?

Crawford's Guns, Ammo & Restaurant

Then it was time for the signing!! I had my books for research (nothing better than Eve and Roarke to get me inspired!). I also had a J.D. Robb “book lamp” that I had made and Nora was so nice and signed it as well. Here’s me and Nora!

Nora Roberts & Caridad Pineiro

Then we were back to the Inn for the open house. Such gorgeous rooms and bathrooms. I loved the Galahad pillow on the chair in the Eve and Roarke room! The rooms were totally romantic and did any of you guess which room I would choose for Rey and Paola from AMAZON AWAKENING?

If you guess that it was the Westley and Buttercup room you were right. I could so imagine a big bed like this made of a sustainable rainforest wood like Ipe.

Westley & Buttercup Room

After that we headed for a walk through Boonesboro and then to dinner. We returned to the site of the Inn with all its lovely Christmas trimmings.

Inn at Boonesboro

Ducking inside the inn to take off the chill, we had some wine and cheese and also celebrated my friend Melinda’s debut book (more on that on Thursday!).

In the morning, we headed to the Antietam battlefield for a bit of history and research. Since Ryder from THE CALLING/REBORN Vampire Series was a physician during the Civil War, I’m toying with the idea of bringing back someone else from that era. You may remember that Samantha Turner from TEMPTATION CALLS knew Ryder back then (and was the one who turned him). Not sure whether this someone is a hero or villain, but walking/driving the fields of Antietam certainly gave some ideas for a new character.

I even managed to climb the Observation Tower! The trip up was quite a hike, but the trip down was interesting as my fear of heights kicked in. Luckily Rayna lent me her shoulder to hold so I could keep my face to the wall and not see the big open scary hole in the middle of the stairs!

Antietam Observation Tower

I hope you enjoyed this little travel journal!

Also, if you need some tips on writing short fiction, come and play with me today at my friend Catherine Bybee’s blog where I am talking about how to move from writing long fiction to short!

Banned Books Blog Hop

Welcome to the Banned Books Blog Hop! It’s always a surprise to me to see the list of books that have been banned over the years, especially when they contain books that I’ve read and found so enlightening, like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, or so entertaining, like HARRY POTTER. To me books, especially books of fiction, are one of the best ways that we can explore issues in society and bring them to the forefront for discussion and consideration.

When I was a teen, a local high school not only banned the books, but burned them. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court. To this day I always questioned why a few thought some ideas were so radical they needed to be eradicated by burning, like in FAHRENHEIT 451.

Which I guess is why I love America. We have the First Amendment and protections against restrictions on our speech. We also have a way of resolving our differences about whether or not the speech contained in certain works merits those protections. I hope that we never reach a point where things like “fairness doctrines” stop us from being able to openly discuss issues that are of importance for our society.

Take a moment to visit the other blogs for their discussions and giveaways. For this blog and to be entered to win a $10 gift card, THE LOST T-shirt and some swag, please either tweet or share on Facebook the following:

PLZ RT #JerseyShore + Energy Gatherers + Civil War=THE LOST #Paranormal by @CaridadPineiro 4 Stars RT Book Reviewshttp://ht.ly/6iBHZ

For those who are hopping and are here for the first time, I’m a writer of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. My latest release is THE LOST and here is a little excerpt for you. If you can’t see the excerpt, you can visit this link:

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/61045171?access_key=key-xf0enng1oa342vs8mam

THE LOST Paranormal Romance Free Read

Drop by other Banned Books Bloggers to see what’s happening with them!

Many thanks to I READ BANNED BOOKS and I AM A READER, NOT A WRITER for putting together this blog hop.

Thoughtful Thursday – The Tax Man Cometh

It’s that time of year most of us dread – Tax Day! So for today, some interesting facts about taxes.

In 1861, Congress passed the “first” tax on personal income to fund the costs of the Civil War. When the war ended, the tax was repealed. (For a history of the U.S. tax system, you can read this article on Tax History at the Treasury Department.) To cope with the costs of World War I, the personal income tax was brought back and it was all downhill from there.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 61% of Americans believe cutting taxes will help the economy and 66% think that Americans are overtaxed.

Kiplinger analyzed tax burdens and reports that, “the top 1% (of Americans) pay 39.89% of all federal individual income taxes. The bottom 50% of earners pay just 2.99% of those taxes.” The top 10% (those earning more than $108905 or more) bear 71% of the tax burden (also from Kiplingers).

41% of New Yorkers did not pay federal taxes last year reports the NY Post. Now this is depressing not because they did not pay taxes, but because in a state with the world’s financial center – New York City – there should be more prosperity.

The Tax Foundation did its annual calculations and indicated that most Americans will work over three months, from January 1 to April 9 before they have earned enough money to pay this year’s taxes. In New Jersey, we get to work an additional 16 days — until April 25 — to pay all those taxes. Thanks, Corzine!

So what’s the average person supposed to do?

As the old saying goes, there are two things in life you cannot avoid — Death and Taxes. Ask Al Capone. Tax evasion did him in!

But on that note, wasn’t it John Kennedy who said:

“As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats. And a partnership, by definition, serves both partners, without domination or unfair advantage.”
1963 J. F. Kennedy Address 25 June in Public Papers of Presidents of U.S. (1964) 519 from Answers.com

Hmmm . . . maybe the Tax Man should Cometh a little less? Or at least leave some change in our pockets? LOL! Since that seems unlikely in the near future, how about taking advantage of some of these Tax Day Freebies being offered to take the sting out of things? Click on this link to find out how to get free and/or reduced specials at Starbucks, Maggie Moos, Cinnabon, McCormick & Schmicks and others.

Al Capone Mug Shot taken by the Department of Justice when Al went to Alcatraz for a 10 year term for Tax Evasion
Al Capone Mug Shot from Dept of Justice

Guilty Pleasures Monday – Clark Gable

Clip from Movie Trailer - Public Domain according to WikipediaI realized after last Monday’s Guilty Pleasure (the manly Eric Dane), that there were a number of old time favorites I had been ignoring on our Mondays together.

Sure there are tons of glorious new men for us to share, but there’s also a host of oldies who will live on thanks to the many movies in which they appeared.

Here’s one of my favorites – Clark Gable – and in one of my favorite books and movies of all time — GONE WITH THE WIND. Definitely a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen!

Was Clark one of your favorite oldtime stars? If not, who else is? Share with us on this Guilty Pleasures Monday.