Tag: caridad

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Thoughtful Thursday – Summer is Here!

We seem to have shot straight from winter to summer in New York City, going from nights in the thirties to days in the eighties overnight.

But I’m not complaining because I am so not a winter girl. I live for the spring and summer months because I love being outdoors. Whether it’s working in the garden or taking long walks along the beach, there is something about being closer to nature that energizes me.

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago during one of those walks. It’s of a huge kite that was flying in Belmar, New Jersey during a weekend kite festival.

That’s another thing I love about being down the shore. There is always something going on and its usually within walking distance! What could be better?

How about you? What is your favorite season and why do you like it?

Boats entering Shark River Inlet
This is a photo of boats entering the Shark River Inlet located between Avon-by-the-Sea and Belmar

Also, if you’d like some thoughts on how to deal with a day job and a writing career, take a moment to visit with me at the Savvy Authors blog!

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Wicked Wednesday – TEMPTATION CALLS

TEMPTATION CALLS by Caridad PineiroThis Wicked Wednesday is a blast from the past, but one of my favorites – TEMPTATION CALLS. It’s also the story that launched several other novels, namely, DEVOTION CALLS, BLOOD CALLS and FURY CALLS. All the characters in those novels first appeared in TEMPTATION CALLS.

TEMPTATION CALLS is the story of Samantha Turner, the child of a former slave and store owner, who has suffered unspeakable violence at the hands of men and of the vampire who turned her. Because of that, Samantha is devoting her undead life to helping women escape from domestic violence.

Samantha also knows Ryder Latimer from her past life and there are some scenes in the novel where you find out what is the connection between her and Ryder. I won’t spill those secrets, however.

There are many special things for me about this book. The first is the relationship which develops with Samantha and NYPD Detective Peter Daly. Although Peter is used to violence, he is a gentle man who will demonstrate to Samantha that not all men hurt women. The second is that this book began to populate THE CALLING vampire series with unique characters and also introduced to the bar competing with Ryder’s club — The Blood Bank. Lots of action takes place in The Blood Bank mainly because it is the favorite hangout for many of the vampires in New York City. Last, but not least, we learn more about Ryder’s history and how he got to be a vampire. That history will be one that surprises you!

Today’s excerpt is the opening scene in the novel where you first meet Samantha and also, Ricardo — the santero from DEVOTION CALLS. I hope you enjoy the scene and today’s Wicked Wednesday!

If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can click on this link or cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32368336/Temptation-Calls-by-Caridad-Pineiro-THE-CALLING-Vampire-Novels

If you’re pressed for time, use the download option to read it later or on your mobile device!

Temptation Calls by Caridad Pineiro – THE CALLING Vampire Novels

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Talkfest Thursday – Interviews with Caridad

Today’s Thursday is a Talkfest! I had the opportunity recently to be interviewed by two wonderful ladies – Linda Mooney from Other Worlds of Romance and Luci Weston from Here We Are with Luci!

You can listen to the interview I did with Linda at the RT Convention by clicking here or following this link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/other_worlds_of_romance/2010/04/29/romantic-times-guest-author–caridad-piniero

You can listen to the interview I did with Luci as we chatted about juggling careers and how to stay inspired by clicking here or following this link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/here-we-are/2010/05/16/featuring-new-york-times-usa-today-best-selling-au

Tomorrow I’m off to a Book Blogger Convention and Book Expo America, but I’ll have a very special treat for you — A Writer’s Cut, namely, a behind the scenes look at what inspired the characters in SINS OF THE FLESH and my upcoming November release STRONGER THAN SIN.

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Travel Tuesday – Buckingham Palace and Mews

Today’s Tuesday is some more photos from my trip to London. This time I’m taking you to Buckingham Palace and the Mews where the Royal horses, carriages and the like are stored.

First thing — the Queen’s Apartments in the Palace are only open in August and September when the Royal Family retires to Scotland for the summer months. During the winter you have to content yourself with views of the exterior, the changing of the guard and the museums at the Palace.

We watched the changing of the guard (some of the last slides you’ll see), but it was packed. We clearly had to get there a lot earlier than we did, but despite the crowd, we were able to see the nearly 45 minute long ceremony as the one group of guards is replaced. Mind you, it’s not just the guards, but their band and everything that is changed. So, there’s a lot of pomp with all the turnover.

We also had an opportunity to visit the Royal Mews and it was really interesting. We got to see some of the horses (huge huge animals) that pull the carriages as well as various carriages, limos, carts, etc. The most interesting one — a golden carriage made for Richard III. It was stunning and the artwork on the doors, etc. was amazing.

It was interesting to see all the different carriages as well as learn how some are postillion driven (riders are on the horses pulling the carriages) versus being driven by a driver on the wagon. A bit of trivia I know I’ll put to use in one of those historical flashbacks in a future novel!

Hope you enjoy these photos. If you can’t see the slideshow below, you can click on this link to visit my Facebook Page or copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060062&id=1130005412&l=7c6a9b55a9

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Fun Friday – Flash Opera!

Thanks to my buddy Karin for this Friday’s inspiration and video!

As noted on Youtube, “On Saturday, April 24th, the Opera Company of Philadelphia teamed up with the Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival for a large-scale “Flash Opera” event! Over 30 members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus and principal cast members of LA TRAVIATA performed the famed “Brindisi” in the aisles of Reading Terminal Market, entertaining hundreds of Philadelphians, and proving that the perfect accompaniment for all things Italian is a little Verdi! The Opera Company sincerely thanks members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus and cast for generously volunteering their time and talents… BRAVI TUTTI!! LA TRAVIATA runs from May 7 – 16 at the Academy of Music. For tickets/info: 215-893-1018 / 215-893-1018 or go to operaphila.org.”

I can only imagine the shock and amusement as people were eating their cheesesteaks or sticky buns from the Amish!

If you can’t see the video below, you can click here to see the Flash Opera Singing Event by the Philadelphia Opera Company or cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmwRitYO3w

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend.

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Thoughtful Thursday – New York Minutes

I love New York City and I guess by New York City I mean the island of Manhattan. It’s one of the big reasons I decided to set THE CALLING vampire series in Manhattan — I wanted to give you a flavor for the different parts of the city. If you’ve been reading the books, you know that the stories move from Tribeca to SoHo to Spanish Harlem. In future books in the series (ARDOR CALLS and VENGEANCE CALLS – dates of release to be known shortly), you’ll see shots of Midtown and Times Square.

I thought I’d share on these Thursdays some little known facts about Manhattan and also about some of the Jersey Shore locations in the SINS series.

Today’s New York Minute is about Sixth Avenue also known as Avenue of the Americas. Much like hearing someone say Houston St. (like the city in Texas) instead of like “Howston”, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re a tourist if you say Avenue of the Americas. It’s also very confusing since most New Yorkers call it Sixth Avenue.

The problem began in 1945 when Fiorella LaGuardia, one of the city’s most beloved mayors, renamed Sixth Avenue. In the years since then, the lamp posts bore plaques donated by the OAS – Organization of American States to symbolize each of the countries in the Americas. I remember seeing them as a kid whenever we came into “the city” for some event. Unfortunately, the plaques were lost when the city put in new lamp posts in the early 1990s.

Forgotten NY has wonderful shots of these plaques. You can click here to see the Sixth Avenue country plaques.

There are also a number of statues all along Sixth Avenue to honor famous people from the Americas. From the western most edge of Bryant Park (also along Sixth) to where Sixth runs into Central Park, there are gorgeous bronzes to be admired. This is a statue of Jose Marti, a leader for Cuban Independence from Spain. The statue sits at the entrance to Central Park on Sixth Avenue.

Above Central Park, Sixth Avenue once again changes names, this time to Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X Boulevard, also creating confusion with the use of two names!

Beneath Sixth Avenue run a number of things –The IND Sixth Avenue subway lines (B D F V trains) as well as the PATH Trains to New Jersey. As for how long Sixth Avenue is — it’s one of the longest in the city running from as far south as Canal Street at the southernmost part of Manhattan up through Harlem.

Want to know more? You can read more about Sixth Avenue by clicking here and visiting Forgotten NY!

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