Tag: paranormal

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Guilty Pleasure John Cho

I was really sorry to see FLASH FORWARD canceled because I was really enjoying the mix of suspense, paranormal and sexy guys Ralph Fiennes and John Cho. John has been in a number of programs and is probably most famous for his HAROLD AND KUMAR fame. I’m not a fan of movies that glorify drug use, so it fell flat for me, but I really enjoyed him in FLASH FORWARD. John also did a wonderful job as the new Sulu on the STAR TREK re-boot. Geek that I am, am anxiously awaiting the next film with the exciting new STAR TREK cast.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Guilty Pleasure.

Photo Credit: Charlie Nguyen@wikipedia.en

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Paranormal Romance AZTEC GOLD

AZTEC GOLD Paranormal Romance NovellaOn this very wet and cold Wednesday morning I have a little something to warm you up – an excerpt from AZTEC GOLD, my paranormal romance novella from Carina Press. As you may remember, this story was inspired by my trip to Mexico and an exciting journey up a Pre-Colombian pyramid.

I hope you enjoy this little excerpt. This scene is after archeologist Cynthia Guerrero arrives at a remote village in the Mexican jungle and discovers that her missing ex-lover, Rafe, is alive, but not necessarily well.

Aztec Gold Paranormal Romance Excerpt

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Blood, Smoke & Mirrors with Robyn Bachar

I want to welcome Robyn Bachar today who will be telling us a little bit about her new paranormal release from Samhain Publishing: BLOOD, SMOKE AND MIRRORS. Welcome, Robyn!

I love Urban Fantasy. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, and my neighborhood is filled with brick houses that all look pretty much the same. On the long walk home from school I always wondered what went on inside those houses. What secret dramas were hidden behind those boring brick exteriors?

As an Urban Fantasy writer, I can take those secrets and give them a far more fantastic spin. Instead of just an affair, it’s an affair between two shapeshifters. Two shifters from rival packs, afraid of being caught and kicked out, or even killed. That creepy house with the owner that only comes out at night? Clearly a vampire. A vampire on the run from a terrible past—why else would he spend his unlife in Berwyn, where nothing ever happens? The family with the White Sox flag on their porch? Obviously a group of evil sorcerers bent on world domination.

Okay, maybe not, but I love the idea of taking a fantastic creature and giving it a crappy day job and a used car, and then telling it to save the world. In Blood, Smoke and Mirrors, my heroine is a witch who works full time as a waitress. Sure she has powerful magic, but that won’t pay her rent or the rest of her college loans. Having magic doesn’t make her life easier—in fact it’s made it a lot harder. And thanks to me, her bad days are about to get a lot worse.

Teaser

Even a bad witch deserves a second chance.

Wrongly accused of using her magic to harm, the closest Catherine Baker comes to helping others is serving their coffee. Life as an outcast is nothing new, thanks to her father’s reputation, but the injustice stings. Especially since the man she loved turned her in.

Now the man has the gall to show up and suggest she become the next Titania? She’d rather wipe that charming grin off his face with a pot of hot java to the groin.

Alexander Duquesne has never faltered in his duties as a guardian—until now. The lingering guilt over Cat’s exile and the recent death of his best friend have shaken his dedication. With the murder of the old Titania, the faerie realm teeters on the brink of chaos. His new orders: keep Cat alive at all costs.

Hunted by a powerful stranger intent on drawing her into an evil web, Cat reluctantly accepts Lex’s protection and the resurrected desire that comes along with it. Lex faces the fight of his life to keep her safe…and win her back. If they both survive.

Warning: This book contains one tough and snarky witch, one gorgeous guardian, explicit blood drinking, magician sex, gratuitous violence against vampires and troublemaking Shakespearean faeries.


Excerpt



For the entertainment portion of our evening Lex bravely—or perhaps foolishly—decided to teach the faeries how to play Texas hold ’em poker. The only cards I own are Tarot cards, but he’d brought a deck of playing cards with him in his gym bag, and we used pretzels and chocolates as poker chips. The man displayed the patience of a saint as he tutored my cousins in the basics of the game—I’d learned it when we’d dated, though we’d bet clothing instead of snacks.

Tybalt was enthralled, but Portia was slow to warm to the idea until she figured out how to cheat by magically marking the cards. Poker ended soon after that, and we turned to the Game Show Network for entertainment. Few things are quite as entertaining as watching millennia-old frost faeries shout “No deal, Howie!” at your television screen.

It was a welcome break, and I could almost imagine this was a normal night of fun with my cousins. The addition of Lex didn’t hurt, but it added to the strangeness. He was acting like the Lex I remembered—funny, caring, charming. I wanted to stay angry with him, but having him stand steadfast by my side today made that difficult. He was there when I needed him, which felt weird after what had occurred between us in the past.

A little after midnight I kicked the faeries out and sent them home so Lex and I could get a good night’s sleep before our big day tomorrow. Not that I predicted being able to sleep with the cold dread that’d settled into my stomach, but I was willing to give it a try. I gathered up the empty drinking glasses and the bag of chips we’d devoured, and brought them into the kitchen. When I returned to the living room for the second round of mess, I found the lights had been switched off. Barely visible, Lex stood at the window, staring into the night as he held the curtains aside.

“You need to see this.”

“What is it?”

“Might want to put your shields up in case they try to take a shot at you,” he advised as I crossed the room. With a deep breath I put my shields in place, feeling the energy snap around me and then continue its new odd habit of stretching to include Lex.

“How are you doing that?” I looked up at him, confused.

“Doin’ what?”

“You keep getting through my shields.”

“Huh. Probably ’cause your subconscious knows I’m not going to harm you, so there’s no need to keep me out. Those vamps outside, on the other hand, they’re probably not here to play cards.” Lex pointed into the darkness, and I looked out the window.

“I don’t see anything.” Squinting, I pushed my glasses up on my nose and strained to see what he indicated.

My eyes slowly adjusted to the rainy night. The streetlights had been doused, and this time it wasn’t my fault.

“There.” Stepping close to me, he gestured again. “Two in gangways across the street, one behind that oak tree.” Following Lex’s lead, I managed to spot three figures hiding in the shadows, and they were definitely not my neighbors.

“What are they doing?” I asked, my voice dropping to a tense whisper.

“Waitin’. They can’t get in, so they’re waitin’ for us to come out. Sooner or later they’ll get impatient and figure out a way to force their way in. In fact, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to set your building on fire and smoke us out.”

“They can’t, I have a ward against that too. Fire here can’t grow any bigger than a stove burner.”

“Damn, you are good. Still, with those vultures outside it’s not safe here anymore, Cat. You’ll have to stay somewhere else from now on.” With his point made, he let the curtains fall back into place, plunging the room into darkness, with only the light from the kitchen to see by.

“You’re right,” I reluctantly agreed.

“You could come stay with me.”

“With you?” Surprised by the suggestion, I turned to look up at him. We were standing so close I could feel the heat of his body and the light brush of his breath against my face. Nervous, I took a deep breath and unintentionally inhaled the familiar, unique scent of him. My heartbeat drowned out the steady patter of rain against the windows. With an amazing display of willpower I resisted the urge to bolt, knowing I’d only trip over something (like the cats that were still standing guard over Lex) and break my neck. Instead I took a slow step backward. “Why, you think it’d be easier to babysit me on your own turf?”

“I’m not babysitting you. Really, I’m protecting them from you,” he teased. Grinning, he reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair that’d escaped from my braid back into place behind my ear.

“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better,” I joked, a blush heating my face.

“I try. But seriously, Cat, I’ll be here as long as you need me.” Lex looked down at me, seeming sincere, and I shook my head at him.

“Don’t, Lex. You’re only here on orders. You’ll be gone and on to the next as soon as this assignment is over.”

“What if I don’t want that?”

“What if I do? I’m all for the life-saving thing, but I don’t want you in my life again.”

“Are you sure of that?”

Scowling, I took a steadying breath and prepared to launch into an explanation of the myriad reasons why I wasn’t about to go through another round of heartbreak with him, but before I could speak he leaned down and brushed a kiss across my lips.

A warm tingling suffused my body as soon as our lips met, the sort of electric reaction I usually associate with casting magic, but much, much better. He was hesitant at first, probably afraid I’d slap him or zot him with a spell, but when I didn’t object he slowly began to deepen the kiss. My knees went weak as my good sense vanished, and I slipped my arms around him to steady myself. Lex held me close as he continued to kiss me, and I leaned into him. I’d forgotten how well we fit together. He sighed, as though my lips were delicious and he savored them.

“This is a bad idea,” I murmured.

“No, this is a good idea.” Lex nudged me back toward the couch, and I sat down in a less-than-graceful flop. Next he joined me and drew me into his arms.

“Oh yeah? How?” My hormones were obviously happy to see him, but I still had a little bit of brainpower left, enough to be skeptical of the situation.

“Because letting you go was a bad idea. I don’t want to make that mistake again.” His voice was low and strained, and I wished it wasn’t so dark so I could see his expression. I sighed, a mix of old pain and new uncertainty, but he kissed me again and I stopped arguing.

I relaxed into the embrace, returning the kiss passionately. I felt better instantly—safe, warm, desired. Lex stroked my braided hair and let his hand rest at the small of my back. I ran my own hands up and down his back, debating whether or not it would be a good idea to tug his shirt off, but then I felt him unhooking my bra. My pulse jumped, and my magic decided to take that opportunity to wreak havoc on a pair of unsuspecting table lamps. With an electric sizzle followed by two sharp pops the light bulbs flashed and exploded. Startled, we jumped apart, the mood broken. We stared at each other, and I felt a guilty blush heat my face.

“Cat—” he started, and I held a hand up to stop him before he could say anything further.

“I don’t want to hear it. I’m going to get some new bulbs, and we’re going to pretend that never happened.”


Robyn Bachar
Every bad witch has a story…
http://robynbachar.com
BLOOD, SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Available now from Samhain Publishing


Don’t forget to come visit me at Gabriella Hewitt’s Blog today for her March Madness Blog Tour!

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Wicked Wednesday – THE FIFTH KINGDOM Romantic Suspense

THE FIFTH KINGDOM Romantic Suspense by Caridad PineiroWhen I was busy thinking about AZTEC GOLD atop that Mexican pyramid (and also wondering how I’d ever get down), I was also envisioning how I could use the locale for another of my favorite things – a romantic suspense novel.

That’s how THE FIFTH KINGDOM was born. I wondered what would happen if someone found something very important, like the tomb of the last great Aztec leader Montezuma. A find like that would have great historic and symbolic significance, especially since only one other such tomb has been found. Of course my writer’s mind then envisioned what would happen if there was something dangerous in the tomb. Something that could do great harm if it fell into the wrong hands. Add a sexy and wounded CIA agent and the daughter of a missing archeologist, who hasn’t seen her mother in nearly 14 years. Shake and you’ve got a romantic suspense novel.

What I liked most about this novel was surprisingly not the action and adventure, but the fragile understanding that develops between Bill Santana, the CIA Agent, and Deanna Vasquez, the daughter who also happens to be a well-known historian in her own right. They are both wounded souls who come to discover that maybe having family is not as bad as they both thought.

Without further ado, a short excerpt from THE FIFTH KINGDOM which will be out in July 2011 from Carina Press.

FIFTH KINGDOM Romantic Suspense by Caridad Pineiro and Carina press

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Amy Corwin Dishes on Writing Paranormal Romance

We’ve got a very special guest with us today! Please welcome Amy Corwin who is going to offer up some tips on writing my favorites – Paranormals!

Plotting the Paranormal
My name is Amy Corwin and I write paranormals. Actually, I write mysteries—both contemporary and historical—as well, but today I wanted to explore writing paranormals. They really aren’t much different than writing other kinds of novels, except perhaps the focus of the plot. When you’re sitting down to write other kinds of fiction, you generally fall into plot-driven or character-driven categories, regardless of whether you’ve never plotted out a book in advance in your life (a “pantster” writer) or do a complete plot outline before you place fingers on the keyboard to write.

Plot-driven writers create a plot and their characters weave their way through it. Character-driven writers let a character’s strengths, weakness, and goals drive the plot. For example, in a character-driven plot, the main character may be a kleptomaniac and that trait causes the character to get into a series of escalating problems. In a plot-driven novel, the plot may be that someone wakes up to find a dead body in bed next to him and has to figure out what happened before he is arrested for murder.

Ideally, you want the characters to drive the plot, while keeping them in line so that the plot doesn’t just drift off randomly like a blind man lost in a swamp. For example, if the guy does wake up in bed to find a dead body, it may be that his character led him to that place to begin with (he’s a party guy and notoriously drunk and someone used that to decide to frame him) and his character may drive the rest of the plot as he tries to prove his innocence. Most books aren’t purely one or the other.

A paranormal novel adds an additional dimension to the plot: the paranormal. What is interesting, however, is how this changes the basic plotting. In a way, you could think of a paranormal as being paranormal-driven. Whatever element makes the story a paranormal, be it a supernatural creature or some super-psychic ability, is what needs to drive the plot. If your story is about a woman who can see dead people, then the plot needs to revolve around her ability to see the dead. Perhaps she sees her dead son and learns he didn’t really commit suicide, but was murdered. She’s then driven to resolve the case, but runs into other difficulties due to her psychic abilities. That ability is the “character” trait that must drive the plot. Kay Hooper does this very, very effectively in her Noah Bishop, Special Crimes Unit novels. Each character in that series has a different psychic trait and that trait forces the character into the story and propels him or her forward.

Haunted house stories are another familiar breed and in contrast to Kay Hooper’s Special Crimes Unit, haunted house stories tend to be more plot-driven, but the plot is in essence the paranormal element: the haunted house. But since it’s rare to have successful books solely plot or character driven, and a classic example is Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. While it is a haunted house story and driven by that paranormal element, the haunting works on the main character’s weaknesses. It was Eleanor’s personality and sad history that intensified the paranormal elements and created a compelling story. Without Eleanor’s specific emotional makeup, the story would have been just another blah-blah ghost story. Instead, it became a classic that few other books have ever matched.

It’s never easy to blend all the elements and it’s perhaps a wee bit more difficult when you add the paranormal. It’s like a juggler picking up that third axe: two axes seem dangerous enough, the third just seems crazy. But it’s thrilling to be crazy.

Vampire Protector
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Memories may help her survive, but will they help her resist her vampire protector?

Exploring Gwen’s long abandoned childhood home in the company of her attractive neighbor, John, sounds like an intriguing evening. However, she soon realizes her mistake. John is a vampire and her house is not exactly empty. Secrets—and the dead—don’t always stay buried, and John’s extraordinary strength and determination may be all that can withstand what awaits them in the darkness.

In the following excerpt, Gwen has asked her neighbor, John Wright, to accompany her to her abandoned family home. She knows he’s a vampire, but despite this, she’s attracted to him and wants his company on this adventure.

But when the two of them get to the house, she’s not so sure it’s a good idea to enter…

Excerpt from Vampire Protector

John stopped and waited on the stoop. He glanced over his shoulder. When she didn’t move, he held out his hand in a peremptory gesture. She stared at it, thinking how human his hand looked with a sprinkling of dark hairs on the back of his wrists and strong, blunt-tipped fingers.

He must have been working outdoors the day he died, for there was still a tinge of sunburned red deepening the tan. The sun-kissed color reinforced the false sensation of heat radiating from him. He felt warm and alive to all her senses, despite the knowledge that he was not.

Her heart twisted with loneliness. It had been so long since she had felt arms around her. But she hadn’t met a man she felt she could trust, and a vampire was out of the question.

She had lost her way and did not know how to find the path back to a real life.

“Hold my hand if you’re afraid of ghosts,” he offered with a twisted smile. A flicker of sympathy grew in the depths of his eyes, revealing a sad recognition of the gulf between them: vampire and human.

With a sense of surprise, she felt his warm gaze tug her even closer to him. As if his awareness of the differences between them meant they shared similar core beliefs and that she could trust him because of that.

She shivered and thrust her thoughts away.

“Hanging onto your cold, dead fingers is not going to make me feel any better.”

“I’ll warm them for you.” His dark eyes flickered. The corners crinkled with silent laughter.

“You can make me think they’re warm. But they’ll still be cold, dead fingers.” The hairs rose along her neck and arms. She glanced over her shoulder toward the graveyard across the street.

“The remnants of the dead—those tatters—have probably drifted over from the graveyard. They’ll collect here. It’s not that I’m afraid of them. It’s not like they’d consciously attack me or anything, but they’ll be attracted to the body heat of anything living. Like me.”

She gestured toward one of the drifts of leaves in the farthest corner of the porch.

A few pitiful gray, black, and white feathers lay amidst the debris. At some point in the past, a mockingbird had tried to nest in the shelter of the porch. The bird had been sucked dry of energy and warmth before it realized what was happening and flew away. All that remained was a dry handful of feathers and bones.

The sight did not bode well for anything alive that entered the house.

About Amy: Amy Corwin is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America and has been writing for the last ten years and managing a career as an enterprise systems administrator in the computer industry. She writes Regencies/historicals, mysteries, and contemporary paranormals. To be truthful, most of her books include a bit of murder and mayhem since she discovered that killing off at least one character is a highly effective way to make the remaining ones toe the plot line.

Amy’s books include the two Regency romances, SMUGGLED ROSE, and LOVE, THE CRITIC; three Regency romantic mysteries, I BID ONE AMERICAN, THE BRICKLAYER’S HELPER, and THE NECKLACE; and her first paranormal, VAMPIRE PROTECTOR.

Join her and discover that every good romance has a touch of mystery.

Website: http://www.amycorwin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/amycorwin
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmyCorwinAuthor
Blog: http://amycorwin.blogspot.com

Thank you for having me here today, I enjoyed it and hope you’ll leave comments about the kinds of paranormal stories you love the best!

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Joe Manganiello – Totally Hot Guilty Pleasure

With the frightful cold weather we need something really really hot to warm up these chilly days – Joe Manganiello. Now I don’t watch TRUE BLOOD, but Joe has me reconsidering that decision. Can we say way hot? Check out this video of a photo shoot for MEN’S HEALTH AND FITNESS.

Not sure I’m a fan of the beard though. What do you think?

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