Happily Ever Afters

Photo Credit:  Microsoft Clip ArtAs a romance writer, even a paranormal romance writer, there is one thing that I cannot fail to do — deliver a Happily Ever After!

In books it’s easy to do if you set up the conflict correctly, know what issues need to be resolved and last, end the book while the couple are in the throes of that blissful true love moment.

In life, and in books, the Happily Ever After once that blissful moment is over is sometimes not so easy to maintain. It’s why I loved being able to revisit Diana and Ryder from DARKNESS CALLS in their second book – DEATH CALLS. It’s probably why I’ll write yet another story featuring them since readers understand that achieving that Happily Ever After can be difficult, but oh so joyous when it finally happens.

With the benefit of age and hopefully some wisdom, I look back at my marriage and realize that it hasn’t been easy staying married. There have been ups and down, most times caused by external pressures such as jobs, illnesses and deaths, but somehow through it all, we’ve not only persevered, we’ve stayed happy together.

Some might wonder how that’s possible. How do you slog through the rough times in life and still manage to keep alive the Happily Ever After?

I realized the other day that the answer was: Humor. Respect. Understanding.

Oh wait, that’s three answers, isn’t it! LOL!

But there it was, one way to Happily Ever After and not just in the books that I write, but in real life.

Find someone who can make you laugh and pick you up during the hard times. Someone who respects your opinions and your contributions to the relationship. Someone who understands your needs, both physical and mental. In reality, combine all those attributes and you will usually find Love and with Love comes the Happily Ever After.

How about you? For those of you who have been in long term relationships, what do you find keeps you going through good times and bad?

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.

Wicked Wednesday – Kaye Manro, a Guest Blog and Contest!

I am so excited to have my friend and fellow author Kaye Manro here to tell us a little about her latest release. Plus, we’ve got a contest for you since I’m also doing a guest blog over with my friend JoJo to help her celebrate her birthday! So, if you leave a comment at JoJo’s blog, you have a chance to win an ARC of STRONGER THAN SIN, my November release, a copy of SINS OF THE FLESH, the first book in the SINS series as well as a T-shirt! Double your chances to win by leaving a comment here and also, if you’re selected at JoJo’s site and leave a comment here, you will also win a copy of your choice of either FURY CALLS or SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS!

So without further ado, here’s my buddy Kaye!

*****

FORBIDDEN LOVE by Kaye ManroThanks to the lovely Caridad Pineiro for inviting me, a new author, as a guest on her blog today! I’m so excited to be here, and to share my short ebook, FORBIDDEN LOVE, which is not a paranormal, but a science fiction romance!

Readers may not know exactly how sci-fi relates to the romance genre. So let me show you. In the subgenre of science fiction romance, authors use technology and not magic. Rather than fantasy characters such as shape shifters, the characters are alien or human. The settings are anywhere, but it is common to see stories taking place on alien worlds or on advanced spaceships. For an author, this genre, called SFR can be very exciting and fun to explore. I have to say it was for me.

Forbidden Love released at Red Rose Publishing on May 13, and has consistently stayed on the bestseller lists. Here’s a little of what you’ll find in the story:

Forbidden Love is a futuristic sci-fi romance. There is space travel at FTL (faster than light). But there is also lots of sensual exploring between the hero T’Kon and the heroine Maya, who hail from different galaxies and evolutionary paths. Rules on T’Kon’s planet forbid interspecies mating. Yet when he crashes his spacecraft on Maya’s world close to her desert home, what else is he to do but let this audacious alien tend his injuries?

For those who are new to this exciting genre, I have included a Science Fiction Lexicon on my Website. You can find phrases that may be unfamiliar to you there. The terms relate directly to those used in Forbidden Love.

For example, FTL is the ability a spacecraft has to travel in deep space far exceeding the speed of light. While in FTL, your ship could essentially reach billions of miles per second or more.

Now back to Forbidden Love, which is first and foremost a romance even though the subplot is science fiction. Here’s an excerpt so you can get a feel for the Forbidden Love romantic elements:

…She was upon him so near he could feel her breath, sense her warmth. She reached out and ran a hand through the air, searching the length of him.

“Maya,” he blew her name on a sigh.

“Take me with you,” she implored, as tears filled her astounding tawny eyes. “I want to be with you, T’Kon.” She melded her body against his invisible one.

“You know nothing of me or my world.”

“Teach me, show me everything.”

He felt her heat burning inside him, yet the absurdity of her request burned brighter. “What you ask is not possible.”

“Will you please become visible so I can look at you?” She asked. “We need to talk about this before you go flying off into the universe.”

He unshielded his body so she could see him. “I cannot take you.”

“Why not? You can’t say it was coincidence that you happened to crash land in my back yard.”

No, an unfortunate accident. The truthful certainty traced across his mind. Yet his arms enclosed her and he lifted her up. Her legs straddled his waist, and he held her close against his body. A fit so right he could not deny it.

“I wish it were not so, but it is,” he whispered, breathing in her pungent scent. “You would not survive on my world.” He dropped his head to taste her lips before she had a chance to counter his words. “Just one last kiss.” Her mouth opened to allow his tongue entry and he explored the soft moistness, losing himself in her tang.

The stars help him. He did not want to leave her.

Without warning, a sudden and dangerous noise yanked T’Kon from his enamored stupor. He sensed peril approaching. In a rapid-fire move, he raised his palm. A copper arch flashed and shimmered before them revealing the entryway to his concealed spacecraft. He dragged her inside. Tapping a pad the opening closed leaving them hidden behind an undetectable shield.

* * ***

I hope you enjoy reading Forbidden love as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Kaye’s Bio: As a romance author, I lean toward the adventuresome in my writing. I love science fiction and all the enticing quantum theories surrounding it. Where characters rush through outer space at FTL, or teleport into another time, and even slipstream into an alternate reality. I like creating sizzling love scenes too with sexy heroes, and captivating heroines. It just seemed natural to combine all these elements together in my stories.

Kaye Manro

You can purchase FORBIDDEN LOVE by clicking here or visiting this page:
http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=772

For more information on Kaye, please visit her Website at http://www.sfr.kayemanro.com or Kaye’s blog at http://kayemanro.blogspot.com/.

Thanks so much!

Fun Friday – Arts, Crafts & News

This weekend will be hopping for me! First there is the Liberty States Fiction Writers Mayke It Happen get together! Can’t wait to go and hang out with all of my buds and talking about our writing projects.

I’ll be down the shore and hoping to see some sun! But just in case it’s rainy, I’m sharing a fun project with you from my friend Kathy Cano-Murilla, the Crafty Chica aka the Goddess of Glitter! As writers and readers, we always seem to have a vast collection of pens and I thought this crazy pencil cup would be fun to share with you!

If it is sunny, I hope to get some time in along the boardwalk, researching some more spots for . . .

BOOKS 3 and 4 IN THE SINS SERIES!


Yes, you heard it here first! I’ve accepted an offer from Grand Central Publishing for two more books in the SINS series. Not only that, you won’t have to wait that long to read about the continuing adventures of the Carrera clan as well as some new and very dangerous people that will enter their lives (can we say some non-human people with very unusual and deadly powers?)

As you know, STRONGER THAN SIN will be out in November 2010 and you’ll be able to read both Books 3 and 4 in 2011 if all goes as planned! I can’t wait to share these exciting paranormal romance stories with you and I know you’ll all like to see what’s up with Mick, Caterina and Liliana as well as find out more about the dark creatures who will threaten the Carrera clan. As for who will be the hero and heroine in book 3 — here’s a hint: You’ve read about them already in one of the SINS-related books/prequels and you’ll see more of them in STRONGER THAN SIN!

That’s all the beans I’m spilling for now! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Fun Friday – Ninja Cat

This Fun Friday I have a very sneaky cat for you! It’s amazing how determined she is and how careful as she approaches her objective. It makes for a good chuckle. Also remember you have until midnight EST TONIGHT to leave a message on the Nancy Thayer blog to possibly win a SINS OF THE FLESH t-shirt.


Ninja Cat @ Yahoo! Video

Wicked Wednesday – SINS OF THE FLESH

sinscoversmallThe cover gods have been very very good to me! Just look at the stunning front and back covers for my November release SINS OF THE FLESH. A big thanks to my publisher – Grand Central Publishing – and all involved with producing such works of art! And because its Wicked Wednesday, I’m giving you a little tidbit from SINS OF THE FLESH as well as the enticing back cover copy!

Back Cover Copy:
Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment – a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body — and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.
sinsbacksmall
Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.


Prologue

The day the music died, Caterina Shaw did as well.

Not physically, although she understood the death of her body was inevitable. She had come to terms with that reality some time ago. She had even managed to deal with the blindness caused by the tumor eating away her brain. But then the pain had become so great that it had silenced the music, stealing away the only thing that had made life worth the anguish.

“You understand this treatment is new and uncertain,” Dr. Rudy Wells explained, his voice smooth and comforting. The touch of his hand, warm and reassuring, came against hers as it rested on her thigh.

“I understand,” she said and faced the direction of that calming voice.

Another person abruptly chimed in, his tones as strident and grating as a badly played oboe. “We’ll begin with laser surgery to remove the bulk of the tumor followed by two different courses of gene therapy.”

Two? she wondered and sensed Dr. Wells’ hesitation as well from the tremble that skated across his fingers. He removed his hand from hers and said, “Dr. Edwards believes that we can not only shut down the tumor growing in your brain, but possibly regrow the portion of your optic nerve that the tumor damaged.”

Caterina’s only wish when considering the experimental treatment had been to stop the pain so that she could play her cello once again. So that her last months would be filled with the vitality her music provided.

It was through her music that she lived. That her mother lived, Caterina thought, recalling the passion she had felt as a small child when her mother had played the piano for her; the way her mother’s fingers had coaxed life from the keys much like she now did with a stroke of her bow and the deft touch of her fingers on the strings of her cello.

Or at least like she had up until the cancer had put an end to her music, bringing her life to a close. Except now she was being told something different.

Caterina had never thought about eliminating the tumor. Every prognosis so far had been that she was terminal. Now these new doctors told her not only that might she live, but that she might actually see again too. She didn’t dare believe that she would be able to get her old life back completely, as well as her sight but . . .

“You think I’ll be able to recover? To see again?” Caterina asked, needing to be sure she had understood correctly.

“The risks are great, my dear,” Dr. Wells urged gently.

“But you qualify for the human trials because of the advanced state of your illness, Ms. Shaw,” Dr. Edwards added, annoyance at his partner evident in the staccato beats of his voice.

Her advanced state which could possibly bring death even with this treatment, Caterina thought. Not that she feared her end. What she did fear was letting the pain in her head rob her of the one thing she could not live without.

Her music.

She knew without hesitation that it was worth any risk to regain that part of her. To drive back the illness so she could play her cello once more and reanimate her heart for as long as she had left if the treatments couldn’t stop the tumor.

“What do you need me to do?”

Copyright 2009 Caridad Pineiro Scordato

Fun Friday – Colbert and Martin Team Up to Read Steele

Thanks to my friend Carolyn for the info on this clip. It’s Steve Colbert and Steve Martin joining together to read from Danielle Steele’s PERFECT STRANGER. As I mentioned to Carolyn, I was a wee child when I read this book and now as I hear these two men read it . . .

Well, you’ll have to listen for yourself and decide what it sounds like. You may have to listen a bit since the scene with the Steele reading happens at about 4 minutes into the video.

The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Steve Martin

Hope this gives you a little chuckle on today’s Friday and I want to wish all of you a great weekend.