Saturday, December 30, 2017

FOR WRITERS: #FreeImages #FreePhotos #SeaLife

For all my friends who have a blog or website and need royalty-free images. Copy and paste with no worries. I took all the photos myself (some better than others) but enjoy!























Saturday, December 16, 2017

#99CentEbook #RecommendedReading A cozy mystery romance for the holidays! https://tinyurl.com/yc4quyuw

Walking Away With Christmas: A Short Cozy Mystery (Garland Creek Book 1) by [McCright, Tina Swayzee]

When a string of burglaries threatens to close the newly opened Garland Creek Resort, Gina Ferari, the resort photographer, discovers her aunt is the prime suspect. After a chance meeting, Gina finds an ally, and possibly more, in Carter Hayes, a visiting lawyer. But the situation worsens when an employee disappears, Carter’s future with his law firm becomes questionable, and Gina can’t get beyond her childhood loss to learn to trust again. Can a touch of magic bring back Christmas and Gina’s happily ever after?

This is a charming story for the holidays! (Warning: You're going to want to adopt the dog!) Get yours from Amazon:
https://tinyurl.com/yc4quyuw

Thursday, November 23, 2017

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Hoping your day is filled with good food, loving people, and smiles as charming as this one!


Thursday, October 26, 2017

Shaman's Seduction is an arctic fantasy world with...camels. Really?

I love to shake up my worlds with unique aspects, and having camels in my arctic world appealed to me...and made a weird kind of sense. My wonderful beta reader went 'huh?' when he came across the first mention of camels as mounts for my tribal people. If it makes you scratch your head too, take a peek at these articles:

https://www.thenational.ae/uae/science/camels-well-known-in-arctic-circles-1.290692

http://www.animalfactsencyclopedia.com/Camel-facts.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/evolution/9910020/Camels-humps-originated-in-the-Arctic.html

Saturday, August 19, 2017

#FreeExcerpt From MOON DANCER by @KathryneKennedy

On the landless planet of Sea Forest, where all life is supported within the giant trees that grow from the ocean’s floor…

The Madera farm lay within half a day’s boating through the smaller channels flowing from the town of Seastar, where Tarov’s flotilla had docked for their performance. Tarov had borrowed a small punt and poled it to the farm herself, out of practice in the maneuvering of it, but with enough stamina from dancing with her ‘ka that she managed to arrive without mishap.

She peered through the foggy mist toward the upper branches of the mammoth sea trees. Braq Madera should be up there, bone-hoe in hand, cultivating the moss which provided most of the income for the small farm. She struggled to contain her disappointment when she didn’t see him, then quickly scanned the shallow tide pools flourishing within the roots of the trees. He might be harvesting the animal and plant life living inside them.

Perhaps he had even found the magical zabbaroot, Tarov mused. Braq had once told her he dreamed of finding one of the rare trees that grew the root. He intended to be wealthy even if he had to smuggle it beneath the noses of the royals, who claimed the root belonged under control of the king.

Within the zabba lay the power to See, Hear and Shape…to control the unpredictable elements of this landless world so humans could survive. And more importantly to Tarov, the magical properties of the zabbaroot gave her the ability to dance with the ‘ka, her leviathan bone instruments. The royals eagerly funded the arts with zabba, and Tarov often wondered who had been the first to create the ‘ka from the bones of the sea monster. It took a great amount of the power to See into the bone of razor-sharp edges and cut them to size, then carve out a hole within it. Once the main airway was created, more holes on the outside of the tube created even richer music, although more than thirteen holes dissipated the sound. It also took an inhuman amount of Strength to spin the rope attached to the bone with enough force to make the wind pass through, creating the haunting music for the dance. But no amount of power could smooth the dense edges of the bone, which made the wielding of them so dangerous.

Tarov couldn’t be sure which aspects of the moon dance the royals prized the most.  

With trembling fingers, she smoothed down her frizzy brown hair, adjusting the headband that attempted to keep it in place. She yanked at the strip of spider silk covering her small breasts, and then adjusted the matching bottoms. Bereft of its veils, her dancing outfit looked plain; she’d twined strings of striped marbela shells around her neck for decoration.

Yet she’d worn her costume on purpose, for moon dancers never lacked for companionship. The homeliest of women who wore the rare purple silks and sported the myriad scars of a dancer found themselves much sought after. And Tarov needed all the confidence she could get to face her ex-lover.

She tied her flat-bottomed boat to the small landing before climbing up the ladder to the top of the tree’s roots. Tarov took a deep breath of courage and then strode along the trail of interlaced limbs that led to the home’s front balcony.

When she stood a few paces away, the door suddenly opened.

“Tarov Jin’nidea,” whispered Henel, her blue eyes wide with surprise. Her sculpted mouth hung open prettily, revealing even, white teeth. Gold hair lay in masses of smooth curls along her shoulders, flawless skin flushed a rosy pink as she threw herself forward and hugged her friend.

Tarov fought a pang of envy, for Henel looked even more beautiful than she remembered. “It hasn’t been that long,” she murmured.

“Yes, it has,” pouted Henel. “All these years, with not a word from you, then suddenly you’re at my doorstep!”

Tarov shook her head in annoyance. “But you sent for me, Henel. The message said it was an emergency.”

“Oh, well, I suppose I did. But it was so long ago; I didn’t think you’d come. I heard you’ve been traveling, training as a dancer, and felt sure you wouldn’t--couldn’t take the time. By the moons! Let me look at you.”

They stood apart, Tarov knowing what the other woman saw: the frizzy hair, the muddy brown eyes flecked with green, the wide mouth, and the even wider nose and forehead.

“You look...like Tarov,” she finally said with a dismissive shrug, although her eyes narrowed speculatively at the moon dancer costume and the tiny scars. She waved Tarov into her home of hollowed-out tree bark with a proprietary tilt of her chin.

Tarov stopped at the threshold and abruptly realized this would be harder than she’d thought. Some things time cannot dull. Her memories of this humble farm, the days she’d spent behind that bedroom door--the feel of Braq in her arms--rushed at her with astonishing clarity. This place had once been her little bit of paradise. As long as Braq Madera had shared it with her.

Tarov tried to ignore the changes Henel made to the front room. Drawings of Braq and Henel graced every wall, and one large work with just Henel in a flowing gown hung over the mantel of the fire shell. New furniture had replaced the old. The rickety table where Tarov and Braq had eaten, laughing as the surface wobbled enough to spill their drinks, had been replaced with a polished, sturdy one of carved rose-bark. Driftwood chairs with fluffy cushions replaced the old, lumpy ones.

Henel had made sure to put her personal stamp upon the entire room.

But Braq’s old leaf-carved chest still sat against the varnished tree wall, a gift from his father when Braq left home to find his way in the world. Tarov’s throat tightened when she remembered the day he’d finally shown her the contents. It held drawings of his mother, father, and brothers. A stack of lace and linens his mother had sewn. And at the bottom, a box with a ring of polished amber Braq said would one day be hers, as soon as he made enough money to support them…

Tarov looked down at Henel’s hand. The ring--her promised ring--wrapped the girl’s left middle finger. Her heart felt like it held the weight of a narwhal. Why had she ever come?

“Where is he?” she asked, not caring what Henel thought of her bluntness.

Henel’s blue eyes narrowed, then widened in surprise. “I thought you’d heard,” she replied, elegantly flipping her fingers in the air. “He died.”








Wednesday, August 16, 2017

#NewRelease: MOON DANCER #99CentEbook by @KathryneKennedy


In MOON DANCER, enter the landless planet of Sea Forest from BENEATH THE THIRTEEN MOONS, where love and betrayal can be deadly. In the bonus story, THE DISENCHANTED LOVER, enter the magical world of Victorian London from the RELICS OF MERLIN series, where passion always trumps enchantment.

MOON DANCER: Tarov is a skilled dancer, wielding the deadly instruments crafted from the bones of a sea monster. Henel has stolen Tarov’s man in the past, and now seems intent on not only taking Tarov’s place as lead dancer, but her new lover too. Will Tarov lose everything to treachery? Or will the magic of Sea Forest help her find happiness?

THE DISENCHANTED LOVER: When Lady Rose Cheevers impulsively casts a spell and brings her husband back from the grave, she’s horrified to discover he’s not the angel she thought. When she seeks out the roguish thief, Mister Drake Pann, to help rid her of the demon, she discovers a new passion for love that may have everything to do with enchantment…or nothing at all.

"In Moon Dancer, Ms. Kennedy returns to the erotic, verdant world she created in her novel Beneath The Thirteen Moons. She is clearly comfortable returning to this setting as she easily slips the reader into the aquatic planet whose inhabitants worship the sea and live in massive trees. The result is a crisply told tale of love, jealousy and betrayal unfolding in a troupe of moon dancers, skilled performers of a beautiful and potentially deadly art form.  Of course our heroine Tarov gets her man, but will she lose her identity in the process? Moon Dancer is one part sci-fi thriller, one part love story and one part Shakespearian drama, all wrapped tightly into a dense yet easy to read short story."
--David Benz, Edgar-Nominated Author
  





About the Author:
Kathryne Kennedy is an award winning, best-selling author critically acclaimed for her world building and blending genres to create groundbreaking stories. She’s lived in Guam, Okinawa, and several other states within the U.S., and currently lives in Arizona with her wonderful family—which includes a Yorkie and a part-Chihuahua rescue dog. She loves to hear from readers, and welcomes you to visit her website where she has ongoing contests, sample chapters, newsletter sign-up, and purchase links to her books at http://www.kathrynekennedy.com

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Just finished Jacqueline Carey's AGENT OF HEL series. Highly #RecommendedRead #EbookSale

I loved, loved, loved this series! The great thing is, the publisher has one of the ebooks in the series on sale at Amazon for $2.99: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Currents-Agent-Jacqueline-Carey/dp/0451414837/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500573489&sr=1-8&keywords=jacqueline+carey

So you can try it and see if you love it as much as I did! (If you're one of my readers, you will.)