Rise for Me by Kristal Harris

Welcome back to Visiting Authors, Kristal. I always enjoy having you. Let’s refresh our readers…

Do you find inspiration in your own life for your writing?

I do find inspiration from my own life, especially for Rise for Me. Mariah, the heroine, is afflicted with a hairy birthmark under her eye. My mother was born with a hairy, pink birthmark in the center of her forehead. It was later removed by a plastic surgeon, but she was embarrassed. I remember feeling so bad for her, but not truly understanding her insecurity until I became disabled. Long story short, I wear drop-foot braces to walk. People stare and it’s uncomfortable, but I’ve learned to ignore it and realized my disability makes me unique. For a long time, it bothered me and caused me to be insecure.

Vampire and warlock, Roman Lee, spent centuries alone as ringmaster of the carnival. After befriending and healing a scarred, young woman, Roman realizes Mariah is his mate. He waits for her, but when she departs from his life, his torture knows no bounds. Now he's risen, unforgiving and angry, forced from his grave by the one woman who captured his heart, but will another secret and the call of his mate change everything?

The steady call of Roman's blood and the promise of peace brings Mariah Stone home to the carnival and the vampire she left behind. He ignores her until she forces him from the grave with her blood. His anger crushes her already broken spirit, but she is determined to win Roman's forgiveness and free him from their bond. Denied passion leads them down a path of magic and desire, while a devastating secret threatens eternal love.

Rise for Me | Universal Book Links Help You Find Books at Your Favorite Store! (books2read.com)

Any new projects on the horizon?

Seduction by Blood is another vampire romance I cowrote with another author. It has been contracted with The Wild Rose Press, Inc., but doesn’t have a release date it. Watch for it!

What was the hardest/most unusual/interesting part of the story to write/research?

Although as a child I spent numerous weekends at an amusement park, I didn’t realize my favorite ride, the haunted house, would play such a role in one of my books. That amusement park closed years ago due to a fire, but while writing I pulled from the experience. Once I started researching carnivals, my curiosity took flight and I found myself reading anything I could find on the subject. Funny how that happens!

What was my muse for Rise for Me? A birthmark. Read more here.

As authors, we are expected/encouraged to develop relationships with readers as well as other professionals in our field. Just for fun, I answered another author’s prompt on Facebook that went like this: 

Create a fictional story about how we met.

My answer:  We met at the carnival. You were the creepy clown who snuck up on me and scared me half to death. I was angry, so I smacked with you with my corndog, got mustard in your hair, you got angry, we wrestled into the duck-pond booth, both got soaking wet, but it’s all good because we’re friends again. LOL

Not the best writing, I know, but that little answer sparked my imagination and I started thinking what a great idea to write a vampire story set at the carnival. It’s the perfect place for a vampire to hide. Of course, the idea developed into so much more once I started writing it!

Excerpt from Rise for Me…

Mariah stopped directly over where she knew Roman rested. Her own blood surged in her veins every time she stepped on the worn plank. She tilted her head, listening to the call of his blood and the beat of his heart. Lizzie said he wasn’t feeding as much as he should, so there was one sure way to bring Roman out of his grave. She searched the room for something sharp until her gaze landed on a small, jeweled pocketknife. She grabbed it off the table and pulled the blade out of its slot. It was dull, but it would work.

Mariah placed the small blade against her left palm, then held it over the spot where she knew Roman rested. With one downward swipe, the blade pierced her flesh, opening a one-inch gash. Blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the rough, wooden floor planks. She crouched and held her palm over the crack between the boards, making sure the blood reached Roman. With a deep breath, she gathered her courage as her blood continued to splatter in droplets between the planks. The room seemed to groan, and every trinket vibrated when she finally called to the other half of her soul in a loud, demanding voice. “Rise for me, Roman Lee.”

Website ~   Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Instagram  ~   Goodreads ~  YouTube ~  BookBub ~ Amazon Author Page  ~ Pinterest

Kristal Dawn Harris is an award-winning, Rone nominated, American romance author. She has been married for 27 years and has two children. Kristal finished a degree from Miami University in Accounting Technology, but quickly realized she preferred words over numbers. She is an avid reader and, in particular, loves darker paranormal romance. Her hobbies include coin collecting, physical fitness, stained-glass art (beginner), poetry, and song writing.

Kristal primarily writes for her publisher, The Wild Rose Press, although it should be noted she has self-released several books. She writes paranormal, fantasy, erotic, as well as contemporary romance in different lengths.

You can find out more about Kristal and her books at www.kristalharris.com.

Why America needs Westerns…by Mike Torreano

Welcome, Mike!

Tell us, why does America need westerns?

America Needs Westerns

 

My third western, A Score to Settle, was recently released by The Wild Rose Press. It’s set in 1870 New Mexico Territory on the notorious Goodnight-Loving cattle trail. My first two western mysteries, The Reckoning, and The Renewal, are set in about the same timeframe in Colorado.

They say the traditional American western is dead. It’s true the golden age of westerns was some time back. Since then, there’s been a bit of a dry spell, until recently when several big box office westerns based on great new novels have been released.

Are they’re coming back? I hope so. Westerns embody timeless values—a place where right triumphs over wrong. Not always, certainly, but in my stories it does. The Old West was a black and white society with clear-cut rules—there were things you were and weren’t supposed to do. And if you did wrong, there were consequences, oftentimes immediate, many times violent.

There was a Code of the West, even observed among the bad guys. Simple rules for simpler times. Unwritten, but adhered to nonetheless. The Code drew its strength from the underlying character of westerners, both men and women alike. Life back then was hard, but it was also simple. Things that needed to get done got done. Whining wasn’t tolerated. Complainers were ignored. You weren’t a victim. You played the hand you were dealt.

If you’re getting the idea I like that kind of culture, you’re right.

An excerpt…

“Tell me your story, Del. We got time.”

Del tried to piece the last few days together. He told Sonny about leaving Rose and—

She interrupted. “That your woman?”

“If she’ll have me. If I ever see her again.” He told her about the search to find Tyson. Riding through Santa Rosa, the trickery about Lost Creek, Potter’s ambush south of town amid the sandstorm. Riding for Wilkins’ ranch and Shade being played out. The desperate walk to find Sinola in the dark.

“You’ve had quite the adventure, Del Lawson.”

The world we live in today sometimes baffles me. Everything is different shades of gray. Honor and fidelity seem to be out of fashion. People are entitled. The media are advocates, not reporters.

While the Code of the West was unwritten and existed in various forms, there were certain common elements everyone—from the hard-working sodbuster, to the law-abiding citizen, to the hardened criminal—typically abided by. Granted, there were exceptions, but generally that held true.

The Code gave westerners a guide to live by that they broke at their own peril. Are there still things today that aren’t for sale? I’d wager we all have values that are non-negotiable. After all, values don’t really change—only times, circumstances, and people do.

The good news is that the values the Code embodied haven’t vanished from today’s America, but more often than not they’ve been marginalized. Popular culture tends to look down on old-time values, or should I say the timeless values of nineteenth century America. We’re an instant gratification society that focuses on the here and now, and disregards the lessons of the past. Imagine a world where a man’s word—and a woman’s—was their bond. Where handshakes took the place of fifty-page contracts and lawyers.

So, yes, occasionally I yearn for those simpler times amid today’s hustle and bustle. Sometimes, the world I created in A Score to Settle looks pretty appealing. And it might to you. American westerns serve to remind us of our solid roots and what we were and could become again. That’s why I write them and why they’ll never die.

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and on Goodreads

Mike Torreano has a military background and is a student of history and the American West. He fell in love with Zane Grey’s descriptions of the Painted Desert in the fifth grade, when his teacher made her students read a book and write a report every week.

Mike recently had a short story set during the Yukon gold rush days published in an anthology, and he’s written for magazines and small newspapers. An experienced editor, he’s taught University English and Journalism. He’s a member of Colorado Springs Fiction Writers, Pikes Peak Writers, The Historical Novel Society, and Western Writers of America. He brings his readers back in time with him as he recreates western life in the late 19th century.

Find him online:

Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Bookbub ~ LinkedIn ~ Twitter ~ Website 

 

 

The Warrior's Progeny by Jeny Heckman

Jeny Heckman is back, sharing about her second book in her Heaven and Earth series, The Warrior’s Progeny. Welcome, Jeny!

First, thank you Jean for having me on today I truly appreciate your time and am excited to get to know your readers.

Tell us about what you write.

My fictional Heaven & Earth series is a paranormal romance. They are all novels except for Dee’s Cornucopia, which will come out next year. It will be a novella on one of the supporting characters, a fan favorite named, Dee Taylor.

I also published, Dancing Through Tears, in February, as part of the Australia Burns anthology (it’s in volume two). It was to benefit the wildfire victims in Australia, and is my family’s experience as attendees of the Las Vegas, Route 91 massacre in October 2017.

I also write contemporary fiction.

What drew you to writing?

Kindle ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Kobo ~ iBooks

What drew me to writing was getting lost in stories and characters. So, many books I used to read I loved but wished for one thing or another to change, even daring to believe I might do it one better. So, it was to see if I could, one, do it and two, create something a little different.

What was your inspiration for The Warrior’s Progeny?

Well, the series is about the Greek gods and goddesses and their modern-day counterparts. The powers and weaknesses of these gods and mortals must work together to solve a quest. Each pairing means something. In the Sea Archer, book one, Apollo and Poseidon worked together to build the foundation and walls of Troy. So, in my story, they create the foundation of the series and the quest. Book two the Warrior’s Progeny, is about strength within the family. So, Ares and Hera needed to be the spotlights.

Do you find inspiration in your own life for your writing?

I do have a lot of my family and friend’s quirks and habits in the books. However, funny enough, it wasn’t super intentional. I’ll have my husband or someone say, “That was funny, so and so does that all the time.” And I’ll be like, “Oh, yeah, huh?” Or a habit of one of them will pop up. For instance, cantilevering a bottle cap against another bottle cap to pop it off is something the men in my family do to beer all the time.

Tell us about The Warrior’s Progeny.

The Warrior’s Progeny is about Ares, the Warrior, or god of violent war. The progeny has to do with Hera, who is the goddess of marriage but also has to do with the family and childbirth. Ares, has a modern-day ancestor, Colt Stone, who is a football tight-end for Seattle. Hera’s, ancestor is Dr. Lillian Morgan, a pediatric, cardiothoracic surgeon. They “run into” each other at the wedding of a friend in Hawaii and do not hit it off.

Eventually, upon their return to Seattle, they begin to do charity work together and the relationship progresses. Lilly, is the widow of a perfect man and marriage, with two small children. Colt, is an eligible bachelor with a hardcore reputation and definitely not an ideal family man.

So, they have some challenges. Throw in some supernatural events, and unexplained dream sequences from Greek gods and the bronze age and life gets a whole lot more interesting.

Slide set caption:

1. The Burren - in Ireland. Inspiring deserted landscape. 2. Iona Cross - on Skye (Scotland). 3. Boat in Inverary (Scotland) - during her month-long solo trip! 4. - The Scaup, is a diving duck boat of Jeny’s.

Tell us about your experience with the publishing process.

So, my first novel, the Catch, is about a woman crab fisherman in Alaska. It’s a novel about empowerment, and a woman working in a man’s world. I’d never written anything before in my life and self-published it. I fell in love with writing and began going to conferences and taking classes on writing. I came up with an idea for this series and pitched the idea to a couple of New York agents who loved it. After writing the Sea Archer, I went to another conference and pitched the book, receiving five requests for the novel. I found a home with The Wild Rose Press, who published it and this book, the Warrior’s Progeny. Next year, I hope to have both books turned into audio along with the remaining four books of the series.

Colton Stone is a newly traded tight end whose reputation is as battered as his football helmet. When he receives a vacation invitation from his new teammates, he accepts. There he collides with Dr. Lillian Morgan, a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon, and doesn't know what to think.

A widow with two children, Lilly is looking forward to her friends' wedding. When she meets Colton Stone, his arrogant attitude only makes her long for the love she took for granted. Lilly struggles between letting go of her perfect past for an uncertain future.

Strange events occur, out of the realm of normal consciousness. When black energy touches their world Colt and Lilly become the pawns of the immortal Greek gods. Is the love developing between them natural, or part of a larger prophecy?

FIND IT ONLINE: Kindle ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Kobo ~ iBooks

Any new projects on the horizon?

Next year, Dee’s Cornucopia will come out (I’m editing it now). There will be four more books in the Heaven & Earth series, and I’ve just started book three. I also have a YA book in development and a political thriller I’m trying to decide whether or not I’m going to publish. So, lots of things popping!

Words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches:

Get comfortable talking about yourself as a writer. When someone asks you what you do, tell them you’re a writer and own it!

What was the hardest part of the story to write/research?

The hardest part for me with writing by far is the editing! I don’t enjoy it at all! Everything else is cream cheese!

Now for an excerpt…

“You couldn’t have known,” Colt said.

“I’m a doctor,” she retorted. “I’m trained to know.”

“Oh, bullshit.” She drew her brows together and looked at him with

irritation. Undaunted, he continued. “You were his wife, not his doctor.” Glancing back at the picture, he drank from his glass. “He was a young guy...looked fit...father of two.” Colt turned to look at her again. “Young, fit, fathers of two don’t get stage four pancreatic cancer and die in ten months. He wasn’t your patient, Lillian, and you weren’t looking at him like a patient. He was your husband, and he died.”

“Colt.” She took a breath, placed a hand on his, and backed up a little. “Look, I know you want something, but we’re broken here, and I can’t give you what you...”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit. It’s how I feel. I’ve got kids to think about and responsibilities. You want easy and I’m not that.”

“You don’t even know me, Lilly.”

“I know. That’s what I’ve been trying to say.”

“No, that’s what you’re trying to use as an excuse. Those kids aren’t damaged because of their dad, you are. Those kids have a mom who loves them and makes damn sure they aren’t damaged. You’re afraid to try, so you hide behind your dead husband.”

“How dare you be so callous?”

“How dare you use your husband to get out of trying again? You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and your life isn’t over.”

Find Jeny online:

Website  ~ Amazon Author Page 

Facebook ~ Twitter                         

Instagram ~ Pinterest                      

GoodReads ~ BookBub                    

YouTube ~ iBooks Author Page    

Newsletter

**Finally, I’d like to say thank you again for having me on today Jean, this truly has been a pleasure. Thank you to you and your readers for honoring me with your time!