Fun Fluff & Other Stuff

Happy TGIF! 

Helping me celebrate the beginning of the weekend is J.J. Devine, author of The Cheyenne Bride and the newly released Into The Darkness. She’ll tell you more about her work in a moment, but first Zee Questions Pleeze:

 

 

 

Getting to Know You:

 

What did you have for breakfast? I don’t eat breakfast often, when I do it is usually brunch, (bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, or maybe pancakes and waffles)

What are you wearing? LOL, in my defense it’s almost bedtime, so jammies

When was the last time you cried? When my granddaughter passed away.

What was your favorite Hallowe’en costume? Well, seeing as this is one of my most favorite holidays and yes, I do dress each year to go out with the grandchildren, my costume is always a witch J

What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Whether or not they have a sense of humor. I love to laugh.

 

The Good/The Bad

 

Worst habit: I’m a smoker

Worst movie: Traffic, yuk

Worst food: Liver hands down

Worst alcoholic drink: Beer, gross, I’m a whiskey woman myself J

Worst vacation: I love vacation, even the bad ones, like planning a week long camping trip and it rains the whole time. I’m still up for it J

 

Fav fruit: Peaches (I was born in Georgia and spent a good part of my growing up running in and out of that state)

Fav dessert: Cherry Cheesecake hands down

Fav color: Red

Fav sport: I’m not into sports, but if I had to choose, baseball

Fav flower: Roses

 

This or That:

 

Soup or salad: Salad

Fame or fortune: You mean I can’t have both, LOL. Hmmm, probably fortune

New York or LA: I’ve never been to either, but if I had to choose LA

Jeans or yoga pants: I’m a country girl, so jeans all the way

Mac or PC: PC

Twitter or facebook: Both

Manicure or pedicure: Both

Dogs or cats: Both

Nightie or pj’s: Pjs

Coffee or tea: I’m a southern girl so sweet tea all the way

 

The Really Important Things:

 

What store do you shop at the most? Walmart, because I hate to shop and I can get everything in one place

If you could be any (other) nationality, what would it be? Native American, I love the rich history of their culture.

You own a yacht. What do you call it? The Dreamer

What’s your favorite sports car? Mustang

Do you let your sig other buy jewelry for you on their own or help them pick it out? We’ve been married almost 29 years, so yes I do. He knows my taste and does a very good job at picking out jewelry. In fact the necklace he bought me for Christmas has gotten more compliments than any other piece of jewelry I own J

 

More This or That (Just ‘Cause They’re So Much Fun):

 

Thanksgiving or July 4^th: July 4^th

Morning or night: Night

Summer or winter: Both

Chocolate or vanilla: Both

Print or ebook: Both

Rock or pop music: Both

Heels or sneakers: Both

Europe or the Caribbean: Oh oh both for sure J

Wealth or health: Health

Fly or be invisible at will: Fly definitely, couldn’t you see it, me in my witch’s costume, flying around town on Halloween night J

 

More about J.J. Devine:

 

J.J. Devine grew up loving the written word. She spent her days daydreaming and imagining what life would be like if she lived between the pages of the books she read. Today, she still spends her days dreaming. Only now she pens them into the romance novels she enjoys writing to share with her readers. On her down time, she enjoys spending time with her hubby, children, grandchildren, and pets. As well as helping to bring public awareness on the subject of domestic violence.

 

 

Author Links:

Website:

http://definingjjdevine.weebly.com/

Blog:

http://definingjjdevine.weebly.com/ramblings-of-a-writer.html

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/JJDevineAuthor?ref=ts&fref=ts

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JjDevine2010

 

July 9, 2014 with the help of Soul Mate Publishing I just released the first of my paranormal series, Into the Darkness. It’s a coming into oneself story about a young woman, Raven, who believed for the first twenty-five years of her life she was nothing more than a mortal woman. Imagine her surprise when she not only found out she was part witch, but the man who sired her was a vampire. The story takes you on Raven’s journey from innocence into finding her true self. Of course she has the help of a very sexy vampire, Dragon. You may have met him somewhere out there in the blogging world the last few weeks. He does love to visit the world wide web a bit J

You can grab your copy of Into the Darkness on Amazon:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Darkness-J-J-Devine-ebook/dp/B00LMS9D2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405398961&sr=8-1&keywords=into+the+darkness+j.j.+devine

 

What Makes a Good Medieval Romance?

My dear friend and critique partner Sarah Hegger released her first book The Bride Gift this past Wednesday on Amazon. It’s an eBook through SoulMate Publishing. Here’s the url:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bride-Gift-Sarah-Hegger-ebook/dp/B00KBAYOTM

 

The Bride Gift, Soul Mate Publishing

I loved it through its various stages. Helena, her heroine is goodly fierce and Guy her hero is as steadfast a knight as ever there was. It’s not fair for me to review it, being as close to both Sarah and her product, but I was thrilled to see other reviewers give it the 5 stars on Amazon it deserves. One of the reviewers mentioned The Bride Gift was the first medieval (she) had read.

Which brought me to my lead question. (see above) Elements of a good Medieval Romance:

Well, you’ve got to have a castle.

And a girl, either in the castle wanting to get out (like Rapunzel) or on the outside, wanting to get in (like Cinderella). Although in Sarah’s story, Helena is in the castle, in charge and desperate to keep it that way.

 

And a guy (Sir Guy, in the Bride Gift) who probably prevents her from doing so in the beginning, but ends up on her side by the end. It’s always nice if he’s a knight or some sort of chivalrous fellow. Because so many of the men during those times were downright dangerous. Which brings us to the next item on the list:

There’s got to be a villain. Preferably one who is depraved in some way (wicked, murdering Ranulf in The Bride Gift) and completely irredeemable.

 

Since it’s a historical, the facts and time period woven in should be sturdy. The backdrop for The Bride Gift is “1153, in the period dubbed ‘The Anarchy’,” when “King Stephen and Empress Maud are not the only ones embroiled in a fierce battle of the sexes.” The dressing (gowns, armor and mail) and setting (solars, castle keeps, forests and fighting fields) are all part of the enchanting backdrop.

 

Lastly, it’s the relationship between the hero and heroine, isn’t it? The hero’s got to do knightly things, like scale a tower to access his lady love (First scene, first chapter, The Bride Gift), fight off the bad guys (check) and rescue someone (not necessarily the heroine) or something (it could be a basket of kittens). The heroine must display strength and spirit (so many good possibilities in The Bride Gift, and so many spoiler alerts). And the author twines them together (willing or no—not willing in this case) showing how they are better off.

Yes. I am biased when it comes to my author gal-pal, Sarah Hegger’s new release, The Bride Gift. I think it’s awesome. And I’m not the only one. It’s a downloadable romp worthy of your time. Check it out. And let me know if you do! 😉

Cover Reveal – Sarah Hegger

Today I have the tremendous pleasure of unveiling the stunning cover for THE BRIDE GIFT, the upcoming debut from Soul Mate author Sarah Hegger. You may recognize her from the Romance Weekly blog chats. She’s really quite a brilliant author. Without further adieu, I’ll let Sarah tell you all about her new book! 

It’s 1153 in the period dubbed ‘The Anarchy’, King Stephen and Empress Maud are not the only ones embroiled in a fierce battle of the sexes.

Determined to control her own destiny, wilful Helena of Lystanwold has chosen just the husband to suit her purposes. But, when her banished guardian uncle attempts to secure her future and climbs through her bedroom window with a new husband by a proxy marriage, she understandably balks. Notorious warrior Guy of Helston is everything Helena swore she would never marry; a man who lives by the sword, like the man who murdered her sister.

This marriage finally brings Guy close to his lifetime dream of gaining lands and a title. He is not about to let his feisty bride stand in his way. A master strategist, Guy sets out to woo and conquer his lady.

 Against a backdrop of vengeance, war and betrayal, Guy and Helena must learn to forge a united front or risk losing everything.

 This is my very first cover and it marks one of those milestones for me as a writer. I’m still struggling to get past my name on the cover.

 Feel free to tell me what you think.

 Or drop by and see me on:

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About Sarah Hegger: Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Salt Lake City with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

Thanks, Sarah! Please come back to visit when your book is released. We’d love to help you celebrate!  The Bride Gift is set to hit Amazon on May 14th, 2014.