Fallen Angel by Lisa Swinton

Fallen Angel

Antonio does not believe in love at first sight until he sees her fall into a street in Milan and get hit by a motorcycle. Compelled to know if she can return his affection, he becomes Renatta’s hospital volunteer only to learn that the accident erased her memory. Together they must discover her past, present and future. In the way of happily ever after stand her opera career, tyrannical mother, and fiancé.  Antonio must win Renatta’s heart before she bends to the will of her mother and marries Marcello.  Failure means a lifetime of loneliness, for love at first sight never happens twice.

GOODREADS | AMAZON

About the Author
Lisa Swinton caught the romance bug early by way of fairy tales and hasn’t been able to cure it since. Instead, she feeds her addiction with romance novels and films. In between being a doctor’s wife and mother of two, she occasionally puts her B.A. in Musical Theater to good use via community theater, church choir and teaching the art of singing. In her elusive spare time she enjoys researching her family tree and baking (especially with chocolate). She loves to travel, Jane Austen, and all things Italian. In her next life, she plans to be a professional organizer

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Critiques, Movies, and Writing

Kind of all over today--the last movie I discuss will relate to writing.

Managing Your Critiques
Over at the iWriteNetwork blog, I wrote a post about a handy technique that will make it easier to manage all the critiques you get back for a WiP. You can check it out here.

Movies
Hubby and I finally got to see a couple of movies that were on our to-watch list. The first was The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

I don't know yet if I liked it. I'm going to hold my judgement until the third movie comes out because I had some plot issues that might be resolved there. It was definitely slower paced, and I kept having feelings of 'been there, done that'.

And good grief but Tolkien sure had a lot of "men who should be king" running around Middle Earth, didn't he?

I knew that the Martin Freeman who plays Dr. Watson on the BBC series Sherlock Holmes (love it!) was Bilbo, but I didn't realize they'd enlisted the aid of Benedict Cumberbatch who plays Holmes to be the voice of the dragon Smaug. Cumberbatch's voice is so deliciously deep that it's perfect--as you can see in this clip:





The second movie was Saving Mr. Banks. Wonderful story and the acting is exceptional. I've watched the movie Mary Poppins many times over the years, but now I want to see it again. I'm sure I'll view it differently.



This story totally supports one of my favorite saying:

You are who you are because of where you were when ...  

What happens to us and around us shapes who we are, how we view the world. Ask Baby Boomers where they were when John Kennedy was assassinated. Few won't be able to tell you--in great detail. It was the same way for people when Pearl Harbor was bombed and when the Twin Towers fell.

One of the (only) advantages to getting older is living enough years to be able to put things in perspective, to have lived through the changing times so you saw the transition.

What does this have to do with writing? 
Writers should be thinking about that statement--we are who we are because of where we were when...--as we craft our characters' backstories. If we're writing contemporary or even historical fiction, we need to consider what major events might have shaped our characters. If we're writing fantasy, we have more latitude since we're making it up anyway, but we should still be asking ourselves what happened to our characters to make them so passionate about whatever it is that drives them.

But, as so deftly shown in Saving Mr. Banks, we must also consider what personal or family tragedy might have made the characters the way they are in the book. This can be so much fun with antagonists, finding what happened to make them believe a certain way.

What about you?

What do you do to manage your critiques?

Have you seen either of those films? Did you like them?
Have you lived through an historical event you'll never forget?

Elevated by Elana Johnson

The ever-awesome Elana Johnson has just launched a new book!

The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.

But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO | iTUNES | GOODREADS

Praise for ELEVATED:

"ELEVATED will take you on an emotionally gripping journey through the highs and lows of first love."

~Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There and Forget Me Not

"Poignant, raw, and intense, ELEVATED is a novel that will grip your heart and linger in your mind long after you turn the last page."

~Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition and The Sound of Letting Go

Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender, Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster), is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download, as well as a Possession short story, Resist. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers.

Author Blog  

The Ring of Morgana Cover Reveal

Interrupting a normally no-posting Wednesday ...

Isn't this cover gorgeous?

In a brand new series, Donna Hosie revisits Logres with THE CHILDREN OF CAMELOT.

Sixteen-year-old Mila Roth wants to be normal. It’s a phrase that has been drilled into her by her mother since she was born.

But Mila Roth is anything but normal. For sixteen years her parents have hidden a secret from her. For Mila was born one thousand years ago in the land of Logres, and far from being a math teacher and a housewife, Mila’s parents are the awakened King Arthur and Gorian druid queen, Morgana.

Two worlds, one thousand years apart. And those worlds are about to collide.

The spirit of the malevolent Lady of the Lake has been contained for sixteen years in the fabled Ring of Morgana. When the ring curses Mila’s younger sister, Lilly, the Roth family has no choice but to return Mila to the land of her birth as they face a battle against time itself.

Accompanied by her best friend, Rustin, Mila will have to decide whether to defy those she loves in order to save her sister. Should she trust the Gorian druids and the mysterious Melehan? What is the true cost to Mila’s heart as she strives to master the purple flame? And why have her mother and father denied the truth of her origins for so long?

For she alone has the combined power of royalty and druid magic within her.

And now only Mila can save Lilly and Logres.

THE RING OF MORGANA will be released in ebook and paperback on the 15th June 2014.

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Um, can I say EXCITED!?

Have you read Donna Hosie's The Return to Camelot series?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And don't forget the 8-book giveaway in celebration of The Bard's Gift launch.

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Other Participants

Cindy Hogan

Holly Kelly

Jaclyn Weist

Jaleta Clegg

Lindzee Armstrong

M.R. Buttars

Melanie Crouse

PK Hrezo

Rebecca Lamoreaux

Kristen Lamb's Inspiration and Meredith Mansfield's The Bard's Gift Giveaway

Author Kristen Lamb has written another, inspiring post here (you should check it out because it's full of good stuff.) She compares the author experience to mountain climbing. Now that I've been doing this a while, I especially love these:

When it comes to developing/ growing from that wide-eyed dreamer with a gift for words and transforming into a pro who can withstand the unrelenting crucible of this business, balance is vital. Why? I can tell you from experience that when we reach the mountain’s “summit”, the view is breathtaking…until we see the next mountain, the taller mountain. Oh, and to reach the top of that taller mountain, it means… 

Another trip through the valley. *head desk*

and ...

The Air Gets Thinner The Higher We Climb 

Sure the view is breathtaking, but nothing grows at the top of the mountain. No one can live there. The air is too thin, the terrain too unstable, the weather too brutal, and there’s no food at the top of the mountain. 

Each work is it’s own climb. Maybe it’s a short story (boulder) to train for bigger things. But I feel many of us (and I was guilty, too) believe that we can live on the summit, that the summit means we have made it and it will somehow be easier. This is a lie. When you land an agent, it’s the beginning of a new mountain. When we finish a book or even make a best-seller list, it only makes way for a new mountain. No one stays at the top of a best-seller list indefinitely. 

We can’t live there. 

The summit of any endeavor should be savored and rejoiced, but it comes with the acceptance that now we have to climb back into the valley because the valley is for the living and the growing ;).

What about you? 

Wherever you are on this journey now, did you know about this when you started?

And don't forget the 8-book giveaway in celebration of The Bard's Gift launch.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Other Participants

Cindy Hogan

Holly Kelly

Jaclyn Weist

Jaleta Clegg

Lindzee Armstrong

M.R. Buttars

Melanie Crouse

PK Hrezo

Rebecca Lamoreaux

The Bard's Gift by Meredith Mansfield - Book Review & 8-Book Giveaway

Sixteen-year-old Astrid keeps mostly to herself, finding companionship in the stories her grandmother used to tell. She's too shy even to talk in front of Torolf, the young man she secretly dreams of. Then the Norse god of eloquence appears in Astrid's dreams and forces her to drink the Mead of Poetry. Suddenly, she's compelled to tell her stories. In public. Even in front of Torolf. 

Astrid is meant to use these stories to guide her people from starvation in Greenland to a better future in Markland. A place legends claim is the abode of dragons. But not all of her fierce and independent people are willing to follow a mere girl, even the chieftain's daughter--especially when she counsels peace. Some have other plans for the new land and want to use Astrid and her gift as a tool.

Torolf never dreamed that quiet Astrid could choose him. Now he's stranded in Iceland as she sails in the opposite direction. To attain the promise of a future with Astrid, he'll have to attempt the impossible--sailing alone across the North Atlantic. 

Together, they might defy the plans the gods have made for them and change the fate of more than just their own people.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | SMASHWORDS

My take:
I'm always a fan of a book that has a fantasy element. Wrap that into the wonderful Norse history that's weaved throughout this book, and I was about sold. Then, give me a charming romance that doesn't take forever to bloom--but still has me on the edge of my seat--and the book's a winner.

I loved that Astrid and Torolf had to grow as individuals (away from each other) as well as love interests. Their dedication to each is the kind of thing I look for in my favorite romance stories. Maybe that's why I'm not much of a fan of love triangles. If the girl can really be tempted by another guy, what she feels for the first one isn't anything to brag about. No love triangles in this book, but there is a great battle at the end.

To celebrate the release of The Bard's Gift,

we're having an 8-book giveaway!

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Other Participants

Bonnie Gwyn

Cindy Hogan

Holly Kelly

Jaclyn Weist

Jaleta Clegg

Lindzee Armstrong

M.R. Buttars

Melanie Crouse

PK Hrezo

Rebecca Lamoreaux

Cruise Report - Using Real Life

Wow. Hubby and I went on a shorter version of this cruise five years ago. Interesting what a change in the length of the cruise and the weather can do to the overall vacation experience.

We made it to our snorkeling excursion this time.

Last time:

• Fifteen-day cruise
• More kids
• More middle-aged people
• Better weather
• Except for a squall on Kona that prevented us from going on a snorkeling excursion, it was a dream vacation.

This time:

• Eighteen-day cruise
• Three kids (seriously--three)
• We were some of the younger passengers--funny since our cruise was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.
• Rougher weather

We hadn't even been out a day when there was an accident on the stairs. Now, it takes time to get your sea legs, so it could have been that. I understand that a woman lost her balance and fell against another woman. The second woman ended up breaking a leg and sustaining a head injury, including bleeding from her ear.

They determined that they needed to turn around and connect with the Coast Guard helicopter so the woman could be transported. One of the ship's four doctors (he had the most trauma experience) accompanied her. Unfortunately, her husband wasn't able to come with her because the helicopter was too full.

Doctor or husband. What a choice. Her husband stayed with the ship and had to sail five more days before being able to fly home to be with his wife.

The seas had some good-sized swells anyway, and then the captain was trying to make up lost time so we didn't lose more than one day in Hawaii. We were traveling at almost top speed some of the time. Even the day before we got to Hawaii, we were still bouncing off the walls--literally.

I loved it. Fortunately, hubby and I don't get sea sick.

We arrived in Hawaii a day late. The cruise line did an incredible job of rescheduling the entire itinerary. They didn't just have to see how many port stops they could save but to try and provide the best experience while we were there--like not being in port at the same time as another cruise ship with twice as many passengers. That would have been an incredible press on the local excursion and car rental places.

There were complaints, of course. But, as the captain said, the woman's life was more important than our vacations.

The final stop, Maui, was a bust because of the weather. It's a tender port, meaning that they use the tenders (life boats--those orange boats in the picture to the left) to get passengers to shore. Um. No. Not with five or six foot swells that were bashing the tenders against the ship.

Because of the change in the itinerary, we got to see my daughter and her family. Kaua'i was supposed to be the last stop and it ended up being the second. We managed to see them before they went on their own cruise. And talk about drama! Their ship--finally--way late because of fog. Now, they're having to scramble to catch flights home. 

Moral of the story: anything can happen. Just take a deep breath and enjoy the journey!

We came across this place on Oahu by accident. Friendly, isn't it?

At the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu

Part of the procession of Polynesian cultures at the PCC. This group is from New Zealand.

The snorkeling excursion wasn't even supposed to be for whale watching, but holy cow! We saw two males doing battle over a female. There were also tons of dolphins. And check out how blue that water was:

Lighthouse on Kaua'i

 At Hilo, we visited the Hawaiian Botanical Gardens. It's an amazing place with a wonderful history--and it's all been done privately. You can see pictures of some of the beautiful flowers on my Pinterest page here.

These huge beauties were hanging from a tree.

Cannonball Tree

So, what about you?

Have you ever had some interesting things happen while on vacation?

Have you ever used any of your experiences in your writing?

I'll lead out because I have. In fact, at lot of Lyn's experiences on her  Hawaii days in A Change of Plans were inspired by my own on that first cruise we took five years ago.