Tag: melinda leigh

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Thursday 13 with Melinda Leigh and Rayna Vause

AMAZON HEATThank you, Caridad, for letting us take over your blog today and share some information about our new release, Amazon Heat.  Since it’s Thursday Thirteen here on Caridad’s blog, we thought we’d stay on topic and share thirteen lines that were edited out of our story. While there were a few lines that Melinda and I really loved, in the end it created a strong book to either remove or revamp the text.

1.)                She wasn’t here. He should be glad. In his head he knew the odds that Elizabeth was still alive were astronomical. But his heart couldn’t let her go.  His motives were entirely selfish.

2.)                Was Elizabeth was out there, somewhere? Alone. If she was he’d find her body and he’d bring her home if he had to spend the rest of his life digging in muddy holes like this one.

3.)                Half a dozen towering women, clad in warriors’ leather tunics, surrounded a gurney. Bows, quivers and spears draped muscular torsos. Despite the coolness of the cave, their bare limbs glistened with sweat. A hunting party, recently returned.

4.)                Areta, the Queen’s lieutenant, stepped out of the corridor. Her muscular six-foot frame was dressed in the simple leather tunic of a warrior, her jet hair pulled back in a thick braid.

5.)                Amazon Queens rose through military ranks. As befitting a former warrior, Phoebe did not tolerant insubordination.

6.)                Her independence, contrary to Amazon culture, set her apart from the rest of her clan.

7.)                What did Sherlock Holmes say? When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth… But all this brought new meaning to the word improbable.

8.)                Despite the very real fear the Amazons would hunt her down and kill her, she’d covertly searched for an exit with no success. Even if she did find the corridor, she wasn’t an Amazon. How would she get it to open? She simply had to find a way. She couldn’t let them do this to Logan. What they were planning was nothing less than imprisonment and rape.

9.)                He cannot be set free, but we have learned that caging such a brute for the long term presents difficulties. He looks to be intelligent.

10.)             He may have been unconscious, but he knew he’d been on death’s doorstep oh, say about an hour ago.

11.)             One dunk in the Sunny D and he was perfect, no rebuilding necessary. Steve Austin would be jealous as hell.

12.)             Logan licked his lips. Heaven tasted like Sunny D.

13.)             The queen’s betrayal firmly slotted Elizabeth into her outsider role. The whole time they’d been calmly discussing Logan’s future, Phoebe neglected to mention she’d ordered him to be moved.

There were a variety of reasons these lines or portions of lines were deleted. Some were too telling, and we needed to rewrite the text to show the events more effectively.  Others were repetition of something else we already said. Several times our editor simply opted to not use a particular pop culture/literary reference.

We’ve had a blast writing and editing this book together. Now let me tell you a little about what you will find in the book.

AMAZON HEAT released January 9th from Carina Press.

Two years ago, ethnobotanist Dr. Elizabeth DeMarco, driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, left her lover mid-proposal to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon Rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by warriors from the secret all-female civilization of the ancient Amazons. She has been kept prisoner since in the Amazon’s supernaturally hidden valley.


Despite Elizabeth’s rejection, anthropologist Logan Spencer never stopped searching for her.  While consulting on a mass grave uncovered in the remote Brazilian interior near the place Elizabeth was kidnapped, Logan falls from a cliff.  On the brink of death, he is collected by the Amazons and magically healed. When Logan wakes, the first person he sees is his beloved Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, their reunion is less than joyful. The mystical medicine is changing Logan.  But there’s no time to study the side-effects. The Amazons plan to steal Logan’s DNA, then kill him.  Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan is doomed.  Getting him out of the hidden valley won’t be easy.  The Amazon’s supernatural powers make the task all but impossible.


Buy it at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance EBooks

Melinda Leigh is a mom, a dog lover, and a second degree black belt in kenpo karate. In addition to writing paranormal romance for Carina Press, she is also the author of She Can Run, a kindle bestselling romantic suspense released in November 2011 from Montlake Romance. Find out more Melinda: website / facebook / twitter

Rayna Vause is fascinated by the paranormal and she loves a good romance as well, which probably explains why these two elements perpetually crop up in her writing. When she takes off her writer hat she is a martial artist, video game lover, Disney enthusiast, and a Pop Tart aficionado.  Find out more about Rayna:  website / facebook / twitter

 

Melinda and Rayna blog together at http://AttackingThePage.com

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Double Pleasure, Double Fun #Kindle #Giveaway

We are so lucky to have here today Melinda Leigh and Robin Perini who are going to share with us some Thursday 13 facts about their new Amazon Bestselling releases! Plus …. drum roll…

Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win a Kindle and some free books!

But first, to visit other Thursday 13 participants, you can click here.

Also, I’ll be picking the winners of the AMAZON AWAKENING release party later today and will announce the winners tomorrow!

Without further ado, here are Melinda Leigh and Robin Perini.

MELINDA LEIGH

In my debut novel from Montlake Romance, SHE CAN RUN (released November 28), Beth Baker is on the run from her violent and powerful husband when she takes refuge at a secluded mansion. There she finds herself under the watchful eye of former cop Jack O’Malley. Her secrets, his suspicions, and their desire clash when a killer strikes nearby.

Here are Thirteen random facts about me and SHE CAN RUN.

    1. SHE CAN RUN is the first book I ever wrote.
    2. It took two years to learn the craft and business of writing well enough to turn that crappy first draft into a marketable book.
    3. I wear pajama bottoms whenever possible. Everyone in my neighborhood has seen me in them, including the UPS guy, the mailman, and once, when my then eight-year-old suddenly remembered at 9 pm she needed 30 cupcakes for school the next day, the night shift at the local supermarket.
    4. After 20+ years on the police force, Jack is injured in a car accident.
    5. Five is the number of complete rewrites SHE CAN RUN went through before I was signed by an agent.
    6. I require, at minimum, half a pot of coffee in the morning before my brain is fully functional.
    7. I often have a hard time picking titles for my books. Some go through a dozen before I settle on one. Most spend months on my computer entitled, “Current POS.”
    8. Henry, the police dog reject in SHE CAN RUN, is named after Henry Tudor, who defeated Richard III in 1485 and won the crown.
    9. Beth’s first husband was a fire-fighter.
    10. I work best in organized clutter. Color coded note cards are strewn across my workspace. White cards are for character descriptions. Colored cards are for plot notes. I haven’t seen the surface of my desk since June.
    11. I watch The Dog Whisperer. A dog will likely appear in everything I write, and you can be assured the pup will alive at the end of the book. The human characters have so such guarantee. Just sayin’.
    12. In SHE CAN RUN, Beth is hiding from her violent husband. It’s estimated that 1.3 million women are abused by their husbands or boyfriends in the US each year.
    13. 50% of protection orders granted to domestic violence victims are violated, and one-third of female homicide victims are killed by their intimate partners.

Find out more about Melinda at MelindaLeighAuthor.com. Connect with her on Facebook & Twitter.

ROBIN PERINI

In my debut novel from Amazon’s Montlake Romance, In Her Sights, (released on November 29, 2011), Colorado’s lone female SWAT sniper finds herself in the crosshairs when her past is exposed and an old enemy returns with a vengeance seeking to destroy her—and everyone she loves.

So, thirteen unusual facts related to In Her Sights and author Robin Perini.

    1. There is actually a town named Truth or Consequences (aka T or C), New Mexico. The town’s name was changed from Hot Springs during a national contest to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a television show of the same name.
    2. Robin is training in small-bore silhouette shooting and has discovered holding a rifle as steady as Jazz is not as easy as it looks.
    3. Jazz’s favorite candy is Butter Rum Life Savers.
    4. Luke Montgomery, the hero, has five brothers: Seth, Zach, Gabe, Caleb and Nick.
    5. Robin’s ‘how-to-write’ workshops have been included on the Top 24 Workshops CD from the Romance Writers of America’s® National Conference CD five times (Bill Stephens Productions).
    6. Jazz played basketball at Metro State in Colorado.
    7. There were between 1000 and 2000 Russian female snipers in World War II. Approximately 500 survived the war.
    8. The windage knob on a rifle controls the movement of the scope setting, usually in minutes of angle or actual inches, to move the bullet’s point of impact to the right or left.
    9. The New Mexico state question is “Red or Green?” and refers to what type of chile sauce should be included with a meal. If you want both, simply ask for ‘Christmas’.
    10. Jazz moved from New Mexico to Colorado just after she turned sixteen.
    11. In Her Sights was a Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® award finalist in 2011.
    12. Luke Montgomery was an Army Ranger before he became an investigative reporter.
    13. In Her Sights is Robin’s first published novel

Get more information about Robin on her website, robinperini.com. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

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Sharing My Weekend Writing Retreat

I wish that Google+ photos actually allowed you to do a slideshow. For the life of me, the little create slideshow link just isn’t showing up! So, you can go to visit the album here, but in the meantime…

I headed out on Saturday with my friends Melinda Leigh and Rayna Vause for a writing retreat weekend! Our destination: The Inn at Boonesboro and the Turn the Page Bookstore where we got to meet Nora Roberts as well as a number of authors.

I got up at 5, was on the road by six and picked up my friends shortly after 7. We hit the road and got to Boonesboro just before 11. It was the open house day at the Inn so we got to visit all the rooms, but first we met my friend Lora and then headed to the book store to pick up our books and get ready for the signing. Here’s a picture of my buds in front of the Inn.

Rayna Vause and Melinda Leigh

At the bookstore, we got our purchases and since Vesta’s pizza was packed, headed to Crawford’s Guns, Ammo and Restaurant for a bite before the signing. Where else can you pick up ammo, check out the rifles and get some delicious sweet potato fries?

Crawford's Guns, Ammo & Restaurant

Then it was time for the signing!! I had my books for research (nothing better than Eve and Roarke to get me inspired!). I also had a J.D. Robb “book lamp” that I had made and Nora was so nice and signed it as well. Here’s me and Nora!

Nora Roberts & Caridad Pineiro

Then we were back to the Inn for the open house. Such gorgeous rooms and bathrooms. I loved the Galahad pillow on the chair in the Eve and Roarke room! The rooms were totally romantic and did any of you guess which room I would choose for Rey and Paola from AMAZON AWAKENING?

If you guess that it was the Westley and Buttercup room you were right. I could so imagine a big bed like this made of a sustainable rainforest wood like Ipe.

Westley & Buttercup Room

After that we headed for a walk through Boonesboro and then to dinner. We returned to the site of the Inn with all its lovely Christmas trimmings.

Inn at Boonesboro

Ducking inside the inn to take off the chill, we had some wine and cheese and also celebrated my friend Melinda’s debut book (more on that on Thursday!).

In the morning, we headed to the Antietam battlefield for a bit of history and research. Since Ryder from THE CALLING/REBORN Vampire Series was a physician during the Civil War, I’m toying with the idea of bringing back someone else from that era. You may remember that Samantha Turner from TEMPTATION CALLS knew Ryder back then (and was the one who turned him). Not sure whether this someone is a hero or villain, but walking/driving the fields of Antietam certainly gave some ideas for a new character.

I even managed to climb the Observation Tower! The trip up was quite a hike, but the trip down was interesting as my fear of heights kicked in. Luckily Rayna lent me her shoulder to hold so I could keep my face to the wall and not see the big open scary hole in the middle of the stairs!

Antietam Observation Tower

I hope you enjoyed this little travel journal!

Also, if you need some tips on writing short fiction, come and play with me today at my friend Catherine Bybee’s blog where I am talking about how to move from writing long fiction to short!

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