Tag: thursday 13

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Thursday 13 – My Bucket List

I was very moved yesterday with news about baby Avery and her parents’ very inspiring Bucket List. Avery was born with SMA – Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Avery passed away a few days ago. She was only 5 months old, but in that time, her parents made sure she lived, something that we fail to do at times.

For more on Avery’s story and to contribute to finding a cure for SMA, you can click here.

So today’s Thursday 13 is a list of things I’d love to do before it’s time to move on and here they are:

1. See that my daughter has her happily-ever-after in love, business and life in general.
2. Visit Macchu Picchu.
3. Take a cross-country road trip through the U.S.
4. Visit Chichen Itza.
5. Go to a shooting range and fire a gun.
6. Drive really fast on a race track.
7. Own an incredible inn on the shore and teach writing to guests.
8. Swim with dolphins.
9. See the Mets win another World Series.
10. Make the NY Times list again.
11. Visit every ball park in the U.S.
12. Regain my optimism.
13. Help others in need.

It’s a doable list I think and I’m hoping there are some on there that may happen soon, like #1. In fact, my daughter gets her MBA in just a few weeks, so I’m really happy about that. Which I guess means I’m on my way to #12.

But there is one that I am totally doing right now – #13 – and you can help me with that! You see, I am donating a portion of the royalties from THE CLAIMED to HOPE FOR THE WARRIORS. Please take a moment to visit the SOS ALOHA Blog and share this information with others!

Another way you can help is to tweet/share the following:

Help our #military with THE CLAIMED & @CaridadPineiro PLZ RT http://awe.sm/5nMDK

Tweet every day and each entry will increase your chances of winning the SIN HUNTER SHORE SPECIAL CONTEST.

Thanks so much for helping me with my bucket list! Share what’s on your bucket list with us today!

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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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13 New Year’s Resolutions

Funny thing, but I generally don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, but I figured what the heck this year. So here is my list of things I’d like to do in 2012!

1. Walk at least 10,000 steps each day.
2. Lose weight.
3. Eat healthier.
4. Write a break out novel.
5. Make new friends.
6. Go to Tuscany.
7. Spend less.
8. Cook more.
9. Go to a new writing conference.
10. Read more books.
11. Work smarter.
12. Sell a Desire to my editor!
13. Be happier.

What about you? What would you like to accomplish in 2012? Feel free to share your resolutions.

Click here to visit more Thursday 13 participants.

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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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Amazon Awakening Release Party #Giveaway #Thursday13

AMAZON AWAKENING Erotic Paranormal RomanceIt’s here! Today’s the day for the release of my very first erotic paranormal romance, AMAZON AWAKENING, from Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.

So we’re having a party from now until midnight PST on December 7 when we are going to choose some winners for the release party giveaway.

But first, I’d thought I’d share with you 13 fun facts about the Amazon rainforest where AMAZON AWAKENING is set!

    1. The Amazon rainforest is made up of almost 2.5 million square miles (1.2 billion acres) of land .
    2. That represents nearly 54% of all of the rainforests in the world.
    3. That much unspoiled land is the reason why over 50% of the world’s species of plants, animals and insects reside in the Amazon rainforest.
    4. There are possibly dozens of tribes of natives in the Amazon that have never met anyone from the outside world.
    5. One in five of all of the world’s bird species live in the rainforest.
    6. The Amazon River and the surrounding rainforest are part of 9 South American countries: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, French Guyana and Surinam.
    7. 20% of the world’s oxygen is derived from the rainforest.
    8. Nearly 25% of all drugs come from rainforest ingredients.
    9. 70% of drugs found to have anti-cancer properties come from the rainforest.
    10. The Amazon runs over 4000 miles from its start in the Peruvian Andes to when it empties into the Atlantic.
    11. Over half of the rainforest is located in Brazil.
    12. The Amazon is the second longest river in the world. The longest river is the Nile.
    13. There are 1800 species of butterflies in the rainforest.

The above is just the tip of the rainforest! LOL! I hope you can now understand why I would set AMAZON AWAKENING in such an unusual and exceptional place. Especially since the role of Rey and Paola is to be Guardians to a very sacred space – possibly even the Garden of Eden – deep in the heart of the Amazon.

To visit other Thursday-13 participants, please click here!

So let’s get to the giveaway! Here are the prizes:

Grand Prize: A SONY E-reader (or a $25 GC for those of you who already have e-readers) loaded with copies of AZTEC GOLD, THE FIFTH KINGDOM and ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.

2 Second chance prizes: THE LOST T-shirt and copy of A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS

So how do you get a chance to win the above prizes? Collect 10 points between now and midnight PST on December 7 by doing the following:

1 point: Tweet or share on Facebook, Tumbler, Google+ the following (only one per day- 5 points maximum):
AMAZON AWAKENING #Erotic #Paranormal Romance Caridad Pineiro http://awe.sm/5apFk

5 points: Send me a link to your review of AMAZON AWAKENING.

1 point: Stumble, Digg, Delicious or Reddit this website or this blog post.

1 point: Follow me on Twitter or at my Facebook Fan Page (one point for each)

1 point: Leave a comment on this blog post or any other blog post up until the end of the contest (one point for each- 5 points maximum).

1 point: Share the excerpt below on your website, Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Google+, etc. and send me a link to where it is on your site!

For now, here is a little teaser and excerpt for AMAZON AWAKENING.

Rey Peralta has been sent to persuade Paola Lopes to return to Brazil and take up her place as Priestess of the Guardians, protectors of the sacred realm hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest. He knows Paola is the one they need to ensure their survival—but he doesn’ t expect the instant blast of desire that sparks between them. Her beauty and power call to him, enticing him to merge with her physically and spiritually; a desire that only increases when they give in to their passion and make love. Can he convince Paola to accept her destiny and stay with her people—and by his side?

WARNING

This excerpt contains mature subject matter so do not open unless you are at least 18.

If you can’t see the widget below, you can cut and paste this link:
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/72902685?access_key=key-7hf866rrigwutty0jsg

Erotic Paranormal Romance Amazon Awakening Excerpt

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13 Things for Which I am Thankful

With Thanksgiving a week away, I wanted to share with you all the things for which I am thankful since I know that next Thursday I will be busy cooking and prepping for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Things for which I am thankful in no particular order:

1. My brother and sister and their families.
2. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law and all their kids!
3. My hubby who although massively annoying at times has always been a font of support, friendship and love.
4. My wonderful hard-working, respectful and funny daughter.
5. The roof over my head.
6. The food on my plate.
7. Our military men, women and families for the sacrifices they make.
8. The law enforcement officers and firefighters who risk their lives every day for us.
9. My friends, including all of you who come here to visit and take the time to write to me.
10. Being relatively healthy.
11. Being able to pursue my lifelong dream of writing a book.
12. Having a job.
13. The United States of America and the life, liberty and happiness that it provides. Without you, none of the above 12 would be likely be possible. God Bless America.

If you want to visit our Thursday-13 participants, please click here!

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‘Tis the Season for Vampires!

THE CALLING Vampire Novels‘Tis the season for vampires, but not in the way that you think!

For me, the start of the fall season always gets me into vampire mode and today I’m going to try to share 13 reasons why, although I may digress with some news…

1. It’s dark when I head to the office.
2. It’s dark when I leave the office.
3. There’s a chill in the air, kind of like the temperature of a vampire’s undead skin.
4. Graveyard dampness in the mornings.
5. Fog. Today in particular, big, fat patches of it hugging the ground. Swallowing you up.
6. The leaves are getting wet and stuff is growing, giving the air that faint hint of death and decay.
7. Halloween. What better time for a vamp to go out and party?
8. Harvest moons. I don’t know about you, but whenever I see one of these, I get a chill up and down my spine.

9. The skitter and rustle of animals in the brush. Maybe it’s just a squirrel getting ready for the winter, but heck, I’m such a scaredy cat.

10. This is where I may digress. I’m writing the next Diana and Ryder book.

11. Yes, you read that right. Diana and Ryder from THE CALLING vampire novels will be back in late 2012 because…

12. I’ve signed a contract with Entangled Publishing to relaunch the series with my original vision for THE CALLING vampire novels! Woo Hoo!

13. The revamped series (BIG pun intended) will be called the REBORN series and Diana and Ryder’s first book is BORN TO SERVE.

I’m soooo excited! You may be wondering, why Entangled Publishing? Well, I’ve been hearing lots of good things about them and the books will be released in both print and e-book at the same time. I know many of you love your print books, much like I do, so I wanted to be able to go with a publisher who would do that for you!

I want to thank you all for the many years of supporting THE CALLING vampire novel series and for asking about Diana and Ryder. They are characters of my heart and I am so happy to be writing about them again. It’s wonderful to explore where their relationship is now and where it’s going to go bit by bit as they face a number of momentous life choices. I don’t want to say too much now and spoil it though!

For those who haven’t read THE CALLING vampire novels, there’s a great e-book collection with the first 6 books and the DESIRE CALLS novella. At just over $10, it’s a steal.

Thank you all for stopping by to share this Thursday 13 with me and the joy in my heart over Diana and Ryder. To visit more Thursday 13 participants, you can click here!

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