 Monday, November 09, 2009 Sea Captain's Ghost and More!!  Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be here today, mainly because I have a huge announcement. Book 3 in the Panthera series, Sea Captain's Ghost, not only has a release date, it's coming out SOON! So soon, in fact, that it'll be released the week before Thanksgiving. That's right, Adriano and Jocelyn's story releases November 19, 2009. In honor of the release, I'm hosting a List Mom Day at Cerridwenchat's Yahoo! Group, featuring excerpts, blurbs, and a contest. I hope you'll join me on Tuesday November 17, 2009. It'll be a relaxing day, so bring your coffee, questions, comments and more. Stop in throughout the day if you're working, check in later in the evening and scroll through the posts. Before then, let me tell you a little about Sea Captain's Ghost. I say "a little" because I don't want to give too much away too soon. But I can tell you that Sea Captain's Ghost features Captain Don Adriano de Montoya, a spanish privateer who's dedicated his life to protecting Spanish shipping and shipping lanes from piracy. Here's a sneak peak: 1715 – Atlantic Ocean and Early Georgian England Her ship overtaken by English pirates, Jocelyn Kincaid is rescued by Captain Don Adriano de Montoya. Initially afraid of the man sailors call El Fantasma, she discovers he is not the ghost some have portrayed him to be. He claims to be part of a mythical race and her mate! Fascinated, she’s brokenhearted when he makes plans to sail her home to Boston. Haunted by the memory of his murdered family, Adriano has sworn to protect Spanish shipping from piracy. Unexpectedly finding his mate onboard an enemy’s ship, he saves her life. Despite their attraction, he keeps his distance until he learns a secret about Jocelyn that changes everything. If you'd like to learn more, come join me on Tuesday November 17, 2009, along with other Cerridwen Press authors, and be sure to comment. And, of course, don't forget, Sea Captain's Ghost releases November 19, 2009, just in time for Thanksgiving! So now that I've given my big news, I have a question. I know it's early, but have you started your Holiday shopping yet? Believe it or not, I have! Every year it seems like as soon as Halloween ends, the shopping begins. But this year I've put something special on my list. I've given my husband hints, left notes, even information. Can you guess, well, an ebook reader! What I'd like to know from readers and authors alike is which reader you like/prefer, why you like it, and whether it's easy to use. I'm very interested in the Nook, I have to admit, but there are a variety of devices out there. Let me know what you think and I'll put your name into a drawing for a Barnes and Noble giftcard just in time for the Holiday Season. You can comment here or send an email to romance@francesstockton.com. I'll be checking in throughout the day, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts, either about Sea Captain's Ghost or ebook readers. Also, if you haven't read Seductive Persuasion or Rhiannon's Pride, Books 1 and 2 in the Panthera series, both are currently available! Here are links to reviews for both. Check them out! http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/seductivepersuasionstockton.htm http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=10743 Until then, have an excellent Monday and enjoy the fall season. Frances Stockton
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 Social science majors, and anthropology majors in particular, will tell you that few classes pass by without a mention of Levi-Strauss' works. Cultural anthro wasn't my focus, but I read his work nonetheless (because honestly, you can't take an anthro class without reading Levi-Strauss), and it's only in retrospect that you can truly understand how broad the man's scope was in looking at human society and culture. (I could swear I remember some comment he made about baseball, but could I find it? Of course not.) From the piece from The New York Times: "His legacy is imposing. Mythologiques, his four-volume work about the structure of native mythology in the Americas, attempts nothing less than an interpretation of the world of culture and custom, shaped by analysis of several hundred myths of little-known tribes and traditions. The volumes — The Raw and the Cooked, From Honey to Ashes, The Origin of Table Manners and The Naked Man, published from 1964 to 1971 — challenge the reader with their complex interweaving of theme and detail. "In his analysis of myth and culture, Levi-Strauss might contrast imagery of monkeys and jaguars; consider the differences in meaning of roasted and boiled food (cannibals, he suggested, tended to boil their friends and roast their enemies); and establish connections between weird mythological tales and ornate laws of marriage and kinship." I always found the differentiation between why one cannibal boils and why one roasts to be illuminating and inspiring. It makes you see the world differently, doesn't it? That's why it's good to be an anthro major, kids, especially if you want to be a writer: You get to explore the world in a whole new way. Eilis Flynn ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale now Labels: anthropology, Baseball, Claude Levi-Strauss
Sunday, October 25, 2009 But I love birthdays. The excitement of the day - all centered on you. For me, it's a day of celebration, no matter if you're one or one hundred; no matter if you're with a crowd, or sitting by yourself. Celebrate. Like the new year, it is, for me, a day of reflection. Of looking back over the past year to see what I've done and consider what changes I need to make, or what was right that I can rejoice in. It is also a day to look forward to the coming year, the challenges I will face and how to use my experience to cope with them. It is a day of quiet contemplation, and celebration. As I look over the past years, I can remember the best and worst presents I received. The best was a surprise trip to the nearby RenFaire. Though I was feeling lousy, the day was lovely and I had a grand time. The worst? A bag of rice cakes from someone who knew I was trying to lose a little weight. The person's heart was in the right place, but come on. Really? For a birthday? :) So celebrate with me. Tell me about your best and worst birthdays. And what is your fondest wish for your next one?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 Which is why when Jacquie Rogers, one of the cofounders of the 1st Turning Point website on doing your own marketing and promotion, originally asked me whether I'd be interested in contributing a piece on occasion about marketing and promoting, I said no. I didn't know much about it, because that was the bailiwick of the Hub, who is a professional Marketing Guy. Well, it turned out that what she really wanted was to pick the brain of the Hub, but through me! No problem, I said. I could parrot someone else, if he had a chance. (If there's baseball on, all bets are off. And guess what's on right now? Yes, baseball.) Of course, that said, I only found out the topic today ... and the podcast she assigned me to is this evening. Do I have time to do any research? Of course not. So I have to use what knowledge I have. The topic is tag lines: the good, the bad, and the indifferent. Thank goodness I have others around me with more experience and knowledge. If you're interested in what real professionals have to say on the topic (and me), check it out at http://www.pivtr.com or http://www.internetvoicesradio,com at 6pm Pacific Time, 9pm Eastern Time. It's only an hour, so if you've got questions, there will be answers. Drop on by! And if I'm lucky, the Hub will come home in time for me to give a professional's answer! Eilis Flynn ECHOES OF PASSION, on sale now Labels: 1st turning point, marketing, promotion
Saturday, October 17, 2009 I've been getting my affairs in order (so to speak) so I can stay with her as long as needed. Got ample clothing packed, bags of Stuff to work on, 2 computers, chargers ... it looks like a trek across the country not a 4-hour jaunt to a civilized place (yes, Iowa is civilized, no matter what those Left Coasters think!) Along with all of this are deadlines at the Paycheck Job. I have an exceptional boss, and she's told me just 'go, do whatever you need to do, check in when you.' Thank you, Lord, for good bosses. That being said, I still put in a few extra hours to wrap up some things so others on my project won't be behind the 8-ball because I'm gone. I've had 5 books release this year, and I'm trying to be a good soldier and do promo for those. Tricky when you're juggling so much else, but I dip in now and then and promo. Not enough, but it'll have to do. And I had edits for a book which were, thankfully, amazingly light. Done in an hour and out the door. I have a request from an agent for more info about me, my marketing strategy, my books, my sell-through -- all good and all stuff I can put together while sitting in the hospital room with the drone of machines beeping nearby. As I did all these chores this week, I thought about the old Need vs. Want vs. Should triangle we often find ourselves trapped in. As I did things, I thought, "I should do this, then that'll be finished and I can get on the road" or "I need to get that done so..." or "I want to check that, if I do...." I finally realized that when Need, Want, and Should all come together it's the right thing to do. I need to be with Mom. I want to be with her. And I should be with her. So I'm on the road again...
Thursday, October 15, 2009  It's finally here. Root Of All Evil was released today. Burdened with guilt and sorrow, fearing for her life…her sanity, Anna Sorenson walked away from everything to gain redemption. A year earlier, Anna buried her husband Aaron. A week later, she lost the child she’d longed for. Anna’s only thought was to put the tragedy of the past behind her and find a way to survive in a post-Aaron world. But the evil she escaped is hunting her down. Agent John Delaney buried more than just his partner that rainy day one year earlier. He’d shoved aside his feelings, ignored the wrong he and Aaron did in the name of justice, and hoped the past would stay dead. It didn’t. With Aaron’s death and the arrest of his killer, the Bureau considered the case solved. No one had a clue the wrong man confessed to the killings. Until the real killer returned to claim his glory—and his next victim, Anna. Now he's after the woman John still loves and he must choose between keeping his partner's secrets and losing Anna again. This time forever.
Boomer Lit Romance Novels     I've decided to coin a new term. Boomer Lit. Romance novels for the baby boomers. Romance novels that women can escape into. Why? Because, in my humble opinion, boomer women want stories they can relate to. Sexy stories with adventure, humor and mystery. Stories that show vibrant women with life experiences behind them getting into situations they never would have expected at that stage of their lives. I've written three books just like that published by Cerridwen Press. "Hearts Flight" is about WWII secretary Emma McDaniel who steps on a DC-3 in 1944 and accidentally time travels to modern day with mysterious airline pilot Thomas Wells. Why are the neo-Nazi's telling Tom to "leave the past in the past?" "Executive Attraction" is a romantic comedy about senior flight attendant Jillian Stanton who makes a fool of herself with handsome Bill Cole on the streets of New York then meets him across a contentious negotiations table where he is the Vice President of her airline. Luckily Bill has a wonderful sense of humor. "No Time For Christmas" is book 3 in my Love Beyond Time series. Joshua Forrester is addicted to his electronics and ends up accidentally time traveling to 1890s Oregon where he finds himself on the longest camping trip of his life with beautiful pioneer woman Addie Benjamin. "Hiding in Plain Sight," published by Whiskey Creek Press, tells Judy Winston's story about how, as a senior flight attendant for her airline, she accidentally foils a drug running operation. Before she knows it, Judy is working with gorgeous DEA agent Chase Danton undercover to find out who heads the drug running operation at her airline. You don't have to be a boomer woman to enjoy these books. Anyone with a sense of adventure will find their worries have disappeared for a few hours as they read these incredible character's stories. Enjoy! Barb Goodwin
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Are you psychic? If you’ve read farther than the headline to this, I suspect you’ve had episodes in your life where strange things have happened. Perhaps it was deja vu, that feeling that you’ve seen something before. Maybe you’ve known something was going to happen before it did. Maybe you’ve felt the presence of someone who’d died, or recalled past life memories, or can occasionally see auras. Almost everyone experiences psychic events in their life, and I’ve found there is lots of psychic info we can tune into every day and benefit from. Years ago I was lucky (Lucky, ha! It was the universe clearing the way for me) to find out about a psychic school starting up in Durham, NC, just down the road from me. I attended that school for three years. It consisted of a small group of people who met every week to learn a wide range of psychic techniques from a practicing psychic healer. She’d learned her business by (1) having been able to talk to dead people most of her life, (2) reading scads of New Age books while she held down a very boring job, and (3) talking to other psychics. Her skills and reputation grew over years of practice. So if you want to hone your own psychic skills, I’d say you should read as much as possible about various psychic techniques. There are so very many more books on the subject now than when I first became interested in the subject in high school! The Internet has a gajillion small sites for various aspects of psychic work as well. Love your Google; use your Google! Does your town have a New Age or maybe a natural foods store with a bulletin board? I’ll bet you there are flyers there talking about this or that technique and an instructor who will be offering a course on the subject soon. Use your common sense to figure out what you’d like to learn and whether it sounds legit. Also consider cost. Some of the best courses I ever took were free or nearly so. Some of the ones that I got nothing out of, I paid big bucks for. And vice versa. Live and learn. But what can you do right now? Be still and listen. Listen to the world around you. Feel it. Listen to that voice within your head. If you have to make a decision, stop and feel if you might be guided by some unseen force. Use your imagination to visualize what you’d like to know. Learn about muscle testing so you can begin to try for "yes" or "no" answers to your questions. Muscle testing doesn't work well for me, so I usually imagine that I'm shining a flashlight up into the sky. If the connection feels like that light goes cleanly upward into infinity, I take that as a "yes." If it feels as if it were being blocked in some fashion, that's a "no." Over time, you’ll be surprised at what will begin to come to you. I have conversations all the time with my Guides, who are very kind, wise, funny types. The vast majority of the time I hear the right thing from them. Again, go with your gut. If the advice you think you’re getting seems wrong or strange, don’t abide by it. Take it as if a friend were offering you their opinion. Sometimes you agree and sometimes you don’t. You have free will. If you like to visualize Dr. McCoy’s Sick Bay and run yourself through his sensors to see if there’s anything wrong with you or someone else... Do the sensible thing and back that up with a visit to a real doctor. Your psychic powers don’t come with a guarantee. And if you ever get scared, just sit down, straighten your back, plant your feet solidly on the ground, take a deep breath, and then imagine white protective light pouring down upon you from the highest reaches of Heaven. Nothing can break through that. You are well. Think to yourself: “I disconnect from any harmful forces. I connect with the Light.” Feel the warmth and security. Thank the universe for watching out for you. The thing I do the most is to listen to the voices in my head. Perhaps those voices are merely some manifestation of what that book, Blink says, that gut feelings and intuition are actually a combination of observation, learning, and a zillion different data coming together in our brains. Then again, maybe it’s psychic vibes for real and for true. (oooEEEEooo) (Sound effects always enhance life!) Whatever works, works. But do have fun listening to the universe. Why, at some point you might even feel a part of that big universe, an important cog in the machinery that helps form an eternal, ever-unfolding vista of ultimate beauty and love. Then you’ll believe! And now, the spiel: Maybe you’d like to read about a psychic. My Cerridwen novel, Touch of Danger, stars Lina O’Kelly, who is not only a psychic but a psychic healer and telepath. Oh yes, she’s also a 26-year-old virgin but that’s just because she has an acute phobia to touch. When a fire breaks out in her hotel, she knows that’s just the start of her day’s problems. Superhero Londo (Valiant) Rand breaks through her hotel door to save her, hooray! But Londo’s foes have temporarily blasted away his enormous powers, leaving the two of them to outrun a mercenary army across an otherwise deserted South Pacific island. If they’re lucky they can reach safety until Londo’s powers return. But Londo doesn’t want that, not yet. This is the one day in his life he’ll be able to touch someone without the potential of accidentally tearing them to shreds. He excitedly anticipates getting them to safety for the night, but then discovers Lina’s phobia to touch. What the world’s greatest superhero asks for is what she’s unable to give. Can they escape terrorists, gales and ghosts to find haven? If they should fall deeply in love, how will they cope when Londo’s powers return and he’s too strong to hold Lina in his arms? Hope that intrigues you. Say, you might be interested in a little event I’m having on a special Yahoo! group this Friday the 16th from 4-6 PM EDT. I’ll be doing quickie psychic readings for folks and seeing what we can get from the pre-Halloween ether. Why, I might even break open a pack of tarot cards if I get stuck. The readings will be just one or two paragraphs, unless there’s no one else in line behind you. And if you live where the time slot is terrible for your schedule, we can work something out. Sorry, no lucky numbers. If I could see those I’d have won the lottery long ago! If you’re interested, you need to sign onto the Yahoo! group. You do that by sending an email to: strickland_psychic_readings-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and then follow the directions from there. If you want to ask a question (first come, first served), click the “post” line over on the left of the Yahoo screen and then fill things out like you would an email. Hope to see you there! In the meantime, here’s my book video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obLNAPBbOGY (Don’t laugh; it was my first time doing an iMovie!) (PS: come over to my website if you’re interested in reading excerpts from my various novels, seeing my paintings, linking to my blog (recipes, travel reports, “how to’s” about writing and painting), and learning far too much about Wonder Woman: http://www.CarolAStrickland.com ) Labels: psychic Touch of Danger Carol A. Strickland
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