Happy Thursday All, What makes you love a novel? Is it the writing? The characters? The atmosphere? The genre? Or all of the above? As a reader, it depends on a lot of things. Sometimes the writing is excellent and I'm in raptures. Other times the characters are amazing, even if the writing isn't the very best I've ever seen. And sometimes, I just get drawn into a story and I can't really say why. In terms of my writing, it depends on what type of inspiration strikes. With my standalone Fantasy Romance, All's Fair In Love & Lion , I was into brooding male leads, and fairy-tales. I took the two and came up with a lion shape shifter and an orphaned English teacher (Sasha loses her parents when she was 15, although in the novel she's much older than that). I wrote it with adult audiences in mind, even though the heat level is more Sweet Romance than hot. Writing first person present tense wasn't a plan of mine, either. I tried writing it third pers...

Happy Tuesday All, Storytellers. That's another name for novelists. But some storytellers are not novelists. My grandfather was one of those. He wasn't a novelist, but he did tell stories. And later this month you'll get to know one of his more popular stories when I guest post on Erin Bevan 's blog. I'm excited about that blog post because I don't think I've ever posted any of my grandfather's stories anywhere. (At least, not that I can remember). Verbal storytelling is so important. Some of the stories we have nowadays started off as verbal storytelling before they were written down or they were in a rough format before they were properly put together (like the Bible). Just one of my bookshelves. I'm not just a writer, but I love to read, too! And stories play such an important role in our lives. Some of them teach us something (like Aesop's Fables ) entertain us (like my Grandfather's stories) or provide an escape from every d...

Happy Wednesday All, Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I had something I had to do and I was hanging out with my family. (Both things went well, by the way, no worries). Two things before I get to today's topic: 1.  If you're a Kerrelyn Sparks fan and you haven't read Vampire Mine It's a good one. I won't give anything away, but Connor has met his match. (I stayed up until 4 a.m. the other night to finish this one). 2. Be sure and check out the NWHRWA's Lone Star Contest . It looks like it's going to be a good one this year. Looks like they got some awesome final judges. Early entry means you get a $5 discount. Best wishes to those who enter his contest. Okay, so today's topic is also the Question for the day:  What's your favorite animal? Mine are cats. I like horses, too, but mostly cats. I prefer the fluffy ones, although I generally don't gravitate towards Persian cats . I do like Maine Coons  as well as some other breeds. Gro...

Happy Thursday All, A very Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. Hope you're wearing something green! As far as I know, there's no Irish in my blood; but I do have an appreciation for the Irish people--I've met a few and they're fun, funny and wonderful folks. There's often a lot of myth associated with St. Patrick, but EWTN.com tries hard to give factual information about this elusive man (who was a real person, by the way). Wikepedia has some information as well .  The Catholic Encyclopedia also has information on St. Patrick. So what green thing are you wearing today? Have A Tip Top Thursday!