Marilyn Holdsworth on Inspiration, Her First Book & More @m_holdsworth #WomensFic #HistFic #TBR

What inspired you to write your first book?
I am very interested in saving the American mustangs and preventing animal abuse especially exploitation of horses. That's why I wrote my first book, Pegasus.

How do you come up with titles for your books?
I choose titles that will interest my readers and are symbolic to the story. Making Wishes has several levels of meaning to the book.

Can you tell us about your main character?
My main character in Making Wishes is Elloree Randall, a young creative woman faced with making some life changing choices. She is torn between her love for her work and her devotion to her sons.

Describe what it’s like to be an author in three words.

Very hard work!

Is there a message in your novel you want readers to grasp?

Yes. I would say that in Making Wishes my message is: A quest for self-discovery to find ones true values often comes at a high price.

How much of the book is realistic?

Although my characters are fictional they are realistic and the story is very believable.

How important do you think villains are?
Very. Conflict created by a clash of good and evil keeps a story moving. Readers engaged in the plot want to see justice done.

Can we expect to see any more books from you?
Yes. I am currently working on my fourth novel.

Have you started another book?
Yes. I am well into writing my fourth novel, The Portrait of Lady J.

What do you do to unwind and relax?
I like to take my dog for walks in the park. I also love to listen to classical music. And for me walking on the beach at sunrise or sunset is the ultimate relaxation.

Elloree Prince is an attractive, creative young woman who marries a wealthy businessman, Tom Randall. After courting his bride with unrelenting determination, Tom moves her into old-moneyed Oak View, where generations of Randalls have lived for years. Outwardly, Elloree appears to settle into raising their two sons within Oak View's stifling social structure, but inwardly, she yearns for her artistic work. 

An unexpected phone call from Mark Williams, her former employer, offers her the career opportunity of a lifetime, and she must make a choice. She is torn between her devotion to her sons and her love for her work. Her decision to return to Wishes, Inc. brings dramatic life changes to her and the people she loves.

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Genre - Women's fiction

Rating – PG-13

"Abby Long is thrilled when she offers the winning bid for an antique desk at an auction. With its intricately inlaid woods and elegant style, the desk is perfect for Abby; it is the gift she promised herself to finally celebrate her thriving antique business. She has no idea that the antique desk holds a secret that will lead her on a fascinating, life-changing journey back in time.

When Abby discovers a hidden diary stuffed inside a secret compartment in the desk, she can hardly wait to read the spidery, faded script. As she carefully turns the tattered pages, she reads the captivating story of two remarkable women from opposite backgrounds who somehow manage to form an unforgettable bond against the backdrop of a fledgling America struggling to find its place in the world. Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, the wife of James Monroe, and Jasmine, a young slave girl, develop an extraordinary relationship as they are united by pivotal historic events, political intrigues, and personal tragedies.

 From a bucolic Virginia plantation to the bloodied, starving streets of post-revolutionary Paris, this powerful tale follows the lives of two courageous women from the past as they quietly influence—and inspire—a woman of today’s world."

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Genre - Historical fiction

Rating – G

Widowed at thirty, Hannah Bradley is a successful journalist focusing on animal abuse issues. An accidental meeting introduces her to lawyer, Winston Caughfield III. Drawn to Hannah’s gentle beauty and fierce commitment to her work, Win joins her in a fight to save wild mustangs from slaughter. Together they rescue a badly injured horse with a mysterious background. Hannah’s search to discover the animal’s true identity leads them into a web of black marketeering and international intrigue. 

Action packed with crisp colorful dialogue the story propels the reader to a race against time conclusion. Marilyn Holdsworth delivers a gripping tale of mystery, adventure and romance guaranteed to hold the interest and capture the heart. She brings true-life characters together with real-life issues to create a fast-paced irresistible story.

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Genre - Contemporary fiction

Rating – PG

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Website  http://marilynholdsworth.com/

Blog http://marilynholdsworth.com/blog/

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY #Excerpt by Victoria Bernadine @VicBernadine #Contemporary #ChickLit

“All I ever wanted was a life less ordinary.”

Manny lay flat on her back, eyes wide, staring at the ceiling while she waited for her clock to hit 6:00. Another day of work, she thought. Another day older and deeper in debt.

She had the alarm timed to the millisecond. The jarring noise had barely begun when she clicked it off. She sighed then threw back the covers and got out of bed.

She padded into the bathroom, glanced without interest in the full-length mirror that doubled as her shower doors and took her morning inventory.

Plain face? Check.

Looking tired? Check.

Thirty pounds overweight? Check.

Dark circles under deer-caught-in-headlights eyes? Check and check.

She shook her head at her limp, mousy hair and wondered when she’d gotten so old.

She sighed in resignation then conjured up her Perfect Fantasy Man–or Harvey, as she liked to call him–to give her a morning lift. She cocked her head to one side as she stared into the mirror and imagined him standing behind her. She smiled at the handsome man, and he smiled back, putting his hands on her shoulders. Everything about him was warm, in stark contrast to the cold shades of grey in which she lived her life. He had warm brown eyes, warm brown skin, and a warm smooth voice that always reminded her of golden honey. Today his hair was black with greying temples, and yes, even that seemed warm to her.

He was perfect, everything she considered ideal in a man–and extra-perfect, of course, because he was a fantasy. Just the thought of trying to establish a relationship with an actual man felt too much like work.

She sighed and Harvey disappeared.

“Instead I ended up in a rut–everything planned and executed to the minute.”

She finished her shower and padded out to the kitchen wrapped in a worn terrycloth robe just as the coffee pot finished perking her morning coffee. She pulled a white cup out of the cupboard, filled it and took it with her to the bedroom, where she drank her coffee while she dressed and pulled her hair into its habitual bun high on the back of her head. At 6:45 sharp, she was back in the kitchen where she rinsed out the cup and put it on the rack next to the other three cups from earlier in the week; they marked the passage of time like scratches on a prison wall.

For the last fifteen years, Rose “Manny” Mankowski has been a very good girl. She turned her back on her youthful fancies and focused on her career. But now, at the age of 45, she’s questioning her choices and feeling more and more disconnected from her own life. When she’s passed over for promotion and her much younger new boss implies Manny’s life will never change, something snaps. In the blink of an eye, she’s quit her job, sold her house and cashed in her pension, and she’s leaving town on a six month road trip.

After placing a personal ad for a travelling companion, she’s joined in her mid-life crisis by Zeke Powell, the cynical, satirical, most-read – and most controversial – blogger for the e-magazine, What Women Want. Zeke’s true goal is to expose Manny’s journey as a pitiful and desperate attempt to reclaim her lost youth – and increase his readership at the same time. Leaving it all behind for six months is just an added bonus.

Now, armed with a bagful of destinations, a fistful of maps, and an out-spoken imaginary friend named Harvey, Manny’s on a quest to rediscover herself – and taking Zeke along for the ride.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – ChickLit, Contemporary Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Blog victoriabernadine.wordpress.com

#Author Chat with Will North @WillNorthAuthor #Contemporary #Women #Fiction

Where do you get support from? Do you have friends in the industry?

I get my support from a group of lunatic friends I see every morning at a coffee stand here on the island. Some of them are, like me, ex-New Yorkers, which means they’re wise-guys. We spend our time (as all New Yorkers do) insulting the heck out of each other and laughing our heads off. It is a wonderful way to start each day.

How much sleep do you need to be your best?

At least nine hours.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support?

Yes, my eighth and twelfth grade English teachers, who believed in me and my writing. I’m still in touch with the twelfth grade teacher and have told him how much he meant to me. He’s a big fan.

Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?

Being able to pay the mortgage. It’s that simple.

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign?

My readers tend to be middle aged women who read voraciously.  However, I have never previously had to concern myself with how to market to them, so this is completely new. My new publisher, Booktrope, is helping with this.

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?

My latest novel, “Seasons’ End” is about three families who have spent the “summer season” at their beachfront cottage compounds on an island in Washington’s Puget Sound for generations. They are closely connected from childhood, inter-marry, share careers, and have many secrets. On one Labor Day weekend a series of betrayals is revealed which effectively destroys all that history. And yet it is, like my other novels, a love story.

If you could have a dinner party and invite anyone dead or alive, who would you ask?

Lately, because I have started a new mystery series based in England, I would say Dorothy Sayers, from the British Golden Age of mysteries; Martha Grimes, an American who writes mysteries set in the UK but who also is hilariously funny; and perhaps the English author, Peter Lovesey, who creates a splendid sense of place in his mysteries based in Bath.  And, of course, Arthur Conan Doyle.

When you are not writing, how do you like to relax?

I am always writing. I don’t relax. Just ask my wife…

Do you have any tips on how writers can relax?

I would be the last person to offer such advice.

How often do you write? And when do you write?

I used to write eight to ten hours a day, seven days a week (largely because I was on crazy ghostwriting deadlines). Now I write about six to seven hours a day, starting at about 10:00 am and with breaks to walk the dog.

Do you have an organized process or tips for writing well? Do you have a writing schedule?

The first thing I do is read and edit what I wrote the day before. Then I plunge ahead. I don’t outline; that feels like a straightjacket to me. I just press ahead and see what happens next. I am surprised every day.

Every summer for generations, three families intertwined by history, marriage, and career have spent “the season” at their beach cottage compounds on an island in Puget Sound. Today, Martha “Pete” Petersen, married to Tyler Strong, is the lynchpin of the “summer people.” In childhood, she was the tomboy every girl wanted to emulate and is now the mother everyone admires.

Colin Ryan, family friend and the island’s veterinarian, met Pete first in London, years earlier, when she visited his roommate, Tyler. He’s loved her, privately, ever since. Born in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, son of a bar owner, he’s always been dazzled by what he sees of the sun-kissed lives of the summer people.

But this summer, currents strong as the tides roil: jealousies grow, tempers flare, passions clash. Then, on the last day of the season, a series of betrayals alters the combined histories of these families forever.

As in previous novels, The Long Walk Home and Water, Stone, Heart, with Seasons’ End, Will North weaves vivid settings and memorable characters into a compelling tale of romance and suspense.

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Genre – Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Website willnorthonline.com

Since You've Been Gone .... #Excerpt from Olga Soaje's TWELVE HOUSES #Fiction #Women #TBR

Since You’ve Been Gone

Stay with me.

Don’t fall asleep too soon.

The angels can wait for a moment.

—Westlife, “Written in the Stars”

You promised you would never leave me. Thirty-five years ago, I looked you directly in the eye and heard, “I will never leave you,” as we stood next to the ocean. And now, like a thief in the night, you go. No last words, no promises, no tears.

As I look back at that moment, I can still feel your hand intertwined with mine, each finger between mine, like an oyster shut tight against the sea, protecting the treasure it carries inside. But the treasure was in my belly, full of love and expectations.

We walked like tourists along Pier 59, a place we came to think of as home. Wind in our faces and a carefree spirit in our hearts. Gently you stopped and pulled my hand so I would follow suit as you turned; I could see your eyes full of love and complete devotion. I felt I could stay in that moment forever. It was this feeling, this sublime happiness, that I did not want changed or challenged. That’s when I turned to you and looked into those blue eyes as I said aloud, “I don’t want this to change.”

Your face distorted into a concerned expression as you tried to reassure me. “It will be different when the baby arrives; it will be even better.”

“It’s not that. I’m excited about meeting the baby and having it with us.”

So you poked at the subject with concern on your face, as you asked, “Then what is it? What don’t you want to change?”

“Us,” I answered blithely, taking in a large whiff of air through my nose as a source of strength for what I was about to request of you. As I looked out to the sea right in front of us, I said, “I don’t want to forget this feeling. I want to always feel this love and peace between us.”

You gave me that dimply smile. “We will always have it. And when we don’t, we will have the direction in which we want to go.”

As a sea gull passed close to us, landing in the water with a tiny splash, I looked at you and finally said what had been on my mind, the deep seed of this conversation. “I don’t want to lose you.” Once again, your easy laugh, followed by an enveloping hug, while you gave me the grin I’d come to realize meant, You’re hormonal. “I’m serious. Just promise me…”

Can anything good follow the best thing that ever happened to you?

Amelia Weiss loved her husband of thirty-five years very much, but now he’s left her a widow. Without him, she is unable to work in her sculpture studio without crying. She no longer has a bridge to her estranged daughter. And she can’t seem to keep her mind in the present.

But when her daughter reaches out asking for her help and her agent threatens a lawsuit if Amelia doesn’t deliver for an upcoming exhibit, she’s forced to make a choice. Will she reengage with her life and the people in it—allowing room for things to be different than they were before? Or, will she remain stuck in the past, choosing her memories over real-life relationships?

Thrust fully into the present, Amelia stumbles into a surprising journey of self-discovery.

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Genre – Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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#Excerpt Along The Watchtower by David Litwack @DavidLitwack #AmReading #Fantasy

Excerpt - The Trials

“Come, Dauphin. Walk with me.”

The advisor led me up to the parapets of the castle. Despite the pre-dawn haze, I could make out the land below. I looked out past Elwynn Forest to the village of Goldshire, with its thatched-roof cottages and patchwork quilt of green pastures stitched together with stone walls. But beyond them, looming over the houses and fields, I could see the mountains of Golgoreth, high, jagged peaks where the world of the Alliance ended and the realm of the Horde began. Already, storm clouds gathered over the ridge. As I paused on the ramparts to watch, a wind gusted from the east, an unnatural gale that roared in my ears and caused ripples in my skin.

“You feel it?” Sir Gilly said. “Their power builds in the hope that you will fail. Everything is changing now, different than what you’ve come to expect.”

“How so?”

He stretched a trembling finger toward the distant mountains.

“Their evil flows like fog on a November day, seeping into everything. When your father died, the protection he gave to the countryside began to weaken. It will grow weaker still until only the walls of Stormwind provide protection. At the end of the thirty days, they too will fail.” He turned to me, his face inches from mine. “First lesson: you must not, under any circumstances, go beyond the castle walls during the days of anointment.” His brows wriggled and knotted. “And the castle itself will not be safe. The mist will enter the smallest of cracks and transform into strange beings, the source of the trials . . . .The castle you know will change. Stairways will come into being where none existed before. You’ll go down them, but when you turn back, they’ll be gone. Archways and tunnels will appear, leading to odd chambers where you’ll meet the beings I spoke of. Some will be guides—elves or priests or mage. Others will mean you harm, spectral demons, agents of the Horde. Assassins.”

“How will I know the difference?”

“Trust what’s in your heart. If that’s enough, you will save Azeroth for another generation. If not…” A sorrow came over him, weighing down his features . . .

I’d never seen him so downcast, my source of knowledge and strength. I fingered the hilt of my sword, as I had at the start of so many training sessions. My grip on the braided leather tightened.

He looked at my hand and shook his head.

“No, Dauphin. You cannot fight this enemy with a sword.”

“But to defend against assassins?”

“It’s not your body they seek to harm. These assassins can’t threaten your being.”

“Then what is their purpose?”

“To extinguish your spirit. To make you abandon the kingdom to darkness. Their purpose is despair.” He turned toward the watchtower, standing erect, every inch the advisor. “Come. It is time to begin.”

WINNER: Readers' Favorite Book 2013 Bronze Award Winner, Drama Category -Fiction

A Tragic Warrior Lost in Two Worlds...

The war in Iraq ended for Lieutenant Freddie Williams when an IED explosion left his mind and body shattered. Once he was a skilled gamer and expert in virtual warfare. Now he's a broken warrior, emerging from a medically induced coma to discover he's inhabiting two separate realities. The first is his waking world of pain, family trials, and remorse--and slow rehabilitation through the tender care of Becky, his physical therapist. The second is a dark fantasy realm of quests, demons, and magic that Freddie enters when he sleeps.

In his dreams he is Frederick, Prince of Stormwind, who must make sense of his horrific visions in order to save his embattled kingdom from the monstrous Horde. His only solace awaits him in the royal gardens, where the gentle words of the beautiful gardener, Rebecca, calm the storms in his soul. While in the conscious world, the severely wounded vet faces a strangely similar and equally perilous mission--a journey along a dark road haunted by demons of guilt and memory--and letting patient, loving Becky into his damaged and shuttered heart may be his only way back from Hell.

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Genre – Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy

Rating – PG

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Connect with David Litwack on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.davidlitwack.com