Teaser Tuesday

Here are the rules:

1. Post 2 sentences from the current book you're reading. You can either

a) open the book and share 2 sentences from anywhere on that page or
b) share your favorite 2-3 sentences from the book (they have to be in a row)

2. List the page #

*PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYTHING THAT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS A SPOILER!

3. List the name of the book and the author


"She looked up at Eric, and I could read her thoughts. To this woman, he was beautiful, disgusting, repellent, and oddly fascinating. She didn't like the "beautiful" and "fascinating" parts. She also didn't like being caught on the wrong foot."

p. 83

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Share your teasers in the comments or give a link to your blog if you're running a Teaser Tuesday

Exciting Announcement - Winter Wonderland Anthology

I'm super excited to finally reveal that one of my short stories will be part of the Winter Wonderland Anthology! This Anthology from Compass Press will feature a group of talented, wonderful writers and I can't be happier to be a part of it! And...all the proceeds go to a charity to fight illiteracy and promote children and teenage reading!

Winter Wonderland Anthology will come out this winter, so don't forget to add it to your "to be read" list (click on the cover to go the the Goodreads page of Winter Wonders).

Check out the pages of the amazing authors who are part of this anthology:
Anne Riley, Heather McCorkle, Alexandra Shostak, Christine Fonseca, Connie Keller, Crystal Harris, Elle Strauss, Harley May, Jamey Stegmaier, Jen Stayrook, Jessica Naccari, Jodi Burrus, Judith Graves, Karen Amanda Hooper, Krissi Dallas, Mercedes Yardley, Natalie Cone, Regan Leigh, Susan Kaye Quinn, TS Tate, and Tina Moss.

Regular Weekly Posting...

Will resume next week!

Contests & Giveaways in The Writing World - Week of May 21st

It's Monday, yay!!! Oh...wait...It's Monday! Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!

To get the week going in a positive direction, don't forget to check out these cool contests and giveaways.

Oh no, zombies!!!! Save yourself! Better yet, get into the Zombie Craze 2012 with an Epic Giveaway from the Bookish Brunette. There's lost of great "zombie-themed" books to win. The giveaway ends May 31st, so hurry!

England's Queen Elizabeth is marking her 60th year of reign this year. Romance at Random is celebrating the event with the Diamond Jubilee blog hop! You can win up to 26 prizes by hopping through the participating blogs (over 70). How fun is that?!

The amazing Indelibles are hosting a Summer Beach Bash! You can win lots of new fun summer releases loaded into a brand new Nook Simple Touch or Kindle Touch! Hurry to check out this blog hop! The contest closes on Thursday, May 24th!

Say congratulations to Carrie Butler, who's celebrating the 1st Blogiversary of So, You're A Writer... with fun prizes.

More great Giveaways and Contests to come in two weeks!

*As always, please contact me for the inclusion of your contests/giveaways into the Monday Contests and Giveaways in the Writing World posts.

Have fun and good luck!

Friday Art & History Feature - Fashion and Jewelry of Renaissance Italy and England

I love looking at the fashion and jewelry of epochs gone by. Today, I thought I'd share two of my favorite periods in history, fashion-wise: Renaissance Italy and Tudor England. I have especially enjoyed watching this fashion on two of the Showtime series - The Tudors and The Borgias.

Italian Renaissance

Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatrichi by Angelo Bronzino

Bella by Titian

Lady With A Unicorn by Raphael Sanzio. Thought to be a portrait of Julia Farnese, mistress of Rodrigo Borgia.

Joanne Whalley as Vannozza dei Cattanei on the Showtime the Borgias

Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia and Francois Arnaud as Cesare on the Showtime the Borgias

Tudor Era - England

Annabelle Wallis as Queen Jane on the Showtime Tudors

Anne Boleyn

Fashion of which periods of history and regions of the world do you enjoy looking at?

Guest blogging today

I'm guest blogging today with my article "True Grit for Writers" over at Christine Fonseca's blog. Check it out!

Friday Art & History Feature - Jonathon Earl Bowser

Goddess of the Tides (image credit: http://fantasygallery.net, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

 One of my favorites in the Fantasy Art world is the Jonathon Earl Bowser, a Canadian artist.

Bowser Self-Portrait with Guitar (image credit: http://www.jonathonart.com, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

He was born in 1962 and graduated from the Alberta College of Art in 1984, after which he worked as commercial illustrator for a few years. In 1989, he became a freelance artist. Today, his work can be found in many galleries and private collections around the world. Enjoy a sampling of his work and don't forget to visit his website and check out the extensive collection of his art.

Earth, Autumn, Winter (image credit: http://fantasygallery.net, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

Cascade (image credit: http://fantasygallery.net, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

Autumn (image credit: http://fantasygallery.net, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

Guinevere (image credit: http://fantasygallery.net, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

Theater of Darkness (image credit: http://fantasygallery.net, copyright Jonathon Earl Bowser)

Guest Blogger - Heather McCorkle - Spruce Knoll For Endangered Species

 Today, I'm giving the page to my wonderful friend in the writing community, Heather McCorkle, the author of The Secret of Spruce Knoll. Besides writing, there is something else very special that Heather and I share - the love for animals and a great concern for the fate of the endangered species all over the world. So supporting Heather's cause is very dear to me. I'll let Heather tell you about this cause in her own words.

 This story was born when I was watching a special on the shrinking habitat for polar bears. There was a commercial with a teen girl talking about saving endangered species and Eren’s character sprung up from that. The story of Spruce Knoll and it's inhabitants is the story of our world and what's happening to it.


I've always been inspired to do something about the increasing rate of extinction of many of our animals. When I became an author I found my way to do that. A portion of the proceeds of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll (from every copy sold, in every format) will go toward saving endangered species. My goal is to raise $10,000 by 12-12-2012, but that is a lot of books  and I realize I may not reach it. I figured, why not try though?! If by some miracle I do raise that much then I will continue to donate a portion of the proceeds of Spruce Knoll for another year. 

Due to legal reasons I can’t say who the charity is that I donate to, but I can tell you that they are one of the top charities in the world that specializing in protecting endangered species. They’ve made great strides in preserving habitat, stopping poachers, and even helping to bring species back from the brink. But I can tell you that there are wonderful sites all over the internet but two of my favorites are the World Wildlife Fund and the National Wildlife Federation.

The situation for many endangered species is terribly sad. Tigers will be extinct in the wild in less than ten years. And unfortunately, they are only one on a long list of creatures that will be gone before this decade is over. Together we can make a difference though and that's exactly what I intend to do, and what you'll be doing whenever you buy a copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll. You can help by purchasing a copy for yourself, a friend, or a loved one, or by giving directly to one of the many amazing charities that help endangered species. 

Heather is the author of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll, Born Of Fire, Channeler's Choice, and coming in May of 2012, the historical YA fantasy, To Ride A Puca. A short story of Heather's is also available in the free In His Eyes eBook anthology.

Writer Wednesday - Feed Our Creativity Monster - your help is wanted!

Today, my writing partner, the lovely Tina Moss, and I are running pretty identical posts (except the pictures, so you have to check out both! mwahaha). Check it out here! We have been throwing around ideas for our "secret project" for some time now. It's become obvious that we need a fresh perspective.

Creativity Monster?

And that's where you come in. Yes, you! We want to hear about your favorite book, movie, TV show or play. Tell us why it's your favorite. What do you love about it? What was the best part? The most iconic scene? The story that you can't live without? Tell us the dirt. Spill the beans. We want to know. In short, inspire us with your favorites. We're looking to bring out the big guns, cross genre lines, and write like there's no tomorrow. Nothing is off the list. If the secret project becomes WALKING DEAD meets LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD meets MOBY DICK, then heck we'll write the zombie white whale in a red hood. Okay, maybe not, but you get the picture.

So, help us out. What story last tugged at your heart strings? Which one opened your mind to another point of view? What tale inspired you?

Oh, and I just couldn't resist this one, sorry:  

:)

Teaser Tuesday

Here are the rules:

1. Post 2 sentences from the current book you're reading. You can either

a) open the book and share 2 sentences from anywhere on that page or
b) share your favorite 2 senetnces from the book (they have to be in a row)

2. List the page #

*PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYTHING THAT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS A SPOILER!

3. List the name of the book and the author


"The wavering blue light of television flashed against drawn curtains. Sitcom laugh tracks screeched through the still night, offering escapism for the nervous. Bear Valley was afraid."

p. 92

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Share your teasers in the comments or give a link to your blog if you're running a Teaser Tuesday