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I need a hero! - Summerita Rayne

29/12/2014

Today I'd like to welcome Summerita Rayne to my blog to talk about heroes.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Wendy!

Since my WIP is a historical and so is the new release Hidden Passion, I'm madly in the grip of a royalty crush and particularly the maharaja crush. Especially those Early Medieval Maharajas who were also the bold warriors ready to battle for their people and for what they believed in.
     Why Maharajas, you might ask? Well, Maharaja stands for being powerful, majestic, a lone eagle and the ruler of all he surveys. Yet to be a king, a hero must be grounded too. He must know how to please the people. And ah yes, the heroine too! Wink, wink!
      Royalty has a magnetic quality. Doesn't it seem as though they are above worldly troubles? Ordinary folks like us feel a kind of hero worship towards them for being so different. Then, at some occasion, one finds they are also going through the joys and sorrows life puts in their way just like ordinary people would...along with handling the onus of well, being out of ordinary...and you think, how can they be so multi-layered?
     With so much intrigue and magnetism surrounding them, Maharajas are meant to be canvassed into romance heroes, I feel. In my newly released medieval romance the hero is a samrat (synonymous with king) and he is the strongest in the region. Samrat Deveshwaraya aka Devesh, already had me head over heels when he made his appearance. But when he began to exhibit the gentler shades to his persona, that was doubly undoing. He can set ablaze passion in his princess, yet also is determined to stay on the path of duty. Rukmani, his princess in the story nurses a hidden passion for him. With a hero like that, well who can blame her?
     I'm currently in the process of getting to know another Maharaja. King Karthikeya is the hero in my next historical. He is charming, suave and a stealer of hearts, BUT has a secret he is keeping from his princess. Didn't I say it? So many kings, so many shades. That’s what makes a Maharaja.

So tell us about your book. I loved it, I must say.

Rukmani, the youngest of the Kamboj royal family, has always had her way and she thinks she would too when the question of her marriage arises. But when she expresses her wishes, her world comes crumbling down because it seems aristocratic affairs matter more than her heart. Who can she run to but the strongest ruler of the region, Deveshwaraya?
Devesh finds himself torn between duty and desire. He is drawn to her yet being with her jeopardizes everything he has worked for. When even protecting her invites trouble, how can he let his heart become involved?
When the walls of monarchical politics rise high between them, will her passion prevail?

Hidden Passion – the story of a princess daring to reach out for her heart’s desire.

Thanks for coming on, Summerita.
Summerita's wonderful book and others she has written are available now.
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Passion-Kamboj-Princess-Rukmani-ebook/dp/B00RBUM0EG

And you can keep up with her news at www.summeritarhayne.com
Or follow her via Twitter @SummeritaRhayne

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Ho-Bloomin'-Ho!

22/12/2014

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So son number 1's birthday is over and now we have Christmas. Have I mentioned how much I dread this time of year? I have? Well, this is part of the reason why...

This year's ordering woes: 2 wrong items sent, 4 duplicate items ordered, 1 boomerang parcel returned, 1 pre-ordered ignored (twice) and 1 item delivered damaged. I know it can be parcel mayhem this time of year, but please.

Okay I stick my hand up, some of the duplicates may well have been my fault. Having just discovered the wonders of 'wish lists' on Amazon, I have since learned that when you put them into your basket, they don't disappear from your wish list. So the extra DVD player, cable and CD may have been my fault. Fortunately I managed to find a home for both the DVD player and the CD - my mum. She was still putting up with a humming video/DVD combi player and I donated her the CD for being a good sport and finding a home for the DVD player. But one at least was a cancellation that didn't cancel and I'm blaming Amazon for that!

Having begun with a whinge, I have to say that almost everybody involved was extremely generous and efficient in trying to sort it all out. The faulty item and one of the wrong items were donated as right-offs and refunded or replaced.
Even the girls at Amazon tried to stop their items going out.

I think the highlight of the festive cock-up, though, has to be the parcel for my son. A skating ramp arrived - an enormous thing. Now having messed up a few orders already, I looked at this thing and thought, 'Did I order that? I don't remember ordering that. I don't actually remember wanting one.' But I duly signed for it and ran to my computer to check. Oh no, I didn't. (Oh yes I did! - sorry, I couldn't help that.) So I contacted the seller of the thing that is related, but hadn't arrived yet and a couple of hours later a 'woops' reply comes in. Really nice chap and he apologised and said could he swap? 'Fine,' I said and we arrange it for a few days later. That day arrived and a man turned up with the (hopefully) proper item in the morning and in the evening, a different chap arrived to collect the other. He looked at it, scanned it in and took it away. Job done. Or so I thought.
The next evening a delivery van turned up at the door bringing the same ruddy huge thing back again. 'No,' I say. 'This is the thing for collection I returned only yesterday'. But the man refused to take it back and said I had to have it, so there, sat in my hallway, was the huge, still wrapped, parcel for something I never ordered, again. Meanwhile I went upstairs and check on the box that was ordered and it's labelled said something similar, but not exactly the same as the thing I ordered.
So here I am, only a few days to go and most of my things have arrived. The twice pre-ordered and ignored was finally in stock and just plain ordered and the huge parcel has gone and not turned up on me again... so far. I'm braced. This time next week it will all be over and I can move on to part 3 - youngest son's birthday. Wish me luck!

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Skating on thin ice with Nikki Moore.

15/12/2014

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Welcome to my blog, Nikki. I see you have a brilliant new book out, involving a woman who can skate and it got me thinking; can you skate?

I'm not on Holly's level - the main character in Skating at Somerset House - nowhere close, but I can ice skate, and I love it. I can do a three hundred and sixty degree spin, though not very fast, and come to a spinning stop. It all comes from going to the local ice rink every Saturday for a while when I was about 12. At 4 'o' clock they'd put disco lights and music on and pump dry ice onto the rink - it was great fun! Nowadays I take my nine year old son skating at the local rink [see pic] - it's pretty tiny, but he loves it, and is pretty good himself... I've always had a yearning to be on Dancing on Ice - I would love to learn to figure skate!

I am SO jealous. I always wanted to learn how to skate, but our nearest rink was over an hour away. We had the odd family trip, but no lessons. Still the ballet world was richer for having had me in it, I'm sure! LOL

What about Christmas? Do you like that? I'm not a big fan.

Like Holly, I love Christmas. I really enjoy the build up to it; all the festive decorations and songs, the fact most people are in good spirits, the shopping, parties, carol services and spending time with my family, especially my kids - they still bring magic to this time of year.

You're killing me!

However, I'm also a bit like Noel in some ways. I am slightly resentful when Christmas merchandise and decorations start appearing in shops in September, and I definitely lose patience with people who forget their manners in shops, so they can get their shopping done. In my eyes, there's no excuse for being rude! I also don't get on with the cold that well; I'm definitely a sun worshipper ... on the other hand if there's snow, nothing can stop me getting out in it!

Do you read a lot around Christmas, Nikki?

For me, one of the best things about Christmas is being bought books, and having the time to sit around and read them, although I never seem to have as much time as I think I'm going to, as we go and visit different parts of the family over the Christmas period. I'm a big reader - though recently that's been limited, between the day job, writing deadlines and Christmas shopping - so I'm looking forward to finishing work on Christmas Eve for a couple of weeks. Currently I have a few festive stories on my e-reader...

So tell us about your book, Nikki...

Book 1, #LoveLondon Series; Skating at Somerset House.

There’s nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so working as an Ice Marshall at London's Somerset House is a dream come true.
    Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the nightmare before Christmas!
    Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…
    With a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one to remember … or forget?

Available to buy now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skating-Somerset-House-Love-London-ebook/dp/B00P5V4T4C

And if you like the sound of that, there are more books in the #LoveLondon series to come! Releasing from December 14 to May 15 by HarperImpulse;

Bk 2, New Year at The Ritz (Short Story)
Bk 3, Valentine's on Primrose Hill (Short Story)
Bk 4, Cocktails in Chelsea (Short Story)
Bk 5, Strawberries at Wimbledon (Short Story)
Bk 6, Picnics in Hyde Park, (Novel)

Good luck, Nikki. You'd better get back to your writing!

:-) Thanks for having me on your blog, Wendy. x

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Blog Hop - The Spirit of Christmas Eve

7/12/2014

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As catalogues begin to drop onto the mat around midsummer and adverts for fragrance start to fill the breaks on TV, I can feel my shoulders sag and a groan slowly building inside my guts. Surely I cannot be alone in sighing at the first sight of Christmas decorations in the shops as early as September? Or fearing the inevitable advance of hyped-up excitement as it seeps slowly into everything that we see?

In my house it’s twice as bad. I have two kids, both of whom have their birthdays around Christmas: one 18 days before and the other 17 days after. Christmas for me is a hideous time of year. It means weeks of manic buying; the writing of lists of what needs to be bought for whom and who is buying which presents for which child for which occasion; there are parties that need to be organised (and paid for); and, inevitably, spoiled children beginning to rise.

So much is hung around the tree of ‘Christmas’ these days, I fear the meaning of it is becoming lost. The only part I actually enjoy is the crib service on Christmas Eve, up at the local church, when all are reminded of why we are there, and then the few hours after, when everything settles down for that brief peaceful moment; the calm before the storm.

The night before Christmas, that is my time. I cook the big family tea, the same every year – honey roast gammon, dauphinoise potatoes, red cabbage and something green. The following morning, all hell will break lose, but for that night, that evening in fact, when the possibilities of what might be received keep the children light and happy, and the treats of Christmas eating are set down before the fire, when my cooking is over and the bedlam of wrapping and the next few weeks has not yet hit me, for those few short hours, I am content.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

To enter the giveaway, click here:
http://onmybookshelf.blog.pl/2014/12/07/christmas-countdown-by-agi-lavender-giveaway-guest-post-by-wendy-lou-jones/ and scroll down. Good luck!

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Just dropped by... Debbie Johnson

1/12/2014

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Debbie Johnson is an author, new to HarperImpulse, who comes from Liverpool in the UK. She's not been on my blog before, so I would like to bid her a warm welcome. Pull up a chair, Deb, and settle in. I want to talk men. Who would be your ideal man?

Ooh, nice question! The brains of Jarvis Cocker – I love the way he thinks and articulates, and I think we’d have a really good laugh in the pub. Though that may sit strangely with the rest of my ideal man...the face and body and accent of Josh Holloway (Sawyer from Lost), my current main fictional squeeze. This changes a lot though, and might also veer into the territory of Daniel Craig and Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy. Even though the hero of my book is Italian American, I do like me a nice hunky blonde!

So many men; so little time. ;-) Well I think I'm going to go with... Sawyer. Fantastic. :-)

Oh yes, I'm leaving that photo full size. Hmmmmm. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes... men. So now, you're into hunky blondes, but who were you into as a teenager?

Oh, the list is endless! My first real crush was Han Solo.

Stop right there. Loved him too. We've got to get a photo of him up somewhere...

I remember watching Star Wars for the first time – him sprawled over the chairs in the cantina scene, all cocky and gorgeous, and thinking ‘wow – so this is what all the fuss is about!’. I also had a very long-term obsession with Dirk Benedict, who played Face in the A Team and Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica (yes, I am OLD). Really, I was in LOVE with him. Used to write fan fiction and everything, keep scrapbooks, even. And I must make special mention of my ‘Wimbledon phase’ – that time in my life when tennis became much more than a sport! The absolute joy of watching Stefan Edberg in his day, running around the court in shorts that seemed much shorter then.

I have to admit, I nabbed Han because I'm a 'tall dark and brooding' girl these days, but in deference to your 'blonde hunk' preferences, I'll offer you this...

So, we've got the 'men' bit sorted. What kind of job did you see yourself doing when you were a teen?

I think by then I was starting to realise that I was going to have to be a writer, as it seemed to be the only thing I was any good at. Early aspirations towards being a vet and an astronaut were scuppered by my complete incompetence at maths and science.

Might have been a bit of a hitch. ;-)

Can you remember any books that stand out for you from your childhood or teen years?

Oh yes. 101 Dalmations – I loved this so much I actually copied it all out, word for word, by hand, in a series of exercise books. Saddo alert!

I'm going to try and forget you said that. ;-)

The first Mills & Boon I read – I think it was called The Kissing Gate – was something of a revelation, and sadly started to convince me that that was how Love would be in the real world.

Ha!

...and The Secret Garden – I won this as a prize at school and still have it, with the sticker inside that basically says ‘you are a huge swotty geek and there is no hope of you ever being cool’. I loved the story though – it was slightly dark, slightly scary.

Great choices. So tell us about your book. I believe it's a Christmas story. Very appropriate for this time of year.

Yes, it's called: Cold feet at Christmas. It's published by HarperImpulse and I'm very excited about it.

It's set in a remote Scottish castle on a snowy Christmas Eve. With a handsome husband-to-be and a dress to die for, it should have been the happiest day of Leah Harvey’s life – but the fairytale wedding turns sour when she finds her fiancé halfway up the bridesmaid’s skirt just hours before the ceremony! Fleeing the scene in a blizzard, Leah ends up stranded at the nearest cottage, where she collapses into the arms of its inhabitant – a man so handsome she thinks she must have died and gone to heaven! And when Rob Cavelli suddenly finds himself with an armful of soaking wet, freezing cold, and absolutely gorgeous bride on the run, he’s more than happy to welcome her into his snowbound cottage this Christmas…

Sounds great. Best of luck with it, Debbie and thanks for dropping by.

You can reach Debbie at:http://www.debbiejohnsonauthor.com/

Or find her on social media: @debbiemjohnson and http://www.facebook.com/debbiejohnsonauthor

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I need a hero! - Summerita Rayne

Ho-Bloomin'-Ho!

Skating on thin ice with Nikki Moore.

Blog Hop - The Spirit of Christmas Eve

Just dropped by... Debbie Johnson

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