Launching a New Austen Blog

"My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company." ~ Jane Austen ~

It’s my pleasure to again have Sharon Lathan visiting Over Coffee, and this time she brought her partner, Abigail Reynolds. Both of them write Austen fan fiction. Regardless of whether you like or hate fan fiction, there are so many readers who love Austen stories and want to read about the research, social mores, fashion, and of course the continuing love affair between Lizzie and Darcy. These authors and the additional twenty plus Austen fan fiction authors can all be found on one site now. You want a daily dose of Austen like stories and ondits; you’ll now have that opportunity on this wonderful blogsite.

I’m so proud of Sharon and Abigail. I well know what work goes into creating a new blog, setting blog times and guests, as well as getting the word out. I love how quickly like minds came together to do a final chat about the blog to launching it a month later. All this month there will be all sorts of goodies on the blog.

First, for those that don't know Sharon and Abigail let me introduce them to you.

Abigail Reynolds is a lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast and a physician. In addition to writing, she has a part-time private practice and enjoys spending time with her family. Originally from upstate New York, she studied Russian, theater, and marine biology before deciding to attend medical school. She began writing From Lambton to Longbourn in 2001 to spend more time with her favorite characters from Pride & Prejudice. Encouragement from fellow Austen fans convinced her to continue asking ‘What if…?’, which led to five other Pemberley Variations and her modern novel, The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice. She is currently at work on another Pemberley Variation and sequels to The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice. She is a lifetime member of JASNA and lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two teenaged children, and a menagerie of pets. You can read the blurb, and excerpt of her soon to be released book.

Sharon Lathan is a native Californian currently residing amid corn, cotton, and cows in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. She divides her time between being a homemaker, nurturing her own Mr. Darcy and two children, and working as a registered nurse in a Neonatal ICU.  Sharon is generally found reposing in her comfy recliner with faithful laptop adhered to her thighs. Throw in the cat, dog, and a ton of fish to complete the picture. Read the Blurb and excerpt.

Sharon and Abigail in costume

So how did the two of them come up with this idea? Funny, I wondered the same thing and so I asked (as per usual, lol!)



Funny things happen when you get a bunch of authors together. Add in a party atmosphere and perhaps a bit of wine and rich food and watch out world!

Writers recognize that often times their best story ideas begin with some tiny snippet. Maybe an overhead comment or random one-liner meant as a joke that then takes flight and evolves into a huge bestseller! Well, for us the genesis for our Austen Authors blog began as a halfhearted proposal and has flamed into a massive undertaking successful beyond our wildest dreams.


The first time we tossed out the concept of a group blog for Austen fiction writers was in 2009 at the RWA National Conference. It was a great idea even if verbalized more as a jest about the hundreds of Austen writers banding together and taking over the world! For a host of reasons we did not pursue it, yet neither of us totally shelved the concept. We met again at this year’s Nationals in July and before lunch on day #1 we were again talking about a group blog. Seriously this time.


Now, barely a month later, Austen Authors has launched. With a sonic blast! Despite our flippant remark about hundreds of Austen fiction writers we truly did not grasp how many there were nor how positively they would respond to our invitation. It has been overwhelming, but in a fabulous way.


We have needed to rethink our process many times, but our mission has remained clear and unwavering:

To provide a consolidated website where lovers of Austen who want to experience more of her world can learn about the variety of literature published in the genre. As authors we want to share our passion for Austen and support each other, no matter whom we are published by, so that the diverse visions sparked by her brilliance will flourish.

Why? ... because there’s never enough Jane Austen


As of today, 20 published novelists of Jane Austen literary fiction have banded together for the first time in history to share their passion for Jane’s world and celebrate this ever-increasing genre. The brainchild of best-selling authors Sharon Lathan - The Darcy Saga sequel to Pride & Prejudice - and Abigail Reynolds - The Pemberley Variations.

Austen Authors

We cordially invite you to the launch of Austen Authors blog!

For the entire month of September there will be posts by each author as well as contests, quizzes, a scavenger hunt, oodles of information, three new release parties, author introductions, entertainment, humor, polls, secrets, recipes, games galore, and a massive giveaway of gifts and books from the authors and their publishers.


Today we are welcoming Amanda Grange, bestselling author of Mr. Darcy Vampyre and Mr. Darcy’s Diary!

The group also includes these established and debut authors ( to learn more about each one and what books they have out or being released soon, click on their names and it will bring you to their website):

Skylar Burris, Kathryn L. Nelson, Monica Fairview, 

Jane Odiwe, Susan Adriani, Mary Simonsen,
Cindy Jones, J. Marie Croft, Marsha Altman
Regina Jeffers, Jack Caldwell, Carolyn Eberhart
Heather Lynn Rigaud, Kara Louise, Lynn Shepherd

Marilyn Brant, C. Allyn Pierson, Victoria Connelly

• Sharon and Abigail, I'm so excited for you. Thank you so much for being my guest today!

Thank you, Sia, for giving us this opportunity to talk about our blog and the amazing talent involved. We hope everyone will click over and join in the fun.


**** Other links

Facebook Group  On Twitter as : AustenAuthors

All materials, logos, pictures, bookcovers, copywrited and used with permission.

WRITING--MAKE IT YOUR OWN

Did you hope the pursuit of glory, the manifest destiny of riches by story, to have recognition and fame, for a journey no man overcame? Destiny Booze, Pretermined Endings

My guest is romantic suspense author, Destiny Booze. She is a big believer in Happily-Ever-After and classifies herself as a hopeless romantic. Destiny has a passion for life and feels that everyone should have a dream--they cost nothing and can add excitement to your life. Something to strive for in life.

I find it fascinating to see how different authors view writing. Destiny views it as a form of art, a calling, if you will.  

There are so many classes you can take to learn to write a book. You can spend hours of time studying writing styles and different books by different authors. You can research online, and read thousands of articles about the 1-2-3 steps to writing a book, or the rules in the publishing industry. Blah, blah, blah....

The truth is that you should learn as much as you can about the writing industry, but there are no strict guidelines. Writing is a form of art. The number one rule to any creative writing, including writing a book is to make it your own. Make it unique. You are the author. Do something original. Stand out to readers. There are thousands of writers out there, even thousands of published writers. Do you have what it takes to be a writer that readers will actually remember?

If you have the passion, that pull in your gut to write a book, and you know that it is a calling that you must answer, then just do it. Outlines are great, but they can also be restrictive. As a form of art, you can't always foresee the exact creation of the complete book until it is done. It grows and changes during its progress. It is art. Let it take the form it is meant to take.

I'm not arguing that it is wrong to write in the exact form the writing classes propose. I'm only suggesting that writers shouldn't be scared to step out of the box, to color outside of the lines. To really stretch the rules and see what happens.

Personally, I want to be different. I don't want to use ideas from other writers. I want to be the writer that others follow. I want to be the one to influence other writers out there.

• How about you? What kind of author do you want to be?
• Readers: what are your dreams?

Let's be artists! Throw the rules to the wind....Where will the freedom take us? Somewhere different...somewhere special....somewhere on the bestseller's list!

Predetermined Endings:

Angelica Chappell’s story makes huge headlines. Only a few months ago, she released a new pharmaceutical drug called Krytonix that effectively slows the spread of cancer cells. She has no idea her story will attract the attention of a serial killer. Suddenly, she is a target whether she realizes it or not. This killer is interested in more than her life. He wants her reputation, too. His first mission is to sabotage Krytonix.


William Pierce worked undercover for the FBI for five years to bring down a ruthless mobster that he ultimately is forced to kill. Two months passes by since that assignment. Still, William saw things he couldn’t talk about. He did things he couldn’t talk about. He believes his soul is damned. Returning to “normal” everyday life isn’t an option. He isn’t the same man he used to be. He refuses to return to FBI headquarters. He becomes a rogue agent with an agenda.


These two characters literally collide when Pierce's agenda leads him to Chappell. It will take both of them to keep Angelica alive and to figure out who is trying to kill her. William soon finds himself developing feelings for Angelica. Too bad for her killer, William worked as a trained killer for the mob. Will he find her killer and hand him over to the legal system to see that justice is served or will he search and destroy? Excerpt (click on Books and then Predetermined Endings)

BUY: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords

~ *~ * ~ * ~

 

Destiny Booze grew up at a campground in Virginia where her childhood was full of hard work. There was also an element of excitement as she met a large variety of diverse people with widespread tales about fun and adventure. She grew into a young lady with a very active imagination.

 

Destiny attended Virginia Western Community College for two years. Her writing career began as a community journalist, yet creative writing was always her passion. Altered Beginnings is her debut novel as a romantic suspense novelist.

Destiny resides in Botetourt County, Virginia with her husband, son and house full of pets where she strives to be the best wife, mother and writer that she can be. Her family is always priority number one. Other things of great importance to her are friends, and YOU, the readers!

 

Cover Art, excerpts, poetry, All rights reserved printed with permission of the author  

 

 

PROMOTION AND BOOKTRAILERS

My guest is a favorite of mine, Kate Laity. She's written some wonderfully entertaining stories under various names, including tales of magic, myths, and legends, as K. A. Laity. 

Branding and promotion is something of interest to authors. We talk about both quite a bit and you see resulting conversations on many blogs. Another aspect of promotion is what I call gadgets. Really, they are various promotion tools used to capture the interest of potential readers and can include everything from bookmarks to booktrailers.

Like websites, booktrailers visually solidify your brand as an author. There are professionals out there that will produce both. Many writers choose to make their own. So how does one go about creating a good, eye-catching booktrailer? How much is too much? Not enough?

Kate shares some of what she's learned in the making of booktrailers.  

Like most writers, I worry about spending too much time promoting what I write rather than simply writing it. It's the central issue of 21st century publishing: now that the whole wide world can be in publishing, how can readers find the stories they actually want to read?


So we do blogs and webpages and guest slots and give things away and run contests and now: we make book trailers. Well, some people pay to have them done which is good if 1) you have that kind of money and 2) they are actually good (ooh, have I seen some stinkers!). Most of us end up making our own with variable results (NB: I use iMovie to make mine).


I'll admit it: my first couple of trailers were not so good. Far too wordy, awkwardly connected, they are kind of painful to look at now (so, no – no links for you). Looking at movie trailers, I became more thoughtful about what a trailer needs to contain. Never mind that there seem to only be two companies that cut Hollywood trailers now: one that gives away the entire story and one that makes every movie look the same (I'm sorry that Don LaFontaine died, but the homogenization of trailer that began around his voice has continued.


But it turns out that what makes a trailer good is the same thing that makes a pitch good, especially that elusive "elevator pitch" that editors love. How to sum your story up in a short, pithy sound bite? Get the hook, find the tone, and give the essentials. First example: my trailer for Pelzmantel.


The work I had already done for the back jacket copy provided the narrative hook for the trailer. The gorgeous cover by Ruby provided the eye candy. Between the two there was enough information to let someone know what kind of book it was, yet still remained intriguing. The music gives an ambience of yearning and romance: I was lucky that my pal Paul gave me permission to use his band Reticents' song Bee-Sting Lips for the trailer. Next I threw in a couple of impressive pull quotes ("don't take my word for it!") and then ended with links to my page, my publisher and my musician.


On a slightly different tack, here's the general trailer for my works. The challenge here was a bit different and touches on the idea of "branding" which I know has been a hot topic here at Sia's too. I'd been quizzing folks at my blog on what they thought my brand was. Jokingly, I came up with "hard to spell, easy to read" which provided a kind of handhold for this trailer, which was really a showreel.


The basic task was the same: weave that message between pretty book covers with convincing pull quotes to suggest that readers really will like these books, despite the strange titles and widely varying genres. My pal Gerry Henkel supplied the Finnish kantele music, which highlights the theme of my collection Unikirja, inspired by Finnish myths and legends. My photos from Finland provided a palette of unusual images that I hoped would intrigue viewers.


I've also made a general book trailer for my pal C. Margery Kempe and one for her novel, Chastity Flame. I used royalty-free music for these trailers: many musicians are eager to have their music heard by new audiences and only ask that you link back to their sites (everybody needs promotion!). It's worth looking around for royalty-free images as well if you want to mix up the visuals and don't have art of your own.


Software makes the task a lot easier. You don't really have to be a filmmaker (although I used to make films: my blog is named after my first student film, Un Amor Peligroso or The Wombat's World), just look at some good movie trailers for models. Make trailers when you need to rest the writer part of your brain and do something else creative.


Do they help? Beats me. It’s one more tool for the PR effort, and who knows who might stumble across it on YouTube or BookBuzzr? They can be fun to do—but never forget that writing is job #1.

• Have you created a booktrailer? Feel free to share tips and experiences.
• What impact, if any, do booktrailers have on your book buying?

Pelzmantel--And Other Tales of Medieval Magic

A woman who's a fox—a kitchen maid who's a princess—and a walnut with a wardrobe!

Princess Hallgerd hides where no one will be likely to find her: working as a cook's dogsbody, lighting fires, peeling potatoes, and toting kettles. Her only friend is Nanna, her family's longtime caregiver. On the plus side, she's found out that 'Nanna' is really Carae Mná, a centuries-old Irish witch. On the minus side, they're both in hiding from the witch's oldest enemy, a mage who has taken over Hallgerd's father and her land. How can Hallgerd win back her home and Nanna her human skin?


And what about that wardrobe in the walnut?


Pelzmantel spins a tale of medieval magic where people and things are seldom what they seem to be on the surface. Infused with genuine magical lore and history, this inspired retelling of the Grimm Brothers' "Allerleirau" uncovers the seldom-glimpsed world behind the glitz: the hard work that keeps a castle running and the secrets lives of women in the Middle Ages. This edition includes three additional magical stories (one never before published) and an essay on medieval magic.  Pelzmantel Excerpt 

Buy: Amazon and Immanion Press

K. A. Laity is the author of Pelzmantel and Unikirja and a whole lot of other stories, essays and a comic called Jane Quiet with cartoonist Elena Steier. Her serial novel, The Mangrove Legacy, will come out later this fall from Tease Publishing under the "nom de plume" Kit Marlowe.

A Writer's Life--No Stress, Long Contemplative Mornings?

My guest is para romance author Erin Kellison. She made me laugh with the idea of no stress and long contemplative mornings as her previous idea of a writer's life.

Funny too, because my writing group was also chatting about that very thing today. Perceptions others have of writers as having a smooth, low stress job. That is until they became pubbed. Then the truth smacks them upside the head with, "Oh you wish," as they take on normal life, kids, jobs, and writing deadlines.

But we'll let Erin tell you her tale...

Last week my stomach hurt bad enough to warrant a trip to the doctor. I had surgery for appendicitis the next day, and I lost a week to recovery (and the no-fun cough I picked up at the hospital). Sia has been lovely about me getting this blog to her late. Thank you, Sia, for your understanding and thank you for the invitation to post here as well. I am happy to donate a copy of both my summer 2010 releases, Shadow Bound and Shadow Fall, to one lucky commenter.

I sit in my writing chair, arms stretched beyond my ouchy belly to reach my laptop keyboard, and I have to laugh. I used to think that the life of a writer was one of long contemplative mornings, bringing a story to life on the page. Fact is, those mornings are rare. I’m sure the appendicitis is a once-in-a-lifetime event, but something else will happen shortly. And here I am supposed to be coming up with a proposal for my fourth book in my Shadow series (can’t wait, actually…ideas are simmering).

What’s the trick then? Because I know I’m not alone in this. My writing friends all seem to be juggling as fast and efficiently as they can, and all but one has had some major event scatter the balls. What’s the answer (after a good sense of humor, I mean)? Easy—it’s the stories.

While I was writing Shadow Fall, which released this month, my sister went through a health crisis, the kind that renders everything else trivial, the kind that makes you pick up the phone on the first ring. She’s doing well now, but there were some scary moments at the beginning. I flew out a couple times to help with her surgery and early chemo. (My job mostly consisted of fetching things, fielding calls, and getting her to laugh with my uneven repertoire of impersonations.) And in the midst of this, a deadline loomed. I’m fairly confident that had I asked for an extension, I could’ve received one. Once or twice, I contemplated it. But in moments both mundane and excruciating, stories are my refuge. Always have been.

See, I had this character in my head, Custo, who was dark, tortured, and a little bad. He was realized on the page during the first months of my sister’s treatment. I must have talked to her every day back then. Or more often. I beat Custo up, then kicked him when he was down, bloodied him badly for love, then finally threw him a bone. Custo is my sister’s favorite character. I still have the saved text and phone messages from when she finished the book. During its writing, I think a little bit of the real world followed me into Custo’s. Poor guy. (I’m sending big love out to my sis right now.)

The real problem when there’s a shakeup in day-to-day life is finding the time to do the necessary work of getting the story onto the page. Since those contemplative mornings are mostly a myth, I have to do what everyone else does: make time. More like, steal time, since there are a fixed number of minutes in a day. My husband has almost completely taken over the laundry (my hero). The kids’ clothes are mixed up on their shelves, something I’ll sort…negligently. It’s not happening at all while I recoup from surgery. Homework and hairdos are about all I’m good for. And in those stretches when I’m waiting for the Advil to kick in…I’ve got a story in my head. This time, a heroine who’s building a fire.

• Readers: How do steal time to do what you really want to do?
• Writers: How do you manage life and make time to write?

~ * ~ * ~

SHADOW FALL

Sacrifice... 
Custo Santovari accepted pain, blood, even death, to save his best friend. But a man with all his sins just isn't cut out to be an angel.
Mystery...

One moment he's fleeing Heaven; the next, he's waking up stark naked in Manhattan. In the middle of a war. Called there by a woman who's desperately afraid of the dark.

Shadow...

It gathers around Annabella as she performs, filled with fantastic images of another world, bringing both a golden hero and a nightmare lover.

Wolf...

He pursues her relentlessly, twisting her desires even as she gives herself to the man she loves. Because each of us has a wild side, and Annabella is about to unleash the beast. 
Excerpt

Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million.

Erin Kellison is the author of the Shadow Series, which includes Shadow Bound and Shadow Fall. Stories have always been a central part of Erin Kellison's life. She attempted her first book in sixth grade, a dark fantasy adventure, and still has those early hand-written chapters. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English Language and Literature, and went on for a masters in Cultural Anthropology, focusing on oral storytelling. When she had children, nothing scared her anymore, so her focus shifted to writing fiction. She lives in Arizona with her two beautiful daughters and husband, and she will have a dog (breed undetermined) when her youngest turns five.

You can contact Erin though her website, http://www.erinkellison.com/, where you can also sign up to receive her newsletter.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY?

The guys in my house drive me nuts with their penchant for reality shows. You might guess from that statement I’m not a fan and you would be guessing correctly. They also like watching documentaries—that’s what I’d call them, anyway—which aren’t always as bad as hearing some silly housewife, models, or chefs (or insert any profession) pulling attitudes wherein the real world, they wouldn’t have a job with such stunts.

Then there are the ones where survival is the issue and some of the things they do or don’t do in those environments have me rolling my eyes. While some of the things are informative, some of the things they do are for effect of the camera audience. There are some practical things totally overlooked, but that’s another story. Let's not forget the shows with all the jackasses doing too stupid to live stunts. Why? To say you have? I could understand it if there was a purpose, but most of them fall into the category of ‘my mama dun dropped me on my head and now my thinking processes are totally gone’. Watch y’all while I demonstrate it (kinda reminds me of something I read recently, you’re a Redneck When… Someone in your family/circle of friends died right after saying, “Hey, guys, watch this.”

Today, they were watching a show on the lives of big lottery winners. They followed 15 lucky winners who won several million and what they did with their lives. I caught parts of it to and from the bedrooms to put away clean clothes. Pretty interesting show. What was more interesting to me was listening to the discussion of what they’d do with winnings like that. The usual stuff like they’d buy the car/truck, newer X-Boxes and games, clothes, tour with a rock band, a boat, house, and hunting cabin of their dreams.

What surprised me after that was how they’d pay off all debts of their parents, or buy them a house and set up and additional annuity income. A couple mentioned setting up a fund to get better teachers in their school and set up a voc-tech high school in the district for hands on training (that one seemrd to get quite a discussion going), or a college fund for kids to go to school. One thought putting aside money so teens could have summer jobs in the trades, or learning the mechanics of cars, computers, and one mentioned setting up a safe place for people in abusive situations with training for how to support yourself and your kids. These were teens, mind you. I was rather impressed.

I know if I ever won the lottery, as in millions of dollars, it would change my life. Privacy, safety, and sanity would be at risk, I imagine. What would I do with it? My thoughts would be similar to the teens in my living room. Stuff for me and to be able to give things to others.

I’d invest and have someone who knew what they were doing help with that. I would pay off all my family’s debts, my mom is well placed, but still, I’d want to put something aside for her.. I’d want to give something to the community too via charities but I have to say I like the idea of either having kids have a chance to learn how to do certain jobs by setting aside funding allowing the community business people to bring on interested teens and teach them, or a help fund a Voc-tech high school. You can’t do alone but I know marketing/PR well and wouldn’t have a problem getting the additional funding to finance one and the teachers and equipment necessary. We had one where I grew up. Taught masonry, construction trades, had courses for learning to operate heavy equipment. There was the office side and a tech department that taught everything from repairing computers to programming and graphics. Now we depend upon community colleges to carry some of that load.

On the personal side? Travel. I’d love to take my son on a tour of places in the world with a tutor so he could see other areas, cultures, and lifestyles and still get in his required education.

• So, if you won several million dollars in a lottery, what would you do with it? How would winning millions of dollars change your way of life?

Upcoming: Erin Kellison, author of Shadow Bound and Shadow Fall, is my guest on, Wednesday, September 1st.

Breakfast in Bed

Riding the Waves

 Tawny Weber

* Harlequin Blaze
* September 2010
* Miniseries: Forbidden Fantasies
* Category: Passion
 
Back of the Book



All uptight workaholic Drucilla Robichoux wants is to experience incredible sex, at least once in her life. So she heads off to Mexico for some sun, sand and sin. And she finds the perfect playmate in sexy surf instructor Alex. Her temporary boy toy teaches Dru to ride the waves, all right…

…right into the most intense climaxes she's ever had!
But all vacation flings must end. When Dru heads home, she buttons up tight again. Might as well keep this delicious fantasy right where it belongs… in her naughty memories.

So it sure is a shock when she walks into work Monday morning and finds her secret fling is her new boss! And he's definitely still interested in catching the big one with Dru. Read Excerpt
THOUGHTS:

What a fun story, smooth, easy to read, and lots of laugh out loud moments. Oh, and some characters that generate enough heat between them no wonder there’s global warming.

Dru is a brilliant scientist very focused on her career (Tawny has the details on this career nailed) and being a success. She’s not truly a risk taker. In making her career the center of her life she has neglected such things as interpersonal skills (Actually, if you’ve watched Bones, on TV, she reminds me of Temperance).

“Blond, cool and contained, Dru knew she put off a don't-touch-me air. She didn't mean to, but couldn't seem to change it.” Dru is attractive but tends to hide it behind severe hairstyles and the color beige.

Dru’s idea of sex, so far: “Drucilla wanted to love sex. Better yet, she wanted a sex life worth loving. She was a firm believer in maintaining a healthy balance between mind and body. Her mind was top-notch and she worked to keep her body the same. Good food, regular exercise. And sex, dammit. She'd read plenty of studies that claimed that regular, satisfying sex was important to good health…Maybe self-gratification would be enough if she increased her beta-carotene intake?”

She has a best friend, Nikki, who is determined to expand her narrow world. I love Nikki’s one liners and deadpan ways of making her point. Nikki deftly maneuvers Dru (enlisting the aid of the boss) in taking a vacation with the instructions to find a hottie.

Enter said hottie, Alex, whom Dru thinks of as nothing more than a bit above average in smarts, surf-boy and perfect for a hot, no strings, fling. Sparks fly and even more when she comes home to find that her wild sexy lover, the man who gave her the most blowing sex on every available surface, is the Rock Star of the science world and her partner on a major project.

I love to read Tawny’s stories. She has a way of creating realistic conflicts and setting an excellent set of characters in place to solve them. Tawny’s characters are fun and characters you truly enjoy reading about. I love the way she fashions her Happily-ever-after.

If you like a fast paced story, and entertaining plot, with a dose of hot sex you’re going to love reading this one.  

Please welcome back one of my favorite people, romance writer Tawny Weber. Tawny  was willing to share an indulgence with us--recipe for French Toast. I will be trying it out this weekend. Sounds heavenly.
 

Woot! I’m excited to be hanging out here with Sia. And I figured, with a title like Over Coffee, what better topic than breakfast, right?

I am a firm believer in indulgences and breaks. Those little rewards that make it so much easier for us to get through the hard work of whatever task we’re focusing on. But like any reward, it’s only special if it’s, well, you know, special. As in not indulged in very often.

In my latest Blaze, RIDING THE WAVES, my heroine is on vacation and, in the spirit of vacation indulgences, has a decadent breakfast she’d never have at home. Her choice? Stuffed French toast, chorizo and spicy fried potatoes. Oooooh, baby, doesn’t that sound like the perfect yummy caloric indulgence? Add a mimosa or three, and you have one heckuva delish breakfast. Drucilla, my heroine, didn’t have hers in bed –she had other bedtime treats instead ;-) But for me, if I were to indulge in something like this I’d definitely want it served on a tray while I lounged on silk sheets with a huge cloud of feather pillows behind my back and a view of the ocean out the door. Or… Well, to be honest, I’d take this indulgence in my own bed, with my own flannel sheets and the view of a maple tree out the window. For something this yummy, why be picky?
So – here’s a recipe for Drucilla’s French toast.

Cinnamon-Apple Stuffed French Toast


· 1/4 c. butter
· 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed
· 2 T. brown sugar
· 2 t. cinnamon
· 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
· 6 slices extra thick brioche bread
· 6 eggs
· 1/2 c. milk
· 1 T. vanilla
· 1/4 t. cinnamon
· 1/4 c. toasted pecans, chopped (optional)
· Extra butter for the skillet


1. Melt 1/4 c. butter in a small skillet. Add apples, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook for 5-8 minutes until apples start getting tender.
2. In a bowl mix cream cheese with apple mixture. Stir until well combined.
3. On the bottom edge of each piece of bread, slice a pocket, leaving a 1/2 inch border on 3 sides. Fill the pockets with about 2 T. filling. Repeat with the rest of the bread slices.
4. Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Soak filled bread in egg mixture for one minute. Cook in a hot, greased skillet, 3-4 minutes per side.


Serve with powdered sugar, syrup or warm caramel topping. Sprinkle with toasted pecans.


And how about you? Are you a fan of indulgences? How about breakfast – in or out of bed? What’s your favorite breakfast treat? Care to share a recipe?

~*~*~*~

Tawny's usually found dreaming up stories in her northern California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids. When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories, she’s testing her latest margarita recipe, shopping for the perfect pair of boots or drooling over pictures of Johnny Depp (when her husband isn’t looking, of course). Her alter ego, Mom, also spends a lot of time scrap booking and playing in the garden.

Please visit Tawny at her home on the Web at www.TawnyWeber.com. She loves to hear from readers.

CUTTING THROUGH THE CLUTTER WITH A CLEAR BRAND

You solidify your brand by contributing something new or fresh to the conversation of your genre or theme...

It's my pleasure to have New York Times bestselling novelist, Thomas Greanias, as my guest. As a former journalist he uses his knowledge of politics, national security, and real life conspiracies to write tightly woven thrillers of international intrigue and mystery. 

Tom's topic is one that many are chatting about these days, pro and con, branding as an author.



A lot of writers are worried about their "brands" these days. Even Brand Name authors.


One fellow New York Times bestselling author, who has sold millions more books than I have, confided to me just how hard it is to "break through the clutter" in the paradoxical world of fewer print sales for authors and more titles for readers than ever before. "You don't get it, Tom. You have your Atlantis series, and you're the No. 1 name in eBook adventure. You were the first to break through big-time in the digital space. I can't claim that leadership position. Now the digital space is where publishing is going."

The answer, this author decided, was to launch a new series, which has done well, and on top of that add a young adult series. The workload is so heavy that this Brand Name author is close to the next predictable stage: taking on co-authors like James Patterson did.

I think there's a better way to build your brand, a better brand for you to aspire to, and that brand is you.

The reality is that your name IS your brand. And the most powerful way you define your brand is through the novels you write. Each new title adds an association to your name, associations that hopefully strike a positive chord with readers. Positive emotions usually come from writing a damn good novel that delivers on its promise. If you're writing a suspense novel, for example, you need to deliver suspense to your readers. A romance novel should deliver romance. A thriller should deliver thrills. Your voice in how you tell your story fills out your brand.

So you build your brand by writing your books. You solidify your brand by contributing something new or fresh to the conversation of your genre or theme.

For example, I contributed to the conversation about Atlantis to advance it to the 21st century. Everywhere I looked in fiction and Hollywood, it was the same old underwater fantasy that had little to do with Plato’s 4th century BC account. For starters, I went back to the source and asked, “What if it were literally true?" That led to Raising Atlantis, my novel about rogue archaeologist Conrad Yeats, beautiful Vatican linguist Serena Serghetti, and a secret U.S. military expedition that discovers ancient ruins two miles under the ice of Antarctica. Sequels such as The Atlantis Prophecy and The Atlantis Revelation then established that Atlantis is more than a lost continent. It’s a centuries-old global conspiracy playing out before our eyes even now. The Atlanteans, in short, are among us.

You, too, can rise above your genre or subject matter by adding something new to the conversations that you’re passionate about. You get your brand, and we all benefit.

• Question for readers: Do you prefer the familiarity of the same character in a series of books (Harry Potter, for example), or the same type of character (poor rookie lawyer from South) in different one-offs (John Grisham's legals thrillers).

Tom is offering two chances to win either a copy of his special edition Atlantis Legacy (first two books combined) or a hardcover of The Atlantis Revelation. If you're interested in being considered, please either leave me a way to contact you in your comment or send me an email: siamckye at gmail.com
 

Back Cover Blurb:
 
Deep beneath the ancient city of Jerusalem lies a secret that knows no bounds, devastating enough to reach across time. History’s greatest spy story begins here.

For a millennium, Jerusalem’s Temple Mount has been at the center of war and death. There’s never been a time when blood wasn’t spilled upon this ancient, sacred site. Flash forward to present-day Jerusalem, where 35-year-old Israeli counterterrorism agent Sam Deker has just thwarted the most recent act of violence—an attempt by radical Palestinians to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque and pin the blame on right-wing Orthodox Jews. The threat, however, is a diversion. Deker himself is the real target. He is captured and taken to neighboring Jordan, where he is tortured because of his deep knowledge of Israel’s most closely guarded state secret.


Deker escapes with his comrade Uri Elezar, making it all the way to the border, only to be taken down at the banks of the Jordan River. This time, however, Deker wakes up in the middle of the ancient Israelite army on the eve of its historic siege of Jericho. Deker doesn’t know if he is dead, in some torture-induced psychosis, or really back in time. But General Bin-Nun has declared a colossal holy war, and he’s sending Deker and Elezar on a dangerous mission to spy on the Promised Land in advance of the invasion.


For Deker, it’s his only hope to escape this genocidal hell. Then he finds himself in the arms of a beautiful enemy named Rahab, caught in a web of deadly betrayal, as he struggles to unlock the truth, secure Israel’s future and his own, and save the twenty-first century from The Promised War.  EXCERPT

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New York Times bestselling novelist Thomas Greanias is one of the world's leading authors of adventure, No. 1 in eBooks, Audiobooks and the World Wide Web. His tightly woven thrillers of international intrigue and mystery first exploded online before thrilling readers in print in dozens of languages and countries around the globe.
 

A former journalist, Greanias has reported on issues of national security as an on-air correspondent in Washington, D.C. for NBC affiliates, and he has advised the White House, Congress, and Fortune 500 corporations on the future of digital media. His work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, radio and television, and his top-ranking sources in governments, intelligence agencies and supernational organizations continue to inform and inspire his plots.  Thomas Greania on Twitter  On Facebook