Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

I’m a guest over at Jenyfer Matthew’s blog today. I’m talking about my new release, WANDERLUST and also giving away a download of Playing to Win.
Come over and say hello to go into the draw to win.

I’m also over at Naughty and Spice and Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers talking about exercise and bottom spread.

When my husband and I traveled through India, we went with a group. Much like the characters in my new release Wanderlust, we traveled in a truck, both camping and staying in hotels during our circuit of India. At the beginning of the trip we decided we’d play a game that’s all about murder. Here’s how it works:

Everyone receives a slip of paper, one of which bears the word “murderer”. Once the murderer is picked he or she quietly tells one member of the group they are murdered and how they must die. That particular person must pretend to die in the chosen manner and then he or she is out of the game. The murderer chooses his next victim and waits for them to die before choosing another. The object of the game is for the person acting as the murderer to kill off everyone before someone in the group discovers his “or” her identity.

One person acts as the judge. All players can take one guess at the murderer’s identity. If they make an incorrect guess, they are out of the game.

Here’s a little real life drama from when we played the murder game during our trip to India. My husband was in charge of lighting campfires each night, and the murderer suggested he died very realistically with fire. He scared me half to death. I was so angry and upset I refused to play the game any longer. I also didn’t talk to my husband for a few hours. Mr. Munro won the prize for the best death, and we still have his small plastic Oscar trophy. It’s bright orange – for those who’d like to picture it.

In Wanderlust, the passengers play the murder game. Anna, the tour leader isn’t very amused with her passengers when they pretend to die. And when her passengers start dying for real, she’s not impressed with the game at all!

I’m guest blogging over at Jenyfer Matthew’s blog today. The excerpt over at Jenyfer’s site shows the first death in the murder game. Everyone who comments on Jenyfer’s blog goes into a draw to win a download of Playing to Win. What are you waiting for – hop over and say hello.

Wanderlust is out today from Cerridwen Press. It’s a contemporary romantic suspense set in India. Since I’ve already covered the travel through India angle of my new release, today I thought I’d talk about murder and intrigue.

1. The first murder in Wanderlust happens before the book starts. It takes place in Aleppo, Syria in a crowded market place. When we visited there were lots of narrow roads, running through a confined space. People shared with donkeys, camels, and noisy motorbikes. With all the pushing and shoving I could imagine a motorbike colliding with a person. The first death appears to be a hit and run. It’s not…

2. The most common cause of death in the USA is heart attack followed by cancer.

3. The current medical-legal definition of death: Death has occurred when all cerebral function has ceased and is irreversible.

4. I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens. ~ Woody Allen

5. Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me. ~ Emily Dickinson

6. A smell of a patient’s breath or body may help identify toxins or other medical conditions. e.g. Ammonia – Uremia (kidney failure), Violets – turpentine, almonds or bitter – cyanide.

7. The law requires a physician or the coroner or medical examiner to certify the cause of death. When a person is declared dead, the exact time must be recorded for legal purposes. The term “time of death” refers to the legal time of death, and is the moment that a professional person first sees the body and declares it to be dead.

8. If a body is warm, the person has been dead less than three hours; if cool to the touch, between four to six hours; and if cold and clammy, eighteen to twenty-four hours. Loss of warmth varies with environmental temperature, but averages a drop of 1 1/2 degrees per hour.

9. One of the characters in Wanderlust is found in a lake. Suicide by drowning is rather uncommon, and it is very difficult to prove without other circumstances (suicide note). Death in the bathtub is frequently suicide. Often the person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of death.

10. Food poisoning is still a common killer around the world, involving everything from botulism, to mushrooms, to puffer fish in Japan. Something to ponder when reading Wanderlust…

11. Falling – there are two ways to fall: a vertical “controlled” fall, with the person landing upright and feet-first; and an “uncontrolled” fall, with some other part of the body hitting first, such as landing on your head, back, stomach, etc. the important thing to remember is that you can “kill” one of your characters by having them fall short distances, or survive falls from great heights if your plot calls for it. Just saying…

12. What are your chances?

Your chances of dying by a terrorist’s hand if you travel overseas 1 in 650,000
Your chances of dying from skiing 1 in 500,000
Your chances of dying from rock climbing 1 in 5,000
Your chances of dying from parachuting 1 in 4,000

On the news yesterday I heard a teenager had recalculated the chances of a huge meteor hitting Earth 1 in 450. I’m sure I heard that right. Evidently it’s more possible than they initially thought.

13. A link to the Australian museum online – for all things about death.

14. – a bonus for the ghoulish amongst you – The Death clock. Plug in the information to calculate the day. I just couldn’t bring myself to do this.

Sources: Cause of Death, a writer’s guide to death, murder & forensic medicine by Keith D Wilson.

My special guest today is Ashlyn Chase. She writes sparkling comedies and has had an unusual upbringing…she was kidnapped by gypsies as an infant and left on the doorstep of the Massachusetts home in which she grew up. Oh, wait! That’s what her older siblings told her. It seems that story telling runs in the family.

Today Ashlyn is discussing a very important component of writing a romance – the love scene. Without further ado, here’s Ashlyn…

Erotic romance authors are often asked how they write hot love scenes. It isn’t easy! In fact, it’s one of the hardest things to write well. I happen to write erotic comedy but when it comes to sizzling sex, I’m deadly serious. I don’t write porn. I’ve been in those sleazy bookshops with the blacked out windows and bought a couple of their books to “see what I was missing.” Not much! Just some terribly written plotless stories with absolutely no romance by authors in need of an anatomy class.
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Ever since my aspiring author days, I’ve stuck to the idea of having several submissions out at once to help cushion disappointment. If I have several projects with editors or agents and one comes back with a no, I have hope in the mail because some of my other subs are still live.

After selling my first book I’ve continued with my “hope in the mail” program, and mostly it works. But there’s one strange phenomenon I’ve noticed. The replies tend to come back in clusters, no matter when I first sent them out. A case in point. I sent one sub in mid-Dec, one in Jan and one in Feb. The answers have all arrived back in the space of a week with two coming on the same day. I still have two live submissions and quite frankly, I’m a bit worried about opening my email in the morning.

I received a couple of rejections and I’ve already moved on to Plan B for those. I’ve also have some good news to balance out the rejections. (I’m not telling yet) I don’t think I’ll change my “hope in the mail” routine, but I’d definitely like the replies to arrive farther apart. I need time to savor the hope!!

I’m a huge paranormal fan. I like both dark paranormals and the more light-hearted ones. My own writing tends toward the light-hearted with humor end, although I can write darker if I set my mind to it. I wish there were more of the light-hearted ones around. I’ve just read Howling at the Moon (tales of an urban werewolf) by Karen Macinerney. I really loved it and chuckled out loud quite a bit during the reading of the book. Unfortunately I need to wait until Nov 2008 for book two.

I know there are quite a few paranormal fans out there. Do you prefer reading the darker paranormals or are you, like me, a fan of the light-hearted ones? Actually, I like humorous contemporaries as well. I wish there were more of those around, too.

I love this ad. It’s a recent one and it makes me smile every time I see it. New Zealand…gotta love it…

It’s home.

An excerpt from Anna Tietjen’s travel journal. Anna is the tour leader of OE68, a Wanderlust Adventures overland trip from London to Kathmandu.

~*~
Felixstow, England.
There are eleven passengers on the tour, and for a change the male/female split is about even. The ages range from 19 – 32 and there’s a mix of Australian, New Zealand and British passengers with one lone American. Like most trips, all the passengers seem pretty subdued at the moment, feeling their way with people who will become close friends or possibliy enemies for the next four months.

After checking off names, Greg and I loaded the luggage in the back locker and the passengers piled on board Alice (our truck). Home for the next few months. It should be a good trip. I’ve driven the route from London to Kathmandu a couple of times before. This is my second trip as leader. Greg, my co-driver is great to work with and thankfully, he doesn’t spend time trying to talk me into sex. Not gonna happen. Ever. It’s a personal rule. I don’t sleep with my co-driver or the passengers, although I might share a room to keep costs down. This is work. My personal life (Sebastian) is separate and that’s the way I like it.

Once we were on board the ferry, we left the truck and headed up to the passenger deck. I had a quick word with the passengers, trying to connect faces with names, and arranged a meeting point for them in the morning. That done, Greg and I went to the bar for a quick drink before finding our cabin. The passengers were on their own…

Wanderlust by Shelley Munro, coming to Cerridwen Press on 17 April 2008. Read an excerpt here.

A few months ago I couldn’t figure out why the dog’s water dish was always empty. It’s a heavy china dish and our dog doesn’t tip it over, yet no matter how many times I filled it up, the water seemed to vanish. Being a writer I immediately thought of fairies and tiny folk, but no, the answer was much more mundane.

I happened to hear a kaffuffle outside. It wasn’t Scotty since she was asleep in her basket. When I peered out the window I saw a thrush standing in the middle of the water bowl, madly flapping its wings and having a fine old time. Water was shooting in all directions. After a while the thrush jumped out and flew off. Almost immediately a blackbird jumped in for a bath. That’s right – they were queuing up to take a bath in the dog’s water dish. Mystery solved. The birds wait until our dog comes inside then they perch on the outdoor furniture, waiting their turn to take a bath. When they’ve finished there’s hardly any water in the bowl and all the pavers in the surrounding area are wet. The birds have become quite cheeky, even taking a bath while the dog is sleeping a few feet away, and I’ve become resigned to my new job as pool attendant.

Ellora’s Cave author, Wylie Kinson is holding a special competition, involving photos and angels, to celebrate the upcoming release of her book Law of Averages. Check out all the details here.

Oops! I’m in BIG trouble. Mr. Munro has just arrived home from work and I didn’t notice his haircut. He always notices mine – in fact he usually rings me and tells me I look beautiful. In my defence I tell him I’m going to have my hair done, so he has a chance to remember. He springs his haircuts on me without warning. I must try to do better next time…

1. Deirdre Martin – Ice Hockey.

2. Power Play by Erica DeQuaya – Ice Hockey

3. Susan Phillips – Lady Be Good – Golf. It Had to Be You – Football

4. Crystal Jordan – Full Swing – golf.

5. Lisa Renee Jones – Hard and Fast – baseball.

6. Love Match – Keira Andrews – tennis

7. Riding Partner – Mary Winter – showjumping.

8. Lorelei James – rodeo – including Long Hard Ride, Rode Hard, Put Up Wet and Cowgirl Up and Ride

9. NASCAR – Harlequin – including Back on Track by Abby Gaines.

10. Pat White – wrestling

11. Bend it Like Beckham – football (soccer)

12. Polo by Jilly Cooper

13. And because it makes good sense to promo, here’s some of mine: Issy’s Infatuation, Best Man, Playing to Win by Shelley Munro – rugby. And coming soon – Cat and Mouse with a rodeo theme, New Zealand-style.

Do you like romances with a sports theme? Have I missed any of your favorites?

WRITE WHAT YOU WANT!

When I decided to indulge my every romance whim and write HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX, I wasn’t sure how it would go. I knew I wanted a wedding, a private island, an alpha male boss and a cheeky assistant and sizzling love scenes. That was my entire premise when I started the book. When pressed by my editor to give her a bit more information, I said it was a story about a runaway bride that gets to have her honeymoon anyway.

I came up with the title because I’ve always wanted a book with Cinderella in the title. No other reason than pure indulgence on my part. I knew what I liked to read, so and I started piecing together how my story should go. I’m a visual person, so this involved torturous hours scanning the web for pictures of islands, hot men, and sassy women. It’s a hard life, I tell you.
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