Shelley Munro Blog

My special guest today is Ellora’s Cave author, Wylie Kinson. Wylie has a new release out today called Law of Averages. Her book has a gorgeous cover, as you can see, and features an English Rock Star. Here’s the blurb:

Law of Averages is set in Bermuda, and today Wylie is talking about setting stories in exotic locations.

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My special guest today is debut Ellora’s Cave author Marilu Mann. According to her bio Marilu Mann brings the steaminess of the Louisiana bayous to her books and she doesn’t stop there. Marilu’s willing to travel to the frozen tundra of Wisconsin to heat up those northern nights and melt a little snow. She’ll also circle the world to Wales, Ireland, Scotland and back just to bring you books that make you sweat.

Today Marilu tells us a chilling tale of le feu follet, and I can tell you the hairs at the back of my neck rose, so beware!

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My special guest today has a duel personality - she’s both Jennifer McKenzie and Jennifer Leeland. According to Jennifer, her Leeland persona was born when she wanted to write erotic romance. She loved reading spicier romances and wanted to take a shot. It turned out that writing erotic was as much fun as reading it.

CONTEST: Today Jennifer is giving away a pdf download of Taking Command. All you need to do is post a comment and you’re in the draw. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow, so don’t forget to check back in the comments section to see if you’re the lucky one.
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One of my standout reads for this year has been Lori Armstrong’s Julie Collins series. I finished the third book in the series during the weekend and immediately emailed Lori, attempting to bribe her in exchange for an ARC of the next book. I’m desperate to know what comes next! Sigh - I failed. Evidently others have tried bribes with little success as well.

This is a mystery series with a romance subplot. Julie is a chain smoker, she drinks, and she brings a lot of baggage to the first story. Julie has a screwed up relationship with her father and her brother was murdered, which colors her actions. She’s a tough chick with a smart mouth, and I loved her straight away. And Martinez, her love interest - let’s just say, I want him and leave it at that.

The books are Blood Ties, Hallowed Ground, Shallow Grave and Snow Blind (out in October). They are best read in order.

If you haven’t read Lori’s books before and enjoy mysteries, run and grab a copy. You won’t regret it. As I said - the first three books in this series are among my favorite reads to date this year.

I’ve also just finished reading Drui Claiming by Jory Strong. This is part of Jory’s Supernatural Bonds series and I’ve enjoyed all four books. The last two books in the series Drui Claiming and Sophie’s Dragon take place during the same time frame. Gotta love those dragons!

What have your standout reads been so far this year?

Today I’m guest blogging over at the Romance Studio. Come on over and say hello!

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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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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My special guest today is Christina Phillips. I’ve stolen Christina’s bio directly from her website because it made me smile, and I think you’ll enjoy it. Here it is:

CONTEST: See details below. I’ll get Christina to draw a winner for me on the day following her post, so make sure you check back to see if you’re the winner.

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A kakapo is a New Zealand flightless parrot. It’s an endangered species because of its vulnerability to predators and of course, the inroads made by man into the parrots’ natural habitat. Until this week there were only 86 living kakapo but after a bumper breeding season five chicks have hatched on Codfish Island (a sanctuary for the birds). Kakapo need special conditions to breed and plentiful food, which means that not every year is great for breeding. The last good year was 2005. Here’s the story here plus a photo of a kakapo.

In a small promo, I included the kakapo in my very first book, Aislyn. The baddies were conducting a scavenger hunt and one of the items they needed to collect was a rare kakapo egg.

In writing news I wrote the last words on my first draft of another Middlemarch story. It’s tentatively called Cat Burglar. I’m going to let it sit for a couple of weeks and start yet another Middlemarch tale - this time it’s Leticia’s story, a character from Stray Cat Strut. I’m really thrilled with my progress, because after stopping the Sven challenge and taking almost a week off writing, I’ve still managed to write 50,000 words.

Tomorrow Christina Phillips is my guest blogger and we’re giving away a prize. I hope you’ll pop back to say hello.

Vampires are hot in the paranormal world at the moment. Readers can’t get enough of them. Debut author, Selena Illyria has set her book, A Fling in Vampiropolis in the vampire world, so of course, I had to ask…

1. How would you define a vampire?

Selena: Hmmm, well let’s see, first thing that comes to mind creature of the night. Who needs to drink blood to live but can also eat and go out into the sun. They are hard to kill and considered immortal but can be killed by either a beheading or having their heart destroyed. Also, they can be a detached, jaded and at times mistrustful of mortals.

2. Why do you think vampires are so popular amongst readers?

Selena: I think it’s the immortality aspect that appeals the most. The idea of never growing old, living forever, etc.. But also there the question of what have they seen? What do they know? Aspect of it all, but that ties into the immortality thing doesn’t it? LOL.

3. Tell us a little about A Fling in Vampiropolis—an elevator pitch, if you like.

Selena: The story is about a woman, Nevada Justice, who has a stressful job and she just wants to get away from it all. Go someplace exotic and foreign. Despite Vampiropolis being in the U.S. it is very exotic to her and foreign, as it was founded by vampires and it is one of the few all Vampire cities in the U.S.. There are other things there but we won’t get into that. *smile*
She meets a local vampire, Lucian Sandros and decides to have a fling with him. She starts to develop a bond with him, only for them to get into an argument on the last night she is to stay in town. Hurt, she goes back to Normalville (a term that is used to describe places where the paranormal and other populous are outnumbered by the mortal population) and back to her life and her stressful job. She doesn’t think she’ll see him again. So, what will she do when he does go after her? LOL. I’ll leave it at that.

4. What powers do your vampires have?

Selena: All the senses are increased and they have great strength. Also, they can appear and disappear at will. And they are excellent lovers. LOL

5. Where did the idea for your book come from?

Selena: I had been racking my brain for an idea for a short paranormal story. I wanted something that was in my mind different. The idea for the city came first and after that the idea for the characters and story came next. Then it was a matter of writing it. LOL.

6. Do you have any rituals you perform before you start writing?

Selena: I must have music. Sometimes a song is playing in my head when I get up in the morning. If I can identify it, that’s the music or song I listen to first. I mentally put together a sound track while getting breakfast together and letting the computer boot up. Once I’ve gone through email and I’ve made a mental outline of what I’m going to work on, I sit down and write. Sometimes I take breaks and watch TV or surf the web or exercise if I feel myself getting distracted or too energetic. I write until I’m either too tired or the muse as left me.

Selena’s book, A Fling in Vampiropolis is out on 28 March 2008 at Changeling Press. You can visit her website here.

What do you think about vampires? Like them or hate them? If you’re a fan, what powers do you like them to have? How would you define a vampire?

My guest today is Amanda Ashby. Amanda lives in New Zealand, or rather she’s just returned to New Zealand from the UK, and we’re happy to claim her back. You Had Me At Halo is Amanda’s first book. It’s a funny paranormal with a unique slant and has garnered great reviews, including a nomination for the RT Reviewer’s Choice award in the contemporary paranormal romance category. It had me grinning. Amanda is currently immersed in the world of zombies as she works on a young adult novel. She has an interesting life.

CONTEST: see the details below to enter. We’ll draw the winner’s name on Thursday so don’t forget to check back in the comments section to see if you’re the winner.

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