Vision--Blog coming on www.writersfunzone.com Thursday

I made this as an example for my blog on Beth Barany's site Thursday. Enjoy! want to make your own Wordle? Check here: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3515662/BT_Vision

Rose is released

My new romantic comedy novella has been released. Over the Easter break, enjoy a copy and send me the order confirmation for a free copy of Millicent. Send to Daryn@DarynCross.com.

Interview with Author, Alan Nayes

Alan Nayes is an author of a variety of genres, including thrillers, horror and most recently romance. His newest work BARBARY POINT is a love story and is available from Amazon kindle and Xoxopublishing.com.

How did you come up with the title of your book?
My family owns a cottage on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. In front of the cottage along the shoreline is a small point of land that really has no name but in the story I called Barbary Point to coincide with one of the fictional character’s names. Everything else about the location and setting is based on reality—Lake Winnebago, Oshkosh, Roe Point, etc.--only the name of this landmark is made up.

What is BARBARY POINT about?
BARBARY POINT is about a young ambitious woman engaged to a wealthy older man who receives word that her father, whom she never knew because her parents were divorced when she was only three, has passed away. She has to fly up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to close out his estate. She isn’t thrilled at the prospect of leaving Los Angeles but at her Mom’s request she books the ticket and goes, deciding she won’t have to stay long. While spending time on Lake Winnebago, however, the unexpected happens. She meets a fishing guide and falls in love.

What books have most influenced your life most?
There is not one specific book or even a group of books that has influenced my writing, rather many books. I’m a voracious reader of fiction—all genres, but mostly mainstream thrillers, dramas, horror and some romance—and I think every book I read probably has some influence on my writing, if only to introduce me to the reams of different styles and techniques out there for writing plots, developing characters and creating good entertaining stories. I try anyway.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Same reply. I wouldn’t consider any single writer to be a mentor—there are many really talented authors and they all seem to do it differently, but the end result is the same. An engrossing piece of fiction.

What are your current projects?
Several. HEMLOCK POND is a horror story about a divorced woman and her young son who move into an old farmhouse with a haunted pond on the property. I’m also working on a sequel to my biomedical thriller GARGOYLES titled PLAGUE. SMILODON is also in the works—this is about a huge cat that terrorizes a small town in the Pacific Northwest.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
For me, writing in general is challenging. At times I have to really prod myself to just sit down and put words down on paper. For me, there’s nothing worse that a totally blank sheet of white paper—and I’m supposed to fill those lines up with good entertaining fiction? Now that’s a challenge.

Do you have any advice for other writers?
Three words—persistence, persistence, persistence. Oh, here’s three more—Don’t give up!


BARBARY POINT Blurb

When Kelly English flies back to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to close out her father’s estate, the last thing on her mind is falling in love. Again. Kelly is twenty-eight and engaged to an older man who is quite wealthy. She’s happy, and only desires to make the trip back brief, sell her deceased father’s place, and return to her stable life in Los Angeles. However, while taking care of business in Oshkosh, Kelly meets a fishing guide, launching her on an emotional journey she never could have predicted or foreseen. BARBARY POINT is Kelly’s story of what happened that one magical week in May on the shores of Lake Winnebago when the ducklings hatch and the walleye run.

EXCERPT

PROLOGUE

Mother always reminded me, ¯Kelly, love from the mind is nothing more than a pleasurable arrangement, whereas love from the heart lasts forever.

I had listened to these same exact words beginning in junior high, again in high school, and throughout college. And it always worried me I might not be able to tell the difference.

A man I deeply loved once told me that a fish lunges after an artificial lure solely on instinct. He sees it, wants it, and zappo, he‘s hooked.

Love is a lot like that. You see someone you want, the chemistry is there, and zappo, you‘re hooked.


Website http://anayes.com/

Buy links for my novels:
BARBARY POINT http://www.amazon.com/Barbary-Point-ebook/dp/B004FV4S6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1301953723&sr=1-1

GARGOYLES http://www.amazon.com/Gargoyles-Alan-Nayes/dp/0765340569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1301953640&sr=1-1

THE UNNATURAL http://www.amazon.com/Unnatural-Alan-Nayes/dp/0765306131/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

Thank you, Bobbye Terry, for having me over today. I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts with everyone.

I Interrupt This Blog for an Important Announcement

Today, www.DailyCheapReads.com is featuring a Terry Campbell book (my pseudonym with Linda Campbell). Woo-hoo!! Thanks ladies!



Now Available at Amazon

Only $.99!!

Book Review

How to Survive A Killer Séance
By Penny Warner
Mass Market release in 2011
by Obsidian, 290 pages.
ISBN:978-0-451-23279-3

Party planner Presley Parker is back. In another delightfully cozy murder mystery, she’s got herself enmeshed with some high-roller, high energy, digital silicon-valley types who are nothing if not focused. The problem is they seem to have left everything resembling human values back at the starting gate. Compassion? Nowhere to be found. Fidelity? It is to laugh.

The women are sexy and high energy, the guys are bright and energetic, if often ill-tempered, and poor Presley is caught between some over-stressed corporate types, her own urges and career needs, and her flakey mother. It’s easy to see where Penny gets some of her idiosyncrasies.

A wide range of characters? You bet. Unusual ideas and offbeat characters? Absolutely. This author fully understands what her readers are looking for and in spite of having already produced a huge number of enjoyable books, she continues to plumb her creative muse to write stories that satisfy a certain risibility and belief in the quirkiness of human nature.

A fast read, well-plotted, with a setting to die for, and characters that are distinct. This is yet another of Penny Warner’s diverting, novels. Here there is no gloom or doom, just a murder or two in dark rooms, secret passageways, unreal emanations and a fast romp to a perfectly designed conclusion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review is with permission:
Carl Brookins
www.carlbrookins.com, www.agora2.blogspot.com
Devils Island, Bloody Halls, Reunion, Red Sky
more at Kindle, Smashwords & OmniLit!

And the winner of the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway is...

Laura H.--Bornajhawk. Come on down! Congratulations to all who commented, and I hope you come back and maybe even read Buried in Briny Bay. The ladies will entertain you. ;)

Bobbye

Top O' The Mornin' To Ya!

Happy St. Paddy's Day and the pot o' gold is waiting in for ya in the form of a free download giveaway, see details farther down. My name is Manus McGill, here to be your guest for a sneak peak into the writing of Bobbye Terry (did ye know she has a lot o' Irish in her on her mother's side? Too bad her father's had all the Scottish). She writes under different names, so look out for Daryn Cross books and Terry Campbell ones. She even did a bit of collaboration on Alyssa Lyons' first book, just is na' writing the series. Take a look at the books above me. They're all hers, though she shares the anthologies with other writers.

Today, she asked I share a tidbit from her book, Buried on Briny Bay. She be givin' away a free download, she is, format is your choice. So make sure you comment for a chance to win.

Check out the excerpt below about the fella in the hotel room bed. Do you think he had a wee bit too much green beer?

Excerpt:
Hesitating at the door to Room 225, Trixie knocked. The door creaked open a couple of inches and stopped. They stood there, looking at each other. Roxie strained to hear any movement inside. “Maybe he isn’t there.”

“The door’s open and the guy at the desk said he was in his room.”

Roxie shrugged. “Maybe he sneaked out when the guy wasn’t looking.”

Trixie exhaled sharply. “Come on Rox, nobody leaves their door open when they leave.” She pushed the door. As it swung open, they saw a body under the covers in bed. “Mr. Albright? Is it okay if we come in?”

“Frank, Frank, it’s Roxie. We just wanted to talk to you.” Roxie waited for a response that didn’t come. “Boy, he’s a sound sleeper. I wish I could do that. I wake up at the sound of a pin dropping. Then it’s up and down every couple of hours. I’m beginning to wonder if I have Fibromyalgia…”

“Would you please shut up! For Pete’s sake, what would make him got to sleep and not even lock his door. Do you think he got drunk?”

Roxie nodded her agreement. “Maybe, but he’s not snoring. Can you smell alcohol?” She took a delicate whiff of the air. “They say you can smell it a mile away if you don’t drink, and I only have a glass of wine now and again. I don’t smell anything.”