Talking with Donna Hatch

Donna, I have to give you credit for turning me on to historical romance and I believe you call it Regency Romance. If it wears your name, I pick it up! So tell me, what is your typical day like?
It’s not really very glamorous. I get up at an obscene hour of the morning and start getting my children out the door. They all leave at different times so it’s a steady stream. Then I walk, exercise, shower and write or edit. Then after lunch, I go to my day job. After work, it’s all about family, homework, dinner. Occasionally I get another hour or two to write, but not usually. After the kids are in bed, I sometimes practice the harp (but not nearly as much as I should), spend a little time with my husband, and go to sleep. Like I said, not glamorous.

Maybe not glamorous but busy, wow. What inspired you to write romance?
I love it when the story focuses on the development of the relationship, and a happily ever after is a must.

I'm with you and the happily ever after, well most of the time, but I've gotten quite the taste for writing (not reading) the cliffhanger. (Evil laugh - guess it keeps me coming back to figure out what more I can do to the hero.) You mentioned the harp, do you write with music playing?
Yes, sometimes, but usually only to drown out other background noise. I has to be instrumental with no drum beat or it pulls me out.

I love Yanni for that very reason! What motivated you to write your current book?  
A critique partner and friend, Sarah M. Eden, who is also the author of some of my absolute favorite books, emailed me and said she and four other authors were putting together an anthology of short, romance historical stories centered around a winter or Christmas them. She invited me to join them. I accepted, then started brainstorming what I could write.
A Winter’s Knight is about a young woman whose fascination with a murdering earl and his dark castle lands her right in the heart of danger amid a terrible curse, and the man who steals her heart.
Though it takes place during Christmas, it has a very gothic feel. All six of the stories in the anthology are sweet, historical short stories by published authors.

Yum! sounds like my kind of intrigue! I love the danger that cost someone something. What will be your next project?
I’m working on book 3 of my Rogue Hearts series, a series of Regency romances. The working title of the new story is A Perfect Secret.

I guess I'll have to invite you back for that one. Where can we buy a copy of this anthology?
For now, it’s only in digital form and you can buy it at any online store like Amazon. We have plans to make it a paperback in the future—provided the sales are high enough.

Historical Romance Kiss

Excerpt from Daughters of Jared by H.B. Moore, published by Covenant Communications, 2012



Levi moved closer until I could look nowhere else but into his eyes. “I told you how I feel about you.”

“You asked me to marry you.” I tried to keep my voice steady, despite his nearness and despite my erratic pulse. “Then you asked me to give up my gods.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “You never told me how you felt.”

Both his hands cradled my face.

He closed the distance before I could take a breath. His lips pressed against mine lightly, hesitantly. My hands went to his chest; warmth radiated from his skin through his shirt. My touch encouraged him, and his kiss became more possessive as he pulled me into his arms, wrapping me in his security. For a moment, I believed that nothing could touch us, nothing could harm either of us. He slowly kissed my cheek, my eyelids, my neck. A torture of a new kind.

Then he pulled away, his hands resting on my shoulders. He stared at me with an intensity I’d not seen before. “I love you, Naiva. You must know you’re in my every thought, my every breath.”

It took everything I had to not fall into his arms and be swept away into our own world. I tentatively ran my hands along his chest, down his arms, absorbing his words.

I wanted to tell him the same thing—to confess my heart—but I was afraid I wasn’t who he thought I was. Nor could I ever be.

“If your brother finds out, he’ll kill both of us.”

*************

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Daughters-Jared-H-B-Moore/dp/160861395X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336483382&sr=8-2

Author Website: http://www.hbmoore.com/

Thirsting for more

No Other by Shawna K. Williams
http://shawnawilliams-oldsmobile.blogspot.com/

In the aftermath of WWII all Jakob Wilheimer wants is to get over his pain, get on with life, and if at all possible, forgive those who've wronged his family -- including himself. But it's hard to do when there are constant reminders. One of them being his former schoolmate, now teacher, Meri Parker -- Miss Port Delamar Pearl, Mayor's daughter, Belle of the town -- Meri Parker.

After enduring the stigma and isolation associated with the internment camp, the awkwardness of going back to school should've been a cake walk. But Jakob didn't expect to find himself inexplicably drawn to Meri. Or to discover that the pain and loneliness of her life surpassed his own. She needed to be rescued from the wretched people seeking to control her life. And more than anything, he needed to be the one to save her.

Author Bio:

Having never considered becoming a writer, Shawna K. Williams' path changed in a single night all because of a dream. Her early writings were a mere attempt to fill in gaps within the dream and satisfy her curiosity, but later became the inspiration for her first two novels. She is an editor for Desert Breeze Publishing and Solstice Publishing, speaker and teacher on writing techniques, homeschooling mom and multi-published author of historical fiction. Shawna enjoys books in almost any genre as long as they contain strong characters tackling real-life grit -- even if the book is sci-fi/fantasy. She also has a thing for dogs and pygmy goats, and believes the world would be a better place if people aspired to be the person their pet believes them to be.

A Genealogy Chart for Characters?

There was a time that I devoted every Sunday afternoon to genealogy ... until my son complained that I should spend the hours with the living, not the dead. --but Genealogy for fictional characters? Yeah, I've done that too, but not as in depth as Celia Yeary, guest author on my blog this week.

The Camerons of Texas


Have you ever created a genealogy chart for a fictional family you invented for novels? If no one says 'yes,' I may feel a little foolish. I did just that after I'd written and published three Western Historical novels under the subtitle--The Camerons of Texas.

In each couple's story, the hero and heroine were not the only characters in the books. There were parents, stepchildren, adopted children, brothers, sisters, and cousins. A large clan of Camerons. In my mind, I had enough material for about a dozen more stories. Today, I'm at least making a dent in my list.

In TEXAS BLUE (published elsewhere), the hero, Buck Cameron, had two sisters who appeared in the story. The first was Charlotte who had married William Garrison. Their two children were Maximilian and Katherine--Max and Kat.

~*~I used a grown-up Max in a novella "Dime Novel" titled Angel and the Cowboy.

~*~I used Charlotte in another "Dime Novel" titled Charlotte and the Tenderfoot.

~*~Now, I'm writing Kat and the U.S. Marshal as another one.

I agree this can be confusing, and that's the reason I made the chart. We authors feel like normal people, don't we? Even though we have characters in our heads and hearts that are very real. Any non-author cannot understand this, and so I don't talk about it to anyone except others such as I.

Unless I get a serious mental block, I have a list of characters for future novels or novellas:

~*~Lee Cameron King--he appeared in Texas Blue as a small boy who picked his nose and rode imaginary horses around the yard. I'd like to make him an early 20th Century entrepreneur during the oil boom in Texas--a wildcatter, a risk taker, a rich man with money to make money, a tough businessman who has a big sense of humor. I'd have him run into a real buzz-saw, a serious woman who is investigating oil company monopolies for a New York newspaper.

~*~Jackson Rene Deleon--he was the baby boy in Texas True. I see Jackson grown up and the heir to the great Deleon fortune. At a young age, he becomes the head of an empire consisting of ranching in Texas, gold and silver mines in Colorado, and shipping lines out of Houston. I'd have him meet a titled British lady whom he must convince to marry him and live in South Texas on the ranch--the headquarters for the Texas Star Corporation his father formed.

~*~Lacy Deleon--she was the little niece of Sam Deleon in Texas True, born in the Flats in Austin, a prostitution area where she and her little brother, Antonio, were born and lived. When True Cameron married Sam Deleon, she found the small girl and boy and brought them home, causing a huge problem. But True was determine to raise them as their own children. Lacy, now grown into a proper young lady, discovers her lurid birthplace and challenges the local government to do something. She would meet a brash, young attorney/senator and entice him to help her.

~*~Antonio Deleon--Lacy's little wild brother in Texas True. He was a hellion as a kid, although lovable and good-hearted. But he didn't understand the word "no." I see him grown and sowing too many wild oats and getting in trouble. I'd like him to meet a strong-willed female rancher who challenges him to straighten up and learn to be a man.

~*~Laura Lynn Paxton--Jo King's half-niece in Texas Promise . Beauty Laura Lynn has such a horrible past she knows little about, but sets out to find the burial place of her prostitution mother in New Mexico. In doing so, she hires a tracker to help her.

~*~Alexander King--son of Dalton and Jo King in Texas Promise. I have high hopes for the darling child. Just look at his name. He has it all--handsome, rich, smart, educated, adored by the entire family...and takes it all for granted. Until...what? His story will require much thought.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas

http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com

http://www.celiayeary.com

Second of Three Part Interview with Liz Adair

Liz, tell me what your favorite genre is, and why?

My favorite genre is Romance with a bit of intrigue. Why? First, because it’s so fun to write. Secondly, I feel that I’m doing good for mankind. Or, make that womankind. A good romance is like a cheap vacation from life’s stresses. That’s what I want to write. Cheap vacations. It’s my service to harried mothers on a tight budget.

Of all the wonderful pieces you’ve written (Please list them all so I don’t miss one or worse, misspell one), which is your favorite?

I’ll list them all, and you can decide if they’re wonderful or not when you read them. My first books published were the first two Spider Latham mysteries, The Lodger and After Goliath, which came out at the same time. They were followed the next year by the third in the series, Snakewater Affair. After that, my publisher wanted a woman as a main character, so I wrote the stand-alone romance/intrigue The Mist of Quarry Harbor. Sometime in there, I edited and published the letters my mother wrote from Afghanistan when she lived there in the 1960’s. The book is called, natch, Lucy Shook’s Letters from Afghanistan. My last book, Counting the Cost, came out in 2009. It won the Whitney Award in the romance category for that year and was also a finalist for the Willa Award and for two categories (literary and regional) for the Arizona Publishers Association’s Glyph Award.

Which is my favorite? Probably Counting the Cost, as it’s based on family history, although I think I’m proudest of Letters from Afghanistan. Proceeds from sales of the book go to SWAN (Serving Women Across Nations), a charitable foundation founded by my daughters and me that gives microcredit to poor women in Bolivia and Kenya to start small businesses. My daughter Terry is the force behind SWAN. I just sit on the board and look wise. You can go to www.swanforhumanity.org to read about what has been accomplished there.

Link to Counting the Cost book trailer. www.sezlizadair.blogspot.com

Thanks Liz. We'll do more next week!

Ammon by H.B.Moore

A huge round of applause to Heather Moore (H.B.Moore) for winning Best of State.

If you enjoyed any of her others, The Out of Jerusalem Series, Alma, Abinadi and Alma the Younger then you may hold your breath for Ammon (pre-order at Deseret Book). Available June 2011.

Heather recently took time out of her busy schedule to chat. Wanna listen in?

...Me: History is intimidating to me. What made you decide to write these amazing historical fiction pieces?


Heather: I decided to write historical fiction on the Book of Mormon because I felt it was a niche that could be filled in the LDS market, and I love to think about the "behind the scenes" of the Book of Mormon.

Me: I love the “behind the scenes” that you have captured. What can we expect from you in the near future?

Heather: My next 2 books are:

Not as the World Giveth: Christ's Gifts to Women, which is a non-fiction book that I co-authored with Angela Eschler. It will be released Spring 2012.

Daughters of Jared, a Book of Mormon novel that takes place during the era of King Jared II. It will be released Summer 2012.

Me: Both sound intriguing. But for those fascinated with your Book of Mormon series, will there be a Captain Moroni?

Heather: I haven't decided which Book of Mormon prophet to write on next. I'm currently drafting a women's fiction series about a group of women who are in a book club in Newport Beach.

Me: Whatever you do, I’m sure it’ll be awesome. Keep us posted and thank you for taking the time to answer these impromptu questions.

Book Review: Angel and the Enemy

Review by Valerie J. Steimle
Angel and the Enemy is Marnie Perhson's fifth romance novel so far and it does not disappoint in the least.  This wonderfully written historical romance is set against the backdrop of the Civil War.  Angelina Stone has to be strong to overcome her Georgia home invaded by Yankee Officers and her father sitting helpless in an Union prison. She is promised to a confederate soldier but the twists and turns of  the story soon tells us that her life will never be the same when one of the Yankee soldiers staying in her  home takes notice of her.

This story takes off from the first pages in the midst of conflict and we follow Angelina to the last page as the story of love, honor and betrayal is told.  A good book to escape from our modern world.
Find Angle and the Enemy at   http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Enemy-Marnie-L-Pehrson/dp/0972975098/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301445804&sr=8-1

Sandra Grey's TRIBUNAL

It is a shame to open a book review of such an outstanding book with—I was disappointed. Even though, as an aspiring author, I understand Sandra Grey’s reasoning for some of her first chapters. If you pick-up this book, and I strongly recommend that you do, be sure to read the PROLOGUE. Sandra follows the events of her story chronologically. This means that you are in for a heavy dose of her bad guy, Vicktor Rostov, who isn’t really a bad guy but must act because he is acted upon, in the early chapters. I found that these chapters almost caused me to put the book down. I am so glad that I didn’t!

If you read her first book, Traitor, I’m sure that you wondered what happened to Rolf Schulmann—will he pay for the crimes of war? Marie Jacobson—will she still love him when she learns the truth? Hans Brenner—will he love as his best friend has, overcoming his own trials and sacrifice himself as he has seen Rolf do?

Tribunal picks up where Traitor left off without making one who hasn’t read the first installment of this trilogy feel lost. She introduces a new heroine, Natalie Allred, with ingenuity. She too has her secrets.

Having introduced her major cast of characters, I encourage you to take a journey with Sandra Grey that will take you back in history to the post war drama of 1945. These characters feel real from the moment you meet them on the page. You feel what they feel, you fear what they fear, and you crave to know the secrets that they keep.

I give this read 4 1/2 stars because she almost lost me at the get-go.

Coming soon—review of Trespass, the third in Sandra Grey’s series.

Traitor (my review as promised)

With war raging in Europe, the only way Marie can be with Felix is to join the Allied forces. However, as Marie parachutes Into France to join the Resistance, she not only lands into the arms of her fiancé, but also drops into the hands of the enemy.

Major rolf Schulmann has been struggling between personal convictions and his duty to the German Fatherland. Now he must decide what to do with the captured fincee of the man who gave him a new chance at life—a man he once loved as a brother. The Gestapo will do whatever it takes to dispose of Marie. If Rolf helps her escape he will have enemies on all sides—is it a sacrifice he is willing to make? Can Marie possibly trust her life to a man torn between two masters?

Join acclaimed suspense writer Sandra Grey on a journey of unexpected twists and turns through the trenches of love, suspicion, and faith.
--Back cover—

Those who know me know that: I don’t read a book twice, watch a movie more than twice (the second time is to break it apart—sometimes rather cruelly to see what I can learn for my craft), or read a book series. This is my exception to that rule.

I strongly recommend Traitor to readers from teens to the elderly. This spell-binding journey took me on a wonderful roller coaster for the second time. Like a roller coaster it had unexpected ups and downs, twists and turns, with the expected build to the first drop. Tears warmed my eyes although I knew what to expect (I’d been here before.)
This historical novel warmed my heart, gladdened my soul and restored my faith not only in God, but His gift of talented writing to Sandra Grey. I’m not a student of history, as a matter-of-fact, I dreaded the required history classes, and yet, Sandra has brought me a history lesson I’ll not soon forget.
Five enthusiastic STARS for Traitor. I’ve already begun her second in the series, Tribunal, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on Trespass.