Guest Author: Maggie Mae Gallagher

The Fixer Upper

TheFixerUpper-promo2Abby Callier is more in love with Shakespearean heroes than any real man, and she’s beginning to wonder if there is life for her outside the pages of a book. It doesn’t help that her esteemed parents tend to view her as they would one of their science experiments gone wrong. On the eve of finishing her dissertation, she escapes her staid existence to live in the house she inherited from her Great Aunt Evie in the small town of Echo Springs, Colorado. Because, let’s face it, when a woman starts comparing her life to horror films, it might be time for a break.

Sheriff Nate Barnes believes in law and order and carefully building the life you want. In his spare time, he has been remodeling his house in the hope that one day it will be filled with the family he makes. But Nate doesn’t like drama or complications and tends to avoid them at all costs. And yet, when Miss Abigail Callier, his newest neighbor, beans him with a nine iron, he can’t help but wonder if she might just be the complication he’s been searching for all along. It doesn’t hurt that he discovers a journal hidden away by the previous tenant and decides to use Old Man Turner’s advice to romance Abby into his life.

Abby never expected her next-door neighbor, the newly dubbed Sheriff Stud Muffin, to be just the distraction her world needed. The problem is she doesn’t know whether she should make Echo Springs her home, or if this town is just a stopover point in her life’s trajectory. And she doesn’t want to tell Nate that she might not be sticking around—even though she should because it’s the right thing to do, the honest thing—because then all the scintillatingly hot kisses with the Sheriff will come to an abrupt halt. Did she mention that he’s a really great kisser?

Praise for The Fixer Upper:

“Maggie Mae Gallagher writes with warmth and a wonderfully compelling voice – I loved The Fixer Upper!” NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR HEATHER GRAHAM

“Maggie Mae Gallagher makes the reader forget the actual words on the page so they can just enjoy the story as it unfolds.” Nancy Berland, NBPR, Inc. President

Amazon https://amzn.to/2kmZHUm
Amazon Print https://amzn.to/2ZAv3t4
Nook http://bit.ly/2wP9KUD
Kobo http://bit.ly/2NHFlCX
iBooks https://apple.co/2YImFE6
Books-A-Million http://bit.ly/2k2czPw
Indie Bound http://bit.ly/2lwwW7T

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/MagMaeGallagher/

https://www.instagram.com/magmaegallagher/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7846308.Maggie_Mae_Gallagher

Twitter: @magmaegallagher  https://twitter.com/magmaegallagher?lang=en

https://www.amazon.com/author/maggiegallagher

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/maggie-mae-gallagher

Thoughts…

Today’s writing quote: “Write out of love, write out of instinct, write out of reason. But always for money.” – Louis Untermeyer
I’m not sure how I feel about this quote. I mean, yes, we writers want to make money with our writing, but there are very few authors who actually do. For every Stephen King/J.K. Rowling/Nora Roberts out there, there are thousands of smaller authors who don’t make enough to buy a cup of coffee. When others say “Don’t quit your day job”, it’s a truth. We have to supplement our writing with other jobs. And yet, we keep trying, but the odds are stacked against us.


In addition to writing the book, we have to promote our work by being active on all sorts of social media sites, doing blog tours, going to book signings (where many of us sell our own books that we had to buy ourselves–the publishers don’t give them to us for free), going to conferences, and more. We beg for reviews (reviews=numbers=algorithm uptakes and better postings). Like most artists, this is a job you do for the love of the art, not because you’re ever going to make any money at it.

Do an author a favor–check out their website, FB page, etc. and “like” or “follow” them. Or better yet, buy their book and leave a short review for them (hopefully a good one!).

Thank you!

Guest Author: Scudder James

“The characters do things,” a reader once commented about Cranberry Boys. When I asked what she meant, she said not just the love triangle of Zeph, Connor and Bronson, but many characters are actively involved with their lives. They’re committed to getting CranberryBoysFS_v2things done.

She’s on to something.

  • Bronson persuades Zeph and Connor to start the Bog Blog that ends up getting them big attention.
  • Stephanie produces her show, Shakespeare’s Women.
  • Connor’s brothers start the Varsity Sports Club to have an official way to party.
  • Zeph’s new friend Marcus leads The Truth Project at Bronson’s old school.

I think this may be left over from my own prep school experience. Bronson tells Zeph and Connor that the boarding school he’d been kicked out of had been pretty intense. Surrounded by fancy stuff, students were told again and again how they could achieve anything if they tried. A nice message, but too much pressure.

Students at schools like Bronson’s may be given unfair amounts of opportunities, resources and connections, but everyone, everywhere has the chance to make dreams come true. In Cranberry Boys the difference is that at Bronson’s school students are constantly surrounded by possibility. Some students hate the pressure. Some resent that everyday life is not enough. Others are excited and run with it.

Bronson wants to bring the confidence of his boarding school to Watermarsh. As he tells his friends, “Rockingham Academy doesn’t have a monopoly on thinking big.” At first, Zeph doesn’t get it. No one has encouraged him to think about anything other than fixing roads with his father. All he knows about himself is that he wants a future with Connor, but he has no image for it. Connor doesn’t help. He only believes in secrets. That’s where Bronson comes in.

In Cranberry Boys, Zeph, Connor and Bronson wake up to different of ways of thinking about themselves and the future. But they don’t have difficulty learning how to dream in their own ways. That’s what makes the difference.

Is that why we read? To help us dream? Watermarsh and Rockingham Academy may have been different worlds, but dreaming is always free. Even if no one is there to encourage us. Even if we have to look harder for it. Even if we only look in ourselves… we can still dream. We can still find our way. Zeph, Connor and Bronson are proof it.

Link: Dreamspinner Press

 Cranberry Boys – Blurb

Cross-country runner Zeph is ready for happily-ever-after. So what if he and junior class president Connor are only sixteen years old and live in a dying town of old cranberry bogs? So what if their relationship is a secret and Connor has a girlfriend for cover? That’s how they win the race. Until Bronson, an old friend of Zeph’s, returns after being kicked out of boarding school.

Bronson doesn’t explain his mysterious past. Instead, he shares his prep-school savvy with Zeph and Connor to encourage them to start a blog to get the attention of colleges that usually ignore students from small towns like theirs. All is good. But the past starts to unravel, and Bronson comes between Zeph and Connor. No one can run away from everything.

Caught in his first love triangle, Zeph will do whatever it takes to have a happy ending, even if it means going undercover at Bronson’s old boarding school.

Cranberry Boys – Excerpt:

By the time Connor made it to the locker room, everyone else had hit the showers, but I was going slowly, still pissed and still at my locker with only a towel around my waist. Connor and I were alone. He stepped closer than he had in a month. I felt his heat, smelled his sweaty race. A pang shot through me—I’d missed Connor’s muskiness.

“I saw you,” muttered Connor.

I shut my locker and tried to get around him.

He blocked me. “Why do you have to ruin everything?”

“You think I’m the one ruining everything?”

“We’re apart now so we can be together later. Don’t you get it?”

“No, Connor. You don’t get it. This is no way to live.”

Connor pressed his shoulder against my chest, pinning me to the locker. His sweaty skin against my sweaty skin was like an electric charge through my body. His voice rumbled against my cheek. “You shouldn’t be seen alone with Bronson.”

I tried to step away, but Connor blocked me.

“I saw you leaving Stephanie’s show. Why was his arm around you? Why was he touching you?”

“Connor, this is stupid.”

“I am not stupid. I saw you two.”

“Why do you care? Are we even still together?”

“Why would you say that?”

“We’re acting like we’re finished.”

“It’s just acting.”

Connor’s sweat dripped to the floor. His face was a combination of scared kid and pissed-off sixteen-year-old.

“Connor, wouldn’t you like it if we were finished? Done. Then, you’d be safe, no secret. No worries. That’d be good news. Like we never even happened.”

Connor punched the locker beside my head. Metal bent and echoed. The nearby showers hissed. He loomed beside me, his body taut.

I had no idea how to fight. I’d never punched anyone. Never been punched. But I wasn’t nervous. It was only Connor.

“Are you serious?” was all I said.

He punched the locker to the left of my head, then the right, then left, then right, slamming, slamming, and he kept going, kept slamming, and I didn’t move my head, and he never touched me, but the slamming metal by my ears was the loudest thing I’d ever heard. The wind from his fists cooled my face. He kept punching and punching, metal crunching. The louder it got, the further inside myself I went.

“Dude!” Westy ran from the showers. The rest of the team followed. Westy yanked Connor away.

Scudder James Jr, Cranberry Boys, author bio:

Scudder James Jr believes happily ever after begins today. Junior high was terrible, boarding school better, and college the place he met the boyfriend he married (despite a pit stop in a fraternity). He started in finance because he thought he had to, but instead became a counselor for refugees, a fundraiser, and a teacher of sex and spirituality classes. After Chicago, Seattle, London, and Japan, he’s back in Boston where it all started. His favorite place to write has a harbor view of two colonial ships.

Scudder loves telling stories in print and on film. He’s thrilled that his short LGBTQ films have shown around the world in places as unexpected as Alabama and East Africa. Twenty years ago, he was diagnosed with a neurological disease that doctors are bewildered has disappeared. Scudder is an avid meditator and passionate about appreciating every moment.

One of his favorite mornings has been waking up on a boat in Patagonia with his perfectly imperfect partner and hiking an island of 130,000 penguins.

I really hate to say this…

I just finished uploading a bunch of new reviews, one of which I really didn’t want to do. Why? Because I had to give it a low score–2 sparklers. And I hate to do that. As an author myself, I know what goes into creating a book. I know how hard it is to write, then get edited, then get published.

But…that being said, as an editor, I simply cannot look past bad content editing. The story was cute. Really cute. It had an imaginative and unique basis. It had good world building and good characters who do grow and change through the story. What it didn’t have was the cohesiveness that makes a good read. The point of view was all over the place. The author tried to cram as much information as possible into short, choppy paragraphs to the point where it became distracting.

Just in case I thought I was being too harsh, I gave it to two other members of my family to read–my d-i-l (who has an English degree and experience in the publishing field as both a writer and an editor) and my grandson (who has written reviews for this site). And both of them said the same thing. So it wasn’t just me. And yet, other reviewers loved it. So what am I missing? Or is it the fact that it is an imaginative, unique story? Should I upgrade it just because of that?

I refuse to do that, especially where children’s books are concerned.

So… my rating will stand, although I hate to do that to an author. I love books. I love authors. But I will give my honest opinion at all times. If that means your book gets a low rating, I will apologize now, but I will always give a reason for my rating. You can agree or disagree as you want. It’s just my opinion. It’s what I feel when I read the book. I want to love every book I read, but sometimes…that just isn’t possible.

Guest Author: Heidi Cullinan

Hi, and thanks for having me here today. I’m going to share a little information about my latest release, The Doctor’s Orders, available August 20 from Dreamspinner Press and wherever books are sold.

TheDoctorsOrders_FINALThe Doctor’s Orders is book three in the Copper Point: Medical series, the final book in that trilogy. In this installment, we get to know Jared, an openly gay pediatrician, and Nick, the very closeted CEO of the hospital. Though Nick and Jared secretly dated in high school, it was clear nothing was ever going to happen between them again…until Jared and Nick are trapped in an elevator together, where sparks fly.

Copper Point may be known as a small northern Wisconsin town famous for not wanting to change, but things are certainly shaking up at St. Ann’s Medical Center, the city’s quirky, county-run hospital. Secret romances, fake relationships, second chances at love, scandalous liaisons in an elevator—all while longstanding and shockingly deep corruption are exposed. St. Ann’s young new leadership and upstanding team of doctors will lead the way to truth, and to love.

Here’s a little snippet from the book, including a scene in said elevator! I hope you enjoy this excerpt, and I hope you give The Doctor’s Orders a try!

*

It was something about the darkness, Jared decided, making them both come undone. Part of him wanted to pull away and demand answers—what was Nick thinking, kissing him like this not once but twice, where did he intend to take this?—but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything but respond to Nick’s slow, steady burn of desire.

Couldn’t do anything but answer with the flare of his own.

They were both burning, all right. Jared didn’t know where the man had practiced his kisses—honestly, he didn’t want that question answered—but whoever had taught him, Nick had been a good student. This kiss was slow and tantalizing, Nick drawing on Jared’s lips before delving inside, his tongue playing lazily along Jared’s own, as if they were tucked away in a bedroom, not trapped in a perilously balanced elevator shaft.

Nick ran his fingers along Jared’s jaw, breaking the kiss long enough to smile. “Your beard tickles when I kiss you. Not used to that.”

Why did it feel so hard to breathe? “I’ll shave it.”

“Don’t.” Nick nipped at his chin, then kissed the underside of his jaw. “This is good too.”

Everything felt so surreal. Jared tried to float on the moment, but when the banging below them became too loud, he tensed up more and more, and when the elevator jolted once again, he cried out, clenching at Nick’s shirtfront.

Nick tucked him in close, threading fingers into his hair. “It’s all right. It’s going to be all right.”

“I was going to go to bed,” Jared whispered into Nick’s neck. “But I needed a ride home, and I was lonely, and so I said I’d go home with Owen and Erin.”

The hand in his hair kneaded gently. “I’m sorry you were lonely. I don’t want you to be.”

Do you understand you’re part of the reason why I am? Except that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t Nick’s fault Jared couldn’t let go. Though this elevator interlude was setting all his progress back twenty years and then some. “What’s going to happen when we get out? Are you going to pretend this didn’t happen?”

“No.”

Jared’s heart beat faster. He opened his eyes, but he couldn’t see anything. He could smell, though. Nick’s scent, his cologne, the spicy Nick-ness of him everywhere, in Jared’s nostrils, on his tongue. He wanted to dive into that, but he wanted answers more. “What does that mean, no? What’s going to happen between us now?”

Release Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Buy Links

Goodreads • Publisher • Audible • Ripped Bodice • Barnes & Noble • Google Play Ebook • Google Play Audio • iTunes • Kobo (US) • Kobo (Canada) • Amazon (US) • Amazon (Canada) • Amazon (UK) • Powells

Other books in the series:

Heidi Cullinan head shot_0Author of over thirty novels, Midwest-native Heidi Cullinan writes positive-outcome romances for LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. Heidi is a two-time RITA® finalist and her books have been recommended by Library Journal, USA Today, RT Magazine, and Publisher’s Weekly. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading novels and manga, playing with her cats, and watching too much anime. Find out more at heidicullinan.com.

Guest Author: Karilyn Bentley

What genre do your books fall into or is it a genre blended? I write paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

What inspires you to write? Being able to tell my stories to others.

Do you listen to music or set the mood somehow to get writing? No, I don’t listen to music as that’s too distracting for me. I start singing to the lyrics and then forget what I’m writing. But I do like to drink a cup of hot tea while I write.

Do you come up with the plot or characters first? It depends on the story but usually the plot.

Do you have a favorite book of yours? I love The Song of Ice and Fire series. I can’t just choose one book. There are too many I love!

Who would you consider an influence on your writing? Reading a Sherrilyn Kenyon book years ago put me on the path to writing romance. I got to meet her years ago and told her how reading one of her books made me decide to write romance. After she gave me an odd look, I clarified it some so I didn’t seem like a crazy stalker!

Tell me something quirky about yourself. I have to make up the bed as soon as I get up in the morning.

What do you aim to make people feel when they read your books? I want them to feel a cross of suspense and humor. But mostly I want them to be happy they read an enjoyable story.

What’s next for you? I’m working on a paranormal mystery. Can’t tell you much more than that!

Do you sing in the shower? Sometimes. It drives my hubby nuts because I can’t stay on tune if I try!

Blurb for The Shadowheart Curse:

perf5.000x8.000.inddEscaping New York after a client’s untimely death, medium Adrianna Sinclair flees to her family property in Italy. All she wants is to avoid ghosts, but an attractive one tempts her in ways she never knew possible.  Luca Fausto has been trapped on the Romani property for over a century for a crime he didn’t commit.  Adrianna may be the answer to breaking the curse that keeps him bound.  Standing in their way is a demonic spirit’s plan for revenge.  Will they prevail or will Luca be cursed to the shadows forever?

EXCERPT:

Lights drew her attention to the opposite wing of the mill, where a man stood staring at her window. At her. Breath caught in her lungs as she froze.

But only for a brief moment until she realized it wasn’t a man, at least not a living one. Her breath escaped on a whoosh of relief. Intuition whispered the man was the spirit who’d watched her last night.

The one from her dream.

Shadows clung to his body, ghostly fingers releasing as he stepped into the dim slash of moonlight. Lights flickered from behind him, like the dying gasps of sputtering candles. Dressed in a white shirt with an old-fashioned high collar, sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, and dark trousers, he reminded her of a working man in a World War I photograph. As if he had removed his coat and tie and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

Except the men in those photos didn’t sport the wide-eyed, happy look of this man. Ghost. Whatever. Yeah, he wasn’t the only one surprised. She’d sworn never to see a ghost again, yet there stood a ghost, captured by her gaze. The man was hot, in an old-fashioned way. At least he didn’t sport a handle-bar moustache.

He gestured to her, his hand beckoning in a “come here” motion.

She squeezed the bridge of her nose. Was she actually thinking of heading his way? Judging by the way her feet pointed toward the door, she’d already decided. Dammit. She might not want to see a ghost or speak to a spirit, but past experience told her if she ignored them, they ramped up the annoying factor.

How bad could it be to talk to an attractive spirit?

 BIO:

KarilynBentleyKarilyn Bentley’s love of reading stories and preference for sitting in front of a computer at home instead of in a cube, drove her to pen her own works, blending fantasy and romance mixed with a touch of funny.

Her paranormal romance novella, Werewolves in London, placed in the Got Wolf contest and started her writing career as an author of sexy heroes and lush fantasy worlds.

Karilyn lives in Colorado with her own hunky hero, two crazy dogs, aka The Kraken and Sir Barks-A-Lot, and a handful of colorful saltwater fish.

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/B07TBBZXZC

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-shadowheart-curse-karilyn-bentley/1132821747

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-shadowheart-curse/id1473825800

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-shadowheart-curse

 

Where to find Karilyn:

Website:          http://www.karilynbentley.com

Newsletter:      https://eepurl.com/ba_0Rf

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/KarilynBentleyAuthor

Twitter:            https://www.twitter.com/karilynbentley1

Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4051943.Karilyn_Bentley

Pinterest:         https://www.pinterest.com/karilynbentley

BookBub:        https://www.bookbub.com/authors/karilyn-bentley

 

 

Guest Author: Elyse Springer

world upside down coverWorld Turned Upside Down by Elyse Springer

Series: World of Love

Summary:

After three winters in Antarctica, Simon Bancroft is an old hand on the ice. The harsh weather and extreme isolation aren’t for everyone, but he enjoys the tight-knit community at McMurdo Station… and lately he’s enjoyed watching the hot new researcher, Asher Delaney, who’s recently arrived to study the aurora. But Simon’s just a janitor. Asher doesn’t even know he exists.

When Simon’s friends propose a wager, he gets a chance to introduce himself to Asher at last. But Asher defies all of Simon’s assumptions, and suddenly he finds himself reevaluating everything he thought he knew about Asher, himself, and falling in love at the bottom of the world.

Purchase Links:

Dreamspinner Press: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/world-turned-upside-down-by-elyse-springer-10678-b

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/world-turned-upside-down

iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/world-turned-upside-down/id1460029102

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/World-Turned-Upside-Down-Love-ebook/dp/B07T8NP1VV/

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/world-turned-upside-down-elyse-springer/1131274218?ean=9781644054277

Google Play: https://books.google.com/books/about/World_Turned_Upside_Down.html?id=Ro6SDwAAQBAJ

Giveaway:

 

To celebrate the release of World Turned Upside Down, I’m giving away a t-shirt from McMurdo Station, Antarctica (yes, actually purchased in Antarctica!) and an e-copy of WTUD in the format of your choice. Two additional winners will also receive an e-copy of World Turned Upside Down in the format of their choice, or an e-copy of any book from my backlist.

Link to Giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1d4f97ea1/?

Contest is open to anyone worldwide over age 18. Closes 8/21 at 11:59 PM EST.

About the Author:

Elyse is an author and world-traveler, whose unique life experiences have helped to shape the stories that she wants to tell. She writes romances with LGBTQIA+ characters and relationships, and believes that every person deserves a Happily Ever After. When she’s not staring futilely at her computer screen, Elyse spends her time adding stamps to her passport, catching up on her terrifying TBR list, and learning to be a better adult.

You can find Elyse online at:

Website: http://elspringer.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ElyseSpringer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elysespringerwrites