Category: Reading

Cover Reveal! Cari Quinn’s Sneak Attack

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I have some really exciting news to share! My friend Cari Quinn has a new book coming out! And you know what? I have a sneak peak at the cover. Yowza!

BOOK & AUTHOR INFO:
Sneak Attack by Cari Quinn
(Tapped Out #1.5)
Publication date: June 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

 She thought she’d fought her final match…but the bout isn’t over yet.

Mia Anderson found more than she ever bargained for when she set up a fight with reigning king of the underground MMA fighters, Tray “Fox” Knox. Five months have passed, and both have walked away from the sport that brought them together. Now they fight for love, not blood. Until a voice from the past comes back to haunt Mia, causing her to struggle with her secrets and her need for Tray.

Tray’s tired of battling to be with a woman who keeps pushing him away. He loves Mia, but maybe he can’t love her through this. Not unless she will let him put his back to hers, all or nothing. He’s ready to slay any demon she has—except the one she refuses to share.

One opponent will walk away the victor. And one will lose…everything.

Sneak Attack is book 1.5 in the Tapped Out series, a short novel that follows Shadowboxer.

Warning: please be advised this book contains content some may find triggering (past sexual trauma) and also contains graphic sex and language that may not be suitable for underage readers.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22025111-sneak-attack?ac=1
AUTHOR BIO:

USA Today bestselling author Cari Quinn wrote her first story—a bible parable—in 2nd grade, much to the delight of the nuns at her Catholic school. Once she saw the warm reception that first tale garnered, she was hooked. Now she gets to pen sexy romances for a living and routinely counts her lucky stars. When she’s not scribbling furiously, she can usually be found watching men’s college basketball, playing her music way too loud or causing trouble. Sometimes simultaneously.
The only thing she loves more than writing is hearing from readers! Visit Cari at www.cariquinn.com
Author links:
http://cariquinn.com/
https://twitter.com/cariquinn
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3372702.Cari_Quinn
ARE YOU READY?
::INSERT DRUM ROLL::
CariQuinn_SneakAttack800
Isn’t it amazing! Only befits the amazing author.

INTRO: WORK IN PROGRESS (WIP) WEDNESDAY

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Starting next week, I’m going to be hosting authors of all genres on my blog in a feature I’m calling Work In Progress (WIP) Wednesday.  To give you a taste of what is to come, I’m featuring myself this week. After all, it’s all about me (see far right column).

So here are some things you might not know about me.

On the Personal Side:

My top three dream destinations are 1) Greece, 2) Spain, 3) the south of France. I long for sunshine and warmth (no humidity); these are the lands of olives, crusty breads, hearty red and rose wines. Mary Stewart’s three Greek novels put Greece at the top of my bucket list (My Brother Michael, The Moonspinners, This Rough Magic). One of my favorite books to read in the summer is Peter Mayle’s delightful A Year in Provence.  As for Spain, I remember a line from a poem I read in high school: cinco de la tarde. Don’t ask me why five in the afternoon intrigues me. Maybe because of tapas bars.

My secret talent is the ability to whistle through my rolled tongue, using it as a flute.

The top book on my TBR pile (not counting the Kindle) is Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark, Jr. I heard about it on Facebook and checked it out of the library.

I have a recurring dream in which my family and I move into the apartment in which I lived for 10 years, several years before I got married. A one-bedroom apartment. Love the wallpaper and the claw foot bathtub, loathe the turquoise refrigerator.

If I didn’t write, my creative outlet would be musical in nature . . . I like to sing (even though I can barely carry a tune); I play a couple of instruments and always wished I knew how to play piano.

If I didn’t write, my dream job would be owning a business that catered to people’s religious dietary needs, and I’d call it Kosher for Lent.

If I had to chose a theme song for myself, it would be a toss up between Simon & Garfunkel’s “I Am A Rock” or the Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Gray”.

I have seen two movies I thought were better than the books on which they were based: The Bridges of Madison County and Contact. The main character in Bridges never would have written the letter to her children the author had her write. Never. Ever. So the movie handled that part much better. As far as Contact goes, the book was fiction, written by a brilliant scientist, so it was a little . . . deadly. The movie is also the first time I ever saw Matthew McConaughey (he played opposite Jodi Foster).

I’m not a fan of breakfast, so I tend to skip it more often than not. Eggs are disgusting. I will stop at McDonald’s for Sausage McMuffins and hash browns on occasion; when I’m on a writing retreat, I’ll eat fresh fruit & berries.

On the Writing Side:

My ideal/fantasy writing space would be a big bright room, lots of book cases, a desk large enough for things other than my laptop, a rocking chair in front of big windows. And it would be painted pale pink. And I wouldn’t have to share the space.

One writing-related website I can’t do without is Grammar Girl. She explains the tricky nuances of the English language in a way I can easily understand.

I am a pantser (style of writing), but even though I don’t plot, I do plan.

I do not believe in writer’s block. For me, it’s either lack of motivation (within me) or a plot/conflict issue (with the story).

Three things currently on my desk: my grand-hamster (in her cage); a treasure chest filled with glass florist beads; photos I borrowed from my parents to scan.

Would I ever consider self-publishing? Absolutely, especially once I have a back list in place. In fact, my current WIP is a novella for an anthology my crit partners and I have been discussing.

I listen to music when I write. I create a playlist for each book, which helps me stay connected to the story.

Lightning Round:

Addams Family or Munsters? Addams Family.

Wine: Red or white?  Red

Beer: Can or bottle? Bottle

Stephanie Plum or Eve Dallas? Eve. She’s grown throughout the course of the series, whereas Steph is more comic relief to absurd situations.

Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day? Cinco de Mayo. Not a fan of corned beef.

Last movie I saw in a theater: The Winter Soldier. Loved it!

Books: paper or e? Paper!

Favorite band when I was in high school: Bob Dylan and the Band

Introvert or extrovert? Introvert

Favorite ethnic food: Italian.

WIP

Here are the first 10 sentences of my current WIP (tentative title The Mating Game)

He’s staring at me.

Men usually stared at Diana—it came with being a model—but this was . . . different. Uncomfortable. Or maybe she was just tired.

She scanned the crowd at the MEN-toring League Chicago Division award banquet, using the attendees’ faces to tick off the seconds until she could leave the event. She had an eleven p.m. flight to catch and was already feeling the dread. Plus her overworked body was doing some kind of meltdown thing, which concerned her. Prickles and heat raced through her. The symptoms resembled what she’d heard about influenza, but the flu was impossible.The strange sensation had to be a clue she was overdue for a vacation.

Here’s the buy link for my current release,  Moonlight Serenade, available only on Kindle at this time.

Follow me on FaceBook, Twitter (@comptonplations), and Goodreads

 

 

 

A Side Benefit of Social Media

I have two books out of the library. And you know how I learned about them? Social media.

Image credit: tieury / 123RF Stock Photo

Image credit: tieury / 123RF Stock Photo

My local library branch is going to be closed for the holiday weekend, so I had to make sure I got over there to pick up my reading. Can you imagine a long weekend with no reading material?

I can’t.

So here’s what I picked up:

The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne (a romance novel)

Empty Mansions  by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newel Jr. (biography)

What will you be reading this weekend?

Secret Identity Heroes

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Since Baroness Orczy created The Scarlet Pimpernel shortly after the turn of the 20th century, the secret-identity hero has become a staple in fiction. Literature, comics, motion pictures, and television have all adopted the device with varying degrees of success.

 As a child of the late 1950’s, early 1960’s, and the Cold War, I grew up on televised versions of Superman, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, and Batman. The dark rural nights of my childhood echoed with eerie laughter as my cousins, siblings, neighborhood children, and I re-enacted The Wonderful Word of Disney’s The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. Even then, I knew there is something very special, very romantic, about the hero who performed his good deeds in disguise.

I knew then, too, that the mask/glasses weren’t only to deflect the villain, but also because a true hero doesn’t need credit for his escapades. A true hero does the right thing because he is inherently good.

A made-for-TV version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews intrigued me. The tension between the characters of Sir Percival Blakeney and Marguerite St. Just was exquisitely believable. I fell in love. I dashed out and bought the book. Here was a hero, a true, secret-identity guy, who risked his life to rescue the French aristocracy from the guillotine.

But Sir Percival Blakeney was much, much more than someone with a gift for theatrical make-up and derring-do. He also created a secret identity in which to live, one that very nearly cost him the love of his life.

When Warner Brothers resurrected Superman in the form of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, I was there. The spin was a little different on this updated version of my childhood hero, but one I could easily embrace. Dean Cain’s portrayal of Superman didn’t hurt, nor did Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. And this incarnation of Lois was someone with whom I could identify. Even better, the sexual tension between the two characters was believable. And explosive. The first season of this series simply blew my mind.

I didn’t like it as much once Lois learned that Clark Kent was really Superman, and I really didn’t like it when Clark told Lois, “Clark is who I am, Superman is what I do.”

Wrong. Completely dead wrong.

The unique thing about Superman as opposed to other comic book superheroes is Superman–Kal-El–is the character and Clark Kent the disguise. Bruce Wayne became Batman, Peter Parker became Spiderman–even Percy Blakeney and Don Diego de la Vega became The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro. Kal-El became Clark Kent. The Clark Kent identity was created to disguise the alien baby. The whole “mild-mannered-reporter” persona originated, exactly like the “fop” persona of Sir Percy Blakeney, in order to distract the everyday world from the true character.

Percy and Clark shed their disguises to do the right thing, using their inherent abilities as opposed to hiding behind masks (okay, Percy hid behind theatrical makeup), gadgets and nuclear mutations/lab accidents, etc. (It’s my understanding that this is also the Phantom’s m.o., but I’ve never read the comic.)

Neither the Scarlet Pimpernel nor Superman is motivated by revenge. Peter Parker wants to get back at the men who killed his uncle; Bruce Wayne wants the men who killed his parents.

What does Superman want? He has no hidden, personal agenda for helping.

Same with Blakeney. He is a wealthy man, a baronet, and could easily live a stress-free life. Indeed, in the original book, he claims he goes into revolution-ridden France to rescue those sentenced to death for ‘sport’. Pretty noble, if you ask me, when others in his time sported with dog/cock fights, fox hunts, wenching, and gambling.

Toke Lobo

So it’s not surprising that given my penchant for the secret-identity hero whose everyday life is the identity he sheds in order to be his heroic self, that my books feature characters of the same ilk. But Tokarz, Stoker, Restin, and the gang–er, pack–aren’t from mysterious planets or privileged societies. They’re down-home guys who value family above all else, patriots of the nation that granted sanctuary to their ancestors when the old country was awash in revolution.

Okay, things get a little hairy when the moon is full, but no one gets hurt–unless the core values of these heroes are threatened. Then there is no stopping a pack of crazed werewolves bent on revenge.

Moonlight Serenade, on sale March 26 from Soul Mate Publishing.

ISBN-13: 978-1-61935-388-6

MoonlightSerenade Final Cover with Quote

Journal

The hero of my friend Emma Cane‘s current release, The Cowboy of Valentine Valley, is a leather worker. While reading about  his work, I remembered that I had purchased a carved leather journal cover several years ago. And, unbelievably, I remembered exactly where it was.

leather journalIsn’t it lovely? I need to start keeping track of my recurrent dream about moving back into 1911 (the apartment of the turquoise refrigerator). . . I had the dream again this week. I could even smell the dust trapped in the avocado-and-cream open weave living room drapes.

Maybe I keep having the dream because it was a colorful apartment, which appeals to me. When one lives in such a dreary, gray landscape, color is crucial.

Now I need to reload my fountain pen with violet ink and start dream journaling.