Balticon here I come

Memorial Day weekend is coming and around here that means it’s time for Balticon, the annual Baltimore science fiction/fantasy convention. Two years ago I went for the first time and participated on some panels and had a lot of fun. I couldn’t go last year due to some work commitments, but this year I’m on. If you’re looking for something to do other than the beach, stop by! Here’s my schedule for the weekend:

Reading: Fri 6:00 – 6:50, Pimlico
Panel: Copy Editing Do’s and Don’ts: Fri 8:00 – 8:50, Pimlico
Panel: Writing Resolutions, Evaluation, and Measurement: Sat 10:00 – 10:50, Parlor 1041
Panel: 5 Books for the Last Town on Earth: Sat 1:00 – 1:50, Salon B
Autographing: Sun 10:00 – 11:00, Maryland Foyer
Panel: Reading as Exploration: Sun 1:00 – 1:50, Salon B

Cover reveal: The Devil Made Me Do It by Shawna Romkey

The Devil made me do it preview 1

The Devil Made Me Do It

Book Two: Speak of the Devil series

By Shawna Romkey

Coming July 1 – Go to hell!

Blurb: Lily is working with the angels to stifle the last of the demon outbreaks and to figure out how to stop the Silence of God, so life can get back to boring normality. But all hell breaks loose when she’s stolen from school and brought face to face with the devil himself. Lily has to find her way back home to Luc, crack the prophecy that breaks the curse silencing God, and figure out how she and Luc can ever really be together; but Lucifer has other plans for her that don’t include her ever getting out of Hell in tact.

SR-37-150x150Shawna Romkey, teacher by day, writer by night (or day or whenever anyone leaves her alone long enough to get some work done). Bestselling YA / NA paranormal author of Speak of the Devil. The second in the series, The Devil Made Me Do It, will release July 1.

Shawna is from Kansas City, Missouri, but resides in Nova Scotia in a house by the sea with her husband, two sons, and currently two dogs but that’s subject to change depending on the local homeless dog population.

For more info, check out her website at www.shawnaromkey.com.

New release from Kat de Falla: The Seer’s Lover

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Calise Rowe’s question of who walks among us leads her into an ancient war between seers and demons.

Kat de Falla’s new paranormal release, The Seer’s Lover, published by The Wild Rose Press, is free in ebook format from Amazon during April 8-12.

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/17gFt26ncoU

Book Blurb:

For years, Calise Rowe has been able to sense unusual energy from people, making her believe she is different.  Pulled into an ancient war raging for centuries between demon hunters and seers, she’s about to find out she’s right.

Her search for the truth leads her to Lucas Rojas, a seer of angels and demons who walk the earth shrouded from normal human eyes.  He’s hidden his gift for years and refuses to endanger Calise by sharing it with her.

In the sultry Costa Rican Jungles, their worlds collide.  As their passion and desire ignite, so does the ancient war between demons and seers.  Will their combined efforts be enough to save themselves and the entire human world, or will their new found love be their downfall?

Excerpt:

She traced a circle in the sand with her finger.

Why would she disclose her whole existence to someone she’d just met? Someone who talked so little about himself that she found herself talking to fill the void. Saying things she could barely admit in her own head.

His hand covered hers. “I’m lonely, too. Getting to know you this week has been the brightest point in my life and I don’t want you to leave, but I know the only place you’ll be safe is far away from me.”

She swallowed. He had read her mind.

He lay down on his back and closed his eyes. “Cali, you know when you hear a song for the first time and you kind of ingest it? You can’t possibly know right away that it will be one of your favorite songs for the rest of your life. A classic.”

“Yeah.” She hoped he was going somewhere good with this.

“That first listen,” he continued, “you pick up a little of the melody and some lyrics that catch you. But when the song ends, you have to hear it again because you want to memorize all the words and sing along. After you hear it a few times and learn the words inside and out, then you begin to let the melody seep inside you. Next thing you know, you’ve completely digested the song and find yourself humming it while you are doing nothing, like shaving or driving your car. Finally, the song becomes so ingrained it becomes a part of you. Forever. You can recall it and it’s with you whenever you need it. Am I making any sense?”

She nodded, blinking back the tears fighting to fall.

“Cali, I don’t want you to go back because you’re my favorite song.”

Bio:

headshotAuthor Kat de Falla was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she learned to roller skate, ride a banana seat bike, and love Shakespeare thanks to her high school English teacher.

Four years at the UW-Madison wasn’t enough, so she returned to her beloved college town for her Doctor of Pharmacy degree and is happily employed as a retail pharmacist where she fills prescriptions and chats with her patients.

She is married to her soul mate, classical guitarist, Lee de Falla and raising four kids together ala the Brady Bunch.

Kat’s Links:

Author Website: www.katdefalla.com

Blog: www.quillorpill.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@katdefalla

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorkatdefalla

(message me to join my street team!)

Additional Information:

Visit www.bayafaya.com for FREE music downloads arranged by ningen9 that accompany this book:

  1. Anna’s Dance is a jazzy bossa nova meant to accompany chapter two.
  2. Shane’s Torment is a churning soundscape of despair meant to accompany chapter six.
  3. Cali and Lucas First Dance is a Latin fusion instrumental love song meant to accompany chapter twelve.

As I touch on Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) in this book, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to www.iorphan.org.

Purchase Links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ILXE2NO/ref=docs-os-doi_0

http://www.amzn.com/B00ILXE2NO

Spring has sprung

You know winter has been bad when even this snow lover is longing for spring. At last, it looks like spring has finally arrived here in the Mid-Atlantic, and this time I’m hoping it’s for good.  March was dreary and cold and not to mention hectic. I hate to admit that I failed the March writing challenge to write every day, but there you go. I did well for about the first week and after that things went downhill. One of those “life gets in the way” situations.

I’m going to be optimistic about April. Spring is a time for new beginnings and renewal. The sun has been shining, flowers and trees are blooming, and inspiration is taking hold.

So I leave you with one of my favorite spring poems. My English professor loved to share his rendition of leaping lambs as he read this to us in class. This is definitely one to be read aloud.

Spring
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
(from The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins)

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.

What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,

Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

A March writing challenge

Good friend and fellow author Nancy Griffis has thrown down the gauntlet with a writing challenge for the month of March: write something every day. I know, I should be doing this anyway. Remember my goal of writing the equivalent of a page per day every week? As usual, life has gotten in the way. But for next month, starting tomorrow, I am really going to try to do this. I’m posting about it on the blog to hold myself accountable, at least to the three or so of you who read the blog, so if nothing else the fear of public shame will force me to write. By no means is this writing a novel in a month. It can be as simple as a blog post or a book review or a page in the novel, just as long as words get from my brain to this screen every day. I’m going to push for progress on the novel since I am about at the halfway point. There hasn’t been nearly enough death in it thus far and it’s time to make some characters suffer. (Hmm, maybe I’ve been watching too many Game of Thrones promos this week.)

Sounds easy, right? I plan to post an update on my progress each week. Anyone out there want to join in? I promise it will be fun!