Blogger Book Fair July 2013 Day 1: M.L. Guida

July BBF button copy

It’s time for the July 2013 online Blogger Book Fair! Check out the BBF directory for links to all of the great authors and bloggers who are participating and the fun events scheduled for the fair. I’m excited to be hosting four authors over the next four days: M.L. Guida, Eileen Sharp, Jennifer Barry, and Nicole Zoltack.  Hope you’ll read about them and their books! Plus, I’m going to give away a $10 Amazon gift card. All you have to do is leave a comment on any of my BBF posts here and you’re in the running.

For Day 1 I’m featuring M.L. Guida, author of A Pirate’s Curse! She was kind enough to answer some fun interview questions. First, let’s read about her book!

MLGuida_APiratesCurse_800Like a dark angel, Captain Kane O’Brien rescues Hannah Knight and her father from drowning after vampire pirates murder their crew and sink their ship. Struggling to control and hide her telekinetic powers, Hannah discovers the honorable and bold captain possesses his own secrets.

Every full moon, Kane turns into a vampire. Finding out Hannah not to be the cabin boy she resembles, but a beautiful, luscious woman, tempts all his appetites. Desperate to be free of his curse, Kane considers handing Hannah over to a demon. But after Hannah uses her power to save his ship from his immortal enemy, Kane can no longer deny his attraction and vows to protect Hannah with his life.

To find true love, they must combine their powers to defeat evil vampires, thwart Hannah’s misogynist fiancé and escape a crafty demon.

Get your copy of A Pirate’s Curse on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ML-Guida/e/B0076R7VSO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Author Interview: M.L. Guida

I’m very excited to be participating in the Blogger Book fair and for being a guest author on Cindy Young-Turner’s blog. I’m a paranormal romance writer and write both historical and contemporary romance. The supernatural has always fascinated me and I fell in love with vampires at a very young age. Something about a hot guy sucking on your neck, mmmmm. I wonder why?

1. Which books/authors have most influenced you and why?

There are so many authors that I have influenced me and I will name of few. Christine Feehan and Sherrilyn Kenyon have influenced me based on their world building. They took vampires and created a new vision rather than relying on the same traditional story.

Based on their trail blazing, I was able to create my own world of vampirism. Instead of being bitten and being turned, my vampires are created by drinking from a cursed lake and turn into vampires during every full moon.

My new book, A Pirate’s Curse, is on sale for .99 on Amazon during this tour. Find out if Kane can break the vampire curse.

2.  If you could meet one of your fictional characters who would you choose and why?

I’d choose my hero, Kane O’Brien. He’s honorable, determined and flawed. He feels responsible for his crew being cursed and vows to make them human again, but turning over an innocent girl to a demon isn’t something he’s willing to do. Vowed to find another way, he’s not afraid to challenge the forces of evil. Someone I’d want to have around when I’m frightened. Every time there’s a full moon, I think of Kane.

 3. What fictional world would you like to visit?

Besides Kane’s world, I’d want to visit Dean Winchester’s world. By watching the series Supernatural, I learned how to write about touch male characters and how they deal with internal and external conflict. I love the battle between the brothers, and the fierce loyalty they have between each other. One of my favorite episodes is with Madison. She’s a woman turned into a werewolf and Sam tries to find a way to cure her, but in the end, Dean and Sam have to admit defeat. The ending is emotional and although not a HEA, its still one of my favorite episodes. I won’t give the ending away.

I have to admit one of these days I’ll have to use Madison in a story. I love that name. Perhaps, Dean and Sam, too.

 4. What advice would you give your pre-published self, knowing what you do know?

I’d tell myself think out of the box. There are many different paths to getting published and putting all your hopes into one chest leads to disappointment. When I first started, I wanted to get an agent and be published by the big six. The big six publishers are not the only catch out there. There are other ways to be published and pursuing these other paths is exciting. Maybe some day, I’ll try to get an agent and land a lucrative contract, but for right now, I like throwing my hand into self-publishing and small presses. So, my advice would be—take a risk. Don’t be afraid to take an alternative road.

5. Waiting for the next season of Games of Thrones is a challenge, but now is the time to prepare. What three things do you want to have one hand when the Others come down from the Wall?

I have to admit I’ve not watched this show. I know groan, groan. But I can list three things. You’ll have to tell me if they would work.

  1. Dean Winchester
  2. Sam Winchester
  3. The Colt.

I figure the brothers would be able to figure out what to do with anything supernatural and well, the Colt can kill anything supernatural. I’m anxious to watch the next season of Supernatural!

MaryGuida-web 1 (5 of 5)M.L. Guida lives in Colorado near the Rocky Mountains. She loves to take her cocker spaniel, Sadie, for walks on the trails behind her house. The supernatural has already interested M.L. and even as young girl, she’d read Alfred Hitchock’s Three Young Investigators, her favorite being the Mystery of the Green Ghost.

Today, she continues to love the superantural and one of her favorite shows is Supernatural. Yes, she’s a Sam and Dean Winchester fan. Her favorite monster has to be a vampire and after reading Dracula and Ann Rice’s vampire series, fell in love with vampires. She also loves to write about angels and demons, the constant battle between bad and good.

M.L. Guida just finished obtaining her Master of Arts in Creative Writing and now currently, has two masters. The other being in a Master of Social Work.

She currently is writing for Passion in Print with her Angels of Death series and has a contract with Lyrical Press and will be releasing a new paranormal novella in March 2014. She is currently working on her new Legends of the Soaring Phoenix and plans to release the first novel in the summer of 2013.

She is a member of Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America.

And then they all die: thoughts on Storm of Swords

Warning: Winter is still coming, and there be spoilers in this here post.

I previously proclaimed my love of Game of Thrones and recently finished reading Storm of Swords, book #3 in the series. For those of you at home following the HBO series and not the books, the most recent series covered half of book 3. I have to say, I was about halfway through (and that’s only about 500 pages or so into the book) before I really got invested in this one. I don’t know why the openings of the past two books have been so uninteresting to me. Maybe it’s because they take the point of view of characters who play a very small role in the story. Still, I persevered because I was certain it would get better. It was a slog to get to that point, but the pace did eventually pick up, around the time when VERY BAD things started to happen. I’m starting to think of these books like a train wreck that I just can’t look away from. I know the characters I really like are going to die. I’m just sure of it. (And don’t tell me. I’ll read it when I get there.)

Aside from the ho-hum beginning, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The characters are usually what draws me into a story, and GRRM is great at creating compelling/repulsive characters. I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers for the series, which is hard to do because I can’t just avoid the internet while I read thousands more pages, but one tidbit I’d heard is that people seemed to start liking Jamie. This is a character I loathed in the first book. He threw a child out of a window and has a thing for his sister. No sympathy from me. And yet, I started to change my opinion of him in this book. I applaud the author for showing us this kind of character growth and making me grudgingly have a bit of respect for someone I previously despised.

As for the HBO series, I’ve only watched the first season on Netflix so far. It’s a bit graphic and over the top with the sex scenes, but the acting is great and season 1 was close to the book. I hear the following seasons start to change the plot, so I’m curious to see what I’ll think once I get through them. Still, the books are far better.

Biggest pet peeves in the book: the detailed descriptions of food (dear god, the number of courses at Joffrey’s wedding almost did ME in) and the endless cast of characters. My eyes glaze over whenever there was a long list of so and so, lord of such and such… I’m lucky I can keep track of the main characters.

And speaking of characters, here’s the rundown of my current favorites and those I love to hate:

Favorites: (I know, this means they’re going to die, right?)

Jon Snow: Still a favorite. Very pleased by the ending of the book, but it makes me worry for his safety.

Arya Stark: Again, still a favorite. I was hoping she’d stick with the Hound for a while. They make an interesting pair.

Ygritte: I liked the wildings a lot. They even seemed to have some gender equality. I really wished Ygritte and Jon had stayed in the cave, though.

Samwell Tarly: For all his whining, I really like Sam. He’s like an everyman and he’s so earnest and wants to do the right thing. I kept worrying he was going to be killed. Not yet, anyway.

Tyrion Lannister: Gotta love him, but I fear Tyrion is in way over his head. Shae’s betrayal just about broke my heart.

Jamie Lannister: Yes, he really did grow on me. He’s still an ass half the time. I keep hoping he and Brienne will get together.

Characters I despise:

Cersei Lannister: Still can’t stand her.

Tywin Lannister: Now we know why his kids are so screwed up.

Joffrey Baratheon: His wedding was indeed a joyous occasion.

Lysa Arryn: She is really messed up. I feel for her son.

Hmm, I can’t think of any others I truly loathed in this book so I have another category:

Characters I didn’t care much about:

Catelyn Stark: I still couldn’t get interested in Catelyn. I sympathize with her, truly I do, but she continued to put me off.

Stannis Baratheon: I struggled with the Davos chapters because I find Stannis so uninteresting. Not sure exactly why.

Daenerys Targaryen: She started off being interesting and the dragons are cool and I’m happy she’s freeing the slaves, but there wasn’t a lot of forward motion with her in this book. Maybe that will change in the next one.

So there you have it, my musings on Storm of Swords. Have you read it? What did you think? And if you’re watching the HBO series, how do you feel it compares with the books?

Summer Lovin’ Blog Hop: A summer of reading

Today I’m blogging about summer memories. I’m a fall/winter person, and I hate the heat and humidity we get here in the Mid-Atlantic, but I do love summer treats like ice cream and popsicles, sandals and bare feet, lazing about on a summer afternoon, twilight that seems to stretch on forever, and catching fireflies. My favorite summer memories are of being a kid and playing outside all summer long. That was back in the dark ages, before computers and the internet, even before VCRs, back when we were let loose on the neighborhood and didn’t have to come home until it was dark (yes, I’m old). We’d ride our bikes around and use our imagination to play cops and robbers or Star Wars or house, or we’d have a parent drive us to the town beach to go swimming. Often we’d engage in my favorite summer (and all year round) pastime: reading.

When I was a kid our local library had a summer reading program. You’d get a sheet to record all the books you read and every 10 books or so they would recognize your accomplishment by putting your name up on a special wall display for the event. I usually needed at least one extra sheet because I read so many books. A group of us kids on our street would get a blanket, bring our books outside, and sit and read together. I don’t think this was related to the library event. We just liked to read.

Once I decided we should start our own library. As a budding author I had the brilliant idea that we’d write all of the books ourselves. I might have been eight or nine. I’d already written a book as part of the library reading program because you got to do a project that was put on display at the library. I wrote (and poorly illustrated) a brilliant piece of fiction called “The Rebels Strike Back,” my take on Star Wars. The neighborhood library never did get off the ground. I think we ended up with five or six books, most written by me about my stuffed animals. But by then I knew I would write my own books someday. It just took a little longer than I expected.

I still have vivid memories of that library and the young adult section in the basement. I spent a lot of time perusing those shelves. It was strange when I finally moved upstairs to the adult and non-fiction section, mostly to do school research. Eventually the library was renovated, but it’s those young adult books that fueled my initial love of reading and writing.

What are some of your favorite summer memories? In addition to the blog hop prizes, I’ll be giving away a $5 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter! All you have to do is leave a comment any time during June 14-17. Please include your email!

Drop by any of the participating blogs below for other fun giveaways and be sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for these great prizes:

Grand Prize: A Kindle Paperwhite and some of our eBooks to read on it!

1st Prize: A $20 Amazon gift card, and a Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, more eBooks, bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, and more!

Participating blogs:

Shawna Romkey Author blog
Constance Phillips, A Writer’s Musings
Katie O’Sullivan
Summer Lovin’ – On Olympus…
Kate’s Blog
Kary Rader
Lindsey R. Loucks
Summer Lovin’, postcards, and maybe bookmarks
Jody A Kessler Summer Lovin’ Mountain Style
Official Website of Maer Wilson
Author Jean Murray ~ Wicked Romance Blog
Summer Lovin’ Heat
Hildie McQueen’s Author Site
Loni Lynne’s Blog Site
Author Avery Olive Blog
Wendy S. Russo
Cindy Young-Turner
Michelle Clay – The Darkside of Romance
the Marvelous Misadventures of Mrs. t
Shannon Eckrich

CMP Summer Lovin’ Blog Hop

Crescent Moon Press authors are ready for summer! We’ll be blogging about our summer loves, our romances, and how much we love summer! Have you ever had a summer fling? Do you have a favorite book about summer? What’s on your summer reading list? What are some great beach reads? We’re blogging about all of it!

Visit our blogs below and enter to win some great prizes between June 14 -17.

Grand Prize: A Kindle Paperwhite and some of our eBooks to read on it!

1st Prize: A $20 Amazon gift card, and a Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, more eBooks, bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, and more!

Drop by our blogs between June 14 and 17 and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

Good luck and hope to see you there!

Participating blogs:

Shawna Romkey Author blog
Constance Phillips, A Writer’s Musings
Katie O’Sullivan
Summer Lovin’ – On Olympus…
Kate’s Blog
Kary Rader
Lindsey R. Loucks
Summer Lovin’, postcards, and maybe bookmarks
Jody A Kessler Summer Lovin’ Mountain Style
Official Website of Maer Wilson
Author Jean Murray ~ Wicked Romance Blog
Summer Lovin’ Heat
Hildie McQueen’s Author Site
Loni Lynne’s Blog Site
Author Avery Olive Blog
Wendy S. Russo
Cindy Young-Turner
Michelle Clay – The Darkside of Romance
the Marvelous Misadventures of Mrs. t
Shannon Eckrich