Of Ink and Quille

    I can imagine writing a hot story about a Thai chef who seasons his dishes with lots of spice. Curries, Thai peppers, lemongrass, garlic. All those good things. The pans would literally sizzle in the kitchen. Yeah, I can see that. But what about their breath? I mean, do you want a kiss so hot your lips burn and make you reach for a glass of milk to cool it off? Probably not! With pastry, though, you don’t have that problem. Light fluffy pastry dough. Sensuous whipped cream filling. Sweet raspberry sauce drizzled over the top. Mmmm. I’ll admit there are dangers to pastry though. Frosting can get everywhere… like all over your sexy black dress – the one you wore to seduce the chef in. Syrupy sauces can also present problems. What if your lips get stuck together? Or other parts? Good grief. The only way to save the day might be to lick your way out! You can’t do that with hot peppers. Just ain’t gonna happen. No sir. I mean you can try it… but I’m just go...

As an author, especially in todays industry, you do have to have some ideas for marketing yourself, your books, your very brand. Something I hear all the time is to have a backlist of books, and I do. Currently I  have thirteen books out under my name and another seven under my pen name. Some of these books are doing well, others seem to have fallen off the reader's radar. In the hope that I can generate new interest, and thus improve my connection to my readers I'm going to try something different. Too often we forget what has come before, I can tell you what titles I have, what genres, even a bit about each of my books...but if a reader doesn't know about them what good will that do? I write for the love of it. Its part of me. But, I also have to be honest when I say the royalties are also a big reason why I continue to do this. So, each week I'm going to feature my backlist - tidbits, trivia, and more to refresh these stories in my fans' minds. This week we...

No longer content in the shadows of his older brothers and on a quest to find his destiny, Bryce Fraser's chosen path is fraught with danger, passion, and decisions. Can his unspoken love for spirited, beguiling Fallon be triumphant in a time of war and uncertainty, or will they both fall prey to the devious plans of a traitorous laird from a rival clan?   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCERPT : Loch Ryan Scotland, 1307 “ Wa . . . water,” Bryce mumbled, but there was no one there to listen.   His throat was parched and he ran his tongue over dry, cracked lips, but his action offered no relief. An entire loch lay only a few feet away, but he couldn’t muster the strength to drag himself to the bank and quench his thirst. “ Cold . . . so cold.” Despite the sun beating down on him, he’d swear he was encased in ice. His life’s blood seeped from his wounds, soaking the ground beneath him. He tried to raise his head, but the excruciating pain radiating across his che...

Inspiration Comes in Strange Places… Where did the idea for Make Me Stay Come from? One night back in January, I couldn't get the Katy Perry song The One That Got Away out of my head. I was humming it in the shower and bam, the idea for my newest novella hit me. I hopped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around myself and logged onto my computer as fast as I could. It was one of those moments where I had to get the scene down. It didn't even matter that I was wet and shivering. It was the first time in my writing journey where I started at the end of the book. The chapter kept playing out in my head, and I knew no matter what happened from the beginning of the story on, I had to end up with what I had just written. Now, don't ask me what that song has to do with a BDSM romance, I'm still not sure. But, for whatever reason those lyrics triggered something in my subconscious. The inspiration was so strong that I managed to write Make Me Stay i...

Chapter 20 When it came Fezariu leapt over the barrels and was flanked by Arshea and Vintaro with the other mercenaries holding a disciplined line on either side of him. They ran through the smoke rising from the flames and clouds of dust from the debris and soon found themselves in the pandemonium of the conflict raging throughout the square.    Across the expanse were hundreds of valkayan rebels engaged in an epic tussle with the colonists. Fezariu’s charge of Merelax Mercenaries smashed into the side of the closely packed valkayans who were already in disarray from the showers of arrows raining down on them from General Bayard’s archers. When the last of the bow strings came to rest the fate of Redemption was left to be decided by those fighting in the central square.    Fezariu’s line of mercenaries remained unbroken but many had fallen to the stubborn valkayan rebels whose determination was not swayed by the wilting of their numbers. Gradually the valkayans ...

Our special guest today is David Brown, author of Fezariu's Epiphany. David M. Brown was born in Barnsley in 1982 and first conceived the idea of Elenchera in college. His love of history and English led him to read these subjects at Huddersfield University. David is inspired by medieval history, Norse mythology and Japanese role-playing video games and anime films. He lives in Huddersfield with his wife Donna and their six rescue cats. Welcome to Of Ink And Quille Thanks for having me. As an author, what scares me the most... I call myself a fantasy writer and that’s what I’d always like to be. However, with the novels set in Elenchera I am trying to do something a little different with the genre. Does the sci-fi/fantasy genre need improving? I don’t think so, but what I want to do is make it more accessible to other readers. This is a venture I may not succeed in but I will certainly try my best and just see what happens. My debut novel, Fezariu’s Epiphany , enco...

Please welcome both authors to the blog and feel free to ask questions - they love talking about their work lol. Both Pembroke and Margaret write for eTreasures Publishing, a small press that's growing. To read their books you can check the out here .

Please join me in welcoming Pamela from Beachwalk Press for today. This new publishing house, is the new home for my reprint, The Cowgirl's Christmas. Welcome Pamela, thanks so much for joining us. First, I’d like to thank Patricia for giving me the opportunity to visit here today. A little about myself: I started in this business as a romance author, several years later I moved into editing, and eventually became the managing editor for Lyrical Press. Now with the opening of Beachwalk Press, I’ve stepped into the publisher position. Beachwalk Press is strictly a romance publisher. We publish all sub-genres of romance. Our books range in length from 15,000 words to 75,000 words. All of them have a rating of “sensual” or higher. We are currently publishing only eBooks, although we may eventually move into print publication. At this time our books are available in five different formats: pdf (for Adobe Reader), lit (for Microsoft Reader), mobi (for Mobi and Kindle...

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who stopped by and put their work up for discussion. Its appreciated and I'm hopeful that everyone learned something - even if it was to keep plugging away at it. Four or five years ago I had the pleasure of having a piece flogged by Mr. Rhamey - and I have to say it was one of the most emotional, most wrenching experiences of my life because I was new, I had visions of my great talent and skill, and had the ego of a newbie. So when he gave me his thoughts I was torn...but I realized inshort order that what he said made sense. Not only did I take what he said to heart - but I went on to revamp things and I have to admit that the book he flogged, that I had nearly thrown out, went on to be contracted, published, and made the number 1 best seller list for Champagne books in May of 2009. If anything, the experience taught me that while the truth isn't always a bed of roses, sometimes you have to pluck out the thorns and keep digging for...