The Blog Tour

Yesterday, I happened upon a post about blog tours by Parajunkie.com--the high and the low points. It is a great post, so I hope you take the opportunity to read Dishing Blog Tours.

During my ten years as a published author, I’ve written hundreds of guest posts and traveled throughout the blog world on tour. I’ve hosted authors at my blog and met lots of wonderful bloggers, readers and authors. This year I’ve begun to ponder the benefit of blog tours.

From a writer’s perspective blog tours are time-consuming and sometimes expensive. It takes time away from writing to schedule and write posts, answer interview questions and to prepare the promotional material required by each blogger. Once a promotional tour starts, extra time is required to comment on posts, interact with readers and to do the social media posts necessary to advertise your tour.

It seems to me that the latest trend with blog tours is to do a release day blitz or a cover reveal. This is where dozens of blogs post exactly the same material on the same day. I’m not a fan of this type of post, because if like me, readers follow many different blogs, they’re bound to come across posts that are exactly the same.

As both a reader and a blogger, I prefer material that is original, something that offers entertainment value. I want to learn about the author and how they came to write their book. I want further information about the book’s setting or special research the writer carried out while writing their book. This type of post is more likely to entice me to purchase a book.

While I’m speaking of the downside of blog tours, I might as well mention those authors who don’t bother to stop by and comment on their blog post or to interact with those who comment. Very frustrating for the host! Occasionally, there are bloggers who book a date with a blog and don’t send the relevant material in a timely fashion. On the opposite side of the coin, there are host bloggers who don’t post at the correct time.

Confession time—to my shame, I screwed up once and didn’t get my post up at the right time. I was mortified by my mishap and have made very sure I haven’t repeated this mistake. The author was very gracious and accepted my apology, but I still feel bad about this lapse on my part.

When it comes to blog tour companies, not all are made equal. It pays to ask around because some are more efficient and organized than others. If an author spends hours writing posts, they need to know readers will see their efforts. Sadly, some of the host blogs don’t receive much traffic and excellent, original posts languish and die unread.

This year authors are holding Facebook parties as an alternative or in addition to a blog tour. Facebook parties are fun and quick, and although they require preparation time, I’ve found they attract a large number of readers and generate buzz. Maybe parties of this nature are the new blog tour?

What do you think about blog tours? Have you done a blog tour before and did you find it/them beneficial? Do you intend to do more blog tours in the future?

Five Reasons to Read a Romantic Suspense or Mystery E-book

Five Reasons to read a Romantic Suspense or Mystery E-book

1. It’s a safe way to explore those murderous tendencies

2. You’re less likely to get in trouble with the law

3. A great way to test your puzzle solving skills

4. Share the excitement but not the danger

5. There’s romance along with the danger

Convinced?

Enter our contest and enjoy the benefits of reading a wonderful romantic suspense or mystery by a Not Your Usual Suspects author. Complete the rafflecopter below and go into a draw to win a romantic suspense or mystery e-book.

Do you have any reasons to add to my list above?

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Try A New Genre: Read a Mystery Today!

What? You’ve never read a mystery? No problem. We’re here to entice you to the dark side…

Check out our mystery authors, read their book snippets and enter the contest below to go into a draw to win one of their titles.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS by Wendy Soliman

“There you are then. Weymouth is far enough away to put the boat—” she stood and leaned over the transom, reading the name upside-down, “—the No Comment through her paces. Unusual name,” she added with a lilting smile that immediately put me on my guard.

“Kara, just so we’re clear. I am not going to take you to Weymouth.”

THE TUXEDOED MAN by Marcelle Dubé

A layer of frost covered the body, obscuring the features and turning the black pants white in spots.

A half dozen people stood looking down at the body in silence. Their flashlights barely cut through the ice fog swirling around them, first hiding, then revealing the body. Kate couldn’t even tell if there was a paramedic among them.

“You’re sure he’s dead?” she asked.

CAT BURGLAR IN TRAINING by Shelley Munro

“Tell me what?” I asked.

My father exchanged a doubtful glance with Ben before returning his attention to me. He rubbed his chin, the guilty silence broken by the loud rasp of his whiskers.

“Maybe once Amber is at school,” Hannah said, turning away to deftly flip a pancake.

The fishy stench wasn’t my imagination.

SCENE STEALER by Elise Warner

“For a moment our eyes met; his were frightened, seeking help. Was it my imagination gone wild? No. After all those years of teaching elementary school, I knew this child was afraid.”

DYING ART by Shirley Wells

"Furniture had been knocked over and there were papers everywhere. She was scared so she called the police and they found Prue lying at the bottom of the stairs. She was wearing a pair of pink pyjamas." Her voice cracked on that last statement.

MURDER COMES ASHORE by Julie Anne Lindsey

“Uh-uh. No you don’t. You can’t tell me a toddler found an ear on the beach and look at me like I’m the crazy one. Like this is everyday news. ‘Oh, I almost forgot. For lunch today I found a finger in my French fries.’” 

CONTEST: Have we seduced you to the dark side? Would you like to win one of the mysteries above? Complete the rafflecopter below and you’re in the draw to win one of our mysteries.

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The Forensic Dentist

Television shows and books often depict the forensic scientist. A scientist might focus on chemistry, which encompasses crimes against property such as burglary, or they might focus on biology where the crimes are against people—murders and rapes. The third category is where the scientists focus on drugs and toxicology.

In a recent Army magazine (Issue 448) I learned about the forensic dentist.

The main ways to identify human remains are finger prints, DNA and dental records. Visual identification can be difficult and fingerprints are not always available. DNA testing is expensive, and this is where the forensic dentist comes in.

Teeth are the hardest part of the body and in recent times have been used to identify human remains. Identifying a person in this manner is quick, inexpensive and very accurate.

Our local army personnel have helped in identifying soldiers killed during combat in the first Gulf war and after disasters such as the Christchurch earthquake, the Boxing Day tsunami and the Victoria bush fires.

The forensic dentist said the work was demanding and could be unpleasant, but it was also rewarding to help give closure to a grieving family.

I thought – wow. I can use this as an occupation in a future book, and a plot started shaping in my mind to write when I get time.

And this leads me to a question for all you mystery and romantic suspense fans out there.

Is there a type of character or occupation that you’d like to read about in the future? One that you haven’t read about so far, or do you have a favorite type/occupation that you gravitate to?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. She writes romance for Samhain Publishing and Ellora's Cave and loves to toss in dead bodies for interest. Her next release is a historical romance called Mistress of Merrivale, and it features murder and deeds most foul along with a marriage of convenience. You can learn more about Shelley and her books at www.shelleymunro.com 

Reading, Reading and More Reading!

My name is Shelley Munro, and I am an avid romance reader.

In fact my love of reading and books started me on the path to becoming an author. Like many romance readers, I’m fast and read a lot of books each year.

A few years ago, I decided to keep a record of the books I read each year, and from 2007 I’ve kept an Excel spread sheet of the titles I’ve read. It’s interesting to look back to see which books I’ve read and how my reading tastes have changed. For example in 2013 I read a lot of contemporary romances, I started listening to audio books and flirted with a few new genres such as New Adult. I read more e-books than print books these days, and my number of audio reads is increasing rapidly.

Reading challenges are a fun way of challenging yourself to read more, either in genres you love or in new genres. You’ll find lots of different challenges on the web at this time of the year. Last year I participated in the Goodreads’ Reading Challenge where I recorded 103 books for the year. My target was 100 books. This year I’ve signed up for the same target and have already read a book or two from my to-read mountain.

I’m always interested to learn how other readers operate.

Do you keep track of the books you read? If so, how do you do it? Have you or are you participating in the Goodreads Reading challenge or any other reading challenges?

Visit the South Seas with Robert Louis Stevenson

Mention Robert Louis Stevenson and the mind probably goes straight to Treasure Island and Kidnapped. During his short life, he wrote several books that have become classics, so when we visited Western Samoa, I made a beeline to view his house.

Robert suffered from ill-health for most of his life (thought to be tuberculosis) and spent time traveling through the South Pacific searching for a climate to ease his symptoms. In 1890, he and his wife Fanny purchased a block of land in Samoa. It's a gorgeous spot, in the middle of the bush and surrounded by vast grass lawns and lots of tropical plants. There is a beautiful view out to sea, the sort of view one would never tire of watching. Of course when Robert purchased the land on the slopes of Mt. Vaea, it was covered with bush and in a rough state. They lived in a shack while they cleared the site and built their house. Their estate was christened Vailima.

He lived there happily with his family and made friends with the locals while continuing to write. He died suddenly on 3 December 1894 at the age of 44.

This is a view of the mansion. As you can see it's quite big and has several bedrooms. It also has a ballroom and a library, which was my favorite spot.

This is the view of the bush from the house.

And here's the view of the sea from inside the house. 

We were given a guided tour around the house by Margaret who was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. I loved this place because we were actually allowed to touch. The valuable first editions, were of course, locked up, but there were none of the ropes and barricades found in stately homes.

The above photo shows the formal room. Note the fireplace - the only one in Samoa! The wall paper is all batik style and that's a lion skin on the floor.

This is a first edition of Kidnapped.

Robert Louis Stevenson's medicine cabinet complete with bottles and potions.

And this is me on the staircase.

Robert Louis Stevenson is buried on Mt. Vaea and overlooks Vailima. His wife Fanny, who was American, died in California. Her ashes were buried at the foot of her husband's grave.

If you ever visit Samoa I highly recommend a visit to Robert Louis Stevenson's house.

If you had the money, where would you build your dream house and office?

A Writing Companion

Writing is a solitary occupation. I do most of my writing sitting in my La-Z-Boy chair or if I want a change of scenery, I head out to a café.

When I write at home, I have an assistant. Here she is…meet Bella.

Bella’s job—as she sees it:

1. To make sure I don’t suffer from bottom spread. She nags me with loud barks when it’s time for me to do some exercise.

2. To take regular meal breaks. Again, her barking gets my attention, but she also comes to me chair and makes sure I haven’t missed the message that it’s food time.

3. To collect the mail. She likes to know that we can afford to pay for her food during the coming month and likes checks almost as much as I do.

4. To discourage door-to-door salesmen. No one should distract her partner when she’s in writing mode.

5. To suggest plotting breaks. She signals this by appearing with a tennis ball or her favorite toy.

6. To dispense cuddles when the writing isn’t going well. She edges her way onto my chair, nudging the laptop out of the way.

We have a pretty good partnership, Bella and I, and her excellent understanding of what makes a happy author brings fun to my writing process.

Do you have someone who helps you during the writing process or keeps you company when you’re reading?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy called Bella. Her latest release is Past Regrets, a contemporary romance from Samhain Publishing. To learn more about Shelley and her books visit her website at www.shelleymunro.com 

Writing Communities

Writing is a solitary occupation. Unless you’re co-writing a book, a writer must tackle the project alone, getting words on paper/screen until the work is done. Then comes the polishing and the submission process, which is also essentially something that is done alone.

If you’re feeling alone or lacking support from your nearest and dearest joining a writing community is the answer.

So why do I think writing communities are so great?

1. Networking – a community gives you the chance to meet likeminded people who are going through exactly the same trials as you. They “get” what you go through during the writing of a book.

2. Opportunities to attend conferences – writing communities often organize conferences with guest speakers and more opportunities to network with other writers. These conferences can be either in person or online.

3. Opportunities to pitch to agents and editors.

4. Market information – Communities pool information and are excellent places to learn about the various publishers or self-publishing.

5. Opportunities to learn with online classes

6. Opportunities to learn from guest speakers

7. Making friends and finding critique partners

But I can’t afford to join a community. What then?

While it’s true that communities like Romance Writers of America and the RWA chapters cost money to join, but there are others out there that are free or have a basic level of membership that is free.

Check out:

Absolute Write and the Absolute Write Water Cooler Forum—lots of information for writers of all genres.

Romance Divas – mainly for romance writers. The Divas forum is periodically closed to new members, so you might need to check back. Lots of market information for traditional and self-published authors.

Savvy Authors – they have basic membership for free and premium membership for $30 per year. They run excellent online courses and have lots of opportunities to pitch to editors and agents.

Other writing communities

Romance Writers of America - This is the biggest community if you're a romance writer. Once you join the RWA you can also join your local chapter or a special interest chapter as well.

If you live in Australia, Britain or New Zealand all have groups especially for romance writers.

Romance Writers of Australia http://www.romanceaustralia.com/

Romance Writers of New Zealand http://www.romancewriters.co.nz/

Romance Novelists Association http://www.rna-uk.org/

Are you a member of a writing community? If so, which one and what made you join?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. Her next release is Past Regrets, an erotic contemporary romance from Samhain Publishing. If you would like to learn more about Shelley and her books visit her website at www.shelleymunro.com

BICHOK – Getting in the Groove

Write a little every day and soon writing becomes a habit.

This is great advice, but it’s much easier to nod and agree than move forward and obey. I’ve been away a lot this year, and while I take my laptop with me, most times I end up doing a little plotting and catching up on my reading instead of actually adding words to my work in progress. On my return home I always find it hard to get into the swing of writing again. I tell myself I’m busy doing laundry and unpacking when really I have my feet firmly in Procrastination City.

I’ve developed several strategies to get my butt in a chair and my hands on the keyboard. (BICHOK)

1. Join in some speed sprints #1k1hr on Twitter. My competitive streak won’t let me report a low total.

2. Use Freedom http://macfreedom.com/  to block Internet access for a selected amount of time. This works well for me because when I’m procrastinating I do a lot of playing on the Internet. I tell myself I’ll just check out Facebook and get sucked down the black hole. Freedom stops me from doing this.

3. Take myself off to one of my favorite cafes and set up camp there. I call them my coffice. I try to pick one without Internet access and usually get a lot of work done because I can’t get up and wander around.

As well as getting me writing, I meet interesting people in my coffice. A few months ago a man at a neighboring table asked me how to spell a couple of words. Then he asked me about wording his letter. It turned out he was writing a letter to a judge and if the court session didn’t go well, he’d end up in jail. He’d done bad things, he told me. I wasn’t brave enough to ask for details.

After writing the letter to his satisfaction, he left to change for his court appearance. Weeks later, I was busy working in the café and he said hello. He happily told me the letter did the trick with the judge. I’m sure there’s fodder for a story there!

How do you get into the writing groove when every particle of you wants to do something else?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. Her next release is Past Regrets, an erotic contemporary romance from Samhain Publishing. If you would like to learn more about Shelley and her books visit her website at www.shelleymunro.com

Villains—A Battle of the Sexes

As writers and readers of romantic suspense, thrillers and mysteries we’re all familiar with villains. They come in varied shapes and sizes, from different backgrounds, and can be male or female.

When a writer builds a villain they:

1. Give them motivation for their actions (even if the character’s thinking is skewed).

2. Give them a few good points to go with all the bad stuff because this makes the character more rounded and maybe a bit likeable.

3. Give them a great name because every character deserves a great name.

4. Give them a similar conflict to the hero or heroine, but a different way to solve their problems.

5. Steer clear of clichés!

But when it comes to sex, that’s when a writer can change things up. After all, men are from Mars and women come from Venus. J

A female villain:

1. She can use her sex appeal, her feminine wiles to get exactly what she wants. Seduction and sex as a weapon.

2. She can exert force and use guns, knives and other weapons to meet her goal, but she’s more likely to use subtlety.

3. She can act ruthlessly and without remorse.

4. She can be cute and sweet and have an inner core of steel. Think of some of those Southern Belles!

5. She does manipulation with flare.

6. She’s excellent at multi-tasking and is extremely intelligent.

Examples of Female Villains:

1. Annie Wilkies in Misery (movie and book)

2. Cruella de Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians

3. Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction – that poor bunny!

4. The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

5. Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wars Prada

A male villain:

1. He’s more likely to be upfront rather than sneaky. In most circumstances he won’t beat around the bush or aim for subtlety.

2. He’s more likely to carry out the tasks himself rather than delegate because he likes to control the situation.

3. He’s good at planning and strategy, especially if he has a military/police background.

4. He’s usually experienced with different types of weapons.

5. He’s intelligent and doesn’t make the same mistake twice.

6. He’s more likely to use brute force.

Examples of Male Villains:

1. Jack Randall in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.

2. Darth Vador in Star Wars.

3. Lash in JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood.

4. James Ardmore in The Pirate Next Door by Jennifer Ashley.

5. Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space.

6. Gollum in Lord of the Rings

Male or female, I’m sure we agree that the character needs to be multi-faceted, motivated and interesting. He or she shouldn’t become a laughable cardboard cutout. Here’s a link to an article on Creating a Credible Villain that gives some great tips and another link about questions to ask your villain character.

Do you prefer reading/writing male or female villains? Do you have any fictional favorites? Is there anything that makes you cringe when it comes to villains?

Note – This post was inspired by a guest post at my blog written by Carol Van Atta, The Female Villain: She’s Alive, Well and Ready to bite.

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. To learn more about Shelley and her books visit her website at www.shelleymunro.com 

The Little Book That Could by Shelley Munro

Not long after I was published, my editor suggested I write a short story of around 15,000 words. Up to that point all the books I’d written were around 50,000 plus and this was much shorter. My first reaction was sure! I mean, how hard could it be? Writing is writing, right?

The idea part was easy since I’d been dying to write a paranormal romance featuring feline shapeshifters. While many authors and readers thought werewolves were the best things since sliced bread, I dreamed of glossy black leopards. Full of enthusiasm, I dived into the story and wrote about the small country town of Middlemarch. The town is also home to a community of black leopard shifters and suffers from a shortage of marriageable women. In order to attract women to the district the community decides to host the inaugural Middlemarch Single’s ball. (The town of Middlemarch is a real place and the idea for the Single’s Ball hit our news, which is where I stole it from. The ball takes place this year around Easter if you’re interested in attending.)

The shifter community hopes the women might exert a calming presence on some of the young males. Saber Mitchell, the oldest brother in the Mitchell family, wants at least some of his unruly younger brothers married off since their shenanigans are giving him gray hair. Unfortunately for Saber, the trap springs on him. He takes one look at an attractive lady dressed in red and muscles everyone else aside.

Pleased with my effort I sent the story off to my editor and settled back to wait for the contract offer. An email duly arrived, but the reply wasn’t what I hoped. My editor liked the story idea and the characters. She loved the setting and the humor I incorporated, but there was way too much plot for the story length. Would I like to rewrite the story into something longer?

Back to the drawing board. By this time I’d fallen in love with the characters and the town of Middlemarch myself, so I set about lengthening the story. Scarlet Woman doubled in length by the time I’d finished, and my editor said yes to the revised submission. Yay! Readers enjoyed the story and wanted to know what happened to the rest of Saber’s brothers. The Middlemarch Mates series was born and turned into twelve books, all set in the town of Middlemarch.

Since my first short story attempt, I have learned a thing or two and have managed to write several successful short manuscripts. I do find them tricky, though, and struggle to keep my plots to a bare minimum. Writing Scarlet Woman taught me a lot about writing short even though the book itself is novella sized. I like to think of Scarlet Woman as my little book that could.

If you enjoy erotic romances about family and small towns make sure you grab your free copy of Scarlet Woman (free from Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance e-books from 28 Jan to 10 Feb 2013) and also Lightning Strikes Twice, which takes place at the same dance as Scarlet Woman (free from Ellora’s Cave and All Romance e-books)

Do you enjoy reading shorter length stories? Do you enjoy writing them?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. She's currently hard at work on contemporary story that coincidentally features family and small towns. To learn more about Shelley and her books visit her website.

CHRISTMAS: THAT'S THE WAY WE DO IT

The authors of Not Your Usual Suspects share their holiday season with you! We wish all our readers, friends, family and colleagues - and people who are all of these *g* - the very best wishes for the season, and a sled-ful of luck, love, peace and success in 2013. We hope to share it all with you.  

Today we think about our favourite Christmas seasonal traditions....

What about the special food you cook, the songs you sing? Do you have a specific present-giving schedule, and woe betide those who try to buck the trend? Do you have experience of different decorations and celebrations from around the world? Feel free to share with us!


Clare London
website | blog | facebook | twitter

We always have stocking presents first thing in the morning - it used to be the only thing that kept the Sons from waking us up at some ungodly hour OL. Then presents from under the tree. Then there'd be one small present each left for later in the day, when we were stuffed with food and feeling the onset of Anticlimax.
My sister insists that everyone takes a turn opening a present, one at a time - it means she can keep up with who's getting what, and it also extends the excitement to the max!


Marcelle Dube
website

Some of the best Christmases I’ve had came when I moved North to the Yukon. It felt very strange being so far from family, and a little lonely. So a bunch of friends decided to get together for a potluck Christmas. The host cooked the turkey and provided the table (rule #1 was that it had to be a sit-down dinner) and the guests brought everything else. Every year, hosting duties fell on a different friend, then on a different couple as people paired up, and then a different family as our circles grew. Eventually, it became too unwieldy (it’s hard to host a sit-down dinner for 40 people in your dining room…) and we had to quit. But those friends became our Northern family.


Julie Wachowski
website

Christmas morning, we gather in the living room. Open presents from each other—mom, dad, and kids—while we nosh on chocolate croissants for breakfast. Then we start the movies! We watch 3 or even 4 movies over the course of the day. Lounge in our jammies, eat popcorn and leftovers. Best. Day. Ever.


Jean Harrington
website

This is not my family tradition, but it's a great one. A Southern friend said every December, she and her brothers would take their rifles and go out in the woods to shoot mistletoe out of the trees. On the other hand, my brother and I just hung up our stockings. 

From Clare: I can't believe I found a pic of mistletoe-shooting on the web...LOL



Toni Anderson
Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter


I stunned my Irish in-laws the first Christmas morning I spent with them because it was 9 AM and I asked where was the sherry? However, they soon got on board for this crucial Broseley Beddow tradition. As a young child I remember visiting all my elderly relatives on Christmas morning and being given sherry at every one. I have a high tolerance for sherry :)


Wynter Daniels
website 

The winter holidays in Florida don a faux chilly face. You might see frosted windows created with cans of fake frost and sparkly white blankets around lawn décor sitting on green grass! We celebrate Hanukkah at my house and I have just as many decorations—inside the house, at least—as my Christian friends and neighbors. A Mickey Mouse Hanukkah advent calendar, my most unique decoration, hangs near the door. I string a Happy Hanukkah over the glass sliders leading to the pool. We even have Hanukkah stockings around the fireplace! When our children were younger, we gave them a small gift every one of the eight nights, with the biggest one presented on the eight night after we lit the menorah for the last time that year. Now we give them things like gas gift cards and fancy electronics that my husband and I have only a vague knowledge of. One of the highlights of our celebration is the night I make my latkes, or potato pancakes. I usually invite some non-Jewish friends over to join us, which is a coveted ticket since I make the best latkes this side of the Mississippi!


Elise Warner
website

Pre-Christmas in Lucca--a walled city--31miles west of Florence, Italy. We find a small boutique and remember the few presents we haven't purchased yet. the proprietor doesn't speak English and I fumble with my cassette learned 50-words of Italian before remembering the pocket dictionary I bought for the trip. Everyone in the shop takes turns with the dictionary and with laughter and pantomime I describe the friends we need gifts for. The 105-year old mother of our best friend, the neighbor who takes care of our mail, the one who over-waters our plants and momentos for ourselves. We manage to board the wrong train as we head back to Florence--a part of our adventure in a city we'll never forget.


Julie Moffett
website

The food we cook is usually turkey, pumpkin and pecan pies, sweet potatoes, ambrosia. Lots of other sweets, too, of course!




Maureen A. Millerwebsite

We are Ukrainian, but it has been a long time since we've celebrated Ukrainian Christmas. But, boy when we did, was it a big thing!! Ukrainian Christmas is on January 6th. When everyone is back at work and back at school, we used to get all excited because the 'big day' was still to come. Even to this day if my dad passes a house with Christmas decorations up well past Christmas, he'll say, "Oh, they must be Ukrainian." LOL

It was a big feast held at my great-grandmother's house, which was actually a portal to another time. Her house was so old it had a hand-roller to wash clothes, and it had a pump in the back yard for fresh water. It was so old, I hate to admit that there were a couple family wakes on the very same dining room table that we celebrated Christmas on. (I know...too much information!) Fortunately, that was before my time.

Anyway, back to the festive part. Everyone in the family came over for Ukrainian Christmas. My great-grandmother, the stoic old Russian woman who spoke maybe three words during the course of the evening. My great-uncles and aunts, and a thousand assorted cousins. Uncle Paul singing Silent Night in Ukrainian. Aunt Marion making lumpy mashed potatoes. Uncle Wes with a cigar in his mouth at the table. My cousin Pauly, who is a famous doctor now and would rather be caught dead than referred to as "Pauly", was a mere youngster at the time. There are old home movies of me as a little tyke standing at the dining room table, waving my hands in the air because my grandmother wasn't opening my Christmas present quick enough for me.

These were good times. I'd like to believe in an afterlife...and that I'll be able to go back and have Ukrainian Christmas with the whole family again one day.

Entries collected and posted by Clare - any pictures that haven't been provided by the authors have been chosen by me, and any queries about them can be directed here.

THE NIGHT BEFORE XMAS - with the NYUS authors

The authors of Not Your Usual Suspects share their holiday season with you! We wish all our readers, friends, family and colleagues - and people who are all of these *g* - the very best wishes for the season, and a sled-ful of luck, love, peace and success in 2013. We hope to share it all with you.  

Today we think about "The Night before Xmas...." 

What are your favourite rituals or routines to get ready for Xmas? Midnight Mass, putting up stockings, drinking a gallon of sherry, watching Jaws...whatever! Is it a lull before the storm for you - or the last panic? Share the news with us :)


Clare London
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Christmas Eve is the time to creep around in the afternoon doing my shift at Santa's Grotto - i.e. wrapping the presents behind closed doors :) - then in the evening, we toast the season with a glass of Kir Royale, hang the traditional stockings on our bedroom door(s), and try to get enough rest to face the long and over-exciting day ahead. What I love most is enjoying the mixed bunch of decorations on our tree - they come from all around the country, and the world, they're from differnt times of our lives, from friends and family, some made by the children, some from charity stalls, some from upmarket stores. It's the story each has to tell that's precious. This year, one of my best friends in the US sent me a decoration for the tree - she couldn't have chosen a lovelier gift! and it has pride of place.

Also this is the first year all the family are in the Adult bracket - Son#2 passed 18 this month - but we're still like giggly kids :). Last year, we all bravely stayed up to go to Midnight Mass among a rare sprinkling of snow (or it may just have been thick rain *g*), only to find it had been rescheduled to an earlier 9pm, because the church didn't think people could or would stay awake! Oh well - home again to more Kir Royale :)


Marcelle Dube
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I love Christmas Eve. In my family, it’s the lull between the craziness of getting ready for Christmas and Christmas day itself. Christmas Eve is when my daughters and I cuddle up on the couch (usually under a warm blanket and accompanied by hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps) and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas – my all-time favourite Christmas movie. But it has to be the animated version, the one with Boris Karloff singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.



Julie Wachowski
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Our whole family (20+) gathers to share an enormous pot luck dinner, and then watch the kids open presents. Grown-ups pick names and are allowed to buy one gift with an iron-clad spending limit. The stories created to account for savage violations of the dollar limit are the best part of the night. (“It was double 50% off with a coupon at the after-midnight sale!”)


Jean Harrington
website

In the 19th century, my great grandparents immigrated to the US from Germany, bringing many Old World customs along with them. At Christms time, my mother recalled that her grandparents would set up a real fir tree in the front parlor, and the children in the family would festoon it with paper garlands and strings of cranberry and popcorn. Her grandfather would attached candles to the branches, taking care that each one had flame clearance above it. On Christmas Eve, the whole family would gather around the tree while grandpa carefully lit each candle. They would enjoy the glowing spectacle for ten or fifteen minute, and then he would carefully extinguish the lights. Oh, a very important part of the festivities was the bucket of water standing at the ready. Just in case.
pic courtesy of carolsgardenblogspot.com


Toni Anderson
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Moving to Canada and leaving all our family behind meant we had to reinvent our Christmas rituals. Nowadays we head across to visit friends and have a sledding day. This can be good or bad depending on the windchill :-D I think the coldest we ever did it was about -40C and that was over PDQ :-) . When we get home we have mince pies and sherry and read 'The Night Before Christmas' in front of the fire.
Love it.


Anne-Marie Becker
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We set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. We also read "Twas the Night Before Christmas." After the little ones have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, hubby (ahem, Mr. Claus) and I sneak off to have a glass of wine and watch "Die Hard," Trading Places," "A Christmas Story," "The Ref," or "Elf" (traditional Christmas movies, for sure) while we do the last-minute wrapping and assembling.



Elise Warner
website

Placing my red Snoopy candle holder on the piano surrounded by Christmas cards and notes from family and friends. An elf dangles his feet from the edge of the piano and a globe with drifting snow adds to the season's festivities.
pic courtesy of Favim.com


Julie Moffett
website

When I was a child and with my children, we always open one present on Christmas Eve. It's so exciting. Then we have candlelight service at church and after we are home, we put out carrots for the reindeer and frosted Christmas cookies for Santa. No matter how hard we stayed up (or my kids try), they always fell asleep before Santa came. Sometimes before the present opening, we might watch a Christmas movie like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman.


Shelley Munro
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Christmas isn’t Christmas to me until I hear the song Snoopy’s Christmas sung by The Royal Guardsmen. This is my all-time favorite song. While searching YouTube I found this video.

Entries collected and posted by Clare - any pictures that haven't been provided by the authors have been chosen by me, and any queries about them can be directed here.

Festive Offerings to Entertain

During the roll up to Christmas I like to get in the mood by watching, listening and reading festive offerings. With that in mind I thought I’d mention a few of my favorites.

Music:
Christmas isn’t Christmas to me until I hear the song Snoopy’s Christmas sung by The Royal Guardsmen. This is my all-time favorite song.



While searching YouTube I found this video. See if your favorite is here.



Movies:

I have two favorites. The first is an action movie featuring Bruce Willis. Die Hard, the first movie, is one of my standby action movies and it just happens to take place during Christmas. Yippee ki yay!



The other movie I like to watch is Love Actually. It’s a romantic comedy with a great cast including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Bill Nighy just to mention a few. Each time I watch this movie I notice new things and the ending always makes me smile.



Books:

I never have time to read Christmas books. I buy them and run out of time. This year, however, I’m running away to Hawaii for Christmas, and I intend to read all the books I’ve saved from previous years while relaxing by the pool. Note – there might be a fruity cocktail or two involved. I have Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry, A Regency Christmas anthology and a Clockwork Christmas, a Carina Press offering all loaded on my iPad ready to go.

This year I discovered audio books in a big way. I’d love to listen to a few Christmas stories, but haven’t come across any yet. If you have some to suggest, let me know.

Finally, let me head into promo territory to tell you about my Christmas book. Christmas is Coming is book two in my Fancy Free series. And yes, it’s a naughty one. These characters got up to mischief before Christmas. Please don’t hate them for it :)

Christmas is coming. Give your lover the gift of pleasure…

Gaby Montgomery works for Fancy Free as a condom designer. Recently she’s been designing sex toys and testing her inventions with fellow designer Marc, but they’ve parted ways. The timing couldn’t be worse because she’s stuck without a willing test subject for her sexy products.

Gaby’s roommates Liam Richardson and Fletch Darcy both want a serious relationship with Gaby, and now that she’s free, it’s time to make a move. But how do they decide which one will date Gaby? Fletch finally suggests they share her. Liam is skeptical but agrees the scheme might work, which allows Fletch to move on to step two of his romance plan. Fletch doesn’t just want Gaby, he wants Liam as well.

The loving is hot, their days full of fun product testing, exquisite pleasure and laughter. Everything is perfect until the outside world intrudes, putting their budding relationship under stress. This time their love and friendship might not stand the pressure.

Publisher’s Note: Want to have more fun with the characters in this book, including finding out more about those spaceship sightings, then pick up Fancy Free along with the books in the Talking Dog series. They’re an out-of-this world experience.

Read an excerpt
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Do you enjoy Christmas-themed stories, movies and television? Do you have any favorites or ones you’d recommend?

What Lies Around the Corner?

I’m a huge fan of English TV mysteries and watch them whenever I want to relax. My favorite is Midsummer Murders, and it never ceases to amaze me how the pretty English villages hide a multitude of secrets and simmering undercurrents. They build and build and suddenly there are bodies popping out of the woodwork.

I thought I’d do a fun post on villages today and put you all to work.

Lower Slaughter, Cotswolds

Dartmoor village

Now imagine you live in one of these villages and you’re going for an early morning walk. You turn the corner and discover a…

Personally, I think there could be zombies around the corner in Dartmoor, and I think the local postie is lying on the ground in the Cotswolds with an arrow in his back and his letters and parcels strewn all around him.

Go wild! What do you think lies around the corner and how did they die?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand and writes sexy romances, usually with a body strewn here or there, for Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave and Samhain Publishing. You can learn more about Shelley and her books at www.shelleymunro.com

A Taste of Poison

One of the cool things about writing books with mystery and suspense elements is that you get to kill people off. The murder can be behind the scenes where the reader doesn’t see the grisly stuff, or the murder can be graphic and gritty and give readers nightmares. And then there are all the interesting methods of killing characters off. Choices galore and so much fun—for the writer that is!

Today I’m going to discuss poison. I’ve heard it said poison is a woman’s weapon. Since food is the ideal vehicle for poison and food preparation is often the domain of women, it’s simple to slip a little extra into the dinner. With poison, all the murderer requires is a way to introduce it to the victim’s system and their job is done. They don’t have to get up close and personal or get blood on their hands.

Poison was used by ancient tribes, within the Roman Empire and in Medieval Europe. Many noble families employed people to taste their food before they dined, so if the meal did contain poison, the taster keeled over first. These days most poisonings occur accidently, and the victims are often children.

Arsenic

This is a common poison in fiction, and it was very popular with the Borgias and de Medicis.

Arsenic is usually swallowed, but it can also be inhaled in industrial circumstances. Symptoms of arsenic poisoning include gastric problems, jaundiced skin, a skin rash, pain and vomiting. The skin becomes cold and victims become dizzy and weak from in drop in blood pressure. These symptoms are followed by convulsions and a coma. Death finally occurs due to circulatory failure. Not a nice way to go!

In the eighteenth century a Frenchman killed off his wives with arsenic. During sex he used a goatskin sheath to protect himself, but he placed a lethal dose of arsenic on the outside of the sheath. The women absorbed the arsenic during intercourse and died. Authorities became suspicious when so many of his wives died. He was found guilty and hanged.

Cyanide

Cyanide comes in three common forms: potassium cyanide, sodium cyanide and hydrogen cyanide. The potassium and sodium forms are solid and have the distinctive bitter almond scent while hydrogen cyanide is a gas. Cyanide can be swallowed, inhaled and absorbed through the skin. The cyanide interferes with the enzymes responsible for getting oxygen into the body. Death is fairly quick—short of breath, dizziness, nausea and a drop in blood pressure are some of the symptoms. Although the bitter almond scent is an indicator of the presence of cyanide, not everyone is able to smell this aroma.

Agatha Christie used cyanide in several of her mysteries. I distinctly recall Hercule Poirot detecting the scent of bitter almonds in a recent TV episode.

These are only two poisons to consider—there are countless others for your characters to use to rid themselves of troublesome foes.

When deciding to use poison as a murder weapon consider the following:

1. Is your book a historical or a more contemporary title?

Poisons were readily available from apothecaries in years past, and the possession of poisons didn’t prove guilt. It is more unusual to have poison readily available these days (apart from general household cleaners) and it isn’t always easy to purchase poison. Some require a special license before they can be purchased.

2. Think about the symptoms and the dosage required to kill off a character. i.e. their size, age and sex.

3. Do you want a quick death or do you want them to suffer for weeks?

4. Is there an antidote available?

5. How are you intending to introduce the poison? Will the character swallow, inhale or absorb the poison through their skin?

6. Do you want the crime discovered quickly or not? Maybe the murderer needs time to set up an alibi.

Poison is an interesting addition to the writer’s arsenal, and it might be just the weapon for you!

Authors: Have you used poison as a murder weapon before? What is the most interesting way you’ve killed off a character?

Readers: What are your favorite murder weapons in books? Do you like the sly murderer who uses poison or would you prefer a gun? Do you like your murders to take place off the page or do you like to experience them along with the characters?  

Sources: Deadly Doses, a writer’s guide to poisons by Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand and writes sexy romances, usually with a body strewn here or there, for Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave and Samhain Publishing. You can learn more about Shelley and her books at www.shelleymunro.com

Revenge: What Goes Around Comes Around

This year I’ve been watching Revenge, a television series featuring Madeline Stowe and Emily VanCamp. It’s about a young woman who returns to the Hamptons seeking revenge against the couple who set up her father. Her father was tried and incarcerated for organizing the bombing of a plane. He left papers and documents for his daughter, proving his innocence and detailing the different people who played a part in his imprisonment.

Each week Emily Thorne goes after a different person and tugs on strands of the past, forcing the cast of characters to react. In the last episode I watched, Emily is starting to realize that innocent people can get caught in the fallout. She starts to waver in her pursuit of revenge.

I used the theme of revenge in my historical mystery romance, TheSpurned Viscountess. My hero Lucien is focused on discovering the identity of the men responsible for murdering his first wife. He lets his estranged family organize a second marriage for him, but he’s totally indifferent about his new bride. At the start of the story the only thing he’s interested in is revenge. It takes time for him to appreciate his new wife and come to accept the loss of his first wife.

Revenge is a fairly common theme in romances, and it works particularly well with romantic suspense stories. In most of the stories I’ve read the character seeking revenge usually comes to realize that success won’t change the circumstances or bring the wronged person back. The characters learn to accept and forgive.

I’m not sure how the TV series ends since I’m still watching the show each week. As a writer, I’m enjoying the slow build and the way that each action by the heroine brings consequences. She doesn’t always achieve her goals because the other characters move to their own drummer. I think this makes her seem more sympathetic as a character. We know her father was wrongly accused, and we want her to succeed, yet we don’t want the innocent players hurt either.

So, my questions for you today:

1. Do you enjoy the revenge type plot?
2. Do you think that the character seeking revenge should be successful or should they come to accept that they can’t change the past? Should they move on and embrace the future?