Today's blog is magical

I've known Ann Marcela for six years now (maybe longer) and I am thrilled to have her as a guest on my blog today. She's talking about her book binging habit and her Magic series, which is wrapping up with two book, Unexpected Magic and Legendary Magic.


Ann, take it away in Five... Three... One...


FIVE FUN FACTS

• Favorite beverage:  A really good red wine
• One habit you just can’t break:  Buying books.
• Do you sing in the shower:  No
• Do you dream in color:  Yes
• TV shows on DVR?  None. We’re probably the last people with no DVR.  If I miss a show, I watch it on my computer.

THREE QUESTIONS

• What is your reoccurring dream? Trying to get somewhere.
• Shoes or purses?  Comfortable clothes.
• Favorite ways to spend a rainy day?  Reading or napping

ONE SENTENCE

Using these four words, write a sentence: Advertisement. No. Grab. Red.

When certain advertisements come on, I see red, grab the remote, hit the mute button, and feel absolutely no regret about it.

YOUR TURN:

The last two books in The Magic Series are out as e-books on Kindle, Nook, and other sites, including Smashwords and All Romance eBooks.

The Blurbs

Unexpected Magic:  Magic practitioners and their soul mates always live happily ever after. But what if a mate dies young? What happens when two who lost their mates come together, and they’re both Swords who can destroy evil magic items? And they develop a new way to generate magic energy? And a deranged, jealous Sword uses an evil item against them? Unexpected magic, indeed!

Legendary Magic:  Once the Wielder of the Pinnacle of Heaven waged war against the Manipulator of the Depths of Hell and sent the Depths into the abyss. The Depths has risen again, but the Wielder must learn how to use his weapon. To help him comes the most powerful Sword ever born, who also happens to be his soul mate, but with a secret that may keep them apart at the worst time--when the battle is upon them.

Where to find Ann:

• http://annmacela.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-Macela/83612222479?ref=ts

Friday Five...Three...One... is a chance for guest bloggers to share a bit about themselves in a fun format of Five Facts, Three Questions and One Sentence. If you'd like to be a guest on Friday Five, Three, One drop me an email. Put 'Friday Five' in the subject line.

Friday Five with one of RWA's most visible member

Welcome to Friday Five…

Three…

One

Today RWA's 2011 Service Reward Winner is our guest on Friday Five.

An Ohio native, Amy Atwell has lived all across the country and now resides on a barrier island in Florida with her husband and two Russian Blues. She worked in professional theater for 15 years before turning from the stage to the page to write fiction. When not writing, Amy runs the WritingGIAM online community for goal-oriented writers and has recently launched the Author E.M.S. online resource library, which is she's going to tell us more about.

FIVE FUN FACTS:

1. Favorite beverage:  Hot tea at breakfast. I brew a blend of English Breakfast and Earl Grey.
2. One habit you just can’t break:  Being organize.
3.  Do you sing in the shower:  Yes, doesn’t everyone? In fact, if someone invented soap shaped like a microphone—I’m just saying’…
4.  Do you dream in color:  Yes, and everyone should try it.
5.  TV shows on DVR? No, but occasionally On Demand.

THREE QUESTIONS

1. What is your reoccurring dream? I have a weird, eerie one. It’s night on a large farm. There’s an old Victorian era farmhouse and a barn and huge oak trees. It’s dark and the moonlight is silvery blue. I often see the setting from above, as if I’m floating or flying like an owl. Or I’m carefully picking my way through the buildings and around the woods. I’m never scared, just curious. I’m alone. And I can’t help wondering if I’m recalling some previous life in this dream.
2. Shoes or purses?  Shoes. Hands (or feet) down. I rarely carry a purse. If it doesn’t fit into my pockets, I really don’t need it.
3. Favorite ways to spend a rainy day? I love the sound of rain, so I usually come to a complete stop. Curl up with a book or a cat (or both), or just lie on my back, listen to the rain and let myself think. 

ONE SENTENCE

Using these four words, write a sentence: Set up. Hostage. Burn. Golf.

Realizing she’d been set up and was now hostage to a blind date with the golf pro, she whispered to her matchmaking friend, “You will burn in hell for this.”

  

YOUR TURN:

Feel free to give us a teaser about your new book, the new website and information where to find you online.

Thanks, Keena!  I’m always happy to talk about my latest endeavors. While I have two digital books available, LYING EYES from Carina Press and my self-published historical AMBERSLEY (which made the Top 100 on both Kindle and Nook), my latest project has been a nonfiction venture. A big venture.

I just launched a website called Author E.M.S. (Entrepreneur.Management.Solutions). At its heart, Author EMS is designed to be a one-stop resource center for all questions relating to the business of being an author. I think of it as a giant online library with a growing collection of useful tips, short answers, how-to instructions and links to other web resources.

Our library has information about Business Basics, Promotion, Facebook, Amazon, Self-Publishing, Websites & Blogging and more. We have public pages and a blog that are freely available to everyone and a Members’ Area accessible to members who pay an annual fee. I’m thrilled that our introductory fee is just $36. That equals just $3 per month for all the resources.

We’ve also got a cool, searchable database of online book reviewers. There are over 500 reviewers profiled, and authors can search by genre and format to find the reviewers best suited for a specific book release. You can also search for reviewers that offer author interview or advertising on their site.

And we offer forums, where author discussions can be segmented by topic. Now you can follow only the topics that interest you. And it’s all very searchable. Our site is also a no-advertising zone. Like any library, it’s all about the information, not about a lot of glitz.

So, whether you’re unpublished, a debut author, a technophobe, an indie author, or an established author trying to master the online world, we hope you’ll check out the site and see what it might offer you.

Find Amy online:

• Website
• Magical Musings
• Facebook
• Twitter 
• GoodReads

Friday Five...Three...One... is a chance for guest bloggers to share a bit about themselves in a fun format of Five Facts, Three Questions and One Sentence. If you'd like to be a guest on Friday Five, Three, One drop me an email. Put 'Friday Five' in the subject line.

Friday Five: 9 billion and counting

Friday Five…
Three…
One

This week's guest is women's fiction author Victoria Marshal, who is here to talk about her new book, Bookended by Beauty Queens. But she also dishes about her addictions to coffee, knuckle cracking and DVRs.

Victoria, the blog is yours...


FIVE FUN FACTS:

1. Favorite beverage: Venti Starbuck’s Caramel Macchiato. I am addicted to them. 9-billion calories and all.
2. One habit you just can’t break: Cracking my knuckles. It’s so disgusting, but I do it unconsciously.
3. Do you sing in the shower: No, it’s the only chance I have for quiet anymore, so I don’t want to wreck it with my off-key singing.
4. Do you dream in color: Absolutely! Loads and loads of bright, vivid colors.
5. TV shows on DVR? Yep, I don’t have time for commercials anymore.  I zip through them save myself 20 minutes here and there.

THREE QUESTIONS

1. What is your reoccurring dream? I don’t really remember my dreams. Except those pee dreams that wake me up.
2. Shoes or purses? BOTH! My closet looks like I’m running an accessories store. They are the only things I can buy and know they will always fit just right. And they never make me look fat (unless your person is too small, but that’s just a theory).
3. Favorite ways to spend a rainy day? Reading. That’s so lame for a writer to say, but it’s been that way since I was a kid. I love cold rainy days curled up on my couch with a book.

ONE SENTENCE
Using these four words, write a sentence: Damage. Over. Spider Monkey. Torching.

John stepped over the damage and saw the Spider Monkey torching the room.


YOUR TURN:
Feel free to give us a teaser about your new book and information where to find you online.

Angie Palmer likes her life just the way it is–private. She has no desire to entangle herself in complex friendships, and her relationship with her two beauty queen sisters is safely distant. 

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go as planned.

When disaster strikes her grandmother, Angie takes her into her home. A life with Grandma comes a world full of changes, and new friends, including Val, a drag queen with hopes of being the next US-Gay Beauty Pageant winner. Angie is determined to keep Val at a distance. Val has an instinct for knowing what is in Angie heart.. 

Just as Angie gets comfortable with Grandma living with her, a budding friendship with Val, and a new romantic interest, everything takes an unexpected turn.

Val becomes the victim of a violent crime and ends up in a coma. Angie begins a struggle against Val’s family who wants to remove their son from life support.

Suddenly her private life becomes very public, and her world becomes a media circus. Angie is caught in a clash between religious beliefs and gay rights. 

Her life and Val’s are threatened by religious extremists, and her relationship is strained, as her life spirals out of control around her.

Through many twists and turns, Angie discovers a new appreciation for family, friends, and love.

In the end, Angie learns that a life filled with people to care about is never too crowded.

Find Victoria at:

• http://www.victoriamarshal.com/
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Marshal/158538437540547
• https://twitter.com/#!/VMarshalWriter

Friday Five...Three...One... is a chance for guest bloggers to share a bit about themselves in a fun format of Five Facts, Three Questions and One Sentence. If you'd like to be a guest on Friday Five, Three, One drop me an email. Put 'Friday Five' in the subject line.