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Author Interview: Meredith Bond

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Meredith Bond is the author of the Vallen series of which "Magic In The Storm" is being reviewed over at Unleaded:  Fuel for Writers. Meredith Bond is an award-winning author of a series of traditionally published Regency romances and indie-pu blished paranormal romances. Her paranormal romances include “Magic In The Storm,” “Storm on the Horizon,” and "In A Beginning" (in the anthology “Tales From The Mist”). Her traditional Regencies include “The Merry Men Quartet” of which “A Dandy In Disguise” has just been released. Meredith also teaches writing. If you want a taste of her class, Chapter One is available at your favorite e-retailer.   Want to know more? Come visit Meredith at her website, www.meredithbond.com or chat with her on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/meredithbondfan ) or Twitter (@merrybond). I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Bond during my review of her first book of the Vallen series. What inspired you to write your first boo
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Recently, I "liked" a page on Facebook called " Creepy Places ."  The page posts pictures of just that including the name and location of the place.  With each picture I've seen I start thinking that there has to be a story behind it - whether that story is inside my head or inside the head of someone else.  I thought I would try posting a picture here on my blog and giving people a chance to see what kind of story they can come up with.  Here's your chance to see if you have a story inside of you.  Take a look at the picture here and post a short story in the comments below.  I'll send a participant web badge to the folks who post and at the end of the week, I'll have an independent party read the stories and pick a winner.  I'll send a winner's web badge of my own design to that person.   Now that the pictures up here, let's see those stories!
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    At the beginning of the year, and incidentally my last post, I talked about keeping track of the books I read this year on Goodreads .  The goal was to read 24 books in a year.  With that being two books a month, I am about two books behind for the year.  I have started reading several books this year, but haven't finished any of them (Khafka's The Trial , The Spy Who Came In From The Cold , Bloodlands , and Meredith Bond's Magic In The Storm ). With that being said, I have to ask myself why I've started these books but not finished them.   I started reading The Trial when I had some quiet time and thought a little academic reading would do me good.  I liked the book, but just didn't pick it up again. I was on an espionage track with both my reading and my video watching ( MI-5 ) for a while, so I picked up The Spy Who Came In From The Cold at a book sale knowing it was a classic story which had been made into a movie (Richard Burton, 1965) .  I liked
With the start of the new year, I've decided to start keeping track of the books I've read throughout the year.  I want to see how long it takes me to read a book on average and how many books I can read in a year.  I've set my initial challenge to read 24 books in a year.  I searched for an online list application, quite frankly because I didn't want to write one myself.  What I finally settled on was GoodReads . So far I'm two books in and January isn't over yet.  As work taking more time than the average 9 to 5, and two energetic boys to run after, my reading time is often limited to just before bed or for a few minutes after supper.  With that being said, I am surprised that I have have managed two books.  I'm curious as to when most folks out there find time to read.  Drop me a comment and let me know. Click here for my list on GoodReads.  I'll be adding ratings and links to my book reviews as I write them.  Some of my reviews are located on thi

Author Interview: Debra Dunbar

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Debra Dunbar is the author of the "Imp Series" which is being review at Unleaded:  Fuel for Writers Debra Dunbar lives on a farm in Frederick County, Maryland with her family and a multitude of four legged friends. Her novels feature supernatural elements in local settings. A DEMON BOUND is the first novel in her Imp Series: Samantha Martin, is an imp living among humans. She tries to keep her identity a secret, but when she spots an angel one night, clearly hunting demons, the imp comes out of the bag. Sam ends up smack in the middle of trouble, dragging her human neighbor, Wyatt, along for the ride. A DEMON BOUND and the sequel SATAN’S SWORD is available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com, Nook at Barnes and Noble, and a variety of formats at Smashwords.com. Catch up with the author at http://debradunbar.com I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Dunbar regarding her first book in the series, "A Demon Bound": What inspired you to wri
I have recently read several articles that I could easily see feeding conspiracy theorists and sending them into a frenzy, The NSA is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center  from Wired, and How Your Cellphone Lets the Government Track You from Tech News Daily. The first article describes how in Utah the NSA is building a center which will be absorbing as much information from emails, phone calls, web sites visited, etc as possible and storing it.  The NSA was founded after Pearl Harbor, and has been the subject of controversy for years.  The Utah Data Center is no different. In the very near future, if it hasn't happened already, I can see those three words sending the conspiracy theorists as well as many other Americans into a panic.  The very thought of Big Brother taking the next step and being able to monitor almost all communications is breath-taking. However, unless you are a sitting Senator with direct access to the POTUS and chair of an auditing committee, there

“The Forever Girl: Sophia’s Journey” by Rebecca Hamilton

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“The Forever Girl:  Sophia’s Journey” by Rebecca Hamilton is the first volume in “The Forever Girl” series.  Ms. Hamilton’s story is a most original take on the vampire mythos.  She weaves in witches, shape shifters, and religious fanatics to produce an interesting story which makes the reader wish for an extended ending.  Ms. Hamilton has created an intriguing protagonist in Sophia.  The self professed practitioner of Wicca, which dominates the first sections of the story as a secondary conflict is set up in Sophia’s battles with Mrs. Franklin, a local fanatic Christian.  At first, I was afraid the entire book was going to be a pro-Wicca pamphlet and educational piece, but was relieved the story progressed beyond this. The progression of Sophia’s relationship with Charles, the attractive stranger a mutual friend introduces her to, seems to drag the flow of the overall story.  I found myself nearly dreading to read once again the “are we dating or not” conversation.  Also, the