Long before I published my first book (way back in 2013), my wife turned me on to classic movies, and, specifically Turner Classic Movies. The channel is on in our home most every night.

Several of my novels reference classic films – in my first novel, DREAM STUDENT, on her first date with the man who will one day become her husband, our heroine goes to a screening of THE THIN MAN. In the first Jane Barnaby Adventure, FINDERS KEEPERS, there’s an extended joke where the punchline is from the classic GOODBYE MR. CHIPS.

But in my newest book, a romance novella that’s out today, in fact, the whole plot revolves around classic movies. In A REEL CHRISTMAS IN ROMANCE, our heroine, Marianne Carter, is the owner of the only movie theater in the town of Romance, Oregon. The theater is an old-time movie palace, built in the 1930’s, and, following instructions laid down by her grandfather, it doesn’t play any movie made after 1955 (because that’s the year James Dean first appeared on the silver screen, and in Grandpa Carter’s words, “That’s when the world started to go to hell.”)

Marianne is carrying on an email correspondence with a well-spoken man whose real name she doesn’t know, and a flirtation with a man she keeps bumping into on the street. Not much of a spoiler alert: those two men are one and the same! So she’s playing out the plot of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, and poor Marianne doesn’t even know that she’s taken over the role of the heroine in one of her favorite movies…

Owner of the lone movie theater in Romance, Marianne Carter loves the old movies she shows on the big screen. She’s just struck up an email friendship with a newcomer to town. Unaware of his identity but feeling loyal to him, she fights her attraction to a handsome man she keeps bumping into around town.

Under a false identity, Jack Nelson comes to Romance to investigate the historic movie theater and decide if it should receive the status of a historical landmark. Little does he know the woman sending him charming emails is the same one who owns the theater.

While Marianne’s theater plays the old classic film The Shop Around the Corner, Marianne and Jack unknowingly play out the same story in real life. Will they figure it out in time to write their own happy ending?

Get your copy here!

It’s a fun, funny, breezy romance, and I hope you’ll enjoy it! And what’s really cool is that it’s only one book out of a collection of six Christmas in Romance novellas. You can find them all at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J1X4ZCR

You can follow me at my website – www.jjdibenedetto.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jjdibenedettoauthor.

The month of November is full of opportunities to observe, remember and celebrate special causes, events and people. Some of personal interest to me are National Radiologic Technology Week because I just received my Dental Radiology License and Veterans Day because I’m proud to have served. Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to remember what we are grateful for… in the company of friends and family, while watching football and eating huge amounts of comfort food.

But a few weeks before, we start preparing turkey and watching Charlie Brown concoct a feast of potato chips and toast, we have a day to celebrate authors and the books they write. November 1st is National Authors Day.

The idea was originated in 1928 by Nellie Verne Burt McPherson an avid reader and president of the Bement, Illinois Women’s Club. a resolution was passed, declaring November 1 as a day to honor American writers. But if you ask me, National Author’s Day should really be November 30th. You see, November 1st is not only National Author’s Day, it also marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, a thirty-day period during which many writers bleed, sweat and cry onto the pages of their latest work. As participants race to write 50,000 in 30 days, there’s likely some frenzied hair pulling and heads banging on desks all over the world. So, the end of November is when there should be balloons released and confetti thrown wherever these writers go. Free wine and coffee should be made available in abundance to all authors to celebrate their work, dedication and willingness to present a piece of themselves to the world.

So, raise your glass, thank an author, support them if they’re participating in NaNo. Buy a book, or request it at your library or local book store. Write a review. Share a book and author’s info with a friend. Post it on social media. On November 1st, throughout the month of and any day — really, show your support for the authors who’ve entertained you, scared you, made you laugh or made you to cry.

About the Author

Sha Renée is a native New Yorker who joined the US Navy right after high school. She now lives in New Jersey where she creates stories on the pages where duty, honor and passion unite.

Sha loves meeting people and attends book-signing events and conferences whenever she can. She also enjoys networking with other writers and is a member of RomVets (military women and veterans who are writers), Liberty States Fiction Writers and Marketing for Romance Writers. She is also the creator and organizer of Emerging Authors of New Jersey.

A true nature lover, Sha enjoys spending time outdoors, usually with a camera in her hands. She has a passion for motorcycles and sports cars and is a fan of auto racing, military air shows and The X Games – pretty much any high-speed activity involving wheels or wings.

She hates cooking, loves music and believes every day should include a cup of hot coffee and a glass of chilled wine.

Her Military Romance, Forbidden Kisses, is available on Amazon.

Forbidden Kisses

When Navy pilot, Ethan Parker falls for the woman he met at a coffee shop, he knows she’s the one he’s waited his entire life for. She’s sensual, sassy and smart. What he doesn’t know is she’s also in the Navy, and her enlisted rank means a relationship with her could potentially get him discharged from military service.

While on leave from teaching at a top Naval facility, Layla Matthews tumbles head-over-heels for the sexiest man she’s encountered in a long time. The fact that he can hold an intelligent conversation is an added bonus. Her world is turned upside down when she later discovers he’s a Navy lieutenant. A senior officer. Her new boss. Definitely off-limits.

Continuing their relationship could ruin their military careers. Ending it would break both their hearts. Do they end their sizzling romance or keep it a secret… and pray no one finds out?

Get your copy here!

Look for Sha Renée on the following social media sites:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter
Amazon

It’s my book birthday, and I’ll party if I want to! Lightwave: Shooting Star, Folding Space Series 3.0 comes out today! To celebrate, it’s $1.99 for the next week, then the price increases to $3.99, so get your copy today!

Thanks for celebrating with me!

Lightwave: Shooting Star

Is the aging boy-band singer a shooting star doomed to burn in fast? Or is he shooting back?

When Lightwave agrees to transport an aging pop star, they anticipate temper tantrums, arrogance, and the occasional out-of-her-orbit teenage fangirl. And the fangirls hit like the mother of all meteor fields.

What they don’t expect is a space station full of Old Earth sci-fi fans, the Robber Barons of Aus having fangirl daughters, or an old enemy rising from the dust clouds of Lacerta.

Can Lightwave and Saree survive the pop star and his fans? And what about that old enemy? Find out in Lightwave: Shooting Star coming November 1st, 2018!

Get your copy here!

Also available at other fine retailers: https://books2read.com/LightwaveShootingStar

Lightwave: Clocker

This new space opera races across the universe, one step ahead of danger. If you like Firefly, try Lightwave!Lightwave: Clocker, Folding Space Series 1.0, is available everywhere for $0.99!

When a bounty hunter closes in, Saree jumps on Lightwave Fold Transport, the only way out-system. But Lightwave’s crew might be a bigger threat. Can Saree hide her real identity as the only human Clocker? Or will the crew uncover her secret and turn her in for the reward?

Lightwave seems safe, at first. But Saree quickly regrets her snap decision. The Captain hates her, the steward wants a fling and security suspects she wants to steal the ship. Even worse, the whole crew might be mercenaries, hired to hunt her.

Can Saree remain free to maintain the space fold clocks that allow safe travel between systems? Or will she be forced to serve a crime lord or unscrupulous corporation? Blockading and blackmailing systems is no way to live…

Get your copy at Amazon!
Other fine retailers: https://books2read.com/Lightwave-Clocker

Thanks, Delilah, for inviting me!

A Reminder about CONTESTS!

These contests are still open!

1. Contest Roundup! Reminder to Authors! And a Very SEXY Excerpt!
2. Diana Cosby: International Food Bank Food Drive Challenge (Contest)

African-American History Exhumed

If asked to place African-American slavery and freedom geographically, most people automatically cite the South with the former and the North with the latter. But did you know slavery existed in the North as late as 1860? I’ve spent many enjoyable hours unearthing the hidden and not so hidden history of African slavery in the North. One of my best resources is The African Burial Ground National Monument (ABGNM) at 290 Broadway in lower Manhattan, which not only instructs but inspires.

ABGNM’s exhibits show the lives of northern slaves had much more in common with their southern counterparts than that of Boston slave poet Phillis Wheatley. The 24-foot high Ancestral Chamber—designed to resemble a ship’s hold—provides a place for remembrance and prayer. The walls of the Ancestral Libation Chamber’s Circle of the Diaspora surround you with symbols from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean as you spiral down a processional ramp that brings you “physically, psychologically and spiritually close to the ancestors and the original interment level.”

Rarely do we realize how we are witnesses to history in the making. I received a blast from my native New Yorker past as I read ABGNM’s timeline and the five scrapbooks that chronicle the community activism I witnessed on the news and read in the local papers that ultimately led to the creation of this national monument.

In 1989 before excavating to build a new federal building, records showed the proposed site was once an African burial ground. It is estimated that 15,000 free Africans and African slaves were buried in the “Negros Buriel Ground” from the 1690’s until 1794. Government researchers concluded that “after 200 years there are no remains, but recommended archeological testing.” Test excavations proved the assumption wrong. Untouched human remains protected by 25 feet of soil were discovered.

A whistle blower call to the office of then State Senator David Patterson revealed that the government was going to do a “backhoe” excavation, i.e., use a backhoe on the grounds decimating whatever was there. The caller asked could their office do anything to stop it. Community indignation and activism combined with political will resulted in the halting of excavation on the site. Meetings were held, enabling the community to give input on how to go forward. The result was the creation of the African Burial Ground National Monument in 1993. A multidisciplinary research team, African Burial Ground Project, recorded and measured the remains of 419 men, women and children. The project concluded in 1999 and the remains were re-interred on the site in handmade coffins from Ghana.

The African Burial Ground National Monument is an amazing amalgamation of videos, interactive exhibits and displays that show the effectiveness of community activism, strengthen my sense of African American pride and stimulate my historical romance writing imagination.

How about you? Where and when has a museum visit, a book or a conversation sent you on a journey of discovery?

Follow this link for more information on the landmark itself: https://www.nps.gov/afbg/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm.

*~*~*

Better To Marry Than To Burn

Freed Man seeking woman to partner in marriage for at least two years in the black township of Douglass, Texas. Must be willing and able to help establish a legacy. Marital relations as necessary. Love neither required nor sought.

Caesar King’s ad for a mail-order bride is an answer to Queen Esther Payne’s prayer. Her family expects her to adhere to society’s traditional conventions of submissive wife and mother, but Queen refuses. She is not the weaker sex and will not allow herself to be used, abused or turned into a baby-making machine under the sanctity of matrimony. Grateful that love is neither required nor sought, she accepts the ex-slave’s offer and heads West for marriage on her terms. Her education and breeding will see to that. However, once she meets Caesar, his unexpected allure and intriguing wit make it hard to keep love at bay. How can she hope to remain her own woman when victory may be synonymous with surrender?

Get your copy here!

Excerpt

She locked her legs and glared with her hands on her hips. Defiance flashed in her eyes like a bronc not yet broken. “I haven’t agreed to your terms.”

“Yet.”

“I’ll be honest with you then. You’ll have to force me.”

He crossed his arms. “That’s not the way I want it.”

She crossed hers. “That’s the only way you’ll get it.” The impudence of a Black who had never known the overseer’s whip ripped through her tone.

He blinked into her glare. Would she really make him force her? He wanted her willing submission, but what if he couldn’t obtain it? The anticipation of the struggle, of her eventual surrender flipped his stomach.

And not in a bad way.

“I will, if you make me.” He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her tight against his chest. “Remember, I’m no gentleman.”

The soft but firm press of her breasts more than pleased. He flicked his tongue behind her ear, tasted lemon soap, perspiration and enticement.

She broke away, chest heaving. “You have to be one hell of a negotiator, Mr. King to get me to yield on that point.” She’d spoken rapidly, breathily. He heard capitulation in her panting, despite the insolence in her glare.

“I’m known in these parts as a mighty fair horse trader, Mrs—”

He froze, stunned by the sight of Queen squatting. She reached between her spread thighs and withdrew a dark rubber phallus. He gawped, amazed how the strange contraption mirrored his aching member in size and shape.

“Wha—what in the name of heaven are you doing with that?”

“Preparing me for our first time.”

He groaned, captured by thoughts of the dildo priming her for his use.

“You are full of surprises, Mrs. King.”

She walked to the washstand, doused the phallus with water and laved it with his own sage-scented soap. A vision of her doing the same to his cock knocked him back a step. Yes, dinner could definitely wait.

Suddenly, he stiffened. The meaning of her earlier words penetrated.

There are many ways to prevent your seed from taking root, Mr. King.

“Wait a minute.” He pointed a shaky finger at the dildo. “That wasn’t in your sex when I fingered you in the wagon. I’d have felt it.”

*~*~*

Buy links: https://amzn.to/2JyLKu1, https://bit.ly/2DHdb0x
Website: www.michalscott.webs.com
Twitter: @mscottauthor1

It’s only a couple of days until all the kids are out trick-or-treating. On Halloween night, I like to light the candle in the pumpkin, turn off the lights, and put on my favorite Halloween movies.

There are tons of great ones out there to choose from, but here are 5 of my favorites:

1. The Crow (1994)—One of my favorite movies of all time and probably the one I’ve watched the most. It’s so dark, yet so hopeful. Brandon Lee’s performance is incredible. Great cast and story, plenty of action, and one fantastic soundtrack.

2. Underworld (2003)—Vampires and lycans are at war. Selene, a vampire warrior, makes the mistake of falling in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.

3. Dracula Untold (2014)—A fresh look at the traditional Dracula story. I love this movie. I mean, what’s not to love about Luke Evans as Vlad Tepes, the prince who must become a monster feared by his own people in order to obtain the power needed to protect them.

4. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)—As promised, this movie closely follows Stoker’s version of Dracula. Great film. Gary Oldman plays a scary and seductive Dracula.

5. Lost Boys (1987)—It’s hard to believe this movie is 30 years old, but it holds up. It’s one of my favorite vampire movies of all time. And the soundtrack is amazing.

I know this is a top 5 list, but I have to mention Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp (1999) and the Disney animated version (1949). I love them both. The animated story is beautifully crafted. And while the Depp version of the story goes off the rails near the end, I still enjoy it. And Ghostbusters, because who are you gonna call when you need to get rid of some ghosts.

And if you’re looking for a book or two to read, might I suggest the Hades’ Carnival series.

Welcome to Hades’ Carnival, where a group of immortal shapeshifting warriors are imprisoned in their animal forms on a carousel.

Cursed by the very goddess they served—The Lady of the Beasts—in order to keep them out of Hell, now the warriors are being offered a chance at freedom and redemption. And it will take a very special woman to free each warrior.

Once free, they must stay alive for 24 hours if they want to save themselves from Hades once and for all.

Night of the Tiger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSB6Z8
Mark of the Bear https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TS79RK/
Pride of the Lion https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSMST9/
Howl of the Wolf  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSQ84M/
Heart of the Serpent https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TST8PT/
Flame of the Phoenix https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSF7KT/
Lure of the Jaguar https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TS717B/

SERIES LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0742KNX25

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Website: http://www.njwalters.com
Blog: http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/awakeningdesires/info
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

©Diana Cosby 2018

It’s the holidays again, an emotion-filled time where it seems there are not enough hours in each day to fit everything in. In this busy time, I ask each of you to please consider one more stop on your crazy to do list, that of making a donation to a local food bank. Your donation can be a dollar, a can of food, whatever you can give. With the hurricanes, fires, and flooding that have affected so many this year, anything you can offer is a gift to those working to rebuild their lives.

I volunteer for Habitat For Humanity, and something amazing happens when you allow a person a flicker of hope, that somehow, incredibly, even a stranger understands that at times life shoves us on a road we never asked for.

Several years ago, in addition to my personal donation to my local food bank, I decided to start a Food Bank Challenge. Except, it kind of wonderfully got out of hand. Amazingly, once I posted The Food Bank Challenge on my Facebook page and my Facebook reader page, people from across the U.S. began donating to their local food banks and sharing on my Food Bank Challenge post. Then, I read posts of donations from Canada. Holy cow, the Food Bank Challenge had gone international! And you know what, this is truly a blessing. In this venture, we all win. Gifts from the heart do that, they fill you, remind you there is good in the world, and that you can make a positive as profound difference in others lives.

How it works: Starting November 3rd, when you donate to a local food bank or food drive, write beneath my International Food Bank Challenge post on my Facebook page, or, Facebook Author page, that you donated. ( https://www.facebook.com/Diana-Cosby-Romance-Author-150109024636/?ref=ts )

On December 5th, 2018, ONE name will be drawn from all who posted that they donated to a food bank from both my Facebook page and Facebook Author pages that I received. The winner will receive a mug, and a tote bag.

*Note: Names of those who posted beneath my Facebook pages drive post that they gave to food pantries or groups accepting donations to donate to a food bank will be entered in the drawing.

I wish each of you a wonderful holiday season filled with friendship and laughter and blessings!

Diana Cosby, AGC(AW), USN Ret.
International Best-Selling Author
www.dianacosby.com
The Oath Trilogy
MacGruder Brother Series
Forbidden Series: Forbidden Legacy/Forbidden Knight/Forbidden Vow/Forbidden Alliance‒Aug. 6th 2019/Forbidden Realm TBA

About the Author

A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated in five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series, The Oath Trilogy, and the first three books of The Forbidden Series, she’s now working on book #4, Forbidden Alliance, of the five-book series, which will be released August 6th, 2019.

Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.
www.dianacosby.com

NOTE: I know the first book is up at $0.99 already, but Reina is working with KDP to get the deal going for the other too! So check back!

One of the other writers in my local Nano-writing group* wrinkled his nose at the news that I had published Shifter Romance. “What does that even mean?” He wondered out loud. Really loud. “How is that even real fiction?”

Okay, so I want you to know he is still alive and breathing, but only because jail is real.

I’m used to the rolled eyes when I talk about romance, but hey… to each their own… and I love myself some romance. And there are people who are uninformed and then there are people who are willfully ignorant. I chose to believe he was part of the first group and asked him.

“Have you read stories about Greek Mythology?”

“Of course!” He seemed affronted that I’d even ask him such a silly thing. “Greek Mythology is classic storytelling!”

He knew I had him when I smiled. Not my normal smile, but that teeth-baring alligator grin that usually makes my son cringe and walk away, because he knows I’m about to take a bite out of someone.

“Oh good… well let’s talk about Greek Mythology. The obvious start is King Lycaon. Some forms of his myth tells the story of how Zeus turned him into a wolf as punishment for trying to trick him into eating human flesh.”

“Sure,” he shrugged, “but that’s just one—”

“Well, what about Arachne. Athena changed her into a spider.”

“Okay, but—”

“Apollo mourned the death of the youth Hyacinth, changing him into the flower we know today.”

He gave me a sullen look. “And?”

“There are a ton of examples, but let’s just remember how many times Zeus had to change his form or the form of others just to get some love… physical love. So…”

Yes, I verbally beat him into submission with examples of what he considered “real fiction” — but what am I getting at here…

Mythology… origin stories… are a human way of trying to understand ourselves and where we come from. We see ourselves in nature, sometimes ascribing attributes of nature’s other creatures to understand what we feel inside. We’re skittish as a colt. We’re hungry as a bear.

We even roar like lions.

We find animalistic characteristics as both desirable and undesirable in ourselves… of course we’re going to seek them in our heroes… our lovers…

I guess that’s why I love writing shapeshifters so much. Heroes and Heroines who can not just dabble in those behaviors, but come by them naturally.

A shapeshifter trio of brothers, bears from the Orsino family who search for their perfect mate and find them in equally amazing women…

A tiger shifter who finds himself with the Catch 22 of all time—keep the secret of his kind… or save the woman who is his perfect match?

Where wild nature and the cultivation of love collide and co-exist…

It gives me the warm fuzzies… You too?

*NANOWRIMO – November is National Novel Writing Month – the group of writers I’ve belonged for more than ten years started as folks who participated in this event

Her UnBearable Protector

The head of Orsino Security was hired to protect her for a week. Instead, his bear wants to claim her forever.

It takes one look for bear shifter Salvatore Orsino to know that Natale Durante isn’t just his client… she’s his mate. His first instinct is to lay Natale’s curvaceous body over his shoulder, find a den, and claim her with his bite. But, this beautiful head-strong woman only grudgingly endures his protection even as she welcomes him in her bed. He’ll have to set aside his bear’s need to mark her until he’s eliminated the threat to her life. Once she’s safe, he’ll turn all his energies convincing her that he isn’t after a short-term dalliance, he wants her, with him… forever.

Natale Durante knows that Durante Fashion House is on its last legs. Her new line, designed for women of every size and shape, is her last attempt at saving her family’s legacy. But there are those in high fashion who prefer that things stay the same—curves belong on the road, not the runway. When complaints and hate mail escalate to threats of bodily harm, her father hires a bodyguard—Salvatore Orsino. He’s over six feet of deliciously seductive muscular male and a distraction she can’t afford. One look from him and she wants her infuriatingly persistent protector to rip off her clothes with his teeth, or she might do the same to him.

Can Salvatore eliminate the threats to Natale or will he lose her before he has a chance to claim her?

Get your copy here!

The Tiger’s Innocent Bride

When he saw his mate for the first time, her life was in danger. Keeping his Tiger a secret was no longer an option.

Every day was a struggle for Tiger Shifter, Devlin Kerr. Booted from one Police Department due to his ‘questionable attitude,’ he’d landed in Sylvan City determined to give the career another go. What was an Alpha to do?

Three weeks of even more bull and inside politics was already souring him on law enforcement all together when his Captain suckers him into working extra security at a society event.

A society event that ends in gunfire and blood.

And smack dab in the middle of the crosshairs? His mate.

Secrets be damned, Devlin did what it took to save her and suddenly danger is coming at them from everywhere.
Death, he could handle. Mayhem? Sure, just another walk in the park.

People going after his mate? That wasn’t going to fly. He was going to do whatever it took to keep her safe from danger…
…but who was going to keep Paige Lundin safe from him? Less than a day after they’d met, she was The Tiger’s Innocent Bride.

*This is Book 1 of the Sylvan City Alphas Series. As the series goes on you’ll meet Alphas of a number of different species who will find their mates amongst the citizens of this city, complete with lush woods and fields as well as a concrete jungle. These hard-edged heroes and their lusciously-curvy mates are turning this island into a shifter paradise filled with Happy Ever Afters*

Get your copy here!