ANCIENT TIES

An Erotic Time Travel Romance
by Jane Leopold Quinn
http://amzn.com/B00WFTJYPG

 (

Thank you, Delilah, for hosting Ancient Ties and me here today!

REAL LIFE VS. WRITING LIFE

I’ve been writing erotic/sensual romance for over a dozen years now and love it. Except when I can’t stand it. That’s only when writer’s block starts, and I worry I’ll never write another book again. Apparently, that’s common amongst writers. Whew!

Generally, when I write, I have to turn off the TV and have either silence or listen to my tenor CDs. Josh Groban, Il Divo, Mario Frangoulis, etc. Sometimes I can’t turn off the TV because of some important news event, which seems to happen more and more, unfortunately. I’m not getting political. I’m just talking about how hard it is to write and revise hot love scenes with real life going on in the background on TV.

I’ll have to re-read sentences and paragraphs over and over to make sure I’ve gotten them right—afraid I’ll miss something important on TV, and afraid I’ll miss or misuse a word on the computer screen. Yikes!  But, I always make it through and am able to submit or self publish a book. And real life continues on.

We all have to divide our time as writers. I don’t have kids or pets, but I have a husband. I have a hard time imagining how an author with kids manages to concentrate. They say if you want it, you’ll do it. That’s right. But it can still be hard to immerse yourself in your story when real life intrudes.

Now, I’m also here to talk about my latest release, Ancient Ties. I’m so proud of this book. In 2005, my debut novel came out to so many 5 star reviews that I was petrified I couldn’t write a follow up. I have, but your first, especially to great reviews, is the biggest thrill.

Ancient Ties is a time travel to 2nd Century Roman Britain in Aquae Sulis. The first time, as a single gal, I visited Bath and the Roman Museum and Pump Room, I took a photo of a Roman soldier’s tombstone. When the pictures were developed, there was a haze over the center carvings, the edges were clear. I told everyone the soldier had come out to meet me. When I went back a few years later with my new hubby, I took the same photo. It came out completely clear — evidence that my soldier approved of my husband. Many years later, when I started writing, my first thought was that Roman soldier and what would happen if a small town school teacher from the US (me) visited a crumbling villa, stepped back to 161 AD, and met a Roman soldier (oops, not my husband). Below are the two photos. I look at them today and shiver a little. Believe me, that hazy photo was the only hazy photo I took on that first trip.

I’m particularly proud of the cover too. I created it! The top photo is from http://romancenovelcovers.com. The two lower photos are ones I took on my trips to England and show scenes from the book.

Below is my very first review, before the book was even released, from Just Erotic Romance Reviews (JERR), and it holds a special place in my heart. Below that is the fabulous RT review, also special.

Just Erotic Romance Reviews – 5 Stars

“This absorbing tale of time travel left me breathless with anticipation and enticingly affected by the deep emotional connection between Janney and Marek. Although a little slow to start, the storyline becomes explosive, drawing me in with the fascinating historical significance of the Romans in ancient Britannia. The characters are captivating with their complexities, especially the deeply intense Marek, who battles the loss of his wife and the stress of war while being greatly afraid of loving again. One of the most domineering male characters I have read in months, Marek fills the pages with his alpha male tendency to want to conquer Janney while feeling the overwhelming reluctance to admit his emotional need for her. Not only is it necessary to fulfill his lust for her but also overcome her reluctance to love after living through her ex-husband’s betrayal. Janney is confused by her surroundings and unenthusiastic about falling in love. Nonetheless, her every sexual fantasy becomes a reality in the face of her surrender. These sex scenes are explosively intense, often depicting the powerful and luscious connection that they have. Their romance is profoundly inspiring, leaving me feeling warm and sorrowful throughout the novel. Ancient Ties is an absolutely gripping and satisfying read, leaving me looking forward to more novels by this tremendously talented author.”

RT – 4-1/2 Stars and Top Pick, Reviewers’ Choice Nominee for Best Erotic Romance 2006

“Marek and Janney have a sizzling attraction, and that is where Quinn turns up the heat and intensity. This story has a wonderful balance between sensitivity and sensuality, with humor from the gods on the side. A terrific book.”

Betrayed by her cheating ex, heartbroken Janney Forrester needs a vacation. She gets one — and much more — when she lands almost 2,000 years in the past. Crossing over a crumbling stone threshold, she’s greeted by the villa’s perfect historical detail and the most gorgeous, masculine man she’s ever seen, her every sexual fantasy personified. Confusion vies with attraction for control of her emotions, and Janney must reexamine everything she’s ever thought about herself.

Roman soldier Marek Benin Verus considers the woman suddenly appearing before him as a gift from the gods. Zeus knows he needs one! Battle fatigued and emotionally scarred after fifteen years in the army, he’s on a leave of absence, and he has all the time in the world to devote to seducing this beautiful woman into his bed. He doesn’t plan on the powerful and dangerous emotions she inspires in him.

Marek’s hard, muscular body is too luscious to resist. Janney decides to risk the comfort of her safe life and carpe diem – seize the day. Marek seizes her body and takes her to the edge — and over — to an ecstasy she never knew existed. Can a new world for her, timeless desire, and a loving exploration of each other’s bodies forge a passion that survives centuries of separation?

EXCERPT:

I don’t know about you, but I love Stonehenge. Standing on ground as hallowed as the grand cathedrals is so romantic as represented by one of the dictionary definitions:  “marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious…”  In Ancient Ties, my erotic time travel, Roman soldier Marek takes Janney, his 21st Century visitor, to Stonehenge as it would have looked in his time, the 2nd Century.

Stonehenge

“You’re happy, Janney Forrester? Stonehenge pleases you?” He stalked toward her. His voice was uncertain, but his body language definitely wasn’t. She hugged the warmth of the stone, pressing back as if it could become her spine. Tendrils of heat skittered through her belly and lower, all her nerve endings tingling. Shouting, more like it. This man was a magnificent male specimen. And all that attention was focused on her. She was tired of fighting it. Of analyzing why he wanted ordinary, uninteresting her. She wasn’t in Iowa any longer.

Janney’s fascination with the massive man-made wonder turns to a stronger fascination in the massive, handsome, hunk of a Roman soldier.

She tried to meet his eyes, but her gaze insisted on sweeping over his tantalizing body. He was strong, the muscles in his long legs stretching and tightening as he moved, his powerful arms swinging easily. How could a man in a skirt be so masculine? In slow motion, he prowled toward her, the white of his tunic contrasting with his darkly tanned skin.

     Oh, yeah. Dazedly, she leaned back against the sun-baked stone and waited for him to join her. He smiled, but it was anxious and uncertain. Like a parent trying to please a child. Except she wasn’t a child, and he wasn’t her parent.

He stood before her, tall for his time but only a few inches taller than she. She needed another deep breath, desperately needed it. “Marek, it’s beautiful. Thank you.”

“The sacred stones?” His chest rose and fell with ragged breathing.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know much about them. It’s thought that they’re the sacred stones of the Druid priests, but I’ve never been here when rites were performed.” He moved in closer. “I’m not thinking of religious rites now,” he said.

“No?” She laughed nervously. He’d said exactly what she’d been thinking. His body had taken over her field of vision. He’d taken over her life.

He brushed his thumbs along her jaw, eased his fingers up into her hair. “You’re so beautiful.”

Caught between the hard sarsen and his hard body, she locked her knees. He tipped her chin up with a thumb. She caught her breath, gazing up into his beautiful eyes. It was hard to resist when all his sensuality was focused directly on her.

“Your hair is the color of the sun.” His fingertips burrowed through her curls. He leaned in and kissed a rounded strand over her brow. “So soft.”

She barely breathed, eyes closing to his lulling voice. He was perfection.

“Your eyes are like the morning sky.” His mouth trailed lower, kissing her closed eyelids, the side of her nose. His breath came in short gasps.

She couldn’t stop her little whimper from escaping. She wanted to let go, ached to kiss him back. Wanted to smooth her mouth across the line of his jaw, his tender throat, feel that liquid, beating pulse against the sensitive skin of her lips.

His hand trailed down her chest to the edge of her tunic. The backs of his fingers brushed her bare skin. “So incredibly beautiful.” He slipped long fingers inside the tunic and cupped her breast in his palm.

She couldn’t hold back her cry when he squeezed her nipple. Her hips arched against the curved shape of his erection. Her own body liquefied and pulsed, her desire quick and rampant.

“By the Gods, I want you. I’ve never wanted anyone more,” he growled, compressing her nipple again and pushing her bottom back against the stone.

She gasped and bit his shoulder in answer. His words were wonderful, but, of course, he didn’t mean them. This was just sex. She licked where she’d bitten.

     Oh, but it’ll be great sex.

His eyes were inches from hers, perfect understanding in their matching gazes. His lips weren’t hard or straight now; they were soft and moist. They took hers. He buried his tongue in her mouth. Growled.

~~~

Marek will always be my favorite character. I worked so hard to make him a real person, powerful but tender and vulnerable. And what can I say, Janney is me. Since then I’ve written books with a deputy sheriff, a Chicago cop, two gay Chicago cops, a few military men, a painter, a West Texas gunfighter turned preacher, vampires, and a couple of cowboys. And my heroines have been a woman escaping the big city for rural Iowa, a recent widow renting a cottage on the coast of Maine, a young jewelry designer who’s been kidnapped by bad guys while visiting the Pyramids, a reluctant mail order bride. Lots of disparate couples, but somehow they managed to find their mates.

~~~

I have several more blog posts scheduled to celebrate the re-release of Ancient Ties and to continue the conversation. Please feel free to go to any posts. There are several different topics:

May 28, Sabrina York –  http://thedecadentdivas.blogspot.com/2015/04/ancient-ties-erotic-time-travel-romance.html

May 28, my blog –

http://janeleopoldquinn.blogspot.com/p/ancient-ties-erotic-time-travel-romance.html  ~~~

http://janeleopoldquinn.blogspot.com/p/the-tower-of-london-1999-jane-leopold.html

June 3, Anna Markland – http://www.annamarkland.com/

June 4, Kryssie Fortune – http://kryssiefortune.wordpress.com

June 5, Tina Donahue – http://www.tinadonahue.com/

June 8, Alicia Dean – http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/

June 10, Romance Lives Forever – http://romancelivesforever.blogspot.com

June 12, Delilah Devlin – https://www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/

June 19, Jessie Clever – http://jessieclever.com/blog/

AUTHOR BIO

Sensual fantasies were locked in my mind for years until a friend said, “Why don’t you write them down?” Why not, indeed? One spiral notebook, a pen and the unleashing of my imagination later, and here I am with more than a dozen books published. The craft of writing erotic romance has become my passion and my niche in life. I love every part of the creative process—developing characters, designing the plot, even drawing the layout of physical spaces from my stories. My careers have been varied—third grade school teacher, bookkeeper, secretary—none of which gave me a bit of inspiration. But now I’m lucky enough to write romance full time—the best job in the universe! And I’m fortunate enough to have found my own happily ever after husband.

Jane Leopold Quinn
My Romance:  Love With a Scorching Sensuality
http://janeleopoldquinn.BlogSpot.com
https://twitter.com/jelquinnauthor
Amazon Author Page http://amzn.to/1DfiXkP

***

My Books

Indie
Loving Valentine
His, Hers & His
The Keeper
Soldier, Come Home
Winning Violetta
A Promise at Dawn
Jake and Ivy
Wooing the Librarian
Home to Stay
The Long Road to You
Her Hero
Passion/Retribution/Love
Love Awakens—Erotic Vampire Romance
Ancient Ties

Scorching Mini Tales—Educating Eris and My Parisian Sabbatical (coming soon)

Siren
I’ll Be Your Last

Ellora’s Cave
Lost and Found
The Real Deal

I’m not talking Mel Gibson in Braveheart looking all adorable with his face painted blue. I’m talking about bikers – real bikers. The kind who ride motorcycles, wear leather vests, and burn up the weekend roads.

Oh, I know them, you say. I saw them on Sons of Anarchy.

Nu uh, my friend. The Sons of Anarchy are OUTLAW bikers. Those guys are the real deal, the one percenters, the fraction of motorcyclists who don’t follow civilian law. They are larger than life, badder than bad and make for great romance heroes. My biker romance standalone series, the Sinner’s Tribe MC, is about outlaw bikers who live large, ride free, and fall hard for the women they love.

So what about the weekend warriors?

Ah, now we’re talking. Welcome to my world. Weekend Warriors are Saturday and Sunday riders only. You can identify them by their squeaky clean leather chaps, shiny black leather jackets and mirrored aviator sunglasses. Without any understanding of wind resistance, they sit up straight and tall and wave to fellow bikers, because hey, it’s a nice day for a sunny ride down the highway with your significant perched on the passenger pillion seat behind you. Wave and smile. Wave and smile.

Until my hubs bought his first motorcycle, a Honda VFR with a comfy passenger pillion seat, I knew nothing about biker subculture. I saw motorcycles on the roads, watched a few shows about bikers, and feigned interest when the hubs showed me pictures of motorcycles online. I never thought I would be a Weekend Warrior’s woman until the day he showed up at our house with his “surprise” impulse purchase.

Surprise indeed. Especially given that my impulse purchases usually involve chocolate, shoes or multiple one-clicks on my Kindle on Tuesdays. Do you see the imbalance? Just think how many books I could buy for the price of…say…a MOTORCYCLE!

Of course no weekend warrior worth his salt can ride his bike wearing running shoes and a golf jacket. So it was off to the motorcycle store for the requisite purchase of shiny black leather and a helmet to protect the hubs’ head for when the credit card bill arrived.

So there I was, hanging out with a grizzled lot of bikers in the motorcycle shop as the hubs pranced and preened in front of the mirror. And then the owner, a giant bear of a man wearing a patched leather vest and sporting a long, grey ZZ-Top style beard (read: REAL biker), jerked his thumb at me as the hubs rifled through the helmet display. “You’ll need leathers, too.”

Cue: gasps from the hubs. And not because of the cost. But when I slipped on those semi-tight leather trousers and the fitted leather vest…well, let’s just say money suddenly became no object.

So now, every sunny summer weekend, we pull on our leathers, hit the road, sit up tall, and wave to our fellow bikers. Because hey, it’s a nice day for a weekend warrior ride and could there be any better way to research biker romance?

My latest release is Beyond the Cut, the second standalone book in the Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club series. It’s got all the hard riding, fierce loving, outlaw bikers you could want, plus a feisty heroine, a villainous villain and two little kids who can melt an outlaw hero’s heart.

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Sarah Castille, worked and traveled abroad before trading her briefcase and stilettos for a handful of magic beans and a home near the Canadian Rockies. She writes erotic contemporary romance and romantic suspense featuring blazingly hot alpha heroes and the women who tame them.

Contact Information:

Facebook | Twitter | Website |
Goodreads | Amazon | Pinterest |
Tsu | ttp://bit.ly/LgFZlb

BEYOND THE CUT (SINNER’S TRIBE MC #2) 

SHE’S HOLDING ON TIGHT.

As a teen, Dawn ran from a life on the streets straight into the arms of Jimmy “Mad Dog” Sanchez, a biker who promised to be her knight in shining armor. But his love was just another cage. Years later, Dawn’s former life still has its hooks in her and she’ll do whatever it takes to break free. When Cade “Ryder” O’Connor, a member of a rival club, makes her an offer, Dawn finds herself in a different, hotter kind of trouble with one irresistible Sinner…

WILL HE GIVE HER THE RIDE OF HER LIFE?

Cade is an outlaw biker with allegiance to one thing and one thing only: The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club. But when it comes to the stunningly sexy, fiercely independent Dawn Delgado, Cade finds himself…hungrier for more. Trouble is on Dawn’s heels and he wants to be the answer to her prayers, whether she wants him to be or not. What can’t be denied is the red-hot attraction between them. However, as they fall deeper, the danger rises and Cade may have to sacrifice it all…

BUY LINKS FOR BEYOND THE CUT

Amazon: http://bit.ly/BeyondtheCut
iBooks: http://apple.co/1Hr0STu
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1c3qpH0
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1dipsfz
BAM: http://bit.ly/1L7xu54
Book Depository: http://bit.ly/1IP1HHg
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/beyond-the-cut

Thanks, Delilah, for hosting me today.

Although I have my 9^th title coming out with Dreamspinner Press next month, it still blows me away that I’m a published author.  Each new book is just as exciting as the first one.

One of the first things that struck me was the sense of community.  It hasn’t been just Dreamspinner who have welcomed me into their family, but I’ve also had a lot of support and friendship extended by other authors, and by readers.  Last year I made a New Years’ Resolution to make more of an effort to post on Facebook, and build more connections. I’d done a bit of it in the past, but updating my computer, and having Facebook now load properly has really helped with my resolution.  I try to make my posts a mix of writing stuff, plus other things I’m interesting in. My other job is in a library and I’m a bit of an SF/fantasy/comics geek so it’s easy to find fun things to share. My two cats enjoy the limelight as well, especially with stories about their exploits—I have one who brings me home bones she’s stolen from neighbourhood dogs, and another who likes to steal muffins.

The other thing I’ve done is to open my blog for other authors, and become a blog tour host. I enjoy doing it, I figure it helps out other authors with promo, and it’s a way to give back to the writing community. I’ve also made some new friends along the way.  This year I’ve begun doing a bit of reviewing—I love to read, and always review what I read on Goodreads, although I’ve a bit of catching up to do.  I’m taking the reviewing a bit slower than the blog hosting, as I don’t want to lose writing time. I also have a few books to get through that aren’t M/M, as I like to keep my finger on the pulse for readers’ advisory for the other job.

It’s taken me a while to find a balance between being out there, making connections, family life, and writing my own books, but I feel it’s finally all coming together.

I’d love to hear about some of your experiences of community with other readers and/or writers. To celebrate my new upcoming release with Dreamspinner Press—Family and Reflection—I’m sharing an excerpt from my first release Cat’s Quill and offering an ebook from my backlist to someone who comments on this post.

Cat’s Quill

Hidden Places: Book 1

Tomas Kemp has two successful novels to his name and the true belief that a successful sequel is only a matter of a little inspiration. When Tomas meets a mysterious stranger under the branches of an old oak tree, he feels compelled to tell him about a book he holds dear and the sequel he wants to read. But Cathal doesn’t share that deep belief that the sequel Tomas seeks ends happily. Cathal has seen enough of a world where stories are real to know that happy ever after is sometimes the dream that won’t come true.

But stories have never let Tomas down, and as he follows Cathal across the reality shift between their worlds, he learns that Cathal is right: Happy ever after is never just given—but sometimes, it can be fought for and won.

Buy Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2369&cPath=55_426

Excerpt:

Cathal wiped his palms on his trousers and then turned the page of the journal back and forth, his eyes scanning the words again. “Maybe I could help?” he suggested. “Can you tell me what the story is about so I can get more of an idea of what this kiss should, er… involve?”

“Involve?” Tomas’s voice sounded strained to his own ears. He coughed, clearing his throat before speaking again. “Umm, it’s about a writer who meets someone he thinks might be a muse.”

“I see.” Cathal nodded slowly. “Why does he think that?” He edged closer to Tomas, the book still balanced carefully on his lap.

“He’s drawn to this person he’s not long met.” The explanation sounded somewhat weak now that Tomas had to actually explain it to someone else. “It’s like they have a connection….”

“Like Alan and Roger in your other book?” Cathal frowned. “That doesn’t explain why—” He checked the name. “—Deimos might be a muse though, but then I haven’t read enough.”

Tomas opened his mouth to explain more, how Deimos seemed to appear and disappear out of thin air, how he seemed otherworldly, how Mark kept thinking about him all the time. Cathal placed one hand on Tomas’s knee, his breath warm against Tomas’s face. “Cat? What are you doing?”

“I’m getting into character.” Cathal reached over and brushed Tomas’s hair from his face. “You’re a writer, so you need to be Mark. That leaves me the role of the muse.” His voice was barely a whisper. “This scene is too good for it to be abandoned like the other one.” His eyes dropped to the page and back again. He licked his lips, his fingers tightening on Tomas’s knee. Tomas’s breath hitched.

“Yes, it is.” He swallowed again, reaching out his own hand to caress Cathal’s cheek, echoing Mark’s actions in his book. “I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered, his words following the script, his heart speeding up.

Cathal closed his eyes as he followed Tomas’s cue, slipping into a role that could have been written for him. “I think I’m in love with you,” he murmured.

Their lips brushed together, tentatively, awkwardly. Tomas pulled away, unsure, his breathing growing ragged, Cathal’s skin warm under his fingers, soft but for the slight stubble across his lower cheek, blond facial hair almost invisible. Tomas leaned in again, his lips parting this time in invitation as he pressed their mouths together. Cathal moaned softly, opening his own lips, leaning into it, his fingers threading through Tomas’s hair.

Wet skin, soft and inviting, tasting of coffee and something else Tomas could only describe as uniquely Cathal. It felt right, better than anything Tomas could have imagined. He whimpered, pulling Cathal to him, convincing himself for that moment they weren’t play acting, that this was real, that the man in his arms was someone who loved him.

The need to breathe drove them apart. Cathal’s eyes opened with a start, searching Tomas’s. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be.” Tomas traced Cathal’s lips with his fingers, committing the scene to memory, allowing himself a photograph he realized he wanted frozen in his mind forever. “I’m not.”

Bio:

Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand.  She shares her home with two cats who are convinced that the house is run to suit them; this is an ongoing “discussion,” and to date it appears as though the cats may be winning.

In 2008 she completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching. She has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and now works in a library. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction Club and plays violin for Hutt Valley Orchestra.

She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as “too many.” These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of “spare time” is really just a myth.

*~*~*~*

Anne’s books have twice received honorable mentions and twice reached the finals in the Rainbow Awards.

Links:

Blog:  http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
Website: http://annebarwell.wordpress.com/
Coffee Unicorns:  http://coffeeunicorns.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anne.barwell.1
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115084832208481414034/posts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4862410.Anne_Barwell
Dreamspinner Press Author Page: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/AuthorArcade/anne-barwell

Seems like summer took forever to get here! Storms, cold fronts, more storms… Usually, I’m chomping at the bit mid-April to dip my toes in the pool. This year, it was May 30th—and just 78 degrees.  I could only take 20 minutes before I broke out in hives (cold urticaria). But last night—87 degrees! I swam (er, bobbed) around the pool on a noodle and just let the water take all my aches and worries away.

Not everyone has the luxury of a pool in the yard. So my questions to you are…

Do you swim in a pool, lake, sea? Do you swim at all?
Or is there another summer pastime you enjoy?

And while you’re here, take a look at the cover to Book 2 of the Night Fall series. I hope to have it ready for you to download next week!

Over the years, I’ve looked for love in lots of the wrong places.

I’ve met future ex-boyfriends in classes, bars, at work, through friends, at conferences and even on the freeway. Long story, but he’ll always be remembered as Mercedes Man.

Before I gave up the hunt a few years ago, I even had a brief fling with online dating. E-Harmony, match.com, Seniorfriendfinders (yep, I’m in that category, barely).

The strangest response was from someone I dated for a few months many years ago. From his online description, he sounded interesting. I wouldn’t have recognized anything from his picture. He was standing in a trout stream at the tip of South America with waders and a hat on, casting his fly rod.

It could have been anyone from Robert Redford in A River Runs Through It to bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons.

But I’m game. Somebody who goes to Patagonia to fish has my kind of sense of adventure…although I’d really rather go to Argentina and tango.

We exchanged a few emails and I was gradually feeling as though I knew him. It was comfortable until he asked a question about the house I’d lived in.

Whoop, whoop, flashing lights and alarm bells. I remembered him…and I’d dumped him. He went on to marry a friend and now they’re divorced.

We shared a couple more of the “where are they now” emails, but we both knew this wasn’t a match made in heaven, or in exotic foreign countries.

I’ve taken myself out of the dating pool, probably permanently, but that hasn’t stopped interested parties.

Now I get proposals and “friends” from facebook. I wonder about all these guys who started with “I saw your picture…” Right. It’s not a glamour shot, it was taken at a friend’s birthday party several years ago.

When the facebook conversations starting popping up six or so years ago, I answered one or two from Florida and Texas (at least that’s where they said they were). After one “Hello, how are you” that, in the next communiqué turned into an invitation to spend my money and visit for Christmas, I unfriended and stopped responding to the requests. Delete, delete, delete.

It did give me a great idea for a murder mystery, though, that I’m going to write someday.

As a novelist, I’m curious who these guys are. I had a run of soldiers stationed overseas. Young guys who posed with their Humvees or guns or in the weight rooms, lifting. Big muscles straining against the camos or bare-chested showing off the tats.

A lot of them looked to be my daughter’s age.

Then I started getting into the officers’ ranks. Guys in dress uniforms with chests full of medals, standing in front of a class or speaking to what looked like the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Now the military has stepped down and I’m in the middle-aged civilian population. Guys on boats. Guys on yachts. Guys by airplanes. Guys on the beach. There was a friend request recently from a guy who’d gone to the hair stylist before he had his portfolio shoot.

His photo collage, all dated the same day, included a head and shoulders of him. A shot of him in a suit. A shot leaning against a deck rail with a sweater casually around his shoulders. A shot of him with his pant legs rolled up strolling on the beach. A shot of him at a small table on a deck with roses, wine, cheese and grapes. The kicker was one of him in a big chair reading, with HIS GLASSES ON.

Think he read “What Women Want?”

I’ve also moved overseas. The guys from Ukraine are in competition with the ones from England and Wales.

In truth, the age of social media is kind of creepy. Because I’m an author and need to use these sites to market my books, I’m visible on line.

But this is the wrong place to look for love.

*~*~*~*

Michele Drier was born in Santa Cruz and is a fifth generation Californian. She’s lived and worked all over the state, calling both Southern and Northern California home.  During her career in journalism—as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers—she won awards for producing investigative series.

SNAP: All That Jazz, Book Eight of The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, was awarded second place by the Paranormal Romance Guild’s reviewers for best paranormal vampire book of 2014. The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles also won for best series in 2014.  The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles include SNAP: The World Unfolds, SNAP: New Talent, Plague: A Love Story, DANUBE: A Tale of Murder, SNAP: Love for Blood, SNAP: Happily Ever After?, SNAP: White Nights and SNAP: All That Jazz.  SNAP: I, Vampire, Book Nine in the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles is scheduled for publication in 2015.

She also writes the Amy Hobbes Newspaper mysteries, Edited for Death and Labeled for Death and Delta for Death, published May 2015.

Hey Everyone.

I’m Heather.  I am a reader.  I write a little too (mostly reviews) for the books I read.  I read a great deal actually, so when Delilah was looking for guest bloggers I figured I would share how I keep track of the books I read from Year to Year.

I have a blog where I record my reviews.  But I don’t review every book I read.   I am going to share one of my Dirty Little Secrets with you.  I read a lot of books over each year and I MEAN A LOT.  I read a book or two a day, and that is with a full teaching schedule and working on my dissertation.  TV holds no appeal to me so my nights are filled with books.

New books are read on the release day, and I need something to fill my time. Since I reread a lot my system is great.

Have you head of Pinterest?  Well if you haven’t, google it.  Open the APP and find the boards section.  Name the board 2015 books.  Then search for the book you read.  And Pin it!  Easy right.  What’s great is you can leave little comments to yourself about the book. A mini review in a way.

I like to go back and read my comments from book to book.  Its funny what views stay the same and which ones don’t.  Sometimes I read a book months before I review it, I can make notes there and then when its time to review it I have my thoughts handy.

When I read a book that isn’t in the Pinterest data base, I grab a picture from the internet and upload it.  Pinterest is a pretty easy app to work.

I also enjoy the ability to check and see if I read a book while on the go.  I rarely buy print books anymore, but sometimes my aunt or a cousin will ask me about a book and I can get to my thoughts easily.

There are a million ways to keep track of books, but this way is mine and it’s helpful for reviewing and scrapbooking.

Share you thoughts with me on twitter!!!!

https://twitter.com/Studygir_1
https://www.pinterest.com/hmn1/

Okay, I’m a purist. If a story isn’t factually accurate, it doesn’t fly with me – except maybe against the nearest wall. I can take a little fudging, especially when the actual facts aren’t known, but egregious transgressions against time and custom and known facts make me livid. That means I do a lot of research.

All too many times research means a lot of dry swotting in libraries (preferred) or on the internet (oftimes unreliable), but occasionally the gods smile and I get to go and do. Like in March of this year.

My dear friend Dr. Dirk Huyge, who was such a help when I was writing THE EGYPTIAN FILE, is Director of the Belgian Archaeological Mission to El Kab. We joked about setting a murder mystery in the dig house, which is reputed to be haunted by its builder, Somers Clarke. Not surprising, since his grave is in the courtyard. Then he asked me and The Husband to come visit, so we could actually see the dig house to make the book realistic.

Civilians are NEVER invited to stay at dig houses. To allow us to come, Dirk had to get permissions from the Ministry of Antiquities in Cairo and the Aswan Governate, which he did, so on a few weeks’ notice we were off to Egypt. (It will take a long time for our budget to recover, but we simply could not decline!)

Staying at the dig house was wonderful. The crew there were incredible. Scholars all, most with an alphabet soup of degrees after their names, they all but fell over themselves to answer my questions and suggest ideas. (Thank you, Stan Hendrickx, for coming up with the perfect murder weapon!) All this was heady stuff for a simple scribbler of novels whose only degree is a DHW with an HSD. (In case you didn’t know, that means Dallas HouseWife with a High School Diploma.)

We were given permission to go about on the dig site itself (a huge place as big as many, many soccer fields) and Dirk took a day to drive us to places back in the desert that tourists never get to see. One that sticks in my mind is a plain little stone building in the middle of nowhere, but which in ancient times sat on a way of sacred pilgrimage. Outside it looked like nothing, but inside was a nearly perfect jewel box of a temple to Amenhotep III, the paint still bright after three and a half thousand years. Another place we stopped that day was an enormous rock – also in the middle of nowhere – covered with rock art thousands of years old. Sadly, pieces of it had been chipped away, presumably for sale to unscrupulous buyers. There just isn’t enough money to protect these all Egypt’s national treasures, and there is a low class of humans who will steal their heritage and history to sell for a small amount of money.

After our all-too-short stay at the dig house was over, during which I actually started writing on A KILLING AT EL KAB, The Husband and I went to Luxor where we rented a luxury holiday flat on the West Bank from my beloved friend Jane Akshar (flatsinluxor.co.uk). Three bedrooms, two baths, lounge, dining room, kitchen (in which I made tea and nothing else) and a glorious balcony overlooking the Gurnah Hills, where Deir el Bahri and the Valley of the Kings are. We are not wealthy people, and I must tell you that all this cost just about the same per day as a standard hotel room in a mid-star hotel on the East Bank.

One of the benefits of traveling on your own is you can do exactly what you want. We spent days at the temples of Karnak and Luxor, most of a day in the Luxor Museum and several days just prowling the town. We did a sunset cruise on the Nile. We were fortunate enough to be invited to Jane’s birthday party, where her husband arranged Sufi dancers to entertain – not the famed Whirling Dervishes, but an esoteric and seldom-performed ancient war dance. We were the only non-residents of Luxor there and no one had ever seen this kind of performance. Since we’ve both toured the Valley of the Kings several times each, we didn’t go there, but spent most of a day at Hatshepsut’s temple Deir el Bahri, or Djeser Djeseru as it was known in ancient times. We had tea at the famed Winter Palace Hotel. Every Egyptian we met was wonderful, from the street vendors to the dig house staff to the museum staff.

Every bit of it counts as research, and it has all paid out. A KILLING AT EL KAB is going very well, so well I hope to be finished with it in a couple of months and have it out by the end of the year. I also believe in paying back; a quarter of the proceeds of this book will go to the restoration fund for the dig house. An architectural marvel, it is registered with the Ministry of Antiquities as a national monument and has been submitted to the World Monuments Fund for inclusion of the Watch List of Endangered Sites. I am proud to have been allowed to visit it.

(all photographs ©Janis Susan May Patterson 2015)