Venus Inferno

Click cover for an Excerpt from Chapter One

Venus Inferno comes out very shortly and I'm very excited by it. It represents a couple of firsts for me and one second.

It is my very first - but probably not my last - novella. I rather enjoyed this shorter format, although at times it was difficult to restrain myself from dropping an element into the story that would come up later. There wasn't going to be a later so if I wanted to say something, I had to say it now. I also didn't get the chance to interweave very much social commentary into the story, which I missed more than the chance to expand on the storyline.

It is also the very first story I wrote in the first person, which was very usual. I'm used to the third person and being able to provide different vantage points to allow the reader insight into what is happening. It is also odd using the personal pronoun 'I' all the time. One can't help but to identify with the main character. Admittedly this is an occupational hazard for writers but even more so in this case.

Venus Inferno represents my second published work with Champagne books. Hopefully there will be many more but having a second story accepted and published make it seem all the more real.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about Venus Inferno was that all of the main technology there is real.

Ion drives are real. They are slow compared to chemical rockets but they do exist.

Tellurium is real. It really is one of the nine rarest minerals on earth and it really does fall as snow on Venus.

Thermoelectric Materials are also real. And tellurium - in the form of bismuth telluride and lead telluride - really is a working element of thermoelectric devices.

Who knows? Maybe one day in the future they will be as commonplace as they are in Venus Inferno.

Let's hope so.

Cheers

David

Posted by David Boultbee

Why Blunder Woman? Good Question.

“Blunder Woman” comes out on the 5^th of July and, of course, I’m really happy about that. I thought then in honor of the release date, I’d offer some vague information that may not even be interesting.

A note, then, about the title and the things that happen in the novel. First: Where did Blunder Woman come from? I’m honestly not sure. I think the idea came when I was drinking bad coffee out of my Wonder Woman coffee cup. It’s old-school Wonder Woman where she’s all busty in her outfit, reaching out to fight crime. In the morning, especially, I look more puffy than busty, and the only thing I want to reach out to is a donut. I thought “Man, I’m more of a blunder than a wonder.” Shazam. I did some research and while “Blunder Woman” is certainly out there, no one had written a character around the term. That seemed shocking to me. Chloe Knaggs seemed to start to form then. Hmmm. That sounds like she was born or something. She really is more of a clone. Except she’s younger than I am.

So then. Is this a true story or did I research it? I will admit to you that I have been in training as a Blunder Woman my entire life. I’m incredibly awkward. I run into things; I wear a new shirt and forget to take the L sticker off my boob; when I try to ask someone out I inevitably burp. I put makeup on and at the end of the day I realize I only put mascara on one eye so I look startled…or like that dude in Clockwork Orange.

Of course, the story itself is fiction, but there’s truth there too. I was in love with a guy who I thought was The One even though I never even kissed him. And he had a derby party which I went to. I have a crazy mom and a friend who keeps me in line, although if my mom practices tantric sex it’s her secret business. I refuse to discuss that with her. Like Chloe, I obsess, I worry, and I live a spirited life. In that way, Chloe Knaggs and I could be sisters. She learns from her mistakes, though. Not to say that I don’t…I’m just really slow to learn.

Even though “Blunder Woman” the novel is finished, Blunder Woman the writer keeps going. Sometimes Chloe still whispers to me. She’s hinting she’d like another book. There’s the Soup Man too, asking for stuff, and Megan grumbling about something. These are okay voices to hear. My therapist assures me most writers do. We’ll see what happens.

Until then…hope you enjoy the book.

Blunder on,

Tanya

Win A Free E-Book!

I'll do anything, even bribe you with the chance to win a free e-book, to come and participate in my Author Spotlight on the Goodreads reading group Romance Readers Reading Challenges. The spotlight and contest run from June 7th -11th.

Everyone who asks me a question in the spotlight, even ones that make me squirm and blush, will be entered into a draw to win one of my e-books. Admit it, you'd like to try and win my newest release, Take A Chance where a modern day librarian must save a wizard from a dastardly curse.

I know the choice will be hard, kind of like my heroes lol.

Don’t be shy. Pop by, say hello and give yourself a chance to win.
I hope to see you there
Eve Langlais

COMPLIMENTARY FLAVORS by Jim Woods

COMPLIMENTARY FLAVORS

Some foods just naturally and traditionally go together—wine and cheese; cookies and milk; scotch and soda; peanut butter and jelly; coffee and mayonnaise. Whoa! Coffee and what?

Mayonnaise. It’s the perfect accompaniment to coffee. You can have coffee and a piece of pie, a slice of cake, a doughnut, a cinnamon roll, but nothing goes better with coffee than a sandwich and nothing goes better with a sandwich than a cup of coffee. A sandwich of anything—bologna, cheese, b-l-t, tuna, egg salad, chicken salad, roast beef, fried egg—put any of them on bread slathered with mayonnaise and you have an unbeatable taste treat.

Ah, but you might say, it’s the bread, not the mayonnaise. But not so, No matter what the bread—English muffin, sourdough, whole wheat, classic white, hamburger bun or a cold biscuit—they’re all from wheat flour of some description, just as are the sweet treats.  You certainly could not say that the flavor that compliments coffee is wheat flour. Ever tasted plain old flour? No taste. And those pies and sweet rolls, except for the colorful sugary addition they’re pretty much the same baker’s flour with the difference in the pastry flavoring itself.  Sure those go with coffee, but they couple equally well with milk, iced tea or diet cola. 

If the magic is not in the sandwich filling or even the sandwich bread, then the one remaining ingredient of all those sandwiches that go so well with coffee is the mayonnaise. But maybe all is not lost with cake and coffee. The true test might be to substitute mayonnaise for the butter cream filling and frosting. Naw. Maybe it is the sandwich bread that makes the difference after all. I’ll have a cup of black coffee, no sugar, and a sandwich. Maybe pastrami on marble rye—with mustard.

Jim Woods

Tattle & Wrye - June 2010

FROM THE DESK OF

DONA PENZA TATTLE, ESQ. AND ASSOCIATE WRYE BALDERDASH

Wrye is startled by the flying wedding bouquet aimed at him as Tattle, dressed in bridesmaid Pepto-Bismol pink, says, "Catch. June, perfect day for a wedding...perfect month to celebrate Champagne Books romances."

Nabbing the flowers from the air as if it's a football, he sneezes as if allergic to daisies. "The wedding is today? But we have a Love of Literature Leap schedule."

"Don't forget the rings, m'best man," she advices before adding. "Always time for a good leap."

"So true," he agrees. After fetching a timer, he takes Tattle's arm and off they go into a new and sizzling romance.

"Oh, how lovely," Tattle says, indicating the country backdrop for the contemporary romance STONE HOUSE FARM by Rhobin L. Courtright. "What a shame that Amanda Blanchard might lose it all, the last of her inheritance, especially since she wants to raise her daughter, Kari, on the centennial family farm."

Wrye, who had landed a little too close to horse dung, takes a hopping step backward. "She is hoping she won't have to sell her father's prize Morgan horses to forestall the tax man. Having a good job helps, but it's not enough."

"Enter stage hunka-hunka, Wade Preston, her high school sweetheart and land developer. He wants her land, threatens foreclosure. She's determined to keep what is hers, and is willing to part with the foal of her pregnant mare to ensure the taxes will be paid. Sparks fly and although both would deny it openly, those embers are all about passions denied."

Tattle does a Mae West impersonation, eyeballs rolling, hips woo-wooing and hair fluffing. "Me thinks all they need is a little alone time."

"Me thinks they are going to get that and mucho more!" Wrye proclaims as he dives into a new chapter.

"Think Wade shot! Snow storm knocking out electricity and phone! Think dire trouble."

Tattle joins her literary bud and scans pages. "Oh no! The storm has isolated them. Will she save Wade's life? Will the shooter be back? Is her daughter safe?”

"Ding...ding...ding.... Time's up. Leap!" They do!

Next stop on the romance celebration finds the duet in a contemporary suspense, THE SOLDIER'S GIRL by Romona Hilliger.

Tattle accidently on purposes loses her bridesmaid's hat, a throwback to wide brims and southern belles that has no business in this story set in Northern Australia. She nods taking in the plot, "Lookie...lookie, three school friends’ lives collide in a triangle of desperation, guilt, love, manipulation, and maybe...hopefully... hanky-panky?"

Wrye does a tsk-tsk with his finger and places the picture hat back on top of Tattle's Dolly Parton like hair-do. "Naughty lady," he scolds.

"Oooh, how does one resist that smoldering, sexy eye-candy, Bryce, a man who gave up a world of love and substance to work with underprivileged indigenous children. Talk about a hero."

Wrye practices the bunny-hop and dances his way through words. "A hero without love, so sad, for he had even given up the woman of his heart, Kate." He offers a salute, heels clicking. "True sacrifice."

"Then there is Frank, the war hero, he wants Kate, he can't have Kate, so he schemes for Kate. With his mind twisted by war and his heart aching, he does whatever it takes to make her his own. Conflict...conflict... conflict!"

"And just who does Kate want?"

"Bryce...but, ah, Frank can be persistent. It is all enough to snap those bonds formed as children." Tattle looks beseechingly at Wrye. "I must know what happens."

"Too late! Time for another romantic literary date."

"We're not in Kansas 2010 anymore," announces Wrye as they find themselves in the historical romance, FLOWER OF PASSION by Rose Lerma.

"Indeed we are not," confirms Tattle, and then begins to giggle. "Oh my, this book looks like fun." She points to Aster Hampton, looking gorgeous and confident but only for a few sentences. She collides right into Adam McCallister and seemingly a predestined date with a mud puddle.

"Poor dear, this isn't the way Aster wanted her debut home to be. She had every intention of allowing her new poise to overcome her nickname, Aster Disaster. Then this lout had to walk into her path."

"For a lout, he's a hottie even covered in mud. Yummy!" Tattle winces as Aster pops him in the eye with her fist. "Hmmm, he's taken that well. Hmmm, hmmm, he is actually intrigued. Goody for him."

"He is also a man on a mission to find a wife, one that he's attracted to, one that he is compatible with, and one he doesn't love."

"What! No love, is the man insane?"

"Thinks love turns a man gutless," says Wrye as he checks his pocket, to make certain he has not lost the wedding rings, and then flips through the pages. "Ah, this is truly a fun book that yanks at sentimentality, inflames senses, brings out the flaws and endearments of not just love but of family."

Noting Wrye has the look of someone getting ready to settle down for a good read, she drags him back into a leap, singing, "Getting you to the church on time."

Hope you enjoyed. Next month we'll enjoy fireworks and CHASING...CHASING...CHASING by our good friends Angelica Hart and Zi, DRAGON'S ANGEL by Donica Covey and THE LAST LEGACY by Jenna Leigh.

Have fun in the sun!

Dona Penza Rutabaga Tattle, Esq. and Associate Wrye Balderdash of Blather City, Wannachat

Created and written by Angelica Hart and Zi

KILLER DOLLS

SNAKE DANCE

CHASING...CHASING...CHASING July 2010 Champagne Books angelicahartandzi.com
Tattle and Wrye can also be found at www.myspace.com/champagnebooks

Adoption: It's never Over

Adoption

It’s never over
How our issues become our characters’ problems
By Julie Eberhart Painter
In every one of my books, adoption is an issue. It’s part of my life; it is my life, and the many sides: being given away, giving away, and watching our grandchild being given away are woven into our family’s history, and thus, secret baby style, into my romance and mystery novels.
As an adoptee, it has fueled my imagination. Who am I and who were they? It’s fired my passion to examine my written characters’ motives. Such life experiences make for inflammatory prose. The adoption issue creeps into my work like murder into crime novels and love into romances.
The most recently published example is Mortal Coil, now in paperback from Champagne books, May 2009. In Mortal Coil, the main character, Ellen, a nursing home administrator, has a compassionate heart. She and her first husband adopted a child, but didn’t tell the child that she was adopted. This loving omission becomes a problem for Ellen when her husband is killed in a car crash.
Secrets ignite violence. Murders in Ellen’s nursing home strike a match under an unlikely pair who would never have met without the afore-mentioned deceptions and murders.
In June 2010, Champagne releases Tangled Web. A seduction scene drives the plot that leads the reader from 1935 to 1951. It’s my projection for my birth mother, Catherine’s, life as I hope she lived it.
Illegitimacy and adoption were tremendous moral issues during the 30s through the 60s, a time of change in our country’s mores. With war on the horizon and women reaching beyond their domestic roles to find careers and help support their families, Catherine becomes stronger. She learns that the powerful do not always win.
In my unpublished memoir, I describe adoption as being Naked in Their Gene Pool, or in the case of our lost grandchild The Lost legacy. With adoptions, it’s never over. Many adoptees feel like abandoned puppies, searching every car on the road to see if their family has changed its mind and come back for them.
I once told a perfect stranger, "I’m Julie Eberhart Painter; I’m adopted; I come with a disclaimer."
Disarmed by my subconscious honesty, she answered, "I’m Jane and I can’t have children." We both had an issue-issue.
I was only nine months old when I was taken from a succession of foster homes and placed with my adoptive family—permanently. My first word was "home," not Mommy or Daddy. At four-years of age, I remember hiding when people came to the house. I ran from cars passing on the dirt road out front. In 1998, I petitioned the court to get my "story." The non-identifying information stated that at three months of age I was friendly, alert and able to stand up for myself—not fearful.
No, it’s never over. A 95-year old resident in the nursing home where I worked asked me, her volunteer: "Do you think I’ll finally meet my mother?"
Life and fiction are one when you’re adopted. It’s never over.

A Fairy Tale HEA

As a little girl, I craved fairy tales. There was something about the heroine being saved by the man of her dreams and living happily ever after that always left me with a warm, mushy feeling. Older now, definitely not wiser lol, I still love that glow I get from a HEA. So when I decided to sit down and write my first novel, I tried to incorporate the elements I wanted to see in a modern day fairy tale. and personally, I think the outcome was magical. I hope you do to.

Take A Chance is now available to all you fantasy romance lovers out there who want to see a modern girl with curves and glasses find her prince, or in this case, wizard charming.



Here's the blurb:

Samantha's searching for a hero, but finds a wizard in need of rescuing instead.

Samantha, a shy librarian, longs to find her one true love, but in today’s modern world, finding a dashing hero seems to be an impossible to task. So Chance decides to step in and what follows is pure adventure as Samantha finds herself magically teleported to a tropical island where she meets a hunky wizard in need of rescuing.

Sinclair, is a wizard of the high council, cursed to live alone on a tropical island with little hope of rescue, that is 'til a luscious librarian is dropped onto his beach. Having been betrayed by love once, he’s leery of trusting again but as he and Samantha overcome the magical obstacles set in their way, they discover that true love awaits them if they only Take A Chance

You can read an excerpt on my site EveLanglais.com or if you want to purchase this entertaining novel you can do so by Clicking Here

I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Wishing you your very own HEA
Eve Langlais