A picture post this Monday, featuring covers from three minxes.
First: Maya's book.
Hostage to Love, By Maya Blake
available now from Wild Rose.
Next up, Romy's book, Let's Misbehave, (writing as Rae Summers) which is available 7th July from Wild Rose (there'll be a later post closer to release about this one)
Just because yesterday was my birthday (and because I can!) today's blog post is chock full of celebratory eye candy.
Tired of McDreamy and McSteamy? Then I'd like to introduce you to the latest addition to the Grey's Anatomy cast ... Dr Jackson Avery / aka. Jesse Williams.
As a recent addition to Hollywood too, Jesse's filmography is still quite short, though I fully expect to see some great things from this young actor. Why? Because the man not only has the most gorgeous eyes known to mankind, but he's also intelligent. And don't tell me that doesn't matter, ladies, because we all know that an intelligent man is way sexier than any other hunk.
Jesse was born in Chicago in 1981. He attended Temple University, where he modelled to fund his tuition, before becoming a teacher in Philadelphia. He started acting in 2006, first Off-Broadway, then playing the part of Leo in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. Since then he's also appeared in the TV series Greek, in a horror movie, and of course in Grey's.
At the tender age of 28, Jesse still has a great future ahead of him, and I for one will definitely be keeping an eye out for him.
Today we're very happy to welcome Dawn Chartier to the Minxes blog. Dawn's first novel has just been published by Wild Rose Press, and has had some great reviews. Her cover is hawt too! So, here come the Minxy questions below. Take it away, Dawn!
1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago? Around this time I was toying with ideas. Basically reading the newspapers and seeing things that interest me. One article that stuck out was about Marie Laveau (Voodoo Queen of New Orleans), and right then and there I wrote a few ideas down, but I never went further than that. Not until a hurricane named Katrina hit. When we came back a few weeks after evacuation, before most people (we do construction in hospitals) I had plenty of time to think about my life and what I wanted to do. We had no electricity, no water, nothing. That was when I decided now is the time to do what I want. And my writing began.
2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book? Not An Angel came to mind when I heard about a woman who lost her baby to SIDS, and then her husband committed suicide because of it. I felt so bad for her, that a story came to mind. I wanted this woman to find love once again, and that's when my character Kira was born.
3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time? Well, I have it all mapped out...Not! I really have a little pink sticky that sits in front of me on my screen and it says. Finish, Submit and Publish Not An Angel (check!), Finish, Submit and Publish, Deadly Destruction (not checked yet) Finish, Submit and Publish Book 2 in Deadly series (not checked), and so on. My goals step by step, and if that happens in five years, great!
4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written? I wish I'd written Karen Marie Moning's "Fever" series or P.C. Cast's House of Night series. I've recently read both and loved them. Great strong female characters with plenty of room to grow.
5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer? I have to think that several authors influenced me. Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, L. K. Hamilton, to name a few.
6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy? I guess a little cringe-worthy. Its very hard to keep the sex fresh. You have to be careful not to repeat the same things. But I wouldn't mind writing a giggle-worthy sex scene. Maybe that will be next.
7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far? My husband is very romantic. Picking a moment is hard, but I'll say when he proposed to me on a Florida beach on one knee in the dark. I could barely see him holding the ring, he was so nervous, it was so sweet, but oh, what a great romantic moment. This man also cooks, cleans, runs my bath water, brings me coffee in bed. And no, you can't have him. And yes, he spoils me.(grin)
8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed? People asking me to speak at conferences and such. So not my cup of tea, but I'm learning to get over it because I do want to help other writers whenever I can.
9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given? Turn your internal editor off and just write. After you get it out, then go back and revise and revise and revise, but get the story out first. Write every single day if you can. I take the weekends off.
10. Tell us about your latest release. Not An Angel is a paranormal romance. A story that I wrote as a practice piece. I wanted to learn how to dig deeper into the characters emotions and so far from the few reviews I received it worked. Here is a little blurb.
Kira McCoy wants to die. Losing her husband and daughter tragically left her without hope. Now her disturbed brother-in-law will stop at nothing to have her for himself. All she wants is to find peace, but instead finds herself on top of a bridge ready to end her suffering. Protector of the Poryria, Trace Stuart is called to defend his race or embrace death. Defending humans is not part of the plan, but he cannot stop himself from saving Kira. Realizing that he shares a special bond with Kira, Trace defies his Queen and rushes into the heart of darkness in order to rescue the woman he loves. Will Kira be able to reach past her own pain to pull them both into the light?
11. What's next for you? Right now I'm polishing up a romantic suspense or a mystery romance novel. I'm not sure exactly what genre it fits in, it also has a slight paranormal twist. I have a series planned and I'll start working on Book 2 after this one.
Thanks Sally (Minxes of Romance) for having me. I enjoyed doing this interview.
My turn (gulp). I’m very happy to be a Minx. Before I was a Minx, I was writing on my own, not telling anyone I was a writer as I churned out my first couple of novels. Four or five years ago, I decided to get serious about my writing, and at that point everything changed for me. First I acknowledged that I was a writer. Told people that I wrote, claimed it. I went on a number of writing courses, and met other like minded people and learned a lot. I write Romance and also crime, and decided to target Mills and Boon.
I’d written my first ‘M&B novel’ before I attended a full day ‘writing a Mills and Boon’ writing course given by Inkwell Writers in Dublin. It was a great day, given by Abby Green and Trish Wylie, with Jenny Hutton, Mills and Boon editor in attendance. I learnt a lot that day, and it really helped focus my writing.
A while later, Trish was writing a ‘not at nationals’ post on her blog, and contacted me, asking me to either contribute to her blog for a ‘newbie’s view’ or to start my own blog, which she’d link to. I chose the latter option, and made the jump into the blogosphere.
I met various of the minxes this way. Admired their humour and mastery with words. Found great friendship and validation of my writing journey through it. And after the last Mills and Boon competition, while nursing my rejection letter, decided to take something positive from it, and the Minxes were born.
As a writer, I’m never finished learning. There’s always something new. I’d had critique partners before, and found it so valuable to analyse someone else’s work, and so helpful when someone looked over my own that I was eager for the experience and opportunity that the Minxes provide. What I hadn’t expected is the sheer joy of being a Minx. We pick each other up when we’re down. Give each other kicks up the pants when we need it, get together on Skype to brainstorm plots and thrash out character flaws. Its great. Now, with our blog, we’re meeting other writers and editors and growing as writers. And having fun, because at the end of the day, being happy is what it’s all about!
Today we have two for the price of one. Two minxes - Lorraine Wilson and Suzanne Jones reviewing two films.
"The Accidental Husband" The older I get the less patience I have. So nowadays if I put a dvd in the player and don't like what I see I hit the eject button, sometimes after only 5 minutes! The other evening I put 'The Accidental Husband' on with very little expectation. In fact I was dreading another romcom cliche but to my relief it wasn't anything of the sort - it was fresh and funny and it made me giggle, lots. Quite an achievement given I'm exceptionally grumpy in recent months and was really stressed out before I watched the film. I believe I even said 'ahh' at one point but thankfully only the dogs were around to hear me :-) And when the black moment hit I found I genuinely cared about the characters getting it together. I don't like giving out spoilers so I'm not going to tell you too much about the plot. The basic line is that radio host Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman) advises one of her listeners to break up with her boyfriend and the jilted ex (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) then sets about getting his revenge and she ends up, um, accidentally married. Really it works, honest and it will make you laugh. The only cliche was that the guy Emma (Uma Thurman) was originally 'settling' for (played by Colin Firth) was new-mannish and the guy she was supposed to be with was an alpha fireman. But with a cliche like Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a fireman's uniform who cares? In short the film did everything a romcom should - it made me laugh, made me care and it made me leave it playing until the credits were rolling.
Lorraine Wilson
For our second film, take one coachload of assorted tourists, a sprinkling of breathtaking Greek scenery, a hairy-man bus driver and the delightful Nia Vardalos as the tour guide and what do you get?
Driving Aphrodite is what.
There are no baddies, no exciting chase scenes and the humour is gentle rather than laugh-out-loud funny. But, I really enjoyed it and huge thanks to lovely Judy Jarvie for recommending it.
In my experience, men with beards sometimes have something to hide, however, you'll be pleased to know the hairy man in this film soon cleans up his act and undergoes a metamorphosis into a creature who is extremely easy on the eye. Worth watching for his beach scene alone.
Definitely a movie for a Saturday afternoon and definitely to be watched with a large box of chocolates.
