Under A Viking Moon

I won this book at a chat and can't wait to read it. The story sounds fantastic and I love Vikings!

Under A Viking Moon by Tami Dee is a time travel romantic adventure that begins with a deadly betrayal just off the frigid shores of Iceland in the year 900. No sooner had his marriage vows been uttered, (at the point of a sword) Leif Nabboddrson, a mighty Jarl of Norway is shoved off his Drakkars, bound hand and foot, into the sea.

Instead of drowning, he washes up upon the shores of a strange and wondrous beach, and the woman who forced the sea out of his lungs with a remarkable, life saving kiss, is his treacherous bride. Or is she?

Upon her Nordic grandmother's admittance to a nursing home, Katla ‘Kat’ Jonsdottir was forced to fend for herself on the harsh streets of San Francisco. Pitted against the city's most detestable vermin, she manages to survive alone, until fate deals her an incredible hand and her life is turned upside down by the arrival of a Viking warrior.

Childhood legends come to life, trust and betrayal are at constant odds, and the attraction between Leif and Kat is too strong to be ignored.

Join Leif and Kat as they journey through the chasms of time together, each with a vital mission to complete. Leif, determined to save his family and clan, must destroy the infant who Kat is charged to save, for if she fails, she will never be born.

*~*~*~*

Coffee Time Romance had this to say about Under A Viking Moon: 5 Cup review! Absolutely Wonderful. With a Sandra Hill flair, Ms. Dee has created a phenomenal time traveling romance. Exceptionally written, this romance carries a Viking from his time to modern day, with ease. Fascinating characters with colorful secondary characters will make you laugh and cry as the story starts to unfold. Witty dialogue and steamy sexual tension are all woven in making this one extraordinary tale. Wateena, Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Underavikingmoon.html

Fallen Angel wrote this: 5 angels ~ Under a Viking Moon starts out in the age of Vikings and blasts you to the present. This story is an awesome and inspiring work of love as well as trust and even sometimes betrayal. As you continue to read, you will be drawn into Leif and Katla’s journey. Miss Dee keeps you reading, unable to put this novella down until you have read the last sentence. Each wonderfully detailed scene from the long houses to the clothing lets you discover history even while you are being entertained. Reviewed by: Debbie
http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2006/July/Debbie-UnderAVikingMoon.htm

To read excerpts please visit...
http://www.tamidee.com/

More on Winning the Highlander's Heart

Terry Spear's first print novel, Winning the Highlander's Heart, has just been released. It has gotten rave reviews everywhere. Like “…fast paced, full of witty dialogue, and interesting characters that will keep readers entertained for hours. If you like historical stories about braw Highlander men, you’ll love this book.” Romance Junkies

In the novel, Countess Anice vows to flee the amorous advances of King Henry I, and return to her home in the Highlands, where she hopes to find a laird to wed. Highlander Laird Malcolm MacNeill, seeking an English bride, becomes entangled with the Scottish lass while trying to find out why her staff has vanished. Protecting the king's ward without losing his heart to the willful lass is easier said than done.

What did I think of Winning the Highlander's Heart? When Lady Anice, Countess of Brecken, swings from a tower window and falls into the lap of Malcolm MacNeill, Earl of Pembrinton, their lives become a rousing adventure neither anticipated. The king assigns Malcolm the difficult task of escorting Anice from England back to her castle in the Scottish Highlands and protecting her along the way. Once they get there, they must find out why members of her staff have disappeared.

Terry Spear has crafted a masterpiece in Winning the Highlander’s Heart. Fans of Scottish medieval romance will delight in this page-turner which sweeps the reader back to England and Scotland during the reign of King Henry I.

I fell in love with the noble, sexy Highland hero who has a wonderful sense of humor and a caring heart. The saucy heroine is a challenge for him, yet his perfect match. Malcolm and Anice’s verbal sparring is highly entertaining, and their attraction is deeply sensual. The secondary characters stole my heart as well, especially wee Kemp, a homeless lad they find along the way. This is a lighthearted, fun read, but at times the emotion was so touching it brought a tear to my eye. The skillfully interwoven suspense kept me wondering how they would escape the dangerous situations. I highly recommend this book, brimming in lush historical details, set in vivid locations, and peopled with true-to-life, lovable characters.

Romance Studio gave WINNING THE HIGHLANDERS HEART 5 Hearts!!, Lighthouse Literary Reviews--5 Beacons!!, Fallen Angel Reviews--5 Angels!!, Romance Junkies--4.5 rating!!! And it won Honorable Mention in the International Connections Contest.

Read more great reviews and an excerpt at Terry's website...
http://terryspear.tripod.com/author

"Lost" (I want more!)

Who is eager and hungry for the new season of "Lost" to start? ME! I'm addicted and have been without too long. (Could you believe that season two cliffhanger? Talk about weird.) I started watching because other writers were saying the writing on the show is incredible and writers can learn a lot from it. But what started out as a "classroom" suddenly became addiction for me, and I'm not even able to analyze it for writing technique. Maybe I could if I watched each episode several times. But who wants to spoil the fun? What do I love about the show? Probably the same thing every other fan loves. The multi-faceted, 3D characters (their interactions, conflicts and backstories), the setting, the weird paranormal stuff, the mystery, danger and adventure, the wild twists and turns.

The third season starts Oct. 4, 2006. And the complete second season is available on DVD Sept. 5. It appears the third season will start with 7 episodes and then the rest of the season of 18 episodes will follow starting in Jan. or Feb. 2007. Woohoo!!

Wondering what might happen in season three? Here you will find answers and more questions.
http://comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=15879

Official "Lost" website with lots of cool stuff including video clips.
http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index.html

Unofficial fansite with articles and info about episodes.
http://lost-tv.com/

Don't know much about "Lost?" Read up on it at Wickipedia. (I was surprised to find this.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(2004_television_series)

And just for fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdOYMpxDTvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NbL0EHbXW8

Participate in article

I'll be writing an article called The Good, the Bad and the Useless--Conference Goodies. If you attend writers' conferences, you know what I'm talking about. Authors and publishers give away many items with their names on them. Some of these are brilliant and others make you go HUH? and you throw said item in the trash. Some of these items include...

postcards
pins/buttons
key chains
magnets
candy/gum
bookmark
book thongs
note pads
nail files
bookmark w/charm
excerpts
pens
free books
Which are your favorite? Which are the items you don't bother to pick up? Which do you take but give away? Which do you take but decide later you don't like it and throw it away? Which are the most useful? The least useful? Do you have a favorite (or least favorite) item that's not on this list? If you would like to comment and leave your name and website addy, I may quote you if I decide to use your comment in my article. (Free promo for you.) Thanks for your help!

Slave to Sensation

What a great cover, huh? I can't wait to read this book.

I am participating in a blogging experiment hosted at dearauthor.com. To enter the contest, put up this blurb, image, and trackback and you are entered to win the following prize package.

$200 Amazon gift certificate
Signed copy of Slave to Sensation
New Zealand goodies chosen by Singh
ARC of Christine Feehan's October 31 release: Conspiracy Game
You can read about the experiment here and you can download the code that you need to participate here. http://dearauthor.com/contestcode.txt


SLAVE TO SENSATION
Nalini Singh
Berkley / September 2006

Welcome to a future where emotion is a crime and powers of the mind clash brutally against those of the heart.

Sascha Duncan is one of the Psy, a psychic race that has cut off its emotions in an effort to prevent murderous insanity. Those who feel are punished by having their brains wiped clean, their personalities and memories destroyed.

Lucas Hunter is a Changeling, a shapeshifter who craves sensation, lives for touch. When their separate worlds collide in the serial murders of Changeling women, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities…or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.

Excerpt
http://www.nalinisingh.com/slave.html

Winning the Highlander's Heart

My friend Terry Spear has a book out now, Winning the Highlander's Heart. You can find it here at Amazon along with reviews. It's a fantastic Scottish historical romance which I highly recommend.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978536835/sr=8-2/qid=1155912423/ref=sr_1_2/104-7309528-8371132?ie=UTF8

Or click here to visit her website and read an excerpt
http://terryspear.tripod.com/author/

Speaking of Terry Spear... she has a wonderful workshop going on now called Happy Hookers, which I'm taking. She teaches the writer how to hook the reader with every turn in the story (beginnings, middles, ends) and never let go. I definitely recommend it as well.

Backstory For Your People

When I say people, I mean your characters (for you writers.) My characters become so real to me as I'm writing them, they are like real people...real friends. Hmm...does this mean I'm a grownup with imaginary friends? Could be, but at least I don't talk to them. Aloud. But they do talk to me, in my head. They talk to each other more and I get to listen in like a sneaky eavesdropper. They usually tell about their pasts at some point in the story.

A character's past is the much maligned backstory that everyone thinks is the kiss of death. It isn't. Only the "backstory dump" is the bad thing. Very bad. No one wants to read a chapter about what happened during the course of your character's past up to this point. That would be boring. Start your story in the here and now on that day when everything changes. Give out teaspoons of info on important events from your character's past here and there through the story. Important events are also called Backstory Events. These are things that changed the course of the character's life. Big, traumatizing, interesting things. They serve as motivation (fuel) for what drives the character now toward what he or she wants (or avoids.) That's why you can't leave out backstory alltogether.

Here's a link to the first (ever) article I wrote a couple years ago about backstory. This is a pdf download of a whole newsletter. My article, Backstory Success, is on page 8. If you're a writer who struggles with where, when or how to use backstory you might find this helpful.

http://www.calgaryrwa.com/april04.pdf

Recent Short Stories

Please excuse me while I merge my two blogs. If you've read some of this before, I apologize. I can barely keep up with one blog, much less two. :-)

"Finding Trouble, My Wild Friend Led Me to a Sexy Bad-Boy and Love" is the title of my short story in the August issue of True Confessions. This is a fun, spicy-hot story (with lots of suspense and action) about a good girl who gets into more trouble than she bargained for when she follows her friend to a bar and catches the attention of an exciting bad-boy. This is one of my favorite stories I've written. I hope you enjoy it.

"Reformed Romeo" is the new title the editors gave my story in the Summer 06 True Experience. My original title had been Good Enough to Be a Daddy? "Reformed Romeo, Am I Too Late For My Son" is much better. And I love the way they put the title at the top of the attractive cover. Making the cover is a special treat.

"Broke, Alone and Desperate" describes the heroine of my short story in the July issue of True Romance. My title for the story was A Promise Kept. A 17 yr old boy carves "I promise 2 love U 4ever" on a tree. Fifteen years later the girl/woman he loves finds his message again, growing in the gnarled bark. What happens when she comes face to face with him and he stands in the way of her efforts to dig herself out of the hole her life has slid into? This story is about second chances and finding things you thought you'd lost many years ago. This was the first short story I wrote and I'm glad it found a home.

Excuses, excuses

Hi, I'm so sorry for my long absence here. I have lots of good excuses but I'm sure you don't want to hear them. :-) Sometimes you just need a blog break, right? At the end of July, I went to the national RWA conference in Atlanta and had a wonderful time. I met lots of online friends face to face for the first time and met lots of my favorite authors. As a result of an editor appointment, I received a request from Red Sage. They want to see a novella from an idea I pitched and I'm diligently working on that now. I had planned to pitch something else so this novella pitch was a surprise to me. I've also been submitting other stories to editors and contests.

Have a great day!