New Short Stories out in E-anthologies!

Linda Campbell and I, under our pseudonym, Terry Campbell, have two stories out today on All Romance Ebooks, released through L&L Dreamspell. They will be out in other formats soon, i.e., Kindle Nook, iPad. Check them out:

"Man in the Moon,"
Dreamspell Mystery Volume 1 (ebook anthology)
http://www.lldreamspell.com/DreamspellMysteryVol1.htm
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-dreamspellmysteryvolume1-477918-152.html


"12 Perfect Days,"
Dreamspell Haunts Volume 1 (ebook anthology)
http://www.lldreamspell.com/DreamspellHauntsVol1.htm
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-dreamspellhauntsvolume1-477920-140.html

Video trailers of both are up at www.TerryCampbell.com

Happy Halloween--------from some of Daryn Cross' Critters

Character Overload

I was hit yesterday with a severe case of character overload. If you’re a writer, I know this has happened to you. It may even happen to a reader if you read several books at the same time. How do you do that last thing, you ask? I don’t have a clue, but one of my friends says she does, so I doubt she’s alone. Anyway, my definition of character overload is a condition in which all the characters you have, whether in books being edited, in the work you’re currently writing or who are plotted and awaiting their opportunity for the turn of your pen (or computer keystroke), begin to war in your mind for dominance.

When this happens to me, I find myself balanced on a piece of threadlike wire, hopping from thought to thought and unable to settle down and make noticeable progress in one project, ANY project. Yesterday, Editor 1 sent me a proof to go over one last time in the middle of my doing front edits for Editor Number 2. Five minutes after Editor number 1 set me the proof, a potential Editor Number 3 sent me a note saying she loves my book and please send the whole manuscript. Then there’s the proposal I just sent off to a potential Agent Number 1 re: yet another work.

I doubt I’ll ever have Alzheimer’s because my mind gets a great work out. I may, however, end up with one heck of a case of multiple personality disorder. So, as a result of all this, it’s time to sit back and entertain you with a fractured harried married writer poem, Character Uprising.

CHARACTER UPRISING

My characters are not too pleased,
With whom I’ve written them to be,
They’ve been grumbling, and they might
Form a union, go on strike.

It seems my hero thinks I’ve goofed,
By showing he’s a bit aloof,
My heroine wants to have big breasts,
Now she has a small flat chest.

The other beings moan and wail,
They claim there’s not enough detail,
And all of them agree they’re not,
Happy with my crafted plot.

My hero says that he will fight,
Until I make him more a knight,
My heroine has clammed right up.
Until she’s curvy, she won’t budge.

And as for all the rest of them,
They’re plotting wildly, full of vim
And vigor, certain they can steal,
My story, make it seem quite real.

And there I sit and cannot write
Because they finally went on strike,
Crushed, I give up, let them tell
Me how to write them so they’ll sell.

The moral of this all you see,
Is let your story be set free,
Ask the people in your tale,
To write themselves, and you won’t fail.

New interview up!

Come join me at:
http://blog.JulieALindsey.com

Learn about me, my characters and more!

How to Have Magic in Life Everyday

At the beginning of the book, IT’S MAGIC, there’s a short prologue in which the mysterious magical matchmaker, Maxwell Magic, speaks to the reader explaining that adults no longer believe and dream like children. He goes on to speak about everyday magic, the simple pleasure of smelling the air after a summer rain, the tingle of excitement from a cool breeze off the ocean, the delight in tasting freshly fallen snow. How do you have magic in your life everyday? Here are my top ten suggestions:

10. Don’t anticipate, be spontaneous. If you plan too much it ruins the magic. Okay, so you’re a planner. At least write down my ten things and post them on your car dash. Then, in the middle of errands etc., just do one of the things on the list (uh, don’t do it while driving, okay?)

9. Have dessert first, or better yet, go to a restaurant and just order dessert (even if you’re on a diet, once will not hurt).

8. Take a disadvantaged person to the movies.

7. Buy a book in the bookstore for someone in line, or tell the person at the drive-through, you’re paying for a latte, burger, chicken dinner whatever for the next driver. Don’t do drive-through? Drive-through anyway and pay for whatever for the person behind you.

6. Walk through the grass barefoot.

5. Read a book from a genre you’ve never read before.

4. Go on a picnic lunch (Too cold? So? Dress warmly and have an insulated carrier—OR have the picnic lunch inside on the floor.

3. Meditate outside for twenty minutes (the quieter the place the better).

2. Go on a long walk or a bike ride.

1. Spend a night at home with someone special and no television or computer.

You’ll be surprised how much better you feel after you break from your routine and see life through a brand new set of filters. It is, after all, magic!

Happiness and Hope

One day a few years ago when things weren’t going all that well, I wrote a poem and sent it in to an inspirational poetry contest and, to my surprise, it won first place and $100. I went on to publish it in a very thin book of poems, but afterwards, that poem appeared periodically on sites where people were in some kind of emotional distress. Years after, yet another poem I penned began to show up, once on an alcoholics anonymous site and again to go with a photograph by a beginning professional photographer. I began to think God does use us in mysterious ways. And so today, dear friends, I launch these out again for you and anyone who can use happiness and hope.

HAPPINESS

Happiness comes when you least expect,
It dances like ripples on life’s rejects,
It twinkles in fog on a crisp cool day,
It sparkles in the wink of a single sunray.

Happiness comes from deep inside,
You learn what’s important and follow your guide.
It comes with love that’s freely supplied,
It’s never confused as a product of pride.

Happiness grows when you give it away,
The more that you give, the more you can save.
Happiness comes when you simply give in,
To the power of the Savior living within.


HOPE
Based on Romans 8:24

Hope is the boat we sail,
Through trouble’s rough, high seas,
It saves us from the winds,
That threaten constantly.

It’s something we can’t see,
Still, we wish for that one thing.
It’s there, but we can’t feel
With hands the light it brings.

It’s what we’ll have for life,
Yet, never will we hold,
But through our times of strife,
Its power will be bold.

And hope’s great final gift,
To those who patiently
Do wait until its time,
Will be eternity.

Guest Blogs

I have two separate blogs today on other blog sites, courtesy of Skhye Moncrief and Christine DePetrillo. Please come by, say hi and leave a comment!

Chris DePetrillo, www.APinchofRomance.Blogspot.com

Skhye Moncrief Jones, http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com

Daryn

I Have a New Cover!

The publishers say this book, co-written by L.J. DeLeon and me, will be in electronic format prerelease in a few days. I'll let you know when and announce a special promotion.

Magical Critters

Ah, there’s nothing like a pet. Advertising professionals will tell you puppies and kittens sell products, just like babies and small children. If that’s true, then perhaps many writers are losing a valuable opportunity by not including a pet in their novels.

I am an animal lover, so you’ll usually find a pet in mine unless the hero and heroine are in the middle of a dystopian world. I couldn’t stand to hurt a pet in the middle of battle and chaos. In my latest release IT’S MAGIC (from Crescent Moon Press and co-written with L.J.DeLeon, November 2010), the heroine has an aging Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Here’s an animal I know something about. My husband and I have owned three, all with very different personalities, but each one lovable, people pleasing gremlins who think they’re far smaller than they are and want to sleep on your lap. Murgatroid, the dog in IT’S MAGIC, is fairly easy-going except when someone invades his territory. He has a habit of s***ting in shoes if annoyed, as the hero finds out, to his discomfort.

In a true fantasy where the majority of the characters are magical, what types of pets should there be? In my Book of the Beginning series, yet to sell, the heroine of the first book, Honey Blood Draper, has a dragon, thankfully only a miniature breed, who will only mature to about one hundred plus pounds. Cinder is a comical feature on her own, as she trails after the heroine just like a dog will. But, beware if she sneezes, fire in the hole! In my second book, the heroine has a pigmy pterodactyl named Pee-wee. Protective just as Cinder is, Pee-wee makes a high pitched noise when warning his mistress and grows exponentially when he needs to protect her.

What animals are in my angel series, WALK RIGHT IN and WALK RIGHT BACK will be released in fourth quarter 2011 and January 2012, respectively by L&L Dreamspell? Well, in the second book, my heroine has a Siamese cat named Merle. Merle is a magical angel kitty who can speak and is a member of Ms. C’s (Ms. C is the Creator) Feline Intelligence Agency. She can disappear Cheshire Cat style, and the kitty-angels have a guardian angel protector, CATerine.

Authors are only limited by their imaginations by the pets they can make up in their fantasies. I’d love to hear about some critters you’ve read about or any you’ve invented as a writer. Please weigh in.

Bye for now,
Daryn

IT'S MAGIC Release November 2010

Here's a description of the story line:
Can true love exist between a man who believes a woman is capable of sticking a shive in his heart while making love and a woman who is convinced men think with only one head? Maxwell Magic, an eccentric mysterious matchmaker swears it can and he’s the man to provide the stimulus to make it happen. Kasey Bell, feminist writer, and Guy McLane, radio’s famous chauvinistic psychiatrist, are his targets. Even with carefully executed plans, the road to true love is strewn with mishaps, mirth and money-hungry nighttime talk show hosts. Will Kasey and Guy risk their reputations by exposing secrets buried beneath layers of shame and self-doubt for a desperately needed big money pay-off? Or, will they claim what has evaded them their entire lives—a love that lasts forever?

Excerpt:
As Kasey followed the stagehand, Guy grimaced. Damn. Why’d she have to have sea-green eyes and be a natural, sun-streaked blonde? He was a sucker for natural blondes, she appeared to be one. Unlike his ex, Helen, he suspected Kasey Bell’s blonde hair wasn’t found just on her head.

His gaze took in her tight ass and long legs. God, what legs Some men were turned-on by big breasts. Others by asses. Not him. He was a leg man through and through. And Kasey had the best set he’d seen in years.

Her dress clung in all the right places and was designed to make a man forget his own name. Not that it had a chance with him.

Guy studied her the way a connoisseur would a fine wine. Vintage seventy-three. He took another long, slow perusal and shook his head. He was wrong. The body on this Cabernet Sauvignon came from a perfect year. More likely a seventy-eight or if he were lucky, a classic seventy-five.

He grinned as she smoothed the sides of her dress while continuing to cross the stage on her perfectly toned legs.

Definitely still corked. She hadn’t had a chance to breathe, yet. He inhaled sharply. There was no mistaking a good mellow grape when he saw one. And when squeezed just right, the grape was memorable. One to be savored, never gulped.

No question about it, Ms. Kasey Bell was premium sipping quality. First, he’d give her time to breathe. Then he’d taste her, a little at a time, a gentle swirl over the tongue, a teasing of the taste buds.

As he continued to examine her, Guy swallowed hard. From the way her dress moved and the lack of lines, she wore a thong and thigh-high hose. Her derriere was the perfect size for his hands to cup each cheek as he pulled her flush against him. He could feel her long legs wrapping around him. And then there were her delicate ankles. They were so slim his fingers could circle them.

The whole package was enough to bring a grown man to his knees. Especially one like him who’d been alone for last three years. God, help him. Because if he didn’t, Guy knew there was no way he’d maintain his cool while seated next to her on stage.

“Dr. McLane?”

Guy snapped to attention. Standing before him were two lanky young men. “Yes.”
“I’m Josh Bell. This is my younger brother Jacob.”

Guy thrust out his hand and greeted each boy. “I understand you want to take some photos.”

“Yes, sir,” Josh answered.

“You’re our hero.”

Jacob frowned at Josh’s sharp jab to his ribs and Guy laughed. “What does your mother think of that?” He grinned as the two boys looked at each other, shrugged, then turned back to him.

“She hates it,” they said together.

“Dr. McLane, you’ve got two minutes.”

“Thanks, Al.” He turned to the boys. “We’d better get those photos taken.”
Guy started to move, then grimaced, again. Damn. He hadn’t reacted to a female this rapidly since adolescence. Back then, much to his embarrassment, all it’d taken was a slight breeze to get a reaction out of him. And at thirty-eight, the last thing he wanted was to look like a coat rack in some kids’ photos. “Both of you stand here,” he said, positioning the boys in front of him.

As Al Mack took more than a dozen photos, Guy wondered what it was about Kasey Bell that rang his chimes. They’d never met, yet he’d swear he’d seen her before.
Ah, well, he’d remember eventually. He never forgot a pair of legs, especially ones as spectacular as Kasey’s.

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