Six Sentence Sunday & Denny's Eye Candy - Week 15

Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge play Parker and Hardison on "Leverage". Yep, went for a silly photo of my OTP because they are 'eye candy' to me:)

Good Sunday morning, and welcome to Six Sentence Sunday. I'm running late, so here goes. Same WIP, a vampire FBI agent struggling to keep a promise to a witch, but this is the heroine, Macy's POV in a scene with her best friend.

Macy opened her mouth to curse Darla out but she was so angry her chest hurt and she didn't think she could breathe. Rising to her feet, she walked to the window. The snow fell thickly from the sky, but she could see lights flickering and a few cars and people struggling through the streets and sidewalks below. She watched them for a long moment before she turned to Darla and said, “I want a meeting with Gideon Russell Smyth and I want you to set it up so he understands he has to answer my questions about the serial murder case." Her voice trembled, but she didn't care. "You owe me big time for this screw up and I want my payoff now."

I'll be back later with eye candy! In the meantime, go visit and comment on more Six Sentence Sunday entries. 

Six Sentence Sunday and Denny's Eye Candy: Week 14

I was in a hurry and grabbed the first file on the desktop:) Ian S. from Vampire Diaries snagged from the Internet by Denny S. Bryce.

This week's Six Sentence Sunday has me still using excerpts from my WIP Gideon - the vampire FBI agent struggling to keep a promise to a witch. This week we get to meet another character - the romance character, if you will, and a glimpse of an early encounter she has with a few folks at a bar.

The little girl sounded like the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz.  If she uttered one more insane word, Macy was going to lose it. “Who the hell are you people?” Macy flipped her hand in dismissal and turned to Darla. "I thought you brought me here to meet a snitch who has information about the serial murder case. These people think they are witches and wizards, fighting what? Demons?"

Okay, that's it for this week. Go visit Six Sentence Sunday and get in some reading today - you've got an extra hour!

Today's Thursday Treat: Author Avery Flynn

Avery Flynn, author, The Dry Creek Series, Evernight Publishing

I get the best authors to stop by and blog on my Thursday Treat, and the goodness just keeps coming with Avery Flynn on deck. She's a fellow Waterworld Mermaid, and a wonderful supporter of writers and writing. She also is published with Evernight Publishing, so grab a cup of coffee, a soda, tea (and if you're reading late - white wine is good, too:), and spend some time with Ms. Avery Flynn:)!

Let's get to the facts right up front. What's your full author name, website, your latest release, the WIP that is keeping you up at night, your agent, your publisher, how long have you been writing…your successes? Yes, I want the mini bio right here, right now!

Avery said: Flynn, Avery Flynn top secret agent of procrastination and spunky heroines working on behalf of romance junkies everywhere. :) Really, wouldn't that be cool if we formed a group of covert romance agents? Oh, I'm totally getting the idea for a new career path. But until that comes to fruition I'll enjoy being my own silly self. You can track me down all over the place. I'm on the fabulous Waterworld Mermaids blog, my own blog, Facebook  and Twitter. My latest release will be coming out in January. It's called A Dry Creek Bed and it's book two in the Dry Creek series from Evernight Publishing. It's the action packed, steamy tale of Beth Martinez and Hank Layton. It was so much fun to write and I can't wait to have it out in the world. I've been writing since before I could spell (some would say that's still true) and plan to keep doing so until my fingers stop working. 

Q. What's the best kept secret about your writing process? 

Avery said: That even as fun as it is, it's work. Don't get me wrong. I love writing. However, I believe in making this my career and any career I have has to put groceries in the cupboard so I take the business side seriously. How does this factor into writing process? It means I have a set schedule that I try to keep. It means I organize myself to the nth degree (seriously I plot like I'm going into battle). It means that I'm always pushing myself to write better and learn more about the craft.

Q. What character have you written or are writing that keeps you up at night - just one, please:)?

Avery said: Right now it's the character I haven't written. One of the heroines for my next series is sneaking into my dreams and my downtime. Viv is going to be a ton of fun, but she is not too happy about having to wait in line for her turn. 

Q. What television or pop culture fictional character has had the greatest influence on your writing style and why?

Avery said: Oh man. I don't know that I can pick just one. I gravitate toward the kick ass heroine who always finds a way to make things happen. This could be a Charlie's Angel, Buffy, Stephanie Plum, Anita Blake … you get the idea. I like this type of heroine because I think they inspire and empower us as readers. It's a thrill to get to live vicariously through them and at the same time connect with them. Take Anita Blake, for example. She is a tough, tough woman. I get an adrenaline rush reading about her adventures, but at the same time I really connect with her because she has to balance her work with the needs of her family.

Q. What book/author is the current "hot read" on your bookshelf?

Avery said: There are three authors I always pick up: Janet Evanovich, Lori Foster and Laurell K. Hamilton.

Q. What's your favorite drink on a hot August evening - and who (fictional or not, friend or family, celebrity or historic figure) would be sitting at your side enjoying that drink with you?

Avery said: I'm a beer girl and my current favorite if the Guinness Black Lager. Yum. Who to have it with? I have to go with my husband. Even after almost 12 years and three kids, he's still my favorite person to hang out with.

Q. Who's your favorite romance author and what would you ask them if you had the chance (or when you had the chance)?

Avery said: My favorite is Lori Foster. When I look at authors I'd love to have mentor me, she is at the top of the list. I actually did get to talk with her (via e-mail) recently. That Q and A will go live tomorrow (Nov. 4) at the Waterworld Mermaids blog with a few extras on my blog. So stop by and see how personable she seems even via e-mail.

Q. Last question…what question have you been dying to answer but no one has ever asked?

Avery said: What is it like to be a New York Times bestselling author with 40 books under your belt and your own private island?

Great questions Denny! Thanks so much for having me - and don't hesitate to drop by Evernight Publishing to check out my books by clicking here now!

Thanks so much Avery for agreeing to hang out and share your success, as well as the latest news on your series. Now readers, please take a moment to ask Avery some questions. She'll be with us all day long, so let's get to chatting!

Rebecca Walker - Author, Feminist, All Around Great Gal:)

Rebecca Walker, author, feminist, writing coach. 
Photography of Rebecca Walker by Amanda Marsalis.

Rebecca is inspirational. She is truly among the Who's Who on any important lists about feminism, women's issues, writing, the arts and politics.

She is a wonderful writer, speaker, feminist, and contemporary woman. I had the pleasure of meeting her in 2009, when I attended one of her writing workshops for memoirists. Well, I don't write memoirs (not yet), I write romance fiction, but the experience and what I learned in a jam-packed week of reading, writing, marketing sessions, and idea exchanging, changed my writing life. So, I am honored to have her as a guest blogger, and she's going to hang around for a day or two - just to talk. So enough of my ramblings, here goes...

Let's get to the facts right up front. What's your full name, website, your latest release, the WIP that is keeping you up at night, your agent, your editor, how long have you been writing…your successes? Yes, I want the mini bio right here, right now!

Rebecca said: Rebecca Walker here, and there are a plethora of ways to find me. Check my site at www.rebeccawalker.com, my FB fan page, Twitter feed @rebeccawalker, and of course LinkedIn for all you business-minded folks. There's more, but I will leave it at that.

My new book coming in February 2012 is called Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness. It's a look at the different elements that make up what we think of when we see Obama step out of the limo with dark glasses, or strut across the White House lawn. What is that ineffable quality of cool? Reserve, audacity, swagger, what? And where did it come from.

This will be my sixth book, my fourth collection. My other two are straight-ahead literary memoirs, one on growing up mixed race in the seventies and eighties called Black White and Jewish and another about my decision after much ambivalence to have a child, called Baby Love, which was very controversial!

I am fortunate that my books have done well, and are taught all over the world. Today I signed  a permission for my introduction from my book on masculinity, What Makes a Man, to be included in 350,000 textbooks! One of my manuscript clients just sold her book to a major publisher, and I'm thrilled to be teaching another master class for writers in December in Maui at one of the most gorgeous resort properties in the world: the Grand Wailea. AND I get to come home and kiss the most beautiful six-year old you ever did see. I count my blessings.

Q.  What's the best-kept secret about your writing process?

Rebecca said: I hate to actually write. I like to write the entire book in my head before sitting down at the computer so the sitting down isn't so brutal and lonely and terrifying. I also find sitting and "trying to find you story" extremely inefficient. Time management people!

Q.  What character/theme have you written or are writing about that keeps you up at night - just one, please:)?

Rebecca said: Lost love. Fidelity. The vast ocean between continents. The need for human evolution.

Q. What recording artist/television or pop culture fictional character has had the greatest influence on your writing style and why?

Rebecca said: Gosh, so many! I feel like a big sponge. I'm constantly inhaling high art and pop art and mashing it all together in that thing called my creative brain. Maybe Miles Davis because I play Kind of Blue on repeat for hours? Maybe Michael Jackson because he's Michael Jackson and my son worships him. Maybe Michael from the Office because his self-deprecation makes me laugh. Don Draper because his character is so beautifully written with so much complexity. Nikki from Big Love because she's at once completely lovable and repugnant.

Q. What book/author is the current "hot read" on your bookshelf?

Rebecca said: I'm reading the Steve Jobs book right now, like everyone else. Also a gorgeous memoir/biography of a woman who started her creative career at 72: The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock. Very inspiring.

Q. What's your favorite drink on a cool October evening - and who (fictional or not, friend or family, celebrity or historic figure) would be sitting at your side enjoying that drink with you?

Rebecca said: Steaming hot chai with almond milk and agave with my husband, for sure. I'd like to have tea with Joni Mitchell. Coffee with Joan Didion.

Q. Who's your favorite author, poet, lyricist and what would you ask them if you had the chance (or when you had the chance)?

Rebecca said: I would definitely ask James Baldwin if it was all worth it. The exile, the torment, the struggle, the coming out, the bearing of the torch. All of it. Was it worth it, in the end?

Q. Last question…what question have you been dying to answer but no one has ever asked?

Rebecca said: People have asked me so many questions, I feel I've covered everything over the years. Let's see. I think the question would be the same: Is it worth it? The struggle to write, to publish, to share, to risk? Is it worth it? What have you lost and what you have gained. The answer to both questions is...everything.

Thank you Rebecca!

Now, it's your turn readers. Take a moment and ask her a few questions, also if you want to spend a week in paradise enjoying the freedom of being a creative artist (because that's what we writers are)...check out her workshop December 19-26. I'll be there!

Six Sentence Sunday & Denny's Eye Candy - Week 13

Ian Somerhalder (Lost, The Vampire Diaries) snagged from the Internet by Denny S. Bryce 


Six Sentence Sunday returns after a brief hiatus and some reminders on the rules. But I'm still sharing the WIP about a vampire FBI agent struggling to keep a promise to a witch...

Gideon didn’t want to listen. The bits of information the deputy shared had little to do with what he was looking for. If the man didn’t scream witch, sorcerer or worse, Gideon could care less. Besides, how many times in the past ten years had he sat in a car heading toward a dead body? Most of the time there was nothing supernatural about the killings. Just some deranged human collapsing from the weight of their own fragile sanity.

Take a moment and visit some of the other sentences out there in the world of SSS--and don't forget to comment!

Today's Thursday Treat: Award Winning Author Gail Barrett

Award Winning Author Gail Barrett's new release High-Risk Reunion is the first book in the Stealth Knights miniseries ("Stealth Knights: Powerful, passionate heroes with their own code of law.")

I am excited! Today's Thursday Treat is award winning author Gail Barrett. She is a multi-published author who I am thrilled to have as a guest blogger. A big thank you to Gail for agreeing to spend a few minutes here sharing a bit about her writing process and providing some insights to her success. Speaking of which, her new release High Risk Reunion is the first book in the Stealth Knights miniseries from Harlequin Romantic Suspense. 

Let’s get to the facts right up front. What's your full author name, website, your latest release, the WIP that is keeping you up at night, your agent, your publisher, how long have you been writing…your successes? Yes, I want the mini bio right here, right now!

Gail said: Okay, here goes.  My name is Gail Barrett, and I’ve been writing forever.  I’m one of those people who knew from childhood on what I wanted to do with my life, but I didn’t get serious about trying to publish a book until my children were in school full time.  My agent is Pam Hopkins, and my ninth book for Harlequin is out right now, High-Risk Reunion.  The tenth will be out in March.  Probably my biggest success is all the awards and contests I’ve won or finaled in over the years. Meltdown was a Rita ® finalist last summer, which was an enormous honor and a personal milestone for me.  My books have also won the Holt Medallion, the National Readers Choice Award, the Book Buyers Best Award, and the Golden Heart, among others.  My website is www.gailbarrett.com.

Q. What’s the best-kept secret about your writing process?

Gail said: I don’t know that it’s a secret, but I’m very obsessive about my writing.  I revise everything dozens of times, and even then I’m never quite satisfied with how it comes out.  I can spend hours on a single paragraph.  I have a certain ideal in my head, a kind of internal rhythm to my sentences, and I go crazy until my writing sounds like I think it should.  As a result I tend to write more slowly than I’d like, but that seems to be the way I work.

Q. What character have you written or are writing that keeps you up at night - just one, please:)?

Gail said: Once I finish a book and have completed all the edits, I stop worrying about the characters because they have achieved their happy endings and don’t need my help anymore.  The ones that keep me up at night (literally) are the ones whose stories I can’t quite figure out.  Right now I have a dozen such characters making me toss and turn in the middle of the night.

Q. What television or pop culture fictional character has had the greatest influence on your writing style and why? 

Gail said: Howard Roark from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.  I read that book in high school, and his philosophy has influenced all aspects of my life ever since -- from my writing to politics.  He embodies the triumph of the individual against collective society.  He is a man who thinks for himself and isn’t afraid to go against the mainstream.  He resists all pressure to conform and seeks perfection in his work.

Q. What book/author is the current "hot read" on your bookshelf?

Gail said: Right now I’m on a Nora Roberts binge, trying to finish some of her older trilogies that have been collecting dust in my to-be-read pile.  I plan to pick up the first book in her new trilogy at her book signing this weekend and can’t wait to read it.  That trilogy is set in Boonsboro (just a few miles from my house) and I’m really looking forward to seeing what she does with it.

Q. What’s your favorite drink on a hot August evening - and who (fictional or not, friend or family, celebrity or historic figure) would be sitting at your side enjoying that drink with you?

Gail said: My ideal night would be sitting at an outdoor cafe in Spain, drinking red wine and eating tapas with my husband and a few good friends.

Q. Who’s your favorite romance author and what would you ask them if you had the chance (or when you had the chance)?

Gail said: Oh, that’s a hard one because I have several favorite romance authors.  I’d love to find out from Nora how she writes so fast, though!!!

Q. Last question…what question have you been dying to answer but no one has ever asked?

Gail said: Is it true that you used to play the bagpipes?  The answer is YES.  I am a bagpipe and Celtic music fanatic.  My favorite group is Berrogüetto, which hails from Galicia, a Celtic area in northern Spain.  I have some links to their music on the Bio page on my website.

Thank you Gail. 

Now it's time for you to ask questions. Gail will be around and looks forward to chatting. So take a moment to say hi! 

Today's Thursday Treat: Erotic Romance Author Louisa Baico

The first in the series: The Vampire, The Witch and The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome by Louisa Bacio.

It's Thursday's Treat at my blog! Glad you could come hang out. Today, I am thrilled to have Louisa Bacio, an up and coming writer of erotic romance who has been doing it (that's in front of the computer) for a few years now. A dedicated writer, mom and critique partner - I am thrilled she took the time to join us here today. So here goes. Louisa Bacio!

Q: Let's get to the facts right up front. What's your full author name, website, your latest release, the WIP that is keeping you up at night, your agent, your publisher, how long have you been writing…your successes? Yes, I want the mini bio right here, right now!

Louisa said: I’m Louisa, and my first book Sex University: Physical Education was published by Ravenous Romance in June 2010. This year, I’ve published two novels and a third – an erotic paranormal ménage – The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: Chains of Silver should be out within the next month. (It’s in my editor’s hands as I write …). It’s been a whirlwind first year, and I’ve learned a lot about the publishing process. I adore my publishing house, and also my ePub agent, Saritza Hernandez, who is with the L. Perkins Agency.

How long have I been writing? Let’s just say that my first poems were about Garfield the Cat, and I’ve evolved a LOT since then.

As for haunting, that would have to be The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf. While I just finished the second book in the series, I’ve got a contract for a third, and two more are vying for attention!

Q. What's the best kept secret about your writing process?

Louisa said: It’s not too much of a secret but I do a lot of writing late at night. As a working mother with two small children – homework’s killing me! – I’ve got to squeeze writing-time in somewhere. I, along with a few other busy writing-moms, have pitched a workshop for RWA #12 on that very topic. Hopefully, it’ll be a go!

Q. What character have you written or are writing that keeps you up at night - just one, please:)?

Louisa said: One? Oh, come on! OK, to be honest since I recently started a new short story, it would have to be Alison Baba. She’s a motorcycle-riding hottie, whose father recently passed away. He left her in charge of his gang, and she’s got a thang for two very different members – Dragan and Taj. It’s a modern threesome retelling of a common fairy tale. And – without giving anything else away, we’ll see if you can figure out which one …

Q. What television or pop culture fictional character has had the greatest influence on your writing style and why?

Louisa said: Oooh, pop culture. Have I mentioned that I teach pop culture classes? Yep. Early influences come from the summer lovin’ that happened between Danny and Sandy on Grease. I used to reenact scenes from the film with my Barbie dolls (you’ll notice a trend with Barbie dolls later).

More recently, it would have to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Such brooding love with both Angel and Spike. Last year, I submitted a YA Halloween-themed short story that was rejected. The feedback was that it was too much between funny and scary, but if you look at my influences (Buffy), that’s my preferred niche.

Q: What book/author is the current "hot read" on your bookshelf?

Louisa said: I’ve got so many, to be honest. But, if I want a good, quick and dirty read, I’m turning to Decadent Publishing’s 1 NightStand series.

Q. What's your favorite drink on a hot August evening - and who (fictional or not, friend or family, celebrity or historic figure) would be sitting at your side enjoying that drink with you?

Louisa said: Homemade limoncello. Every year, we make it from lemons in my father’s backyard. When it gets hot, it’s delightful with ice and sparkling water. And the good thing about making your own liquor is that there’s plenty to share. So, when are you coming out to California?

Q. Who's your favorite romance author and what would you ask them if you had the chance (or when you had the chance)?

Louisa said: This type of question always throws me because I have so many “favorite” writers. Let’s pick Charlaine Harris and her Sookie Stackhouse novels. I want to know who Charlaine thinks Sookie should stick with. My choice has always been Eric (even before the hunky portrayal on True Blood).

Q: Last question…what question have you been dying to answer but no one has ever asked? 

Louisa said: What’s with all the kidnappings in your books?

You know, if you want to do the psychology on it, I’d love it. I’ve come to the realization that it’s a theme that somehow fascinates me. Maybe it has to do with forcefully being kept from doing something that a person wants. And, I’m remembering that I used to have my Barbie dolls be “kidnapped.” Totally bizarre to make these connections and I swear, it’s never happened to me in real life …

Author Web or Blog Site: http://louisabacio.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/louisabacio

Twitter: www.twitter.com/louisabacio