Melody of Love Romance Novel Contest
February 23, 2019 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Contests, Writing Contest
2019 Melody of Love
Sponsor: Music City Romance Writers
Fees: $22 for MCRW Members, $27 for other RWA Members, $32 for Non-RWA Members
Deadline: February 28, 2019
Eligibility: Open to published and unpublished authors over the age of 18. The manuscript entered must be the author’s original work and be unpublished and uncontracted at the time of deadline and unpublished during the contest itself. Manuscript must also meet minimum word count lengths.
Entry: First 25 pages with a maximum of 7,500 words.
Categories: Contemporary, Mainstream/Women’s Fiction, FF&P (Futuristic, Fantasy, & Paranormal), Historical, Young Adult. All heat levels welcome.
Judges: Judging is on a point basis, with all manuscripts judged by three authors from a pool of PAN, PRO, and trained general members. Judges are highly encouraged to comment and critique each entry.
FMI, check out our full rules at https://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/p/melody-of-love-2019-rules-in-full.htmland the simplified registration page at: https://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/p/contest-registration.html It is recommended you read the full rules and category descriptions and such before entering.
Researching Columbia by Kat Martin
February 8, 2019 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Guest Posts tagged as #amreading, #RomanticSuspense, Columbia, Kat Martin, Maximum Security Series, Research for Writers, romantic suspense, The Conspriacy
Researching Columbia
Sometimes what you think is going to be a great idea for a novel turns out to be a whole lot of work! That’s what happens when you realize the idea you are now in the middle of isn’t going to work the way you thought it would.
In THE CONSPIRACY, I got the idea for a book that started in Texas, moved to the Caribbean, and ended up in Venezuela. With all the trouble country is having, I thought it would be a great setting for a Romantic Thriller.
Unfortunately, after I was well into the book and started doing the necessary research for that segment of the story, I realized the geography I needed, and the rural setting didn’t exist in Venezuela.
I spent days digging around in South America, looking for a rainforest that could be reasonably reached from the Caribbean island of Aruba. Nothing worked.
Finally, I realized there actually was spot that exactly fit the image in my head. (This happens to writers all the time. No one knows why.) The spot was in Colombia, a place I had no desire to write about, but fit the story exactly.
So I went to work researching a remote area of Columbia accessible from Aruba.
Chase Garrett, the hero of THE CONSPIRACY, with the help of Harper Winston, the woman who hires him to find her missing brother, wind up in extreme danger in the Columbian tropical forest. It’s a very unusual place that required hours of research, but in the end, it was worth it.
I had my work cut out for me, finding which animals, reptiles, and birds lived in the area. Reading about the customs of the indigenous tribes, and the politic. Rebel armies inhabit the forest, and they don’t like intruders.
The research made THE CONSPIRACY one of the most challenging books I’ve written, but hopefully it’s one of my most interesting. I hope you’ll look for THE CONPIRACY, the first of my Maximum Security series, and that you enjoy. Until next time, very best wishes and happy reading,
Kat
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, BEYOND CONTROL, hit both big lists … NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST as well as the USA TODAY BEST-SELLING BOOKS LIST. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
A selection of books by Kat Martin
Spotlight on KAT MARTIN
January 24, 2019 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Kat Martin, New book release, romantic suspense, The Conspiracy
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, BEYOND CONTROL, hit both big lists … NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST as well as the USA TODAY BEST-SELLING BOOKS LIST. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
January sees the release of Kat’s newest romantic suspense THE CONSPIRACY. Read the excerpt below:
Excerpt: The Conspiracy
Kat Martin
The sounds of the rainforest surrounded him, the hum of insects, the shrill cry of a monkey, and the rustle of leaves as a wild animal moved through the undergrowth not far away.
In the blackness of night, Michael Winston leaned back against the thick trunk of an eighty foot Kapok rising up from the damp, mossy floor of the rainforest. His wrists burned from the plastic ties biding his hands behind his back. The white Bermuda shorts his captors had allowed him to put on when they had boarded BUZZ Word and found him sleeping naked next to Pia in the master cabin were gone. Replaced by khaki fatigues more suitable for their trek into the jungle.
Huddled on the ground beside him, hands also bound, Pia rested her head on his shoulder, her long mahogany hair teasing his cheek. She was petite, no more than five foot-three, with big brown eyes and smooth olive skin. Even with her makeup gone, her baggy fatigues damp from the afternoon rain and sticking to her lush curves, she was beautiful.
Every time he looked at her, guilt and fury washed over him. Fury that he was helpless to protect her from what might be in store for them. Guilt that if he hadn’t convinced her to go sailing with him she would be safe back in Aruba.
He could only pray that their captors would continue to obey whatever orders had apparently come down from their leader, which seemed to be not to hurt them.
At least no more than they had already happened during the fight to subdue them that night on the boat. His jaw and cheek were bruised and his ribs acted from the blows he had taken. He would have kept fighting if one of the men hadn’t pulled a gun and pressed it against Pia’s head.
That had been days ago. What day was it now? He tried to count backward, remembered making incredible love to Pia for the first time after a night of gambling at the Trade Winds Casino. Both of them had won a little money, enough to have them smiling when they returned to the boat and ended up in bed.
He remembered Pia falling asleep in his arms. Remembered the deep, satisfied sleep he’d drifted into himself, a rarity with the heavy work schedule he’d been under.
Sometime later that night, two men, big, burly and tough, had boarded the yacht and taken control, forcing him to sail out of the marina into the open sea. For the next two days, Michael had been certain the men’s intention was to pirate the yacht, kill them and dump their bodies in the ocean.
If it hadn’t been for Pia, he would have made an attempt to overpower his captors, but the men were heavily armed and well-trained, and he wasn’t willing to risk Pia’s life unless there was absolutely no other choice.
Eventually, the boat had sailed into a quiet cove on a deserted stretch of beach several hundred miles from Curacao. If his mental calculations were correct, they’d arrived somewhere in Colombia.
They’d been imprisoned two more days before soldiers had arrived to take charge of them. By then, Michael had been certain the motive was ransom, a demand for millions from his mega-rich father in return for his son’s release. But he was no longer sure.
Not since the soldiers had forced him and Pia to begin this grueling trek into the rainforest that covered the steep sides of the mountains. They had hiked all day in ill-fitting boots provided by their captors that rubbed blisters on their feet.
At dusk the soldiers had stopped the march and begun making camp. Exhausted, Michael had slumped against the tree and Pia had eased down beside him. He had no idea how long they’d sat there while the men ate and drank between raucous bursts of laughter.
They’d been brought water and a little food, which they’d been released just long enough to eat, given a bathroom break, then been tied up again and left beneath the tree.
Equally as wet, numb and cold as he was, Pia shifted and raised her head to look at him. “How many more days, do you think, till we reach wherever they’re taking us?”
They hadn’t arrived at their final destination–he was sure of that. “I heard some of them talking. My Spanish sucks, but I was able to make out some of what they said. If I got it right, they’re planning to reach the main camp by tomorrow night.”
Which meant another long day of hiking through the harsh, wet, mountainous tropical landscape. Pia spoke far better Spanish than he did, but she’d been careful not to let them know. She was extremely smart, which was one of the reasons he’d been attracted to her in the first place. Not to mention her beautiful face and fantastic figure.
“Do you think they’ve sent word to your father?”
He had told her his ransom theory mostly to keep her spirits up, told her his father was worth millions of dollars and that he would surely pay for the safe return of his only son and the girl who was with him.
Though Michael had never been able to live up to his father’s expectations and they rarely spoke these days, it didn’t change the fact they were blood. His father would pay the ransom demand and Pia would be part of the bargain—Michael wasn’t leaving without her.
“They’ve probably sent word by now,” he said. “They’ll want to be paid in cash. It might take my father a while to get the money together and get it down here.”
And his sister would be looking for them, he was sure of that. He hadn’t called her in days, as she had made him promise to do. Harper would know something was wrong and she would be doing her best to find him.
To CELEBRATE the release of THE CONSPIRACY, enter Kat’s new contest for a chance to win a KINDLE FIRE 7″ Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB and a Kindle copy of INTO THE FURY, INTO THE WHIRLWIND and INTO THE FIRESTORM. Contest runs from Jan 1, 2019 through Feb 28, 2019.
SPECIAL CONTEST: https://www.katmartin.com/the-conspiracy-giveaway/
KAT’S WEBSITE: https://www.katmartin.com/
You can also follow Kat on SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katmartinauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatMartinAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39929060-the-conspiracy?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KatMartinAuthor
Other books by Kat Martin:
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Book Review: One Taste too Many by Debra H. GoldStein A Review by Veronica Jorge
January 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews, Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, Cozy mystery, Debra H Goldstein, first in a new series, Veronica Jorge
One Taste Too Many (A Sarah Blair Mystery)
First in a new series!
by Debra H. Goldstein
Kensington Publishing Corp. 2019 ISBN 9781496719478
They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It’s also an effective way to take him out—permanently!
Every clue points to Emily, a chef on the rise, and it doesn’t help that the dead man is Bill Blair…her twin sister Sarah’s ex-husband. Throw a third woman into the mix, Jane, the woman Bill was seeing who claims that Bill’s family inheritance belongs to her, including Sarah’s cat, and you’ve got a recipe for murder.
In the midst of a major Food Expo and fierce, (shall we say deadly?), chef competition aspiring careers will be made or broken. Emily’s lawyer Harlan, and Peter the police chief, all life-long friends, match evidence and wits to discover the identity of the real murderer and get Emily off the hook.
In One Taste Too Many, Debra Goldstein will put your sleuthing skills to the test. If you think you can run with the best of the pack; whether Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, or Jessica Fletcher of the television series, Murder She Wrote, Debra will throw you for a loop each time you think you’ve solved the case.
Intriguing and entertaining, you will bury your nose in the book trying to pick up the scent of each new clue. But like a sophisticated recipe, you won’t be able to guess the secret ingredient. And like the expert storyteller that she is, Debra will keep you turning the pages until she reveals the culprit. It’s not who you think!
P.S. I tried the killer recipe included at the end of the book (‘killer’ as in taste, not the one that did poor Bill in. That’s why I’m still here). I didn’t get it to come out the way it was supposed to, but it’s light, refreshing, and delicious. And if I might add…one taste is to die for!
See you next time on February 22nd.
Veronica
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Bethlehem Writers Roundtable 2019 Short Story Award
January 7, 2019 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Contests, Events, Writing Contest tagged as Animal Tales, BWG, Fangs, Feathers, Fur, Writing contests
Stories of 2,000 words or fewer about WILD ANIMALS, PETS, or IMAGINARY BEASTS will be welcome (so long as an animal is an important character or element of the story).
The winner will receive $200 and may be offered publication in BWG’s upcoming anthology, FUR, FEATHERS, & SCALES: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales.
For more information and instructions for entering see: Bethlehem Writers Roundtable 2019 Short Story Award.
Contest opened January 1, 2019
To help you come up with some killer stories BWG has shared a few writing prompts.
