FRIDAY STIR FRY - Author Spotlight

http://www.morguefile.com

I'm thrilled to host Allison Merritt today. Not only is she a talented writer with many books to her credit, I consider her a good friend. She writes in various romance genres including Steampunk, Vikings, 1800 era Ozarks, and modern day Cowboy. Her current release involves demons and the evil they unleash on a small western town. How cool is that!

Before I introduce you to her current release, please enjoy this quick interview.

Your books cover many different historical times from Vikings to modern day. Which is your favorite and why? 

I've always loved 19th century culture. My first attempts at writing romance were set in the 1800s and it's still my favorite time period to write. The first romance novel I read was In the Shadow of the Mountains by Roseanne Bittner and I read a ton of Louis L'Amour. Both authors had a serious impact on my writing. I like cowboys in general, so do expect to see those whether they're modern, historical or in an alternate world. Although, Vikings were a great switch, because they're the ultimate alpha hero.

What would you consider a perfect day?

Wake up late, maybe 10-ish, get in the car, take a drive, perhaps south toward Arkansas, because right now, the trees and flowers are blooming and the scenery is great. Have a late lunch, maybe do a little shopping, no rush to get back, just time to marvel at the beauty of nature. End the day curled up in my chair with my dogs and watching a good movie. Then bedtime and a nice, uninterrupted sleep.

Favorites:

Movie: Secondhand Lions - action, adventure, mystery, romance. It has it all.

Food: Mac n'cheese

Drink: Dr. Pepper

Shoes: Flip flops

Car: Mustang

Animal: My Japanese chins. They're hilariously crazy dogs.

Thanks Allison! And, by the way, I love Secondhand Lions.

Blurb:

If love can’t save them, there will be hell to pay.

Grateful for his mother’s human blood that cools the dark fire of his demon father, Eban Heckmaster has set up a medical practice in New Mexico territory. But there’s no hope of living a normal life until he rids himself of a seductive demon that’s been pursuing him.

Vanquishing it won’t be as simple as sharpening his demon-hunting sword. The clever creature is hiding inside his best friend’s head, and she has no idea of the havoc she’s been wreaking, especially with his body.

Beryl suspects Eban knows why she’s been waking up with no memory of where she’s been or what she’s done, but he’s not talking. But when she inevitably learns what he’s hiding—or rather, what’s hiding inside her—she wonders if her love for him is real, or an illusion created by the demon’s lust.

Eban is losing the battle to hold his rising desire in check. There may be only one way to extricate Beryl from the beast entangling her mind. Call upon his demon blood…and offer it as a sacrifice.

Excerpt:

Eban’s lungs ached for breath and his eyes shot open. Startled by weight settling on his abdomen, he tried to sit up, but two small hands held him down. Thanks to his demon blood, it only took a moment to adjust to the dark. In the nonexistent light, he peered up at Beryl Brookshier’s angelic face. She gave him a wicked smile as long strands of wheat-blonde hair tickled his bare chest. He sucked in a breath when he realized she was naked and a sheet was the only thing separating her from his raging erection.

“What are you doing?”

The second the words were out of his mouth, Eban knew he wasn’t talking to Beryl.

“Ravish me, Ebaneezer.”

The demon used Beryl’s voice and body, but the thing talking to him was far from human. The notion of taking its head off and sparing himself a lot of trouble was tempting. If not for the real Beryl’s trusting green eyes and bashful smile.

“That stopped being funny the first time you got naked in front of me.”

She caressed his cheek. “You were dreaming. I was trying to make your dreams more pleasant.”

He slapped her hands away. “You thought you’d tempt me into bedding you and then letting some other parasite into my brain. That’s not going to happen, Rosemar.”

“You want this body. Why deny it, Heckmaster?” The lust demon glowered at him, her irritation creasing the smooth face she borrowed.

“Get off me.” He pushed her away, then grabbed the sheet as she slid off his chest. “What I want is for you to vacate it, leaving Beryl’s mind intact so I can get out of Berner.”

Buy links:

Samhain - https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5394/eban

Amazon - http://amzn.com/B00QZVS0I2

B & N - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wystan-allison-merritt/1119847207?ean=9781619222892

Are - https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-eban-1724448-140.html

Google Books - https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=CL3VBQAAQBAJ&rdid=book-CL3VBQAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_atb&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_atb

Kobo - https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/eban

About the author:

A love of reading inspired Allison Merritt to pursue her dream of becoming an author who writes historical, paranormal and fantasy romances, often combining the sub-genres. She lives in a small town in the Ozark Mountains with her husband and dogs. When she's not writing or reading, she hikes in national parks and conservation areas.

Allison graduated from College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri with a B.A. in mass communications that's gathering dust after it was determined that she's better at writing fluff than hard news.

Social links:

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/authorallisonmerritt

Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/Allison_Merritt

Blog – http://havenovelwilledit.blogspot.com

Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/allisonmwrites/

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/allisonmwrites


Now - for those of you who did the right thing and read this post all the way through - leave a comment and/or question for Allison - your name will go into a drawing for a $5.00 Amazon gift card. Make sure I have your e-mail address so I can notify you if you win.

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Missing For The Next 30 Days

Yep, it's almost here. November or as I like to call it Insaneber. Because anyone who thinks they can write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days has to be insane right?

Believe it or not it is possible but it takes a lot of energy, courage and caffeine. Here are a few tricks and treats I've learned over the last 6 years I've participated. (notice how I referenced Halloween there?) Happy Halloween/Samhain! Now to my tips.

• Absolutely no editing. This is the first rule of NaNo. Lock that editor in the basement. You have no time for his nonsense this month. 
• Do not use contractions. Don't is one word - do not is two. You can fix it later with find and replace. 
• Everyone has at least two, three or more names. And they repeat their names a lot. Not only does this up your word count but it helps your brain remember all your characters. Again, you can fix later. 
• Have a music play list. This not only sets the mood for your story, but, at least in my case, the words flow easier if there is music in the background. 
• Lots of caffeine and chocolate. Self explanatory. 
• Set a timer for 10, 15 or 30 minutes. Write non-stop until that sucker goes off. You'll be surprised how many words you will get.
• Finally - and this is very important. BACK UP YOUR NOVEL AT LEAST EVERY DAY. I can't tell you how many horror stories I've heard of people losing all their hard work. Don't be that person.

 
I hope you join in, but if not please understand if you don't see or hear from me, I'm probably okay, just busy trying to wrestle a novel out of my brain. You can track my progress by coming by and checking the word count widget to the right.

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Better Late Than Never

I know, I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. No excuses. Well actually a couple of excuses.

Experienced both ups and downs a couple of weekends ago. It was our much anticipated Ozarks Romance Authors Convention (ORACON). See pictures here. https://www.facebook.com/OzarksRomanceAuthors/photos_stream

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/817976

As secretary I was in charge of name tags for over a 100 people. So, being the procrastinator I am, I worked most of Friday afternoon on them. I was sorry to miss the book signing of our talented presenters at B&N. But, I wasn't going to miss the fancy dinner at Flame Steak House for our volunteers and speakers.

All was well until I went to the bathroom. Being a bit unsure on my feet, (and no I wasn't drunk), I tripped over the threshold going into the one seater. Landed on my bad knee of course. And, because of my bad knees and, well, my weight, I had a hard time getting up. I wasn't about to ask for help and spoil every one's fun. Anyway, I did something really bad to my foot.

So, the day of the conference, I could barely walk. But, I had to be there because I had all the name tags. Thanks to some awesome pain meds and even more awesome friends Allison Merritt, Lisa Medley and Sara Jordan in particular, who waited on me hand and foot (get it?), I made it through the day. Even managed to pitch my novel to Holly Atkinson with Samhain publishing. And, although my head was a little groggy and I'm sure my pitch wandered off course a bit, she asked to see the manuscript. Yeah!

Several x-rays later, nothing was broken. Still bruised and hurting though. It's been hard to concentrate on anything. Ah, the trials of getting old. But, as they say, it's better than the alternative.

So, let me know - have you ever injured yourself being clumsy?