Mona Karel Author

Tina and I are doing an exchange, so more people can know about Summer’s Growth – 1st Book in the “Family Tree” series. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with some more recipes in time for Easter.

Blurb

Forced by the family spirits to get a life, Mattie Winston has to train her replacement Amber Harrison to be in charge of all the workings of the Winston estate. Reluctant to make changes in her life, Mattie forms a bond with Amber, when strange accidents start happening which threaten their lives and an unknown ghost makes an appearance.

After being rescued by an old flame, Quincy Miller, Mattie faces old wounds of rejection. As the general contractor for Amber’s redecoration project, Mattie is in constant contact with Quincy and realizes she still in love with her childhood sweetheart.

Amber, learning her new role in the family, wants to discover the identity of the ghost who keeps appearing. After several appearances, Gwen, Amber’s distance grandmother, shifts the book into more of Amber’s struggle to find out why her grandmother disappeared two hundred years ago without a trace. In a fight to claim her position in the family, Amber searches for clues to solve the mystery.

Mattie and Amber are both challenged when the family spirits decides Amber shouldn’t be the keeper. Battling for Amber, Mattie realizes she wants a life with Quincy outside the Winston estate.

Amber realized the importance of her new spiritual family, and she works to discover how Gwen died.

Can these two women achieve their goals?

Read the first chapter at Tina Gayle.net    Find at Smashwords or Amazon

Excerpt:

Standing by the bay window in the front room, Mattie watched the car approach. Her new recruit’s arrival had goose bumps popping out on Mattie’s skin, adding to her anxieties.

She wanted to run, but instead glanced at the kindhearted spirit of Opal, her distant grandmother. Dressed in her best early American gown, the many layers of her petticoat swished with a soft hiss when she moved.

“There’s no reason to be nervous. Once you meet Amber, you’ll see she caps the climax,” Opal voiced in a soothing tone. “Your Aunt Rachel is absolutely thrilled to have a descendant from her branch of the family as keeper.”

Looking beyond her at the rest of the room, Mattie searched for the other members of the family council. They always offered her their support when she faced a big decision. Yet, today they were conspicuously absent.

“Don’t worry. The whole family is behind you. We just thought it better if we didn’t all hover.”

Shifting from foot to foot, she wrung her hands together. A simple process of a changing of the guard for them, Amber’s arrival marked the end of the life Mattie loved.

The beautiful spirits around her didn’t understand how cruel humans could be to each other. What if she screwed up and the girl left? Or the girl hated living with a house full of spirits?

Unease pricked at Mattie’s mind. She had no experience in dealing with strangers. All her business associates understood her likes and didn’t force her to attend any social events.

A quick glance out the window, and a car rounded the fountain. She wasn’t prepared to entertain Amber. How could she be? She never invited guests to the estate.

“Now, Pumpkin, there’s no need to worry. It’s time another branch of the family realize what a pain it is to be keeper.” Opal smiled, offering her special form of reassurance. “We’re all here to help with the transition.”

The high notes of Beethoven’s Fifth sprang from the piano. Mattie jumped in surprise at the sudden noise. She whipped around to see Uncle Samuel, the artist of the family, standing next to the piano.

“The game is afoot.” He arched his eyebrows and grinned, then disappeared.

“I’d better leave.” Her aunt patted Mattie’s shoulder. “Just remember, the girl is uneasy too.”

Opal disappeared.

With a deep breath, Mattie turned and gripped the cold metal knob in her hand.

Soon her home would belong to a stranger, and then what would she do?

Find Tina Gayle everywhere

Home – www.tinagayle.net

Blog – www.tinagayle.blogspot.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/#!/AuthorTinaGayle

Goodread – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1641826.Tina_Gayle

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/tina.gayle

Google + – https://plus.google.com

Linkin – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tina-gayle/11/689/759

I’m such a squealy fan of Kristen Lamb, she pulls no punches and her recent blogs have been spot on. Like this one:

5 Common Mistakes that Will KILL Your Novel.

Kristen does have a way of slapping me upside the head when I’m meandering. I don’t have a problem with overall antagonists but have more than once hit the wall with every scene antagonists. In my current WIP, Gabriel has plenty to fight against: the Atrahasis are watching for him to fail at his suspension, he’s going to run into more of the people who got him in trouble in the first place, and he really, really doesn’t like the people he’s working with.  See, lots of conflict, especially with himself.

But Clair of the snarky comments from Sunday’s post so far doesn’t have much wrong with her life.  She’s comfortable with being full figured, people like her, she’s helping out a friend, she loves her job as a college Drama instructor…I think I wrote her just to have a life to lust after.  In my own life, boring isn’t a bad thing but in a book, it’s murder. I’m going to have to come up with conflict for her too. Something more than “Boo Hoo that clerk was mean to me” or “My nail polish is the wrong shade for this dress.”  I do understand about conflict, I’ve just worked very hard to avoid it in my own life. A former boyfriend who dropped her due to her weight just isn’t enough. Obviously she’s not going to trust Gabriel right away but I’m not a fan of bickering relationship stories, and I tend to question women who go off with men they don’t trust for no other reason than a well filled pair of jeans.

Then again…

SET UP:  Gabriel is Mykhael’s half brother. In My Killer My Love he attempted to destroy an ancient sacred area, and was defeated by Kendra and Mykhael. Turns out he was influenced by some very nasty Atrahasis. He’s been given a chance to redeem himself by working among humans until he learns humility. It might be a long, long time. This is the first draft, which is mostly dialogue

“I do not have the strength to touch you without further action, could you please fasten your garment again?”

“You’re stopping?” Her gaze drifted down his front to where he was obviously aroused. “You want me…”

“Until my manly appendage is about to explode.”

“Your what?”

“I saw the phrase in one of your books…you don’t think of it in those words? The others seemed too crude”

“It’s a penis. Or a cock. Or a Mighty Wang of Power. A love handle. Take your pick”

Today’s Kristen Lamb post was about not wasting our time with weak writing, though for some of use the need to get words on the page supersedes everything else. Come editing time, that is another matter!

The Clock is Ticking—5 Tips for Tighter, Cleaner Writing.

In the quest to get those words out of my head and on to the page, I checked out Darynda’s Write or Die, which I mentioned in the last blog.  Looked pretty interesting, why not try it? I made sure everything was ready, dogs settled, coffee at my hand, and I sat down to write, with the level set to gentle.  Pretty cool, when I stopped to search for a word, the screen went to pink, then darker pink.  So I threw myself into getting words on the screen, playing out a conversation between Gabe and Clair the first time they talk about why she’s pretending to be her friend.

The phone rings.  I could say I was worried the caller might have a serious issue but the sad fact is I’m still Pavlovian about answering the phone. I’m working on that. She asked if I had a minute, I told her I was writing and she said “this will only take a second.” Now there’s my second mistake, as my brilliant organized friend told me. I should have said I’d call her back, and hung up. Lesson learned.

I was sure I could multi task and work on two conversations at once.  Until my coffee ran out, I went to get more, and didn’t hit keys often enough to make the W or D program happy.  The screen went pink, fuschia, red, then started a beeping alarm, even though I was pounding at keys.  Apparently it had locked up completely and my only recourse…the ONLY way I could SHUT UP that alarm…was to close the program.  Since it had locked up, all my words were gone gone gone.  Nope, not automatically saved.  Gone

Well, it was monumentally bad writing anyway. But I had retaught myself a valuable lesson. Given any sort of time pressure I can write no matter what.  So that evening I set a timer to fifteen minutes, and rewrote that conversation between Gabe and Clair.  Better. Stronger. Maybe not Six Million Dollars worth but certainly 750 words worth. Last night instead of conversation I started a love scene, and worked on it some more this morning. Now that’s a great way to start the day.

That caller? She’s kept right on talking. Now THAT’s focus.

I have several recipes to share, would you rather see the butter cookies or the spicy eggplant pizza? It’s ALL good

In case you didn’t get flowers

Let’s be honest here, as much fun as we have with what someone called “forced romance day” for many people February 14th is just another day.  Except for my brother…oops it’s his birthday.  Hang on, gotta call him.

Phew, glad I remembered before midnight. My brother flew all over the world for several communication companies.  Then he was caught in the downsizing selling out, good for the investors hell for the employees maneuvers. And saw his years of hard work go up in smoke.  Twice. Instead of looking for another high pressure job, he decided to put his years of experience keeping his house in good shape to use and became a handyman.  Not only is he constantly busy, he’s happier now than he ever was before.

We all deserve that sort of peace within ourselves, however we might find it.  For writers it’s a constant struggle to keep putting out words in a world of distractions, including the never ending self doubts. We look at those we think have it made and we’re sure they never worry about what their heroes say, and never delete thirty pages of their story because it’s one step away from puke on a page.  Same with celebrities…they get up there on stage and belt out their songs, living the dream.

Okay, we know that’s not quite the truth since the media has been all too ready to show celebrities crashing and burning. Once in a while we get to hear about the regrowth of a fallen idol. I came across this in An Interview With John Mayer on I think was the CBS Morning News. I don’t have the television hooked up so this find was totally by chance.  Seems Mayer got to the top of the success mountain, then stepped off the cliff with his attitude, and said some unforgivable things in interviews about the people in his life.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Taking every battle on, not taking a break, not looking at — not being honest, not saying, you know, Let’s admit that we don’t know the next step. It would have been a great Rolling Stone interview if I had said, ‘Here’s what’s going on in my life, I had a plan for myself, I have no idea where I am with this. My dream was to make records. Now I’m gonna make my fourth. And I never had a dream about my fourth record. I never saw it coming where I would be thought of as an infamous Lothario. I didn’t see any of this coming. I’m hugely uncomfortable with it and I wanna cry.'”

It’s always good to read about someone who has experienced self realization. I’m sharing this specific paragraph because of:  “My dream was to make records. Now I’m gonna make my fourth. And I never had a dream about my fourth record.” How many of us stayed up late, got up early, kept our eyes on the goal of getting our first book published.  Maybe even the second book. And never dreamed about the successive books. We might have had a vague idea about “lots of best selling books,” but deep inside never dreamed we’d get to the point of writing that all new not- dragged-out-from-the-depths-of our-computer book.

Our writing buddies crow about words written, scenes added, plots fulfilled, contracts signed. And we mess with new writing software, take workshops, read manuals, striving to get back that initial spark, the romance of writing. We want the gestalt we felt back when word came flying out of our heads and through our hands. And sometimes it’s just not there.

For those who’ve made it through the swamp and are back on solid ground, what made the difference for you? It might help those still mired in the mud.

“The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave
To the night and the empty skies, my love”

Who remembers this lovely song? It was a romantic standard way long ago, made very popular by Roberta Flack in the early 70’s, and describes perfectly the way I felt the first time I met my future husband. To the rest of the world he was just a nice guy, a school teacher. That day, I knew one day I would marry this man. Mind you I didn’t say much to him until many years later, when we were having our pre-wedding interview with the pastor friend who had agreed to marry us. I don’t think I’d ever seen him smile so brightly before that meeting.

This is supposed to be about books as well as precious memories, and I thought for a while about what story first I wanted to share. I think first kisses are so important in our lives as well as the lives of our characters. Especially with such disparate characters as Kendra, the innocent young woman just learning her magic, and Mykhael, far too experienced in seduction, who is discovering the soul he forgot he possessed, in My Killer My Love

***

…He continued to brush her face, her neck, her shoulder with the merest hint of his touch. Until, at last, she gave in
and let herself settle against his shoulder, trusting her weight to the powerful arm behind her back. Replete with sensations, she let her eyes edge open and her head loll back. Immediately, she felt his fingers encircle her neck, sliding around and tunneling into her hair to support her head.

His face lowered to hers, the glitter in his eyes like the heart of the finest emerald. For the first time in her life, Kendra felt the brush of a man’s warm breath against her skin. Where he had touched her with his fingers he now used his mouth, nibbling and tasting, as though savoring the feel of her against his lips.

Not so cautious now of the link between them, Kendra let herself feel just a bit more of what Mykhael felt. A flood of sensations overtook her mind, including a raging arousal that shocked her out of her complacent stupor. Before she could do more than think about pulling away, he’d dropped a screen over that sensation.

Resting his face against the base of her neck, he held her, sheltering her from the world and himself. After a moment of feeling the security of his arms around her, Kendra dared greatly and lifted her arms to slide them around his waist. The shudder that raced through his body shook her—and seemed to affect the clearing around them.

The branches of the trees swayed in a slight wind, always managing to shade them from the sun as it tracked across the sky. Offering and receiving comfort, he held her close, and she felt the harmony grow between them.”

***

A tender scene, which helped build the trust they needed to fight an ultimate evil that had invaded this sacred place. And this wonderful blog hop is about more firsts, from so many talented writers.  You need to check them out.

Click Here For More Firsts

My Killer My Love is available through Amazon, Black Opal Books, my publisher, and anywhere you indulge your love of reading. One lucky commenter will receive their own digital copy.  Enjoy the hop, and many thanks to Kayelle and Krystin for making this happen. If you want to join me on Memory Lane, here’s Roberta Flack, 

I’m blog visiting today, with Sarah Grimm, who’s hosting me for a discussion of my writer self, what I’ve written, what I’m writing. Wednesday seems to be a great day to feature writers and advice on writing.  Angela Quarles posted a great blog about getting over under around or through whatever is stopping us from writing more.

I’m looking forward to more blog visitors. I find I like the interview idea best, but I’d like to mix up the questions.  What do you think about: What’s your elixir of choice (to keep our creative juices flowing) and also celebration of choice (champagne, Kahlua, mixed drink, chocolate?)  First romance book, First book to make an impression on you, Your writing schedule, Your writing environment, What inspires you. If you use a pen name, why?? Favorite genre to read/write. What book has wowed you recently?

A friend added:

Where do you get your back story? Do you ‘write what you know’? You’ve written your first draft. Now what? What’s the process before you publish?

What questions would you like to answer, or to see answered by other writers?  Who’d like to be the first up for visiting? Price of admission is still a recipe, and if I can ever get a good handle on my extra pages I’m going to save the all the recipes in one place.

View to the north…no wonder I distract easily