Friday, June 29, 2012

Gifting Your Universe

Kate Lutter's been with us all week, sharing a personal story and giving us a peek at Wild Point Island's cover and great excerpt.

AND she's graciously offered to host a giveaway. Check out her contest below.




Wild Point Island Contest
                                          

As a newly published author, I’m looking to expand my Email list.  (This list is never given or sold to anyone else. I use it only to announce release information of my books.)  So, if you’re willing to share your name and email address and answer the contest question in the comment section, you could win a free copy
of Wild Point Island!


First /Last Name
Email Address 

Contest Question:  What’s the name of your favorite novel  and why?   


(For me, Wuthering Heights.  I love the hauntingly intense aspect of the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine.)  






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As always, thanks for stopping by. Please join the blog through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs. I enjoy making new friends and sharing my love of everything bookish!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Sharing Your Universe

Welcome to Sharing Your Universe. Today Kate Lutter is sharing a little about herself and her latest release with us.



Kate Lutter  
   Kate Lutter believes she was born to write. She wrote her first novel when she was in eighth grade, but then almost burned her house down when she tried to incinerate her story in the garbage can because she couldn’t get the plot to turn out right. Now, many years later, she lives in NJ with her husband and five cats (no matches in sight) and spends her days writing contemporary paranormal romances, traveling the world, and hanging out with her four wild sisters. She is happy to report that her debut novel, Wild Point Island, the first in a series, has just been published by Crescent Moon Press. She is busy writing the sequel and her weekly travel blog entitled Hot Blogging with Chuckwhich features her very snarky and rascally almost famous cat.


Check out her beautiful cover!




                             Wild Point Island  

   Banished from Wild Point Island as a child, Ella Pattenson, a half human-half revenant, has managed to hide her true identity as a descendent of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  Thought to have perished, the settlers survived but were transformed into revenants--immortal beings who live forever as long as they remain on the island.
   Now, Ella must return to the place of her birth to rescue her father from imprisonment and a soon to be unspeakable death.  Her only hope is to trust a seductive revenant who seems to have ties to the corrupt High Council.  Simon Viccars is sexy and like no man she’s ever met. But he’s been trapped on the island for 400 years and is willing to do almost anything for his freedom.
    With the forces of the island conspiring against her, Ella must risk her father, her heart, and her life on love.  

Wild Point Island   (excerpt)

         Despite what he believed, I never had a relationship where I felt so bound to someone and yet so constrained in behavior. Sitting so close to him on the beach, hidden from view, wanting to hold him, I hesitated. So I’m not sure how what happened, happened next. What kept us apart—the suspicions, the fact that time had elapsed and we felt a bit like strangers meeting again—all of it abruptly dissipated like so much fog when the sun shines through.
         His strong yet gentle grasp pulled me toward him, and he held me close, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I felt in the urgency of his grip how much he’d missed me, and remembered again the dream he’d arranged for me, how cautious he’d been only days before. But dreams could not satisfy me now, no matter how real they seemed. 
         We pulled apart, but our eyes met. I leaned in and pressed my lips against his, chaste at first, to taste him, to spur his reaction. But that tentative reaching out soon exploded into the confirmation I’d been waiting for. Our desires cascaded in upon each other. I wanted more of him, and soon lost awareness of the cold surf, which melted against our heat. The roughness of the sea also faded into the distance. The spray of salt water was forgotten.
         I couldn’t catch my breath. I didn’t want to think of the future or eternity. Only feel sweet sensations as he kissed me harder and harder.
         Helpless to resist this love-making, I was the sand being thrown about by the waves around me. Soaked with a longing for him.
         His kisses grew stronger, and I wanted all of them.
         “Ella,” he groaned, sweeping the stray strands of hair out of my eyes.
         I reached up to touch his face, to trace the outline of his strong jaw. Desire flickered in his eyes, a wildness mirroring my own needs, and I wanted to lose myself in that need, in that desire. I wanted him as I had wanted no other, knew for the first time in my life I had the potential for loving someone who knew me for who I really was.
         It was intoxicating.
         “Can you take me now?” I asked. “Here. Show me what I have to do.”
         Indecision flickered across his face. I saw it. A look of a man who walked a tight rope and risked falling to the depths below.
         “Ella.” His voice floundered in his own deep emotion.
         But I reached over to pull him closer, and he tumbled on top of me. The weight of his body anchored me to the ground. Within seconds, my back was pressed against the sandy floor. His eyes grew hooded as his lips played against my mouth. Teasing. Caressing.
         Suddenly, the kisses changed. Slow and carefully placed, I felt a heaviness to them that made me ache where I had felt warm and riled up before.
         Aching to be with him in that way that I knew was forbidden to us.
         But what did I care.
         He was kissing me, and I began kissing him back, as if I had been doing this all my life, as if I were some kind of expert, allowing the pooling warmth in my stomach to find release. His hands burrowed under my sweater, nudging, rubbing against my breasts, which swelled to his touch.
         The feel of his skin against my skin pushed me to a boldness I had not known until now, and I reached my hand below the belt of his pants, dared now to touch where I knew he wanted me to touch. 
         “Simon.” I whispered his name into the air, so sure that he was the one. Knowing as we wrestled together on the sand, in this sweetest of lovemaking, that I had a fire in me that he had set. He was the man I had been waiting for. This was the moment--
         I felt resistance. Simon seemed to be struggling for control.
         Over me. Over himself.
         “Enough.” His voice, raw and edgy, strained against the sea that roared in the background.
         Still breathing heavily, he released his hold on me, and pushed himself to a seated position.
         My heart pounded. 
         “Have I done something wrong? Tell me,” I demanded.
         “No.”
         “Then why are you stopping?”
         “We cannot be together, not now. I was wrong to even start.”
         “Wrong? But I thought... ” I struggled to sit up, to face him, to put my own thoughts in order. When two people wanted to be together, how could there be something wrong? “Don’t you want to be with me?”
         His gaze traveled down my body. I felt his stare, the desire in it. “Yes. I want to be with you.”
          “Then--” I touched his arm. I needed to understand what could possibly be strong enough to hold him back. 
          “What I want has already been decided. You must decide what it is you want...” His voice softened. “… to do with your life.”
         A chill coursed down my spine. And even though my flesh was still warm from his touch, I pulled my sweater down to cover myself, not because I was ashamed, but without his closeness, the early evening breeze now felt cold and damp. I guessed what he was saying, but I didn’t want to think about the future. Not here, not now.
         “I want you to make love to me, Simon.”
         “The Council forbids it,” he said.
         “I don’t care about the Council. They have no say in what’s between us.”
         He faced me then, and his finger touched my lips. “I could take you, Ella. Now. But it would not be the honorable thing to do.”
         My fists clenched. I didn’t understand.
         “I made a choice when I saved you from your uncle’s dangerous game. It was not difficult because I wanted you, Ella. But it was my choice. The moment our spirits fused, everything changed. Until you are sure I am what you want, I cannot take you. Until you are sure this island can be your home, I cannot give into my passions. My world is not like your world. There is no formal ceremony of commitment. There is the fusion and then there is consummation. When that occurs, you will be bound to me forever. There can be no turning back.”


Kate can be found at:



Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Changing Your Universe


I'd like to welcome Kate Lutter, fellow Crescent Moon Press author, to Changing Your Universe. 

We're all the sum total of our life experiences, but there are moments when someone or something affects us, possibly even influences the direction our lives will take. Here is one of those stories.




                     “Changing My Universe—A Tribute To My Father”

The night I stood at the podium and faced well over 100 people, I wasn’t nervous.  They had come to pay tribute to me.  To say goodbye.
I was ready to embark on a new career. I was leaving a very successful career as an elementary school principal to write novels full time.  Some thought I was crazy.  But, at that moment, as I faced my colleagues and the teachers and the parents I had worked with for eight years, I could think of only one person.
          My father.
          Who wasn’t there.
          Who had died years before.
          But I wanted him to be there because I wanted to see his face and hear his voice.
          Yeah, even though I was a grown woman and had been in charge of a large school, and made decisions and had many people depend on me, at that moment I missed my father more than anything.
          The night I received the news that I’d sold Wild Point Island, my first novel.  After ten years of writing.  After writing four novels that I couldn’t sell.  After receiving letters that were this close to being letters of acceptance.  After receiving tons of rejections.  After thinking that I was never going to sell.  That night, after the excitement in my head had died down, I remember thinking how much I would have wanted to call him, my dad, with the news. 
          Because even though he was a famous engineer and inventor and well known in his own field, he’d also written and published a short story in his high school year book.  I’d only discovered this little known fact the week he lay dying in the nursing home. I’d stood vigil that week writing his obituary, going through his papers, and I’d discovered my father was a writer and I’d most likely inherited my writing talent from him.
          It is bittersweet to finally reach some measure of success years after your father is no longer alive.
          So by now you’ve guessed it—the man who “changed my universe” was my father.  He didn’t do anything dramatic.  He lived his life according to his own moral code, but he turned out to be the most exquisite role model. 
          Case in point.  My dad started his own business—a company to market the products he invented.  I remember he would invite to lunch the guy who came in to fix the photocopy machine.  He would throw something into the little toaster oven he had in the kitchen—kielbasa or chicken and make the guy a sandwich—and they would sit and chat.  When the bigwigs came to visit from the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. he served them the same kind of lunch. Maybe he would send someone down to the A&P for potato salad. In my father’s mind, there was no distinction to be made.  He treated all people the same. 
          When I’m confused or unsure of myself, my dad is still my touchstone.  What would my father do?  How would he act? 
          When he was told he had Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s, he handled those last years with both dignity and grace.  He never complained.  The last time I remember having a conversation with him when he still knew me, he mouthed the words, “I love you.”
          He didn’t need to say anything more. 
          “I love you, too, Dad.” 
I grabbed his hands, which had begun to shake, and I tried to hold onto the moment, but I couldn’t for very long because that’s how time is.
It moves on, and you have to move on with it. 
          But here’s to you, Dad, for being there when you could be there.  For me. 
          Happy Belated Father’s Day!  
         
           
           


Monday, June 25, 2012

Reviewing Your Universe


Wild Point Island by Kate Lutter
Kindle copy provided by author

Rating:  4 Stars

Instinct screams you’re not alone. Fine hairs prickle the back of your neck. Your gaze scans the surrounding area, but no one is there. It’s that feeling you’re missing something that’s right before your eyes. For most of us it’s stress, lack of sleep or maybe just too much caffeine.

For Ella, it’s the fact she’s half Revenant and half human—and only Revenants can see Wild Point Island. Banished from her home on the island, she’s spent years struggling with the consequences of her genetics. The loss of her home and father push her to find a way to change things and make a difference through science. Her persistence pays off.

When Ella finds the means to help her family and others beat the condition that binds them to Wild Point Island, she asks her uncle for help in negotiating with the Council that controls the island’s population.

Unfortunately, not everyone sees Ella’s scientific advancement as a positive thing. Change can be terrifying, and not everyone has the courage to embrace it. Some want to bury Ella right along with her findings. When a Revenant named Simon steps forward to protect Ella, she is drawn to him. She has hope for a future with Simon. But unfolding events cause her to question everything she thought she knew and everyone she ever trusted.

Ms. Lutter has created a story that combines science and magic, faith and fact—and each character must deal with the circumstances these elements create. Whether one denies or embraces life’s changes, both the characters and readers experience the intrigue, betrayal and love in Wild Point Island!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Reviewing Your Universe


Electric Storm by Stacey Brutger
Personally Purchased Kindle Ebook

Rating:  5 Stars

At one time or another we’ve all experienced a feeling of separation from our friends, family or loved ones, but it’s usually a temporary distance. If not temporary, eventually other people come into our lives to replace the connections we’ve lost.

But what if separating yourself from others, living an emotionally isolated lifestyle wasn’t merely a choice but a necessity—the only one that guaranteed you wouldn’t kill the ones you love?

Raven knows because that’s the way she’s existed for the past ten years, after greedy men and greedier scientists changed her forever. They made her different, but they didn’t break her. Instead, they forged a will of iron. One she wields for justice on behalf of the Paranormals discriminated against in the human world.

She hides from the scientists in plain sight, working as a liaison for the police department on Paranormal cases, and investigating private cases on the side—never revealing who she is or what she can do.

Only those on her investigative team know about her, and she exists on the outer edges of even this private group. That is, until fate decides to shake things up. Raven becomes embroiled in the shifter world when she tries to save a slave named Taggert at auction. Instead of freeing him, politics and rules force her to bring him into her home and protect him—as well as Jackson, the man assigned to watch over him.

Raven tries to keep her distance. She can’t get close to anyone. But their seriously alpha personalities and distractingly gorgeous bodies are playing havoc on her emotions and libido. And when she thinks things can’t get any more complicated, the cases she’s working endanger not just her life, but the lives of everyone she cares for.

I LOVED this book. It’s equally plot and character driven. The plot is filled with enough tension and twists to propel the storyline at a breakneck pace. The characters are dimensional, interesting and resonate with genuineness and emotion. Yes, the heroes are total hotties—all of them. (There’s a list, so get ready for some serious character crush action!)

Have I kept things a bit general and not spoilerish? You bet. This story rocks, and I won’t give away any of the surprises. Electric Storm is the first novel I’ve read by Ms. Brutger—and I’m waiting on pins and needles for the next installment of Raven and her gang.

Read Electric Storm. You won’t be disappointed—well, except for having to wait for the next book in the series to come out!



Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Storm-Raven-Investigations-ebook/dp/B007SBTUB4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340063725&sr=1-1&keywords=electric+Storm

Buy Link:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/electric-storm-stacey-brutger/1109996900?ean=2940014204064

Friday, June 15, 2012

Gifting Your Universe

Raven Bower has graciously offered a fantastic giveaway for one lucky winner. So check out what she's brought for us today, and leave a comment with your name and email!

She's offering a copy of Primal (Kindle or paperback, winner's choice:



























a Nene Thomas 16-month 2012 calendar and two Nene Thomas mini-prints. http://nenethomas.com/

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Sharing Your Universe

Raven Bower's been on My Little Page of the Universe all week, and I'd like to share her latest release with you. Is this cover cool, or what?!!!





Pursued by a ruthless crime lord after witnessing the murder of an FBI agent, Wrey must rebuild the life they stole from her. When she meets mysterious Arvon Night, her precious new life unravels as she's thrust into a web of betrayal, lust and violence.

Arvon knows he must slay Wrey to keep his secret safe from those who hunt him. Each hour his enemies stalk closer, ready to kill.

Can Wrey's powers of nature and spirit help her survive the yearning and dangerous Arvon and the tide of peril he brings with him? Or will an opportunistic hitman take advantage of them both?

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Changing Your Universe


Here on Changing Your Universe we chat about experiences where someone or something influenced the direction your life took or just made a difference in your life.

I'd like to welcome Raven Bower. Here is her story.   



They say the only constant in life is change and it’s true. The world changes and we either adapt or stagnate. People change and we either choose to embrace or reject it, industries change and we, too, must change with them if we’re to remain relevant. Change is as natural as the seasons, tides and passing hours.

Yet, there are moments when you realize your life will never be the same.

One event that changed my life radically was my wedding day (and night, but we won’t go there J ). On that steamy, roasting August day decked out in a traditional, full white gown I walked down the isle to be forever bound to one man ~ my love and soulmate, Lain.

Before then he’d been my friend, GM/DM (Game/Dungeon Master respectively), fellow gamer and mat partner in Aikido. We spent hours talking of philosophy, creation, chaos and fantasy. People often thought we were weird because our dates weren’t to go out to dinner and a game, or the opera or parties or all your typical dating game venues. Instead, we played D&D, we got together and simply read beside one another, we watched movies at home or sat in the park and talked about everything from the heavens to the nine hells.

But on that day, the dynamic changed.

Everything we were remained the same. We still did everything we’d done before. Yet, there was so much more. We were a family. We now have four furless kids aka Masterlings of Chaos. Two hellhounds and a demon cat. We’ve gone from having a tiny, stuffy apartment with cardboard boxes as our dinner table and dressers, to having a house we love ~ with gardens!

He egged me on and challenged me when the going got tough – and he still does, the malicious little imp. We push each other to be the very best we can be, whether it’s as a spouse, parent, writer or electronics mole. This August we’ll celebrate our 16th anniversary ~ wow, even as I type that it’s amazing. It sure doesn’t seem like 16 years has passed. But as they say, time flies when you’re having fun.


Reviewing Your Universe


The Shapeshifter’s Secret by Heather Ostler
Published by Cedar Fort, Inc.
ARC provided through NetGalley

Rating: 3 Stars

Julia is a 16-year old teenager with an extremely overprotective father. When she starts experiencing moments of uncontrollable rage she thinks she’s losing her mind. Then she’s shot at, taken to another world through portals, and discovers she’s a royal descendant of a shapeshifting family—and realizes she isn’t crazy. But her life has become more interesting and exceedingly complicated than she ever imagined. Trust becomes paramount as she is thrown into life-threatening situations. Can she turn to the father that kept secrets her entire life, new friends in a world she knows nothing about, or her too-good-to-be-true boyfriend to keep her safe?

First, what a fantastic cover! I love everything about it: the color, the design. I can see Julia as this beautiful young lady. I wish I could say the story grabbed me as hard as the amazing artwork. Though I enjoyed the premise and was interested in how things turned out, I had a few problems with the characters and plot.

Ms Ostler tried very hard to keep some of the juicier tidbits a surprise and dribble pieces of information as the plot unfolded. As an author, I understand the idea behind such a practice. As a reader, I was frustrated on occasion because I didn’t have enough information to grasp what some of the scenes really meant.

Take Julia’s father. He is exceedingly overprotective. After having read the entire story, he had reason to be. However, the reader doesn’t know that. As Julia is a 16-year old teenager, I expected a little more attitude and irritation over her father’s strangling hold. In fact, I really wanted Julia to demand answers sooner than any were revealed.

Paranormal elements are my favorite additions to novels. Again, Ms Ostler introduced several very interesting species of creatures in her new Ossain world. The water nymphs were especially cool…but we didn’t learn why they were part of this world or how they fit into this plot other than Julia’s best friend happened to be an orphan on Earth but was really a water nymph from Ossai. Yes, it’s a little too convenient, but I liked Sierra so it worked for me.

Caleb was a great character, but we never really learn a lot about him. He is a Guardsman in the Union Guard. He is also a werepanther. Totally hot, but he only hit the page in a two-dimensional aspect. In fact, most of the characters were two-dimensional. Personally, the plot felt a little rushed and I attribute the lack of development to that hurried feeling.

The Shapeshifter’s Secret is really for younger teens. Adults will find this novel a little too sweet and angsty, with unrealistic parental and teenaged relationships. Still, I enjoyed the story and am curious about what will happen in Ossai next. If the next novel’s characters and emotional development are more indepth, I’ll give it a shot!


Monday, June 11, 2012

Reviewing Your Universe


Primal by Raven and Lain Bower  
(Vengeance #1)
Print copy provided by author

Rating:  4 Stars

Murder, intrigue and sex—oh my!

I’m a sucker for shape shifter stories, and werewolves are right up there among my favorites. Including elemental magic is a serious bonus for me. Combine a great storyline, interesting characters and break-neck pace, and I’m hooked to the last page.

Raven and Lain Bower pulled each of these important elements together in Primal to create a slam-bang urban fantasy that showcases a novel that is an equal part plot and equal part character-driven story—and those just do it for me.

Character development for me is a must. Arvon is the nearly-perfect alpha male that inspires a woman to look past his bad-boy faults and love him anyway. Wrey’s caring nature and ability to sort things out reasonably and intelligently had me rooting for her from page one. I loved the strength and vulnerability portrayed in both Wrey and Arvon’s character arcs.

So if I’m raving this much about a novel, why only four stars you ask? It came down to some character identity confusion. Each author has a different technique for imparting information in a story. Mysteries leave more room for switch and bait when setting up a plotline surprise.

As a general rule, I don’t have an issue with this particular writing device. However, I was confused for a bit at the beginning of the story. Multiple characters were introduced, initially using nicknames, and I had a hard time figuring out who was on first.

Because the writing was excellent and I liked the characters and story, the confusion didn’t deter me from reading on. Once I figured all the players out, it was game on. I devoured the book in one sitting—and am eagerly awaiting the second book in this trilogy. Seriously, I’ve just gotta know what happens next!

If you enjoy your urban fantasies with larger-than-life characters and a fast-paced plot that throws a few twists and surprises at you along the way, grab a copy of Primal and enjoy!!!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Sharing Your Universe

Christine Ashworth's been with us all week, and I'd like to share her latest release with you. Check out her ebook Blood Dreams!



Blood Dreams:

It's December, and Los Angeles is in the grip of a serial killer – or so Gregor Caine would like to believe. But the moon grows fat as it builds toward the Winter Solstice. An old woman searching for a friend gone missing believes danger is coming, and the Blood Dreams that keep interrupting Gregor's sleep portend a swarm of demonic activity.

After summer's setback, Kendall Sorbis is finally getting started on his Revenge Life List. First up, open a portal to the Chaos Plane. Second, invite the Caines to come and play...


Buy links:




You can find Christine here:


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Changing Your Universe


I'd like to welcome fellow Crescent Moon Press author Christine Ashworth to Changing Your Universe. 

We're all the sum total of our life experiences, but there are moments when someone or something affects us, possibly even influences the direction our lives will take. Here is one of those stories.


Changing My Universe

I am no stranger to change. In my 30+ years of working for someone else, I have been laid off 3 times, quit twice, resigned once and fired once. All of these caused me to change, to shift and go with a new flow. One of the times I was laid off, I actually decided to stay home and write.

But the biggest change in my life happened when my mother died at the age of 77. While it was sad that she was gone, she’d lived with MS for 50 years; at the end she couldn’t walk, lift herself, roll over in bed, or hear very well; it was an infection that entered her bloodstream that killed her, only indirectly related to the MS.

Losing her, however much expected in the back of my mind, still came as a shock. I had been writing for six years, and hadn’t sold anything. And if I were honest, I hadn’t really been writing, though I’d completed seven novels. I hadn’t fully embraced it as a job. Once I realized my mom would never hold my book in her hands, the knowledge galvanized me.

My mom wouldn’t be able to hold my book, but my father was still with me. HE could hold my book, if I worked my butt off to get published. I could do it for him. You see, my father is a writer, a quite successful one in that he’s had over 300 novels published in the course of 40-plus years, from a wide variety of publishers (and many that no longer exist). Having not one, but two children of his published “legitimately” would please him to no end.

In my house, self-publishing was equated with vanity publishing for a very, very long time, so that was not the way for me to go. (Not so anymore; my father has self-published 3 books by this point. At 83, he’s still going strong; he has several novels ready to go.)

As for me?  Unfortunately the book I wrote after my mother died will most likely never see the light of day. It’s dark, vicious, bitter, and the feedback I’ve gotten from first readers from a publisher has been “I couldn’t get past the first sixty pages. Too dark. Great writing, but too dark.”  Even now, five years past the writing of it, I can’t find it in myself to revamp it again to make it lighter.

But after that experience, I took a deep breath and went with my gut to write a novel about a different kind of hero – a tribred, a family of brothers with demon/human/Fae bloodlines going back centuries. All three races are strong within each brother; each handles their burden in a unique way, which includes finding love when they least expect it.

That was the book that sold, three years after my mother died. Book 1, DEMON SOUL, came out in March of 2011. A short story called BLOOD DREAMS, a bridge of sorts between book 1 and book 2, released June 1, 2012. DEMON HUNT, book 2 in the series, will release this summer; and book 3, DEMON’S RAGE, will hopefully be ready to publish by late- 2012 early- 2013.

These are darker books with threads of humor, deep family connections, and love that knows no boundaries. The roots of these books lie within that dark and bitter book I wrote right after my mother died, sitting in her kitchen, tears streaming down my face at two-thirty in the morning.

I haven’t decided yet if I will continue on with the Caine Brothers series after RAGE comes out; it may be that the darkness within me is getting easier to bear, and I can move on to lighter fare, which is where my sunny and skewed personality usually fits.

My mother’s death gave birth to the professional writer in me. So in a very real way, she’s with me every time I sit down to write.


Bio:
Christine Ashworth is a native of Southern California. The daughter of a writer and a psych major, she fell asleep to the sound of her father's Royal manual typewriter for years. In a very real way, being a writer is in her blood-her father sold his first novel before he turned forty; her brother sold his first book before he turned twenty-five.


At the tender age of seventeen, Christine fell in love with a man she met while dancing in a ballet company. She married the brilliant actor/dancer/painter/music man, and they now have two tall sons who are as scintillating as their parents, keeping the dinner conversation lively.


Christine's two dogs rule the outside, defending her vegetable garden from the squirrels, while a polydactyl rescue cat holds court inside the house. Everything else is in a state of flux, leaving her home life a cross between an improv class and a think-tank for the defense of humans against zombies.



You can find Christine here:

Monday, June 4, 2012

Reviewing Your Universe


Gift by Andrea J. Buchanan
ARC approved by NetGalley
Rating:  3 Stars


High school is difficult enough on the everyday kid. Throw in reincarnated souls, unfinished business and the ability to wield electricity and you’ve got one heck of a story line.

Daisy’s character is the right combination of strength of character, engaging personality and vulnerability. She faces difficult choices, and finds support from a group of friends she wasn’t looking to find.

The secondary characters help the story shine—mostly. Vivi is strange and fragile and engenders sympathy. Kevin is the perfect boyfriend. He’s got his own issues, but is willing to keep an open mind and help Daisy any way he can. I didn’t connect with Danielle, the best friend. She seemed selfish and shallow and very unaccepting when it came to her best friend.

Though the pace was a bit slow, I enjoyed reading Gift. And anybody that likes a little romance and mystery with their paranormal will too!


Friday, June 1, 2012

Gifting Your Universe

Friday's are giveaway days on My Little Page of the Universe. Contests run for a week. Winners are drawn at random. Reading fun is enjoyed by all!

Today, Diane Haynes has graciously offered a Rift Healer goodie pack. Here's what one lucky winner will receive:



Contents of Goodie Bag

Rift Healer Book
Mini Wand with Amethyst stone
Rift Healer Keychain
Purple Rift Healer Pen
2” Clear Quartz Crystal
Map of the Enchanted Forest
Decorated Rift Healer Bookmark
Greenman Postcard (print of Diane’s watercolor painting)
Purple Pouch

You know the drill. Just leave your name and email addy and a winner will be chosen and notified next Thursday! 

Sharing Your Universe

Today we have two awesome things going on. First, we've got a cover reveal for my friend and colleague Christine Ashworth. Check out Demon Hunt's awesome cover!




DEMON HUNT 
Tribred Gregor Caine decided long ago to deny his blood legacy. So he isn’t happy when paired with a full-blooded Fae to hunt the demons threatening to overrun Los Angeles. As they fight side by side, he finds she calls to both his Fae and his demon blood; a call he can’t resist. 
Warrior Fae Serra Willows crossed into the Human Plane to help destroy the demons released from the Chaos Plane. Finding and shutting down the portal between worlds is more challenging than she expected...and Gregor and his world more seductive than she had ever imagined.
As the killings escalate, Gregor and Serra realize one of the most deadly demons from the Chaos Plane has marked Serra as his own. To save her, Gregor has to face his greatest fear—losing his humanity to the darkness in his blood. But in a race against time, that darkness could become his greatest strength. And he will kill to claim Serra’s love.


Christine’s Bio:

Christine Ashworth is a native of Southern California. The daughter of a writer and a psych major, she fell asleep to the sound of her father's Royal manual typewriter for years. In a very real way, being a writer is in her blood-her father sold his first novel before he turned forty; her brother sold his first book before he turned twenty-five.

At the tender age of seventeen, Christine fell in love with a man she met while dancing in a ballet company. She married the brilliant actor/dancer/painter/music man, and they now have two tall sons who are as scintillating as their parents, keeping the dinner conversation lively.

Christine's two dogs rule the outside, defending her vegetable garden from the squirrels, while a polydactyl rescue cat holds court inside the house. Everything else is in a state of flux, leaving her home life a cross between an improv class and a think-tank for the defense of humans against zombies.

You can find Christine here: