It’s my pleasure today to have Patricia Ann Preston as a guest, talking about her new release “The Yard Sale”!

First here’s a bit about the terrific story:

The Yard Sale  (8500 words):  Jennifer Riley’s yard sale changes her life as she meets a host of shoppers from Early Birds to Prince Charming.  (It’s a humorous story with a dollop of romance.)

Available now for 99 cents at Amazon.

Amazon Top 100 Books, Best Seller in Comedy

Tell us a little about yourself

Okay, so I’ll try not to bore you. Real life was never all that interesting to me so I started making up stories when I was kid, and the habit stuck with me. I’ve been published in print, won some contests, had a historical novella published by Carina Press. After some deliberation during January about what I wanted to do with my writing this year, I decided I wanted to embrace my crazy side and write some funny stories. Just humorous little stories about my “people.” Southerners in all their wacky, wonderful and, sometimes, touching glory.

Amazon made it possible for me to reach an audience with stories that wouldn’t have had a home in print. My first story in my “Down Home Humor” series, “The Yard Sale” was published last Saturday and I woke up Sunday morning to find out it had made Amazon’s Top 100 Best Sellers in humor and short stories. After I revived myself, I had no doubts that I’d done the right thing. As of this writing, it remains in the top ten best sellers in comedy and I’ve had the best week of my life as a writer.
 

  Which 3 Books would you take to a desert island and why?

If they were available, I’d take the following and why is self-explanatory

BOUNTIFUL: The Guide to Eating What Nature Provides

JUNGLE LIVING: How to Decorate Caves and Tree Houses Artfully

A WILD WOMAN’S SURVIVAL GUIDE:

Learn how to make coconut-shell bras and grass skirts

How to bathe in a waterfall without drowning yourself

Swing on a grapevine gracefully

What five people would you invite to dinner and why?

             Marilyn Monroe   I’d like to know if she really killed herself over JFK?

Cleopatra:   I’d love to know more about her life and her culture.

Rick Bragg:  Because it would be a great dinner with cornbread, fried okra, sliced

tomatoes, etc. We’d both pig out and talk writing and I’d sit there being oh so envious

of his wonderful descriptions.

Cole Younger: I love Cole. He went from rich boy to a Confederate guerilla to an outlaw

to a prisoner to a parolee to a lecturer and ran a Wild West Show.  Cole did it all.

Rhett Butler:  Scarlett O’Hara?  Seriously?

Do you do a lot of research for your books?

             Too much. I love research, especially history.  Right now, I’m steeped in the 50’s for my

next story.

Have you ever used an incident from real life in one of your books?

 Many times, all cleverly disguised.
 

Quickfire:

Favorite TV show:  Supernatural. I like Hell on Wheels and Walking Dead, too.

Favorite Flower: Daisy!  It’s a happy flower and part of my brand.

Tea or Coffee:  Southern-style sweet iced tea

Favorite time of the year: Autumn. Love the colors

What’s next for you?

I’m working on “Laid to Rest”, the funniest story I’ve ever written.  I have some romances in the works as well.  My problem is time.

What question would you like to ask your Readers today?

Are you having a sunny day and doing what you love?

Where can your Readers find you online?

You can find me here:

www.patriciaannpreston.com

Read an excerpt from “The Yard Sale” here: http://bit.ly/IgReYF

Buy link for “The Yard Sale” http://amzn.to/JyMz3G

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/pat_preston

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patricia-Ann-Preston-Author-Page/127261867330755

And don’t forget to check out Patricia’s  ALMOST AN OUTLAW! Here’s the blurb for it:

Rancher Austin Cade rides into Liberty looking for his old comrades, the James-Younger gang. He needs their help tracking down the horse thief who’s stolen his prized mare. In town, the former gunfighter is reunited with Darcy, the first girl he ever kissed—and never forgot.

Young widow Darcy Branson owns a shop full of fashionable ladies’ attire, but continues to wear mourning black so she won’t forget her role in her husband’s death. Austin stirs a passion inside her that has long been dormant, but can Darcy learn to believe in Austin—and love—enough to let go of her tragic past?

Time is rapidly running out… As a cousin to Jesse James, Darcy has attracted unwanted attention, thanks to her rumored association with the gang. Soon Austin and Darcy are faced with confronting not only their growing desire, but danger in the form of a deadly bounty hunter…

This Sunday’s excerpt is from an SFR  WIP set in the same universe as my recently published WRECK of the NEBULA DREAM. Andrianda (Andi) Markriss, a planetary representative for Loxton Galactic Trading, has been spending a lazy summer with her best friend in the highly exclusive summer compound of the planet Zulaire’s ruling nobility, networking. On a day when a number of strange  and disturbing things have already happened, Captain Tom Deverane, Sectors Special Forces, unexpectedly shows up with a troop of soldiers and demands she leave with him. Immediately.

Andi doesn’t take this very well….in fact, she refuses to go. Later in the evening, all hell has broken loose, as the captain predicted.

She stared at the mansion, trying to figure out exactly where the fire was blazing.  The  nursery! Adrenalin coursed through her and she jumped to her feet, heedless of the danger. “The fire’s on the top floor where the nursery is. I have to get to the children.” Before Deverane had a chance to stop her, Andi was running, fear threatening to choke off her breath even as she raced uphill.

Go to http://sixsunday.com/ to find all the other great excerpts!

Recently I spent some time with a couple of my girlfriends pondering what band I would join, if I could pick ANY band, ANY time frame.

Major problem – I sing but I don’t read music at all, so I have to memorize everything. I can’t play an instrument to save my life,  soooo….I realize this is meant to be a fantasy fulfilled but it’s hard to put myself in a scene where I’m so not qualified….then a quote from comedienne Kathy Griffin of all people,  cheered me up and solved the quandary. In PEOPLE magazine of April 16th she said, “…I want to be the girl that goes swoosh with the tambourine when the song ends and then makes out with the guys in the band later.” Thank you, Kathy, problem solved LOL!

So the first band that comes to my mind is Paul Revere and the Raiders, mostly because their lead singer Mark Lindsay was HOT in his day….I would have swooshed my tambourine for him all right.  But maybe I should be thinking even higher on the charts – the Beatles? The Rolling Stones? Or how about  LMFAO? (Can I be in one of their videos??? !)

One friend gave me a terrific answer – she wants to be a member of the Oneders – you know, the One Hit Wonders in “That Thing That You Do,” the movie by Tom Hanks. (She has a thing for the drummer as played by Tom Everett Scott.) Of course she’d have to elbow Liv Tyler out of the way in this alternate band universe we’ve got going…

Someone else picked Jem and the Holograms…don’t know if she was thinking about their singing, her super powers or that sexy hunk Rio….

But returning to the real world, actually, I think I’d be satisfied  if I could sing with the original Beach Boys for just one song. (Well okay, John Stamos could be there too, more drums and drummers are ALWAYS a good thing.)  The song would have to be “Fun Fun Fun,” which I MUST tell you is something of a personal anthem for me. “She got her Daddy’s car and she cruised through the hamburger stand now…seems she forgot  all about the library like she told her old man now…” That was me, my Chevy Malibu and high school senior year – oh yes!  I don’t want to make out with the Beach Boys – my tambourine is spoken for! – but to sing that song with them would be WOW.

So what band would you join? And why?

I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice-cream.
Heywood Broun

In my recently published SF Adventure novel, Wreck of the Nebula Dream (see the book blurb at the end of the post), the heroine tells the hero at one point that there were rumors the ship had been jinxed by an accident during construction (much as rumors of similar things haunted Titanic). Before I get to the deleted scene, here’s that excerpt, with Mara speaking first:

“…Baktani & Fox was habitually behind schedule, and they’re notorious for cutting corners on safety. And I know something was hushed up at one point- people being transferred to other shipyards, people being paid off. Loxton ships cargo, not passengers, so we didn’t pay much attention.”

“What do you mean?” Nick snuck a glance at his wrist chrono, borrowed from Casey. Not long now. Better to keep her talking, not let her think about the time ticking down on our lives.

She laughed at him gently. “Don’t you know, it’s a centuries old legend in the ship building industry if someone dies while the ship is being built, the vessel is haunted? Cursed, some say.”

“Not the image you want for your big, luxury liner, I guess,” Nick answered. “Bad for public relations.”

“Well, if ever a ship was cursed, this would be the one,” Mara said, patting the deck.

Originally I’d written a short prolog for the novel, showing the reason the ship was jinxed, but current publishing wisdom says prologs annoy Readers for the most part soooo……I deleted the scene. Here it is now though:

“Come on, Frazet, you’re gonna cost the whole team its bonus, man.”

The foreman stood over him, mercilessly berating his decision. “You don’t finish installing that damn upper engine interlock adapter this morning, they can’t keep schedule for installing the engine itself either. Then the whole thing goes to hell, we maybe get fired – you’re critical path, man, don’t you get it?”

Methodically, Frazet continued fastening the closures on his zero grav construction safety suit. He didn’t look up. “Can’t install no damn adapter if I ain’t got one that works, Jonzile, now can I?”

Throwing his hands up in the air, the foreman glanced around at the rest of the crew for support. Mostly they avoided his eye. Lowering his voice and leaning closer, Jonzile asked, “How much out of tolerance is the adapter? I know the backup was a piece of shitty scrap but what about the main unit?”

Frazet considered.  “It barely passed acceptance testing.”

“But it did pass?” The foreman was eager.

“Once. Out of three times I checked it,” Frazet said, reaching for his helmet.

Jonzile put out a hand, holding the helmet down on the locker shelf. “But it did pass, you’ll admit that?” His tone changed, became friendlier again. “Don’t you want the bonus? Don’t you need those extra credits, like the rest of us? Heard your wife was gonna have another baby. That makes four kids, right? On your wages, her not working, that’s a tight orbit.”

Frazet sighed. Jonzile’s right, things are tight. And just yesterday the company doc said there might be complications with this baby. The bonus would sure come in handy. And after all, as Jonzile kept saying, the part was within tolerance. Just over the line into the green. But that was all the manual called for, so why am I holding up the entire crew on this job? Sure, I can sign it off in good conscience.

Decision made, Frazet yanked his battered helmet away from the foreman and stood up. “Quit your complaining, would ya? We’ll make schedule today.”

Patting his shoulder, Jonzile nodded. “Good man.”

*************************

The immense spaceyards of Baktanir & Fox hummed with activity. Construction was ongoing for several military jobs as well as the Nebula Dream, designed to be the biggest, most advanced spaceliner ever. Dik Frazet was just one of thousands of sentients on the payroll that month, a skilled worker at all the trades involved in engine installation; experienced, careful, good safety record. Right after the midshift break, he finished the last connection holding the adapter  device in place, where the new Yeatter hyperdrive engines developed especially for the Dream would fit.

Dik stowed his tools, moving gracefully and economically in the absence of gravity. Powering up his suit’s maneuvering nozzles, he transmitted the sign off for completion of the install, preparing to cross the yard back to the lockers. He needed some fresh supplies before switching to the next job on the new battleship across the yard.

Halfway to his goal, Dik couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he’d overlooked something, forgotten something, back in the half finished engine nacelle on the civilian liner. He finally  swung around and returned to the site of his previous task. Taking out his field test kit, he ran a few checks on the troublesome adapter. It failed the first time, passed the second, was borderline on the third. Swearing to himself, Frazet made the decision to yank it out.

Critical path be damned, I’m not going to sign off on the install of an intermittently malfunctioning part and just hope for the best. Hell, my family might travel on this ship someday.

“Shoulda done this in the first place,” he muttered, working to undo the adapter from its fasteners. “Damn supplier must be on the take, substandard parts half the time, don’t work right–“

He knew he’d better report this decision to Jonzile first. The foreman was going to go interstellar when he heard the news. Frazet was worrying over the loss of the bonus, maybe even the job, if the team couldn’t make up the schedule.

He never even saw the massive engine swinging in above him, moving into its tightly fitted place in the nacelle, right on schedule.

****************************************************************

The Company arranged a very nice funeral. Mr. Baruc Baktanir the 12^th attended and personally gave Frazet’s wife a generous amount of credits to make sure she could return to her home world, far across the Sectors. Jonzile and the rest of his crew received their bonus, tripled, before being reassigned to other shipyards.

The accident was treated by the Sector’s media as routine, mundane, a common enough event in the perilous world of spacecraft construction. Basically a nonevent in a week when there were enemy incursions in the neighboring Sector and a major vid fic star was caught in bed with highly outlawed feelgoods and an underage co-star.

The Company was satisfied that SMT, the Customer, never heard about the incident. The strong impression was carefully cultivated that poor Frazet had been crushed by drifting debris in the middle of the spaceyard, nowhere near the hull of the Nebula Dream. Foreman Jonzile had been only too happy to sign off on that safety report, exonerating him completely in the loss of life on his crew.

But the rumors spread anyway, in the bars where the spaceworkers gathered after long shifts.

It was said the Nebula Dream was cursed….

So there you have it….Nick isn’t wrong about his uneasy feeling early in the voyage that something or someone may be haunting the Nebula Dream. Of course, I’m not saying that’s the only reason for all the things that go wrong, leading up to the disaster! If you want to read the novel and decide for yourself, it’s available from  Smashwords ,  Amazon and Barnes & Noble at a Special 99 cent price.

The book blurb:

A reimagining of the Titanic disaster set in the far future among the stars…

Traveling unexpectedly aboard the luxury liner Nebula Dream on its maiden voyage across the galaxy, Sectors Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is ready for ten relaxing days, and hoping to forget his last disastrous mission behind enemy lines. He figures he’ll gamble at the casino, take in the shows, maybe even have a shipboard fling with Mara Lyrae, the beautiful but reserved businesswoman he meets.

All his plans vaporize when the ship suffers a wreck of Titanic proportions. Captain and crew abandon ship, leaving the 8000 passengers stranded without enough lifeboats and drifting unarmed in enemy territory. Aided by Mara, Nick must find a way off the doomed ship for himself and several other innocent people before deadly enemy forces reach them or the ship’s malfunctioning engines finish ticking down to self destruction.

But can Nick conquer the demons from his past that tell him he’ll fail these innocent people just as he failed to save his Special Forces team? Will he outpace his own doubts to win this vital race against time?

This Sunday’s excerpt is from an SFR  WIP set in the same universe as my recently published WRECK of the NEBULA DREAM. Andrianda (Andi) Markriss, a planetary representative for Loxton Galactic Trading, has been spending a lazy summer with her best friend in the highly exclusive summer compound of the planet Zulaire’s ruling nobility, networking. On a day when a number of strange  and disturbing things have already happened, Captain Tom Deverane, Sectors Special Forces, unexpectedly shows up with a troop of soldiers and demands she leave with him. Immediately.

Andi doesn’t take this very well….in fact, she refuses to go. Later in the evening, at her hosts’ party, he makes a fresh effort to persuade her...

“You won’t kidnap me?” She smiled up at him, “After all, you do have orders.”

“Not orders to kidnap civilians under the personal protec­tion of the Planetary High Lord.” The words were clipped, bitten off, his voice low and tense. “We sure as hell can’t dance and have a debate, agreed?”

The best partner I’ve ever danced with, effortless to follow, like we’re flying across the floor – why couldn’t this moment have lasted longer before reality broke in on us?

Go to http://sixsunday.com/ to find all the other great excerpts!

I think maybe L.A. or San Francisco could be rushed, but Sacramento is just laid back! Nick Johnson, MLB

I never understood the idea that you’re supposed to mellow as you get older. Slowing down isn’t something I relate to at all. The goal is to continue in good and bad, all of it. To continue to express myself, particularly. To feel the world. To explore. To be with people. To take things far. To risk. to love. I just want to know more and see more.

Diane Keaton

It is hard to play “Blue Suede Shoes”. I know everyone has heard it 10 million times, and that makes it even harder to play it, but there’s a very laid back tempo on that. I was surprised at how slow it really was.

Brian Setzer

Therapy is expensive, popping bubble wrap is cheap. Anonymous

“You have to block everything out and be extremely focused and be relaxed and mellow too.”

 Jennifer Capriati

Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.

Washington Irving

I’ve picked out the first nine that come to MY mind anyway, not saying they’re the Top Five in all moviedom – let me know what your favorites are!!

1. Dorothy Gale in Wizard of OZ

2. Galadriel in the Mirror Scene, Fellowship of the Ring

3. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman

4. Belle from Beauty & the Beast

5. Rose’s red and black beaded dress from Titanic

6. Since I can’t stop with just five, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, one of her many gorgeous outfits from the movie

7. When I was a kid I always loved this dress from Rogers & Hammerstein’s  Cinderella:

And on the totally opposite end of the spectrum (is this even a dress?) Leia’s ahem outfit:

And as a parting nod, yes, I remember Vivian Leigh’s green velvet dress from Gone with the Wind, but I really remember Carole Burnett’s spoof of same!

So what’s your favorite movie or television dress?

Today it’s my pleasure to host a return guest, Carrie Ann Ryan, author of the Redwood Pack – exciting paranormal romances about shifters. Some of my favorite books, by the way! She’s going to give away one $5 Amazon gift card and a swag pack to one randomly selected Commenter so be sure to enter by leaving us a comment below!

Here’s the story of her latest in the series, TRINITY BOUND:

Hannah Lewis, a rare earth witch, is taken from the only life she’s ever known. Held against her will by a sadistic wolf, she almost gives up hope that she’d ever see her real life again. But as her fellow captive, a werewolf named Reed, tries to calm her fears, she begins to feel a spark of something she never thought she’d feel – love. But is Reed, alone, enough to get her out of this dark basement so she can move on with her life?

Reed Jamenson, the artist of a werewolf Pack of Alpha males, knows instinctually that Hannah is his mate. Thus, despite their imprisonment, he will do all to protect her and then worry about their hearts. But is he strong enough to find a way for both of them to escape? And why does he feel as though something else is missing?

Josh Kolb, an ex-military human, stumbles upon Reed and Hannah and finds he must trust this new world of supernatural beings to survive. But that desire will lead the three to a triangle of attraction that will test the boundaries they all possess and its consequences in defeating the enemy. Can they all trust one another to save themselves and life as they know it? Even at the cost of their own hearts?

Carrie Ann: Thank you Veronica, for having us here. I’m sitting with Josh, Hannah, and Reed from Trinity Bound today to talk about what they’ve been up to. Hi guys!

Reed: *grins* Hi, Carrie Ann. It’s great to see you again

Josh: Yes, Carrie Ann, thanks for having us.

Hannah: It’s been too long.

Carrie Ann: So, tell me. What is it like to be mated?

Reed: *smiles at peace* Perfect. I never thought I’d have two mates, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Josh: I’m with Reed. I never thought I’d be mated at all. Let alone with a man and a woman. But it does have its perks. *kisses Hannah’s cheek*

Hannah: *blushes* Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing, but it’s also a lot of hard work.

Carrie Ann: I would think so. How do the three of you work everything out?

Reed: Well, it works for us because we are all three mated, meaning Josh and I love each other as much as we love Hannah. So it’s not like we’re “sharing” per se.

Josh: We have an extra bedroom that is just for personal time though. Though most nights the three of us sleep in one room, sometimes we like to just sleep as a pair. But there aren’t any hard feelings. At least I think. *frowns*

Hannah: *rubs Josh’s arm above his wound* You’re right, Josh. We don’t have a schedule or anything. Maybe in the future, but right now, it’s working out. Plus we can feel each other in here. *places her arm above her heart* So we know when it’s time to just be a pair rather than a three. If that makes sense.

Carrie Ann: *Nods* I like how the three of you are so open and honest with each other. Was it always that way?

Josh: *blanks his face*

Reed: *growls* Not at first. But I don’t want to talk about that.

Hannah: *sighs* What they’re trying to say, is that we had to get through some difficult things that, honestly, were brought on by outsiders. But you can find out more about that in Trinity Bound.

Carrie Ann: I’m sorry, but people want to know the tough questions. But I’m glad everything is working out. So tell me, what is your favorite thing about one another?

Reed: *smiles* I love Hannah’s openness and Josh’s strength.

Hannah: Other than their bodies? *Carrie Ann and Hannah laugh* I love how strong Reed is though he doesn’t think so. And I love how much Josh needs us, though he doesn’t think so.

Josh: *frowns* I will always need you both. Never doubt that. I agree with both my mates so I’ll just add in I love each of their eyes. Sometimes, when what’s going on in my mind gets too much, Hannah’s dove gray and Reed’s jade green, center me.

Carrie Ann: *sighs* Okay, what’s next for the three of you?

Hannah: Well…

Josh: We’re trying to have a baby.

Reed: It’s fun. Believe me.

Hannah: *blushes* And…we’re still fighting the Centrals. We can’t use dark magic so we’re trying to figure out another way to fight back. Its challenging, but I know the goddess won’t let us down.

Carrie Ann: Thank you guys for coming and talking with me. I love you three.

Hannah: Thank you, and I hope you can help Adam.

Carrie Ann: *nods* I’m doing my best.

Reed: Good, and thanks again.

Josh: Goodbye, Carrie Ann. And readers, do you have any questions for us? Remember  Carrie’s doing a giveaway!

********************************************************************************************************************

VS sez, here’s a little about Carrie Ann and her other novels:

Carrie Ann Ryan is a bestselling paranormal and contemporary romance author. After spending too much time behind a lab bench, she decided to dive into the romance world and find her werewolf mate – even if its just in her books. Happy endings are always near – even if you have to get over the challenges of falling in love first.

Her first book, An Alpha’s Path, is the first in her Redwood Pack series. She’s also an avid reader and lover of romance and fiction novels. She loves meeting new authors and new worlds. Any recommendations you have are appreciated. Carrie Ann lives in New England with her husband and two kittens.

Carrie Ann loves hearing from readers. You can find her at:

Website

Blog

Hearttrob Haven

Facebook Author Page

Facebook Friend

Goodreads

Twitter: @CarrieAnnRyan

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An Alpha’s Path

Amazon  Barnes & Noble ARe

A Taste for a Mate

Amazon Barnes & Noble ARe

Trinity Bound

Amazon Barnes&Noble ARe