Feb 9 2014

The Hyksos Arrive in DANCER OF THE NILE Weekend Writing Warriors

better wewriwa Continuing on with my paranormal romance set in Ancient Egypt. Nima the dancer and Kamin, one of Pharaoh’s warriors, have been traveling with the caravan for a few days as they seek to escape the pursuing enemy and get vital information to Pharaoh to stop an invasion. Nima was exposed to various temptations involving her future as a dancer and Kamin realized how much she means to him. But he’s got secrets he can’t share…they’ve quarreled, made up and then some (it’s in the book)… the caravan has now stopped, which is totally unheard of and signals danger.

This snippet follows directly after last week’s excerpt. Thala is a friend Nima made among the Minoan dance troop. Artistic punctuation warning (and a run-on sentence or two)!:

Face set in worried lines, Thala was swathed in her cloak, walking as fast as she could without breaking into an attention-drawing run. “You’ve got to flee,” she said as soon as she drew near. “There’s a party of Hyksos determined to search the caravan. Their leader is a man by the name of Amarkash, and he seems sure you’re here.” She thrust a parcel at Nima. “Water, some food – a map. Ptahnetamun is trying to delay the enemy commander, saying they’ve no right to search his caravan and he passed the word to his men to make as much confusion with the camel strings as they could, while I came to find you.”

“But he’ll have to submit eventually,” Kamin said, “He won’t get embroiled in a fight on our behalf.”

I’m having a hard time leaving Kamin and Nima, who are two of my favorite characters. So possibly another excerpt or two from Dancer of the Nile before I switch to Magic of the Nile. (Don’t you just looove my amazingly creative titles LOL???)

The story for DANCER OF THE NILE:

Egypt, 1500 BCE

Nima’s beauty and skill as a dancer leads an infatuated enemy to kidnap her after destroying an Egyptian border town. However, she’s not the only hostage in the enemy camp: Kamin, an Egyptian soldier on a secret mission for Pharaoh, has been taken as well. Working together to escape, the two of them embark on a desperate quest across the desert to carry word of the enemy’s invasion plans to Pharaoh’s people.

As they flee for their lives, these two strangers thrown together by misfortune have to trust in each other to survive. Nima suspects Kamin is more than the simple soldier he seems, but she finds it hard to resist the effect he has on her heart. Kamin has a duty to his Pharaoh to see his mission completed, but this clever and courageous dancer is claiming more of his loyalty and love by the moment. Kamin starts to worry, if it comes to a choice between saving Egypt or saving Nima’s life…what will he do?

Aided by the Egyptian god Horus and the Snake Goddess Renenutet, beset by the enemy’s black magic, can Nima and Kamin evade the enemy and reach the safety of the Nile in time to foil the planned attack?

Can there ever be a happy future together for the humble dancer and the brave Egyptian soldier who is so much more than he seems?

DANCER OF THE NILE, an Amazon Best Seller, is AVAILABLE on Amazon Barnes & Noble All Romance eBooks iTunes Smashwords Google Play

Feb 7 2014

How Did She Get Talked Into Doing This? ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE SFRB Presents

I’m very pleased and thrilled to announce that Escape From Zulaire is a 2014 SFR Galaxy Award Winner! (Complete info on the awards here.) So I thought I’d do some excerpts from the novel for the next few weeks…

(The link is here to find this week’s excerpts from novels or WIP written by other Science Fiction Romance Brigade group members. A fun way to sample new books!)

Here are the first 200 or so words from the book (story synopsis below the excerpt):

This is the most absurd thing I’ve ever done as Assistant Planetary Agent for Loxton Galactic Trading – standing in as a bridesmaid in a borrowed puce dress because some other girl failed to show up. Andi Markriss sighed, feeling the garment binding too tight across her chest. I didn’t mind representing the company as a guest, but this is way outside the line of duty.

Early afternoon on Zulaire was too warm for an outdoor ceremony but the Planetary High Lord’s spoiled daughter Lysanda didn’t care to be ready any earlier in the day. Her guests’ comfort wasn’t a consideration.

An inch at a time, Andi shifted from her assigned spot into the shade cast by the towering stone pillars. How did I get talked into this? Oh yes, Lysanda wept and her mother made vague threats about her husband reviewing our shipping contracts. As the musicians played, Andi turned, watching Lysanda pace toward the dais in time to the music, smiling for her groom-to-be.

The local priest took a deep breath and launched into a lengthy blessing, invoking the deity and relating the history of the planet’s three Clans – Obati, Shenti and Naranti. Andi chanted along with him, under her breath. Overlords, Second Class and Neutrals, as her boss had told her when she arrived on Zulaire six years ago. Easy to keep them straight that way, he’d said, but don’t ever slip and use the nicknames out loud.

The Story:

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.

Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.

Feb 6 2014

Veronica Does the Dreams for 2014 Magazine Quiz

Found another magazine quiz to answer! Actually, Marie Claire magazine (one of my favorites to read) conducted an interesting reader survey “What You Dream About For 2014” and published the results in their January issue. (OK, so I’m running a little behind….what?)

Who would be the best celebrity life coach? The MC readers picked Hilary Clinton and Kate Middleton as the top 2 from the choices given. I think I’d want several, for all the different aspects of my life. But for now I’ll go with Author Nalini Singh for advice on doing complicated, totally fabulous book series, Sandra Bullock on successfully navigating Hollywood (I can dream, can’t I?) and Tim Gunn on my wardrobe. And maybe George Clooney on my dating life…we’d have to go out a few times for him to give me proper advice, right? I can be arm candy…

Dream big. What award do you win in your fantasies? MC’s readers picked the Nobel, any flavor thereof. My mind goes straight to the Oscars. Not sure how I’d achieve that lofty goal since I don’t write screenplays but maybe one of my books could be made into a movie and I could at least attend the ceremony…where of course we’d totally sweep all the categories, right down to best song LOL. Can Beyonce sing that, pretty please? And everyone would thank moi. Well, they said to dream big.

Would you rather snap your fingers and change (salary, weight, zip code, credit score)? Salary was tops, weight second. I can’t really argue with that…but once I had those magic snapping fingers (is that like jazz hands?) then I’d be using them on the housework as well…

You would rather be…the top two choices selected by Readers were “on the cover of Time magazine” followed by “in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.” I say be on the cover of Time in your Victoria’s Secret wings and diamond encrusted lingerie! Go big or go home!

Which power player do you want to do lunch with? Michelle Obama was an overwhelming first choice in the MC survey. I’m not sure who I’d pick. Let me get back to you on that one…

What is your social media goal for 2014? To not let it take over all my free time? To have my cats suddenly develop amazeballs skillz and film viral videos? I don’t know, I kinda like my social media the way it is. I am trying to understand google+ circles a bit better so we’ll go with that.

What would make you feel like a rock star? The MC Readers picked “Speaking Many Languages”. I go for “having my book made into a movie”, which ties nicely to that whole “being thanked at the Oscars” thing…and George Clooney could be my arm candy….

And their last question was Road Trip! Which celeb do you want calling shotgun? Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were in a near tie among the magazine readers…I’d want Charlie Hunnam, thank you very much, and Jennifer Lawrence. Now about the car…..

I LOVE magazine quizzes!

Feb 2 2014

The Caravan Halts DANCER OF THE NILE Weekend Writing Warriors

better wewriwa Continuing on with my paranormal romance set in Ancient Egypt. Nima the dancer and Kamin, one of Pharaoh’s warriors, havebeen traveling with the caravan for a few days as they seek to escape the pursuing enemy and get vital information to Pharaoh to stop an invasion. Nima was exposed to various temptations involving her future as a dancer and Kamin realized how much she means to him. But he’s got secrets he can’t share…they’ve quarreled, made up and Nima said she’d do a private dance for Kamin. Last week we had the beginning of the dance and now this week, I’m going to jump ahead to more peril for these two…the excerpt takes place the next morning, after Nima’s dance and the intimate evening that followed (all of which is in the book of course). Artistic punctuation warning!:

They’d been marching for several hours, hand in hand, chatting about inconsequential things, when suddenly the rhythm of the caravan stuttered, camels ahead of them jerking to a stop with much cursing on the part of the drovers. There was mild chaos.

Kamin stopped, looking around with his eyes narrowed as he said, “I don’t like this – the one thing a caravan never does all day is come to a halt before the appointed hour or at the desired destination. Even if a camel died under its load, the others would be walked around it so something must be seriously wrong.”

Nima clutched his arm, “Could it be the Hyksos?”

“Perhaps.” He checked the nearest drovers but didn’t see anyone he recognized, much less someone he’d trust with Nima’s safety. “I should go reconnoiter, but I hate to leave you here alone.”

I love and appreciate your comments and feedback every week! Go here to find all the other Weekend Writing Warriors and read an amazing variety of terrific excerpts…

Maybe another week or two and then we ARE switching off to the soon-to-be-released MAGIC OF THE NILE.

The story for DANCER OF THE NILE:

Egypt, 1500 BCE

Can there ever be a happy future together for the humble dancer and the brave Egyptian soldier who is so much more than he seems?

DANCER OF THE NILE, an Amazon Best Seller, is AVAILABLE on Amazon Barnes & Noble All Romance eBooks iTunes Smashwords Google Play