We're off in 2 days to the desert. Sun, relaxation, checking my emails, writing, doing two book reviews... uh, er, wait. That sounds like work but in another place, doesn't it?
Well, I thought my trip with the hubby would be time spent wallowing about slicked with sunblock and drinking margaritas but, as it turns out, I have a ton to do before the "Bobby's Diner" book tour begins this March!
So, I'll be checking in daily for postings, comments and any priority action that is needed throughout the week.
But, still...
I'm going to read those two books for review by the pool! -Adieu!
I'm on board with social networking just like the next guy but, I tell you, some days it just all seems ridiculous.
The notifications to add to a best friends list or a family list or the ploy to find out if my IQ is higher than regular Joe's... seem a pain in the rear-end sometimes.
As I sit here thinking about how much time I've just wasted on Facebook, I wonder if it's all worth it. My knee-jerk reaction is to say, "No!"
So maybe my IQ isn't one in rarifed air, no doubt if I bought into it!
Wow! What a blast! We had tons of fun this past February 8th, when "Bobby's Diner" was officially released. So that I don't reinvent the wheel, you can read more about the release party in my eNewsletter, "Sincerely, Susan."
Not to mention the great food and company, we had a magnificent assortment of friends who came to celebrate with me. What a ball I had.
I still have to send out my "thank you" notes which I completed on Tuesday but still haven't managed to get into the mail. I will. I promise!
I've been revamping (again) my website and blog. I think the changes are much more inline with what I'm hoping my readership will enjoy. YOU BE THE JUDGE. Let me know if you think the changes are better or worse... by clicking here - JUDGE SUSAN'S NEW LOOK! Type "Judging New Look" into the subject line and then in the body write: "better" or "worse."
Yikes, be kind. I'm only human, you know. Well, I'm beat like an egg today so I'll bid you a fond farewell.
Thanks again for stopping by and always but always leave me a comment. I'm a lover of gab.
Must love guns… this is a motto I would offer Ms. Schartz to use if she wishes. “A Desperado for Christmas” – a tale about rookie border patrol woman Kaitlin Harrington and her issues surrounding the Christmas holiday – begins while she and her partner Josh watch for illegal immigrants in the southwestern desert of Arizona.
It’s Christmas Eve and after Josh leaves early (under questionable circumstances), the evening winds out of control for Kaitlin in a whirlwind of suspense. She’s captured by Mexican criminals and held captive with no means of contacting her missing-in-action partner. One of her captors, however, is the brawny and alluring Latino, Miguel. Kaitlin feels unusually attracted to Miguel and finds it difficult to concentrate on her dilemma. Even so, when the chance to escape presents itself, Kaitlin gets away…
Ms. Schartz has built a setting so real and characters so palpable that I forgot I was reading this story for a review. “A Desperado for Christmas” is fun, sexy and even poignant as the story explores the issues of two disparate countries and the constant attempts of people from Mexico seeking refuge in America. As I read “A Desperado for Christmas” I kept hoping for more. In her novella, Ms. Schartz has woven an important issue into a sensitive love story that will keep the reader on pins and needles. Oh, by the way, did I mention there are a few guns in this story… Well done, Ms. Schartz. I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work.
For more information about Vijaya Schartz and "A Desperado for Christmas," go to:
"How I discovered I write Girls with Guns" words from Vijaya Schartz
As I was preparing to give a workshop on branding, I reflected on my own brand as an author. Since my first book release in 2000, I wrote stories in many genres, and this is usually considered professional suicide. My first novel was a literary love story, set in India on the theme of reincarnation, ASHES FOR THE ELEPHANT GOD. The book won a national award. Then came two science-fiction fantasy novels, my Archangel series.
But when I discovered I could increase the tension in an action novel by adding a romantic element, I became unstoppable. White Tiger was an award-winning romantic sci-fi/fantasy. RELICS, LOCKDOWN, and ANAZ-VOOHRI also gathered awards as sci-fi romantic suspense novels. But then, I wrote a contemporary romantic fairytale. Fairytale? That was for a special post on the Romantic times website. And A DESPERADO FOR CHRISTMAS is a contemporary border patrol story. My next story, COYOTE GORGEOUS, is a paranormal romantic suspense. Oh, and in my spare time, I dabble in lengthy medieval novels, heavy in historical details.
I had a branding nightmare on my hands. What the heck did I really write? And how could I teach this workshop if I couldn't define and brand my own writing?
Reviewers described my books as a mix of Indiana Jones and sizzling romance, a mix of X-files and Battlestar Gallactica, and a blend of action and romance. They loved my stories but couldn't define them either.
As I was perusing my latest covers, it just came to me. On several of them, my heroines held a gun. I wasn't writing in a particular time period, or a particular kind of story in a particular genre, I was writing strong heroines, often wielding lethal weapons.
I guess, as a martial artist, I can relate to these lethal ladies, and they have since become my trademark. Now, when I see a girl with a gun on the cover of my new release, I know the artist nailed my heroine.
Although sometimes the gun is a laser, a phaser, or a sword, I adopted what made sense for me. So now, when readers ask me what I write, I proudly say: " I write Award-winning Sci-Fi, Girls with Guns, and Romance with a Kick."
Hope you enjoy my kick-butt heroines.
Vijaya Schartz Award-winning Sci-Fi, Girls with Guns, Romance with a Kick http://www.vijayaschartz.com
I've been painting! Well, actually, I've been involved in a painting project. My friend, Cinda Sue Dow is doing most of the work. She worked all last week and started bright and early this morning. We're getting the house ready "Bobby's Diner" book release party on Sunday, February 8th. This is my excuse for being absent since January 21!
But, as fortune will have it, my special author guest this week is Ms. Vijaya Schartz. Her latest release is novella, "A Desperado For Christmas." Today you can read about Ms. Schartz and also get a taste of her story from the excerpt posted below. On Wednesday, we'll have some words from Vijaya and on Friday, I'll post my review of "A Desperado For Christmas."
By the way, you're in for a treat. Ms. Schartz creates quite a simmering story and it all takes place in the southwestern desert of Arizona. So, without further adieu...
Vijaya Schartz
Author bio Award-winning author Vijaya Schartz writes award-winning sci-fi, girls with guns, and Romance with a kick, but is just as comfortable in historical or contemporary settings. As a world traveler, she brings an exotic quality to her stories. She had seven novels, one novella and several short stories published by various publishers. Her books gathered three Golden Quill awards, one Independent Publishers Book Award, many smaller awards and numerous five-star reviews. Ashes for the Elephant God is being considered for a movie, and Anaz-voohri was nominated for an Ecataromance Reviewers Choice Award and a Cameo award for the book trailer. A Desperado for Christmas is up for a Preditors and editors 2008 award. Her next story, to be released later this year by Sapphire Blue Publishing, is titled Coyote Gorgeous.
Excerpt from novella, "A Desperado For Christmas"
Did she just see something move? Maybe not.
Raising her infrared binoculars, Kaitlin focused on that particular area. There it was again. A flicker of movement. Then she saw people furtively running from rock to rock. She couldn’t tell how many. Fifteen? Twenty? Did they know she was watching? Had they seen the lights of the visiting Jeep? Heard the engine? The conversation?
Sliding down the slope, she searched the Hummer but couldn’t find the blasted radio. Then she remembered it hanging from Josh’s belt. Now it rode with the nitwit toward a damned titty bar.
She flipped the switch of the car’s com system. Only static. Strange, Josh had used it earlier and it worked then. She shrugged. Electronics could be so unreliable and she wasn’t computer savvy. As a last resort, she pulled out the cell phone at her belt and checked the reception. Out of range.
Damn and triple damn!
Light gravel dribbled down the incline. She dropped the cell phone and reached toward her holster. Drawing the Beretta, she turned around, her back safely to the Hummer. Her heart faltered as she held the firearm toward the sound.
“Sweet Mother of God!” She gasped as her target came into view.
Apollo himself couldn’t have looked more handsome under the full moon. Muscles rippled on the smooth torso, shirtless beneath the open denim jacket.
“Stop right there. Hands on your head,” she croaked rather than shouted.
He held up his hands, jostling the backpack on his shoulder.
Glossy black hair fell over his forehead, and the dark gaze of the Latino man burned with intense fire. He pinned her with his stare as if trying to say something important, but no words came out. He appeared to be unarmed, strong, yet she sensed no threat emanating from him.
“On the ground. Face down. Spread ’em!”
He didn’t move, maybe he didn’t understand, so she motioned with the Beretta. Would he resist arrest? Somehow the thought conjured appealing images.
He dropped the backpack and laid face down.
She took the four steps separating them, kicked away the back pack then reached for the handcuffs at her back. She spread his legs apart. Long, muscular thighs, calves bulging under his jeans. He turned his head to watch her, a half smile on his lips. His temple glistened with sweat. He must have been running but seemed hardly winded. Unlike her breath which came in quick gasps.
Fascinated by his physique, she could not think. But who other than an illegal would roam the desert on Christmas Eve? He didn’t look afraid. Why? The memory of the group she spotted came to mind, but she heard nothing move in her immediate vicinity.
She straddled the man. He didn’t resist when she cuffed his hands behind his back, then patted him down, looking for a knife or a handgun. Her hand only found the planes of his hard muscles. It had been a while since she’d felt a male body this close. He exuded the musky scent of sage. Astounded by her sensual musings, she rose and stared back at him. She hoped she looked fierce, like a predator hypnotizing her prey.
She slowly moved away and motioned with the Beretta for him to get up and get into the Hummer.
The man smiled as he stood up slowly and stared past her. “Ola!” he said in a deep baritone.
“Ola!” another man answered, disturbingly close behind her.
Kaitlin froze and a shiver ran up her spine. She’d made a mistake by leaving the protection of the Hummer.
Title: A DESPERADO FOR CHRISTMAS
by Vijaya Schartz
ISBN 978-1-934657-09-6
Format: e-book
Price: $3.50
To find out more about Ms. Schartz and "A Desperado For Christmas" follow any of the links below:
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