Category: February 2016

Liberty States Create Something Magical Conference Speaker Interview Series: Tara Nina

LSFW Interview series graphic

Today the Liberty States Create Something Magical Conference Speaker Interview Series continues with author Tara Nina:

 

  1. What made you want to become a writer?

From a very young age, I loved to read. I believe it was from the joy reading gave me that I was inspired to write. That and the voices inside my head became stronger as I grew older giving me two choices: Do as they said or Write it down and share it with the world. I chose the latter of the two evils.

 

  1. Is there one piece of advice you would give an aspiring writer?

Join your local writers group. Learn everything they have to offer. Get involved with the author community and never stop learning the craft. It’s not about writing a story. It’s about creating a well-written tale.

 

  1. If you could co-write a book with any author, dead or alive, who would it be?      This is a tough one. There are two that I’d love to have a chance to co-author with and continue on the path of better-written stories. If I had to choose I’d have to lean toward Heather Graham.

 

  1. Who is on your bookshelf?

 

I have a wide variety of novels. I get lost in Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunters series and wish to be devoured by Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters. The list after that is tremendous. I love to read local authors like Rayna Vause, Beth Ciotta, C.H.Admirand, Cris Anson, and Kathy Kulig. But that’s just the tip of the addiction. I have six bookshelves teaming with awesome authors in a multitude of genres.

 

  1. Can you tell us about one of the most memorable moments in your writing career thus far?

 

I got Fan-Girled at RT in New Orleans—Twice!  First time it happened, I was with one of my best friends, author Cait Miller on a walking ghost tour. The guide knew an author convention was going on in town and asked if any of us were authors. He knew Cait was and she introduced me as author, Tara Nina. The lady beside me grabbed my arm and exclaimed, “You’re not the author of the Cursed MacKinnon’s are you?” Made my night because, yes I am.  The second time it happened, I was with Cait having coffee at the Starbucks in the hotel and a young lady came over asking if I was Tara Nina, because her mother gave her a list of authors she had to locate and I was one of them. Needless to say, Cait teased me about there being no living with me after all this happened. LOL. But it’s never happened again. That was my ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ so to speak.

 

  1. Tell us about your newest release/current work in progress:

 

In November 2015, the sixth book in the Cursed MacKinnon’s series was released. It’s titled, Cursed and Crazy. The Cursed MacKinnon’s series is about seven brothers, who were turned to stone in 1740 Scotland and are being released by the women of their destinies in today’s world. Cursed and Crazy is Aiden and Masie’s story. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place… Stone by day, man by night, it’s a curse that takes a little bit of crazy and a whole lot of love to conquer.

I have an upcoming release titled Cash’s Cherry. It’s about a man who makes the biggest mistake of his life by walking out on the one woman he can’t get off his mind. Cash Dupree wants a second chance with the voluptuous Cherry Adams, but first he has to find her. At the moment, the release date is TBD in 2016.

I’m also working on the sequel to my sci-fi novel Escape, which was included in the anthology, Alien. I’m striving for its completion and release in the early part of 2016.

 

     

Author Bio: 

TaraNinaTara Nina creates in a variety of ranges from steamy hot to simmering sweet, which includes paranormals, contemporaries, suspense and sci-fi. She’s a Southerner living in the northern wilds of New Jersey complete with grown children, four dogs, six turtles and a mountain man for a husband.

She loves to hear from readers so feel free to contact her via email tara@taranina.com

Please don’t get discouraged if it takes a little while before she responds. Unfortunately, she hasn’t hit the lottery yet and has to work to battle the bills of home ownership. Being a full-time writer is on her bucket list and one day, she hopes to achieve that goal.

Join her Clan MacKinnon Fan Club/Newsletter for updates on what’s new and exciting in her world. http://taranina.com/join-the-clan/

Check out her website http://taranina.com

She is also available on the following media outlets:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaraNinaAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/taranina

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/taranina/


Faking It by J.D. Hollyfield…Release Day Blitz

Title: Faking It
Author: J.D. Hollyfield
Release Date: Feb 1, 2016
Find on Goodreads
Fake it till you make it.
That’s Lexi Hall, the wild socialite’s motto for how to live life.
Single and allergic to commitment, Lexi is having the time of her life.  Or is she? With a new promotion at the art gallery, and her colorful lifestyle as bright as ever, she swears she has no interest in slowing down. When Lexi receives a phone call that can change her career, she pounces on the opportunity. But what this outgoing diva doesn’t plan for is her new client, the closed off, secluded artist, Hunter James. Fighting to draw the line between work and pleasure, it’s up to Lexi to figure out how to balance her fake life for something real.
Hunter James is an artist without a muse. Lacking the beauty in his life that he craves, his art is beginning to suffer.  Unfortunately for the mysterious artist, a past mistake also tarnishes his trust in women. Forced to take a meeting with an art gallery dealer, he accepts knowing he’ll turn her down. He turns them all down.  But what he doesn’t anticipate is for the seductive bombshell to turn his world upside down.  As his body and mind come alive, he vows to stop at nothing to have her on his canvas and in his bed.
As Lexi’s life begins to brighten with the promise of something beautiful, can she stop faking it and find a reason to make it real? Or will Hunter’s past replace their light with darkness?
On sale for $0.99 on release day only!
The clacking of my stilettos on the shiny marble of his penthouse floor is the only sound that can be heard between us. As I hit the button for the elevator, I feel Hunter behind me. His body heat is setting my back ablaze as he pins me with his dominant frame.  I expect him to say something. Do something. But he doesn’t. His solid chest pressed against my back, his heavy breaths hitting the outside of my earlobe. 
“Please,” he finally whispers, almost like a plea.  “Please say yes to me, Lexi.” His words sending a spiral of heat down my spine. He’s barely touched me, yet I feel as if I’m going to combust. “Let me paint every contour of your exquisite body. Every curve, every dimple.” His mouth is so close to my skin that I imagine his lips on me. His warm breath caresses the back of my neck, traveling down to my collarbone. “Tell me you don’t feel just a little bit intrigued at how freeing it would be to sit for me. To expose yourself to me while I take in every part of your body and transform it into my own private masterpiece.” 
I exhale audibly, my shoulders beginning to weaken. His arms lift, enclosing on each side of my now pulsating body. His strong hands press against the wall forming a barricade around me. “Tell me that you don’t agree that your body is a paradise for any man’s eyes. I need that. I need to be able to capture that beauty and paint a vision that leaves me struggling for air every time I look at it.  That is what you will give me if you say yes.”

J.D. Hollyfield is a creative designer by day and superhero by night. When she is not trying to save the world one happy ending at a time, she enjoys the snuggles of her husband, son and three doxies. With her love for romance, and head full of book boyfriends, she was inspired to test her creative abilities and bring her own story to life.

J.D. Hollyfield lives in the Midwest, and is currently at work on blowing the minds of readers, with the additions to all her series, along with her charm, humor and HEA’s.

J.D. Hollyfield – Release Blitz

 

Chasing Spring by R.S. Grey…Release Day Blitz & Review

Title: Chasing Spring
Author: R.S. Grey
Release Date: Feb 1, 2016
Find on Goodreads
I thought I’d left Blackwater, Texas behind for good. I didn’t belong in the small town, but my dad wouldn’t listen. He dragged me back home in his beat-up truck and dropped a bomb along the way: Chase Matthews was moving in with us. He was the golden boy of my high school, my former best friend, and the last person I wanted sleeping across the hall. His presence was too great a reminder of the ghosts I was trying to forget.
I didn’t ask for a hero. I don’t want to be saved.
To me, Lilah Calloway meant late nights sneakin’ out, moonlit hair, and sparklers in July. She was my best friend until the day she left and I’d assumed Blackwater had seen the last of her. Then, like a tempest, she rolled back into town for the final half of senior year. The chopped hair and dark devil-may-care attitude warned most people away, but I knew if I fought hard enough, I could find the lost girl.
I didn’t want to be her hero. Some girls don’t need to be saved.
review
I don’t think there will ever be a book that Rachel writes that I do not like. LOL

When I first saw the cover for this book, I truly loved it. After reading the book, this cover just gives me goosebumps all over!

Chasing Spring is YA romance that deals with a few issues that unfortunately some kids face. Rachel does a phenomenal job of bring true to how certain people would react and what would go on in a young mind as they are growing up.

I won’t give you any plot points but know that Chase and Lilah are two young kids who are dealt some pretty shitty cards in life and they deal with things in their own way. What I will say is that I absolutely loved how Rachel intertwined the past and present together. It really pulled the whole story together.

The book flows beautifully. Rachel really knows how to capture her audience with her writing and you can easily picture each scene as you are reading. And the characters, both main and secondary were written very well. Their reactions, banter, characteristics were real and true.

Overall, Chasing Spring is very heartfelt and hopeful book. I look forward to reading more from Rachel!

I am a lover of books, chocolate, reality TV, black labs, and cold weather. Seriously, if I had it my way, I would be curled up on the couch with all of those things… everyday.
I live in Texas where I spend my free time writing and reading. My favorite authors include Mindy Kaling & Jonathan Safran Foer. I’m a comedy geek and love all things “funny”. Women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling are definitely the biggest inspirations for my writing, though I think my work tends to skew a bit smuttier than theirs.

 

Liberty States Create Something Magical Conference Speaker Interview Series: Tina Gallagher

LSFW Interview series graphic

Today the Liberty States Create Something Magical Conference Speaker Interview Series continues with author Tina Gallagher:

  1. What made you want to become a writer? I was always a voracious reader, and even as a child would create alternate endings to stories I’d read. I really got hooked on writing in middle school when my best friend and I would create scripts for our favorite soap opera couple. That’s when I started writing every day…it’s also when I got hooked on writing romance.

 

  1. Is there one piece of advice you would give an aspiring writer? Never give up. Don’t let rejections get you down. It’s easier said than done, but it’s important to keep writing and perfecting your craft…eventually the right opportunity will present itself and it will all be worth it.

 

  1. If you could co-write a book with any author, dead or alive, who would it be? That’s a tough one, so I’ll go with the person who first popped into my head when I read the question. Jonathan Maberry. He’s more productive than any writer I know and is a truly inspiring person. I’d love to learn from the master and hopefully a hint of his talent would absorb into me.  J

 

  1. Who is on your bookshelf? Off the top of my head, aside from the classics I’ve had forever (Austen, Hardy, DuMaurier, etc.), off the top of my head, the authors whose books I keep are Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Susan Andersen, Jennifer Crusie, Jill Shalvis, and Susan Mallery.

 

  1. Can you tell us about one of the most memorable moments in your writing career thus far? The day I got “the call.” Well, it was actually an email, but it had the same outcome. I was at work and got an email from my editor at The Wild Rose Press offering me a contract on my first book, …And There Are Girls You Marry. I read the email three times before I was convinced it wasn’t a figment of my imagination. I hadn’t been at my job that long and no one at work knew about my writing habit. Still, I shared the news with the two girls in my office and they took me out to lunch to celebrate.

 

  1. Tell us about your newest release/current work in progress. My latest release is called Prescription for Love, available at Amazon.

tinaKate Grady has a lot on her plate. She’s living by her father’s rules in order to patch their strained relationship and running the family pharmacy while said father heals his broken hip. His physical therapy doesn’t include breathing over her shoulder but he manages to do it anyway.

Then in walks John O’Brien, the boy next door. The very sexy, seven years younger boy next door. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been a gangly, gawky boy with thick glasses. Oh how he’s grown. Can Kate look past their age difference to appreciate the man John has become? how he’s grown. Can Kate look past their age difference to appreciate the man John has become?

 

 

 

About the author:

TGR003Tina Gallagher wears many hats.  She’s a wife, mother, author, and editor…and that doesn’t even include her day job.

After graduating from the University of Scranton with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Tina worked a spectrum of jobs ranging from cake decorator to project administrator and discovered her true passion in writing.  In-between her day job and spending time with her family, she manages to fit in time to write romance novels as well as magazine articles.

Tina lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.

 

 

Website: www.tina-gallagher.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tina.gallagher.31

Twitter: @TinaGWrites

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-gallagher-5101782