Meet Cat Brown: Author and Romance Junkie

I’m thrilled to welcome romance junkie, Cat Brown, who is not only a romance author, but also the founder of Romance Junkies, the online site for everything to do with romance novels. First of all, you have published several romance novels using the name Samantha Storm, including Eye of the Storm, which has had brilliant reviews. Could you tell us a little bit about Eye of the Storm?  

It’s a 79,000 word paranormal.

Book Blurb: A car bomb hurls Katlin Campbell, a young redheaded beauty, into a world of chaos. She is forced to go on the run, her head filled with dangerous information passed onto her by a dying man.

Her only chance of survival — Ryker Duncan, a retired bodyguard. A sexy man with killer biceps who is only interested in keeping her alive long enough to find a way to retrieve and sell the information in her head to the highest bidder. Ryker can’t seem to keep his hands off Katlin, but he is torn between his growing feelings for her and the guilt he still carries over his wife’s death.

Murder, Mystery and God, Part II

Welcome back Philip. It's great to have you here again!  Since we last spoke, what have you been up to?

Hello again, Katheryn.

It is hard to believe that only two months have gone by since your last interview, yet so many exciting have happened. Shortly after the interview, I was approached by the American writer, Dennis Sheehan, (Author of the political thriller Purchased Power), who invited me to participate in The Writers Collection. Dennis has brought ten writers together and every week each posts a short story on a given subject. Yes, I did say every week, which makes this a demanding commitment, but it is fascinating to see how each writer tackles the different and diverse subjects.

The New Death: An interview with author, James Hutchings

Today I have been given the opportunity to interview James Hutchings, author of The New Death and others. First of all James, can I ask how you become an author?

I did a Bachelor of Arts majoring in creative writing and media, but I didn't do anything with it after graduating. Years later I created a fantasy city called Teleleli or Telelee as a background for role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Once I finished I realised there wasn't any demand for it. My ex suggested I write stories instead, and that's how I got started. Along the way I realised that my poems were better received, so I'm concentrating on them now.

Lame Excuses

For the first time ever on this blog (but hopefully not the last!) I am pleased to have the chance to play host to a guest writer, Alle Wells, author of Lame Excuses.

Forty-year-old Emily Halley sits in a wheelchair in an abandoned lot of a silent, forlorn southern town. She reflects on her life that began in a short-order café that sat on this corner lot in the early 1960’s. She remembers and shares her love for the café that provided everything she needed and demanded nothing from her. As a teenager, Emily’s life at the café ends abruptly with her father’s untimely death.

Widowed to an author

My husband is a very patient man, luckily, but at times I do feel that he is a bit of an author widow, left on his own to watch TV and go out alone to see his friends while I tap away on the computer (like I’m doing now).  I’m sure he’s not the only one out there.  There must be hundreds, perhaps thousands (millions?) of other husbands and wives like him who wonder why they married an author.  I haven’t yet shown him this list that I found the other day on Lili Tufel’s blog as it might be a bit too close to the bone for him, but personally I found it hilarious.  I’m reproducing here with Lili’s kind permission.

Great Summer Sale!

You can now get over 25% off The Royal Sheikh at Smashwords as part of their July sale, but you'll need to hurry as the offer runs out on 31 July.

Personally I love a good sale and I'm looking forward to picking up some bargains in this year's summer sales. I'll mainly be looking for clothes (my husband says I desperately need some new ones - he's probably right). Also, while I'm on holiday, I'll check out any local second-hand and charity shops for books, jewellery, silver etc. I'll let you know if I find anything interesting.

A good read

The Royal Sheikh is now available on Smashwords, which means you can download it in lots of different formats, e.g. as a pdf file, and also in some formats which I've never even heard of, like Palm Doc - what's that?!?  There's also an option to read 20% of it for free to see if you like it (I hope you do). 

I like the idea of a 'free sample', as who hasn't read part of a book in a store before buying it?  Have you ever read the whole book in a bookshop?  My brother once tried to do it in WHSmiths in the UK.  I think he was on the last chapter when they kicked him out.  Undeterred, he returned the next day and finished off the book.  That was many years ago (he was about ten at the time).  Nowadays, bookstores seem to positively encourage it by having comfy chairs and coffee shops in-store.  I presume this is to encourage customers as they face ever-increasing competition form online retailers like Amazon.  I for one, love a good bookstore and will continue to visit them as well as buying online - that way I get the best of both worlds!