Cynthia Roberts is hosting a five prize giveaway starting today (June 15) to June 30, 2010 to celebrate her release of Wind Warrior. Log on to: http://www.romanceauthorcynthiaroberts.com/Release_Contest.html to see the prizes. Below are the rules:
Participants must show proof of purchase of Wind Warrior by either scanning their store receipt OR forward a copy of their online purchase confirmation to cynthia@romanceauthorcynthiaroberts.com.
Contest begins Wed., June 15th and ends on Wed., June 30th. Participant must also provide name and mailing address as well as email address at time of entry. Only one entry per household allowed. Winners will be notified via email and all gifts will be delivered directly to the winner’s home no later than July 30, 2010
Good Luck to you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-iXpgbHwVc

I had the pleasure of emailing CJ several weeks ago because I wanted to interview him. He was kind enough to answer some questions from me. The answers are below:

Did you have any say in casting or producing your book (Sin and Vengeance) for the Big Screen as well as writing it?
Like most authors, I didn’t have any say in casting once I signed my contract. Fortunately I did specify two cast members. I will be making a cameo and my daughter will appear in the movie as an extra. I’m not sure where we will appear, but I will post this to my Facebook fan page and my website when the movie is released.

I was also fortunate to have a screenwriter who wanted my input. We talked many times on the phone and I read several iterations of the screenplay and provided feedback. Marla, the screenwriter for Sin & Vengeance the movie, attended a book group with me by phone to listen to what the members wanted to see in the movie. When the screenplay was nearly finished, we assembled a group of dedicated Sin & Vengeance fans and gave them the screenplay. They read it and then we got together. Marla listened in on a focus group discussion that lasted for hours. When we were done she had some great ideas to help her capture the essence of the book in her screenplay. I was amazed at how seriously everyone took the project. Several readers came with notes, one person had over ten pages of handwritten suggestions.

Is your family involved with you as regards your writing, such as promoting your books at all?
My family isn’t officially involved in the company. My wife reads my books along with several other beta readers before they go to press. My mother is my best saleswoman by far. She loves talking about my work and uses my press clippings to sell lots of books around my hometown. She outsells every bookstore except Amazon.

Are your two children interested in writing at all?
I’m delighted that both of my children are avid readers. My youngest daughter thinks she wants to be a NYT Bestselling author. I haven’t had the heart to tell her I don’t think the New York Times will be around when she’s old enough to write novels, but I do think she has the talent. For Mother’s Day she wrote a poem shaped like a woman, with colored text that looked like a picture from a distance. She has amazing talent for her age. My oldest daughter shows her talent in songwriting. She writes lyrics that are far beyond her years and posts her work on Youtube. I’m very proud of them both.

Where did the plot of The End of Marking Time come from?
I had been thinking about the plot for The End of Marking Time for about 3 years before I began writing. Michael O’Connor is a gifted housebreaker.

I knew I wanted to tell the story of how Michael got off track and the massive undertaking that would be required to repair his life, but I hadn’t figured out how to tell it. The idea for a reeducation program came to me in a eureka moment. When I decided to have Michael tell the story directly to readers as if they were his jury, I knew I had a hit. I finished the first draft in six weeks (about 1/4 the time it normally takes me). The reaction from everyone who has touched the book since has been electric.


Tell me all about the Who Wants to be a Hero? book tour, is it as exciting as it looks?
Who Wants To Be A Hero? was another one of those eureka moments. I was planning my tour and trying to think of ways to make it fun when I realized that the things my character Randy Black does are very exciting. I decided to teach these things to readers one event at a time. The kickoff was an advanced driving class that my readers just could not believe. There is a video on my website (http://www.22wb.com/) of me being driven by professional driver Anthony Ricci. He takes me through the obstacle course at 40 mph – backwards! To bring excitement to bookstores, I’m giving Texas Hold ‘em lessons. One store is even running a tournament where readers can play against me. I’m also hosting a winery tour, a newsroom tour, a firearms training day and a murder mystery night. All the events promise to be fun and this format allows readers to get to know me on a personal level. A side benefit is that I’ve enjoyed myself on this tour more than any other.



How would you cast The End of Marking Time if it were optioned for a movie as well?
If I had my choice for Michael O’Connor it would be Charlie from LOST. I think he really fits my image of Michael. I’d like to fit Kate, Claire, and Shannon in there somewhere too, but I won’t be greedy.

Thanks for having me Mareena. I welcome your readers to come and visit me on launch day (June 10th) or anytime at www.facebook.com/cjwestfans.

Thank you, CJ, for taking the time to answer my questions.

I received an email from Cynthia Roberts, a new author who contacted me recently. I took a chance to ask her some questions as well. Below is her answers and a guest post. I’ll be reading her book and reviewing it soon.

Wind Warrior ~ The Iroquois Series ~ Book One

Leslie Michaels is a visionary, and only those close to her know of her special gift and the visions that come when her mind and body surrender to sleep. Fate has a way of righting many wrongs, and for Leslie it is a destiny that changes her life dramatically. But not before she is forced to flee into the wilderness to escape a murderous trapper bent on claiming her for his very own. Faith and a strong will to survive are her only companions, until she encounters Winnokin, the handsome Seneca war chief who first came to her in her dreams. Not only does he prove to be her rescuer and protector, he teaches her that tragedy can breed happiness and the passion to live and love deeply once again.

Wind Warrior plunges readers into the intimate depths of a relationship that unfolds like a live drama before their eyes while painting an insightful and intriguing portrait of Native Indian life in the 1800s. It is a story of longing, of a wanton need to survive all odds, and a love so strong it conquers human evil. Wind Warrior expresses with cunning words the simple, raw human emotions that hold readers spellbound and captivates their hearts.

You are an author who is new to me, where do you live?

I’m a newbie straight out of the running gate … a little later than most starting out in this business but with a fire in my gut that burns a lot hotter. Are you ready for this … we not only live in the same state Mareena but we’re practically neighbors. I live in Cohoes about a 15 minute drive from you.

If you hadn’t needed to start writing, do you think you would have done so at any point in your life?
Most definitely. It was sooo inherent, it was inevitable. Ever since a Crayola was placed in my hand, I was scribbling and making sense of something on paper. Sadly, life just got in the way and it has taken me until my more mature years (chuckle chuckle ) to make the dream happen.

Do your children enjoy writing as well?
Not a lick of it … weird hah? My son Jason is in law enforcement and hates to even fill out reports. My daughter Alyssa loves to read, writes beautifully when she has something to express but adores her job as an esthetician.

Everyone’s life’s shadows influence them in some way, how have yours influenced your writing?

Life this past decade has been one heck of a challenge and growth spurt for me. If I came away with anything, I know that I’m a better writer because I know how to describe raw emotion … I lived it. It’s amazing how fate has a plan for you … even if you don’t agree with it, somehow it all works out in the end if you’re willing to see it for what it is … another chapter. The end of my marriage nearly devastated me. When you get plowed under and never see it coming, it pulls your soul from you. It took me a while to find mine and prove to myself there was some better and that was my dream to write.

Hello everyone. Like all of you, I lived and breathed reading romances … it filled many long, lonely evenings when my husband worked nights in law enforcement and I was raising our children Jason and Alyssa (now 31 and 29). It proved my constant companion later when my “Cinderella” marriage of twenty-five years came to an unexpected end. There is a quote I heard once I can’t remember verbatim but goes somewhat like … “There is no greater loss than a love once known.”

I’m a true believer that when tragedy strikes and you’re standing at the edge of a fathomless abyss and all you see is darkness looking back at you, faith lies in knowing one of two things will happen. You can either let fear consume you, roll up into a ball and waste away or, you can take a leap of faith and learn how to soar like an eagle.

I’ve always had a passion for writing from that very moment a Crayola was placed in my hand and throughout my career in marketing, public relations and sales writing creatively came easy. When my marriage ended at the age of 45, life as I knew it was never the same. It was a time of unrest, uncertainty, losing friends and family and financial ruin because I also found myself jobless which continued nearly two years.

Wind Warrior became my salvation. One evening I sat in front of the computer and decided to write instead of read and figured all I could do was fail. It proved my therapy back then but not quite up to par to win the favor of publishers. I received so many rejections I could have wallpapered a small room in my house and almost gave up on my dream. That is, until I realized it just wasn’t my time. I needed to live through and get beyond the pain in my own life before I could transform that experience into the kind of passion and emotion I wanted my readers to feel personally through my writing.

I chose to write an historical Indian romance because the first fiction I ever read was a novel from Cassie Edward’s Savage series and instantly became hungry to read more. I tracked down every one of those babies; let me tell you, until I read them all. However, every one I read from that point on was based on a Plains tribe. I wanted to focus on a tribe indigenous to my area and decided to write a series based on the tribes that make up the Iroquois League of Nations here on the east coast. Their warriors were the fiercest ever known to strike terror in the hearts of early settlers from Pennsylvania to Canada. They were referred to as “People of the Longhouse” because their families lived together in wooden structures upward of 40 feet long. They were an extremely powerful nation that was sadly torn apart by the American Revolution. I fell in love with the simplistic beauty of their culture and folklore. We could learn so much from our Native American brothers and the reverent love and respect they have for everything that is natural and of this earth. They knew how to live in balance with plants, animals and the natural elements … never taking more than what was needed to sustain their people and way of life.

Wind Warrior will officially be released on June 15th and available now for purchase through Tate’s website. It is my heartfelt hope readers will find it as enthralling to read as it was for me to research and bring to life. Book #2 Captive Heart is finished and expected to be released the end of this year.

Now that the writer in me has been unleashed … look out world! If I can leave my beautiful five grandchildren any legacy, it will be the strength, conviction and passion put into every story I bring to life. Please stay tuned for future projects which will include a series introducing contemporary shape shifters and two mainstream romance thrillers entitled Pawn For Malice and The Keeper’s Watch.

Wind Warrior
Tate Publishing
ISBN 978-1-61663-162-8
Link to purchase from Tate before June 15 http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61663-162-8
Available at Amazon and all other venues on June 15th
http://www.romanceauthorcynthiaroberts.com/

I just received Prophecy of Kings - a trilogy by David Burroughs. I got it through Good Reads First Reads. It’s an Advanced Readers’ Copy that looks really good.

When was it read? May 19, 2010 to May 19, 2010
Who read it? Emeraldfire
Author’s Website: http://traceywest.com/
Where did it come from? Swap Tree
Where did it go? library book sale
Pages: 89
Year Published: 2001
Cover: paperback
Violet Briggs has an out-of-this-world new friend named Sprite – the Royal Pixie Tricker. Fourteen pixies have escaped from the Otherworld and it’s up to Sprite and Violet to capture them and send them home. In this story the Wizard Finn wants to take over the town and it’s up to Violet, Sprite and Violet’s cousin Leon to stop him. I give this story a good.
Good! – (Rating 3)

When was it read? May 16, 2010 to May 19, 2010
Who read it? Emeraldfire
Author’s Website: http://jackiefullerton.com/
Where did it come from? I received an Advanced Readers’ Copy from the publisher
Where did it go? My bookshelf
Pages: 287
Year Published: 2010
Cover: paperback
Kathy Spence has awoken to a nightmare: her husband, a professor at the local law school has been struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident and she has been accused. She turns to amateur slueth Anne Marshall, a student of Professor Spence’s, to clear her name. Anne and her father – who has been dead for three months – team up with Anne’s study group to exonerate Kathy Spence, but someone is willing to kill to see Kathy in jail. I enjoyed this book and give it an Excellent!
Excellent! – (Rating 4)

I just received The End of Marking Time by C.J. West today. I would like to thank him for sending me his book.

When was it read? May 14, 2010 to May 17, 2010
Who read it? Rosefire
Author’s Website: http://www.passarella.com/
Where did it come from: library book sale
Where did it go? Paperback Swap
Pages: 438
Year Published: 1999
Cover: Paperback
This novel revolves around the college town of Windale, Massachusetts and the effect that a dark witches’ coven has on the town. Now, three people who don’t know each other are having the same nightmare of a dark demonic creature intent on breaking into the real world. I really liked this book and give it an Awesome! It’s fast-paced and scary.
Awesome! – (Rating 4.5)

Hi everyone! How is everyone’s Sunday? Mine’s fine, thank you. I’m swamped with reading, which is how I like it. Coming up soon is C.J. West’s release of The End of Marking Time on May 31st. It’s a blog tour that ends on June 9th with an interview with C.J. here at Emeraldfire’s Bookmark. Log on to: http://facebook.com/cjwestfans starting on May 31st to find out about all the fun. C.J.’s events will be posted at his website at http://www.22wb.com/index.htm.

Also in June – June 1st (my birthday) to be precise, I will have an interview with Cynthia Roberts, a brand new romance author whose first book, Wind Warrior, will be coming out on June 15th. Her website is http://www.romanceauthorcynthiaroberts.com/Home.php. I received a pdf version of Wind Warrior to read, so watch for a review soon. Thank you to everyone who left a comment on my blog. See you later!