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Judith Sterling

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DRAGONS WALK AMONG US by Dan Rice

05 Thursday Aug 2021

Posted by Judith Sterling in Uncategorized

≈ 20 Comments

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Dan Rice, debut novel, Dragons Walk Among Us, promotion, publishing, The Wild Rose Press, writing, YA series, young adult fantasy

Today, I’m excited to welcome Dan Rice, whose recent release, Dragons Walk Among Us, has garnered some great reviews! He’s here to tell us all about this young adult fantasy, writing, publishing, promo, and the second book in the series. Take it away, Dan!

I often read the advice for authors that the best career move is to write the next book. Lately, along with all the promotional work to launch my debut Dragons Walk Among Us, I’ve been hammering away at the next installment of Allison Lee’s adventures. Although I readily admit it may prove a pipe dream, my goal is to have book two in The Allison Lee Chronicles turned in to my editor by December of this year––fingers crossed!

Before having Dragons Walk Among Us picked up by The Wild Rose Press, I had been drafting an epic fantasy. I continued working on that book while at the same time incorporating feedback from my editor on Dragons Walk Among Us. About the time I finished correcting the initial galley––the galley is the document sent to the printer––I gleefully realized that I hadn’t been dreaming; I actually had a book coming out! Hopefully, the first book in a four or five-book series. I knew the time was right to set aside the epic fantasy, despite having written 60,000 words or more, and start writing the further adventures of Allison Lee.

I quickly outlined the plot for book two and started writing. At the same time, I was correcting the final galley of Dragons Walk Among Us and trying to unravel the secret of “promo”. As best I can tell, like many things in life, the secret to promoting your writing is diligently putting in the time and effort, just like when you’re crafting a story. With my debut released only two short weeks ago, I’m a hair over 60,000 words into the second book. I’m shooting for approximately a 90,000-word novel, so I have about a third left to write. Sometimes I feel like I will easily make my December goal, but then I remember the numerous hours I will spend at the editorial chopping block hacking the first draft into a manuscript worthy of submission.

With any luck, readers who enjoy Dragons Walk Among Us will read Allison Lee’s continuing exploits next summer. She will travel from the rain-soaked streets of Seattle to sun-drenched islands in Southeast Asia to encounter mystery, magic, and creatures ripped straight out of the myth.

More about Dragons Walk Among Us:

Shutterbug Allison Lee is trying to survive high school while suffering the popular girl’s abuse. Her life is often abysmal, but at least her green hair is savage. Her talent for photography is recognized by the school paper and the judges of a photo contest.

While visiting her friend Joe, a homeless vet, Allison’s life irrevocably changes after an attack leaves her blind. All her dreams as a photojournalist are dashed as she realizes she’ll never see again. Despair sets in until she is offered an experimental procedure to restore her vision. But there are side effects, or are they hallucinations? She now sees dragons accompanying some of the people she meets. Can she trust her eyes, or has the procedure affected her more than she can see?

A peek between the pages:

Biting my lower lip, I cross the threshold into the room. To my left, I see the glittering scales of a gargantuan golden dragon with its leathery green wings pressed tight against its sides. The beast shimmers and fades in and out of existence. One second the serpentine neck looms overhead to nearly touch the vaulted ceiling and in the next second fades away. The same is true for the rest of the serpent’s body.

There is a click, and a desk lamp flares to life. I breathe in sharply and hop in place. Sitting in a chair at the table, bathed in the lamplight, is Dr. Radcliffe. His elbows are propped up on the table, and his hands are steepled.

“Ah, Allison Lee,” Dr. Radcliffe says and checks a golden wristwatch. “You, young lady, have an impeccable sense of time, so unlike most of your generation.”

I gulp, only barely registering what he just said to me. I gawp at his draconic companion.

“Well, Allison, you want to talk to me. Here I am.”

“Why…why is there a translucent dragon looming over you?” I stutter and fumble with my sling bag’s zipper.

“Hmmm,” he says and, placing his fingertips against the table, stands. “A fascinating question. Do I take that to mean that you do not know what I am?”

“How would I know what you are?” I get hold of the zipper and start opening the bag.

Dr. Radcliffe, lips forming a hard, grim line, marches around from behind the table and approaches me. The dragon that almost seems to project from him follows, a forefoot that should crush the table passing through the wood as though insubstantial.

My hand wraps around the barrel of my camera lens. I hear a door slam from outside in the atrium. Good. My friends have arrived. Even if I can’t get a shot off, they will. Dr. Radcliffe stops in front of me and places a hand that feels very human against my hand that holds the camera lens.

“Now, now, Allison. I think it is best if you come with me, my dear. Your friends in the hall. They will come also.” He sniffs me, like a predator scenting prey. “Odd. I do not recognize your scent.”

“You’re sniffing me? You sicko! I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I pull away, but he clenches my wrist. His grip is shockingly strong for a spindly old man.

Buy the book:

Amazon | B & N | Apple

More about Dan:

Dan has wanted to write novels since first reading Frank Herbert’s Dune at the age of eleven. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he often goes hiking with his family through mist-shrouded forests and along alpine trails with expansive views.

Dragons Walk Among Us is his debut novel. He plans to keep writing fantasy and science-fiction for many years. You can explore his blog at https://www.danscifi.com.

Where to find him:

Twitter | Facebook | BookBub | Instagram

Thanks so much for joining us today, Dan. Wishing you all the best and continued success with Dragons Walk Among Us!

VANILLA WITH A TWIST by Peggy Jaeger

14 Thursday May 2020

Posted by Judith Sterling in Uncategorized

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Judith Sterling, novella, One Scoop or Two, Peggy Jaeger, romance series, summer reading, sweet romance, The Wild Rose Press, Vanilla with a Twist, writing

Sister Rose Peggy Jaeger is back!  She’s here to talk about her upcoming release, Vanilla with a Twist.  Ice cream and romance:  not a bad combo, if you ask me, and it sounds like a fun summer read.  Take it away, Peggy!

My new novella, VANILLA WITH A TWIST, is part of the new summer series from Wild Rose Press titled ONE SCOOP OR TWO. All the stories revolve around ice cream in some form and all must be set in summer. Since they are also novellas, the word count is set at 35,000 or less.

I typically write long tomes that range from 85,000 to 100,00 words, include a lot of story elements, and that typically feature some kind of intimacy (read: sex!) for the hero and heroine. I like a slow buildup with a lot of emotional and physical tension, so my folks don’t just jump in the sac in chapter 1. Sometimes, not even by chapter 10!

Because I like to write this way, penning a romance novella where I am restricted in the word count, and therefore the slow buildup, has made me a side-writer of sweet romance.

Of the three – now 4 – novellas I’ve penned for WRP, all have been sweet romances. No physical intimacy aside from a few kisses and hugs for the H/H.

Can I just tell you what an exercise in writing restraint that’s been?! Hee hee.

It’s actually been a good exercise, because it’s made me figure out alternative ways to show the physical tension and buildup of emotion through action and dialogue. A simple brush of the hero’s hand against the heroine’s can show a shiver of longing run up her spine, or have him hiss in a breath at the simple content. Just having them be aware of one another across a crowded room, or thinking about the other throughout the day without actually being in the same room denotes a type of intimacy and affection that can occur without sex accompanying it.

I have to admit, I love that.

But I also have to admit, I like writing my sex scenes, too. Hee hee.

The story:

Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenage son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop’s machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn’t had a day off in a decade and wonders if she’ll ever be able to live a worry-free life.

Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher’s Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy’s shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment.

Can the budding friendship that follows lead to something everlasting?

A peek between the pages:

For a few moments, she regarded him with a look his mother would have called insightful. The corners of her eyes narrowed, she dipped her chin a hair, and she pulled her mouth into another appealing pout he was tempted to kiss.

“I bet,” she said after a long, drawn-out sigh, “you were the kind of kid who took apart clocks and fans and vacuum cleaners to see how they worked.”

“It was more washing machines and lawn mowers and anything with a motor, but yeah. I was.”

She shook her head, her own lips forming a lopsided grin. “Your poor mother.”

“She survived.”

Tandy rolled her eyes and shot her hands to her hips. “So it’s working again?” She thrust her chin at the ice cream machine.

“For now.”

“Okay, well, I can live with for now. And you think you know the real reason it’s been acting up?”

“I definitely do. But like I said, the water to the machine needs to be shut off to fix it.”

“Okay. Well, we close at nine.”

“I’ll come back a little before then. Get things ready. Is that okay with you?”

“I guess it’ll have to be.” She bit down on the inside of her cheek as her brows pulled together. “And you’re sure you want to do this?”

“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t offer, Tandy.”

Why her reluctance to have him help was such a turn-on was something he considered while he waited for his ice cream.

Buy the book:

Amazon | Nook | Apple Books

More about Peggy:

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes Romantic Comedies about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. If she can make you cry on one page and bring you out of tears rolling with laughter the next, she’s done her job as a writer!

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, she brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she’s created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

When she’s not writing Peggy is usually painting, crafting, scrapbooking or decoupaging old steamer trunks she finds at rummage stores and garage sales.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, Peggy is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go “What??!”

Where to find her:

Website: http://peggyjaeger.com/

Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peggy-jaeger

            YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDR8RRIlssIyS0FYZWeGqsg/videos?view_as=subscriber

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peggyjaeger_author/

Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggy-jaeger-296ab878/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0

Authors database: https://authorsdb.com/community/15814-peggy-jaeger

Triberr: https://triberr.com/tribe/strong-women–loving-men

Thanks for joining us today, Peggy.  Wishing you all the best with the book!

The Drew in the Dreams

29 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by Judith Sterling in Uncategorized

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dreams, Guardians of Erin, Judith Sterling, mystery, Nancy Drew, The Novels of Ravenwood, writing

Yesterday, Nancy Drew turned 87.  Tomorrow, I turn 49, but many memories from my childhood are clear and indelible.  I’ll never forget the thrill of reading my first Nancy Drew book, The Haunted Bridge, when I was 10.  I’d found a kindred spirit, albeit fictional.  We both welcomed adventure and felt driven to solve the mysteries that confronted us.

Some puzzles I solved while awake; others, while asleep.  I had a number of lucid dreams (when one is conscious of dreaming while the dreams are still in progress, thereby allowing one to control them).  I also experienced what could only be called “serial dreaming” over a two-week period.  On the first night, a mystery worthy of Nancy Drew began to unfold.  I was the detective, but Nancy and her friends, Bess and George, were right by my side, investigating a haunted house.  Each successive night, I dreamed the next “chapter” of the story.  By the end of the fortnight, I’d solved the mystery.

Some of what I write today—whether medieval romance (The Novels of Ravenwood) or young adult fantasy (Guardians of Erin)—is inspired by dreams.  Sometimes the opposite occurs, and the characters I create wend their way into my nights.  But I’ll never forget the magic of those serial dreams which brought excitement and intrigue closer than fiction and made my favorite girl detective proud.

 

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