Blog | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, August 4, 2013

Most of the time, not much, or so it seems.

But if it’s your eighteenth birthday, it could be a lot.

Today is my daughter’s eighteenth birthday. Like most parents, I can’t believe it! I’ll spare you all of the “it seems like only yesterday” blah blah stuff. Today, we’re doing the usual celebratory things – a cookout and party with family and friends. But first, we’re attending another special event: my daughter’s senior recital for her vocal lessons. She’s been practicing for this for months, working on a wide range of music from the Baroque period through modern-day musical pieces. It will be hard work for her, and a performance like none of us have ever seen: one hour of just her.

Of course, she’s been thinking a bit of what she can do, now that she’s eighteen. With her birthday this late in the year, most of her friends are already there, so she’s had plenty of time to ponder it. She can:

Register to vote. She’ll definitely do this, probably next month or so, even though there’s next to nothing on our ballot this November. Ironically, one of her best friends turned eighteen last year, on the last day one could register to vote in the presidential election. Because they had choir rehearsal, she did not make it in time.
Buy cigarettes. Yuck! That’s what she says, too. Last year, one of her friends didn’t smoke, but bought cigarettes when he turned eighteen, just because he could, LOL.
Buy smut. Probably not – there’s plenty of it for free on the Internet. If she does, I don’t want to know.
Buy a shotgun. Nope. Her dad/my husband owns several; he’ll be glad to teach her to shoot and/or take her hunting any time she wants!
Work full time. She would have liked to do that this summer, but hardly any place wants to hire anyone under eighteen these days, nor do they want people who just want to work summers, unless it’s a seasonal business. In those cases, they hired people back in the winter, when my daughter was busy with schoolwork. Maybe next summer!
Get a hotel room. This is something she will definitely do, probably for an anime con she goes to every year.
Join the military. Nope, she’s going to college.
Buy lottery tickets. Maybe? But I don’t see her being a big spender here. After all, they’re terrible odds.
Get married. Seeing as her boyfriend’s still in high school (his birthday is in November) and they both plan to go to college, I don’t see that happening for a while. At least I hope not!
Get a tattoo. We’ve talked about that. A lot of the kids she went to school with have them, but like me, she says she can’t think of anything she’d want permanently on her body for life. But who knows, that could change.
Get a credit card. She has a debit card, and can buy online with that, so she really doesn’t care about a credit card, but realizes it would be good to build credit. We talk about responsible spending and managing finances regularly, so I don’t worry she’d go nuts with it. We’ll see!

As for me, I did get a credit card soon after I turned eighteen – it was a Visa card, with a $300 limit that my dad cosigned for. I registered to vote too – that year was a presidential election year, and it was cool to be a part of it. I also had a full time job in the summer – they were much easier to come by in the mid-eighties! There also weren’t the restrictions on hours for people under eighteen during the summer back then. But my actual birthday? I don’t remember it at all! (And no, I wasn’t drinking! I didn’t discover that until a couple years later. :))

Which brings me to my ROW80 goals, which were rather hit-or-miss this week, due to all the party preparations:

Skim/read the smaller of the two research books – No. Got one chapter read, that’s all.
1500 words on new ms – Yes!
4 workouts – Got 3 in.

I have a few obligations this week as well, so I’m going to keep the bar low. Here’s what I want to do:

Skim/read three chapters in research book
1500 words on new ms
4 workouts

What about you – what did you do on your eighteenth birthday? What newly-legal activities did you partake in soon thereafter? 🙂 And like me, do you now have that Alice Cooper song stuck in your head? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

by Jennette, July 28, 2013

What do these seemingly disparate things have in common? I learned something about each this week! Let’s start with the book. Normally, I’d feature this on WANA Wednesday, but I only have one book, and I’m lazy, so…

thepromisedonehighres A couple of weeks ago, real-life writing friends C.D. Hersh released their debut urban fantasy, The Promised One. In the wrong hands, the Turning Stone ring is a powerful weapon for evil. So, when homicide detective Alexi Jordan discovers her uncle has been murdered and his magic ring stolen, she is forced to use her shape-shifting powers to catch the killer. By doing so, she risks the two most important things in her life–her badge and the man she loves.

Rhys Temple always knew that his cop partner, and would-be-girlfriend, Alexi Jordan had a few secrets. He considers that part of her charm. But when she changes into a man, he doesn’t find that as charming. He’ll keep her secret to keep her safe, but he’s not certain he can keep up a relationship–professional or personal.

I am reading The Promised One now, and really enjoying it! What’s especially cool is that it isn’t your typical creature-shapeshifter–in this book, people shift into other people. Very cool, with so many opportunities for things to get interesting! More info on their blog at http://cdhersh.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/book-release-birthday/

So, one thing I learned this week is that it’s still possible to put a new twist on something that’s been done and done and done – in this case, the shapeshifter romance. Other things I learned are:

Another thing I learned is that changing the spark plugs on a ’99 Firebird is a major pain! They are almost impossible to get to. I know this, because my husband was attempting to do this on my old car, that our daughter now drives, and needed my smaller hands to help. We did it, but it wasn’t easy–he even ended up drilling a hole through the wheel well to get an extension socket wrench through to get to the most difficult one!

Third, I learned that six people can be invited to witness an execution in Ohio. Three by the condemned, and three by the victim’s family. Maybe this is obvious to folks who watch a lot of news–I found it in the process of doing research for my work-in-progress.

And finally, I’m finding that I don’t need to outline exhaustively to start writing–in fact, this is one excuse I use to procrastinate. I knew this before, but this awesome blog post by Dean Wesley Smith reminded me. If you’re a writer and you haven’t read it, go there. Really. This is the best blog post I’ve read all year! So I didn’t write up the 25 scene cards I’d noted in last week’s ROW80 goals–just made a few more notes, and started writing instead. Nothing major, just 250 words, but hey, it’s a start! Here are the rest of the details:

Do the Character Pre-plan Exercise for my antagonist – Done!
Work on outline–create 25 cards – not done, but still counting this as a win. See above.

I also started back in on fitness, now that I can walk on the treadmill for more than five minutes without having to stop to cough. Got four workouts in last week! I also picked up some more research materials at the library. I have a bunch of stuff going on this weekend which will require a good bit of prep time, so going easy on the goals this week. So here’s the plan:

Skim/read the smaller of the two research books
1500 words on new ms
4 workouts

What about you–what new things have you learned this week? Read any good books lately? If you’re doing ROW80, or just working toward some goals, how are you doing? Let us know in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, July 21, 2013

My latest book cover design!

I don’t feel like I did a lot this week, but when I look back, I actually did. I knocked out my book cover goal quickly–on Sunday, in fact–to make sure it didn’t slip this week. My friend Jim Winter loved it, approved it, and is now in the process of updating his retail listings!

But what really doesn’t feel like I did much was the rest of the week. The plan was to continue working on my outline. I did get some more done on this, but my ideas seemed to stall out midway through the week. I guess this is what happens to non-plotting writers (aka “pantsers”) when they are writing the draft and hit the sagging middle. But I couldn’t figure out why it was happening to me, and why now. Then I read this blog post by Kristen Lamb on Friday, and it hit me. The post was appropriately called “The Single Largest Cause of Writer’s Block–Might Not Be What You Believe.”

So true! And it was exactly what she said: I hadn’t figured out my story’s antagonist. Oh, I had minions – secondary bad guys left over from the previous books in the series, but who was (to use Kristen’s term) the “Big Boss Troublemaker?” I had no idea. So I had to figure out who he or she is, what s/he is doing, and perhaps most importantly, why.

I’ve done a lot of sitting and thinking these past couple of days, and have figured out a lot. But I still have more work to do in that area, so on to the goals.

Last week’s goals went well:

Continue brainstorming/outlining for SS Book 3 – Not as much as I wanted, but I’ll count this as a yes!
Initial cover art for friend who’s going to beta read – yes!

For this week, I want to:

Do the Character Pre-plan Exercise from Holly Lisle’s How to Think Sideways workshop. This walks the writer through some basic questions and helps us to figure out who the character is, his/her goals, motivations, background, etc., and can be used for any major characters.
Work on outline–create 25 cards to add to my virtual bulletin board. It sounds easy, but I have a feeling it won’t be–or maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised!

So, let’s talk about antagonists, books, TV, movies, whatever. Probably the best bad guy I’ve read is the Del-a-Shar from Sheri McGathy’s epic fantasy Elfen Gold. He destroyed his entire race, yet when we find out why, he’s chillingly relateable and understandable! Antagonists need not be villains, but this one certainly is. Who are some of your favorites, villainous or not? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, July 14, 2013

A few weeks ago, WANA friend Jansen Schmidt honored me with the Sunshine Award, so it’s time I picked it up! This one made the rounds about a year ago, but most of the questions have changed, so I’m game! Jansen gave it to me “because she rides a Harley and she’s really cool.” Ironically, my husband’s out on his Harley on a day trip, but I declined going, as I’m still recovering from the Crud and didn’t think I could hack spending 5 hours on my bike. I’m feeling OK, just tired, and riding does wear one out, believe it or not.

Anyway, the Sunshine Award comes with a set of written rules and is best enjoyed when sharing with others. If you choose to play along, and I encourage you to do so, the rules of the Sunshine Award are:

Include the award’s logo (and rules) in a post on your blog. Simply cut and paste the photo to the right into your own blog post.
Link to the person who nominated you.
Answer the 10 questions below with your answers instead of mine.
Pass the award on to a bunch of “Sunshine Inspiring” bloggers. The rules say 10 people, but choose however many you’d like.

Here are the questions:

Favorite Color: Red – of course! It’s the best color for Camaros. 😀

Our turtle Sanddollar on her basking platform

Favorite Animal: Last time I said gerbils, though I had a hard time choosing because I love animals. So this time, I’ll say turtles, especially ours when she swims up to me acting all excited. 🙂 They have been around for such a long time, and they’re so impervious to many threats. Yet they’re also sweet and cute – at least ours is!

Favorite Number: 9 – that was on the list last time, and like last time, I don’t know why. But it always has been.

Favorite Non Alcoholic Drink: Mountain Dew! I know it’s awful for you – full of sugar! – so I limit myself to one a day. But if I don’t get that one, I get cranky, so my family knows not to drink the last can!

Favorite Alcoholic Drink: lately, I’ve been partial to Leinenkugel Summer Shandy.

Facebook or Twitter: Like Jansen, I’m not fond of social media and consider it a necessary evil. But if I have to choose… well, brevity is not my strong point, and I have yet to figure out how to make friends in 140-character snippets, so let’s go with Facebook.

Passions: Reading, writing, local history, Camaros, web programming (my day job).

Dayton Ohio skyline (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Prefer Getting or Giving Gifts: It depends. If I know of something that someone will really enjoy, especially if it’s something they wouldn’t get for themselves, I love to give that gift. OTOH, if I can think of something I really want, but can’t quite justify buying (or doing) for myself, I love it when someone gets it (or does it) for me.

Favorite City: Dayton, Ohio. I’m a hometown girl! I was reading up on some history of another nearby city yesterday, and couldn’t believe how uninteresting it was in comparison. There were no famous inventors from that city, which seemed odd to me.

Favorite TV Show: This was tough, because I don’t watch much TV, but when there are new episodes on, I love Duck Dynasty! Those guys make me LOL every time. Can’t wait ’til the beards are back on August 14!

Here’s a video from my favorite episode, “Redneck Roadtrip,” aka “Vietnam Special”: (about 3 minutes)

And now, I’m going to weasel out on nominating others for the award. For starters, Jansen named several that I would also pick! But really, I’d have a hard time choosing from those who comment here and encourage me, because each of those comments means a lot to me, so I’d hate to pick some, but not others! So if you’d like to play along, go ahead and consider yourself nominated, and spread the sunshine around!

And now for my ROW80 update: last week, I kept the goals simple. I ended up exceeding on one of them, and totally crapping out on the other. Here’s the scoop:

Continue brainstorming/outlining for SS Book 3 – I got a lot done here, and even started writing a bit!
Initial cover art for friend who’s going to beta read – um, no (sorry, Jim!)

I still need to do a good bit more planning on the book, and since I didn’t get the cover done, the goals will remain the same for this week. Basically the problem with the second was that I got so involved with the first, I forgot about the rest!

What about you – have you ever been so wrapped up with one priority that you’ve forgotten everything else? How about that Sunshine Award – if you don’t want to take it up, maybe you’d like to answer one of those questions in the comments? Inquiring minds want to know, and I’d love to hear from you – please share!

by Jennette, July 7, 2013

That’s right, it’s ROW80 round 3, and I totally missed the first week! No excuses, really, but the reason is probably that I’m used to posting on Sunday, and the round didn’t start until Monday.

I could claim all kinds of excuses: computer gremlins (always a possibility!), I was sick the latter half of the week (my husband so thoughtfully passed on the plague, unfortunately, true), or perhaps the Hangar 18 aliens ate my post. None of those is true. I simply forgot.

I did still make goals, however; I do that every week with my Weekly Status Report. Not only that, I met most of them, too.

My writing goals for the quarter, or ROW80 Round 3, are simple: 1) publish the anthology in which my short story, “Time’s Tempest” will appear, and 2) Planning/outlining for Book 3 of the Saturn Society Series, and get 20,000 words down on that.

The main catch is that I need stuff from other people for the anthology, and any goal that’s dependent on others carries an inherent risk. However, it’s my understanding that all the other authors’ stories are done and in edits. I got mine back from my editor last week, and have reworked the ending twice until I came up with one both my editor and I loved. The ebook cover’s ready to go too–that was one of the three cover design projects I mentioned a couple weeks ago, although I still need story blurbs for the paperback cover.

Since I am still fighting off the crud, I’ll leave fitness off of this week’s goals, and focus on the writing and related tasks:

Continue brainstorming/outlining for SS Book 3
Initial cover art for friend who’s going to beta read

That’s it! What about you – is it just me, or have you recently forgotten something for a stupid reason, like it fell on a different day of the week? If you’re doing ROW80, or just have some goals, how are you doing so far? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 19, 2013

My writing friends have been busy these past couple of weeks! Like most writers, my To-Be-Read pile (or list on my Kindle, rather) runneth over, yet I had to snag these.

First up, we have crime fiction from my IRL friend Jim Winter, the latest in his Nick Kepler P.I. series. This is one of the covers I designed a couple of weeks ago, and I had tons of fun with it! In Bad Religion, Nick and Elaine are shadowing the pastor of a suburban church. So far, they’ve found nothing on him, but one of Nick’s operatives comes across something that tells them they’ve been on the wrong track. But a collision on a lonely rural road keeps Nick from finding out what. It also forces Nick to look more closely at the church itself. Who’s really skimming the money? Is it Calvin Leach, the church leader who wants to be the next great televangelist? Is it Alex Pullman, whose real estate fortune was made paving over perfectly good neighborhoods to build upscale shopping malls? Is it one of the church board? Or is there more going on here, a religious schism that’s closer to Nick’s past than he imagined?

In the background is Nikolai Karpov, the Russian mobster who seemingly likes Nick enough to want to bring him into his organization. Meanwhile, Elaine is dealing with the disintegration of her marriage and what her budding partnership with Nick means, both personally and professionally.

It’s not obvious from Jim’s description, but there’s some great humor in here, too – enough that, when I was beta reading this at work several years ago (I had nothing to do), my coworkers kept giving me weird looks because I kept trying to stifle laughter. More info and buy links on Jim’s blog.

COLLATERAL CASUALTIES_BarnesNoble1-662x1024 Want some more mystery and suspense? Kassandra Lamb has released Collateral Casualties, the fifth in her Kate Huntington mystery series. When a former client reaches out to psychotherapist Kate Huntington and reveals a foreign diplomat’s dark secret, then dies of ‘natural causes’ just days later, Kate isn’t sure what to think. Was the man delusional or is she now privy to dangerous information?

Soon she discovers her client was totally sane… and he was murdered. Someone is now trying to eliminate her, and anyone and everyone she might have told. Forced into hiding, she and her husband, Skip, along with the operatives of his private investigating agency, struggle to stay one step ahead of a ruthless killer. Skip and his P.I. partner are good investigators, but this time they may be in over their heads… and they could all end up drowning in a sea of international intrigue. More info and buy links on Kassandra’s website.

How about some history with a little romance? New out from Maria McKenzie is Masquerade, the second in her Escape Trilogy.

Celebrated actress Lavinia Hargraves performs her most challenging role offstage. Although born in 1872 to Daniel Taylor, a white man and wealthy landowner in southern California, Lavinia’s mother, Lori, is a Negro and former slave. Lavinia, who appears white, is desperate to hide her Negro ancestry, as well as pursue her dream of becoming the world’s greatest actress. After eloping with the much older Vernon Hargraves, owner of New York’s premier theater company, Lavinia is provided with all she could ever want: a new life as white, stardom on the stage, and an abundant supply of money. Soon Lavinia’s seduction by a young and handsome actor sets in motion a devastating turn of events. Dashing millionaire contractor Andrew Standish comes into Lavinia’s life at a time when she needs him most. However, the secret of Lori’s existence could demolish her daughter’s carefully constructed facade. To what lengths will Andrew go to uncover Lavinia’s past? More info and buy links on Maria’s blog.

Conquest-of-the-Heart If you prefer your history with a lot of romance, Michele Stegman never disappoints (at least me!). Conquest of the Heart is “a lighthearted romp through the dark ages,” in which Madeline wants a big, brash, never-defeated-in-battle, Norman knight. What she gets, by order of the king, is a wiry Saxon who once studied for the priesthood instead of warfare. But is this gentle man she has fallen in love with entangled in the rebellion now sweeping the land?Ranulf wants to marry the girl next door. What he gets, by order of the king , is a lush, strong Norman woman who just might be a spy reporting his every move. He wants her in every way a man can possibly want a woman. But can he trust his heart to a woman who might have been sent to root out the struggle for freedom his people are engaged in? More info and buy links on Michele’s website.

Quick ROW80 update: This is it for Round 2! Or rather, Thursday is, I believe. I’ve made a good dent in re-reading Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series, and the ideas for my next Saturn Society book keep coming, so I consider that a win! Next round, the words!

How about you? Think you might just have to add to your overflowing TBR list or pile? If you’re doing ROW80 – or even if you’re not – how did you do on your goals this spring? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 16, 2013

Last week, I had one primary goal: figure out my next project. This wasn’t a matter of coming up with a new project, but rather a choice between which of several I’d already planned, would I work on next.

I had several to choose from:

“Time’s Tempest,” the Saturn Society short I just turned in, is a complete story in itself, but left a lot of threads open. I intended it to be part one of a serial. So “Time’s Tempest, part two” was one possibility.

I also have two other projects that have been bouncing around for quite a while. One is a standalone novel, and has a rough outline completed.

The other novel is about half written, during NaNoWriMo 2009. Yep, it’s been sitting around that long. The part that’s written needs extensive rework, but I do eventually want to complete this one. It’s intended to be the first in a series of three or four.

And then there’s the third Saturn Society full length novel, the follow-on to Time’s Fugitive. This one’s still somewhat murky in my mind, but I have some cool ideas bouncing around for this one, and have started pulling them together using a new resource: The Busy Writer’s One-Hour Plot. This book is mostly marketed to writers who don’t like/want to plot, but I found it’s very useful for those of us who have the opposite problem: I plot too much (and spend too much time at it). I will admit I didn’t finish the whole hour, as I was interrupted, but it’s broken down into several sections, so it can still work that way. Best of all? I’ve just started working on this, and I’m already having fun (and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?)

And considering that I’ve already had readers asking about a third Saturn Society novel, so I’ve decided that’s the project I’m going to work on next. This will take a while, so no promises as far as a time frame! But I am at least working on it now. 🙂 I’m also thinking of fun things I can do with the serial novel that will tie in to this third full novel.

So that brings me around to this week’s goals:

Review Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series
Re-read Time’s Enemy and make notes of loose plot threads this third book should address
Finalize friend’s book cover if I hear back from the client
Fitness 4x (got this one last week too!)

This week brings us to the end of Round 2 for ROW80. I didn’t end up meeting my overall goals of writing 30,000 new words, but goals change. I still accomplished a lot by getting that short story written, and IIRC, that wasn’t part of the original quarterly goals. But those word goals? Next time for sure!

What about you? Whether or not you’re doing ROW80, have your goals changed recently? Have you made any decisions, big or small, that changed them–and did others, like readers or perhaps family, influence your choice? I’d love to hear from you – please share!

by Jennette, June 9, 2013

I’ve missed a few ROW80 check-ins this round, and while I don’t believe in excuses, I do have a couple of reasons.

One is “Life: the Good Stuff.” This includes my daughter’s graduation, various end-of -year programs leading up to that (and after), and a subsequent graduation party which went very well. Yesterday and the day before, we had college orientation.

In the middle of that, I managed to get my short story revised, so my other reason was “hiding out in the revision cave.” Sometimes, writing a blog post is just one thing too many. It’s like during the holidays, when we have too many things to do, and we need to evaluate what we can drop from the list, and avoid getting stressed out.

The revisions wouldn’t have been a big deal–after all, it’s just a short story–but they turned out to be somewhat extensive. You see, after writing the first draft, I realized I’d set my story in the wrong place. And after beginning revisions, I realized I’d also set it in the wrong time.

I knew I had to make these changes, but at the same time, I asked myself, “Why do I do this to myself?”

I’d initially set the story at a fictitious beach resort in order to be able to just get something written. This is a Saturn Society story, and so far, those have all taken place primarily in real locales (barring Hollowville, Tennessee in Time’s Fugitive, which is fictitious). It was missing something, that little dose of real history that is one of the things in my books my readers have told me they love. And therein was the answer to my question: I do it for my readers. It’s also for me: once I’d made the decision to change time and place, I was a lot more excited about the story, and found some way fun history to work in, which I will share here when the story is released.

And that makes it all worthwhile.

As for this week’s ROW80 goals stated on Wednesday, I did complete the three book cover designs. One of the authors is out of town, so I haven’t heard back on that one, and another is for the anthology that “Time’s Tempest” will appear in. I haven’t sent it to anyone yet, but I’m publishing it, and I’m happy with it. 😀 I sent out, got approval, and finalized one for my friend Jim Winter, and he and I are both very happy with it! I’ll be giving all three some cover lovin’ here soon. So a successful week to be sure!

This week, I need to figure out what my next project will be, and if my other friend gets back to me on her cover, I’ll finalize that as well.

What about you–knocked out any goals lately? Have you had any change, and needed to ask yourself why? And if so, did you find the answers? 🙂 Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 5, 2013

Life: the Good Stuff has continued to defeat my best intentions of keeping up with the blog this past month, but I’ve still noticed a bunch of fine new releases! Here are several that came out during the month of May:

First, we have a debut release by Nigel Blackwell: Paris Love Match is a caper in the style of the accidental tourist. The action occurs in just a single day in Paris.

The hero is Piers Chapman, an engineering geek whose jeans are too short, whose mother phones him too often, and who is in Paris to update the software in one of his company’s cranes.

The heroine is Sidney Roux, a worldly-wise, drop-dead beauty who is tired of falling for good-looking men who treat her badly. Mind you, she carries a little bit of an attitude and something of a secret, but she’s lived in a world that never gave her anything, and she’s learned to look after herself first.

When the sale of a painting between a ruthless dictator and a murderous mobster turns into a raging gun battle with the police in tow, Piers and Sidney get caught up and wanted by all sides.

If they’re going to stay alive, they’re going to have to put aside their fears and prejudices, and work together. It’s not an easy thing for either of them to do.

But if they can, they might just find more than stolen goods …

More info is on Nigel’s site, along with buy links and info on his Goodreads contest, where you can win a signed copy (entries open until June 7th).

Next up is another debut release, from Jennifer McGowan, one of my Ohio Valley RWA buddies: Maid of Secrets, a YA historical.

Seventeen-year-old Meg Fellowes is a wry, resourceful thief forced to join an elite group of female spies in Queen Elizabeth’s Court. There she must solve a murder, save the Crown, and resist the one thing that will become her greatest freedom–and her deadliest peril.

For Meg and her fellow spies are not alone in their pursuit of the murderer who stalks Windsor Castle.

A young, mysterious Spanish courtier, Count Rafe de Martine, appears at every turn in the dark and scandal-filled corridors of the Queen’s summer palace. And though secrets and danger are Meg’s stock-in-trade, she’s never bargained on falling in love…

More info and buy links are on Jennifer’s site.

Jennifer L. Oliver‘s first novel-length work came out last month: Hayden’s Choice, a dark urban fantasy/horror novel.

The demon Azazel knows an opportunity when he sees one. That’s why he took the Unnamed abomination, Haedyn, under his wing and honed her skills. Now she’s a predator, like him, but far more dangerous because she holds the potential to wield great power. The kind that humans and supernatural creatures alike will bow down to worship. The kind that will let him create his army of evil-born souls without challenge. And when the full moon rises and a human’s rare blood is spilled, Haedyn will be the key to unlocking hell on earth.

Former investigative reporter Lexington Carter saw his brother murdered by vampires, but no one would believe him. Now it’s his mission to learn everything there is about monsters, how to kill them, and what happens to their victims. But when he’s kidnapped by a super-human albino chick who claims she’s protecting him, he realizes that not all supernatural creatures are monsters and there might be one that’s worth saving.

Haedyn is the last Unnamed and Azazel’s personal assassin – his most prized servant. It’s not a title she wants, but it keeps her alive and that’s all that matters. But when she is tricked into protecting Lex, the same human her master is hunting, she learns of Azazel’s terrifying plan to create an army of evil souls – and that Lex isn’t the only one slated for sacrifice.

More info and buy links can be found on Jennifer’s website.

Finally, we have new romance from Kristy K. James: In Laying Low in Paradise, Laura Keane and her son have been spending summers at their chalet on Bois Blanc Island since her husband was killed in the war. She never let anyone else in after the chaplain delivered the sad news four years ago, so it’s just the two of them, and she wouldn’t change that for the world.

Cameron Rafferty and his friends were keeping secrets. Dangerous secrets, and they’d hoped the little island paradise would be a safe place to hide out. The plan to keep a low profile quickly unravels when an accident changes everything. Cameron soon finds himself becoming more involved with the Keane family than he’d intended -and wishing for things he shouldn’t. More info and buy links can be found on Kristy’s website.

Time for a quick ROW80 update, especially since I’ve skipped the past two weeks of check-ins! As mentioned at the beginning of this post, most of that’s been due to “Life: the Good Stuff” which in this case is my daughter’s high school graduation, subsequent party (which was great!), and preparations and recovery thereof. But it was also due to me hiding out in my revision cave the rest of the time, getting my next short story finished, and turned in for the anthology within about a half hour of the deadline (I know, I know!). So I will have something new for readers of my Saturn Society series soon! My ROW80 goal for the rest of this week is to complete three book cover designs that have been pushed to the back burner while I survive the end of my daughter’s high school career, and revisions on my story (thank you for your patience, friends who I owe these to!).

What about you – do you have your summer reading lined up? Perhaps one of the books above will fit your bill! Ever had to step away from something you are normally consistent with due to good life happening? How did you get back into it? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, May 19, 2013

Not much to report on my ROW80 goals this week – in fact, I did not complete any of them. I could blame it on having three birthday dinners to attend, a band concert, and continued work on planning the graduation party, but really, those are nothing when we also had a houseguest this week. And not just any guest, either, but a Norse god…

Yes, the THOR TOUR has arrived in Dayton!

I was a little worried last week when Thor failed to appear in Wapakoneta, about fifty miles or so up I-75 from Dayton. But it was shortly thereafter that we had some really snarled-up traffic on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We never found out why (we seldom do), but that night, Thor arrived at my house on schedule, asking about the aliens that are supposedly stashed away there in Hangar 18.

“No, you can’t go to the base,” I told him when he asked. “They don’t care if you’re the god of Thunder. No ID, no entry. Besides, there is no Hangar 18. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” I then offered to take him to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

“What is this ‘United States Air Force?'” Thor asked.

When I explained, he seemed to approve at first. “Ah, warfare. This I understand. But… metal flying machines?”

I tried to explain to Thor about aircraft, but he wasn’t buying it. “I have no need of giant flying machines. I smite my enemies with my mighty Mjollnir!”

I was losing this battle. Then my daughter came in and saved the day. “Cool! Thor’s here! Are you going to take him to Carillon Historical Park?”

“I don’t know…” If he wasn’t interested in metal flying machines for warfare, I doubted he’d be interested in the world’s first practical airplane, with wings of wood and cloth.

My daughter had an idea. “It’s a lot scarier than the Air Force Museum, even if it is supposed to be haunted.”

Then she told me her idea, and I agreed. “That would try the intestinal fortitude of even a Norse god!”

Thor, always one to take on a challenge, agreed. “I should like to go to this ‘HIGH SCHOOL…'”

The students escorted Thor around as befitted a Norse god, on the back of a giant bumblebee.

Thor did not understand band. “What is this… flute? What is the purpose of blowing into it to make sounds? It would make a much better weapon, methinks.”

He took to Chemistry like, uh, oil to water. “I shall smite them with this pipet!”

Some of the students were rather taken aback at the appearance of a Norse god in class.

…while others exhibited the proper appreciation of a god: “Thor? I LOVE Thor!”

Thor tried his hand at painting.

He didn’t care much for English class: “These books are inferior. They are all in English!”

He wasn’t so sure about German, either, but enjoyed the attentions of the ladies.

Thor was completely stymied regarding Calculus, so he punched a student in the face. The boy didn’t seem to mind.

Thor even tried his hand at teaching, and learned that some things–such as commanding the attention of a classroom full of seniors on their last week of school–are beyond the abilities of even a Norse god.

Then it was play time. “It’s your last day, or your last year of school, so let’s pretend we’re going back to our first year,” one teacher described what was otherwise known as Kindergarten Day.

“This is not usual High School activity?” Thor asked when presented with shaving cream. “Uh, no,” the students told him. “Just have fun.” Thor thinks he might have seen one of the Hangar 18 aliens…

Thor left, parting a sea of shaving cream. “I think I shall leave High School to the young mortals henceforth!”

To see where Thor’s been, and where he might show up next, check out the THOR WORLD TOUR page on Debra Kristi’s blog!

The giveaway has ended. Thanks for your interest!

Quick ROW80 update: Not much to report. I did not get any work done on my revisions, and two out of three workouts done. This week, the plan is to get back into a routine: four workouts, and get through the markup phase of the revisions.

What about you? Do you find your goals pushed aside by things like birthdays and houseguests? Can you imagine hosting a Norse god in HIGH SCHOOL??? I’d love to hear from you! And I hope Thor’s adventures will be a bit less fearsome wherever he’s headed next. 😀