Joy Nash 50 Days 50 Books Giveaway!

Before the fun begins I guess we should go over the rules. Ya, I know. Joy Nash will be giving away a signed copy of Immortals: The Crossing to one lucky winner. Plus it is not just for the US people, she has told me that she will ship anywhere. To enter the contest, all you have to do is comment here on this post.

Since I was going to let one of my kids pick the winner I had to have a second prize. If not, it would have gotten ugly here very quickly. So, as a second prize I will be offering a chance to win a $20.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com. To enter this contest, just head on over to BitenByBooks.com, pick a book and leave a comment. Link it to here in a comment. Easy baby!

Not only do you have one chance to win but two!
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Now for the fun! I was able to ask Ms Nash some questions about her writing and enjoyed her answers. I hope you do as well.

Good morning Ms Nash, how are you doing this morning?
Normally I'm doing great in the morning, since I'm a morning person. I try to do most of my writing in the morning, except near a deadline, when it's pretty much around the clock. Right now, for me, it's afternoon--that's when I get to email. And I'm doing fine!

How are you keeping up with your 50 Days 50 Books Giveaway? Are you having fun yet?
As I type this, the giveaway starts in four days, and I'm just starting to get around to people's blogs. Should be fun!

Did you always know that you wanted to be an author or did you have another dream?
When I was young, I loved to read more than anything and thought about being a writer. I was never encouraged in that direction though, and ended up in a much different field, though still a creative one. Over the years I wrote some (bad) poetry and began a couple books that never amounted to much. It was only after I was home with three young children and needed a new creative outlet that I decided to try to seriously write a book for publication.

How long did you write until you were finally published?
Besides the doodling over the years, I started writing romance seriously in 2000, joined RWA in 2001, and was very lucky to sell my first book in 2004.

When you sit down to write, is there a ritual you have to do before you start?
Sort of - on a great writing morning, after my kids get on the school bus, I make a second (or third) cup of tea and sit down at my laptop to write. If I'm smart, I don't look at email or a news website first. I write for three hours until my dog comes over to beg for a walk. I walk and work out some story problems in my head at the same time. Then I come back and write all my ideas down.

Now to your wonderful books *BG*. What is your favorite couple that you have written?
Oh, that question is always so hard to answer. It's usually the couple I'm working on at the time, because I'm really caught up in their drama.

What character is more like your personality?
They are all my personality, actually. Which I guess means I have a very mild case of multiple personality disorder, lol! I think it was Harrison Ford who said something like he was an actor because he wanted more than one life. That's how I feel about writing. You get to pretend to be everyone.And you get as much time as you need to think up a snappy comeback!

Do you have anything new in the works? Inquiring minds want to know.
At the moment, I'm polishing up a contemporary romance/women'sfiction, something a bit different from my paranormals, which I'll bereleasing under a new pen name, Joy Rizza, in June 09. It's called A Little Light Magic, and is the story of what happens when a girl with no family meets at guy with too much. Watch the anticipation page on my joynashwebsite for details. After that, I'm continuing my Druids of Avalon historical paranormal series, with Silver Silence in Oct 09.

Did you pick this genre to write or did it pick you?
I really love everything paranormal. When I first started writing, I thought I'd write straight fantasy. But then I discovered paranormal romance and fantasy romance cross-genres and I was hooked.

When you have a moment to sit down and breathe, what kinds of books do you read?
I read everything, but my real stress busters are non-magical historicals. I love anything by Liz Carlyle, Lisa Kleypas, and Brenda Joyce. The more angst ridden and tortured the heroes are, the better. The other thing I read a lot of is young adult novels, to keep up with my kids.

Do you have any tips for those aspiring authors out there?
Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. You really can only learn writing by doing it. Also, try to figure out what it is about your favorite authors' books that makes you love reading them. Character? Plot? Realism? Fantasy? Pacing? Then use the knowledge to make your own stories better.

Now for the most important question of the day, what color does a Smurf change when you choke it?
Ha! Probably red, I'd say :-)Joy

Immortals: The Crossing Excerpt and reminder that Joy Nash will be here 9-1-08

Just another reminder about Joy Nash coming tomorrow to guest blog. She will be giving away a signed copy of Immortals: The Crossing to one lucky winner. I will also be giving away a Amazon Gift Certificate so that is a total of 2 winners tomorrow.


I have here a sneak peak at Immortals: The Crossing. I will post more tomorrow when Joy Nash comes by to visit. Enjoy!

Immortal Celtic demigod Manannán mac Lir rides to the rescue of a fairie village attacked by a mysterious death magic spell…

A gaggle of skinny-arsed fangirls, accompanied by the tall, pasty-faced photog, were camped on the beachhead across the channel from Kalen's island. How the hell had they tracked him from Inverness? Gritting his teeth, Mac glamoured his way around them and extracted the Norton from its hiding place. He hit the road with a squeal of rubber. Enhancing the cycle's excellent motor with a high-speed charm, he arrived in the vicinity of Gilraen Ar-Finiel's village in under an hour.

The little man lay in wait at the edge of a meadow, at a point where the human road ran closest to his village. The instant Mac braked, the faerie darted out from behind a clump of moorgrass, waving his hat frantically.

Mac hopped off the cycle and listened to Gilraen's impassioned recount of the death magic attack on his village.

"You had no warning?" Mac asked when Gilraen came up for air. "None at all?"

Gilraen twisted his leaf hat in his hands, his gossamer wings drooping down his back. The faerie's green coat was rumpled, the tip of his short beard had lost its point, and his normally rosy skin had gone several shades toward sallow.

"I swear on sweet Annwyn, Mac Lir, there were nothing. No hint of trouble at all. No scent of death magic. And then..." He swallowed visibly, his Adam's apple bulging. "The clan started falling ill. 'Twas slight at first...small pains in the head, minor cramps of the stomach. Then came dizziness, gloom, anger. Elders started fighting; the young ones wouldna stop wailing. But little Tamika--she was too weak even to cry. That's when we knew 'twas a death spell. Thank the gods ye were close by."

"About that," Mac said. "How did you know where I was?"

"Why, your fan blog, of course. MacTracker. Updates daily, it does. Sometimes twice in a day."

Mac blinked at him. "Your village is online?"

"Aye. We got a satellite uplink last spring, so we could follow your world tour. Yesterday's post said you'd gone to Kalen's after that last show in Inverness. Gave road directions and all."

Bloody hell. That certainly explained the fans camped on the beach. But how had the blogger known?

"I emailed Kalen, of course," Gilraen went on, "but I know the man never checks his account. So I sent a falcon as well."

"Smart of you." Shoving aside the acute annoyance his unrelenting fans engendered, Mac refocused on Gilraen. "How are the young ones doing now? Tamika, especially. Your healer is attending them, I assume."

"Aye, so she is. The older bairns are recovering, 'tis true. But the wee one..." The leaf hat crumpled, and a single tear tracked down Gilraen's leathery cheek. "She's verra bad off, Mac Lir. I fear...I fear she's dying."

Mac's gut clenched. "No. I'll take her to Annwyn, at once. She'll heal there."

Gilraen shook his head. "We'd have brought her to the gates already, if 'twere possible. 'Tis not. Her heart flutters like hummingbird wings, and her breath is the faintest whisper. She canna be moved."

"Why didn't you bring her immediately? As soon as you realized what had happened?"

"By then 'twas already too late. The spell struck that quickly, and caught us unaware. We thought this type of evil finished with, we did. The clan's seen nary a demon or ogre in over a year." The lines bracketing Gilraen's mouth deepened. "Ye assured us it was safe to leave the protection of the city, Mac Lir. We returned to the countryside with high hopes."

The reproach hit home with a painful strike that made Mac feel like the lowest of worms. He'd spent the last year roaming the world--performing, brooding, grabbing stale pleasures. If he'd been home in the Highlands, alert and looking after his responsibilities, he might have neutralized this threat before it occurred.

The spellcaster had left no trail, Gilraen had said. And yet...Mac frowned, concentrating. Faeries were highly sensitive to magic, but Mac's senses were infinitely sharper. He inhaled deeply. There was a whiff of spent death magic in the air. The barest trace.

It was a sour stench, like milk left out in the sun. Such rankness was only to be expected, where death magic was concerned. But what took Mac by surprise was the accompanying undercurrent of...sweetness. Like lilacs in springtime. Like laughter. Like life magic.

Now that was exceedingly odd.

For the first time in months, Mac's curiosity stirred.

"What it is, Mac Lir?" Gilraen's wings lifted and buzzed. "What do ye sense? Demons? Unseelies?"

"Neither. There's a residue of death magic, yes, but there are traces of a life magic spell, as well."

"Death and life magic, cast together? It makes no sense!"

"You're right. It doesn't," Mac murmured. "But both kinds of magic were cast here. And I'm certain there was only one spellcaster."

"But who?"

"A human, most likely. Very few races other than humans can handle both death and life magic." But none, to his knowledge, did so simultaneously.

Gilraen gave his beleaguered hat another half-twist. A stray leaf fluttered to the ground. "What human would harm a faerie child? Faeries are good luck for humanfolk."

True enough. Which only made the situation that much more bizarre. Mac scrubbed a hand over his face, momentarily startled by the scratch of whiskers. Six months earlier, after seven hundred years of not needing a razor, his beard had come in with a vengeance. He still couldn't get used to it. He felt like a bloody werewolf under the full moon.

The rage bubbling inside him was certainly worthy of a werewolf. What scum of a human would dare harm a faerie infant? He itched to start tracking the villain, but right now, the sick child was his first priority.

"Take me to Tamika, Gilraen. Gods willing, I'll be able to heal her."

Gilraen's wings buzzed. "I hope so, Mac Lir. I hope so."

Lycan Lore by Shannon Leigh

To read my latest review, please click on the link below.



Lycan Lore by Shannon Leigh

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Is he breathing or sleeping?

I just had to share this picture. Isn't he cute?? That is about all he does all day long. I sit at my computer either reading or writing (not so much lately) and he will sit behind me. I can't see how he can be comfortable since his back legs hang off the edge.

Every now and than he will move and I hear the china bumping. I guess that is his way of letting me know he is still alive.

Greenwood Manor by Shannon Leigh

To read my latest review, please click on the link below.



Greenwood Manor by Shannon Leigh

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Prize up for Grabs!! Hurry Time is Running Out!!

Hop on over to Raven Radio for a great contest sponsored by Bitten by Books this month here:http://ravenhappyhour.com/ravenblog/?p=552

You can win a $25.00 Amazon.com Gift Card !!! This contest ends on August 31st, so spread the word and get on over and ENTER now!!!