Saturday, March 2, 2019

Saturday Seven - March 2nd 2019

Happy Saturday, what have you been up to this week? This week has been a roller-coaster of a ride! Between my day job, kids, volunteering and just…life! Here is a rundown of highlights for the week. I hope you find them useful in your life! My goal as a person and a writer is to always Pay-It-Forward so please let me know how I can help you. YES YOU!
Enjoy your weekend & this post! Amazing things to come!
~Amy

·         What am I Reading? –  This week was so hectic I have to admit I did not get a whole lot of reading in. I did look at a few items of interest though.
Don't feed the monster!' The people who have stopped buying new clothes – When I was growing up Goodwill and garage sales were our shipping paradises. We had a limited budget, and new clothes are expensive. My Mom taught me all the skills needed to dig through the racks and piles to find the treasures. I have also learned over the year I do not need a closet full of clothes. A few simple pieces work great for me. This is a UK based article but a very interesting read. The theme of it is sustainability. Apparently – per the article - Each week we buy 38m items and 11m items go to landfill. Those are pretty staggering numbers. Screw recycling plastic! We need to be recycling clothes!

Secrets, Tips, and Tricks for a Successful Book Event – Part Deux! – A very informative article about the do’s and don’t when setting up an author signing or media event. Including the best times to call book stores and who to talk to! Really enjoyed all of the information and would recommend it to all authors (not just newbies)

·         What am I Listening to? –  Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das, this was the fist audiobook I’d ever listened to years ago and I find myself going back to it when I find myself needing to be centered and refocused. His teachings are gentle, straight forward and entertaining.

·         What Quote am I pondering? – “Every minute counts” – This is so true. Notice as it states every minute, not moment. They both count however, one is emotional and the other is purely productivity related. There are literally so many minutes in the day. Six to ten are spent sleeping. I found myself saying “there are not enough hours in the day” too often. I now disagree. There is plenty of time – approximately 840. How you spend those minutes is what matters.

·         What am I Researching? – Ghost Hunting is the name of the game with my current WIP and I have been invited to go on a ghost hunt! Two actually, on Mar 16th and 23rd. So excited but I admit I am a total newbie so I have been researching technics, gear and what to expect. Very interesting! 

·         Yummy Meal of the week – Deep Dish Taco Pizza! I love tacos and this is a great alternative with all the flavor. Pile it high like a pizza with all of your favorite taco toppings and whola! You have a family favorite. See the recipe here.
·         What did I Learn this week? –  It was another hard lesson for me this week. I learned everyone makes mistakes. It happens, we are human. The best thing to do is learn from them.

·         What am I Watching? – I am not a YouTuber, meaning I spend zero time on YouTube, save the occasional movie trailer. Unlike my three children who spend 10 hours a day watching this that or the other thing. I digress. A friend of mine introduced me to a set of YouTube videos that I LOVE. Completely entertainment of course but if you like cats and even if you don’t check it out!

Have any thoughts on my week’s activity or want to make a recommendation? Drop me a line, or a tweet. One lucky commenter will win a free Romine book of their choice! Never want to miss a blog post or a Saturday Seven? Join my mailing list and I will be happy to send it straight to your inbox!

P.S. ~ I am on tour promoting my series Trust Me, (Serenity Lost, Veiled Deception and Jaded Promises)all month so make sure you stop by and say hello. Not only because you are AWESOME but because you could win a $50 Amazon. Check out my Twitter or Facebook for locations. Today we I will be at 


** Added bonus, all of the Trust Me Series Books are on sale at the Extasy site for $1.99!!



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Friday, March 1, 2019

Friday Food Love - Deep Dish Taco Pizza

Fast, easy and yummy -- kids will love to help with this fun family dinner! 

Pillsbury Grands! Homestyle biscuits serve as the pizza crust for our Deep Dish Taco Pizza made with ground beef, taco seasonings, cheddar cheese, olives, tomatoes, and lettuce


Ingredients
One can Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Homestyle refrigerated biscuits
One pound ground beef
One package taco seasoning mix
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomato or halved cherry tomatoes
Halved or sliced pitted ripe olives
Sour cream

Preparation 
 
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.  

In 10-inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat, 5 to 7 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Add taco seasoning mix and water called for on seasoning mix package.  

Separate the dough into biscuits and press into the bottom and up the side of pie plate to make the crust. Spoon beef mixture into crust. 

 Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until crust is very light golden brown. Top with cheese; bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese melts.  

 Serve topped with lettuce, tomato, olives and sour cream, or your favorite taco toppings.




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Thursday, February 28, 2019

Awesome Excerpt Thursday! ~ No Mere Mortal (Decagon Book 1) by Amara Dey

Blurb: Peace on the enchanted world of Decagon is about to end. Radiance, its daylight realm, is on the brink of invasion from the night dwellers of Moonshade. And only human-born Venus Myles, a dance teacher unaware of her divine lineage, can stop them.

Radiance sends Bolt to Earth to enlighten Venus, and their passionate connection sizzles. But before Bolt tells Venus the full extent of his world’s dilemma, or the unimaginable consequences if she refuses to help, he is unexpectedly withdrawn.

Reeling from the shock of Bolt’s sudden disappearance, Venus travels to Radiance in search of him…and finds evil at its most depraved lying in wait.

Sexy and enthralling, No Mere Mortal is awash with enchantment, danger, and spicy romance.

Excerpt ~

“Found you, you little mongrel.” With a vicious growl, and a flap of her cloak, Purple Lady levitated and zoomed forward. “No escaping me this time.”

Venus viewed her chances of survival as slim to none without the Mirror, but the potions might slow the woman.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Venus replied.

With her eye on the airborne enemy, Venus retrieved the last two vials from her bag, and flung one. It shattered against the tiled wall and the green spillage grew vines. They caught her assailant by the wrists and ankles, held firm, and pulled her tight against the tiles. Arms and legs splayed, she looked ready for a knife thrower to prove his skill.

“I wish I had a dagger to use on you now.” Venus couldn’t help it, the retort fitted the situation.

“You piece of human feces, I should have killed you that night.”

“But instead you ran from my Mirror. You’re naught but a coward and a bully.”

“Who will slash you to ribbons when she frees herself.”

“Whatever,” Venus said, and smashed the second vial on the floor

~

Find out more about Author Amara Dey

Buy it NOW!

Amazon

eXtasy Books


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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Writing Warriors Wednesday ~Your Kernel Idea!

I lead a local Writing Group called the Writing Warriors. This is a wonderfully collaborative group of amazing people looking to connect with outer writers and hone their creative process.
In our first meeting, we discussed the foundation for any story, poem, a piece of art, music, blog post, new business, new invention – just about anything. The Kernel Idea!

This is the moment your creative brain latches on and the hamster wheel starts spinning. There is a rush of excitement and even giddiness at the endless possibilities. Many people take the idea and run with it rushing to find a piece of paper and start writing.

Here’s the challenge – 25,000 words later many people forget what it was that got them excited in the first place. They can no longer see the forest through the trees and the excitement fades away.  They have lost their kernel idea.
The word idea can mean lots of things to lots of people. For a writer, the idea is what the story is about. This is different than the Kernel Idea. The Kernel Idea can be anything, a quote, a smile, an interaction, a piece of dialog, a scene in a movie, the melody of a piece of music, a memory – you get the point.

When you look at your current WIP, ask yourself – What was my kernel idea? What was it that sparked my adrenaline-fueled decision that I could write 100,000 words about this?

For me, the kernel idea for my current WIP Finders came from the movie The Conjuring. Specifically, the real-life love story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the first publicized ghost hunters. That developed into the flurry of questions and thoughts about how would two people like this meet and go on to be the first well-known paranormal experts? This is where I started developing the story, based on my kernel idea.

This is the anchor for not my story but my inspiration. My jolt of magic that made me sit up and say – oh yeah that is good!

Once you have identified your Kernel Idea the next step is to take the story and filter it down to two sentences. Your logline. These two are directly connected as they keep you focused. Every scene, theme, action, and climax should reflect your logline and your original inspiration.

I am not saying this is going to be easy because it’s not. It is a challenge for any creative person, experienced or novice) to take all that story and swill it down, but well worth it! The development of the logline is essential to keeping your creative mind focused and centered.

A great resource for examples of amazing, and sometimes, not so amazing, loglines are movies! Except in movies, they are called taglines. You usually see them on the movie poster. During our group, we played a little game where I would read the logline of a well-known movie and the group would guess the movie. It was a great laugh and a great way to demonstrate the impact two or three sentences can have when summing up your work.

As an exercise, I challenge you to identify the kernel idea for your current project or recent publication and also attempted to write out the logline. Tweet me what you come up with @AmyJRomine or post it to the #WritersCommunity hashtag on Twitter.

Here is a couple a resource to get your brain working on your logline.

Also, MUST recommend The Novel Writers Toolkit by the Astounding Bob Mayer who first introduced me to the Kernel Idea in his book 


I love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment and let me know what you think and if the post was helpful! If you want more information, or assistance shoot me an email at writesromine@gmail.com or ping me on Twitter @AmyJRomine.


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Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Suspense for the Romantic Heart - Dear Air Chronicles Excerpt


Worlds Apart

Is their love enough?

Jack Tucker's life as a morning radio host is uncomplicated, attachment free, and without regret. Until Kate Weiss entered his life, that is... She knows all of the ways to annoy him and yet takes his breath away with just a look.

Special Agent Kate Weiss is hiding from a kidnapping she doesn't remember. Morning Radio Host Jack Tucker serves as a nice distraction, but she knows the flirtation could never be anything more.

When tragedy descends, grief pulls them together, forcing them to trust each other and face the undeniable connection between them.

In an effort to make the pair walk away from a conspiracy greater than they can imagine, a target is put on their heads. This does little to deter Kate or Jack from wanting to find the truth.

Chasing shadows, the answers are closer than they realize. Forced into isolation, can Jack and Kate uncover the buried secret that is getting people killed? Or will one misstep destroy all of their hopes for the future?

Excerpt

Melissa and Dan said goodbye shortly thereafter, and Jack searched for Kate, finding her in the kitchen finishing the few dishes they had dirtied. He wrapped his arms around her waist nibbling on her neck.

“Someone is feeling better.” She giggled, and turned meeting his eyes. They were soft and adoring. He leaned down placing a gentle kiss on her pink lips. She teased his lips with her tongue.  Jack pulled her against him, his hands entangled in her hair. Their lips parted and he gazed down into her eyes and she smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He lowered his head and she met him half way, her arms wrapping around his neck. He lifted her off the ground sitting her on the counter. Exploring her mouth, his hands spread themselves beneath her shirt exposing her soft skin to the cool air. She shivered and he took to nibbling on her ear.  His hands moved up her back, leaving a trailed kisses down her neck.

 “You are supposed to be resting.” She tried to lean back and away from his mouth. His hands on her back prevented her from going far and he simply adjusted to the opposite side of her neck. “Jack.”

 “I am resting.” He nipped at her earlobe, and his phone rang.

He growled, Kate smirked and he disappeared to get the phone. Hopping off the counter she started preparing the coffee maker for the next morning and when she was finished, she moved back into the living room.

She could hear him talking on the phone as she cleaned. Kate returned to the kitchen a few minutes later she found him waiting for her. “Who was on the phone?”

“You threatened Elisa?”

“What?”

“Why on earth would you…”

“I didn’t…well not exactly. It’s complicated.”

“How is it complicated, Kate? Either you threatened her or you didn’t. You’re a goddamn spy for Christ’s sake! I would think you would know the difference!”

His eyes were clouded and she immediately knew what was happening. “Jack, calm down.”

“I'm not going to calm down until you tell me what the hell is going on!”

“Listen to me…”

“Where do you get off thinking that bullying my friends is okay? Especially, someone as small and fragile as Elisa, she couldn’t hurt a fly!”

“I know you think…”

“Think?” His face began to redden, his eyes dilated and his chest heaved. “Sorry I forgot I’m not supposed to think. Just sit back and blindly trust you again as you ruin my life!”

“Jack, please stop.” He backed her against the counter. Her heart pounding, she struggled with what to do. “There’s something wrong and you have to fight it.”


He grabbed her by the arms and squeezed. “Wait, maybe you are the problem. It seems to follow you around, all of the death and the pain. The destruction.”

“Jack let go.” She pushed against him. “This isn’t you talking, it’s the poison. You have to calm down.”

“Maybe if I cut you out of my life and walk away it will all disappear?”

“You’re right. I’m the problem. I am the one who brought you into this hell and I am the one keeping you here.”

A wave of confusion crashed over his face and she took a breath.

“She was so upset.” His eyes searched for something beyond her. “She was crying and she said it was your fault.”

“It was my fault and I am sorry,” Kate watched him begin to float back to the surface.

“She said you threatened her at the memorial and then again at the hospital. She said you saw us at the funeral and you were jealous…trying to keep me away from her.”

“Jack, I need you to look at me. “

“Kate…I…”

“Just take a deep breath.” His eyes widened and he burst out of his own mind realizing what was happening. He looked at her in confusion. He became conscious of his harsh grip on her arms and immediately released her. “It’s okay, just breathe.”

He stepped back, his face scrunching in pain. “No…what…”

“You’re okay. It is fine.”

“Get away from me, Kate!”

He fell back into the wall of cabinets behind him, his chest heaving.  “Jack… breathe.”

“I can’t…I…” He met her eyes and she saw terror. “Kate…”

His legs quickly betrayed him and he slid down to the floor. Kate moved to him, grasping his hand “Jack, I’m here, you’re going to be okay.”



Purchase Dead Air Now, on paperback and Kindle (Shockwave, Backlash & Fallout)



Monday, February 25, 2019

Did that Shadow Move? - Shadow People - Types and Motivations


In my upcoming release, Finders, the ghost hunting team are the experts on all kinds of entities including the ominous shadow people. Below is an excerpt from Finder’s founder and lead Ghost Hunter Grant Henley’s notes on Shadow People.

Types – Classified as how they appear to the human eye

Human Shaped
These make up the bulk of the Shadow People sightings and include the typical cloaked figure and shadow people wearing hats.  These can come in a variety of combinations.  Obviously what these shadow people are is pure speculation at this point.
The persistent shadow people of the lurking variety don’t seem to be purely evil in intent, and almost seem more interested in us or at least in feeding off our energy.  Others are simply negative manifestations of spirits. Almost universally though, they are a sign of something negative.

Black Mass
Less human in form, but still of that general size and the black mass type of shadow people give the impression of being a human figure but more fuzzy or blurred.  They can change in shape, forming more of a cloud, but the impression is always that an entity it there.
It is my assertion that many of these black mass Shadow People are former people who have become negative spirits. The more time they spend trapped in our plane the more they will grow in power and lose their human identity.  A black mass absorbs more and more negative emotion their sense of being human and who they were in life fades and becomes distorted. In the end, the become a form of the following type of shadow people, demonic.

Demonic
The most dangerous of the types of Shadow People, demonic shadows should be avoided at all costs.  Among Shadow People, these are one of the few types having the visible eyes.  Demonic forms vary widely, but usually retain a humanoid shape, but are often exaggerated in height, have wings or horns or elongated fingers. Demons are all about manipulation so they will take the form of whatever scares you the most and they will feed off your fear. They do not give the impression of being a normal ghost or sentient entity.


Suggested Motivations – Classified based on various reported interactions

Lurkers
Found in homes and very often around bedrooms, the classic shadow people tend to be lurking.  They will stand in doorways or corners watching their victims. These types of shadow entities don’t seem to have any intent; they are just there observing.  Sometimes they will wander a location, following people, or stalking them. Quite often they flee at being noticed, vanishing around corners or simply by going through a solid wall. Lurkers seem primarily to be attached to an individual and have been known to follow people from one location to the next.

Aggressive
Unlike Lurkers, these will not stay in one spot and watch; they will actively interact in an attempt to harm, frighten their victims.

Transient
Typically going from one place to another, and seem not particularly interested in the goings on of those that observe them. Of all the types of Shadow People, these are the least understood as they do not linger and interact with us.

Omens
Some sightings of shadow people appear to be omens or portents of something bad happening, much like the legends of seeing a Barghest (Hell Hound) is a portent of death.
Similar to the Lurkers, these entities are associated with just one person and are a more transitory occurrence, stopping after the event or tragedy has taken place.

Haunting
Haunting is tied to a location and seems to haunt only that area. Those that haunt a location tend to be more malevolent and dangerous to encounter. They seem many times to be trapped in time and do not comprehend the reasons for the person’s presence in their ‘world.' Because of this, they are less likely to flee when spotted and may choose to attack instead.

Learn More about Shadow People here.

Finders is coming in Fall 2019!




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