Discovering What's Possible: A guest post by Julie Flanders

 Goodmorning/afternoon/evening my lovely friends! :)  I'm pretty excited to have Julie Flanders on the blog today. Her book, Polar Night will be released next week. Did I say how much I'm looking forward to reading this book? I did? Oh! *grins* that's how excited I am. Well, move closer, grab a seat and a cup of coffee, tea... and lets welcome the awesome Julie.

Discovering What's Possible

First off, I want to say thank you, Cecilia for having me as your guest today! I am thrilled to be here at your site.

When I started my blog on December 31, 2010 I called it “What Else is Possible?” I had recently achieved some personal goals that I wouldn't have considered possible in the past, so I wanted to embark on a journey to find out what other “impossible” goals might just be possible after all.

The biggest goal I had was to “become established as a writer.” When I read that now, I realize I don't really know when or how any writer can say whether or not they have become “established.” But that was the goal I set for myself.

Since then, I've written more than 260 blog posts, had articles accepted for publication in both print and online magazines, and managed my own online columns on two of my favorite subjects, pets and books. And today I am celebrating the fact that my debut novel Polar Night will be available next week. is available now on Amazon.

I don't know if any of that means I am established but, one way or the other, I know I have achieved the goal I set for myself back in 2010. And most importantly of all, I've had an amazing time doing it. I've met more wonderful people than I can count and I've grown as a person in ways I never could have anticipated.

I've changed the name of my blog now, but that doesn't mean I've stopped exploring what is possible. I feel like I've just gotten started, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

For anyone like me who has ever doubted their abilities and held themselves back by feeling as if everything is impossible, I want to finish this post with one of my favorite quotes, from the amazing writer Shel Silverstein. Whatever your personal goals, I wish you all the success in the world in reaching them. And I hope you can make them all possible.

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ~ Shel Silverstein

Book Blurb: When Detective Danny Fitzpatrick leaves his hometown of Chicago and moves to Fairbanks, Alaska he wants nothing more than to escape the violence and heartbreak that left his life in pieces. Numbed by alcohol and the frozen temperatures of an Alaskan winter, Danny is content with a dead-end job investigating Fairbanks' cold cases. That all changes when a pretty blond woman goes missing on the winter solstice, and Danny stumbles upon some surprising connections between her disappearance and that of another Fairbanks woman three years earlier. Forced out of his lethargy, Danny sets out to both find the missing woman and solve his own cold case.

The investigation points Danny towards Aleksei Nechayev, the handsome and charming proprietor of an old asylum turned haunted tourist attraction in the Arctic town of Coldfoot. As he tries to find a link between Nechayev and his case, Danny's instinct tells him that Nechayev is much more than what he seems.

Danny has no idea that Nechayev is hiding a secret that is much more horrifying than anything he could ever have imagined. As his obsession with finding the missing women grows, Danny finds his own life in danger. And when the truth is finally revealed, the world as he knows it will never be the same.

BUY LINK: Amazon

Bio: Julie Flanders is a librarian and a freelance writer who has written for both online and print publications. She is an avid animal lover and shares her home in Cincinnati, Ohio with her dog and cat. Her debut novel Polar Night, a suspense thriller with a supernatural twist, is now available from Ink Smith Publishing. Find Julie online at her blog, and on Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.

Thank you for dropping by, Julie. :)

The Kick-Ass Heroine: Have We Made a Mistake?

Today I have Alesha Escobar, the author of The Tower's Alchemist and Dark Rift with us to talk about The Kick-Ass Heroine.

Welcome, Alesha. :)

 

Everyone loves a strong heroine, right?

We appreciate her intelligence, down-to-earth demeanor, and strength. However, based on what you view strength as, you may either love or hate her. I recently came across an interesting blog post where the writer explained why she had a grudge against urban fantasy heroines. She said that society only validated or recognized one kind of strength in women--physical violence. And that was troubling to her.

Author Daniel Abraham said on the subject, “[Urban Fantasy heroines are] immune to traditional masculine power (that’s to say violence) because they have internalized it.  They’ve become it.  Urban Fantasy heroines are — for the most part — weaponized.

Okay, I don’t know about you, but I loved watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Xena Warrior Princess, and heck, even the first Underworld movie. One of the things so enjoyable about a fantasy heroine kicking butt is because it’s usually in defense of those who can’t defend themselves, or they’re dishing out justice to deserving offenders (vampires and ghouls included).

What if the violence wasn’t so much a display of “Ha-ha, I’m more powerful than you,” dominance as it is a willingness to fight for a person or cause? I’ll agree, that if all a heroine does throughout a book is walk into a room and punch people, it would be a huge turn off. However, can’t a girl wield a sword without being accused of being un-girly?

With that said, I also appreciate other types of strength women are able to display. Brains is one of them. I like a smart heroine who is able to think ahead and anticipate the enemy’s next move, or talk her way out of a fight before it even begins. I also believe strength can come from making a tough decision, one which may cost the heroine a huge sacrifice, but she’s willing to go through with it for the greater good. Those are also examples of strength.

I think both sides of the discussion have interesting and valid points, but I’m not quite ready to give up on kick-ass heroines just yet.

I’d love for you to share your thoughts with Cecelia and me in the comments section!

The Watcher Trailer Reveal

Author Lisa Voisin’s THE WATCHER will be releasing exactly one month from today, on March 4th, 2013 and we’re super excited to be able to share with our blog’s readers a short excerpt from the book and to be a part of the book’s awesome trailer reveal!

There is also a giveaway for a pre-order copy of THE WATCHER for US/Canada residents. So be sure to enter below.

THE WATCHER is author Lisa Voisin’s debut novel and is a book Eileen Cook says, “…is sure to keep readers turning the pages late into the night.”

And after having read both the excerpt and the book’s description, we couldn’t agree more! But we’ll let you decide for yourself. They’re both included below. As is the book’s wicked cool trailer!

With some gothic techno beats, super cool images and a description that is meant to tease, this trailer totally sets the mood for this story. What do you think?

About the Book

Title: THE WATCHER
Author: Lisa Voisin
Publisher: InkSpell Publishing
Publication date: March 4, 2013
Pages: 508
Format: Available to pre-order in Paperback
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Inkspell | Kobo

Millennia ago, he fell from heaven for her.
Can he face her without falling again?

Fascinated with ancient civilizations, seventeen-year-old Mia Crawford dreams of becoming an archaeologist. She also dreams of wings—soft and silent like snow—and somebody trying to steal them.

When a horrible creature appears out of thin air and attacks her, she knows Michael Fontaine is involved, though he claims to know nothing about it. Secretive and aloof, Michael evokes feelings in Mia that she doesn’t understand. Images of another time and place haunt her. She recognizes them—but not from any textbook.

About the Author


A Canadian-born author, Lisa Voisin spent her childhood daydreaming and making up stories, but it was her love of reading and writing in her teens that drew her to Young Adult fiction.

When she's not writing, you'll find her meditating or hiking in the mountains to counter the side effects of drinking too much coffee.

She lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her fiance and their two cats.

Find her: Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog

Instead of saying more, he brushed his fingertips along my cheek, and his halo glimmered. I could hear the waves slapping the rocks behind us, the wind driving them in. That same wind whipped against my skin, but the touch of his hand on my face was all I could think about. It sent a current through both of us and filled me with longing for something I wasn’t sure I understood.

“I’m sorry.” He stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets as the light around him faded. “You don’t know what it’s like. Being near you now, remembering those moments we had…” His hair blew into his eyes, but this time he didn’t move. I wanted to brush it back, but I didn’t know how he’d react. Would touching him be bad?

“You want to know who you were?” he asked. “You may look different, but you’re the same. I look into your eyes and see you.” He took in a deep breath, fixing his attention on the horizon. I’d seen and heard so much now that the logical part of my brain had long since given up arguing with me. I could feel what he was saying was true. All of it.

• ONE pre-order copy of THE WATCHER by Lisa Voisin open to US/Canada.
• Must be 13 or older to enter.
• ONE entry per household.
• Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter and contacted by email.
• Winner will have 48 hours after notification to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Enter below... a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ashes& Ice Release Day Blitz

Synopsis:

She is desperate to remember.
He is aching to forget.
Together, they are not broken.
But together, one may not survive.

​Jade wakes up with no memory of her past and blood on her hands.

Plagued by wicked thoughts, she searches for answers. Instead, she finds a boy who doesn't offer her answers, but hope. But sometimes, when nightmares turn into reality and death follows you everywhere, hope is not enough.

LUST. LOVE. LOSS. Sometimes, all that is left are Ashes and Ice

Excerpt

Connor

            Tears burn. I never realized it before, but they do. Tears reach down my throat and settle in my gut until the pain cripples me. I clutch my stomach as I look into the casket. His face doesn’t even look the same. Bloated like a Mardi Gras float, discolored like a mannequin. This isn’t my father.

            But it is.

            If I have learned anything in my short life, it is this: funerals are bullshit. People dress in carefully pressed black suits. Parents give me “meaningful” nods as if that could ease the grief. It doesn’t.

            Then there are the kids from school, the ones dragged along by their parents. People drag their kids along as if filling the church was a necessary thing. As if the more pews filled somehow expedite the dead’s trip to heaven. I doubt it does. Maybe some of the girls went shopping to buy just the right outfit so their cleavage to respectability ratio was just right, or  their ass to waist ratio was cinched properly.

            People sit in the pews dressed in their finest let’s-go-pay-our-respects-to-the-dead-guy-we-never-knew wear, smacking the gum in their mouths, cupping cellphones so they can LOL any comment  buzzing in, and drumming their fingers because the pastor is going on too long.  All they want to do is go home, sneak in a make-out session with their girlfriends, eat their dinners, and maybe catch a 7 o’clock movie.

            I hate these kids. The ones who stare at me, roll their eyes, and yawn. The ones who trip me at school and slam me into lockers. The ones who sit in a pew, contributing to the headcount, while I sit up here in front, holding back the tears fighting to make their appearance. I swallow them down. I won’t cry. Not here. Not with these people.

            Dad’s funeral should be an empty church with mom, his three brothers, and me. It should be the five of us having a messy, sloppy, sobbing affair where we cling to each other because we are all we have left. The marble floors should be slick with our tears. It isn’t. We sit here, straight backed, completely composed as if death is just a passing expiration date and our small, insignificant world has not been split open and left gaping.

***

            I’m in my room, staring at the ceiling. The funeral service was hours ago.

            The house feels empty and cold. I hear a stifled whimper from down the hall.

            Mom.

            Probably crying into a pillow so the house can’t hear, but it can. It seems unfair she can’t wail aloud, so loud  the house’s hundred-year-old studs tremble.

            She doesn’t. I don’t either. We cry in our own rooms, remembering a man who will never be here again.

            The house creaks. Maybe it feels the weight of our grief, maybe the floorboards are buckling because the burden is too heavy.

            I ache, desperate to forget the long battle with cancer, the blood sputtering out of his mouth with his last words—what where they? I can’t remember because the fear in his eyes overshadowed anything he said. Now the loss. I don’t want to feel this loss. Some divine entity has taken dull scissors and cut out a piece of my life and now I have jagged scars to remind me I lost too much. Too much.

            I want to forget, because it hurts to remember.

            I bury my head in the pillow, hoping to suffocate the memories, to choke out the pain.

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Ashes-and-Ice-ebook/dp/B00BAFOI02/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1359952546&sr=8-3&keywords=ashes+%26+ice

 

Author Bio:

Rochelle grew up dreaming up stories. When she entered high school, she tucked away her creative side and jumped head-first into academics, work, and service projects. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science and Communication when she was twenty years old. After years away from her writing, Rochelle picked up a pen and started fleshing out a character sketch that she outlined when she was twelve. That sketch was the start of the Ashes and Ice story. Rochelle lives in the DC metro area with her husband and daughter. By day she works as a behavioral therapist. By night, she is a dreamer and is busy tapping out new stories on her keyboard.

Links:

http://www.rochellemayacallen.com/

twitter: rockyiswriting

goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15864513-ashes-and-ice

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Rochelle-Maya-Callen-Author/478176392210312