Saturday, December 14, 2013

Excerpt From Meredith Bond's Magic in the Storm





I was lucky to meet Meredith Bond when I asked her about her classes on formatting a digital book. 

I took the class, and while it was intense, it was worth the time and effort to learn the tricks.  I already knew some HTML and knowing where to put the code and how it affects the manuscript was worth the price alone.  If you know nothing about coding, Merry tells you why this and that is done and what it will do. 

If you'd like to be on her mailing list for the next class, please email her directly at
merry@meredithbond.com or find the sign-up on her website www.meredithbond.com.

Now you get to read a bit of her latest book and wow, what a cover!


Blurb:
In the magical world of the Vallen, it has always been the high priestess who was the most powerful. Tatiana Vallentyn has long anticipated the birth of her daughter, Morgan, who was prophesied to be the most powerful priestess in generations – until the child born turned out to be a boy. Now a man, Morgan, must find his place in the world on his own. In the magic of a storm, his potential appears in a form he never would have expected.

Regency society is not kind to orphan girls. Adriana has been at the mercy of her cruel guardian since she was a young child, and now she is being married off to the highest bidder—but she will not go without a fight. She’d rather sell her precious paintings than marry Lord Vallentyn and have to deal with his scheming mother. But everything changes with the wind of a storm that blows her into a world she could never have imagined existed within ordinary society.

Excerpt:
She turned off the path and picked her way through the wood toward the sounds.  There was a clearing not too far ahead, but Adriana was stopped by the sound of a voice — a man’s voice. More carefully and quietly now, she made her way to the edge of the clearing and peeked out from the trees.

Adriana’s breath caught as she watched a dark head emerge from under the water.
It was him!  He hadn’t been a dream or her imagination. He was real! 
Morgan flipped his long black hair back out of his face, sending a spray of water flying toward Adriana. As he did so, he turned around to face her and she very nearly took a step forward to let him know that she was there. Her hand was half-way raised, her foot in mid-air about to step out from the trees when she noticed that he wasn’t wearing anything – at all.

Adriana stopped and caught her balance on a tree. How embarrassing! 
She couldn’t allow Morgan to see she was there, not when he... she could feel her face heat and was sure she was blushing furiously.
She resolutely tried to keep her eyes on his face, but they disobediently darted down his exposed body. Strong muscles defined his bare shoulders and chest. Below that Adriana couldn’t see anything because of the water, and she was extremely grateful. She had never seen a naked man before, and was certain that she never should – at least not until after she was married.
In her mind, Henrietta’s stern voice told her in no uncertain terms she was to leave immediately. Adriana knew the voice was right – she shouldn’t be here at all. She started to turn away, but Morgan gave another bright shout of laughter. She looked over at him playing in the water and knew she just couldn’t go.
The thought of leaving without drawing even one little sketch of Morgan and the river was unthinkable. Surely it was all right from an artistic point of view.  Men painted naked women, so why couldn’t she draw a naked man? 
No, neither Henrietta’s voice in the back of her head, nor the threat of being caught in so compromising a position could force her to leave. She would stay, but only for a very short time. Just long enough to do one quick sketch, she told herself sternly.



Bio:

Meredith Bond is an award-winning author of traditionally published Regency romances and indie-published paranormal romances. She is known for her characters “who slip readily into one’s heart.”

Meredith’s second favorite pastime is teaching others to write and format books for
self-publication.

Find Merry at:

Facebook
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Friday, December 13, 2013

Holidays and Home, Peace, Hope and Love

http://bloghops.marketingforromancewriters.org/holidayhop/#mfrw


Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.  The magic, hope and peace that I would love to have surround me all year seems stronger at this time. And home seems to bring those wishes all the closer.

That's why I had to write a Christmas book.  I had to.  Filled with that same hope, peace and love that I so believe in. 

BE MINE THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT is available on Amazon only for the holidays in both digital and paperback.

The Children's Author …
Annie Hamilton's children's series Star Light~Star Bright is a mega hit. She loves kids and wants nothing more than a family of her own, but twice burned, thrice shy. When a gorgeous man with two young boys moves next door, Annie can't help but dream her impossible dream.

And The Widower Who Moved Next Door...
 Cole Evans is a brilliant scientist, but finds fatherhood a challenge. When his son develops a bond with their enchanting neighbor, the boy’s favorite author, Cole discovers just how much he's lost—and how much he needs.

Will Their Wish Come True This Christmas Night?
Can Cole overcome family meddling and alleviate Annie's fears so they can be a ready-made family?


And please check out the other authors on this blog hop.

It's truly Home For The Holidays.


 
 
 
 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

My Annual Reminder: This Could Be One Of The Most Important Posts of the Year



Nope it's not a writing tip, it's a career saving tip.


A friend just wrote that her computer crashed and she hadn’t backed up in a while and she
was so sick to her stomach, unsure if her work could be retrieved.

And more than once, I couldn’t find two of my folders, which concerned me enough to run a scan on my computer, then reboot. I know I had backups, but still I was nervous.


So I decided this post was going to be an annual reminder to all of us...

Syndee
...Several years ago, I read a post by Syndee Rogers-Nuckles about the importance of multiple or redundant back-up systems. (The original post in full was on Five Scribes Dec.
2011 )

This is what she says:

Have you ever had your heart sink? Feel the sting of tears streaming down your face as you realized all your files had disappeared?

I have. In a total panic I searched my computer looking for any sign of hope, I shook my head trying to awaken out of what had to be a nightmare.

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone reading this, other than LA, her buddy and me?

Or were you one of the few lucky ones that had backups of all your files on another EHD (external hard drive) or DVD's?

Or perhaps it's just been another thing on your ‘to do’ list?

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to backup your files, but it can be so time consuming and overwhelming. Like so many of you I am stretched to the limits of available time so after trying at least a dozen different strategies for backing up I finally hit upon something that really works for me.

Now, I use the ‘triple threat’, not just having a single backup copy but two so that you have three copies of all your important files.

For instance I have the following:

1- Original files: all my business files like documents are kept on my computers built-in hard drive. My original design files are kept on my main External Hard Drive.

2- Backup 1: I try to make copies of all my important files as I create them to a second EHD that I keep hooked up to my computer. I try to back this up at least once a week.

3- Backup 2: This is where the online backup service comes in. I LOVE this! I use Backblaze which just runs in the background whenever my computer is on saving all my files for me! My files are backed up to a secure offsite server so if something were to happen to my computer I can still get to my files from another computer!

Online Backup Services:

Backblaze
http://www.backblaze.com/

This service was easy to install and was backing up my files in minutes! One of the best things about this company is that it features unlimited storage. I was using Mozy before and they changed their pricing structure so much that it priced them right out of my budget. have been so happy with this service, I totally forget it’s running on my computer!

(LA) This is what I use. It took over 45 days to get all my data uploaded, but it was done everyday behind the scenes, I really didn't notice it at all.

Carbonite
http://www.carbonite.com/

I have heard good things about Carbonite. The biggest drawback is that they do not offer backups of your EHD’s, which is something I can’t live without. But if you are not using any EHD’s they are worth looking in to.

Mozy
www.mozy.com

I had trouble installing Mozy on my Mac when I switched over from a PC, and when I contacted customer support and followed the instructions they gave me it still did not work. It was around the same time they changed the pricing structure so I cancelled my account and signed up with Backblaze.

(LA) I have friends who swear by Mozy, so check them out.

Keep in mind that these online backup services are not meant to be an addition storage system, if you delete the files off your computer these companies will delete those same files after 30 days.

Thank you Syndee for your research!!

Back up your career, and have a wonderful and hopefully now, a worry free Holiday Season.

Ciao
~LA