Seismic Crimes - (Special Guest Blogger; Chrys Fey)

Disaster Love

With a Disaster Crimes Series, it should be no surprise
that I have a fascination with disasters. Last year for the April Blogging from
A to Z Challenge, my theme was all about disasters from avalanches to the
zombie apocalypse. A fellow blogger, Sage from Uncovered Hills, even gave me
the nickname Disaster Chrys. I was touched, because it meant I was doing
something right; branding myself with disasters.

My love for disasters only extends to fiction (movies and
books). Disasters in real-life are heartbreaking and devastating. I don’t want
disasters to happen anywhere in the world. In fiction, they can be just as
heartbreaking and devastating but also exciting.

Beth and Donovan met during a hurricane (Hurricane Crimes)
and fall deeply in love during an earthquake (Seismic Crimes). Passion and
danger go hand-in-hand with the disasters in my stories.

When disasters strike, everyone’s main concern is their
loved ones’ safety, especially if they’re separated. Reconnecting with loved
ones after a disaster can be bittersweet, lovely and even passionate.

In Seismic Crimes, Beth is desperate to free Donovan from
rubble, and Donovan wants to find Beth when she goes off alone to get him help.
What people do and how they react during a disaster reveals a lot about their
character.

I also show the impact these disasters have on nature and
the cities my stories take place. You can’t write about a disaster without
these details. Considering what the aftermath would be like is a lot of fun for
me. Nothing is unbreakable. Nothing is inconceivable when it comes to Mother
Nature’s destruction. It’s that unlimited range of possibilities that is
intriguing and fun to tackle.

So much can happen during and after a disaster, which is
where danger comes into play. One disaster can lead to another. With
earthquakes, there’s the threat of fires, sinkholes, landslides, tsunamis,
falling buildings/bridges, looting and death. Each of these adds excitement to
an already thrilling plot.

When I read and write, I love action. Action and romance, and disasters are the
perfect source for both. No wonder why I like using them in my
romantic-suspense!

Title: Seismic Crimes

Author: Chrys Fey

Series: Disaster Crimes Series (Book Two)

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Format: Digital and Print

Page Count: 282

DIGITAL LINKS:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

NOOK / KOBO / All Romance eBooks

PRINT LINKS:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

 The Wild Rose Press

BLURB:

An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments.

Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a criminal’s crosshairs.

When a tip reveals the killer's location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?

HURRICANE CRIMES 99¢ SALE!

DIGITAL LINKS:

Amazon US / Amazon UK 

Amazon CA / NOOK / KOBO 

All Romance eBooks

The Wild Rose Press

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BIO:

Chrys Fey is the author of Hurricane Crimes, Book One in the Disaster Crimes series, as well as these releases from The Wild Rose Press: 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. She is an administrator for the Insecure Writer's Support Group and has participated in the Blogging from April A to Z Challenge.

When Fey was six years old, she realized she wanted to be a writer by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started writing her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen.

Fey lives in Florida and is always on the lookout for hurricanes. She has four adopted cats who keep her entertained with their antics, and three nephews who keep her entertained with their antics. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and through her blog, Write with Fey. She loves to get to know her readers!

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

Piper Morgan Joins the Circus

Today, I'm very excited to welcome Stephanie Faris to my corner of the blogsphere. Stephanie is author of the books, '30 Days of No Gossip', '25 Roses' and the forthcoming, Piper Morgan series. I had the lovely chance to chat with her a bit about her new book, where she gets her inspiration from, and if she had any tips for aspiring writers. The transcript is below:

Jeffrey Scott: What can you tell my readers about your Piper Morgan series?
Stephanie Faris: Piper Morgan is a spunky seven-year-old who gets to travel the world with her mom. In the first book, Piper Morgan Joins the Circus, her mother gets a temporary job with the circus. Later books have her working in a school, at a pool store, and at a veterinary clinic.

JS: What inspires you most before you start writing anything new?
SF: I find I get my best ideas while reading other books. That’s why you’ll see me reading so many children’s books! The funny thing is, usually what I’m reading has absolutely nothing to do with the idea that hits me. Something about reading fiction just gets those wheels turning!

JS: What sort of research do you do to prepare?
SF: I do a lot of online research. For Piper Morgan Joins the Circus, I was desperate to go to a zoo but the zoo never came to town while I was writing! So I watched a ton of YouTube videos of circuses and spent hours reading behind-the-scenes articles about it.

JS: Do you create an outline or do you utilize something else to prepare?
SF: I’m not an outliner. I usually have to get those first couple of chapters down before I even have a grasp on the characters and the story. Then I’ll usually stop and write a synopsis to help myself understand where I’m going with this.

JS: When did you decide to become a writer?
SF: As a child, I read constantly. I remember reading advice that if you wanted to be a writer when you grew up, you should read and I figured, “Hey, I have that part down!” But to me, writing isn’t something you really consciously decide to do—it’s a talent you hone. I began experimenting by writing really cheesy poetry starting at the age of 13. I still have those poems somewhere. I probably should burn them!

JS: What authors have influenced you the most?
SF: Like many authors of my generation, I grew up on Stephen King novels. I think he’s had a huge influence on the writing community as a whole. As a writer for young readers, the person whose career I admire the most is Meg Cabot. I love that she’s been able to have so much success writing for just about every age group.

JS: What advice would you give aspiring writers?
SF: Read, read, read. I also have found that writers’ groups are very important. I was very active in Romance Writers of America when I first started and without the workshops and conferences I attended then, I probably wouldn’t be published today. Writers are among the most helpful, friendly people you’ll ever meet.

JS: Do you like your book covers? Are you always happy with them?
SF: I have been so lucky with my book covers! They’re always so fun and eye catching. I know that isn’t always the case, but I’ve never even had one thing I would change about any of them!

JS: How important do you think the cover of a book is for potential readers?
SF: Extremely important, even in an e-book era. Many bookstores place all the new books face-out and kids will look at the entire wall and go directly to the most eye-catching covers. Even with e-books, I’ll often scroll through books and see which covers catch my eye.

JS: Where can we buy your books? Or get additional information about you?
SF: 25 Roses and 30 Days of No Gossip are on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com. The Piper Morgan books don’t come out until next year, so they aren’t available for pre-order yet, but I’ll let everyone know when they are!

I'd like to thank Stephanie once again for stopping by.
Make sure to say hi to her in the comments below.
As a special treat, she's provided some additional information about her new book and contact details:

Piper Morgan Joins the Circus

Stephanie Faris

Cover illustration by Lucy Fleming.


Blurb:
When Piper Morgan has to move to a new town, she is sad to leave behind her friends, but excited for a new adventure. She is determined to have fun, be brave and find new friends.

And after learning her mom’s new job will be with the Big Top Circus, Piper can’t wait to learn all about life under the big top, see all the cool animals, and meet the Little Explorers, the other kids who travel with the show. She’s even more excited to learn that she gets to be a part of the Little Explorers and help them end each show with a routine to get the audience on their feet and dancing along!


But during Piper’s grand debut, her high kicks and pointed toes don't go quite as planned. After causing a dance disaster, she has to prove to everyone--especially queen of the Little Explorers, Lexie--that she belongs in the spotlight. 


Stephanie Faris:

Bio:
Stephanie Faris knew she wanted to be an author from a very young age. In fact, her mother often told her to stop reading so much and go outside and play with the other kids. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in broadcast journalism, she somehow found herself working in information technology. But she never stopped writing.

Stephanie is the Simon & Schuster author of 30 Days of No Gossip and 25 Roses, as well as the upcoming Piper Morgan series. When she isn’t crafting fiction, she writes for a variety of online websites on the topics of business, technology, and her favorite subject of all—fashion. She lives in Nashville with her husband, a sales executive. 


Links:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

The Missing Piece

R.a.n.t. of week 02/08/15

Years ago, (should I admit it was about 40?) I recall thoroughly enjoying a book called the Missing Piece. It was an interesting tale of a 'Pac-Man' looking creature who never felt complete because he was missing a piece. So off he went, in search of what he was missing. But when he found his missing piece, he discovered he didn't really need it and was better off without it. He was fine just the way he was. Sometimes I feel, not like the creature in search of the missing piece, but the actual missing piece. Let's look at the book from his perspective. Here he was, broken off and alone. Then suddenly found he was where he fitted in perfectly. But then, he is abandoned as not being needed. More often than not, I feel like the missing piece others have cast off as not being needing. This can occur in any situation. When this happens at work, you are redundant and let go. But that's another problem and fortunately I have not had to deal with that. However, when you feel like the missing piece when among your friends or family it can be traumatic. How do you deal with that? Mind you, I don't always feel that way, but there are many times in certain situations when I feel I am redundant to my friends or family. When they seem to get along fine without me or I'm not needed. Sometimes I feel I'm the only one who tries to maintain whatever the relationship is. No one likes to feel they are not needed, or unimportant. Sometimes you just want to feel needed, wanted or special to someone. True, at times it all works out in the end, but not always. And the times when it's not working out can really hurt. Then suddenly you realize you are the one missing a piece.

The Impossible Girl

R.a.n.t. of week 07/13/14

Like last month, using another guest blogger this month. Professor Sanee has provided this months edition. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When a situation is presented to most people, it is either greatly accepted or looked at apprehensively. Those taken to apprehension have various views on the situation presented. Either it's not accepted because it's out of their comfort zone, or they view it as something rather difficult. Either difficult to believe, or difficult to accomplish. "It's impossible", they may call out. But what is impossibility? Alice (in Wonderland) was encouraged to believe impossible things. And yet, is something impossible, truly impossible? Look at a few of the things Alice found impossible to believe in. A cat who disappeared leaving only a cheesy grin, a bottle of mysterious fluid that allowed her to shrink in size, and a deck of playing cards following the orders of a tyrannical Queen who seemingly wanted to see everyone without a head. And all this before breakfast. So how capable would you be to accept any of these impossible scenarios? And are they really impossible?

To illustrate, let's journey back a couple hundred years. On our trip, we will bring a set of walkie talkies a flash-light and a digital camera. Before showing any of these items to any of the locals, we will describe each item. To which, they will declare them to be impossible. How can one cause a beam of light to shoot from one's hands? Or listen to a person from a mile away, as though they were standing right next to you? Or hold the perfect image of someone in an instant, within the palm of your hand. That's impossible! And then when you show them the items, they may gradually learn to accept them as possible. If they don't burn you for witch-craft.

So maybe not all situations presented to us are as impossible as we feel they are. I know there are several things to which I consider impossible, that I'd like to at least hope are just illusions of impossibility. What about you? Is there anything that others claim to be impossible, that you consider within the realm of possibility? And for the record, no, I don't believe the situations in Alice in Wonderland are possible. They are quite impossible.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Professor Sanee resides in Italy
and teaches the course 'the
Ethics of Humour' at I.M.A.
She's also author of the book,
"Why Isn't Anyone Laughing?"

Drizzly Days & Tuesday's

Listening to the rain and feeling down.

Callin' in sick today;

Much to my boss dismay;

Driving around, then suddenly I need a tow.

Drizzly days & Tuesday's, always feeling low.

This downpour makes me want to paint in blues.

I wish they were not here;

I hope that they disappear;

The winds they did blow, as humidity began to grow.

Drizzly days & Tuesday's, always feeling low.

Strange, 'cause tonight's the night of the eclipse you know.

Sad we're having this monsoon.

For once I'd like to see this astronomical show.

Guess I'm gonna miss the moon.

At least I have time for 'Stormy Gray'.

Story within' this book.

Of a wild horse by a brook.

Kate was all aglow, till he died in the Winter Snow.

Drizzly days & Tuesday's, always feeling low.

J.A.SCOTT

* Sung to the song - "Rainy Days & Mondays" - the Carpenters

Mending

When I need to mend my heart,
from each anguish newly made.
A tranquil place will play a part,
so I have to seek the shade.

Resting as I start to read,
under a tree and by the brook.
Imagination's all I need,
imagination and a book.

J.A.Scott

Dodo Bird

Dodo bird, where have you gone?

a flightless fowl and so distinct.

We can not find you any more,

why did you have to go extinct?

Discovered there upon a time,

on the island of Mauritius.

you welcomed them, with open wings

till they found you so delicious.

Why didn't you all just run away,

it's so hard to understand.

Least I can visit when I read,

all 'bout Carroll's Wonderland.

J.A.Scott