Tag Archives: Guest Author

Blogiversary Version Guest Author & A Giveaway: Nicole Flockton

Hi friends! So we’ve had a lot going on in the world, but we’re trying to truck along! Therefore, I’ve got another post for you to celebrate Blogiversary, and would everyone to welcome back Nicole Flockton! It’s also release day for her! Shelter for Cerise is out today so everyone also wish Nicole a very happy release day! 

What was your favorite book as a child? 
Hmm my favourite book. I’m not sure I had one but I had a favourite author. I read a ton of Enid Blyton books. I love the concept of toys coming to life and living independently. And what is your favorite book now? Hmm that’s a toughie. There was one book I used to read every year it’s a book called Fortunes by Vera Cowie. I need to get it out and read it again. It’s been a while since I’ve read it. It’s about an auction house and an ugly duckling heroine getting it all in the end.

If you could create any movie mash up – which films would you combine? (Why?)
Oh you ask the tough questions! Okay let me see. Let’s go with National Treasure and The Mummy. I’d love to see Nic Cage take on some mummies while hunting down the mother lode of treasures.

What inanimate object would you eat if it was safe to do? Why?
Ohh I know a football. I mean it was made out of pigskin so it could taste like bacon. 😉

What is the first thing you learned how to cook? Do you have a go-to dish? And/or a signature dish? (What makes it so?)
My first memories of cooking were helping my mum make a cake so I guess that was the first think I learned. My go to dish is what I call Sausage Pasta. Basically it’s smoked sausage, pasta, broccoli and parmesan cheese. It’s simple and quick and my kids really like it. I guess this is my signature dish. Continue reading

Blogiversary Version Guest Author & A Giveaway: Shannon McKenna

Hi friends! I’m very excited to welcome back Shannon McKenna. She’s written some of my favorite romantic suspense books (I know! It’s not even a genre I generally read but her McCloud books – man. Davy 😻. Anyway) Please give her a warm welcome! Shannon very generously offered to be participate, and chose to do a “Guest Author & A Giveaway” post, so here are her Blogiversary questions and answers! 

What was your favorite book as a child? And what is your favorite book now?
I was an Anne Of Green Gables freak. I just adored that book and all the rest of the Anne series as well. I related to her so completely. Not only how imaginative and lost in her head that she was, but how hungry she was for love and acceptance. But there is Jane Eyre, too, which I was introduced to as a Classics Illustrated comic way back in the long-ago time when I thought that the whole Mr. Rochester story was dumb and boring and the only interesting part was Jane’s time at the awful Lowell School with Helen Burns and the evil Mr. Brocklehurst. That book is the breeding ground of a million incredibly compelling romance tropes that still have me in their vise-grip today. The lure of the trash-talking bad boy, My Love Will Save Him, etc, etc. But the great thing about Jane Eyre is, she knows how to say ‘no.’ Even when it tears her to pieces, she maintains her own integrity as a person, over and over again. And then, thank God, the story rewards her for it with a happy ending. WHICH IS AS IT FREAKING SHOULD BE. ALWAYS. Oh dear now I’m getting worked up about random things that have nothing to do with anything. I will stop now.

Favorite book now…I am in a terrible state of not having enough time to read, and having not had it for such a long time that I have gotten out of the habit of reading. Awful, for a writer. The last book I read was the Jack Reacher thriller Blue Moon, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. I have lots of thoughts and strong opinions about Jack Reacher and his issues, (I wish he would get therapy, how fun would that be? Don’t you want to read that chapter?) but enough about that. I would say, the last book I had time to read that absolutely blew my mind was All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Incandescently beautiful writing. Just huge. And the latest romance I had time to read was Robin Covington’s latest, Taking On The Billionaire, a Harlequin Desire, which was heart-felt, red-hot, crackling fun that I would recommend to everyone. Continue reading

Blogiversary Version Guest Author & A Giveaway: Christie Kelley

Hi friends! I’m very excited to welcome Christie Kelley to ALBTALBS. I believe she’s a first time guest, so I hope you all give her a warm welcome! I do also want to note that this post was initially supposed to go live on January 9th, but … well. Anyway! What’s important right now is that A Little Bit Tart, A Little Bit Sweet turned 10, and Christie Kelley is kind and generous and offering you a prize! Remember those ~zany interviews I used to do as part of the monthly “Guest Author & A Giveaway” series? Christie opted to do one of those, so here are her questions and answers!

Ten Ways to Ruin by Christie Kelley book coverWhat was your favorite book as a child? And what is your favorite book now?
When I was a child, I devoured the Little House on the Prairie books. I think I’ve always felt like this was not my time period, which is probably why I write historical romance.

Learning about my family as I was growing up, my mother always talked about her how her relatives had crossed the Appalachians by the early 1800s, and finally settled in Missouri and Kansas so I felt an affinity toward Laura Ingalls.

I’m not sure I have a favorite book now. I love Pride and Prejudice but my favorites change depending on my mood and what is happening in my life. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of cozy mysteries.

If you could create any movie mash up – which films would you combine? (Why?)
I have to be honest here, this is not something I think much about. So I did a little Googling and saw a movie post for The Bounty Hunter staring Jennifer Anniston and Boba Fett (from the Star Wars franchise). Admittedly, as a Star Wars fan (not fanatic like my sons), I thought the idea of Boba Fett finding out his ex-wife is his next bounty was great. I don’t think he’d be as easy to get away from as Gerard Butler.

What inanimate object would you eat if it was safe to do? Why?
Hmm, well as I write this, I’m staring at my Christmas tree, which fills me with happiness. So why not munch on a Christmas tree. Maybe not full size, though. I’m assuming the ornaments would be little candies that could be pulled from the main tree, which would be cookie or cake. And now I’m hungry. Continue reading

Blogiversary Guest Ainsley Wynter: Sliding Into 2021 and Leaving the Ghosts of 2020 Behind

Hi friends! I’m very pleased to welcome [back] Ainsley Wynter to our blogiversary celebration! (Especially since 😬😅 I still owe her a review… reviews?) And seriously – I think we’re all in on this topic, yeah? [I think … it might be important to note that she sent it to me on January 4th…]  So without further ado, Ainsley!

SLIDING INTO 2021 AND LEAVING THE GHOSTS OF 2020 BEHIND
By Ainsley Wynter

Kissed at Midnight by Ainsley Wynter book coverAs the door closed on 2020, I was one of the people who slid out without saying much of a goodbye. At midnight on New Years Eve I sat on the couch with my kids and husband and watched the ball drop—twice, since I live in the Midwest—and then went to bed. I did that heroine thing of holding a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. Some time later on the morning of January 1st, I carefully blew it out. Maybe 2021 wouldn’t be a total shitshow. Maybe we could leave some of the awful in the past year behind. Continue reading

Guest Author Pam Rosenthal on Second Chances: Notes on Reissuing a Story Written Long Ago

Hi friends! Please welcome Pam Rosenthal to ALBTALBS! We’re very excited to have her – and just look at that book cover!

Second Chances: Notes on Reissuing a Story Written Long Ago

A House East of Regent Street by Pam Rosental book coverMy husband Michael and I have often worked together over the course of our more than 50-year-long marriage: from the joint film reviews we wrote in our twenties, to nine years together as booksellers, to our current copyediting business, where we charge by the word so we don’t have to worry about the cost to a client of the occasional time-consuming battle royal over a comma. (And yes, we love editing romance.) When I was writing erotica and romance, Michael’s part in the collaboration sometimes took the form of direct intervention, like his rewrite of my meandering synopsis of The Bookseller’s Daughter. It might also entail his bringing home some new book, casually remarking, as he put it on the coffee table, that I might find it interesting – most notably, an anthology called Erotikon: Essays on Eros, Ancient and Modern, which sparked the thoughts at the heart of my last romance, The Edge of Impropriety. Or it could mean taking my editor’s side when I resisted her request to change a scene in Almost a Gentleman. Bullheaded as I was, Michael changed my mind by convincing me that David and Phoebe would not have done that sex act at that point in their relationship. Continue reading

Guest Author: Stephanie Burgis Discusses Her Upcoming Release, Moontangled

Hi friends! Stephanie Burgis reached out to me about reviewing her Hardwood novella – and I asked if she’d be willing to grace us with a guest post! I’ve read the prequel novella to the Hardwood Spellbook series, Spellswept, and really enjoyed it 🙂 So without further ado, Stephanie!

Stephanie Burgis on Moontangled

Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis book coverIn the world of 19th-century Angland, no extravagant Prince Regent or parliament of gentlemen rules the nation. Instead, a group of hard-headed and pragmatic women politicians form a ruling Boudiccate, leaving all irrational magic—by tradition—to the more “naturally” emotional and irrational gentlemen.

It’s the way that society has been divided ever since Boudicca first expelled the Romans with the help of her second husband, a mage. Even now, every ambitious young politician is expected to take a mage for her own spouse if she hopes to ever rise to the Boudiccate. Of course, because of all of those ingrained social rules, mages can only ever be male…

Until now. The formation of Thornfell College of Magic for Women (founded by the first known woman mage, Cassandra Harwood, in the novel Thornbound) means that every unthinking social rule is suddenly open to question. Society at large is reeling with the impact—and two young women are hoping to finally seize their chance.

Caroline Fennell has been in strict training to become a member of the Boudiccate ever since she was eight years old, under the patronage (and control) of her famous and powerful aunt—who has ordered Caroline to follow the expected path by marrying a gentleman mage no matter what her private inclinations may be.

Juliana Banks spent her own youth forced to hide all of her brilliance and natural gifts as her family was horrified by her forbidden magic. Finally, as a student at Thornfell College, she’s found a home where she belongs and she can shine. As soon as she graduates, she’ll be a certified mage and thus—if the rest of the nation will accept it—a suitable spouse after all for Caroline Fennell…who’s been her secret fiancée for years, unbeknownst to the rest of the world.

Everything seems to be on track for all their years of passionate hopes and dreams to come true…except that ever since the events of Thornbound, Caroline has suddenly gone strangely distant. Now, as Thornfell College prepares for a magical outdoor ball to be held on the edges of their enchanted woods, Juliana is determined to win back her secret fiancée—but Caroline is equally determined to break her own heart by giving up Juliana for Juliana’s own good…and no one has ever accused Caroline Fennell of being easy to dissuade from any of her principles.

When they sneak into the fey-ruled woods together, every one of their plans will be thrown into turmoil. They’ll need all of Juliana’s magic and Caroline’s tactical brilliance to save each other and their love by the end of the evening. Continue reading

Guest Author Ainsley Wynter on Naming Characters

Hi friends! Ainsley sent this post originally on January 12, so if the ~timeline seems a bit weird, that’s why, and that’s on me. We’re very happy to have her visit with us again though! 🙂 She’s even got the end questions covered, so without further ado… Ainsley Wynter

HOW NOT TO NAME YOUR CHARACTERS
By Ainsley Wynter

Kissed at Midnight by Ainsley Wynter Book CoverThis is not the blog post topic I’d been noodling over when Lime put out a call for blog posts a few weeks ago. I’d intended to write about the newest book in my fantasy romance series, Once Upon a Princess. I wrote that book and the first one, Kissed at Midnight, as a dual timeline. Some of my favorite books by my favorite authors are written in a dual timeline. They are so cool when they’re done well. Overlapping plot points, a couple of the same scenes with different points of view, heroes who fight each other in a weirdly complex sword-fighting scene, and all in the first two books I’d ever written. What was I thinking?? Ahem. After many revisions I think I made it work. But this is not that blog post. Continue reading

Own Voices Guest Author Mercy Zephyr: Fear Fed My Words

Hi friends! A few weeks ago Mercy emailed ALBTALBS about reviewing her book, and I invited her to write a guest post for us – you know, as I do. 😛 I was thrilled that she agreed. (And I expect a review of her book to be forthcoming. I uh 😅 am also realistic about the timeliness ~problem we have here so … you know. It’ll happen though! Our review crew is small but dogged! … Other than Babs. Babs is a rockstar.)

ANYWAY!  Transpire Together looks really interesting and sweet, so I hope you read on. Mercy sent us a really lovely post, and I hope you give her a warm welcome. <3

Fear fed my words

Back in 2016, my spouse and I revealed to our friends and family that I was a woman with a husband, not a man with a wife as previously assumed. Unsure of myself and afraid, it was difficult to gather the courage to reveal that part of myself. Mostly, my family supported us, though I lost and gained family and friends seemingly overnight. Fearful, I continued to keep those parts of my life separate from all but my inner circle, keeping my life partitioned in the ways I’d kept my online presence for decades. To be open about myself seemed unthinkable, even as I raced toward inevitability where I could no longer hide the changes.

In the novel Transpire Together, I write about someone else; on the opposite side of that bridge, but with the same fear. Keith is stealth; he passes perfectly and keeps his past secret. For now, he has returned to the town he grew up in, before he transitioned. He has habits of secrecy, like me, that are of no help when the time comes to not be secretive anymore—like when meeting his high school sweetheart again, who he regrets losing touch with. Continue reading

Guest Eden Bradley: Backlist Books Are New Again!

Hi friends!!! Happy VDay all! Whether you love or hate this holiday – it’s here and hopefully everyone gets what they want from this day. And if nothing else, discount chocolate and maybe flowers the next one, if you like. 😉 Anyway! We’re welcoming back Eden Bradley today! Love and such for all! <3 

Backlist Books Are New Again!
With Eden Bradley

This year is the year of re-releases for me! I’ve gotten rights back on some older titles and I’m finally getting around to re-editing them, expanding a few, and of course giving them new covers. This is exciting because a lot of my newer readers have never seen most of these books!

But first, in case some of you don’t know me, why don’t I do a little self-interview Q&A? Here we go!

Q: How long have you been writing? What do you write?
A: My first story was published in 2004. I’ve written almost strictly erotica and erotic romance. I stick mostly with contemporary settings, aside from my Midnight Playground vampire series (it’s set in a dystopian London), and my story in the multi-author Wasteland post-apocalyptic series with authors Crystal Jordan and R.G. Alexander. Continue reading

Debut Author Ainsley Wynter on Writing Her First Scene

Hi friends! I met Ainsley Wynter in person at RWA this summer (it was her birthday!!!) and I’m thrilled to have her as a guest today! I hope you all give her a warm welcome – and congratulate her on her first book, Kissed at Midnight!

Kissed at Midnight by Ainsley Wynter Book CoverPrincess Sidony of L’Ortagia serves as the queen’s hostess, leaving affairs of state to her sister Zara. During a masquerade ball, Sidony kisses a handsome stranger only to discover he’s Prince Adrian of Embury, a man with a fearsome reputation and the emissary sent to arrange her sister’s marriage. Worried her actions will damage the budding alliance, she convinces Adrian to forget the incident…even if she cannot.

Adrian roots out traitors in his uncle’s kingdom of Embury using his magical abilities. When he’s sent to arrange a wedding for his cousin, a kiss in the moonlight gives him a taste of what he’s been missing. Sidony is everything his life is not: laughter, warmth, and passion. But the king maintains an unbreakable hold over him, hiding his family in exchange for Adrian’s loyalty to the crown.

After Zara disappears on the eve of the royal wedding, Adrian’s orders are to stay and maintain the alliance with L’Ortagia. But Sidony’s effect on his powers and his heart becomes too strong to deny. When he has a chance to rescue his family and throw off his royal ties, will he take it, knowing he’ll have to leave Sidony? Or will the dark prince abandon his past to be with the one woman who brought his cold heart to life?

Kissed at Midnight: The First Scene I Wrote

Sidony knocked on Adrian’s door before she lost her nerve. She twirled one of her rings. She jumped at a rumbling in the hallway, but it was only one of the castle’s cats pausing on the rug to wash its face. Striving for a similar nonchalance, Sidony softly recited lines from the current play she was reading before knocking again. Still nothing. Surely at this late hour he was in his suite.

This is in chapter seventeen, but it was the first paragraph I wrote of Kissed at Midnight. Continue reading