Leonardo di Caprio is a Vampire Day!

Today is the day! The release day of Leonardo di Caprio is a Vampire at Silver Publishing!

I want to share with you my visual inspirations for my main characters

Fisher Roberts

Hunter Long















Mmmm mmmmm good!

In case you haven't heard my story of how I was inspired to write Leo, I'll tell it again.  Pull up a chair. Here, let me make some tea or coffee for you.  Comfortable?  Good.

It was last year and my daughter Sarah wanted to see Inception. I wasn't sure that I wanted to, but since she'd gone to see Sorceror's Apprentice with me, twice, I gave in and agreed to go. Which led me to thinking about Leonardo di Caprio and other films we'd seen him in (such as Shutter Island, which was really good). When we were in the theater, I heard a voice in my head tell me that Leo must be a vampire, because he never ages! "Did you know Leonardo di Caprio is a vampire?" he said.

I realized it was a new character speaking to me, but I had no way of writing down his words inside a darkened theater. So I repeated them to myself throughout the film, so that I'd remember them. Inception was a really good film, and I kept thinking about it on the drive home. I knew I needed names for my couple (I already realized that it would be a m/m romance story). Cillian Murphy's character in the film is Robert Fisher, a name you hear quite often, being a pivotal character. I flipped that and voila! Fisher Roberts. Now I needed a name for his cohort. Driving home, I devoured all the billboards and ads I could see. There was one that had to do with hunting, which I am not particularly in favor of, and it hit me - not hunting, but Hunter. A strong name and a good one. So Hunter Long was born. It was his voice which had spoken to me in the theater. When I got home, I started writing about Fisher and Hunter. It didn't occur to me til some time later that their names paralleled one another - a hunter and a fisher. It wasn't intentional, it just happened.

Here's the cover for Leo, designed by the gloriously talented Reese Dante. She did an amazing job, I can hardly keep from staring at it!

Blurb: Leonardo di Caprio is a Vampire

“Tis the night before Halloween, and Fisher Roberts wishes it was over, not being a fan of this or any other holiday.  But he tolerates it because his roommate/best friend Hunter Long takes a childish glee in all things Halloween.  And Fisher has a vested interest in keeping Hunter happy.  If only he could find the nerve to tell his childhood friend that he loves him, and has for a very long time.

Fisher thinks Hunter is carrying things a bit far this year, though.  First Hunter claims to be a vampire, and he just won’t let the silly joke go.  Then he forces Fisher to go to a costumed Halloween party which Fisher would rather avoid, especially when he realizes where it’s being held, and whose house it is. Things at Fisher’s job might just be going south, too, when he receives a mysterious summons to report to the editor’s office the next morning.  And then Fisher goes and does something stupid—like kissing Hunter!

Bad leads to worse when Fisher ends up at the Halloween party from Hell, and he learns something that threatens to destroy his and Hunter’s relationship forever.  Running from his fears, Fisher encounters a strange young man with an unusual resemblance to Leonardo di Caprio, who shows him things he never realized before, truths about his life and the people in it.

Can Fisher find his way back to Hunter, and can he find the courage to do what his heart wishes?

Excerpt:  Leonardo di Caprio is a Vampire

 “Did you know that Leonardo di Caprio is a vampire?”

            Fisher Roberts stopped in mid-chew of a mouthful of fibered cereal to cast a wary, disbelieving glance at his best friend and roommate Hunter Long on the other side of the table.  Wary, because he wondered what in the world Hunter was going on about so early in the morning.  Disbelieving, because he only had so much time for breakfast before he had to get going to work, and he had a bad feeling that Hunter was trying to eat into that time.  Why he wanted to do that was beyond Fisher.  Of course, a lot of things about his roommate were beyond Fisher, despite the fact that they’d been friends since they were—well, too young to actually remember how long they’d known each other.  But for as long as Fisher could remember, he and Hunter had been best buddies.  And he’d learned over the years that, with Hunter, longevity did not equate to knowledge-ability, far from it.

            Now, Fisher could react in one of two ways.  He could ignore his roommate and keep eating.  Pretend he’d heard nothing.  But from past experience, that would only cause Hunter’s performance to escalate.  Which would entail taking more time to decipher what he was saying, and in the process make Fisher even later to work.   Or he could simply bow down to the inevitable and give in by asking him the question he was doubtless waiting to hear.  Even if it brought about that smug smirk he was so fond of wearing.

            Fisher finished chewing, swallowed, and managed not to roll his eyes as he reached for his juice to kill off what was left in the glass.  Waste not, want not.  “What do you mean?”

            Hunter Long might be six foot two and possessed of a body that many a male model would kill for—at least that’s what Fisher heard the girls who flocked around him say—with the palest of blue eyes that twinkled all the time, and a smile that could and did light up a room.  But honestly, he had the capacity to be an overgrown child at times, and this was one of those times.  Fisher chalked it up to it being that time of year.

            “Well,” Hunter replied, “look at him, going on forty, and he looks just like he did what, fifteen years ago?  It only stands to reason he must be a vampire.  They never age, you know.  I mean take a look at us.  We’re almost his age, but over the years we’ll grow up to be little old men and he’ll still be playing sweet baby-faced guys even when he’s collecting social security, know what I mean?”

            “There are no such things as vampires,” Fisher made his typical logical reply, “and just because it’s Halloween tomorrow night, and you’ve got the house all decorated for it, doesn’t mean you have to bring it to the table.  Know what I mean?”  He arched a no-nonsense brow at the other man.  This was not Fisher’s favorite time of year.  Neither was Christmas, come to think of it.  Or any other holiday.  Ironic that he should write articles for a living that meant he was forced to expound on such seasonal topics for Midwest Home and Fantasy, a regional online magazine with a growing fan-base, when he had no real interest in them himself, being a practical, no-nonsense kind of a guy.

            “I’m a vampire.” Hunter smiled, leaning across the table toward Fisher.  “Want to see my fangs?”

I hope you enjoy Leonardo di Caprio is a Vampire! I look forward to your comments! Feel free to ask questions!

Interviewed by Lee Brazil

I'm being interviewed today at Lee Brazil's Story Orgy - come by and say hello!

http://leebrazilauthor.blogspot.com/2011/04/story-orgy-presents-interviews-with.html?spref=fb

Blog Exchange with LM Brown

Don't touch that dial, you're not imagining things!  I haven't undergone plastic surgery, I've had a blog-ectomy! Today LM Brown and I are exchanging blogs - she's here and I'm there, and we're both going to talk to you from the comfort of our mobile office on the subject of fanfiction.   Welcome LM here, and you can find me here at http://lmbrownauthor.blogspot.com.

Spend some time with both of us and let us know what you think on this potentially volatile subject!  Here's your coffee, LM, shall we get started?

What constitutes “real” writing?

Fan fiction is one of the hobbies that has grown in popularity enormously following the arrival of the internet.  It has got a lot of bad press over the years and many do not consider it to be real writing at all. 

Admittedly there is a lot of bad fan fiction out there – but there is also a lot of good, at least if you know where to look for it.  Personally, when I am looking for good fan fiction I go on recommendations from writers that I have already discovered.

But the stigma of fan fiction still remains and many people refuse to accept fan fiction as real writing.  I disagree.  I believe it is simply a different type of writing, just as writing a technical manual for a new computer program is different to writing a best selling novel.  No one would ever dispute that either of these are real writers, so why is fan fiction any different? 

Just consider the number of fandoms where published books spawned from a television series, for example, are available to buy.  Many of those are written by people who had nothing to do with the various shows, but no one would accuse them of not being real writers.

I am a self-confessed writer of fan fiction and have been for nearly ten years. 

I have always enjoyed writing but didn’t delve into fan fiction until 2003.  I had not written anything for a number of years at this point due to full time work and evening classes.  My writing had been shoved away in a closet and was largely forgotten about.  I stumbled into fan fiction more by accident than design and found it both easier and more difficult to write than my own stories. 

On the one hand fan fiction can make a writer lazy.  The author of the fandom you are writing has already done the leg work of world building and you know in advance that any reader looking up fan fiction will already know the ins and outs of the world you are writing about.  The places and people are already drawn for you and it is remarkably easy to skim over that part to get to the plot you are writing.

It can be quite nice to know that the reader is familiar with the world you are writing about, but woe betide any fan fiction author who makes a mistake in the details of that world.  The readers in the fandom are a stickler for detail and are more than ready to jump on every mistake they find.  If you want to brush up on keeping track of the tiniest of details, fan fiction can be a great place to start… at least providing you know the fandom well.

Something else you will find is that the fan fiction readers are always eager to tell you if a character is acting out of character.  Of course, only the author of the fandom will be able to tell you for sure how any of their characters would act in the situation you are placing them in, but their readers often know the characters nearly as well.

When writing your own original stories you should know your characters pretty well, but even the most accomplished of writers can have a character who undergoes a complete personality transplant during the course of a book.  I am sure every reader can think of at least one instance of this happening.  I know I can.

Writing a novel is a time consuming process; writing fan fiction can be equally so.  I spend just as much time researching details in the fandom I am writing for as I do researching things for my own stories.  It is just important to me that everything is correct, to the best of my ability, no matter what type of writing I am doing.

My fan fiction remains online for those who continue to read it.  None of it is professionally edited, and most of it is unbeta’d, but I am reluctant to take it down for various reasons.  It may not be what everyone considers “real” writing, but I work as hard to write those stories as I do my original fiction stories.  They may not be as polished as my published stories, but I put a great deal of effort into each and every one.  One of my longer stories took me at least two years to complete and I put my heart and soul into that story, just as I do for any of my original fiction stories.

Many fan fiction writers who become published vanish from their fandoms.  Their stories are removed from the internet and for years afterwards people continue to hear about them and mourn their loss.

I would, however, hope that my stories remain online for many years to come.

L.M. Brown can be found at http://lmbrownauthor.webs.com/

Touch of a Ghost by L.M. Brown      

Blurb

Andy Jessop wants a life without ghosts. He doesn’t want to see, hear, or talk to them. Ignoring them should be relatively simple. 

But Andy soon finds that Benji Richards, an eternally gorgeous ghost from the fifties, is not so easy to ignore.

Halloween night is approaching and both Andy and Benji know what it could mean for them. From sunset to sunrise, it is the one night of the year when a mortal can feel the touch of a ghost.

Excerpt (Mild R rated)

Andy could ignore rattling pots and piercing screams with no problem, but how could he hope to ignore a shirtless Benji, draped enticingly across his bed?

Andy couldn't resist much longer, especially when Benji took control of the television and persistently altered the channel he had chosen.

"What about this one?" Benji suggested as he changed the channel again, this time to a porn film.

Andy ignored him and turned the channel back to the news.

Benji smirked and switched it back again. "You can't tell me you've never watched a porno before."

Andy gritted his teeth, determined to neither confirm nor deny the teasing accusation. Even if he were in the mood for watching some porn, the straight stuff that Benji had put on wasn't to his taste at all. He reached out to switch the channel yet again, only to find Benji had taken the remote and moved it to the other end of the sofa.

It took every ounce of his willpower not to glare at the ghost as he grabbed the remote and switched off the television.

Benji chuckled and twisted round so he faced Andy.

"I can't believe you're still ignoring me. We could have so much fun together if you'd just stop being so stubborn."

Andy closed his eyes and rested his head back on the sofa. He forced himself not to look at the way Benji toyed with the belt of his jeans.

"Did you know that you're the only single gay man in the building?" Benji asked. "Apart from me, but I guess I don't really count."

Andy hadn't known that, and honestly, he hadn't really thought about it. He doubted he could even name half of the residents in the building.

"There's only five people in the building who regularly watch porn," Benji continued. "And all they watch is the straight stuff."

Andy suspected he knew where this might be going.

"Would it kill you to watch a bit of gay porn now and then?" Benji whispered, sounding far closer than he had been when Andy had closed his eyes.

Andy sighed and opened his eyes. Benji had moved closer. A few more inches and the ghost would be in his bloody lap.

"Just one film? Or I may have to consider getting my thrills some other way…"

Andy shivered involuntarily at the implied meaning behind the words.

"You're a healthy young man," Benji continued, his voice low and seductive. "Sooner or later you'll need relief, and if you won't let me watch the occasional porno…"

Andy didn't know whether Benji would actually carry out his unspoken threat, but he found instead of being shocked or angry, the idea of Benji watching him while he masturbated actually turned him on.

"You like that idea, don't you?" Benji murmured in his ear. "Even if you won't admit you can see and hear me, your cock tells me otherwise."

Available from Silver Publishing

http://silverpublishing.info/product_book_info/glbt-paranormal-c-53_56/touch-of-a-ghost-p-97

Guest blogging with Pia Valeno

I'm over at Pia Veleno's site, talking about Raylan Givens and Justified instead of my upcoming release Leonardo Di Caprio is a Vampire.  Can you blame me?

Come on by and say hello and see what I have to say about this sexy US Marshal!

http://piaveleno.com/2011/04/28/guest-blog-julie-lynn-hayes/

Silver Flash #13: Yes He's My Ex: On the Road Again

If it's Wednesday, it must be time for another Silver Flash! This week, the Silver Flashers were given this prompt:  You know what, there's no point to this.  If you'll recall from last week, we learned that Dale's last name is Camel and that his father is a notorious mobster. Who fired those shots, and why? Stay tuned for another episode of Yes He's My Ex, starring Sonny and Tim!

This week's episode is


On the Road Again

Every single prayer I’ve ever memorized comes tumbling from my lips, from Hail Mary to the Lord’s Prayer to the one we used to say for grace. Sonny’s clinging to me like a homesick leech, Dale’s screaming his fool head off, and bullets are ricocheting off of everything, with sharp pings.

And then all of a sudden there is silence. Even Dale has stopped giving his imitation of a siren. It isn’t til I raise my head and glance at him that I notice he’s got some agent’s hand over his mouth, and his eyes are bulging just a bit. Dale’s, not the agent’s. The sight warms my heart, and the silence blesses my ears.

“You can come out now, gentlemen.”

Yeah, like I really want to. On second thought, I do, cause it’ll get us away from Dale, whom I suspect has had an accident. First things first.

“Sonny, you okay?” I ask, peering cautiously into his face, looking for signs of tears. He’s surprisingly calm, and gives me a Sonny smile.

“I like being that close to you, Tim-tim,” he confesses, and I feel myself suddenly go quite warm, as I realize just what that closeness hath wrought.

A cough behind us. Damn, this isn’t the place, now is it? We manage to extricate ourselves from beneath the picnic table. Agent Nelson is on his phone, and his fellow agents are standing over what appears to be a body. No, make that two bodies.

“Yessir. Right away, sir.” The FBI man closes his phone and turns to us. “Well, then, let’s get you to the hotel, shall we?” Calm and cool as a cucumber, not a hair out of place. There’s two fucking dead bodies on the ground! Isn’t that something to get at least a little excited about?

My stomach is churning violently and I think I’m going to get sick. I quickly turn Sonny away from the sight of the bloody carnage which lies in the grass. I’ve never seen anyone who was shot before—it’s not a pretty sight. “Don’t look, Sonny,” I caution him. I don’t think to warn Dale—maybe ‘cause I don’t care what he does, as long as it doesn’t involve Sonny—and I’m not surprised to hear him puke.

Agent Nelson takes Dale in hand. I have to restrain Sonny from offering the noodge either comfort or a Kleenex, which he seems to have a huge supply of in his pocket. One of his agents approaches him and whispers in his ear.

“All right, let’s haul some serious ass!” Nelson motions to us to follow him. The other agents are hovering around me and Sonny. I growl at them when they get too close for my comfort. We’re hustled into the back of a big black Cadillac with tinted windows. I make sure to get in between Dale and Sonny. At the moment, Dale seems too dispirited to try anything. Good. I hope he stays that way. For as long as this situation lasts. However the fuck long that is.

“Um, what’s gonna happen with them?” I ask Agent Nelson. He sits shotgun in the front, and Agent A is driving, while Agent B sits in the middle, looking straight ahead, like a truck driver on crack. “With the bodies, I mean.”

“What bodies?” The agent turns to face our way, flashing us a humorless grin.

Great. Denial at high levels. Or intensive cover-up. Take your pick.

I notice that Agent A (who looks just like Agent B, even to the length of his regulation dark hair and mirrored shades) is driving a rather circuitous route, weaving in and out of traffic on the highway like he’s got a cake in the oven and if he doesn’t get to it quickly, the house will burn down. My heart leaps into my throat at several near collisions, including one with a huge tractor trailer with a clown painted on its side. The driver blasts his horn at us. Sonny and Dale turn around and make motions with their arms to get him to do it again. Morons. The windows are tinted, no one can see in.

“Can we slow down a little?” I suggest, my words falling on deaf ears.

 You know what, there's no point to this. I’m just giving myself an ulcer for no good reason. I scoot over toward Sonny as far as I can without unbuckling, as far away from Dale as possible. Sonny doesn’t complain. I put my arms around him, and we snuggle together in the corner. If I keep my face buried in his flesh, I can’t see oncoming traffic, right? At least that’s my theory.

I find myself kissing Sonny’s neck, surprising myself at my own amatory tendencies—normally I’m not one to express myself so openly when in the company of anyone else, cretin or otherwise. He curls his fingers in my hair, and makes little moaning noises. This is so familiar. No, not necking in the back of a Federal agent’s car. Me and Sonny. Loving, touching, squeezing. Each other.

I’d like to pretend it’s just us, he and I, alone, in love, and living our lives. But the sound of Dale’s voice puts an end to my fantasies, assaulting my eardrum like nails on a chalkboard.

“I’m hungry!” he whines, “can I have some chicken nuggets?”

I want to reach over and slap him until his head bounces, and scream, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” And I would, but Sonny chooses that moment to wind his legs around mine, and I find myself in just the right position, albeit an uncomfortable one, to feel his hardness rubbing against mine.

Screw Dale. My libido takes on a life of its own, I devour Sonny’s mouth with my own, the motion of the vehicle putting us into auto-frottage. Oh God, I can’t believe we’re doing this, here and now, and I think I’m about to explode and….

… then the car stops.

To be continued...

Check out this week's other Silver Flashers:

Sui Lynn    m/m

RJ Scott       m/f

Ryssa Edwards       m/m

Heather Lin     m/m

Lindsay Klug        m/m

LM Brown        m/m

Nicole Dennis    m/m

Lily Sawyer    m/m

Come back next week for the continuing saga of Sonny and Tim in Yes He's My Ex!

♥ Julie

Guest blogging today at Taboo Indeed

I'm over at Taboo Indeed, talking about Leonardo di Caprio is a Vampire. Stop by and say hello!

http://tabooindeed.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-jule-lynn-hayes.html?zx=fad6b8efeedae12f

Dark Lover Review

Dark Lover  

Author: J.R. Ward

Publisher: Signet

American release date: September 6, 2005

Format/Genre/Length: Novel/Paranormal Romance/400 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: not rated/mature readers

Overall Personal Rating: A+

Similar series or titles to check out: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series

Darius has a situation that he needs help with. His half- human daughter Beth is about to transition—into a vampire! He contact Tohrment, in order to arrange a meeting with one of the other brothers. Darius wants Wrath to help Beth with her coming ordeal, although she has no knowledge of her own father, of what he is, or of what lies in wait for her! Wrath, however, wants nothing to do with the situation.

Synopsis:

An unexpected tragic occurrence changes Wrath’s mind, although he isn’t exactly enthusiastic about it. Things get complicated when he actually sees Beth, and is drawn to her, very much. The feeling is quite mutual on the part of the female reporter, who has no knowledge of vampires or the Black Dagger Brotherhood—a group of highly skilled, highly advanced, elite vampires who protect the backs of their kind against the lessers who would harm them.

Beth is amazed how drawn she is to Wrath; it’s not her style to be like that. The darling of the police station she gets her tips from, she has an especial admirer in the form of Butch O’Neal. He might be good looking and all that, but she’s less than impressed with him, and thinks of him more as a friend or an acquaintance. When Butch catches wind of her and Wrath, his jealousy combines with his protective instinct.He isn’t afraid to step in to protect Beth from what he perceives as the danger she is walking into.

Wrath has a shellan named Marissa. From her he derives nourishment in the form of blood—vampires don’t feed on humans, but on other vampires—but he does not take her in any other way, to her chagrin. The other shellans are mated to their hellrens in ways that she can never be, and it wears on her, as well as on her brother Havers, who is the physician for the vampires, and who is constantly working on solutions to the blood situation.

Beth fights against her feelings for Wrath, and the attraction to him which causes her to do things she never ever dreamed of before, but when her time comes, he must take care of her, and to do so, he abducts her and takes her to Darius’ home. Well one of them. And they all belong to Beth now. Along with the faithful butler Fritz.

Meanwhile Mr. X has ideas of his own for getting rid of the Brotherhood, and he doesn’t care who he hurts—or kills—to do it. The lessers are no longer human themselves, having gone through a ritual with the Omega. They don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves—they keep them in jars!

Butch finds himself involved with the Brotherhood because of his concern for Beth. At the same time, he’s running what career he has left into the ground because of some of his unorthodox methods. What will he do when he learns the truth about the men who hold Beth “hostage”? And what of Marissa and her needs? Will her brother do something foolish to avenge her “dishonor”?

Commentary:

The first volume of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood hits a home run right off the bat! I was wondering if it was going to be an imitation of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series, but on the contrary, the similarities are only superficial—hot vampires and the women they fall in love with. J.R. Ward has definitely created her own world, and she has her own way of saying things. At the beginning of the book is a glossary of the terms she uses, which definitely comes in handy for easy reference as you read.

The boys in the Black Dagger Brotherhood are no one to fool with, but the lessers they have to contend with are not necessarily fools either. I like to see battles where the outcome is not assured because of uneven odds between the protagonists and the antagonists. There is no clear-cut area of good and bad either—everyone is judged on his own merits, and what you perceive as one or the other might change.

I loved everything about this book. The characters were very believable, and people you could care about. The evolving romance of Beth and Wrath definitely caught my interest from the beginning. And the love scenes are smokin’ hot! The only problem I have with this book is that it ended! The saving grace of that is that it’s just the first book in the series. I am so looking forward to the next one!

Easter ramblings

Today is Easter Sunday. I know it means a lot of different things to different people. I'm not here to debate that, just to talk about my own plans and such.

As a kid, Easter meant baskets filled with candies, and searching for colorful eggs that the Easter Rabbit had hidden in the house. I'm not sure I ever questioned why he did such a thing, I just looked for them. I'm not even sure I ate them, but my competitive nature made me try to find 'em all. As I got older, I got let into the mystique of the dying of the Easter eggs, a tradition which I carried on when my kids were little. Times changed, too, and then Easter baskets began to contain more than candy - they had toys too. I guess some kids got Easter clothes too, but we didn't go to church so that never factored in.

Now my youngest child is 20, so all of that is over. No more Easter baskets or Easter eggs. Now we're left with - Easter dinner!  Not so bad, eh? I like to cook, they like to eat. Sounds reasonable to me. So today I'm going to cook a big dinner. Sarah's dad is coming over. The others are scattered - Chris in Columbia (at college and working so he can't come home), Michael in Hawaii and Katie in Indiana.

I got a ham, of course. It's pretty traditional, and we like ham. I got about a 9 pound bone-in ham at Savealot for $1.19 a pound, which is a good price. The other stores were asking around $1.89-$1.99 a pound for bone-in, and whole hams at that, which I didn't need. I'm going to try a new glaze this year - I'm glazing it with Coke. I'll let you know how that works out for me. Instead of a mac and cheese side dish, I'm making a tater tot casserole with cheddar cheese and bacon.  Here is the recipe:
http://www.meninaprons.net/archives/2007/05/bacon_cheddar_tater_tot_casser.html

Also, I am trying a carrot salad -

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Carrot-Salad?pmcode=ILDDC03S&_mid=1574532&_rid=1574532.781200.84533

It sounded good, I hope it tastes good too.  Plus I'm making a chocolate mint cheesecake. I have to go out today, unfortunately, as I realized I misread the recipe and I'm short some of the candy.  Which means I have little choice as to where to get it. Walgreens here I come.
  http://www.food.com/recipe/andes-candies-chocolate-mint-cheesecake-101492  No picture, but Sarah likes mint, even if I don't, so she should be happy.


Other than cooking, I hope to get some writing done, especially on my ongoing series Captivations. Plus I have some guest blog stuff to do too. I've not been writing much since my fall the other night, but I hope to get back into it today.  We'll probably watch more DaVinci's inquest later. Or maybe Chaplin, which I got from the library too.

Today would be a good day to watch a Jesus movie, if I'd thought ahead to get one, but I didn't. King of Kings would have been good. Jesus of Nazareth too, but it's long, six hours. Jesus with Jeremy Sisto, which is 3 hours. All good movies. I haven't seen King of King in years, though, my library doesn't own it. I hope to buy it someday.

However you choose to celebrate the day or not celebrate it, I wish you all a wonderful day.With or without family. Family doesn't have to be blood, you know, it's what's in your heart, not what's in your genes that counts. My family chooses to do without me - their choice.I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, because what is is. I'm sorry that my oldest daughter seems to be among that number. Again, her choice. I don't believe that just because you share blood means you have to share your life. It doesn't always work that way.

I'd love to hear about your plans, your thoughts, how you will spend your day!

Happy Easter!

♥  Julie

Show Us Your Lark - Guest Blogger Lark LaTroy!

Today I am proud to welcome Lark Latroy, whose latest novel, Here Be Dragons, releases from Silver Publishing tomorrow! I have asked Lark the infamous Rick Reed questions. Do you dare read the answers? Do you dare ask Lark any questions of your own?  Be careful - teeth can be sharp!

Thanks for being here Lark! Would you like a drink? Go ahead and have a seat on my virtual beach, while I grab us something with an umbrella, and go ahead and answer those questions.

The Questions

1)      You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?

a.       Steve Jobs and my BlackBerry. Get your entertainment where you can, I always say.

2)      Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?

a.       “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” Prof. Crackatus Potts. He succeeds, in spite of himself.

3)      Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scenario using them:  formulator, tearless, neaten

a.       Well, if I could neaten up the formulator for this stupid database migrate, it might turn out to be a tearless weekend. Unfortunately, the developers won't let me access their formulator. I foresee many tears.

4)      You’ve just been let loose in the world of fiction, with permission to do anyone you want. Who do you fuck first and why?

a.       Wow, now there's a loaded question. I would say the Celtic Goddess Brigid. Why, because I'd never get bored with a three-fold goddess. Second, she's just the best.

5)      What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?

a.       A long drive so far out of the city, you forget there is civilization. Put the roof down on the car, slide the seats back, cuddle and kiss till our clothes are in the back seat. Boink like bunnies. Cuddle a whole lot more as we watch the stars come out. Boink all night long. Get back home just before the sun comes up.

6)      When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

a.       It depends on the story. “Druids Dawning” started with a character, developed in to many characters, and the plot formed around them. “Here Be Dragons” started with a photograph, the character and plot popped into my head while looking at that picture and I started to write.

7)      If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?

a.       Someone totally unknown, who will then go on to become successful. Give the new guy a chance.

8)      Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?

a.       Great Cthulhu. I don't settle for weak, lesser evils.

9)      Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?

a.       Hypatia of Alexandria. Brains, beauty, strength of will. All the right traits in the right place, just at the wrong time.

10)   Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?

a.       No, not yet. However, if I ever do come up with that story, I don't care if the world is ready or not. It is my story to tell, and I will damn well tell it.

 Wow, great answers, Lark! Here, have another drink, and tell us about your new book.

Blurb: When a dragon arrives in New England, the Druids are thrust into the remnants of a war waged before history. Kolsomon wants revenge against the Dragon-Kind, and he will kill Durinllew to get it. The Druids must use all their skill to keep the pretty woman alive, and protect our world.

Excerpt: When she stepped from the woods, into the clearing, Mitch thought he was back in a dream. The woman moved in his direction, walking on top of the new fallen snow. Her eyes focused on him with an intensity he never saw before. The woman had power, a power he dared not contemplate. Instinct told him that the woman approaching him possessed magic beyond his ability to understand. He did not know what to do or say to a creature of such beauty and strength.

The strange woman came within twenty feet of Mitch before stopping. She sniffed hard at the air then cocked her head slightly to one side. Her expression became a look of anger or malice. As she started to raise her arms towards Mitch, she uttered one word in an acrid tone of voice.

"Volnotcht."

Mitch vanished from the clearing just as ribbons of white light flashed from her fingertips. The light struck the trees on the far side of the clearing. Those trees turned gray and fell to the ground like ash. The woman crouched slightly and spread her arms. She started to turn slowly, looking for her target. Mitch stood at the railing of the water tower, gripping the frozen steel with his bare hands. For the life of him, he did not understand why this woman attacked him. Nevertheless, she did, and he had to stop her. He waited a moment then blinked, appearing directly behind the strange woman.

He grabbed her hard and fast, pinning her arms against her body. She struggled in his arms, and, a second later, Mitch realized he couldn’t hold on. Her strength seemed beyond human, and, as she broke his hold he again blink-stepped to safety. He watched from the railing of the water tower as the powerful woman searched for him. Then intense pain struck him without warning. Mitch grabbed at his head and screamed in agony. His last sight before falling over the railing was the powerful woman looking at him.

Here Be Dragons is being released April 23rd at Silver Publishing - you can order your copy now at  http://silverpublishing.info/product_book_info/coming-soon-c-2/here-be-dragons-p-267

Here Be Dragons is the second in the NeoDruids series, which began with  Druids Dawning.

You gotta love dragons, right?  Thanks so much for being here, Lark!  Now, let's have some Q & A!