Maybe…Strange Things are Possible by F.L. Bicknell

This world is full of unsolved mysteries, enigmas that tantalize us and force us to pause and wonder if something is possible. I love the weird, the paranormal and the bizarre. However, some people just can’t deal with anything extraordinary. I suppose it’s fear of the unknown that threatens them. Personally, I’d hate to live in a boring, nothing-special-is-possible world.

Reincarnation is one such “what if?” that I find fascinating. Growing up as a minister’s daughter, I never believed in such a notion. However, as I’ve grown older and have experienced various places, things, and happenings, I’ve changed my mind about whether or not it’s possible for a soul to be born again.

Recently I watched a program on the History Channel about the soul. Science is trying to determine if a soul is real and where it’s located. The program also delved into children who have perfect memories of past lives right down to some astonishing details.

I have two theories on reincarnation. One is that perhaps memories are inherited just like having blue eyes or red hair passed through the genes by a parent or grandparent. My other theory isn’t that we’re all reincarnated as much as it is that some are given a second chance to do what The higher power feels is necessary. Maybe a woman’s life was cut off unexpectedly and she’s given the chance to live as long as she should have before her sudden death. Perhaps a man is reincarnated because he was supposed to carry out something important in his life but there was an unforeseen obstacle that stopped him.

Could this also tie to the expression, ‘history repeats itself?’

It really makes me wonder, and if I think about these things too much it boggles my mind, lol.

Ruby Nutter, my heroine in Ruby, the White King and Marilyn Monroe tackles these issues. My mother’s maiden name is Nutter, and one of my ancestors in 1612, Alice Nutter, was hung for witchcraft. These things, as well as the legend of the Nephilim, serve as the premise of my novel. Mix it all up with a romance that transcends time, and you’ll be swept into an incredible “what if?” world. Be careful, you might have to return as someone else. {wink}

BOOK INFO:

Paranormal romance that takes off full throttle as demonic motorcycles and their beautiful riders chase Ruby to the rocky shores of Key West for a battle of epic proportions.

Are they angels, demons, or something else entirely? Ruby must send them back to a hell unlike anything the world has ever imagined. But will she allow herself to love the White King who has found her again over one thousand years later?

Reincarnated over the centuries. Stuck with a ditzy Marilyn Monroe lookalike. Falling for a rich albino guy. It’s just Ruby’s luck for Hell’s “real” angels to ride into this life and screw it all up.

TMP: http://bit.ly/oOhD3Y

Are: http://bit.ly/rrlPTU

Kindle: http://amzn.to/rpvrA8 and print! Click the amazon book graphic and read the first three chapters of “Ruby.”

Bookstrand: http://bit.ly/rfTlsX

F.L. Bicknell's work has appeared in a wide range of genres and publications such as: Would That It Were, Touch, GC, and Ohio Writer magazines as well as with publications in Canada and Turkey. Under her pseudonym, Molly Diamond, she was a regular contributor to Gent and Ruthie's Club and has had fiction published in Hustler's Busty Beauties, Penthouse Variations, and Twenty 1 Lashes. Ms. Bicknell is the author of several e-book and print titles, also writing as Azura Ice. She has served as co-editor and managing editor for three different publishing houses. She is represented by TriadaUS Literary Agency.

http://www.faithbicknell.com/ http://www.mollydiamond.com/ http://ablueice.wordpress.com/

www.twitter.com/faith_zinnia www.Facebook.com/faithbicknellbrown

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An author's "voice"!

Happy Sunday! Today I’m going to chat about something that I’ve been wanting to blog about for a while now and that’s “voice”.

Before I was an author, I’d heard the term but didn’t really know what it meant. I suppose through the time I’ve been published—and it’s been drilled into my head of how important it is—I’ve taken a bigger notice to it.

Now I’m going to use two books as an example and I’m not going to name them because well…I just feel weird doing that. But it was two books that I’ve read recently. Both were outstanding stories, both well written and both had compelling plot lines.

But guess what? I only remember one of them.

So let’s talk about book #1 (the one I don’t remember). I know when I read book #1 that I really enjoyed it, but I could put it down and didn’t read late into the night. There wasn’t that itch to find out how the story resolved and it was more of a journey. I never had a moment where I stopped reading and thought “ugh, this is boring”. I actually really loved it. There was enough steam in the story that kept me happy, I really enjoyed the characters and I thought the plot was totally neat. But then why don’t I remember it?

Hmmm…good question!

Now onto book #2. This story grabbed me much the same as book #1. I loved everything about it and the characters were fantastic. But this was one of the stories that I cannot stop thinking about. I couldn’t stop reading and even when I put it down, all I wanted to do was go back and read more. I had a huge emotional connection to the characters and felt like I knew them…or at least, I wanted to. I read this book so fast because I was dying to know what happened, needed to spend more time with them, and this is definitely a re-read for me.

So what was the difference between book #1 and book #2? You got it—“voice”. It’s the authors way of telling a story. It wasn’t that anything in book #1 was bad. It was actually really good. But the author in book #2 had a voice that jumped off the page. I connected with her characters in a deeper way because of how she wrote them. It was in the way she set up her chapters and the situations she put her characters in. Her story was more “alive” for me because she had such a strong captivating voice.

It had nothing to do with the characters themselves because I loved book #1 characters just as much. And it wasn’t about the plot because I found them both intriguing. But it was the authors “voice” that grabbed hold and didn’t let me go. It sucked me right in and made me feel like I was somehow a part of the story. I got excited when the characters did, sad at moments, and I was totally cheering the heroine on. Even after weeks of reading it, this story comes into my mind and I’m DYING for the next book in the series.

Now the funny thing about “voice” is that everyone will like something different. While I like a certain way a story is told, others will pick something entirely different. But I think most will agree that there are authors out there that simply have a gift of making their stories an experience, not just words written on a page.

So yes, voice is very important! And usually when I find an author with a powerful way of storytelling I’m a fan for life!

Developing Villians

Ah, the bad boys and girls of romance and one of my favorite character types to develop.  Do they always run around and cackle Mahwawawawawawaw? Are we the readers allowed to like them?

The question is an easy one for me. Yes, not only are we allowed to like them, there should be something, we relate to--feel sympathic about. In the very least, we need to understand why they do what it is they do.

Why, you ask?

Motives. To understand why the villian does what he or she does, we need to understand what drives them. And the easiest way I know to do this, is to make the villian human. I'm not talking no paranormal or science fiction beings, I'm talking giving them human traits. Give them faults, give them challenges and stakes, the same thing you give your hero and heroine. Make not only the hero have hurtles, but give them to your opposition. Not all should be a cake walk--even for the bad guy.

So, I've included some examples of villians in my stories, that show you the human side of my bad boys and girls.

This first excerpt is from my WIP, One Shot. Notice that Smitty could be anyone one of our girlfriends. Perhaps you know or hang out with someone like her. In this excerpt you see a friendship, a relationship between the heroine and villian and it's not what you'd expect: 

“Catch.” Smitty tossed the bottle of shampoo to me. Somehow, I’d run out and forgotten to get more. We were the last two females to hit the showers. Smitty kept her mouth closed until we were alone.



“Thanks. I owe you until I can get to the exchange.” She nodded. It wasn’t an issue. I’d have done the same for her.


“If you actually went when you should have, instead of…”


I closed my eyes and stuck my face under the water, hoping to drown out what came next. Here it comes, the proverbial, I told you so.


“Smitt. It was one mistake. I won’t make it again.”


“I told you going to that bar was a bad idea. He’s an instructor, Audra. Do you have any idea how deep in shit you’ll sink if they find out? You haven’t learned a thing. I saw the way you were looking at him. He winked. For Christ sakes. If I saw it, you can bet someone else did.”


“I know, I know.” I scrubbed my hair, working my fingers through it. “I promise to be a good girl from now on. No more Staff Sgt. Yummy.”


“Why don’t I believe you?”


I turned to her. “I promise.” I crossed my heart. “I’ll do my best to resist temptation.”


“You’ve got your work cut out for you.” She grinned. “Did you see his ass in those shorts?”


I laughed. “Who didn’t?” I closed my eyes and could visualize digging my nails into it. God, the man flipped every switch in my body. I heated up just thinking about him.


“You better crank that dial to cold, girl. You’re turning red thinking about him.”


I snapped my head in her direction. “You checking me out in the shower, Smitt?”


She laughed. “Duh. Yeah. But it would still be like doing my sister, so don’t get any ideas.”


I threw my washcloth at her. “I’ll leave the chicks to you.”


“Chicks and pricks, Audra. I’ve told you a thousand times…”


“Yeah, I know. You’re bi.”


She gave me a salute and turned off the shower. As she walked by, she cranked mine to cold. I screamed, jumped back and snatched a towel, snapping it at her. She yelped and went for hers.


A loud pounding on the door ended our fun. “Hey, we’d like to get in there sometime today.” I eyed her and started to giggle. There had to be a line a mile long outside. What had they heard? What did they think was going on behind closed doors?


“What’s going on in there?” said a voice a little hoarse and a little strained. Yup, the power of the, male mind, thinking from between his legs. How’d I know? The boy’s brains had gone into overdrive and the longer we remained behind a locked door, the bigger the stories in their heads would grow.


“Nothing you boys could handle,” Smitty yelled back through the door. “Just a little female bonding.”


“That’s not going to help.” I shoved Smitty, giving her a dirty look. The last thing I needed was for the guys to fantasize about us soaping each other up in the showers. As if being one of six women in a male dominated unit, surrounded by alpha chest-thumpers, wasn’t bad enough.


“It’s okay. We used all the hot water. They’ll get over it quick.” She laughed and pulled her robe on while I did the same.


“You’re incorrigible, Smitt.”


“The one and only.” She opened the door and stared into half a dozen male faces. “They’re all yours boys. We’re done here.” She brushed past and started up the stairs. Mouths dropped open and eyes followed her. I shook my head and started after her.


“It’s not what you think,” I said. But their expressions said otherwise. No, they didn’t have to think. Their cocks had taken over.


Super.

In this excerpt, you'll meet Ian Saefa, my villian in Slipping the Past and discover the roots of his obsession with Jocelyn Miller:
 
Justinus eyed her from across the room. Handsome, powerful and wealthy, everything she should desire. He’d been a friend from childhood. They used to sneak out and ride together, play in the fields and they even learned about sex together. He’d been her first and at one time she thought herself in love with him. But lately he’d taken on a serious air, watching her with hunger, always questioning where she went and with whom.



“Where were you this night, Jocasta? I came by earlier.”


She shrugged and twisted a beaded bracelet on her wrist, a trinket Augustus purchased for her earlier. “Taking in the celebration.”


“Did you attend with someone?”


She glanced up and caught the look in his eyes. Fire. Lust. Her stomach fluttered. “Alone.”


“You shouldn’t go out unescorted. A beautiful woman could find herself in trouble. I might lose you to another lover.”


Jocasta laughed. “You tease me, Justinus. You’re not my lover.”


“I tease not. I’ve asked your father for permission to marry you. He has agreed that the arrangement would be quite satisfactory.”


“Marriage?” Jocasta’s heart thumped in her chest. She could do worse. She cared deeply for him, but regardless she could never love him, not like the Centurion with the amber eyes.


He rose from where he’d reclined and walked toward her. “I’ve loved you all my life.”


She tipped her head back and stared into his face. “You’re my closest friend and I love you as such, but not as intimately as you profess.”


“I hope it will become so much more.” He knelt before her, pulled a bundle wrapped in bright fabric from the folds of his military tunic and held out a jeweled collar. “I’ve had this brought this all the way from Egypt for you. I’ve heard Cleopatra wore something very similar. Here, take it, a small token of my affections.”


Jocasta glanced down at the beaded bracelet she wore and back at the lapis and gold collar. “It’s lovely.”


He reached forward. “Lift your hair.”


Jocasta shook her head. “I can’t take that. I’ve fallen in love with another.”


Justinus’s glared and a tick pulsed in his jaw. His black eyes looked darker, full of rage. “Who?”


“Does it matter?”


“Who?”


“His name is Augustus. He’s a Centurion.”


“Augustus?” Justinus’s eyes fell, a frown creased his face. Pain burned across his countenance.


“Justinus?” There was more there than he was saying. “Do you know him?”


“He’s my brother. Anyone but him. I can’t kill him, but I can’t let you go either. I could never let you go.”


And last but not least, is an excerpt from my WIP Jericho Rising, the sequel to Last Flight of the Ark. Here you meet Kera, Col Caleb Titan's daughter, or the child he thinks is his daughter:
 

Kera wrinkled her nose. The planet was plagued with the stink of the hybrids and she’d have to live with it until they rid their world of the parasites. If not for the Terran government, she wouldn’t exist—she’d known before she’d hatched they’d been the last pod of children, missed by her father and his crew when they’d landed, and her mother, a hive queen, had intentionally left her behind to help restore the population to its former glory.



With all the colonists, they could grow an endless supply of fresh food and maintain their growing population without traveling to other worlds. The Terrans were unaware they’d become livestock. The hybrids tasted foul and would eventually have to be eradicated. No sense in fouling the food supply.


It didn’t take long for the government of Colonel Kaleb Titan’s world to take over and lock down the city, finding the hidden pod and activating the incubator. If not for their psychic abilities the government of Earth would be unable to use the technology of her people—so they’d elected to keep the hatchlings they’d discovered, which she communicated with daily by telepathy.


Even though her surrogate parents believed she belonged to them, and she looked exactly like Jessica, she didn’t. She’d consumed the umbilical cord of her adopted mother’s other son, and took on his genetics almost immediately. Her DNA was convincing evidence that she belonged to them when she’d been tested—any discrepancies were put off as part of the mutation.


As an infant, she’d been aware they’d switched her, wrapped her in the bloody rags of the hybrid child they’d replaced her with, to give her his scent—actually she’d compelled them to do it. She’d had a superior intelligence, trapped in an infant body—had been aware of all that went on around her and had a mind unlike anything they could possibly believe an infant could possess. Even though she’d been hours old she’d been able to manipulate the weaker minds to her biding, and knew that she simply needed to bide her time before her plan came together.


Since the pod-children shared many of the genetic traits of the hybrids, it made sense for the scientists to hide them among the hybrid population until they needed their special skills.


Her parents were blissfully unaware that Earth command had treated her for her allergies and once she hatched, they’d replaced their son with her, and many of her other hatchling brothers and sisters with other hybrid babies. She used Earth Command for everything she could, exchanging information on the hybrid colonies for favors, and had access to many things the hybrids could only dream about, including the hidden prison full of hybrids taken from their parents at birth—children they were unaware of—the lab rats of the Terran scientists.


Most of all, she’d discovered where her mother had hidden the weapons she’d need to take back their world.


Soon her brothers and sisters would be strong enough, and the only weapon the Terrans had possessed, had been foolishly destroyed by their own hands in their greed to control the alien technology of her world.

Have a great Saturday.

D L

Finding Inspiration in Song by Becca Dale

Welcome to Friday’s stop on the Decadent Publishing’s Speculative Fiction blog tour. Today, in honor of the LA based band behind the Run Devil Run anthology and my own story from that work called “Can’t Stop Me,” let’s talk a bit about the muse of music.

Inspiration can come from many places. My muse has directed me down some interesting paths simply by pointing out people on the street. With “Can’t Stop Me” the inspiration was preordained by my publisher, but it worked like flipping a switch. As soon as I read Run Devil Run’s lyrics for the song “Can’t Stop Me” my characters began to form and by the third reading, they were fairly solid in my head. Once I actually heard the music, the pace of the story settled in as well, and I realized that the characters had to race across the country to save themselves and the world.

I am not a big music lover but strangely lyrics often launch my thoughts. Some authors actually make playlists for each book and listen to the songs while they write. I am the type of person who gets sidetracked easily – look something shiny – so I can’t do that because the instrumental part is distracting to me until the parameters of the story are solid and in place. However, until recently, I did not realize how often song lyrics are an underlying source of ideas whether for pace, tone, or storyline. “Heart Desires” = an Andy Gibb tune, “I Just Want to be Your Everything.” “Erotic Healing” = Beauty from Pain” by Superchick. “Kya’s King” = Disney’s “Once Upon a Dream.” There are many others but these are the ones that jump out at me. The age and/or sophistication level of some of these songs say way too much about me, as well, but I am trying to block that part.

With “Can’t Stop Me” not only did the song set the pace, the lyrics spoke to me with such strength of character and passion that Luca and Kern could do no less. So I offer my thanks to the members of Run Devil Run and to every other musical artist who has enable the muse to inspire this basically tone deaf author with their words and beat. My thanks also to the talented authors of Paranormal Romantics for allowing me to drop by today. I lift a toast to you ladies as well.

If you had a chance to thank your inspiration who or what would you lift your glass to? Share with me for a chance to win a copy of the eBook “Can’t Stop Me” or any of my other Decadent Publishing titles, a personalized gift from me as well as an autograph from the man on the cover, the ever adorable Jackie Joyride from Run Devil Run. In addition you will be entered for a chance to win three months of free membership to Decadent Publishing’s book club. So many gifts for so little effort. Winners will be drawn Monday, January 30, 2012.

Blurb “Can’t Stop Me.”

Prophecy proclaims a child of three worlds will lead the strong one to victory. Threatened by the church since birth and imprisoned by Lucifer’s elite force for over five years, Kernan Malanous represents demons, angels, and mankind, but who will be the strong one—God, Lucifer, or someone intent on overthrowing them both?

Born the blind daughter of the greatest mediums in history, Luca Alexander sees more than anyone suspects. Screams of the damned slash at her sanity as demonic visitors hide a stranger in her home. To quiet the horror echoing from the underworld, she seeks the prisoner’s soothing thoughts, offering him peace while finding her own.

When the devil’s top gun comes to reclaim his prize, Luca risks her life to liberate the pure soul in her attic, but Kern won’t leave his beautiful innocent at the mercy of the merciless. Desperate, the young couple flees with hell on their heels. Unrestricted for the first time in their lives, Luca and Kern discover rare joy in one another, but all good has its counterpart. Torn between personal peril and world-wide destruction, will the young lovers run from fate or take a stand to fight and live as free beings?

Buy Link

Becca Dale - Naughty Enough

http://beccadale.blogspot.com/

What's in a Title?

Lately, for some unknown reason, titles have been difficult in making themselves known. It can be frustrating to whittle all your hard work down into a few words that are reflective of a story. Title trouble is nothing new for me. But it seems to be especially hard lately. Maybe it's that drive to have the perfect title. The one that can tell the reader a lot about the story in such a short span of time - sometimes only one word.

So tell me, what kind of titles do you like? Ones descriptive of the story as a whole, or ones that focus in on one key event in the story? Maybe even titles that have nothing to do with the story, but more the theme?

Something New Plus Something Pretty!

I got my finalized cover art for Eversworn yesterday. That's always fun.

Let me see if I can get it attached...

There we go.

So, the hunk in the center is Dillon. The lady to your right is Isabeau. 

This is their story:

Steal the salt. Bind the grimoire. Escape the male.

When an exchange of stolen goods in the Feriana marketplace turns sour, Isabeau stumbles from the encounter bruised and laden with new orders to complete an even larger heist. With her child’s life at stake, there’s no room for error—or allies.

Armed with a lethal book of spells, she strikes a dangerous bargain with Roland Bernhard. Steal a shipment of salt from the Feriana colony, and she’ll have her freedom—and her daughter. It’s all she’s ever wanted. At least it was…until she runs into Dillon Preston.

Dillon is out of commission after a mine explosion, and itching for a distraction. He gets it when the female who saved his leg arrives at the colony with nothing but flimsy excuses and even flimsier attire. She’s after something, but is it him—or the salt?

Trapped in a desperate bid to gain true freedom, Isabeau is willing to sacrifice her life for her daughter’s, but Dillon has other plans. He wants a package deal, and he’s not willing to lose either female, even if it means the future king of Sere’s head will roll.

Warning: This title contains a heroine desperate to save her daughter and a hero determined to make them a family. It also includes wings, horns and other assorted appendages.

I also have review ARCs ready to go to some lucky reviewers. Yay!

In other news, I'm writing the second Araneae Nation novel, A Feast of Souls. (Vaughn and Mana's book.) Their story gave me a character I really wanted to expand on, but couldn't cram his story within their book. He also doesn't fit the series mold. So...for the first time in years, I will be attempting to write a novella. My editor signed off on the idea, so I'm looking forward to trying something new. It should be fun, and I'd like to see if I've grown enough to pull off a shorter piece.

How about y'all? Do you have a preference for writing short or long?

When Life Reminds Me...

I just got back home today from a wedding we went to in Jeckyll Island, Georgia. (Congratulations Lillian and Patrick, we are thrilled for you!)

On the day of the wedding, my husband and I leisurely strolled around Jeckyll Island hand-in-hand looking around. He had been to the island a lot as a child when they visited family but had not been back in two decades. I had never been there.

Let me tell you--it is beautiful.

But that is not the purpose of my story. In my most recently published book, Love Beyond Loyalty, two of the characters spend some time discussing Spanish Moss. Its actually a pivotal scene that travels between Love Beyond Loyalty and Love Beyond Sanity, the second book in the Outsider series. I wrote the scenes from my memory of the Moss that used to hang on the trees outside my bedroom window when I lived in New Orleans.

In New Jersey, I do not see such sights. I see other wonderful things but Spanish Moss on the trees, I do not.

As we were walking I looked up and there it was. I snapped a picture as my mind whirled. Even when I'm on vacation, life reminds me of how much I love this job I get to do telling stories. I had to share the picture with all of you.

Hope you're all well.

RR