BOOK LAUNCH PARTY

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MUSEITUP AUTHORS WHO HAVE BOOKS RELEASED TODAY, FEBRUARY 3rd 2012

 CONGRATULATIONS ELLE DRUSKIN



  

Cover Designer: Delilah Stephans



GOING TO THE DOGS 

A Contemporary Romance Novel



Sam Kendall is a cop with a mission; find the killer who murdered his partner and track down the diamond thieves behind the killing. Chief suspect Jodie McBride is a brilliant dog trainer but a loser with men. Dog-hating Sam is stuck with a junk food addicted poodle as his new partner and stuck on a cute redheaded dog lover that he desperately wants to be innocent. Mix in an assortment of eccentric pooches, their offbeat owners, baseball fans and two very smart canines who know humans can’t be trusted to know a good thing when they see it. Before Sam and Jodie know what's happened, everybody is going to the dogs.

Now available from  Amazon Kindle  and  MuseItUp Bookstore 

Visit Elle at  Elle Druskin's Website 

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CONGRATULATIONS SHELLIE NEUMEIER



Cover Designer Kaytalin Platt



 

THE WISHING RING



The Adventures of Cory and Ali

A Tween Fantasy  Novella

BLURB:
The King’s castle stands alone atop Grand Ur Mountain, but even that does not match the solitude surrounding Princess Ally. With a carrot-shaped nose, she trudges through her princess duties with the most unfortunate face. With her pet greybar (a creature with the head of a greyhound, body of a polar bear, and wings of an eagle) as her only friend, Ali dreams of becoming a beautiful princess.

When Cory, a ninja-in-training, drops through the royal chimney, he does not intend to enlist the help of anyone, much less a girl, but she holds the key to the Creator’s map. The ancient map marks the secret hiding place of the magic Wishing Ring, a ring grants the wearer one wish.

Cory’s mysterious need for the ring and Ali’s dream of a beauty send the pair to a forgotten land. Only the war ravaged clan of Odana can translate the map’s key. But even if they manage to find a translator, the question remains—can they beat the Ogre who guards the ring?


Available from Amazon and Muse Bookstore

Visit Shellie at  Shellie Neumeier's Website

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CONGRATULATIONS      DEBI WILDER

GABBY’S SECOND CHANCE, BOOK 2  LACEY’S LAMP

Cover Designer Suzannah Safi


A Short Story

Erotic Fantasy
fantasy, paranormal, love lost, love found, betrayal

BLURB

Gabby Adams did the unthinkable – she put her unborn child in harms way and lost. While Ryan Peterson was fleeing the thugs he owed money to for horse betting, Gabby placed herself physically between the man she loved and the men who wanted to harm him. Gabby feels she’s undeserving to give her love to anyone, physically or emotionally. With ghosts laid to rest and Lacey’s help, will Gabby find love in the arms of another man?

Available from  Amazon Kindle and  MuseItUp Bookstore

 Debi Wilder's Website but you must be 18yrs+ to enter this site.

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CONGRATULATIONS  KRISTIN BATTESTELLA

RESURRECTION: STEPHANIE AFTER THE LILITHAN

Cover Designer Suzannah Safi

Book Seven in Fate and Fangs
The Vampire Family Series

Dark Fiction Paranormal

A Short Story









BLURB

In Professor James’ final tale, former Lilithan vampire and newly divorced scientist Stephanie just can’t get over how much she misses being a vampire. After a harrowing car accident during a frightful storm, Stephanie meets Mestiphles, the giver and taker of vampire power on both sides of the coven wars.  His charm and seductive powers sweeten the demonic offer he extends, but will Stephanie accept Mestiphles’ dark opportunities?


 Available from   Amazon Kindle and MuseItUp Bookstore

Visit Kristin at Kristin Battestella's blog


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CONGRATULATIONS TO ME!

          


Cover Designer Kaytalin Platt



BILLY THE BONSAI BULL 

 is a short chapter book for Middle Graders, about an orphan calf's struggle to survive through grief, rejection and bullying.

BLURB



This is an Australian true story told from the little bull's point of view.



Billy is a stubborn, orphaned calf who is losing the battle to survive. Hope revives in an unexpected way, through the milk bottle he detests, and brings him a sense of belonging. However, it takes more than a place in the pecking order for this little white bull to thrive. It takes a miracle.



In frustration, the farmer's wife declares, "The trouble is, he knows he's a cow."

 

Thank you Lea Schizas and MuseItUp Publishing.

Thank you to my editors Annie Duguid and Nancy Bell, and to my cover designer Kaytalin Pratt.

Available from  Amazon Kindle  and  MuseItUp Bookstore

My Website



Come and join the boistrous party via the comments- if you are game. Meet the authors and you might win a copy of one of these new books.

The garden gate stands ajar-- WELCOME IN said the spier to the fly hehehehe. Bring your characters to mingle with ours.





Calamity's Corner February issue.

In this month's issue of CC, Welsh born Hywela Lyn is our featured Author of the Month.

Sydney law student Gabriela shares her visit to Cuenca, Ecuadar.

Jacquie Rogers gives us something to 'tut' about, LJ Roberts reviews The Chalk Girl,
and I tease you with a quick quiz about one of History's most famous flirts.

There is much more of course, including Rebecca Ryals Russell's movie review.

An inspirational pair send you their Valentine's Day  greeting.

Happy Valentine's Day for the 14th.

If you have something I can use for the 'Something Unusual' section, I'd love you to
send it, please, and  I'm always happy to receive movie reviews

Please Email me if you'd like to receive CC a small pdf on the 1st of each month
Calam
http://wendylaharnar.weebly.com/

My Review of Much Ado About Marshals by Jacquie Rogers

This Historical Western Romance set in 1885, Oreana, Idaho, is a hoot. It’s hot, funny, and romantic; in others words this is a seductive read. I couldn’t put it down. Guilty secrets, love triangles, mistaken identity, forbidden love, Shakespeare couldn’t have given us more, but Jacquie Rogers does. She includes bank robbers, a wannabe lady detective and a whole town full of memorable characters who take us on a rollicking ride in the Wild West. 

Warmth of innocence and true love are endearing qualities in the main characters.

Cole Richards living a lie as the Marshal Sidney Adler is loveable because, as well as his fear of capture for his unintentional part in a bank robbery, it’s his sense of honour and commitment to his new role and his love for the Mayor’s daughter that prevents him revealing his true identity. The marshal clearly understands the difference between true love and lust.

Daisy Gardiner is lovable because she knows what she wants and in her innocence she works out how to get it. She wants the marshal. Married to this handsomely sexy man she can be his helpmate and pursue her career as private detective, like the fictional Honey Beaulieu in her detective novels. But first she must nurse him back to health after the gunshot wound to his leg and prove her usefulness by helping to capture two unethical miners.

Ms Roger’s humour swings between slapstick (e.g. scenes with the boy and his dog) to irony (e.g. the proposed use of the medicinal “Dr Liebig’s Lost Manhood Restorer.”) She plays on Bosco Kunkle’s love of food which brings out the sweet and sad side of the lonely widows who fawn over him. She uses the naivety of young women in this by-gone era and has her reader smiling and laughing out loud.

Much Ado About Marshals is an adult novel; educational too. It would make a perfect gift for the bride-to-be. J

Wendy's Review Of Trencarrow Secret by Anita Davison

This Victorian novel rates among the best of the Romance books I’ve read.

The vivid detail and tense love story had me turning the pages well into the night and first thing in the morning. This is a colourful, well researched story driven by aristocratic attitudes and relationships.

The engagement of beautiful, wealthy Isabelle Hart to the self-assured Jared Winters will be announced at Isabelle’s Twenty-First Birthday Ball. The match has been anticipated from childhood, but circumstances begin to pile up which cause Isabelle to question her readiness for marriage and her true feelings for Jared. Complications involve her courageous mother who is terminally ill, her adored father whom Isabelle sees kissing her mother’s nurse and the arrival of the gorgeous Lord Strachan, a houseguest who attracts Isabelle. Lord Strachan and Isabelle appear to have many interests in common and he obviously likes her. This is more apparent to the reader and the other characters than it is to Isabelle. The handsome nobleman seeks a wife, but since Isabelle is spoken for, her friend Ellie, once engaged to Isabelle’s brother David, hones in on the lord.

In Trencarrow’s beautiful Manor House, Ms Davison spins her intrigue, weaving threads of deception, misunderstandings and insecurity. Cads clash with admirable men, and manipulating women befriend genteel ladies, but at the heart of Trencarrow is gut wrenching sorrow and unconditional love.

All of the characters are distinct individuals with their own needs and agendas. All of them brought something substantial to the story. Trencarrow Secret tugs at the heartstrings on many levels, and, most unexpectedly, my heart broke for one of the women whose true story becomes suddenly evident at the end. Try as I might I could not hold back the tears.

Trencarrow Secret begins and ends in its maze, at the centre of which is a treasure some might consider more valuable than gold, and the maze gives up more than one secret. A symbol of wrong paths, fear and claustrophobia, the maze also symbolizes achievement, satisfaction and victory. Ms Davison provides all of these elements in Trencarrow Secret and its haunting atmosphere remains long after the book is closed.

If you love Historical Romance, you’ll love the characters and the story of the beautifully crafted Trencarrow Secret.

In Converation with the real fictional PI LEE ALVAREZ

It isn’t every day we get to meet a real fictional character,
straight out of the pages of author               HEATHER HAVEN’s

Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series.

This is a huge treat.

I wonder how long it is safe to keep Lee in real life. We’ll keep all three books open, then if Murder is a Family Business and A Wedding to Die For accidentally close, Lee can quickly jump back into her new story Death Runs in the Family which enters the public domain in May.

Welcome, PI LEE ALVAREZ. It’s lovely you have taken the risk to step out from your comfort zone for a while. Thank you for being here. Tell the truth now, Lee. What’s one thing about you that you’ve never told anyone?

I always tell the truth, except when I prevaricate. But here’s something nobody knows. I’ve always wanted to play the ukulele. In fact, I have one gathering dust under the bed. It’s been there for three years. I tried to play it when I first got it, but it’s really hard.  For about two weeks I would practice every day. The tips of my fingers were raw. I asked a musician friend and he said that if I practiced for the next two years or so, maybe I could advance from ‘horrible’ to ‘amusingly bad.’ I don’t know if it’s pride or just the time factor – I mean, I do spend the majority of my life investigating the theft of intellectual property and software piracy, with a few murders thrown in every now and then. Do I see myself like Sherlock Holmes and his violin?  Maybe. Maybe I’ll pick up my uke one of these days and play Tiny Bubbles for all the world to hear.

Hmmmm. Why am I cringing? Sorry ,but the ‘amusingly bad’ still resonates in my ears. J

Having murder as part of the family business must be difficult. How do the events around you affect you as a person?

OMG, I can’t tell you the stress.  My kid brother, Richard, head of the Discretionary Inquiries Research and IT Department, is always giving me some new fangled piece of equipment no bigger than a cigarette lighter, and then yelling at me because I can’t get it to work. I mean, I’m chasing down murderers in the middle of San Francisco winter storms and it’s my fault his stupid scanner doesn’t work? I haven’t read the instructions? I don’t think so. And then there’s my mother, the lovely Lila Hamilton Alvarez, a serious fashionista. She sends me out on jobs no other self-respecting gumshoe would take, and then it’s my fault somebody gets killed on my watch? And God forbid, I should be wearing navy blue with black. She’ll tell me to stop chasing the perp and go change my clothes.  At least I have Tío, my wonderful uncle, a retired Mexican chef who can do things with chorizo and cheese that stops traffic in the streets. Speaking of streets, there is a new addition to the Alvarez Family, a little kitten I found wandering the streets in the rainstorm. I’ve named him Rum Tum Tugger. He’s my new guy. I’ve been getting into a lot of messes lately, so I’m lucky I’ve got my family around, warts and all.

Your life sounds hectic and dangerous, but I’ll bet you wouldn’t change it for the world. What would you say to people who ask, “Why do you do what you do? Why not take up some dream job in a part of the world where no-one has ever heard of you?

There’s a dream job in some other part of the world? Lead me to it. Just kidding. Detective work is the family business. Before Dad’s sudden death two years ago, due to an aneurism, he taught me everything he knew about being a good detective, hoping I would follow in his footsteps. He built up this thriving business specializing in tracking down law-breakers in software and intellectual property computer fraud, here in the Silicon Valley. But in my heart of hearts, what I really wanted to become was a ballerina.

You wanted to be a ballerina!?

Oh yes, I studied ever since I was five years old. I worked really hard at it. But the truth? There’s no substitute for talent. I am, at best, a mediocre dancer, no matter how hard I work at it. It doesn’t help that I’ve 5’8” tall, either. A good ballerina is usually around 5’4” in height. Anyway, at about sixteen-years of age I had to face it. I could never get a job in anything more than the chorus of a second-rate ballet company. We all have our secret ‘what ifs’, things we wish had turned out differently. But I’m smart enough to know that not being able to do a first-rate glissade arabesque is probably one of life’s better regrets.

Ranks up there with the ukulele, eh? Never mind, you are a wonderful detective. What makes your style unique? Do you have a trade mark?

I like to read Dashiell Hammett detective stories and watch old black and white movies while on my laptop hunting some suspect down. I think of myself as colorful. At least, that’s what I say to my mother. She’s not buying any of it, though. She wants me to stop being impulsive, think ahead before I leap, and for heaven’s sake, act like a lady. Ha ha., as if. And my trade mark? Hmmm… Picture me a sort of a modern California gal-PI, dressed in Vera Wang, with a big crush on Humphrey Bogart.

I see. So, you are inspired by fictional detectives? Very interesting. Ironic, but interesting. J  What makes you happy?

Sapphire Bombay Gin martini - shake that sucker, please -- two olives, served icy cold. Throw in a bowl of mixed nuts, and a Barbara Stanwyck movie. Curled up with those and Tugger, my cat, and my Snub Nose Lady Blue Detective Special, life doesn’t get much better. OMG. I just reread that. Does that sound as pathetic as I think it does?

No definitely not ‘pathetic’. I’d say ‘cosy’ would be a more appropriate word. If you could have anything at all what would you want or need to make your life complete?

World peace. No kidding around. I’m lucky and I know it. I have a wonderful but weird family, who love me despite my many faults. I live in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet, California’s glorious Bay Area. I have a great job as a PI in our family business. My health’s good, I’m pretty smart, and reasonably attractive. In the best of all worlds, I would like to have someone to share my Kashi GoLean with most mornings, but I’m working on it, I’m working on it.

Well, LEE ALVAREZ, I’m sure we all wish you much success in that area. Thank you for spending time on the outside. Allow me to help you step back into your book.

Lee is safely inside her story so I close the books. You can reopen them by going to:

 MuseItUp Publishing for:
Murder is a Family Business
A Wedding to Die For 

or Amazon.com
Murder is a Family Businees    

 A Wedding to Die For

Twitter@PILeeAlvarez

And meet the author, Heather Haven at:

Heather Haven's webpage

Heather's Blog

Heather's Facebook

Twitter - Heather Haven

January Calamity's Corner

Calamity's Corner begins 2012 in a burst of colour, with the
Lady in the Yellow Hat, Rebecca Ryals Russell, as Author
of the Month.

Alanna from France shows us more of the beautiful coast of
Brittany.

Carole Sutton isn't prepared for what she finds in her bed!

Jacquie Rogers has a historically musical treat for older
rockers in her Blast from the Past column.

L.J. Roberts convinces us to read 'A Corpse's Nightmare
and my writing exercise is rather cool, if I do say so myself.

If you've ever wondered why Buddhist monks spend so
much time meditating, join Mark as he shares his 10 day
meditation experience which he describes as 'way outside
my comfort zone.'

Please come and join us at Calamities Corner.
Just ask to receive  Calamities Corner free on the 1st of each month.

Calamity's Corner

The Christmas issue is dedicated to all of our contributers
and to the readers over the world who subscribe to
Calamity's Corner. I hope Calamity's Corner has provided
something of interest to mull over in your leisure time or
stirred your creative juices.

No Author of the Month for this month - instead we display their books.
What a wonderful variety.

Calamity takes you to Kent, England, Tricia McGill introduces her 2
new best friends, Ted and Wendy have a whale of a time in
Twofold Bay, NSW.

Laurel Lamperd sets writers a task to break the block
 and Tanja Cilia challenges our knowledge of Latin.
(Tanja I haven't studied Latin but got 9/12 so I'm thrilled :)

LJ and Jacquie present their regular columns and Wendy begs
 your vote for her book video on 21st -26th December
(just my luck it's over the holidays, lol, so I really need you)  
http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/ # 2 The Unhewn Stone.
You can view the video at the You Gotta Read site from Dec 2nd.

Thank you everyone for your friendship and support.
Happy Christmas!
For a copy of this .pdf just email Calam: Calamity's Corner