Authors Blog Tour

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Posted on October 12, 2014 by belindayhughes

Marie Lavender tagged me in this blog tour, which is a spin-off of the Writing Process blog tour, a tour I have participated in before.

Marie’s Bio

Marie Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has been writing for over twenty years. She has more works in progress than she can count on two hands. In college, she published two works in a university publication, and was a copy editor on the staff of an online student journal. Marie has published nineteen books in the genres of historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, mystery/thriller, literary fiction and poetry. Feel free to visit her website at http://marielavender.webs.com/ for further information about her work and her life. She is also on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Bestselling author of UPON YOUR RETURN and 18 other books. Finalist and Runner-up in the MARSocial’s Author of the Year Competition. Honorable mention in the January 2014 Reader’s Choice Award. Liebster Blogger Award for 2013 and 2014. Top 50 Authors on AuthorsDB.com. Winner of the Great One Liners Contest on the Directory of Published Authors.

A list of her books and pen names:

Marie Lavender: Upon Your Return; Magick & Moonlight; Upon Your Honor

Erica Sutherhome: Hard to Get; Memories; A Hint of Scandal;Without You; Strange Heat; Terror in the Night; Haunted; Pursuit;Perfect Game; A Touch of Dawn; Ransom; Leather and Lace

Kathryn Layne: A Misplaced Life

Heather Crouse: Express Café and Other Ramblings; Ramblings, Musings and Other Things; Soulful Ramblings and Other Worldly Things

Marie’s Blog

Marie’s Blog Tour Post

Here are Marie’s blog tour questions for me:

If you were beginning your writing career today, what would you do differently?

I would have gone indie and Thoreauvian (cabin in the woods) from the get-go.

What’s the one thing about you that might surprise readers?

I’m lesbian. When I read or write straight romance, I mentally transpose the masculine descriptions into butch book boyfriends, particularly Texan, New Yorker, military or law enforcement heroes.

Tell us a little about the main character in your latest book.

Middle-aged romantic Camille Sallier is fresh out of a bad breakup with her first woman, Jean. They met while singing in the same blues band and were together about a year. Now she’s falling head over heels for the smoking hot detective investigating her ex’s casino heist and the calamity that seems to surround Camille lately. Even as the detective reacts instinctively to protect Camille, Camille often ends up protecting her. Camille’s closest friend is her head-turning Aunt Audrey.

What are some of your favorites…

Color?

I’m a Pisces, so I love the watercolors: blue, green and purple. I don’t know if it relates to being perimenopausal, but I’m drawn to purple a lot lately. Maybe it’s just because I love my sister’s taste in the pajamas she gives me every Christmas, which are always purple, gorgeous and comfy.

Food?

Hindu cuisine takes first place, particularly Shah Jahan Biryani, named for the fifth Mughal Emperor of India, who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife. Whenever I first walked into a Hindu restaurant at age 19 and inhaled the spices, it felt like I’d come home from an incredibly long journey and I could finally rest and recharge.

Place?

The Queen of Peace aka Hoa Binh (area of peace) shrine on Ninth Avenue in Pt. Arthur, TX. It’s across the street from the Queen of Viet Nam Catholic Church, surrounded by roses and water lilies from the Buddhist temple around the corner, the 12 Apostles and Stations of the Cross and other beautifully wrought statues. Tucked at the foot of the roses is a simple stone monument to the indigent civilian casualties of the Viet Nam War. The centerpiece is a statue of the Blessed Mother, her feet resting on a globe turned to show Viet Nam, sheltered by a cross-topped pagoda. It’s three times life-size, approaching the scale of Southeast Asian Buddhist jungle shrines. I was born in Spring 1967 and was never consciously exposed to this war in school or at home, except to visit the grave of a family friend I never met when we went to Arlington National Cemetery. He grew up with my cousins and was killed in Viet Nam. This is the only Viet Nam civilian memorial I’ve heard of thus far. It’s so quiet, magnificently beautiful and peaceful. One of my besties and I love to just sit and meditate here for hours. It’s well worth the 45 minute drive.

Now, I am tagging the following authors in this post:

Mackenzie Crowne

Mackenzie’s Bio:

Wife, mother and really young grandmother, Mackenzie lives with her high school sweetheart husband, a neurotic Pomeranian, and a blind cat. She calls Phoenix home because the Southwest feeds her soul. Though her friends claim she’s a princess, she disagrees. After all, one can’t raise two rambunctious boys to wonderful men without getting a little dirt under their nails. A lover of the romance genre, her resolve to share her stories with others was sharpened by a bout with breast cancer. Today she is an award-winning, multi-published author and seven year survivor, living the dream. Her friends call her Mac. She hopes you will too.

Mackenzie’s blog: http://mackenziecrowne.com

Sarah Grimm

Sarah’s Bio:

The youngest of four, Sarah Grimm can’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. In fact, her siblings believe she began writing in utero to pass the time. As a child, Sarah wrote constantly, littering the house with bulging spiral notebooks and ignoring the ribbing of her mother and sister who routinely said ‘romances?’ in a somewhat scornful tone. Sarah is a Readers Favorite Award winner, a Romance Through the Ages award winner for Best Contemporary Romance, and a Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence finalist.

Sarah’s blog: http://www.SarahGrimm.com

Ella Jade

Ella’s Bio:

Ella Jade has been writing for as long as she can remember. As a child, she often had a notebook and pen with her, and now as an adult, the laptop is never far. The plots and dialogue have always played out in her head, but she never knew what to do with them. That all changed when she discovered the eBook industry. She started penning novels at a rapid pace and now she can’t be stopped.

Ella resides in New Jersey with her husband and two boys. When she’s not chasing after her kids, she’s busy creating sexy, domineering men and the strong women who know how to challenge them in and out of the bedroom. She hopes you’ll get lost in her words.

She loves connecting with readers.

Ella’s blog: http://ellajadeauthor.blogspot.com/

A heartfelt thank you to all of the participating authors on this blog tour. Let’s keep it going! Feel free to link back to my post and tag other authors! Happy posting! 🙂

Writing Process Blog Tour

Posted on March 30, 2014 by belindayhughes

Romantic comedy paranormal memoirist Larae Perry is all twisted up in the writing game.

The Crazy Lady Speaks

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I was invited by Author Jaro Berse who was invited by Author Regina Puckett to take part in the “Writing Process Blog Tour.” Its purpose is to showcase different author methods all over the world.

I gotta admit it . . . I’m not sure if I’m supposed to post my blog here or somewhere else. I’m lost no matter where I am . . . so, I’m going for it. What’s the worst that can happen? Right?

HERE GOES:

What am I working on?

Right now I’m working on two books . . . something I don’t thing you should ever do. But . . . hey . . . when do I ever follow the rules?

The Ghost in Room 3327 is a sequel to The Danish Pastry. I know what I want to write. I’ve done the research because the ghost that I write about is an…

View original post 281 more words

Writing Process Blog Tour

Posted on March 27, 2014 by belindayhughes

Image credit Keith Williamson

Marie Lavender, who so graciously hosted me on her blog for a feature and an interview, sent me the opportunity to join the Writing Process Blog Tour. What writer can resist talking about writing? So here goes.

My tour questions:

What am I working on?

I’ve been mulling over the next edition of my vegetarian cookbook, a new erotica short, a romantic comedy mystery and some fresh poetry. It would be nice to do some more guest blogging and get published in literary journals again.

How does my work differ from others of the same genre?

Mainly that it’s my work, so it’s coming from my own life experiences, choices and curiosities.

Why do I write what I do?

I write about everything, because I see no reason for a good writer to limit oneself. Life is happening all around you, so you live and write about it.

My primary topics at the moment are food, gardening, country life, travel, poetry and writing. Besides the necessity for eating and the romance and simplicity of cooking at home, I enjoy eating healthy. Even in restaurants, I always look at what’s in it for me, what nutritional value will I get from something, before ordering. Also, I’m concerned about the different health crises in the modern world, and honestly believe that plant-based nutrition plays a critical role in healing ourselves and the planet. Not only that, we also need to learn what’s in our food, how it affects us, empower kids to cook healthy and be more accommodating of special diet needs at home, school, work and social gatherings. That’s why I write my food blog and cookbook.

The garden and country life writing are the direct result of growing up with farm-raised relatives and finally living the life of my dreams. As a child, I watched my German great-grandmother digging potatoes and my Choctaw grandmother maintaining a compost pile. Those memories never left me, they just got temporarily drowned out by post-war Modernism. Now I wake up breathing fresh air each morning and take my old lab with me to feed the birds, squirrels and rabbits outside our window. In the afternoons, we play in the soil, keep an eye out for pests and diseases, count blossoms and fruits and hike on a dirt road at sunset. In between and in the evening, I do chores, cook and write. Monday nights are reserved for #gardenchat.

I love travel and researching distant places and sharing my passion for local spots I know and love. There’s tons of content on travel sites that you’ll never see my name on, but it paid the bills and was fun to do. I’ve got four personal experience U.S. travel articles looking for a home right now, and I’d like to complete my series on U.S. food tours.

How does your writing process work?

That depends on the situation. If it’s for a content site, like Textbroker or ContentCurrent, I’ll browse the available jobs on the board, pick one, then usually have to do some research. That could involve viewing existing content of similar nature on the client’s site, researching their products under the desired topic and/or researching the topic in general, such as Renaissance LARP costumes for adults and children, budget decorating for special events, new luxury car designs, U.S. airports’ amenities, Off the Beaten Path attractions in Southeast Asia and Things To Do in Europe. Last of all, I proof, add in the SEO keywords and check my word count.

For a guest blog post, I read a sample guest post or two, get a suggested topic from the blog owner, research the topic as needed, digest that, take a break, draft and proof. With guest blogging, there’s usually more time available to really polish the piece, unlike digital content sites, which demand quick turnarounds. Word counts and other policies change from blog to blog. Guest blogging for others is a fairly recent development for me, and I’m having a great time.

My poetry process varies. It might just come to me or I might have something specific in mind, like trying a new form or exploring a particular topic. For instance, when my dad went to Tanzania on business, I had just discovered the cinquain poetic form. So I read up on Tanzanian wildlife and natural resources and ended up with ten Tanzanian cinquains. On another occasion, my writing community issued a poetry challenge on food personification. Out came a pineapple turned into Eartha Kitt.

Still other times, there’s just something inside me that needs to come out. Maybe I’m fantasizing about a past or dream lover. Next thing I know, there’s an erotica story churning around in my head. Perhaps I’ll read a paperback and think I can do better. Sometimes, a piece will start as the result of a conversation or moments spent observing people, looking out the window or reading the news. I love spontaneous pieces as much as I love coming across fascinating facts in research.

Visit Regina Puckett’s blog to see where this whole Writing Process Blog Tour got started and check out more authors.

What are you working on?

Author Bio

Belinda Y. Hughes is the author of Confessions of a Red Hot Veggie Lover 2: Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Recipes and Living Proof. Her blog, Café Belinda, specializes in dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, Kosher, vegan and vegetarian recipes. When she’s not refilling her wildlife buffet, covered in compost or out hiking with her old labradachs, she is available for author interviews and guest blogging opportunities.

Publications

https://belindayhughes.wordpress.com/

http://cafebelinda.blogspot.com

http://amazon.com/dp/B00H4L35NM

Guest Blogs

http://marielavender.blogspot.com/2014/02/bringing-food-to-life-by-belinda-y.html

http://penpaperpad.com/2014/03/seniors-dont-sit-well-guest-post/

Author Interviews

http://marielavender.blogspot.com/2014/02/interview-with-author-belinda-y-hughes.html

Social Media

http://facebook.com/belinda.hughes.1656

https://plus.google.com/117025905891975822672/posts/p/pub