Prisoner of Tehran amazing play in Toronto

Last night hubby and I as part of our vacation to Toronto went to see a play. We picked Prisoner of Tehran, which was adapted from Marina Nemat’s book into a play by Maja Ardal. The play was at Theatre Passe Muraille, which wasn’t that far from our downtown hotel. We didn’t know what to expect and we were both blown away. Now I know my books and my blog are usually about romance or writing but I had to change it up today to honor Marina Nemat’s journey and the three amazing actors who performed such an odyssey of a journey with this play.

Razi Shawahdeh played all the male roles. Unbelievable. I cringed when he took on the jailer who fell in love with Marina and how he was able to flip from one character who was all innocent to another so volatile—well I’m betting he was exhausted by the end of the play.

Bahareh Yaraghi played Marina and she moved me with how she tried to be just your average teenager in the 1980s when the Ayatollah Khomeini replaced Shah Mohammad Reza. Independence, is something most us of westerns take for granted but within weeks of the new regime life for women moved to the dark ages.

I have to say that Mirian Katrib who played all the other female roles, I lost count of how many that was, was the star in this production. Mirian moved effortlessly from one character who could be a young teen pretending to skip rope to an old woman dictating the new Muslim laws. I was spellbound watching Mirian and all three of these virtuosos actors. Thank you so much for such a wonderful special night out on the town in Toronto. If you have not seen this play do so. It’s playing until April 28^th.

If you haven’t read Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat than get it today at http://amzn.com/B00480OBU8.

My Indie journey - 3rd book up

I’m so excited to launch Claiming Poseidon’s Heart, but not for the reasons you might expect. What thrills me is that this will be my third Indie publication. When I started this journey of self-publishing I was apprehensive about all the what if’s that face many authors.

The first book I launched was one that I received the rights back to—Rapture. After the learning curve of publishing Rapture, I discovered this wonderful Indie world of authors who help each other. It’s been such a wonderful experience I feel as if I’ve entered into a writers’ co-operative. We share marketing tips, ask basic questions, share information on good editors, graphic designers and much more. Looking back I find it hard to fathom that it was only four months ago that I took the Indie plunge. Honestly, it’s been such a great experience, I love it. One of the big things for me is taking the mystery out of publishing. I always wondered how the big 6 publishers did it and now I know.

Here’s what the big 6 publishers do – find a good story, hire a cover artist, hire an editor and even a line editor, purchase ISBN, foster relationships with booksellers to urge them to showcase their authors

Here’s what I did – wrote a good story, hired a cover artists, hired an editor, for free Canadians can secure ISBNS, fostering and building my relationships with my audience—readers and other Indie authors.

The mystery has been solved. Indie publishing is doable. Indie publishing let’s you set the pace of your writing schedule. Indie publishing can be an uplifting experience.
I hope you enjoyed my Indie journey and in celebration of my third Indie publication on Amazon I’ve launched a contest.

Contest to celebrate launch of Claiming Poseidon’s Heart
$25 Amazon gift card plus e-copies of all my Indie publications: Rapture, A Siren’s Christmas Wish, and my latest Claiming Poseidon’s Heart. The contest runs from April 15, 2012 until April 24, 2012. One lucky winner will be randomly picked.

Email me at: renee@reneefield.com

And answer these 2 questions with yes or no:
Do you read Indie books?
Are you an Indie author?

Reclaiming that Book you Wrote & Loved

I wrote my first paranormal romance book about four years ago. I have no idea where the time went. Rapture, was the first novel in a six book mermaid/Siren series I mapped out. I loved writing Rapture. I poured my heart and soul and my love of the sea into this book. I was lucky that book secured me an agent (okay, I fired my agent after this) but the book also got me a publisher, Cerridwen Press (CP). I didn’t know a whole lot about CP but I had heard of Ellora’s Cave which was their sister company and a much bigger erotic e-publisher. Now, my book Rapture is not erotic. I would classify it as highly sensual. So excited newbie author I signed a contract with CP and that awoke my own passion to write more erotic stories for Ellora’s Cave.

Fast-forward two years later. My sales at EC were climbing but my book Rapture was not doing well at CP. Why? I always felt a key part of what happened was that my books from EC did not link to my CP profile page so it was hard for readers to discover my sensual writings. This book was my baby. I wanted it back. What did I do? I waited for CP to close and they did and EC gave authors the option of getting our rights back to our books or merging into their new line. I got my rights back and thought what now? I couldn’t very well send it off to another publisher because it had already been published, so I thought I’m going to try the Indie route. At this point I had nothing to lose.

I knew in my heart that Rapture was a good solid story. It won an EPPIE in 2008 for Best Fantasy/Paranormal Romance and all the reviewers who had read it ranked it 5-stars. Last year I hired a cover artist who did an amazing job on the redesign of the cover and this month I launched Rapture as an Indie publication on Smashwords and Amazon.com. I know building my market for this is going to be a slow climb but I’m approaching this like any new mother setting her child off into the world—one day at a time. Today I’m off to set it up on All Romance E-books (http://www.allromanceebooks.com) and I’m off to Createspace to upload it as a print book. I figure the more markets I can get Rapture into the better exposure overall for my books in general.

What has this also inspired? Well, book two Bliss is already 86,000 words written so I’m planning to finish that book within a few months so I can launch that. In the meantime, I’ve got a few more short erotic novellas centered on Titans and Sirens that I also plan to launch. And, HQN Spice Briefs in October 2012 will be launching Claiming Poseidon’s Daughter, which is a spicy, contemporary paranormal novella. Overall, I’m feeling excited that I’m back in the driver seat and helping my baby, Rapture see the world.

Rapture – modern mermaid tale with a twist
http://amzn.com/B0068OWVZE
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/105558

Jockey and Jewels by Bev Pettersen - A Book U Can't Put Down

Jaw dropping, oh my god amazingly a great read. Honestly, I did not want Bev Pettersen’s book Jockeys and Jewels to end. If you don’t love horses and know anything about them you will come to love them by the end of this story. I confess to being an avid horse lover and one thing that stood out for me if how obvious it is that Pettersen knows her way around horses, barns, tracks and the horse industry.

The reader is introduced from the get go to Kurt MacKinnon, who is smart, wary and a harden cop—he’s basically seen all the bad in the world but what totally grabbed me was how Pettersen makes you come to love this undercover guy. We learn more about his character through the treatment of his horses and that weaves its own magic in the story. Julie West is a struggling apprentice jockey and longs to be taken serious in a field dominated by men. When Kurt’s ex-partner gets killed this sets Kurt and Julie on a collision course. Let’s just say sparks fly once they meet.

The character development in this book was a real page turner. I loved the sexual tension which came off as totally real between Kurt and Julie and I hated the bad guy, Otto, who I was supposed to hate. I kept waiting for a horse to kick him where it counts.

The mystery layered in this book kept me turning pages because I too wanted to find out why Kurt’s friend got killed. I’m not going to spoil the book for readers because this mystery is unique with a fresh perspective on smuggling and I loved it. Set in Canada that grabbed me and I can’t wait to get my hands on Pettersen’s other book Color of My Horse. I loved that this is an Indie publication but honestly have no idea why a BIG publishing house didn’t swoop this book up. Pettersen is a three time Rita finalist – no easy feat – and anyone who read the first three chapters of this book had to be hooked! My gut feeling is those publishing houses that said no are crying now. Can’t wait to read more of Pettersen’s work.

Bev Pettersen
www.BevPettersen.com
Jockey and Jewels
http://www.amazon.com/Jockeys-and-Jewels-ebook/dp/B0055OHXN8
"Color My Horse"
http://amzn.com/B005HFZZN0

Two HQN Authors Stole My Heart - Donna Alward & Sarah Mayberry

In a week I’ve read two HQN’s books that I have truly connected with me. First I had the pleasure of reading Sarah Mayberry’s The Best Laid Plans and Donna Alward’s How a Cowboy Stole Her Heart. To say I loved both would be an understatement. Sarah Mayberry’s The Best Laid Plans is a contemporary story with a twist. You have the successful woman lawyer, Alexander Knight, and I will admit all women secretly what to hate these women who seem to juggle it all, but Alex isn’t juggling things well at all. Introduce sexy co-worker Ethan Stone and immediately you think sparks are going to fly off the page. They don’t. Oh, don’t get me wrong they certainly do later on but that’s the buildup, or should I say foreplay that was so real in this book. Alex’s dilemma is her biological clock is ticking loudly and she desperately wants a baby, which is the last thing Ethan wants, or is it? They work well together and are great friends but can these two educated overachievers get over themselves to get what they both really want – yes! I loved the emotional play with this story and felt like I wanted to kill both Alex and Ethan at one point for trying to best plot out how to conceive with the use of medical intervention. Bless you Mayberry for allowing the characters to find themselves and their own weaknesses so they could come together and go at baby-making the old fashion way. This truly was a page turner and I read it in two sittings. Sarah Mayberry books can be found at http://www.sarahmayberry.com. Donna Alward’s How A Cowboy Stole Her Heart captured me from page one. Talk about building strong characters. I immediately loved Megan Briggs, who is a strong willed woman who has suffered her share of medical problems including breast cancer. Now, I know what you’re thinking here—how can a romance about a breast cancer survivor be sexy? Well, read this book because not only does Alward touch on the physical limitations Megan has to overcome like rediscovering her own body but she has to allow herself to love. Clay Gregory doesn’t want to deal with death, especially the word “cancer” which took his father’s life and caused his mother to abandoned him, but he quickly discovers he can’t live without Megan. They start out as friends and I think that’s why I connected with this book. The characters were believable, honest about their wants and desires and fears, and they still struggled to believe in each other. I read this book in one night and couldn’t put it down! By the end I felt like Megan was my friend and Clay was the brother I wanted to throttle. LOL Check out her website at: http://www.donnaalward.com for more on Alward and her books.

Mind Games - A Read that will make you question your own reality

Mind Games by Taylor Keating

Page after page of twists and sub plots will keep you up all night reading
When the real world is worse than a virtual world, it has River Weston almost wishing she was trapped with the evil soulless Dark Lord once again. However, since River seems to attract nothing but trouble in either world she’s a gal who learns to cope. Getting pinned for murderous crimes on her home planet means she’s once again on the run, with Guardian, lover and Fey teacher Chase Hawkins, commonly called Hawk.

Hawk isn’t Fey but he’s had more experience with them than River, so she has no choice but to trust him. Back on his home planet, Hawk’s body, still trapped in a cryogenic state because he volunteered for the extended mission, starts to falter. And that has the Guardian Council wanting to pull the plug on him. At least one of Hawks’ friends believes in fighting for his life, but even he might not save Hawk in the end.

To top that off, Nick, River’s ex-boyfriend is trapped with the Dark Lord and he’s able to invade Hawk’s dreams. Making matters more personal, River feels obligated to free the Fey souls trapped in the strange graveyard. Her journey enables her to learn more about her combined Fey-Guardian heritage and trust in her own powers.

The pace Taylor Keating creates for the reader will leave you breathless and wanting more. Page after page something new, consuming and imagination-filled grabs you. Thank goodness Hawk and River finally have sex because this reader was going to kill the writer if the almost but not quite tantalizing sexual tension between them didn’t get fulfilled.

I loved the twists, turns and sub-plots of this story, and the ending will make you twitch to get your fingers on the third book in this series. This is the sequel to Keating’s first Game Over, TOR publication and I can’t wait to read more. To learn more about Keating check out www.taylorkeating.com.

In celebration of my birthday - things I’ve learned so far in my 42 years

1. The first thing I read in the paper every morning is my horoscope and that’s it
2. The last thing I usually watch at night is CBC’s The National – seems I can handle the news at night but not in the morning
3. Baby unscented wet wipes work great as make-up removers and they cost a fraction of the price
4. Clear nail polish dapped on a run in your nylon will stop the run – why then can’t they coat nylons in the stuff?
5. Kraft Dinner is disgusting reheated the next day
6. There is nothing like peanut butter toast late at night as comfort food
7. When people ask how you are they don’t really want to know – really, just say, “Good,” even when you feel like crap
8. The older I get the more I want a dog – even though the thought of cleaning up after them makes me want to puke
9. Patience – I’m still learning it
10. I will never be as tech-savvy as my kids
11. I have no sense of direction and get lost when I’m in the mall
12. I love watching reruns of the Jerry Seinfeld show because for me they are mostly new
13. The older I get the more my roots show – not talking about hair – think heritage
14. After twelve years watching children shows with my kids I’m warped – I like Arthur, Franklin and Little Bear
15. There is nothing more annoying than going to butter your toast and opening the butter jar to find none in it! Seriously once empty how hard is it to refill?
16. I have to stop comparing what I have with what other people have – it just depresses me and in this past year I’ve learned the heart is where the home is, even if said home is in serious need of work
17. I get excited watching the birds eat from my feeder
18. I tell my best friend everything – more than I tell my hubby
19. I wish I had more time in the day to spend with my children, visit my grandmother who is 99, chat with my mom
20. I miss my youngest sister, who is very talented – I hope one day we can reconcile before it’s too late