Marilyn Brant's Blog, page 11

As the weather turns colder up here in the chilly regions of northern Illinois and the snow is threatening to arrive soon, it may well be the perfect weather for a sleigh ride by this weekend. However, you don't have to wait...
Sleigh Ride: A Winter Anthology features seven wintry tales by seven women authors, a number of whom I'm delighted to call friends: Malena Lott, Maria Geraci, Maggie Marr, Samantha Wilde, Jenny Peterson, Dani Stone and Megan Barlog.

Called "well-written" and "moving," each short story includes a sleigh ride - some dramatic, some romantic and one futuristic adventure. Megan Barlog, who found out about the anthology online and entered her debut short, "The Escape," is a graduating senior at California State University. Some of the Sleigh Ride authors share their favorite holiday recipes at the back of the book. Here' s Megan's!

Grammy's Monkey Bread by Megan Barlog

Ingredients:
2 cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease an 8" round cake pan.
3. Separate biscuits and dip in butter.
4. Coat entire biscuit with mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
5. Place coated biscuit in pan. Repeat until you have placed 15 to 16 biscuits in pan. Biscuits should be around outer edge of pan and overlap to fill in center.
6. Pour rest of butter over top.
7. Sprinkle with nuts.
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Oh, yum! This sounds delicious... Thank you, Megan!

Sleigh Ride is available in trade paperback at Amazon and BuzzBooksUSA.com and as an ebook. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the domestic violence prevention cause through the Alpha Chi Omega foundation. The anthology was edited by author Malena Lott (Dating da Vinci, Life's a Beach.)

I have my copy already, and I'm REALLY looking forward to getting to relax and read it leisurely, just as soon as my book/travel touring winds down a bit! Today, I'm not blogging about one specific city, but I do have the pleasure of visiting Great Thoughts and writing a little bit about travel as an author. I hope, after you check out Sleigh Ride, you'll make some monkey bread and join me ;).

The first time I went to Lake Como, I was 19 -- a few years before I met my husband and a full five years before this photo above was taken. I'd been a part of a college dance group that first time, and we were representing the USA at a large folk dance festival in northern Italy. We entered the country from Switzerland, not stopping at any large cities or seeking out the well-known landmarks, and we stayed for a full week on the outskirts of Como. During the day, we were in parades and we hung out with the dancers and musicians from other countries -- talking, flirting, eating truly enormous quantities of gelato -- and during the night we danced.

It was great fun, but it was also a little difficult for me to be so very close to Venice, Florence and Rome and NOT see ANY of those cities on that first trip... I did, however, see the lovely city of Como. And I can tell you now, that alone was enough to ensure my desire to go back. Not only so I would be able to explore the rest of Italy, but specifically to return to the beauty of the Italian Lake District.

I knew exactly what I was going to do when I got back there again. I was going to relax in the sunshine and stroll along the floral walking paths. I was going to sit at a quaint cafe in the middle of town, scuffing my sandals at the uneven stone beneath my feet. I was going to admire the water sparkling in the daylight and imagine what it must be like to live in one of those pastel-colored hillside villas.

When I did return, however, it was with my new fiance -- a man who had a very different idea of "relaxing." We did stroll for a while along the paths. We did eat something at a cafe (I remember a rather delicious ravioli one night). And we did admire the the gorgeous lake. But my husband-to-be was a man of action, and he didn't really want to stay on the gentle walking path. So he talked me into going for a pedalo ride one afternoon on the lake -- peddling this little, reddish, floating contraption that required a bit more of a cardio workout than I'd been anticipating.

But that still wasn't enough activity for him.

No, we'd no sooner docked our pedalo boats when he started talking about seaplanes with the owner of one who was standing near the shore. Initially, I just thought it was a guy thing -- "Oh, look! Something with an engine! How fast does it go?" -- but I was wrong on that. My husband's father is a pilot. A former Thunderbird from WWII, in fact. His son didn't just want to TALK about the plane, he wanted to get in it. And he wanted me to get in it, too.

My attempts at resistance ("Um, isn't that kinda dangerous, honey? We don't know enough Italian to deal well with a medical emergency...") were pretty much ignored and, once I'd made it through lift off, I forgot my own hesitations. If I thought Lake Como looked beautiful from the ground, it looked simply gorgeous from the air.

These days, if I'm remembering the tabloid details correctly -- and if they're true, LOL -- George Clooney has a villa somewhere in the area. (We'll visit him next time.) But you don't have to be a handsome, multi-millionaire actor to feel like a celebrity walking (or flying) around this stunning lake. It just happens that you will.

~ . ~ . ~

I don't have to tell those of you here about my Virtual European Travel/Book Tour -- you know all about it ;). But I do have the itinerary updated and listed on the first page of my website. The French Riviera and Pisa will be next week (plus an Austen birthday celebration), with Vienna, Brussels and Paris coming up soon after.

And, finally, I was really delighted to be asked to contribute "five book suggestions for romantics" to the Goodreads December Newsletter. My recommendations are here and I'd LOVE your thoughts on them! In celebration of A Summer in Europe and my love of both Italy and England, I'm giving away two sets of holiday ornaments -- each pair contains a Big Ben and a Leaning Tower of Pisa ornament. If you leave a comment on either this post or the Goodreads one, you're entered to win a set. If you leave comments on both, you're entered twice!

Hugs and thanks for being so awesome...and wishing you all a happy start to December!! xox

It's time! It's time! The release of A Summer in Europe (on Amazon, B&N and more) is just 24 hours away...

I can't believe the big week finally got here, but I've already begun celebrating. For this release, I'd hoped to give a bit of my heroine's exciting journey to all of you. I wanted to take you on a few of the highlights of Gwendolyn Reese's European tour. Some of you may have visited the sites I'm "traveling to" on this book blog tour, others not at all, but I hope you'll all enjoy the stops I'm making around the Blogosphere, talking about some of my favorite places across the Atlantic.

I have many of the tour dates already lined up, and I've just started the travel adventure:
Friday 11/25: Rome at Magical Musings
Monday 11/28: Pompeii at SOS Aloha
Tuesday 11/29: Isle of Capri at The Stiletto Gang
Wednesday 11/30: Venice at Girlfriends Book Club
Thursday 12/1: Budapest at Women's Fiction Writers
Friday 12/2: Florence at Writer Unboxed
Monday 12/5: London at Austen Authors
Tuesday 12/6: Salzburg at Robin Bielman's Blog
Wednesday 12/7: Lake Como at Brant Flakes (here!)
Plus, there will be other tour dates added later to include cities like Pisa, Vienna, Brussels and Paris, so I hope you'll be able to join me for a few of these.

Thanks so much to all of you for your support of me and your friendship. This day is only as much fun as it is because I have such wonderful people to share it with here and at home... Wishing you a week that is as thrilling as mine will be -- although I do wish you more sleep than I'll be getting!! -- and I'm sure you could all live without the case of nerves I have, too ;).

There is virtual Italian gelato, French pastries and Austrian sachertorte for every one of you, by the way. Let me know what other international delights I should have for my online book release party... What are you in the mood for this week? I'm open to suggestions -- and the more rich and decadent it is, the better!

In less than two weeks, A Summer in Europe comes out...

This is always such a tremendously exciting and, simultaneously, anxiety-producing time. Finally, this novel that you'd worked on privately, that only a handful of critique partners, editors, friends and early reviewers have seen, will be in the hands of hundreds or thousands (or, in some authors' cases, millions) of readers. There's no way to be sure if a story you spent a year or more of your life writing and polishing will resonate with anyone beyond your small circle. If strangers will be charmed by your characters. If major book sites will select your story to review. If Spielberg will call requesting the movie rights or if Oprah will invite you on her show... (We all can dream, right? :)

But, I don't need huge news like that to want to celebrate or to find myself unbelievably grateful for the wonderful opportunities that have come my way. Today alone, three really good things happened in the book world for me, and I'm excited to get to share them here:

1. A terrific reviewer who's also a talented cook, Virginia Campbell , included a lovely review of my novel in her "Fabulous Food & Fantastic Fiction" post on Romance at Random! And you'll want to check out her Thanksgiving recipes while you're there -- they all sound delicious!!!

2. Leah Eggleston Krygowski , whom I've been fortunate to get to know over the past few years since she's now reviewed FOUR of my novels (!!), wrote a review of the book that I just loved (with an 8/10 rating, too...) and she just put it up on Chicklit Club!

3. And at Single Minded Women, the book is up as a "Red Hot Read" today, thanks to the awesomeness of Josie Brown , an editor at SMW and the author of many women's fiction novels, including Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, which ABC bought last month - with Jerry Bruckheimer producing the series - omg!! (Read about it here!)

The kindness and generosity of all three of these wonderful women have made me want to say my Thanksgiving thank-yous a full week before the holiday... Add to that, I just heard some incredibly exciting news from a friend that has my heart bursting with joy for her. I'm grateful good things are happening out there. I hope there's even more good stuff happening where you are!

Today, I'm at Austen Authors talking about my obsession with the Magic 8-Ball and how that, in an odd way, relates to Pride and Prejudice. ('Cause I can relate almost ANYTHING to Austen. Just try me. ;)

And, because lovely reviews make me happy (and if I didn't post them here, where would I post them?), below are a few new ones:
Kristyn at Romantic Love Books (on Double Dipping )
Debbie at The Reading Frenzy and Julie at Jewel's Bookshelf & Reviews (both on A Summer in Europe )
And an interview with D.A. Kentner, too!

Also in day-brightening news, Debbie, who moderates the B&N General Fiction Book Club in addition to her own blog, invited me to be her guest on B&N in May 2012 when A Summer in Europe is their Featured Read of the Month. I'm SO excited about that already!!

Finally, who else has been hooked on ABC's "Once Upon a Time"??! I am LOVING this show, and I usually don't get sucked into a series so quickly. I'm finding the parallel story to be really fascinating and the fairy-tale characters to be compelling to watch -- both in the past and in the present. Any thoughts?

[image error] (photo credit: AP/Robert F. Bukaty)

Just wanted to wish all of you a very HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEN!

It's traditionally quite a fun holiday in our neighborhood -- lots of excited costumed kids, lots of parents holding warm (frequently alcoholic) beverages, lots and lots of candy -- but I'm keeping my fingers crossed there won't be rain (or, heaven forbid, SNOW) tonight. Sending my thoughts to everyone out East who got buried by the surprise blizzard and is without power. Hope it gets resolved quickly!

Personally, I don't actually remember seeing snow in October before -- not even when I lived in Wisconsin. A dusting, perhaps, at most, but not these outage-creating storms. Even with our relatively mild temps here, I still can't help but wish for a few Indian Summer days... Winter, it always comes upon us so fast.

Anyone have any party plans? My Friday Mornings at Nine characters are going to a wild event (as they do every year on Halloween, LOL), but I will just be staying home, passing out Tootsie Pops and Milky Way miniatures. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say, "Trick-or-Treat"!

While I didn't get back from a trip to Europe this week (lovely Portland, Oregon, yes; Paris, France, no...), my good friend Brett recently returned from the City of Light and just look at the luggage tags he and his traveling companions put on their suitcases!! LOVE IT! (I'll be giving more luggage tags away on my November Fresh Fiction contest, btw, so if you're interested... ;)

Speaking of travel, I had a wonderful time at the women's fiction writing retreat on Mt. Hood. We did a lot of work (she said, crossing her fingers behind her back), and we also ate some delicious things (no finger-crossing needed on that one!), including these "Voodoo" donuts that I'd heard about and always wanted to try: Maple Bacon Bars. SO. GOOD. Take a peek at what they looked like inside the pretty pink box!

I was with fellow authors (L to R) Erika Robuck, Sarah McCoy, Jael McHenry, Sarah R. Callender (kneeling in front), Therese Walsh, Kristina McMorris, (me), Margaret Dilloway and Julie Kibler. Here we are taking over Trader Joe's:



We needed to pick up a few bottles of wine... Having a glass or three helps, um, with plotting. No, really.

In the blogging world, I'm traveling today, too, and will be at Magical Musings talking about trusting your intuition. Hope you'll join me!! Have a wonderful weekend!

Congratulations to Christy Hayes !! The random drawing has just been completed and you were the winner of Jennifer Becton's wonderfully fun novel, Absolute Liability! I'll get you two connected so Jennifer can send you the copy of the book. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did!

As for news here, A Summer in Europe just got another really lovely review, this time a 4-star one from Romantic Times. They wrote: "Brant's charming and engaging tale will allow readers to immerse themselves in the magic and beauty of Europe along with the characters. Although the descriptions of the scenery are amazing, the development of the characters and their unique personalities are what really make this novel shine. What an enjoyable escape!"

Happy sigh ;).

And, if I seem a bit frenzied, it's because I'm headed out of town for the next few days -- just me and some awesome women's fiction writers. I'm really looking forward to it. Only problem is that I need to stop leaving my packing until the VERY LAST minute!!! Tons yet to do today...

So, a question, when you take a trip, are you a minimalist when it comes to your baggage or do you have a tendency to overpack (like, um, I do)?!

I just saw this TED video this morning and wanted to share it. Author Pamela Meyer, who wrote the book Liespotting, makes some fascinating points about recognizing lies. I watched the show "Lie to Me" with interest when it was on (loving the premise, not always liking the secondary characters) and I've been intrigued with Patrick Jane's character on "The Mentalist" for several seasons now. But, the science behind these shows was what drew me in the most, and I hoped this video might be as compelling to some of you as it was to me. Hope you'll all having a great weekend -- and that's the truth!

I'm thrilled to have my friend Jennifer Becton here today to talk about her wonderful ebook, Absolute Liability, which is the first of the Southern Fraud thriller series. The story has done fabulously well online. Selling for just $0.99, it's garnered an enthusiastic audience of comedic thriller readers that's kept it in the Kindle Top 100 for months! She's sold over 35,000 copies of that book alone since its release this summer, as well as several thousand more of her other novels. Recently, she just released her lastest Austen-esque novel, too, Caroline Bingley.

Welcome, Jennifer!
Thank you, Marilyn, for the chance to visit your blog. You asked great questions, and I had fun answering them!

Can you tell us the premise of your latest book, Absolute Liability, and a bit more about the series and the novels that follow it?
At the beginning of Absolute Liability , Julia Jackson, a fraud investigator for the state of Georgia, is on a coffee run when she hears on the radio that she has been abducted. She soon realizes that an innocent woman was mistakenly kidnapped in her place, and with the help of former-flame Tripp Carver, who is now a detective with violent crimes unit, and Mark Vincent, her new partner, she must find justice for the woman taken in her place.

Absolute Liability is the first in the Southern Fraud series, and it introduces Julia's sister Tricia whose teenage rape destroyed their family and set the course of Julia's law enforcement career. The official rape case has gone cold, but Julia has managed through less-than-legal means to procure a copy of the police report and bits of physical evidence, and she has been conducting her own personal investigation over the intervening years. Throughout the rest of series, Julia must identify her sister's attacker and bring him to justice.

Death Benefits , book 2, will be out in January 2012.

Do you have a Writer Fantasy--i.e., to see your book make into a feature film, to be on the New York Times bestseller list for 40 consecutive weeks, etc.?
Even though I later read a great deal of mystery novels, I originally became interested in them by watching TV with my father. I loved them all: The Rockford Files, Remington Steele, Murder She Wrote, Father Dowling, Columbo, you name it. So I've always wanted to write a TV episode. I don't think that's going to happen, especially because I don't live in Hollywood. But I fantasize about writing one episode or even seeing one of my books become the basis for a series. It would be amazing to see Mark Vincent and Julia Jackson come to life.

Did you go on any special research trips?
Writing the Southern Fraud series involved a great deal of research into the law enforcement and military world. Not only did I consult with experts—police officers, scientists, and a Marine—but I was also fortunate enough to visit my state's crime lab, which, by the way, looks nothing like a CSI set. It's more like your average high school chemistry lab with some expensive machines mixed in. I met and spoke with experts in fingerprint analysis, ballistics, DNA, chemical testing, questioned documents, and crime scene investigation. In September, I got to attend a Writer's Police Academy, where I took classes in arson, self-defense, handcuffing and arrest techniques, and even snipercraft.

Do you pay attention to reviews? If so, has there been any particular review that made your heart do a little dance? I do pay attention to reviews. I want to know that my books are resonating with those who read them, and I want to read all valid criticism so that I can improve as a writer. My favorite review ever was on my first novel Charlotte Collins: A Continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which was released in September 2010. A bit of backstory: I own a horse, which I board at a working cattle farm. I'm talking real-deal cowboys here: hats, boots, jeans, roping, cattle driving, everything. I had mentioned my P&P sequel to one of the cowboys, and he actually bought a copy of it. I thought he was just being nice to a newbie writer, but he read it! What could a cowboy possibly say positive about a historical romance? He said, "It was better than I expected." And that made my day.

Can you tell us a little about your Austen-related novels?
I have published two Austen related novels—Charlotte Collins and Caroline Bingley—and one short story—"Maria Lucas." I'm a bit of an oddball in the Austen world. I love her minor characters, and my sequels focus on them, not Elizabeth and Darcy. I always wanted to know if Charlotte stayed married to the odious Mr. Collins and wondered why Caroline Bingley, whose brother was so open and sweet, was so sour. Did these women ever have a chance at true love? I knew Elizabeth and Darcy lived happily ever after, but I wondered about those other characters. What happened to them? So I wrote their continuing stories in the Personages of Pride & Prejudice Collection , which is available in one ebook or as individual novels.

Connect with Jennifer Online:
Blog: http://www.bectonliterary.com
Southern Fraud website: http://www.jwbecton.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JenniferBecton

Jennifer's Books are available at:
Amazon
B&N
And wherever ebooks are sold.

Thanks so much for visiting, Jennifer! One random commenter on today's post will win an ebook copy (in his/her choice of format) for Absolute Liability . Winner to be selected next Wednesday, October 19th. Good luck!