Here’s the prototype cover for my stand-alone adventure romance coming early 2014.
Here’s the short blurb and back page blurb:
Think Memoirs of a Geisha meets Taken.
…An Arabian Queen must marry a wild, wicked and wilful Desert Prince to save her people from civil unrest and protect the wealth of her Kingdom…Charisse never expected to find love…But events in her tragic past threaten to destroy not only her Kingdom but her life too…Can their fragile love survive…
He didn’t want a country. He didn’t want a wife. He wanted whisky. And he wanted to forget.
Charisse El Haribe is committed to her adopted country. But after her husband’s death covetous eyes are turned towards the vast untapped mineral wealth of Onnur. The country’s only hope is for her to marry her husband’s nephew, the wild, wicked and womanizing Prince Khalid El Haribe.
To make amends to his family and to assuage his guilt for the death of his sister, Prince Khalid El Haribe agrees to marry his late uncle’s widow and to reign over the small state of Onnur. However, he’s stunned to find his intended is young, intelligent and beautiful.Their attraction is instant and burns too hot.
But a nightmare from Charisse’s past returns and threatens to destroy not only her, but the man and the country she loves.
Authors Giving Back is the wonderful idea of Contemporary Romance Bestselling Author the wonderful Ruth Cardello.
The idea is that today, the 3rd of December, we give back to readers a free book. My choice is A Stormy Spring which is attracting many fans and followers across distributors.
Think Flashdance meets PS I Love You
…Music was her life, choreography her only passion…
Becca had buried her heart with the love of her life…but when she spends a single night of scorching lust with a gorgeous Spaniard the lonely dancer finds there’s a price to pay…
To a man who refuses to take no for an answer…
But fans need to comment and sign up to my blog to win. And there will be THREE lucky winners. Hugo will pick the names out of a hat and I’ll post the name of the winners on Friday 7th December at 6.00pm GMT. Good Luck.
Yes, there’s always a small catch.
BUT that’s not all. Ruth’s also running a huge Pinterest competition (you don’t need to join to enter) where she has many authors participating over twelve days. I’m giving away twelve books and other authors are giving books and many more prizes. Enter as many times as you like and here’s the link: https://pinterest.com/authorsgiveback/12-days-of-author-s-giving-back/
Here’s the facebook page link too: https://www.facebook.com/authorruth.cardello/posts/471212042931038?comment_id=4918827
GOOD LUCK! COME BACK AND GIVE ME FEEDBACK ON HOW YOU GET ON!
CC MacKenzie can write a sex scene like no other. She even beats out JD Robb (Sorry, Nora). Hot and sensual, and well *stops to fan face* did I mention hot?Becca is an independent woman, still healing from some major scars from the past, and she wants no part of love. But after what should have been a one-night stand with the irresistable Lucas Del Garda, she is caught in his web. As she struggles to resist and Lucas woes her, in his rather heavyhanded way, the story unfolds, with several unexpected twists and turns.I enjoyed this book very much. I give it four stars only because the timeline seemed a bit off (you’ll understand why this is important when you encounter the first twist!) and there were a couple places where the characters’ moods shifted a little too quickly. But I would still very much recommend this story. It is well worth the price and the time invested in reading it. And it will leave you wanting more of CC MacKenzie’s work.
Barnes & Noble:
FIVE STARS New Author. WOW!!! My New Fave!
Looooove the combination of uber sexy, macho man and human failings, and can relate to the struggle of a strong female to adjust to said male, lol! I can compare her writing to other fave authors, Nora Roberts, Lora Leigh, Jude Devraux, ect. Story lines that deely grab and effect the heart. You go girl! Aleady read; “Rome…Bronte & Nico’s story”, Cant wait to locate “Run, Run, Rosie” and any others.
Smashwords:
Review by: hrhsophia on Aug. 21, 2012 :
Great book, love the men, love the women. A couple of nods to that hot book of the moment but not too many. Cannot wait to read the rest of the series.
As you know I’m a sucker for a well written burning hot vampire.
My perfect vampire hero would be a bad boy who takes the heroine right to the edge. And guys, do I have a doozy for you.
Meet Kane Malloy and boy is he bad to the bone. Woo Hoo!
My hardcopy of Blood Shadowsarrived last Friday and cannot tell you how excited I was to receive it. This series first found traction during the New Voices romance competition where for two successive years author Lindsay Pryor reached the final four. I believe her reader comments during the competitions numbered in the high hundreds. For a paranormal author this was an amazing breakthrough where hard-core romance readers crossed romance genres to fall in love with Kane. And that says a great deal about the quality of Lindsay Pryor’s writing.
Since the fall of 2010, where I first read Lindsay’s work, I’ve followed her progress with huge interest. Lindsay had never let anyone, and I mean anyone, read her work before she entered the first competition. What she had been doing over fourteen years was to learn her craft and guys, she learned it well.
I finished Blood Shadowsat 3.30am this morning. Yep, I couldn’t put it down and as for ‘Who’s Edward?’ I’d say, ‘Who’s Christian?’ because Kane Malloy kicks that bad boy’s ass (or as Kane might say, ‘arse’.)
Here’s the blurb:
For vengeance - would you trust a vampire?
For justice - could you betray your family?
For love - are you ready to question everything you believe in?
Gifted with the ability to read the shadows of ‘third species’ beings, Caitlin Parish is the Vampire Control Unit’s most powerful agent. Despite that, her mission to hunt down Kane Malloy – a master vampire – comes with a death wish. Many have tried, but few have survived.
For Caitlin, tracking Kane is about more than just professional reputation. With her parents both mysteriously killed 7 years apart to the day, Caitlin knows that without Kane’s help she is next.
She has four days to make a deal with the wicked, the irresistible, the treacherous Kane Malloy. The vampire who despises everything she stands for.
Or die.
Blackthorn: Book One
Brought to you by Lindsay J. Pryor – powerful, absorbing, intense paranormal romance.
“Lindsay J. Pryor easily earns a place alongside Paranormal Romance’s best writers!” Michele Hauf
“An incredible voice for paranormal.” Rhyannon Byrd
Now as you can see Lindsay’s already found an impressive list of famous fans.
I’m not famous but I know a literary diamond when I find one and Lindsay’s a shining, brilliant new talent in the paranormal genre. Her writing is fluid, lyrical with sensual descriptive prose which hits the spot. The dialogue between Kane and Caitlin sparks.
Here’s an example:
One of the most challenging aspects of a paranormal author’s work is world building. And a dark dystopian world is a particularly tricky thing to pull off. Lindsay’s lived with her world, her characters, for many years which means she writes them with a confidence, an authority, that makes the reader believe they are real and the events which happen plausible and feasible. And that skill is what makes a talented writer a great one imho. And Blackthorn is a dark, claustrophobic, almost gothic world where nothing is as it seems.
What struck me when I first read Lindsay’s work and especially after reading this book from cover to cover is the intelligent exploration and development of the love story. It’s hot, it’s passionate and it’s compelling, it’s even fiercely intense, but most of all Caitlin’s vulnerability and her courage in the face of that vulnerability - and how Kane copes with it - make this a fabulously valid emotional arc. I loved it.
And there’s more to come, thank goodness.
To say I’m utterly thrilled to be able to write this today is an understatement. My emotions are all over the place; pride, joy and a lovely tickle in the gut that I was RIGHT, lol!
Oliver Rhodes of Bookouture (for authors click the link) has done a great thing by publishing Lindsay, a great thing, and he should take a bow while I give him a round of applause. Oliver’s had many years in publishing romance. The man knows his onions and he’s bridging a much needed gap between self publishing and publishing and given Lindsay the freedom to tell her story her way. A man of vision one might say and I for one wish him every success.
So what’s next for Lindsay Pryor? Want to see what she looks like? Here she is. I think she looks cute but she tells me she was channeling her evil side. Nope.
Book two, Blood Roses is out in the Spring of 2013 and Book three is out in the Fall of 2013.
And she’d better be well on the way with books four, five and six or I’ll want to know why - no pressure!
And finally, here’s my daughter (she’ll kill me for posting her but I do it with love) with her copy of Blood Shadowsto buy it just click any of the title links:
I’ll keep you all posted on Lindsay’s progress, but if she doesn’t end up with a film/tv deal tripping along the red carpet with the rich and famous then my crystal ball’s faulty. And as you all know, there’s nothing wrong with my crystal ball!
I’ve missed you guys, but Rosie’s well, just being Rosie!
This is the wonderful Diane Capri - best-selling legal thriller author extraordinaire with the terribly sexy Lee Child. (That’s a name drop, so shoot me.)
It’s not often I rub shoulders with the famous who rub shoulders with the famous.
In fact I can’t really think of one famous person I’ve rubbed shoulders with, unless you count the ballerina Darcy Bussell years ago in Zimbabwe. But that’s another story.
Diane writes intelligent legal thrillers with intellectually kick-ass heroines. However, she’s really hit the big time with ‘Don’t know Jack’ a homage, in many respects, to the character Lee Child’s created, Jack Reacher. As you can see Lee loves Diane and all the girls love Lee. Diane cleverly analysed the impact on the people Jack left behind, what happened to them and why after Jack touched their lives. The thing about Diane is that she understands the human condition. Might have something to do with the fact that she was a lawyer - see a wonderful interview with Karen McFarland here.
But I digress, Diane has me on her blog today, revealing me HERE. Omigod! One of the things she insisted or else requested was a real-time photograph of what I look like now. Omigod!
Can I just say in my defence, that I’m the one in the yellow T-shirt with the silver pompoms dancing on top of the moving float? And the other one with the bleached hair was after treatment when my hairdresser wanted a new look and I actually (must have been the drugs) said yes?
It’s not often I ask you guys to man up and help me, but please stop by on Diane’s blog and comment or she’ll kill me or worse.
And for those of you wondering about Run Rosie Run, she’s in edits and I’m wondering why the hell Alexander Ludlow wants her, seriously.
There is a reason I’m telling you this, but I’ll get to it in a minute.
A couple of weeks ago, Hugo took me on a journey, an eight hour plus journey to the Highlands of Scotland. The thinking behind the trip was that Christine hadn’t had a break from the MAC in a while (I’d begun to believe my characters were real. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when one is a scribbler, but when the characters are Vampyres one’s husband begins to twitch and give one the steely eye.)
Another reason was because the weather (I’m sure I’ve mentioned the weather?) has been vile and he was certain the country was due a break from the rain. But no. We drove for six hours through the worst September storm in thirty years, think pestilence and a flood of biblical proportions and you might get the picture.
The thing about going away in this country is one never knows what to pack because it might be 10 degrees one day and 30 degrees the next, so I was advised by my youngest daughter to ‘layer.’
When we visit the Cairngorm mountains in the national park, see photo below, lovely isn’t it?
We always go on the funicular railway to the very top. Here’s the link if you fancy a trip (you can walk but it takes two hours and it’s 3,000 odd feet above sea level and the paramedics would need resuscitation equipment for Hugo.) The view is usually spectacular as long as there’s no low cloud cover. They don’t allow visitors to step onto the mountain because our footprint might damage the natural habitat. Hmm, I thought it might have had something to do with the sheer drop and a health and safety issue. But no, they’re more worried about damage to the mountain than human beings. Fair enough.
Anyway, Hugo had gone to buy the ticket and I was keeping our place in the line and noticed two couples standing in front of me who were not British. By the lovely singsongy voices, blonde hair, blue eyes (the older guy looked just like Charlton Heston in his prime 🙂 my intuition told me they were Scandinavian. So we all got on the train and away we went. When you get to the top, the organisers are a crafty lot and make visitors trek through a large gift shop. By this time, although I’d ‘layered’ I was freezing and a fleece top caught my attention. In spite of Hugo’s eye roll (I saw it by the way, just say’in) I bought it and they bagged it up in a swanky big brown paper bag, not plastic (even though it was now raining) because plastic is not biodegradable. Fair enough.
At the top they have a café with huge windows for us to enjoy the view. By the time I’d stood for half an hour for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, I was too hot. So I took off my quilted coat and duck down gillet and told Hugo I was off to the ladies loo. I’d taken the bag with the new top in it and didn’t think he’d noticed. It is true I was gone for a while, but whatever.
When I returned to the café Hugo was chatting to the two Scandinavian couples who’d joined our table. Actually, to be accurate, one guy was British, a sound engineer with Strictly Come Dancing and he was married to one of the women. I know, I was thrilled because I love Strictly. Somebody who works with the famous is almost as good as speaking to the famous. Anyway the following conversation ensued,
‘See,’ Hugo said. ‘I told you she’d gone to change into her new top.’
My husband, boys and girls, has a big mouth.
I just gave him ‘the look’ and smiled at them.
‘It suits you,’ the younger woman said with a smile and a fabulous accent.
‘Where are you from?’ I asked.
‘Sweden. We’ve brought my sister and her husband up on a tour of Scotland. We live in London.’
‘What do you do?’ the sound engineer said to Hugo.
‘I’ve retired,’ Hugo responded. (He’s a LOT older than me, just thought I should mention it.)
‘Lucky you, how do you fill your time?’
‘Well, I do lots of things and I work for Christine.’
The sound engineer nodded, sipped his hot chocolate and whipped cream with marshmallows. ‘What does Christine do?’
‘She’s a writer,’ Hugo said with an evil grin at his loyal and loving wife.
They all turned to look at me and I gave them big eyes.
‘What do you write?’ his wife asked.
‘Romance.’
‘Oooh, you’re not that 50 Shades of Grey lady.’
I get this all the time.
I smiled. ‘No, I wish I was,’ I said. And we all chatted about Christian Grey.
‘I also write a vampire paranormal set in an urban future,’ I added.
‘Oooh, my sister loves vampires. What’s your name?’
‘CC MacKenzie. My first book was Reckless Nights In Rome.’
Her sister from Sweden turned to look at me and said something in Swedish.
‘My sister has heard of you.’
Heart stopped. Blink blink.
I shook my head. ‘Nope. I haven’t been writing for long.’ I took out my business card (always be prepared) and they studied it. Her sister nodded and spoke again in rapid Swedish.
‘Yes, she’s heard of you. Her son’s ex-girlfriend has your book on her kindle. She loved it.’
Blink blink, hot flush rose from my toes as more conversation happened in Swedish.
‘My sister would like your card to give to her son’s ex-girlfriend.’
So I gave her the card and found myself tearing up, how embarrassing was this? Hugo just grinned. I think it’s the hormones – I’m getting to that age - but I’ve never been so emotional in my life.
Who’d have thought it?
I’m famous in Sweden.
I just hope Reckless Nights In Rome didn’t kill her son’s romance with his ex! I sometimes worry that young girls might end up with too high an expectation of their men after reading one of my heroes.
So that’s what I’ve been up to, freezing to death up a Scottish mountain dishing out business cards to lovely ladies from Sweden.
What have you guys been up to?
What do you do for a living?
Come and share it with us – we demand to know. (This should be good.)
Think I’m getting the hang of this blogging gig - stop laughing in the back!
Mondays usually suck for most people therefore I’ve decided to spread a little happiness for all you guys out there whose chin is on the floor! Mondays are going to be fun days here on Fizz and Fangs!
And that means talking about what makes us tick as people.
One of the things I adore about blogging is the fact I get to speak to wonderful peeps from all over the world. And you’re a pretty diverse bunch let me tell you. Often I chat to one of my crit partners, Cynthia, from Ohio on the telephone. Cynthia and me go way back - almost four years; she’s a glutton for punishment what can I say - and she laughs as soon as I answer the phone. The reason for this is because I am Scottish which means, quite naturally, I have a Scottish accent which, she says, makes her smile.
Now like everything else, Scottish accents are not all created equal.
They are many and varied. Some are musical and lyrical (the Highlands and English Border accent) and with others even I need an interpreter especially if the person comes from certain parts of Glasgow. Before I offend the entire population of that wonderful City, can I say that I, myself, am from Glasgow so I’m perfectly entitled to throw that particular rock. Just say’in. Now, I haven’t lived in Scotland for many years - almost twenty-five - and I haven’t lost my accent. People tell me - and who am I to argue - that I sound just like the Scottish TV presenter Lorraine Kelly which is why I’ve posted a video of her talking to another Scottish person, Gerard Butler. So you guys can ‘hear’ what I sound like - good idea or what?
On the telephone my husband makes my female friends and acquaintances swoon because he had a deep gravelly Scottish accent which forcibly reminds callers of Sean Connery. Let me just say right now that he doesn’t look anything like Sean Connery and he’s much younger too! Just say’in.
So what I want to know and so do the rest of the peeps reading this is - What or who do you sound like? We all know what the great fabulous Texan Kristen Lamb sounds like. So, come on and let us know. Do you have a high, breathy, girly voice? Is it deep and sexy? I recently described a heroine as having a voice ‘like great big honeyed spoonfuls of soul’ she has a slight French accent btw.
So come on and don’t be shy - if you’re a drawler we demand to know!!
Today we’re talking goals. Losing weight, getting fit or accomplishing our writing goals isn’t as easy as it sounds otherwise we’d all be skinny, lean and mean writing machines.
First of all we need to decide about what we want, then work out how we’re going to get there. Sounds easy doesn’t it? But it’s not, especially if you’re new to attempting weight loss, getting fit or writing a sentence never mind writing a novel.
Via media-cen.pinterest.com
This week, I’ve fallen off the writing wagon and I’ve plenty of excuses as to why. A friend was buried. The brick wall my writing crashed into isn’t even cracked never mind damaged. My hero is being a stubborn B******d! And my heroine needs a smacked bottom - no, it’s not kinky (looking at you Myndi, Deborah, Rachel FH and Karen McF) so it’s been shoulder rolls and knuckle cracking time to sort this pair out. The emotional tension needs ratcheted up and he needs less simpatico and more edgy/attitude as well being empathic – not a lot, just a little (I don’t ask for much from my heroes, do I?) And this is at the end of the first draft so why I expect the thing to be perfect God knows – see what I mean about expectations? I know all first drafts are crap so why do I expect mine to be perfect? Why?
Having goals and working towards them is fantastic. But we need to prepare for the unexpected. So we need to constantly re-evaluate our goals and ask ourselves these questions.
Are they realistic?
Are they adaptable?
Are they workable?
Are they achievable?
We can never stay motivated 100% of the time. We need to block out our inner critic and it’s harping voice of negativity. We need to think about what we HAVE achieved and to do that we need to keep a log of what we write/research/mull-over every single day. Keep a diary, or jot it on a wall planner, of your progress and make a note of how what you’ve done, foods guzzled, yards walked, word count etc. Then, when times are tough we can look back and see what we’ve achieved already. Seemples!
And we need to build ourselves a team. Which those of you who are members of We Are Not alone (WANA) already know (link here for you guys who’ve never heard of the Queen of Blogland, Kristen Lamb.) Weirdly, she’s just been talking about teamwork - spooky or what - I think she could be a witch BUT DON’T TELL HER I SAID THAT.
Don’t underestimate the importance of having friends! They help you to celebrate the highs and hug/kick ass during the lows. Remember true friends do not envy you your success – they support you. Teammates can help you with the ‘sticky bits’ on our journey to weight loss, better fitness or publishing success.
And remember 90% of people give themselves IMPOSSIBLE goals, so make sure yours are baby steps. And once you’ve achieved your goals. Do Not Give Up. Keep Going. Set a new goal, even if it’s maintaining what you’ve already done. The wonderful James Scott Bell has written The Art of War for Writers and it’s brilliant for keeping us on track. I love that man.
Are you adaptable with your goals?
Are you part of a fabulous group of like minded people? If so, who are they and can we join too?
Do you celebrate the good times as well as the bad?
I adore hearing from you guys. Seriously, I get all warm and fuzzy when someone stops by and says hello. And sob heart brokenly into my pillow if you don’t. (I’m not above a bit of emotional blackmail.)
Once in a while, it’s screaming/yelling Shake-Down time in this house. You all know what I mean. The kitchen is usually my first port of call when I’m on a tear, rubber gloves are snapped on angry fingers twitching for action. This is the time the sticky milk carton shelf of the fridge is cleaned. The salad drawer is emptied (Ew, what is that green mouldy thing? No idea but medical science might’ve found the cure for botulism.) I put my hands up, because I’m a writer, that my fridge is occasionally a biological hazard. The kitchen bin is nuked which means I’ve inhaled so much neat bleach I’ve lost my sense of smell. And the males in the family have left the building at a run.
This is the time I become known as Evil Mommy because nothing is sacred, the empty crisp packets and sweet wrappers down the side of the sofas are exposed (yes, and I know who put them there, and let me say your- days-are-numbered.) Sometimes in the sofa I get very lucky and find MONEY!
The DH’s study is shovelled out (due to a visit this week from BT to fit a new faster broadband thingy.) The dust bunnies had been breeding like rabbits and all I’m saying is it was not pretty. He found loads of great stuff including a motivational CD on leadership by Colin Powell. But the study’s pretty now, oh yes indeed it certainly is. I wouldn’t like to risk eating my dinner off the floor, but it’s not bad. The room looks twice its normal size and he’s doing all sorts of things in there, including playing with his new camera. And he found CD’s with old photos.
Which, because I feel nothing but love for you guys, I’m sharing some of the best bits – here: This is my spawn a few years ago in Malindi, Kenya.
Since my star sign is LEO, hear me roar! (The neighbours certainly did) Nothing is done by halves.
Next on the hit list was the main bathroom cupboard – I shed a fat tear at this point – how many empty shampoo bottles does a daughter need? And four full bottles of 2in1 Head& Shoulders? Someone with chronic dandruff obviously thought they’d got a deal – but they don’t live in this house!
Think of the movie Twister and it’ll give you an idea of the mayhem of Shake-Down. But how long does it last? Forty-eight hours? Then everything returns to its normal sorry state. Is it all worth it?
I was fine. I was calm and relaxed … until … I got into the car. (Those of you following this blog will know I’ve been u.n.w.e.l.l.) Not a car, it was a SKIP on wheels. DH sat very still, his head turned towards me, our eyes met. And he spoke the immortal words. “Sorry, I didn’t know you’d be out and about today or I’d have had it valeted.”
I opened my mouth to roar. Then I remembered that for over a year I haven’t made a single meal. He does all the food shopping and has looked after me above and beyond the marriage vows. He’s mastered the dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, and iron etc., so that I’ve ‘got space and time to write and get well.’
I love this man, I just don’t tell him enough. So I’m going to try harder not to sweat the small stuff and to remember what’s important.
Do you guys take your loved ones for granted? When was the last time you told them thank you? And did you give them back the money you found down the side of the sofa?
CC MACKENZIE - USA Today Bestselling Author 