Two Stars From New Zealand by Vonnie Davis

There's a lovely, talented young star in New Zealand who writes the most imaginative stories. Her name is LaVerne Clark, and she sent me my fifth star today by nominating Vintage Vonnie for Blog of the Year. I'm thrilled, but first, let's go back a minute to my remark about her writing the most imaginative stories. Folks, this author thinks on a very deep level. Have you ever wondered how the atomic bomb dropped over Japan might have altered the genes of some of the survivors? That perhaps they now possess special powers? Not I. My mind doesn't think like that. Thankfully hers does or I wouldn't have had the chance to read Affinity. Check out LaVerne's blog at http://www.laverneclark.blogspot.co.nz

This award is unlike other awards that you can only add to your blog once. This award can be updated with additional stars. For every time your blog is nominated, you get to add an additional star.

There are a total of “6” stars to collect. Which means that you can check out your favorite blogs—and even if they have already been given the award by someone else—you can still make your opinion count and pass it on to them again and help them (or me) reach the maximum of “6” stars.

The rules of the award are simple:

1. Select the blogs you think deserve the 2012 Blog of the Year Award.

2. Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen—there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required and present them with this award.

3. Please include a link back to this page: Blog of the Year Award. http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-rewards/blog-of-the-year-award/ and include these rules in your post. (Please don’t alter the rules or the badge!)

4. Let the blogs(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the rules with them.

5. You can now join our Facebook page – click the link here. ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award (http://www.facebook.com/groups/BlogoftheYear/) and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

Here are the blogs I've chosen to receive this award:

http://maevegreyson.blogspot.com/ I love Maeve Greyson's books. She takes a bit of Scotland, a bit of muscled brawn, a bit of magic, throws it into her magic culdron of talent and stirs with her own brand of delightful humor and **POOF** she's got another winner. But beyond all that, I just love Maeve, the woman. And I thoroughly enjoy her blog.

http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/ I've stated many times how I feel about history, the beauty of the West and cowboys. Caroline Clemmons loves those things, too, and her blog is a font of information. I lurk there often to learn something historical. She's very supportive of other authors and does great interviews, too. Have you read Home Sweet Texas Home? Artfully written, folks. And I confess to being in love with her cat, Sebastian. He's gorgeous.

http://blog.rolynnanderson.com/ Rolynn was a recent guest here. I just love her to pieces. In fact she was my muse for my second entry in the Honky Tonk Hearts series. We met on The Wild Rose Press yahoo loop and again as bloggers on Voices of the Heart, blog for RWA's online chapter, From the Heart. She's got a great series going on right now--suspenseful, humorous in spots, thought provoking in othes. A great combo, if you ask me.

COURAGE IN OUR WRITING; COWARDICE IN OUR LIVES by Rolynn Anderson

I've been looking forward to today for more than a week. My dear online friend, author Rolynn Anderson is here to talk about her series and newest release, SWOON.

This train is moving too fast for me to step off.  Yup, I’m deep into writing a series on a boutique funeral planner (FADEOUT and SWOON), and I’ll be writing a third book for sure (FAINT).  Maybe a fourth.  Most of you know by now that I conceived of the series after planning my own father’s funeral in 2005, striving to personalize my dad’s sendoff.

 

To the concept of boutique funerals, I added light suspense and a complex plot.

 Mixed in romance, of course. 

 

 

Roman is a definitely a keeper.

 

 

 

Introduced a cute, but mysteriously gifted Scottie named Elwood.

 

Gave my heroine, Jan Solvang, a fainting disorder and a few other challenges.

 

But here’s the thing.  The topic is death and funerals, a subject most of us prefer not to talk about, much less plan for.  My character builds her own obituary in her thirties, for heaven’s sake.  She knows how to look death in the eye without blinking.  Give her a room of grief-stricken people and she’ll turn sadness into celebration.

 

My heroine isn’t me.  I have not written my obituary, updated my will, thought about a ‘ceremony,’ or made a decision on the ash/burial question.  I am rendered mute by grief.

 

Am I alone with this…being courageous in my writing, but cowardly in my life?  Will it take book three or book four to spark my growth arc?

 

This writer wants to know:  Have you gained courage from your characters? 

 

“Don't miss SWOON by Rolynn Anderson! If you like an interesting cast of characters, a heavy dose of mystery and a lot of fabulous surprises, you'll be happily turning pages late into the night.ˮ

~ Brenda Novak, NYT and USA Bestselling Author of WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES

 

****

Her dead clients won’t rest in peace.

When the dead tell tales, Jan Solvang’s first reaction is to RUN!  But then she gets caught up in their mysteries.

Jan’s a boutique funeral planner, new to risk, hired to bury a missing woman and memorialize an infamous man.  Yet when she digs for clues to write their eulogies, she disturbs family secrets and unmasks killers.

Roman Keller, hard-driving documentary writer, is in complete control of his life and his stories, until he falls for Jan, a woman who trusts her dog, her faint-dreams, and her instincts more than she trusts him.

 

Can they make the sacrifices necessary to cement their relationship or will the mayhem caused by the dead ruin their second chance at love?  

 

Web/buy site for SWOON: http://www.rolynnanderson.com

Kindle:  amzn.to/TH69yy

 

Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/252721  

MAIN CHARACTERS WITH VULNERABILITIES by Rolynn Anderson

Tonight I shall say good-bye to a friend. A friend who's kept me company for the last week as I've drifted off to sleep. Even when my bronchitus was at its worst, this buddy never let go of my hand. I've enjoyed getting to know this lierary companion, a romantic suspense named FADEOUT. Knowing Rolynn, auhor of FADEOUT, was guesting here today, I wanted to read all of her book so I could tell you about Jan, who the hero calls Jazz, and Roman, a driven man who cuts no one any slack. As these characters became real in my mind's eye, I enjoyed how Rolynn showed me the weakness, hang-ups and quirks both characters possessed. And, page after page, these weaknesses somehow became strengths. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed her character development. Secondary characters added a stern realistic and often tenderly comical dimension to the story.

Oh, and the dog. LOL Let's not forget the dog. The day serious, take-no-prisoners Roman got down on his stomach to lay not one, but two doggie biscuits on the floor in front of one wiley schnauser to keep him from biting him--again--was a visual that made me laugh until I cried. I could just see his exasperated expression. The set of his jaw.

So, I'm tickled to have Rolynn here at Vintage Vonnie today...

I’m halfway through reading Vonnie Davis’ new MONA LISA’S ROOM enjoying how Vonnie develops her heroine, Alyson.  Since Vonnie writes romantic suspense, as I do, and MONA LISA’S ROOM releases in early November (my FADEOUT came out this month), we’re both on edge, hoping our heroines resonate with readers. 

 

Do they represent what it means to be human?  To me, part of that ‘reality’ means the heroine has vulnerabilities.

 

Alyson, in MONA LISA’S ROOM, has come out of a disappointing marriage that has left her feeling unloved, old, not sexy and worried about her ability to choose appropriate men to be with.  She’s become a person who wears flip-flops instead of heels.

 

My character Jan, in FADEOUT, left her long-time boyfriend to take care of her dying mother.  Her mother’s gone, now, but Jan’s been living in a house empty of furniture for six months.   Why can’t she buy a bed so her boyfriend can sleep with her when/if he visits?  She was once a big company executive;  why  can’t she make decisions and take action anymore?

 

Vulnerabilities.  Alyson and Jan enter our stories confused, hurt and lacking confidence.  They live in a world turned upside down by events they can’t seem to control, no matter how smart they are.  And that’s where the suspense in our stories begins. 

 

I can’t wait to finish Aly’s story; I hope you’ll enjoy Jan’s journey in FADEOUT.  Here’s the cover and here’s the blurb.

 

BLURB for FADEOUT by Rolynn Anderson:

Jan Solvang has spent her life avoiding conflict and commitment. Six months ago, she left a marriage proposal and a job in Seattle to care for her dying mother. Now she's stuck with her mother's California house and her mother's dog, filling her mother's shoes as a memorial planner with her estranged father.

 

Roman Keller thrives on conflict, writing documentaries that reveal the flaws of the famous. Jan’s challenge is to help him write a positive eulogy for a grandfather he disliked, but Roman is more interested in her other client: a powerful attorney with a dark past his family wants buried with him. If Jan stands behind the family and Roman goes for the exposé, who’s in danger and who wins?

 

The tension between them pulls tighter as each discovers the other is keeping secrets.  But if they tell the truth, will they destroy any chance for love?

 

SUSPENSE SPIKED WITH ROMANCE

Web: http://www.rolynnanderson.com

FADEOUT in print & download at

Wild Rose: http://tinyurl.com/8b9wyau

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9yo9wwq