Friday, June 14, 2013

Gerri Bowen: Love's Blood #paranormal #romance


Love's Blood
by Gerri Bowen

Every once in a while you come across an author who has a unique perspective and you know they'll come up with an original story.  Such is the case with Gerri Bowen, who has been a friend of mine for many years.

For a listing of all her short stories and books, check out Gerri's Amazon page.

I asked her to write a little about her latest release, Love's Blood, so here she is.  Enjoy!

Gerri tells how the story came about
Love’s Blood is my new paranormal~ fantasy~ historical romance, but took several years in the thinking part, and then to the writing it down part. And then all the stuff that comes after that. I believe I realized my first scene when I was listening to The Medieval Babes. I could see women chanting. Strong women. Warrior women. Sitting on the ground in the woods, chanting and singing. But why were they doing that? More thinking and other characters introduced themselves. Okay, an outcast Dane. I’m a sucker for The Outcast Dane. Had to get him in the story. I could make the time period work. Then the Wood Nymphs had to be in because, as everyone knows, Wood Nymphs love to sing and en-spell with their songs. The strong women have no need to en-spell, they have other gifts. Sapient animals were next; I just happen to have two that are in other stories. Yes! They were perfect. So I thought I had it down.
Gerri Bowen

A wild-blooded Cymraes (Welsh woman) and an outcast Dane are aided by two sapient animals on a mission to protect their humans and ensure they join in fruitful matrimony.

A woman with inherited paranormal gifts begins a quest of protection for three girls. A cursed, outcast Dane welcomes the strange woman into his homestead.

She feels welcome and wanted for the first time in her life, but sees the evil behind the curse. She must hide her abilities, while fighting the evil. (And the evil is nasty!)

So I wrote it down, and as so often happens, other characters made themselves known. Some re-acquainted themselves to me. For those familiar with what I write, you can recognize certain characters or places. Breen is a sanctuary. The DaTamPanni is an immortal. The auld gods are, well, not gods, and are sleeping at Breen. Perseus makes another, longer appearance.

By the time I was done, I had a love story. Also, much emotional pain and turmoil; surprises for some of the characters; emotional and spiritual growth, and humor.

As to the why of my story, well, why not? Who is to say my story never happened?

Excerpt of
Love's Blood
by Gerri Bowen

Britta blinked, her eyes narrowing while they accustomed themselves to the bright light, and she held her hands up to shield her eyes. Then Inga was gone from her grasp, was being held by a man, a man Britta assumed was the father of the girls. Yea, she recognized him from their thoughts, although he was dirty, his clothes and face spattered with dried mud. He had dark hair while his daughters had light hair, almost white. She looked at the men accompanying him. All were large, rough looking men, also covered in mud. Armored, too, but not like the Saxons near her kin.

The girls were rescued; they didn’t need her now. Their father had come after them, had even brought men to help him. No doubt they were greatly loved, judging by the tears and laughter she saw from the girls. But hadn’t she already known that, from their thoughts?

Her quest had ended before it had begun.

She needed a new quest. Well, obviously she first had to escape. Go home to Breen? That didn’t seem like much of a quest.

She blinked and stared. The father was talking to her. And frowning. Big frowns coming from their father to her. Why? She looked at the girls, his girls, not hers, to see their reaction. They were smiling, and then Inga came over and wrapped her arms around her waist. Why was the father frowning at her? He looked at her like…

She reached up and felt her hair. It felt puffy even though it had been weeks since she washed it, although one side didn’t feel quite right, as if… She pulled out several twigs, leaves and clumps of dried mud. Yea, she probably looked like she’d been rolling in mud. Hmmm… There was a dim recollection of rolling and trying to get away… Doubtless her face was dirty as well. Holding out her arms, she saw dirt, very visible in the light of day. Yea, she needed to bathe. Doubtless that was the reason why their father looked at her so strangely.
♥ ♥ ♥

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Character Interview: Shelley Clark from SINGLE GIRLS CAN'T JUMP

Character Interview:
Shelley Clark
Star of
Single Girls Can't Jump

Check out Smart Girls Read Romance!

For my debut post, I've interviewed Shelley Clark, star of the short story, Single Girls Can't Jump, set a thousand years in the future.  It's a wild, romantic adventure and hey, there are bounty hunters!

Back cover copy

Activist Shelley Clark parachutes out of a plane to protest a silly Florida law prohibiting single women from skydiving on Sundays, and makes a hard landing a thousand years into the future. In jail!  Can she trust the sexy rebel, Kael Gibson, who busts her out?  And how about Kael's mom, who's decided Shelley would make the perfect daughter-in-law.  Kael agrees, and now wants to trap Shelley in another form of imprisonment--marriage!

Interview
Jacquie: How long have you been skydiving, and what got you started?

Shelley: I've been jumping since I was sixteen, every weekend, and then I got a job with a skydiving company where I trained people for their first jump, so even though I'm not that old, I have a lot of experience under my belt.

What got me started?  Well, I was sixteen and my boyfriend wanted to give skydiving a try, so I went with him.  He chickened out but I jumped--and was it ever exhilarating!  We broke up that same day, and I went back to the airstrip and begged for another go.

Jacquie: About your boyfriends--seems like you've been unlucky in love.

Shelley:  Most of them want my undivided attention but I have other things to do, and to be honest, I wouldn't want a man who didn't have convictions himself.  If he has no passion for anything else, how can he have passion for me?  At any rate, I wasn't at all surprised when my boyfriend (at the time of the accident), slurped up as much attention as he could.  We wouldn't have been dating much longer anyway.

Jacquie:  What was it like waking up a thousand years in the future?

Shelley:  Whoa, talk about trippy.  It took me a while to figure out what the deal is.  Things were the same but very different, too.

Jacquie:  Do you prefer the future? or contemporary?

Shelley:  The world doesn't make any more sense in the future than it did in my own time, so the answer to that is wherever Kael is, the scenery is better. [big grin]

Jacquie:  Are you planning to star in any more stories?

Shelley:  I have no plans at this time, but if Hollywood calls...

Shelley's off getting into more trouble so let's take a look at what others are saying about Single Girls Can't Jump.

Reviews

FIVE STARS! Every state has old laws that have been almost forgotten because they are outdated. Yet, legally, they are still laws. (For example, in Florida it is illegal to tie an alligator to a fire hydrant.) This story is based on one of Florida’s inane laws and at times I could not resist shaking my head in wonder. This tale was originally published in an anthology (No Law Against Love); however, this version has been edited for even more fun. 

Jacquie Rogers is an author with eclectic taste and showcases this variety in her writings. Packed with romance, excitement, and sass, this adventure has something for everyone. 
~~ Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews

Have you heard ridiculous laws that leave you wondering not only why they were ever passed, but also why they are still on the books? Obviously Jacquie Rogers has in her tongue-in-cheek comedy SINGLE GIRLS CAN'T JUMP. This delightful short story will leave you laughing. Shelly is determined to protest a law preventing single women from parachuting on Sundays. Unfortunately, her plan sends her a thousand years into the future. Well, not so unfortunately, because she meets a truly heroic hunk who shares her ideals. His mother is a corker and totally fun. This short story is a fast-paced fun read that is sure to please. I'm so glad I read it. I will undoubtedly reread it when I need a smile. 
~~ Caroline Clemmons, author of the Men of Stone Mountain series

Win a Kindle version of

All you have to do is leave a comment!  Be sure to include your email address.
Drawing will be held June 14 at 9pm Pacific Time.

Love books?  Get terrific recommends at
Smart Girls Read Romance
Comment on any SGRR post in June
to be entered in the Kindle Fire drawing at the end of the month.
All Smart Girls Read Romance commenters are eligible!