Category: Guest Post

  I am happy to welcome the authors of the Merry & Bright anthology to my notebook today. Some of my regular readers may know that I adore Christmas romances and am really looking forward to reading these short stories. The question they are answering today happens to be about the Hallmark movie channel and my mom and I were just talking about their movies yesterday. She loves them. If Hallmark Channel adapted your story into a holiday movie, who would you want to play your main characters and why? Lauren Clark: If Hallmark Channel adapted A Very Dixie Christmas into a movie, my dream cast would include Ellen Page (Juno, Inception) for PD, which may seem a unique pick, but I would want someone with natural beauty, a sense of humor, and an honest, raw quality that commands the screen. I'd love to see Chris Pine for Daniel, and not only because he's so HOT, but the man has talent and that amazing,...

Today, I'm happy to welcome Samantha Moon to my notebook. Samantha is, among other things, a private investigator in Moon River by J. R. Rain. Samantha Moon Some call me a vampire. I say, why use labels? I’m uncomfortable calling myself anything other than a mother. That’s the one label I am comfortable with. I’m a mom first and foremost. A private investigator next, even though that is fairly recent. Seven years ago, I wasn’t a private eye, but a federal agent. So, even that was subject to change. Perhaps someday I might find myself better suited for a different job, although I will always help those who need help. Although I’d always admired Judge Judy, I would never want to be in her position: to judge the actions of others. That took wisdom...a lifetime of wisdom. Technically, I’m only in my mid-thirties, although I look much younger. Still, far too young to judge others. Truth was, my current lifestyle was perfectly suited to private...

Today I'm happy to welcome Sunayna Prasad, author of Alyssa McCarthy’s Magical Missions: From Frights to Flaws. She's sharing some tips about writing. Don’t Write Overnight When writing a book, you want to take your time as much as you can. If you write to fast, you not only receive writer’s block more frequently, but also—your writing gets filled with grammar and spelling issues. Of course, if you’re writing a first draft, you want to get your ideas down, so grammar and spelling aren’t as important as if you’re polishing your final draft. But keep in mind that if you want to publish your book, you need it to be as error-free as possible. Not only do you need good spelling and grammar, but also content. I don’t think anyone can write quality book content in two weeks, or even two months, and consider him or herself finished. It’s just not possible. In fact, when I was in high school, I made that...

Isn't that cover cute? Today, I'm happy to welcome Mark J. Grant to talk a little about his book, Lila: The Sign of the Elven Queen. A Little Magic and a Lot of Growing Up The world is seen through the eyes of a six year old girl who is progressing towards being seven. Each day is a new adventure as mama and papa try to guide Lila towards becoming a young lady. Her request, granted by her parents, to own an invisible dog sets the stage for the adventures that follow. A shiny and sparkly world is created for the reader to explore the realm of some of the invisible people from Iceland that now live in the cornerstones of downtown buildings in New  York and in the boulders of Central Park. Fluffy, Lila's appropriately named invisible dog, turns out to be much more than he seems. The riddle is answered towards the end of the book as the invisible people thunderously...

Today, I'm happy to welcome Jo Kessel, author of the contemporary romance, Weak at the Knees, to my notebook. She's talking about balancing life and work, a subject a lot of us can relate to. Balancing Life and Writing As women, we’re taught at a young age that we can have it all, and so it came as a shock to me when I realized that this isn’t necessarily the truth. At least, you can have it all, but there’s a price to pay for it and, if you decide to work  full-time, that price is spending less quality time with your children. And so for  me, having a full-time career and being a Mom has never been an easy partnership.  It’s been a constant challenge to achieve a perfect life/work balance, but I think I’m closer to it now than I was. Before I had children I was a full-time TV Reporter, but the hours were so long that I had...

Today I'm happy to welcome Cinta Garcia de la Rosa, author of The Funny Adventures of Little Nani. Today she's telling us a little about her future plans for Little Nani. What are Little Nani’s future plans? When I wrote the first Little Nani story on my blog, back in February 2012, I didn’t even have in mind the idea of writing a book. But when people started asking me if I was going to write more Little Nani stories, I couldn’t resist and wrote the book. Ten funny and lovely stories that are liked both by children and adults. Indeed, Little Nani only asks her readers to have a young heart. After writing this first book and seeing how much people like Little Nani, I decided to do more things with her. So what are my plans for the near future? First of all, I will finish the second book in the series, which will include another set of ten stories, equally...