Life's Adventures

I seem to be on an extended adventure right now...aging. 

As much as I attempt to not name getting older as the culprit for a host of things, I also can't ignore certain facts. I might write fiction, but I'm a stickler for realism in my own life. My latest adventure in aging is apparently weight.

Taking on years has taken on pounds. I'm not talking a lot of weight, but all things are relative. For me, I am carrying around more of me than I want to see. Part of my realism in attitude is I don't expect to wear the same size I wore in my twenties or even thirties. Back then I could go up ten pounds, but take it off with hardly a blip in my normal lifestyle. Not so now.

Two months ago, I decided to count calories. And five years ago, that would've been a sure fire way to lose these eight pounds. I've lost nada. Not even an ounce. This morning I did some Googling to see what could be holding me up. I walk everyday. I have a squat routine I do every other day. And I lift light weights several times a week. I'm restricting my calories to under 1200, 1140 most days. So what the heck?

After a few articles online, the black and white truth of it is my poor sleep habits and age...neither of which I can change. I've not slept a night through in years. I've tried everything that Google and the experts recommend. And I for sure can't keep from aging. Stress can also play a part in the inability to lose weight. I do have a little, but don't we all?

I thought back to a week several years ago. My son and his someday wife came to visit for the first time. We were living in Minnesota then. That week was pure joy. I actually slept the nights through after full days of activity and just being with them...and eating at will. At the end of the week, after they left, I was sure I'd gained weight. The scales surprised me. I'd actually lost three pounds. And I didn't need to lose it back then! In my mind, it just proves that no stress, good sleep, and joy are so important to our health. Well, and age. I was twelve years younger.

The only end to this adventure is the end, so I'm not going to complain endlessly, but I'm not going quietly either. I'll accept the years but stand up, move, and find joy. If the extra eight pounds won't give in, I'll just have to take them with me. 

The Next Book

I'm excited to announce the third book in the Chocolate Martini Sisters Mysteries, Cornbread, Ribs, and Murder, is up for preorder. The eBook will release on April 30...but you can preorder now for it to magically appear on your reader April 30.

ORDER YOU COPY BY CLICKING HERE

If you're a print book lover, you'll be able to order your copy on April 23rd.

Joyce and I feel Cornbread, Ribs, and Murder is going to delight you! The third book in this amateur sleuths, cozy mystery series will have you chuckling and on the edge of your seat as the sisters solve the murder.

It’s a rib cookoff…with a recipe for murder. 

Nicole Earp and Emma Banefield are celebrating another birthday at the Dulce Inn with the added fun of a rib cookoff in the park. Not only are chocolate martinis in their plans, Nic has her heart set on winning the cornbread contest. But as the excitement bakes, someone is stirring up trouble for the inn and its employees. 

Strange occurrences at the Dulce are on the rise. Slashed tires, menacing phone calls, and unsavory characters add a vibe that threatens the sisters’ anticipated fun-filled stay. When the hot-headed hotel owner is caught wielding a bloody letter opener over a dead coworker, the sisters are embroiled in a caper to help the one person who finds their sleuthing as welcomed as a rattlesnake in her bed. But is she innocent? 

The Chocolate Martini Sisters are primed to find out. First, they’ll have to eliminate a host of suspects that includes a dishonest restaurant owner, a jilted girlfriend, an ex-wife, the barkeeper, and a masseuse with a crush. If they can stay off the radar of the surly chief homicide detective long enough, they can put out the fire…unless the killer burns them first.

Would you like to read the first chapter? You can on my website: https://brendawhiteside.com/cornbred%2Crib%26murd-chp-one

Fang, Fur, and the Single Girl by Lisabet Sarai #NewRelease

Please welcome Lisabet to Discover... She has a brand new release! Congrats, Lisabet.

Twisting Tropes

Like most authors, I write the kind of books I’d like to read. The wide range of genres and styles you’ll find in my back list reflects the diversity of my reading tastes. Check out my books and reviews on Goodreads and you’ll see what I mean.

I tend to value most highly books that are original and surprising. Perhaps the worst sin a story can commit, from my point of view, is to be predictable. Alas, romance is frequently guilty of this transgression. Tropes practically define the genre, especially these days. Authors explicitly label their work according to the tropes it exploits: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, reverse harem, slow burn, secret baby... Nothing turns me off more than knowing, before I even open the book, what is likely to happen.

As an author, I strive for the originality I seek in the work of others. One way I (try to) achieve this is by deliberately twisting tropes and turning clichés on their heads. I delight in up-ending my readers’ expectations. Meanwhile, looking at familiar situations or characters from a fresh perspective provides great opportunities for enriching the narrative.

Few sub-genres are more stereotyped than paranormal romance. Everyone knows that vampires are centuries-old, dark, brooding, and full of power. Werewolves live in packs where roles from alpha to omega are clearly defined. The two races of supernatural creatures rarely encounter one another, but if they do, they are mutually hostile.

My new paranormal romance Fangs, Fur and the Single Girl plays with these well-trodden themes. My vampire hero has been undead for a mere six years; he was turned by accident. My werewolf has never met another of his kind. And although the two initially hate one another, their love for my heroine eventually overcomes their antipathy.

I do hope I can coax readers to step outside their comfort zone a bit and take a chance on this tale of love, lust, power and commitment. You might not recognize the tropes, but I do guarantee a happy ending.

EXCERPT

The shock of separation drove black spikes of pain into her temples. She opened her eyes, gasping for breath. Motes of red swam in her vision. She twisted around to look at him, in wonder and terror.

“Sorry.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know how else to convince you.”

“You’re—you’re the real thing, aren’t you?” Bianca thought her chest would burst. “Nosferatu. Undead.”  She rubbed at her throbbing forehead. “But it can’t be! I never believed...”

“Believe,” he whispered, almost inaudible. Then all at once was back in his chair, leaving her heart slamming against her ribs. He smiled at her, that wide open, country-boy smile. Bianca worked to catch her breath, to calm herself to some semblance of normalcy.

It wasn’t possible. Vampires were a fiction, a legend. They were creatures of fantasy and nightmare. For some reason even she didn’t comprehend, the notion of vampires tapped into something fundamental in the human imagination. She personally knew dozens, maybe hundreds, of people who desperately wanted vampires to be real. These people, and others like them, fueled the engine of her success. However, even the most obsessed, the ones who caught and ate flies and slept in coffins in their cellars, knew the truth.

And now, here, that truth was being challenged.

He read her doubts, in her mind or on her face. He disappeared suddenly, then reappeared at her side
with a glass of water. “Looks like you could use this.” Another blink and he was back where he started, smiling at her across the desk. The water was there, at her elbow, proof that she hadn’t been hallucinating. She took a sip and stopped fighting the evidence of her senses. It wasn’t possible that he was a vampire. But it was true.

“Are you very ancient?” she asked, finally. The question sounded absurd. What was she doing, continuing the interview?

Jim laughed, wholeheartedly this time.

“I’m twenty four. Or I was, that night six years ago at the frat party, when somebody’s girlfriend’s sister turned me. I admit that I was drunk. Barbara had just told me that she wanted a commitment, and I knew I wasn’t ready. I told her I loved her, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy her. So I went off, got plastered, and the next thing I knew I was in bed with this slutty-looking brunette who had very sharp teeth.” Bianca couldn’t help giggling. His tale was such a contrast to the mythology that she marketed.

“And then? What happened next? What about Barbara?”

Jim’s face grew shadowed. “Look, I don’t really want to talk about it. Not now, at least. Not here. Can we go somewhere quiet and dark for a drink?”

“You can drink? I mean, besides—well, you know.”

“Sure. I can’t eat solid food, though. It’s awful, because my senses are exceptionally acute. I can smell a juicy steak grilling half a block away. Pure torture.”  He sighed. “Anyway, what about the job? Do you still think that I’m unqualified, Ms. Sorenson?”

Bianca took note of the challenge in his voice. Her body still trembled at the proximity of an honest-to-goodness creature of the night, but her mind was working overtime. How could she best use him to further her goals? To expand her vampiric empire? His photos were far too raw for her audience. Could he project the same level of intensity in a less extreme scene? And what about his co-models? Could he elicit the same sort of rapturous response from them that she had seen in Barbara’s face? Without actually taking them, of course?

She imagined herself in the woman’s position, offering her throat to those vicious fangs. The notion was seductive. She had just been given a taste. To give in completely to that kind of power—to be overwhelmed, consumed by an unnatural hunger... She’d scoffed before, but now she understood the temptation.

Bianca had always felt like the boss, even as a lower-than-dirt intern at Harper’s while she was still a student. She’d always wanted the power, never considered letting go. Now the thought of offering herself to this creature made her damp with desire. A wave of dizziness swept over her, followed by a surge of fear. This guy was dangerous. He was a threat to Bianca’s essential self. She wasn’t all that concerned that he’d kill her. No, she was afraid he’d somehow erase her, turn her into some craven, submissive creature begging to be bled. Like all those silly girls who snapped up her magazine as soon as it hit the stands.

The city is full of fanatics who believe vampires are real. Bianca knows that’s a fantasy. Then a blond, blue-eyed blood drinker walks into her office and turns her universe upside down. Trying to escape from the vampire’s seductive influence, she collides with a wolf shifter whose mere presence inspires irresistible lust. How can Bianca resolve her feelings for her two mutually hostile lovers?

Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/1508-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl/

Amazon  US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXF755SM

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CXF755SM

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1540924

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-lisabet-sarai/1145179250?ean=2940167695276

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl

Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6480071026

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210320373-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl

Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-by-lisabet-sarai

About Lisabet

Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, BookBub and Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

Life's Adventures

Of late, my adventures haven't gotten much past my laptop. Editing two books for clients and two books of my own has kept me glued to my chair. 

But I did get hung up this morning, when I had no choice but to do a little dusting. From my vantage point and in the early morning light, it was all too obvious that I could've written my name in the dust on the fireplace mantle. 

My adventure in dusting brought me to some of my favorite nooks and crannies...which in turn did bring to mind past adventures and precious memories.

The photo is at my very first book signing in St. Paul, Minnesota, 2010. All my friends showed up and most of the St. Minnesomeplace in Paradise Parrotheads. I'll never forget the thrill. The decorative ink well and feather pin were a gift from my sister she'd purchased while in Alaska. Okay...that's a trip...Minnesota and Alaska all on one shelf.

Bear with me here for my trip down memory lane. The white ceramic oval was a gift to me from a dear friend in North Carolina who is no longer with us. We shared a love of wineries. The orangutan came from the Phoenix Zoo. And the photo is of myself and two siblings with our sons. We all have only children and all boys. The photo was taken our first year on the farm in Paulden, Arizona...an experiment you can read about if you click on Tortuga Flats Farm in the index of this blog. 

The bedspread holds no memory of any trip. But the photo above it was taken in Germany, decades ago. FDW and I did a fair share of motocycle trips back then. This particular one was Frankfurt, Germany.

I'll end with one last trippy favorite spot of mine. The cloth flower came from my granddaughter when she was three. The wall art was a Christmas gift from FDW one year. We opened gifts at Mom's...she wasn't impressed with this one. But I was...it's trippy!

The Next Book

Although I'm a mystery/romantic suspense author, I decided to try my hand at writing for children. This was the result of a conversation with my then eight-year-old granddaughter. One morning, on the way into town to get donuts, Sadi expounded to me about how special her new puppy was, a blue nose Pit Bull, although he might be a blue Staffy. She also related her knowledge of the bad rap these dogs receive and why. An idea popped, and she was soon bouncing on her seat while eating her chocolate iced donut. We could write a book about Max and all his wonderful characteristics. As the months marched on, the idea took shape, expanding and twisting with imaginative tales. 

The Sadi and Max Chapter Books are directed at children ages six to ten. Sadi wanted to offer books that kids might be able to read on their own, but if not, a parent could read to them and help them learn to read. She also wanted to make it clear that the bully breed dogs can be loving family dogs. It's all in the treatment of them. She wanted kids to have fun with the stories. I think we accomplished what she set out for me.

We published the first book, sadi and max Have the Best Christmas in the Entire World, last year in time for the holidays. AMAZON BUY LINK

I've just published the second of her stories. I have no idea how many there will be—that depends on Sadi. When this project started, she was an eight-year-old. Now, at eleven, she’s growing up, evolving, and although her passionate love for dogs will never change, the amount of time she’ll spend with Nana weaving stories might.

sadi and max to the Rescue is available right now in print. The eBook version will release on March 19th. AMAZON BUY LINK

Yay for spring break! Sadi has a whole week to play with Max, the puppy she got for Christmas. But something is bothering her playful dog. When they bump heads, and Sadi hears a voice, could it be Max, and will anyone believe her? 

Max is happy to be part of the family. He loves his humans and the two old dogs that are now his sisters. But he left another sister at the rescue home of Talia Wagger. He knows his sister Rosie is still there and lonely. He has to find a way to get her adopted. If only his little human Sadi could understand him… 

A neighbor who needs help and a puppy who needs to be adopted are all part of the adventure in this latest Sadi and Max book. Now that they can understand each other, Max has mischievous plans, but he’s also a puppy with a big heart—he enlists his little human on a mission to rescue.  

Sadi Belle is a dog-loving young lady who attends grade school in Arizona. Practiced in the art of caring for and playing with her puppy and dogs, she loves to weave tales involving them. Her vivid imagination and big heart are evident in the stories she creates for Brenda to write. 

Brenda Sue writes in Arizona where she shares a home with her fishing husband and rescue dog, Amigo. She enjoys traveling and spinning tales with her granddaughter. She is an award-winning author of romantic suspense, romance, and cozy mystery under the name Brenda Whiteside. 

 FIND BOTH BOOKS HERE

Reading and Reviews (Henderson and Abrams)

I'm an author, but I'm also a reader. From time to time, I'll share my reviews of present and past reads. My available time to read is limited because I write, but I love to curl up with a paperback or an eBook at night for the last hour of my day. 

I tend to read what I write, but not exclusively. Besides Romantic Suspense and mystery, I read crime and law novels, once in a while a true story, WWII historicals, romance, and mainstream character driven books.

Here are some of the books I've read recently or in the not-too-distant past. Maybe you'll discover a new book or author. 

Snapshot of a Murder by Alison Henderson 

Isadora Munro can take a hint. After being laid off from her job, dumped by her fiancé, and ousted from her home—all on her fortieth birthday—Izzy packs up what’s left of her life in San Francisco and heads to the picturesque beach town of Carmel-by-the-Sea to lick her wounds. To her surprise, the cottage she’s inherited from her Great Aunt Dora comes complete with a built-in roommate—a bossy Burmese cat named Bogart.

After a local baker and chocolatier collapses in Izzy’s arms at the town’s annual Halloween parade and later dies, a colorful trio of Aunt Dora’s friends rallies to her side. The whole village is on edge with a killer on the loose, so Izzy and her new friends team up with an old colleague, a former SFPD homicide detective, to solve the murder before one of them becomes the next victim. 

My Review:

I’ve read most if not all of Ms. Henderson’s romantic suspense. This is her first venture into cozy mystery, and I’d say she’s succeeding. She has a great cast of characters, including the cat, and a twisty path to find the murderer. My guess is Izzy will have more entertaining adventures in future books. 

https://www.amazon.com/Snapshot-Murder-Izzy-Munro-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0CFKB7V5Y/ 

 

Unexpected by Laylah Abrams 

Claire Morgan is a beautiful, rich heiress, and the paparazzi love to track her. Although she holds degrees in business and computer science and works hard at her job, the only thing the public is interested in is who designs her gowns and her latest date. Claire has learned to play the part, hiding behind an image that keeps her heart safe and everyone out of her personal life. Then she meets Nick Holden.

 Nick is a struggling artist, waiting tables to pay the bills and his college tuition. He’s following a dream, but he’s in the middle of a creative slump that jeopardizes his grad school scholarship. When Nick is tasked with waiting on famous Claire Morgan and her equally famous best friend and their dates, a spark ignites neither of them sees coming.

 My Review:

When I started reading Unexpected, I have to admit, I expected a shallow boy meets girl story in the world of the rich and famous. There are so many “billionaire romances” floating around. But only pages in, I realized this story was anything but superficial. 

Nick and Claire live in different worlds, and they assume the gap can’t be crossed. But their physical attraction is strong, and they act on it. They jump into a love affair they consider a carnal convenience. What they both miss in the beginning is the deeper draw to each other. What Ms. Abrams is adept at is writing the slow revelation of their characters. 

One note on style. Ms. Abrams used clips from news articles to begin each chapter. The effect was fun and insightful for the story. 

I love character driven fiction. When an author can grow a character, immerse the reader, and complete the arc, the end result is satisfying. The story has depth and kept me turning the pages. Claire and Nick inspire each other to be complete. The fact remains, they are still a rich celeb girl and a no-name artist. Can it work? I encourage you to pick up this book. The ending will leave you feeling good. 

https://www.amazon.com/Unexpected-Laylah-Abrams-ebook/dp/B0CK8T9ZWR/