March 30, 2016

Writing Tips (XIII) New Literary Agent Alert

 Elise Erickson of Harold Ober Associates

New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Elise Erickson of Harold Ober Associates) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list.

 About Elise Erickson: Elise of Harold Ober Associates graduated from St. Olaf College and the
NYU Summer Publishing Institute in 2014, and spent several months interning at Penguin’s New American Library imprint, Folio Literary Management, and Susanna Lea Associates before taking on her current position at Harold Ober Associates. She grew up in both Florida and Minnesota, but is quickly learning to love city life in NYC. Elise is passionate about the role and responsibility of the literary agent, especially being an advocate for authors. In addition to working with books, she currently assists in selling Harold Ober’s TV, film, and subsidiary rights, and is actively building a client list of her own.
Currently Looking For: Romance and all of its subgenres, women’s fiction, paranormal, mystery including clever cozy mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, commercial literary fiction, and some YA. She is particularly drawn to stories that contain a strong sense of place, and female protagonists with unique, compelling voices.
Not Looking For: : Poetry, Screenplays, Picture Books, Horror, Self-help.
How to Query: Please email the first 15-20 pages of your manuscript, a concise query letter, and a detailed synopsis to elise [at] haroldober.com.

March 25, 2016

Guest Promo (CXLI) #Eggcerpt Exchange Mary Schiller

                                    
              Hometown Heartache





Blurb 
Nash is trying to make a name for himself in the art world…
But when he meets a realtor to buy a gallery, he is stunned to find Chloe sitting at the table with the man. He has never stopped thinking about her since she disappeared from his life without a trace. Is it too late to win back her love?
Chloe has finally found a way to leave her past behind her…
But her heart leaps out of her chest when she sees Nash. How can he be here? Now…after all this time? On the surface, she pulls herself back together. But underneath she feels she is about to shatter. After remaking herself, how can she deal with being faced with Nash and the life she knew before?
If this chance meeting doesn’t rip Chloe and Nash apart, he will.
Little do they know, someone has been lurking in the shadows, manipulating them all along. If he has his way, the two will never be reunited. Even if he has to take one of them out to ensure it.

Excerpt

I watched from my bedroom window, peering through the branches of the huge oak tree growing at the corner of the front of the house. A large moving van backed slowly up the long, rambling gravel driveway. I held my breath, and repeated in a low whisper, “Please have a boy my age. Please have a boy my age.”

When the truck finally came to a stop, and the door of the cab opened, a cowboy hat appeared on someone about my size and I whooped with glee, pounding down the stairs and out the back door, slamming the screen door as I hollered over my shoulder, “They have a boy! They have a boy!”



My mom called after me as she iced a chocolate cake. “Nash Steven Nabry, you get back here this instant. The last thing they need is you underfoot.”

But I ignored her, running pell-mell to the truck, kicking up rock behind me. Even now I can recall the scratch of my tennis shoes as I made a sliding stop in front of her, scattering gravel left and right, and the way the rock dust filled my throat and nostrils as much as my indignation. “You’re a girl,” I spat.

“Nash!” my mother’s appalled voice yelled from several yards behind me. I still don’t understand how she could always hear every impolite word I spoke, yet not hear me when I called up the stairs asking her where the cereal was. Then Chloe’s father came around the back end of the truck, and the grownups introduced themselves while I stared at Chloe and Chloe stared at me like this was a showdown at the O.K. Corral, which was fitting considering her outfit. Looking back, my mind automatically added the dramatic, high-pitched, whistling notes from the theme song to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, a Clint Eastwood movie my brother, Ed, liked to watch. Chloe rubbed a fist in her eye, which probably was irritated by the chalky, drifting dust I raised from the gravel, squinting the other eye in the bright sunshine as she glared at me.


 Buy Links 


Author Bio 
MJ is a lunch lady in the heart of Central Illinois. My gosh! Can you get more folksy than that? She met her husband at the University of Missouri-Columbia and now she has a nineteen-year-old (how did that happen?) and seventeen year old triplets! She loves to read, karaoke (where she can pretend she is a rock star) and spends WAY too much time on Facebook. She grew up in St. Louis and still has family there.

Character
Chloe Carmichael

Job- I work for a real estate company. I’m a realtor. Yep.
Level of schooling, or self-taught- Uhh…I only made it through high school.
Birthplace- I was born in New York City, but was raised in Cold Springs, New York. It’s where I met Nash.
 
Currently residing- in a tiny apartment in New York. Good location, though.

 Favorite type of pet- I’ve never had a pet. I think I’d enjoy just about any pet. I’m not sure if I’d be good at taking care of them, though.









March 23, 2016

Guest Promo (CXL) #Eggcerpt Exchange Elaine Cantrell



                                  The Enchanted
                                 by Elaine Cantrell

 Blurb
 
Forced by his father into a marriage he didn’t want, Prince Alan soon finds that his bride isn’t the sweet, submissive creature he expected. Morgane has the heart of a dragon and beauty beyond compare, but she isn’t thrilled about the marriage either. When black treachery threatens the kingdom, Morgane and Alan embark on a perilous journey that has an excellent chance of ending in failure and death for them and all of their people.


Purchase Links:


Excerpt:
As Alan moved toward her, her eyes grew wide and filled with wild desperation. “You fear me, but I am not like your father, Morgane.”

“You are exactly like my father,” she spat, her eyes now dark with loathing.

Alan thought for a moment. “I do not see how. I am not in the habit of cutting people’s faces or burning their feet.”

“Not yet.”

“I promise that I will never hurt you.”

Morgane s expressive, sea colored eyes flashed again.  “I am nothing more than a brood mare to you, so you have already hurt me.”

Alan scowled. “I have shown you nothing but kindness!”

Morgane laughed in his face. “What kindness did you do for me? My feet? Yes, I grant that was nice of you. However, I am here in your bed, am I not? My father forced me to wed a stranger who will take by force if necessary the one thing which is mine to give. That does not sound like kindness to me.”

“You judge me before you know me, Morgane,” he rebuked. “I have no intention of forcing myself on you. Did it not occur to you that I also would rather not have wed a stranger? I once married for love, but my wife died four years ago. Having tasted true happiness with her, I have no desire to bed a stranger.”

Morgane s face flamed. Some strong emotion that Alan could not identify burned behind her eyes. “You do not find me desirable?”

Ah! He had wounded her vanity. “You are a lovely woman, but...”

“My scar repels you.” Her voice sounded flat. All color had leached from her face. “Well, it is too bad for us both that we are expected to produce offspring.”

“Your servants spoke the truth,” Alan replied, marveling at her courage. “You do indeed have the heart of a dragon. You speak your mind to me even though you do not know me and have no idea how I might react.”

Sudden excitement flared on her face. She pointed toward the far corner of the room. “Do us both a service. Take that sword from the corner and put an end to this nightmare.”

Alan gasped, shocked to the core. “Be silent! To speak in that way is an abomination.”

“Perhaps, but I prefer death to a life of hopelessness and servitude.”

Alan froze. “Do not speak of this again,” he ordered, allowing his disapproval to show in his voice and on his face. “I do not know what trials you have endured, but things will surely be better now. In time you will be glad I did not listen to you.”

Morgane clamped her lips together and refused to say anything more, which did not especially displease Alan. He had expected an obedient, dutiful woman who would do whatever he told her. Morgane did not seem to understand that role.

“We will have to share a bed,” he said. “My father expects me to give him heirs. He would be very angry if he thought we did not consummate our marriage. So we will not tell him that we did not.” 

“As you say.”


Character Interview Princess Morgane 

Greetings, kind readers.  I am Madame de Barra, and I have been granted the honor of an interview with the Princess Morgane. I am rather nervous even though I am an experienced interviewer.  I have read Madame Cantrell’s tale The Enchanted and must confess that I am all atwitter at the thought of meeting the princess.  Oh!  She comes now.

Madame de Barra scrambles to her feet and bows deeply.  “My princess.”

Princess Morgane inclines her head to Madame de Barra.  “Please, take a seat, Madame.  It is my honor to meet you.”

They both sit in comfortable twin chairs covered in red velvet with an eagle embroidered on the back.

Madame de Barra:  “Thank you for granting me an interview, Princess Morgane.”

Princess Morgane:  “I am grateful for your interest in my story.”

1.Madame de Barra: “The entire kingdom is interested in your story. For the benefit of anyone who has not met you, would you introduce yourself and tell us your occupation?”

“I am the Princess Morgane, daughter of King Maccus, wife of Prince Alan who is heir to his father King Bowdyn. My occupation? I am a princess.”

2.What or who is the greatest love of your life? Why? What drew you to them?

“Beyond the shadow of a doubt, it is my husband Prince Alan. Our love story did not begin the way most do. Our fathers arranged a marriage for the two of us even though we had never met. I did not expect to even like him, but I grew to love him almost immediately. How could I not? He is everything a man should be. He is kind, generous, clever, protective, and he is fair to look upon.”

3.What is your greatest fear?

Princess Morgane bites her lip. “I fear that one day I might lose the prince. We live in a dangerous world. He promises to take care of himself, but I am still fearful.”

4. “What is your most important goal?”

“I have long been concerned over the lack of opportunities for women.  I am doing research to see what can be done about it. I myself have been victimized by men, and I long to live in a world where men and women are treated the same.”

5.”What is your favorite food?”

The princess laughs.  “I am overly fond of chocolate. It is so costly that even the king cannot often have it, but he did serve chocolate truffles at the banquet honoring Madame Cantrell. In fact, the entire kingdom honors Madame for her marvelous book The Enchanted.”

Madame deBarra nods her head. “As a representative of the press, I covered the release party that the king gave for Madame Cantrell.  If my readers are interested, they can find my coverage of the party at http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com/2013/05/release-day-enchanted.html.

“Thank you, Princess Morgane for your time. I have greatly enjoyed meeting you.”

About the author
Elaine Cantrell was born and raised in South Carolina.  She holds a master’s degree in personnel services from Clemson University.  She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary society for women educators and is also a member of Romance Writers of America.  Her first novel, A New Leaf, was the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest.  When she isn’t writing or teaching, she enjoys reading, traveling, and collecting vintage Christmas ornaments.


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