I’m at Sharon Buchbinder’s blog today – stop by and say hi!
And if you missed it, my hubby in his role as Scar in Kristan Higgins’ book trailer for MY ONE AND ONLY
http://sharonbuchbinder.com/blog/2012/03/06/interview-with-casey-wyatt-author-of-mystic-ink/
Stop by The Romance Reviews for their first anniversary. Yours truly will be participating in the event. There are tons of prizes and games too.
Hope to see you there!
Happy Friday everyone! Don’t miss my guest over at the Scribes today – Lisa Kessler, author of Night Walker
This week’s post is a short one. I’m working on MYSTIC STORM, Zephyr’s story, so I’m a bit preoccupied! I’d like to share with you some photographs of the enchanting real world setting for the book.
Stonington Point is a historic area of Stonington, Connecticut. Just miles away from Mystic, CT.
The houses are beautiful! I love the blue door.
Roses in bloom. I like to imagine that Zephyr would stop to smell the roses.
I imagined the Gallup Inn, Zephyr’s hotel and spa before I ever visited Stonington. I was delighted to find an actual house that fit my imaginary vision. And this is actually a hotel. While we visited, a movie with Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep was filming. (No, sightings, but we did see the film crew set decorating.)
I loved all the colorful buildings!
One last look at the beautiful ocean.
I hope you enjoyed the brief tour! See you all next week!
Hi everyone!
I’m over at the lovely Julia Barrett’s site today – answering the question – You want to know what?
Stop by and say “hi.” I’d love to hear from you!
Happy Friday everyone! Don’t forget to visit me at the Scribes today – Lasting Impression.
I recently began writing MYSTIC STORM, Zephyr’s story, and it got me thinking about storytelling and two television programs – Downton Abbey and The Walking Dead.
What does a British period piece and a post apocalyptic survival story have in common?
On the surface they seem to have zero in common. But in reality they have many similarities. They are both about a group of people trying to cope with social change brought on by a world cataclysm (World War I, The Spanish Flu, a zombie outbreak). They both feature a compelling cast of characters that are easy to root for (or in the case of Thomas and Mrs. O’Brien – despise!). And both programs are stellar examples of great storytelling. The kind that sucks you and doesn’t let you go. (Even if I do rush out of the room when zombies appear during The Walking Dead).
As a writer, these are the comments you want to hear from readers:
“I couldn’t put your book down!”
“The story pulled me in.”
“You kept me up all night.”
“I can’t wait for your next book.”
Music to a writer’s ears. Praise of the highest order.
As a reader I want to read (or watch) a great story. I’m not impressed by flowery prose, laundry list descriptions of a character’s outfit or paragraphs describing a room’s furnishings. In my mind, writing and storytelling are two different things.
A storyteller takes you on a journey, weaves a tale, and connects you to the characters. Writing is the vehicle that brings the story to life, but should be more the like the soundtrack (in the background creating a mood, not bowling you over with bombast).
So tell me, what’s your preference? Do you get caught up in the words themselves? Or do you go for pacing and action? Or maybe a combination of both?
Happy Friday everyone! Don’t forget to visit me at the Scribes today and meet guest author Donna Shields!
In case you haven’t noticed before, I have a thing for owls. When I updated my blog, the first image I reached for was an owl. I found the owl to the left at a shop in Mystic, CT called Whyevernot. The only reason this guy isn’t in my collection is because he cost $149.00.
I’m pretty sure my owl obsession began with my youngest son and his first stuffed owl – Oogles. We found Oogles sitting alone on a shelf at Old Sturbridge Village. He (yes, he’s a boy), was already looking a bit man-handled. My son reached out from his stroller and latched on.
Over the years, Oogles has had many adventures. He even has his own Christmas hat.
Oogles is still with us and he still looks a bit care-worn, but he is well loved all the same.
From there we (younger son and me) steadily began acquiring more and more stuffed owls. But we didn’t stop there.
We moved onto to glass ones, owl mugs, owl lawn ornaments. Owl Christmas ornaments. You name it – we probably have one with an owl on it.
Lest you think I’m totally crazy and need a hoarders intervention, I don’t have a zillion of them. Not yet anyway. Although if you did come to my house, you wouldn’t have to look far to find an owl.
I’ve often wondered what makes us gravitate towards certain animals. When I was growing up I had a thing for unicorns (what teenage girl doesn’t have a brief fling with the lovely unicorn?) and a later I really liked penguins.
I know, I know. I’m strange!
But admit it. We all like some things more than others. And for me, it’s the owl and their soulful eyes and quiet presence. They are silent predators in the wild. But in my house, they are my constant watchers.
And they’ll be my companions as I begin my next adventure.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing my next book. Since the release of Mystic Ink and the positive reception, I’ve decided to write the next book in the series – Mystic Storm (one of these days I will complete Devil’s Advocate!). This is Zephyr’s book. God of the West Wind. I won’t say more than that. If you read Mystic Ink, then you know why he’s up next.
Until next time, remember – Owl love you forever!
Time to share. What’s your favorite obsession? Anything you like to collect? Any owl lovers out there??
The winner of the MYSTIC INK e-book giveaway is – Carol! I will be sending you an e-mail soon with information on how to redeem your prize. Congratulations!!
Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the blog hop and to all of you who left me comments. I really do appreciate all of the positive feedback.
Even if you didn’t win, I’ll hope you’ll consider purchasing the book. If you have already, I would love it if you could leave me a review on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads or at Soul Mate Publishing.
Hi everyone! This week I’m participating in Valentine’s Blog hop so I will be skipping my Friday post. But don’t forget to visit me on Friday, 2/10/12 at the 7 Scribes. I’m giving away a crocheted candy dot scarf!
For one week only – 2/6/12 – 2/13/13, leave me a comment and you will be entered in a random drawing to win an e-book of my new release Mystic Ink.
The winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day – 2/14!
Don’t forget to click the link below and visit all the wonderful sites on the Hop!
Good Luck! And happy hopping!
The blurb:
The last thing Nix, a Sea Nymph, wants to see behind the dumpster near her tattoo shop is another dead mortal. She also doesn’t want to hear Hades piss and moan about how the souls of the dead aren’t making it to the Underworld. And Nix certainly doesn’t want to be attracted to supernatural police agent, Calder Quinne when he comes to investigate. All Nix really wants is to run her tattoo shop in peace and quiet. Hey, we don’t always get what we want, now do we?
Here’s a sneak peek at Mystic Ink:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nix, thoughts still swirling in her mind, headed toward the side door. After she unlocked the deadbolt, her eyes automatically went to the dumpster. Nothing. Thank the Gods. Her sigh of relief was quickly sucked back in. A dark shape further down the alley caught her eye. Maybe it was a heap of clothes or a bag of garbage. Whatever it was, it was lying near the entrance of the Underworld Gate. The Gate was invisible to all eyes, except Guardians—like her, Hades, and Charon. Whoever or whatever was back there couldn’t have known how close they were to the Underworld.
“Hell. Now what?” Please, be trash that some rude asshole left in my alley.
Rather than kick it with her foot, she decided to be more prudent and find something long to use as a poker. While grabbing a shop broom inside, she registered how quiet the place was. Of course, Basil wasn’t there. He was still with Jason.
Back in the alley, Nix slowly approached, straining for a better look. The pile was inside the building’s shadow. The closer she got, the more the lump resembled a body. She cursed. “Oh, come on! Why does this keep happening?”
Broom at the ready, she gave it jab. The mass was solid and there was no crinkle of plastic. So much for the garbage bag theory. Man, she did not want to have to call the police. At the rate she was going, they would probably arrest her just on principle.
Stupid mound.
She lifted the broom, ready to strike. An arm sprouted from the pile and shot up, stopping the handle from falling.
Nix barked, “What the hell?”
The broom clattered to the ground.
A dark figure rose up. The set of the shoulders, the short black hair . . . it was awfully familiar. “Cal?”
“Nix,” he said, his voice strained and tired. His arm extended, propping his body against the brick wall.
“If this is your idea of a joke, it’s not funny.” When he didn’t respond, Nix came up behind him and placed her hand on his back. “Are you—”
The words choked off. There was something wrong. Really wrong. His energy, the essence of his life, was out of whack. Like he was missing . . .
She put her hand up to her mouth, swallowing dread as he turned to face her. “Cal, where’s your soul?”
Don’t want to wait to read more? Get your copy right now from these sellers:
Amazon:
Hi everyone! Today is a big day for me.
MYSTIC INK is officially on sale from Soul Mate Publishing. The book will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble within the next few days.
Also, I will be guest blogging today at Mare’s Place.
On 1/26, I will be Jennifer Fusco’s guest at her Market or Die blog.
And 1/28, I will be at Nights Of Passion. Be sure to stop by for a chance to win an e-copy of MYSTIC INK.
I’d love to hear from some friends! I hope to see you there!
Casey Wyatt 