Character Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Character Blog Hop! 

Thanks so much to author Heather Fraser Brainerd for inviting me to join in on the fun. Heather is a co-author with her brother, David Fraser, of the newly released MG paranormal, Shadows of New York.

Today I am enlightening you on the main character in my cozy murder/sweet romance, Coda to Murder.

Pastor Christine Hobbs never imagined 

she would be caring for a flock that includes a pig, a kangaroo, 

and a murderer.

What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

My fictional character is Pastor Christine Hobbs.

Where and When is the story set?

The contemporary story is set in a small town, Fair Lake, Michigan

What should we know about (character)?

The young woman loves God, her church family, and her position as spiritual leader of the Dayspring Church. Even as a pastor, she struggles like we all do with forgiveness. She finds it nearly impossible to forgive her ex-husband so she can moving on to a better life in Fair Lake. 

What is the main conflict/what messes up his/her life?

Talk about messing up her life and the life of her church, the church's Director of Music was found dead in the church basement. Christine has to prove she has been wrongly accused of the murder. The handsome detective doesn't want her to get away with murder. His investigative methods infuriate Christine as much as his deep brown eyes attract her.

 What is (character)’s personal goal?

Personally she is afraid to give her heart away to a man. She was crushed by her ex-husband and does not want to ever be hurt like that again. And yet, she does yearn to love and be loved by a special guy.

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Video: Take a peek at the book trailer for Coda to Murder.

Buy Links for Coda to Murder

Amazon 

MuseItUp Publishing 

bn.com and major online booksellers.

You're invited to visit me online at the following links:

J.Q. Rose blog

Girls Succeed blog 

Author website 

Goodreads

Pinterest 

Facebook 

Google+

Thanks so much for stopping in today. 
Please hop on over to fellow Character Blog Hoppers. Heather Fraser Brainerd,
Roseanne Dowell, and Joan Curtis and meet their characters too.

From the books you have read and enjoyed, who would you choose for your favorite character and why? Please leave your answer or comment below. Thanks!

Character Blog: Bobby's Hobby by Bobby from The Sounds of Sirens

This past summer and fall I had the pleasure of hosting authors and their hobbies. Today I'm excited to host Bobby who is featured in The Sound of Sirens by former hobby guests, the brother-sister writing team of Heather Fraser Brainerd and David Fraser. 

Bobby, thanks so much for taking time to tell us about your hobby.

Second book in the Jose Picada, P.I. series

Bobby’s Hobby by Heather Fraser Brainerd and David Fraser

As part of our blog tour for The Sound of Sirens, we thought it would be fun to let one of our characters write a guest post. Without further ado, meet Bobby Newman.

* * * *
Cosplay by Bobby Newman

This is the place where people talk about their hobbies, right? That’s what Heather and Dave told me. Well, I have a hobby I'd like to talk about. Let me tell you how it all began.

So much of what I am today began in a movie theater. I wish I knew the date, as it was a day that changed me forever. February of 1997 is as close as I can narrow it down. My brother Maks took me to see the Special Edition release of Star Wars: A New Hope. I'd seen the movie countless times on VHS. Seeing it on the big screen with all the new effects just blew me away. Ever since then, I've been a proud and devoted resident of a town called Nerdville. As a kid, my citizenship was limited to reading books, watching movies, and playing games. When it was time to go to college, I looked for someplace with a top art program. I wanted to be the one creating the books, movies, and games. My dad, however, would only pay for my school if I went to his alma mater. Luckily, they had a pretty good program.

Now here we are, a few years later. I have yet to create the great fantasy game, or make the great science fiction movie, or, thankfully, write the great teen paranormal romance novel. I'm okay with all that. You see, I'm part of a small community here in Rochester that engages in what's called Cosplay. To the uninitiated, this is a portmanteau of "costume" and "play." It's exactly what it sounds like. Playing in costume. The general concept is that you make (or buy if you have to, but making your own is way cooler) costumes of your favorite characters from movies, television, video games, or comic books. Common sense says that you should only wear this costume in the privacy of your own home with the shades drawn. I mean, who wants to be seen in public dressed as Mr. Spock or Zombie George Washington? It turns out that there are a lot of people who want exactly that. The typical gathering place is at sci-fi/fantasy conventions, such as Rochester's annual RocCon. Not everyone dresses in costume, but many do. Nowhere else on Earth (or any other planet, for that matter) can you find The Doctor walking around with Pinkie Pie Pony. You can usually get a picture with them if you want. Most people are pretty cool about that. There's almost always a contest, where you can win prizes and awards in a number of different categories.

So where do I fit in? Well, I use my art school education to custom make my costumes. It's part sculpture and part engineering. I've even picked up manly skills like how to use a sewing machine. Sometimes, if you need a hat that looks half watermelon and half cat, you're going to have to make it yourself. There's no way you'll find that in a store.

I normally just wear a costume once. There are just too many cool characters to wear the same things over and over. My very first Cosplay was of an original character. I play Swordz N Spellz. This is an online computer fantasy game. To those who haven't heard of it, it's a MMORG. That's a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game. SNS takes place in the fictional realm of Flowerpox, whose citizens include elves, dwarves, humans, and sentient fungi. My character, a level 55 druid named Grimdavore Habberman the Exceedingly Superlative, is member of the guild Raymetheus's Rockers. Sorry, I seem to be getting sidetracked. I could talk about SNS all day. What I'm trying to say is that my first Cosplay was Grimdavore, complete with his journeyman druid's robe, which was made by modifying a store-bought bathrobe by adding the hood from an old sweatshirt, weathering it to look all beat up, dying it just the right shade of brown, and finally attaching his enchanting runes, which were cut from aluminum foil. It looked okay, but not perfect. I've learned to sew since then. Maybe someday I'll make another one from scratch.

Over the years, I've done Dr. Harkner from Red Sun Setting, Big Bertie from John Patrick, Cintius Pullus from Rome in a Day, John-John from The Toe Jammers, Gravy Boat from Puff Puff Pony, Judicious B.B. from What Would Frosty Do?, Connor from When Kai Was Sick, the Grim Sleeper from Alpacalypse, and Carl Remington from 20,000 Feet and Climbing. Each costume presents its own unique set of challenges and I make sure to try some new technique each time so that I'm constantly growing, constantly learning.

I'm currently in the early stages of assembling the pieces for Sergeant Horace "The Horse" Van Winkle from the comic book My Kingdom. Much of the clothing is off-the-rack, which I usually try to avoid. But if you can hit the thrift shops and find just the right stuff you need, it can save a lot of time and effort, and I'm going to need all the time I can spare for this one. I plan on making all of Horace's cybernetic augmentations, complete with flickering electronic lights. And if I can figure out a way to make his potato-throwing bazooka really throw potatoes, I might have a shot at winning a prize.

So, yeah. That’s me. Dungeon-raiding, cosplaying King of Nerdville. Or at least the mayor.

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Find out more about Bobby in The Sound of Sirens.

Thanksgiving dinner with the family can be murder.
Especially when someone is actually trying to kill you.

Available at:

MuseItUp Publishing

Amazon

Connect with Heather and David:

Blog

Facebook

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HFBrainerd and https://twitter.com/NotDaveFraser

Contest and Author Interview:: Double the Trouble



Win this book!

I am delighted to welcome Kate Wesley to the J Q Rose blog today. Kate is the main character in Roseanne Dowell's latest release from Muse It Up Publishing, Double the Trouble.
In a lucky coincidence, Author Roseanne Dowell and I share birthdates…May 25…That's today! (No, I am not telling years!!) Roseanne’s new e-book, available now, is Double the Trouble. So we want to celebrate our two birthdays, not to double the trouble, but to double the fun with a double the chance to win two books! Yes, two chances to win two e-books, mystery romance, Double the Trouble and mystery/light horror Sunshine Boulevard. Look for contest rules later in this post.

Now here's Kate Wesley--Welcome Kate.

Hi,  I’m Katherine Wesley, but everyone calls me Kate. I’ve recently returned to my home town of Twinsburg, Ohio after five years of living in self-imposed exile. Okay, it wasn’t really exile, I was hiding away because my fiancé jilted me two days before our wedding. Can you believe he didn’t even have the guts to tell me in person? Oh no, he left me a note and took off to Las Vegas. 

I left town shortly after, because I couldn’t stand the looks of pity from everyone. I know everyone said I wasn’t I wasn’t the first, and I probably wouldn’t be the last, but that doesn’t help when it happens to you. So I fled. I built a new life for myself. I even opened a very successful flower shop in Clyde, Ohio.

But now I’m back and I opened my own florist shop here. Problem is, my ex is back too. Not that I care. I mean seriously, I’m over him.  The fact my heart beat a little faster the first time I ran into him didn’t mean a thing. Heck, it flipped twice as hard when I met my client’s brother. Not that I’m looking for a guy, believe me, I’m not.  Good grief I’m happy just the way I am. I don’t have to answer to anyone and no one has to answer to me. Nope, I’m quite happy, thank you very much

.

Life was fine until I visited my Aunt Kate’s grave, well mostly fine. I mean my ex and Emma’s brother seemed to be vying for my attention. I never had that happen before and, quite honestly, I could live without it. Talk about uncomfortable. But the florist shop was doing well for just having opened. Emma’s wedding helped that. So there I was, minding my own business, going to the cemetery and that’s when I found a dead body.

Author Roseanne Dowell

Well let me tell you, life turned upside down, backwards, forwards, and inside out. Between my ex, Emma’s brother and the dead body, let’s just say life got real complicated.

To make matters worse, the twin sister of the victim showed up in town. Things got real interesting after that.

You’ll have to read Double the Trouble to find out what happened. Released from MuseItUp Publishing   http://tinyurl.com/6kx5mzd

You can find out more about Roseanne's books at www.roseannedowell.com or check out her blog  at http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com

Excerpt from Double the Trouble

A shadow passed over the doorway, and Kate realized she wasn’t alone. She looked up.

Adam stood in the doorway, the same cocky grin on his face. “Now that’s settled, how are you, Kate?”

Kate couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t he take a hint? “What do you want, Adam?” She didn’t care if she sounded angry. He deserved angry.

Adam came into the work room and stood in front of her. “You look great.”

Kate looked away. So did he, but darned if she’d tell him. He looked too damn good. What was the saying? Fool her once, shame on him, fool her twice, shame on her. Nope, she didn’t need him or anyone like him.

 “So what do you want? I gave you all the information on Emma. Shouldn’t you be out investigating?” She picked up a flower and set it in a vase. Her heart beat so hard, it surprised her that he didn’t hear it.

“Look, I know you’re still upset about the wedding, but give me a chance to make it up to you. How about dinner tonight?”

“I’m busy.” Still upset? The man has no idea. Like we should pick up where we left off? He’s got to be kidding.

“Tomorrow then?”

“I’m busy tomorrow, too. Look, Adam, just go, okay. I don’t want to have dinner with you. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever.”

“Come on, babe, don’t be like that.” Adam moved a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t blame you for being angry. But damn, it’s been five years.” He ran his finger along her cheek. “The least you could do is give me a chance to explain. Not that I’m sure I could. I’m not sure, even now, why I took off. Cold feet, I guess.”

Kate trembled at his touch. A spark of something familiar tumbled in her stomach. She pushed his hand away. Try as she might, her anger shattered.

“How dare you walk in here like nothing happened? Like we’re going to pick up where we left off?” Kate spoke through clenched teeth. What she really wanted to do was lash out and hurt him the way he hurt her, but a customer might come in and screaming wasn’t going to help anyway.

Adam stared at her, a look of confusion in his dark eyes. He just didn’t get it. He really didn’t see anything wrong with what he did. Took the coward’s way out and left her to deal with canceling all the wedding plans. What a jerk. “Look, just go.” She turned back to her work and picked up a vase to fill her next order.

Adam ran his hand through his dark, wavy hair. Hair she used to love to run her fingers through. She could almost feel the soft, silkiness of even now.

“Give me a break, Kate. Let me make it up to you.”

Part of her wanted to give in, and part of her wanted to throw something at him. Stay strong, get rid of him. No way was she picking up where they left off.

The bell rang again, and before she had a chance to react, Mark stormed in. Kate’s stomach did a flip at the sight of him. What was wrong with her, reacting to these men this way? For five years men had no affect on her. Now in the course of an hour, the two of them managed to get under her skin, causing feelings deep within she hadn’t experienced in years. Feelings she didn’t want to feel.

Mark stared at them for a second. “I don’t know what the two of you have going, but why aren’t you out looking for my sister?”

Kate shuddered at the angry tone of Mark’s voice. “There’s nothing going on between us, Mr. Westfield. I just suggested the very same thing to Detective Shaffer,” she said just as angry. “Now if the two of you will continue this outside, I have work to do.”

“I’ll call you later, Kate.” Adam acted as if everything between them was settled. Par for the course. Wasn’t that always how it was? She got mad, spoke her mind, and that was it. Over and done with.

Nothing changed. Adam went on doing the same things he always did. Didn’t matter if it upset her. Poker every Friday night with his friends, no matter how angry she got. How they had managed to plan the wedding was beyond her.  Not that he did any of the planning. Adam didn’t even want to see the hall or listen to the band. No wonder he didn’t have any qualms about canceling the wedding. He didn’t do any of the work for it. Obviously, he wasn’t ready to get married. So why had he asked her? Asked her, heck, he had insisted. Even when she suggested they wait a year or so. He at least owed her an explanation. But did she really want to hear it?

Win this book!

Contest Rules

Are you ready to double the fun? E-mail the code word sunshine and a different code word at Roseanne’s blog. Include both words in the body of the email. Send the email to me at jqrose01 at gmail dot com with contest as the subject. You must have both words to be eligible to win two books. AND if you enter on each blog, you have two chances to win two books! Double the fun!

Click on Roseanne's blog to find the second word. Be sure to email both words to Roseanne and to me so you will have two chances to win the two books.

Winner will be announced on May 30.