Guest Author Karina Fabian Live and Let Die

When a dragon and a nun play secret agent, all Hel breaks loose! 

It is my pleasure to welcome the zany, creative author Karina Fabian to the blog today. Karina is an award-winning fantasy, science fiction and horror author, whose  books make people laugh, cry or think—sometimes all three.  Check out her latest at her website, Fabianspace. 


Her newest book in the Dragon Eye P.I. series, Live and Let Fly, was released on April 20 from Muse It Up Publishing. I'm excited she is stopping here on her blog tour so you can get to know her and get a taste of her entertaining writing. After Karina's piece on Writing and the Twisted Mind, enjoy an excerpt from Live and Let Fly, watch the book trailer, and check out the links for more info about Karina and where to find her book. A special treat from this author is a clever video of slides with Karina reading from her story.

Writing and the Twisted Mind

by

Karina Fabian

When I was a Sophomore in high school, I played the creative writer in Up the Down Staircase.  I can’t even remember her name, but I remember the lines she read to the class about the thing she saw skulking across her kitchen.  “How fearful were his eyes!  Should I kill him?... Is it obvious I’m talking about a cockroach?”

To get into the part, I kept a notebook with me, where I wrote flash fiction with bizarre twists.  The one I remember most was the frog in the blender—from the frog’s POV.  Who knew that part was going to prepare me for my career as a fantasy/sci-fi and parody writer?

Live and Let Fly is full of crazy scenes, but I think my favorite when it comes to the twisted mind category is attack of the Munchy, Munchy Moles.   Alas, I must withhold the scene at the request of my children who think it’s the funniest scene in the book, but…

Have you ever played Hungry, Hungry, Hippos?  Well imagine how the ball must feel:  Towering jaws of death opening and closing, opening and closing, as you scramble and bang against your fellow balls, trying frantically to keep your distance.  If you should accidentally roll into those gaping mouths, you enter oblivion—but if you don’t quite make it, you’ll be smashed upon its plastic teeth.

Now…

* Make the board life-sized

* Make the board tilt

*  Instead of being the ball, you have to avoid the balls—six-foot-in-diameter heavy balls of rolling destruction!

Then, just for fun, I had the animatronics section of the museum come to life and attack as well.

It was one of the most fun scenes to write: scrambling people, rolling balls, vicious animated machines in the shapes of all kinds of nasty creatures.  Bullets flying, people yelling…and one dragon doing his best to save them all.

It doesn’t end well—though not fatally—of course, which means I had plenty of opportunity to get my characters in and out of new fixes.

Unlike the character I played in Up the Down Staircase, I do not take my fiction too seriously, which just makes it all the more fun!

Karina certainly does have fun with fiction. Take a peek at the book trailer.

Excerpt:

Charlie started to close the door behind us, his other hand gripping the handle of his dagger so tightly I could hear the leather wrap on the handle strain, as we listened to the footsteps coming our way, slow, bored. My predator's instincts rose; then I had a great idea. I shook my head at Charlie and winked, and he shuffled out of my way, leaving the door ajar. I settled myself with my back to the door, just inside the shadows and let the script play itself out:

CLUELESS MINION enters Stage Left. He pauses, hearing a noise, but does not report it. Instead, he fondles the stars on his nametag and moves toward the empty hallway, his mind on adding another. (Probably saying, "I was proactive today!")

CLUELESS pauses at door, hesitating. He stands and, back to the door, reaches for his walkie-talkie.

Suddenly, a well-muscled and gorgeously scaled tail whips out from the crack in the door and wraps itself around his neck. He only has time to grab ineffectively at the tail before he's drawn into the darkness. The door shuts behind him.

Pan shot of the empty hallway.

FADE TO BLACK

I slammed my victim on the floor and pinned him with my forelegs, then I leaned my face in nice and slow, making sure he got a good look at my fangs before he saw my eyes. "Where's the girl?" I growled low and menacingly.

"Wh-What g-g-girl?"

Charlie crouched down by Stutterboy and glanced at his nametag. "Look, Philip, we're in a bit of a hurry. We know Rhoda Dakota's being held captive somewhere nearby. Now you can be a good survivor and tell us where…or you can be dinner."

"I-I don't—"                 

"Phil A. Minion." I mused and drooled a bit for effect. I live for these moments, I really do. I licked his cheek and asked Charlie, "Can I have fries with that?"

"Why not? This is Idaho."

For information about Karina and her books:

Website: http://fabianspace.com, http://dragoneyepi.net

Blog:  http://fabianspace.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karina.fabian

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/KarinaFabian

Google +:  https://plus.google.com/103660024891826015212

Live and Let Fly is available at Muse It Up Publishing, amazon.com, bn.com, and major online booksellers.


For a real treat, watch this trailer with Karina reading an excerpt from Live and Let Fly.

I'm a Guest at Heather Haven's Blog..Come and Visit

Me and my Mustang!!

Please come on over to Heather Haven's This and That Blog. I am her guest author today. Heather asks some questions that made me think. I wonder if I revealed too much? What a pleasure to be a guest at Heather's. See ya' there!

Recipe: Amish Dressing from Author Roseanne Dowell

What's a Thanksgiving turkey dinner without dressing? Roseanne Dowell shares her dressing recipe. I must confess I usually go for the boxed kind. I made dressing for my in-laws one Thanksgiving. I still hear them crunching the dried up, tasteless stuff. I am going to be brave and try making Roseanne's.!! 


Roseanne is generously offering a copy of her book, A Second Chance, for a drawing. To enter, please send an email to rodow62 at yahoo dot com with "A Second Chance Contest" in the subject line. Thanks so much, Ro.

AMISH DRESSING
by Roseanne Dowell

 My mother in law used to make this every Thanksgiving.

18 slices bread (lightly toasted and cubed)(about 16 cups)
3 c celery (chopped) (sautéed in 1/2 c. butter)
¾ c. Small onion – sautéed with celery
2 c. potatoes (diced, cooked)
1/2 c. parsley (snipped)
1/2 c. carrots (chopped'- partly cooked)
Salt (to taste)
6 eggs
1 qt. chicken stock

Mix the above ingredients in order given. Add 6 well beaten eggs, 1 qt. chicken stock. Toss together lightly. Bake the dressing in a 9x13 well-buttered baking dish for 1 hour at 350 degrees 8-10 servings.

Half recipe

9. slices bread toasted and cubed (about 8 cups)
1/2 c. celery, finely cuts sautéed in butter
1./2 c. onion sautéed with celery
1 c. cooked diced potatoes (salted)
1/4 c. parsley (finely cut), I use dry
1/4 c. cooked, diced carrots
3 eggs, beaten
2 c. chicken stock

Instructions

Mix the above ingredients in order given. Add 3 well beaten eggs, 2 cups chicken stock. Toss together lightly. Bake the dressing in a 8x8 well-buttered baking dish for 1 hour at 350 degrees 8-10 servings.

Roseanne is sharing an excerpt from her romance/mystery book, Connection of the Minds.

Blurb:
Visions of someone’s life disturb Rebecca Brennan’s dreams. The dreams become dangerous and she’s determined who shares her mind. Her search leads her to a small town and puts her life in danger too.

Excerpt:

The next morning Rebecca, once again, sat in Bernard Clark’s office. Something about the heavy-set, middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and scruffy beard reminded her of her grandfather. As usual, he listened to her story with a serious expression.

Was this really helping? How many hours had she spent sitting across from the mammoth mahogany desk, staring at the book-lined shelves behind him? And so far, she didn’t know anything more than before. Once more, that’s it. If nothing changed today, she’d quit coming. Maybe he was a quack, like her brother said. Rebecca took a breath and relaxed in the comfortable atmosphere, inhaled the smell of new leather that clung to the chair, and leaned back. Okay, maybe she did have a deep extra sensory perception connection with someone like Bernard said. The question was with whom. 

“I think you need to find this person,” Dr. Clark suggested. “It’s possible the physic mind is reaching out to you for help.”

"How?" That’s why she was here. If he didn’t help her figure it out, that was it. No more visits. Besides, it cost money, and who could afford it? If Allison hadn’t agreed to pay half, well that was another story. Dr. Bernard’s voice brought her back.

“Start with the dreams,” he suggested. “Tell me about them again.”

“I see scenes with emergency vehicles. Last night someone got shot," she told him for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I wonder if he has something to do with law enforcement or other emergency operations. I'd recognize the town if I ever saw it in person. It’s so vivid in my mind."

"Would you consider hypnotism?" Bernard fingered his beard. Intense blue eyes stared into hers. "Maybe your sub conscious mind will reveal the place, or person, or something to help you find it."

Leary about being hypnotized, but desperate to find who shared her mind, Rebecca agreed.

Under her hypnotic trance, she revealed the name of a shoe factory. A place called Booth’s Boots, and she repeated the name, Morris, over and over.

"It’s not much to go on," Rebecca told Allison later,” but it’s more than I knew before. Maybe Morris is my mind connection."

Encouraged by the information, she spent the better part of the day doing research. Using the Internet, Rebecca keyed in Booth’s Boots. Instantly, several websites popped up.

“Okay, let’s check out Boothsboots.com.”

A website, showing various types of boots from hunting to work boots, popped up.

“This is great. Let’s see what this says.” She clicked on News and Events. “No help there. Okay, let’s try Outlet Stores.” She almost jumped out of her chair. “There it is!” A factory, located in Morrisville, Ohio.

“Morrisville, could that explain the name Morris?” A prickly sensation went up her spine. She was getting close; she could feel it.

“Okay, let’s try this.” Rebecca didn’t care she was talking to herself. Besides, it wasn’t the first time. Keying Morrisville into the search engine, she held her breath, more determined than ever to find the town. If it took all day, then so be it.  A site popped up with several suggestions. “Okay, let’s see what this one is about.”  Morrisville.net homepage popped up, and further down the page, it showed–Pictures taken around Morrisville.

She held her breath and clicked on one. The first picture that came up was a log cabin. No help there. “Okay, how about this one? The Square. ” It looked familiar. Shivers ran up her spine. “Okay, how about Hotel Darby. Yes! I’ve seen this place.” One more. She drew in her breath and clicked on Victorian.

“Oh my God, that’s it! That’s the house.” She almost jumped out of her seat. The Queen Anne house in her dreams showed on the screen big as life.  Where is this place?  Clicking back to the homepage, she found it on the map. “Not far from Wattsburg; only a three hour drive from here. I have to go there.”

"Allie." Rebecca phoned her friend. "I found it, I searched the net, and I found it. Even pictures of the town. I recognized all the buildings right down to the house."

"Calm down…"

"I have to go there. It’s only a three hour drive." Not waiting for Allison’s response, Rebecca continued. "I have to find out who I’m connected with."

"What are you going to do?" Allison asked. “Walk into the little town and say hey, someone here is connected to my mind."

Rebecca laughed at her friend’s wit. “I have a plan. First I’ll go to the newspaper office and check for stories about someone being shot on Friday. Then I’ll try to find out where he is. I’m sure he’s alive.” Her intuition told her danger still lingered, but she couldn’t explain that to her friend.

"Maybe it’s a she," Allison said. "What makes you say he?"

"I don’t know." Rebecca paced the living room. "It’s just a feeling I have. It doesn’t matter; whoever it is, I have to go." Okay, it was a crazy scheme, but feelings like this couldn’t be ignored. “There’s no turning back now, Al, I have to find him.”

“Would you like me to go with you?”

 "I have to do this myself.”

“I don’t like this, Beck. You shouldn’t be doing this alone. What if it’s dangerous? I mean you see cop cars and stuff. What if he’s a criminal?”

Rebecca shivered. God, what if he was a criminal? No, something told her that wasn’t the case. Call it a gut feeling or intuition, whatever it was, Rebecca would bet her life he wasn’t a criminal.

“I’m sorry, Al. Thanks for the offer, but no. I have to do this on my own. I’ll be fine. Really.”

Connections of the Mind is available at Muse It Up Publishing, amazon.com and all major online booksellers.

You can find out more about Roseanne's books at www.roseannedowell.com

Check out her blog at http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com

ConneCC

Recipe: James Hartley's Eggs Not Quite Benedict

Eggs Not Quite Benedict

by James Hartley

Everyone has heard of Eggs Benedict, that pearl of the Breakfast Brunch, but has anyone ever tried to make them? No way! First, they call for poached eggs, and who knows how to do that? Fried eggs, fine, but poached? And Hollandaise Sauce, well, real chefs know how to make that, but I don't think you can go down to the local grocery store and buy a jar of it, nope. So let's think of something else.

Suppose we settle for the eggs fried, then scrounge around in the fridge for some other kind of sauce. Like, maybe, spaghetti sauce. That's Italian, so we're going to call this one:

Eggs Benedito

One English Muffin

Butter or margarine for muffin

2 slices Canadian Bacon (optional)

2 eggs

2-4 Tbsp. spaghetti sauce (leftover is OK)

2-4 Tbsp. ground or shredded Parmesan (or other Italian) cheese

Split and toast English muffin, spread with butter or margarine. Lightly fry Canadian Bacon (if using it), place one slice on each half of muffin. Fry eggs, over medium, then place one on each half of muffin. Top eggs with spaghetti sauce and cheese. Serves one.

But then one day we were out of spaghetti sauce. A little more scrounging yielded a jar of Salsa, well, that sounded good. Being on the Mexican side, this one gets the name:

Eggs Bandito

One English Muffin

Butter or margarine for muffin

2 slices Canadian Bacon (optional)

2 eggs

2-4 Tbsp. Salsa (Mild, medium, or hot, your choice)

Split and toast English muffin, spread with butter or margarine. Lightly fry Canadian Bacon (if using it), place one slice on each half of muffin. Fry eggs, over medium, then place one on each half of muffin. Top eggs with Salsa. Serves one.

Jim, thank you for your creative egg recipes. This would make a delicious, fancy dish to serve to company visiting over the holidays. Thank you for sharing information about your newly released time travel adventure, Ten Years. The story's blurb and excerpt follow.

Blurb about Jim's short story: Peter Ingraham invented a time machine, and traveled into the future. Ten
years too far into the future. But he soon found that the future didn't 
match the past, and when he returned to where he started, the present 
didn't match either of them ...

    Excerpt from Ten Years 

by James Hartley

Keller turned to Peter and said, "Come on back to my office. I think we have to talk about this." He led the way back down the hall, and when they entered the office he carefully closed and locked the door. He sat down, and said, "Now, tell me again what you have in that backpack."

"Lieutenant, it's a temporal displacement…" he started, then, seeing the look on Keller's face, he changed his mind and said, "Okay, damn it, it's a time machine. You satisfied?"

Author, James Hartley

"Yep. That was what I wanted to hear. Hey, I've been a science-fiction fan all my life, you're lucky you ended up talking to me instead of one of the other guys. Now you want to know what's in this report?" Peter nodded. "Okay. According to the fingerprints, you are Peter Ingraham. But Peter Ingraham disappeared ten years ago. There was a big scandal, his wife charging Carltronics and its owner with kidnapping. Nothing was ever proven, but the legal fees and bad publicity bankrupted Carltronics, and old man Carlson committed suicide not long after. After seven years, that would be about three years ago, Peter Ingraham was declared legally dead by the courts. Near as I can tell, we can't even charge you with trespassing, because you don't exist." 

Please tell readers how to find you on the web and where to purchase your new book, Ten Years, released by Muse It Up Publishing.


I have a website at http://teenangel.netfirms.com and a blog at http://jameshartleyauthor.blogspot.com/


Ten Years is available at Muse It Up Publishing, amazon.com, bn.com and major online booksellers. 


All of my books and their buy links also appear on my website. 

Heather Haven Guests Today--Win a Copy of Her Book

Hello Readers,

Please welcome my very special guest, mystery author, Heather Haven. Heather writes a series of books about the delightfully entertaining Alvarez family. Heather pens a variety of personalities in her intriguing mysteries keeping the reader glued to the pages wondering what's next. You'll enjoy reading about her series in her post today with a focus on her "middle child," A Wedding to Die For.

Her first book in the series is Murder is a Family Business, the second or middle child of the series is A Wedding to Die For, and soon to be released third book, Death Runs in the Family from Muse It Up Publishing. Today, Heather is feeling a bit guilty about neglecting her second book. Read on to discover why, then leave a comment to WIN a copy of A Wedding to Die For.........

When the first book of the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series came out last January, I almost threw a ticker-tape parade. The main protagonist of this humorous series is Lee Alvarez, a combination of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovitch’ Stephanie Plum. This 34-year old divorcee works as a private investigator in the family business, Discretionary Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency that normally deals with the theft of computer software. Since the death of Lee’s father, her beautiful ice-princess mother, Lila, has taken over as CEO and head of the business. Lee’s younger brother, Richard, is the head of Research and Information Technology. Her Uncle Tío is a retired head chef of a well-known Mexican restaurant. Even the new foundling kitten, Tugger, becomes head of the household in Lee’s small, two-bedroom apartment over the family garage. Lee isn’t head of squat, thank you. But she’s got the heart of a lion, eyes the color of twilight, and the instincts of a first-rate PI, which is good, because she’s always getting herself into trouble.

Ever since the first book came out, I’ve been blogging, promoting, bragging about, interviewing for, and in general being pretty obnoxious about Murder is a Family Business, the fore-runner of the series. At the same time, I was in the process of writing the 3^rd book of the series, Death Runs in the Family. Every writer knows there is nothing as all-consuming as the current project.

But somewhere along the line, the 2^nd book of the series, A Wedding to Die For, has fallen by the wayside. It quietly got published April 22^nd and came in, not as a lion, but as a mewing lamb. You could say, this is my middle child. I’ve read lots of articles proclaiming the middle child is often the one apt to be overlooked, even by the most caring of mothers. Well, just smack me silly. How could I do that to my little darling?

I mean, this is such a fun story! It starts out with troubled upcoming nuptials, due to the groom being arrested for murder. Even the most Bridezilla of us can’t pull off a wedding without a groom; nobody’s that good. Enter an ancient, missing statue of a blue dog, a crushed diamond stud earring, and our gal, Lee Alvarez, is off to the high mountains of Mexico, amid spectacular views and 16^th century cities, in search of pilfered Mesoamerican artifacts. Throw in a mysterious, gorgeous guy who keeps popping up in the oddest places, add a couple of dead bodies, toss in a kidnapping or two, sprinkle it with laughs, and top the whole thing off with the best tasting tamales ever. That’s the recipe for A Wedding to die For, sitting on the countertop of life waiting for someone to gobble it up.

I have to face it. I’ve been a neglectful, lacking mother. I’ve failed my middle child, who never asked to be born in the first place. All it wants is a little love and attention. Here goes: Who loves ya, baby? Who loves her widdle A Wedding to Die For, sweetie-pie, like nobody’s business? Who just wants to hug the words right off your pages? Me, your mumsie, that’s who.

Whoops! Still not enough?

Okay, I have to try to make it up to the little tyke. Below is an excerpt from the 2nd book, A Wedding to Die For.

Via a random drawing, one person who leaves a comment on this site will get a 

FREE pdf copy.

.

              I did the same for Murder is a Family Business, and as we all know, what you do for one kid, you gotta do for the other!do for one kid, you gotta do for the other!

Excerpt

Chapter One

I Love to Cry At Weddings

Dragging out a dog-eared, worn sheet of legal- size yellow paper, I read it carefully. “Wow! I don’t think there’s much more.” I giggled with relief. “I signed the contract with the two bands yesterday. One is an eleven-piece mariachi band that our very own Richard plays guitar with now and then. He’s agreed to play a set with them. I thought that was a nice touch. The alternating band is a three-piece jazz combo. Something for everyone.”

“Indeed,” Mom responded.

“Allied Arts is renting us the restaurant for the reception, including the outside patios, from five-thirty to eleven-thirty p.m. Do you think ten cases of champagne, plus five cases each of Chardonnay and a Napa cab are enough?”

“That sounds more than sufficient. What else?”

I started counting off items on my fingers. “Bridal shower, next week. Richard is in charge of the bachelor party. The tuxes are ordered. The gowns arrive this afternoon, and I have two seamstresses set up for the fittings. I haven’t seen a picture or rendering of the designs yet, but I’ll bet they’re incredible. Mr. McFadden designed them himself, something he hasn’t done for years. He said he chose a ‘theme,’ which reminds me, I’ll have to get samples of the fabric to the florist. Don’t you own one or two of Warren McFadden’s dresses?”

“No. I find him a little avant-garde, Liana,” Mom said.

“I think they call it cutting-edge now, Mom,” I corrected.

“If you say so.” She smiled and changed the subject. “Did you find a photographer?”

“Yes, finally. I thought I was going to have to buy a camera and take pictures, myself.”

“Who is it?”

“Did you know the reason the wedding got canceled that was supposed to take place at Mem Chu was because the bride came out of the closet and is now living in San Francisco with her lover, Charlene?”

“Get to the point, dear.”

“I thought you might be interested in hearing the lead-in.”

“No.”

“Oh. Well, anyway, this guy was supposed to be their photographer, so he was available. I’ve seen his portfolio. He’s good.”

“That sounds fine,” Lila said, somewhat mollified. “What about the rehearsal dinner? Didn’t John offer to take care of that part of the festivities?”

“Originally, but he had to bow out due to a heavy work schedule.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yes,” I said and nothing more. My latest love had been pulling back big-time on a lot of things, but I didn’t want to admit it or deal with it yet. “However, Carlos took over and got us a private room at the new Japanese steakhouse for after we go through our paces.” I looked at the tattered list again with all the checkmarks indicating completion and would have done cartwheels around the room if I hadn’t been so tired.

“Mom, I think I’ve done it. After I order the flowers and take care of the fittings, I’m done,” I said with pride. “This wedding is completely done and Good-to-Go.”

            Five hours later, I stood in front of a mirror, enveloped in what felt like eighty yards of a chartreuse moiré taffeta laughingly called “Whipped Lime.” Between the starched crinoline underskirt, ruffled hem of the overskirt, and tufted bodice, all in a hideous yellow-green, I looked like a New Year’s Eve float depicting baby poo.

I ripped open the other boxes to find matching gowns in different odious colors sporting the names of “Pineapple Fizz,” “Mango Madness,” “Orange Frappe,” and “Passion Fruit Frazzle.” Mr. McFadden had created a theme, all right. Jamba Juice Rejects. And in moiré taffeta. When Mom called his work avant-garde, she was being kind.

The phone rang, but I was afraid to move. On top of how I looked, any movement sounded like leaves trapped in a wind tunnel. No wonder no one wore taffeta anymore, I thought. Noise pollution. One of the seamstresses answered the phone and slapped it into my frozen hand.

“Hello?” I said.

“Lee, it’s me. We need your help,” Mira said. Her voice sounded frantic and as if she’d been crying.

“Mira? Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not,” she sobbed. “Carlos is being arrested for murder.”

“What?” I said, sinking straight to the floor, buried in a mound of taffeta. “Carlos is being arrested for murder?”

“Yes, they say he murdered the thief who broke into our apartment last night. They’re taking him away,” she wailed.

“Wait a minute. What thief? What murder? Mira, what’s going on?” She tried to tell me, but between the hysteria, coughing, and wheezing, I couldn’t understand her.

“Never mind,” I interrupted. “Hold tight. I’ll be right there.” I struggled to my feet and thought, with the groom arrested for murder maybe this Good-to-Go wedding just Got Up and Went.

Trailer:

You can find the first chapter of book two, A Wedding to Die For, in its entirety and book one, Murder is a Family Business, on Heather's website: http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/

For some other internet things,

HTTP://Twitter.com/HeatherHaven

Follow Heather's blog at: http://tinyurl.com/4nensnp

Follow her character Lee Alvarez's daily Twitters at: http://twitter. com/PILeeAlvarez