Warmth – A Haiku

your touch warms the soul
my heart sings in your presence
every day a gift

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2015

I recently wrote about the Royal Holiday collection, a set of four romance novels from publisher Tule Publishing, but not about the last three books of the series. A sense of warmth is the overall emotion one should take from this series, books that feature strong women, and caring men. If you are looking to lose yourself in short romance novels, you should read the entire series, they are really worth it.

The titles in the series are:
The Cinderella Princess (Royal Holiday Book 1)

Her Secret Prince (Royal Holiday Book 2)

His Defiant Princess (Royal Holiday Book 3)

His Forbidden Princess (Royal Holiday Book 4)

A must have series for the fan of contemporary romance

Gratitude And Books – A Weekly Blog Hop-Smash Up

I love blog hops, but lately everyone seems to have one on Friday! In order to participate in the blog hops I want to, I chose to combine two from now on, and will call it the “Gratitude and Books Smash Up”.

The two blog hops I am combining are the weekly “Celebrate The Small Things“, hosted by dear Lexa Cain, and the “Fast Five Friday Blog Hop”, which is book related.

Here is my gratitude list for the week:

I am always grateful for books, and this week I had a special chance of purchasing a few really good non-fiction books, I have been “dying” to get. They are three books related to symbolism and lore surrounding birds, specifically as it relates to Shamanism. I love birds, and have a special connection to them, due to my spiritual path, so I was so happy to be able to get these books.

Another book I purchased, and for which I am grateful for was talked about in a productivity web series I recently watched. It is called “Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” and I highly recommend it.

Speaking of web series, I am very grateful for Michael Sliwinski, the founder of Nozbe to have created a wonderful, useful and very inspiring series on productivity. It helped me a lot so far. Organization was never my forte, but by following through on his advice, I am actually getting better at it.

I am also thankful for the fact that the holidays are over. I love holidays, but I prefer to have a more uninterrupted schedule. 2015 feels like a  year, where I need to get things done.

Now off to the second blog hop “Fast Five Friday”!

Fast Five Friday Participant

This weeks Fast Five Friday Prompt asks us to write about the five most anticipated novels of this year. For me personally, the following five novels, are those I am looking forward to reading, some of which I am already asked to review, others I hope that I will get a chance to review before their release date. Either way, these books sound pretty great. Check them out!

Hero

Silent Scream

Hades

Crown for Cold Silver

First Frost

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Claudia

Outline Your Story In 30 Minutes – A Book Review

Title: Outline Your Novel In Thirty Minutes: Discover Your Story DNA
Author: Alicia Rasley
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Rating: 2/5 Stars

While the questions in this book, which are designed for the reader to discover parts of their story, are interesting and have merit, the book is just that – a list of nine questions. There is no actual instruction on how to outline an entire novel, which of course would not be possible in thirty minutes anyway. I did not expect much to begin with, but at least some additional information on how to place the information the reader developed into an actual outline would have been nice. Don’t waste your time with this book, there are plenty of other, more in-depth volumes on the same subject that are much more helpful.

Disclaimer: I rented this book from Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, and was not paid for reviewing it.

Writer’s Block

Writer’s Block

plagued by shreds of doubt
the empty, white pages scream
Overcome your fear!

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2014

 

Goals

Goals

– just another day
I am reaching for the stars
one breath at a time

Claudia H. Blanton 2014

 

Dedicated to all of my fellow NaNoWriMo participants! Let’s reach for the stars, everyone!

Book Review: Storm Front by Richard Castle

Title: Storm Front

Author: Richard Castle

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Publisher: Kingswell

Rating: 4.5/ 5 Stars

From Tokyo, to Bonn, to London, high-level bankers are being tortured and murdered. The killer, caught in a fleeting glimpse on a surveillance camera, has been described as a psychopath with an eye patch. And that means Gregor Volkov, Derrick Storm’s old nemesis, has returned. Knowing only one man can match Volkov’s strength and cunning, the CIA calls on Storm to track him down, figure out who he’s working for and why. With the help of a beautiful and mysterious foreign agent, Storm discovers a plot that could destroy the global economy bringing with it untold chaos and the time he has to stop it is running short. 

I am a fan of the show Castle and love the attitude that Nathan Fillion brings to the character, even if the storyline tends to be a little cheesy at times. But what intrigued me even more, is that someone took the time to write the books, that supposedly made Castle so famous, and created with that, actually enjoyable novels.

Storm Front, a spy thriller, is one of these books. Surprisingly well written, it is funny, tight and full of action, without losing the voice of Richard Castle, making it a story within a story, that is well worth diving into. At times a little too sarcastic and leaving me with the hint of the feeling that the writers of this book poked fun at the readers, I still enjoyed the novel, which reads like a well-crafted spy novel should. Full of twists, turns and romance, while always finding a way to make me chuckle in the most unexpected ways. I am glad I picked up this book, now I just wish, I could actually congratulate the person or persons who wrote this little gem, for a job well done.

Storm Front is available on Amazon now!

A Literary Minded Witch – A Daily Prompt Post

Today’s daily prompt made me cackle, I mean laugh out loud, scaring the poor dogs who are still trying to get used to my hyper minded new morning routine self.

A literary-minded witch gives you a choice: with a flick of the wand, you can become either an obscure novelist whose work will be admired and studied by a select few for decades, or a popular paperback author whose books give pleasure to millions. Which do you choose?

From one literary-minded Witch to another: where in the world can I find a spell that would actually do this? Oh, that’s right, it is called taking action, doing it myself, working hard, practicing my Craft (both the actual Craft and the craft of writing). There are no short cuts, but there is determination.

But that rambling does not answer the question, so here is the answer:

I don’t want to be studied, examined or used as a lesson in some college writing course, which the students will forget about, as soon as the final exam hits. My books should not sit on the shelves collecting dust, or on the list of what one should read – but actually never does.

No, I choose to be the paperback author, because I get to touch more people that way. I get to entertain, allow you to dream, forget about your problems, maybe inspire you to write your own books. I want to be the one who wrote the book, that was made into a movie, or the author you can hardly wait to read another novel from. THAT is not just an answer that comes from out of nowhere. It is an actual goal of mine, one I was working on this morning, before I read this prompt and scared the pets.

It is was I will do, because I know my Why, my reason why I want it to happen. I want to entertain you (okay, maybe you can also learn something from me, that would be a bonus – like I learned from so many others over the last few months, reading their books). Of course there are many other reasons, but I am not going to write about that right now.

So, now I am going back into my Witchy room (yes, I actually have one of them), sit at the desk next to my Altar, which has a Wand on it, and work on what actions I need to take to make this happen.

To whomever came up with this question: A sincere Thank You from the bottom of my Witchy-Heart.

Here are some answers other people gave to this prompt:

http://moreactionresearch.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/thats-easy/

http://tombalistreri.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/lasting-impression/

http://sugarcoatingsince91.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/obscure/

http://lindaswritingblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/easy-choice/

Five Books You Should Read This Summer

Over the last few weeks I have come across quite a few gems of new arrivals, that you should not miss out on. Isn’t there something wonderful about reading on a hot summer day? To fill those days, check out the following fiction and non-fiction books, that are worth your time:

1. The Keepers by Rae Rivers – my absolute favorite new paranormal romance series this year!

2. Touched by Darkness by Catherine Spangler – another paranormal series, that is sure to keep you wanting for more!

3. Parker’s Passion by Sabrina York – now there is a hot one for not the not faint of heart! Steamy!

4. The Snow Queen by Linda Wisdom – a book that does not leave you cold. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

5. Manifest Moment to Moment – because not all summer reads have to be pure entertainment.

Which books are you planning on reading this summer? What is your absolute favorite so far?

 

Book Review: Silenced by Dani Pettrey

Title: Silenced
Author: Dani Pettrey
Publisher: Bethany House Publisher
Publishing Date: May 6th, 2014
Rating: 4.5/5
This is book 4 in a series called “Alaskan Courage”. While I usually prefer to read a series from the beginning, even if some books are stand-alone, I do sometimes break this rule, and I am glad I did with this one, as it had come to me to be reviewed.
Full of twist and turns, great and easy to relate characters, with romance and actions, but without being overburdened with background story, Silenced managed to hook me from the first page until the last. I really enjoyed emerging myself into the lives of what where to me, new characters – for fans of the series, I was told there has been a slow build up and many revelations to their connection.
This is not a book you want to put down. Now I am looking forward to all of the other books of the series.

Book Review: Knight of My Dreams

Title: Knight of My Dreams
Authors: Beth Ciotta, Cynthia Valero
Genre: Romance
Publisher: ImaJinn Books
Publication Date: March 31, 2014
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

I tend to be wary of novels that are written in collaboration. Most of the time, the two voices of the Authors tend to collide, leaving a somewhat disconnected feeling for the reader. This is not the case with Knight of My Dreams. There is flow, there are all of the aspects of a romance, even if it’s a fantastical romance, present, over all it’s a well done story.
this is not your traditional historical romance, but a paranormal romance with a historical twist, which is the premise that drew me to it in the first place. I am not a fan of historical romance, not because they are not done well, but because I just prefer contemporary romance over it. Sometimes though, when the back of the book promises a special twist, I reach for them anyway, and I am happy to find some really good novels that way.
This book will leave you spellbound.