Christmas Writing Exercise

Write about your Christmas experience.  It could be the adventure of shopping for the perfect gift or the wonder in a child's eyes when they see that amazing gift.  Make sure to include all the sights and sounds and sweet and savory smells.  You can also focus on creating a story about a stuffed animal.  There are already many stuffed animals stories that are famous, such as; Winnie the Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit.  Remember focus on one aspect and make it rich with details and interactions.   

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, everyone!

Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley
http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Wicked Readings by Tawania Contest and Interview

I'm at Wicked Readings by Tawania http://wickedreadingsbytawania.blogspot.com/ (today) Monday,

Aug. 5th. Vampire King of New York Max Vander Meer is being interviewed and there will also be a contest. Be sure to join us.

Excerpt from the Vampire King of New York & A Party Announcment

Hi Everyone,
Here's an excerpt from the Vampire King of New York!
Maximillion Vander Meer stood in the jagged mouth of the ice cave with a wolf skin girding his loins
and fur boots on his feet. A frigid breeze breathed its welcome over his bare chest, arms and legs.

He smiled and closed his eyes to step back into the Viking past he loved, where he was free. He threw back his head and howled in exuberant abandonment. Then he ripped off the wolf skin and kicked off his boots. Max ran to the shadowed alcove he knew so well. A flicker of the past sparked in his brain and Vikings filled the cave, their voices rich in the chant of a ritual forgotten in the modern age, invoking the protection and wisdom of Odin, Thor, and Freya. Then he blinked and they were gone. Their voices silenced by time.

Every time he entered this sacred place hollowed out by his ancestors, their presence worked magic and distracted his weary heart from the curse inhabiting his body. This power brought him back to the Viking warrior deep within him, as only here could he reconnect with his lost humanity. Every passing moment the curse pulled him further from whom and what he’d once been. That was the danger in being a vampire. It wasn’t the chill of his body, but the distance that crept into his heart. He was on the edge of forgetting how the laughter of his son warmed him to his toes. The memory of Svenna’s delicious heat as her soft skin lay against his flesh igniting the fire between them, slipped through his fingers like water. Inhaling the fragrance of flowers in her hair had made him feel powerful. Even the excitement of the next adventure filled with salt spray and swords clashing faded away. His heart no longer raced.

The dire flaw in immortality was the sameness. Centuries of monotony blurred into others. Few ancient ones survived the deadly soul-numbing tedium of every day being the same. Closing on a thousand years, too many chose to lie in the sun and burn in agony over the course of two days until they crisped away in the wind. When the true burning began, night, the blessed night, offered no reprieve. The recent “chosen” death of his friend Coelhus was etched in his memory, making Max’s need more urgent than it had ever been. Coelhus had given up. After centuries of dreaming of a woman named Celeste, he ceased to believe she could be real. Coelhus could no longer bear the loneliness and the endless searching. Consumed by his dashed dreams, he gave his body to the sun. Max stayed with him in his last moments, and while he couldn’t deter his friend, he resolved not to end in ashes himself.

Time had robbed him of love, but today, in this moment, Max meant to get it back. Right now! Only this sanctuary of ice and stone seemed real to him; the human world faded into insignificance. Even the responsibility he owed his own kind lost its meaning. He had come to make a last sacrifice. If it didn’t work, he didn’t know what he would do next. His belief, however antiquated when viewed by others, never failed him.

He had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Since the death of his wife many centuries before, nothing more could happen to his empty heart. The feeling of being human haunted him from time to time like an elusive fragrance or taste. Memories were a different matter. The curse, as he called it, made every memory eternal, the pain as raw and consuming as the day he’d lost her.

Squeezing the ancient dagger in his fist, Max stepped up to the frozen altar. The three carved stone figures stared blankly at him. Time, and a growing sophistication, taught him that they were nothing but stone, still the part of him that was Viking would always believe. Holding fast to that reverence of a bygone age, he stood before them.

“I do not call on you, Odin, Father to all, but I respect your wisdom.” He bowed. “I do not call on you, Thor, the strength of every warrior, but I respect your power.” He bowed again. “I call on Freya’s mercy to regain my house, to find the only woman who can heal my heart.” Kneeling with his gaze fixed to the ground, he then rose to stand over the frozen altar. Before the feminine carved figure, he sliced his forearm and let the blood drip onto the icy surface. “In the name of Freya, let me be worthy. Lead me to love. Help me find it or lock me in the ice forever. I can no longer bear the torment of life without true love.”

Vampire King of New York is currently only available at Amazon Kindle at http://amzn.to/17ZTlwg (Shortened link)
http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-King-New-York-ebook/dp/B00D70NC6O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370405916&sr=1-1&keywords=Vampire+King+of+New+York (Actual long link)

Now for the party announcement:
I will be participating in the multi-author party at The Romance Studio on Thursday, June 27, 2013.  It's an all day party and yes I will be giving away an ebook of Vampire King of New York.  Not sure what format yet.  How do you find this party?  I will be publishing the link on Facebook and Twitter as soon as I get it.
--Susan

A Tribute to My Friend The Wombat also known as jan howard finder

There's Wombat in his red corvette. It's a borrowed picture from one of his friends on Facebook. I've been looking for my photo of him from the Worldcon (World Science Fiction Convention) several years back in Glasgow, Scotland. It's hard to find the definitive Wombat photo. If you don't know me on Facebook, then you don't know that jan (he preferred the lowercase) died on Tuesday. Today would have been his birthday!

Happy Birthday, Wombat!

Ever have a feeling that you should do something? I don't usually check my personal email during the day. This feeling came over me and I went on my iphone and saw a notice from the science fiction organization up in Albany, NY. The subject line said, "jan finder RIP". I didn't want to open it but had to. This took me back to when I found out that my editor Marion Zimmer Bradley had died--the subject line of an email. I sat down and then began a day of inner silence and sadness and later a lot of crying.

Wombat had been one of the first people I met at a con. He kissed my hand and said, "You must be 'Ladyknight'." My fantasy novella 'Ladyknight' had come out that year in the anthology Spells of Wonder edited by Marion. He introduced me to people and there began years of adventures, meetings at cons, phone calls and emails.

Seeing him at cons was always a highlight whether it was a chat in the dealer's room or going to a meal or just hanging out. At one con, he asked me to come outside to see his new car--the red corvette. One day we were talking on the phone. He was saying that he'd been ill and wondered if I would mind driving with him to Arisia (convention) in Boston. I drove three hours to his house and then we traveled three more to Boston. He was concerned that if he became ill, he would not have been able to drive back. I didn't end up driving the corvette, but it made me feel better that he knew that I would if necessary.

Wombat would encourage me when I was low, and most authors may not admit there are low times in the wild world of writing and publishing. He called me up one time because he was going to be an extra in a movie and had gotten permission from the director for me to be on the set. It was an independent film called "Scenes in the Mind" and was about the Holocaust. He stayed over at my house and got along great with my husband; the both of them clearly being hobbits. He left the next day after his part of the film was done. I wrote about the experience of being on set on my other blog--The Writing House http://thewritinghouse.blogspot.com/2006/03/scenes-in-mind-movie-in-making.html Look closely at the last photo and you'll see jan.

Wombat was an editor, a writer, a masquerade judge, and honored Fan at many conventions. He was a Tolkien devotee and chaired the Middle Earth Con. He did a special Middle Earth Tour of New Zealand. He was immensely talented and enjoyed and did so many things. Wombat was also a world famous flirt, gave talks on the art of flirting (which is not hitting on someone) and even came here and humorously shared his expertise and experiences with Nights of Passion http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/surprise-the-art-of-flirting-with-world-famous-flirt-jan-howard-finder/

At another convention, he took me aside and told me he met a wonderful woman. That was his dear Lin. I'm sending love and hugs her way.

There's a billion things I could say about jan but it wouldn't be enough. So I'm saying this.

Dear Wombat,
Thank you for everything, the fun and the friendship. On Wednesday night I watched the "Return of the King", and as Frodo went on the elven ship to go West, I imagined that you did too. I always cry at the ending, but on Wednesday night I cried for another reason. You were gone from the world of men. Someday it will be my time. I know there are still some elves left in the world, so there's bound to be another elven ship.

Next time I see you there will be "white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise."

Until then...

May the star shine brightly on the traveling hobbit!
Sue

Wombat and Wombat

Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley
http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com
P.S. Friends of jan's, please, feel free to post your remembrances. Thanks.

Snowing in Connecticut

Its snowing up a storm right now in Connecticut. 

Hopefully everyone reading this is safely home. 

Be warm.  Be safe.  Have a splendid dinner with family.

Tonight we are watching "The Grinch's Halloween."

--Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley, author of
A Vampire for Christmas

The Wind is Blowing. I Hear Winter Whispering.

It is autumn, and the wind is blowing. I hear winter whispering with its promise of

snowy nights cuddling under the covers and soft songs in the wind singing to dancing snowflakes. Autumn is the growing silence. Many call Winter nature's death, but it's all an illusion. Under the snow, grass sleeps. Bulbs sleep, even some creatures sleep deep in the earth. That's why I don't believe in death. Everything comes back. It may be in a different form, but it comes back. Spring is the promise that winter whispers about.

The wind is blowing.

--Susan Hanniford Crowley

Jennifer's Back with More Great Advertising Advice

Jennifer Fusco will be on Nights of Passion blog on Saturday, Oct. 1st announcing the second volume of her advertising book series: Market or Die. Come and join us and be sure to enter her contest. The link is http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there.

--Susan

An Important Book for Writers: Market or Die by Jennifer Fusco

I want to tell you about an important book for writers. More and more publishers are depending on authors to market their books. Now there's real, practical help.

Romance writer and advertising expert Jennifer Fusco had written the book Market or Die: Sensible Brand Building Advice for Writers (Volume 1). Jennifer will be on Nights of Passion blog on Sat., June 25th. She will also be running a contest. One lucky commenter will win an website analysis. Is your website effective? How can you improve it? Jennifer will let that lucky person know.

This book is available through Amazon Books as a paperback and in Kindle.

So enter at http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com on Sat., June 25, 2011. See blog for details on entering.

--Susan

Writer Care 1

Writer Care #1

Writers sometimes have this picture of half starving in a cold attic as they write. No, don't do it. Take care of yourself. If you need to take a day job to pay the bills, do it and consider it research for future books. Always take care of your Earthly needs. There will be things you'll learn in your day job that will come to play in your writing--the interactions between people, the technical aspects of certain professions, the change to examine different personalities, the opportunity to do new tasks, be a part of team project, etc. All of this is research that will give you a wealth of character and plot background information. Remember always change the sex and names of characters to protect the innocent or the guilty. In the meantime, cherish your research.

--Susan

NYTimes Best Selling Author Eloisa James on Nights of Passion blog

On the romance blog I share with four other authors, we have a special guest. Our newest contributor Gerri Brousseau met Eloisa James at Connecticut Fiction Fest and asked her for an interview.

Visit Nights of Passion blog http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com to read the interview and see how to enter the contest for Eloisa's newest book.

Very cool.

--Susan

Goals and Compromises

I'm going to be writing everyday or almost every day at my website-- http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com on the News page. I have some goals to work on. You might have the same ones or different ones. Let's help each other. How? With encouragement.

Goal 1: I would like to lose weight. I lost weight and then gained it all back again. Frustrating, isn't it? I'm going to exercise every day. I will post here what exercise I did. If you have this same goal, you are welcome to post what exercise you did.

Goal 2: I'm going to write a thousand words a day. That's words on a novel or novella. I not counting the words I post on a blog. i will post word count here whether I make it or not.

Goal 3: I needed to buy a new sofa. Mine... well, it sagged. Today my husband and I bought a new sofa. The one we really wanted was too big for the space. Sigh. But we compromised and bought our second choice. I wanted a great sofa to put up my feet and type like a maniac in comfort. It would also be comfy if a friend wanted to stay over and sleep on it. So GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!

This is how it works. You are welcome to post your goals and how you're doing. I will be, and together we'll encourage each other.

What's happening right now? I interviewed paranormal romance author Rebecca Royce at http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com Rebecca's running a contest, so if you want to enter visit the site above and follow the directions.

I've also given a prize to the Night Owl Reviews Summer Web Hunt. Find out all about it and all the other prizes from a lot of authors at http://www.nightowlromance.com/nor/Pages/Hunts.aspx

--Susan
Goal 1: Kickboxed this morning
Goal 2: In-progress

I Love Vampires Contest

You are invited to enter the "I Love Vampires" Contest at my website http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com You have to go there to enter and follow the directions. They're not hard, but there can be only one winner. It is a worldwide contest that ends at 11:59 pm EST on May 29th.

While there, you may want to click around the site check out the book and also the free writing exercises to try. It's fun. You may become inspired.

Thanks for dropping by and feel free to comment.

--Susan

Contests, Interview, Conference, Booksigning

So many things are happening. It’s wild here. And yes, while I’m typing the kitties Bella and Buffy have just run over my body.

Anyway I’m having contest and a fun interview over at Vampires Anonymous. Visit http://nisykitty.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/the-stormy-love-life-of-laura-cordelais-by-susan-hanniford-crowley-interviewcontest/comment-page-1/#comment-53 and follow the directions. The contest is open to residents of the US and Canada only and ends midnight on May 9th. You can only enter at Vampires Anonymous.

I’m writing like a mad woman—steam roller—kitties gone wild and crazy. I think you get picture. I’m having a great time.

I’m going to Fiction Fest at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in North Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday, May 14th. http://toniandrews.com/FictionFest.htm There’s still time to register for the most amazing one day writer’s conference famous for its practical education. It’s fun too. I’m doing a booksigning from 4:30-6 p.m.

May 22nd, I will be having a contest on my website http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com Remember to drop by if you love vampires.

I’m sure I’m doing more. I just can’t think of it right now! I’m wild. Oh, oh! The vampires are getting restless.

--Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley

Writer's Care #1

Writers sometimes have this picture of half starving in a cold attic as they write. No, don't do it. Take care of yourself. If you need to take a day job to pay the bills, do it and consider it research for future books. Always take care of your Earthly needs. There will be things you'll learn in your day job that will come to play in your writing--the interactions between people, the technical aspects of certain professions, the change to examine different personalities, the opportunity to do new tasks, be a part of team project, etc. All of this is research that will give you a wealth of character and plot background information. Remember always change the sex and names of characters to protect the innocent or the guilty. In the meantime, cherish your research.

--Susan

Writers Conference and Agent/Editor Appointments

Connecticut Fiction Fest (all genre writing conference) on Saturday, May 14, 2011 – Holiday Inn Conference Center, North Haven, Connecticut
Hotel Discount Code for night of Friday, May 13: CFF
This is a day chocked full of excellent writing workshops and guest speakers. Eloisa James is the keynote speaker. Registration is $99 and sells out quickly so sign-up at http://toniandrews.com/FictionFest.htm Sign up for agent/editor appointments at the same time. They go fast.
The Booksigning is open the public at 4:30 pm

PLUS I will be signing my vampire/supernatural romance The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais.

Contest and Guest Blog at The Romance Studio Blog

On Friday, Feb. 18, I am guest blogging and having a contest at The Romance Studio blog. I'm talking about "Loving Characters" and share romantic excerpts from my vampire/supernatural romance The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais and my new steampunk romance Mrs. Bright's Tea Room.

You must go to The Romance Studio Blog first to find out how to enter the contest. The link is http://theromancestudio.blogspot.com

The contest ends midnight EST on February 18, 2011. See you there.

Please, Vote for My Works -- Last Day to Vote

Last day to vote for me. Vampire in the Basement for best romance short

http://critters.org/predpoll/shortstoryr.shtml

Mrs. Bright's Tea Room for best science fiction short at
http://critters.org/predpoll/shortstorysf.shtml

Poseidon's Catch for best other short story at

http://critters.org/predpoll/shortstory.shtml

Thanks so much for your support.

--Susan Hanniford Crowley

Book Release Party, Contest, and More

My steampunk erotic romance Mrs. Bright's Tea Room will be released on Wed., Dec. 15th. I'll be having a release party and contest on the next day on Nights of Passion blog. http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com
Join us enter the contest, asks questions, dress casually, have some fun.


Also the voting for the Bookie Awards is still open.
My work has been nominated for 3 Bookie Awards. If you haven't gotten the chance to vote.

If this is the first you’ve heard about it, I’d love your vote at: http://www.authorsafterdark.net/bookieawards.html

Vampire in the Basement – Best Shifter Short Story in Poll 1 & Vampire Short of the Year in Poll 4 and

Poseidon’ s Catch for Best Fantasy Short in Poll 2.

Last but not least, this is an invitation to receive my occasional and very confidential newsletter. All you have to do is email me at onlyladyknight(at)yahoo(dot)com and put Newsletter in the subject line. I will be having a special contest for the Newsletter subscribers in January.


Thanks.

--Susan
Susan Hanniford Crowley
http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Bookie Awards, Voting, Newsletter, and Party

My work has been nominated for 3 Bookie Awards. If you haven't gotten the chance to vote.

If this is the first you’ve heard about it, I’d love your vote at: http://www.authorsafterdark.net/bookieawards.html

Vampire in the Basement – Best Shifter Short Story in Poll 1 & Vampire Short of the Year in Poll 4 and

Poseidon’ s Catch for Best Fantasy Short in Poll 2.

I've just sent out my Winter Holiday Newsletter out to the subscribers. Thank you. If you didn't get it and would love to get my newsletter, just email me at onlyladyknightatyahoo.com with Newsletter in the subject line.

Don't forget the Nights of Passion Blog Holiday Party from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5 -guest blogging, recipes, fun, and contests. That will be at http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com

Best to everyone. Talk to you soon.

An Excellent Day

Today was an excellent day. The air was soft, warm, and sweet. It eased all the worries out of me. I've just finished my steampunk romance and now I'm proofing it, but I did take a break to go to the bead store and get groceries.

I bought some Trinkette stuff to make a bracelet. It's a lot of fun.

It's been such a beautiful day that rests the heart. We opened windows in the house. I guess you'd call it an Indian Summer day. The dog was happy in the yard and the kittens kept sitting in the windows. LOL