Sunday, June 17, 2012

Music Heals All Hearts - Music Speaks Anthology released on Ebook

A new antholgy has been released as an E-book. (print will follow soon) My story, Music Heals All Hearts, is one of the 11 stories of different gnere's within the book. At a cost of $2.99, I think you wouldn't be disappointed in your purchase. ALL proceeds are going toward Musicares Foundation.

Buy Link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/172910

Music Heals All Hearts Blurb:
Martin plays guitar and sings for the patients at St. Vincent’s Hospital, disfigured on purpose during his teenage years, he wears an eye patch to cover an unseeing eye. While singing in the emergency room one day, Melissa is brought in screaming and in pain covering her eyes. There was an immediate connection to the woman for Martin and over the weeks of recovery that follows, they fall in love while she can’t see his disfigured face. Once her eyesight come back, he fears she will reject him, as she fears he will reject her once he sees her without the bandages covering her own scars. The fear is unfounded for both of them as they realize that music connected them in all ways and love conquers all.

I hope all my readers will care enough to add this anthology to their collection. Enjoy.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I have a short story, "Music Heals All Hearts", in an anthology that will be releasing shortly. The anthology is being brought out to raise money for Musicares Foundation. I was thrilled to be part of the project.

Here is the cover (links to come as soon as I get them)

A tidbit of The Pirate Princess, ENJOY!

What we have here is the Prologue and the first chapter of The Pirate Princess, an e-book that was brought out by Evernight Publishing this past may. I hope you like this small taste of Princess Alvilda's story. Leave a comment, one lucky commentor will get a FREE copy of The Pirate Princess.

You can buy the book here -






The book cover:

Prologue and First Chapter (Chapter name is in Old Norse Language)




Prologue

Long, long ago, back in the 14th century, in a faraway Nordic country called Gotaland, there lived a beautiful princess named Alvilda.  Rather than marry (and stay at home weaving and cooking, as every other woman of her time did, be she princess or peasant) Alvilda decided to run away from her castle and become a Pirate.  Very little is actually known for certain of the Pirate Princess, or of Prince Alf, the man who conquered her icy heart.  The story is so steeped in myth and legend it is almost impossible to untangle fact from fiction.  But recently, by the purest of magical chances, there came into my hands a manuscript well over six hundred years old.  There, inside the ancient manuscript, I found the oldest written account known to exist of Alvilda, the Pirate Princess.  I will tell you her tale, my fellow warrior women, so that you may wonder and learn from her great bravery.  I'll put my chapter numbers in Old Norse to help you remember just how long ago the brave Alvilda roamed the oceans wild.


                                                                 Chapter Ein



Gotaland, 1373

“Poisonous snakes and lizards?  You can’t be serious!”  Queen Freydis raised one eyebrow at her husband.  “Surely you don't believe these mere creatures will keep your daughter secure in the safety of our castle?”

King Synardus of Gotaland was on the hunt for a suitable mate for his only daughter, the beautiful Princess Alvilda.  Since no ordinary man would do for his one and only daughter he locked her within her tower bedroom, and placed a loyal and ferocious guard at her door.  To be extra sure she could not escape he placed a great number of poisonous snakes and even more poisonous lizards in the antechamber of the tower.

“This will guarantee only the bravest lad in all of Norse land will make it through to her chamber and capture her heart.”

“You can’t keep her to yourself forever Synardus my sweet.  She must marry.  What makes you think that whichever young man happens to fight through all your nasty snakes and lizards will be the one who captures our daughter's heart?”

“She won’t have a choice.  It will be as I say it will be.  Alvilda is only a foolish girl child anyway.”  King Synardus shrugged and turned from his lovely wife.  As far as he was concerned the matter was solved.

Queen Freydis touched his shoulder.  She didn't agree at all that the matter was solved.  “Girl or not, she is no longer a child.  She has seen eighteen summers and, in case you haven't noticed my dear husband, she has developed a will to rival your own.  She isn’t likely to wed simply because you say it is to be so.”

“Damn it!  She is my daughter.  I am her father.  And I am the King.  She will do as she is told or she will remain locked in that tower until she complies with my commands.”  King Synardus stomped roaring from the room.  He liked things kept simple and whenever life threatened to grow complicated he became very upset.

The queen lowered her head and sighed, and her sighs joined the echo of the king's growls as they reverberated throughout the room.  She chanced a glance toward his retreating figure, only to see he was already gone from sight.  “Oh Alvilda, I pray you will not spurn the suitor he finds for you.”



~~~



Up in her tower the Princess Alvilda paced back and forth.  She was furious.  “So I am to be locked away like some prize piece of meat for the first sturdy soul who answers my father’s summons!  Nothing more than a pawn for men’s pleasure and money.  I will not be subjected to this game called marriage."  She came to an abrupt stop in front of her companion.

"But how shall I get out of this tower without my father knowing?”

“Well milady I think I can help you with part of your problem.  I could distract the guards.  But there isn’t anything I will be able to do about those vile animals your father has set to guard your room.”  Alvilda’s handmaid Helga motioned toward the door.

“Animal’s?  What sort of animals?”  The Princess Alvilda strode to the door only to find it locked.  “Open this door, right now.  I'm the Princess and you will open my door now.”

“Milady, they have orders not to open the door for anyone save your father.  They let me in this morning while you still slept.  Your morning meal is on the table in your sitting area and the door will be opened to admit your midday meal.  Until that time your only company will be me.  Shall I brush your hair and plait it for you?”

“Helga, how can you so calmly talk about plaiting my hair when we are held prisoner here in my room?”  Alvilda’s shoulders slumped and she sank into the nearest chair, valiantly striving to hold back the tears stinging her eyes.  “My father must be truly insane to think keeping me locked here will make me fall in love with whoever he brings to take my hand.  I’ll not wed anyone.”

“Princess, you are but a young girl.  It’s what young girls do.  They wed and produce children for their husband.”

“Well, this girl,” Alvilda pointed to herself, “will not wed.  I swear it on the sacred Aesir, Odin.  There must be something different for women to do in this world.  Taking care of little wiggling, crying, whining babies is not something I long for.  What I long for is freedom!"

"Freedom, Princess?  What on earth do you mean?"  Helga looked interested but slightly confused.

"Freedom from whatever is expected of me.  And I will have it!”  As a matter of fact, Princess Alvilda really wasn't quite certain what she meant either but she wasn't a girl to be bothered by details.



~~~



At noon, sure enough, the door swung open to admit the midday meal carried by a kitchen maid.  She set the tray on the table in the sitting area of the tower bedroom.  Alvilda couldn't help notice that the guard who stood outside the door blocked the entrance and refused to budge.

“Take this message to my father.”  The Princess placed a small parchment in the kitchen maid's hand.  “Inform him that his daughter requests his presence in the tower since he has made it impossible for me to come to him.”

“Yes Princess, as you wish.”  The kitchen maid curtseyed and slipped past the guard who shut the door immediately following her departure.

“He can’t hold me here like this.  I’m no criminal.  I am a Princess, his daughter.”  Alvilda turned to the tray and picked at the cheese and bread upon the trencher.  What have I done to anger him so?

Helga flitted about the chamber while Alvilda poked at her food and pouted, waiting for the king to answer her summons.



~~~



“How dare she make demands upon my person?  I am the King and I do not answer summons from anyone.  She may come to me if she wishes to speak with me.”  The king smiled happily at his brilliant logic.

“Darling, you must stop bellowing around all over the castle.  I heard you through the closed doors and down the hall.  You sound very much like a lion with a stomachache.  Be reasonable Synardus, our daughter can’t come to you.  Have you forgotten the guards open the door only on your orders and only to bring food to her?”  Queen Freydis spoke softly, hoping to sweeten her husband's temper.

He ignored her calming voice and turned a blind eye to the soft looks his wife was giving him.  “All the same, she can’t make demands of me like this.”

“Darling, I don't see it as a demand so much as a pleading wish to seek out your everlasting wisdom in this situation.  Go to see her, talk to her, and by talk I mean talk, no yelling.  If you would like her to see things your way, it would be best not to anger her.”  Queen Freydis smiled and left the room with her fingers crossed.

King Synardus paced the great room with his hands clasped behind him and a thoughtful look on his face.  'Best not to anger her' she said.  What about me?  Wouldn’t it be best not to anger me instead?  “There is no help for it.  I must make her understand.  Prince Alf of Denmark will be here within the week.  She must be made to realize she will marry him if he does what I think he will do and gets past my snakes and lizards."  King Synardus left the great room, taking the stairs leading to his daughter’s bedchamber.









Saturday, June 9, 2012

Upcoming Releases

I have three upcoming releases.

Music Heals All Hearts, which is a short story that will be in an anthology put together for charity. I will be sure to post the cover, and buy links as soon as I have them.

the Blurb:
Martin plays guitar and sings for the patients at St. Vincent’s Hospital, disfigured on purpose during his teenage years, he wears an eye patch to cover an unseeing eye. While singing in the emergency room one day, Melissa is brought in screaming and in pain covering her eyes. There was an immediate connection to the woman for Martin and over the weeks of recovery that follows, they fall in love while she can’t see his disfigured face. Once her eyesight come back, he fears she will reject him, as she fears he will reject her once he sees her without the bandages covering her own scars. The fear is unfounded for both of them as they realize that music connected them in all ways and love conquers all.


The Bride's Journey, coming to you from Evernight Publishing in July (exact date unavailable)
The Cover:
The Blurb:
Slightly plump and over aged at six and twenty, Abigail Preston sits on a shelf in England, with no hope of marriage. She loses all she loves to the epidemic cholera, and to make matter worse, her father’s will stipulates she must marry within a year to inherit. Desperate, she answers an advertisement for a bride in America; Benjamin Siddle only requests that she be made of sturdy stock and resistant to cold weather. Opportunity is knocking for Abby so she travels to America to marry a man she doesn’t know in a last bid for happiness. Abigail is faced with an unknown surprise upon arrival at Benjamin’s home, what will she do? Someone is willing to do whatever it takes to stop her marriage to anyone. But does this mad man want her or her money? Can Ben and Abby overcome the obstacle’s placed in their way and find true love along the way?

Storm's Destiny, A Ravenwood Novel (book 2), coming to you through Smashwords.com on or before September 1st.
The Cover:
The Blurb:

Someone is attacking the females around Chatnum House and Ravenwood Manor, but who can it be. Is it one person or is it a group of individuals who hate women so much as to degrade them and leave them for dead. Storm Whitmore, married and pregnant, opens Chatnum House to these women, to keep them safe while the hunt goes on for their attacker. Damon Whitmore, Storm’s loving husband, second son to an Earl, finds himself locked out of his own bedchamber in the midst of all this chaos. His normally loving wife demands that he court her properly before gaining admittance to the bedroom once more. He struggles to figure out how to court his wife, all the while looking for a man who proves more elusive than the Pimpernel. Tragedy brings shame and grief to the family, bringing on the early birth of the couple’s child or is it children? Will a house in uproar become peaceful again, or with chaos reign supreme?



Explainations

Hello everyone,

This little post is to let everyoneknow that I realize that all these previous posts on the same day seems as if I am over anxious in my blogging. However all it is, is my attempt to transfer all my blogs to one spot. I thought blogger would be a good place to keep my blog, and it seems easier to use than the blog I have on my website. So, hopefully this will be where I will post all blogs from now on.

I hope to blog more often as well. At least twice a week, if not more. I also hope to host more authors as guests on my blog to give you, my readers more variety in what is out there to read.

Love to all my readers...family and friends who will or are following this blog.

Laurie