Becka’s Hottie of the Week

This week’s hottie is a man I’ve known for over half my life. Well, I don’t *know* him personally, I’ve known *of* him. In fact, I’ve even talked about him a few times on this blog. Once, when I told y’all I was going to his concert back on my birthday in October, and another time when I admitted to having his poster hanging above my bed as a teen.

That man is Mr. Michael W. Smith.

I was first introduced to his music in 1988, nineteen years ago. Good Lord, has it been that long?? Of course, back then, Mr. Smith (“Michael W.” or “Smitty” as everyone I know calls him) had permed hair and somewhat of a mullet… But we won’t go there.

One fact has remained, however. This man is extremely good-looking and has taken very good care of himself over the years.

Did you know his birthday is Oct. 7th, just two days before mine? But did you also know that he’s going to be 50 this year? Yup. The big Five-Oh. Wow, you’ve done well, Michael W.

I’d say he’s one of the more famous Christian singers, probably because he’s been around forever, but also because he’s got some great songs. And his voice is very unique, gritty, almost nasally, but that’s his style. You can say with 100% certainty when a song comes on that it’s him singing due to that voice.

I grew up listening to this man’s songs, and I’m still an avid fan. In fact, when I went to see him in concert, it was the first time for me. I was SOOO excited!!

Some of my favorite songs of his are (click on song titles to take you to the Amazon snippets):

Emily

Friends

Place in This World ~ very poignant when I was a kid

You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)

Live the Life

The Stand

And that’s just to name a few. Michael W. was a good “friend” to me growing up, and his music helped me through a lot of troubled times. Even today, I still love his work. And heck, I still love to look at the guy!

Congratulations, Michael W. Smith. You’re Becka’s Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka

Not Quite on the Dark Side

Anyone else ever wondered why a person who is gifted with immortality, superhuman strength, the ability to fly or shapeshift or basically bend the world to his will would get his panties in a bunch about never seeing sunlight? Or a flower?

Sounds like somebody needs a refill for his Prozac. See a mental health professional, buddy.

Or better yet, get a sense of humor.

Maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Sela Carsen and I wrote romantic comedy. With monsters.

Of course, your definition of monster may vary.

My first story with Samhain was called Not Quite Dead. It’s about a high school guidance counselor looking for a nice, normal steady guy. She winds up with a corpse.

My next one, coming in the Celtic Love and Lore anthology this fall, features a cranky Selkie. Sushi jokes abound.

Paranormal stories, by their very nature, flirt around the edges of darkness. Sometimes they dive straight into the heart of it. Our characters often battle despair, disillusionment and grief, utterly human emotions. However, I don’t know many people who can sustain that level of darkness for long without some kind of relief.

Through that misery, those characters still have to speak to us and give us hope that Happily Ever After isn’t a myth, even for the undead.

Humor is a natural reaction to that kind of stress. The pressure has to be let out somehow and my characters laugh it off. The world finds its balance again in laughter and the sound keeps the darkness at bay.

So next time you find your vampire wallowing in desolation and gloom over never seeing another sunrise, hand him a pair of rose-colored glasses. Or maybe a buttonhole flower sprayer filled with holy water. Come on. You *know* that’s funny!

Thursday Thirteen #4 ~ Becka’s WIP’s

Today, I’m posting 13 of my WIP’s or “Works in Progress” for those of you not in the “know”. I am a romance author, and therefore, I have many ideas in the works, but who knows when you’ll actually get to see them published… I’ll start with the books you’ll most likely see first, followed by the books you might not see for a few years.

1. THE WOLVERINE AND THE FLAME ~ The third book in my Legends of Mynos series, this book is about Sir Ethan of Krey, the promise he made to protect the twin sister of his best friend, and the evil Dragon’s Flame, a red gem that twists the mind of any and all who touch it. (Samhain Publishing ~ Fall-ish)

2. NATURE OF THE B*E*A*S*T* ~ This book is the third book in my B*E*A*S*T* series, about Wade McAllister, a shifter (cougar) who wants nothing but revenge on the man who made him, but falls for the man’s beautiful daughter along the way. (Champagne Books ~ late summer/fall-ish)

3. HIGH NOON ~ A western, about a full-blooded Comanche Indian who’s raised as a white man after a massacre killed his entire village. The the father of the woman he loves lost her hand in marriage in a poker bet, and now it’s up to the Indian to fight for her honor in a duel at High Noon. (Samhain Publishing ~ November-ish)

4. ONCE A DREAMER ~ The first in a continuity series from Champagne Books, about girls who rode the Orphan Train. My book is about a young, Russian immigrant who eventually ends up in “lawless” Dodge City. She finds she’s an “heiress”, and seeks refuge from her “money hungry” adoptive “parents”, only to fall into the arms of a notorious swindling gambler. (Champagne Books ~ January 2008-ish)

5. KINDRED ~ A novella about an every day woman who finds out she’s not human–she’s a dragon shifter. Not only that, she’s been betrothed since birth to the Crown Prince of the land of Dragoran, and her grandmother’s old standing mirror is the gateway into this lush, magical world. (Champagne Books ~ late summer 2008-ish)

6. RIDIN’ SHOTGUN ~ A “sequel” of sorts to IN YOUR ARMS, about Shirley Bloom, the shrew-ish sister to Lissa Bloom. She meets her match in a man known as Luke “Shotgun” Austin and suddenly finds herself in the middle of a “shotgun” wedding. But her new husband is accused of a crime he didn’t commit and is set to hang. Shirley is the only one who can save him. Even if he is the most annoying man on the planet. (Champagne Books ~ Someday)

7. HIS LADY’S DELIGHT ~ A high seas historical circa 1780, a man agrees to allow a woman passage across the sea in exchange for some “carnal pleasures”. He agrees to a “sham” wedding in order to get the heroine into his bed, only to find out his “sham” was not a sham at all. Once they reach port, he must decide whether divorce is truly an option. (No home)

8. KINGDOM OF DREAMS ~ A fairy princess looks into the Spring of Dreams in the land of Faeyn to see the face of the man she will marry. She assumes he’s some kind of strange prince, but in fact, the man is a regular joe, a contractor from Arizona, who’s suddenly whisked away into this magical place. All he wants to do is return home, but when his princess “wife” is kidnapped by goblins, he needs to make a choice–will he choose his old, lonely life, or a chance at becoming king of Faeyn? (No home)

9. HER SCOUNDREL’S HEART ~ Futuristic romance involving a wealthy conglomerate’s daughter, who is trying to smuggle her brother much needed supplies to the quarantined moon of Titan. During her business deal with the “space pirate” who’ll smuggle the goods for a price, her ship is destroyed by the UCE (United Colonies of Earth), and now they are on the run. Someone doesn’t want those supplies to reach the plagued moon, and the hero and heroine endeavor to find out why. (No home)

10. DESERT DREAMS ~ A present-day woman falls back in time to the Saudi desert and/or Persia circa 1805, where she meets a handsome sheikh and falls in love. But he has a secret, and his enemies will gladly kill the woman he loves in order to keep that secret intact. However once she is pulled back to her own time, how will she go on living without him? (No home)

11. SURRENDER TO ME ~ A tentative Medieval about an arranged marriage between hero and heroine. The hero is bitter and claims he will never love the heroine, and only wishes to make an heir with her. But she’s loved him most of her life, and this breaks her heart. The hero’s heart had been broken long ago by another woman. Can his new wife heal the wounds that run so very deep? (No home)

12. SUMMER’S WARM EMBRACE ~ A contemporary “feel-good” book about a woman and a man who are fed up with their lives and find themselves–and each other–on a farm, with the very obvious match-making farmer’s wife. (No home)

13. UNTITLED ~ It bugs me not to have a title, but this one doesn’t. A modern day western, about a woman who’s casually dating a man and meets his family, only to fall head-over-heels for his brother. The brother just happens to be the same man she shared a kiss with a few years back, and their attraction is magnetic. But when the man she’s dating pops the question in front of the family, she’s speechless, and of course, her silence is taken as acceptance, and she finds herself engaged to the wrong man. (No home)

There you have it. Thirteen of the ideas I’ll be working on in the months/years to come.

~~Becka

Thursday Thirteen

I’m one of those people who have heard of Thursday Thirteen, but don’t actually know how to hook up with it. Still, I thought I would list my last thirteen shapeshifter reads. Going backwards in time. I liked them all—I don’t finish books unless I like them

1. Moon Called Patricia Briggs – urban fantasy, compelling characters, first in a series
2. With Love JL Langley – gay romance, short, sweet, hot
3. A Hunger Like No Other Kresley Cole – Lykae hero, half-vampire heroine, first in a series
4. Elizabeth’s Wolf Lora Leigh – okay, not quite shapeshifter, but the hero has wolf genes, excellent book, part of the Breeds series
5. Mystic and Rider Sharon Shinn – fantasy, two characters can shapeshift into anything, part of a big series
6. Without Reservations JL Langley – gay romance, same world as 2, loved it
7. Enforcer Lauren Dane – hot heroes, yummy sex, strong writing
8. Kiss Me Deadly Shannon Stacey – shapeshifting bird! crisp, sharp writing and funny
9. Kitty and the Midnight Hour Carrie Vaughn – excellent pack dynamics, first of a series
10. Hunter’s Pride Shiloh Walker – shapeshifting cats!
11. Wolf’s Moon Charles de Lint – um, I don’t remember this one well :\
12. Blue Moon Lori Handeland – neither hero nor heroine shapeshifted
13. One Eye Closed Karen Whiddon – part of SIM before Nocturne came on the scene

Well, lots of series up there. I just have to add that I loved Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks, an older read.

So what are your recent shapeshifting reads?

ETA: Forgot Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston. Loved her voice.

A New Beginning

Hi, there, I’m Jenna, and I’m a Samhain Author. While that sounds like something from a 12-Step program, please, don’t offer me a cure, because I won’t accept it. I’m proud of the fact just as I am to be the one to pop Beyond the Veil’s blog cherry.

As you can see from the lovely décor (thank you, Bianca), that as well as being Samhain authors, we’re all paranormal authors too, which leads me to the subject of my blog. Hey, I’m doing pretty good, I got to it quick this time. Spooky huh?

The paranormal genre seems to be ever expanding and includes so many sub-genres; I’m not going to attempt to count them here. Many credit Bram Stoker with beginning our love affair with the things that go bump in the night by creating the most famous bloodsucker of them all, Dracula. His character spawned countless plays, movies, and books about him. Over the years though, he’s gone from being a pale , demonic freak to a tall dark and deliciously sexy hotty that you’d beg to bite you. Now, that’s progress or a good PR guy, take your pick.

However, you’ve heard the term, behind every man, there’s a great woman, right? Well, time-wise, at least, that’s true because before, Bram was born Mary Shelley wrote one of the most enduring monster stories of all times, Frankenstein. While she was inspired to write this while watching them reanimate frog legs with electricity. She also said she simply wrote what would scare her because that would scare her readers as well. As we know, her nightmare has captured and held the interest of readers and moviemakers for almost 200 years after it was written.

But, I think to find out the real beginnings, you have to look even farther back, perhaps even before written language to a time when people sat in the dark around a fire. A storyteller wove tales of curses from the gods turned men into beasts by the light of the full moon; ghosts of separated lovers that haunt certain rivers and mountain passes; beautiful mermaids caught in fishermen’s nets/or fishermen were caught by the mermaid’s song depending on how they were feeling that night. Fairies, dragons, skinwalkers, nymphs, and weres, oh my, the list is endless. From all walks of life, you have legends and myths that more than likely began as a great story over a fire. Or did they?

Paranormal can either been seen as a wonderful genre of fiction or it can be seen as a valid field of study. I myself like to take the middle road. While I know for a fact that the werewolves, dragons, vamps and freaks that I write about don’t exist outside of my own insane in the membrane mind, I can’t discount the existence of something out there that I can’t explain. Heck, I love surprises. Just let me know about them first, ok?

My question for the day is, how do you gentle and not so gentle readers think the paranormal genre has changed to reflect the changing world around us?

J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter

Well it’s official. The cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been revealed:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17828868/

As an author myself, it’s not unheard of to hear reference to Ms. Rowling in certain circles. Some authors bemoan her success, wishing for such themselves, or at least wishing they had her riches to roll around in. Pretty much the measure of a successful author is compared to that of Ms. Rowling or Nora Roberts. But even Nora, no matter how many books she’s written or how many romances she’s written or how many TV movies they make of her books will never attain the world wide fame or heck, even the bank account of J.K. Rowling. I heard it said once that Ms. Rowling is richer than the Queen of England. Considering all those Crown Jewels and castles, that’s really saying something.

But for a woman who was digging through the couch for loose change over ten years ago, the fame that goes along with the success of her Harry Potter books has got to be daunting. Here I am, with maybe a few hundred fans, feeling “pressure” to make the third book of my BEAST series something they won’t be disappointed in. Ms. Rowling has MILLIONS of fans, and she’s just finished her final, controvertial Potter book.

I mean, can you imagine?

Ultimately, you have to write what your muse tells you to write. And announcing that someone is going to die in the next book is Big Publicity because everyone wants to know “who”. But killing off a well-liked character can have rabid fans tossing their books against the wall, thoroughly pissed they ever started your series in the first place. Heck, at least Rowling is FINISHING her series, unlike a certain Robert Jordan… But don’t get me started on him. lol

Like I said before, many authors “wish” to be in Rowling’s shoes. While it’s nice to dream about being able to buy a villa in the south of France if you desire, I’m not so sure I’d want to be where she is. Money doesn’t buy happiness, it only buys the illusion of happiness. So yeah, you could be sipping pina coladas in your villa, but you’ll be surrounded by superficial people who are drooling for your table scraps, constantly hounded about your book plots, and under the most critical eye of the Almighty Public. If you can’t handle a negative review from a small review site, there’s no way in heck you could handle the kind of fame Rowling has with the critisizm that goes along with it…

So the next time you wish to be like Rowling, put her fame into perspective and ask yourself if you could handle the tremendous, stressful burden of being Uber Famous (echo echo). It’s probably why Ms. Rowling rarely smiles…

~~Becka

Becka’s Random Pic of the Day

Okay, folks. Today’s random pic of the day comes from either Canada or France, I can’t tell which. Probably Canada, since the sign is in English first. This is the “famed” Hide Your Valuables sign, which, upon looking at the background, is probably prominent on a hiking trail, camping site, or any place where you might leave your car to go into the wilderness for a length of time.

First of all, I got a chuckle out of this picture. One, because the robber is clearly ominous. Obviously, people who rip you off are wearing trenchcoats and floppy-brimmed hats. Secondly, is he sitting on the hood?? Even if he’s not, the guy is huge! Good Lord, I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley… And why can’t you see the rest of him through the windows of the car? Very strange.

Another thing that struck me about this sign is the fact that it suggests locking MONEY in your trunk. Of course, we all should know by now to hide anything of value in your car, but when was the last time you hid a fat wad of cash in your vehicle? I mean honestly? I have left my purse in the car on occasion, maybe under the seat, but I rarely carry cash. And if I did have lots of it on me at the time, I’d be damned if I’d leave it in the car, even if I was going on a ten day excursion into the bush.

And last but not least, what’s the most curious thing about this sign? In fact, it’s so obvious, you’ll probably shake your head and giggle at the inanity of it all.

>>THANK YOU, CANADA, FOR TELLING THE ROBBERS EXACTLY WHERE I HID THE CASH!!<<

**snort**

~~Becka

Today is my 12th Anniversary!

That’s right, today, March 25th, is my 12th anniversary with my DH.

“But Becka,” you might say, “why are you blogging instead of spending time with the old man?”

Well, the “old man” has Walking Pneumonia. Gah. Remember how I thought I had it a couple of months ago?!? My youngest daughter has a touch of it as well. My oldest daughter and my son have bronchitis.

We took a fun family trip to the Urgent Care this morning (joy of joys) and the doc saw my hubby and three of my children. My son wasn’t having a good time of it, as he was puking in their hand sink in the exam room, poor little dude. We all got sick back in January, and it’s just been lingering. In fact, lingering so long, that it’s no longer a viral thing. Bacteria has now descended into the lungs of the Goingses and now we’ve got antibiotics aplenty along with some puffers and Uber Cough Medicine (echo echo).

**sigh**

So much for taking our friend up on her offer to babysit the kids while DH and I go out to celebrate. The hubby has been in bed since we got home from the doctor’s (about 11am) and it’s now almost 5pm. He was in bed yesterday from 12:30pm to 8:30pm.

I feel for him, really I do. I got Walking Pneumonia Christmas of 2005. It was NOT fun.

So, here I sit, blogging away, while the kids watch the Goonies on their TV (gotta love the Goonies) and DH sawing logs upstairs doped out on Codeine and whatever the heck antibiotic he got from the doc.

I’m coughing a tad and so is my second daughter, but nothing “serious”, at least, not right now. Hopefully, nothing will become serious.

So instead of steak and lobster, I’m pondering mac’n'cheese or PB&J for dinner. Yay. Wonderful day for an anniversary. lol

~~Becka

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