Tuesday 17 March 2015

Guest Blogger ~ Helena Stone

Thank you Norma, for hosting Little Rainbows and me on your blog today, we’re delighted to be your guests. Let me start by wishing you and your readers a very happy St. Patrick’s Day.

With today being March 17th and therefore St. Patrick’s Day I thought it would be a great opportunity to share a recipe for the perfect Irish coffee.

Since Little Rainbows is set in Ireland it was almost unavoidable that my characters would enjoy a glass of this Irish speciality at some point during the story.

“He placed four glasses on the counter and put a spoonful of dark brown sugar in each. The Jameson’s glowed golden in the low light. As soon as the hot coffee hit the alcohol, the powerful smell of hot whisky filled the room and Heather felt her mouth water. Soft cream on top and the Irish coffees were done.”

I could almost end this post with that short excerpt. There really isn’t a whole lot more you need to know about Irish coffee. Just to ensure you’ll prepare yours in the best possible way, here’s how it’s done:

Ingredients:
25ml/1fl oz Irish whiskey
1tsp brown (raw cane) sugar
1 heaped tbsp (lightly) whipped pouring cream
1 hot double espresso with a small measure of hot water to fill the glass

Method:
Use warmed coffee glasses and add the whiskey
Add the sugar and dissolve in the whiskey
Add the coffee and stir well
Pour the lightly whipped cream carefully over the back of a spoon. The cream should float on top of the coffee-whiskey mix.

Traditionally Irish coffee is served as an after dinner drink or to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Personally, I can’t think of a good reason not to enjoy this treat on a regular basis. Sláinte

Little Rainbows Promo Information

Title: Little Rainbows
Author: Helena Stone
Pairing: MF
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary
General Release Date: 20th March

Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
ISBN: 9781784304584
Available on Early Download: 20th Feb
Heat Rating: Burning
Book Length: Super Novel




BLURB:
When Jason Hudson and Heather Staunton first meet they are young and sure they are wrong for each other. As a result they spend a summer admiring each other from a safe distance.

Twenty years later Heather is coming out of mourning, having lost her husband and Dom eighteen months earlier. Jason, now the owner of an exclusive sex resort on the west coast of Ireland, struggles with the loss of his desire to dominate.

Jason’s resort is about to celebrate its first anniversary and party planner Heather has been hired to create the perfect celebration. Their reunion comes as a big surprise to both of them.

Old and familiar attraction, battles with new and conflicting emotions as Jason and Heather work together to organize the ultimate BDSM event. Overcoming the issues between them isn’t the only obstacle Jason and Heather face. In the background lurks a threat both to Heather’s independence and Jason’s livelihood.

EXCERPT:
There it was, her opportunity to kick-start her life again. And, as restarts went, it made quite an impression. The hotel or club—she wasn’t quite sure how to label the building—looked rather grand at the end of the long drive. The Atlantic Ocean, throwing up a spray in the distance, only enhanced the picture. Even on this bright summer’s day she could see small rainbows in the watery mist the waves were producing. It would be easy to confuse this place with any of the up-market tourist traps the west coast of Ireland was peppered with. This could be any other posh resort catering to Americans trying to find their roots and golfers looking for an opportunity to try the links courses littered along the coastline. The heavy gate blocking the entrance told a different story. She knew too much about this place, its purpose and what happened behind those gates to confuse it for anything except what it was, a dream from the past and—if everything went according to plan—the start of the rest of her life.

She’d been looking at the building, the grounds, the gate and the little buzzer on the intercom box for a few minutes. If anybody on the inside happened to be keeping an eye on the entrance through those security cameras, they would have decided she was either scared or crazy by now—and they’d be right. She was apprehensive. Her hands were clasped together, her fingers worrying her wedding ring. After eighteen months of virtually living like a hermit, coming here felt like diving in headfirst. Still, if she’d had any doubts about leaving Dublin, that surprise visitor two weeks ago and his shocking proposal had taken care of those.

The bastard. She refused to even think his name. It still bothered her he’d had the nerve to show up at her door like that. Where would he have gotten the idea she’d be open to his suggestions? It had been clear that he’d expected her to embrace his offer—or should she call it an order—with open arms. His delusions of grandeur must have gotten the better of him, or he’d confused her with someone she clearly wasn’t. She didn’t get it. Even before her self-inflicted confinement, she’d made a point of staying away from him. Why would he think she’d changed her mind about him just because she was on her own? She didn’t know but lingering on that memory right now didn’t serve any purpose. She didn’t want him in her thoughts, especially not now. It would only make her more nervous than she already was.

She’d thought this place would be the perfect setting for her return to the BDSM world she’d been ignoring for well over a year. Now that the moment was close, now that she had to take this last step out of her confinement, the first step into her future, she couldn’t help second-guessing herself. Was she really ready to move forward? Could she do it on her own? She’d never been a part of this lifestyle without her husband and his loving support.

With a sigh she lifted her hand and pressed the little button. She’d come this far. She hadn’t driven the five hours from Dublin only to turn away at the last hurdle. If she gave up now, it would be the end of the business they’d built together. If she chickened out of this, there would be no way of ever going back on her own terms. Going forward scared the shit out of her but going back frightened her even more. She could do this. She’d promised she would take this step. Breaking her word was not an option, no matter how scared she was.

Author info: 
Helena Stone can’t remember a life before words and reading. After growing up in a household where no holiday or festivity was complete without at least one new book, it’s hardly surprising she now owns more books than shelf space while her Kindle is about to explode.

The urge to write came as a surprise. The realisation that people might enjoy her words was a shock to say the least. Now that the writing bug has well and truly taken hold, Helena can no longer imagine not sharing the characters in her head and heart with the rest of the world.

Having left the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam for the peace and quiet of the Irish Country side she divides her time between reading, writing, long and often wet walks with the dog, her part-time job in a library, a grown-up daughter and her ever loving and patient husband.

Find Helena Here:

Sunday 15 March 2015

ARe BSL & My Weekly Ramble

41/50

So now that that is out of the way I can start rambling. I have so much to do that I have no clue where I should start to get it all done... It's driving me fricken nuts.

Another thing driving me nuts is my family... Why do they never listen? This weekend I've had them all up to my eyeballs... Next week I will love them again but this week I want to kick all their arses.

Other than that I've been organising cover art on DRitC 2015: Hollow's Trouble with the amazingly talented Tracey Soxie Weston.

Thursday 12 March 2015

I Can't Believe I Lost It

Yesterday I searched for most of the day but I couldn't find what I was looking for anywhere... What you may ask? The answer is, I lost part of the synopsis for The Lines Of Marsden series more specifically for the changes I was planning for the end of #3: You Make Me Die In Pieces... chapters 14-18 are missing. I still have 19 & 20 so I at least know where I wanted the book to end, but now I have to re write the synopsis for the missing chapters and hopefully it won't deviate too much from what I last had. So today I'll re write everything and then make the adjustments n the story as needed... I always write my synopsis in longhand... I usually keep them in a folder. I have most of them done for the whole first line, (just #5 to go and a couple of chaps in #4 and #6).

In Other News: 
  1. I have been mucking around with creating pictures (mainly signs) for my two blogs so that I can keep the pictures that I don't have the rights toto a minimum. 
  2. I'm also making sure I have synopsis ready to go for all books I intend to write until the end of the year—hopefully I won't lose them—I actually went out and bought a heap of new folders just so I could keep them all straight.
  3. I have to change my office up some to make things more accessible to me, and then I should be able to separate the writing stuff from the real life stuff—I'll have to colour code everything or my family will just mess shit up and drive me insane. Hopefully this year will be the last year where everything is so disorganised.

I'll keep you all updated on how my plans are going... and if I don't then give me a kick up the arse, because I'll probably need it to keep me on track.

Tuesday 10 March 2015

My Friend Or My Enemy ~ Insomnia

I've got a massive headache today. not quite a migraine yet, and honestly, I hope it doesn't get that far... this is because I only had 4 hours of very interrupted sleep... my brain just wouldn't shut down.

I wish I can balance the need for wakefulness and sleep perfectly, but somehow it always seems to allude me.

Between writing and real life my head feels like an a carousel going round and round with all my thought mixed up and trying to jump free and make themselves heard. while I stand on the outside with a big stick trying to shove them all back.

But in saying that... I know I have said it before. During bouts of insomnia I seem to get the most work done on plotting out story lines... and making notes on all new story ideas.  I love coming up with new ideas... whether or not I get to use them is another story... I just jot them down and put them all in a folder for later use.

Monday 9 March 2015

What's Up

Well yesterday saw me send Hidden Hearts 2: One Last Kiss Goodbye (decided to keep original name) to my patient beta reader: James A. Who will not go mad at me for all the punctuation mistakes... I'm getting better I swear. Actually as weird as this sounds this book has been really fun to write the second time around. James will tell me if it is too confusing. as some parts I was like what the fuck did you write that for, and how the hell did it ever get published.

Now that I've found my synopsis notes on The Lines of Marsden, #3: You Make Me Die In Pieces. To be honest I'll be glad when this one is done. It's probably the hardest TLOM book to write to date as it's kind of changing the story line a tad, but I'll be bale to finish not, if that makes sense? In the end we'll end up where we were always meant to be, we're now just taking the scenic route to get there. But I hope you enjoy the ride anyway. I know I have enjoyed writing it, even if at times it has driven me nuts with no possibility of returning to normal. I'm more world/realm building in this book.

Then I can work on the following:

These stories are listed in no particular order... I just know I need to work on them all and have most of them done by the end of June if I want to keep up with my writing schedule for 2015. And I plan very much on reaching my 2015 goal.

1) Hidden Hearts 1: Harder & Harder to Breathe (name may change)
2) Quaide's Crossing 1: Meghan's Way (M/F)
3) Sons of Evenmore 3: Fear The Scarlet Moon (Plotted it out)
4) The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes (started)
5) Hollow's Trouble (DRitC 2015: Love Is An Open Road)

Friday 6 March 2015

Out Now From Fireborn Publishing


BLURB:
Cole Jakovich and Billy Martin find themselves thrown together in a fight that very well may take away both their lives. Together they will triumph or together they will fail. Only fate knows what’s in store for them all and she ain’t talking.

As a member of the Northern Sector Police Department Cole is given the job of protecting an undercover cop and two other men. Cole Jakovich finds not everything in his world is as it seems. Everything he’s ever known has come tumbling down around his ears when truths from his past come to the surface. The one place he’d always believed to be absolutely safe was about to be put to the test as a world he never knew existed calls a hunt them down upon not only him but the men under his protection as well.

Billy Martin former police officer finds his whole world flipped over as he realises the world he thought he knew was far from safe. Forced to choose between running and standing at Cole’s side to fight enemies which seem to be coming at them from all side. Billy does the only thing he can, especially when Cole is captured by an enemy who wants to see him dead.

The Diamond Rose is becoming known as a refuge for people from both worlds. Will Cole and Billy be able to keep everyone safe? Or will they all go down together? With the help of family and friends Billy and Cole find a strength they never knew existed.