Funny Friday Photos

Hello and Happy Friday! 

I have to remind you that The Blogger Book Fair and Sizzling Summer Giveaways are almost over, so head over to either site today and register for the various giveaways before it's too late! Both events have been so much fun, and I feel like I've made some new friends, so that makes it even better! Also, Jessica Chiles at Such a Novel Idea wrote the best review for Finding Meara - not just that it was complimentary, but it's a really fun review. It has some cute graphics, even. Click here if you want to see it.

This week has been very odd for me. I did get some work done on world-building of the Realm for Adven 2. As I mind-mapped the Realm, I had all kinds of interesting ideas for scenes or future stories. It was definitely worth the time I spent on it. Now that I'm done, though, I can't decide what to do next. I think I need to just start writing again. Especially if I'm going to meet my deadline.

A quick "thanks" to all of you who commented last week. Somehow the week passed before I got back to respond. The story of my life, lately. 

Last week's winner for funniest photo was:

And now the new photos!

It's sooo FLUFFY!

Bask in the sun and you, too, can look this cute.

It must be the Star Trek Movie I recently watched, but all I see is a Vulcan-cat Mind Meld.

And our pun...

I love Shaq. Isn't he in the Gold Bond commercial?

My favorite? I'll go with the Vulcan-Cat.

Did you have a favorite this time?

Blogger Book Fair Guest Zrinka Jelic

Hello Blogger Book Fair hoppers

I’m very delighted to meet you. My name is Zrinka Jelic and I’m author of three published books, Bonded by Crimson, a paranormal romance, and Treasured Chest, a historical romance. Plus my work appears in an anthology titled Angles Cried dedicated to tiny victims of unimaginable and senseless violence of Sandy Hook School.

Today I’d like to talk about my newest release, a time travel romance titled “Love Remains”. It was published by Crimson Romance on July 15th.

It is dedicated to all women, but especially working kind. It takes a lot of skill and energy to juggle career and family, and to keep going day in and day out. When kids are sick and we have to stay at home with our little ones, we face the employer’s scrutiny and in some cases even losing jobs. The treatment of working mothers in the corporations got me thinking and I’ve decided to show my findings (at least the way I was treated when faced with the issue) through my writing. And since I am a romance writer, what best way to do it than through romance. Of course, being of Croatian descent, I have to throw something Croatian in the mix. Would you sacrifice your family for the sake of your career? Is it OK for corporations to dispose of women who put their families before their jobs? Is there a golden middle?

I hope you’ll find “Love Remains” a thrilling read as I found it when I wrote it.

Here’s the book’s blurb

Olivia Owen, a busy, single, high-functioning, corporate executive officer, is not afraid to die a spinster for the sake of her career. But in an alternate reality world, bridged by the angel of her Down’s syndrome sister, she meets Tom Medar, a dedicated, Croatian defense attorney who dreams of the right woman, but never has time to find her. Together they foil an adulterous murder plot while discovering there’s room for love and family in their busy lives—but not before they are separated again.

When they awaken from their alternate world, will they be able to cross countries to find each other again?

Love Remains is now available on Amazon

Also, there’s a little giveaway on my blog and since I’m in Canada I’ll have to make it digital. So a copy of Love Remains for your e-reader and $5.00 Amazon gift card. Just drop by my blog Hello Romance and leave me a comment, join my blog or like my Facebook page.

And a bit about me

Zrinka Jelic lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and two children. A member of the Romance Writers of America and its chapter Fantasy Futuristic &Paranormal, as well as Savvy Authors, she writes contemporary fiction—which leans toward the paranormal—and adds a pinch of history. Her characters come from all walks of life, and although she prefers red, romance comes in many colors. Given Jelic’s love for her native Croatia and the Adriatic Sea, her characters usually find themselves dealing with a fair amount of sunshine, but that’s about the only break they get. “Alas,” Jelic says, with a grin. “Some rain must fall in everyone’s life.”

Blogger Book Fair Guest Penelope Reece

Phantasma by Penelope Reece

Good school, nice friends, and a loving family. Alphie Brewster's life seems perfect except for one growing problem. She’s plagued with vivid nightmares, and is haunted by a forgotten past. And it's only getting worse.

The day she finds a mysterious necklace, Alphie wakes to see a ghostly figure leaning over her bed. Now she's got an even greater problem. A six foot four inch tall eccentric spook, named Noer, who has to possess her in order to stay in this world. He fills her with fire while slowly draining her energy as if she were a Duracell Battery.

Now her problems only seem to be escalating. The more she learns about Noer, the more she starts to remember her childhood. One that should have stayed buried and could very well tear her apart.

Excerpt:

"Let this be a dream!" My mind screamed. "Let me wake up!"

I chanted the words in my mind, but I knew I wasn’t sleeping. The nightmare was very much real. My eyes and nose were all too aware of this fact. My body knew too, that’s why it was flat lining.
Next to me, the figure continued to breathe, his rancid breath caressing my ear while the smell burned a fiery path through my nostrils. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer, and slowly – oh so painfully slow – I turned my head to look upon the face of, what I was sure was, a nightmare made flesh."

If you'd like to grab a copy of Phantasma for .99, now is the time to do it! Follow the Smashwords link below to access the special for only Blogger Book Fair participants!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/319112

Promotional price: $0.99

Coupon Code: WT44L

Expires: July 28, 2013 

Sing for Me is the second title Penelope is sharing with us today!

CHLOE HASKELL, a university student and runaway diva, is determined to never sing again. After escaping a life in the spot light, she wants only to have a normal life. But when an old flame comes to town, Chloe must decide if she’s willing to forget the past in order to fall in love with the man who broke her heart.

RHYS RYTHER, a Broadway composer, has been hired as a substitute professor at the university. There, he’s surprised to learn that his ex girlfriend, the girl he left without an explanation, is a student at the same university. What's even more surprising is that he still has feelings her.

When Chloe unintentionally gets cast in the school’s production of The Phantom of the Opera, unexplained events start to happen. She sees shadows everywhere. A ghost haunts her dreams. And someone is watching her. But is it all in her mind or has a dead man come back to claim her?

As Chloe and Rhys get closer, he learns that she’s been keeping a secret. It’s a secret so dark that could very well tear them apart. And when the impossible happens, can Rhys overcome Chloe’s dark past in order to save her from an even darker future?

Author Bio

Penelope Reece, Penn for short (b. 1984), is an author living in Central Indiana with her husband of two years and her tiny Pomeranian, Kodi.

She graduated from Indiana University in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in English. She then went on to spend nearly three years in South Korea where she taught English in a private academy. It was here that she met and married her husband in June of 2010.

They recently moved back to the States in March of 2012.

Penelope's been writing ever since her nerdy high school days where her joys were limited to marching band and day dreaming.

Her other joys include reading, crocheting, snuggling her little Kodi-man, and watching comedic TV shows such as Parks, and the IT Crowd. She also enjoys watching Korean dramas, listening to her husband sing. As well as being hyper and annoying her husband as much as she can.