Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Blog Tour: Guest Post w/ Marne Ann Kirk!

 
WELCOME TO THE BLOG, MARNE ANN! :)

Marne Ann Kirk grew up wild, exploring the vast high deserts and mountains of the West with her family as a child. Marne Ann loved making up stories and, well, lied about just about everything. Thankfully, she grew out of the lying stage...now she calls it story-telling.
 
Her debut novel, “Love Chosen: Book One of The Fae Dragon Chronicles,” is available now. “Love Dared: Book Two of The Fae Dragon Chronicles,” is coming soon. “Goddess on the Run,” a paranormal romance, will be available September 17, 2012. You can find out more about Marne Ann through her publisher, Crescent Moon Press, or visit her at: www.marneannkirk.com  or www.cowboysndragonscafe.blogspot.com
 
 
Where to Find Marne Ann:

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


One Average (Crazy) Day in my Not-So-Writerly Life…

(Also known as, “Someone Get Me Outta Here!!!)

Hi, Danielle. Thank you so much for having me on TBQ's Book Palace. We’re neighbors, of a sort. I live in Colorado. Those poor people east of the Rockies don’t know what they’re missing, with all of the open space we enjoy. Kidding…kind of… (I couldn't agree more, neighbor!)

Anyway, I thought I’d talk about

One Average (Crazy) Day in my Not-So-Writerly Life…

(Also known as, “Someone Get Me Outta Here!!!)

I’m kidding (not really). Life isn’t so busy (Hello? This is the stuff horror films are made of!)

Sometimes I wonder, where did the time go and why didn’t I write today? Then, I remember…

4:30am (yes, it does begin here): The Monster-mongrels wake me up (they know no one else in the ENTIRE house will wake up to let them outside), because they absolutely cannot hold it any longer. I’ve asked. They can’t.

5:00am: Finally find the one dog I trusted not to put on the leash, who then spent twenty minutes chasing a raccoon while I chased her (she’s a lab, who thinks she’s a Schi-Tzu…unless there’s a rabid raccoon in the area. Then she’s a Junkyard dog)

5:05am: Fall back into bed, promising myself as soon as the sun comes up I’m taking four Schi-Tzus and a Lab to the pound.

7:30am: Wake up, because sweet little pup-pups are licking my hand. The darling angels are hungry and I’m pretty sure they wake me up before everyone else so we get coffee and quiet. They really DO love me. Surely, the 4:30am incident was an isolated affair…

7:35am: Stumble quietly into the kitchen, praying I don’t wake anyone. Make coffee, feed my furry friends as reward for waking me up, crank up the computer, and promise myself I’m going to write today…just as soon as I take care of a few things.

7:45am: Sit at the computer with coffee, take a sip…

7:46am: Hairy little beasts have to potty. Again. And they’re all going to scratch, whine, and make loud sick-monkey sounds until I get them outside…The Lab grabs her ball on our way out the door. Great…

8:30am: Come back into the house. Coffee’s cold. Helpful Hubby is sitting at his computer, eating cereal and checking out the AOL news. Kiss him good morning and sit at my computer. I’ll drink the coffee cold, thank you.

8:30am: Check my e-mails and FB to see what the world is up to, go to Goodreads. Maybe I’ll start a marketing plan…

9:00am: Dear Hubby hands me a stack of bills for the fam-damily. “Can you call on these? See what we need to do?” (We couldn’t possibly just pay them. It goes against the grain to pay without questioning.) It’ll only take a few minutes, half an hour, tops. Right?

2:00pm: Almost done with those flibber-jibbety billing questions. The deamons are sniffing around, looking for a weak spot (did I mention I have several, but only one of them is under 18? I swear, they were easier, less of time-suckers, when they were infants. At least then they took naps!), and they want lunch. Lunch? Where did breakfast go?

3:00pm: Return home from getting lunch, squeezing in a post-office stop, a drive through the bank, and running to a doctor visit (yeah, in our house those really are pretty regular). Finally get to start on that new project swimming around in my mind. It’s a love story. She’s one of the Pleiades, or seven sisters of Greek mythology; he’s a fire-fighter vacationing in Crete at the wrong time…

But wait, I need to get some marketing done on the current book, and I want to order some tattoos for the convention coming up later this year. I better work on those little things, first…

8:00pm: The tattoo is ordered. I accomplished something! Yes!!! Everyone is whining for one thing or another. Food, clean clothes, to go outside, the living room picked up, food! The dogs, the kids, the husband (who I must cheerfully feed because I love him and he, ya know, supports my keister so I can write!). Food? FOOD? Who can think about food? I’m elbows deep in a blog about writing…oh, yeah…I was going to write today…

9:30pm: Supper is done, kitchen is cleaned, dishwasher running. Time to write. I pour a cup of coffee, sit down at the computer, click open the Word document…

9:40pm: The dogs have to go outside. Seriously? Am I the only one who walks these guys? Did I mention the Lab is my 23 year old, lives at home, daughter’s dog? Yep. And one of the Schi-Tzus is my 19 year old, lives at home, daughter’s dog? Okay, so in reality each one of them did walk the dogs several times today, too (But Schi-Tzu apparently is Chinese for “royal canine without bladder,” and the Lab thinks she’s a Schi-Tzu, remember, so she’s just as bad). I guess I get a bit testy when I’m not writing and I want to be…

10:00pm: Sit down to the computer, again. Coffee is cold. Screw the coffee. I didn’t want it that bad. I’m going to write now. I have this scene. It’s right there, been brewing all day and I know just what I want to happen…

10:02pm: My Darling Honey runs a hand along my neck, oblivious to the fact I’m about to bite off his fingers for interrupting my writing time. “You ready for bed?” he asks.  Like I have time for bed...

There’s something to be said for having an office away from home…

~Marne Ann Kirk


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Love Chosen by Marne Ann Kirk
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press (March 2012)
Series: Fae Dragon Chronicles, 1
Genre: Fantasy Romance

For millennia, dragon and fae have peacefully co-existed, but the fae themselves have lived segregated and very different lives.
Now a malevolence threatens to separate them all permanently. Can a Queen's guard and a rebellious outlaw join forces to defeat this common enemy?
Tyler's touch sparks fierce desire, drawing Issie to him, but she despises his way of life and all that palace society represents. If he learns she wields majic to help the less fortunate escape the kingdom, he'll charge her with treason. Her punishment - death.
Issie is a sassy rebel who is constantly looking for ways to circumvent the conventions of their society. Tyler's head warns that she's a non-majical lower, beneath him. His heart sees by her inner strength and outer beauty. Only a binding love will lend them strength to save her life - their world.
 

Where to Buy*:

More Info:

 
Fae Dragon Chronicle Series:
1- Love Chosen (Available now)
2- Love Dared (Fall 2012)
3- Love Desired (TBA)




Love Chosen by Marne Ann Kirk
Excerpt

Tyler pushed his way through the onlookers. They reeked of sex and sweat. The foul odor made his eyes water and his vision blur as he forced his way to the front of the crowd, almost stepping on the female lying in a heap on the floor. He turned, saw his guards at the rear of the crowd, and addressed the unfortunate Lowers. “Leave now.”
He turned back to the scene, expecting them to follow his orders. Disgust filled him as he assessed the scene. Blood pooled on the bed where two bodies laid holding each other. The heads from both bodies were missing. He wouldn’t bother searching for them now. He wouldn’t find them. The killer, it seemed, liked to keep the heads as trophies.
Tyler sighed, becoming aware again of the others crowding the room. When he found those heads, he’d find the sick bastard who did this.
“But what ‘bout Lenore?”
“I ‘eard Issie scream.”
“She all right?”
One chattered over the next in their efforts to find out what happened. They weren’t listening to him.
His eye twitched. He hated when that happened.
How could he make these dullards leave? Did they not see the violent murders on the bed? Or did they not care? Were their lives so barren and meaningless, death didn’t bother them?
His gaze fell on the female at his feet. Her face covered by her mass of honeyed tresses, she lay in a limp pile, her robes undone and revealing a creamy swell of ample breast.
The two victims in the bed were beyond help, but this unconscious female held the concern of the others.
He knelt by her side and lifted her in his arms. She smelled clean, like moss and sea air, instead of the sweaty body he’d expected. Her hair caressed his arm when he stood with her nestled to his chest. It fell like a lowered curtain and hung almost to his knees. A waterfall of honey.
She felt right in his arms; her neck fit into the crook of his shoulder, her breath warmed his chest like she belonged there.
Where had such a thought come from? He didn’t associate with the powerless Lower class. Ever.
He pushed aside a rising need to draw her even nearer.
Tyler faced the crowd again. “As you can see, she sleeps. She’s not injured. Now go. All of you.” He fixed a few of them with the glacial silver stare which always yielded results. “Go back to your beds. I’m Tyler, of the High Council. My warriors will take care of this.”
“But, Issie. Is she hurt?” one barmaid asked, wrapping her arms around her waist as if she feared retching.
“You, take me to Issie’s rooms. The rest of you, go. She’ll be fine.” Or at least I’ll be, if I can have some quiet to think.
“But--”
”What ‘bout Lenore? She pass through the gates?”
Everyone began speaking at once, like a gathering of Lower younglings after a sweet. They had no regard for his orders. Such disrespect was unacceptable. He had to get this under control.
”Go,” he roared, silencing the room.
The crowd shuffled down the hall and disappeared behind different doors. Bits of conversation-- “Can’t believe Lenore’s gone,” and “who could do such a thing?” --floated back to him.
Who indeed? The fae were peaceful caretakers for the dragons. Murder didn’t happen among them. It was a coarse crime of the mortals--until three moons ago. And now, it had happened again--to another messenger and another whore-maid.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Thank you for stopping by, Marne Ann! :) I loved your post, sounds like a hectic life, but fun! I look forward to reading Love Chosen, it sounds like a wonderful fantasy story!


 Dragons, fae and magic, oh my! :) Doesn't Love Chosen sound good? Have you read it? If not, is it going on your list, too?



Follow the rest of the tour!



Enjoy!



Until Next Time,
 Photobucket

*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

4 comments :

Constance Phillips said...

Oh Marne! It amazing how similar your average day is to mine! I have a mixed Lhasa Apso, lab, and 2 old english bulldogges, so I know the demands of four dogs, kids and hubby.

Thanks for the smile, and I hope you are actually able to get words on the page today.

Marne Ann said...

Thanks, Constance! The furry kids do make us smile, though, don't they? (When it isn't 4:30am, anyway)
Thanks for stopping and hanging out with me for a bit.

Marne Ann said...

Danielle,
Thank you again for having me here today! It is always fun to hang out with others who enjoy reading as much as I do.
I hope you enjoy Love Chosen!
I want to add, my paranormal romance, Goddess on the Run, is actually released TODAY! (WOOT)
It came out early, and I'm super-excited about it. If anyone enjoys PNR, they should check it out.
And I'll be here all day, if anyone wants to talk books (except when I'm walking little, furry monsters...)

Constance Phillips said...

Dogs make life special!