I'm Farming and I Grow It

(If you're looking for the Angels vs Demons blog, just scroll down)
 These guys are definitely angels. And I can't resist their talent--farming and otherwise. I spent some time as a child on a farm so farmers hold a special place in my heart.


Enjoy--and thank the folks who raise our food.

Angels vs Demons? What's your choice?

Welcome to starr words 

and the Angels vs Demons blog hop!

Hmm, which do I prefer, angels or demons? Most of the angels I've read have been 'fallen', so in a sense they're demons. On the other hand, the truly heroic demons have that spark of 'light' making them, in a sense, angels. Oh heck, a great character is a great character, no matter what their species or beginnings.

I haven't yet written either angels or demons, although some of my villains might be considered rather demonic. Those are the ones I love writing the most.  Not much beats a great bad guy.


So, which do you prefer--the good guy gone a little bad, or the bad guy who struggles to find his good?

For this blog, I'm sharing an excerpt from Keltic Flight. In this bit Korin and Nanceen are using a Faerie portal to move from the human world to the Otherworld. A fey creature, much like a demon, the Bocan waits in that space between the worlds.

Keltic Flight

Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

A rending, a horrible ripping reverberated through the glen, bounced off the cabin walls, and returned to surround her with mind numbing cold. Wind whipped leaves and twigs against her face and arms, stinging, blinding her. She lifted one arm to cover her eyes and tried to peer around the minimal protection. A maelstrom spiraled in the center of the portal opening, a swirling darkness that stole the light.

The wind growled and a huge, misshapen, vaguely man-shaped form hovered in the center of the maelstrom. The head coalesced into a huge, heavy, bestial face. The creature laughed, its lips stretched to thin, sharp lines. Pointed teeth glinted in the fading light. Below him lay a motionless, winged...

“Korin!” Nanceen screamed and tried to rush forward, but an invisible force kept her from reentering the portal. “Korin!”

Korin barely lifted his head to shake a denial. She didn’t care if he didn’t want her to come after him, save him she would. The creature was unknown to her, for beings had never been reported within the portal. But she would face any danger for Korin.

She forced one foot forward, and a blast of icy wind pressed her back. “No! Let him go! Leave him alone!”

The creature turned its head toward her. Something dark and slimy dripped from its fangs. It grinned and winked at her. It drew back one foot. With another wink it shoved at Korin’s inert form.

“Take him, wench. What’s left--not much.” The creature’s gravely voice held her frozen until a limp figure rolled to her feet. “Foolish wench. I’ll wait for you, too.”

Here's the description of the book.

To the Faerie Gentry of the Otherworld, the fairy wee folk are but a myth and legend. Until the fairy Korin falls in love with a half-Gentry maid. Forced to bargain with an evil king to woo her, he risks discovery, and his life, to fulfill the conditions. Book Three of the Double Keltic Triad

Korin Goodfellow loves the Gentry maid, Nanceen. In order to woo her, Korin bargains with his evil king, who sets seemingly impossible tasks. The first? She must believe in him.

But the folk of Faerie, the Gentry, don't believe in the odd assortment of beings who make up the wee folk. And definitely not in fairies.

Nanceen doesn't know what she believes. Until Korin calls to her, then makes his way into her world, becoming a wingless man she can see, touch, believe in.

But will the rat king's conditions drive a wedge between them, or force Korin to confrontation, to battle, into risking his life for love?

Win a stretchy summer bracelet or an ebook of Keltic Flight from starr words! Each comment is also an entry for our grand prizes.
(Akk! I set up my rafflecopter with the wrong ending time! If you leave a comment after that cut off, I'll draw for another copy of Keltic Flight from those comments!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

visit any or all of the participating blogs. Leave comments to win!
Each blog will have it's own giveaway, PLUS we have TWO grand prizes.
ONE Commenter from the blogs will win a KINDLE TOUCH
another Commenter will win a $60 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card!

So What's Happening Tomorrow?

 Guess what happens starting on Thursday? We're hosting a Blog Hop! Me, along with 102 other Authors, Bloggers, and Reviewers are hosting an Angels vs Demons Blog Hop!

We want to know: Angels or Demons...who do you want?

From June 28th - July 1st, you can HOP around the blogs, comment on each and follow their rules, and be entered to win over 100 giveaways.

Yep. I said 100 GIVEAWAYS.

Each blog will have it's own giveaway, PLUS we have TWO grand prizes.

ONE Commenter from the blogs will win a KINDLE TOUCH

another Commenter will win a $60 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card!

Yep! We're doing THAT MUCH. You can comment on 1 or all 103 and be entered up to 103 times for the grand prizes.

So come around those days and do your best to win!

Good luck y'all!

View From Three Windows

Sterling, Colorado

I recently took a short vacation to Colorado and South Dakota. The get away was important for many reasons, including the need to refill my creative well. A friend and I drove west following old highways (she doesn't do four plus lanes unless she absolutely has to--and the slower pace is nice most of the time...), and spent one night in Sterling, Colorado. That was where I decided to take pictures from each of our hotel windows. Sterling's stay was right off the Interstate--as evidenced by the semi on the road at the top of the embankment.

Not so exciting. In fact, the view is rather bleak. Kinda like how my sense of creativity felt at the time. There's stuff there, but I don't want to look very closely at it--I mean, why bother. Yeah, that's pretty bleak for a mind usually over-filled with ideas and creative thoughts.

Sue had gotten a deal for the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. So that was our home for a couple of days. This is a basic view from our window. I've got some 'close-up' shots I'll share later where you can see the snow still gracing the dips and swells of slopes in Rocky Mountain National Park.

From the second floor of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park

A wide desk sat in front of this window--a perfect place for watching the world, the people wandering the courtyard (including a wedding one afternoon) observing how clouds and rain flow over the mountains, and simply day dreaming. And writing. I didn't get words added to a work in progress, but sudden flashes of insight will certainly move them along now. I have pages of notes and ideas.

Hot Springs, South Dakota

We moved on from the opulence and character of the Stanley to a small hotel in Hot Springs, South Dakota. This view brings nature close to the window--what a great blending of greens, purples and browns--but doesn't give a hint to how the roads curve through the amazing stone outcroppings in the Black Hills nor the rolling hills where buffalo roam. Or at least they're supposed to--they were off roaming somewhere we couldn't see. :)

But like my ideas and my need to write, the view is almost within reach.

So now I'm home again and the views from my windows are the same as they ever were. However, the trip stimulated the writer I'd allowed to become lazy (never mind all the excuses--that's all they are and not to become reality). Are those common views really so common? Nope. The creative eye has returned. Hmm, maybe my new contacts have something to do with that too.

How has getting away renewed your spirit?

Birds Flying Free!

Birds Do It! is free today through Friday! 
(Click on the title and go directly to Birds Do It!)
A pair of macaws, a splash of hot romance, and a bit of suspense. What could make for a better read for the first days of summer?

A search for truth, switched babies, and a threat from the past all conspire to destroy the love Birdie found with Garr and his daughter, Rachelle.

Long blurb

Macaws as lovebirds?

An avian expert, Birdie Simons is called to help control a cantankerous hyacinth macaw during a young girl’s birthday party. Inexorably drawn to each other, she and single father Garr Logan share an afternoon of joy and bittersweet memories, for Garr’s wife died the same day as Birdie’s newborn child.

Something about Rachelle makes Birdie wonder if the golden-haired girl is her daughter, switched at birth. Then her child’s father returns, dogging her search for understanding and throwing her deeper into fear and confusion.

Ready to move on after his wife’s death, Garr wants the intriguing woman, but Birdie keeps the search, threats and hidden relationships to herself, driving a wedge between them.

Will discovering the truth from nine years ago bring them closer, or forever tear them apart?

Flying in Today--Birds Do It!

Today is release day for...

Birds Do It!

While most of you know me as a fantasy romance author, this book is different. There's no fantasy elements. Wait, I take that back. There is one tiny mention of dragons...but it has nothing to do with the stars of the book--a pair of hyacinth macaws named Brutus and Mollie.


Writing a contemporary wasn't too much of a stretch though, since the books of the Double Keltic Triad have one foot in this human world. In the same midwestern city as Birds, in fact. 


And yes, because I can't help it, a small bit of this book relates to happenings in Wild Keltic Carouselle. 


Just like I really didn't start out to write a series, I didn't consciously plan to connect seemingly unrelated books. It just happened. I'll talk more about these degrees of separation in later blogs. Promise.


Today, here's the blurb and a short excerpt from Birds Do It! Available from Amazon.

http://amzn.com/B008B2XTZW

Short blurb

A search for truth, switched babies, and a threat from the past all conspire to destroy the love Birdie found with Garr and his daughter, Rachelle.

Long blurb

Macaws as lovebirds?

An avian expert, Birdie Simons is called to help control a cantankerous hyacinth macaw during a young girl’s birthday party. Inexorably drawn to each other, she and single father Garr Logan share an afternoon of joy and bittersweet memories, for Garr’s wife died the same day as Birdie’s newborn child.

Something about Rachelle makes Birdie wonder if the golden-haired girl is her daughter, switched at birth. Then her child’s father returns, dogging her search for understanding and throwing her deeper into fear and confusion.

Ready to move on after his wife’s death, Garr wants the intriguing woman, but Birdie keeps the search, threats and hidden relationships to herself, driving a wedge between them.

Will discovering the truth from nine years ago bring them closer, or forever tear them apart?

Reviews

“A sexy hero, a believable heroine, and *lizzie starr's clever brand of humor make her an author to watch out for. With a premise so delightful I wish I had thought of it, Birds Do It! will keep you turning pages with a smile.”

** Cheryl St.John

“Filled with wit, humor and suspense, a hero to die for, a charming heroine, a delightful child and a lonely parrot, this one is a keeper. It sparkles.”

**Margaret B. Lawrence Caresse; A Loving Touch   Michael; A Gift Of Trust

Short excerpt

Her brows drawn together, Birdie eased the cage door closed. “I know.” Her expression brightened. “Take off your shirt.”

Garr took a startled step back. Unfortunately, this was not the time for his fantasies to come true. “I beg your pardon.”

“It’s your shirt. Do you wear a lot of blue?”

“Yes?” His response was slow, the word drawled from his lips.

“Brutus is threatened by you. Birds have excellent color vision and strong color sensitivity. Since he’s blue, when you wear a blue shirt and tower over him, he gets scared. He’s not angry, he’s frightened. Either take off your shirt, or get out of here.”

Garr liked hearing her order him to strip, it brought wicked thoughts that had no place in a day filled with a child’s birthday party. He tamped down his response and tried to ease the pressure of his tight jeans as he pulled his shirt free. At her signal, he tossed the shirt behind a chair.

Birdie stared at the expanse of male chest. Oh, God, that was a mistake. The thick sprinkling of hair tapered to a thin line down his flat abdomen, disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. Heat flooded her chest and crawled up her neck to cover her face. Those jeans were fuller than before, the tightness more pronounced over his...

Ray Bradbury--Always an Inspiration

The passing of anyone you admire brings on interesting emotions. Today Ray Bradbury left this existence. I'm saddened by the news, of course, but the memories of his tales make me smile. Known for his speculative fiction, his stories are none the less filled with the realities of life, and the people who live those lives. And as a reader and writer, his Fahrenheit 451 is particularly frightening.

I especially remember the Ray Bradbury Theater, a syndicated series in the late 80's early 90's. Many of the teleplays were adapted from his stories--and introduced by the author himself. 


This world has lost a number of influential folks lately, including many of my favorite authors. Hmm, I think I'll be visiting my bookshelf for some re-reads!