Erin Fanning's Blood Stitches: A new take on a well-loved genre

As a romance novel junkie, I love stumbling upon books that twist and swirl the genre past the usual borders. Erin Fanning's Blood Stitches, does just this, blending horror, mythology, and adventure for fans of new adult romance. I was so excited to read this one. 

About the Book:

It’s called El Toque de la Luna—The Touch of the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.

 Amazon      Barnes and Noble     Kobo     Google     iTunes

My thoughts:

Erin Fanning's Blood Stitches brings a unique twist to the well-loved paranormal genre. Elements of Mayan mythology add freshness to the story, and Fanning's writing stands out, crisp and clean.

The book is surprising from the start. Creatures come out on Halloween and disrupt the heroine’s life, starting with a man dressed as a piece of candy corn. College student Gabby is suddenly thrust into a world of deeply hidden family secrets that she must uncover in order to save herself and her sister.

Containing a touch of horror, Blood Stitches is like stepping into a funhouse world where everyone Gabby meets is distorted and strange. Fortunately, she has help in the form of Frank, a combo sidekick/love interest who is with her every step of the way. The romance develops throughout the novel and hopefully will be continued in the next installment, which can't come soon enough.

I recommend this fresh story for fans of new adult paranormal romance, especially those with an interest in mythology.

About the Author:

Erin Fanning spends her summers on a northern Michigan lake, where her imagination explores the water and dense forest for undiscovered creatures. In the winter, she migrates to central Idaho, exchanging mountain bikes and kayaks for skis and snowshoes. She’s the author of a mountain biking guidebook, as well as numerous articles, essays, and short stories.

Website      Goodreads     Twitter

 

Seeking Temptation

A couple of weeks ago Kid 1 brought home a trophy for her cookies. I have to say, I was puffed up with pride. I have a big box of blue ribbons--now crisp and creased with a great deal of age--from cooking in years of 4-H. Kid 1 would likely squint her eyes ever so slightly in gentle dismay if I mentioned how she's a chip off the old block. 

The cookie recipe came from one of my favorite cookbooks, The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. Flipping through the book with Kid 1, I realized it's been quite awhile since I've pulled out a cookbook to simply browse and seek temptation. For a very long time, life's been too busy to give much attention to anything cooking-related besides thinking up the quickest meals possible, but skimming through cookbooks used to be a favorite pastime. It's a refreshing hobby to rediscover.

In fact, I used to ponder choosing one cookbook from my collection and working my way through it to make every recipe in it. In the dust of life, I'd forgotten that had been a potential goal. Like most of my favorite cookbooks, I'd already started on that endeavor in the Baker's Companion, adding my comments as I made each recipe and dating it as if it were my chemistry lab notebook. I have a number of favorites in here and a number of pages dog-eared to make in the future…bagels, crepes, breads. And now that I've pulled it out, I'm loath to put it away. I'm afraid I'll forget this rediscovered pleasure all too quickly. Alas, my house is up for sale and I never know when it's going to be shown. It's an absolute violation of the "Make Your House Look Like It Stays Effortlessly Clean" Rule to leave anything laying out. So back on the shelf goes the Companion until temptation raises its luscious form yet again. I'm betting it will be in the guise of crepes.

Diary of a Romance Writer and her WIP. Entry #29: Eureka!

Hello, Plot! It's so nice to finally meet you. It only took me three months to convince you to show me your lovely face. Three months of coaxing and cajoling. Three months of mind maps, index cards, multiple notebooks, sticky notes, "outlines," (really just multiple pages of paragraph after paragraph of scene descriptions) and let us not forget the repositionable glue or the trifold, and about 60,000+ words of writing mostly blind on where the vibing hells this story was going!

(Yes. Vibing hells. Welcome to my world. It's called the Republic of Mage Territories.) 

I have a twenty-six page description of the plot, and I am completely giddy.  If these twenty-six pages weren't so incredibly messy, I'd be tempted to call it the first draft and go fill in all the 324 missing pages with description and dialog in the second draft. But that means I'd have to junk over 60,000 words, some of which are pretty good. Instead, I'll have to go in and fix them, a sometimes tedious and often confusing task that requires all brain cells on deck.

But that's okay.

Because I now know the majority of how every clue gets revealed, the secrets, the climax, the ending…all of it. In my excitement, I've spent today jumping around from scene to scene and writing little bits here and there. Scrivener is a jumpy writer's BFF. 

(For those of you who don't know, Scrivener is a writing program that lets you, among other things, create separate documents for each scene and/or chapter. I'd already created a novel's worth of scenes and chapters for this story, although a number of them are still blank.) 

Of course, jumping around from scene to scene isn't sustainable. Nor is it the best way to write a novel that flows. So eventually I will have to buckle down and start writing new scenes from start to finish. But for now, I'm jumping for joy! 

Onward!

Diary of a Romance Writer and her WIP. Entry #28: Complications

I've learned something about myself.

I do not like to write simple stories.

I already knew this actually, but I was in denial and for good reason. Writing complicated plots requires days and weeks and months of focused, somewhat painful thinking, though it is pleasurable too. My brain is ALIVE when I'm plotting.

I like complications. I like conspiracies. I like it when every character has his/her own agenda and they all twist and tangle together to make a mass of problems. 

Alas, getting all those problems to untangle by the time The End arrives is a challenge. (In addition to liking complications, I also like the word alas. It was in one of my favorite storybooks as a kid and it sounded so beautifully fancy.) But without a headful of tangles, my novels-to-be don't intrigue me. Needless to say, I've not been entirely intrigued by my WIP lately. So I've pulled my plotting tools back out of the corner and I've started to play with all my friends….I mean, characters…again.

Plotting board. It's a trifold! They're not just for science projects. 

Repositionable glue. My new toy. By the way, that blue note lists a couple themes I currently see in the story. I thought I'd leave that there in case you needed a positive message in your day. (Go, you!)

The pictures above are of my plotting board, complete with all my toys. My newest favorite plotting toy? Scotch Repositionable Glue Stick. It turns any piece of paper into a sticky note. Need to move a scene? No problem! Peel it off and stick it somewhere else. Also, a trifold makes a fabulous plotting board. Close the flaps and it shrinks by 30% for optimal storage, and when it's closed up, it all stays secret…an important safety feature if you have naughty words or deeds on that board that need concealing from young eyes.  (By the way, I have no idea on the accuracy of that percentage. I'm a writer not a calculator.)  

One last thing about my latest writing trials and tribulations...I know from experience that I need to keep the number of characters to a minimum, but forcing myself to adhere to that restriction seems to be blocking the story from flowing into my brain. So I'm letting that go for now, even though when I wrote Enchanter's Echo (coming Feb 17!!) I had to take out a HUGE subplot and all its characters in the third or fourth draft…so huge it could be its own book. Painful! Sad! Still hurts!

Also, I've decided to heck with trying to keep the first draft's word count below a 100,000. I'll deal with that later.

Onward!

Chemistry on the Page: A Romance University Post

If you happened to stop by Romance University today and saw my article, you might have clicked here to check out the list of my sources. They're posted below and they have some interesting facts and ideas in them. The titles that are in bold are links to articles, so click away.

On the other hand, if you were just perusing my blog, you might want to click over to Romance University to check out the post, "Chemistry on the page: A romance writer's guide to the science that leads our characters to the Big Bang."

Sources:

The Science of Sex Appeal. A 2009 Discover Channel documentary about the biological factors of human attraction. It's available on Amazon Prime. Don't watch it with your kids around, but that probably goes without saying. 

The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction by Larry Young and Brian Alexander.  2012  (A little note on this book…it's a pretty heavy read. Be prepared to spend a lot of time learning about prairie voles and as well as a few moments on leeches. Though if you're looking to check this out from my public library, I still have it out. And it's sooooo overdue.)

20 Scientific Insights About Sex And Attraction by Eric Barker. August 4, 2012 (This guy is one of my favorite bloggers.)  

The brain in love: Helen Fisher on TED.com  July 2008. Anthropologist Helen Fisher's area of expertise is the human experience of falling in love. Fascinating stuff. 

Why We Love by Helen Fisher. 2004

Two ideas that will change the way you think about romance by Ken Page. August 18, 2014. PsychologyToday.com

The Science Of Sex Appeal: 6 Proven Ways To Attract The Opposite Sex Using Your Body by Lizette Borreli.  Apr 24, 2014. MedicalDaily.com

9 Facts Worth Knowing About Human Attraction by Christopher Hudspeth. July 8, 2013. ThoughtCatalog.com

It's Better To Be Average -- And 16 Other Surprising Laws Of Human Sexual Attraction by Marcrina Cooper-White. The Huffington Post. September 5, 2013.

Make people want you: The psychology of attraction.  Vanessa Van Edwards

Diary of a Romance Writer and her WIP. Entry #13

I do not have enough brain cells to hold all the aspects of this book today. Therefore, I'm skipping to something much easier. 

The sex scene.

Good grief, Gregor. You are one awesomely dirty hero. I had no idea.

Diary of a Writer and her WIP. Entry #24

Every time I write a book, the heroine's personality gets tougher as the process goes on. I don't mean that she gets tougher as part of her character arc. No. As I write draft after draft, the heroine gets stronger starting on page one. 

Advice to my future self: brainstorm ways to make my heroine tough before I start writing. 

I don't write wimps.

Diary of a Writer and her WIP. Entry #27

Every time I start writing a new book I think to myself that I should document the process. Recording the ups and downs, the stumbles and the sprints, the "ahas" and the "oh no's"  might give me a boost of confidence the next time I stare at a blank page. I'd have some notes to look back on, a reminder of how I create. I really could have used this reminder when I started my current WIP. I still could use it, actually. I feel like I edited my last book for so long that the know-how of writing a first draft got deleted and written over.

I started this current story over two months ago. That means I've been thinking about writing this W.I.P. diary for at least that long. Thinking. Thinking until I'm over halfway through my word count goal for this book. But never mind that. Today's the day! 

Starting with entry #27.

It's a shot in the dark as to how many entries I should have already made at this point in the process. 27 is my birthdate, so I'll go with that. I'm going to number the next entries to come wherever I think the thoughts and ideas originally came to me in the process. Therefore, this diary's entries will not be posted in numerical order, much like I'm writing this book. So here goes...

Entry #27.

I have at least two spiral notebooks in use for this story, a tree's worth of index cards, an ever-growing Scrivener file, and a Pages document that's a long vomit of scene descriptions. Oh, and a poster board with sticky notes. It's too much, but I'm not sure how I should do this differently. My brain needs all kinds of ways to come up with ideas and record them. 

It's an unwieldy mass right now. In fact, it's so bad that I could probably call this little project "Diary of an Unwieldy W.I.P." But I don't want to put that energy out into the universe. In fact, I should probably call it Diary of a Fast, Nearly Perfect, and Completely Genius First Draft.

Yeah, that's it. That's what I want.

In the meantime, as I was sitting at soccer practice tonight, I pulled out a third notebook and started scribbling notes for scenes that I'd already written but still need massive tweaking. 

Although I really need to move forward, it's not the step back that it might seem. I'm getting closer to figuring out this story. 

Onward!

Such sweet sorrow

I just wrote the draft of the Acknowledgements for Enchanter’s Echo. This is a magic moment for me. I’ve been thinking about writing this part of the book for months. It’s a chance to say thank you to all those who helped the book come out of my head and into this world.

Writing the Acknowledgements is a fleeting pleasure though.

It’s like Christmas…for about twenty minutes…about as long as it took me to write the Acknowledgements’ first draft. After those twenty minutes, then it’s like the day after Christmas. It’s all over. All that work. All that anticipation of getting to the end. It’s here.

The End.

I do have one last round of content edits waiting for me, but the real work of creating the story is done. From the first draft, to the second, third, and fourth, and then massive first and second edits with my (fabulous) editor…done.

I’m going to have to let go of Edmund and Aurora.

I’ve spent more time with these characters in the last eight months than I have with my (real) friends. I’ve been with Edmund and Aurora more hours than I’ve been with my mom or my sister, though not more than I’ve been with my kids.

I know how these two characters think, what they feel, their likes and dislikes. I know how to make them laugh, and I know how to make them cry. I've even been to their house!

I’m going to miss them.

I remember when I started this book, thinking how I’d never love Edmund and Aurora as much as I love Bronte and Vincent, the main characters in Syphon’s Song.

I was wrong.

As I’ve crept into book three, I’ve been worried that I’ll never love Gregor and Marlowe as much as I love Edmund and Aurora.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be wrong about that too.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Last day for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card

You can't win if you don't enter. So get clicking! Today's the last day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Col. Vincent Rallis consents to an interview

If you've read Syphon's Song, then you know that Vincent Rallis is the book's hero. He's the strong, silent type. No doubt about that. Ever since he came into his mage power in his early teens, he's been forced to separate himself from the rest of his family and friends. His power is so strong he has a hard time tolerating other mages' energy. But that all changes when he finds Bronte, a syphon mage. She syphons away enough of his power that he's able to relax, at least occasionally. 

Apparently Bronte's had more of an affect than I anticipated, judging by the interview with author Rebekah R. Ganiere. I can hardly believe he consented to being interviewed by a Non-mage in the first place, much less the things he tells her. 

See for yourself. You can find the interview here: Vampires & Werewolves & Zombies. 

Let me know what you think. 

Happy reading. And may you always syphon the good vibes of life. 

Blog Tour Schedule for Syphon's Song

Click on the blogs' name below to find Syphon's Song on tour and find out all kinds of odd things about me. Hope to see you there! There is a giveaway, after all...

June 23, 2014    Girl Meets Books

June 23, 2014    Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock

June 23, 2014    Naughty Edition Reviews

June 23, 2014    Crazy Four Books

June 24, 2014    Books Direct

June 24, 2014    Melissa MacKinnon

June 25, 2014    Ebook Escapes

June 25, 2014    Booklover Sue

June 25, 2014    Tower of Babel

June 26, 2014    CBY Book Club

June 26, 2014    D'eBook Sharing Book Reviews

June 26, 2014    Coffee Break

June 27, 2014    The Indigo Quill

June 27, 2014    Paranormal Romance Fans for Life

June 30, 2014    Magic and Mayhem

A short love story for the Spring Fling Blog Hop

Welcome to the Spring Fling Blog Hop! Over fifty authors and bloggers have joined together to bring you some amazing posts, great giveaways and lots of fun! Don't forget to enter the rafflecopter to win a Kindle tablet, gift cards, paperbacks and swag and be sure to check out the other blogs taking part.

Leave me a comment below about how your spring is going…the good, the bad, the sneezy, the beautifully blooming…and I'll put your name in a e-hat for a $5.00 Amazon gift card. Be sure to leave your email address. 

And now to the story...

A Short Tale of an Interrupted Romance

Once upon a time, Spring stepped gently into a frozen world and whispered into the sleepy ears of hibernating life. She brought with her the tender rays of the sun’s warmth to entice green leaves and sweet song birds to dwell once more on the trees. But bitter Winter, determined to hold on to his reign, often pushed aside her gentle touch, and cold descended time and again over the newly blossoming world. Yet Spring persevered with quiet strength, brushing Winter away whenever he tried to prevail. Life rejoiced, sparkling under the soft touch of her rays. 

When Summer noticed the blossoming world, a jealous burn grew in her heart. Refusing to let Spring’s soft beauty outshine her, she cast her hot, bright light upon the newly blooming life. While the world’s gaze was captivated by Summer’s radiance, Spring slipped away. 

With her tender rays of sunshine flowing behind her, she dashed back to her lover’s arms. Fall, a charming young man, greeted his love with a kiss to soothe away the hurt of Summer’s burn. His cool lips were just right for Spring. Sharing smiles and soft touches, the two reunited, letting the breeze carry away the sorrow of their parting. 

In each moment they had together, Spring and Fall lived happily.

The End

****

Spring is such a gentle time of year, yet how often do we get frustrated with her for not arriving soon enough, for not keeping winter’s chill off our backs for good? Now that you know her tale, perhaps you’ll find it easier to bask in what she can offer.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remember to leave me a comment about your spring. Include your email address for a chance to win a $5.00 Amazon gift card.

Blog Tour Schedule for Syphon's Song

Stop by my tour sites and find out all kinds of stuff you never thought you'd want to know about me. Click on the blogs' names below to get to the tour stops. Hope to see you there!

There's a giveaway too!

April 21, 2014    The Book Addict

April 21, 2014    Nicky Peacock-Author

April 22, 2014    Preternatura

April 22, 2014    3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy & Sissy, too!

April 23, 2014    Marsha A Moore

April 24, 2014    The Library Mistress

April 25, 2014    Pembroke Sinclair

April 25, 2014    Eden Ashe

April 28, 2014    Book Bliss

April 28, 2014    Clutter Your Kindle

A sneak peek from Syphon's Song

Syphon's Song has been released! Early! I found out from my mother who found out from her neighbor who happened to be searching Amazon. You too can find the book on Amazon. No search necessary. Just click here.

In honor of the release, here's sneak peek...

Vincent closed the distance between them and walked around to stand in front of her. He stroked the back of his hand against her cheek. “Give me a chance. That’s all I want.” His gentle words matched his touch.

“You want more than a chance.” She focused past his shoulder, peeking over his superior height. Tall trees reached scantily clad limbs into the crisp, blue sky and hid whatever shed such glorious vibes.

“I can’t be sorry about this.” He brushed her cheek again, his focus burning through her. Unlike her, whatever lurked in the woods didn’t call to him. “Since I came into my power, I’ve learned to grab on to every bit of good life offers. I sensed you the moment you arrived today. I recognized that tug on my energy as if I’d known you my whole life instead of a handful of hours thirteen years ago—your syphon reaching out and tapping my energy.”

“Yes, like a pipe channeling waste into the sewer. Useful, I’ll give you that.”

“You mock this because you’re afraid of it. But I’m not.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who’d face the fire.

The Happiness Checklist

Thanks to Twitter, I’ve found a new website with lots of interesting info to devour. It’s called Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

Here’s one of my favorite posts so far:

10 Things to Make You Happy Every Day

1. Get out in nature.
2. Exercise
3. Spend time with family and friends
4. Express gratitude
5. Meditate
6. Get enough sleep 
7. Challenge yourself
8. Laugh
9. Touch someone
10. Be optimistic

Check out the site for more details on each one.

I’ve written down this list on a tiny Post-It -- a challenge to get it all on there -- and taped it to my kitchen window, next to my current writing spot. (See it there beneath the reindeer?)

So far today, I’ve accomplished #4, but I’m optimistic I can get at least eight of them in today. Since I’ve just taken care of #10 with that statement, two down! 

If you were wondering, meditating and getting enough sleep are the tough ones for me. (One of the most interesting recommendations of the original post was to set an alarm to remind you when it's time to GO to bed, not just when it's time to wake up. Although I confess I did that yesterday and I still didn't go to bed on time.)

How about you? Can you make these ten things an every day habit?

What happens when a romance writer encounters Emil Cioran

It’s not hard to guess where I got the above quote. Pinterest, a gold mine of images that are often hard to trace back to their original artists and never mind copyright issues because we’re all having too much fun gobbling up this mind-grabbing collection of visual candy. Myself included. (I had to get that off my chest.  It’s been sitting there for a long time. Now back to the show. And afterwards, back to pinning. Feel free to come with me. I’m here, by the way.)

This is what I take from the above quote: 

Write what you’re afraid to say. Write the dark truths that linger in the deep crevasses of your mind. Since I write fiction, I’ll let my characters say or think the confidences I would never share. Doing so will make for a memorable book that smart publishers will snap up.

When I pinned that quote, I didn't know that Emil Cioran, if he were still alive, would likely scoff at this. He might roll his eyes. He might turn and stomp away. 

Cioran was an Romanian essayist born in 1911. His first book was the prize-winning On the Heights of Despair. His other works include The Trouble with Being Born and A Short History of Decay.  

Do you know of him? 

I did not. And after Googling him, I now know he’s not the writer I want to emulate, despite the fact that he has 700 quotes on Goodreads and a bunch of fans for his 78 nicely starred works. (By the way, none of my Facebook friends like him, but I could be the first.)  

In the case of the above quote, Pinterest’s visual candy is a snapshot taken through a sugared lens, sweetening a pessimist who explored death and suicide in much of his writing.

Emil Cioran

“No one recovers from the disease of being born, a deadly wound if there ever was one.”

“A book is a suicide postponed.”

“If we could truly see ourselves the way others see us we’d disappear on the spot.”

I had no idea. 

For Pete’s sake, I write romance.

I write:

“They lived happily ever after.” 

My characters quite possibly live in the old castle pictured high above and are HAPPY because despite the photo’s gray sky, love shines a ray of light everywhere it dwells. Especially in a castle. With a handsome, kind prince.

My lesson from this morning’s session of Googling Emil Cioran is this:

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  Anais Nin

And that’s okay. So long as we go through life understanding that we don’t know the whole story of anything except ourselves. And we only know ourselves after a great deal of thinking and pondering and pinning quotes that resonate with us even when the speaker would never EVER have considered reading a romance novel.  

But he probably should have.   

A spontaneous move

Sometimes you've got to go with the flow. I should know by now that when it comes to technology I need to quit resisting and just adapt. In that Darwinian spirit, I've finally moved my site to Squarespace 6 which might not mean anything to you. You probably didn't know I was holding onto my Squarespace 5 site by the tips of my very confused fingers. Today I lost my grip. I landed here among a plethora of handsome men.  

Yes, that's right. Handsome men. They originally populated this template right and left, page after page.

You might be wondering where they are. I deleted them and now I, too, am wondering where they are. I'm pretty sure they are trapped in the ether. I have no idea how to retrieve them, so I shall do what I always do when invisible men are trapped. I shall fish a heroine out of my mind and send her out to the rescue. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sun Day

Rays of sunshine filter through the leaves and land on my writing table. It's been such a cloudy, rainy summer around Atlanta that this is a rare sight, and I treasure it all the more. I've had to abandon the spot for writing lately ... my words were as clouded as the sun. 

I had forgotten what it looked like. Its gleam through the trees is as real as raindrops, glitter from a golden world that doesn't translate to human touch until it sears your skin.

I'm tempted to wake up my kids and say, "come play in the sun!" Considering how grey it's been, there's a chance they might appreciate it.

So on this Sun Day, I will dance in the sunshine ... or maybe in the memory of sunshine. It's fading already. 

(I'm better at haikus)

I can’t catch a break. They’ve all blown away.

I’m slowly slogging through a really shitty day.

Tomorrow might be better. I’ll make it there somehow.

But who’s to say I’ll have to wait. Good could come now.

Or if not, chocolot!