SO BLUE

Yolanda Renée © 2016

Yolanda Renée © 2016

Yolanda Renée © 2016

HAVELOCK

Are you taking advantage of the Cyber Monday Book Sales?

Here's one you might find most interesting, and not just because the author is Andrew Buckley!

Monday & Tuesday only, you can find

HAVELOCK

on sale for just 99 cents.

As the sale ends soon, I thought it appropriate to share just how this story came about.

I’d had this idea for a spy novel for a while. I was always disappointed in the lack of female spies and the way the existing ones were portrayed. While they might be able to kick-ass occasionally, most ended up captured and needed to be rescued. Without a doubt, there was room for a strong-willed heroine who possessed the attitude and skills and absolutely no trace of the usual ‘damsel in distress’ element that plagues too many strong female characters.

Having read almost all the original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, I wanted to create a female character who would be more than a match for a man like Bond. And then I started to wonder what Bond’s daughter would be like had he actually succeeded in impregnating any one of the women he’d encountered over the years. In one of Fleming’s short stories, there was a female character who was out to take revenge on the people that killed her parents. She was fiery and passionate. She ended up as a Bond girl in the movie ‘For Your Eyes Only’ and her name was Melina Havelock (Judy in the original story).

I contacted the Ian Fleming Foundation in the UK, who own the rights to all the Bond novels, including the new ones, to ask if I could reference James Bond in any way in what I originally wanted to be a spinoff novel. They were extremely helpful but couldn’t grant the permissions I needed. The story had to be original. Which I took as a challenge to write a James Bond spin off without any reference to Bond himself, M, Q, 007, a license to kill, etc. The result was HAVELOCK.

Is Eliana Havelock the daughter of James Bond? Does she have her own ulterior motives? Is she as lethal as she is beautiful? One thing’s for certain . . . Eliana Havelock doesn’t need a license to kill.

PURCHASE LINK

An Excerpt from the Beginning of Havelock:

Ever had one of those days? The kind of days that challenge every skill, threaten every ethical standard, and undo every single concept of what you would ordinarily have considered an impossible situation? Despite near-perfect planning, I’m having one of those days right now.

It all started when I decided to find my father. I’ve never met him. His longtime vocation makes him a hard person to find at the best of times, but I recently discovered he was reported missing three years ago. He hasn’t surfaced since, and maybe it’s the paternal side of me, maybe it’s because my mother passed away and I’m seeking a parental figure, maybe I want to know why he never came back for me, but well… I gotta find out what happened.

And that’s why I, Eliana Havelock, now find myself tied to a chair in a dank basement somewhere near Karachi, Pakistan.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to be tortured.

Andrew Buckley - The Story So Far . . .

Andrew Buckley attended the Vancouver Film School’s Writing for Film and Television program. After pitching and developing several screenplay projects for film and television, he worked in marketing and public relations, before becoming a professional copy and content writer. During this time Andrew began writing his first adult novel, DEATH, THE DEVIL AND THE GOLDFISH, followed closely by his second novel, STILTSKIN both published by Curiosity Quills Press.

Andrew also writes under the pen name 'Jane D. Everly' for his HAVELOCK series of novels. His first upper middle grade novel HAIR IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES is now available from Month9Books with the sequel due out in August 2017.

​Andrew also co-hosts a geek movie podcast, is working on several new novels, and has a stunning amount of other ideas. He now lives happily in the Okanagan Valley, BC with one beautiful wife, three kids, one cat, one needy dog, and a multitude of characters that live comfortably inside of his mind.

​

Andrew is represented by Mark Gottlieb at the Trident Media Group.

*****

What do you think readers, are we ready for a female James Bond?

READING AND WRITING

Yolanda Renée © 2016

I can't resist the colors.

Hi, everyone. I'm at a bit of a standstill when it comes to the NANO challenge, due to other issues popping up, but I'm not giving up. I hope during this last week I'll make good progress, although making 50,000 may not be possible, the story is coming together.

I hope you'll check out Patrick Hatt's guest post over at the WEP blog. He's giving advice on writing. It's great stuff!

Today I'm posting on the Parallels Blog about "Challenging Yourself!" Please visit.

While on a break this week I read Christine Rains first book in her Totem series,

Dark Dawning. 

I loved it. 

Christine is one of my favorite authors. This time she took me back to Alaska with her Polar Bear shifters. 

Ametta Dorn is a sexy, headstrong designer with big plans, and Lucky Osberg is a handsome firefighter with a desire to alter those plans, but a killer is on the loose and family is the target.

It's an exciting journey through the wilds of Alaska with Ametta and Lucky and a host of shifters. Christine weaves her tale of the paranormal and romantic suspense with mystical native lore that only adds to the adventure. 

A page-turning mystery that does not disappoint.

***

Blurb for Dark Dawning

It’s a dark day when someone murders one of their own.

Shifters across Alaska are going missing. When up and coming interior designer Ametta Dorn rescues the gorgeous Kodiak shifter Lucky Osberg, she comes into the crosshairs of two relentless hunters. While Lucky sets his sights on wooing her, the killers seek to not only capture her in her powerful polar bear form but to also take her skin.

To prevent her murder and the deaths of other shifters, she must work with Lucky to track down and stop these merciless hunters. After all, their enemy’s plan for shifter skins is something much more terrifying than collecting mere trophies.

     Silent Whispers

It’s not only the dead who whisper upon the wind.

An ancient totem pole has gone missing, and its pieces are scattered across Alaska. Restoring the seven totem tokens may be the only way to save every shifter in the world.

Kinley Dorn, a geeky architect with a heart of gold and a polar bear shifter, jumps at the opportunity to help her family find the lost pieces. Their idea of “helping” involves staying indoors to research online. Work leads Kinley to sexy lynx shifter Ransom Averill. He coaxes her away from the safety behind her computer and into the path of a rampaging giant. Terrifying as the monster might be, she must brave its mountain because the owl totem is calling to her through silent whispers.

                     Cloak of Snow

No one messes with Saskia Dorn’s family and gets away with it.

The same murderous shifters who had hunted her sister have attempted to steal a magical totem pole. Since the pieces are scattered across Alaska, Saskia, a polar bear shifter, takes her search to the tundra for any signs of the lost totems.

Instead she finds Sedge, the latest reincarnation of the old Inuit Bear god, who just happens to be the man who broke her heart.

They come across a small native village tormented by the Jinxioc, evil gnomes with an appetite for human flesh. Sedge declares he will rid the people of the menace, believing a totem token is nearby affecting the devils’ behavior. At his side, Saskia battles to save the tribesmen, but it could mean sacrificing herself.

Have you finished NANO, are you almost there? 

Is turkey on your menu this week, and did you heed Pat's writing advice?

Are you a Christine Rains fan?

Either way, it's a great weekend to curl up with a good book and the

Totem Series might just be it!

Happy Reading

&

Happy Thanksgiving!

INSPIRATION IN THE MORNING SKY

Yolanda Renée © 2016

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”
― Saul Bellow

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched.”
― Edgar Allan Poe

Wishing you all a very inspirational day, week, month and year!

A WARNING?

Yolanda Renée © 2016

Red sky at night, sailors' delight.^[1]

Red sky at morning, sailors' warning;

Yolanda Renée © 2016

Like a red morn that ever yet betokened,

Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,

Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds,

Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.”

William Shakespeare

PART OF THE SCENERY

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS

Rochelle Wiseoff-Fields instructs participants to:

Write a complete story in 100 words or less

Beginning, Middle and End

Proofread and Edit

Post and link your Story URL

Include photo prompt and InLinkz code

Take the time to read and comment.

Make. Every. Word. Count.

PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

PART OF THE SCENERY

It had always been his dream. Traveling Route 66 was just one of my husband's chosen road trips.

He'd purchased the perfect motor home; it held everything needed for ease during cross-country excursions. Economical, and yet with every creature comfort!

His retirement choice wasn't mine.

I wanted the beach, an endless view, not mindless rutted roads with repeated views of meadows and trees. Or living with strangers and repeated smoke filled nights around campfires listening to the same dull stories and swatting mosquitoes.

Murder will out!

Now I reside here, my ashes trampled under the feet of other Route 66 tourists!

100 words

Yolanda Renée © 2016

READ THE OTHER GREAT STORIES 

BY CLICKING THE BLUE FROG

IWSG - NaNoWriMo

INSECURE WRITER'S SUPPORT GROUP

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh

Alex and his gang have revved up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, they'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Today's Question:

What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?

The unlimited creativity! You get to be anyone or anything at anytime or place.

Pure and simple. J

I know that's cheating. Such a short answer, well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. All I know is that this month is National Novel Writing Month and I'm all up in it!

I've set  a goal and that's to finish Motive for Murder and I'm sticking to it.

J

So you may or may not see me around for the rest of the month!

Good luck fellow NaNo Writers!

Be sure and say hello to the awesome co-hosts

Joylene Novell Butler, Jen Chandler, Mary Aalgaard, Lisa Buie Collard, Tamara Narayan, Tyrean Martinson, and Christine Rains!

The Twitter is @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG

Have you read the 

WEP Constellations/Halloween

Entries?

Now's your chance!

The winners are announced!

Congratulations to all the winners!