Gabriella Hewitt

Mirror, Mirror By Michelle Chloe
Review by Kevin Ferrall

After reading Mirror, Mirror by Chloe Michelle, my overall opinion: Very nice. It was a well thought out, researched, and engaging novel.

I’ll admit I was a tad doubtful as an American, which sounds horrible I know, having an American author write about a Japanese time period. Sorry, but from past experiences, Americans mess up horribly at depicting Japanese history, and I have more Asian pride than I should. I was fond of this novel and found it to be very adult, but tasteful. Luckily, it isn’t adult in the usual manner of hack and slash, but in a romantic way which is refreshing.

There are many things complementing this piece of work. What did catch my attention, that seems unmanly of me, is the thought of a love attraction. That’s what kept my tuned in on the piece because I am a sucker for love. In saying this, it may rule out the book appealing to men, but I also love a good horror story. There’s a girl in a mirror crying, talk of Oni, and a girl seeing a figure resembling her. Without revealing the most captivating stuff, I’m surprised at how well Mirror, Mirror was done and especially by someone who hasn’t grown, as far as I know, around the Japanese culture.

Although, I did find the beginning troubling, I don’t know how to describe it, but the opener didn’t catch my attention. What did and kept me reading was the opening picture, very nice! The title will not catch a reader’s attention, but the picture in the beginning really had me caught, it is on par with Manga artists. Being picky, I did notice some spelling errors, English words, not Japanese, and I don’t know if the editor missed them or not, still it is a minor point.

Mirror, Mirror by Michelle Chloe is a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to read an interesting story about love, Japan, Japanese culture, and fictional historical. I don’t feel this book would appeal to schools, but it is worth a try. From my experience, books like this aren’t typically seen in a high school and with the adult content it’s too taboo to appear in middle schools. Many American schools aren’t big on the whole Japanese thing, textbooks teach kids that Japan is bad in WW2 and Pearl Harbor and the students at the schools make fun of those who are into Japanese stuff. Although, there will be a fan base in the Manga and Anime readers or just lovers of books. Mirror, Mirror would be ideal for reading groups and a great book to have for open discussion in reading circles or book clubs. I strongly do recommend the book.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me at Love Romances Cafe on Yahoo! Groups.

Click here

Going to be giving away $1.00 Samhain Gift Certificates every hour on the hour!

FIRST time ever Sneak Peaks at Dark Waters!

Come get your FREE copy of Gabriella Hewitt’s Puerto Rican Cookbook. Download.

On Friday, I leave for my trip home to the US. Do I have my suitcase packed? No way. Right now, I’ve got a novella to slip in under the Wednesday deadline (synopsis and query still left to write). I have an article on Okinawa happenings in Tokyo that is due this week and have at least one more interview for that. Oh, and in one of my manic moments I agreed to translate from Japanese to English a book on designing and making ball joint dolls. Only sixty-some-odd pages to go.

So, yes, I have lots of balls in the air and am frantically trying to keep them up there. In the meantime, the packing waits. I’ll probably be doing it Thursday night. I’m at the point that if I forget it, I can buy it. The boys and I will only be there for three weeks. We don’t need that much stuff.

I’d like to say that for these three weeks I’ll be completely worry free, but with the book coming out in September, I’ll be spending my time in the US blogging and chatting and working on the book trailer. And once I’m back in Japan, it’s more juggling like usual.

So how much juggling do you do and what’s your secret for not dropping balls?

I can’t believe how fast July has flown by!
Gearing up for August. Here is a sneak peak at all the stuff I have planned for everyone.

Blog and Chat Appearances
July 31 РCaf̩ Summer Theme Days at Love Romances Cafe
loveromancescafe@yahoogroups.com
August 16 – Blogging at Samhain Weblog
August 18 – Contemporary Theme Day at loveromancescafe@yahoogroups.com

Charity Chat to raise money for my favorite charity, the Freeport Humane Society.
I will personally donate $1.00 for every person who comes to the chat.
The date has yet to be set but already Sasha White has donated a signed copy of her book, Lush. Plus, there will be cool door prizes to be won!

Puerto Rican Themed Thursday Thirteen
In anticipation of my September release of Dark Waters from Samhain I’m going give a glimpse into the book TT style.

Rocking Review Wednesdays
Going to be reviewing all the summer reads from my TBR pile and inviting others to publish their reviews here too!

Blog Swap
Had so much fun with it last week decided to do it again.
Come see who is swapping with me.

Hope to see you in August!

Blog Swap with Gabriella Hewitt

Just want to thank Gabriella for Blog Swapping with me today. If you want to know where she is, Gabriella is over at The Torn Bodice chatting away.

***

“Nancy writes dirty books.”

Not only our table, but the table behind us fell silent. Silence in the dining room on a cruise ship is an interesting thing. You hear a few bits of silverware, then underneath, the chugging of the engines play in a bass note background noise to the symphony of the passengers buzz. Only the buzz had fled. Only appalled faces remained. I must have turned beet red, because the woman next to me tried to change the subject.

“You mean like porn?”

Oh dear God. Waiter, give me the entire bottle. “No, I write romance that’s a little spicy.” There’s an understatement. Still, I was not about to out that I use all of the seven dirty words banned by the FCC on a single page. This was not the time, nor the place. I decided my cabin mate was drunk and I could toss her butt over the side later, when she had the chance to actually swim, and go on with my dinner. Except my appetite had gone the way of the dodo and the Chocolate Soufflé seemed to dry to powder on my tongue. I toyed with my dinner for a few minutes and left. In that time there was quite a buzz at our table for eight. People are fascinated with others who are open about their sexuality. Whether they’re outspoken, or out in a flamboyant way, sex is at once taboo and darn interesting. It gets tongues wagging. It looked like the back end of a dog show all around us. There was some serious tongue flaping going on.

I endured a lot of personal and intrusive questions for the rest of the cruise. The cruise ship had an incident that ended the trip early, and while I was sad about the whole thing, and didn’t sleep for weeks, I can’t say ending my trip early was all bad.

I shared this issue with other writers. The responses were mixed.

“Just ignore them.” Except how do you ignore people winking at you and a man in your group thinking you have the morals of an alley cat, and his name is Tom?

“If you don’t want that kind of attention, write something more moral.” That’s fine, but I like to leave the bedroom door open. I find pussy-footing around the S word is too difficult and too silly to bother to spend energy on.
So I do what most of us do, who write steam, I grit my teeth, hide behind my pen name, the worse kept secret in the universe, and keep writing.

Everyone who writes erotic romance comes up against this, at one time, or another. We struggle with how to tell people. Some just do. I admire their bravado. I know one woman who stands so tall when she talks about it, I feel like a shrimp next to her. Some keep it so secret, that their own families don’t know what they do. I’m not talking about parents here. I know a women who has not told her husband.

It’s a funny thing. Some look down on us because of it and some laud us as groundbreaking. The truth stands in the middle. We write books for women who want to read what happens next.

“Well, those women should just use their imaginations.” Usually followed by a harrumph.

Imagination is a wonderful thing. Remember when you were little and you lay on the ground, watching thick clouds skud by? You had energy and time to make the shapes into anything you could imagine. I don’t have that kind of time. My imagining time is all used up on imagining which boy could have flushed a rubber duck down the toilet. Unless I’m writing, there is no time for behind the door wonderings. I’m lucky if I can imagine myself on a potty break. I write for women like me. Women who are stressed, love their loves, but face it, my husband is a doll, but he wouldn’t know how to ride a white horse. Let alone have the time to feed and care for it. My books bring a sense of romance into my life in a world that lacks forever-love romance, as we imagined it would be when we were small. Reality is wonderful, but everyone needs to take time to dream.

“Nancy? She writes porn.”

What should I have said? “No, I write erotic stories filled with laughter, joy, love, hope and spice enough to keep you turning the pages.”

Isn’t hid-sight great?

(magic fairies put up picture of Nancy’s newest erotic romance out next week)

LADIES! MEET RED HOT ALASKAN MEN

I’ve Blog Swapped with Gabriella today. Gabriella is TT’ing over at my blog Michelle Cary Recently, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The doctors have told her to make the most of the time she has left (yeah, it’s really that bad). That got me thinking about all the things I want to do in my life, so My Thursday Thirteen is …

13 things I want to do/see during my lifetime. 1. I want to go to Ireland. — Why Ireland? Because it’s a beautiful country with a rich history and a certain amount of magic still surrounding it and I want to experience that. 2. Learn how to speak Gaelic — Yeah, I know…some of you are knitting your brows going ‘huh? Why Gaelic?’ It goes back to #1 and the whole Ireland thing. 3. I want to get a tattoo — Now I’m not stupid enough to just run out willy nilly and let any ole person tattoo me. No, when I get ready to do it, it will be researched thoroughly and I will design my own. I want to have my children’s initials as part of the tattoo. 4. I want to get a book published — Wait…I’ve already done that, so there’s one thing off my list. *g* (magic fairies insert Michelle’s book) Beyond The Tears 5. I’d like to get my ears pierced again. — I had a second piercing done, years and years ago, but just a week after, I had to remove the earrings because of infection. After that, I said I’d never do it again. Well…never is a long time and I think I’ve changed my mind. 6. Learn how to play the piano. — You would think that this wouldn’t be that hard considering I played clarinet all through school, so I already know how to read music. But getting my hands to work together on a keyboard is about as likely as another ‘Bush’ getting into office. 7. Lose some weight — Yeah, folks this is a biggie. I’m a good 60 pounds over my ideal weight. There’s diabetes in my family, so every day the pounds stay on is another day at risk. Plus, there’s a whole ‘quality of life issue’ going on here. I know I’d ‘feel better’ if I weighed less and in return I’d be a happier person. 8. Spend more ‘quality time’ with my husband — ’nuff said. 9. Make sure my children grow up to be good people. — I not only want to be here to see it happen, but I want to know that I’m giving them the right tools necessary for them to be good, contributing people when they become adults. 10. Finish scrapbooking all my children’s photos before I die. — This one alone could keep me living forever. I’m an avid scrapbooker, who put down her die cuts and galaxy markers to start writing and hasn’t created a page in over six months. I have all these photos just staring at me, waiting for their turn in a layout and I’ve yet to make the time. *sigh* Sometimes, I think I need a clone. 11. Take my husband to Australia — I want to go to Ireland, he wants to go to Australia. Both will be hard to accomplish, since I’m afraid of airplanes. And my fear goes back long before 9/11. 12. Get back in touch with God — So this one may be controversial for some of you and that’s okay. I respect the fact that not everyone will have the same religious views I do. Personally, I need this as my faith has been severely challenged recently. 13. Make my friend better — Okay, I’m willing to admit that this one probably isn’t going to happen, but, well…one can dream, right? So there’s my list and a little peek into what goes on inside my brain. How about you guys? What would be some of the things on your life’s to do list?

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Oh erotic romance how I love thee…let me count the ways.

First off, I want to thank Gabriella for letting me hijack…err, swap her blog today. If you want to check out where she is, head over to my blog http://www.christinedabo.com/blog/ and check out her post.

When people meet me in real life (something I like to hide from) there are usually surprised to find out I write erotic romance. “But you seem so nice!”

No, baby. I’m bad…

But I digress. I’ve always enjoyed reading about the passion that a couple goes through as they learn about each other. It’s often explosive and revealing, showing us more about their character than simple words can do. What I particularly enjoy, is when the words and the passion collide.

As a writer, coming up with a believable and engaging love scene is the hardest part of my job. Now, I tend to write about aliens, werewolves, magic users, etc. The paranormal / futuristic elements add another layer to the love scene. Would they use “those terms”? Would their partner care if they have fangs, fur, extra body parts? This all has to be addressed in the love scene. It’s when the characters are at their most naked – physically and emotionally.

It’s for those scenes that I love erotic romance. It takes the hero / heroine relationship to the next level. It forces me as a writer to strip them naked and expose them to each other. Which, in a way, is forcing me to strip down and reveal a part of myself. And that, ladies and gentlemen is a very hard thing to do.

So when you are all hot and bothered this summer, grab a hot read and sit by the A/C!

And no, the love scenes aren’t all based on real experiences. Despite what my husband tells his friends.

(magic fairies put up picture of a hot book to sit with in front of the A/C)

So I’m sitting here and pouting today. First of all, there’s a wonderful writers’ conference going on in Dallas, TX and I’m not there to party. Oh, unfair life can be!!! Then, to quote today’s headline news, “Scientist Fear Warming is Causing Gray Whales to Lose Weight.” Why not me, Lord? Why not me???

I know, I know… global warming is no joke. But neither are the Christmas pounds that are still sticking around.

Deep breath. Positive thoughts. So on the good side, I’m blog swapping today with Gabriella who is a super nice lady!! And my new book MY BODYGUARD is out. Well, sort of out. It’s out at www.eHarlequin.com at a 20% discount (you can read an excerpt there for free). It won’t be in stores or at amazon.com for another 3 weeks. I love the new cover. I’ll try to post it with the blog. I’m technically challenged, however, so if you see no picture, you’ll know what happened.

(The magic fairies at Gabby’s site have granted you a picture)

Today’s agenda: I’m supposed to come up with the next brilliant idea to submit to my editor Writing MY BODYGUARD was easy. I had sudden inspiration. I don’t know how other writers get their ideas, but I work with the lightning bolt method. I sit on the couch (or weed or do dishes or whatever) and the story just hits me. Trouble is, I don’t control the lightning bolt.

MY BODYGUARD came about because I wanted to write books about women who are not “the girl next door.” I wanted heroines with a past, people who had made a few mistakes in life already. What if they were serious mistakes? How could they come back? Could they come back?

So the idea hit me to write about 4 women who are in federal prison. The government recruits them for their special skills to go undercover to bring down a dangerous international criminal. (They’re a cross between Charlie’s Angels and the Dirty Dozen.) Samantha Hanley, the heroine of MY BODYGUARD, had grown up on the streets. She is rough and tough and not about to let her guard down, not even for the hot and sexy professional bodyguard she is assigned to infiltrate the enemy compound with. Heat grows to volcanic proportions when these two must pretend that they are a couple.

I knew from the beginning that Sam would need a very strong, yet gentle-hearted man. And Reese Moretti is just that. He’s got practically blackmailed into this mission by the FBI. But once he gets to know Sam, he’s a goner. You know what they say about, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall?”

I LOVED writing Sam’s book and the stories of the other three women. Maybe that’s why I find it so hard to move on.

While I’m grappling to find the next great idea, why don’t you pop over to my web site and see what Gabriellla is blogging there? www.danamarton.com. You can also read excerpts and enter my 2nd Chance Contest for a free book!

It’s been great visiting here! Thank you for reading my blog!
Dana

Woke up this morning and it was hot and sticky outside, which gave me a naughty little thought. No, not that!

Thought about swapping…alright, get your mind out of the gutter. I meant Blog swapping.

Pretty much, I’m going to have other authors hop on my blog for the day and I’ll be hopping on theirs for the day. We swap blogs.

I promise its not a long term commitment or anything complicated. Just some good ol’e harmless blogging.

So, come by next week and see who I’ve swapped with.