Guest Blog and Giveaway with Chrissy Munder

Good morning, Roxanne and the Fang-tastic Book Fans! Thank you for letting me be a part of your month-long, Michigan Authors Celebration. I'm Chrissy Munder, a GLBT author currently writing m/m romance and living in this great state.

“Pure Michigan” is the new advertising slogan for the state’s tourism industry, and it’s a good one. There’s something unique and purely Michigan; something compelling and timeless, and once it gets a hold of you doesn’t let go.

I’m a good example of this. Born and raised in Southeastern Michigan, I left the state early on in search of adventure. Work had me traveling across the United States for years after that. At last count I’ve called seventeen states as home.

But here I am, back in Michigan.

While barely scratching the surface of story and plot line possibilities, Michigan’s bright sunny beaches and Great Lakes have become the background for many of my stories. Including the building of the Mackinac Bridge, and the awesomeness of the Michigan pastie in the short story, Bridge of Dreams. Asparagus farms on the west side of the state were highlighted in the novella, Start From the Beginning, and the Bayview Mackinac Boat Race held annually on Lake Huron was used in the novella, Fair Winds.



But there’s another side to this amazing state, a darker side. Just visit this website, The Shadowlands, for an alphabetized listing of Michigan happenings both chilling and supernatural. Take a look at the city where you live – you may be surprised at what’s going on in your backyard.

Michigan’s lighthouses have always been a romantic source of speculation and mystery. To discover more about them you can visit The Michigan Lighthouse Alliance, and get lost in learning about the more than 115 lighthouses that dot the Michigan coastline. I couldn’t resist using the idea as a backdrop for my paranormal story, After the Storm where, angry and frustrated with his chronic illness, Vincent Poulsen moves into an old lighthouse to live out the few days he has left. After a dangerous collapse, he meets the ghostly Captain Cason, who shares stories of his distant past. In the process, Vincent stumbles over the tragedy that binds the captain to the lighthouse and his haunted memories. Then fate offers them in death a chance to make right what they couldn't in life....


A childhood trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, miles of isolated forest and the eerie sight of a burned-down motel, isolated and surrounded by mist served as the inspiration for my June paranormal release, The Scenic Route, where it’s the first time Ed Baldwin has ever taken his boyfriend Joe Sutton home to meet his parents, and nervous, he keeps trying to pick a fight with Joe to relieve his stress while they drive. When Joe’s had enough, they pull over in a very small town where the choice in motels only adds to Ed’s anxiety. A series of strange happenings puts them back on the road sooner than expected, and it’s at an all-night diner that they find out why the Easy Rest Motel didn’t live up to its name. That’s what Ed gets for letting Joe take the scenic route.

Luckily for me, the possibilities of what to write next are never-ending, and Purely Michigan.

So how about you? Would you like to read more about the dark side of Michigan, or do you prefer the light?

How many of you have left the state only to return?

Leave a comment and let me know. Be sure to put your email in your comment as everyone who replies before 11:00pm EST (Michigan time!) will be entered in a random drawing for a free pdf copy of my novella, After the Storm.

To learn more about me you can visit my website, my blog, friend me at Facebook, or stop by my page at the GLBT bookshelf for even more links on where you can find and follow me across the web.

*Whew* that's a lot. But wait - There's more! (Yes, there’s nothing like late night television commercials.)

You can view my backlist and purchase my work here at Dreamspinner Press. But you can also find me at Amazon.com, Fictionwise, All Romance eBooks, Rainbow eBooks, and other fine booksellers across the web. Hopefully, at one of your favorites.

Michigan Author Nancy Gideon and Captured by Moonlight Giveaway

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
by Nancy Gideon

A month dedicated to Michigan authors!!

Where was this when I started writing?

Back before computers and social networking, I thought I was the only word-obsessed writer in the state. I had no support network to encourage me, no critique group to lean on, no organization to watch my back. There was just me and the local library and a big dog-earred, out-of-date copy of The Writer’s Market. Looking back, it’s amazing that anyone so naively ignorant of the business ever sold a single book, let alone over fifty.

I’m a Michigander (I refuse to call myself a Michiganian, although that’s now the official title). Southwest Michigan has been my home my entire life. It offers everything you could want: four glorious seasons, weather that changes every fifteen minutes, sandy beaches, fiery sunsets, urban sprawl and mystic forests. For me, it’s always been a land of enchantment and inspiration (even though I could do without winter driving and the summer humidity!). I love being able to give directions by using the back of my hand as the map. Being typically Midwestern, I enjoy having everything within reach . . . but with a little elbow room.

When I started writing, I was told to write what you know. I didn’t want to write about my home town. I wanted the dream: the West, the tropics, the Continent, the coast (either one would do). But when I participated in the Great Lakes historical series for Berkley Book (eons ago), I started digging into our past and found it rich in lore and fascinating nuggets. In fact, while researching our Upper Peninsula, I found so much information, I stretched it into three books, one historical and two contemporary.

Do I still like to dream of the West, the Caribbean, foreign countries and the rocky coast? You bet. But I also can find a literary paradise in my own back yard, setting my romantic suspense Warrior series in upper Michigan and using the inner city husk of Detroit as a backdrop for a potential YA paranormal series. There’s another suspense series on the backburner set in locations scattered across the state as an excuse to visit my favorite spots . . . citing research (like I need an excuse to visit wineries!). Home can be where the heart is when it comes to romance.

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time in my fictionally adopted state of Louisiana, both in my imagination and with hands-on research in New Orleans where my BY MOONLIGHT dark paranormal series for Pocket Books is set. With the first three of six books out on the shelves, I’ve been living and breathing the swamps and cemeteries and cross cultures for over three years until I’ve started to think with an accent. (We Midwesterners don’t have an accent! We’re the bland voice of the news!). I’ve so enjoyed uncovering the regional quirks and have rediscovered the Southerner inherited from my mom (who made us eat okra like it was a real vegetable and taught me how to make pralines when I was little). I love to travel and visit places all around the country, but New Orleans is a place I could see myself settling (especially when I’m scraping ice off my windshield!).

Learn more about me and about my BY MOONLIGHT series by visiting my website: http://nancygideon.com .

Is there someplace special that calls to you? Someplace you could hang your hat or simply dream of living? Or are you happy where your roots are planted? Let me hear from you.

One lucky commenter picked at random will win a signed copy of CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT.

About the Author:

Southwest Michigander, Nancy Gideon is the author of over fifty romance novels under her own name and as Dana Ransom and Rosalyn West, ranging from historical and contemporary suspense to pararnomals. She’s also had two original horror screen plays optioned for film. When she’s not at the keyboard or feeding her NetFlix addiction, she works full time as a legal assistant.

About Captured by Moonlight:

Their Love Is Just Beginning

A mysterious death begins a dangerous chain of events. As the unexpected discovery of a family thought lost to him threatens the existence of Max Savoie's paranormal world, his awakening senses strain the bond he shares with Detective Charlotte Caissie.

His Time is Almost Up

Driven by instincts he can't control, Max fights the need to claim his human mate. How can he protect her when she's not safe with him? She's strong enough to keep his secrets, but can she survive the test of his love?

Will They Ever Really Be Together?

Separating business from pleasure just got more difficult. To have Max, Cee Cee must face her greatest fears by accepting who and what he is . . . someone deadly, unnatural and outside the law she serves. Loving Max Savoie isn't easy, but holding onto him could prove fatal.

Click here to pre-order
Read an excerpt.

Want to win a copy?

Then be sure to leave a comment on this postt

US shipping only

Be sure to include your email address

Winner to be Announced Next Wednesday

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Bronwyn Green

I think it’s great that Roxanne decided to do a Michigan Authors Month. With the economy being what it is, Michigan isn’t a terribly popular place to live at the moment. Thousands of people have been forced to leave the state in hopes of finding work elsewhere. It’s depressing seeing the empty, boarded up houses – especially in the rural areas where people tend to be less well off anyway. But, I honestly can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Even though I complain about the snow in the winter and the humidity in the summer, I love it here. I love the variety of plant and animal life and the lakes are beyond compare. I just returned from a vacation to the UP – Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to non-natives – and I spent nearly all my time either in the woods or by Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Indian Lake where our rented cabin was.

In fact, I love it here so much that the majority of my stories are set in Michigan – or if they involve other countries like my latest release, Moonlit Ménage, at least one of the characters is from Michigan. Part of it is writing what I know, but a bigger part is writing what I love. My stories, I Put a Spell on You, Ronan’s Grail, Mystic Circle and Best Laid Plans are all set in the fictitious town of Oakdale, MI which bears a striking resemblance to my hometown.

My recent release, Just Right, is set in Baraga – a small town in the north western UP. The follow up story, Maggie’s Mates, due to release September 1st, is also set there. Actually, now that I think about it, only five of my fifteen books are set in places other than Michigan – Wales, Ireland and England, to be exact – and three of those books involve – you guessed it – characters from Michigan.

If it’s okay with Roxanne, I’d like to share a little about my latest releases.

Just Right is a modernized retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears – think a brutal Upper Peninsula snowstorm, a couple of DNR officers and some bear shape shifters.

Here's the blurb:

When Department of Natural Resources officer, Gwendolyn Locke, hits a black bear on the way home from work one night, her entire view of reality changes. She discovers that shape-shifters exist, and she’s just become Goldilocks to three gorgeous, very aroused men who also happen to be werebears. Being snowbound has never been so hot.

Immortal Curse involves a witch who’s also a reluctant medium, a pissed off ghost and an abandoned schoolhouse. The schoolhouse is real and in Ottawa county. It’s also super creepy! I’ve been there twice, but I don’t think I’ll be going back any time soon.

Here's the official book description:

Cursed by a witch, Ian O’Meara has been trapped between the world of the living and the spirit realm for the last hundred and fifty years. Annoyed by having his eternity interrupted by amateur ghost hunters, he reaches through the veil to Emma Boulton knowing she can see and hear him even if the others can’t. When he discovers she can also feel him, he decides Emma is the most exciting thing to happen to him in the last century. Suddenly, escaping his miserable curse isn’t quite so appealing.

Much to her dismay, Emma has been able to see ghosts ever since she was a child. Most of the time she ignores them, but Ian makes that all but impossible. With his dark, good looks and his brooding personality, he’s a gothic novel hero come to life...so to speak. She knows she should help him toward the light, but the only place he seems to be interested in is her bed. Falling in love with the charming spirit is all too easy, but is a future together possible between the living and the dead?




Moonlit Ménage is set in Wales, but features a grad student from Michigan, Brontë Matthews. In addition to Brontë, there are also faeries – some of whom want her and others who simply want her dead.

Here is the Moonlit Menage blurb:

American grad student, Brontë Matthews, travelled to Wales to study at the elite Bren Gwyrdd Music Conservatory, but life on the secluded campus isn’t what she expected. She quickly becomes friends with Quillen Davies and Tarran Ashe, and finds herself attracted to both. Even more troubling, an eerie melody repeatedly pulls her from sleep. When she follows, she finds herself in trouble and in the arms of her friends, the men who've haunted her daydreams.

Crown Princes of the Seelie and Unseelie Faery courts, Quill and Tarran know Brontë is marked for sacrifice by the bloodthirsty factions of their people. By Sidhe tradition, human blood must be spilled to bind their reign, but Quill and Tarran know there must be a way to save the woman they love. They only hope they can find it in time.

Now I’d like to share a few pictures from my vacation. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Michigan, drop me a note and I’ll send you a list of must see places!

Kitch-iti-kipi Big Spring (40 feet deep and Michigan's largest spring -yep, the water really is that crazy shade of blue!)

Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse (built in 1895 - only working lighthouseon the northern shore of Lake Michigan, located in Gulliver, MI.

Lake Superior at Au Train, MI (one of my favorite stretches of beach)

Tahquamenon Falls (Upper Falls in Tahquamenon, MI)

Dragon Sunset (named by my youngest son) on Indian Lakein Manistique

About the Author:

Bronwyn lives in Michigan with her wonderful husband, two amazing sons and six somewhat-psychotic cats. When not tormenting her characters, she can usually be found helping with reading and writing projects in her sons’ classrooms as well as being the car pool mom extraordinaire for five teens and a couple of preteens. Besides writing, she also enjoys reading, knitting, sewing, cross stitching, pottery, drawing—basically anything that helps her avoid the tortures of cleaning and cooking.

You can check out Bronwyn’s books and more at her website: www.bronwyngreen.com or at her blog: http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/

Giveaway Time!

Bronwyn is offering 2 winners each

a pdf of one of her ebooks- winner's choice

To enter leave a comment on this post

Please include email address

A winner will be announced next Wednesday

Good Luck!

August is Michigan Month at Fang-tastic Books

In case you don't know, I'm a Michigan girl born and raised. I live and have always lived on the outskirts of Flint.

One day a few weeks ago I decided to showcase the talent that abounds in Michigan along with showcasing some of the beautiful places we have.

So I decided to make August Michigan month.

That's right August is Michigan Month at Fang-tastic Books- I'll be featuring authors from Michigan- I will also will be discussing great places in Michigan, and products made in Michgan all month long.

If you are interested in participating we still have a few spots available please contact me for details I have been having email difficulties with both emails so I willo post them both here- I suggest copying the message to both addresses that way hopefully at least one will get through- sorry it's pain believe me it's a pain for me too.

eroticroxanne @ yahoo. com

RoxanneRhoads @ aol. com

So far here are the Michigan authors I have scheduled.

Some are from Michigan but now live elsewhere, many of the authors still live here in Michgan.

August 3 Sherry King

August 4 Bronwyn Green

August 6 Nancy Gideon

August 7 Arianna Skye

August 9 Mark Sherony

August 11 Chrissy Munder

August 12 Kimberly Frost

August 16 Cindy Spencer

August 19 Selena Kitt

August 20 Colleen Gleason

August 21 Jennifer Armintrout

August 24 Lynda Hilburn

August 25 Jane Toombs

Monday Musings July 13, 2010

The husband is back to work today, thank goodness too because he was about to drive me flipping crazy.

No honestly we had a pretty good "staycation". We went a lot of places but stayed close to home and came home every night so we didn't have to worry about hotel expenses.

He went fishing a couple times to give me a break but mostly we were together- a lot. And we didn't kill each other :-) He tired me out though. We went all over the place.

We went to The Castle Museum (above photo) in Saginaw. It's pretty cool the whole building looks like a castle, so does the library next to it. That's a library I could spend hours in for sure.


After the Castle Museum we hit the Bay Antique Center in Bay City. This antique mall is a whole block. The building is huge with 3 stories of antiques. It is Michigan's largest antique mall.

Check out these funky coffin things we found there.

Didn't buy them, thought they were a bit odd but someone really into the Goth/vampire stuff might like them. If I had a huge house with a "vampire" room we would have got one (hubby and I someday want a huge house and every room will have a theme- vampire room, medieval room, pirate room, Italian room, etc).

On another day we visited Stepping Stone Falls in the Flint area and rode the Genesee Belle- a replica of an old paddle wheel boat.

These are the falls- at night they are lit up with all different colors. They are very pretty.



This is the lake on the other side of the falls.

And this is the Genesee Belle that we took a short cruise on around the lake.

This is a pretty area in the park at Stepping Stone Falls which is where you board the Genesee Belle for evening cruises.

One day during the week we took the tween to see Eclipse. I have to admit I think it was the best Twilight movie so far. I'll write more in that later.

Friday night the hubby and I had an evening by ourselves- it was wonderful to not have any little monkeys running around. We get that maybe once a year. The two older kids go places all the time but we always have the little guy- mainly because he is such a handful no one will deal with him. My husband conned his BFF into taking the kids for the night. It was great. We sat outside and stared at the stars and had a romantic evening- we even lit candles.

Saturday we hit the farmer's market and a lot of yard sales. I found a corset print that matches some others I have but my big find was 2 1960s plastic jack o'lanterns that light up. I got them for 50 cents each. They sell for between $15.00 and $45.00 online. I knew that because I already have one that was my moms and we seen one at an antique store selling for $45. So when I saw those 2 I snagged them. I'm not selling them though because I am a huge Halloween fan and I love anything vintage Halloween.

Sunday we pretty much spent the day cleaning up the house and yard and recovering from the constant on the go life we led for the rest of the week.

I am still tired and need a vacation from my vacation :-)

This week at Fang-tastic Books I have some giveaways for you including 100 postcards from Uprinting and a $100 gift certificate to CSN Stores.

I am still scheduling Michigan authors for August and others for the rest of the months- and a reminder the big advertising sale of $25 for 3 months of advertising is still going on until the end of the month. You can reserve your future space now at the sale price.

So that's all for now. It's back to work for me because I didn't write much of anything last week. Now I have to catch up on my novels, type up a couple book reviews and work on my blogs. Busy, busy, busy.

P.S. Debra who won the Twice Bitten swag pack and a copy of Twice Bitten has not claimed her prize- if I don't hear from her by midnight tonight I will be choosing a different winner.

August is Going to Be Michigan Month at Fang-tastic Books

I am a Michigan girl born and bred and the last couple years (decades) have been rough on the area even though we are a state rich in natural beauty and resources.

Michigan is a water wonderland being surrounded by the Great Lakes and filled with vast amounts of other lakes, streams and rivers that make us a very wet and wonderful place to live if you enjoy fishing, boating or just staring at water.

I was just sitting here thinking about all the places in Michigan I have yet to travel to an enjoy and during my procrastinating, I mean brainstorming, I came up with the idea of having a whole month dedicated to Michigan here at Fang-tastic Books.

So my official Fang-tastic decree is that August is going to be Michigan month at Fang-tastic Books.

That means I am going to be showcasing Michigan authors (example: Colleen Gleason, Joss Ware) and authors who are originally from Michigan (Kimberly Frost, Lynda Hilburn).

I will also be posting about Michigan places, events and stuff that is made in Michigan (just to keep things interesting and mix it up a bit).

If you are a Michigan author and would like to be showcased here at Fang-tastic Books in August please contact me to set up a date.

If you know of a Michigan author I should contact please let me know. I have a short list but will be searching for more.

I am specifically looking for Michigan authors who write Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Horror, or anything else paranormally related that either live in Michigan now or who are originally from Michigan.

All types of authors accepted: adult, romance, YA, children's, ebooks, etc- as long as the authors are from Michigan (this is just for the month of August).

If interested or you would like more info please email me at RoxanneRhoads @ aol. com