Category Archives: helping out

DREAMWALKER by Jody Wallace–Giveaway! Sale!

Hey, all! My fabu author friend Jody Wallace has a couple of books out that are on sale PLUS a giveaway of books and goodies! And she asks me some questions about my worst nightmares!!!!

But first! The books!!!

Tangible72lg-200x300TANGIBLE and DISCIPLE are urban fantasies out with Samhain Publishing.

In the world of the Dreamwalkers, some dreams are so vivid they create monsters. The Somnium exists to destroy those monsters, keep them out of the public eye–and control the dreamers whose imaginations are nightmares manifest. But something has awakened in the dreamsphere. Something that’s beyond anyone’s worst nightmare.Disciple72lg-200x300

Blurbs!!!

TANGIBLE

Dreams don’t come true, but nightmares do.

When Zeke Garrett is reactivated to mentor the next dreamer that pops up on the Somnium’s radar, he’s sure it’s a mistake. The covert organization is still struggling to conceal the fallout from his last assignment, a fatal catastrophe.

From the first blast of her pepper spray, he realizes this neonati, whose nightmares manifest vampires straight from the pages of pop-culture, is more than he bargained for—a potential dreamwalker. But before her training can begin, he has to convince the stubborn, mouthy woman she’s not dreaming.

Maggie Mackey hasn’t slept well in a month, but that doesn’t explain how the monsters from her nightmares suddenly seem so real. Or why, when a team of intimidating, sword-wielding toughs rescue her, their leader captures her mouth in a swift, knee-weakening kiss.

Once he tears himself away, Zeke’s mental forehead smacking begins. Their embrace has confirmed they have a rare tangible bond, a phenomenon which fooled him once before. Somehow he must tutor the woman of his dreams without getting attached. Otherwise her nightmares could become his own.

Warning: Title contains lots of cussing, pop culture references and monsters with nasty, big, pointy teeth.

DISCIPLE

Conquer your inner demons…before they break free.

When student dreamwalker Maggie Mackey was first discovered by Zeke Garrett, now her mentor, their sexual attraction blazed off the charts, as did their tangible dreamspace bond.

Three months later, their relationship is as stalled out as Maggie’s training. Zeke isn’t sure what’s to blame. His clumsy mentoring, Maggie’s stubbornness, or something more sinister.

When the pair is summoned to a restricted outpost for troubled and sick dreamwalkers to investigate the deaths of several patients, a nightmare from Zeke’s past resurfaces to further complicate Maggie’s training. In fact, there’s a better-than-good chance she’ll be yanked away from him and reassigned to a curator. Disciples sent to curators are rarely heard from again.

To survive the secretive inner workings of their organization and the deadly new force emerging inside the sphere, Maggie and Zeke must confront their inner demons as well as their feelings for each other. Because in the world of the dreamwalkers, inner demons never remain politely inside one’s tortured soul. They prefer to manifest…and eat people.

Warning: Book contains sex, cursing, more cursing, T-Rexes, dire peril and explosives.

They sound amazing, don’t they??? So go get yours!

Digital versions of TANGIBLE (normally $3.49, on sale for $0.99)and DISCIPLE (normally $5.99, on sale for $1.99) will be on sale from January 18 – February 5  at online retailers. Jody will be giving away 3 trade paperbacks of DISCIPLE (#2) via Goodreads from January  22 – February 5.

Jody will also be giving away some crocheted earrings and some of her other books to newsletter subscribers. Signup for the newsletter here.

Just for Funnsies (did I spell that right?):

So. Jody is a BIG fan of interviewing people. She posed some question regarding dreams and things. Here are my answers.

Jody: The premise of the Dreamwalkers series is that certain human brains are so vivid that their nightmares can come to life and eat people. The heroes and heroines (so far) are the folks who fight these monsters and hide their existence from the rest of the world. Oftentimes these nightmares take the shape of popular culture creations, but sometimes there are classics.

What are the scariest movies, TV and books you can think of?

Cathy: I used to watch movies like “Halloween” and ones based on Stephen King novels, as long as they weren’t bloodbaths. The implied horror of “Silence of the Lambs” got to me, particularly the scene where Clarice is looking at the picture of what Hanibal did to the nurse. The utter shock on her face sets the imagination reeling better than any view of the picture by the audience could ever achieve. My kid enjoys those “Haunting” shows. I’m fine if there’s a ghost just messing around, but if the entity is a demon or something, I get a little wigged out. Also, anything with an evil doll is a no-go for me.

Jody: What monsters do you think your brain would create or has created in your books? (Caveat: real world human monsters don’t tend to get created, just things like vampires and mega spiders, and the size of the monster tends to be between 3-12 feet. If your nightmare is more of an “event”, like falling or appearing in public naked, I bet there’s a monster that represents that kind of horror!)

Cathy: Most of my nightmares involve being chased by…something. I never really see it, but if I managed to have it manifest I’d say it would be very spider-like. Probably a zombie spider. With an evil clown (is that redundant?) sidekick.

Jody: What kind of dreamwalker hero or heroine do you think would be required to dispatch your nightmares? (Romance optional!)

Cathy: Someone with a flamethrower. I never seem to have one handy in my dreams.

Jody: Bonus question: What pop culture monsters do you think the dreamwalkers have the most trouble killing?

Cathy: I’m leaving this last question up for any commentors. What do you say, folks? Which pop culture monster would give the dreamwalkers a run for their money?

While you consider, go buy Jody’s books and sign up for her newsletter and giveaways!

Jodypic13-200x300About Jody:

Jody Wallace grew up in the South in a very rural area. She went to school a long time and ended up with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing. Her resume includes college English instructor, technical documents editor, market analyst, web designer, and general, all around pain in the butt. She resides in Tennessee with one husband, two children, one grandma, six cats, and a lot of junk.

Get more of Jody’s greatness on her website, Twitter, her FB author page, her Amazon author page, or GoodReads.

Jody also runs MeanKitty.

Posted in books out, fun, helping out, UF, win stuff | 2 Comments

#Rom4All–End ALL Discrimination in Romance

Recently, it was brought to the attention of the Rainbow Romance Writers chapter of the RWA that another chapter’s published works contest (scroll down to Rules, under #1) would no longer be accepting same-sex romances for any of their categories.

So, like several of my RRW co-members, I wrote to the contest coordinator. This is what I said: “I’ve noticed that your More Than Magic contest for published authors no longer accepts entries that have same-sex relations. The contest accepted such stories in the past and, from what I understand, they did well. Could you please tell me what changed? Thank you very much for your time.”

Here is the reply I received: “It was a difficult decision, but after a month-long discussion, it was voted by the chapter to no longer accept same-sex. The majority of our members were just uncomfortable with it.”

That’s it. That was the whole of the response.

They were uncomfortable. Fine. I can understand being uncomfortable with certain aspects of stories. Everyone has their own tastes. Simple solution: Find judges outside of your chapter who ARE comfortable–nay! HAPPY–to read same-sex romances. There’s a whole chapter of us willing to do so.

But to outright deny entry based on orientation of the characters? Replace “same-sex” with “people of color” or “people of different abilities” or “people of different beliefs” and tell me you don’t feel the ick factor here.

RRW chapter president Heidi Cullinan wrote to the RWA National organization and asked about the discriminatory language. The RWA was extremely supportive in getting the Rainbow Romance Writers chapter off the ground; we know they aren’t opposed to LGBT romance. RWA’s response, however, was less than encouraging. Basically, the RWA is saying it can’t tell its affiliated chapters how to run their contests. If they want to exclude a category, then it’s their right to do so.

But LGBTQ is NOT a romance category. Paranormal, Suspense, Historical, Inspirational, Erotica. THOSE are categories. Categories indicate a certain plot and storyline. Categories have NOTHING to do with who the characters love.

If a judge, like any reader, is uncomfortable with reading paranormal, it is up to the coordinator to find a judge who will do so. No one freaks out. No one gets upset. Everyone is happy. Why is that so difficult to do and understand in this day and age?

There are other folks who have addressed the issue much more eloquently than I, and I encourage you to read the blogs, get the facts, and make your opinion heard. Write to RWA (the addy is info@rwa.org ); leave comments on blogs; make a <140 character Twitter statement using the #Rom4All hashtag, and include #RWA and/or #LGBT. Thank you! Blogs supporting anti-discrimination and #Rom4All:

http://heidicullinan.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/rwa-shouldnt-be-in-the-business-of-discrimination/


www.karigregg.com/?p=1226

http://www.courtneymilan.com/ramblings/2012/02/04/dont-enter-more-than-magic/

http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/2012/02/wtfckery-factor-romance-writers-of.html

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2045978-same-sex-pairing-is-not-romance-since-when

http://annetenino.com/2012/02/04/personal-taste-public-responsibilities-discrimination-rom4all-lgbt-rwa/


http://jswayne.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/an-open-letter-to-rwa/

http://stephanihechtauthor.blogspot.com/2012/02/uncomfortable-discrimination.html?zx=cf4f15550ff0b8b9

http://amydenim.blogspot.com/2012/02/hey-rwa-discrimination-censorship-are.html

http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/romance-writers-ink-contest-an-exercise-in-discrimination

http://stacia-seaman.livejournal.com/160347.html

http://museampoule.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/letter-to-rwi-contest-about-their-discrimination/

http://www.fictionwithfriction.com/2012/02/04/less-than-magic/

http://heidicullinan.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/bigotry-is-a-transitive-noun/


http://stacia-seaman.livejournal.com/160732.html?view=302556#t302556

Posted in helping out, on my mind, romance | 7 Comments

Help Write Now–Storm Relief Auction

In response to the horrendous devastation of the recent storms in the South, the writing community has banded together for an auction to raise money for relief.

At Help Write Now, you can bid on everything from books to critiques. My good friend Jody Wallace, who lives in TN and is coordinating her local chapter’s contribution, asked me if I’d be a reader for their offering. Of course I said yes.

So go. Bid. Help where you can. And thank you!

Posted in helping out | Comments Off on Help Write Now–Storm Relief Auction