Guest post by Michelle Grogan

Do you have an idea for a great story percolating just below the surface but you’re having trouble getting it out of your head and down onto paper? Yeah, I’ve been there – plenty of times. I know what I want. I know what I want to say. But it’s just not ready to step out into the light of day. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still keep those juices of creativity flowing. The best way I have found to do this is to find random prompts – sometimes those prompts can manifest into some great stories of their own.

Now, it’s easy to become bogged down in all the prompts that are out there and lose focus on why you want to use prompts in the first place. And of course, it’s not always easy to find one that appeals to you. Well, I’m here to alleviate some of those worries!!! In my search for a stock of prompts that I could store away in a file for when I needed to that hit of inspiration to get those stubborn creative juices flowing, I came across this great website dedicated to prompts of all kinds!!

Check out Creative Writing Prompts. At first glance it might not look like much – I mean the sheer number of prompts being offered – 346 – can be a little overwhelming, but not let that scare you. The fun comes when you hover your pointer icon over one of the numbers and a prompt pops up for you! Clicking on the number will move it to the number one spot. There are prompts for all kinds of writers! Not sure how to start that amazing story in your head? Hover over number 113 – Begin with “Today I will . . .” and write for 10 minutes. Play with the idea of writing a poem? Move your mouse to number 103 – Create a poem using Emily Dickinson’s “Bring me the sunset in a cup” as a starting point. Want to challenge yourself? Check out number 24 – Imagine your life is now a book. In 100 words, write the blurb for it; or number 122 – Use all these words in a poem: crash, crumpled paper, straw, gravel, ochre; even try number 143 – In 200 words, describe a day in the life of a window washer . . . hey, you never know, the window washer can be the witness to a major crime and has to describe what he was doing and what he saw.

So don’t sweat it if when you sit down to write, you draw a blank or you need a moment away from your story because you’re struggling with it or need to find a new direction to go. Settle in with a good prompt and you’ll soon find that the ideas are flowing faster than you can keep up with them!!

In fact, I’m going to take some of my own advice – I’ve been feeling a little stuck creatively, think I’ll hop on over and settle in with a good prompt.

Happy writing!! J

Bio: By day, Michelle Grogan is a Literacy Coach working with students with learning/behavioral/emotional disorders improve their reading and writing skills; by night–she’s the self-published author of Forbidden Love (currently in kindle format on Amazon.com) living with her fiance in Westchester County. Reading has always brought get joy to Michelle’s life, allowing her to experience new worlds and meet a plethora of new characters. Her love of reading lead to her love of writing and creating her own characters and discovering their stories. As a child, those stories were acted out with Barbies and My Little Ponies . . . as she got older, she put pen to paper and embarked on her own writing journey. Still an avid reading, Michelle’s favorite authors include James Patterson, Andrew Gross, Rachel Vincent, Jordan Dane, James Rollins, among so many others!!

by Malcolm R. Campbell

Hippocrates believed that nature is the best healer and that the chief duty of a doctor was making natural healing possible. Naturalist John Muir believed that spending time in the wilderness was spiritually and psychologically therapeutic.

As a hiker, mountain climber and conservationist, I feel Earthpower and the truth of Hippocrates’ and Muir’s beliefs every time I walk in wild places. Readers of my contemporary fantasy Sarabande will find that behind the good guys, bad guys and the twists and turns of the story, my recurring theme is that nature is wise in the realm of healing.

In his epic fantasies about another world, Stephen Donaldson refers to the Earth’s natural wisdom and energy as Earthpower, while calling those who love the Earth and seek to preserve its wild places as engaged in Landservice. I wish these terms were part of our real-world vocabulary. For all the good that they do, science and technology seem to have led us away from the natural world and its wisdom.

My title character in Sarabande comes from a world where magic is accepted as real into our world where magic is viewed as either sleight of hand or superstition. She has quite an adjustment to make as she travels from Montana to Illinois in search of an old friend who might help her get rid of a ghost. When she is injured and a Native American healer takes care of her wounds in a natural place where the energy is very strong, she asks if he would have done the same thing if his own son had been hurt.

Since Sarabande comes from another world and has no Social Security Number or other papers, he tells her he can’t take her to a hospital for treatment of her broken leg. However, he would have taken his son to a hospital: “’The doctors and nurses there are efficient at treating mechanical and structural problems,’ he said. ‘We would talk to the Great Mystery afterwards about the important matters.’”

For Sarabande—like most of us—the “important matters” are often more complex than broken bones. Sometimes our spirits and our hearts are broken. Sarabande finds that others don’t always understand what’s broken inside and want their friends to just stop complaining and “get on with life.” Yet, in the mountains, nature and a very special coyote know what she needs to become whole again…a bit of magic and a lot of empathy.

While fantasy is fantasy partly because of its magic and its other worlds, I hope my readers will finish Sarabande not only thinking the novel had a compelling story to tell but that even without the overt magic of fiction and such terms as Earthpower, nature has compelling wisdom for us in our world as well.

“Kevin’s Lore was mighty with Earthpower, and pure with Landservice. Health and gaiety flowed in the land, and the bright Earth jewel of Andelain bedizened the Land’s heart with precious woods and stones.” – “The Illearth War” by Stephen R. Donaldson

---

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of two contemporary fantasies, Sarabande and The Sun Singer, and a magical realism saga Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey. All three books draw on the magic of the shining mountains of Glacier National Park.

Buy Sarabande now!

While modern parannormal romance and urban fantasy is filled with vampire hunters, I love the idea of an old-fashioned exorcist. My guest today, Tawny Stokes, is here to talk about how she gave a face-lift to the old trope. Comment and you could win a free copy of the THE DEMON WHISPERER.

Guest Post by Tawny Stokes

I love me some monsters. The more the merrier in my opinion. I’ve been reading monster fiction since I could read. My literary mainstay as a child was Stephen King, John Saul, Dean Koontz. Which probably says a lot about me and why I write what I write. Just about every book I’ve ever written has had a monster or two in it. Sometimes they are bad, and sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are the main character and sometimes they are the villain.

My lastest book the DEMON WHISPERER has a pretty good monster factor. Caden Butcher is an exorcist you see, he’s knee deep in the 3 Ds, demon, death and destruction. In this book he’s dealing with all kinds of stuff, like vengeful demons, the undead, and a rather malicious zombie named Uncle Eldon. It’s his girlfriend, Aspen’s, uncle. She’s a necromancer and she accidentlally rose him and can’t put him back. Oh, and Caden’s BFF is a charming demon named Dan, who looks a lot like Sid Vicious.

So here is my monster list:

Demon – both bad and good
Necromancer – good
Zombies – good and very very bad (Uncle Eldon)
Jinn – bad

Do you like monster fiction? What’s your favorite monster to read about?

I will give 3 copies (ebooks only) of my book Demon Whisperer, to commenters.

Bio: Tawny Stokes has always been a writer. From an early age, she’d spin tales of serial killers in love, vampires taking over the world, and sometimes about fluffy bunnies turned bunnicidal maniacs.  An honour student in high school, with a penchant for math and English, you’d never know it by the foot high blue Mohawk and Doc Martens, which often got her into trouble.  No longer a Mohawk wearer, Tawny still enjoys old school punk rock, trance, zombie movies, teen horror films, and fluffy bunnies.  She lives in Canada with her fantastical daughter, two cats, and spends most of her time creating new stories for teens.  Her current YA books are Static and Demon Whisperer.  www.tawnystokes.com
Tawny also writes adult paranormal/urban fantasy fiction under the name Vivi Anna, and is an aspiring screenwriter.

Guest Post by Eliza Knight

First impressions are very important—especially when potentially meeting your soul mate. Or are they?

Many people put up a front when they first meet someone they are considering romantically. We want them to see the best parts of us. We want the other person to think we are fun, worthwhile, exciting, and sexy. We want that other person to like us, and fall for us. And this means not showing all of our TRUE selves.

It isn’t as if we do this consciously. It is an unconscious decision. And believe it or not we do it when we meet most people for the first time.

In essence, we are selling ourselves—or the vision of ourselves that we want someone to buy into.

My husband always jokes around that I am most definitely NOT the woman he met ? He thought me a witty, cute, agreeable, sexy woman. Then KA-BOOM, my real self came out—an independent, opinionated, stubborn, intelligent, sexy woman. Now, luckily for me, he wouldn’t have me any other way. But I guess when we first met, I gave off the impression of being somewhat pliable, maybe even lacking the intelligence I have. He was attracted to me, but didn’t think it would last as he likes a stronger woman. Thank goodness I let my true self out! (And on 11-11-11 we will celebrate our ELEVENTH wedding anniversary! How fascinating is that?)

In essence, the pursuit of love can define who we are, who we want to be and how we want to be perceived. But is changing who we are to impress someone else betraying our own souls?

Why am I talking about this? Because in my medieval romance novel, it is all about putting up a front. My heroine, Chloe, must put up a front first for her Scottish father who does not want to hear her speak in her naturally French accent. She has to pretend to be someone different. Then she must deny who she is when she is uprooted from her own life and another charade of being a servant vs. a noble begins.

At first her charade is for safety, but as she falls for the hero, she often wonders if he is attracted to her or the persona she has created around herself. She tries to let bits and pieces of her true self out without compromising her identity, but in the end, it eats away at her. She wants to be loved for who she truly is. When she finally does lay her life at his feet and confess to her true identity—as his enemy—will Alexander, our ultra-sexy knight hero, still love her? Does their love falter? Shift? Change in any way?

How it ends I’ll keep a secret, but as it is a romance, a happily ever after is required!

Tell me, how have you let the pursuit of love define you? What lengths have you gone to catch the eye of another?

A LADY’S CHARADE

From across a field of battle, English knight, Alexander, Lord Hardwyck, spots the object of his desire–and his conquest, Scottish traitor Lady Chloe.

Her lies could be her undoing…

Abandoned across the border and disguised for her safety, Chloe realizes the man who besieged her home in Scotland has now become her savior in England. Her life in danger, she vows to keep her identity secret, lest she suffer his wrath, for he wants her dead.

Or love could claim them both and unravel two countries in the process…

Alexander suspects Chloe is not who she says she is and has declared war on the angelic vixen who’s laid claim to his heart. A fierce battle of the minds it will be, for once the truth is revealed they will both have to choose between love and duty.

Read an excerpt.

Available in ebook at: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Apple

Available in print at: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Enter to win a signed print copy of A LADY’S CHARADE on Goodreads!

Eliza Knight is the multi-published author of sizzling historical romance and erotic romance. While not reading, writing or researching for her latest book, she chases after her three children. In her spare time (if there is such a thing…) she likes daydreaming, wine-tasting, traveling, hiking, staring at the stars, watching movies, shopping and visiting with family and friends. She lives atop a small mountain, and enjoys cold winter nights when she can curl up in front of a roaring fire with her own knight in shining armor. Visit Eliza at www.elizaknight.com or her historical blog, History Undressed, which was recently mentioned in a feature article in The Wall Street Journal. www.historyundressed.blogspot.com