Prizes, Prizes, Prizes

First, how to win each month - JUST COMMENT ON MY BLOG. I draw a winner from all those who comment on my blog for a special prize each month. Of late, I haven't decided until the end what the prize will be, but it's always something nice, trust me: a gift certificate, books, Bath and Body Works shower gel/lotion, etc.

The second way to each month: leave a comment in my guestbook on my website, http://www.aklanier.com/. Find link to my guestbook at the bottom of the HOME page. Information on the contest can be found on my contest page. This month's prize is a $10 The Wild Rose Press Gift certificate. The question to answer is, what's your favorite birthday memory.

Now, next month, I'll be participating in a Blog train contest:

Spring is in the air! Bees are buzzing. Children anxiously await the big morning where they can graze on candy all day. What about mom? We've got a treat for you! Come join a group of romance authors in celebration of spring. Enter to win a prize a day as well as enter to win the grand prize. All you need do is begin at on April 1st. The first author will host the day's contest and provide the link to the next day's location. Don't forget to enter to win the grand prize! Here's the dirt for that:

A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET Grand Prize:

To enter to win prizes from the authors donating treasures to the grand prize (see each day's post for what an author is donating to the grand prize), find the four Easter eggs in the A TISKET A TASKET, PUT ROMANCE IN YOUR BASKET blog event and send their names in to the e-mail provided.

REMEMBER, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN ONE OF 30 PRIZES, PLUS A GRAND PRIZE!

My day to host the blog train is April 30!

Anna Kathryn Lanier
http://www.aklanier.com/

The Friday Record - Colonial and Native American Women's Roles in Society

In May, 2008 I graduated from a junior college with an A.A. in history/education. I earned 18 hours of honors classes. The following is part of an essay I did for World Civilization. The entire essay is 12 pages long, so no, I didn't post it all here. Since it's a college essay, it's a bit dry, but I hope you like it. I did remove the first paragraph, which really explains why it's called "A Woman's Place is the House." I wrote it in 2006, when we held the mid-term elections and Nancy Pelosi was about to be voted into the highest elected office any woman has held in the United States.

My apologies that the footnote numbers have been messed up, so just overlook the huge numbers in the middle of sentences.

Please make a comment on your thoughts about what I've written here. March is National Women's History month. Sometimes I think we forget that women did have a role in shaping our history....but as I say below, history is written by the victors, and those in charge. Those in charge were usually the men. They tended to overlook the role women played.....

A Woman’s Place is in the House:
The Affect of Colonization on
Native American and Colonial Women’s
Place in Society

In the past few decades, women are re-opening doors that were closed with European expansion and going back to the time when they owned the property, the children and were tribal chiefs. The British colonization of the North America Atlantic seaboard is often historically identified in terms of western European conquest, advancement and imperialist destiny, leading to the decline of the Native American civilizations. Because the conquerors wrote the history, the power of Native American women was misidentified or overlooked. Whether on purpose or because of ingrained biases toward women European observers of the American Indian tribes did not recognize the high status of the native women. However, when exploring these powers, it should not be ignored that though native women had much more freedom than the European women, both groups had boundaries that women were expected to stay in and both groups paid the consequences for crossing the line and breaking the rules.

The idea that Native American women were, as a Jesuit priest observed, slaves and “pack-mules”1 to husbands and fathers is a misconception many of the early Europeans to the New World conveyed in their observations and writings. The priest based his argument on the fact that women worked in the field while the men appeared to frolic and play in the woods. His interpretation of women’s work demonstrated his bias and failure to understand the true power and prestige Native American women held within their family and tribe.

Throughout their history, Native American women have had an esteemed position in their tribe’s society. Both the Huron and Iroquois tribes believed in the myth of the Turtle Woman,2 the mother of creation. In this myth, women are sacred creatures, rather than the fallen women of Judo-Christian belief who were vilified for leading men into sin.3 St. Jerome, a 4th-century Latin father, claimed, "Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object."4 Furthermore, Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Christian theologian, expressed the view that a woman’s only worth was to birth children, because “for other purposes men would be better assisted by other men."5 The Christian church did not feel child birth was enough to raise the status of women above the original sin. However, the reverence of forming the world and birthing human-kind raised the standing of Native women within their societies.

In the European society of the time, women were very seldom owners of property. Even today, when a couple buys a home the primary ownership will be listed in the husband’s name. This is contrary to Native American societies where women tended to be the primary property owners. In her essay “The Changing Status of Seneca Women,” Joy Bilharz explains that Iroquois women held high status because of the “female ownership of the land [and] control over horticultural production….”6 Since women were the ones who toiled in the field the land belonged to them, as well as the harvest they reaped from it. Thus, Native American women were in control of the food and could give or deny it as they saw fit. Though it was the Chief who saw to the redistribution of the harvest, it was the women who had the final say in the matter, as the foodstuff belonged to them.7 As the property owners, Native American women held an elevated status within Native American societies.

In addition, since women ran the household, did the cooking and cared for the children, they owned the home, the possessions and the children. Women in Western Europe held all the same duties, yet did not own or control anything. Therefore, the early explorers did not seem to fully understand the role of Native American women. For similar reasons, the explorers did not understand the power Native women had in arranging marriages for their children. In both Europe and the Colonies it was the father who did the arranging, which were usually based on alliances or filling the family’s coffers. However, in some tribes, such as the Iroquois, mothers oversaw this task, looking for unions that would be most advantageous to not only the family, but the community.8

Native women also held a favorable position in marriage. Unlike a European union, either party within a Native American marriage could easily obtain a divorce. Anthony Wallace’s “The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca” explains that since men were hunters, often gone for months or years at a time, “marriages were apt to fray when a husband traveled too far, too frequently or for too long.”9 He might take up a temporary marriage with a woman in another village whose husband was gone, while his wife was doing the same in her village. Upon the husband’s return, he could try to win her back, but it was frowned upon for him to punish his wife or her lover should she choose to stay with the new man.10 In the event of a divorce, the belongings, household and children generally stayed with the woman while the man moved out of the house.

1. Natalie Zemon Davis, “Iroquois Women, European Women.” American Encounters 99.
2. “Native American Myths: Creation By Women,” Cystalinks.
3. “Women’s History in America.”
4. John Demos, “Husbands and Wives, Parents and Children in Plymouth Colony,” The Way We Lived: Essays and Documents in American Social History 64.
5. “Women’s History in America.”
6. Joy Bilharz, “First Among Equals: The Changing Status of Seneca Women,” Women and Power in Native North America 103.
7. James Taylor Carson, “Molly Brant: From Clan mother to Loyalist Chief” Sifters: Native American Women’s Lives 49.
8. Natalie Zemon Davis “Iroquois Women, European Women,” American Encounters 99.
9.Anthony Wallace, “The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca,” The Way We Lived: Essays and Documents in American Social History 12.
10. Anthony Wallace, “The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca,” 12.

Anna Kathyrn Lanier
http://www.aklanier.com/

Wednesday's Chow - Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

Unlike some of the previous recipes I've put up, I have made this cake. My husband's birthday was a few days ago, and I made this for it. It's a really good cake. Looking at it the ingreidents, you wouldn't believe that it's moist, but it is. And the glaze is TO DIE FOR.

It makes a large pan of cake, so make sure you have plenty of people around to help you eat it....unlike us, who basically have hubby and myself! Yeah, and I'm supposed to be on a diet.....

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
Cake:
1 (18.25 oz) plain devil's food cake mix
or devil's food cake mix with pudding
1 (21-oz) can cherry pie filling
2 large eggs
1 tsp. Pure almond extract

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup (6-oz pkg) semisweet chocolate chips

Place a rack in the center o the oven and preheat 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9x13-in baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down as needed. The batter should look thick and well blended.

Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Place pan in oven. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed with your fingers and just starts to pull away from pan (30-35 minutes).

For the glaze, place the sugar, butter and milk in small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil, about 10 minutes. Boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in chocolate chips. When the chips have melted and the glaze is smooth, pour it over the warm cake so that it covers the entire surface. The glaze will be thin, but will firm up as it cools.
Cool cake 20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Serves 20.

Anna Kathryn
http://www.aklanier.com/

I Had a Blast in Shreveport at the Nola Stars Conference! & PW's Party Time!!!

Thanks so much to Anna Kathryn for having me!

I'm really excited about my latest werewolf release, Destiny of the Wolf. It's a stand alone title, although Heart of the Wolf came out last year and made Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year. The werewolf continues in To Tempt the Wolf, which is coming out September 1, think hot sexy naked man on cold Oregon beach where heroine rescues him, but he soon shifts to rescue mode when the heroine's safety is threatened. :)

And after that, an Arctic werewolf story.

Have you ever wondered why writers write what they do?

Heart of the Wolf was written from the heart. Something totally new for me, and my wolfish characters are like real wolves when in their wolf form, but still have the human and wolf instincts, and in their human form, still have their wolf senses. With Destiny of the Wolf, I wanted to show a working werewolf pack who actually run their own town. And in To Tempt the Wolf, the heroe's troubles begin from page one and just keep escalating as he becomes entangled with a woman who's not a werewolf, but stirs his interest just like a lupus garou would. In Legend of the White Wolf, title to change, neither the hero or heroine are werewolves, so it's a whole new set of problems. And in the next two in the series, fans are clamoring for more of Carol from Destiny of the Wolf, Leidolf who is in all the stories, Jake and Tom, who are the hero's brothers in Destiny of the Wolf, and even Zooman Thompson from Heart of the Wolf, and Sam the bartender from Destiny of the Wolf. Sooo, I'm working on Carol's story and her hero. And a new heroine for the another story, and one of the secondaries in the other stories will be her hero. Zooman Thompson makes an appearance also.

And this March, my publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, is featured in Webzine Les Romantiques and they did an interview of me! :) So if you read French, have a peek at their beautiful webzine!

http://www.lesromantiques.com/Webzine/Flip/Free%20Version/Default.html

But I also wanted to mention the fun Shreveport conference where everyone is the friendliest! Lots of great food, super workshops, and a great editor and agent panel, plus tons of editor and agent pitches available.

And I had a couple of firsts there! This was the first time I was a workshop presenter and I gave the Happy Hookers workshop. I had a ball, even though the air conditioner went on the blitz, but no one left the workshop even!! Except for a couple of folks who had to leave for pitches. And they did great! Got requests!

The other first? I got to meet my editor, Deb, from Sourcebooks! I enjoyed spending some time with her, and thinking, gee, a few years back I thought just how neat it was when author friends of mine couldn't spend time with us because they were busy talking to their agents and editors. And finally, that was me! :)

So keep on persevering because it could be you too!

What was said at the conference? Agents and editors alike agreed that your story needs to be unique, finished, not a partial unless you're a multi-published big time author, and well-written, of course, with a hook. See, if you come to Happy Hookers, I can tell you how to do it!

I will be teaching at a teen writing workshop this summer, and again in Toronto! :) But if you can't travel, I teach classes every month all year long.http://www.terryspear.com/id15.html

So why a hook to pitch to the editor or agent? Because if it's an agent, they pass that hook to the editor. And if it's an editor, they use that hook to sell to their sales force. And the sales force uses that pitch to sell to the book stores. That's why a 2-3 sentence hook is so important!

I also have a couple of other releases out this month--Deidre's Secret, YA teen psychic mystery, and Deadly Liaisons, adult vampire romantic suspense, Mar 31. The Vampire...In My Dreams and Winning the Highlander's Heart are already out. :)

This just in: Darque Review of Destiny of the Wolf:

Destiny of the Wolf follows Lelandi’s search for answers in the death of her sister Larissa. With a heavy dose of suspense, Ms. Spear weaves a romantic paranormal mystery that will keep readers on their toes. While the heroine’s sister is a character that even in her absence may be someone that readers will tend to dislike, Lelandi is someone you can’t help warming up to. I’ll be looking forward to this author’s next werewolf adventure.

Barbara Vey's invite to free books on her Publishers Weekly Anniversary Bash! http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/1240041524.html

Sourcebooks authors will be providing recipes and books on Mar 14! 13 authors, 13 books!

And if you want to read about the Nerdy Side of Me, I'm at Fallen Angels Reviews today also!http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/blog/?p=242

Thanks again to Anna Kathryn for having me! And thanks for the Nola Stars coordinators of the conference who truly are stars!

Terry Spear

http://www.terryspear.com/

Western Words 3 Answers - Guest Blogger Terry Spears

How'd you do with Wester Words 3? Here's the correct answers. Thanks for everyone who tried to guess!

1. Calico - C. A woman.
2. Fannin' on her fat - J. Slapping the side of a horse with one's hat.
3. Sand cutter. - E. A native of Kansas.
4. Race A. - A crooked blaze on a horses forehead.
5. Bulge - I. To appear suddenly.
6. Music roots - D. Sweet potatoes.
7. Axle grease - B. Butter.
8. Throw lead - G. The act of shooting a gun.
9. Wassup - H. A nickname for an outlaw horse.
10. Long-haired partner. - F. What a cowman sometimes calls his wife.

On Monday, March 9th, Terry Spears will guest blog for me:

Award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval historical romantic suspense, Heart of the Wolf just named in Publishers Weekly's BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR, NOR Reader Choice for BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE.

Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University and a Bachelors in Business and Distinguished Military Graduate of West Texas A & M. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, to include personalized bears designed to commemorate authors’ books. When she’s not writing or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses.

Originally from California, she’s lived in eight states and now resides in the heart of Texas. She is the author of Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, Temptation of the Wolf, Allure of the Wolf, Winning the Highlander’s Heart, Deadly Liaisons, The Vampire…In My Dreams (young adult), Deidre's Secret (young adult), The Accidental Highland Hero (2010) and numerous articles and short stories for magazines.

Check out more on Terry at http://www.terryspears.com/

Stop by on the 9th and tell Terry hi!

Anna Kathryn

SALVATION BRIDE is Featured in News Article

Author Teri Thackston discusses the popularity of e-books in her daily column. She features several e-book authors, including myself. Check it out and leave a message on her board about what you think of e-books.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3098-Houston-Romance-Novels-Examiner~y2009m3d8-Read-an-Ebook-Week-starts-today

Anna Kathryn Lanier
http://www.aklanier.com/

The Friday Record - Western Words 3

Westerns Words – A dictionary of the Old West

Well, obviously, I haven't had time to do a proper The Friday Record. I mean, it's 9:15 p.m. On Friday. So, here's another western words quiz from Ramon F. Adams' book WESTERN WORDS: A Dictionary of the Old West. Good luck.

Once again, just match the Numbers to the Letters.
Example: 15 X, 16 Y, 17, U

1.Calico
2.Fannin' on her fat
3.Sand cutter.
4.Race
5.Bulge
6.Music roots
7.Axle grease
8.Throw lead
9.Wassup
10.Long-haired partner

A. A crooked blaze on a horses forehead.
B. Butter.
C. A woman.
D. Sweet potatoes.
E. A native of Kansas.
F. What a cowman sometimes calls his wife.
G. The act of shooting a gun.
H. A nickname for an outlaw horse. (I know, what's an outlaw horse?)
I. To appear suddenly.
J. Slapping the side of a horse with one's hat.

Anna Kathryn
www.aklanier.com

The Breast Cancer Site needs your help

The Breast Cancer Site is a place to support free mammograms for poor women. By just clicking a button, you help raise money from its sponsors. There are 4 or 5 other causes you can support at the site as well, from child literacy to animals to feeding the hungry.....all by just clicking a box. They also have stores you can buy nifty stuff from to help raise money. It takes me less than 60 seconds to click through all the sites....but I admit, I don't do it everyday. I need to start doing that again on a regular basis.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/tpc/ERB_030509_BCS

Once you get to the site, you can click just one of the charities and ask that they send you a daily reminder, which I get, but as said, still don't think I have the time....however, come on.....it does only take about a minute to click all the tabs.

March is Women's History Month....let's do something to help the women of the future and give them a live saving mammagram to those who can't afford it.

Anna Kathryn
http://www.aklanier.com/

Wednesday's Chow - Green Beans with Basil

So, you may have noticed The Biggest Loser logo on the right side there. I joined the club in January and did pretty well (7 pounds) until this past weekend. I sorta went wild and gained a few pounds back...yeah in a WEEKEND! That bites. But I'm back on track today (excpet for the Brach's Pastel Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs--which ONLY are on sale this time of the year....but that's another post, which I think I really do need to post about).

With the club, you get a daily menu and recipes. The other day, I made these green beans and let me tell you...they are really good. Usually, I just steam the beans and salt them. But these few added, low calorie additions really make the beans great. A very nice side dish and not too complicated.

Green Beans with Basil

12 ounces of fresh green beans, ends and strings removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons of butter
½ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable broth*
1 teaspoon fresh basil, finely chopped OR
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary

*I used water and beef bullion glandular.

Steam beans until beans are crisp-tender: In a large saucepan, bring 1-inch of water to a boil. Place the beans in a steamer basket and set the basket in the saucepan, making sure the basket sits above the water. Cover and steam for 5 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onion, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4 minutes. Add the broth, basil and rosemary. Cook and stir about 1 minute more or until the celery is tender. Add beans and mix well. Serve warm.

4 servings. 50 calories a serving.

Anna Kathryn
www.aklanier.com

Meet Author T. V. Sweeney

So, tell us a little about yourself? What is your typical day like?

A little about myself... Let's see...I'm just your typical genteely-raised, shy Southerner who ran away from home by hitching a ride on a Conestoga wagon which broke down on the snow-laden plains of Nebraska, where I was stranded until I caught another wagon train headed for sunny California.

A typical day? I wake up, get up, get dressed, drink breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then go back to bed. Seriously, I get up and have a cup of hot chocolate, read the Orange County Register and wonder once more why my name isn't it (if only in the Obits!), then settle myself in front of the computer and go through the job sites and employment listings--sending out resumes and e-mails. Around 6:00 PM, I work on a manuscript, do an interview, or fight with my computer to force it to let me finish a trailer. So far, I've won, but I've a feeling it's just biding its time before it pounces! Around 10:00 PM, I try to watch a little TV but I've yet to see a complete episode of anything. I always fall asleep about 20 minutes into the show!

When did you start to write and how long did it take you get to published? How many stories did you finish before you were published?

You mean writing seriously. Right? Not the fact that when I was nine, I was drawing comics and typing stories on my manual typewriter? Or did a little writing for the college newspaper and actually started a novel while I was in college? (That story later became Bloodseek, by the way.) I began to write seriously after I was stranded in Nebraska. I mean, there's nothing else to do when all you can see out your window is miles and miles of miles and miles...most of them under a blanket of snow in winter or covered with cornstalks or cows in summer. I had very little money for such frivolities as books...so I wrote my own. I dug out that manuscript and finished it and wrote a sequel and a third novel and a fourth and... You get the idea. I took them to work and shared them with all the other readers who were my co-workers and one of them dared me to get one published. "You won't do it!" was the way she put it, with a jeer, so--of course--I had to make a liar out of her, didn't I? I had my honor as a future writer to uphold! (Wish I could let her know what she started! Maybe she'll read this!)

How did you break into publishing?

I'd like to say I sent a manuscript to a well-known publishing house, they recognized my genius, and contracted my book on the spot! Didn't happen. I did send the book I'd just finished, a little Lovecraftian ditty entitled A Bit of the Dark World, which I am currently editing, by the way. (I remember I thought I was being so shocking because the antagonist and the heroine went skinny-dipping! Whoa, have my attitudes changed! In Shadows--my vampire series-- they're naked two-thirds of the time!) Back to the explanation--I sent the manuscript to Kensington Publications and got a very nice, handwritten rejection with suggestions. Not wise to the ways of editors at that point, I didn't know to act on those suggestions and re-submit so I just put it in my "Rejection Folder"--yes, I actually have one--and went on to bigger and better things. (Wonder if that editor's still with them? Nah, probably not.) So I wrote another book--the third version of Bloodseek--and decided to send it to Blue Jay Press which was very active in SF/fantasy at that time. I didn't have their address, so I called Read All About it, a local bookstore, and asked them to look it up for me. The clerk gave me Bluebird Publications' address instead. OK, so I have the name wrong, I thought. I sent the manuscript in, they answered. Wrong publisher. They only did children's stories but they liked the writing. Did I perchance have a young adult story laying around somewhere? What a surprise! Yes, I did! I wrote them. Send it, they pleaded. So... (have you figured out the punchline yet?) I didn't have a story. I had to sit down and write one--which I did--in two weeks (Spacedog's Best Friend) and sent to them. They accepted it... Bingo!--I'm a published writer!

What influenced you to write?

What--or who...? I've always loved to read. My parents--everyone in my family--loves to read. My father never got past the eighth grade but he always had a book handy and he loved science fiction--and James Bond. So on his birthday, I always got him the latest Ian Fleming book and some SF. I got my first book when I was a year old--a cloth one which I tried to devour. It still has my teeth prints on it! (Yes, I still have it!) In the seventh grade, my teacher encouraged all her students to write short stories and read them aloud and I was right up there...back then I wrote about horses and vampires. I still throw in a horse once in a while (Bargain with Lucifer, Dark God Descending) but somewhere along the line, vampires took precedence. In college, I had two teachers who made learning so much fun that I incorporated their expertise into my stories...18th-century literature and Chaucer and Shakespeare. I've dedicated books to all three. Thank you, Drs. Snipes and McMillan, and Mrs. Comer! If I hadn't loved to read, the 3 months I spent in the hospital after an auto accident would have been sheer torture!

What inspired you to write romance?

I didn't really think I was writing romances. I ascribe to the "romans" theory. Those were the stories told by wandering minstrels and troubadors during the Middle Ages--tales of heroic young men on quests and beautiful, endangered heroines with villains with magical powers and lots of supernatural elements. That's what I thought I was writing and somehow "romans" became "romance" and here I am!

What genre or sub-genre do you write? Why did you choose this genre?

I think it's more like a cross-genre rather than a sub-genre. I've written about five "straight" romances--and by that I mean with no supernatural elements at all--but all the rest have some atmosphere of the supernatural about them. If I have to pick a subgenre, I guess it's paranormal romance.

What difficulties does writing this genre present?

I don't find many difficulties at all. The supernatural covers a vast amount of territory, since every culture has its own pantheon of the paranormal. If you ever exhaust one, you can just dig into another, but I doubt depletion of such a vast supply will ever happen, not as long as we authors put our own spin on them. Ireland and Romania seen to be the chief centers of interest, but--there's a whole world out there, with its indigenous monsters and creatures, just waiting to be immortalized in literature! Anyhow...I've found that, if you stick to the very basics within the genre, you can go wild with the specifics and make up just about anything you want. Who's going to prove you wrong?

What motivated you to write your current book?

My current book...you mean the one I'm working on right this minute? That one is a rebellion against the vampire genre, I suppose you could say. Shadows. It poses the question: When is a vampire not a vampire? And the answer: When he's simply a second species of Mankind and not a supernatural creature. I also think that's why it's having such a difficult time being accepted by a publisher--because it's bending the rules a little. I've tried to give logical and natural reasons why these people avoid sunlight...why they are repelled by garlic...can't look at religious object...have wings...and--above all--why they have to have human blood while appearing as otherwise normal humans, but it's still being looked at as a "traditional" vampire story. So--I decided to enter it in the ABNA (Amazon Break-through Novel Award) contest instead!

If you mean the current book to be published, Jericho Road (to be out in March from Lyrical Press) is a romance set in Georgia during the Vietnam War. One of the man characters is a returning vet, newly-married who is haunted by both the atrocities of the war as well as his relationship with an Afro-American soldier in his platoon. Besides those problems, he's in a conflict with his father who's a dye-in-the-world bigot and doesn't want foreigners in their town. When the daughter of the family begins a romance with a Part-Native American doctor, everything explodes.

How much time do you devote to writing each day?

When I was working full-time, I wrote after I got home..usually 3-4 hours a night and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Now that I'm temporarily "at leisure," I write a little more, about 5-6 hours a day, generally from 6:00 PM to midnight or beyond, if I get inspired.

Tell us about your other works, books, stories, etc.

Where to start? (This is where it gets embarrassing because I feel that I'm just doing nothing but bragging. Can I ask one of my fellow writers to take over for this segment? Linda? Mary? Are either of you two around?) I'm just going to list them by Publisher, would that be all right?

Books in Motion (three audio books): Walks the Shadow Trail, Vengeance from Eden, The Last Voyage of Sinbad Singh

PublishAmerica: The Rose and the Dragon, Dragon in Chains

Double Dragon Publications: full-length, unabridged editions of Walks the Shadow Trail, Vengeance from Eden, Sinbad's Last Voyage, Sinbad's Wife, Bloodseek, Blood Curse, and;Murder in Old Blood, Bloodseek, The Irish Lady's Spanish Lover (by Icy Snow Blackstone). All available in print, ebook, or Kindle. Scheduled for 2009: A Singing in the Blood, Sinbad's Pride.

The Wild Rose Press: "Love, Vampire Style," "Demon in Blue Jeans," Three Moon Station (by Icy Snow Blackstone)

Lyrical Press: scheduled for March, April, May 2009: Jericho Road, Earthman's Bride, When the Condor Returns

Leucrota Press: Blood Sin scheduled for June, 2009

Wolfsongs anthology (out in December) "Ill-Met by Moonlight."

Sounds of the Night magazine: "Sometimes Love Returns." (February, 2009 issue) "Ill-met by Moonlight" appears in the premier and a poem "Epitaf" was in the second issue.

Amazon Shorts: "Sidewalk Sale," "Shadow's Crossing," "One for Eternity," "Victory for the Hawk," "The Lover in the Lake," "Love and Adler's Brain," "The Witch, the Wolf, and the Sellsword," "The Best Dentist in Orange County," "Paradise Redundant," and "Variation on the Theme of Man." (available in Kindle)

What are you working on now?

I'm currently struggling with a paranormal story called Wizard's Wife. I just finished editing Blood Sin for Leucrota Press and Jericho Road for Lyrical Press.

How do you write? Are you a panster or a plotter? Is it your characters or your plot that influences you the most?

Sometimes one, sometimes the other. I could conjure up a plot--an impoverished European nobleman buys a ranch in the American West--and then the characters emerge to play it out. I start thinking dialogue--"Why do you love me?" he asked, suddenly. "God knows," she answered, "because I sure don't!" or description--not necessarily in the order it will go in the book, such as: Once, in a reminiscent moment, he told her how the other cadets teased him shortly after he'd been sent to the Academy. Because of his coppery ringlets, they'd called him "Sweetheart" and "Dearest" and one morning, he'd awakened to find the curls adorned with bright pink ribbons knotted so tightly they had to be cut off with a knife. He'd used that same blade on his hair and had never let it grow past the nape of his neck again. I might think out the very last line of a story and build the entire novel around it. I may think up a character--a halfbreed who hates his father's people and then falls in love with one of them--and it goes from there: The Rover disappeared around the bend in the road, taking Sinbad to his last voyage.


What was the most usual way you came up with a story idea? I mean, I’ve gotten a plot idea from a song I heard, from brainstorming with a classmate. What unusual thing caused you to think, ‘hey, I could make that into a story?’

I think all my "flashes of genius" are unusual. You've already heard about Three Moon Station. The inspiration for "Demon in Blue Jeans" was a song I heard when I was a Doctor's Assistant, beack in the '80s. I think the title was "Somebody's Knockin'." It was a Country/Western song about a woman who discovers the devil outside her door, and the lines, "I'd heard about him but I'd never dreamed he'd have blue eyes and blue jeans..." stuck with me. I could just see her peeping through the fisheye and seeing this gorgeous hunk with perhaps tiny horns on his temples. That image stayed with me until 2007, when I finally gave up and wrote the story. Talk about long-lasting! I've been talking with someone and said something and thrown out, "And that would make a good story, wouldn't it?" so they come from all places. I also wrote a story from a dream, once.

If you could spend an hour talking to anyone from any time in history, who
would it be? And Why?

I know the people who know me are thinking I'm going to say Dracula, but I'm not...perhaps Cleopatra, a very strong-willed, determined woman. I'd finally get the low-down on her and Julius Caesar and Mark Antony...did he really sleep with his mouth open so she could drop grapes into it?

Tell us some of the things interviewers are saying about your story or stories.

How much space do we have? (Just kidding!) "Love, Vampire Style" has gotten some very good reviews: Though Love Vampire Style is just a small bite of a story, it’s a good bite, and, with a great main character and a savory love story, it’s well worth your time to read. I’ve always enjoyed anything written by Ms. Sweeney, and Love Vampire Style is no exception. --Margaret Marr, Nights and Weekends; Love, Vampire Style may be short but if you want to sit back and enjoy a paranormal delight, sink your teeth into this story.--Long and Short Reviews

Others: Murder in Old Blood-- I haven’t read a vampire novel this good since Ann Rice’s Interview with the Vampire... This is an author to watch; she’s sure to go places in the vampire genre.--Margaret Marr, Nights and Weekends. Bloodseek-- From arresting cover graphics to Toni V. Sweeney’s impeccable approach, her marvel of beautiful linguistics, brisk humour before a grim mood unearths the ineffable...Toni V. Sweeney carves yet another sensation.--Eugen Bacon, tcm-ca.com/reviews. Sinbad's Last Voyage: ...the best thing Ms. Sweeney has written so far... You'll be hard-pressed to find anything like Sinbad's Last Voyage, so if you're looking for a romance that's not another of the cookie-cutter offerings out there, this is a great place to start.--Margaret Marr, Nights and Weekends, and one last one from Ms. Marr-- Ms. Sweeney brings her characters to life so well that you'll really care about what happens to them... Vengeance from Eden will go on my bookshelf as one of my favorite westerns to date. (I think she likes me!)

What is your all time favorite book?

I'm afraid I'd have to divide that between Dracula and Gone with the Wind--and if that isn't a diversity of interest, I don't know what is!

How do you do research for your books? What’s the most interesting bit of research you’ve come across?

It depends on the book. In Shadow Lord, I wanted to make certain even the most mundane things--what we take for granted today--were as accurate as possible, such as...cigarettes and fire arms... Did they have cigarettes in the early 19th century? If so, what did they use to light them? Couldn't whip out the ol' Zippo. A candle or burning twig from the fire is okay, but what if there's no fire around? What if there's a dance and you're taking a breather on the terrace and want a smoke? I discovered that cigarettes were around in 1809 and were called cigaritos. Matches were invented around that time and were known as lucifers. They were very dangerous because they could ignite just from touching each other. I also discovered that handguns were very common weapons as far back as the 13th century. For Bloodseek, I did a lot of research into medieval betrothal and marriage customs, for even though the story is a fantasy set on another planet, the culture is similar to that of the 12th century, so I took what I found and changed it just enough to make it more appropriate to an alien lifestyle. I think one of the more interesting bits of information I found was when I was researching a fictional biography of Vlad Tepes, the man known as Dracula, a little something called the "Morning Gift," a present bestowed on a bride after her wedding night by a grateful husband. Dracula's gift to his bride is the execution of a man who conspired to assassinate him. She asks instead that he make the man's life her "Morning Gift" and let him live instead. He agrees and banishes the would-be murderer from Transylvania forthwith.

Discovery and History Channels are wells of information to be stored away for future use.

What advice would you give aspiring writers today?

The usual: Be determined, be persistent, and be tough!

How do you like your fans to contact you?

I have a website www.tonivsweeney.com, and there's an e-mail address tonivsweeney@hotmail.com--or, if they're driving past, they can wave!