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Writing means different things to me. I'm a storyteller, a book editor, and a songwriter. For me, it's like breathing.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

New book release! Awakening the Fae, a Shadow-walkers time travel romance

.99 for a limited time. Grab your copy of this captivating paranormal romance now!







AWAKENING THE FAE
SHADOW-WALKERS BOOK 4

(This is a standalone story in the Shadow-walkers series.)

Time can’t separate them, but fate can.
Do you like time travel stories with a hot elven king and lots of twists? The women are the rock stars here, and they command the supernatural alpha males in their lives. Grab a copy now and enter the sexy, scary, and thrilling world of Shadow-walkers. This compelling romance will capture your soul.

She’s the most powerful Shadow-walker…and the most vulnerable.

Dina, the wild, strong-willed drummer for Hecate’s Fury and wearer of the Gateway rune, is thrust back in time where she meets a tall, handsome faery king. Beneath all the beauty of the aes sidhe city lurks a dark, menacing danger, and nothing is as it seems. She may be the only one to help them, but the cost to her is high.

Beware a kiss in moonlight.

Roan may be the only male to tame Dina’s restless spirit, the king’s cold nature both enticing and challenging. However, another covets her Shadow-walker and bruja powers. The rival’s obsession is relentless, his magic difficult to resist, even for a Shadow-walker.

Past and present collide as both males vie for her. Only the power of love and sacrifice can unite her with her true mate.
*
Excerpt:

Damn. If they were LARPing, they took it very seriously and didn’t break from their roles as they dragged me into the woods and out the other side. I gaped at the scene across the stone bridge. A palace and smaller structures built on top of pillars, all made of white stone like they’d been carved there by gods, were nestled beneath the high, rocky, grass-covered cliffs. Sparkling waterfalls flowed down beneath the cliff-side city and emptied into a river. Small trees adorned the landscape and added color to the gleaming white structures. Had I stepped into a fantasy novel?
My captors pushed me toward the bridge spanning the river.
I scowled at them. “Hey, dudes, easy.”
“Walk or I will have you dragged across,” the leader grated between clenched teeth.
I lifted my chin and walked, the two men holding my arms. They led me up marble steps to an arched doorway. The leader stepped ahead of us, motioning for all four men to wait with me. After a few minutes, he reappeared, and then my captors thrust me inside the huge domed building I’d seen across the bridge. Gripping my upper arms in a painful hold, they ushered me down an entryway lined with torches and steered me around a central stone fire pit. They shoved me forward and released me so abruptly I fell to my knees, landing hard on a bearskin rug. I started to stand and was forced back down.
“Kneel before King Roan,” the leader rasped as he pushed on the back of my neck.
My head forcefully bent, I raised my gaze to the shadowed figure in the rear of the large room, glimpsing stone statues of animals and beautiful god-like beings peeking from the alcoves, an array of silvery, life-like etchings glimmering in the dimness.
The king stepped off a carved, pelt-covered wooden throne nestled between the trunks of two oak trees that grew out the curved roof. He came forward. A cold sneer curled his clean-shaven lip. Daylight beamed inside from a high window, illuminating him in a golden splash of light that bathed him in an ethereal radiance. My gaze widened. King Roan was the most beautiful, fiercest-looking man I’d ever seen with long white-blond hair and icy blue-gray eyes beneath thick, dark eyebrows. His skin was like milk. He wore a spotless, long-sleeved, belted purple tunic, dark brown leggings, and a simple but regal silver branch-like headband.
Seriously, where the hell am I? In a Lord of the Rings dream? Because this guy looked like one of the Grey Elves. That had been one powerful joint Selena had given me. Had the person who had paid her to drug me known this—whatever this was—would happen?
The king prodded me with his leather-booted foot. “Who is this? She wears strange clothing.”
Huh, I’m thinking the same thing about you.
The ninja leader unwrapped his headscarf. “We found her inside our barriers.”
“A human breached our barriers?” A slight tone of alarm filled the king’s deep voice.
Human? What?
“I-I don’t know how I arrived here.”
The ninja leader seized the back of my neck, causing shooting pain, and I winced.
“Do not speak to the king unless told to do so,” he growled.
King Roan waved his hand downward. “Release her, Commander.”
He did but roughly pushed my head before he backed off. I turned a glare on the commander, cringed beneath his withering stare, and then faced the king, deciding it might be wise, at least for now, to keep my eyes lowered. These people were acting strange, and my gut was warning me to be careful.
King Roan grunted and put his finger beneath my chin, coaxing me to look at him. “What is your name?”
“Dina.”
His touch produced strange tingles. I quivered beneath his stare, the blue-gray in his eyes flickering and softening for a moment, his jaw set tight.
He quickly withdrew his finger and cleared his throat as if the brief spark of emotion when he’d touched me surprised him. “Rise.”
*

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Review of A Spell Takes Root by Keith Hendricks

A Spell Takes Root: An Epic Fantasy (The Tree of Five Worlds)A Spell Takes Root: An Epic Fantasy by Keith Hendricks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great world-building
Too many long descriptions bogged down the beginning for me, but once I got past that, I enjoyed immersing myself in the world the author created filled with adventure and action. I liked passages like this one: “Which is not to say that the goblin woman laughed like a lady, but with a sharp scowl that would have cut the manhood from Khyte if it could.” This story is for fans of unique fantasy worlds.



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Thursday, March 21, 2019

Behold the Dawn book review

Behold the DawnBehold the Dawn by K.M. Weiland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the whole redemption theme in this story, and it was a well-written tale. It moved a little slow at first, but I didn’t mind that too much. Sometimes, I like to savor a story. All the brutality of war and life in the time of the Crusades came to life in all the senses. I liked the characters. Annan was strong and true to his warrior nature, and Maired wasn’t a wilted flower. I wanted to learn more about what happened in his past at St. Dunstan, and at times I got a bit confused about some of these characters relating to that incident. All in all, this was a really good read and highly recommended.

I received this book for free and voluntarily wrote an honest review.


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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

This werewolf romance is only .99 for a limited time

Awakening the Wolf is only .99 for a limited time. Grab your copy now!

If you like sexy werewolf heroes and thrilling murder mysteries, plus passionate love stories, then don't wait to get your discounted copy.

This is a standalone love story within my Shadow-walkers world.


Writing fiction—don’t forget the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict

The GMC or Goal, Motivation, and Conflict are the most important ingredients in storytelling, and somehow, I started a story and forgot all about the GMC. I had my basic idea and characters, but when I started working on the story, I forgot to pin down the three main points. It didn’t take me long to realize that my story had nowhere to go because my characters had no specific desires or wanted to gain anything and nothing was holding them back. No GMC = no story.



Here is something I came up with to help me know my characters and define their goals, motivation, and conflict.

First off, the goal is the one thing the main characters want. The goal needs to be something that they want so badly they will do anything to get to that goal. The goal should be important enough for characters to act against.

The motivation is why the characters want what they want—the drive and back-story. Anything is possible for character as long as the writer explains why to give the reader enough motivation to give the story credibility. The writer needs to know their characters well so that the actions stay in character to justify and make the reasons for actions clear to readers. When a character wants something bad enough, the reader will, too.

The last piece is conflict, which is why the characters can’t get what they want, the trouble, tension and roadblocks that are preventing the characters from achieving their goals. Conflict drives the plot and motivates the characters. There are two types of conflict—external and internal. External conflict can be a person, an intolerable situation, or an act of God. Internal conflict is inner struggles within the characters.

I find it helpful to have character charts for my main characters. Here is an example of a character chart that I use to help me get to know my characters:

Character Name:

Sun Sign:

Race:

Age:

Height:

Hair Color:

Eye Color:

Skin Color:

Weapons:

Religion or Beliefs:

Dilemma:

Goal:

Motivation:

Conflict:

His secret:

What would destroy him:

What would help him survive and be better:

Bad Trait:

Good Trait:


Happy Writing!

Kelley Heckart
Historical fantasy and Paranormal romance
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604




Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Shadow-walkers are here

For my latest series, I decided to draw on my past as a rock and roll bassist for inspiration. It turned out by doing that, I was also inspired to start writing music again with my husband.

My Shadow-walkers series is a mix of Supernatural and Rock Star. The twist is that the girls are the wild rock stars, and they command the supernatural men they love.

This is the only life I know. I never grew up worshiping guys in a band. I wasn't a groupie. I was a musician like them. It would be weird for me to write a series based on bad boy rockers. It had to be about the women of rock. The guys in my series are not wimps, though. They can hold their own against the headstrong females of Hecate's Fury.

Kate, Cyn, Jessie, Dina, and Mickey have come to life in the music I am creating and recording with my husband. Their songs can be found here:

If you like strong, wild, talented women and hunky supernatural men, plus a mix of rock and roll, the paranormal, and hot, passionate romance, then grab the first two books in this series. Each book is a standalone love story in the world I've created.

For more information on Shadow-walkers, click here: 



Review of Dirty Like Us by Jaine Diamond

Dirty Like Us (Dirty, #0.5)Dirty Like Us by Jaine Diamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story about a hunky, cocky, man-whore rock star and the complicated relationship with the woman who just might capture his heart. It didn't have a HEA or HFN ending, but I understand this is part of a larger series, and I believe Maggie and Zane's relationship is just beginning. I really liked Maggie, and despite Zane's sex addiction, he wormed his way in. The story was well-written and engaging. I look forward to reading more in this series. I recommend this if you like sexy rock and roll stories.


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