Unleashed By Shadows Book Review

Cale ~ Terriot King aka Gunslinger

Title:  Unleashed by Shadows
Series:  By Moonlight, book 10
Author:  Nancy Gideon
Release Date:  Print: Oct. 17, 2015
                         Ebook - Oct. 26, 2015
My Rating:  5 Searing, Soul Searching ♥'s
First Thoughts:  Sometimes, the greatest danger to man comes from secrets hidden within . . . the ones lurking in the dark shadows of one's own soul. They hold the power to destroy us - they are the opponent we must conquer if we are to survive with our sanity and life intact.  Even a King is vulnerable to the darkness . . . he just has farther to fall when he loses.

Synopsis:

He feared no man, no foe, no obstacle or challenge . . . 

Burdened by the weight of his secrets and his father’s sins, the need for redemption pulls Cale Terriot from his duty to his clan and the arms of his new mate into deadly intrigues in a rival territory. His dangerous masquerade in a high-stakes Shifter fight club is about to be exposed to those who would show no mercy – if he can survive in the ring.

How to protect a prince turned king made pawn? 

Fearing she’ll lose her soulmate to the darkness he carries inside, Kendra Terriot, newly made queen in the Shape-shifter House of Terriot, must provide him with an heir in order to save his life . . . and his soul. But first she must risk all to coax him back from the edge of violence inherited with his crown.

Can her love tear him from an unbreakable vow that can only end in death?

My Review:

Burdened by a dark past ripe with blood, death, & enough guilt and regrets to last several lifetimes, Cale Terriot is on a mission to make amends and atone for the sins of his father and so when  Silas MacCreedy calls in a debt, Cale reluctantly agrees to help him.  When he learns what is expected of him, Cale knows he should refuse but it's the only way to satisfy his debt and ease his guilt.  The King of the Terriot clan of Shapeshifters goes underground to fight in an illegal fight ring in an effort to discover the names of the men at the top - the powers that be who pose a real threat to his people, family, & all of New Orleans.  Cale knows he's walking on dangerous ground, flirting with the devil as he falls under the spell and into the hands of Casper Lee.  He's walking a high wire without a safety net and dangerously close to falling off.  I won't go into more details on the story to avoid spoilers, but Unleashed is a riveting read, one intimately woven to include a large cast of characters in a plot with more twists and turns than a curvy mountain road.

From King to the drug induced world of illegal fighters . . . what happens when a man risks everything in an effort to make amends for the past?  When is the cost of redemption too high?  If Cale survives the fight in the ring, will he be lost to the inner darkness threatening his soul?  Cale is crumpling under the weight of a heavy secret - one that haunts him, one that is destroying him, one that may cost him the love of his life.  In order to win the fight in the ring, the King of the Terriots will have to flirt with a dark mistress from his past . . . one that nearly destroyed him before his mate, Kendra, stepped in, refusing to let him go. Cale enters a battle for his life, his mate, his people, and his soul.  They say the truth will set you free - but what if it costs him everything?

Cale Terriot is simply awesome in Unleashed By Shadows.  There's no doubt he's King of the Terriots as he struts his stuff whether working undercover as a common dock worker, getting down & bloody in a fight ring to the roar of Gunslinger, or shaking his mighty fine ass on the dance floor.  He is arrogant, cocky, and smokin' hot!  He's also protective, devoted, & actually very vulnerable.  He accepts the weight of the crown pressing heavily upon him as he fights to save all that is dear to him.  There are two sides of Cale Terriot to be experienced in this book, and the cover reflects both of them beautifully.

Kendra Terriot surprised me in Unleashed.  Gone is the shy, meek girl who married her Prince.  Present & accounted for is a kickass woman who goes to bat for her man.  She is spunky, sassy, and a force to be reckoned with - as Cale himself soon discovers.  I loved the new, improved Kendra.  She no longer stands behind her King, she stands beside him as his Queen.

And then, there's the Terriot Brothers - Colin, Rico, and Kip.  Gorgeous, powerful, lethal and loyal to their brother and the crown he wears.  Sensing the imminent danger surrounding their brother and king, they unite to cover his back.  Together, they are a force to be reckoned with.  One of the sexiest things I've ever seen is the Terriot brothers in action on the dance floor.  Somebody pour me a cold one!  Cale, Colin, & Rico take over a dance floor with moves that will leave you panting for more.  I am hoping for much more of the Terriot brothers in future books.

How can I talk about Moonlight #10 without mentioning Max and CeeCee?  They return from their honeymoon a little more than halfway through this book.  Max is magnificent as always! It does my heart good to see this man/shifter happy with his mate, CeeCee, by his side. There are some great scenes between Max & Cale as Max shares some of his secret abilities and powers with Cale in an effort to help him prepare for the fight of his life.

Unleashed By Shadows is an intense, riveting, explosive read that had my heart racing, my libido firing, and my laughter ringing out loud.  While Unleashed is intense, Nancy Gideon's snarky humor is always evident, and I'm happy to say that she rings the sex-o-meter bell more than once in this one!  Cale's story will grab you by the heart strings as you share the journey of a guilt ridden man seeking redemption - one who is haunted by shadows of regret and a past that will bury him alive if he doesn't open up and let the light shine in.  Unleashed By Shadows is a heart-touching, sexy, soul searching read.  A Page Burner!  A Must Read!

My Rating:  5 Gorgeous, Soul-Touching ♥'s . . . And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx
Sandra

Walk Through Fire Book Review

Logan aka High - Chaos MC

Title:  Walk Through Fire
Series:  Chaos #4
Author:  Kristen Ashley
Release Date:  October 26, 2015
My Rating:  4 Fiery ♥'s

First Thoughts:  Sometimes, love hurts.  Sometimes, the measure of love is how much you're willing to give up.  Sometimes, fairy tales turn into long nightmares.  Sometimes, you have to walk through fire to get a second chance.

*Many thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for a review.

Synopsis:

Millie Cross knows what it's like to burn for someone. She was young and wild and he was fierce and even wilder-a Chaos biker who made her heart pound. They fell in love at first sight and life was good, until she learned she couldn't be the woman he needed and made it so he had no choice but to walk away. Twenty years later, Millie's chance run-in with her old flame sparks a desire she just can't ignore. And this time, she won't let him ride off . . . 

Bad boy Logan "High" Judd has seen his share of troubles with the law. Yet it was a beautiful woman who broke him. After ending a loveless marriage, High is shocked when his true love walks back into his life. Millie is still gorgeous, but she's just a ghost of her former self. High's intrigued at the change, but her betrayal cut him deep-and he doesn't want to get burned again. As High sinks into meting out vengeance for Millie's betrayal, he'll break all over again when he realizes just how Millie walked through fire for her man . . . 

My Review:

All Millie wanted was a burrito . . . not the salad she should have, a burrito.  While waiting in line to get her burrito that wasn't a salad, she hears a voice from her past, a voice from 20 years ago that could still make her blood sing, a voice she'd know anywhere - Logan aka High.  She did the only thing she could - she turned and ran out without a burrito.  But it was too late as High was deep under her skin, always had been, always would be - even after 20 years apart.  Later, Millie decides it's time to face Logan/High and clear the air . . . give him the truth about why she left him.  And she knows that in order to find High, she'll have to go to Chaos MC.

Thus begins the story of the turbulent reunion of Millie & Logan - two people who fell in love at first sight 20 years ago, two people who had loved and planned for their future with a passion, two people who were both utterly destroyed when Millie walked away.  In typical KA style, the plot is intricately woven including several characters from past books and the continued threat of danger from Benito Valenzuela.  Logan, like all the badass Chaos men, is fierce, bossy, protective, and once he learns the reason Millie left him - determined to reclaim what he lost 20 years ago . . . no matter the cost.  Millie is a woman that has just gone through the motions of living since leaving Logan.  She is smart and successful but an empty shell inside - until Logan awakens the girl he fell in love with again.  But for me, the stars of this book are the fierce women of Chaos - Tyra, Lanie, Carissa, Tab, & Elvira (while not technically Chaos, she's still a member of their posse.)  This gang takes it upon themselves to get Millie & Logan back together . . . even after specific orders from their men to stay out of it!  The results are sometimes catastrophic and often hilarious.  The Chaos men don't stand a chance of controlling this posse of women as they set out to right a love gone wrong.

The road to reconnecting with lost love is often a long one, with twists and turns that can lift you up or rip you apart.  Sometimes, love hurts.  Sometimes, the measure of love is how much you're willing to give up.  Sometimes, fairy tales turn into long nightmares.  Sometimes, you have to walk through fire to get a second chance.  Untamed is the story of Millie & Logan's second chance.  It is poignant, heart-touching, & sexy as sin.  A Must Read!

My Rating:  4 Fiery ♥'s . . . And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra 

Untamed Book Review

Griffin Hancock - Bass Player, D-Bags

Title:  Untamed
Series:  Thoughtless #4
Author:  S. C. Stephens
Release Date:  Nov. 3, 2015
Rating:  4 Sizzling ♥'s

First Thoughts:  It's a long way down from Rock Star to Rock Bottom.  Sometimes you don't realize what you have until you lose it all . . . this is the story of  a man, a rock god, who tosses away everything for an illusive dream - one that turns into his worse nightmare.


*Many thanks to Netgally & the publisher for providing me this ARC.

Synopsis:
The spotlight doesn't only shine. Sometimes it burns.

Being the bad-boy bassist for the world's hottest band has earned Griffin Hancock some perks: a big house, a fast car, and most importantly his incredible wife, Anna. The one thing it hasn't brought him is the spotlight. Anna tells him to be patient, that his talent will win out. But Griffin is through waiting for permission to shine.

Without warning, Griffin makes a shocking decision and takes the gamble of a lifetime. Suddenly he's caught up in a new level of lights, cameras, and chaos. One that pushes his relationship with Anna to its limits. Anna has always found his unpredictable behavior sexy, but lately he's seen an ache in her eyes--and it has his soul in knots. Just as the recognition Griffin seeks is finally within reach, the thing he loves most in life could be slipping through his fingers...

My Review:

Life is good for Griffin Hancock - he's got it all . . . a beautiful wife & daughter, all the material things his heart desires, and he's the bass player of the famous rock band, D-Bags. Women desire him, and men want to be him.  So why isn't he ecstatically happy? Why isn't that enough?  Because Griffin wants and thinks he deserves more - he is tired of being just the bass player. He's tired of standing in the shadow of Kellan Kyle, lead singer of the D-Bags, as well as the other band mates.  He's ready to step into the limelight & let the world see his awesomeness. The old green-eyed monster is eating him alive, and Griffin reacts the only way he knows how - he's obnoxious, arrogant, insulting, & obscenely vulgar.  He pushes everyone's buttons while alienating all who love him.  When an unforeseen opportunity to shine like the star he believes himself to be presents itself, Griffin jumps without a safety net - without consulting his wife, Anna, without talking to his friends, without a backup plan.  He finds himself caught up in a web of lies and deceit that threatens to wreck his world.

Griffin is way past arrogant in the first half of Untamed.  I was a little surprised at the depth of his vulgarity, crudeness, and jealousy and quite frankly, I felt like he needed to open his eyes & ears and get over himself.  I was to the point of thinking I couldn't take anymore of his lewd behavior when the story shifted and things began to change.  How hard the mighty fall. Griffin has a hard lesson to learn, and the second half of the book deals with his new reality.

It's a long way down from Rock Star to Rock Bottom.  Griffin learns the truth the hard way - sometimes you don't know what you have until you lose it all.  What do you do when you've lost everything?  How do you claw your way back to the top? Untamed  is the story of a man who learns how fast an illusive dream can turn into your worse nightmare. He learns what happens when you let pride stand in the way of seeking redemption, and he learns what he can't live without.  Untamed is a great addition to the Thoughtless series.  A Must Read!

My Rating:  4 Forgiving ♥'s . . . And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra

IWSG: Living & Writing in Color

Seasons are changing here in North Carolina.  The morning air is crisper, a bit sharper.  The sky is clearer, a little bluer.  Orange pumpkins dot the landscape, many of them wearing their Halloween faces.  Scarecrows, witches, and ghosts decorate front yards & porches, sentinels standing guard over hearth & home.  I'm surrounded by a riot of color as hardwood trees strut their stuff, putting on their yearly fashion show, their one last hurrah before old man winter moves in and blows all their colorful leaves to the ground.  



Autumn is all about color - an assault on the senses. The sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and yes, even the feel of Fall awakens so many emotions in me - many of the same emotions that I strive to share with readers through my stories.

Like life, writing should be woven with color, teasing all the senses - sight, sound, smell, touch, & taste.  It should bring characters to life, make them so real that the reader will laugh with them and cry for them.  How do you do that?  By making a strong emotional connection between the reader and your characters.  After all, emotions belong to the reader.  It is our job as writers to make the reader feel empathy for our characters - our job to elicit a reaction from the reader.  You can tell a reader that a character is unhappy or mad or glad by stating the facts, but to get a honest, heart felt reaction out of a reader, to make a reader really care, you have to write in such a way as to allow the reader to experience the emotion.  



If you want to get an emotional reaction from your readers, start building your case by revealing the source of the character's emotion - the reason the character says or does or feels or acts as they do.  Once you have established cause, then you raise the stakes - take the scene/situation up a notch, add color & depth by upping the stakes, revealing the emotional & physical consequences of a character's actions, ratcheting up the emotional costs - what does your character stand to lose? Everything?   

After building your case, laying your groundwork, stand back and trust the reader to react and experience the avalanche of colorful emotions rolling off the pages, invading their mind, heart, & soul.  If you've done your job, built your emotional case strong enough,  the reader will have become emotionally vested, and they'll react with strong emotion to your characters and story.  They will both love and hate with a passion.  They will cry a river of tears for a lost or broken character and raise their voices to rejoice with one who has found their way back home.  They will experience jealousy lost in a blue haze and fury igniting in a red rage.  They will live, breathe, eat, and sleep your story in color.  They'll hear voices of characters in their head and see them meandering through their dreams at night.

As an avid reader, I know this to be true as I've experienced it time and time again at the hands of a gifted author.  As a writer, my goal is to achieve this same high level connection between my characters and my readers by carefully laying my groundwork, detailing reasons for the emotional baggage carried by each character, and then . . . by placing each of my characters on an emotional roller coaster, buckling them in, and flipping the switch to On.  If I've done my job, the readers will feel, react, and experience the collision of colorful emotions, the destruction or salvation of individual characters. 

Again, one lesson I've learned as both a reader and a writer is that emotions belong to the reader.  If you don't elicit a strong emotional reaction from your readers, you'll lose them. You can deliver a bigger emotional punch by writing in color, not black & white.  

 Do you live life and write in color?  What do you do to help your readers experience your characters emotional journey?  Share any ideas/thoughts/tips with us.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a community of writers whose purpose is to share with and encourage other writers. Writers can express doubts and concerns and offer & receive encouragement and guidance.  IWSG posts the first Wednesday of every month.  Be sure to check out other IWSG writers/bloggers here:  IWSG Members

IWSG: Time Flies . . .

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a community of writers whose purpose is to share with and encourage other writers. Writers can express doubts and concerns and offer & receive encouragement and guidance.  IWSG posts the first Wednesday of every month.  Be sure to check out other IWSG writers/bloggers here:  IWSG Members

Time Flies . . .And Waits For No One!

Is it really September 1st?  Four months remaining in 2015?  Are you kidding me?!  It's absolutely spooky how fast time flies.  I remember celebrating the new year, lamenting the bitter cold of winter that lingered way too long, and basking in the warmth of spring when she finally appeared.  I remember spring  turning into the long, hot, humid days of summer way too soon.  And while it's still very hot here in the South, I know the first few cool days of Fall are just around the corner.  

Can I turn back the clock?

As sure as the sun rises every morning, time is marching on.  And it's definitely not waiting on me to finish my current book in progress.  It's a bit scary when I realize how fast time slips by.  A day, a week, a month . . .it's gone in a heartbeat.  I want to scream No . . .Slow down!  But Father Time isn't listening, doesn't care.

It's frustrating for me as I began the year with high hopes of being ready to publish my current work in progress in 2015. I feel like I should be finished and yet, I'm not.  I want to type The End but I'm not there yet.  I've tried to write consistently, and after spending way too much time stuck in the middle, I'm once again moving forward.  (Have you ever been stuck there?)  So, other than lost time trying to fight my way out of the mental middle roadblock, I'm content with having met several of my goals, including sticking with my writing schedule.  I simply need more time (there's that word again).

I've always heard time flies when you're having fun, and I know it does.  But it also flies while you have your back turned, while you're dealing with the many trials & tribulations of day to day living, while you're finding your way around all the roadblocks (whether real or imagined).  

Am I the only one who thinks 2015 is flying by?  Have you accomplished your writing goals this year?  One thing is certain - Time Flies!

The Queen Review

Title:  The Queen
Series:  The Original Sinners:  The White Years
Author:  Tiffany Reisz
Release Date:  Oct. 27, 2015

Rating:  5 Beautiful Erotic ♥'s

First Thoughts:  Raw, Erotic, Intimate . . .I'm left feeling a bit guilty, like I've been eavesdropping on a confession...as a matter of fact, I have.


*Many thanks to the publisher, Harlequin,  for providing me with an ARC of The Queen via Netgally.

Other books I've reviewed by this author:  The Siren and The Saint

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, Nora and Søren made a fateful deal—if he gave her everything, she would give him forever. 

The time has finally come to keep their promises. 

Out of money and out of options after her year-long exile, Eleanor Schreiber agrees to join forces with Kingsley Edge, the king of kink. After her first taste of power as a Dominant, Eleanor buries her old submissive self and transforms into Mistress Nora, the Red Queen. With the help of a mysterious young man with a job even more illicit than her own, Nora squares off against a cunning rival in her quest to become the most respected, the most feared Dominatrix in the Underground. 

While new lovers and the sweet taste of freedom intoxicate Nora, she is tempted time and time again by Søren, her only love and the one man who refuses to bow to her. But when Søren accepts a new church assignment in a dangerous country, she must make an agonizing choice—will the queen keep her throne and let her lover go, or trade in her crown for Søren's collar? 

With a shattering final confession, the last link in the chain is forged in The Original Sinners saga. It's the closing chapter in a story of salvation, sacrifice and the multitude of scars we collect in the name of ecstasy—and love.

My Review:

All Hail the Queen!  And that is you, Tiffany Reisz!  I bow to you as you've delivered yet another masterpiece - the absolute perfect ending to this series - how very fitting that it go out like this.  I started this book with trepidation, sad because the end was in sight, worried it might fall just a wee bit short of my sky high expectations . . .ridiculous, I know, as you've never failed to deliver anything but the creme de la creme.  The Queen is that and more, as it delivers a knock out punch straight to the heart.  It is raw, erotic, honest, and yet so very intimate. I was left feeling a little guilty - like I had been eavesdropping on someone's confession and in fact, I had.  Discussing the story without spoilers is nigh on impossible but I'll try to hit some highlights and give voice to the multitude of emotions that consumed me as I read. 

The Queen opens with a beautiful wedding in Scotland (imagine Soren & Kingsley in kilts!) Afterwards, Soren & Nora sit in the chapel, as they nervously await a life altering event that will occur in three short hours.  Nora wants nothing but honesty & love between them, so she asks Father Stearns/Soren to hear her confession.

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned," she began her confession.  "When we were apart there were two times I almost came back to you and didn't."
"Two?"  Soren looked at her, wide-eyed and stunned.  Usually she loved shocking him, it was such a feat.  Not today.  "Why didn't you?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"

 Thus begins the story of the transformation of Eleanor Schreiber into Mistress Nora, the Red Queen - the Queen of the Underground.  Nora retraces the time after returning from her year of seclusion away from Soren & Kingsley, including details of her battle to claim the throne of the Underground as her own and her determination to protect the secrets of those she loves.  Eleanor believes she is destined to become Mistress Nora, even though it means giving up her love, her heart, her priest - Soren.  She revels in the power of freedom, even as Soren mourns his loss of her and continuously tries to seduce her into coming back to him.

"Come back to me," he said against her lips.
"I can't."
"Come back to me," he said, against her neck.
"I won't."
"Come back to me," he said, lifting her skirt to her hips.
"I don't . . ."
"You can't say it, can you?"  He slipped his hands into her panties and ripped them off with one fierce tear.  "You can't say you don't want to come back to me because we both know you do."
"Not enough to do it."
"Not yet.  But you will."

Mistress Nora emerges as Kingsley trains her for her role as the intimidating Red Queen - a dominatrix that commands fear & a burning desire to please in men everywhere.  As her power grows, so does the relationship between Nora & Kingsley, in spite of the wedge it drives between Soren & Kingsley.  Their emotional turmoil - hurt, anger, hate, love - literally ignites the pages.  The pain of words spoken & unspoken weighs heavily on them both and yet, neither is willing to give in or give up.   And so this indomitable trio find themselves at an impasse . . . Soren, Nora, and Kingsley - three people bound together by a thread of love that may be stretched but never broken.  

After Nora's confession ends, Soren surprises her by offering his own confession - and that's when the depth of his pain, sorrow, & regret becomes very real, as we learn just how much he sacrificed for love and how far he went to reclaim it. 

"And I had never known such pain," Soren said, his face a blank mask.  "Even the day you left me could not compete with the agony of seeing you so happy as he moved into your house and into your life and into your heart.  Standing there watching you two together was pure masochism.  Yet I couldn't stop looking at you and him.  It was my penance.  I'd waited too long;  I'd lost my Little One.  St. John of the Cross spoke of the 'Dark Night of the Soul.'  Then, finally, that moment, I knew what he meant."

 There are so many things that make The Queen a special book but what I will remember and treasure most is the gift of finally seeing, hearing, & breathing in the real Soren, finally meeting him completely unmasked and vulnerable.  This book strips away his many complex layers and bares the heart & soul of the man.  The incredible depth of both his love and his pain is inescapable as he drops all shields and lays it all on the line for love.  We share the weight of his sacrifices and suffer the agony of his despair, believing he's lost everything forever.  My heart ached as I cried for Soren & Nora & Kingsley.

The Queen is a powerful story of love and the scars it leaves etched upon the heart & soul.  It's a story of sacrifice for the sake of love and survival, of forgiveness & salvation.  It's the story of three hearts beating as one - a King, a Queen, and a God.  I was absolutely, totally & completely consumed by this story, this series.  It's shocking, erotic, raw, real.  One of the most intimate books I've ever read.  A Page Burner!  A 2015 Favorite!  A Must Read!

5 Gorgeous ♥'s . . .And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . .xxx

Sandra

 Quotes:
Note:  All quotes may not appear in final edition of the book.

"You don't really think I'm a sociopath, do you?"
"You have a conscience.  But you know what they call a sociopath with a conscience?"
It sounded like the setup to a joke so Elle took the bait.  "No, what do they call a sociopath with a conscience?"
"They call her 'Mistress.'"
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥

"He misses you, you know," the woman said as Nora started out of the office with her roadmap.
Nora froze, the words chilling her to the bone.
"He's better off without me," Nora told her.  "Whether he knows that or not, he is."
"God isn't better off without any of His children in His life and His church.  He wants them all home, even His prodigals.  Especially His prodigals."
Nora had given her a smile, a sad smile although she hadn't planned on being sad that day.
"I wasn't talking about God."
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥

"I didn't leave you to hurt you," she whispered.
"But it did."
"I spent seven years on the receiving end of pain.  I'm ready to be on the giving end."
"Did you have to start with me?"
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥         ♥

"She is my heart.  If anything happens to her because of you, I will castrate you.  I know how much you want children.  I will take that dream from you with my bare hands and a rusty knife.  You know what I'm capable of.  And you know I know how, because I have done it before . . ."
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥

"I have given you my heart, my body and every secret about me you would ever want to know.  I have put my priesthood on the line for you, my work, my reputation, my happiness and quite often my own sanity.  What more do you want from me?"
♥        ♥         ♥         ♥        ♥         ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥       ♥

"God said 'Love is patient.  Love is kind.'  He never said 'Love is easy.'"
"Love is patient," Nora repeated.  "You think if I'm patient he'll eventually come around and love me for me instead of waiting for me to be someone I'm not?"
"I've been screwing up mightily for sixty-eight years.  God's still patiently waiting for me to get it right, and He hasn't given up on me yet."
"Fine.  I'll give him sixty-five more years to come to his senses.  Then I'm moving on with my life."
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥

"Don't confuse love with romance, young lady.  Romance is beautiful, it's a gesture, it's a walk in a park with a pretty girl.  Love is ugly sometimes.  It's a crawl into a war zone to save a friend.  Romance whispers sweet nothings.  Love tells painful truths.  Romance gives an engagement ring.  Love takes a bullet."
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥         ♥        ♥        ♥

"I can't come back to you, but I won't live without you, either.  One is purgatory.  The other would be hell."
♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥         ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥

"Am I a hypocrite?" Soren asked.
"You're human."
"You don't have to be insulting, Eleanor."

IWSG: Writer's Resources ~ How Wealthy Are You?

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a community of writers whose purpose is to share with and encourage other writers. Writers can express doubts and concerns and offer & receive encouragement and guidance.  IWSG posts the first Wednesday of every month.  Be sure to check out other IWSG writers/bloggers here:  IWSG Members

Writer's Resources~As Good As Gold . . .

As a writer, I am continuously seeking opportunities to learn from the best.  I've read & studied dozens of how-to books & magazine articles, taken classes, and reached out to other writers in an effort to take advantage of every opportunity to learn.  I participate in writing groups, enter writing contests, and continue to write and submit book & magazine articles, as I advance and perfect my craft. In other words, I've utilized many different Resources as a writer and have discovered a few gems along the way.

Resource - n. source of help; an expedient; the ability to cope with a situation; a means of diversion; (pl) wealth; assets; raw materials.

I love that definition . . .Resource - a source of help; wealth; assets - Doesn't that say it all?  Resources are invaluable to a writer - as good as gold.  There are literally thousands of great resources for both new and experienced writers.  I'll share a book or two from which I reaped a wealth of writing knowledge.

• Story Engineering - Mastering The 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks - My copy of this book is highlighted, written in, & tagged with notes throughout.  It covers the core functions in engineering and designing your story and then takes it to the next level by teaching techniques to breathe life into it.  Rich with examples, Story Engineering portrays story structure in a concise, step by step method that I found to be interesting, helpful, & easy to implement.  I refer to it again & again.

• GMC - Goal, Motivation & Conflict - The Building Blocks of Good Fiction by Debra Dixon - I  recently discovered this book after reading an article by another author recommending it (Many thanks, Nancy).  Oh my goodness!  What a gem! Using movies as examples, Dixon gets down to the nuts & bolts of a great story - the 3 things every story must have: Goal, Motivation, Conflict.  GMC is simple, clear, & easy to understand with charts & examples for putting the information into practice.  The light came on for me while reading this book.  I consider myself a much richer writer for having discovered it.

• Stephen King On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft - I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the cover of this book.  All I can say is I found a wealth of information delivered in an entertaining manner from one of the best in the business. King delivers a lifetime of experience with pages filled with tips, hints, & life lessons. It's humorous, it's serious, it's emotional.  I love this book & often find myself referring back to it.

This is by no means a complete list as I only mentioned three of my favorites.  My book shelves are filled with wonderful resources for writers.  There is a wealth of information available to writers  in books, magazines,  and online.  I'd be amiss if I didn't mention that one of the best resources is other writers.  Reach out to the writer community . . .I think you'll find them ready, willing, & able to assist you.  I know I have.

How about you?  Are you rich in writing resources?  Are there some real gems sitting on your desk that you're willing to share with us?  What do you consider your most valuable writing resource?