Welcome Best Selling Western Author Caroline Clemmons

I'm switching gears a little today from Vampires and the paranormal to western romance. I love to feature authors from a myriad of genres; it keeps life interesting. 
Today allow me to welcome Caroline Clemmons, a best selling Western Author, and spotlight one of her wonderful books,  BLUE BONNET BRIDE

Caroline Clemmons is an Amazon bestselling author of historical and contemporary western romances whose books have garnered numerous awards. Her most recent novel, BLUEBONNET BRIDE, is a poignant tale of tender redemption. A frequent speaker at conferences and seminars, she has taught workshops on characterization, point of view, and layering a novel.

Caroline and her husband live in the heart of Texas cowboy country with their menagerie of rescued pets. When she’s not indulging her passion for writing, Caroline enjoys reading, travel, antiquing, genealogy, painting, and getting together with friends

Here's what Caroline had to say.....

Do you wonder why authors choose a particular location for their books? As a Texan, I enjoy setting my books and novellas in my state. Texas is a big state, though, with diverse landscapes. How do I choose?

First, I write about locales I enjoy visiting. That’s what happened several years ago when my husband and I learned of the open house at an historic ranch about forty miles from our home. We visited the Belding-Gibson Ranch in Palo Pinto County. Part of this ranch was taken in by the formation of Possum Kingdom Lake, known locally as PK. The occasion of the open house was to announce the release of Barbara Belding Gibson’s book about the ranch, PAINTED POLE: The Beldings and Their Ranches in Palo Pinto County – Pioneer Days to Computer Age by Sunbelt Eakin Press.

I had used this lake for a modern story, OUT OF THE BLUE, featuring a heroine who travels from the past to help a modern police detective solve several murders. This was my first visit to this ranch. The Belding-Gibson Ranch started in 1859 with a 12' by 12' cedar log cabin. Fortunately, the Gibsons who own what remains of the ranch have preserved the cabin, the smokehouse, and as much of the original homestead as possible. The ranch is beautiful with huge live oaks dotting the pastures and offering shade for cattle.

The area was inhabited by cedar cutters and hunters in 1854—and Comanche and Kiowa. People from Colorado might laugh at the Palo Pinto Mountains and say they look like big hills. Geographically, they are genuine mountains covered in live oak, scrub oak, cedar, and other native trees such as elm, hackberry, and cottonwood. The scrub oaks turn lovely colors in the fall, which is why the Native Americans named them palo pinto, or painted stick/pole/post (depending on your interpretation).
No, they’re not as pretty as Vermont’s fall colors, but give us a break. They are beautiful in their own rite. Cedars and live oaks retain their dark green foliage among the fall hues of the scrub oaks. My favorite time to drive through this area is spring when trees and grass are green and wildflowers abound.
The three Stone brothers have settled in the Palo Pinto Mountains to raise cattle. In book one, BRAZOS BRIDE, they face a drought and a heroine someone wants dead. Book two is HIGH STAKES BRIDE and is the story of Zach Stone and Alice Price. By book three, the first two brothers have married and only Joel Stone, eldest, is single. He’s sheriff of the fictional town of Radford Springs, and an excellent lawman. While his brothers each have ranches of thousands of acres, Joel’s smaller ranch is managed by a foreman. I love setting a series of books in this locale, and I’m sure it will pop up again with spin off characters from the Men of Stone Mountain series. In fact, I’m writing one now about a substitute mail-order bride whose intended is not sure he wants to swap his fiancé.

BLUEBONNET BRIDE is Joel’s story, and he finally meets the woman for him. Too bad she isn’t receptive to his attention. Joel is not a man to give up easily, but he doesn’t know the terrible secret Rosalyn hides....  Thanks to Deborah for having me today. Thank you, readers, for stopping by.

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The Recreation of a Legend

I am really excited to have Awesome Author, Shane KP ONeill here today.
Shane O'Neill is the writer of The Dracula Chronicles, a new and exciting series adding a new dimension to the Dracula myth. He has begun the series with Chronicle 3 to give his readers the vampire first. Chronicle 1 will follow to take you back to the beginning.

The author developed a fascination with Dracula from an early age. Like many others he was enthralled by Christopher Lee's portrayal of him on the big screen. It was in his late teens that he discovered Dracula the man and the love affair began from there. An avid historian, he studied the period in which the real historical Vlad Dracula lived, 15th Century Balkan, for many years. It followed from there then that with his love of writing he would always choose Dracula as his subject.

Away from writing, the author has a wide range of interests. He has lived and travelled all over the world. He has a love for all things historical, with a particular fascination for medieval Europe. Anywhere he travels he likes to search out locations with an historical interest.

Shane and I have much in common: we both have a vampire series, and write in the paranormal and historical genres, so it is no wonder that he and I became fast friends. BOUND BY BLOOD Volumes 1 and 2 and BIRTH OF THE MONSTER which is a prequel to Bound by Blood, will be his featured books today. But I ask you all to take a look at all of Shane ONeill's works on his WEBSITE. He's fantastic!! In the meantime, I was so pleased when I got wind of Shane's "essay" entitled The Recreation of a Legend. Here's what he wrote.....

There are few names in popular culture today as famous as that of Dracula. I would go as far as to say that in the western world the name conjures up an image of one description or another for anyone who hears it, anyone above the age of twelve at least. For me personally, as a youngster anyway and even now to an extent, I see the face of Christopher Lee, who will always enjoy immortality as the on-screen icon. Of course, the name Dracula is not limited only to western culture.

 For his iconic status in the modern age I guess we need to thank Bram Stoker, who gave us Dracula the vampire for the very first time back in 1897. From that time forward his literary classic haunted the imaginations of his countless readers. Of course, over a dozen actors have taken up the mantle of Dracula on the big screen, beginning with Max Schreck’s Nosferatu in 1922. Notable mentions to those who have followed in his footsteps and helped cement the legend that is Dracula would include: Gary Oldman; Bela Lugosi; Lon Chaney Jr; Gerard Butler; John Carradine; and the best of all, Christopher Lee.

 And then there is Dracula the man, the true legend, but about whom so little is known by the wider audience that is captivated by the on-screen vampire. This was a man famous in his own times, as the ruler of Wallachia – one of the three main states that form modern Romania today. He was a man famed for his brutality, even in his own day, and whose method of punishment brought him notoriety long after he was gone. When people hear the name Vlad the Impaler, they are a little more familiar with the man I am describing. Note this is a nickname not used in his lifetime.

 So, when the legend already exists, and there are few bigger than this one, how do you create something new? How do you breathe life into a subject that has already had so many incarnations be it on screen, in books or in historical texts? What can you write that will capture the imagination of those that already adore Dracula and survive the obvious scrutiny that is sure to come? It goes without saying that any such undertaking is never likely to be easy. If it is to succeed then it will have to be something special and something that stands apart from the rest to be judged on its own merits.

 The first question anyone ever asks me when he/she learns I am a writer, is naturally, “What do you write?” When I tell them the subject of my books is Dracula, I always see the scepticism in their eyes. Even if it is unintended it is always there, and this is the point I am trying to address. How do you write on a subject that everyone holds a pre-conception of, in a way that is not only going to capture their attention, but also their imagination? If they take the time to investigate further and allow me to explain the concept and premise of my books, then the expression and the look of doubt inevitably changes. And it is then I know I have something in my possession that will draw interest over a wide spectrum and possibly see the birth of a new legend.

 I have always had my own love affair with Dracula, with both the vampire and the famed voivode. He has intrigued me for decades and given me many a late night trying to understand and know the man he was. I have always wanted to write, but more significantly, I have always wanted to write about him. I wanted to write about both Dracula the man and Dracula the vampire. Even in the earliest days of my project I knew it was going to need to be something grandiose and epic in scope. And that is what I set out to create. Nine years on and three books later, The Dracula Chronicles is well on the way to achieving this.

 My task, therefore, was to formulate a concept where I could focus on building the world of Dracula the man and move into fantasy with Dracula the vampire and successfully blend the two together. I based my premise on the aftermath of the first Great War of the Angels. This war is a consequence of Lucifer’s jealousy upon the creation of mankind, which causes a great divide in Heaven and results in him and those that had sided with him to be cast out. To end the carnage, God agrees a truce with Lucifer. One of the terms of the truce is that they would contest the soul of every man, though without any physical interference. If at any time Lucifer controls a greater number of souls then he can return again to Heaven and oversee the end of mankind.

 When it seems that Lucifer might triumph, God sends His son who is then crucified to free man from sin. This undoes all of Lucifer’s work and leaves him in the same position as he was after the truce. However, on the day of the Crucifixion the Catholic Church is born. Fourteen hundred years on Lucifer comes to believe if he can destroy the institution of the Catholic Church then he can turn man against God once more. The candidate he chooses for this immense task is the young Vlad Dracula. In the moment the young Dracula breathes life, so does his half-brother to a gypsy woman on the other side of the country. The Powers of Light bestow the baby Andrei with great power as a balance to Dracula.

 This is the point where I build the world of Dracula the man. There have been a few noble attempts by others to do this and I am aware of another in progress at the moment. However, the best effort I have read was that written by Michael Augustyn. But even then, his book fell short of what I was looking for personally in Dracula the man. So with the first books, The Path to Decay and The Gates Of Babylon I have created his world in its entirety. I have built a profile of a most amazing man with his struggles, his conflicts, his loves and his triumphs as well as his failures. Despite the image the history books convey of him, my readers will fall in love with Vlad Dracula. I daresay he will be as popular with readers despite being the antagonist of the series from Book 3 onwards, as his brother, Andrei, who is the protagonist of the story. It is in Book 3, Bound By Blood, that I give you Dracula the vampire, as created by Lucifer. He then begins his journey through the ages to bring down the institution of the Catholic Church.

 So for those of you out there who may have been waiting for something new from Dracula, or even just a return to the much darker and more traditional vampire with a little something different, I give you the Dracula Chronicles.

A prequel to the series, The Birth Of The Monster, is available now to give a feel for the Chronicles. Bound By Blood – Volume 1 & 2 were released on December 1, 2012. I invite you to join Dracula and I on our journey through time.
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PR BOOK REVIEWS is here today

PR BOOK REVIEWS is here today and it isn't even Flip Flop Friday! I just wanted to give a shout out for this wonderful young lady, the hostess of this awesome blog. She's been blogging for a while and took off, revamped her blog and is back full force and stronger than ever!!

She has exciting author interviews and book reviews and always, always has giveaways! In fact, she has a GIVEAWAY going on right now!! And one of my books, THE UNDEPARTED  is being given away by her. So check out PR BOOK REVIEWS and give her a follow, and pick up a free copy of The Undeparted and the other awesome books she's giving away.

"I'm doing a big giveaway to celebrate my blogoversary! There will be 8 winners and it runs until the 13th of this month. The Undeparted is going to be one of the prizes! :)," says Shalyn Fisher of PR BOOK REVIEWS.

"I'll gift all the winners their prize through Amazon. Each winner will receive 1 prize."

So come one everyone; enter to win a prize today!