Category Archives: Carlene Love Flores

Mermaids & Friends: Lynne Silver (Giveaway!)

Books, Carlene Love Flores, Giveaway, Guest Post, Kerri Carpenter, Mermaids & Friends, , , ,

Good morning, everyone — Carlene and Kerri Mermaid here with a special introduction.

Kerri: Guess who’s here in the lagoon today? Our critique partner and friend to the Mermaids, the fabulous Lynne Silver!

Carlene: Oh! After someone tall, dark and handsome, that was going to be my next guess! I can’t help it, I have Rowan from her new book, “Desperate Match” on my mind.

Kerri: I understand – Rowan’s hot and sweet! Is he your favorite of Lynne’s characters?

Carlene: Yes! He’s a total smarty pants but backs it up with a big heart…

Kerri: I love that about him – although you know I’m partial to Adam in the first Coded for Love book!

Carlene: Ohhhhhh…Adam. Why do you love him so?

Kerri: He’s alpha and yummy!

Carlene: All the Coded boys are alpha and yummy! It’s like an alpha yummy buffet.

Kerri: True that, boo! We should probably stop drooling and let Lynne talk now. Want to introduce her?

Carlene: Yes! Tall, fair and beautiful…Lynne Silver! Author of yummy alpha boys, some really bad guys and some pretty awesome girls too!

Kerri: Welcome to the lagoon, Lynne! We hear you wanna know what type of readers we all are AND that you’ve got a copy of Desperate Match to give away! Let’s get this chat underway…

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Lately it seems there are a rash of bloggers and readers out on social media talking about their newfound love of reading. Some of them haven’t read much sinceLynne Silver high school or college, and they can all credit a book special to them for getting them back on the reading bandwagon. Welcome back. We authors are thrilled to have you.

So yes, I’m an author, but I’m a reader first. To say I’m voracious would be an understatement. In kindergarten, students got a star sticker on their name strip for every book they read. My stars went off the strip and around the room.

I get lost in books. My husband says it’s as though I’ve left the room. And I have. My body is present, but my mind is in the world of the book.

And I’m a re-reader. There are certain “comfort” reads that I go to again and again. I can’t find a pattern in which books are my comfort reads. They run the gamut and include: Little Town on the Prairie & These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, All of the Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas, Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh, Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon, He She & It by Marge Piercy, and the whole Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace.  See an eclectic mix.

There are other books I adore, yet I’ve never re-read them. So what makes a comfort read? I obviously have no idea, judging by my crazy list. The only thing in common is that I own all those books in print. I don’t read them on an e-reader. I love certain things about e-readers, but I hate that Candy Crush and Facebook is one easy click away.

Have you noticed your reading patterns change depending on the medium? Do you have comfort reads? What are they?

Thanks for having me!

Lynne

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Thanks so much for swimming with us today, Lynne! For all our fishy friends, Lynne has generously donated an e-copy of “Desperate Match” and so we will be picking one random winner from the comments section to take Rowan home with them.

More About Lynne:

By day, Lynne Silver lives the suburban soccer mom life; volunteering with the PTA, doing laundry and working. By night she enters the sensuous world of alpha males and passionate heroines.

She calls the nation’s capital home and lives in an old fixer-upper with her husband and their two sons. When not writing romance, she reads it. Lots of it. Over and over and over again, preferably with a bag of M&Ms in hand. She is represented by literary agent, Jessica Alvarez of Bookends LLC http://bookends-inc.com/index.htm

Visit Lynne at her website http://www.lynnesilver.com/

And be sure to check out her sizzling hot and heartfelt new title, DESPERATE MATCH.

Desperate Match

 

 

All I need to know about writing I learned from a cartoon cow!

Carlene Love Flores, mermaids, Writing,

Mermaid CarleneWell, maybe not everything, but what I did learn was HUGE!

It was Sunday morning and ahem, I was watching Nick Toons. 🙂 Back at the Barnyard was on with an episode called “Cowdyshack”. For the record, I did not plan to come away with this writing nugget but I’m pretty much convinced that I was meant to receive it. And share with you.

So, Otis (the main character, a boy cow) is out with his posse of barnyard buddies and wrangles them a day on a golf course from his friend, a human named Crazy Louie, who sneaks them in. Once they’re all on the golf course, Crazy Louie bids them adieu. Otis and his buddies are practicing their swings when Pig takes a whack. He lets it rip and the golf club goes flying. It travels through the air and lands smack in Crazy Louie’s back, knocking him to the ground! Otis and friends run to his side. Crazy Louie is in udder 😉 agony and says his appendix has been hit. He vows he’ll be a goner within hours but is happy with the life he’s led. The animal posse are distraught for their human friend and feverishly brainstorm for ideas on how to save Crazy Louie. It’s then when they spot a sign posted on the golf course. The “Appendix Golf Classic” just so happens to be taking place there today and the prize? Did you guess? Yep- one shiny new appendix! All hope is not lost for Crazy Louie after all. At this point, you shouldn’t be surprised…Of course the barnyard animals best the human pro-golfers to win Crazy Louie his new lifesaving organ.

What I loved about this preposterous episode was how the writers asked and trusted me to enter their world of fiction. 300_DSCN2296

However improbable these particular circumstances would be in my everyday life, they invited me to play in their world for those twenty minutes where it WAS possible. They asked me to forget the fact that if you lose your appendix, you don’t need it replaced!

I took a second to ask myself, why with all the ridiculousness, was I willing to overlook the insanity hatching up 😉 all over this episode?

It was because of the highly loveable and entertaining characters. I wanted to hitch a ride on their unbelievable adventure, no matter how far-fetched because I cared about their uniqueness and their plight.

Three cheers to writing AWESOME characters who bring us our audience and then allow us to entertain. And three cheers to the readers who are willing to jump on the Barnyard band wagon with them, no matter how crazy the ride.

Life is short. Write what YOU want to write. Have fun and your readers will too.

Fishy kisses,

Carlene Mermaid xoxo

 

Romanceable Me

Carlene Love Flores, , , , ,

Mermaid CarleneYellow loveHello Fishy Friends!

Today you’ve caught me in one of those hopelessly romantic moods. My 20th wedding anniversary just passed and now Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. I’ve got heart shaped boxes of candy stashed around the house to surprise my boys with on the big day. Cold Mountain is loaded on the DVR for my daily viewing pleasure. I’m reading the most romance I’ve ever read at once with contest entries to judge, fabulous friends with new releases out and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s latest to devour. I’m telling you, if someone stuck a pin in me right now, I’d probably ooze tiny little heart-shaped bits of confetti!

In all seriousness, I love being surrounded by romance. The community is a wonderful blend of people with big hearts and even bigger imaginations. We’re totally down with love at first sight, lust at first sight, all kinds of crazy mating rituals, sweet fantasies and wild ones alike. We celebrate history, suspense, zombies and goody two-shoes. And yes, we LOVE our princesses and our mermaids.

We also celebrate each other as writers and readers of the genre. And, we take it a step further and come together to recognize the people in our real lives who support us. By chance, I happened to be included in a new anthology that is out this month called Scribbling Women and the Real-Life Romance Heroes Who Love Them. Twenty-eight romance authors (one for each day in February) including Hope Tarr, Lisa Renee Jones, Elisabeth Staab and Leanna Renee Hieber (And me!), shared personal essays about their real love lives and all net proceeds are being donated to the organization Win (Women in Need) which assists homeless women and their children. I knew I wanted to be a part of it because my hubby goes way beyond in his love and support of me and always has. The man has read all four Twilight books at my request AND attended about 5,000 Casey James concerts with me last year alone. All because it has to do with the writing I love so dearly.

I don’t think it’s possible for me to feel any more romantic than I already do. But let’s see if we can squeeze at my heart strings just a little more. I’d love to hear about your romantic notions. Whether you’re in love with a real hero or a fictional one at the moment. Did someone do something extra sweet for you lately? How many heart shaped boxes of chocolate have you already bought and consumed? For the record, my number on that last one falls somewhere between 2 and 4.

 

Fishy Kisses!

Carlene Mermaid

And Happy Almost Valentine’s Day xoxoxoxo

 

 

It’s a San Diego Christmas!

Carlene Love Flores, mermaids

Hello fishy friends~ The good thing about having the flu is that it’s helping me accomplish my New Year’s resolution of sweating more. 🙂 The bad thing? Brain mush. Yep, my word noodle is about as soggy as the soup I’ve been living off the past week. But looking at the pics from my Christmas trip home to San Diego makes me happy. I hope you like them too as they’re a bit quirky, kind of like me I suppose.

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Not on my bucket list, but I can now say I’ve seen a size 18 sneaker. I knew my trip was off to a good start when I snapped this one at one of my fave outdoor malls.

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 Siberian Reindeer at the San Diego Zoo…Inspiration for next year’s Christmas story!

Big saint nicksMy uncle has the best t-shirts and I’m glad it was 80 degrees on Christmas Day so he could sport this one with his shorts: Tattoos & Toys for Bad Girls & Boys

hotrodUncle No. 2 had a new baby to show off and she sure was pretty. Purrs like you wouldn’t believe. Definitely going into a book.

la jolla coveAside from being at the Charger game that put them into the playoffs, this day at La Jolla Cove was my favorite. We saw seals, dolphins, scuba divers and a whale!

popcorn and cranberries

Three generations of the family sat down and strung popcorn and cranberries for the Christmas tree!

Reminder Pants

My dearest, dearest great aunt hosted us on Christmas Eve and I snapped this in her kitchen. I’ll tell you this much, Barona and Viejas are local casinos…Wonder what her New Year’s Even party plans were??? Love her! (Hope she remembered those pants.)

the kiss

I’ve always known we were a romantic bunch and I love that this statue sits right by our beautiful San Diego pier.

And on that lovely note, I wish you all a wonderful 2014. May you be kissed by someone who makes your heart feel that big and full of sunshine.

I heart you San Diego. Thanks for the warm Christmas!

Fishy kisses from afar (don’t want to give you my cooties),

Carlene MermaidMermaid Carlene

Mermaid Friend Nicola Cameron Guest Post & Giveaway!

Carlene Love Flores, Giveaway, Guest Post, , , , , , ,

Mermaid CarleneHello Fishy Friends and Happy Friday! Today we are welcoming erotic romance author, Nicola Cameron, to the lagoon and she’s brought a pretty hilarious bit about her muse. Nicola writes in many genres including, wait…let me rephrase that. What doesn’t Nicola write? While her muse may have been on hiatus for most of November, it’s clear she and Nicola have a pretty healthy relationship most days! We hope you enjoy this funny bit. Be sure to leave a comment too! Nicola is giving away a copy of Storm Season, the first book in her paranormal erotic Olympic Cove series, plus a sneak preview of the first chapter of Breaker Zone (Book 2). Winner will be chosen at random from commenters on this post. Take it away, Nicola…

The Muse, She Can Be a Real Bitch

I have to tell you, I had great plans for November this year. The first two days of the month were going to correspond with the last two days of my 20th wedding anniversary cruise, which is a lovely way to kick off a month in any case. After that, I would get home and segue straight into National Novel Writing Month by finishing my historical erotic romance Behind the Iron Cross. If I had enough time left over, I would finish the first draft of Olympic Cove Book Two, Breaker Zone for dessert.

My first mistake was that I announced these plans on various social media sites. Have you ever heard the phrase, fate laughs when you make plans? Because that’s pretty much what happened to me.

See, when we got home from the cruise the Other Half and I both started up with a dry, tickly cough. Two days later we were stranded in bed with what our doctor later diagnosed as bronchitis but I suspect was the opening segue of a particularly nasty flu making the rounds. We’re talking fever, gunk in the head and lungs, muscle aches, dizziness, the whole nine yards.

In my case, I also wound up with a nifty case of vertigo that lasted for well over a week. Have you ever tried to write when you feel like throwing up every time you stood up? When you have to wear a sanitary pad because you’re coughing so hard you pee a little each time? When you’re so hot and listless you don’t even want to read (you, the person who would read in her sleep if she could keep her eyes open)? Continue reading →

Perfect Love and a New Release!

Carlene Love Flores, , , , ,

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I recently discovered the 2003 motion picture, Cold Mountain. What a beautiful and complete story. It has easily captured my personal slot for favorite all-time movie. I am in love.

But I have discovered a side effect. I almost called it an unfortunate side effect but I’m not ready to label it as such just yet because it’s inspired me to think and consider and observe. The deal is that ever since I saw the movie, I’ve wondered what it would be like to be loved the way Inman loved Ada.

The man walked miles through peril and impossible conditions to make his way back to a woman he barely knew. Four years stood between them and their last brief meeting whereupon they shared one chaste kiss and a handful of spoken words.  I used to oo and ah over a sparkly vampire who watched his sweetheart while she slept. I didn’t think it could get much more romantic than that. Now, Inman’s vulnerability and hopeful perseverance and Ada’s incredible devotion to him are what I wish for all couples in love.

And I ask myself, does my husband love me the way Inman loved Ada?Mermaid Carlene

Can our love ever be as perfect as theirs?

The answer, I realized very quickly, is heck no!

If there is one thing my husband knows, it’s that I’d be very underwhelmed were he perfect, were I perfect, were we perfect.

When I was in the ninth grade and hubby the eleventh, we happened to attend one of our high school’s basketball games the same night. I knew of my husband, but that was about it. My date that night was a senior from a different school. He was sweet, cute, taller, and older, had long bouncy bangs and he loved music and art. To my fifteen year old self, he was perfect.

It didn’t last long.

Hubby would later tell me that he’d seen us that night, me and Mr. Perfect, and knew he wouldn’t have long to wait. I asked him why and he said it was in the way my date let me lead him around the gym. That young man was very sweet, but hubby was right. We were out of balance and things ended quickly.

And then one day during a school earthquake drill, hubby walked up to me where I stood on a grass athletic field, tapped me on the shoulder, waved hello, and then walked away.

Um, yeah, I was perplexed, slightly irritated, slightly flattered and hooked.  It’s been that way for twenty-three years now.

I love the way Inman loves Ada. But I love even more the way Adrian loves Carlene. 😉

Do you ever see or read things in books and movies that make you wish and wonder what that would feel like if it happened to you?

Oh, and if you’d like to check out a story that’s pretty dear to my heart, my newest Sin Pointe book just released on Thanksgiving Day! Find Sin’s Haven (A Sin Pointe Novel, #3) here:

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Evernight / Amazon / All Romance eBooks

 Cold Mountain photo credit:photo credit: Handerson Gomes via photopin cc

Thank you Veterans

Carlene Love Flores, mermaids

Mermaid CarleneGood Morning 🙂

Today I was all set to talk about my new favorite movie and how I believe within it I’ve found the perfect example of “revealing character”. At last month’s Washington Romance Writers meeting, the brilliant author, Alma Katsu, spoke to us about that topic in relation to conflict in a story. I’ll save that post for my slot next month because this morning, as I was about to schedule my post, I received an email from my baby brother letting me know he is set to deploy soon.

When someone you love and care about writes that email or leaves that message, “I’m deploying”, how do you respond?

For me, it’s a mix of pride and understanding. I think the reason for this personal reaction is that I’m extremely proud of anyone who serves their country so selflessly. I find that type of courage comforting. Having sent my hubby off on several deployments, I know first hand of the ways a person will grow from the experience in a way I think only this can do for them. There is also a part of me who believes with everything I have that each person on this planet has a distinct journey in life that they were meant to travel. For some of us, that includes deploying to conflicts around the world. Having negative thoughts in my heart about a loved one’s deployment seems counterproductive. So that is where my heart lies as I let it settle in that baby brother will be setting out on this part of his journey soon.

On November 11th, Veteran’s Day, who will you be celebrating, missing, appreciating? Please share, I’d love to celebrate them with you.

My list includes the following for their courageous service in:military-child-21868868

Hubby, Operation Iraqi Freedom

Dad, Vietnam War

Grandpa Barney, Korean War

Grandpa Wiley, World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War

Family friend Susana, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom

Baby brother…fair thee well and see you when you get home 🙂

To all of our Veterans, past and present, I appreciate you all.  And above all else, Thank You.

Fishy Kisses,

Carlene

 

 

Abandoned in a Graveyard…kewl

Carlene Love Flores, ,

IMAG2555Happy Almost Halloween Fishy Friends!

I fear I may have celebrated a wee bit early and the experience was so cool, I’m not sure it can be topped. Okay, I guess with enough mini-snickers and tootsie rolls, actual Halloween night will be outstanding too. But let me tell you about how I spent last month’s Friday the 13th…

It was a cold, cold night. Okay, not so much for me because I’ve lived in Virginia five years now. But for my aunt who was visiting from San Diego, it was a cold, cold night. Dare I say blistery even. On an earlier excursion that week, I’d taken my aunt to Old Town Alexandria in search of cupcakes, purses and trinkets from my favorite local store, The Christmas Attic. After giving ourselves quite a fright on the upper level of the store, we scurried back down where my aunt discovered a flyer for the perfect way to spend the upcoming night of Friday the 13th.

A dinner cruise on the Potomac, I wondered. Horse drawn carriage ride through the historic streets, perhaps? Her eyes glittered (because she’s sparkly like that) but I, having seen that glint before, (usually when she’s tormenting me by singing the Freddy Krueger song) recognized the pure evil (okay, maybe not evil, just a little ornery) of her intentions.

Ann and Carlene(Auntie and I then, in typical fashion…her grinning, me very scared)

She smiled, and showed me the flyer.

“Alexandria’s Original Ghost & Graveyard Tour where you’ll walk following an 18th century costumed guide by lantern light through the haunted streets of Old Town…”

Sounded absolutely lovely!

“…At the tour’s end your guide will abandon you in a graveyard!”

Sounded immediately less lovely.

However my aunt had travelled all the way from San Diego, braving the harsh east coast weather (something they don’t have back home–weather, that is, they literally don’t have weather in San Diego.) And she’d bravely gone inside Le Tache Couples Boutique earlier between our rounds of cupcake and purse shopping. I supposed I owed it to her.

Well, I must admit, the tour was fabulous! I loved hearing about the unsolved mysteries, tales of romance and angry ghosts looking for revenge.

Final verdict? Highly recommend being abandoned in a graveyard at least once in your life. And if you can plan it for a Friday the 13th, even better!

Happy Halloween Eve Eve Eve everyone 🙂

IMAG2487Auntie and I now, in typical fashion…she’s fabulous, I’m fabulously silly but not so scared anymore!)

 

 

Getting Into Character: Becoming Hazel

Carlene Love Flores, Writing,

Mermaid CarleneHello Fishy Friends,

Right about now, this mermaid should be calling it a night. But I can’t stop tugging on the ends of my hair to see that the once light blonde ends I usually sport are now a cinnamon color. Since I’m sleepless in the land of auburn tresses, I’ve decided to post pictures of why exactly I’m living life as a red head.

It’s all in the name of writing research, getting into character to be more precise. The heroine in my current Work In Progress, Hazel, is a red head (think Victoria the First, of Twilight). I realized quickly that the best way to get into her head, so to speak, would be to experience life as similarly to her as I could. I went as far as to color my hair in a manner that I felt she would use, and being a very bohemian, earthy kind of woman, that meant something natural.

It came in really handy that I’m a Lush addict and they happen to sell Henna which was right up my girl, Hazel’s, alley. I should say that I researched henna thoroughly before using it which means that I’m in it for the long haul.  (Or until I write a short-haired heroine and in the name of research…snip, snip, snip goes the hair!)

The result? Well, I love it. It’s rich, shiny, thicker, curlier and I feel a definite spiciness about my new mane. Not to mention a daring side who thinks it would be a great idea to share the pics of my “Getting Into Character: Becoming Hazel” process.

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Yes, that says “Caca” but let’s just pretend it doesn’t…or that it sounds exquisite and fancy in a faked French accent 🙂 In all seriousness, this is the Lush brand of henna and it’s a chunk of henna mixed with cocoa butter and coffee and other wonderful smelling things pressed with a tea brick to make lovely little designs.

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After we break off our desired amount of henna chunk, we run to the bathroom and paper it for protection against staining. I used my Lush catalogue. Very pretty.

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Now we race back to the kitchen and begin cooking our henna in a bain marie which if anyone knows me…yeah, I had to look this up. In the end, it turns out all you need is a pot for boiling water and a big enough glass bowl to set on top of it to keep your henna warm.

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Back to the bathroom with your gooey creation that resembles green poo and brownie mix (but smells wonderful)…Ahhh, now you know why they call it Caca. 🙂

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As neat as you try to be while applying the Caca henna to your hair, as it begins to dry, tiny little Caca bits will begin to fall at your feet. This is when I feel you may as well squish them between your toes because it’s fun and standing on the sides of your feet to avoid them starts to hurt after a while. 🙂

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So this was Light Blonde Carlene Mermaid…

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And now we have Green Poo Carlene Mermaid…

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And this was Glamorous Carlene Mermaid before she hit the sack to sleep with the henna on her head all night, ensuring vibrant color when she awoke…

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Which is exactly what Carlene Mermaid got! Oh I’m sorry, not Carlene Mermaid…Hazel Mermaid, who will be with us for a while. 🙂

And now for the really fun part of researching my heroine Hazel…I get to pretend “hand kiss” her hero to make sure we’re doing that right too, but that’s an entirely different post for another time. Ahh, the things a romance writer will do in the name of being thorough.

Think I’m ready for bed now 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Anatomy of a Romance Book Purchase

Carlene Love Flores, , , , ,

Mermaid CarleneBack in April of this year, I happened to sign on to Twitter as I randomly do maybe a couple times a week.
I saw a tweet from a blog that always catches my eye because it’s super pretty and has a great name—Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust.
The reason this particular tweet jumped out at me was for the short mention of a first name very dear to my heart in the spotlighted book’s title.
I clicked the link to check out the post.
It was a spotlight on a new release by an author who was new to me.
I read the post and commented, answering the question the author posed to the blog readers.
I thought, “That’s a great sounding book. I love the cover. The name in the title makes me smile.”
I thought I should go ahead and purchase that book then and there.
But as things often work out this way, something else popped up and I had to abandon my lovely book-buying thoughts.
Time passed.
Four months to be exact.
Many other book purchases took place.
Today I signed on to Twitter as I randomly do maybe a couple times a week.
I saw a tweet from a blog that always catches my eye…Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust.
A-ha! A reminder about that book….
I searched for that book with that special name in the title and the cover I’d admired so much.
Success! I found the original post.
I immediately hopped on over to Amazon where I typed in the author and title and hit purchase before an errand or a phone call or an important email sidetracked me again.
Time cycles each of our days this way and that. This was the anatomy of how a book landed on my Kindle today. I can’t wait to crack it open and start reading.
The book: The Awakening: AidanAidanTheAwakening-AbbyNiles
The author: Abby Niles
The referring blog: Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust

How did your most recent book find make its way into your life? Please feel free to share!

Fishy kisses,

Carlene Mermaid