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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Today I am posting Calinda B and her wonderful Romance Novel 'The Beckoning of Beautiful Things' which is a Featured Novel in our Valentine's Day Fantastical Reads Event on facebook



Calinda B

(Calinda B writes Fantasy/Romance/Erotica)

 
About the Author


The Fun Part: Calinda B was told early on that she should be a writer. She heard frequent praise for her writing, as well as her sense of humor. Scoffing at such admonitions and praise, she went on to pursue her life of adventure, chock full of the things that make up a well-rounded adventurous life: music (yup, she was a singer in a rock and roll band), dance (even performed hip hop in Russia), rock climbing (ever hung from a rock wall a few stories up? Yikes!), fire walking (taught high-ranking Moscow fire officials how to walk the coals), kayaking, scuba diving (she's in love with sharks), travel, and falling in love again and again.

The Daily Grind: An award-winning web designer and certified SEO specialist, Calinda B has worked in the Internet industry as a web page designer/developer since the early 1990's. She has also taught web site design and computer graphics at community colleges in Northern California. In addition to writing, Calinda B creates fine art and music, and enjoys scuba diving, kayaking, and bike riding. Calinda B makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with the love of her life and her two cats. She is currently working on the fourth book in The Wicked Series, tentatively entitled A Wicked Ending, or the third book in The Beckoning Series or maybe those are done and she's working on.... She loves to write and does it daily.

http://a-fwd.com/com=B00C9JIK1Q&s=the+beckoning+of+beautiful+things&asin-com=B00C9JIK1Q


- The Beckoning of Beautiful Things-

"An excellently plotted and written book that will blow your mind and warm your girly (and man) parts!" Anabella Johnson--Indie Book Reviewers

Excerpt 1
 
Her gaze tracked his hand as if he guided a puppet string attached to her eyes. Her back stiffened slightly as she secured her point of focus on the beckoning blue orbs. A single word lolled in her head, like a leaf on a lazy river. Want. The word balanced on her lips, drawing them apart as she regarded his eyes. “And what did you discover?”

Not taking his eyes away from hers, he answered. “Just now?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“I think I discovered something rare.”

“What do you think it is?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “But I sure want to find out.”


Excerpt 2 
 
As if in response, he leaned toward her, and covered her lips with his succulent mouth. His tongue delved inside her mouth, teasing hers open, inviting her tongue to tangle with his. His wet lips trailed along her jaw to her neck, nibbling and sucking her flesh. A million birds’ wings fluttered insistently along her slick core, seeking release.

He sought her eyes and said, “I can’t wait. I just can’t wait any longer. I’m going to claim you, now, mi corazón.”

A tiny voice in her head protested. Claim me? Honestly? The rest of her wasn’t listening, not one little bit.


Excerpt 3

“Did you find one?” Tom’s voice called through the air.
“Yes…no…yes…maybe.”
“Is that a yes or a no, Ms. Marissa? Make up your mind.”
“It’s a yes, but it’s my head. So not suitable.”
“Bring it.”
“No,” she wailed.
“Bring the damn head,” Tom commanded with the same force as before.
Marissa ground her teeth together, scrunched up her face, and let out a loud exclamation, spraying spit from her mouth as she did this. She clenched and unclenched her hands over and over and over.
“Get over here!” Tom yelled. “Chiara’s going to sail away and that is not going to make me very happy. I’ve been trying to claim her for years.”
“Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God,” Marissa cried. “Okay…picking up the head…picking up my head…picking up a head that looks like mine.”

Can you please share with us a little about yourself?
I’m super smart, curious, introspective. I love to laugh and find humor in the world around me. I love the natural world. I’m a risk taker. I’ve taught fire-walking, dance, aerobics. I’ve rock climbed. I’m a kayaker and a scuba diver. I’m passionate about life and love. I’m in an awesome committed relationship, have two towering grown kids, two cats and constantly strive to grow inside. I’ve endured a fair bit of trauma in life but always strive to heal and not let it define me - it may have shaped me but it’s not who I am.

Have you always wanted to be an author?
No. My high school advanced placement English teacher told me I would be a writer. I thought that was a stupid idea. I wanted to explore, grow, heal, change, move. I wanted to love a lot. I wanted to do everything a little different from the norm. I wanted to act out and make some really dumb mistakes, as well as a few brilliant moves. In the end, though, my teacher was apparently right - all that exploration gave me something to write about!

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?
I get up early, when the house is quiet (all save the cats who want to be fed. They’ve been on purr patrol on the bed, watching me to see if I’ve awakened.) Cats fed. Check. Jasmine green tea by my side. Check. Shades open to reveal the beautiful world outside. Check. I’ll write for a few hours until I have to work at my day job which just so happens to be in the same room (we own our own business). And then, at days end, I’ll write some more.

What would you say is the most challenging or rewarding part of writing?
The process of crafting a story is truly rewarding. I love shaping the characters, fleshing out the worlds they live in and the circumstances they encounter. When I’m really immersed in a story, I think about the characters all day long. If I get stuck, I stop writing but the process continues. I’ll muse about the stuck part. Shove it out of my head. Let it bubble back into me. And then - voila! Insight occurs and I’m back on the trail. There’s something extremely delicious about the whole process. Very fulfilling.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Books by JR Ward, Karen Marie Moning, and Tahereh Mafi come to mind. I am completely captivated with a new author - Damon Suede. And I enjoy Sasha Campbell’s writing. Those are just a few off the top of my head.



How do you prefer (and why) your female characters to be: damsel in distress or badass chick? Can they be both?

Women are amazing characters. We are complex. As some joke, we have lots of “dials and buttons and knobs” whereas men only have an “on/off” switch. We are mysterious. We are capable of amazing strength. Amazing acts of kindness and love. Incredible accomplishment. But we generally don’t start out that way. I know I sure didn’t. Like many, I’ve had more than my fair share of curve balls pitched my way.

Keeping this in mind, I generally start out a series writing the female lead from the POV of her flaws. Her life has shaped her in some sad or disturbing ways. You might be uncomfortable when you read about her. You might say, “Snap out of it, girl!” Or you might cheer her on, certain that she can overcome the odds. Is she a damsel in distress, needing rescuing? Hell, no. She’s only not found her way yet. That’s where the fun begins. That’s where the possibilities start rolling in my head. How will she get from broken to restored, whole and alive? How will this woman become her badass self?
In The Beckoning of Beautiful Things, the first in the Beckoning series, we find Marissa Engles immersed in her art, yearning for a more fulfilling life. Boy, does she get that! She’s got a complete jackass of a boyfriend, a surfer dude named Jason. She meets Daniel Navid, sparks fly (literally!) and through learning that she’s not really who she thought she was, she’s transformed beyond her wildest dreams.

In The Beckoning of Broken Things, Marissa starts out smack dab in a mental hospital. She’s pissed. She doesn’t know how she got there, why she got there, who put her there. She’s told she’s delusional because she “thinks” she can stream electricity through her veins and shape the world around her, using her artistic skills. She’s put on a drug cocktail of Haloperidol, a drug commonly given to schizophrenics, and Carbamazepine to stabilize her mood. Carbamazepine is typically given to manic-depressives. This forced drug induction makes her even angrier. She’s had things done to her against her will; things done to her without her consent. She’s pissed. She wonders if she’s broken.

She wonders how she will ever get out of the situation she’s in.

She’s got a few resources at her disposal. One is her loyal, loving Doberman Pinscher, Sober Dober, with his new, sparkly wings. The other is her determination and her will to find solutions. Her unique abilities certainly play a part. Her sexual potency factors into her transformation as well. I find that sex and sexual energy can be one of the most transformative energies on the planet. It can burn like a blaze taking everything with it like a volcano. It can simmer and shape change in positive ways. All of my characters, no matter what shape they start out in, find their way out through sexual attraction, through owning their sexual power, and through their potent alliances with their partners of choice.


Where to find this Author-


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Calinda-B/e/B005DHC69S



Twitter: @calindab1





 

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