UK Roombox-Shoebox contest from Cath Kidston

Wish I lived in the UK!

UK residents - make a shoebox roombox by Sept. 28 - contest from Cath Kidston. Fun!

Talking prequels....

Talking prequels today at Acme Authors Link.

Have you written one? Like reading them? Share your thoughts and comments at the link above.

The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories for Kindle. Special Today!!!

The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories (BBT Cafe Authors)
- Stories by 18 authors including myself set in or around the corner cafe.

* In "Perfect Timing" by Christine Verstraete, a rescued pup helps cafe owner Gina Mason find love and thwart a would-be robber.

** Download FREE today 8/15 for Kindle.

New Author Snapshot Featuring Great New Mysteries and Fiction at Mysterical-e

If you haven't seen it, check out the new issue of Mysterical-e.

** In my latest Author Snapshot, I've featured a bunch of new books including:

(See details and column above. Click titles below for Amazon links)

* The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories (BBT Cafe Authors)
- Stories by 18 authors including myself set in or around the corner cafe. .

* In "Perfect Timing" by Christine Verstraete, a rescued pup helps cafe owner Gina Mason find love and thwart a would-be robber.

(** NOTE: The Corner Cafe will be FREE on 8/15 - click title to go to site to download to Kindle.)

* Death Legacy (Five Star Mystery Series) by Jacqueline Seewald

* DREAM ANGEL -- A Circus Novella by Mary Ellen Dennis

* Killing Ways: Stories by Steve Torres

* The Mystery Writers (Interviews and Advice) by Jean Henry Mead

Miniatures Monday: New tote and shoes!

I'ts been a while since I've posted any minis. Well, between writing projects, I did manage to finish a new project. I saw a similar set and knew I had to try making my own. Still tweaking a few things but I love how the first set came out. I think I'm hooked! I have a cute strawberry print I want to try next with red heeled shoes!

The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories for Kindle. Special Today and Saturday!

** The CORNER CAFE is open again. If you missed it the first time, stop by and pick up an e-copy Friday 7/20 and Saturday 7/21 for free! And enjoy a cup of coffee and some pie while you're at it! - #1 in Short Stories!!

THE CORNER CAFE: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories is the local place where 15 authors offer their takes on the guests and visitors who come in. The menu includes stories by Marian Allen, Shonell Bacon, Karen Casey Fitzjerrell, W.S. Gager, Helen Ginger, Dani Greer, S.B. Lerner, Audrey Lintner, Morgan Mandel, Maryann Miller, Bodie Parkhurst, Bob Sanchez, Mary Montague Sikes, Red Tash, and Christine Verstraete. (And it's better than a cup of joe - and only 99 cents!!)

* In my story "Perfect Timing" by Christine Verstraete, a rescued pup helps cafe owner Gina Mason find love and thwart a would-be robber.

THE CORNER CAFE STORIES:

* "The Catfish Enchantment" by Marian Allen: Cosmo’s father deserted the family and died unforgiven, his mother is sinking into depression, he’s started cutting himself to relieve the pain, and his boss suggests…a tattoo?

* In "I Wanna Get Off Here," by Shonell Bacon, a bus driver with a dream to write must first unchain herself from a relationship and inner thoughts that keep her hopes from coming to pass.

* In "What's Next" By Karen Casey Fitzjerrell, a young woman who sees herself drifting aimlessly through life, hires a crop dusting pilot to fly her over the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of the night and is enlightened by "What's Next" in her life.

* "The Eyes Have It" by W.S. Gager: Crimebeat reporter Mitch Malone hates going to church, but when he gets rooked into speaking to the Bible-toting ladies, he may be facing the devil himself as he investigates the prayer group's missing purses.

* "Gila Monster" by Helen Ginger: Neree parked her beat-up truck, Gila Monster, in the senior parking lot, hoping it'll still be there at the end of school. Instead, she finds an unexpected possibility...

* "One Last Run" by Helen Ginger: When a couple ski a black diamond run in a blizzard, the truth of what happened is in the blood.

* In "Saturday Night Special" by Dani Greer, a jaded old codger learns it's relationships old and new that make the Corner Cafe a treasure, not just the down-home cooking.

* Also by Dani Greer: When Mick decides to apply for "A New Job," he discover one too many damning things about the Corner Cafe manager.

* Also by Dani Greer: Nell Crisp likes the ambiance and Wi-Fi at the Corner Cafe, but little does she know it will be her "Home Away From Home" when the police pay a visit.

* In "Since You Left" by S.B. Lerner, a young lawyer is unsettled by a phone call from an old boyfriend, and forced to make a decision.

* In "The Consequences of Breaking and Entering" by Audrey Lintner, Goldilocks gets an update and her comeuppance."

* "Over the Threshold" by Maryann Miller mixes a bit of Raymond Chandler noir with "The Twilight Zone."

* "Love Song with Holsteins" by Bodie Parkhurst is about Halloween, magic, Russell the dairy bull, love, and the private memorials we make to it.

* "In A Face in the Window" by Mary Montague Sikes, can Arianna ever forget the tragic loss that changed her life, especially on the 10th anniversary spent in a museum where memories lurk in the art and later among the shadows of the Corner Cafe?

* In "You Can't Be Too Careful" by Bob Sanchez, George prepares for the expected Y2K catastrophe.

* In "Living Well," Red Tash gently pokes fun at the Star Trek fan culture and the ups and downs of long-term love, in the fan-favored setting of This Brilliant Darkness' Corner Cafe.

Bollywood author Shobhan Bantwal tackles love and looks in her new book, THE RELUCTANT MATCHMAKER

Once again I'm happy to welcome Shobhan Bantwal, author of the Bollywood-flavored novels, THE DOWRY BRIDE, THE SARI SHOP WIDOW, THE FULL MOON BRIDE, and her sixth and latest book, THE RELUCTANT MATCHMAKER.

THE RELUCTANT MATCHMAKER starts with a bizarre accident. Petite and successful Meena Shenoy's contented life turns upside down when she collides, literally, with her strikingly tall boss, Prajay Nayak, and suffers a nasty fall. But when she discovers that he's a bright, caring, family-oriented man, she's attracted to him. When he unexpectedly asks her to meet him in secret, she wonders whether he feels the same way about her.

Meena walks into his office that evening with high romantic hopes. Imagine her shock when instead of declaring interest in her Prajay makes an astonishing request: He wants her to craft a personal ad that will help him find a suitable wife - a statuesque, sophisticated Indian-American woman who will complement his striking height.

Despite her feelings for Prajay and the complications of balancing work and her "marriage consultant" role, Meena can't refuse the assignment, or the generous fee attached to it. While she nurses her bruised heart, Meena comes to some surprising realizations about love, tradition, and the sacrifices she will—and won't—make to fight for the man she loves.




Shoban thank you for appearing again on the blog. (* See my previous interviews with her about her books The Full Moon Bride and The Sari Shop Widow.)

Q: At this point after several books, is it harder to come up with ideas?

Ideas are always in abundance, but it is the creative ways to bring them to fruition that can dry up after a while. A 350-page book requires a lot of intriguing characters, scenes, dialogue, and conflicts that keep the readers turning the pages and eagerly wanting to know what happens next. Creativity in terms of crafting the novel can begin to get a little scarce after writing multiple books.

Q: What do you find surprising as a writer at this stage of your career?

What amazes me at this point is how much effort and time it still takes to keep promoting my books. Despite the loyal following developed over the past several years and my name recognition within the sub-genre, when a new book is released, the promotion engine needs to be fed fresh fuel at a steady pace.

Q: What lesson/s have you learned in writing this book?

The lesson I have learned in writing not just this book but all my books is that an author should never become complacent, nor should she take her loyal readers for granted. Readers are what keeps an author moving forward and they should be respected. With hundreds of thousands of books coming out each year, it is easy to lose readers to other authors, therefore, just like a business needs to focus first and foremost on customer service, an author needs to keep her readers satisfied and coming back for more.

Q: Do you feel tackling the subjects you do (dowries, matchmakers and arranged marriages, marrying for looks, sons favored over daughters) has made any impact in Indian society?

Until now, my books have been released strictly in the United States and Canada, so large numbers of readers in India have not been exposed to them. However, an Indian publisher has just bought the rights to all six of my books and plans to release them over the next two years. I am excited that the social issues that I have tackled in some of my novels will now be open for debate to Indian readers. I can only hope that my stories will have at least some minimal impact on Indian society.

Q: For your own children, do you recommend they follow traditions or modern ways?

Our only child, a daughter, was born and brought up in the United States. We raised her in the American tradition of free thinking and individuality, so she is totally American in her viewpoint and lifestyle. Of course, she went through her rebellious teens, where she didn't want to be associated with our Hindu traditions. But now, as a young wife and mother of two, she has come to appreciate those same Indian customs and cuisine that she had disdained in her youth.

Q: What was the best and worst part of writing this book? What did you learn from it?

The best part was immersing myself in my heroine's journey. I could totally sympathize with her trials and tribulations, so it was a lot of fun to write about it. The worst part was knowing that most American readers would consider it silly to get hung up on physical looks when a relationship consists of so much more than that. And yet, in my Indian culture, physical compatibility between the potential bride and groom is something that is seriously weighed when arranging a marriage. What I learned while writing this tale about two people who are physically polar opposites is that it can be an entertaining topic, but it is not easy to write about.

Q: What are your favorite, and least favorite, parts in the book, and why? What did it mean to you?

My favorite part in the story is towards the end, when my heroine Meena realizes that the hero, Prajay, has finally discovered his true feelings for her, just when she had given up hope. To me it was a difficult scene to craft, to get it just right, and hence rather special.

There is so much emotion in the scene where Meena asks Prajay if he might have regrets later about starting a relationship with her. His reply to that is ""The only decision I regret is not telling you earlier. I wasted a lot of time.”

My least favorite part is when Meena has to make the heart-wrenching decision to give up her dream job and move to the West Coast, just so she doesn't have to watch the man she loves marry another woman.

Q: Do you have any other thoughts on the topic? How did you feel about writing it; what did it mean to you personally?

Being a very petite woman married to a suitably short man, I always wondered how it would be for a tiny woman to fall in love with a giant of a man. After years of having that idea swirling in my mind, I finally wrote about that very topic. The book was released less than two weeks ago, so I will have to wait and see what the reaction of readers is.

Q: What other subjects would you like to tackle?

Homelessness is a topic that I am deeply interested in. In fact, I have a manuscript written about a homeless Indian man. However, I doubt that the story will ever see the light of day, mainly because it does not fit into my established genre. Although poverty and homelessness are rampant in India, one hardly ever sees homeless Indian people in the United States. Nevertheless it is not impossible to imagine. I feel that such an unusual subject would make a good story, and interesting to some readers.


About the author:

Shobhan Bantwal is an award-winning author of six multicultural women's fiction books with romantic elements and numerous short stories, branded as "Bollywood in a Book." Her articles have appeared in The Writer magazine, Romantic Times, India Abroad, India Currents, and New Woman. Shobhan lives with her husband in Arizona.

Visit her website to learn about her books, trailers, contests, photos, recipes, and more. Check out her Facebook page.

* Check out the book trailer.

* See the rest of the book tour.

New miniature additions to the Tudor Tea Shoppe

I finally got a chance to finish something and get the pix up here.

One of my favorite projects is my Tudor Tea Shoppe, which I made using a Houseworks porch kit as the base. (The aged brickwork is a tutorial in my book, IN MINIATURE STYLE II.

I will add more pix of the tea shoppe in an upcoming post.

For now, I'm sharing some new minis I made, realizing - gasp - a major mistake! I didn't have any new pix of the queen for her 60th anniversary, and nothing celebrating William and Kate's wedding.



I made sweet tins with the queen's pic and her anniversary logo. One has a cake I made; the macaroons were made by my friend, Kitty.





On the bottom shelf, I added Will and Kate's framed photo, and I made mini photo albums. Yes, they have mini photos in them too!

New Summer AIM - Artisans in Miniature Magazine now available!

The new summer issue (#42) of the AIM, Artisans in Miniature Magazine is now out!

* Includes my new summer half scale garden screen based on my pattern from In Miniature Style II. (It also contains reprints of two missing pages from issue 41 which include my versions of Fern's "Pants Planters" and my Valentine's screen, also from the book.)

See Scribd for Artisans in Miniature issues. - See issue 42. (You may need to sign in.)

Too cute not to share! Baby Hummingbirds Hatched!

Too cute not to share! See the newly hatched hummingbirds in the nest via webcam.

(NOTE: Keep peeking in here and there, or watch a while as the mother will fly off, probably to feed, and then you can see the babies that are beneath her in the nest. Sometimes it takes some lucky timing, or patience.... :>) )