Hey gang! New blog facelift, woo!

In other news, I’ve been thinking a lot this week about starting a community for time travel fans and especially time travel authors. Time travel is more than Jules Vern and Doctor Who…and I feel like with all the fans out there, there isn’t really a solid place for all the fandoms to coincide and talk about time.

SO I’m kind of thinking of creating the Alliance of Time Travelers, which will be an online community for time travel authors and fans to talk about their theories and resources on temporal physics (both factual and fictional theories), talk about their favorite fandoms and collaborate ideas about time travel in general.

Is  this a good idea, or is there a reason why time travelers are not united? I don’t know, just a thought

This picture is relevant because the other day I was driving home and saw this car being driven as an advertisement  Not only did it make me feel like Bas handed me a Time Shifter http://amzn.to/118aNfm, but it made me wonder about who else is a fan of the idea of time travel.

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Interview With Grant & Linc Vasser – #BeNotorious Blog Tour Day Two

Welcome to Day Two of the #BeNotorious Blog Tour! We are revving up to the release of the highly anticipated sequel of Katie Jennings’ family drama When Empires Fall, aptly named Rise of the Notorious!

Follow along on this notorious blog tour from April 2^nd till release day on April 23^rd, and be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win some AMAZING prizes!

Today’s stop is an exclusive interview with two infamous men of the Vasser Hotel family, Grant and Linc. These brothers couldn’t be more different, but if there’s one thing they have in common, it’s love of family. Enjoy!

* * *

Interviewer:  Thank you both for taking time out of your hectic schedule to sit down and talk with me today…I know you must still be troubled by the truth about your grandfather’s dark past.

Linc:  Right…well, Kathleen…may I call you Kathy?

Interviewer:  Oh, of course…I-

Linc:  Kathy, the truth is we have accepted what our grandfather has done. But his sins, if you will, do not reflect upon us as his successors nor do they mean we plan on giving up our livelihood and our legacy.

Interviewer:  Do you feel that this scandal will blow over in time?

Linc:  Not only will it blow over once people realize that we didn’t kill anybody, but I can guarantee to you right now that my family and our hotels will be better and stronger because of this.

Interviewer:  That’s a bold prediction.

Grant:  It’s an accurate one.

Interviewer:  Grant, what is your take on all of this? As general manager of the Vasser Hotel, how are you coping? I can only imagine that reservation numbers are down…

Grant:  I don’t cope; I take control. Our hotel is fine.

Interviewer:  Tell me more about your sister. Are you feeling shunned because your grandfather named her as his successor instead of you? You are the oldest.

Grant:  Madison is more than capable.

Linc:  Mads is tough and very smart, which is what we need right now. She won’t be pushed around and she certainly won’t back down from this fight. We work together as a team, the three of us. Just because she has the title and is the face of the company doesn’t mean we feel shut out. We’re all in this together.

Interviewer:  Many other members of your family have come into town from across the world for the funeral…have they asked you how you could let all of this happen at your hotel, under your watch? The murderous scandal, the suicides, the drunken public speeches…

Linc:  That’s stupid. We didn’t want any of this to happen.

Grant:  If we could have prevented it, we would have.

Interviewer:  Do they blame you?

Linc:  No. That’s outrageous. Why would-

Grant:  Next question, please.

Interviewer:  Alright…Grant, tell me about Quinn Taylor. You were spotted with her as your date at the fundraiser. Your company employment records show that she is currently employed as your secretary. Are you dating her?

Grant:  What does this have to do with anything?

Interviewer:  The public wants to know, Grant. You are still considered one of New York City’s most eligible bachelors. Is this no longer the case?

Grant:  I don’t see any reason to answer that. Next question.

Linc:  Quinn’s a great girl. Grant’s just shy. Look, he’s blushing even with that surly frown.

Grant:  I’m not blushing.

Linc:  You are, but that’s not important. What’s important is that he’s found a fantastic girl who is happy to put up with his grumpiness.

Interviewer:  What about you, Linc? There are pictures of you with the senator’s daughter…are you two an item?

Linc:  Ah…well, it’s complicated.

Grant:  Please elaborate, Linc. The public wants to know.

Interviewer:  *laughs* Yes, all of us single ladies desperately want to know. You are the Vasser playboy, after all.

Linc:  Alright…well, Lynette is amazing, first off. She’s gorgeous, smart, kind…she can be annoyingly indecisive at times though, especially in regards to her father. He doesn’t approve of me, or of my family. I don’t care though; she chose me over him.

Interviewer:  She’s a dancer with the New York Ballet. Does she worry her reputation may be damaged by her association with you?

Linc:  What’re you trying to say? That I’m damaged goods because of one little scandal?

Interviewer:  I would hasten to say this is not a “little” scandal.

Grant:  Regardless of the weight of the scandal, I don’t see how this is important. Why don’t you ask us about what we’re doing to improve our reputation?

Interviewer:  We’ll get to that. Grant, who do you think is responsible for your father’s death?

Grant:  He killed himself.

Interviewer:  Did he? He was the reason the scandal came out in the first place. Nobody in your family held a grudge against him?

Linc:  What’re you fishing for headlines, now? We’re done here.

Interviewer:  One last question, gentlemen…what are you going to do about famed actress Jorja Hale and her vendetta against your family?

Grant:  We’re not in the business of getting revenge.

Linc:  Jorja Hale can go to hell. She may think she has us by the shorthairs, but she’s in for a rude awakening.

Interviewer:  What sort of “rude awakening” are you planning on giving her?

Grant:  We’re done.

Linc:  Yeah, I think you have enough to print. Let’s go, Grant.

Interviewer:  Thank you both again for talking with me. I hope you’ll join me again soon…

Grant:  Don’t count on it.

* * *

Rise of the Notorious

By International Bestselling Author

Katie Jennings

Coming April 23, 2013

Click HERE to Enter the Giveaway!

Don’t forget, you get an extra entry for each blog you comment on during the tour!

Giveaway runs from April 2nd until April 24th. The winners will be announced here on this blog and will be contacted via email.

Good luck!

* * *

Meet Katie Jennings…

International bestselling Author Katie Jennings is the author of six full length novels, including the popular fantasy series The Dryad Quartet as well as the bestselling family drama series The Vasser Legacy.

She lives in sunny Southern California with her husband and cat, who both think she’s the biggest nerd ever. She’s a firm believer in happy endings and loves nothing more than a great romance novel.

You can find out more about Katie on her official website, www.katieajennings.com.

My guest star who is bringing life again to Celebrity Saturday is my good friend Michelle Franco! I’m very excited she has a new book that came out on the 14^th for Valentine’s Day, the Rustler’s Daughter! The Rustler’s Daughter sounds like a sexy cowboy romance, and here to tell more about it is Ms. Franco herself! So happy to have her here on Life, Muse and Coffee!

1. So your book is called The Rustler’s Daughter, can you tell us about the title?

The main character, Hannah, is forced to go live with her father and brother after her mother dies. They didn’t
know about each other, so she is hoping they will be glad to meet her. To them, she is just another mouth to feed, and her
father’s desperate scheme to get money changes all their lives. Cattle rustling was a very serious crime, and that kind of
scandal could ruin family members who may not have been involved. This story is about Hannah’s struggle to cope after her
father steals cattle from their neighbors.

2. What inspired you to write a Western? Have you always been a big fan of Western?

Yes, I have always been a big fan a westerns. When I was growing up, there were still a lot of western programs
on television like Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Big Valley, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, How the West Was Won, etc.
There were also a lot of western movies, so I was exposed to the western way of life and cowboys at an early age. I was
lucky enough to have my great grandparents until I was a teenager, and I loved to listen to their stories. They came to
California from Oklahoma in covered wagons and settled in Bakersfield to farm. It was a tough life. My grandmother told me
a lot of family stories as well. She was very young when they moved to California, but she enjoys sharing stories about our
family. My inspiration for The Rustler’s Daughter came from one of the stories my grandmother told me about an aunt of
hers. She met and married a man who owned a cattle ranch and moved to California with him. One day, he and his two
brothers went to town because they believed someone had stolen some of their cattle. They turned the men in, and on
their way back to the ranch, they were ambushed. All three brothers were killed…shot in the back. It was a very sad story,
but not an unusual one in California. This state has a very wild history, especially following the Gold Rush. It was a
potentially prosperous time, but also very dangerous. Justice was not what it is today. It was not unusual for people to take
the law into their own hands, and hang or shoot people without a trial if they were caught in the act of a crime -
sometimes, they even acted on suspicions or accusations alone without any proof. Like I said, it was a very dangerous time
in California history.

3. What’s your favorite Western story, book or film?

My husband loves John Wayne, and so do I. However, I am very partial to westerns with Tom Selleck. I loved him
in The Sacketts, Quigley Down Under, and Crossfire Trail which was based on a Louis L’Amour book.

4. Have you gone through anything your characters have gone through, or are their experiences completely different than
your own?

Thankfully, no. I’m so glad that times are not as difficult as they were then. I can’t imagine having to grow most
all of my food, including livestock. They didn’t have electric ovens, washing machines/dryers, microwaves, or heating/air
conditioning. It was much harder on women as well. Even though women could be very strong emotionally, they were often
dependent on men. It wasn’t as if they could go to college and get a job. They were often forced into loveless marriages of
convenience as were some of the men. On the upside, families were closer. They didn’t have television or the internet, so
evenings were spent talking, reading, playing instruments, doing needlework, playing games, or other family oriented
activities. They all worked together to survive and often had to cooperate with neighboring farms/ranches to be successful.
My grandmother told me that her grandfather died of meningitis after trying to help a neighboring farm family who had
been quarantined due the contagious disease. He felt sorry for them, so he would go to their farm, milk their cows, gather
their eggs and put them on the porch. He would take their used milk bottles to use the next day. Somehow, he contracted
meningitis and died within a week. My great grandfather was only 8 years old at the time when he watched his father die.
People often helped each other out even if it meant endangering themselves because they never knew when they would be
the ones needing the help, and it was just the right thing to do.

5. That’s a steamy but awesome cover you got there. Is there a lot of sex?

*Blushing* LOL…there isn’t a lot of sex, but there is one steamy love scene. I have a hard time writing sex
scenes, so this is the first one I have actually published.

6. If the Rustler’s Daughter was a movie, what rating would you give it?

Due to the violence and sexual situations, it would probably be rated R.

7. If the Rustler’s Daughter was a movie, do you have any actors in mind for your characters?

Oh…the dreaded casting question. I’m so bad at this. Thankfully, I’m prepared this time. I already did a little
research on some up and coming young actors.

8. Was it tricky to write a Western, or was it like writing anything else?

I think it would be very difficult if I didn’t have the background I have. Even with all of the information I had about
the history of this area growing up here in California, and the exposure to westerns, I still had to do a lot of research. It was
difficult to keep in mind how things were back then, and to stay consistent and true to the time period.

9. Is this book a stand-alone or a planned series?

Well, I had originally intended for it to be a stand-alone book, but I have already had several requests
(translation: demands) to write books for the other two Scott brothers. I might be open to that idea.

10. What about your Dion series, any news for your next book?

That is my next project. I have already started writing the third book in the Dion series. This one is crazy so far. It
looks like it is going to be a lot of fun to write. I’m also considering doing a series of short stories featuring each member of
the team. I’m thinking of calling them Dion Origins, and each short would tell the back story of one of the Dion team
members, and how they became involved with the Dion.

11. What food or drink does your muse demand?

Caffeine and chocolate.

12. Any advice on writing?

Just do it. Write. Don’t worry about making it perfect the first time. I used to do that. I would be so worried about
making mistakes and writing something I couldn’t use, that I missed out on some really great ideas. It’s okay to write
something you may never use. Like all things, writing gets better with practice, so anytime you spend writing is never a
waste, even if you don’t use it. Keep everything though, just in case. Something that doesn’t work out for your current
project may be perfect for something else later.

Thank you Claire!! Great interview

Other works by M.E. Franco are Where Will You Run and Where Will You Hide, books one and two of the Dion series. The Dion series is a fun supernatural story set in San Francisco of modern times. I read both books and if the Rustler’s Daughter is half as good as the Dion we are in for a treat!

For more on M.E. Franco check out her blog: http://mefrancoauthor.blogspot.com/

And her website  www.mefranco.com

And her books can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=M.%20E.%20Franco&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

Or on Barnes and Nobel: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rustlers-daughter-janna-shay/1114552363?ean=2940016339733

Thanks again Michelle for stopping by!

The Power of Not

To be or not to be. Shakespeare’s most famous lines that turned Hamlet timeless. People often associate this phrase to mean to live or to die, which is the question. And typically, I agree that’s what’s Shakespeare was implying. And of course, I always choose life even when I face my darkest demons.

But today, I discovered a powerful tool for mental wellbeing. The power of not.

Not to let the little worries get to you. Not to complain about the snow. Or the drama of coworkers. Or to worry about what may come tomorrow. For today, I finally felt at peace:

For some unexplainable reason, around 4:00 today I just felt … I don’t know how to describe it, free. I was no longer in pain, I didn’t feel sick like I still kind of was today. The usual worries and annoyances didn’t bother me. I didn’t even mind the cold when I went out or that I had to walk through the snow to my apartment because the close parking spaces were taken. It wasn’t happiness or being lethargic, it was higher than that. It was peace. Wish I could bottle up that emotion and sell it, or know how to get it more often, because it was glorious. Still feeling a little bit of it now, but it’s fading quickly…

That was my status when I got home. And after I typed that, after I tried to define it; I broke down in uncontrolled tears. But I wasn’t sad. It was just too strong of an emotion to contain. But I feel lucky to have experienced it.

I think what it means is not to let the little things like drama and weather and traffic and stupid things ignorant people do get you down.

I always believed you can’t control other people, only your own actions. And I try to remember this lesson. But it’s easy to let everyday life get to you. It’s easy to worry about the future. But you can worry all you want. And I’ve been worried since October.

I decided no more worry. I decided to not. And I decided how powerful not can be.

So tomorrow, try the power of not. Try not to be bothered. Don’t care so much of others opinions. Still be responsible, I’m not saying fuck everything because bills still have to be paid and people and pets still have to be taken care of; but try to do so without so much worry. Part of what helped me keep the emotion for so long (about an hour of pure inner peace and mental freedom) was a mild version of denial with still being able to keep a hold of reality.

Like I said to myself it’s not so cold outside, it’s tolerable. I’m not trekking through snow; I’m trekking through a desert. I’m happy.

If you can convince these to be truths, then they can be, if even for a few moments.

So for once, try not to be. But mentally of course. Because life itself is so precious, and it breaks my heart when people take their own lives. But for the little stuff, the not is a powerful tool. Basically … don’t let others control how you feel, don’t let the weather and traffic bring you down. Promise yourself tomorrow will be better, because we don’t know the unkown so for all we know tomorrow will be.

Sadly I won’t be able to experience this every day, and maybe in a week I’ll have forgotten about it. But I know it’s changed me, made me more powerful. And I’m thankful.

In honor of #NANO I think a majority of posts this month will be about WORDS to help my NANO participants get fired up. I’m not doing it this year, as this year I’m focusing on my novels, but I congrat everyone whose trying.

Not only are words the weapons, bullets and swords of us writers; they can be FUN. This can be easy to forget, especially during the editing process. Sometimes when you work on something so long, or so quick like in NANO, it’s easy to hate words instead of love them.

I’ve been meaning to post this video for a while, because it’s such a fun re-make of the Disney song from Dumbo. As a kid, I don’t think I appreciated this tune. But being a writer, I find the play-on-words to be very amusing

So as you’re writing, don’t forget to think of the words you write, not just how many a day you write. And most importantly: don’t forget to have FUN with words. Because writing is supposed to be fun. The minute the writer stops having fun, is when the reader stops having fun reading it.

What’s YOUR favorite word? What play-on-word do you love the most? Share in the comments!

Enjoy your weekend,

Claire