Showing posts with label Cynthianna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cynthianna. Show all posts
Monday, February 16, 2015
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Driving in England is now available at Devine Destinies Books.
It's a first! My husband and I wrote a book together (under my PG-rated romance pen name, Cynthianna), and here's an excerpt from it as well as the purchase link. Feel free to share the news with other readers of contemporary romance. Thank you!
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
by Cynthianna and A J Matthews
Susannah Koenig travels to England on an urgent mission to discover her boss’s relatives. Duncan Balfour, a renowned genealogist, doesn’t think he’d like to meet the woman who nags him online for help. Then he realizes he is the long lost relative Susannah’s boss is desperately searching for. Once the pair meet, they can’t deny their mutual attraction, but Duncan can’t help lying to her to protect his family’s reputation. Can Susannah pierce Duncan’s armor to find the loving man within and reveal the truth that could save a life?
From Chapter One, an excerpt from Driving in England:
She rose from the sofa and walked away from the coffee table littered with the remains of half-eaten bagels, dusty genealogy volumes, and various papers she’d gathered over the past two weeks. There’s no way on earth I can tell the boss about his ancestor, the unfrocked vicar who was consumed by a large beast of prey. No way. I value my job too much.
But what could she do? Harold Spalding paid her good money to graph out his family tree in minute detail. How could she avoid mentioning the former Reverend Titus Spalding, a man accused of sexual misconduct who was stupid enough to stick his head in a lion’s gaping jaws?
“I can’t believe this.” She switched on the kitchen light and began automatically stacking dishes into the dishwasher. “Who in his right mind would knowingly walk into a lion’s cage at a circus to prove his innocence? In the twentieth century no less! The man was a first class idiot!”
Shit! The sudden realization of the horrible revelation hit her hard in the stomach. She gulped and put down the dish she was stacking. I can’t tell Mr. Spalding that he had a complete lunatic for a grandfather. It’ll kill him.
And then she’d be out of a job.
A very good position with responsibility and prestige, one that she had slaved and suffered long enough to land... Women hit the glass ceiling in the good ol’ boy oil industry all the time, so Susannah felt rightfully proud of her accomplishment, even if it had taken many years and more than a few gray hairs. Nothing was going to stand in her way of keeping her job until they forced her into retirement. Nothing.
“Damned if I do—damned if I don’t.” Susannah sighed. She could think of only one thing to get herself out of this dilemma. She needed help—professional help. She’d have to email that stuffy, stick-up-his-ass Duncan Balfour and ask for his assistance once again. Maybe the genealogist par excellence could find some other worthy tidbits of information about the crazy vicar, suggest some way to sweeten the news, to make it more palatable for her boss to swallow?
“If I’m lucky, there might be two Reverend Titus Spaldings in England, and the boss is related to the more normal fella. Please, Lord, let that be the case!”
Swallowing her pride, and a few dry crumbs of bagel, she headed back to her laptop to email the uptight Brit.
Dear Mr. Balfour:
I’m in need of your assistance. I’m working on a genealogy project on behalf of my employer, Harold Spalding, and may have discovered a link in his family tree to a Reverend Titus Spalding of Understrand, Norfolk County, England. As I recall reading online, you’re a resident of the area. Could you check your own and local sources to enlighten me as to the true character of this individual? Could his name have been confused with any others of same or similar name? Your help in the past has been most appreciated, and I thank you in advance for this undertaking.
All the best,
Susannah Koenig
Tapping send, she glanced at the computer clock. Britain was six hours ahead of Texas, so Balfour would receive her missive first thing in the morning local time. Good enough. She’d check her email in the morning to see if the priggish academic felt her request for information worthy of an immediate reply.
Give the devil his due, Balfour always replies in a timely manner with hard factual material, even if his tone is patronizing. But somehow, Susannah got the impression the man found addressing a lowly American amateur beneath his dignity. Hadn’t she paid his fees promptly? Hadn’t she been businesslike and fair in all her dealings with the man?
Glass ceilings existed everywhere—in business, in genealogy circles, in life in general. In spite of the odds, she had marched forward, throwing herself against the walls of prejudice erected to keep women in their place, particularly women of a certain age as she had been labeled in the past few years. Her success had been hard won and all of her own doing. No silver spoons were ever placed in her mouth!
Susannah rolled her eyes heavenwards as she rose from the sofa. Some people! It’s like they don’t know what it’s like to earn a living. Spalding Oilfield Solutions paid her good money, and the chance to advance offered by the boss’s interest in her family tree hobby had been too good to ignore. She headed back to the kitchen to finish filling the dishwasher and sighed. “I just wish I didn’t have to depend on some old-money, snobby jackass I’ve never met in the flesh to get me through this rough patch.”
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
now available at Devine Destinies Books.
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
by Cynthianna and A J Matthews
Susannah Koenig travels to England on an urgent mission to discover her boss’s relatives. Duncan Balfour, a renowned genealogist, doesn’t think he’d like to meet the woman who nags him online for help. Then he realizes he is the long lost relative Susannah’s boss is desperately searching for. Once the pair meet, they can’t deny their mutual attraction, but Duncan can’t help lying to her to protect his family’s reputation. Can Susannah pierce Duncan’s armor to find the loving man within and reveal the truth that could save a life?
From Chapter One, an excerpt from Driving in England:
“Oh. My. God.”
Susannah Koenig smothered a laugh behind a
hand, staring at the headline splashed across her laptop’s screen.
Unfrocked Vicar Eaten by Lion! She couldn’t believe her
eyes. That kind of thing only happened in the movies or on some
poorly written sit-coms—not in real life—and most certainly not
in some staid English village circa 1932.She rose from the sofa and walked away from the coffee table littered with the remains of half-eaten bagels, dusty genealogy volumes, and various papers she’d gathered over the past two weeks. There’s no way on earth I can tell the boss about his ancestor, the unfrocked vicar who was consumed by a large beast of prey. No way. I value my job too much.
But what could she do? Harold Spalding paid her good money to graph out his family tree in minute detail. How could she avoid mentioning the former Reverend Titus Spalding, a man accused of sexual misconduct who was stupid enough to stick his head in a lion’s gaping jaws?
“I can’t believe this.” She switched on the kitchen light and began automatically stacking dishes into the dishwasher. “Who in his right mind would knowingly walk into a lion’s cage at a circus to prove his innocence? In the twentieth century no less! The man was a first class idiot!”
Shit! The sudden realization of the horrible revelation hit her hard in the stomach. She gulped and put down the dish she was stacking. I can’t tell Mr. Spalding that he had a complete lunatic for a grandfather. It’ll kill him.
And then she’d be out of a job.
A very good position with responsibility and prestige, one that she had slaved and suffered long enough to land... Women hit the glass ceiling in the good ol’ boy oil industry all the time, so Susannah felt rightfully proud of her accomplishment, even if it had taken many years and more than a few gray hairs. Nothing was going to stand in her way of keeping her job until they forced her into retirement. Nothing.
“Damned if I do—damned if I don’t.” Susannah sighed. She could think of only one thing to get herself out of this dilemma. She needed help—professional help. She’d have to email that stuffy, stick-up-his-ass Duncan Balfour and ask for his assistance once again. Maybe the genealogist par excellence could find some other worthy tidbits of information about the crazy vicar, suggest some way to sweeten the news, to make it more palatable for her boss to swallow?
“If I’m lucky, there might be two Reverend Titus Spaldings in England, and the boss is related to the more normal fella. Please, Lord, let that be the case!”
Swallowing her pride, and a few dry crumbs of bagel, she headed back to her laptop to email the uptight Brit.
Dear Mr. Balfour:
I’m in need of your assistance. I’m working on a genealogy project on behalf of my employer, Harold Spalding, and may have discovered a link in his family tree to a Reverend Titus Spalding of Understrand, Norfolk County, England. As I recall reading online, you’re a resident of the area. Could you check your own and local sources to enlighten me as to the true character of this individual? Could his name have been confused with any others of same or similar name? Your help in the past has been most appreciated, and I thank you in advance for this undertaking.
All the best,
Susannah Koenig
Tapping send, she glanced at the computer clock. Britain was six hours ahead of Texas, so Balfour would receive her missive first thing in the morning local time. Good enough. She’d check her email in the morning to see if the priggish academic felt her request for information worthy of an immediate reply.
Give the devil his due, Balfour always replies in a timely manner with hard factual material, even if his tone is patronizing. But somehow, Susannah got the impression the man found addressing a lowly American amateur beneath his dignity. Hadn’t she paid his fees promptly? Hadn’t she been businesslike and fair in all her dealings with the man?
Glass ceilings existed everywhere—in business, in genealogy circles, in life in general. In spite of the odds, she had marched forward, throwing herself against the walls of prejudice erected to keep women in their place, particularly women of a certain age as she had been labeled in the past few years. Her success had been hard won and all of her own doing. No silver spoons were ever placed in her mouth!
Susannah rolled her eyes heavenwards as she rose from the sofa. Some people! It’s like they don’t know what it’s like to earn a living. Spalding Oilfield Solutions paid her good money, and the chance to advance offered by the boss’s interest in her family tree hobby had been too good to ignore. She headed back to the kitchen to finish filling the dishwasher and sighed. “I just wish I didn’t have to depend on some old-money, snobby jackass I’ve never met in the flesh to get me through this rough patch.”
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
now available at Devine Destinies Books.
Thursday, August 08, 2013
Doctor Who Middle-Age Madness
At last the BBC announced the next actor to portray the Doctor on science fiction television's longest running series, Doctor Who. It's Peter Capaldi. Yeah!
I'm thrilled because I think Peter will be excellent in the role. He starred in the David Tennant/Catherine Tate 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii". He also played quite a spine-chilling baddie in the spin-off series Torchwood in its "Children of Earth" episodes. I've loved him from the first time I saw him on screen in the wonderfully warm and witty movie comedy Local Hero. What's not to love about an actor who can play heroic, comical and pure evil characters with equal ease?
This brings me to the reason behind my blog post title. I really enjoy the idea of watching another "middle-age" Doctor (who, of course, is much older than he looks). While the current producers may have thought that young people would only watch the show in record numbers with "one of their own" in twenty-something Matt Smith playing the title role, I do believe they've come to realize that it's not the age of the actor that matters but his energy level. I think Peter will have the right energy level in addition to the handsome, distinguished looks that women in my particular age group will relate to well.
As the old saying goes, "Snow on the roof doesn't mean there isn't a fire in the hearth." ;-)
What does this mean for my alter-ego Cynthiana's ongoing Doctor Who-inspired series Loving Who (and its sequel Leaving Who)? The next title in the series that I'm working on is Losing Who. In a way Peter Capaldi becoming the new Doctor works into the plot outline quite well. Things change. My character Cici Connors experienced an abrupt change in the last installment, so a new face to confront and get to know is just par for the course at this point in her life journey.
And who knows... Cici might find a good-looking man of a certain age worth getting to know better. ;-)
I'm looking forward to the fiftieth anniversary special coming in November and the Christmas special when Peter's Doctor will make his debut. How about you? Are you excited? Has Doctor Who "middle-age madness" taken hold of you? Or are you still crying about Matt Smith (or David Tennant or Christopher Eccleston or...) leaving the show? What sort of storylines or characters do you envision in the new season episodes? Are there any mortal enemies of the Doctor you'd rather not see?
Let me know your feelings in the comments below. You never know--I might just use one of your ideas in the plot of Losing Who!
I'm thrilled because I think Peter will be excellent in the role. He starred in the David Tennant/Catherine Tate 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii". He also played quite a spine-chilling baddie in the spin-off series Torchwood in its "Children of Earth" episodes. I've loved him from the first time I saw him on screen in the wonderfully warm and witty movie comedy Local Hero. What's not to love about an actor who can play heroic, comical and pure evil characters with equal ease?
I think the persona of the Doctor needs a good balance of heroic and not-so-heroic traits. After all, he is an alien--he's not human (according to canon). What we puny humans may see as "evil" may not seem that way to him and vice versa. It makes for a very dynamic character, one that is at times unpredictable and at others dependable. It makes for a character that has been extremely popular for a half century now and shows no signs of diminishing in popularity.
As the old saying goes, "Snow on the roof doesn't mean there isn't a fire in the hearth." ;-)
What does this mean for my alter-ego Cynthiana's ongoing Doctor Who-inspired series Loving Who (and its sequel Leaving Who)? The next title in the series that I'm working on is Losing Who. In a way Peter Capaldi becoming the new Doctor works into the plot outline quite well. Things change. My character Cici Connors experienced an abrupt change in the last installment, so a new face to confront and get to know is just par for the course at this point in her life journey.
And who knows... Cici might find a good-looking man of a certain age worth getting to know better. ;-)
I'm looking forward to the fiftieth anniversary special coming in November and the Christmas special when Peter's Doctor will make his debut. How about you? Are you excited? Has Doctor Who "middle-age madness" taken hold of you? Or are you still crying about Matt Smith (or David Tennant or Christopher Eccleston or...) leaving the show? What sort of storylines or characters do you envision in the new season episodes? Are there any mortal enemies of the Doctor you'd rather not see?
Let me know your feelings in the comments below. You never know--I might just use one of your ideas in the plot of Losing Who!
Saturday, July 06, 2013
The Fixer Uppers: Deal of the Day--save 73%!
For today only (July 6) you can purchase my alter-ego's romantic-comedy novel The Fixer Uppers from Devine Destinies Books for only $1.59. That's 73% off the list price!
It's a full length contemporary romance novel, so you're getting a lot for your money. Here's the link and the details:
http://www.devinedestinies.com/the-fixer-uppers/
The Fixer Uppers
by Cynthianna
http://www.devinedestinies.com/the-fixer-uppers/
Can a single mom find happiness on a blind date—or at least dinner with a male who can cut up his own food? Cassie and Mike believe they’re in like, not in love. But when down-on-his-luck Mike is evicted, Cassie takes him in. Mike starts fixing everything from window screens to her sons’ broken hearts. Will Cassie let Mike fix hers?
Read the first chapter excerpt at Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/327212?chapter=1
Purchase your copy soon, because the Deal of the Day doesn't last long!
It's a full length contemporary romance novel, so you're getting a lot for your money. Here's the link and the details:
http://www.devinedestinies.com/the-fixer-uppers/
The Fixer Uppers
by Cynthianna
http://www.devinedestinies.com/the-fixer-uppers/
ISBN #:978-1-77111-326-7
Word Count:75094
Page Count: 275
Can a single mom find happiness on a blind date—or at least dinner with a male who can cut up his own food? Cassie and Mike believe they’re in like, not in love. But when down-on-his-luck Mike is evicted, Cassie takes him in. Mike starts fixing everything from window screens to her sons’ broken hearts. Will Cassie let Mike fix hers?
Read the first chapter excerpt at Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/327212?chapter=1
Purchase your copy soon, because the Deal of the Day doesn't last long!
Friday, March 15, 2013
Get Lucky with Candelight Reads!
Head on over to my alter-ego's Confessions of a Blonde Writer blog now until March 18th to enter the Candlelight Reads Irish Gold Blog Hop. The grand prizes include a $60 gift certificate and a swag bag. Sounds good... Plus, Cynthianna is having a drawing for a free copy of her romantic-comedy novel The Fixer Uppers. Not bad at all.
 | |
| Available at Devine Destinies Books: http://www.devinedestinies.com/the-fixer-uppers |
Here's where you can go to get started in on the fun and prizes:
Confessions of a Blonde Writer: http://momsday.blogspot.com
Go get'em and tell them that Celine sent ya! ;)
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Xmas Party Time at eXtasy/Devine Destinies Books is full of Prizes!!
We'll be traveling this week, but handsome hubby and I will do our best to show up at the first party. We'll attend the second party for certain. So drop by the chat room and chat with some wild and crazy authors. Your name will be included in the drawing to win some fantastic prizes--including a Kindle e-reader. The parties will be held at http://www.extasychat.com
Ho, ho, ho! Santa's little helpers are certainly alive and well at eX/Devine Destinies Books. :)
EXTRA: Congrats to readers Kathy and Barbara who knew the answer to my question, "What is the name of my race of vampires/series from eXtasy?" They won a copy of my holiday erotic-romance Yes, Virginia, Here Comes Santa Claus. Hope to see you at the next eXtasy chat!
Ho, ho, ho! Santa's little helpers are certainly alive and well at eX/Devine Destinies Books. :)
EXTRA: Congrats to readers Kathy and Barbara who knew the answer to my question, "What is the name of my race of vampires/series from eXtasy?" They won a copy of my holiday erotic-romance Yes, Virginia, Here Comes Santa Claus. Hope to see you at the next eXtasy chat!
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