Interview I Did for Revital Shiri-Horowitz' Lovely Blog

http://www.revital-sh.com/guests/view/id/3

Book and Prize Giveaway! $25 Ann Taylor Loft Gift Certificate Up For Grabs

I am announcing a book/gift-certificate giveaway in celebration of the August release of The Time Baroness in print. The winner will receive a signed copy of The Time Baroness, and a $25 gift certificate from Ann Taylor Loft!

To enter, follow this blog by clicking on Join This Site with Google Friends Connect; the button is on the right, below the book covers.

Anyone who followed the blog before August 1st has not yet entered the contest. (If you are already a follower, you may enter the contest by commenting on this post.)

A winner will be chosen at random on September 1st, 2011.
Each person may only enter once.
If you are the winner, I will contact you through Google Friends Connect to let you know. At that time you will have to provide me with your mailing address so I can send you the gift certificate and the book.

The contest ends as of midnight, August 31st, 2011.

Any questions, please e-mail me at ginafire@gmail.com

thanks and good luck!

Georgina Young-Ellis

(The Time Baroness is currently available as an e-book for .99 cents here: http://amzn.to/ljb0wb
The print version will be available around mid-August for $14.95 at the same Amazon location.)

Are Mermaids the New Vampires?

These are not the sirens of myth that lure sailors to their death during long hallucination-inducing voyages, mirages of beauty and sex, offering escape from the endless sickening storms and searing sun. No, mermaids live among us. They are beautiful, and (mostly) benign, content to while away their days on land as placid wives to fisherman or ferry captains - those men who make their livelihoods from the sea. Mermaids choose them so they can stay close to their life-blood, the salt water. These women have skill with their hands when in human form. They can weave, and bake and play music. They live quietly on land until one day they are called to return to the sea - long after they have mated and raised human children.

But sometimes, a mermaid is driven onto land from a desire to seek revenge on the human male. Because a man once did her wrong, perhaps forced her to a watery death by murder, or drove her to it by suicide, now she seeks revenge on all men. So, gentlemen, beware the great beauty, the lure of flashing green eyes and long, thick hair; of a perfect body, strong and tan. Beware of those sweethearts you meet at the shore, those sun-goddesses, those of wind-blown tresses, who hunt the tide pools and stare longingly at the crashing waves, those who surf the inhumanly cold waters of the north pacific or bathe endlessly in the serene summer oceans of the Atlantic. Don't be lured into the sea; don't join her for that naked moonlit swim. Listen to my words of warning: they are out there; beware.

- The theme of a novel in progress: Siren Depths

My First Print Review

Please take a look at the latest review of my book, The Time Baroness, in a local New York City paper, The Queens Gazette:

http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-07-13/Features/Astoria_Resident_Takes_A_Trip_Back_In_Time.html

Vampires in Portland?

Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt and Brad Pitt as Louis
de Pointe de Lac in Interview With a Vampire

Forget Transylvania, or even Forks, Washington (location of Twilight for all of you uniformed). If I were a vampire, Portland, Oregon would certainly be my city of choice. Like Forks, and probably Transylvania, it rains a lot, there's very little sunshine, lots of clouds and fog, and plenty of green forested areas in which to lurk. As a matter of fact, while I'm here on the 3rd stop of my family-visit sojourn, I'm staying at my brother's house in a suburb just outside of Portland; even here, in this neatly manicured corner of the world, you can find a bit of forest here, a stand of pines there. One minute you're at a mini-mall, the next you're driving under a canopy of ancient firs eerie enough even for Sookie and Bill (of True Blood - come on, people, get with it!)

Oh, but Portland isn't all burb-claves and big box stores - far from it. Get out of the suburbs and into Portland proper and there are hillsides of cottage-y homes and winding streets, so green, so lush with vegetation that I was pretty sure I saw a werewolf the other night as I was leaving my aunt's house. And old Portland, what I think is referred to as the Hawthorne District, is all vintage clothing stores, tattoo parlors, pubs, and old, old houses, shrouded in shrubbery. Such hip-looking people slouch about that area, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Lestat de Lioncourt sipping an espresso in some neighborhood boÎte. Portland is cool. Portland is creepy. Someone oughta write a series about it.

The Desert is a Scary Place

photo by Bill Josh Young

I'm in Tucson at the moment, it's the Fourth of July, and there's a thunderstorm brewing. Last night a huge one blew in around 9:00 pm. We all ran outside and stood under the eaves to watch. The lighting and thunder crashed all around us and the rain poured down in torrents. You could almost feel the desert soaking it up. And the smell of that desert in the rain is intoxicating - my favorite smell in the world. However, all that rain brings out some nasty little creatures. As I went to do yoga in my mom's living room this morning, I was confronted by a small scorpion. I sprayed it with raid and it flailed about, giving me some major creeps. I went to put the raid away and when I came back, it was gone. Where the heck did the horrible little thing go? Well, I wasn't about to exercise on the rug after that, not knowing when it might skitter over to take its revenge. Finally, after I finished the workout in another room, I decided to fling myself in the pool to cool down. I stripped down to my skivvies and leaped in with abandon. Suddenly, I came face to face with a desert toad that was dog-paddling for its life. Once I recovered from that small freak-out, I retrieved my flip flop, fished the toad out with it, and placed it on the grass. Minutes later, it was gone - ungrateful bastard.

Beautiful and awe inspiring as it is - the desert is full of surprises, some not so nice. I'm keeping my shoes on and my eyes open til this little vacation is over.

A special post featuring the author of LS: The Beginning, Kelvin O'Ralph

Kelvin O'Ralph is currently on a blog tour and decided to contact me to host one of the stops. In this post, he'll be doing a character interview of the female MC of LS: The Beginning, Lisa Morgan. Please leave your comments below if you're interested in winning one of the two free e-copies he's giving away on this stop(post). The two winners will be announced on his blog on the last day of his tour.

P.S: The three images used are the preferred cast of the character.

CHARACTER INTERVIEW OF LISA MORGAN

Who's Lisa Morgan?

Lisa Morgan is a seventeen year old sophomore college girl who entered college at a young age, and she's from a wealthy family, the Morgans. Although, she has such background, Lisa is a disciplined girl and doesn't make a big deal about her parents' wealth. She's the first of the two children, and the only girl in the family.

What's her role in LS: The Beginning?

Lisa is the female protagonist in the aforesaid title. The entire story is built around her and the male MC, Stephen Wilson. In other words, the story would be meaningless without her.

What's her turn-off and turn-on?

She's loves sitting under the sun and reading her books or playing with jigsaw puzzles. One thing L isa hates more than anything in the whole world is cold water. Ironically she loves the cold weather, and hardly feels the cold. Also, she can't stand the thought of getting a shot, even though she has never been given one before.

What's her dress code?

Lisa loves wearing only two colors, yellow and red. No one knows whether there's a psychological explanation to this, but to young Lisa it's normal to her, especially when she meets Stephen Wilson with his white and blue dress code.

Does Lisa have any best friend?

Hmm, not at first. Lisa loved being in the comfort of her boyfriend, David Russel, and didn't have any time left for both female and male friends. However, you'd see Lisa mixing up at the end of the book.

Tell us a little about Lisa's mysterious super power.

Her main power is the ability to create and manipulate fire from her bare hands. Lisa can also run faster than the speed of sound, and is able to hear sounds from a great distance, including reading minds and one's heartbeat.

What's Lisa's idea of a perfect date?

Before Lisa received her powers, her perfect date was having an exquisite dinner in a restaurant close to the beach. Then after that she would lay down on the beach, on top a red cloth surrounded with yellow candles. However, this fantasy came to a halt the minute Stephen Wilson shook her hand.

If Lisa had one wish, what would she go for?

Again, it depends on the timing. If Lisa had one wish a few weeks after she received her powers, she'd wish for them to be taken away. However, if she had one wish after her first date with Stephen Wilson, she'd wish for the revelation of the mysteries behind her power.

In Lisa's words, what do you think of the series, LS?

"It's like no other; very creative and well planned. At the beginning, there seems to be a bit confusion (even with the characters), but the more you read the more you get entangled with this world of fantasy Kelvin has created."

Thanks Lisa for taking your time to feature in this post. I wish you the best in the LS series.

To learn more about LS: The Beginning, visit Kelvin O'Ralph's blog at Kelvin's World.