Summer Shenanigans

Big things are happening in the land of Shea! Alaska is doing the usual weather dance, a few days of intense sun followed by days of clouds and rain. The balance keeps us on our toes, one day cool, one day too hot. We work like mad on the sunny days and rest up on the cloudy ones.

What I hope will be my new backyard soon! Note that gorgeous blue sky!
Alaskan summer at its very best.

To this end, I'm beginning the long process of packing. Yes, the McMaster (O'Reilly) family is moving! After seven years renting a fairly nice house we're moving on up to a house with a bigger garage for my woodworker spouse. There are many bonuses to this move, although it will be some time before we can upgrade the hand-me-down / garage sale bargain furniture we've collected in recent years. We're looking forward to more space, quieter neighborhood, big kitchen, cozy writing room, decadent tub in the master bath, to name a few benefits!

We're excited and can hardly wait for the closing which is scheduled for later next month. Fingers crossed nothing trips that up!

In the meantime, I'm participating in the Summer Reading Trail organized by Voirey Linger. So many good books to peruse! This month, for a few more days, read the first chapter of Rachel Dahlrumple. Next month, read the first chapter of Six Foot Hero, which is winding down its contract with Lyrical Press. Be sure to grab a copy while it's on sale for 99 cents!

How's your summer going? Anything extra exciting happening?

Spring Sprucing

For the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, summer is underway. Here in Alaska, aka the Frozen North, we're just now blasting through spring and moving fast into summer. The last two weeks have seen barren trees and bushes suddenly exploding with pretty new green leaves that look wonderful against the bright blue sky.

It's been a tough year so far. Seems like every other week I've come down with the latest cold/crud. Last week was no exception. But I'm fighting back! Yes, I'm throwing open the windows and letting fresh air blow through the house. Clearing out winter's cobwebs. Revitalizing my mind and my life. Summer is short, so it's time to dig in and get to enjoying it.

Part of summer fun is reading. I have a huge stack of books that's been growing on my side table and on my various forms of ereaders. I'm very much looking forward to time to kick back with a cold drink on my warm balcony and reading my way through the long, long summer evenings. Just less than a month to Summer Solstice, ya know.

And since I know many folks are also stocking up on summer reading, I'd like to direct your attention the right hand side-bar (right at the very top) where there are a few extra pages to this blog. First up is a Featured Read, the entire chapter one of Rachel Dahlrumple. In a few weeks I'll change this out for the other two books with pages, Six Foot Hero, and Borealis II: A Space Anthology. In the anthology, my contribution is Bleu Lies, a furturistic romp on an aging space station where deceit and desire wreak havoc with the station commander's organized life.

If you still need more suggestions, be sure to stop by The Morgan Diaries where you'll find excerpts and information on books by J. Morgan (Jmo) and my alter-ego, Morgan Q. O'Reilly (MorganO).

I'd love to hear what's on your TBR pile for the summer. What are you in the mood for? What's a favorite summer time activity? I'm all ears, so dish!

Shea
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And the Blog Tour Drawing Winners Are...

And the winners are:

For the Tote Bag - BlackWolf darksiry @gmail com
For the Mug - Marybelle marypres @gmail com

Congratulations!!!! Email me at shea @sheamcmaster com with your snail mail address. These will ship directly to you from my Zazzle.com store 

And for my hostesses... One more drawing...
Talina Perkins from Bookin' It Reviews!! Email me and let me know what you'd like, mug or tote.


Many thanks to everyone who played along. I very much enjoyed my tour. 


Shea 


Drawing winners were selected using a random number generator.

Rachel - The Blog Tour Final Day

It's been a busy and wonderful two weeks following the Blog Tour trail. I've met some very nice new folks, experienced some great hospitality, and generally had a lot of fun.


Alas, like all good things, there must be an ending. Friday, November 18, 2011 is the end of the tour, but not the end of your opportunities to enjoy Rachel Dahlrumple! Nor is it the end of your opportunities to spend time with me. 


However, it IS the last opportunity to get your name into the drawing for the prizes below.

Easy peasy, click on the Join This Site link to the right ==> somewhere. Scroll up or down to find it.

Or, you can leave me some love in a Comment at the last tour stop: My Odd Little World

Or, Like my Facebook page HERE

If you'd like to revisit the tour stops, the schedule may be found HERE. You will have to look for the day of the post as I've linked the main page, but it shouldn't be hard.

Coming in January 2012, both this blog and The Morgan Diaries are joining with Goddess Fish and hosting stops on virtual book tours for other authors. If you're an author looking for a place to blog from time to time, drop me a line and I'll be happy to fit you in. I'm not a prolific blogger, so there's plenty of space for people to hijack this venue for a day.

Thanks for following along and be sure to check back here to see who our winner is. Maybe there'll be two. Possibly more, depends on how excited I get. New friends and kind comments get me excited so do your best!

Shea McMaster

Traditional Romance for Modern Women

Available ebook titles by Shea:

Rachel Dahlrumple 

Six Foot Hero

Borealis II - A Space Anthology: Bleu Lies

Titles available at Amazon/Kindle, B&N/Nook, Sony, All Romance eBooks, Books on Board and other ebook retailers. Look for Shea wherever your favorite ebooks are sold.

Blog Tour - The Half Way Point

Five blog visits down, Five to go!
     It's been a great week. I've made new friends, spilled a few secrets, put down a whole bunch of new words on my current WIP and NaNo project and I even got some laundry done. Yes, I think my husband is much more excited about that last line item, although he cheers when I get new words written.
     My big plans for this weekend include making a ginormous lasagna to send off with my husband for pinochle with "the guys" tonight. The host of tonight's event is our son's godfather, and he looooves my lasagna. Little does he know I'm lacing the sauce with good-for-him things like zucchini! He broke his leg a few weeks ago, so I'm doing my best to help him get strong and healthy again. Of course, can't go wrong with all the calcium in the cheese, right?
     I also have two more blogs to write for the rest of the blog tour. Why do we save the hardest ones for last? I always seem to come through with something that feels like Divine Inspiration at the very last minute, but really, my heart could stand a little less stress on such issues. 
     I was supposed to write these last two while I was in Mexico. *Snort* Fat chance that when I had so many other things to do, like laze beside the pool and watch the ocean. Hey, that's hard work! I was exhausted, completely exhausted, every night.
     Anyhow, don't give up on me yet! There's more fun stuff to come next week as I visit more awesome blogs, hosted by generous and lovely people. The rest of the schedule is below:

• Nov 14: Good Family Reads Blog: How to find Good Critique Partners and Be One in Return
• Nov 15: The Heart of Romance with Sherry Gloag Interview
• Nov 15: Reviews by Molly  A review of Rachel Dahlrumple
• Nov 16: Words of Wisdom from the Scarf Princess Blog: I'm working on a topic now.
• Nov 17: Bookin' It Reviews Blog: A day in the life of Rachel Dahlrumple
• Nov 18: My Odd Little World Interview

     Many thanks to the awesome folks at Goddess Fish and their blog partners for organizing this whole thing. I've signed up to be a blog partner, here and at The Morgan Diaries, so expect to see more great things to read and learn about. Hopefully we'll have more things than just Romance to read about. I'm open to all sorts of brain explosions. Just ask me if you have something you're dying to blog about, even if it isn't writing.

     Come to think of it, I want to know the story behind the name Goddess Fish. Has to be a good one!

     Stick with me this week and be sure to look for the results of the drawing.

Day Three of the Blog Tour

The Rachel Dahlrumple Release Blog Tour is off to a great start! I've had two good days with Tory Richards and Megan Johns. Feel free to go back and read the post and the interview if you like. I'm still checking for responses.


Or catch up to me today at Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog where we're talking betrayal. Is there a difference between fiction and real life?


As always, comment and get your name entered for a drawing at the end of the two week tour. I'll be giving away at least one mug and/or tote with the cover of Rachel Dahlrumple on it. Limited edition, cannot be purchased, available only as a give-away from yours truly. "Like" my page on Facebook and earn an extra chance! If the response is huge, I'll expand the list of prizes to whatever item at my Zazzle store I can stick the image on! More on that later.


For now, stop by and show me some love!

Rachel Dahlrumple: The Blog Tour

It's here! Tomorrow, or tonight as the clock turns over Midnight Eastern, Rachel Dahlrumple will finally be available for your reading pleasure!


To celebrate, I'll be busy flitting from blog to blog for the next two weeks, and at the end of two weeks, I'll choose at least one, maybe two -- depending on responses -- winners to receive a tote or mug with the cover for Rachel. Heck, if enough people comment, I might decide to give more! So tell your friends and invite them to come along and play.


Here's the tour schedule:

• Nov 7: Romance with an Attitude Blog: Breaking Writer's Block
• Nov 8: Megan Johns Invites Interview
• Nov 9: Carrie Ann Ryan Blog: Getting Over Betrayal. Fiction vs Real Life. Is there a difference?
• Nov 10: Romance in the Backseat Blog: How does being a writer affect you as a reader?
• Nov 11: Laurie's Thoughts & Reviews Interview
• Nov 14: Good Family Reads Blog: How to find Good Critique Partners and Be One in Return
• Nov 15: The Heart of Romance with Sherry Gloag Interview
• Nov 15: Reviews by Molly  A review of Rachel Dahlrumple
• Nov 16: Words of Wisdom from the Scarf Princess Blog: I'm working on a topic now.
• Nov 17: Bookin' It Reviews Blog: A day in the life of Rachel Dahlrumple
• Nov 18: My Odd Little World Interview

I'm fresh back in the USA after two weeks in Puerto Vallarta living the good life. I'm ready for a little snow, and lots of Romance! I have many fond memories of Leonardo, Raul, Felix, Luiz, Jesus, Roberto, Ivan, Francisco and Isidro to keep me smiling for a long time to come. Manuel is on my list for playing a little prank on me, but I'll get him back next year!

Looking forward to seeing many friends, new and long time, while blogging my way across the web!

Shea McMaster

Traditional Romance for Modern Women

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Like my page and get your name entered a second time in the drawing(s)

Testing, Testing

She's been a bit quiet the last few years, but it's time for Shea to reappear in the cyber world.

Hello!

Is anybody out there??

Coming soon, which is prompting the return to this blog...

Available November 7, 2011
Published by Lyrical Press

Check it out HERE

I'll be back soon, with much more information.  Be sure to leave me a note if you find your way here.