New Release

New Release: Healing Kiss by Amanda Uhl

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’d like to introduce Amanda Uhl. Her newest release, Healing Kiss, releases this Thursday April 27th and is the topic of this interview.

What inspired your story?

Once upon a time, I had a healing experience. I held the hands of a stranger–a young woman–I met at a baby shower. My older sister was hosting the shower for someone in her husband’s office, and I was there as a helper and didn’t know any of the guests. The woman and I began discussing the paranormal. I described experiences I had had in the past, including an ability to pull energy from someone’s arm and hand, so it would fall asleep. Curious, the woman asked me to hold her hands. I did as she asked, and when I closed my eyes, immediately saw an orange light surrounding a dark shape. The orange light pulsed and glowed as I inhaled and exhaled. 

Figuring I was the only one to experience the orange light, I let go of the woman’s hands and opened my eyes. The woman opened her eyes, giving me dazed look. “Wow. It felt like someone hugged me,” she said. 

Two weeks later, I learned the woman had been trying for years to get pregnant without success. After holding my hands, she discovered she was pregnant. She called my sister to tell her the joyous news. “Your sister who held my hands, she caused it to happen,” she insisted

This real-life experience inspired Healing Kiss, my newest paranormal romance. When I describe the heroines’ attempts to heal her sister in the first chapter, I’m drawing on that real-life incident to bring an authentic feel to the scene. 

What is your writing process?

I work full-time managing a creative team, so my day job often takes precedence over my writing life. The one rule I follow is to write a little bit every day, no matter how tired I feel. I am a panster, who has discovered the value of plotting, so I do a basic plot outline and write the book description before writing a single word.  

How much time did you spend on this project? 

I have written a book in as little as two months or, as in the case of Healing Kiss, four years! I am a bit of a perfectionist, which often sends me back to the drawing table as I attempt to make sense of the plot.

What is your writing schedule like?

Terrible. As I mentioned, I write a little every day. Due to my demanding day job, I do most of my writing late at night when the rest of the world is sleeping.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Healing Kiss placed in three romance-writing contests:

  • 1st place The Far Side
  • 1st place The Rudy
  • 2nd place Diamonds in the Desert

Award-winning author Amanda Uhl has always had a fascination with the mystical. Having drawn her first breath in a century home rumored to be haunted, you might say she was “born” into it. After a brief stint in college as a paid psychic, Amanda graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in theatre and a master’s degree in marketing. Over the past twenty years, she has worked as an admissions representative and graphic designer, owned her own freelance writing company, and managed communications for several Fortune 500 companies, most recently specializing in cyber security and data. Amanda is an avid reader and writes fast-paced, paranormal romantic suspense and humorous contemporary romance from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find Amanda with her husband and three children, gathering beach glass on the Lake Erie shoreline or biking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  

To preorder Healing Kiss, explore Amanda’s other books, and follow her journey, check out her website: https://amandauhl.com/

To save her dying sister…

Lillian Milano channels energy from the healthy to heal the sick, which makes her an incredible nurse. But her gift puts Lillian and those she loves in danger from an organization that will stop at nothing to exploit her talent. When her sister becomes gravely ill, wealthy computer genius Tristan King is the one man with enough vitality to save her sister’s life. But being near him threatens to expose her secrets and destroy the walls she’s built around her heart.

She bargains with a billionaire.

Tristan doesn’t believe in the supernatural and is wary of emotional entanglements. But his beloved mother is dying, and his lying ex-fiancée won’t leave him alone, so he strikes a deal: In exchange for his help, Lillian must pose as his date for a hospital fundraiser. As the pair work together to save their loved ones, they confront a spiraling web of secrets that threatens their growing feelings for each other. The choices they make will either destroy their lives or heal their hearts. 

New Release: The Jelly Bean Jump Project by Terry Segan

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Thank you for hosting me, Chelsey. I am very excited to be here! Today I’m sharing a bit about my latest book, The Jelly Bean Jump Project, which releases today.

My genre of preference is paranormal, which for me is time travel, ghosts, and mysticism. The story begins in the 1950’s and involves a time travel project which recruits brilliant young minds with no family ties. The facility, located in the Pacific Northwest, has only one small town as its nearest neighbor. My main characters, Keira and Grayson, are fresh out of college and very much in love. Since both fit the criteria perfectly, they look forward to leaping through time together. Their happiness is jeopardized when a glitch in the system threatens to separate them. Add to this, Desmond, a fellow recruit who wants Keira for himself.

As someone who’s always loved travel and searches for new experiences, I wanted to insert this sense of adventure into my story. My husband and I travel to the Pacific Northwest four or five times a year, and I wanted to incorporate the beautiful scenery of the area. This was the first book I’ve written where I sketched out the storyline beforehand. I am most definitely a pantser, and while I may know how I want to begin and end a novel, it’s always a surprise to me how I get there. Characters I never thought about, ingratiate themselves into the chapters, and some get more page time than originally planned. Despite having an outline for this book, I deviated and created new plot twists often since it’s my nature to let my fingers fly over the keyboard leading me in unexpected directions.

It took me about three months to write the story and another two for the editing process. Most of my writing time happens during the week, as my husband and I are the king and queen of three-day weekends. We travel a couple weekends every month and bump it up to three weekends during the scorching summer months here in the desert. I get inspiration from our trips, and rarely do you see me without my iPad. My happy place is the beach where we set up what the hubby refers to as the “Princess Canopy.” He does draw the line at my wearing a tiara, however—such a lost opportunity. With shade, cold beverages, and a comfy beach chair, some of my best plot lines get written there. Combining two of my favorite things—beach time and creating stories—is always a winning adventure for me!

Terry Segan, originally from Commack, NY, now resides in the desert where she’ll never require an ice scraper or snow shovel again. The beach is her happy place, but any opportunity to travel soothes her gypsy soul. The stories conjured by her imagination while riding backseat on her husband’s motorcycle can be found throughout the pages of her paranormal mysteries. Growing up immersed in sarcastic humor and science fiction movies, Terry’s goals are to cause her readers to laugh out loud, cry with joy, or cower under the covers wondering if the noise under the bed was real or imagined.

Join Terry on her adventures at her website Terry Segan.

Keira longed to do something amazing with her life. When offered a chance to join a time travel program, she didn’t hesitate. With her soulmate by her side, nothing could be more perfect.

Grayson never believed happiness would find him until he met Keira. Lightning struck twice when both got accepted into The Jelly Bean Jump Project, a time travel experiment. Only a handful of applicants made the cut each year.

One of the requirements—no family ties. Keira and Grayson were alone in the world except for each other. An adventure of a lifetime awaited, until a glitch in the system threatened to tear them apart. Would they walk away from their fantasy or surrender their hearts in exchange?

New Release: Revamped by Shirley Goldberg

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Revamped is a paranormal comedy/romance and my first participation in a multi-author series. What a great experience writing the Mortar & Pestle series with six other authors by my side, metaphorically speaking.

Chelsey asked how I came to write Revamped, in part because it’s a departure from writing humorous women’s fiction.

The idea was a group effort. We were all on Zoom, gathered around our computer screens discussing writing and marketing, when someone popped the question. “Why don’t we write a series together?” It took almost a year in the making, but here we are, having released all seven books. Sydney Winward, who wrote Selkie, the first book in the series, did our beautiful covers.

In order to meet our deadline, I put aside the novel I was working on to draft Revamped. I am somewhere between a plotter and a pantser, and for the first time had to create a world and work within a deadline. This meant interviewing writers on how to go about world-building, asking questions, reading other vampire books. It was not easy to find energy vampires in the literature. How many did I find? Zero.

I always begin writing a new book by first planning out the characters and the interpersonal relationships essential to the story. Why do people come together? How do they uncouple and what leads to that decision? Creating a world in which paranormal characters live is less interesting than their personal stories within that world. When I set out to write Revamped, I wanted readers to relate to my characters, even if they’d never read a paranormal story.

Dante, the vampire, is different from the usual people Sophie meets in her sphere of friends and family. Finding that special person no matter how different he or she is from ourselves is what’s important.

I’d like to introduce readers of Chelsey’s blog to an unusual vampire. As a special treat, I interviewed Dante Allegretti, my main character.

Dialogue with the Vampire  

      Shirley: I have a few questions for our readers. They’re curious.

      Dante: I suppose they want to know about my special powers.

      Shirley: Not really. They want to know what it’s like to date a vampire.

      Dante: [eyes widen] I don’t talk about being a vampire. Not openly.

      Shirley: The thing is, I wrote a whole book about you so it’s no secret, not anymore. For instance, one reader would like to know if you would suck on her neck. You know, take a little taste.

      Dante: That’s ridiculous. First of all, I’m not that kind of vampire. I’m an energy vampire. Meaning I get energy from people by depleting their resources. Bored people are especially easy targets, but angry men run a close second.

      Shirley: Men in particular? Why is that?

      Dante: Their negative energy and muscle mass make them vulnerable.

      Shirley: Do you still drain people’s energy?

      Dante: I’ve stopped living that life. I attend DE meetings––that stands for Dis-Energy––two or three times a week. It’s not easy, but my energy sobriety is important.

      Shirley: Anyone who dated you would have to respect the work that went into your lifestyle change.

      Dante: I don’t want to be thought of as a vampire. I’m a normal guy with issues like anyone else. With a few differences.

      Shirley: So, it’s a daily challenge, right?

      Dante: Absolutely. I don’t hang around with other vampires. Very few people know I’m a vampire, only a few close friends.

      Shirley: Are you still at odds with your family?

      Dante: I don’t think that will ever be resolved. [Swipes a hand through his hair.] You want to know something?

Shirley: Of course.

Dante: Energy vampires don’t have much fun. You can’t hang out with regular people. It’s too tempting and how can you look yourself in the face if you’re draining your friends.

Shirley: That sounds gross, using your friends.

Dante. Yeah, that’s why I never had friends. Until I met Groucho, my best friend. But I knew the second I met him he was a vampire.

Shirley: What is it, a sixth sense?

Dante: Sort of. When it comes to friends, you’re limited to the few energy vampires around and no one wants friends who literally suck. That’s why I rejected the whole lifestyle. I’m thirty-six and I’ve just begun living. I feel so lucky.

Shirley: So, what advice do you have for women interested in dating vampires?

Dante: Don’t do it.

Shirley: Sort of a dead end, isn’t it?

Dante: Unless you’re with a man who promises to give up that way of life.

Shirley: Can you tell me more? What was the most difficult part of changing?

Dante: I’ll tell you that every little and big thing in my life changed. If I told you more, I’d be spoiling the read and besides, telling is boring.

Shirley: Well, thanks, Dante. Do you know if Groucho will be in the sequel?

Dante: Since you’re writing the books, you’ll have to answer that one, won’t you?

Shirley Goldberg is a swing and salsa dancer, novelist, and former ESL and French teacher who’s lived in Paris, Crete, and Casablanca. She often writes about men and women of a certain age starting over. Her website http://midagedating.com offers a humorous look at dating in mid-life, and her friends like to guess which stories are true. Her Starting Over series can all be read as standalones starring women and men in midlife who learn a thing or three about new beginnings. Revamped, A Vampire Comedy, is the story of an energy vampire with one good friend and a family who embarrasses him. Revamped is part of the Mortar & Pestle series by seven authors that debuted in March.

Interested in the Mortar & Pestle series? Here is a link to the FREE prequel: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/3vhm7opc1r

Shirley’s characters believe you should never leave home without your sense of humor and she agrees.

Vampire Dante Allegretti hates his sucky life. Born into a family of energy siphoners, he’s desperate to reinvent himself as a fun-loving normal guy rather than a crowdsourcing parasite. To stop the draining urges, Dante resorts to grinding alternative meds in an ancient Mortar & Pestle, not knowing it contains magical properties. 

Enter wisecracking thirty-year-old Sophie Arley, who lives with her clingy parents. Working three jobs and craving independence, she’s come back strong after a breakdown crashed her cozy world. So when the weird, hot guy she just met-cute asks Sophie to the movies, she agrees.

Sophie won’t spoil their magical connection by mentioning her heartbreak. And Dante dreads telling Sophie about his dark side. Will the power from the Mortar & Pestle guide them to their happily ever after despite the secrets and lies? 

New Release: The First Born Son by Kaia Misk

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

A cross between The Sopranos and The Proposal, Frankie Renzi and Sofia Ciambetti’s story of love, forgiveness, power, and wealth culminate in The Firstborn Son. As an heiress, Sofia becomes prey to those who want her money once her father dies. Once she admits to herself that no one can protect her like Frankie, the madness begins between those who want her safe and those who want her fortune. 

Inspired by real people, characters drove this story. One was a mix of my uncle and an Italian tailor I knew. Another encompassed many of the matriarchal women in my family’s prior generations. My father’s love of cars, and his decree that all his children know something about them, inspired the chase scene. Colorful in life, these people demanded a written presence. It was easy to create them and build a story around them. Something fun, but exciting. 

I did not do a lot of research for this book, but rather created a story using places I knew such as a wretched onramp to the Parkway and Sofia’s apartment with a balcony toward the street like something in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside community. 

As my first novel, the editing process was new to me. For that reason, the book took at least one year to write. However, my writing became cleaner after the experience. I’m well into the next book in the Renzi Series called The Second Son. It is Joey Renzi’s story and his character is dear to me. Those who have read The Firstborn Son are anxious for more. Thank Heaven!

For more about The Renzi Series listen to my upcoming podcast appearances on the Ya Jagoff Podcast to be recorded on April 8, 2023, and Indie Reads Aloud Podcast on April 13, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

Kaia Misk is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, otherwise known as a “Yinzer.” Her parents grew up across the street from each other in a small town where most people worked in the steel mills. Their Italian and Slovak families were a strong part of her childhood which included foods, holidays and religion. Several of her characters are based on her family members and other Pittsburghers. 

Kaia has a background in legal and technical writing including training manuals, training presentations and legal documents. She is also an excellent tailor and patternmaker. Her IMDb page lists her work on two full-length films as a costumer.

She is particularly inspired by the Hat Squad books of Karen Rose and Joe Lansdale’s novels, although her first love was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. She follows numerous other authors and reads every day. She currently lives in suburban Pittsburgh with her Norwegian Elkhound, Boss.

To purchase The First Born Son and follow Kaia’s writing journey, check out her website: Kaia Misk, Author

Becoming a ruthless mob boss like his father is the last thing Frankie wants, but when Sofia’s father is gunned down, Frankie must become the very thing he loathes to protect the woman he loves. Sofia was a devoted girlfriend to Frankie, until he stood her up and she questioned his fidelity. Now that she’s alone and rich, mafia suitors slither around her. Marriage to him might be her only hope. They try to rekindle their love amidst a mob war. But can a hasty marriage withstand what the Mafia has in store?