Ihe cover for “Lifelines” by Lin Neiswender won third place in book/ebook cover art in the Preditors & Editors™ Readers’ Poll.

Also the Poetic Muselings placed third in poets category.

Our anthology, “Lifelines”, placed tenth in anthologies in the anthologies .

Thanks, folks, to everyone who voted for us. We appreciate your support.

And I’m a guest on the Book Boost, blogging about poetry.

http://thebookboost.blogspot.com/2012/01/poetry-in-motion-with-guest-blogger.html

The cover of “Lifeline,” the Poetic Muselings’ anthology, with artwork by Lin Neiswender, has been nominated in the P and E book/ebook cover artwork category.
Our cover, our anthology, and us poets are all in the Preditors and Editors poll:

Check it out, and if you like it, please vote.

http://www.critters.org/predpoll/bookart.shtml

Poetic Muselings poets http://critters.org/predpoll/poet.shtml

Lifelines Anthology http://critters.org/predpoll/antho.shtml

The cover of “Lifeline,” the Poetic Muselings’ anthology, with artwork by Lin Neiswender, has been nominated in the P and E book/ebook cover artwork category.

Check it out, and if you like it, please vote.

http://www.critters.org/predpoll/bookart.shtml

Poetic Muselings poets http://critters.org/predpoll/poet.shtml

Lifelines Anthology http://critters.org/predpoll/antho.shtml

Check out my post on the Poetic Muselings blog on being inspired by other people’s poems. Read Mark Wyndham’s poem, and the one I wrote in response.

Paisley Barton was already having a bad day before she turned her husband into a rat.
First, she was fired by her boss and then came home to find hubby in the shower with a naked blonde chick. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but this break-up may just unleash hell on Earth when Paisley casts a spell of vengeance against her philandering husband.
After her spell casting inadvertently opens a portal between dimensions, Paisley finds her family home transformed into a nightly courtroom for settling disputes between demons of the underworld and she’s the judge! If that’s not enough, she’s got to deal with a charming, ancient demon named Camden who wants to be her personal bodyguard while trying to explain her husband’s sudden, mysterious disappearance to sexy police Detective Dalton Briggs.
But Paisley will show them all that an everyday working mom is better equipped than most to deal with the mystical mayhem…and with a tempting demon hottie and a flirtatious young detective vying for her affection, she soon learns that being single again isn’t so bad after all.
“When a wronged wife turns her cheating husband into a rat, you know you have to keep reading! Kerri Nelson offers up a lot of fun and wild magic in Courting Demons!” –Bestselling author, Linda Wisdom, Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend

Some people have the knack of knowing what to substitute in a recipe, er, spell, but Paisley isn’t one of them. When she substitutes for toadstool and sandstone in the black magic spell she’s performing on her two-timing husband, little does she know the trouble she’s going to cause.

Poor Paisley, but lucky me, because the story that unfolds in the wake of this incident is a real howl. I started it Wednesday night, and by Thursday morning I was so engrossed that I took it along to my doctor appointment where, for once, I was happy to learn that I’d have to wait a couple of minutes. I laughed so loud that the couple next to me demanded to see the book.

Kerri Nelson has a deft with the humor — any book where the main character turns her two-timing husband into a rat is my kind of book — and the romance. I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad when Paisley’s kids interrupt a hot moment with a handsome demon named Camden, but, never fear, a hunky detective will provide distraction. The humor, romance, and supernatural elements combine in just the right proportions.

One last thing: You are going to write a sequel, aren’t you, Kerri? Pretty please. As for me, I’m off to check out the other titles on Kerri Nelson’s website.

I heartily recommend this well-written, deftly plotted little gem.

Author Bio:
Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After a fifteen year career in the legal field, Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also writes young adult fiction under the penname K.G. Summers.

A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing southern gentleman and three adorable children for whom she often bakes many homemade treats.

Kerri is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and her Presidency of Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Read more about Kerri’s books at her website: www.kerrinelson.com
Follow her on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/kerribookwriter
Visit her industry blog here: www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

Where to buy this book: (print and e-book versions available 9/15 wherever books are sold but here’s the publisher link—free gift available with purchase of print copy—while supplies last):
http://jupitergardens.com/Courting-Demons-by-Kerri-Nelson-print.html
or
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Courting-Demons-ebook/dp/B005OAY7TG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316621839&sr=8-1

Giveaway for the day:
Leave a question or comment to be entered to win today’s prize: Promotional Pack of Goodies from Kerri & Other Authors, too!

Then, enter to win my book tour Grand Prize Kindle by following me on tour and e-mailing me the answers to each question of the day at the end of tour. The more questions you answer, the more entries you gain.
Question of the Day:
What is the name of Paisley’s daughter in the book (1 entry)? And what does she want to name the rat (bonus entry)?

Details on how to enter to win the GRAND PRIZE Kindle at the end of my “Dark Days of Demons Tour” located here:

http://kerribookwriter.blogspot.com/2011/09/courting-demons-blog-tour-win-kindle.html

Excerpt link for Courting Demons: http://www.jupitergardens.com/excerpts/kn_cd.html

I got to the library around 1 PM, but by that time all the good books were gone. All the books I wanted to read, that is. The new fiction had been picked over, and even the murder mysteries had nothing I hadn’t read., which was how I ended up at the back of the stacks in the Medieval History section. Desperation, sheer desperation.

I stared at the book. The title read, “A short history of the middle ages.” The book measured about a foot across and weighed, I guess, close to the twenty pounds I’d put on since Brett and I broke on Valentine’s day. I picked it up, mostly because I wanted to throw it at Brett’s head. What a momser. I mean, seriously, who breaks up on Valentine’s day?

Don’t bother to answer that.

I picked up the book, and the whole bookcase swung back. A puff of foul air hit me in the face. Phew. Bad mold, lots of dust. I’m allergic to dust. Mold, too.

“Are you all right, dear?” the librarian called out. She stuck her head around the stack. “Oh, dear. They told me they’d sealed that up. Oh dear.” She was about my grandmother’s age, with white whispy hair and a round little body.

I didn’t answer. I was too busy sneezing. Maybe that’s why the trolls who tromped out of the passage grabbed her instead of me.

That’s how come I went and bought all those books. Really.

“Shut the door.”

“But, Chuck, what about the chicken?”

“Al, you dummy, kick the chicken out into the yard and shut the door.”

“What then?”

“Wait until it stops moving, then bring it in to me.”

“And after that?”

“After that you wash the damn floor.”

“Sure, Chuck, sure thing. What then?”

“Then you’re fired.”

I rolled up to the takeout window at Chuck’s Chicken, Where The Chickens are Still Clucking and stuck my head out the open window, sucking in a large breath of the damp, heavy summer air.

“Waddle it be, sweetie?” The guy, bald, and at least 300 pounds, leered at me. His name tag read, “Chuck.”

“Two thighs, a side of corn, a side of mashed potatoes, and corn bread. No gravy on the potatoes. Oh, and a large lemonade.”

I waited for Chuck to repeat my order back to me. Instead he held up a hand, gesturing STOP, and turned away from me. I heard a voice yelling from inside the restaurant.

“Chuck, that chicken you wanted me to slaughter? I chopped off its head, but it’s running around the kitchen, and it’s dripping blood everywhere.”

“Al, you idiot, I told you to kill the damn bird out in the yard.”

I swallowed, started my car and drove away. And here I’d thought when Chuck said, Still Clucking, he’d been feeding me a line.

Today I’m delighted to host Jennifer (J.R.) Turner on my blog.

Award-winning author J.R. Turner lives in Central Wisconsin with her husband and three children. She began writing in high school, and after a decade working as a commercial artist, started her first novel in 1999. Aside from crafts, camping and cooking, she loves holidays. A favorite is Halloween, a combination of spooky supernatural fun and chocolate. Visit her at http://www.jennifer-turner.com to learn more!
Alliteration in Literature

Writing is a journey—and often this journey takes us places we never thought we would go. I enjoyed poetry in my teens and played with the different forms and variations over the years. In fact, the very first time I wrote something I was proud of, (in 2nd grade, bless you Mrs. Sanders!) turned out to be a poem:

1-2-3 Birthday wishes go so fast
Like the breeze in the willows
Dancing among the grass

As you can see, I never forgot those three lines. Of course I used slant rhyme and my meter was way off, but this began my love affair with alliteration. The way words can come together, sounding so similar, intrigues me to no end. When I write, I often fall back on alliteration to heighten the pace or the sense of place. There’s a difference between the lines:

The farmer struggled to control the tractor and steer it away from the derelict henhouse.

The farmer fought for control of the tractor, turning to avoid destroying the derelict henhouse.

For me, the more the words slide together, the less intrusive they are. My mind can melt into the story and forget I’m reading. You’ll find tons of this in all my books and short stories, and yes, even in those few poems I still write today. Just look at the title of my new series:

Delbert Dallas and the Dragon Diaries: #1 Voyage to Viking Island (link: http://www.omnilit.com/product-voyagetovikingisland-527701-228.html )

#1: Voyage to Viking Island—Release Date: March 22nd.
When the new guitar Delbert Dallas got for his birthday turns into a dragon named Barbecue Bob, the adventures are just beginning. First stop—Viking Island where Prince Rolloff is running away from his wedding—at the age of twelve. A Viking afraid of a girl? Even more shocking is Rolloff’s new best friend.

Walter Wheeler, a bully held back two grades, has discovered his own time-traveling dragon, Firebrand. When the prince offers a bag full of gold to get him off the island, Walter happily accepts, once he hears the plan is to escape on the royal longboat. Not only will he take Rolloff’s gold, he’ll take all the treasure on board.

Can Delbert convince Prince Rolloff that Walter Wheeler is no valiant Viking in shining armor? How do you explain a dragon named Bob to a Prince? What will happen when the rival dragons meet snout to snout? Find out in the first adventure of Delbert Dallas and the Dragon Diaries.

Each story in the series will be released on the 22nd of each month:

#2 Civil War Skirmish
#3 Viva La Francine!

The first in a series of once-monthly releases for reluctant readers, part of the Electric Shorts program for middle-grade kids, is just the beginning of the fun I have writing with alliteration. So what do you think? Do you enjoy reading or writing with allitearation?

Thanks so much for having me here, Margaret!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

Writeononline

Check out my Q and A