Darkspell By Elizabeth Mueller

Just in case you missed it the first time, today I am re-featuring Darkspell, the young-adult paranormal romance from the beautiful, awesome and talented Elizabeth Mueller.

The Book
Winter Sky believes she is everything ordinary ... until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold. As seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter's protector against the darkness that hunts her. Violently thrust into a magical realm she always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own. Will love prove thicker than magic? Included in this volume are author-created illustrations that bestselling author Ellen C. Maze calls a mind blowing treat. Darkspell is classified as a Young Adult Paranormal Romance that will appeal beyond the genre.

About the Author
Elizabeth Mueller knew that books couldn’t bite, but even though she never admitted, she was scared of them. What she didn’t know, ironically, was that she was building her way toward a career in books. She started writing poetry when she was 9, and stories when she was 11 that make her laugh now. It wasn’t until her creative writing teacher in 12th grade made her realize there was more to writing than life. That’s when she fell in love with books. She hasn’t stopped since, feverishly working to perfect the craft late into the night. She lives with her husband, four kids, a wolfdog, and two cats. Darkspell is her first novel. You can find her at elizabethmueller.blogspot.com or AuthorElizabethMueller.com, and email her at elizabeth.mueller.author@gmail.com

The Heroines Behind the Voices In My Head

Thought for the Day

"Christmas can't be bought from a store... Maybe Christmas means a little bit more." Dr.Seuss

Christmas is almost here! Order your copy of Stories of the Heart - A Christmas Short Story Collection from Amazon.com or JewelAdams.com

Heroine of the Week

Heroine: Elina
Book: Place In This World

Rubbing her lightly covered arms against the frigid cold, Elina trudged through deep drifts of snow, knowing that if she stopped, she would surely freeze to death. She probably would anyway.

Before escaping her captor she had managed to trade her tattered robe for a cotton tunic, leather leggings, and boots that were two sizes two big and had seen better days. The thin shawl she

tightened around her shoulders did nothing to warm her against the fierce winds that blew against her face, burning the cut on her chapped lips and the open wound on her forehead. By rights she shouldn't have felt any pain in the numbing air. She shouldn't have felt anything after hours of exposure.

She kept her head down and continued to walk, her frail body battling against the elements that

assaulted her. She was surrounded by desolation as far as the eye could see. There was absolutely

nowhere to seek shelter or refuge. No mountain crevices, no trees, no bushes, nothing to even lend

the illusion of shelter. The land was flat and void of any life but hers, and the only thing that disturbed the desolate landscape was the sound and sight of a single set of footprints crunching in the thick blanket of snow. Hers. It was one of the bleakest sounds she had ever heard, coming second only to the sound of her captor's footsteps approaching the door of the tower room she had been locked in for the past year.

She escaped and she was free now. But to what end? She didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, only that she must keep moving. The evil and vile powers that be would not simply let her go. She knew she would be hunted–hunted until she was found, then made to pay for the trouble of having to be captured. And even if she was not found, she was sure she would forever see her captor's face when she slept.

So she would never sleep, at least not for a very long time.

The mass of long, dark, spiraled ringlets she'd hastily braided had now come loose and she futilely tried to keep it out of her face. Not that the view was even worth looking at. Besides, her eyesight was slowly beginning to blur with each exertion-filled step. Each step found her weakening

and her strength waning. A couple of tears fell from her eyes and froze on her cheeks.

I must keep going. Must not . . . stop.

Even as she mentally repeated the commands, she knew she would not make it. At that moment she realized she couldn't take another step. She tried, but she couldn't move. The desolate world around her began to spin and she felt herself falling, with one last coherent thought filtering through the eerie silence of her mind.

My life is at an end . . . and I shall never see the sun again.

She was completely oblivious to the sound of the winged being that gracefully landed next to her in the snow, or the strong arms that enfolded her before taking flight once again.

Place In This World is available on Amazon.com and JewelAdams.com

Getting to Know Olivia Wilde

In October I attended the Utah Romance Writers of America conference in Park City and signed next to Olivia Wilde, a talented author and a beautiful lady. I enjoyed visiting with her and her mother, who is also an awesome PR person for Olivia:-)
Olivia was kind enough to answer some questions, tell us about her book The Dawn of Silva, and help us to get to know her better.

About the Book
Filmmakers Alex and Shari run into more than a few snags in casting their new movie, Silva. Alex is obsessively determined that only the ethereal Ashlyn can portray the lead, and she cannot be found.

Shari leaves the hustle and bustle of New York City, and travels to the serene beauty of the Cascade Mountains, 3000 miles away - the search is on! Ashlyn's family and estranged lover try to protect her from the fast-thinking Shari's unwanted intrusion.
Ashlyn has found her paradise in the Cascade foothills, to heal the crushing pain of a star-crossed love. She wants solitude and time to heal and contemplate what her future holds.
Shari, in her journey, has found a whole new universe and has met an absolutely dynamic and maybe even diabolical man, whom she immediately hates. She is inexplicably drawn into a relationship that rocks her very foundation.
In the short space of one week, four people's lives converge in an Eden-like setting, to begin an adventure that turns each of their lives upside down.
The Dawn of Silva is the first in a series of Silva novels by Olivia Wilde.

Rita, tell us a little about yourself.

My childhood was a dream. I was raised on a farm in Central Washington, on an Indian Reservation. My dad was a beekeeper and my mom was a stay at home mom, I have a brother, a sister and four foster brothers. My mom and dad took in 'problem teenagers' who were not such problems, mostly misunderstood. We had lots of animals to take care of and lots of chores to do. I started riding horses when I was about 2 or so and then started showing them. Farm life gave me the greatest lessons - discipline, hard work, selfless love, nurturing, joy and loss. Unfortunately animals don't live as long as we do and even though I know that, losing them is always hard. At 14 I started modeling and acting and after high school I moved to Seattle to be closer to my work. I joined the theatre group and took as many acting, directing, makeup and stage classes as I possibly could. After a difficult breakup with fiance' #1, I moved to Boston, gave up acting, and started working in financial services. That profession continued for the next 20 years while I moved from Boston, to Washington, then Oregon and Utah. Writing has always been an important avenue of expression for me and my creative brain. The only professional writing I did during those years was for research and training projects. In 1993, during a 1 1/2 year breakup with fiance' number 3, I started pouring my heart out, attempting to mend some serious pain and disappointment. The characters in my writing started to come alive and redirected my writing to a fiction novel which became The Dawn of Silva.

A few months after I finished my novel, my real life fairy tale came true. After some spiritual and inspirational events and a pastor's powerful prayer asking for a man to come bursting into my life, I met my husband at Sea-Tac airport in the middle of the night. Funny though, he forgot to get my name and number so a couple days later he put an ad in the personals that read, "Sleepless Since Seattle. I left without even getting her name. Please help me find this woman I met at Sea-Tac Airport Tuesday night . . . if you know who she is please have her call Barry in Eugene." So fiance' #3 was out and I married Barry 9 1/2 weeks after our meeting. Shortly after, our love story went out on the associated press and we received 1000's of calls and letters from well wishers - the National Enquirer published our actual phone number. While lots of folks were happy for us, there were many who thought we couldn't last - that love at first sight doesn't exist. Last October we celebrated our 17 year anniversary and our love continues to grow stronger each day. I want to share our story because it's a feel good story and I think we can use more of them.

When did you first start writing?

My Mom was a believer that you say what you mean and don't say anything you can't take back. So whenever I would get hurt or upset about something she would have me write it down and if it was really painful, I would burn it and watch the smoke rise. I would visualize the anger dissipating so it couldn't hurt anyone. When I was about 7 or 8 I started writing poetry and songs, but I was very shy. Whenever someone would hear me sing or see one of my poems, I would get embarrassed and stop writing. It took me years to get over my fear of an audience. Like so many others, it took the most embarrassing speech to get it through my head that I could never top that feeling again.

Tell us about The Dawn of Silva. How did you come up with the story?

Well, it was so long ago, like I said earlier, I wrote this in 1993-94. I remembered deciding to buy a computer so that I could start writing. I never thought it would become anything. But after reading some passages to my mother and getting her feedback, I kept going and let the characters create. I remember thinking that if I was as strong as I wanted to be, like my grandmother, my aunt, and my mother, I wouldn't be sitting at a computer healing my pain. I would find a cabin in the woods and take all my critters with me and create the most beautiful place I could think of and make my dreams happen. After I had the first chapters done and at my mother's encouragement, I sent it to several agents in New York. One said they wanted it, so I finished it and sent it off. But it came back in the mail several weeks later 'undeliverable'.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

The Silva series will be at least 3 novels. I started the second in 1994 after I thought the first was going to be published. Once the series is finished or maybe before, I will write 'Sleepless Since Seattle' which will be based on true events. I also write childrens' books under a different pen name. I didn't want a mom or dad to get confused and buy a steamy love story for a child. My grandfather was a published author and has about 6 or 7 books that I would like to publish, so I will also be working on those.

Where can we buy your book?

Currently it is available online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com & xlibris.com.