Saturday, June 30, 2012

4th of July Hop Page



Welcome to the July 4th Bloghop. On July 4th America celebrates it's birthday. As part of the celebration, stop by the 4TH OF JULY HOP PAGE where there's an awesome group of authors giving away hundreds of prizes.

I will be giving away a copy of my debut novel Roses, a key chain and a plaque. (Pictured below.) All you have to do is leave a comment below and your email address.
Good luck. There will be three winners!





It’s that time of the year again. Summer is officially here and no one wants to sit in the house behind the computer writing. You know just as well as me that we will find one excuse after the other not to sit down and write…especially do revisions.

Keeping this in mind, I came up with a writer’s summer survival tote. Pack your tote and keep it besides your pocketbook. Your tote should consist of the following:

Notebook
2 Pens (This way there is no excuse that the pen ran out of ink.)
A red pen and a yellow highlighter
A white legal pad
A box of ideas
Post it Notes
2 water bottles – frozen
Chip bags
Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Beach Umbrella
Beach chair and Blanket

I have left out the radio and ipod. Those are two things that are total distractions from the writing. I find a quiet section on the beach, away from the crowds. For me, I love doing my revisions on the beach.

Before passing this on I decided to check this out (Close to a dozen times. I just had to be sure. LoL) and see if it worked before I shared this with you. While I sit here, I can attest that the only sound I hear is the echo of the waves breaking at the ocean’s edge and the occasional helicopter going over head.

Now I would be lying if I didn’t tell you about the sexy guy who put his beach blanket down about twenty feet from me and undressed down to his bathing trunks. And yes, I watched the whole time. Just couldn’t resist. I also can't help but watch the two NYPD cops on the red quads passed by totally distracting me from my revisions.

Seriously, I was able to do revisions on Mystical Wonders Book 1, and five chapter of book 2 without the phone ringing and the kids yelling Ma. (Of course when I writing, they both forget how to cut Italian Bread and make a sandwich.)


I had a wonderful day at the beach…alone. (If you would have asked me five years ago if I would ever sit on the beach at the South Beach Boardwalk, I would have told you no. Now I can't wait for the hot weather to get out there.) Whenever I come back from the beach, I can assure you I got everything done on my writing to do list.

In conclusion, I can say that it is possible to get work done during the hot summer months. All you need is a plan, your imagination and your Writer’s Survival Beach Tote Bag.


My debut novel Roses was released in April 2012 by Secret Cravings Publishing.

After the untimely death of her husband in the line of duty, Nikki Petrino still grieving three years later, goes on retreat to Mexico to finish her novel, where she meets musician Drake Dente a 90’s rock icon working on lyrics for his comeback CD. After meeting at dinner, Drake and Nikki can’t keep their eyes off each other. Sparks fly and they instantly became an item. Upon returning to New York for Nikki’s high school reunion, she learns shocking events from her best friends. After a misunderstanding, Nikki is missing and Drake is desperate to track her down.

After an accident at work, Brooklyn DeMelli walks every day down at the boardwalk as a way to keep active and have a semi normal social life. She meets up with the regular morning walkers, while enjoying the beauty of the beach and the scent of the ocean. To keep busy she started her own company, making beaded jewelry for parties and flea markets.

Mario Morales is the hippy that plays acoustic guitar every morning at different ends of the boardwalk. The music captivates Brooklyn. Following the muse, she meets Mario who turns out to be a narcotics detective working undercover on a huge investigation. When Mario finds out Brooklyn is inadvertently involved in a drug trafficking ring, it leads to a series of events, which puts Brooklyn’s life in jeopardy, while forming a romantic bond between them.


Books available at:

Secret Cravings Publishing


Amazon

Barnes and Nobles

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Tuesday Tales – Red

Welcome to this weeks Tuesday Tales. I'd like to thank all my fans and followers. I can't tell you how happy I am that everyone is enjoying the adventures of Billy and Alexandra. Please stop by TUESDAY TALES to read the other wonderful tales by a group of talented authors.

Alexandra opened the front door, thinking it was Billy. “Hello,” Alexandra said looking around. “Is anyone there?”

Dropping her eyes, she spotted a bouquet of red roses sitting on the white Adirondack chair on the porch. Alexandra picked them up, smiling. Billy was always full of surprises. Lifting them off the chair she smelled them, before removing the card.

It read: Meet me at the café. I have a huge surprise for you.

Without thinking Alexandra walked into the kitchen and grabbed her pocketbook off the counter. While walking to the car, the card from the flowers fell from her hands. She was so excited to see what Billy had waiting for her at the café. She’d bet he went ahead and had the café all complete.

* * * * *
Billy drove down Richmond Road at fifty miles an hour. When he got to the red lights, he would slow down and continue right through. There was no time to waste. He had to get home to Alexandra. He would never forgive himself if anything ever happened to her. This was his mess.

Billy hit the speed bump and his car bottomed out. “Damn it,” he yelled still not slowing down. His car screeched going around the next corner. A black car passed him up, almost hitting him, as it drove down Fingerboard Road. Billy stepped on the gas.

Reaching for his cell phone he dialed Alexandra’s number. It rang twice and went right into voice message. He decided not to leave a message, but to call the landline. The phone range five times, before going into the answering machine. “Impossible,” Billy said redialing the number again. When he got the answering machine again, he tossed his phone on the dashboard, and speed the rest of the way home.

By the time he reached the house, an unmarked car had just pulled up. Billy threw the car in park, got out of the car, and walked over the Detective Gallo who stood with his partner with his hand resting on his gun.

“Where’s Alexandra?” He scanned the area. “Her car is missing.” Shaking his head back and forth, he mumbled, “It can’t be. She isn’t supposed to be driving. For her to go out something is wrong.” Billy sighed.

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Gallo asked.

“I just have a feeling.”

“Let’s go take a look around the house.”

Billy started walking behind Gallo, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a card on the ground. He picked it up, read it, and looked toward Gallo who stood on the porch.

“She’s at the café.” He waved the card. “She’s in trouble.”


ROSES


After the untimely death of her husband in the line of duty, Nikki Petrino still grieving three years later, goes on retreat to Mexico to finish her novel, where she meets musician Drake Dente a 90’s rock icon working on lyrics for his comeback CD.


After meeting at dinner, Drake and Nikki can’t keep their eyes off each other. Sparks fly and they instantly became an item. Upon returning to New York for Nikki’s high school reunion, she learns shocking events from her best friends.

After a misunderstanding, Nikki is missing and Drake is desperate to track her down.

Roses is available at:

Secret Cravings Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Nobles



Coming Soon from Secret Cravings Publishing

THE BOARDWALK


After an accident at work, Brooklyn DeMelli walks every day down at the boardwalk as a way to keep active and have a semi normal social life. She meets up with the regular morning walkers, while enjoying the beauty of the beach and the scent of the ocean. To keep busy she started her own company, making beaded jewelry for parties and flea markets.

Mario Morales is the hippy that plays acoustic guitar every morning at different ends of the boardwalk. The music captivates Brooklyn. Following the muse, she meets Mario who turns out to be a narcotics detective working undercover on a huge investigation. When Mario finds out Brooklyn is inadvertently involved in a drug trafficking ring, it leads to a series of events, which puts Brooklyn’s life in jeopardy, while forming a romantic bond between them.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Tuesday Tales - Name of a City

Welcome to this weeks Tuesday Tales. I'd like to thank all my fans and followers. I can't tell you how happy I am that everyone is enjoying the adventures of Billy and Alexandra. Please stop by TUESDAY TALES to read the other wonderful tales by a group of talented authors.





The traffic was horrendous coming down two lane Richmond Hill Road, other wise known as Snake Hill to native Staten Islanders. Billy drove along the curves a little faster than he should have, causing his car to sway from side to side. There was no time to waste. He had to get back home to Alexandra before she realized he was gone. Along the way, he could have sworn that someone was following him. His paranoia was getting the better if him.

He had called Angelo earlier, asking him if he was putting the squeeze on him. All Angelo did was laugh on the other end of the phone before hanging up. This had gotten totally out of control. He could have sworn the black BMW sedan behind him had tailed him the whole time. What the hell?

How much more did he have to pay for mistakes he made a long time ago? And what should he do? He kept his eye on the black sedan. When the light turned red, he slowed down and went through it. He watched the sedan hesitate for a few seconds before going through the light too. Now he knew what needed to be done. He had to drop the trail and get home to Alexandra. They’d talk this over, then go back down to the police precinct.

No way would he let anything happen to Alexandra. It seemed all he did was drive around in circles. That’s it. He drove through Todt Hill Road, in and out of the side streets. He knew these streets like the back of his hand while he delivered pizza to make extra money. He would lose the sedan.

Billy stepped on the gas and raced through the narrow streets. When he came out onto Richmond Road, the black sedan wasn’t behind him. By the next light, he glanced into his rearview mirror and sure enough, there was the sedan.

This had to stop. Billy took his cell phone off the dashboard and dialed the number to the 120. “Is Detective Gallo in?’ he asked turning down another street.

“Hold on, I’ll transfer you.”

Before he could answer he was put on hold. “Damn it.” He slammed his hand on the steering wheel, keeping his eyes on the black sedan following him.

“Gallo.”

“Detective Gallo, this is Billy Davidson. I need your help,” he mumbled into the phone as if the person in the sedan behind him could hear his words.

“What can I do for you?”

“A car has been following for the past twenty minutes.”

“Are you being paranoid?”

“No,” Billy lashed out. “I went through all the side streets. He is still here. I can see the license plate. CAK 2012A.”

“Can you see who’s driving?”

“No. The windows are tinted. I’m worried about Alexandra. Can you meet me at her house?”

“Why?”

“I fear for her safety. And I have other information about my past, which I think will be relevant to what’s going on.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Bang. “Holy shit. The sedan just banged into the back of my car. Please get to Alexandra as soon as possible.” Bang.

*****



After the untimely death of her husband in the line of duty, Nikki Petrino still grieving three years later, goes on retreat to Mexico to finish her novel, where she meets musician Drake Dente a 90’s rock icon working on lyrics for his comeback CD.

After meeting at dinner, Drake and Nikki can’t keep their eyes off each other. Sparks fly and they instantly became an item. Upon returning to New York for Nikki’s high school reunion, she learns shocking events from her best friends.

After a misunderstanding, Nikki is missing and Drake is desperate to track her down.

Roses is available at:

Secret Cravings Publishing

Amazon


Barnes and Nobles


Coming Soon from Secret Cravings Publishing

Monday, June 11, 2012

Tuesday Tales – Picture Prompt Limo/Airplane

Welcome to this weeks Tuesday Tales. This week, we're taking a different approach. We're using a picture prompt. Please take a few minutes to read the other delicious tales at: Tuesday Tales.

My character Nikki Petrino from my debut novel Roses will stop by to give tell you her story.

Nikki waited in the limousine for Drake. She couldn’t believe she was sitting in a black stretch limousine, a far cry from her old Toyota Corona, which just about ran. Drake dropped into her life eight years ago. When she went to Acapulco to start over again after the death of her husband, never did she expect to meet the love of her life on her first day there.


Nikki grew up in a strict Italian Catholic household. Born in Brooklyn, she moved to Staten Island when she was a toddler. She had very little growing up and spent most of her free time at the family restaurant along with her brother, Rocco. It was her parents dream for Nikki and her brother to take over the family business. But Nikki had other plans. Her dream was to be the first in her family to get a college degree. She didn’t want to be a part of the family business and get stuck driving the old pickup truck they all shared.

On her first day at high school she meets her best friend Penny. Nikki immediately gets involved in the school newspaper and writing became a big part of her life. After graduating from college, she gets a job working at Baseball Digest magazine. When she met her husband Joey, she started keeping a journal of their life together, and what went on in her life. After the death of her husband, both Penny and Rocco typed up her novel and sent it to a publisher.

It was hard to believe how much her life had changed, since she met Drake. She learned there was to saying I love you, and there was a difference between having sex and making love.

How Nikki met Drake…that’s a whole other story.


After the untimely death of her husband in the line of duty, Nikki Petrino still grieving three years later, goes on retreat to Mexico to finish her novel, where she meets musician Drake Dente a 90’s rock icon working on lyrics for his comeback CD.

After meeting at dinner, Drake and Nikki can’t keep their eyes off each other. Sparks fly and they instantly became an item. Upon returning to New York for Nikki’s high school reunion, she learns shocking events from her best friends.

After a misunderstanding, Nikki is missing and Drake is desperate to track her down.


Roses is available at:

Secret Cravings Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Nobles

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Tuesday Tales – Trees

Welcome to this weeks edition of Tuesday Tales. This weeks word prompt is tree. Check out the other awesome tales at: Tuesday's Tale.


Alexandra waited patiently for Billy to return. She wasn’t a fool. Something was going on that Billy was keeping from her. The minute he closed the front door, she was down the stairs looking for clues. Billy thought he was slick, but she read right through him.

Off in the corner he had placed his over night bag. Quickly, she riffled through the bag looking for a clue. And then she came across the card. She pulled it out of the envelope, and typed in bold print read: SOMEBODY’S WATCHING YOU.

“What’s this?” She held the card in her hand, turning it back and forth looking for something, a clue to where it came from.

Now this is great. How can I approach Billy and ask him what this is. I should have never been going through his things.

Alexandra placed it back where she found it. Well, she hoped she did. She wondered where Billy disappeared to. While she waited for Billy, she would think of how to question him without letting on that she was snooping. Thinking back to the hospital, it all seemed to make sense now on why he began acting weird, refusing to leave the hospital. Billy would have a lot of explaining to do.

In the meantime, she put up a pot of coffee and got dressed. The past few days she spent enough of time lying around in bed. She wasn’t taking no for an answer. Tomorrow morning she wanted to go back to the café. They spent enough of time away from it.

If he told her it was still a part of the crime scene, she didn’t care. She would cross the yellow tape. This café was their dream projects. The grand opening had to be soon. They’ve wasted too much time already, and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

As she poured her coffee, she heard Billy’s car pull up. Placing her mug on the counter, she walked to the front door. When she opened the glass wooden front door, the car sped through the tree lined circular driveway.

“What the hell?” Alexandra screamed at the navy blue BMW.

Quickly she returned into the house and scribbled the last four numbers, 3642 of the license plate. Damn, she just couldn’t read the letter. What was going on? This was getting all too weird. Her driveway was private. No one other then the mailman, FedEx or Ups drove up her driveway.

Glancing at her watch, it had been close to an hour and a half since Billy left her, thinking she was sleeping. “Billy, where the hell are you?”




After the untimely death of her husband in the line of duty, Nikki Petrino still grieving three years later, goes on retreat to Mexico to finish her novel, where she meets musician Drake Dente a 90’s rock icon working on lyrics for his comeback CD.

After meeting at dinner, Drake and Nikki can’t keep their eyes off each other. Sparks fly and they instantly became an item. Upon returning to New York for Nikki’s high school reunion, she learns shocking events from her best friends.

After a misunderstanding, Nikki is missing and Drake is desperate to track her down.

Roses is available at:
Secret Cravings Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Nobles