Mariposa's Musings

Tells us more about Thin Veil Investigators. Thin Veil Investigators was established in 2005 and is based out of Carson City, NV.   All members have psychic and/or sensitive abilities.  We have conducted investigations from Virginia City, NV to Benton Hot Springs, CA and from Lake Tahoe to Dayton, NV.  Approximately 85% of our investigations are by request.  We are interested in acknowledging and communicating with spirits (people who have passed).  We don’t go in to “banish” or to send spirits to the “light”.  We are there to identify them and help put them at ease, if need be. How did you get involved in this business? I met 2 members of “Thin Veil Investigators” at the St. Charles Hotel in Carson City, NV when I was a docent for the Carson City Ghost Walk in 2010.  I kept Sandie LaNae ’s card and contacted her to learn more about becoming a “Paranormal Investigator”.  She was very helpful in advising me how to get started and I even purchased her text book “A Ghost Hunter’s Gu

Did you know honey has been used in everything from throat soothers to beauty treatments? This natural sweetener contains concentrated antioxidants.  For 25 quick facts about Mariposa Cruz stop by Sarah Grimm's blog today http://www.authorsarahgrimm.blogspot.com/ .  Hope to see you there!

How did you become involved in this line of work?  I was blessed since birth with Psychic awareness. Throughout my life I have had visions of what was to come. I devised a fun method of giving intuitive Readings by using stones: jaspers, quartz, agates, etc. and have read publicly since 1984.  One of my extra psychic gifts is the ability to see those who are deceased.  During my life I've been requested to communicate with those on the other side, but I started to publically advertise this ability just a few years ago.  Now, many clients are those who would like a communication Reading, or, Spirit Reading with a loved one on the other side.  Because of being a psychic and spirit communicator, in 2005 I was asked to join a brand new Paranormal Investigative team, Thin Veil Investigators. Being able to see the spirits is a nice edge for our team as then we can communicate with a particular ghost in a certain building.  Our team members are psychics and sensitives and so we all

What inspired you to become a writer? My overactive imagination? The voices in my head? Honestly, I’m not certain I can pin down exactly what got me interested in writing, as it seems like I’ve been writing since I was in utero. Okay, so maybe that’s a stretch, but I know I’ve been reading and writing since the age of five, when my older sister taught me to read and write. If I were to hazard a guess, I would have to say my love of reading is what got me interested in writing. I’ve never been able to read a book without picking out parts that I would have written differently, or without rewriting the ending in my head. Who are your favorite romance characters (besides your own?) The hero and heroine of whatever I’m currently reading.  I get sucked into the story – falling a little bit in love with the hero along the way – and up until I close the book on their happily-ever-after, they are my favorite romance characters. Tell me what inspired this story. Teenage fantasie

Today, I'm visiting Karen Michelle Nutt's Wicked Haunt-O-Ween celebration.  I'm chatting about goblins and how  James Whitcomb Riley's poem inspired my love of scary, shadowy things.  Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Howl.  Hope to see you there!

What inspired you to become a writer? Thanks for having me, Mariposa!  My passion for the written word was the biggest factor.  I’ve been an avid reader since I was very young, and eventually I got into the habit of imagining my own characters and plots.  I always wanted to write a novel, and by the time I found the motivation to sit down and begin Silver Lake, I had almost the entire story worked out in my head! Who are your favorite romance characters (besides your own?) Oh I love this question – there are so many!  Claire and Jamie of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, Whitney and Clayton from Judith McNaught’s Whitney, My Love, and although not technically a romance in terms of Happily Ever After, Scarlett and Rhett from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. Tell me what inspired this story. That’s a tough question for me, because it’s hard to remember exactly how I came up with the idea.  As I mentioned, I actually had Silver Lake almost completely written

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)   At what point does ambition become an insatiable monster?  Poor Seymour Krelboyne—his carnivorous hybrid becomes his ticket to fame and ultimately his undoing.   Much like a teenager, the plant Audrey Junior comes alive at night demanding food.  Seymour accidently discovers his plant’s desire for human blood and through a series unfortunate events provides victims for Audrey Jr.  Seymour’s boss is horrified at the plant’s diet, but is reluctant to relinquish the steady stream of customers drawn to his flower shop by the monster plant. The 1960 film is populated with quirky characters and incorporates elements of black comedy and farce.   It features an early glimpse of young Jack Nicholson’s killer smile in a cameo role as a masochistic dental patient.  The film gained cult status as a double feature and later became an off-Broadway musical  which became the basis for the 1986 remake.  Even with its unique style of humor, the 1960 film is not l

Today, I'm chatting about the inspiration for Roar! at Cate Masters' TBR blog .  Be sure to leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of Howl.

Did you know Grizzlies can run up to 35 miles per hour? Today I'm visiting fellow Nevada writer, C.R. Moss.     Stop by and find out how a family camping trip inspired my fascination with Ursus Arctos Horribilis.

Have you seen this bumper sticker? "Real teddy bears are naked!" I'm chatting about Roar! at KMN Books  today.  Hope to see you there!

Savage Hunger Kathleen McKnight is on a dangerous mission to help her army team take down a drug lord. She's a tough as nails recruit, but when she's caught in the crossfire, she has to rely on a mysterious man to save her. She has no idea that he has big plans for her... Connor Anderson is a jaguar shifter who is looking for his mate. When he rescues Kathleen in the jungle-twice—he can't help but be intrigued. Will a bite or a scratch turn Kathleen into the perfect jaguar mate? ABOUT THE AUTHOR USA Today bestselling author, Terry Spear has written numerous paranormal romance novels and two medieval Highland historical romances. An award-winning author, Terry’s Heart of the Wolf  was named a Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year in 2008. A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry Spear spends every spare moment writing paranormal romance as well as historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford,

I'm thrilled to announce Roar! is now available from The Wild Rose Press .  To celebrate my latest release, Mariposa's Musings is going to the bears this week.  Focused on the bottom line, corporate paralegal Linda Underwood answers to no one. Linda’s world is torn apart when a bear shifter turns her romantic weekend rendezvous into a desperate struggle to stay alive.  Now a recently-turned shifter herself, she is determined to beat the affliction by ignoring her newly awakened beastly impulses.  After the accidental death of his wife, shifter Flynn Cromwell finds solace immersed in his computer network security work in a remote mountain cabin.  When he discovers Linda’s ravaged body near the brink of death, he’s compelled to protect her.  Can Flynn save Linda from her own stubborn nature and defend her from a vicious shifter with a taste for her blood? Here's an excerpt:      “What’s this?” Flynn snatched her right foot.       “Hey,” Linda protested.  S

What is one of your favorite resources for research? Cate Masters:  I’d love to be able to visit every setting in my stories! Unfortunately I can’t, so I mainly rely on either the library or the Internet, but I love to come across books specific to my needs that I’ll keep on my shelf for reference. For instance, I’ve relied on The Dictionary of Angels to supply not only names but background information for the angels in my Christmas fantasy, Ground Rules, and my dark paranormal, Dancing With the Devil. When I was lucky enough to visit Key West, Florida, I bought about six books about the local area because the history intrigued me so much, and I spent a few days in the library there while my family went parasailing and snorkeling. They had a fun time, but I felt like I found a lost treasure chest! For more about Cate visit her blog: Cate Masters: http://catemasters.blogspot.com Regina Duke:    I love Google and Wikipedia. This sounds simplistic, but as a career acad

About Christine: Originally a journalist, I've been working as a writer/editor ever since (about 25 years), from tech to marketing to exec communications to entertainment. So I have an extremely varied background, which has informed my writing style and my tactical editing approach. Currently, I'm focused on writing fiction, though teaching is my other love (" The Editor Devil's Guide to CHARACTERS " and " The Editor Devil's Guide to DIALOGUE "). I'm indie publishing my debut novel, "An Eye For Danger", to Amazon for Kindle July 30th, 2012. What inspired you to become a writer? All my manuscripts originated in dreams. So that's another major influencer. But the roots of my author side have been there a very long time. Honestly, I grew up psychic and was the kid of a psychic. (I used to give life-path/archetype readings.) So I knew 2 things about my own future from a very young age: that I would be a published author and t

Tell me about yourself.  How long have you been writing? My mother first encouraged me to start writing stories as a way to express my feelings after my parents divorced when I was seven years old.  I wrote a story about a haunted house. Later I made up stories about creatures that lived behind the tattered tiles of the first apartment my mother and I shared alone by the beach. My imagination provided me an escape. As life evened out and as writing instructors all told me to “write what you know” I fell off the fantasy path. My early 20s were full of angst and poetry, some of which were published.  After I was married and life evened out I focused on my career and my infertility. My pen ran dry. Six years ago, after my son was born, my mother told me about NaNoWriMo, the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I had never stopped writing stories in my head. I wanted to be an inspiration to my son to always follow your dreams and also to live the last words my Grandfath

How do you manage your different writing tasks (research, writing, promo, editing)? Regina Duke : I like to say that I write every day, or spend time every day doing a writing-related task, such as editing. But during the preparation of Calin’s Cowboy, I had to take breaks and ended up working on other projects or sitting in the corner with my knitting, rocking to and fro. LOL! It was a big job! It is very hard for me to write and promote on the same day, as it turns out, so I have had to modify my schedule a bit. On the days I do a lot of promotion, I cannot write until bedtime. On days I do a lot of writing, I don’t even read email. I used to be a lot better at multitasking. Editing is the biggest challenge for me. By the time I begin implementing my editor’s and readers’ suggestions, I have already done two or three rewrites and edits myself. It takes a huge effort to sit down and work on it again. But once I start, I am pleased when my book draws me back in and I get all

What inspired you to become a writer?   I would have to say the youth program at my childhood church on the island of Nevis in the West Indies. I began writing plays, poems, and songs at a very early age for the Youth and Sunday school programs.  Later, I wrote love poems and short stories in high school.  However, when it comes to romance, I got my inspiration from Mills & Boones, Regencies, and Historical Romance novels.  I devoured them, sometimes four in a week from the time I was twelve years old.  There was one point when I’d read all the romances in the library, and had to wait for new shipments—a very frustrating period for me. Who are your favorite romance characters (besides your own?)   I like the alpha males in Harlequin Presents books.  Some readers think them cruel, but I consider them strong, independent men, who know what they want, and who are not above threatening and blackmailing the heroines into pleasing situations for both of them. But I know if the hero