Confessions of a Know-it-All

By Cate Masters

The brain can be a funny thing. Sometimes images get stuck in your head, sometimes they mash together and eventually, our mind simply accepts it as fact. Later, if we reference that “fact” our brain says, “Hey, it’s cool, you got this. No need to check!”

Ha! Very funny, brain.

I am here to warn you all. Don’t fall for it. My brain recently put one over on me. A whopper.

I had a picture in my head of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall as a couple. Who hasn’t heard of the Bogie and Bacall relationship? They were the Brangelina of their day. Inseparable – in my head. So when I was writing The Ex Factor, I put them together in the movie Casablanca. I even “saw” Bacall in that role, even though I’d seen this clip many times:

Guess I should have taken a cue from the “here’s looking at you, kid” dialogue.

I went ahead with some other details I’d collected for the story – a five-year-old Drew Barrymore in E.T. growing up to produce the movie Charlie’s Angels. James Cameron developing Avatar over ten years, even creating a special camera to shoot the movie with, plus a unique language. Such cool stuff!

My brain waved me past the Casablanca reference. “No need to check,” my brain said, chanting “Bogie and Bacall!” as it transposed the two females, knowing the similarities between the blonde starlets would fool me:

And I, the gullible writer, fell for it. Where was my strict inner critic when I most needed her? MIA, of course, though I wouldn’t be surprised to learn my brain had enticed her away with a few mojitos, then locked her in a soundproof chamber.

My apologies to any die-hard Casablanca fans I may have offended by omitting Ingrid Bergman. And my apologies to readers who hadn’t known, but now the error will bother them.

Writers, don’t let the same happen to you. Double-check all details, even those your brain insists (as it stomps its tiny foot) are fact.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading The Ex Factor despite the fact that my brain is an evil trickster. It really is a fun story about two people finding each other though they were right under each other’s noses all the time:



#casablanca, #catemasters, #1NS, #onenightstand, #1nightstand, #MadameEve, #decadentpub

Genre? What Genre?

by Cate Masters

I’m not a fan of labels. At all. So I don’t think about genre when I write. All that matters to me is telling a compelling story with engaging characters readers will care about. My stories span a range of genres, from historical to contemporary and fantasy/paranormal to mainstream. Romances can be sweet to erotic, or no romance at all.

      Dead to Rights is difficult for me to label. Though there’s some romantic tension between the hero and heroine, it’s not a romance. Is it an urban fantasy, or a dark paranormal? I’m never quite sure of the distinction between the two, but the novel does contain some violence and language, so the heat level’s bumped up because of that.

   Is it the first in a series? The ending certainly left that option open. I’d love to follow up with more stories about these characters, or perhaps interrelated stories about other warrior angels. Zeke, who appeared at the end, was a surprise to even me, and immediately fascinated me. He’s better known as Ezekiel, but his brief presence felt very palpable to me.

   What attracts you to a book? Does genre matter to you? If you read an interesting blurb outside a genre you normally read, will you try the book?

Dead to Rights is available from Decadent Publishing HERE

Blurb:

   Identity theft sucks. But it’s worse when someone steals your life—body included. All memory of her life before waking up in a mental facility has vanished. Or was erased. Now she has to figure out how to get it all back….

   Her only hope of learning the truth lies with one man. Problem is, he’s the leader of a cult. Her only choice is to follow him into his sordid world, where a darker evil lurks.

With a little help from an archangel hellbent on revenge, she may have a chance to learn the truth. But will it force her to make the hardest decision of her life…or death?

#catemasters, #deadtorights, #decadentpub, #archangel

Dreams Can Sometimes Turn into Nightmares

By Cate Masters

Disaster and hope often intermingle in strange ways. When I first read about the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, the city’s utter devastation amazed me. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

What really struck me about this disaster was the response of the people affected: their sheer determination to get their lives back on track, and as soon as possible. The 1906 earthquake had catastrophic consequences, killing as many as 3,000 people in what was then one of the largest cities in the U.S. Many survivors witnessed horrific deaths, either by the earthquake itself, which toppled poorly constructed buildings onto those trying to escape the quake’s aftermath, or the citywide fires that resulted. Officials shot anyone suspected of looting, and in a few extreme cases, executed people trapped by debris and otherwise doomed to die horrific deaths in the fire. Some really chilling accounts of such instances completely gripped me.

While the disaster changed a way of life for San Francisco residents, it also engendered hope across the nation. President Teddy Roosevelt sent food rations and supplies by mule and train. The stricken San Franciscans rolled up their sleeves and got to work clearing debris. If left standing, some shops reopened for business the next day.

The pioneering spirit was still very much alive. What also fascinated me was the gritty strength of the women. They worked side by side with the men to clear debris, or do whatever it took to get the city, and their lives, functioning again.

So, like any writer, I thought: wow, what a great setting for a story! I love writing strong, feisty heroines. I couldn’t wait to toss two unsuspecting characters into the melee.

But not two ordinary people. No, both Norah Hawkins and Gerard “Mac” MacKenzie had disastrous pasts, and desperately needed to leave them behind. San Francisco beckoned to them: Norah dreamed of opening a respectable gentleman’s club, and Mac dreamed of tickling the ivories playing the latest ragtime melodies. They couldn’t know that the city would strip them of their dreams, and challenge them in the deepest way.

One of the great things about the early 1900s is that photography, while still crude compared to today's standards, was no longer in its infancy. In fact, I found this video of San Francisco, pre-earthquake - how amazing is that? Horse and carriages sharing the street with automobiles, street cars and pedestrians, who all are apparently unconcerned with a possible collision!. It’s a wonderful illustration of the hustle and bustle of this vibrant city.

Thanks so much for reading! Sweet dreams. :)

Betting It All

by Cate Masters

Historical romance novella

(about 29k)

Blurb:

Norah Hawkins wants a new life as far from her old one as possible, but where can she ever find that chance? When a letter arrives promising her the deed to property in San Francisco, Norah packs her bags and flees the broken shards of her troubled past.

With its anything-goes atmosphere, 1906 San Francisco suits Irishman Gerard MacKenzie just fine. He loves tending bar in Norah’s saloon, and verbally sparring with the shrewd businesswoman for more privileges and work. Her beauty, wit and sass make his blood boil with need.

But disaster looms over their promising new lives when a terrible earthquake buries their dreams and threatens to shatter their future. Norah and Mac must rebuild their lives from the ruins and they’ll need each other more than ever, but can their ties to each other save them or tear them apart? 

Available from:

Decadent Publishing || Amazon || Barnes and Noble 

About Cate

Multipublished, award-winning author Cate Masters has made beautiful central Pennsylvania her home, but she’ll always be a Jersey girl at heart. When not spending time with her dear hubby, she can be found in her lair, concocting a magical brew of contemporary, historical, and fantasy/paranormal stories with her cat Chairman Maiow and dog Lily as company. Look for her at http://catemasters.blogspot.com  and in strange nooks and far-flung corners of the web.

Catch up to Cate:

Blog || Facebook || Amazon || Goodreads || You Tube || Twitter

Author Newsletter: Sign up through my blog! Exclusive goodies for subscribers. :)

#catemasters, #decadentpub

Alert for Voyeurs

On April 15^th there’ll be a cosmic—literally out of this world—ménage a trios. The sun, earth and moon are going to get it on in perfect alignment. The earth will take dominance, its shadow blanket the moon, and tomorrow night will begin a rare sequence of four successive, total lunar eclipses—a tetrad of blood moons—over the next two years. Each blood moon will be separated from the other by six full moons without any partial eclipses between them.

The action begins at 1:20 a.m. on the East Coast, according to Sky and Telescope magazine. Another source says it’ll start at 3:06 a.m. EDT, and end at 4:24, meaning it’ll last for 78 minutes and highlight the sky across the western hemisphere.

The moon rises in the western Pacific and only the last half of the eclipse will be visible there. In much of Europe and Africa, the moon will be setting so not much to see. That means if you have shifter issues, hunkering down in Europe or Africa where there’ll be less hunters about is a good plan. The night owls who don’t fang and claw out, those with no fear of the moon, will be all set to watch. For those of us who need more than caffeine to stay awake past midnight, I can’t think of a better way to remain wide eyed than to read a romance that happens under a blue moon, and a thriller with one of the most evil villains of all time, and an erotic and fun take on Cinderella.

Here’s what’s on my e-reader:

BlueMoon over Bliss Lake

By Cate Masters

Home for the holidays…
Sierra O’Brien and Carter Grove have a lot of history—and regrets between them. Their high school romance didn’t survive after he went away to college. Despite tremendous business success, Carter never found another woman like Sierra and has two failed marriages to prove it. Sierra’s luck wasn’t much better, but after being widowed, she heads back to Bliss to plan her future. The last thing either expected was to run into each other or to reconnect to the magic that once drew them together.

Can Sierra and Carter make it work this time or are they doomed to repeat the past and let the same mistakes drive them apart? In Bliss, the inexplicable is an everyday occurrence, and anything is possible—especially during a blue moon.

Chosen

By Barbara Elsborg

Some crimes can never be forgotten.

Kate Evans doesn’t take risks. She chose her apartment with care—a safe district with a good neighbor—a place where she can live a quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar existence. Then she makes one mistake and opens her door to accept a delivery of flowers from a secret admirer and her life will never be the same again. A guy she’s never seen before bursts into her apartment and asks her to marry him. Jack Thompson won’t take no for an answer and drags Kate on a cross country journey to hell.

Invalided out of the police, Nathan Beranson works as a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas where he spends too much of his time following unfaithful spouses and delivering the bad news to their partners. When his fiancée cheats on him with Jack Thompson, the half-brother Nathan’s only just met, he becomes obsessed with Jack in the same unhealthy way as his revenge-seeking clients. By the time Nathan finally realizes putting the ghosts of the past to rest is a wiser option than settling an old score, it’s too late. He’s already been drawn into his sibling’s latest deadly game and Nathan and Kate find their nightmare is only just beginning.

CinderellaWore Combat Boots

                                                      By DL Jackson

Sometimes Fairytales come true.
First Sergeant Cori Valentine faces a bleak future. She’s turning forty in three weeks and life as she knows it is over. An injury received while on deployment has earned her an early retirement from the Marine Corps, something she’s not sure she’ll survive. Things get even better when interfering Marines set her up on a blind date for a party she doesn’t want. The guy has to be a total toad to want to go out with her. Right?

When Madame Eve informs retired SEAL, Sol Keller, she’s found his perfect match, he doesn’t believe it, but takes up the challenge. One look at the First Sergeant in a sexy dress and combat boots has him wondering if fairytales really can come true. Madame Eve might be the legendary Fairy Godmother, and Cori his Cinderella. Sol intends to show the Marine beauty a Prince Charming she’ll never forget, and that retirement isn’t the end of her story but merely the beginning.

Lastly, you could check out another ménage a trios that, in this author’s humble opinion, eclipses a lunar show.  Did I mention this M/M/F is on sale—99 cents!—until 4-22?

Harey

By Arlene Webb

Gwas can outrun a horse, knows how to hide and steal, but is ignorant of the ways of men. The last thing he expects when he is rescued from a miserable existence by a blue-eyed, blond haired angel is to be promised as a Druidic sacrifice to Eostre. Unfortunately, the only direction Gwas wishes to flee is straight into the arms and knife of his savior, Gareth.

Maura knows Gareth is no angel, but she adores him with a passion that time and loneliness cannot dent. When he rides in carrying an injured lad who fears her on sight, she is drawn to open her heart to the abused orphan as well.

Gareth is caught between his liege lord and brother’s fist, and an emotional dilemma that grows harder and harder to deny with every passing season. If he must defy man and gods in order to embrace his heart’s desires, so be it.

When the clash of old and new religions puts lives in peril, ultimate sacrifice bears witness to enduring love. Winter gives way to spring, and the evolution of a colorful myth spreads across the land.

For those who take a moment to comment, please leave your email. A winner will be picked at random to receive their choice of a DP story of mine. Happy reading.

Sincerely,

Arlene