One Month and Counting...

It's hard to believe that one month from today, my first story will "go-live." Yes, I'm more than excited and can't wait to see the book actually out there. But it's pretty exciting to make the Coming Soon list.

That's right. Sacred Talisman has made the Coming Soon page on TEB. Here's the link... Sacred Talisman

And just cause I know you want to see it. Here's the awesome cover art...

I love the gothic feel of the cover. It just oozes vampire vibes. I know I've said it before, but TEB has the best cover art I've seen. Graphic, stunning and very fitting of the genre. I'm feeling pretty lucky to be part of it.

I'll post a new blurb new week. Feel free to jump on over to my website and check it out... KrisNorris.ca

cheers,

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time

Squeeeee.... I Got Mail

Today marked another first in my career. I got cover art for my full length novel, DEADLY VISION. And it's fabulous!!! Take a look...

I absolutely LOVE it. I think Lyn Taylor, the cover artist, got the creepy stalker feel down to a tee. And hey, the folks ain't hard to look at either. I'll take the sexy guy to go:D It just feels so good to get a great cover when I've been gawking at all the beautiful covers of fellow authors for what's felt like an eternity. I'm tickled pink and will probably find myself staring at it for a while.

I also just received the cover art for Sacred Talisman. I'll post it soon... just making sure it's the final copy before I flaunt another awesome job by TEB. I'm very fortunate to have landed with such a great company.

And on the subject of Sacred Talisman... I've been okayed to go ahead and make it the first book in a series... now named, Dark Prophecy. I'm ecstatic over the news and love the name... occasionally I come up with a good one, lol. I'll be starting on the next book in the series as soon as I finish the last few edits of a thriller novel... and when that's done there's the second book in the Enchanted Lovers series, a sequel to Checkmate, my futuristic book.... yup, too many stories and way too little time.

Cheers,

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

The Centurion and the Queen

I've been privileged enough to be able to do some peer reviewing over on the new RP promo blog. Today was Way Back Wednesday and since I'd already read this story a few months ago, it seemed like a great opportunity to put in my two cents. Here's the review...

THE CENTURION AND THE QUEEN

AUTHOR:Minnette Meador

CATEGORY: Historical

HEAT LEVEL: Sapphire

LENGTH: Novel

FORMAT: E-BOOK

The Centurion and the Queen, by Minnette Meador, is a journey back in time, with a love destined to stand the test.

Marius has been stationed on the island of 60AD Britannia for sixteen years. Once a celebrated Roman hero, Marius still clings to the old traditions as a fair but tough leader to his men. But when Delia, warrior and Queen of the declining Breton civilization, enters his life, she challenges everything he believes, effortlessly stripping away years of Roman conditioning, and angering Marius to the point of betraying his training—and his oaths. He simply cannot resist her.

Fighting to save as many of her people as she can, the last thing Delia expects is to crave the touch of an enemy. But Marius is more than just a warrior, and together they discover an impossible love. But when a revolution threatens their lives and places them on opposite sides, will they find a way to stay the odds, or will the Roman machine destroy them both?

This novel is a fabulous portrayal of life during the Roman era. Within the first few pages, Ms. Meador has you completely immersed in the time period, to the point I expected to find mud caked to the bottom of my socks. The energy between Delia and Marius flares up like a wildfire and Minnette keeps you perched on the edge, waiting for the moment when these two, proud warriors finally accept the spark between them and allow love to make the rules, knowing their fate might be beyond their control.

There are more twists and turns than a country road and I loved how the story kept me turning pages right up until the end. The horrendous brutality and the harsh reality of that time period at times left me shuddering. Ms. Meador pulls no punches when it comes to authenticity. Well- researched.

The Centurion and the Queen is well-written, sensual ride that won’t disappoint.

I'm hoping there'll be more to follow. Hop on over and check it out. There're some great contests and some fabulous books on the upcoming schedule.

Cheers,

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

From Zero to Four

Hey all... for those of you who've been tuning in, you'll know I've been fostering a beautiful maine coon mix, Pepper, and her five kittens. Well, the first babies have left the nest. My awesome friend, Shelley, took two brothers home on Friday... yes it was a tad sad but they've gone to an amazing home, so I'm okay with it. So that leaves three more kittens and the mom.

Well, as the other two were getting ready for their trip home, my three younglings informed me that they'd "worked it all out". Yup, they'd solved the kitten issue... each of my kids has claimed a cat and we're keeping them all!

As you can imagine, I stared at them in awe, wondering how I've gone to telling them, yes, we can get a cat to okay, let's have four! But to see their little faces (and my kids too, lol) you'd have a hard time saying no. Sooooo.......

I guess I'm now the proud owner of four little balls of fur... yes, the kids say they will look after them, but who are we kidding... I'll be the one doing the work. But somehow that's ok.

So let me introduce you... formally... to our new additions....

This is Pepper... the mom and protector... poor Bandit has had a few smack downs learning to live with cats.

This is Popcorn... Kyle's kitten, though this is Jared holding him... He has lovely dark markings around his eyes and loves to play.

This is Halo... we changed the name to reflect Jared's love of xbox... He's absolutely a doll but is more of an action kitty than a cuddler.... though we're working on it.

And finally, here's Hunter... the most lovable of the bunch, cause he'll cuddle for hours... so of course, Syd claimed him, cause every girl needs a kitten to sleep on her lap :D

So, it looks like I'm taking the first steps down the road of crazy cat lady... starting off small but my friends are convinced I'll have 50 of them before long, lol. I thought I'd throw in a quick pic of me and Syd with Hunter... yes this is how most of my "writing" time has been spent lately... with kittens on the laptop.

So when you wonder why my stories have paw prints on them, you'll know.

Cheers,

Kris

Romancing life... one adventure at a time.

Reviews...

Hey all...

Just a quick post to announce Resplendence Publishing's new promo blog — RP Blog — is now posting reviews of both new and older RP books, and yours truly is part of the review circle... Yup, this is what happens when you raise your hand, lol.

Actually I couldn't be happier. We haven't worked out all the kinks yet, but our first two reviews will be debuting tomorrow. Celia Kyle reviewed "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by the lovely Ann Cory, and I talked about "Handcuff's and Lies" by the talented Bronwyn Green. Please drop over and check them out. They are both excellent books and enjoyable reads you won't want to put down.

We are hoping to review new releases on Sunday, and perhaps older books on Wednesdays. I'll give all the details once we have it all ironed out. But for now, you can get our first pickings. I just love the authors at Resplendence and am looking forward to sprouting their fine talent for all their readers.

On a personal note... I'm very excited to announce that Sacred Talisman is going to be book one in my new series.... sorry, no name yet, but I'm working on it. I've been having very distracting thoughts of the other books and finally broke down and asked my editor if it was too late to make it a series. My awesome lady laughed and said... I already thought it was because their were five more talisman left... lol. So I'll be starting on the next story once I finish off the last few edits to my next submission.

Okay, back to work... just two more days left in our summer vacation and I'm trying to make the most of it.

Cheers,

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

The Measure of a Man...

Over the past little while I've been wondering how we all measure ourselves up. Is it based on what we do for a living? How much money we make? The number of friends we have?

I suppose we could use any of these and more. But there's another way many of us choose to measure ourselves... by how far we can push our body before it says... 'enough already, I'm done.'

I bring this up because over this past weekend my brother ran his third straight Ironman Canada Race up in beautiful Penticton, B.C. For those of you who aren't familiar with ironman, here's the lowdown...

First you swim 2.4 miles in the lake (or ocean for some)

Then you jump on your bike and ride 112 miles through some of the most beautiful and hilly areas of the countryside.

Finally, as if you're not tired enough, you run a marathon... a full 26.2 miles.

They do this voluntarily... no one chases them with shotguns or rifles... their lives don't depend on them crossing the finish line. There's absolutely no reason on earth for these people to push themselves to such extremes except one... TO SEE IF THEY CAN!!

And my brother certainly CAN.

But what amazes me is that, it isn't enough for these athletes to merely finish. No they set up near impossible time goals for themselves, then seem to be disappointed if they're an hour off or heck, even a minute! They train more than some people work... deprive themselves of certain necessities ( and yes, chocolate and beer are necessities ) all for the sake of carving that ever elusive one more minute off their time. And for what you may ask?

The measure of a man...

Here are some pictures of my brother, Norm, as he rocked Penticton this past Sunday...

As you can see, he's actually smiling in some of these photos!! Hell, I'd be on the road telling them to just scrape my remains out of the way. But not my brother... he kicks it the whole way... fights through the pain, grits back the cramps and runs across that line with his head high and his arms stretched up... a true hero.

Now to him, this weekend wasn't the best. He didn't achieve the time he'd set out to, (which was basically to break his previous record of 11:25:00) but as you can see, to the rest of us mere mortals, he kicked some major IRONMAN BUTT !!!

So, I'd like to dedicate this post to him and all the men... and ladies, but then us women have had to prove ourselves since the dawn of time, so I'm really sending it out to the men of a new age... an age where the measure of a man comes down to a line and a clock.

Please remember... The measure of a man is more than the time recorded on a race. It's the strength and integrity you bring to the game... to life, and the way to teach all of us to push ourselves to the limit and beyond... because there are no second chances and limits are just our fears drawing a line in the sand. I salute you all. And especially you, bro. You will always be made of IRON with a heart of GOLD. I love you.

cheers,

Kris

Romancing life... one adventure at a time.

Chat Tonight...

Hey all. Just a quick note to tell everyone that Resplendence Publishing is having a chat tonight via their RomanticGems loop. The chat is from 5pm PST till 8. (that's 8pm till 11 for you easterners.) There will be tonnes of free ebooks and other goodies, and all you have to do is drop by.

To be part of the chat, go to... RomanticGems-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and become a member. It's fast and it's free... and you could go home with a great new read.

Hope to see you all there.

cheers,

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.