FALL in Love With Author Christie Meierz!

Hi GLIAS friends! I’m so happy to introduce you today to Christie Meierz. Christie is a “new-to-me” author, but she writes sci fi romance and space opera (!) and I’m dying to get my hands on her book  The Fall. Hope you’ll all give her a huge Get Lost in a Story welcome.

A LITTLE ABOUT CHRISTIE

Award-winning writer Christie Meierz writes space opera and science fiction romance set in a civilization of empaths on the edge of a dystopic Earth empire. Her published works include her bestselling debut novel, The Marann, and its sequel, Daughters of Suralia, and two prequel short stories published in Into Tolari Space ~ The First Contact Stories.

Christie has spent a night and/or eaten a meal in all 50 U.S. states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Currently, she lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her mathematician husband and an assortment of stuffies. When she’s not writing, she writes about writing on her blog, Meierz Musings, Facebook, and her Facebook Author Page, where she welcomes comments, friend requests, and followers.

THE STORY BLURB

As bitter enemies scheme against each other with the fate of Tolar in the balance, Laura Howard, made a powerful empath by the Jorann's gift, loses everything—again. Now she must recover and find her place, and herself, while fighting against the ghosts of her past and the expectations of everyone around her.

Loss after tragic loss shakes the Paran to his very soul. With his allies vying for control of the planet and his own province caught in the middle, he must risk his life as well as that of the woman he loves to take the one action he never thought he would: fight for leadership of the ruling caste.

EXCERPT FROM THE FALL

“What else did you see in Laryth?”

“My father’s ears. That little crease he has, here,” she placed a finger where it would be on her own ear, “is a family trait. But other than that, he resembles you.”

“You told me you wanted a son who resembled me.”

“Did I?”

He leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees. What smoldered in his dark eyes pulsed through him and into her. “You did.”

She looked at her hands, struggling to catch her breath. “I do not understand how I could be so wanton, so quickly. I was… I lost John, it was too soon.”

He moved from the chair to sit on the edge of the bed beside her. “You had lost everyone,” he said in a soft voice. “Marianne was your friend, and the Sural protected and sheltered you, but you had no one else when I met you. You were lonely.” He laid one hand along her face. “I knew very quickly I had met my heart’s match. It did not take you long to reach the same conclusion.”

“Love at first sight,” she whispered.

“When you remember more, and you are yourself again—”

Laura stopped breathing. “What?” She swatted his hand away from her face.

“Beloved?” He straightened, with brows furled.

She gasped a breath, and another, her stomach twisting as if she’d been punched. Her father’s voice echoed off the walls of his study. When the gene therapy starts to work. When you are smart. When you are a proper Johnson.

When you are yourself.

She fixed the Paran with a glare. “You do not want me.”

“You know I do. You are far too sensitive not to see it.”

“No, you want the Laura you once had. Not me, not as I am now. Is everyone else waiting for me to be myself again?”

“Beloved—”

“Are they? Who in this place cares about me?” She thumped her chest with one hand. “My family thinks I am dead. No one here wants me as I am. I have nothing. Nothing!” She rolled onto her side, her back to the Paran.

“My heart is yours,” he whispered. His fingers touched her arm. The confusion coursing through him magnified.

She shook him off. “Your heart belongs to a woman who looked like me, but she died. There is only me now, and you do not want me. Go. Get out.”

Purchase The Fall 

Barnes & Noble
Amazon

A FUN Q&A WITH CHRISTIE

LIZ: How often do you get lost in a story?

CHRISTIE: Every time I stick my nose in a book! I disappear when I’m reading—which is about a book or so a week. I think it’s Stephen King who says that if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write. I make sure I spend time reading good books on a regular basis.

LIZ: What’s the first book you remember reading? 

CHRISTIE: Oh no, are you ready for this? Robert the Rose Horse, by Joan Heilbroner, illustrated by P.D. Eastman. I loved that book so much, I wore it out by the time I was five years old, and my parents had to buy me another.

LIZ: What’s your favorite “love” word?

CHRISTIE: “beloved”

LIZ: What are the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?

CHRISTIE:

Bound by Flames, by Jeaniene Frost

The Truth of Valor, by Tanya Huff

The Secrets of Jin-shei, by Alma Alexander

Shards of Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold

Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs

LIZ: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

CHRISTIE: Cinderella, because she won the handsome prince, even though no one appreciated her.

LIZ: What’s your favorite cartoon character?

CHRISTIE: Actually, I’m a big fan of Daffy Duck, because he’s always himself, and he’s not afraid to let you know it.

LIZ: Cast your book using fairy tale or cartoon characters.

CHRISTIE: Oh, that’s just… wrong, LOL.

Laura, played by Wilma Flintstone

The Paran, played by Kocoum (from Pocahontas)

The Monral, played by Namontack (from Pocahontas)

Sharana, played by Nakoma (from Pocahontas)

Farric, played by Li Shang (from Mulan)

Lord Albert St. John Rembrandt, played by John Smith (from Pocahontas)

LIZ: That is awesome—best answer to this question I’ve ever gotten, Christie.  Wilma Flintstone—a kick butt cave lady if ever there was one!

LIZ: Write us a haiku about your book or one of your characters!

CHRISTIE:

One dark night I fell

Losing everything at once

Then my love found me

(by Laura Johnson Howard)

LIZ: Hardly anyone ever writes me a haiku. This was beautiful, I loved it.

LIZ: What one thing about your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine drives her hero nuts?

CHRISTIE:

1) His desire for her to be what she was before.

2) Her belief that she’s stupid.

LIZ: Name three things that are, at this moment, in your heroine’s purse, weapons belt or bag.

CHRISTIE: The love letter the hero wrote to her, a sketchbook, and a pencil.

LIZ: What sound or noise do you love?

CHRISTIE: Are you kidding? I had four sons. My favorite sound is silence. :-D

LIZ: Bahahaha!

LIZ: If you were given a chance to travel to the past, where would you go and specifically why?

CHRISTIE: I would go back and find out what the ancient Egyptians were really like, and see the pyramids in all their pristine glory.

LIZ: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

CHRISTIE: My husband saying he loves me.

LIZ: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

CHRISTIE: The Princess Bride

LIZ: Who’s your favorite villain?

CHRISTIE: The Master, from Doctor Who, especially
the incarnations played by Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley. Ohhh so sexy!

 
LIZ: What is your biggest vice?

CHRISTIE: Chocolate.

LIZ: What’s your favorite kid joke?

CHRISTIE:

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Interrupting cow.

Interrupting c—MOO!

LIZ: What do you hope for the future of romance publishing?

CHRISTIE: I hope that publishers put out more SF romance, and I hope that more authors will write really good SF romance.

LIZ HAS GOTTA ASK: What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever put in one of your books?

CHRISTIE: How I fell in love with my husband… at a conference… viewing the art show. That’s exactly how Laura Howard meets and falls in love with Kazryth (soon to become the Paran) in Daughters of Suralia.

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

Whose story do you want to see next?

CONTACT CHRISTIE

Website: www.christiemeierz.com 

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/christiemeierz
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tolarispace
Twitter: http://twitter.com/christiemeierz
Christie's Blog: http://christiemeierz.blogspot.com

WHAT COMING UP NEXT FROM CHRISTIE:

The Fall, coming Mar 2, 2015.

[cover]

PREVIOUS RELEASES:

A complete list of books is on my website

The Marann (Amazon) (B&N) (winner, 2013 PRISM Award for Futuristic Romance)

The Marann recounts one woman’s journey through loneliness, shattering revelations, and attempted assassination on a world where everyone can read her emotions.

Marianne Woolsey is a high school Spanish teacher in rural Iowa, when Earth Central Command decides her linguistic talents would be better exercised if she spent 26 years teaching the daughter and heir of an alien ruler on a planet 24 light years from Earth. Now she’s alone on a planet of aliens so humanlike that she has to keep telling herself her student’s noble father is just her boss.

Handsome—and deadly—the Sural has ruled his province and led his planet far longer than he can admit to his daughter’s human tutor. He hides much more from the space-faring races of the Trade Alliance than he is willing to reveal. What he doesn’t want Central Command to know, he has to conceal from Marianne, but Marianne is concealing her own secrets from him—and as an empath, he knows it.

This first novel in the Tales of Tolari Space series explores what could happen when you put an unsuspecting human on a planet full of empaths.

Daughters of Suralia (Amazon) (B&N)

Three women, two planets, and a whale.

For Marianne Woolsey, linguist and tutor, being empathically bonded to the leader of the Tolari turns out to be a bed of roses—complete with thorns. Especially thorns.

With diplomatic relations severed and humans kicked out of Tolari space, the Earth Fleet ship Alexander is gone… for now… but Earth Central Command hasn’t given up trying to get Marianne back. As she struggles with surprises, nightmares, and a bond-partner who can’t be tamed, she just wants to figure out where she fits in a society that isn’t quite human.

Laura Howard, the Admiral’s widow, only desires to be left in peace to gather the fragments of a shattered heart, but Central Command has plans for her, too.

Meanwhile, the Sural’s apothecary is a serene and gifted healer who knows what—and who—she wants. Circumstances have conspired to deny her the man she’s always loved, but in the pursuit of his heart, she has an unexpected ally—in the depths of Tolar’s oceans.

Get Lost in THE DEEP END from debut author Julie Mulhern

Today, I am beyond thrilled to be introducing Julie Mulhern, an amazingly talented debut author whose new romantic mystery THE DEEP END is garnering much deserved praise and streaking up the charts. You see why when you read the excerpt.

Available from major retail booksellers
and in ebook format from Amazon

Swimming into the lifeless body of her husband’s mistress tends to ruin a woman’s day, but becoming a murder suspect can ruin her whole life.

It’s 1974 and Ellison Russell’s life revolves around her daughter and her art. She’s long since stopped caring about her cheating husband, Henry, and the women with whom he entertains himself. That is, until she becomes a suspect in Madeline Harper’s death. The murder forces Ellison to confront her husband’s proclivities and his crimes—kinky sex, petty cruelties and blackmail.

As the body count approaches par on the seventh hole, Ellison knows she has to catch a killer. But with an interfering mother, an adoring father, a teenage daughter, and a cadre of well-meaning friends demanding her attention, can Ellison find the killer before he finds her? 

Excerpt
June, 1974

Kansas City, Missouri

            My morning swim doesn’t usually involve corpses. If it did, I’d give up swimming for something less stressful, like coaxing cobras out of baskets or my mother out of bed before ten.

            Watching the sun rise over the seventh green is often the best part of my day. I dive into the pool while the water is still inky. When the light has changed from deepest indigo to lavender, I break my stroke, tread water and admire the sky as it bleeds from gold to yellow to pink. It’s a ritual, a metaphorical cleansing, a moment of stolen peace.

            After all, I have a teenage daughter, a mother with strong opinions, a Weimaraner named Max who plots to take over our house on his path toward world domination, and a husband. Much as I’d like to, I can’t leave him out.

            I kicked off my Dr. Scholl’s, tossed my husband’s button-down onto a deck chair, dove into the dark water and gasped at the sudden, encompassing cold. That shock of chilly water against my skin is better than coffee when it comes to waking up. Maybe not better. Faster.

            My legs kicked, my arms sliced and I settled into the comforting rhythm of the Australian crawl. My fingers knifed through the water, anticipating the smooth parting of liquid. They found fabric and the horrific touch of cold flesh.

“Part mystery, part women’s fiction, part poetry, Mulhern’s debut, The Deep End, will draw you in with the first sentence and entrance you until the last. An engaging whodunit that kept me guessing until the end!” – Tracy Weber, Author of the Downward Dog Mysteries

Meet Julie

Julie Mulhern is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean--and she's got an active imagination. Truth is--she's an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions. She is a 2014 Golden Heart® Finalist. The Deep End is her first mystery and is the winner of The Sheila Award.

Find Julie here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliekmulhern

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieKMulhern

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/juliemulhern/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8573907.Julie_Mulhern

Website: http://www.juliemulhern.com/

E.E.: Where do you write and how often?

Julie: Remember Murder She Wrote and the shots of Jessica Fletcher pounding away at the typewriter on her kitchen table? I too write at the kitchen table (laptop not a Royal typewriter). I do it because it is close to the coffee-maker. I get up between four and five every morning to write so a steady stream of caffeine is essential.

E.E.: Tea or coffee?

Julie: See above. Coffee with a healthy (okay, unhealthy) dose of cream.

E.E.: Why the 1970s?

Julie: Part nostalgia—I was a kid of the seventies and remember by childhood through a rose-colored haze. Part fascination with the roles that women play in society and decades when those roles change dramatically (I’d love to set a book in the 1920s). Oh, and I also like the music (not so much disco).

E.E.: Do you listen to music while you write?

Julie: No, but I listen to music while I think about writing. When I’m thinking about a book for the Country Club Murders I listen to so much seventies music that my kids carry earplugs. Sometimes a song will slip into a book. In Guaranteed to Bleed, which releases in October, the heroine and her daughter have an argument and on the radio plays The Bitch is Back.

E.E.: What would we find in your heroine’s purse?

Julie: Car keys—two of them—one for the ignition and one for the trunk. Also Kleenex, lip balm, a comb, a sketchbook, pencils, three separate single earrings, a checkbook, a billfold and house keys.

E.E.: What’s the first thing you do when you finish a book?

Julie: Stretch the crick out my neck then start the next one. Seriously. By the time I finish a book, I am so sick of it I can’t stand it. Meanwhile, there’s been this bright, shiny idea waiting for my attention. I hop in feet first. The honeymoon lasts for the first ten chapters. That’s when the next shiny idea starts begging for attention.

E.E.: What’s next for you?

Julie: A Haunting Desire, my RWA Golden Heart book, will release from Entangled Select in August. Guaranteed to Bleed, published by Henery Press will release October 6^th. Right now I’m writing, A Haunting Need, book two in the Haunting series. By late May, I’ll begin the third mystery in Country Club Murders. Lots of early mornings and lots of coffee!

Today, Julie is giving away an autographed copy of her debut novel, THE DEEP END. All you have to do is comment and enter the raffle. 

What's your favorite mystery (author, book or television show)?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get Lost in a Story welcomes back Michelle Major

Get Lost in a Story Readers, please welcome the talented, heart warming Michelle Major as she promotes her new release Second Chance at Crimson Ranch.

GOOD WITH HIS HANDS, BAD FOR HER HEART… 

Ever since her marriage went up in flames, Olivia Wilder hasn't had the desire for love. But one magical dance with Logan Travers might change all that. The blue-eyed hometown hunk is a bit younger and a whole lot sexier than any man she's ever dated before. This is one carpenter Olivia would like to get to know better, and not just because of his building skills… 

From his first dance with Olivia, Logan knows there's something special about the beautiful brunette. The more she's determined to keep him at arm's length, the more Logan wants her in his embrace. And the more Olivia says she's just passing through, the more resolved Logan is to make her his, forever.

DONNELL:  Michelle, welcome back!  Are you having fun with Harlequin.  How many books does A Second Chance at Crimson Ranch make now?

MICHELLE:  Hi, Donnell! Thanks so much for having me again – such fun to virtually visit with you. A Second Chance At Crimson Ranch is my 5^th release with Harlequin Special Edition and I love writing for the line. There are two more books coming in the Crimson series this year and three more under contract. I also got a chance to take part in one of their continuities, The Fortunes of Texas, for the first time this year and that book comes out in April. It was exciting and daunting to jump into a series that’s been a fan favorite for years and I’m happy to report I’ll be writing another Fortunes book for the 20^th anniversary next year.

DONNELL:  I love, love, love Second Chance stories. What is it about them that makes them appeal to readers, do you think?

MICHELLE:  I think most of us can relate to making mistakes (sometimes big ones) so there’s a universal appeal to the idea of a second chance to make things right. And with romance, we get to go on that journey with the characters so the payoff at the end is even sweeter.

DONNELL:  Now, I see that Logan falls for a beautiful brunette.  Hmmm. You’re a beautiful brunette.  How much is Olivia like Michelle Major?

MICHELLE: Gosh, Donnell, you’re making me blush. I’d say the first thing Olivia and I have in common is that we both really like Chris Hemsworth (the actor who played Thor). He was one of my inspirations for Logan and, let me tell you, it’s not a hardship to hang out with him all day. When we meet Olivia at the start of the book, she’s new to Colorado but looking to make the mountains her home. I can definitely relate to that since I drove west after graduating from college with everything I owned in the trunk of my car and I’m still here over 20 years later.

DONNELL:   Readers, Michelle is not only an author, she’s my neighbor, and as such we’ve both gone through remodels.  Now I see that Logan is a carpenter.  Seriously, Michelle, haven’t you had enough remodeling?

MICHELLE:  You’d think so, right?! I guess I could call all of our house projects hands-on research. But as much as I’ve liked the contractors we’ve had, none of them looked like Chris Hemsworth. That helped. J

DONNELL:  Where will we find you when you’re not glued to the keyboard?

MICHELLE: Glued to my Kindle or with my nose in a book. I like to read both ways, but with my current writing schedule I don’t have as much time as I’d like. I tend to binge read until the wee hours when I get a break. I’m also a devoted dog mom so I walk the dogs almost every day – they don’t seem to mind the never-ending winter we’re having.

DONNELL:  What’s next for Michelle Major, and any upcoming engagements?

MICHELLE: I have releases with Harlequin in April, June and November this year and will be writing the next installment of Crimson books between then. I’m going to be at a Colorado Springs library district event on April 4^th and at RWA in New York City this summer. Hope to see some friends in the Big Apple! Thanks again for having me on GLIAS, Donnell!

Thanks for being our guest, Michelle.   

  

Thanks for having me, Donnell. I’d be happy to giveaway a print copy of Second Chance. Hope this snow melts eventually!!!!

Me, too, Michelle, but the good news is we can stay inside and read! 

 www.michellemajor.com
Twitter:  @michellemajor1

12 Best Selling Authors Box Up their Dangerous Passions

Get Lost in a Story Readers, there's a new way for authors to networking -- putting their books into boxed sets.  What's in it for you? You get exposure to authors who have something in common, and chances are if you love one author, you'll love her peers.

So for three months and three months only 12 bestselling authors are boxing it up!





READ ON!

Twelve authors got together to do a boxed set, a different sort of anthology.  We've got SEALs, Military heroes, cops, security specialists...12 alpha heroes and the women they fall in love with!  It's called Dangerous Passions and releases March 3 but is available for pre-order now for three months only.  And the best part is, you get twelve sexy heroes for the low low price of .99 :)  Take a look at the quote cards below for a great intro into each of the books.

Dangerous Passions: 12 Tales of Contemporary Sexy Hot Alpha Heroes -- Cops, Navy SEALs, Marines, Military, FBI Agents, Secret Agents, Police Captains, Spies, and More
A romance multi-author box set and romantic suspense collections and anthologies of action and adventure, contemporary romance, military romance, romantic thriller, and sexy romance.



11 by Kylie Brant, National Bestselling Author: Five years after escaping from The Collector Mia Deleon stops hiding and teams up with security expert Jude Bishop to track her former captor. Jude's efforts to help Mia are complicated by the growing attraction between them. Because their race to trail the sexual sadist brings Mia ever closer to the man determined to see his collection finally complete....

DANGEROUS CURVES by Nina Bruhns, New York Times Bestselling Author: A spec ops transporter for STORM Corps takes on drones, bad guys, and car chases on the coast of Italy—and falls for a beautiful scientist whose curves are far more dangerous than the road!

IN TOO DEEP by Opal Carew, New York Times Bestselling Author: Angel has been deep undercover in the mob for far too long. Four years ago, she was forced to betray the only man she ever loved. He barely got away with his life, and now he hates her. Too bad they’ve been partnered to work together. As man and wife.

SEAL’S EMBRACE by Elle James, New York Times Bestselling Author: Injured Navy SEAL and the critical care nurse he's attempting to woo join forces to stop a terrorist attack at a military hospital in Germany.

BRIDGER’S LAST STAND by Linda Winstead Jones, New York Times Bestselling Author: When a one night stand makes Frannie a witness to murder and puts her in danger, Detective Malcolm Bridger refuses to let her out of his sight until the murderer is caught.

FLASH FIRE by Elle Kennedy, USA Today Bestselling Author: Navy SEAL Cash McCoy knows all about danger, but when it comes to the love of his life, this alpha soldier does everything in his power to keep Jen Scott happy and safe. When the tables are turned and Jen places herself in harm’s way for her job, Cash must learn to trust the woman he loves…or lose her forever.

INTO DANGER by Gennita Low, New York Times Bestselling Author: Navy SEAL, Steve McMillan, has been pulled from his team to work with CIA's Task Force Two, where he's assigned to deal with the "world's most glamorous assassin." Marlena Maxwell proves to be as seductive and dangerous as her reputation as the assignment becomes a game of cross and double-cross. Into Danger is the winner of RT Book Reviews' Best Romantic Intrigue.

EMBATTLED HEARTS by J.M. Madden, New York Times Bestselling Author: For the first time in years former Marine John Palmer has met a woman that makes him feel like the man he used to be, before his catastrophic injury. When a stalker threatens her, it's his job to remove the threat. Why does the possibility of having his heart destroyed scare him more than taking on a killer?
DEATHTRAP by Dana Marton, New York Times Bestselling Author: The only woman he could ever love, has a secret he could never forgive.

SHADOW OF THE HAWK by Julie Miller, USA Today Bestselling Author: A Marine whose soul is tortured by his mystical abilities puts his life—and heart—on the line to rescue a Plain Jane school teacher and her students from an archaeological field trip gone horribly wrong.

IMPOSTER by Karen Fenech, USA Today Bestselling Author: Chemist Dr. Eve Collins, wrongly accused by the CIA of developing a chemical weapon, learns someone has set her up as a scapegoat. That “someone” wants her dead. To save her life, she must join forces with CIA Operative John Burke—the man who doesn't believe her claim of innocence and the man she’s falling in love with.

STRONGER THAN SIN by Caridad Piñeiro, New York Times Bestselling Author: To save his family’s life, he must risk losing the woman with whom he is falling in love.

 

And don't miss the Dangerous Passions release party on March 5!  Follow the link  https://www.facebook.com/events/911561568876709  from 4-8 (EST).  Every half hour there's a new chance to comment for the chance of winning a Kindle, Amazon gift cards and free books.