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Monthly Archives: June 2011

The Touch – cover art

The Touch - Lisa Olsen

Okay guys, time to give me your honest opinion again. What do you think of this proposed cover for my book The Touch? It’s a little simpler and more streamlined than the Angel of Mercy one, but still eye catching I think.

The basic blurb is as follows:

Lexi Morgan has always had The Touch; the ability to pick up an object and “see” its past. Doomed to wearing protective gloves at all times, she learned to accept it as equal parts gift and curse. When her brother in law Neil goes missing, she’d rather tell her sister to celebrate than try to help find the jerk. But after her young niece disappears as well, it’s time to put her gift to good use and help track her down; especially when handsome Detective Gabriel Ryan takes over the case. While the Detective seems less than convinced in Lexi’s ability to help him solve the case, he can’t dispute her uncanny ability to pull memories out of simple items. When the investigation leads them to the restless spirits of long dead children, they must work together to keep history from repeating itself before it’s too late.

BTW – how crazy was the season premiere of True Blood? I had to admit, I was a little skeptical with the little detour to fairyland, but I do think the departures they’ve made from the books are interesting and will keep those of us who’ve read them all guessing as to what the hell is coming next. I can’t wait for more!

Angel of Mercy is now available online!

After lots of hard work, Angel of Mercy is now available for purchase online through Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com! It’s out as an e-book for $3.99 but you don’t have to have a Kindle or Nook to read it, they have free downloadable apps so you can read it on your PC, or even your phone. It’ll be available in print as well in a week or two.

Now I’m off to Olympia for a few days of rest and relaxation, then I’ll be hard at work on the sequel Mercy for the Wicked which picks up right at the end of the first book. And in between I’ll fit in the fanfic and finish out the episode recaps and finish editing The Touch. Phew!

Vampire Diaries Recap – Episode 2.19

Episode 2.19 – “Klaus”

Okay so I know that season 2 is long gone now, but I just hate leaving things unfinished, so I thought I’d continue with the recaps at least through the end of this season. 

As we start the show, Elena has just removed the dagger from Elijah’s chest and sits there, calmly waiting for him to wake up.  (I don’t think I’d be quite so calm!)  When Elijah opens his eyes for the first time, he mistakes her for Katherine (or Katarina, as he calls her) and we are transported back to England 1492 with another period flashback.  Will we get to see the elusive Klaus?  I’m assuming so from the title of the episode.  Everybody gets their silly hair of course, but when Elijah sees Katarina, he’s very taken with her as she reminds him of someone else.  Klaus makes a grand entrance, and proceeds to woo Katarina without any real interest in her; something she picks up on, even as she acknowledges that he’s very charming.  Elijah points out that many unions have been built on less but Katarina insists that she wants more.  She makes a very pretty speech about love, saying that there’s no point in living without it.  Elijah says he doesn’t believe in love and might have said more but Klaus returns and spirits her away.

Version Two – Electric Boogaloo

Okay after getting some great feedback I’ve revised the blurb a little and gone with a slightly less creepy eye. Which do you guys prefer?

When Mercy wakes up in the hospital after a brutal stabbing, she has little recollection of the attack; only the blurred memories of a mysterious stranger with piercing blue eyes that haunts her dreams. Remembering enough of her own identity, (Name – Merceline Renault, check. Occupation – bartender at the nightclub Eden in Seattle, check. Phone number, ABC’s and the lyrics to every musical ever made, check.) Mercy struggles to piece together the events that brought her to the ICU at Northwest Hospital. When the blue-eyed stranger turns up in her hospital room, Mercy assumes it’s the medication that’s bringing her dreams to life.

Mercy is stunned to find her wounds virtually healed with only the faintest trace of a scar left. Even more jarring, the surprised eyes that look back at her in the mirror are no longer her own familiar brown but a startling shade of blue – the same blue as her mystery man. After spotting the same man, that only she can see, Mercy follows him home, brazenly confronting him. (kids at home, never do that!) Her savior turns out to be less than human, or is it more?

Samael is a fallen angel, bound to the Earth and living out his life among humans but apart from them. Sam and his brethren dwell among us, never seen, never heard, but always watching… and on occasion, intervening to atone for sins great enough to be cast down from heaven. Unwilling to let an innocent die, Sam bestowed some of his Grace to Mercy, healing her wounds and accidentally imbuing her with some of his angelic powers.

Thrust into a world within her own where angels and demons coexist unseen by mere mortals, Mercy must learn to accept the fact that she is no longer strictly human; she is something new. Complicating things is Adamiel, the reckless fallen angel who is Sam’s enigmatic friend. In every way that Sam is light, Adam is dark, from his jet black hair to his wicked smile. Equal parts information and aggravation, Sam and Adam help Mercy acclimate to her new life.

Determined to find a balance between her new abilities and juggling friends, family, job and others who are attracted to her Grace, Mercy struggles to play catch up before she draws too much unwanted attention from the powers that be and their minions. But now Mercy’s eyes are opened to a whole new world beyond the human realm… and their eyes are opened to her.

Would You Buy This Book?

When Mercy wakes up in the hospital after a brutal stabbing, she has little recollection of the attack; only the blurred memories of a mysterious stranger with piercing blue eyes that haunts her dreams.  Remembering enough of her own identity, (Name – Merceline Renault, check.  Occupation – bartender at the nightclub Eden in Seattle, check.  Phone number, ABC’s and the lyrics to every musical ever made, check.)  Mercy struggles to piece together the events that brought her to the ICU at Northwest Hospital.  When the blue-eyed stranger turns up in her hospital room, Mercy assumes it’s the medication that’s bringing her dreams to life.

After spotting the same man, that only she can see, Mercy follows him home, brazenly confronting him.  (kids at home, never do that!)  Her savior turns out to be less than human, or is it more? Samael is a fallen angel, bound to the Earth and living out his life among humans but apart from them. Sam and his brethren dwell among us, never seen, never heard, but always watching… and on occasion, intervening to atone for sins great enough to be cast down from heaven.  Unwilling to let an innocent die, Sam bestowed some of his Grace to Mercy, healing her wounds and accidentally imbuing her with some of his angelic powers.

Thrust into a world within her own where angels and demons coexist unseen by mere mortals, Mercy must learn to accept the fact that she is no longer strictly human; she is something new.  Complicating things is Adamiel, the reckless fallen angel who is Sam’s oldest and most enigmatic friend.  In every way that Sam is light, Adam is dark, from his jet black hair to his wicked smile.  But where Sam’s gentle expression mirrors his goodness and highlights his angelic qualities, Adam’s presence announces a worldliness that Sam could never possess.   Drawn to Mercy like a spoiled child with a shiny new toy, Adam follows her home, making a nuisance of himself with his sly smiles and innuendos.  Equal parts information and aggravation, Adam helps Mercy acclimate to her new life.  But her association with Adam also brings unwanted interest from both above and below.  Can Adam protect her from powerful enemies who know the surest way to hurt him is by hurting those he loves, when he can’t even admit to himself that he cares?

Determined to find a balance between her new abilities and juggling friends, family, job and others who are attracted to her Grace, Mercy struggles to play catch up before she draws too much unwanted attention from the powers that be and their minions.  But now Mercy’s eyes are opened to a whole new world beyond the human realm… and their eyes are opened to her.

So what do you guys think?  Is the proposed cover art eyecatching?  (no pun intended!)

This is the expanded blurb that will appear on the Amazon.com page, too long to be printed on the back of the book of course.  It’s a bit longer than many that I see on Amazon, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, I often wish I had a little more info on what a book is about before I buy it and until I get some reviews discussing it, this looks like the best way to accomplish that.  What do you guys think?  Does the book sound interesting enough to tempt you to buy it?

Goodbye Gray Skies, Now What?

I’ve finally wrapped up my True Blood fanfic Gray Skies Are Gonna Clear Up after 4o chapters and as always, I find myself looking around asking, now what?  The short answer is writing, duh, but writing what?  I’ve just started another TVD fic Dark Side of the Moon and I’m having a good time playing with Damon and company after a too long hiatus, but I do find that I like flipping back and forth between fics, it helps keep me sharp.   I really enjoyed coming up with a tie in for Eric and Rob (original character) and I’m considering a spin off for them that’s either in the past or the future, but I haven’t quite decided what I might do there yet.

I could always start another book, I’ve got another stand alone novel idea all prepped and ready to go.  Okay so it’s not fully mapped out, but I have the basic premise in mind.  Or I could do a sequel to one of my other four books, each of them can definitely work as part of a series, especially Angel of Mercy which ends on a definite cliffhanger.  I am enjoying the lazy pace of posting to fanfic though, I am addicted to the instant feedback for one (hey, it’s been an hour since my last update, where are my reviews?!) and I love, love, love writing Damon, he’s gotta be the most fun to write for, hands down.

I do intend to get back to finishing the Vampire Diaries recaps too, it bothers me that I didn’t finish them, even though everyone’s probably seen them by now.  I’ll tackle the next one this weekend, I’ve got them all on Tivo.  We’ve also got some private ventures going on, working on setting up an online store of all kinds of interesting, eclectic gifts and that’s taking up some of my time too and on top of that some home remodeling stuff we’ve been putting off for far too long.  So… just a little to keep me busy these days.