An appeal on behalf of Princess Animal Rescue

Some of you might remember our summer holiday this year when we went to visit our dog rescue friends in Spain, Steve and Pauline Wright, to pick up our newest rescue pup Benji. Pauline runs a small non-profit animal rescue near Zafra in Spain, Princess Animal Rescue, where she single-handedly saves dogs from certain death and looks after them until a forever home can be found. We witnessed at first hand how hard Pauline works, the time and effort she puts in, and the financial strain it causes. Heather, my wife, is part of Princess Animal Rescue's admin group and this small band of ladies fundraise continuously, look for homes for the rescue dogs and offer moral support to Pauline. Our plan is to go over again next summer for three weeks and help Pauline practically, then in 2018, go over for a whole year. Being able to visit the rescue and spend time with Pauline has really inspired Heather and since coming home, she's put a lot of work into continuing to raise funds and find homes.

Now I want to tell you a little bit about the Minky pups. When we visited in July, these pups were eight weeks old and had literally been thrown out with the rubbish, so Pauline took them in and gave them love, warmth and a place to run around and play. Two of Heather's friends have adopted Spot and Dewy, while Summer was adopted within Spain. Pauline and the rest of the ladies are desperate for the rest of the pups to find their forever home as soon as possible. Finding these homes doesn't just mean a happy ever after for Champ, Torro and June - it means more space for Pauline to bring in other dogs that urgently require help. The situation in Spain really is unbelievably dire. There is such a high kill rate with young dogs thrown out, and animal welfare in general is awful.

I want to ask people to do a couple of things if  they can which would really make such a difference. 

• Go on to this page and click the like button - share it within your own social media and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
• Share these pictures of Champ, June and Torro and ask others to share with everyone they know. All three pups are very cuddly, get on with children and would be okay with a dog-savvy cat. You might not want to rescue a dog, but someone you know might want to. 

Champ

June 

Torro

• If you have any questions, please contact Heather on her Facebook page. She'll be more than happy to speak to you or any of your friends about the process of adoption, fundraising or offering donations.

We're looking for homes in the UK and Europe, but even if you're outside those areas, every bit of awareness raised helps. Let's get these adorable puppies some homes. Thanks a million!

Piper Morgan to the Rescue book blast

Hello! Today I'm pleased to help out the lovely Stephanie Faris with the book blast for the latest instalment in her Piper Morgan series. I'm sure you'll agree it looks delightful.

Piper Morgan to the Rescue

By Stephanie Faris

Blurb:

Piper helps some four-legged friends find the perfect home in the third book of the brand-new Piper Morgan series.

Piper is super excited to help out at Bark Street, a local animal shelter in town. Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by adorable puppies and dogs all day? And when Piper sees Taffy, the cutest dog she has ever seen, Piper is determined to find a way to bring Taffy home. But it won’t be easy—especially when she finds out someone else wants to make Taffy a part of their family, too!

Bio:

Stephanie Faris knew she wanted to be an author from a very young age. In fact, her mother often told her to stop reading so much and go outside and play with the other kids. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in broadcast journalism, she somehow found herself working in information technology. But she never stopped writing.

Stephanie is the Simon & Schuster author of 30 Days of No Gossip and 25 Roses, as well as the PiperMorgan series. When she isn’t crafting fiction, she writes for a variety of online websites on the topics of business, technology, and her favorite subject of all—fashion. She lives in Nashville with her husband, a sales executive.

Links:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS: Sorry I have been quite slow at returning comments over the past week. I've had an issue with WordPress blogs where my comments have been disappearing, but hopefully this is sorted now - can I just trouble you, if you're on WordPress, to check your spam queue, as I might have a comment on a recent post that has got stuck there? Thanks!

Timeless Blog Tour

Welcome Crystal Collier here today to share her new book and answer some key questions!

In 1771, Alexia had everything: the man of her dreams, reconciliation with her father, even a child on the way. But she was never meant to stay. It broke her heart, but Alexia heeded destiny and traveled five hundred years back to stop the Soulless from becoming.

In the thirteenth century, the Holy Roman Church has ordered the Knights Templar to exterminate the Passionate, her bloodline. As Alexia fights this new threat—along with an unfathomable evil and her own heart—the Soulless genesis nears. But none of her hard-won battles may matter if she dies in childbirth before completing her mission.

Can Alexia escape her own clock?

BUY: Amazon | B&N

Author Interview

1.
How did you come up with the idea for the Maiden of Time series?

…

When
you say “idea,” it sounds so singular! This book was a series of layers, but
they came to me. That’s it.

The
first book was a quick novella, one I hadn’t planned. I frequently have story
dreams and write a first scene, but this one wouldn’t let go. It was a love
affair with words.

When
I finished, I had no intention of doing anything with it—other than enjoying
the words on the page. It was just for me. But then a character from another
series stuck his hand in my face and informed me that this was his book too. A
character with a LONG arc and deep roots. Placing him at the heart of the story meant weaving two worlds together—a conventional historical setting, and
a fantasy-based world. Details unfolded organically with each new draft
(over 10 years), and by the time MOONLESS saw the light of day, there was a
decade of history supporting it. Not only that, I had the beginning of the next
two books written, and an outline for the series.

Wow. With such a long backstory to the series, it sounds like a real labour of love!

2.
Which of the special powers possessed by the Passionate would you most like to
have, and why?

I’d
like to have a little of all of them, truthfully. But if I had to pick one, it
would be time manipulation. As we get older, it seems like time becomes
exponential. I don’t want to stop it or go back and change things, I just want
to be able to slow it. To freeze the moment. To hold onto the sensations.

That sounds nice. Time definitely becomes fleeting with ageing!

3.
Could you pick a favourite cheese? Or would that be like picking a favourite
child?

You
called that! I have too many favorites to count, but without exception I will
take these ANY DAY: Muenster, cheddar, Jarlsberg, Provolone, Romano, Feta, smoked
Gouda, Colby jack, Fontina, or squeaky cheese. (Cheddar cheese curds.)

I've always had a soft spot for Edam...

Crystal Collier is an eclectic author who pens clean fantasy/sci-fi, historical, and romance stories with the occasional touch of humor, horror, or inspiration. She practices her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.

(Email address is required for awarding prizes.)

Thanks for being here today, Crystal! I encourage everyone to check out this excellent series, and for an extra push, here's my review of Timeless:
With this final instalment in the Maiden of Time trilogy, events for Alexia come full circle in a way that, without wanting to give too much away, feels very satisfying. I love time travel stories, and the way this wraps up was very nicely done, although at no point does it feel like anything is guaranteed. I definitely feel this was the strongest book of the series, with a sense of urgency that hardly lets up throughout, fuelled by several motivating factors: Alexia's mission to prevent the birth of the Soulless; her need to ensure the safe birth of her own daughter without dying in the process; and her fight against bonding with Kiren, her husband in her own timeline but who has never met her in this earlier time (because this would mean his own demise when she dies). Yes, most of the book takes place 500 years before the action of the first two, something that I feel really breathes fresh life into proceedings. We get to see several characters before they have undergone key changes and learn how those changes transpired (Kiren's scar, Mae's blindness, Amos becoming Soulless). I love medieval history and rewriting the Crusades to include a war against the Passionate, and having them as pawns in a political game, felt very convincing. I felt there was a different tone to this book as well. While the first two instalments were fantasy/historical, I would classify this more as sci-fi/historical, with the time-based elements being much more heavily explored and a portal to another world playing a key part in the plot. In both cases, the historical stuff serves as a backdrop to the main action, but there's enough detail to make the settings seem real.

Of course, at the heart of all this is a love story that spans centuries. Things are certainly awkward for the most part, as you know these two belong together, but they both have reasons to keep their distance - Alexia for the reasons mentioned above, Kiren because he believes she is already bonded to someone else - and I really felt the despair of both. This made the ending very uplifting, and it wasn't something that I saw coming.

Having said all that, I had a few quibbles with the book, but they might not matter to anyone else. I sometimes had trouble following what was going on at every moment. That just shows the level of complexity and invention in the story, though. There were a lot of minor characters among the Passionate and some are only mentioned in passing, as if we already know them. It was slightly confusing and I would have appreciated just a bit more detail on these people.

None of this took away from my enjoyment of this book, though. It was definitely the fastest-paced of the series, and the most intense. Collier really made me root for things to work out for the two main characters. I thoroughly recommend this series and I can't wait to see what the author does next!

IWSG November 2016

Time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! This awesome monthly bloghop allows us free rein to share our doubts and fears. Created by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, the co-hosts for today are Joylene Nowell Butler, Jen Chandler, Mary Aalgaard, Lisa Buie Collard, Tamara Narayan, Tyrean Martinson and Christine Rains!

The question prompt for this month's posting is: What is your favourite aspect of being a writer?

Well, this is quite a nice question as it deflects from my ongoing insecurity - trying to nail down the final part of my trilogy - and spins off into something else. While finishing a story is definitely one of my favourite aspects, I feel I'm still quite a way from finishing in this case. No, it's exploring those shiny new ideas that excites me the most - that exhilarating rush of carving out a story that's never been told before. New characters to dig into, possibly whole new worlds to map - it's all out there to be discovered!

What do you enjoy most about being a writer?

Check out the other IWSG participants here!