Summer Giveaway!!

Clinging to summer? Like free stuff? I am participating in a huge multi-author giveaway event! Woo hoo!

You have the chance to win $80 in Paypal cash + 27 books + 27 individual prizes. Enter to win using the Rafflecopter widget below (or use this link http://bit.ly/2tKf8r6).

Here are the prizes that I am personally offering. I am giving away one book (one Watcher Series novel on Kindle -or- any Prompt Me in hard copy) in addition to a $5 Amazon gift card.

If the widget is not loading, please use this link: Rafflecopter Giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2703c98f90/

Good luck!!

Spring into Reading Multi-Author Giveaway!

Who likes free stuff? I am participating in a huge multi-author giveaway event! Woo hoo! I am personally giving away one book (one Watcher Series novel on Kindle -or- any Prompt Me in hard copy) in addition to a $5 Amazon gift card. But that’s not all!

You have the chance to win $120 in Paypal cash and personal prizes each author and blogger are offering. Enter to win using the Rafflecopter widget below (or use this link http://bit.ly/2uGFdub).

Personal prize offered by Robin Woods

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New Release! Prompt Me Sci-Fi & Fantasy: Workbook & Journal

I am so pleased to announce the release of the third installment of the Prompt Me Series! Prompt Me Sci-Fi & Fantasy is now available on Amazon or any other online retailer. Creating this book has been a blast, the pictures alone were an adventure. My daughter and I had fun amongst the redwoods for the fantasy based pic below. Others had me flat on my belly trying to capture the strange beauty of giant sand dunes. But pictures aren’t the only type of prompt in this workbook. Trust me when I say, there’s something for every type of writer. Enjoy!

This gives you a glimpse at the variety of pages in this book.

If you would like to put this on your “To Be Read” list on Goodreads, here is the link:

Prompt Me Sci-Fi on Goodreads. (more…)

Photo Writing Prompts: 5 Pics to Get You Writing

It’s less than two weeks until the release of Prompt Me Sci-Fi & Fantasy. So here are five more photo prompts to keep you going until then. Happy writing!

Prompt 1

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Photo Writing Prompts: 5 Photos for your Creative Mojo

The countdown for Prompt Me: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Workbook and Journal continues. Here are five more photo prompts AND a full page from the workbook to tide you over. No, I’m not giving you a full page of prompts, but I am giving you a mini “How To” with a sample story. Enjoy!

Prompt 1

The following prompts do not appear in the workbook.
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Photo Writing Prompt: 5 Photos to Inspire You

With my upcoming Prompt Me: Sci-Fi & Fantasy release this February, I want to celebrate by releasing a series of photo writing prompts over the next couple of weeks. Here are five of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

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BLOG POST: 10 Things I Learned from My Mom

I realize that I’ve been quiet for a long while. Last year was hard for me. Amid the hustle and bustle of teaching full-time, raising two elementary kids, being a partner to my husband, running a household, and sneaking in writing, I was stopped in my tracks—my mom took a turn for the worse.

My mom had suffered for a long time with PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), think Parkinson’s disease on crack. There is nothing more heartbreaking than to watch an independent person be robbed of the things that they love most. My mother was an artist who made everything she touched more beautiful. This disease stole the use of her hands, then all motor function, followed by her ability to speak, and ultimately her life.

My multiple trips north to Oregon were to help my dad and see my mom as much as possible. In July, I flew up to help transition my mom to hospice care. They said she had a few months, but after I flew home, it was only a few days. My dad had tirelessly taken care of her. He meant it when he said “for better or worse, in sickness or in health.” This month would have been their 50^th wedding anniversary.

It has been five months, and it has taken me this long to process enough to write about…well, much of anything. It is hard for me to be this open in public. By nature, I am very optimistic and upbeat, but I tend to keep my pain private. So, instead of not saying anything, I wanted to honor my mom and share a glimpse of her wisdom.

What I learned from my mom.
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Recipe: Easy Gravy

Robin Woods

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Robin’s Easy Gravy

¼ cup flour
¼ cup butter
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups pan drippings
Chicken broth (just in case there aren’t enough drippings)

Strain the drippings and reserve. (I strain using the whisk using a slow and steady hand, but if you want super smooth gravy, strain through cheese cloth or fine mesh).

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Slowly add the flour, whisking until it becomes a thick roux. After the roux is smooth, add the salt and pepper.

Slowly whisk in the drippings. Once it starts to bubble, continue to whisk until it reaches desired thickness. If it becomes too thick, you may thin the gravy with broth.

Recipe by author Robin Woods
http://www.RobinWoodsFiction.com

Here is a printable PDF: Gravy

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Author Interview: Brooke E. Wayne

Welcome to my blog interview with novelist, Brooke. E. Wayne, author of the Vineyard Pleasures Series. This interview is especially exciting because Brooke is one of my dear friends. We both dreamed of becoming writers when we were young, and when we were in college together, we were always spinning ideas while on our adventures (shocking for English majors, I know). After graduation we traveled all over Europe and the UK together packing away ideas for the future. Now, I have the pleasure of seeing her dream unfold.

BROOKE E. WAYNE is a Contemporary Romantic Comedy novelist who lives the RomCom dream in California. She is married to a South Philly, Eagles-obsessed Italian who she met online before it was cool. They have two young daughters who flood their happily-ever-after lives with girly giggles and immeasurable love. When she is not dribbling sticky sweet/sensual romance with a lighthearted, witty twist all over the pages of a RomCom manuscript, she teaches English Language Arts.

Hello, Brooke,

What inspired you to write your first book?

BEWProfileAboutMe Apart from poetry, which I’d been scratching out since I was a wee lil girl, I actually wrote my first “novel” when I was eleven.

On lined paper.

In pencil.

All eighty-seven pages of it. Bahaha. The MC [main character] falls into a portal and goes on a crazy adventure with her older self as a mentor. I made sure the new cute boy in town moved in across the street from her in the end.

Yay, romance!

What genre do you consider your book(s)?

I write ‘Romance with a Kiss of Humor’ aka Romantic Comedy. While romance novels tend to evoke lots of page-turning swoon, I actually endeavored to write a sexy book without any actual super-descriptive sex in it. Oh, it’s swoony, but it’s not get-my-butt-fired swoony. I like my day job. (Teacher, eep.)

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? (more…)

Author Interview: Camilla Ochlan & Bonita Gutierrez

Welcome to my blog interview with novelists, Camilla Ochlan and Bonita Gutierrez, authors of THE WEREWOLF WHISPERER SERIES.

Camilla Ochlan grew up on fantasy and fairy tales, finding David Eddings, Katherine Kurtz, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Mercedes Lackey early on. To thedismay of her parents, she spent her high school weekends playing Dungeons & Dragons. College split her time between Theatre Arts and English Literature.

Camilla still occasionally acts but focuses the majority of her time, energy and (in)sanity on writing. Her interests revolve around activities that add to her writer’s toolbox — travel, the arts and voracious reading.

Bonita Gutierrez found her way to the stage at the early age of five. After college, she moved to Los Angeles to get into “The Biz.” Over the years, she’s played many roles from actor to producer, screenwriter to filmmaker — and now novelist.

A mixed martial artist, Bonita has a background in Jeet Kune Do Kung Fu (Bruce Lee’s art), Kenpo Karate MMA and Kali Escrima (stick and knife fighting). An avid runner, student of film and lover of music, Bonita is a self-proclaimed hamburger connoisseur with a passion for all things Star Wars and Buffy.

Hello, Camilla and Bonita, (more…)