Guest Author Louise Wise

Hello my fine friends! I need to start off with the biggest squishiest group hug EVER! You guys ROCK! Our Burrowers, Books & Balderdash launch was a STUPENDOUS success, and you guys are a HUGE HUGE part of that, so THANK YOU! (Be sure to go welcome Chary today!)

New Business: There is a very special BOOK RELEASE today, but I am delaying and talking about it TOMORROW because I want to devote a post, some come back tomorrow to hear a little about Riley Adams and the Memphis Barbeque Series (and the FABULOUS real person behind Riley, who I've been a not-so-secret stalker of for about a year now)

But TODAY, I have a special guest who knows how to get AROUND my disbelief that romance arouses that there is 'no man really that perfect'--you see, she didn't think so either, so she did something very clever... I think you should hear it from her though, so WELCOME Louise Wise!


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My publishing journey began when I was about ten years old. I used to write stories and turn them into mini books made from old birthday cards and lots of sellotape! I tried to sell them to neighbours and school friends for a penny, and had my first taste of rejection. Undaunted, I wrapped them in pretty paper and gave them away as presents, so determined was I that people read about The Pony with the Purple Tail and Red Ears, or, The Adventures of the Bright Blue Ponies. Yes, I loved ponies and based my writing on My Little Pony. Original - not!

In my teen years my writing moved on to Boys! The Day I Got my First Love Bite; French Kissing with Boys. These didn't get sent out as presents - didn't think gran would appreciate this teen erotica.

My writing eventually "grew up", but it took thirty years to get my first novel published. "First" novel, in writer's terms, means having ten or so novels under the bed that are so cringe-worthy they only appear good if you've consumed a pint of vodka.

I concentrated on romance, but I enjoyed reading factual books on astronomy. Science fiction novels never appealed though as I don't like reading about intergalactic wars or reading unpronounceable names, but still space and stars appealed. Fly, the alien character in my book, came first. He was my Ideal Man. Big, strong, misunderstood, sexy, good in bed... but the mixture of romance and sci-fi put off publishers. My agent tried to place Eden so many times but failed. I eventually POD published with youwriteon.com and haven't looked back since!

My second book, A Proper Charlie, is with an agent, but if she is unsuccessful I shall publish with YWO again. I'm quite enjoying the marketing side of it. A Proper Charlie is a romantic comedy without a hint of sc-fi, but one of the main characters does have a telescope!



JOURNEY TO THE PAST…

A tale of romance and survival as three people travel from 2236 to the beginning of time.  

Jennifer Daykin joins the three-man crew to explore the newly discovered planet, Eden.  

All was going well until Jenny found herself deserted…

She listened for an answering shout – there was nothing. In the distance, Jenny was transfixed with horror as the space shuttle rose into the blue sky of Eden.

‘No... Don’t leave me here!’

Only the pounding of her heart answered her.

…but not alone

The instant she hit the floor she curled into the foetal position. Finally, the bare feet walked away. A Native American warrior, had been her first thought, but it was his eyes that had alerted her he wasn’t an Indian or even human. They were completely black; black, dry orbs in a battered face.

Ordinary people with ordinary emotions, fears and insecurities.

Only this isn’t Earth, and he isn’t human.

A modern day Adam and Eve.

And then an excerpt...

Jenny plodded along, stupefied. The fingers circling her nape were biting and painful, but she barely noticed. The echo of the wolves’ howling was still too strongly embedded in her mind. Part of her knew Fly was leading her to her rape, and that part of her was going to allow it to happen because the other side was lying dormant through fear and exhaustion.

The corridor was laden with dirt and grime. Animal excrement, electronic debris lay in her path, but she continued to walk where she was urged. His cabin door was open, and he nudged her towards the bed.
While she sat nervously on the edge, he heated a metal canteen over a crudely assembled grill, wired haphazardly to a small accumulator. She watched as he stirred in the same beverage that she had yesterday morning. When it was steaming, he filled a cup and gave it to her.

He sat on a chair opposite, and observed her with his usual disconcerting stare.

She stared back, confused, until her fingers began to burn from holding the cracked cup. She pressed it against her lips, and it was only then that she realised her teeth were chattering.

‘You are not going to survive,’ he said finally using one of the small computers he had taken from the shelf.
She gulped a mouthful of the liquid, and tried to disguise the unwelcome tears that pooled in her eyes. Already he thought her a weak, pathetic female and, for some strange reason, she didn’t want to give him further evidence to think any worse of her.

‘How do you stand it,’ she asked quietly, ‘the endless howling, night after night?’

‘There is a worse sound, and that is no sound at all.’

She fell silent, acknowledging this and feeling her own loneliness magnify. A lone wolf from outside, or even inside the ship, howled. She closed her eyes knowing she would never be able to forget how close she was to being eaten alive.

‘Th-the wolves,’ she said, shuddering, ‘what are they?’

‘Wolves?’ He looked at her in confusion when the translator offered no other information other than describing the canine creature that lived on Earth.

‘It’s what I call the howling creatures,’ she explained. ‘Their noise is similar to the animals back home.’
‘The wolves dominate over every animal here, and I regard them as the natives. To you they may seem savage, but they have shown me intelligence not normally found in animals.’

Note:  blogger commenting seems to be down--please nobody take it personally!  Hopefully they will all magically appear later!  I suppose they are coming through in the separate window, just not recording here fore some reason... hmph...