• Book Release,  Paranormal

    Author Researched: St Patrick’s Cathedral @Liza0Connor #RLFblog #paranormal

    Climbing out of Hell begins with Trent tossed from his limo onto a NYC sidewalk.
    A priest asks if Trent need help. Thinking he needs an exorcism, Trent follows the priest back to St Patrick’s
    Cathedral.
    In my story, the Cathedral has already finished its current $177M
    restoration project. Otherwise, Trent
    would have been appalled by all the scaffolding and walked out. He needs to be impressed.
    So I have gently played with time to allow St Patrick’s be at its most impressive.
    However, I’ve two real building lessons for you:
    Projects always costs more than estimated.
    And they take longer to complete than anticipated.
    Initial estimates to build St. Patricks were $850K for the building.
    (They left out the cost to furnish.) The cornerstone was laid in 1858. For three
    years the work progressed rapidly.
    Then in 1861, our country decided to fight with itself. (Civil
    War) All work stopped until the war ended in 1865 and our country recovered sufficiently
    that people could afford to build pretty things again.
    In 1878, they finally had a section of the building that could
    (as Trent would
    say) do its job, if only it had furnishings. To resolve that, they had a fund raiser
    to help purchase furnishings for the Cathedral and a year later it formally opened.
    The papers declared it the noblest building ever built to honor St. Patrick.
    This claim doesn’t impress Trent, because when he thinks of St. Paddy, he
    thinks of short, drunken Irishmen stumbling down the street, wearing green. (What
    can I say, he’s not Catholic.)
    The gorgeous spires weren’t completed until 1888. (30 years after
    they began.)
    They finished the Lady Chapel in 1906, furnished it by 1908.
    The first of the stained glass windows was installed in 1909, and the remaining
    windows arrived over the next 25 years. I’m going to assume they had plain glass
    in the windows until the stained glass arrived. Otherwise it would have been a bitter
    cold place to worship for a really long time.
    By 1910, with only one stained glass window install, it is estimated
    that over $4 million dollars had been spent on the church that was supposed to only
    cost $850K. That’s a 470% overrun. Thus, proving lesson number 1. (See above if
    you’ve forgotten it already.)
    For the next 24 years, they installed glass stained windows,
    imported from Europe.
    You might wonder why they declared it finished in 1910 instead
    of 1934 when the final window gets installed. Here’s my guess: They needed major
    repairs and it is embarrassing if the cathedral you are building requires major
    repairs before you have finished building it.
    In 1927, when the stock market was booming, they began the first
    of many major renovations. Clearly, they raised their funds just at the right time.
    Two years later, the stock market crashed and NYC was in dire straits for the next
    ten years. Not surprisingly, no further repairs were done until the world recovered
    financially.
    The second attempt at renovation took place in 1941-47.
    Then in 1972, they claimed to have restored the interior and
    in 1979 the exterior. Thus, it’s all fixed now right?
    Wrong.
    1984-2000 they had to do extensive renovations to maintain the
    structural integrity of the building. (The roof and steps needed replaced)
    Which leads us to the project begun in 2012 that is planned to
    be finished by 2015. (Remember Lesson 2?)
    Due to all those years of buying stained glass, there are now
    more than 1,300 PANELS of stained glass that require attention during this renovation.
    This drawing of the central entryway gives a sense of how much
    work is planned. Each box indicates where a repair, repointing, or entirely new
    stone is needed.
    This is just one little section of a very large church. In case
    you are curious, Restoration costs are estimated at $177 Million dollars.
    I hope they don’t overrun by the same percentage they did in
    the first estimate. If so, it will cost nearly $832 million dollars. Hopefully,
    they’ll only overrun by 20%, costing the church $212 million.
    Which bring me to my final lesson:
    Old structures are money pits, and the cost of renovations will
    far outweigh the cost of a new building. But there is something special about this
    gothic cathedral, and regardless of the cost, I believe it should be preserved.
    Now back to Trent
    and his attempt to climb out of hell…
    (picture of cover)
    Climbing Out of Hell
    Book 4 of the series
    A Long Road to Love
    Romantic Comedy
    Billionaire Trent Lancaster has destroyed his relationship with
    the only woman who ever loved him. Now we discover the full truth of what happened.
    He actually had reasons for his behaviors.
    Still, there is no going back. Trent
    has lost Carrie forever, but he would rather die than marry Coco,
    so he does just that. Trent gives away most of his
    possessions, fakes his death, and starts over with a new face and a better attitude
    in a small town in Iowa
    where his half-brother Sam is sheriff.
    Losing his true love has fundamentally broken Trent to his core. His only
    chance for happiness is to become the better man Carrie had always seen inside him.
    True change is not easy. Can Trent grow up and become a man we can love?

    Buy This Book:

    Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K10FOIM/

    Author Social Media

     

    Img credits (Saint Patrick’s Cathedral): Wikipedia Creative Commons
     
  • Contemporary

    Wicked Intentions: Writing A Paranormal by JoAnne Myers @scooterismine #RLFblog #paranormal

    Wicked Intentions 
    When it comes to fiction writing,
    almost anything goes. That is why I love writing paranormal and fantasy
    stories. The author can go completely over the edge and make something unbelievable
    seem believable. When it comes to ghost stories, I get a lot of my inspiration
    from real life experiences. Not necessarily my own either. I watch television
    programs that partake of the supernatural and paranormal flare. Programs from
    ordinary people who claim they experienced either an afterlife experience, or a
    haunting.
    Some of the stories from my
    anthology, Wicked Intentions, are based on actual hauntings. In The Legend of
    Lake Manor, I placed my young psychic, Cassandra Lopez, in a haunted mansion I
    fashioned on my knowledge of a three-story mansion in my hometown and
    information from television about a restaurant/bar in Ohio, supposedly ruled by demons so violent
    that the local police are constantly closing it down.
    A television documentary about a
    young mother plagued by ghost sightings since childhood, inspired The Haunting
    of Barb Marie and her gift/curse.
    And The Apartment, in which my
    newlyweds, B

    ill and Gayle, are plagued by sightings of evil ghosts that
    threaten their marriage and theirs lives, originated from a real apartment
    haunted by the ghosts of two homosexual lovers who died violently. The legend
    says no tenant is able to stay there until the spirits are chased off by a
    paranormal investigation team.

    On the Discovery Channel, is
    where I got the idea for Summer Wind. I learned of the colonial explorer
    Jonathon Carver who lived during the 1700s and whose ghost is believed to be
    haunting the Summerwind estate, built in the early 20th century. Carver’s ghost
    is, supposedly, searching the house’s foundations for deeds to a vast tract of
    land (10,000 square miles) given to him by Sioux Indian chiefs as a reward for
    the peace treaty he created between two warring tribes. In my Summer Wind, 29
    year-old Ginger is mysteriously drawn to the old mansion, and like the many
    owners of the real mansion, the haunting had a negative and profound effect on
    Ginger and her family.
    Another investigative program
    concerned one sister’s psychic premonitions about her twin’s murder. This led
    to my story, Blood Ties, and my heroine, Audra Roper’s dark, disturbing visions
    of her sister’s disappearance and the roller coaster of risks, heartbreak, and
    intrigue that followed.
    Dark Visions came from reading a
    newspaper story while sitting in a diner. A young woman began having visions of
    her father’s disappearance that was actually his murder from years earlier. So,
    my Carrie Reynolds starts having nightmares on her twenty-sixth birthday and
    believes these ‘dark visions’ can solve the twenty year disappearance of her
    father.
    I set my murder mystery, The
    Truth Behind the Lies, on Norfolk Island after
    following a three year long murder investigation on that island from 2003. In
    my story, Federal Police Inspector Ian Christian faces attacks, more murders
    and ghostly occurrences, and the killer is closer than anyone realizes.
    So, the next time you get
    Writer’s Block, or need a new idea, try switching on the television, open a
    newspaper, delve into history or simply look and listen. You will find
    something to stimulate your muse.

    Other books by JoAnne Myers

    Murder Most Foul-a detective/mystery
    Loves, Myths, and Monsters-a fantasy anthology
    The Crime of the Century-a biography true crime
    Poems About Life, Love, and Everything in Between
    Upcoming Releases:
    Twisted Love-a biography true crime anthology available May
    10
    Flagitious-a detective/mystery novella anthology available
    Summer 2014

    Buy This Book

    Buy links for “Wicked Intentions” 7
    paranormal/mystery tales
    http://www.melange-books.com/authors/joannemyers/WickedIntentions.html
    Paperback:
    http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=wicked+intentions&categoryId=100501
    Amazon:

    Author Bio

    JoAnne Myers 
    I have been a long-time
    resident of southeastern Ohio,
    and worked in the blue-collar industry most of my life. Besides having several
    novels under my belt, I canvas paint.
    When not busy with
    hobbies or working outside the home, I spend time with relatives, my dogs
    Jasmine and Scooter, and volunteer my time within the community. I am a member
    of the International Women’s Writing Guild, Savvy Authors, Coffee Time Romance,
    Paranormal Romance Guild, True Romance Studios, National Writers Association,
    the Hocking Hill’s Arts and Craftsmen Association, The Hocking County
    Historical Society and Museum, and the Hocking Hills
    Regional Welcome
    Center. I believe in
    family values and following your dreams. 

    Author Social Media

  • RLF Gems

    RLF Gem Award: Top Bloggers April 2014 Romance Lives Forever #RLFblog #blogging

    RLF Gem Award 
    Last month, Romance Lives Forever had 30 posts in a 30 day month.
    There was a tie for fifth place, and if we had six spots, there would have
    two names listed. I’ve noted them as an honorable mention. Changeling Press took the top spots with their presentations during Publisher Week.

    Top Five Bloggers for the Month

    (Judged by page views). Congratulations to each person!
    1. Changeling Press
    2. Marilyn
    Baron
    3. JL Sheppard
    4. Marilyn Baxter
    5. Em Petrova
    5. Mary J McCoy Dressel
    Honorable mention: Allison Merritt and Lyn Austin
    Romance Lives Forever features authors and new books. It has a
    blogger’s FAQ page with a downloadable guide and optional interviews. Readers
    can follow via Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Bloglovin’, Linky
    Followers, email, an RSS feed, and there’s a blog button readers and authors
    can grab. RLF takes up to three images per article, so authors can share
    previous books. The blog uses author or publisher names as SEO tags on posts,
    and author Twitter handles in the titles. The site is broadcast over Triberr
    with a potential reach of over a million readers via its Twitter-linked
    network. Twitter mentions are also gathered in several Paper.li ezines, giving
    the author additional opportunities for promotion. The Romance Lives Forever
    Paper.li ezine
    features guest authors on its front page every day.

    Share your book cover on Romance Lives Forever

    Limited spots to share book covers are available. Cost is $3
    per month, with discounts for covers posted for one quarter and up to one year.
    Covers can be changed monthly.

    Sign Up for a Future Post

    Guest calendar http://is.gd/rlfdates
    My thanks to all who took part this month. You made Romance Lives
    Forever a great place to discover new books and authors.
    Other participants this month in alphabetical order by first
    name are:
    Andrea R Cooper, Beverly
    Ovalle, Diane Saxon, DP Denman, Karen Cino, Linda Banche, Loc Glin, Martha
    O’Sullivan, Sadie Grubor, Saloni Quinby , Sarah Madison, TD Hassett, Teagan
    Oliver, Virginia Kelly