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RLF Gem Award: Top Bloggers October 2014 Romance Lives Forever #RLFblog @MFRW_ORG
RLF Gem Award Last month, Romance Lives Forever had 31 posts in a 31 day month.
We also had three unique events. For three days, the Cancer Awareness posts
shared uplifting stories of survival and hope. Near the beginning of the month,
the 1000th post for the blog went up, and we all celebrated. Then, on the last
day of the month, we focused on the writer’s organization Marketing for Romance
Writers, which offers support and free promotion for authors.The Top Blogger was the Marketing for Romance Writers.Marketing for Romance Writers http://marketingforromancewriters.org/Twitter http://twitter.com/MFRW_ORGPinterest http://www.pinterest.com/mfrworg/Goodreads http://is.gd/mfrwgoodreadsLinkedIn https://linkedin.com/company/marketing-for-romance-writers-organization/Top Five Bloggers for the Month
(judged by page views). Congratulations to each one!- Marketing
for Romance Writers - Cancer
Awareness Participants (listed below) - Melinda
Curtis - Jana
Richards - Barbara
White Daille
Cancer Awareness Participants:
Day 1: Vicki Batman, Ally ShieldsDay 2: Lloyd Meeker, Mackenzie Crowne, Marjorie BelsonDay 3: Christine MacKenzie, Terry Irene BlainHonorable mention: JoAnne Myers and Allison MerrittThe RLF Gems post each month usually ranks in the top ten, but is not
counted, in order to focus on guests.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+, Networked Blogs, 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 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
Sign up form http://is.gd/rlfblog_requestGuest calendar http://is.gd/rlfdatesMy 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:
Anita Philmar, Belinda Williams, Christina Westcott, Debra Glass, Dena
Garson, Donna Cummings, Tarah Scott, JC McKenzie, Jennifer
Britt, Juli D Revezzo, Kayelle Allen, Lisa Carlisle, Lynda Bailey, Lynn Rae, Mary
Quast, NJ Walters, Raven J Spencer, Regina Kammer, Suz deMello, Teresa Reasor - Marketing
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Lose The Fear by Christine MacKenzie @CCMacKenzie1 @TerryIreneBlain #RLFblog #FightCancer
CC Mackenzie From Kayelle:For three days I’m sharing stories by various authors about
how they or a family member faced cancer. Reading their posts is inspiring and
touching. The importance of friends and family, and having a support system is
vital. From what I’ve read, the key to success includes being able to ask for
help — and then being willing to accept it. It’s a lesson I’ve had in my own
life during various times. I don’t accept help well. It’s something I fight
with all the time. I’d like to think “I’ve got this” — but sometimes
I don’t have as good a grip as I thought I did. I have a friend who’s dealing
with cancer right now. My business partner’s brother just died from cancer. It affects
all of us. Reading these helps me understand better. I hope I’m even half as
good a friend as those you’ll read about in this series.I’m presenting these as an opportunity for the authors to
share their real life stories, as well as their fictional ones. Links to follow
the authors and to purchase their books are provided.Today’s authors are Terry Irene Blain and Christine MacKenzie. Jump to the end for info on how you can help purchase mammogram equipment.—The Only Negative Terry Irene Blain
I had surgery for breast cancer in June of 2013, followed by
chemo and radiation and currently on a hormone therapy. All this is part of the
clinical trial to see if chemo is really necessary for the type of cancer I had.
This is the positive as this maybe help not only my daughters-in-law but my granddaughter.The chemo really wiped me out, but fortunately my husband was
there to take care help me out as all the energy just left me. The doctor always
commented on my positive attitude. How could I not have a positive attitude when
I had the support of my husband, our kids are grown and on their own. I saw so many
others who were worse off than I; how could I complain? Women who still were trying
to work, or had small children. Or on their second go round of chemo. I felt lucky.I wasn’t able to do much writing while on chemo as I had absolutely
no energy. When chemo finished and during radiation I started to do more. Finally
able to go grocery shopping instead of sending my husband with a list. Also started
to get back to the computer and do some writing. Going to my RWA Chapter meeting
and talking to other authors was uplifting. Friends are great at helping you out.It’s taken me about a year to feel like I’m back to normal. To
top it off, my annual mammogram was good. So I’m now an official survivor. The only
negative? I’ve never liked the color pink. But you can’t have everything.Terry Irene BlainAbout the Book
Looking for thrills, practical Sarah signs up to be a schoolteacher
on a western movie set and gets more than she’s looking for with cowboy
stuntman Kit Stewart, adventure with a capital A.Her CowboyHe was tall and whipcord lean, just like a hero out of the
old movies that were her favorites. His grey hat was pushed back on his head,
revealing again that curly dark blond hair. Today he wore no chaps, but that
didn’t stop her from instinctually checking out his backside. Nothing like
Levi’s and boots to make a man look manly.Buy This Author’s Book
Boroughs Publishing http://boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/sarahs-cowboyAbout the Author
Sarah’s Cowboy Terry Irene Blain was lucky enough to grow up in a
large Midwestern family with a rich oral tradition. As a child she heard
stories of ancestors’ adventures with Indians, wildlife, weather and frontier
life in general, so she naturally gravitated to the study of history and
completed a BA and MA then taught the subject at the college level. Married to
a sailor, now retired, she’s had the chance to live in various parts of the
country as well as travel to foreign places such as Hong Kong, Australia,
England and Scotland.Escape to the West with a romantic adventureWebsite: http://www.terryireneblain.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/TerryIreneBlainFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/TerryBlainAuthor—“Thank you so much, Kayelle,
for having me on your blog today to highlight such a worthwhile cause.When a woman hears the words ‘You
have Breast Cancer’. The first thing that hits her is how immensely powerful
the word, Cancer, actually is. Dealing with the shock, and then immediately
telling my mother, my daughters, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my
life. Then we’re caught up in the whirlwind of surgical appointments, the surgery
itself, the outcome of tests, and it sometimes feels as if we’re trapped on a
roller coaster and can’t jump off.Three years and a mastectomy
later, and I’m truly blessed to be cancer free. People ask me how I remained so
upbeat and positive. My response is that I didn’t have a choice! But the real
answer is that cancer did me the biggest favor of my life. My secret dream was
‘One Day’ to be a writer, a romance writer. However, in spite of winning
competitions, receiving positive feedback, the fear of not being good enough
always held me back.The day I was diagnosed with
breast cancer was the day I lost the fear of failure. And I also realized that
‘One Day’ may never come unless I grabbed every opportunity that came along.
Eight books later, with eleven more in the pipeline, I’ve never been happier.And this is where I come to the
two young women who inspired me to write, The Fall of Jacob Del Garda. Two
years ago, I was sitting in my breast surgeon’s waiting room. Sitting next to
me were twins, girls aged twenty-three, blonde and gorgeous. They were laughing
and joking with each other, and I assumed they were there offering support to a
mother or even a grandmother. It didn’t occur to me that breast cancer would be
an issue for them. So we got chatting, and it became clear that one of the
girls had undergone a double mastectomy six months before, and she’d just been
diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. The positive way she was dealing with
such a blow, truly inspired me. Then her sister told me how she, too, was about
to undergo a bilateral double mastectomy after genetic testing revealed that
the twins carried the BRCA1/2 gene mutation. But surely they were too young?
After a long chat with my surgeon, I realized that diagnosing breast cancer in
women under thirty-five using traditional mammogram technologies was extremely
difficult due to the tissue density of young breasts. What was needed were the
new digital mammograms manufactured by Siemens. Our local hospital was in the
process of raising money for a new mammogram suite. I remember promising my
doctor I would write a story about twins who were dealing with BRCA1/2 genetic
mutation. And that the proceeds of the book would go towards the cause.And so The Fall of Jacob Del
Garda is out now. All author royalties from Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Nook,
GooglePlus, Smashwords, received during the month of October will be donated to
the appeal.And on an update on the twins –
they’re both well and married to two wonderful men. How’s that for A Happy Ever
After! I couldn’t write a better ending myself.–Christine.Author Social Media
Website http://ccmackenzie.com/Twitter https://twitter.com/CCMacKenzie1Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CCMzieCLICK
HERE To Receive News of CC’s Latest ReleasesAbout the Book
The Fall of Jacob Del GardaTwin sisters – twice the troubleTwelve months after disappearing from Jacob’s life, the woman
who broke his heart, supermodel Gabriella Dolman, is back. But things have changed.
Now Gabriella is a photographer – still fabulously beautiful – but no longer glamorous,
and no longer looking for love. Though Gabriella claims she just wants to move on
without him, Jacob’s pretty certain that her reaction to their red-hot kisses implies
otherwise.Tobin Gillespie believes in taking a stand, and he never turns
his back on a challenge. So when his work as a PR guru brings research scientist
Sophie Dolman back into his life, her obnoxious behavior and lethal put downs aren’t
enough to put him off – quite the reverse. And the more they clash, the more determined
he is to break down the wall around her heart and claim it for his own.Buy This Author’s Book – Help Purchase Mammograms
World-wide October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. All author
royalties earned by The Fall of Jacob Del Garda for the month of October will be
donated to an appeal for a digital mammogram that detects changes in breast tissue
for women aged 20-40. Please share.Buy This Author’s Book – Help Purchase Mammograms
World-wide October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. All author
royalties earned by The Fall of Jacob Del Garda for the month of October will be
donated to an appeal for a digital mammogram that detects changes in breast tissue
for women aged 20-40. Please share.Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/CC_MacKenzie_The_Fall_of_Jacob_Del_Garda?id=H09EBAAAQBAJ -
2013 Salute to Author Veterans #RLFblog #VeteransDay
Happy Veteran’s Day Kayelle Allen here. Romance Lives Forever is dedicated to new
authors and new books. As such, I rarely step in as a blogger — I prefer to interview
guests and feature others. My own blog, Unstoppable
Heroes, is where I do my own “bragging” about new books and events.
But today on RLF, I want to honor some special people: veterans.The first Veteran’s Day was called “Armistice Day”
and was proclaimed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on November 11, 1919. In proclaiming
the holiday, he said, “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will
be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service
and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has
freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy
with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” Unlike Memorial Day,
which celebrates those who died in service, Veterans Day celebrates the service
itself. WikipediaToday, I’m honoring fellow veterans who are authors. This is
by no means an exhaustive list. These folks are proud to stand and be counted. Please
visit their sites, and get to know them and their books. I believe the highest honor
one can pay an author is to buy his or her book.Authors are listed in alphabetical order by first name. This
list shows their brand (type of writing), name, branch of service, and website.Romance Tangled with SuspenseCK Crouch — US ArmyGet in Bed with Delilah. Everyone else has!Delilah Devlin – US ArmyScottish Medieval Romantic SuspenseDiana Cosby — US NavyParanormal and Contemporary RomanceEliza Gayle — US Marine CorpsRomanceElla Quinn – US ArmyEscape with…Elle JamesMilitary RomanceGeri Krotow — US NavyLove is in the air – and in the fleetHeather Ashby – US Navyhttp://heatherashby.comUrban Fantasy RomanceIsis Rushdan — US Air Forcehttp://isisrushdan.blogspot.com/Historical RomanceJeane Westin — US ArmyErotica Romance where the destiny is love ~ Let me take you on
the journeyJennifer France — US Navyhttp://jenniferfrance.comLove … Laughter … ForeverJoyce Adams — US Armyhttp://joyceadamscounts.comMysteryKathleen Toomey Jabs — US NavyUnstoppable heroes, Uncompromising love, Unforgettable passionKayelle Allen — US NavyTapping into your Flights of FancyLacey Falcone — US Air ForceDark Heroes, Feisty Heroines, Scorching StoriesLisa Carlisle — US Marine CorpsMilitary Memoirs – Parris Island
– Journey of a Woman MarineLisa Cordeiro — US Marine Corpshttp://lisacordeiro.comLet Fate guide you… One story at a timeLoni Lynne — US NavyMystery/Romance authorLori Avocato — US Air Forcehttp://loriavocato.comA Dash of Romance with a Dusting of MysteryMisty MacRae — US Navyhttp://mistymacrasblog.blogspot.comWhere Romance is Always an AdventureRogenna Brewer — US NavyUnexpected Romantic FictionSandy Wickersham-McWhorter — USAFDark heroes and heroines with bite…sink your teeth into a romance
bySapphire Phelan — US ArmyEscape to the past with a romantic adventureTerry Irene Blain — US Navyhttp://www.terryireneblain.com/Military Romance and Medical DramaTracey Cramer-Kelly — Army National GuardRomantic Suspense, YA, Juvenile, SciFi, and Hard Boiled DetectiveWayne Greenough — US Navyhttp://waynegreenough.comOne unusual Veterans group that is special to me is RomVets. They are all women who served in the armed
forces and who write Romance. I am proud to be a member. Click the link to visit
the website and learn more about this organization and its members.—Invitation — if you are an author, and a veteran, let us know. We’d be honored to include you in our annual post. -
Character Interview: Sarah Alexander
Sarah’s Cowboy. Terry Irene Blain, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. Let’s talk
about your book, Sarah’ s Cowboy – The New Year’s Eve Club.Genre: Contemporary RomanceBuy links (coming soon): http://www.BoroughsPublishingGroup.comPublisher: Boroughs Publishing GroupCover artist: Kim KillionLength: 37,000Heat rating: moderateTagline: Sarah Jane Alexander is in for the ride of her life.Blurb:Practical school teacher Sarah Alexander decides she’d like a
little adventure. She signs on as a teacher on a western movie set and meets cowboy
stuntman Kit Stewart. The man is adventure with a capital A and Sarah just might
get more than she bargained for.What are your main characters’ names, ages, and occupations?Sarah Jane Alexander – late 20’s, a high school history teacher
hoping to get a college teaching job.Christopher ‘Kit’ Stewart – age 31, a movie stuntman, working
his first job as the stunt coordinator.Interview with Sarah Jane Alexander
Tell us about yourself. What are you like?I enjoy being a history teacher. I believe that we need to know
where we came from so that we have a foundation to choose where we want to go in
the future.What do you think is your strongest point?To relate the past to the present and making history interesting.Do you have a weakness?I tend to be a little too concerned about what other people think.What drives you to do the things you do? What makes you want
to be the “good guy?”I know that being nice is a little boring, but doing good can
make you feel good.What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?Watching old western movies on television.If you didn’t know how old you were how old would you be?Probably about 26, having just finished my Master’s and the world
looked open to all possibilities.A biography has been written about you. What do you think
the title would be in six words or less?My Teacher Makes History Interesting.If money were not an object, where would you most like to
live?In a resort town in the hills, not too far from a major city,
with lots of trees and maybe just a little snow in the winter.What song would best describe your life?This Kiss by Faith HillIf you were a tool, what would people use you to do?A pencil, useful and practical.Picture yourself as a store. Considering your personality
and lifestyle, what type of products would be sold there?Books, sporting equipment, movies and needlework.As a child, what was your favorite thing about school?Getting good grades.If you came with a warning label, what would it say?Trivia dispensed without asking.Please Fill in the Blanks
I love pizza with onions, green peppers and black olives.I’m always ready for a good book or movie.When I’m alone, I eat chocolate and watch old movies on television.You’d never be able to tell, but I like riding on motorcycles.If I had a halo it would be on
straight, but would need a little polishing.If I could afford it I’d travel the world.I can never go on a roller coaster because I’d get
sick.About the Author
New Year’s Eve Club Authors Terry Irene Blain was lucky enough to grow up in a large
Midwestern family with a rich oral tradition. As a child she heard stories of ancestors’
adventures with Indians, wildlife, weather and frontier life in general, so she
naturally gravitated to the study of history and completed a BA and MA then taught
the subject at the college level. Married to a sailor, now retired, she’s had the
chance to live in various parts of the country as well as travel to foreign places
such as Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland.Previous Books:
Kentucky GreenColorado Silver, Colorado GoldBooks Coming Soon:
Sarah’s Cowboy (The New Year’s Eve Club)Find Me Here
Website: http://www.terryireneblain.com/New Year’s Eve Club Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/TheNewYearsEveClubPublisher: http://www.BoroughsPublishingGroup.com