Ticks, Quirks and Threes about Mari

We had a fun weekend with a girl scout campfire gathering Friday night, a hike in the cooling last days of summer at Ringwood State Park, Saturday and a Rock the Beach party for adults at our lake on Saturday night. Thus the reason for the above song! It was among the songs played this weekend and it fit what we were doin after our hike. I love it and Brads Voice!! Oh the scenarios it puts into my mind…

Lol Now for the Meme's...I might prove very boring after this. Awhile ago I was tagged by Mechele Armstrong with a Quirks Meme and Melany Logen with a Three’s about me. I put them aside because of Winning Bess Promotions. So today I am putting them up together. And on My Maureen blog, I posted a Husband Meme that Amy Ruttan did on Six Degrees Of Sexy last week.

I’m not tagging anyone because I am a slightly insecure person and it will be reinforced if they don’t do it *g* But feel free to do it and pass it on! Let me know if you do, so I can read it.
Celebrate the quirks and everyday things in your life they add up to a very exciting you!
Mari

QUIRKS
1) I collect quotes that resonate with me, be it from a famous person, a t-shirt or bumper sticker.
2) I have hundreds of projects started… knitting, photo albums, needlepoint, crossword puzzles… someday I might get around to finishing some.
3) I hate to throw things away… like the clutter fairy says whatever you throw out today you will need tomorrow.
4) Like quotes I like to collect useless bits of information… why I love the real facts found inside lids on Snapple bottles…todays…Storm clouds hold about 6 trillion raindrops…many of which will be falling on us over the next 4 days. There be a Nor’easter coming in.
5) My favorite drink (besides beer) is Dr Pepper and Captain Morgan… who said I wasn’t into threesomes *g*
6) I make mosaics out of M&M;s and Skittles before I eat them. it really really adds up the procrastination minutes!


THREES ABOUT ME:
Three jobs I have had in my life:
1) Bank Teller
2) Speech Language Pathologist
3) Author

Three shows that I watch:
1) Dancing with the Stars
2) Deadliest Catch
3) Sarah Connor Chronicles

Three people who e-mail me regularly:
1) Melissa Lopez
2) Paula the IWM
3) Mechele Armstrong

Three of my favorite foods:
1) Mac and Cheese (all time comfort food)
2) Ice Cream
3) Reese’s Peanut butter Cups

Three places I'd rather be right now:
1) Cape May. NJ
2) Florida (well after hurricane season)
3) Australia

Three things I am looking forward to this year:
1) completing more than one book!
2) getting bookcases constructed so my books get out of boxes
3) a Trip to Disney World

Three places I have been:
1) Ireland
2) Most of the East Coast USA
3) New Orleans, St Louis, Pittsburg, and Baltimore on Writing conferences

3 things I would do if I won 100 million dollars in the lotto:
1) Pay off all my debt
2) make sure my children have enough to achieve their dreams but not so they still don’t have to work for them
3) Travel

3 things that make me happy --stealing Corrine’s
1) My children's humor
2) Visiting with family
3) Completing a story

3 things that annoy me:
1) When XM reception goes in and out during a favorite song
2) When people drive down the shoulder during traffic jams.
3) Kiss Butt phonies

3 favorite movies:
1) Princess Bride
2) The Frighteners
3) Wizard of Oz and ET are tied

3 places I want to go before I split the planet:
1) Back to Ireland
2) Italy
3) Australia

3 things I want to do before I split the planet:
1) See my children achieve goals of their own
2) See all the seven wonders
3) Have time to celebrate life with my husband

3 things I'm thankful for.
1) My home
2) My life
3) All inventions that have made my life easier

3 People I'm Thankful for:
1) My Family
2) My Friends
3) My Readers

Two Reasons to Celebrate!!

First and most important to me... Its Rissa's Birthday!
Happy Birthday!

From the day we first met we've been laughing and trading stories,
sharing our families, our friends, and our imaginary friends *g* We
share our joys and problems, whether large or small. We are the
audience for each other's soapbox rants, shoulders for absorbing tears
and have an endless supply of confetti to toss and cheers to yell.

Thank you so much for all your patience and for being the other half of Marissa Alwin!

Love you!
Mari

And the other Reason... Kim has won the Winning Bess Giveaway! Congratulations Kim
We hope you enjoy their story!
Mari

Does everybody know what day it is?~Contest

Yup It's September 19th!

And what does that mean?
Yup! Winning Bess is RELEASED

Man, I love that word *g*

You'll find it HERE

And if you can answer this one simple question you can be in the running to receive a free download...

What are the Hero and Heroine's names in Winning Bess? (first names will do)

Email your answers to... Marissa_Alwin@yahoo.com The drawing will be Monday the 22nd in honor of Melissa's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday Rissa!

Hope you love reading the story as much as we did writing it.
Mari

Instead of a Drum Roll...

Announcing the approaching release of Winning Bess how about some step dancing...


Feel like talking (our topics go off on several tangents) and being in good company (Melissa Lopez Mechele Armstrong and Meself *g*)? Join us tonight at the M-spot chat room. Chat opens at 9EST. One attendee will win a download of Winning Bess.

And in the words of Joan Rivers,
Can we talk?
See you there
Mari

Winning Bess- Story Video

Isn't it great? I love it. In 50 seconds it captures the mood of the story and the time period. Bess and Colm share a wonderful heart-warming story. I hope you all will enjoy it!

*Dreamy sigh* and many thanks to the creative mind of our International Woman of Mystery and Foxling creations! Awesome job, Paula!

May you all find ways to win your desire,
Mari

A cover and a common thread

What do a Chosen One, a Thief, 1840’s Irish Immigrants, a Guardian, and a Boy Toy have in common?

Sapphires.
And Erotic Romance!

When Ellora’s Cave sent out the call for quickies and novellas based on Gems to be released during their birthstone month throughout 2008, the following authors were inspired by the deep cobalt blue of the sapphire.

Take a look at the blurbs from the September Gem Novellas. Isn’t it fascinating how one gem can invoke such a variety of stories?

Amarinda Jones created the story of Micah Blue (Released Sept 3)

A demon has been waiting one hundred and twenty years for the next chosen one who commands the power of the sapphire. He will stop at nothing to make that woman his own. He needs her power to survive.

Ever since a fortune teller gave Micah Blue a lump of blue rock the drought in her sex life came to a screaming halt. Dark, erotic dreams of a stranger haunt her nights and a tattooed builder drives her wild with lust during the day. Both men are wicked. One wants to enslave her and one just wants to love her.

Ned Langford, builder and part-time garbage collector isn’t about to the let the love of his life be taken from him. He will do whatever it costs to thwart a demon and keep Micah at his side.

Marilu Mann was inspired to write Sapphire Tease (release date Sept 10th)

Ever have your clothes removed by a sexy man as punishment? What if you were trying to steal from him and he is determined to teach you an intimate lesson you'll never forget? Cath Monroe learns just how much she can take from the man she mistakenly marks as an easy target. Ramon Kentaro introduces the lovely thief to more than just his mastery of weapons in this arousing tale of a very erotic game of cat and mouse.

Marissa Alwin crafted the tale of Winning Bess. (Release date Sept. 19th)

Bess McGinty and her father wouldn't have been able to escape the devastation in Ireland without Colm Devany. Now they share a cramped shack with Colm and his cousins in New York City’s Five Points neighborhood. But Bess' feelings for Colm go well beyond gratitude. If only her da would give them his blessing.

Three things aid Colm's survival- a small bit of savings, his ready fists and his desperate love for Bess. When he discovers that his desire for her is mutual, he is determined to find a way to win Bess and get them out of New York forever. To do this Colm sets his eye on another prize-an exquisite sapphire that goes to the winner of the fiercest prizefight in Five Points.


Natasha Moore’s imagination produced Lia’s Warrior (release date Sept 24th)

As Guardian of the Sapphire Moon, a crystal globe with a sacred sapphire embedded in the center, Lia must witness couples mating after they receive the Moon’s blessing. But she can never enjoy the pleasures of the flesh herself.

Weary warrior Roark has come back home to try to forget the horrors he’s lived through. He always believed Lia was his true mate and his body heats with desire for her. Then he’s told it’s forbidden to mate with the Guardian.

But a Warrior doesn’t take no for an answer.

And Rena Marks ingenuity brought us Play Thing (release date Sept. )

When Jessica's friend Nina shares the story of her friend, Silver Scott, giving her a magical pendant that controls a boy toy for one month during his birthday, Jessie wants the same. But voodoo creeps her out, for you can't trust it.

But then she meets Levi Garrett, the resident boy toy. Mr. Alpha Male to a fault, Jessie would love to tell him where to go after telling him exactly how to please her.

Unfortunately, things go awry and Jessie finds herself a Play Thing instead of having a boy toy.

So there you have it… A dark urban fantasy, a contemporary, an Americana, a futuristic, and a paranormal. They were all hatched with the single inspiration of the sapphire. There is quite the variety behind the steamy cover which they also share. We hope you take the time and enjoy them all! You can find them at Ellora's Cave.

May you find several ways to enjoy the variety of life.
Mari