Friday, November 3, 2017

The Time After Time Series by Carol Ann Kauffman

Hi Everybody!

 My Time After Time Series follows a pair of reincarnated lovers through their many lifetimes together. 

The series, TIME AFTER TIME, follows a pair of quintessential lovers, Richard and Nicole, through their lives together, in different places, in different times, with different names and faces and sometimes even on other planets. This follows the alternative theory that the relationships we forge in this lifetime, both the good and the bad, are continued into the future, and are rooted deeply in our past. Whatever we do, whomever we love, and the good and evil deeds we do today follow us into the future. Unsettled issues will present themselves again and again, until they are ultimately resolved. Those people who have had a profound effect on us in this lifetime will find us again in the future. And although everything changes, love remains.

The first book in the series is BLUE LAKE. This one should be read first. After this one, the order of the others does not matter.

When widowed Nicole decided to step back into life in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico with Richard, a young handsome British actor who professed his undying love and devotion to her on a daily basis, she mistook his boundless enthusiasm for her as little more than youthful impetuousness. She had no idea where their relationship would take her physically or emotionally. She would find herself in many dazzling international locations, putting her own life on hold, simply to be with him. She had no concept how strong her commitment to him would grow and to what extent she would go to protect him and ensure his safety and wellbeing. And she certainly had no idea the depth of his devotion to her, an unlikely but undeniable love that would span continents and a decade of their lives, entwining them closer and closer, while his career, their families, and other relationships pulled them farther and farther apart. BLUE LAKE is a story of the power of love.


This time our lovers find themselves on an alien planet divided into four tribes. 

When Neeka, daughter of the Lord of the Warrior Clan, was out picking lavender in their vast fields of the West, she felt him coming for her, and she was ready. When Braedon, Lord of the Soldier Clan of the East, rode into those lavender fields, searching for the woman of his dreams, he had no idea if she were even real. But there she was, standing there looking up at him, smiling. He reached his hand down to her and waited. She accepted his hand, beginning their adventures together, changing not only their lives, but the course of life and unity on their planet forever. An alien planet. Or is it?

In BENTLEY SQUARE, strangers meet on the train. She, a beautiful, wealthy businesswoman. He, a down on his luck office manager. They have nothing in common. And yet, they are drawn to each other with an undeniable hypnotic magnetism. This is the story of Rebecca Robbins, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the country and Mark Ramsay, a man shrouded in dark mystery and hiding in the shadows from death squads amid international intrigue.


Lord of Blakeley is the story of Andrew of Blakeley, a simple farm boy who lives on a primitive future planet. He is chosen by the lovely Lady Aleese to be her mate and rises to become the most powerful man on the planet. But a jealous man with access to mobile transport devices wreaks havoc on the young couple’s happiness, separating them, her on an alien rock planet and he, aboard a slave ship, and then dumping them in present-day Chicago. One day Aleese vanishes into thin air and Andrew is arrested for her murder and must stand trial. It is a story of devotion and jealousy, of loss and lunacy. And, in true Time After Time fashion, a story of love. 

This time our lovers are old, real old. Retired insurance office manager Skye McKenna launches a new career as a children's author. On a book tour in Australia, she finds adventure and romance with a reclusive elephant-loving veterinarian.


Other books in the series are THE BASLICATO, where a tall, handsome British actor wakes up in the hospital after a head injury to discover he is not himself. He is a wild, short Italian racer driver with an important race coming up and a wife who hates him. 

And MACKALVEY HOUSE, where a young American girl visits a quaint, English village and decides to stay. She meets an older man who she has always admired, and falls madly in love with him. She discovers he had a shady past and no friends except his long-suffering butler.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Thomas Kinkade. Painter of Light



  

    America's most commercially successful artist, Thomas Kinkade was born on January 19, 1958 in Sacramento, California, and grew up in the small town of Placerville. He married Nanette Wiley in 1982 and had four daughters. He died on April 6, 2012 at the age of 54 in Monte Sereno, California.






    Called the Painter of Light, Thomas Kinkade's paintings glowed with brilliant highlights and saturated pastels, and were a huge  commercial success but his work was dismissed by critics and the fine-art world as "mall art" or "chocolate box art", saying they were kitschy and without substance. 





However, he was embraced by the general public, who loved his American scene paintings with beautiful idyllic gardens, cottages, lighthouses, and rambling streams.  

One out of every twenty American homes has at least one Kinkade print, primarily because of the success of his personal appearances on the QVC home shopping network.  

Seeing him with his artwork, explaining scenes, and pointing out interesting details in his beautifully composed renderings was very impressive. He also had a complete line of journals, calendars, puzzles, and greeting cards, thanks to Hallmark!

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Interview with Author Yvonne Rediger

Yvonne Rediger
Vancouver Island, British Columbia 
Canada


Good morning, Yvonne, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the Place for Art and Authors. Can you tell us a little about what have you've written?  
VIC Shapeshifter series, The Shape of US book 1, Hell Cat book 2, Trusting the Wolf book 3, released soon

What is your favorite genre to write? 
Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Mysteries and Thrillers.



Favorite food?
Pasta, cream or tomato base, doesn’t matter. I have a wicked carbonara recipe!


Tea or coffee? 
Depends on the time of day. We have a tea farm close by so I alternate.


Pizza or ice cream? 
Chocolate ice cream, my fav is Dutch chocolate.


Wine or beer?  
Wine for an evening out or snuggling on the couch. Beer for the football game!


Where would you like to visit? 
Europe, I’ve been to the UK a couple of times and want to see the continent.


Italy is absolutely fabulous. You must go! Favorite musical artist. 
I have to many I love to pick a favourite. Currently binging on The Eagles, Imagine Dragons, Sheep Dogs, and Adele.


I love Adele and the Eagles, too. Do you listen to music when you write? No, not when I write. I do the rest of the time, driving and chores.


What makes you laugh? 
My husband and my kids. We all have  a dry sense of humour and gags from the past will be revisited constantly. April Fools is a favourite.


This is an Art and Authors site, so I must ask: Favorite work of art or sculpture.  
Robert Bateman’s work, animal and landscape realism, such detail.


How old were you when you started writing? 
We moved to Edmonton for my Dad’s work when I was in grade nine. It took a while to make friends, so I started writing fan fiction. An odd combination of sci-fi and cop mystery.



Describe your perfect evening.  
Lying on the deck of our sailboat at night, in August, watching for meteors with my husband.


Where do you get your inspiration? 
Life experience, conversations I’ve had with family and friends.  Experiences recounted to me, everyone in the family knows they are fair game! They also support me as beta readers.



What do you do when you get a writer's block?  
I’ve never had it. If a plot dries up, it’s because I’ve taken a wrong turn. I backtrack and change direction. Too many ideas are bubbling in my brain to have that happen, I think.



Who is your favorite author? 
Tanya Huff


Best book you ever read. 
Blood Ties by Tanya Huff, strong female lead, with strong male leads to support them. Diversification in the cast of characters and a good solid mystery with urban fantasy elements.


Last book you read. 
Wildfire by Ilona Andrews


What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?  
I’m a solution architect in my other life. I love it and would do it till I’m 80! I started on the technical side of information technology and graduated to the project side. I love the problem solving of launching a new process or piece of software with a committed team.
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why? My Aunt Lea, she was an independent thinker, doer and life maker when it wasn’t what women were supposed to be. This year she turned 96. In the cozy mystery I am currently writing, Death and Cupcakes, I used her for my RCMP officer on the case.


If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?  
Sir Terry Pratchett, I would ask him about his world building process. But mostly I’d love talking about Discworld with him.

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer? 
You don’t have to write your story or novel in sequential order.  If a scene is burning in your mind, write it first. Later, you can daisy-chain the scenes together.



Do you have some links for us to follow you?
Yvonne Rediger
VIC Shapeshifter Series
Urban Fantasy - Paranormal - Romantic Suspense


     




Monday, October 30, 2017

Charming Deceptionn



Samantha wakes up to a perfect life, with a handsome, attentive husband she doesn't remember. She has it all: a luxury vehicle, designer clothes, beautiful jewelry, and a condo on the beach. 

But this isn't the life she remembers. 

As time go by, Samantha discovers she is the object of an elaborate deception, one large enough to include, other worlds, body doubles, time travel, world-hopping, and a galaxy guardian as cold as ice. 

Is her charming husband in on this deception?

Imagine, if you will, that there are other worlds parallel to 
our world. Different dimensions, actually, of our same world. 
Now, imagine there is a doorway or a portal between these worlds. The inside of a wardrobe. The back of the closet. A mirror, maybe.

And imagine you stumbled through that doorway...

Review:
on February 7, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition

This story is completely different from all the other books I have read by Carol Ann Kauffman. You get to see 
another side of her creative mind and I love it. She had me guessing all throught the book. She filled it with 
mystery, suspence, romance and paranormal. Her style is the same as her other work, maybe even better.
Open door ways can be wonderful and yet confussing to some. But to go throught a door way and wake up 
not knowing who you are or where you are can be unusal. Sam doesent remember parts of her life. Her 
husband is telling her that she hit her head and has memory loss. But she doesn't know who he is either.
Jax is madly in love with his wife and would do anything for her, even switch places with Jackson Blake.
As the two of them resume their life together in Florida, Sam finds herself falling in love with her husband 
all over again. But is he really her husband? Then one day trouble happens and she is pulled into a cloud 
with hands all over her. She has no idea what is going on. But she ends up at a castle and remembers her 
father and everybody there, but how? Jackson ends up there too and wants to taker her home. The king is 
mean and loves to torture people. He goes after a tracker who found Samantha thinking that he killed his
real daughter. So how many Samantha's are there? And is there more then one Jackson Blake?
As the story goes on, you find yourself trying to figure out why there are clones and who made them. 
Why would someone want more than one person that looks the same? Well the guardian has his reasons. 
Can this all be worked out? Or is someone going to die? Will all be disappointed in the end? You will have 
to read it to find out.