What's your #writing space like? @liviaquinn #MFRWauthor #romance #ASMSG

Welcome to my little retreat on the bayou, affectionately named the Quinn Den. For years I've struggled to spin my southern urban fantasy and contemporary romance stories while the TV blares TV's Funniest or Top Cops or Ax Men. No doors to close in this house, so when a friend gave me the building I jumped at the chance to turn it into my writing space and private retreat. 

This is the view out the window over my desk. Let me give you the tour... The bayou (pronounced bahh) runs east and west so we get some beautiful sunrises and sunsets and in the evening the water looks just like a mirror.  

Come inside. Many of the things that hold a special place in my heart are here. Before you even enter, there's the swing made from a tree, that my friend James the master carver made, and the Aboriginal lizard (he needs a name). He also made the giant quill on the front side of the building.

And he also built my porch and used trees to make the supports. 

He dug for the crystal on my desk and carved that beautiful natural bowl out of a burl of wood retrieved from the bayou near here. 

Oh, and that table by my chair he made to fit on the 100 yr. old piano pedestal and inlaid it with malachite.

There's a stuffed Highland coo I got on my trip, a tea cloth from Scotland a writer friend brought me, the poster from my RNC conference where I met Jimmy Thomas. My storyboard of the Destiny Paramortals sits behind my desk along with one of the last flower arrangements a dear friend of mine made me. She died of breast cancer at 54 and every time I look at it I think of her. If you look closely, next to it you can probably identify Tempe, my Tempestaerie. 

When I go home to DC my friend and I hit Annapolis and some of the thrift shops, so these things remind me of her - the handmade pen dish and holder and the odd looking turquoise lamp I got for $3. 

No retreat would be complete without my Outlander mouse pad which says, "I just want to go to Scotland, Fall through some stones, wake up in 1743, and find Jamie Fraser. Is that really too much to ask?"  which always gets the response from male friends of "Who's Jamie Fraser?"

So, surrounded by tokens which keep me close to my friends, I can settle in with my characters and write.

How about you? Do you have a special place, even a closet you can lock the noise and distractions out, so you can work? I'd love to hear about it.

Find out more about my world, both contemporary and urban fantasy at http://liviaquinn.com or check out my books here.

 

Her First Knight #Veterans fundraiser #military #romance begins today. @liviaquinn #MFRWauthor #ASMSG #IARTG

11/05/2015

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Just in time, I've got pretty new re-formatted files and a new cover for the paperback of Her First Knight. (Purchased this book before? You can request that Amazon deliver the new file to you minus any highlights or notes you might have added.)
If you've visited my vet links page you've seen how I feel about empty celebrations and hollow thank yous for our veterans. I've been guilty as we all have of just repeating the phrase, "Thank you for your service." But I wonder, what more can we do for the veteran family member, the wounded warrior, the homeless vet, or our veteran neighbor on a daily basis to make a difference. 

There are several things in your own community you can do without donating money. Do you know a vet who has to get to another city for a doctor's visit? Someone who needs paperwork filled out? Are they trying to get someone to donate flowers for memorials? It is so many little things that matter. 

This month all profits from Her First Knight will go to one or two #Veterans charities. I may take half and donate toward those memorial tributes. It depends, if you're generous, I can be. None of this money will be retained.

If you would like to see ratings for organizations that help vets go to my vet links page and click on the Charity Navigator link.

Here's an excerpt:


Ridge was up to his Special Forces tattoo in manure.

“Take ‘em off, Tucker. Tucker. Tucker…”

What had he been thinking? He considered himself a careful planner, the consummate decision maker. He’d worn many hats—inventor, Ranger, mentor, CEO. So how had he wound up on stage in nothing but his trousers and tie beside two cover models with a hundred women screaming for him to take it off. That’s the question his friends and family would be asking tomorrow, if they found out. That, and “Who’s Tucker?” He’d just have to make sure no one found out about his little side trip. A whim and a folly could turn into his worst nightmare.

It had seemed like a recipe for harmless fun. Take one curious CEO on the way to his room following a gorgeous redhead onto the wrong floor. Add a hundred romance writers and readers attending a conference. Toss in some false assumptions, throw out a lifetime of good behavior and Ridge was up to his Special Forces tattoo in manure.

If Molly and Belinda could see him now, they would be stunned, say he’d gone off the deep end. They’d be right.

He should own up right now and stop this farce, exit while he still had his drawers, but that guaranteed revealing his faux pas. He decided to play along, call as little attention to himself as possible—while stripping off his clothes—and slip away unidentified when it was over. Before something went wrong…


Praises for Her First Knight:
    "There is a part near the end of this book that brought me to tears...I was sobbing. This book is dedicated to veterans and it's just a beautiful scene. If you haven't read it you'll know which one it is, if you have.... well you know what scene I'm talking about." Amazon reviewer

     "I enjoyed the interaction between the two of them, and how they really complimented each other!!! Each came to an understanding with how their relationship would progress, and the ending was awesome. I loved this story and you will too!!!" Amazon Reviewer

Buy Link Her First Knight  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00REUM57A

Hard Days Knight: Under-Cover Knights, book 1 Here


Here's the new paperback cover. Didn't Linda Boulanger do a lovely job?

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