Welcome to another edition of CentreStage this week!
Well, you know what they say. Good things always happen all at once, so it is my great pleasure to bring you a second CentreStage feature for this week. Today’s edition showcases the amazing Amy Gregory and the third novel in her Racing To Love series.
Give it up for Amy and Eli’s Honor!
Good morning, Nicky!
Thank you so much for having me on your blog today! I know you’re crazy busy with Sophie and her world.
So since you’re from the music world, I thought I’d bring up how different authors use music sometimes as a source of inspiration for books. I know I do. I have seen many, many authors make a complete playlist for one book and describe each song and draw a parallel to which part of the story it inspired. For me, it’s a bit different.
I’d written the first two books of Racing to Love, as well as the novella about Brody before I came across the perfect song. It was just one of a long list on my iPod and when it played, it was like a light went on and I knew “it” was the ‘theme song’ of sorts to the entire series. You’ll have to go to YouTube and search for The Pretenders, I’ll Stand By You…it’s AMAZING, but the lyrics also seemed to fit each book of the Racing to Love series perfectly. So instead of a playlist for each book…I have one song I just drift to during the ‘it’ moment of the book.
Well, I couldn’t resist the challenge, seeing as that this is one of my all-time-favourite goosebump-ballads too. Sadly, there’s no official (legal) Pretenders version to share via YouTube, but I found you this one instead ~ it’s nicely done and quite true to the original. Enjoy!
However, my process is evolving. The next series, it seems as I’m writing each book, I’ll hear a song and have my ah-ha moment. So it seems that each book will have its own song.
Then we jump forward about ten paces and Alex hit me hard.
I never spoke the title really of the last book of the series. I had led people to believe that all the books were really focused heavily on the hero, well, in Eli’s Honor, we find out just who Alex is of Alex’s Destiny. Music seemed to be one third of the puzzle that was her saving grace. To the point, I actually wrote the song that is in the background of the book.
I’ve circled around, hitting about every type of influence music has on my stories. I’ve always heard the lyrics when listening to a song, then the musical notes. Some touch you and never leave, just as some books do.
Here’s to a great day, I hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you again, Nicky. And keep music and books near your heart!
Hugs,
Amy
About the Author
Amy Gregory leads an incredibly active lifestyle in Kansas City with her husband and their three fantastic kids who keep them running in three very different directions. Amy is known for her snarky, off the cuff sense of humor, which you’ll find shining through in the characters she’s created.
I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and now I’ve finally found it. – Amy Gregory
Roll out the red carpet! Bring out the champagne! It’s time to enter the Hall of Fame!
It’s only the third of January and already we have cause for celebration! Yes, it’s a double launch day over at Sapphire Star Publishing today. Give it up for my brother-and-sister-in-publishing, Gary Kassay and Amy Gregory, who are both launching their second books today. Over to you guys!
Gary Kassay presents:
Murder by Prophecy!
First I want to thank one of my fellow authors from Sapphire Star Publishing, Nicky Wells, for inviting me to say a few words on the release of the second book in the Duke Becker Series. It and the first book are available on Amazon.com paperback and Kindle, Amazon.co.uk paperback and Kindle, Barnes & Noble.com and in many other places.
My first book was titled Murder in Silence and it follows a specialized group of Detectives that work out of Special Investigation Homicide for the NYPD. The unit is headed by Inspector Duke Becker, a man who doesn’t wear a rumpled trench coat, suck on a lollipop or is wealthy and doing the job for kicks. Becker is a cop, plain and simple who catches killers…no matter what it takes.
In his squad is an eclectic group of detectives, all who have a specialty that helps Becker in solving high-profile, unusual murders that occur in the City of New York.
Murder in Silence has Becker and his squad facing a killer who is targeting police officers. The police officers appear to have nothing in common, didn’t serve together and did not know each other either on or off the job. There are no witnesses or clues to the brutal murders except for two clues that don’t seem to make any sense. The victims are killed by having their throats torn open but…the wounds are surgically clean and the part of the throat torn out is never recovered. The second mysterious clue is that saliva from the canine family has been discovered in the wounds, and the saliva is from different animals. Becker and his squad must discover not only who the killer is but the motive behind the killings.
The second book in the series is titled Murder by Prophecy and is a story about revenge that will spark feelings in anyone with a heart.
A man is falsely imprisoned and while in prison, his wife, son and daughter are brutally killed by a crazed addict. But the addict is not the true culprit. If not for a certain group of men, more concerned with making a buck instead of basic human rights, this man would not have gone to prison and his family would not have died.
The Chief of the NYPD receives poems…prophecies of death and calls in Becker and his squad to unravel the mystery. Becker knows there is more to the story than the Chief is revealing. He must work the homicides, the deaths of prominent men, killed in brutal and different ways without the Chief’s help and still keeping his job.
Becker has an outstanding record for solving homicides but it just may be that this time he will be outwitted. The race is on to discover who the Prophet is, why he is killing men in so many brutal ways and who is next on the Prophet’s list.
The Ex-Cop-turned-Crime-Writer: about Gary Kassay
Gary Kassay, author of the Duke Becker Series, is a former member of the NYPD Transit K-9 Unit. Besides a career as a Police Officer, he has been the owner of a commercial photo company, an X-ray tech for humans and animals, and a TSA employee. He now resides in Casper, Wyoming with his wife Raella, three dogs, and one black cat.
When Gary is not working on the next installment of his Duke Becker series, he enjoys spending quiet times with his wife, writing the Duke Becker series, reading, and when there isn’t snow on the ground, a good round of golf.
Crime written by an ex cop: the epitome of ‘write what you know’! Do you have any questions for Gary? Let’s hear them…
Racing to Love ~ Jesse’s Soul:
The fabulous Amy Gregory continues her story…
Jesse Frost lived the life most men would kill for. Fast bikes, fame, money, and looks. He hadn’t thought much about those things throughout his career. He was just an easy-going guy from Texas who always worked hard for everything he got in life. He’d been the shy guy in school, so when the prom queen found him years later, he thought he had finally made it. Her mirage, however, left him empty and certain there was no one that wanted him just for the man inside.
Emery Kincaid has a last name that is revered in their world. A woman in a man’s world and succeeding, Irish through and through, she has the temper and sass to boot and a reputation that precedes her. She has remained strong because she’s had no other choice. The pain she masks runs deep and hiding it is the only way she can survive.
Thrown together and forced to be in each other’s space day in and day out, sparks start to fly—from chemistry and the brakes she tries desperately to throw on. Without a doubt, Jesse thinks he’s found her, but the girl that stole his heart has a stubborn streak a country mile wide.
What Jesse doesn’t know could break his heart. Hiding her true feelings for him is the only way for Emery to protect him and in turn—herself. She barely made it out the first time. If she let Jesse in and he walked away…well, that’s a risk her heart can’t take.
“By expertly weaving the lives of all her “boys” into the story, the end will leave you smiling through your tears. Racing To Love ~ Jesse’s Soul puts Amy Gregory in the number one spot on the podium!” ~Katie Mettner
Racing to Love ~ Jesse’s Soul is available in Amazon.co.uk Kindle and paperback, Amazon.com Kindle and paperback, Barnes & Noble and many other places. Rock on!
Awesome! I love a great romance and I can’t wait to get tucked into this second part of Jesse’s story!
About Amy Gregory…
Amy Gregory leads an incredibly active lifestyle in Kansas City with her husband and their three fantastic kids who keep them running in three very different directions. When she’s not rushing her oldest daughter to tumbling, her youngest daughter to music lessons, or sitting track-side watching her son practice motocross, she’s taking the few minutes in between to scribble the next pages in her Racing to Love series. When asked, “When do you have time to write?” Amy Gregory giggles. “In bits and pieces,” she says.
Amy is known for her snarky, off the cuff sense of humor, which you’ll find shining through in the characters she’s created. I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and now I’ve finally found it. – Amy Gregory
Roll out the red carpet! Open the champagne! It’s time to enter the Hall of Fame!
Yes, today it’s a double celebration as not one but two of my amazing fellow authors over at Sapphire Star Publishing celebrate the launch day for their books. Meet Linn B. Halton and Amy Gregory! Grab a cup of tea (or something sparkly, if it’s late enough in the day!), sit back and enjoy as you get to meet two fabulous new authors….
Welcome to the Hall of Fame: the lovely Linn B. Halton! Linn launches her novel, The Quintessential Gemini today…
I’m so honoured to be here with one of my favourite authors, the effervescent Nicky Wells! This is one rocking lady for sure and she always keeps me smiling.
I thought I would ask Katherine Dale, who is The Quintessential Gemini, to introduce herself first…
“Where do I start? It’s all rather messy actually; my life is falling apart simply because I chose NOT to listen to the fabulous astrologer Mark Ainsley-Thomas. He’s been telling me for a while that there are big changes to come in my daily horoscopes. I know I’ve buried my head in the sand and put my own spin on what that might be – now I’m paying the price. No job, no man in my life except for No. 4, my faithful cat, and when I need Mark to tell me how to put it all back together, his forecasts have become obscure … after 25 years of being my one daily ‘constant’, I feel he isn’t there for me anymore – how will I cope?”
So over to the revered Mark Ainsley-Thomas himself, I have to know what’s happening…
“Well, since acquiring a new agent, the dreaded Harriet Wensworth “Agent to the Stars”, she thinks my future lies in the US. How on earth does the woman think I can produce daily, weekly and monthly forecasts if I’m jetting around the world all the time? I’m an astrologer for goodness sake, not an A-list celebrity! The woman is driving me insane with all these talk show appearances. We’re taking on a new astrologer to help out, but I really do hate letting go of the reins – even though he’s very talented and I knew his late father, an eminent astrologer. I never thought fame would turn me into a TV face, I’m not even sure I like this new role of mine.”
Ah, I’m beginning to understand what Katherine has instinctively picked up on; there is a new guy writing the daily and weekly forecasts. His name is James Kingman and I’ve met him briefly, what a hunk! But not only doesn’t he know it, he’s fragile – he lost his business, most of his money and his long-term girlfriend has moved out now she no longer considers him to be successful.
“A new job helps take my mind off my financial worries, but can I deliver? My style is so different to Mark’s and he’s a really hard act to follow. He’s not only a brilliant astrologer (and astronomer) but he’s so … charismatic. My readings are good, I know my stuff, but I don’t wrap it up in the same way, it’s rather plain by comparison. I also answer the Emails that come in to the website and there’s a woman who keeps asking questions. Her name is Katherine and even though she is one of our paying customers and receives all her personalised forecasts by Email on a daily basis, she’s a real pain. I don’t know what this lady wants, but I’m getting rather exasperated. She can’t really live her life according to her daily horoscope, surely?”
The Quintessential Gemini is available in paperback and e-book from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
Linn B Halton lives in the UK, in the small Gloucestershire village of Arlingham, on the banks of the River Severn in the UK with her adorable husband and cat with attitude – Mr Tiggs! She writes about: Life, love and beyond … but it’s ALWAYS about the romance… Linn signed with the amazing Sapphire Star Publishing in 2012.
Many of the paranormal events that feature in some of her books are real life experiences. Linn is also a featured Author on http://loveahappyending.com/ and Editor of the feature ‘Author & Associate Catch-Ups‘on the website’s magazine-style blog.
Wow, thank you to Linn for introducing Katherine, Mark and James. I can’t wait to meet them!
And now it’s over to the amazing Amy Gregory: Welcome to the Hall of Fame! Amy is launching Racing to Love ~ Carter’s Treasure today…
Amy, I think I heard you say that there’s a lot of ‘you’ in your books. Tell us some more!
Something I’ve always wondered over the years when I read a book is, just how much of what is written on the page is from the author themselves. Not one to read mysteries or suspenseful books, I stick more to the light-hearted, fun love stories. When reading those, you can see personalities emerge: how much of that personality is directly from the author?
Well, (as I blush) I have to say in all my books, my personality is glaringly obvious. I have a wicked smart-mouth, that I don’t apologize for very often, and a naughty sense of humor…yeah,I don’t apologize for that much either. I love to laugh and want nothing more than for those I’m around, either in person or clear across the Internet, to laugh with me. I’ve learned to tailor myself to be polite around those who I might offend, and I have my close friends who I can totally just be myself around, all varying degrees of me.
That’s really fascinating! Is this a conscious choice, a strategy that you have, or does it just kind of… emerge?
My characters are all very different and I don’t think long and hard about their personalities before I start writing, I have a premise and I just go. I see them come alive as I type, but going back and reading each scene, then each chapter and finally the book as a whole, I’ll start laughing. Looking at things they’ve said or done and I’ll think to myself…oh I have soooo done or said that! Or they’ll do things I can totally see myself doing, then I’ll start cracking up. Just me and my laptop, a cup of coffee and silence, but I’ll have tears running down my face as I picture the scenes in my head.
What can I say…life’s short, enjoy it!
LOL, I like your style. Let’s hear some more about the book you are launching today: Racing to Love ~ Carter’s Treasure
From the outside, Molly West had everything, beauty, brains, and a career she’d retired from not once, but twice. Being in the limelight and in a sport that was male driven, she was often surrounded men. She ignored first the boys, and as she got older, the men. Unfortunately, they were all the same, all after one thing, and she had absolutely no use for them. Her cold shoulder and patented not a chance in hell look were usually enough to get her point across. Occasionally, she had to resort to her sass—and her brother.
Molly had no plans in changing what was a perfectly good system. That is until she walked into the pits. When she stood toe-to-toe with the sex in jeans, she knew right then and there that the man her adoptive mother always told her was out there, was now standing right in front of her.
Carter Sterling had traveled the racing circuit since he was a boy. He’d heard all the old standbys, She’s out there somewhere, love comes along when you least expect it. Good things come to those that… Yeah, he’d heard them all. The last place he expected to meet the love of his life was on a pro track. All she did was smile, and he knew, looking into her sapphire blue eyes, Molly West was his. Forever.
If it was only that easy. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he had a gripping feeling in him. An overwhelming need to protect her. A girl he’d just met. Carter had learned a long time ago that gut feelings are almost never wrong.
Molly now held his heart in her hands, but it was going to take a lot more than just love to protect her from the past she thought she’d buried a long time ago.
And here’s the really exciting bit! Racing to Love ~ Carter’s Treasure is now available in from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk!
Amy Gregory leads an incredibly active lifestyle in Kansas City with her husband and their three fantastic kids who keep them running in three very different directions. When she’s not rushing her oldest daughter to tumbling, her youngest daughter to music lessons, or sitting track-side watching her son practice motocross, she’s taking the few minutes in between to scribble the next pages in her Racing to Love series. When asked, “When do you have time to write?” Amy Gregory giggles. “In bits and pieces,” she says.
Amy is known for her snarky, off the cuff sense of humor, which you’ll find shining through in the characters she’s created. I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and now I’ve finally found it. – Amy Gregory
Welcome to CentreStage! CentreStage showcases fantastic authors from around the world, introducing in particular fellow authors in the Sapphire Star Publishing family as well as fellow featured authors at loveahappyending.com. In this new, exciting feature, these authors might write for you about their lives, or their writing journey, or anything else that matters to them. Every feature will be different in format and flavour, so watch out for a variety of stories and tales.
Today, it is my tremendous pleasure to welcome fellow Sapphire Star Publishing author Amy Gregory to this latest edition of CentreStage!
Hello, Amy! I am so thrilled that you are visiting today. What have you got for us?
What have I got for you…? Well, let me see. Here’s a story about stories and voices in my family. I call it:
Too Many Words???
As a mother of three children I’ve have often found myself trapped in places with one or more of them trying to talk to me. When they were around the ages of three to five years old they started telling stories. I figured out by the third child it was coming and I could not escape! These stories would often take several long moments to tell as I would stand, force a smile and nod, waiting for the end that would take seemingly forever to make an appearance.
Then I would shake my head and wonder where they came up with it. Most times their little stories were cute, some made me laugh my ass off, some just made me think they were telling me something just to hear the sound of their own voice as parts were told over and over again.
And then, um….oh yeah and, and, and…..
Well, as my people have grown older their stories have become more important in their lives and mine. They’ve been published in school literary journals, have been asked to share with the rest of their school, have been nominated to student council because their stories and ideas are beneficial to others.
Recently my two younger children took part in an essay contest sponsored by our school district that feeds into a much larger program put on by the metro area. They were asked to write about a person in their lives that matters to them and is a wonderful person to those around them. With no help allowed, they were to explain why their person makes a difference to those around them.
So as a writer, it was quite an honor to have not one, but both of my children’s essays chosen. Their stories, their words, and their voices that were put down on paper. Their talent for writing that was selected amongst those in their classes.
With Mother’s Day approaching here in the States [editor’s note: at the time of writing], it reminds me of those little voices in the backseat of the car…um, oh yeah…and then you know what happened, Mom? The giggles that would follow, the long pauses as they found more words to make up more parts to an already never-ending story. Yes, I always knew what happened because they always told me, always had the words. Always had another story ready when they finished the one before it.
Those stories seemed to take forever back then, but I can see for myself now how their creativity has found its way into their school work, and into their hobbies. As a writer, I couldn’t be more proud. As a mother I grin, hearing their little voices replayed in my head, their stories told over and over. Pieces of the past I still giggle at every now again.
Um, um…and then you know what happened?
Amazing! So that’s what happened! Thanks so much for sharing…
🙂 Now, then: tell us more about your upcoming novel, Racing to Love: Carter’s Treasure!
From the outside, Molly West had everything, beauty, brains, and a career she’d retired from not once, but twice. Being in the limelight and in a sport that was male driven, she was often surrounded men. She ignored first the boys, and as she got older, the men. Unfortunately, they were all the same, all after one thing, and she had absolutely no use for them. Her cold shoulder and patented not a chance in hell look were usually enough to get her point across. Occasionally, she had to resort to her sass—and her brother.
Molly had no plans in changing what was a perfectly good system. That is until she walked into the pits. When she stood toe-to-toe with the sex in jeans, she knew right then and there that the man her adoptive mother always told her was out there, was now standing right in front of her.
Carter Sterling had traveled the racing circuit since he was a boy. He’d heard all the old standbys, She’s out there somewhere, love comes along when you least expect it. Good things come to those that… Yeah, he’d heard them all. The last place he expected to meet the love of his life was on a pro track. All she did was smile, and he knew, looking into her sapphire blue eyes, Molly West was his. Forever.
If it was only that easy. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he had a gripping feeling in him. An overwhelming need to protect her. A girl he’d just met. Carter had learned a long time ago that gut feelings are almost never wrong.
Molly now held his heart in her hands, but it was going to take a lot more than just love to protect her from the past she thought she’d buried a long time ago.
Absolutely intriguing, Amy, what an unusual setting! This is so high on my wishlist!! I adore the cover, by the way, what a wonderful image for your book. Wow! Now tell us more about yourself…
About Amy Gregory
Amy Gregory leads an incredibly active lifestyle in Kansas City with her husband and their three fantastic kids who keep them running in three very different directions. When she’s not rushing her oldest daughter to tumbling, her youngest daughter to music lessons, or sitting track-side watching her son practice motocross, she’s taking the few minutes in between to scribble the next pages in her Racing to Love series.
When asked, “When do you have time to write?” Amy Gregory giggles. “In bits and pieces,” she says.
Amy is known for her snarky, off the cuff sense of humor, which you’ll find shining through in the characters she’s created. Her debut novel, Racing to Love, Carter’s Treasure, is set for release June 7, 2012.
I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and now I’ve finally found it. – Amy Gregory
Thank you so much, Amy, for visiting today and introducing yourself and your novel, Racing to Love: Carter’s Treasure. It’s totally intriguing and I can’t wait for launch day. I look forward to welcoming you back on 7 June in my Hall of Fame as part of your launch party!! Rock on! 🙂 xx
Now, dear reader, it’s your turn. Have you ever been told, “Too many words…?!?”
Photos and images used on this blog stem from one of two sources. Either they are Nicky Wells' own images or photos, or photos and images supplied by, and used with permission of, the author(s) featured in a given post. Logos and blog award images are used with permission of the originating organisation(s). Occasionally, the blog will feature images used under a Creative Commons license, which will be clearly indicated and credited. Copying, sharing or distribution of these photos and images is not authorized unless prior written permission is given.
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Copyright of Nicky Wells, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material on this blog without express and written permission from Nicky Wells is strictly prohibited. Nicky Wells does not authorise any copying or distributing of any content of her blog except through the intended channels of sharing (Twitter, Facebook, Press This, etc.). Excerpts and links may be used if direct and full credit is given to Nicky Wells with a direct link to the original content. Nicky Wells reserves the right to delete any inappropriate or offensive comments.
Nicky Wells: Love & Thrills 