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Naturally Beautiful – On Sale Now!

Naturally Beautiful by Jamie Leigh Hansen

Short Story, Romance, Futuristic, Suspense, Sweet, Stand-Alone

Short Story, Romance, Futuristic, Suspense, Sweet, Stand-Alone

 

Amazon 

Two worlds clash when sexy daredevil, Lt. Reid Kincad pulls intriguing scientist, Dr. Jessica Cross, into his arms and jumps from a helijet set to explode, but they can’t rest until they also save her father – and his miracle cure – from dangerously unethical hands.

*Previously published in The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance

 

 

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JLH news thanks to Croco Designs!

I can finally post a blog again after all the confusion with my missing post editor. Thank you Croco!

Very soon, I will also have  a new look and be better integrated with the rest of my social media. I cannot wait! Stay tuned for all the changes. :)

In the meantime, let me fill you in on the last year of JLH publishing news.

* I have self-published The Murder King’s Woman and The Murder King’s Summons, yay! These are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance ebooks and Smashwords.

Cover for The Murder King's Woman

Smashwords
ARebooks
Barnes and Noble
Amazon

 

Murder Tales 2: The Murder King's Summons by Jamie Leigh Hansen

Smashwords
ARebooks
Barnes and Noble
Amazon

* I have released an unrelated short story in The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance titled Naturally Beautiful. I will be self-publishing that as a single very soon.

* I have another unrelated, complete and raring-to-go short story that should have more news soon.

* I am nearing completion on The Murder King’s Valentine, Murder Tales #3. This story is much longer than the first two combined.

On the International Literary Project to Fight Friedreich’s Ataxia front – we have a complete novel and it’s being translated in full in the primary writer languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese and Italian. We have translators waiting in the wings for many more languages once the full novels have been edited. We also have a cover! I just can’t share it now.  I know. Bummer. :( But soon. In the meantime, if anyone would like to post the logo on their blog in support of the project (Anything to get awareness out!), email me at JLH@JamieLeighHansen.com.

BABEL_LOGO_Literary_small

Another big help is to Like the page on Facebook and encourage your family and friends to do so as well.   That way you’ll have the best access to updates.

https://www.facebook.com/FightFriedreichsAtaxia

And for anyone who would like to join me at this year’s Get Lit! Festival in Spokane, WA on April 13, I am part of a 6 author team providing an interactive, hands-on workshop on Worldbuilding. http://outreach.ewu.edu/getlit/3294.xml More info TBA.

Please stay tuned for more updates – which will be much easier to make now. :)

 

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The Murder King’s Woman

Murder Tales: An exciting new series of short stories by

Jamie Leigh Hansen

 

Murder Tales: An all new series of short stories by Jamie Leigh Hansen

@ Amazon.com
@ BN.com
@Smashwords.com

When The Murder King’s Woman was originally published in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2, I was so excited. I sat right there in Barnes and Noble, taking pictures of the pretty cover.

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2 on release day.

 

The Murder King’s Woman is about Mary, a human girl whose family was killed during a family camping trip when she was a child. The rogue vampire responsible for destroying her life was hunted and killed by no less than Sebastian, the Murder King himself. Leading his warrior Crows, a mix of vampires and werewolves, Sebastian and the Murders purpose is to hunt and eradicate the rogues of paranormal kind, keeping their existence secret and bringing safety to their races – it is not to raise the children of human victims. But Mary was too old, her trauma too ingrained, for her to forget. Even with help. And she was too young to be left to her own devices. Mary was brought home and raised among them, the only human to live among them. But now Sebastian has been taken and the only chance he has is the human pet no one believes in.

As I looked at the pretty pages, this nagging feeling that had been pulling at me all year returned. Mary wasn’t finished telling me her story. She’s a strong woman with definite plans for her future and just enough of a past for it to haunt her. So I started writing that day. When I finished the sequel, The Murder King’s Summons, I learned another important fact. I still wasn’t done.

Damn mouthy character hasn’t given me peace since. LOL Therefore, we have reached a compromise. I will write Mary’s journey piece by piece and release it in digital form. The sequel has now become Murder Tales 2: The Murder King’s Summons, and will be released later in December 2011. Keep a look out for:

Murder Tales 2: The Murder King's Summons by Jamie Leigh Hansen

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The Sanction Chronicles

We have a cover!

www.TheSanctionChronicles.com

The first monthly installment of The Sanction Chronicles will be available for sale September 17th. :)

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SHOUT Against the Whisper

Help fight Ovarian Cancer!

Win a first chapter critique from one of five multi-published, award-winning, bestselling authors!
Do good. Feel good. And get something good in return!

Author Heather McCollum is fighting Ovarian Cancer. To show appreciation for folks who donate to support “Heather’s Warriors” on the upcoming walk to fund a cure, her writer friends have organized a critique raffle.
You could win one of five critiques being offered by
Avon author Katharine Ashe – first chapter critique (up to 25 pages)
Nocturne author Cynthia Cooke – first chapter critique (up to 25 pages)
Berkley/St. Martins author Cindy Holby/Kassy Tayler – first chapter critique (up to 25 pages) Berkley author Virginia Kantra – first chapter critique (up to 25 pages)
Harlequin author Emilie Rose – first chapter critique (up to 25 pages)

How to enter in three easy steps:
1. Go to “Critiques for Heather” http://dccc.convio.net/site/TR/Ovarianwalk/OvarianAwareness?px=1060499&pg=personal&fr_id=1090

2. Click “Make a donation.”
Make a secure on-line donation of at least $5.00.(each $5.00 online donation = 5 virtual raffle tickets)
Be sure to enter a “Recognition name” (your name or an identifiable nickname).

3. Send an e-mail to
critiques@virginiakantra.com. (There’s a direct link on the site!)
Type RAFFLE in the e-mail’s subject line.
In the body of the email, please include your Recognition name, the number of virtual tickets purchased (dollar amount of donation), and which author(s)/critique prize(s) you would like to be entered for.

ALL proceeds support ovarian cancer research at Duke University Medical Center, where Heather is receiving treatment.
Winners will be drawn/notified/announced the day after the walk, Sunday, September 18, 2011.
Want to support Heather without entering the raffle?
Follow the same link and donate WITHOUT sending an email.

For more information, please visit and like Heather’s SHOUT Against the Whisper Campaign on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/SHOUTagainsttheWhisper

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The Problem with Publishing/Producing – John Doe (TV Series)

Viewer and Reader frustration…

Craig and I often get caught by different ads and commercials for tv shows. What looks interesting? Quite often it all is interesting, downright fascinating. The problem comes from schedules. How many of our parents and grandparents, and for years, us and our children had to make sure we were home by 7 or 8 for the beginning of evenings TV shows. And so many stories captured our attention, we would fill three or four evenings a week with shows.

Yeah. And our news is going nuts with tales of obesity and sedentary Americans. Which, there is a point, but having a limit on how many shows we watch had some really bad consequences.

We’d get into one show and when new ones came out, we couldn’t watch them because they were on at the same time on different channels. So the newer shows suffered a lack of viewership in the realms of numbers that made the producers happy and were subsequently canceled.

Now, thanks to TV on DVD, Netflix, Blockbuster, and Hulu, (not to mention all the other outlets), there are hundreds of unfinished stories out there. Thousands of finished stories.

For instance, we just got through John Doe. An engaging story, a mystery about a man who wakes up naked  in the middle of woods with no knowledge of who he is, but strangely knows everything else. It lasted for one season. 21 episodes and ended on one heck of a cliffhanger.

Luckily, in the case of John Doe, producers put out a statement of what was supposed to happen in the end. The answer to the riddle. Kind of. And while it is good to have an answer to the riddle, we lose the magic of the process. The growing characterization that takes place in each episode builds to that final answer, so it makes more sense, is more well-rounded and wraps up all threads.

But, the problem is each network wants ratings. And they aren’t happy with a few million people. They want everyone to tune out of their lives and tune into their station, all at the same time.

Really? Is this even possible? No. People have different interests. They want to watch different shows on different channels on their own time. When they don’t have work, school, sports and basically, life events deciding their schedule.

Intro streaming media. Any show at any time in any order. It’s all about the story.

But, how many of those stories are half done or worse, barely introduced? How many unfinished stories will we carry around, filling our heads with thoughts and questions?

What’s more, publishers do the same. They want ever rising sales numbers or story series  never end. And readers are left wondering. How would it have all ended?

The good news is that authors, who often have those same uncompleted stories in their heads, are now able to self-publish pretty easily and make their stories widely available. Now it’s just a matter of finding them amid all the scammers, pirates and lazy people who just want to string enough words together they can call it a book or be published “without ever writing a word”. Looks like readers will need to be educated buyers.

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The Sanction Chronicles

Round Robin 1 & 2

 

I wrote the first round robin introducing readers to the intriguing world of Sanction, NH. In this short story, four male, teen werewolves are trying to beat the other teams in their pack to be the first to catch the girl witches in their annual summer celebration as they dance and chant and, hopefully, catch them doing so naked. In the end, one of the three options for what they do see was left open to voting for how the second round robin would open.

This week round robin #2. Check out how it opened and vote for how you think it should end. :)

www.TheSanctionChronicles.com

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The Sanction Chronicles

Sanction is a town where all peoples paranormal live and thrive. We have vampires, werewolves, witches, humans, ghosts, trolls, hellhounds and more! This YA project will be accessible digitally with print coming soon, beginning in September. In the meantime, come meet some of the teens that live their lives in this crazy place here:

www.The SanctionChronicles.com

Though not nearly finished with my passion for writing a good romance, this project will mark my first foray as a YA author, starting with the round robin story written to introduce everyone to the people that live here. Please, come by and vote for the direction of the next installment of our story!

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La Femme Nikita – the one with Peta Wilson

It’s interesting sometimes, when you remember something from years ago and love it so much you risk watching it again and then your entire perception of the show changes. I mean, I have seen Buffy from episode one through season 7, and even a few issues into the comic season 8, over and over without my first fascination changing. I still feel Buffy and Angel belong together, even though I agree she needed the experiences of Parker, Riley and Spike in order to grow. And while I think her and Spike can have an enduring closeness, they weren’t completely tied to each other the way she and Angel were…but I digress.

My husband absolutely loved the old movie Excalibur. Considered it one of the best of all time. Until he bought it to share his love with the kids and found he’d really outgrown it. I don’t remember all the issues he had with it, I just remembered he was really disappointed.

A few months ago, Craig and I started re-watching La Femme Nikita. I had originally planned to enjoy this kick-ass heroine show with my girls. They hate whiners. They hate wimps. Occasionally, they have tuned in. Out of a smidgen of interest and a great deal of pity, Craig took over watching it with me. The issue? Michael is an ass-hat. Or was in seasons 1 & 2.

Well, the show wasn’t nearly as spoiled for me as Excalibur was for Craig. But I observed things I didn’t catch before. My friends and I had loved watching it the first time around, and while this was before I learned about internet discussion boards, we would call each other up, tape shows, plan to watch them together, all that. We were convinced Michael and Nikita were the loves of all time.

Fast forward a dozen years, and I wonder. This time I saw all the ways Michael played her without the “oh, but he’s so hot and he’s just forced to” justifications. My daughter didn’t buy them for an episode, let alone over and over for a season. Good girl. Then I saw, knowing the end, how Nikita changed after season 1, becoming more distant and cold. I hadn’t remembered some of those moments, but this time it made me genuinely wonder about her statement at the end of season 4: “I don’t love you. I never did.”

The first time, it shocked the hell out of me and I was mad at the studio and mad at the writers. Well, I was mad anyway. Birkoff’s death was pointless. That position hasn’t changed. But this time, though I had forgotten that line, I’d remembered Nikita was a counter-spy. This time when she delivered the final line, it wasn’t met with total disbelief.

We are now wrapping up the final two disks. I don’t know what to believe. But I read a statement about how season 4 was planned in advance that way and season 5 was only brought back based on watcher demand.

The lesson I learned is a mixed one. Do not play with watcher demand. Don’t break their hearts. But at the same time, if the clues are laid from the beginning, who’s fault is it? The viewer or the writer? And how much is assumed by the people watching, when they attribute emotions and motivations to a stoic face?

But mainly, it was sad to see Walter and Birkoff’s care of Nikita and Michael  wasn’t as reciprocated as I’d remembered. And his death was still a pointless, stupid mistake. Emotional, yes, and I liked Jason, but I would have rather seen twin drama than pointless drama.

Have you ever re-watched an old favorite and have your perspective change? For the better or the worst?

 

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Piracy vs. Censorship

I realize there are some things I should not look at because it is guaranteed to piss me off. But there are times I can’t seem to help myself.

http://tinyurl.com/4465766

This is for the benefit of all the lazy, internet morons who believe everything should be theirs for free, even when it belongs to someone else. Thank you to www.dictionary.com and www.thesaurus.com.

pi·ra·cy: [pahy-ruh-see]
–noun, plural -cies.
1. practice of a pirate;  robbery or illegal violence at sea.
2. the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book,recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc.: The record industry is beset with piracy.

cen·sor·ship: [sen-ser-ship]
–noun
1. the act or practice of censoring.

cen·sor: [sen-ser]
–noun
1. an official who examines books, plays, news, reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams,etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.
2. any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
3. an adverse critic; faultfinder.

Censor
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: forbid; ban; selectively remove
Synonyms: abridge, black out, blacklist, bleach, bleep, blue-pencil, bowdlerize, clean up, conceal, control, cork, criticize, cut, decontaminate, delete, drop the iron curtain, edit, examine, excise, expurgate, exscind, inspect, launder, narrow, oversee, prevent publication, purge, purify, put the lid on, refuse transmission, repress, restrain, restrict, review, revile, sanitize, scissor out, squelch, sterilize, strike out, supervise communications, suppress, withhold

Notes: to censor is to disallow portions or the entireties of books, plays, etc. on the grounds that they transgress propriety, ‘to scrutinize, revise, or cut,’ expurgate or suppress; to censure is to criticize vehemently or harshly, or condemn

Piracy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: robbery
Synonyms: bootlegging, buccaneering, commandeering, copying, freebooting, hijacking, infringement, marauding, pirating, plagiarism, rapine, stealing, swashbuckling, theft

So, people:

To Censor something is to take it away based on MORAL/IDEALOGICAL grounds.

To eliminate a pirate site is to take it away based on LEGAL grounds.

You steal, you get caught, you get prosecuted. That’s how the law works. Crying censorship is not going to save thieves.

 

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