It’s my turn to post on Romance Books 4 Us and I blogged about writing likeable characters:
http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2013/01/likeability-by-janice-seagraves.html
Tag Archives: Janice Seagraves
Sound-a-like Words
Sound-a-like words
By Janice Seagraves
Today my daughter and I were talking about sound-a-like words that mess up a perfectly good sentence.
Ah—as in Ah, I just got that.
Aw—as in Aw, I’m disappointed.
Awe—as in I’m in Awe of the majestic mountains that surround the Yosemite valley.
Then there is:
There—over there by the car.
Their—is a possessive—That’s their car.
They’re— is a contraction of they are—They’re making a get-a-way in their car.
Also:
Yeah—I agree with you.
Yea—a vote.
Yay!—a cheer.
Don’t forget the possessives that don’t always have an apostrophe s (‘s):
Their—possessive of they—that’s their car.
Its—it’s is is a contraction while the possessive of it is its.
What other sound-a-like words can you think of?
Blog Post
It’s my turn to post on Romance Books ‘4’ Us: http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/2012/12/turning-i-cant-into-i-can-by-janice.html
Windswept Shores is back!
Here’s my secret project I’ve been working on all month, my debut book is once again available as an ebook and better than ever with a replaced missing scene. I also made things a little tougher for poor Megan.
In a few days it’ll be available as a paperback book too. 🙂
Christmas Blog Hop
If you’re looking for the Christmas Blog Hop you have found it.
Jared the Fierce Were-tabby
By Janice Seagraves
Part Two:
Jared Shows His True Colors—Orange
Inside the little cabin the fire burned merrily in the hearth, but standing outside Morgan’s teeth chattered. “Okay, show me,” she demanded.
“Are you sure you want to see this? It’s really horrible,” Jared warned as vapor plumed out of his mouth.
“Yes. Do it already.” She shivered and rubbed her arms. Impatiently Morgan bounced on her toes, almost ready to do calisthenics if it got her warm. “It’s cold out here.”
Jared shot her a dirty look. “Fine for you to say, you don’t have to do this naked.” He kicked off his shoes then stripped off his sweatshirt.
“Naked?” She stared at his bare chest.
The chilled air raised goose bumps along his skin. Glancing back at her, he stopped with his thumbs hooked in his pants. “It’s cold out here, so there will be… shrinkage.”
“Oh, do tell.” She smirked.
He slid off the pants, and the change started. Moaning, he dropped to the snow-covered ground, while his bones popped and rearranged themselves. Orange fur grew all along his back and limbs. When the change finished, he sat on his haunches and stared at her.
“Oh my God. You’re—you’re a…” Morgan stammered, eyes wide, she stepped back.
A low feline growl purred from his mouth.
“Cat!”
After staring a stunned moment at the orange tabby, ice form in her stomach taking away what little warmth she possessed. The pressure of a scream form at the back of her throat, but she swallowed it down. Get a grip, Morgan. He’s still the same person.
“So you were the cat I saw when Joan and I check-in?” After gathering up his discarded clothes, she opened the door to the cabin. She looked down at the feline. “Well come on, you’ll freeze out here.”
Jared scurried in before she could step through the threshold, and settled in front of the hearth with a contented purr. Logs crackled in the brick fireplace. Morgan tossed Jared’s clothes on the couch and turned her back to the fire. “Why does my butt always get so cold?”
Jared produced a un-cat-like snort and then jumped to the floor. His skin looked like it was boiling while his bones cracked and popped, as they rearranged themselves. His fur disappeared as his body returned to man size. Standing up, he turned to look at her with a challenge in his gaze.
Morgan’s gaze swept over his long, lean body. Yup, that weird orange hair was everywhere. “So you can do that inside.” She stared away from his deliciously nude form, which made her feel warm for a different reason. “Why didn’t you?”
He pulled on his sweat pants then walked back to her. “Cats don’t like loud noises. If you started to scream, I would need an escape route.
“Coward.” She stepped away from him.
“Hardly.” He took her by the arms, pulled her toward him. “Cats are fearless fighters, but a loud noise can trigger a fight or flight reflex.”
A smile teased the corners of her mouth. “I bet you run real fast, too.”
“I run faster, when I’m hurrying back to the one I care about.” Slipping an arm around her, he nuzzled the side of her face. “Ever have a butterfly-kiss?”
“Um, no.” Morgan lifted an eyebrow. “Aren’t those the kind you give to children?”
Jared grinned. “No, I mean the grown up version.” He set his lips to her throat. Opening his mouth slightly he dragged his tongue along her skin. Moving down a bit, he trailed butterfly-kisses along her neck.
She shivered. “Oh, I like that kitty-cat boy.” A tingling sensation ran down her body as heat filled her panties, but it had nothing to do with the fire blazing behind them.
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***Contest alert***
Leave a comment and your email addy, for a chance to win a five dollar gift certificate from Amazon.
And just for stopping by, you also receive two free downloads, which is the start of my science fiction romance series The Arcon Saga.
Exodus Arcon Trailer
The first of a new Science Fiction series
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Janice’s website: http://janiceseagraves.org/
Janice’s main blog: http://ladyjanice.blogspot.com/
Hot Winter Nights Blog Hop
If you are looking for the Hot Winter Nights Blog Hop then you have found it.
***After reading my post please see the bottom for prize details***
Part One: Jared the Fierce Were-tabby
By Janice Seagraves
Morgan stumbled into the ski lodge. Safe at last. She barely glanced at the rustic, rough-pine interior, as she limped past the quaint homey furniture. Her goal came into view, the huge stone fireplace. Why the hell do I let myself get talked into these things? What was I thinking? I’ve never skied in my life.
She removed her soaked gloves laid them on the hearth, then spread her frozen fingers toward the warmth of the crackling fire. Snow packed into the creases of her ski-pants, jacket and boots, but soon melted in the glorious heat. God, all this so Joan can flirt with her Italian stallion.
When the circulation returned to her icy body parts causing a pins and needles sensation, she let out a slight whimper, then she turned to let the roaring fire roast her rump. Morgan found herself staring into the amused green-eyed gaze of a man sitting directly behind her on a leather chair. With wide cheekbones and a face that tapered down to a narrow chin, he was definitely worth a look. His long legs stretched out emphasizing his lean build and athletic frame. He was attractively attired in hunter-green bib ski-pants, and matching sweater. His shock of bright orange-red hair stood on end. How unusual, it’s the same color as that cat I saw last night.
His full sensuous lips formed into a lazy smile. “You look like you’re frozen right through.” Then his glance slid over her curves, which sent her shivering for a completely different reason.
“Oh, I am.” She didn’t doubt he had checked her out when her back was to him. Morgan stopped rubbing her chilled behind, when she realized he watched her with unwavering attention. Then she wrapped her arms around herself.
“What you need is a hot toddy.” He sat up. “It’s excellent for when you have been exposed to the cold or had a shock to the system.”
Morgan arched an eyebrow. “Are you buying?”
“Sure, if your friend doesn’t mind me taking up some of your time?”
“Oh no, Joan wouldn’t mind. She’s busy skiing down the mountain with that hunky…” She stopped and blinked a couple of times. “My friend?”
“I saw you check in with her.”
“We got here so late, the only one up was the night manager, and a cat. I know you’re not the manager, so unless you’re trying to say that you’re the orange tabby cat, I don’t know how you could know that.”
He unfolded from his seat in one boneless movement, and stood so close she had to crane her neck up to look at him.
“My name is Jared Catterick.” The deep timbre of his voice vibrated straight through her, and did interesting things to her nether regions. “How about that drink?”
“Morgan Brookhaven.” She offered her hand.
“Hi, Morgan.” He took her ice-cold hand in his deliciously warm one. “Come with me and I’ll help thaw you out.” The heat of his gaze traveled down her body.
She smiled. My vacation just took an interesting turn, for the better. “How can I refuse such a delightful invitation?”
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Please check back for Part Two which will post on December 14th
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Just for stopping by, you receive two free downloads, which is the start of my science fiction romance series, The Alien Heart series.
Look for the first book, Alien Heart, some time next year.
The Arcons Are Coming!
Exodus Arcon Trailer The first of a new Science Fiction series
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Janice’s website: http://janiceseagraves.org/
Janice’s main blog: http://ladyjanice.blogspot.com/
***Prize alert***
Please leave your email addy for a drawing for a five dollar gift certificate from Amazon
Everyone visiting my blog is also eligible for the Hot Winter Nights grand prize!
You MUST include your email address to be eligible for the grand prize.
I won the Nanowrimo contest!
I won the Nanowrimo Contest!!!
This is from the winner page:
Congratulations, novelist! You won!
Here at NaNoWriMo HQ, we are cheering ourselves hoarse in recognition of your epic creative accomplishment this November. One month ago, you committed yourself to this wild write-a-thon: 30 days of high-velocity, no-holds-barred, anything-goes noveling.
And now, 50,000 words and one month later, you are a NaNoWriMo Winner!
Writer’s Tip: Color Code Your Sentences
To make sure that you have a well balanced dialogue scene: color code your sentences.
Color code your sentences by highlighting and then right clicking on your mouse, then select your color:
Yellow for the dialogue
Blue for dialogue tags
Pink for internal thought
And purple for action tags
Color coding can allow you to see if you have an overbalance of say the internal thought verses dialogue. If the color is evenly distributed then you have the right balance.
Janice~
Halloween Blog Hop
http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/
If your looking for the Halloween blog hop post, then you have found it!
Hi, my name is Janice Seagraves. I write romance of various genres. Here’s my bio: Janice Seagraves grew up in a small California town. Her home is a hundred year old haunted house (I’m not kidding), where she lives with her husband and daughter, an overly affectionate cat and a Jack Russel that’s in love with her daughter (still not kidding).
A lot of people read my bio and ask me, “Is your house really haunted?”
Yes it is. 
Since my husband and I first moved into our house twenty years ago, I’ve heard a little girl crying when I washed my hands in the bathroom. Which in itself isn’t anything unusual, however we live two miles out of town in the middle of what had been a grape vineyard but is now an almond orchard, and we have no close neighbors. I’ve lived here for twenty years and heard the same child sobbing. Reason would dictate that if this was a child, it would be grown by now.
Once when my daughter was still a newborn baby, I was enjoying a few blessed moments of shared TV viewing with my husband (you never know how fleeting those moments are until your a new parent), and then my baby started to cry. I sighed and started to get up, when I heard a woman’s voice saying very clearly, “Hush, baby,” I ran into the bedroom, and my husband ran outside. When I turned on the light, the baby was asleep and no one was there. My husband came back inside and told me no one was outside.
While my daughter was a baby, she would sleep with us, and during this time I would feel the bed dip like someone was sitting down. Usually this meant that my hubby was putting on his boots for work. But other times, I’d open my eyes to see that I was alone. Over the years I, my husband and my daughter have seen a little girl ghost at different times and places in the house.
One time while my daughter was sleeping with me, she screamed in the middle of the night. I jerked awake and turned over, that’s when I saw the little girl ghost sitting on my bed on the far side of my daughter, staring at me. Then she faded away.
When my daughter was little about three or four, she had an invisible friend named Jenifer or Jenny, which I later realized was our ghost girl.
Once or twice I’ve heard a scary voice saying my name, and a chill would wash down my back.
Thank goodness I haven’t had that in a while. *shiver*
I’ve been woken up by the sound of my bedroom door being opened and when I looked to see who it was, the door was closed. That just happened the other night. I got up again to look and the door was closed.
Nope, no more sleep for me. 
We’ve seen orbs. Mostly green and blue ones. I saw one in the bathroom and followed it in my daughter’s room, where it landed on the foot of her bed and disappeared. I have taken a few orb photos with our black kitty we used to have, and I have an earlier photo with a white something that went through my husband’s mouth.
These photos were taken with two different cameras; the above photo is digital and the below one is a 35 mm. 
When my husband worked nights, sometimes I would see something under the fitted sheet moving back and forth. I thought maybe a mouse got into the mattress. My husband and I flipped the mattress over and I couldn’t find any mouse holes, so I have no idea what that was.
One morning, I was woken up by a child singing the song called the Lilac Tree. Both my husband and daughter were in the living room watching Saturday morning cartoons. And nothing they watched had a child singing. I’ve been woken up by the smell of Brownies and thought my daughter was baking. I got up to go into the kitchen and no one was cooking. Boy was I disappointed.
One time when I overslept, I heard someone walking around my bed and a voice saying, “Come on, honey, it’s time to get up.” When I got up, no one was there.
When one of my daughter’s friends spend she reported hearing the bathroom door creak open, and the sound of whispering. The friend asked my daughter if her parents were awake. My daughter said no, and then they both went and checked the bathroom. They found it empty.
My husband and I both have heard whispering voices before, right when we got home. We’d quickly unlock the front door to the house, flinging it open, but the noises stopped and no one was there.
A few months ago when I just laid down to go to sleep, I felt someone tuck in the tag on my pajama top. My bedroom door was closed and hubby was working the graveyard shift and my daughter was spending the night at a friend’s house.
I was alone.
Or was I?
***Contest alert***
Leave a comment about your own ghostly experience and your email addy, for a chance to win a five dollar Amazon gift certificate.
And just for stopping by, you also receive two free downloads, which is the start of my science fiction romance series The Arcon Saga.
The Arcons Are Coming!
Exodus Arcon Trailer The first of a new Science Fiction series
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Janice’s website: http://janiceseagraves.org/
Janice’s main blog: http://ladyjanice.blogspot.com/
Writer’s Hint: First Draft
It’s way too easy to fuss over the details before you get the story written.
The thing is, you have to give yourself permission to write a sloppy first draft, and promise your internal editor it can have a crack at the ms after it is finished.
Janice Seagraves, Author 