Sunday, February 26, 2012

Hawaii Pics

As my friends and blog visitors know, last month I took a two week cruise to Hawaii. Though I have visited several of the islands in the past, this was the first time I'd cruised around them and visited several in a short span of time. I actually think spending several days on each island is a far better way to see them, but I wanted to share a few photos of the trip.

Our first stop was Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Here's Aunty posing in front of a hedge of pretty blue flowers in old town Hilo. When we visited the Big Island before, we stayed in Kona which has an entirely different climate.

Next stop Honolulu.

Here's a shot of the koi pond in the center of the International Market Place, right across the street from Waikiki beach.

We didn't really have enough time to get out of Honolulu, which was a shame. I love the beaches on the North Shore of Oahu, and January is when they have some spectacular surf.

On to the island of Kauai, where I'd never been before.

Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived, and the rain continued all morning. We took an excursion to Waimea Canyon, but the heavy mist kept us from seeing much.

The sun finally came out on our way back to the ship and we stopped to see the famous "blow hole." When the waves come in, the water spouts up through the rocks like a geyser.

Here's a nice shot of the plume of water. Even more exciting, we could see whales spouting on the horizon! They were too far away for my camera, but we enjoyed watching them.

Last stop was Maui, where we visited the old whaling village of Lahaina.

There's a HUGE banyon tree in the middle of town in front of the old court house. The tree is spread over about three city blocks! This is not even one of the main branches, but one of dozens this size going off in every direction.

We'd stayed on Maui in the past and took a drive up to the fantastic crater of the extinct volcano Haleakala. I'd have loved to go there again.

So while I enjoyed spending a few days in paradise, I'd much rather go back to just one island and spend a week or two.

Do you prefer short get-aways or one to two week vacations? What's the longest vacation you've taken?


Thursday, February 16, 2012

P R Mason and Fated Hearts

I'm excited to welcome YA author PR Mason to my blog today. Her latest indy release is Fated Hearts (Is that a gorgeous cover, or what?!?!). She's giving away a download to one lucky commenter, and she would like to share some thoughts on the story and about music:

IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE....PLAY ON!

Lately, I've been obsessed with the interaction of music and fiction. Although no one knows who first said it, a popular quote states that: "music is what feelings sound like." Feelings are at the heart of fiction also. The goal of all good storytelling is to evoke emotion in the reader with the plot and its characters. As a writer, fiction and music coalesce when a song conveys the emotion I am striving to communicate in a particular scene or sequence of scenes. Then that song can serve as an inspiration.

My recent release Fated Hearts, which is a paranormal romance novella, deals with the issue of predestination and puts the main characters in some pretty emotional situations.

Here's the blurb:

EVE has always played by the rules, afraid to take chances. HOLDEN wants to change that. She's certain they've never met before...or have they? Holden seems so familiar, but who is he? What is he? Yesterday her biggest challenge was trying not to bomb on her SATs. Today, paranormal forces have transformed an ordinary high school dance into a test of fate vs. free will and loving Holden could be Eve's end.

Fated Hearts is available at Amazon: http://amzn.com/B006XVD53O

I've compiled an unofficial soundtrack for FATED HEARTS. See what you think.

1. Love Lockdown, by Kanye West Chapter 1 = A Dance

2. No Air, by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown Chapter 2 = Holden

3. Without You, by David Guetta Chapter 2 = The Roof

4. Clubbed to Death, by Rob DouganChapter 3 =Who is he?

5. Fly, by NickiMinajFt.Rihanna Chapter 4 = Finale

You can click on the link to hear the playlist via Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF080A04E1BA4E843&feature=mh_lolz

Please let me know what you think of the soundtrack. Leave a comment and be entered to win an ebook copy of FATED HEARTS.

I love to hear from readers. Here are my links to find me:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5259792.P_R_Mason

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/P.R.-Mason/e/B005RCKCQS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ - !/prmason

Website: http://www.prmason.net

Blog: http://www.agirwithacomputer.blogspot.com

Sunday, February 12, 2012

FREEBIE!

As part of the Amazon Select program, my novelette The Sidhe Princess is FREE until midnight Feb. 13th!

If you haven't read it yet, NOW would be a great time to download it to your Kindle. Just click on the title of this post to go to the Amazon page.

Don't forget that this story is actual a prequel to my book The Wild Sight, but is not a romance. The Sidhe Princess is a dark fantasy.

If you are in the mood for reading romance -- and with Valentine's Day only a few days away, you probably are -- you can read my latest romantic suspense story, High Seas Deception. It's not free, but at $2.99 it's still a GREAT DEAL! Here's the Amazon page link: http://amzn.to/yUSNYx I think you'll enjoy this fun and fast-paced read!

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? Please share your plans with us!