Tag Archives: Brave the Elements

New Release – Snow by Any other Name

Title:  Tales From the Frozen North Anthology featuring “Snow by any other Name,” by Tina Holland

Series: A Brave the Elements Short Story

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date:  Kindle Anthology March 15th. 

Editor: Robin Pope Cain

Cover Artist: Anthology Tiffany Fier 

Blurb:

Holly Frost has a problem. She can’t make it snow in Innocent, Minnesota. As a descendent of Jack Frost, she should be natural, but something is very wrong. She needs help so she goes to Sheriff Andy Finn.

Andy Finn is a grouchy, not-yet hibernating bear shifter. All he wants is for the snow to fly so he can get some sleep, but it’s forty degrees in December. When Holly Frost approaches him for help, he sets aside his dislike of the Frost family and does his job by taking her to a powerful elemental.

Excerpt: 

Sheriff Andy Finn watched as trouble—AKA Holly Frost—made her way towards him. What did the woman want?  Why did she look as if she had him in her sights? All he wanted was to manage this town of shifters and humans and make sure everyone got along. Having the fae parked in his backyard didn’t help, and he didn’t want to tangle with them any more than necessary. 

Andy had a job to do, and he did not need the distraction of Holly. It was bad enough he was still awake. As a bear shifter, he needed to hibernate, but his clock was off until the weather dropped below thirty-two degrees. It was nowhere near freezing, not even a frost—unless he counted the Frost standing in front of him. 

“Sheriff,” Holly sounded out of breath. “I need your help.”

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T3N12GG/

About the Author:  

Tina studied journalism at University and then went to work for a fortune 500 company working Logistics for over 20 years.  She now writes full-time and helps her husband run his Crop Dusting business in the summer months.  When she’s not writing she likes to travel, read and spend time with her farm critters.  

Social Media Links:  

Website – www.tinaholland.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/author.tina.holland

Twitter – https://twitter.com/haveubeenaughty

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/tina_holland

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/haveubeenaughty

Author Central – https://www.amazon.com/Tina-Holland/e/B003OLKLA6?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid=1647117774&sr=1-2

Happy Birthday to Me

Since today is my birthday, I decided to let a few of my friends from Facebook interview me.  Here are their questions.

What do you feel is the hardest part of the publishing process? (From Vania Rheault)

Rejection – The hardest part for me is finding a home for finished work.   I haven’t been brave enough to enter into the Self-Publishing world because that all seems hard to me.   So finding a home for whatever completed project I have is hard in the sense a certain amount of prediction for agents and editors on what readers may want a year or more out makes it difficult.  I’ll send out a query and then get a rejection and if I’m lucky they will tell me why.  Sometimes I get a form letter or even worse that they liked the writing but it wasn’t a good fit.   

How are you just so damn adorable all the time? Inquiring minds want to know. (From Lyn Armstrong)

Lyn is biased, her and maybe my husband.  I love and miss you, lady. 

Do you work plots out with writing buddies or plot all by yourself? (From Marie Johnston)

Normally, I plot by myself.  But recently I asked for some input on a finished Regency I just finished and my local critique group helped me come up with a plot (it involves murder) that I will weave back in through the story.  This isn’t uncommon for me to finish a manuscript and then change one, maybe two, things, and then have to layer those elements back in. 

When you write so many books, what’s your strategy for keeping plots, characters, and settings fresh? (from Natalie Pierce)

It helps that I write in a few different sub-genres of romance.  Once you change the setting everything else can be fresh or new based on a new place or time.  I have started keeping series bibles so I can remember how old someone is at story X so I make sure to age them by story Y. I usually keep these in either Pinterest, Google Keep, or in a Notebook. 

Happy birthday! Let’s see. I’d love to know more about how you got started writing stories. How much of real life is included in your books? Do you have other business ideas you might work on in the future? (from A. Catherine Noon)

Figures A. Catherine Noon would have the most questions.   Here we go.  

I have been writing since childhood, before my grandmother passed she gave me a collection of stories I wrote for her about the various mythical holiday creatures, like the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, A Leprechaun trying to find Baby New Year.   Unfortunately, they didn’t find him because I had only gotten as far as writing their origin stories.  I loved info dumps even as a child. 

I include much of real life in my contemporaries, including some of my friends (you know who you are).  Of course, I changed their names to protect the not so innocent.  I’ve used their professional knowledge among which include a pilot, an architect, a nurse, firemen, and of course a writer.   Most of my paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy stories are entirely fiction.  

Future Business Projects – Writing Wise I’m working on my Brave the Elements Series – Wind Resistant is my Nano project.  I will be querying my Regency this month and maybe a bit in November.   I take December off because I find I need the break for the holidays.  Non-writing wise – I’ve thrown my hat in on a contest in ND pairing artists and writers.  Long Term I’m hoping to get a North Dakota Writers Conference so if you are thinking about something like that my fellow writers, let me know.   There are far more of us than the world knows about. 

I’m wondering what percent of your writing is actually non-fiction, in a fictional book. (Brian Daly)

It depends on the fiction.  In my Steampunk Series, I’d say 50%.  I altered parts of the timeline significantly.  

My Regency is fairly historically accurate but I did change a few things – my hero knows cane fighting which isn’t really a thing until closer to the Victorian period and was invented in France, not England.  So those are pretty liberal. My Contemporaries including my paranormal books are about 25% fiction accounting for characters and the mythology of fairies.   But the career choices are based on people I know. 

And I would say my Post-Apocalyptic books are 75% fiction the only real elements being geography and locations in the future. 🙂 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Q&A.  If I missed your question here leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer it.  ~Tina

Cover Reveal – Fireproof

Title: Fireproof 

Series:  Brave the Elements, Book One

Author: Tina Holland

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Release Date:  May 8, 2020

Publisher: Book Boutiques

Cover Artist: Valerie Tibbs, Tibbs Design

 

Fireproof-Mockup2

Blurb:

Did you know all fairies are ruled by the elements? And they answer to a group known as the Veil–sort of a fairy secret council. There are rules that must be obeyed the first being never reveal what you are.

Jamie Waters broke the rules when she retrieved an anchor off the shores of California setting a new world-record for free-diving. She flees where the Veil will not find her, the town of Innocent, Minnesota. There she meets and falls hard for a human, Beau Collins. Beau Collins isn’t like most humans, he can’t catch fire and being a fireman is the perfect job for him. When he meets Jamie Waters it’s an instant attraction. Opposites attract but everyone knows, Fire and water don’t mix.

When Beau is burned after battling a warehouse fire, Jamie works to help him find the arsonist. Can they find out who it is before they lose control over the elements? Will Beau risk being with Jamie even if it means he can’t be Fireproof.

Excerpt:

Beau struggled all night to keep his emotions in check.  He rarely granted invitations to the opposite sex because women always seemed to set his blood on fire, especially if there was any level of attraction because the relationships eventually ended because of his secret.

This girl, Jamie, scared the hell out of him.  His barely concealed erection was a testament to the draw he felt towards her.  His usual heated senses were not there though and it really concerned him.  He felt cool, calm, and collected at least in the flesh.  His emotions were tearing all over the place.  Attraction towards this unbelievably attractive girl, confusion over what drew him to her specifically and concern his fail-safe standoff approach wasn’t working at all. 

Now her breath lingered against his skin.  What did she ask him?  He looked over at her with her long black hair and dark blue eyes. “What?”

“Chase said something about you needing lessons.” Her sensuous pink lips moved and all he heard was “lessons”.

“Lessons?” He asked unable to concentrate on the words emerging from those luscious lips.

“Yeah.  What kind do you need?”  She smiled.  

“What kind do you want to give me?”  Beau hoped he sounded flirtatious instead of the uncertainty rising within him.

Jamie leaned over and whispered against his lips. “I’d like to give you some very intimate lessons but I doubt you need them.”  Her lips barely touched his own.  Beau used all of his restraint not to pull her against him to taste her.

“So did you two figure something out?”  Damn Chase and his bad timing.

“I’m still trying to find out what he wants.”  Jamie turned and smiled at Chase.  Beau’s gut twisted. 

“He doesn’t know how to swim!” Chase fairly shouted it.

Jamie turned to look at him, “Is that all?”

“Yes,” Beau said in a clipped voice.

“I think I can help you out.  I’ve done adult lessons before.”

“I’m not sure I need to know how to swim.  Haven’t run across the need in a fire yet.”  He teased her.

“Nonsense.  It’s easy.  Besides, it’s not like you’ll need to rescue people right away.  Just a nice skill to have, especially living on the North shore.”  Her face lit up as she talked to him, “I need to use the little girl’s room.” Jamie rose from the table, “Don’t take my spot.”  She directed Chase.

Once she left Chase sat down opposite Beau, “What do you think?” he asked.

“About what?” Beau responded.

“Jamie.”

“She’s okay.”  Beau quipped.

“Just okay?  Dude, she’s like a walking goddess with her long black hair, perky tits, and a sweetheart shaped ass.  Didn’t you notice?”

Beau noticed and so did his pecker. He merely shrugged.  How could a man not notice dark denim jeans or the white t-shirt hugging her curves? Chase forgot to mention her captivating ocean blue eyes.  A man could drown in those big baby blues.

“Well if you’re not interested, I’ll—”

“Don’t even think about it.”  It was more of a command than a statement. 

Chase laughed, “So you do like her.”

“I didn’t say anything of the sort.” 

“But I can’t pursue her.” Chase clarified.

“Yep.”  Beau took a long sip off his beer.

“Okay, whatever man.  I’ll let you have this one, only because you’re showing a little bit of interest.  You need to get laid.  You can thank me later.”

Buy Links:| | KOBO || Nook |

 

Saturday Sexcerpt – Fireproof by Tina Holland

Fireproof300Book Blurb:  Did you know all fairies are ruled by the elements? And they answer to a group known as the Veil-sort of a fairy secret council. There are rules that must be obeyed the first being never reveal what you are.

Jamie Waters broke the rules when she retrieved an anchor off the shores of California setting a new world-record for free-diving. She flees where the Veil will not find her, the town of Innocent, Minnesota. There she meets and falls hard for a human, Beau Collins. Beau Collins isn’t like most humans, he can’t catch fire and being a fireman is the perfect job for him. When he meets Jamie Waters its instant attraction. Opposites attract but everyone knows, Fire and water don’t mix.

And now on to the Sexcerpt: 

Beau snuck quietly into the suite. Jamie still lay in the tub, unconscious. What happened to his little mermaid? Why was she so weak?

He tiptoed to the tub to see the moonlight play shadows on her skin beneath the water.

Her skin looked almost iridescent under this light. How could he keep her without hurting her with what he was? Beau might not know, but he did know how to love her.

He tentatively ran his finger over her face, cupping her chin. Her eyes remained shut. Her skin was still cold. He thought of how much he cared for her, and his hands began to glow as he sent heat to her. It was odd her presence would allow him to generate heat when she was his exact opposite.

Jamie’s eyes fluttered open, and she gazed up at him. He loved those eyes. The dark pools reminded him of the lake he never swam in, but now one day might.

“Beau.” Her voice was groggy.

“Don’t speak. You sound terrible.” He smiled.

“But–”

He pressed his fingers to her lips and shook his head. “Are you cold?” he asked.

She nodded.

He put his hand in the water, allowing the heat to warm the water.

Her firm breasts bobbed toward the surface. The nipples rose above the water like island volcanoes.

Beau was not immune, so he lowered his head, sucking a tan nipple into his mouth. He heard her sharp intake of breath. It only encouraged his assault. He moved toward the other volcano and began torturing the pert bud.

Beau needed Jamie, but she wasn’t ready for him yet. He dipped his hand below the surface and played with heat along her skin. Beau was careful not to generate much, just enough to warm her. He ran his finger over the mounds of her breasts as the mounds flushed beneath his touch. Beau traced his finger over her navel. He loved the way he slipped over her skin. He dipped his hand lower…

I hope you enjoyed this sexy teaser from Fireproof.  Join me on Thursday when we meet Sci-Fi Author, Rebel Miller. ~Tina

Vote for Tina’s NaNo Project!

“Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.”

“Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.”

I’ve always been rather ambitious during NaNoWriMo or National Novel writing month.

I never know what project to pick so I’ve decided to have my friends, family and fans help me decide.  I have four stories rolling around in my head and have yet to put pen to paper, which makes them perfect NaNoWriMo projects.

1) Wind Resistant – Second book my Brave the Elements series.   Chase Ryder from Fireproof will be the hero.

2) Ryder Hard(Working Title) – Begin Flesh for Fantasy Series Book 1- set in Las Vegas BDSM Club Flesh. Cal Ryder from the Caulfield Cowboys will be the first hero.

3) To tempt an Angel – First book in a series about demons who were kicked out of hell and now trying to get back.  Hero is a shoulder demon who must tempt an angel to get back into hell.

4) Children of Chaos – First book in a post-apolcolyptic series where bikers have the only social and military organization to adapt to life without government.  Includes paranormal elements. Heroine is a succubus and old lady in a human biker gang. She must adjust when her old man is killed fighting a rival gang.

You have 48 hours to Vote.   It’s easy.

  1. Vote Below
  2. From the comments, I’ll pick a winner.
  3. Feel free to share, pin, retweet, etc.

I’ll announce the winner on November 1st and of course start writing.   In December I’ll share the first snippets.

Happy Voting.