The Writer's Dilemma - and a New Release!

'To write or to market on social media, that is the question!' And yes it is a dilemma because I can't seem to do much of the other if I am doing the first, and vice versa.So I lurch about between the two, either losing myself in the angst and passion of a new scene or in the absolute frustration of trying to become a social media guru.
I guess at least I can take comfort from the fact I have come a long way from the technophobe who just used to throw her hands in the air and storm back to her corner with an A4 Subject book and a pen where she could at least understand and control the words on the page.
All that aside, I have just published another book, the first of my Regency Era Historicals. There are four books in the first series, 'Lords of the Matrix Club.' Book 1. 'The Earl of Windermere Takes a Wife' is available for pre-order on Amazon now. Release date 11th May 2016. Here is the link.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENSMA2A
Warning: These are stories of Lords with darkness in their souls and the women who help them find the light. They are sexy, occasionally verging on erotic. You will find profanities where I deemed it likely they would definitely have been used in the powerful emotion of the moment.

Below are a couple of snippets to give you a hint:

Rogan Wyldefell, the Earl of Windermere, had been damaged beyond repair when it came to the intimacies between a man and a woman and he’d vowed never to subject Jassie to that, no matter how his soul hungered for her. She should’ve been his wife long since and a wave of bitterness engulfed him, knowing he could never realize that dream. His only consolation was she’d never accepted any other. He’d not been fair to her, but God help him, if her friendship was all he could ever have, he’d crawl on his belly through acres of enemy infested territory to be with her.

. ‘How long was I supposed to wait? Until we are both old and wrinkled and past caring! I wanted to know! I so longed to know—just once—.’ Jassie cried.

'So within marriage you’re free to seduce him any way you will. But you must consider that if you entice him into your bed, will it be what you want after all? Do you have any idea of what you’re facing, what darkness festers in Windermere’s soul?’

CRYSTAL WARRIOR by Jen YatesNZ. Gut-punched, all he could think was `we've already met and her name is Gina' and he couldn't say that because they all knew they hadn't.Yet he'd stake his life he knew her as intimately as he knew himself, that they were as cosmically matched as clouds to sky.

http://amazon.com/dp/B0197OZPW2

CRYSTAL WARRIOR - by Jen YatesNZ - 1st of 2 books in the 'Crystal Saga'.

"The Warrior Lord, greatest of all the Sons of the Dragon."
Recognition was soul deep, elemental, and centuries old.
But surely, if she'd ever met this lethal weapon carved from flesh and bone she'd not have forgotten.
A woman didn't forget six feet four inches of tanned, muscular, male potency, with eyes that seared to the bone.
Eyes that burned with a deeply accusing ancient knowing.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0197OZPW2

CRYSTAL DANCER - Sequel to Crystal Warrior  - Jen YatesNZ

www.amazon.com/dp/B019A86LHS  

'She belonged to him. His blood surged, his body burned and his mind screamed for her. He knew, even though he slept, he knew she was of the substance of ghosts, but the invisible barrier he would find between them would have the permeability of hardened glass'.

When Life is Stripped to the 'Bare Necessities', what are they?

I was scavenging through my house today looking for items I could give to a friend who is organising a container of relief goods to send to Fiji to help with their recovery after the recent cyclone. The brief is 'whatever you can spare. They have nothing.' What would I really be grateful for if I ever found myself in that situation? Besides the obvious -food, clothing and linen. Kitchen utensils? Absolutely. Pots. Sharp knives. Some odd things came out of my bathroom cupboards - like shower hats from hotel stays (could be used to cover food, carry water), a couple of brand new ordinary toothbrushes - (we both now have dentures). A pair of tweezers and a pair of scissors. Then I thought of the sewing box and all the odds and ends collected there over many years. Buttons, elastic, pins and needles and thread of course. How would you feel to be given a needle and thread so you could mend the only garment you might have been left with? Or dig out a splinter or even sew up a cut? Most households have a myriad of such items excess to actual requirements.
Please find a collection point near you and give whatever items useful for basic survival that you can spare.
Food and medications will be the first things Red Cross and the Relief Authorities will ship in but...
if you were like the folk in Fiji and suddenly found yourself with nothing, what item would you be most grateful for? What would become your greatest treasure?
I think mine might be a sharp knife.

Atlantean Crystal Saga published at last!

I finally have the complete 'Atlantean Crystal Saga' up on Amazon ready for Pre-order.

Book. 1, Crystal Warrior, is the revamped version of 'Through All Eternity', which was my first ever attempt at publishing 3 years ago. Hopefully, I've learnt a bit since then but mostly I am happy to have it published under the title it had from inception.

Book. 2, Crystal Dancer, has not been published before. 

Both are Past Life Travel/Erotic Romances. (Past Life travel works like Time Travel). They start and end in modern times with the characters re-living an ancient lifetime which has enormous relevance for who they are today.

These stories will transport you to places you might never have imagined you'd visit - the end times of Atlantis in Bk.1. and the time of the great Biblical Flood in Bk.2. Together they are an epic read.

'Who are we really?' Or more to the point perhaps, 'Who have we been?' - And could it affect who we are now?

WARNING! These stories are Erotic Romance and contain                                         Explicit Sex scenes.

Crystal Warrior, Bk.1 in Atlantean Crystal Saga.

Crystal Dancer. Bk.2 in Atlantean Crystal Saga.

Coromandel Peninsula, NZ - Place of Magic

Pohutukawa Flowers, New Leaves and Silvery buds.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been born in New Zealand and able to claim these glorious islands as my home. So much of our land is still as ruggedly beautiful and serenely unspoilt as Nature made it and there are many places within our shores to grab your heart and make you gape in wonder.

But for me, the most magical part of 'God's Own' is the Coromandel Peninsula with it's miles of rugged coastline, bush clad hills, gold mining history and summer beaches. Coromandel is about sunshine, holidays, fishing and getting back to nature. And every summer hundreds of NZers head up the Peninsula for the ultimate Kiwi Getaway. staying in tents, caravans, baches and motels. Some probably just sleep in their cars.

One of the landmarks you will see as you begin to climb from Wilsons Bay over the hills to Coromandel Town is the Blessing Buddha. I'm sure he has another name and when you look at him you might see something else entirely, but I rather fancy that rocky outcrop looks like a Buddha and he's waving - or maybe blessing all who travel over the hill in their quest for sun and relaxation.

The Blessing Buddha

The most notable natural phenomena of this time of year is the Pohutukawa Tree, a.k.a the 'NZ Xmas Tree', as it flowers profusely over the Christmas period, cloaking the hills with rich reds and greens and carpeting the roads with crimson as the stamens fall. We usually travel up the Peninsula at New Year by which time the best of the show is over and there are only random trees still flowering and only the ditches alongside the roads are awash in red. I really want to see the glory of full bloom.

So this year we made a special effort and went up before Xmas, hoping to strike it right. But it appears the nickname 'NZ Xmas Tree' is not a misnomer.We were too early! To see the best I guess we'd have to go right at Xmas.

However, the Coromandel delights whenever one goes. Some trees were in bloom, especially some of the dark crimson ones, my favourite. I even found a yellow one! It was just over the bridge going north from Tapu. I can only imagine it's a hybrid someone has planted there for I don't think that colour is found naturally in the wild. (Any specialists in NZ botany out there, please correct me if I'm wrong!) The hillsides, which will soon be richly crimson, are dark green with a silvery sheen, as the new leaves of the pohutukawa are overlaid with a silvery down and the flower buds are silvery white.

A coastal tree, Pohutukawa is not found naturally anywhere else and it grows in the most inhospitable places and with great tenacity. Many of the trees are old and gnarled and have great aerial roots hanging from the branches. For some reason I find them an endless fascination.

Pohutukawa in flower.

Silvery sheen of new leaves and buds.

Gnarly old Pohutukawa clinging to rocks.

Old Pohutukawa with huge aerial roots.

A Yellow Pohutukawa - hybrid?

Pure Coromandel: Pohutukawa, rocks, sea, and rugged bush-clad hills.

However, Manuka, the humble scrub bush which grows everywhere it can get a foothold, was in riotous bloom, so I have included a couple of photos. If you like a dark honey, then try Manuka honey. It is richly aromatic and reputed to have impressive medicinal properties.

Manuka flowering in a gully.

Close up of Manuka flowers.

Manuka has it's own special beauty, despite being much maligned. It is great firewood, burning really hot, and early settlers used it's leaves for tea. Thus, it's common name is 'tea tree'.

We feel short-changed if our Coromandel trip doesn't include a visit to the Driving Creek Cafe. A gloriously alternative concept, offering beautiful food, a meditative atmosphere should you wish for that, peace and natural beauty. The following photos are taken there.