Reading

Still in a reflective mood what with the holidays and all.  I was thinking when you have time on your hands over holidays or during and after Christmas, do you read something seasonal?  For example last Christmas, I read Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, I think I enjoyed it more because of the time of year I read it.  Have you ever done that?  If not what books do you turn to?  Usual genre? Or something new? I had the opportunity to go to a bookshop the other day, a genuinely lovely experience.  It had a coffee shop and encouraged...

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Thanksgiving is I believe a uniquely American holiday, not one that we really celebrate in the UK, though I have often thought we should.  I like family times and what better reason to get together than to give thanks for what you have.  It is also a good time to reflect on the positives in our lives.  I am thinking here of non-material things such as friends and family.  I often think we should adopt the idea of a Thanksgiving here.  With this theme very much in my mind, I have been reflecting how fortunate I am, my family is...

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Yes punning title, sorry, could not resist.  A friend of mine has just been to a place that I have been longing to go to for ages, the Kennedy Space Center.   I have always been interested in space travel both, fact and fiction, on the screen and in books, to the point of nerdiness.  A cracking read is Tom Wolf’s book, The Right Stuff.  It also made for a classic film.  Another friend appeared on a quiz show, the aim of the show was to find obscure answers to questions.  When my friend came back from the quiz she asked...

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I just wanted to say, Happy Thanksgiving….. I know this is a bit of a cop-out, but it is a holiday, right?   Have a great family time and I wish you all the very best for this festive time. I will just repeat our Black Friday deal! Offering two great deals as our Black Friday offer we are offering two great BVS special offers.  The first deal is Starla Kaye’s Christmas collection, Christmas Love this is two books for the price of one, offer a collection of short Christmas stories, Cowboys in Charge and Holly’s Big Bad Santa. Fantastic seasonal value....

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Offering two great deals as our Black Friday offer we are offering two great BVS special offers.  The first deal is Starla Kaye’s Christmas collection, Christmas Love this is two books for the price of one, offer a collection of short Christmas stories, Cowboys in Charge and Holly’s Big Bad Santa. Fantastic seasonal value. The second deal is Leslie McKelvey ‘ s Accidental Encounters Trilogy, three books for the price of two.  These are great books from a great writer.  We know you will love these great action romance stories.  The Accidental Encounters Trilogy is a series of three action and adventure romance...

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I have talked about taboos before.  This could be the last big one in romantic fiction.  I have been reluctant to talk about this one for a lot of reasons. Why ever did I get onto this as a subject?  Yesterday I was with a group of art workers who were being considered to work with people who have some mental health issues.  It was that that sparked me into talking about this.  The fact that so much of this is hidden.  A subject few want to discuss least of all anyone who is suffering from mental health problems. It...

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It is great to chat with author Carol Schoenig the recipient of a 2017 NYC Big Book Award We all loved your novel The Caretaker at Black Velvet Seductions.  You must be delighted with this recognition? Yes, I am delighted. How did you get nominated for this award? I entered this contest, I sent the manuscript and a month later I was informed that I was one of the winners. Would you mind telling us a bit about your background?  How you started writing and what drew you to romance? My story is very glamorous.  Back in my twenties, I submitted a...

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I would love to hear reader's and writer's views on this.  My take has always been yes, the more I read the better I develop my writing skills.  That is not to say I have any interest in plagiarising other people's work.  I believe to become good at anything, you have to study.  As an artist I study other artists, it doesn’t mean I want to plagiarise them either, it is more seeing how they do something in order to do what I do better.  I think it is the same with writing.  You read others in order to hone...

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2017 NYC Big Book Award Winners We are very pleased and proud to announce that Carol Schoenig romance novel The Caretaker is a winner, in the 2017 NYC Big Book Awards.  We all loved the story here at Black Velvet Seductions and we feel this is a fitting tribute to the hard work Carol put into her lovely story.  All of us here are so thrilled for her.  A bit about the story The Caretaker Phae Carson married young to a husband who was verbally and emotionally abusive. Having two kids by the time she was 20 kept her in the relationship. For...

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