Category: Fantasy
Forsaken Beauty – Now Available!
The long awaited sequel to the USA TODAY BESTSELLING, THIEF OF HEARTS, is NOW AVAILABLE!
A good witch, a dragon sorceress and a princess in danger of losing her soul. All three are destined to play 
a part in the ultimate battle between good and evil.
The good witch, Muriel, has been charged with hiding the infant princess of Lorentia after the child nearly fell into the clutches of the dragon sorceress during her christening. Accompanied by Allan A’Dale, a much too handsome and much too tempting warrior, A’Dale is to be her husband on this sojourn, but in name only. For Muriel must remain chaste in order to retain her power.
The pair must keep the child hidden for sixteen years. Sixteen years of constant temptation. Sixteen years of pretending to be husband and wife while never being allowed to consummate the union. It’s torture in its purest form. But it’s also a necessity, for if Muriel fails to remain pure, her magic will no longer be strong enough to hide the princess from the evil dragon-queen and all of the assassins commissioned to find them. If she fails to keep her feelings at bay, Lorentia will be lost and the continent will be faced with another dragon war.
Muriel cannot fail. Yet a surprise visit from the queen, the child’s mother, sets in motion events that make even the purest of hearts waver.
Available now at Amazon.com. FREE if you are a member of KINDLE UNLIMITED! Pick it up today!
Win an iPad Mini!!!
GOOD NEWS!!!
Love in Disguise, the 7-author, 7-book/novella boxed set that I’m a part of (THIEF OF HEARTS), has broken the top 100 in AMAZON, is an aRE #1 Bestseller and is rated #31 on Barnes and Noble!!!
(Here are the links)
But what you don’t know is that we’re having an awesome CONTEST to help other readers find the $.99 deal and to give it the attention it deserves.
Here’s the deal: When Love in Disguise hits the TOP 50 on Amazon Kindle books and the TOP 10 on Barnes & Noble Nook books, we’re unlocking an amazing prize:
AN iPAD MINI!!!!
Entering the contest is FREE — just tweet, share on Facebook and “Like” us so you know when we have future new releases. That is IT! Enter now!
NEW RELEASE – Love in Disguise Boxed Set
Okay folks. Are you ready for an awesome deal?
I’m very excited to be part of this incredible group of authors who have put together this amazing boxed set. LOVE IN DISGUISE is seven stories with the special sale price of only $0.99, regular value of all these stories is $28.91, YOU SAVE $27.92!!
This is a limited time offer so grab yours now!
The set includes books by New York Times Bestselling Author, Julia Kent and Amazon Bestselling Author, Steena Holmes, as well as, Opal Carew, Cathryn Fox, Vivi Anna, Kate Laurens and of course, DL Snow!
Top 100 on Nook! All Romance eBooks Bestseller! 353,00 words/1,300 pages
Secrets. Masks. Mistaken identity. Fantasies. Past mistakes. LOVE IN DISGUISE brings you SEVEN BOOKS from seven authors who
know how to bring the passion…
Maliciously Obedient by New York Times Bestselling Author, Julia Kent — One playboy CEO. One curvy, determined administrative assistant. One hidden
camera. What could go wrong?
Revealed by Amazon Bestselling Author, Steena Holmes — One moment of passion at the hands of a sexy masked man is about to crumble Eve’s dream of becoming a success as a pastry chef. Will she bury her desire for love or will she look beyond the mask to find the man who ignites a fire in her soul?
The Cinderella Obsession by Opal Carew — Can Vanessa risk falling in love with a man obsessed with a fantasy woman — even though that
woman is her?
The Vampire Affair by Vivi Anna — a unconventional journalist risks everything including her job to get the goods on billionaire businessman Jonathan Devane, a man who enthralled her for a single passionate kiss months prior, a man who makes her blood race, a man with dark secrets…
Torn Between Two Brothers by Cathryn Fox — A case of mistaken identity unveils seductive truths and exposes erotic desires.
Love Me If You Dare by Kate Laurens — Kaylee Sawyer hasn’t been home for three years, but she is determined to come to terms with the mess of her past—and to ignore Dylan McKay, the guy whose single kiss has been tattooed into her mind forever while she does it.
Thief of Hearts by DL Snow — Once a princess, now an assassin. How’s that for a happily ever after? Heartbroken and in disguise, Zaina is left with only one option. She must kill an innocent king if she hopes to save the man she loves.
Add it to your shelf on Goodreads
Buy it at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, KOBO, All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand
An Easy Summer Solstice Meal
I love Summer Solstice. I love the longs hours of sunlight, the fresh scent of new leaves and mown grass after a spring rain. I also love dressing up. So, I look forward to this time of year because some neighbourhood friends host an annual medieval feast on Summer Solstice. We dress up, drink out of pewter goblets, eat with our hands and try to cook as authentically as we can. I’ve used this awesome site, A Boke of Gode Cookery, as my source. It’s put together by James Matterer which he has translated and adapted for the modern cook. According to his website, “James has been preparing medieval food since 1979 and has been working from period sources and creating his own contemporary redactions since 1989. Each recipe here is derived from his own personal experience in the recreation of that dish.”
Tonight, in honour of the approaching solstice, I’m making Mushroom Pasty (very tasty and very easy!) with venison stew (my own recipe). Here’s the original recipe for Mushroom Pasty from A Boke of Gode Cookery:
Mushrooms of one night be the best and they be little and red within and closed at the top; and they must be peeled and then washed in hot water and parboiled and if you wish to put them in a pasty add oil, cheese and spice powder.
– Power, Eileen. The Goodman of Paris (Le Ménagier de Paris). A Treatise on Moral and Domestic Economy by A Citizen of Paris (c. 1395). New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1928.
In the past I’ve also made Bryndons, small cakes simmered in a wine sauce with fruit and nuts (yum, yum!). Here’s the original recipe from A Boke of Gode Cookery:
.xlix. Bryndons. Take Wyn, & putte in a potte, an clarifyd hony, an Saunderys, pepir, Safroun, Clowes, Maces, & Quybibys, & mynced Datys, Pynys and Roysonys of Corauns, & a lytil Vynegre, & sethe it on þe fyre; an sethe fygys in Wyne, & grynde hem, & draw hem þorw a straynoure, & caste þer-to, an lete hem boyle alle to-gederys; þan take fayre flowre, Safroun, Sugre, & Fayre Water, and make þer-of cakys, and let hem be þinne Inow; þan kyte hem y lyke lechyngys, an caste hem in fayre Oyle, and fry hem a lytil whyle; þanne take hem owt of þe panne, an caste in-to a vesselle with þe Syrippe, & so serue hem forth, þe bryndonys an þe Sirippe, in a dysshe; & let þe Sirippe be rennyng, & not to styf.
– Austin, Thomas. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 & Harl. MS. 4016, with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS 55. London: for The Early English Text Society by N. Trübner & Co., 1888.
Here are some pics from our solstice parties!
THIEF OF HEARTS: UNMASKED Available Today!!
I must apologize…
THIEF OF HEARTS: UNMASKED should have been available March 14th, 2012. A last minute cover change meant that it did not go up for sale until today. Although I am thrilled with the new cover, I’m sorry for the delay.
The saga begins with THIEF OF HEARTS: WANTED…
THIEF OF HEARTS: UNMASKED description:
How could Zaina have made such a horrible mistake?
Lord Hood, her good and noble master, hovers between life and death because of Zaina’s betrayal. In order to save him, she must make a deal with a scale-covered-dragon-wielding witch–a potion to heal Hood in exchange for a vow to assassinate a king.
However Zaina may never get the chance to fulfill her mercenary task, for once Hood awakes–healed by black magic–darkness festers inside his soul and Zaina finds herself on the wrong end of the sharp tip of his sword. Not only is she fighting for her life, she must continue to keep her true identity a secret, no matter what her feelings are for Hood. If anyone should find out who she truly is, all those she loves will find themselves at the mercy of a horde of merciless dragons.
Hope you enjoy!
Living After Heart Disease
It was Mother’s Day, 2006—a beautiful spring day in the Okanagan. The air was heavy with the warm scent of blossoms, the buzz of bees and the graceful flutter of butterflies in and amongst the flowerbeds. Ron, Linda and their young son, Kristian, spent the day in their huge yard: cutting the lawn, pruning trees, weeding and playfully arguing over where to plant flowers. They had just bought a used play structure and Kristian—in his ‘big-boy-four-year-old’ way—helped Ron lay it out on the patio, even picking the color of the stain. They had planned to start painting that day; however, Ron was also preparing a wonderful home-cooked meal for Linda and ran out of time. He was confident he would get to it soon. 
After dinner, Ron finished up some work on the computer and went to bed around 11pm, complaining of feeling tired. Linda followed and while Ron fell asleep right away, Linda laid in bed, day-dreaming about all of their exciting reno projects. A short time later, Ron cried out in his sleep and sat up. At first, Linda thought he was having a nightmare, something that had been happening quite a bit, of late. What quickly became apparent was that this was not a nightmare.
This was something much worse.
Flipping on the light, Linda stood helplessly as her husband experienced a massive heart attack. The way she describes it, it was like he was wrestling an elephant off of his chest. His mouth was foaming and his eyes rolled back in his head. After a panicked call to 911, she did her best to calm him while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
The first responder was the fire department. Unfortunately they did not have a defibrillator with them and were unable to do anything, except move him to the living room. By this time, Ron was unconscious. Linda has a vague memory of this time, of making phone calls, of neighbors and friends arriving and of talking to her unconscious husband, waiting precious minutes (that seemed like hours) for the paramedics.
As soon as the paramedics arrived, they rushed Ron to the hospital, but despite their efforts, it was too late. Ron could not be revived.
“I felt so helpless,” Linda says. “I felt like I should have tried something to save him. But I couldn’t…” she chokes up as she recalls that night. Even six years later, the experience haunts her. “It was so much more violent than I’d ever imagined. I’ve heard all these stories of people simply going to sleep and never waking up. It wasn’t like that for Ron. It seems so unfair.”
Ron was only 55 when he passed away so suddenly in the night. He was a victim of heart disease, a genetic condition that took the life of his grandfather, father and older brother. His father was only 42, his brother 38 when they passed away. Ron was with his grandfather, working out on the farm, when he died. Ron tried to resuscitate him; he was only 16 at the time.
“We knew he had this condition,” Linda tells me. “But we just lived our lives, I mean you can’t carry on your life waiting for death.” In fact, if you had met Ron, you would never have guessed he had a heart condition. He was vibrant and fit, looking much younger than his years. Linda, a massage therapist, was a conscientious cook, making sure to keep their meals healthy and heart-smart.
But at the end of the day, there was nothing they could do.
Six years later, Linda has courageously carried on, changing careers and raising Kristian on her own. She misses Ron every single day and grieves, not only for the loss of her husband, but for the loss of her son’s father. “Kristian was only four when Ron died. There were so many things Ron wanted to do with him, share with him.” 
Linda is one of the bravest women I know and she is also one of my dearest friends. I will never be able to understand how helpless she felt that night. To a much lesser degree, I’ve often felt helpless wishing I could do more for her as she has struggled to come to terms with ‘life after heart disease’.
So, in my own small way, I have dedicated, Thief of Hearts: Wanted to the memory of her husband, Ron. It’s a fantastical retelling of the story of Robin Hood – which is fitting because Ron was the kind of guy who would give his last dollar to someone living on the streets. In the same spirit, I will be donating $1 from every book sold between February 14th 2012, and March 14, 2012 to The Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Is Self-Publishing for Me?
There is a craze taking hold of the publishing industry; the self-publishing craze. If you aren’t aware of it, then you’re an even bigger hermit than I am (but if that describes you, you probably aren’t reading this…you’re probably sitting and writing and not perusing blogs!) It was only a year or two ago that, as a fiction writer, self-publishing was a dirty word.
Now it’s a buzz word.
The question is, is self-publishing for you?
I am not an expert. I have a novella published with a reputable e-book first publisher (Samhain Publishing) and another novella coming out with a different e-publisher (Carina Press). I have self-published one title (Siren’s Song) and am about to release a trilogy called Thief of Hearts, a fantastical retelling of Robin Hood, where Little John is a woman in disguise.
But, like I said, I am far from being an expert. However, I do want to share my philosophy and thoughts on self-publishing.
First of all, I can honestly say that self-publishing a novella with plans of publishing more has completely altered my way of thinking about writing and given me the motivation to press on in a difficult-to-break-into industry during a difficult economic climate. I have never written more and never had more ideas. This sort of enthusiasm is manna to a writer and is the sort of excitement that is extremely hard to maintain while waiting months and often years to hear back from editors and agents.
As a writer, I consider myself to be an artist. Yet, in what other medium do we expect people to create art and then hide it away until someone recognizes them? Painters, sculptors and photographers have webpages, put on art shows and sell their work while waiting for big galleries to pick them up. Musicians produce CDs and accept money for gigs–some play on street corners, some in clubs, some at weddings and functions–while waiting to make it to the ‘big time’. Why is it any different for writers?
In my opinion, it shouldn’t be.
Which brings me to my next point. Because I’ve embraced self-publishing as an option, does that mean I have given up on traditional publishing avenues?
NO!
Diversification is the key. The principal of diversification is not exclusive to writing. As any financial planner will tell you, an investor should have a diversified portfolio. If one area of their investment takes a nose dive, they’ve got other investments to keep their portfolio healthy. For years, coaches and personal trainers have preached the importance of cross-training in order to keep the body balanced and free from repetitive strain injuries. There are countless sayings that speak to this issue; don’t put all your eggs in one basket, variety is the spice of life…
Okay. You get the picture.
Therefore, it is my belief that a balanced approach to self-publishing is the way to go. I am going to continue submitting to agents and editors, both at larger houses and small presses. In the meantime, I’m going to build my name with some self-published titles. I have a plan and that is the important point. There are parts of my plan that I have control over, there are parts where I have no control. But I have a plan. If you decide to take this approach, don’t do it willy nilly. In fact, that’s the joy of self-publishing; as an author, you now have the opportunity to create a business plan and follow through on that plan without completely being at the mercy of the market, a publisher, an editor, an agent and so on.
Keep in mind, however, that what is equally important, of course, is quality. Don’t be fooled, self-publishing is hard work. Yes, you are in control, but you are also responsible for everything, that includes the quality of your work–is it good enough? Is it marketable? Is it professional? The quality of your cover. The quality of your formatting and promotions. It’s all up to you. If your book succeeds it is all due to your hard work. If it doesn’t succeed to the degree you’d hoped, well…
Slayer Reviewed by Manic Readers – 4.5/5 Stars
Thanks to Sabine from Manic Readers for her wonderful review of SLAYER. To check out the full review, click here.
Here’s an excerpt of the review. “This was a great story with a sense of humor and though it didn’t have the numerous love scenes you normally associate with Samhain books, that wasn’t what it was all about. When Brea and Cahill finally did make love it was a very powerful scene, which was made even more poignant by the fact that Brea gave herself to Cahill in body, but she still couldn’t/wouldn’t be his wife. A fairy tale of sorts that is definitely worth the read, even if you just want to find out what happens to the remaining dragon and the evil step-mother—they always get their comeuppance and let’s just say that this one got a whole lot more than she bargained for! Loved it!”
Release Day is Here!
It’s been a whirlwind, but release day for Siren’s Song is finally here!
Siren’s Song can be purchased at Amazon.com (for Kindle) or Smashwords.com if you have a different e-reader.
Check out Bandit Creek Books for upcoming releases, Penny Candy and Hard Candy, by Jade Buchanan and Devil Unknown by Steena Holmes.
Author D.L.Snow 