Welcome to my weekly feature where authors share about the hobbies, careers, or passions of their characters.
I’m pleased to introduce today’s guest, Dan Rice…
Author Dan Rice – Photography in my New Release: The Blood of Faeries
Since college, I’ve been passionate about photography—specifically, anything nature-related. The photo bug bit me while visiting Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. I recall being impressed by the refined beauty of Delicate Arch, which is often seen on postcards and advertisements promoting the area. But what blew my mind was a book I picked up at the visitor center, Our National Parks by Ansel Adams. I was addicted.
This was in the early 2000s, so digital photography was relatively new. I spent several years shooting slide film and scanning slides with a film scanner. Not the ideal workflow, let me tell you. The scanners weren’t the best back then, and dust was a great annoyance. Switching to digital was a godsend, although it didn’t eliminate the dust problem. Every time you change a lens on the camera, there is an opportunity for dust to invade. However, the overall workflow is vastly improved with digital photography, and the cost of film is eliminated.
I’ve had great fun hiking and traveling with my camera. In the summer of 2021, my older son and I visited Yellowstone and the Tetons. Both are superb locations for landscape and wildlife photography. It was a memorable trip for both of us. At the time, he was trying out photography for himself and was obsessed with snagging photos of a bear and a wolf. He got his wish, capturing both in Yellowstone.
In my novels, Dragons Walk Among Us and The Blood of Faeries, the protagonist, Allison Lee, is a high schooler with dreams of becoming a photojournalist. She shoots photos for her school’s online news source and rarely leaves the house without her camera. In Dragons Walk Among Us, her photography plays an essential role in the plot as she attempts to capture photographs of antagonistic characters who might not be from this world. In the sequel, her photography doesn’t play a prominent role in the plot, but it is still central to her characterization.
I decided to make Allison a photo bug because I believe in writing what you know. Photography is an activity I know quite a bit about, so it’s easy to impart that characteristic to Allison. She spends most of her time behind the camera photographing high school basketball, her squad, and a street protest. I’ve never photographed a basketball game, but I have taken thousands of snaps of my sons playing soccer. The protest Allison photographs is far and away wilder than anything I’ve experienced. However, a few months before the pandemic resulted in a lockdown in my neck of the woods, I participated in and photographed a woman’s march. It’s not my typical photographic event, but it was invigorating to document it.
Writing about photography in my fiction is a fantastic way to share my passion with more people. Also, it adds a sense of verisimilitude to Allison that would otherwise be difficult to achieve without time-consuming research. For the busy author, time is a priceless currency.
Sometimes there’s no going back.
Blurb
Allison Lee wilts under the bright light of celebrity after being exposed as a shape-shifting monster. She’d rather be behind the camera than in front of it. Being under the tooth and claw of her monstrous mother is even less enjoyable. All she desires is for everything to go back to the way things were before she discovered her true nature.
But, after she accidentally kills a mysterious man sent to kidnap her, she realizes piecing her old life back together is one gnarly jigsaw puzzle. When Allison’s sometimes boyfriend Haji goes missing, Allison and her squad suspect his unhealthy interest in magic led to his disappearance. Their quest to find Haji brings them face-to-face with beings thought long ago extinct whose agenda remains an enigma.
Excerpt:
“This is the Seattle PD,” booms an announcement from a loudspeaker. “Do not attempt to breach the police line.”
Like everyone else, I turn toward City Hall. I stand on my tiptoes but can’t see much. The vanguard of protesters is within feet of the police line. When I turn back to where I expect to find Drake, he’s gone. The march has slowed almost to a stop. People gather in small groups chanting and dancing. Sunlight glinting off her copper scales, Mauve towers above the crowd off to the left at least twenty feet behind me.
“We the people demand the mayor take measures to make Seattle carbon neutral now!” someone shouts into a bullhorn. “Come on, everyone. Let’s make sure Mayor Andretti hears us! Carbon neutral now! Carbon neutral now!”
The chant reverberates through the crowd, growing into a roar. I join the chanting and shoot pictures of young people screaming and waving signs. I dart between people, desperate to take photos of the action up front.
“In fact,” roars the voice from the bullhorn, “we want Seattle to be carbon negative! We want Seattle to be the capital of carbon capture technology! Invest in carbon capture technology now, Mayor Andretti! Before it’s too late!”
The mob repeats: “Carbon capture! Carbon capture!”
I weave between clusters of protesters, occasionally brushing against people. The screaming and sign waving are riotous near the frontline. I stop and snap more photos, zooming all the way out to 20 mm and getting up in peoples’ screaming faces. A couple people give me offended glares, but most are too caught up in the moment to notice me. As I continue onward, I review the photos on the camera’s LCD. A few are wicked. I can see teeth and spittle and tongues and wild eyes while still having a view of the seething mass all around. I smile when I break through the crowd to the frontline.
A handful of brave souls are yelling in the faces of stoic riot police lined up on the lower steps leading to City Hall. A tall man with a bushy beard, reflective aviator sunglasses, and a red bandanna wrapped around his head shouts into a megaphone, leading the crowd in climate protest mantras. Off to the left are the drummers, frenetically thumping on their instruments. I start shooting and keep shooting until my SD cards are full.
Buy link(s):
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPLHTWSP
- Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-blood-of-faeries-the-allison-lee-chronicles-book-2-by-dan-rice
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64682970-the-blood-of-faeries
Bio:
DAN RICE pens the young adult urban fantasy series The Allison Lee Chronicles in the wee hours of the morning. The series kicks off with his award-winning debut, Dragons Walk Among Us, which Kirkus Reviews calls, “An inspirational and socially relevant fantasy.”
To discover more about Dan’s writing and keep tabs on his upcoming releases, join his newsletter: https://www.danscifi.com/newsletter.
- Website: https://www.danscifi.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanSciFi
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRiceWrites
- BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/dan-rice
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danricewrites/
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@danricewrites
A gunman’s word is his bond, and a lady’s heart can shatter.
Hi, readers. I’m Belle Hamlin, the heroine from Amber Daulton’s new romantic suspense novel, Arresting Benjamin. I’m excited to talk about my greatest passion—playing music. It’s also my career, but the money I make from it dumps it into the hobby category. Yep, that’s right. I’m a struggling musician with a dreaded day job at an insurance company that is sucking the life out of me.
I live in Denver, Colorado, but I travel all across the state for a paying gig. I mostly play at bars and clubs, but sometimes I perform covers of classic songs for weddings, birthdays, and funerals. I can’t afford to be picky when it comes to a reputable gig. You’ll often find my best friends—Mia, Chanel, and Shea—running the merchandise table for me at a bar. They’re my biggest supporters. (By the way, have you checked out their oh-so-sexy books yet? You can find them 
With enemies at every turn, how will they survive with their lives and love intact?
Blurb
A one-night stand, a surprise baby, and a mysterious stalker.
Mechanic Benjamin Starwell can’t stop thinking about Belle Hamlin, the ballsy musician he slept with and skipped out on months earlier. He never meant to get her pregnant, but he’ll do whatever it takes to win back her trust and be a part of his child’s life. His desire for Belle drives him to be a better man, but he’s worn thin with a garage to run and his estranged sister dumping her troubles on him.
Belle’s juggling impending motherhood, her indie rock career, and a stalker who’s determined to see her fail. Even though she’s desperate to get her priorities straight, she pushes aside her past hurt and welcomes Benji back into her bed. She never expects him to slip into her heart.
When the danger escalates, they face the greatest challenge of all—protecting their unborn child.
Excerpt:
Benji’s heart pounded harder as Belle strutted onto the stage from a rear door. Her hips swayed with a ba-dum beat as her hair flapped behind her shoulders. Was there an air vent above her? Dark eye shadow, mascara, and a dark slash of blush on her cheeks deepened her sultry eyes. Her lips swelled like a juicy plum. God, was her lipstick purple? Burgundy, maybe? She bent over, showing off her fine ass, and plugged her acoustic-electric guitar into the amp.
A baby-faced gopher carried a stool and a water bottle to the middle of the platform.
She patted him on the back and stared out at the crowd.
Several men ogled her, despite the baby bump. Their lady friends laughed, but some frowned and slapped the guys’ arms.
Wow. Benji swallowed hard. What he wouldn’t do to unzip her knee-high leather boots, pull down her stockings, and flip up her short pleated skirt? Her red sleeveless blouse emphasized the breasts he couldn’t wait to suckle.
“Hiya, Tempes lovers! How ya doin’? Thanks for coming out in this cold weather.” Her voice echoed through the speakers. The lights lit Belle and the stage in a soft white glow. She strummed the guitar, testing it, as the audience shouted. “I’m Belle Hamlin, and this badass girl is Matilda.” She held up the sunburst-finished instrument. “We’ll rock you for the next hour, so let’s get started.” She ignored the stool, jumping into a song as her fans applauded. Deep, rumbling chords reverberated from the guitar and speakers.
“She’s starting with ‘Stay True’.” Chanel clapped. “It’s my favorite.”
“This is rock-and-roll. She sang folk and singer/songwriter-type stuff the night we met.” He bit his lip as her friends stood and danced in place.
“What did you expect? She’s a solo female artist sandwiched between testosterone-filled rock bands. She has to up her game.” Shea tapped his CD case and flashed a grin. “Give it a whirl later. Belle is a cross between Melissa Etheridge, Stevie Nicks, and Eric Clapton. Her guy issues and social opinions bleed into her songs.”
Wonderful. Guy issues. He had his work cut out for him.
Buy links:
Only .99 cents until October 18, 2022
Universal link – 
Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic-suspense series Arresting Onyx and several standalone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.
Find out more here: 
My two novellas in the Zodiac Encounters Anthology feature a funky, woo-woo crystal shop in a Washington State beach town. Customers come to Madame Zora’s Psychic Emporium for tarot, palm, and aura readings, or to buy all sorts of esoteric gear like books, crystals, figurines, and don’t forget the tie-dyed socks!
I love browsing this kind of hippie-dippy shop and dabbling in divination. As a teen, I learned palmistry—mainly because my best friend learned to read tarot cards and I wanted a cool party trick like hers. Recently I bought my own tarot deck and am slowly learning how to use them. Fascinating!
A hippie mama at heart, imagine my delight when I was invited to participate in a steamy, astrology-themed romance anthology! My two signs are Capricorn and Taurus, paired with a Scorpio and an Aquarius, respectively, so I had to learn lots about these star signs. I also got my own natal chart done just for kicks. About 80% was spot on, while the rest left me scratching my head. I’m a Leo with Capricorn rising and a Taurus moon! Coincidence? Or a nudge from the universe?
Gemma, my Aquarius heroine, works in her Aunt Zora’s crystal shop, so of course I expanded my crystal collection while writing her story—to add authentic detail, and because pretty rocks are cool! I’ve got carnelian and clear quartz crystal for mental clarity, rose quartz to balance energy, rainbow flourite for productivity and creativity, amber for healing, aragonite for homesickness, labradorite to temper negativity, and amethyst for decision making. The latter also protects from drunkenness, in case I’m every tempted to drink while writing! So far, that’s not a problem, but you never know…
My theory about crystals: just knowing that a certain stone is supposed to help with a certain problem will focus your intentions and actions toward solving that problem. Woo woo? Not necessarily. After moving from Washington State to Las Vegas, I was terribly homesick and having a hard time seeing the pluses of living here. Placing that chunk of aragonite (small brown crystal at 7 o’clock in the photo) on my nightstand and holding it every night and morning, my homesickness has eased—probably because I set the intention of letting go of those sad feelings.
So, I hope you’ll enjoy Madame Zora’s crystal shop and the help she provides to the characters in Capricorn and Taurus. Zodiac Encounters is on sale for just 99¢ (ebook only) for a limited time, so grab your copy from your favorite online bookseller! Universal Book Link: 
About Maria:
Maria Imbalzano is a retired matrimonial lawyer who now writes full time. Instead of drafting motions, legal memoranda, and briefs, although fascinating, she now spends her days creating memorable characters and taking them on their emotional journeys through her contemporary romance novels.
Her novel, “Unchained Memories,” won the Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers’ Award and the ACRA Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award. “Sworn to Forget,” the first of the four-book Sworn Sisters Series was a finalist for the illustrious RONE award as well as the Book Buyers Best Award. Two of her novellas, “The Blueberry Swirl Waltz” and “A Song For Another Day” won first place awards in their categories in the NEST (National Excellence in Story Telling) contest. Both of these novellas were also finalists for the Beverley Award.
Visit Maria at 
Author Alicia Dean 