Dance, Dance, and Write by Chelsey M. Ortega

MUSE MONDAY

I love to dance, but I don't have the talent my guest, Chelsey M. Ortega, has. Enjoy her delightful post today on Discover... for Muse Monday.

Nothing opened up the U.S. to ballroom dance like “Dancing with the Stars”. But in my corner of the world, Utah County, ballroom had been popular years before; and popular at Brigham Young University decades before. And with such a long history, it’s not surprising that a handful of DWTS pros every season hail from Utah County; including one of the judges and co-hosts. 

My mom danced through the BYU ballroom program in the ‘80s, and my dad provided the sound system for a local high school’s ballroom concerts in the ‘90s and early 2000s. So, with that as my background, I wanted to be a ballroom dancer. 

My mom signed me up for my first class when I was eleven. My teacher was a lady in our neighborhood who had refurbished her garage into a small dance studio. After a year with her I went on to another studio owned by my dad’s friends. After a year there, I entered secondary school, where ballroom classes and performance teams were offered as elective classes. I spent 7th-12th grade taking technique classes through my school and performing and competing on the school teams. I danced for two years in college, and then chose to focus on starting my family and finishing my academic degree. 

I was good enough to make the teams, but I wasn’t the best dancer on the team. Trying to keep up with
the girls who did have natural raw talent taught me hard work and dedication. Most of my time I started out as an alternate and worked my way onto the team and competition routines. And my Senior year in high school, I made all three competition routines the first time, without needing to start as an alternate. It felt good to earn those spots; and the years of never giving up have bled over into my writing career as I took rejection after rejection, and worked on my writing craft before The Wild Rose Press said yes.  

Today, a little over ten years after I stopped dancing, ballroom dance is still something that I cherish. I cheer on teammates who turned dance into their career, religiously watch DWTS, and dance in my kitchen while I’m cooking and cleaning. Latin is my favorite style: Cha Cha, Samba, Rhumba, Paso Doble, and Jive. With my very favorite Latin dance being the Samba. I discovered my Senior year that I also had a talent for American Smooth: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz; with Viennese Waltz being my favorite -though based on the judges scores, Waltz was my best dance of the four. 

Since dance is no longer a huge part of my current life, I have chosen to live vicariously through my fictional characters. When I was creating Annamaria’s social life, I put her on her high school dance team. But since I placed her in a tiny fictional town in Wyoming, the chances of it being realistic for a ballroom team to be at her high school were slim; so she is on a dance company which covers jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and hip hop. Later on in the story, Annamaria meets two professional ballroom dancers… who are also vampires. The three become good friends, and Annamaria joins their online dancing channel. 

These scenes were some of my favorites to write. I chose the type of dance, picked a song with lyrics that matched the planned message, and choreographed it in my mind. Then, I had to sit down and write it in a way that the reader would be able to see what I saw. And I would like to share with you the Viennese Waltz: 

The first routine was a Viennese waltz. They told the story of a man and woman meeting and falling in love. Tyler and Annamaria portrayed a couple starting off as shy, then blossom into comfortable and loving. The entire process had been so fun, like swaying through clouds. 

The TV showed the preview screenshot of Annamaria with her right arm around Tyler’s neck, the left trailing behind her with her left foot popped. Tyler’s right arm was around her waist, his left trailing behind him. Both leaned away from each other in a frozen twirl. 

The music started, and Annamaria danced into view. Tyler danced in from the opposite direction and the duet began. They spun and swayed, Annamaria’s light blue dress swirling around her, the rhinestones catching the light. For the last verse of the song, Annamaria completed a seamless onstage costume change by using magic to replace her blue dress to a flowing white gown. Their human audience would think it was just superb editing. 

BONDWITCH

Eighteen-year-old Annamaria Lyons has never left her small hometown of Harrison, Wyoming. She has lived with her aunt, Trinity, since her parents died when she was two years old. Trinity has been a wonderful guardian with one exception—she won’t allow Annamaria out of the house after sunset. That is, until the night of senior prom. Annamaria's long-lost sister arrives, bringing with her a world full of hidden family secrets and the supernatural. 

Forced to flee her childhood home without a proper goodbye to her human life and first love, Annamaria immerses herself in the magical world. New friends and a new suitor challenge her original dreams for the future, and when she finds herself caught in the middle of a centuries-old conflict, Annamaria must decide to rise above it or give in to the darkness. 

Bondwitch can be purchased here:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Bondwitch-Chelsey-M-Ortega-ebook/dp/B0CF6H8NYC?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143894193?ean=9781509251940

Bio:

Chelsey M. Ortega is a teacher by day and award-winning author by night. History is her first love, and any story involving magic and romance, her second love. She especially loves witches and is still awaiting her acceptance letter to a well-known school. Chelsey received her Bachelor's in History Teaching from Brigham Young University. In addition to writing, Chelsey teaches high school U.S. History and ELD. She lives in Utah with her husband, three children, and two cats. Follow Chelsey at www.chelseymortega.com.

 

 

 

 

Only in New Orleans by Debby Grahl #NewOrleans #romance #magic

MUSE MONDAY

I absolutely love New Orleans. Debby paints a good picture. Please welcome my guest, Debby Grahl.

New Orleans, known as the Crescent City or the Big Easy, just celebrated its three- hundredth anniversary. It was first settled by the French, then taken over by the Spanish, sold back to the French, who then sold it to the United States.

My husband David and I first visited New Orleans in 1989 and fell in love with the city. I’m a history buff by heart so I found the old Spanish architecture with its wrought iron balconies enchanting. All you have to do is walk the streets of the French Quarter to feel the magic.

There’s a saying, “Only in New Orleans.” And this is so true. As I sat on our hotel balcony sipping a glass of wine and munching on a bag of voodoo chips, I could  see a musician setting up on the corner. Soon the clear sounds of his saxophone filled the night. The smell of spicy gumbo from the restaurant across the street wafted through the air.  The clip clop of a horse- drawn carriage passed beneath me, its driver thrilling his passengers with tales of the ghosts who haunt the city. A man, painted silver, walked along juggling oranges, while a bicycle cab pedaled by. On Bourbon Street, a second line band marched past. A group of laughing tourists carrying red go cups went into a bar, and the long low whistle of a paddle wheeler on the river could be heard.

As I sat there taking it all in, I thought what a wonderful place to set a story. From its diverse people and cultures to its incredible food, such as hot sugary beignets, po boy sandwiches, and crawfish etouffee; every kind of music from funky blues to jazz, rock ‘n roll to country; and Voodoo shops, haunted houses, and above-ground cemeteries.

People claim witches and ghosts walk the streets, and I have to admit sometimes I believe it’s true. It was while touring St. Louis #1, the oldest above-ground cemetery in the city, standing in front of the tomb of the Voodoo queen, Marie Laveau, that the idea for His Magic Touch began. I swear she zapped me. I started feeling faint and had to leave the tour. Now, my husband will tell you it was because of the heat, but I felt fine until we approached her tomb. I think my version is more interesting. I began my research into local witchcraft and hauntings.

The Hotel Monteleone, on Royal Street, is one of the settings I use in the book. Not only known for its Carousel Bar, it’s also one of the most haunted hotels in the city.

I hope His Magic Touch brings a little of New Orleans to life for you, and you’ll get a chance to visit this unique city on the Mississippi.

BLURB

The night before Jared Dupre's wedding, a specter warns him the demonic witch, Adam Montief, has kidnapped his brother in a centuries-old vendetta unknown to Jared. A powerful witch himself, Jared tracks Adam from New Orleans to a remote island off the coast of Connecticut where he's given no choice. He must rescue his brother and break his engagement to Kendra O'Connell, or they both die. After complying, Jared engages in a sword fight and believes he has vanquished his foe, but when he returns to New Orleans, he finds evil still threatens all he loves. Kendra, not knowing why Jared broke their engagement, devastated, finds solace in another's arms. With help from an ancestor's spirit, can Jared defeat the dark magic descending over the Big Easy while winning back the woman he loves? 

EXCERPT

Angelique Montief flicked her wrist and set the bamboo ceiling fan spinning. Kneeling on a woven mat with sweat coating her body, she lifted a small wooden brass-bound casket from the bottom of a large trunk, inserted a gold key, and opened the lid. Inside two objects lay wrapped in thick cloth. She carefully unwrapped the smaller bundle to reveal a pentagonal mirror, a gift handed down to her by her grandmother, its ancient oak frame carved with tiny pentacles. She glanced over her shoulder at her locked bedroom door, then stared into the mirror and whispered, “Show him to me.”

When the glass remained blank, fear clutched at her chest. Again, she said the words, and the image of a plantation house engulfed in flames appeared. “No, please, he can’t be dead.” Tears blurred her vision. The fiery image changed to reveal a human form lying beneath flowering bougainvillea.

Hope rising, Angelique peered closer.

“Show me his face.”

She saw his indigo blue eyes blink open.

“I’m coming, my love.” He couldn’t hear her, but she hoped in his heart he knew she would find a way to get to him.

As the smoke in the room thickened, her time was running out. She rewrapped the mirror and placed it into the smaller casket among cloth bags of herbs and potion-filled vials. Relocking the lid, she hung the key on a chain around her neck, dropped a jeweled dagger into her pocket, and tucked the casket under her arm.

BUY LINK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Debby Grahl lives on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, with her husband, David. Besides writing, she enjoys biking, walking on the beach and a glass of wine at sunset. Her favorite places to visit are New Orleans, New York City, Captiva Island in Florida, the Cotswolds of England, and her home state of Michigan. She is a history buff who also enjoys reading murder mysteries, time travel, and, of course, romance. Visually impaired since childhood by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), she uses screen-reading software to research and write her books.

Her first published book, The Silver Crescent, won the Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers’ Choice award. Her second book, Rue Toulouse, a contemporary romance set in New Orleans, was a finalist in the National Excellence in Romantic Fiction Award and was selected as a May, 2016, ‘local read’ by Hilton Head Monthly.

Decorated to Death is a holiday mystery cozy. She also has stories in three anthologies, The Haunted West, Never Fear/Christmas Terrors; and Ebb and Flow from the local Island Writers’ Network.

Debby was featured in the January, 2016, Hilton Head Monthly article ‘Intriguing People of the Lowcountry’. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Florida Romance Writers, and First Coast Romance Writers.

Her latest book, His Magic Touch, was released December 5, 2018, by Wild Rose Press.

Website: www.debbygrahl.com
Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/debbygrahlauthor
Amazon Author Page -- https://www.amazon.com/Debby-Grahl/e/B00B34HM26
Bookbub -- https://www.bookbub.com/search/authors?search=debby%20grahl
Twitter -- https://twitter.com/DebbyGrahl