Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "The Gambler"

Thank you so much for supporting Jillian during her week in the spotlight. Leave a post today, Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday I'll pick a name from random to receive a PDF copy of Jillian's book "The Gambler" and a mousepad. Don't forget to leave your email so I can get a hold of you if you win. Enjoy the excerpt!

Smiles
Moderator Steph

***********


The man grabbed her by the shoulders. "Whoa there, filly. This ain't no horse race here, Ma'am."

She jerked back from him as if his hands had burned her. "Sorry, sorry."

He didn't let go. If anything, his grip got tighter. "Where's the fire? I want to steer clear of it."

Eden tried to jerk away from him as her two sisters came off the elevator themselves. As soon as the man saw the twins, he let go of her abruptly. She staggered across the lobby trying to catch her balance.

The man looked Lilith and Eve up and down. "My, my, what do we have here? Double my pleasure?" His grin showed his dimples. Very deep dimples that Eden tried to ignore.

Lilith said, "We're Lilith and Eve McGill. Twins, if you couldn't tell." She simpered and struck a pose. She patted her small hat perched over her left eye.

"Lilith and Eve? How interesting." He tipped his hat and bowed. "Your mum and dad disagree on who was Adam's wife?"

Lilith's smile got larger. "They almost caused the Reverend to have a heart attack when they named me Lilith. People think it's sacrilege." She stopped and patted her hair. "Guess the name fits. I'm a little bit sacrilege myself."

Eden had recovered herself and stalked over to Lilith. "Stop it, Lil. Mum will kill me if I let you go wild, child." She took Lilith's arm. "Come on. Let's go and leave this"- she looked the man up and down- "gentleman"- she paused for effect,-"alone."

The man looked down at the shorter Eden. "Who are you? You're too young to be the mother. So, who could you be?" He put his index finger to his chin and tapped it. "Hmm. Maybe the serpent?" He slapped his forehead with his hat. "No. You can't be. The serpent liked to lead people into sin. You seem like the prude of the group." He turned back to Lilith. "Who's the wet rag?"

Eden gasped at his rudeness as Lilith laughed out loud. "That would be the big sister, Eden. Eden, bossy britches, McGill to be exact."

The man laughed louder. "Eden? Really, your parents are a bit insane, aren't they? They couldn't get past Genesis?"



Find me on the web:

http://www.jillianchantal.com
https://twitter.com/#!/JillianChantal

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs6epy_ixY
Buy link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-286/Gambler's-Inheritance-Book-One-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Jillian Chantel casts her hero!

My hero in this story is based on the British actor, Jeremy Northam. This actor first came to my attention in 1995 when he played the villain in The Net with Sandra Bullock. I have this terrible habit of digging the bad guys in the movies (I mean, really, who would want Kevin Costner when you could have Alan Rickman?)

Anyway, back to Jeremy Northam. He was such a sexy, handsome bad guy in that film, I fell in love with him. Soon enough, he played a good guy, Mr. Knightley in Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow. I fell harder for him with that film. A fan was born and I’ve followed his career since then. He has a great filmography and I recommend checking him out.



My Dirk looks like Jeremy in my head. I like the reader to find the hero’s looks in his or her own mind, but when I think of Dirk McSwain, it’s Jeremy Northam I see.


Find me on the web:

http://www.jillianchantal.com
https://twitter.com/#!/JillianChantal

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs6epy_ixY
Buy link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-286/Gambler's-Inheritance-Book-One-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Jillian Chantel shares her thoughts on New Orleans

New Orleans is one of my favorite places to visit and when I started to write The Gambler, I knew I wanted my hero to hail from that city- there is so much to draw from, that I couldn’t resist. The place is replete with history and awesome buildings. It’s the most European city that we have in this country. I live about two and a half hours from it and visit all the time. I’ve always loved the houses on St. Charles Avenue and the surrounding area called the Garden District. In this city, there are cemeteries, shotgun houses (called that because if a gun was shot through the front door, the bullet would go all the way through the house and out the back door), and on Magazine Street, a plethora of antique/junk shops.

This city is full of wonderful restaurants and bars. You can listen to music- blues, zydeco, jazz, etc, any time of the day or night. There’s nothing like the life in this place. There is always something going on. Travel around Jackson Square and have your fortune told, your picture painted, a caricature drawn, ride in a horse drawn carriage, take a vampire tour, or just people watch. It’s a haven for a writer. All the senses are engaged.



Three other not to be missed places are the Café Du Monde where you can eat the delicacies called beignets, the free ferry ride across the river to Mardi Gras World where you can check out all the awesome floats, and last, but not least, the aquarium or the zoo.

If you’ve never been to this city on the Mississippi River, you need to make a trip. It’s a veritable cornucopia of the human race.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs6epy_ixY

Find me on the web:

http://www.jillianchantal.com
https://twitter.com/#!/JillianChantal

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs6epy_ixY
Buy link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-286/Gambler's-Inheritance-Book-One-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Jillian Chantel shares her thoughts on the Queen Mary

I visited the Queen Mary and spent two nights on board as part of my research for this story, The Gambler. My cousin and I had a wonderful time. We took two tours, the behind the scenes one and the ghost tour. We each had our cameras and caught some orbs on them. One was particularly well defined. There is a story that a child drowned in the pool and haunts the area. We caught an orb in there. We heard a lot of ghost stories on the tour and it was very sad to think that souls may be stuck there.

We had two experiences that may or may not have been paranormal. One, I’m convinced was not a dream and the other was an air conditioner issue that may just be a glitch in the system.

Our room at the back of the ship kept getting colder and colder. It was March so it was still kind of cool anyway in Southern California, but we couldn’t get our room warm at all. I finally called the front desk and they sent down a maintenance man. He walked in, looked around and said, “Oh yeah, this is that room.”


We asked what he meant and he said that no matter how many times they’d come down to fix the thermostat, that it reverses itself. So, in order for us to be warm, we had to turn the air conditioner on the coldest it would go and to be cool, we’d have to turn on the heat. How wild is that?

The other experience was mine. It was about three a.m. I was sound asleep and suddenly, very loud, right in my ear, was a sound, “psst, psst.” I turned over, thinking it was my cousin who was trying to get my attention. Nope. She was sound asleep, facing the other direction with her ear plugs in. So, I leapt up and went in the bathroom. I paced around and then said out loud, “Go away, I don’t have time to talk to you. I need to sleep.” Then I went back to sleep with no other disturbances.

I didn’t tell my cousin about the experience until we were in the airport. She said thank God I didn’t because she would’ve ran out of the room and never went back. I somehow knew that. LOL.


Find me on the web:

http://www.jillianchantal.com
https://twitter.com/#!/JillianChantal

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs6epy_ixY
Buy link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-286/Gambler's-Inheritance-Book-One-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Jillian Chantel

STEPH: I don't know much about "The Gambler." What's it about?

JILLIAN: The Gambler is a romance/murder mystery which takes place on the Queen Mary, an ocean liner that sailed the seas from 1936-1967. The ship is beautiful and was the epitome of grace and first class service in her early years. Eventually, she was used as a war ship in World War II and then restored to her former glory and sailed as a luxury liner again. I am fascinated by the old liners as well as the early to mid part of the twentieth century, so I wanted to set a story on this ship. This is the first in a series of three books and this one is set in 1937 when the ship was at the height of its glory and all the rich and famous wanted to be on-board. The story centers around a young man named Dirk McSwain who has a talent for winning at cards. His home is in danger of foreclosure so he books passage on the Queen Mary to win big. He gets more than he bargains for when he meets three Irish sisters and one of the passengers on board dies after an altercation with him.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

JILLIAN: The first draft took about a month.

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

JILLIAN: I had to research the history of the Queen Mary and actually spent two nights on-board the ship in March of 2011. I took the behind the scenes tour as well as the ghost tour. It was very educational but I got a little bogged down when it came time to write the story as I kept trying to weave in too much of the research. I had to finally realize that I needed to let some of it go as the reader didn’t want a map of the ship or a history lesson. Once I let that go, the story flowed better.



STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

JILLIAN: It’s very much like the men’s card room I pictured on the ship. There were ladies’ areas of the ship and men’s areas as well. The classes as well as the sexes were separated a lot in that era. The men had separate rooms for smoking and gambling.

STEPH: Eden is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

JILLIAN: Eden has strengths she doesn’t know she has. She’s the elder sister by three years of her stunning sisters who happen to be twins. Eden has lived her life in their shadow and has no idea of what she has to offer the world. She also has a psychic gift that has caused her family to treat her as a freak. She has a great wit and is a quick thinker. She’s a champion swimmer and loves to compete.

STEPH: What does Dirk find appealing about her?



JILLIAN: Initially, Dirk is blinded by the beauty of the twin sisters and sees them as targets for his get rich quick scheme- he plans to play cards with them and win some money to help with his dilemma. When he dances with Eden and realizes she is quite intelligent, his feelings start to change. When he realizes she’s got a psychic gift, his admiration for her increases. They eventually team up to solve the mystery of the death of the passenger and grow closer as a result of this work.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

JILLIAN: As I wrote the story, I was surprised to find that the story actually has a Cinderella theme. It’s also a story about acceptance of the gifts God gives to each of us, no matter how much the world at large may think that your gift is not a gift.

STEPH: As a writer, where do you draw inspiration from?

JILILAN: Everywhere. In fact, I have a dear friend right now who is in the midst of new love at age 52 and she is giddy with it. Her new love is so romantic and supportive of her, I’m planning to steal some of the wonderful things he’s done for her for my next book.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

JILIAN: I have the Sony and I also have the Kindle app on my Ipad as well as Ibooks.


STEPH: Fun question: What are your plans for spring?

JILLIAN: I just got back from the Romantic Times Convention in Chicago. It was fun but exhausting. I met a lot of the Desert Breeze authors there and that was awesome. My only other plans for spring are to travel to Texas for my cousin’s son’s graduation from law school. He’ll be the second lawyer in the family besides me and I’m super proud of him.

Find me on the web:

http://www.jillianchantal.com
https://twitter.com/#!/JillianChantal

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIs6epy_ixY
Buy link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-286/Gambler's-Inheritance-Book-One-cln-/Detail.bok

DB Authors Speak up! What they were for Halloween

Enjoy this fun post as several DB authors talk about Halloween.




SADIE & SOPHIE CUFFE
Authors of: Arrow that Flies
"Sadie and I decided to dress up as farmer/writers, just for the day. hahaha. If we wore costumes, the goats would freak out! Although it would've been fun to dress up the goats... hmmmm, I'm thinking Nigerian Dwarf Unicorns. LOL."





CELIA YEARY
Author of: Texas Promise and Texas True
"I'm going to be a woman with silver hair sitting in my jammies with my feet up on my recliner, with a glass of red wine, my Kindle open to a Western Historical romance, and watching--half-heartedly--whatever we decide to watch on TV. P.S.We live in the country--it's dark as a dungeon out here--no street lights--our house sits back in trees--no Trick-or-Treaters come to our house."



BARBARA SCOTT
Author of: Talk of the Town and West of Heaven
"This year I have door duties. so I will not be anything. My most memorable Halloween was when I was Miss Piggy. I could not wear my glasses due to the pig nose and to stay in character. I was going to a party at a co-worker's I'd never been to before. I arrived and did not recognize anyone at the party. I was given a drink. Everyone complimented me on my costume. It wasn't until 20 minutes later when no one who came in was familiar that I finally realized I was at the wrong house. My co-worker lived three houses down the street!"




STEPHANIE BURKHART
Author of: Danube in Candlelight and Victorian Scoundrel
"I was going to go as Spongebob (and I still might because time is not on my side) But I got everything I need - including a blonde wig - to be Daenerys from Game of Thrones. I even got the dragons."




JILLIAN CHANTEL
Author of: Redemption for the Devil
"I'm going as a 1920s Gatsby girl. We're dressing up at work. I actually told a friend I got a great Gatsby dress and then realized my unintentional pun. Lol."






DANIELLE THORNE
Author of: The Privateer and By Heart and Compass
"I'm going as a voodoo witch, or Tia Dalma, from Pirates of the Caribbean. I dyed
my hair brown and rolled it in dreadlocks. Crazy, but fun. We "act" at our
neighborhood Haunted Mansion which also features pirate ships and now a swamp
with Tia Dalma's hut."







MARION KELLEY BULLOCK
Author of: Christmas Stranger and He Wants Me Dead
"Several years ago, I was "Bashful, the clown," stretchy face and all. In our parade, I I danced in the street. Can't manage that now. It almost did me in back then. But it was fun!"


So...fess up. What were you for Halloween?
Smiles
Steph

Author Spotlight -Excerpt from Redemption For the Devil

Jillian has offerd to share this excerpt with us from "Redemption for the Devil." She's also giving away a cruise magnet and a copy of the ebook. One winner will receive the ebook, the other the cruise magnet. Leave a comment on any post over the course of Jillian's week on the blog with your email address. Winners will be announced here on the blog and on the Desert Breeze Connections Loop on the following Monday, 1 August.
Smiles!
Moderator Steph

**********

The two men Rena talked about noticed them and crossed the floor to where Peg and Rena stood. The taller one said, "I'm Devlin Cosgrove and this is me mate, Liam Cormac. And you ladies are..."

"Ooh, Peg, they's from your homeland. Hear that accent?" Rena said with glee.

Peg made eye contact with the two men. "Where do ye live?"

Devlin sketched a bow. "We hail from Dublin, Miss Peg. You?"

She said, "Cork."

Liam lifted one eyebrow and said, with a leer, "Let me guess. Your friend called you Peg. But you're really Miss Mary Margaret Whatever, nice Irish Catholic girl, go by Peg to seem informal but wouldn't open your legs for a man without a wedding ring, right? That sum it up?"

Peg gasped, stunned that a man she'd just met made such a statement. She wasn't so shocked as to be paralyzed, though, and she smacked him across the mouth, the sound carrying a bit even in the loud room. "How rude you are. You're not a nice man."

"Never said I was, did I ma'am? I can tell by the dress you have on, the thick stockings and the long hair braided on top of your head that you're wound tighter than the ropes holding this ship to its berth. I've been around the Catholics enough to know how rigid the women can be. Good luck to the man that tries to pull your dress over your head." With that last comment, Liam bowed at them, stalked off across the room and straight to a girl with bobbed hair and in a flapper-style dress.

"Well, Gor! What an ass your friend is," Rena said to Devlin.

Devlin said, "Ignore him, he's a bit uncouth. He's back in society after a three or four year break. Forgot how to talk to women. Especially the Catholic ones, Protestant yob that he is."

"Was he in prison?" Rena asked in a whisper.

"Not for me to say," Devlin replied with a shrug. "Now, what's your name?"

"I'm Rena Comstock."

"Rena, will you dance with me?" asked Devlin.

"Sure I'll dance. I love the Charleston." She turned to Peg. "You don't mind, do ye?"

"No," Peg said. "Go, have fun."

Peg headed to the bar and ordered a straight Paddy's Irish whisky, neat. She leaned on the wall near the bar to enjoy the drink. Taking a deep breath, she savored the smell of the liquor. Her da's favorite brand.

As she savored her first sip of the elixir, Liam walked over. "You must really be from Cork to be drinking Paddy Flaherty's whisky. Straight." He indicated her glass. "It'll grow hair on your chest."

"Did ya think I was lying about where I lived?" Peg snarled at the man she'd smacked just a few minutes prior, stunned at his audacity in approaching her again. Her hand itched to make contact with his face again.

"Can't trust many folks these days, Mary Margaret."

"Why are you here? You dismissed me as not worth your time. Why are you talking to me now?"

"I merely came over for a refill, Mary Margaret. Can't I be neighborly while I wait for my drink?" He leaned his elbows on the bar.

Author Spotlight - Jillian Chantel talks about her favorite authors

My favorite writers are an eclectic grouping. Kind of. There's an underlying theme but it may be hard to fathom at first glance. There are four writers that are on my must-buy list. Most of them have been favorites for a very long time- most dating back to the 1980s.

My absolute first love favorite is Martha Grimes. She has been writing her series of mysteries named after British Pubs since the 1980s. Her hero and his best friend are solid, nice guys that I'd love to share a pint with at any pub on Earth. Their lives are peppered with lots of quirky, oddball characters that are so endearing, it's criminal. These mysteries are interesting and fun.

My second favorite writer is Dean Koontz. Back in the early days, he was much more about horror, but he was also always about good overcoming evil. As he's gotten older, he's toned down the gore but he's ramped up the evil. His antagonists are extremely clever and downright satanic. But there's always a message of faith and hope in his books. That makes me want to read them to watch the protagonist outwit the force of evil. And it doesn't hurt that Dean is a master of witty dialogue. His characters always face their trials with good humor.

Thirdly, I love to read John Sanford. He has a couple of series going and they are excellent. These stories are more gritty and edgy. The main characters are in law enforcement and solve complicated crimes all while bantering with each other.

The last author I have on my must-buy list is Harlan Coben. I've been reading him since his first release and he gets better and better with each book. And, again, witty repartee between his characters.

So, the thing that ties these authors together in my mind is their wit and great dialogue. It doesn't hurt that they have elements of crime in the stories as well. These are also big draws for me.

Author Spotlight - Jillian Chantel talks about her favorite movies

My favorite movie is a tough question, really almost impossible to answer. I'm an avid film buff and I adore all the old ones the most. I'm a huge Hitchcock fan as well as a Cary Grant fan. The films they made together almost make me swoon in bliss. I also love the Thin Man movies and any of the other 1930s screwball comedies. The fast pace of the dialogue makes me grin like the Cheshire cat standing on his head. It's such fun to watch those actors play verbal ping pong. I like to try to write snappy dialogue like that.

I also adore period movies, like Sense and Sensibility and Emma. The imagery and scenery are always outstanding, to say nothing of the houses and clothes.

And who doesn't love Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro and all their tough guy movies? Both of these guys have gritty down pat. One of the hottest movie scenes ever is in Sea of Love with Pacino. He's very versatile and I never tire of watching him.

Movies are actually my muse, I believe. I'm what's called an auditory learner and learn best by hearing things. Listening to dialogue in movies makes me feel inspired to write my own, so to choose a favorite is very hard for me.

I think if you held my feet to the fire and I had to pick, it would be Notorious with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. It's definitely one that bucks the romance genre- the heroine marries the bad guy. And Claude Rains plays the role to perfection. It's a toe-tingling, dark movie and I recommend it highly- very atmospheric.

Author Spotlight - Jillian Chantel talks about her passion for writing

I write both contemporary and historical fiction. I love history and always have. Many have called me a history buff and I'm almost unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit in that category. I have tons of knowledge in the old noggin about all kinds of different eras.

When I first started writing, I focused on contemporary because I'd heard horror stories of the "historical police" coming after writers that used the wrong phrases, improper slang and even the incorrect kind of underwear for the heroine. It made me quake in my lace-up Victorian boots and I vowed never to take on that challenge and be hauled off to whatever hoosegow was waiting for research-poor writers or even writers that knew the era, but were a little less careful than they should be.

So, I moved along in my happy little contemporary world, spicing up my stories with things I learned as a lawyer and hanging around with cops and US Marshals, which is a fun job if you can get it. I was blissful and content in this little cocoon I built around myself.

Enter Liam Cormac, an Irish devil with a sneer, a nice strong thigh (one of my weaknesses) and a wicked grin (when he chooses to use it). He wouldn't take no for an answer and there I was, in the middle of writing a historical. I glanced around my room, looking for those other police, the ones that aren't as fun to hang with as my buds in my legal job. Uh-oh. Was that one over in the corner? Whew, no. It's just the pesky cat wanting to be fed.

Anyway, if you need me, I'm hiding in the closet. Let me know when it's safe to come out.

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Jillian Chantel

STEPH: I don't know much about Redemption for the Devil. Can you tell me a little more about it?

JILLIAN: It’s a story, based in 1920s Ireland, of a young man who thinks he has nothing left to live for once his family disowns him for his role in the fight for Irish freedom from the English. He undertakes what amounts to a suicide mission and meets the heroine. Once he meets her, he's torn between his duty and his desires.

STEPH: How long did it take to write?

JILLIAN: The first draft took 21 days. It was my NaNoWriMo book for 2009. The edits took longer, of course. The hero in this story came into my head in October 2009 and said, "My name is Liam Cormac and you are going to tell my story." This is very much Liam's book.

STEPH: Did you do a lot of research for the novel?

JILLIAN: Not per se. Having both an Irish and English background, I love this period of history and have several books about Michael Collins and the fight for Irish Freedom. Since I read the biographies and history books, I had a lot of the knowledge in my head already. I've been blessed with a great memory for details and things I've been exposed to; therefore, the research required for the story was just a refreshing of my recollection. I was very wrong about one thing- that was when the Empire State building was constructed so I had to find another New York landmark for the hero to see under construction. Fact checking is very important.

STEPH: Where did the inspiration for the story come from?

JILLIAN: I think it was all the information I have in my head from loving this era on top of that pesky Liam not leaving me alone. He really wanted his tale to be told.

STEPH: If your story was going to be made into a movie, who would you cast as the leads?


JILLIAN: That's tough because the people I would cast are older and not even of the same generation as each other. LOL. I had a young Alan Rickman in my head as Liam and Maureen O'Hara as she was in The Quiet Man as Peg. I think I better leave the casting to Hollywood.

STEPH: OMGOSH! I ****LOVE**** Alan Rickman as an actor. I'm sooooo there!!


STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

JILLIAN: The theme is definitely redemption and forgiveness. Mostly forgiveness of self. This is definitely Liam's journey to forgive himself for something he perceives as a wrong when he was a young man and how he learns to cope with that and feel redeemed in his own eyes.

STEPH: What do you want readers to take away from the novel when they finish it?

JILLIAN: I think I would like them to take away a feeling that it's never too late to make something worthwhile of your life. And I also hope they take away a feeling of love for this story. It was such a pleasure to write and I hope people enjoy the journey with these characters.

Young Alan Rickman
STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

JILLIAN: I have the Kindle App for my Ipad and Ipod, Ibook apps and I have the Sony reader as well.

STEPH: What's the last movie you saw?

JILLIAN: Midnight in Paris

STEPH: What's your writing space like?

JILLIAN: I write in the living room. I started writing when my kids were little and I can't write in the quiet. I have to have noise so in the living room works for me. If it gets too crazy, I put on headphones and listen to music..

http://twitter.com/#!/JillianChantal
http://www.facebook.com/#!/jillian.chantal
booktrailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izodnXeyzDI

Author Jillian Chantel talks about Veterans Day

Armistice Day now known as Veterans Day was first decreed by President Woodrow Wilson on November 11, 1919. It was to mark the anniversary of the armistice agreement between the countries involved in World War I.

The Armistice itself was signed in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918. This Armistice ended the hostilities on the Western Front of The Great War, or World War I. It was the precursor to the Treaty of Versailles which ended that war for good.

When Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day, it was with the intention of a short two minutes of no business being conducted at 11 am on November 11. Parades and public gatherings were also encouraged. Oh what a long way we have come from that! There are still parades but we also have the whole day off for other pursuits.
In 1920, Wilson proclaimed the Sunday nearest November 11 as Armistice Day Sunday. He wanted churches to hold services for international peace. One year later, on November 11, 1921, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was established at Arlington National Cemetery and dedicated. If you ever get a chance to see the changing of the guard, go. It is an amazing thing to watch. Very moving and respectful.

Armistice Day became Veteran’s Day in June 1954, when Eisenhower signed legislation to change the name to honor the veterans that had served in World War II and Korea as well as those World War I veterans.

One interesting little fact about this holiday is that when Congress passed the Federal Monday Holiday Law, Veteran’s Day was to be moved to the fourth Monday of October. Many of the states changed theirs initially but went back to November 11 and so the law was changed in 1978 to put this day of honor back to November 11.

I personally like the symmetry of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. How awesome is it that our forebears signed a cease fire/armistice at such a date and time? For sure, this date was easy to remember in high school history class.
Speaking of history class, I love the history of the early 20th Century. So many changes happened during the twentieth Century, it boggles the mind. A person born in 1900 saw many dramatic changes from then to the end of the century. Desert Breeze Publishing is the go to publisher for this time period. I recommend a search of the website for some awesome stories set in the 20th Century. My own book, "Redemption for the Devil" will be available next summer and it’s set in 1920.

Many of the Desert Breeze writers love the 1900s for inspiration as much as I do and I hope you’ll check them out.
Thanks for letting me bring you a history lesson today and I hope you enjoyed your holiday in memory of the real life heroes.

Jillian Chantal
http://jillianchantal.wordpress.com/

Author Introduction - Welcome Author Jillian Chantal to the Desert Breeze Family

STEPH: Jillian, welcome to Desert Breeze. Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up?

JILLIAN: I spent my elementary school days in Virginia about thirty miles outside of Washington, D.C. where my father was in Federal Civil Service. We moved to Pensacola, Florida when I was in the sixth grade when his job relocated him. I loved living in Virginia where there was a distinct change of seasons. The move to Pensacola was kind of a shock- the two things I remember having the most impact on me were (1) the friendliness of the people. People would greet me on the street and say hello (or hey, in the vernacular) even if they didn’t know me. (2) The shocking lack of clothing. I came from a place where we wore knee socks, mid calf dresses and real shoes. I moved to a place where everyone had bare legs, flip flops and mini skirts. And most shocking of all, bare midriffs. I’m happy to say it took me less than a week to acclimate and, to this day, I abhor panty hose.

STEPH: Who were some of your favorite authors growing up?

JILLIAN: I adored all of the British writers. Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Noel Streatfeild.

STEPH: What genre do you write?

JILLIAN: I call it romantic adventure with an international flair. I think traditionally, it would be romantic suspense. I usually stay in the contemporary arena but my Desert Breeze Publishing upcoming release is a historical set in 1920.

STEPH: You have an upcoming release with Desert Breeze. Can you tell us when, the title, and let us know what it's about?

JILLIAN: July 2011 is the release date. It’s called Redemption for the Devil. It’s a 1920 historical. The hero is a member of the Irish Republican Army on a mission against the English. The heroine is an Irish lass that signs on to work on the RMS Mauretania to earn her way to America and a new life. Most of the adventure takes place at sea between Southampton and New York Harbor but there is an element of Chicago gangsters and Arctic exploration as well.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

JILLIAN: Yes, I have the Sony.


STEPH: Do you have any other books that are available

JILLIAN: I have a release in January 2011 called Solo Honeymoon. I also have a few short stories published under both this name and my real name. I use this pseudonym for my romance stories and my real name for the general fiction.

STEPH: Can you tell us a little about the state you live in?

JILLIAN: Florida is unique. It’s a huge state and from where I live, I can drive to North Carolina faster than I can get to Miami. I actually live eight miles from the Alabama line going toward Mobile. My part of the state is green and has lots of trees. The southern part is much more tropical. My hometown is a casual, fun, beach town. I love living here.

STEPH: Just for fun: pick your favorite: Monet, Picasso, or Renoir?

JILLIAN: Renoir- I like the fact that he uses people in his works. It is very hard to paint people that look realistic and I like realism.

STEPH: Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Have you done it in the past?

JILLIAN: Last year was my first time doing NaNoWriMo and I had a ball with it. I got the 50,000 words written in 21 days. I later edited the story to 75,000 words and I’m proud to say it’s the story that Desert Breeze Publishing is releasing in July 2011. So, I’m definitely in again. This year, I’m writing a story that’s tentatively called Obsession. Who knows, it could be my next release with Desert Breeze!

STEPH: Where can we find you on the web?

JILLIAN: I have my own blog/website at http://jillianchantal.wordpress.com/ and I’m also part of a group blog called the Southern Sizzlers where I blog every Saturday about the bad boy of the week, it’s called Badurday http://southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com/ You can email me at JillianChantal@gmail.com