Take a peek into Another Lifetime

Here is a small excerpt from my new book on Amazon  Blog.  Another Lifetime.
A romantic fantasy.   Take the journey with Nora and see if you would make the same decisions.

You can easily purchase it via Amazon Kindle or on my Blog and read it on your computer.

The excerpt:

      Always cautious with her discoveries  Nora has a strong urge to make a pot of tea from the plant.    Standing and holding it she nibbles on her lower lip, debating if she should wait until she can get more information, or take the chance and drink it.  She takes the chance and makes a decoction of tea from this intriguing herb.           With the decision made, she gets a pot boils the water, removes the seeds and leaves then places them in the water.   When the water has boiled she pours the hot water over the contents of the herb and lets it sit too steep.
 She can  smell the sweet aroma, it  fills the kitchen with its pleasant sweet scent.         Nora takes a few notes  optimistic, the taste is favorable and she can describe the tea to her potential buyers which always help to sell a product.   Nora waits 10 minutes then strains and pours the plants liquid  into a cup.   The enticing scent is so intoxicating Nora can hardly wait to take a sip, like a youngster in a candy store.
    Nora carries her cup to the kitchen table and places the cup down.   She takes her pad and pen  places it next to her and lifts the cup.  She blows on the liquid so she can sip it without burning her mouth.   Taking a sip, then another  she places the cup on the table.
    Observing the flavor, she finds it delightful and no need to add anything to the brew.   Nora lifts the cup and continues to drink it until  finished.   While seated making notes,  she gets an odd sensation.  
 A dizziness as if she were spinning around.   Her vision blurred she rubs her eyes as if to clear them.  She feels a pulling sensation ...... then it happened……..

Journey to another world

How cool would it be to journey to another world?   Imagine a place that's peaceful and free of the hassles in today's world.

Well, Nora the heroine in  Another Lifetime  experiences just that!.   Imagine escaping into another life and finding love.

But of course there are obstacles and some evil spirits that cause havoc with Nora.  She faces many challenges and hard decissions along the way.

In  Another Lifetime  available on my Blog and Kindle will take you on her journey into another world.  So different from ours today.

Please be kind and leave a review.

Any questions please comment or send me an email.....macourt60@gmail.com

Fantasy Love Story

My new book  Another Lifetime available soon on Amazon is
is a fantasy love story.    Can you imagine being able to journey between different worlds and find a new life!

A life filled with romance, love, and wealth  and of course challenges.

This story Another Lifetime is about just that!.

I will keep you posted on when it's published on Kindle.  I may have it available to purchase on my Blog.

Until then

Have a great day!

Creative Writing-What is in a name?

What is in a name?
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Shakespeare said that in Romeo and Juliet. Many writers and poets have used that same phrase.
Of course, the meaning behind it is "names are not important only the individuals are".

When writing a short story or novel, I attempt to put a lot of thought into the names of my characters.

I envision what they look like and how they act and then decide on names to match them.

I don't know how other writers chose their characters names but I have found that works for me.

So what is in a name?

I think it's important to the writer to pick the perfect name for the character they are creating.

In my book The Magic Herb- I picked the name Nora as the main character because she was a warm, kind, woman searching for happiness and love. A name like Bettany, Carol, or Monica etc I felt would not convey the troubles and challenges Nora faces in the story.

If you are a writer share how you pick names for your characters. If not, what's your opinion?
I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.


Until next time
Have a wonderful day!

The Magic Herb-A Fantasy Love Story

The Magic Herb...This is a fantasy love story that takes you to another dimension.

 Discover Nora's obstacles and challenegs that she faces and how she deals with them.

 A lonely woman, unhappy with her life decides to take a chance and love again in the most unusal way.

Check it out
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015BKBV0G

Creative Writing- The End

Creative writing-  and the end in a story.  The end can be written many ways but most people that I have spoken to prefer a happy one.

Everyone expects a happy ending. I don't think we will ever become bored with happy endings...we don't mind some challenges in a story or even heartache but ultimately we want a happy ending. We want  that feel good ending that makes us glad that the story ended the way it did.


Personally, I rather have a happy ending...let the story take me on a journey of challenges, love, struggles that's fine but give me a happy ending!

What do you think?

Creative Writing- The Antagonist

In creative writing-- the antagonist how bad should they be?

In my previous post, mentioned about the protagonist in a story and there is always an antagonist as well.  I mean life has nice people and miserable people so it is important to have them in stories so that the reader can really relate and perhaps cheer for the character.

You need to have your antagonist  a bit of a bully or worse otherwise, how can you discover what your protagonist strengths and weaknesses are.

The reason for the antagonist is to bring out the best in the character otherwise the story is flat and rather boring.

So, how mean, nasty, or vile do you make the antagonist?

Of course, everyone likes a happy ending so it all depends on the authors ending.

In my book,  Even Exchange Amy faces many challenges and her weaknesses and strengths are exposed. And her antagonist was a nasty so and so. I am sure many of you have met or experienced someone like him.  

Again, a nasty person to make the story interesting.

Have a Happy New Year to everyone.

And for those who have purchased my books... The Magic Herb and Even Exchange 

Thank You!

Creative Writing

Creative writing enables the writer to create whatever story they like.

The writer can create nice people, nasty people ,devious people etc.

But what about the type of character?

Would you prefer to read about a strong person or a weak one? An optimistic or a pessimistic person?

A man or woman or both?

 Do you enjoy reading about their failures, joys, sorrows, challenges?

It's fun to create these people in my stories and as I have said before in my earlier post I usually use the character traits from people I actually know!

I believe it makes the story more interesting and the reader can usually relate to some of the characters dilemmas or knows someone facing similar issues.

Creative Writing

The beauty with creative writing is that you can make up whatever story you want.

Most of the time you needn't do research unless you're writing about a certain time period.
Of course, you need to make your "world" interesting for the reader.

I like to incorporate the area that I live in with my stories. Stephen King always had his stories based in Main where he lives so I understand now why he chose to do that.

Being familiar with the area makes it easy to pull real people, places, and events into the story.

That's why The Magic Herb is about the mountains in PA. The trails can be filled with animals lots of trees and heavy thicket and beautiful views with waterfalls.

That is why Nora could so easily have gotten lost.

Are You A Fantasy Reader?

Do you love fantasy? Stories that take you away from your problems? Perhaps you enjoy the romance and passion that love stories provide or perhaps you like to delve into the paranormal.

Either way fantasy books take us to places that we only dream about.

Even Exchange delves into magic and how we this young woman uses it.

The young woman in the story lonely and heartbroken after a relationship went sour has an opportunity to have what she has always wanted. Like the majority of us.

Discover what she does and how it challenges her.

Even Exchange available on sale until the end of Nov on Amazon.

Titles Are Tricky

Titles can be tricky when choosing one as a title for a book.  I wonder what techniques other writers use to pick their book titles?

AS for myself I try and get something from the story and use it as part of the title.

Like The Magic Herb part of the story is about a magic herb discovered in the mountains of Pensylvania and how it works its magic.

With Even Exchange, I did the same thing. I had taken from the story the challenges and risks tampering with magic. There is always a price! Some kind of exchange is needed.

Now I am pondering what to name m y third fantasy book. Hmmm, I will get back to you on that one.

Leave a comment if you feel compelled to.

Until next time

Review- The Magic Herb

The Magic Herb is a fantasy story about a woman who finds love...but not in a conventical way.
Follow her challenges and explore her new discoveries.

Please leave me a review or comment.

Thank you in advance        The Magic Herb - She yearned for love BUT will she be able ...