Available now for preorder!

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-wraith039sheart-1185384-140.html

Please welcome Michelle this morning! I definitely believe in magic, so please join us.  And for even more fun, Michelle is hosting me over at her site today – http://michellegflye.com/2013/04/26/special-guest-donna-steele-talks-about-inspiration/  so double your pleasure!

Do I Believe in Magic?
By Michelle Garren Flye

My most recent novel, Close Up Magic, is very much about magic, but not in a mystical, fantastical sense. I’m writing about performance magic, a craft I respect wholeheartedly. Performance magic is a combination of illusion and misdirection intended to amaze and delight an audience, and I’m usually the first to ooh and ahh at a good show.

Obviously, magicians are mysterious, but are they magic? Even David Copperfield says the secret to magic is in the performance.

Real magic is far more everyday for me. I’ve seen it in my children, in the flight of a bumblebee (how do they do that?), in azaleas (how are they all the same?) and in a gentle summer rain. If you can see magic the way I do, all you really have to do is walk outside—hell, just open your eyes—to be astounded.

So what’s the draw of performance magic? I love the artistry of it. Magicians, like all artists, really, are men reaching for divinity. They seek the ability to amaze us the same way a beautiful flower or a lightning strike does. No artist can ever achieve that, but with magicians, the fun (for the audience, anyway) is in the journey.

Here’s the blurb for Close Up Magic:

Reporter Stacey Matthewson has made a living writing sensational stories that knock celebrities off their pedestals. Now she’s got a hot lead on an even hotter magician who’s mystifying Las Vegas with his new show–the problem is, she’s had a crush on him for years. How can she write a story that might ruin him, especially when he proves himself to be so much more than she’d ever dreamed?

Magician Andre Hawke has a knack for making things disappear, but when it comes to his brother’s drinking and gambling, he’s got a problem. Hiring the sexy reporter who threatens to blow away his carefully wrought illusion might be the answer to his problems…or she might bring on a whole new set of them.

Stacey’s never believed in magic, and Andre doesn’t know who to trust anymore. Can passion overcome their inhibitions, or will betrayal stem the tide of love?

So now for the fun part.

I’ve been posting a lot of the tidbits I’ve learned on a Facebook page for Close Up Magic (https://www.facebook.com/CloseUpMagicFlye), and the great thing about it is, if you like that page, you’re automatically entered to win a Kindle Paperwhite I’ll be giving away on my blog (http://michellegflye.com). Also, I’ll enter anyone who comments on this page in the contest, but please leave me a way to contact you! If you want even more ways to enter to win, check out the rules here: http://michellegflye.com/2013/04/13/having-fun-with-magic-wanna-join-me-contest/.

Now, you tell me what you think about magic and magicians. Do you believe?

Okay, that was kind of cheating because I don’t write about vampires (yet) but right now, since it’s still the Earth Day Celebration, I’m talking about vampire energy. 

If you haven’t heard the term before, vampire energy is energy being drawn when not in use — the cell phone charger plugged in even when the phone has finished charging, the computer left on overnight, the lights left on in bathrooms when not needed, the clock of the microwave or the VCR scheduled to record something. These sources of low-wattage energy usage account for 5-8 percent of a home’s total electricity usage per year, according to the Department of Energy, which is equal to about one month’s electricity bill-for every household in the United States.

In some homes it could be as high as 20-30 percent.

How many things use vampire energy in your home? In my home, too many. I have a laptop that I used to leave plugged in and charging all night, a VCR/DVD player with a LED clock, the TV has an instant on, the microwave has a clock, Hubby’s razor charges at night along with our phones and iTouches. So what do you have?

Electrical devices plugged in 24 hours a day typically draw between two and 20 watts—even when the device is fully charged or powered-off. For example, When your TV is “off,” its power supply is still drawing power so that when you flick the on button on your remote it instantly turns on. This is convenient, but if you feel the power supply of a plugged-in device  it will be warm. Generating that heat consumes energy. Standby power is estimated to account for roughly 10 percent of US residential electricity consumption, valued at more than US$6 billion annually.

Some examples (typical values):

• Desktop computer – 73.97 W when on and idle (21.13 W when asleep and 2.84 when “off”)

• Laptop – 44.28 W when on and charging (4.42 W with just the power supply plugged in)

• DVR and digital cable box – 44.63 W when not recording with the TV off, but astonishingly still 43.46 W even when “turned off” by remote

• Cell phone charger – with phone plugged in but fully charged, around 2.24 W (the charger alone stuck in the outlet just 0.14 W)

Just something to think about – I unplug my laptop and then turn off the power strip. I can charge my phone in the car on the way to work.  What do you do?

Thanks to Charles W. Moore for some of these facts.

Remember to go back to http://www.steelestories.com/2013/earth-day.html to enter the contest for the Paperwhite again!

This one is close to my heart. I’ve been recycling since 1975 – back then you had to take your old newspapers (which was all that anyone recycled) to the local fire department and put them in a bin. That at least has gotten easier – in most counties they pick up the recycling like they do the garbage.  Unfortunately not in my county, so I’m back to taking it all in to a fire department in the next county, but it’s worth it. I also drive a hybrid and carpool. Helps the environment and the purse. There’s only the one planet that we that we inhabit so far, right?

That’s the kind of science fiction romance I write. If you’ve read Rth Rising, you know where the story came from. Might as well tell you, there are two other books (plus the sequel to Rth Rising) in various states of construction because this theme means a lot to me.

Do I read on a Kindle or Nook, yes I do. And one of the great advantages of it is that I can make the font bigger! We’re not going to talk about age, did that earlier in April, but it really is a good thing. A couple of books I purchased lately had the print so close to the inside margin I was cracking the spine to see it all. It felt like I was torturing the poor thing. Also, when I travel I can carry all the books I could possibly read stuck in an airport without straining my back.

I’m not saying paper books are ever going to go away. I hope they don’t. They feel good and smell good and I like seeing my old favorites on the shelf, but until they start using bamboo or eucalyptus paper – think about going “e” at least part of the time. If nothing else, remember the font can be your size!
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Happy Earth Day, and here’s a snippet from Rth Rising.

The window inserts irritated, and on some level offended Lil, showing pristine landscapes of the old world. If they hadn’t destroyed Rth with their pollution and overpopulation, maybe some of that lovely landscape would still exist. To Lil it was a travesty to display what had been so corrupted.

She displayed copies of some classic Rth art in her own apartment, though not landscapes, but she also enjoyed art created here on New Home. They would live out the rest of their lives on this planet, so in her opinion, people should appreciate the culture they created here. Lil supposed Kiera’s decorations were calming on some level, and if she lived here, maybe she would need it.

Okay, that wasn’t especially kind, but she had never been able to become friends with Keira. Maybe if she tried a little harder . . .

With an effort, Lil brought her attention back to the present. “I simply don’t know what to do.” Keira’s frustration was plain in her voice, and Lil knew she’d missed at least part of her diatribe. It wouldn’t be hard to catch up. “Every time I turn my back she’s gone. Should I follow her to the toilet? I can’t even believe her when she says she’s going there. She’s too headstrong. I don’t know how to handle her. This isn’t what I— ”

“It won’t be long, Keira.” Lil interrupted. She’d heard all of these complaints too many times. “The last DNA scans will happen this week.” Lil carefully did not allow her impatience to show.

Keira nodded. “I noticed her friend, Bree, is in another growth spurt. Her whole class is growing so fast. I wish she’d act more like Bree, more proper, less reckless.”

Lil nodded and decided to ignore the last comment. “Well, she should be in for the night. I’m going to get out of your way.”

“You’re welcome to eat with us.” The invitation was tepid at best.

“Thanks,” Lil shook her head. “I need to check on my patient, then I’m headed for bed.”

“Lil,” Keira stopped her mem-in-law before she got to the door. “Do you think there’s a chance Puter will allow Kat to train as a doctor and make something of herself?”

“I don’t try to guess what Puter will do. I’d like to think she’ll have a child one day, and follow in my footsteps, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. Puter will check her DNA. We just have to trust it.”

Keira sighed. “You’re right. If you change your mind, stop back by and eat with us.”

“Thanks,” Lil managed to smile at her daughter-in-law. Keira rose from the table and put the cups in the recycler. She looked over at the door to Kat’s room as Lil left the apartment.

“Make something of herself,” Lil muttered once she was out of earshot. The woman was an idiot, despite her position in management in the retail section. To work off some of her tension, Lil went to the stairs instead of the mover. It was only a few flights.

The hospital, just below the school, took up three levels of the arcology. The first level held labs and testing. This was where Kat and her classmates would come for their complete DNA testing before the final decision on their adult training. The second was used for minor illnesses, maternity and pediatrics, but Lil headed for the third level. Trauma and surgery were housed there, as well as more serious illnesses that needed quarantine facilities.

The rooms were a uniform soothing green, with calming art on one wall. Each room held four beds and full gimp stations were attached to every bed. With Puter to monitor everything, few personnel were necessary. An alert would be issued instantly if care was needed.

Lil’s patient was resting with his leg elevated. The clotter was already removed, and the wound glued shut. He looked up and smiled when he saw her.

“You look like you’re doing much better,” she said, taking in his color and the fact there was no tightness around his eyes.

“I am, Dr. Stans. The name’s Kyle, and I’d like to thank you.”

Lil took the outstretched hand he offered and shook it. “I’m Lil. Can you tell me what happened? I didn’t take the time to investigate the scene, but I have to make a report.”

He shook his head ruefully. “We weren’t careful enough. We were moving panels to be stored below, and we lost control of the mover. It hit one of the main walls and broke a couple of the panels. Some of the ends were sheared off and they went everywhere. One of them cut me as it went past. Let me tell you, I thought I was going to lose my leg for sure.”

“It looked worse than it was.”

“No, I believe you and that little girl saved me. Who is she? She sure was on the ball there. She handled things better than any of the adults.”

Lil smiled at the compliment. “My granddaughter, Kat. I guess she was on top of the situation.”

“You should be real proud of her. I bet she makes a great doctor someday. Puter could use more like her.”