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Tamela Quijas, Romance Author

Tamela Quijas


Last Updated: 12/29/2009

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Gender: Female
Status: Married
Age: 89
Sign: Virgo

City: The Southwest
State: Texas
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/2/2007

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December 31, 2009 - Thursday 

Category: Blogging

The Book of Opportunity–Chiron’s message for the Upcoming Year!

Posted by Tamela Quijas on December 30, 2009

Hello Friends!
This week’s essay is posted: The Book of Opportunity

An excerpt:
*******************
“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” ~Author Unknown

As a New Year approaches, the urge to take stock of our life bubbles up like a sip of fine champagne. Let’s lift a glass and toast our accomplishments, savoring the taste of our creative endeavors…the potential of the New Year sparkles like stars within our hearts!
We’ve all made goals… Some we’ve achieved and some still dangle like a sprig of mistletoe, just out of reach. The beauty is, no matter how far that finish line may seem, we’ve all accomplished remarkable things. Each page written, each book completed, even these essays I post, all are testament to my ability to accomplish great things. Too often, we focus with such fervor on an arbitrary point we consider The Finish Line we disregard the volume of work along the way.
While watching a silly holiday movie (often, the best kind!) I chuckled as the couple on the screen prepared to celebrate their ’six month’ anniversary. There’s even been a television episode or two which pokes fun as couples celebrate their six week, two day, fourteen hour and seven minute anniversary! Still, there’s a good idea nestled in there.
Every page we agonize over, every idea that sees fruition, every task from synopsis to query letter is a goal that should be celebrated. There is no singular finish line because a career in writing means there will always be new objectives and our aspirations will shift and evolve right along with our career. Which is why, my friends, it’s vital to celebrate right now.
**************************
Ready for some motivation?
Jump to The Write Soul: www.chironokeefe.blogspot.com for the complete essay and discover what I consider to be the secret of youth.
Happy New Year, everyone!
–Chiron O’Keefe
Need a fun break? Check out some cool music videos at http://www.popculturedivas.com/2009/11/soul-of-music-times-two.html
9:49 PM 
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December 29, 2009 - Tuesday 

Category: Writing and Poetry

Posted by Tamela Quijas on December 29, 2009

Ah, I breath with a long and drawn out sigh, it’s Tuesday.  I had to think about the exact day as I logged into my laptop this morning, having been lost in the crazy whirl of the holidays.  I sit at my kitchen window, staring out at the two inches of snow that has fallen in this Southwestern town since 3 a.m., marveling at the fact the year is almost over and a new one will soon begin.
Meanwhile, in the midst of those thoughts, I’ve been working on a new release.  I hope to have my next paranormal romance, Blood Moon,out by the spring.  Blood Moon is the second book in The Blood Chronicles, which began with Blood of the Beast.  In that particular novel, Demetri Petronov Daskova mentioned an associate of his that shared the same curse of the vampire, well-known criminal lawyer Dominic Delano.
Blood Moon explores the life of Dominic as he becomes the victim of a brutal and horrifying attack.  When he awakes from the unexpected assault, he hasn’t any recollections of his past or even the creature he is.  He is loose on the streets, dazed and not capable of understanding the hunger gnawing at his damned soul.  All he recalls is the face of a stranger offering him comfort in his most dire moment of need, author Genevieve Carter.
I’m including an unedited excerpt of Chapter Three with today’s post, just to offer my readers with a sense of Dominic’s torment…
He awoke with a gasp, choking in a deep breath of air as he struggled under the weight of the heavy fabric. His hands tangled in the shroud that covered his face, tearing at the material, his actions frantic as his breath exploded from his tight chest.
He remained where he was for a long moment, encased by impenetrable darkness, panic-stricken and sickened by the fear he felt. His struggled to stay calm while his frantic mind reeled. He didn’t know where he was and wondered what had happened to him, everything in his memory a blur.
He closed his aching eyes, groaning deeply. His head ached, throbbing with some indescribable pain. The more he struggled to remember the events of the past few hours, his frustration began to rise. There was a great and unexplained void, a gaping chasm, where his memories should have been. He pressed a trembling hand to his forehead and felt the obvious wound and a low groan of misery escaping him. Some region of his mind rationalized he should be counted among the dead, the wound one resulting in an obvious fatality.
Why he wasn’t dead, he didn’t understand.
Slowly, his muscles shaking with exertion, he lifted himself into a seated position., The shroud bunched about his hips then began to slip to the ground, each rustle of material agonizingly loud to his ears. He followed the descent of the pale shroud as it fluttered against the darkness of the linoleum tile, caught in the slight breeze issued by the refrigerated air filling the room. He frowned, staring blankly at the fabric on the floor, before lifting his head and glancing about the room.
He was alone, a single gurney in what appeared to be a large lab-like facility, surrounded by thick waves of darkness. At least, he rationalized, it should have been dark. As his dry eyes focused, he saw into the darkness as clearly as daytime. He could determine the exact location of each line, corner, and piece of furniture surrounding him and wondered at the ability.
He rose to his feet and sniffed at the air, unexplained aromas rolling over his tongue with the action, each scent sharp and defined. Surrounded by the darkness, there was something to the inkiness setting his senses into a frantic alarm. He could smell death, thick and overwhelming, heavy in the air but, there was something else. He couldn’t determine exactly what it was that set him on edge but he longed to snarl with a territorial ferocity that astounded him.
He stilled the urge, curiosity and the sensation of being lost more prevalent. His bare feet touched the floor as he slid from the gurney and he wondered why he lacked the necessary footwear. He looked down at himself, frowning. His shirt front was torn open, the ends hanging wide to reveal an expanse of his torso, dark as coffee and tightly muscled. His hand ran over the tight abdominal muscles, sensing but not feeling a hunger lingering within.
He remained where he stood, confused and struggling to remember the events of the past few hours. Images began to flash in rapid and brilliant regard before his eyes. His body twitched involuntarily with each fractured vision, his hands twisting with unexplained spasms. Another burst of light blinded him in his memory, stunning him, followed by unmentionable and a foreign sense of pain. He could remember turning, unable to react, as another flash of light exploded in his startled vision.
Why was he shot? The question lingered in his mind, which was dazed with a flurry of unanswered queries. Flashes of movement, explosions and sounds, but nothing else. He couldn’t remember anything else above the nagging pain filling his dazed mind.
Come on! He mentally demanded and winced, feeling the flesh of his forehead tighten. He raised his fingers and pressed them to his brow, feeling the gaping wounds against the sensitive pads. He should have died and was puzzled why he stood where he did. The room he was in was cold and sterile for a particular reason.
He was in a morgue, waiting to be examined by the resident medical examiner.
Then, why was he alive?
His fingers fell back to his side and he took an unsteady step forward. He was alive. He was one of the da…. His name was Do…..
Who was he?
He frowned, struggling to pull at the fringes of his memories. Prior to the flashes of light,the explosions of pain, the smell of his burning flesh, there was nothing. All he was left was the face of his assailant, the flutter of dying leaves in the street lamps, the pinkness of the evening sky and the brightness of her tear-filled eyes.
The thought gave him pause. Her eyes. Her frightened and tear filled eyes.
There had been a woman. She had held his hand close to her heart, comforting him with soft words, pleading with him to hang onto a world that did not comprehend his type.
What was his type?
He shook his head at the question, unable to answer. Instead, as he inhaled, her scent rose into his lungs. She did not have a name, just as he lacked his own identity, but she did have a scent. The memory of her flesh filled him, bathing him in the whispered aromas of crumpled lilacs. His tongue was dry as it flicked over his lips, tasting at what was not there.
He had to find her. She could tell him what happened, what his name was, why he had been shot.
She would help.
She would bring some sanity to his madness.
He knew he would be capable of finding her. There was some form of absolute determination available in his confusion assuring him he had the ability to hunt better than most.
7:25 PM 
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December 27, 2009 - Sunday 

Category: Writing and Poetry

Haunted Destiny–Kelly Abell’s tale of Intrigue and the Paranormal

Posted by Tamela Quijas on December 27, 2009

   
Kelly Abell is a wonderful return author that writes fantastic novels filled with intrigue. Her latest, Haunted Destiny, involves a touch of the paranormal certain to please many a reader!  
  
Destiny Dove is the only survivor of a tragic car crash that killed her parents and baby brother.  A teen uprooted from her home, she is forced to live with her eccentric grandmother whom Destiny has been taught her whole life to fear.  She must start her life over living with an old woman who is not only a stranger to her, but just strange.  All Destiny wants is to fit in with kids like her and begin to pull her life back together.   

 But Destiny soon discovers she is not like the other teens at all.  She has developed the family gift of being able to see and talk to ghosts and her estranged grandmother will be the one person who can help her understand what the fates have dealt her…a haunted destiny.  Being the town freak does not put Destiny high on the potential friends list, but Jake Turner sees something in her that the other teens from Blake High don’t.  Destiny is actually able to put her unique talent to use and help Jake communicate with his recently deceased sister forming a bond between them that no one else can share or know about.  In an extraordinary twist of events, Jake’s girlfriend Amy receives some furniture with some frightening ghostly spirits attached to it, and Jake turns to Destiny for help.   

Now Destiny must struggle with a force she is unprepared to handle.  When a party at Amy’s becomes a showdown between good and evil will Destiny have what it takes to save Amy and the others? Will the help of her grandmother, two resident ghosts and a surprise visitor be enough to rid the Morgan family of the evil possessing them and allow Destiny to finally gain the acceptance she so desperately wants? Or will the ancient evil destroy them all?   

Haunted Destiny can be purchased at the following retailers:  

 www.heartsonfirebooks.com
www.amazon.com
www.fictionwise.com
www.coffeetimeromance.com 

 
Travel on over and visit with Kelly on her fabulous website at: www.kellyabellbooks.com  


     
1:55 PM 
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December 27, 2009 - Sunday 

Category: Writing and Poetry

All the Voices of the Wind–Book Three in the Masterson Family Series

Posted by Tamela Quijas on December 26, 2009

Recently, I discovered the fascinating author, Donald James Parker, who writes wholesome romance filled with inspiration,  and wanted to share his work with my readers.  Feel free to stop by Don’s site at  http://donaldJamesParker.com  - where readers can download his ebooks for free and where they can link to his blog and many other sites dealing with reading and writing.
All the Voices of the Wind
Book 3 of the Masterson Family Series – For Jeremy, a high school senior growing up near Seattle, there are five seasons: rainy, dry, football, basketball, and baseball season. Jeremy`s world has always revolved around his father and sports. Now there is a new Heavenly body in town whose gravity is pulling Jeremy away from the orbit around his dad. Maria Masterson, the new girl in school, is on a mission to make her voice heard in the debate over the theory that man evolved from lower life forms. Jeremy`s father adamantly believes in Charles Darwin`s theory. Who will win the tug of war over Jeremy`s heart and mind?
1:54 PM 
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December 27, 2009 - Sunday 

Category: Writing and Poetry

Hanging On After Others Have Let Go–the Magic of Chiron has returned!!

Posted by Tamela Quijas on December 24, 2009

For the last few weeks, Chiron O’Keefe’s brilliant and motivational excerpts have not been posted on Romance at your Fingertips. 
If the rest of you felt the same way I did, it was as if a ray of sunshine had been stolen from our writer’s sky.
I’m happy to announce Chiron has returned and is just as magnificent as ever! 
For those of you that haven’t taken the opportunity yet, slide on over to her wonderful website, The Write Soul at www.chironokeefeblogspot.com and become a follower!
Hello Friends!
This week’s essay is posted: Hanging On After Others Have Let Go

An excerpt:
*******************
“All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

What sets the successful author apart from the aspiring writer?
Perseverance. The determination to move forward no matter how many obstacles appear on the path.
“The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.” ~Author Unknown

Staying true to our focus means we must recognize that the path to success can be arduous. There are always an abundance of obstacles to overcome before we reach our goal. Time restraints or writer’s block can tempt us to toss aside our dreams. Criticism and rejections can poke holes in our optimism. Instead of floating high from exhilaration, our happy fantasy deflates while we look around desperately for some encouragement.
Let me offer up some reassurance on this end. If you feel frustrated or stymied or overwhelmed, you are not alone. If you yearn for a magical flash of inspiration yet find you must struggle ahead with only a bare glimmer to light your way, you are not alone. All writers experience this struggle.
To be a writer is to sit down at one’s desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone – just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over…. – John Hersey
**************************
Ready for some motivation?
Jump to The Write Soul: www.chironokeefe.blogspot.com for the complete essay and discover which Newbery Medal winner was first rejected by 26 publishers!
Have a lovely holiday season!
–Chiron O’Keefe
1:53 PM 
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December 23, 2009 - Wednesday 

Category: Food and Restaurants
As I promised, the ongoing list of recipes continues with a deliciously sweet, moist cornbread.  Most cornbread that I have tasted has the tendency to be very dry and crumbly.  I like a moist, cake-like bread that tastes wonderful by itself or with a good bowl of chili.
Try this one out and see how many leftovers you have after dinner!
Southwestern Style Cornbread
3 cups of baking mix (There are many out there that run by various names)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 cup self rising cornmeal
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cup of milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. 
Mix the baking mix with a fork the crush the large lumps of flour.  Add the sugar, baking powder, and cornmeal.  Using a fork, cut in the cup of softened butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Using the same fork, mix in the eggs (one at a time) and the milk.  Mix thoroughly.
In a small, separate bowl, mix:
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2  4 oz. cans of diced green chiles, drained. Or use 3-4 rinsed, stemmed, diced jalapenos
Pour half of the cornbread batter into the baking dish.  Evenly cover the batter with the cheese and chiles.  Pour the remaining batter into the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
Cool.
This will also make, crumbled, a great stuffing for your holiday turkey.  As a suggestion, for stuffing, you might want to add cooked, crumbled bacon!
Good Eating, Everyone!
4:58 PM 
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December 22, 2009 - Tuesday 

Category: Writing and Poetry

As my friends know, I’ve been busy, busy, busy, trying to keep up with the reviews I need to post and all the holiday shopping and cooking.  I couldn’t let the review for this book slip by any more this week and, if you’re into paranormal romances, this is a must read.  T. L. Mitchell is a new author in the field and her work is bright and promising.  She has recently signed with my publisher, Wild Horse Press, and this is just the first excerpt in her kNight Series!

 
All it took was one phonecall, that phonecall we all dread, to turn Julie’s world upside down. Returning home, life would never be the same. Without telling too much of the story, there are secrets revealed that Julie never expected and the normal is suddenly not-so-normal. Dark of kNight is a fascinating read from a fabulous new author, T. L. Mitchell. Every word pulled me further into the drama and mystique surrounding Julie and Daniel. Ms. Mitchell’s wonderful story is spell-binding.  She can count me among her dedicated fans that ‘hungers’ for more of the kNight!
 
Dark of Knight is available through Wild Horse Press and at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZVOH6A
 
1:16 PM 
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December 21, 2009 - Monday 

Category: Writing and Poetry


Bitter Things – a novel of love, sex, memory and blood
By Andrew Valentine

BLURB:
In a city of dark secrets and pulsing sexuality, a young couple makes a grizzly discovery that awakens an ancient evil.
Suddenly an enthralling woman who captivates and ensnares enters their lives. Who is this temptress? And what is the creature she protects, a being with an immortal thirst that cannot be quenched by blood alone, but by something more?
A woman and her husband will be torn from each other. They will fight until they are spent, but will it be enough to stop the thing that has fed on blood and passion for centuries?
Check out the trailer on  www.bitterthingsthebook.com – it will give you 1000 Bitter Things thrills in less than a minute. 
 Interested?  Intrigued?  BITTER THINGS is available at these fine establishments:
..
 BITTER THINGS has received Rave Reviews!
 Andrew Valentine’s Bitter Things delivers a hard punch to the senses. It’s provocative, erotic, and filled with unforgettable characters that make you eager for more. Within this story, Valentine brings new meaning to the word ‘Vampire,’ ripping it from the pages of folkloric fantasy and shoving it into the realm of horrific plausibility. I defy anyone to put this novel down after the first two pages–it simply can’t be done!
–Deborah LeBlanc,Author of Water Witch
Bitter Things is everything a vampire book should be.  Just like an incredible steak, it’s juicy and sensual and satisfies some animal craving of yours, even though underneath you always know there’s a dark side to it. Valentine’s writing is as sharp and polished as an incisor pressed against your pulse point. A real treat.”
– Cecilia Tan
Author of White Flames
Fresh, brash, in-your-face, evocative story telling. Andrew Valentine’s Bitter Things is actually frothy and stimulating. Think House and Bones, only a lot stranger and slyly literate. Highly recommended summer reading – for that matter, in any season.
–Paul Levinson, Author of The Plot to Save Socrates
 Andrew was kind enough to leave a listing of all his upcoming Booksignings  and Speaking engagements. Take  advantage of these opportunities to get to know this wonderful new author!
In-store Signing:  December 20, 2009 2:00 – 5:30 pm - WORD Booksellers | 126 Franklin Street Brooklyn, NY 11222 | 718-383-0096 – info@wordbrooklyn.com (tentative)
    Radio Interview: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 1 P.M. EST – ,5 Sacramento, CA. stations: KNCI (FM 105.1); KHTK (AM 1140); KSFM (102.5 FM); KZZO (100.5 FM); KYMK (FM 96.1) – with Walt Shaw for a ½ hour taped interview. To be broadcast at a future date.
Radio Interview: Tuesday, January 5, 2010; 2 pm EST -  KPQ, Wenatchee, WA – AM 560 – with Ken Johannessen for a 20 min taped interview. To be broadcast at a future date.
1:31 PM 
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December 21, 2009 - Monday 

Category: Writing and Poetry

Obsession Everlasting–I was Hooked from Page One!

Posted by Tamela Quijas on Wordpress December 19, 2009

Recently, I picked up a copy of Obsession Everlasting and can say   Ms. Phillips had me hooked from Page One.  Her imagery was compelling, to the point I longed for the smell of wisteria in the dead of winter and felt like I was in the streets of Savannah, Georgia. Fallyn, with her eyes as green as the moors, is saucy and entirely enjoyable as our heroine. I was torn between Simon’s gentle elegance and the devilish Reece with his quirky sense of humor. Obsession Everlasting has a fairy tale quality to it that left me up reading until the wee hours of the morning. The tale is a classic romance, with all the essences of good vs. evil, vampires, and the sultry magic of the deep South.
Obsession Everlasting is available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934912182

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1:30 PM 
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December 20, 2009 - Sunday 

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Posted by Tamela Quijas on December 19, 2009


For those of you that know me, beyond my reading and writing, I ran by the alias of 1920’s Movie Fan on Amazon.  Really, the moniker should have been Obsessive Movie Fan.  Beyond books, movies are my first love. I’m not talking the girly movies full of love scenes and angst, they’re not high on my list and it takes a lot to get me to sit down and watch one.  Nope.  I’m into action flicks with lots of gun play, thrills, karate moves, intrigue and action. 
I know, it’s not what you would expect in the lines of a romance writer.  **grin**
After all the hoopla on tv lately, I skipped out today and took off to see James Cameron’s Avatar with my younger boys.  I had great expectations, having seen Aliens, Terminator 1 & 2, The Abyss, Titanic, just to name a few of his blockbuster hits.  Cameron’s films always come rolling in, guns blasting, edge of your seat action, heart thrilling scenes and teeth gnashing bad guys.  The exact thing I love. 
Let me prepare you, this movie is two and a half hours long.  It is not something you take a child under the age of  eight to and expect them to sit still, unless they love video games and the entire idea of getting sucked into their own avatar. 
I’m into XBOX 360 so, if you don’t know what an avatar is, here’s the definition compliments of Webster:    the incarnation of a Hindu deity; an incarnation in human form; an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy)often in a person; a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity; an electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user (as in a computer game).
That’s the entire idea behind this movie.  An alternative life from the one that you may have now.
I’ll give you a heads-up, whatever bad you may hear about the movie, if you love Cameron’s work, ignore it.
Avatar starts out a little slow.  If you’re a fan of NatGeo or The Discovery Channal programs, the start of the film involves the subject of basic  ‘Living Among the Na’vi’.    The Na’vi are the indigenous people thriving on Planet Pandora and their existence is being threatened by a major corporation that wants a crucial mineral that exists only on their homeland.  There’s a purpose for this, if you  have an open mind.
My thoughts:  So-Called Civilized man-made it a point to habitat foreign lands and either convert or destroy the locals for their own gain.  As always, the natives were refered to as savages, lacking any idea of the knowledge the civilized race brought them because they were just so backwards and ignorant. 
Avatar explores the question: Would civilized man’s thinking change if it were another planet?
Cameron paraplegic hero, Jake Sully, has the opportunity to live among the Na’vi in an alternate reality.  Jake molds, bonds and begins to understand.  He sees this new world and the natives for what they are, far more intelligent than his counterparts believe.  There is a bonding between the Na’vi and mother earth that is deep and profound, calling back to the tales we read from our own heritage.
This film is intriguing, beautiful, a dynamic explosion that bursts from the screen.  The jungle, the wildlife,the Na’vi,  the flora and fauna, there’s not enough words to describe the beauty of this movie.  It’s has captured the most breathtaking and believable artistic sense I have seen in years.
The drama and the greed brought on by what the Na’vi have on their land is brought to light with the savagery that must have been experienced by the indigenous people that populated our own world in the time of discovery.  Change or suffer the consequences, with the possibility of mass genocide by the so-called higher intelligence factor.
The hero, Jake Sully, has to decide what is more important.  The life he knew or the life that exists only in his dreams.
I’ll leave you hanging there because I hate it when the review tells the entire story.  All I can say was there was a hushed lull over the audience during the entire film, not a child cried, whimpered or whined.  Not a soul bounded up and down the stairs seeking refills or a bathroom break.  There was clapping throughout the audience when the credits rolled and my boys, ages 8 and 14, were among them.
 Great, great movie to add to your future hits!
12:13 AM 
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