Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Welcome Laura Harner

Good morning!


Welcome to Michael's today where I'm happy to have author/publisher, Laura Harner. She has a new book coming out in the next few days and from what i've read of excerpts, I'm pretty excited to read. She's here with a guestpost and a contest!


Hope you enjoy!




Who A-Muses You?


Most mornings I’m awake and drinking coffee at least 20-30 minutes before my alarm goes off. That probably wouldn’t be so bad, except my alarm is set for 2:30. Yup, that’s AM…as in officially oh-dark-thirty. So who are the Muses who can convince me that getting up so early is a good idea?

First, meet Muse the Imaginary… (She refuses to let me name her-I think it’s because she sometimes possesses my cat, Shadow)

Apparently she is an alternate personality of mine with a wicked sense of humor. She has been known to send the characters into my dreams and whisper sweet plot surprises for me. She led me through writing all four books in the Highland Destiny Series, which was quite a feat, since I’d never written any fiction prior to Highland Shift. She also stays with me through all the other crazy books I tackle. (She’s especially fond of my ménage series, Three’s Allowed)

I talk to a lot of authors, and that seems to be standard Muse behavior. Obviously some are more vocal than others…

I want to introduce you to another sort of muse…a real life inspiration. Or should I say Sinspiration?

I became familiar with the photography of Dan Skinner, AKA Dan theDanimal, more than a year ago, when he was making covers for a publishing house, and I was a new writer. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to work together then, but I remembered his work, and started following his posts on Facebook.
One morning, I was driving my son to school and a photograph I’d seen on Dan’s site sort of popped into my mind. I frantically searched for paper and all I could find was a receipt…so I drove and dictated and my 15 year old son was forced to make notes for my first MM erotic romance. He’s such a good sport!

I messaged Dan that night to ask if he sold his art directly to authors for covers. He does, and he spent quite a bit of time helping me get the right version of his photograph for my book.

So why do I consider him one of my Muses? If you’ve seen his work, you already know. If not here’s the picture that inspired my latest book.

Here’s the blurb for Ty Hard:
After six long months in rehab, Navy Veteran Tyler Hardin received his medical discharge and heads west to visit with his mentor and surrogate father, only to arrive minutes after his old friend passes. Ranch owner Cass Cartwright takes one look at the handsome stranger and knows he's in danger of doing the one thing he swore never to do: fall in love. Cass works to convince Tyler to overcome his past and give a relationship with another man a chance, even while someone is working to sabotage his ranch, and maybe his one chance at true love.

Dan continues to inspire me…before I even finished Ty Hard, Dan showed me a series of photographs from a recent shoot, and I about jumped through my computer in my hurry to purchase one.
I don’t even have a document open with the name of the next book, but once again, Dan’s photograph grabbed me by the throat, and the imaginary muse is on board. Look what we’re working on next…

And don’t forget the beautiful cover for Salvation, the latest in my Three’s Allowed Series.

Dan’s pictures are worth way more than a thousand words to me.
So, now I want to know, who is your muse?






For more information about Dan Skinner’s photography, visit his websites:

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What a great post! 

Everyone knows that I myself am a muse, very familiar in most circles. Sharita lets us take over most days and a lot of things infiltrate her brain, inspiring us to write. We have been jolted by Dan's photos too as well as our fave Kevin Slack and Vishstudio who is also a Deviant artist as well. 

Thanks so much for that post.

Hope you all enjoyed that and please comment so Laura can pick a winner for a choice if Ty Hard or Salvation.



9 comments:

S.Lira said...

Thank you for stopping in Laura

Lisa Worrall said...

Lovely post :)

E. Jamie said...

Great post! I definitely have to check out Dan's photos. I already love Laura muchly! Hmm, my muse is a wee shirtless male who wears grey trousers, (Laura knows why)(winks) sits on my shoulder and whispers dirty things in my ear!

Laura said...

Oh, darlin' I know exactly why those grey trousers are stretched so tightly, ahem...sorry, got carried away!
Lucky girl!

C. Zampa said...

I love his work, and one of his photos has inspired one of my characters as well.

And I'm hoping the story will be picked up so I can request the photo for my cover. And, even better, the photo spurred me on to work harder on the story and finish it.

Thanks for sharing!

Mercy Celeste said...

Love Dan Skinner, of course he did the cover of one of my books and it's naughty and nice and...yeah. Uh, he has a really good eye...did I mention naughty.

Margie Church said...

Laura, I've become a Dan fan, thanks you you. I've gone through a half-dozen LIKE/LICK buttons this week. ;-) I wish you the best and hope your muse never sleeps. I hope I'll see you next month in Vegas.

Pender Mackie said...

Laura, those are gorgeous covers and the books sounds great.
Thanks to Sharita I've recently discovered Dan Skinner's photos. As far as my muse goes, I'm still trying to pin her down. She's lazy and shy and a complete pervert. LOL But when she's feeling generous, she's very generous.

Unknown said...

I love Dan's work. Ty Hard sounds like such a wonderful book too.