Vote for "The Montezuma Secret" on ibookbuzz!

My book "The Montezuma Secret" has been chosen as one of the final FIVE in the Romantic Suspense category, and one will be iBookBuzz's Book of the Month for March.  Please vote for me! Go to www.iBookBuzz.com and click on Vote.


You can vote for me between February 1st and 14th, with the book accumulating the most votes being announced on February 15th.  Amazon links to my book are conveniently located next to the Review boxes.

Please be aware that multiple voting is not allowed and those votes will be deducted at the end.
Check out my reviews:

FIVE STARS: "Excellent writing! Enjoyable hero and heroine! Great romance! Fast pace! I read it straight through! Author thorough in research! I lived the experience!"--A reader on Amazon.com

FIVE STARS: Does Ms. Chambers hold her readers captive with a book that you just can't put down and gives her opinion on where the king's daughter buried his gold! From the descriptions of the jungle, the visions fairly leaped off the pages and I can't wait to read her next!"--A Reader on Goodreads.com

FIVE STARS: "A Wild Sultry Ride! Wonderful, action-packed story! I was completely lost in the author's words. Ms. Chambers created quite a world for us to lose ourself in. The chemistry between Trey and Erica is fantastic. With curves, twist, romance and action. Take the chance, The Montezuma Secret is well worth your time."--A reader on Amazon.com

Thank you!

Excerpt "The Montezuma Secret"

NOW Available on www.amazon.com

Click to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JU0IX6

Only $.99 in e-book format for your Kindle, PC, MAC, iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, or Android.  Also available on Smashwords!

FIVE STARS: "Excellent writing! Enjoyable hero and heroine! Great romance! Fast pace! I read it straight through! Author thorough in research! I lived the experience!"--A reader on Amazon.com

Does Ms. Chambers hold her readers captive with a book that you just can't put down and gives her opinion on where the king's daughter buried his gold! From the descriptions of the jungle, the visions fairly leaped off the pages and I can't wait to read her next!"--A Reader on Goodreads.com

FIVE STARS: "A Wild Sultry Ride! Wonderful, action-packed story! I was completely lost in the author's words. Ms. Chambers created quite a world for us to lose ourself in. The chemistry between Trey and Erica is fantastic. With curves, twist, romance and action. Take the chance, The Montezuma Secret is well worth your time."--A reader on Amazon.com

A Blurb from “The Montezuma Secret”

Hunky Trey Zacco, gritty survivalist and host of the Miami-based Holiday Channel’s hit "Wildman" series and glitz and glamour girl, Erica Kingsley, host of the channel’s "Lap of Luxury" show, are thrown together in the steamy jungles of Belize as a publicity stunt. Erica’s father, Arthur Kingsley, the owner of the Holiday Channel, has proposed the angle, not only to boost ratings, but also as a way to toughen up his spoiled daughter. And Kingsley wants them to search for Montezuma’s lost gold, presumably moved to Belize from the Guatemalan jungle. Zacco cannot hide his resentment at having to share the spotlight with the flighty fashionista Erica, and he locks horns with her every step of the way even as both try to ignore the strong physical attraction growing between them.

But when Arthur Kingsley’s plane crashes in the jungle on his way to film the opening of the show, Trey and Erica launch a desperate search to find him. And when, one by one, members of the camera crew are killed and the equipment sabotaged, Trey and Erica find themselves stranded in the middle of the jungle with sultry producer Morgana Montez, Trey's ex-lover, where no rescue crew can reach them.

An Excerpt from "The Montezuma Secret"

"Up?" she pointed, unable to believe her ears.

Trey gave her a hard shove.

"Get going!"

"But how?"

"Grab the vines and pull yourself up!" he shouted over the thundering rain.

"You must be joking! It’s got to be one hundred feet high!"

"Good calculation. Now move!"

She stood her ground. "But why?"

"A. There’s no other way. B. I’m ordering you to. And you’ll listen if you ever want to get out of here."

Trey stifled an urge to smack her luscious wet bottom and watched in amusement as she struggled to grab hold of the slick vines, then smirked as she scrambled up a few feet and then landed in the muck with a splat. Her thick mane of black hair, once so splendidly coifed, was heavily matted and caked in mud.

"Again!" he yelled.

Raindrops, big as bullets, pelted her mercilessly. "I can’t do it. It’s impossible."

"Watch the master," he said, stowing the camera in his backpack.

He brushed her aside and grabbed one of the sturdier vines, then pulled himself up arm over arm with the agility of a spider monkey until he reached the top of the cliff where he had a perfect view of the lush jungle canopy and could see for miles.

"Now you know how it’s done. Get your ass up here or I’ll leave you behind."

"You can’t do that. You wouldn’t."

"Pull yourself up, Kingsley. If you have to, use the side of the cliff to push off and boost yourself higher. But watch out for the holes. There may be spiders and bats hiding in those nooks and crannies."

Erica re-tied her sagging ponytail and pinned it to her scalp. Her breath was ragged, her heartbeat erratic.

From above, she heard the sudden monotonous drone of a plane’s engine cutting through the rain splatter, then listened to the sputter as the motor spit and coughed, struggling to stay aloft. Wings slashed through the jungle over her head five hundred feet from her, both turbo props flaming. The plane wobbled and rolled before hitting the ground with an ear-splitting shriek of steel against steel followed by a blinding explosion of light that knocked her off her feet.

A sickening sensation shot through her and she suppressed the urge to vomit. The stench of black smoke as dark as blood filled her nostrils. She knew what had happened. She hoped to God she was wrong, but more than ever she wished with all her heart and soul that she was still safely home in Miami Beach and that she had never come.

From a safe distance, comfortably positioned to witness the entire spectacle, a smiling figure breathed a sigh of relief. It had all gone according to plan. On schedule and on time. They were right where they needed to be. Soon they’d both be dead and no one would be the wiser. Untimely accidents. Marauding terrorists. Ancient Mayan curses. Any excuse would do. Completely believable, considering the dangers of the jungle. They’d just disappear. Perfect. Simply perfect.

The Rhythm of the Word, Part 2

The Rhythm of the Word continues with more sentence selection choices to vary your writing style and engage your reader:

Repetition of a key term. Example: We all inhabit a mysterious world—the inner world, the world of the mind.

A variation: same word repeated in parallel structure. Example: Romeo and Juliet captures a moment of time, a moment of passion, a moment of desperate indulgence.

Emphatic appositive at end, after a colon

Example: Atop the back of the lobster is a collection of trash: tiny starfish, moss, sea conchs, crabs, pieces of kelp.

A variation: appositive (single or pair of series after a dash)

Example: Many traditional philosophies echo the ideas of one man—Plato

Interrupting modifier between subject and verb

Example: A small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, can make millions think.

A full sentence as interrupting modifier

Example: Juliet’s famous question—early in the balcony scene she asks, “Wherefore art thou, Romeo—is often misunderstood; she meant not “where,” but “why.”

Introductory or concluding participles

Example: Overwhelmed by the tear gas, the rioters groped their way toward the fountain to wash their eyes.

A single modifier out of place for emphasis

Example: Frantically, the young mother called for help.

Prepositional phrase before subject and verb

Example: Despite his master’s degree in economics, the only job Chester could get was making change in an Atlantic City casino.

Object or complement before subject and verb

Example: His kind of sarcasm I do not like.

Complete inversion of normal pattern

Example: Down the street and through the mist stumbled the unfamiliar figure.

Paired constructions

Example: The more the Texas Ranger searched through the country, the more elusive the trail of the train robbers became.

A paired construction for contrast only

Example: Genius, not stupidity, has limits.

Dependent clause as subject or object or complement

Example: What man cannot imagine, he cannot create.

Absolute construction anywhere in sentence

Example: His blanket torn and his finger burnt, the small boy cried on his father’s shoulder.

The short, simple sentence for relief or dramatic effect

Example: Days passed.

A short question for dramatic effect

Example: What caused the change?

The deliberate fragment

Example: Fair enough.

Keep all these sentence styles near your computer to help you remember all the different variations.  And pay attention to the rhythm of the sentences, the syllables and the words.  The ear is the best writer.  If you keep your writing lyrical, you're writing will sing!

Weeks to come:  Shameless Promotion

The Rhythm of the Word

Words are like musical notes. They have to form together properly to make a pleasing sound. That’s why they say the ear is the best writer. Sentences have to have a certain rhythm otherwise they sound choppy and discordant. As a piano player, I draw on my musical skills to understand when writing sounds right and when it doesn’t.

Sentences have to flow like music. The number of syllables in the word also makes a difference when determining which one to use. Too many long sentences won’t work and the same is true of too many short sentences. In music, staccato means a note of short duration. Lunga means long and sostenuto means sustained or lengthened. Forte means loud, adagio slow, pianissimo, soft. Andante means moderate, crescendo means growing progressively louder. When a pianist is unskilled, all the notes may be played exactly the same, without emphasis or feeling. He or she hasn’t put his soul into the music. When a virtuoso pianist hits the keys, we can immediately tell the difference. Some parts of the melody are played soft, others strong. It stirs us emotionally. We hear not just the notes, but the emotion behind it. The same is true of writing. The key is variety. And the ultimate key is to know when to differentiate between all the different options and make the words sing—with emotion, intensity and fire. It can make our writing not only readable, but memorable.

There are 20 Patterns for sentence structure. Here are the first 10:* (I’ve copied these and pasted them next to my computer)

1. Compound sentence: semicolon, no conjunction.   Example: Hard work is only one side of the equation; talent is the other.
2. Compound sentence with elliptical construction.   Example: A red light means stop; a green light, go.
3. Compound sentence with explanatory statement.   Example: Remember what the old saying advises: Be careful what you wish for because you may actually get it.
4. A series without a conjunction.   Example: The United States has a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
5. A series with a variation.   Example: Peering down from the hill, Merlin could see the castle swathed in gloom and fear and death.
6. A series of balanced pairs.   Example: Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere were all famous lovers in literature.
7. An introductory series of appositives.   Example: Vanity, greed, corruption—which serves as the novel’s source of conflict?
8. An internal series of appositives or modifiers.   Example: My favorite red wines—Zinfandel, Cabernet, Pinot Noir—blend well in making California rose wines.
9. A variation: a single appositive or a pair.   Example: A sudden explosion—artillery fire—signaled the beginning of a barrage.
10. Dependent clauses in a pair or in a series.   Example: When he smelled the odor of pine, when he heard the chatter of jays, when he saw the startled doe, the hunter knew he had reached the center of the forest.

What writers use words that flow the best, ones that are the most pleasing to the ear? What writers make you say ‘gee, I wish I’d written that,’ or ‘gee, that sounds great!’ My favorite wordsmiths are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They can create an atmosphere like no other and string sentences together with truly imaginative words that have life and rhythm. Who are your favorite wordsmiths and what special tricks do they use that make you love their writing?•

*From “The Art of Styling Sentences: 20 Patterns for Success” by Waddell, Esch and Walker
Next week: The Rhythm of the Word, Part 2

What Makes a Successful Blog?

What's the Secret Formula to Success?

1. The day you blog?
(Are weekends the best?)
(Or Mondays when everyone is more active, back at work, etc.)

2. The time?
(Early or late in the day?)

3. Name recognition?
(Does this matter?)

4. Subject matter?
(This has to matter!)

5. What’s the most popular topic?
a. Writing tips?
b. Personal Recollections
c. R-rated book excerpts?
d. Promos?
e. Great photos?
f. Great links?

6. Social Media
a. Facebook
b. Twitter
c. Linked in?
d. Writing Groups
1. Coffee Time Romance
2. All Romance Reviews
3. Wild Rose Press
4. Long and Short Romance Reviews
5. Others?
6. Amazon Author Page
7. Facebook Author Page

7. Long list of followers to establish credibility?

8. Length of Time the Writer has been Blogging?

9. Number of Books the Author has Written/Experience Level?

These are things I’ve wondered about since I first started seriously blogging a year ago. What things contribute to creating a big following? I’ve heard it takes six months to establish that following. Is this true? Does it contribute to sales? Is it better than paid ads? My New Year’s resolution is to grow my blog and its followers. How best to do that? And is it worth it? Am I wasting time with this when I should sooner be working on my novels?

Next week: The Rhythm of the Word