Today's author feature includes a "Day in the Life" guest post written by author Neil S. Plakcy. Neil is the author of adult mystery novel The Next One Will Kill You, released tomorrow November 15th 2016 by Diversion Books. Be sure to read the exclusive book excerpt included with this post!

​Neil S. Plakcy is a native of Yardley, Pennsylvania, and felt the call of the tropics drawing him to Hollywood, Florida, where he now resides with his partner and their golden retriever. That love of tropical latitudes has also nurtured an abiding interest in Hawaii, as well as in what Graham Greene called "shady characters in sunny places."

His fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Verbsap, Blithe House Quarterly and In The Family, as well as winning first prize in a South Florida magazine contest. He is the president of the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), Columbia University (MBA), and Florida International University (MFA), an assistant professor of English at Broward College and the proud papa of a white golden retriever named Brody.

He has published a wide range of fiction and non-fiction in mainstream and GLBT publications, both in print and on line. Visit him online at www.mahubooks.com. 

Sometimes my life is uncomfortably reminiscent of an episode of Cheers, the old sitcom that took place in a bar “where everybody knows your name.” I walk into my local Starbucks, my laptop in a bag over my shoulder, and at least one of the baristas will call out, “Hi, Neil!”

A lot of research goes into the books I write, and The Next One Will Kill You is no exception. And since I do an awful lot of writing and reading at that very coffee shop, I worry that some nosy fellow patron will look over my shoulder and report me to the police because I’m searching for something like “How to make a Molotov cocktail.”

I write almost every day, usually for an hour in the morning. I’ve been able to structure my college teaching schedule so that my day there begins with office hours at 11:30, giving me plenty of time to wake up, feed and walk two rambunctious golden retrievers, and then get my butt out the door and get that grande café mocha in front of me.

If you’re a bibliophile, you likely dream about having your own private library brimming with thousands of books. For many, this isn’t a possibility due to space, money or other logistics. However, with the advent of the e-reader, having your own library is no longer a dream. While it might not be the same as physically seeing all of your books, you can easily amass thousands of e-books on your Kindle or Nook. 

Although there are some avid readers who refuse to go digital, many more have embraced the -reader. In fact, around 27 percent of adults have read an e-book in the past year. This number increases to 43 percent when you include other content like magazines, journals and news articles. Like other technological advances, the e-reader brings with it many changes, not only to the world of publishing but to our reading habits as well. It has changed how and where we read. It has even changed the way our homes look. For better or worse, the e-reader is here to stay.

​Hey book friends!

I have a fun combo for you today. Not only am I showcasing this exciting book, the author Allie Harrison, has written a little something about one of my favorite genres, paranormal romance!  Read her guest post below and be sure to enter the sponsored giveaway before you go. While you're here, get a sneak peek inside of Hargrove House with the excerpt also included in this feature.

Good Luck and Happy Reading,
~Tamara

Genre: Paranormal Suspense w/ Romantic Elements
Release Date: October 2, 2015 
Publisher: Indie Published
Print Length: 216 pages
Format: Digital

Synopsis:  As a child, Torrie Reynolds entered the haunted Hargrove House on a dare. Terrified by what she'd heard while inside Hargrove House, she avoided it since. Now fifteen years later, Torrie is an interior decorator. 

When Will Dalton buys the infamous Hargrove House and offers Torrie the job of refurbishing it, she has no choice but to take the offer to keep her business afloat. As the house is restored and rooms come alive with character and color Torrie brings to them, her fear of the house fades. Hargrove House begins to even feel like home to her. With each finished renovation project, it is harder for Torrie to leave. It is even harder for her to leave the comfort of Will Dalton's arms. But she discovers there are things more terrifying than ghosts when she learns why Will is digging in the dark, frightening cellar.

Hey friends,

Last month I did a guest blog post on Becca's book blog I'm Lost in Books for her Women's Lit Event and I wanted to share it on my blog as well.  Thanks to Becca for allowing me to be a part of it. Click here to see the original post.  I hope you enjoy my thoughts on strong female leads in romance fiction.

For Women’s Lit week I wanted to discuss strong women in romance fiction.  Can women be strong in their own right and still snag an alpha male? Of course they can! There seems to be two sides to the romance coin in literature. Either the woman is young, naive, insecure, spoiled, etc. or she’s strong, powerful, smart, witty, and sometimes even considered defiant. I tend to go for the latter.

Speaking of the Alpha male, there seems to be two side of that coin as well. He’s strong, sarcastic, witty, and protective or he’s all of that plus creepy, stalker, possessive, overbearing, most times they have issues controlling anger, etc. Regardless, they always seem to have a killer body and tons of money. In this case, I tend to lean toward the former.

With that said, I love books with a good dose of drama and an alpha male.  I also love a strong woman, it’s almost a requirement in order for me to fully enjoy the book. Nothing makes me cringe more than a weak woman waiting on a man to save her…or teach her…or whatever.  I’ve always had a thing against weak leading ladies.  

For example – with the movie just coming out recently, Fifty Shades of Grey has been on everyone’s minds again. I read it years ago, and in my personal opinion, I pretty much hated it.  Anna’s general lack of common sense and allowing someone to control and manipulate her was just too much for me. I didn’t find it sexy at all.  Nothing about Fifty Shades of Grey was appealing to me.  Not into romance erotica? I have another example for you – Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Beautiful Disaster is a new adult romance and it’s another one that really showcases a woman being controlled by her boyfriend.  He’s possessive, overbearing and has a major temper problem.  Not my cup of tea. I would never want my nieces to like this type of book. I don’t want them to think that type of behavior is sexy, on any level.

Instead, I’d rather read The Blackdagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward or The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, or the Night Huntress series by Jeanine Frost. All of my examples fall in the paranormal romance category, and I absolutely love them.  Guaranteed that these series turn up the heat with really strong and sexy men without degrading women. The women in these books chose to be with their men, they want them- they don’t need them. The women give the men a run for their money in every arena.  The women are strong in their own right, and I can relate to that.  I could go on and on with examples from both sides of the genre.  

There’s something to intense about an alpha woman that is feminine, attractive and still let’s her man be a man.  No weak male character can handle that. Strong female heroines need their equally strong hero. This makes for fun reading because in these cases there’s usually a tug of war with the balance of power in the relationship which leads to tons of fun banter which in turn makes the sexual tension even more believable and kicks it up a notch.
  
I said all that to say, yes - successful romance novels do have strong female leads and those are the ones that I gravitate toward most. There’s something for everyone, but with so many negative and critical messages in the world consistently tearing down women, do we really need more of it in fiction? I think not.

If you’re interested in reading some romance with strong heroines, there are several Goodreads lists available for you to peruse.  

Popular Strong Female Characters Books – Goodreads
Strong Female Characters Book Lists – Goodreads
Strong Female Characters Written by Female Authors - Goodreads
Badass Female Leads! - Goodreads

Happy Reading,
~Tamara