It's Been Awhile

Hello Reader,
I apologize for the long break between posts. I confess I struggle with the whole blogging thing. I find it overwhelming, time consuming and fearful that no one reads it. So I go and post and post and then I take a break.

During this latest "break" I have done some reorganizing in my creative world. I took a step back and decided what I was going to do with my seemingly random writing career. I am happy to announce that my first ever horror novella will be published next month. Check back for details and the cover reveal. I found writing in this genre was fun and allowed for me to really let loose with the creativity. I love writing my romance novels, but this was different. Different rules, different audience, and yes, for me a different approach to writing. I confess to not loving to be scared, but it turns out that I have stories to tell that are rather creepy if I do say so myself.

In the meantime I do have a rather impressive backlist and suggest that if you're looking for fun reads during this holiday seasons check out my two Christmas novellas with Tirgearr Publishing. These were fun to write and I hope you enjoy them!

http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Ahlers_Kristi/the-trouble-with-holly.htm
http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Ahlers_Kristi/the-trouble-with-mistletoe.htm

One Night in New Orleans

I have long had a fascination with the city of New Orleans and as a result I set a great deal of my stories there. I can’t really put my finger on the reason why this city speaks to my creative soul. Perhaps it’s the history, or maybe the personal struggles of it’s people over the centuries. Maybe it’s the food. Or maybe it’s a great combination of all of the above. I do know that when I’m in a writing slump, visiting the Crescent City always inspires. Whether it’s a ghost story or erotic love story, or even a suspense, New Orleans is as much a character in the book as the hero and heroine.










ONE NIGHT IN NEW ORLEANS






Dr. Kaitlyn Burrows and her best friend, Anya, have come to New Orleans to have a little vacation and to attend an annual fundraising masquerade party. Kaitlyn is there to have fun and donate some much needed funds. What she isn’t expecting is to meet Thierry Beaulieu. He’s about to take one night in New Orleans and make it a night to remember.


Thierry Beaulieu is a pilot and has come home to his native New Orleans for some much needed down time, and to support his best friend with the bachelor charity auction. When he meets a mystery woman at the ball and finds he wants to get to know the woman better, he fixes it so she wins the auction. He has one night to prove to Kaitlyn that there is such a thing as love at first sight, and there is nothing wrong with lust being the motivator. He’s going to make sure his Kaitlyn has a night she won’t forget.

Her Highland Rogue

I’m currently in the middle of finishing my Clan Ross series. This has been a fun project and one that has challenged me but also allowed me to embrace Scotland and it’s history and people. When I lived in the UK my family visited Scotland several times and I always found the people to be amazingly friendly and personable. The Scot’s have an amazing history and reminds me that family is the most important part of your life. Whether by blood or by friendships formed, family is what get’s you through things.

Please check out my second book in this series HER HIGHLAND ROGUE. The two main characters were based off people that are dear to me and who inspire me. Take that kinda magic with a “what if” idea and voilà.

HER HIGHLAND ROGUE blurb

Kady, Muse Extraordinaire has ticked off Cupid and in order to get back into the good graces of her friend and the rest of the Gods, she has to do the seemingly impossible. She has to match her favorite lady human, Meagan Wentworth with her one true love. Kady thinks she’s struck the mother lode of luck when Meagan falls for Alec Ross but there is just one tiny little problem with the hearts and flower ending she envisions. Alec is from the past, Scotland, in the year 1295 to be exact and his little sojourn in the future is about to come to an end thanks to the selfish and evil priestess, Morgana. But everything goes wrong when Alec and Meagan get caught up in the a spell Morgana has cast and sends them back in time. Kady doesn’t have enough power to send them back to the twenty-first century so she hopes they can make things work until she can figure a way to get Meagan home where she belongs.

Meagan can’t believe she’s back in time, with no plumbing, no electricity and the hottie she’d been falling for, doesn’t remember her. Meagan is going to do what she can to get back to her time period, she doesn’t need this…and yet, she has never backed down from a challenge. She’s going to remind Alec who she is and what they had together in the future. Hopefully, she’ll be able to survive the late 1200’s and not be accused of witchcraft or die. And of course get the guy and write there happy ending.

Reading and Technology--How Do You Unwind

Why read?

Recently Kenya West came out and made the statement—and I’m going to be paraphrasing here…that books are too wordy and really simply and ego thing for the writer. Hmmm…first off I was thinking Hello Pot. I’ve never seen such an huge egomaniac in awhile.

But his comment got me to thinking. Why do people read? Why do you pick up a certain genre over others? What speaks to you as a reader?

Before I worked up the nerve to write my book I was an avid reader. I was a top 100 reviewer with Amazon and I also reviewed for several years for Romantic Times Magazine. I read a wide range of books, genre’s and authors. Some I admit I wouldn’t have picked up on my own.  And as a result I would have missed out on some seriously amazing stories, authors, and my “reading world” would be seriously small.

But do people still choose to read as a way of kicking back and relaxing? Face it technology has changed how we do things. Stop and think how many times you’ve gone out and spent a great part of her time checking social networks, or added to your story on Snapchat. You’re with your date or hanging with friends and you are head down chatting with others. This really irritates me at times. We’ve lost the ability to socialize in person.

Has the tablets and smartphones of the world taken away from a good read? At times I think they do. I’m all for you using the tablet to download that book. I have both a Kindle and Nook account and I carry my tablet with me so I have ready access to my library. Win for technology.

I read before I do a lot of other things. The news is full of politically correct garbage that tries to avoid the very real and ugly truth that the world is exploding with not nice things. Reality is too much, I’d much rather escape into a good romance. Where love isn’t a punch line, where relationships are grown and nurtured with the end result being that mystical Happily Ever After. I love a good historical novel where you can travel back in time and experience a time long past. And paranormal reads are also very intriguing. There are no rules, the worlds are dynamic and entertaining.

So what do you do to relax? Do you game, read, a combination of both? What draws you to a book?

CHECK OUT THE DUETS AVAILABLE NOW!

Get your copies now for Valentine's Day! 

http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-California-Duet-Duets-Book-ebook/dp/B00PGFI2U4/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423774969&sr=1-3&keywords=The+Trouble+with+California

http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Hawaii-Duet-Duets-Book-ebook/dp/B00PGJM896/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423774894&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Trouble+with+Hawaii

http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-New-Orleans-Duets-Book-ebook/dp/B00PHF6U2U/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423774943&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Trouble+with+New+Orleans

http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Paris-Duet-Duets-Book-ebook/dp/B00PGE1O78/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423774917&sr=1-4&keywords=The+Trouble+with+Paris

Valentine's Day

The dreaded holiday of Valentine's Day is upon us. I have mixed feelings about this "holiday." In truth I see it as a great holiday for the floral, chocolate and card industry but see little else. I’m personally a person who doesn’t like to conform to celebrating a holiday set aside for love and romance on one day. I think if you’re in a relationship, you should celebrate romance and your love each day. But with that said, I love history. The story of how things come to be or happen so courtesy of the History.com here is a little information regarding the history of this now commercial holiday. As I researched this I learned quite a bit and hope that you enjoy this little tidbit of info…

VALENTINE’S DAY: A DAY OF ROMANCE

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”–at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at theBattle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that KingHenry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

TYPICAL VALENTINE’S DAY GREETINGS

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines

Here is wishing you all a very happy Valentine’s Day and don’t put pressure on yourself to make it happen. Love is a natural thing and doesn’t have to come dressed up with cards and chocolate.

http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Ahlers_Kristi/index.htm

A New Look!

For those of you who have been following my TROUBLE SERIES, you know that my publisher Tirgearr Publishing has released 12! count them 12! novellas! I'm super thrilled with the response I've received and my publisher has decided (and I totally agree) it's time to make these into duets! That's right, two for the price of one!

The first to come out will be THE TROUBLE WITH PARIS, which includes THE TROUBLE WITH FRENCH KISSES and THE TROUBLE WITH PILOTS! This book will be available for download and at the sweet price of $2.99! Check back for release date!