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Royal Magic and The Road to Monterra: Part 2 by Jina Bacarr

July 11, 2016 by in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is magic what we see or what we think we see?

Find out in ROYAL MAGIC, my next The Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds story.

I had a time of it getting all the magic tricks down, making sure I walked the characters through the steps without giving it away to the reader. The real magic was creating a girl from South Philly with an ache in her heart to make something right in her family that caused so much pain years ago…and not give the surprise away! 

I loved creating this world within Sariah Wilson’s world — I was inspired by what was magic to me when I attended La Biennale...here’s what happened:

I love it when art imitates life. When something so unexpected happens to you that you know someday it will become a story. The inspiration for Royal Magic, showed up in an email from the cultural arts committee in Venice, Italy.
Italy! Carnevale, gondolas, and pizza. 
And to think I almost deleted it. What fools we authors be. They were asking me to speak and then perform at La Biennale, a celebration of art, music, dance, film, and architecture begun in 1895.  
I had written a nonfiction book and a novel about Japanese culture and they wanted me to be on the panel with a performance artist and dancers from Japan.
Before I could say, Mama mia, I was on my way to Venice. The festival committee treated me like a princess, arranging my airfare on Air France and setting up my accommodations in a century-old hotel near Piazza San Marco with all the trappings of a grand palazzo. They even assigned me a bodyguard to make sure I got to my hotel okay. 
I’ll never forget wandering the cobblestone streets of Venice, checking out the gondolas, the exquisite shops, and so many bookstores I lost count! It soothed my romantic soul, while the people of Venice warmed my heart.
And I had the best pizza ever.
My trip to La Biennale inspired me to create my own festival in Monterra. Magic, music, and Monterran cuisine seemed a natural fit for a kingdom located so close to Italy. And so my series within The Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds, “Fairy Tales & Magic,” was born.
In the first book, Royal Magic, you’ll meet Afton, who performs on the aerial silks, and her sister Emma. Sparks fly when Afton meets a handsome magician who isn’t what he seems. We also meet four other American girls who come to Monterra to perform at the festival . . . each hoping to find her prince and live her own fairy tale!
I hope you enjoy Royal Magic. Ciao!
PS — here’s a video I made about my trip to La Biennale in Venice, Italy!


Royal Magic inspired by La Biennale, Venice, Italy from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

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How Kindle Scout set me off on the Road to Oz…I mean, Monterra by Jina Bacarr

June 11, 2016 by in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you ever slipped on a pair of shoes that fit perfectly?

Soft, dreamy leather. Straps not too tight.

Heels not too high. You don’t want to feel like you’re about to go over a cliff.

I have.

And get this, it’s a glass slipper. 

When I entered my Civil War time travel romance, LOVE ME FOREVER, in the Kindle Scout program*** I didn’t realize there was a technicolor ending in my future.

I went to Oz.

I mean, Monterra.

When Sariah Wilson asked romance KS winners if we’d like to write in her Royals of Monterra Kindle World, I jumped at the chance. I love princess stories (check out my Princess video!) I wrote ROYAL DARE about Princess Violetta, who appears in Sariah’s ROYAL DATE. Violetta has a drug problem so I sent her to rehab. But getting clean ain’t easy…even for a princess

Can she make it through rehab?

One of the most rewarding aspects of writing Royal Dare is the fact that several addiction recovery

sites have discovered the novel and follow me on Twitter. I hope Violetta’s story encourages those who need help to seek it out.

I loved writing in Sariah’s KW so much, I decided to write another story, but on a much lighter subject.

Magic.

ROYAL MAGIC will launch with Sariah’s next Royals of Monterra book, ROYAL GAMES.

Royal Magic is the story of a girl from South Philly with a dream to become an aerial silks performer, but there’s a dark secret in her past that keeps her from her goal.

Until she’s invited to perform at the arts festival in the kingdom of Monterra for the royal family in Fairy Tales & Magic: Magic, Music & Monterran Cuisine. There she meets a handsome, mysterious magician who’s not what he seems…

Royal Magic will launch along with Sariah’s Royal Games and new Royals of Monterra stories from other talented writers on July 8th!’

I’m almost finished with the cover, so I’ll update this page as we get closer to the launch.

I’m enjoying my road trip to Monterra and plan to do more Royals of Monterra books after Royal Magic. And to think it all started with Kindle Scout…

~Jina

***You can read my previous posts about my experience with the Kindle Scout program by clicking on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5


The Princess and the Stilettos for Valentine’s Day from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.


The Princess and the Magic Shamrock for St. Patrick’s Day from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

Website: www.jinabacarr.com
Blog: www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com
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Twilight Zone Day, Time Travel, and Me by Jina Bacarr

May 11, 2016 by in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twilight Zone.

Did you hear the eerie music when you read the title?

Two of my favorite TZ episodes dealt with time travel.

Civil War.

And medicine.

Cliff Robertson in “A Hundred Years Over the Rim” (a father time travels to the future to save his ill son with modern medicine) and Kevin McCarthy in “Long Live Walter Jameson.” (check out an interesting filming note on this one). A professor knows history better than he should because “he was there.”

When I set out to write my Civil War romance, LOVE ME FOREVER, these two TZ episodes crept into my story line in a fun and interesting way: my time traveling heroine is a part time EMT and history teacher; she helps the Union Army physician hero in his fight against “germs” and how to combat disease back in 1862.

And yes, she knows exactly when the battles take place and does her best to save lives. But can she change history? If she does, will she lose the man she loves?


How do TV shows affect your writing?

Do shows we loved as kids have an even more powerful effect on our writing?

I think so.

LOVE ME FOREVER is proof of that.

What TV shows have affected your writing?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Till next time…

Jina


Civil War time traveler, belle…and spy: Love Me Forever from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.


She was an imposter – a time traveler back to the Civil War in 1862 from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

 
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Soldier, Nurse, Spy: The Women who won the Civil War

March 11, 2016 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

March is Women’s History Month.

Writing women back into history. Many times we forget the Civil War wasn’t fought only by men, but women, too.

Did you watch the recent PBS Civil War mini-series “Mercy Street?”

I was glued to my TV every week watching the fascinating story of a Virginia hotel turned into a hospital for both Union and Confederate wounded in 1862.

What did you think of Mercy Street?

I enjoyed watching the story unfold and how it paralleled my Civil War time travel romance, Love Me Forever, which also takes place in 1862 Virginia. It was like watching my pages come alive with Civil War medicine, a visit from Mr. Lincoln, hoop skirts, women’s roles in both the North and the South, and of course, hot romance.

What I loved so much about that show was the prominence of women’s roles during the Civil War and how they changed nursing with their daring and willingness to tread into what was then a male profession.Like Mercy Street, I have two heroines:

Liberty Jordan, a time traveler from the future who goes back to Antietam dressed as a Confederate officer.

Pauletta Buckingham, a Tennessee belle and a spy bent on revenging the death of her beloved, a Texas Ranger.

An odd couple in every way. One is a strawberry-blonde, the other raven-haired. One believes in the Union; the other will do anything for the cause. One is in love with a man she can’t have…the other is engaged to a man she doesn’t love.

But these two women have one thing in common: believing in women’s equality. Here my time traveler, Liberty in LOVE ME FOREVER, questions her involvement in the war with belle Pauletta Sue.

“Liberty couldn’t stop questioning how she got mixed up with this crazy secesh woman and her insane scheme. She’d never seen a woman so passionate about a cause, so truly believing what she was doing was patriotism. The war had unleashed a fire in her, and the more Liberty understood about the protected, delicate lifestyle these women led, the more she knew a great movement was underway that went beyond their cause.

It wasn’t until 1866 that the American Equal Rights Association was founded, but this was the beginning of the movement leading to women’s freedom and that she could understand. What bothered her was that Pauletta Sue was on the losing side of the war and because of that, she might not benefit from the changes women embraced afterward. She worked so hard at her cause, Liberty believed she deserved better, but the belle wouldn’t listen to her.”

I love how these two women bond over the course of the story as did Union Army nurse Mary in Mercy Street with belle Emma. But as much as I enjoyed the series, I kept hoping they would touch on the role of women in the ranks. Brave women who fought and often died as soldiers because they believed in their cause. I’m hoping the series will be renewed and we’ll meet up with a female soldier in Season 2.

My hero, Major Flynt Stephens, a Union Army physician, ponders the idea of female soldiers when he finds out his Rebel prisoner is a beautiful woman (Liberty).

“The Rebel prisoner was a female.

Would his nurse give her away? Or was she waiting for him to say something? He couldn’t. He felt a stirring within him, something he didn’t want to admit, that brought a hardness between his loins. Did he dare imagine that a beautiful woman existed under all that blood and dirt? He’d heard stories about women enlisting in the army, both North and South, and fighting as men. A good set of teeth to rip open a bullet cartridge, a trigger finger that worked, and a firm handshake was all that was required to join up. It was no secret the promise of a steady paycheck was often the reason behind such reckless female behavior.

That didn’t solve his immediate problem.”

Women Soldiers in the Civil War from “Love Me Forever” from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

We will soon see women in combat roles in the Armed Forces. Imagine how proud the women soldiers in the Civil War would be knowing they paved the way…

~Jina

LOVE ME FOREVER is available on Amazon

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Royal Dare: What happens when a Princess bites into that poison apple

February 11, 2016 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting clean ain’t easy…even for a princess.

—————–  
If you’re a princess, most likely your fairy godmother warned you about messengers bearing big, red shiny apples.

Who can forget Snow White…

But in the end she found her prince after eating the poisoned apple.

Sometimes princesses are influenced by the wrong people. Take Princess Violetta in ROYAL DARE. She was desperate to be thin and win her crush…but it led her into drug addiction. Her poison apple.
 
Meth.
————— 
This month I tackle a serious subject in ROYAL DARE (The Royals of Monterra, Kindle Worlds).

Addiction to drugs is a major problem — not just for the addict but for those in their world. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to go to rehab, or what happens afterward, Royal Dare takes you into that world.

Even though my heroine is a princess, she’s not immune to the horrors of meth and how difficult it is to get clean.

Princess Violetta meets some interesting people in rehab and hears the story about an old cloth doll and how she helped an addict face her demons. There are funny moments, too, like seeing our princess with a toilet brush cleaning bathrooms, and tearful ones–when a girl who is a “cutter” and addict calls the hotline manned by our princess threatening to kill herself and Violetta is the only one who can save her.

Royal Dare is for anyone who is an addict and wants help, and for those who love them.

Thank you for listening.

~Jina

Royal Dare (The Royals of Monterra) is available on Amazon Kindle

Born a princess, Violetta of Monterra is living the fairy tale. She has everything she wants. Designer purses and shoes, a party lifestyle and she’s as thin as a smartphone.

She’s also a meth addict.

If she doesn’t get clean, she’ll lose everything. Her title, her family. Her soul.

Learning how to survive in rehab is only the first step to gaining her sobriety. Once she finishes the program, the real challenge comes when Violetta goes back to her fancy Swiss boarding school. His name is Chace. Her first crush . . . and the guy who got her hooked on meth. Trusting him won’t keep her sober.

Then there’s Troy, the new hottie in school. Can he save her from relapse? And from losing everything precious to her before she goes down that rabbit hole for the last time?

Royal Dare (The Royals of Monterra) is available on Amazon Kindle

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