Thursday, January 21, 2016

NEW RELEASE! "Billiard Buddies" by Cassandra Ulrich


A New Release from Cassandra Ulrich!
Billiard Buddies

Blurb: An avid pool table player, Gina has yet to meet her match among her billiard pals.  Pete O’Reily, one of the guys she plays against at a local bar, finds someone he thinks will finally give her a challenging game. 
     Gina was thrilled she could finally compete with someone who sharpened her skills, but Sean Savage became much more to her after a few games.  She started falling in love with Sean who remained loyal to his career-focused girlfriend, Cindy.  Gina, having been hurt by a cheating ex-boyfriend, is determined not to cause the same pain to any woman.  Because of this, she keeps her feelings for Sean a secret from everyone except her flamboyant cousin Gene and a girlfriend on the other side of the city. 
     Without realization, Sean stretches her ability to do this whenever he visits her like she’s one of the guys.  Conflict occurs on many fronts: Gina avoids her ex, Hank, who wants to get back together; Sean longs to marry Cindy who spends more time at work than with him; and Gina has a falling out with Sean when he tries to set her up with a friend of his. 
Will true love prevail?




Billiard Buddies 
Excerpt:

“I hear you play a mean pool game,” Sean started.  He couldn’t help but agree that she was cute, her round 1920’s features hugged by blond curls that bounced just above her jaw line when she turned to face him.  Her smile accentuated her sparkling eyes.

“I heard the same about you.  I think the guys brag too much.  I love the game and practice a lot.  Where do you play?  I’ve never seen you before,” Gina said in a soft, velvet tone.  She seemed guarded while she looked him over.

“I frequent another bar across town.  Coworkers from the brokerage company I work for often go there.”

She wrinkled up her nose.  “Oh, you’re one of those.”

“Why?  You don’t like the business?” Sean asked, taking a seat next to her.

“It’s just that the stock market is so, well, unpredictable.  I just don’t understand what’s so fun about doing work based on guesses.”

Sean thought of many other questions, but decided to not start waves this early.  “Hmm.  What do you do when you’re not playing pool?”

“I teach kindergarten at one of the private schools in the area.  Otherwise, I keep to myself.”  Gina glanced past him.  “I think they’re becoming impatient.  Ready to play?”  She stood and stepped toward the pool tables on the other side of the room.

Sean followed.  “You bet.  Rack ‘em up.”

“Best out of three?”

“Sure.  Lady’s first.”

“Uh, Sean, that may be a mistake,” Pete warned.

Sean panned the room to find shaking heads all around.  “It’s cool guys.  I’d like to see what she’s got.”

“Your funeral.”  Pete backed away from the table.

Sean ignored his pal and nodded for Gina to take her first shot.  After she pocketed four balls, Sean suddenly realized the prowess with which she played.  Each shot possessed her full attention.  Her stance never wavered once her study of the current layout was complete.  The cue slid through her fingers as if coated with butter.
She’s good.  Too good.

Gina prepared for her second to last shot when Sean locked her gaze.  He studied her intently until she broke their connection.  Her jaw muscles were tight with tension, and her furrowed eyebrows betrayed intense concentration.  She was angry, pissed off even.  He checked the table to discover that her next shot would be difficult, but doable if the cue clicked the seven ball at just the right angle.

I have to distract her.

Sean moved, causing Gina to glance up at him once more.  He grabbed the opportunity to smile.  She grimaced before looking away and shaking her head.  Gina readied for the next shot, but then faltered.  For all her shots, he’d not seen her do that.

It worked.

She straightened and continued studying the table.  Shifting to her right, she turned around and pressed her buttocks against the table.

Wow!  No wonder the guys lose every game.

Sean forced his eyes to look away from her alluring figure and repositioned himself so he stood facing her side.  Gina placed her cue across her lower back and faltered again.  Finally, she took the shot.  The cue nipped the seven ball, only nudging it a few inches.

Yeah!  Beautiful!

Sean determined not to mess up the only shot she’d probably let him have during the game.  However, as he surveyed the table, he realized, to his dismay, that his shot would be more difficult to make than hers.  He’d have to hit the cue into one of hers to get to his.  He had no intention of pocketing a ball for Gina.
He leaned over the table and exhaled before banking the cue ball into two of his, pocketing one.

I’m still in the game.

Sweat dripped off his chin as he made one shot after another.  Then the unexpected happened.

She winked at him.

She’d used the same tactic he used on her and it worked.  His heart pumped a bit faster, just enough to distract him for a split second.  He stared at the ball teetering near the pocket and sighed.  He knew she would pocket his ball in order to make her next shot, but that wouldn’t help him.  She wasn’t going to mess up twice.

Gina won the first game bringing on a loud cheer from the others Sean learned she had consistently beaten over the past few months.  Sean strolled over to her and gave her hand a congratulatory shake.


“Great game,” he said. That won’t happen again.




Cassandra’s Bio: Cassandra Ulrich was born on the beautiful island of St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, located east of Puerto Rico.  Living in the tropics fueled her imagination and day dreams.  For years, she wrote poetry and entered competitions.  However, only many years later did she discover joy in writing stories longer than a few pages.

She published her first young adult novel, A Beautiful Girl, in April 2011.  The inspirational novel has already touched many hearts ranging from teens to adults.

Her second novel, Love’s Intensity, a teen paranormal romance, was released on July 11, 2013.

Her third, Billiard Buddies, a New Adult romance novella, was released on May 24, 2014.
In June and August 2014, she also released two poetry books written while in high school and college.


Amazon: Author Page
Buy Link Amazon 

#cassandraulrichauthor #billiardbuddies

Monday, January 18, 2016

Everyone From My Childhood is Dying

As I sat here this evening wondering what I would write about, the news of Glenn Frey's passing just hit the media feeds and again my gut is hit deep remembering a youth set to the background of Hotel California.



My first long, deep slow kiss came in the back of  red pick-up truck driving round Stone Mountain listening to the title song, "Hotel California." After my worst break-up I listened to "Wasted Time" until I broke the 8-track tape. And who couldn't love "Heartache Tonight"?

Once upon a time on vacation in Arizona, we drove to Winslow, Arizona just to stand on the corner. It was amazing.


This week we've seen legends fall. First was David Bowie. I still remember where I was the first time I heard "Major Tom". I think I was maybe eleven years old, and a friend borrowed the .45 from her older brother. We listened to that records over and over and over again, until her mother made us turn it off and go outside. From that moment on, I was a fan.

When he was the Goblin King in "Legends", it was the perfect role from a man who reinvented himself from decade to decade. He was truly a gentleman and a scholar, an icon and actor, a Renaissance Man in a different era. His kind won't be seen again in a long while.



Then we lost Alan Rickman. From the first moment he hit the screen in "Die Hard" he commanded the stage. Who could forget his Sheriff of Nottingham? "I'm going to cut your heart out with a spoon?" "With a spoon?"  "So it'll hurt more!"  Priceless. But he will forever in our hearts be the face of Serverus Snape, talking to Dumbledore.

"After all this time?"
"Always."

That my friends, is a love that will last an eternity.


So farewell gentlemen, until we meet again on the far shores. The world is a little dimmer with your passing, and the memories of my youth slowly become part of a shared past only friends can appreciate. Soon their bones will be dust, but the legacies they have left in music and video will live long past this age, the artists of the Baby Boomer generation. Oh, how we will miss them.


Sunday, January 10, 2016

Just Wondering....





So, I've been playing around with Canva.com making Facebook posts and Tweet art. It's nice to find clip art that matches the way I see my characters. Vivienne is young but she's a ballsy woman and thinks nothing of fighting for her kingdom and her family.

What do you think? Are these effective? Do they make you more or less likely to click through to Amazon.com or other buy sites? Are they just annoying?

Thought I'd try some new things this year, personally as well as professionally.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

A New Year, A New Me


I have to confess, 2015 was not a great year for me. While I had great moments, (i.e.- my son getting married, my daughter starting college), the majority of the year was an exercise in stress. I was extremely glad to see midnight appear on December 31st.

But now we are in 2016, and I feel great things are going to happen this year. In anticipation of paying more attention to my blogging this year, I have decided to open up to guest blogging on Tuesdays and Thursday. It's a great way to meet more writers and by extension their own audiences and readers. My own posts will be on Mondays and Saturdays.

In order to prevent chaos on my already chaotic site, let's try to limit our posts to one of the following:

1 - New Release announcements, complete with excerpt, book cover, buy links, bio, additional post optional.
(Available on Tuesday or Thursday.) Also, photo if desired, and contact information

or

2 - Throwback Thursday, where you can show some love for an older book, yours or one you loved as a younger reader. If you want to promote a previously released book, please provide book cover, buy links, blurb, excerpt and/or article about your relationship with the story (was it your first published? did you get a new cover? are you releasing a new story in the same line?). Also photo if desired, and contact information.

If you are writing about a book you loved as a child, then please provide article, along with a bio, photo (can be author photo or book cover), along with contact information.


I look forward to a prosperous and fun filled new year. Let's have some fun with this, and hopefully introduce people to a lot of great authors and new stories!

BTW - I hope you enjoyed the video above. I mean, really who doesn't love cats singing?!