Happy Release Day to Rebecca Hart and CALL OF THE SEA!! We are thrilled to get to help her celebrate her big moment as she releases CALL OF THE SEA into the wild! To help her celebrate, Rebecca has written a guest post just for us. Thanks, Rebecca, for letting us be a part of your very special day! If you’d like to purchase CALL OF THE SEA, you can get it on the InkSpell Publishing website on sale for a limited time. Also, to help celebrate, we are giving away an e-copy of CALL OF THE SEA! Read the guest post and then enter the giveaway below!

How I became Published and What it Means to Me

For some, the road to publication can be winding and long, while for others its short and straight. I’ve heard people say it’s all luck, being in the right place at the right time, or you have to write what’s hot, while others have said it’s all who you know, or whether or not you have an agent that determines who is published and who isn’t. My road is a combination of these things.

I’m one of those Jack of all Trades type of people. I’ve probably had about every kind of job there is at one time or another. Before settling in the IT field I’m working in now, I spent a short stint working in a hospital as a Technician, which is basically a Nurse’s Assistant. At the time, I thought I would follow the track taken by my mother and sister, and go back to school to be a nurse. In checking with the community college, I learned I needed to take 6 credits to qualify for acceptance in the Nursing program. I signed up for Abnormal Psychology and a Creative Writing Workshop. I did well in both classes, but I really LOVED the creative writing. At the end of the class I had a small portfolio of fiction and some poetry, as well as a A in the course.

One of the short stories I wrote for that class ended up being the first work I ever tried to submit for publication. I sent the piece to the New Yorker (big drams, I know) and never heard back, but it was enough to get me looking for other places to submit my story. Once I started down that track, there was no stopping me.

Ironically, I have yet to get that first story – the one that started it all – accepted for publication. Go figure

As far as what all this means to me… my answer is basically “everything.” Being published is a dream come true for me, something I can cross of my big bucket list. Even if I never wrote another story and never got another piece published, I would be content knowing I managed to do something so many others only hope to accomplish.

Do I want more? Will I keep going? Keep writing? Absolutely! This is only the beginning.

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Kallie’s Review

Ahoy Matey!  Call of the Sea, by Rebecca Hart, is a new paranormal romance that had my timbers shivering!  I found the pirate’s tale refreshing, unique, and full of swashbuckling fun! (Okay, I know that was a little lame, but the novel is not!)

The story begins when the main character, Elysandra Winters, is at ten years of age. Ellie has yearned to sail the high seas all of her life.  In a desperate attempt to join her father’s crew she nearly drowns, and is saved by a selkie (Daniel) who struggles internally with being drawn to both Ellie and the sea.  (Note: Selkies are said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land.)

Ellie grows older, and can no longer take being land bound.  Her escape to a life on the sea as a privateer takes an unexpected turn into becoming the life of a pirate.  I felt rushed while reading through this part of Ellie’s life, but once Ellie and Daniel’s paths cross again the pace of the tale improves.

Ellie’s red-headed temperament and Daniel’s take-charge attitude led to great squabbles and snogging. The tension between this Captain and his ‘Cabin Boy’ could be cut with a knife… or sword, or dagger!  I will admit that I wasn’t sure how the romance would unfold because of so many outside factors. (Ellie pretending to be a boy, Daniel being a seal…) I love how Hart played with ill-timed confessions and miscommunications between characters.  It made me connect with them, and in some cases made me wish some of them had to walk the plank!

This tail is a booty… I mean this tale is a treasure!  The story is more romance than paranormal, and it isn’t like any other book on your bookshelf. Yo Ho Ho! You know you want to read Call of the Sea by Rebecca Hart!  I give it 3.5 books on the bookshelf!

Book Synopsis:

Elysandra Winters has always yearned for a life of adventure on the rolling seas and is willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill her dream. When her Privateer father continually refuses to allow his only daughter to sail, Ellie defies him, disguises herself as a boy, and goes in search of a captain who will give her a chance to prove her worth.

Thanks to the cursed selkie blood coursing through his veins, Daniel O’Rourke needs the sea to survive. After giving up on his humanity and spending three years in seal form, he decides to give his human side another chance. Daniel goes in search of a job and a sense of normalcy, earning himself a position aboard Captain Winter’s ship, The Siren’s Call. However, his new captain’s first assignment has nothing at all to do with sailing, and everything to do with his headstrong young daughter.

Years later, when the leader of a band of bloodthirsty pirates murders Captain Winters, Daniel and Elysandra’s lives come crashing back together with the force of a hurricane. Both experts in deception, they must find a way to trust each other if they are to have any hope of hunting down the captain’s killer.

About Rebecca:

Rebecca Hart is a single parent, full time IT geek, and reformed gaming addict living in Upstate NY. When not at the office with her nose buried in a laptop trying to fix it, she can be found at home with her nose buried in a laptop, writing instead. Her debut novel, a Paranormal Romance titled CALL OF THE SEA, will be published by Inkspell Publishing with a release date of June 21, 2012, giving Rebecca one more reason to look forward to summer. Rebecca’s short stories have been featured in anthologies published by Pill Hill Press, Wicked East Press and DFE Quarterly (erotica). She enjoys hearing and interacting with her readers.

Links:

Rebecca’s Website: Http://www.rebeccahartwriting.com

Rebecca on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/963528.Rebecca_Hart

Follow Rebecca on Twitter: @Rebel Hart69

Follow Rebecca on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/RebeccaHartWriting

InkSpell Publishing Website: http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/