Raine Balkera - Romance Author

This week I'm asked to list my top-ten movies (of all time) and the challenge isn't as difficult as it might seem to some. Being an Oldies Movies buff and regularly tuning in to TCM and the Retro channels on cable, it is never a challenge to find some thing good to watch. But, not all of my favorites are B&W or released any time prior to 1950, either. Let me get Series films out of the way first and then on to my top-ten list. James Bond 007 I've watched them all, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig (and love Craig best), so to pick just one as a favorite is impossible. The Thin Man I'll be honest and say I love everything that starred William Powell, but this first in the series will always be my go-to movie when I need a pick-me-up. Miss Marple Not only have I read every Agatha Christie novel, I've also watched most every movie ever made about one of her mystery novels, and my favorite co...

AUTHOR BLOG CHALLENGE To be honest, some of the Post Topics for this challenge do not apply or interest me (right now) so I'm skipping around with this one. Character Inspiration A lot of different factors go into the creation of any, one character in any of my novels. Most often, however, they are based in-part on someone I actually know who went through some type of adventure-mishap-calamity that intrigued me to the point of devising an entire novel derived from said instance. For example, in Sing to Me , Liv is loosely based on a girl from my high school years who was attacked for being 'too pretty' as the truth became known. She was transferred to Franklin after the insane kidnap and hours of mindless torture the girl suffered at the hands of an immature girl who couldn't quite deal with her own insecurities. Liv's circumstances in my novel are not dramatized but my own idea of something similar in order to avoid a lawsuit. Neal, th...

Because I Want To It is true that I read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books, but the only genre that interests me enough to want to write my own versions is Romance. www.zazzle.com Because I Love to Read  I've enjoyed reading Romance novels since I fell in love with them at age fourteen, which was around the time I began to notice boys and my head became filled with silly, zany things like appearance, body contours, eyes, mannerisms, and sex. Because I Want to Experience True Love While romance itself has managed to elude me all these years, I still find the topic fascinating and want to pursue the fantasy versions via my imagination and the ability to write. Because I Need This Outlet I still beat myself up for not pursuing this dream much earlier in life, but that I let too many outside sources dictate my life is neither here nor there anymore. One day I decided to stop the unhappy merry-go-round and take back what I'd let s...

I stumbled across this Challenge today and thought it might be fun to participate. As most challenges (and I) go, sticking it out to the very end (after coming in part-way) will prove to be  . . . a challenge. I'll try to do this every week. Today, and every Friday through December, I'm expected to blog about the topic assigned (which you are welcome to do, too, and each is explained in the image posted below). Your only obligation is to use the hashtag #LifeBooksWriting and remember to include the below-mentioned image with each post. My Recent Book The last publication for me was Love Over Time , which is currently in 2nd Edition stage, but for today's post I'll discuss the book and include an excerpt I hope you will enjoy. This is a Contemporary Romance with a Fantasy element that includes the ability for one of the two leads to see the past transgressions of her ancestors. Characters Kaisa Dalen is a freelance photographer on assignment in ...