Got Karma? Kerri Nelson and Her New Release: Courting Demons

It's my pleasure to welcome Kerri Nelson today. She's in the middle of a book release tour for her latest  Courting Demons--in addition to all the other things she does such as running The Book Boost and serving as president of Celtic Hearts Romance Writers Chapter of RWA.


Paisley Barton was already having a bad day before she turned her husband into a rat.

First, she was fired by her boss and then came home to find hubby in the shower with a naked blonde chick. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but this break-up may just unleash hell on Earth when Paisley casts a spell of vengeance against her philandering husband.
After her spell casting inadvertently opens a portal between dimensions, Paisley finds her family home transformed into a nightly courtroom for settling disputes between demons of the underworld and she’s the judge! If that’s not enough, she’s got to deal with a charming, ancient demon named Camden who wants to be her personal bodyguard while trying to explain her husband’s sudden, mysterious disappearance to sexy police Detective Dalton Briggs.
But Paisley will show them all that an everyday working mom is better equipped than most to deal with the mystical mayhem…and with a tempting demon hottie and a flirtatious young detective vying for her affection, she soon learns that being single again isn’t so bad after all.


Read an excerpt of Courting Demons.

Wow, Kerri! This sounds like quite an interesting story. I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there who wish they had Paisley's talents. But that brings up the whole dilemma about the ethics of magic and the kickbacks which, as I understand, that's what you'd like to talk about today.


Got Karma?

I’m a big fan of the movie and concept behind the movie “Pay It Forward”.  Have you seen it?  If not, go now and rent a copy or pick up a copy to watch as soon as you can.

The basic idea is that we could change the world by doing three random acts of kindness and then if each of those people who were affected by your kindness did three random acts of kindness for others and so on and so forth it would be an endless cycle of good karma.

If you do research on karma you’ll see that it originated with the Indian culture and is a theory used in Buddhism and Hinduism.  And while I don’t practice those religions or live by those societal rules, I do believe that the actions you take whether good or bad will eventually come back to you.

In other words, if you put out negative energy, it will circle back around to bite you.  I don’t know about you but if there is even a possibility of this being true, why wouldn’t you want to put out as much positive energy as humanly possible?

My heroine, Paisley Barton has had some negative experiences build up on her and instead of reacting in a positive light, she turns toward darkness.  This holds many negative consequences for her not the least of which is that it will ultimately affect her destiny to work on the side of good.

Of course, I’ve created this character from my imagination and I throw a lot of bad stuff at her throughout the book but no matter what happens to her, she keeps pushing forward.  She tries to fix things, set things straight, be the kind of mother she knows she should be.

No matter how many obstacles, how much darkness comes her way…she keeps running for the light…the good…she wants that good karma and she doesn’t give up.

What do you do when life throws a dark cape around your shoulders and tries to pull you down?  Do you pull away and run for the light even if the journey there is hard?  Or, do you let it fence you into a bad place where you seek revenge, give in to your desire to get even, or sends you off into the corner to pout or mope?

We’ve all had our share of hard times.  Maybe not the exact same situations as my character Paisley does (at least I hope not), but hard times nonetheless.  I’ve recently been diagnosed with a new medical condition that is really throwing me for a loop.  I know you all have most likely have something in your life that challenges you mercilessly as well.

So, today, one of the prizes I’m giving away is a donation to the charity of your choice.  If there’s a special organization that holds a place in your heart, I’d like to throw some much needed good karma their way.  Maybe it will come back to help me and maybe it won’t.  But I’ll feel all the better for having done it and helping other is one of my fave things to do.  What do you like to do to spread good karma?  ©  Kerri Nelson 2011

Thanks for hosting, Carole.  Let’s all remember to pay it forward.

Speaking of which, Kerri has a couple of giveaway's going, so don't leave yet.  Where can we get copies of Courting Demons?

Print and e-book versions are available wherever books are sold but here’s the publisher link—free gift available with purchase of print copy—while supplies last) or at Amazon.com.

To enter the giveaway for today:

Leave a question or comment to be entered to win today’s prize: A Custom Made Bread Bag Clip & a donation to the charity of your choice!

Then, enter to win my book tour Grand Prize Kindle by following me on tour and e-mailing me the answers to each question of the day at the end of tour.  The more questions you answer, the more entries you gain.

Question of the Day: 

To what charity do the author’s royalties go to from the sales of my book Making the Ghost of It?

Details on how to enter to win the GRAND PRIZE Kindle at the end of my “Dark Days of Demons Tour” located here:

Author Bio:

Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After a fifteen year career in the legal field, Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also writes young adult fiction under the penname K.G. Summers. 

A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing southern gentleman and three adorable children for whom she often bakes many homemade treats. 

Kerri is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and her Presidency of Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Read more about Kerri’s books at her website:  www.kerrinelson.com

Follow her on Twitter here:  www.twitter.com/kerribookwriter

Visit her industry blog here:  www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

Is There Life After Novels?

(Shells on the Beach, Southhampton, New York)

There are a lot of drains on my time and energy right now, including a painful shoulder injury and attendant doctor/physical therapy visits and medication related side effects, which, threatened to sideline my writing for a while.

The overuse injury is due in part to exercise and, since it's my right arm and the pain extends from shoulder to wrist, typing surely has something to contribute. I am a fitness and outdoor enthusiast, and a novel writing fanatic.

For the last two years, I've been focused on revising or writing novels and a novella and have a lot to show for it--besides the stupor, brain drain, and arm pain. I'm typing again, a bit slower and mousing with my left hand.

My Cape Cod paranormal romance series consists of two completed novels, Unfinished Business and The Widow's Walk, with the third (working title: Hurricane Watch) partially outlined.

Boulevard of Bad Spells and Broken Dreams: Void of Course, is the first of two, maybe three, urban fantasies. The plot of the second book, likely with the same title and a subtitle involving tarot (as opposed to astrology), is beginning to gel in my mind, my dreams, and my ruminations even before the finishing touches have been put on book one.

That's a total of 330,000 words written, plus the 20,000 I cut out of The Widow's Walk, and the 2500 for the first chapter of Hurricane Watch. In order to keep momentum going, I've had to work on all three over the last twenty-four months, sometimes two at a time, and when the worlds and characters are so different, that becomes a real struggle.

I strive for 1000 words a day, either new material or revisions, and sometimes succeed, though more often I will nod off over the keyboard after a measly 100 or a chapter of revision. Sometimes, I get no novel work done, and I've neglected my short stories, my nonfiction, my reviews, my blogs, and my reading with the result of a to do pile threatening to collapse my nightstand.

I have a new nonfiction gig but have to wait until the ink is dry on the contract before going public. And I'm still reviewing anthologies and collections for Tangent Online and The Portal, with a review of After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh due out in the next week or so.

What else have I been reading? Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities, which is somewhat comparable to the setting of Boulevard, except for the fairies, vampires, and werewolves. And a book Nancy Kress recommended I take a look at: The French Lietenant's Woman by John Fowles, mainly to absorb the Victorian flavor. The interesting omni/intrusive narration and footnotes are a curious mix. Both good stories, though.

At this point, with summer done and fall weather here, the Cape characters and scenes are quiescent, with the manuscripts out with three agents.

But I'm so deep into research for Boulevard, having just completed a basic and advanced astrology course, reading backround material on Santeria and Voudoun, and field trips to botanicas and the Bronx County Courthouse that I dream in scenes and drive with a pencil and pad in hand, taking notes at red lights, recording ideas and inspirations, and trying to focus on reality.

It's been a great, productive summer--and the momentum after Taos Toolbox has been exponential--but the problem with intensive workshops is that when one returns to real life, which for many of us involves a full time job (with teenagers), that does not include fiction writing, not to mention a family (with teenagers) there is bound to be some shock and denial, which is probably why I'm in the physical condition I'm in now.

Is there life after novels? Was there life before them? What will I do when they're done, or will I ever be done?