The Bold and the Brave

The lovely Incy Black has most graciously presented me with a ONE LOVELY BLOG award.

Thank you, Incy, I'm honoured.

Of course, rules are part of the acceptance process:

• Display the Award logo
• Thank, and link back to the nominator
• List 7 Bold Facts about oneself
• Nominate 7 fellow bloggers to carry forward the relay (don't forget to let them know).

Now, most of you who know me well will wonder if I've ever done anything in my life that could be described as 'bold' - as in brave, courageous, heroic.

Well, hold on to your underwear, because here is a list - not exhaustive - but I only chose seven as per the rules of this award, that will surprise you. And probably make you a tad jealous too.

1.  I have climbed the Great Wall of China.

2.  I’ve climbed to the very top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This shows my age as it’s not possible to do that now.

3.  I’ve trudged up 497 steps to the Cupola (dome) of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The view over Rome and the Vatican City is amazing.

4.  I went looking for the Hunchback of Notre Dame by climbing first up one tower, across the adjoining passageway, then down the other tower of Notre Dame. It was scary and dark, with tiny slits in the walls to look out of, just like Quasimodo. Bells rang, and gargoyles gawped. Fantastic.

5.  I’ve walked up the stairs to the second level of the Eiffel Tower.

6.  I’ve climbed up several of the temples in Angkor Wat, including Bayon Temple.

7.  But….as I got older I developed a fear of heights and when abseiling down a sheer rock wall when I was a Cub Scout Leader and helping my cubs get their climbing badge, I froze at the very edge of the drop and had to get assisted down in a very ungraceful and unglamorous manner.

There you go, I now nominate seven other bloggers for this award.

Felicity Kates, Anne Lange, Tania Joyce, Kendall Talbot, Isabella Hargreaves, Deb Richardson, and Eva Scott.  -  Have fun ladies, and don't forget to abide by the rules. :-)

Hard hitting, expertly written: Hard to Forget from Incy Black

If you're a fan of James Bond films, crime novels, the Secret Service, and if you enjoyed British author Incy Black's first novel - Hard to Hold - then her new offering, out today, will have you scrambling for a copy.




Hard to Forget will not disappoint.

Forewarned is forearmed, especially when it comes to Jack Ballentyne, the hero in Hard to Forget. A

man whose motto is: The end justifies the means, and fuck the collateral damage.

Yes, he’s somewhat lacking on the conscience front, but he has his reasons. He’s a Special Agent for a start. With the British Intelligence Service. Tasked with leading a particularly dangerous unit of men unofficially known as ‘The Assassins’. A motley crew of rule breakers whose activities are ‘plausibly deniable’ by necessity.

Back to forewarned...Jack’s not exactly communicative, he’s more a man of action, (vengeful action) so here are a few subjects best avoided should you chance to engage him in conversation.

1.   Shooting Lowry. It’s an incident he’d rather forget.

2.   Having Lowry court-martialed. Another incident he’d rather forget.

3.   His twin, Richard. These two brothers took ‘sibling rivalry’ to the extreme, and the consequences were devastating.

4.   Climbing or Base Jumping. Two activities guaranteed to raise the hairs on Jack’s neck fast. (see Caution 3 above)

5.   Patient Peter. A serial killer so foul, even Jack’s cast-iron stomach churns.

6.   Trust. Jack has a few issues having experienced the whip-lick sting of betrayal.

7.   The Intelligence Service. (see Caution 6 above)

8.   Lowry…actually she’s a fairly safe topic. You may even find it difficult to shut Jack up about his new wife. Just don’t ask about the past, how he met her, what he did to her, or, mention handcuffs.

So, what is Hard to Forget about? Well, you can find the blurb and Chapter 1 free HERE but as a tease here are a couple of quotes:

He didn’t want her trust. What the hell would he do with it?  Jack Ballentyne

Protective custody? What’s that a euphemism for, exactly?  Lowry Fisk

And an endorsement:

"The Hard to… Series is an amazing book series with strong characters and a powerful story. It is truly a MUST-READ series and the author herself is MUST READ and MUST FOLLOW!!!"-- Mia's Point of View

And yes, there are buy links and contact points:

Buy links

Amazon

iTunes

Barnes & Noble

Connect with Incy Black

Website

Facebook

Twitter @IncyBlack

Hard to Hold - an interview with Incy Black

British Romantic Suspense author, Incy Black, joins me today to discuss her brand new release - Hard to Hold. Filled with action, danger, and angst, this hot and steamy book will make you clamber for more from this very talented author.

Here's the blurb for Hard to Hold:

Anna Key Marshall is pregnant. Granted, it’s through a sperm donor instead of her ex-husband, but you can’t have everything. When she becomes the target for murder, she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her unborn child—even turning to her ex, the Black Ops specialist who broke her heart. Nick Marshall can't forgive the woman who betrayed him, but when she finds herself in trouble, he'll do what he does best—protect her at all costs. Fueled by a powerful love he can't leave behind, can he hold on to the woman he still loves?



Got your attention now? Well, I wanted to meet up with Incy to ask her about this book. I wanted to know how she came to write such a compelling story, with hard-as-granite characters, and enough action to leave you breathless. Here's our interview:

The title, Hard to Hold, hints at a relationship pushed and pulled; repelled by betrayal, yet drawn by undeniable magnetism. Can you describe how you came up with two such feisty, strong characters?
A man guilty of swallowing all the darkness of the night introduced himself to me thus: “Fuck, no! Not this side of Armageddon”. My mind reeled—What? Why? Who? The what and the why became the story, Nick Marshall was that man. A rigid, emotionally repressed hero, his soul bound tight in razor wire. Tactless, hard, numb rather than living, he needed a foil. Enter Anna Key, determined to live life on the fun side and swinging her own set of balls—just as big and brassy as Nick’s.

What inspired you to write about a British Intelligence agent?
My heroes, hardened, damaged, tongues like metal-tipped whips, Machiavellian, don’t recognise boundaries. They don’t much like rules, unless they’ve laid them down themselves. I needed a stage on which to show their lawlessness. The covert intelligence community (who knows what they really get up to) provides said stage. And British, because that dry sarcasm for which as a nation we are misunderstood, I find hilarious, though some find it offensive.

Your hero, Nick Marshall, keeps his emotions well hidden. As the author, were you tempted to soften his edges right from the start?
Nope, I write hard-core bastards, Nick’s one of the more civilized ones. As it is, I had to hold him against a grinder to blunt the worst of him. He has soft spots but he prefers to guard them. Anna knows the location and how to work each one.

My first thoughts are of Daniel Craig – did you channel the 007 type of tough/sweet guy?
LOL, but no. James Bond had finesse and charm—Nick’s not one to be arsed. Stand in his way, and he won’t politely ask you to move aside, he’ll shoulder you into the wall. He makes the narrowest of concessions for Anna. When she gets in his way, he picks her up, tucks her under his arm and keeps going.

Anna – she’s probably the only woman prepared to put up with Nick. Why?
Anna comes armed with a ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ attitude. She needs excitement to distract her from what’s lacking in her life—someone who gives a damn about her. What she wants she tries for, no matter how hard or how often she falls as she clambers the rock face of life. Nick’s one such rock face, the most difficult to scale of her life. She just doesn’t know how to give up, not on life, and not on Nick—though she did divorce his ass for five years so she could sharpen the spikes on her grappling iron ready for her next assault on him.

Ladies and Gentlemen - please allow me to introduce the fabulous INCY BLACK!

It took a swan dive from a roof to convince Incy (aged 5) she wasn’t an avenging fairy and that no, she most certainly couldn’t fly. Bruised but undefeated she retreated deeper into her make-believe world populated with the brave and the poisonous.
When not fighting injustice and righting wrongs on ‘Planet Incy’ she works as a Marketing Director. (Unfortunately, her law degree languishes unused, the distinction between good and evil proving too worrisome in real life.)
Her five children are well versed in what scares her (most things) and delight in pushing her neurotic buttons—at their peril.

http://incyblack.weebly.com/ 

http://www.entangledpublishing.com/hard-to-hold/

http://www.entangledpublishing.com/category/incy-black/

Amazon UK

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Read more about Incy Black's 'Hard to Hold' here:
Jane Joliffe - 5 star review   
Milady Fury's Book Club
Shehanne Moore
Susanne Bellamy - 5 star review
Tracey Rogers - 5 star review