Peep.

According to Wikipedia, “The 11-month siege of Boston ended when the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, fortified Dorchester Heights in early March 1776 with cannons captured at Ticonderoga. British General William Howe, whose garrison and navy were threatened by these positions, was forced to decide between attack and retreat. To prevent what could have been a repeat of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Howe decided to retreat, withdrawing from Boston to Nova Scotia.

The British evacuation was Washington’s first victory of the war. It was also a huge morale boost for the Thirteen Colonies, as the city where the rebellion began was the first to be liberated.”

By a stroke of fantastic Irish luck (or design?) the day of withdrawal of the Brits falls on precisely the same day as one named for a well-known Irish saint. How fortuitous! (Otherwise, it would be very difficult to attend the St. Patrick’s Day parade : D) All schools, as well as city and state governments are closed– and everyone wears green to celebrate Evacuation Day!

“Irish Society of Boston organized what was not only the first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the colonies but the first recorded Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the world. . .”

So, in the ’spirit’ of the day, here is a right fine recipe for Guinness Fondue- and here’s an Irish toast to all of my readers: May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks. May your heart be as light as a song. May each day bring you bright, happy hours. That stay with you all the year long.

Love and green bagels,
Dara

Guinness Fondue

half pint of Guinness Stout
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pound grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch
ground black pepper to taste

Heat stout and lemon juice in saucepan until nearly boiling. Mix together cheese and cornstarch, add gradually to hot liquid, stirring constantly until cheese has melted. Season with pepper to taste and simmer until thickened. Transfer to fondue pot and serve hot.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread torn into pieces for dunking along with vegetables such as celery, cauliflower, radishes, broccoli, carrot sticks, strips of sweet bell peppers or mushrooms. Chunks of cooked sausage also make great dunkers.

As most of you know, publishing is going through a transformative stage. E-readers are all the rage and there is a great excitement about what the coming landscape will look like. We, at House of Sages, have been trying to embrace the new- while at the same time lend our support to the gold standard. Some of us just love the feel, the smell, the sight and sound of books. Some of us love the convenience of e-media. Many of us embrace both formats.

It reminds me of that old song, ‘make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold’. So many of our readers have asked us to put out a print version, as well as an e-version of Dara’s stories. I’ll be honest, it is a daunting task for us. But, it is an important one. In our quest to explore the new ways of delivering content, we need not give up the sheer joy of sitting quietly with book in hand in a secluded nook, unplugged, and keeping good company with the printed page.

So, for all of the readers and booksellers who have repeatedly asked us for the PRINT VERSION. . . Yes! For you, we will print THE NEW MATRIX OF DESTINY TALES which will include DEATH BY PLOOT PLOOT and CAT SCRATCHED! in ONE VOLUME.

To make everybody happy, we will do a ONE TIME PRINT RUN of the book. Please note WE ARE PRINTING EXACTLY TO THE ORDERS, SO IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT WANT THIS BOOK PLEASE GET YOUR ORDER IN A.S.A.P. TO BE GUARANTEED YOUR BOOK. WE ARE TAKING THE ORDERS NOW. Books will start shipping in approx. 7 weeks.

Both of these MOD stories have have been best-sellers for us and have received terrific reviews:

“As usual I could not stop reading once I started. She has a way of grabbing your interest and you cannot stop until the story is done. Thank you!” – Nancy

“I loved it – I actually finished it last night – I loved it! I can’t seem to get enough of the Matrix of Destiny series!!!!!!!!!!!!” -Anita

“Death by Ploot Ploot floored me. Such a great story, and many laugh out loud moments.” -Lynne

“Death by Ploot Ploot was fantastic. Loved the book” -Diana

“I started reading the story and it is FANTASTIC. Can’t wait to finish. Thank you.” -Carry

The price of the 2 in 1 volume is $12.50.

TO PLACE YOUR ORDER FOR THE NEW MATRIX OF DESTINY TALES TRADE-SIZED PAPERBACK GO TO:
http://officialdarajoy.com/MarketPlace/CSDPPPrintmarketplace.html

ENJOY!
Best,

Cory-Webmaster
www.OfficialDaraJoy.com

It’s Cory here hacking the blog.

Patrice F of Joyfully Reviewed posted a great review of TASTE OF THE DEVIL. Thanks Patrice!

Here’s the review:

Due to her station, Lady Regina Thomlinson is expected to marry.  Too bad she’s more interested in adventure than finding a husband.  Freedom from her odious guardian is more desirable than matrimony to some male who will take over her life.  When her scheming relation chooses the unsuitable Lord Devon, Ginny is determined to thwart him.  Lord Tyler Devon is a womanizing wastrel; his exploits are extolled by all the gossips.  Ginny discovers that all is not as it seems even as she denies her feelings for her intended.  There’s more to him than meets the eye. It’s really too bad.  She’ll need to use all her wits and skill to keep her own secrets intact while plotting her escape.

Name something that hoists you over one shoulder and pinches your bottom while climbing up a rope ladder? Sound familiar?  It should, me heartie!  Climb aboard and set sail! Taste of the Devil plunders and pleases the imagination!

Ginny is all wit, spice and sass with a charming dollop of innocence whenever she engages rakish Tyler, best described as a dark, dangerous, bundle-of-sex.  Laughter and lots-of-lovin’ is surrounded by rogues, rakes, and rascals all eager to cross blades with the daring couple.  Several characters with dramatic and sometimes shadowy pasts are introduced along with the usual murky plans for revenge.  Of course, it was an easy tip-off that this is just the first installment!  I hadn’t read anything from this author in years, and the pirate historical theme proved a bit unexpected, though quite enjoyable.  Oh, lusty shades of Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, and Johnny Depp!  So disarmingly channeled!

Ms. Joy stays true to her vision and the character development that’s trademark to her style.  I’m not certain where this series will land but it should be loads of frisky fun!  Taste of the Devil is a rollicking frolic that’s amusing, mainly because of the quirky scenes, catchy dialogue and larger-than-life characters.  So grab your cutlass and grappling hooks to climb aboard!  Never mind the grog!  You’ll be merrily entertained by the end of your voyage.

Reviewed by Patrice F

Merry Meet,

When the world is wrapped in slumber,
And the moon is sailing high,
If you peep between the curtains
You’ll see witches riding by!

Love From,
Dara and all her familiars.

Howl-O-Wieners

Hope everyone is enjoying this nicer weather- does anyone have good BBQ or grill recipes they’d like to share with other readers?  Send ‘em in and I will post them on our   Granary page.   Right now we are continuing to ship out the new books (and big thanks again for all the wonderful feedback and orders you send our way- they are much appreciated).

This Thursday (June 11) at 11pm EST we will be having a CHAT WITH DARA JOY, so please come on by.  If you haven’t come in before, it is a simple sign-in procedure.  (and you can always email me if you have any problem signing in, so I can walk you through it.)

Here is the direct link to the chatroom for Thursday:

http://officialdarajoy.com/chat/

TASTE OF THE DEVIl PRINT QUANTITY UPDATE:

THERE ARE ONLY A FEW COPIES LEFT.  If you need one, be like a Familiar and pounce : }   Go to:

http://officialdarajoy.com/MarketPlace/TOTDPrintmarketplace.html

See you Thursday!
Best,
Cory

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our friends.

Love,
From Dara and everyone at OfficialDaraJoy.com

Artwork by Don Maitz

Avast ye, mateys!
We have big news at OfficialDaraJoy.com, so grab your best seafarin’ garb and come prepared to go adventuring on the bounding main, arrrrrg, as Ms Joy is about to take you on a voyage filled with action, passion, laughs and plenty of grog in her brand new release,TASTE OF THE DEVIL!

Ms Joy’s first FULL LENGTH NOVEL in many a year, so don’t miss out on this amazing tale of roguish love and tom-foolery, action and rousing adventure on the high seas, told as only Dara can, with a plenty of lusty rogues to go around for the lot of ya!

Written for the love all things pirate.

So, if you fancy a good rousing tale o’ the brethren life in the vein of Pirates of the Carribean, well, then, me hearties, this is the book for you!

So place yer orders now to get aboard, ye scalawags, and TASTE OF DEVIL will be sure to be sailing yer  way!  The Panther and his crew are a’ waiting on yer timely arrival with nothing but smiles and innocence in their dastardly hearts, arrrrg.

And now for the articles of fact:

This is a special, limited E-BOOK edition.   This is a brand new full length novel by Dara Joy. The cost of this edition of TASTE OF THE DEVIL is  $10.50.  There are no shipping or handling charges.

WE ARE TAKING ORDERS NOW.  THE BOOK WILL BEGIN SHIPPING WITHIN TWO WEEKS. (Please allow us up to 2 weeks once we start shipping to send your book out, as we expect the volume of orders to be high and we are a small outfit taking care of multiple orders.
Thanks.)

TO ORDER THE BOOK GO TO:

http://www.OfficialDaraJoy.com/MarketPlace/TOTDmarketplace.html

TO READ AN EXCERPT GO TO:

http://www.OfficialDaraJoy.com/TheLibrary/taste_of_the_devil.html

Now go order the book, ye salty tars, arrrrrr!

Best,
Cory-Webmaster
www.officialdarajoy.com
DEATH BY PLOOT PLOOT and IN KIRKPATRICK’S WOODS are available in ebook form. To order got to:
http://officialdarajoy.com/MarketPlace/marketplace.html

Hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day. During these hard times this holiday of giving thanks for what we have is especially poignant. Let us not forget the homeless. The Salvation Army and other fine groups provide a hot Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner to those in need. If you would like to contribute something to this humane effort please click on the link. Hope everyone has a great day!

Love,
Dara

http://officialdarajoy.com/Stables/stables.html

It is sure to bring a smile to your face. If you would like to have your pet join the parade of pets just send your photo’s to me at QASK89@prodigy.net.

Best,
Cory

Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day. : D

For those who haven’t heard, yes, Dorchester and I have reached a settlement agreement!!

I want to take this opportunity to thank the thousands upon thousands of readers who sent me their best wishes and letters of support. It was a long and difficult six and a half years and your kind words meant more than I can say. These letters often came on the days I needed them most and I will be forever grateful to all of you for that. It has always been a pleasure to write for you.

Although neither side can discuss the terms of the settlement, I am happily looking forward to bringing you the very best novels I can deliver. Get ready, the stories you have been waiting for will be coming your way soon! Within the next few months, I will have more great news for you concerning the release dates of my upcoming novels, which will be brought to you via traditional publishing channels.

To add to the celebration, I have an special Valentine for my readers. I know so many of you have been waiting really, really patiently for another Matrix story and I do not want you to have to wait any longer . . . so, as of today, I am immediately releasing a brand new Matrix of Destiny story called:

DEATH BY PLOOT PLOOT!

We will be doing this for a limited time only so if you want to receive your copy or would like more information, just go to http://officialdarajoy.com/MarketPlace/marketplace.html

And from the bottom of my heart, thank you again for all your prayers and hugs!

Love Always,

Dara