Christie Stratos explains the 24-hour April 12 event

Christie says it clearer than I could feel free to drop by. I'll be there from 3:00 to 4:00 P.M PST, but probably will be checking in earlier than just to see what's happening.

An Awesome Online Author Event coming April 12th

I'll be joining authors from several genres for a 24 hour Worldwide 'Get Down With The Awethors' event!Questions, answers, stories, contests, prizes. I'm looking forward to it! More info on Facebook, Twitter, etc. soon.

Pitch Perfect Praise & a Little Valkyrie Traveling Music

I am going through the early days of my new novel's publication--about two weeks in. It's a trial and error process and the overwhelming response is usually a deafening silence.

This is no a surprise to me, it's the usual way the process works. Even for an "ebook only...so far" this part of the journey is a massive amount of toiling trying to get word of the book out to potential readers. At this point in my life I have to do that primarily on the internet.

This week I was thrilled to find that Gravitas was selected by Underground Book Reviews as one of five books chosen for the week of March 9 as Pitch Perfect Picks.

The folks at Underground Book Reviews explain: "Pitch Perfect Picks have intriguing, original premises and show the utmost professional quality."

Thanks, guys! Then the amazing Peggy Elam reviewed Gravitas on her new blog On the Whole Take a ride into The Forbidden Zone with a sexy Valkyrie . She says about heroine, Sybil, "Her adventures as she makes her way through The Forbidden Zone in search of a way home are fun and deftly written, as are the glimpses of other planets and cultures."

To make the ride even more fun, Peggy included some Valkyrie road warrior music with the review. I love the idea of moving The Ride of the Valkyries out of the helicopter & gunship, Apocalypse Now space and into the realm of powerful women on magical steeds!

A review with a little taste of Gravitas!

In her post on Body Impolitic Debbie Notkin says: I had the privilege of reading Gravitas in manuscript, and I want to recommend it to all of you. It is that rare bird, a novel which embraces fat power while not being about fat power. Instead, it’s about the troubles and travails of Val-Sybilla, who is burdened with a huge amount of the perfume Gravitas, a scent which has the power to cloud people’s minds (well, to turn people on and heighten their other emotional reactions). Val-Sybilla is carrying more Gravitas than most women ever carry, because she expected to get rid of it fairly promptly. But she is forced into an unexpected detour … onto Earth. Val-Sybilla’s people admire large bodies, so Earth is a bit of a surprise . . .

So, fat power, sex (influential women on Val-Sybilla’s planet are expected to have several husbands), adventure, suspense, and goddess worship. What more could you possibly want? more at Body Impolitic

New short novel - "more fun than eating chocolate while sipping wine"!

GRAVITAS: VALKYRIE IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE is now available as an ebook

on Kindle

And all other formats

An urgent mission.

A woman with a past.

A dangerous burden.

Sybil, from Planet Valkyrie, carries a risky amount of Gravitas, a top secret aphrodisiac, to trade at a conference on ending slavery in her sector of the galaxy. Attacked by an angry warrior from slave-holding Planet Roggr, Sybil falls through an unmarked portal to land on Earth. The Forbidden Zone. Rescue is impossible. Portals to Earth are sealed. Sybil needs to defend herself, protect her hazardous cargo, and find a way home--while dealing with a damaging overdose of Gravitas.

Advance praise:

Reading this Lynne Murray book is like being a kid in a candy shop. Sure, she can weave a thrilling story line, but she also makes you feel as if you can indulge your dreams and fantasies about living in a different, much more delightful world. Read the book. It is more fun than eating chocolate while sipping wine. Frannie Zellman, author of The FatLand Trilogy.

Murray hurls the reader into her story and her universe, with links to daily reality, which make it seem more possible. The strong-minded protagonist displays Murray's trademark flashes of wit. Well imagined and thought provoking!" Leslie Moïse, Ph.D., author of Judith and Love Is the Thread

Escape to the outer reaches of space….and San Francisco...in this intriguing thrill ride of a tale that had me hooked from the first page. I was on the edge of my seat and reading on to see what would happen next. I truly did not want it to end, and am hoping there is a sequel that I can get my hands on as soon as it comes out! Tracey L. Thompson, author of Fatropolis A Novel

Swan Lake, Music and Love

My old friend, B, who is fighting to keep pursuing her photography work through many obstacles, has recently found that classical music helps calm her during a stretch of depression. We have been friends for over 40 years, and I share some of her challenges: illness, severe income loss, and mourning the absence of a nearby family support network. Poverty being what it is, for her to get a radio strong enough to receive the local classical radio station is not so simple. She asked if I had an antenna that would help, but I don’t have the right kind. I do have one classical CD, which I will lend her until radio access is established. I played it one more time before lending it to her and it reminded my why, I, one of the most musically challenged people in the world, bought it to begin with.

One track has special meaning for me.

My parents grew up in small Midwestern towns in the 1930s where music lessons were a rite of childhood and a badge of middle-class upward mobility. Also, I suspect, a rudimentary form of daycare. As long as the kid was practicing a musical instrument, you had ongoing feedback that she/he was home and not getting into mischief.

I grew up “spoiled,” as they would call it in the 1950s. I was an only child till age 12, and my parents would have made some sacrifice to get lessons if I had ever demonstrated the tiniest aptitude for music or dance.

I enjoyed music in small doses, but words and stories captivated me. When I could count, although not yet read, I had some records of Disney stories. My parents pasted stars on the label to indicate sequence, so I could play them on my own. Another form of low-cost daycare! I know some writers who can (and do) offer a play list of music they listen to while writing. But I can’t write with music on as a background. It’s as if I can immerse myself in words or music, not both at once.

more at Body Impolitic

Who owns your image and what can they do with it?

Rachele, a blogger at Fat Babe Designs, artist and fat activist embarked on an unexpected journey when she posted a pic in a fatkini.

Her intent was “to spread a powerful message about body positivity.” Instead she found her image being used as the "before" example in an affiliate-marketed diet scam.

More at Body Impolitic