Welcome Kitty Taylor & The Broncos to the Football Blog Tour Stop!

STEPH: Who is your favorite team?

KITTY: Denver Broncos because they're local and I liked their coach, Mike Shanahan (he's not there any more).

STEPH: What's your favorite College team?

KITTY: Air Force Academy, since I was active duty Air Force for 25 years.

STEPH: Who is your favorite Broncos player?

KITTY: I'm not sure who my favorite player is now. With two new coaches in the past three years, the Broncos' roster has undergone constant changes. The season is just starting.

STEPH: Who is your favorite all time player?

KITTY: My all time favorite player is Shanon Sharpe. Not only was he s a great player, his comments after every game always gave me a grin. Maybe that's why he ended up as part of the team on THE NFL Today on CBS.

STEPH: Have you been to a game?

KITTY: Over the years I've been to several games, but since we have our new stadium, I must prefer to stay at home and watch on TV.

STEPH: Do you own a jersey?

KITTY: I have a Broncos sweat shirt, but no jersey.

STEPH: Who is the Broncos "evil" nemesis?

KITTY: The Oakland Raiders are our arch rivals. For the Air Force Academy, it's Navy. We're always competing for the Commander & Chief's trophy.

STEPH: Thanks for popping in today, Kitty!
Smiles
Steph

Welcome Joanna Aislinn & The Packers to the Football Blog Tour Stop!

JOANNA: Hi Steph. What a fun and original idea! Thanks so much for having me. Had you offered this opportunity a year ago, I would have let it go wayside. (Those who know me know I’m a BIG Rafa Nadal—oops! I mean tennis ☺—fan.) I’m newly ‘into’ football; started following and understanding a bit more after my sons signed up for two seasons of rec league play. My younger guy watches a lot of television related to the game so I’ve learned a lot and can get really excited during games. I mean, I watch the game during the Super Bowl.

On to your questions:

STEPH: So, Who is your favorite football team?

JOANNA: As a kid, I liked the Miami Dolphins b/c my brother did. These days, I follow the Giants (have to know what the home team is doing); I keep up with the Colts (my son’s favorite team) and the Cowboys (my brother’s choice). But: I now call myself an Aaron Rodgers (oops! I mean, Green Bay Packers) fan!


STEPH: Who is your favorite player playing now?



JOANNA: Cool, calm, collected Aaron Rodgers—and he’s got that green-eyed, dark-haired thing going on (like the hubby’s—before hubby went all salt-and-pepper on me ☺).

STEPH: Who is your favorite all time player?

JOANNA: Don’t have one. But I happen to have been quite charmed by the likes of Jason Taylor and Warren Sapp during their stints on Dancing with the Stars. And I admire Doug Flutie’s advocating for children with autism.

STEPH: Who is your team's "evil" nemesis?

JOANNA: Will have to get back to that one. Haven’t been following long enough yet!

STEPH: Have you been to a game?

JOANNA: Only the kids’ games. What’s it like? I bite my nails hoping no one gets hurt.

STEPH: Do you have a jersey?

JOANNA: No jersey, but I did buy a Giants winter jacket last November. They started losing that following Sunday.

STEPH: What's your favorite football food?

JOANNA: Nachos? (Hint of lime, cheese, sour cream, salsa—mild; guacamole)

My debut novel: A sweet romance/first love story entitled No Matter Why is available from The Wild Rose Press.



Here’s what it’s about: Trust and stability became empty words the day motherless, sixteen-year-old Carrie Norwell came home to find her brothers murdered. Within moments, her father arrived and his heart gave out at the scene. Five years later, is it any wonder the walls with which she’s barricaded her heart are virtually impenetrable to anyone looking to get close and offer what she wants more than anything? The security only a loving family can give? Or someone with whom to build her own?

Billy Jay Eldridge wants to offer exactly that to the right girl. Operating on a heart and spirit rivaled only by his looks, he’s two years out of college and where he thought he wanted to be, managing a store at the assistant level and on his way up the chain of command. He toys daily however, with the idea of a major career move that promises to make nobler use of his God-given talents. Neither did he think he’d blur the fine line between supervisor and peer to the young ladies in his charge—that is, until shy, quiet Carrie joins his crew. Intrigued and charmed by the girl’s haunted eyes and withdrawn ways he sets out to know her better, clueless that his life’s calling will be the biggest setback to getting her to accept from him what she wants and needs most.

This is what friends and fans thought of No Matter Why! (Scroll down past the first review on the page please.)

Steph, thanks again for inviting me to your virtual ‘tailgate party’! Best of luck with all your writing endeavors! Hope to see you at my blog soon!

Speaking of visits, I love virtual company. If you liked what you read today, please do drop by my website and blog!

Take care everyone--Joanna

Welcome Cathy Pegau & The Giants to the Football Blog Stop Tour!

STEPH: Who's your favorite football team? How long have you been a fan?

CATHY: My favorite team is the NY Giants. I’ve been a fan essentially since birth because my father was a fan. Sundays in our house were for football. Nothing else.


STEPH: Who's your favorite player "playing" right now? Why?

CATHY: After this last game on 9/25, WR Victor Cruz. He made some amazing catches during and shows huge promise. He’s a talent that the Big Blue needs to cultivate.

But I’m also a huge fan of the defensive game. Watching Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Aaron Ross and Antrel Rolle in action is a thrill.


STEPH: Who's your favorite all time Giants player?

CATHY: Tough choice, so I’m going to cheat and give you three : ) Michael Strahan for his enthusiasm and toughness. Lawrence Taylor for his relentlessness. Phil Simms for his skill. All three also are so knowledgeable about the game, it’s mindblowing.


STEPH: Who's the Giants "evil" nemsis?

CATHY: Dallas Cowgirls Cowboys. My father-in-law is a Cowboys fan, so we have a friendly rivalry going on : ) And anyone who is playing the Cowboys is the team I root for, even if it’s the Philadelphia Eagles!

STEPH: Ever been to a football game? What's it like?

CATHY: I went to one game when I was 15 or so. It was freakin’ cold! But soooo fun! The atmosphere around a professional game is like nothing else.

STEPH: Do you own a jersey?

CATHY: I do! #10, Eli Manning. I inherited it when my dad passed away.

STEPH: What's your favorite food to eat during the game?

CATHY: For something quick and easy, nachos. A more elaborate snack is wings. And a good cold beer.

BOOK INFO
Rulebreaker from Carina Press
Buy links:
Carina http://tinyurl.com/452do63
Amazon http://tinyurl.com/3s8hnl5
B&N http://tinyurl.com/3mocjps
Blurb:
Liv Braxton's Felon Rule #1: Don't get emotionally involved.



Smash-and-grab thieving doesn't lend itself to getting chummy with the victims, and Liv hasn't met anyone on the mining colony of Nevarro worth knowing, anyway. So it's easy to follow her Rules.

Until her ex, Tonio, shows up with an invitation to join him on the job of a lifetime.

Until Zia Talbot, the woman she's supposed to deceive, turns Liv's expectations upside down in a way no woman ever has.

Until corporate secrets turn deadly.

But to make things work with Zia, Liv has to do more than break her Rules, and the stakes are higher than just a broken heart…

Reviews:
*From The Galaxy Express http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2011/08/interview-with-cathy-pegau-author-of.html
"RULEBREAKER is a book that made a couple of wishes come true for me, and also a few others I didn’t realize I had."
"If you enjoy stories with a redemption arc, RULEBREAKER has it. If you like colorful secondary characters, this story has it. And finally, if you’re even a fan of COLUMBO-style investigators, then this story has that, too."

*From Amazon http://tinyurl.com/3s8hnl5
Bella Street: "I was immediately hooked by the droll humor and great characters who populate this book, and was impressed by the perfect balance of world building and tightly-woven plotline."
H. Cashman: "I liked all the action, the intrigue, and the twists this story brought."
Mercurial Times : "I thoroughly enjoyed this SFR espionage novel. The worldbuilding is very good, the main characters are vivid and vivacious."

*From Loving Venus-Loving Mars http://bi-curious-romancenovel-chat.blogspot.com/2011/07/advanced-review-rulebreaker-by-cathy.html
"All in all Rulebreaker is an excellent read. It’s suspenseful and has a lot of interesting twists and side corridors that are fun to go down. The writing is smooth with a perfect pace, which kept me on edge until the end."

*From Lesbrary http://lesbrary.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/anna-reviews-rulebreaker-by-cathy-pegau/
"I knew I liked Rulebreaker when I kept thinking of other books and fanfiction to compare it to."
"Pegau showed herself willing to make difficult authorial decisions in order to lend weight to her narrative, and both Liv and Zia were portrayed as sympathetic, if flawed, people."

*From Smexybooks.com http://www.smexybooks.com/2011/08/guest-review-rulebreaker-by-cathy-pegau.html
"...let me say that the writing and world-building are excellent. The futuristic details add a lot of flavor but don’t overwhelm the story. There is a stylish, sexy quality to the writing, despite the fact that there is very little sex. Rulebreaker reminded me of a George Clooney caper film. It’s compelling and charismatic."

Welcome Elaine Cantrel & the Clemons Tigers to the Football Blog Tour Stop!

CLEMSON TIGERS

Do you like football? I live in the South, and there aren’t many people in the South who don’t like football. Some Southerners like pro teams, and some like college teams. Some follow high school football, and some follow all three.

Personally, I first learned about football when I was in high school. I didn’t miss a single high school football game until my senior year. After I graduated from high school, I went off to college and became a Clemson Tiger. Then I got married, and my husband taught me to watch NFL football on TV.

So, why do we do it? Why do we devote sometimes an entire day to football when there are so many other things we could be doing? First, we do it because we like the game. We get a thrill out of watching the game and dissecting what everyone on the field should have done. And of course that includes the coach!

Second, we do it because there’s a social aspect to it. We get to see our friends and exchange news. One of the most important social aspects is tailgating. Have you ever done that? On the day of the football game we have a picnic out of our cars, vans or SUVs in the stadium parking lot. Some people pick up a bucket of KFC, but others bring their grills and cook steaks. If you can think of a menu, you can find it. Many local restaurants have picnic baskets that you can pick up on your way to the game.

You see paper plates, plastic dinnerware, and in a few cases nice china. Oh, and some people bring liquid refreshment.
Third, we get to live vicariously through the team and the cheerleaders. For a few hours we can pretend we’re a star.

And fourth, it gives us a sense of satisfaction and tradition to participate in a fall ritual that’s been going on for many years.
The team that I follow most closely is the Clemson Tigers. On the days when Clemson is playing we hang our tiger tail from the tailgate of our SUV, and we fly orange flags because orange and purple are Clemson’s colors. At the school where I work, we have a luncheon when Clemson plays their arch rival Carolina. Followers of each team decorates one side of the faculty lounge, and we all bring party foods which we have for lunch. It’s fun, and on that day lots of emails fly back and forth between followers of each team.

My last release is called A New Dream, and guess what job the hero has in the beginning of the book? He’s an NFL player for the Green Bay Packers. It just seemed like an obvious choice to me!

If you’ve never caught football fever, let me get you started. First of all, buy a team jersey. Then, pick up some hot wings, nachos, or whatever it is you like to snack on. Invite as many of your friends as you can accommodate in your home, and then sit back and enjoy yourself.


Blurb for A New Dream

Blurb: A New Dream

What do you do when you lose everything?
After an auto accident destroys his pro-football career, Matt McCallum struggles to find a new dream for his life, but nothing engages him the way football did. After a stint in rehab, he takes a job managing a grocery store where he meets Violet Emerson.

Violet works in the bakery department, but her dreams carry her far beyond the doors of Chef’s Pantry. As soon as she can save the money, she plans to open a catering business. And she thinks the new manager’s broad shoulders and blue eyes are simply divine.

Thrown together at work, Matt and Violet find a common dream for their lives, but a loose end from Matt’s past returns to jeopardize their future. Will love be enough to save their new dream before it turns into a nightmare?

Buy Link
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_30?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell&sprefix=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell

Reviews

Romance Junkies Read the full review at http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/A_New_Dream.shtml

RJ gave A New Dream a 4.5 and said, A NEW DREAM is a wonderful contemporary romance with heartwarming characters and heartfelt moments. Elaine Cantrell creates a beautiful, believable relationship with old fashioned values that adds sweetness to the story. All of her characters were likable with emotions and reactions that one can relate to. My favorite though had to be the hero Matt, who had to face a very difficult reality. His growth and the way Ms. Cantrell portrayed his struggles with coming to terms with the changes in his life was nicely done. This is one of the best inspirational romances I’ve read in a while.

Romantic Times gave a New Dream 4 stars and said,
Readers will love this touching and inspirational story in which a former football player learns to live his life under new terms after a tragic accident. As he journeys toward a new dream he meets (Violet) and falls in love.