Guest Blogger: Natalie Damschroder

Please welcome my special guest today, author Natalie Damschroder! There's a contest, so read to the bottom! You won't want to miss a thing.
~Cindy

Thank you, Cindy, for allowing me to be your guest today!
You're welcome, Natalie! Glad to have you here! ~csp

I've just reached a big milestone in my writing career, with Under the Moon getting a nationwide-rerelease and appearing on actual bookstore shelves this month. So it's it's kind of funny to look back at how much I didn't want to be a writer when I was younger. My mother was a writer. Except for a couple of short stories and confessions, she wasn't successful in fiction But she did make a long-lasting career out of writing marketing and sales materials, among (many!) other things. So I think part of me didn't want the thing that was mine to be the same as the thing that was hers. But really, I didn't like it. I did well, got praise from my English teachers, and in college, had two term papers selected for publication in The Student Scholar and won a writing prize (3rd place). It was gratifying, but not *fun*.

 Eventually, though, I started to shift my thinking. I don't know exactly when. I guess because fiction was my main pleasure, I didn't think about turning it into work. I was luckier than a lot of people, though. I wound up in an area (geographically) where I couldn't use my college degree and working for a long distance phone company forced me to find my passion at a very young age. Once it hit me that if I loved reading romance, it was logical that I might love writing it, there was no looking back. And here I am, celebrating the release of my 11th book! Is there anything you thought you'd never do, and it turned out to be something really important to you?

 Natalie J. Damschroder grew up in Massachusetts, and loves the New England Patriots more than anything. (Except her family. And writing and reading. And popcorn.) When she's not writing romantic adventure for Carina Press and paranormal romance for Entangled Publishing, she does freelance editing and works part time as a chiropractic assistant. She and her husband have two daughters they've dubbed "the anti-teenagers," one of whom is also a novelist. (The other one prefers math. Smart kid. Practical.) You can learn more about her and her books at www.nataliedamschroder.com.

Under the Moon
Book 1 of Goddesses Rising
Their power gives them strength…and makes them targets.

 Modern-day goddesses descended from the ancients live normal lives enhanced by their ability to tap into a variety of power sources. This ability has commercial applications of unlimited potential, kept in check by the equally ancient Society for Goddess Education and Defense.

 Quinn Caldwell is the epitome of the modern goddess. Her power source is the moon, her abilities restricted only by physical resources and lunar phase. She runs a consulting business and her father's bar, serves on the board of the Society, and yearns for Nick Jarrett, professional goddess protector and the soul mate she can never have. But someone has developed the rare and difficult ability to drain a goddess of her powers, and Quinn is a target.

With the world thinking Nick has gone rogue (whatever that means) and that Quinn is influenced by "family ties" she didn't know she had, keeping themselves safe while working to find the enemy proves harder each day. But not as hard as denying their hearts…

Get Under the Moon at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, or your favorite retailer
Also, watch for book 2, Heavy Metal, in March 2013. Available now for preorder at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-a-Million. 

Click here to enter Natalie's giveaway.