Carlos Cortes & Renée Miller

Renée Miller

Growing up in Tweed, Ontario—the summer home of Elvis’s ghost—Renée Miller learned early that in a small town, only dreams escape the neighbors’ inquest. So, she dreamed, tasted adventure through
books, and created wonderful hidden worlds in her childhood stories. One day, she discovered a little book titled “IT” by Stephen King and writing became her passion.
Before losing whatever little common sense she had left, Renée worked as a bartender, waitress,
convenience store clerk, gas station attendant, office administrator, lumber yard inventory control something-or-other, coffee-slugging drive-thru grunt, and day-care provider.
When the excitement of that daily grind proved too much, she opted out of one asylum and jumped
into another: she became a professional writer. Renee now freelances to pay the bills and has published short fiction and hundreds of articles including, but not limited to, how to install vinyl tile and the seven taxonomies of the kingdom of roses.
Still residing in Tweed, she lives the glamorous life of a Canadian housewife and underpaid scribe
with her three children and a man who has stopped pretending to know what’s going on.


Carlos J Cortes

Born in Madrid, Spain, Carlos J Cortes grew up on the streets. Over the years he’s worked as an altar boy, musician, waiter, lightning rod installer, site engineer, salesman, dishwasher, night porter, and sundry other high-level executive jobs.
Eventually, he settled down as a design engineer specialized in high-level lighting and remote
sourcing. But the fun didn’t stop there. His hearing is impaired from being near a bomb at too close quarters; he spent a stretch in an African jail, crossed the Israeli-Egyptian border inside the trunk of a car, and in lean times drove a taxi in Rio de Janeiro. As a consultant on civil and military installations, he has traveled the five continents and written seven texts on lighting, light physics and fiber optics
systems.
At present, as Chief Technical Officer, he leads the R&D division of a Norwegian group of hi-tech
companies, and lives in Barcelona, Spain.
A competition bridge player, Carlos has co-authored three books on different aspects of the game.
His published fiction includes “Perfect Circle,” now in its second printing, “The Prisoner,” nominated in 2010 for the Philip K. Dick award—both with Random House—and “Ménage à 20,” with Renée Miller and a bunch of talented mongrel writers.
His favorite book is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, which taught him that a life without
dreams is only existence.

Website: http://ofwcompanion.com/
Twitter: @ofwcompanion
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://reneeamiller.blogspot.com

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• Chain of Souls on Nov. 02, 2011
  
  This series (which started with The Devil To Pay) picks up pace with Chain of Souls. I think what I like most at this point is that these books are connected, but reading one isn't critical to understanding what is happening in the other. I HATE series that rely on previous books and prefer to be able to pick up any book in the series and not be completely lost. Maria doesn't do this to her readers. Each of these books, so far, could be considered stand-alones. I read this on Saturday night, when I was supposed to be working, simply because I couldn't put it down. The characterization is brilliant, and Zannini weaves action expertly into this not-so-typical love story. The dialogue was excellent, and I do love my dialogue. Maria wins my forever-fandom for that alone. The only critique I have of Chain of Souls is that the love scenes weren't what I've come to expect from Zannini. While they're still well-written, the scenes in Chain of Souls are not, IMO, of the caliber of previous work. For me, they lacked something. But, considering Zannini usually writes beyond amazing love scenes, those in Chain of Souls are still pretty kickass. I'm very hooked into this series now. In my review of The Devil to Pay, I had said I wished they were one book, rather than a series of novellas, but I'm not sure that would be such a good thing anymore. My kids wouldn't get fed, the house would be a mess, and I probably wouldn't shower until I finished the entire thing, so it's best to have it in installments. :) I recommend Chain of Souls anyone who is sick of the same old romance, and if you like to read an author who knows what she's doing...I think you should check Maria out as well.