The Diamond Gate By Holly Bargo 
nhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E0V73T0 

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n nEvery night for two years, seven sisters—princesses all—walked beneath silver trees hung with jeweled fruit, crossed a still black lake, and danced to liquid music with their faerie suitors. Every night for two years, their shoes collapsed and kept the city’s cobblers busy. n nHis schemes for political and trade alliances thwarted by his daughters’ nightly disappearances, the royal duke of Nuygenie invited royalty and aristocrats from far and wide to solve the mystery and win the hand of a princess. They came and they failed. n nThen a common soldier, aged by war and years, thought to try his luck and improve his circumstances. A kindness to an old hag resulted in a magic cloak of invisibility and excellent advice that he put to good use to break the enchantment that held the princesses in thrall to their fey suitors. n nRejoicing, the duke elevated the soldier to serve as his general, so that the man might have rank befitting his royal bride. General Miles Carrow chose the eldest sister, Aurora, and wondered at the emptiness of their betrothal. n n

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nThe duke then cemented other political and trade alliances with the blood of his other children: Crown Prince Eric, Prince Ascendant Jonathan, Princesses Rose, Pearl, Celeste, Grace, Lily, and Hope. The two youngest princes, Roderick and Simon, were yet too young to be married off as benefited Nuygenie.
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nThe passage beneath was blocked and sealed with iron. The sisters did not discuss all they had lost. No one ever asked them if they had even wanted to be rescued.
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nThis is the story after the faerie tale.n

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Excerpt 

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n​Bide here. Lirón comes.
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n“Did you hear that?” they whispered among themselves and agreed that, yes, each of them heard that, but not with their ears.
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nThey all looked at the hippogriff, but only Aurora met its gaze. It despises us, she thought with surprise. A beast that despises us.
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nI find most humans contemptible as well as bad-tasting.
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nHer lips turned upward slightly at the corners. Touché, she thought, and caught the faintest glimmer of humor from the hippogriff.
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n“When will Lirón arrive?” she asked aloud, more as a courtesy to the others than for the hippogriff’s sake.
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nThe animal cocked its head, opened and shut its beak with a click, and then sneezed. It shook its head, sending a feather into the breeze, which twirled it in unseen fingers for the princess to catch. She held it to her lips and surreptitiously sniffed. The scent wasn’t sour like poultry, but fresh, clean, and somehow wild.
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nToss it into the wind should you have need of me, beloved of Lirón.
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n“Thank you,” she whispered.
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nThe hippogriff bowed its head, turned tail, galloped a few steps, and leaped into the wind.
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Hogtied by Holly Bargo 

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n nCowgirl meets biker … what could go wrong? n nWhen a biker shoots her sister’s prize steer, champion roper Melanie goes after him. Unfortunately, she doesn’t think it through, and that hot temper puts her squarely in Hammer’s sights. Melanie’s ire only increases when Hammer defuses the dangerous situation by claiming her as his property. If the former Marine and now sergeant-at-arms of the Black Ice Revolution MC thinks she’s his for the taking, he’s sadly mistaken. She wants nothing to do with him, but he’s not about to let this sexy, feisty woman go. n nThis romance contains some explicit scenes and a guaranteed HEA. May not be suitable for young readers.n n nBuy Today  nhttps://www.amazon.com/Hogtied-Holly-Bargo-ebook/dp/B0842DX7H3/ n n

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Review Snippet 

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n“I enjoyed this MC romance with an enemies-to-lovers theme. Though Melanie grates at your nerves at first, one can understand her anger and frustration at the situation she found herself in. Kyle is courageous, loyal, and kind. He put a lot on the line to save this girl and though it took her a while, she finally started appreciating him for who is.  There is a bit more to the story that I didn’t think was necessary, but I don’t want to give any spoilers.” 
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nRead more at 
n​https://eclecticreview.com/2020/03/09/hogtied-by-holly-bargo-hollybargobooks-silverdaggerbooktours-henhousepublishing1-giveaway-bookreview-romance-biker-cowgirl/
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Excerpt

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n​“No need. You all stay off my property,” the old man said. “I’m inclined to shoot every last one of you.”
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nHammer raised an eyebrow and his skepticism must have showed.
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n“Daddy was a sniper in the Gulf War,” Melanie explained with a saccharine smile. “And he taught Julie and me how to shoot, too. We can protect ourselves.”
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n​Hammer met her cool confidence with another small smile. “The three of you can’t protect the whole
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nfarm and your father knows it.”
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nHe turned around and walked to his motorcycle, his strides slow and sure. He’d be damned if he showed uneasiness in front of the old man and two girls. He’d faced worse in the Middle East and the Central and South American cesspits where drug cartels, terrorists, and revolutionaries were indistinguishable from one another.
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nMelanie watched the man’s slow swagger and admitted silently to herself that he filled out his jeans very, very nicely. She liked the breadth of his shoulders and the bulge of hard muscle beneath his tee shirt. Stick a sword in his hand and she’d cast him as Aragorn in a Lord of the Rings remake.
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n“He’s hot,” Julie whispered, echoing her sister’s thoughts.
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n“He’s trouble,” their father muttered.
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n“What do we do, Daddy?” Melanie asked as the man started his motorcycle and rode away.
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n“We wait.”n

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Part of a freelancer’s box of goodies is a portfolio. The portfolio generally consists of client work, although it may also include pieces created for other purposes. My portfolio includes paid content published under the client’s byline, paid content published under my byline, and unpaid content published under my byline.

Quite simply, if I’m not paid for the content, then it goes under my byline. Of course, sometimes that byline is my real name and sometime’s is a pseudonym. Regardless, the name belongs to yours truly.

When it comes to editing projects, my name seldom receives mention. An editor works behind the scenes. Editors aren’t responsible for the creation of the content, we’re involved in the improvement of the content. That remains true even if we end up revising and/or rewriting substantial portions of that content. However, a mention in the acknowledgments always brings a smile, because who doesn’t like a pat on the back?

Problems come into play when a prospective client requests that content be created especially for him for his project. Such prospective clients use the rationale that they need to see how the ghostwriter will treat his idea. The rule of thumb is to decline such requests–especially when they come from bid platform buyers. The very real risk is that the buyer has no intention of paying for any content, but he’ll pick and choose and use that which he likes and still not hire anyone. It happens to many; it happened to me before I learned that lesson the hard way.

Still, sometimes a freelancer takes the risk. Occasionally, that risk pays off. It did so when I applied for a ghostwriting project to adapt a screenplay to a novel. The client intended to shop the finished manuscript to publishers. An occasional, quick search reveals that it hasn’t been published yet, although the title and author name could have been changed which would end my search.

Because generating new content for a prospective client is such a risk–as well as a large investment of time, effort, and skill for little promise of reward–the portfolio of previous work serves two main purposes.

First, it shows a body of work that the prospective client can review for suitability. Does the writing meet the client’s standard of excellence? Does it appeal to the buyer’s taste? Does it show experience or knowledge of the buyer’s topic or genre–or at least the capability of the ghostwriter to conduct research to speak with intelligence and authority on the buyer’s topic?

Second, it shows a body of work that testifies to the depth and breadth of the ghostwriter’s experience. This is a problem all newcomers to any market have: the Catch-22 of needing the job to get experience when the job requires prior experience. Someone, eventually, will have to take a chance on hiring that newcomer.

The prior experience conundrum affects freelancers. Clients want to hire experienced professionals for the low rates charged by novices. Because skill and experience should and usually do command professional rates, experienced professionals cannot compete on price: they must compete through quality.

The project samples in the portfolio should justify the freelancer’s rates. It should show a niche expertise or versatility of experience. It should demonstrate evidence of work completed and the skill of which the vendor is capable. Client testimonials or recommendations also serve as evidence of the vendor’s skill, but remember that vendors don’t usually post negative reviews of their work. For a broader look at public opinion of the vendor’s work–whether for a client or his own published content–look at reviews on public forums such as Amazon and Goodreads.

If you’re looking to hire a ghostwriter, especially to write fiction, then take a look at the storytelling skills of that vendor. Read that writer’s stories. If you like what you read, then that’s the vendor for your project. If you like my writing and want something written, contact me.

#henhousepublishing #hollybargobooks