Monday, September 24, 2018

Countdown to GRL

Only a few more weeks until GRL! I'm attending as a featured author and I'm:

1) Looking forward to seeing my literary family.
2) Anxiously eyeing the mailbox for last minute books.
3) Getting swag together.
4) Planning what to take.
5) Hoping work doesn't put pressure on me to cancel my annual "vacation." 

and....

drumroll, please....

PD Singer and I have a little something planned for Friday night. Details later.


I've got lots and lots of swag this year, so if you're at GRL, please stop by and see me. I'll post pictures of the swag later.

Friday, September 21, 2018

The Office

Well, the hard work has paid off and I've moved into the new office my husband so lovingly finished for me. (In part to get all my stuff out of his shop.)

What do you think? 



The print is "Stars" my favorite Maxfield Parrish work, and if you look of the chaise, you'll see the plush dinosaur sent to me by dear friend and fellow author Parker Williams. 


My possum family from Naked Tails. One came all the way from Canada with TD O'Malley. Oh, and my "Hug Me" button from last year's GRL. 


My cluttered desk and Paul Richmond framed print "Sanctuary". That one always spoke to me. 


The clock Bear made for me from printed copies of the Diversion series book covers. 

 So, now that I have my own little place, oh the stories I will write. 

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Saying Yes now available!

Saying Yes by my alter-ego Edie Sommers is now available at Amazon for purchase or to read with KU.



Cassie:
My next-door neighbors, hotter than hell Jack and quietly luscious Andy, have a parade of women coming by, but fire up the grill for hot dogs with me. I'd take one of them in a heartbeat, if they'd ever ask. Or both—a girl can dream. 

What did I ever do to wind up in the friend zone? 

Now the guys want to change that, want me to date both of them and decide which one I want to keep. Easy enough right? 

There’s a slight problem. They’re twins, and choosing one might mean losing the other as a friend. 
And I love them both. 

Jack: 
Cassie caught my eye the day she moved in next door. She's funny, sweet, and sexy, the kind of woman you can take bowling one day and dancing the next. There’s only one thing keeping me from pursuing more than friendship with her: my brother wants her too.

Andy:
Even with the flu Cassie manages to be gorgeous, and it’s sheer torture to live next to her, see her day after day, and resist taking her into my arms and kissing her senseless. We read the same books, and although I’m not much of a talker, somehow she breaks through my defenses. I’ve never met anyone I wanted more. Jack and I finally realize that we risk losing her if we don’t tell her how we feel, and leave the decision up to her which one of us she wants. 
Would it be possible for her to want us both?

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Ballantine Bears Box Set

A couple of years ago a friend challenged me to attempt an erotica story. I tried, but the darned thing grew a plot, even if the characters have a lot of erotic adventures.

The result was A Bear Walks Into a Bar, a fun shifter romp. Well, my pal P.D. Singer liked the story enough that she wanted to revisit the characters--as an MPREG. Our first collaboration resulted in Two Bears and a Baby.

Now both works have been bundled together as a boxed set, available through Amazon. Two action-packed shifter adventures for one low price.



First, a Bear Walks Into a Bar. And after Sawyer and Dillon wrassle a mountain full of cranky shifters into shape, then nature takes its course to make Two Bears and a Baby. Both full length novels about the bears of Ballantine Mountain.
A Bear Walks Into a Bar
It takes one strong alpha with a tight grip to keep a mountain full of shifters under control. Sawyer Ballantine’s contending with an uppity wolf leader and a herd of shifter elk bound and determined to take over. He might be the lone bear on the mountain, but he’s not going to allow another four shifters to just move in, especially not when they whiff of power. They’ll either be his in all ways, or they’ll be gone.
Dillon, Jerry, Kevin, and Brad have no one but each other since their groups kicked them out. The young bear, wolves, and fox make a merry ménage, pooling their meager skills and serving beer. They’ve stumbled into more than they understand, caught in the dispute between the Urso of Ballantine Mountain and the elk. But winter’s setting in, and they don’t know how to keep Dillon safe for hibernation.
And then a bear walks into their bar.
Two Bears and a Baby
The Urso of Ballantine Mountain intended to run a ragtag bunch of shifters out of his territory. Instead, Sawyer Ballantine found his mate. Once the lone bear on the mountain, now Sawyer shares his life and bed with Dillon, who’s still learning how to be a proper bear. Sawyer tells the stories of the First Bears, from whom all other bear shifters descended, but how did two male bears become the fathers of many?
The varied shifters of Ballantine Mountain coexist peacefully—Sawyer manages them with an iron paw. Yet danger lurks. The wolves have plans of their own, and they don’t include taking orders from bears.
Two bears, seven wolves, no contest.
If Dillon didn’t heave every time he smells bacon.
Warning: this novel contains randy bears, rogue wolves, a bitey fox shifter, and a certain amount of morning sickness.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Books That Died on the Vine

I'm sure most authors have novels on their hard drive that will never see that light of day, for one reason or another. I have dozens I've started, walked away from, and might go back to, but there are two currently that I have no immediate plans to publish:

Broken Wing - Angel of 13th Street Book Three

This is Lark's tale, a secondary character from the Angel series. Sam is briefly mentioned in the series as Lark's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, and he was also an orderly at the halfway house Noah took Lark to after Lark jumped from a bridge in what might have been a suicide attempt.

Sam remembered Lark from years before, and hoped to bring the man back to who he used to be.

The story is not a romance, for at the end Lark is still not ready for a relationship, but rather a journey, and a dark one. It has no place in the series. My test audience cringed, and rightly so. At this time I feel there is no way to make this book publishable in my current genre. I put a whole lot of research into this story, which has given me a deepened outlook into addiction.

The Telling Two - Losing Jimmy

As with Lark in Broken Wing, in order to do justice to Ryan's story and his state of mind, the book cannot be a romance. It's dark, and love can't conquer all. To be honest, it's hard to stay in Ryan's head for any length of time as his suicidal state is hard to write. I researched a lot over the six years I agonized and tried my best to get this tale out into the world, but alas, it'll take an author of greater skill than mine to pull this off.

Who knows, maybe one day these novels will appear as a recovering addict and recovering veteran story,

It saddens me that I am letting down fans who've asked to read more about these two, but for the time being, the characters' voices remain silent.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Summertime Favorites

It's now September, kids are back in school, and though the temperature still pushes 100 some days here, fall is just around the corner.

There's so many things I'll miss about summer.

1) Tubing. One of my favorite things ever in the summer is to spend the day on the river with family and friends, floating along on a tube. In the old days we used actual car tire inner tubes, or even tubes from tractor tires, but now you buy multi-hued plastic things with handles from the store. Same principle, and oh so fun.

2) Watermelon, ice cold and preferably at a picnic.

3) Tomato sandwiches. I'm not a fan of store bought tomatoes, grown in a hot house. They don't have much flavor. However, take two slices of white bread, a slathering of Duke's mayonnaise (only kind of mayonnaise in some Southerner's opinions) and thick slices of heirloom tomatoes and you have yourself a treat.

4) Jumping up and going to work without have to scrape ice, preheat car, watch for black ice, check the weather before leaving house, and bundling up. Although in summer we have to keep potholders in the car to touch the steering wheel at times.

5) Sitting on the dock at the pond, feeding the fish.

6) Being able to get my grandson pretty much anytime, 'cause he's out of school.

7) College is out, get to hang with my stepdaughters and granddaughter.

What are you favorite things about summer? What will you miss the most?

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Dreams

When was that last time you looked up at the night sky?

When I younger it wasn't unusual to lay a quilt in the front yard in summertime and gaze up at the heavens, particularly during meteor showers. Fireflies would dance, flitting here and there, katydids sang from the treetops. Cars rarely broke the quiet, and there were no neighbors close enough for me to hear music or televisions.

Total peace. Total contentment. In those moments my imagination ran rampant, conjuring stories. What had it been like for people 100 years ago living in my area? Did they look up from the same spot I did? What were their lives like, what were their dreams?

What would it be like to visit the bright lights in the sky? Back then I never would have guessed I'd become a published author, though I hoped "one day".

Then came the hard years, when dreams died and I gave up gazing at the heavens to earn a living and get by. Dreams, after all, didn't pay bills. I realize now how poor I was during those times, emotionally, if not financially, but they set my priorities straight of what really matters.

Without dreams, without flights of fancy, life stagnates. It's our dreams that guide us, give us reasons to move forward. Give us hope.

Now I'm older, living in the country, and once again I spend many happy hours looking up at night. Stars, the moon, passing clouds, and the phenomena of heat lighting all paint a beautiful backdrop upon which to hang my imagination.

Once more my dreams take flight. I've come full circle.

I only wish I could go back and tell my younger self, "Don't worry, it'll be okay."