Thoughts on the Diversion Series: Manipulation

Some may not know that my Diversion series is based on actual crimes committed in the pharmaceutical industry, and as such they contain an awful lot of factual information that I hope blended in with the storyline.

That said, I'd like to point out a particular event in Manipulation, the fourth book in the series, and the scene where Lucky and Bo storm the pharma manufacturing facility.

While writing the book, I attended a Writer's Police Academy, where cops, firefighters, lawyers, forensics personnel and other professionals taught classes and held demonstrations so that writers can get things right. Yes, I now know how to blow doors off hinges, and the teacher from the forensics session helped me describe the body found in the drug tunnel. Oh, the emails I have on file. I'm expecting someone to show up at my door and question my internet searches any day now.

Anyway, after a session on entering and clearing the apartment of a suspect, we had some free time and our subject matter expert (a S.W.A.T officer) asked if we had any questions. There were only a few, so I asked if he could talk me through the scene. We physically went from door to door, covering the injured member of our team. How great is that for a clear visual? I didn't only imagine where Lucky might stand and how he'd hold his gun, I got to experience it for myself. How cool is that?

The entire Diversion series is available at Amazon in ebook, paperback, and audio format, as well as KU.

Lucky Lucklighter has a new life. His old life wants him back.

He traded trafficking for taking down criminals with the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, and a drug-lord lover for a man on the right side of the law. Bo Schollenberger found the way past the thorny defenses of Lucky’s heart, and made Mr. I-Get-Along-Fine-Alone think about his and his closets, stevia in the sugar bowl, and a picket fence—with a good lock on the gate.

Now Bo is missing, and a voice long silenced asks, “Did you miss me?” Lucky must deal with a devil from his past to get Bo back.

And if Bo isn’t willing to come? A drug ring needs its back broken before flooding the US with a designer high, seductive and undetectable. But there’s a fine line between good and evil, and a truckload of temptation urging Lucky to cross.

Get your copy of Manipulation at Amazon.

Sale!

For a limited time, get your copy of of my Lambda Award Finalist novel, Settling the Score for .99 cents at Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. From now until December 7, so get your copy fast! It's also Whispersynced, for you Audible listeners.

Outed and dumped on national television by his rising star boyfriend, Joey Nichols must face the bigotry of the locals in his small Southern town alone. His dreams of a happy ever after lie crushed at his feet. 

Novelist Troy Steele has an axe to grind against Hollywood heartbreaker types. Transforming Joey into a gorgeous, unobtainable hunk would be payback worthy of Troy’s poison pen. It's a brilliant way to get back at Joey’s image-obsessed ex-boyfriend and the movie producer who’s mutilating Troy’s novels. 

What begins as simple revenge may tangle them together in something far more complicated. Living well may be the best revenge, but Troy and Joey could rewrite that to loving well.

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Good News for Diversion Fans! New Spin-off Release!

 When I finished book nine of the Diversion series, I thought I was finished with Bo, Lucky, and the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau. Then a friend asked, "What happened to Jerry from Corruption?"

Good question, which I hopefully answered in my latest offering, Petty Crimes. Although it's a spin-off story of the Diversion series, and has some of the same characters, it's intended as a standalone. 

Jerry has turned his life around, and now works for Lucky at the SNB. Imagine answering to a boss who literally shot you. I truly enjoyed showing Lucky through the eyes of someone else. 

Why can't life give him a break?

Five years ago, Jerry Wilkerson was running with a biker gang, making mistake after mistake, till he ended up in the hospital with a gunshot wound, facing criminal charges for drug distribution. On top of everything, he'd fallen in love with the narcotics agent who took them all down. Or rather, with Cyrus Cooper, the man that agent pretended to be.

Making a deal with the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau kept Jerry out of jail, sending him undercover as Brody Jenson, a petty criminal able to get into places other agents can't. He's satisfied with his life—or would be if he wasn't still longing for someone who never existed.

Then a man steps out of his dreams and into his life, who's everything Jerry ever wanted.

Except for the part where Jerry might have to arrest him.

Petty Crimes is now available for preorder at Amazon, releasing October 1, in time for GRL!

New Release News!

Right on the heels of Something Wicked comes Mage Bond, a story that takes place in the same magical realm, but with a different tone, different characters, different location, and about five hundred years in the past. Huh, judging by that description, they have nothing in common at all, except a few name drops of cities and other place, so you definitely do not need to read Something Wicked first. 

So, ready for mages, pirates, and magical battles between good and evil? 

A long-ago meeting sets fate into motion…

As captain of the city guards, Martin protects E'Skaara by day. At night, he creeps in shadows to defend the citizens from predators most cannot see. He's escaped from his past as a mage-born lad who'd nearly destroyed a village in self-defense. The three things he can't so easily elude? Rage at a deity who condemns mages to death, memories of a pirate who saved him, and the magic he must conceal.

Tavernkeeper Peter keeps secrets. Secrets that can get him killed: his desire for men, a pirate past, and magical abilities. He should run from the one place mages cannot be safe, but yearning for a lost love binds him to where they shared their last kiss, waiting for one more glimpse of a dear face.

When dark forces reunite them, the magic both men try so hard to hide might just be their salvation. 

Mage Bond is now available for preorder on Amazon, releasing July 16. 

The very talented Jacqueline Sweet created the cover. Isn't it pretty? 

New Release: The Prince's Frog

 It's release day!

His Royal Highness Prince Rocky Jude Maxwell Bill Robert Chuck—let’s just call him Bob, shall we?—has a problem. Namely, royal parents set on marrying him off to a princess from the neighboring kingdom. Only, Bob doesn’t want to get married, would rather ogle Sir Blacksmith than fair maidens, and has a sneaking suspicion that his intended bride is not what she seems. So, where is a desperate prince with commitment issues supposed to turn?

Speaking of “not what they seem,” Sir Ribbit has been cooling his heels, literally, in the local bog with his disgraced fairy godmother and thousands of other frogs, waiting for the opportunity to break a three-year-old curse and return to his human form of Prince Evan Chuck Leo—Oh, heck, let’s call him Dave—hopefully, before maxing out a frog’s limited lifetime.

When a royal snit lands Bob in the muck of Dave’s front yard, plans are made to help each other. Inept plans, but still. Oh, and someone has to kiss a frog because everyone knows you have to kiss a few frogs before you land a handsome prince.

This story delightfully features talking frogs, inebriated fairies, awkward heroes, two princes in love, a deceptively innocent cover, and a solid HEA.

For most characters, anyway.

Get your copy today at Amazon or on KU.

A Very Special Story

Every now a then, my muse gets a little silly, resulting in such stories as Galen and the Forest Lord, Hell is Where the Heart Is, and Hooves and Horns. The latest comedic venture is a spin on a fairy tale, called The Prince's Frog. I've actually been working on this story for a few years, picking it up and setting it down over and over. 

Part of the issue was that the manuscript still contained comments from my dear friend and crit partner, PD Singer, who passed in 2020. I miss her terribly. 

Open manuscript, read comments, close manuscript, cry. Come back three months later and try again. In the back of my mind, I could clearly imagine what she'd say if I gave up a project, so I pushed through. She was my greatest supporter and thought this would be a fun story. 

Pam, I hope I've done you proud. So this story is special to me, as it's the last one I collaborated on with her. 

His Royal Highness Prince Rocky Jude Maxwell Bill Robert Chuck—let’s just call him Bob, shall we?—has a problem. Namely, royal parents set on marrying him off to a princess from the neighboring kingdom. Only, Bob doesn’t want to get married, would rather ogle Sir Blacksmith than fair maidens, and has a sneaking suspicion that his intended bride is not what she seems. So, where is a desperate prince with commitment issues supposed to turn?

Speaking of “not what they seem,” Sir Ribbit has been cooling his heels, literally, in the local bog with his disgraced fairy godmother and thousands of other frogs, waiting for the opportunity to break a three-year-old curse and return to his human form of Prince Evan Chuck Leo—Oh, heck, let’s call him Dave—hopefully, before maxing out a frog’s limited lifetime.

When a royal snit lands Bob in the muck of Dave’s front yard, plans are made to help each other. Inept plans, but still. Oh, and someone has to kiss a frog because everyone knows you have to kiss a few frogs before you land a handsome prince.

This story delightfully features talking frogs, inebriated fairies, awkward heroes, two princes in love, a deceptively innocent cover, and a solid HEA.

For most characters, anyway.

Now available for preorder on Amazon. 

New Release! Something Wicked

 Only I could launch a new book and forget to post on my blog. Sorry, folks. 

Something Wicked is now available on Amazon and on KU. This started with a premade cover by the super talented Charmaine Ross, and the idea continued from there. I mean, have you SEEN the guy on the cover? Wow!

Oh, and I had a wonderful time creating a snarky cat/spider/snake/raven/dragon/motorcycle familiar named Chynne.

A mysterious legacy. A magical journey. The worst guide in history!

Piers Adams never knew his parents or birthplace. All he wants from his mundane life is a better apartment and fewer working hours serving drinks at a club in Asheville, North Carolina. Sure, weirdness happens around him occasionally. Coincidences, right? He can’t possibly wish things into existence. After all, he’s only human.

Maybe.

It’s hard living down to a nickname like Wicked, but Prince Wycke Bertillian of the magical realm tries. He enjoys his lack of responsibilities until he’s coerced into a clandestine mission: find an evil sorceress’s hidden son in the human realm.

A chance encounter awakens magical potential beyond what either realm has seen before. Barely managing his own life doesn’t qualify Wycke to guide a novice sorcerer with infinite magic and zero self-preservation skills. Unfortunately, it’s Wycke or nothing standing between Piers and those who’d take Piers’ magic for themselves—magic powerful enough to rule two realms.

Piers and Wycke had better get their act together. Their lives and the fate of the human and magical worlds rests in their highly incompetent hands.

Now available on Amazon and KU