JM Stewart

Sunday Snippet

2012-02-26T09:14:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I usually do Six Sentence Sunday, but this week, I got so caught up in polishing up a novel I'm getting ready to send to my editor that I completely spaced it. The book I'm revising is currently titled Winning Becca, and it's the sequel to Staking His Claim. Winning Becca is (can you guess it?) Kyle's sister Becca's story. So I thought I'd post the first time we get to meet her in her brother's book.

This takes place just after Kyle and Ceci's first kiss. Cecelia (aka Ceci) is floored by the sudden turn in their relationship and Kyle is scrambling to smooth things over when they're interrupted by a knock on the door.

He tore his gaze off the hallway, took a deep breath, and pulled open the door.

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, he found a woe-be-gone woman standing on his doorstep. Although his sister, Becca, wasn’t soaked, her expression resembled the one on Cecelia’s face yesterday, the one that said the world was ending and she wanted him to save it.

Disregarding his little sister for the moment, he dropped his gaze to his niece.
“Hey, munchkin.” A naked plastic baby doll clutched in her left arm, Allie tipped her head back to look up at him. With big blue eyes and long sandy hair pulled up into pigtails, she looked like a smaller version of her mother.

“Hi, Uncle Kyle.” Allie’s mouth curled into a sweet smile as wide as California was long right before she shoved past him into the apartment.

He couldn’t help but laugh. Cute his niece might be, but she’d become every bit as headstrong as her mother. Becca wouldn’t have to worry about beating the boys off when Allie was older. He’d bet money Allie would do it herself.

He turned his attention to his sister and smiled. Wearing her white karate uniform, her black sash tied neatly around her waist, the reason she’d come was obvious, but he wanted to hear her actually ask this time.

“Please?” Becca clasped her hands together and playfully batted her eyelashes. “One of my instructors quit on me yesterday, and I have to cover his classes plus my own.”

“Jackson can’t take her, huh?”

She rolled her eyes.

“God forbid the man should make time in his busy schedule for his daughter.” She barely gave him time to move before she followed her daughter and shoved past him.

I have to admit that Becca was one of those characters who leapt off the page at me. She's feisty and opinionated and she isn't afraid to show it. She's also a bit of a tomboy and a third degree black belt. I loved her role in Kyle and Ceci's story. She's the sassy but supportive sister who adores her big brother. I loved getting to know her more when I wrote her story. Keep your fingers crossed. With any luck, you'll all get to read Becca's story soon!

I have to admit I'm such a sucker for that fabulous secondary who finally gets their own story! I love it when I discover that a book I loved so much has a sequel. It's like a treat! Anybody else like reading (or writing) sequels?

Talking about rejection

2012-02-24T07:56:00.001-08:00

In this business, you have to be prepared for it. Because there are thousands (probably more like millions) of writers trying to fill not enough spots. I’ve also read somewhere that we’re in a flooded market. It seems everybody is pickier these days. So far, my agent has a book that she and I both love, but has gotten turned down five (six?) times now. The first rejection was from Harlequin, and she had a point. So I revised and my agent sent it back out.

This latest one leaves me stumped. And depressed. Because it wasn’t really a rejection. It was a revise and resubmit. Good yes. Except the editor said the story didn't have enough conflict. Which just leaves me doubting my ability to put a good story together, because I thought it had conflict.

So far, every single reason has been different. They all tell me that my craft is excellent, but…. When what it really amounts to is that they just didn’t love my book.

It doesn’t matter how many times I tell myself it isn’t personal, it still takes a chink out of the old armor. It still leaves me sitting here wondering if I really have what it takes. Am I doing it wrong? Or are these editors visions just different than my own? Is it more finding the right place for my writing? Or do I really need to go back to the drawing board?

And the muse has taken a vacation. Because I’m positive I suck so why bother? (said very tongue in cheek).

So, what am I going do about it? What I always do. Sit and wallow in my misery for a while (because if I don’t then I bottle it up and it stews inside me and becomes this huge growling mass of ugliness) then get back on the bike. Because if I really think about it, I couldn’t stop writing if I wanted to. I did that for a while. Took a six year hiatus from writing. Had some personal healing to do that kind of had the muse taking an extended vacation. It was like trying to live without my arm (you can do it, it won’t kill you, but it still feels wrong).

I also have this innate need to share my work with the world. I don’t even know why. Is this a writer thing? I suppose we must all have this. Now, I don’t want to be Nora (I cannot fathom how she gets all that writing done. The woman makes my head spin). I just want to share my love of these people in my head with someone else. And you know, for me, if one reader out there eventually “gets” it, I’m good. So far, I haven’t gotten there yet. I’m still new.

So, now I’m going to lick my wounds and coax my muse into helping me finish my latest WIP by plying her with goodies. I have the kindle app on my iPad loaded with books—finishing North of Need by Laura Kaye, also currently reading A Hero Rising by Aubrey Dionne. I also have Twice in a Lifetime by Jennifer Jakes’ and several others I can’t recall at the moment.

Also going to need some good (dark) chocolate
and a glass of wine.

Course, I always wonder...does anybody else stop and lick their wounds? How do you all deal with rejection?

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-02-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi and welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks to everyone who commented last week. Since everyone agreed they wanted to see more, I thought I'd continue where I left off.

One corner of his mouth quirked up, however, and the heavy emotion in his eyes had definitely lifted.

A sense of satisfaction and warmth expanded within her.

“I agree. I think it’s high time we added some more laughter to this dreary little house.” Grinning, she aimed the sprayer again.

This time a full on grin spread across his mouth as Colt’s eyes narrowed in playful warning.

Ah, posting only six sentences is such a tease, isn't it? This snippet creates an awkward stopping point, but...more watery fun to come next week! Be sure to stop by the Six Sunday website and read all the other awesome snippets!

I've been honored with a blog award!

2012-02-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

I am wowed and honored to have been presented with the very prestigious Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award, given to me by good friend and critique partner, Rachel Brimble. Receiving this award means sharing 7 random facts about me. I have to tell you that I don’t usually like talking about myself, so this is extremely difficult, but here goes.

1. I cannot start my day without coffee. And not just because of the caffeine. I adore the flavor of it. Tully’s is my favorite brand. Always smooth, never bitter.

2. I don’t really have a favorite anything. Favorite food, or color or song. It changes, constantly. I have more like mini obsessions. My current food obsession is Chinese. And my favorite song is…well, anything by Adele. Which particular song changes depending on my mood and the day. Lol

3. I believe in the supernatural. As in ghosts, angels, demons. And yes, I have had experiences. ;)

4. I have a love affair with historical romance novels. Preferably Regency era. In fact, until I started writing, they were all I read. I didn’t read contemporary. I would love to be able to write a historical, but I don’t have the voice or the knack for the research required.

5. I’m very forgetful. I have to write everything down and set reminders for myself or I forget. I've always been this way, too. I like to say that my head is a sieve--stuff falls out at random. I've been asked my name before and had to stop and think about it for a moment. lol

6. I have my very own fan club. When our German Shepherd, Ruby, had to be put down a year ago, we adopted a puppy to fill the hole she left. Then adopted another puppy as a friend for the first. My husband calls them “The mommy fan club” because they follow me everywhere. When I’m in the shower, they’re in the bathroom with me...the whole time. If I close my door to get dressed, they wait outside. When I leave the house, they sit staring at the front door waiting for my return. They don’t follow anybody else quite to this extent.

7. I’m naturally a very shy person. It’s almost a phobia for me. I’m also content with my own company. I’d rather sit quiet and watch people go by. So when in a crowd, I’m usually so quiet I make people nervous. Now that I’m an author, I’m attempting to come out of my shell. It’s difficult, but I’m finding it fun to challenge myself.

Now that you know how strange I am, I'm giving the award to these stellar bloggers. Ladies, it's time to reveal 7 facts about yourselves and pass the sweetness.

Empi Baryeh
Lorraine Nelson
Alyson Rueben
Vonnie Davis
AJ Nuest
Hildie McQueen

Romantic snippets for Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

So, I got to thinking about Valentine's Day. Being a romance writer, I thought it would be great to post a romantic snippet. While my heroes all tend to be strong but sensitive guys, only one was ever really what I would call romantic. That would be Jackson Kade, from Winning Becca (the sequel to Staking His Claim and as of yet to be published). But being the sensitive guys they are, I can usually count on them making a romantic gesture that sometimes makes me swoon. So I thought I’d post a few of my favorites.

This first one is from Staking His Claim. It’s from around the middle of the book, just after the first love scene. Up until this point, Kyle has sacrificed his own happiness for Cecelia’s. Now that he’s had a taste of what could be between them, he’s changing his tune.

“I meant what I said.” Kyle’s voice came soft but intense from the kitchen entrance. “I won’t give you up without a fight.”

His words forced her eyes open. The fierce determination she saw in the blue-gray depths stole the breath from her lungs.

“One way or another, Cecelia, you will be mine,” he said.

Moments later, the front door closed. The soft click resounded through her mind.

And a snippet from my recently contracted novel, A Second Chance at Forever. Alex ended up being one of my favorite heroes. He meets the heroine, Angela, at a vulnerable period in his life, exactly a year after the death of his wife and his daughter. And so he tended to wear his heart on his sleeve with her. This is one such moment. This was also one of those moments where the characters took over. I hadn’t intended for him to say this. He surprised me.

“You’re right, Ang. I can’t tell you I’m in love with you. I don’t even know if I’m capable of love again. Frankly, my heart is still in pieces. All I can promise you is right now. That I won’t let you go through this alone. Those are my babies too and I want them. I want you. More than I’ve wanted anything in a long time. You’re like…. God, Ang, you’re like watching the sun rise for the first time. It’s beautiful and breathtaking. All I want is to stay here in this moment. But this,” he held his arms out from his sides, indicating the whole of him, “this is all I’ve got. Just me. Kind of broken, a little uncertain and probably doing everything wrong, but what I’ve got…is all yours.”

And one last snippet, this one from Winning Becca (waiting to submit this one). Jackson Kade is a romantic, Southern gentleman. Very traditional. At the end of the book, he recreates their first date in an effort to win back the heroine, Becca's affections. This is another spot where the characters took over. I knew I was going to have to come up with a grand gesture for Jackson to make in order to win her over. Turns out I didn't have to. He took care of that for me. ;)

“Another one?”

Seated behind her desk, Becca’s brows rose as she eyed the man standing in the doorway to her office. A delivery guy in a familiar green hat held a bouquet of long stemmed white roses in a clear glass vase. Behind him, a beginner’s class was in full swing, their quiet chants filling the air.

His mouth split into a grin. “’Fraid so. Where would you like me to set this one?”

Stunned, she scanned the room around her. More bouquets covered darn near every available surface. They flooded the room with their delicious sweet smell, but there were so many they were taking over the space. Two dozen waited for her when she’d arrived at eight, and according to the delivery guy, who’d arrived with the third, he’d started delivering them at seven. From then on, one dozen arrived every hour, all with the same note attached: “When you figure it out, call me.” Now, at noon, this was her sixth.

Becca sighed. The cards didn’t need to be signed for her to know who they were from. The gesture screamed Jackson. She waved her hand in the air, signaling the room at large.

“Set them anywhere you can find room.” She frowned as he set the vase on the last available spot on the edge of her desk. “How many more are there?”

“He said that depends on you, ma’am.” When she arched a brow in silent question, he smiled, an amused, secretive grin that told her he knew more than he let on. “On how soon you figure it out.”

Hope your Valentine’s Day is full of more love than you can stand. And chocolate! There must always be chocolate!

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-02-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I know I say it every week, but I want to first and foremost thank everyone who stops by. The comments are very welcome and appreciated. This week I've decided to take another random snippet from my current WIP. This was one of those moments where the characters took over my book.

And of course, be sure to stop by the Six Sunday website and view all the other fantastic snippets!

He was a brooder, took himself way too seriously, and just once, she wanted to see him smile, see the light reach his eyes.

What possessed her to do it, she had no idea, but the idea flitted through her thoughts and Stacy latched onto it. She picked up the sprayer sitting on the back of the sink, aimed it at him and pulled the trigger. The water hit the side of his head, drenching his neck and all down his right arm.

Colt jerked upright, twisting away from the water and turned to stare at her as if she’d gone mad. “What the hell, Stace?”

What do you think...does anybody want to read on? Should I continue with this next week?

Author Spotlight--Empi Baryeh

2012-02-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I have Evernight Publishing author Empi Baryeh with me today. She's here to give us a glimpse into her new release, Most Eligible Bachelor. Welcome, Empi!

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy!

Empi Baryeh has been writing since the age of thirteen after stumbling upon a YA story her older sister had started. The story fascinated her so much that, when she discovered it was unfinished, she knew the task of completing it rested firmly on her shoulders. And somehow the ideas and the words for the rest of the story began to pour into her mind. She’s been writing ever since.

It wasn’t until another thirteen years later, however, that the romantic in her geared her toward romance. She now focuses on heart-warming multicultural romance with enough passion to enthral readers who want a little sizzle with their romance. She lives in her native country, Ghana, which provides the exotic setting for most of her novels.

Visit Empi Online:
Blog
Website
Facebook
Twitter: @empibaryeh

Blurb:

Magazine columnist Chantelle Sah doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day—not since her fiancé’s betrayal three years ago—and after botching her first assignment as a feature writer, she’s more than willing to put in a hard day’s work this Valentine’s Day; even if it means going on a date with gorgeous construction Tycoon, Lord McKenzie, and opening herself to an onslaught of all things love.

When Lord—his given name, not a title—sets his sights on Chantelle, it isn’t just work he has on his mind. But even he couldn’t have predicted the magnetic attraction between them when they meet, nor the evening ending with more than an interview. Now he has to convince Chantelle that their one-night stand wasn’t a mistake. Can he win her love without revealing a secret from their night of passion, which could prove fatal for both their hearts?

EXCERPT

He seemed amused by her lack of a response as he took her hand and led her back to the dance floor. The music had turned slow.

She hesitated. Slow music meant being in his arms, their bodies touching. She shouldn’t do this. Yet for some ridiculous reason, she wanted – needed, even – the closeness, to feel like a woman again. Just for a moment. Even if she was certifiably insane for wanting all this in the arms of Lord McKenzie.

He pulled her gently, bringing her body flush against his. A tremor rushed through her. His warm breath on her face sent tiny tingles running over her skin. Heat radiated to her from each part of his body touching hers, his powerful thighs, lean hips and firm abdomen, his hand, pressed firmly on the small of her back.

When was the last time she’d been this close to a man? Her breath quickened as raw need surged through her. Far too long. Not since Martin.

Tears stung her eyes as the familiar loneliness accompanying Valentine’s Day closed in. Old love songs always got to her. She turned away from his watchful gaze, focusing on other couples huddled close together on the dance floor. Yearning pierced her heart. She gave herself a mental shake. She couldn’t entertain such thoughts. Once she did, there would be no salvation.
As if sensing her distress, Lord pulled her closer, his hold tightening around her. Every thought flittered out of her mind as soon as their gazes locked, and she began to drown in the deep pools of his dark eyes.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Chantelle.”

Was it stupid that she liked the way her name sounded on his tongue? She opened her mouth to say something – about how Valentine’s Day had been commercialized to the point of triviality, an occasion for errant lovers to feel better about neglecting their significant others, a day to buy enough credit for another year, one day to make the unloved feel even less loved – anything to hide how hard it was to hear those words, but nothing came out.

His face hovered just inches away. Her heart stutter-stepped; her breath snagged. Without explanation, she wanted to know the taste of his lips. She wanted to erase it all from her mind, her pain, his reputation. She wanted to simply believe he really was just the most eligible bachelor in town, and he had her in his arms.

He smiled, really smiled, not the movie star grins he’d been flashing earlier. His gaze emitted pure heat wrapped around a hint of sadness. What in the world could make a man with his looks and popularity melancholic? Surely Lord McKenzie didn’t have the same kinds of problems as mere mortals.

His fingers feathered her cheek, sending another wave of tremors through her. When his hand reached her chin, he lifted her face. Her mind barely registered what was happening before the space between them vanished. His searing kiss was nothing she could have imagined. It scorched her, inside and out. A soft moan escaped her throat before she could stop it. She melted into him, curling her fingers around his nape.

When he pulled away, her breath came in fast, shallow bursts. In stunned reflex, her fingers came to her lips, which felt swollen, having not been used for this purpose in a while. Weak-kneed and aroused, she sensed she only remained standing because of his strong arms around her.

One of the couples dancing bumped into them, jerking her back to reality.

Shoot. This evening would be more difficult than she could have guessed. How was she supposed to conduct a professional interview when she’d just kissed the interviewee, and now her mind insisted on dancing around words like ravished?

BUY:
Evernight Publishing -- 15% off for the first 2 weeks!
Amazon
Amazon UK
All Romance eBooks
Bookstrand

I've had the pleasure of reading this book. You definitely don't want to miss out on this one!

Thanks for being with me today, Empi!

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-02-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I want to say thanks to everyone who stops by. The love is always appreciated. I decided to take a random snippet from my current untitled WIP. It's the sequel to A Second Chance at Forever. My hero, Colt Taylor (speaking in the snippet) has just retired from the Army. This is so far the closest representation I can find to how I see him. ;)

“You weren’t the only one who needed holding that night. But when you kissed me.” He slowly shook his head. “I was done for. I had no resistance against you. You were so warm, so soft, and so damned sweet. I wanted to crawl inside you and never come out.”

Thanks again for stopping by. Don't forget to go to the SSS website and read all the other fabulous snippets!

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! A great big thanks to everyone who stopped by last week to comment! Another snippet with Alex and Angela.

“I just wanted one night, Alex,” she said, continuing before he had time to think of an intelligent response, “one night with the only man in a long time who seemed to see me beneath Candy and still thought I was beautiful. I’m sorry I lied to you.”

The dejection in her tone went straight to his heart, cut him like a knife. More than anything, he wished he had the right words to somehow make this better. He was a lawyer for crying out loud, made his living persuading people. He was damn good at it, too, had an excellent record, but right then, words failed him.

Don't forget to stop by the Six Sunday website and read all the other fabulous snippets!

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-01-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! A great big thanks to everyone who stopped by last week to comment! Another snippet from A Second Chance at Forever. We're in the same the same scene, but a little further along. New chapter and we get to see things from Alex's point of view.

Whatever fury he’d gone into the bathroom with drained from him, a wave of regret taking its place. Swearing under his breath, Alex sank onto the edge of the bed.

“You’re my best friend’s kid sister, Ang. I’ve known you since you were eight.” He ducked his head, dragged his hands through his hair with all the frustration winding through him. “Christ, if your brother finds out, he’ll have my hide.”

If you'd like to participate in SSS or just want to read more fabulous snippets, go here. Thanks for stopping by!

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! A great big thanks to everyone who stopped by last week to comment! Another snippet from Alex and Angela. This is the point in the story where Alex realizes exactly who Angela is.

“Would you have invited me here tonight if you’d known?” she asked again, every inch of her heavy as the weight of reality descended on her.

He didn’t say anything at first, merely glared across the bed at her. God they were sitting on the very bed they’d just made love on, both still naked, a fact that seeped into her pores and somehow only made her heart ache all the more.

Then his features softened and he jerked his gaze toward the curtained windows. Moonlight streamed in through a crack in the thick curtains, creating a bright streak across the tan carpeting. She could feel the wall that erected between them, watched it go up in the stiff set of his shoulders.

“I don’t know.”

If you'd like to participate in SSS or just want to read more fabulous snippets, go here. Thanks for stopping by!

Author Spotlight -- Lorraine Nelson

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have Evernight Publishing author Lorraine Nelson with me today, talking about her new release, Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek. Welcome Lorraine!

NOTE: Below her Q&A, Lorraine has been kind enough to provide a scintillating excerpt from her book, but for those readers who might be uncomfortable with some heat levels, I wanted to add a warning here. It's part of a fairly explicit love scene. I'd rate it at the very least a PG 13, maybe an R. Well worth the read, if you don't mind the heat. ;)

A little bit about Lorraine:

Lorraine Nelson lives in rural New Brunswick, on the east coast of Canada. Always a bookworm, she’s read many novels of romance and mystery over the years, finally deciding to put her pen to work at writing one.

“To write romance and romantic suspense is my dream come true, although my mom says I was born with an avid imagination and pencil in hand, crafting stories from an early age. Now my children have grown and have lives of their own, I have time to indulge my passion for writing.”

Lorraine lives alone with an independent yet affectionate tomcat, enjoys spending time with her three sons and five grandchildren, with a sixth due in December. When not at the computer, you can find her spending time with family, gardening, baking and, of course, reading.

She loves to hear from readers. You can keep up with Lorraine’s releases by visiting her Weblog at http://lorrainenelson.wordpress.com/ or email your comments to: lorrainenelson_author@hotmail.com.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Compassionate, Impulsive and a Homebody

In your upcoming book, what was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

I always love the Happily Ever Afters. Writing the ending and tying up all the loose ends can be difficult, but rewarding. I try not to leave readers with any questions except “Who’s next?” in the series.

What kind of hero is your favorite to read? Outside of cowboys, I mean. ;) For example, me, I’m a beta girl all the way. There’s just something about a nice guy.

I love nice guys, too. My heroes are a combination of alpha and beta—strong and protective when they need to be, yet gentle and supportive; not afraid to show their caring side.

Out of all the books you’ve written, are any of them your favorite(s)?

Zakia and the Cowboy has been a favorite of mine, even before I knew what path it would take. There was just that extra something about the characters that spoke to me and kept me writing. The rest of the series seems to follow suit. I feel like I actually know and love them all. The stories almost seem to write themselves. Gotta love that!

Looking at the FAQ on your website, I see you’re a pantser, like me. I know when I write, because characters are such finicky people *wink*, some books are harder to write and some write themselves (don’t wish they’d all do this?). Which was of your books was the easiest to write? Which was the hardest?

Again, Zakia and the Cowboy was a joy to write. The characters led me all the way.

The hardest? I’m not sure. Once I get an idea I’m like a dog with a bone and don’t let up until I have it written. That said, I have quite a few started that I haven’t finished yet. Lol This series seems to be taking precedence. When readers are asking for more, you do your best to give it to them.

Now, I know as writers, we put a lot of ourselves and our worlds into everything we write, comes with the territory I think, but is anything (in any of your books) based on something that happened in real life?

LOL, Joanne! As you said, a lot of ourselves go into our books, but my real life is way too strange to write about. No one would believe it. I have used locations and tourist attractions from the Moncton, NB, area in some of my novels.

Your writing routine—do you write every day? Are you strict about that? Or do you tend to go with the flow? What do you do when you get stuck?

I try to write every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Most days, I check my email, and do the Facebook, Twitter and blog things. Then I write. I’m not too strict about it. Some days you have to go with the flow. Life gets busy and we all have priorities. Family always comes first. I’m one of those writers that have 2 or 3 stories on the go at any given time, so if I get stuck (which, thankfully, doesn’t happen often) I open a different manuscript and work on that for a while.

Joanne, thank you so much for having me here to celebrate the release of Book 3 in my Thunder Creek Ranch series entitled Trouble Brewing in Thunder Creek.

Thanks very much for being with me today, Lorraine!

Where you can find her:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads
The Talent Cave
Email – lorrainenelson_author@hotmail.com

Where you can purchase her books:
Evernight Publishing
All Romance eBooks
Bookstrand
Amazon

Blurb:

Lucas Manning, Sr. is married to Winnie, Roy Grayson's mother. Trouble ensues from the moment authorities arrest her son for stalking and terrorizing Lucas' daughter-in-law. Winnie feels guilty and withdraws from the Manning family. Suddenly a threatening phone call disturbs their lives even more as Winnie becomes a target. Can Lucas convince her of her worthiness and save their marriage? Or will danger and loyalty to her son drive a further wedge between them?

Excerpt:

The warm water sluiced over their hot bodies in a rushing stream as they stood entwined in the tiny stall. Her kisses tasted like chocolate mint from the candy bars they’d snacked on earlier.

She poured a liberal amount of his shower gel into her palm. “Turn around.”

He did as requested, and she dutifully soaped his back. As her hands moved to soap his chest, she rubbed her breasts against him, and he shivered in response to the sensations rioting through his body. When her hands reached to soap his cock, he gasped, taking in a mouthful of water, which he promptly spewed out.

“Lady, you sure are full of surprises,” he said as he turned to face her, rinsing off under the spray before turning the taps off. He grabbed a towel and dried her body, his ministrations causing exquisite little moans to escape her lips. Quickly drying himself, he tossed the towel aside and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Side-by-side, they walked through to the bedroom where he could make love to her in comfort. He loved this woman. He’d shown her every day in every way he could, but the words themselves didn’t come easy, not since his first wife died and took a piece of his heart with her.

As they lay down, he cuddled close and worshipped her body with his hands and mouth, old memories pushed to the farthest recesses of his mind.

Her breasts spilled from his hands as he massaged their silky softness. “So damned soft. I could play with them all night long.”

She clutched his head urging him forward to taste her rosy buds. “Be my guest.”

He laved a tongue over a nipple, teasing before pulling it into his mouth, his hand pinching the other one. Her soft murmur of delight spurred him on. He let go of her breast, with a light bite, trailing kisses down over her abdomen to reach the honeyed prize nested in reddish curls. Her legs spread for him, the most feminine part of her open and waiting for his attention.

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! A great big thanks to everyone who stopped by last week to comment and thanks for the congrats! This week's snippet is from the same book, a little further along.

She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, trying to summon her courage. Visions of him filled her mind. She felt again the touch of his lips as he’d kissed her the night before. Remembered in full, vivid detail the sheer power of the passion in that kiss. Then opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

No turning back now.

If you'd like to participate in SSS or just want to read more fabulous snippets, go here. Thanks for stopping by!

Six Sentence Sunday

2012-01-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I have good news to share. My book, A Second Chance at Forever has been contracted by The Wild Rose Press! No release date or cover yet, but I decided this week's snippet would come from that.

The blurb (it kind of explains what's going on):

Working two jobs to help her mother pay off overgrown medical bills and recently divorced, Angela Lewis’ life has no room for love. Her heart cannot handle being broken again. But when her childhood crush finds her at the nightclub where she works as sexy stripper Candy Cane and expresses an interest, she can’t resist. She only wants one night to live in the fantasy Candy provides.

Alex McKinley is still trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, and one night with Candy is exactly what he needs to propel him into finally moving on. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when he discovers she’s his best friend’s kid sister. He hasn’t seen her in fifteen years, but suddenly little Angie’s all grown up and driving him crazy with desire.

When Angela discovers she’s pregnant, Alex knows he’ll stand by her, but the more time he spends with her, the more he finds himself falling for the woman she’s become. She heals his wounded heart and makes him want to live again. The question is, can Alex convince Angela to take a chance on him?

The card was the same as the last two, his business contact. Flipping it over, she found neatly scrawled on the back, “Golden Chalice. 815.”

The Golden Chalice was one of the hotels on the strip.

He’d given her his room number. She slumped back against the chair and closed her eyes, her heart pounding in her ears. It was a blatant invitation, but one that left the decision up to her.

As always, thanks for stopping by. The comments are always greatly appreciated. Don't forget to stop by the Six Sunday website and read all the other great snippets!

Staking His Claim is on sale!

2011-12-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

For anybody who hasn't read my debut novel, Staking His Claim, and has been thinking about it, it's currently on sale at The Wild Rose Press website. Normally $5.50, now $3.99! You can purchase it at this price here.

Kyle Morgan’s in love with his best friend. Unfortunately, he’s honor bound to keep a secret from her that not only prevents him from confessing his feelings, but also has the power to destroy their relationship.

Cecelia Anton has only ever wanted one thing—to find the answers to her mysterious past. But the search leads her into the arms of her best friend. While the attraction frightens her, she can’t deny the way he makes her feel.

The deep connection they share as friends only heightens the passion, forcing them to reevaluate their relationship. Are they willing to risk their lifelong friendship for the promise of love?

Excerpt:

His hand came up slowly, almost hesitantly, and caressed her cheek. The simple stroke stole the breath from her lungs. He’d never touched her quite like this before, so light and tender. The way a man might touch a woman. Every instinct screamed at her to step away from him.

Except she couldn’t move, for the intensity in his eyes held her captive. Rendered speechless, she could do little more than gape at him. Now she knew what a deer felt like, faced with the bright lights of an oncoming car—bewildered, wanting to dash away to safety, yet mesmerized all the same.

When he cupped her cheek, she found herself closing her eyes and leaning her face into his palm. She told herself she intended the contact only to help ease the tension between them, to regain the connection she’d always felt with him.

But his warm breath brushed her lips like a whisper-soft breeze, and the moment changed to something else entirely. Tingles of awareness swept down her spine as her heart slammed against her ribcage.

She froze, afraid to breathe, waiting on the edge of a precipice that threatened to turn her world upside down. Allowing this to continue would alter everything between them, and she could end up losing him entirely.

She braced her hands against his chest, but hesitated as her attention riveted to the warm body and solid muscle beneath her palms. Had he always been in this good of shape? She had the sudden urge to run her hands over him to find out, but quickly squelched it.

Before she could think to push him away, his mouth finally touched hers. A fleeting, tentative kiss, the mere brush of his lips over hers, but she knew right then she’d lost the battle.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-12-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks to everybody who stopped by last week. The comments are always welcome and appreciated. I had to laugh at some of them. Alex's comment was definitely all said in jest. Those who said the wife in question must be feisty were correct. The heroine, Becca, is a third degree black belt and can take any of her brothers to the mat. You definitely don't control Becca. Alex is her oldest brother, and he knows this.

Decided to continue with this scene. It's one of my favorites. I had to cut a couple of lines in order to keep this snippet at 6 and still have it make sense. But this in response to Alex in last week's six.

Chase nudged Jackson’s good arm with an elbow. “That coming from the man who dances as well as his wife.” He turned his head to the right and raised his voice. “You’re keeping up awful well over there, Alex.”

Alex cleared his throat, but didn’t look away or so much as miss a step. “I’ve been taking private lessons for years.”

Thanks again for stopping by! Don't forget to go the Six Sunday website to read all the other great snippets!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-12-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Same as last week, this snippet picks up where the last one left off.

Alex shot Kyle a playful glare. “I feel your pain little brother, but if you’d just kept your appreciation to yourself until you got home we wouldn’t be up here. But we can all thank Jackson. Becca was the one who suggested the switch.” He leaned around Kyle, eyes still narrowed, but the corners of his mouth twitching. “You really ought to learn to how to control that wife of yours.”

If you'd like to participate or just want to read the other snippets, you can do so at the Six Sunday website. See you next week.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-12-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by for another Six Sentence Sunday! The comments are always appreciated!

Unfortunately, last week, I fell asleep at the wheel. We got another new puppy and I forgot to sign up for SSS. Der. So, this snippet picks up where the last one left off and continues with the theme. To read last week's snippet go here.

He glanced to his right, peering around Kyle to Alex, who led them all with a surprisingly perfect rendition of his wife’s dance.

“Kyle had to open his big mouth and whistle at Ceci.” Chase grumbled from Jackson’s left side, but his eyes lit with amusement.

“Do you have any idea,” Kyle turned his head to wink at Cecelia, seated on Becca’s left, “how many years I’ve had to watch her dance like this and not be able to say anything? You’ll have to forgive me. I lost my head.”

Of course, don't forgot to go read the other fantastic Six Sunday offerings!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-11-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday. As promised, this week's snippet comes from Winning Becca, the not yet published sequel to Staking His Claim.

Oh and for the sake of confusion, Jackson is the hero of this book. For the sake of keeping only six sentences, I had to cut off the first sentence, but we're in Becca's POV.

Out in the yard, all four men stood within a circle of tiki torches, lit and glowing against the night. Mellow Hawaiian music drifted from the speakers, a slow, flowing melody that on any other day would have soothed her soul. Now, she was sure the song would never be the same again.

“How in the world did we end up here?” Jackson, a dried grass skirt tied around his waist, swayed to the beat of the music. His hips moved with a fluid grace that flat out surprised her, and Becca bit her lip to keep from giggling again.

Don't forget to go read all the other fabulous Six Sunday snippets! Thanks for stopping by! See you next week!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-11-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks to everybody who stopped by last week. The wonderful comments are always appreciated. As promised, another snippet from Staking His Claim. This skips down a few paragraphs. I skipped some dialogue between Kyle and his brother's.

They stopped talking again as the tempo of the music picked up. The drums became a pounding beat, reminding him of surf slamming against a rocky shoreline. Cecelia’s hips began to gyrate to a beat so fast it made his head spin.

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and he cocked his head to the side. God almighty. How could he even remember what his name was when she did that?

Don't forget to see all the other fabulous Six Sunday snippets! Next week I'll post a snippet from a similar scene in Becca's story.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-11-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I've just finished the sequel to my book, Staking His Claim. Something that started as a family tradition in Staking His Claim got morphed into something a bit more humorous in the sequel, Winning Becca. So, I thought start today by posting a couple snippets of the tradition from Staking His Claim.

Malia, as usual, had provided the entertainment, in the form of hula dancing. The music flowing from speakers over his head provided a gentle, throbbing beat, reminding him of waves breaking against the shore. All four women and both girls stood side by side within the circle of the tiki torches, wearing knee-length dried grass skirts over their clothing. They followed Malia through the slow, flowing movements, as if dancing to the rhythm of the ocean.

Cecelia moved with a fluid grace, her hips rocking in a smooth, gentle motion that heated his blood beyond the boiling point. Damned if he wasn’t tempted to slip behind her and trap her within his embrace, to feel her sway against him to the sensual rhythm.

I'll post one more snippet from this scene next Sunday. Then I'll post a couple snippets from what this family tradition became in Winning Becca.

If you'd like to read this scene in its entirety or see what happens afterwards, Staking His Claim is available from The Wild Rose Press. Also available in Kindle format on Amazon.

And of course, don't forget to go read all the other fabulous snippets at the Six Sunday website! Lots of great authors!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-10-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks to everybody who stopped by last week and for all the comments. Many of you commented that you would have loved to heard the rest of the sexy phone call between Alex and Angela. Unfortunately, I skipped because I didn't actually write the rest of the phone call. I left the reader at the door. That would have put the book into erotic territory and I wanted to keep it from going down that road.

However...you all inspired me to finish the scene. ;) I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Maybe if the book gets published, I'll offer it as a free bonus scene.

In the meantime, I've decided to take this week's six from the WIP I just finished. It's the sequel to Staking His Claim, and is currently untitled.

This scene is taken from around chapter three. Jackson is attempting to get through Becca's walls and has decided to try a bit of a different tactic.

“Dance with me,” he said, trying to concentrate on the music and not the blood surging between his ears. He hadn’t counted on the feel of her soft body against him.

“We’re in the kitchen.” Little creases formed around her pursed lips he only just managed to resist kissing.

“So I noticed.” He placed his left hand at the small of her back, picked up her other in his right, and quirked a brow. “This is a Viennese Waltz. Do you still remember how or shall I find a more traditional one?”

Thanks again for stopping by. Don't forget to stop by and read the other fantastic SSS snippets!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-10-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks again for all the comments. This week I'm continuing with the same scene from A Second Chance at Forever, but have skipped ahead a bit.

She did not just do that.

What in the world had gotten into her? She didn’t do those sorts of things. Geeky Angela Lewis did not have phone sex. But God help her it had been an experience she wouldn’t soon forget. The energy between them had been intense. They’d fed on each other, the way a gentle breeze stokes a flame, and it had made for an explosive experience that had taken her breath away.

Don't forget to read all the other fabulous SSS snippets! See you next week!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-10-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! As always, I really appreciate everyone who stops by.

Since I got such encouraging responses last week, I decided to continue with the same scene. The title of this book, by the way, is A Second Chance at Forever. The funny part about this particular scene is that I rewrote it three times trying not to allow it to go in this direction, 'cause I really don't write erotic, but every time I did I ended up back here. So, I took the hint. lol

Heat rolled through her body in hot waves to settle between her thighs, making her achy and needy in the span of a single, thundering heartbeat. She drew in a shuddering breath. “Should I be?”

“Do you want to be?”

His question was silent and unspoken, but there all the same. Did she want him the way he wanted her?

Definitely check out the Six Sunday website for more fabulous snippets! Have a fabulous Sunday!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-09-25T03:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I appreciate everyone who stops by.

Today I've decided to post a sexy little snippet from book currently under consideration with The Wild Rose Press. Last I heard the Champagne editor was sending it to a Scarlet editor. Apparently my partial makes her wonder if it's an erotic. I don't think so, but it does have its moments. So I thought I'd post one.

His voice lowered. “Are you alone?”

“Yes.” The words left her mouth low and breathy and way too honest. His provocative tone, the need in his voice, pulled all rational thought from her brain.

She should end this now.

“Are you on the bed?”

If you'd like to participate is Six Sunday or just want to read more snippets like mine, visit the Six Sunday website. Have a fabulous Sunday!

Judging a Book by its Cover

2011-09-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Every time I go to Goodreads, I’m aware that someone has listed my book as “not reading” because my cover is listed as “copy-cat”. This bothers me. My book has been judged based on something I have no control over. And honestly, I loved my cover, but yes, it originally bothered me at first to find out there was another one just like it. I worried that this exact thing would happen--that my book would get judged by the cover...and not the pages within.

Until one of the wonderful authors on the TWRP loops reminded me of something. So, I thought I’d pass the info on and give an insider’s view on the cover picking process.

The truth is, we have no choice in the matter. I filled out an info sheet where I described my characters, what they looked like (which really was just a list of check boxes), what they usually wore, and gave the book’s blurb. The rest is up to the cover artist. I’m told they get their images from stock image websites, which would explain why mine ended up being a copy cat. Luck of the draw on that one, I'm afraid. And no, the way I described my characters isn’t quite what ended up on the page. The hair on both is too dark.

But it’s not always about their physical features. As I mentioned, the cover artists are working from stock images and as someone else described to me, it’s often about creating the feel of the book, rather than getting the characters right. And for me, this particular cover does that. It nails the feel of the book.

So, please, before you you toss aside a book based on its cover, take a peek inside. Judge the author by her writing instead. We have no control over the cover.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-09-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks again to everyone who returns every week. The love is always appreciated! As promised, I'm picking up where I left off last week.

She loved this house, and right then, with the all the windows lit up, it looked warm and cozy and so welcoming it wanted to draw her in. What an ironic twist of fate. Two weeks ago, after waiting six months for Jackson to come after her and beg her to come home, she’d finally forced herself to realize he wasn’t going to. That her marriage had come to an end and it was time she faced it. She’d gone to see a lawyer and started divorce proceedings. Now here she was, back in the one place she’d sworn she wasn’t ever coming back to.

Don't forget to go see the other Six Sunday snippets! See you next week!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-09-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thank you to everyone who stops by every week. The wonderful comments are very appreciated, very encouraging. I've decided this week to take another snippet from my current WIP. It's the sequel to Staking His Claim. I posted the beginning a few weeks ago. You can read it here.

A bit of setup--the hero and heroine are still married, but separated. The house she was living has burned down and for the sake of their daughter, the heroine has agreed that until she can find a new place, she'll stay with him. Actually, being a bit of an alpha, Jackson demanded. ;)

When I was searching for a snippet to post this week, this one jumped out at me. When I was writing this, I'd searched for an actual house to use as inspiration. It ended up being a house they were giving away for some television program. Unfortunately I lost the link years ago, when I first started this story.

As she turned her gaze to the object of her hesitation, a sense of melancholy grabbed at her chest again. The house. She hadn’t been here since the day she left it six months ago. Technically it was his now, but it had long ago been etched into her mind as theirs.

Painted a warm peachy-tan with burgundy trim, it had Southern charm. A sweeping staircase led to a sprawling veranda that ran the length of the house and down the right side. A lighthouse-inspired tower jutted out from the left side, merely a looming shadow against the darkness, and the single light over the front door shined like a beacon.

Thanks again for stopping by! Next week, I think I'll post a continuation from the same scene. Don't forget to go see the other Six Sunday snippets!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-09-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I missed last week. A complete oversight on my part. I looked up and suddenly it was Sunday and I realized not only had I forgotten to sign up, I'd forgotten to schedule my post. Ah well.

This week's snippet picks up where the last one left off.

Her quiet, breathy moan echoed through his thoughts.

Colt let out a pent-up breath and forced his fists to unfurl, wishing he could do the same for the knot in his gut. Six years spent trying to rid himself of the torturous memories, trying to forget her, and three little words from that sweet, familiar voice brought it all to the surface to torture him all over again.

Taking a deep breath, he drew from years of combat training and shoved everything back down where it was supposed to be. Positive he had himself under control, he forced a poker face and turned, meeting a pair of familiar green eyes. A soft smile played across her mouth that didn’t match the nervous edge in her gaze.

Thanks for stopping by! And don't forget to go see the other fabulous snippets at the Six Sunday website.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-08-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks again for stopping by. I always appreciate all the comments. Seems such a bland thing to say, but I do meant it. :)

I couldn't decide what to post this week. So I thought I'd to go with another beginning. This one is from another WIP I'm working on the moment.

“Welcome home, Soldier.”

Standing beside the empty baggage carrousel at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Colten Taylor bit back a groan. The soft feminine voice behind him wound its way through his body and settled warm and familiar in the pit of his stomach. He clenched his fists as images and sensations bombarded his mind faster than he could stop them.

Warm, silky skin sliding against his. The feel of her nails biting into his flesh as her body began to tremble beneath him.

Don't forgot to go read the other wonderful snippets at the Six Sunday website!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-08-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I want to say thank you again to everybody who stops by. The encouragement is very appreciated.

This week I've revisited a novel I'd put down a while back, which is the sequel to Staking His Claim. This is Kyle's sister Becca's story. I'm finding it's not as horrible as I assumed it was when I'd put it down. Fingers crossed the rest of it goes as well. This is the first six lines of the opening scene.

A cold flash of fear shot through Jackson Kade, tying his stomach into knots, as he stood peering over the roof of his car. His fisted hands resting on the cool metal, he searched the barely controlled chaos before him.

To the left, two fire trucks took up the entire street, walled in on both ends by police squad cars parked nose to nose. Their lights glowed against the darkness of the night, flashing red and blue over the people, houses, and cars. Beyond that, firemen swarmed the area, their muffled shouts mingling with the crackles and pops of the blaze that engulfed a house at the end of the block.

Despite the chaos and the choking haze that coated the air, he knew the burning house was Becca’s.

Don't forget to go see the other wonderful snippets as well at the Six Sunday Website! Thanks for stopping by!

Characters in control

2011-07-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Reading Vonnie Davis’ post today about being woken in the middle of the night by characters inspired some thoughts. I think this may be more of a response to her article, but I feel the need to share. I believe at one point, Vonnie asked the question, “Who’s the writer here?” I had to laugh when I read that. I’m forever intrigued by other writers’ “processes” and this is a question I ask myself all the time when I’m writing. The experience she describes is one I have often, so it amazes me to see that someone else does that. It was a “ha! So I’m not alone!” kind of moment.

As the writer of my books, I like to pretend I’m in control. I write these books. My characters do what I tell them to.

A bit of an aside here—Dillon, from The Playboy’s Baby, just laughed at me. He’s standing on the other of the kitchen, leaning his tall frame against the wall, arms folded across his chest. He grins and winks at me and says, “You keep telling yourself that.”

And that is the sad, gleeful truth of it. I always like to start each book with a plan, some semblance of an idea of where I’m going. But it never fails. There always comes a point where I realize I’m no longer in control anymore. Where the characters take over completely. I was just re-reading TPB this morning. I’d just gotten to the first love scene when I had to stop and laugh. I remember my surprise when the heroine, Emma, revealed she was a virgin…right in the middle of the scene. Hadn’t bothered to tell me this beforehand. sigh

I wasn’t the only one surprised. Poor Dillon hadn’t expected it either. ;)

Now, this happens in every single book. In my current WIP, I was stuck for the longest time. These characters were being very stingy with their story. I must have rewritten the beginning four different ways. One afternoon my hero, Colt, finally took pity on me and whispered in my ear, “take the love scene out of chapter three. And put chapter two back the way it was.” Low and behold, the whole story opened up on me. And I realized, yet again, that I am no longer in control. And it's only chapter three!

But you know what? I don’t think I’d have it any other way. I am simply the vessel, at their beck and call, happily jotting down the stories they tell me. Here's hoping they all eventually find a home, so I can share them all with you.

Writer's Block

2011-07-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have trouble keeping up this blog. I'm not much of a talker, so finding topics is very difficult for me. But I heard that you should let your readers into your world. What's going on with you. That's what partly inspired this post. What's going on with me? I currently have writer's block. Aka I'm not writing. And it's making me nuts.

Every writer I know hates writer's block and almost every writer has suffered from it at one point. It's that point when the muse simply refuses to play nice. Maybe she’s tired and wants a vacation. Some muses like to be wined and dined. If you don’t feed them chocolate and wine (mine prefers a nice rose. *wink*), they tend to go on strike, don’t you know. How dare we treat them this way?

However you want to describe it, it’s that moment when you sit down at the computer (or with the pen and paper, if you do it old school) and nothing comes. Or, in my case, when the ideas seem great until I start to put them on paper. When everything I attempt to write goes absolutely nowhere and I find myself with a bazillion little snippets of scenes and no plot, and I’d rather go play the games on my iPad because they’re more interesting.

It’s gone on for months now and it’s making me crazy. For me, I’m think some of it may be stress. Life has erupted on me as of late. I’ll spare you the long winded whine (because if I tell you, that's exactly what it would be--me, complaining. lol). The real point is, I’m not writing, and I HATE it. I have three chapters and 20 pages of scene snippets for a story that ought to be emotional and gripping, but in actuality is lacking...well, something and is going completely nowhere.

I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried free writing, you know, writing whatever comes to me. I’ve tried brainstorming with critique partners. I’ve tried allowing myself to write crap (you know, of the “Jane sees Bob. Jane likes bob. Bob sees Jane” variety that make you cringe when you re-read it). I’ve tried writing other stories and have done exactly the same things with them. So as of right now, I have a high school reunion story started, the first chapter of a ghost story I have no idea what to do with, and as of this morning, the first scene in a paranormal involving a woman who can see and speak with angels and is sent to save a man’s life.

Nothing is working. None of these stories are grabbing me and I would much rather go do laundry. I would love to say I have all these wonderful suggestions about what to do when you’re in this place, but I’m afraid I don’t. I suppose I have nothing to do but give in, go find a book that interests me (Vonnie Davis' "Storm's Interlude" has caught my eye recently) and dive in.

So I thought I’d put it out there and ask. What do you when the writing is going nowhere?

Celebrating Our 15th Anniversary

2011-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today my husband, Chris and I are celebrating our fifteenth anniversary, and I thought I’d commemorate the day by sharing our story. I can hardly believe it’s been that long. You always joke and say, “Geez, where does the time go?” but it really does by when you aren’t looking, doesn’t it? I have a sixteen year old son now who just got his driver’s license. I swear he was this big just yesterday.

Chris and I met in college. Purdue University, in Lafayette, Indiana. I was a Psychology major, my husband majored in Computer Aided Design. The story is a little corny, but it is what is. I placed an add in the local newspaper, in the personals column. That was long before the internet and all those match-making sites, don’t you know. ‘Cause I’m just that old (so my sixteen year old likes to remind me. lol). I was bored with my romantic lot in life, had just wizened up and dumped a loser of a boyfriend, and thought it might be fun. First time I spoke to him on the phone, I couldn’t understand a word he said. I grew up on the west coast, he grew up in Indiana, and had the thickest Midwestern accent I’d ever heard. I kept having to ask him to repeat everything. I’m surprised he ever called me back. Lol

First time I actually met him in person he surprised me at work. I worked in a gas station as a cashier. He worked delivering pizzas, and came up to my station to get gas and to check me out. We were together every day after that. He was and still is my best friend.

Ah, but Chris and I did things a bit backwards. We had the baby first, and married a year later, about two weeks after our son’s first birthday. We were married in the county courthouse, in jeans and T-shirts. I was nervous and he looked scared to death. Lol And no, I didn’t miss the traditional wedding. It doesn’t bother me that I didn’t have some fancy wedding gown or a great big white wedding cake. I’m not much of a dress wearer anyway and my behind doesn't really need the cake. I guess you could say we just kind of eloped. He looked at me one day and said, “Let’s get married" and I said, “Okay.” And here we are, fifteen years later.

He’s kind of quirky, my husband. He’s not a romantic man, but I like to call him my very own hero, because he’d do anything for me. I don’t get flowers on birthdays or our anniversary. In fact, all that lovely courtship stuff stopped somewhere around the time the baby came. If you ask my husband, he says flowers just die. Waste of money. Instead, he gives me plants, so I can plant them in the garden in the front of our house. So I can have flowers every day, not just for a week at a time. He’s not a reader, jokingly calls what I write “smut”, but supports my writing. He cheers me on, and bought me my first laptop so I could have something all for me to be able to write on. He makes me laugh, even when I’m ticked at him. He even cooks and helps around the house without having to be asked.

Like any marriage, ours isn’t perfect. There are times when I want to kill him, and times when I’m positive he wants to kill me (and that I probably deserve it wink). But for the most part, I can honestly say we’re happily married. I feel blessed to have him.

Happy Anniversary, babe. Here’s to fifteen more. <3

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-07-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another SSS! I want to thank everybody who comes back every week. Very much appreciated! I try to get around to as many as I can, but oh my goodness the list is getting so huge! So many snippets, so few hours in the day. Sigh.

This week's snippet comes from my published novel, Staking His Claim.

Thanks again for stopping by! If you'd like to participate or just read other snippets, you can do so here.

To purchase a copy of Staking His Claim, or to see the blurb and read another, longer excerpt, you can do so here.

Another new puppy

2011-07-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, I’ve put this one off, but I suppose it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. I’ve found another love, and I’ve fallen hard.

Hehe. We’ve got another puppy. Most of the time we tend to call her Puppy Power. Remember Scrappy Doo, from the Scooby Doo cartoons? Well, she reminds me of him, and my husband took a twist on that, because at night, around dinner time, she gets her nightly burst of “puppy power” and goes tearing around the back yard. Lol

So, you’re wondering about the other puppy. I’m sad to say we had to take her back. She had an attitude we couldn’t handle. She would get far too aggressive and every attempt at correction only resulted in her coming back at you stronger and biting harder. It would very quickly escalate to a battle of wills and the shelter had been correct when they said she could “hold her own”, because she would not quit. Even a cry of pain would garner a harder bite. After three days, we were afraid to play with her and were all covered in bite marks (she drew blood a lot). I’m positive with the right, experienced family, that dog would do exceptionally well. She was extremely intelligent. But we weren’t that family.

Well, a few days later, I was once again perusing the dogs on Petfinder when I came across another shelter here in my city (there aren’t many). And I ran across this face:

Beside the face was the listing. There was a litter of German Shepherd/Lab mix puppies and the add said to call or email them to fill out an application and have one reserved. So, I showed my husband the face and jokingly said, “look honey, isn’t she cute?” and to my complete surprise he said, “Go ahead, reserve one.” I’m telling you, there was something about that face.

Well, the following Saturday, my eleven year old, Adam, and I go down to the local Petsmart, where the shelter was bringing the dogs. There were nine puppies in all, three girls and six boys. We were seventh in line, which meant there was supposed to be six people ahead of us, who all got first choice before we could get ours.

As an aside, I was okay with that. I'm a firm believer in Fate and something in my gut kept telling me it didn't matter when we got there--our dog was in those puppies and even if we were last, we would end up with the one that was right for us.

Well, three people didn’t show up, so by the time we’d gotten there, nobody had chosen any of the girls. Two of them were sleeping, and one was sticking her nose through the bars trying to get at the people (to lick em to death, of course). I had no idea which puppy was the one from the picture, and wasn’t sure it mattered. So we set about picking the one we wanted.

I was drawn to one in particular. She had a dark nose and a black stripe down her back, reminiscent of the Shepherd in her, that I really liked the look of. She was sleeping the entire time we were there. In fact, when our turn came and we decided to look at her, the man had to practically climb into the cage to get her out she was so relaxed.

And that’s when I fell in love. This little girl crawled up in my arms, licked my face, then laid her head on my shoulder. I just knew. It's so cliche, but it really was “that” moment. Those of you with dogs will likely understand what I mean. It’s that moment you fall head over heels in love and that “I have to have this dog” overwhelms you. I knew right then she was coming home with me. I'd found my dog.

It’s been that way ever since. She is such a cuddler. She wants to be wherever you’re at, which means that yes, she sleeps in the bed with us. We weren’t sure about crate training, so the first two nights we kept her in the kitchen (and were up every two hours). The third night, we were exhausted. Hubby goes to the kitchen to quiet her down and comes back with her. I’m telling you, some day, this dog is going to be a seventy or eighty pound lap dog. Lol

We are all in love with her, though. She chews everything in sight and is currently attempting to find out if you really can dig a hole to China in the backyard (something we're hoping the puppy education class we're in can help us with), but she is such a lover and will quite happily sit beside you on the couch and let you rub her belly. Even potty training is going well. She “gets” it and has not had an accident in the house in three days. AND...she sleeps through the night now.

We’re coming to find out she’s very friendly, loves people and dogs alike. In puppy education class yesterday she initiated play with a German Shepherd puppy three times her size. She was fearless! So long as she was doing so from under our stool. Lol

So, we’ve found the newest member of our family, and this one is here to stay. As you can see, she’s making herself right at home.

Oh. I forgot to mention the Twilight Zone moment. As I was filling out the paper work the day we got her, the man from the shelter casually mentions to me that the puppy I picked out (whom they had named "feeper", of all names) was the puppy from the picture on the website. How's that for weird?

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-07-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Thank to those of you who came by and commented last week. The encouragement is always appreciated. Will post a few more snippets from the same scene. I'm cheating again. It's a bit more than six, but the snippet doesn't feel complete without the last paragraph. This one doesn't quite pick up where the other one left off. I skipped ahead a paragraph.

Also, for those who don't read every week, a bit of backstory: Alex and Angela grew up together. He's three years older and her older brother's best friend. According to Alex, Angela ought to be off limits. He knows about her, through her brother, but hasn't actually seen her in twenty years. So when he runs across her in a nightclub where she works as a stripper, he doesn't recognize her. Until last week's snippet, which is here.

Drawing in a deep breath, she forced herself to look up at him. He deserved that much. “When did you figure it out?”

“When you called me A.J.” Despite the irritation in his voice, desire flared in his eyes, sending her stomach fluttering in response.

Heat crept into her cheeks, warming her face. “I’m sorry. It just…slipped out. It’s been very difficult to remember to call you Alex. I still want to call you A.J.”

thanks again for stopping by! I look forward to seeing everybody's snippets! If you'd like read others or would like to join in, visit the SSS website here.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-07-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another Sunday, another Six Sentence Sunday. Thanks to everybody who comes to visit me and thanks for the encouragement. Means a lot. This snippet once again continues from last week. We're in Angela's POV now.

There it was. The moment she’d dreaded.

Angela squeezed her eyes shut, her stomach churning. Alex had asked the one question that had left her caught for days now, caught between that deep, secret yearning for him to know it was her, and the terrifying reality that if he knew, he likely wouldn’t want her at all.

He sat up and pulled away from her, staring down at her with eyes full of disbelief and pained accusation. “Please tell me you’re not that Angela.”

Thanks again for stopping by! If you'd like to read the other fabulous SSS contributions, go here.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-06-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday again! Does anybody else look forward to Sundays the way I do? Thanks to everyone who commented last week. This week's snippet picks up where the last one leaves off. I'm cheating again this week. Shhh. Don't tell. ;) This is actually eight sentences.

The memory rose unbidden in his mind. A fifteen year old girl, standing on the porch of her mother’s house, staring up at him with those eyes. The exact eyes staring back at him now. She had the same button nose, the same full lips… He’d noticed the similarities more than once, but had dismissed them….

Then his mind flashed on the night before, and the name she’d given him as they’d stood beside her car in the parking lot of the dance club they’d gone to.

“My name is Angela,” she’d said.

The way she’d looked at him, as if she’d expected him to have something to say about it.

Oh hell… “That Angela?”

If everyone's interested, I may continue the scene next Sunday. Thanks again for stopping by. To see the other wonderful Six Sentence Sunday entries, go here!

New Family Member

2011-06-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

I spilled the beans on my Facebook page, but thought I'd put it up here as well. A couple of days ago we adopted a puppy from a local shelter. We had plans to get an adult dog (aka already potty trained), then we saw her.

Cute, isn't she? That's very deceptive. ;) She's fourteen weeks old and they told us she's Hound (no idea what kind) and golden lab mix. They called her Marilyn, but we've renamed her Misty. She has the potential to be a very good dog. Very smart (she's already learning sit), very active, and wants to be a part of the family. She follows us everywhere, sleeps where we sleep (pack mentality, I'm guessing), whatever you're doing, she wants to be a part of it. If you're tying your shoes, she wants to help. lol

But she needs a firm hand. We don't know what kind of life she had before us or how long she'd been at the shelter (forgot to ask, but they made it sound like she'd been there a while), so I don't know if this is just part of her personality, or something she learned, quite possibly a little of both, but she has an aggressive streak. She's a very "mouthy" puppy (like a one year old baby always putting things in their mouths), and she has an aggressive streak that makes me a little nervous. Okay, it flat out scared the crap out of me. I've had dogs my whole life and never had one this aggressive. For her, a little play very quickly escalates. She's got the heart of a fighter and she fights to win. Which translate to, the more you try to push her away and end the play, the stronger she comes at you, so that what started out as play quickly becomes something else entirely.

Until yesterday afternoon, the aggression had aggravated to a point where I wasn't sure we'd be able to keep her. We tried everything. The normal tricks just don't work with her. Made us all very sad to think about. Because we wondered if she'd been taught to be this way. If maybe someone had been cruel to her at some point in her short life. And we didn't know if we were the right family for her. If we had what it would take to teach her.

Then my husband came home from work yesterday afternoon. And he'd decided at that point to take a firm hand with her. And we quickly found out that a) she's an extremely intelligent dog and b) there is something about my husband that she responds to. He's the type of person whose very calm (takes a lot to rile him), but doesn't take crap from anybody, and that apparently is exactly what she needs, because I can see the change in her already. She's calmer and more loving.

So, today I have hope. Who knows. Maybe she's just learning that she can trust us. Maybe this was her test and we're passing. At any rate, she's going to be a lot of work, but I see an excellent dog inside of her.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-06-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everybody who stops by every week. I'm very grateful. I've decided to take this weeks snippet from the book I've submitted to Carina, A Second Chance at Forever.

The blurb:

Working two jobs to help her mother pay off overgrown medical bills and recently divorced, Angela Lewis’ life has no room for love. Her heart cannot handle being broken again. But when her childhood crush, Alex McKinley, finds her at the nightclub where she works as sexy stripper Candy Cane and expresses an interest, she can’t resist. She only wants one night to live in the fantasy Candy provides.

Alex McKinley has come to Vegas to forget, and Candy is exactly what he needs—one night with a glorious temptress, no strings attached. Unfortunately he gets more than he bargained for when he discovers she is none other than the girl who grew up next door. Suddenly she’s all grown up and Alex must face his feelings for his best friend’s kid sister.

When Angela discovers she’s pregnant, Alex knows he will stand by her, but the more time he spends with her, the more he finds himself falling for the woman she’s become. She heals his wounded heart and makes him want to live again. The question is, can Alex convince Angela to take a chance on him?

This snippet is taken just after the first love scene, and it's actually seven sentences. Just felt wrong without the last line. Angela cries out the wrong name in the heat of the moment, leading Alex to begin realizing just who she really is.

As he lay on his back a few minutes later, Angela gathered against his side, her head on his shoulder, her soft cry echoed across the recesses of his memory, the name she’d called him standing out in his mind.

His eyes popped open. She hadn’t called him Alex. She’d called him A.J. Nobody had called him that since he’d graduated high school. He’d been going by Alex since college. In fact, only a certain few people had ever called him that.

With any luck, Carina will offer me a contract, and you can read the rest of the book! Thanks for stopping by. If you want to read more snippets, you do so here.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

This week is another snippet from the same scene, but a little further along.

She barely had time to register the chill of his wet clothing against her side before he scooped her off her feet.

At the sudden weightlessness, she let out a surprised squeak, her eyes widening.

“It’s payback time, Miss Kitty.” He shot her a playful grin and headed for the lake, his stride no longer slow and stalking, but long and determined.

“Then I’m taking you with me.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight, met his narrowed gaze with one of her own.

Thanks for stopping by! To see all the other wonderful SSS snippets, go here.

Jezebel's Wish by AJ Nuest

2011-06-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

You know, being a writer, I’ve gotten very picky in what I like to read. Sadly, being a writer has sucked quite a lot of joy of reading for the pleasure of reading. So when a book really gets me, I find myself surprised. Well, that happened recently, and I have to share.

A couple of weeks ago, by sheer chance, I happened to win a copy AJ Nuest’s Jezebel’s Wish, and I’d heard good things about this one, so I happily dug in. I was quite surprised. I’m usually not a fan of the longer, slower books. I usually like ‘em fast and hot, baby. ;) But this one sucked me in from the first page.

I’m taking the lazy way out and just copying AJ’s’ blurb, from her website. ;)

Haunted by nightmares, tormented by guilt, Jezebel came to Redemption Ranch to escape the past-except now she's stuck in the middle of nowhere with no redemption in sight. When her mother pushes her into riding lessons with local veterinarian Matthias Saunders, Jezebel balks. Sure, the doctor is gorgeous, but he's completely obnoxious and knows how to push every one of her buttons.

Only her deep connection with The Reverend, a gentle stallion who guards her darkest secrets, has her agreeing to spend any more time with Dr. Saunders. Caring for the stallion is the first bright spot in her life in months, and if being around the horse means she has to deal with Matthias Saunders, then so be it. Surely a city girl like her can handle one country vet-even one with disturbing blue eyes. Can't she?

I have to admit that at first Jezzy was rough around the edges. I found she rode a line for me, where I wasn’t fond of some of the things she did and at times I struggled to like her. And I have to say I hated not knowing quite what had happened to her. That drove me nuts, frankly. Lol

But the character voice was incredible. It was very deep POV, so that every tiny detail came from Jezzy’s very unique point of view. Now, I don’t mind telling you that I’m usually not too fond of too many details. I usually skim over them. But because we’re seeing them through Jezzy’s eyes, I got to see the world the way she did. So that I devoured every one of those details. That doesn’t happen often. (Yep, as a writer, you bet your sweet keester I’m taking notes.)

And the more I read, the more Jezzy grew on me, and I began to understand why she was the way she was. And then I began to care about her and feel for her and root for her. I cried with her, laughed with her, screamed with her. In other words, Jezzy was REAL. She wasn’t a cardboard cut-out.

And the hero, Matty. Sigh. I think everybody needs a Matty.

I usually don’t like cowboy stories, but this one made me a fan.

And yes, I cried in the end, and that’s hard to do. Any book that can make me cry gets two thumbs WAY up. Wonderful very real characters, loaded with emotion and kept me reading from start to finish. Loved it.

Although there was one point, near the end, where, as I was reading, my heart stopped, and I said, out loud of course, “Oh tell me she did not just do that. I can’t believe she just did that.” Not sure I can forgive AJ for that one. And no, I'm not telling, but you'll know it when you read it. ;)

This book is definitely a must read if you like emotional stories (which I do). And as AJ warned me when she sent me my copy—bring tissues. You’ll need ‘em.

You can get your own copy here.

Sunday Snippet

2011-06-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

I usually post a snippet on Sundays, for Six Sentence Sunday, but apparently SSS is moving house and won't be hosting the Six Sunday this week. So I thought I'd post a snippet anyway. It continues from where last Sunday's snippet left off. Haven't decided yet if I'll continue this scene when SSS picks up again next week. Until then, enjoy. :)

Surprise lit in his eyes right before he toppled, rear-end first, into the lake. The splash sounded through the quiet of the night, water spraying her clothes.
She gripped the waistband of her skirt, ready to strip it off and jump in after him. She had no idea what made her do it, had never been so spontaneous before. Hell, it was childish, and Nick would’ve been furious.

But as Logan’s head disappeared beneath the black water, her mind took the thought a step further and her smile fell. Her heart pounded a panicky rhythm in her chest. Suppose he couldn’t swim? Would he be angry when he finally surfaced?

But he popped up moments later, spitting and sputtering.

And laughing.

“You little minx.”

Relief flooded her—apparently he could swim.

Then a knot of guilt sank in her gut. “I’m sorry. That was really childish. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You’re right. You should not have done that. I’m a man of vengeance, Cat. If I were you…” He gripped the edge of the dock and vigorously shook his head as he hoisted himself out of the water. The bottom half of him still hanging in the water, he pinned her with playful, narrowed eyes. “I’d start running now.”

She knew she ought to heed his warning, but she couldn’t move. The sight of him caught her. His wet T-shirt now clung to his skin, showing off every solid muscle, every peak and valley, right down to his narrow waist and flat stomach.

“Because when I get out of this water,” he continued, lifting a knee onto the edge of the dock. “You’re going to get it.”

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-05-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks for coming back week after week! This week I’ve decided to take a snippet from a WIP I’m currently in the process of editing. The working title is Her Knight in Black Leather.

Here’s the blurb:

Cat Edwards only wants one night of freedom from the repressive weight of her mother’s tarnished name. Dragged to a club by her best friend, the shy bookworm quickly gets in over her head, but she finds chivalry isn’t dead after all when a dark, mysterious stranger comes to her rescue.

Logan James has returned to the town he swore he’d never come back to in order to make peace with his past. His first night back, he is captured by a damsel in distress. Cat’s beauty is made all the more alluring when he realizes she has no idea who he is.

But as the town erupts with the news of his return, Logan’s dark past comes back to haunt him…and puts Cat in danger. Compelled to protect her and keep history from repeating itself, Logan offers her his family’s name in order to keep her safe. But when the lie spirals beyond their control, can they stop their hearts from becoming entangled as well?

You can read their first meeting (and consequently their first kiss) on my website. Today’s excerpt comes from chapter three. Hmmm. I’m having a heck of a time trying to set this up so you’ll understand what’s going on.

Cat’s gone for a ride with Logan on his motorcycle to a lake at the edge of their small town. In chapter two, they’ve been talking, sharing, laughing. Things have heated up. At the end of the chapter, Cat bravely asks him why he kissed her. He admits he wants to kiss her again. Cat decides they both need to cool off and takes a walk along the dock. Logan follows, but things only continue to heat up. They’re dancing around each other, and he breaks a tense moment by teasing her, to which she responds.

Something in that look gave her exactly what she needed. He was telling her he wanted her too, but was attempting to set her at ease. It worked. Once again, his actions told her a lot about the kind of man he was.

She met his cheeky grin with one of her own and braved a step forward.

“What I want,” she said, bracing her hands against his chest, “is to go for a swim.”

Then she leaned her body weight into him and shoved.

There’s a bit more to this, but I’m only allowed six sentences. I might continue this one next week, depending on if anyone wants to see more of this scene.

Thanks for stopping by! To see other six sentence Sunday Snippets, go here.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-05-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! I'm continuing with the same scene. This is still Kyle talking. It was part of his dialogue from last week, but giving it to you all just would've been cheating and not much of a tease. ;)

***

“Every time you look at me, touch me. Do you have any idea how hard it was to lie in bed with you the other night? To hold you so close I could feel your heartbeat but not be able to touch you like this?”

His hot mouth skimmed across her jaw line, and he lightly nipped at her earlobe. “I almost lost my mind last night, seeing you dance, watching you watching me, then feeling your hands on me, your hot breath on my neck.”

Scorching heat flooded her, made her knees quiver.

***

Want to participate in Six Sentence Sunday? Go here to read the rules and sign up and to see the other fabulous authors who've posted as well!

Saying goodby to a beloved friend.

2011-05-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a hard day for our house. My husband had to make the very difficult decision to put our dog down. Our beloved Ruby was 13 years old. Maybe 14. We weren't really sure. She was a German Shepherd/Husky mix and she had arthritis really bad in her back hips. She was on the maximum dosage of pain medication, was on meds to help her incontinence. But she'd gotten to the point where she couldn't get up to go the bathroom anymore. She had a tendency to go wherever she was laying. This morning was supposed to be a routine visit to the vet's office. She needed shots. And my husband went in with questions and got answers he wasn't expecting.

Her name was officially Ruby Jewels. We called her "Her Highness", because what Ruby wanted, Ruby usually got. She was spoiled to death because we loved her dearly. We got her roughly ten, maybe eleven years ago from another family who, at the time, was moving into a small apartment and wouldn't be able to give her the big yard she needed. My husband. Bless his heart. He had the toughest role in this. He'll tell you he isn't fond of animals, but he went to look at a dog someone was giving away one day after work and came home that evening with a surprise. She was the most loving animal. She loved everybody. Well, except other dogs. She was all alpha. But she went up to everybody and had to say hello. She also loved to sniff. A Ruby "howdy do", as we called it, was her big nose in your crotch. lol

I know we did the right thing for her, but we're all heartbroken. She will be very missed.

Orchard Chicken Salad my way

2011-05-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Everybody probably has a recipe like this, but I've decided to share mine. This is my version of the chicken salad you find at Arby's and Subway these days. The one at Arby's is delicious but expensive, and I wasn't crazy about Subway's version. So I came up with my own version. Except for the package of chicken breast, all the measurements are approximate. I'm a bit like Rachel Ray--I tend to eyeball it.

*chunked cooked chicken breast (I used a 7 oz package of Tyson Premium Chunk White Chicken)
*Roughly 1/4 cup red grapes, halved lengthwise (I think I actually used maybe ten of them)
*Half an apple, cut up into small chunks (I used a Pacific Rose)
*1/4 - 1/2 cup mayo (I used the lower fat Olive Oil version).
*pepper to taste

I usually like to also put in walnuts, but left them out this time, as my oldest has taken a disliking to nuts lately and I knew he'd want some of this. I also put sliced cucumbers, shredded lettuce and pickles on my bread. Found out the hard way, however, that this doesn't do well on sliced bread. Does better in a pocket, or inside a wrap.

Yum!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-05-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks to those who came by and commented last week! Once again, this week's picks up where the last one left off!

***

He slid his hands down her back, slowly, then cupped her bottom and ground his hips against hers. The hard length of his arousal pressed into her belly, showing her exactly how she affected him.

A soft gasp escaped her as intense, undeniable desire snaked through her.

“I don’t know how to be any more honest than this.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers, whispering against her mouth. “You drive me crazy, Ceci."

***

Participating in Six Sentence Sunday is easy! Pick six sentences, can be from a WIP or a published book, and post 'em on your blog on Sunday morning. Go here to sign up and read the rules.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-05-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Thanks again to everybody who stops by on Sundays. I love Six Sentence Sunday and reading everybody's snippets. Only problem is my TBR pile is starting to tip over. lol Am very much enjoying reading everybody snippets!

Okay, this week's picks up from where last weeks left off, but I'm cheating. In an effort to leave you with a better hook, I'm posting 7 sentences. Kyle's ending statement just wouldn't make much sense without the last sentence.

She shook her head, willed him to understand. “I had to know…”

He remained frozen in front of her, the muscle in his jaw beginning to tic. A fraction of a second later, his hands dropped from her shoulders and seized her waist, tugging her flush against him again. The same eyes that had searched hers in confusion only moments before took on a heated, wild look.

Every ounce of breath left her lungs.

“You want the truth, Ceci?” he asked, his frustrated tone mocking her. “You really want to know how I feel about you, what you do to me?”

If you'd like to participate in Six Sentence Sunday, go here.

See you next week!

Write what you love to read

2011-05-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last week was The Wild Rose Press’ fifth anniversary, and they threw a party on the loops, for readers and writers alike. During the course of the week, questions were asked, for the fun of it, and to keep everybody talking. I had a lot of fun! Well, as an answer to one of the questions, someone brought up something I was told once a long time ago – write what you love to read. And that spurred me to start thinking, and I feel compelled to share what I learned in this exchange last week.

Write what you love to read. What does that mean exactly? I used to wonder. I mean, I know what I like, but does that mean everybody else is going to want to read that type of thing too? Of course not! So I have to admit this brought up many conflicting thoughts and emotions for me, things I’ve been struggling with lately. Every writer writes differently. It’s what makes it so wonderful. But I’m aware that certain genres are popular right now, none of which I write. Paranormal, for example, appears to be very popular these days. A question was asked around the loop, what genre do you love to read, and paranormal was 75% of the answers. People want fantasies. But I don’t write fantasies. At least not those kinds. My idea of a fantasy is a bit different.

So, of course that got the doubt demon in the back of my mind snarling like crazy, whispering in my ear, “nobody’s going to want that.”

We all have one of those, though he’ll manage to convince you that you’re the only one who sucks. The trick is, of course, to send that demon packing! But it’s not always so easy. For a while, I believed him. After all, I’ve got one book out so far, I’m only just starting out in my career, and I don’t write what appears to be popular. I don’t write rich Alpha men. I don’t write about ghosts or vampires or time travel or fallen angels (actually I have personal issues with fallen angel love stories, but that's neither here nor there). What I write seems boring compared to all of that. Can I really keep up? I really do worry that nobody’s going to want to read what I write. Though if I stop thinking about only me, I then realize that chances are, every single writer out there has this same exact fear, and I don’t feel so alone anymore. Which is part of it, isn’t it? Writing is a very solitary career choice. It's only in coming together that we realize how alone we're not.

But somebody on the loop said something else that soothed that fear, that put that demon back in his place. I swore in that moment, as I read those words, that I could hear my guardian angel whispering in my ear, “Told you to stop worrying about that.” I don’t recall this particular writer’s exact words, I can’t even remember who said it, but she said something along the lines of: "you like it. Chances are there are others out there just like you."

Those were magic words for me. It was like a validation that set me free. Which is silly now that I think about it, but, again, if I'm worried about it, so must others also be. I can't be the only one. Hence the need to share this particular lesson.

So I keep up the hope that there are others like me, who like more traditional stories. I want to read about people I might actually be able to meet. I want to read about the couple next door. And I hold out the hope that there are others out there like me who want them too.

So, back to my point. What does it really mean to write what you love to read? Exactly that. Write the book from your heart, from your soul. Open up that vein and pour it out onto the page. Make it something you read over not because you have to edit and polish, but because you love spending time with those characters. Because you read that line on the page and your pride swells and you think, “Yeah. I wrote that.” If it makes you cry when you write it, chances are it’ll make them cry when they read it.

So, if you're like me and the doubt demon is a little close to home sometimes, remind yourself that you're not alone and send him packing!

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-05-01T03:00:00.001-07:00

Hey there! This week's six is another one from Staking His Claim. In this scene, Cecelia suspects Kyle's feelings for her have changed, and she confronts him, but he dodges her questions. So she takes matters into her own hands. ;)

In one swift move, she snaked her hand around the back of his neck, lifted onto her toes, and seized his mouth, effectively silencing him. She kissed him hard, determined to get her answer.

A quiet, almost reluctant groan erupted from deep within his chest, and his large hands seized her shoulders. He wrenched his mouth from hers and set her away from him, holding her at arm’s length. His chest rose and fell at a rapid pace, matching the fierce pounding of her heart.

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

If you'd like to participate in Six Sentence Sunday, go here to sign up.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-04-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks for coming back to see me this week! I decided to post a snippet from a WIP this time. The working title is A Second Chance at Forever. Here's the blurb:

Working two jobs to help her mother pay off overgrown medical bills and recently divorced, Angela Lewis’ life has no room for love. Her heart cannot handle being broken again. But when her childhood crush finds her at the nightclub where she works as sexy stripper Candy Cane and expresses an interest, she can’t resist. She only wants one night to live in the fantasy Candy provides.

Alex McKinley is still trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, and one night with Candy is exactly what he needs to propel him into finally moving on. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when he discovers she’s his best friend’s kid sister. He hasn’t seen her in fifteen years, but suddenly little Angie’s all grown up and driving him crazy with desire.

When Angela discovers she’s pregnant, Alex knows he’ll stand by her, but the more time he spends with her, the more he finds himself falling for the woman she’s become. She heals his wounded heart and makes him want to live again. The question is, can Alex convince Angela to take a chance on him?

This snippet is taken from the first chapter, the initial meet. Alex is in a strip club in Vegas, as part of a bachelor party for a friend, where he's run across the heroine. He's trying to convince her to go out with him. He has no idea at this point who she really is. Funny part about this particular snippet is I didn't plan for either of them to say any of this. These two completely took over my book.

“I promise I don’t bite.” He grinned and winked at her.

That earned him another throaty laugh.

Then she bent over him, hands braced on his thighs, her luscious mouth inches from his own. The heat of her palms singed his skin even through his jeans, her warm breaths puffing against his lips as she stared him dead in the eye. “What if I do?”

Want to participate in Six Sentence Sunday? Here are the rules:

Easy. Pick six (6) sentences from anything you like (it can be from a Work in Progress (WiP), something you recently sold, something you hope to sell or even something already under contract and available for purchase - and don't worry, it's for published AND unpublished writers). Then post them on your blog on Sunday. That's all there is to it!

Go here to sign up and see the rules.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-04-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to everyone who comes to visit me for Six Sunday! Today's excerpt comes from Staking His Claim. The heroine, Cecelia, suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but doesn't know it. Among other symptoms, she has nightmares she doesn't realize are actually memories (blocked memories trying to surface). In this scene, she's searching her deceased Grandmother's bedroom when a necklace she picks up serves as a trigger.

She was holding something, she realized. Closing her fist around the necklace, she felt it, the same way she had in the nightmare—the cool touch of metal, one sharp edge pricking at her tender skin.

The sensation that she’d been there gripped her chest again, and her eyes opened. She turned her gaze to the necklace, stared down at it, the trembles that slowly fanned throughout her body sending the charm skittering across the surface of her palm.

Something hovered at the edge of her consciousness, just out of reach, yet so tangible she could almost see it, feel it.

Like a memory that wanted to break free from the dark silence of her mind.

Want to participate in Six Sentence Sunday? Go here to learn how.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-04-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

This week's six comes from my WIP, The Playboy's Baby, which is currently sitting with Harlequin (and has been for 9 months now).

Here's the blurb:

They share a past—one neither of them can forget.

When an accident leaves her guardian to her six month old niece, Emma Stanton must return to her small hometown of Hastings, Montana to find the one man she’s spent the last eight years trying to forget. Not only must she share the news of her sister’s tragic death, but she must also risk the only family she has left as she tells him he’s the baby’s father. Can she stick to her resolve and resist the playboy’s charms—again?

All wealthy nightclub owner Dillon James wants is to be the father his daughter needs. He’s been used for his name and money one too many times in his life and has no desire to risk his heart to love again. Yet falling for Emma as they struggle to share the duties of raising a baby has Dillon thinking that perhaps it’s time he took a chance on love.

But will Emma agree?

And now for the snippet:

Trying her hardest not to envision Dillon completely naked in his room, she made her way back to the kitchen to clean up the lunch dishes.

The sight that greeted her as she emerged from the hallway stopped her cold. Dillon stood in front of the coffee pot, spooning grounds into the brew basket. Wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his lean hips.

“Morning, Em,” he said, his tone so casual she almost wanted to laugh.

“Um…hi,” was all that would leave her desert dry throat.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-03-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another six from Staking His Claim, available from The Wild Rose Press. This one picks up where the last one left off. This is one of my favorite scenes in this book.

Cecelia gasped. Her hands automatically sought his body, his warmth. His scent, a mixture of soap and a light, spicy aftershave, filled her lungs in a heady rush every time she inhaled. Her senses reeled from the effects he had on her, left her trembling with the need ravaging her body, and she melted into him.

“Like this?” he murmured, brushing his lips over hers, the kiss no longer tentative but teasing.

A shudder raked through her in response.

In honor of Six Sentence Sunday

2011-03-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well, this morning I wanted to participate in Six Sentence Sunday, which you can learn about here.

But I missed the 9am deadline. I'm on pacific time, which would be 6 am my time, which meant I should have set this up last night, so it was ready. But I got caught up in working some major kinks out of my WIP and spaced it. I know, excuses excuses.

So... I decided to post six anyway, for the spirit of it.

From Staking His Claim, available through The Wild Rose Press:

Her chest heaving with her breathlessness, she squared her shoulders and planted her hands on her hips. “Is that what you wanted to know? Are you satisfied now?”

He didn’t say a word, merely stared at her, so many emotions erupting in the depths of his eyes—confusion, indecision, white-hot need. His hands fisted at his sides, the muscle in his jaw jumping.

With a muttered curse, he crossed the threshold, seized her waist, and yanked her against him, all fire and determination that evaporated the instant their bodies touched.

A fire of an entirely new kind flared between them.

Something a little off the beaten path

2011-03-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

I’ve decided to write something a little off the beaten path today. I had an experience last night that reminded me that I have experiences like it all the time. They've become a part of my life. Frankly, I have this blog, and I need to use it, to get myself out there more, but I find it very difficult. I'm just not a talker and I hate talking about myself the most, because honestly, some of the stuff I think about most days would likely get me put into the looney bin. But...in the off chance of sounding completely crazy, I thought I’d share anyway.

You already know that I not only believe in angels, but I talk to them too. Well, I’ve also had a lot of paranormal experiences. So I thought I’d share a few.

For me, it all started when we bought our house. Suddenly I was seeing things out the corner of my eye. I’d be sitting in the living room, and out the corner of my eye I’d see what looked like someone peeking around the corner, watching me. But every time I’d look at it head on, there was nobody there. I saw it so often that I began to wonder, am I seeing things? Losing my marbles? But my oldest later told me he’d seen the exact same thing.

Ever had that eerie sense that you’re being watched, the one that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end? I started feeling that too. I swear the walls of this house have eyes. It’s really strong in my bedroom and the master bathroom. Getting undressed and taking a shower (and yup, intimacy with my husband) gets a little weird for me.

Standing in the master bathroom, looking into the big mirror that covers the wall, I can see the bedroom behind me, along with the bedroom doorway and the hallway beyond. While standing there doing my thing (brushing my teeth, hair, etc) I routinely see what looks like someone walking down the hallway, past the bedroom doorway. It’s like seeing my son come out of his bedroom on his way to the kitchen…except my son isn’t home.

Now, being alone in the house and being eerily aware that I wasn’t alone really freaked me out at first. I will admit to being a HUGE chicken butt. Lol Being the religious (but slightly naïve) soul that I am, I began wearing a couple of cross necklaces. Like somehow wearing them would ward off the ghosts in my house. But…the point in telling you this… the chains of those necklaces used to twist themselves together while I was wearing them. I could feel them moving against my skin, then would look down and watch the chains move. The crucifix used to flip completely over. I even had my son and his friend witness it, ‘cause I thought I was going mad. If I wore those chains laying against my shirt, out where everybody can see them, you know, they'd invariably tuck themselves inside my shirt...so they were laying against my skin.

I’ve been touched numerous times. One that stands out in my mind… I was sitting in the kitchen, where I keep my laptop, when I felt someone take my left hand. I felt skin, fingers, warmth, everything. It was a friendly touch, gave me the sense of comfort, like an offer of support, which was appreciated at the time because it had been a particularly bad day.

More times than I can count, I’ve been laying in bed, trying to fall asleep, or having just woken up, and felt someone lay a hand on the back of my shoulder. Again, I can feel actual fingers, but this one is a warm touch. Like heat radiates outward from the touch to fill my entire body. If I'm cold when I feel the touch, a minute later I'm sweating. The touch also calms me. If I'm scared (nightmares, for example), someone touches me and I'm suddenly (and instantly) calm and drifting back to sleep. I suspect this one to be an angel.

Off and on my oldest and I smell cigarette smoke around the house, like someone's standing there with a lit cigarette. But my husband and I haven’t smoked in years.

My oldest has seen the shadow of a cat on the walls at night. Now, our cat died years ago, but the one he sees has a tail and our cat had a stump (Bentley was born with a deformed tail).

While lying in bed at night, I used feel something hop onto the end of the bed. Then I would feel four little paws walking up my body. It would then lay down on my chest and begin to purr. Yup, a kitty. I could feel the vibrations of the purring and everything. Very surreal.

And every night I go to sleep without my husband (cause he often stays up late, and I can’t do much past ten p.m.), someone crawls into the bed behind me, laying on my husband’s side of the bed. I feel the mattress sink behind me, feel something settle over me, akin to the sensation of a blanket settling over your body. I haven’t figured out what or who this one is yet, but it’s another touch that calms me.

This stuff has been going on for over eight years now. I’ve gotten used to it. It no longer scares me as much as it used to, though I can’t say I’ve ever gotten used to that feeling of being watched. My walls still have eyes and I’m still not completely comfortable with it, but I don’t feel threatened anymore, so I’ve just come to accept it.

You know, I find it funny. Having all these experiences, you’d think I’d write paranormal, but I just can’t seem to do it. Whatever kind of mind it takes to be a paranormal writer, I just don’t apparently have.

If you’ve ever had paranormal experiences, I’d love to hear about them!

My cover is entered into Still Moments Magazine's Spring Cover Contest!

2011-03-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

My book, Staking His Claim, is entered in Still Moments Magazine's Spring Cover contest. If you like my cover as much as I do, I'd sure appreciate your vote! To vote, just leave a comment here.

Or go to their facebook page and "like" my entry, which is here.

Thanks everybody!

Writing a Synopsis

2011-02-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

I spent the last few days working on a synopsis for the WIP I just finished. If you ever want to dream of getting published, you need to learn how to not only write one, but write one well. Of course, I have to admit I don’t look forward to writing them. In fact, I dread it. But I don’t find them very difficult to do anymore. They’re rather easy. Just time consuming and irritating in the fact that you have to forget everything you were taught about the craft of novel writing. So I thought I’d share my journey through writing one. Who knows, maybe someone will actually get something out of it. :)

Some personal tips, some things I've learned over the years that have helped me:

You’re telling the story, not showing. All that lovely, flowery description you worked so hard to achieve? Doesn’t matter when you’re writing the synopsis. I find this one the hardest. I still have a tendency to show too much when I write a synopsis. What you want to focus on are the important plot points in the story.

Which means you have to decide where the “tent poles” of your story are. You’re not going to have a lot of room to get into too much detail. Most publishers want 2-5 pages (usually double spaced). I believe I came across a publisher once that only wanted one page (I forget who). Can you imagine? I shudder to think about it. Harlequin/Silhouette wants 2 pages single spaced, but TWRP and Carina Press allows up to 5 double spaced pages. Either way, you have to learn to be succinct.

Which brings me to my next point: I have trouble finding my “tent poles”. I’m a pantser, a character writer, and I think in terms of what my characters want and how one action leads into another. “Plot point” is a technical term that even eleven years later still makes me scratch my head and ask, “what’s that and how on earth do I find one in my book?” I’m only half kidding. I’m not an intellectual; I’m a feeler, and that’s how I write my stories. So I tend to do my synopsis the hard way—I sit down and “tell” the story, usually ending up with something obnoxious like 10 pages (again, double spaced) and have to whittle it down by half.

So what I do is go through and look at each section, or “plot point”. Nine times out of ten, despite the fact that I’m telling, I’ve still gone into too much detail. What you need to do is look at each section and ask yourself, “what’s the most important thing for the reader to know at each point in the story?” The rest is all detail. In my current WIP, for example, it took me four pages to sum up the first five chapters of the story, in which the hero and heroine meet, go out and decide to spend the night together. 90% of what I had written was all unimportant detail. It took me a while, but I finally pared it down to one page.

I usually start the synopsis with a hooky one liner. It was suggested in an article I read to begin with the story question. Then I start by giving a summary of who the characters are and WHY they are when the story opens. Usually involves giving the hero and heroine’s Goals and motivations.

Then I jump into the “inciting incident” (there’s another one of those technical terms I usually have to stop to think about for a moment), the beginning moment that sets the ball rolling.

From there, I list the important plot points and how each one affects each character. What choices do they make throughout the book and how do their goals and motivations change as each shift in the story happens? You know, how one moment affects the character, changes the way they think and forces them to shift a bit, all working towards the end goal.

Which brings me to another point. When writing a synopsis, don’t forget to include the scope of the romance as it progresses throughout the story. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that just because it’s a romance, the editor knows its there.

In the end, don’t leave the editor hanging, be sure to include the resolution. You can tease with the blurb, but the synopsis isn’t the place for that.

When I set out years ago to write my first synopsis, I happened upon the website of another romance writer that I've found to be invaluable. She's taken the time to list tons of links to articles authors have written on the subject: Charlotte Dillon's Resources for Romance Writers:

and I thought I'd leave you with the synopsis that eventually got me offered a contract:

Kyle Morgan’s in love with a woman he can’t have.

Thoughts of his best friend drive him mad with desire, but he’s honor bound by a promise he made to her grandmother, a secret he must keep, even from her. As long as there are lies between them, he can never tell her how he truly feels.

Cecelia Anton lives with the nagging fear that the nightmares that have plagued her for years are more than just the product of her imagination, but rather a holdover from the part of her childhood she can’t remember. And the void inside her heart demands answers.

The story begins when Cecelia shows up on Kyle’s doorstep announcing that she’s not only pregnant but that the baby’s father has walked out on her as well. For Kyle, the moment has the distinct feel of someone dangling a dream in front of his face then telling him he can’t have it. Cecelia only knows that she needs her best friend, needs that certain something about him that always seems to make her world right again.

What she doesn’t count on is that spending the night with him would turn her world upside down. Suddenly she’s noticing the man, not the friend. The odd feelings have to be pregnancy hormones, she decides, because she will not go down that road with Kyle. None of her previous relationships have ever lasted, and she refuses to risk their friendship.

Despite the attraction, Cecelia asks Kyle to help her search for her past. As a detective for the local police department, he should be the perfect person to help her. There’s only one problem—he refuses, and he won’t tell her why. He only tells her that if she digs too deep, she may uncover something she’ll wish she never knew.

While she doesn’t want to believe it, his cryptic words make her wonder if he’s hiding something from her. Why else would he deny her the one thing she’s longed for her entire life? But when she confronts him, a heated argument ensues, one that begins with an emotional rift opening between them and ends in a reality-altering kiss.

A luau at his oldest brother’s house only makes the situation worse. Neither can forget that kiss. The night is spent almost dancing around each other as they fight the desire that flares between them at even the slightest look or touch. Suddenly things aren’t so simple between them anymore.

That night, Kyle makes a decision. He tells Cecelia he wants to take full responsibility for the baby. Both agree that they don’t want the child to grow up without the benefit of two parents, the way they did. Cecelia is awed that he would make such a sacrifice for her, and she can’t help but agree. But in order to work together this way, they need to forget their attraction exists. A decision that proves harder to keep than they expected.

When Kyle shows up at her house to check on her, all she can concentrate on is how sexy he looks and how badly she wants to kiss him again. Both resolves crack. They come together with the desperation of passions long denied and make love, the bond they share stronger and deeper than ever.

In the aftermath, Cecelia’s sanity returns. No matter how right making love to him may have felt, she can’t allow it to continue. She doesn’t want to risk the friendship they already have. With her grandmother gone and no past, Kyle is all she has left. And she can’t lose him too.

Kyle finds himself at odds. He knows they crossed a line, but how can he ever regret this? Making love to her has only deepened his feelings for her, and now more than ever he longs to claim her baby as his and make them all a family. He refuses to give her up without a fight, but agrees to take it slow, for her sake.

A week later, Kyle shows up for their longstanding Saturday night date, unassuming and acting as if nothing happened. In spending time with him, Cecelia realizes she’s fighting a losing battle. She can’t stop being attracted to him anymore than she can stop breathing. She decides she’s tired of her fear controlling her and refuses to let it keep her from what could be the love of a lifetime.

Unfortunately, the blissful freedom of allowing herself to love her best friend is shattered a mere week later when she overhears a conversation between Kyle and his brother. What she hears crushes not only her heart, but also her trust in him. Kyle had known about her past all along and had chosen to keep it from her.

For Kyle, it’s his worst nightmare come to life. Three years he spent trying to keep the secret from her, living with the guilt of having to lie to her. But one look at the pain and betrayal in her eyes and all his good intentions blows up in his face, all because he underestimated the power of her determination. Now he’s lost the woman he loves and a lifelong friend.

His torture, however, isn’t over. In trying to leave him, she locks herself in his bedroom. When he finally unlocks the door and gets in, he that she’s discovered the file he’s kept hidden away, a file that contains the details of her gruesome past he’s already found it. And he can do nothing but while she reads it.

In that file, Cecelia finds the answers she’s been searching for—in stunning, horrifying detail. The nightmares she’s had all these years weren’t nightmares at all. They were memories. And her parents didn’t give up for adoption, they were taken from her. At five years old, her parents were murdered, and she witnessed the entire thing. More confused than ever, Cecelia flees.

Two agonizing weeks pass, during which Kyle laments his poor choices. He now knows the decision to keep the truth from her wasn’t his to make, despite his promise to her grandmother. Late that night, the phone rings, Cecelia’s shaking voice saying only that she needs him and wants him to come over.

When he arrives, she doesn’t say much, she only throws her arms around his neck and clings to him like a lifeline. The news that her memory is returning stabs at his heart, and he regrets not being able to be there for her when she really needed him. So he holds her and lets her talk, but the subject of their relationship never comes up and she soon falls asleep.

Cecelia wakes the next morning to find herself alone in bed. Kyle has left, slipped away in the night, or so she assumes. What she finds in the kitchen when she goes downstairs makes her heart leap with joy—Kyle, in the middle of making her breakfast in bed.

In that moment, their entire history flashes through her mind, and the realization hits her. In keeping the truth from her, Kyle was only doing what he’d done all their lives—protecting her, in the only way he knew how.

Moments later, they’re in each other’s arms, kissing, apologizing, and confessing their love. She tells him she never wants him to leave her again. He says there’s only one way he can do that—she has to agree to marry him. There’s only one answer she can give him—yes.

True Love--Forty Years from now

2011-02-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

I have to share a moment that touched my heart today. Okay, I’m a people watcher. There is no greater joy for me then sitting somewhere and observing the life around me. Well, I people watch wherever I go, and today I came across the sweetest couple while roaming through Wal-Mart. I’ve seen them there a few times now. There is just something about them that brings a tear to my eye and every time I see them, I have to stop and say a prayer, because they’re so beautiful.

They’re an older couple, late sixties, perhaps early seventies, both with a full head of gray hair. The man is on the thin side. Reminds me of my grandpa (God rest his soul)—somewhere around 5 feet 7, so not very tall as far as men go, and thin as a rail, with sticks for legs. But despite his thinness, he looked strong. She’s in a wheel chair, and she looks thin as well, but frail, with a glazed, vaguely confused look in her eye.

I have to admit my emotional reaction to them the first time I saw them surprised me. It’s not the way they look that gets me. It’s the way he is with her. They move through the store very slowly. He pushes her in her wheel chair and tugs their shopping cart behind him. He stops every few feet or so, to get the things they need, picks something off the shelf and turns to her, and they examine it together. And so it goes, throughout the entire store.

I have no idea who these people are. I have no idea if they’re really even married. Never got a good look at their ring fingers. I’m usually too busy trying not to cry in the middle of Wally World. Lol

No, it’s the emotion in his eyes when he looks at her that says it all. That man loves that woman, and he loves her deeply. He exudes a patience in lugging both her and their cart around the isles that just tells me caring for her is no burden. He does it willingly and gladly.

Every time I see them, I think, “That’s love.” That’s the kind of love I know we as romance writers all strive our buns off to convey. It also makes me think about my own marriage. I've been blessed to be married to my very own hero for 14 years now. He still makes my heart beat faster every time I see him, and he still looks at me like that and I can only hope that when we get to be the age of that couple, he still will.

Had to share. Are you a people watcher? Ever witness something that just touched you? It's times like those that make me remember why I love this genre so much.

And while I'm here, I thought I’d also share a snippet from Staking His Claim. Now, I wanted to keep with the theme of love, but defining the moment when the characters realize they’re in love with each other was hard to find in this book. And their first kiss is the snippet that gets posted with my blurb. So, I found the moment when Cecelia finally admits to herself she’s in love with Kyle. Which happens to occur in the middle of the black moment. Torturing characters is fun, isn’t it? ;)

She swallowed a wry laugh as she watched the front door close behind him. Of course, Chase would side with his brother. Sticking up for each other was what the Morgan clan did best. But go easy on him? As far as she was concerned, Kyle deserved everything she could throw at him.

Outside, the rain that had been going on and off all morning suddenly picked up. The wind howled past the building, fitting the turmoil and fury that slowly coiled in her belly. She stiffened her spine, hiked her chin up, and advanced on her supposed best friend.

“I want the truth.” She rounded the table and marched across the living room, determined not to let the overwhelming emotion in his eyes get to her. “And you’re going to tell me. I want to know everything. I deserve that much.”

As she stopped in front of him, his spicy scent assaulted her senses, and her resolve faltered. For a brief moment, she could only stare at him, into those blue-gray eyes, her pulse quickening. How could she be so angry with him when every ounce of her being cried out for his touch, yearned for him to wrap his arms around her and make everything okay again?

The way he always had. But things weren’t so simple anymore. Suddenly her best friend looked and felt like a stranger. She didn’t know him at all, because the man she’d known her entire life wouldn’t have done this to her. He wouldn’t even have thought it.

Kyle lifted his hand and reached out to her, then dropped it back to his side. With a heavy sigh, he shoved both hands into his pockets.

“How could I look at you,” he said, staring so deep into her eyes she couldn’t help but feel the pull between them, “and tell you something I knew would hurt you? I’d be handing you a dream and then crushing it. I wanted to protect you.”

“Dammit, Kyle. All I’ve ever asked was that you tell me the truth.” She paused and drew in a shuddering breath.

His gaze burned into hers, those eyes pleading with her. When he reached out to her, she shrugged him off and took a step back. She couldn’t bear the thought of his hands on her right now. If he touched her, she might not be able to resist him. She might melt into him, into his warmth.

Pain flashed across the depth of his eyes right before he closed them. He stood that way for several heartbeats, as if trying to gain control over his own emotions.

“I’m sorry, but the decision to keep it from you had nothing to do with my own feelings.” With a shake of his head, he opened his eyes. He reached out again, this time cupping her chin in his palm, his thumb stroking her cheek. “I didn’t want to risk the chance that telling you might bring back those memories. It would put too much stress on you, on the baby. You might not want to hear this right now, but I did it because I love you.”

She froze. Oh God, he’d said it, had spoken the words she’d seen in his eyes these last weeks. Like the tears that filled her eyes, the pain swelled within her, gripping her chest.

“It wasn’t your job to protect me.” She shoved his hand away and turned her back to him. His sweet words and tender touch would not sway her. The fact remained that he’d lied to her, betrayed her.

“You’re wrong there too,” he said softly, his warmth radiating against her back. “It’s always been my job to protect you. Has been since the first day we met. You had this haunted look in your eyes I’ll never forget. Even then, some part of me knew I’d do whatever it took to keep that look from your eyes.”

She stepped away from him, moved to the front window, and folded her arms across her chest. Through the rain-spattered glass, she watched a mother and child, hand-in-hand, dart across the courtyard below toward the building. Despite having been caught in the sudden downpour, their blurred faces smiled. Even through the howling wind and the patter of the rain on the roof, she could hear their squeals of laughter.

Hard to believe barely a half hour ago she’d woken to the same happiness, to the blissfulness of having spent the night in Kyle’s arms, loving him. She’d felt completely carefree and lighter than she remembered being in a long time, and all because she’d finally given herself permission to be with him. What hurt most was the knowledge she hadn’t yet had the courage to tell him—that she’d fallen in love with her best friend.

Staking His Claim is available through The Wild Rose Press.

Cutting back a manuscript

2011-02-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I have almost reached the end of my current WIP. I wrote the black moment yesterday and now have only to write the resolution and I can finally type “The End.” I’m so excited I’m beside myself. I have struggled with this one. I have a file I’ve kept all the things I’ve written for this book that never actually made it in to the book and it’s nearly as long as the book itself. Mostly stuff I “had” to write. You know that feeling, the one that sends you running to your computer to write something down and it flows off the tips of your fingers like it’s being channeled from someone else? Yeah, that feeling. I have pages and pages of that stuff that just didn’t fit into this book. I’ve also written some scenes twice, because my characters refused to tell me which way it was supposed to go. In fact, I have an entire second version of this manuscript that veered off in another direction before I realized that direction didn’t work with my original "vision" for this book and had to rein it in, backtrack and revise mid story.

Some day I want to send this to Silhouette Special Edition. The problem is, that it’s currently at 64K right now, and I still have the resolution to write. So it will likely end up being 66K by the time I’m finished.

Which means that I had to seriously ponder cutting back my baby. I cringed and thought, “Well, maybe I’ll skip HQ with this one and just send it to TWRP,” but no, I can’t do that. I have to try HQ first. It’s that rung I’m not sure I’ll ever reach, but I can’t allow myself to stop trying for. Because if you ask me, if you don't make the attempt, you’ll never know how high you can actually go.

So, I went online looking for tips on how to cut back. I also went to the HQ forums and asked for opinions. Here are some of the tips I found and/or received:

Simplify lengthy prose. Go through your manuscript and look for places where your descriptions are wordy. Find a way to say the same thing with fewer words. I’m famous for this, for taking the long route to say something really simple.

Are you starting the book in the right place? Can you start the story later and fill in those old scenes as backstory?

Do your scenes start and end in the right place? One of the ladies on the HQ forum suggested that sometimes we write in details that aren’t always necessary. She said to look for extraneous details at the beginning and ending of each scenes. Are you starting a scene too early? Ending one too late?

Look for scenes that do only one or two things. Make sure each and every scene accomplishes at least three things: advance the plot, reveal character, and increase the conflict. Are all of your scenes serving more than one purpose? Are there any scenes that do separate tasks that you could combine together to make the scene do double duty? Ellen Hartman told me she had to do revisions on a manuscript and that she had several scenes with the hero but without the heroine that she’d written purely for informational purposes. In the end, she cut out one character and combined a couple of scenes and characters into one scene.

Which got me to thinking about my manuscript. I have several scenes with either the hero or heroine with their confidantes, that didn’t really reveal anything that wasn’t re-stated via internal monologue in a follow-up scene (there’s a word for this I’m forgetting at the moment. Sequel I think?). Cutting those scenes and leaving the information to the internal monologues ended up cutting out those 5000 words I needed to lose. And I’m fairly certain the story doesn’t lose anything because of it.

But that still leaves me questioning. Those scenes I cut are actually better “show”. They add a more “rounded” feel to the manuscript. I actually really liked these scenes and I hated having to cut them. Which again, means I’ll have to be sure to send this ‘gutted’ version through my CP’s, to be sure I’m truly not losing anything.

So, I now have yet another version of this story. Should HQ turn down this one, I still have the original, ungutted version I plan to send to TWRP.

Have you ever had to cut back a manuscript? Do you have any tips you could share?

Wishing Everyone Happy Holidays

2010-12-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

As you can guess, I have no news to report. The Playboy's baby is STILL with Silhouette and has now officially been there for six months. *sigh* The new WIP is coming along nicely, I think. Am now halfway through chapter twelve. Book wise, I've read an SSE I thoroughly enjoyed, entitled Once Upon a Proposal, by Allison Leigh. Very heartwarming story, but also very sensual, which I love, and I've also read Beth Trissel's Red Bird's Song, which was also a very lovely read.

I'm afraid that's it for me. No news is good news, right?

But really... I just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Hope the holidays bring you and your families lots of love.

Gratitude (and the Song of the day)

2010-11-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

It was a thread started by one of my friends on facebook. “From now to Thanksgiving, post something for which you are grateful!” it said.

Yesterday I was grateful for my writing. I took a six year hiatus from writing. Or, as it really felt, I had a really long bout of writer’s block. An aspect of my life needed my attention for a while, and I found my muse refused to speak to me. Couldn’t write to save my life.

My life has since calmed down. Things that needed dealing with got dealt with, and I eventually picked up the pen again (okay, actually it was a keyboard, *wink*). And every day I find I’m very grateful even for the frustrating parts of writing. Like now. When I’ve got ideas falling out onto the page faster than I can type them up, but unfortunately they’re not complete yet. These lovely characters have yet to tell me how to fill in the holes they’re leaving in my plot.

So, what am I thankful for today. Today I’m thankful for a great many things. But I think I have just one. It starts with explaining that I am forever singing songs. I always have one stuck in my head that I picked up from somewhere. Well, yesterday it was Barry Manilow’s “I can’t smile without you.” So I posted some lyrics on my facebook page, cause I was amused with myself and trying to get them stuck in someone else’s head. ;)

Well, it worked. Actually, it snowballed on me. One friend posted, and then another and soon the three of us were having a bit of an impromptu chat, poking fun, singing lyrics. I’m thankful for that impromptu chat. Those ladies and I used to belong to a group together, a group where we all felt a bit like a giant extended family. But the group has since broken apart and life has taken over again, so we don’t chat nearly as often as we used to. Usually just say hi every now and then. But that impromptu chat reminded me of old times. It was like a gift. Brightened my entire morning, like a giant ray of sunshine. So, I’m grateful for it today. Now I can go back to it and look at it and smile all over again.

Oh. I’m still singing Barry Manilow today. So today’s “song of the day” is “Weekend in New England.”

So… are you grateful for anything? Care to share it? Me, I’m always grateful when someone reminds me to be thankful. I tend to focus on the negative too much. You know, those little annoyances that remind you of things you don’t want in your life? We all have them, but I tend to focus too much on them. And I’m trying to teach myself just the opposite—to be positive. And being positive…starts with being thankful. Thankful for even the small things in your life that make you smile. Such as that chat yesterday.

At any rate, I hope you have a wonderful day. 

A Favorite Stone

2010-10-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

Another little tidbit about me--I like stones. Crystals. I have a dozen or so. Ametheyst. Rose quartz. Snowflake obsidian. Moonstone. Tiger's Eye. I have a huge Selenite wand with a bit of green fluorite attached of the end. Far too many to list them all here. I have some I've had for so long I no longer remember their names. I pick them up, hold them in my hands. Sometimes I tuck them into a pocket and carry them around with me during the day. Each one has its own unique subtle "feel" to it, a subtle vibration that's barely noticeable on a conscious level. But I feel different when I hold them. They lend me something I'm not entirely sure is really there or all in my head. But I love to hold them, to stroke them while I'm doing things. Some lift me up. Some give me peace or a sense of calmness.

One of my favorites is yellow calcite. I don't even remember where I bought this stone from I've had it for so long. I haven't held or worn this stone in years. They've all been sitting, collecting dust on my shelf. This one is crystal clear, with rounded square edges, with a light yellow tinge. Here's a picture:

I found it very difficult to capture its clarity. It reminds me of a piece of yellow ice. The stone is said to have metaphysical properties. According to a website I found the stone:

...stimulates the intellect. It can help one organize intellectual thoughts and information.

...boosts one's general energy level. From this, it increases one's personal power and sense of self-worth.

...is also very helpful for psychic abilities and meditation. It assists with channeling, intuitive awareness, shamanic work, and other psychic activities.

....and benefits the stomach, upper intestines, upper back and upper spine.

For me, just looking at it, or even holding it in my hand, it's like what I imagine holding a ray of sunshine would feel like. It fills me with warmth and joy and just makes me smile. This is very much a feel good stone for me, which, I'd imagine, is its entire purpose. Living in The Great Northwest, where it rains and is cloudy and overcast something like 300 days out of the year, this stone is a good pick-me-up.

On a writing note, I've completed the first chapter of my new WIP, and have written bits and pieces of the next two. I'm afraid the inspiration is coming in fits and starts, but I'm having quite a lot of fun just letting myself go with it. I love the premise and the characters. Next up is writing the first love scene. Started it this morning, but I find them difficult. As my CPs will likely tell you, I find it hard to find the proper balance between emotion and, ahem, "action". So, I've saved the writing of until tomorrow morning, where I'm hoping that the muse will knock me square over the head and make it easy on me this time. Wish me luck. LOL

Have a great weekend! May the "muse" be with you! ;)

Update on me

2010-10-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

So I logged in this morning and realized it's been almost a month since I last posted a blog. I'm not much of a talker. I tend to be one of those who talks when she has things to talk ABOUT, but can otherwise be fairly quiet, so the idea of blogging is something I'm working my way in to. Some of my blogger friends simply amaze me with their ability to continually come up with interesting topics. So I thought I would just do something simple--an update.

Well, I had two books out at publishers. The Playboy's Baby was and still is out with Silhouette Special Edition. Been four months now. I take this as a positive sign.

The other book, Not Part of the Deal, unfortunately got a rejection a few weeks ago. Some of my CP's already know this. It was an old book. I'd sent it out to Silhouette years ago and gotten a form rejection for it, and, being too depressed, I shelved it. So I took it out and dusted it off, then sent it out to TWRP. Being 80K, it would have been a full length. A "rose" I believe they call it. Well, it didn't make the cut. She was nice and told me what was wrong with it, so it stung, but i wasn't entirely surprised, being that it had been turned down before. And I see it as a plus that at least I finally got to know what was wrong with it. This one is being permanently put out to pasture. Another one of the books that helped me get to where I am now, part of the learning process.

On the plus side, I've start a new book and have completed the first chapter. I even have a good idea of where I'm going. The premise is, like most of mine, fairly traditional I think. The hero and heroine knew each other as kids and run across each other later in life. My heroine, however, is a bit different. She's a stripper in Las Vegas. I have no idea if this will even work. I've certainly never seen it done, but that doesn't mean it hasn't. But it's different for me, and the idea really intrigues me, so I'm going to write it and see where it takes me. Maybe I'll make something out of it.

Here's a snippet from the first chapter. To set it up a bit, they haven't seen each other in fifteen years, so at this point, he doesn't recognize her yet. She's going under an assumed identity.

She arched a brow, one corner of her mouth quirking up. “Then why should I go out with you?”

He couldn’t help but smile at that one. That was too easy. “Because I’m not like other men.”

She let out a low, throaty laugh. A sound he vowed to hear again. “Like I haven’t heard that before.”

He pulled a twenty from his pocket then and met her gaze, waited until he had her undivided attention. Until that certain something caught and ignited between them again before he slipped the bill into her bikini bottoms. It was an excuse to touch her. To watch her reaction.

He pulled his hand back with deliberate slowness, let his fingertips trail over the skin of her hip. He’d flat out violated the unspoken rules of stripper engagement and they both knew it. But a shiver ran through her he felt clean down to his toes, and a lazy, desirous heat flared non-too-subtly in her eyes.

“Go out with me, Candy,” he said again.

She shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. McKinley, but—”

“Alex.”

She stopped, stared at him for the span of a heartbeat, clearly taken off guard. Then a soft smile curled across her mouth. “Alex.”

God he loved the way she said his name. Spoken low and throaty and half whispered, so that he swore he could feel her breath on his neck as she breathed it in his ear…

He tossed her a playful grin, and lowered his voice. “I’ve seen your nipples, up close and personal. I think we can do away with formalities.”

The got a genuine smile out of her, one that lit up her whole face, and triumph surged in his chest.

“I promise I don’t bite.” He grinned and winked at her.

That earned him another throaty laugh.

Then she bent over him, hands braced on his thighs, her luscious mouth inches from his own. The heat of her palms singed his skin even through his jeans, her warm breaths puffing against his lips as she stared him dead in the eye. “What if I do?”

***

At any rate, it's so far proving to be very spicy, but no, this won't be an erotic or even something like a Blaze. I just don't write that hot. But I AM having fun with it.

Anyway, so that's where my month has gone. What's everyone else working on these days? Have a great week!

Return to Pooh Corner--the Song of the Day

2010-09-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sharing what I tend to think of as “the song of the day.” I get songs, as messages, from the angels. I wake up singing them, or the lyrics pop into my head at random. Usually songs I haven’t heard in a long time or haven’t thought of in a while. And when I look up the lyrics, I find them meaningful to me. They’re usually answers to questions. This song came to me about a week ago, and I’m reminded of it again this morning, though I’m not entirely sure what reminded me of it. It just…popped into my head.

As an aside…if you suddenly find yourself singing a song that’s especially meaningful to you, one where you’re sure the lyrics are being sung right to you personally, it could be a message from your guardian angel.

Here’s the youtube video: Return to Pooh Corner

And the lyrics:

Christopher Robin and I walked along
Under branches lit up by the moon
Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore
As our days disappeared all too soon
But I've wandered much further today than I should
And I can't seem to find my way back to the Wood

So help me if you can
I've got to get back
To the House at Pooh Corner by one
You'd be surprised
There's so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh

Winnie the Pooh doesn't know what to do
Got a honey jar stuck on his nose
He came to me asking help and advice
And from here no one knows where he goes
So I sent him to ask of the Owl if he's there
How to loosen a jar from the nose of a bear

It's hard to explain how a few precious things
Seem to follow throughout all our lives
After all's said and done I was watching my son
Sleeping there with my bear by his side
So I tucked him in, I kissed him and as I was going
I swear that the old bear whispered "Boy welcome home"

Believe me if you can
I've finally come back
To the House at Pooh Corner by one
What do you know
There's so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin
Back to the ways of Christopher Robin
Back to the days of Pooh

I love this song. It’s so simple. It always makes me cry, especially at the end, where he’s watching the bear sleeping with his son. I think just because it touches my heart and pulls me back. It makes me remember being six years old. How simple life was back then. Life was about playing with my dolls and my friends. It makes me remember watching Winnie the Pooh. I loved Pooh and Eeyore and Rabbit and Little Roo. They were friends. This song makes me remember an old record I used to have. Winnie the Pooh and The Blustery Day. Lord I can still hear the wind whipping through my room when I played that old record.

It also makes me remember watching my own kids when they were little, of getting to share in the wonderful simplicity of their childish joy and delight as they discover their world. They’re not so little anymore. My oldest is driving and my youngest is at that age where he’s sure mom doesn’t know anything. But oh they were so cute when they were little. So sweet and innocent, and that’s what this song makes me remember—childhood innocence.

This song transports me back in time. It makes me remember the good stuff, the “gold”, as a friend of mine puts it. So I’ve been playing it over and over, because I like how it makes me feel when I listen to it. It soothes the savage beast within and fills my heart with love, love when it’s pure and simple. The angels tell me all the time, to come at the world from the standpoint of love, from the heart, but I’m human, and I find that difficult sometimes. I forget. But this song brings me back there. Which I think is their message. Their way of reminding me once again to come at the world from the standpoint of a six year old--with innocence and joy and pure, untainted, unconditional love.

Anyway, had to share. Any songs that touch you, deep down? That transport you back in time?

Elusive Characters and Attempts at Plotting!

2010-09-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ah those elusive characters.

An idea for a book came to me in a dream. Or should I say I had an usual dream. I was a woman whose husband had died and I kept getting phone calls from him on my cell phone. It was another of those so-vivid-you-feel-like-you-were-there dreams, that leave you slightly disoriented upon waking. So I posted about it on my Facebook page, and Brenda Whiteside suggested I turn the dream into a book. Thanks for the suggestion, Brenda! So I've been pondering exactly that. Trying to turn this idea into a book.

I’m in between projects at the moment. Slowly editing my last finished novel, putting it through my critique group, while I wait to hear on another book, which is currently sitting with Susan Litman at Silhouette books and has been for over three months now. The two books are connected, brothers. The book with Susan is the first book, the one I’m editing is it’s sequel. So I can’t do anything with the second story until I hear the verdict on the first.

Which just means that I’ve got a lot of time on my hands and I’m itching to start another story. And this dream book has piqued my interest. I’ve written tidbits, attempting to jog my creativity into finding a plot for this book. It’s a ghost story. My first book with paranormal elements. Here’s the latest snippet:

She was losing her mind. Losing her cotton picking marbles. This couldn’t be happening.

Irena stared at the empty left side of the bed. Stared at the indentation on the pillow where his head would never rest again, hadn’t rested for a year now. And yet there it was. An indentation, as if his head had indeed been there.

Surely she was imagining it? Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Ever since the anniversary of his death, she hadn’t been sleeping well. Had been plagued by dreams of him. Every night he came to her, would stand right in front of her and call her name, reach out to her, the images and sensations so real she often woke with a start, checking the bed beside her, half expecting to find him there.

Tonight had been no different. Having awoken from such a dream, she’d been lying on her other side, trying to go back to sleep, when the bed beside her had shifted. It depressed, as it would were someone to climb into it.

And then came the eerie sense that she was no longer alone. The sense that another person had entered the room with her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and unease crawled like goose bumps along her skin. Sensations she’d quickly dismissed. Surely, she’d told herself, her imagination was working overtime?

Until the hand had settled on her hip.

For a split second, when that hand slid over his hip, in her groggy, sleep induced mind, she’d forgotten the here and now. Had been transported, momentarily, back in time. She’d smiled to herself and wiggled backward on the bed, attempting to snuggle back into his warmth. Only to remember, in a split second of stunning vibrant clarity, that his warmth wasn’t there, would never be there again. Because he wasn’t there.

And hadn’t been in over a year.

Her heart had jumped into her throat then and she’d leapt from the bed clear across the room, her mind going a million miles an hour. But she found nobody on the bed.

She’d grabbed the bat she kept beside the bed, tiptoed to the light switch and flipped it on. Checked under the bed, in the corner by the wall that she couldn’t see. Checked the closet and the attached bathroom. Then padded out into the living room to check the front door. Checked all the windows. All the while she held the bat poised, ready to bash someone over the head should they pop out from somewhere.

Except the house was as secure as it had been when she’d gone to bed. No open windows, no unlocked doors.

So here she was, staring at that indent on the pillow. Mark hadn’t slept on that side of the bed in over a year. Nobody had. She kept the pillow there because it made her feel better. Had kept it there in the beginning, when his death had been fresh, because it made her feel closer to him. His scent had been imbedded in it, and if she cuddled it close, she could almost imagine his arms around her.

Now she kept the pillow because it made her feel not quite so alone. Had gotten the cat for the exact same reason.

She regularly washed the pillow case, and, on occasion, the pillow itself. The indent of his head had long since been fluffed out of the downy cushion.

So how could it be that there was one there now?

How was it that if she closed her eyes she could smell him in the room with her? Feel the sense of him standing behind her?

It stops because of course my creativity ran out. The problem is these characters are being elusive. They’re not revealing themselves to me. Dillon’s story (the one at Silhouette) was easy. It jumped out there and said, “here you go!”. Logan’s story (the sequel) I had a bit of help from a CP, who helped me brainstorm a few missing bits and pieces, (thanks, Staci), but most of that story dropped itself into my lap as well. But is this one doing the same?

Nope. So, until they do, I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs and wracking my brain and otherwise driving myself crazy trying to figure this book out. It’s like that word that's caught on the tip of your tongue. You just can’t quite remember what it is? Yeah, like that. *sigh*

So I couldn’t help but ask my fellow writers… how do you plot? Where do your ideas come from? How you do get to know your characters? When your characters are being elusive, what do you do to coax them out of hiding?

Reviewing Beth Trissel's Somewhere My Lass

2010-09-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

Welp, I haven’t blogged in forever. I flat out ran out of things to talk about. I’m one of those people who only talks when she has something to say. So apparently it is with my blog. Lol Actually, to be brutally honest, some of the things I'm want to share are things I'm not certain belong on this blog. Such as some of the messages I tend to receive from the angels. My "weirdness", as I refer to it. I figure nobody really wants to read about that except maybe me, so I tend to put those particular bits on my myspace blog, where I'm positive nobody reads it. lol.

So, I figured maybe for this one, I’ll start blogging about the books I read. Aren't we all looking for a good book to read? Not very original, but when I find one I really like (or don't like), I tend to want to share it. And so it is with the book I've just finished.

Just finished Beth Trissel’s Somewhere My Lass. Seeing her on the TWRP loops is how I first became aware of her writing and I’d visited her website enough to know that every single one of her books caught my attention. The first one I read happened to be Somewhere My Love, which I loved. So when she had a contest recently, giving away free copies of books to those who’d purchased her books before, I admit I jumped very greedily at the chance to read Somewhere My Lass (Thanks, Beth!). Here’s the blurb:

Neil MacKenzie's well ordered life turns to chaos when Mora Campbell shows up claiming he's her fiance from 1602 Scotland. Her avowal that she was chased to the future by clan chieftain, Red MacDonald, is utter nonsense, and Neil must convince her that she is just addled from a blow to her head--or so he believes until the MacDonald himself shows up wanting blood.

Mora knows the Neil of the future is truly her beloved Niall who disappeared from the past. Although her kinsmen believe he's dead, and she is now destined to marry Niall's brother, she's convinced that if she and Neil return to the past, all will be right. The only problem is how to get back to 1602 before it's too late.

The balance of the present and future are in peril if she marries another, and the Neil of the present will cease to exist. An ancient relic and a few good friends in the future help pave the way back to the past, but will Mora and Neil be too late to save a love that began centuries before?

I have to admit the beginning threw me for a loop. Beth quite literally dumps you into the middle of the action and the first chapter confused me a bit. But it very quickly smoothed out and picked up when Mora enters the equation in chapter two, and the story takes you on a ride. It was like reading an adventure and it swept me away, because Beth managed to give just enough details to let you know what was going on, but not enough to give everything away, which kept me reading. (yup, I’m taking notes!) I personally loved how Beth hinted at the ending, enough that I could pretty much see what it was, but even I didn’t quite see all the pieces as they fell together. Which I love. Being a writer, I usually am not surprised by the ending of books and movies, and Beth managed to surprise me.

All in all, I liked this story a lot. It was a very sweet love story that warmed my heart and had me falling in love with the characters. I found they grew on me through the course of the book. Fergus, I have to admit, was a favorite. He was a fabulous secondary.

In the end, this story quite honestly tugged a few tears out of me. It was (spoiler alert) Mother Mary’s appearance that threw me over the edge. I hadn’t anticipated that and it only seemed to add to the wonderfulness of that particular moment and had me almost whooping with joy. Making me cry just means that the author managed to touch me, which quite honestly is a rare thing. It means that without my knowledge, she managed to tug me into this world she’d created and pull at all my emotions.

And that gets two thumbs up from this writer.

So. Now to decide which of Beth’s novels I want to read next. It was Red Bird’s song that caught my attention first on her website, so I might just read that one next, but I can’t imagine I’ll be disappointed in anything she writes.

Communicating with Angels

2010-08-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday everybody!

I’ve decided to let you all in on a little known fact about me. One that might lead some of you to wonder if I’ve completely lost my mind. I’m very nervous about letting this particular cat out of the bag, but figured what the heck. It might make for some interesting discussions. I’m being interviewed by fellow author Sarah Grimm, and she asked me, “What are you passionate about?” Well, there are only a few things I’m really passionate about, writing being one of them. I’m not sure I have the courage to tell her the second one, but I had an experience this morning, one that’s become routine for me, and I figured what the heck. What am I passionate about, besides writing? Angels. I believe in them. Have had many experiences over the last six years or so.

We all have guardian angels. Mine communicate with me. In a wide variety of ways. I receive a lot of messages via images in dreams. These are rare and usually very literal. I’ll usually see hand written words on a piece of paper.

They communicate via a feeling or thought that pops into my head, a voice that rises above my own. These tend to come with a feeling of peace. A peace I wish I could bottle and share, because it’s indescribable. It’s beautiful. There’s really nothing like it. These feelings and thoughts are sort of like your gut instinct voice. That little voice in the back of your mind that says, “hey, maybe I shouldn’t do that”, you know the one that rises so strongly inside of you that you can’t ignore it? That one. That’s what it sounds like.

They communicate via songs as well. Often times I wake up in the morning with a song stuck in my head. I sing it over and over, and have to listen it to over and over, until I finally look up the words and find the message contained within. But it’s always a song that has personal meaning for me.

But the biggest way they communicate with me is via numbers. Ever glance at the clock at exactly the same time, so much so that it’s become almost a habit? It’s not by accident. It’s a message from your angels. Me, I see triple digit numbers. I see them everywhere. On license plates. In phone numbers. Gas prices at gas stations. Just yesterday, while driving to the Vet’s office to get my dog’s meds refilled, I passed by several stations that listed premium at $3.33. I wake up frequently at night at exactly 2:22 and 3:33 am. I can’t tell you how many license plates I’ve seen with the number 444 on it. I was driving to church one Sunday morning when I stopped at a stop light. There were three lanes of traffic--a right lane, a left lane, and a left turn lane. In the right lane in front of me the license plate’s number read 222. In the left lane, beside that car, the plate read 888 and in the left turn lane? 444. Just today while coming back to my car after visiting the grocery store I passed a car with the plate 111, then looked to my right and found another one with 222. It’s not that you’re looking for these numbers. You just… happen to glance at a passing car or happen to wonder what time it is and there it is. I see it so often I just laugh now.

What do the numbers mean. Doreen Virtue has a book on it. I did a search on the internet one day. “The significance of the number 444” and found myself here: http://www.inlightimes.com/archives/2010/05/f2.htm

See, angels will communicate with you in whatever way they can get your attention. I don’t hear them so well. I find that unless Archangel Michael is screaming in my head, I tend to disregard the ones I hear with my mind. Cause I’m never sure if it’s real… or my imagination. Surely I’ve just gone mad and now I’m hearing voices. So they show me things that get my attention. Like the license plate numbers and times on clocks.

Speaking of Archangel Michael. He’s my current favorite. He’s the easiest to hear and experience. I’m not entirely sure why. But this website here will show you how to recognize him when he’s near. http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Angels/2008/12/8-Ways-to-Recognize-Archangel-Michael.aspx

So… there you have it. Now you know something about me I haven’t had the courage to tell most people. Probably think I’m nuts too. Lol

Have you had any experiences you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them. Either way, have a fabulous day!

You write what? Romance!

2010-08-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, another confession. I have a guilty pleasure. No, not chocolate. Chocolate is a vegetable, don't you know. Eat your vegetables. ;) No, I hang out on yahoo answers quite a lot. I enjoy giving my opinion on things and I get to do it anonymously! I'm in between projects at the moment. I have two books out with editors and I've just finished a sequel and have been letting the book stew for a while. So that I can come back to it with fresh eyes. So lately I've been hanging around YA, lovingly giving out my two cents. hehe I've been hanging around the books and authors category, and I've come across quite a lot of comments that nag on the romance genre. I ran across a girl who wanted help developing her book. cause it was a romance and she just didn't (and I'm quoting), "want it to be one of those icky books you see on shelves at grocery stores."

I don't often run across this sort of thing in my life. I've been blessed with very supportive people in my life. Even my husband. He teases me, says I write "smut", but he says it lovingly and without judgment. Maybe it's hormones, but this one comment irked me. It (and all the other comments I've run across lately) begged the question... what on earth is wrong with romance?

Let's see...

According to the RWA website, romance made up 13.5 percent of the consumer market in 2008, and it was estimated to have sold over 1.37 billion dollars that year. BILLON. Above and beyond mystery and fantasy.

I can think of a few huge movies that were romances as well. Pretty Woman to name one. An Officer and a Gentleman for another. I think technically Twilight can even be considered a romance.

I bit my tongue on this particular comment, but I had to post a blog. I love romance. Adore it. I love reading it, I love writing it. I devour romance books. They're sinfully delicious. Where else can you watch two people fall in love and get a happily ever after to boot?

Here's one for the romance genre! I write romance and I'm proud of it!

Contest Winner

2010-08-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone!

Wendy Marcus was the winner of the contest I held yesterday. She won the free copy of Staking His Claim. Being semi new to this whole published business, I wasn't entirely sure how to go about picking a winner. I just knew I wanted to be fair. So I did it the old fashioned way--I wrote each name on a slip of paper, then dumped them all into a hat. Then I held the hat over my husband's head (he was seated at the time) and told him to pick one. And Wendy's name came up.

I wanted to say thanks to everybody who stopped by and commented. I love watching movies. It's like reading a good book-- a really good one helps you get lost for a while. And I had a blast hearing about everybody's favorite. Only problem now is that I have all these movies I suddenly want to watch! lol

Thanks again for stopping by! And congrats to Wendy! Enjoy the book.

~Joanne

Favorite Movies

2010-08-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

You know those movies you could watch over and over and never get tired of them? I have several The Green Mile with Tom Hanks for one. I cry at the end and feel the magic of it every time I watch it. Grease and Grease 2 are guilty favorites of mine as well. I've seen them at least a hundred times, but every time is like watching them for the first time. I'm not even sure what it is about them. Reminds me vaguely of being in high school and yet at the same it pulls me into someone else's world for a while, gets the imagination going.

So... what are YOUR favorites? What ones do you watch over and over again?

EDIT:

I've decided to have a contest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a free .pdf copy of Staking His Claim! The winner will be announced tomorrow.

Syncronicities and the song of the Day

2010-07-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

I've decided to share my insanity. Most mornings I wake up singing a song. Usually that song has a meaning for me in some way. You know how you hear a song and somehow it feels...personal? Like the lyrics are going, "hey you! yes you! Listen up!"? I get that a lot. It's really kind of eerie. I personally think it's angels, whispering in my ear. Goes along with how I see 11:11 sometimes twice a day (by accident, not watching for it), along with 3:33 and 5:55 (which I also see on license plates, phone numbers, billboards...).

Well this morning's song is a Guns and Roses song, Paradise City. Here's the song on youtube: Paradise City

It's the harmony I keep singing, that stands out to me:

Take me down
To the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home

It tugs at a very strange place inside of me. One I'm not sure I'm brave enough to admit here. Ever feel like you've been here before? Like this life isn't your first? Yeah, that place. Like somebody wants my attention. Welp, they got it. Except I'm not quite sure I understand the message.

So, I'm sharing the the love. Now my song is stuck in your head! hehe Have a fabulous day!

~Joanne

Reading, Writing, and... Twilight!

2010-07-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it. My first official blog. I have no idea if I'll be able to keep up the way some of my writer friends do, or even if my blog will turn out interesting or just a diary of my progress as a writer. So you're forewarned. lol

Writing. I have two books out at the moment. The Playboy's Baby has been with Susan Litman at Silhouette Special Edition since somewhere around the 20th of June. It took her exactly a month the last time I sent her a book to get back to me, so I'm hoping that by not having heard from her yet means that maybe, just maybe, she's passed the book on up to the Senior editor. Hey, a girl can cross her fingers, right?

Not Part of the Deal, my marriage of convenience story, is with my editor Stephanie Parent, at The Wild Rose Press.

So, keep your fingers crossed for me!

What am I doing right now... trying to drum up the will to finish Her Knight in Black Leather, which is my current work-in-progress. I find myself dragging my feet to finish that last scene, and I'm not sure why. Just a case of the blahs, and I'm hoping that's not a sign that the book sucks. lol

Okay, Twilight. I don't have any idea how I got into this book. I think it was recommended to me by someone, but I honestly can't remember. Needless to say I picked it up. I have since read all four books and I've just finished re-reading them all...again. Four books over 400 pages each all read within two weeks time. I devoured them. Hehe. My 15 year old tells me I read too much. I picked them up this time mostly because I needed and wanted a break from writing. I personally loved the series. Stephenie Meyer does characterization fairly well and she drew me into this world. I could see it, taste it, touch it, and I liked the characters. Now, there were things I did not like. Each of the main characters had things about them I found rather unsympathetic. Edward was a control freak at times, Bella a little wimpy, she gave in to him for the sake of the story. And at times it was painfully obvious that her characters did whatever Stephenie wanted them to. They didn't seem to do things because it was natural for them to do it, but rather because it was a plot ploy. That annoyed me. I really thought she could have done better with some parts.

All in all, though, a fairly decent series that I enjoyed. And she writes well enough that come Eclipse I actually got very angry with the twist of the story. Was rather depressed for poor Jacob when that book came to a close, enough that I had to take a break for a few days before I could pick up Breaking Dawn. So Stephenie also does emotion very well. I think, though, that Jacob was my favorite character. I'd love to see her do his book. His and Renesme's story. I sympathized the most with him. He felt the most real to me.

It was, for me, the only books I'd wanted to read again since I read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Now THAT book...is truly favorite. Nothing yet has quite made salivate over it the way that one did. Twilight is good enough that I've read it several times now, so I'll give my kudos.

So. What do YOU think? Did you read the series? What did you think? Did you love them, hate them?

Oh, I also wanted to add... what books did YOU love? What are YOUR favorites, the ones you read again and again? I'm looking for more loves! Got any recommendations?