First off, I’ve missed being around for the last week. Of course the place we stayed had WIFI, but it was weak and wouldn’t connect so it gave me lots of free time. I had a great time spending some quality time with my hubby and son. We went to the beach for several days and it was glorious. 

I’m a thinker. I love to think out my stories before I start them on paper or my laptop. Well, on the way home, which is over a five hour drive, I had time to think and guess what? Some of you that have been following me for a while probably guessed, but I have a new series coming this Fall. I’ll tell you a little about it later, but suffice it to say I have already had the covers designed and the outlines drawn up. It was a long drive ok!

I have an exciting update on Safe In the Pirate’s Arms. It’s on the home stretch and coming out really soon. I’ll be announcing a release date tomorrow and will have some fun trivia about Pirates. You never know, I might even give away a couple of copies. I’m very pleased with this book as it’s progressed. SInce it’s a step away from my usual Cowboy romances it was fun. By the way, it’s not the last you’ll see of these Pirates 😉

An update on Emma is now available. I’m working on it in depth. If you’ve never written a historical romance, it’s hard keeping things in the right order. I keep having to go back and forth between timelines to make sure I keep the historical part straight. I don’t want the end of the Civil War to come before Sherman marches across Georgia. It would just be weird and so wrong. I know I’d receive some really nasty comments in the reviews. So that’s why Emma is taking a little longer, but I can tell you that it will be coming soon on the heals of my Pirate romance. 

Ok, back to my new series that’s coming in the Fall. It’s called “Five Oaks Ranch” and each book is about one of the 4 sons and 1 daughter. There will of course be five books. The first book is “Ridge” and it’s a interesting story that will have you wondering what will happen next. So stay tuned for more updates on that.

It’s good to be back in touch with all my wonderful cyber friends and my fans that sent me the sweetest messages while I was away. Love all of you…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

If you haven’t realized it yet, it’s Friday. This has been the longest week. Since I’m closing my office for a week and taking a much needed vacation, time has slowed to a crawl. I plan to write, write and write some more. I just hope my plans come to life. 

Do you have plans for the weekend? You should. Even if it’s just heading to the park and having a picnic. Don’t let life fly by you and then you get to the point to where you say “I should have…”. I’ve done that myself for so long. I’d put off trips and just plain out put off doing things that were different. I guess you could say I’m like a hermit. Especially since I’ve been writing and publishing my books, I’ve been attached to my laptop. 

I just hope that we have WIFI so that I can stay up to date with my social media. But if not,,, I’ll just have the nervous jitters for several days. No, not really, I’ll be alright. I might actually get some writing in if I don’t have distractions. I plan on sitting on the beach and writing. What better place to write a Pirate romance than to be sitting facing the ocean, smelling the sea air and hearing the seagulls. Yeah, I’m siked! 

It’s so funny, I bought this really cool laptop bag that doubles as a beach bag. My son just groaned and tried to put the bag back on the hook at the store. I promptly told him that both him and his dad will be fishing a lot, so mama will be writing or reading. I promised that I would turn it off for a lot of family time, so that made him happy. He’s fifteen, so I know in three years he’ll go to college 😦 I have to put in a lot of mama and Hunter time.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll post some picks next week of my vacation. 

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

I know I say this all the time, but it’s true. I have the best cover designer. I’ve been working on a new and exciting sub genre in romance, the Pirate Romance. It’s been such a eye opening experience and now we have a visual to go with the snippets I’ve posted. SO here goes:

Just looking at it makes me excited. The characters in this book are both challenged in many ways and the sparks that fly will make you just giggle. Well they made me giggle. 

The book will be coming out really soon. As I will be on vacation starting Saturday, I plan on finishing the last of this one as I sit on the beach watching the waves. What more inspiration for a Pirate Romance do you need then to have your toes in the sand and the waves coming in.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

It’s out. The Summer I Fell by my friend and fellow author, Sonya Loveday. Go on over to Amazon and get your copy today.

Here’s a little tidbit to give you a boost:

Riley Clifton can’t remember a time when she wasn’t a part of the Six, a group of rowdy boys who would do just about anything for her. Growing up alongside of six guys is never easy. Especially in high school. Falling in love with one of the Six? Even harder when Ace has a hold of her heart, and he doesn’t even know it.
Jake (Ace) Aceton has loved Riley for a long time, but has kept the secret oath of the Six. Riley was off limits. At least until after graduation. When he overhears Riley admitting to her best friend, Paige how she feels about him, Ace doesn’t let his chance slip by. Riley, in his mind, has always been his.
When her college plan falls through, and her future is left to the hands of fate, Riley finds herself scrambling to keep up with all the changes. But that’s not the hardest part. The hardest part is saying good-bye, especially to Ace.

Heartache, hard lessons, and a love deeper than her Alabama roots will threaten to crumble Riley’s world as she waits for Ace’s return.

Will Riley and Ace’s love be strong enough to hold them together when life tries to tear them apart?

So go get it and let her know how you like it with a kind review. Authors need to know how we feel.

As always, good writing and May God Bless!

Does your past ever come back to haunt you? Maybe in a dream or memory that slips in through the cracks in time. We all have moments when we sigh and remember something from the past or maybe it’s someone. It could be a favorite pet, an old, dear friend, a lost loved one or maybe even a former love. But we all have a past no matter how much we try to say we don’t.

I’m often asked if my writing reflects my past. Usually I smile warmly and wink. As a writer I do pull from things that inspire me. Sometimes I do pull from my past but I make it something new in my writing. Writing has a way of making the past come alive or maybe put the past to rest. 

I’ve spoken with many authors that use their writing to put the past to rest. Maybe they have a lover that never left their heart, but left their life. They write about the experiences shared with them and then try to lock it away in the book. Some say it helps and others just shrug and go on with the memories clouding their minds.

I try to put the past in the past where it belongs, but some memories are vivid in my mind and they are pleasant to revisit from time to time. The smell of horses makes me go back in times to my earlier years. As you know from my writing, horses are something that inspire me. When I get the scent, even in a faint wind, I have to smile. For many reasons I smile, but I smile none the less. I just adore horses and they played an important role in parts of my past. For those that knew me in the past they know it’s the truth.

One of my big dreams was to become an author. Well that dream has come true and recently I made it to Amazon’s bestseller list which was an exclamation point on that dream. It was humbling and exciting at the same time. The fans have made it a special time with their letters and emails. They live out my dream with me in every word I write. 

So, which of your dreams have come true? Does your writing reflect them?

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Calling all Romance Authors for the second year of Romancing September Across The World.

We are looking for any Authors of Romance who wish to promote their book in 2 locations across the world in 1 day during the month of September.

Rosie Amber and I are once again joining forces to Romance our way through September.

On each day there will be a first post from Rosie in the UK promoting that day’s Romance Book as a question and answer guest post based on the author’s book, with a photo of the author, a book cover picture with buying and author links.

Next when the sun rises in beautiful Georgia, USA I will publish my post where authors will be giving their answers to her questions….Plus there will be the book bio/description, book cover, author picture and buying/author links.

Double posts, double exposure!

Books will be allocated a date from 1st-30th September. We will take bookings from now until all dates are full, on a first come first served basis, special requests for dates may be available, ask early if you need one. Please don’t ask to change your date once booked, it’s an admin nightmare!

What you need to do;

Contact us immediately via the form below or by e-mail, and we will book a date, tell us the title of your book  (We are unable to use any book that featured in last year’s tour) Only 1 book per author please.

After confirmation of your place we will need the book bio/description, Book cover j-peg, author picture j-peg, all buying and author links.

PLUS; Your answers to Stephanie’s questions.

Questions:

I will compose individual questions for each book which I will e-mail to authors, please reply as soon as possible.

Book the date in your Diary, tell all your fans and help us promote the tour as much as possible.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

I’ve read hundreds, no probably thousands of books in my lifetime. No, I will not say how many years I’ve been reading, let’s just say many years and leave it at that. In those years I’ve read some good and some bad books. Not too long ago I came across a gem. As I read the Prologue I was mesmerized by the writer’s ability to bring about the meaning of the book in the first few pages. It helped the story become more alive as I read chapter to chapter.

In researching writing types I’ve often run up on an article either supporting or not supporting prologues in books. For me, it’s a matter of need, not necessity. I do have one book with a prologue but it’s a necessity. The book takes place in the present, but the prologue sets the stage for the book without over stating what the book is about. Of course I could’ve put this information into the dialogue as I went along, but I tried to give it a sense of purpose. Maybe it was a good idea or maybe it wasn’t.

Do you start your first sentence with a cliff hanger? Some do and it can be alright if it’s written in a way that doesn’t give away the storyline right off. You need to leave some mystery in it so that the reader has a reason to go on. If it’s a murder and you start off with “The butler killed her because he knew that he’d never have her,” well enough said. Why go any further if you know the butler did it and you also know why? Of course there are some diehard readers that would keep going to find out how, but for me it would be a done deal.

When we were young most of our reading started with “Once upon a time…” but as a romance author that would be a little cheesy, but only if mishandled. I actually read a really great romance novel that started with exactly those words and it was handled wonderfully. 

Every starting sentence needs to have something special. To me this is the hardest part of writing, besides the blurb which you all know I hate that part of writing. For some the first sentence is right there in front of them. It comes with the story as it enters their head. I’ve had that happen a couple of times, but only a couple. 

I’ve written the first sentence of one of my current works in progress about five times. Funny how the further I get into the story the less I like the first of the book. Of course this is my first pirate romance so maybe it’s the strain of jumping into another sub category genres. With my cowboys I usually always have the opening line happily cemented in stone by the first couple of chapters, but my pirate has me still looking back even after over 20,000 words. 

So, how’s your first line going? Is it all that you want it to be? If not, read it out loud and see how you like it. I usually look back at other writer’s work to see how they started their works and see how it sounds. Keep it simple, but draw in that reader. 

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Great related article:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-prologues-3/