TBT – Moonbeam & Roses

Moonbeam & Roses New Cover

Moonbeam & Roses came out in July 2012! So I’m throwing back four years… This book pulled at my heart strings. It includes romance, drama, and healing of the spirit all in one book. As I wrote this book, I wondered how I would take the traumatic injuries that the heroine had.

Here’s a little excerpt to give you an insight into Moonbeam & Roses:

As Wes came up behind her, she suddenly felt different. Her heart was suddenly fluttering wildly. It had to be the beauty of the night sky and the scent of the honeysuckle vines growing along the fence outside the barn. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it affectionately. “What’s on your mind? You have been unusually quiet tonight.” She turned and smiled up at him. “I guess my mind is on this beautiful night. The stars are so bright.” She leaned her head against his chest, thinking how nice it was to be here with him. She looked up into his dark eyes. He was devastatingly handsome, with his dark hair and rugged face, not to mention the black Stetson. He was definitely a cowboy to the bone.

Wes was also studying her face. She was a beautiful young woman. Her blonde hair was just past her shoulders. The moonlight reflected off it like moonbeams. She had hazel eyes so gentle; a man could drown in their depths. For the first time he was focusing on her like a man for a woman, not just a friend. He looked deep into her eyes. Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers and gently kissed her lips, careful not to linger for fear of losing control. When he lifted his head, she was smiling. “That was nice, but what did I do to deserve that?”

He laughed and hugged her close. “That was for being my friend and listening to my problems. I need to talk to you. Let’s walk down to the house, I need a drink.” He took her hand and they walked to his house. What was up with him? Serious was not one of his common emotions. When they were settled on his couch with waters in hand, he turned to face her.

“I have some news.” He paused to take a drink before he continued. “I received a call last night regarding a job in Montana. It is a great opportunity for me. I will be training horses for a large ranch. They will supply me with a house and stables for my horses.” He watched for any emotion on her part. “Sara, I told them I would take the job. I will leave in two days.”

For those of you that read my current work, my writing style has changed some, but the feelings behind the words are the same. If you haven’t read this one, then check it out. It’s available on most ebook and paperback sites.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t forget about the fun giveaway I’m running…It’s in my posts…

Ghost Lover is 4 today!

It’s a beautiful morning here in Georgia. A little cool, but nice and sunny. Today Ghost Lover, my first published book turns 4! Wow, I can’t believe it’s been four years. Time really does fly when you’re having fun.

If you haven’t read Ghost Lover, let me give you a little bit of info. Ghost Lover is a romantic tale of love and betrayal. Here are the blurb and an excerpt from my favorite of all my books. This one holds my heart, I guess because it was the first.

The dying words of Jess’s mother are for her to find the love of her life. But with an overbearing father, will she have that chance? When he gives her a horse and riding lessons for her 21st birthday, her life changes. Is the cowboy behind the Black Stetson her soul mate? When her father’s partner decides to stake claim on her, who will win the fight? Suspense, tragedy, romance and a stranger in the shadows lead to a dramatic final showdown in Ghost Lover…

Her eyes had gotten accustomed to the darkness. She searched the shadows for any sign of movement. She was holding her breath. What could it be? Suddenly there was slow movement in one corner. She put her hand up to her mouth. Her feet were rooted to the floor. Was she in danger? But she felt perfectly safe.

A shape formed out of the shadows. It was a man in a cowboy hat. She couldn’t see his face only the dark shape. Was this an illusion or ghost? She was drawn to the shadow by some unknown feeling.

“Who are you and why are you here? Do I know you?”

“You know me, but he won’t let you remember me.” The voice was low and haunting.

“Should I be afraid of you?” She suddenly realized that she should be afraid, but she couldn’t move.

“I’d never harm you.” He slowly moved closer but still in the shadows.

“Why’re you here in the shadows? Why don’t you come into the moonlight so that I can see you?” She noticed he lowered his head and then looked back toward her.

“I don’t want you to see me this way. I want you to remember me before you look upon my face.” The sadness in his voice did something inside her heart.

“What’s wrong? Have you been injured in some way?” Her heart went out to him.

“Yes, I was burned in an accident. I want you to remember what we had before you see me.”

“What was our relationship?” Her heart was racing. She thought it would come out of her chest it was beating so hard.

“You’ll remember it. I don’t want to rush your memories. When you remember, you’ll know me.” Why did she want to reach out to this person so much?

“Were we friends?” Could this be the man in her dreams that she couldn’t see his face? Had he been scarred when she knew him before her accident?

“Yes, we’re very close. I know you have me locked in your memory and it’ll come out.” He reached his hand out of the shadows and stroked her face. His touch set off an electrical charge through her veins.

“Are you a ghost?” He laughed softly and the sound set her mind reeling.

“What do you think?” She tried to see him through the shadows, but couldn’t see his face.

“I think you’re the man that has haunted my dreams since I lost my memory.” Her voice was little more than a whisper as she spoke.

“How do you feel about me in your dreams?” He was slowly moving closer.

“I feel confused because I can’t see your face and remember who you are?” She reached her hand up to try to touch his face, but he gently grabbed her hand and put it to his heart. She could feel it beating wildly.

“Can you feel my heart beating? You’re what keeps my heart beating.” His voice was rough with emotion.

He looked up suddenly and pulled her into the shadows. She gasped, not out of fear, but surprise.

“Someone’s coming, but I need you to promise me that you’ll keep Thomas at arm’s length. He’s a danger to you.”

“What kind of danger? He said he’s my husband.” She could hear the footsteps getting closer.

“Just trust me; he’s not your husband.” He put his hands on both sides of her face and kissed her so gently that she almost lost her footing. “Don’t tell him about me. I’ll be here waiting for you tomorrow night at midnight.” He slowly went back into the shadows. She could hardly catch her breath.

This is one of my favorite parts and it leaves you wondering, is he a ghost or not?

Just a little reminder, don’t forget to check out my new website at

www.freshfromthebook.com

As always, great writing and May God Bless You…

Friday Ramblings…

It’s hard to believe that I’m coming up on the 4th Anniversary of publishing my first book, Ghost Lover! Wow, it’s been a wild ride, but one I’m glad I got on.

As for my surprise, here’s a little hint: This surprise is being set up to help fellow authors market their work. It’s going to be a really exciting venture. Being a writer myself, I know the hardships of trying to get your book in front of the reader. But that’s all I can tell you at the moment.

I know, I’m being vague, but the final stages of the process are not ready to be revealed. If things go well, I should be able to make the final reveal next week. But I can tell you this, for those that share the reveal and post it, there will be some free goodies for them.

I hope you have a great Friday. Enjoy the day and know, only a couple of hours til the weekend.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Time Flies…

Good morning! I know I’ve been AWOL for several days. With tax season coming to a head and book deadlines, I’ve been covered up. Sometimes I wonder where my brain is when I make my writing schedule. I should’ve thought about the lack of writing time I have in the last six weeks of tax season, but I didn’t.

Can you believe the first week of April is almost in the books? Time is flying by so quick this year. Lily has already been released and coming up soon on the A Light Upon My Heart release on April 30th. I’m now working on The First Mate’s Lady, the continuation of Safe in the Pirate’s Arms. It seems like just yesterday, I was setting up the release schedules and now I’m deep into them.

So, how is everyone on this beautiful day? For those that were so awesome to share my cover reveal for A Light Upon My Heart, I’ll be announcing the winner in the morning. So be watching and if you haven’t had a chance to share, you have less than 24 hours to get in the hat for the drawing. Thanks again for all the support!

Now back to my busy schedule, already in progress…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Putting it in perspective

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Good Wednesday morning! Today’s the day I find out if I made it to through the 1st phase of the #manuscriptmatch writing contest for Love Inspired Historical from Harlequin. Keeping fingers crossed and saying many prayers!

Do you organize your writing? By that I mean, do you put it into an organizer and set up your writing schedule? As you know from other posts, I’ve began to organize my writing so that I’m more aware of my deadlines and word count needs.

Of course, I have my handy journal calendar that has my deadlines for things like, word count daily requirements, also I have to give my manuscript to my editor, when it needs to be put into Amazon to meet the preorder requirements and when it officially releases. But this past week, I went one step further. I made a file for all of my releases for the next eight months. I now have a place to put research that I print, outlines, and a page with all of my important dates regarding the manuscript. I can even put a copy of any ads I’ve run on that one book.

It may seem like a lot of work, but it actually cuts down on the workload. I have all of the files in this nice, vinyl accordion file that looks nice and keeps all of the paperwork from cluttering my writing space. Try it, you won’t regret it. This is especially helpful when you also have a full-time job. I now have everything at my fingertips. Of course, I have a lot of this in my Scrivener program too, but this way I can do plotting without opening my computer if I don’t want to.

As always, Good writing and May God Bless You…

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/58612482@N07/12551866924″>02.07.2014</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/”>(license)</a>

Happy Endings…

It’s Monday, already! I don’t think I was ready for Monday, were you? Over the weekend, I turned one book into my editor and started a new book, so it was a fairly productive weekend. But this morning, I’m just not feeling it…

Happy Endings… Does every book end with a Happily Ever After? Not all of them, but in the romance genre, they need to end on a happy note. Of course, if it’s a series that continues from one book to the next, then it might not be a happy ending, but the final one should be if it’s a romance. Why is that? Well, let me explain.

Did you know that most editors, well the big publishing house editors, have in their submission guidelines for romance that it has to have a happy ending, if not, they won’t even look at it? Have you ever thought about it? Romance is a special genre, well, in my opinion. When someone picks up a romance novel, they’re wanting that good feeling that a romance can give them. They want to be taken to another world, away from the one they’re in. Romance novels should move you, give you hope, maybe make you cry or laugh, but when it gets to the end, well, the guy should get the girl. That’s why it’s called romance.

Now sometimes, if you’re writing a series and the book ends on a cliffhanger, then the happy ending will come at some time, but the series should end on a happy note. It’s just a reality of writing romance.

Have you ever read a romance that ended badly? I have and it left me feeling horrible, not the usual feeling at the end of a romance. I was stunned, to say the least. I could have expected this at the end of maybe a science fiction, or other genres, but not romance. The guy didn’t get the girl and at the end, they went their separate ways. All I could do was think, ok, there has to be another book coming, but that wasn’t the case. I felt empty inside.

So, does your romance have a happy ending? Does your reader have that satisfied feeling? Think about it, don’t you spend the whole book trying to get these two together, so why would you throw that out the window at the end?

Just a little food for thought on this Monday morning…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Five Oaks Ranch Coming to a Close!

It’s hard to believe it, but my Five Oaks Ranch is coming to a close soon. Maggie is in editing and will be out in a little over a week, then the Christmas edition will be out before Christmas. I’m excited about the Christmas book. It will feature recipes and so much more, but there will be romance as always…

I’ve grown to love all of the Cauthen’s and will miss their lively banter and all the fun they have. But they’ll live on in fiction.

My new series is already in the works, without a name of course, but in the works. The first book in a chapter in and I can’t wait for you to get a glimpse of it. It’s something I’ve been playing with for a while, so start looking for tidbits before Christmas.

Keep a watch out for bundle specials on the Five Oaks Ranch! Some great deals will be coming before Christmas so don’t miss a post. If you haven’t caught a Five Oaks book, then get one soon. The Cauthen’s are a fun, loving family and you’ll love their stories as they unfold in each book.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Release for Luke

release ad

Writing Fun…

It’s finally Friday… hope you have an awesome weekend planned. My son is out of school for 10 days so I’m happy to spend time with him.

As for writing, do you have fun with it? Me, yes I love to write. It’s a big part of me that get’s to flow from my fingers daily. Some days I struggle when something is on my mind, but I still enjoy it. Writing is a stress reliever, which is great therapy for me.

I’ve heard writers say that writing isn’t fun, it’s just something they have to do. What? I just don’t understand that frame of mind at all. For me, writing is fun and I think it’s what helps me stay sane in this insane world we live in. After a busy day, I can sit down at my laptop and lose myself. Even if it’s just an hour or so, but it helps clear my head.

Don’t forget all the fun of meeting such wonderful people, other writers, bloggers and reviewers. Then you have the great fans that fill your inbox with wonderful words that make you want to write even more. It’s a wonderful life, the life of a writer.

Writing is fun, if you don’t think it’s fun, then maybe you need to get lost in it for a minute, then rethink it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You… Thanksgiving Cowboy

Friday morning editing…

Good morning! Hope all is well. For me, well, all I can say is I’m pleasantly exhausted. This has been a crazy week with VBS, but it ended last night. By the way it was great!

As for my writing I’ve been reading a lot of articles about writing lately. It’s amazing the amount of information out there for authors. Some of it is really good and others not so good. We need to remember that in order to stay up to date and on our game it’s important to make sure our skills stay updated.

It’s a business just like any other. For instance, with my Accounting business I need to take courses yearly to stay on top of my game and to make sure that I am current with all the regulations and laws. Everyone can use a little nudge here and there. One of the articles I read this week was about the use of adverbs. It was an eye opener. I went back over one of my older manuscripts and well let’s just say I wasn’t happy. The article made me think about the words I used and why maybe they weren’t the best choices.

Have you been keeping your craft polished and publishing ready? If we keep our skills up to date then we will make a better manuscript on the first try. I’ve changed my writing style in the last three years due to studying the rules and using the information to make my writing better. It helps make your work stand out.

So, try reading some articles every week. Make your work the best it can be and you’ll see the results in better sales. it will also help with the editing process.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…