Release Day for The Winner Takes All…

This is the much awaited 2nd book in the Winner Series. I’m so excited that this one is finally out. I’ve received so many emails and posts from readers wanting to know what happened to Slade and Stacy. Well it’s up and running. The cover went through several changes but the final product is better than we could have imagined. It evolved from one picture to two in this dreamy cover.

Will there be a book 3 in this series? Well, it’s a possibility but it will be down the road some. I have been playing with the possibilities but we’ll have to see if it comes about.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day and hopefully all of you thought about the meaning of the holiday. As for me we spent Sunday and Monday at the lake. It was relaxing, but I only got in about 1000 words all weekend. It’s crazy how you plan to write over a holiday weekend and then life steps in and there it goes. The weekend is over and you’ve missed your word count. Well, I guess that just means extra work every night this week to get the word count back up.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday – Tender Flames

Well, another one of my books has turned two this week. Tender Flames turned two on Monday. Wow, time flies when you’re having a blast. I always knew that writing was fun and rewarding, but the last two years have really proven this as fact.

Tender Flames was a challenge to me. I pitted two brothers against one another and made it work. I cried and laughed while writing this one. But as with Ghost Lover it is under reconstruction. I’ve learned so much in the last two years and I want to make this book even better with new angles. Even the cover will be remade even though I dearly love the original, everything needs a face lift from time to time.

Here’s a little snippet from Tender Flames:

They walked hand in hand back to the party. They were both deep in thought. She was thinking about how her family would react and how Wes would. Zach knew his family would be happy, well almost his whole family. He knew it was mean of him to want to hurt his brother, but his brother was a fool for not snatching her up long ago.

They arrived back at the party. Randy ran over, “Hey sis, everyone wondered where you two had wondered off to. Judging by the look on your face I know what you were doing.” He grinned as he pulled his sisters hair. She blushed.

Zach led her to the front of the dance floor. He whistled for the music to stop. Everyone turned to see what Zach had to say. “I have some wonderful news. I have asked Sara to be my wife, and she has accepted. We are to be wed before my leave is up.” There was a stunned silence then everyone whooped and yelled. There were a lot of handshakes and pats on the back for Zach and hugs for Sara. Her parents were stunned at first, then relieved. They had always hoped she would marry one of the Dawson boys. The same went for his parents, they were thrilled. His mother had even cried.

Wes walked up and leaned over Sara. He whispered in her ear. “I hope you know what you are doing?” He then gave her a hug that was tight enough to press the air from her lungs. The look he gave her was full of something she did not recognize. She knew then that he cared more for her than she realized. She was suddenly angry with him. It served him right. He should have let her know a long time ago. She did not plan on waiting on him the rest of her life.

He gave his brother a hug and said in his ear. “Brother, she had better not be pregnant. You had better make her happy.” He gave him a look that dared him to go against what he said. With that he had left with his girlfriend.

Zach had noticed his brother’s reaction too. He was sorry for the hurt he had seen in his eyes, but he loved Sara. He would make her a good husband. Maybe one day she would learn to love him, but for now he was satisfied that she would be his wife. He knew deep down that there would always be a large part of her that belonged to Wes. He could live with that, he just hoped that she could.

He turned to her and gave her a big kiss, which brought a lot of whistling and applauding. They danced together for the remainder of the evening. Sara was still a little shocked by the show of emotions on Wes’ face. She knew now that he loved her, but she had committed herself to his brother. She would not back out now and hurt Zach. In a way, she did love him, but she would never love him the way she did Wes. She would make him a good wife.

This is from the original manuscript. Since the rewrite is already in process this scene will read differently but the emotion will be there.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

A little sidetracked…

Good Monday morning! I’ve been a little under the weather with allergies and sinus, so that’s the cause of my few posts in the last week. It’s crazy how off kilter it can make you. My writing has suffered along with everything else.

Do you ever get sidetracked? Is it hard for you to get your focus back? For me it’s been difficult. I felt a little better last night, but just couldn’t stay focused. I guess the stuffy nose and slight headache made my brain way too fuzzy to concentrate.

Of course sometimes we do need to just put things aside and wait for our head to clear. I guess if I had written anything in the last couple of days it would have been strange. What I mean is it would not have made a lot of sense. With my fuzzy head my thinking process was slower than normal. Hopefully I’m on the road to recovery. I definitely have to get back on track and make up for the lost writing time.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Cover Reveal – The WInner Takes All

Every book needs a great cover and when you have an awesome cover designer it makes things go smoothly. I just love this new cover. This book has been a long time in the making. I had to step away from it for a little bit. Sometimes we writers have to do that. But now I’m into the editing and so glad to be almost finished. I love this series.

This cover took alot of thought. What’s funny is it started out totally different and by the time we were finished it was this gorgeous concoction. The original cover was very vibrant, but my designer decided on using these subtles hues of beige, gray and white, which to me looks totally awesome.

Here’s an excerpt to give you a little tease:

The next morning it was rainy and dreary outside. She woke up in a bad mood, which was unusual for her. When she arrived at the office, Abigail had her a cup of coffee on her desk as soon as she saw her face.

“Stacy, what’s wrong? You look like you didn’t sleep well.” She looked a little concerned. She’d never seen her like this.

“I went to bed with a bad headache and it seems to have woken up with me.” As she reached for the coffee her engagement ring twinkled back at her. She smiled through the pain.

“Let me see that gorgeous ring. I heard about the engagement. Congratulations.” She looked at the ring and smiled. “That’s quite a stunning ring. You’re a lucky woman.”

“Thanks Abigail. I am a lucky woman with a lot of hard decisions.” She sat down and sighed.

“Alright, what’s up?” Abigail sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk.

“Guess when he wants to get married?” She propped her head in her hands.

“In June?” She said quietly.

“Oh, June I could work with. He wants to get married on Valentine’s Day.” She looked at Abigail and made a face.

“This Valentine’s Day?” Abigail’s eyes became huge with surprise.

“The very one.”

“No wonder you have a headache. I guess he’s not a patient man.” She grinned and gave her a wink.

“Well, that’s not very long to plan a wedding and it’s about to get really busy around here.” She sat back and sighed heavily. “What are you going to do?”

“I guess I’m going to attempt to put a wedding together in six weeks.” She looked up again. “That’s not the only decision that has to be made.”

“Let me guess, where are you two going to live?”

“Abigail, why does life have to be like this? Here I am with a dream come true groom to be and now I have to decide so much in a short time.”

“Honey, that’s life. I’m sorry you have to go through that part, but I’m happy you found a good man.” She gave her hand a pat. “You have a client coming in at ten.”

As I said, it’s in the editing department of Horseshoe Publishing, so it should be ready really soon. I’m excited to have it completed and ready to go. It’s crazy how relieved I always feel to have the cover completed. The editing is a process that excites me, but the cover is always so pivotal for the book that sometimes this part of the process is so stressful.

Horseshoe Publishing is so happy to have such a great designer. If your book needs a cover and you’re struggling, give us a shout and we’ll help you out. We’re reasonable and ready to help you today…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Have we lost our attention span?

I sat and did a little people watching not long ago. As a writer it’s a tool I use for inspiration and also it’s really fun. People can be funny when they don’t know your watching them. The biggest thing I noticed was that most of the people were easily distracted. Either their phone was buzzing or they were looking at things on their phones.

Do people ever just stop and smell the roses anymore? I remember when I was younger we’d sit on the front porch in the evenings and just watch the sun go down. It was peaceful and relaxing. But now everyone is attached to some kind of device and they’re either text, on social media or listening to something. It’s a crazy thing.

It’s the same with readers now a days. I’ve seen a sharp incline in shorter books. I have even had fans tell me they love that my books don’t take up a lot of time and they can read them in one or two sittings. I remember when you’d grab a large novel that would keep you reading for a couple of days and be happy. Now you have the lunch time readers that want a book that’ll fill up their lunch hour and be done.

We stay way too busy these days. Have you watched sat and watched the sun sink in the sky lately? Have you watched the sun rise with the promise of a new day? What about just sat down and talked with your spouse about random things? We need to stop and smell the roses more often. Enjoy the short life we’re given and remember to live…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Audio books – Have you taken the leap yet?

I took the leap into audio books last year and haven’t looked back. The potential for expanding sales is enormous. This is a growing industry and allows for more creativity than just merely writing the book. It’s your book come to life.

When I first heard one of the auditions for my books I was mesmerized to say the least. It was like a refreshing look at my work, but out loud. I sat riveted to my seat. That was my work being read out loud and it sounded so different. Since I normally read my work out loud during one of my edits for each one, it was strange hearing someone elses voice.

As for sales, I actually do pretty well with my audio books. As I say it’s a growing market. WIth Audible.com they actually do advertising in many online avenues. i’ve seen my books on the weather online, a children’s site, and the newest place was quite a surprise, Pandora Radio. I was listening to Pandora yesterday and happened to look up at the screen and there I was. I did a double take. Wow, there on the right side of the screen was “With All My Heart”. I did a happy dance and then I sat down to take a closer look. My book was on the top spot, guess who was the 2nd spot? “Fifty Shades of Grey”! I had to take this one in.

The irony of the advertisement positioning is this, “With All My Heart” is a Christian Romance and it’s being advertised right above a book about Christian Grey. Two totally different books on one advertisement. It made me a little excited that my book would be advertised with a bestseller, which could boost sales, but these are not the same kind of romance by far. I was glad to be on the top spot. Maybe people will pick up my book before the other one.

Using Audible’s site is so easy to set up. They make it streamlined. If you don’t want to narrate the book yourself, they’ll send the narrators to you. Try it. I know you’ll be pleased with the results.

Have you tried Audible yet? If not, then go over and give it a shot. All you do is go to ACX.com which is affiliated with Amazon and get started. Your audio books will be available on Audible.com, Amazon, and Apple iTunes.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Ghost Lover is two today…

I guess you could call this a throwback thursday post. Today my first published novel turns two. It’s hard to believe that it’s been two whole years. Some days it seems like it was only yesterday. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ghost Lover is under a face lift right now. The cover and manuscript are being worked on even as I type this post.

Since this was my first book it needs a little work. I’ve learned a lot in the last two years and I want to bring that knowledge to this first book. As for the cover, I dearly love the cover on the current book, but as it will be a fresh remake it needs a new look. Of course when I first published this book it had another cover. Let’s just say the first two covers that I designed were, well newbie. My cover designer finally took over the mouse and pushed me out of the seat shaking her head. That’s when she designed the cowboy in the sunset cover.

Here’s a little excerpt from the original Ghost Lover:

She walked into the stables and leaned on a post just inside the doors. She sniffed the air for a hint of the scent she had smelt earlier. It was not long before the scent went by her nose. She stood very still and let the wind direction lead her nose. She could tell it was coming from the back of the stable around the door that led to the back field.

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 could not 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 could not move.

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

“Why are 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 do not want you to see me this way. I want you to remember me before you look upon my face.”

“What is 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 will remember it. I do not want to rush your memories. When you remember, you will 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 could not see his face? Had he been scarred when she knew him before her accident?

“Yes, we were very close. I know you have me locked in your memory and it will 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 could not see his face.

“I think you are the man that has haunted my dreams since I lost my memory.”

“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 are what keeps my heart beating.”

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

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

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

“Just trust me; he is 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 will be here waiting for you tomorrow night at midnight.” He slowly went back into the shadows. She could hardly catch her breath.

I hope you enjoyed that little snippet of a pivotal part of this cowboy romance. I loved writing it and it’s as though my baby is growing up, so we need to changed it’s clothes and make it better. Thanks to my wonderful fans for making it a popular book.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Getting to the Heart of Romance

As most of you know, I write romance. I also blog about romance and the need for more of it in our lives. As I’ve said many times, romance helps in so many ways.If you’re married, you need sprinkles of romance in every aspect of that marriage. If you’re in a relationship and it’s leaning toward love, well you need romance. It just helps out with even the most tense moment.

I’ve read hundreds, dare I say thousands of romance novels. Sometimes I have to laugh at the lengths a writer will go to when trying to tickle a readers ears. I know all about those lengths. I do it everyday in my writing. Are we giving people false hope? I don’t think so, but I recently read an article on just that. The writer talked about teen girls today expecting to find that one man that will give them the romance and life they’ve read about in novels. She talked about having a trend of romance novels that actually talked of real life interactions.

This made me think about my writing. Could a romance novel written from real life interactions make difference? Would the couple waking up with morning breath, totally avoiding one another until they’ve freshened said breath make a difference? What about those unglamorous moments when you have no make up on and your hair is scraggly? Do you write about that? Will it sell or will people laugh you right out of business?

If you take a long look at your own life, how many times have you had a muscled man rescue you and sweep you away to a beautiful location to propose and give you a huge diamond ring, then kiss you into oblivion? Really, how many times? What about a virile cowboy sweeping you off your feet and taking you away into the sunset on his horse? I know, I’m being a little far fetched, but let’s get to the heart of real romance.

In real life it’s the simple things. Maybe it’s a flower picked from the yard, a card to say I’m sorry, maybe it’s just a loaded dishwasher after a long day of work, but let’s get real about romance. For me it’s that look across the dinner table or simply a quick kiss as he passes me in the kitchen as I fix dinner. But in order to sell books, sometimes we have to go beyond the simple and blow the romance up to a higher level. But that’s what sells books, so we’ll continue to do it.

I can say that I haven’t heard of anyone being swept off their feet by a sexy vampire or shifter. But it makes for fascinating reading.

As always good writing, and May God Bless You…

Friday morning writing

Good Friday morning everyone! Yes, it’s finally Friday. As I sit here sipping my coffee I think about the work at hand. I have a couple of books in the works, but which one do I work on for the next hour before I get ready to go out to the office?

Some days I can’t decide which book to work on. When you have several going and they all call out for attention, what do you do? This morning is one of those times. I’m almost completely done with one, but I just started another one that’s crying out too. Of course I have the outline ready for two more that have been running around in my head. I even dreamed of one of them last night.

Two of these books are 2nd books in various series and I really need to get them out soon.

How do you figure out which one to work on when all of them are crying out for attention?

I hope everyone has a great Friday. Now on to the manuscripts…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

How hooked are you?

Good morning! I do hope all of you are safe and well after those nasty storms that came through the southern US. As for me, did you notice no post from me yesterday. Well, I had no power for most of the day. If you know me well, or even if you just know me from social media interaction, then you know I try to post most days.

While my power was off and I was unconnected to all of my electrical devices, I had lots of time to think. Think? Wow that’s a large word when you think about it. How often do we just sit and think? No really, how often? Yes we use our brains, but most of the time it’s connected to some sort of electrical device, especially internet driven devices. Whether it’s your computer, smart phone, or whatever it is that you use to do everything, you’re probably hooked.

I sat here thinking about how much power means to us today. It’s like life shuts down when the power does. But if you think about it, we’re so hooked on the gadgets that make life easier that we can’t function when it goes south. I sat down on my couch and tried to figure out what I would do until the power came back on. The sad thing was, I had payroll for a client to complete, but my computer addicted brain had a hard time dealing with the process of manually completing the task. That’s when I sat down and took a hard look at me life. When it’s quiet and nothing is happening you can do that without interruption.

I realized that I’m addicted to power. Whatever happened to actually doing something for ourselves without relying on a gadget to do it for us. I stood up and walked to my office with determination. Of course I had to drag my teenage son with me so he could hold the flashlight. I pulled out the employee paperwork on each employee, I dusted off the payroll tax sheets and I grabbed some checks and a pen. Oh yeah, and the solar powered calculator. I sat down with a old oil lamp and proceeded to figure payroll the old way. My son sat watching and shaking his head. He kept saying, ‘Can’t you wait until the power comes back on?’ I just kept going and soon I had a completed payroll ready for delivery.

The hard part was the social media disconnect. I sat for a moment wondering if I made any sales during the night, wondering how all my social media friends had faired the night of storms and wanting desperately to check my Twitter feed. Sad, but true. I realized again I’m addicted to everything power connected.

Unfortunately, most of my work is connected to power. My clients files are loaded on my laptop, which has a battery of course, but my accounting program drains that battery really quickly. I did a couple of things that didn’t require my laptop, but I was limited. I did work on some of my manuscript outlines. I still do those old school long hand. It’s just the way I am. I tried putting those on the computer, but it’s easier to have them beside me as I write, not in a file that I have to pull up.

So, my question is this, How hooked are you on electricity or even the internet and social media? If you were without power for a week, would you pull your hair out or make the best of it?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…