A Visit with Kathryn Jane

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

Thanks for inviting me to be a guest on your blog, Cynthia!

Give us an elevator pitch for your book.

The only thing standing between Angie and her happily ever after is the stubborn man she’s in love with…and a deadly group of criminals.

Tell us about your hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

Matthias has a brilliant mind, and a stubborn belief that you have to take life as it’s dealt.

Tell us about your heroine. Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Angie believes anything is possible, and is impatient with people who let love override sensible thinking.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Here, I have to say I believe in magic because the stories simply come from my fingertips. Honestly, I rarely know what’s going to happen until it’s happening on the page. My characters constantly surprise me, and I love it.

Tell us about your current series.

The series began as loosely connected stories with a common theme of “everyday women stepping up and showing courage in the way they lived their lives.”

The theme has stayed, but the characters took over in about book #3, and informed me they were around to stay. So now within the series, you’ll find familiar faces from Meyers, and ETCETERA.

Meyers is a family-run security company operating out of their family ranch in Texas. ETC is a clandestine agency made up of scientists, security specialists, psychics, telepaths, etc.

What do you have planned for the future?

More books in the Intrepid Women Series, with #7 coming out in late October (2016). I’m also working on a non-fiction book for writers, as well as a special project for a cat rescue group.

Do you have any rejection stories to share?

My first rejection—on the first book I ever wrote—was exactly what I needed to keep me believing that maybe one day I would be an author, not just a writer. A very well-known and respected agent wrote me a lovely note saying that although my work was not yet ready for publication, I was “clearly a gifted storyteller.”

I continued to work very hard at learning the craft of writing while holding those four special words close to my heart.

Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

Every note from a reader saying they enjoyed my book. Even just a few simple words will have me grinning for hours. (Reviews can cause happy-dancing in the writing cave.)

Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract?

Don’t give up. Finish that book, put it aside, and write a new one. Skiers headed for the Olympics don’t just strap on skis and conquer the world. They practice over and over and over again. Writing takes the same kind of dedication and hard work. Trust me, if you pick up manuscript #1 after you finish writing ms #4, you will be able to see the improvement.

So put your fingers to the keyboard and write, and write and write.

All She Wanted

Chapter 1

“I. Don’t. Do. Christmas.”

Angie resisted the impulse to argue. Their relationship had been on his terms for years, and for a very good reason. But this time Dr. Matthias Alejandro Martinez was just being stubborn.

And she still had four months to strategize. To convince him how important it was to spend Christmas at the ranch with her and their son. Until now, she’d never argued, never asked for anything, believed she had no choice but to go along with him because that’s what you did when you were in love with a heart-stoppingly gorgeous man who didn’t exist in the real world.

“Are we good here?”

Oh, not by a long shot, pal. “You know I have to be gone, like, ten minutes ago.”

He reached out with the sureness of an old lover and ran a fingertip along her jawbone, cupped her chin. “Will you kiss me goodbye?”

He always asked, never took. And, dammit, she couldn’t look into those serious blue eyes and deny the man anything. He’d been making her crazy for years, so why would it change now? She lifted to her tiptoes, and slid her fingers into the thick, unruly hair brushing the back of his white collar. “I hate you,” she said and dragged his mouth down to hers.

“I know.” Hands on her butt, he lifted her off her feet, and just when she was afraid the top of her head was going to blow off, the vibration of his cell made her groan.

“You programmed that, didn’t you?”

He set her down with a sexy chuckle and slipped on heavy, black-rimmed glasses to check the display. “I have to take this.”

“No worries. I need to be gone anyway.”

Before she could turn away, he caught her hand, ran his teeth across the knuckles, then put the phone on speaker. “Martinez, stand by.”

Angie closed the door softly behind her and made it halfway to the stairwell before she stopped. She could go back, make him understand how important Christmas was for her, why she was making plans in September. She gave her head a shake. No. And no point standing here looking like an idiot, either. Every inch of this place was on video monitor…except for the offices, washrooms and private suites. ETCETERA acknowledged few boundaries, but certain privacies were respected.

By the time she traversed a complex network of tunnels and reached the secure warehouse where her ride was stashed, she’d managed—as always—to put things in perspective. She loved a man who couldn’t follow the regular rules of relationships. A man who lived outside societal norms, underground—literally—and she was one of the few people who even knew he was alive.

Links

Website: http://kathrynjane.com/

Blog: https://kathrynjane.com/blog/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kathryn.jane.921

Pre-order now at the sale price, for an April 30^th delivery from:

Award winning author Kathryn Jane writes the popular Intrepid Women Series. Novels filled with mystery, suspense, adventure, psychic abilities, and romance. Think MacGyver, I Love Lucy, Criminal Minds, and the Mentalist…

Kickass women and the men who dare to love them.

A Visit with Barbara Brett

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

How did you get started writing?

My mother used to say that I was “writing” before I could hold a pen. I had a lively imagination as a child and I was always going on adventures with imaginary friends. As I got older, my real friends depended on me to come up with ideas for our “let’s pretend” games, or to spin a story as we sat under a tree to relax and catch a breeze on a summer afternoon. In school, I was always writing for and the editor of the magazines and school newspapers, and it followed naturally that I made a career as a magazine editor. When our children were born, I decided to stay home with them and have a go at writing. I sold many stories to women’s magazines, and my husband kept encouraging me to write a book. I finally did, but I’ll save the story of that for the next question.

Was your road to publication fraught with peril or a walk in the park?

I thought that the fact that I had worked as an editor and then written and sold several stories would make my road to publication a walk in the park. Silly me. That “walk in the park” was a trip down Nightmare Alley. First, I discovered that most book publishers required submission through an agent. Next, I learned that most agents wouldn’t look at your manuscript unless you had already had a book published. It’s the writer’s Catch 22. I kept pushing, though, and, because of my background, I found several agents who agreed to read my manuscript. All took forever to get back to me and found great fault with the story. Some said the plot worked but the characters were terrible. Others said that the characters were great but the plot didn’t work. Some just said nothing worked—including the writing. I finally threw up my hands and went back to work as an editor. My husband, who loved the book, kept encouraging me to keep trying. So I began submitting the manuscript directly to editors. No simultaneous submissions back then. One at a long, heartbreaking time. I got so depressed about the rejections that I asked my husband, who got home from work before I did, to spot them in the mail, open them, and then break the news to me gently. One evening as I was on my way home from work, I made up my mind that I was going to give up. Obviously, I was never going to succeed, and it was time to put writing and dreams of publication aside and get on with my life. When I reached home and put my key in the lock, I heard a great commotion behind the door. “Here she comes!” the kids were saying. Uh-oh! I thought. They’ve made a mess and haven’t had time to clean it up! But they were beaming when I opened the door, and my husband was standing there with a letter from the editor at Avon. She loved my book and wanted to publish it. The book, Between Two Eternities, came out to a rave review in Publishers Weekly, followed by great sales. So there, all you agents and editors who said I couldn’t do it! Moral of the story: Never give up!

Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.

SIZZLE takes place in the glitzy 1980s. Fortunes are being made and lost—and made again. Wall Street is on a roll. One after another, corporations are being gobbled up by rapacious raiders. And now Sizzle, the most glamorous and profitable magazine in the world is up for grabs. British media mogul and corporate raider Harrison Kendricks has set his sights on this publishing plum, in which the reputations of the rich, the famous, and the beautiful can be built or destroyed with a paragraph or a photograph. He has never before lost a hostile takeover. But then he has never before been in competition with Marietta Wylford, the brilliant and beautiful CEO of Wylford Enterprises. She needs only Sizzle to crown the business empire she has built with nothing but her own genius and ambition, and she is determined to let no one stand in her way. Not even the mysterious and dangerous Harrison Kendricks. One by one, she had always been able to foil those who dared try to topple her from her pinnacle. But Harrison Kendricks is different. They are two of a kind. Creatures who have fashioned themselves in the image of their own wants and needs. Neither has ever lost a battle in the boardroom—or the bedroom. To defeat him, she will have to uncover the one vile secret that will utterly destroy him. And she will do anything to get it—even at the risk of breaking her own heart.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Stories are happening all around us, every minute of the day. It’s called life. Every person you pass on the street has a story to tell. Why does that couple sitting on the park bench look so sad? Why does that elderly man walking his dog look so happy? Is the mother carrying that little boy rushing to a doctor? And those three young women laughing in the outdoor cafe, are they making fun of the men in their lives or celebrating them? I let my imagination decide and take it from there. Sometimes it’s an intriguing snippet of overheard conversation that triggers the idea for a story. People have to be careful what the say around authors!

How likely are the people you meet to end up in your next book?

Just as stories are happening all around us, so, too, are the people we meet in stories turning up all around us in real life. The world is full of characters, some delightful—some not so much. My books are filled with people I’ve met or, perhaps, observed somewhere—at an airport, a supermarket, a party—and been fascinated by. The strangers, of course, will never know. As for people I may know, by the time I’ve worked them into a book, they will never recognize themselves. Still, let’s keep this just between us. Okay?

What is your favorite part of writing?

One of my favorite Dorothy Parker quotes is, “I hate writing. I love having written.” I think it sums up the work of an author very well. Though I certainly don’t hate writing, there are times when it is far from easy: that plot turn I thought would work doesn’t; my characters just won’t behave themselves; the just-right words for expressing an important thought escape me. But none of that frustration compares to the delightful surge of satisfaction when everything has at last gone right and I type those two lovely words, THE END, at the bottom of the last page. That is when I push my chair back from the computer, sigh a great sigh of relief, and give myself over to the joy of “having written.”

Do you have a view in your writing place?

For those of us who are apartment dwellers in big cities, views are not usually idyllic. I’m a happy exception. I live in Brooklyn, New York, and the room I work in looks out on the backyard of a one-family home. There is a beautiful tree in that yard. I have no idea what type it is. I know only that it must be ancient because it is so huge. When I am sitting at my computer and I turn my head, its magnificent branches fill my entire view, and I live on the fifth floor of my building! That tree and I have seen many seasons come and go. In the autumn, its branches are aflame with color, and I watch the squirrels hurrying to store their winter supplies. In the winter, its branches glisten with snow and ice, and though strong winds bend them, they refuse to break. In spring and summer, it comes back to life, its branches bursting with green and welcoming the neighborhood birds and squirrels. It’s a beautiful reminder of the cycle of life, and for me, watching its changes is always a source of joy, wonder and inspiration.

Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring authors?

I’m not sure about that word, “aspiring.” If you have a story in you and you’re writing it, you’re an author. It doesn’t matter that you do not yet have an agent or a publisher. What matters is that you have a story and you are writing it and are going to see it through to those satisfying little words at the bottom of the last page: The End. That’s what makes you an author. Getting the book published is just a difficult business step along the way (see my answer to Question Two, above). And whatever happens, you are still and always will be an author. So don’t wait. Start your next book. And the one after that.

Years ago, a friend gave me a sign that says, in bright, bold colors: NEVER GIVE UP. That sign hangs right by my computer and is the first thing I see when I get weary or discouraged and look up from my work. Now I pass it on to you: NEVER GIVE UP. You and your work are worth it!

EXCERPT FROM SIZZLE

Marietta Wylford began life as Marianne Vuckendorn, which should have been a sufficient handicap for anyone, but fate chose to deal her out even more. She had a brutal, alcoholic father who rarely worked, and when he did, he spent all his money on liquor and whiskey-drinking friends. Her mother, too weak willed to leave him, slaved behind the steam table in a lower Manhattan cafeteria, where, on the rare occasions when her boss was in a good mood, she was allowed to take home some leftover vegetables that had been cooked beyond recognition and some dried-out ends of meat.

When Marianne was eight and still fantasizing that her father had crept into the palatial home of her real parents— visiting royalty from Europe—and kidnapped her from her diamond-studded cradle, her older brother, then fifteen, was killed by a fellow junkie in an argument over their stash of heroin. When she was twelve and past all fantasies, her younger sister, then eight, died in a fall from a swing in the local playground, which, unlike its counterparts in well-to-do neighborhoods, had no rubberized protective cushioning in potentially dangerous areas. No one bothered to investigate the accident, obviously just another case of a dumb poor kid who didn’t watch what she was doing.

That death was a turning point for Marianne. She had always known that someday she would escape the vicious cycle that had closed her parents off from hope and kept them tied to apartments in crumbling tenements in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, outcasts forever quarantined because they suffered from that insidious social disease, poverty. Now she began to make concrete plans for that escape. Her mother delighted in telling her that the angels had smiled on her face, and even a critical look in the mirror confirmed that her mother was right. She had large, wide-apart eyes the color of fine emeralds, and luxuriant, silk hair that gleamed like burnished copper. Her nose was straight and her chin firm but gently rounded, her cheekbones high and aristocratic, her skin a clear ivory tone unmarred by blemishes or freckles. But if the angels had smiled upon her face, it soon became apparent that they had beamed on her body. For she grew to a height of five feet, eight inches, and to a breadth that was nothing less than the American dream—thirty-eight, twenty-three, thirty-six. Obviously, she was made for better things than Crown Heights had to offer, and she was determined to have them.

“[A] battle fraught with…the dirtiest of tricks…the stuff that destroys marriages, people, lives…. Sizzle through the summer with Sizzle.“—The Salem News

BUY LINK FOR SIZZLE

http://www.amazon.com/Sizzle-Where-Boardroom-Meets-Bedroom-ebook/dp/B01DL6F1E4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1460124005&sr=8-1

BIO

Barbara Brett’s colorful publishing career includes stints as the editor of True Romance and True Confessions. During that time, she began writing mainstream novels, and after the publication of Between Two Eternities and Love After Hours, she was named vice president and publisher of Thomas Bouregy & Company, where she oversaw Avalon Books, the company’s hardcover fiction for libraries. Later, she established her own company, Brett Books, devoted to hardcover inspirational nonfiction. She is now back to her own writing and delighted to see Sizzle published. She promises to follow it with many more exciting books.

You can contact Barbara on her Website: www.brettbooks.com

Excerpt of Jesse’s Heartbreak by P. A. Estelle

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

Good morning, Cindy! I want to thank you for allowing me to barge in on your blog today. Several years ago the hubby and I were watching the history channel and a documentary about Abilene, Kansas, and how it became one of the first railroad hubs to ship cattle to different parts of the country. It was so interesting and a TINY idea for a book settled into my brain using this information.

Well as it turned out, the next week my sister and I were driving my mom back to Iowa for her high school reunion, so we stopped in Abilene – and I was hooked. This little city (actually the whole state) is bursting with western history!

I have quite a few books under my belt, but The Jesse Series (all centered around Abilene) hold a special spot in my heart. There are three stories – Jesse’s Find, Jesse’s Nightmare, and I just released Jesse’s Heartbreak.

Below is just a taste of Book Three of The Jesse Series – Blurb

Jesse and Ginny Mason’s world is shattered when Amanda Hill comes to Abilene, Kansas to try and take three-year old Sarah away from them. Little Sarah’s father died before she was born and his family wants the girl to come to Pennsylvania and live with them, and they have the all the money and expertise they need to make that happen!

The Hill’s can offer the little girl prominence and station in life, while all Jesse and Ginny have to give is their complete devotion. Which will the Judge choose – money or love?

Jesse’s Heartbreak is a sweet Christian romance that will make you smile and shed a few tears!

Excerpt

“Mrs. Mason.” Ginny turned to see Amanda Hill standing next to the wagon. Ginny shot back around, face forward and back ramrod straight! “Please hear me out for just a few minutes.” Ginny still didn’t turn her way. “If Judge Horn grants me custody,” Ginny sucked in her breath, “or even partial custody, do you want Sarah having to leave with a woman she doesn’t even know? I’m a stranger to her. She never knew her father, so even though I’m an aunt, that will mean nothing to her. Only that a strange woman is taking her away. If I come out for a few days we can at least get to know each other. If he decides in your favor, I have at least gotten to know my niece for a few days.”

Ginny put her hands in her face and her shoulders shook with sobs. Jesse rounded the wagon, furious. Amanda gasped and took a step back. “You listen to me. I don’t…”

“Jesse,” Ginny said, stopping him. “She’s right in what she is saying. I can’t have Sarah being taken by some strange lady she has never met. That would destroy me.” Ginny wiped her eyes. “We have a new bunkhouse and the men won’t be moving in for a month or so. You can sleep there.”

Ginny watched as Jesse’s whole demeanor deflated. He got back up on the wagon seat. Ginny gave the woman one last look. “You can come out in a few days.”

Jesse put his arm around Ginny as they started down the road. Neither heard the whispered “I’m sorry” or saw the sympathy in her eyes.

http://www.amazon.com/Jesses-Heartbreak-Book-Three-Jesse-ebook/dp/B01E9IYWLQ

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Bio

I write for all ages, from the early reader to adults. My books range from pictures books for the little ones, to fantasy, time-travel adventures for ages 9 to 13. I also write adult stories, including a family drama and contemporary, paranormal and historical westerns romances, under P. A. Estelle.

I was a school secretary for 21 years. My husband and I moved to our retirement home in Kingman, AZ, on very rural 54 acres, living on solar and wind only.

More about my books can be found in the following links:

www.pennystales.com

www.pennyestelle.blogspot.com

http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XBY

www.facebook.com/pennystales

www.pinterest.com/pennyestelle

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5820078.Penny_Estelle – Goodreads

http://www.twitter.com/pennystales

Heaven Must Wait, Part II by Brenda B. Taylor

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

Blurb:

Times are difficult in Missouri after the Civil War. Families struggle to keep their property from creditors and outlaws. The desire of Ralph Wade’s heart is to marry the girl of his dreams, beautiful Leann Clark, but many obstacles stand in their way. Ralph finds love is not enough to persuade Leann’s father to give his permission for their marriage. John Clark wishes more than love for his daughter. He wants her husband to provided a good living with a secure future. Ralph is much too hot-tempered and unreliable in John’s eyes. Leann desires the dashing Ralph and defies her father to be with him. She believes her love is strong enough to see them through the hard times. Through adverse circumstances, the young couple struggle to keep the fires of their love and faith burning.

Excerpt:

Leann felt she couldn’t be happier. Her parents seemed to have forgiven Ralph for the altercation he had with Wesley Snipes over a saloon girl and were making friendly overtures toward him. She knew Pa expected both she and Ralph to act responsibly, and she determined not to break his trust. Her heart sang as they walked to the oak tree where Maude waited patiently.

Ralph put his hat on, then untied his mare. “I love you, Leann. I’ll see you next week.”

“I love you. I can hardly wait ’til next Tuesday.” She looked toward the house, then stood on her tiptoes and lightly kissed his lips.”

He quickly glanced toward the house, bent down and planted a firmer kiss on her mouth, then mounted Maude. Without saying anything more, he turned his horse toward home. She stood watching until he rode out of sight. With a heart bursting of love for Ralph, Leann made her way back to the house.

Buy Links:

Amazon

About the Author:

The desire to write historical fiction has long been a passion with Brenda B. Taylor. Since elementary school, she has written stories in her spare time. Brenda earned three degrees: a BSE from Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas; a MEd from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas; and an EdD from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; then worked as a teacher and administrator in the Texas Public School system. Only after retirement could she fulfill the dream of publication.

Brenda and her husband make their home in beautiful East Texas where they enjoy spending time with family and friends, traveling, and working in Bethabara Faith Ministry, Inc. She crafts stories about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people in her favorite place overlooking bird feeders, bird houses, and a variety of blooming trees and flowers. She sincerely thanks all who purchase and read her books. Her desire is that the message in each book will touch the heart of the reader as it did hers in the writing.

Author Contact Information:

Historical Heartbeats

A visit with Lucy Farago

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

Tell us about your current series.

My Women of Vegas series is about redemption. The Dictionary defines sin as “a transgression of divine law … especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle … any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse etc. great fault or offense”. But what you or I perceive as sin, may not be viewed by others the same way. Each book carries this theme. Although not religious by any means, the characters struggle with their own demons, while battling the real sinners, the people who would hurt them.

What inspired your latest book?

Rhonda, my heroine actually inspired Sin on the Run. She was first introduced in Sin on the Strip and I fell in love with her. Over the years I’ve met men and women who’ve worked in clubs and they had interesting stories to tell. I wanted readers to see stripping from the dancer’s point of view. The story has ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ overtones.

What is your favorite part of writing?

I have friends who enjoy writing the first draft but I prefer the second. That’s where I can get creative. It’s like building a house. The fun is in decorating, at least it is for me.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

The next book is Sins That Haunt. Shannon’s past is catching up to her, courtesy of her dead father and former childhood sweetheart, special agent, Noah Monroe. It’s set to be released September of 2016.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Inspiration can come from anywhere. My next series will be about the men of ICU, the investigation collection unit from the first series. I’ve started plotting out Cowboy’s story. He’s introduced in Sin on the Run. I like country-western music and the inspiration for his story came from a song. Sometimes it’s the characters themselves. I write a secondary character and something about them just speaks to me. I start asking what if and away I go.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

I got permission from Someecards to post one of their postcards on my website

It answers this question. “I’m a writer. If I’m staring at you I’m not being rude. I’m trying to decide if you need to go in my next book. If you’re a snot, I’m trying to decide how to kill you”. So, very likely.

What is most difficult for you to write? Characters, conflict or emotions? Why?

Actually the most difficult is the suspense. Each detail has to be methodically thought out to make sense. I could be stuck on a point for days. I’m basically writing two stories, the suspense and the romance and they have to jive. But it’s a blast getting that ah-ha moment.

Do you or have you belonged to a writing organization? Which one? Have they helped you with your writing? How?

I belong to Romance Writers of America and our local chapter. I think I can honestly say I wouldn’t be published, nor represented by the Knight Agency, without them. Besides giving me the opportunity to pitch my work, I attended workshops to improve my writing. Let’s be honest, few of us come out the womb a Mozart. Even painters take classes and singers lesson. The best advice I can give to unpublished writers is to join an organization that can help you find your path and make publishing a reality.

Blurb Sin on the Run

There are some secrets even Las Vegas’s 24/7 glitter can’t hide. Lucy Farago’s dazzling new series ups the ante as a fiery stripper fights to protect an elite detective from danger–and both their killer pasts…

Living in the red-hot now is how Rhonda Deagan survives. Onstage, this sexy Goth stripper always stays on top, no matter how much her real-life dreams shatter. So why not risk a scorching fling with a gorgeous groomsman after her best friend’s wedding? Too bad Blake Cameron is in someone’s lethal sights. And saving this cool-headed investigator’s life just put Rhonda on the run with him–and on his personal, oh-so-seductive hit list…

For Blake, figuring out who doesn’t want him dead is easier than keeping his new raven-haired friend safe. The only way he can buy time to out-think their pursuers is to hide them both in the aristocratic world he thought he’d escaped. But there’s no escaping the incendiary attraction between him and Rhonda. Walking the knife-edge between desire, lies, and naked truth may be their best chance to live–if it doesn’t cut too deep to survive…

an excerpt from Sin on the Run

“You realize the bartender is free pouring? And your four shots come close to, oh…twelve ounces, give or take?”

After downing his fourth drink, he turned his head to see who had disturbed his drowning of sorrows. Rhonda. She looked even freakier close up. Freaky was good. Hot. And damn, wouldn’t freaky freak out his grandmother. While he never tallied the ounces he’d consumed, he did realize if he’d said what had just ran through his mind out loud he’d sound drunk. Instead, he motioned the bartender over with a finger pointing to his empty class. He watched the man pour and concluded Rhonda was right.

“And now you’re up to fifteen. I’d say that bartender likes you. Be careful,” she whispered, drawing closer. “He might try to take advantage of you. Then again,” she checked out the bartender, “he’s cute.”

He crooked a finger at her, beckoning her forward.

“He’s no’ my type.” He didn’t drink that often anymore, but when he did there was no mistaking his Scottish brogue. Now he was out of practice and definitely feeling the effects.

“Oh? Who is?”

Was she coming on to him? The idea intrigued him. “Dark,” he answered, his head beginning to swim. He’d actually dated more blondes than brunettes, but had never taken the time to consider which he preferred.

“What, you like them evil?”

What on earth was she going on about? “Noooo, dark.” However, he had nothing against a little evil. He licked his lips. Vixens could be worth the effort and the one standing in front of him was in a league all her own.

She stared at him for such a long time he was beginning to wonder if she’d heard him. Then a slow smile curled her luscious mouth, her green eyes sparkling with naughty mischief. “You’re drunk,” she said in astonishment. “What kind of an Irishman are you? I thought you guys could hold your liquor?”

“Irish!” he said insulted. “I’m no’ Irish.” He placed a hand over his chest, “I’m Scottish. Born and bred.” He winced, not needing or wanting to be reminded of his breeding, or why he’d sat his ass at the bar in the first place.

“Scottish, Irish what’s the diff?” She shrugged. “But if it makes you feel better, either is super sexy.”

She was coming on to him. Wasn’t she?

The bartender came over to refill his glass, but Rhonda waved him away. “If he’s not your type,” she hooked an arm beneath his and lifted him to his feet, “then let’s find someone who is.”

While perfectly happy to sit at the bar and keep drinking, he allowed himself to be dragged away. Better to have a beautiful woman on his arm than the floor under his back.

Available at:

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Sin-Run-Women-Vegas-Book-ebook/dp/B0138NHENQ/

Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sin-on-the-run-lucy-farago/1122454918?ean=9781616508197

iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sin-on-the-run/id1039680040?mt=11

Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/sin-on-the-run

Books-A-Million http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Run/Lucy-Farago/Q574350555?id=6406146426809

Lucy Farago knows there is nothing like a happy sigh at the end of a good book. With the encouragement of her loving husband, she wrote her first manuscript. An unpublished historical, it sits in a file on her computer, there to remind her how much fun she had learning the craft and becoming part of an industry whose books make you believe anything is possible. A big fan of Agatha Christie, she set out to write her first romantic suspense novel. Thrilled to be a published author, Lucy also teaches yoga, enjoys cooking, and saying what other people are thinking. In her fantasy world, her beautiful Siberian husky, Loki, doesn’t shed and her three kids clean up after themselves. Alas, that fantasy will never see fruition.

www.lucyfarago.com

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COME LOVE A COWBOY

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

Get to know the authors of Come Love a Cowboy a bit better–

Julie A. Darcy, author of The Shape of Destiny:

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN WRITING?

At the time there was no such thing as Fantasy Romance, which is the genre I mostly write in.

I was reading a romance and they were becoming too formula. I loved fantasy books but it frustrated me there was no romance in them. In the end I chucked them both and said to my husband, “I can write a better book than this”.” He said “Why don’t you?”

I wrote a Fantasy Romance which I got published almost straight away and it went on to win a big award. I have been writing ever since.

www.julieadarcy.com

Margo Bond Collins, author of Leaving Necessity:

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN WRITING?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been making up stories. The first story I remember actually writing down was basically fan-fiction of The Wizard of Oz. I wrote it in long-hand in a yellow legal pad. I’ve been writing ever since. But about twelve years ago, a friend suggested I join in National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org). Until then, I had always written short stories. That year, I finished the first draft of what would eventually become Legally Undead—it was my third published novel, but the first one I wrote.

I ended up as an English major in college because I was fascinated by the ways stories work. And then I went on to graduate school because I couldn’t figure out what else to do. I ended up with a Ph.D. in literature almost by accident; I just never quit wanting to learn about all the stories in the world!

So now I teach literature and writing in my day job, and the rest of the time, I write, both as a fiction author and as an academic.

http://www.MargoBondCollins.net

Caroline Clemmons, author of Grant Me the Moon:

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR STORY?

My husband and I love visiting pre-historic dwellings and remains. The inspiration for GRANT ME THE MOON occurred on a trip from our home in the DFW Metroplex to visit family in Lubbock, Texas. We drive through Post in Garza County on that trip. The Garza site, named after the county, is on private land with no public access. I’ve always wanted to see that dig, which is a Clovis site. So, I decided to have a similar fictional (but slightly better) site for my story discovered by the hero on his ranch.

http://carolineclemmons.com

Hebby Roman, author of Border Affair:

HOW LIKELY ARE PEOPLE THAT YOU MEET TO END UP IN YOUR BOOK?

Pretty likely, as in you will see friends, family, acquaintances, etc. in my books, but you won’t recognize them. What I do for my writing process is come up with my characters and/or a situation facing them first. Never certain which will happen first, the characters or the situation, and then I write characters to fit the situation or vice versa, situations that mesh with the characters.

When I first start my writing process for a new book, I sit down and do a detailed biography and background for both my hero and heroine. I tell myself about their childhood, their likes and dislikes, their conflicts, their challenges, their weaknesses and strengths, and of course, their physical attributes. Where do I get these bits of information, especially about their backgrounds and what they have had to face? From my life, from my family’s experiences, from friends I know and so on, but I never use a person in whole. Instead, I weave bits and pieces of real people together to make a whole new person–my character.

So, long answer to short question: yes, people I meet will end up in my book, but seldom will you recognize them. On occasion, however, I do take a real person for a secondary character and leave them relatively intact. One good example I can think of is the grandmother in SUMMER DREAMS, my first contemporary romance after writing four historical romances. The grandmother in that book is modeled on my mother-in-law. And before you ask, she didn’t mind–she actually thought it was fun.

http://www.hebbyroman.com

Andrea Downing, author of Bad Boy, Big Heart:

TELL US ABOUT YOUR HERO. GIVE US ONE OF HIS STRENGTHS AND ONE OF HIS WEAKNESSES.

Chay Ridgway is a man caught by circumstance and responsibilities. While he was still in High School, his mother ran off and his father took to drink and became ill, forcing Chay to quit school. He tried to keep his ranch going, but selling off land and stock became necessary as did having to work for another ranch. He’s clever and well-read, and enjoys his life as a cowboy and bareback bronc rider. Perhaps most of all he enjoys the company of women. His one great strength, then, is that he saw what needed to be done, recognized his responsibilities, and accepted them. His weakness, of course, turns out to be K.C. Daniels…

http://andreadowning.com

Patti Sherry-Crews, author of Desert Heat:

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

Currently I’m working on a novel I’m calling the Lake House. This story is based on an experience my friend had. She and her now ex husband went away with another couple. While they were on vacation, the other couple’s marriage imploded when the wife discovered her husband was having an affair, but then they were all stuck together in a remote location for days!

In my version, this second couple, Claire and Grant, are strangers. When their friends’ marriage ends up in crisis, Claire and Grant are forced into a strange situation. In the days that follow while they attempt to amuse themselves, they grow close—and their mutual attraction grows as well.

Unfortunately, Claire is going back to her boyfriend in Chicago when the week is done. Handsome, charismatic Julian has swept her off her feet.

Claire makes her choice, but can she live with it?

http://pattisherrycrews16.wix.com/author-blog

Keta Diablo, author of Three for the Win:

WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PROJECT AND WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED?
My WIP right now is the 3rd book in the Sky Tinted Water series. These are clean historical westerns set in Minnesota. Sky Dreams, the third book, features the daughter of the hero and heroine from Sky Tinted Water, Book 1 and Sky Dance, Book 2.

I’m hoping to release Sky Dreams in mid-May. You can find the first two books here (don’t forget to read the reviews: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B93HNCK
Thanks so much, Cindy, for hosting Come Love A Cowboy on your blog

~ Keta ~http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com

COME LOVE A COWBOY

Eight stand-alone Contemporary Western Romance novellas from Bestselling and Award Winning Authors.

From firefighters, bronco busters, and wealthy ranchers to bad boys, we have them all for you! If you’ve ever wanted to fall in love with a sexy, alpha cowboy of today…now’s your chance.

A savings of more than 75% if the books were purchased separately.

Luke’s Fate by Kathleen Ball

Meg O’Brien hoped never to lay eyes on the one man who broke her heart. To her dismay, Luke Kelly arrives at her ranch a much different and broken man. Can Meg ever forgive his callous treatment of her and help Luke become the man he used to be?

Grant Me The Moon by Caroline Clemmons

All Tory Fraser intended was to show her high school history club students a local archeology dig. How could she know the excursion would involve a murder?

Three for The Win by Keta Diablo

Hollis should have known better than to fall for a bone-melting man like Stede. He’s gone now and Eli is left to pick up the broken pieces of her life.

Border Affair by Hebby Roman

When his partners’ daughter is kidnapped in México, a self-made millionaire must confront his feelings about their affair and the future of their relationship.

Leaving Necessity by Margo Bond Collins

Mac has one week to convince his ex-girlfriend Clara not to sell his oil company. In this high-pressure reunion, can they strike love again?

The Shape of Destiny by Julie A. D’Arcy

A young male shape shifter. A beautiful female ranch owner. Can love be born in a web of deceit?

Bad Boy, Big Heart by Andrea Downing

She’s a New Yorker escaping her parents. He’s a Wyoming cowboy supporting his dad. One summer, two young people—three months to find love.

Desert Heat by Patti Sherry-Crews

A single mother struggling to keep her guest ranch puts her own desires on hold. When a handsome and persistent fireman sets his sights on her, she must decide how much she’s willing to give.

Universal Buy Link: myBook.to/Come-Love-A-Cowboy

Excerpt from Bad Boy, Big Heart:

Chay shoved a forkful into his mouth, having obvious difficulty chewing as he was smiling so much. Finally he got it down, stretched to grab a napkin from another clean place setting, and gave a wide grin to K.C. “Am I your hero, then? Riding in to save the day? How are you?”

“I’m fine. Thanks. Fine, but reluctant to keep telling everyone I’m fine.”

“Okay then, message received.”

K.C. studied him for a moment, melting at his pale green eyes. She suddenly reached across and gently poked the small dimple in his chin. Oh dear, what was she going to do about this man?

“You’re supposed to ask, aren’t you? You can’t just go around poking people in the chin, can you?”

“Golly. What have I started?”

“I don’t know. What have you started?” The smile was replaced by a very direct look.

“I…I’ve been told things about you. I don’t want to be a summer romance. And I do have to leave at the end of the summer, and the summer is fast fading.”

“It’s only June, K.C.” He hesitated before, “What sort of things were you told?”

K.C. looked around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “That you like to…to date the girls who work in the office because we leave at the end of the summer, and it makes for a clean break.”

“True.”

K.C. blinked at his honesty.

“But it doesn’t mean it will always be the case.” Chay fidgeted on his chair. “What time do you get off? Let’s go for a ride. You do ride, don’t you?”

“I ride…English.”

“Oh, yeah. Bob said something about that. That can be fixed. So what time?”

“Five-thirty weekdays, Saturday noon as long as the check-outs are complete. Sunday is hit or miss; I work virtually all day until all the check-ins are done.”

“Hmmm. I’m taking out a pack trip tomorrow, back Friday. Meet me down at the barns as soon as you’re off Saturday.” Chay swung out of the chair and stood, then leaned in and stabbed one more bite of cheesecake. “Saving you calories,” he said. “You’d be amazed at what goes into this.” And with that, he stuffed the piece in his mouth and was off.

K.C. sat there, turning over Chay’s words in her mind: ‘It doesn’t mean it will always be the case.’ Yet the fact was, her Master’s degree meant two years…oh, what was she thinking? That was way ahead and, while she knew she was deeply attracted to Chay, it didn’t necessarily mean…. She stared at the remaining cheesecake on her plate, then pushed it away.

What was ‘the case’?

A visit with Constance Walker

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

What is your favorite part of writing?

Many years ago, when I was just starting out writing novels, my husband asked me what would make me happiest about writing books. I thought for only a few minutes and then told him it would be for a reader to write me and tell me that it’s been a “rough day” or a “down day” for whatever the many life reasons that happen and then that person sat down and started to read my book and soon was lost in it and for a few moments the day or the time was “better.” And a couple of weeks later I actually got a letter from a woman who wrote me and told me almost the identical thing and I thought, “YES!” Because that was my goal – for a few moments I made someone’s life a little better. I wrote back to the reader, thanked her for her comments and her time and hoped she would have better days soon and forever. That’s the best thing about writing a novel!

What is your next project and when will it be released?

I’m working on something completely different – in genre, time and story. It’s about senior citizens in a retirement complex and their interactions with other residents and, also, with their own families. Most of us, in our lifetime, will have to face major changes with an aging parent or relative and sometimes those adjustments can be very difficult. And those life-changes affect not only the elderly but the entire family. I’ve tried to write the story from different points of views: the seniors, their children and their children so that every age group can identify with the characters. But the novel isn’t a “downer” – in fact, it’s quite joyous in showing life and the living of it, at its various stages. I’ve had a few people “test-read” it and they tell me they’ve fallen in love with the characters. I hope so. I’m editing it right now and I’ll probably release it in the early summer.

What is your typical day like?

I don’t think I have a typical day – there are a couple must-do-everyday-at-the-same-time things set in stone: taking my dog, Jake, for a long walk around the neighborhood and feeding him (sometimes, much too much), but then it sort of gets non-typical. Like a lot of us I make myriad “to-do” lists – I have lists for everything from buying groceries, household chores to be done, mail and e-mail to be answered, and even lists within the lists of things to do, fix, buy, donate, toss, etc. And I try to do them one-at-a-time, but… I sometimes think it would be so great to be completely organized – and I admire those who can do this – but life gets in the way and the desk all of a sudden has too many circulars and odd mail on it or the clothes I washed two days ago are still waiting to be folded and put away. So, I guess my “typical day” is really non-existent and that’s why most of my writing is done at night.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

I listen a lot – even when it’s not my conversation. I just might be sitting next to someone drinking coffee or standing in line at the grocery checkout. You ever go into a coffee shop or wait to bag your groceries? Ever overheard conversations? Sure you have – we all have. Someone is on a cellphone –“Uh-uh–I told Holly that that wasn’t what I would do.” “I bought the birthday cake at the bakery near the mall.” “Yeah, he got a new car.” Well, those snippets of conversations stay in my mind — and then I begin to wonder what Holly was doing wrong. Or who was the birthday cake for? Or what kind of new car was it that he bought? And then I’ll elaborate on it – and maybe Holly was arguing with her boyfriend or maybe the cake was for a special person and maybe the new car was something the man had always wanted and soon I’ll have an entire scenario going in my mind. And sometimes those musings turn into story lines or the conversation will figure in a novel.

What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

Write the best story you can write, edit it for grammar, punctuation, etc., and then just do it! I know that sounds simplistic but it’s really the very best advice I can give anyone who wants to be a writer. Yes, it’s a bit daunting and, frankly, a bit scary, but if you believe in the novel and in your ability to tell a story that people would like to read, then sit down, write it and then take a very deep breath and go ahead and publish it.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a very strong advocate for animal rights – I try to include at least one dog or cat or horse or even wild animals in every story – and try to show, by example and by incorporating it into my novel, that everyone should be kind to them. I’ve had dogs and cats and birds and guinea pigs and gerbils throughout my lifetime and now, where I live there are deer, chipmunks, squirrels, birds, foxes, etc. Of course, I take precautions with my pets and for myself, but I don’t get upset if the squirrels eat the birdfood or even when the deer eat my azaleas. It is what it is. They have a right to live, too.

Do you have any rejection stories to share?

I think every writer has a hundred “rejection” horror stories. One of my favorites: I had sent out my first romance book to several agents and editors and within a few weeks I got back “sorry, but not for us” letters but one was especially cruel. The agent had written on the first page of the manuscript that I couldn’t tell a story, I didn’t know how to plot, that it was poorly constructed, this was bad and that was bad and that I would never ever be a novelist!!! (Her exclamation points) Cruel. Harsh. And you know writers are insecure anyhow – will the readers like my books? Will they hate it? That stuff. So I was really down. But then, on the weekend…and this is honest-true…it was Sunday afternoon and I was washing clothes — and I got a phone call from an editor of a respected publishing house who said that she had just finished reading the novel, loved it, and wanted to publish it. She did…and, incidentally, she’s become one of my very favorite friends.

What is your writing routine like?

I like writing at night when it’s all quiet and there are no phone calls or other distractions. I usually write for about two to three hours but there are times I can go into early morning if I’m really involved with the storyline. Sometimes I put on music – I love the music of the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s – but sometimes I just want complete quiet. It depends on the mood I’m in and what I’m writing. Jake, my mostly beagle/hound/German Shepherd rescued wonder dog, is sleeping by my desk. I have a cup of coffee by the computer, it’s dark and quiet outside my office windows, and the world seems pretty okay.

EXCERPT: LOST ROSES OF GANYMEDE HOUSE

Chapter 1

“T

here, Miss, that be Ganymede House in the distance.” The driver pointed a bony finger beyond the turn of the road. “Ye can scarcely see the manor from here—there’s a bit of mist this morning—but wait a while and you’ll see it clear for yourself. Some say the estate is the most beautiful in the whole of Yorkshire.”

The carriage turned from the country road onto a private lane lined on both sides by tall stately elms. Once we passed onto the narrow dirt road and were within the confines of the low stone walls that faced the public thoroughfare, I felt chilled; the mist seemed not yet to have dissipated here, as it had across the distance we had just travelled, where the sun had already warmed the cool grounds. The contrast between where I had already been and where I was going now was virtually the same as clear and clouded, or as light and darkness. I shivered in the unexpected coolness and the driver, seeing me draw my cloak around me, tried to make me feel comfortable.

“The sun just takes a bit longer to get here,” he said, “but it’s something you’ll be grateful for when we’re in the midst of a hot summer. Then you’ll be glad for the respite from the heat.” Nevertheless, the man urged the horses on as though he failed to believe his own words and wanted to waste as few moments as possible within the enclosure of the darkened woods.

I had always dreamed of having my own family and my own place in London society, but alas, it was not to be. As the only child of a kindly but inefficient solicitor and his equally kindly but inefficient wife, what should have been an inheritance sufficient to allow me to live in comfortable surroundings turned out, upon the reading of the wills of my parents, to be nonexistent. The inheritance I had heard about during the years I was growing up simply never materialized. Thus, at the age of nineteen, while my friends were preparing for an endless round of parties and balls, I had to consult with my father’s partner about terms of employment that would allow me to live a respectable, but diminished, life.

“I’m afraid, my dear Miss Scott,” my father’s partner, Henry Clayton, said, staring down at my parents’ last will and testament, “that your father did not provide for you as adequately as he had wished. He had hoped that the money would be forthcoming so that he could have left an estate for you, but…” Mr. Clayton’s voice trailed off.

“I know,” I said, “my father was not the most astute of men when it came to handling finances.”

“But a warm soul,” Mr. Clayton interrupted. “He was the noblest of people. His clients came to rely on him and his word.”

“But they did not pay him, as you and I know.” I took a deep breath and asked the question that I was dreading. “And now, Mr. Clayton, what is to become of me?”

AMAZON LINK TO BUY: http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Ganymede-House-Constance-Walker-ebook/dp/B01CH1KSL0/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457053716&sr=1-2&keywords=LOST+ROSES+OF+GANYMEDE+HOUSE

My in-the-middle-of-revamping website: WWW.CONSTANCEWALKER.COM

LEC C-I_08840.JPG (2.0GB CF#6)

AUTHOR BIO:

Constance Walker is the author of two Gothic mysteries, LOST ROSES OF GANYMEDE HOUSE and THE SHIMMERING STONES OF WINTER’S LIGHT. She is also the author of IN TIME, a modern-WW2 time-travel romance and WARM WINTER LOVE, a contemporary romance about choices.

My in-the-middle-of-revamping website: WWW.CONSTANCEWALKER.COM

A Visit with Paige Tyler

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

In the past, I’ve written erotic, sci-fi, time travel, western, contemporary, paranormal, and suspense. But these days I’m focused on romantic suspense and paranormal romantic suspense. Most of my stories have a military or law enforcement feel to them and blend in a good mix of romance, action, and intrigue.

Tell us about your current series.

As I mentioned, I write a lot of romantic suspense, much of it with military and action themes. But out of deference to my husband—a 20-year Army veteran—I’ve always refrained from writing anything in the Navy SEAL world. I typically lean on him for the guy’s perspective and military expertise in my suspense/action stories, and he was never thrilled with writing about something so far outside his wheelhouse, but then Cat Johnson (she of the Hot SEALs fame) asked me to write a story in her HOT SEALs Kindle World Series and that changed everything!

Cat has helped me out with so much, from boxed sets to promo suggestions, to the best way to increase my indie sales, I simply couldn’t say no when she asked me for a story. Besides I’ve wanted to write something involving SEALs for a while and this seemed like fate calling.

So I plied my husband with compliments and pizza until he agreed to help me, then dived into the world of the Navy SEALs. In between my other book commitments, I knocked out MY SEAL BODYGUARD and had an incredible time writing it. Once I got hubby involved in the research and action sequences, he started enjoying it too (though I’m sure he’ll never admit it).

When I got done writing with that first SEAL story, I knew I couldn’t stop. I was hooked! So I thought about it for a while and came up with the SEALs OF CORONADO, a series featuring the guys on SEAL Team 5 in San Diego and the women who fall for them. I figured everyone was showing all kinds of love to the SEAL guys on the East Coast, so I decided the ones on the West Coast should get the same attention. The first book in the series—SEAL FOR HER PROTECTION—hit the shelves on April 12^th and I’m stoked!

How has your experience with self-publishing been?

Generally good. For me, self-publishing is an ongoing learning process. You get to figure out what themes sell, what book lengths work best, what kind of promotion might help you sell, and what vendors do better than others. I’ll admit that sometimes I’ve written books that haven’t sold a lot because of the subject matter, but that’s part of the learning process.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

Very! I meet so many amazing people at conferences and they all love to talk about the books I write. One of the joys of writing a long series (both my New York series X-OPS and SWAT, and the indie series I write, SEALs of CORONADO and DALLAS FIRE AND RESCUE, are all multi-book series) is that you have a chance to incorporate people you meet into the books. I wrote X-OPS Book 4 (HER FIRECE WARRIOR) with one very perfect real-life cover model in my head—even the hero’s name is the same as his. I have a fan who fell for a certain hero in SWAT, so I used her name for his heroine. I had one fan who wanted to be someone’s mother and another who wanted to be a bad guy in the X-OPS series. Another fan even pointed out something I hadn’t even thought of in a series, so I rewrote an entire future arc to include that storyline.

Was your road to publication fraught with peril or a walk in the park?

I started out writing by hand, in a notebook. When they were ready, I typed them up and sent them to agents, but I rarely heard anything back.

Then when the internet came on the scene and I stumbled over a member’s only site that paid people chapter by chapter for erotic romance stories. I said to myself, “I could do that.” I ended up writing something like twenty books for that publisher. I grew and developed along with the digital press explosion, writing for three or four different publishers, getting better and better at my craft as I did.

Wanting to get to New York, I started doing the pitch thing at conferences and book signings. Those were tough and even though I had some really good books, I couldn’t get any traction with agents or publishers. By this point, I’d been writing for seven or eight years and was starting to think that maybe New York just wasn’t going to happen. But my husband, who’s my biggest cheerleader, kept me going and urged me to keep pursuing my dream.

Following the advice of a few fellow authors, I finally wrote a story that was completely different than anything I’d done before, a paranormal romance suspense with shifters paired with military/cops and a focus on action and danger. It was a great book. I simply had to find an agent who believed that as much as I did.

I went through 174 agents before I found a person who believed in that story as much as I did. That agent got me a New York deal for that book—HER PERFECT MATE—and the follow-on books (X-OPS). I just finished writing Book 6 in that series and am working on Book 6 of another series (SWAT) with the same publisher (Sourcebooks).

It took a long time to get where I am, but it was worth it.

Tell us about your hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

The hero is Petty Officer Chasen Ward. He became a Navy SEAL after 9/11 when someone close to him died because he wanted to do something to make sure that nothing like that ever happened again. Because he’s so dedicated to his team, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for them. He would die for any of those guys. While that makes him a perfect SEAL, it also wreaks havoc on his love life because it terrifies every woman he’s ever gotten involved with. He’s dedicated to his Team and has faced danger countless times as a SEAL, but the thing that scares him the most is falling for a woman who leaves because she can’t handle what he does for a living.

Tell us about your heroine. Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Hayley Garner is an investigative journalist with a nose for news and a desire to uncover the truth. That means going where the story is, even if it’s in the crappiest hellholes in the world. Like Chasen, she’s used to putting herself in danger on a regular basis for her job. Her strength is her fearlessness. She doesn’t let anything get in the way of going after a story, but it’s her weakness as well because it sometimes it puts her in situations that are dangerous not only to her, but the people around her.

What are you currently working on?

Right now I’m working on STRONG SILENT SEAL, the second book in my SEALs of Coronado Series, which releases June 27^th, as well as Book 6 in the SWAT Series.

Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.

SEAL FOR HER PROTECTION

When investigative journalist Hayley is kidnapped by terrorists, she’s sure they’re going to kill her. But in sweeps handsome Navy SEAL Chasen to rescue her. After getting her to safety, he disappears into the night before she can even thank him.

Weeks later, while covering a story on the local navy base, Hayley runs into Chasen again. Even though she didn’t see his face that night he rescued her, she can’t forget his beautiful blue eyes.

The attraction is immediate and intense…and Hayley finds herself falling into a fiery romance with the hunky hero out of her dreams. Guys like this aren’t supposed to really exist, but Chasen does…and dang is he hot.

But ever since she got back home, Hayley has had the feeling someone’s been watching her. Is it post-traumatic stress or does she have a reason to be afraid? Good thing she has a Navy SEAL there to watch over her!

What is your writing routine like?

I write like a psycho pretty much 7 days a week/365 days a year. I allow myself a little off time on Christmas and other big holidays, but I really try to write every day. I seriously have to because I’m on contract to publish four New York books a year and four to five indie books. It’s a stressful schedule that requires my fulltime commitment. I get up early (five in the morning), get hubby off to work, then start writing. With short breaks for eating and exercise, I usually work nonstop until going to bed every night.

Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

Having a fan come up to you and say they loved your story so much they couldn’t go to bed until they finished reading it. Oh, and seeing your book in the bookstore? Yeah…that’s kind of nice too.

Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract?

Write because you love writing and have stories inside you that have to come out. Read reviews, but only to see if there’s anything valuable you can use to make your writing better. Forget the rest. Be willing to write stories that are unique and different and personal to you. They may not sell like hotcakes, but those stories will allow you to stretch and grow and find your voice. Find a few fellow writers to lean on and learn from, and be willing to put yourself out there to learn your craft because it really is a process.

What’s next for you?

Right now, I’m working on STRONG SILENT SEAL, the second book in my SEALs of Coronado Series, which releases June 27^th, as well as Book 6 in the SWAT Series. In addition to that, I’m launching my DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE Kindle World in October. If you’re not familiar with Kindle Worlds, it’s a platform where authors can legally write books in another author’s series. ABLAZE, Book 2 in my DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE Series releases in conjunction with the launch. As for other upcoming releases, readers can look for TO LOVE A WOLF (SWAT 4) June 7^th, HER ROGUE ALPHA(X-OPS 5) September 6^th, and WOLF UNLEASHED (SWAT 5) December 6^th. All of them are available for pre-order.

He saved her from danger once before. Can he save her again, this time from danger he doesn’t even see coming?

When investigative journalist Hayley Garner is kidnapped by terrorists, she’s sure they’re going to kill her. But in sweeps handsome Navy SEAL Chasen Ward to rescue her. After getting her to safety, he disappears into the night before she can even thank him.

Weeks later, while covering a story on the local navy base, Hayley runs into Chasen again. Even though she didn’t see his face that night he rescued her, she can’t forget his beautiful blue eyes. The attraction is immediate and intense, and Hayley finds herself falling into a fiery romance with the hunky hero out of her dreams. Guys like this aren’t supposed to really exist, but Chasen does, and damn is he hot.

Excerpt
http://www.paigetylertheauthor.com/BooksSEALforHerProtection.html

Amazon
http://amzn.to/1JlQFfS

B&N
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seal-for-her-protection-paige-tyler/1123276615?ean=2940152764697

Kobo
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/seal-for-her-protection

iBOOKS
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1076434026

All Romance eBooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sealforherprotection-1969740-153.html

BIO

Paige Tyler is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, romantic suspense and paranormal romance. She and her very own military hero (also known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their adorable fur baby (also known as their dog). Paige graduated with a degree in education, but decided to pursue her passion and write books about hunky alpha males and the kick-butt heroines who fall in love with them.

She is represented by Bob Mecoy.

Social media links:

Website: http://paigetylertheauthor.com/

Blog: http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Facebook Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/paige.tyler.9

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/PaigeTylerAuthor

X-OPS Series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/XOPSSeriesbyPaigeTylerAuthor

SWAT Series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/SWATSeriesbyPaigeTylerAuthor

Paige Tyler’s Groupies Central on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/Paigetylersgroupies/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/PaigeTyler

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/paigetylerauth/

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tsu: http://www.tsu.co/paigetylerauthor

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/PaigeTylerAuthor

Instagram: paige_tyler_author

Google+: http://plus.google.com/u/0/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2300692.Paige_Tyler

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/BBrEP

Email: paigetyler@paigetylertheauthor.com

Want more hunky Navy SEALs? Then don’t forget to pre-order STRONG SILENT SEAL, Book 2 in the SEALs of CORONADO Series!

Wedding planner Felicia Bradford is in trouble. Mercenaries are holding her sister hostage and threatening to kill her unless Felicia helps them steal top secret information from the Navy’s Special Operations Headquarters. Having no other way to access the base, she pulls a gun on the first man in a Navy uniform she finds, demanding he get her through the gate.

Navy SEAL Logan Dunn just got back from a mission in Syria and is looking for a little down time to relax. That plan goes out the window when a beautiful woman shoves a gun in his back and begs him to do something he can tell she doesn’t want to be part of. Logan does what any Navy SEAL would do in the same situation—he saves the girl and takes out the bad guys.

But their actions that day kick off a crazy chain of events, including a fast-burning whirlwind romance, an out-of-control sister, an insane covert plot involving a defecting Russian pilot, a mercenary bent on revenge, and a sunrise wedding for a bride who never wakes up before noon.

Getting through her sister’s kidnapping will look like a piece of cake compared to what comes next.

Amazon
http://amzn.to/1MQaaPi

B&N
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iBOOKS
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All Romance eBooks
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A visit with Anya Summers

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

Thank you for having me on your blog today, Cynthia! I’m super excited to be here today and talk about my newest release.

How did you get started writing? My journey into writing began when I was a teenager. I had fashioned myself into becoming the next Emily Dickinson and wrote poetry. Really awful soul-sucking poetry that will never see the light of day. It wasn’t until after I had graduated from undergrad that I tried my hand at writing books. By the end of that first book, which will also never see the light of day, I was hooked. That was fifteen years ago and I love what I do.

What genre(s) do you write in and why? I write Erotic Romance under the name Anya Summers. Additionally, I write Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. The reason behind the two separate names is that the Erotic Romance is such a departure from the other two genres with the love scenes quite a bit more spicy and explicit than my UF and PNR titles, and not everyone is comfortable reading that level of kink. Also, on a personal note, I’m writing the Erotic under a name my father knows nothing about, because there are some things a father should never know that their daughter knows about.

Tell us about your current series. The Dungeon Fantasy Club Series is an Erotic Romance series. As it stands right now there are 8 books in the series, coming out over the next eight months. The first book in the series is Her Highland Master where we get to meet the sexy Scot, Declan McDougal.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories? My ideas come from all walks of life. One of my best sources of inspiration is music.

Tell us about your hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses. Declan McDougal was fashioned with a likeness toward Richard Armitage. I kinda have a thing for that man, especially when he’s dressed up as Thorin Oakenshield. He’s an alpha billionaire Dom and one of the founding members of the Dungeon Fantasy Club. He is inherently kind and willing to go to battle for those in need. His weakness is his fear of loving again.

Tell us about your heroine. Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses. Zoey Mills is a woman whose life just imploded. A hard worker, she’s had to carry a ton of responsibility on her shoulders for years, and is finally taking some much needed time for herself. Her greatest strength is her bravery while her weakness would be her inability to trust others.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader? I’m a huge fan of just about every romance sub-genre available: Paranormal, Contemporary, Erotic, Historical, Romantic Suspense, and my list could go on. I love Dean Koontz and the thriller genre. I’ll read just about anything you put in front of me.

What’s next for you? The entire Dungeon Fantasy Club Series will be released over the next eight months. They are all stand-alone titles. I also have releases slated this fall in my PNR and UF Series that I write under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher.

Her Highland Master

Zoey Mills’s life is in shambles. She’s been accused of leaking her upper crust Hollywood clients’ data to an online magazine for a large payday. After a wine and chocolate-filled evening of drowning her sorrows, she determines that her best course of action is to leave her home in sunny Los Angeles for a week-long vacation in the Scottish Highlands. It’s the only way she can escape from the fact that her image is being splashed across the nightly news – and it might actually give her a chance to consider what her next move should be, now that her Great Master Life Plan has disintegrated into dust.

Unfortunately, she’s only just landed and is navigating the tiny roads in her rental car when a freak early autumn snow storm hits. Zoey finds herself stranded and winds up on the doorstep of Mullardoch Manor; home of the sexy Scotsman, Declan McDougal, who is her every dark fantasy brought to life.

Declan is one of the founding members of The Dungeon Fantasy Club. As a billionaire businessman and a Dom, he prefers to keep his sexual preferences and tastes away from the boardroom. He’s also become bored, not just with the club, but also with his life. None of the subs he meets can hold his interest for more than a night and it’s been that way for a long time. He just never wants more than a brief encounter. At least, not since his ex-fiancée cheated on him with another Dom and ran away. However, that all changes when Zoey barrels into his home uninvited and upends his luxurious but stale existence.

When Zoey finds herself without a place to stay, Declan makes her a tantalizing but scandalous offer: Stay in his home for the week, free of charge, and spend each night warming his bed. Or any other time of the day, for that matter. Deciding she doesn’t have much to lose and possibly everything to gain, Zoey accepts.

With Zoey’s every sweet subsequent cry of ecstasy, Declan uncovers a sub who warms not only his bed, but slowly thaws his frozen, scarred heart. And as Zoey explores her deepest fantasies, even as he spanks her bare bottom for disobeying his rules, she finds herself wanting more than just a week of unmitigated pleasure with the Dom.

Things seem to be progressing perfectly, both in bed and out, when Zoey’s past catches up with her. When he feels betrayed once more, and fears the woman he has grown to care for is not who she says she is, will Declan still be willing to risk his heart to become Her Highland Master?

Available at: AMAZON: http://goo.gl/8rSRxt

Blushing Books: http://goo.gl/GpBzia

Author Bio

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a M.A. in History.

Anya is a Bestselling and Award-Winning Author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance under the name, Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the midwest with her two furry felines.

Visit her website here:

www.anyasummers.com

Visit her on social media here:

http//www.facebook.com/AnyaSummersAuthor

Twitter: @AnyaBSummers

Don’t miss these exciting titles by Anya Summers and Blushing Books!

Dungeon Fantasy Club Series

Her Highland Master, Book 1, April 15, 2016

To Master & Defend, Book 2, May 15, 2016

Two Doms for Kara, Book 3, June 12, 2016

His Driven Domme, Book 4, July 2016

Her Country Master, Book 5, August 2016

Love Me, Master Me, Book 6, September 2016

Submit To Me, Book 7, October 2016

Her Wired Dom, Book 8, November 2016

Rafflecopter Giveaway- 5 ebook copies of Her Highland Master

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A Visit with Kate Hill

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Cindy Woolf

What is your favorite part of writing? I love getting to know the characters and spending time with them. Even after a book is over, they stay with me like old friends.

What is your least favorite part of writing? Proof reading and editing. No matter how many times I go through a book, there’s always something (usually much more than one thing) I miss.

Tell us about your hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses. Jonah is a loyal, hardworking man who has always had a lot of responsibility. His greatest strength is his dedication to his family, but it’s also his greatest weakness because he feels like he has to take care of everyone and doesn’t like to admit when he needs help.

Tell us about your heroine. Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses. Mercy is a compassionate, independent woman. Living in a time when it was harder for women to actually be independent, she sometimes tries too hard to control her emotions. That’s one of her weaknesses.

Has your muse always known what genre you would write and be published in? I was around nine years old when I saw the movie Love at First Bite and ever since then I’ve loved romance and the paranormal. Most of my books combine the two.

What are you currently working on? Right now I’m working on the sequel to Captain’s Mercy. It focuses on the romance between Jonah’s younger brother, Max, and Grace, a governess with many secrets.

What do you have planned for the future? When I finish Max’s story, I’m planning to write about Max and Jonah’s sister, Faith, and her gorgeous husband-to-be, Geoffrey.

What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? Yes, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling stories.

Describe the genre of this particular title, and is the only genre you write in? Captain’s Mercy is a historical romance. It also has elements of suspense and mystery. I write in many subgenres of romance, though mostly paranormal, historical and science fiction.

When did you start writing toward publication? When I was sixteen I started submitting work for possible publication. It took ten years before I had a story accepted. It was a short, erotic vampire story.

Excerpt from Captain’s Mercy by Kate Hill

On their way downstairs, she asked, “What were you doing in the attic? I thought I heard howling up there a short time ago and then a crash.”

“The wind, I’m sure. No doubt the crash you heard was Michaels. He tripped over an old trunk. He’s up there now, making repairs on a window that was blown open by the storm. He’s also trying to get rid of more unwanted guests of the flying rodent variety, so I remind you to stay away from the attic.”

“Why do you suppose the pests keep coming back?”

“I’m not sure. My expertise is the sea. Ask me about whales and sharks and I could probably answer. Bats are another story.”

“Do you still go to sea?” she asked, eager to keep her mind off the storm.

“Not as much as I used to.”

“Do you miss it?”

“At times. I miss the straightforwardness of being at sea. The simplicity. Aboard ship, a man is valued more for what he knows than for his bloodlines.”

“You don’t have much use for polite society, do you?”

“As long as rich men keep buying my ships, I like it well enough.”

“Is that why you partnered with Max?”

“Partly. Max is intelligent and good at business. He knows how to mingle with those kinds of people and put them at ease so they’ll make the best deal.”

“I see. The business world is all about using people.”

“Precisely.”

“It sounds very cutthroat and lonely to me.”

“Maybe, but playing the game is better than being poor, isn’t it? I know. I’ve been on that side of it too. Faith and Max don’t remember like I do. They were young when we could barely make ends meet.”

They had reached the library and he gestured for her to sit on the couch. He joined her, but kept a respectable distance.

“So you went to sea to take care of them. Do you ever regret it?”

“Not for an instant. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them. My only regret is what happened to Robert.” Pain glistened in his dark eyes, taking her aback. He always seemed so strong, even cold at times. He rarely displayed any vulnerability.

Strangely, she wished to comfort him.

“I’m sure what happened to him was quite beyond your control.”

“That’s not the only thing, it seems.” He stared deeply into her eyes and edged closer–so near that they almost touched.

“Mr. Barnes, please.” She had intended the words to sound like a warning. Instead they came out like a plea.

At the next clap of thunder, she instinctively jumped and flung her arms around him. He held her snugly and while she knew she should pull away, she didn’t want to. She felt safe and secure in his embrace, but it was more than that. The feel of his body, his heart beating against her cheek and his divinely masculine scent aroused her in a way she couldn’t deny.

“Mercy,” he murmured. When he covered her mouth in a possessive kiss, she didn’t even try to stop him, but surrendered, just like Macie to Captain Bristle.

Available at

http://www.bookstrand.com/book/captains-mercy

About Kate

Always a fan of romance and the paranormal, Kate Hill started writing over twenty years ago for pleasure. Her first story, an erotic vampire tale, was accepted for publication in 1996. Since then she has sold over one hundred short stories, novellas and novels. When she’s not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out and watching horror movies.

Website: http://www.kate-hill.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Hill/e/B002BLS7OW

Blogs: http://www.kate-hill.com/blog

http://www.kate-hill.com/compellingbeastsblog

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16157.Kate_Hill

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katehillsaloniquinby

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/katehillromance