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New release coming 4/2/18!

3/27/2018

Watch this space for a cover reveal for my new romantic suspense novel Whatever it Takes.

SWAT Academy for Writers, Pt. 2

10/28/2016

I call this photo "stealthy me" (that's me, holding the plastic gun down). We were being taught how to "clear" a house of bad guys.

SWAT Academy for Writers

In the Arms of a Stranger: Post #5

1/13/2013

I've missed a few weeks of Six Sentence Sundays, but am glad to be participating again.

This is the fifth post from what will be my next full-length release, In the Arms of a Stranger. These sentences are from a little further down in chapter 4 from what I published in Post #4. Abby has saved JP from his pursuers twice at this point:

     “Who’ll save you next time?” she asked.
     It won’t be you, Abby.
     He had to pull back, had to put some perspective on the situation. He had the uneasy feeling that she could see too much of what he felt, but then, he could just be projecting his own insanity onto her. The feelings she evoked in him were not reciprocated. Common decency wouldn’t be if she ever found out the truth about what he was.

Comments welcome!

Don't forget to visit other Six Sentence Sunday participants for some truly fantastic reads. I've bought several authors work after reading snippets. It's a great way to find new authors to love.

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Available at Amazon. Amazon Prime members read it for free!

My RWA Golden Heart Finalist, available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

In the Arms of a Stranger: Post #4: Secret wishes

12/23/2012

Many, many thanks to those who stop by and comment, and welcome to all newcomers. Don't forget to visit other Six Sentence Sunday participants for some truly fantastic reads.

This week I wanted to share something "Christmasy," but I have no Christmas books, so went with a few lines that deal with a surprising secret wish. This is from In the Arms of a Stranger. My heroine, Abby, has helped my hero, JP, who's on the run, and now wants answers only he can give her about her late husband. JP's gotten to know Abby and her son as he's hidden in Abby's barn. This is from chapter 4:

      They walked through the barn, a calico cat winding between their legs, making it impossible for them to hurry. Abby bent and lifted the cat, whispered something to her and put her back down with a gentle rub down her back.
      This was his chance. He could walk away. She’d never find him.
      Instead, JP watched mother and child walk out of the barn into the bright light of day, refusing to think about what pushed at the edges of what he suddenly wished for.

Comments are welcome!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. Hope you enjoy the Christmas tree picture, below.

This is the "book" Christmas tree from my library. One of our (very patient and talented) student assistants did this. Look closely and you'll see microfilm running down the sides.

Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

Available at Amazon. Amazon Prime members read it for free!

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When there's something one character doesn't know ...

12/16/2012

there's bound to be trouble.

At a loss as to what to share, I grabbed the first six lines of chapter 2 of Another Hero, the sequel to To the Limit, my South American romantic suspense. Though I haven't submitted to a publisher, it (well, the first 7,000 K words) will get a read by an editor and agent due to a contest final. I'm in hurry up and wait mode on several things now.

Laura is hiding from authorities, desperate to get her young son back. Mark is back in the country bent on revenge. They've never met, but know of each other. He's just realized who she is. Here are the six:

      “What in God’s name are you doing here?” Mark asked, knowing he’d just blown the hell out of his plans. Three weeks in country without a single screw up until this. But the pretty waitress with the incredible body and sweet smile was no simple waitress. There was nothing at all simple about Laura Morales to him.
      “No hablo inglés,” she said.
      At least she had a functioning brain, while he’d left his somewhere back at the restaurant when he’d charged in like some damn knight in shining armor.

Comments welcome!

Don't forget to visit other Six Sentence Sunday participants for some truly fantastic reads.

Another Hero: a bit more news

12/9/2012

After writing last week's post I learned that another manuscript is also a finalist in the Emily Contest. It's a mystery with romantic elements—pretty strong ones. I will get around to posting from that at a later date, maybe when I've managed to come up with a better title. I've never finaled in two categories in any contest before, so am pretty happy. You can see all the contest finalists here.

This is from Another Hero, from a few lines past last week's post. A stranger has just stepped in to help Laura avoid the advances of Ruiz, a powerful South American politician:

      Too scared to turn and run, she chose the one thing she’d sworn never again to do—depend on a man’s strength. She took a leap into the unknown and stepped to the stranger’s side, her thoughts already tripping ahead, planning an escape.
      “Your wife, muchacho?” Ruiz asked.
      “The mother of my children.”
      Loco, she thought. Completamente loco.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments welcome!

Don't forget to visit as many Six Sentence Sunday participants as you can.

Below is a picture of the southern coast of Peru. The setting for Another Hero is fictitious, but based on Peru.

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Available at Amazon. Amazon Prime members read it for free!

Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

Another Hero: a bit more & news

12/2/2012

I'm backing up and posting a bit more from the first manuscript I chose for Six Sentence Sundays. Another Hero is the sequel to To the Limit (cover to the right). If you're curious, you can read the beginning by clicking the link to Another Hero at the bottom of this post. I'm posting more now because I just received the news that this manuscript is a finalist in the romantic suspense category of the West Houston RWA Emily Contest.

Laura Morales is hiding from authorities and waiting tables at a South American beach side restaurant/cantina. A stranger has unnerved her with his steady gaze, and now Ruiz, the man responsible for her father's arrest and her situation, has arrived and forced her sit at his table, unaware of who she is. He runs his hands down over the front of her blouse. Laura reacts by slapping him, which silences the entire cantina. But Ruiz won't release her. Here's what happens next:

      “Déjala.” Leave her. The command came from Laura’s right.
      Frantic to see who had interrupted, she wrenched herself back, forcing Ruiz to loosen his grasp enough for her to turn.
      The stranger had spoken. He still sat, but the tense lines of his body spoke of his readiness to explode into action.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments welcomed!

Don't forget to visit as many Six Sentence Sunday participants as you can.

In the Arms of a Stranger: post 3

11/25/2012

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with food and family.

I'm continuing with a few more lines from In the Arms of a Stranger. Last week had my hero searching for the woman he thinks he hit with his car which is now wrecked in a creek bed, only to realize there's a child involved. It's the proverbial dark and stormy night:

      He jogged through puddles to the rear driver’s side of the Jeep, jerked open the door, and peered inside. The dome light revealed a child, a boy, in the back, safe in his car seat.
      Relieved, JP turned, looking for the woman in the dark. “Where are you?” he shouted.
      Lightning speared the night and he saw her prone on the ground, just beyond the front left bumper of her Jeep. He hoisted his pack onto his back and rushed to her side as thunder boomed around them.

Comments welcome!

As usual, I had a hard time picking just six lines that made some sort of sense given last week's six. How do you choose?

Don't forget to visit as many Six Sentence Sunday participants as you can.

Available at Amazon. Amazon Prime members read it for free!

Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

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In the Arms of a Stranger, post 2

11/18/2012

Many thanks to those of you who drop by each Sunday and welcome to new visitors. I am a bit disheartened that there's no way Six Sentence Sunday can continue in 2013. I've loved reading snippets of so many novels and deciding which of mine I would post. Don't forget to visit as many Six Sentence Sunday participants as you can.

Last week I posted six sentences from In the Arms of a Stranger. My hero, JP, has been shot while running from pursuers as yet unidentified. Racing down a muddy Alabama back road during a night time thunderstorm, he's narrowly missed hitting a woman standing next to her car by driving his own over an embankment into a raging creek. He's climbed out and found her car, but can't find her in the dark. Here are this week's six sentences:

      Where the hell was she? Had he rolled right over her? Knocked her down the ravine?
      “Mommy!” A child’s plaintive cry sliced into JP’s fear.
      Holy shit, a kid.

Comments welcome!

Since my trip to Alabama in pursuit of Fall colors inspired my choice of this book, here's one of the pictures from that trip.

Available at Amazon. Amazon Prime members read it for free!

Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

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In the Arms of a Stranger

11/11/2012

My deepest respect and appreciation for all veterans and their families on this Veteran's Day.

I'm in Alabama this weekend, enjoying the Fall colors (no Fall colors in Florida), so I thought I'd post some lines from a book that's set in Alabama. I recently entered this into the Golden Pen Contest and was thrilled when it was chosen as a finalist. In the Arms of a Stranger starts with my hero, JP Blackmon, driving down a muddy back road during a night time thunderstorm. I'll let these lines speak to his problems:

So far, the folded T-shirt he’d made into a pressure bandage had done its job. Six hours after avoiding a shot meant to kill, he was sure he’d lost the trackers who’d spotted him at the Atlanta Airport. The bullet had penetrated just above his right hip. He had both entrance and exit wounds. The pain wasn’t bad, but he’d have to take care of it soon, if he could stay ahead of them.
But they’d know. Hell, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to know where he was headed.

Comment are welcome!

I'll be visiting other "sixers" late Sunday or Monday.

Please visit other participants of Six Sentence Sunday.

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