~ WHEN YOU MULTI-TASK, DON'T FORGET ~ SING FOR THE DEAD ~

As I've said before, I love the sheer variety of books available in the market today, and being able to share that here with you. I've had an author on my blog before whose book was about romance on the Scottish Highlands, one who wrote about The Witness Protection Program, one who had Edgar Allan Poe as a character...it goes on and on! But I've got to say...I don't believe I've ever featured a book about a were-leopard, didn't in fact know that such a thing existed, until now. Please welcome the writer of our guest post today, author P.J. Schnyder!

Things I Do When Writing

Authors multi-task sometimes while they’re writing and I’m no different. A pretty common thing is to have a load of laundry going while in the midst of a word sprint. Sometimes there’s something baking in the oven or bubbling in the slow cooker.



While I was writing Sing for the Dead, I did all these things. I also did a couple of unusual things.



One that might have sports fans irritated with me was attending a baseball game. Yup. Roomie has season tickets at Camden Yards. Good seats too. I keep him company sometimes and get word sprints in during slower innings. I’ve gotten a lot of looks and one particularly passive aggressive lady saying unkind things about my general appearance and how I didn't deserve to be sitting next to roomie. Hey, roomie likes having me with him even if I’m writing some of the time. That’s all that matters.



Possibly the oddest thing I’ve done though is break in new shoes. Seriously. I pull on the cute new heels and let them stretch a tiny bit around my feet as I sit with legs outstretched on my couch and write. Aside from the practical outcome of heels broken in, I also feel a bit sexy while I’m writing. Not a bad thing. ;)



Do you multitask while writing or reading?



Play find the PJ around the Internetz:

Website: http://pjschnyder.com

Twitter: @pjschnyder

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPJSchnyder

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/pjschnyder

BLURB ~

Kayden, a lone were-leopard allied with the London werewolf pack to keep the zombie infestation in check, is used to working solo—until he discovers a beautiful fae woman surrounded by the aftermath of battle. He’s immediately drawn to Sorcha, but quickly discovers she’s much more than a pretty face.

Half Bean Sidhe and half berserker, Sorcha trained over centuries to become the perfect warrior. She agrees to work with local weres to investigate a new type of zombie capable of coordinated attacks—and is partnered with Kayden. He’s strong, darkly handsome and completely unafraid of her. And his kiss fills her with insatiable desire instead of bloodlust.

As Kayden and Sorcha work together, their attraction grows and their deepest scars are bared to each other. But with the force behind the deadly new zombies poised to overwhelm the city, Sorcha can only pray that the next time her bloodlust strikes, Kayden isn’t among the fallen…

       

EXCERPT ~

Chapter One

Sorcha ran.

Taking the Serpentine bridge helped speed her along, man-made though it was. Crossing running water posed no deterrent for her. Others of fae blood might have paused in the hunt, but the zombies shambling through the bare trees in these parks were not her quarry.

No. Pursuit was not her purpose. Rescue was. The feeling of wrongness, the taint of spoiled magic, worsened as she crossed from Hyde Park into the Kensington Gardens. Perhaps the lake separating the two parks kept some of it from spreading. What humans called the Long Water remained relatively clean of the pall of death exuding from the land.

The trees in Kensington Gardens were bare skeletons this deep into winter in London—sleeping, but restless, tugging at her heart. Would the trees be too sickened to bring forth new life after their roots had bathed in blood? Parks like these provided sanctuary for the lesser fae and Fair Folk living in cities such as London. Without them, the fae who’d made the city their home, braved cold iron, would fade. And for every city lost, the Under Hill shrank as well.

Even if mortals ruled the world, the fae needed to maintain a presence in order to keep the balance of things or their world would fade from existence. She’d been sent to investigate why the fae of London were disappearing, and she’d found death walking. Stupid humans, coming in after dark, to hunt and be overwhelmed, to loot and be taken by surprise. Perhaps such short lives made for stunted memories. Though the zombies found prey too often in these gardens, the humans kept coming. She didn’t Sing for those, the ones who’d done humanity a favor by taking themselves out of the gene pool.

No. Her Songs aided the passing of worthier souls. A tortured cry rang out in the night, sending ripples through the magic saturating the land, tainted as it was. She ran harder. Perhaps she could be savior this time, and not simply witness to death.

The zombies were gathering, called not only by the sounds of struggle, but also by the disturbance. Like sharks drawn to an injured fish in water, it was as if the zombies could sense easy prey. Unnatural as they were, she’d no doubt zombies were animated at least in part by magic of some kind. The parks used to be the reservoirs of old magic in the city. They’d become death traps.

As she broke through the trees, a brownie stood atop a mound in the children’s playground, a curved dome with tunnels for children to crawl through in play. Good that he’d chosen higher ground, bad that he’d allowed himself to be surrounded away from any trees or route of escape. Maybe the mound had reminded him of a hollowed hill, the way the tunnels led beneath it.

Gentle in nature, brownies like him tended places and buildings, their magic sympathetic to home and hearth. They weren’t bred to fighting, weren’t trained as soldiers the way she’d been. While he could turn boggart and create minor havoc, he wasn’t meant for true violence and was no match for the dead trying to eat him. But she was.

Red haze encroached on her vision. Sorcha reached for her swords, drawing them free without slowing her pace, embracing the sweet song of savagery rising in her blood.

Buy SING FOR THE DEAD here:

Sing for the Dead Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Bio ~

Born and raised in the North East, PJ Schnyder spent her childhood pretending to study for the SATs by reading every fantasy and sci-fi novel she could borrow from the local and school libraries. She scored fairly high in the verbal portion.

She was introduced to the wonderful world of romance a decade later by her best friend at an anime convention in Seattle.

She now lives somewhere temperate watching the seasons go by with her two dogs and super stealthy ninja kitty, writing her stories and gaming.

Giveaway ~

Awesome Prizes: A Sing for the Dead spiral notebook, PJ pen, signed cover flats for Sing for the Dead and Bite Me, and a custom bookmark with one of my favorite quotes from Sing for the Dead, plus a PJ Schnyder USB flash drive.

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~ WHEN YOU NEED YOUR ROMANCE UNDER THE MISTLETOE ~ 'TIS THE SEASON TO KISS SANTA ~

BLURB ~

With the help of a sprig of mistletoe and some snow angels, a recently single pastry chef teaches a highly successful and sexy Scrooge the true meaning of the holidays on a snowy Christmas Eve that quickly heats up.

EXCERPT ~

He slid out of bed. “I’ll be back in a minute.”?Which was just long enough for Ellie to start worrying.

What had just happened between them had been amazing. Unexpectedly good.

But she had absolutely no idea what to do now. How was he feeling about this? Okay, so he was stuck here for tonight, but would he even want to see her again once the roads had cleared enough for him to leave?

And then there were the practical issues. His suit was soaked, and her bathrobe was never going to fit him. The best she could offer him was a bath towel. And she could hardly suggest that he spent the rest of the evening wearing nothing but a bath towel. It was ridiculous. She knew she’d laugh about it later, but right now she was feeling like the worst hostess in the world.

Quickly, she pulled some dry clothes on, and was just starting to deal with the soggy heap of clothes on the floor when Mitch walked back into the room, unashamedly naked. Obviously her worries showed on her face, because he frowned. “What’s wrong?” She told him.

He just laughed. “I guess you have a point. I can’t put my suit back on until it’s dry. But if we were at a pool or on a beach I’d be wearing less than a towel.” He smiled at her. “Actually, I’ve had a thought. How easy is it to scandalize your neighbors?”

Ellie stared at him, horrified. She hadn’t even thought about the neighbors. “You mean, if they saw us outside in the garden…” Kissing each other stupid, and then him carrying her inside—and it would’ve been so obvious what their intentions had been.

“No. I was thinking more about collecting something from my car. But if my going outside in just a towel would upset your neighbors…”

“Just tell me what you want and I’ll fetch it,” she said hastily.

“The Santa suit’s in the back of my car.”

She sat down on the bed in relief. “So you’re telling me I’m going to have dinner with Santa? A man in a red hoodie?” He laughed. “Looks like it. But I already have a pocket full of carrots for Rudolph, so you don’t have to cater to him tonight.” He gave her his car keys.

BIO ~

Kate Hardy is an award-winning author of over 50 books for Harlequin and is thrilled to be writing now for Indulgence. Her novel ‘Breakfast at Giovanni’s’ won the RNA Romance Prize in 2008 and she’s been shortlisted three more times for the award, as well as for two Romantic Times awards.

She lives in Norwich in the east of England with her husband, two children, springer spaniel, and too many books to count. She’s a bit of a nerd who loves cinema, the theatre, ballroom dancing history and cooking (which is why she has to go to the gym five times a week!), and adores anything Italian.

Reviewers say that her books are full of warmth, heart and charm – and also that you’ll learn something new and interesting from them! Kate also writes bestselling local history books under the name of Pamela Brooks.

You can find Kate at:

Kate’s Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

You can find 'TIS THE SEASON TO KISS SANTA at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books

GIVEAWAY ~

 

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HOW DOES ONE FIND LOVE IN TOUCH? ~ A ROMANCE OF A DIFFERENT KIND

I am so excited to have author Lucy May Lennox on today! She has written a different kind of love story that I feel needed to be written, although I never had the idea myself. Won't you listen to her talk about--

~ WRITING A DEAF-BLIND CHARACTER ~

This was definitely a big challenge that I set myself! I didn't base Jake on any one person I have met in real life. I have known several blind people, and a few people with hearing loss, so I did draw somewhat from my interactions with them. But I also did a lot of research.

Part of what inspired me to write about a deafblind character was my frustration with "wounded hero" romance novels where the hero's "wound" or disability is something really minor, like a scar that actually makes him more attractive. I'm always looking for an alternative to the perfect alpha male hero but often it's just the same thing in a different package.

At the same time, there seems to be this insidious assumption that only way guys can have a disability and still be attractive is to downplay the disability as much as possible. So I thought, why not write a romance with a guy who has a serious disability, one that really impacts every aspect of his life. I wanted to see how far I could push it and still have a satisfying story.

As I did more research, I realized that many of the deafblind people I read about online are married. So much for stereotypes! These people clearly had found their "happily ever after," but who was writing their stories?

When I did my first round of research, all I found was non-fiction writing, and as I finished the first draft, I started to think I might be the first to write a love story with a deafblind main character. Then as I was doing revisions, I discovered Of Such Small Differences by Joanna Greenberg. It's a wonderful book; I can't recommend it highly enough. So in the end I'm not the first, but I'm happy to come in second.

BLURB ~

Kassie has felt adrift ever since her dad died when she was in college. Now 24 and living in Seattle, she gets interested in learning sign language through her roommate, a sign language interpreter. One day at a Deaf community event, she sees a young man sitting off by himself. Kassie feels compelled to try signing to him–the fact that he’s strikingly handsome doesn’t hurt.


Jake has been deaf and blind since birth. His disability has cut him off from the world, but beneath his isolated exterior, is a smart, sweet guy with a dry sense of humor. Despite the odds, he’s highly educated, but at 26, he’s gotten stuck in a rut, with few friends and no clear career plans. Until a sweet-smelling girl introduces herself to him unexpectedly, and opens up a whole new world to him.

Jake is more intelligent, more genuine than anyone she has met before, and for the first time Kassie starts to feel like her life has some direction. But as their friendship deepens into something more, the difficulty in communicating with each other only grows, and it seems like everyone they know thinks their relationship won’t work. How can they come to a deeper understanding of each other, and find a future together?

EXCERPT ~

CHAPTER ONE


“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kassie asked as she slammed the car door shut behind her.

Erik smiled down at her, his brilliant white grin reassuring. “Of course. You’ll be fine.” He jogged across the parking lot while Kassie dawdled behind, even though the rain was increasing from a mist to a steady drizzle.

“I don’t know. My signing still sucks. What if they don’t understand me?”

Erik put an arm around her, hugging her to his lean tall frame. “Come on, you’re not here as an interpreter. This is just a casual meetup. And since when have you been shy?”

Kassie grinned despite herself, then looked up at the low-slung building before them. A sign over the door read Seattle Deafblind Center. She glanced up at Erik again.

“OK, but you’ll help me if I get stuck?”

“You’ll be fine,” Erik repeated as he pushed the door open.

To Kassie it seemed purely by accident that she ended up in this place at this time. She had moved to Seattle after graduating from college because she wanted to get away, to start over. She had chosen a small school in Indiana near home, but her father had gotten sick in her freshman year and died in her junior year, leaving her to sleepwalk through college in a haze of grief that prevented her from making any friends, let alone boyfriends. By the time she graduated she was ready to start over in a new place where she didn’t know anyone. She found a job easily enough as an administrative assistant (well, secretary really) to the head of finance at the corporate office of a big name department store. The pay was alright, even if the job itself felt pointless and boring. The atmosphere in the office was decidedly stodgy despite the store’s inept attempts to be edgy and hip.

It was because of her housemate, Erik, that Kassie started taking American Sign Language classes at Seattle Community College. Erik was a CODA, a hearing Child Of Deaf Adults, and worked as an ASL interpreter. Learning ASL seemed like a good way to get involved with something more meaningful than her current job, but after over a year of classes Kassie was, if anything, even more painfully conscious of how far from fluent she was. From time to time she accompanied Erik to pizza nights and meetups at the Seattle Deaf Community Center, but while people there were nice, they always seemed a bit mystified by her presence. Inevitably someone would ask if she was training to become an interpreter.

No, I just want to learn, she’d reply, doing her best to make her signs quick and natural. Usually the other person would smile, but somewhat hesitantly, as if that wasn’t really enough of an explanation.

If she signed, I’m Erik’s friend, people assumed they were a couple, which seemed ridiculous to her because he was so obviously gay. But apparently it was the only way people could make sense of her presence there.

Still, she kept going with him every month or so. The meetups, just casual gatherings to chat in ASL for a few hours in the evening, were good practice. Then one day Erik mentioned to her that he had been asked to attend a similar meetup, but for deafblind people. Impulsively, Kassie volunteered to go with him, but the thought of her inadequate signing skills was making her uncharacteristically nervous.

Kassie followed Erik into a medium-sized meeting room with round tables and plastic chairs arranged around the hard linoleum floor, like a school cafeteria. A dozen or so people stood or sat eating pizza, just like the Deaf meetups she had been to before, except everyone sat much closer together, signing in pairs. Erik greeted several people with great animation, hugging them and introducing Kassie. Most of them seemed able to see her signing well enough to understand her, even some of the people carrying white canes. Only one woman put her hands on top of Kassie’s as she spelled out her name.

As Kassie started to relax and look around, she noticed a figure sitting off by himself, separated from the small knot of people. She watched for nearly half an hour, but no one approached him. She gauged him to be about her age. His eyes were closed and his brows pinched up in a frown, but even so he was strikingly handsome, with close-cut, glossy black hair contrasting with a pale complexion.

She nudged Erik, pointing toward him with her chin. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, that’s Jake,” Erik replied. “Don’t worry about him–his intervener will be here soon.”

“His what?”

“Intervener, it’s like an interpreter for deafblind people. Like Mandy there,” he added, waving to a woman who was signing into the hand of another woman seated beside her.

“I’m going to say hello to him,” Kassie said. It seemed wrong to her that one person should be excluded from the group.

Erik looked slightly pained. “Kassie, you don’t understand,” he said. “Everyone else here has Usher’s Syndrome. They’ve been Deaf all their lives–only started to lose their vision as teenagers or adults, and most of them still have some sight. They’re all ASL native speakers. But Jake is profoundly deaf and totally blind from birth. I’m not sure he even knows ASL.”

Kassie stared at him, her eyes growing larger. “How can he not know ASL? He must know something, right?” she asked, a little shocked.

Erik explained, “It’s hard to learn the signs if you can’t see them. I think he uses a different manual alphabet that’s easier for him.” Seeing the look of concern on Kassie’s face he added, “Don’t worry about him, he’s fine.”

Kassie turned to look at Jake again. He didn’t look fine to her. He looked bored and lonely. She knew how it felt to be on the outside, to have no one to talk to. What if he was just waiting for someone to go over to him? It didn’t hurt that he was cute too. If they were at a party she would find some excuse to talk to him. “I’m going to say hello to him,” she insisted.

“Try printing block letters on his palm, he might understand that,” Erik suggested with a shrug.

Kassie squared her shoulders and marched across the room, daring Erik to stop her, but he had already turned his attention to someone else.

Jake did not seem to notice her approach his chair. He sat with his back rigidly straight, but his head dipped slightly down and to the left. Up close he was even cuter, with his strong, slightly triangular jaw. The contrast between his glossy black hair, slightly grown out on top, and his pale skin was startling. His eyelashes were dark and thick too, although his eyes opened only slightly, showing a line of white.

Kassie waited for a moment, but when he still did not give any sign of noticing her she tapped him on the shoulder. Jake jumped so high she nearly retreated, overcome with guilt for having startled him, but he was already holding out his left palm toward her. Realizing it would be even more cruel to walk away, Kassie extended a trembling finger and wrote very slowly in the palm of his hand, H-E-L-L-O.

To her extreme surprise, he saluted her with the ASL sign for hello, then added, My name is Jake, in rather jerky, hesitant signs. At least that’s what she assumed he meant; rather than spelling out his name, he made a name sign, tracing a sort of J against his chest with his pinkie finger.

Kassie made to introduce herself as well, with his hands resting on hers, realizing only too late that when she gestured towards herself, she brought his hand directly onto her breasts. Jake seemed to realize the same thing–he breathed in sharply and flushed from his neck to his hairline, bright pink splotches standing out against his white cheeks. Flustered, Kassie tried again, this time only moving her hand halfway. My name is K-A-S-S-I-E, she signed, fingerspelling her name then adding the name sign Erik had given her, a K at her right temple, a reference to her short, curly blond hair.

Jake did not reply, so she made the signs again, even more slowly, but he kept tugging her hands towards him. She gently tugged back, but that only seemed to agitate him. He brushed his fingers over her palm, then made some rapid signs she couldn’t follow. She stared at him helplessly. He sighed in irritation as he repeated the signs, the splotches on his cheeks turning darker red.

This time Kassie picked out C-A-R-T-E-R, but that was all. What is carter, she wondered, feeling increasingly panicked. She glanced behind her, trying to spot Erik, but instead a small balding man with round glasses set atop a hooked nose suddenly appeared and insinuated himself between her and Jake. Before she realized what had happened, he pushed her aside and put his hands under Jake’s. Immediately they began signing back and forth rapidly.

Kassie shifted from foot to foot, unwilling to end their conversation so abruptly. If you could even call it a conversation, but still, it seemed rude to walk away. “Umm…excuse me, but who are you?” she asked the interloper.

Without pausing his signing with Jake, the man gave her a sour look. “I’m Joel Carter, Jake’s intervener,” he snapped.

“Oh, of course!” It seemed so obvious now. “I’m Kassie,” she said, fingerspelling her name again and adding her name sign at the end, so he could repeat it into Jake’s hand. “I’m a friend of Erik’s. I was just, um, saying hello to Jake.”

Carter passed along the message, then said, “Jake says hello.” Kassie watched their interaction curiously. Carter was not using any ASL signs or fingerspelling she recognized. Jake held out his left palm flat and at an angle, while Carter tapped and brushed it in different places with his fingers, sometimes straight or bent, sometimes one or more than one finger at a time.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Carter, but do you mind telling me what system you’re using? Erik said Jake doesn’t know ASL, but I guess he was wrong about that. Anyway it looks like now you’re using something else. I’m just curious,” she finished lamely, realizing she was starting to babble.

Carter was not pleased with her question. “He knows some basic ASL,” he answered shortly, “but we’re using the deafblind manual alphabet.”

“Oh, I see.”

Carter stared at her but did not say anything more. After a moment Kassie realized what was happening: Carter didn’t want to talk to her. He wanted her to go away, but being an ethical interpreter he was not going to say anything to her he would not also sign to Jake.

“Well, um, ok, nice to meet you, Jake,” Kassie said, and patted him on the shoulder as Carter interpreted. Again Jake jumped a bit, and Kassie fled back to Erik on the other side of the room.

For the remainder of the evening Kassie stuck close to Erik, signing briefly with a few people, but for the most part feeling like an observer. At the Deaf meetups there were always lots of people, and she rarely had a problem finding someone willing to let her practice her ASL. But here she realized it was hard to sign to more than one person at a time, and even harder to initiate small talk with a stranger. She never realized how much she relied on catching someone’s eye to begin a conversation. She ended up chatting with one of the interpreters about her ASL class, although she knew her teacher would scold her for using her voice.

Back in the car , Erik asked, “So what did you talk about with Jake?”

“Nothing,” she replied truthfully.

“I told you his intervener would show up,” Erik said as he pulled out of the parking lot. “But he is kind of a hottie. I don’t blame you for wanting to chat him up.” He turned to wink at her.

“Oh my God, what are you talking about?” Kassie protested. “Not everyone is a horndog like you.”

Erik just laughed. In the two years they had been living together they had grown close, even though initially they only met through Craigslist. Erik was the ideal housemate, a good cook and fastidiously clean, even if he was kind of loud and liked to play techno turned all the way up. After feeling alone for so long, Kassie was glad to have someone to joke around with. She liked going out with him to gay clubs where she could dance however she liked, and no one hit on her. Not that she was against dating–she had attempted a few relationships, but somehow the guys she met all seemed self-involved and shallow.

But even though Erik was fun, he definitely had his own life that didn’t always include her, and she tried not to be too clingy. She tried to find activities that would get her out of the house more, and suddenly she found she was running around all the time.

Now she caught sight of the clock on the car radio.”Oh no, is that the time? Do you mind dropping me off at my yoga class? I’ll take the bus home.”

BIO ~

Lucy May Lennox is a lifelong resident of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Her first ambition in life was to become a child actor, but when she grew too old to be an adorable prodigy, she turned to writing instead. A connoisseur of novels featuring men with physical disabilities, she grew frustrated with all the cliches, ignorance and stereotypes and decided to write her own positive take on disability. In addition to writing, Lucy also enjoys cooking and gardening, and is an amateur opera singer.

You can find Lucy here:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

You can buy LOVE IN TOUCH here:

Paperback Amazon US I Amazon UK I Amazon Canada I Amazon Germany I Amazon France I Amazon Spain I Amazon Italy I Amazon Mexico I Amazon India I Amazon Brazil I Amazon Japan I Smashwords I Barnes and Noble

Lucy has generously offered to giveaway an e-copy of LOVE IN TOUCH as well as a $25 Amazon gift card, so enter below! 

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What are your thoughts on creating a deaf-blind character? What do you think your greatest challenge would be?

~ ROMANCE IS FOUND IN HER ROCKY MOUNTAIN GUARDIAN ~

Hello and Happy All Hallow's Eve to you! Please join me in welcoming author Margery Scott to the blog today! Margery, the stage is yours ~

Happy Halloween!

Are you taking the little ones trick-or-treating tonight? Or are you the candy-hander-outer? I live in the country, so there won’t be any ghouls or ghosts or superheroes at my door. It’ll be just another night.

Which makes me think about Brae and Jennie, the hero and heroine of HER ROCKYMOUNTAIN GUARDIAN.

When I’m plotting a book, I have a character profile I work on for each of the main characters. I fill in the information until I know them better than I know some of my real-life friends. But one question I don’t have on my character profile is whether they have gone trick-or-treating as children?

In both Brae and Jennie’s case, the answer is no.

Brae lived on a ranch, the closest neighbor more than a mile away. Not that his father would have allowed him to go trick-or-treating anyway. It wouldn’t have been appropriate, being a judge’s son. He had standards to maintain, and allowing his children to lower themselves to begging for candy just wasn’t acceptable.

Jennie, on the other hand, lived in town. Her house lay in darkness, and she sat on the window seat in her bedroom, tears filling her eyes as she watched the other costumed kids laughing and racing from house to house. There was no costume for her, no home-made goodies to give out. Why? Her mother was passed out on the sofa in the living room, oblivious to the occasion.

When I was young, I didn’t trick-or-treat either, but only because we didn’t have Halloween in Scotland. We did have Guy Fawkes Day in early November, though, and we made up for it.

What about you? Did you go trick-or-treating? What was your favorite costume? Your favorite treat?

BLURB ~

An unforgivable disappearance…

Four years ago, Jennie Brooks and Sheriff Brae Colton were engaged to be married—then Jennie disappeared without a word.

Leads to a mysterious reunion…
Brae hated Jennie for deserting him just as they were set to begin their life together. But when he finds her badly injured in a hit and run accident on a snowy mountain road, he can’t deny the love he’s never forgotten—until she regains consciousness with no memory of her identity, or what they once shared.

Where love holds the key to everything…

Brae wants to know why Jennie’s come home. Despite everything, she’s still the woman he fell in love with in high school—the woman he’s falling for again. But when the bullets start flying, his first priority is to protect her and catch her would-be killer. And if they can’t find a way to restore her memory soon, they may both end up dead.

EXCERPT ~

Jennie gazed out the passenger window as Brae steered the SUV through downtown Eagle Ridge. Ever since they’d left the hospital, he’d been tense, his eyes constantly shifting and taking in the vehicles around them.

“Do you think we’re being followed?” she asked finally.

“Probably not, but I don’t want any surprises.”

She stayed silent then, letting him concentrate. A lock of hair hung over his forehead, and she had an almost irresistible urge to brush it back. The muscles in his face were tense, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Those lips… Her thoughts strayed back to the kiss they’d shared in her hospital room.

Obviously they’d kissed before, and more than likely they’d done a lot more than kiss. She didn’t remember those kisses, though. His kiss from a half hour earlier, she’d never forget. Something about the way he held her, the way his mouth slanted over hers, the heat pooling in her belly when his tongue had touched hers…it felt so familiar, so right.

“You look like you’re thinking hard,” he said, his baritone voice filling the interior of the car.

She felt her cheeks heat. If he only knew where her thoughts had taken her.

“Remembering something?”

Oh, yes. She remembered every detail of the kiss they’d just shared. Although she would like to know whether the memories of his kisses back then were as exciting and breath-stealing as the reality of the one they’d just shared. She doubted that was what he was asking, though.

BIO ~

As a little girl in Scotland, I loved reading the words in books, and using those words even when I had no idea what they meant. My favorites were consecrate (my version of concentrate), and puncture (meaning temperature).Within the pages of those books, I lost myself in the fantasy worlds the authors created. But I had no idea that someone – a real, live person – was writing the stories that enthralled me. And it never occurred to me that I could write stories, too.

When my family left Scotland and settled in Canada, I began to write – not stories, but long, rambling letters to my grandparents. Looking back, they were really mini-novels, filled with my adventures and tales of growing up in a new country. In school, I loathed English class. So what was I destined to be? Yes, you guessed it. A writer.

It wasn’t until my children left home, that I started writing and seriously pursuing a new career as a published author. These days, I’m lucky enough to be able to combine my love of travel (thanks to my father’s wanderlust) and writing by personally researching the settings in my books.

Now, I live on a lake and I’m lucky enough to wake up to this gorgeous view every morning (it does tend to distract me from the computer, I admit).

When I’m not writing, I can usually be found wielding a pair of knitting needles or a pool cue. Oh, and dealing with that wanderlust thing …

You can find Margery at:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

You can find HER ROCKY MOUNTAIN GUARDIAN at:

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble

GIVEAWAY ~

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~ SOMETIMES WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS CAN'T STAY IN VEGAS! ~

Today I am delighted to have author Aleah Barley on my blog today, talking about--->

Scents, Set Ups, and Surprises

Third stop in the tour. I’m starting to feel some momentum. I take a deep breath, glancing around the narrow Las Vegas alley. My ab-tastic cover is plastered on one of the nearby walls. Evidence that my publicist has been here, even if she’s still afraid to show her face after the debacles at my first two stops.

“This is it!” I tell the crowd of women who’ve decided to join me on the tour. Is it just me, or has the audience gotten bigger? I see a couple of fingers flying across smart phone touchscreens. I guess people have been getting the word out on Facebook and Twitter.

I take a deep breath. The alley smells like success. It smells like—I cough, trying to hold my nose. Better not to think about what it smells like. It might be the setting for one of my book’s first turning points, but it’s still a Las Vegas alleyway. No wonder smell-o-vision never took off. If they got it working properly, CSI’s ratings would plummet.

I power on. “This is the alley where—”

“The alley where Luke and Glory have their first kiss!” A tall woman shouts from the back. She’s wearing a filmy purple dress and clutching a Kindle. “It’s so romantic!”

Okay, so the book’s been out for a few days. I guess a couple of people have read it. I flush happily at the thought. I live in a teeny-tiny Detroit apartment full of Ikea furniture and a cat who’s intent on world domination. Every dollar I earn is going straight into the ‘buy Aleah a little house’ fund. Just like Glory—the West Virginia wild child who stars in Leaving Las Vegas—I want to be part of a bigger community.

“They only kiss because they’re running from gun-wielding bad guys,” someone else shouts back.

“It’s still freaking hot!”

Okay, I take a step forward and clear my throat. Time to start the book-talk before a fight breaks out. I’ve got a whole lecture planned out for this stop. It’s about keeping momentum going and balancing romance with suspense. It’s great. It’s got slides.

Beeeep! A car horn blasts through the man made canyon. Readers scatter as a classic Mustang rumbles into the narrow space. The car parks and two familiar figures clamber out.

Glory Allen and Luke Morrison. The couple at the center of my new book. Glory’s wearing jeans that skim her thighs and a boat necked t-shirt that advertises the diner she owns back in West Virginia. Luke’s looking mind-blowingly sexy in a suit tailored to his lean, muscular, body. His vintage watch is clasped to his wrist. He takes her hand as they walk towards me.

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “Are you guys really following me around?”

“We were going to ask the same thing about you,” Luke said.

“Yeah.” Glory’s mouth twitches up into an impish grin. Her eyes are glowing and her lips are bruised. Like she’s just been thoroughly kissed. “Was that you pounding on the wall back at the motel? Because that’s so not cool. I was in the middle of—“

Luke’s free hand wraps around his fiancé’s mouth, pulling her tight against him. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

Glory pulls free with a laugh. “Good thing I’m not a gentleman. I’m a rip-roaring, holler living, small-town saving good time girl.”

“My good time girl.”

“Right.” She smiles up at him, and the love between them is so intense it practically glows. Clearly these two have come a long way since the last time they were in this alley. The readers are all gathering around them now, asking for autographs. I’ll never get to talk about momentum. Keeping things moving forward.

Why can’t characters ever do what they’re told? As a writer, do you like when your characters come up with surprises? As a reader, do you like a book that keeps you guessing?



What happened at the first two stops? Go to my website to check out the rest of the tour!



Or jump straight to the action by checking out Leaving Las Vegas available now!



Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Las-Vegas-Entangled-Ignite-ebook/dp/B00FO8GVGA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382280602&sr=1-1



Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/leaving-las-vegas-aleah-barley/1117054073?ean=9781622660841



And don’t forget to follow me at:



My website: http://aleahbarley.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aleahrbarley

or Twitter: @aleahbarley

BLURB ~

When West Virginia wild-child Glory Allen gets caught in the middle of a kidnapping attempt, she has to decide if rescuing the sexy Luke Tanner is worth risking her life. Especially after the high and mighty casino magnate just accused her of cheating in his casino.

Her decision to help, causes Luke to step into her hometown to develop a community that doesn’t need improvement—a community Glory’s gambling earnings were meant to save—and Glory can’t help but question her judgment, because the chemistry between them is about to explode, and it has nothing to do with the Vegas thugs hot on their trail.

Now Glory is stuck helping Luke figure out who set him up and what to do about their own burning attraction…before Glory’s hometown, and her life, are lost for good.

EXCERPT ~

“You’re cheating.”

Glory Allen was keenly aware of the long pause that followed that statement. Ice collided with glass, creating a tinkling noise, the only sound in the cheap Las Vegas motel room. The neon lights from the Strip a half mile away streamed through the window, making the stacks of neatly piled hundred-dollar bills gleam blue and red. Not the neat ceramic chips used at the fancy casinos on the Strip, but real money. Cash. And surrounding the table sat serious poker players. Big men with square jaws and bulges under their arms.

Normally, Glory wouldn’t give a rat’s rump what anyone thought about her.

Normally, she wasn’t playing poker for high stakes in a private game well off the Strip.

In Beaux, West Virginia, cheating at poker could get a girl’s behind beat black and blue. Here in Las Vegas, she figured they’d just shoot her. Two to the head and a quick burial in the nearest patch of desert.

Under the table, she curled her free hand into a fist, fingernails digging into her palms. The pain helped her to concentrate, kept her expression still. She forced herself to keep looking straight ahead, staring into the eyes of the man who’d accused her.

Luke. That was his name. The man with the green eyes who’d almost made her forget what she was doing when he’d undone the top few buttons of his shirt halfway through the night, displaying a chest that was lean but still muscular. He wasn’t her type. A little too clean-cut. But confident, with backbone to spare.

Confidence was drop-dead sexy in a man.

And yet it didn’t matter how sexy Mr. Fancy Pants was, not when so much money sat on the table. Five-card draw. Jokers wild. Real, old-fashioned poker. And over two hundred thousand dollars, stacked at her elbow. But she needed more. She had to keep playing.

More importantly, he had to keep playing. Had to keep upping the ante until she’d won enough to get out and go home.

“You got proof?” she challenged him. When he shook his head, she said, “Losing is no excuse for bad manners.”

He clenched his jaw tight. The face of his watch knocked against the table. His emerald eyes flashed, changing his expression from one of contempt to something a little more testy. Not good.

She felt about as safe as a red wriggler dangling in front of a hungry trout.

The other players leaned forward. The man on her left drummed his fingers against the table. Mr. Grant, a Los Angeles film producer who liked to adjust his tie when he thought he was about to win. His hand was at his throat now, undoing his crisp Windsor knot. His lips turned up in a thin, dangerous smile. “Let’s keep the game rolling. If you’re still in.”

Luke’s gaze swept around the table, confirming that the others wanted to continue the play. “I’m in.” His gaze stopped on Glory. “What about you?” His green eyes narrowed. Thin lines radiated out from the corner of his eyes, the small imperfections making him somehow more real. Human.

“I’m not going to fold,” she said. She couldn’t leave now, not when she had a game to win. A bus to catch. A town to save.

BIO ~

Aleah Barley is an author of funny (she hopes) contemporary romances. After recently moving to Detroit, she discovered that the rumors are true: it is a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of abandoned buildings, zombies, and hipster coffee shops that don’t open before nine in the morning. It’s also a great place to live.

Really.

Promise.

She spends her days working hard to make the world a better place and her nights writing about kick-ass women who live life to the fullest and the men who love them.

She’ll do anything for a box of chocolates. Or ice cream. Seriously. Try her.

You can find Aleah at:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

You can find LEAVING LAS VEGAS at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

GIVEAWAY ~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~ FIND ROMANTIC SUSPENSE IN THE ARMS OF A STRANGER! ~

The Soundtrack: 

IN THE ARMS OF A STRANGER

I love popular music. Classic rock n’ roll, country rock, ballads, Latin pop. I especially love it if the lyrics tell a story, maybe because I like to tell stories. I don’t listen to music when I write. Frankly, I can’t concentrate on what I’m doing if I’m listening to music—unless I’m cleaning my house. :-)

But before or after writing, during those quiet times when the story is seeping into me, I think of favorite songs that could make up the soundtrack for my novels. The musical setting, if you will. In the Arms of a Stranger is a romance heavy with action, adventure and danger. The opening begs a song like Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” or Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.” Action, the road. A man on the run.

To calm things down a bit and establish the setting, John Denver’s “Country Roads” works well, or maybe Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama.” Neither of my characters is from a big city. JP Blackmon is from a small town. Abby Price grew up in the country, rural South Alabama to be exact, driving those Alabama country roads. She’s on a sorry excuse for one when JP runs into her.

What about romance? Oh, there are so many songs that could apply to that moment when attraction becomes more. Something like Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” maybe the one recorded on the television show Glee.

Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” seems like a good pick when the romance heats up but something holds the lovers back. And the time when they can no longer resist each other? Maybe the old Moody Blues song “Nights in White Satin.” Or something more modern, like Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years.”

And for that everything is lost moment? Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” fits the bill.

Then, because it’s romance, despite the danger, the complications and obstacles, the happily ever after begs Rod Stewart singing “Have I Told You Lately.” Sigh.

Do you have a sound track for your favorite book? Or a song that inspires you to clean the house? Leave a comment for a chance to win. Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter.

I hope you’ll come along with me on this blog tour and get to know JP Blackmon and Abby Price. You can easily follow along on the tour by checking my Facebook Page. I’ll post the stop of the day there.


Next stop? Tuesday, October 29. A little about the setting of In the Arms of a Stranger at For Whom the Book Tolls.

BLURB ~

A dangerous man on the run…
Wounded and accused of treason, CIA operative JP Blackmon is on the run from his own agency and desperate to clear his name. When he finds out his old partner is dead, he’ll do anything to get to the truth…including using his partner’s widow.

Finds a vulnerable woman looking for answers…

Abby Price wanted nothing more than a family and a safe home. But her late husband kept big secrets from her—secrets that got him killed and has government agents watching her every move. And she’s started fearing for her life. The only man who can help her is a mysterious stranger who suddenly appears out of nowhere. But can she trust him?

Together they discover a passion worth dying for.
As danger stalks them at every turn, unexpected passion flares between JP and Abby. But the last thing either wants or needs is more complications. Romance? No. Way. That would involve trust—something neither is willing to do. But in the end, sharing their deadly secrets is their only hope for survival…their only hope to hold onto the love they’ve just begun to share…

EXCERPT ~

“Is JP your real name?”

He smiled, and she realized she hadn’t seen one of his real smiles before. This one lit up his face, made his eyes laugh. There was devilment in the smile. “I don’t know you well enough to tell you that yet.”

Yet?

The look of him, the timbre of his voice, as if he really would know her well enough to—

Her breath caught. She couldn’t look away. That well?

She wanted to frown, to be outraged. But his eyes… Good heavens, his eyes. Everything about him, from his short dark hair, to his smile, to his broad shoulders, he was all captivating male.

Instead, she laughed. It was a totally unexpected reaction. She’d never reacted to anyone the way she did to JP. If that was his name…

And what came out of her mouth next was a total surprise. “When do you think you will?”

BIO ~

An RWA Golden Heart® finalist, Virginia Kelly’s first book was published as To the Limit and finaled in several contests such as the Holt Medallion, The Golden Quill and The Aspen Gold.

Virginia has always loved adventure novels, but romance is at the core of her stories—romance with the adrenalin rush of danger. Against the Wind, a full-length novel, and Dancing in the Dark, the prequel novella to In the Arms of a Stranger, are about dangerous men and the adventurous women willing to take a chance on them.

Traveling is a passion that came early in life. Her first airplane ride was a trip over the Andes Mountains in Peru at the ripe old age of two months. Her travels provide the settings for her novels, whether it’s a fictitious Latin American country based on Peru, the country of her birth, or Florida and the American South where she now lives.

A graduate of the University of Alabama with a master’s degree in Library Science, Virginia is an academic librarian. She tries to include a librarian in all of her books as either the heroine or as a minor character. Having taught high school and college, she has a great appreciation for teachers and often uses that as the profession for her heroines.

Find Virginia at:


Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Find In the Arms of a Stranger at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

GIVEAWAY  ~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~ SHOULD I BE ON AN EPISODE OF HALLOWEEN HOARDERS? YOU DECIDE! ~

I love Halloween! Not the blood and gore kind of Halloween, but the happy memories of going trick-or-treating with my sister, of guzzling apple cider, hauling bulging pillowcases, separating candy into piles on the floor, already arranged from best to worst. Or what about those plastic masks with elastic straps that never failed to get cockeyed so that you couldn't see and you'd trip and bloody your chin? Sigh. Those were the days.

There are other memories, too. I remember our neighbors, The Snyders, who always invited you in for donuts, instead of candy. When you walked into their house you were in a huge foyer, with arched doorways on both sides, and a wide curved staircase in front of you that led up to the open floor above where the many Snyders had bedrooms (I feel like there were at least ten, though it's probably more like six). To the right was the dining room and on the long table sat an enormous punch bowl, always filled with some sweet and cooling concoction. I'd close my eyes as I drank, the liquid calming a throat dry from laughing in the October air as I ran from house to house in a furious quest to get the most candy, and the most cavities. 

I remember another house, up the block. They always had a party and when you rang that doorbell you were forced into a living room circled with chairs full of adults, ready to see you perform your trick. Maybe it was the slight of hand move your uncle showed you, or a cartwheel, or semblance thereof. Or maybe you'd tell the corny joke you'd memorized before you left the house. You know, what does Frankenstein eat for lunch? Halloweenies! Or what has four wheels and flies? All together now--a garbage truck! Or maybe, what eight-legged creature rules the sea? Billy the Squid. I don't think my kids have even once performed a trick for their candy. They're missing out. And I miss that! I miss those days.

So I do things to remember. My decorations reflect the nostalgic way I feel about Halloween.

 

 A bit overdone?


My good feelings have spilled over to the clothes I wear. (And this is just what was clean!) I start October first and then there's a sad period between Halloween and Christmas that I have to wear normal clothes before donning the reindeer and Santa Claus shirts.

I even have Halloween jewelry.

Placemats.
Napkins (and, of course, napkin rings!).
Cups.

You get the picture.


And I have to make loads of goodies to fill that festive table.

Heck, even my shopping list is Halloweeny!

I get a little nutty, I guess.

What about you? What are some of your favorite Halloween items?

Since we're talking about scary things, let me tell you a little bit about the harrowing trials I put my rock star hero through in TRAPPED UNDER ICE!

Blurb:

Trapped Under Ice is a novel about a three time platinum record-producing band whose lead singer, Chad Evans, is haunted by his past.  Growing up in an abusive home, then being left alone at the age of thirteen to raise his kid brother, Chad still fights the pain he felt as a child, and the anger it causes, despite being a wildly successful rock star.  “Chad [tries] to play his heart out on the stage; but he [can] never quite seem to leave it there.” 

Beth Donovan, lunch lady/writer, is thrilled to be enjoying a Trapped Under Ice concert with her daughter, Cassie.  Even though it has been three years since her husband, Paul’s, death, sorrow still shadows her life, so the distraction of seeing her favorite group is a welcome one.  However, when the concert is over, Beth and her daughter are followed and attacked by two men in one of the stadium’s bathrooms.  When Chad and his bodyguard, Pete, come to their aid, an attraction sparks immediately between Beth and the tall singer. 

Though the pair is drawn to each other, the relationship goes through numerous trials centered on Chad’s unresolved anger, and Beth’s fear of opening herself up again.  Just as the two seem to be able to work through their problems, they face being separated forever by someone who is sending Chad death threats.  Trapped Under Ice is the story of a love-affair fraught with difficulties from without, (ex-girlfriends who resurface, crazed fans who don’t want to take “no” for an answer…), as well as difficulties from within, (jealousy, anger, fear…).  Will Chad and Beth be able to rise above these trials and tribulations? Or will they remain trapped under ice?

Interested? Well just enter to win one of the two e-copies being given away below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for coming by and Happy Halloween!


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