WHAT'S INTIMATE ABOUT MURDER?

Today's guest is Stacy Verdick Case and she's sharing an interview with readers plus details of her latest release.

Stacy will award a $50 Barnes and Noble GC to one winner, and a signed ARC of An Intimate Murder (US only) to two randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during this tour and her standard tour.

Caroline: Tell readers about growing up:

Stacy: My older sister and I were military brats. Growing up we moved all over the place but we always ended up back in Minnesota so that’s where I call home.  No one would mistake me for a jock growing up – LOL! I was really a dork. I’m still a big dork. My husband rolls his eyes when I’m being goofy but my daughter thinks it’s the best. To her I’m like a big kid she gets to play dress up with.

Caroline: Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

Stacy: Well, I’m a literary omnivore.  I don’t really have a favorite genre, it just depends on the mood I’m in.  Douglas Adams sits comfortable next to Edgar Allan Poe, Laura Ingles Wilder, and Harper Lee on my bookshelf. I think that would be the best writers dinner EVER! I would mortgage my house to be there.

There are a lot of authors who have been great influences on me for instance the late, great Cheryl Anne Porter. She gave the most fantastic writing classes. If authors can get their hands on audio copies of her workshops you would be smart to do so. As far as my favorites the list is too long and getting longer all the time.

Caroline: I love the term “literary omnivore.” That describes me also, except that I don’t read horror or true crime. What’s your favorite way to relax and recharge?

Stacy: It’s so rare that I have time to myself but when I do I fire up the DVR and watch The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, ore Rizzoli and Isles. Of course it sounds trite but I love to read. I’ve never met a writer who didn’t love to read so when I’m not watching good stories I’m reading them.

Caroline: I love “Hell on Wheels.” Do you have a favorite quote that sums up how you feel about life?

Stacy: Oh yes! Words are so powerful to me. I collect quotes and sayings so they adorn most surfaces of my home, but the one that I read over and over is from Abraham Lincoln and it came to me at a point in my life when I really needed to hear it. One of those serendipitous moments in life and I posted it on my bulletin board.

Isn’t that so true!

Caroline: Yes, it is. How long have you been writing?

Stacy: As long as I can remember. I must be a natural born storyteller because when other kids had security blankets, I carried a red spiral bound notebook. Why red? I have no clue because my favorite color is blue, but it always had to be red.

Caroline: Well, red is a power color. Where do you prefer to write?

Stacy: After my daughter was born I had very little time where I could devote a block of time to writing and create the “perfect” conditions, so I write where and when I can. I keep paper and pen with me at all times (still carrying my security notebook!)  and I also have a digital recorder to “write” while I’m driving. I literally have to steal time to write. If I have a date night with my husband he knows that if he walks away to go to the bathroom I will be writing when he comes back.  But I do put it away when he comes back. I never want to be so wrapped up in my writing that I forget what really matters most – family.

Caroline: Ah, yes, family before career. Are you a plotter or a panzer?  

Stacy: I am a complete pantser!  A writer friend of mine and I wrote a blog piece called Plotter vs. Pantser about our different styles because she’s the create a 3-ring binder of back story befor you start to write type of plotter and I just sit down to write. I never know what’s happening from one moment to the next. I once killed the heroine of my book and sat back and went, “Huh.” I was so stunned! It all worked out though. It always does.

Caroline: Do you use real events or persons in your stories or as an inspiration for stories?  

Stacy: Absolutely! I tell people around me, “You’re all fodder.” The first book in the Catherine O’Brien series A Grand Murder, was written to kill off a former boss who stole a lot of money from me. Most of the people in my books are amalgams of people I know. If there’s a quirk about someone I like I will give it to one of my characters. I think that helps make them feel real to people. There’s an attorney in An Intimate Murder who is a complete rip off of an auditor I met once through my work. Of course if any of the auditors I’ve worked with are reading this they are all scrambling to buy a copy of the book and find out if it’s them!

Caroline: I feel we are each the sum of all our experiences and observations. Do you set daily writing goals?

Stacy:   I do want to write every day but life is life. I try not to pressure myself because if I sit down and say I HAVE to write 10 pages today that’s when I’ll get stuck and not be able to write anything. However if I set out to just write the next scene a lot of times I end up with a lot more pages than I would have set as a goal for myself because I would have thought there was no way I could reach it. Because I’m a pantser my writing comes out in fits and flows. Some days are good and some days aren’t. It seems to work out.

When I first started to write with the goal of being a professional writer I went to all the classes that said I had to do this and had to that and completely stressed myself out trying to be everything I was supposed to be according to what everyone else seemed to be doing. Then I learned that what works for them doesn’t work for me. It wasn’t until I chucked all that advice out the window and found my mojo that everything fell into place.

Caroline: It’s true that we must find what works for us. What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

Stacy: Enjoyment. I’m an entertainer and I’m okay with that. I was once taken to task (again in one of those writing workshops) because we were supposed to tell everyone what we wanted to accomplish with our writing, and I said to entertain people. The workshop presenter told me I wasn’t thinking “globally” enough and she would come back to me. I told her she could come back to me if she wanted but my answer would be the same. I’m not out to save the world, I just want to give my readers some pleasure. If can make you smile or laugh then so much the better. What if the world laughed just once all at the same time. Imagine a moment of universal levity. How’s that for thinking globally!

Caroline: I so agree. Why is wanting to lighten others’ lives not a great goal? What long-term plans do you have for your career? 

Stacy: More books in the series and possibly a few stand-alone books. I would love to see Catherine and Louise make it to the small screen. I think they would make a great TV detective team. Like a modern day Cagney and Lacey – would that be so much fun!! Oh my gosh, I get giddy thinking about it.

Caroline: Would you like to tell us what you’re working on now?

Stacy:  Book 4 – and I can’t give any spoilers because I’m a pantser and I don’t know what’s going to happen yet, but from what I’ve written so far I can tell you that Gavin’s mother plays an important role in book 4, which is making things interesting for Catherine. I’ve had to put it on hold for a little bit to do the press and stuff for An Intimate Murder but I am itching to get back to it.

Caroline:  Marketing does impact our writing time, doesn’t it? What advice would you give to unpublished authors? 

Stacy: Cultivate a belief in yourself. In this business there’s a person waiting to tear you down around every corner. If writing is something you want to do then you have to have faith in yourself and not care what other people think. That’s really hard for some people to accept. They write and then want reviewers, etc. to validate them and I’m here to tell you that more often than not you will be disappointed if that’s what you’re waiting for. Your belief in your writing needs to be stronger than any outside source if you’re going to survive.

Caroline: Great advice! What’s a fun fact readers wouldn’t know about you? 

Stacy: That I’m an upcycle addict. I love to take things that are old and worn out and create something beautiful from them. I’ve done this for as long as I can remember – even before upcycle was a word or a trend. People come to my house and tell me how much they love something and then I show them what it looked like when I bought it at a thrift store or a garage sale and they can’t believe it.  If I wasn’t a writer I would probably have a little shop selling things that I’ve recreated. Maybe if I retire someday you’ll find me doing that.

Caroline: Share something about you that would surprise or shock readers.

Stacy:  I’m an excellent shot. I know it surprised me. LOL! I don’t own any guns but I’ve taken training so that I can write knowledgeably about shooting and it turns out I’m a really good shooter.

Caroline: Tell us about your series .  

Stacy: It’s the Catherine O’Brien mystery series. There are three books so far A Grand Murder, A Luring Murder, and An Intimate Murder.

Caroline: Can you give readers a blurb about AN INTIMATE MURDER?

Stacy:  Sure!

Catherine O’Brien, the irreverent detective, is back in

An Intimate Murder.

When Jonathan and Susan Luther are murder in their home, St. Paul homicide detective Catherine O’Brien and her partner Louise discover this isn’t the first time the Luther family has been visited by tragedy.  Is it a case of bad family luck or is there something more?

How about an excerpt from AN INTIMATE MURDER: 

Stacy: Absolutely!

I locked eyes with her and wished, not for the first time in my life, that I had telekinetic abilities. If I had, I could mentally disembowel Jane Katts. That’s probably why God never blessed me with that particular gift.

“Hello Detective.” Jane Katts’ tone was overly pleasant. She must have trumped me in some way and now she’s was just waiting for me to concede the trick.

“Close the door behind you, O’Brien.” The chief rocked back in his chair and smiled.

There was nothing in his smile except pleasantry, which made me more nervous than the one Jane Katts had given me. A broad smile was so alien on the Chief’s face that I was certain that Jane Katts had managed to pull a switcheroo and replace the chief with a pod person of her own design; one who is not hard-edged and sand-papery as I have come to expect but instead soft, with as much grit as a nail file.

“I’m afraid there’s not enough chairs so one of you will have to stand.” The smiley version of our chief of police said.

I braced my feet a shoulder width apart and crossed my arms over my chest, I preferred to stand for whatever nasty surprise Jane Katts had in store for me.

Louise sat and introduced herself to Jane. They exchanged a handshake.

“Ms. Katts is the reporter who asked for the exclusive interview.”

He glossed over the detail about her being the reporter who had engaged in a calculated smear campaign against the department.

“She would like to change the angle of her story to get more of an inside view.” The chief’s eyes cut to my face and I saw a hint of the real chief behind whatever hoodoo Jane Katts had performed on him.

Where can readers find your books? (buy link) You can buy An Intimate Murder by clicking the link. Otherwise it’s available, along with the other books in the series, wherever books are sold! 

How can readers learn more about you? (website, blog, Facebook, etc?)  I would love for readers to visit me at my webstie www.StacyVerdickCase.com or my Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/StacyVerdickCase.

While you’re on either site sign up for my Willing Accomplice mailing list to learn about upcoming promotions, future releases, contest, and exclusive content! I will be doing a really cool giveaway for newsletter subscribers only once I reach 100 subscribers so sign up today!

I’m also on twitter which for some reason I just love! @SVerdickCase Now you’ll all have a chance to find out what a twit I am.

Caroline: Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you?  

Stacy: That I love hearing from readers. If you want to talk to me just tweet me, email me, post a message of Facebook, or because I have some old-school love in me you can snail mail me at: PO Box 242, Stacy, MN 55079

Thanks for sharing with us today, Stacy, and best wishes for continued success!

Stacy Verdick Case, Author

Stacy Verdick Case was born in Willmar, Minnesota.  After a brief stint as a military brat, where she lived in Fort Sill Oklahoma and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, her family moved back to Minnesota.

Stacy has written all her life earning a High School Writer Award and a Daphne Du Mauier Award for excellence in Mainstream Mystery/Suspense.

Stacy currently lives in a suburb of St. Paul with her husband of twenty-years, her five-year-old daughter, and their two cats.

An Intimate Murder is the third book in the Catherine O’Brien series.

Visit Stacy on the web:

www.StacyVerdickCase.com

Twitter @SVerdickCase

https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Grand-Murder/265021126858004

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5094848.Stacy_Verdick_Case

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A PLACE CALLED HARMONY REVIEW

First, a few words from Jodi Thomas . . .

Once in a while in my career of forty books, there comes a story I know I have to write.  It waits like an impatient child in the back of my mind for its time to shine.  A PLACE CALLED HARMONY was one of those stories.  As I moved through the Harmony series, getting to know the people of Harmony, Texas, better with each book I knew that someday I’d tell the beginning of their town.  From the day I started writing the characters came through clear.  I had to find men strong enough to influence the generations of Mathesons, Trumans and McAllens.

Many times during the writing of this story I felt all three men standing behind me telling me their lives.  Patrick McAllen, young and full of dreams, thought of it as an adventure and believed love came easy.  Clint Truman felt old at thirty and didn’t believe in love.  When he heard he had to have a wife to get the job, he went to the prison gate and picked the first woman walking out.  And then there was Captain Gillian Matheson who loved his wife but also loved adventure.

When Truman, Matheson and McAllen’s stories began to dance in my mind, I found myself staying up later every night to write more.  I love the way the three men interacted and the way all three loves stories grew.  I have a feeling that readers will be staying up a little later to read one more chapter.

I felt close to all of them, because my great-grandparents settled this same country over a hundred years ago.  My grandmother was even born in a covered wagon. So follow me through A PLACE CALLED HARMONY you’ll love the story.

Enjoy the adventure,

Jodi Thomas

Jodi Thomas is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of 40 novels and 12 short story collections.

A four-time RITA winner, Jodi currently serves as the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.

www.jodithomas.com

www.Twitter.com/jodithomas  

www.facebook.com/JodiThomasAuthor     

A PLACE CALLED HARMONY by Jodi Thomas

Review by Caroline Clemmons

Yes, I’m another dedicated fan of Jodi Thomas books. I can honestly say I’ve read every book she’s published and enjoyed each one. I admit I’ve wished she’d write more western historical romances even though I love her Harmony series and the two suspense novels she authored.

With A PLACE CALLED HARMONY, Ms Thomas has fed both my addictions by writing a historical western romance about the founding of the town of Harmony. As I expected, this book kept me enchanted from the first word to the end. Those who’ve read the Harmony books will recognize that series’ leading families of Truman, Matheson, and McAllen.

Harmon Ely wants to found a town at the juncture of two Texas Panhandle waterways where he’s built a trading post.  With his dog Davy as a companion, Harmon is used to his own company. He’s a man of vision who believes he owns the perfect site for a town. Though his trading post has been burned to the ground, he’s been shot and left for dead, and he’s been robbed several times, Harmon is not going to give up.

He has a scheme to attract married people to settle in his new town—all he needs are strong, determined, and resourceful couples. He’ll offer work building the town and a house. In exchange for two year’s work, Harmon will sign over their house and forty acres of land. With ads in newspapers, he carefully reviews responses because he only wants good people who will contribute to his town. He’s building for the future.

Harmon also enlists and old friend to help, Sheriff Lightstone of Huntsville, Texas. Lightstone knows a man who appears determined to kill himself with liquor and fights since the death of his family. The sheriff pulls Clint Truman from a brawl and offers him an opportunity to stay out ofjail. Lightstone even has an idea for Clint’s wife.

The two men take a wagon to Huntsville prison for women and wait as that day’s releases file out. Of the several women inmates regaining freedom that day, only one is not met and has nowhere to go—and she carries a tiny baby. Karissa has been betrayed by everyone she trusted and is consumed by fear. After assurances by Clint, she agrees to wed him if her conditions are met: he will never ask about her past, he will never strike her, and he will never force himself on her. He gives her a few days to recover while he sells his farm, then they set out by train for Dallas to buy a wagon and supplies for their trip to the Panhandle.

Meanwhile near Galveston, Patrick McAllen is escaping an overbearing and abusive father with the aid of his mute brother, Shelby. Going with Patrick is Annie Spencer, who is almost as eager to escape her stepmother. Patrick and Annie are friends but not in love. Their motive in marrying is to flee beyond their parents’ reach and they seek Harmon Ely’s town as a sanctuary. Annie requests only that Patrick never lie to her. He agrees and asks for the same. He hopes one day Shelby will join them.

Captain Gillian Matheson is a career soldier. Although he loves his wife Daisy to distraction, he cannot settle on her family’s farm and tolerate her brothers ordering him about constantly. He hadn’t realized when they wed that she wouldn’t leave her family to follow him from post to post. What he doesn’t know is that Daisy has grown weary of never seeing her beloved husband for longer than enough time to conceive another child. Writing as her husband, Daisy contracted with Harmon Ely to settle in his new town. Then she convinced her brothers to load all her furnishings into wagons and escort her to Harmon’s trading post and leave. All she has to do now is await Gillian’s arrival. The letter she sent her husband should bring him hurrying to meet her. At least, she prays that’s true.

A PLACE CALLED HARMONY is one of my favorites of Ms Thomas’ books. Each of the three couples plus the secondary characters face different problems that present a slice of 1880’s western life. Settling on the frontier was hard work and dangerous, but joy also awaited those with survival skills. By deftly weaving the good with the bad, Ms Thomas creates a portrait of those who founded not just Harmony, but a myriad of towns across the West.   

 If you haven’t already guessed, I give A PLACE CALLED HARMONY five out of five stars. You can buy this book from www.jodithomas.com

ONE SHINGLE TO HANG

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A commenter will win a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Everyone knew Lil Wentfield would never marry. What man would want her? Granted she was a real beauty.

A woman with too much knowledge was at risk for insanity. Their fragile mind couldn’t handle it. That’s what Lil had been told when she went against convention and became an attorney. The 1800’s had fewer women lawyers than women doctors. Her pride knew no bounds when she hung her shingle—L.M. Wentfield, Attorney At Law.

Drew was a struggling cattle rancher, building a fledging Hereford empire. He was working toward that goal when he was accused of rustling and faced possible hanging. He needed a lawyer—a good one—a man. Chesterfield had one lawyer—a new one—L.M. Wentfield. He wasn’t prepared for a beautiful blonde with a sharp tongue and fiercely won independence.

Lil had no homemaking abilities. Her love was the law. And if the thoughts of the gray-eyed cowboy, who had the audacity to refuse her legal help stayed in her mind, she’d push them aside. She had nothing to offer a rancher . Even her wealth wouldn’t be considered an asset to a prideful man. And Drew Jackson was proud. So proud, he knew he couldn’t ask a woman of Lil’s stature to share his life—but he wanted to—from the moment he’d stolen that first kiss.

Enjoy an excerpt:

Everyone knew Lil Wentfield would never marry. What man would want her? She was too old, too set in her ways, and too damned opinionated. Granted, she was a real beauty, if you could get past all the other flaws. Long blonde hair, equally long legs, sparkling blue eyes, flawless skin, with just a hint of a European ancestor in the coloring. And lips, well to call them kissable would be doing them an injustice.

But spinster she was, with her hair coiled into a tight knot at the nape of her neck, as tight as the expression habitually worn on her lovely face. Wire rimmed glasses perched on her small nose, obscured flashes of emotion in those beautiful eyes. Except when it came to outrage. Then her eyes snapped, her spine stiffened, her chin raised, and she peered disdainfully at the offender.

Lil was like a badger when it came to proving her point and winning an argument. Her mother liked to say Lil was born arguing. What her father liked to say was more colorful and filled with disappointment. His only child compounded being born female, by having a mind of her own. Once Lil made a decision, she planted her feet firmly on the chosen path, and didn’t step off until her goal was accomplished.

Men found her unnerving. Lil Wentfield wouldn’t be any man’s ‘little woman’, her place in the home, serving her husband, and mothering children. She was unsettling; not material necessary for being the calming homemaker and acquiescent wife needed to soothe and support a man as he went about his business.

About Deann Smallwood:

I live in Colorado with my husband and my two Yorkie kid dogs: Stormy, four pounds, and Eli, six pounds. I’m a native of Colorado, but I’ve lived several years in Wyoming and Montana. I draw from these beautiful states for most of my books. My Western Historical Romances are: Montana Star, Sapphire Blue, Unconquerable Callie, Wyoming Heather and One Shingle To Hang. Tears In The Wind is a contemporary romance. Then I changed genres from my beloved romances and wrote, under the pen name of D. M. Woods, my first suspense/thriller: Death Crosses The Finish Line. The second book in this ‘death’ series, Death Is A Habit, came out January 8, 2014. I am currently working on the third book in the ‘death’ series, Death Walks C Dock. I am also working on another Western Historical Romance, Montana Man. It features the characters readers came to know and love in Montana Star. Truly, I mean it when I say my greatest pleasure next to writing is having my books read and enjoyed. There are many more stories just waiting to be written.


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REVIEW OF THE CATTLEMAN BY ANNA JEFFREY

If you read the first of Anna Jeffrey’s Sons of Texas Trilogy, THE TYCOON, then no doubt you joined me in eagerly waiting for THE CATTLEMAN. Ms Jeffrey did not disappoint with this book.

Unlike his older brother Drake, Pic Lockhart is a rancher. After a failed early marriage that cost his family big bucks, Pic is hesitant to marry again. Not that he’s unable to commit. He and Amanda Breckinridge love one another and are a long-standing item. But only in the privacy of her home or an evening drive to another town.

Amanda is the award-winning swimming coach and English teacher whose private life is overlooked by the school board, probably because the Lockhart family makes large contributions to the school and community. Although she longs for more than their current situation allows, she hesitates to press Pic for fear of losing him. But he’s more likely to lose her if he doesn't step up.

In the first book, we learned of the senior Lockhats’ tumultuous marriage and separation. That situation continues, but Pic’s mom occasionally visits the Double-Barrel Ranch to interfere in the lives of her children and her cheating ex-husband who still loves her. Mama can’t stand the fact that Pic is seeing “a nobody” of whom she disapproves and arranges for him to meet the daughter of a friend. Zochi, that friend’s sexy daughter, tests Pic’s self-control.

In the meantime more mischief is being orchestrated against the Lockharts on several levels. Although readers won’t learn who is behind the problems (I have my suspicions) until the next book, THE CATTLEMAN ends with Pic’s life firmly set to rights in a way that satisfied this reader. I don't give spoilers so I can't tell you more. Now I can hardly wait to read the third book when it’s released.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy Linda Lael Miller and Joan Johnston, you’re sure to enjoy THE TYCOON and THE CATTLEMAN.

THE TYCOON Amazon link:  http://amzn.com/B00AQS1GWC

THE CATTLEMAN Amazon buy link: http://amzn.com/B00N24Z2R2

About Anna Jeffrey

Anna Jeffrey, Author

Anna Jeffrey is an award-winning author of romance novels as well as romantic comedy/mystery. She has written 9 romance novels and co-authored 7 as USA Today Bestselling author, Dixie Cash.

Her Anna Jeffrey’s books have won the Write Touch Readers’ Award, the Aspen Gold, and the More Than Magic awards. Her books have been finalists in the Colorado Romance Writers award, the Golden Quill and Southern Magic as well as the Write Touch Readers’ Award, the Aspen Gold and the More than Magic awards. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Dallas Area Romance Authors and PASIC.

Anna is a fifth generation Texan. She was born and grew up in West Texas, where most of her family members were farmers and ranchers or worked in the oil fields. She left Texas for many years and lived in four of the western states, a rich experience she’ll never forget.

She loves most things western, from the customs and culture to the philosophy of life. She enjoys many hobbies, i.e., reading, painting and drawing, crafting, needlework and beading.

These days, she’s back home in Texas. She and her husband currently live in Granbury, Texas, a small town not far from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Find her website at http://www.annajeffrey.com

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

Twitter https://twitter.com/annajeffrey

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/74577.Anna_Jeffrey

Thanks for stopping by.

CARE TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME?

Have I mentioned a time travel box set? I'm honored to be included with these great authors. This set is a great value. For only $1.99 you can have 10 TIMELESS HEROES. Only 20 cents a book. What a bargain! Here's a little about the contents:

Magic & destiny unite lovers across time and space in this epic collection of award-winning, chart topping tales. From sweet to sizzling romances, 10 Timeless Heroes has a little something for everyone. With over fifteen hundred pages and a retail value of $25.90, you save almost $23 with this special introductory price! Don't wait to stock up. Fall is right around the corner...

FIONA by PL Parker: In the past, she found her future.

SOMEWHERE MY LASS by Beth Trissel: Neil MacKenzie's well-ordered life turns to chaos when Mora Campbell shows up claiming he's her fiancé from 1602 Scotland. Her avowal that she was chased to the future by clan chieftain, Red MacDonald, is utter nonsense, and Neil must convince her she's just addled from a blow to her head-until the MacDonald himself shows up wanting blood.

GOING BACK FOR ROMEO by LL Muir: Alone with a Highlander, in his castle, on a cold dark night...Okay, so it wasn't that cold. Jillian is duped back to 15th Century Scotland to rescue a plaid-clad Romeo and Juliet. The monster in her way, however, is a handsome Highlander who may just be her own Romeo.

SWORDSONG by Skhye Moncrief: He's arrived to help her create the perfect bride. His ticket home relies on a lonely woman haunted by more than apparitions. If time-travel duty, romance, and a bit of magic don't help them realize their destiny resonates in mysterious fairy SWORDSONG, all known history could change.

HIGHLAND MYSTIC by Sky Purington: Caitriona is not who she seems. Her fate was foreseen long before birth and so important it will impact all future MacLomains. When dreams of Alan Stewart begin, she knows the time has come. But how to convince a Highland laird from another century that he must die for her? Especially when she couldn't bear his death.

MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER by Nancy Lee Badger: Bumbling present day herbalist, Haven MacKay, gets more than she bargains for when her love spell goes awry, is cast back in time, and meets her true love -- Laird Kirkwall Gunn. Kirk's plans go slightly off course when he falls in love with a woman wandering through the Scottish Highlands. After all, he has pledged to marry another, from an enemy clan, in order to end a century-old feud.

OUT OF THE BLUE by Caroline Clemmons: Police Detective Brendan Hunter wants answers. Who shot him and killed his partner? Why? And why does Deirdre Dougherty know details of the event? He can't let her out of his sight until she confesses to how she learned details no one but he and his late partner knew.

A TRAIN THROUGH TIME by Bess McBride: Ellie awakens on a train to Seattle to find herself on a bizarre historical train full of late Victorian era reenactors. When handsome Robert convinces her the date is 1901, Ellie presumes she is in the middle of a very interesting dream--a dream she doesn't want to awaken from.

CAPTIVE HERO by Donna Michaels: Test flying an invisible plane--unreal. Time-shifting to WWII--unbelievable. Capturing a hero--unavoidable. When test pilot Samantha Sheppard accidentally flies back in time and inadvertently saves a WWII pilot, she changes history and makes a crack decision to abduct him back to the present, but convincing him it's another century proves tough.

DESIRES OF THE HEART by Linda LaRoque: At a cottage in the UK, recently divorced Loren Fairchild rebuilds her life. A simple-minded woman appears and triggers an event that hurls Loren 60 years into the past. During WWII, Miles Chapeau's wife is hurt in an air raid. She now has the mind of a child. One day she disappears. That very night a strange woman appears. Caught in a web of confusion, Loren and Miles struggle with the direction their lives must take.

The following titles contain stronger sexual content and are recommended for a mature audience: SWORDSONG, HIGHLAND MYSTIC,, MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER, and CAPTIVE HERO.

Thamks for stopping by!.

EXPOSE OF JACQUIE ROGERS

Dare I mention again what a great experience working with Jacquie Rogers was when we wrote our linked books for MAIL-ORDER TANGLE? While we kept closely in touch to keep our books in sync, each of us wrote her own book. Mine is MAIL-ORDER PROMISE and hers is MAIL ORDER RUCKUS. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that our effort pleased each of us as well as readers.

I’ve been a fan of Jacquie’s many years, since I read her first publication. She wrote fairies back then, which she still loves. (Don’t miss her upcoming story “Have Wand, Will Travel.”) She’s also written a futuristic time-travel which cracked me up, SINGLE GIRLS CAN’T JUMP. But my favorite of her writings are her western historical romances.

She lives near Seattle now but Jacquie grew up in Owyhee County, Idaho, which is where she sets her Hearts of Owyhee series. Those are MUCH ADO ABOUT MARSHALLS, MUCH ADO ABOUT MADAMS, MUCH ADO ABOUT MAVERICKS, and MUCH ADO ABOUT MINERS. Hard to choose a favorite among them, but I confess the first has a slight edge in my vote. 

Want to know a secret? Of course you do. The cover model for MUCH ADO OF MARSHALS is Jacquie's nephew.

  

Another of my favorites is SLEIGHT OF HEART, the first of a new series. I can hardly wait for her next book. I don’t think she’ll be able to top Burke O’Shaughnessy as a hero, though. He and Lexie make a perfect couple. Another secret--Lexie is loosely modeled on Jacquie's math-whiz aunt. 

You can see that between those books and all the short stories she does for Western Fictioneers (some as one of those writing as Ford Fargo) and Prairie Rose Press, the woman is a workaholic. If you haven’t read all of her books and stories, what are you waiting for?

Thanks for stopping by!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH CAROLYN RAE

Please welcome fellow Texas resident Carolyn Rae to the blog. Carolyn has granted an interview, so I’ll get right to grilling…er, I mean, interviewing her.

CC: Please share with readers something of growing up:

CR: I grew up in Washington, D.C. with one brother. I walked to the library a lot and read every fairy tale I could find, including The Princess and Curdie, but never found The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or any of Tolkien’s books until I had children. I read The Hobbit to them on a long trip from Hurst, Texas, where I live now, to visit in-laws in Mississippi. I guess my library branch didn’t have a large selection. After my mother died, my father remarried, and I gained two sisters and another brother. I used to entertain my youngest sister with stories I made up on long trips.

CC: Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

CR: “Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.” U.S. President John Quincy Adams. I also like “You haven’t failed until you quit.” Marjorie Holmes.

CC: I love both of those quotes. How long have you been writing?

CR: Over twenty years. I also wrote the text and some of the recipes for There IS Life After Lettuce (Eakin Press), a cookbook for heart patients and diabetics.

CC: Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music, solitude?

CR: I like quiet. Sometimes I play CD’s with Lloyd Webber songs sung by Sarah Brightman, especially “Love Changes Everything” and “The Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera or Gershwin’s Rapsody in Blue.

CC: I listen to classical music when I write. Are you a plotter or a panzer?

CR: I’m a plotter. If I don’t have a plan, I don’t know what to write next. If I start pantzing, I go off in wild tangents that haven’t much to do with my original story.

CC: I remember that you and I attended the same “Story Magic” workshop led by Robin Perini and Laura Baker. That workshop was immeasurably helpful to my plotting. Do you use real events or persons in your stories or as an inspiration for stories?

CR: Once I used an interesting guy I’d met as inspiration for a hero. My character soon grew into someone different.

CC: Do you set daily writing goals? Word count? Number of chapters? Do you get a chance to write every day?

CR: I write two to three hours everyday, well, Monday to Friday, now that I’m retired. When I worked full time at a day job, I’d write an hour each morning and one to two or three hours on weekends. I could do a book in a year. My critique groups sometimes slow me down when they find things I need to change.

CC: What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

CR: I hope they enjoy the journey and cheer when the hero and heroine escape the bad guys, get proof enough to convict them, and work through  their issues so they can be happy together,.

CC: What long-term plans do you have for your career?

CR: I hope to publish books with traditional publishers and self-publish several novels I’ve finished, including a trilogy featuring people in the Witness Security Program, a time travel, and a series featuring twins. I may also self-publish a cookbook featuring healthy, tasty dishes as cookbook agents haven’t been interested so far.

CC: I’m a confirmed self-publisher now, but wish you success. Would you like to tell us what you’re working on now?

CR: Watch for Romancing the Doctor, the latest romance from Carolyn Rae. Megan and Josh (Romancing the Gold) are now married and have enjoyed traveling for photo shoots in South Africa and the Congo during summers off while Josh earned his doctorate at Georgetown University.

When Josh accepts a professorship at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Megan leaves her job at the Smithsonian to work at the city’s New Municipal Museum.

Returning with presents from a trip to Kenya, newly pregnant Megan shows up on Heather’s doorstep to find her sister is in trouble again. Recently divorced, Heather has adopted a puppy, is being pestered by her ex and courted by brilliant CDC doctor, Daniel Whistler. But Heather’s also a reporter and is about to be thrown into the middle of the biggest nightmare of the century. Someone is spreading a mutated virus in big U.S. cities, a cruise ship and elsewhere. It causes death, miscarriages and sterility.

CC: Sounds intriguing. What advice would you give to unpublished authors?

CR: Write every day. Learn all you can. Join a local writer’s group and become part of a small critique group. Research agents and editors before submitting so you can find ones who would be interested in what you write. Read the first three chapters out loud and run it through a spelling and grammar program before sending.

CC: Good advice. Share a fun fact readers wouldn’t know about you.

CR: I used to teach in the Fort Worth Federal Correctional Institution. I was the supervisor of the ironwork, carpentry, and painting trainees for their tests and assignments. They spent half a day with me and half a day in shop with instructors who’d worked at those careers.  I even learned how to do welding from an Apache chief who was an inmate there.

CC: How fascinating. We’ve been acquainted twenty years and I didn’t know that about you. All this time, I thought you always worked as a legal secretary. What’s something about you that would surprise or shock readers?

CR: When I had to do an experiment with the liver of a laboratory rat, it smelled so good, I had to taste it.

CC: Euwwww! Excuse me while I go brush my teeth and use Listerine. Can you give readers a blurb about ROMANING THE GOLD?

CR: Here you are:

Megan McKinley finds searching for gold fascinating when she meets attractive photographer Joseph Logan. However, he has a secret agenda, to discover who’s smuggling Peruvian artifacts.

This fall, you can follow Megan McKinley as she rediscovers the teacher she had a crush on as a studly, bearded photographer. Then she finds out that’s not the real reason he’s there, and that he suspects her of wrong doing.

CC: Beautiful cover. How about an excerpt from ROMANCING THE GOLD?

Chapter One

Megan McKinley basked in the warm sun. Here she was, sitting beside her friend, Paula, on a hard wooden board, on her way to Cuzco, Peru, in a donkey cart of all things. She took a deep breath of the clear, fresh air. She’d waited all year to take part in this archaeological expedition, and she’d already made a great find.

Noise from behind made her look back. A red car was creeping along beside them. A hulking man stepped out of the car.

“Hand over your purses,” he barked.

Megan’s stomach lurched. She couldn’t hand him her bag. Her debit card would allow access to the money she’d scrimped and saved to finish her master’s degree. Why the hell hadn’t she put it in her money belt? Now, she wished they hadn’t missed the archaeology camp’s van leaving for town. Her degree and this expedition were supposed to cinch that job at the Smithsonian. Ever since her parents took her to the museum as a child, Megan wanted to spend days and days there. She’d hoped she might soon have that chance, but now….

The driver cracked his whip and gave a command. The donkey brayed as the cart jerked forward. Every bump jarred her, while overworked muscles complained with twinges and aches from digging for artifacts.

The man with the bulging biceps continued to walk beside them.

“Stop!” he commanded, but their teenaged driver refused to comply.

Cropped, curly hair framed the stocky man’s brown-skinned face as he puffed on a cigarette. The acrid smoke set her nostrils quivering. The gun in his hand, although only palm-size, made her tremble. The dark-skinned car-driver, leaner, but just as mean looking, continued to keep pace with the donkey cart.

The man on foot pointed the gun directly at Megan. His eyes narrowed.

“Give me your purses,” he bellowed and motioned with his free hand.

Eagles collided in Megan’s stomach. A bead of sweat trickled down her neck. Her fingers tensed and her insides twisted even tighter. Staring at the barrel of the gun, she caught her breath. Dust from the dirt road swirled around, making it hard to breathe.

CC: An intriguing excerpt sure to get readers’ attention. Where can readers find your books?

CR:  Amazon    Kobo   Nook

This book currently is available at MuseItUp Publishing but also at

http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Gold-Carolyn-Rae-ebook/dp/B00MVBS9UE/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1409020490&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Romancing+the+Stone+museitup

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/romancing-the-gold-carolyn-rae/1120184672?ean=2940046246230&itm=1&usri=2940046246230

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id911454650

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/romancing-the-gold

See Carolyn Rae’s author page on MuseItUpPublishing.com.

Carolyn Rae, Author

CC: How can readers learn more about you?

CR: Find me at www.carolynrae.com (where you find my blogs - I just visited the McDonald Observatory)

Carolyn Rae Author – Facebook author page

Twitter - @Carolynraew1

CC: Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you?  

CR: I’ve given talks at libraries, bookstores, a diabetic education group, writer’s groups, and conferences. If your group is interested in a talk about “Finding Time for Your Dream,” “Luring Readers into Living Your Story,” (talks I’ve given at writer’s groups and conferences]) or  “Plotting Made Easy with Post-It Notes,” contact me at carolynrwilliamson@att.net . 

MOLLY HARPER AND DUETS BY EMELLE GAMBLE

Emelle will award a signed paperback of MOLLY HARPER with bonus novella DUETS included (US ONLY) to THREE randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Please click the tour banner at the top to see other stops on this tour.

Both books are FREE on Amazon September 27 - October 1, 2014.

Movie star Molly Harper has it all, beauty, success in her field, and a loving family and marriage to actor Ben Delmonico. Norma Wintz, Molly’s mother, has it all, a lovely life style and two children who adore her, and a respite from the battle against cancer she’s been fighting. Anne Sullivan, at age fifty, is optimistic that her move to sunny Santa Barbara, California, will allow her to be closer to her youngest son and his family, and help her start her life anew after the death of her beloved husband.

But all three of these women, despite their considerable blessings, are plunged into turmoil when the most intimate of secrets that ties their lives together is revealed. At this same time, Molly Harper is confronted with the news that her marriage to actor Ben Delmonico is over. As she navigates this heartbreak and tries to keep the personal details of the drama off the front pages of the newspapers, Molly must also find a way to once and forever negotiate a way forward with her ex- lover and best friend, the volatile and compelling Cruz Morales.

How each of these characters handles the resulting upheaval in their own life, and in their relationships with one another, forms the compelling story of family, secrets and trust in the romantic women’s fiction novel, Molly Harper.

DUETS offers alternating looks into the lives of two women who would seem to have little or nothing in common.

Screen star Molly Harper has it all…beauty, success in her profession, a loving family and an upcoming marriage to actor Ben Delmonico. But as Molly is on the verge of marrying the man who has swept her off her feet, she still wonders if he hasn’t swept all her feelings for her first love away, Cruz Morales.

A handsome and cerebral college professor, Molly and Cruz have an on-again, off-again history stretching back to Molly’s early teen years. He’s not a man who a girl can ever forget about, and his feelings for Molly are equally conflicted.

Anne Sullivan, happily married for twenty-five years, is fighting to hold onto the man she loves, and hold off a confrontation that could shatter her family’s image of what they are. It involves the beautiful screen star and her mother, upper crust matron Norma Wintz, who Anne has traveled to California to meet under the most dramatic of circumstances.

Duets confronts the most intimate type of family secret that ties these two women’s lives together, just as chance events turn Molly and Anne’s worlds upside down.

Enjoy an excerpt from DUETS:

Anne Sullivan looked down at her watch.

One twenty-one p.m. Norma Wintz was twenty minutes late.

Anne leaned back against the banquette and avoided making eye contact with the hovering waitress. She folded her hands together and wondered if her face looked tight as cellophane stretched over a bowl of tuna salad. That’s how it felt.

I shouldn’t have come. She glanced around the unfamiliar restaurant. It was all glass and mirrors; chock full of shockingly glamorous Californians surely leading shockingly exciting lives. People who wouldn’t understand why a widow from Potomac, Maryland was breaking into sobs and intruding on their lunch experience.

Which is probably what I’m going to do once Norma arrives, she thought. She had tried to prepare herself for meeting the woman, face-to-face, who had adopted her baby thirty-five years ago, but Anne wasn’t sure she was going to be able to handle it as she hoped.

Calmly. Dispassionately. In control.

Anne’s chest suddenly ached, as if all the emotion she’d suppressed for decades gathered into a knot under her ribs.

I should call the number for Norma Wintz and tell her not to come. Which was a great idea, except she’d left her cell phone in the car. And if she went to her car to get it, she might not have the emotional courage to come back.

To say nothing of the fact that if she walked the two long blocks to where she was parked, there was a good chance she would miss Norma Wintz altogether, and the woman would probably think she was a crack pot.

Anne took another peek at her watch.

One twenty-two.

That’s impossible. It felt as if an hour had passed since she’d last looked at the time.

“Excuse me, are you Mrs. Sullivan?” A waiter, his eyes jade green against his tan skin, smiled at Anne. His name tag read ‘Taj’.

“Yes, I’m Anne Sullivan."

“There’s a call for you.” Taj held out a phone.

Anne pressed it against her head. “This is Anne Sullivan.”

Taj clasped his hands behind his back and smiled at her as if she was a small child on the first day of school.

“Hello, this is Norma Wintz calling,” a voice said in Anne’s ear. “I’m on my way but there was an accident and traffic is wretched. I got no answer on the number you gave me, but I wanted to let you know I wasn’t standing you up.”

“Oh, that’s no problem.” Anne nodded at Taj and repositioned the phone an inch higher on her ear. “I don’t have other plans for this afternoon.”

“Fine. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.” The phone went dead.

“Okay. Thank you!” Anne met the waiter’s eyes and wondered how Taj had known to bring it to her.

Norma Wintz must have described me to him. But what could she have said, since we’ve never met? Look for a woman who seems the sort to give up her first-born child for adoption?

Emelle Gamble, Author

Emelle Gamble was a writer at an early age, bursting with the requisite childhood stories of introspection. These evolved into bad teen poetry and worse short stories. She took her first stab at full length fiction in an adult education writing class when her kids were in bed. As M.L. Gamble, she published several romantic suspense novels with Harlequin. She contracted with Soul Mate Publishing for Secret Sister, published in the summer of 2013, and Dating Cary Grant, an April 2014 release.

Once and Forever, an anthology which includes the novella Duets, came out on November 1st. Molly Harper, a full length novel starring the characters from Duets 3 years later was released by Posh Publishing in January, 2014. Duets is now available as a standalone novella. Emelle lives in suburban Washington D.C. with her husband, ‘Phil-the-fist’, her hero of thirty years, and two orange cats, Lucy and Bella. These girls, like all good villains, have their reasons for misbehaving.

Her daughter, Olivia, and son, Allen, are happily launched on their own and contributing great things to society, their mother’s fondest wish.

Review Quotes:

Praise for SECRET SISTER…

“Along with being a very unique and captivating plot, SECRET SISTER offers a shocking turn of the paranormal kind… This is a story of friendship, family, and most of all, true love and what those things can mean. I cannot recommend SECRET SISTER strongly enough… “ Fresh Fiction, Fresh Reviews

DUETS…

"I'll admit I grabbed this book for review more because Emelle Gamble had a story in there - I've loved her significant touch brought to family relationships in a previous book of hers that I've read, and I wanted to confirm if this sort of embroiled-relationships type of tale is really her niche or not. Turns out, it is!" Zee Monodee's Author's Corner reviews
MOLLY HARPER…

"MOLLY HARPER ...is the first book I've read by this author, but it won't be my last! Ms. Gamble does a wonderful job of drawing these characters and making them just leap off the page." Long and Short Reviews

DATING CARY GRANT…

"Fantasy and reality blend together in this mesmerizing tale from Emelle Gamble…It's not your typical romance, making it a breath of fresh air in a market currently inundated with new adult contemporary romances (which I do love, but need a break once in a while!). I continue to be a fan of this author..." Andi's Book Reviews

Links:

Email: emellegamble@aol.com

Website: www.EmelleGamble.com

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Emelle.Gamble

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmelleGamble

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7123746.Emelle_Gamble

Emelle Gamble BOOKS:

DATING CARY GRANT book of the month at Long & Short Reviews. eBook exclusively at Amazon.com
http://amzn.to/1iiE8Y0

SECRET SISTER… RONE Award Honorable Mention for BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL of 2013
available in audio, paperback and eBook at Amazon http://amzn.to/17J2Bn6

DUETS, a prequel novella to MOLLY HARPER, now available at Amazon http://amzn.to/1cagyNa

MOLLY HARPER, available in paperback and eBook at Amazon http://amzn.to/MOJUXa

MOLLY HARPER and DUETS now available in one Paperback volume! http://amzn.to/1hW6YSj


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