Another Next Big Thing by Katy Lee

Fellow author Debby Lee (No relation at all) recently tagged me in a blog. She sent me a list of questions that I’m to answer regarding my next book and post them to my blog. Now since I already told you about my October 2013 release, Warning Signs, a Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story, here,  I will tell you about my next book after that one. So here goes.

WHAT’S THE WORKING TITLE OF YOUR BOOK?

In Too Deep to be released mid 2014 with Love Inspired Suspense. Title may change. In fact, knowing my editor, it most likely will. Warning Signs used to have a working title of Forever Silenced. That’s just the way it works.

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM FOR YOUR BOOK?

Well, first I love a good forensic anthropology story, especially when my heroine anthropologist gets to butt heads with a handsome cop to solve the case. But because I also participate in many events with the Creation Coalition here in New England, I wanted a character that has a strong faith in God as her creator, even when some of her colleagues don’t believe.  I hope to inspire readers to stay strong in their faith.

Now because I write romance, the romantic conflict ensues when my hero needs evidence to trust in her because of his own past betrayals, but my heroine doesn’t want to live her life with her actions always under the microscope.

WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL UNDER?

Inspirational Romantic Suspense

WHAT IS THE ONE SENTENCE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR BOOK?

Bones have been unearthed on the island, but the real trouble begins when Anthropologist Lydia Muir and the handsome sheriff, Wesley Grant, start digging deeper.

IF YOUR BOOK BECAME A MOVIE, WHO WOULD PLAY YOUR LEADS?

A long-haired Bradley Cooper and a  sophisticated Jennifer Garner.

 

 

IS YOUR BOOK SELF PUBLISHED OR REPRESENTED BY AN AGENCY?

This will be published by Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense.

WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE YOUR STORY TO WITHIN YOUR GENRE?

I hate comparing my stories to others out there. I don’t want to compare this story to the T.V. show, Bones, either, even though that is the first thing that comes to mind. Like most writers my stories are unique and don’t follow another writer’s pattern. It keeps things fresh and surprising!

WHAT ELSE ABOUT YOUR BOOK MIGHT PIQUE THE READERS INTERESTS?

I was excited to return to the Island of Stepping Stones where Warning Signs takes place. So I got to revisit some of the characters from the first book. I hope you like them all!

And now if you would like to see Debby Lee’s answers to her book, click here. And thank you Debby for the invite to share!

P.S. Stay tuned, in a few weeks, I will reveal the cover for Warning Signs!!!

Who Influenced You?

Thea Devine posting today.  So tell me if this isn’t a bookaholic’s dream.  You’re buying a house and strewn all over the living room floor are books, a hundred or more of them.  You’re buying the house from the estate of a recently deceased widow, and you know it had been broken into, but the important things were not taken: the fireplace surrounds, the sliding doors, the books.

Among them was a uniformly bound set of novels by Augusta Evans Wilson –

– who, I came to find out, was a best selling author of her time with her novel, St. Elmo.  St. Elmo has to have been the original bad boy hero who had to redeem himself to win his orphaned heroine love.  The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies just after the Civil War and allegedly was so popular that people named children, homes, streets and towns after it. and it was also said that Rhett Butler was supposedly modeled on the character.

There were a half dozen of Wilson’s novels, of which I’ve read 3 — St. Elmo, At the Mercy of Tiberius , and Inez, a Tale of the Alamo.

Which led me to think about the other best selling romance authors of their day, some of whom are long-time favorites of mine:  Faith Baldwin — who wrote career girl (usually nurses or secretaries) romance;  Kathleen Norris (rags to riches, usually set in the Mission section of San Francisco, vividly portrayed);  Emilie Loring (hometown girls in New England, richly evoked in a very distinctive voice).

I know there are some I’m forgetting, but I’m so glad I read those long ago authors long before  the idea of becoming an author myself was ever remotely possible.

Because of them, I found what I liked to read, and what I wanted to write.  From Wilson, and latterly, Catherine Clinton’s The Plantation Mistress,I discovered the pre-civil war south through the women’s eyes, so I’ve been collecting women’s civil war diaries for some time now, just out of my fascination with the time period.

Because of them, I came to love stories of heroines returning to their small town roots.  If they’re going down south, I’m there.  If there’s a plantation, I’m up all night reading it.  I love married-to-the-wrong-guy-but-maybe-not stories;  stories especially of wounded heroes and heroines overcoming their pasts and finding each other;  heroines caught in circumstances manipulated by someone else for nefarious purposes;  ghost stories; stories with conspiracies simmering under the surface that are just hinted at as the solution to the overt problems of the heroine (read gothics).

I just love old books. Love reading the “commercial fiction” from before the turn of the century, even having to plow through the dense Victorian prose and quotations from obscure poets and philosophers.  Love finding old books, as I’ve posted elsewhere.  Love it all, as witness my bookshelves and desk room floor.

But who’s on my current TBR pile then, you might ask.  Well, Gone Girl, Tatiana de Rosnay, Kate Morton, Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks, Karen Rose,  A Victorian Household, Carla Neggers, Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, and  Macaria (another of Wilson’s novels written during the Civil War), among a dozen other books.   What about you?

So who were your influences, who’s on your To Be Read pile?  Do you like old books?  Have you read Norris, Baldwin or Loring?   Do you have other favorites, old or new?

Thea Devine is working on a new erotic contemporary romance and will be putting five backlist titles on-line soon.

Falling Into Sandra Orchard’s Latest Book

Happy fall! Katy Lee here, excited to be ensconced in my favorite time of year—and not just because October is my birthday month, although I love that it is! Especially when I can buy myself books to read while I enjoy the beautiful fall colors of New England.

And so, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that for my birthday this year, I snatched up a fellow Love Inspired Suspense author’s latest novel, Critical Condition.

This is Sandra Orchard’s third novel in her Undercover Cops series, and I when I saw the cover, a little bit of the peace that autumn offers descended upon me like the fluttering leaves themselves. But I will say peace was not the feeling I received while reading it—at least not at first.

Sandra packs every page with twists and turns, emotional highs…and more highs, and a story that equated to a medical thriller romance that felt like The Fugitive meets luuve. Best of both worlds, in my romantic opinion.

But I also can’t forget the inspirational arc Sandra wove into the story so beautifully, touching on the many battles cancer patients and their loved ones face daily…and how many turn away from God instead of to Him. We live in a world where we have so much hurt and pain to deal with, and blaming God will not bring us healing. And it will not bring the blessings that God has for us, either.

And so, for me, autumn is a time of reflection. While I take in the beauty around me, I pray I will see every blessing God has given to me this year—even in the moments I didn’t feel His presence or I thought He didn’t care. I don’t want to enter the holidays feeling resentment of not accomplishing something I set out to do on January 1^st. Or holding a grudge because my year, or even life, did not turn out the way I thought it should. If I am harboring even a bit of anger toward Him, I want to catch that before it festers so big that I disable Him from blessing me more.

The Unlocked Secret: God loves blessing us. Jeremiah 29:11 proves this. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Now THAT’S a blessing I don’t want to miss. And thank you, Sandra Orchard, for allowing God to bless you in your writing, so that you can pass His blessing onto others who don’t want to miss it, either.

Anthologies Abound

PJ Sharon, here. Another Tuesday has come upon us—much too quickly in my opinion. If you haven’t noticed how time is flying by, you have either been in prison, or have been living in a cave. Not to poke fun, but it really does seem like our days are short a few hours. The energy is all but frantic around me, and everyone is hustling to keep pace. With recreational time at a premium, there has been a resurgence in the popularity of short stories, and writers are jumping on board to meet the needs of readers to have a quick story fix.

This is good news for writers. It not only offers us a chance to perhaps try something new, short stories are a great way to keep readers interested and entertained in the long months between full-length releases. Although I’ve never been one to write short stories, when the opportunity arose to collaborate with other authors, I happily accepted the challenge.

Since D.D. Scott began her “All for Indies” Anthologies last year, I’ve noticed lots of Indie-published authors following suit…and readers are loving it. What better way to get a taste of a new author’s style or to have several quick reads available in one, very affordable book. Here are a few treats you might like for Halloween.

I’m excited to be a part of this project with some very excellent storytellers. My short story prequel to WANING MOON is among these spooky shorts just in time for All Hallows Eve. SOUL REDEMPTION gives readers a peek inside the mind of Lily Carmichael’s thirteen-year-old brother Zephron, who has to deal not only with teenage hormones, but a dark power that threatens to take him over–a very creepy prospect indeed. This 15,000 word short story leaves you asking, “What would I do?” Read the first chapter on WATTPAD.

In honoring D.D. Scott’s “Great books at great prices” motto, this anthology is available for .99 cents at Amazon, and Smashwords.

If that isn’t enough to set off your fright meter, here are some more fabulously written short stories for your speed-reading pleasure.

Many of my friends from the WG2E Street team contributed to this one and I have to say, they did an amazing job scaring the heck out of me as I read by Kindle light all alone in my big old farmhouse in the woods while my husband was traveling. I know…crazy, right? But don’t we all love a bit of suspense and ghoulishness this time of year?

Tales from the Mist is available on Amazon for $4.99, a bargain for these ten creepy stories by ten fabulous authors! Check out the book’s Amazon page for details on contributing authors and their stories.

How about you? Have you read any good anthologies recently? Do you like short stories?

Unsafe Haven by Char Chaffin

Hi everyone, Char Chaffin here. I’m thrilled to be on Seven Scribes today!

Katy Lee asked me to talk about my journey as a writer and explain how my newest novel, Unsafe Haven, came to be.

Forty-five pages later . . . 

No, I won’t do that to you all, I promise! But I’d love to share a bit about both.

I used to live in Alaska. Hubby Don and I took our daughter, Sue Ann, then in grade school, to Fairbanks in 1988. Sue Ann and I were iffy about the whole thing, but Don had a fabulous new job there and so we went. Originally we anticipated two, maybe three years in The Last Frontier. We had no way of knowing we’d not only stay for sixteen years, but that we’d love it so much. Yes, the winters are harsh and long. Yes, the summers are all too brief. But Alaska is just so breathtakingly beautiful. Everywhere we traveled across the state, each new wonder we beheld, made us realize there’s no place like Alaska. Sue Ann is still there, married to John and raising granddaughter Faith Charlene.   We don’t see them nearly enough, and we miss Alaska a lot. But we followed our own dream and while it might not always be perfect, we have discovered it’s not that hard to fly into Fairbanks a few times a year and visit our kids.

Now, remotely gorgeous Southwest Alaska, where Unsafe Haven is set, well . . . that’s a different story.

First of all, you need to understand Alaska is roughly two and a half times the size of Texas. Got that firmly in your mind? Okay, now populate that massive area with less than a million people. Yep, you got it. Less than a million.

Southwest is one of the least populated regions in Alaska, for a very good reason: it’s loaded with lakes, rivers, and mountain ranges large enough to raise transportation problems. Tundra and permafrost can cause ground shifting making it difficult to build roads, never mind the expense and impossibility of connecting those roads for more than a few miles. Tiny villages scattered here and there along waterways and nestled at the base of mountain ranges exist by subsistence, living much the way Native Alaskans lived a hundred years ago. Some have no electricity or plumbing. Rough-hewn cabins and Quonset huts, some split-cedar homes and even a few cinderblock houses are the norm. Roads are narrow and often dirt or gravel, go a few miles and then just stop. If a village is lucky enough to exist near a zinc or other mineral mine, they fare better inasmuch as the mining company will often build housing and roads. The village reaps the benefits of what the mine builds.

I wanted explain some of this to help set the stage for Unsafe Haven. My heroine, Kendall, escapes a dangerously unstable and abusive fiancé by hiding out in the small Southwest Alaskan village of Staamat. It’s not easy to get to Staamat and once there, she finds a new life—and love—with Denn, a local cop. For the first time in years Kendall feels safe, and her future with Denn looks bright.

But here’s the thing about remote Alaska: it may be difficult and time-consuming to get there, but it’s just as difficult to get out when danger comes to find you, as Kendall will discover. Alaska isn’t called “The Last Frontier” for nothing. There are roads but they don’t go anywhere. Bush planes land all the time but they’re not always readily available with a pilot standing by. Waterways can barge you out but not when there’s ice locking up the river. In other words, Kendall can hide, but she can’t run. And her nightmare past is only a few thousand miles away, a drop in the bucket for a determined sociopath. 

Choosing Alaska for a setting was a no-brainer for me. I’ve always wanted to write about it, always wanted to set a story in Fairbanks or Anchorage, both of which I’m familiar with. Setting it in Southwest where little is known and the life is hard yet so very rewarding, was a challenge I couldn’t resist. It’s not easy to research the region for a book, unless an author is fortunate enough to sit down with a SW villager and pick their brains. I wasn’t, so I played ‘hunt ‘n peck’ with the Internet. And had some help in the form of hubby, Don, who dug up information on roads, basic village structure, and other necessaries.

Within its many regions, Alaska’s cities and towns are each so unique, it’s like traveling to another country. Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Nome. Talkeetna, Skagway, Homer, Bethel, Aniak. Kodiak, Matanuska, Barrow. Deadhorse, Sitka, Seward. They roll off the tongue and conjure images of wild forests, deep rivers, soaring mountains, impossible winters and fleeting summers. How could I not write a story based there?

Unsafe Haven will be released the last week of August. It’s a novel so very dear to my heart, and I hope everyone who reads it takes from it a taste of what Alaska is all about. Then again, with so many diverse regions, Alaska is different for everyone who crosses its state line looking for adventure.

As for me: I began my writing journey in Fairbanks, on a clunky Hewlett-Packard and a keyboard that often stuck on the letter N. Writing long letters to family thousands of miles away led to writing Victorian poetry. The poetry led to short stories and then a novel that, as my hero Denn Nulo would say, “sucked crude oil.”   I wrote during long, dark winter days when it was forty below outside and our furnace labored to keep our house warm and our water pipes from freezing. I wrote at two in the morning on summer nights with the windows wide open and the sun low in the sky. I started my first novel, Promises to Keep, a year or so before we left Alaska, and I cried when I wrote the words, “The End” because we were already in New York and I wanted to take the manuscript over to daughter Sue Ann’s house and show it to her. Instead, I called her long-distance and we laughed for about three hours.

I used to think writing letters to family and friends was the sum total of my efforts to put words on paper. Now I can’t imagine a day without writing, without that creative flow of energy and satisfaction that only a writer understands.      

Look for Unsafe Haven from Soul Mate Publishing, then Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

Links:

Book Trailer for Unsafe Haven:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJieck3U17Y&feature=youtu.be

My website: http://char.chaffin.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/char.chaffin

Twitter: http://twitter.com/char_chaffin

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5337737.Char_Chaffin

Thanks to Katy Lee for hosting me today, and thank you, Scribes, for letting me ramble on!

Char

Unsafe Haven

For Kendall Martin, a small, remote village in Southwest Alaska seems like a good place to start over. On the run from an abusive relationship, she leaves everything familiar behind and begins a new life as owner of a small souvenir and sportsman trading post in picturesque Staamat.

Denn Nulo knows everyone in town: he’s the Chief of Police in Staamat. He’s lived there all his life, except for his college years, spent in Anchorage. Originally planning on practicing criminal law and living in Anchorage permanently, Denn is forced to change his plans when he receives word that his widowed mother has passed away, leaving his young sister, Luna, alone. Denn comes back to Staamat to care for Luna.

When Kendall meets Denn, she begins to believe there are truly good men in the world. Denn is everything she wants: strong, loving, dedicated to family, protective. . .and patient. There is instant attraction between them, but Kendall is leery of men, and Denn craves a serious relationship that includes marriage and children. Their courtship is a conflicting mix of hesitancy and passion, with Luna, desperately needing a mother figure in her life, cheering them on.

As Kendall learns how to trust again and her romance with Denn grows more intense, a local woman who’s had her eye on Denn for years releases a torrent of damaging jealousy. . .and the nightmare from Kendall’s past discovers where she’s hidden herself.

More About Char:

Char Chaffin started reading romance, science fiction and horror at a very young age. Her love of books is directly responsible for her overflowing bookcases, and the bounty stored on her Kindle threatens to eclipse her entire paper collection. Char currently writes mainstream and contemporary romance filled with family, rich characters and engaging plots. For her, it all comes back to the love.

Char began her writing odyssey as a poet, crafting Victorian-style poetry, then went on to writing short stories. She found her niche when she began writing longer and longer short stories, until she wrote her first novel. It might never see the light of day, but writing it taught her a lot. Over the years she worked a variety of jobs, from farm hand to costume designer to fiscal accountant, before deciding a writing career was her true focus.

In addition to writing, Char is also an editor for Soul Mate Publishing.

A native New Yorker, Char lives Upstate on a sixty-acre farm with husband Don, rat terrier Daisy Mae and two barn cats who constantly slack off on the job of keeping the barn free of varmints. The Chaffin extended family is scattered all over the United States and Alaska.

When she’s not pounding away at her keyboard or burying her nose in books and Kindle, she tends a huge vegetable garden and helps Don maintain their farm. 

Readers: Be sure to leave a comment with Char. It can be a question, a word of encouragement, or anything at all. And thanks, Char for being here today!

WIND OVER MARSHDALE is blowing your way! Welcome Tracy Krauss

Katy Lee here with my fellow John 3:16 Author Network member and fellow Romantic-Suspense author, Tracy Krauss. Tracy has a new book out that just screams, “Read me!” Whenever I find a book or author that I enjoy, I like to share the find with you. So today, I have invited Tracy Krauss to tell us a little bit about herself. Sit back and relax and grab a mini buffalo burger to celebrate her latest release, WIND OVER MARSHDALE

Tell us, Tracy, how do you battle the doubt monster?  We define the Doubt Monster as: the nagging feeling while writing, that your prose is terrible, you plot is silly, your characters are insipid and no-one in their right mind would read this drivel, let alone buy it.

I ignore this beast. I’ve found that editors are a wonderful substitute.

Ha-Ha! They are a beast all their own, for sure. But we need them. And talk about a beast …these burgers are great! And apparently good for you.

So, have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you?  Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t done before.

Sure. I am a huge Science fiction fan and I’ve often thought about writing something more speculative since it is my favourite genre to read. I’m not sure if I’m imaginative enough or have enough technological savvy to pull it off, though. Maybe because I love reading it so much, I feel as if I couldn’t do the genre justice… Besides romantic suspense novels, I do write comedy stage plays, so I suppose I’m already stretching myself in two very different directions as it is.

Comedy stage plays? Wow! Talk about pressure to be funny! That’s great that you have the gift to make people laugh.

But what would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

I’ve already had a taste of what this is like. A few years ago I underwent eye surgery for a congenital eye disorder and I was blind for about two months with another three months recovering where I couldn’t read anything or use a computer. Once I was able, I installed a disability app which allowed me to view things in a huge format – about three words per screen, but I found this too difficult, so I just didn’t write for five months. If this ever happened again, I would get ‘dragonspeak’ or some kind of voice activated software. It was just too hard.

I’ve heard great things about the voice software. Glad you are healed, though.

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere.  What is yours?  What is it about?  What makes it terrible?  Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

I don’t know if it’s terrible, but I just lost interest in it. It’s called ‘Spirit’s Call’ and it’s about a modern native woman who is grappling with her identity, including her interest in native spirituality. I actually used some of the same themes in my latest release WIND OVER MARSHDALE, so I’m not sure I want to write another story about this. If I ever feel fresh inspiration to finish it, I might, but right now I’ve got too many other things on the go that actually interest me.

It’s hard to keep that interest up to keep going. You definitely have to care about the story or your lack of caring will come through on the page. I think that would be worse than forcing the book just to get it done. So good for you for recognizing that.

How do you come up with your shtick?   By shtick I mean your voice. That thing that identifies the story as belonging to only you …something that says these are the type of stories that are your brand.

I think it’s what some people call ‘edgy Christian’ or ‘edgy inspirational’. My work definitely has a redemptive slant, and I write from a Christian worldview, but I don’t shy away from topics that some might consider taboo. I write what I think is relevant in today’s post-modern society.  As well, I certainly do not want my characters to come across as wishy-washy. You know the kind – Mr. or Miss Perfect.  I prefer what I call ‘authentic’ characters that make mistakes; that sometimes think lustful thoughts; that don’t always pray or do the right thing. This to me is much more believable. It’s honest. This isn’t always easy to pitch to typical Christian markets. I have found that there is a market for this type of writing, though, and it is growing.

And I love that the market for this kind of inspirational is growing. I think more people will give a Christian book a try if they can relate to it.

Now, what’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

You must be kidding. I have actually done way too many dangerous and risky things, but not by choice. I am naturally rather passive. I prefer sitting on the couch. Really. However, God in His sense of humour put me with a man who loves adventure – and unfortunately for me I often get dragged along. Let’s see … stranded on the tundra in a polar bear denning area for the night; chased by a stampeding herd of wild buffalo – on foot; caught in ten foot waves out of sight of land in sub-zero water in a tiny aluminum boat with no life jacket; canoe nearly tipped over by whales – again no life jacket… I always tease him that someday I’m going to write a book called ‘Life With Gerald’, and believe me, it might not be pretty! We’ve moved umpteen times in our married life, many of the places north of the 60^th parallel in the far north. (Not some namby-pamby idea of ‘north’ – I’m talking the real deal, as in ARCTIC!) It has given me lots of fodder for writing and it has made me very resilient.

Yowza! You COULD write a book, even if it is a book filled with little research tidbits for us writers who are too afraid to “go there” for their books.

And speaking of writing a book … Tell us about your latest book!  

WIND OVER MARSHDALE is my fourth novel and the first that I’ve published with Astraea Press. My other three novels, AND THE BEAT GOES ON, MY MOTHER THE MAN-EATER, and PLAY IT AGAIN, were all published by Strategic Book Publishing. I enjoyed working with SBP, but my agent found a contract for this latest book with Astraea and I have had a very good experience with them so far. WIND OVER MARSHDALE is about a small prairie town that looks peaceful and quaint on the outside, but underneath there are all kind of issues, especially with racism, sexual promiscuity, and the occult. Thomas Lone Wolf is a Cree man on a mission to build a heritage site near the town based on some ancient archaeological evidence. He and his children aren’t prepared for the level of prejudice they begin to face. Rachel Bosworth is the new Kindergarten teacher, fresh from the big city and running away from a hurtful past. Con McKinley is a local farmer, who also happens to be single and good looking. A love triangle of sorts develops, with the two men unwitting participants. As well, eccentric twin sisters bombard the town; one with her legalistic religious views and the other as a practicing witch. The local pastor has little effect trying to keep his parishioners in line since he is involved in some unsavoury business of his own. The lives of these and many other unusual characters weave together into a surprising climax.  Beneath it all is a thread linking everyone’s problems to the spirit realm; an ancient curse from the past that must be dealt with once and for all.

Like I said, it just screams, “Read me!”

Tracy, tell our readers how they can find you after today?

Website: http://www.tracykrauss.com

Blog: http://www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.com

FB: http://tinyurl.com/Tracy-Krauss-Author-Fanpage

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

Amazon: http://www.kraussamazon.com

Purchase links:

Publisher : Astraea press http://astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=12328252

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Over-Marshdale-ebook/dp/B008ARYQPA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339803471&sr=8-1&keywords=wind+over+marshdale

Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wind-over-marshdale-tracy-krauss/1111512160?ean=2940014767682

Marshdale. Just a small farming community where nothing special happens.  A perfect place to start over… or get lost. There is definitely more to this prairie town than meets the eye. Once the meeting place of aboriginal tribes for miles around, some say the land itself was cursed because of the people’s sin. But its history goes farther back than even indigenous oral history can trace and there is still a direct descendant who has been handed the truth, like it or not. Exactly what ties does the land have to the medicine of the ancients? Is it cursed, or is it all superstition?

Wind Over Marshdale is the story of the struggles within a small prairie town when hidden evil and ancient medicine resurface. Caught in the crossfire, new teacher Rachel Bosworth finds herself in love with two men at once. First, there is Thomas Lone Wolf, a Cree man whose blood lines run back to the days of ancient medicine but who has chosen to live as a Christian and faces prejudice from every side as he tries to expose the truth. Then there is Con McKinley, local farmer who has to face some demons of his own. Add to the mix a wayward minister seeking anonymity in the obscurity of the town; eccentric twin sisters – one heavily involved in the occult and the other a fundamentalist zealot; and a host of other ‘characters’ whose lives weave together unexpectedly for the final climax. This suspenseful story is one of human frailty – prejudice, cowardice, jealousy, and greed – magnified by powerful spiritual forces that have remained hidden for centuries, only to be broken in triumph by grace.

Link to an excerpt: http://tracykrauss.yolasite.com/wind-over-marshdale-first-chapters.php

QUESTION: Readers, Tracy is here today to answer any of your questions and comments. So give her some love! And how were your burgers????

Nothing Like the Real Thing

Tuesday’s Scribe, PJ Sharon here. One of the things I love about my writing life is all of the fun new experiences I get to have while researching for my books. Last month, I took a day and drove the back roads to Albany so I could get a feel for the landscape, the drive time, and the city. I’d never been to Albany, but it made sense for my dystopian story to have the main trading hub in the Northeast be located there with the Hudson River and the Erie Canal being so accessible. I had used tools like Google Earth, Google Maps, the Chamber of Commerce for Albany, and Wikipedia, but nothing gave me as much of a visceral experience as really being there. I wanted to feel what my characters might feel, see what they would see, and go where they would go. I wanted to know what the Hudson smelled like and how depressed the economy was. Overall, It was a great experience. I even got to meet the lovely ladies in the Tourist Information Bureau who asked me to make sure to contact them when the book is finished so they can schedule a book signing on site.

Along the same lines, I’ve thought about taking a gun safety course for quite some time. I’d taken one many years ago and done my share of shooting when I was younger, but at the time, with children in my house, I decided I wasn’t willing to take the risk of owning any firearms, so I never got licensed. Now that my kids are long past the age of living at home, and I’m writing about hill folk who own guns, I thought it was a good time to revisit firearms training.  

When I first began writing fiction and I needed to know some details about guns and how to use them, I turned once again to the internet. I began studying types of handguns to determine what size and firepower would best suit my characters, what type of holster they might wear to conceal their weapon, and most importantly, what it would feel like to fire a pistol. Hundreds of YouTube videos later, I had the information I needed, but I was missing the most important parts of the experience. The tactile, visceral experience I vaguely remembered from my youth. The anticipation as you focus the front sight of your pistol on the target down range, the adrenaline rush as you begin to squeeze the trigger, and the sensation of power that kicks back as the gun discharges. Or even the pride you feel when you reel in your target and see how well you did. You can’t experience that sense of satisfaction from a YouTube video. Gun enthusiast or not, every writer who crafts stories about gun-toting heroes and heroines should try firing a handgun at least once…with supervision of course.

 In my effort to get some real hands on experience, my husband and I sat through a torturously steamy gun safety course this past weekend. That’s right, twenty-five people in a tiny room with no air conditioning for eight hours on a 96 degree day. Ick! It’s a miracle that the only shots fired were down range at the targets. Despite the less than comfortable conditions, I learned a lot about the law, (Massachusetts has some of the strictest gun laws in the country), and did quite a good job on both the written and practical exam, scoring 100% and making some nice tight groupings in the black on my target. Like any new skill though, I have a lot to learn, and since I plan to continue writing stories about kick butt heroes and heroines, I plan to continue my training. I’ll be taking the next level course in a few weeks and will be looking into getting certified as an NRA “Refuse to be a Victim” instructor where I’ll actually be able to teach courses in personal safety and crime prevention.  

Even though I started this new adventure as an adjunct to my research, I realized that I’m going to these lengths in part because I’m passionate about personal protection, but also because I believe that everyone should be informed and prepared. In case you missed my series on Self-Defense for Teens, Marian Lanouette has asked me to re-post it to her blog next week. Whether you are a fifteen-year-old girl or a fifty-year-old woman, it’s never too late to learn to defend yourself.

Aside from adding to my arsenal of personal experiences from which I can draw for my books, gun safety and personal protection have practical application that I hope never to have to use. But the reality is that there are dangers we all face every day. If I can be a part of making the world a safer place for women by training them to be prepared to protect themselves, I’m all in.

And in response to Jamie Pope’s post yesterday about the steamy hunks of the big and small screen, I went home after seeing Magic Mike and gave my hubby a big smooch and told him how much I appreciate him. Because when it comes down to loving our heroes, don’t you agree? There’s nothing like the real thing.

What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done in the name of research?

Set Sail with Jennifer Fromke on A Familiar Shore

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Katy Lee here with Jennifer Fromke. She’s here to share  about A Familiar Shore, her latest book that just happens to take place around Memorial Day. Did we plan that just right, or what?! I’m excited to hear how Jennifer did her research for this exciting story, so take it away, Jennifer!

Thank you, Katy, for having me on the Scribes! A long time ago, back when I was only thinking about writing, I decided contemporary fiction would be the easier route because there would be no research. Remember, I said it was a long time ago…I was fairly naïve.

Obviously, all writing requires research. This quickly became a stark reality for me. Now I think writing a contemporary story may even require more research, because every reader is living in the same time period and everything must ring true.

So I began the process of researching as I began writing my debut novel. Thank goodness for the internet! My story takes place on and around several boats and the biggest blessing for me as I wrote A Familiar Shore turned out to be my best source of information about boats: my dad.

Growing up in Michigan, it seems like we were always on the water. Most fair weather weekends were spent either boating on the Great Lakes, or water skiing and sailing on one of the smaller lakes. Dad recently even spent one winter living on a boat in Florida. Boating is his hobby and he taught me a lot about them as I grew up. For example, I have an immovable sense about which side is Port and which is Starboard.

One of the main characters in my novel is an octogenarian who lives on an old yacht, travelling along the southeastern seaboard. So I wrote several scenes taking place on the yacht. I can’t count the number of times I emailed Dad asking something like this: “What do you call that thing in the pilot house that the captain uses for . . .” He was so patient with me! He always knew where to send me for further research, photos, etc . . .

Then I wrote an action scene in the novel, which takes place in the middle of a lake on a Hobie Cat. I needed Dad’s help to see what the boat would do in my scenario and how an inexperienced sailor might react. And again, there were several questions about what you call that “thing-y . . .”

While I like to talk to my dad fairly frequently, having this extra excuse was truly a blessing for me. Sometimes my questions would trigger a memory he recounted to me. Sometimes his answer would remind me just how wise and full of knowledge he is. I became extra grateful for a childhood largely punctuated by time on the water and I think this comes out in the novel.

As I write the next novel, which is strangely devoid of boats, I’m missing my “go-to” guy for research. It’s way more fun to talk with somebody I love about what I’m doing than it is to read from the internet all by myself. But I’m plugging away at it. With joy.

Question: Have you written about a topic in which your family or friends are experts?

Jennifer Fromke is a native Michigander, but writes from North Carolina these days. She is a Wheaton College graduate and loves nothing better than a few solitary hours with a great book and a latte.

In her debut novel, A Familiar Shore, we meet Meg Marks, a young lawyer raised off the coast of the Carolinas. An anonymous client hires her to arrange his will, and sends her to meet his estranged family at their lake home in northern Michigan. After a shocking discovery, she finds herself caught between his suspicious family and a deathbed promise her conscience demands that she keep. Will she sacrifice her own dreams for revenge, or will she choose something more?

A Familiar Shore is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Great to have you, Jennifer, on the Scribes! I hope you will come back again.

Readers: A Familiar Shore is an exciting story! And what better way to spend Memorial day on the lake in a boat! Ahhhhh! It’s just one click away, and you can be there, too!

Honor Thy Mother

Happy Mother’s Day, Katy Lee here, and in lieu of Mother’s Day, I thought I would share a bit about my heroine’s mom in my Inspirational-Romantic-Suspense, Real Virtue. (FYI-I did post this on Sandra Orchard’s blog last month, sorry if you’ve already read it.)

I’m especially excited to give a little more insight into Arlene Mesini’s character because Arlene was influenced by my own mother. You see, like my mom, Arlene suffers from the horrible brain disease, Schizophrenia. When I set out to write Real Virtue, I did not plan for Arlene to have this disease. Never in my wildest imagination did I think my story would link up with it either, but during my research of online virtual-reality gaming I came across an avatar with this affliction. You see, in Real Virtue, my heroine is a gamer who takes her pastime a little too far. She is living a life that is a bit removed from reality…just like her mother. But in Mel’s case, she has the choice.

It was during my research that I found this video of what a day in the life of a schizophrenic person is like, and in watching this video I knew I had found my heroine’s mother—and the perfect conflict for Mel to face.

A conflict I understood very well.

I’m going to be honest here and say, growing up with someone who has this disease is extremely difficult, and it took me a long time to understand my mother’s pain, but more importantly, to accept her as she is. If I was ever to have a relationship with her, I needed to stop trying to escape from the reality of the situation, (excuse the pun) and get to know her.

And the same goes for Mel.

So, once Arlene was “born,” I knew I had an opportunity to take it one step further and honor my own mom through her. I dedicated Real Virtue to my mom as the strongest person I know. I can only hope Arlene does her justice.

The Unlocked Secret That’s Not Really a Secret: Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there! Being a mom is the most important thing you will ever do. Take pride in it. You are shaping the world and you ARE making a difference. And remember to honor your own mom today. She, too, made a difference.

Question: So since we’re sharing, tell me something about your mother. But remember, keep it honoring.

We Give You Fever … Again!

Hey, everybody. Suze here.  I’ve preempted your regularly scheduled J Monkeys programming to bring back Kensington author, Joan Swan, whose debut novel FEVER releases on February 28. Read through to the end to find out about Joan’s giveaways!  (Click here to read Joan’s earlier post) Welcome back, Joan.

Yowza! I’ve been waiting months for this book!

Now that your release is almost here (February 28!), how excited are you?  What’s going through your mind right now?

Thanks for having me back!!

I’m actually really excited!  What’s helped create excitement vs. anxiety is that Fever has already received many wonderful reviews.  (You can see them here.)  For a debut author, this is a huge relief knowing the majority of people who’ve had the chance to read an early copy have enjoyed the story!

What’s been going through my mind?

“ACK!!”  Yep, that actually does run through my mind about every twenty minutes, punctuated by, “What’s next?”  “What have I missed?”  “What haven’t I done yet?”  “What do I still need to do?”  “What am I going to have to let slide?”  and “Can I sleep yet?”

Tell us a little bit about FEVER.  I know I’m hot to buy it!

Thanks Suze!!

A mysterious explosion at a military warehouse injuries a team of seven hazmat firefighters, killing one.  The contents of the building, chemicals used by the Department of Defense, have inflicted the team with various paranormal abilities.  Abilities the government wants to study covertly.  Abilities the team wants to understand and expose.

FEVER is about one of the seven firefighters, Teague Creek, convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, framed by a government threatened by his prying questions into the warehouse explosion.  Teague has been denied an appeal, lost the daughter he lived for, and the career as a firefighter he loved.  With no hope left, he plans an escape.  But his plan goes wrong when the woman he kidnaps as leverage to get his daughter back turns out to be someone else.  And this woman quickly clues into the abilities he tries to hide, creating a bond neither can afford while they’re on the run from both the cops and undercover operatives who want Teague silenced.  This time, permanently.

You are doing an amazing job of marketing and promoting your debut release.  I see you everywhere.  Can you reveal what your strategy was/is and how you’ve gone about implementing it in the months leading up to FEVER’s release?  How much assistance did your publisher give you, and how much did you put together on your own?

I have an intricately choreographed strategy of throw everything I can grab against the wall and see what sticks.

Actually, I’m being only slightly sarcastic.  Though I never meant it to turn out that way, in retrospect, that is what happened.

Basically, my publisher gave me little to no help.  In their defense, publishers give most authors very little resources now, and debut authors typically get nothing.  There is a publicist at Kensington who has gone out of her way to help me with ideas and contacts and providing extra copies of my book for the extensive blog tour I’m doing so I can offer giveaways of Fever at each stop, which has been fabulous.

Some of the things I’ve done that have worked best have been:

• Starting early:  I built a website, engaged in social media and built relationships well before I sold.  This all gave me a leg up when that time came, and a head start now, when my book is being released.
• Networking:  By building friendships and professional relationships with other authors, I’ve built a web of support, strength, intelligence and resources.  We all have unique things to offer each other—as friends and business associates.  Banding together we are so much stronger than standing apart.  This was one of the best things I’ve ever done.  These relationships have brought me readers, contacts, alliances, information and friendships that will last a lifetime.
• Giving:  When you give, you bring people to you.  Yes, for some it will be simply for the prize.  But you are imprinting your name and your brand on them.  And for some, it will develop into more.  When you give, you inspire the same in others and they give back.  The generosity I have received from both writers and readers as a result of giving in some way has astounded me.
• Consistency:  Building a following takes time and consistency.  If you’re not always there, if you’re not sending a consistent message, people won’t stick.
• Authenticity:  Promotion is about building relationships, not selling books.  People don’t buy your book because they meet you on Twitter or read your blog.  They buy your because they see you have something valuable to say, because they see you’ve studied your craft, you have an engaging voice, you have heart, you have personality, you’re real.  People buy your book because they’ve gotten to know you and they believe in your ability to entertain them through your work.
• Supporting the bigger picture:  It’s great to talk about your work, share great reviews, tell them where you’re going to be and when you’ll be giving something away.  But it’s also great to talk about others’ work, share others’ great reviews and tell them where others’ are going to be and when others’ will be giving something away.  We’re all in this together and helping someone else now means they’ll be around to help you sometime too.

How are you juggling having a day job, a family life, and a blossoming writing career?  I know we’d all love to hear about (and be inspired by) your time management process.

Um…sorry.  I won’t be providing any inspiration here—unless it’s inspiration to do it differently.

Honestly, I’m very imbalanced.  On the up side—I know it.  This is a conscious choice.  It’s also a short term choice.  I’m of the belief that one works hard for what one wants, and that one reaps what one sows.  Therefore, I’m putting everything I’ve got behind this debut book:  FEVER.

But I think it’s important to point out that while above I mentioned in regards to tactics, I may be using the al Dante method, in vision, I am crystal clear.

What I’m doing is investment marketing.  Investment marketing is dumping a lot of resources into something now with the bet/hope/gamble it will pay off in the future.  I am investing in my career as an author and I’m using FEVER, my debut novel, as a vehicle to give me a running start.  Because FEVER only has a limited life cycle, I’m putting every scrap of time and energy I can generate into revving that baby up, so it will spring me as far as possible—the way you stretch a rubber band as much as you can to get the biggest snap.

Once my appearances end and the blog tour ramps down, I’ll find my balance again.  I’ll regroup.  I’ll examine all my marketing efforts for FEVER and restrategize for BLAZE—hopefully in a far more sane and manageable fashion.

Great progress takes great sacrifice.  So, for now, I’m surviving.  I’m meeting my obligations, getting my family to pitch in, taking care of myself and letting others take care of themselves.

How do you plan to celebrate on February 28 when FEVER is released?  Will it involve chocolate and/or champagne?

*laughing*  No.  My extensive blog tour has me managing about 9 blog posts (and all the comments and giveaways for them) per week…which means the ones that have passed, because comments continue for about a week’s time, the ones for the current week, and making sure I have all the blogs coming up written and turned in.

In addition to that, I’m revising a two-time Golden Heart finalist manuscript for Indie publication in April and it needs to be into the editor by the end of February.  With my promotional crush for FEVER, I’m working down to the wire on that project.

I imagine February 28^th will be spent writing, writing and writing.   I’m livin’ the dream!  Livin’ the dream!

What’s next for you?  Is your next book finished, or still in process?  Can you give us a hint?

Book 2 in the Phoenix Rising series is BLAZE, which releases in October.  I recently received the back cover copy of BLAZE, which ROCKS!  And I’ll share it with you here:

                            The hotter they come, the harder they fall…

                 With a man like him, every mission becomes personal…

Ever since FBI agent Keira O’Shay started tracking a young boy named Mateo, she’s felt a connection even her empathic abilities can’t explain. She needs to save Mateo from the cult leader holding him hostage. Nothing can interfere with that—not even the reappearance of Luke Ransom, the hot-as-hell fire captain she’s regretted walking out on for three long years.

Losing Keira left Luke vulnerable—in every way. When they were together, the powers each possesses were mysteriously enhanced. But it’s the sexy, surprising woman beneath the tough exterior that Luke’s really missed. Even if she betrayed him utterly. And even if agreeing to help her uncover a government conspiracy means watching his life and his heart go up in flames again…

And the Indie book I mentioned above is a romantic suspense and releases in April.  Here’s a little about INTIMATE ENEMIES:

Cassandra Christo is on a quest for answers. Six months after the mysterious yacht explosion that killed her mother and stepbrother, authorities still have no answers to the cause. Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident.  But there she runs into two major obstacles: her stepfather, a man Cassie despises and who she suspects is involved in illegal activities, and Rio Santana, Saul’s right hand man and the person she unknowingly let into her heart after he comforted her during the darkest moment of her life.

Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now, when he’s only weeks away from finalizing transport of a terrorist cell over the U.S.-Mexico border. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie, let alone the risk it poses to his cover.

So when Cassie’s stepfather grows nervous about her investigation and orders Rio to use seduction as a last ditch effort to keep her from learning too much, Rio thinks he’s found the perfect solution. Until, that is, the heat between them turns into a full blown inferno. Suddenly, Rio’s not sure who’s doing the seducing. And not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.

Author Bio:  Joan Swan is a triple RWA® Golden Heart finalist and writes sexy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist.  Her debut novel with Kensington Brava, FEVER, releases February 28, 2012.  Her second novel, BLAZE, follows in October, 2012.

In her day job, she works as a sonographer for one of the top ten medical facilities in the nation and lives on the California central coast in beautiful wine country with her husband and two daughters.

Book Blurb: Release Date: 2/28

When Dr. Alyssa Foster is taken hostage by a prison inmate, she knows she’s in deep trouble. Not just because Teague Creek is desperate for freedom, but because the moment his fingers brush against her skin, Alyssa feels a razor-sharp pang of need…
A man with a life sentence has nothing to lose. At least Teague doesn’t, until his escape plan develops a fatal flaw: Alyssa. On the run from both the law and deadly undercover operatives, he can only give her lies, but every heated kiss tells him the fire between them could be just as devastating as the flames that changed him forever…

Giveaway:

• ·         A print copy of FEVER, US/Canada shipping.
• ·         All comments are eligible for tour grand prize of either a COLOR NOOK or KINDLE FIRE. Enter: http://joanswan.com/giveaways/blog-tour-ereader/

Buy links:  Amazon| Barnes & Noble | Booksamillion

My links:  Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Thanks so much for being with us today, Joan!  It’s only a few more days till FEVER releases, everyone! And as you can see Joan’s got plenty more in store for us.  Questions, anybody? Commenters here and on Joan’s other blog stops (see above) are eligible for some really great prizes, so don’t be shy!