Jessica McQuinn...Life Happened

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!! I apologize sincerely for being absent for so long…life really happened! November and December always get away from me easily.

But, on this wonderful holiday I wanted to share something with you all that one of my friends posted on Facebook recently. I read this and it brought tears to my eyes and I knew that I needed to post this here for all of you.

T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY! COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I WEPT FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

--WRITTEN BY A MARINE

So this holiday as you sit down with your family and those people in your life who are important to you, remember those who have and are serving our country and that they may not be as lucky as we are.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

The Missing Holiday

2011-11-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

I was at the grocery store the day after Halloween and it was already CHRISTMAS!!

REALLY??

Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person, but is it just me or did we skip a holiday in there somewhere? Last time I checked my calendar, we still had Thanksgiving?

Now, I am not a fan of turkey, but I love sitting around a table with my family at Thanksgiving and just being part of all of the love and thanks that we can give for so many blessings we have in our lives. I love for my kids to get time with their aunt and uncles. I love watching my husband getting to eat his favorite meal (I am a horrible cook and would NEVER attempt to cook a full turkey dinner). When did all of those things get pushed aside for shopping and Santa Claus?

So, instead of plotting the shopping route for Black Friday that maybe we slow down a little and enjoy the holiday for what it was meant to be...a day to give thanks.

Okay, I'll come of my soap box now and get on with the blog hop. Before I do that, I want to tell you that in honor of Veteran's Day, the ebook of Indivisible is on sale right now for 99 cents! So if you haven't had a chance to read it yet, now is the time to do it!!

Let's BOUNCE!!

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Adventures in Sacramento

2011-10-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday!! I know that I missed last week’s blog post but I have a great excuse…I was on vacation again.

I’ve mentioned before that my kids have a strange school schedule because they are on year round school. They are currently out of school and I thought that it would be fun to jump in the car and drive over 600 miles to visit my sister in-law in Sacramento.

Now, I grew up in Southern California and my kids have been to visit family in that part of the state many times. In fact, they thought that California was all about Los Angeles. But, I also went to college in northern California and wanted them to see the other half of the state.

So, we hopped in the minivan and headed west!

Twelve hours later we arrived at my sister in-law’s cute little cottage in Sacramento (yes, I said twelve hours in a car with two kids!). It was already late evening and after getting lost on the crazy freeways of the city, I was ready for bed. Unfortunately, the kids weren’t! They were excited to see their aunt and uncles (my brother in-law also lives there so it was a “two birds” kind of thing) and so I later fell onto the Aero bed exhausted!

The first day of our vacation, I was lucky enough to meet with a friend for lunch while my sister in-law took the kids to the zoo. I do love a good zoo, and my kids have been to several different ones throughout the country, and they were pretty impressed with Sacramento’s zoo. The one thing I heard the most about? The Giant Anteater! Who knew that it would be so fascinating…to hear them talk about it, I’m disappointed that I missed it.

Our northern adventure took us to my alma mater, Chico State University the next day. I wanted my kids to see what a beautiful campus it was and to have a sense of where their parents went to school. After spending over $100 at the student union on alumni gear, and grabbing lunch at Madison Bear Garden (one of the best burgers around!), all my kids wanted to know was when they could go to Target. I guess my past wasn’t all that interesting to a 7 and 8 year old.

One of the best days we had was on the third day when we went to explore Old Sacramento. We headed down in the morning with my sister in-law and the kids immediately loved the old west feel of the area. It’s set up like a town you would see in a Clint Eastwood movie with the wooden planked walkways and hitching posts. There are a variety of stores to explore with everything from kites to toys to Christmas decorations. We, of course, spent a good amount of time in one of the candy stores and walked out with a bag full of delicious salt water taffy in flavors like red licorice and raspberry lemonade – YUM!

Along with the fun of shopping, there is the Delta King riverboat to explore, as well as five different museums ranging from military museum to a railroad museum. We ran out of time to visit the California State Railroad Museum, unfortunately, because I was later informed by a friend that it is the best railroad museum in the country, and considering that I have one of those sons that knew the name of every engine from Thomas the Train, I think he would have enjoyed it immensely. We were able to get a few pictures on the train cars on display in the old depot. All in all…a really great day for the kids and myself (and I may have been inspired to write a period story set in the old west…)!

Oh, and later that day we went to one of the city parks in Sacramento that was FABULOUS!! There were two different play sets; one for little ones and one for the bigger kids. The bigger kids’ one was interactive and had some great kinetic aspects to it. The park was clean and well kept and we stayed until it got dark and I had to drag them away.

Our final day in Sacramento was spent with my sister in-law and her boyfriend at a local pumpkin patch and corn maze. With my history of getting lost in the myriad of freeways in Sacramento I let the kids lead the way in the corn maze and they did a great job. And what trip to the pumpkin patch would be complete without bringing home yet another pumpkin so we hauled two more pumpkins back across the country with us!

After another full day in the car, we finally made it home and like the best part of a good vacation…crawled into my own bed.

So that’s my excuse as to why I didn’t post last week…

Now on to the BOUNCE!!

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Exciting Events!

2011-10-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday mean Blog Bounce!!

I have a few amazing things that I want to tell you all before I get to the Bounce!

On Friday I found that I got an AMAZING review for Indivisible on Sizzling Hot Book Reviews! There I was, minding my own business with my girlfriends and kids at the local bounce place (You know where they have all the blow up things that kids jump on and try to climb in their socks but slide and get some weird rug burn thing on their cheek – not that that’s ever happened…), when I got a notice on my phone that I had an email. I opened the email and it was a Google alert that Indivisible had been reviewed by Sizzling Hot Book Reviews.

Now, I get all butterflyee (just made that word up – feel free to use it in everyday conversation!) when I see that I have reviews. So, I wasn’t completely sure I wanted to click on that link and check out the review…but I just couldn’t NOT so I did. I’m so glad that I did! They gave me “Three Hearts” and said some wonderful things about the book that I want to print and paste on my office walls as inspiration! My favorite part was this:

Jessica McQuinn skillfully pulls readers into the conflicting emotions of an entire family-the traumatized wife, the far-away husband, the inadequate younger brother, the over-nurturing mother. McQuinn lets readers see their strengths and their vulnerabilities-everything that makes them human. And all the while, she deftly weaves in entertaining interactions so readers get to know and adore the characters' lighter sides, even as the story ventures into dark territory. Indivisible is an unforgettable story of the power of love and the importance of trust.

There were more wonderful things about Indivisible too so you need to go and read the review!

The other really good thing that happened to me this last week was that I had my first signing and reading! We have an independent bookstore here that does a “Local Author Showcase” every quarter, and I was lucky enough to be part of the most recent one.

I have to say that it was a very surreal feeling to be sitting up at the table with three other authors in front of a room full of strangers. However, nerve-racking would be the word for when the time came for me to actually read from Indivisible! I am not an “in front of people” kind of person, so my voice cracked and I made some silly jokes (I’m a bit sarcastic and I don’t know how that went over with the audience?), but I love the excerpt I read and I think that it was a perfect representation of Indivisible. I read the part where Gideon and Charlie are driving to take Gideon to the base before he leaves…so sad and funny and loving…have I mentioned how much I LOVE Gideon??

So if you want to check out a bit of information about the event, you can find it at The King’s English Blog. It was great fun and I met several awesome people and other authors! (And then my girlfriends all went out and had dessert afterwards so that was awesome as well!)

Still working on my reviews of the books I’ve read recently, but life is still happening!

Now onto the bounce!

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Life Actually Happened!

2011-10-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know that I have been slacking...and I have felt horrible about it. But really and truly life just happened all around me and I couldn't catch up! (And now it seems that I am catching a yucky cold which has made me less than excited and just wanting to curl up under the covers today!)

It seems that since the kids started back to school, my life has just been chocka block full! I think it's quite unfair! I mean when the kids go back to school, that's supposed to be my time to write and have a quiet house. BUT - then I work in the kids' classes and work at the bookfair. Plus throw in my contracting work that I do, my regular upkeep of my house, homework, and all the sports and other activities I run my kids to, and book club...and I am ready for a vacation!

I promise to catch up and do my reviews of my Book Club books in the next week (done with Tina Fey's Bossy Pants and reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay so I will have two in the next week!). I had planned on giving you my review of the VERY FUNNY Bossy Pants today, but this cold has me ready for bed...

I did want to remind you all that I will be having a signing and reading as part of the Local Authors Event at King's English in Salt Lake City on Monday October 10 at 7pm! I'm so excited! I hope that anyone in the SLC area will be able to stop by and say hi!

On to the Blog Bounce!

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Blog Bouncing!

2011-09-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Thursday!!

I know that I'm a little late today, but life has been happening! It's been one of those weeks when I look around and realize that I'm drowning!!

I've been writing!! So YAY!! Working on my SWAT boys (if you haven't read my story in Omnific's Summer Lovin' Anthology - Heat Wave, there's still time to get it. And all profits go to Save the Tatas!). I think that Gideon might have some competition with Brody. He's quite yummy. I'll have to look for what I see in my head when I write him...hmmmmmm...oh sorry! Drifted off there!

Kiki at Madame D's Boudoir has a new interview up that she did with me! She's doing a giveaway of an ebook, so head over and check it out!! There are some great questions that made me really think.

And just because I love to look at him

Time to BOUNCE!

Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.

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A MUST See!

2011-09-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday!!

I know that I’m supposed to talk to you all about writing, and books. And other than the rare peek into my crazy life, I think that I do a pretty good job staying on task with that?? BUT today I NEEEEEDD to talk about TV.

That’s right, I’m heading into that medium that only serves to distract us from our reading!

I will admit that I am a TV lover. I always have a TV on, using it for the background noise that most people use music for. In reality, however, there are only a few shows that I actually watch religiously. One of those shows started its fourth season on Tuesday night and I’ve watched it three times already.

If you haven’t seen Sons of Anarchy, you need to! It is an amazing piece of television.

The show is about a motorcycle club (read gang) in a small town in northern California called Charming and how they live, work and play. The best part of the show is that it is so hard NOT to like these people even with all the evil that they do.

The main character is Jax Teller, son of one of the founders of the club (bonus here – he’s played by the super yummy Charlie Hunnam) who wants to do good and make what they do legitimate, but doesn’t know how. The one person who can help him or hurt him the most is his high school girlfriend who he’s always loved, Tara. Tara left after high school, knowing the only way to get out of the lifestyle of the club was to get out of Charming. But when she comes back as a doctor, she and Jax pick up where they left off as teenagers.

.Jax’s life is further complicated by his overbearing, bad ass mother, Gemma (played by the amazing Katey Sagal) who has never known another life. She’s married to the club president, Clay who was Jax’s dad’s best friend before he died in a car accident. Between the two of them, they want to save the club, and keep Jax buried deep in the politics of the club.

Add to all of this, guns, gangs, White Supremists, a dirty ATF agent, the IRA..man I can't even describe all of the sub plots!

I could NEVER do justice to the writing and plotting of this show. It is the one show that I have to see every week when it is on. I am crying, laughing, holding my breath, sighing (over naked Jax tush!) all in one episode. Be warned that it is a VERY grown up show, and they pull no punches on language, violence, sex and nudity, but I think that’s what makes it so good.

Seasons One through Three are available on Netflix, and season Four just started, so you have time to catch up if you haven’t seen them. Check FX’s listing for when it is on (I’m on Mountain Time, so I never know when ANYTHING is on!!).

And now onto the Author! Author! Blog Bounce!

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If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

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The Help - Adaptation Love?

2011-09-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

The book for my book club this past month was The Help by Kathryn Stockett and I was so excited to read it. Not only had I heard great things about the book, but the movie was coming out and I love when I can see a book come to life on the big screen.

First, I absolutely loved the book! I thought that Stockett did a beautiful job of bringing all of the characters to life. I laughed at Minnie, and cried for Aibileen. I wanted to scream and yell at Hilly, and to shake Elizabeth.

I was a little wary at first that Stockett changed the point of view from Aibileen to Minnie, to Skeeter, but once I got into the book, I found that it didn’t bother me. In fact, I think that the book worked well that way, and I loved being able to be in all the character’s heads.

So, going into the movie, I was very excited. The last adaptation that I had seen was Water for Elephants, and I absolutely loved it (see previous post!) and thought that they did such a great job keeping the movie in line with the book. I had heard good things about this one too.

It was on that girls’ weekend (with a few of my book club girls) that we decided to go see The Help. We got our snacks, made bathroom stops (because we definitely didn’t want to miss a minute), and staked out our seats at the top of the theater. The one thing I forgot was tissue!

I will say that I loved the movie. But not because it did such a great job adapting the book. I loved the movie just as a movie itself. If I hadn’t read the book, I would have come out of the movie still feeling the same way. The acting was spectacular, the story was still compelling and I cried and cried.

Some of the differences that bothered me a little were mainly with a minor character in the book but one that was so much more important in the movie. Elizabeth Leefolt. In the movie Aibileen makes a comment about her having “the depression” after Mae Mobley was born – I didn’t remember that being the case in the book? Now I can appreciate Post-partum depression, but I think this change, for me, made Elizabeth a different character. I think the screenwriters were trying to maybe make her more likable? I don’t know, but for some reason that little detail bothered me.

I honestly didn’t think that I cold dislike someone in the movie more than I disliked Hilly in the book, but I disliked Elizabeth more than Hilly. Hilly made no qualms about what she thought of the colored people in her life. She thought that they were second class citizens and she was willing to take out an “ad” about it in the Junior League Newsletter. But Elizabeth was just weak. She never thought for herself. It made me angry through the whole movie!

I did love Minnie in the movie and she was exactly what I pictured. I loved the interaction and the friendship between her and Aibileen.

I think that it’s a rare occasion that an adaptation is a good movie, but different enough from what I loved from a book, yet I still love them both.

So if you haven’t already. Read The Help, and go see the movie. OH! And don’t forget the tissues, you’ll need them!

One last thing…Omnific is having a sale! Two of our “school” titles are on sale and you can get the ebooks for just 99₵ each! Go pick up Nicki Elson’s Three Daves AND (they’re only 99₵!!) Jess Bowen’s Breaking Point and start the school year right!

AND...guess what!! There's a new blog hop in town!! And I'm all over it!!

What's the Author! Author! Blog Bounce?? Well, it's a fun way for readers to find new authors and for authors to connect with their readers!

Authors, all you have to do is grab the icon, grab the link, make a blog post (don't forget to include the link!), and enter your blog on our list. Easy peasy!

Readers...you have the easy job. Just follow the bounce and visit the authors. Leave a comment and let them know that you were there.

Life Happened and You Get a Giveaway!

2011-08-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know that I have been quiet for a few weeks...I apologize for that! But in my defense, life happened in a big way and I've been just trying to play catch up.

SO, first, I went to RomCon in Denver and had a great time talking to readers, bloggers and authors. I also got to meet Kasi Alexander, fellow Omnific author, and author of one of my favorite books, Becoming sage. Kasi and her family were so great and she gave me a beautifully signed copy of her book along with some awesome jewelry that they made. Thanks, Kasi!

Then I had a girls' weekend with some of my closest girlfriends. We spent the weekend laughing and talking and lying in the sun. We also saw The Help (which was our last book club book - and I will be posting the review of both the book and movie soon!).

The day after I got back from my little getaway my kids started back to school! This is the one that gets me the most bogged down because I can't believe that my kids are as big as they are, and I'm not happy about it! My daughter is in third grade now (and you can probably tell by the shoes, thinks that she's 16!) and my baby is in second grade...where did the time go?

And speaking of my baby...he started playing football - like real tackle football - this year and had his first game this past weekend. He made an amazing tackle, and I may have jumped up and yelled, "That's my baby!" I have since been told that I was not supposed to do that, but there is no stopping a proud mom!

I almost forgot the girls and I were lucky enough to get a Meet & Greet with the 100 Monkeys before their concert last week. It was so fun hanging out with all my favorite ladies for a night, but I've quickly discovered, after getting home at 1AM, that I'm too old for that kind of thing!

To top things off, in between all of this crazy somewhere, I got an email from a local bookstore that they wanted me to do their "Local Author Showcase" on October 11! I will definitely be posting more information about this as it gets closer, but if you live in the Salt Lake area, come and see me at The King's English.

This would be where the giveaway mentioned would come in! I will have to read an excerpt from Indivisible at the Showcase. I want your suggestions for what I should read. It is a 5 minute reading (that's a loooong time!)and I live in Utah - so it can't be one of the more racy passages?? I will take suggestions until September 15th and then I will randomly draw a name from all the suggestions and you will receive copies of both Summer Lovin' Anthologies (my story is in the Heat Wave - which I will sign). So leave your suggestions in the comments (just describe the scene for me - you don't have to have word for word or anything...) and I will be so very grateful!!

Promise next post will be my review of The Help (both book and movie!).

My Heart Hurts...

2011-08-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am sure that everyone has heard about the helicopter that was shot down in Afghanistan over the weekend, and that it was carrying members of SEAL Team 6. This made me so so very sad.

There is nothing that I could write about this that would be more touching than the people that knew these brave men who served and fought for our country and ultimately gave their lives for it.

My heart aches for the families of these men, and I just wanted to let you all read some of the articles that I found where their families talk about them. I will be forever thankful for all that these families have sacrificed...

Family of SEAL Aaron Vaughn : ‘Only in his death can we celebrate who he was in life’
By Sarah Anne Hughes

The family of Aaron Vaughn, a Navy SEAL killed in a deadly helicopter crash Saturday, remembered their son and husband as man who loved country, family and God.

“We’re really sad that our son is gone. But we know that he would have done it all again,” Karen Vaughn, Aaron’s mother, said on NBC’s “Today” show Monday. “He loved every minute of his life.”

Vaughn was one of 30 U.S. service members, including 22 members of SEAL Team 6, and eight Afghans who were killed Saturday when insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan.

“Aaron was an amazing father and I’m proud that I will get to carry on his legacy through his children,” his widow, Kimberly Vaughn, said. The couple welcomed a daughter just two months ago.

His father Billy Vaughn said that his son wanted to become a SEAL from the time he was a child but especially after 9/11. His mother said she “was most proud of Aaron’s humility and his nobility,” as well as his faith.

“Everything he did was secret, and it just feels really strange right now that only in his death can we celebrate who he was in his life,” Karen Vaughn said. “It’s a very difficult concept to understand.”

Information and interviews about the other fallen service members have been collected by the Washington Post’s Checkpoint Washington.

When asked what Vaughn’s children, 2-year-old Reagan and baby Chamberlyn, will remember about their father, Kimberly Vaughn replied, “They will take away his love for Christ. They will take away is strength and his love for this country.”

And in a heartbreaking moment of realization, an emotional Kimberly Vaughn concluded, “And they will know what an amazing man he is — was.”
--Washington Post

Troops killed in helicopter crash praised by grieving loved ones

Some had young children, wives and girlfriends. Others were just starting to make their way in the world.

But the brothers, fathers, sons and uncles who died when a U.S. military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan all had something in common: a love of family and country, according to friends and family members. Here are some of their stories:

'He wanted to go'

Patrick Hamburger planned to propose to his girlfriend, but had a job to do first: a mission in Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old sergeant from Grand Island, Neb., joined the Nebraska National Guard when he was a high school senior, but had never been deployed, his brother Chris Hamburger told the Associated Press on Sunday.

"He wanted to go because his group was getting deployed. He wanted to be there for them," Hamburger said.

Patrick Hamburger was the kind of guy who helped his girlfriend raise her 13-year-old daughter as well as the couple's 2-year-old daughter and planned to propose when he got home, his brother said.

'Loved making people laugh'

If someone was sad, Michael Strange tried to make them smile.
"He loved his friends, his family, his country; he loved making people laugh. He was one of a kind," Strange's brother, Charles Strange III, 22, said Sunday outside the family's Philadelphia home.

Strange, 25, decided to join the military when he was still in high school and had been in the Navy for about six years. He became a SEAL about two years ago, said his mother, Elizabeth Strange.

"He wasn't supposed to die this young. He was supposed to be safe," Strange said.

'The ideal model of a soldier'

If Elizabeth Newlun wanted to have a serious conversation with her son, John Brown, she had to shoot baskets with him.

"I realized that you have to get into other people's comfort zone to get information," said Newlun of Rogers, Ark.

She said her son, an Air Force technical sergeant, decided to join the military after seeing a video of a special tactical unit, she said.

The airman was a paramedic, ready to attend to anyone rescued, his mother said.

"When you think of what the ideal model of a soldier would be, he would be it," said Arkansas state Rep. Jon Woods, who went to high school with Brown.

'Tough warrior, gentle man'

Aaron Carson Vaughn was a man of deep faith, insisting to his family that he didn't fear his job as a Navy SEAL "because he knew where he was going" when he died.

"Aaron was a Christian, and he's with Jesus today," Geneva Vaughn of Union City, Tenn., told the Associated Press.

"He was a tough warrior, but he was a gentle man," she added.

Vaughn said her grandson, 30, a husband and father of two, joined the SEALs straight from boot camp and was a decorated fighter when he was asked to return stateside to be an instructor. But he applied to SEAL Team 6 after two years, earning a spot in 2010.

'Childhood friends'

Robert Reeves and Jonas Kelsall had been childhood friends in Shreveport, La., Kelsall's father, John, told the Times of Shreveport and KLSA-TV.

Both joined the military after graduation, father Jim Reeves told the newspaper.
Reeves, 32, became a SEAL in 1999 and served on SEAL Team 6, and Kelsall, 33, was one of the first members of SEAL Team 7, the fathers said.

Many neighbors in the area decorated their homes in red, white and blue in support of the families.
--Detroit Free Press

Those are just some of the stories, but there were 30 people killed that day. Here is a partial list that I found at iCasualties.org - which if you have't been there to see the list of fatalities and casualites, you really should, the impact is heartwrenching.
Vaughn, Aaron Carson
Strange, Michael
Brown, John
Mills, Matt
Houston, Kevin
Ratzlaff, Tommy
Reeves, Robert James
Kelsall, Jonas
Vickers, Kraig
Hamburger, Patrick
Duncan, Spencer
There are still almost 20 people who have not been identified or their names released, but I plan to keep checking and update when they are. They all deserve our gratitude as do their families. Thank you…

Thank you Al Gore!

2011-08-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

I love the internet!! There are so many things in my life that have been made easier because of it. I can work from home and still be here for my kids every day. I was able to help my daughter with a school project because I have a friend in Australia because of the internet. I can figure out when Sons of Anarchy starts up again because of the internet. AND I have made friends that I know I will have forever on the internet.

I was on a sort of vacation…again (the benefit of working from home is that “home” is wherever my laptop is!) for the past few weeks. Every year during the summer I load up my kids and make a trek to my in-laws for a couple of days, and then head to my mom’s to stay with her for about a week. I love this trip because; a) my mom does all the back to school shopping for my kids and b) since my mom still lives where I grew up, I can usually get together with some old friends.

This year, however, I was lucky enough to get together with some great new friends that I’ve made because of the internet. In fact, while I do have some really good “real life” friends (heading out on a girls’ weekend trip with them in a few weeks and I can’t wait!!), I have several women (and a few men) that I’ve met on-line who have become very important to me.

Earlier this year, I was invited to a Facebook group by a friend from high school. There were about twenty or so people in this group, some of whom I knew from school, and others that knew my friend from other parts of his life. The funny thing is that even though I only actually knew about 3 or 4 people, there were several that I found I had a connection with. It was kind of a “Six Degrees of Separation” thing. One woman was married to my best friend from high school’s cousin (who also went to school with us) and another actually hung out with my brother in-law in high school.

The three of us have become really good friends on line over the past seven months. We PM almost daily and share a lot of things among the three of us about things going on in our lives. I’ve come to consider both women as close friends, and was so happy to spend several hours talking and laughing with them while I was “home”.

This was the second time that I’ve been lucky enough to meet up with my new friends, and it’s just one of those situations that felt like we’ve been friends for years.

There’s always that moment right before you meet new people, especially people that you consider friends in a virtual world, that you have a moment of panic right before actually coming face to face with them that maybe they won’t like you in person, or that maybe they aren’t who they portrayed in person. And when you are a writer…the different scenarios that flash through your mind are frightening!

So, when I knocked on the door of another friend that I had met in the Facebook group and had been come pretty good friends with, I was nervous! But, everything was great! We took our kids to a local miniature golf course where they played and we talked. We talked and laughed all morning until of course the whole “ticket spending” thing when our kids started fighting…oh well, just another thing we have in common!

So, I want to thank Al Gore for inventing the internet and allowing me to be a writer and to make some great friends!

I’ll be announcing the winner from Lisa Sanchez’s Author Extravaganza giveaway later this week, and next week I’ll be talking about Rom Con, which I will be attending next weekend! And don’t forget that the Summer Lovin’ Anthologies benefitting Save the Tatas Foundation is still available from Omnific Publishing. There are some REALLY great stories , including my SWAT boys and all the profit goes to such a great cause! If you want to get in on a chance to win signed copies of both anthologies, go follow Omnific's new Blog. Today is a new feature called "Ask an Editor" where you can ask all the questions you've had about the process.

Review - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2011-07-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Finally…I’m getting to my review of my latest book club book – Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. And a warning that there will be spoilers (though you know most of what happens from the beginning of the book), so if you don’t want to know maybe just read the book first and then come back and tell me what you thought of it. Because I would definitely recommend it!

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . .
Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. (Goodreads)

I enjoyed Lisel’s story - though I will admit that I had difficulties with the subject matter of Hitler run Germany. In fact, the thing that we talked about in relation to this book with my book club girls was the inconceivability that something so horrible could have taken place right in front of people’s eyes. It’s not that I put blame on the German people, I truly believe that most didn’t know what was really happening. The one thing that they knew, which is conveyed so well in Lisel’s story is that if you wanted to live, you towed the party line. For Lisel and her foster family, that meant hanging the flag when they were supposed to, going to the right meetings, and saying all the right things…in public.

Zusak does a brilliant job of building the characters around Lisel that we learn to love them and all of their different ways just as she does. When the Hubermanns take Lisel in, I was truly a little scared for her. Rosa was not what I would call warm and Lisel learned some great new swear words quickly from her new foster mother. Watching Hans and Lisel’s relationship grow into one of a true father and daughter was so touching. In the end, you could feel all of the love that they had for one another with everything that they endured together, even if it wasn’t expressed the way most of us would.

One interesting thing was that Zusak created a bit of a love triangle that was beautiful and impossible and somewhat unknown to all the participants involved until it was too late. The question we all had at the end was…”Did she marry Max?” I think she did. I think that in her own way while she was helping care for him in the basement, she grew to love him and he was very much in love with her even though he knew that it would never be possible for them to be together.

Now, don’t panic just yet…I don’t think that she loved him the way she loved Rudy, but she knew that she would never love anyone like she had loved Rudy. So when Max came back into her life, she had feelings for him and his loving her was enough. (Now, this is all my own supposition as we don’t know really who she married…that’s just how it played out in my own silly writer’s mind!)

One thing that I have to admit; This was a hard book for me to get into. I don’t know if it was because I read it on my Kindle and the formatting at the beginning had me scratching my head or if it was the fact that the first thing you’re confronted with is Death talking about taking souls and the colors he experiences at those moments?

Having Death as a narrator was hard to process at first, but in the end, that was my favorite thing about the book. The idea is that Death is actually reading Lisel’s story that she wrote herself. And as I’ve said, I enjoyed Lisel’s story, but my favorite parts were when Death was telling his own little side views and opinions on things that were happening in Lisel’s story.

Here are two of my favorite parts. These are the two small passages that stuck with me long after I finished the last line of the story.

“***A SMALL BUT NOTE WORTHY NOTE***
I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men.
They are not.
They’re running at me."

Death is talking about war and how the soldiers doing their jobs run out to the enemy, but it’s death that is waiting for them. I think this is so beautifully written and touches me because I do write about men in uniform who sacrifice of themselves.

“As is often the case with humans, when I read about them in the book thief’s words, I pitied them, though not as much as I felt for the ones I scooped up from various camps in that time. The Germans in basements were pitiable, surely, but at least they had a chance. That basement was not a washroom. They were not sent there for a shower. For those people, life was still achievable.”

What an amazing picture Zusak paints with this paragraph! Just from reading it, you can see the German families huddled in the basement as they wait for the signal that they can go back to their homes, thinking how they might die…but for the Jews in the concentration camp down the road it is more of a certainty.

Again, I would recommend this book for the characterization and because the subject itself makes you stop and think how lucky you are to be able to read what you want and that you don’t have to save books from a burning pile to read…

I’m off on yet another vacation for the next couple of weeks, and won’t have internet access so I won’t be updating next week. BUT I am doing a guest blog post on Lisa Sanchez’s Sizzling Summer Author Extravaganza on Wednesday the 20th. I’ll be giving away a signed copy of Indivisible and a little bit of swag including a very pretty notebook and pen! So head over there and help me with my inspiration problem and get in on the chance to win!

Winners and Info and Fun! Oh My!

2011-07-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know that I said I was going to post a review today...but then I realized that I need to do some house cleaning today (and no toilets to clean when I do it here!)

First, I want to congratulate mariexd for winning the Indivisible E-pack from Skyrockets in Flight Blog Hop that ended yesterday! Thank you everyone who followed my blog and who commented. And I hope you like Gideon and Charlie!!

Second, I want to announce another giveaway. Not here, but over at Omnific Publishing's new blog! They are running a contest until August 15th and if you follow them, you will be entered to win ONE OF A KIND singed copies of the Summer Anthologies. Yeah, that's right ALL 13 authors are going to sign the books and that will be the only copy that has all of the author's signatures (unless someone is REALLY industrious and contacts all of them and gets them to sign them?? But trust me, it would take a HUGE effort!) So when you're done here, go follow the Omnific blog and get in on that chance!

Finally, I got some AMAZING news last week about Passion Fish! Book Chick City gave us a 7 out of 10 stars and a "definitely recommend"!! I am sooo excited! One of my favorite parts of the review was this:

And if you're a lover of sizzle in your romance, then Skylar gives you plenty of that!

I LOVED Sky and Gage and the fact that she liked the contrast and thought they sizzled puts a BIG smile on my face. I hope you check out that review.

I PROMISE...The Book Thief review next week. Also, I'm taking part in Lisa Sanchez's Sizzling Author Extravaganza and will be doing a guest post and Indivisible package giveaway over there next week! I'm going to be talking about inspiration in my post for Lisa, but here's some that should inspire most women in soooo many ways! Enjoy!

And now on to the Blog Hop!

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Hundred Follower winner!

2011-07-06T09:17:00.001-07:00

YAY!! I made it to 100!! So excited!

I did a random drawing through randomizer.org and the winner was follower #93 Madame D!! Congrats!

She won a signed copy of Indivisible, an Indivisible notebook and pen, keychain and bookmark!

Thank you all for supporting me - I really appreciate all of you!

If you want a chance to win another GREAT prize, head over to Omnific Publishing's new blog and follow them. They are giving away signed copies of their summer anthologies (Summer Breeze and Heat Wave). These are going to be signed by all thirteen authors!

Big Guns on the Fourth!

2011-07-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

And guess what...I'm participating in the Skyrocket in Flight Blog Hop, which means - GIVEAWAY!! I'm giving away an ebook copy of Indivisible randomly drawn from anyone who comments on this post. AND as a bonus I have a prize package that I'm giving away (US/Canada only) which includes a beautiful Indivisible notebook and pen along with bookmark, key chain and a signed copy of Indivisible randomly picked from my followers once I reach 100 followers!

Independence Day is kind of the epitome of summer for Americans – beach, ball games, BBQs, and of course, FIREWORKS!! Now, you can add one more thing to that list…Omnific’s Summer Anthologies which are available tomorrow.

Last week I told you all about the two anthologies (sweet and romantic Summer Breeze or hot and steamy Summer Heat) and that all profits are being donated to Save the Tatas Foundation to help fund breast cancer research. I also talked about how breast cancer has directly impacted my own life (Thank you all for the nice words about my grandma!). What I didn’t talk about last week was my own contribution to the books…

We all know how I feel about a man in uniform – nothing sexier for me – and obviously, that is where I’ve found my inspiration, so as you would expect, my story is about men in uniform; a SWAT team. Yeah, hot men who risk their lives everyday keeping us safe…YUM! And you may have also guessed that my story is in the hot and steamy version. Because really if you’ve got sexy protector men, they need to be having some sexy times!

In Big Guns, after a hot day of training, one of LAPD’s SWAT squads tries to cool off at their favorite Santa Monica club. When young, cocky sniper, AJ Moreno, tries to prove his superiority over his team members by snaking in on element leader, Dylan Clark’s girl…he discovers he picked the wrong SWAT team. Leader Brody Flynn finds a renewed zest for life after a year of tragedy when as he and his best friend, Clark, plot to show the young hot shot that experience will trump cockiness every time.

Here’s a little taste -

One man broke from the group. AJ Moreno headed to the bar without argument, his swagger working overtime as he sliced through the pulsing crowd. On his way, he took stock of the female population, trying to decide which of the scantily clad women writhing on the dance floor would be the lucky recipient of his time and efforts tonight. On a normal night, AJ’s dark Latino features and cocky attitude were more than enough for him to have his pick of any woman he wanted, but today he was on a high after his first day as a member of the SWAT Team, and it showed in his even more exaggerated strut.

The whole squad sat down and Sergeant Brody Flynn, the leader of the squad, tipped his chair back as he watched the newbie work the bar. A smile played on Brody’s lips. He remembered his first day on the team almost eight years ago, that feeling of indestructibility. A day training with high powered weapons tended to get the blood pumping – everywhere. Flynn, himself, had met his wife after a long day of training. He shook his head to rid his mind of thoughts of Delaney. This wasn’t the place for those thoughts. Later, when he was home, he would allow those memories in.

“Damn, Flynn,” AJ said, placing an ice cold beer in front of his new boss. “You look like someone pissed in your Metamucil this morning. We’re at a bar with a bevy of beauties. Stop acting like the old man that you are. Tell you what, big guy, you can have one of my cast offs. That should put a smile on your face.”

“Fuck you, Newbie. You might not want to go popping off when your life is in my hands on a daily basis.” A slow smile slid across Flynn’s lips and AJ wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but he didn’t concern himself too much with it. He knew Flynn was probably on his way out, considering the guy had to be close to thirty-five already, if not past it.

This little story is a peek into my new book that I’m working on right now about Brody Flynn and his SWAT squad. I’m working on Brody and Delaney’s story right now where we find out what Brody doesn’t want to think about…dun, dun, dun.

AND next week I’ll be doing my review of our latest book club read, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Now go check out all of these GREAT blogs!!

How Are Your Tatas?

2011-06-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

How are your tatas??

Yeah, you read that right. Today I’m talking about the tatas!

We all know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, right? So what if you could spend the summer reading some great short stories from really wonderful authors AND you could help fund breast cancer research come October?

Well, here’s your chance. I am so proud to be a part of a great fund raising effort by Omnfic Publishing this summer that will benefit Save the Tatas Foundation. Omnific has put together two separate anthologies that will be released on July 5th and for sale through the summer. The best part is that ALL the proceeds from the sales of these two books will be donated to Save the Tatas Foundation in October.

Breast cancer is one of those things that when you hear about it, very few people can’t tell you about someone they know or knew that has dealt with it in some way. I thought that I would share a few stories about how my life has been touched by this disease and how important it is for us to find a way to fight it.

I first became aware of breast cancer as a little girl when my grandmother, who I adored and we had lived with for several years when my parents divorced, was hospitalized. Apparently she had found a lump in her breast and within weeks they discovered that the cancer was so advanced, had metastasized and was ravaging her body. I was six years old, and only knew that my mom was crying all the time and going to the hospital to visit my grandma every night. My grandma passed away not long after being hospitalized. Even though I was young, I was very attached to her, and missed her terribly, but didn’t understand really what breast cancer was.

As I grew up, I started to understand more about breast cancer, and the importance of checking for lumps. When you have a history of the disease in your family, all the precautions are in the forefront of your mind. Every year when I would go for that dreaded exam, I would hold my breath during the breast exam…waiting for the doctor to tell me that he found something that I missed. Then it happened last October (of all months, right?). I had been putting off getting my first mammogram (I was 41 with a history in my family so I should have had at least one already). Bad move on my part. My heart nearly sank when I was told that they found something on my mammogram and I would have to have another one for clarification. Panic flooded me. What would I do if I had breast cancer? What about my kids? Of course the next appointment that I could get was almost a week later.

I spent a week silently worrying about my future, my kids’ future, how my husband would be able to manage (I do a lot around here!). I only told one of my friends about it, and tried not to let my husband know really how scared I was, but I was TERRIFIED!

The week finally passed and I went back for my follow up mammogram. Fortunately, what they had seen on the first mammogram was only a cyst and I was given a clean bill of health. But, as I was walking out of the building, I saw a woman who had been in the waiting room with me; her husband had her wrapped in his arms and she was crying…getting good news had never seemed so empty. No matter how lucky I was, there would always be someone else who was going to have to fight this horrible disease.

Finally, I want to tell you about a good friend of mine who I think is one of the bravest women I know. Her name is Stephanie Swartz, and she is smart, and funny, and a FABULOUS photographer (check out her work here) and graphic artist.

I’ve talked about how I love Facebook, and this is just one of the reasons that I do. Recently I was lucky enough to become part of a group on Facebook that put me in touch with several people that I went to high school with. My friend Stephanie was one of those people. What’s really funny is that Stephanie and I knew each other in high school, but didn’t know we knew each other, but have become great friends now. Well, not only did I discover that Stephanie used to run around with my brother in-law in high school, but that she was a breast cancer survivor.

Stephanie had no history of breast cancer in her family so, when she was diagnosed at 36 she was more than surprised. Five years and two mastectomies later, Stephanie is open about her experience, and wants to make sure that women are aware of how this disease can attack anyone. It doesn’t matter that you don’t fall into the “high risk” group – all women are at risk and need to be aware of their bodies.

Oh, and I mentioned that Stephanie was a graphic artist, but I forgot to mention that she designed both of the covers for Omnific’s Summer Lovin’ Anthologies. For Stephanie, as for everyone at Omnific from the authors to the editors to the production team to the marketing team it was so rewarding and important to donate their time and talent for this wonderful cause.

So if your life has been touched by this disease, here is a great way to make a difference while getting to enjoy some wonderful summer romance. You can take your pick from sweet to sultry - or buy both and double the donation and get ALL of the wonderful stories!)

If sweet and romantic love is what you crave this summer, then Summer Breeze is the book for you!

What’s better than lying on the beach with a great story to read? How about lying on the beach with seven great stories to read? Whether you're going to the beach or you just wish you were, Omnific Publishing's Summer Lovin' Anthology is a compilation of romantic short stories that will whisk you away on a sweet escape.
Sweeten up your summer reading and contribute to a great cause at the same time. Omnific Publishing has partnered with the Save the Ta Tas Foundation and all proceeds will be donated to the charitable organization. Read the romance and do your part to Save the Ta Tas!
This collection of sweet summer romances brings together seven of Omnific Publishing’s authors for some “breezy” romantic reading. In just one book, you can find Carol Oates’ Irish mythical storytelling, Jennifer Lane’s sassy swimmer, and Hannah Downing’s second chance at first love. While Nicki Elson spins a beautiful tale of remembered love, Killian McRae employs a modern twist with her technology-based romance, and Sarah Glover tells the story of best friends’ summer discovery. Rounded out with Susan Kaye Quinn’s glimpse into the next chapter of her Life, Liberty and Pursuit gang, this anthology offers something for everyone to get lost in this summer.

If hot and steamy is what you’re looking for to keep things heated up this summer, then Heat Wave is the one for you.

Heat up your summer reading and contribute to a great cause at the same time. Omnific Publishing has partnered with the Save the Ta Tas Foundation and all proceeds will be donated to the charitable organization. Read the romance and do your part to Save the Ta Tas!
In this anthology, you'll find six steamy romance stories by some of your favorite authors for some “heated” reading. Fans of paranormal romance will enjoy Robin DeJarnett’s vampire lovers and Lisa Sanchez’s unexpectedly compatible lovers. While Debra Anastasia transports you to a long ago time for some steamy romance, Jessica McQuinn brings you back to the hot protectors of modern day. BJ Thornton and Kasi Alexander dip into the exotic with their touch of super sexy. There’s something in this collection to get every reader’s temperature rising!

So remember on July 5th to head to Omnific Publishing and purchase your copies of Summer Lovin’ Anthologies. They are only available through September so make sure you get them before they’re gone!

And don’t forget to make your appointment for a mammogram this year!

Next week it's the Fourth of July! And what better time to give you a quick peek at my contribution...it's men in uniform (SWAT) of course!

And now on to the Blog Hop! Make sure to check out everyone's today to see their posts on the Summer Lovin' Anthologies!

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

GIVEAWAY!

2011-06-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

YAY! It’s GIVEAWAY time again!!

I noticed last week that I have almost 100 followers and was pretty excited! So I thought that maybe if I do a giveaway of a signed copy of Indivisible and some fun swag maybe I could reach that magic number.

Here’s how it will work – once I hit 100 followers for this blog, I will announce that we have made our goal and within 24 hours of that announcement I will randomly draw three followers. The first name will win the signed copy of Indivisible along with a bookmark, key chain, and notebook. The other two winners will receive ebooks of Indivisible.

Good luck!

Next week is a very special post where I’ll be talking about the summer anthology that I wrote a short story for and why it was so important and special to me to do it.

It's Monday, which means it's time for the Meet an Author Blog Hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Who's RIght for Sookie?

2011-06-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

As promised, today I will be talking about Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris.

As with all the series I read, I found this one through a friend and read the first four in record time (that’s all my friend sent me) and then ran out and bought the next four immediately. And, as with several of the series that I read, I’m ready for Sookie to find “the one” and things to wrap up.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked Dead Reckoning, but I didn’t LOVE it. I had to work a little harder to get through this one than I did the last, and I had to work a little harder to get through that one than I did the one before that. I see a pattern forming here. My best friend read it before me, and the only question that I asked was, “Did Sookie get some?”. Because I wasn’t going to even start it if we went the whole book without her getting some good loving!

The one thing that I really do still love about these books is Sookie herself. I love her voice and herself talk. In this latest book, I loved how she justified her grandmother’s indiscretion with the faery and forgave her for simply because she couldn’t judge her considering her own life. Sookie is really the reason that I keep reading.

It seems that the big question in this series is…who is Sookie going to end up with, and I think that in this book Harris gave us a HUGE glimpse into the answer to that question. Dead Reckoning was FILLED with Sookie thinking just a little too much about Sam and who he was with. Let me just say that I called this two years ago after reading Definitely Dead where she was with Quinn. Here’s the explanation that I have been giving anyone who will listen for the past two years (you can even ask my book girls that I’ve had this theory since waaaaayyy before Dead Reckoning came out and it became so obvious that Sam was going to be Sookie’s “the one”.).

I’ll start at the beginning with Bill. I liked Bill a lot, and kind of feel sorry for him still being in love with Sookie and having to watch her with Eric now. I think Bill was gentle and caring with Sookie and because he had been in a loving marriage before he became a vamp, he had the ability to truly love Sookie. BUT…being a vampire, he will always be at the mercy of those above him, and even though Lorena’s dead…Sookie will NEVER be first for him.

Then there was Alcide. I will admit that I LOVED Alcide…AT FIRST. When he turned out to be such a douche bag, I was really upset. With Alcide I thought he would be good for her; able to protect her from all the supernatural beings she seems to attract AND be able to make her the most important thing in his life. I was wrong! Once again, something else had to come first (in this case the pack when he became pack leader).

Next came my absolute favorite of Sookie’s lovers, Quinn. A tall muscled up bald man who can turn into a tiger?? Holy crap, hold me back!! I hoped beyond hope that this would be Sookie’s perfect match. And once again I was duped! Unlike Alcide, however, I have to actually like him more for the reason that things will never work for him and Sookie – he has to take care of his mother and his sister. So Sookie, as usual has to take a back seat to someone. I was very upset that Quinn didn’t work out.

Now, unlike most of my friends, I’m not an Eric fan. I know, I know…I’m sure that there will be tons of you who moan at that. I mean yes, he is a hot Viking vamp, but he’s also arrogant and uncaring about others – and I dated enough of those in my past that I have absolutely NO attraction to him. And because he is a vampire once again, he will never be able to put Sookie first. His area and his rulers will always come before her.

On a side note, one thing that absolutely drove me crazy in Dead Reckoning is why Sookie didn’t use the cluviel dor to wish that Eric didn’t have to marry the Queen of Oklahoma? It had to be used with love behind it, and since she loves Eric, then keeping him from having to marry someone else should have qualified for that use? I kept waiting for her to figure that out and use it for that reason. My only guess is that it will come into play in the next book?

Okay back to my predictions of who is going to be “the one” for Sookie…

All of these men aren’t ever going to be able to put Sookie at the top of their priority list, and that is what Sookie needs in her life. She has never been the most important to anyone in her life. As a child, her mother was too caught up in the faeness of her father and didn’t really pay much attention to the children. Then even with her grandmother, Sookie was second to Jason. There is a scene in the first book when Sookie and her grandmother are talking and eating lunch when Jason walks in and all attention is on Jason, the conversation that Sookie was having totally forgotten (now maybe it was more that Jason commanded attention, but either way Jason took the priority for their grandmother). Sookie NEEDS to be #1 in someone’s life. AND that’s why I have been saying for several books that she will end up with Sam.

While Sam had to deal with his mother being shot after she exposed herself, she doesn’t consume his entire world and he is free to put Sookie where she needs to be. Sookie would fit into his life and already works in the bar (and in Dead Reckoning even stepped in to do some of that paperwork that Sam hates so much…exactly what a spouse would do??). Sam usually changes into a dog, but he is a true shifter and has the ability to change into anything that he wants so he could protect Sookie. He is perfect for her! And in Dead Reckoning, I believe that Harris is setting us up for that ending. Mark my words…

So, I’ll keep reading because I do love Sookie and am so invested in her that I HAVE to know what happens to her (and of course see if I’m right).

And, on another note, Indivisible just got another 5 star review from The Fictional Bookshelf! Go check it out and if you follow the blog and make a comment you’ll be entered to win an ebook pack of Indivisible!

It's Monday, which means it's time for the Meet an Author Blog Hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

The Indivisible Tour

2011-06-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!! I’m posting for the beautiful city of San Diego, where I’m enjoying some great Gideon and Charlie moments on my own personal Indivisible tour!

Yesterday the family all went out to Coronado Island to hit the beach. I was on the lookout for any yummy SEALs running along the beach, but sadly I saw none. There was even a point where I tried to convince the husband that going to the SEAL base would be a great learning experience for the kids – he didn’t buy it.

Our drive back to the condo where we are staying took us past Miramar and all I could think of was poor Charlie pulled over just outside the gates of the base when Chance comes to get her. Again I couldn’t convince the family what a great idea it was to stop and tour the area. I guess no one in the family loves Charlie and Gideon as much as I do. Also, later in the afternoon, we drove through La Jolla and I looked for the Cooper home.

Later this week we are going to head out to Horton Plaza which is where Charlie went Christmas shopping and ran into Cody Boyd. I’m keeping the fact from my husband the reason behind my wanting to go there.

Unfortunately, I won’t make it to Disneyland on this trip, but we will hit Sea World and Legoland!

Next week I will have my review of Charlaine Hariss’ Dead Reckoning. All I’m going to say is…I called this almost TWO YEARS ago!

It's Monday, which means it's time for the Meet an Author Blog Hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Who's Who Part II

2011-05-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

First things first, I want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day and say thank you to all the men and women who serve our country. I truly am thankful for all the sacrifices that our military members and their families make every day.

I have to share with you all what I woke up to this morning. Let me say again that it is May 30th, Memorial Day. And this is a picture of my backyard this morning!! I am not joking!! There won’t be any BBQing at my house today!

So…let’s talk about Indivisible! I hope everyone got a chance to check out Jessica Subject’s Mark of the Stars blog for the great review and interview she did this week. Last week I promised that I would give you a glimpse of how I viewed some of the other characters from Indivisible so I’ve spent the weekend searching for who I picture when I think of Evelyn, Peter, Chance and Gabby.

Evelyn Cooper is probably one of the hardest characters for me to give a visual on for my readers. See, her insight and mothering is based on my own mom, who looks NOTHING like Evelyn Cooper in the book. Her description in the book had to be one that matched her lifestyle and the description of her sons to a degree, and that’s not my mom. So really when I read Evelyn, I see a shorter, rounder, darker haired woman with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes…that’s my mom. But, since Jessica Lange I think would be a great Evelyn. I think that she has the class and sophistication to pull of the doctor’s wife in La Jolla, but would also be that tough mom of two boys who could command respect from them.

Dr. Peter Cooper is the voice of reason to Evelyn’s emotional matriarch. While he knows that his wife has all the best intentions, and for the most part will let her have her way, Peter Cooper knows when it is necessary to step in and rein her in. Without the balance of Peter, Evelyn would definitely try to run her sons’ lives and would only succeed in running them off. This one was kind of hard too because all the blonde actors are either too young or too old (I really have a Robert Redfordish look in mind) but then I came across Aaron Eckhart and thought he was perfect. He has that authoritative look about him and I think he would be able to control Evelyn.

When I went looking for Chance, Charlie’s twin brother, the person that kept coming up was Rupert Grint from Harry Potter. And while I do think that Ron is adorable, he isn’t what I see when I picture Chance. Since my idea of Charlie is a younger Nicole Kidman, I really needed someone who could match up with her. I came across this picture of Paul Bettany with red hair. Chance’s hair is a little darker than Charlie’s, and I think this works perfectly.

And finally, Gabby – Chance’s fiancée whose emotions rule her world. At first I was thinking JLo would be the one that fit Gabby, but when I started looking, I found this picture of Penelope Cruz and she was Gabby. She has that look of being a little bit of sass and over protectiveness that Gabby has. I think she would be a perfect match for the Chance that I picked too!

So that rounds out the cast of characters for Indivisible. What do you think? Who did you picture as Gabby? I really loved everyone’s comments on Gideon, Charlie, Tyson and Paige, and can’t wait to read what you all think this time around!
I will be on vacation with the family next week, so there may not be a post from me?? I know that there is a way to schedule them, and if my sad little techtarded self can figure it out I will try to do that. Otherwise I will be back on June 13th (if Shamu doesn’t eat me!!).

And since it's Monday...it's time for the Meet an Author Blog Hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Review, Giveaway, and New Project!

2011-05-23T05:12:00.000-07:00

Once again it’s Monday!

Today will be just a quickie. I’ve had a house full of family for the weekend and am chaperoning a field trip to the zoo for a class of second graders in the rain today…I know that you are jealous!

First, PLEASE go check out Jessica Subject’s Mark of the Stars Blog today. She has a WONDERFUL review of Indivisible up (5 out of 5 Aliens!)! Along with the review, she will be posting an interview I did for her, and will also be running a giveaway of two ebooks of Indivisible, so go check out her blog and leave a comment (there are lots of ways to get into the drawing several times!). I’ll be popping in over the next few days to say hi and answer any questions!

I also want to tell everyone about a FABULOUS project that I’m so proud to be a part of this summer through Omnific Publishing. Omnific is putting together a duo of summer related anthologies and all the sales profits will be donated to a great cause – Save the Tatas. Thirteen of Omnific’s authors have donated their great talent (and not to mention the incredible Omnific editors) and will be included in either the sweet or steamy anthology. Can you guess which one my story is in?

I’m very excited about the story I wrote for the anthology. It’s a peek into my new book that I’m working on at the moment. The story is about a hot summer night after an LAPD SWAT team has been training and have some pent up energy to work off. While Gideon will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart, I have to say that I absolutely love my new hero, Brody Flynn. He’s that damaged, protective hero that makes my heart go thump, thump, thump…

The anthologies will go on sale on July 1, 2011 and will be available through the summer (September 31). There are some great stories that will keep you busy poolside or on the beach, or even while you travel. And what better cause than saving some Tatas?? I’ll be here reminding you about this from time to time because it is something that is so close to my heart (next time I’ll give you a little “Life Happened” story about why that is.).

Next week I'll share my ideas for how I picture some of the other characters in Indivisible. Come see Evely, Peter, Chance and Gabby!

And, because it's Monday - that means Meet an Author Blog Hop!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Book Club Review - A Discovery of Witches

2011-05-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my girlfriends and I finally decided to form our own book club. We have all been hanging out and talking about what we were reading for over three years now, and thought that maybe we would make it official.

I was flattered that the first book we read was Indivisible (of course they all have signed copies!), but I’ll be honest…I didn’t read it. I just can’t bring myself to read it after pouring so much into it. What I did read, the whole time I thought, “Ugh! I should have done it this way…” The good thing was that I knew what happened in the story, so that was fine.

The next book we chose was Water for Elephants. I had already read it twice (the most recent time just a month earlier). This was a fun one because we all went to see the movie together and then went to dinner and talked about the book and the movie.

The rest of our list came about at the first meeting. There are seven of us, so we went around the table and each offered up our favorite book. We have been giving each other recommendations for books over the past three or so years (I got them all hooked on BDB, and they in turn gave me Stephanie Plum), so it should be fun to find out what their favorite books are.

We started our group halfway through January, so now with the first two books and each of our seven favorite books, we needed two more.

I am on Goodreads daily, and had seen two books that were getting either terrible reviews or people absolutely adored them. I thought those would both be great additions to get the reaction of seven women whose opinions I respect and rely on.

We decided to do one for May and one for December with our favorites in between.

So, the book we chose for May was Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches.

The reviews that I had read on this book were either glowing or horrible. I had read that it was a “grown up Twilight” and that was what intrigued me the most. It’s no secret that I am a Twidork (my entire office is a shrine!), so this was a book that I really wanted to read. This is the story of an uneducated (in the magic sense) witch, Diana, who tries to hide from her powers by over achieving in science (modern magic?) and a centuries old vampire, Matthew, whose secrets define who he is. When the two find each other all hell breaks loose as they dare to defy the laws that govern them by falling in love.

First, a warning that there will be spoilers, so if you don’t want to know, stop reading!

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if I like this book or not. Maybe I’ll know by the end of this review??

It took me a long time to really get into and care about this book. Because I read on Kindle, I talk in percentages now, so I would say that it was over 50% of the book that was really tough to get through. The funny thing is that in my book club, only three out of the seven of us actually finished it. The common thing was that they couldn’t stay awake while reading, and I suffered from the same thing. The average was about four pages before eyes started closing and heads started bobbing. It took me WEEKS to get through the first half of the book, and three days to get through the last half.

Let me say that I LOVE Matthew! He is that yummy combination of totally controlled and tortured that I love in my vampire (Z girl to the bone!). I loved the historical aspects of Matthew and the stories. Matthew’s mother won me over as well, and really liked too.

The story of Diana and Matthew (once they finally realize they actually have a story) is beautiful and frustrating in equal measure. It is what kept me reading. I am a sucker for the cat and mouse of romance, and Harkness does this very well in this story.

Was it a more adult Twilight romance as “advertised”? I have to admit that I was hoping for more in the sexing department when I read that analogy. Don’t get me wrong, there is some “bundling” that put it in the grown-up category, but after reading Ward and Kenyon, I have a whole no perspective of what an “adult” vampire story should be. I did like their romantic times, however, and look forward to more in the future books.

What didn’t I like?? I was not a fan of Diana’s character in the beginning. For the first half of the book she is wishy washy, unrelatable, and frustrating. By the end, however, I understood why she was that way in the beginning as her past and the past of her family is slowly revealed.

The other issue that I found with the story was that new things kept getting thrown in, and at a point I kind of felt that it was over the top. When Diana takes Matthew home, the Bishop house is a strange “living” thing that actually becomes a character and plays significant role in the story. And while I think that it would be really cool to have a house that makes guest rooms when someone is coming to visit (I have TONS of family coming in this weekend and to have an already made up room would be awesome), I thought that it was more that the author needed a way to explain some things.

Now there are two more books to come in this series, and when we were talking, one of my girlfriends asked if I was going to read the next one. I have to. I want to know what happens!

So, in the end, I know that I’ll keep reading the series, but I still don’t know how I feel about this book? One of the other women who finished is actually in the process of re-reading and says that it is much better the second time. Apparently all the alchemy information makes a lot more sense and isn’t something that you just have to wade through on the second round. So, maybe I will give that a shot and that will help me decide if I like it or not. I mean one of my favorite movies of all times is Dazed and Confused, and I hated it the first time I saw it…

And, it's Monday - that means Meet an Author Blog Hop!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Writer's Block, What's the Cure?

2011-05-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the moms! (And to all of those who want to be moms)

I HAVE WRITER’S BLOCK!!

I’m not sure when it started, and Lord knows I’m ready for it to be gone, but I just can’t get anything on the page that makes me happy and conveys what I want to say.

I’ve been working on the first chapter of my new SWAT story for about four months and I’ve only got about two thousand words. It is beyond frustrating!!

The hardest thing about writer’s block is that I KNOW where the story is going. I have a plot all planned out in my head. I have my characters clear and concise in my head. They just don’t want to come out and play with me!!

When I sit down to write, I find a hundred other things to do instead. I mean when folding laundry and cleaning toilets sound enticing…something is very wrong.

Normally, I can drag a notebook out and just start writing by hand to get things going. Usually once I have something flowing, I can transfer it to the computer and then I can get several thousand words on the page.

It isn’t working!!

The blank notebook page looks just as daunting as the blank computer screen these days, and that’s never happened to me before.

I did learn a technique at RT last month when I took my favorite workshop of the conference. It was a hands-on workshop where the moderator gave us a first line and then passed around bags and we had to draw slips of paper out. On the slips of paper (there were three different bags – one for each category) were a place, characters and descriptions (the last two we had to draw three different ones). Now with all this in hand, we were instructed to write a “great first page” in the genre that we normally write.

This might have been an easy task…if the details weren’t so insanely obscure!
The opening line had to be “The blood dripped slowly down the wall…” which considering I enjoy my man in uniform, I immediately thought it would work with a cop. Then I drew my first slip of paper and got my location – a wedding. Okay, this could still work, right?

My mind was racing trying to figure out where this was going to go. I had a plot already working in my head. Until I drew my three characters: a mountie (man in uniform!!), a hooker (okay still can make this work.), and a Rotorooter man (?????). Every idea that I’d been so proud of had completely flown out of my head!

I thought that I could still make this work. But of course, I still had three descriptions that I had to draw out of the bag and use in my story. The three that I pulled out were; tiny, dyslexic, and bowlegged.

We had about 20 minutes to write, and then we all read what we had to the others. I was actually really happy with what I wrote (though you won’t be seeing anything from me about a dyslexic Mountie and a bowlegged hooker!).

I did absolutely love this exercise, though! And after doing it, I was able to finally finish a short story that I had been working on for MONTHS! But how do I recreate that? How do I honestly come up with these kind of things without skewing them in my favor? I don’t know that I can…

So in an effort to maybe find something else that will help break this horrible cycle of sitting down to write and ending up doing everything else I can think of instead, I want to know - what’s your cure for writer’s block?

And, it's Monday - that means Meet an Author Blog Hop!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Thank You Troops!

2011-05-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was so proud of myself...I had my post ready for today! I was so proud that I was going to be able to get up and post and be done for the day.

But then I started seeing FaceBook posts about Osama Bin Laden, and I turned to the news to find that indeed, Bin Laden had been killed by a US operation.

I was proud for a whole other reason.

I was so proud of our troops and their families who have sacrificed so much for these years.

SO, instead of posting my original idea for the day, I wanted to send a BIG THANK YOU to all of those who have worked so hard to allow us as Americans to have the freedoms that we do.

I wanted to say thank you to the families of those who have been deployed in their service of our country.

I wanted to say that I know that protecting our freedoms is a never ending job, and that I am so grateful that there are men and women who take this responisibility on.

Of course I will confess that when I hear it was Navy SEALs that ran the operation, I imagined Gideon being part of it...There is nothing sexier than a protective man doing his job to keep those he loves safe!

I'll be posting my Mother's Day post that I'd written originally later this week, but this was just too important to not express how I felt and to again thank all of those who give of themselves every day so that we can be ourselves every day.

And of course, it's Monday...and that means Meet An Author Blog Hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Adaptations???

2011-04-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

It’s Monday again! Hope everyone had a great weekend and a great holiday if you celebrated!

With a rash of movies coming out that are based on books (Water for Elephants, The Help, Something Borrowed), and because I went with my book club girlies to see Water for Elephants over the weekend, that today would be a good day to talk about adaptations (and I’ll also sneak in a little bit about my thoughts on Water for Elephants).

I don’t remember what the first adaptation of a book I saw. It’s a practice that has been in place forever, and it makes so much sense. I mean why wouldn’t you want to make a movie out of an already successful book? You have a built in audience, and the story is already there for you. I do know that I’ve found a few books AFTER seeing a great movie. In fact I found one of my favorite authors, Maeve Binchey, after watching the movie Circle of Friends.

But how many times have we been sitting in a theatre, bouncing in our seat, waiting for the long anticipated movie version of a favorite book only to be disappointed that a favorite scene or character was completely left out? So it’s always a gamble when you head to the movies to see what Hollywood’s interpretation of your favorite book is going to be.

While I was at RT in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, I attended a great panel about going from the written page to the big screen (I mean like every author out there I have the pipe dream that I will see Kellan playing Gideon!) and it gave me so much insight into how and why Twilight ended up the way it did! One thing that they said was for an author NOT to try to write their own script. A novel and a screenplay are two different beasts and often when a book is adapted for film there are brutal decisions made that an author just can’t do. I know that I could NEVER make the decision to kill off one of my characters, or lose a detail that I struggled so hard to get just right! I mean just the editing process had me in tears and defensive.

So, seeing one of my favorite books come to life on the big screen over the weekend had me looking at it from a different angle. And, I will say that I think that this is probably one of the adaptations that I have ever seen! Were there parts that were left out? Yes, absolutely. BUT, the screenwriter found a way to still include the information. And the fact that there is no Uncle Al in the movie and I really didn’t miss him says so much! I get it now, however.

The next one that I’m waiting for to see how well they have adapted (and it will be very interesting because in the case Suzanne Collins had a hand in writing the screenplay, so I’m curious to see how much it differs from the book) is The Hunger Games. There are definitely a few that I want to see in between now and then including Kathyrn Stockett’s The Help, which is next on my TBR list. And of course I’m still waiting to see Indivisible!

STOP HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT MY THOUGHTS ON WATER FOR ELEPHANTS!!

Like I said, I really thought that this was a beautifully done film. Director Francis Lawrence did an amazing job of creating the 1930’s circus with all its spectacle for viewers. I thought visually the movie was just beautiful.

I don’t think that they could have found a better actor to play August than Christoph Waltz! For me, he really stole the movie. Though I will admit that I wasn’t unhappy with seeing Rob Pattinson’s beautiful face on the screen for two hours! And he really did a great job bring Jacob to life for me.

The one stumbling block for me in the movie was Marlena. Don’t get me wrong, I love Reese Witherspoon, and I think that she did a good job with the role, but I just didn’t like the character as much as I did in the book.

The book version of Marlena was more of an innocent in the whole story. She thought that she was in love with August at 17 and basically ran away with the circus with him, leaving behind her disapproving parents. And then, once she discovered the dual personalities of August she did what she had to do to keep things even keel because she knows she can’t go back to her old life. In the movie, they gave her a different background involving foster homes, which still left her with nowhere to go, but to me lost something in the translation. The book version seemed more tragic for her because she chose August over her family, where in the movie he more saved her. It was one adaptation that I didn’t see the necessity for.

Also, I felt that I missed Marlena and Jacob actually FALLING in love. One minute she would be draped over August talking about all of his great qualities and then the next she was jumping off a train with Jacob. I missed the tension that built in the book when we, as readers could see that they were moving beyond a point of no return, yet still had to act like there was nothing between them and how hard it became over time. There weren’t enough stolen glances between the pair, or “accidental” touches that they tried to conceal…I wanted to feel that they were willing to risk everything (including their lives) for love, and I didn’t.

Everything else about the movie, however was stunning and amazing, and I’m fairly sure that I will sneak off in the middle of the day while the kids are at school over the next couple of weeks to see it a few more times!

And now, since it's Monday...you all know what that means!! BLOG HOP!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Becoming sage - A New View of a Different Lifestyle

2011-04-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!!

First things first…let me take care of business and announce the winner of my Easter Hoppin’ Blog Hop Giveaway! The lucky commenter is ereader89! I’ll be emailing you to get all of your information so I can get your prizes to you! Congratulations!

Now, for today’s fun! Today we are talking about BDSM and polyamory! What could be more fun than that?

I have always been a reader. Growing up, I read anything that I could get my hands on, but I was never a big romance reader. I think the reason for that was that my mom read the old school, Fabio pirate with the ripped shirt books all the time and I didn’t want to read what my mom read. Probably the only books I read that contained any kind of sex as more than just a piece of the story were the Sleeping Beauty trilogy by Anne Rice. I wasn’t sure how I felt about them because I was a bit put off by the fact that she was kind of being held captive, so I didn’t read anymore smexy books for a long time. Then a friend introduced me to The Black Dagger Brotherhood and I was sold.

I have never been shy about announcing that my mostest favorite smexin’ scene EVER is the V, Jane and the sink scene in V’s book. That book had me thinking that maybe some of the BDSM stuff out there would be kind of interesting. So off I went to read!

I found that most of the stories I was reading were about a sweet kindergarten teacher (or other equally goody-goody profession) who has a kinky side that she wants to explore so she goes to a club (or starts reading internet ads) and finds someone to experiment with. Now, don’t get me wrong…I like these stories, and will admit to having several of them on my Kindle. Then if you throw in another participant, yeah…I think that I might be revealing a little too much about my reading preferences?? But you get the idea!

I was lucky enough to be probably one of the first people outside of her circle of critique partners to read debut author, kasi Alexander’s Becoming sage, and got a new and different perspective of the BDSM and poly lifestyles. I was fascinated and enamored by this book.

Summary: With a failed marriage behind her, Jill Marten was looking to start a new chapter in her life. She had no idea that running into her old friend, Jessie, would unlock a whole new world. When she accepts Jessie's invitation to a party, in order to "try something completely different," it awakens a need to discover her place in a new community. Jessie, also known as sunni, is a submissive slave who is in a loving relationship with her Master, Sir Rune. When Rune and sunni ask Jill to be a part of their family, Jill begins her journey into submission, bondage, and polyamory, even as she questions everything that she has been taught about love and relationships. She begins to face her own desires and fears as she struggles with feelings of jealousy, inadequacy, and self-worth. Once she opens the door to a life she never imagined, a peek through the keyhole is no longer enough, and she must learn what it means to become sage.

One of the things that I really loved about this story is that it is told in first person from Jill’s point of view. So, the reader has complete access to her thought process as she makes new discoveries about herself and what she wants out of life.

This isn’t a story about Jill just participating in the BDSM lifestyle, this is about her finding out about where she belongs in the lifestyle and how much she wants to belong there. A word of warning here…this book isn’t what I consider Erotica – it’s not about the sex – it’s about the characters and how the sexual lifestyle impacts them.

I was drawn into this story because her thought process answered all of those questions that I have when I think about some of the aspects of a BDSM lifestyle. She goes through worrying how other people are going to react, and how as an independent woman she could give up control of her life in such a total way. Rutger and Jessie live as a D/s relationship as part of their life. They don’t just “play” on weekends, they live their lifestyle. So, while Jill discovers that she enjoys the sexual aspects of being dominated (most especially rope play), she isn’t sure about giving more control over to Rutger/Rune.

Not only is Jill confused about what she wants in her sexual life, but Rune and sunni offer her much more – they want her to be part of their family and to live together in a polyamorous relationship. This really throws Jill into a world of questioning her own values and desires.

For me, one of the most powerful scenes is where Jill (now sage) realizes that she’s where she wants to be and that she can give up control, and trust that Sir (Rune) will have her best interests at heart. In this part of the story, Rune has invited another Dom and his sub over for dinner and to “play” afterward. At one point during the “play” sage feels someone behind her and since she can see Rune and what BOTH his hands are doing, she realizes that it is Sir Matthew. For a second she panics, but then understands that Rune would have negotiated all aspects of their scene with Matthew, and that he wouldn’t allow anything that would hurt her. Up until this point, she has been wavering in her decisions as to whether or not she wanted to remain in the relationship. It is in that moment that sage knows this is what she wants and that she can give up control and trust that Rune will make decisions for her benefit.

kasi Alexander takes the reader through a true journey from negotiations to establish the amount of control her new Dom will have over her life (which in this case is almost total), to the inherent jealousy that both women must work through as they learn to share Sir. As a reader, I loved being given that little glimpse into the real world that these characters live in and realizing that it isn’t just about kinky sex, but about how a person feels about themselves and their place in the world. My belief is that as long as everyone is of age, and everything is consensual (and often negotiated before hand) then each person needs to decide for themselves what is right for them, and kasi Alexander does a great job of letting the reader see that it isn’t always an easy or quick decision, and that Becoming sage is a long thought out journey.

And, as a special treat…I have an interview with the author of Becoming sage, kasi Alexander!

Tell us a little bit about you and how you started writing.

I grew up in a small town in Michigan, have spent the last few decades working intermittently on a bachelor’s degree (which I will finally get in May 2011), and have lived in upstate New York, Colorado, and Arizona. I knew I wanted to write when I was very young, but I was never able to produce anything of substance until “Becoming sage.” Now I have someone who holds me accountable for my writing and is very supportive and encouraging. That really helps!

Becoming sage is classified on Omnific as “Alternative Romance.” Can you explain what that means?

I like the way Omnific put it: Romance isn’t always just ‘boy meets girl.’ I think alternative romance could be anything that’s a little different than the usual relationship style: same sex, polyamory, power exchange, group sex/marriage, BDSM, and probably lots of other stuff I’m not even aware of!

Now, in the title and throughout the book, names often aren’t capitalized. Can you explain why that is.

In many (but by no means all!) power exchange relationships (domination/submission, master/slave), the submissive/slave does not capitalize their name. This is totally optional and there are lots who do. I thought it would be an interesting aspect of the book, keeping their relationship status in view at all times.

I know that you live a D/s poly lifestyle, how much did your story parallel sage’s journey?

This is kind of tough. In terms of sage’s emotions and a lot of the M/s aspects, there are a lot of parallels. In terms of the actual action of the story, not so much. It is basically a very, very fictionalized account of my experiences with M/s and poly.

As an author, I sometimes struggle to find the right voice to tell a story in. In Becoming sage, you went with first person point of view, which I think was perfect. Did you know right from the beginning that you needed to allow the reader to be in sage’s head, or did you try any other voices before finding sage’s?

I felt strongly that the only way to tell the story was to be firmly grounded in sage’s head. I wanted readers to go through every experience from her point of view, even the experience of realizing that other people’s attitudes were not quite what she had assumed. It’s very much her story and I wanted to keep her perspective front and center.

I read that Becoming sage is the first installment in “The Keyhole Series”. Can you tell us what other stories you are working on?

I am currently working on a second book told from sunni’s (the sister slave) perspective. Then hopefully there will be a third told by Rune. There are short stories about Rune and sunni that may be coming out in anthologies from Omnific in the future. So far, sunni’s story is quite different than sage’s. It isn’t quite as introspective and emotional, but it reflects sunni’s personality better, I think, and deals more with life outside of their household. If the series goes well, there are lots of other characters who could easily come out and tell their own stories!

kasi, thank you so much for taking time to answer these questions for us. I’ve told you many times, but I really did love Becoming sage and can’t wait for the other stories! And, at least in my case, you definitely accomplished you goal in helping a VERY “vanilla” girl get an understanding of the real world of BDSM.

Oh, and check out kasi’s blog…I returned the favor and answered a few interesting questions about D/s relationships as they relate to my writing. Who knew?? I just like me a big, strong, protective man!

Meet an Author Monday

2011-04-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Easter Hoppin' Blog Hop - DAY 2

2011-04-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

Howdy "Peeps"!!

It's day two of the Easter Hop Giveaway started by JoJo's Book Corner and lushbookreviews, and I've decided to sweeten the pot a little...I'm adding a $10 Gift Card for Amazon or B&N to my giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment before midnight on April 17th. I will announce the winner in my normal post (which is a really good one this week) on the Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop!

For those of you who are new and just stopping by on the hop, I thought that it would be a good idea to introduce myself...

I'm a Stay-at-Home-Mom of Irish Twins (actually born in the same year) who keep me busy all the time. In between their various activities, I discovered that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.

My first book was a collaborative effort with Alison Oburia called Passion Fish. While working on Passion Fish, I really found my voice in a strong female and her equally strong man. So from there I thought that I should write what I love, and I do love a man in uniform...and a Navy SEAL is the ultimate for me. That thought became Indivisible.

I want to share one of my favorite lines from Indivisible:

Charlie tried to fight the tears she felt welling behind her eyes.
“Let me tell you something about my boys. Don’t get me wrong—I love both Tyson and Gideon more than anything in this world. But I learned long ago that I have to love them without expectations.” - Evelyn Cooper

Loving without expectations is what life is about!

Thanks for stopping by today - tomorrow I will share an exerpt!

And don't forget to visit all the other fun blogs for more chances at giveaways!

What - Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaways
When - 12:01 AM April 15th until 11:59 PM April 17th
Where - All around the blogging world!

Easter Hoppin' Blog Hop Giveaway!

2011-04-15T10:37:00.001-07:00

HOPPY FRIDAY!!

I am so excited about this blog hop. It's just the first day, and looking at the list, I can't wait to make the rounds!!

SO, here's how my giveaway is going to work for the next three days - All you have to do is make a comment! You can just say "hi" or comment on whatever is posted, just make a comment to get your name in the pool to win!! I will take comments until Midnight (PST) on Sunday and announce the winner on here in my regular Monday post!

But, wait...what is she giving away??

Glad you asked! I have a fabulous Indivisible mug that will come with either a selection of coffees or hot chocolates (for those like myself who aren't coffee drinkers), and an ebook pack of Indivisible.

And don't forget to visit all the other fun blogs for more chances at giveaways!

What - Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaways
When - 12:01 AM April 15th until 11:59 PM April 17th
Where - All around the blogging world!

Meet and Author Monday

2011-04-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

It is SOOO good to be home!!

Just a few little things before I get to the hop!

I spent the week in Los Angeles at the RT Convention, and it was so much fun! I met a few other Omnific authors, took some great workshops, and got to spend time with family and friends (I'm originally from Southern California). Now that I've been to my first one, I'm already making plans for next year's convention.

Also, I am participating in a really fun event over the next three days (April 11 - April 13) for a Goodreads Romance Readers Reading Challenges group. I'll be over there posting for the next couple of days; answering any questions you have, posting a few excerpts, teasing with some of my new characters...OH! And offering up a signed print copy of Indivisible (US only) and a digital copy (international) for giveaway! So come over and ask me a question or make a comment!!

Don't forget this weekend I will be doing the Easter Blog Hop (click on that hot bunny on the sidebar for more information). I'll be giving away a really cool prize! And I'm working on something special for next Monday!

Now the hop...

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Meet an Author Monday

2011-04-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

Before we get to the hop, I wanted to mention a few things...

First, take a look at the Easter Blog Hop that I've signed up for (there's a button over there!). This is a GREAT hop where each blog will be doing a giveaway! I'll be announcing what I'm giving away on the first day (It's pretty good!!)

AND...I'm heading out today to Los Angeles for the RT convention! I'm pretty excited. Lots of great authors, great workshops and hoping for great weather! You can stop by the Omnific table and say hi if you'll be there!

Okay, now the hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Lover Unleashed...My Thoughts and Opinions

2011-04-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!

I am SOOO excited!! Why you ask?? Well, I had a great week...a busy, but good week. My kids are still out of school, and we kept busy, but in between running them around and hanging out at the park, I finished a short story I’ve been working on for months, AND I read Lover Unleashed by JR Ward.

If you aren’t familiar with Ward’s Brotherhood, I suggest you stop right now and pick up Dark Lover (Wrath and Beth’s story). Once you finish it, you will want to either be able to download Rhage’s story or be near a book store because once you start, you can’t stop!

I began reading the series about three years ago, when I saw something about BDB on a forum. When I asked what the hell that meant, I immediately was bombarded with all the information about the Black Dagger Brotherhood. At one friend’s insistence, I picked up the first book in the series (see Wrath above!) and continued all the books in a matter of days.

At the time, there were only five books (the last one I could read before waiting was V’s book and it has the BEST sexing scene EVER!), and ever since that fateful day I have eagerly waited for each new book. Four new books later, I am still as pleased as I was from the moment Wrath fell for Beth!

Anyone who has read and loved the series will ALWAYS have a favorite. You don’t even have to ask them. As soon as you mention the BDB, they will swoon over Rhage, or shudder at the thought of V. I’ll tell you that my personal favorite is Zsadist. I just can’t resist a damaged warrior!(And I may or may not have a t-shirt that says, “Warrior Vampire Hussy” on the front and Zsadist in Old English lettering on the back…)

So, today I want to talk about the latest release, Lover Unleashed.

WARNING*****SPOILERS*****WARNING****SPOILERS****WARNING****SPOILERS

I will admit that I was worried about Lover Unleashed. Way back in Vishous’ book, we got a hint that Jane’s boss, Dr. Manny Manello , was going to be V’s twin, Payne’s happily ever after. This has never really been a secret.

The thing that I was worried about was that Ward was going to take us through the same route as Butch to get him to turn into a vamp. I read a lot of different series, and several of them have started to get stale and use the same thing over and over. My biggest fear was that I was going to have to give up my brothers.

Ward surprised me!! And I’m so thankful for that.

I’m going to start with my least favorite thing about the book, because it is tiny and I figure I’ll get it out of the way so we can talk about the GOOD stuff!!

So, I have to say that while Ward didn’t go the same road with Butch in Manny’s transformation or lack thereof, the whole Payne in the “hospital” while Manny “treated” her was VERY much like Butch being in quarantine and Marissa taking care of him. In both cases, the man was always concerned with the virginity of the female vampire and worked hard at everything but the actual act. I would have liked to see their courtship develop differently to make an even bigger distinction between Butch and Manny.

Now, let’s get to the good stuff!

I LOVED the V and Jane story that unfolded in this book! I will say that Jane is not one of my favorite Shellans of the group. I do think that she’s perfect for V, but you can’t function in a relationship if both of the participants can’t communicate. Someone has to be willing to talk. I think that Ward does a fabulous job of building that relationship and watching it fall apart was heartbreaking! But, getting to see Butch come in and help in the one way he knew would work was brilliant. From the time Butch was inducted and V gave the lingering bite, we’ve all wanted to see more of them together in an intimate way, and Ward definitely delivered in Lover Unleashed. (Not to mention throwing in a little nod to my favorite smexin scene of all time – V, Jane and a sink – that made me smile big!). I think that I’ll like the new and improved V.

And finally, how can we forget about Qhuinn and Blaylock?? Qhuinn broke my heart in this one. After Z and V, Qhuinn is my favorite of the boys. The fact that he knows what he wants, but doesn’t feel that he deserves it or that he can be enough of a male to admit it, made me hurt for him. I want him with Blaylock. I think that Ward did such an amazing job with showing how much pain Qhuinn was in, how he thought of himself, and how much he wanted to change for himself. I was a little disappointed that they weren’t resolved, but I’ve brightened this weekend now that word has gotten out that there will be a novella of Qhuinn and Blay’s story!! It can’t come soon enough!!

In the end, while it wasn’t my favorite brotherhood book, I did love it and couldn’t put it down.

And now the countdown begins for the next book…Tohr’s story.

Easter Blog Hop!

2011-04-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hey all my favorite people!!

I found this FABULOUS hop through Twitter, and thought what a great idea to give away some Indivisible swag!! SO I've signed up for this hop and will be posting on all three days with information about how to win some Indivisible goodies!

What - Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaways
When - 12:01 AM April 15th until 11:59 PM April 17th
Where - All around the blogging world!

These dates were choosen because we did not want to take time away from your family and other things going on easter weekend

How this will work:

~Each blog participating is hosting a giveaway of their own. The spending maximum should be around $20, and your giveaway can be anything you would like. Books, bookmarks , swag, coffees, teas, hand made crafts, anything you would like.

~All blogs participating in the Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaways will be linked up through the linky below.Then you can just copy the code from the below linky and add it to your giveaway post. All blogs will be linked together from this automatically on each blog for the Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaways.

~Please keep the steps to enter your giveaway as simple as possible. The long lists of many different things followers can do to earn extra entries tends to scare people off.

~Please help spread the word. Feel free to copy this post, or write a post of your own. The more blogs participating the better! It will mean more visitors and new followers for your blog. We have created a Easter Hoppin button and have added it below for you to paste it everywhere!

~Giveaways can be open to ship anywhere you would like

~If you have any Questions please email Danielle: dhester23 AT yahoo DOT com

~Please create your Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaway post before the giveaway starts. Set it to post at 12:01 AM on Friday April 15th.

Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Sign Up
To sign up please add your name and where you are willing to ship to the linky below
The Last Day to sign up is Tuesday April 12th .

Don't forget to grab the Easter Hoppin Blog Hop Giveaway button

Photobucket

In the Link Below Please include
~ Your Blog Name
~ Your Blog Link
~ Where you will ship to
( exp: US only, or World Wide )

This is a Blog Hop! 56 entries so far... you're next!

Indivisible Extras!

2011-03-28T07:05:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday everyone!!

Today I have a little smexy treat for all of you! I have two little sexin' scenes that didn't make it into the final edit.

*******WARNING*********WARNING*********WARNING***

The two extras are for grown ups!! Charlie and Gideon get to know each other...really well!

The first extra is frome when Charlie and Gideon first get to the hotel in Vegas after leaving the bar in San Diego. The chemistry between them is...combustible!

Extra 1

The elevator ride to the room was torture. Gideon’s hands never left Charlie’s body as he held her against him all the way to the 34th floor. Charlie was not the type of woman who had one night stands, and she definitely wasn’t the type to run off to Las Vegas with a guy she’d just met. But here she was with Gideon and she had never wanted any man the way she wanted him.

Charlie O’Conner was not the type to believe in love at first sight, but when she’d seen Gideon in the bar, she just knew that he was the man that she was meant to be with. Was that love at first sight? Charlie really didn’t know, but right at that moment, it didn’t matter. She felt safe and this felt right.

Gideon’s hardened length was pressed into Charlie’s backside, and all the fluids in her body had rushed to the spot between her legs.

When the doors opened to their floor, Gideon dragged Charlie down the hall behind him. Stopping at a door, he slid the card, but couldn’t steady his hand enough to do it right and kept getting the red light.

“Fuck!” He glanced over at Charlie, a look of apology on his face. “Sorry, baby. But I really need to be in this room so we don’t get arrested. The things that I want to do to you would definitely land me in the brig.”

Smiling at him, Charlie took the card out of his hand. Smoothly running the card through the machine, she was rewarded with a green light. As she opened the door, Gideon pushed against her body. Again Charlie felt his hardness pressing into her. The feeling was glorious, and her mind wandered to what he would soon be doing with that impressive length. A smile slid onto her face.

“Are you thinking dirty thoughts, Charlie?” The door clicked closed and at that same moment, Gideon pushed her against it. His hands explored every inch of her body.

The feel of his hands on her bare thigh as he moved up under her skirt made Charlie’s body quiver in anticipation. Gideon’s fingers brushed against the lace of her panties. Charlie was suddenly embarrassed at how wet they were.

“Damn, baby. You are so wet already, and I haven’t even shown you my best moves yet.” Gideon’s smile grew as he moved his lips to capture Charlie’s. She opened her mouth to him, eager to taste him again.

Their tongues met, moving in sync. Gideon’s fingers pushed aside the lace of her panties, brushing against her sensitive bud. Charlie shuddered. His name escaped her lips in a low hiss.

“Charlie, I want to hear that again tonight,” he whispered into her ear.

Don’t think that will be a problem. Charlie’s mind was in overdrive at the feel of this man touching her. She wanted more.

Gideon’s hands slowly followed the contours of her body until he found the top button of her blouse. Moving his lips to Charlie’s neck, Gideon kissed and sucked his way along her collarbone to the space between her breasts. As he undid each button, his mouth followed, leaving a heated trail. Charlie reached for his hardness, wanting to feel him too. Quickly, his hand shot out to stop her.

“Charlie, we’ll get to that, but first, I need to see you.” He spoke from between her breasts.

When Gideon finally finished with the last button, Charlie’s shirt fell to the floor. The gasp that escaped him was more of a moan, and Charlie could have sworn she heard him whisper something that sounded like, perfection.

Before Charlie could react, his lips descended on Charlie’s still covered nipple. The pressure she felt between her legs increased as Gideon pulled the hardened peak deeply into his mouth, his tongue constantly moving in circles. The feeling was exquisite.

While Gideon’s mouth was busy giving untold pleasure, his hands slid down, finding the zipper of Charlie’s skirt. Slowly lowering it to the floor, he again stood back to admire her body. No one had ever looked at Charlie that way. The look in his eyes was more than desire or want; he was in awe.

“God, Charlie. I have never seen something so perfect,” Gideon cooed, his hand moving to lie against her neck, his thumb stroking the sensitive skin under her ear. Charlie simply melted into him.

Picking Charlie up, Gideon carried her to the edge of the bed and knelt between her legs. She was surprised when her bra slipped from her shoulders. He’d undone it as he’d carried her to the bed. Impressive.

Gideon leaned into Charlie and captured her pert nipple in his mouth, his teeth lightly grazing it as he sucked and licked. If the feeling before was incredible, there were no words to describe the new sensations Charlie was feeling.

With a small tug at her panties, Gideon let Charlie know what he wanted. She easily complied by lifting her butt to allow him to pull them off. As she lay totally exposed to this glorious fully clothed man, Charlie thought about how she would normally have felt vulnerable and would have tried to cover herself, but with Gideon she didn’t feel that. All she could think about was that she never wanted him to stop and that she needed him to be naked too…soon.

The kisses moved further down across Charlie’s stomach. Gideon brushed across her now aching center, causing her hips to buck up. She couldn’t take the time to think about how wonderful it felt as he slipped a finger inside her. Charlie fell back onto the bed as Gideon’s mouth and fingers worked together to bring her to the brink of orgasm.

Just when Charlie knew she was about to splinter apart, Gideon was suddenly gone. When she dared to open her eyes, he was already undressed. Her gaze fell on his impressive member. Charlie don’t know if she was more surprised or scared, but whichever it was, it disappeared as soon as she realized that Gideon was hovering over her.

Charlie wanted this glorious perfection of man under her. Quickly, using the element of surprise, she flipped their position so that she was over him.

“Niiiiice.” Gideon’s voice was heavy with want, and Charlie knew if she didn’t feel him moving inside her, she might die. She moved to straddle him, snaking her hand to firmly grasp his impressive cock, guiding him to where she needed him. Lowering herself onto his length, Charlie hissed his name again.

“Told you I would make you do that again,” he said as he looked up at her, nothing but love and admiration in his eyes. Gideon placed his hands on Charlie’s hips, and began to move. Charlie thought she would explode into a million pieces.

After establishing a rhythm for the two of them, Gideon released her hips, and his hands began to worship all Charlie’s curves. When his thumb brushed against her most sensitive spot once again, she lost control and felt the wave of perfect ecstasy wash over her. Her orgasm sent Gideon over the edge as well. Charlie never looked away from him as they both rode out their simultaneous pleasure.

“That was the best, experience of my life, Charlie,” Gideon whispered as he gently lifted her off him. He wrapped his body around hers, holding her to him. Charlie stayed there for only a short time before she felt that pull to have all of Gideon be part of her again.

******

This next one is after Charlie and Gideon had returned to San Diego and were living with his parents for a few days since he lived in the barracks and she lived in the dorms. The couple was getting ready to move into their own apartment, and had gone to pick up Gideon's stuff from the barracks...enjoy!

Extra 2

Opening the door to his barracks room, Gideon was a little nervous for Charlie to see it. He was glad there wouldn’t be a repeat of the scene at his parent’s house because fortunately, there were no posters of scantily clad super models on the walls. In fact, this room was surprisingly sparse, with a small twin bed, an open closet with all his uniforms, and a desk. The only hints that this was actually Gideon’s room were the name plate on the door and several family pictures that hung over the desk.

Gideon watched as Charlie looked around, a smile crossing her beautiful lips. She brushed her long fingers over the shoulders of his hanging uniforms.

“I bet you are damn sexy in your dress uniforms, Joe.” Her hand came to rest on Gideon’s chest, and just her touch made his dick instantly harden.

Charlie’s hand slid down his body, brushing across Gideon’s now rock hard cock, causing him to let out a low hiss. She smiled as she turned and walked away from him.

Oh hell no! We are alone with no one to walk in on us, and she is going to tease me? Gideon’s whole body was screaming at him that he needed to take his wife right then.

It seemed that Charlie put an extra wiggle into her hips as she took the few steps to cross the room. She stopped at the desk and leaned over to get a better look at the pictures, her skirt riding up a little so Gideon caught a glimpse of her glorious ass in a black thong.
He moved in behind her, pushing his hardness into her exposed backside. Charlie let out a sexy moan, causing Gideon to almost lose it right then. Trying to regain control, he wrapped an arm around her waist while the other slid down her side to find the smooth skin of her bare thigh. Gideon leaned into her, placing a kiss on her neck.

“You shouldn’t have bent over like that, baby. It’s been three days since you let me touch you, and I can’t control myself,” he whispered into her ear as his hand slid up under her skirt. Charlie’s panties were already wet. “But that was your plan wasn’t it?”

The sound of her laughter only made Gideon want her more. She had planned this—worn that skirt and thong just to get him take her, here.

Gideon’s fingers pushed the lacey thong aside and glided easily over her slickness, finding that sensitive spot that made Charlie’s head snap back and a wonderful, orgasm producing moaning of his name escape her lips.

“Gideon…mmm…I need you. Right. Now.”

“Baby, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to tell you no, but I can guarantee that I will never say it to those words.”

Gideon slid his hand up under her shirt and pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it with gentle pressure. Keeping a rhythm on both her perfect peak and her point of pleasure at the apex of her legs caused Charlie’s body to arch back against his, her ass rubbing against Gideon’s straining cock.

“Tell me what you want, baby,” he demanded. Gideon wanted to hear his new wife talk dirty to him. He couldn’t think of anything that would be a bigger turn on.

Charlie’s hand reached back and began to stroke him through the material of his pants. “I want you to make me cum, Joe. I want you to take me until I can’t take anymore and I have to scream out in release.”

Fuucck! Gideon’s mind exploded at the words Charlie had just spoken. She was normally shy during their love making, amazing and completely on board with everything Gideon wanted and did, but he had yet to hear her say anything even remotely dirty, and it was sexy as hell.

Gideon turned her around, looking into Charlie’s eyes as he lifted her top over her head. He undid her bra and let it fall to the ground, moving to capture her perfect breast in his mouth. When Gideon bit down lightly a deep throaty moan filled the room.

While Gideon was busy reveling in the sounds and tastes of his wife, her hands were busily working on his pants. Cool air hit his thighs as she finally succeeded in getting Gideon’s pants and boxers off in one swift motion. His dick, finally free, had a mind of its own and caused Gideon’s hips to buck into Charlie’s still panty covered core. He couldn’t waste anymore time. He needed to have that tight wetness wrapped around him.

Easily pushing Charlie’s skirt up so it was bunched around her waist, Gideon ripped the small piece of lace from her body.

“Joe, I liked those.”

“I’ll buy you new ones,” Gideon growled as he pinned her to the cold brick of the wall behind her. Like they’d been doing this together for years instead of days, Charlie wrapped her legs around him. All Gideon could concentrate on was the heaven of her wetness as he slid into her. He used the advantage of having the wall behind her to free one hand, which Gideon used to caress her body, ending at her sensitive spot. It took only two strokes of his finger over her bud for Gideon to feel her clench around him and pull an orgasm from him.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Gideon yelled out as he rode that wonderful orgasmic wave. He could hear Charlie whispering his name, but his own explosion had drowned it out.

Suddenly the door flew open. Gideon froze.

Fortunately, his body covered Charlie’s, and while whoever was there was getting a great view of his ass, none of her goodies were on display.

“What’s wrong, Coop-“ The words died in the air as laughter broke out from what Gideon could tell was a group of his team members. Gideon swore to himself that he was going to kill those guys.

“Umm…little busy here,” he growled without even turning his head.

The door abruptly closed and the room was silent for a minute.

“I’m glad we’re going to have our own place.” Charlie laughed.

Gideon silently agreed as he wrapped his wife in his arms. Once they were in their new apartment, he planned on christening every room without fear of being walked in on again…and again.

Hope you liked those!

A big thank you to my editor who made sure all my commas were in place (I suck at commas!) - I do love you so, darling!

Next week I think we will be talking about JR Ward's new release Lover Unleashed??? (I will be reading it tonight when it downloads on my Kindle at midnight!!)

And now...on to the Blog Hop!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Love at First Sight, Do You Believe?

2011-03-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!!

A common theme in a lot of what I read is an instant moment where one or the other characters fall in love. Usually, that's the driving force of the whole love story as the one who had the instant reaction persues their true love. In Indivisible, Charlie and Gideon's relationship happens quickly, but their love for each other is deep and they jump in with both feet!

So, I was wondering if people really could buy into the "Love at First Sight" concept? Can you absolutely KNOW that you love someone in an instant or is it just lust? Will a relationship that starts so quickly without all the build up last?

I totally belive in love at first sight, and I'll tell you why...I've experienced it. I thought that the best way to explain why I believe in it, and why I think that Charlie and Gideon will always be together is to tell the story about how I met my husband.

When I was about 15 (I'm sure I just lost a bunch of you...but stay with me and you'll see where I'm going! I surely don't think that at 15 love at first sight is everlasting.)my mom would always go to the same gas station in town. There was a guy who worked there who I thought was SUPER cute (he looked like Speed Racer - the cartoon from the 70s - who I'd had a crush on as a 5 year old!).
My mom and I would always joke about how "Speed Racer" was working that day when she'd see him. Well, flash forward about a year and I got my first job...at a fast food place right next to the gas station. That was when I had a real name for my Speed Racer.

Over a few months, my friend and I got to know him and his friend, and eventually he asked me out.

It lasted all of about 2 weeks! (All I can say is that I was 16 and fickle.)

We would still see each other around town, but I'd gotten another job, and eventually he went into the Navy.

A few months after I knew that he went into the Navy, I was driving down the freeway and turned my head to the left...and there he was! He ended up following me off the freeway and asked me to go out with him that night. He was still pretty cute, so I said I would.

IT WAS THE WORST DATE I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!! (And I'm pretty sure he'd say the same thing.) I was home by eight, changed and then went out with my girlfriends. That was that!

Or so I thought...

Skip ahead two years. It was around Christmas and we had just gone out to get our tree that day. I was in the apartment alone, decorating it (wearing sweats and old t-shirt with my hair in a ponytail - looking BEAUTIFUL!) when there was a knock on the screen door. Thinking that it was just a neighbor, I called out for them to come in. When I turned around...HE was standing there.

It felt like time actually stopped for a few seconds as I suddenly heard a whisper in my ear that I was going to marry him. I just KNEW with everything in me that I was going to marry the man standing in front of me.

Two weeks later, we were engaged.

And twenty-one years later I still wonder what it was in that one moment that made me know he was the one for me. If someone had told me when I was first dating my husband at 16 that I would end up marrying him, I would have laughed. I mean I thought that he was cute and all, but marry him?? NO WAY! Then there was the disatorous date...that right there should have been reason enough to write him off as a potential husband. Then BAM! it just hit me...my destiny.

Now, I realize that this wasn't EXACTLY "love at first sight", but it really was. I knew in that one moment after knowing this man for three years. Why was it that time, and not the time before? I really think that life has a plan for us, and so maybe "love at first sight" is how that plan is supposed to play out because you will never cross paths again if you don't act then?

So, the lesson is that when the universe whispers...listen!

I have a few hot sexin' out takes from Indivisible that I will share next week! Make sure to check back!

And if you didn't see my St. Patrick's Day post you could definitely check it out! Green is one of my favorite colors!

It's the BLOG HOP!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2011-03-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd pop in and share the way to wear green that I have ever seen! He's so pretty! I could actually stare at him for most of the day....

Oh, yeah I also wanted to share a couple of my favorite Irish centric books.

It's no secret that one of my favorite authors is Maeve Binchy, who just so happens to be Irish! I found Binchy after watching Circle of Friends and loving the story that she told. And as is my way...I immediately started to read everything that she had written and waiting for the next book to come out.

I started with Circle of Friends which is just an amazing book. I liked the movie, but the book tells the story so much better and as a reader I felt Bernie's pain so much more.
From there I continued to read and love the Ireland of the 1950s and 60s that Binchy painted. She is so great at letting the reader feel as if they are living with the social restrictions and expectations. Then I came across The Glass Lake. I have read the book too many times to count, and even got my book club to put it on our list for the year. I can't wait for my friends to read it!
While Binchy's later books move into modern time, and I still read them, it's her earlier works and that "old fashioned" Ireland that I love to read about.
A new favorite Irish author of mine is Carol Oates. Her first novel, Shades of Atlantis, has a special place on my bookshelf next to my Maeve Binchy. While half of the story takes place in Maine, Oates spin on the Irish myth of Atlantis is interesting and so compelling that I actually went and did some research on it after reading it. Her characters bring to life what has only been imagined up until now. And when the story does take us to Ireland, Oates descriptions are so inviting that I'm trying to talk my husband into a trip to Ireland next year!!

Hope you all have a great St. Paddy's Day!!

Who's Who and Other Fun!!

2011-03-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!!

Before we get to the promised post of who I picture as my characters in Indivisible, I have a few things that I wanted to talk about.

First, I already told you about the great review and interview on P.S. I Love Books last week, and now they have added an ebook giveaway so go check it out and get in on the giveaway.

And there are two more great reviews of Indivisible up (I am so happy with how people have been receiving the story!). A Trail of Books Left Behind and fellow Omnific author of the Behavior series, Jennifer Lane's blog, Jennifer Lane Books Blog both made me smile big with the kind things that they said about Gideon and Charlie. (And on a side note, if you like a sexy sailor, check out Jennifer's With Good Behavior and Bad Behavior with her McSailor).

Finally, I promised to give away 3 ebooks of Indivisible!! I randomly chose from my followers and here are the winners: KarenG, dstaceywrites, hnwhitlock2000! I will be getting in contact with all of you to get you your ebook of Indivisible! Congratulations!!

AND NOW...I promised that I would share who I think of when I'm playing with my characters from Indivisible. Now I'm not saying that these are the end all be all, just how I imagine them when they are talking to me in my head as I write.

GIDEON COOPER

This will come as no surprise to anyone who has read any of my interviews. The actual inspiration for my sexy Navy SEAL was Kellan Lutz. I love the curly blonde Kellan! Just imagine him with a black t-shirt stretched across that impressive chest...oh I need a moment!
And, while I only dream that one day I could see Indivisible on the big screen, I really want it to happen in the next few years, because I would INSIST on Kellan playing the role of Gideon!
(By the way...tomorrow is Kellan's 26th birthday!One day I will tell the story about how life happened and I got to meet (and touch) Kellan.)

CHARLIE COOPER

Now I KNOW that she is waaay too old now, but I picture Charlie very Nicole Kidmanish. She has that perfect silky skin and the beautiful strawberry blonde hair that I picture Charlie having.
I can picture her going through all of the emotional rollercoaster ups and downs that Charlie has to go through in the story and still being able to pull off being "normal".

TYSON COOPER

Tyson is probably the hardest for me to define. I have such a clear picture of Gideon, and obviously he is exactly my perfect man...so trying to find someone who is equally as gorgeous, with the right coloring but a different body type was difficult. BUT I finally did it.
Charlie Hunnam is about as close as I could get. I love him on Sons of Anarchy, but when he was younger, his body was a little more how I picture Tyson (I'm a bigger fan of the older little buffer SoA Charlie). And this picture of him reminds me of the Southern California surfer look that Tyson sports.

PAIGE HALLORAN

Finally, Paige. Another hard one for me because I wanted someone who not only had the right characteristics, but also someone who you could see Paige's personality. I came up with Kate Hudson. I can picture the scene when Gideon comes out of the house and Kate Hudson's surprised expression upon seeing his size, and then that infectous laughter at Tyson's reaction. I think that she's beautiful, bubbly, smart and funny...just the kind of girl to tame Tyson.

Okay, I know you all have your own ideas and I would love to hear them!! So your turn to share!!

I'm working on a few out takes coming soon!

Meet an Author Monday

2011-03-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Birthday Surprises

2011-03-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday today!! YAY ME!! (Not really, it just means that I got out of shoveling the snow this morning and I'm older)

BUT, I did have a great surprise this morning when P.S. I Love Books posted a great review of Indivisble! They gave it a 4.5/5 stars, and I couldn't be happier. I mentioned how all of this stuff just makes me quesy...so to have this first review be so nice, I will be smiling for the rest of the day!

Go check out the review, and the interview that I did for them. There's a little info about Indivisible and what I'm working on now.

Read an Ebook Week

2011-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Now, THIS is the kind of thing I can totally get behind!! Since receiving my Kindle last summer, I read an ebook more often than I read an actual book.

Yesterday I went to Bookclub with my closest friends, and they surprised me for my birthday (it's tomorrow) and along with a REALLY great Kellan cake, also gave me a $50 gift card for Amazon. The first thing that I thought was...Ohhh, I can't wait to download some new books! We just decided on our next book to read, and the next BDB comes out in two weeks (crossing my fingers for more Blay and Qhuinn in that one - btw!). I didn't think about what I could have shipped, but what I could download and I love that!

Both of my books are available for Kindle, Sony Ereader, Nook... at Omnific (starting at just $4.99).

So, in honor of this wonderful week, I will be giving away 3 ebooks of Indivisible at the end of the week to three of my followers. Make sure that you are following my blog if you want a chance to win!

(I know I said that I was going to talk about who I picture when I read Indivisible, but I wanted to give away some books, so next week we will talk about that! Be thinking about who you picture as Gideon, Charlie, Tyson...)

On to the Blog Hop!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

2011-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

Releasing a new book makes me nervous!

I’m coming right out and saying it!

When my Marketing Director told me about some of the things she’d done with Indivisible, I thought that I would be sick. And now, a month after Indivisible came out, I’m starting to see reviews on Goodreads and see that it’s being read by reviewers…DUN DUN DUN!

I am constantly worried about these things.

One of the things that had my stomach turning and my ears ringing was that my book was sent to Marliss Melton, an author who writes a Navy SEAL series (which is on order right now). All I could think was – “What if I totally screwed something very Navy SEAL up?”

Then last week, I got an email that made me smile and cry at the same time.

"McQuinn launches readers on a rollercoaster ride of emotion. I laughed, cried, got goose bumps. If you enjoy Navy SEAL romance, you will love this one-of-a-kind novel of passion and commitment."

Then she said, “job well done.” I was so excited to hear from someone who writes in the same genre that I do that I had done things right!

This has made me so happy, that I’m starting to settle down and be okay about the reviews. And in the end, my mom told me that she loves it, so between those two things I think that I’ll make it through!

Next week I want to talk about who you picture when you read?? I have my ideas, but I'm curious who you see! Think about it!

On to the Blog Hop!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Never Say Never...

2011-02-21T08:02:00.002-08:00

Today’s post is going to be a “Life Happened” moment. I’ve been having a hard time lately watching my kids get bigger and more mature. Don’t get me wrong…I want my kids to grow up and I do love to see them change, but it just seems to be happening so fast. It‘s small things that make my heart hurt like when my daughter does her own hair for school (I of course make sure she tells EVERYONE that she did it!) or my son doesn’t want me to help him with his homework. Even though my kids are still young, some days I get a glimpse of the future, and I’m not ready to give up being their mom.

So, last weekend I took my kids to see Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. I have an eight year old girl and a seven year old boy. Now, you would expect that my daughter would have been donning her Bieber gear and begging me to take her to see this…but no. It was actually my son who was the one asking me for two days when we could go see it.

Let me explain a little something – my son has ALWAYS liked the girls. When he was around 18 months old, my moms group had a Miss Georgia contestant, whose platform was early reading, come to a meeting and read a book to the kids. She was adorable; long blond hair, cute little figure. She was wearing a suit with nylons and everything. While she was reading the book, my son stood next to her and rubbed her leg the whole time (even when I kept pulling him away). Then at 2 years old, he faked drowning to get a cute 17 year old life guard to come help him. I know he was faking because I was standing two feet from him and when I realized what he was doing, told him to stand up…and he did.

That being said, my son loves Justin Bieber! He listens on his MP3 player and then sings and does the moves for me, he wears the hood up on his sweatshirt all the time now, and tries to give me a little pouty brooding look. For Valentine’s Day he gave out Justin Bieber cards, and when one boy tried to make fun of him, he said, “Whose Valentime (my kids think that it is “time” instead of “tine” and I think it’s too cute and don’t correct them) did she like the best?” My son, in a nutshell wants to be Justin Bieber for the girls!!

I was dreading doing this…and I mean offering them other things to not to have to go see this movie. Going into the movie, my thought was , “Really? The life story of a 16 year old…” I will admit that I am not well versed on The Biebs, but I couldn’t imagine that spending and hour and a half watching the life and times of a successful 16 year old would be a fun time. I was WRONG!!
This movie was absolutely amazing. Now, don’t get me wrong…I don’t quite suffer from Bieber Fever (he’s not even 17 and I think even his dad would be too young for me!!), but the sheer talent of this kid is astounding. And watching his story and how he was discovered is like this generation’s version of the Lana Turner at the soda fountain story.

There were a few times that I actually teared up while watching. There was one point towards the end of the movie when Justin wasn’t feeling good and he had to cancel a show. He really felt bad about that and wanted to argue, but his “people” (and I use that lightly, because they really are people who take care of him and more like a family) took the decision out of his hands. Then when his mom showed up in the next city, he went right to her and hugged her. As a mom…I cried. I know how when my kids are sick all they want to do is curl up with me, and I can’t imagine what it’s like for him trying to be a grown-up, but still needing to be that kid.

While watching the movie, both my kids were silent and still…that NEVER happens. My kids are seasoned movie goers (that is probably the one thing I miss most about my before kids life – just going to the movies whenever I wanted, so now we go to pretty much every kid’s movie that comes out. I saw Alpha & Omega in the theatres!), but they are kids so they do what kids do when sitting in one place for two hours – they squirm. Not during this one. They were glued. My son, who normally is a “line repeater” (you know that person who keeps repeating lines they liked from the movie??) didn’t say a word. This had me a little bit worried. I worried that after watching THOUSANDS of girls screaming that he would question his own liking of Justin Bieber. But no, he is still a fan – but I’m not allowed to mention it in public.

This makes me sad. I see it as another sign that he’s not going to be my little man for much longer because he’s starting to worry about what people might think or say about him. I love my daring, wild little boy, and I know one day soon he won’t tell me he loves me as he gets out of the car for school in the morning, and he won’t run and jump into my arms when I show up to volunteer in his class. But, after seeing Never Say Never, I have hope that he will still need me on some days. If the biggest pop star in the world still needs his mom then surely my silly son will too!

In the end, I think that I was impressed with how once he wanted something he went for it. He wasn’t pushed into it by his parents the decision was all his. I like to think that my kids will have a little of that, and that no matter what people tell them they keep going. I hope that they don’t wait until they are in their 40s to decide to pursue what they want and love in life, like I did. I know that I will be there for them and help and encourage them with whatever they decide to do!

Meet an Author Monday

2011-02-21T08:02:00.001-08:00

Who do You Love?

2011-02-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Between school, work, and extra circular activities there isn’t a whole lot of time in my house for Valentine’s Day. We celebrated this past weekend instead, taking the kids to Build a Bear and lunch – then I bought a new pair of tennis shoes for my Valentine’s present…romantic, huh? So, I’ve decided that I will start my own Valentine’s tradition.

My thought was that once the kids have gone to school, I would find my secret stash of chocolate, and my favorite book. But then I thought if I tried to read a whole book I would be very pruney when I got out of the tub. So maybe I should just make a little pile of the ones with my favorite couples and just read all the good parts? Brilliant idea if I do say so myself!
Now, what scenes and couples? That is probably as hard as picking my favorite book. Here are my top five couples. (And I stayed away from the classics for this one, because I wanted escape!!)

1. Zsadist and Bella from JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I make no secret of the fact that I am a Z girl to the core. There is something about that completely damaged man that just draws me in. And the tats, and piercings, and the shaved head, and his sheer size (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)…I would trade hubs in in a heartbeat for Zsadist! Normally this would make me automatically dislike his mate (in my head I live in Bookworld, where I’m thin and young and available to all the gorgeous heroes – and a few villains too.), but I actually really like Bella too. I like that she is smart and strong and doesn’t take any crap from Z.
And ironically enough, Z happens to be the STAR of one of my mostest favorite smexy scenes! Z’s “discovery” of himself and allowing himself to enjoy touching himself for the first time when Bella catches him…and she tells him to keep going! GAH!!! I’ve never wanted to be a fictional character more in my entire life!

2. Edward and Bella from Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. I know, I know, but Edward an Bella made me remember that feeling of falling in love. I’ve been married for 21 years, and some days it’s nice to remember why I fell in love with my husband and those days back when it was all new. Twilight did that for me. I will say, though, and if you saw my inspiration, you’ll know this is true…I’m not team Edward OR team Jacob – I’m TEAM EMMETT!!
Unlike most, my favorite kinda sexy scene from Twilight is not the “leg hitch” in Eclipse (though that one is nice). The one that takes my breath away every time – and that they left out of the movie – is when Edward is trying to get Bella to run with him before the baseball game in Twilight. When he pins her against the Jeep and is trying to “erase her memory”. Yeah, that one to me is soooo sexy! Picturing him running his nose along her pulse point, and Bella’s reaction to it? Get’s the heart racing!

3. Vane and Bride from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter Series. Now, I do like the Dark Hunters, but there is something about Kenyon’s Weres that I really, really love. Vane and Bride are my favorite because I love that Bride is a bigger girl and even better that Vane loves her like that. I think that unless you are supermodel thin, we all have self conscious body issues, and so relating to Bride is easy. All she wants is to be thin and accepted, and she can’t understand why Vane – drop dead gorgeous – would want to be with her. Which brings me to my favorite Vane and Bride moment. It isn’t really a smexy moment, more a sweet moment. I love when Vane tells Bride what he is and what he can do and she asks what kind of magic he can do. When he says anything, she asks if he can make her thin. Vane’s response? “Sure. But why would I want to.” Now, come on ladies! Who wouldn’t want you’re man to say that to you?

4. Qhuinn and Blay from JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I don’t normally choose to read same sex relationships, but there is just something that I really love about these two. I don’t know if it is because they have always been friends and that is now turning into more. Or if it is because I have an image of Qhuinn in my head and the idea that he would love Blay the way that Blay loves him is totally incongruous to that image (and I’m a sucker for juxtapositioning!). I just don’t know. The only thing that I know is that I loved when these two had their first kiss after the fight with the Lessers and Qhuinn told Blay that is all they would ever have, while he imagined much, much, more because he loves Blay too much and he knows he would hurt him.

5. Finally, Stephanie Plum and Ranger OR Morelli from Janet Evanovich’s number series. If I’m forced to choose, I’m a cupcake girl. BUT…at this point in the series I just want Stephanie to get some and I don’t care if it is with Ranger or Morelli! In the end, I believe that she can’t end up with anyone else besides Morelli, but while they are on a “break” she needs to be all over Ranger and enjoy him for a while!! I can’t pinpoint my favorite smexy scene in the series, but I remember the first time I realized that Stephanie and Ranger were “busy” and I had to go back and re-read the part because I was cruising along and then all of a sudden Ranger’s head popped out from under the sheets! WELL HELLO!! Funny and sexy is one of my favorite combinations!!

I’ll be in the tub for a few hours catching up on my favorite couples and looking for new ones!

Hope everyone enjoys their Valentine’s Day today no matter how you celebrate it!!

What's in a Name?

2011-02-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a new story the past couple of weeks, and realized that one of my favorite parts is getting to name my characters. I love to scour the baby name sites and find the exact right name for the character that I’m building. It gives me a chance to explore all of those names that I had to give up when I only had two kids.Because let’s be honest, that is one of the funnest parts of being pregnant when you make your list of names and your significant other tells you about the girl in school who was easy with this name, or the guy who used to torture him with that name, until you have that one perfect name. Well, with writing, I get to find all of those names that never would have passed muster with my husband and they are my new babies.

My new SWAT guys have manly names like Brody and Dane, because really it’s hard to write about Roger and Bob caressing a woman’s thigh.
I mean if you know someone named Roger or Bob, that’s what you picture. And what if Bob is your boss at work who is balding and has bad breath? But the chances are a little less that you know Brody or Dane, so when you read about them trailing a tongue into the valley of his woman’s breasts…you see what I mean?

When I was writing Indivisible, I went looking for the perfect name for my protective Navy SEAL. I went letter by letter on a baby name site, discarding Aaron (mountain) and Brendon (Prince) and a host of others until I came across the perfect name for my hero…Gideon. The meaning of Gideon is MIGHTY WARRIOR! How could I go wrong with that? He is smart, and a warrior and fierce when it comes to protecting his country and his family (I swooned a little there).

So now I had Gideon, but who could be enough for him? I needed a woman who was feminine, but strong. This was a harder job than getting to Gideon. This had to be a name that could be moaned at the height of passion and yelled at the height of anger. She is a character that had so many sides to her that I needed a name that would reflect that…no easy feat. Again, I went to the baby name site and waded through all the Lindsays (uncertain) and Baileys (bailiff), and while they are great names, they didn’t quite fit for my character. Then I found it…Charlotte but she likes to be called Charlie. Charlie means little and womanly, and then when you shorten it, you get the feeling of her strength (and I had wanted to name my daughter Charlie – not Charlotte, just Charlie – after her father, but he wouldn’t let me).

So, as I work my new boys, I am having fun in these early stages building their characters through their names. Though my husband gets nervous every time he sees me with the baby name site open, he glances at our two kids who are only 10 months apart, and asks in a shaky voice, “You’re writing a new character, right?”

******

And now, before we get to the Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop, I wanted to first thank all of you who have started Indivisible and sent along encouraging words. And also remind you that there are still a few of the pretties left for those ordering print copies!

Also, I want to remind you of the Lookin' for Love Blog Hunt being sponsored by Omnific Publishing. Just find the hidden heart on my blog! (Now, I was told that mine was hard to find...so I will give you a hint: It is definitely in a post that may be a little older and involve some LOVE!)

And finally, I wanted to let you all know that for the month of February, Omnific Publishing is running a great sale for their ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY - buy a print book and get an ebook for free! (Just click on the pretty banner above!)

On to the Blog Hop!!

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Where the Magic Happens!

2011-01-31T05:46:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed a theme in the Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop this morning? Several of us got together and wanted to have one Monday a month where we try to post on a united topic. In the future, you may see us all talking about everything from the editing process to plagiarism, but we thought that we would start out with something fun...where do you write.

I did a post a couple of weeks ago about writing partners and found that everyone has a different style and method to how they write a story. There are some of us (waves frantically) who are very methodical and write from chapter one to the end - in order. (Though I do admit that in Indivisible I wrote the turning point scene first, and then had the inspiration for one other scene and wrote that). And then there are those who can write chapter 1 and then chapter 27 and then chapter 12 and then fill in the rest. Whichever way works for a writer, I've often wondered if their working space reflects that? Today, I think you might get the answer to that.

For me, I have to start "old school" with a paper and pen. I have a collection of notebooks that I write in, and always have one with me where ever I go.
This is one of my favorite ones (I like to keep my inspiration close) that friend gave me for Christmas. If you were to open it, you would NEVER be able to decipher what I was writing. There is no rhyme or reason to the order, because I write where I can find a page. I only write about two or three pages on paper, and then transfer it to the computer. Then, as I am transfering it, I make a lot of changes and add details. It's the only way I can work because a tiny piece of lined paper is so much less intimidating than a big blank computer screen.

When I do sit down to put my work on the computer, sadly, I don't do it in a nice little cubbie away from everyone where I can hole up until I'm done. No, I have my laptop right in the middle of the dining room table. During the day, when the kids are at school, it isn't a big problem, but in the afternoons, all work ceases while life happens in my house. I have a little standing cupboard in the corner that I balance the computer on while we have our lives (homework, dinner, etc...). Then when the kids are in bed, the computer comes back out and I can work...sort of. My husband insists on talking to me and pointing out the houses on House Hunter International throughout the night.

But ONE DAY...I will move my whole operation to the basement where I have actually set up an office.
Isn't it pretty?? I have my inspiration right there for when I'm writing about a sexy Navy SEAL (or SWAT team member???). And I can look right up at it and then I'm good and can write. I also have my framed messenger bag signed by several Twilight cast members, which I LOVE because it was given to me by a fabulous group of ladies! I have my printer, and a bucket full of pens, all my notebooks stored on the shelf. But you might notice the one thing that is missing?? A chair! I just haven't had the time to go look for one, but as soon as I do (and it warms up a little becuase even with heat in our basement...that room is COLD!!)I am moving my work space in there. I will have that nice little hidey-hole to lock myself away from the world and live in a place where hot men in uniform occupy my life!!

Don't forget to look for my heart starting tomorrow!! Click on the banner, or the button on the sidebar for all the informationon the Omnific Publishing sponsored Lookin' for Love Blog Hunt. You could win ebooks of Omni's entire collection!! That's over $100 in ebooks!!

And thanks for stopping by for Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop!

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Lookin' for Love Blog Hunt

2011-01-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's Day is a very special day. I know you all know it is for love and happiness, but for me it is for another reason. On Valentine's Day 2010 I was lucky enough to be apart of a new adventure - the launching of Omnific Publishing!

In celebration of the one year anniversary of their first releases, Omnific Publishing thought it would be fun to sponsor a contest that recognizes all of their wonderful authors. To participate in the webhunt, all you have to do is:

• Visit our author’s websites (linked below) between February 1-14, 2011
• Find the “hidden” candy hearts (one per author website with a different saying at each site)
• Match the sayings on the candy hearts to the correct author using the form on the site by February 14, 2011

When you correctly identify all of the candy heart sayings, your form will be entered into a random drawing for prizes. Grand prize is the entire eBook collection of Omnific Publishing’s titles then in publication! The runner up will win eBook editions of five Omnific Publishing titles of his or her choice. Ten additional winners will each win an eBook of A Valentine Anthology.

AUTHOR WEBSITES:
Robin DeJarnett
Jennifer DeLucy
Nicki Elson
Jennifer Lane
Jessica McQuinn
Carol Oates
Susan Kaye Quinn
Lisa Sanchez
Sandra Wright

For more information and full contest rules visit Omnific Publishing's contest page!

I have "hidden" my heart somewhere on my blog here...could be anywhere (even in a post, maybe).

Good Luck!

The Envelope Please...

2011-01-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd pay homage to the Oscars considering the nominations were announced this morning, and I am about to announce the winners of the Indivisible giveaway (equally as important I do believe!)

The two people who are going to get signed copies along with the pretties are:

Jennifer Lane and Megan! I will contact you both to get your information and will get your goodies to you as soon as I can!

Thank you all for all the support for this story. I do truly apprectiate it!

PS - Indivisible is now available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble (Nook), Omnific Publishing, All Romance (ebook)!

One More Day!

2011-01-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

It's Monday! And that means that besides the blog hop, time is winding down to the release of Indivisible! YIKES!!

It also means that there's one more day to get into the drawing here on my blog for a signed copy of Indivisible along with the beautiful bookmark and the dog tag keychain - look below to see them! Just a comment gets you in the running (don't forget to enter the Goodreads one too!). I will be drawing the two names tomorrow morning...hurry and get in on the fun. Check back tomorrow to see the winners AND I'll be introducing a new fun event!!

With the release of Indivisible on the horizon (literally!), I thought that I would make a nice little list for all of you of other books that I know I am nail biting, waiting for. Over the past few years, I have been drawn into reading several series...which I LOVE! I've always been one to stick with an author that I love, and to have continuing series is all the better. I think the first actual SERIES that I read was Harry Potter, and I was so depressed when it was over (on a side note...I just started reading The Sorcerer's Stone to my kids last night - super excited to share that with them!). Since then I have fallen hard into series books, and though I found many of them later than others had, I caught up pretty darn quick!

My latest step into series world is Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress books. Good Lord! I read the first four in five days (I need to clean today since I ignored it for a week while reading)! And I also read the first book of her spinoff - I have actual work and writing to do this week, but I'll get to Mencheres' book soon... Lucky for me, This Side of the Grave (#5 in the Night Huntress series) is the first book among my favorite series to come out on 2/22/11 - mark your calendars!
Other than that, here are some of the others that are coming out:

3/22/11 - Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon - This is the second book in Kenyon's new YA offering of Nick Gautier's story, The Chronicles of Nick. I have to admit I was a little wary of Kenyon writing YA - I mean hot Dark Hunter fun times to YA? But I really liked the first book Infinity. It had all the smartass Nick that I miss now that he's so angry!

3/29/11 - Lover Unleashed by JR Ward - This is at the top of my list for excited this year. Payne's story, I think has potential to be one of the best. I think being able to see Vishous trying to protect his twin and his shellan, while Payne works to find her place in a world that her mother has kept her from...GAH!! I can't wait!! And if I can't get me some good daddy Z, I'll take overprotective V!

4/4/11 - Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon - This is the fourth book in Kenyon's League Series. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the SCIFI world, but I do love Kenyon's men and she can put them anywhere she wants and I'll read! This is the story of Caillen Dagan (Sin and Shahara's son) who we got a brief glimpse of in Born of Ice.

May 2011- Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - Whether you're an Eric, Sam or Bill fan(I personally am a Quinn fan because I like them big and sexy!) it's hard to resist Sookie. I'm looking forward to seeing what other wordly trouble Sookie gets herself into this time around.

6/21/11 - Somkin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich - Now this veers off a little from the other titles that I read, but who doesn't love the tension built by a love triangle where the two men are so opposite you want to melt the together and just get one big one. While I'm a cupcake, I do like some babe time too! AND I have sworn to one of my best friends that if Stephanie doesn't get any in this book I quit! I need some Morelli lovin!!

8/2/11 - Redemption by Sherrilyn Kenyon - This is Jess and Abby's story in Kenyon's Dark Hunter Series. One of my favorite things about Kenyon's Dark Hunter Series is the way that she ties all of the stories together and we get to see many of our favorites even when the book isn't about them (and anytime I get a glimpse of Vane or Dev makes me happy). I'm looking forward to Jess' story (who doesn't love a cowboy??)

11/6/11 - Envy by JR Ward - The third book in Ward's Fallen Angel Series should be a good one. If we can get a hero as wonderful as Isaac Roth from Crave, I'll be one happy camper!!

I'm sure that considering we are just at the beginning of the year, that I will find some new books and series to follow, but these are my favorites that I have marked on my calendar...OH and of course Indivisible will be available tomorrow from Amazon or Omnific Publishing! And don't forget the first 50 print copies of Indivisible purchased will get the pretties below!

And you can check out my pretty trailer now too!!

Meet an Author Monday

2011-01-23T15:44:00.001-08:00

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

And, we are starting a new feature on our blog hop...the last Monday of every month we will all have a single topic that we discuss. We are kicking it off this month with a fun topic - Where do you write? We will talk about our process and where we write, and hopefully a few will even post a few pix!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Indivisible Pretties!

2011-01-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

I have been mentioning that all of the winners of my giveaways (including Carol and Robin who won on Coffee Time Romance) would get some pretties. I didn't mention what they were because I was worried that I wouldn't get them in time. BUT...I got them in this week and am so excited!

SO, the pretty is a stainless steel Indivisible keyring. The front is etched with the book title and the back has Omnific Publications info. They are so nice! I love it! Along with the key ring, you will also get a snazzy Indivisible bookmark all in a nice little package.

Remember there are two ways to win one a copy of Indivisible and the keyring - comment here on my blog AND register at Goodreads (LOOK! There's a handy dandy little button to do it right now).

In addition to the giveaway winners, the first 50 print copies purchased from Omnific Publishing will also get the pretty with their book! So remember on January 25 to go to Omnific Publishing to order your print copy of Indivisible to get your own pretty.

Meet an Author Monday

2011-01-17T08:50:00.001-08:00

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

And, we are starting a new feature on our blog hop...the last Monday of every month we will all have a single topic that we discuss. We are kicking it off this month with a fun topic - Where do you write? We will talk about our process and where we write, and hopefully a few will even post a few pix!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Do They Have Match.com for Critique Partners?

2011-01-17T06:08:00.000-08:00

Now that Indivisible is done, and edited and ready to go next week, it occurred to me that now I have to start working on the next book in the series! I have no idea of where to even start...

I mean I know what the next story will be, and I have the whole plot laid out in my head, with tiny clips of scenes scribbled in a notebook, but I don't know how to get myself to actually sit down and start writing a book again. I started writing Indivisible over 2 years ago. When I started writing it, I had two people who I trusted to tell me the truth about my writing reading everything that I wrote. Now, they have busy lives and we don't talk much, so I can't ask them.

I'm a deadline kind of person. In everything in life, I do so much better when I have someone that I'm accountable to and a time that a project needs to be completed by. This is for everything from cleaning my house to planning a party. I do my best work under pressure. I can clean the entire house quicker and better when I know that my in-laws will be arriving in 3 hours than I can when I have all day while the kids are at school. And it seems that my writing works the same way.

So, I decided that February 1st is my deadline to actually sit down and start writing. My kids go back to school tomorrow (YAY!!) and that should give me enough time to get all the stuff done I haven't since before Christmas, and set up my office (on a side note - don't forget on the 31st of this month the TEAM TOPIC will be where we write! I'll be showing some pictures of my NEW office!).

Besides getting my house in order, I decided that I needed to find someone to kick my butt and call me out when I'm slacking. I emailed the group of authors at Omnific, that are like a small family to me, and asked if there was anyone who would volunteer for the job. Immediately I got responses from pretty much every one of the authors offering to help (I suspect that part of that is the opportunity to kick my butt!!) I am so lucky to have a pool of people that I can go to for this kind of help.

That got me thinking, and I wanted to know what all of them did for motivation and feed back and how their process worked. Most of them are in the middle of their second or, in some cases, third books so I knew that they had to have overcome this problem that I was having. The answers that I got back made me realize that I wasn't alone in needing the feedback to keep me motivated.

Author of Life, Liberty and Pursuit, Susan Kaye Quinn said, "My critique process has evolved over time. When I’m doing a rough draft, I have a critique group that I will send my chapters to (once a week on our submission day). They give great feedback and encouragement about the direction of the story and whether things are making sense. When I finish a rough draft, I’ll go back and do another draft, fixing things, resculpting, and including everyone’s feedback. Then I’ll send out that second draft to a couple critique partners who will read the entire MS and give me feedback on story, motivations, anything and everything. Then I’ll revise again, and send out to another set of critique partners. Rinse, repeat, as many times as necessary, until I’m satisfied the thing is ready to go!"

Jennifer DeLucy, author of The Light Series confirmed the need for honesty in a critique partner. "Now, for book three, I have a more formal critique person that I send an updated copy of the manuscript to every so often. She is very familiar with the first two books so she makes notes about plot questions and possible issues and stuff she thinks the readers would want more of, etc. It's a really good thing! And to think, it hasn't even gone through editing yet! lol. I really like the idea of a trusted critique partner, but I think it would need to be someone who would 1. care about the book/books that came prior and 2. be truly honest with me."

Other responses that I received, indicated that there really isn't a formal process for people, or even a particular time that they send their work to their critique group or partner. Nicki Elson commented that rather than going chapter by chapter, she has large segments finished before sending them to her critique partner. And both Carol Oates told me that since she tends to write out of order (which I'm going to have to explore in further detail, because that boggles my mind!! HAHA!!) it is hard to work on a one for one basis, but that she uses trusted people to help her along the way.

While everyone has a different method, from group critique to quid pro quo, it seems that having that HONEST feedback from people that you trust serves not only to hold the author to some sort of schedule (one thing that Jennifer Lane , like myself likes about using a critique group), but also it helps them to work the story into the best version possible.

So, now that I have several people to choose from, I may actually be able to get started on Jaylon and Zoe's story...oops! Did I say too much?

PS - don't forget to comment to be entered in the drawing for signed copy of Indivisible (and some extras too!) then click on the little button up top and get in on the Goodreads drawing too!!

Friday Extra

2011-01-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!

Did you all notice my nice little button above? Now you have more chances to win copies of Indivisible. I'm giving away two copies on Goodreads. So, if you leave a comment here, you have a chance to win a copy (that one will be done on Jan. 24, 2011) and then click the button and enter on Goodreads to win also!

Since it's Friday, and I'm in a good mood because my kids go back to school on Monday...I thought that I would give out the final excerpt from Indivisible as a little treat.

This was the second one that I posted at Coffee Time Romance, so if you didn't get over there to check it out, you're in luck!

This one is a peek inside Gideon's head.

As soon as they were airborne, Walker unstrapped, and as he was getting up, he looked directly in Gideon’s eyes. His head jerked toward the rear of the aircraft where huge crates of equipment were stacked. Gideon knew immediately what he wanted. It was time to pay for yesterday’s distraction with a little piece of his ass. But when he conjured up the image of Charlie in that pink number, he decided it was more than worth the verbal ass-kicking he was about to take.

Reluctantly, Gideon unhooked his straps and got up to follow. Glancing over at the other members of the team, he was suddenly in a hurry. At least three of the new guys were turning an alarming shade of green. Walking to the rear of the plane and laughing to himself about the newbies, Gideon remembered his first time, and he cringed at what was to come. Fortunately, the noise inside the plane was loud enough that he wouldn’t have to hear the rounds of retching that were sure to be coming soon. And as a bonus, the others wouldn’t hear the dressing-down he was about to get.
Gideon stepped around a crate to face his waiting team leader.

“Lieutenant.” Gideon addressed him formally with a salute, trying to redeem himself.

“Cut the crap, Coop.” The set of Walker’s jaw was hard, but there was a twinkle in his eye. “You know I have to get on you for the little stunt yesterday.”

“Yeah, I was kinda expecting it.” Gideon held his superior’s gaze, letting him know he’d accept whatever was due him.

“Look, I get it. First long deployment since you tied the knot. Been there.” Gideon nodded and waited for him to continue. “Now I got a kid—a kid, Cooper.”

Gideon instantly pictured Charlie, her belly huge with his baby. Just the thought had his blood rushing south, only to do an about face when he then imagined having to say good-bye to Charlie with a baby in her arms.

“This is it for me. I’m getting out when we get home. So you, my friend, need to get your shit together, ’cause you’re going to be it, man. These guys need to respect you and be able to trust you with their lives. Playing on your phone during a briefing isn’t how to get that done.”

“I’m sorry about that. It will never happen again.” Gideon was truly ashamed, and knowing this was his last mission with a man he liked and respected made him feel even worse. Lieutenant Walker was completely right, Gideon had to grow up.

A clap on the shoulder let Gideon know that was the end of the lecture—not as bad as he’d thought it was going to be.

“So, how’s daddyhood treating you?” Gideon had completely forgotten Walker and his wife had a new baby. Again, he felt his heart clench when he thought of leaving Charlie and his child.

“Good, good. Of course, Ginger does all the work. I get to do the fun shit.” His eyes glazed over for a brief second, and Gideon wondered where his thoughts went. “When I get home, she might be walking. That’s what made me realize I was done. I don’t want to miss any of her other firsts if I can help it.”

He turned and walked away, leaving Gideon alone to contemplate his future for a few moments. He wondered if he could survive a civilian job. Would he be happy knowing someone else was doing this job? Did he trust someone else to do this job?

When Gideon finally returned to his seat, he tried to sleep, but the sounds of the new guys puking were not exactly conducive to that goal. Only after a few hours of letting his mind wander, thinking about the future and what it held for his family, was Gideon able to block out the sounds and drift off.

His dreams were vivid and disturbing. He saw Charlie crying, holding his dog tags in one hand while the other ran circles over her pregnant belly. She fell to her knees, her body trembling. His parents stood in the background. Evelyn was held up by Peter, who had a tear rolling down his cheek. Behind them were Tyson, Chance, and Gabby, all with tears in their eyes. Waking with a start, Gideon’s heart raced, and tears threatened to make him look like a total pussy in front of his team.

GAH! Nothing better than a man who loves his woman this much!

See you Monday for the Meet an Author blog hop - I'm going to be talking about critique partners and their place in an author's process.

It's Contest Time!

2011-01-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!

Before we get to all the fun of giveaways, I want to thank all of you who came to Coffe Time Romance last week and had fun with me as I talked about men in uniform and in particular, Gideon from Indivisible. It was so much fun!

Also, I had a big "Life Happened" moment this weekend - my daughter turned 8 yesterday!

And she had her first sleepover on Friday night (I'm still tired!). I'm just not sure when my daughter actually got so big? The last thing I remember is her as a little chubby baby, and then suddenly she's got an iPod, her friends from school are calling, and she's got a Big Time Rush poster where her Princess one used to be! I'm so not ready for this!

*wipes the tears from cheeks*

Okay, so back to the business at hand...CONTEST!!

I am giving away TWO signed copies of Indivisible along with a few little extras that I have coming! All you have to do is comment from today until Jan. 24th on any on my Indivisible posts.
Notice...it has to be on a post where I talked about Indivisible! So any of the ones where I posted excerpts, or when I talked about my editing process for Indivisible. I will randomly pick TWO people who leave comments to receive signed copies of Indivisible!

And, as a little extra, I will give you one of the excerpts that I posted last week on Coffee Time Romance in case you didn't get over there (though you should because there were some great reading suggestions if you like a man in uniform!).

This is one of my favorite little glimpses into Gideon and Charlie. I truly believe that there is such a thing as love at first sight, and sometimes you just know that it is right. I was engaged to my husband 2 weeks after we started dating, and we're going on 21 years!

I hope you fall in love with these two like I have!

They’d been wrapped around each other, simply talking for several hours. Gideon couldn’t fight the thoughts that played in his head. There was something about the woman in his arms that just fit. She made him feel like he was now the man destiny had scripted him to be.

It was during that quiet time that Gideon’s heart decided to speak without his permission. “I think we should get married,” he blurted.

“What? You want to marry me? Now?” Charlie’s voice was high-pitched, and Gideon could hear the disbelief lacing it.

“You’re right; it was a stupid idea.” Defeated and on the edge of humiliation, Gideon turned to get out of bed, but he felt something stop him and pull him back down. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, sure he’d made an ass out of himself.

Charlie’s lips were on his ear, her tongue darting out to run circles around it. She definitely had Gideon’s attention again.

“Yes.”

It was more of a breath than a word, and Gideon wasn’t sure he’d heard her.

“What?”

“I said ‘yes’. I will marry you.”

Gideon immediately crashed his lips to hers, wanting to hold on to that moment forever. The most beautiful, perfect woman—for God only knew what reason—had just agreed to marry him.

“I know it’s so fast, but when you were telling me about your job, and I thought you didn’t want me, I felt lost. I feel like I belong with you.”

“Okay then.” He stopped, not knowing what to do next. “What should we do now?”

“Well, we could just go to one of those places and have Elvis marry us.”
Charlie was smiling, but Gideon knew no woman dreamed of a wedding performed by a dead icon while wearing two-day-old clothes.

“No. We’re going to have a real wedding. A very quickly put together wedding, but a real one. I love you, Charlie…um, this is awkward, but I don’t know your last name.”

Charlie giggled. “Yeah, I guess we kind of forgot about that. Let me start—Charlotte Esther O’Connor. Very nice to meet you.” Her smile was infectious, and Gideon could tell that although this was moving fast, she was as sure of everything as he was.

“Charlotte Esther? Seriously?”

“My grandmothers’ names. Could have been worse—my brother is Chancellor Mortimer. So all in all, I got off easy.”

“Makes sense, and you do have it better than your brother, I have to say. I guess it’s my turn, huh?”

She nodded, her eyes never leaving his.

“Okay. Nice to meet you, Charlotte Esther O’Connor, or should I say, the future Mrs. Gideon Isaac Cooper?”

“Gideon Isaac? So, wait…your initials are G I and you’re a Navy SEAL?” Charlie began to laugh.

“What? I must be missing something here.” Gideon tried to figure what was so funny. He knew his name was a little unusual, but nothing like Mortimer.

“Oh, I can’t believe you’ve never seen this…G I.” She paused and gave Gideon a hard stare, willing him to understand the reason behind her fit of giggles. “G.I. Joe? You know—gung-ho Army guy? Barbie’s much cooler and more masculine boy toy? Well, at least in my world he was. I used to steal Chance’s G.I. Joe and make him go on dates with Barbie. You are totally my G.I. Joe… Yeah, my Joe.”

“I think I like being your anything.” Gideon leaned in and gave her a passion-filled kiss, staking his claim to the beautiful woman in bed next to him. The fact that she was totally naked didn’t go unnoticed as he began to think about branding her even more thoroughly as his.

“Charlotte Cooper? Charlie Cooper? Mrs. Cooper? I could get used to that,” she suddenly said as she pulled away from his kiss to look him in the eye. Her gorgeous green eyes were glazed over slightly with pure love, and he couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.

“So could I.” Gideon didn’t think he could possibly be happier…

Don't forget to leave a comment to get in on the chance to win a copy of Indivisible when it is released on January 25th!

Meet an Author Monday

2011-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

And, we are starting a new feature on our blog hop...the last Monday of every month we will all have a single topic that we discuss. We are kicking it off this month with a fun topic - Where do you write? We will talk about our process and where we write, and hopefully a few will even post a few pix!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Winners!

2011-01-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

First, I want to thank all of you who came over to Coffee Time Romance's Book Brew event yesterday. I had such a great time talking with those who left comments.

As I said in my post yesterday, I am giving away two signed copies of Indivisible and a little bit of pretty to go with it too! I used randomizer.com today to pick the winners from those that left comments. And the winners are....

Carol Oates and Robin!

I hope you both will enjoy Indivisible, and I will get it to you as soon as I can get my hands on a copy!!

If you didn't win, don't worry, I'm working on a few other giveaways that I will announce next Monday!

Thank you all!

2011-01-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Okay, it's a quick post today...just long enough to pop in and tell you to click the picture above so you can come and chat with me on Coffee Time Romance's "Uniforms that Protect Us" Book Brew event.

I will be posting some new excerpts, answering questions, oh yeah AND giving away two signed copies of Indivisible (along with some really nice extras - they're a surprise!). So click on the link above and come get in on all the fun!

And, I almost forgot...the release date and cover were announced this weekend! You can get your copy of Indivisible on January 25, 2011! It will me available on Amazon as well as at Omnific Publishing

Come back next week, for more giveaway announcements! I'm so excited!

Meet an Author Monday

2011-01-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

Meet an Author Monday

2010-12-27T04:46:00.001-08:00

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Don't forget to check out my post for the day too!! Exciting Indivisible announcement in my post today!!

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Annoncement and House Cleaning

2010-12-27T03:18:00.000-08:00

So, the announcement portion of my post today...I'm participating in Coffee Time Romance's Book Brew with the Coffee Crew "Uniforms that Protect Us" Blog event on Monday Jan. 3rd! I'm super excited about this and being able to share some more of Indivisible with you all. I will be giving a few excerpts out, answering questions about the book (ones that I can anyway), and *fingers crossed* revealing my AMAZING cover! AND...the best part, I'm going to be doing two giveaways of signed copies of Indivisible from the blog event. You have to come and post a comment, and then I will randomly draw names from those who posted a comment or a question.

I hope that you all will come over next week and find out a little bit more about Charlie and Gideon, and maybe get a surprise or two! Here's the link to the Book Brew portion, but check out the whole site because they have great reviews, giveaways, tons of authors...the list just goes on and on.

On to housekeeping, literally. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas (if you celebrate - if not then hope you had a great weekend!). My house is buried somewhere under piles and piles of toys, but my kids are happy, and there is nothing better
than when your little one looks at you and says, "This was the best Christmas ever."

And as you can see...I will be busy for several days trying to corral all of this! So if you don't hear from me for a while, no need to worry, I'm sure that I will be able to dig my way out soon!

Oh, and Santa must read my blog, because I actually got something on my list! I know you are all hoping that it was Kellan in his undies to clean for me, but sadly that wasn't the one. I was really hoping for that one. Indivisible is with the final editor, and all the MAJOR hurddles have been overcome (hoping I don't jinx myself). Maybe next year I'll get number one on my list, but I'm so happy with what I did get!

I hope to see you all next week over at Coffee Time Romance!

Meet an Author Monday

2010-12-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

YAY!! It's time for the wonderful blog hop started by author Lisa Sanchez

Don't forget to check out my post for the day too!!

Here's how it works:

READERS: Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

•Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
•You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
•Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
•The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
•If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Dear Santa

2010-12-20T05:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,

I know that you are pretty busy right now, but I just realized that I didn't get my letter out to you this year (thank heaven for modern technology!)

I'm pretty sure that I'm on the "Nice List" this year. Yeah, there are a few incidents that could have me straddling that line, but really, when you line them all up, I believe that my good outweigh my bad...(You only know if I've BEEN good or bad, right? Not if I've had thoughts of being naughty- but the good kind of naughty...wink wink).

So, here is my list of what I would like for Christmas. I'm sure that you can handle them...

First, I would like a clean house. Just as a suggestion (and I will be happy no matter how it gets done, but this way would make me the most happy), could you just leave Kellan Lutz under the tree in his Calvins and a pair of rubber gloves? Because then I would be able to thoroughly enjoy supervising the cleaning. I think that he could be back to his life in a day or two... Though, I'll be honest, I might keep him around to help out before the in-laws come in a few weeks. I would take really good of him, I promise!

I would also like for my kids to behave. Now, I'm not asking for a miracle here. I don't want them to get along and actually listen to me ALL THE TIME. All I want is maybe for like 3 to 5 days that they act like they like each other and don't think that I'm completely incapable of knowing simple facts. Honestly, I have been threatening them with calling you for like 3 months already, but they don't seem to be all that worried because every year you still leave them what they asked for under the tree...you're kind of undermining my authority here, Santa, and I think you owe me this one. I know they seemed all cute and good when they sat on your lap, but trust me...I have worked hard to keep that illusion up in public!

Oh, and the thing that I want more than anything...could you finish up my editing of Indivisible? Between the cleaning I have to do, and trying to pry my kids off of each other over the next month (yes, we are year round school and they don't go back until Jan. 18th) because I've asked for my first two items every year for the past 7 years and got nothing - I can ony assume that you really do know when I've been good and bad - I'm having a hard time squeezing in actually working.

So, Santa, here is the choice...give me the first two, or the last one...your choice. And remember, I control the cookie baking in this house. That's all I'm going to say about that!

Sincerly,
JM

PS - I make a mean Snickers filled cookie just so you know!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Meet an Author Monday

2010-12-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

Another Sneak Peek

2010-12-13T06:50:00.000-08:00

Last week a few of you noticed that I spiffied up my blog. So, I thought that today would be a great day to explain the reason behind it.

My new book is due for release next month, and this theme sets off the idea behind the book perfectly! I have ALWAYS had a thing for a guy in uniform (hubs was in the Navy when I started dating him), and for the past 15 years I have lived in military communities. In fact it was talking to a friend who's husband was deployed for 6 months and I thought about what she was going through...and INDIVISIBLE was born.

Indivisible is the story of Gideon and Charlie Cooper, a young couple trying to survive when life around them is changing...daily. Over the next few weeks, I will be giving you some bits and pieces - and here is one of those little bits for you.

As soon as the door to their hotel room closed, Gideon’s hands had been all over Charlie—sliding up her thighs and under her skirt, slowly undoing each button of the blouse she was wearing. He stood back and admired her after removing each article of clothing. The look in his eyes was more than desire or want; he was in awe of Charlie.

“God, Charlie. I’ve never seen anything so perfect,” he’d cooed, his thumb stroking the sensitive skin under her ear. Charlie melted into him.

The pair never left the room that day, and Charlie hadn’t cared in the least. As night fell and the lights of Las Vegas began to shine, Gideon rolled over onto his side. Charlie blushed, feeling his gaze settling on her.

“Charlie,” his voice was quiet, reverent.

“Mmm?” She closed her eyes, reveling in the way her name fell from his lips.

“I need to ask you a question.”

“What, Gideon? You can ask anything.” As if it had its own objective, Charlie’s hand moved to run over his huge bicep, coming to rest on the intricate black tattoo of a trident etched there. Charlie loved the tattoo and had found herself tracing the lines of it over the last few hours as they had talked.

“You know I love my job, right? I told you that serving my country is the greatest thing I could ever think of doing with my life.”

Charlie nodded. On the drive, Gideon had told Charlie that after he’d graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering, he’d joined the Navy. He felt his skill could serve the country, and he wanted to have a real purpose in his life.

“Yeah, Gideon. It’s one of the things I adore about you.”

“There’s something I didn’t tell you about my job.” He paused, looking at her. Charlie smiled to encourage him to continue. “I’m not just in the Navy; I’m with a special operations unit. I’m a SEAL.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, at least the tattoo of a seal on your perfect tush makes sense now.” The meaning behind his confession and his need to tell her at that moment completely escaped Charlie.

“I’m a Navy SEAL, Charlie. Do you know what that means?”

Charlie realized apparently she didn’t because she obviously was supposed to react differently than she had.

As she shook her head, tears began to well at the corners of her eyes, and she wasn’t sure why. The only thing Charlie could think of was that he was trying to scare her off. She’d been stupid enough to think they had some connection. Suddenly she felt very foolish and very naked.

Charlie pulled the sheet up to cover her exposed body, and Gideon pulled his brow together in question. There was no way she was going to make this easy for him, and there was no way she was going to cry. At least, that was the plan.

With what she hoped was an aloof look, Charlie stared at Gideon, waiting. She could tell he was debating what, and how much, to tell her. To her surprise, he slid his arm around her waist, pulling her into him. It occurred to Charlie that the man didn’t want to look in her eyes as he told her whatever it was he was going to say.

“Charlie, my job is dangerous. I can be called out at any time to leave for extended periods. I go into war zones, and no one knows where I am. I go to places where people get shot at. It’s dangerous…all the time.”

“Ah.” So he was trying to scare her off. “Hey, listen, you don’t owe me anything.” Charlie tried to pull away from him, but he held on tight.

“Damn it, Charlie! I’m not telling you this to get rid of you.” He loosened his grip so he could pull back and look at her.

The tears had started to fall, against her stern demand that they not betray her, and Charlie wanted nothing more than to get out of that room.

Gideon moved a hand up to her chin and tilted her head back, looking into her eyes. He held Charlie there, not with his strength, but with something else she couldn’t put a name to.

“I’m telling you this because even though it’s insane and we just met, I know I want you in my life…”

Meet an Author Monday

2010-12-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas Books for Kids?

2010-12-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

I just finished setting up the house for Christmas (though one of the blinkie reindeer in the front yard is listing...) and one of my favorite things is pulling out the kids' Christmas books. The box is SUPER heavy and I make my husband carry it up and down from the basement (I do all the other decorating, so he can carry the boxes!)

So tonight, we will put aside Pipi Longstocking (we read with our kids every night - I want them to love reading as much as I do) and start reading a Christmas book or two from now until the end of the year. It is my favorite time of the year!

I thought that today I would share with you some of my favorites in our library. I know that they are "kids" books, but trust me when I say I get as much joy out of these as my kids do!

First, let me say that we have stocked in our library all the staples like Frosty (which we sing the song at the end), The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Rudolph. The ones that I'm recommending are some of the more unusual books we have found.

1. Are You Grumpy Santa? by Gregg & Evan Spiridellis - This is by far my favorite of all our Christmas books and will get read at least every third night. Poor Santa just has one of those days where EVERYTHING is going wrong...unfortunately, it is the one day that Santa has things to do. My kids love the building up of everything from Santa stubbing his toe to Mrs. Claus putting him on a diet and I love the rhyme and ryhthm of the story and the beautiful illustrations. Everyone's favorite part is when Santa finally admits, "I'M A GRUMPY SANTA CLAUS!" We all yell it at the top of our lungs. (PS - I just looked on Amazon and they have another book called The Longest Christmas List Ever)

2. Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight by Jerry Pallotta and David Biedrzycki - This one is so much fun as Santa needs help delivering presents, and tries all variety of animals to pull his sleigh. From tigers who try to eat him to dolphins who take him for a swim, Santa endures a lot of stress until he finds the perfect animal to pull his sliegh. Great illustarations and the image of things like snakes pulling the sliegh, have my kids giggling through the whole story. (PS - this one also has another follow up called Who Will Help Santa This Year)

3. How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky and S.D. Schindler - Another one I absolutely love as a parent. It answers all those questions kids have about how Santa can do things. Young Santa Claus is looking for a job, but each one doesn't work out. In his search for his perfect job, he cleans chimneys, delivers packages, takes care of reindeer at the zoo...you can see where this is going. A fun read that leaves my kids nodding their heads in understanding. (PS - Guess what!! This one also has another follow up called How Santa Lost His Job.)

Okay...this blog post is costing me money as add all of these books to my Christmas library!!

4. Olivia helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer - How can you go wrong with Olivia? And Olivia at Christmas is as much fun as you would expect from this percoscious little pig. My kids favorite part is actually after Santa comes and everyone opens their gifts...they get to say the word "maracas" and think that is the funniest word ever!

5. Finally, I'll share our Christmas Eve books. We first read a version of Clement C Moore's The Night Before Christmas and then we read about the The Christmas Story and the birt of Jesus. For us, that is the perfect way to end all the hype of the holiday and settle the kids in before everything quiet about the holiday goes flying out the window the next morning!

I have two new books (besides the three that I just ordered from Amazon!) that I plan to get this year; Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas and It's Christmas David! These are two staples in my house as I have a "Fancy Nancy" and a "David"...

And I almost forgot...If you are looking for some good grown-up or YA reads to give as gifts, Omnific Publishing is having a great sale! If you buy the print copy of a book to give as a gift, you get a free ebook of it (I would TOTALLY keep that one for myslef!!).

Meet an Author Monday

2010-11-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

Let's Play a Game!

2010-11-29T06:07:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

Hope everyone had a great holiday (if you live in the US!)! I got to spend a total of 14 hours in a car with two 7 year olds and my husband while we drove to the in-law's for Thanksgiving.

I know what you are thinking...Wow! How lucky can one girl get? Normally I would scoff at that and roll my eyes, but not this time!

I have posted before about how much I love my Kindle...but after this trip I want to marry the thing and ensure that I won't have to be seperated from it ever! I have tried to read while in the car before, and I'll spare you the details of how that usually works out for me... With my Kindle, however, I didn't have the normal queasy feeling as I read. (I'm sure that there is some scientific reason for this, but I think it is because there is only one thing to focus on instead of two pages, and the Kindle is light enough that it isn't moving around constantly as I read- but I'm no scientist)

I was able to read for most of the trip, and because I converted some things that I'm working on to download on my Kindle, I was able to actually work while iCarly and SpongeBob played in the back seat and hubs complained about the other drivers. I was in my own little literary world and ignoring all of them!!

So, I thought that I would play a little game today in honor of my engagement to my Kindle. Let's play "What's on Your Kindle" (of course any ereader will do...Nook, Sony, iPad...). I'll start -

1. Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy - I read this YEARS ago when I was a junior in high school (my English teacher was a little unorthadox). I came across something in my freelance work that made me want to read it again. Oh! And this one was FREE!!

2. Crave: A Novel of the Fallen Angels by JR Ward - This is the second in the series (The first is Covet). I am a HUGE JR Ward fan, and while I do like these books - and the hero in this one Isaac is SOOOO my type - I'm still a BDB girl at heart and will count down the days until I can download Payne's book next year!

3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - Hubs and I watched the movie of this a while back and I really liked it. My father in-law has read them all and lovd them, so I wanted to read them...I'm only 5% done with it and I downloaded it about 2 months ago. After seeing the movie, it's hard to get into all the tiny details laid out in the book. I still want to read it, and will force myself so I can move on to the next two books.

4/5. Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Game Series) and Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Game Series) by Suzanne Collins - I know you are wondering...well what about Hunger Games?? I have that in hard copy. It sat on my bookshelf for over a year and then I heard everyone talking about it and read it. When I finished at 2 in the morning...no waiting for the bookstore to open - I immediately downloaded the second one! That's the beauty of the Kindle...(I did the same thing with Mockingjay, but we were at the waterpark)

6. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - I'll admit I just downloaded this one because it was free and I thought if I was desperate one day that I might read it. I haven't yet.

7. Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Book by Charlaine Harris - This was the first book I bought for my Kindle. I loved it because it had just come out and was in hardback - I have the entire collection in paperback and these hardback releases are really messing with the aesthtic of my bookshelf. So I was able to buy and read it immediately, and then when it comes out in paperback I'll buy it and add it to my collection.

8. I have two word games that I downloaded and haven't had time to really play yet.

9. I have a "secret" file that is titled "MINE" - Okay, confession time here...this is where I keep my "grown up" booklets. Kindle has a host of free downloads, and there is some interesting erotica that you can find there. I have a few of those that I read...for research...yeah, that's it!

10. I have a file that is all Omnific books. I am a little biased I know, when it comes to Omnific, but I want to have them all in some form, and while I own most of them in hard copy, I have them on my Kindle too! I have titles from Boycotts & Barflies and With Good Behavior, to Three Daves and Seers of Light (which have both been reviewed on my blog!). I need to download a few more to keep up!! Looking forward to Whispers of Light and finding out how poor Christian gets along!

11. Finally I have various documents that I have converted to download on the Kindle so that I can work while I'm away from home.

SO...now it's your turn. Tell me what you have on your e-reader!

Meet an Author Monday

2010-11-22T05:59:00.000-08:00

Sneaky Peeky

2010-11-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

As promised - I had to bat my eyes and promise some favors - here is a little sneak peek at my new novel that will be coming out in the new year.

The story is about Gideon and Charlotte (but don't call her Charlotte...she only answers to Charlie) Cooper, a young couple celebrating their first anniversary. Gideon has news that is going to change both of their lives, and the lives of those around them, in so many ways...

****************************

Charlie had been out with friends that Thursday night, celebrating making it through a particularly brutal week of classes. It was the beginning of her junior year at San Diego State University, where she was studying to be a teacher, and this year’s workload seemed to have doubled that of the previous two.

Charlie was only five feet five inches tall, but her confident personality made her seem so much bigger. Her long strawberry blond hair, sparkling green eyes, and full lips made her the envy of many women and an object of attraction for most men. Usually, Charlie spent the nights at clubs trying to keep all the pervs and their hands off of her, but when she saw the gorgeous muscled man across the bar, he didn’t look like he was mentally undressing her, he looked like he was…caressing her, with just his eyes. Charlie flashed a small smile before turning away. She hoped it would encourage him to come over because she’d never approach a man out at the clubs; she wasn’t going to meet her future husband partying in a bar.

The next time Charlie looked up to continue flirting with the blond-haired, dimple-cheeked god on the other side of the club, he’d disappeared. She glanced around trying to locate him and cursed herself for being so stubborn and cautious. Her heart broke just a little, and she didn’t even know the guy’s name. He was gone, and there was very little chance she’d ever find him again. It was San Diego for Christ’s sake—not only was there the entire SDSU student body, but University of California, San Diego, and University of San Diego, not to mention all the community colleges, and then throw in the military bases. Charlie was sure she’d never find him again.

“Hey.” A deep voice that sounded like sex came from over her shoulder. It was him.

Slowly turning around, Charlie tried not to let her nervousness show. “Hey.”

When he smiled at her, Charlie could’ve sworn her heart actually stopped beating for a fraction of a second. The dimples in his cheeks were mouthwatering, and she wanted to kiss them right then…so she did.

“Well, um, that was…nice.” He was still smiling. “I’m Gideon, by the way.”

Suddenly, he was kissing her. His kiss was deep and long, his tongue exploring every inch of Charlie’s mouth. She knew she should be fighting off this total stranger, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she gave up and went with it, battling his tongue for dominance and tasting his wonderful flavors. He must have been drinking Jack and Coke, because Charlie could taste the sting of the whiskey and the sweetness of the soda.

“I’m Charlie, just so you know,” she managed to squeak out once they broke for air.

“Hi, Charlie. Nice to meet you.” Those dimples made an appearance again. This time Charlie was more bold and let her tongue slide out from between her lips to run over those small, perfect indentations. Behind her, Charlie’s friends gasped at her completely uncharacteristic aggressiveness, but she didn’t care. At that moment, she was more sure of Gideon than she’d ever been of anything in her life

********************************

Just a tiny taste, but I'll have more over the next couple of months.

Meet an Author Monday

2010-11-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

Life REALLY Happened...

2010-11-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Howdy!!

I don't really have a post today...SORRY!! I just wanted to make sure that you all knew I haven't forgotten about you.

I am knee deep in editing right now! On top of that, my son had a birthday party on Friday (next Sunday I will have two 7 year olds!!), then Saturday we had my daughter's basketball (she scored her first basket!!) and my son's wrestling tournament (he came in second!). THEN joy of joys on Saturday night my husband ended up taking the little man to the doctor at 9pm for STREP!! And then this morning that email bug that has been going around burrowed into my email and sent out emails to people in my address book! Fortunately it isn't one I use often, and I only had to warn a handful of people...

Oh, and top that off with some freelance work that I am doing, and well...life definitely happened for me over the last week, and I just didn't have time to put together a fabulous post today! HAHA!!

To make up for having to hear about my crazy life instead of something interesting, I'm going to check with my editors (waves to her favorite editor!!) and see if next week I can get a good little excerpt from my new book.

Happy Monday!!

Meet an Author Monday

2010-11-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

Passion Fish Out Takes

2010-11-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

As promised...here are three out takes from my first published novel, Passion Fish. I wrote this book with my good friend Alison Oburia. Two peopl writing a book is a challenge!! What we found worked best for us was we each worked with characters that spoke to us.

While the main story of Passion Fish is Will and Eve's, I loved Gage and Skye! As we wrote, the two story lines emerged, and the work was easily divided. When it was time for publishing, however, we both had to cut some things out (otherwise the book would have been like 800 pages!)

So, here are three of my favorite scenes that we cut out of the published version...

WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING

There are some adult situations in the following out takes. But, it's all what I call "sweet smut" - none of the really bad words, and very vauge terms.

Out Take #1 – Beau’s Penance
This is a little look at Beau and Josie right before the dinner party at Thomas and Noelle's.

As they walked into her apartment, Beau knew Josie was still furious with him. It was almost four, and they would have to start getting ready for dinner at Thomas and Noelle’s soon, but he had an idea to put a smile back on Josie’s beautiful face. It was, after all, his fault she’d been in such a foul mood all day.

The previous night at Stratus, Beau had seen the sparkle in Josie’s eyes when Eve made mention of Gage and Skye having “pirate night.” She’d been trying to get him to “play” with her for ages, and it was the one thing Beau couldn’t do for her. His first mistake had been refusing her again last night.

Normally he complied with every request his personal angel made. But when he made love to Josie, it was one of the most deeply felt experiences he’d ever had, and he didn’t want to belittle the act by wearing costumes. He loved Josie, and when they were in bed together, he did everything to make sure she knew that. To Beau, dressing up would cheapen what the couple had, and he would never do that to her.
So, she’d already been pouting that morning, not used to Beau denying her anything, and then for mistake number two he’d sort of tricked her into spending the day at a rare coin show. He’d asked her if she wanted to go shopping with him. It wasn’t really a lie; he was shopping for new merchandise for his company. Beau hated being away from her, and even though he was sure she’d never want to spend a Saturday looking at coins, he was selfish and deceived her anyway.

Josie turned to Beau, and he could feel the anger and disappointment she was preparing to unleash on him. Quickly he decided to set his plan in motion before she killed him, or worse…left him.

“Josie, before you start what I know is a well-deserved tirade, can I ask one thing?”
She scowled.

That wasn’t a good sign. In fact, Beau was a little concerned that she hadn’t spoken in more than two hours. Other than a few grunts in his direction, she’d barely said a word once they’d arrived at the coin show. He hadn’t thought it was possible for her to remain silent for so long. And he was fearful of the explosion that was sure to be coming. His genius plan was to point it in another direction.

“Okay. If you don’t want to answer, will you just nod at least?” Beau bent down to look her right in the eyes, and she gave a slight nod. “I just need you to stay here for one minute. Please.”

She nodded and walked over to sit on the couch, the scowl still in place.

I will NEVER do anything to cause her to look like that again, Beau vowed as he went into her bedroom and closed the door behind him. Though they’d only been together a short time, they had no secrets, so he knew just where to find what he needed.

Beau stripped down, and the plan was underway.

“Josie, my love, I need your help.”

Beau stood, leaning against the bathroom door jamb in his best “sexy pose.” As Josie entered the bedroom, he tipped the cowboy hat back on his head. She stopped in her tracks and, for the first time all day, Beau saw the smile that lit up his world.

“Well, howdy, ma’am.” He did his best southern drawl for her.

It was no secret that ever since they’d first talked about his life and where he grew up, Josie had wanted to see Beau as a cowboy. It really was quite funny, because his hometown, Austin, Texas, was as far from a “cowboy town,” as it could get, but this is what she wanted. And since he’d vowed to never deny her again, Beau complied.

“Oh, Beau!” she squealed and threw herself into his arms.

Eagerly wrapping his arms around her tiny frame, Beau lifted Josie to meet his mouth. She always tasted so good. As he kissed her more deeply, her arms circled his neck and found their way into his hair. While his tongue explored her mouth, Beau carried her over to the bed. Only after setting Josie down did he allow their lips to separate.

“Now, little darlin’, I need you to sit right here for just one moment.”
Josie sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes dancing over Beau’s body. He could tell she was pleased with his apology.

Turning around to allow her the view of his naked rear peeking through the chapshe’d put on just for her, Beau flexed his muscles, causing each cheek to bounce in turn. Josie clapped wildly and wriggled excitedly on the edge of the bed. When he faced her again, he knew she’d forgiven him.

Josie leaned back on her elbows and scanned Beau’s nearly naked body. Only two pieces of suede covered his legs. Beau’s pleasure at her obvious approval was quickly evident, and he needed her to touch him. As he took a step toward her, she sat up and reached for him. Each time Beau felt her perfect hands holding him, it was intoxicating.

Her skilful caresses brought him right to the brink of ecstasy, but he wouldn’t allow himself to succumb to only what he wanted at that time.
Beau stepped back. While he was all but naked, she was still fully dressed—and that would never do.

Reaching out, he took her hand and gently pulled her into his arms. Gently, Beau lifted her blouse over her head, kissing her deeply when she was free from the offending article of clothing. He moved from her mouth down to the sensitive skin between her breasts as he allowed his hands to slide up her back and quickly release the clasp of her bra. He took one of her hardened peaks into his mouth as the thin fabric fell to the floor.

Beau heard her moan his name, and just the sound of her voice, husky with lust for him, almost brought him to climax.

Good Lord, this woman has the ultimate control over me. All of me.

Beau let his hands wander over Josie’s body, finally coming to rest at the waistband of her pants. He moved along her skin there and felt the muscles contract beneath his touch. Once he found the button and zipper, he let her pants pool at her feet. Picking her up and out of the pants, Beau placed her on the bed once again. His hands roamed Josie’s beautiful body, finally making their way to her lace panties. Slowly Beau lowered them, kneeling between her legs as he removed them completely.

Again Josie said Beau’s name, pleading with him to bring her the pleasure she desired. Keeping his promise never to disappoint her again, Beau slid his hands back up her legs, his tongue following. He left a trail of kisses along her inner thigh, causing her to gasp and fall back on the bed. When his tongue finally reached its destination, her hands flew to his hair and held him there. After bringing her to the edge of her own climax, he began to move back up her body.

“Beau,” Josie gasped. “Take those damn chaps off. They’re way too cumbersome. I promise never to ask you to wear them again.”

He quickly obeyed her command and rid himself of the ridiculous costume, pleased that he’d never have to be “cowboy Beau” again. As he moved back between her legs, she wrapped them around him and allowed him entry. Passion overtook the pair, and they began to move together, their perfect union coming to an end only when both were spent.

“I love you more than anything in this universe, Josie,” Beau whispered in her ear as he rolled over and pulled her to him.

“And I love you too, Beau.”

They laid together for what seemed like hours, and Beau would have been happy to there stay forever, but when he looked at the clock on the nightstand, he knew they had to get up and start getting ready to spend the evening with their friends.

“Josie, it’s five thirty.” Beau nibbled her ear and then continued. “I think we need to get going so we aren’t late for Noelle and Thomas’ dinner.”

“You’re right—let’s get in the shower.” With that, Beau’s angel hopped out of bed and danced into the bathroom.

It wasn’t until he heard the water running that he realized she’d said “let’s.”

Yee Haw! So what if we’re a little late?

Out Take #2 – Going Up
This one is actually mostly in the book, but there is a little bit at the end that got edited out. It was one of my favorite lines, but Gage and Skye were already the only ones getting any, so I decided to leave it out...but here it is;

“You have got to be kidding me, Will. The Cubs won’t even see the playoffs, let alone the series,” Skye called out.

That was it for Gage. A hot, smart, sexy woman who knows sports? Holy Crap! He’d hit the jackpot.

“Okay, everyone, we’re going to call it a night.” Gage had done his part and entertained their friends for a few hours, but the fact that Skye was into sports—he had to have her now.

Grabbing Skye’s hand, Gage slid her out of the booth. After saying goodnight to everyone, he steered her to the door. Gage knew he needed to get Skye somewhere private before he stopped caring who witnessed the things he was planning on doing to her.

Once in the car, with Skye, the responsible one, in the driver’s seat, Gage turned to her with a look of hunger and want—but also a question.

“So, you follow baseball?”

“Ummm…yeah. I told you that on our first date, remember? I’m a Giants fan? I was raised by my two older brothers. They liked their sports, and so I did by default.”

“I remember you said that, but I didn’t think you were actually a baseball fan.”

“Well, I am.” She sounded pissed. That was not at all what Gage had been going for.

He needed to save himself—quickly. He had to let her know what he thought about this little piece of new information she had just given him.

“Skye, I’m sorry. This isn’t coming out right. I just meant that…uhhh…damn!”

“What, Gage? Just spit it out, for God’s sake.”

“So?”

Skye still looked pretty icy, and Gage didn’t know how to put into words how badly he wanted her at that moment.

“It’s just that the fact that you like baseball…that is so hot, Skye.”

A huge smile broke across her lips as the car pulled into the garage. Gage was glad she was enjoying the situation, because his obvious enjoyment was making things difficult for him.

Skye parked the car in Gage’s space and got out, waiting for him at the back of the car. When he joined her, Skye’s eyes traveled down to the bulge that had once again appeared in Gage’s pants. A wicked smile played on her lips, and he knew he was in for a spectacular night.

The couple made their way to the elevator, neither talking at all.

Once in the elevator, which fortunately was empty, Skye turned to face Gage. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back against the wall. Gage didn’t think he was going to make it to the apartment, and the fact that Skye was taking control? All he could do was comply.

Gage rested his hands on her hips, his thumbs caressed the sliver of skin just above the waistband of her low-rise jeans. Skye slid her hands up into his hair, planting a brief kiss on his chest before working her way upward.

Skye stood on her tiptoes to reach Gage’s ear, and her body pressed against his. Gage held her tightly against him, trying to make sure she didn’t move against his hardness, which would cause him to completely lose it.

When Skye’s lips finally reached their destination, and Gage thought he couldn’t take anything more, she whispered in a low, sexy voice, “I’m an even bigger football fan.”

DING!

The elevator doors opened onto Gage’s floor. Skye removed herself from his embrace and turned to walk out. Before stepping off the elevator, she glanced over her shoulder.

“Are you coming?”

“Yeah, that’s the problem.”

Out Take #3 – Popping the Question
This is the full scene of Beau's proposal to Josie. In the book it was only a few lines where Josie described to the rest of the girls how he had done it - this is the proposal.

When Josie woke up to the sun shining into the room, she could tell Beau had something on his mind just from the faraway look in his eyes. He rolled over, pulling her into an embrace, and kissed her forehead.

“Hey, do you think I could steal you away from the girls today?” His breath on Josie’s temple sent instant heat through her body.

“Ummm…sure. Why?” It was Sunday, and Beau knew she had a standing date with Eve, Skye, and Noelle, but they would understand.

“I’d just like you all to myself today. I have some plans for us,” Beau said.
Josie narrowed her eyes. He was up to something.

She tried to call Eve, but when she couldn’t get a hold of her she phoned Skye to tell her she wasn’t going to make it to brunch. Expecting a lecture on responsibility and friendship, she was surprised when Skye just sighed and told her that was okay because she wasn’t feeling up to it anyway.

When she got off the phone, Josie turned to see Beau on his cell. He saw her and quickly made an effort to wrap up the call. That only made Josie even more curious.
“Who was that?” she asked, unable to help herself. When it came to Beau, she was very territorial.

“Just checking on something for later today.” His smile was radiant, and again Josie wondered what he was up to. It was usually so easy for her to predict what Beau would do in any given situation, but all week he’d been hiding something.

The pair spent the rest of the morning in bed with the newspaper and coffee. It was the perfect Sunday morning. He explained to Josie how his business was growing and said he was looking in to changing some things so he wouldn’t have to travel as much. Josie was really happy with that, but his restlessness was weighing in the back of her mind.

As the day passed, Beau became more and more anxious. It was something Josie had never seen, and she began to worry, which only fed his anxiety. Whatever he was planning was going to be big, and Josie wasn’t sure she was ready for it.
Around three o’clock, Beau started laying clothes out on the bed. Josie wandered into the room, and he looked up at her.

“Uhh, Beau? What are you doing, sweetheart?”

“Well, it’s time for us to go, and I thought you might wear this for our evening out.” He gestured to the stunning Camille Townsend black silk dress he had laid on the bed.

“Where are we going?” Josie’s interest was definitely piqued.

“Dinner.” That was Beau’s only reply, and by the set of his mouth, that was all he was going to say.

Once they were dressed, Josie headed toward the door, but the sound of rustling and the opening and closing of cupboards made her stop and turn around. She watched as Beau began to move around the apartment, gathering coats and a few blankets out of the linen closet.

Josie looked over at him, eyebrows raised, about to ask him what the hell he was doing now.

“We might need these later,” he offered before taking her hand to lead her out the door.

As they drove north out of the city, Josie couldn’t imagine where they were going. The fact that Beau was dressed in an incredible suit that made all six feet of his beautiful body even more perfect, and he had insisted she wear his favorite dress, had Josie even more on edge.

When he turned into the parking lot for Butterfly Beach, Josie couldn’t help but question Beau’s eveningwear suggestion. Her strappy heels definitely weren’t going to be good for walking the trails or hitting the beach.

Beau came around and opened the door for Josie. He reached out his hand for hers.
Josie hesitated.

“Do you trust me?” He held her eyes with his own.

“Of course I do.”

“Then come with me.”

Josie took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the car. Then Beau opened the back door and took the coats and blankets out. When an ocean breeze blew in and Josie shuddered, he laid her coat across her shoulders, leaning in and kissing her neck as he did. Josie’s whole body shuddered as his lips touched her skin, and her knees went a little weak. Fortunately, Beau had wrapped his arm around her. He carried the bundle in the other hand and guided her toward the beach.

Suddenly, in front of them was a beautiful white open tent with a small table and two chairs in the middle of it. The sides of the tent were pulled to the corners and secured with ornate golden ropes. An arrangement of what must have been three dozen roses sat in the middle of the table, and candles had been lit on either side of the flowers. There was also an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne chilling beside the table.

“Oh! Beau!” Josie’s hand flew to her mouth at the utter beauty of the setting.

Pulling Josie into the tent, Beau set the blankets on the sand. Stepping away, he pulled out one of the chairs.

“Why don’t you sit? Dinner is about to be served.” Beau glanced over Josie’s shoulder, and she turned to see a server, dressed to the nines in black tie and coat tails, carrying a silver tray across the sand.

The man set the tray down and the most wonderful smells filled the tent. Beau had asked for Josie’s favorite meal: veal parmigiana with four-cheese ravioli. The small side salad was crisp, and the wine was perfectly chilled. Josie wondered in amazement where they could be bringing the food from.

Conversation during the meal was free flowing, and Josie felt like her Beau was back. This had to have been what he was so secretive about, and her entire being flooded with relief. Josie gazed up into Beau’s face and saw his love for her shining in his eyes.

The sun was setting, and the reflection of the orange and pink sky on the glassy water lit up the tent. Beau rose from his chair and walked to Josie. He reached out and took her hand in his. Josie made the motion to get up, but he stopped her. Kissing her lightly on the lips, he sat her back down in the chair and sank to one knee.

Josie gasped.

“Josephine McInnis.” Beau took both of Josie’s hands in his. “You are everything I have ever wanted or needed to make my life perfection. There is nothing more I need to make me whole, and when you aren’t with me, I feel like a piece of me is missing. I ache when I am away from you.”

Tears began to form and push at the corners of Josie’s eyes.

“I love you with everything that I am. I don’t want to let one more sunset pass without knowing that you’ll be my wife and spend the rest of eternity with me.”
The tears began to escape and flowed freely down Josie’s cheeks. Beau removed one of his hands and slipped it into his pocket.

“Josie, will you marry me?”

When Josie looked down, Beau was holding the most exquisite antique diamond ring she’d ever seen between his thumb and index finger. He looked up at her, and Josie’s breath caught at the depth of emotion on his face.

“Yes. Of course I will. I love you, Beau Sanderson, and being your wife is the most precious thing I will ever do with my life.” With that, Josie launched herself from the chair into his arms, which he instantly wrapped around her as the pair tumbled on to the sand…

Now, after the night she’d spent with Beau, Josie was trying to motivate herself to get ready for work. She stopped brushing her teeth—for the third time this morning—as the flash from the ring she now wore on her left hand caught her eye in the mirror. Her engagement ring. Josie let out an audible sigh as Beau came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning in to nibble her ear. Her Beau. Her fiancé.

Glancing back at the reflection in the mirror, Josie realized she’d been smiling since the moment Beau had proposed, and now she couldn’t wait to see her two best friends and share her wonderful news. Beau leaned down and kissed her neck, as he ran his hand over her bare stomach, sliding it down into the waistband of her panties.

Oh, hell, I’m going to be late for work today!

Well...there you go. Hope you liked them.

Meet an Author Monday

2010-11-01T06:41:00.000-07:00