Thursday, October 30, 2014

I'M ASKING DAVID!



I recently became aware of a wonderful site called, AskDavid.  As foreign as this sounds to most of us, this site is a free promotional site dedicated to authors for all your books. 

At first, I was a bit skeptical when I heard this was free.  So many of these sites make the claim, but trying to figure out how to set up the promo . . . well, you get the idea. This site is user-friendly, just like David and his staff. 

All you have to do is fill out a form with the information.  There’s no uploading of your book and all David asks is that you post a link to his site on your blog or website and he links it to where your books are sold.  It’s that simple!  He also appreciates you advertising for him on any social networks.  

That’s a small price to pay for this free advertising. I even noticed a pick-up in sales over the weekend.  It doesn’t get any better than that, my friends.

But don’t just take my word for it—Ask David.  Check it out for yourself at http://askdavid.com/free-book-promotion

And the other good thing is you don’t even have to be an author to find something useful on this site.  It’s loaded with books and their reviews, almost like a one-stop shop kinda place.
Now, I have a favor to ask.  If you’ve read any of my books listed, I would greatly appreciate receiving a review from you posted on this site.  Reviews are one of the nicest things you can do for an author.  

I have a lot more books to add to his site, but here's just a sampling of my titles. Check them out. 



Monday, October 27, 2014

ROMANCING CHRISTMAS- 10 LOVE STORIES TO SPICE UP THE HOLIDAYS!





Romancing Christmas: 10 Love Stories to Spice up the Holidays

Multi-author boxed set
Release Date: November 3, 2014
Genre: Holiday Romance

Cover Artist: http://www.bellamediamanagement.com/

~~Blurb~~
Do you like your Christmas nice...or a little naughty? Bring the season into your heart with love stories to match your mood. This boxed set from 10 of today’s hottest romance authors will warm your heart even on the coldest night.



Just 99 Cents for a limited time!




~~JOIN IN THE FUN AT OUR FACEBOOK PARTY~~

Join the ROMANCING CHRISTMAS authors for their LAUNCH DAY PARTY! The authors and a slew of their sassy friends will be celebrating the release, November 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 10:30 AM to 10:30 PM (EASTERN TIME).

Prizes Galore, Q&A, Authors, Readers, Books, and FUN! So what are you waiting for? Come join us and have a blast!



~~Novellas included in set~~
USA Today Bestselling Author Dale Mayer ~ Broken Protocols 3.5 

Award-winning author H.D. Thomson ~ Shades of Holly

Chantel Rhondeau ~ Season For Love

Award-winning author Leslie Lynch ~ Christmas Hope

Award-winning author Sandy Loyd A Christmas Miracle
Website: www.sandyloyd.com

Barbara Lohr ~ The Salty Carmel Christmas 
Website: www.BarbaraLohrAuthor.com

Marcia JamesHeating Up the Holidays

Carolyn Hughey ~ Insanity Claus  
Website: www.carolynhughey.com

Tallulah Grace ~ A Family for Christmas 
Website: http://www.tallulahgrace.com

Rachelle Ayala A Father for Christmas

Saturday, October 25, 2014

ARE YOU A PROCRASTINATOR?





This month, I’m giving a ‘pep’ talk to all those procrastinators out there, and a good kick in the seat of the pants!
It’s been said many times if you want someone to be accountable for something, hit them in their pocket.  People will always follow their money—especially in these bad economic times.
Close your eyes for a minute and imagine you just won $86,400.00 as the result of a contest.  And each morning your bank will deposit another $86,400.00 into your private account for your use.

Obviously every prize has rules, just as any game has rules.
  1. What you don't spend each day is forfeited to the bank.  There's no transferring the money into some other account, and only you can spend it!
  2. The bank can end the game without warning, and can tell you the game is over! As a matter of fact, it can close out that account and you won’t receive another dime.

So what would you personally do with the money knowing you had to spend it all each day?

You'd buy everything and anything you've ever wanted, right? Not just for yourself, but for everyone you love, right?  You'd probably even donate it, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?


Okay, now consider this.  If you put that $86,400 in seconds instead of money, you have your own magical bank.

Every one of us has in our possession, our own magical bank.  Most of the time, we take it for granted.

So let’s apply the same rules as we did above.

Every morning, we're given those 86,400, only this time in seconds as a gift of life.  Not using that time is lost forever.  Sorry folks, but we don't get them back, and it's not credited to any account.

So what you didn't do today, because you procrastinated one more time, is lost forever. The good news though is tomorrow morning your seconds are again replenished, but you’ve already lost the previous days’ seconds.  That’s the bank dissolving them . . . without warning.

SO, what will YOU do with your next 86,400 seconds?  Will you follow your long awaited dreams by writing that story begging to be told?  Will you finish that project you started ages ago promising you’d get to it, but never have? Will you take the bull by the horns and do it?  Or will you allow another day to pass you by?

It’s a little different when you think of time in money vs. time, isn’t it?  Gives you a clearer picture, doesn’t it?  So what will you do today?



Thursday, October 23, 2014

HOW DEADLY ARE YOUR OBSESSIONS?

So today, I’m going to talk about the release of Deadly Obsessions, the third in my Kensington-Gerard Detective series. This, however, is more of a thriller than a mystery, so if you like the Lizzie Gardner series by Teresa Ragan, you’re going to love this one too.
Deadly Obsessions is based on a true crime that happened here in Arizona in 2009. For those of you who followed this story in the news, it took place in the Hillside Ranch area of Glendale, Arizona when Cynthia Langrall was murdered during her morning jog on December 21, 2009.
My story has some similarities, but I’ve mostly embellished the story to make it my own, hence the thriller aspect.


A TRUE CRIME EVENT

Three bodies and counting . . . a manifesto with a long list of names . . . an abducted child, and the killer is using a familiar MO  that was the trademark of a serial killer who's still at large. Is it possible this killer so-called copycat spurred the Red Reaper into a jealous rage and he's doing what he does best . . . killing? Or is this someone who's having too much fun impersonating him and killing everyone on his list?

When two unrelated killings take place, it sends the detectives into a tailspin .. . and now it's a race against the clock before he kills the next person on his list . . . Detective Jesse Kensington!


This excerpt is about Jennifer Smith who has been abducted by a cab driver while on her way to the NYPD to answer questions. The abductor has her chained in the basement.

She jerked back trying to move away, but the shortened chains held her captive. And then she remembered the cab driver. He was creepy. She knew the minute she’d slid across the backseat, something told her to get out. She’d even glanced back at her aunt, but it was too late. He’d taken off like a shot and her aunt had already entered the hotel. She remembered pulling on the door handle, when the locks clicked into place…and then that smell. What was that horrible smell coming through the heater? That’s when she knew she was being abducted. But why? She’d even banged on the window that separated them but the cabbie paid no attention. He’d just stared at her in the mirror.
The sudden awareness of someone close to her made Jennifer shudder. His foul smelling breath made her gag, and when he starting licking her face, she thought she might throw up. “Get away from me, you pervert,” she screamed, trying to wiggle free from the constraints. “Let me go, dammit!” No answer, just his heavy breathing. And then, the touch of his tongue, sticky and slimy, gliding across her face caused her to shake her head vigorously hoping he’d miss her. But he wasn’t putting up with that. He grabbed her head and held it in place while he continued his deed and forced his tongue into her mouth. She bit down with all her might. He released an angry growl and shoved her against the cinderblock wall. Shooting pains flooded through her shoulder. She refused to cry out in pain but she managed to spit out his disgusting saliva hoping he was close enough that she’d hit him in the process. That angered him even more and the impact from his hard punch to her gut made her scream.
He finally spoke. “You shouldn’t have done that. Now, I have to punish you. She felt the coldness of steel prick her leg as it slid across her thigh. She felt a trickle of liquid slide down the sides of her leg and she knew she’d been cut. She jerked and released a loud scream.
“I love it when they scream,” The roughness of his voice irritated her as much as the blade of that knife. “You can scream all you want. There’s no one here but us.”
“Please mister, please don’t hurt me. I’ll give you anything you want. I’ve got lots of money coming to me.”
“I don’t want your money,” he sneered. “What I want is for you to understand what it’s like to have someone you love hurt you.”
“I never hurt anyone. Why are you doing this to me?”
“You use people, Jennifer. You use everyone in your life until you tire of them, then you toss them aside like that rag doll you had when you were a child. You did that to your mother when she married dear old Harlan.”
“How do you know so much about me?”
“Oh, because I do.”
“Do I know you?” He didn’t answer. “I begged her not to marry him, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Were you paying her bills?”
“No.”
“Oh, that’s right. She was paying yours.” He slid the knife across her other thigh and this time she screamed out.
She wondered how long she’d been there; wondered if the detectives would be able to track her? Find her before this maniac killed her? “Who are you?” she demanded.
He laughed. “You are in no position to demand anything from me or anyone else. And it was you who talked your mother into taking out that insurance policy because you wanted to be sure your meal ticket would always be there. Is that why you killed her?”
“No,” Jennifer said, “I didn’t kill my mother,” she shouted. “I loved my mother. She was wonderful to me.” Anger seeped into her chest and she fired back. “Did you kill my mother?”
He smacked her hard across the face and she began to cry. “That’s it. Cry,” he said. “You’ll get no sympathy from me.” He pulled Jennifer to her feet and removed the heavy chains, his voice suddenly changing from harsh to sympathetic. “Don’t cry,” he said and patted her shoulder as if trying to comfort her.
His sudden kindness confused her into thinking maybe he wasn’t going to hurt her after all. Maybe he just wanted to scare her into being a better person. She would do whatever he asked. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Are you hungry?”
She nodded. “I am.”
“Okay. Then open your mouth. I made a chocolate sundae for you and it’s melting.”
“If you’ll free my hands, I could eat it myself.”
“Nice try. I wasn’t around when you were a baby and I want to know what it feels like to feed one.”
Jennifer wasn’t sure she believed him, but he left her no choice. Maybe he thought he’d scared her enough. She opened her mouth and felt him fill it with something from an aerosol can.
“You’re going to love the taste of this whipped cream.”
Whipped cream wouldn’t have been her choice of food being this hungry, but just knowing she was going to have something to eat made her happy and she stopped caring what it was. Having ice cream was a child’s dream, wasn’t it? Jennifer tried to swallow but quickly realized whatever he’d shot into her mouth expanded. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t swallow. She was gasping for air. She started crying again, but quickly realized what little passageway she had left didn’t leave room for doing anything except breathing through her nose, and even that was bordering on impossible. Jennifer drew in a deep intake of air and filled her lungs, but that only made her lightheaded. The fumes from whatever he’d shot into her mouth was making her nauseous and she wondered if she’d choke on her own vomit? He seemed pleased by the noises she was making.
“You are such a fool, Jennifer. This is for your mother.” She jerked wondering how he knew her name—how he knew her mother. “Come with me,” he said pulling on her arm. He was leading her somewhere. When a rush of wind whipped around her she knew they were outside. Jennifer hated being cold, but the circulation of air was helping her breath better. All hope of getting away had now vanished. She tripped and his grip tightened helping her to remain upright. For some reason, the cold snow felt good on her bare feet, and for the first time, being cold no longer mattered. Nothing mattered.

I will be giving away digital copies of Deadly Obsessions to one lucky winner. Winner will be selected at random. All you have to do is comment on this excerpt.  So c'mon, what are you waiting for? Tell me what you think.

Monday, October 13, 2014

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY NEW PUBLISHER--MONTLAKE ROMANCE

I have big news to share with you tonight! I just signed a contract with Montlake Romance! But let me start at the beginning and tell you how it happened.

In June of this year, I submitted Deadly Obsessions to Montlake Romance for consideration. I had already published the novel, and had high hopes they would pick up the entire series. Since I hadn't heard anything to the contrary, I wanted to make sure Deadly Obsessions didn't end up in the slush pile, so I made sure I mentioned it to every Montlake editor at the annual Montlake party. I figured sooner or later, one of them was going to pick up that novel and read it. LOL Hey, I wanted to make sure I was covering all my bases.

In late August, I received an email from one of the editors that they'd read Deadly Obsessions and loved it, and that a senior editor would be contacting me shortly. Oh my God! I was bouncing off the walls, dreaming big dreams and wondering what was going to happen next. Yes, they did love Deadly, but they didn't want a reprint just yet. They wanted me to write a brand new story. My editor, Helen Cattaneo and I, diligently worked on my plot to perfect the proposal that she'd present to the acquisition team. On that day, I was biting my fingernails to the quick. When my phone rang and I saw it was Seattle calling, I answered before the end of the first ring. It was Helen, and when she told me, yes, they loved it and offered me a contract, I cried, I screamed, I laughed and then cried some more.

You're probably saying--wait! I thought she was a Montlake author? Yes, I was, but that was only through the acquisition of Avalon where I still had two open contracts.  And of course, under the contract, Montlake honored them.

Working with their team of experts was one of the greatest experiences of my writing career. For the first time, I felt like a published author because they treated me like I was special.

Don't get me wrong. I will always be grateful for my Avalon contracts--that's what brought me to where I am today. It was my stepping stone, a place where I learned to write, and learned from some of the best, like Carolyn Brown who took me under her wing, and Holly Jacobs, who kept me laughing and writing. But working with Montlake was something very different, and not something I ever expected. They know how to treat their authors. It's as though you're the only author in their repertoire of greats. They value your opinions, take your ideas into consideration, and make changes, if appropriate. But more importantly, they want you to know whatever you write, regardless of their suggestions, it's your story. Seriously? I mean, seriously? Yes! And its name is Montlake Romance.

When I wrote One Menu at a Time, Montlake asked me what I had in mind for a cover. I didn't bother making any suggestions because quite frankly, I'd had a long list of cover ideas I'd submitted to Avalon and not one was ever used. I figured that was just a feel good question. Well, I found out that wasn't true at all. Montlake made every single change I'd requested and absolutely floored me.

Time and consideration goes into every book they publish. They take your preferences into consideration--within reason, of course, and they bend where they need to because they want their authors to be happy. And that's when my mind focused on acquiring a contract. I didn't want to lose what they had to offer me. Respect. Respect for me. Respect for my work. That's when it became an obsession with me. I had to officially be part of this family.

I'm a list maker. Yeah, I'm one of those. I write out my own business plans. During the first of the year, I planned a two-year and five-year business plan. My first goal didn't take the two because it came true when that contract was signed. I'm focused on the positive and I don't plan on the rest taking long either. Persistence and the belief that I could do it paid off.

Regardless of how they acquired me, they were patient, kind and flexible.

But what about after I'd satisfied those two contracts? Some of my friends had submitted but didn't make the cut. What made me think I could? I didn't know, but dang it, I had to believe they'd love my mysteries. I love my mysteries. My fans love my mysteries and my reviewers love my mysteries. That's when I sat down and wrote the best damn mystery I could and figured what the heck. I knew, no matter what, the story would get published even if I had to self-publish the book, which I did as mentioned above, but that isn't what I wanted. I wanted a contract. A contract with Montlake Romance. I wanted to say, I am part of the Montlake family, and now, I can say that. I'm no longer the adopted daughter. I'm a real bonafide member of the clan, and my new Montlake family has welcomed me with open arms. There is no professional jealousy--no one taking pot shots at each other--just an honest-to-goodness, classy bunch of peers who genuinely want you to succeed, who cheer you on, share their knowledge and even their agents. One Montlake author did just that and I'm praying her agent loves me just as much.

So my friends, today I tip my champagne glass in celebration of the signing of contracts for a brand new mystery entitled Blind Vengeance. I celebrate the additions to my family and I'm grateful to be one of them. And when another new author is taken into the fold, I will welcome her with open arms in the same way--because we're family and that's what families do. There's plenty more stories where this one came from and I plan to keep 'em rolling out because I'm not giving up on my family.

In closing, I have one last thing to say to you. Don't ever let anyone steal your dreams. If you believe in yourself, persistence pays off and dreams really do come true. Don't EVER give up!