ACHOO...

Yep, that’s what has been going on around here. So far DH hasn’t caught it, and I hope he doesn’t. The cold weather has kept his shop doors opening and closing. I on the other hand, had to finally and most reluctantly, take to my bed last week. It was one of those nasty bugs that drags a person down. Even Bear, granddog extraordinaire, felt sorry for me and crawled up on the bed to snuggle. Bless his yellow-lab heart. I’m happy to say I’m on the mend, and therefore, running behind. Although I’m making good progress on the third roaring twenties story, where Twyla and Forrest are having a blast flying around in his 1920’s airplane, I have some catching up to do. Thanks goes out to my darling brother Norman for answering a few antique plane questions the other day when I barely had a voice to ask them!

So, a few things have happened during my down-under-the covers-days…

Chapters have continued to be released for The Stolen Kiss on Harlequin’s website. There’s an online discussion happening if you’re interested in joining in. 

The Major’s Wife was released on Saturday, and continues to hang around at the number one slot for Harlequin Historicals at Amazon. Thank you all for being such wonderful and dedicated readers! I so appreciate each and every one of you!

The Wild Rose Press has released The Quinter Bride Series in a boxed set! Now you can get all five stories at once for one low price! I still get emails, got one just today, asking if there will be more books in this story. People want to know about Ma. I can’t say yeah or nay right now, but maybe someday. 

I received the cover art for my May 1^st released, Never Tempt a Lawman. No blurb yet, but I will post it when I get it. 

Other happenings around here include me, on ONE of the coldest days of the year (we’ve had so many below zero days they’ve merged together to form at least a month I’m sure) I managed to lock myself out of my car—while it was running! There I was with fifty pounds of dog food in my arms, and no extra set of keys in my purse. Thank goodness for our wonderful local police department! 

We also had a surprise visit from one of my nieces and her lovely family on Saturday. Bear was ecstatic to have BOYS to throw the ball for him and ran until he collapsed on his doggie bed in pure satisfaction. (He’s been missing his master and number one human who is in North Carolina for work right now.)  And we had a super bowl party with lots of food to capture our attention far more than the game did. I will add the Budweiser puppy/horse commercial won my heart.

Now that I no longer need to have a tissue in one hand at all times, I’m back to writing, which I better get back to.

Have a wonderful week, and rejoice in the little things, some day you’ll remember them as very big moments.

FREE READ

On Monday Harlequin will release the first chapter of The Stolen Kiss. Each day thereafter for twenty days another chapter will be posted on their website. 

If this link  doesn’t work, go to www.harlequin.com, hover over extras on the red menu bar and you’ll see free reads. Click on that.  

The chapters are short, and easy to read on line, and there’s even a comment section, if you are so inclined. 

The Stolen Kiss:

From rivals…to lovers!

The moment beautiful Cassandra Halverson arrives in Tulsa, Micah Bollinger knows she'll be trouble. No sooner has she set up her dressmaker's shop than she starts poaching his customers. Determined to beat Cassandra at her own game, Micah decides to keep his enemy close!

Cassandra wants nothing more than to create a new life doing what she loves and to leave her past behind her forever. But the presence of her infuriatingly gorgeous competitor threatens it all. When an unexpected kiss takes them both by surprise, it's not long before fury turns to red-hot passion!

This story is related to The Major’s Wife, which is now available in paperback! The ebook version will be released Feb. 1^st!

WILL THE TRUTH SET THEM FREE?  

Major Seth Parker knows his wife, and the woman standing before him isn't her. The manipulative vixen who tricked his hand in marriage could never possess such innocence—nor get his heart racing like this! 

Millie St. Clair has traveled halfway across the country to pull off one of the greatest deceptions ever. But with everything at stake it soon becomes clear that the hardest part might be walking away from the Major when it's all over…. 

Our weekend agenda includes an ice fishing trip—for Papa and the granddaughters. Although the fish house is well heated and roomy, I’m not a fan of sitting atop frozen water, warm or otherwise, so I will stay home and work on my next WIP. It’s the third story in my roaring twenties series. Set in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, these stories are about four sisters—each with their own book. The four Nightingale women, Norma Rose, Twyla, Josie, and Ginger, all embrace the freedom gained by women in the 1920’s. However, their father, Roger Nightingale, aka The Night, is one of the country’s largest bootleggers and set on keeping his girls as innocent as a morning breeze. 

Not.

The first story is Ginger’s, a short e-book only tale. (No release date yet, but the edits have all been completed and the story is set to go.) Ginger, the youngest of the girls, takes her future into her own hands and runs away from home—by hiding away in the back of Brock Ness’s truck when he leaves for Chicago to perform on the radio. Brock unfortunately owes Roger Nightingale a good sum of money, so when he discovers Ginger under the tarp of his truck, snuggled up to his guitar case, Brock is anything but impressed.

The next story is Norma Rose’s. Final edits were just approved by my editor today! Norma Rose’s story is a full length one and will be available in print and ebook. She’s the oldest sister and has brought Nightingale’s from nothing more than a dance pavilion to a sprawling resort that caters to those with money to spend. This also includes plenty of gangsters, and where you have mobsters, there’s sure to be a revenue man sniffing about. Norma Rose recognizes Ty Bradshaw as a government agent the moment she meets him, and is determined he will not bring her family down. Ty is after public enemy number one, Ray Bodine, and doesn’t care who he has to bowl over to catch the mobster, including Norma Rose Nightingale and her bootlegging father.

The third story is Twyla’s, the boldest and wildest sister. This is my current WIP. Twyla’s story will also be a full length book available in print and ebook. She loves living at the country’s largest speakeasy and isn’t about to let anyone rain on her parade, including rival night club owner Forrest Reynolds.

The last story will be Josie’s. Another full length book. Josie’s the quietest and most secretive sister. I’m still plotting out her story, so at the moment, all I can say is the ladies aid meetings she’s continuously going to aren’t as innocent as they appear.  

To say I’m having a lot of fun with these sisters and their stories is an understatement. I’m also working on a story set in Cody, Wyoming that has a ghost in it—sort of.

That’s all for now.

Stay happy!

Brrr.....

We are in the deep freeze here in Minnesota, which isn’t all that unusual, but the wind chills have made being outdoors dangerous, therefore schools and several businesses are closed. It also means my hubby is busier than ever. Cars do not want to start when it’s this cold, and the phone is ringing off the hook with people asking him to make house calls. Poor guy. The good thing is—it won’t last long. The weather man is predicting a January thaw this weekend. 

My family is now enjoying all the wonderful gifts they each received for the holidays. One of my sons got the Ancestry software and is really having a ball with it. He’s discovered one of my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great (I think that’s right) grandmothers involved in the Salem Witch Trials. She wasn’t prosecuted and lived for another thirty years or so afterwards. Another son is spending every spare moment in his fish house ice fishing, and the third son has already spent the ‘cash’ he received on tickets for his family to fly to Florida later this month. The granddaughters are loving their Doc McStuffins Check-up Centers and the numerous other toys and gadgets they received. One of my favorite gifts was a new fuzzy and warm throw that matches my overstuffed ‘writing’ chair, and Bear, the ultimate granddog, is greatly enjoying the old quilt I used to snuggle under. (His doggie bed is next to my chair and he waits for me to toss the quilt over the top of him after he lies down.)

I received some great feedback from my critique partner on my latest work in progress this weekend and am enjoying getting to know Beth and Rance, the heroine and hero of this story set in Cody, Wyoming. 

The first chapter of The Stolen Kiss will be released on January 27 on Harlequin’s website. The Major’s Wife will be released in print on February first, and e-book later that month, and Never Tempt a Lawman will be released on May first. 

In the mean time, stay warm, keep smiling, and make 2014 all you dream it can be!   

Here Comes 2014

The fast and furious pre and post Christmas days are now but memories, wonderful memories, as we now focus on the coming of the New Year. I sincerely hope your celebrations were, and continue to be, fantastic. 

Our fun times continued through the weekend. After going to see Frozen on Friday—an amazing movie with utterly spectacular music—all three girls spent the night. I’m questioning what I was thinking when I purchased the futon for the playroom. Snuggling to watch a movie is one thing, sleeping all night with three little girls is a completely different thing. However, come morning, after stretching out the kinks, I realized these days are few and precious. Time goes so fast there soon will be a day when the three of them will want to sleep alone, sharing secrets and giggles without grandma, so until then I’ll cherish the moments, stiff muscles and all. 

Getting back into a writing routine is a must for me now. I’ve started the next roaring twenties story, however, I’ve also started the story that came on strong while we were in Wyoming last fall. Those characters have been very impatient so I had to start getting things ‘down on paper.’ I like working on two stories at the same time. When one comes to a fork in the road that needs a bit of pondering, I can work on the second one. 

Mid January is when Harlequin will put up the free read, The Stolen Kiss, and The Major’s Wife, will be released in February. Next up will be Never Tempt a Lawman, release date to be determined.

Enjoy your final days of 2013! It was a year to remember, as they all are.

Ten More Days

Until Christmas! I’m happy to say I’m ready. Just one more grocery shopping trip for the big meal. I had a wonderful surprise today. These flowers were delivered from a fan I have yet to meet in person, but will soon, I hope. That was just so sweet and very precious of her!

As always life has been busy around here. We celebrated our granddaughter’s 7^th birthday (her birthday is the 23^rd so her mommy and daddy make sure we celebrate a couple weeks ahead so it doesn’t get lost in the holidays, which we all appreciate!) last weekend, and she had a gymnastics meet the next day. Lots of fun! A friend had told me about a blooming flower birthday candle, so I ordered one for the big day and it was a great hit! (I got it at http://www.partyswizzle.com/MusicalCandle.html)

This weekend we renewed our conceal and carry permits. It is always so informative. I’d take the class every year instead of every five if I could, laws change so often. We also had our youngest granddaughter over for the day while her parents went to the football game. The Vikings won! (Must have been good luck for them to be at the game.) Granddaughter and I made cookies, several batches with more frosting and sprinkles than needed, which is all the more fun.

Writing has been very productive, too. Snowbound with the Sheriff was released December 1st!

The free read that Harlequin will be offering in January has been officially titled The Stolen Kiss. This short story connects with The Major's Wife which will be released February 1st. AND I finished another roaring 20’s story and sent it off to my editor. I really wanted it done before the holidays so it wasn’t ‘hanging over my head’. I of course have another one well in the works, but have plenty of time so there’s no pressure. That was my one Christmas wish for myself.

For you and others, my wish is that your wishes come true, and that you have happiness and love in your hearts now and all year long.

Christmas blessings to one and all.