Is Daylight Saving Time kicking your butt? I'm walking around like a zombie this week. Coffee is helping, and I have faith it will get better. A great way to get the blood stirring is to read an exciting romantic suspense book. Join me and 39 other authors in this fun BookBub giveaway that's super easy to enter. If you don't belong to BookBub, sign up. You'll be notified when your favorite authors have a book released, and you can also find great deals and new authors. 

Here's the link to the Addicted to Suspense Giveaway:
​ https://addictedtosuspense.blogspot.com/p/enter-giveaway.html

​Enter today, and good luck to you!

Which is why when my honey says, "Let's see where this trail leads," I follow. We took a trip to the frozen North (Literally frozen. Those are icicles behind me.) and climbed hills. I look at a trail and say, "Wow, that looks pretty steep," and he's already headed up. I scamper along right behind, and I'm always glad I did. It's precarious at times, but we practice safe climbing and have never been hurt. The gorgeous views we've seen! 

This year, I vow to be braver and do things that scare me on a regular basis. Putting my book in Kindle Scout was kind of frightening. What if no one nominates me? What if I don't get picked? The answer to both questions is, "Life will go on." I'll never know unless I try, right? I'd love your nomination for Dangerous Vengeance in these last days. Thank you so much!
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/10MLIVOZX9BLP

What do we love most about this time of year? Sure, there’s family, food, extra wine and gifts, but deeper down, this is a time of hope and faith. We believe there can be peace on Earth, and hope there might come a time when nations stop fighting. We have faith that scientists will persevere, and discover a cure for the diseases that take our loved ones.

Christmas celebrates Mary and Joseph having faith. They believed they had a mission; for Mary to be the mother of the Messiah. Hanukkah commemorates how the Jewish people had hope, reclaimed their temple, and witnessed a miracle there. And we have faith that every year, after Winter Solstice, the sun will shine longer each day and take us into spring.

In Thor: Ragnarok (slight spoiler alert), even after his hammer is destroyed, Thor still has faith he can save the people of Asgard. He even manages to convince a drunk and disillusioned Valkyrie to help him. This isn’t technically a holiday movie, but if you’re like me, watching super heroes save the world, or other worlds, creates a warm, fuzzy feeling, like drinking mulled wine on a cold winter night. Throw in Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston for more heat and surprising comedy, Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum as crazy wicked bad guys, and Thor is the perfect movie for the holidays.

​My hope, aside from peace on Earth, a cure for cancer, and to wake up with super powers, is to get picked by Kindle Scout. Your nomination will help. Thank you so much, and Happy Holidays to you, however you celebrate!
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/10MLIVOZX9BLP
 
Rockin' photo courtesy of Pixabay

I'm trying something new, Amazon's Kindle Scout. What is Kindle Scout? To quote: "Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It's a place where readers help decide if a book receives a publishing contract."

You, the reader, go to Amazon and look at the books currently in the program. You read an excerpt, check out the author info, and nominate books you want to see published. Easy-peasy. Your nomination will help Dangerous Vengeance get discovered by the Kindle Scout team, and really good news, if my book gets chosen and published, you receive a free copy. How cool is that?

Dangerous Vengeance is out there now and I would love to receive your nomination.
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/10MLIVOZX9BLP

Please go to the Kindle Scout website and give me a vote.  I'll be ecstatic if I win, and you get to read my awesome book. Want a sneak peak? You can read the beginning of the book at the Kindle Scout website, and here's another exciting excerpt:

​                                        ********************************


So he sent a guy flying a few feet, no big deal. The dude wasn’t hurt, and no one else was either. Zoe was okay. He’d been taken by surprise and reacted, not overreacted. No one saw him; the situation was cool. And though he’d been close to losing it, he’d handled that asshole Becker without any trouble.

But the cameras picked up the event. Even if there wasn’t visible evidence of Grant doing anything, he’d be tied to the scene. Couldn’t let that happen too often, or someone would be sticking their nose in his business.

He’d have to practice control, have to learn to push the rage down. Maybe figure out how to get rid of the stupid force altogether. Or work out a way to use it for when he became a cop. A skill like that could be useful.

No. Real men didn’t need super power to operate. He’d come up with a way to control it.

For now, he was safe. Had to concentrate on finishing this assignment, that’s all. And to do that, he had to play nice with the weird woman he’d been assigned to work with, keep his head down and his mouth shut.

Easy enough. Grant pulled in a long breath. Go in the store, buy Zoe her soda and water, finish up the day. At least she wasn’t a wimp. Girl had guts, to keep going after getting plowed down and drugged. Blackout. Great. Just what the world needed. Another tool for the scum to use. Date rape, and probably for other applications.

He should insist Zoe have someone keep an eye on her the rest of the day, though he knew she’d blow off his concern.

Not my problem. I’ve got enough of my own.

When Grant returned with the drinks, Zoe had almost finished weeding. He ran the weed whacker around the area, and they bagged up the rest of the clippings. Zoe kept looking across the street, her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed.

“Don’t suppose you saw a yard waste dumpster around here, did you?” Grant picked up one of the bags.

“Nope. Just throw those in my car. I have yard waste pickup at my house.” Zoe stood, stretched and pulled off her gloves.

“You should have someone keep an eye on you the rest of the day, make sure you’re okay.”

“Don’t tell me what I should do.” She took a drink from the water bottle and turned toward the music shop.

“Don’t be an idiot.” Grant picked up the bags and headed to her car. “You heard the paramedic. He said make sure someone’s around to monitor you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waved her hand.

“Pop your trunk.”

“Just put the bags in the back seat. Not like anything’s going to hurt that car. I’ll see you at our next meeting.”

“Yep, see you then.” Grant loaded the bags into her car, shut the door.

Zoe still stood, looking across the street.

“You okay driving with those bags in the back? Looks like your vision is obstructed.”

“I’ll be fine.” She tapped her foot.

“You’re going over to the shop, aren’t you?”

“Maybe. What’s it to you?”

Most everyone had cleared the scene. Grant saw a television truck and one cop car, which drove away as he watched. “Why are you sticking your nose in something that’s none of your business?”

“It is my business. I was involved in the robbery. I want to talk to the store owner, find out what the thief stole.”

“Don’t you think the owner might be upset right now?”

“Maybe I can help.”

“Why, did you see something you didn’t share with the nice police officer?”

“I didn’t actually see anything. I have a hunch and an idea.”

“Oh, a hunch. People love to hear about hunches. Why didn’t you tell the officer?”

“Because cops have the same pissy attitude as you. Women’s intuition doesn’t mean jack.”

“Maybe because it’s bullshit?”

“Screw you.” Zoe pivoted back to face him, eyes narrowed. “No one asked your opinion or permission. I’ll see you later.” She wheeled around and stomped across the street. The scent of sweat, now stronger than the honeysuckle, lingered behind.

Not my concern.

But a nudge of desire licked at him, a feeling he hadn’t entertained for some time. Purposely hadn’t entertained. He didn’t want a woman messing with his mind, or his body. Most of all, not his heart.

Not going to have it shattered again any time soon.

 

Doesn't prepping for a hurricane look like fun? Yep, I'm in the path of Irma. Hurricanes are odd creatures, and often turn in a totally different direction than predicted, which is what we hope Irma does. But in between filling sand bags, buying water, batteries and gas, and wine, I need some help from you, my wonderful readers.
 
It's time for a contest! The hero in book three of my Messed-Up Heroes series is Grant, and he's lost about everything. He was kicked out of army training and now has only a slim chance of becoming a cop. His wife was killed, and he'll never know why she betrayed him. He's living in a cheap apartment with walls so thin, his life is broadcast to everyone. But damn it, he won't give up his wheels, a hot red truck. A guy's got to have one pleasure in life. I need a name for this truck. Please visit the survey monkey and pick one, or make up your own great name. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6BM9N9Y
 

Doesn't it feel great when you help out another human, or animal? Extending a hand to someone in need not only does good for them, it reflects back on the one performing the act. Help out a real life hero named Tia. Read her story here. And then, check out a $0.99 offer on a great romantic suspense book. Not only will you enjoy Survival Instinct by Janie Crouch, 100% of the release-week proceeds from Survival Instinct goes to Cystic Fibrosis research charities. Buy your copy for the special price of $0.99 — only until July 16. You’ll get a great book from an award-winning author while helping stomp out a terrible disease.  ​
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 Here I am playing my doumbek drum in a drum circle. While it's not exactly charity work, when we get together and play, I know good vibes are going out and making the world a better place.

This last month I did a revision of Dangerous Liars. I loved this book and it was good, but someone whose opinion I value suggested it could be better. "What?" I said. "Come on. Are you serious? How?" She dug in, she edited, and she showed me how. Huh. Turns out she was right, and now the book is really good. I'll be consulting this Wonder Editor for future projects. 

Here are three fun events I'm participating in and I'd love to have you join me:

​Something weird happened to me at this next event. Like, the stars aligned oddly, and nothing I did went right. I sent two incorrect URLs to the person running the show. Aarrgh! Sooooo, the link for Dangerous Addictions could be wrong when you visit. If that happens, and if you'd like Dangerous Addiction for free until June 30th, go to the finally-correct link at InstaFreebie here:     https://instafreebie.com/free/zVf5I 
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Isn't it great to start a book and know there are more in the series? Check out Binge on a new series with 40 + free books for you. Dangerous Addictions, the first book in the Messed-Up Heroes series, is up for grabs. Get your copy, and enjoy all the other first books from the participating authors.

Only a few days left on these events, so visit now, load up your e-reader, and enter to win!

My contest winner is Brenda R. Thanks so much to everyone for participating!

One of my biggest pet peeves is littering. This picture is from a park where I feed my feral cats. Look at that pile of garbage by the trash can. Trash can. Right. There. Grrrrr! My brother suggested a bear got into the can and tipped it over (the can pivots on the wood posts), but since we don't have bears in this part of Florida, I think not. Maybe the can did tip, but I believe a human was involved, and if so, they should have put the trash back in. 

Another peeve, people who stand during a concert. I like to get on my feet when the band plays a rockin' song or two at the end, but standing for the whole show - bad manners. I just went to  a concert where a man was standing, playing his air guitar, and annoying everyone around him for most of the show. I wanted to yell, "Hey dude. Sit down. You're not the only one here and you're blocking the view of the people behind you who don't want to, or can't stand the whole time. Like that lady in the wheelchair." My buddy suggested popping him with a stun gun. Since I'm a writer, I got a great visual image of how that would play out, and now I have to work that into a book. But you'll be happy to know, we did not zap the rude dude, and stayed out of jail for the evening. 




Speaking of behaving (or misbehaving), join me and a bunch of other romance writers as we go wild. We won't stand and play the air guitar (some of us might, just for fun, but we won't block your view), we might make some noise, and we will definitely talk about romance books of all kinds, and give away prizes.  http://bit.ly/2ryYbNq 

My prize is an Amazon gift card. To enter my contest, just leave me a comment below and tell me one of your pet peeves. I'll pick a winner on June 10th using random.org. Also, Dangerous Addictions, book 1 in my Messed-Up Heroes series, is free at Instafreebie from June 5th through June 9th, so grab your copy now.  www.instafreebie.com/free/rdMMI

Thanks, and happy reading to you!

 Have you ever worked on a project and knew you needed help? The story is moving along, but you know you can do better. While writing the third book in my Messed-Up Heroes series, I hit that spot. I'm normally the kind of person who likes to do everything on her own, so asking for help is tough for me. But I want this book to be my best, and I know I need an outsider to take a look at my ideas, my writing skills, etc, and give me honest feedback.

An Internet search turned up several writing coaches, and the one I chose was Lori DeBoer. We set up a time, and since I couldn't figure out Skype, (curse you, newfangled technology!) we decided a phone call would work fine. Lori got right down to business, and though some of her suggestions were slightly painful (what do you mean I'm not perfect?), they were are incredibly helpful. All these light bulbs kept going off over my head. As we read through a writing sample I'd sent, she made suggestions and pointed out issues. I have to confess, I had a few "man, I suck; I should step away from the keyboard forever" moments. But Lori assured me it wasn't true. She gave me encouragement to keep going, noted my strengths, and suggested tips to improve on my weaknesses. 
 
Lori was tough, but kind. She gave me a few titles of books to read, some on craft, and some for story structure. I ordered them, and will dig in with delight. I left the call with renewed enthusiasm and plans. Big plans. Once I get my WIP to a certain point, I'll work with Lori again.

​Visit Lori's website if you need a little help to bring out the best in your writing.
www.lorideboer.net/

Holy Shmoly, I'm late with this announcement. My winner from the Name the School for Gifted Children contest is Christina H. chosen by random.org. Thanks for all the great school names. I still haven't picked one, there are so many delightful choices! I'll let you know when book three comes out and you can see which name was chosen.