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Archive for October, 2018



Flashback: Heart of a SEAL (Contest)
Thursday, October 4th, 2018

UPDATE: The three winners are…Tamara Kasyan, Janelle, and Misty Dawn!
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I hope you haven’t forgotten my Uncharted SEALs stories! I still have two to refurb and put in the lineup, Head Over SEAL and SEAL Escort, which I hope to get to this month, so I do have quite a few of these action-packed stories for you to enjoy. And I’m not saying I’m done with them either. This series spawned my Montana Bounty Hunters, and now, Montana Bounty Hunters will soon spinoff to another series, but I’m not talking about that yet! Just know I love my military heroes, and I don’t plan to stop writing them anytime soon! And as for Montana Bounty Hunters, I have many more stories to tell there. I love writing them! They’re fast and funny. I make myself giggle when I write them.

And why write if you don’t have fun doing it, right? — That’s my motto anyway.

Here are all my currently available titles in the series. Peruse these lovelies…

Watch Over Me Through Her Eyes
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Baby, It's You Before We Kiss
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Click on the covers to learn more!

Contest

Win your choice of one of my Uncharted SEALs stories! There will be 3 winners! All you have to do to enter is answer me this…

When you daydream, what sort of hero do you imagine? A cop or a firefighter? The boy-next-door? A SEAL?

Heart of a SEAL


Heart of a SEAL

Aislinn Blalock is the lone survivor of the extraction team sent to rescue hostages in Cambodia from the vicious criminal gang holding them for ransom. After her helicopter crashes, she has to stay one step ahead of them to stay alive long enough for a rescue team to get to her.

Ash’s husband Sam watches the mission go sideways on a computer monitor, sidelined by management because one of the team happens to be his wife—but now, there’s no way in hell he’s sitting this one out. He’s getting to Ash before the armed gang can cause her any harm. He’ll risk everything to save the woman who holds his heart.

Can’t wait to win it? Purchase it here: Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

 

Opening Scene…

What a difference six months made. Aislin Blalock lay in tall grass beside a withered rice paddy, staring up at a clear, starlit sky. A billion pinpricks of light scattered across a dark canvas. No moon, thank God. Beautiful, really. But the distant stars only deepened her sense of unreality. In the distance, she heard metallic creaks and groans, as well as the crackle of fire. She had yet to move, afraid adrenaline was giving her brain the wrong signals, masking the fact she’d been hurt. She had, after all, just fallen from the sky.

Six months ago, she would never have imagined she’d be here in Cambodia in December, participating in a mission to rescue wealthy tourists who’d been kidnapped for the fat ransom their families would pay. She’d been a cop, still suffering the loss of her boyfriend and partner during a robbery. Just met the man who would drag her out of hell and show her love was still possible. That guilt didn’t have to consume her. That she had the right—and the duty—to survive and find happiness. No longer did she drink herself into oblivion for the chance to dream of Marc and pretend he wasn’t gone. Now, she had Sam.

Sam…

Ash drew a deeper, sharper breath. He hadn’t been happy about her being pulled from her training with Charter to be part of this team, but the company had wanted a woman along, and she was one of the first female operatives they’d hired. He’d been supportive of her decision to apply for a position with his company as a field operative. Naively, she’d believed that being part of Charter, rather than remaining with the New Orleans Police Department, would mean they’d see each other more often. And she’d needed a change. A new job. New home. Without constant reminders of what she’d lost or the time she’d nearly lost herself grieving after Marc’s death. When Charter had tapped her for this mission, she hadn’t hesitated.

Two of the hostages were nuns—not wealthy tourists like the rest. And Charter had decided she’d make the women more comfortable during the rescue and transit. But her team never made it to the drop zone, a click from the kidnapper’s jungle encampment. Although they’d flown well below radar, someone had alerted the well-organized, well-funded group holding the hostages.

Her helicopter had been in the lead. She’d already shuffled toward the open door, ready to drop down a rope when they’d been hit. She’d had a split second to react. Thought she’d heard a voice in her ear, telling her to jump. Marc’s voice, but that had to have been a dream. Her subconscious prodding her to take that leap of faith.

Her landing had been cushioned by deep, soft vegetation. She’d landed on her feet. Sort of. Her bottom making contact a split-second later.

Even if she’d suffered a break or a spinal cord injury she couldn’t yet feel, she was far better off than the men who’d been aboard her helicopter. She’d had time to jump from the left door when the right side of the helo sustained a direct hit from an RPG. The rest of her team, whom she’d met only two weeks before, hadn’t been so lucky.

She drew deep, ragged breaths. Lungs expanded. No hitch, so her ribs were likely fine. Inside her combat boots, she wiggled her toes and felt them scrape hard leather. Time to move. But she was still afraid. After a few wasted moments, at last, she rolled to her right and came up on her knees. Everything appeared to be working, but maybe she’d sustained internal injuries. Gingerly, she dropped her pack and unlatched the cover, feeling inside for her headset. Her hands closed around thin bands. She donned her headset then the night vision goggles, set her mike beside her mouth, and tapped ON, using the team’s call sign to identify herself. All actions were performed by rote, because if she’d had to think, she would have frozen. “Do you read me?”

“Jesus, fuck!”

She almost smiled at hearing Sam’s break with protocol. But his curses, so harsh in her ear, relaxed her. For the moment, she felt his reassuring presence.

“We see one heat signature a distance from the helo. That you, babe?”

“Yes. I don’t think anyone else made it out.”

“The second helo just crossed back into Viet Nam.”

Which meant she was alone. If anything had gone awry with the mission, the pilots had been ordered to return to Charter’s base camp. She swallowed hard to still the panic rising in her throat.

“Are you hurt?”

She heard the soft note of hesitation in his voice. Knew he was bracing for the worst. Not sure, yet. “No,” she said, more firmly than she felt.

“Fuck. More heat signatures. Nine of them. Coming from the West.”

Her stomach clamped. Men from the kidnapper’s encampment. “Roger,” she said, her voice clipped. She knew what she had to do. Run.

“Head northeast. You’ll be in deep jungle. It’ll give you cover.”

She checked the illuminated dial of her wrist compass, took her direction, and pushed up into a crouch. As quickly and as quietly as she could, she streaked toward the tree line.

Danie Ford: Listening to your Characters
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018

Their marriage was supposed to be a business transaction. Only love wasn’t factored into the contract. And he never expected he would fall in love with his husband.


One of my favorite tropes is the marriage/relationship in trouble. I like to see people/characters fighting for their relationships and the love they share. Struggling with life circumstances but working their way back to each other. I think that is because I am a character-driven writer.

Characters come to me first.

The Marriage Contract started as a completely different story. But the characters would not cooperate. Over the years, I’ve learned not to argue with my characters.

It’s useless. So I let them guide the story. And more often than not, turns into a better story than I originally planned.

Grant Thornton and Tristan Castillo are the heroes of the story. And as far as characters go, Grant was more stubborn than Tristan. Tristan was just dark, broody and scared. And one night as I was watching television, Tristan popped into my head and this version of the story was born.

Then I started peeling back the layers. I looked at the character histories, their flaws and baggage and use that to plot the scenes and develop the story.

And then the puppies got involved. Not one puppy but two.

The Marriage Contract is about to flawed, vulnerable men who are afraid to take a chance on love. But also afraid not to try to love.

Thanks to Delilah for having me on her blog. As a bonus, here’s the reveal of the new cover for The Marriage Contract.

To find out more about the Motor City Romance Series – Subscribe to the series newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cgnZxT
To find out more about my books – Subscribe to my newsletter here: https://danieford.com/newsletter


Tristan Castillo wants to make his marriage work, but there’s one problem— his husband. Not only is Tristan coming home, he’s bringing a surprise, a puppy named Apollo. But when he arrives home, he gets a surprise of his own. Grant adopted a dog too. And when he hears Grant named his puppy, Zeus, he figures it for a sign that they are meant to be together.

Tech mogul and closet jazz musician, Grant Thornton needed a husband to get past the codicil in his grandfather’s will. It was supposed to be a simple business transaction. Only love wasn’t part of the bargain and Grant doesn’t know if he loves Tristan or the things he does to his body.

As a former Marine and Michigan State Trooper turned chocolatier, Tristan is used to going after and fighting for what he wants. Sure, love wasn’t in the contract but it’s not something you can put a value on either. He came back to win his husband and he’s going to pull out all the stops to get Grant to open up to the possibility of love and a happily ever after with him.

With the help of Zeus and Apollo, Tristan and Grant start their journey towards forever. But old demons and old habits threaten to keep this union a true marriage of convenience.

LINKS:
Apple/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1419339545
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-marriage-contract-42
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Danie_Ford_The_Marriage_Contract?id=PcFmDwAAQBAJ
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-marriage-contract-danie-ford/1127276066;jsessionid=D5133EF8ABBCDE31F3FFC3DF229DF32B.prodny_store01-atgap10?ean=2940155688273
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075GWY8VH

San Antonio’s finest are out to stop an invasion! (New release)
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018

The title confuse you? It’s not an alien invasion, although that idea is sparking an idea in my mind… I just wanted to make sure I had your attention!

Today, I want to let you know about a story I wrote quite a while back, but which has received a facelift and a brand new look. It’s the first of two stories in a super sexy paranormal series entitled Veiled Alliance. I’ll publish the two I have then give you time to read them. If you want more in the series, let me know! There are demons (skinwalkers!), a psychic, and a fallen angel in this one, and you’ll get a glimpse inside a secret police precinct that deals in the woo-woo stuff. I had fun revisiting this one. I hope you love it, too!

Sin’s Gift

Sin's Gift

Veiled Alliance, Book #1

When police officer Sinead O’Rourke returns to duty months after being shot in an incident that claimed her partner, she knows it’s not going to be easy. Despite being cleared of any negligence, her fellow officers still wonder whether she’s responsible for his death. One more problem is that everyone knows she claims to have seen his ghost. After months of rehabilitation and lying like hell about the fact she’s not seeing spooks anymore, Sin’s determined to get back into the saddle.

Jake Chappa doesn’t want to partner with Sin. Been there, done that—couldn’t keep his hands off her the first time around. She’s too much of a distraction, and her penchant for rushing into trouble scares the heck out of him. Despite wishing she’d quit her job, he’s still deeply attracted. When an armed robbery goes down and something happens that rattles Sin to the core, he’s right there—ready to cover her back and her sweet body.

Get your copy here!

Mary Kennedy Eastham: Why I write short fiction…
Monday, October 1st, 2018

Writing short fiction suits my personality. It’s kind of episodic. You gotta get in quick and figure stuff out fast. I approach it the way I do my daily work-outs. I try to mix them up. Example, today I shot a bunch of hoops, then in between, ran through an obstacle course, did some weighted hula hooping and finished up with a bunch of push-ups, all while throwing frisbees to my three Golden Retrievers. I just finished a two-week flash fiction class where we wrote a 500-word story every day then posted it online so members of the class could make comments. At first, I was so stressed. That’s just me. I’ve been writing a long time, but to do new things under a quick deadline with strangers commenting on your work can be scary. The surprise was that I got such wonderful feedback.

One writer said my work was beautifully cinematic. Another said I was a sentence-level writer. I had to look that one up. I took it to mean I love putting words and phrases together in a lyrical way, which I do. Someone else said my writing had beautiful movement, a quick rapid-fire pace and startling imagery. I was lucky. This was a really kind group. If any of you are wondering what the definition of flash fiction is, the instructor described it as combining the prism of the poem with the just slight indulgence of a short story. For the past year I’ve been working on my third book, a collection of short fiction called Little Earthquakes. Here’s an excerpt from a story I’ve titled “Teyana Lee”:

She spits her gum out in my hand. I don’t know how old she is. She could be 20, she could be 17. Her father/director/boyfriend/captor hands me his gunmetal grey suit jacket. No eye contact. Mr. GQ flies First Class often. My work husband James gives me the side-eye when we both realize the girl is barefoot with a brand new white band-aid on her pretty face. With much work to do for both of us on this New York to London flight, I forget about them.

The take-off is shaky, storm winds, a flock of birds maybe. I struggle to push my cart of drinks down the aisle. James will follow with warm nuts and exotic cheeses. Mr. GQ asks for two glasses of Champagne. It’s late. 

The girl came onto the plane with no carry-on, so probably no ID. I pretend both drinks are for him. The girl looks at me, her eyes waxy raw, her body turned into itself. Her feet are filthy. She’s not a girlfriend or his daughter. I sense this girl is playing a dangerous game. ‘I was the Trivia Dancer today on Kelly & Ryan,’ she tells me. Mr. GQ smiles. His eye mask is around his neck, ready to block out the world for the next eight hours. ‘They let me co-host during the Win-A-Trip segment,’ she says. ‘I wanna be a co-host for real someday.’

The plane hits a bit of weather.

‘She’s got quite the imagination,’ Mr. GQ says.

The girl lifts her hand to her face as if suddenly the overhead light is revealing too much. She quickly turns it off. Before their mini-suite goes midnight dark, I read the word SECRETS on her see-through skin. James snatches the drinks off the tray table. ’That’ll be all, miss,’ Mr. GQ says to me, covering himself and the girl with a blanket. In our stewardess training program, the instructor said to think of turbulence as angry air wrestling its demons. Smooth air is never far away. The girl pokes out from under the blanket, lights a match, holding it very close to her face. 

I reach over and blow it out. The girl pinches my cheek hard. ‘Hey,’ I say, ‘that hurt.’ I push her arm away. ‘It means I like you,’ she says defiantly. Something keeps me standing there. ‘Should I worry about you?’ I ask the girl. ‘No one ever has,’ she tells me as if she was a piece of sky…

Thanks for having me, Delilah and readers! Find out more about me on my website: www.rp-author.com/MKE
I’m on Twitter #Word Actress or on Instagram @wordactress

BONUS: If any of you like entering writing contests, check out the Soul-Making Keats Literary Contest: www.soulmakingcontest.us
Deadline is November 30th. I’m the Flash Fiction Judge.

Other categories include: Novel Excerpt, Short Story, Poetry, Humor, Memoir, Young Adult Poetry & Prose.

Winners come to San Francisco to read from their winning stories. I’d love to see you there!