UPDATE: The winner is…Monica Lemmers!
*~*~*

It’s November of the most trying year I’ve ever lived—and that’s saying a lot given the losses our family has suffered the past nearly three years. Sometimes, it truly feels like we’re living in the dawn of an “Extinction Event.” We’re doing what we can to keep ourselves healthy. I’m sure we’re making mistakes, but we’re masking, handwashing, keeping kids out of school and online, and trying not to go stir-crazy in all our togetherness. Take Halloween. We’ll be playing Halloween games and holding a scavenger hunt in lieu of trick-or-treating. Family fun. Making an event out of everything (just not an extinction event) is important for us because the kids always have something to look forward to.

All this togetherness has taken a toll on my writing. I’ve produced less than half of my usual number of stories this year. I need alone time to create. After Mom died in January and my dd’s family moved into the house, and then the pandemic forcing everyone into closer quarters 24/7, alone time is something I’m training my brain to find in the midst of kid-chaos. Of course, I wouldn’t trade having family around me for anything, but I really do have to commit to sitting my butt in a chair to write more consistently.

That’s why I’m taking up the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge. It runs from November 1-30. The goal is to write 50,000 words. If you carve that up into a daily wordcount goal, that’s 1667 words a day. Completely doable. I begin tomorrow. So, today, I have to figure out what I’m going to write. I have a title (Preacher), a cover (Two, actually. See below!) and a blurb, but no idea what’s going to happen in the story. Not one clue. But I have today to figure out at least the first scene, and since it’s a Montana Bounty Hunter book, I’ll probably jump right into a takedown because those are the most fun scenes to write.

This month, is also the deadline for submissions for my Cowboys: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. NOVEMBER 15TH AUTHORS! Tell you what—accept the NaNo challenge just long enough to write that 2500-5500-word story! You can do it! So, you know, I’ll have to add reading submissions to my To Do list! Want the rules? Follow this link.

I’m also trying my hardest to cut out some time to improve my art. I love doing it at night after the hustle and bustle of the day. It’s relaxing. And I think I’m learning. This is last night’s piece. I used Nupastels which, for me, is like drawing with crayons. Completely fun and liberating. I love the foreground, the sky? Not so much, This was taken from a photograph from western Ireland.

So, that’s going to be my November—write, write, write, read, art. 🙂

The Poll

My lovely sister, Elle James, gave me two versions of Preacher. I love the one with the scenery beneath the title, but when I ran them both by my Street Team, they preferred the plainer cover. So, help me make up my mind!

 Loading ...

The Contest

Comment on something I’ve written about today—NaNoWriMo, the poll—for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

I’m late posting today. So, I thought I’d just pop in and share the cover for my upcoming story, Preacher.

Actually, this was the first version, but I wasn’t quite happy with it, so I asked for a change. Tell me what you think…

UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
*~*~*

Ready for a new Montana Bounty Hunter agency? It’s already up on pre-order here: Cage. After Brian’s story released (Didn’t get your copy? Order it here: Brian), the agency at Bear Lodge is pretty full up of hunters and their women. I figure that with their success (catching lots of bad guys, the reality show), Fetch Winter, the guy who owns the business, can afford to open another satellite agency. This one will still be in Western Montana, but farther south, close to Yellowstone.  This guy, Cage, is one of Fetch’s new hires, and I’m thinking that some of the hunters from Bear Lodge are going to have to show him the ropes, so you aren’t seeing the last of Reaper and his crew just yet. 🙂

Want to know what Cage’s story is all about? Me, too. I’ve only got this, so far: A former SEAL and MMA fighter, and now, newly minted bounty hunter, has to hunt down his first skip…his ex-wife!

Liberty Ireland gave me the idea of calling the new Montana Town “Dead Horse” — Thank you, Liberty! Now, I’m seeing all kinds of ways of using it. For instance, the local high school football team’s motto will be: “Can’t beat a Dead Horse!”

I have three books to plow through before I write this one, so plenty of time to make notes for fun things to happen to my guy and his underground fight promoter ex-wife. Offer up some ideas, make them as crazy as you like, and you’ll be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Have fun with it. Have them hunting aliens! Just let your imaginations go!

Also, here’s what’s coming next. Two are already available for pre-order. Just click on the covers!

Lawless is Book #5 in my Cowboys on the Edge series. I don’t have it up for pre-order just yet, but that’s going to happen soon. The plan is to have it out by April 28th!

And Hot SEAL, Decoy Bride is part of the SEALs in Paradise series. It releases May 19th!

Cage’s story? I’m shooting for late June!

If you’re not on Facebook, then you will have missed my cover reveal for the next SEALs in Paradise: Hot SEAL, Wedding Edition story! This is the third year I and a group of fabulous authors have written stories in our connected SEALs in Paradise series. If you recall, my previous two entries were:

Cover Reveal!

On May 19th, my third story releases! Here’s the cover!
Isn’t it romantic?

But don’t worry. I haven’t gone completely soft. Here’s what the story’s really about…

A former Navy SEAL is teamed with his nemesis to provide protection for a Greek tycoon’s bridezilla daughter to make sure the bride gets safely to her destination wedding.

Of course, there will be danger, action, plenty of sexy bits shared, and humor. I can’t write a book these days that doesn’t have a bit of humor, and as much as I detest wedding stories (I know, what romance author doesn’t love to write them?), I won’t be able to resist imbuing my heroine with my wedding-allergy. However, I do promise to deliver all the feelz!

So, you know you have to get this book lined up for download, right? You don’t want to forget all about it come May 19, 2020!

So, pre-order it now!

AMZ: https://amzn.to/36Ks291
APPLE: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1497210586
BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-decoy-bride-delilah-devlin/1136286286
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-decoy-bride

Here’s the rest of the Wedding Edition stories…

While you’re ordering mine, you might also want to check out the other authors’ stories in the Wedding Edition series…

Hot SEAL, Bachelor Party by Elle James
Amazon: http://bit.ly/BPHSBPAMZ
iBooks: http://bit.ly/BPHSBPAPPLE
Nook: http://bit.ly/BPHSBPNOOK
Kobo: http://bit.ly/BPHSBPKOBO

Hot SEAL, Decoy Bride by Delilah Devlin
Amazon: https://amzn.to/36Ks291
APPLE: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1497210586
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-decoy-bride-delilah-devlin/1136286286
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-decoy-bride

Hot SEAL, Runaway Bride by Cat Johnson
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hot-SEAL-Runaway-Bride-Romantic-ebook/dp/B07XB3J3QJ/
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hot-seal-runaway-bride/id1462469622
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-runaway-bride-cat-johnson/1132250756?ean=2940161402375
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-runaway-bride

Hot SEAL, Cold Feet by Becca Jameson
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084D76SXM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i31
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-cold-feet
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-cold-feet-becca-jameson/1136295939?ean=2940163059751
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hot-seal-cold-feet/id1497397358

Hot SEAL, Best Man by Parker Kincade
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2uTjL5m
Apple: https://smarturl.it/HSBMAPPLE
Barnes & Noble: https://smarturl.it/HSBMBN
Kobo: https://smarturl.it/HSBMKOBO

Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor by Cynthia D’Alba
Amazon: https://amzn.to/37L3U7B
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-confirmed-bachelor
books2read.com: https://books2read.com/u/bpOKgk (THIS ONE LINKS TO ALL OF THEM)
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940163031887
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hot-seal-confirmed-bachelor/id1497356729

Hot SEAL, Taking the Plunge by Teresa Reasor
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3b0zv7i
Apple: https://apple.co/2UiSZxV
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2UgX0TR
B and N: http://bit.ly/2RPwteo

Hot SEAL, Undercover Groom by MaryAnn Jordan
Amazon: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSAmazon
Apple: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSApple
Kobo: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSKobo
Nook: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSNook

UPDATE: The winner is…Karen!
*~*~*

Yes, I’m late posting! I’ve had my head down for the last few days, trying my best to finish up a novelette that’s supposed to release next Tuesday! I’ll type THE END on Sunday! The story lives in my sister’s Brotherhood Protectors world as well as being a Montana Bounty Hunter story. Also, this is the third time this couple has been the center of their own story. If you want to catch up on what Jamie and Sky have been up to, grab your copies of the books below. They aren’t long—novelette length, really. Meant to be gobbled in a single evening.

Jamie & Sky’s Romantic Journey

You first met them in Big Sky SEAL, which was a crossover between the Brotherhood Protectors world and my Uncharted SEALs series and introduced the Montana Bounty Hunters. Complicated, enough? Not really. It’s a sexy, funny story and you also get your first taste of Reaper, who is my favorite MBH character!

A former military police dog handler, Jamie Burke, along with her former bomb dog Tessa, are still trying to adjust to civilian life. With a jaded, testy personality, Jamie has few friends. Now, a bounty hunter, she’s tasked to help federal and local law enforcement search for an escaped terrorist in the Crazy Mountains of Montana.

Former SEAL, Sky Reynolds can’t believe Jamie Burke is part of the task force. The last time he saw her was in Afghanistan. Back then, he’d thought he never stood a chance with the pretty, ballsy blonde, sure she had someone waiting for her back home. But here she was, still single, still prickly as hell. Assigned to stick close to her and her dog Tessa during the hunt, he’ll use the situation to get close. This time, he’s not letting her slip away.

When Jamie’s captured by the terrorist, it’s up to Sky, his fellow SEALs and her motley crew of bounty hunters to save her…

Get your copy here!
And hey, if you are a KU subscriber, you can read it for free!

Then there was…Head Over SEAL, which was another Uncharted SEALs story.

*~*~*

Happy Ever After for a SEAL and a bounty hunter requires true dedication…

A former military dog handler, now Montana bounty hunter, Jamie Burke’s still trying to adjust to life with a live-in boyfriend. With a testy personality, Jamie’s circle of friends is very small, and includes one very loyal canine best friend. Which is how she likes it. She also likes uncomplicated, but her feelings for her boyfriend, Sky Reynolds, are anything but simple.

With ex-SEAL Sky away on a weeks-long mission, she jumps at the chance to work with the Charter Group again, happy to do anything to keep her too busy to worry about him. She heads to Mexico with her dog Tessa to be part of a team working to discover the whereabouts of a cache of weapons stolen from the Army. She’s thrilled when Sky meets her at the airport.

However, Sky’s not happy Jamie’s in the middle of this op. Having nearly lost her months before, he’s going to stick close. Not a tough job it turns out, since they’re staking out a beachside mansion from the mansion next door. Things heat up as they reconnect, but Jamie and Sky both worry about their future, until a cartel arms dealer arrives and bigger worries mount…

Get your copy here!

Finally, we get to see Jamie and Sky tie the knot in Big Sky Wedding, which is coming this Tuesday! Drool over the cover, but you’ll have to wait until then to learn more!

Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon card, tell me one thing you have to do before you can sit down to read (or re-read) the first two stories in Sky and Jamie’s little mini-series!!

So, now that I’m caught up, blog-wise (check yesterday’s post!), I’m taking a deep breath and moving forward to talk about what happened in July and give you a view into what’s coming (hopefully) in August. Bear with me!

My Awesome-Sauce July!

July was the month I got my writing mojo back. Since the start of the year, I struggled. My dad’s health was failing, and then he passed. I actually, for the first time, began to wonder if my nearly 200 published stories were going to be it, because I found way too many excuses NOT to write. And every time I did sit my butt in the chair and poise my fingers over the keyboard, every word that popped into my head was total shit. Sorry for my French! And now, I apologize to all French people for inferring that the French language is filled with cusswords. Who made up that stupid phrase anyway?

Anyway, things turned a corner for me in July. I think it was because I got out of my mole hole of an office (it’s in the basement, no windows, thus “mole hole”). For a week in July, I attended a writer’s retreat with some writer friends and my sister, and I blew out a book in 4-1/2 days! It was just there every time I sat. I made myself squirm over the sexy bits and laugh (a lot) over the humor. I knew I was back!

The result was Hot SEAL, New Orleans Nights, which released on July 14th!

Get your copy here!

Another thing that hung like a cloud over me since last Fall was being in KDP jail. Meaning, I couldn’t put stories on pre-order in Kindle. I failed to meet a deadline while my dad was ailing, so Amazon removed the privilege, which REALLY bummed me out. First, I need solid deadlines, or I find it really hard to motivate myself to produce. Also, with pre-orders, I tend to make more sales, so I really got hit hard in the pocket book.

When I returned from the retreat, where I was super-pumped with my success, I shot off a message to Amazon to ask them what specific date I was getting out of jail, because I wanted to make some plans, and they wrote me back and said they were doing me favor. THEY LET ME OUT OF JAIL! You have no idea how happy I was. I felt as happy as the first time I sold a book to a publisher, which to a writer, is like every Christmas ever, all rolled into one joyous moment.

So, of course, I set myself a deadline. Quincy, my next Montana Bounty Hunter story, is up for pre-order now! So, if you want to make me even happier and inspired to keep working hard toward that release, go ahead and put the book on pre-order!

Pre-order now!

I was ready to dive into writing again, but I had multiple editing jobs lined up in a row and two teenagers to corral for two weeks (read yesterday’s blog to see what that’s been like), but I rolled up my sleeves and went to work finishing the editing jobs all up. I have more deadlines coming, but not so many that they will keep me from writing my own new words, so I’m feeling pretty good about where I am this last day of July!

And, if you didn’t read yesterday’s blog, I had another new release, yesterday, the prequel short story to introduce you to my sexy man, Quincy!

You know you want it. Get your copy here!

What’s coming in August!

Just a few of hints…

This is what I’m working on now! Do you think you’ll like it?