Hint, hint! Guess where I’m going? Beach… State of origin of the artist who sings my favorite version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”… Still clueless?
Yes, Hawaii!!! Tomorrow morning at O-dark-thirty, I’ll be heading to the airport. I should be in Honolulu sometime mid-afternoon after losing hours due to the time zone changes. I dread the flights. But I’m sooo looking forward to the trip. It’s part business, part pleasure. I’ll sight-see while I’m there, but I’m also participating in a writer’s retreat, along with my sister, Elle James, Susan Stoker, and J. M. Madden. We’re planning on getting some serious words under our belts while we’re there.
Yeah. That’s the plan, anyway. We’ll see whether that beach just outside our window proves too much of a distraction. 🙂
While I’m away, I have writers scheduled to keep you entertained. Be sure to stop in and say hi! And I’ll post photos from Hawaii on my Facebook page!
While I’m away, remember, I have two complete cowboy series I recently released. If you haven’t read them, now’s the time… Just click on the covers!
This morning, I did something I rarely do. I slept in. All the way to 7:00! I felt lazy. Hell, I was lazy last night. I had washed my bedding, but didn’t have the energy to make my bed, so I rolled myself up inside a fuzzy blanket and slept on top of the unmade mattress. How many of you have done that? Does it bother you? I was too tired to care. 🙂
First thing I did this morning was make my bed. Then I headed to my office. I still haven’t had a cup of coffee. Who is this person? smh
Anyway, you know I have a new story out. REAPER’S RIDE is a glimpse inside Reaper and Carly’s lives AFTER their story, REAPER. I have to do that sometimes. Revisit characters I love. The trick is to find some conflict that will arise that they can push through. It helps to have plenty of external conflicts occurring around them, in their case—bad guys to hunt down. In this story, Reaper injures himself in the first exciting scene. And he handles it the way a lot of men do. Uh-huh. He ignores the pain, doesn’t want to talk about it, and goes right back out to hunt another douche, so Carly can’t make a fuss. It’s a fun story. Lots of action—hunting those bad guys and between the sheets. Thought you might like one of those sexy-time excerpts to get your Saturday going. Enjoy!
Sexy excerpt! You have to be old enough to read this!
When the door closed him and Carly inside, he didn’t spare a glance for the room. His gaze was on Carly, who walked nonchalantly forward and dropped their bag on the low bench at the foot of the bed.
With a glance over her shoulder, she said, “How’s that shoulder?”
“Throbs.” But someplace else throbbed harder.
“Oh.” She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “Need help getting out of those clothes?”
“I’ll manage,” he said, keeping his tone low and even.
Her gaze slowly locked with his, and her pupils expanded. Her nostrils flared. But she turned away, keeping her face in profile. “We should probably rest. This day was really long.”
She watched him. He knew it from the prickle that crawled along his skin. And she was aroused. Reaper might be bruised and aching, but in no way would he rest before he fucked her all the way to heaven. Read the rest of this entry »
This has truly been Hell Month for me. Too much on my plate meant too little sleep and too much stress. Here’s the rundown.
I had to prepare for then attend a conference in Nashville—A Weekend with the Authors—which was fun. But I’ve become such a homebody/hermit it’s tough for me to move out of my routine to do something like that these days.
My dear daughter left two days after I returned from conference to go help her dad with his business for 17 days! As we speak, she still has a week to go, but I’ve been “mom” since she left, staying at her house to make sure kids get to school, animals don’t die, and the house stays clean.
I’ve been editing my little fingers off: first, my story A Long, Hot Summer, then 4 more paid gigs—2 of which were long. I’m wrapping up the last two today, so I start the new month without any leftovers.
I finished writing the last three chapters of Dagger, just in time for it’s release. Whew!
I wrote a story for my sister’s Kindle World, The Brotherhood Protectors. I finished up Reaper’s Ride this morning!
And then there were the releases I had to promote. Take a look in case you missed them!
March Releases
The Triplehorn Brand, Book #1
A teller implicated in a bank robbery seeks sanctuary from small-town sweetheart she left behind–who happens to be the new sheriff in town…
A lifetime ago, Zuri Prescott kicked the dirt off her boots and fled her small-time, small town, but lived to regret choosing a glam city life over her high school sweetheart. When she’s framed for a bank robbery, she flees to her home town, seeking refuge with her old flame while she figures out her next steps–only to discover he’s the last man she can confide in.
Sheriff Colt Triplehorn knows trouble when he sees it, especially when it’s one familiar naked trespasser, caught between an angry bull and her underwear. Sure she’s up to her usual no good, he grants her sanctuary at his ranch where he can keep an eye on her while he purges her from his system once and for all. When he realizes she’s involved with a robbery, he has to make a career-compromising choice between following the letter of the law and his heart…
Former Army Ranger, Daniel “Dagger” Renfrew, has been a lot of things—an Army Ranger, a Seattle beat cop, a PI, and now, a bounty hunter, which, so far, suits him just fine. In his job, he doesn’t look for easy takedowns. He likes lying in mud or snow with his binoculars trained on a window, hoping for a glimpse of the dirtbag whose mugshot he carries in his hip pocket. If they’re badasses—all the better. Dagger prefers when assholes try to run, because then he has an excuse to mix it up, get physical, and blow off steam in an all-out brawl—when the situation warrants, of course. One morning when he’s working his side gig, repossessing cars, he discovers the car he’s taking belongs to his old high school sweetheart, and there’s nothing like sweet revenge…
Lacey Jones is furious when she finds a very large, scary dude trying to steal her car. It’s the last straw. She’s lost her job and is about to lose her apartment, so there’s no way in hell she’s letting him take her damn car! When she discovers its Dagger, her old beau, she jumps into the car with him. When she learns how he makes a living, she’s curious…and then determined to become a bounty hunter herself. How hard can it be?
Some things never change. And some things change everything…
Gabe Triplehorn can think of no better getaway from his heavy responsibilities at the ranch than to go back to a time and place where he didn’t have a care in the world. When there was just a campground, a river, and a girl. When he gets to Red Hawk Landing, the campground and the river are still there. He just never expected the girl would still be there, too. Only now she runs the place.
Lena Twohig can think of no better place to raise her young son than the family-owned campground that holds so many memories. Especially, the romance with Gabe that lit up one long-ago summer like a wild electrical storm. Now he’s back with a ranch-hardened body she knows she shouldn’t want so badly.
No amount of lies, or the years that have passed, can tame this tidal wave of passion.
I’m going on a 10-day writers’ retreat in HAWAII!!!!!
I have a book to finish, a short story to write, and hopefully, I’ll get most of the next Montana Bounty Hunter story written at that retreat too!
Sound like enough? Ha! I have an editing gig to wrap up before I leave on my trip.
And I have these releases to promote. Hope you decide to read them both. One is up for pre-order, the other you’ll have to wait to download on release day!
Click on A Long, Hot Summer to pre-order!
Contest
For a chance to win one of my MARCH releases, answer me this:
Do you have big Spring plans for April? Any trips planned for the year?
My life is a little crazy here! I’ve been ensconced for a week at my dd’s house. I’ll be here for another 10 days, while she’s off helping a relative with a sudden upswing in his business. So, I moved in. I have 2 kids, 6 dogs, 5 cats, and 2 guinea pigs to care for.
And I’ve been working really, really hard between getting kids ready for school, doing mountains of laundry and dishes, and general upkeep around the house. I’m writing a sequel to Reaper, which includes plenty of Dagger, too. And I’ve been working on finishing up 5 editing projects by the end of the month. I’m going from the wee hours of the morning until midnight.
How am I doing it? COFFEE! 🙂
What’s bad is I worry about the fact I’m still not unpacked from the conference I attended and my place across the street needs cleaning, but what can you do?
One of the editing projects I’ve been working on is one of my own—A Long, Hot Summer. And it’s coming out next week!
If you’ve been reading the first two stories of The Triplehorn Brand, I will tell you that this story is the sexiest and the sweetest. Enjoy the excerpt!
A Long, Hot Summer
When two lonely hearts collide, age becomes just a number…
Sarah Colby’s marriage was over long ago, but she’s never shed the scars her abusive husband left behind. One shameful indiscretion, an affair with a younger man one long-ago summer haunts her.
Tommy Triplehorn is happy his brothers have settled down and started families of their own, but he’s feeling a little smothered by all that domesticity. Carousing and drinking no longer provide him any thrills, and he thinks he knows the reason why. He’s waited long enough for Sarah Colby to get over being ashamed of their past. He’s old enough to know what he wants, and he wants her.
Tommy Triplehorn sat back in his chair, drinking while trying to ignore the noise from the scratchy jukebox and the jarring laughter from the blonde at the bar, who couldn’t seem to help glancing his way as she whispered with her girlfriend. After the annual Memorial Day picnic at the Triplehorn ranch, he was ready for a celebration of another sort. Looked like the blonde was going to be his date.
Candy Crowe. Tommy blew out a pent-up breath, relaxing as he gave himself permission to be disappointed. Looked like his partner this night was going to be a rarity for him—a repeat. But a quick glance around the room confirmed the only other women here were married or engaged or going out with friends of his, and he never crossed that line. So, Candy Crowe it would be.
He mustered up a smile and lifted his chin, inviting her to join him, and then cringed inwardly as she sauntered toward him, her wide hips swaying too deeply, a predatory gleam in her green eyes. Like a tiger on the prowl.
Or a cougar.
She topped him by ten years, but that didn’t bother him. He’d had older. Age wasn’t a deal breaker. Fact was, he liked women who knew their way around a man’s body. Liked their confidence. Still, his chest hurt a little as she drew nearer, because even though she was blonde not brunette, and even though her figure was as full as a centerfold’s rather than lean and trim, she reminded him of what he’d never have. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s me! Just popping in to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day! Are you doing anything special to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Treating yourself? Staying home to snuggle with your hubby or your cat? I’ll be babysitting the munchkins while my dd and her hubby go to dinner. Best Valentine’s Day ever. 🙂
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This was a really busy day. While family is still gathered, we’ve been going through grandma’s belongings and taking apart the medical setup we had installed for her care. This picture of the 4-year-old sitting on the hospital bed hospice provided pretty much sums up how we all feel.
Just a couple of weeks ago, grandma had a “girl’s night” with my aunt and dd, partaking of a couple of sips of beer—something she loved. She had a great night and bragged the next day to the nurse about her party. That was pretty much the last time we all felt like smiling.
We’re all feeling a little lost and hollow today. Really, the past two years have been about grandma—making sure she had someone to watch out for her and check on her, and then slowly, gradually, taking care of her around the clock. We moved from one phase to the next without any hiccups or hesitation. The last two months were particularly grueling, and we tried not to think about the end, but it was always looming. And she was ready. In her last days, she thanked us, which wasn’t something we expected. She deserved our love and care. She told stories, sometimes all night long, as though she had to get them out before she left. We listened. We held her hand.
I prefer thinking of her like this, with my Grandpa Ole—both so good-looking.
And of her, looking so radiant here…
Likely tomorrow, we’ll finish divvying up her belongings. We all want keepsakes. I asked for a pretty Italian wood-inlay jewelry box. She was given it as a retirement gift after 32 years on the job. She hated it. She barely wore jewelry. Did they even know her? It makes me smile, thinking about her holding that grudge for all those years. I’ll treasure it because I loved all the sides of her personality—even the one that liked to still grouse about that box.
The 4-year-old asked for a T-shirt. She wanted it to sleep in. Said she’d keep it forever. Tonight, she went home and dressed in that shirt that hung to her ankles, put a little blue jean jacket over it, and strutted out in a pair of high heels her cousin gave her for “dress-up”. She asked if she looked pretty. I thought she looked just as dazzling as the woman she wanted to honor.
Well, today was tough. We lost a strong, remarkable woman, my grandmother, Gladys. She was 98 years old, and passed surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.
Yesterday, we prepared for the worst. She stopped eating, talking, and as the day passed, her breathing grew more labored. If you’ve never heard the “death rattle”, you’ve never heard a more terrible sound. I spent the night in her room, with other restless relatives, including my sister Elle James, filtering in and out to see whether she was still with us.
But grandma was waiting for her favorite grandchild, my cousin Brent Archer, to come in from Seattle.
Today, the clouds filled the sky. She left not long after Brent arrived. It rained when the funeral home’s van drove away with her.
The past months have been difficult for everyone, but especially for my dd and I. We cared for her every need, around the clock. I’m fiercely glad we had that time with her.
Love you, Grandma. RIP.
BTW, my mom painted that portrait of her.
