Tonight I’ll be chatting live at Writerspace—at 8 PM ET with the Ellora’s Cave Authors, then at 9 PM ET with the After Midnight Authors! Join me if you can!

If you post a comment today, you’ll be in the running
for a free download of this book!

This excerpt is from the first short story I wrote for publication. Something short, sassy and in first person. It was released by the Wild Rose Press in 2007.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Caught in a sudden thunderstorm on a lonely stretch of Texas highway, I pull into a dingy little diner to wait out the rain, never dreaming the cowboy of my dreams would follow me inside. Now I have a couple of choices, play it coy and safe? Or go for the big brass buckle…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lightning clawed the dark like a crow’s foot, illuminating thick thunderheads that glowed yellow-green and ominous. The color of the sky before a tornado twisted its nasty tail.

Glad to be out of the rain and safe from the jagged, streaking light, I shivered against the cool vinyl booth as another flash lashed out like the end of a whip, lighting the horizon so intensely that for a moment the darkened parking lot was bright as high noon.

That was when I saw the large pickup roll in, pulling a horse trailer. It ground to a halt beside the diner’s plateglass window. The driver wasn’t going to bother trying to park it in the flooded lot.

I heard the muffled slam of the truck door, but the end of the lightning strike flickered out, plunging the parking lot back into darkness. The driver would be soaked before he even hit the door. Only twelve feet, but the rain was coming down in sheets. I’d been lucky, arriving before the worst of the storm struck. Mostly dry, I’d peered through the window at the deepening night, waiting for a lull. I’d read the clouds as well as any West Texas native and headed to the nearest shelter. The tiny diner with its 70’s style brick façade, split vinyl bench seats, and peeling, laminated counter tops was a welcome haven. The attached string of motel rooms was part of Plan B if the storm didn’t wane before midnight.

My arrival had been nearly forty minutes ago. Except for a bored waitress smoking a cigarette at a far table, I was the only occupant. Until now.

The door squeaked open, and a cowboy strode inside. He pulled off his cream-colored hat and shook dark brown hair like a dog, sending droplets of water lashing against the glass door. His white T-shirt, soaked almost to transparency, clung to the hills and hollows of sharply defined muscles along his chest and abdomen.

Setting his cowboy hat on the table, he sank into a booth near the door, his expression a study in irritation. Dark brows drawn in a fierce frown, his lips crimped in a thin line.

The man needed a reason to smile.
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Not the most productive week ever. I did manage to write the last three chapters of what was supposed to be a quickie for EC, but is now nearly a novella. I still have 1000 words to add during final revision. I started a short story, but I’m not feeling it, so I need to proceed with caution on that one. I don’t want to get too far along, then decide to scrap it. I’ve done some thinking about my big book and made some notes for a couple of scenes, but I stayed away from it last week. This week is when I hunker down and begin the long haul to the end.

So this week, I will finish the quickie-novella. I have to do first round edits on Fun With Dick and Jayne for my editor—she wanted me to work on the transtion leading into the last scene of the book. The Plotting Bootcamp winds down, so my online life will uncomplicate. But most of all, I want 50 pages of the big book under my belt before I enter February. So if you see me slacking off, kick my ass!

This week on the blog, I want to come back with blurbs for Bad Moon Rising for you to vote on what happens in the next chapter. I’ll do a flashback excerpt and give someone a chance to win the book. And I really should pull an excerpt from something you haven’t seen yet to give you a sneak peek. Any preferences?

And just a quick note. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a short story for Samhain’s Valentine free reads series. My story, Love in Bloom, will be available for download on February 7th! Yeah, I know it’s a corny title, but it suits the story—you’ll see!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! ~DD

I have the five-year-old underfoot today. Why do I keep thinking she’s six? She corrected me. I’ll be busy until I unload her later this afternoon, so here’s a question…

If you could experience a sailing adventure/cruise on any river, lake, or ocean in the world, what body of water would you choose for the trip?

I think I’d like to float the Yangtze River. It stretches from Tibet through China and I’ve been dying to see that side of the world. Don’t be shy with your answer. You could choose a rowboat on your grandpa’s pond.
😉

For any writers out there, I’m blogging at Novelists, Inc. today and talking about one of my favorite productivity games, Timed Writing. If you’ve got time, I’d love for you to stop by. Here’s the link: NINC Blog

Yesterday, I finished the rough draft of what was supposed to be a quickie for Ellora’s Cave. Now, I’m only 1000 words away from a novella, so I have to go back through with thoughts of expansion. Shouldn’t be hard. I usually just add to the sex.

Still haven’t heard from Teresa, my “Quick Contest” winner.

Can you say, going, going, gone? 😥

And thanks for the help brainstorming yesterday. You are a wicked, kinky group of ladies. I’ll think about your suggestions and craft them into short blurbs for you to vote on. In the meantime, yesterday’s winner (by random number generator) is…Aimee!

Today’s horoscope. “Helpful is practically your middle name. Improve your karma by lending a hand.” I have the organizer lady coming back today. Shouldn’t she be lending the hand?

My bookshelves have been cleaned, and boxes of my own books consolidated. Sheesh! I have a huge stack of books I don’t need and should give away. So if you help me today, one lucky winner will get her choice of two books from this list:

* Texas Men
* Alluring Tales: Hot Holiday Nights
* Wild, Wild Women of the West 2
* Into the Darkness

And what do you have to do to win? Well, you know I have a lot on my mind with the new book, so I really don’t want to think that hard about what should happen next to poor ole DiDi in Bad Moon Rising (your free serialized story). I want you to tell me what should happen next in the story. It could be something big or small, sexy or not. I’ll take all of your suggestions and think about it, then come back and let you vote. And it might be a good idea for you to read the two chapters of the story first!

The winner (by random number generator) of yesterday’s quick contest is…Teresa W! Teresa—congrats and email me!

My horoscopes are getting wierd. “Like a human magnifying glass, you can see the finest details with your naked eyes.”

Did you notice I made some progress yesterday? Not on the big project, but something. I had so many chores to catch up on when I got back from Omaha, I didn’t think I’d make it to writing pages yesterday. But yay!

Today, I have someone coming in to get me organized. I’m tired of my two filing cabinets looking like they’ve been fragged. And I need someone to organize my many bookshelves. I did start with a plan when I moved in, but now, I can’t find a thing. Doesn’t everyone need a single Viking history/myth row of books? That’s what I want. And maybe she can get my mailings ready to go. I just hope she doesn’t talk to me. She’s a chatterer, and I need to work.

I have a stack of books from Omaha, but my mother scarfed them up. I may offer some slightly used books in a couple of weeks. Oh, not quite true, I have copies of Men in Blue and Masters of Desire, both Aphrodisia titles, and both include stories by my sister’s alter ego, Myla Jackson. So if you comment today, you’re in the running to win them both! Have to make room on my shelves for more books. Who knows what else I’ll throw into the box by the time I mail them.

My horoscope today. No kidding. “You’re a space explorer, setting out into the unknown. Make contact with Houston.”

Anyway, I’m back! Still tired and my butt’s tingly from sitting for hours in a car, but I kind of like tingly, so not so bad. And I have pictures! They’re not as fun as the cruise pics, but you know I have to share. Thanks so much to the ladies who took over my blog while I was gone. Looks like you all had fun! We’ll do that again!

Have to start with this picture. My sis, Elle James, forgot she was wearing her reading glasses and we bumped heads while she held the camera above us. She thinks I deleted this one.

Sis and I left Arkansas on Friday, and headed up north to snow country. A writer’s group in Omaha invited us up to conduct a weekend-long plotting bootcamp. We do them a couple of times a year. They’re exhausting, but also a lot of fun. I like hanging with other authors and helping them put together a plot for a book. Brainstorming is fun so long as the book’s not mine!

The group was a nice mix of newbie-writers and multi-published authors. I won’t mention names to protect their privacy, but I was pleased and a little intimidated going in. That lasted about five seconds once everyone started talking about their stories.

I shot this out the car window as we drove. I don’t see snow that often, so it’s cool to me. That drive, BTW, was 12 hours! I broke it into two legs. 4 to my sister’s, then we drove 8 together. Like I said. Tingly butt.

The Omaha group set everything up in a hotel. Here we are arriving. Had to include this pic because that’s sis’s butt. She’s gonna want to kill me, but she’d have a long drive to do it now.

I don’t have a lot of fun photos because the weekend was cram-packed with work. I took a couple of shots while everyone worked on their lists of story conflicts. This was a rare quiet moment.

The bootcamp class is dynamic, and usually looks more like this. Wish you could see her schnauzer slippers. We kept to sweats and slippers for comfort.

The whole reason I love to do the bootcamps is a chance to hang with my sis and do something we both love.