I was hoping to announce the release this morning, but KDP was being a butt. But better late than never! The Triplehorn Brand stories are now available in one volume—it’s a money-saver! Plus, those of you who’ve asked me to put the stories in print can now purchase it!

If you love second-chance stories, sexy Texas cowboys, and brothers, you’ll love these stories. Follow the title links in the blurb below to read excerpts.

Three brothers, three women from their past… It’s about to get hot in Texas!

Laying Down the Law

A teller implicated in a bank robbery seeks sanctuary from the small-town sweetheart she left behind — who happens to be the new sheriff in town…

In Too Deep

Some things never change. And some things change everything… When a man finds the one woman he could never forget, he realizes she’s been hiding a secret for years.

A Long Hot Summer

When two lonely hearts collide, age becomes just a number… A shameful indiscretion in their past keeps two lovers apart, but now, he’s waited long enough for her to get over being ashamed of their shared past. He’s old enough to know what he wants, and he wants her.

Order the eBook!
Order THB in print!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beth!
*~*~*

I can’t wait to share the story I just finished writing!

It’s one of those projects of the heart that writers seldom get to do. I’d put it on my schedule so many times, but knowing what actually sells had me pushing it aside year after year. This year, I used my determination to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge to finish the darn story.

I hope you’ll read it. It was soooo much fun to write, and it made me cry at the end. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy, just click on the cover! It’s a cute cover, right?

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me which of these LGD story elements I listed for the puzzle intrigues you!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

As an author, I get asked this often.

I’m lucky. Ideas come easily to me.

I’m the person to come to if you want to bounce ideas.

It is also a problem because it never fails when I’m knee-deep into the first draft of a new book. Something pops into my head. It’s hard not to pursue the new and shiny. However, I’ve learned over the years that the good ideas stick.

I’m nosey.

I’m an only child who grew up in a rural area, so when visiting bigger families, I tried to absorb everything that went on. People tend to tell a stranger their secrets. I use what I’ve overheard in my books, You Always and Greyson.

Placement

This past summer, I spent time in airports, and they are a treasure trove of information. I admit to listening to one-sided phone calls and changing seats to overhear a family tiff. My book, Kaydee, was based on a couple’s discussion during dinner at the next table.

TV

I also watch daytime talk shows and judge shows. I am amazed at what people will share with the world. I am an avid fan of The Housewives and other Bravo shows. I know that segments are scripted or exaggerated. The side-eye moments shared in the bottom corner of the frame, or an opinion muttered spark my creativity. My upcoming release, Nothing Permanent, was based on a Steve Wilkos episode.

Magnet

I also attract the crazy and weird. I will attract somebody if you leave me sitting on the sofa in a hotel lobby for five minutes. I’ve heard about cheating exes, an alien abduction, and roommates who haven’t showered for five days. A psychic told me it was because I’m an empath and a Leo—I attract people who need understanding and a protector.

Song lyrics or a line of dialogue

I wrote an entire book based on a song I heard while driving home from a nail appointment. I kept circling the block until I plotted the book You Only.

I’ve also heard a declaration and made up a story. Things click, and off I go. That is how my book- Best came to be.

Dreams

I don’t like being a cliché, but it is true. I have lifelike dreams. I dream in color, can feel textures, and smell scents. I’ll wake up and know that I have a book. Sometimes, I dream several nights about the same subject.

My books, See Me, Better, and the upcoming Me, You & the Moon, came from dreams.

Go With It

I think that you must be open to the new and different. Sticking with what you know and are comfortable with might not spark your creativity. I took the challenge of writing a book with no on-page sex or cussing. It was not easy, but I did it. Check out Cut to the Chase, Here’s the Rub, and the upcoming Nothing Permanent.

I trust that my brain will come up with new ideas or put things together differently. That makes every day a new adventure.

For a $10 Amazon Gift Card, share what sparks your creativity.
The winner will be picked at random and contacted via e-mail.

To learn more about me and my books, visit: https://www.readmelaniejayne.com or https://www.facebook.com/MelanieJayneAuthor/

Yaelle

I am on the verge of losing everything, with nothing left to do… but let go.

Moving to Wolfsbane was a mistake. Being here has opened the world to me and my daughter, Addie. Yet instead of being thrilled that we finally found peace, I expect the worst every day.

My mate is patient and loving. But I know he wants more than I can physically offer. The therapist assures me I am making headway. Still, I am painfully aware of my shortcomings. How strong can our mate bond be if we have never been able to consummate our union? Try as I might, I can’t escape the nightmare of my time in the lab.

On top of that, the Markov brothers want to involve the Witches Council with Addie’s plight. As much as this sets my nerves on edge, I’m overruled. Matters worsen when the arrival of a member of their coven awakens horrors from my past, I’ve spent years trying to bury.

Fearing my very existence is holding back everyone I hold dear; I make the choice to banish myself and give them a chance at true happiness. Heartbroken and alone, I learn the ghosts of my past are closing in fast. Will they finish what they started in the lab? Or will the family I pushed away save me from myself?

Get your copy here!

It’s Sunday. The day I play with my work plans to figure out how to get everything done that has to be done this week. But first, I pull a card…

This is one I’ve never pulled before in any spread. Let’s have a look at the Queen of Swords.

When I look at the card, I shiver. The setting is barren, with snow-covered mountains in the background, so you know it’s cold. She wears a crown, so she’s some queen or privileged princess. Her expression is hard and cold. She holds a silver sword in one hand and a silver urn in the other, from which she’s letting water spill on the ground.

I’m not sure who she represents, but I’ll take a quick peek inside The Mythic Tarot to find out.

I remember her. Not her name, but the story! This Atalanta. She’s the daughter of a king who was so disappointed she was a girl, he set her out in the cold wilderness to die. However, the goddess Artemis took pity and sent a she-bear to the rescue. The bear suckled her and kept her warm. She then grew up surrounded by a group of hunters who taught her to hunt and fight. When she grew into adulthood, she met her father. Only after she’d proven her worth as a warrior did he warm up to her, but of course, he still wanted a male heir, so he decided he’d find a prince to marry her. Atalanta wasn’t so keen on the idea, so she told her father she’d marry a prince if he could beat her in a foot race. If the prince lost, he would be killed. Many princes died trying to win her hand, until one prince met her and fell in love with her and asked the goddess of love, Aphrodite, for some help. She gave him three golden apples and instructions to drop them one at a time during the race to distract her. He won. They were married, but alas, they were doomed. Melanion, her husband, chose to lie with her in a place Zeus considered his own. Zeus turned them both into lions, which was awful, because Greeks believed lions only mated with leopards, so they were forever kept apart.

So, a haughty princess spilling her water on barren land… What does it mean? I think the water represents something squandered—like time or love. She’s holding the sword to assert her independence and protect it. What does that mean to me?  The book says I may be expecting perfection in myself, and while I do that, I may lose something. (I’m thinking time or some emotional gift). Ha! I get it. This week, maybe today, I’ll finish Little Green Dreams. I may be tempted to go over and over it to make it perfect, while I have my family here at home, enjoying the holiday. I’m guessing I should put it aside and enjoy being with them.

Open Contests

1. Flashback: Strokes (Contest–3 Winners!) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
2. Gabbi Black: Those Pesky Side Characters (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Genevive Chamblee: Ways to Give Thanks (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
4. Let’s celebrate Veterans Day! Plus, a Puzzle (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. 1st Annual Silly Sayings Day (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Word Search: World Pickle Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Gabbi Grey: What I love about the Best Friend’s Brother Trope (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Why LITTLE GREEN DREAMS? (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! — Thanksgiving’s Almost Here! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Wendy Vest!
*~*~*

My daughter and I made the shopping list last night. She cooks the entire dinner every year all by herself, and she looks forward to it every year. I can’t imagine liking the prep. She even has a To Do list that tells her when to start what, with notes about how to make everything. She refines it every year. And the dinner is always amazing!

We have the turkey (we always get a 12 or 13-pounder because we hate having more than a day or two of leftovers). Then there’s creamed potatoes, mac ‘n’ cheese, pea (instead of green beans) casserole, bread dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, a tray of olives, pickles, etc., and I can’t remember what else. Oh yeah, pies (pumpkin, chocolate, key lime or lemon meringue)!

So, to celebrate the prep and the “preppers,” solve the puzzle and tell me what your favorite Thanksgiving dishes are for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!  

Pre-order here!

My daughter found the image, and I love it! And yes, it doesn’t look like any other cover I have, and I guess that’s the point. This story isn’t about an ex-military man keen to protect a woman. It’s about a reporter going after a story, who happens to fall for a small-town girl who’s trying to protect her crazy mother. And it’s a setting and a legend I’m well-familiar with while I’m poking fun at it and twisting it all out of recognition. So, while you might think this cover makes it look like it’s out of the 1950s or 60s, it’s quirky enough to suit the story.

So, tell me, does this cover catch your eye?

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

I’m busy working on a book this NaNoWriMo! It’s one I’ve been wanting to write for forever. Seriously. I shaped the opening of the story back in 2002—twenty-one years ago, and those first chapters were sent to many, many writer’s contests, and gained awards, but something happened that pushed this project to the back of the line—I got published. And then I got published again, and again, and again.

I learned what I could write that would sell, and every time I saw Little Green Dreams in my “Future Projects” folder, I’d sigh because I knew (know) it would be a hard sale.

So, why now? I love this story for a whole lot of reasons I’ll try to explain here.

#1 — It’s the only story I’ve set in Arkansas, where I currently live, and where I spent my high school and college years.

#2 — My father, who passed in 2019, led me down the train tracks in his hometown of Gurdon, Arkansas, so that I could get “the lay of the land” when I wrote about the Gurdon Light. He was delighted I thought the legend was “worthy” of a book.

#3 — Many of the characters I write about in the story are modelled after real people I’ve met. If you read the story, you may think I’ve written some over-the-top characters, but yes, they’re that funny and odd.

#4 — It’s a story that’s hard to pin into one genre. It’s contemporary, a romantic comedy, and it’s both a sci-fi and paranormal tale. So, there!

Despite all the reasons I know I should concentrate on something you’ll be eager to read, I’m stubbornly, finally, writing this story—a strange little homage to my roots and my dad.

Little Green Dreams

Still no official cover, but I’m working on it!

Sometimes, Joe Franchetti hates his job at the National Informer, especially when he’s sent on assignment to cover a story involving aliens from another world. When he is sent to investigate the story of a woman in rural Arkansas who claims her husband was abducted by aliens, he vows to debunk her story, no matter how much the truth might hurt her attractive daughter.

Sandra Billingsley has a problem. Her stepfather is missing, and her mother is the prime suspect in his disappearance. In addition to protecting her eccentric mother from a possible murder investigation, now she must contend with a national tabloid reporter set on exposing her mother as a murderess or a madwoman.

While the investigation turns up more suspects and the local townspeople scheme to profit from the “alien invasion”, Joe and Sandra work together to unravel the mystery, knowing their attraction is doomed to end in pain when the truth is revealed.

Pre-order your copy now!
Read an excerpt here!

Contest

I’m a huge fan of Sci-Fi movies and TV. My favorites include ALL THE STAR TREKS, Arrival, Aliens, Farscape, and Firefly.

For a chance to win your choice of story from among my backlisted books, tell me which science fictions movies or television shows you would recommend!