Kaylea Cross's Blog, page 10

Fall Recap

It's been forever since I posted here, so I'll do a quick rundown of what I've been up to for the last while.

A couple of weeks ago we pulled a big surprise on our kids. We drove them to the airport and announced we were going to Disneyland for a week. They were thrilled, except my big guy (8) was really ill with a high fever and sore throat the day we traveled, and it was too late to cancel all our reservations so he had to tough it out. He was a trooper, but a few days into the trip he broke out in a weird blistery rash that we later found out was hand, foot and mouth disease. Yeah.

The rest of the family was spared, but then I got sick with a really awful cold and passed it onto my little guy (6). Running fevers and going through boxes of Kleenex is not my idea of a good time and certainly put a damper on our trip, especially considering the crowds and the temperatures being in the mid to upper nineties. The best part of the trip was the night before we came home, when we were mostly on the mend and attended Mickey's Halloween Party. The kids dressed up in costume and actually got to trick-or-treat in the Magic Kingdom that night. Expensive, but worth it to see their excited smiles.

Since returning home I've started the draft of my next book, received my gorgeous cover for my Civil War romance I'm self-publishing next year (Not sharing it yet! I'm turning it into a freelance editor in February for a thorough critique), and finished most of a Grinch Who Stole Christmas quilt. Since we're Christmas fanatics around here, we pull out the decorations the weekend following Halloween, which of course is this coming weekend.

The news reports coming in about the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy are unreal. If you live on the eastern seaboard, I hope you're safe!

Counting My Blessings

It's the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada and I have a lot to be thankful for. On Saturday night we hosted 18 people for dinner (including 7 children--yes, it was loud!), yesterday was my 12th wedding anniversary, and today we're having my side of the family's dinner at my aunt's house. I love turkey dinner :)

The other great thing about this weekend is that I finished the draft of Jackson and Maya's book! It's not due for a long time but this gives me a chance to put it away for a while and revisit it with fresh eyes when I dig into it before sending it to my editor. We're leaving next weekend on a surprise trip to Disneyland with the boys, so it'll be nice not to worry about deadlines or anything for a while.

Do you remember that old Civil War manuscript I wrote a long time ago? I've decided to get out my red pen and take another crack at it. I plan to self publish it next year, maybe late spring. I know it's really different from my other books but I love the story and want to put it out there.

In the meantime, what the heck should I write now???

And, Katie Reus has yet another new release in her Red Stone Security series. Fatal Deception is book 3 in this hot romantic suspense series, and it's only $2.99. This story is dark and edgy and I love the chemistry between the hero and heroine.

Blurb: Mara Caldwell is a woman with a dark past. She made a clean break from her old life, never imagining her secrets could come back to haunt her. When an old enemy surfaces and threatens the world she’s created for herself Mara is prepared to give up everything, including the husband she loves if it will keep him safe.

Harrison knew his wife had secrets when he married her, but when he discovers the truth, it’s far worse than he imagined. He's determined to protect her from a deadly enemy who wants to destroy her, but her lack of faith in him infuriates and wounds him. They must work together to keep her safe, but the man they're up against seeks to destroy everything they've built together. Including their lives.

Plugging Away

This past weekend I went through copy edits and finalized Tactical Strike, so now it's off to the magical land of production for it's March release. I've also done up a glossary of military terms that I hope the Carina Press team will include in the book, so all those acronyms don't confuse my readers. It's written in Ryan's POV, so his personality shines through in the descriptions.

I'm also about two-thirds through the first draft of Maya and Jackson's story and starting to think about what I want to write next. I'd really like to finish up the paranormal trilogy I started with Darkest Caress, but we'll see.

Soccer season started this past weekend as well. My 6 year old lost his first tooth, so he was super excited about that. More so than about his soccer game :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the transition into fall. Here in Vancouver we've had an unusually dry August and September, with 5% of our normal rainfall. We haven't had any real rainfall since early August, and it's very weird. I keep waiting for the fall rains to set in so I can dig out my boots and sweaters. I love the fall storms! Uh, except for when I have to stand out in the wind and rain for soccer.

In the Swing of Things

School's back in session now, so we're all getting into the old routine around here. So far the transition has been relatively painless, and soon there'll be soccer schedules added into the mix.

Today  is the first day in weeks that I don't have either kids to entertain or edits to get done, so I'm hoping to get most of a chapter written today on Maya and Jackson's book. Edits for Tactical Strike are in the final phase now, and I've decided I really do like the story after all. That's always a good thing.

In book release news, Katie Reus has yet another book out this week (she writes so fast it floors me), this one the second full length novel in her paranormal shifter romance Moon Shifter series. Primal Possession hit the shelves on Tuesday and has already garnered rave reviews.

Blurb: To protect her, he will unleash the beast within…

As his pack’s second-in-command, lupine shifter Liam Armstrong gives orders and takes what he wants—until he meets red-headed, blue-eyed December McIntyre. Liam knows the human beauty is his intended mate the moment he sees her, but December is far too strong-willed to accept his protection.

December, whose brother is the town sheriff, has every reason to mistrust shifters after one killed her youngest sibling. But the forceful and handsome Liam has gotten under her skin in a way she hadn’t thought possible, and the desire she feels for him is almost too much to bear.

When a radical hate group targets all humans known to sympathize with paranormal beings, December is attacked in her bookstore. Reluctantly, she turns to the only one who can help her: Liam. And he is going to take her to places within herself she never knew existed.

Happy reading!

Kaylea :)

Summer's End

Hard to believe it's almost September and my boys will be in school again next week. That's life, right? It flies past us at breakneck speed.

I received edits for Tactical Strike on Friday and they're not half as heavy as I feared they would be. I love it when that happens! My editor even liked and agreed we should keep a scene near the end where Ryan meets Candace's, uh...unconventional grandmother. It's actually a family anecdote about my grandmother, and ever word of it is true. When you'll read it you'll wonder if I'm lying, but I promise you I'm not. She was a character in life, and now I've made her one for real. I always promised to immortalize her.

My dad and stepmom are currently on a three month vacation to all the countries ending with "stan", including the "safe" parts of Afghanistan. Why would anyone want to do that, you ask? They're very adventurous. I'm not. I get my adventure by writing about what's going on in that corner of the world.

O_o

Hope my heroes don't think less of me for staying home. *g*

Tactical Strike is set to release sometime next March. I'll let you know when I receive the official release date. I'm about a third of the way through the draft of Jackson and Maya's story. It's pretty wrenching so far.

I hope you all had a fabulous summer. Any really great summer experiences you'd like to share with me?

Hitting A Wall

I'm scheduled to being edits on Tactical Strike (Ace and Ryan's book) next week, and have frantically been trying to verify little details about things in the story before I receive the manuscript back from my editor.

I have a couple of trusted sources I always turn to, including a retired PJ who has been incredibly sweet and patient with me regarding all the copious questions I send him. He's never condescending or disrespectful even though he knows that all this info is for a romance novel. I love that guy.

Because my characters belong to AFSOC, certain details are murky or unknown for security's sake, and I can't seem to find the information I'm looking for. And there's a reason for that.

Well. In my desperation to tease out last little bits and pieces, I tracked down a gunship crew chief group on Facebook and posted a couple of questions. Turns out that wasn't my brightest idea ever.

In hindsight the questions I asked were of a sensitive nature, and I never should have posted them in such a public forum. Long story short, I was shot down in short order. Hard. In trying to make my story as accurate as I possibly can, I inadvertently offended and pissed off the very people I admire so much and want to spotlight in my books.

I posted an apology (don't you just love Canadians?) and most of them seemed to accept it, but told me not to post any more retarded questions.

Yeah. Lesson learned.

So, in the end my books will be as accurate as I can make them, but please know they won't be perfect in their detail. Hope you'll still get a good sense of what these AFSOC folks do out there in harm's way.

Bagram Books

Summer's in full swing here, and it's been a busy one so far. The boys were in day camp last week and will be again next week, so I'm managing to carve out some time at the keyboard. Since I'm not a very fast writer, these "days off" from mommy duty have been a godsend and so far I'm ahead of schedule on my deadlines.

My editor is due to send developmental edits for Ace and Ryan's story soon, and I've just sent her the proposal (synopsis and first three chapters) of Maya and Jackson's book.

This morning I heard from Carina Press about the titles for the books, and it looks like they're going to be called Tactical Strike (Ace and Ryan's book), and Lethal Pursuit (Maya and Jackson's story). Woot! No word on release dates yet, but that's a long ways off yet. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy your summer!

Bagram Special Ops Series and Giveaway

I'm over at the Ex Libre blog today, talking about my Bagram Special Ops series and giving away a copy of Deadly Descent to one commenter. Mmm, all those yummy AFSOC heroes...

Stop by and say hello for a chance to win!

Beware: Writer at Work

I'm almost finished with revisions on Danger Close (currently in the process of being retitled). Right now I'm picking at the details and trying to work everything into the story smoothly. I want to show/teach my readers about what my characters do, but without making them feel like they're taking a class. Lol. I also started plotting out Maya and Jackson's story. It's gonna be a nail biter!

Saw this picture today and thought it was way too awesome not to share.
Uh, and not necessarily in a nice way, either. You've been warned ;).

Baby Humpback

Kind of a sad day here. You all know how much I love whales, yes? And in particular humpbacks? I even went out on a whale watching tour in Kauai in hopes that I would catch a glimpse of one in the wild. Just before we turned back toward the harbor at sunset, we saw a mother and her calf surface, then their humps and flukes as they dove again. It was magical and was a big highlight of the trip for me.

Well, this morning, we had a something highly unusual happen. Here on the west coast we get gray whales and orcas (killer whales) in our waters. This morning, however, a lone baby humpback washed up on shore close to us, and died. This poor baby got tangled in a fishing net far to the west of us while he swam north toward Alaska with his mother. The calf's fluke and body were covered in deep lacerations from the nets. It was very sad. My aunt and I took the boys down to see it, not realizing it had already died. The boys had brought their pails to pour water over the baby to keep its skin from drying out. We were all very sad to hear it had passed away.
 Crowds of people were gathered around it, and a few people had placed flowers on its head. I hate to think of it suffering such a horrific death, frightened and far away from its mother, who must have stayed with it as long as possible. When the mothers give birth down in Hawaii and other tropical places, they don't feed for months, starving while the baby nurses and gains enough strength to make the trek to either Alaska or the Antarctic, where the mother can feed again. My heart breaks for them both. 

I was glad to see my boys were deeply touched by this animal's plight. I make them watch National Geographic shows all the time, especially oceanography or anything to do with whales. Big weasel came out with me on the catamaran in Kauai to see the humpbacks in the wild, so seeing this calf really hit home for him.