Kaylea Cross's Blog, page 14

Get Ready To Meet the Heroes of AFSOC

I feel like I've been waiting for this forever, but on Monday Deadly Descent is finally "out" in the world. I'm so excited for you all to meet Air Force Tech Sgt Cam Munro, my delicious PJ hero. I cannot tell you how much I admire and respect these men and what they do.

Blurb: Devon Crawford is an officer; Air Force Pararescueman Cam Munro is enlisted. Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives. Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.

Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can't ignore the feelings she's hidden for so long. Cam's sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she's too afraid of losing him to give in.

When Dev's helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team. What he doesn't know is that the trap is set for him.

This week is nuts for me (in a good way), so here's a list of places and dates where you can find me if you'd like to try and win a copy of Deadly Descent.

Monday, September 5th: Fresh Fiction
Tuesday, September 6th: Carina Press blog, SOS Aloha blog
Wednesday, September 7th: Smexy Books, Writers Gone Wild
Friday, September 9th: Cynthia Eden's blog
Monday, September 12th: Book Lovers Inc.

Whew! That's a lot, huh? Plus both my kids are starting school Tuesday, and I have another set of edits due back by the end of next week.

I hope you'll enjoy Cam and Dev's story. PJs truly are amazing. They live and die by their motto "That Others May Live", and deserve our respect and our gratitude.

Release Day!

Well, it's here. Release day for my alter ego, Callie Croix. Deacon's Touch is the first of a series that one of my editors and I have created, and my second addition to it is called Dillon's Claim. Probably won't be out until next year, but we'll see.

In the meantime, here's the blurb and buy link for Deacon's Touch. I'm also at author CR Moss's blog today, and will give away a copy of the book to a commenter there. Feel free to stop by and say hello!

Have a great weekend!

Blurb: After her own engagement goes to hell, workaholic Jessica Talbot dreads her friend's bachelorette party at a dude ranch in Nowheresville, Texas. But the outlook for the weekend brightens when Deacon Dumen picks her up at the airport. The sexy cowboy awakens every dormant sexual fantasy with nothing more than a friendly smile and a handshake.

Ex-Air Force Pararescueman Deke Dumen doesn't know what to make of the sexy yet reserved brunette who breaks through the walls he built after an injury ended his career and a divorce soured him on relationships. As a guest at his family's ranch Jessie is off limits, but the Dom in him rebels at the restriction, even as he realizes his penchant for control in the bedroom would likely scare the holy hell out of her.

When Jessie shocks Deke by asking for exactly what he's been craving, he's ready to break the rules and introduce her to his own brand of dominance. Her willing surrender rocks them both to the core. But once the weekend's over, they must decide if it was just a wild fling or the start of something more.

Places to Find Me and Win Some Books

So much is happening this week! Here are a few places to "see" me, and my new pen name, Callie Croix , whose first release is this Friday.

First off, some links:
Today I'm at Badass Book Reviews giving away a copy of Cover of Darkness. Authors Pamela Clare and Caridad Pineiro are there giving away prizes also, so come on by and say hello.

At Writers Gone Wild I've "outed" myself as Callie Croix, and I'm giving away a digital copy of my upcoming release, Deacon's Touch (comes out officially this Friday).

Also, Callie has officially been invited to blog at Naughty Author Chicks every other Wednesday, and today there's an interview about me on their site. I'll be alternating weeks between NAC and Writers Gone Wild.

On a less hectic note, here's a picture I just couldn't resist posting:

Isn't it exactly what you picture Sam would say to Ben (No Turning Back) if she walked in and saw this? Lol. I love the cat's unimpressed expression. He looks exactly like my cat, Shiloh (named after a Civil War battle, of course, plus he's Confederate gray).

That's it for now, except to say the initial reviews for Deadly Descent are rolling in, and so far they've been awesome! I hope you all love Dev and Cam's story.

Have a great week!
Kaylea :)

Anne Calhoun's Coming to Writers Gone Wild

I had an awesome weekend, spending Friday at an air show here where I interviewed several hunky pilots and airmen in flight suits, then hubby whisked me away to Seattle on Saturday to the BoSox game. They lost, but Varitek was behind the plate so that made up for a lot :)

I'll post some pics and a write-up about the air show later, but I am so excited to tell you that the incredibly talented Anne Calhoun is coming to Writers Gone Wild this Wednesday, August 17th. I've grilled her about her writing style, her upcoming releases, and she's giving away TWO books from her backlist to the winning commenter. I hope you'll come by to meet her and say hello. And if you haven't read any of her books, you're missing out big time. They're erotic romance, so they're very explicit, but there's such depth of emotion and characterization it astounds me every time I read a new story of hers. All you need to do is read all the glowing reviews on Goodreads and Amazon to see what I'm talking about. This is one scarily talented author!

New Book Contracts!

[image error] I thought this picture was especially appropriate considering the writing slump I've been in recently. However, I'm pleased to announce that Carina Press has offered a contract for the first of a paranormal trilogy I've written. I'm excited about this and hope to strengthen my world building in the book during edits, and with any luck my military romance fans will like it too. Darkest Caress is based on some Lithuanian folklore I learned about during my tour of the Baltic States in 2009, specifically to the idyllic village of Nida on the Curonian Spit. The book will be out sometime next year.

I also received word that same day that The Wild Rose Press wants to contract the second erotic romance I wrote (as Callie Croix) for the Dumen Ranch Series. The first book, Deacon's Touch, will release August 26th, and the second, Dillon's Claim, will probably be out sometime this winter.

It's the August long weekend here in BC, and we've been celebrating with family that have been in town since last weekend. Right now I'm cooking a big dinner for 15 of us: sweet glazed meatloaf (hubby's absolute fave), cream cheese mashed potatoes, spinach salad with fresh fruit and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing, a vegetable medley baked in homemade cheese sauce, and for dessert, a very decadent chocolate mousse layer cake. A totally low cal dinner for their last meal here in Vancouver :) I think a long family walk after dinner is in order, maybe down to the Spirit of the Sea Festival here at the beach to watch the fireworks later on.

Semper Fi

This weekend I went up to B.C.'s wine and lake country (our Okanagan region--the city of Kelowna, specifically) for a mini family reunion. I got to see several uncles and a bunch of my cousins that I rarely get to spend time with, and I had so much fun! One uncle's mother-in-law is married to a former US Marine, and I got to chat with him yesterday morning at the family breakfast we had.

He's from Arkansas, so he's got a charming Southern accent and all the swoon-worthy manners to go with it. Add in his time in the Corps, and I was in love with him in about three seconds. We talked about all sorts of military stuff, including his two tours in Vietnam. Such an interesting man, and a real sweetheart despite everything he's gone through. He and his wife live in Oahu during the winters, so they invited us to come stay with them and show us around all the historical sites. Um, yes please! Being shown around Pearl Harbor and all the other spots with a decorated former Marine? That's my idea of a great time.

He had to leave the Corps suddenly after 21 years of service, having attained the hallowed rank of Master Sergeant. For the latter part of his career, he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, just south of Los Angeles. We passed it on our way from Disneyland to Legoland this past March, and I was so excited to see a Chinook and two Black Hawks flying close to the highway.

So there we go, Kaylea has a new crush :) My hubby just smirked and shook his head at me yesterday at breakfast, but he doesn't seem mad or jealous, lol.

Got home last night and received word that both Cover of Darkness and No Turning Back have finaled in the 2011 Aspen Gold Awards! I'm kind of surprised that those two books seem to be the ones judges like best. I really think Relentless and Absolution are the best books in the series, but perhaps it takes the first few books for readers to understand the characters and story arc enough to make the last two books shine. Hmm. Something to ponder for the future if I ever do another series.

Have any of you out there met military veterans that have made an impression on you? Would love to hear your stories.

Rhys and Luke Goodness

Yesterday I was notified that both Relentless and Absolution are finalists in the 2011 Heart of Excellence Awards! I'm very excited about this, because though they'd never say so, I think Rhys and Luke were feeling a bit left out since all the other guys have won/finaled in other RWA published contests. Winners won't be announced until October, but at least now I've got some sort of accolade to put next to their books on my website.

Looking for some awesome summer reads? You're in luck. For the next two weeks, all of us over at Writers Gone Wild are hosting a contest there. Each weekday we'll be posting about a different sort of hero, so drop by and leave a comment for a chance to win one of two bundles of great prizes from all of us. My post will be up this Wednesday, featuring the courageous military hero and why he's the best kind of hero. To me that's really kind of self explanatory, but I don't mind spelling it out for everyone :)

Finally, I've got my writing alter ego up and running over on Goodreads and Facebook. Just look me up as Callie Croix to learn about my upcoming August and November releases.

Hope you're all having a safe and happy summer!

Reinforcements

Know what those are? Those are reinforcements, but today I'm talking about reinforcements of a different sort. It's week two of summer vacation, and I've finally caved and called in backup. Her name is Meaghan, and she lives across the street. She's coming twice this week for a couple hours in the afternoon to give me time to write. Five to six hours total, which might not sound like a whole lot, but it's a lot more than I've carved out since school finished. Don't get me wrong--I love my kids, and I want to spend lots of time with them this summer, but I also need time to get some writing done for me to feel good about myself. The mom guilt complex is a very tricky business, and it cripples my muse.

The weasels are in swimming lessons and a morning bike camp next week, so I'll take my computer with me and hopefully get something done while I'm waiting for them. With my other pen name dominating most of my writing time right now, I haven't written anything for Kaylea Cross in a long, long while. This means there will most likely be a long gap between Deadly Descent and the next release, but it's not for lack of effort in trying to get another book published!

I didn't make it to RWA Nationals in NYC, and neither Cover of Darkness nor No Turning Back won the awards they were nominated for, but I hear my name was mentioned at least a couple times in public, so that's pretty neat :)

I've got a blog tour set up for early September when Deadly Descent comes out, and it looks like my first release under my alter ego will be out August 26th, followed by another November 21st.

Over at Writers Gone Wild we're having a hero party in the middle of July, and I'll be featuring some very cool guests there as well in August/September, including Roxanne St. Claire, Anne Calhoun and Denise A. Agnew. I'll be sure to post the dates so you can come by and say hello and ask questions.

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy summer so far!

Summer's Here! (Save Me)

Well, the weasels are all done with school, so now I'm anticipating the usual whining of "I'm bored" will start any time now. The weather up here has been just the pits, and I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever get a real summer, but my fingers are crossed.

Dear friends of ours are getting hitched tomorrow, and hubby's the best man, so I'm looking forward to seeing him in his tux (yum!). After the long weekend we'll be footloose and fancy free, with nothing but swimming lessons, bike camp and a couple road trips on the schedule.

Just got word this morning that my first release as Callie Croix (Deacon's Touch) will be at the end of August, and another novella will be out at the end of November (No Holds Barred). I'm actually just finishing up another Callie novella right now, and since she's been hogging all my writing time, I'm beginning to wonder if Kaylea will ever get another release! I'll try to see if I can fix that over the summer.

What's everyone else got planned for the summer? I know my pal Katie Reus will be busy, since she's having a baby in the next week or two (I'm so excited!). I can't remember if I mentioned it here before, but not only does Katie have a shifter trilogy coming out next year with NAL, she just sold two novellas to Harlequin's Nocturne Bites as well. The woman's on fire!

A Rose By Any Other Name

Writing has been...challenging lately, to say the least. I've had my confidence shaken a few times in the past couple weeks, but I'm determined to keep plugging away anyhow. I've been thinking a lot about how my writing career started, back when the goal was simply to GET published. As it turns out, getting a contract is still as tough as it ever was. Sometimes it feels even tougher.

If you've been reading my blog at all, by now you know that I'm a gardener. This picture to the left has a place of honor in my little slice of paradise. Out of Her League was the first book I ever published, and it was under the Crimson Rose imprint of The Wild Rose Press. In honor of receiving the contract, I went out and shopped around for a red rose tree, something special to commemorate my first sale. This rose is called Black Cherry, and its blooms were described as "deep crimson red". And darned if the first blooms didn't appear the week that Out of Her League released, in August of 2008. *cue Twilight music*



Right now I'm plugging away on another short novella requested by one of my Carina Press editors for my other pen name. And when I take a break to recharge my muse throughout the summer, you can be sure I'm going to stop and smell the roses