Cate Masters's Blog, page 99

Erin's Rebel for Teaser Tuesday

Here are two from Susan Macatee's wonderful paranormal historical, Erin's Rebel:


He looked exactly like the man in the antique photo she'd found pressed between the pages of her grandmother's Bible. If he were the man in the photo, where was she?
Be sure to check out the rest of the Teaser Tuesday offerings!

A new contract with TWRP!

Yay! I'm so excited that The Wild Rose Press contracted my Christmas fantasy novella, The Ground Rules.  It's a really fun story.
Here's the unofficial blurb: Can a Christmas wish change Alice's life? Her agent's threatening to quit because Alice can't finish the illustrations for a children's book. When Luke, a Watcher Angel, crash lands his Harley on her roof, he's reluctant to take on his new assignment, and to return to earth at Christmas. It reminds him his fiance broke his heart one Christmas Eve, and ruined the holiday for him. Luke brings Alice more than inspiration. He reawakens Alice's heart. Now she has to convince him he's her greatest wish. With a little Christmas magic, she wishes he'll break the Ground Rules and stay.
And an unofficial excerpt:Rankled by her doubt, Luke heaved a sharp breath. "You don't believe me? Do you really need the flash? The special effects?" He hadn't yet mastered those.Her frustration apparently equaled his. "You don't look like… you look more like a rock star.""You were expecting Clarence from It's A Wonderful Life? I don't go in for theatrics. And don't get any ideas about jumping into a freezing river. I don't do cold water rescues either. Or rescues in general." Though Peter would love the reenactment.Sarcasm tainted her tone. "That's not helpful, is it?""You're the one who called. And at the last minute, mind you. Most people put their requests in much earlier." If she had, Peter would undoubtedly have sent someone else, someone more qualified. Though he had to admit, she was quite adorable, especially when angry."I see. If I wanted the best, I should have asked earlier?" She huffed."Hey, I'm here. Not willingly, rest assured. But everyone else had already been dispatched."Nudging the carpet with her toes, she took an unusual interest in the floor. Stepping back, triumph lit her glare. "How, exactly, did I ask?"Heaving a sigh, he straightened to a stand. "If we must go through this futile exercise… you stood by the tree." To appease her, he traveled in a whoosh through a tunnel of prismatic light to stand beside it. "Here. You said you couldn't take one more night alone, too much work, yadda yadda yadda.""Save the sarcasm. It's not very angelic."The label sounded preposterous, he had to admit, especially applied to him. "Have I left anything out?"She pouted. "Yes. Your sensitivity.""Eons ago, babycakes." He wouldn't tell her his fiancé had murdered it.
It will make Christmas even more wonderful this year! 

The Bridge Between

Thanks so much for visiting every week! I really enjoy reading everyone else's snippets. Hope you enjoy reading mine. I'm grateful for your comments!
This snippet's from The Bridge Between, due for release soon -- I think -- from Whiskey Creek Press.

This scene takes place after Jessie shares a very good weekend with Billy. He's struggling with alcoholism, so Jessie's struggling with it as well. Time with Billy can be wonderful, or awful. Jessie doesn't know how if she can strike a balance between the two:

His eyes searched hers. "Jessie…"An odd tension came over her, the sensation that he might be about to say something they both would later regret. She pressed her lips to his, silencing him. Whatever he'd been about to say came out in a moan. His arms tightened around her like a python, nearly too tight, so she had to fight to breathe. If that's what it took to keep Billy on the surface, up from the depths, she surrendered herself to it, gave herself over, held him just as tightly so he would know she needed him to keep her afloat every bit as much.
Yes, I finally have a cover! Yay. You can see it below. I think this will be my last six from  this novel.
Be sure to check out the other Six Sentence Sunday authors - they never disappoint!  And thanks again for stopping by.

Book video for The Bridge Between

I'm hoping The Bridge Between will soon appear on The Whiskey Creek site for sale.
Stay tuned!


Meanwhile, here's the video I completed today. Let me know how you like it!

Another step closer...

Today I finally received a cover for The Bridge Between. Beautiful, isn't it? It captures the loner quality of Billy Black, Jessie's old (and new) love.


My fingers are still crossed that the novel will appear on the Whiskey Creek Press site for sale soon. You'll be the second to know once it does! :)

Author Blog Hop for April 14 - tools of the trade

QUESTION: What software and applications help you write your masterpieces?  What do you wish you could afford?  What do you regret buying?  And what ebook reader do you use?  Why/why not?
Question provided by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Microsoft Word 2007's the word processor I use to write, but I also use Excel to track story-related info such as submissions, contests and giveaways, etc. 
Word's handy for not only first drafts of stories, but I also store research in Word files too. When I find great articles or background info on the web, I cut and paste it into a Word doc to refer back to later.   During edits, most editors use Track Changes to show what suggestions and changes they'd like, and that feature's great for crit partners too.
What do I wish I could afford? Even if I could afford to, I doubt I'd change word processors. I've looked at writing software and haven't felt the need to go that route. At one point, I considered buying a little gadget (can't even remember the name of it - Alpha something? - it was a word processor only) but I'm sure it would have been more a bother than a help as far as converting files and so forth.
Currently, I'm reading ebooks on my computer. I'd love to be able to afford an ereader. Maybe Santa will bring me one this year! :)
Here's a scene from my re-released contemporary, Going with Gravity (written in Word, lol), a 2011 EPIC finalist, now available on Amazon:
She set her portfolio on her seat, lifted her purse from the floor and squeezed into the aisle. Her foot caught on the end of the row, and his hands shot out to steady her. In that moment, his eyes met hers, his mouth opened as if ready to kiss her.Her head swam with a rush and her breath caught in her chest like a thousand butterflies. "Sorry." The only thing she was sorry about was having to let go.The flight attendant's cart rattled in the next aisle.The few feet to the rest room looked like half a mile.  Vodka on a plane — never again. Steeling herself, she walked toward it, grabbed the handle and looked back. Wes stood in the aisle, a crease between his eyebrows, watching her intently. Something wrapped around her beating heart and expanded in her chest, and flowed down her legs. Even as her nerves steadied by the surety of his gaze, her internal compass spun and locked itself on him. Knowing he waited for her sent a thrill through her as she stepped into the tight space.Thank God she wore her short skirt. Her life was complicated enough. Whatever she could simplify, she did.What about Wes? A relationship, on any level, would present definite complications. Maybe the only relationship he wanted was confined to the span of this flight. He probably picked up a girl on every trip. She shouldn't read so much into his attention. His natural charms.She wet a paper towel and touched it to her neck. Stop overanalyzing, she told her reflection.A loud crack sounded on the other side of the plane. An awful metallic crunch. At the same time, the jet tilted slightly toward that side."Oh!" She braced her hands against the wall, afraid to move, afraid of what might be happening on the outside of that door.Other passengers exclaimed the same noise of surprise. No one screamed. A good sign. Maybe it wasn't catastrophic, whatever it was. The pilot's voice came over the intercom, something about the oxygen masks deployed, ask the flight attendance for assistance. Dizziness swept over her.A knock at the door. "Allison. Open up."Wes.She quickly unlatched and opened it.In one fluid motion, he pulled the door open, squeezed inside and locked it again. "Are you all right?" Even with his arms slipped around her waist, there was barely enough room for them both.Thank God he was here. "What's going on? That noise…" She couldn't imagine what had caused it."I don't—"The plane tilted sharply downward and lost altitude fast.Her stomach flipped in tandem. Her palms landed on the wall behind him above his shoulders. The plane's dive placed him beneath her. He widened his stance to brace against the unnatural angle.Panic rattled her nerves. "Oh my God."He commanded, "Allison. Look at me."Her eyes locked on his. Her mouth moved but only babbling nonsense – not even words – streamed forth in a breathless stammer."Allison." His calm, deep voice reached deep inside her. "We will be fine."Her face must've crumpled with mounting hysteria. His hand straddled her chin. "It's not our time to die.""I wish you hadn't used that word." Thinning air deprived her brain of rational thought. Images flew faster than reflections from a disco ball: her life, her family.All she'd done for the past two years was rescue Michelle McCarter from her own bad judgment and indiscretions. Was that all she had to look forward to?His gaze steady on hers, he smoothed her hair from her face. She leaned above him, freefalling into the blue of his iris flecked with black and gold felt like diving in a deep cove and floating to the sun-kissed surface.Going with gravity, she settled onto his chest. With his bottom lip fuller than his top, his mouth gave him a determined look. "In case you're wrong…" Her lips met his, and she unleashed years of repressed desire on him.

Going with Gravity now available on Amazon

I'm excited that my contemporary romance, Going with Gravity, is now available on Amazon! Note that it now has a different cover. I requested the rights back because they expired this year, and have republished it on my own. I'll likely soon make it available on Smashwords also, but for now, it's here on Amazon.  I'm pretty excited that the cover came out so well too. 
Fellow Wild Rose Press author Emma Lai recently reviewed Going with Gravity, and wrote this wonderful review:
Cate Masters packs a lot of action, emotion and romance onto 57 pages. A wonderful writing style paints vivid images for the reader and encourages faster and faster page flipping until before you know it the wild ride is over and you're left wanting to read another one of her stories. 
Thanks so much Emma! I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed writing it.
I also want to thank The Wild Rose Press for first publishing this story. The TWRP publisher and editors are all wonderful to work with, and I look forward to more releases with them. In fact, TWRP will release my short fantasy romance, Romancing the Hero - check back for details!
Read the updated excerpt, reviews and more for Going with Gravity here (I still have to update the trailer though - time's too short these days).
This is the first of several ebooks I'll self-publish after rights revert to me. Watch for more!

The Keepers of Sulbreth and an interview

Here are two from Susan Gourley's wonderful fantasy, The Keepers of Sulbreth:


"Though the elvish folk could easily have defeated those who did them violence, they clung to their peaceful ways and took up no arms in defense. Then the demons came."


Any Tolkien fan will love Susan's series. Check out more about Susan here.


And check out more teasers at the Teaser Tuesday site.

I also hope you'll pop over to join me at Molly Daniels' blog. Molly was kind enough to interview me for the release of my contemporary women's fiction, The Bridge Between. You can read the blurb and excerpt below. Hope to see you there! Thanks!

The Bridge Between

Today, my contemporary women's fiction novel is scheduled to release from Whiskey Creek Press. I'm rather nervously awaiting the cover yet, but here's the blurb and excerpt:
Blurb:Once, Jessie Moore had inexhaustible energy for her art, but after this past year, her art – like her life – feels out of focus. Working at the fledgling Philly Times newspaper with reporter Matt Cleary proves draining after their breakup. When a longtime friend dies of AIDS, Jessie travels to her hometown of Lambertville, NJ. At the funeral, she reconnects with her first love, Billy Black, who becomes a bridge back to the safety of her old life, and also to the origins of her inspiration. But Billy's more lost than Jessie. Too often, he drowns his worries in beer, threatening to drag her down too. After she rekindles their affair, Matt's jealousy confuses her. Before she can truly give herself to anyone, Jessie must learn to be true to herself.
ExcerptShe set her plate on the table, regretting she hadn't turned her car around, that she'd ignored her basest of instincts."Goddammit," he said. "Now I've ruined dinner.""No…""If not dinner, it would have been something else." He tilted his glass into his mouth until it was empty. This time, she didn't argue, but paid closer attention to his voice, his face, his movements. They were all the same as the boy she'd known, yet somehow different, too. More complicated. The nuance in his gestures made for a level of intricacy, like a maze that had to be traversed before she could find the prize at the end – the real Billy, the Billy she'd loved. He was different, more complicated with life experience, but the same in his attitude, the easy way he'd always had. She wondered what did happen to him that made him so hesitant, especially of her – she who had held nothing back from him. Yet here he was, holding everything back from her."Would you like me to leave?" She posed the question honestly, not as a challenge, not to intimidate him into a choice."No." He leaned forward, reached for her hand. "Please."She waited. She had the feeling he wanted to say more."Unless…" He slid his hand away. "You know, unless you want to."So close to breaking through to the old Billy. But he withdrew, leaving her to guess why. Laying new roadblocks within the maze, to throw her off, or maybe to decipher how badly she wanted to reach the real Billy."No," she said. "I don't want to."His eyes brimmed with doubt."Unless you want me to." She couldn't help smiling. It seemed a ridiculous game, one she normally loathed, but this time the prize was different. One that might be worthwhile."No." His body went fluid, and he gave a short laugh. "No. I definitely do not want you to go." He rose and put a CD on the boom box on the back doorstep. A mellow guitar tune melted the tension from the air. He held out his hand. "Let's dance." With her hand in his, she was out of her chair and in his arms as if she'd swam to him.

I also had fun putting together the Casting Call for this novel, set in my hometown of Lambertville, NJ. 
If I get the cover later today, I'll plug it into this post. Fingers crossed!

Oh, and I'll provide a buy link too, once the novel appears on the site. :)

The Bridge Between releases tomorrow!

I love Six Sentence Sundays! Thanks so much to everyone who visits, and especially for your comments. I'm very grateful.

And I'm very excited that tomorrow, Whiskey Creek Press should release The Bridge Between. The cover's still a mystery, so here's another image of my own from my hometown.

Here are six more from The Bridge Between:

Leaving today would be more difficult because last night had been perfect, magical. But maybe that was best, to leave the memory untainted. To leave Billy so he could miss her, want her to come back. She'd see him again in two days, though she worried it might be relationship overload, too much of her too soon.
She imagined it, coming home to him every day, being with him every night. What would they talk about when the other already knew everything?

Check out the other fantastic offerings by participating Six Sentence Sunday authors! And thanks again for your comments!