Kristy McCaffrey's Blog: Author Kristy McCaffrey, page 4
March 26, 2021
Ancient Winds Is Now In Hardcover
By Kristy McCaffrey
I'm so excited to share that I have my first book in hardcover!
Ancient Winds is now available in digital, paperback, and hardback.
Buy from Amazon
Signed copies available through my Etsy Store
Archaeologist Brynn Galloway partners with sexy mercenary physicist Dr. Tristan Magee to track down a rare Sumerian artifact, but in the Bolivian jungle there are no barriers … least of all between them.
Ancient Winds Excerpt
Brynn couldn’t sleep and found Tristan sitting by a small fire near the main building. With elbows on knees, he was hunched forward, his gaze intent on the flames as shadows ebbed and flowed across the angles of his face. He sported a few days’ growth of whiskers and his dark hair was curling along the collar of his shirt. The wilderness was slowly consuming them, making them wild in the process, or maybe it was simply the jungle stripping away societal barriers and laying them bare. Brynn suspected, however, that Magee had never paid much attention to such niceties.
“Communing with aliens?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb the others who might be nearby. Tristan had been right—privacy was in short supply.
The glint in Tristan’s gaze conveyed annoyed amusement. And maybe something else. The tug in her belly was immediate, and she all but lifted her nose to catch his scent. For a moment she let herself revel in everything male that was Magee: muscle, strength, and possibly the biggest aphrodisiac for her—irreverence.
He motioned for her to sit as he said, “Well, if you consider talking to Dimar interacting with something not of this world, then the answer is yes.”
She took a seat, leaving the one between them empty. Wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping in the jungle,” he said.
“Is that a sleeping aid?” she asked as he took a sip from his canteen.
He replaced the lid. “Nah. Just water. Can you play backgammon, Galloway?”
“Yes. I used to play with my grandfather.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared, and then returned with a mini version of the game. He unfolded the board and proceeded to set it up on the empty chair between them.
“Why backgammon?” she asked, helping him organize the pieces in the glow of the firelight.
“It was my dad’s favorite. Did you know it’s one of the oldest known board games?”
“I do. They’ve found evidence of it in Mesopotamia. Maybe it was a gift from their alien benefactors.”
“The dice were made from human bones, so no alien intervention likely.”
“You do know your artifacts.”
“I try.” He handed her a die, his hand brushing hers. “Need a refresher on the rules?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she replied, pretending his touch hadn’t left a burn mark.
Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC
I'm so excited to share that I have my first book in hardcover!
Ancient Winds is now available in digital, paperback, and hardback.
Buy from Amazon
Signed copies available through my Etsy Store
Archaeologist Brynn Galloway partners with sexy mercenary physicist Dr. Tristan Magee to track down a rare Sumerian artifact, but in the Bolivian jungle there are no barriers … least of all between them.
Ancient Winds Excerpt
Brynn couldn’t sleep and found Tristan sitting by a small fire near the main building. With elbows on knees, he was hunched forward, his gaze intent on the flames as shadows ebbed and flowed across the angles of his face. He sported a few days’ growth of whiskers and his dark hair was curling along the collar of his shirt. The wilderness was slowly consuming them, making them wild in the process, or maybe it was simply the jungle stripping away societal barriers and laying them bare. Brynn suspected, however, that Magee had never paid much attention to such niceties.
“Communing with aliens?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb the others who might be nearby. Tristan had been right—privacy was in short supply.
The glint in Tristan’s gaze conveyed annoyed amusement. And maybe something else. The tug in her belly was immediate, and she all but lifted her nose to catch his scent. For a moment she let herself revel in everything male that was Magee: muscle, strength, and possibly the biggest aphrodisiac for her—irreverence.
He motioned for her to sit as he said, “Well, if you consider talking to Dimar interacting with something not of this world, then the answer is yes.”
She took a seat, leaving the one between them empty. Wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping in the jungle,” he said.
“Is that a sleeping aid?” she asked as he took a sip from his canteen.
He replaced the lid. “Nah. Just water. Can you play backgammon, Galloway?”
“Yes. I used to play with my grandfather.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared, and then returned with a mini version of the game. He unfolded the board and proceeded to set it up on the empty chair between them.
“Why backgammon?” she asked, helping him organize the pieces in the glow of the firelight.
“It was my dad’s favorite. Did you know it’s one of the oldest known board games?”
“I do. They’ve found evidence of it in Mesopotamia. Maybe it was a gift from their alien benefactors.”
“The dice were made from human bones, so no alien intervention likely.”
“You do know your artifacts.”
“I try.” He handed her a die, his hand brushing hers. “Need a refresher on the rules?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she replied, pretending his touch hadn’t left a burn mark.
Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC
March 2, 2021
Into The Land Of Shadows has been updated
By Kristy McCaffrey
I'm pleased to share that my standalone historical western novel, INTO THE LAND OF SHADOWS, has received a makeover and is now available wide.
This book was previously published in 2013 under the same title. While the text and cover have been updated, the story remains the same.
It’s been five years since a woman came between Ethan Barstow and his brother, Charley, and it’s high time they buried the hatchet. When Ethan travels to Arizona Territory to make amends, he learns that Charley has abruptly disappeared after breaking more than one heart in town. And an indignant fiancée is hot on his trail.
When Charley Barstow abandons a local girl after getting her pregnant, Kate Kinsella pursues him without a second thought. She’s determined he set things right, and even more determined to end her own engagement to him, a sham from the beginning. But an ill-timed encounter with a group of ruffians lands her in the company of Charley’s brother, Ethan, who suggests they search together.
As Ethan and Kate move deeper INTO THE LAND OF SHADOWS, family tensions and past tragedies threaten to destroy a love neither of them expected.
A sensuous historical western romance set in 1893 Arizona Territory. Into The Land Of Shadows is a stand-alone, full-length novel.
2014 Carolyn Readers’ Choice Award Finalist
“… a must read … a story that is engaging and edge-of-the-seat gripping. [McCaffrey’s] vivid descriptions and great cast of characters, with exceptional dialogue, bring this story to life.”
~ Coffee Time Romance & More
“With a vividly painted background, engaging and compelling characters and pages that just fly by, Into The Land Of Shadows is a superb read for any western or historical romance lover.”
~ Romance Junkies
“…as if ‘Romancing The Stone’ and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and ‘Dances With Wolves’ got together and had a kid.”
~ Reading Alley Reviewer
Excerpt – First Kiss
Kate hid in the shadows at the far end of the hallway hoping neither of the men would see her. They opened the door to Harry’s room and went inside. She would have little if no time to escape before they realized she was gone. Rufus didn’t completely close the door behind him. Kate tiptoed as fast as she could past the room she had occupied for the last several hours and moved quickly down the stairs, her legs still aching from misuse.
“Where’d she go?” Clive roared as Kate ran out into the street. She looked right then left. The road was dark, windy, and deserted. The sound of loud thumps on the stairs told her Clive and Rufus were right behind her.
She darted around the building and then ran behind another, and then hustled toward the end of the street.
“Spread out! We’ll git her!” Clive yelled.
Kate moved around a trading post but sensing a presence from behind, she jerked her head around and stared. A four-legged creature ran past, disappearing.
With a hand on her chest, she struggled to calm her breathing. It was just a dog.
She peeked around the building and saw Clive walking down the street carrying his gun. Rufus wasn’t in sight. She needed to find a place to hide but most establishments looked closed. Movement to the left caught her eye. Joe Tohonnie? Maybe she hadn’t dreamt him after all.
The shadow moved across the street and disappeared behind a blacksmith building. Kate ran to the other side of the street, hunching over to hide herself. Once she made it to the blacksmith, she glanced around.
“Joe?” she whispered. “Mister Tohonnie? Is that you?”
No answer but the wind. Kate began backing up toward the rear of the building, dread gripping her stomach. She swallowed hard, feeling uncertain. Staying close to the structure, her heart wouldn’t stop pounding and her hands were clammy from fear. She swallowed hard again then turned to run but was caught short, letting out an involuntary gasp when the four-legged creature cut her off with a growl.
The animal’s yellow eyes glowed by the light of the moon and he watched her with rapt attention, his body poised for attack.
A wolf.
Another low growl emanated from deep in the animal’s throat and Kate fought the urge to flee. The wolf’s head easily came to her chest; he would have no trouble chasing her down and ripping her to pieces. The gash on her face would pale in comparison to what he would do to her.
A commotion from behind startled her. Someone grabbed her, and in a frenzy Kate fought back, kicking and straining against the iron grip the man exerted around her waist. His hold loosened and Kate fell to the ground. She grabbed a loose board, and screamed as she swung it around, hitting the man’s leg. But he didn’t go down. She scooted backward and scrambled to her feet. The man grabbed her this time, facing her. Thinking it was Clive or Rufus, she continued to struggle.
“Katie! Katie! It’s me. It’s Ethan.” He held her tight against the building. A sob escaped from deep inside her throat, a maelstrom that matched the wind roaring in her ears, and then Ethan’s mouth was on hers.
Hot, insistent, devouring. She molded into him, her lips and tongue hungry for the sudden and consuming contact. She pushed her body against his, clinging to his broad shoulders, desperate to be closer still.
He didn’t abandon me.
His mouth crushed hers and she felt on fire, head to toe.
“Rufus, you find her?” Clive yelled in the distance.
Ethan broke the kiss, and Kate reeled back against the building. “Let’s go,” he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind the blacksmith building.
“Wait.” She tugged his hand to stop him. “There’s a wolf.” Her voice shook—either from the men chasing her, the wolf challenging her, or the man who had just devastated her defenses with one kiss. She could take her pick. She’d had a busy day.
“He’s with me,” Ethan said quietly. “He won’t hurt you.” The wolf suddenly appeared. “Bart!” Ethan cocked his head. “Come.”
“Get back here,” Clive yelled.
Kate looked over her shoulder and saw him in pursuit. He began shooting. Ethan ducked down and pulled her with him.
“Dammit, Clive!” Ethan yelled. “Give it a rest!”
“Bring her back,” Clive said. “We need her!”
“I need her more. Run, Kate.”
Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC
Find buy links and more at Kristy's website
I'm pleased to share that my standalone historical western novel, INTO THE LAND OF SHADOWS, has received a makeover and is now available wide.
This book was previously published in 2013 under the same title. While the text and cover have been updated, the story remains the same.
It’s been five years since a woman came between Ethan Barstow and his brother, Charley, and it’s high time they buried the hatchet. When Ethan travels to Arizona Territory to make amends, he learns that Charley has abruptly disappeared after breaking more than one heart in town. And an indignant fiancée is hot on his trail.
When Charley Barstow abandons a local girl after getting her pregnant, Kate Kinsella pursues him without a second thought. She’s determined he set things right, and even more determined to end her own engagement to him, a sham from the beginning. But an ill-timed encounter with a group of ruffians lands her in the company of Charley’s brother, Ethan, who suggests they search together.
As Ethan and Kate move deeper INTO THE LAND OF SHADOWS, family tensions and past tragedies threaten to destroy a love neither of them expected.
A sensuous historical western romance set in 1893 Arizona Territory. Into The Land Of Shadows is a stand-alone, full-length novel.
2014 Carolyn Readers’ Choice Award Finalist
“… a must read … a story that is engaging and edge-of-the-seat gripping. [McCaffrey’s] vivid descriptions and great cast of characters, with exceptional dialogue, bring this story to life.”
~ Coffee Time Romance & More
“With a vividly painted background, engaging and compelling characters and pages that just fly by, Into The Land Of Shadows is a superb read for any western or historical romance lover.”
~ Romance Junkies
“…as if ‘Romancing The Stone’ and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and ‘Dances With Wolves’ got together and had a kid.”
~ Reading Alley Reviewer
Excerpt – First Kiss
Kate hid in the shadows at the far end of the hallway hoping neither of the men would see her. They opened the door to Harry’s room and went inside. She would have little if no time to escape before they realized she was gone. Rufus didn’t completely close the door behind him. Kate tiptoed as fast as she could past the room she had occupied for the last several hours and moved quickly down the stairs, her legs still aching from misuse.
“Where’d she go?” Clive roared as Kate ran out into the street. She looked right then left. The road was dark, windy, and deserted. The sound of loud thumps on the stairs told her Clive and Rufus were right behind her.
She darted around the building and then ran behind another, and then hustled toward the end of the street.
“Spread out! We’ll git her!” Clive yelled.
Kate moved around a trading post but sensing a presence from behind, she jerked her head around and stared. A four-legged creature ran past, disappearing.
With a hand on her chest, she struggled to calm her breathing. It was just a dog.
She peeked around the building and saw Clive walking down the street carrying his gun. Rufus wasn’t in sight. She needed to find a place to hide but most establishments looked closed. Movement to the left caught her eye. Joe Tohonnie? Maybe she hadn’t dreamt him after all.
The shadow moved across the street and disappeared behind a blacksmith building. Kate ran to the other side of the street, hunching over to hide herself. Once she made it to the blacksmith, she glanced around.
“Joe?” she whispered. “Mister Tohonnie? Is that you?”
No answer but the wind. Kate began backing up toward the rear of the building, dread gripping her stomach. She swallowed hard, feeling uncertain. Staying close to the structure, her heart wouldn’t stop pounding and her hands were clammy from fear. She swallowed hard again then turned to run but was caught short, letting out an involuntary gasp when the four-legged creature cut her off with a growl.
The animal’s yellow eyes glowed by the light of the moon and he watched her with rapt attention, his body poised for attack.
A wolf.
Another low growl emanated from deep in the animal’s throat and Kate fought the urge to flee. The wolf’s head easily came to her chest; he would have no trouble chasing her down and ripping her to pieces. The gash on her face would pale in comparison to what he would do to her.
A commotion from behind startled her. Someone grabbed her, and in a frenzy Kate fought back, kicking and straining against the iron grip the man exerted around her waist. His hold loosened and Kate fell to the ground. She grabbed a loose board, and screamed as she swung it around, hitting the man’s leg. But he didn’t go down. She scooted backward and scrambled to her feet. The man grabbed her this time, facing her. Thinking it was Clive or Rufus, she continued to struggle.
“Katie! Katie! It’s me. It’s Ethan.” He held her tight against the building. A sob escaped from deep inside her throat, a maelstrom that matched the wind roaring in her ears, and then Ethan’s mouth was on hers.
Hot, insistent, devouring. She molded into him, her lips and tongue hungry for the sudden and consuming contact. She pushed her body against his, clinging to his broad shoulders, desperate to be closer still.
He didn’t abandon me.
His mouth crushed hers and she felt on fire, head to toe.
“Rufus, you find her?” Clive yelled in the distance.
Ethan broke the kiss, and Kate reeled back against the building. “Let’s go,” he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind the blacksmith building.
“Wait.” She tugged his hand to stop him. “There’s a wolf.” Her voice shook—either from the men chasing her, the wolf challenging her, or the man who had just devastated her defenses with one kiss. She could take her pick. She’d had a busy day.
“He’s with me,” Ethan said quietly. “He won’t hurt you.” The wolf suddenly appeared. “Bart!” Ethan cocked his head. “Come.”
“Get back here,” Clive yelled.
Kate looked over her shoulder and saw him in pursuit. He began shooting. Ethan ducked down and pulled her with him.
“Dammit, Clive!” Ethan yelled. “Give it a rest!”
“Bring her back,” Clive said. “We need her!”
“I need her more. Run, Kate.”
Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC
Find buy links and more at Kristy's website
February 15, 2021
Release Day - Ancient Winds is out!!
By Kristy McCaffrey
I'm so excited to share that Ancient Winds (The Pathway Series Book 3) is now available in ebook and print.
Can Brynn resist the charm of Dr. Magee in this high-stakes archaeology adventure?
In the jungle, there are no barriers …
Brynn Galloway doesn’t know it, but her academic career in archaeology is about to become a laughingstock. When a rare Sumerian artifact surfaces, her presence is requested in Bolivia, but nothing is as it seems. Soon, she’s entangled in a desperate hunt not only for a valuable antiquity but also for answers to humanity that might stretch across time. And by her side is a sexy mercenary physicist with a maddening belief in space aliens.
Dr. Tristan Magee is in a bad mood. When his latest acquisition—an unusual and as yet untranslated Sumerian cuneiform tablet—is stolen right out from under him and spirited away to the Bolivian jungle, he’ll do whatever it takes to get it back. Unfortunately, that includes partnering with a female archaeologist who proves to be the kind of distraction that brought down civilizations.
A combination of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, with a dash of The X-Files … get swept away in this romantic suspense adventure.
Available wide for one week only. Grab your copy here. On February 22, Ancient Winds will enter the Kindle Unlimited program and will be available exclusively at Amazon.
Would you like a bookmark from any or all of the books? Fill out this google doc and I'll drop them in the mail to you.
Excerpt
Brynn couldn’t sleep and found Tristan sitting by a small fire near the main building. With elbows on knees, he was hunched forward, his gaze intent on the flames as shadows ebbed and flowed across the angles of his face. He sported a few days’ growth of whiskers and his dark hair was curling along the collar of his shirt. The wilderness was slowly consuming them, making them wild in the process, or maybe it was simply the jungle stripping away societal barriers and laying them bare. Brynn suspected, however, that Magee had never paid much attention to such niceties.
“Communing with aliens?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb the others who might be nearby. Tristan had been right—privacy was in short supply.
The glint in Tristan’s gaze conveyed annoyed amusement. And maybe something else. The tug in her belly was immediate, and she all but lifted her nose to catch his scent. For a moment she let herself revel in everything male that was Magee: muscle, strength, and possibly the biggest aphrodisiac for her—irreverence.
He motioned for her to sit as he said, “Well, if you consider talking to Dimar interacting with something not of this world, then the answer is yes.”
She took a seat, leaving the one between them empty. Wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping in the jungle,” he said.
“Is that a sleeping aid?” she asked as he took a sip from his canteen.
He replaced the lid. “Nah. Just water. Can you play backgammon, Galloway?”
“Yes. I used to play with my grandfather.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared, and then returned with a mini version of the game. He unfolded the board and proceeded to set it up on the empty chair between them.
“Why backgammon?” she asked, helping him organize the pieces in the glow of the firelight.
“It was my dad’s favorite. Did you know it’s one of the oldest known board games?”
“I do. They’ve found evidence of it in Mesopotamia. Maybe it was a gift from their alien benefactors.”
“The dice were made from human bones, so no alien intervention likely.”
“You do know your artifacts.”
“I try.” He handed her a die, his hand brushing hers. “Need a refresher on the rules?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she replied, pretending his touch hadn’t left a burn mark.
Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC
I'm so excited to share that Ancient Winds (The Pathway Series Book 3) is now available in ebook and print.
Can Brynn resist the charm of Dr. Magee in this high-stakes archaeology adventure?
In the jungle, there are no barriers …
Brynn Galloway doesn’t know it, but her academic career in archaeology is about to become a laughingstock. When a rare Sumerian artifact surfaces, her presence is requested in Bolivia, but nothing is as it seems. Soon, she’s entangled in a desperate hunt not only for a valuable antiquity but also for answers to humanity that might stretch across time. And by her side is a sexy mercenary physicist with a maddening belief in space aliens.
Dr. Tristan Magee is in a bad mood. When his latest acquisition—an unusual and as yet untranslated Sumerian cuneiform tablet—is stolen right out from under him and spirited away to the Bolivian jungle, he’ll do whatever it takes to get it back. Unfortunately, that includes partnering with a female archaeologist who proves to be the kind of distraction that brought down civilizations.
A combination of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, with a dash of The X-Files … get swept away in this romantic suspense adventure.
Available wide for one week only. Grab your copy here. On February 22, Ancient Winds will enter the Kindle Unlimited program and will be available exclusively at Amazon.
Would you like a bookmark from any or all of the books? Fill out this google doc and I'll drop them in the mail to you.
Excerpt
Brynn couldn’t sleep and found Tristan sitting by a small fire near the main building. With elbows on knees, he was hunched forward, his gaze intent on the flames as shadows ebbed and flowed across the angles of his face. He sported a few days’ growth of whiskers and his dark hair was curling along the collar of his shirt. The wilderness was slowly consuming them, making them wild in the process, or maybe it was simply the jungle stripping away societal barriers and laying them bare. Brynn suspected, however, that Magee had never paid much attention to such niceties.
“Communing with aliens?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb the others who might be nearby. Tristan had been right—privacy was in short supply.
The glint in Tristan’s gaze conveyed annoyed amusement. And maybe something else. The tug in her belly was immediate, and she all but lifted her nose to catch his scent. For a moment she let herself revel in everything male that was Magee: muscle, strength, and possibly the biggest aphrodisiac for her—irreverence.
He motioned for her to sit as he said, “Well, if you consider talking to Dimar interacting with something not of this world, then the answer is yes.”
She took a seat, leaving the one between them empty. Wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping in the jungle,” he said.
“Is that a sleeping aid?” she asked as he took a sip from his canteen.
He replaced the lid. “Nah. Just water. Can you play backgammon, Galloway?”
“Yes. I used to play with my grandfather.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared, and then returned with a mini version of the game. He unfolded the board and proceeded to set it up on the empty chair between them.
“Why backgammon?” she asked, helping him organize the pieces in the glow of the firelight.
“It was my dad’s favorite. Did you know it’s one of the oldest known board games?”
“I do. They’ve found evidence of it in Mesopotamia. Maybe it was a gift from their alien benefactors.”
“The dice were made from human bones, so no alien intervention likely.”
“You do know your artifacts.”
“I try.” He handed her a die, his hand brushing hers. “Need a refresher on the rules?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she replied, pretending his touch hadn’t left a burn mark.
Copyright © 2021 K. McCaffrey LLC
January 29, 2021
Pre-order Ancient Winds
Greetings to everyone in 2021. I hope you’re all well and safe and healthy. I’m pleased to share that I finally have a release date for ANCIENT WINDS (The Pathway Series Book 3) – February 15!!
Brynn Galloway and Tristan Magee’s journey is a combination of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, with a dash of The X-Files. I hope you’ll have fun reading it. It’s a bit of a departure from the tone of the first two books in the series, DEEP BLUE and COLD HORIZON. Both of those books entailed rigorous and detailed research regarding great white sharks and climbing K2. While I did quite a lot of reading about the Bolivian jungle and historic Mesopotamia, this story is a bit more whimsical. It includes the creatures of the South American wilderness, shamans both good and bad, questionable archaeology, the search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, and time travel. I definitely relied more heavily on my imagination for this tale. So come along for a wild romp through the jungle with a skeptical Brynn Galloway and an irreverent Tristan Magee.
Archaeologist Brynn Galloway partners with sexy mercenary physicist Dr. Tristan Magee to track down a rare Sumerian artifact, but in the Bolivian jungle there are no barriers … least of all between them.
Pre-order now at all platforms for $2.99. On release day the price will increase to $4.99. Please note: Ancient Winds will become Amazon exclusive and will enter the Kindle Unlimited program on February 22. If you buy your books from other vendors, don’t delay.
Read Chapter One
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
Amazon IN
Apple
Nook
Kobo
Google Play
Add Ancient Winds to your Goodreads shelf
********************************************
Would you like to join my ARC team for the Pathway series? ARC stands for Advanced Review Copy. In exchange for an early copy of the book (digital only), you’ll help me get the word out by reviewing and sharing the book. Please fill out this form if you’re interested and additional information will be sent to you. Limited spots available.
********************************************
Brynn Galloway and Tristan Magee’s journey is a combination of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, with a dash of The X-Files. I hope you’ll have fun reading it. It’s a bit of a departure from the tone of the first two books in the series, DEEP BLUE and COLD HORIZON. Both of those books entailed rigorous and detailed research regarding great white sharks and climbing K2. While I did quite a lot of reading about the Bolivian jungle and historic Mesopotamia, this story is a bit more whimsical. It includes the creatures of the South American wilderness, shamans both good and bad, questionable archaeology, the search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, and time travel. I definitely relied more heavily on my imagination for this tale. So come along for a wild romp through the jungle with a skeptical Brynn Galloway and an irreverent Tristan Magee.
Archaeologist Brynn Galloway partners with sexy mercenary physicist Dr. Tristan Magee to track down a rare Sumerian artifact, but in the Bolivian jungle there are no barriers … least of all between them.
Pre-order now at all platforms for $2.99. On release day the price will increase to $4.99. Please note: Ancient Winds will become Amazon exclusive and will enter the Kindle Unlimited program on February 22. If you buy your books from other vendors, don’t delay.
Read Chapter One
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
Amazon IN
Apple
Nook
Kobo
Google Play
Add Ancient Winds to your Goodreads shelf
********************************************
Would you like to join my ARC team for the Pathway series? ARC stands for Advanced Review Copy. In exchange for an early copy of the book (digital only), you’ll help me get the word out by reviewing and sharing the book. Please fill out this form if you’re interested and additional information will be sent to you. Limited spots available.
********************************************
December 1, 2020
Sneak Peek of my Nano Project
By Kristy McCaffrey
The month of November is known to writers around the world as Nanowrimo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. Many of us sign up to write a 50K book in 30 days. I’ve done this twice before (for my novels THE BLACKBIRD and DEEP BLUE), and it’s a great way to push the creative muscles and silence the inner critic. This month, I worked on a new addition to my Wings of the West series (historical western romances). And I’m happy to report that I hit my goal! However, this isn’t the entire novel since I tend to write 75K books, so I’ll be revising and adding words/scenes over the next few months.
But I thought I’d share a brief unedited excerpt from my Nano manuscript. This is raw stuff, people, so it will likely be tweaked as I edit the story, but it gives you an idea of what I was going for. Also, I don’t have a title for this book yet. Would you like to contribute a suggestion? Hop over to my Facebook page and leave a comment. I’ll be picking two commenters to win a $10 Amazon giftcard on Sunday, December 6, 2020.
Blurb
Kate Ryan has just been promoted to field agent at the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Her first assignment? Assume the role of “wife” to fellow agent Henry Maguire, already undercover. Only Henry isn’t expecting her …
(Kate Ryan is the daughter of Matt and Molly from THE WREN.)
Excerpt from upcoming Untitled Wings of the West Novel
Location – TBD
1899
Henry scanned the room. Arthur Wingate stood with two gentlemen involved with the railroad, along with a low-level politician whose name Henry couldn’t recall at the moment.
Interesting.
He took a sip of his brandy … barely. He had no intention of clouding his judgment with alcohol this evening. This party was the perfect opportunity to determine relationships, because that had been something until now he’d struggled to learn. Asking questions outright was too obvious, and the players in this game were too savvy for the obvious. Henry needed to blend. And it had taken him six weeks of undercover work to even get to this point.
“Sir.” A valet drew his attention.
Henry nodded his acknowledgement.
“Your wife has arrived, sir.”
My wife …
What the hell? Louise was here? Now?
The agency had agreed that Louise Foster would be summoned when Henry sent word. And he hadn’t sent word. Dammit.
“Of course,” Henry replied. “Thank you.”
“Please follow me, sir.”
Henry thought of abandoning the drink he’d been nursing for the last hour, but instead kept it as he followed the valet through clusters of people laughing and chattering. In fact, he took a large gulp as he walked, to soothe his nerves. Sometimes his own rules needed to be amended. This wasn’t a disaster, he reminded himself. Louise was a good field agent, one he’d worked with before, and he respected her abilities. If she was here now, there must be a good reason. While his cover had included a wife, Henry rather liked working alone, and he’d told Jonesy, his boss, that Louise could join him when it seemed absolutely necessary. And it hadn’t been necessary … yet. But apparently Edgar Jones had pulled rank, thinking differently.
As Henry entered the foyer, his gaze landed on a young woman in a deep blue gown conversing with Arthur’s wife, Lottie, near the front entrance. For a moment, Henry considered what it would be like if he weren’t working, if he could simply pursue a conversation with an attractive woman. He had purposely not set down roots. His work made it impossible. Well, not impossible. He had simply not met a woman who could turn his attention from his work.
Reluctantly, he peeled his eyes from the attractive distraction and searched the foyer for Louise, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“She must have stepped into another room,” Henry said to the valet.
“No, sir.” The young man stopped and gave a nod toward Mrs. Wingate and the stunning woman beside her.
Henry was momentarily confused, an unnatural state since he kept everything in his life compartmentalized and in order. Recovering quickly, he said, “Of course, thank you. I must need my spectacles this evening.” He left the valet before he was forced to converse further, giving even more opportunities for a slip up. He walked slowly to the two women, since he wasn’t certain what he should say. Clearly, the valet had been misinformed.
Henry glanced over his shoulder, catching the backside of the valet as he left the foyer. With a twinge of regret, he made a sharp turn to miss the two conversing women, ignoring a flare of curiosity about the woman in blue. Now wasn’t the time for personal interests. Just as he was passing within three feet of the women, a voice rang out, “Gilbert! Darling!”
Henry stopped and faced the woman in blue who had spoken. She had used his alias. It all became clear in an instant.
She was his wife.
Hell.
He plastered the biggest smile he could on his face. “Sallie, there you are.” He went to her, took her hand, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
His Sallie blushed, her cheeks a bright crimson, and although her skin had been smooth as porcelain, leaving a lingering impression upon his lips, he had to suppress his frustration—and a hint of anger threatening to uncoil in his chest. Instead, he kept his expression amiable and besotted, playing the part, saying, “I had no idea you were coming.”
He took some measure of pleasure when his new wife flinched ever so slightly, no doubt catching the flash of censure he allowed to escape his gaze. He could accept her as his wife, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
But still, where the hell was Louise? Why had Jonesy sent this much too young of a woman with whom he had no acquaintance and could therefore not assess her skills as an agent? To make it all worse, his pulse had quickened as soon as he’d looked into her clear green eyes. She might be young, but a spark of intelligence snapped the distance between them.
“It was last minute, darling,” she replied, her voice tinged with excitement.
It was too late to turn back now. They had an audience with Lottie Wingate, who was watching them intently.
“I’m thrilled you’re here,” he said, taking Sallie’s hand again. He turned his attention to the older woman. “If you’ll excuse us, I’d like to have a word in private with my beautiful bride.”
“Certainly,” Lottie said. “It was lovely to meet you, Sallie. I hope we’ll have a chance to speak more. And you’ll have to accompany Gilbert the next time he comes here. We could have tea while the men discuss business.”
“I’d like that,” Sallie said.
Having abandoned his drink on side table, Henry tucked Sallie’s gloved hand into the crook of his elbow and led her into the next room. He had wanted to speak privately, but in a flash he knew this would be impossible. It was too risky to engage in any kind of conversation beyond the benign while they were at this party.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked quietly. He definitely needed another one.
Sallie smiled and nodded, sliding a quick glance at him and then letting her eyes roam the room.
They found a waiter and Henry soon had a sherry in his wife’s gloved hand, and he had a whiskey, straight up. He drank it in one swallow. His wife narrowed her eyes, the first sign of backbone in the woman.
“I know my arrival is unexpected, Gilbert,” she murmured over the rim of her sherry glass. She took a sip and then said, “But rest assured, I’m here to stay. You’re not alone any longer.”
Copyright © 2020 K. McCaffrey LLC
All Rights Reserved
The month of November is known to writers around the world as Nanowrimo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. Many of us sign up to write a 50K book in 30 days. I’ve done this twice before (for my novels THE BLACKBIRD and DEEP BLUE), and it’s a great way to push the creative muscles and silence the inner critic. This month, I worked on a new addition to my Wings of the West series (historical western romances). And I’m happy to report that I hit my goal! However, this isn’t the entire novel since I tend to write 75K books, so I’ll be revising and adding words/scenes over the next few months.
But I thought I’d share a brief unedited excerpt from my Nano manuscript. This is raw stuff, people, so it will likely be tweaked as I edit the story, but it gives you an idea of what I was going for. Also, I don’t have a title for this book yet. Would you like to contribute a suggestion? Hop over to my Facebook page and leave a comment. I’ll be picking two commenters to win a $10 Amazon giftcard on Sunday, December 6, 2020.
Blurb
Kate Ryan has just been promoted to field agent at the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Her first assignment? Assume the role of “wife” to fellow agent Henry Maguire, already undercover. Only Henry isn’t expecting her …
(Kate Ryan is the daughter of Matt and Molly from THE WREN.)
Excerpt from upcoming Untitled Wings of the West Novel
Location – TBD
1899
Henry scanned the room. Arthur Wingate stood with two gentlemen involved with the railroad, along with a low-level politician whose name Henry couldn’t recall at the moment.
Interesting.
He took a sip of his brandy … barely. He had no intention of clouding his judgment with alcohol this evening. This party was the perfect opportunity to determine relationships, because that had been something until now he’d struggled to learn. Asking questions outright was too obvious, and the players in this game were too savvy for the obvious. Henry needed to blend. And it had taken him six weeks of undercover work to even get to this point.
“Sir.” A valet drew his attention.
Henry nodded his acknowledgement.
“Your wife has arrived, sir.”
My wife …
What the hell? Louise was here? Now?
The agency had agreed that Louise Foster would be summoned when Henry sent word. And he hadn’t sent word. Dammit.
“Of course,” Henry replied. “Thank you.”
“Please follow me, sir.”
Henry thought of abandoning the drink he’d been nursing for the last hour, but instead kept it as he followed the valet through clusters of people laughing and chattering. In fact, he took a large gulp as he walked, to soothe his nerves. Sometimes his own rules needed to be amended. This wasn’t a disaster, he reminded himself. Louise was a good field agent, one he’d worked with before, and he respected her abilities. If she was here now, there must be a good reason. While his cover had included a wife, Henry rather liked working alone, and he’d told Jonesy, his boss, that Louise could join him when it seemed absolutely necessary. And it hadn’t been necessary … yet. But apparently Edgar Jones had pulled rank, thinking differently.
As Henry entered the foyer, his gaze landed on a young woman in a deep blue gown conversing with Arthur’s wife, Lottie, near the front entrance. For a moment, Henry considered what it would be like if he weren’t working, if he could simply pursue a conversation with an attractive woman. He had purposely not set down roots. His work made it impossible. Well, not impossible. He had simply not met a woman who could turn his attention from his work.
Reluctantly, he peeled his eyes from the attractive distraction and searched the foyer for Louise, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“She must have stepped into another room,” Henry said to the valet.
“No, sir.” The young man stopped and gave a nod toward Mrs. Wingate and the stunning woman beside her.
Henry was momentarily confused, an unnatural state since he kept everything in his life compartmentalized and in order. Recovering quickly, he said, “Of course, thank you. I must need my spectacles this evening.” He left the valet before he was forced to converse further, giving even more opportunities for a slip up. He walked slowly to the two women, since he wasn’t certain what he should say. Clearly, the valet had been misinformed.
Henry glanced over his shoulder, catching the backside of the valet as he left the foyer. With a twinge of regret, he made a sharp turn to miss the two conversing women, ignoring a flare of curiosity about the woman in blue. Now wasn’t the time for personal interests. Just as he was passing within three feet of the women, a voice rang out, “Gilbert! Darling!”
Henry stopped and faced the woman in blue who had spoken. She had used his alias. It all became clear in an instant.
She was his wife.
Hell.
He plastered the biggest smile he could on his face. “Sallie, there you are.” He went to her, took her hand, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
His Sallie blushed, her cheeks a bright crimson, and although her skin had been smooth as porcelain, leaving a lingering impression upon his lips, he had to suppress his frustration—and a hint of anger threatening to uncoil in his chest. Instead, he kept his expression amiable and besotted, playing the part, saying, “I had no idea you were coming.”
He took some measure of pleasure when his new wife flinched ever so slightly, no doubt catching the flash of censure he allowed to escape his gaze. He could accept her as his wife, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
But still, where the hell was Louise? Why had Jonesy sent this much too young of a woman with whom he had no acquaintance and could therefore not assess her skills as an agent? To make it all worse, his pulse had quickened as soon as he’d looked into her clear green eyes. She might be young, but a spark of intelligence snapped the distance between them.
“It was last minute, darling,” she replied, her voice tinged with excitement.
It was too late to turn back now. They had an audience with Lottie Wingate, who was watching them intently.
“I’m thrilled you’re here,” he said, taking Sallie’s hand again. He turned his attention to the older woman. “If you’ll excuse us, I’d like to have a word in private with my beautiful bride.”
“Certainly,” Lottie said. “It was lovely to meet you, Sallie. I hope we’ll have a chance to speak more. And you’ll have to accompany Gilbert the next time he comes here. We could have tea while the men discuss business.”
“I’d like that,” Sallie said.
Having abandoned his drink on side table, Henry tucked Sallie’s gloved hand into the crook of his elbow and led her into the next room. He had wanted to speak privately, but in a flash he knew this would be impossible. It was too risky to engage in any kind of conversation beyond the benign while they were at this party.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked quietly. He definitely needed another one.
Sallie smiled and nodded, sliding a quick glance at him and then letting her eyes roam the room.
They found a waiter and Henry soon had a sherry in his wife’s gloved hand, and he had a whiskey, straight up. He drank it in one swallow. His wife narrowed her eyes, the first sign of backbone in the woman.
“I know my arrival is unexpected, Gilbert,” she murmured over the rim of her sherry glass. She took a sip and then said, “But rest assured, I’m here to stay. You’re not alone any longer.”
Copyright © 2020 K. McCaffrey LLC
All Rights Reserved
The Sparrow is now available in German - Verliebt am Grand Canyon
By Kristy McCaffrey
(Translated by Stefanie Kersten)
VERLIEBT AM GRAND CANYON
Wings of the West: Buch 3
Arizona-Territorium
Am Grand Canyon stellt sich Emma Hart einer ungewissen Zukunft – und der Begegnung mit Texas Ranger Nathan Blackmore.
Im Jahr 1877 reist Emma Hart zu dem erst kürzlich entdeckten rauen, zerklüfteten Grand Canyon. Geplagt von Visionen, sucht sie dort nach Antworten zu der Tragödie in ihrer Vergangenheit, dem Verrat in der Gegenwart und nach einer Zukunft, die so fern und unerreichbar scheint und trotzdem ihr Herz zum Klingen bringt. Mit übersinnlichen Fähigkeiten begabt und begleitet von ihrem Krafttier, einem Sperling, will Emma die Traditionen der Hopi erforschen und muss sich dabei einer jahrhundertealten Macht stellen.
Texas Ranger Nathan Blackmore folgt Emmas Spuren bis zum Colorado River und stellt fassungslos fest, dass sie den Fluss mit einem Boot erkunden will. Für ihn ist klar, dass sie diese Reise auf keinen Fall allein antreten wird. Doch während der Fahrt auf dem Fluss zu einem Ort, an dem die Zeit stillzustehen scheint und selbst der kleinste Stein große Kreise zieht, muss er eine Entscheidung treffen. Entweder er akzeptiert das Unbekannte, die Welt jenseits der unseren, und stellt sich den Dämonen seiner Vergangenheit, oder er wird die Frau, die er inzwischen mehr liebt als sein Leben, für immer verlieren.
Ein (über)sinnlicher historischer Western-Liebesroman vor der atemberaubenden Kulisse des Grand Canyon.
AMAZON DE
AMAZON US
GOODREADS
Erhältlich als E-Book und Print-Ausgabe.
Als Kindle-Unlimited-Mitglied lesen Sie ohne Zusatzkosten.
(Translated by Stefanie Kersten)
VERLIEBT AM GRAND CANYON
Wings of the West: Buch 3
Arizona-Territorium
Am Grand Canyon stellt sich Emma Hart einer ungewissen Zukunft – und der Begegnung mit Texas Ranger Nathan Blackmore.
Im Jahr 1877 reist Emma Hart zu dem erst kürzlich entdeckten rauen, zerklüfteten Grand Canyon. Geplagt von Visionen, sucht sie dort nach Antworten zu der Tragödie in ihrer Vergangenheit, dem Verrat in der Gegenwart und nach einer Zukunft, die so fern und unerreichbar scheint und trotzdem ihr Herz zum Klingen bringt. Mit übersinnlichen Fähigkeiten begabt und begleitet von ihrem Krafttier, einem Sperling, will Emma die Traditionen der Hopi erforschen und muss sich dabei einer jahrhundertealten Macht stellen.
Texas Ranger Nathan Blackmore folgt Emmas Spuren bis zum Colorado River und stellt fassungslos fest, dass sie den Fluss mit einem Boot erkunden will. Für ihn ist klar, dass sie diese Reise auf keinen Fall allein antreten wird. Doch während der Fahrt auf dem Fluss zu einem Ort, an dem die Zeit stillzustehen scheint und selbst der kleinste Stein große Kreise zieht, muss er eine Entscheidung treffen. Entweder er akzeptiert das Unbekannte, die Welt jenseits der unseren, und stellt sich den Dämonen seiner Vergangenheit, oder er wird die Frau, die er inzwischen mehr liebt als sein Leben, für immer verlieren.
Ein (über)sinnlicher historischer Western-Liebesroman vor der atemberaubenden Kulisse des Grand Canyon.
AMAZON DE
AMAZON US
GOODREADS
Erhältlich als E-Book und Print-Ausgabe.
Als Kindle-Unlimited-Mitglied lesen Sie ohne Zusatzkosten.
September 3, 2020
The Pathway Series is now in Kindle Unlimited
By Kristy McCaffrey
Find the series at Amazon
I'm pleased to share that the Pathway series is now enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited Program. What does this mean? If you buy your eBooks from Amazon, nothing will change for you. The books will still be available for purchase, but they are also ‘borrowable’ in the KU subscription program.
If you read your digital books via Nook, Kobo, Apple or Google Play, these titles are no longer available. But what about NEW books in the series? That’s a great question! When I have a new Pathway release (novel or novelette), I’ll publish it wide for 1-2 weeks before moving it into KU. This will give those that buy books via the other platforms a chance to grab them.
Why am I doing this? For the last two years, I’ve struggled to find a readership for this series. I have a small but growing fandom at Amazon, but very little on the other platforms. It’s been frustrating because I’ve tried many things to get traction, but to no avail. I LOVE this series and I want to keep writing it, so I was forced to take a hard look at the economics of producing each book. I’m hopeful that KU will at least help me to break even. (For those that may not know, books included in KU are required to be exclusive to Amazon.) So please know that this decision wasn’t made lightly. The book publishing industry is a constantly evolving beast and especially for indie authors such as myself, that flexing can sometimes be painful. But my hope is to be an author for the long haul, so I’ll do what I can to make that happen.
Please note: the novellas BLUE SAGE and THE PEPPERMINT TREE have also been enrolled in KU. Print copies of all the books are still available and are unaffected by this transition. You can purchase them from Amazon or directly from me.
Second note: this decision does NOT include my Wings of the West series. These books will remain for sale at Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Apple and Google Play.
Thank you for all your support! I truly appreciate it.
Peace,
Kristy
xoxo
Would you like a sneak peek of Ancient Winds (Book 3)?
In the jungle, there are no barriers …
Brynn Galloway doesn’t know it, but her academic career in archaeology is about to become a laughingstock. When a rare Sumerian artifact surfaces, her presence is requested in Bolivia, but nothing is as it seems. Soon, she’s entangled in a desperate hunt not only for a valuable antiquity but also for answers to humanity that might stretch across time. And by her side is a sexy mercenary physicist with a maddening belief in space aliens.
Dr. Tristan Magee is in a bad mood. When his latest acquisition—an unusual and as yet untranslated Sumerian cuneiform tablet—is stolen right out from under him and spirited away to the Bolivian jungle, he’ll do whatever it takes to get it back. Unfortunately, that includes partnering with a female archaeologist who proves to be the kind of distraction that brought down civilizations.
Coming Soon!
Connect with Kristy
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Blog ~ Pathways
Newsletter
Find the series at Amazon
I'm pleased to share that the Pathway series is now enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited Program. What does this mean? If you buy your eBooks from Amazon, nothing will change for you. The books will still be available for purchase, but they are also ‘borrowable’ in the KU subscription program.
If you read your digital books via Nook, Kobo, Apple or Google Play, these titles are no longer available. But what about NEW books in the series? That’s a great question! When I have a new Pathway release (novel or novelette), I’ll publish it wide for 1-2 weeks before moving it into KU. This will give those that buy books via the other platforms a chance to grab them.
Why am I doing this? For the last two years, I’ve struggled to find a readership for this series. I have a small but growing fandom at Amazon, but very little on the other platforms. It’s been frustrating because I’ve tried many things to get traction, but to no avail. I LOVE this series and I want to keep writing it, so I was forced to take a hard look at the economics of producing each book. I’m hopeful that KU will at least help me to break even. (For those that may not know, books included in KU are required to be exclusive to Amazon.) So please know that this decision wasn’t made lightly. The book publishing industry is a constantly evolving beast and especially for indie authors such as myself, that flexing can sometimes be painful. But my hope is to be an author for the long haul, so I’ll do what I can to make that happen.
Please note: the novellas BLUE SAGE and THE PEPPERMINT TREE have also been enrolled in KU. Print copies of all the books are still available and are unaffected by this transition. You can purchase them from Amazon or directly from me.
Second note: this decision does NOT include my Wings of the West series. These books will remain for sale at Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Apple and Google Play.
Thank you for all your support! I truly appreciate it.
Peace,
Kristy
xoxo
Would you like a sneak peek of Ancient Winds (Book 3)?
In the jungle, there are no barriers …
Brynn Galloway doesn’t know it, but her academic career in archaeology is about to become a laughingstock. When a rare Sumerian artifact surfaces, her presence is requested in Bolivia, but nothing is as it seems. Soon, she’s entangled in a desperate hunt not only for a valuable antiquity but also for answers to humanity that might stretch across time. And by her side is a sexy mercenary physicist with a maddening belief in space aliens.
Dr. Tristan Magee is in a bad mood. When his latest acquisition—an unusual and as yet untranslated Sumerian cuneiform tablet—is stolen right out from under him and spirited away to the Bolivian jungle, he’ll do whatever it takes to get it back. Unfortunately, that includes partnering with a female archaeologist who proves to be the kind of distraction that brought down civilizations.
Coming Soon!
Connect with Kristy
Website
Blog ~ Pathways
Newsletter
August 13, 2020
Writing Deep Blue
By Kristy McCaffrey
All this week I’ve been sharing background info on the creation of my romantic suspense novel DEEP BLUE on Facebook, so I thought I’d group it all into a blog post in case any of you missed it and might be interested in my thought process while writing it.
I began my writing career with historical western romances, but I’d always been fascinated by sharks so had long entertained story ideas around them. About 3 years ago, I decided to finally write the book I had been thinking of. Initially, I saw it as more of a thriller (going back to an outline I’d written over 15 years prior), but in light of the devastation to the shark population due to overfishing and shark finning, I knew I wanted to write a story that showed more love to the shark than was usually the case in shark books and movies. I’m a great fan of the movie JAWS, but I wanted to explore the subject deeper than simply the abject fear that people experience when it comes to these often misunderstood fish.
Enter Dr. Grace Mann, my main character. It took a few drafts to smooth her out because at first she was smart but aloof and all business. A bit too cold, unfortunately. When I backtracked and built up her childhood, that’s when I found her overwhelming love for sharks, and the story began to click. (She accompanied her shark researcher father to the Farallon Islands as a child, bringing out her wild nature, an aspect I find really important when excavating a character.) She’s also a computer geek and that played into her rather obsessive nature regarding her work and the underwater sonar array she’s trying to develop.
Part of the backstory for my underwater filmmaker hero Alec Galloway is related to surfing. I read up on big wave surfing (THE WAVE by Susan Casey is an amazing book about giant waves, rogue waves, ship-crushing waves, and she includes chapters about the men who try to surf them – Jaws in Maui, Mavericks in Northern California, and Teahupoo in Tahiti)
I was so intrigued by this that I decided the Galloway family, led by Alec’s dad, Big Jim Galloway, would not only be a surfing family, but Big Wave surfers to boot. This includes Alec’s younger siblings, Tyler (who stars in Book 2, COLD HORIZON) and Brynn (star of upcoming Book 3, ANCIENT WINDS).
While they no longer do this in the present time of their stories, it was a piece of their backstory that showcased the drive and nerve that each of them possessed. It also informs Alec’s character in that he’s a fairly cautious guy because of some of the crazy stuff he’s seen and done. This created some clashes with Grace in DEEP BLUE, since he believes her actions are reckless at times. Grace, of course, doesn’t see it that way.
Photo by Juan Oliphant
How do you feel about this picture? This is Ocean Ramsey, a biologist and shark conservation advocate who spends nearly every day in the water with sharks. She is also the target of much criticism due to her interactions with sharks, especially great whites. I state at the end of DEEP BLUE that my character Dr. Grace Mann was inspired by Ms. Ramsey, and this is true. Ramsey’s interactions and knowledge of marine life, and especially sharks, shows us what’s possible when it comes to human/fish interactions. I find her work fascinating, and it informed Grace in the sense that I knew these types of encounters were possible. I write fiction, and I certainly take poetic license at times, but I do try to couch my storylines in a thread of truth. There’s no easy answers as to whether interacting with wildlife – and in the case of great white sharks, very dangerous wildlife – should or shouldn’t happen. I did explore this further with Grace and another marine scientist in DEEP BLUE: COCOS ISLAND, a follow-up short story. It’s an interesting discussion that I will continue to follow, both in the real world and in my work.
One reason I enjoy writing romances is the fun in creating a scenario for two people to fall in love and following along on that journey. DEEP BLUE, and the second book COLD HORIZON, aren’t strictly romances—these books are more action oriented and I made an effort to make them more readable to a broader audience by not following the standard romance plot, which is generally filled with more internal character musings and structure. Still, at the center of these stories are two people finding their way to each other.
The key to a good romance is finding the inherent obstacle between the couple. For Alec and Grace, it boiled down to a clash between Grace’s love and confidence in the water with sharks and Alec’s caution around such dangerous creatures. I built up these viewpoints by giving each of them specific experiences from their past. For Grace, it was growing up at the feet of her shark researcher dad and absorbing his obsession and respect for great white sharks; for Alec, it was having a healthy respect for the ocean, whether it be via big wave surfing or the loss of a close friend to a great white attack that has continued to haunt him.
From there, it became great fun to write their scenes and let the sparks fly.
During early drafts of DEEP BLUE, I was swamped with shark info that I’d been collecting. I usually take different passes on a manuscript – one to lay out the general outline and pacing, one to add layers to the characters, one to beef up the romantic tension between the hero and heroine, one to add descriptive details. It didn’t really occur to me that I should have a shark main character (as I said, brain overload) but near the end of one of the drafts Bonnie showed up, and it stopped me cold in my writing tracks. She was a very large and very mature female great white shark. An alpha. A true alpha of any creature on earth. I immediately began moving around scenes and rewriting the beginning of the book because Bonnie needed to be present throughout the story. There’s also a secondary shark named Felix, a randy youngin’ who causes all sorts of trouble. If you’ve ever met a teenage boy, then you know what I’m talking about.
While the gist of the story of DEEP BLUE is Grace freediving with great sharks in an effort to observe their behavior without the impediment and noise of scuba equipment, a side story is the testing of a prototype shark sonar array she designed in an effort to detect sharks in a specified grid area. Her goal is to have such an apparatus installed at ‘sharky’ beaches around the world as an early warning system to swimmers and surfers. So, is this a real thing?
I studied shark deterrents already in use and their effectiveness varied. It included such things as repellants (sonar, chemical), underwater nets (as you can imagine, these devastate more than sharks by trapping and killing everything else), and aerial spotters. The sonar array that Grace builds using artificial intelligence was a work of wishful fiction on my part. The idea is that there are multiple layers of code identifying creatures as they enter the grid area. This type of neural network is a “deep learning” program that becomes better over time as it acquires more and more data points. My son Sam, a data engineer, was a huge help as I developed this for the story, explaining to me how this would work. One exciting development was that after the book was published, I came across scientists working on a similar apparatus. So maybe one day you’ll go to the beach and pull up an app on your phone that tells you immediately what’s in the ocean you’re about to step into.
How did I research Guadalupe Island?
DEEP BLUE opens in Monterey, California, but the bulk of the story takes place on a boat off the coast of Guadalupe Island, located on the Pacific Ocean side of Baja California. It’s a fairly uninhabited island, with a handful of fisherman and scientists in residence, and from August until about January, it’s a hotspot of great white shark activity. The males arrive first, and then in October the very large females make an appearance. It’s unknown why the sharks congregate here, but it’s thought that they mate and feed, since there’s a large seal population. (And for the record, no one has ever seen or filmed white sharks mating or giving birth.) There are several companies that ferry customers on live-aboard boats to cage-dive with the sharks, with departures from San Diego, and if you’ve ever watched Shark Week on Discovery Channel, many of the shows have been filmed here.
Still, I found it a challenge to find information about the area so that I could realistically write about it (and since I was unable to go myself). Internet searches turned up general info, but I’m always in search of smaller, more interesting tidbits, the kind of stuff that isn’t on a Wikipedia page. It took me a while, but I finally located several blogs written by people who had visited the area, offering raw first impressions that made the writer in me squeal with delight.
I’ve envisioned the Pathway series as loosely connected standalones, which has been both a pro and a con when it comes to marketing. Because the series isn’t deep, meaning I only have two books currently available, advertising them has been a challenge. Eventually when I have the planned 6-8 books published, it will be easier to do more extensive marketing.
The main reason I wrote DEEP BLUE: AUSTRALIA was to offer a free but exclusive read to my newsletter subscribers, giving them another chance to hang out with Grace and Alec. An author’s newsletter list is a beloved holy grail because it offers us the chance to reach our readers directly (Amazon and Facebook greatly throttle that ability). But … if readers are signed up for too many newsletters, they can be rightly overwhelmed by the email volume in their inbox. It was my hope to sweeten the pot by offering something they couldn’t get anywhere else in exchange for their valuable time.
Last year, I managed to get a coveted BookBub Feature Deal for Deep Blue, but I had to make the book free. The key to making this type of advertising work is to have follow-up books in which to recoup your losses. BookBub deals aren’t cheap and generally run in the hundreds of dollars. I had COLD HORIZON out, but with its mountain climbing theme it was a very different book than DEEP BLUE, so in an effort to compensate for a low read-through rate, I decided to publish AUSTRALIA and charge $2.99 for digital downloads. This is an aggressive price for this type of short, and while other authors do use this price point successfully, I didn’t have the name recognition to pull it off. The result was reader backlash. Being an indie author means I’m able to pivot and switch gears quickly, so I did. I wrote two more short adventures – REUNION ISLAND and COCOS ISLAND – so that I could package all three together for $2.99, giving readers a little more bang for their buck. While I must always consider the economics of creating and pricing my projects, I strive to balance that with reader expectations.
Some people have asked for another novel starring Grace and Alec, but since that can take me upwards of a year to write, these shorts were a way to continue their story while I work on other books in the Pathway universe. I sure hope you enjoy them!
Did you know there’s a bonus scene of Alec’s first impression of Grace over at Book+Main Bites? You can read it here.
To learn more about DEEP BLUE, visit my website.
All this week I’ve been sharing background info on the creation of my romantic suspense novel DEEP BLUE on Facebook, so I thought I’d group it all into a blog post in case any of you missed it and might be interested in my thought process while writing it.
I began my writing career with historical western romances, but I’d always been fascinated by sharks so had long entertained story ideas around them. About 3 years ago, I decided to finally write the book I had been thinking of. Initially, I saw it as more of a thriller (going back to an outline I’d written over 15 years prior), but in light of the devastation to the shark population due to overfishing and shark finning, I knew I wanted to write a story that showed more love to the shark than was usually the case in shark books and movies. I’m a great fan of the movie JAWS, but I wanted to explore the subject deeper than simply the abject fear that people experience when it comes to these often misunderstood fish.
Enter Dr. Grace Mann, my main character. It took a few drafts to smooth her out because at first she was smart but aloof and all business. A bit too cold, unfortunately. When I backtracked and built up her childhood, that’s when I found her overwhelming love for sharks, and the story began to click. (She accompanied her shark researcher father to the Farallon Islands as a child, bringing out her wild nature, an aspect I find really important when excavating a character.) She’s also a computer geek and that played into her rather obsessive nature regarding her work and the underwater sonar array she’s trying to develop.
Part of the backstory for my underwater filmmaker hero Alec Galloway is related to surfing. I read up on big wave surfing (THE WAVE by Susan Casey is an amazing book about giant waves, rogue waves, ship-crushing waves, and she includes chapters about the men who try to surf them – Jaws in Maui, Mavericks in Northern California, and Teahupoo in Tahiti)
I was so intrigued by this that I decided the Galloway family, led by Alec’s dad, Big Jim Galloway, would not only be a surfing family, but Big Wave surfers to boot. This includes Alec’s younger siblings, Tyler (who stars in Book 2, COLD HORIZON) and Brynn (star of upcoming Book 3, ANCIENT WINDS).
While they no longer do this in the present time of their stories, it was a piece of their backstory that showcased the drive and nerve that each of them possessed. It also informs Alec’s character in that he’s a fairly cautious guy because of some of the crazy stuff he’s seen and done. This created some clashes with Grace in DEEP BLUE, since he believes her actions are reckless at times. Grace, of course, doesn’t see it that way.
Photo by Juan Oliphant
How do you feel about this picture? This is Ocean Ramsey, a biologist and shark conservation advocate who spends nearly every day in the water with sharks. She is also the target of much criticism due to her interactions with sharks, especially great whites. I state at the end of DEEP BLUE that my character Dr. Grace Mann was inspired by Ms. Ramsey, and this is true. Ramsey’s interactions and knowledge of marine life, and especially sharks, shows us what’s possible when it comes to human/fish interactions. I find her work fascinating, and it informed Grace in the sense that I knew these types of encounters were possible. I write fiction, and I certainly take poetic license at times, but I do try to couch my storylines in a thread of truth. There’s no easy answers as to whether interacting with wildlife – and in the case of great white sharks, very dangerous wildlife – should or shouldn’t happen. I did explore this further with Grace and another marine scientist in DEEP BLUE: COCOS ISLAND, a follow-up short story. It’s an interesting discussion that I will continue to follow, both in the real world and in my work.
One reason I enjoy writing romances is the fun in creating a scenario for two people to fall in love and following along on that journey. DEEP BLUE, and the second book COLD HORIZON, aren’t strictly romances—these books are more action oriented and I made an effort to make them more readable to a broader audience by not following the standard romance plot, which is generally filled with more internal character musings and structure. Still, at the center of these stories are two people finding their way to each other.
The key to a good romance is finding the inherent obstacle between the couple. For Alec and Grace, it boiled down to a clash between Grace’s love and confidence in the water with sharks and Alec’s caution around such dangerous creatures. I built up these viewpoints by giving each of them specific experiences from their past. For Grace, it was growing up at the feet of her shark researcher dad and absorbing his obsession and respect for great white sharks; for Alec, it was having a healthy respect for the ocean, whether it be via big wave surfing or the loss of a close friend to a great white attack that has continued to haunt him.
From there, it became great fun to write their scenes and let the sparks fly.
During early drafts of DEEP BLUE, I was swamped with shark info that I’d been collecting. I usually take different passes on a manuscript – one to lay out the general outline and pacing, one to add layers to the characters, one to beef up the romantic tension between the hero and heroine, one to add descriptive details. It didn’t really occur to me that I should have a shark main character (as I said, brain overload) but near the end of one of the drafts Bonnie showed up, and it stopped me cold in my writing tracks. She was a very large and very mature female great white shark. An alpha. A true alpha of any creature on earth. I immediately began moving around scenes and rewriting the beginning of the book because Bonnie needed to be present throughout the story. There’s also a secondary shark named Felix, a randy youngin’ who causes all sorts of trouble. If you’ve ever met a teenage boy, then you know what I’m talking about.
While the gist of the story of DEEP BLUE is Grace freediving with great sharks in an effort to observe their behavior without the impediment and noise of scuba equipment, a side story is the testing of a prototype shark sonar array she designed in an effort to detect sharks in a specified grid area. Her goal is to have such an apparatus installed at ‘sharky’ beaches around the world as an early warning system to swimmers and surfers. So, is this a real thing?
I studied shark deterrents already in use and their effectiveness varied. It included such things as repellants (sonar, chemical), underwater nets (as you can imagine, these devastate more than sharks by trapping and killing everything else), and aerial spotters. The sonar array that Grace builds using artificial intelligence was a work of wishful fiction on my part. The idea is that there are multiple layers of code identifying creatures as they enter the grid area. This type of neural network is a “deep learning” program that becomes better over time as it acquires more and more data points. My son Sam, a data engineer, was a huge help as I developed this for the story, explaining to me how this would work. One exciting development was that after the book was published, I came across scientists working on a similar apparatus. So maybe one day you’ll go to the beach and pull up an app on your phone that tells you immediately what’s in the ocean you’re about to step into.
How did I research Guadalupe Island?
DEEP BLUE opens in Monterey, California, but the bulk of the story takes place on a boat off the coast of Guadalupe Island, located on the Pacific Ocean side of Baja California. It’s a fairly uninhabited island, with a handful of fisherman and scientists in residence, and from August until about January, it’s a hotspot of great white shark activity. The males arrive first, and then in October the very large females make an appearance. It’s unknown why the sharks congregate here, but it’s thought that they mate and feed, since there’s a large seal population. (And for the record, no one has ever seen or filmed white sharks mating or giving birth.) There are several companies that ferry customers on live-aboard boats to cage-dive with the sharks, with departures from San Diego, and if you’ve ever watched Shark Week on Discovery Channel, many of the shows have been filmed here.
Still, I found it a challenge to find information about the area so that I could realistically write about it (and since I was unable to go myself). Internet searches turned up general info, but I’m always in search of smaller, more interesting tidbits, the kind of stuff that isn’t on a Wikipedia page. It took me a while, but I finally located several blogs written by people who had visited the area, offering raw first impressions that made the writer in me squeal with delight.
I’ve envisioned the Pathway series as loosely connected standalones, which has been both a pro and a con when it comes to marketing. Because the series isn’t deep, meaning I only have two books currently available, advertising them has been a challenge. Eventually when I have the planned 6-8 books published, it will be easier to do more extensive marketing.
The main reason I wrote DEEP BLUE: AUSTRALIA was to offer a free but exclusive read to my newsletter subscribers, giving them another chance to hang out with Grace and Alec. An author’s newsletter list is a beloved holy grail because it offers us the chance to reach our readers directly (Amazon and Facebook greatly throttle that ability). But … if readers are signed up for too many newsletters, they can be rightly overwhelmed by the email volume in their inbox. It was my hope to sweeten the pot by offering something they couldn’t get anywhere else in exchange for their valuable time.
Last year, I managed to get a coveted BookBub Feature Deal for Deep Blue, but I had to make the book free. The key to making this type of advertising work is to have follow-up books in which to recoup your losses. BookBub deals aren’t cheap and generally run in the hundreds of dollars. I had COLD HORIZON out, but with its mountain climbing theme it was a very different book than DEEP BLUE, so in an effort to compensate for a low read-through rate, I decided to publish AUSTRALIA and charge $2.99 for digital downloads. This is an aggressive price for this type of short, and while other authors do use this price point successfully, I didn’t have the name recognition to pull it off. The result was reader backlash. Being an indie author means I’m able to pivot and switch gears quickly, so I did. I wrote two more short adventures – REUNION ISLAND and COCOS ISLAND – so that I could package all three together for $2.99, giving readers a little more bang for their buck. While I must always consider the economics of creating and pricing my projects, I strive to balance that with reader expectations.
Some people have asked for another novel starring Grace and Alec, but since that can take me upwards of a year to write, these shorts were a way to continue their story while I work on other books in the Pathway universe. I sure hope you enjoy them!
Did you know there’s a bonus scene of Alec’s first impression of Grace over at Book+Main Bites? You can read it here.
To learn more about DEEP BLUE, visit my website.
July 10, 2020
Durango, Colorado, and THE PEPPERMINT TREE is on Sale
By Kristy McCaffrey
Situated near the Four Corners region of the U.S., the town of Durango sits on the Animas River in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. In the 1870’s it was called Animas City, but when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1881 the town was renamed by ex-Colorado Governor Alexander C. Hunt after Durango, Mexico. The name originated from the Basque word Urango, which means “water town.”
Durango, Colorado, 1883
The San Juans are part of the Rocky Mountains, and with high quantities of minerals present, gold and silver mining camps soon popped up during the 19th century. Those camps are now major towns such as Telluride, Ouray, Silverton, Lake City, Creede, and Durango.
The San Juan Mountains
In 1882, a narrow-gauge steam railroad was constructed to connect the mining town of Silverton with the coal and smelting operations of Durango. Today, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad makes daily trips between the two towns for anyone who wishes to see the grandeur of the San Juans. Additionally, visitors can enjoy wilderness trekking, mountain climbing, and camping. In the winter, skiing is a favorite pastime at the well-known Durango Mountain Resort, known locally as Purgatory.
It’s Christmas in July!! Digital copies of my contemporary western novella, THE PEPPERMINT TREE, are on sale for 99 cents. The story is set in and around the Durango area.
When an unexpected inheritance draws lawyer Skye Mallory home for the Christmas holidays, she’s surprised by a longing to set down roots in her Colorado hometown. Only one thing stands in her way—a cowboy who broke her heart in high school. Joe Carrigan has returned to the community he left years ago, ready to face his one regret in life—Skye Mallory. But this time, he won’t be so chivalrous.
Read an excerpt
Joe Carrigan watched as the red taillights in the distance slid from left to right and then right even more, finally stopping. He’d been following the Prius for a while, and the driver had been conservative, but their luck had just run out. He was in his Bronco—the same one he’d driven in high school on these very roads—and it could still be trusted in bad weather. He’d been able to afford better cars over the years, but he still had a habit of jumping in this one, especially on a night like this.
He checked his rearview mirror. Thankfully, no cars behind him. He slowed the Bronco and guided it as far to the right as he could without getting stuck.
Stepping out of his vehicle, a blast of cold air hit him as heavy snowflakes engulfed him. He really shouldn’t be out in this, but he’d agreed to meet Oliver and Celeste and a friend of Celeste’s, a blind date he’d been badgered into. His life had been too busy of late for a woman, but it didn’t mean he actually needed or wanted one in his life.
He reached inside the Bronco and grabbed his heavy canvas coat, quickly pulling it on and zipping it to his neck. The snow crunched beneath his boots and his breath came out in white puffs as he crossed the beam of his headlights and approached the Prius. He tapped on the driver’s window, the shadowy figure of a woman on the other side. She hesitated a moment then rolled the window down.
“Are you all right, miss?”
As the woman’s face became fully visible, he did a double-take. “Skylar?”
Her forehead pinched into hard ridges, and her eyes registered a flash of outrage. “Carrigan?”
As if a freight train had hit him, he uttered, “It’s been a long time.”
LEARN MORE
Also, don't miss my July website giveaway - an autographed print copy of THE PEPPERMINT TREE. Enter today.
Situated near the Four Corners region of the U.S., the town of Durango sits on the Animas River in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. In the 1870’s it was called Animas City, but when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1881 the town was renamed by ex-Colorado Governor Alexander C. Hunt after Durango, Mexico. The name originated from the Basque word Urango, which means “water town.”
Durango, Colorado, 1883
The San Juans are part of the Rocky Mountains, and with high quantities of minerals present, gold and silver mining camps soon popped up during the 19th century. Those camps are now major towns such as Telluride, Ouray, Silverton, Lake City, Creede, and Durango.
The San Juan Mountains
In 1882, a narrow-gauge steam railroad was constructed to connect the mining town of Silverton with the coal and smelting operations of Durango. Today, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad makes daily trips between the two towns for anyone who wishes to see the grandeur of the San Juans. Additionally, visitors can enjoy wilderness trekking, mountain climbing, and camping. In the winter, skiing is a favorite pastime at the well-known Durango Mountain Resort, known locally as Purgatory.
It’s Christmas in July!! Digital copies of my contemporary western novella, THE PEPPERMINT TREE, are on sale for 99 cents. The story is set in and around the Durango area.
When an unexpected inheritance draws lawyer Skye Mallory home for the Christmas holidays, she’s surprised by a longing to set down roots in her Colorado hometown. Only one thing stands in her way—a cowboy who broke her heart in high school. Joe Carrigan has returned to the community he left years ago, ready to face his one regret in life—Skye Mallory. But this time, he won’t be so chivalrous.
Read an excerpt
Joe Carrigan watched as the red taillights in the distance slid from left to right and then right even more, finally stopping. He’d been following the Prius for a while, and the driver had been conservative, but their luck had just run out. He was in his Bronco—the same one he’d driven in high school on these very roads—and it could still be trusted in bad weather. He’d been able to afford better cars over the years, but he still had a habit of jumping in this one, especially on a night like this.
He checked his rearview mirror. Thankfully, no cars behind him. He slowed the Bronco and guided it as far to the right as he could without getting stuck.
Stepping out of his vehicle, a blast of cold air hit him as heavy snowflakes engulfed him. He really shouldn’t be out in this, but he’d agreed to meet Oliver and Celeste and a friend of Celeste’s, a blind date he’d been badgered into. His life had been too busy of late for a woman, but it didn’t mean he actually needed or wanted one in his life.
He reached inside the Bronco and grabbed his heavy canvas coat, quickly pulling it on and zipping it to his neck. The snow crunched beneath his boots and his breath came out in white puffs as he crossed the beam of his headlights and approached the Prius. He tapped on the driver’s window, the shadowy figure of a woman on the other side. She hesitated a moment then rolled the window down.
“Are you all right, miss?”
As the woman’s face became fully visible, he did a double-take. “Skylar?”
Her forehead pinched into hard ridges, and her eyes registered a flash of outrage. “Carrigan?”
As if a freight train had hit him, he uttered, “It’s been a long time.”
LEARN MORE
Also, don't miss my July website giveaway - an autographed print copy of THE PEPPERMINT TREE. Enter today.
May 11, 2020
A New DEEP BLUE Short Adventure
By Kristy McCaffrey
Travel to Cocos Island with Alec and Grace in a new DEEP BLUE short adventure.
Grace is invited to participate in a documentary alongside several distinguished female marine scientists, and Alec, Double D, and Stephie come along to film them in the waters off Cocos Island near Costa Rica. Grace is still dealing with recent criticism of the film Alec made of her last year diving with great white sharks, and in the company of such accomplished women, she struggles to keep her insecurities at bay. When differing viewpoints lead to friction, Grace must learn to stand up for herself, but a bright spot emerges when Alec makes a surprise decision about their relationship.
All three Deep Blue shorts are now available in one collection. Grab a digital copy for only 99 cents. (Hurry - the price will increase on May 18th.)
Kindle
Nook
Kobo
Apple Books
Google Play
Smashwords
Print
Please note: the individual shorts are no longer available. By putting them together, I was able to create a paperback version for those of you who don't use e-readers.
I hope you enjoy these mini-adventures. I do love spending time with Grace and Alec, and have a few more tales brewing in my imagination.
Stay safe. Be well.
Kristy
xoxo
Travel to Cocos Island with Alec and Grace in a new DEEP BLUE short adventure.
Grace is invited to participate in a documentary alongside several distinguished female marine scientists, and Alec, Double D, and Stephie come along to film them in the waters off Cocos Island near Costa Rica. Grace is still dealing with recent criticism of the film Alec made of her last year diving with great white sharks, and in the company of such accomplished women, she struggles to keep her insecurities at bay. When differing viewpoints lead to friction, Grace must learn to stand up for herself, but a bright spot emerges when Alec makes a surprise decision about their relationship.
All three Deep Blue shorts are now available in one collection. Grab a digital copy for only 99 cents. (Hurry - the price will increase on May 18th.)
Kindle
Nook
Kobo
Apple Books
Google Play
Smashwords
Please note: the individual shorts are no longer available. By putting them together, I was able to create a paperback version for those of you who don't use e-readers.
I hope you enjoy these mini-adventures. I do love spending time with Grace and Alec, and have a few more tales brewing in my imagination.
Stay safe. Be well.
Kristy
xoxo
Author Kristy McCaffrey
Kristy McCaffrey writes western historical and contemporary romances. She and her husband live in Arizona with their two dogs. Visit her online at kristymccaffrey.com.
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