Jamie DeBree's Blog, page 20
August 21, 2013
Talkin' Books: Romance & Description...
Books Finished:
Fire Dance by Delle Jacobs
Unbuttoned by Maisey Yates
Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
Books In Progress:
Rough Country by John Sanford
High Risk by Vivian Arend
Short Fiction:
None
Comics Read:
None
Yeah, I picked up the next Spiderman comic a few times, but never
quite got it read, dang it. As you can see, I was sort of on a romance
bender this past week...and I'll just say right now that no, I did not
pay full price for those, aside from Maisey's (which is $1.99). I
stumbled over some sales and deals, and away we went...
Fire Dance is a great historical romance,
very richly layered though I freely admit to skimming a good portion of
the middle where battle plans and such were the focus of conversation.
Excellent story though, and some great history woven in, even if I did
have a slight bit of trouble suspending disbelief for small portions
here and there. It's a good book...pick up a copy if you like historical
romance.
Unbuttoned is fun - though not for the
characters, of course. I'll admit I tend to skip a lot of Maisey's books
because they often come with a pregnancy, which is not even close to my
thing, personally, but I love her writing and stories, so I was excited
to find this gem and it didn't disappoint. A nice, quick read with
all-too-real characters. Loved it!
Head Over Heels was on a serious sale
when I got it, and I was disappointed to see just how expensive the rest
of the series is, but only because I loved it so much. I'll be watching
the rest of the Lucky Harbor series for sales - over $5 is over my
limit for ebooks (and I rarely buy print over that anymore either...I
read too fast for those prices), but I'd really love to read about the
other sister's relationships, as well as the other women of Lucky
Harbor. But I've always liked her books, when I pick them up.
I am so close to finishing both Rough Country and High Risk...just a
few more chapters in each. But you can easily see from these Weds posts
how much longer it takes for me to finish print books as opposed to
digital. Weird, isn't it? I do love my kindle...
I picked up a couple romantic suspense novels this past week too,
started them, and put them both down again. In both cases, I felt they
were overwritten - way, way too much description for my personal taste.
When you have to describe water five different ways in the first two
pages, and beat me over the head with the fact that it's a hot summer
day and the guy in the scene is hot (not drool-worthy hot, but just
plain old hot. Because the day is hot. Hot hot hot...)...yeah. I don't
have the patience for that. Just gimme enough details to set the scene
and then get on with the dang story, please!
So that's it for me this week...lots of romance, and little else. Sometimes, you just gotta feel the lurv...right?
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Fire Dance by Delle Jacobs
Unbuttoned by Maisey Yates
Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
Books In Progress:
Rough Country by John Sanford
High Risk by Vivian Arend
Short Fiction:
None
Comics Read:
None
Yeah, I picked up the next Spiderman comic a few times, but never
quite got it read, dang it. As you can see, I was sort of on a romance
bender this past week...and I'll just say right now that no, I did not
pay full price for those, aside from Maisey's (which is $1.99). I
stumbled over some sales and deals, and away we went...
Fire Dance is a great historical romance,
very richly layered though I freely admit to skimming a good portion of
the middle where battle plans and such were the focus of conversation.
Excellent story though, and some great history woven in, even if I did
have a slight bit of trouble suspending disbelief for small portions
here and there. It's a good book...pick up a copy if you like historical
romance.
Unbuttoned is fun - though not for the
characters, of course. I'll admit I tend to skip a lot of Maisey's books
because they often come with a pregnancy, which is not even close to my
thing, personally, but I love her writing and stories, so I was excited
to find this gem and it didn't disappoint. A nice, quick read with
all-too-real characters. Loved it!
Head Over Heels was on a serious sale
when I got it, and I was disappointed to see just how expensive the rest
of the series is, but only because I loved it so much. I'll be watching
the rest of the Lucky Harbor series for sales - over $5 is over my
limit for ebooks (and I rarely buy print over that anymore either...I
read too fast for those prices), but I'd really love to read about the
other sister's relationships, as well as the other women of Lucky
Harbor. But I've always liked her books, when I pick them up.
I am so close to finishing both Rough Country and High Risk...just a
few more chapters in each. But you can easily see from these Weds posts
how much longer it takes for me to finish print books as opposed to
digital. Weird, isn't it? I do love my kindle...
I picked up a couple romantic suspense novels this past week too,
started them, and put them both down again. In both cases, I felt they
were overwritten - way, way too much description for my personal taste.
When you have to describe water five different ways in the first two
pages, and beat me over the head with the fact that it's a hot summer
day and the guy in the scene is hot (not drool-worthy hot, but just
plain old hot. Because the day is hot. Hot hot hot...)...yeah. I don't
have the patience for that. Just gimme enough details to set the scene
and then get on with the dang story, please!
So that's it for me this week...lots of romance, and little else. Sometimes, you just gotta feel the lurv...right?
Enjoythis post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 19, 2013
On Cleaning, Whodunnit, Leveling Up & Office Hours...
Here we go again...another week, another Monday. Are you
ready? Yeah, me neither. But we don't have much of a choice, do we? So
once more into the fray, and all that...
As usual, it's Sunday night while I'm typing this, a Castle re-run
is doing it's best to distract me, and I'm trying to ignore the smell of
the Scrubbing Bubbles I used while cleaning the bathroom earlier. It
was a can I'd bought...dang, probably way back when we first moved in
around nine years ago. I've since been moving towards more natural
cleaning products, but I'm so lazy about cleaning that things
were...rather bad, and I figured I'd use it up. Needless to say, I've
regretted it ever since. Yes, it worked, but now I have that chemical
smell stuck in my nose and I've avoided nearly all chemical-based
cleaners long enough that it bugs me probably more than it would
otherwise.
Needless to say, I'll be sticking to more natural cleaners from now
on. Vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, castile soap...stuff that
smells good and works just as well. We humans really do know how to make
the simplest tasks complex, don't we?
Speaking of complex - have you been watching
"Whodunnit" this summer? It's like a reality TV version of Clue, and
while I normally don't care much for reality TV, the hubby and I have
been watching this with interest. It's been intriguing, and early on we
were thinking that one of the "contestants" reminded us a lot of an
actress we'd seen in something...but we couldn't place her. I'm not
going to say which one, in case you are watching, and having caught the
finale that was on last night, but suffice it to say, we were right. But
we weren't sure up until the very end...which made it that much more
fun, I think.
I'd love to host a murder mystery night...but people are so weird
and self-conscious about that sort of thing that it's hard to get people
who will actually *play*. Why is that, do you suppose? Why do we take
ourselves so seriously we can't even role-play for an evening without
getting all weird about it? Might do us all some good to relax and let
go a bit - and I include myself in that as well.
In other news, I finally conquered the purl stitch this weekend,
which means I finally know the two basic knitting stitches, and can move
on to actual knitting projects. It was very challenging for me to learn
that last stitch, and I swear, it's been awhile since something
frustrated me that badly. Which is exactly why I needed to figure it
out. The mind needs to be challenged - the whole "use it or lose it"
adage applies to brainpower in very specific and measurable ways. Yes,
knitting is a manual task, but the actual art of creating stitches is
also a mental one...and I got a good endorphin rush around 12:30am
Saturday morning when I finally figured out how to do what I wanted to
do.
The other nice thing about this is, once I finally figured that
out, it's like a whole 'nuther world opened up to me. It's the
equivalent of "leveling up" in your favorite game...new patterns unlock,
and your world expands just a little bit more, which is never a bad
thing. I still prefer crochet, and probably always will, but having the
alternate skill means more options. I like options.
That, my friends, is why this blog is called The Variety Pages.
It's why I write in several genres, and I'm not afraid to jump into more
if the whim hits me, and why I at least try different crafts and
hobbies whenever I can. It's how I live my life - trying new things,
exploring different ways of doing things, and generally trying to expand
my horizons as broad as they can go. The beautiful thing about life is,
the number of levels are infinite, and there are a myriad of ways to
unlock them. Staying on one level is boring, and a great way to let your
brain go stagnant.
Yes, I may be spending too much time playing games online...but thanks for just ignoring that little detail...
On that note, let's see what kind of tasks are on tap for this week:
- A couple serial scenes
- A holiday serial story I meant to get done last week (oops)
- Web site updates
- Cover art
- A few more crochet squares for a gift project
- Pick out a knitting project to start
There's just one more thing that people may or may not be
interested in. Honestly, it's bound to be dull as dirt for anyone
outside my head, but I'm taking my methods of self-motivation to a whole
'nuther level, and establishing a fourth writing session on Tuesdays
& Thursdays. "That's not much of a challenge," you say. And indeed,
aside from the whole discipline thing it wouldn't be, except for one
minor little detail: I'm going to open up that writing session (to be
known as "Office Hours") to the public, writing in real time in a public
Google docs document.
Yes, that's right. For a fee of mind-numbing boredom, you will be
able to watch the words spring to life on the page (and then be
backspaced off, come back on, deleted again, ad nausea) for thirty
minutes every Tues/Thurs evening from 11:30pm - midnight my time (MDT).
You'll even be able to comment if you like (well, if I can figure out
how to turn that on). I'll warn you, the time will be a bit flexible,
depending on when the house settles down for the night, so it may be
slightly earlier or slightly later, depending. And as I've stated, it's
going to be a lot like watching paint dry or grass grow...seriously
boring. But if you need proof that someone else is writing to kick your
own butt into gear, stop by for a minute, watch my words flail around,
and go write comforted by the thought that someone else out there is
flopping through a first draft as well. Want to feel better about your
own drafts? Watch me write, backspace, write, rephrase, etc for five
minutes. Not only will I bore you into wanting to go back to your own
work, it might make you feel better about the words you're laying down,
depending on what kind of a night I'm having. If you're a reader, you
can see exactly how not-magical writing really is, and how it's really
just putting one word after the other (and then taking it back, laying
it down again, etc). If you'd rather believe books magically pop into
being, this probably isn't something you want to see.
This won't be a serialized story - I'll be working on whatever
draft I happen to be working on that day, and I normally have several
different drafts going so it'll be a crap-shoot as to genre/author
voice, though since it's real-time and public, there will be no graphic
sex written during that time (no promises on the violence, sorry). I'll
start this Tuesday night around 11:30pm-ish. It's mostly just another
way to motivate myself to add a couple more writing sessions...ya'll are
just invited along for the ride.
If you're interested, here's the link: Office Hours. I'll post it at The Drafting Desk tonight as well.
And that does it for another long introduction to the week. Writers
write, you know...even if just blathering on in a blog post. Here's
to more words this week, no matter where and what they are...Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
ready? Yeah, me neither. But we don't have much of a choice, do we? So
once more into the fray, and all that...
As usual, it's Sunday night while I'm typing this, a Castle re-run
is doing it's best to distract me, and I'm trying to ignore the smell of
the Scrubbing Bubbles I used while cleaning the bathroom earlier. It
was a can I'd bought...dang, probably way back when we first moved in
around nine years ago. I've since been moving towards more natural
cleaning products, but I'm so lazy about cleaning that things
were...rather bad, and I figured I'd use it up. Needless to say, I've
regretted it ever since. Yes, it worked, but now I have that chemical
smell stuck in my nose and I've avoided nearly all chemical-based
cleaners long enough that it bugs me probably more than it would
otherwise.
Needless to say, I'll be sticking to more natural cleaners from now
on. Vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, castile soap...stuff that
smells good and works just as well. We humans really do know how to make
the simplest tasks complex, don't we?
Speaking of complex - have you been watching
"Whodunnit" this summer? It's like a reality TV version of Clue, and
while I normally don't care much for reality TV, the hubby and I have
been watching this with interest. It's been intriguing, and early on we
were thinking that one of the "contestants" reminded us a lot of an
actress we'd seen in something...but we couldn't place her. I'm not
going to say which one, in case you are watching, and having caught the
finale that was on last night, but suffice it to say, we were right. But
we weren't sure up until the very end...which made it that much more
fun, I think.
I'd love to host a murder mystery night...but people are so weird
and self-conscious about that sort of thing that it's hard to get people
who will actually *play*. Why is that, do you suppose? Why do we take
ourselves so seriously we can't even role-play for an evening without
getting all weird about it? Might do us all some good to relax and let
go a bit - and I include myself in that as well.
In other news, I finally conquered the purl stitch this weekend,
which means I finally know the two basic knitting stitches, and can move
on to actual knitting projects. It was very challenging for me to learn
that last stitch, and I swear, it's been awhile since something
frustrated me that badly. Which is exactly why I needed to figure it
out. The mind needs to be challenged - the whole "use it or lose it"
adage applies to brainpower in very specific and measurable ways. Yes,
knitting is a manual task, but the actual art of creating stitches is
also a mental one...and I got a good endorphin rush around 12:30am
Saturday morning when I finally figured out how to do what I wanted to
do.
The other nice thing about this is, once I finally figured that
out, it's like a whole 'nuther world opened up to me. It's the
equivalent of "leveling up" in your favorite game...new patterns unlock,
and your world expands just a little bit more, which is never a bad
thing. I still prefer crochet, and probably always will, but having the
alternate skill means more options. I like options.
That, my friends, is why this blog is called The Variety Pages.
It's why I write in several genres, and I'm not afraid to jump into more
if the whim hits me, and why I at least try different crafts and
hobbies whenever I can. It's how I live my life - trying new things,
exploring different ways of doing things, and generally trying to expand
my horizons as broad as they can go. The beautiful thing about life is,
the number of levels are infinite, and there are a myriad of ways to
unlock them. Staying on one level is boring, and a great way to let your
brain go stagnant.
Yes, I may be spending too much time playing games online...but thanks for just ignoring that little detail...
On that note, let's see what kind of tasks are on tap for this week:
- A couple serial scenes
- A holiday serial story I meant to get done last week (oops)
- Web site updates
- Cover art
- A few more crochet squares for a gift project
- Pick out a knitting project to start
There's just one more thing that people may or may not be
interested in. Honestly, it's bound to be dull as dirt for anyone
outside my head, but I'm taking my methods of self-motivation to a whole
'nuther level, and establishing a fourth writing session on Tuesdays
& Thursdays. "That's not much of a challenge," you say. And indeed,
aside from the whole discipline thing it wouldn't be, except for one
minor little detail: I'm going to open up that writing session (to be
known as "Office Hours") to the public, writing in real time in a public
Google docs document.
Yes, that's right. For a fee of mind-numbing boredom, you will be
able to watch the words spring to life on the page (and then be
backspaced off, come back on, deleted again, ad nausea) for thirty
minutes every Tues/Thurs evening from 11:30pm - midnight my time (MDT).
You'll even be able to comment if you like (well, if I can figure out
how to turn that on). I'll warn you, the time will be a bit flexible,
depending on when the house settles down for the night, so it may be
slightly earlier or slightly later, depending. And as I've stated, it's
going to be a lot like watching paint dry or grass grow...seriously
boring. But if you need proof that someone else is writing to kick your
own butt into gear, stop by for a minute, watch my words flail around,
and go write comforted by the thought that someone else out there is
flopping through a first draft as well. Want to feel better about your
own drafts? Watch me write, backspace, write, rephrase, etc for five
minutes. Not only will I bore you into wanting to go back to your own
work, it might make you feel better about the words you're laying down,
depending on what kind of a night I'm having. If you're a reader, you
can see exactly how not-magical writing really is, and how it's really
just putting one word after the other (and then taking it back, laying
it down again, etc). If you'd rather believe books magically pop into
being, this probably isn't something you want to see.
This won't be a serialized story - I'll be working on whatever
draft I happen to be working on that day, and I normally have several
different drafts going so it'll be a crap-shoot as to genre/author
voice, though since it's real-time and public, there will be no graphic
sex written during that time (no promises on the violence, sorry). I'll
start this Tuesday night around 11:30pm-ish. It's mostly just another
way to motivate myself to add a couple more writing sessions...ya'll are
just invited along for the ride.
If you're interested, here's the link: Office Hours. I'll post it at The Drafting Desk tonight as well.
And that does it for another long introduction to the week. Writers
write, you know...even if just blathering on in a blog post.
Here'sto more words this week, no matter where and what they are...Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 16, 2013
Serial Story: Jasmine Betrayal, Part 2
This story is presented weekly in draft (that means unedited)
format every Friday right here on the blog for free. When the story is
done, it will be edited, polished and available for sale at all your
favorite online retailers.
Part 1 |
Jasmine Betrayal
Part 2
Max Westlake didn’t bother to watch Genevieve run to the kitchen. Whether she followed his instructions or not, chances were slim either of them would make it out of the diner alive, but he owed Pete Morano a blood debt, and tonight, he’d settle up.
The headlights cut off in the parking lot along with the engine, and four doors opened on the SUV. Five men got out, bringing a wry smile to Max’s lips. Apparently Jenkins wasn’t taking any chances, though Ms. Morano wouldn’t have been a challenge for even one hit man.
As Max watched out the window, two men went around either side of the diner, probably to ransack the trailer he’d seen out back and watch the back door. The other three men came through the front door, the first one looking surprised when it opened without resistance. Max nodded as they came in...he’d worked and lived with these men for the past three years.
And now he had to kill them.
“Didn’t figure you for a tea and scones kinda guy, Max,” one of the men said, moving closer to the table and sneering at the empty dishes. “Jenkins said you might be here. You always did have a soft spot for Morano, though I’m not sure why you’d care about his daughter. Didn’t think you even knew her.”
Max sat back, shrugged. “I don’t. She paid Pete’s debt though, and now I’m paying mine. Simple as that.”
The other two men exchanged grins. “She was fifty dollars short,” one said. “Boss said we could collect in a more personal manner before we brought her back to the ranch. You might as well tell us where she is. Her car’s out back, so she didn’t leave. You know we’ll find her either way...”
Max shook his head, sliding out of the booth and extending to his full six-foot-two height, his right finger barely touching the handgun’s trigger as it hung loosely at his side. The men stepped back, an involuntary, predictable motion that generally gave Max more pleasure. At the moment though, he was just really, really annoyed.
“Sorry boys. You want Ms. Morano, you go through me.”
The first man chuckled, raising the pistol in his hand. “I’m gonna enjoy this, Westlake.”
Max swung to the side before the shot rang out, twisting in one smooth motion to present a slim profile two feet to the left of the man’s aim. He calmly squeezed off two shots, the two backups crumpling to the floor as he dropped his gun and grabbed the first man’s wrist and twisted, two more shots going up into the ceiling before the man’s fingers released and the gun dropped to the floor.
Swinging him around, Max hooked a foot around the man’s ankle and held on to that wrist as the man went down, screaming in pain as his shoulder dislocated. Max put a foot between his shoulder blades and with his free hand, fished out a couple of long plastic zip ties from his back pants pocket, binding the man’s wrists together as he moaned and writhed underfoot.
“You’d think after three years, Jenkins would know me better,” Max commented, removing his foot from the man’s back and securing his ankles together. “He should have just left this alone.”
“Not...” the man gasped for air, his eyes squeezed shut as he fought the pain, “not considering what this place is worth. He won’t...stop until he gets that title. You’re a dead man if you stay here. When we don’t come back, he’ll send more.”
Max checked for pulses on the other men and then stood up, shrugged, and straightened his jacket. “We’ll be gone by then, and so will the title. Jenkins can fight it out in the courts, where it belongs.”
The man laughed, a dry, raspy sound. “You know that’ll never happen. He’ll hunt you down too, and for what? Some old guy who helped you out a few year’s back? Or just another pretty skirt? Neither of ‘em worth dying for, in my opinion.”
Retrieving his gun from the floor, Max tucked it into his waistband and then collected the three others, laying them on the back side of the lunch counter.
“Didn’t ask your opinion,” he said, taking his own piece out again and checking the clip. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a couple other people I need to see out back. Sit tight, and I’ll be right back.”
Stepping around the bodies, he approached the old-fashioned swinging door from the side, peering into the kitchen through a small square window for several seconds. No movement. Cautiously pushing the door open, he moved into the empty space, moving smoothly and checking behind and around industrial stoves and counters as he went. The freezer was so close he could touch it, and his first inclination was to get Genevieve out but he pushed it back. Until he knew all the men were incapacitated, she was safer locked in the big metal box.
A puff of air hit the back of his neck, and instinctively he dropped as something whistled past his ear. Rolling over, he ended up on his back, his pistol pointed up as he stared down the barrel of another man’s gun.
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
format every Friday right here on the blog for free. When the story is
done, it will be edited, polished and available for sale at all your
favorite online retailers.
Part 1 |
Jasmine Betrayal
Part 2
Max Westlake didn’t bother to watch Genevieve run to the kitchen. Whether she followed his instructions or not, chances were slim either of them would make it out of the diner alive, but he owed Pete Morano a blood debt, and tonight, he’d settle up.
The headlights cut off in the parking lot along with the engine, and four doors opened on the SUV. Five men got out, bringing a wry smile to Max’s lips. Apparently Jenkins wasn’t taking any chances, though Ms. Morano wouldn’t have been a challenge for even one hit man.
As Max watched out the window, two men went around either side of the diner, probably to ransack the trailer he’d seen out back and watch the back door. The other three men came through the front door, the first one looking surprised when it opened without resistance. Max nodded as they came in...he’d worked and lived with these men for the past three years.
And now he had to kill them.
“Didn’t figure you for a tea and scones kinda guy, Max,” one of the men said, moving closer to the table and sneering at the empty dishes. “Jenkins said you might be here. You always did have a soft spot for Morano, though I’m not sure why you’d care about his daughter. Didn’t think you even knew her.”
Max sat back, shrugged. “I don’t. She paid Pete’s debt though, and now I’m paying mine. Simple as that.”
The other two men exchanged grins. “She was fifty dollars short,” one said. “Boss said we could collect in a more personal manner before we brought her back to the ranch. You might as well tell us where she is. Her car’s out back, so she didn’t leave. You know we’ll find her either way...”
Max shook his head, sliding out of the booth and extending to his full six-foot-two height, his right finger barely touching the handgun’s trigger as it hung loosely at his side. The men stepped back, an involuntary, predictable motion that generally gave Max more pleasure. At the moment though, he was just really, really annoyed.
“Sorry boys. You want Ms. Morano, you go through me.”
The first man chuckled, raising the pistol in his hand. “I’m gonna enjoy this, Westlake.”
Max swung to the side before the shot rang out, twisting in one smooth motion to present a slim profile two feet to the left of the man’s aim. He calmly squeezed off two shots, the two backups crumpling to the floor as he dropped his gun and grabbed the first man’s wrist and twisted, two more shots going up into the ceiling before the man’s fingers released and the gun dropped to the floor.
Swinging him around, Max hooked a foot around the man’s ankle and held on to that wrist as the man went down, screaming in pain as his shoulder dislocated. Max put a foot between his shoulder blades and with his free hand, fished out a couple of long plastic zip ties from his back pants pocket, binding the man’s wrists together as he moaned and writhed underfoot.
“You’d think after three years, Jenkins would know me better,” Max commented, removing his foot from the man’s back and securing his ankles together. “He should have just left this alone.”
“Not...” the man gasped for air, his eyes squeezed shut as he fought the pain, “not considering what this place is worth. He won’t...stop until he gets that title. You’re a dead man if you stay here. When we don’t come back, he’ll send more.”
Max checked for pulses on the other men and then stood up, shrugged, and straightened his jacket. “We’ll be gone by then, and so will the title. Jenkins can fight it out in the courts, where it belongs.”
The man laughed, a dry, raspy sound. “You know that’ll never happen. He’ll hunt you down too, and for what? Some old guy who helped you out a few year’s back? Or just another pretty skirt? Neither of ‘em worth dying for, in my opinion.”
Retrieving his gun from the floor, Max tucked it into his waistband and then collected the three others, laying them on the back side of the lunch counter.
“Didn’t ask your opinion,” he said, taking his own piece out again and checking the clip. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a couple other people I need to see out back. Sit tight, and I’ll be right back.”
Stepping around the bodies, he approached the old-fashioned swinging door from the side, peering into the kitchen through a small square window for several seconds. No movement. Cautiously pushing the door open, he moved into the empty space, moving smoothly and checking behind and around industrial stoves and counters as he went. The freezer was so close he could touch it, and his first inclination was to get Genevieve out but he pushed it back. Until he knew all the men were incapacitated, she was safer locked in the big metal box.
A puff of air hit the back of his neck, and instinctively he dropped as something whistled past his ear. Rolling over, he ended up on his back, his pistol pointed up as he stared down the barrel of another man’s gun.
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
New Release: English Breakfast
If you're looking for the next installment of
Jasmine Betrayal
, fear not! It will be auto-posting around 10am or so (mountain time). In the meantime, I'm pleased to announce that the latest BeauTEAful Summer story,
English Breakfast
is now available for purchase!
The second cup she serves just might be the last...
Two
cups of tea, one old flame and a stolen flash drive plunge Karen
Winters into the past she's determined to leave behind. Caught in the
middle of someone else's fight, she'll need every ounce of strength to
get back to the man who never really let her go.
English Breakfast is available now for $1.99 in the Brazen Snake Books Store, or at these fine online retailers:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | Smashwords | Kobo
It will be available at Apple, Sony & Diesel in a week or so.
Here's an excerpt for those who didn't read along with the serial version:
****
“What
are you doing here, Patrick?” She didn’t smile, pinning him with
the intense stare meant to intimidate. Somehow she still didn’t
seem to realize that it had never worked on him. Not in the way she
wanted it to, anyways. Carefully adjusting his trousers, he slid onto
a barstool and tried to focus on his purpose for being there.
“Good
to see you too, Karen. I’ll take a cup of English Breakfast, if you
don’t mind. And a woman should have brought in a flash drive for
me?”
Karen
retrieved the drive and slid it across the bar to him.
“I’ll
make you a cup to go. That will be two-fifty.”
Her words were
measured and professional, with a healthy layer of stress threaded
through. It probably would have been wise to send someone else,
considering her reaction, but he’d wanted to see her again, selfish
as that was. She’d turned his life upside down when she walked out,
and for what? Some mid-life crisis? He wanted closure. Deserved that
much, after five years together.
Right
after she unlocked the contents of the drive for him.
“I’ll
stay,” he said, earning a sharp glare. “Karen, I need your help.”
Her
brows drawn together, she shook her head but he held the drive up
before she could argue.
“To
be clear, there’s a journalist who needs your help. And I don’t
have time to find someone else who has the skills to hack this drive.
She
doesn’t have time.”
“I
don’t do that anymore, Patrick - you know that. What are you going
to do, come here every time you need a hacker? I’m sorry, and I’m
sorry for whatever trouble your client is in, but I just...can’t. I
can’t.”
She
turned away, dispensing water into a to-go cup over a bag of tea
leaves. Slapping a small watch-face to the cup, she put a lid on and
set it in front of him.
“No
charge. Now please leave.”
He
leaned forward, steeling himself against her icy gaze.
“Heather
Charles was kidnapped today, and her photographer thinks it’s
because of the information on that drive. The photographer received
it by courier the day before yesterday with instructions to come to
us if anything happened to Ms. Charles. That night, she never came
home.”
“I
left copies of all the programs I developed at the office. One of the
other geeks should be able to figure it out. What about Ken?” Karen
leaned against the back counter, arms crossed over her chest. She was
trying to resist, but he could see her resolve crumbling, hear it in
her voice.
“Ken’s
out on a long-term assignment, Jake’s on vacation and can’t be
reached, and Derek...well, he’s distracted right now. Kane says it
has to be you.”
She
stared past his shoulder, worrying her lower lip like she always did
when she knew there was no other choice. A quick shake of the head,
and she reached across the bar to reclaim the drive.
“Fine.
Give me half an hour, and I’ll see what I can do.”
****
I hope you enjoy it! And if you haven't already, don't forget to pick up a copy of Deadly Chai as well, the first book in the series (they stand alone, of course).
Stay tuned for more Jasmine Betrayal later this morning...
The second cup she serves just might be the last...
Two
cups of tea, one old flame and a stolen flash drive plunge Karen
Winters into the past she's determined to leave behind. Caught in the
middle of someone else's fight, she'll need every ounce of strength to
get back to the man who never really let her go.
English Breakfast is available now for $1.99 in the Brazen Snake Books Store, or at these fine online retailers:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | Smashwords | Kobo
It will be available at Apple, Sony & Diesel in a week or so.
Here's an excerpt for those who didn't read along with the serial version:
****
“What
are you doing here, Patrick?” She didn’t smile, pinning him with
the intense stare meant to intimidate. Somehow she still didn’t
seem to realize that it had never worked on him. Not in the way she
wanted it to, anyways. Carefully adjusting his trousers, he slid onto
a barstool and tried to focus on his purpose for being there.
“Good
to see you too, Karen. I’ll take a cup of English Breakfast, if you
don’t mind. And a woman should have brought in a flash drive for
me?”
Karen
retrieved the drive and slid it across the bar to him.
“I’ll
make you a cup to go. That will be two-fifty.”
Her words were
measured and professional, with a healthy layer of stress threaded
through. It probably would have been wise to send someone else,
considering her reaction, but he’d wanted to see her again, selfish
as that was. She’d turned his life upside down when she walked out,
and for what? Some mid-life crisis? He wanted closure. Deserved that
much, after five years together.
Right
after she unlocked the contents of the drive for him.
“I’ll
stay,” he said, earning a sharp glare. “Karen, I need your help.”
Her
brows drawn together, she shook her head but he held the drive up
before she could argue.
“To
be clear, there’s a journalist who needs your help. And I don’t
have time to find someone else who has the skills to hack this drive.
She
doesn’t have time.”
“I
don’t do that anymore, Patrick - you know that. What are you going
to do, come here every time you need a hacker? I’m sorry, and I’m
sorry for whatever trouble your client is in, but I just...can’t. I
can’t.”
She
turned away, dispensing water into a to-go cup over a bag of tea
leaves. Slapping a small watch-face to the cup, she put a lid on and
set it in front of him.
“No
charge. Now please leave.”
He
leaned forward, steeling himself against her icy gaze.
“Heather
Charles was kidnapped today, and her photographer thinks it’s
because of the information on that drive. The photographer received
it by courier the day before yesterday with instructions to come to
us if anything happened to Ms. Charles. That night, she never came
home.”
“I
left copies of all the programs I developed at the office. One of the
other geeks should be able to figure it out. What about Ken?” Karen
leaned against the back counter, arms crossed over her chest. She was
trying to resist, but he could see her resolve crumbling, hear it in
her voice.
“Ken’s
out on a long-term assignment, Jake’s on vacation and can’t be
reached, and Derek...well, he’s distracted right now. Kane says it
has to be you.”
She
stared past his shoulder, worrying her lower lip like she always did
when she knew there was no other choice. A quick shake of the head,
and she reached across the bar to reclaim the drive.
“Fine.
Give me half an hour, and I’ll see what I can do.”
****
I hope you enjoy it! And if you haven't already, don't forget to pick up a copy of Deadly Chai as well, the first book in the series (they stand alone, of course).
Stay tuned for more Jasmine Betrayal later this morning...
August 14, 2013
Talkin' Books: More Romance, Skimming & Comic Meltdowns
Books Finished:
Beautiful Sorrows by Mercedes Yardley
A Knight to Remember by Christina Dodd
No Romance Required by Cari Quinn
Books In Progress:
Rough Country by John Sanford
High Risk by Vivian Arend
Short Fiction:
None
Comics Read:
Wolverine #7
Morbius #7
Look at that! I finally finished Beautiful Sorrows ,
the short story collection I've been working on for months. And I'm not
going to apologize for savoring it either...because it's the type of
literature that's meant to roll around in your brain a bit after you've
read it, knocking things loose and generally showing you different ways
of looking at things. The author left notes at the back on each story,
but as soon as I realized that's what they were, I skipped them. I'm
sure that for some people, it provides an extra layer for the story, but
for me, I prefer to let the story be what it is, without author
interpretation. Does that sound odd coming from a writer? Perhaps...but I
don't explain my own work either - it is what it is, which I'm sure is
something different to everyone who reads it.
In any case, I'm glad I took the time to work slowly through this
lovely collection of poignant stories. I think you will be too.
I also finished A Knight to Remember ,
which is a historical romance involving a few unique twists to the
budding relationship that I found refreshing and fascinating at the same
time. It also explored something I don't often see explored in
historicals involving knights and their women, which is a juxtaposition
of the male need to conquer vs the female tendency to worry, and how
those perspectives color (or might have colored) *everything*, really.
Excellent romance, but also just an excellent exploration of human
philosophy and character. I'd highly recommend it.
And just as my Monday was sinking faster than the infamous Titanic, Cari Quinn's latest, No Romance Required
came out, and being vulnerable, crabby and just plain stressed, I
snatched it up like a lifeline and spent most of the evening/night
generally using it to hide from the world and forget my own troubles. It
was fabulous, as her books always are, with an impossible "opposites
attract" relationship and even a slight nod to bondage/dominance play
(when I say "slight", I mean very slight, just FYI).
Yes, I'm close to the end of Rough Country, I just haven't been to bed early enough this week to finish it. This week, perhaps? And while I'm enjoying High Risk ,
I have to admit I'm skimming a lot of the middle. I tend to prefer
shorter romance novels, and after awhile, sex on the page tends to get
repetitive for me (thus a bit boring, no matter how skilled the author
is). It makes me wonder, since I haven't had this issue with her books
in particular before, if some of this isn't filler to meet a word count
requirement for the publisher (I don't think her books tend to normally
be this long either). If so, it's too bad. Publishers really should do
away with those arcane requirements in this age of digital and print on
demand options...
As for comics... Wolverine is getting very
interesting, what with losing his healing factor. Which begs the
question - when his claws come out, do they tear the skin? With the
healing factor, it wouldn't matter, but now? He'd be left basically
defenseless if he can't use his claws. In any case, he's having a bit of
a mental melt-down, which is entirely understandable, and I'll be
interested to see how he's going to deal with that in the next issue. I
think we all know there are really two basic ways it can go, and that is
pretty frightening, either way...
And Morbius is in quite a pickle, dang
it. I mean, the end of this issue is...something really, really bad that
isn't "stoppable", at least not from what I can see. Of course, he's a
vampire, so he's immortal, but this experience is going to ruin him
regardless. I'm kind of on pins and needles waiting to see what's going
to happen to him now. Interestingly, much like Wolverine, this is going
to leave him with a life-altering decision that could go very, very
wrong. Hmm...
So lots of good and very interesting reading this past week. I love
it when that happens. And I have a bunch of new stories on my Kindle
just waiting for me to get to them...bliss is having an overflowing "to
be read" pile, right?
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Beautiful Sorrows by Mercedes Yardley
A Knight to Remember by Christina Dodd
No Romance Required by Cari Quinn
Books In Progress:
Rough Country by John Sanford
High Risk by Vivian Arend
Short Fiction:
None
Comics Read:
Wolverine #7
Morbius #7
Look at that! I finally finished Beautiful Sorrows ,
the short story collection I've been working on for months. And I'm not
going to apologize for savoring it either...because it's the type of
literature that's meant to roll around in your brain a bit after you've
read it, knocking things loose and generally showing you different ways
of looking at things. The author left notes at the back on each story,
but as soon as I realized that's what they were, I skipped them. I'm
sure that for some people, it provides an extra layer for the story, but
for me, I prefer to let the story be what it is, without author
interpretation. Does that sound odd coming from a writer? Perhaps...but I
don't explain my own work either - it is what it is, which I'm sure is
something different to everyone who reads it.
In any case, I'm glad I took the time to work slowly through this
lovely collection of poignant stories. I think you will be too.
I also finished A Knight to Remember ,
which is a historical romance involving a few unique twists to the
budding relationship that I found refreshing and fascinating at the same
time. It also explored something I don't often see explored in
historicals involving knights and their women, which is a juxtaposition
of the male need to conquer vs the female tendency to worry, and how
those perspectives color (or might have colored) *everything*, really.
Excellent romance, but also just an excellent exploration of human
philosophy and character. I'd highly recommend it.
And just as my Monday was sinking faster than the infamous Titanic, Cari Quinn's latest, No Romance Required
came out, and being vulnerable, crabby and just plain stressed, I
snatched it up like a lifeline and spent most of the evening/night
generally using it to hide from the world and forget my own troubles. It
was fabulous, as her books always are, with an impossible "opposites
attract" relationship and even a slight nod to bondage/dominance play
(when I say "slight", I mean very slight, just FYI).
Yes, I'm close to the end of Rough Country, I just haven't been to bed early enough this week to finish it. This week, perhaps? And while I'm enjoying High Risk ,
I have to admit I'm skimming a lot of the middle. I tend to prefer
shorter romance novels, and after awhile, sex on the page tends to get
repetitive for me (thus a bit boring, no matter how skilled the author
is). It makes me wonder, since I haven't had this issue with her books
in particular before, if some of this isn't filler to meet a word count
requirement for the publisher (I don't think her books tend to normally
be this long either). If so, it's too bad. Publishers really should do
away with those arcane requirements in this age of digital and print on
demand options...
As for comics... Wolverine is getting very
interesting, what with losing his healing factor. Which begs the
question - when his claws come out, do they tear the skin? With the
healing factor, it wouldn't matter, but now? He'd be left basically
defenseless if he can't use his claws. In any case, he's having a bit of
a mental melt-down, which is entirely understandable, and I'll be
interested to see how he's going to deal with that in the next issue. I
think we all know there are really two basic ways it can go, and that is
pretty frightening, either way...
And Morbius is in quite a pickle, dang
it. I mean, the end of this issue is...something really, really bad that
isn't "stoppable", at least not from what I can see. Of course, he's a
vampire, so he's immortal, but this experience is going to ruin him
regardless. I'm kind of on pins and needles waiting to see what's going
to happen to him now. Interestingly, much like Wolverine, this is going
to leave him with a life-altering decision that could go very, very
wrong. Hmm...
So lots of good and very interesting reading this past week. I love
it when that happens. And I have a bunch of new stories on my Kindle
just waiting for me to get to them...bliss is having an overflowing "to
be read" pile, right?
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 12, 2013
On Getting Stuff Done, A New Cover & Perfectionism...
Top o' the Monday to you, or something like that...
Last week was super productive...which is awesome. Aside from one
day that I got no writing done due to extreme busy-ness at the day job
and a minor setback with the next holiday serial resulting in the
deletion/rewriting of several paragraphs, it was a really good writing
week. I also managed to get one cover done (hey, better than none,
right?), another square and a half done on the afghan I'm making, and
most importantly, I finished the revisions to The Handyman's Dancer and sent the draft off to annoy my editor for awhile! Hooray!
Incidentally, here's the new cover for The Handyman's Dancer :
Am I in love with the cover? Well, no, to be honest. But I think
that it fits with the series as it stands now, it gives a good overall
vibe for the tone of the book, and it conveys the most important parts
of the story - the parts that make the story what it is. Eventually I'd
like to have all three covers in the Fantasy Ranch series completely
redone, but I don't have the time at the moment and I'm lacking in
creative vision for them as well. So this will work for now, and just as
soon as I've got the concept for better covers down, I'll redo them
all.
This whole process, especially with THD has me thinking about
perfectionism, and glad I'm not bound by it as some people are. I'm
quite sure perfectionists will cringe at that statement, and be
absolutely horrified that I could even consider publishing something
that I don't consider "perfect" from all angles, but the huge problem
with that is that if I waited until I thought any book, cover, blurb or
anything else was perfect, I would *never publish a single thing*. Ever.
Here's my dirty little secret: nothing I do is ever "perfect" in my
eyes. Stories, crochet projects, work projects - it makes no
difference. I can always, always find something that needs improvement
in my own work. When I get a negative review? I'm highly likely to agree
with at least part of it, and whatever I don't, I can see how a person
with different experiences and filters than I might think the way they
do (which is one of the reasons I don't read reviews at all).
People deal with this in one of two ways. Perfectionists, as we
call them, constantly strive for what they cannot reach. Some of them
get over it enough to actually produce things, others never do.
The other way to deal with it is how I manage, and that is not to
strive for perfection, but to give myself hard deadlines and strive for
"good enough". And yes, I'm fully aware that perfectionists of the first
order sneer rather heartily at my approach. The thing is, my
personality is such that if it has to be as close to perfect as possible
before I release something into the wild (no matter what it is), I just
won't do it. The fear of failure, the absolute knowledge that
perfection is utterly unattainable is mind-numbing for me. If I know I'm
going to fail before I even start, I just won't do it. And I know for a
fact that I can never produce a perfect product.
It might be worth noting at this point that people often point out
to me that my "good enough" is still a fairly high standard. And I don't
just slap things together and toss them out without though. This cover
took me weeks of looking through images, swapping things out, moving
things around and general angst about the whole thing. And even though i
have a general policy of not doing any kind of major revisions on
drafts once they're done, THD's basic plot line was flawed in the first
round, so I took the time to go back and make the revisions to fix that
(hated every second, but I did it). I think the key to staying sane for
me is channeling my perfectionist tendencies into limited boundaries,
but not allowing them enough room to make me freeze in place.
Deep thoughts for a Monday, eh?
Time to move on to more important things than navel-gazing...like this week's to-do list:
- Final edits/formatting/release for English Breakfast
- Cover art for one more book
- Two serial scenes
- Finish a holiday serial installment
- Start a new holiday serial installment (hopefully finish too)
- Crochet a few more afghan squares
- Make a hair appointment (why can I never remember to do this until I really, really need it?)
That's enough, I think...anything else will just be gravy. Who doesn't like gravy, right?
Here's to another good week...and school starting up again soon (so
the neighborhood kids & teens will have something productive to do
too)!
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Last week was super productive...which is awesome. Aside from one
day that I got no writing done due to extreme busy-ness at the day job
and a minor setback with the next holiday serial resulting in the
deletion/rewriting of several paragraphs, it was a really good writing
week. I also managed to get one cover done (hey, better than none,
right?), another square and a half done on the afghan I'm making, and
most importantly, I finished the revisions to The Handyman's Dancer and sent the draft off to annoy my editor for awhile! Hooray!
Incidentally, here's the new cover for The Handyman's Dancer :
Am I in love with the cover? Well, no, to be honest. But I think
that it fits with the series as it stands now, it gives a good overall
vibe for the tone of the book, and it conveys the most important parts
of the story - the parts that make the story what it is. Eventually I'd
like to have all three covers in the Fantasy Ranch series completely
redone, but I don't have the time at the moment and I'm lacking in
creative vision for them as well. So this will work for now, and just as
soon as I've got the concept for better covers down, I'll redo them
all.
This whole process, especially with THD has me thinking about
perfectionism, and glad I'm not bound by it as some people are. I'm
quite sure perfectionists will cringe at that statement, and be
absolutely horrified that I could even consider publishing something
that I don't consider "perfect" from all angles, but the huge problem
with that is that if I waited until I thought any book, cover, blurb or
anything else was perfect, I would *never publish a single thing*. Ever.
Here's my dirty little secret: nothing I do is ever "perfect" in my
eyes. Stories, crochet projects, work projects - it makes no
difference. I can always, always find something that needs improvement
in my own work. When I get a negative review? I'm highly likely to agree
with at least part of it, and whatever I don't, I can see how a person
with different experiences and filters than I might think the way they
do (which is one of the reasons I don't read reviews at all).
People deal with this in one of two ways. Perfectionists, as we
call them, constantly strive for what they cannot reach. Some of them
get over it enough to actually produce things, others never do.
The other way to deal with it is how I manage, and that is not to
strive for perfection, but to give myself hard deadlines and strive for
"good enough". And yes, I'm fully aware that perfectionists of the first
order sneer rather heartily at my approach. The thing is, my
personality is such that if it has to be as close to perfect as possible
before I release something into the wild (no matter what it is), I just
won't do it. The fear of failure, the absolute knowledge that
perfection is utterly unattainable is mind-numbing for me. If I know I'm
going to fail before I even start, I just won't do it. And I know for a
fact that I can never produce a perfect product.
It might be worth noting at this point that people often point out
to me that my "good enough" is still a fairly high standard. And I don't
just slap things together and toss them out without though. This cover
took me weeks of looking through images, swapping things out, moving
things around and general angst about the whole thing. And even though i
have a general policy of not doing any kind of major revisions on
drafts once they're done, THD's basic plot line was flawed in the first
round, so I took the time to go back and make the revisions to fix that
(hated every second, but I did it). I think the key to staying sane for
me is channeling my perfectionist tendencies into limited boundaries,
but not allowing them enough room to make me freeze in place.
Deep thoughts for a Monday, eh?
Time to move on to more important things than navel-gazing...like this week's to-do list:
- Final edits/formatting/release for English Breakfast
- Cover art for one more book
- Two serial scenes
- Finish a holiday serial installment
- Start a new holiday serial installment (hopefully finish too)
- Crochet a few more afghan squares
- Make a hair appointment (why can I never remember to do this until I really, really need it?)
That's enough, I think...anything else will just be gravy. Who doesn't like gravy, right?
Here's to another good week...and school starting up again soon (so
the neighborhood kids & teens will have something productive to do
too)!
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 9, 2013
Serial Story: Jasmine Betrayal, Part 1
Welcome to the latest story in the BeauTEAful Summer series, Jasmine Betrayal! This story will be presented weekly in draft (that means unedited) format every Friday right here on the blog for free. When the story is done, it will be edited, polished and available for sale at all your favorite online retailers.
I'm excited to introduce you to Genevieve and Max, characters named by Carol Ward and Ardee-ann Eichelmann, and their story of romantic suspense that revolves around an old southern diner outside Little Rock, Arkansas. Grab your favorite cuppa and settle in - I hope you enjoy the story!
Jasmine Betrayal
Part 1
The hair on the back of Genevieve’s neck prickled as she wiped down another booth in the diner she’d recently inherited. The sweet, perfume scent of Jasmine tea wafted across the room from her last customer. It was completely at odds with his tailored suit and sharp-cut black hair, but no more so than the plain scone and lemon butter he’d ordered. Men didn’t normally order such light and delicate flavors, which made him suspect right from the start.
But that stare boring into her back as she worked, those dark, intense eyes that had never left her own as she’d taken his order sent chills up her spine. Not even a hint of drawl in the few low words he’d uttered either. That didn’t necessarily mean he knew Jenkins - the North was a big place, after all, but it was rare that anyone other than locals stopped in to see her rather than driving on into Little Rock.
And never so late at night.
She moved behind the long fifties-style lunch counter, trying to remember when she’d sent the reply to a letter that had come for her father. It had arrived just days after his death, and by the time she’d gotten around to opening it, the deadline had passed. Charlie Jenkins had promised to kill the entire Morano family if he didn’t pay back the money her father owed within a week.
Genevieve had no idea what the money had been for, but looking over her father’s ledger she saw the debt noted in his handwriting. She’d sent a letter of apology, a copy of her father’s death certificate and a check for the whole of her life-savings to pay off all but fifty dollars, which she’d promised to send within one month. Had it been that long already?
Glancing at the man by the door, she wondered if fifty dollars would be the difference between life and death. Perhaps she would die tonight without even knowing why. That seemed a little unfair.
She cleaned the coffee pots, going through the motions though she could still feel the weight of his focus on her. Surely he’d finished his tea by now. She’d left the check with the scones, but he seemed to be waiting for...something.
The clocked ticked over to midnight. Closing time.
Wiping her hands on her apron, she steadied herself, and then moved to stand by his table.
“I’m closing up, Mister. Can I settle the check for you?”
He glanced out the window and she automatically looked as well. It was pitch black out, aside from the single street light illuminating the dirt parking lot. There was only one car out there, his, she assumed. Aside from a gas station a mile away, the diner was the only stop along the road, a relic of past days before the interstate had stolen all the traffic.
“Do you sleep here?” he asked, that smooth, deep voice like chocolate on her skin even as the question made her take a step back.
“That’s none o’your business, Sir. I’d appreciate it if you left now.” She tried to keep the fear out of her voice, but she felt the slight tremor, saw in his eyes that he’d heard it too. Still, she held her ground and his gaze. If he was going to kill her, he’d have to do it while looking her in the eye.
He reached under the left side of his jacket with his right hand, and pulled out a shiny black gun, laying it on the table in front of him.
“Sit down,” he said, gesturing to the other side of the booth, his tone still calm and maddenly even. Genevieve tried to move, but somehow she couldn’t.
“Now.”
He still hadn’t raised his voice, but the word broke her trance and she slid into the booth across from him, her feet accidentally bumping his. She cringed. Not that it mattered. There was nowhere to go, and no one to help. She was going to die here, in her father’s old diner, for a fifty-dollar bill.
She took a deep breath, letting it out slow as she wondered why he still hadn’t picked the gun up.
No point in keeping quiet now.
“Fifty bucks is nothing compared to the check I sent,” she said. “And I can pay the rest now, straight from the till, in cash. I won’t say anything. I promise, it’s just...why? Why did my father borrow that money? Even if you have to kill me, I deserve to know. Won’t mean a thing, otherwise.”
The man looked out the window again. Genevieve looked too, not sure whether to be relieved or scared when headlights came barreling toward them out of the darkness. Her captor reached for the gun.
“Ms. Morano?”
She took another breath - probably her last, and closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Do you have a walk-in freezer?”
She opened her eyes, frowning. “Yes.”
He nodded. “Go lock the back door, and then shut yourself in the freezer. If I survive, I’ll let you out in a few minutes. If I don’t, you’ll be better off in there than out here.”
Genevieve started to argue, but he slid out of the booth and moved to the door, his entire body tense as the vehicle pulled into the gravel lot. It dawned on her that he’d given her a choice - the devil she knew, or the one she didn’t.
She ran for the kitchen.
Enjoy
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I'm excited to introduce you to Genevieve and Max, characters named by Carol Ward and Ardee-ann Eichelmann, and their story of romantic suspense that revolves around an old southern diner outside Little Rock, Arkansas. Grab your favorite cuppa and settle in - I hope you enjoy the story!
Jasmine Betrayal
Part 1
The hair on the back of Genevieve’s neck prickled as she wiped down another booth in the diner she’d recently inherited. The sweet, perfume scent of Jasmine tea wafted across the room from her last customer. It was completely at odds with his tailored suit and sharp-cut black hair, but no more so than the plain scone and lemon butter he’d ordered. Men didn’t normally order such light and delicate flavors, which made him suspect right from the start.
But that stare boring into her back as she worked, those dark, intense eyes that had never left her own as she’d taken his order sent chills up her spine. Not even a hint of drawl in the few low words he’d uttered either. That didn’t necessarily mean he knew Jenkins - the North was a big place, after all, but it was rare that anyone other than locals stopped in to see her rather than driving on into Little Rock.
And never so late at night.
She moved behind the long fifties-style lunch counter, trying to remember when she’d sent the reply to a letter that had come for her father. It had arrived just days after his death, and by the time she’d gotten around to opening it, the deadline had passed. Charlie Jenkins had promised to kill the entire Morano family if he didn’t pay back the money her father owed within a week.
Genevieve had no idea what the money had been for, but looking over her father’s ledger she saw the debt noted in his handwriting. She’d sent a letter of apology, a copy of her father’s death certificate and a check for the whole of her life-savings to pay off all but fifty dollars, which she’d promised to send within one month. Had it been that long already?
Glancing at the man by the door, she wondered if fifty dollars would be the difference between life and death. Perhaps she would die tonight without even knowing why. That seemed a little unfair.
She cleaned the coffee pots, going through the motions though she could still feel the weight of his focus on her. Surely he’d finished his tea by now. She’d left the check with the scones, but he seemed to be waiting for...something.
The clocked ticked over to midnight. Closing time.
Wiping her hands on her apron, she steadied herself, and then moved to stand by his table.
“I’m closing up, Mister. Can I settle the check for you?”
He glanced out the window and she automatically looked as well. It was pitch black out, aside from the single street light illuminating the dirt parking lot. There was only one car out there, his, she assumed. Aside from a gas station a mile away, the diner was the only stop along the road, a relic of past days before the interstate had stolen all the traffic.
“Do you sleep here?” he asked, that smooth, deep voice like chocolate on her skin even as the question made her take a step back.
“That’s none o’your business, Sir. I’d appreciate it if you left now.” She tried to keep the fear out of her voice, but she felt the slight tremor, saw in his eyes that he’d heard it too. Still, she held her ground and his gaze. If he was going to kill her, he’d have to do it while looking her in the eye.
He reached under the left side of his jacket with his right hand, and pulled out a shiny black gun, laying it on the table in front of him.
“Sit down,” he said, gesturing to the other side of the booth, his tone still calm and maddenly even. Genevieve tried to move, but somehow she couldn’t.
“Now.”
He still hadn’t raised his voice, but the word broke her trance and she slid into the booth across from him, her feet accidentally bumping his. She cringed. Not that it mattered. There was nowhere to go, and no one to help. She was going to die here, in her father’s old diner, for a fifty-dollar bill.
She took a deep breath, letting it out slow as she wondered why he still hadn’t picked the gun up.
No point in keeping quiet now.
“Fifty bucks is nothing compared to the check I sent,” she said. “And I can pay the rest now, straight from the till, in cash. I won’t say anything. I promise, it’s just...why? Why did my father borrow that money? Even if you have to kill me, I deserve to know. Won’t mean a thing, otherwise.”
The man looked out the window again. Genevieve looked too, not sure whether to be relieved or scared when headlights came barreling toward them out of the darkness. Her captor reached for the gun.
“Ms. Morano?”
She took another breath - probably her last, and closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Do you have a walk-in freezer?”
She opened her eyes, frowning. “Yes.”
He nodded. “Go lock the back door, and then shut yourself in the freezer. If I survive, I’ll let you out in a few minutes. If I don’t, you’ll be better off in there than out here.”
Genevieve started to argue, but he slid out of the booth and moved to the door, his entire body tense as the vehicle pulled into the gravel lot. It dawned on her that he’d given her a choice - the devil she knew, or the one she didn’t.
She ran for the kitchen.
Enjoy
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Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
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will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 7, 2013
Talkin' Books: Romance, Mystery & Spiders...
Books Finished:
The Unwanted by Shiloh Walker
Books In Progress:
A Knight to Remember by Christina Dodd
Rough Country by John Sanford
Beautiful Sorrows by Mercedes Yardley
Short Fiction:
None
Comics Read:
Superior Spiderman #13 & 14
The Black Bat #1
Hooray for more reading! Not enough, of course, but is it ever, really?
Where to start, where to start...hmm. Well, The Unwanted
was on sale last week, and when I got Shiloh Walker's newsletter
announcing that, I ran right over to Amazon and picked up a copy. Really
intense paranormal romantic suspense - I enjoyed it very much, as I
always do with her work. It's just normally too expensive for me to want
to lay down cash for, which is when author newsletters and sale notices
are very handy, incidentally. The next time one of her books in this
series goes on sale, I'm all over it!
And I picked up A Knight to Remember on
sale as well, also a newsletter find (yes, yes, I know. I know! I'm
taking notes, really...). It's my current lunchtime reading, and very
intriguing so far. Historical romance, for those who couldn't guess by
the quippy title.
I'm so close to finished with Rough Country
it's not even funny, but it's my bedtime reading, and until just a few
nights ago, I was staying up late working on book stuff (or playing
Smurf games, whatever), so I just didn't get back to it. I *think* I
have the killer figured out, but my husband says the ending is rather
tricky, so I'm not locking in my answer just yet. We'll see. There are a
*lot* of players in this book, and a ton of potential suspects, so I
suggest that if you read it, you do not follow my lead and use it as
occasional reading, but rather block out a nice chunk of several hours
to just stick with that world. It'll be much easier than trying to
reorient yourself every time you pick it up as I'm having to do.
I'm finally caught up on my Superior Spiderman
issues, and I must say, I *love* the new costume, and am still
completely waffle-y about this whole "bad-boy Spiderman" thing. I mean, I
prefer that to Peter Parker because Parker was always *too* good for me
(probably because I'm an ol' fuddy duddy and that makes those with a
rebellious streak attractive to me, while people *like* me are boring),
but is Doc Ock "too bad" to be good? We shall see, I guess...
The Black Bat was my new comic pick - a
reboot of an older comic that was possibly a precurser to Batman (I
think), and I had to order it in special (yes, I should have just tried
the digital copy. I'm stupid sometimes). It was intriguing, but I'm not
sure it'll hold my interest for the long term. I'll read issue #2 in
digital form (cheaper that way too!) and decide after that. Maybe it'll
still grab me...who knows?
I have a ton of good reading waiting for me this week - including a
Vivian Arend book (print though, which means it will take awhile),
Grimm/Morbius/Wolverine comics, and the new-to-paperback Preston &
Child novel (which my hubby currently has). No shortage of good
imagination fodder around here, that's for sure! Which is good, since
the car registration is due this month... (ugh).
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
The Unwanted by Shiloh Walker
Books In Progress:
A Knight to Remember by Christina Dodd
Rough Country by John Sanford
Beautiful Sorrows by Mercedes Yardley
Short Fiction:
None
Comics Read:
Superior Spiderman #13 & 14
The Black Bat #1
Hooray for more reading! Not enough, of course, but is it ever, really?
Where to start, where to start...hmm. Well, The Unwanted
was on sale last week, and when I got Shiloh Walker's newsletter
announcing that, I ran right over to Amazon and picked up a copy. Really
intense paranormal romantic suspense - I enjoyed it very much, as I
always do with her work. It's just normally too expensive for me to want
to lay down cash for, which is when author newsletters and sale notices
are very handy, incidentally. The next time one of her books in this
series goes on sale, I'm all over it!
And I picked up A Knight to Remember on
sale as well, also a newsletter find (yes, yes, I know. I know! I'm
taking notes, really...). It's my current lunchtime reading, and very
intriguing so far. Historical romance, for those who couldn't guess by
the quippy title.
I'm so close to finished with Rough Country
it's not even funny, but it's my bedtime reading, and until just a few
nights ago, I was staying up late working on book stuff (or playing
Smurf games, whatever), so I just didn't get back to it. I *think* I
have the killer figured out, but my husband says the ending is rather
tricky, so I'm not locking in my answer just yet. We'll see. There are a
*lot* of players in this book, and a ton of potential suspects, so I
suggest that if you read it, you do not follow my lead and use it as
occasional reading, but rather block out a nice chunk of several hours
to just stick with that world. It'll be much easier than trying to
reorient yourself every time you pick it up as I'm having to do.
I'm finally caught up on my Superior Spiderman
issues, and I must say, I *love* the new costume, and am still
completely waffle-y about this whole "bad-boy Spiderman" thing. I mean, I
prefer that to Peter Parker because Parker was always *too* good for me
(probably because I'm an ol' fuddy duddy and that makes those with a
rebellious streak attractive to me, while people *like* me are boring),
but is Doc Ock "too bad" to be good? We shall see, I guess...
The Black Bat was my new comic pick - a
reboot of an older comic that was possibly a precurser to Batman (I
think), and I had to order it in special (yes, I should have just tried
the digital copy. I'm stupid sometimes). It was intriguing, but I'm not
sure it'll hold my interest for the long term. I'll read issue #2 in
digital form (cheaper that way too!) and decide after that. Maybe it'll
still grab me...who knows?
I have a ton of good reading waiting for me this week - including a
Vivian Arend book (print though, which means it will take awhile),
Grimm/Morbius/Wolverine comics, and the new-to-paperback Preston &
Child novel (which my hubby currently has). No shortage of good
imagination fodder around here, that's for sure! Which is good, since
the car registration is due this month... (ugh).
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 5, 2013
On Feet, Creativity & Southern Suspense...
As I write this, it's Sunday night and I'm all too cognizant of my
feet at the moment. They're cold due to the A/C, but I also managed to
sprain a muscle across the ball of my foot somehow when I was watering
plants today. Yes, I know. Weirdest sprain ever. The thing is, because
my feet are cold, I keep flexing them, which pulls against the
strain/sprain/whatever. Yes, I have a blanket over my feet, but socks
might be a better option...
Hopefully by the time you read this, my foot will have relaxed
itself. Monday means dress shoes - not exactly optimal for rebellious
foot muscles.
In any case, I didn't get nearly as much stuff done last week as
I'd hoped to, but I did figure out that one of the reasons (aside from
just laziness and general hatred) I was having so much trouble revising
the latest Fantasy Ranch draft is because I wasn't actively writing
anything new. I know some writers have to focus on just one thing at a
time, but for me, my brain doesn't work right unless I'm...well,
purging, for lack of a better word, all the creative thoughts that flit
through my head. If I don't write, I start drifting farther into my own
head, and mental fantasies that aren't necessarily healthy. I think it's
just because my mind gets bored, and needs something stimulating to
keep it busy and happy. When I'm writing, it gets that stuff out of my
head, instead of letting it swirl around and use valuable brain power
that I could be using for other things (like, say, revising finished
drafts).
Once I started working on another draft, I could focus again, and
made a lot of good progress on revisions. Weird, and maybe even a little
messed up, but whatever works, right?
Creativity is an odd and interesting thing. When it's not being completely annoying.
Which is why I'm starting a new serial draft this week. I'll be posting weekly installments of Jasmine Betrayal ,
the next BeauTEAful Summer story starting this Friday. Thanks to Carol
& Ardee-Ann who were so kind as to offer me suggestions for
characters and setting last week, I'm going to attempt to write a
Southern romantic suspense short story...and hopefully I won't foul it
up too badly (I've never been in the South, though I've read a lot of
stories set there). Without further ado, here's the cast and the setting
the story will start with:
Heroine: Genevieve Morano
Hero: Max Westlake
Setting: Morano's Diner just outside Little Rock, Arkansas
And just that much was enough to tell me who Genevieve and Max are,
their goals, backgrounds, the main issue between them and how this is
all going to start. So thank you, ladies! I'm excited to get started on
this right away, and I think you're going to like what I'm seeing for
these two!
What else am I up to this week? Let's see...
- Create 2 covers (this is an absolute must!)
- Edits to English Breakfast (back from the editor!)
- Finish the revisions to THD (get it done!)
- Draft another holiday serial story (did one last week)
- Start Jasmine Betrayal
- Another scene for a pen name serial
- Catch up on laundry
- Couple more crochet squares
- Web site updates
That is more than enough, methinks. Now, I propose a toast. Ladies
& gentlemen, please lift a glass for the happily ever after of
Genevieve & Max. May they find love under the threat of death...
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
feet at the moment. They're cold due to the A/C, but I also managed to
sprain a muscle across the ball of my foot somehow when I was watering
plants today. Yes, I know. Weirdest sprain ever. The thing is, because
my feet are cold, I keep flexing them, which pulls against the
strain/sprain/whatever. Yes, I have a blanket over my feet, but socks
might be a better option...
Hopefully by the time you read this, my foot will have relaxed
itself. Monday means dress shoes - not exactly optimal for rebellious
foot muscles.
In any case, I didn't get nearly as much stuff done last week as
I'd hoped to, but I did figure out that one of the reasons (aside from
just laziness and general hatred) I was having so much trouble revising
the latest Fantasy Ranch draft is because I wasn't actively writing
anything new. I know some writers have to focus on just one thing at a
time, but for me, my brain doesn't work right unless I'm...well,
purging, for lack of a better word, all the creative thoughts that flit
through my head. If I don't write, I start drifting farther into my own
head, and mental fantasies that aren't necessarily healthy. I think it's
just because my mind gets bored, and needs something stimulating to
keep it busy and happy. When I'm writing, it gets that stuff out of my
head, instead of letting it swirl around and use valuable brain power
that I could be using for other things (like, say, revising finished
drafts).
Once I started working on another draft, I could focus again, and
made a lot of good progress on revisions. Weird, and maybe even a little
messed up, but whatever works, right?
Creativity is an odd and interesting thing. When it's not being completely annoying.
Which is why I'm starting a new serial draft this week. I'll be posting weekly installments of Jasmine Betrayal ,
the next BeauTEAful Summer story starting this Friday. Thanks to Carol
& Ardee-Ann who were so kind as to offer me suggestions for
characters and setting last week, I'm going to attempt to write a
Southern romantic suspense short story...and hopefully I won't foul it
up too badly (I've never been in the South, though I've read a lot of
stories set there). Without further ado, here's the cast and the setting
the story will start with:
Heroine: Genevieve Morano
Hero: Max Westlake
Setting: Morano's Diner just outside Little Rock, Arkansas
And just that much was enough to tell me who Genevieve and Max are,
their goals, backgrounds, the main issue between them and how this is
all going to start. So thank you, ladies! I'm excited to get started on
this right away, and I think you're going to like what I'm seeing for
these two!
What else am I up to this week? Let's see...
- Create 2 covers (this is an absolute must!)
- Edits to English Breakfast (back from the editor!)
- Finish the revisions to THD (get it done!)
- Draft another holiday serial story (did one last week)
- Start Jasmine Betrayal
- Another scene for a pen name serial
- Catch up on laundry
- Couple more crochet squares
- Web site updates
That is more than enough, methinks. Now, I propose a toast. Ladies
& gentlemen, please lift a glass for the happily ever after of
Genevieve & Max. May they find love under the threat of death...
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
August 2, 2013
Change of Plans
Got whiplash? Hang around for awhile, and experience the
wishy-washy nature of yours truly. It'll be fun. Really. Backboards
& neck braces all around!
I jest. Sort of.
I also serialize stuff. It's what I do. It's what I've done since I
decided to take writing seriously. One part rebellion against all the
writers out there who say it's a terrible idea, ninety-eight parts
masochism, one part ego. That might be a bit skewed, but you get the
picture (and you know I can do math when absolutely necessary - bonus!).
Be advised that next week, there will be a new serial story
starting right here, same bat time, same bat place. Another tea story, I
think. Those are fun, right? Besides, I need three more to complete a
set.
Join me next Friday for the exciting start of Jasmine Betrayal!
No, I don't have a clue what it's about yet. If I did, there
wouldn't be any reason to write it. But, we could make a contest out of
it...anyone up for that? Could be fun!
Here's what I need to start a story:
Female Name
Male Name
Setting (contemporary and on earth, preferably)
That's it - I can take it from there. If you want to participate,
comment here, on FB, Twitter or wherever you happen to see this post
with your suggestions for one or all three of those variables, and if I
use one of your suggestions (I'll just use one from each person, to keep
things fair), you'll get an acknowledgment in the book, and a free copy
of the story once it's done, edited and polished. Fair enough? I'll
need them by Monday though, so any suggestions need to be posted by
Sunday night.
If no one suggests anything, no problem - if you want to participate though, here's your chance.
Have a great weekend!
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
wishy-washy nature of yours truly. It'll be fun. Really. Backboards
& neck braces all around!
I jest. Sort of.
I also serialize stuff. It's what I do. It's what I've done since I
decided to take writing seriously. One part rebellion against all the
writers out there who say it's a terrible idea, ninety-eight parts
masochism, one part ego. That might be a bit skewed, but you get the
picture (and you know I can do math when absolutely necessary - bonus!).
Be advised that next week, there will be a new serial story
starting right here, same bat time, same bat place. Another tea story, I
think. Those are fun, right? Besides, I need three more to complete a
set.
Join me next Friday for the exciting start of Jasmine Betrayal!
No, I don't have a clue what it's about yet. If I did, there
wouldn't be any reason to write it. But, we could make a contest out of
it...anyone up for that? Could be fun!
Here's what I need to start a story:
Female Name
Male Name
Setting (contemporary and on earth, preferably)
That's it - I can take it from there. If you want to participate,
comment here, on FB, Twitter or wherever you happen to see this post
with your suggestions for one or all three of those variables, and if I
use one of your suggestions (I'll just use one from each person, to keep
things fair), you'll get an acknowledgment in the book, and a free copy
of the story once it's done, edited and polished. Fair enough? I'll
need them by Monday though, so any suggestions need to be posted by
Sunday night.
If no one suggests anything, no problem - if you want to participate though, here's your chance.
Have a great weekend!
Enjoy
this post? Support your author:
Romantic Suspense
| Erotic Romance | Contemporary Romance |
Horror | Flash Fiction | Non-Fiction
**Please
note - If this is your first time posting, your comment
will be moderated. Once you have been approved, future comments will post automatically.
