Maddy Barone's Blog, page 38
October 11, 2013
Wolf’s Oath is almost here!
October 7, 2013
Tuesday Teaser 10/8-Wolf’s Vengeance
Tuesday is already rolling around again? Geez, where’s the time going? I have been very busy the last week and a half, and haven’t done much more writing. But overtime is over, and after this coming weekend I’ll have most of my evenings free. I plan to do an ARC giveaway for Wolf’s Oath during the week of the 14th, but only through my newsletter. If you’d like to get a free advanced readers copy of Connie and Des’ story, feel free to sign up for my newsletter. I’m planning on giving away 20 ARCs.
Meanwhile, here’s another snip from further along in Chapter 1 of Wolf’s Vengeance. Enjoy!
Mel didn’t feel calm. As she leaned against the wall beside her window, her heart was beating in her throat so hard she could count her pulse by it. She stared out the window, forcing herself to focus on the ranch yard and the rolling hills beyond. They were bare except for the dried yellow grass that moved in the hot summer breeze. A shadow bobbed on the crest of the hill to her left. A rider? A movement close by caught her attention and she saw her oldest brother, Marc, run around the house to leap up the front steps. The front door opened and slammed shut, and then the solid thunk of the bar settling into the brackets on the door drew a relieved sigh from her.
“Mel?” he yelled.
“Yeah. Me and Sara are safe upstairs,” she yelled back. “And I just saw a rider coming up the hill to the west. There he is again, and there’s another rider behind him.”
“Sara? You in your room?” Marc called. “Anyone out back?”
“I haven’t seen anyone yet,” the girl shouted.
“Keep your eyes open. Let me know if you see anyone else. These two riding up to the front door might be trying to distract us from anyone else sneaking up the back.”
“You got it.”
Mel waited by the window, searching the empty landscape for more riders. The two rode under the arched entry in the fence. She watched their hands, noting they held them in plain sight, nowhere near the pistols in their belts or the rifles sheathed on their saddles. Smart. On the road they were sitting ducks for a gunman. She lifted her rifle to have it ready in case of trouble.
“See anyone out back, Sara?” she called in a low voice.
“Nope.”
Okay, maybe it was just a neighborly call. But she recognized the riders as they came closer. Sam and Curt Fosse were the two oldest in the family since she had killed their brother Rob last winter. Did they know that their brothers Jim, Randy, and Dave were dead too? She doubted this was a friendly visit.
When the Fosses got to the edge of the yard, Marc yelled, “That’s far enough. What do you want?”
“Just passing by,” Sam shouted back, tipping the brim of his hat back to show a white smile. All the Fosses were handsome devils, Mel reflected, emphasis on ‘devils’. “Heard your sister went off a week ago to Ellsworth to be a prize for a Bride Fight.”
“That’s right.” Marc’s tone was cold and flat, but it didn’t discourage Sam.
“So, who won her?”
“How would I know? Haven’t gotten a letter yet. Hell, the fight might not even have taken place yet.”
Mel smiled. Not exactly a lie. She had gone to the Bride Fight and been won by Jim Fosse, and she hadn’t sent a letter. Not, she reflected, that Marc had a problem with lying. He could say anything with a bland, blank face and no one could tell he was lying. Sam’s face lifted to stare up at her window. Mel stood utterly still, knowing she couldn’t be seen where she was. After a minute he looked back to the front of the house. “You had visitors last night. They had some women with them, I heard.”
“You hear a lot.”
Sam laughed. “Sure. Folks like to talk to me. So who were they?”
“Just travelers, passing through. We sold them some supplies and they left this morning.”
“Were the women young? Pretty?”
Marc declined to answer. Silence stretched. Mel moved slowly and carefully to wipe at the sweat gathering on her upper lip. It wasn’t nerves that made her sweat, she assured herself. The bedroom was sweltering in the humid July afternoon. She kept her gaze sweeping over the distant hills, looking for any threat, but checked Curt and Sam frequently. They sat quiet in their saddles, twenty-five yards from the house. If they thought they could force Marc to speak, they were in for a surprise. Her big brother was a champion at keeping his mouth shut. Finally, Sam gave up and spoke again.
“Mind if we fill out canteens?”
“Yeah, I do. It ain’t but a three hour ride home for you. You won’t die of thirst before then. You oughta get going.”
Mel could imagine Sam’s mouth tightening. “Not exactly neighborly.”
“Yeah,” Marc drawled. “I get that way with folks who threaten to burn me out, kill my brothers, and rape my sister.”
October 2, 2013
Audiobook Winners
The winners are
Sarah C., Stacy and Annette T!
Congrats, ladies. I have sent an email with your download codes to your emails. I hope you enjoy listening to Glory and Shadow fall in love.
September 30, 2013
Tuesday Teas –er, I Mean, Give Away!
Do you listen to Audiobooks? I do. It’s the perfect thing for when you want to relax with your knitting or spinning. Or dishwashing, dusting, etc. 
Did you know I have two of my books in audio with the third one coming out around November 1? I am so thrilled to see my books on Audible, iTunes and Amazon. Would you like to try Wolf’s Glory out? Here’s your chance. I’m giving away THREE (3) coupons for a free download of Wolf’s Glory from Audible on Wednesday night. You don’t have to be a member to use your coupon. To win, just leave a comment on this post. I will draw Wednesday, October 2 at 9:00pm central time and email the winners before bed.You can hear a sample of Wolf’s Glory HERE
Good luck!
September 23, 2013
Tuesday Teaser 9/24-Wolf’s Vengeance
I’ve been struggling with the opening scene for Mel and Snake’s book. I’ve started it three times, each in a different place. I think I’ve settled on this one. It’s very bare bones right now, and I’ll go in later and add some detail and description, but here it is.
Chapter 1
“Incoming!”
The distant shout jerked Mel’s head up from the big pot of stew she stirred. Sara punched the bread dough down and laid a damp towel over the bowl with a frown. “What was that?” the teenager asked.
“Strangers are coming.” Mel put the lid on the stew pot and grabbed a rifle from the rack by the kitchen door to hand to Sara. “You know how to use this?”
Sara grabbed another towel to wipe her hands clean of bread dough before taking the rifle. “Of course.”
The teenager checked to see if the rifle was loaded. Mel approved the easy familiarity she showed as she handled the rifle. “Come on. We need to close the doors and windows and head upstairs to the safe room.”
Even as she spoke Mel slammed the iron-reinforced shutters closed over the kitchen window. Sara hurried to the back door off the mudroom and closed it. The lock fell into place with a loud metallic click that relieved a tiny bit of Mel’s anxiety. Mel took the other rifle from the rack and ran into the hall that led past the living room to the front door. Before she reached the entryway, two large gray-furred wolves barreled into her, hackles raised, toenails scraping over the worn tile.
Mel, scrambling for balance, tried to determine which of the wolves was her husband. Snake was a bit bulkier than his cousin Stone, his fur slightly darker, but she couldn’t tell who was who until the wolves morphed into naked men. Snake, the man she’d married only twenty-four hours ago, gripped her shoulders.
“Mike and Mord are two miles out,” he said in a rapid voice. “Marc will be here in a minute. He’ll bar the front door. Me and Stone are going to the bunkhouse. You and Sara cover the yard from upstairs.”
Mel touched the butt of her pistol. “Okay. Who’s coming? How many?”
Snake’s face, never as soft and pretty as Stone’s, hardened. “Fosses,” he spat.
September 22, 2013
The Birthday Contest Winner Is…
Congrats, Danielle! I have sent you an email. I’m ready to send out your prizes as soon as I hear from you.
Thank you, everyone, for your birthday wishes. I feel very blessed.
September 21, 2013
It’s my Birthday and I’m Giving Away Presents!
Item: A coupon for a free download of the audiobook of Sleeping With the Wolf. Must be a member of www.Audible.com. You can do the sign up and immediately cancel if you like.
Item: An eARC of Wolf’s Oath, unedited, in either .docx or .pdf
format.
Item:
Chandelier earrings like the ones
Connie wears in Wolf’s Oath.
Item: A colorful, hand knit (by yours truly) asymmetric scarf. Winter is coming (in my neck of the woods anyway) and you need something bright and cheery like this to hold off the winter blues.
How to enter? Just leave a comment on this post before
7:00 pm central time on Sunday, September 22. I will draw a name at 7:30 and email the winner right away. Once I hear from the winner I’ll email the audiobook coupon and the eARC, and I expect to mail the package on Monday afternoon after work.Contest Begins NOW! Read, Set, Comment! Good luck!
September 17, 2013
Root Canals Suck
Just thought I’d let you know in case you weren’t sure.
I’ve heard horror stories about pain following root canals. I’ve had root canals before, but I never had much pain afterward. A little soreness, a little discomfort, yeah, but not real pain. Right now I’m in screaming pain. I cried for an hour earlier. Tylenol 3 doesn’t touch it. I just want it to end. I am, in case you haven’t figured it out for yourself, a big baby when it comes to pain. I’ve decided to take tomorrow off work. I’m pretty sure no one wants to listen to me whine at my desk.
Makes me wonder what sort of dental care they have in my future world. The electric drills are a no go, but would they have anesthesia? What material would they use for fillings? Omaha is far more advanced than the small surrounding towns, so would city people have better dental care than rural people? When the railroad comes would it allow people to travel further faster to get dental care?
See? This is the stupid stuff I think about all the time. What if? Try asking the dentist these sorts of questions while he’s looking in your mouth. He said it was always interesting to work on me. Hmph.
September 16, 2013
Tuesday Truth 9/17/13
No Teaser today as I have done several in the past few weeks and because –gulp!– I’m having a root canal this afternoon. I don’t know if you’ve ever had an abscessed tooth, but let me tell you, I’m pretty sure that everyone in hell is going to have them all the time because anything more agonizing I can’t imagine. I kinda started to feel it on Monday night. Then Tuesday it was a little uncomfortable, but I tried not to think of it. Wednesday I began to hurt more, but it wasn’t until Wednesday night that I was almost serious about finding a pliers and yanking that tooth out.
All night I sat in bed, holding my face and rocking back and forth while sobbing. Tylenol didn’t even touch it. I went to work at 5:30 am (because, hey, I couldn’t sleep anyway, right?) and counted the minutes until 8am when I could call the dentist. At 8:01 I got the answering machine telling me the office would be closed the rest of the week for training.
I may have screamed. Maybe. Other workers twisted around at their desks to stare at me. I listened to the message again and jotted down the emergency number to call. It was the dentist’s personal cell and at first he had no idea who I was or why I was calling. I guess I didn’t enunciate clearly enough through my sobs. Once we cleared up who I was and why I was calling, he asked me some pretty detailed questions (Was it swollen? Which tooth was it? If I pressed gently on the gum did it feel spongy?) He said he would swing by the office and review my chart and xrays and call me back.
Anyway, to make a long story short, he concluded it was probably an abscess and called a prescription for penicillin and Tylenol with codeine in to the pharmacy. The pain was pretty bad the rest of that day, but on Friday morning the penicillin seemed to be kicking in. I still have some pain, but it’s mostly bearable. I have an appointment today at 2:45 which the dentist believes will be a root canal, but I guess I’ll find out for sure then.
The dentist has phoned me two more times just to check on me and see how I’m doing. So far so good. The pain is like a simmering pot instead of one boiling over. A bit uncomfortable, but not horrible. If you have a minute today around 2:45 think good thoughts for me!
September 15, 2013
Wolf’s Oath Excerpt
Standing in the big room, Connie could hear the wind whistle outside. It was going to be a cold walk to her wedding. It was mid-morning, and the sun looked pale and weak to Connie as she donned several layers of winter gear. Faron and two of his men were by one of the stoves, where he was probably giving them orders. Connie and several of the women were a few feet away, close to the kitchen, and Des, Stag and two other men from Taye’s Pack were by the door. Connie snuck glances at Des. She was going to marry him. She still had trouble processing that fact. In a few hours she would be married to Des Wolfe. The hangover hadn’t ever fully materialized, so maybe she couldn’t blame Katie’s stash for the rash decision. What had she been thinking?
Kathy held out a hat. “It’s awfully cold out,” she said fretfully. “Do you want another scarf? Maybe another pair of socks?”
Connie was so bundled up she felt like an Abominable Snowwoman. There wasn’t enough winter outerwear for each of the women to have her own, but she and Sherry, whom Stag has persuaded to come to the den, had been urged to wear the warmest pieces. They would need them for the cold trek to the den.
Sammie took the hat and placed it at a jaunty angle over Connie’s pale blond hair. She leaned close and whispered, “Are you sure you want to marry him?”
Oh, yeah, now Connie remembered why she’d agree to marry Des. She didn’t have the heart to tell the younger woman that Des, standing only a few yards away, could probably hear their whispers clearly. “Yes,” she said firmly. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Sammie wavered. “Well, it’s just that, uh, you know. You said you didn’t want to marry anyone.”
Connie could have told the younger woman why she was marrying Des, but why make anyone feel bad? Instead she winked. “A girl has a right to change her mind, doesn’t she? And, have you looked at him?”
Sammie did, her expression doubtful. “Yeah, he’s good looking, if you like older guys… I mean, uh, if you’re old.” When Connie’s eyebrow flew up she fluttered her hands. “Sorry! But he’s got to be, like, thirty-five or forty.”
Kathy seemed to be having trouble keeping a straight face. “Ancient. But for an old man, he’s hawt.”
“Yeah.” Sammie winced. “I guess I’ll shut up now.”
“Good plan,” Connie said, but she smiled to let Sammie know she wasn’t angry.
She glanced at Des, who had his back to her. She liked the long legs in worn denim, the broad shoulders and narrow waist. The loose plaid wool jacket didn’t hide his shape. After years in the military, she was used to closely trimmed hair, but she even liked the thick black braids that hung smoothly down his back. She knew his eyes would be dark and serious as he spoke with Stag and his other friends. His features were strong and regular. Even his stoic, almost grim, expression couldn’t rob his high cheekbones and full mouth of their beauty. When he took a step closer to Stag, the worn denim cupping his firm round ass moved with him. His face was handsome, but his body was utterly gorgeous. As Kathy said, he was hot. Her sister would have called him lickable-licious. Connie always thought that was a ridiculous word for a grown woman to use. It was more suited to someone Sammie’s age. But looking at Des now, she decided lickable-licious was the perfect word to describe him.
