Rae Davies's Blog, page 5

How Can Lucy Love Bud Light?

Hmm, well… Bud Light was for years the best selling beer in the world.  It was still the number one selling beer in America in 2011. (I’m guessing will be for 2012 too.) So, a lot of people do drink it. Actually, it was my favorite beer for years. Which considering I’m originally from Missouri makes a lot of sense, and Lucy is from Missouri too.

So, while my personal tastes may have changed. When I drink beer, I might choose Moose Drool (Montana), Fat Tire Ale (CO), or Dos Equis (Mexico), Lucy is still loyal to the good old king of beers, Anheuser Busch.

Speaking of Anheuser Busch, they have a great brewery tour and gift shop. If you are ever in St. Louis, don’t miss it!

Tagged: beer, Dusty Deals Mystery Series, Lucy

Where did Lucy get her love and knowledge of antiques?

Lucy and I have a lot in common. Her love of antiques and how she came by it is just one example. Both of us grew up in antique crazy families.

My father was the first president of our local Collector’s Club and I spent most of my childhood going to various shows, shops and then later as an adult, auctions.

My husband and I did the auction/yard sale thing for a while gathering merchandise for a booth we had at an antique shop in Helena, Montana. A lot of the information on auctions both in Loose Screw and in Love is All You Need was garnered through first hand experience.

The old antique/junk shop owner in Love is All You Need? He’s based on a real man I knew as a child. He truly had a hook for one hand and nothing for the other. My mother used to bring him coffee with cup and saucer. He would pour the coffee from the cup into the saucer, let it cool and then drink it.

I met a lot of wonderful characters like that growing up and love sharing them now with readers. I just hope I do all of them justice.

Tagged: antiques, auctions, Loose Screw, Love is All You Need

Sunday Savings–Free Mainly Mystery Ebooks

Nothing beats taking a day to kick back and read. Hoping all of you have the chance to do that now and again, I thought I’d start sharing books that are either free or on special. This week I’m going mainly free. Note these are all free or 99¢ at the time of posting (Sunday, August 5th around 9:30 a.m. Central), but many won’t be free later. Check before you hit buy.

First a book by me!

Love is All Around was my first published book. When I got the rights back from Kensington I had it re-edited and designed a new cover. I also switched the author name from Lori Devoti to Rae Davies. The light voice just fits Rae better.

Patsy Lee Clark knows what she wants – out of Daisy Creek and away from everything country. That is until Will Barnes rolls back into her life. This bad boy from her past spent fourteen years making up for teenage mistakes. Now he’s ready for a fresh beginning. The harder Patsy tries to escape her Ozark roots, the more Will reminds her of what makes them special. The harder Will tries to start over, the more Patsy and her family get in his way. Can Will convince Patsy they belong together in Daisy Creek or will she follow her dream and leave him and the Ozarks forever?

FREE for Nook and Kindle

Invisible by Lorena McCourtney

She’s not your average crime fighter!

Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it’s only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.

Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can’t resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities’ attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor’s match-making schemes can’t slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?

FREE for Kindle and Nook

Making the Rules by Doranna Durgin

A stand-alone action-romance book in the Hunter Agency series of the former Silhouette Bombshell line (Books I & II—Exception to the Rule and Back to the Rules–are available in publisher eversions and at used paperback dealers)

Kimmer Reed is a Hunter Agency operative, a street foundling escaped from an abusive family and raised to be code-name Chimera–a fierce, savvy loner with a natural gift for reading people. Now on her first assignment with the one man she trusts–the one man she can’t read–she finds herself overseas in the Basque countryside, framed for the theft of the very antiquity she has been sent to guard and doubting her ability to work with a partner at all–never mind the man she loves.

Rio Carlsen, former CIA field officer who left the agency with scars both physical and emotional, joins Hunter Agency field operations with reservations–and only because his partner is Kimmer. Now he’s caught in the schemes of a woman from Kimmer’s past. Political terrorism, antiquities theft, and revenge–this woman wants it all, and she’s on her way to getting it.

Framed, cut off from the agency, and tangled in Basque Nationalist splinter terrorist groups, the biggest challenge Kimmer and Rio face is coming to terms with their pasts and with each other–so they can live through the day on the way to saving it.

FREE for Kindle

‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy by Leslie Langtry

Gin Bombay is your typical soccer-mom/assassin, trying to balance killing bad guys with PTA meetings.

‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy Reviews:

“Irreverent, witty and fun…a wild, adventurous ride!”

-Katie MacAlister, New York Times Bestselling Author

“With an irreverent, tell-it-like-it-is, suburban-mom-assassin narrator, Leslie Langtry’s ‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy delivers wild and wicked fun.”

-Julie Kenner, USA Today Bestselling Author

“Darkly funny and wildly over the top, this mystery answers the burning question, ‘Do assassin skills and Girl Scout merit badges mix…’ one truly original and wacky novel!”

-Romantic Times BOOKreviews

FREE for Kindle and 99¢ for Nook

Tagged: free ebooks

Our Inaugural Camping Trip to Door County Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin

We haven’t done the RV camping thing for years, since selling our fifth wheel right after leaving Montana. So when we got a new travel trailer we knew we needed to a couple of short “test” trips before setting off a big multi-day adventure.

We wanted somewhere semi-close, but with things to do. We also wanted to go to a campground that would be accepting of our dogs and have fun stuff for the kids.

We settled on the Jellystone Park Campground near Sturgeon Bay, WI.

We’ve stayed at a lot of Jellystone campgrounds over the years, mainly in the camping cabins, and had really good experiences. My kids love the game rooms, pools, pancake breakfasts and other kid-oriented amenities. So when I saw one in Door County, I went with it.

Overall it was a good experience. The campground was clean and our site was spacious and shaded. However, I hadn’t realized how few full hookup sites the campground has – like eight – and was surprised when we got only water and electric. Then there was the never-ending joy of getting the trailer into the site.

They assigned us a back-in site. Okay, the DH has to learn… But there were no signs on the campground roads telling you which way to go and the direction the girl at the office told us to go did not for an easy back-in make.

On the plus side, my kids got to see early on one of the major joys of camping… yelling, fussing and much carrying on.  And after some coming and going (on my part) to the office, we got moved to a pull-thru and all was well. Well, accept for that no sewer thing.

Adjustments were made – mainly of the “use the campground bathroom whenever you can” variety and skipping a shower on the day we left.

Aside from those couple of bumps though, things were great. As I said our site was shaded – actually in the trees – and people were friendly. It was our dogs’ first ever trip so we were worried about how they would do, but the sailed through. Well… the husky did think he would just wait to “go” until he got home. But after 24 hours he broke down and watered the grass. A half a day later he finished the job. I honestly didn’t know a dog could hold at least the first part that long.

The game room was a disappointment, but the girl and I still got to play a really embarrassing game of pool that I  (for the record) won and the swimming pools (though small) were nice and clean and enjoyable to sit by. And BONUS another couple brought their pet parrot. So dinoboy got some exotic wildlife viewing in.

In the end, our first trip in our trailer was deemed a success by all, even considering the trip back dodging road construction – but that is an entirely different tale.

Tagged: campground review, RV Camping, vacation

On the Road in New Gulf Stream Travel Trailer!

When we lived in Montana and were care-free (read pre-kids) my husband and I had a fifth-wheel trailer that we loved. We bought the trailer to accommodate our (then) three dogs: a 120-pound malamute, a 75-pound Siberian husky and a 55-pound Aussie/German shepherd mix.

Even without the kids, it was a full house, a very full house.

We bought that trailer because of the dogs. Have you ever tried to find decent hotel rooms with three large to very large dogs? This time around we bought for the same reason. Our current Aussie mix has a few “issues” and we just couldn’t see leaving him in a kennel.

So, being completely rational human beings, we bought a travel trailer.

Here’s a pic.

That, btw, is the DH packing up and our two dogs: Nigel (reason for purchase – Aussie/Pug) and Despereaux (husky rescued via Adopt a Husky)

Do any of you like camping? If so, do you choose a tent, travel trailer, RV or camping cabin? How often do you go and what trips do you have planned for this summer?

Tagged: RV Camping

Cut Loose available everywhere!

Cut Loose is now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and many other sites.

Reception to the second book has been great, and I am thrilled that people seem to be enjoying the series. My plans right now are to start the third book probably in July and have it out and available for sale in October or November.

If you want a preview of this book and others, or want an inside look at Lucy’s world, check out my page at Pinterest. I’ve been having a blast finding things that were in the first two books and stocking both Dusty Deals and Spirit Books. If you’re on Pinterest, let me know. And if you see something you think should be in either shop, post a link!

Hope to see you there, and thanks so much for all of your support.

Cut Loose Available for Nook Soon!

Finally, Cut Loose is done and almost ready for release! Look for it in the next couple of days at Barnes and Noble for Nook. Look for it in May at Amazon, Smashwords and other retailers!

Here’s the back cover copy.

—–

No one’s perfect.

At least that’s what Lucy Mathews tells herself. Except faced with her boyfriend’s rodeo queen ex-wife and perfectly trained Australian shepherd, she has to wonder if maybe this whole ‘no one’s perfect’ thing was made up by someone like…Lucy.

Lucky for Lucy though, things are hopping around Helena. It’s rodeo season, and she has a booth. It’s a great opportunity to expand her clientele and maybe even snag a cash prize for Kiska as the world’s first sheepherding malamute.

Except Kiska can’t herd, Lucy loses her wallet, and oh yeah…there’s that dead rodeo queen Lucy just stumbled over.

Good thing her boyfriend’s a detective. Except that’s not going so well either. A new detective is in town, and he’s convinced Lucy’s involved in the rodeo queen’s murder. Her boyfriend is no help at all and worse he’s spending a little too much time with his ex-wife.

Lucy finds herself out of money, out of love, and maybe this time, out of luck.

Cover for Cut Loose is here!

I’m really happy to share the cover of the second book in the Dusty Deals Mystery Series, Cut Loose. In this book, it’s rodeo season and Lucy finds herself tangled up with Blake’s ex-wife, a bunch of rodeo queens, and, of course, a dead body. Then there’s Kiska. Unable to admit the ex-wife’s Australian shepherd might be better at anything than Kiska, Lucy finds herself trying to convince the stubborn malamute to do what so doesn’t come naturally–herd sheep. Of course, what does come naturally for Kiska? Not much aside for eating, sleeping, and keeping Lucy humble–which he excels at in this book.

The holidays have got me a bit, okay a LOT, off my writing schedule, but I hope to have Cut Loose out in the first quarter of 2012.

First Post!

Hi, all!

Loose Screw has been out for a few months and both the sales and the feedback have been great. Thanks to everyone who has read the book and told a friend!

I’m working on the second book in the series now. I’m in the early/planning stages, which is for me one of the most fun parts of the process. As I know more, I’ll post more.

Again, thanks for supporting the series and check back here for news on the next book!

Rae/Lori