Lynette Endicott's Blog, page 14

Latest Release from Christian Author

Marcy G. Dyer writes Romantic Suspense

Marcy G. Dyer is a Registered Nurse and suspense author. Like so many other writers, she began writing at a very young age. Her debut novel, Down & Out – Desert Winds Series Book One, is available now. The second book in the series, Out For Blood, will be released on 08/11/2013.

In addition to writing, Marcy is a freelance editor. She does editing for individuals, Desert Breeze Publishing, and Prism Book Group.

Marcy is an alumni of the Christian Writer’s Guild and long-time member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She hosts a small critique group for ACFW and is involved in two other critique groups.

As followers of Jesus Christ, Marcy and her family are active members of Crossroads Fellowship in Odessa, Texas.

Check out her Amazon Author Page or download today from her publisher, Desert Breeze Publishing. You can find Marcy on the web at http://www.marcydyer.com/  or follow on Facebook.

Blurb: When a down on her luck publicist moves home to Odessa, Texas, she’s thrust into a volatile job with a handsome security consultant showing her the ropes when a stranger decides she must be his and he’s determined to win her love – at any cost. Can the handsome consultant protect her from the stalker or will she end up buried in the desert?

Down and Out – Suspense in Texas

A Texas Story from a Christian Author

When a down on her luck publicist moves home to Odessa, Texas, she’s thrust into a volatile job with a handsome security consultant showing her the ropes when a stranger decides she must be his and he’s determined to win her love – at any cost. Can the handsome consultant protect her from the stalker or will she end up buried in the desert?

EXCERPT

Candace hunkered down in the floorboard of the truck. Why had she taken this job? She really didn’t need to eat. Maybe if she had to do without food for a while she could fit into smaller jeans, like the munchkin at the western store wore.

A gunshot rang out, and Candace vomited.

“Great. Barbie just tossed her cookies.” Beth Anne sighed.

Enough was enough. She wouldn’t put up with the leprechaun’s taunts any longer.

“I’m sorry if I don’t live up to your standards, Dumpling,” she snapped. “I’ve never had anyone shoot at me.”

“Dumpling? You little–”

“Enough, you two. Quit acting like spoiled junior-high girls. If you haven’t realized it, we’re in a little bit of a mess here.”

And if she ever got out of it, Candace would tell Carl he could shove his job. Everyone told her how dangerous New York would be. Right. She never got shot at there.

More shots rang out, and her hands shook. “Thank goodness we’re in the truck. If they don’t shoot the windows, we should be okay. Right?”

Josiah barked out a short laugh. “Don’t know much ‘bout guns, do ya, doll?”

“Not really. I know gun safety, and I’m a good shot, but that’s it.”

“A bullet can go through the metal of the door.” Beth Ann’s tone grew snarkier with each word. “It may or may not have enough force to come all the way inside depending upon the caliber. There’s your education for today, Barbie.”

“Thanks for nothing, Dumpling.”

Sirens sounded in the distance, and Candace prayed the police would arrive in time to save them. She couldn’t die like this, hunkered down in the floor of a flatbed truck with a puke-covered seat. At least she hadn’t peed her pants. Yet.

Download Down and Out today! Visit her website www.marcydyer.com and her Amazon author page.

Coming Soon – Survival Instinct

Speculative Futuristic Romance

I am so excited! Our second book in the Time After Time Saga follows the enemy of the women of the Heartmark, Meredith, as she jumps through time from 1970, in Animal Instinct, to 2020 in Survival Instinct. (Hint: the third book, Pioneer Instinct, will be released in December. This time Meredith takes a jarring journey to 1890s Wyoming.)

Winter has just been promoted to detective — and she is at risk of losing it all. An evil from the past threatens to destroy the love developing between Winter and Mike. Will ancestral memories hold the key to freedom, or overwhelm them with fear? Join us when Survival Instinct releases in April.

Interview and a Free Book: Author Barri Bryan

A gift for all readers

1. How long have you known you were an author?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be an author. The desire was always there. I began writing poetry when I was ten years old. When I was in middle school, I wrote a story that was published in the school newspaper. That’s when I knew I wanted to be an author. When my first book was published in 1998, I knew I had reached my goal.

2. What is your favorite place to write? What is going on around you? Music? Family? Pets? What do you see when you aren’t looking at the computer screen?

My favorite place to write is what I affectionately call my office. It’s a small bedroom that holds my desk, my computer, three bookshelves, two file cabinets, an office chair, a rocking chair, three small tables, a chest of drawers, and my printer. The closet is stuffed with paper, books, miscellaneous writing supplies, and other paraphernalia. When we moved into this house, I declared it off limits to anyone who didn’t have an invitation to visit. That was six years ago, before I realized nobody wanted to come in and listen to me say, “Don’t move any papers, don’t touch my computer, don’t shift my books around…” 

I like the seclusion and solitude of my little hide-away. I like music, but not when I’m working. It distracts me. I’m oblivious to what is going on outside my closed door. When I glance from my computer screen, I look through a window at the brick wall of my neighbor’s house.  I see, in my mind, visions and actions of what I will write next. When I ‘snap out of it’, I see a room that holds my little world of organized chaos. 

3. How do you develop your plots and stories? Seat of the pants? Or planning? Or both? 

I am a plotter. Before I begin to work on a novel, I make an outline for the book and character sketches for my hero and heroine. If the book is a historical, I do cursory research. Even with all that planning, I’ve been known to veer off course and take off in the opposite direction.

 4. Who is your favorite character in the latest  book and what will we like about him/her? Is there anything about this character that we might not like?

My favorite character in Forbidden is the villain. At the onset of the story he appears to be a grieving, kindly old southern gentleman. The man he appears to be solicits understanding, and invites friendship. By the end of the story, he is revealed as a ruthless, conniving, madman. By then, no doubt you will hate him. Maybe I like him because it was a challenge for me to create and develop such a devious, dastardly character.

5. Do you have any encouragement for writers-in-waiting, who are not yet published?

 I can pass along the best advice I ever received about writing. It was from the teacher whose name I can’t recall. She was the instructor in an adult education class I took in 1999. She began her class by saying, “Be honest with yourself so you can be honest with your readers.” That was a strange opening statement for the teacher of a course titled: How to Write Fiction. She went on to explain that she wasn’t speaking of literal truths, but personal truths. “Writing fiction begins by discovering a unique way of seeing a personal truth. Your task then, is to use your skills as a writer to convey that personal view to your readers. Memorable, moving books are not written from a sense of anything but the writer’s deepest and most honest convictions.” 

Barri Bryan is a retired teacher and educator. She is also a prolific author who has written and published several romance novels, a number of volumes of prize-winning poetry, numerous essays, articles, and short stories, and one how-to curriculum for creative writing. Besides pursuing a writing career, she raises house plants, is an avid reader, an enthusiastic knitter, crocheter and quilter, a devoted country music fan, and a passionate Texas history buff.

Visit her website at http://www.barribryan.com/ and her Author Page at Desert Breeze Publishing.

Barri’s free gift to you, above, is the sequel to Bridget’s Secret

A Girl and Her Hero

By Delores Goodrick Beggs

Caleb Cameron appeared in the New Mexico town of Mescal Flats shortly after  Jasper Greon did.  The difference between the men was Jasper liked to dress flashy and often acted a bit rascally when he proposed what he called larks – dubious adventures he dreamed up, bordering on excitement with a touch of danger.

Tennyson Wells found it heady being part of Jasper’s select little group, perhaps a tad too much so. When steady, constant Caleb came to town shortly after Jasper did, Tennyson asked him to complete their little group whenever Jasper proposed a new lark. She wanted to help people who needed assistance, but she sensed some of Jasper’s larks, which he thought of as fun, turned into pranks instead of frolics. She came to depend on Caleb to champion her and keep her out of potential trouble.

Tennyson reminds me at times of my own childhood.  I have a wonderful older brother, my personal hero. I loved to tag after him when I was small, never once giving thought to what his friends, all boys, might think of a little girl ensconcing herself in their group, not just a girl, but one with a hearing disability.

Whatever his friends might have said I’ll never know, but my brother knew; what I observed is from time to time he would ask me to stay back a ways, and some pummeling between boys would result once I moved a safe distance away. Sometimes he would walk me home and ask me to stay there, and a little later he’d return home disheveled, with his shirt tails hanging out, hair mussed, a bruised face, red dripping from a split lip.

 

I knew the wonderful, safe, feeling of having a champion at my side…so I empathize with my heroine Tennyson’s appreciation of Caleb accompanying them, times she agreed to participate in one of Jasper’s larks.

           But how did taciturn Caleb, who never spoke about himself, feel about this situation, protecting a lovely young woman and even removing her from participation when he sensed a planned lark was too shady? How did he feel about Tennyson herself? He never gave any indication of his own feelings until Tennyson’s older sister Mauranie asked him one day:

Excerpt:

“I do believe you care for her more than anyone knows.” Mauranie met his gaze with calm eyes. “Am I right?”

“Don’t take offense, Miss Mauranie, but I’ve not said anything to her.”

“You haven’t said anything yet?” Mauranie looked askance. “Caleb. Perhaps not speaking up for yourself is your problem. When she ran off with Jasper, who did she listen to about returning home? You. When Jasper crossed too far on the wild side, who influenced her to pull back and avoid trouble? You. Don’t sell yourself short, Caleb. Tennyson listens to you the way she doesn’t listen to anyone else. You do like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I like her a lot, but she doesn’t seem to look at me special. I know I’m not exciting and all, like Jasper is. Sometimes I sort of feel like I’m a substitute lover, you know?”

“But don’t you see, Caleb? She doesn’t know. You haven’t told her how you feel. Caleb, tell her. Speak up for yourself.”

Available now  from Desert Breeze Publishing:  Place in the Heart Book Two: Substitute Lover By Delores Goodrick Beggs

You can also download today from Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel, and other major e-book publishers

Also Available by Delores Goodrick Beggs: Place in the Heart Book One: Breaking Point and Charming Champion

 

With Family you’re never alone.

By Delores Goodrick Beggs

Lynette’s birthday photo is almost the same vintage so Delores let her share.

             Family – you have to love them. Nobody stands alone, however much they may think they do. My parents were special, just in helping me to live a normal life with a severe hearing problem, and more.

            Around the time of my seventh birthday, my mother started working too, to help make the family ends meet with four children.  Prior to that my folks, like the other parents on our Kansas City, Kansas block, held birthday parties for each of their children every year. When my birthday rolled around the year Mom began her job. They hadn’t said anything, but I assumed I was having a party as usual and invited my friends.

            On my birthday, my father arrived home from work soon after my party friends and I began a competition of dropping clothespins in an empty glass milk bottle.  I saw a strange look wash over his face when I told him we had gone ahead and started my birthday party, but he didn’t say anything, just stood around looking on while we played. When the winner of the game was declared, he dug into his pocket and produced a nickel for the prize. (a nickel was worth a lot back then, it would buy an ice cream bar.) My friends were both surprised and delighted at the unusual prizes of nickels given that day while we continued to play the usual birthday games.

          My mother arrived home from her job and my parents conferred.  My father went to the store and brought back some ice cream to serve. My party was the excited talk of my friends for days after.

            My wonderful parents never said a word to me about having invited my friends for that unplanned birthday party.  However, I did notice when my siblings birthdays rolled around, no more birthday parties were held, and so I asked my parents about a party the next year instead of inviting my friends, and was told times were really too tight that 1946 year for my family to hold birthday parties. It was then I realized I’d made an impetuous mistake the year before; but my parents never mentioned that party again.

             In my coming newest release, Substitute Lover, Tennyson Wells learns the hard way she’d made an impetuous mistake when she’d left home in defiance of her older sister Mauranie, who’d been supporting her on their ranch. Once she realized her mistake, she returned home.

 Excerpt:

“I came home.” She smiled at Mauranie through teary eyes.

“You are very welcome, dear. I never wanted you to leave.”

“Yes. Well. It’s all about decisions. Sometimes you have to change them.”

“I’m delighted you came back,” Mauranie spoke with a firm voice. “You’re my sister. Sisters should stick together, don’t you think? Come, let’s sit on the porch and celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?” Tennyson startled.

“Sisters.” Mauranie’s smile warmed, her voice firm. “You go on and make yourself comfortable, Tennyson. I’ll get coffee and cookies.”

 Place in the Heart Book Two: Substitute Lover, available from Desert Breeze Publishing. Also available from  Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other major e-book publishers

Available now from Desert Breeze Publishing or on Amazon:  Place in the Heart Book One: Breaking Point.

 

A Celebration of Life – New release deals with adaptive devices in the 1800s

By Delores Goodrick Beggs

In my upcoming December 21 release, Substitute Lover, a youth loses a leg rescuing the heroine, Tennyson Wells, who is inspired to start a mobility aids shop in the small, old, western town of Mescal Flats.

I have known two men who lost a leg, a friend and a distant relative, both losses from motorcycle accidents.  Both returned to full activity after a period of adjusting to an artificial limb; in fact I wouldn’t have known about the losses if I hadn’t known in the beginning, they compensated so well with their artificial limbs. But not everyone has the inner determination and resourcefulness to work at overcoming a physical loss.

It often takes an inspiring moment and deep desire to do something to push the action button.

While my hero and heroine (Substitute Lover) make it possible for the youth Theron to do anything he did before losing his leg by providing him with a hand-carved pegleg and a special stirrup on his saddle to hold it in place, he sits in his room focused upon the loss of his leg until one day he gets tired of awaiting assistance and decides to go visit his horse anyway, discovering freedom for himself and taking back his life again.

One of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “When life deals you a lemon, make lemonade.” Whenever she said that, which was often, she usually followed it up with, “There’s something better waiting down the road, but you have to keep on keeping on until you reach it.”

 My mother was a smart woman. She was right. It is all about determination, and celebrating life. When you want something enough, you find a way to get it.

 Excerpt:

“Caleb?” Tennyson followed him out.

“Yeah?” He leaned against a tree trunk and crossed his arms over his chest.

“He’s getting better now isn’t he?”

“Yes. I think he will want to try sitting up today.” Caleb pushed himself away from the tree trunk he’d leaned against, and turned to survey the small stand of trees nearby. He selected a sturdy sapling with a crook at the top, and broke it off near the bottom. He ran a hand over the straight trunk, clearing it of leaves and twigs. He held it out toward Tennyson. “Put it under your arm. Let me see how it fits.”

“A crutch?” She shot him a searching look, and then tried out the makeshift crutch as he’d asked. “I think it will do.”

“I hope so,” he said. He met her gaze and then looked away.

“Caleb, does he know about his leg?”

He sighed. “I don’t think he knows yet. We’ve kept the leg covered. He knows it hurts. He’s apt to guess when I take this in. If he doesn’t, then I’ll be telling him. When we go indoors, I want you to take Annie and go back outside for a bit.”

“But why?” Tennyson saw his mouth turn up in a wry grin at her question.

“I expect he’ll want to take a swing at me. I know I would in his place.”

Place in the Heart Book Two: Substitute Lover, coming December 21, 2012 at

Also available from  Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other major e-book publishers

Available now:  Place in the Heart Book One: Breaking Point or on Amazon.com Link:  http://goo.gl/DOo3E