Lynn Cahoon's Blog, page 25
March 26, 2014
22 days and counting
Want the inside skinny on the origins of Guidebook to Murder? 
Check out my Author Q&A on the Kensington site.
Countdown – twenty-two days until release!!
Early reviewers are enjoying their stop in South Cove’s tourist district-
“The author did a great job in tantalizing me with suspects and scenarios that led me to believe I knew who was behind it all…” Dru’s Book Musing
“I knew right away I was going to like this book. What a hoot. …I could not stop chuckling!” Annie Michelle
“I have found a new series to visit, full of new characters I call friends.” Jen’s Corner
You can pre-order Guidebook to Murder at any of your favorite e-stores including -
Amazon/Nook/Kobo
March 20, 2014
Springtime in the Country Blog Hop and Cover Reveal
Welcome Country fans.
If you’re new to the page, I’m Lynn Cahoon writer of The Bull Rider’s series. My stories are set in various places in my home state of Idaho, including a fictional little town called Shawnee. Shawnee is where all the fun started in The Bull Rider’s Brother. 
Late spring, the first weekend in May, a small mountain town hosts a rodeo and weekend party. The entire town turns out to celebrate and enjoy the festivities. The rodeo grounds have a small grandstand but a large grassy hill overlooking the arena where rodeo spectators bring their blankets and a cooler filled with mostly adult beverages.
The town has other offerings like a pancake breakfast, quilt show, and a rodeo parade. I love rodeo parades with local horse clubs, covered wagons, and even, the local dairy producer gets involved, giving out free ice cream.
Today, I’m giving away Shawnee Holiday, a novella set in The Bull Rider’s series to one lucky winner. To enter, leave a comment with your email address. (Legal bits, your email address will be added to my mailing list but you can leave at any time. And I promise, I won’t spam you.)
To win the blog prize, go to this rafflecopter page – Amazon or BN gift card of $100. http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a5c2548/
Wait, don’t leave yet.
We’re having a cover reveal. The Bull Rider’s Keeper, the final book in the series, will be released April 28th. Be sure to check it and the other bull rider stories soon.
Here’s your link to get back to the hop. Thanks for stopping in!
March 15, 2014
Creme dé la Creme Cover Contest
Return of the Fae is competing this week in InD Tales Creme dé la Creme Cover contest. 
Voting runs through Tuesday, so if you have a second, visit http://www.indtale.com/polls/cr%C3%A9me-de-la-cover-contest-march-semi-finals
Ty, Parris, and I all thank you.
March 11, 2014
Return of the Fae – 2014 Rone Award Nominee
What happens when an author loves a book they wrote?
Other people love it too. Return of the Fae is the second book in The Council series. And this week, it’s been nominated for a RONE award.
InD’tales gives it five stars - ”a fun, fast read!”
While you’re waiting for the return of Return of the Fae – Here’s A Member of the Council to get you started in your Council addiction.
“A Member of the Council is pure magic.” Angie Fox (Award Winning and Best Selling author of Immortally Yours)
March 9, 2014
Marriage Not Included Short Sale & Weekly Update
Yeppers, Marriage Not Included is available this weekend (through 3/10) at the low price of 99 cents only on Amazon.
That’s crazy, you say? It’s the Kindle Countdown Deal. Click here!
While you’re curled up on the couch reading, I’ll be hard at work on edits for not one, but two new books coming this year. Oh, the glamorous life of an author. You know I love it.
I will take a break today to watch the boys (and Danika) take a bunch of left turns in sunny Las Vegas. The Cowboy snapped this picture during our Bristol TN trip last summer.
March 2, 2014
Joining the Writing Process Blog Hop
Welcome to the continuing Writing Process Blog Tour where authors are invited to answer the same four questions. My thanks to Joan Leacott who invited me to join the tour group. You all knew you’d have to stop at at least one Tourist Trap, right?
What am I working on?
It’s been a busy 2014 already. Currently I’m working on a contemporary with a fairy tale twist. Hoping to shop this project at Nat’ls in San Antonio in July. I’m also finishing edits on The Bull Rider’s Keeper (releasing from Crimson Romance April 28, 2014).
I’ve got my hands on all three Tourist Trap Mysteries this month. Promotion and blog tour planning for Guidebook to Murder (April 17th), final edits/galleys on Mission to Murder (July 31st,2014), and developmental edits for If the Shoe Kills (November 2014). I love spending time in South Cove with this group.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I write small town fiction. Guidebook to Murder is set in a small tourist town on the central California coast, right off Pacific Coast Highway. I’ve always loved the lure of small towns. Well, except as a teenager growing up in one. Then all I wanted was to move to the biggest town I knew, NYC. (Yes, I could have done a PACE salsa commercial.) What I’ve learned over the years is even in the big towns, neighborhoods develop a small town feel when people care about each other.
Why do I write what I do?
Because I can? Honestly, I’ve written a few different genre’s to find my voice. Find the stories that interest me and the characters that won’t leave me alone. I want to write a good story, well told. If that’s happening, who cares what the genre is. I tried to answer this question – I’d never write__________. But I don’t know what I’d put in the blank.
How does your writing process work?
What’s a process? Shannon Butcher came to one of our MoRWA chapter meetings and said she had excel spreadsheets telling her what to write for the next several years. The thought gave me chills. I’m a pantser who’s learning how to plot. I have a note book that I keep loose leaf paper with pages of scribbled notes. Sometimes I forget I’ve made that plot point decision when I’m writing and make a new one. But often, the story tends to follow my random notes and takes me on a journey I didn’t expect. Especially when I keep asking why.
I do goal setting each week. And I plan on writing 1K a day. Some days, that even happens.
Up next Monday are three amazing writers. Two are releasing their debut books this year and one release her debut in 2013.
Chris Cannon lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and her three dogs, Pete the shih-tzu who sleeps on her desk while she writes, Molly the ever-shedding yellow lab, and Tyson the sandwich-stealing German Shepherd Beagle. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures. Her Paranormal YA romance, Going Down In Flames comes out April 2014.
www.facebook.com/chriscannonauthor
www.chriscannonauthor.tumblr.com
Award-winning romantic suspense author Claudia Shelton writes stories about alpha heroes and the women strong enough to love them. Her novel, RISK OF A LIFETIME, Entangled Publishing-Ignite, will be out April 28, 2014.
Blog: http://www.claudiawriting.com/blog.html
Website: http://www.claudiawriting.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClaudiaShelton1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaSheltonWriter
Jodi is a Southern paranormal author of the VEILED SECRETS trilogy, out August 2013. She is currently working on her next paranormal series set in the south. She resides in Jonesboro, Arkansas with her handsome husband, brilliant son and a yellow lab who is fond of retrieving turtles when duck season is over.
You can find her on Face book Jodi Vaughn, Author
Follow her on twitter@JodiVaughn1
Check out her website http://jodivaughn.com
February 28, 2014
February 22, 2014
Re-filling the well -Lynn Style
If you know my reference, you too are a Covey-ite. 
Basically, it’s a reminder to do things outside your routine, read a good book or otherwise expand your mind with visual stimuli, travel or experiences.
In October, I try to do something unusual for my birthday. Visit the art museum, check out a historic spot nearby (Hannibal, MO one year), or visit an exhibit.
This year, I went to DaVinci Machines II – The “Australian” Machines Exhibition. 
The exhibit had working models of DaVinci’s experiments made from his notes he left when he died. 45000 sheets of paper with notes and drawings.
The man known for painting the Mona Lisa also developed the world’s first tank.
He developed hydraulics that are still used in modern machines today. 
And his work with flight was extraordinary. 
Of course, I came away from the exhibit with a renewed sense of history and a story idea. 
That’s the best kind of filling the well day.
February 4, 2014
Snowy with a Chance of Meatballs….
Yes, it snowed again today…
I made this when a friend from Idaho dropped by for a day of watching football.
Pineapple Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I cut up some day old wheat bread)
1 onion diced
salt and pepper
Mix together and roll out into balls onto a lipped cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.
In a pan, mix the juice from a can of pineapple chunks, 2 tbsp. soy sauce, and 2 tbsp corn starch. Heat to bubbly and then add your canned pineapple chunks.
When the meatballs are done baking, put into a serving bowl and pour the sauce over the top.
Enjoy.
This freezes very well and microwaves perfect for lunch.
To make it healthier, you could swap out the ground beef for ground chicken or turkey. Anyone done that before? Hints?
January 31, 2014
What happened to January?
2014 is 1/12th done.
Where did the time go?
I know I’ve been busy.
I sold Jesse’s story (The Bull Rider’s series) to Crimson Romance this month. Fans have been asking when Jesse would finally get tied up, I mean, fall in love. He’s got a few more surprises to share though. Look for a release date around April 28th.
If you can’t wait for Jesse’s story to get your fix of Shawnee fun, I’ve got some news. One – Crimson Romance is putting both The Bull Rider’s Brother and The Bull Rider’s Manager on sale for the ENTIRE month of February for $1.99. Buy both and get ready for the new release in April. 
And we’re not done yet! (I feel like a Ronco commercial.) Shawnee Holiday: A Bull Rider’s Novella, released January 22 and can be yours for only 99 cents. Cash Dillon wants nothing more than a week on a beach with a cold one in his hand. Then a chance meeting with June Palmer changes more than his travel arrangements.
Stay tuned for a Sweet and Sour Meatball recipe, just in time for Super Bowl.
