Dani Jace's Blog, page 11
August 23, 2015
Hot as Blazes: Burned and Twice Shy
Hot as Blazes: Burned and Twice Shy. On this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, I’m finishing the first chapter of my new release.
After some trouble in California, Jo Mercer’s pro surfing career has tanked. She’s returned home with a secret and just finished a call to the probation office in California. The warm Atlantic calls her to feel its warm embrace.
After grabbing her surfboard, she charged up tall dunes through wild
sea oats and time slowed. She dashed through the breakwater, paddled out and straddled her board.
After doing her best to honor her father’s memory by earning a degree and ranking in the surfing world—she trusted an asshole.
Would her dad still be proud of her, was Ray?
By trying to please everyone, she’d lost sight of what she wanted. The sight of Ray left her with a hollow ache for a man she’d never know beyond friendship. He’d never seen her as anything but a friend and Bobby’s sister.
She didn’t expect that to change. Plus, after being burned
in California, she didn’t trust anyone with her heart.
Hope you enjoyed the last snippet from Hot as Blazes and will visit other amazing Weekend Writing Warriors posts for #8Sunday.
Hot as Blazes is available at all major
e-book retailers. Also available in print.
August 16, 2015
Hot as Blazes: Home at Last
Hot as Blazes: Home at Last. On this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, I’m continuing this week with a snippet from my newest release.
After some trouble in California, Jo Mercer’s pro surfing career has tanked. She has just arrived home at the oceanfront beach house where she grew up and runs into her brother’s best friend and her secret crush, Ray Andrews. He was on his way to work and after their brief encounter she’s left with old feeling reemerging. She’s returned home with a secret and just finished a call to the probation office in California notifying them of her arrival home.
Eager to be a regular citizen again, Jo ended the call.
She tossed her bags from the truck and hauled them upstairs. Her bedroom remained untouched right down to the bulletin board strewn with mementos. A snapshot of her father surfcasting, taken days before his untimely death, squeezed her heart.
Days away from leaving for college in California, she’d had to push her grief aside. Now, the empty house echoed the brutal truth.
After stowing her gear, she changed into a bikini and grabbed a brew from the fridge then stepped out onto deck.
A cloudless sky kissed a blue-green sea as waves rolled onto shore in a hypnotizing rhythm. Below, the Atlantic called her to its warm embrace as tears stung her eyes. She’d missed home more than she’d ever allowed herself to admit.
Hope you enjoyed this snippet and will visit other amazing Weekend Writing Warriors posts for #8Sunday.
Hot as Blazes is available at all major
e-book retailers. Also available in print.
August 13, 2015
Thought for Thursday – #LSTRAATR (Say what?)
Today is Romance Weekly’s first “Thoughts for Thursday” post and our host is paranormal and sci-fi romance author, S. C. Mitchell.
Originally posted on Romance Writers Weekly:
Hello. S. C. Mitchell here, and today I am proud and happy to be a part of two firsts.
First first: Welcome to the first of a new series of blogs by the Romance Writers Weekly crew. Each week one of our authors will be by to share their Thought for Thursday. It should be a great way to slide into the weekend.
Second First: This blog is also the first in a series I plan to start on my own blog (https://scmitchell.wordpress.com/). I was going to call it: Love Songs That Really Aren’t All That Romantic. But that seemed like a long title. So, because everything today needs a hashtag, I’m calling it #LSTRAATR. (That probably isn’t any more rememberable, but what the heck.)
Anyway, today I’m kicking off the series with a classic hit from my era, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes by Bobby…
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August 11, 2015
Day Job: The Daily Grind
Day Job is today’s Romance Weekly topic is by Jeanne McDonald – Outside of writing, what is your day job? Give interesting facts about the job. What inspired you to take on this job and would you ever consider giving it to one of your characters?
My daily day job grind boils down to being a bookkeeper, purchasing clerk and secretary at clerk pay. I process close to $200,000 in orders which equates to about 300 requisitions a year. In addition, I track those funds, along with being a secretary to three supervisors. Recently, I inherited repairs and now coordinate with vendors to retrieve said items, then initiate purchase requisitions to cover and receipt for payment.
These duties have led me learn more advance aspects of Excel, Word, Adobe Pro and even Photoshop, which in turn has helped me as an author. I run my own website through WordPress, created the headers for it and my other social media sites.
My current day job is much more rewarding than my previous accounts receivable and collections position. 
AAACK!!! Still, I don’t find writing about a secretary interesting. After working in an office all day, the last thing I want to do is spend nights describing a character living a cube existence. I enjoy writing about characters with interesting professions outside of the corporate world.
U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Brian Zamiska, with Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, provides security with an Air Force military working dog during a patrol with members of the Afghan Border Police in the Tera Zeyi district, Afghanistan, Jan. 6, 2013. (DoD photo by Spc. Alex Kirk Amen, U.S. Army/Released)After the day job, I’m a homemaker. Luckily, hubs like to grill and he’s off in the summer so I don’t have to cook every night. My son, who is twenty now, even takes a turn cooking his Tex-Mex specialties.
Roanoke Marshes LighthouseCrafty is more my forte. I carved our family’s coat of arms in wood when I was in high school. A few years ago, I built an entertainment center for our den and my son’s room. Granted, they don’t have fancy routed edges, but I designed, cut and assembled them and they hold big screen TVs and video systems. My favorite hobby besides writing is photography. Most of the pictures on my site are mine. Wish I had more time to roam and take more…
Hope you’ve already visited Tessa Gray. After me is Meggan Connors. Hop on over to and see how her days are filled beyond being an author.
August 9, 2015
Hot as Blazes: Imaginings
Hot as Blazes: Imaginings. On this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, I’m continuing this week with a snippet from my newest release.
After some trouble in California, Jo Mercer’s pro surfing career has tanked. She has just arrived home at the oceanfront beach house where she grew up and runs into her brother’s best friend and her secret crush.
Ray is blown away by her unannounced return, but couldn’t be happier. In this scene, he’s left their by chance reunion on his way to a partial shift at a neighboring fire house south of his home station. The crew is having lunch and immediately teases him about having wet hair from his earlier surfing session. “Must’ve got laid,” another firefighter teased, “looks like he just showered. On to this week’s snippet.
He let their banter slide and eased onto an empty chair. He tossed some bills on the table for the grocery fund. They’d be feeding him dinner too.
“So?” the captain asked raising a bushy brow.
“Surfing, the sets were perfect.” He smiled as a sub sandwich slid in
front of him. Seeing Jo after five years was better than sex. Unless the sex happened to be with her. But that would be making love.
Something he’d only imagined―a million times.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s excerpt and will check out the many talented authors on the blog hop. Weekend Writing Warriors.
Hot as Blazes is available at all major
e-book retailers. Also available in print.
Hope you enjoyed this snippet and will visit other amazing Weekend Writing Warriors posts for #8Sunday.
August 4, 2015
A Twitter Book Pitch: Daunting or Fun?
Romance Writer Weekly authors are sharing a Twitter pitch for most their most recent releases or work in process. Daunting or Fun?
Readers probably aren’t aware, but authors “sell” their book or idea for a novel to a publisher, editor or agent using a sentence or two. It’s kinda like the descriptions you see about a movie on the cable guide screen.
For me, writing a pitch is akin to having a root canal. Nerve wracking and you never know if it will be a success. What one person might love, another will give you a blank stare. Here it goes for my most recent release, Hot as Blazes.
A disgraced surfer redeems herself as a firefighter and falls for one of her crew, but will her ex seek payback for sending him to prison?
Please check out Betty Bolte’s pitch who follows me on the hop. And if you haven’t If you haven’t already visited Xio Axelrod, go back and catch her post.
August 2, 2015
Hot as Blazes: At the Station
Hot as Blazes: At the Station. On this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, I’m continuing this week with a snippet from my newest release Hot as Blazes.
After some trouble in California, Jo Mercer’s pro surfing career has tanked. She has just arrived home at the oceanfront beach house where she grew up and runs into her brother’s best friend – her secret crush. Ray is blown away by her unannounced return, but couldn’t be happier. In last week’s snippet, Rays just left their by chance reunion on his way to a partial shift at the fire station.
He’d fallen in love with her years ago. She never had a clue, but with her talent for surfing, she was bound for bigger things than him.
He wound the Hummer into Station Twenty-One’s lot at the south end of the beach, a newer facility than his home station. He’d worked a few swing shifts with each of their rotating crews. Beyond the high-adrenaline nature of the job, the brotherhood and camaraderie filled a void in his life. Ray swung through the kitchen door where the crew had gathered for lunch.
“That’s quite a grin you’re sporting,” the captain said. “You rarely see
a happy expression on anyone coming in on his day off.”
“Must’ve got laid,” another firefighter teased, “looks like he just
showered.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s excerpt and will check out the many talented authors on the blog hop. Weekend Writing Warriors.
Hot as Blazes is available at all major
e-book retailers. Also available in print.
Hope you enjoyed this snippet and will visit other amazing Weekend Writing Warriors posts for #8Sunday.
July 26, 2015
Weekend Writing Warriors – Hot as Blazes: Revelations
On this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, I’m continuing this week with a snippet from my newest release Hot as Blazes.
After some trouble in California, Jo Mercer’s pro surfing career has tanked. She has just arrived home at the oceanfront beach house where she grew up and runs into her brother’s best friend, and her secret crush. Ray’s unexpected romantic gestures knock her off kilter. She’s also scared to reveal the real reason she’s returned home. Last week we ended with them agreeing to catch up over some beers.
As his beastly SUV disappeared from the driveway, her heart finally slowed to a normal rhythm. He never knew how much she’d loved him during high school nor would he ever. Besides, how would he feel when he learned the truth as to why she’d been kicked off the surfing team?
She slipped her cell from her pocket and dialed a California number.
“Santa Cruz probation office,” a receptionist answered.
****
His all-terrain tires hummed against the pavement as Ray navigated the beach road on autopilot, his brain playing catch-up. The mad tattoo in his chest subsided as he replayed the last few minutes. She was home. Lost in eyes the shade of his favorite scotch, he’d used all his strength to turn and leave.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s excerpt and will check out the many talented authors on the blog hop. Weekend Writing Warriors.
Hot as Blazes is available at all major
e-book retailers. Also available in print.
Hope you enjoyed this snippet and will visit other amazing Weekend Writing Warriors posts for #8Sunday.
July 21, 2015
Romance Writers Weekly – Summer Fun
This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Fiona Riplee ask authors about summer fun and how it affects our writing. Hope you’ve already visited with J.J. Devine. Now for my answers.
Your favorite summer memory. This is a PG blog, so I’ll have to go with my second favorite memory. My first kiss happened during a summer visit at my uncle’s farm. Ah, that magical time of adolescence, just walking along a sandy road fills me with memories of first love.
What you enjoy the most about summer. The week my family and I spend at the Outer Banks of North Carolina at a beach house. Over the years, we’ve become friends with the families who rent on the same street and return the same week as us. Our children have grown up together. Divorces and a child lost to cancer proves how hard life can be. It is rejuvenating to renew these friendships each summer.
How the warm days and sunshine affect your writing habits? I’d say I write more as my job goes to a four day work week, so Fridays are mine. Editing outside on the computer is too hard to see, but I enjoy writing to a spiral notebook while writing at the pool. There’s something about putting pen to paper that is freeing to my muse.
Please continue on the hop to Eden Ashe. Have a great summer!
My new release, Hot as Blazes is available at all major book retailers and Kensington.
July 19, 2015
Weekend Writing Warriors – Hot as Blazes: Waves and Cool Ones
On this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors, I’m continuing this week with a snippet from my newest release Hot as Blazes.
After some trouble in California, Jo Mercer’s pro surfing career has tanked. She has just arrived home at the oceanfront beach house where she grew up and runs into her brother’s best friend, and her secret crush. Rays just returned from surfing and has just racked his board when he spies Jo. During their conversation, she’s discovered he’s become a firefighter where her deceased father was captain. Ray’s unexpected romantic gestures knock her off kilter. She’s also scared to reveal the real reason she’s returned home.
He smiled then checked his diver’s watch. “Damn, I’d love to stay and catch up, but I’m picking up a partial shift. You’re here for a few days, aren’t you?”
Guilt heated her cheeks. She hadn’t wanted him to know of her arrival and now he wanted to spend time with her. “How about some cools ones after some waves?”
A little boy grin lit his tanned face accentuating his stubble. He winked a sexy blue and pecked her cheek with a kiss. “Sweet.”
Hope you enjoyed this week’s excerpt and will check out the many talented authors on the blog hop. Weekend Writing Warriors.
Hot as Blazes is available at all major
e-book retailers. Also available in print.
Hope you enjoyed this snippet and will visit other amazing Weekend Writing Warriors posts for #8Sunday.
