Tag Archives: romantic suspense

Don’t Miss Double Danger by Dee Davis!

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Double Danger cover

Happy Release Day to Dee! And a great day for readers! Be sure to snag your copy of Double Danger!

If only I could come up with another word for “miss” that starts with a “D” I would have had a truly awesome headline.

But that would distract from the real point which is that today is Release Day for my BFF Dee Davis and Double Danger, book six (wow!) of her A-Tac series (with more to come!).

This is especially cool as I take full and complete responsibility for how awesome this series is.

No, really. Because it was conceived in my back yard. (Excuse me while I buff my nails on my shirt.)

Yes, about six (wow) years ago, Dee was visiting. We took our wine glasses to the back yard, dangled our feet in the pool, and did what writers do when we get together (yes, drink, but also talk story ideas).

Dee was putting together a proposal for a new series and we talked and talked and drank and drank, and by the end of the evening, A-Tac was born!

See? All you readers owe me a big debt!

But seriously, congrats to Dee (who is also a fellow Whine Sister), and if you haven’t checked out the series, dive right in! The water’s fine. Trust me, you won’t regret it!

Have you read the A-Tac series? Are you a romantic suspense fan?

And don’t forget to enter my holiday contest!

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The Best and Worst Things About Being a Writer

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She Can Tell (cover image) by Melinda Leigh

Leave a comment below to be entered in Melinda’s giveaway for a copy of She Can Tell!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season! As we count down to 2013, I’m thrilled to have Melinda Leigh guest blogging today about the best and worst things about being a writer!

If you haven’t read Melinda’s breathtaking romantic suspense novels, now’s your chance! She’s giving away a kindle or print copy of She Can Tell (winner’s choice) to one lucky commenter! So be sure to leave a note below!

The 5 Best things about being writer:

1. Working at home. I have the best possible commute: coffee machine to desk. It doesn’t get any better than this.

2. Every day is casual day. PJs and slippers is A-okay with my boss (me).

3. Flexible schedule. I can work anytime. I have the flexibility to be available when my kids or other members of the family need me.

4. I get to hang out with my dogs and cats all day.

5. I get paid to make up stories. Seriously, how cool is this? The overactive imagination that plagued me in my childhood has become a viable career. I’ve had plenty of jobs that I hated. Loving what I do is truly a wondrous thing that I appreciate right through to my soul every single day.

The 5 worst things about being a writer:

1. Working at home. Everyone knows I’m there. Can you…?

2. Every day is casual day. This is a particular problem during the final stages of writing a book, when it becomes all consuming. It’s 5:30 p.m. I haven’t showered or gotten dressed. My husband and kids are giving me the sniff test, and I realize all I’ve eaten today is coffee, 6 bowls of Frosted Flakes, and a Hershey bar.

3. Flexible schedule. I can work anytime, remember? Which is why I’m up at 11:00 p.m. still working. Being a writer means doing a lot of things other than writing a book. Promotions, web site maintenance, accounting, etc. Plus, I still have all the home/mom stuff to do. It makes for some long nights.

It’s a really good think I love writing because I spend a lot of time doing it.


4. I get to hang out with my dogs and cats all day. When I’m working 12 hours a day (like this week and probably next), sometimes my longest conversations are with my furry housemates. By the end of next week, they might start talking back. They’ll probably criticize my manuscript, especially the cats.

5. My overactive imagination takes unexpected vacations now and then, and sometimes it generates some truly awful story ideas.She Can Run cover

So, there you have it. Being a writer is the BEST job in the entire world. It is. A day doesn’t go by, even the most frustrating one, when I don’t wake up and worry that the last two years are a dream and that someone is going to pinch me. Or, even worse, that I am currently writing the worst book in the world and it will bring my dream crashing down on my head.

Writing is also hard work, much harder than I imagined back in the days before deadlines and multiple projects and promotion and copyedits. I work 7 days a week. I have taken only a handful of days off in the last 6 months.

 
Are there things you both love and hate about your job?

 

Melinda Leigh is a fully recovered banker, wife, mom, lifelong dog lover, and second degree black belt in kenpo karate. She is the author of SHE CAN RUN, a 2012 Thriller Award nominee and a 2012 top 100 Kindle Bestseller. Her latest book, SHE CAN TELL, released December 4th. Find out more about Melinda at her website, on Facebook and on Twitter!

J.K. here … I can SO identify with everything Melinda says!!!  

Thanks again to Melinda for blogging today! Be sure to leave a comment for her contest! And don’t forget about my December holiday contest–enter that one using Rafflecopter!

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A Thought for the Approaching New Year (and a giveaway!!)

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Please welcome today’s guest blogger, Dana Marton, whose novel The Third Scroll is an Amazon bestseller in epic fantasy.  How cool is that?  And if you’ve ever felt like things have gotten a little out of control, this is most definitely the post for you! 

 

The Third Scroll by Dana Marton - an Amazon epic fantasy bestsellerOf everything I learned in college, the single most important thing is something another student scribbled on the blackboard when he was giving a motivational seminar to the class as part of a project.

EVENT + RESPONSE = OUTCOME

I remember what a revelation this was to me at the time. Whatever happens to me does not define my life. The outcome is determined by things that happen AND my response to those things. Which means I have control!

What happens to me does not define how my life will be. I get a big say in the matter. How I respond to certain events can and will change everything.

EVENT + RESPONSE = OUTCOME

It’s the single most encouraging equation I can think of.

I just had a book come out, DEATHSCAPE, about an artist who, after a near-death experience, is compelled to paint visions of the dead. Then she paints a man buried alive and, recognizing the surroundings, she rushes to save him. Unfortunately, instead of being grateful to her for rescuing him, Detective Jack Sullivan accuses her of being in league with a serial killer.

She had problems, but so did I.

Deathscape by Dana Marton coverI started this book maybe five years ago. Agents loved it, editors loved it, but I still couldn’t get a contract for it. The obvious response would have been to put it under the bed in a box and move on. I chose a different response. And as I write this, DEATHSCAPE is #6 on Amazon’s romantic suspense bestseller list.

Do you have any life lessons that you’ve learned over the years and you keep coming back to? Would you share it with me?

I will raffle off a copy of THE THREE COWBOYS, my current release, among those who respond. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

Wishing you a fun and positive day!

And if you have a minute, come and Like me on Facebook. I do all sorts of fun giveaways there regularly. www.facebook.com/danamarton

Dana

Thanks so much for coming by, Dana!  

Readers, be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of The Three Cowboys!  {{Update from J.K.:  Dana has picked and contacted a winner!}

And don’t forget to enter my holiday contest!

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Not the last chance for The Last Chance series!

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“Fast-paced, high-octane, romantic adventure.” —Brenda Novak, NYT bestselling author

I’m so excited! One of my crit partners and Whine Sister, Dee Davis, has her Last Chance series up in e-format now for the Kindle (Nook coming soon). These are awesome romantic suspenses, and I promise you’ll love them.

You can check them out here:

Short Stories … Gotta love ‘em!

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I confess that I wasn’t always a fan of the short story; once I got to know characters I wanted to spend TIME with them. But with age brings wisdom (not that I’m old enough to be that wise) and I’ve developed a love for the shorter format. And I’m so psyched to be part of the Love Is Murder anthology edited by the awesome Sandra Brown and being published (soon!) by Mira.

To whet your appetite, here’s the book trailer, just recently released:

HARLEQUIN & The International Thriller Writers, Inc are proud to present the EXCLUSIVE REVEAL of The Thriller 3: Love is Murder Official Book Trailer! Prepare for heart-racing suspense in this original collection by thirty of the hottest bestselling authors and new voices writing romance suspense today.

The truth is, that although I’ve always considered myself a novelist, I’ve had a great time writing the few shorts that I’ve done, including The Honeymoon in Love is Murder and The Demon You Know, which I blogged about yesterday. I also wrote Dead Friends and Other Dating Dilemmas, which is included in the This is Chick-Lit anthology.

I hope you check out Love is Murder — be sure to let me know what you think. And if you like short stories too, I’m working on a whole buncha ‘em for my The Trouble With Demons anthology…coming soon!