Wednesday, November 25, 2015

A Suspenseful Sequel

As we move closer to the holiday season, people start looking for books they either want to buy for others or get for themselves once they receive that new e-reading device. We're also looking for new books to buy and new authors to try. For the next month we'll be focusing on new releases you might want to curl up with on a long winter night. Our guest today in My Writing Corner is author Sandra Dailey who has a new release that just came out.

Tell us about your latest book, Close Enemy.
Close Enemy is a sequel to my last book, Common Enemy, but can easily stand alone. It’s a twisted little romantic suspense. Murder and mayhem with a few laughs mixed in.

I love sequels, especially when we met characters in the last book we want to know more about or see in their own story. What gave you the idea for this book and what made you want to write it?
In Common Enemy, Caleb, brother to the main character, had to give an alibi. He was with a woman, but didn’t know her last name or any other personal information. I asked myself who she could have been. Ta Da, the next story was born.

How did you come up with your characters for this book?
I like to write about everyday people. My goal with Caleb and Leah was to show that appearances can be deceiving. Caleb appears to be a wealth, confident, professional, but in reality he’s been stripped of confidence and self esteem by an incident in his past. Leah feels hopeless and worthless, just another poverty class worker bee, but actually has more savvy and strength than she knows.

What do you like best about your current hero?
He shoves his pain aside to do the right thing for his family and others who depend on him.

What about your heroine?
She’s done without all her life, but she’s proud and independent.

They sound like characters we want to get to know better. How about a blurb?
Caleb McCrae is a powerful man with a broken soul. In six years, Leah was the only person to help him forget the painful memories, but only for one night. Now she seems to have disappeared. A mysterious letter arrives, and she’s in trouble… in more ways than one.
Leah Fletcher's life is complicated. To care for her drug and alcohol addicted mother she works at a sleazy men's club...until she finds out she's pregnant and is frame for a crime that lands her in jail. When a stranger visits, she learns her troubles have just begun.
Bogdan Petrov has waited eleven years to get back the money Leah's father stole from him. Despite her denials, he knows she's hiding it. He's arranged to infiltrate every part of her life until he gets what he wants, but soon realizes that an unknown person is doing the same to him.
 What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a mystery. It’s my first who-done-it. It’s about a first year patrol officer who helps a handsome lead detective solve her own mother’s murder.
Also, I’m outlining a humorous private detective story with light paranormal elements. I’m thinking about making this one a series.

I also have a series of five short stories I’m playing with. They’re vintage romance, circa late 1950s.
That sounds like you have a lot going on, and readers can look forward to much more of your work! How can readers reach you or find you online?

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sandradailey.author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sdaileyauthor
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/sandradailey
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6551048.Sandra_Dailey
Or send an email to: sandradailey.author@gmail.com

Thanks, Sandra, for being my guest.  Any questions or comments for Sandra? 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

A New Winter Romance

We're moving into that time of year when we are looking for new books to read on a cold snowy day or to buy for our friends for gifts. For the next few weeks I will be focusing on winter reading as I talk to authors with new books that are coming out this season. My guest today in My Writing Corner is author Jessie Clever. Did you always want to be a writer?

Yes! I always say writers are born, not made, and at the very ripe age of 7, I knew I was going to be a writer.  I had just received a picture based on my current movie obsession, Dick Tracy. It was the first picture book I read all on my own.  That was the beginning of the end for me.
Where do you get story ideas?

Everywhere!  I warn people to be careful around me, because what they say could end up in a book.
I find all authors have a different way of approaching their writing. Please give us some details about how you write and your writing process. Do you plot carefully or wing it?

I am a terribly meticulous plotter.  I have an outline, character sketches, and completed research before I even begin writing!  Then when I do write, I don’t let questions interrupt me.  I highlight areas or leave notes for myself where I need to go back and improve things.  But I never stop the flow of writing.
What about characters? How do you normally come up with them?

Characters tend to show up like we had an appointment or something.  I often wonder if I had a million imaginary friends as a child, and now they’re all coming back demanding their own story.
Tell us about your latest book and what made you want to write it?

When She Knows came about when I said goodbye to my 20s and reflected on what I had learned.  There’s a lot of me in this book, and I don’t often get a chance to write about things I’ve encountered personally.  I hope some of the aspects of the heroine’s character will help other women in similar situations and going through a similar time in their life.  I believe there is a lot of pressure on young women to do it all, and I hope they find in this book that they only need to do those things that are worthy of them.
How about a blurb?

His latest problem is her newest assignment.
Shannon Wynter has it all figured it. Abandoned by her mother and left to care for her agoraphobic father, Shannon focuses on building her career as a journalist to the detriment of all else including her love life.

Ian Darke has his own problems. Battling past failures, Ian sets his eyes on launching a new factory for his father’s defense firm. But it’s the very father he failed that will do anything to sabotage Ian’s progress.
And when Shannon follows an anonymous tip that leads her to Ian’s factory door, the last thing she expects to discover is what she already knows.

Now that sounds intriguing--like a good book to curl up with on a cold day. How can readers reach you or find you online?
I love to hear from readers, so please stop by for a chat. I also do a monthly giveaway to my awesome newsletter subscribers, so stop by and sign up right on my website: jessieclever.com.

Find me on social media:
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1foelMH
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1IM6UPJ
Google+: http://bit.ly/1rpRvsU
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/KZQ4TQ
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1fge8x9

 Goodreads Link: http://bit.ly/1SWpIy3

And here is where you can buy When She Knows. Purchase links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1IAMgPa
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1SWp4R9
iBooks: http://apple.co/1KM3YWs
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1M6StJw
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1DnqC4F
All Romance eBooks: http://bit.ly/1IHyZsj

Thanks, Jessie, for being my guest. As a former journalist I know that your book is one I'm going to put on my TBR list. Any  comments or questions for Jessie?

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

A New Romance to Heat up the Night

My guest today in My Writing Corner is Marie Tuhart, author of the new Wild Rose Press release, Bound &Teased. She calls herself a voracious reader who can't remember a time when she didn't have a book in her hand. Since you were always reading, did you always want to be a writer?

Not always.  I had a good imagination as a child and used to make up plays with my stuff animals and performed them for my family.  It wasn’t until I was older I wanted to do more writing.
How did you get started in publishing?

Well, I first joined RWA and my local chapter of RWA.  I did a lot of workshops and conferences trying to find where my books fit.  In 2009 I started checking out small presses and Wild Rose Press was at the top of my list.  It was hard to find a publisher that took erotic romance and was willing to take a chance on a newbie author.
Tell us about your latest book and where you got the idea for it.

Bound & Teased is a committed ménage story.  It is so different from any other book I’ve written.  The idea just popped into my head one day, I was writing another book and my brain went: what would happen if you had a heroine in love with two men, two men who were best friends?  And it just went from there.
We want to know more. How about a a blurb?
Eight years ago, a naive Katie Crane ran from Ry and Jed, warned their brand of love would ruin her life. Now she's all grown up and returning home with a better understanding of the BDSM lifestyle. After the betrayal she's faced at her father's hands, she worries she won't be strong enough to submit to the men she gave her heart and virginity to at eighteen. 
Jed Malloy and Ry McCade are surprised and thrilled by Katie's return to Felton's Creek. They'd been heartbroken after her departure and had turned to each other, embracing the BDSM lifestyle without her. Katie's homecoming sparks hope and worry. Ry isn’t sure he can keep his dominant side under control, and Jed fears Katie will see him as less of a man by being a switch and Ry’s submissive.
Having Katie back could mean the beginning of everything they've ever wanted or the end to the only family they've ever known.
Sounds intriguing! What is your writing process?  Do you outline or just write?
It really depends on the book.  Sometimes I outline and other times I just start writing.  It really depends on how strong the characters talk to me.

What are you working on now? 

Right now I’m working on edits for a new book called Melt My Heart it will be part of the Wild Rose Press Candy Heart series.
How can readers get in touch with you and buy your books?
Bound & Teased is available at:
The Wild Rose Press http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/wildcatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=182&products_id=1059
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bound-teased-marie-tuhart/1122461300?ean=2940150885134
ARe    https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-boundteased-1869082-149.html
Find Marie on the Web:
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Tuhart/230032191349
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4190063.Marie_Tuhart
Twitter @marietuhart
Thanks, Marie! Any comments or questions?

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

A Treasure of Cowboys & Christmas Romances

Visiting in My Writing Corner today is USA Today bestselling romance author Shanna Hatfield. She describes herself as a hopeless romantic and says everyone deserves a happy ending. She has set out to make that happen one story at a time. Her stories combine humor and heart-pumping moments with characters that seem incredibly real. When she isn't writing or indulging in dark and decadent chocolate she hangs out with her husband. Did you always want to be a writer?

Absolutely. I composed my first story in third grade about a raccoon. Although it wasn’t what anyone would consider a literary wonder, it did give me the bug to create stories.
How did you get started in publishing?

I spent the first ten years of my career as a newspaper journalist. When I switched gears into marketing, I continued writing freelance magazine articles. One cold, stormy February day in 2010, I decided to give novel writing a try. After I wrote that first sweet romance (Heart of Clay), I realized there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do beyond write another  book… then another. My first three novels and a short story were published in June 2011 and it’s been an amazing adventure since then.
Tell us about your latest books and where you got the idea for them.

I have two new books releasing Nov. 12.  The first book is Capturing Christmas. It’s about a rodeo photographer and a rodeo stock contractor. One the rare occasions I leave my writing cave, I dabble in photography, so the idea of a photographer as one of the main characters greatly appealed to me. The book is the third in my Rodeo Romance series, and it had to tie into the rodeo theme. The photographer’s love interest is a stock contractor who barely has time to sleep. Kash is determined to keep Celia at arm’s length, but his heart has other ideas.


The Christmas Vow. It’s the fourth book in my Victorian Hardman Holiday series, set in the 1890s. In this story, the hero, Adam, comes home for his best friend’s funeral and encounters the woman, Tia, who broke his heart when they were eighteen. She’s recently returned to town as a widow, with her young son. This story has some of my favorite themes like rekindled love, a marriage of convenience, and a cat with a huge attitude.
The second book releasing is

What do you like best about your heroine and hero?
In Capturing Christmas I like that Celia is feisty and stubborn and so independent, but she has a very girly side. She loves anything vintage or retro. Kash is also stubborn, yet he’s incredibly gentle and loyal.

The Christmas Vow characters are both determined to do what is best for her son, and I think that’s a wonderful trait. Adam is very tender-hearted, but he’ll do whatever it takes to defend the people he cares about. Despite the wounds from her past, Tia has a great sense of humor and is so generous to others.
What are you working on now?

My next book will continue the popular Grass Valley Cowboys series with Ben Morgan’s story. I had so many people request his story, who am I to tell them no. The book should be out at the end of the year. Look for The Cowboy’s Last Goodbye (Grass Valley Cowboys, Book 6)

 Book Blurbs and Buy Links:
The Christmas Vow

The Christmas Vow (Hardman Holidays, Book 4)
Adam Guthry returns home to bury his best friend and his past, never expecting to fall in love with the woman who destroyed his heart.

Capturing Christmas

Capturing Christmas (Rodeo Romance, Book 3)
Life is hectic on a good day for rodeo stock contractor Kash Kressley. Between dodging flying hooves and babying cranky bulls, he barely has time to sleep. The last thing Kash needs is the entanglement of a sweet romance, especially with a woman as full of fire and sass as Celia McGraw.

Thanks, Shanna for being my guest today. You can find Shanna’s books at:

Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple

She says she loves loves to hear from readers! Follow her online:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter

You can also sign up for her newsletter to get the latest on new releases and exclusive giveaways!

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Any questions for or comments for Shanna?

Getting Into The Story

I've said it before, but it bears repeating--one of the reasons I began doing a blog on writing and writers was because I loved the idea...