Saturday, July 21, 2012

Extraordinary Moms

I know it's not Mother's Day. But, I feel any day and every day should be. I'm talking about everyone's mother. The one who goes beyond the normal everyday routine. The one who is there when you're sick, even after you're grown up and she still comes over, sits with you, makes you chicken noodle soup, and in my case - took me to the hospital cause I couldn't even keep that down.  The extraordinaire who makes the boo boos go away with a simple kiss. The tears dry up with a single hug. The sore throat go away with the honey she made me swallow, even though I nearly gagged every time, lol. But it worked and she knew it would.

No one really knows the true extent of being a mother (or a father too) until it happens to you. And you hope like hell you're doing everything right. And after awhile, you realize she gave you the right tools to raise your own. When you need back up, when you're at your absolute wits end, you call upon that extraordinary mother of yours and cry into the phone about it all. And you know what she says? "It's all gonna be okay. Kick some butt." That was my mom. She was there for my first three births. And 20 minutes after my fourth (although I don't remember as it was an emergency c-section). She's been through two marriages of mine. And that's only me. She raised 9 children and helped with 23 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren (even if some were only by phone.) And all the son and daughter in laws and all of our friends. Yes, she considered them a part of her family too.

 And she made her fair share of mistakes. What mom hasn't? You learn as you go. But, she was and still is perfect in my eyes. If she could, she would have moved mountains.

In Secrets of Jenkins Bridge, I tried to portray my heroine, Katherine, in the same light. Her daughter's been kidnapped, and she doesn't want to just sit and wait. And she decides enough is enough and goes on the hunt to find her daughter no matter what. Which, of course, doesn't please my hero, Mitchell. But, what mother wouldn't go out and try against all odds to find her daughter or son? She's a mom. And like all moms, Katherine won't stop until she finds her.

My mother as you know passed away last month. If I can be half the mom she was, I think I'll do okay in passing that same knowledge and experience along to my own children.

Here's a toast to all extraordinary moms out there. If your mom is still alive, please tell her you love her and thank her for all she's done.


The Swan Cove Murders: Where the dead speak to her, danger finds her, and love saves her.
Secrets of Jenkins Bridge:An FBI agent discovers more than embezzling and murder when he takes on the kidnapping case of the daughter he never knew he had.
Both now available at Soul Mate Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

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Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Next Best Thing Challenge

The Next Best Thing Challenge
My awesome critique Twinkie, Calisa Rhose, sent me this challenge. I was supposed to post this on Friday. Time ran away from me, so here it is:

Here’s how the game works: Answer the 10 NBTC questions below. Spread the fun and tag 5 awesome people to participate! So . . . ready, set, go!

What is the title of your book/WIP? Secrets of Jenkins Bridge

Where did the idea of this book come from? Long ago and far away, lol. I finally got the guts to try my hand at a romance novel. I love the Harlequin Intrigues and wanted badly to submit one.

What genre would your book fall under? Romantic Suspense

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Matt Damon and Sandra Bullock and for their daughter, Aly, I’d have to go for Selena Gomez. J A girl can dream!

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? An FBI agent discovers more than embezzling and murder when he takes on the kidnapping case of the daughter he never knew he had.

Is your book published or represented? Secrets of Jenkins Bridge is published with Soul Mate Publishing.

How long did it take you to write it? The original took 6 months. Overall after edits it took 3 years.

What other books in your genre would you compare it to? Not sure I would compare it to other books in my genre as each stands on their own.

Which authors inspired you to write this book? At the very beginning, I would have to say it was Harlequin Intrigue authors Rebecca York, Kathleen Long, and Delores Fossen. Once it was written and rejected, I took a long time off from writing. Then I met my Twinkies – Chapter by Chapter: Melinda B. Pierce, Christine Bell aka Chloe Cole, Calisa Rhose, LC Chase and Kristina Knight. They inspired me to actually show it off again. With their boundless help, Secrets of Jenkins Bridge was completed.

Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book. I have a couple of unique twists in here. This isn’t your ordinary kidnapping and lost love suspense.

This was great to do. Thanks for tagging me, Calisa! And now, the five gifted authors I’d like to tag for the next round: Janna Shay, Mandi Casey, Rose Vanden Eyden, Shelly Bell and Ann Montclair – a few of my Soul Mate Publishing sisters.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Wicked Heat and Wednesday News - Happy Hump Day

Last week here in the south, we hit 105 degrees. It was so hot, my pool felt like a hot tub. A little refreshing, but not all that wonderful. The AC was a blessing.


Now this week, it’s great to be back in the 80s. However the humidity level makes it feel like it’s 100 again. No winning this summer. But, the pool will be cooler and much more refreshing. Especially in the evenings :)


I finished my first rough draft of Boneknapper. Yay me!! And yay to all that lifted and encouraged me last week during Insecure Writers’ Support Group. That’s exactly what I needed to push me to finish that last chapter. Thank you.


What’s next? I’m going to let Boneknapper ‘rest’ a couple of days. Maybe I’ll do a little research for a couple of ideas I have. But, I definitely need to work on my author website (WordPress UGH). I think once I get the swing of it, it’ll be easier to use. Right now it’s kind of dreary. So I need to find a different template – one with a splash of color!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday. If you aren't already a part of this and would like to hop on board, click on the post title. It will take you to their website where you can sign up beginning next Sunday.

In Secrets of Jenkins Bridge, just after the ambulance pulls away to transport an amnesiac Katherine to the hospital, Mitchell wonders what her life is like now. And Gladys interrupts his thoughts:


“You know her?”
            “I used to.” Of course he had. When he left Addison, he had been running from the hurt they’d caused one another. 
           And his mother’s death.    
           And his own demons. 

Hope you enjoyed this installment :)
Have a great weekend.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Insecure Writers' Group

Because July the 4th falls on a Wednesday, those of us who celebrate it are blogging for Insecure Writers' Group today.

If you're new to this, click on my title for the blog above, and it will take you to Alex Cavanaugh's page with all the info! In a nutshell, we blog the first Wednesday of every month about our insecurities involving writing, publishing and everything in between.

This month, I struggle with my WIP. I start out strong. Great writing, descriptions, dialogue and then comes that lovely flop. It's not so much a sagging middle as it is just losing my UMPH. This happens with every one I work on, but this one's a little harder. I haven't blogged all that much in the last month because I lost my mom on June 6th and it pretty much crushed me, putting a damper on my writing. I'm sure this has a lot of bearing on it.

So, I find myself wanting to go back and attempt to edit before I get to the end of the first rough draft and I have to scold myself. I think I have at the most two chapters left to write, but it hard when I have that little voice inside my saying, 'You gotta go back and fix that mess.' But I'm chugging through. I'm surviving the best I know how. I'm just worried that I can't get that middle up to snuff. And it's a tedious little worry because when edit time comes, I usually find a way to fix it. Just in the meantime, it's driving me nuts :)

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 4th of July! Our plans are to kick back, BBQ poolside, and enjoying and little R & R with our kids and grandbabies. What's yours?


AVAILABLE NOW @ Soul Mate Publishing: The Swan Cove Murders AVAILABLE NOW @ Soul Mate Publishing: Secrets of Jenkins Bridge

Sunday, July 1, 2012

TTR Sizzling Summer Reads Party July 2012



Today kicks off The Romance Reviews' Sizzling Summer Reads Party where there will be a huge load of prizes. Well over 400 publishers and authors are participating including yours truly. Which means there are over 400 prizes to be had.

Be sure to sign up for a free account here. Also, there's a thread started in the forum section for the party where there will be chats with authors and publishers. And prizes will be given away exclusively for the chats. 10 lucky winners will be the recipients of $10 Gift Certificates each!
Here's the link to the forum where it's happening!

And please pass this along to everyone. This is going to be a blast!




AVAILABLE NOW @ Soul Mate Publishing: The Swan Cove Murders AVAILABLE NOW @ Soul Mate Publishing: Secrets of Jenkins Bridge
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