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Saturday, June 30, 2018

#WeWriWa: Numbers Never Lie - A Blinking Answering Machine


Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors where authors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here

I'm sharing snippets from my soon to be released romantic suspense, NUMBERS NEVER LIE. Maggie and Drew are in her kitchen. This snippet continues right after last week's, which ended with: Drew laughed, “That’s Jack—he never leaves anything to chance.”

This week's snippet. Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines.
  
He looked at her blinking answering machine in the corner of the peninsula counter that divided the kitchen from the eating area, “You have a message.”
“I’ll get it later,” she said over the running water as she rinsed the lettuce.
“What if it’s important?” He looked at the machine again with its flashing red light.
“The only person I need to hear from is Jack, and he knew I was going on the camping trip so if it was important he would’ve called my cell.”
Drew prowled the kitchen, making her trips from the refrigerator to the sink worse than dodging an obstacle course, “I can’t get over Jack wanting to listen to a CD in the middle of a workday.”
“I don’t understand that either since he’s putting in a lot of hours making up for Ben being out,” she explained about Jack’s business partner’s motorcycle accident, “Jack’s doing an audit over in Muskegon, and I gather it isn’t going well.”
“Muskegon? Seriously? I’m working with a client over there—in fact, I was there all day Friday,” Drew slanted his gaze at the answering machine, “I can’t believe you’re not curious enough to listen to your message—I’d never not check.”


Here's the blurb:

A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie. 

As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack's an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.

Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that--an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.

A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack do that puts Maggie in danger?



Numbers Never Lie will be released on July 9. I’m organizing a blog tour, so if you're interested in hosting me, here's a form to fill out.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtq0uq2nARRiSy1Gb85U0MgUhoACL-7HA5oaM23wY9zkqEjQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Thanks so much for your support!

A reminder: I'm always happy to help you celebrate a new release. Just drop me a note at dmburton72 (at) gmail (dot) com




Thursday, June 28, 2018

Guest Ellen Jacobson #NewRelease MURDER AT THE MARINA @ellen_Jacobson



I'm happy to have Ellen Jacobson join us today. I met her through the fabulous Insecure Writers Support Group. Because she lives on a boat, when I had a question about sailing, I asked her. Not only did she answer my questions, she even contacted other sailors. That was a great help. 

Ellen's blogs are hilarious, so I was sure her book would be, too. It is. Cozy mysteries are great reads, and Ellen's is no exception. Loved her character Mollie whose droll observations made me laugh. Here she is to tell us about her new release.



Thanks for hosting me on your site today to celebrate the release of my cozy mystery, Murder at the Marina. This is the first book in the lighthearted and humorous Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery series, featuring a reluctant sailor turned amateur sleuth.

My own sailing adventures and misadventures inspired me to write this series. My husband and I bought our first sailboat in New Zealand in 2012. After a couple of years cruising in those beautiful waters, we returned to the States and bought a bigger boat which we moved onto in 2015. We've since cruised in Florida and the Bahamas, labored over endless boat projects, and worked to keep our cruising kitty (savings) topped up.

I wanted to reflect my experiences learning to sail, cruising and living aboard a boat, and being part of the boating community in my cozy mysteries. You could say that there's a little bit of me in my main character, Mollie.

I thought I'd share one of the boating tidbits which I wrote about in Murder at the Marinanamely, buying a boat. Mollie wasn't actually involved in the boat buying process. Instead, her husband worked with a boat broker (kind of like a marine real estate agent) on the deal and “surprised” Mollie with it later. If she had been involved upfront, things might have turned out differently.

Buying a new-to-you boat can be stressful. First, you figure out what type of boat you want, how much you can afford to spend, pore over a zillion listings, and finally identify a few prospects. Then you go check them out in person. Sometimes, you find that the boat you're looking at bears no resemblance to the photos and description online. Eventually, you find your dream boat and arrange for a survey and sea trial. The surveyor presents you with a list of everything that's wrong and you either walk away or start negotiations with the seller. If you do close the deal, inevitably you discover more issues with the boat later. It will be interesting to see how Mollie copes with the long project list that they'll have to tackle to get their boat ship-shape.

If you'd like to learn more about Mollie and her sailing adventures, you can find details about Murder at the Marina below.


Blurb

A dilapidated sailboat for your anniversary—not very romantic. A dead body on board—even worse.

Mollie McGhie is hoping for diamonds for her tenth wedding anniversary. Instead, her husband presents her with a dilapidated sailboat. Just one problem—she doesn’t know anything about boats, nor does she want to.

When Mollie discovers someone murdered on board, she hopes it will convince her husband that owning a boat is a bad idea. Unfortunately, he’s more determined than ever to fix the boat up and set out to sea.

Mollie finds herself drawn into the tight-knit community living at Palm Tree Marina in Coconut Cove, a small town on the Florida coast. She uncovers a crime ring dealing in stolen marine equipment, investigates an alien abduction, eats way too many chocolate bars, adopts a cat, and learns far more about sailing than she ever wanted to.

Can Mollie discover who the murderer is before her nosiness gets her killed?

Buy Links

Murder at the Marina—A Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery #1
Print ISBN 978-1-7321602-1-7
eBook ISBN 978-1-7321602-0-0
Mystery


Author Bio

Ellen Jacobson writes mystery and scifi/fantasy stories. She is the author of the “Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery” series. She lives on a sailboat with her husband, exploring the world from the water. When she isn't working on boat projects or seeking out deserted islands, she blogs about their adventures at The Cynical Sailor.

You can connect with Ellen on:

The Cynical Sailor Blog - http://thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com/
The Cynical Sailor Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/TheCynicalSailor/
Newsletter Sign-up - http://eepurl.com/dpy5sv


Saturday, June 23, 2018

#WeWriWa - NUMBERS NEVER LIE: Jack Leaves Nothing to Chance


Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors where authors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here

I'm sharing snippets from my wip, NUMBERS NEVER LIE, a romantic suspense. Maggie and Drew returned from the camping trip to her house. This snippet continues right after last week's, which ended with: She gave him a pointed look. “The man who was too busy to come to a meeting for his daughter.”
“You’ve made your point as tactfully as ever.” He returned her pointed look, “I thought we were discussing Jack.”
.
Please ignore the errant commas that kept this snippet to the required length.


Maggie regretted her remark nearly destroyed their relaxed attitude, “Jack surprised me, too, not being at work. I couldn’t believe it when he said he wanted to try out a new CD.”
“I saw your sound system in the living room—sweet.”
Relieved Drew had put his irritation aside, she pulled salad fixings out of the fridge. “That was his Christmas gift a couple of years ago. You know Jack, always the latest in technology.”
“Did he give you written directions on how to use it?”
She gave him a droll look, “What do you think?”
Drew laughed, “That’s Jack—he never leaves anything to chance.”


Here's the blurb:

A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie. 

As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack's an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.

Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that--an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.

A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack do that puts Maggie in danger?



Numbers Never Lie will be released next month, so I’m organizing a blog tour. If you're interested in hosting me, here's a form to fill out.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtq0uq2nARRiSy1Gb85U0MgUhoACL-7HA5oaM23wY9zkqEjQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Thanks so much for your support!

A reminder: I'm always happy to help you celebrate a new release. Just drop me a note at dmburton72 (at) gmail (dot) com



Thursday, June 21, 2018

#NewRelease Jadrian: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance by Veronica Scott & Review


I'm so happy to welcome Veronica Scott back to my blog, especially when she has a new release. I'm fascinated by this new series featuring genetically-engineered warriors. I read the first two and couldn't wait until Jadrian came out. Veronica's books are an automatic one-click for me. At the end of Veronica's post, see my review of Jadrian.

JADRIAN: A BADARI WARRIORS SCIFI ROMANCE (SECTORS NEW ALLIES SERIES BOOK 3)
By Veronica Scott

Thanks for having me as your guest today!

I’d never written an actual, sequential series with an overarching plot arc before but late last year I decided to give it a try. I’ve written any number of scifi romance novels that are loosely connected by virtue of occurring within my Sectors civilization of the future, but this is the first time I’ve deliberately set out to tell the bigger story as well as individual romances in each book.

I’m enjoying the process and I hope the readers are having fun along with me.

I’m not ordinarily a person who does outlines or any detailed planning, which works fine for standalone books. I usually know who the hero and heroine are, the opening scene, the final scene and one or two major scenes along the way. The rest comes to me as I write the book. But if I was going to write a series, I had to make sure each novel advanced the big arc as well, so I had to do a certain amount of advanced planning. Not so much that my Muse would rebel and quit! (I’m very superstitious about my Muse.)

I originally was a bit timid about the planning, mostly in case my readers didn’t like the series as much as I hoped, and I thought it might go three books. Ha! Once I got into telling stories about my genetically engineered warriors, the alien scientists who created them, the kidnapped human colonists and especially the human women who have the potential to become mates for the Badari, I didn’t want to stop. Luckily I’m getting great feedback and people seem to be enjoying the books and the Badari. So now JADRIAN is book #3, I’m working on three more books (!) and none of them are the final volume. And of course I have more ideas for novels. I do have the end game in mind and know roughly how the last novel will go. Of course nothing but Happy Ever After, because this is romance!

Even when I do write the last book in the basic series, I can always write more books with my Badari warriors.


The blurb:  Taura Dancer has been pushed to her limits by alien torturers known as the Khagrish and is ready to die when suddenly the lab where she’s held as a prisoner is taken down by an armed force of soldiers.

The man who rescues her from a burning cell block is Jadrian of the Badari, a genetically engineered alien warrior with as many reasons to hate the Khagrish as Taura has. This set of shared past experiences and the circumstances of her rescue create an unusual bond between them.
Safe in the hidden base where Jadrian and his pack take her, Taura struggles to regain her lost memories and overcome constant flashbacks during which she lashes out at all who come near. Only Jadrian can recall her from the abyss of her visions and hallucinations.

As the war against the Khagrish continues, it becomes increasingly critical to find out who she really is and how she can help in the fight. Until she can control her terrors and trust her own impulses, Taura’s too afraid to pursue the promise of happiness a life with Jadrian as her mate might offer.
When he’s captured by the dreaded enemy, will she step forward to help save him, or will she remain a prisoner of her past?

This is the third book in a new scifi romance series and each novel has a satisfying Happy for Now ending for the hero and heroine, not a cliffhanger. Some overarching issues do remain unresolved in each book since this is an ongoing series but romance always wins the day in my novels!

The excerpt, in which Jadrian gives Taura an explanation of the place she’s found herself:

“The enemy doesn’t seem to suspect we might be hiding out here (in the sanctuary valley). The Khagrish aren’t on the planet to colonize, only to conduct their perverted version of ‘science’  on a location where their home world won’t be polluted. So they’ve no reason to explore, fortunately. We patrol the surrounding terrain as thoroughly as we can on foot with our small forces.”

“I can see I’ll have a ton of questions once I feel better.” She sank into her chair gratefully. Her legs trembled, and her vertigo was beginning to worsen. The implications of various things he’d said whirled through her mind, as if she was trying to catalog the information according to some taxonomy from her previous, unremembered life. Anxiety mounted inside her as her pulse raced in time with her thoughts. “We’d better keep it simple for now, soldier. Are all of the people here escapees from the Khagrish labs?”

“Yes, a hundred or more humans, and the members of the two Badari packs. We find more people to rescue all the time.” He smiled at her.

“And I’m grateful, believe me. Has anything been heard from the Sectors?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know where we are in relation to your Sectors, and we have no spaceship. For now the resistance amounts to us, here on our own. Have you gotten any memories back? Are you from the Amarcae colony, like Dr. Garrison was?”

She kept her gaze on the lake in the distance, wishing he wouldn’t ask questions. Not knowing the answers unsettled her and fear of learning things she wouldn’t like worried her even more. Tapping her forehead with her index finger, she said, “A clean slate. I remember the basics of life, reading, writing, how to use a fork, but nothing about myself or my past. Just a big blank wall.”

“And the situation scares you?”

His gentle question was more perceptive than she’d expected from this big buff warrior, and Taura looked at him more closely.

Jadrian put his hand over hers on the arm of the chair. “Whatever’s there, locked in your mind, has no power to hurt you,” he said. “I expect you’ll remember eventually; especially if you let it happen naturally, don’t push yourself. In the meantime, start a new life here with us.”

Reclining in the chair and tilting her head to catch more of the sun’s gentle rays, she said, “You make it sound so simple.” A dark cloud of depression hovered at the edge of her consciousness and Taura did her best to shove the mood away. Concentrate on the beautiful setting and the warmth of your companion, girl.

“I’m not trying to minimize your situation—I apologize if I sounded callous.” He shrugged. “I’m in favor of continually moving forward, not thinking too much about the past. You survived what was done to you. If you’re from the colony, someone will recognize you.”

“No one has yet, according to Dr. Garrison. She thinks I might have been a passenger on a hijacked ship brought to this world.”

“We do have a few people who fall into that category. We don’t know how many humans the Khagrish have enslaved, actually. At first we believed there were about two hundred, from the colony only, but in recent raids we’ve found indications there might be more.”

“And more of you?”

He shook his head. “As far as we know, the Khagrish only created Badari warriors in the one lab.  Which is a blessing from the Great Mother— no others were forced to endure the living hell and tortures imposed on us. The Chimmer commissioned the experiment in the first place and were prone to demanding terrible tests and capricious changes. The Khagrish were always only too happy to implement new protocols, the more grueling for us, the better in their eyes.”

Buy Links:  Amazon    iBooks   B&N    Kobo      Google

Author Bio and Links:

USA Today Best Selling Author
“SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever After blog

 Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances!
 She read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”




Aydarr, first in the Sectors New Allies series, is on sale for 99 cents.


Diane's Review of Jadrian: A Badari Warrior

You've read the blurb, so you have a good idea of what the story is about. What you don't get from the blurb is the emotion you feel as you follow Taura on her journey. Although the story is named after the hero, it's more about Taura, a human who was captured and tortured then rescued from her prison. The terror she must have felt as the Khagrish did unspeakable things to her wrenched my heart. But that's not the worst. She can't remember who she is or anything about her past. Can you imagine the fear?

Her rescuer, Jadrian, is the only person she trusts. Though she's taken to a medical facility, it reminds too much of the lab where she was tortured. Will these people do the same? Flashbacks have her lashing out at anyone around her until, for their own safety, she's restrained. That is too much like what the Khagrish did to her. More terror. Only Jadrian can help.

In all of Veronica's books, her characters are well-drawn. Their strengths and their vulnerabilities make those characters believable and sympathetic. Taura may seem like a vulnerable character, but she has strengths she can't remember yet are revealed as she deals with her amnesia and the aftermath of torture. Jadrian is first and foremost a warrior. Fierce, strong. Yet, we get glimpses of his past that enable him to empathize with Taura. The reader sees his own vulnerability. As Veronica says above, the end is no surprise--definitely a Happy For Now. How Veronica gets Taura and Jadrian to that point tore my heart as I  feared for their happiness. This is one powerful story.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

#WeWriWa - NUMBERS NEVER LIE - Jack Played Hooky?


Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors where authors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here

I'm sharing snippets from my wip, NUMBERS NEVER LIE, a romantic suspense. Maggie and Drew returned from the camping trip to her hot and stuffy house. This snippet continues right after last week's.

Please ignore the errant commas that kept this snippet to the required length.



Maggie stopped cranking open the window above the sink, “Jack called you on Friday? He was here that afternoon.”
“He wasn’t at work? Jack, the workaholic, played hooky?” Drew walked around the kitchen table to open the slider to the deck.
“Is that the pot calling the kettle black?” She gave him a pointed look. “The man who was too busy to come to a meeting for his daughter.”
“You’ve made your point as tactfully as ever.” He returned her pointed look, “I thought we were discussing Jack.”


Blurb:

A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie. 

As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack's an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.

Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that--an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.

A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack leave behind?



Wishing all the dads a Happy Father's Day. My three guys--Hubs, Son, and Son-in-Law--are very special dads.




Saturday, June 9, 2018

#WeWriWa - Numbers Never Lie: Cookies & Jack


Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors where authors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here

I'm sharing snippets from my WIP, NUMBERS NEVER LIE, a romantic suspense. Maggie and Drew have returned from the camping trip. This snippet continues a few sentences after last week's.

Please ignore the wonky commas.

“I remember your mom making snickerdoodles. She let Jack roll them into one-inch balls, since he was so precise,” Drew laughed. “My job was to roll the balls in cinnamon sugar.”
Maggie remembered, too, and wondered why she never made those cookies, especially since Jack loved them. Since school was out, and she had the time, she would surprise him. Maybe tomorrow, definitely not tonight when it was going to be a monumental task just dragging herself into the shower.
“Speaking of Jack,” Drew said. “He left a message on my voice mail Friday. Out of the blue, he wanted to meet for lunch. I haven’t heard from him in over two months.”


Blurb:

A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie. 

As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack's an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.

Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that--an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.

A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack leave behind?




Wednesday, June 6, 2018

#IWSG: Titles or Characters

It's the 1st Wednesday of June. Happy Insecure Writers Support Group Day. IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. 



This month's question is: What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

First, I want to thank everyone who gave me so much support in February and March, when the winter blahs/blues had me down in the dumps. Your thoughtful advice and good wishes pumped me up and made me work through it. BTW, my daughter gave me a "happy lamp" for Mother's Day so winter won't get me down again. 😎

Now to the question. Perfect timing. The short answer is sometimes the title and sometimes the character. For my work-in-progress, both the title and characters were a problem. I went through many titles, never liking one that much. It started as “Kate’s Story”—my catchall name when I don’t have a title, just call it by the main character’s name. Because some of the story takes place camping, I thought of “Unpredictable Nature” yet I was never totally happy with that. As I reworked the story, it became more obvious that the story centered on an accountant's discovery. That's when the title smacked me up the side of the head: Numbers Never Lie.

This story also had character name problems. When I started the book fifteen years ago, the main character’s name was Kate. Now, I have a daughter-in-law whose name is Katy. It would feel weird to write romantic sections using her name. So, she became Maggie. The other main character started out as Alex. I have a mystery series where the female P.I.’s name is Alex. So, scratch that one. I wanted a Scottish first name to go with Campbell. That's how he became Andrew, nickname Drew.

Here’s the blurb for Numbers Never Lie.

A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie. 

As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack's an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.

Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that—an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.

A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack leave behind?

Now that I’m almost through revising/editing, I’m happy with my final choices. The plan is to release this book at the end of this month. So . . . I’m organizing a blog tour. If you are interested in hosting me, here's a form to fill out.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtq0uq2nARRiSy1Gb85U0MgUhoACL-7HA5oaM23wY9zkqEjQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Thanks so much for all your support!

A reminder: I'm always happy to help you celebrate a new release. Just drop me a note at dmburton72 (at) gmail (dot) com


Until next month, happy writing.


Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.