Monthly Archives: May 2013

Weekend Snippets #6

Happy Memorial Day. And thank you to all the men and women who have served our country.

Welcome back to Weekend Snippets.

Here’s the last snippet from the first scene of WYOMING ESCAPE. Mikela Richards is running in a woodsy park when she hears gunfire, sees a man with a gun, finds a dead body and runs away when someone comes out of the woods. She gets back to her car and roars out of the parking lot. This last bit is more than eight sentences, but necessary.

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 Wyoming Cover - 4x6 - #2A few blocks away, Mikela pulled up in front of a gas station with a public pay phone. She stared at it for a long minute. Did she dare take the chance? She could ignore the gun shots, but a dead man was different. She’d have to trust the cops couldn’t trace the call to her.  Talking fast and loudly, she reported the murder and the man with the gun. When the operator asked for her name, she hung up. She knew what could happen after you found a body. She knew the police were not her friends.

She knew that a determined cop could make her life hell.

 

You can find Wyoming Escape on most e-reader sites: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo and Smashwords

Be sure to check out more fabulous snippets on the  Weekend Writing Warriors website and also Snippet Sunday, on Facebook.

Happy reading!

Categories: Books, Cowboys, Dude ranches, fear, Mystery, Romantic suspense, suspense, Uncategorized, Western romance, Wyoming | Tags: | 26 Comments

Treats, Retreats and Conferences by Cher’ley

Good thoughts on attending any kind of conferences and retreats.

Writing Wranglers and Warriors

This Blog by Cher’ley Grogg

Official crest of The Salvation Army.

As we were preparing to leave for a Women of The Salvation Army Spiritual Retreat, some of the folks we were traveling with debated if we needed the trailer that was attached to the back of the bus. It was only partially filled, but I said, “Yes, we need it!” Going down not so much, but coming back we’d have all the items I knew I’d buy while we were there, and I filled up one corner on the return trip.

The Retreat was a blast. We got to spend the weekend with 19 of our closest friends, ate like Queens and were treated like Princesses. We stayed in air-conditioned cabins with our group and studied the Book of Esther from the Bible. Since it is a light-hearted retreat, every year the organizers bring in a comedian who understands women.  I look forward to this…

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Weekend Snippets #5

Welcome back to Weekend Snippets.

Here’s the next to last snippet from the first scene of WYOMING ESCAPE. Mikela Richards is running in a woodsy park when she hears gunfire, sees a man with a gun, finds a dead body and runs away when someone comes out of the woods.

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Wyoming Cover - 4x6 - #2

The footsteps following her faded. She glanced over her shoulder as she rounded a bend and spied no one. Had he stopped chasing her? Or had he used the shorter trail? She reached the edge of the parking lot a few minutes later, paused behind a bush and peered out. No one was in sight.

The five or six vehicles now scattered around the parking area reduced her car’s conspicuousness. She dashed to the SUV, ripped off the magnetic signs on each side, and threw them inside. Moments later, her tires squealed on the asphalt as she sped out the exit.

 

You can find Wyoming Escape on most e-reader sites: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo and Smashwords

Be sure to check out more fabulous snippets on the  Weekend Writing Warriors website and also Snippet Sunday, on Facebook.

Happy reading!

Categories: Cowboys, Dude ranches, Mystery, romance, Romantic suspense, Uncategorized, Western romance, Wyoming | 32 Comments

Blame it on the Dude Ranch

I’m guest blogging today on Lois Winston’s Killer Crafts & Crafty
Killers, talking about how a vacation and a cook’s family emergency
inspired the plot for my romantic suspense, Wyoming Escape. Even have a
recipe for paella developed by my chef heroine.

http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/2013/05/cooking-with-cloris-guest-author-kate.html

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Winners

As part of the Cowboys and Lawmen blog hop, I’ve picked the two winners of digital copies of WYOMING ESCAPE. The first only left the initials, JDH. and the second is Emmly Jane. I hope you both enjoy the books and stop by again.

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Weekend Snippets #4

Welcome back to Weekend Snippets.

As part of the Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday groups, I’m posting very short excerpts from my writings. I hope you enjoy the snippets and will considering buying my book.

Last week I posted a longer 6 paragraph piece which told about Mikela finding a dead body on the trail. You can find that bit on the My Books page. This weekend’s snippet continues right after the discovery:

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Wyoming Cover - 4x6 - #2A rustling in the woods jerked her upright and around. At the sight of a dark form advancing through the trees, Mikela bolted. The crashing of underbrush and a man’s curse goosed her even faster.

Wishing for the umpteenth time she had longer legs, she sprinted up the trail, unsure where to go. Even if she made it back to her SUV, the signs advertising Mikela’s Kitchen, her catering business, would tell her pursuer who she was. Hers had been the only vehicle in the lot an hour ago. Had others arrived to provide some cover?

You can find Wyoming Escape on most e-reader sites: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo and Smashwords

Be sure to check out more fabulous snippets on the  Weekend Writing Warriors website and also Snippet Sunday, on Facebook.

Happy reading!

Categories: Cowboys, Dude ranches, fear, Mystery, romance, Romantic suspense, suspense, Trail riding, Uncategorized, Western romance, Wyoming | 37 Comments

Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop

Cowboys and LawmenThis week I’m part of the Cowboys and Lawmen Blog Hop!

From May 2-6, over 50 authors will share their love of Cowboys and Lawmen. Cowboys are known as bad-boys, but what happens when the bad-boy is also the law in town? Why are these small town sheriffs, Texas Rangers and ex-outlaws-turned-lawmen so irresistible?

Join us at http://cowboycharm.blogspot.com/ to find out.

Every time you leave a comment with your email address, you will be entered for some amazing prizes. ***PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO QUALIFY***

You will also be entered to win a free digital copy of WYOMING ESCAPE.

Grand Prize: At least a $100 Gift Card for Amazon or Barnes and Noble, your choice. The winner will be chosen at random from comments containing email addresses, and will be announced on May 7. This is open to both US and international readers.

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Gary Cooper – The Quintessential CowboyGary Cooper

The theme of this blog hop is Cowboys and Lawmen. My current book WYOMING ESCAPE has a minor character named Sheriff Red Eagle. While he only plays a small part this time, he is the hero of the second book of my Triple H Ranch series, WYOMING HOPE. Since he’s still revealing his story to me, I thought I’d talk instead about one of my favorite movie stars who often played a cowboy lawman—Gary Cooper.

For me, Gary Cooper, with his lean, lanky body, quiet confidence and laid-back approach, was the quintessential American cowboy. Although he rode the movie range long before tight jeans and rippling abs became the rage, he was a popular sex symbol of his era. His smoldering good looks and powerful presence drew women in droves. Here was a man who knew who he was and was comfortable in his skin. He didn’t have to yell for people to pay attention. And he had a twinkle in his eye that implied he knew how to have fun too.

Cooper grew up in Montana on his family’s ranch. So he had no problem playing cowboys when he moved to Hollywood. He consistently portrayed the strong, silent, secretly romantic hero. (In real life he could be considered overly romantic, but that’s another story. ;-)) His two most famous cowboy roles were in his first talkie, The Virginian, and one of his late movies, High Noon, for which he won an Academy Award. In both, he takes the high moral ground of a Western hero. In The Virginian, he helps to capture and eventually hang his best friend, who has turned outlaw. In High Noon, he plays a sheriff who takes on a gang of criminals single-handedly when the town folk won’t support him. Can’t get any more heroic than that.

So who is your favorite Cowboy hero—real or fictional? Do you know any real cowboys?

Leave a comment to be entered in the prize raffle – a free digital copy of WYOMING ESCAPE and $100 gift card . Don’t forget your email address. Otherwise, we can’t contact you.

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 Wyoming Cover - 4x6 - #2For an exciting read about a modern day cowboy, try my book WYOMING ESCAPE. Available on AmazonBarnes&Noble, Apple, Kobo and Smashwords.

One dead body is frightening enough, but a second one, plus a dirty cop, sends chef Mikela Richards fleeing for her life. The ultimate city girl finds a safe hiding place on a Wyoming Dude ranch, where she tries to discover if the murders are connected to the mysterious computer memory stick she found in her car. But her fragile feeling of safety is disturbed by a compelling Marine, home on leave.

Back from Afghanistan to heal both physically and emotionally, Shawn Saunders recognizes the type of fear in Mikela’s eyes—it’s one of the things he’s come home to forget. Even though he knows it’s a bad idea, he can’t stop himself from trying to help her, while she’s even more afraid of letting him. In spite of their reservations, neither can resist the pull of their attraction.

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Don’t forget to visit the other blogs talking about Cowboys and Lawmen. Go to http://cowboycharm.blogspot.com/

Cowboy Charm Blog Hops now has a companion FaceBook Group. If you’d like to join to receive blog hop and prize announcements here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/453991144693516/

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/24842486@N07/5426119444/”>erjkprunczýk</a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;

Categories: blog hops, Books, Cowboys, Cowboys and Lawmen, Horses, lawmen, Mystery, romance, Romantic suspense, sheriffs, suspense, Uncategorized, Western romance, wild west justie, Wyoming | 37 Comments

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