Romantic suspense

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

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

Weekend Snippets #2

Welcome again!

As part of the Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday groups, I’m posting very short excerpts from my writings.

Today’s snippet is a continuation of last week’s and is from the opening of my Western romantic suspense book, WYOMING ESCAPE. Hope you enjoy it.

She’d bWyoming Cover - 4x6 - #2een coming to these woods outside Providence for the past two years, and never having heard of any problem, felt safe enough to run alone in the quiet and solitude. Now some idiot had decided to play games with a gun?

No further shots disturbed the forest and the birds began to chirp. Mikela took a tentative step from her hiding spot. At the sound of heavy footsteps pounding toward her, she jumped back into the greenery.

A slim man in a leather jacket ran into view, headed toward the parking area. He looked somewhat familiar and her shoulders relaxed until she caught sight of his glazed, panicked expression.

And the black nine millimeter pistol in his hand.

For more information on WYOMING ESCAPE, click the Home link.

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, Horses, Mystery, Romantic suspense, Uncategorized, Western romance, Wyoming | Tags: , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Weekend Snippets

Welcome. As part of the Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday groups, I’m going to start posting very short excerpts from my writings.

Today it’s the opening of my Western romantic suspense book, WYOMING ESCAPE. Hope you enjoy it.

The gunshWyoming Cover - 4x6 - #2ot reverberated through the cool morning air and jolted Mikela Richards to a halt. At a second ear-splitting crack she plunged through the button bushes to hide behind an old hickory tree. Breathing hard, she scanned the wooded trail but saw nothing. Who the heck was shooting in the park? She’d spent enough time on the firing range with her grandfather to know that it hadn’t been someone plinking at a tree with a twenty-two. Those reports had come from a large hand gun, probably a nine millimeter. Her heart rattled her rib cage while she listened for another blast.

For more information on WYOMING ESCAPE, click the Home link.

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, Horses, Romantic suspense, Uncategorized, Western romance, Wyoming | 42 Comments

Wyoming Escape – 50% off

ebookglasses

I’m taking part in Read an eBook Week at Smashwords.

Wyoming Escape is 50% off until March 9.

http://tinyurl.com/apfo773

Use the discount code CM93G at checkout.

Categories: Books, Cowboys, Dude ranches, Romantic suspense, suspense, Uncategorized, Western romance | 1 Comment

The Next Big Thing – What I’m Writing Now

Today I’m going to talk about my upcoming book, FOREWARNING, as part of the Next Big Thing blog series. I was invited to share my plans by the marvelous Kris Neri, author of the Tracy Eaton mysteries and the Samantha Brennan & Annabelle Haggerty Magical Mystery. You can find out more about her at: http://krisneri.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-next-big-thing-learn-what-im.html

At the bottom of this post I list the next five authors who will be talking about their work next week. Be sure to look them up.

What is your working title of your book?

FOREWARNING – Book 1 in the Horses and Healing series

 Where did the idea come from for the book?

I’ve had horses most of my life and love the outdoors. I also use alternative medical techniques for many health problems. I wanted to write about both of these within an intriguing story. Having visited the Oregon Cascades, I thought they would make a great setting for a horse ranch.

 What genre does your book fall under?

 It’s a cross-genre book with suspense, romance and a touch of the paranormal.

 Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

That’s really hard to answer. I think Stana Katic, who plays Kate Beckett on the Castle series, would be good for Kasey. (If she’d agree to go auburn.) Matthew McConaughey might do for Jim. Still trying to think of someone dark, muscular and intense for TJ.

 What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Forced to use the healing skills she has rejected, Kasey Martin saves an injured man and begins an unexpected journey of danger, rebirth and love.

 Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I plan to self-publish it on all the epub venues, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

 How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It was the first long novel I attempted and I had a lot to learn, so it took much longer than it would now. Probably about two years. I revised it several times and then put it aside to work on my just published book WYOMING ESCAPE.

 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Since it’s cross-genre, I can’t think of a close fit, but Robyn Carr’s books are similar in tone.

 Who or what inspired you to write this book?

One of my horses had physical problems that traditional veterinary medicine couldn’t solve, so we embarked on an exploration of alternative modalities. Some were helpful and others weren’t. The technique that proved the best for her, and ultimately for my husband and myself, is similar to what I describe in the story.

 What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s the first in a series with the theme “Horses and Healing.” My next book will feature a psychologist who uses horses in her practice.

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 Next week five more writers will share their answers to these questions about their upcoming books.

Nora Barker is the author of four published ebooks, all of which involve murder on a small Midwestern university campus. You can find her at www.norabarker.com

K.R. Morrison, author of BE NOT AFRAID. A prequel, UNHOLY TRINITY and a sequel, RESURGENCE: THE RISE OF JUDAS will be published in early 2013.
Blog link:  www.krmorrison777.posterous.com

Annie Adams is the author of THE FINAL ARRANGEMENT, a cozy mystery and part of the Flower Shop Mystery Series including the Zombie Delivery Van. Her blog link: http://www.annieadamstheauthor.com/the-blog.html

D’Ann Burrows is the author of SMALL TOWN SECRETS. You can find her blog at http://www.mollykategray.com/

Mardi Ballou is the  author of fun, sexy romance with a twist of wry. She’ll be blogging at http://flirtyauthorbitches.com/tag/mardi-ballou/

Categories: Books, Horses, Romantic suspense, Western romance | 7 Comments

Wyoming Escape

My first book, Wyoming Escape, is now out on AmazonBarnes&Noble and Kobo. Apple iBooks and others coming soon.

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.

Categories: Cowboys, Dude ranches, Horses, Romantic suspense, Western romance | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

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