Tag: coastal heat

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Monday Mayhem – Fresh Starts

I’m still working on finishing the draft of Easy Bake Lovin’ (Play Dates #2), but with the start of the Build a Book 365 day challenge I gave myself permission to play with one of the Silver Fox ideas I have rattling around in my head.

Meet Leonardo Sbaraglia. He doesn’t know it, but he’s currently serving as my hero inspiration. I promise, I will try to do him right. Ahem. I mean do right by him.

Finding photographs of heroes and heroines who fit the images in my head is not always easy, but I knew the minute I saw him, he was my man. More specifically, the man to model my hero, Dominic Mann on.

I’ll be sharing pictures of people who remind me of my characters as the year progresses. We have a lot of books coming in 2017-2018. I hope you’re ready to meet them all!

How about you? Do you picture famous people portraying the heroes and heroines as you read? Care to share some thoughts?

News and notes:

In case you missed it, LOVE & ROCKETS received another fabulous 5 star review! This one from Epilogue Book Blog. Check it out!

Also, GOING DEEP (Coastal Heat #1) and A WILL AND A WAY (Worth the Wait Romance) are both on sale for $0.99! Tell your friends!

Snowed in? Give LONG DISTANCE LOVE a shot. You won’t regret getting to know Jack and Ellie better!

 

 

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Monday Mayhem – Thankful

It was Thanksgiving in the States this past Thursday. If you read the news (and my Twitter feed), you’d think that there was little to be thankful for in America, but I think we can all agree that the media skews things a tad, right?

Right.

Yes, there are things happening that no one likes, but there are so many more things happening that are good. Family and friends spending time together, neighbors helping neighbors, and all of the many, many blessings that we enjoy – food, shelter, clothing, Netflix, bubble baths, nacho cheese Doritos, books…

The month of November was a rough one – I won’t deny that. There’s an ever-growing cadre of us who believe all of 2016 can go and stuff it now. I even gave up putting slips of paper in my happiness jar sometime around April. It wasn’t that good things weren’t happening. It’s just that they kind of got buried under the headlines.

But I’m going to try to go out on a high note. I have until Wednesday to squeeze in my NaNoWriMo numbers. I’m over 45k as of this writing, and should be able to make it again. If I do, I’ll post my winner-winner-chicken-dinner badge here next week.

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The end of NaNo means Thursday is December 1st. Yeah, I know, duh. But this is the last month in what many of us consider one of life’s crappier years, so I’m going to try to see it through as in the same way I hope to start 2017 – full of positivity.

For the month of December, I’m going to try to write one happy/positive thing down each day. Doesn’t have to be anything big or monumental, just bright spot. When I prepare this post on Sunday evenings, I’ll update you on what I’ve collected, then put it all together in the end. I may even tweet a few, just to counteract all the other stuff in my timeline.

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31 days of bright spots. Should be totally doable. I bet you can too. Who wants to play along?

P.S. In case you missed me blabbing all over the place – LOVE & ROCKETS released last week. Please read. Please review. Please tell your friends to do the same. *puppy dog eyes*

P.P.S. I can’t even with the Gilmore Girls yet. Still processing so much of it, but let me just say: Like Lorelai, I’m happy. So happy I haven’t even had a single fanfic idea. Thanks for making my life easier, ASP! *ducks and runs*

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Monday Mayhem – A positively Gilmorian giveaway

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I’ll LOVE & ROCKETS ya, tomorrow! It’s only a day away!

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Can’t wait for you to get to know Darla and Jake better!

In the meantime, I am still toiling away at the NaNoWriMo goals. I’m up to date and should finish on time. I have to admit, it’s been hard this year. The day job is super busy. As you know, there’s some birthday-ing going on around here (Fodder’s is tomorrow! Tomorrow! I’ll Love & Rockets him tomorrow!), there’s Thanksgiving on Thursday, and the year’s most anticipated event on Friday.

No, I’m not talking about Black Friday.

No, not even thinking about the (so-called) Battleline Rivalry game between Arkansas and Mizzou.

I’m talking Gilmore, and you know I am talking fast.

That’s right, this Friday, my pal Lulu and I will be snuggled in on my sofa with a smorgasbord of junk food, ready to live a year in the life with our beloved friends from Stars Hollow.

I CANNOT WAIT!

To celebrate, I’ll offer a little prize. Comment on this post with your favorite line from Gilmore Girls (any episode, any season, any character) and I’ll draw one name for a signed copy of LOVE & ROCKETS.

Did I mention that Darla is a spunky single mom of a brainy teenaged daughter? No? Yeah, well, you know how it is….

Now go forth and comment! I’ll pick a winner Friday, November 25th!

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Monday Mayhem – Sprinting

It’s going to be a bust week!

First off…did you see this?

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Pretty, huh? Mark your calendars for April 4, 2017 or pre-order now at your favorite e-tailer!

Secondly, FLIP THIS LOVE is on sale for $.99 this month!

Nothing draws a magnate like a steel magnolia...

Third – I’m giving away this adorable journal to one of my newsletter subscribers. If you aren’t on my list, enter your email address in the space on the sidebar >>>>>

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FOURTH!!! I’m sprinting to hit deadlines this week. I’m polishing up RANSOMED HEART (Silver Foxes #2, 2018) and scrambling to complete a novella for submission. Wish me luck!

And fifth – If I’m not downing a fifth of something boozy by the end of the week, it’ll be a miracle.

How about you? What’s happening in your corner of the world?

 

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Monday Mayhem – Back again

Sorry I missed you last week. I was attacked by a norovirus Sunday afternoon, and unable to come to the computer.

This unexpected turn of events caused great upheaval in my routines. Not only did I miss posting here, but I missed a day in my 100 day challenge. Quite a bummer, considering the 100 days are up next week. Still, I plan to get 99 out of 100, and my overall word count shouldn’t be worse for wear.

Still, lots of things happening this week. If you have not downloaded copies of GOING DEEP and FLIP THIS LOVE for only $0.99, do it now! The sale ends this week. Share this with your friends!

Beach Reads sale

Amazon Apple B&N Google Kobo

Later this week, everyone’s favorite redhead will be back, and he’s FREE!

SEDUCING STEVE free June 29 – July 2 exclusively on Amazon!

160 pages of red-headed hottie

All of this as I sprint to the finish line on A BOLT FROM THE BLUE so I can turn it in to my editor at the end of the week.

Oh, and as of Thursday, I’ll have been married to this guy for 15 years:

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So, all in all, a busy week leading up to Independence Day and the release (finally!) of A WILL AND A WAY!

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What have you been up to?

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Monday Mayhem – Catch up, but not ketchup

Because I don’t do condiments…

Hi, friends! It seems a while since we caught up. As Ferris says:

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It seems things have been on some kind of special effects warp speed around here. Life is flying by, but in that weird slo-mo sort of way. I’m on deadline again. The ink isn’t dry, so I can’t say too much, but I think you’ll find it Worth The Wait. (BTW – That was a crazy big hint if you’ve been following my series titles.)

I’m in head-down writing mode, but also trying to deal with some heads-up life stuff. Which means I’m a bit scattered. So before I forget – GOING DEEP and FLIP THIS LOVE are both an SALE for $0.99 each this month. Please, please, please tell your book loving friends.

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I’ll be signing copies of FLIP THIS LOVE at the Diamond State Romance Authors 10th Anniversary book signing on Saturday, June 18, 2016. We’ll be at the Hastings bookstore in Benton Arkansas, so if you are in the neighborhood, come and see me!

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You can read more about DSRA and see pictures of me and my pals in this Only In Arkansas article!

Remember, book #3 – LOVE & ROCKETS is coming in November so this is a great time to catch up. I’ll have some gorgeous cover art for L&R to share soon!

Oh, and book #2 in my *ahem* Worth the Wait Romance series, A WILL AND A WAY will release on July 5, 2016, so be sure to mark your calendar. Better yet, you can preorder a copy at your favorite retailer!

Amazon ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google ~ Kobo

A WILL AND A WAY

So yeah, busy-busy!

In the meantime, Fodder and I took Ferris’ advice and headed out of town for a night. We went to Hot Springs, and poked around a bit. My boyfriend even bought me presents:

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Does he know me well, or what? He should. At the end of this month, we’ll have been hitched 15 years.

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The pool a water behind us is one of the hot springs. It’s hot tub (or bathwater for me) warm to the touch and you can see the steam rising from it. It has been a rainy week off and on. The system finally cleared out yesterday evening, but it left us a parting gift.

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When we got home, we decided we ought to re-bond with our dog and our patio before going about the business of laundry, grocery shopping, and other unsavory tasks.

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I said life moves pretty fast, I never claimed we did.

So there you have it, friends. I think we are up to date. See you next week!

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Monday Mayhem – More more more!

Another whirlwind week on deck! Wanna play a game of where’s Margaret?

    1. In case you missed it, I was at Fiction University last week talking about writing mojo and the tricks we writers play on ourselves to make things happen.
    2. I’m at Just Contemporary Romance today and tomorrow talking about the differences between a house and a home.
    3. I have a GoodReads giveaway starting this week! Be sure to enter and to tell all of your friends!
    4. Less than 2 weeks until I terrorize the Northwest Suburbs! I’ll be signing copies of FLIP THIS LOVE at the Chicago North RWA Spring Fling Conference book signing Saturday, May 21, 2016 from 3-5pm at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg. Mark your calendars!

 

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Okay, now that we have that mess out of the way… Hi! How are you? I’m happy to report that things are finally looking up around here. I can’t give any specifics about good things in progress, but let me say I’ll be cranking out plenty of reading material for 2017 and beyond!

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Ahem. Thank you, Buzz.

I’ve started a new novel this week. It’s called A BOLT FROM THE BLUE and I’m having a lot of fun writing it. In this book, I’m reimagining the first original character I’d ever developed. Our heroine is a free-spirited former debutante named Hope, and she’s about to give an ultra-grounded electrician named Mick one hell of a jolt.

Oh, and in case you missed it, FLIP THIS LOVE is available and readers are really falling for Harley Cade, rough edges and all! Have you read FLIP THIS LOVE? Please, please, please consider leaving a review at Amazon, GoodRead, iBooks, B&N, or wherever you buy books. Reviews not only give an author feedback, but they provide an excellent marketing tool (See below).

“Before I say anything else, I need to confess that I’m hopelessly in love with Harley Cade. There. I said it.” 

“Harley, Harley, Harley how to describe him well he’s sweet, but at the same time he could be a smarta**”

“Furthermore, the story itself features my favorite kind of hero—a self-made entrepreneur who works with his hands and who treats his mother like a queen.”

“I liked that Harley never gave up on Laney. It’s a true testament to how much she matters to him.”

And my friend Karen made this pretty graphic for me

Nothing draws a magnate like a steel magnolia...

If you blog or use social media, please feel free to grab it (right click and save photo as…) and use it to help share the love!

xoxo

Mags

 

 

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Monday Mayhem – Mahhhhhvelous!

You know what’s awesome? Truly awesome? Having fabulous friends who do incredible things like throw you a surprise release day part on Facebook and Twitter. Did you see these?

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They even gave me a hashtag!!! I feel so cool! Thank you, Karen, Julie, and all of the fabulous friends who posted and re-posted. I am touched and humbled, and so very grateful to have such supportive friends.

So, yeah….FLIP is out! I loved writing Harley and Laney’s story. In my head, they were very much like Sam and Diane on Cheers. Bicker, bicker, bicker, kiss, kiss, kiss! I hope you all are enjoying it as well.

Guess what? I’m still celebrating this release into May! Tomorrow, I’ll be at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University with a little on How I Do It (the writing – get your minds out of the gutter!), and next week at Just Contemporary Romance. I’m hoping to party down on the Kensington Tumblr account and will keep you all posted if that comes about.

And the words keep rolling along. I finished the first draft on RANSOMED HEART last week. We’re taking a little break from each other before I tackle revisions. It’s kind of a hot mess, but I think it’s a good hot mess. I’ve just finished the galley read-through on LOVE & ROCKETS and it should be set to go for November! Oh! But don’t forget about A WILL AND A WAY in July. LOL

In the meantime, I’m sitting on some news and cannot wait for it to hatch so I can share it with you. Just know this…I’m going to be a very busy girl for quite a while!

xoxo
Mags

P.S. Want a signed copy of FLIP THIS LOVE for you or for a friend? Comment below and tell me your favorite TV pairing and I’ll pick a winner later this week.

 

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It’s my book birthday!!!!!

At last!!!

Flip This Love is now available!

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Nothing draws a magnate like a steel magnolia…

Harley Cade is back in town—and the former bad boy is downright irresistible now that he’s donned a hard hat and set to work restoring the South’s finest homes to their former grandeur. While wealth may have gained Harley entry into high society, it’s going to take a lot more than a fat bank account to win the lovely Laney Tarrington.

Laney isn’t open to giving the self-made magnate a second chance—no matter how much she needs him. With her family fortune gone, Laney finally has to stand on her own two feet. The last person she’d ever lean on is Harley, the man who left her behind with nothing more than memories of the passion they once shared….

With the attraction still burning hot between them, Harley isn’t above seduction—or secretly buying Laney’s bankrupted family’s estate. After all, he no longer has to prove himself to anyone, least of all the daughter of Mobile, Alabama’s most prestigious family. But will pride keep Harley from gaining the biggest prize of all—a place in Laney’s heart?

Buy now and please share this with all your romance loving friends!

Kensington ~ Amazon ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google ~ Kobo