Friday, May 17, 2013

Cover Reveal: One Night in Reno



Please take a moment to vote on your cover/color preference for One Night in Reno (see sidebar). Voting ends Sunday.

Some of you might remember One Night in Reno as a short story I put up on my website several years ago.  I've since added another 3-4K words and a more satisfying ending.   This is a novella length story, which should be available on or about Monday, May 20th for .99

One Night in Reno takes place immediately following Hannah's and Mac's wedding in The SEAL's Baby and makes a nice bridge between that book and my upcoming Harlequin Superromance, A Stranger in the Family (working title).

When Jenny Albright's gas tank runs as dry as her luck in the Nevada desert, Navy SEAL Garrett Erickson swoops in to rescue her, her young son and their beagle pup.  But is this single mom a victim of circumstance or a woman on the run?  Garrett sees his own past in the little boy's future.  Does his offer to marry Jenny--until she lands on her feet--come from a sense of duty or the need to be rescued himself? 

Reno is the first book in a series of One Night shorts I'm doing with secondary characters from previous works.  One Star Spangled Night (July) and One Silent Night (September) will follow later this year...  Yes, this year :)


Because of my deadline crunch on another book, One Night in Reno will be exclusive to amazon for the first 90 days.  For those without a Kindle device please try one of these FREE apps...

Free Reading Apps:  Your purchase can be sent automatically to your AndroidiPadiPhonePCMacBlackBerry, or Windows Phone 7 device.  Don't have a free Kindle Reading App? Download one here. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Blogging at Superauthors Today


Blogging at superauthors.com today




And don't forget to check out my own top secret blog posts.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Send Military Vet Back to Boot Camp! #campreboot


 
Please send me back to boot camp.  It's difficult to ask for help, even when you know you need it.  Today I'm asking for your vote to send me to Camp Reboot!  It would be nice to get back to my Navy weight, but what I'm really fighting for is my health.  You can follow my journey here.

Nomination by Tina Radcliffe:

Military veteran in need of a reboot!  Please send my friend Rogenna Brewer to Camp Reboot.  Rogenna has spent a lifetime serving others, first as a Chaplain’s Yeoman in the United States Navy, and then as a proud Navy wife.  She’s raised three sons to adulthood, including a twenty-five year old son with Down’s Syndrome who lives at home.  Rogenna excels at taking care of others but it’s always at the expense of taking care of herself.
I met Rogenna in Denver, Colorado at the local chapter of Romance Writers of America exactly twenty years ago. RWA is the largest organization for romance writers in the world.  We immediately discovered common ground in our military service, if not a friendly Army vs. Navy rivalry as well.  She went on to publish her first romance novel in 1999, followed by many more and over ten years later, with her help and guidance, I followed with my first published novel.
For the last two decades we’ve been there for each other through the thick, and unfortunately not nearly as much thin as we’d like.  For nearly six years, we even worked together at the same day job.  While the stress and pressure of working two jobs-writing by night and the day job- took a heavy toll on our health and our weight, we tried to keep each other on track with diet and exercise strategies.
Last December I was surprised and thrilled when Rogenna announced she was leaving the day job to pursue a single job, writing full-time.  Around that same time, I moved out of state.  While it felt good to be quitting our jobs at the same time, it also meant leaving behind a dear friend.  Email and Facebook have made it easy to stay in touch.
        Recently Rogenna confessed to me that while she was grateful to be at her keyboard creating stories and talking to her fictional heroes and heroines, she was still battling with her weight. In fact, having exceeded her maximum life-time weight, she was having difficulty walking and found herself short of breath with even limited exercise.
        Ironic, as I was facing a similar battle, and found myself packing on the pounds while at the keyboard.  Writing the stories of your heart full-time is a life-long dream come true for any romance writer, but is also very solitary and extremely sedentary profession.  As writers we spend up ten hours a day in a chair. There has to be a better way.
        About six weeks ago I stumbled upon Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix, but I hadn’t shared the information with anyone because I really doubted there was anyone, even Rogenna, who would be willing to take Joe Cross’s challenge with me.
        I was wrong. Rogenna was at the point of absolute despair. She knew her health and her career depended on changing her lifestyle once and for all.  Sharing the movie and the website was the catalyst for change.  Not only was Rogenna encouraged, and inspired by the movie, but she felt emotionally connected to Joe and Phillip and their journey. If they could do it. She could do it. I couldn’t see her on email but I knew without a doubt there was a fire in her eyes.
        It was time to go all in, risk everything.
And you know what?
I believe Rogenna Brewer deserves a healthy happy ending of her own.  She made it through military boot camp.  I know without a doubt that she can make it through Camp Reboot.  I know she can change her life one juice at a time. An old Navy saying is: Accelerate your life. Let’s give this Navy vet a chance to do that.


Click here to vote:  http://giveaway.rebootwithjoe.com/nominees/a518bd1fb57254

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Q&A May Day Celebration!


Q: How do you celebrate May Day?

A: Normally, I'd don a toga and hand out flowers at DIA.  But due to FAA regulations I'm no longer allowed anywhere near an airport in a toga.

It's just as well.  It's snowing here in Colorado.  Brrrrr.  A light dusting of 3-6" that should disappear by tomorrow, and then it's back to spring like weather.  

However, if you're in the mood for a little pagan celebration today don't forget to enter my drawing for a $25 amazon.com gift card. 

I celebrate May 1st like I do the 1st of every month--drawing a winner for last month and setting up a new contest. 

And in case you didn't know...

May Day is best known for its traditions of dancing around the maypole and crowning the May Queen [moi].  

The earliest known May Day celebration was the festival of Flora for the Roman goddess of flowers.  


 I may be a land-locked sailor in a tiara (see above), but couldn't resist a little nautical education...   

Mayday is an international distress signal in radio communications.  Primarily used by mariners and aviators to signal a life-threatening emergency.  It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me".

The procedure word originated in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford (1897–1962).  A senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London.  When asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and  be understood by all pilots and ground staff, he proposed the word "Mayday" from the French m’aider since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris.*

*Thank you, Wikipedia.


Friday, April 19, 2013

How Many Authors Does It Take To Promote A Book?

If it takes one author to write a book, how many does it take to promote it? The answer in this case is eleven.

There's a trend in indie publishing toward authors banding together to form a promotional co-op of sorts. The purpose of these cooperative efforts, or "lifeboats" as they are sometimes known, is to extend the authors reach and aid in "discoverability."

"Discoverability" being the new buzz word in publishing.  According to goodreads less than 10% of books are discovered by online browsing.  The majority of readers still rely on recommendations from friends.

Unless a reader has an author or title in mind, searching online for something to read can be quite daunting.  It's equally frustrating for authors to try and find their fan base, or rather, help would be fans find them.  With so many new ebooks out every year, just writing a good book is often not enough.  

Authors are encouraged to build online platforms with websites, blogs and all manner of social media, but the truth is facebook and twitter didn't fare much better in the survey than online browsing.  And all of these things take time away from writing.  

That's where groups like OnFireFiction come in.  Earlier this year I joined forces with a group of like minded authors.  We get together and learn from each other--push, pull and drag each other along on this wild ride called self-publishing--because 11 together is stronger than 1.

Please allow me to introduce you to the ladies of OFF Annie Jones, Barbara McMahon, Day LeClaire, Debra Salonen, Ginger Chambers, Jean Brashear, Julie Kenner, Karen Sandler, Linda BarrettLisa Mondello and myself.



Want to win fun prizes? Don't miss out on our facebook party for Unsuitably Perfect this Friday 4/19. Lisa, Karen and Barbara will be giving away prizes every hour from 9a.m PST to 5p.m PST! The prizes include gift cards, autographed copies, and a big main prize at the end of the day. It's easy to participate, you just have to stop by and comment or share the giveaway posts! If you haven't liked OnFireFiction fan page please like it now so you don't miss out on the prizes. This is where the party will be taking place. Make sure to tell your friends! 
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