Friday, March 29, 2013

Where I have Been...

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I've been trying to get my editing done for my clients, work on my own books, and enjoying life with my family. During the second week of spring break, my sister and her kids came to town for a short visit. I didn't know when they'd pop in over here.

My son's cat also had some kittens. It was a really hard, two day labor. She had a total of 3 kittens but only two were alive. The funny part is that she never liked me but insisted I stay by her for the entire two days. I now have the kittens in a drawer next to my bed. She won't go in to them unless I am in there. Here are some pictures of my son with his cat on day one of her labor. The other picture is her kittens.

On my last post I mentioned taken the kids to some fun event. We actually took them up to Flagstaff to find some snow but made the trip even better! We included a trip to the Grand Canyon. We had a fabulous trip.

Can you tell we are from Phoenix? My son refused to wear anything warmer. Good thing this was the most snow we were able to find.





I love Flagstaff, Arizona. If I wasn't such a baby about the  cold, I'd probably want to move here.









I only have a handful of pictures on my phone and we haven't transferred them off the camera yet, but honestly, this is probably still my favorite. This is Alexis (my daughter) and her boyfriend kissing at the Grand Canyon. They didn't know I was taking the picture.





Our 3 kids plus Jordan at Sunset Point. This was a rest stop on our way to Flagstaff.



Friday, March 15, 2013

Lucky In Love Blog Hop

Welcome to Lucky In Love Blog Hop!

Are you lucky in love? Luck finally found me the day when I met Dan. We actually met on a dating site. After enduring a bad situation with a man I was hoping for a fun night out... nothing serious for awhile. I read Dan's profile and he read mine at the same time. We both emailed each other at the same time which was confusing because we both thought we'd sent the first email. We later met and fell in love.

I'm giving away 3 ebook copies of Confessions. Leave a comment (including your email address) to be entered to win or buy your copy here:  http://amzn.com/B00A3FVT84

Blurb:
Can Chelsea and Jordan find their child, and rediscover each other?

When Chelsea Montgomery vanished eleven years ago, her hometown thought she’d been abducted. In truth, she'd given up the daughter she'd secretly had with Jordan Case.

Now he confronts her to help find the child. With a little girl's fate hanging in the balance, will the uneasy partnership -- stained by the past -- transform into something else?

 
The grand prize:
1st Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
2nd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Spring Break, Kids, and the Author Mom

If you're a mom then spring break is either here right now or right around the corner. Dan and I have 3 teenagers in three different school districts which means we have 2 weeks of spring break. It is times like this that I feel like Dan is lucky for working outside of the home. Why? Because the kids are home with me. He gets to go to work, do his job, and come home.  I have to figure out how to manage the chaos around here while being productive with my job.

Today is spring breaker #1's first day. He is sleeping on the couch this morning. My daughter is blasting her music like always in the morning. I usually don't complain about this while she is getting ready for school because it's only for a short period of time. Spring breaker #1 didn't complain at all. He sat up, looked around, and went back to sleep. Spring breaker #3 comes in, dressed in his school uniform, and stares down at Spring Breaker #1. "So not fair," says #3, "we shouldn't have school if he doesn't have school." Then it was time to explain about #1 having school next week while #2 and #3 are having their break. #3 says, "Yeah but he'll be at his mom's next week and we won't be able to rub it in." Aren't teenagers fun?

So how do I deal with spring break with these kids while working at home? As a side note: we have two fourteen-year-old boys and a fifteen-year-old girl. My tips work for us because of their ages. Also, the picture above is at our bonfire over the weekend. The three kids to the right are ours. One of the kids picked me the flowers.

  • Dan leaves for work at 4 a.m. I get up to make his lunch each morning. During spring break I could go back to sleep after he leaves but I don't. The hours before the kids wake up provide me with some peaceful time to be productive. Even if all hell breaks out in my home later in the day, I know that I've started the day with a few hours of work. This way the day is never wasted.
  • The kids know that I will NOT cook them breakfast or lunch. My kids are old enough to make two meals. I also provide them with the food that they know how to prepare.  If they are hungry, they will eat.
  • I have an office area in the central part of the house but plan on moving to my bedroom for times that I get incredibly distracted. The kids can be loud and I can shut the door. I also plan on heading to our back yard for a quiet change during the work day.
  • We started the spring break with a sleepover and bonfire. We are also planning on taking the kids fishing at the lake or to Flagstaff, Arizona to play in the snow this weekend. We are letting the kids decide as a reward for being good all week. They have to respect our work schedules, but we'll respect their choices on our family fun activities! Check my blog for pictures next week to see what activity they decide on.
The good part about them being home all this time is that my family often forgets that I actually have a job to do beyond locating socks, cooking, and doing laundry. This gives them the opportunity to see that while they are away, I'm at my computer working. My kids actually do stop by my computer to see what project I'm working on at any given time.


So, what ideas do you have for us spring-breaking authors?

Friday, March 8, 2013

Read an Ebook Week- Jesse's Brother

It's Read an Ebook Week! Finish my post and then grab a new book.

Today's featured book: Jesse's Brother


  • The idea came to me while dating two men. However, neither men appear in this book.
  • I never intended on writing a sequel but one is in the editing stages! Why? Because readers asked about the brother who wasn't chosen.
  • This was my first book I wrote after a very long break. I actually had my computer catch on fire, losing 4 completed novels. At that moment I decided to stop writing forever. A college English teacher encouraged me to write again. I sat down and started writing Jesse's Brother.
  • Jesse's Brother is available in print and ebook.
Buy Jesse's Brother here: http://amzn.com/B009NWWW6G

Blurb:

*Reader's Choice award winner! One woman, two men: a single summer to choose between them. Sacrificing a summer to fix her relationship with her mother and find out what’s troubling her father isn’t so bad...right? Wrong. Or so Samantha learns upon her return to Portland. As if family drama wasn’t bad enough, first comes Noah. Then comes Jesse. Samantha is torn between the way her heart skips a beat each time Noah looks at her, and the way Jesse’s touch make her yearn for more.

Will Samantha be able to choose between the men before their secret crushes her?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Read an Ebook Week- Cross the Line

Read an Ebook Week is here! Today I'm feature Cross the Line.

Some little tidbits about the book:

  • This book got me into some trouble! A former neighbor read Cross the Line and his wife decided that he was the hero in the book. Can you believe that? She hated me for 2 years. I swear that I wrote this story before I had even met them.
  • Cross the Line is the naughtiness of all my books. Like something H-O-T? This book is for you!
  • I was inspired to write this book while swimming in my apartment pool. I had just moved from a house into the complex and I was adjusting to the new environment. My brain started going crazy with this new idea. I hurried into my apartment, changed clothes, and planted my butt at my computer. I didn't get up until this story was finished.
Buy Cross the Line here: http://amzn.com/B004GHN4YW

Blurb:

Leslie thought she had it all, until Chris showed her the rest.

Another move and a bigger paycheck are all Leslie Teague depends on. Living the ‘no strings’ attached lifestyle has always worked for her…until she arrives in Phoenix.

She doesn’t like bad boy types of men, so why can’t she keep her hands off Chris Matthews, who also just happens to be her new neighbor?

Content warning, this book contains a fulfilled fantasy, adult language, and a life saved.


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Read an Ebook Week- Dreaming of Him

So it's Read an Ebook Week! I've decided to dedicate my posts to my various books... one book for each day. Check out interesting tidbits about the book, blurb, and cover!

Today is.... Dreaming of Him

  • My daughter and I started writing this book together. Okay, we started plotting this book but she decided to back out of the actual writing part. I decided to write the book as a gift for her because she really wanted to read it.
  • I'm not a fan of supernatural elements (my daughter is!) so I made sure my light paranormal didn't qualify as scary.
  • My favorite part of writing the book was coming up with ways for Trace to mess with Amber... trying to make his ghostly appearance noticeable.

Buy Dreaming of Him here: http://amzn.com/B006ZKBZD0

Blurb:

The dark brings romance…and death

Loneliness has clouded Amber Addaire's life, but now she's ready for a change. After a complete makeover still leaves her unhappy, it's only when she starts dreaming of an oddly familiar - and extremely handsome - man that she begins to feel happiness.

Trace Elkson is a spirit stuck on earth long enough to let his childhood friend, Amber Addaire, know how much she meant to him before he died. He can't tell her what he is, or that he's watching over her. He can only communicate with her through her dreams and hopes she will eventually realize who he is.

In the dream realm, Amber falls in love with Trace but can she figure out who he is and join him before his spirit is forced to move on?

WARNING: A deep friendship, impending death, and a life saved.

Friday, March 1, 2013

5 Fun Facts for Friday!

So you probably know stuff about books, but how much do you really know about me? Here are 5 Fun Facts for Friday:

  1. I love baseball and always have. When I was young my sister and I played softball while my brother played baseball. I tried getting my son interested but he didn't like it. Sigh. Anyway, I don't watch baseball on tv but love to attend the games. I live in Phoenix so we get to watch the Diamondbacks play.
  2. I swear I collect post-it notes. A recent trip to the store scored me 7 new packs! I actually use post-its every day for a wide variety of tasks so I go through them fairly quickly. I jot ideas down, to-do lists, shopping lists, research notes, and tons more stuff of them. By the way, my daughter has turned into a post-it junkie too!
  3. I took all of the Psychology classes my college offered. The way the brain functions fascinates me and I considered being a Psychology major. I really liked the Abnormal Psych. class which is probably why I chose to intern with a criminal defense attorney.
  4. I love Mexican food! I enjoy this yummy type food so much that I'd eat it every day if my family didn't protest.
  5. When it's 70 degrees you can find me in sweats, socks, and a sweatshirt or curled up in a blanket because I'm freezing! I live in Arizona so this is actually coldish weather to us. I think the perfect temperature is from about 85 to 100 degrees.
The picture is of me and my daughter on the way home from the lake. She was really tired.