I’m thrilled to reveal the cover of Rachel Sharpe’s next novel…
Blurb
“What started out as a star-studded vacation has turned into a sensational avalanche…”
When private investigator Jordan James decided to join her best friend on the set of her hit television series in the Rocky Mountains, she had no idea she would become a key player in a murder mystery more suited for the big screen than the slopes. With one actor dead and a killer on the loose, can Jordan uncover the culprit before another victim makes headlines on Hollywood Minute?
Coming this Fall from Soul Mate Publishing!!!
Available Now in the Jordan James, PI Series
“It was my life-long dream to become a private eye. Little did I know that with my very first case, that dream would become a life-threatening nightmare…”
When Jordan James decided to embark on a career as a private investigator, she never could have imagined that a chance encounter would lead to her staring down the barrel of a gun on the roof’s edge of a high-rise building. As she begins to investigate her first case, the puzzling murder of a prominent businessman that has left Boston’s finest mystified for more than two decades, she finds herself suddenly immersed in a treacherous underworld brimming with betrayal, raw greed, and political subterfuge of international proportions. In the midst of this, she discovers she is falling for her mysterious client despite the hints of his dark past. Can this feisty Southern girl with a penchant for trouble solve this baffling case or is she doomed to become another tragic chapter in an international conspiracy?
“It all started with a favor…”
When private investigator Jordan James agreed to search for the missing son of a U.S. Ambassador, she didn’t realize she was walking into a case one hundred years in the making. The deeper she delves into this unusual assignment, the more shocking, and the more dangerous, it becomes. With time running out and lives at stake, Jordan must race to identify the culprit of an elaborate plot while also uncovering a far more personal truth too intimate to ignore…
Bio
Rachel Sharpe is the author of Cold Ambition and Lost Distinction, the first novels in the Jordan James, PI series. Although born and raised in the South, “Yankee” relatives first led Rachel to historic New England, which she has come to consider her second home and is the setting for the series.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English, Rachel began dedicating her free time to her childhood passion, writing, and in the fall of 2013, she signed with Soul Mate Publishing. An active member of Sisters In Crime, Rachel currently resides with her husband in the Greater New Orleans area.
Check Out Rachel’s Sites to Keep Up with Jordan James!!!
I’m happy to welcome Stella Chiu to the Power of 10 series.
Here’s Stella!
The life journey is composed of mountain tops and bottoms of valleys. During the last 12 years, I encountered some events that turned my world upside down. My husband wanted a divorce. I had made some financial mistakes in business and investments which caused huge financial problems. Being a Christian, I couldn’t make any sense out of it. Later, I was led by the Lord to the wilderness (Mesa, Arizona) in both physical and spiritual situations. This wilderness experience provided 10 important life lessons.
1. The hardships are mostly caused by us.
It may shock you to know that most trials and sufferings are created by you. You went into bankruptcy because you made the financial mistakes along the way. You have no need to blame God or other people. Only then can you can take responsibility and do something above your situation.
2. Get your identity firmly inside you.
All problems are temporary. The circumstances will improve. “Tough things won’t last, but tough people will.” You are the beloved child of God. You can trust the most powerful person in the universe (God as your Daddy), who loves you so much, will help you to get out of the mess. You will be able to overcome the fear with that faith.
3. Stay put.
It is not wise to rush His time table until all the training is complete. This training is called A Joseph Calling by Os Hillman.
God takes time to develop character. He could not afford to have a prideful 30-year-old Joseph managing the resources of an entire region of the world. God used 40 years to train Moses. God used 12 years to transform me from a so called Christian to a real Christ believer.
God has a storehouse of blessings that He has reserved for you and me. God has a specific timetable that He requires to accomplish His purposes in the life of the believer. Sometimes, that timetable seems excruciatingly cruel and painful; yet it is necessary.
The greater the mess, the bigger will be your promotions. Don’t look left, right, back, or front, but up.
When you are experiencing trials, you should not try to get secular counseling from people around you. Their suggestions cause more confusion than before. When you look backward, the only sure thing is regret. When you look ahead, there may not be promising views. The upward direction is where you can obtain the divine wisdom, revelation, or inspiration to get out of bondage.
4. Don’t ask the wrong question(s).
During your trials, you should not ask: “Why has this happened to me?” or “Where is my God?” These will lead nowhere. A better question: “Lord, I did make the mistakes. I am sorry. Show me your rescue plan for me.”
5. You are a spiritual being.
We are created in the image of God. In other words, we are spiritual beings. It is vital that you must have this notion in your hearts and thoughts.
God is spirit, whose communication tunnels are only open to spiritual beings. When you realize you area a spiritual beings, you can freely communicate with God, who is the ultimate rescuer for any situation.
6. A new way of meditation.
It is a good idea to commit the first hour of the day to meditation. The aim is not for calmness but to hear the very small voice of God inside you. In a locked room, you seat yourself in comfortable position without any music. You allow no distractions. Because you are spiritual beings, you can imagine your spirit flying out from your body to heaven. You can talk with Jesus, God, or the angels.
Revelation and inspiration may come in during this hour or later in the day. Bring pen and paper to jot down new ideas.
7. A new way of prayer.
What is prayer? Prayer is your conversation with God – just like your conversation with a friend. Prayer is not just for asking favors. You can tell God how you feel inside: your frustrations, adventures, happiness moments, as well as your appreciation. Prayer is also a two-way street. You need to learn to be silent in front of the mighty God so that He can pass on His ideas.
God wants you to connect with Him every minute of your daily life. Talk (pray) to Him every chance you get: standing in line, waiting for the bus, drinking your coffee, cooking, doing laundry, etc.
Many people believe prayer does not affect their lives because they don’t believe God will answer. Make the word “believe” as big as you can in your own life.
8. The power of repentance and forgiveness.
To repent means you know your mistakes; you turn away from them and never repeat them. This ties in with the first point of this post. God’s hands can come down to help you.
Forgiveness is so important because un-forgiveness blocks anyone trying to access the blessings, revelation, and favor from the Lord. Thos point can be illustrated more clearly in Mark 11:25 – 26: “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him…If you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
The forgiveness process starts with forgiving yourself first. From that point, you can forgive others.
9. Power of your faith.
You must be careful about what you say daily. You frame your world by the words you speak. You can’t have what you want if you speak against what you want. “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind (speak) on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matt 16:19
If you want to come out of the pit, you must speak positively about what you want to happen.
10. Power of praise and worship
If you understand the significance of praise and worship, you will do well in your life.
Praise means you are thanking God for granting your requests ahead of time. Will He do it for you? I have no doubt in my mind He will do it for you.
God flows to and from the universe looking for worshippers. He already has all the angels worshiping Him 24/7. Why is He still looking for human worshippers? Angels are created to worship Him. Human worship is not an automatic action. Worship from someone who is suffering is more dear because it goes against human nature. You can definitely out of the pit with praise and worship.
My final thoughts…
The disappointments in life can open doors to new opportunities that God has for YOU! – @Ibloom
“On this journey called life, we wish we would not meet the thorns but have all bed of roses and everything smooth without so much as a worry. Our Creator has other plans. Out of each test, there is a testimony and for every mess there is a message. It is also not so much that we go through difficulties in life, but our attitude that makes all the difference.” – @EMBYvonne
Bio
Stella Chiu runs http://www.stellachiu.com where she is passionate to use her experience to help people to achieve good life through the Kingdom within each of us. Her blog covers faith, health, prosperity, and life (parenting, family, relationship, empty nest, etc). If you want to have good life, sign up free updated, free gifts, and one-to-one consulting.
Today, we have author Susan Coryell sharing a lifelong passion for writing and the long, winding road to publication.
Here’s Susan!
We writers know who we are; writers have to write. That about sums up my “Second Act” in life.
What happens when a full-time career/working mom knows she is a writer and feels the need to write with simply no way of making time to do so? I believe it was the late Erma Bombeck, a writer of humorous columns, who laughed at her own solution to the problem: “There is a lot of untapped time between midnight and five a.m.”
Not only was I an active working mother—I fancied myself the busiest mom in the East. Full-time public school teacher, department chair, soccer mom, Sunday school teacher, night-student in grad school, mother of three and wife of a small business owner (who worked 80-hour weeks)—to name a few of my titles. Oh, did I mention I was trying to write a novel?
Miraculously, I somehow completed what I now call my “Disney Novel.” The young adult mystery involved twin boys, one a pitcher and one a catcher, who telepathized their signals on the ball diamond. Though probably not publishable, the work proved to me that I could write a story consisting of 50,000 or more words—with a beginning, middle and end. You’d think I would have been satisfied, happy to prove myself and move on with life on Muppet Manor with my family. Right?
Alas, Doubleheader only whetted my appetite to write more, more, more. So, I began working on another young adult novel—this one an anti-bully book with a 14-year-old male protagonist. I worked only on my summers “off” from teaching—posting daily notices on my closed office door that suggested my kids should not disturb me unless they were “bleeding profusely.” It took three years to complete Eaglebait.
While sponsoring a middle school literary magazine at Columbia Press Scholastic awards (yes, I also was in charge of the lit mag at my school), I said to myself, “Hey, you’re in New York. Let’s try to find a literary agent.” Luck prevailed and on the second day at Columbia, I met a guy who knew about a great agency in Chicago for YA books . They took on Eaglebait, secured a contract with Harcourt, and my writing journey began to take shape. Or, so I thought.
Even though Eaglebait won some impressive awards, Harcourt pulled it after 14 months, with no explanation. And, though I had plenty of other writing ideas, I threw in the literary towel until retirement years later. It was just too difficult what with the children merging into teenager-hood.
But then…my Second Act!
Retirement to a lakeside cottage was a godsend for this writer. I mucked around for several years doing free-lance for a pittance and writing a lot of local press for nothing. Not that I was wasting my “talent,” but I longed to plunge into novel writing again. That’s where I am at my creative best. And so, I picked up on a mystery/Gothic idea I had contemplated some years back—adjusted the setting to fit my retirement locale—and I have never turned back. The Wild Rose Press published A Red, Red Rose in 2013 and the sequel, Beneath the Stones this past April of 2015. I am currently writing the third novel in the series—as yet unnamed. In between writing these cozy mystery/Southern gothics, I was able to update Eaglebait with cyber-bullying and publish it through Amazon in e-book format.
If there is a moral to my story, I believe it would be: Since writers know who we are and writers have to write, we must never lose faith; the window for writing will open somehow, some way, some time. I found my muse in the loft of a lake house 20+ years after my novel debut—a Second Act, for sure.
My heartfelt thanks to Joanne for inviting me to guest on her awesome blog!
Bio
A career educator, Susan has taught students from 7th grade through college-level. She earned a BA degree in English from Carson-Newman College and a Masters from George Mason University. She is listed in several different volumes of Who’s Who in Education and Who’s Who in Teaching. Susan belongs to Author’s Guild, Virginia Writers, and Lake Writers. She loves to talk with budding writers at schools, writers’ conferences and workshops. Her young adult anti-bully novel EAGLEBAIT is in its third edition for print and e-book, updated with cyber-bullying. EAGLEBAIT won the NY Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age,” and the International Reading Association’s “Young Adult Choice.”
A RED, RED ROSE, first in a cozy mystery/Southern Gothic series, was nominated for a literary award with the Library of Virginia. BENEATH THE STONES, the sequel, was released in April of 2015.
The author has long been interested in concerns about culture and society in the South, where hard-felt, long-held feelings battle with modern ideas. The ghosts slipped in, to her surprise.
When not writing, Susan enjoys boating, kayaking, golf and yoga. She and her husband, Ned, love to travel, especially when any of their seven grandchildren are involved.
This coming week, we will be experiencing the dog days of summer in southern Ontario. As the Humidex soars beyond 30 and even approaches 40, I find myself spending more time in air-conditioned comfort and less time preparing meals.
Not such a bad thing for a non-foodie, but I do have to eat. With one book released in June (A Season for Killing Blondes) and another to be released in August (The Coming of Arabella), I need to maintain optimum energy levels.
And to satisfy my Frugalista nature, I also wish to do it on a budget.
Here are some of my favorite go-to foods while I’m in the editing and promotion caves.
I’m thrilled to welcome USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston to the Power of 10 series.
Here’s Lois!
People have often asked me how much of Anastasia Pollack, the protagonist of my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, is really Lois Winston. Although I have drawn on my own experiences in writing Anastasia, there are fundamental differences between the two of us. In no particular order they are as follows:
1. Unlike my protagonist, I am not a sleuth, reluctant or otherwise. I’ve never stumbled across a dead body and hope I never do. I prefer virtual dead bodies to real ones and solving crimes on my computer in the safety and comfort of my own home. I’ll leave the real crime-solving to the professionals.
2. Anastasia has two teenage sons. Although I once had two teenage sons, my own sons are no longer teenagers. However, everything I know about teenage boys I learned from my own kids.
3. Anastasia shares her home with a corpulent Persian cat, an ill-tempered French bulldog, and a Shakespeare-quoting parrot. If I had her menagerie living with me, I’d be long dead from an allergic reaction. I don’t even have goldfish.
4. Anastasia is a widow. My husband, thankfully, is very much alive, and I hope he stays that way for decades to come.
5. Anastasia’s husband gambled away all their savings and left her in extreme debt when he died. My husband doesn’t even buy lottery tickets—which is why we haven’t won the lottery and probably never will because I don’t buy lottery tickets, either.
6. Anastasia has an apartment above her garage that she’s able to rent out for extra income. All I have above my garage are air rights, but although air rights go for millions in Manhattan, no one seems interested in purchasing my suburban air rights.
7. Anastasia is stuck with her nasty communist mother-in-law as a permanent resident. After six years of living with my nasty communist mother-in-law, I gave my husband an ultimatum—either she goes or I go. Anastasia is far more saintly than I am.
8. Anastasia has a forty-minute commute to and from work in bumper-to-bumper traffic every day. My commute is much shorter—a flight of stairs from my bedroom down to my office.
9. Anastasia has a boyfriend who looks like his genes swam around in the same pool as those of Pierce Brosnan, George Clooney, and Antonio Banderas. My husband…not exactly cover model material. But I think he’s cute.
10. Anastasia doesn’t age in real time. Since first appearing in Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun in January 2011, she’s aged less than a year. I, unfortunately, am now four-and-a-half years older, and we won’t discuss how many pounds heavier.
Blurb
The adventures of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack continue in A Stitch to Die For, the 5th book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Lois Winston.
Ever since her husband died and left her in debt equal to the gross national product of Uzbekistan, magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack has stumbled across one dead body after another—but always in work-related settings. When a killer targets the elderly nasty neighbor who lives across the street from her, murder strikes too close to home. Couple that with a series of unsettling events days before Halloween, and Anastasia begins to wonder if someone is sending her a deadly message.
(Other books in the series include Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, Death by Killer Mop Doll, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, and three mini-mysteries: Crewel Intentions, Mosaic Mayhem, and Patchwork Peril.)
Bio
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Visit Lois/Emma at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Tsu at http://www.tsu.co/loiswinston, on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/anasleuth, and onTwitter @anasleuth. Sign up for her newsletter at https://www.MyAuthorBiz.com/ENewsletter.php?acct=LW2467152513
I’m thrilled to welcome Soul Mate author Julie Doherty to the Power of 10 series.
Here’s Julie!
1. IT IS A CRAFT THAT MUST BE LEARNED AND PRACTICED
Confession time: I am not, and never have been, an insatiable reader. As a child, I loved Ingalls-Wilder’s LITTLE HOUSE series, and in my teens, I discovered the Brontës and Jane Austen. Our family had little money, though, to spend on books, and I rarely thought about using the school library for fun reading. The library was only a place to study, copy stuff verbatim out of encyclopedias, and ogle the smart boys.
I’ve been a storyteller my whole life, though, so when someone suggested I write a book, I thought, Why not? How hard can it be?
Um, it’s pretty hard, and it might surprise you (like it surprised me) to learn that you don’t just sit down and fluidly pen a story. There’s a craft to it, something a practiced reader knows intuitively from the many hours spent with a book in her hands.
My first completed novel was a disaster, but that didn’t stop me from querying every agent and publisher in Jeff Herman’s “Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents.” Amid the rejections stuffed daily into my mailbox was the response of one agent who’d written notes in the margins of my submission. “Head hopping . . . Whose POV are we in?”
WHAT? I knew then there was more to writing a novel than merely telling a story. I began anew, picked up every how-to book I could get my hands on, and—TA DA!—I started reading. I’m glad I did. Every book, good and terrible, teaches me something.
2. WRITING TAKES A LOT OF TIME
Pick up any book and look at the page. See those words? Yeah, those made it into the final product. For every one of them, there were buckets of others that didn’t. Still, someone wrote all of them, and that took time, the one thing most writers lack.
If you want to write books, you have to carve time out of your day to do it. If you have a day job or a family, this can be problematic. You might need to sacrifice sleep, lunch hours, even picnics, family reunions, your favorite television shows, and . . . clean pants. Eventually, your loved ones will complain, and you’ll need to figure out how to balance your real life with your dream. When you do, email me your secret. My husband is starting to complain about the scant fare at our establishment.
3. YOU WILL FACE REJECTION
Repeatedly. So much, in fact, that you will begin to think you should throw your laptop off a cliff (with you still holding it) and give up writing forever. Don’t. They are a necessary part of your journey, because they force you to reevaluate. Should you be lucky enough to receive a rejection that offers more than “Sorry, not for us,” see it as the gold it is. Even though it’s a rejection, the agent or editor who sent it saw something in your writing that made her want to personalize her response and maybe even give you some direction. That’s a foot in the door. Wedge your size 8.5 stiletto in there and pry that baby open. Use every bit of hope as fuel, make adjustments, and one day, you’ll have a contract.
4. A CRITIQUE PARTNER IS AS NECESSARY AS BREATHING
It can be hard to show your work to someone, and even harder to have it returned with red marks all over it. But a good, honest critique partner is something you can’t live without. You need that second set of eyes. A regular critique partner will know you and your work so well she’ll even tell you when you’re straying from your voice.
You will need to review your buddy’s work, as well. A lot of us struggle with this, because we don’t like to hurt feelings, or we think we aren’t good enough to offer anyone advice. You have to get over this quickly. Comments on another’s work aren’t a personal attack, and you can word them nicely. “While this is a great sentence, I think it might read better without so many adjectives.” You may find that critiquing another’s work is one of the best ways of learning what works, and what doesn’t.
5. UNLESS YOU WRITE A BREAKOUT NOVEL, THERE WILL BE NO LONG LINES OF READERS WAITING TO SEE YOU AT THE BOOKSTORE
This should be your ultimate dream, but the odds of it happening on your first try are pretty slim. You will have book signings, but they’ll be sparsely attended, and mostly by your family. They are wonderful just the same.
6. MOST OF THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU WILL SEE YOUR WRITING AS A HOBBY
Until my first contract, just about everyone I know saw my writing as a hobby. This can be a downer and make it hard to stay focused. It also means fighting for your writing time, since those around you will ignore the boundaries you try to set. You need to believe, though, because if you don’t believe, who will?
7. WHEN YOUR NOVEL DEBUTS, YOU’LL THINK YOU’VE MADE IT
And you have! Sort of. But because you’re freshly published, you won’t understand that now the real work begins!
8. YOU’LL SPEND AS MUCH TIME MARKETING AS YOU DO WRITING
Unless you land a contract with one of the biggies, you can expect to market your own books. Small presses do what they can, but it’s not much. Your release will debut and sales will be pretty good, because everybody who loves you will support you with a sale. You’ll relax and start calculating how many books you will sell in a year based upon the current rate, and it will be exciting! You’ll allow yourself to think about that old dream again, the one with the huge line waiting to see you at bookstores. Unfortunately, around the three-month mark, if you’ve done no marketing, your book will start slipping in rank, and several months later, you’ll realize you need to get the paddles out and yell, “Clear!” to find your book’s heartbeat again.
I’m at this point now with my debut novel. I’ve done two blog tours, advertised online, sent press releases off to local papers, visited my local library, dropped off cards just about everywhere I can think of, purchased a Google Adwords campaign, Tweeted, Facebooked, blogged . . . it wears a writer down. But by your second book, you’ll have figured out what works (and what doesn’t), so you’ll be smarter and less burdened next time.
9. YOU WILL GET BAD REVIEWS
I was not prepared for how deeply my first bad review would affect me. No joke, it sent me to therapy and nearly ended my marriage. It wasn’t so much the content of the review, which was quite positive in parts. It was the way in which it was delivered, and it was, after all, my first.
The thing about a book (even yours) is that not everyone will love it. If you don’t believe me, look up your all-time favorite book on Goodreads or Amazon and check out the 1-star reviews. Those people hated the book you love.
When you get your first bad review, you will want to defend yourself and your work. Don’t. And don’t let Aunt Freda defend you, either. This will be hard, because it will seem like some of the reviewers either didn’t read—or skimmed—your book.
Remember why you write. Is it for praise? No, it’s because you love telling stories. So, tell them. If praise comes as a result, smile and strut around for a while. If not, consider whether there’s anything valuable in the critical reviews and then get back to your work-in-progress.
10. YOU WILL STRUGGLE
If you’ve read 1-9 above, then it should be clear that the road to publication is a bouncy one. You’ll tire of working non-stop for little return. You’ll miss your family, clean clothes, a tidy house, and cupboards that are filled with food, not research papers and writing books. You’ll look at the money and time you spend on your dream and wonder if it’s really worth it. Someone will post a bad review and you’ll throw your stack of unread “Romance Writers Reports” against the dining room wall. That’s it! You’re quitting! You’ll storm out of the house and go for a walk and a good, long cry. Halfway around the park, you’ll notice young parents sitting on bleachers watching Little League practice. The guy on the top row isn’t watching his son. He’s watching the single mom three rows down. And your mind begins to wonder . . . will he ever get the nerve to ask her out?
And then you know. You’re infected. Diagnosis: terminal writer.
Blurb
In twelfth century Scotland, it took a half-Gael with a Viking name to restore the clans to their rightful lands. Once an exile, Somerled the Mighty now dominates the west. He’s making alliances, expanding his territory, and proposing marriage to the Manx princess.
It’s a bad time to fall for Breagha, a torc-wearing slave with a supernatural sense of smell.
Somerled resists the intense attraction to a woman who offers no political gain, and he won’t have a mistress making demands on him while he’s negotiating a marriage his people need. Besides, Breagha belongs to a rival king, one whose fresh alliance Somerled can’t afford to lose.
t’s when Breagha vanishes that Somerled realizes just how much he needs her. He abandons his marriage plans to search for her, unprepared for the evil lurking in the shadowy recesses of Ireland—a lustful demon who will stop at nothing to keep Breagha for himself.
Trailer
Bio
Julie is a member of Romance Writers of America and Central PA Romance Writers. When not writing, she enjoys antiquing, shooting longbow, traveling, and cooking over an open fire at her cabin. She lives in Pennsylvania with her Irish husband, who sounds a lot like her characters.
Today, we have actress and author Charmaine Gordon sharing an inspiring journey that has spanned six decades.
Here’s Charmaine!
Picture this, dear readers. Dinosaurs roamed the earth. I was the good daughter, the good wife, the good mother of way too many kids. My high school sweetheart and I married into Air Force Pilot bliss during the Korean War. From sheltered Chicago city life, I moved into a different world where flags flew, salutes all the time and husbands were on TDY-temporary duty-all the time so I became strong at twenty, no longer protected. The joke was when the men flew home with much fanfare, bands playing and all, they said to each other, “What’s the second thing you’ll do when you get home?” The answer was always, “Take off my parachute.” Nine months later many babies were born. Oh, what a time.
We became civilians, moved from one state to another and settled in NY. When my youngest, finally a girl, turned sixteen, an actress friend told me to head to the city. She’d seen me in community plays and said I was way ready to perform big time. I didn’t even know how to get to NYC. Sweet hubs drew a map and I got there. Soon I became a small fish in a big pond in middle age. Movies, daytime drama, and stage kept this homemaker busy with time to cook, help with our business, and still take care of the six kids. Until my voice was stricken with spasmodic dysphonia toward the end of a play Off-Broadway and I realized my Sweet Time was over. No more Working Girl, the movie singing happy Birthday to Melanie Griffith and sharing a hot dog with Harrison Ford. No more lunch with Anthony Hopkins during another movie and so much more.
Creative juices still flowed. In my seventies at this point, what to do? Without training, I had the nerve to write a book. Vanilla Heart Publishing asked for a few chapters of To Be Continued and an author was born.
You need courage to keep moving on, my friends. Don’t let anything get in your way. Believe in yourself and keep going. Wake up each day and greet yourself with a smile. I’m 84 and loving it. Married again after my first love suddenly passed on, we take care of each other. I wish you all the best. Remember “it isn’t over ‘til it’s over.”
Who knows what Act Three will bring but I’m ready.
Here’s a quote from a review for No Time for Green Bananas, a long short story in one of my mature romance/suspense series:
From LAS Reviewer
Delightful, heartwarming and unexpected, No Time for Green Bananas delivers an older main character still yearning for adventure – and still with something to learn about life and friendship.
Celeste Hamlin’s suffered a loss but she’s tough. She sets off to re-traverse an old and wonderful adventure; alone this time, not entirely strong enough, but determined. Unexpected help crops up along the way, but she can’t let herself rely on others, can’t waste time on friendship, can’t imagine forward to much future.
Paul is patient and endearing but she isn’t looking for any future relationship here; in fact, she seems to be determined to live in the past. Yet, Paul is hard to ignore:
“A lone guitarist played acoustic guitar over in a corner. Jazz renditions of old songs. Beautiful and so interesting on that kind of instrument. Softly he sang, “It seems we’ve stood and talked like this before…”
Readers will fall for Paul and so hope that Celeste will stop telling herself things like “Absurd you foolish old woman” and allow herself a chance.
Kudos to the publisher here. The author definitely stepped outside the box on the character and storyline. No Time For Green Bananas is a real gem of a short story that will delight romance fans and especially more mature readers.”
Thank you, Joanne, for this wonderful opportunity to meet you and your following.
I’m thrilled to welcome Soul Mate author Tina Susedik to the Power of 10 series. Today, Tina chats about her favorite authors and books.
Here’s Tina!
Like most people who love reading, I have my favorites, although picking ten among the many was difficult. Once I find an author I like, I’ll get copies of every book they’ve written and read all of them until I’m done. This works out fine if the author no longer writes, but there are several that I’m way behind on. They keep writing, and I keep finding new authors to read. I’ve kept many of these authors’ books on my Keeper Shelves, but recently have had to thin them out, as I’m running out of room. And even though I love their books, I know I won’t re-read them because there are so many new authors to read.
Two of my all-time favorite and the first romance authors I read are Kathleen Woodiwiss and LaVyrle Spencer. Their books are ones I’ll never let go and have re-read many, many times. I’ve lent them to friends and fret the whole time that I’ll never get them back.
The first romance I ever read was “The Flame and the Flower” by Kathleen Woodiwiss. It was 1975 and I was pregnant with my first child. Out of the blue, my brother called me and told me I needed to read this book, that I would love it. As I was no longer working, I bought the book for an incredible price of $1.50, and stayed up all night reading it. My husband was out of town, so there was no one to interrupt. The next day I called my brother and asked him why on earth he was reading a romance. He said: “I was in the bathroom longer than I intended and the only thing to read was Peggy’s (his wife) book that had been on the floor. I couldn’t put the darn thing down.” I loved the mix of romance, mystery, and history. Out of his five sisters, I’m not sure why he chose me to tell to read Ms. Woodiwiss, but I’m glad he did. It started my love of reading romance.
I’m not sure how I found LaVyrle Spencer, but I first read her books in 1988. There is something about her writing that is real. Her characters are ones I’d love to meet and become friends with. My favorite is Bitter Sweet, mainly because it’s set in northeastern Wisconsin. On a visit to Door County, I dragged my husband to the various places used in the book. He’s was great about listening to me rant: “Wow, this is the store where her father worked,” or “Here’s where her house is set.” This is one book I will suddenly find I have to read and read right now.
Jude Deveraux is another author whose books I love. I met her at the Romantic Times Convention three years ago. I was so excited, I’m afraid I acted like a crazed fan. I even told her that her books were on my keeper shelf. My favorite is “A Knight in Shining Armor.” There’s something about a hunky knight traveling into the future and falling in love with you.
Two authors that have been on my keeper shelves are Luanne Rice and Emilie Richards. Like LaVyrle Spencer her characters are real. They both write about families and the problems they can have. I couldn’t say which ones of theirs are my favorites, and even though I read most of their books, I know I need to catch up with both of them.
Of course on my list is Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series. My husband even reads them. I love a book where the characters make me laugh out loud. Right now I’m four books behind.
I enjoy reading mysteries, and two of my favorite authors are Ngaio Marsh and Lilian Jackson Braun. Marsh’s books are similar to Agatha Christie (whom I also like to read). Lilian Jackson Braun writes “The Cat Who. . .” mysteries. I love the character Jim Qwilleran, a down and out reporter who comes into a fortune. I devoured her books, one after the other. His two cats, Koko and Yum-Yum have a knack for helping him solve the mysteries. She wrote nearly until her death in 2011 at the age of 97, leaving her last book unfinished. Unfortunately, whoever finished the book made readers irate, including myself.
Carl Hiaasen is another author my husband and I enjoy. His humor and the way he twists plots keeps the reader on his toes. As an author myself, I often wonder how he comes up with the twists and turns and the crazy characters.
An author I recently found and enjoy is Tess Gerritsen. I hadn’t read any of her books until I registered for a Barbara Vey Reader’s Appreciation Luncheon where Ms. Gerritsen was the key-note speaker. I figured I should read at least one of her books, so I was familiar with what she wrote. One book turned to two, then three, then . . . I met her at the luncheon and had my picture taken with her. A very, very nice lady.
I know this is #11, but I can’t forget Nora Roberts. I’d been collecting her books for years. Read a few, but just kept collecting. At one point I had 157. In 2013 I decided my goal would be to read as many of her books as I could. I needed the shelf space. I read 91 of her books that year. I thought I was making progress, then my dear sweet husband, probably seeing how I was constantly reading her, gave me some Nora Roberts books for Christmas.
As time goes on, I’m sure I’ll add other authors to my favorite author list. I know I’ve read many new authors who could be added.
Bio
Tina Susedik can’t remember a time when she didn’t have stories floating around in her head. The last thing she thought she would ever do was write a book, let alone a history one. Six history books later, she was finally able to pursue her dream of being published in romance. Success came with “Riding for Love,” a romantic mystery. She plans on having many more books completed soon. In her spare time, Tina loves to read, hike, camp, bike, garden, take photographs and spend time with her five grandchildren.
Blurb
Eve Dayton, owner of a riding ranch, rose above her childhood past and overcame the emotional damage her boyfriend caused when he married another woman. When someone starts sabotaging her ranch, Eve is desperate to find the culprit before she loses everything. Is it a coincidence or is the return of Denton Johanson tied to the mystery?
Divorced Denton Johanson returns to his hometown to help convict the embezzling controller of the family business. When he runs into Eve, he realizes his feelings for her are still strong enough to try and win her back. His fear of horses won’t get in the way of his goal and decides the only way to be near her is to take riding lessons from her. Can he convince her that his love is real and he is not behind the mystery surrounding the ranch?
Eve Dayton’s former boyfriend returns to town just as problems start arising at her horse riding ranch. Can she believe his declaration to be part of her life again? Will she overcome the suspicion that he is part of the problem and accept his help in catching the culprits? Find out how Denton Johanson triumphs over his fears to win back her love.
“It was my life-long dream to become a private eye. Little did I know that with my very first case, that dream would become a life-threatening nightmare…”
“It all started with a favor…”
Rachel Sharpe is the author of Cold Ambition and Lost Distinction, the first novels in the Jordan James, PI series. Although born and raised in the South, “Yankee” relatives first led Rachel to historic New England, which she has come to consider her second home and is the setting for the series.
Joanne Guidoccio 