Tag Archives: new release

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ The Golden Goose

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Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. I’m doing a happy dance because Shameless In Seattle was released into the world last week and things seem to be going well. I truly suck at the promotional side of things, so I really appreciate this safe little corner of the world where I can share my stories and get the word out to a friendly and supportive group.

I’m continuing to share from Chapter Two, in which Aaron attempts to pressure the editor of the Shameless series to either reveal the identity of the author, get her to stop using him as her model for Eric Slater–the heroic tough guy protagonist–or drop the series altogether.

***

“I won’t have you bullying my authors, Mr. Schafer,” Desiree said, vice principal personality flaring to full power. She ruined the effect by sipping her coffee and leaving a mustache of tan foam across her upper lip. “Resemblances between you and the fictional character Eric Slater are superficial at best. Plus, there’s nothing detrimental about the representation. If a few people think you’re the inspiration for Eric, it certainly doesn’t harm your reputation in any way.”

“It might harm my ability to get dates with men.”

Desiree raised her eyebrows then lowered them. “I seriously doubt if you’ve ever or will ever have problems finding willing lovers of either sex.”

“She’s making me a laughing stock.”

“No one’s laughing at you. The only way that would happen is if you made a public spectacle in court. Of course, if you’re looking for publicity, that would be an excellent way to get it.” She looked intrigued now, no doubt envisioning a heap of free press for Shameless in Seattle. She was right. No way would Aaron sue and dredge up the ridicule and attention he feared.

“So you won’t tell her to cease and desist?”

“Ever heard of the golden goose? Shameless is one of our bestsellers. If you try to frighten her, I may have to discuss the matter with a few of the many columnists I know. This would certainly make for entertaining local color.”

“Now you’re threatening me?”

“I guess so.” She giggled again. “It’s sort of thrilling. I feel so New York. C’mon, Eric. I mean, Aaron. Roll with it. Enjoy it.”

***

Cover by Robin Ludwig Designs

Shameless in Seattle is now available! Click here to view on Amazon.

Aaron Schafer, star reporter for the Seattle Times, is shocked to find out he’s the inspiration for a series of bodice-ripper romances written by a reclusive author no one has met.  He’s even more surprised, and disturbed, on discovering intimate secrets from his past buried in the pages ofShameless in Seattle. Who is this mystery author, who has clearly been stalking him and stealing details from his life? Are they dangerous? And worse, will they reveal Aaron’s darkest secret to the world? Aaron decides to stalk the stalker, a decision that might change both of their lives.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ A Touch Unstable

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Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. Don’t forget to click the link to check out all the other great authors participating in the blog hop.

Great news! I made my goal with two days to spare. Shameless In Seattle is now available! You don’t have to wait week after to week to find out how Aaron deals with his maybe-crazy stalker!

I’m going to continue sharing from Shameless for a few more weeks. In this week’s excerpt, Aaron is trying to glean information and help from Olympia Konstanin’s editor.

***

Aaron decided to change the subject. “How well do you know Olympia? Is she unstable?”

A little spurt of a giggle escaped Desiree’s lips. “All writers are a touch unstable. We spend a lot of time conversing with the voices in our heads.”

“You know what I mean. Should I get a restraining order?”

“Oh my, no. As far as I can tell, Olympia barely ever leaves her home. I can’t fathom how she’s unearthed any intimate secrets of yours. It must be coincidental.”

“It’s not,” Aaron said grimly. “Can you talk to her? Tell her I’m on to her and I don’t like it? Tell her to use her imagination instead of spying on me?”

Desiree sipped her coffee and looked thoughtful.

“I’ve only ever emailed with her. She doesn’t even come to the big annual party and you know how writers love free booze. She’s a joy to work with, compliant as a kitten except when it comes to her characters. When I suggested a few changes to Eric she rejected my comments with some very curt comments of her own.”

“What kind of changes?”

“Well, some of Eric’s habits struck me as a little gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but our readers are looking for men who are all man, if you know what I mean. Burly macho straight guys don’t usually take their dog to the groomer once a month or order special shoes from Italy. But it seemed to work, I have to admit. Made Eric appear a little more sensitive and vulnerable, I guess. Readers love the dog.”

Aaron tucked his feet, clad in four hundred dollar Emilio Rinaldi walking shoes, beneath his chair and leaned back.

“I want to speak with her.”

***

Cover by Robin Ludwig Designs

Shameless In Seattle is now available! Click here to view on Amazon.

Aaron Schafer, star reporter for the Seattle Times, is shocked to find out he’s the inspiration for a series of bodice-ripper romances written by a reclusive author no one has met.  He’s even more surprised, and disturbed, on discovering intimate secrets from his past buried in the pages ofShameless in Seattle. Who is this mystery author, who has clearly been stalking him and stealing details from his life? Are they dangerous? And worse, will they reveal Aaron’s darkest secret to the world? Aaron decides to stalk the stalker, a decision that might change both of their lives.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Crashing

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Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in ten sentences or fewer.

Last week, Jacqui found out something terrible about cat shifters. They don’t tolerate crossbreeds, and put them down at birth. Jacqui is half caracal, half domestic, so here he is, dealing with the fallout of that information:

***

Like a crashing line of dominoes, several monumental thoughts hit him—one by one.

One—his mother had abandoned him for good reason. He was a reject. He should have been put down. She’d left him with regular humans to save his life, and maybe hers. So risky a choice, and yet so necessary. He’d always believed she cared about him, wanted him to survive, because her last words to him, seared deep into the marrow of his subconscious, were, “Never let them see you shift.” Now he could see why, if she really had cared about him, she would’ve dumped him on the stoop of a church.

But then, Domino Number Two hit; a thought that had never occurred to him. His tribe didn’t want him.

That’s ten, but I’ve finished out the rest of Jacqui’s thoughts below:

Or more accurately, he didn’t have a tribe. He’d always imagined that when he found his people, they would welcome him back with loving arms, rejoice in his homecoming as if he were a lost prince, or at least a lost brother, or second cousin.

But there would be no welcome. No homecoming. They hated him. Wanted him dead.

Domino Number Three—there were a lot of cat people out there somewhere, and they weren’t nice.

***

***

Wild: Jacqui the Cat Mysteries #4 ~ Available Now!

Cat Shifter Jacqui Corleone has finally met his fated mate, but unlike in a romance novel, reality has other plans. For one thing, Wyatt doesn’t know Jacqui is a shifter. For another thing, the dog men are back, and along with their slobber and their bad breath they bring a new level of danger to Jacqui’s life, and to Wyatt’s. When Jacqui meets other cat shifters for the first time, he’s tantalized by a glimpse into their strange new world, but cats aren’t much nicer than dogs, and soon Jacqui must decide if he’s going to run again, or stand and fight against an enemy more powerful than he ever imagined.

Click Here to buy on Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Welcome Home, Jacqui

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Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in excerpts of ten sentences or fewer.

First, I have to take a moment to complain. Why oh why do software and tech companies have to constantly meddle and mix things up? WordPress just changed it’s whole post editing look, and I haaaaaaate it. I don’t know where anything is. When it comes to programs like this, I hate change, especially because I know as soon as I get used to it, they’ll change it again. Grumble grumble grumble.

Speaking of change, Jacqui is facing a big one. As a cat shifter, he’s been alone his entire life, abandoned as a toddler to live with regular humans, always hiding his true nature, always the odd cat out. All of that is about to change. You can read last week’s snippet here. I’ve jumped ahead a bit.

***

Jacqui’s head hurt and his heart thumped against his ribs. 

We’re not alone anymore.

He’d always imagined that this moment, this first meeting with his kind, would be all purrs and love nips and pats on the back. Sleekly attractive men and women in exquisite clothing would all say, “Welcome home, Jacqui.”

Instead it was snarly and weird and—

He forced himself to put the scissors down and think.

Mustn’t let him see our ignorance. Find out as much as we can. Don’t trust him just because he’s a cat.

“Are you alone?” Jacqui asked.

***

Snarly and weird…and adorable!
  • And an update. This post was late going up because there’s a new, last step before publication to confirm everything’s okay that I wasn’t aware of. Aaaaargh!

***

I’m doing the book tour thing, featuring the entire Jacqui the Cat Mysteries line up. You can click here to read up on all the books and enter a giveaway for an Amazon gift card!

Wild: Jacqui the Cat Mysteries #4 ~ Available Now!

Cat Shifter Jacqui Corleone has finally met his fated mate, but unlike in a romance novel, reality has other plans. For one thing, Wyatt doesn’t know Jacqui is a shifter. For another thing, the dog men are back, and along with their slobber and their bad breath they bring a new level of danger to Jacqui’s life, and to Wyatt’s. When Jacqui meets other cat shifters for the first time, he’s tantalized by a glimpse into their strange new world, but cats aren’t much nicer than dogs, and soon Jacqui must decide if he’s going to run again, or stand and fight against an enemy more powerful than he ever imagined.

Click Here to buy on Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ Here, Kitty, Kitty

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Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in excerpts of ten sentences or fewer. I’m extra glad to be here this week because a few days ago, I thought I might have to evacuate due to a wildfire about ten miles from where I live here in Oregon. Although it was unlikely to come to that, I made of list of what to grab first: Six cats, water, wine, passport, backup drive of everything I’ve ever written, change of underwear and socks. Yup, those are my priorities and I’m sticking to it.

On to the snippet! I’m sharing from my new release, Wild: Jacqui the Cat Mysteries #4. Last week, Jacqui discovered the suspicious cat he’d encountered earlier that morning had sneaked into his apartment.

***

Jacqui’s territory, his inner sanctum, violated by a mangy stray.

What did I tell you about establishing a defensive perimeter?

Dogs can’t climb trees. How was I to know I’d have to worry about cats?

He padded silently to his worktable in the middle of the room and turned a slow circle. He didn’t see any damage, or the cat. Gone already? But, no, the smell was too intense, even for a stinky tom.

“Here, Kitty, Kitty”, he said without much enthusiasm, “where are you hiding?”

A rustling came from the bathroom and before Jacqui’s disbelieving eyes, the doorknob began to turn.

***

I’m doing the book tour thing, featuring the entire Jacqui the Cat Mysteries line up. You can click here to read up on all the books and enter a giveaway for an Amazon gift card!

Wild: Jacqui the Cat Mysteries #4 ~ Available Now!

Cat Shifter Jacqui Corleone has finally met his fated mate, but unlike in a romance novel, reality has other plans. For one thing, Wyatt doesn’t know Jacqui is a shifter. For another thing, the dog men are back, and along with their slobber and their bad breath they bring a new level of danger to Jacqui’s life, and to Wyatt’s. When Jacqui meets other cat shifters for the first time, he’s tantalized by a glimpse into their strange new world, but cats aren’t much nicer than dogs, and soon Jacqui must choose if he’s going to run again, or stand and fight against an enemy more powerful than he ever imagined.

Click Here to buy on Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ A Threat

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Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in ten sentences or fewer.

I’m sharing from Wild: Jacqui the Cat Mysteries #4, to be released August 27th! I’ve jumped ahead to Chapter 2. After his encounter with the strange stray, Jacqui allowed himself to accidentally on purpose fall asleep as Cat in Wyatt’s laundry basket. Wyatt’s relationship with Jacqui in his cat form is rather fraught. You can probably guess by the fact that Wyatt calls him Satan. A few people have told me Wyatt seems a little mean, but you have to remember, Jacqui is half-Caracal, so he’s big, as well as being a typical stray cat with attitude to spare.

***

A click woke him up. Bright lights flooded his hidey-hole. Jacqui lifted his head from beneath a towel, ears spiked and on full rotation.

“Holy fucking—?” Wyatt said. He stood in the doorway, hand still on the light switch, looking rumpled in baggy pajama pants, brown hair sideways, delicious chest exposed, adorable.

But also over six feet tall, looming, angry, a threat.

Jacqui sprang out of the basket and jumped to the top of the dryer. His claws skittered on the slick surface and he nearly slid off the far edge.

“Satan! Where the hell did you come from?” Wyatt demanded.

That’s ten. Here’s a few more to “complete” the thought.

Jacqui did not reply. He shot out of the gap in the window and landed in the shrub with paws desperately grasping for purchase. He half-fell, half-climbed to the ground and took off in a shot.

“And stay out!” Wyatt shouted after him, and slammed the window shut.

***

***

Wild: Jacqui the Cat Mysteries #4 ~ Available for pre-order Now! Release date August 27th.

Cat Shifter Jacqui Corleone has finally met his fated mate, but unlike in a romance novel, reality has other plans. For one thing, Wyatt doesn’t know Jacqui is a shifter. For another thing, the dog men are back, and along with their slobber and their bad breath they bring a new level of danger to Jacqui’s life, and to Wyatt’s. When Jacqui meets other cat shifters for the first time, he’s tantalized by a glimpse into their strange new world, but cats aren’t much nicer than dogs, and soon Jacqui must choose if he’s going to run again, or stand and fight against an enemy more powerful than he ever imagined.

Clicker Here to pre-order on Amazon.