Drop Another Daffodil

Daffodils are here. These are in the front of the house. More are starting to come in out back.

Manuscript is off to first readers. Right now I’m estimating I can have it out mid-May. I’ll post the cover and blurb at the beginning of next month.

Almost But Not Quite

I was hoping to have a real flower photo by today but not quite.

I have abandoned my loved ones and all my responsibilities to get Book 4 finished. It’s supposed to go to beta readers one week from today and as usual, I’m close but not as far along as I’d hoped.

Updates on both next week.

NCAA Gymnastics

Yesterday I went to my second ever NCAA gymnastics meet at Oregon State. My husband is a prince about going down to Corvallis with me. He’s watched enough that he gets the basics. My favorite teams are generally the ones I can see with my cable package. It used to be limited.

In the past couple of years I went from being able to get 1 or maybe 2 meets a weekend to more like 4-5 meets a weekend which is more gymnastics than I can handle. I love all the Pac-12 and SEC teams since I see them the most.

But UCLA is among my very favorite teams so I was just like all the other kids at the meet, completely enraptured with every moment. There is so much fun stuff in person that you don’t get to see on TV.

Both teams were amazing. It was a super fun day. Back to work on Book 4. I think I’m still on track for my Spring 2019 release.

Heartbeat Braves FREE January 26-27, 2019

Next weekend Heartbeat Braves is going to be free!

If you or a loved one need a book about sexy urban Indians, your problems are solved.

This is Book One of Four.

When I started, I intended to write four stand-alone romances with a minor background story connecting them. That got away from me. There are unresolved story elements in this book.

Book Four will be out in late spring and wrap up all open storylines.

Here’s the blurb:

There’s never a dull moment at the Crooked Rock Urban Indian Center.

Rayanne Larson knows firsthand the struggles of native people. Working at Crooked Rock gives her the chance to do good work for Indians living in the city. She has high hopes for the Center’s progress until its new leader hands her special project over to his underachieving–and distractingly sexy–nephew.

Henry Grant’s life is going just fine. Though he knows rez life, he’s always been an urban Indian. He has no interest in the Indian Center job his uncle pushes on him. That is until he meets Rayanne. She’s attractive and smart, and like no woman he has ever met.

Rayanne is determined to keep her distance but when the Center faces a crisis, the two of them are forced to work together, and she can no longer ignore the sparks between them.

Here are the purchase links:

Kindle | Nook | Apple | Kobo

Happy New Year

I’ve had a stove top pressure cooker for over 20 years. I could clear the room any time I talked about it. Everyone would say: I wouldn’t want one of those in my house. Too dangerous.

I find it hilarious that Instant Pot has sold a million billion pressure cookers.

My stove top fell apart so we just bought an Instant Pot and my test run pot of steel cut oats was a big fat fail. I’m not completely clear what I did wrong. Maybe the top wasn’t seated exactly right or the seal thingy was goofy. I stopped it and fiddled around and then in a moment of wild optimism, kept the contents and started over. It worked as advertised but…

My first BURN.

How appropriate. I cleaned it all up and set it aside for next weekend when I have more time.

Work on Book #4 is proceeding. It seems like if I get too optimistic I get stuck so no optimism here but still aiming for a spring release.

I’m doing a big free promotion on Book #1 in a couple of weeks. Details to come.

All the best in the new year.

No News is Good News

Thanks for all the terrific support of Sweetheart Braves. I’m glad that people are finding the book. If you enjoyed any of the books and are inclined to leave reviews, I appreciate it. It helps me find new readers.

I’m about halfway through Crooked Heart Braves, Linda and Arnie’s story. I’m afraid to estimate when I can get it done because I don’t want to jinx myself. Before summer 2019 is the goal.

Last year I gave up my BookBub newsletter because I was buying about 5 books for every one I managed to read but I caved and resubscribed. Plus Tor has a book club and I have a bunch those. Not to mention buying actual books. Kira gave me A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas for my birthday and I read that in a week and ran out and bought the next two. But right this second I’m reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn because I liked the HBO series.

As soon as I finish Arnie and Linda I’m taking some time off for just reading. (Probably not true because I have some short stories sitting here that I would love to finish.)

Happy Thanksgiving

This beautiful bright orange pumpkin is going to be made into a pie for Thursday’s dessert.

If you missed it, Sweetheart Braves received a terrific review from Dear Author: Recommended Read.

I’m working like crazy on book 4. It’s a pretty rugged first draft but I’m hoping I can finish by the end of the year. Each one is different but generally its easier for me to fix it once I have a draft than it is to make it up out of nothing. I’ll keep you updated.

Another Rocktober

This beast is Oakie. He lives with my folks. He is not happy unless he is in my way and glares at me if I foil his plans.

I was fortunate to spend a long weekend down in Karuk Country in perfect weather with a huge family mob in town.

I brought home a ton of apples, pears, Asian pears, huckleberries, a couple of giant beets, and pet hair. Some of the pears were losing it so I just sliced them up and topped with butter, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon and baked and we’re eating right now. Normally I would have made that for dessert but I made an apple huckleberry pie last night so we already have dessert for tonight.

We will not be going hungry any time soon.

Guess what? STILL NO PAPERBACK. Amazon: you are killing me.

In case you haven’t heard me already complain a million times, they are merging the paperback making part of the operation with the ebooks and everyone has to migrate their books. Everything is slow and bungled up right now. Meanwhile, I discovered a teeny (hehe) editing error that causes a confusing continuity problem. I put off fixing it because I was afraid my book would go back to the end of the line. But I guess publishing it with a mistake isn’t so hot either so I’m mucking around and hoping it doesn’t compound the delays.

FINALLY! BOOK 3 is HERE.

Here’s the blurb:

Tommy Weaver wants to stay sober and that means steering clear of challenging situations, avoiding difficult people, and staying away from personal relationships. Unfortunately, he has a cousin unsuccessfully rehabbing in his spare room while Crooked Rock demands more than he can give, and in the midst of his growing troubles, the irresistible Elizabeth appears.

Elizabeth Lewis couldn’t wait to finish college and get back to the security of her home and family on the reservation. But when her granny, a well-known Indian activist, seeks to right a family wrong, Elizabeth finds herself back in the city and seeking assistance from Crooked Rock. She convinces Tommy to join her and as her mission grows more complicated, he never leaves her side.

Neither of them expected to fall this hard, so what happens when it’s time for Elizabeth to go back home?

Here are the links:

Kindle | Nook | Apple | Kobo | Paperback-TBD

Sorry, this isn’t a standalone. You’ll get more out of this if you read at least one of the other books first. I’d recommend reading them in order.

Paperback is still under formation. I’ll let you know the minute it’s available.

Closer Than Possible But …

Everything is done and uploaded but I can’t control the part that happens after that and I have no purchase URLs.

It’s been a long frustrating day.

I will try to get it up as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.