by Sarah | Jan 22, 2013 | Books, Changing Tracks, Publishing Credits, Writing
I’m so excited for this weeks Hump Day Hook – because it’s also my official Cover Art Reveal! I’ve been using a version of this for a few months now – but the finalized look is stunning! The design is mine, but the lovely Dawne Dominique worked with me and helped kick it up a notch to this stunning cover.
I don’t have my official release date yet, but I know that it will be out next month with Secret Cravings Publishing – that’s right, February!
Blurb is below the excerpt. It’s from one of my favorite scenes. It’s a little longer than a paragraph, so sorry…I usually try to keep it smaller, but this week is special.
Cole has been in trouble with Jane for 3 weeks. She has ignored him & all his attempts to get her to cave to his charms. All she wants is an apology for his behavior:
“Sorry.”
She grew still. It was an apology. Not a good apology, but she hadn’t really specified. Her hands rested on her hips, her resolve wavering.
“I said it. You happy?”
Frustration filtered into his tone. It had to be enough. Still, she waited. If he tried to walk away, she’d cave, she knew it.
He grumbled a curse under his breath and covered the distance between them in a heartbeat. Perspiration lit up across her skin. It was a hot day, but his presence made it scorching. His breath brushed her ear, “Sorry I laughed at the thought of you being a teacher. Even when ya told me to stop.”
Now that was good. Good enough. What now? She’d ignored him so long, how could she break it properly? Let him know exactly what she wanted?
“You ever gonna speak to me again?”
“Search me.” Perfect. The way his eyes lit up and he leaned closer, he got the double meaning.
*~*~*
There is nothing simple about forgetting your past.
Cole Mitchell runs the busiest saloon and brothel in Dominion Falls. He makes time with his women, makes a killing gambling, and exerts his power how he pleases. One thing he never does is let anyone in.
Until the day she falls into his saloon bleeding and near death. He saves her from the pine box, and finds he can’t walk away. The problem is, if he lets her get close he could relive his past – and he worked too hard to forget it.
She wakes with no memory, only the firm belief that someone wanted her dead. With no name she keeps ‘Jane Doe’ and tries to carve out a life. She finds herself drawn to Cole, and they start a fiery relationship that sets the whole town talking. Their pasts – her lack of, and his buried – keep them from admitting the depth of their feelings, but they find they only trust each other.
Through the chaos of renegade Indian raids, an abandoned husband and her recurring nightmares they fight to find the truth of what happened to her. She soon learns that sometimes the truth is the last thing you want to learn, and she starts to think it may be best to leave the past where it is.
That past isn’t that willing to let go. A stranger proves that he’s willing to kill to keep his secrets safe. If Jane doesn’t remember soon, everyone she loves will be in danger.
Changing Tracks is a 110k Historical Western Romance set in the Colorado Territory in 1871.
*~*~*
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HDH banner below:
by Sarah | Jan 15, 2013 | Books, Changing Tracks, Hump Day Hook, Writing
Time for another Hump Day hook! Edits on Changing Tracks are done. I have since written another short story and sold it, and am about to dive into an hours push of writing on Into a Mirror Darkly again.
Since I don’t quite have my cover art with the publisher logo back yet, I’ll refrain from another snippet from Changing Tracks until next week. If I don’t have it by then, I’ll use a random picture from my files. 🙂
So, just for kicks I’m going to post one of my favorite snips from Book 2 in the Dominion Falls series, Derailed. My main character, Jane…preparing for…well, you’ll see:
Simple. No petticoats, no corset. One well cut layer of fabric.
Plain. Rough black wool. No adornments, not even a visible button.
A dress of death. Her death.
Pale skin shone back at her in the mirror. Shaking hands pulling her tresses back into a simple bun. No hat, no coat. The bitter cold temperatures would mean little to her welfare. Illness wouldn’t claim you if you were already dead.
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HDH banner below:
by Sarah | Jan 8, 2013 | Books, Hump Day Hook, Morgana Chronicles, Writing
Time for another Hump Day hook! I spent the past week shoulder deep in massive edits for my February release – and my first instinct was to post an excerpt from my new additions to it…but then my publisher emailed me and they’re putting the publisher logo on my cover now…so I thought I’d wait until I get the finalized cover to post again…or until I come up with something else to use in its place.
So we’re back with the ever marvelous Into a Mirror Darkly. Now that the bulk of my editing week is behind me I’m anxious to get back to work on this one. Red always makes me happy.
But for this week, I thought I’d introduce Junior to you. That’s Ronald Stiltskin, Jr.:
Junior – he was far from careful. He stumbled out of the brush carrying a bow twice his size. The man barely came to Red’s belly button, with proportionate limbs but a large head. His face looked like it had been flattened in a great vice, his eyes and lips barely two fingers apart, scrunched up tiny above and below the long pointed nose.
Large ears that folded over and pointed out away from his head with a bit of fur at each tip bounced with each racing step. His large feet skidded to a halt when he spotted her at the gate. “Red! Let me in quick!”
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HDH banner below:
by Sarah | Jan 1, 2013 | Books, Hump Day Hook, Morgana Chronicles, Writing
Time for another Hump Day hook! I worked up a mock-up cover for Mirror Darkly this past week. I do have such fun with these. So, since I’d played with the cover, I thought I’d use it for HDH.
Of course, it helps that I started my 500K Challenge and so have been working on this one again!
And now, without further ado, an exchange between Rose Red, the bounty hunter & Wulfric, the great hunter:
“I’m sorry. Did you say you called Queen Melisandra, the vilest of Morgana’s queens, Mellie?”
“Should have seen her. I thought she was going to breath fire.” Green eyes twinkled to match his laughter as he tugged her stiff body closer to him. “Solange heard about it and came to get me out. That’s why I owe her.”
“Solange had to get you out?”
“Apparently I’m not charming.”
“And you’re no prince.” Red’s lips twitched in her efforts to hide the laughter bursting up from her belly. In a last ditch attempt she snatched the lower lip between her teeth and tried to keep her glare in check.
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HDH banner below:
by Sarah | Dec 31, 2012 | 500k, Books, Challenge, General, Writing, writing tips
A week ago my joy and confidence was bursting forth.
I said that after 2012, I was ready for 2013. I laughed in the face of danger (yup, quoting Lion King here, times are desperate). I told 2013 to “Bring It”.
I made the monumental and overwhelming decision to join the 500k in 2013 writing challenge.
In brief it doesn’t look so bad. 1370 words/day? Easy peasy.
500k? Holy cow what was I thinking?
Then a couple of days ago my confidence was squashed under a thumb and my muse got grumpy and I got grumpy and I pretended the challenge wasn’t real.
My confidence is still a little shaky, but I am determined to work through it. I have my new series to work on, and with 500k staring me in the face I could write 5 books in the series with that much playroom.
It’s a lofty goal that I’m certain I could accomplish if I got in “the zone”. After all about 3 years ago I wrote about 500k in 4 months time when I really got into my stories.
So off I go. Send caffeine, chocolate, and prayers for my sanity.
Because if the 500k doesn’t make me insane – my characters’ trauma drama will!!
by Sarah | Dec 25, 2012 | Books, Changing Tracks, Hump Day Hook, Writing
Time for another Hump Day hook. While I’m waiting for my editor at Secret Cravings Publishing to get back to me with my edits, I’m getting a little antsy now that the distraction of Christmas is over. Soon enough I’ll be wishing I could go back to the days of not pouring over edit notes and corrections.
Until then, I thought I’d give a glimpse into the future of The Dominion Falls Series. Book 3, called Dark Territory has a scene set soon after Christmas with my FMC, Jane, discussing Christmas presents with her bestie, Kat. I decided to use that to keep in the spirit of the season 😉
In the scene, Kat is admitting that she thought the man she (scandalously) lives with might ask her to marry him again after she turned him down the first time. She reveals she had expected an engagement ring as her Christmas present…and what she got was…
Keep in mind, this is ROUGH 1st draft, & I haven’t touched it in over a year…it’s waiting for rewrites…so be kind:
“He kept hinting that he had gotten me something special for Christmas. I wondered if he wasn’t going to risk asking again.” Kat fiddled with her napkin, biting her lip as her cheeks flamed as red as her hair.
“He didn’t…”
“It was a new bed warmer.”
Jane’s eyes grew wide and her lips quivered with barely contained laughter. “A….A…new bed…warmer?”
“Shhhh,” Marjorie pursed her lips. “It’s not that funny…”
“Of course not.”
“Jane…”
“A bed warmer?” Laughter burst from its seams and Jane covered her mouth to try to stem the volume.
“He wanted to make sure my feet were warm,”
Hump Day Hook asks authors to post one paragraph of one of their stories, whether a WIP, one contracted, or already published. Please visit and comment on the participants – you might just stumble on the next great read for your library! To see more participants, click on the HHH banner below:
I’m so excited for this weeks Hump Day Hook – because it’s also my official Cover Art Reveal! I’ve been using a version of this for a few months now – but the finalized look is stunning! The design is mine, but the lovely Dawne Dominique worked with me and helped kick it up a notch to this stunning cover.