December 2016

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Sunday, December 25, 2016

WeWriWa: Happy Holidays!


Happy Holidays to and from all my friends at
Weekend Writing Warriors!

Sunday, December 18, 2016

WeWri Wa: A Heartache Tonight . . .


With PRINCE OF HONOR available for consumption and PRINCE OF POWER in the hands of my Beta reader, you’d think I’d take a breather . . . and maybe finish my Christmas decorating. But no. The minute I close one book, scenes from the next start dancing like those annoying Sugar Plum Fairies. Sigh. I surrender to the muse and open a file for PRINCE OF FOOLS, Book 3 in my “House of Terriot” foursome.

If Turow is the silent, stalwart prince and Colin the rock of cynical pragmatism, Frederick “Rico” Terriot is the impulsive, reckless, wildcard who follows his emotions . . . which are unfortunately fixated on his brother Colin’s new mate, overlooking the tender-hearted Amber, his sensible bartender sounding board who is always there to pick up the pieces. Here’s a peek at one of my new scenes from PRINCE OF FOOLS:


Amber stepped inside, immediately turning on the welcoming glow of the kitchen overhead, illuminating an image that burned from widening eyes to the pit of her belly, and below. 


Frederick Terriot stood on her doorstep, hair plastered to his skull, raindrops hanging from his obscenely long lashes, the rain turning his white dress shirt all but transparent as it clung in graphic definition to his divinely sculpted torso. Her mouth went dry, probably from hanging open like a gawking teen-age girl, but another part of her came awake as if from a long winter slumber. 

Rico Terriot was the stuff of dreams . . . lately, all of hers. 

“I shouldn’t,” he began, wary now and worried about her, about taking advantage of a situation she’d been trying to push on him like a frontend loader since the first day she’d seen his lovelorn features on the other side of the bar. 

“Don’t be silly,” she coaxed with a smile. “You’re drenched and more than a little drunk, so come in to dry off and get some coffee for the road.” 

“Evie—” 

“I figured this would be a late night so she’s at the sitter until morning.” She didn’t confess she’d hoped it would be a night she didn’t spend alone, and because of the friendship she used to artfully disguise a rather desperate seduction, Rico shrugged and stepped in from the cold.


In the words of the Eagles, there’s gonna be a heartache tonight!


Hope you’re all geared up for the holidays and find an enthusiastic muse in your stockings!


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.


Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

WeWriWa: Money Can’t Buy Me Love



Back in the ‘90s, I had a year of great fortune, contracting 11 books (2 of them novellas), and writing 7 of them! Four of the books were for Zebra/Kensington under my pen name Dana Ransom, writing for their new “Lucky In Love” imprint, a clever premise of what happens to ordinary lives and loves when an unexpected windfall drops in. LOVE’S OWN REWARD was book three in their launch featuring a conservative researcher with a sorta boyfriend/colleague who rescues a boy from a burning car and is given a half million by the grateful grandparents. Let the good times roll, right? Not so much as Charley’s staid life is turned upside down by those wanting a piece of the money pie. Enter a jaded journalist who witnessed her bravery and sees a cynical story in her act of heroism. Today, I’m sharing a peek . . . (creatively edited)

It was the bravest damn thing he’d ever seen. She was only a little bit of a thing, so delicate she might have been confused with a girl as she’d dashed in front of his stopped car. While others watched, himself included, she’d scrambled into that compact, heedless of the danger, to bring out the little boy, and if that wasn’t enough, she’d gone back toward certain death to save the kid’s parents, which she couldn’t, of course—Jess had known that the moment he saw the fuel ignite, but it hadn’t stopped her from trying. She’d fought him like a madwoman when he’d pulled her away, barely seconds before she’d have been engulfed in the same fiery ball that consumed the car, fought with such an amazing strength in such a tiny package, that he’d been awed by her. Until this event had played out before his disbelieving eyes, he’d shunned stories of heroism, and then he’d felt the frantic beat of her big, big heart against his chest, felt the helpless trembling of her despair as he held her in his arms, and never had anything touched him so strongly, so powerfully, so tenderly as that moment, as that woman. 

Why had she taken the money? 

He saw so much ugliness, so much greed, he’d wanted to believe unselfish goodness was possible, to believe the tears he saw on her face were genuine, in her anguish over others instead of her own pain, and he’d wanted to hold on to the emotions that filled his soul with such possessiveness as he’d cradled her close and tried to give her comfort. In that brief slice of time she’d reached inside him and torn out his heart . . . and then broke it by proving all his illusions false. Charlene Carter wasn’t a saint willing to throw down her life to save another’s. When she’d been quick to snap up the fee for her bravery, in his jaded eyes that made Miss Carter a mercenary, not a Samaritan, and Jess hated her for it . . . because he’d wanted to believe.


Fortune follows the bold. Twenty years later, BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books purchased all four books for reissue, and LOVE’S OWN REWARD was back on the shelves, both in print and e-formats with an updated cover! I’m sharing that good fortune through Dec. 15 with a special price for LOVE’S OWN REWARD at only $1.99!! (MIDNIGHT ENCHANTMENT is also still available at $0.99!)



Charlene “Charley” Carter risked her life to rescue a child from a burning car. Suddenly, the quiet research assistant becomes a media darling—and a half-million dollars richer, thanks to the boy’s grateful grandparents. But big money brings big moochers and bigger betrayals. Charley retreats, wounded and suspicious about the motives of even those dearest to her.

He doesn’t trust that she’s for real . . .

Jess McMasters exposes frauds for a living, and if it means using his charms as well as his tough skills as a journalist, no problem. What’s Charlene Carter trying to gain by refusing to be interviewed by the press? Is she angling for more money—or is she hiding secrets that prove she’s nobody’s hero?

Jess goes undercover to get close to her, but the closer he gets, the less he understands. Except this: the cost for his deception could be his own heart.

Happy Holidays!



Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their Sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

IWSG: Still Alive In Five!


In five years, I’ll be retired. Wow. A lot of that depends on the fate of things outside of my control i.e. the government’s TLC of Social Security and Medicare. I’ll have money coming in to (supposedly) feed and house me and insurance (hopefully) to keep me up and running. And, the best, I’ll have all day to do what I love . . . write!

I had the luxury for 15 years of being a stay-at-home mom between age two and high school for my older son. I spent those years (besides doing Scouts, helping with homework and sundry school functions) actively building my writing career, publishing 40 books with Harlequin/Silhouette, Zebra, Avon and ImaJinn. Life was good. My writing life was great. I had no plan other than to write, sell and publish, which I accomplished in volume. Then, as it always does, the publishing market changed, I reentered the work force, still writing, still publishing another 20 books, some traditionally and a few self-pubbed, for the next 15 years. Now, in 5 more, I’ll have gone full circle, back to stay at home (finances willing!) with time to concentrate on career.

What will publishing be like in 5 years? Who knows the way it seems to change by the minute. But one thing I do know is I’ll still have stories to tell – hopefully to an audience. I’ve always thought of writing as my retirement plan, topping off my guaranteed income. To make that viable, I need to stay on top of the market, the tech and more importantly the audience to keep my work relevant and competitive. I’ve made it 30 years by adapting, learning, networking and just plain working. Heck, I’ve got enough back list to fill the next five with reissues! My plan – continue to love what I do. Period. That love has sustained me through the ups and downs of this crazy business and as long as it’s alive, I’ll be at the keyboard at 4:30 a.m. until I retire. Then I get to sleep in . . . probably until 6:30! Now that’s a retirement perk I’m looking forward to!!

Want to help fund that retirement plan? Here’s what’s currently on my shelves . . . a new release and two great bargains!

NEW: PRINCE OF HONOR, Book 1, “House of Terriot”



The hunter becomes the prey, a prisoner to his own desire . . .

Turow . . .

Strong, silent man of integrity content to serve his new king as a prince in the turbulent shape-shifter House of Terriot. A tracker and relentless hunter, he’s used to running trails alone until charged with returning a traitor to their mountain top home to face the unforgiving judgment of their clan. On the run with the bad girl he’s loved forever, the choice between duty and desire has never been more difficult . . . or deadly.

Could the bargain made to save their lives become reality?

Sylvia . . .

Manipulative schemer or victim caught between a mother’s ambition and a rogue prince’s lust for power? Trust is almost as foreign as the idea of love, but to save herself from certain death, she must risk both on the good man who deserves them . . . from someone worthy. Trapped by the only one who believes in her goodness, will she betray him and run for her life . . . or stay and destroy him with a long hidden truth?


Deadly, Damaged, and Delicious!
Brothers too H.o.T. to Handle!

ON SALE: MIDNIGHT ENCHANTMENT $0.99! LOVE’S OWN REWARD $1.99 (until 12-15)








Where will your writing be in 2021?

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!


Twitter hashtag is #IWSG 

IWSG awesome co-hosts for the December 7th posting will be Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford, Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!

Sunday, December 04, 2016

WeWriWa: A Deal with the Devil . . . and a Devil of a Deal!


As the holidays approach, I’m always on the hunt for a bargain and was thrilled when BelleBooks/ImaJinn announced that MIDNIGHT ENCHANTMENT was being discounted from Dec 1-15. Bargains aren’t always made with the best interests of others at heart, as our greedy solicitor discovers in this excerpt from the fourth book in my “Touched by Midnight” series when he tries to manipulate his “eccentric” client . . . Sink your teeth into this week’s 8-10 lines of (creatively edited) creepy goodness . . .


“Now, I may not be able to convince anyone that you are a . . . a vampire, sir, but, if I give this information to the newspapers, they will hound you unmercifully, and without access to your monies, you’ll have no means to flee the city.” 

Silence as the dark night creature pondered this, unperturbed, and that alarmed Percy, as did the words that followed. 

“And if I were to just tear out your throat before you could give that information to anyone?” 

The casual way he presented Percy’s death made the lawyer’s blood run icy because it was no idle threat when dealing with a dangerous being who’d survived centuries by preying upon human lives, and would snatch his soul without a moment’s remorse. But prepared for that, too, the solicitor told him, “The original papers are in a safe place with instructions to turn them over to the authorities should anything happen to me, and be assured, they might not believe what you are, sir, but they take murder very seriously.” 

A frustration of rage pulsed from Gerardo Pasquale in palpable waves. Suddenly, Percy knew an instant of true terror as the solidity of Pasquale’s figure seemed to flicker before his eyes, becoming so faint as to be transparent, edges shifting, transforming into something else, something horrible, alien and monstrous, but exactly what was not quite clear. Standing frozen, Percy feared he’d made an irrevocable error in believing himself safe. 

Then, to his relief, Pasquale assumed his human shape once again and with a deadly quiet, asked, “What do you want?” 

“I want you to marry my sister.”


Hmmm, doesn’t sound like a marriage made in heaven to me. Perhaps our vampire friend will be the one surprised when he gets to know his new bride . . . MIDNIGHT ENCHANTMENT offers two of my favorite things, returning smooth and snarky vampire villain, Gerard Pascal in his turn as reluctant hero and pre-Turn of the Century New Orleans as a moody and mysterious setting with voodoo and witchcraft tossed into the mix. And, it’s just $0.99!!



Hunt or be hunted . . A centuries old obsession stalks a noble family fighting to hide their dark secret from an ever-changing world. Sink your teeth into Nancy Gideon's Touched by Midnight series.

A deal with the devil. . .

After a 400 year existence as a vampire, Gerard Pasquale wants only to be left alone to shadow the midnight streets of turn of the century New Orleans . . . until blackmail binds him to a mortal bride who throws his dark world into an upheaval. Certain he can escape the unwanted bargain through the treacherous terms he makes, Gerard discovers his new wife may not be as helpless to resist his will as he at first believes.

. . . that might save them both!

Haunted by a whispered past of witchcraft and voodoo, Laure Cristobel became a bride out of necessity to protect herself and the unborn child she carries. Though alarmed to find herself wed to a monster, she's dangerously close to falling in love with the man he once was—the man she hopes she can make him once again . . . .

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like the other books in the series, MIDNIGHT ENCHANTMENT easily stands alone as a dark paranormal historical read, but beware, the rest of the books might start calling to you.

And if dark broody vampires aren’t your thing, my publisher also reduced the price of my Dana Ransom contemporary romance, LOVE’S OWN REWARD, to $1.99. I’ll pull from that next week as I finish up the edits of my current W-I-P.



If you haven’t been following my PRINCE OF HONOR blog tour or taken advantage of the chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card, hop back to last week’s post for a list of stops and the giveaway’s main Rafflecopter.

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!!


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.


Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.