July 2016

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Sunday, July 31, 2016

WWW: Careful What You Wish For . . .


Sometimes what you see is what you get. Sometimes you get more than you bargained for. Much more. And not in a good way. Poor Nick Flynn, the down on his luck Louisiana attorney who thought he’d struck it big when he’s drawn into the lavish world of excess he’s always coveted with a secretive D.C. firm. Be careful what you wish for, Nick . . . Big isn’t always better he’s about to discover in this clip from MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE, my newly rereleased vampire romance from BelleBooks/ImaJinn Books.


He wasn’t sure what it was about the Noir, but something about this place, these people, put the hair up on the back of his neck. He recognized many of the politicians who were regulars and didn’t care if they preached family values on the front pages then broke them all behind the thick velvet curtains that enveloped dining nooks, turning them into private paradises. Even though he wasn’t a man of any particular influence or power, the women noticed him, as all women noticed him, and he probably could have gotten more than his share of on-the-house entertainments. He’d never seen such a stable of stunning females, each unique, each exquisite, each eager to please. 

But the truth of it was, the Noir women gave him the creeps. They were too perfect, too good to be true, too aggressively sexual and blatant in their appetites. Hungry as wolves circling through plump fowl seeking whom they could devour. Not him, thank you very much. 

Until he saw her and the surprise of it stopped him dead in his tracks. 

The woman from the Grover’s house . . . how could he mistake those incredible green eyes?


I had great fun teasing my characters along a twisted road of expectation, desires and unpleasant realities where nothing was exactly what it seemed. Not Nick’s posh new job. And certainly not the mysterious woman he ‘accidentally’ bumps into a second time. Run, Nick. Run! You’re in over your head. Will he listen?



Can they escape the shadows of the past? 

This time, he could lose his soul . . . 

An invitation to join an exclusive D.C. law firm seems like a chance for Nick Flynn to leave his mistakes behind. But it's his shadowy past and unrealized inheritance that attracted his mysterious employers. Once embroiled in their dark schemes, his struggle for success becomes a battle for his salvation.

And she could lose her life . . .

Loner detective Rae Borden goes undercover as a call girl to discover the truth about her best friend's death. Her carefully laid plan of revenge and personal redemption becomes a crusade against an unbelievable evil . . . with Nick Flynn in the middle.

"Nancy Gideon is one of the best supernatural writers on the market today!"-- Midwest Book Review/BookWire

While Nick and Rae flirt with deadly consequence and dodge the truth about each other and about themselves, I’ve been “back” in New Orleans and Lake Tahoe with the Terriot brothers, piecing together the scenes I’d previously written for PRINCE OF POWER with new text (kinda like quilting!). Made huge progress last weekend at the Write-In I mentioned. Here’s a glimpse of our goal-setting session that started off our Friday night.


I’m already looking forward to another All Work on Writing Weekend at the end of September – hopefully to begin Book Three of my House of Terriot Foursome!

Happy Writing!


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, July 24, 2016

WeWriWa: Up the Down Staircase . . .


Finally! The re-release of MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE, book 8 in my Touched by Midnight vampire romance series is available with its sultry new cover and irresistible air of spookiness and dark suspense, two things I adore in any genre. And then there's the inevitable link between vampires and lawyers . . . The inspiration was spawned on an escalator ride down to the Metro in Washington, DC that was so steep, midway, you couldn't see either the top or the bottom. Cue Twilight Zone theme! By the time I left the writers' conference I was attending, I had the entire book plotted around that one eerie moment (and the fact that our hotel looked like something out of Ghostbusters during a storm!).

The tug of war between the law and justice, success and culpability have the hero and heroine instantly at odds over choices that once made, can never be undone. Here's a stepping off point for my heroine in today's 8-10 sentence teaser:



"If you want justice, Miss Borden, what are you prepared to do to see it done?” 

“Anything.” 

“Anything within the limits of the law?” 

She returned his somber gaze with an unblinking intensity and amended, “Anything within the limits of my ability.” 

Where was the law when I attended two funerals in one week? 

As she sat in Marchand LaValois’s office, she purposefully turned her back on all the things that motivated her career, things like honor and duty and right and law that meant nothing now because they meant nothing to a man like Zanlos, and she couldn’t bring him down unless she played by his rules. That meant surrendering herself to darkness. 

She didn’t know this man LaValois any more than she knew his servant, Gabriel McGraw. But she knew people, and she knew this was a man she could trust. 

“What can I do for you?”




Can they escape the shadows of the past?

This time, he could lose his soul . . .

An invitation to join an exclusive D.C. law firm seems like a chance for Nick Flynn to leave his mistakes behind. But it's his shadowy past and unrealized inheritance that attracted his mysterious employers. Once embroiled in their dark schemes, his struggle for success becomes a battle for his salvation.

And she could lose her life . . .

Loner detective Rae Borden goes undercover as a call girl to discover the truth about her best friend's death. Her carefully laid plan of revenge and personal redemption becomes a crusade against an unbelievable evil . . . with Nick Flynn in the middle.

"Nancy Gideon is one of the best supernatural writers on the market today!"-- Midwest Book Review/BookWire

If I don't stop by for a visit or respond to comments, it's because I'm off at a Write-In retreat to knuckle down on PRINCE OF POWER, Colin's books in my House of Terriot Foursome. Two and a half days with nothing but my keyboard and meals being served . . . Nirvana! Will be thinking of all of you!



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, July 17, 2016

WeWriWa: It’s Slice and Dice Time!


Got both my BETA reads back on PRINCE OF HONOR with some very different input. Not bad, just different in a good way. Now, to blend it in to make a stronger whole. While I’m working on those edits, here’s a new snippet for you to read . . .


There was no security with James, no family bosom to return to. She had what she’d always had, her wits and her wiles, and unfortunately, it seemed, a conscience. 

What a damned inconvenient time to discover that. 

She twisted in the bed she’d made. 

Was Turow still alive, even now, being beaten and broken by James’ thugs? Beaten, probably, broken, never. He’d die without giving them the satisfaction, the stubborn fool, while she’d always considered confession good for the soul. The truth would set you free, but Turow would never speak to save himself. 

Knowing that tormented her fatigued brain and provoked her not so hard heart. 

There had to be a way for her to rise above this intolerable situation, but at the moment, she couldn’t see find it through the thorny tangle of her emotions.


As I ferociously slash pesky adjectives, I’m trying to block out the fact that I just sent out a new proposal. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve chewed my nails with Tums chasers. It’s more like the 50th. It never gets any easier, even though this is to an editor who loves my work and asked me to send it. Churn, gurgle. More Tums. I’ve been enjoying self-publishing because it takes that particular anxiety out of the mix (adding in others but that’s another topic for another day!).

So while my fledgling YA paranormal series rests in the hands of another, I’d better get mine back on the keyboard and to the work at hand.

Hope your fingers have been flying this week!!


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.

Wednesday, July 06, 2016

IWSG: Where Seldom is Heard an Encouraging Word


Being a writer is lonely business. Face-to-face contact with your public is limited, support is sometimes difficult to find, and understanding from someone other than your critique group (or this wonderful collection here at IWSG) is nigh on impossible. Praise for what we do is scooped up like nuggets in a gold rush, with everyone scrambling for those same few precious glittery bits. But when we find them, they’re worth their weight. Those are the words that keep us going while sequestered in our isolated keyboard cave.

This month’s question posed by IWSG is about encouragement: “What was the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?”


I’ve been fortunate to work with some fantastic people within the publishing industry, but one stands out as a rock. I “met” Micki Nuding when she was the assistant to dynamo Ellen Edwards at Avon Books when I was writing historicals as Rosalyn West, but we didn’t have a face-to-face until an industry party in New York years later where I discovered she was an editor at Pocket/Simon & Schuster and casually pitched her a proposal for a dark shape-shifter series. Her response, “Send it.” We worked together on eight books in my By Moonlight series. She was a relentless cheerleader, a shrewd and insightful editor, and when I recently learned she’d retired, I sent her an e-mail thanking her for her support and for teaching me so much about self-editing. Her reply is tacked on my bulletin board beside my laptop for those days when I wonder why I get up at 4:30 a.m.:

“I also consider you one of the best writers I’ve ever worked with; your gift for storytelling is supreme, your versatility is impressive, and your heroes are beyond hot.”

This, from someone I respect so highly! So when I struggle, I remember her faith in me. And this morning at 4:30, facing revisions, I glanced at that note, and I got right to work, hoping to live up to those words.

Who keeps you going?


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 July 6th posting will be Yolanda Renee, Tyrean Martinson, Madeline Mora-Summonte , LK Hill, Rachna Chhabria, and JA Scott!

Sunday, July 03, 2016

WeWriWa: It’s All in the Hook


I just got word back from my first BETA reader! She gave PRINCE OF HONOR a big Thumbs Up (along with some very insightful suggestions addressing a couple of my closet concerns). My other BETA is still reading, so while I wait, I’m pondering over my prologue. Those first few paragraphs and pages determine whether your book goes “home” with a reader, and while I love the scene (which was actually deleted from my last book for the sake of word count), it didn’t do the job the way I wanted it to. Then an AhhhHAAA! moment struck . . . More on that after my 8-10 for this week’s excerpt from PRINCE OF HONOR.


“Syl.” 

Turow was the only one, other than Cale, who shortened her name that way. Before, it had always annoyed her, his familiarity stripping away the distance she preferred to keep between herself and others. Now, that rumbled intimacy did the opposite, drawing her closer, where outside influence held no sway. 

“Syl, let me protect you. I swear, on my life, no one will ever harm you.” 

She touched his face, his bold, beast face, reveling in the strength she’d always known dwelt within him. She touched his mouth, first with her fingertips, feeling the fierce cut of his teeth beneath the yielding softness of his lips, then with her own, slowly, prudently, until his tongue touched and mated with hers. A fierce vibration shook through him, harsh, hungry. Oh, he was exciting, barely restrained, dangerous and hers to control . . . if she could . . . but of course she could.


No, this isn’t the scene (though I do love it!). Since the next book in the Foursome begins with a brief look into the hero’s childhood, I recalled an earlier excerpt from PoH (take a peek!) that got a big response from my WeWriWa pals. Wouldn’t the entire scene make the perfect lead-in to soften the reader toward a previously hateful heroine? Just a glimpse that there was more to her than a selfish agenda? Boom! I think I’ve set my hook!

Off to cut and paste . . .

Just a reminder, if you’re looking for some fireworks for this Fourth of July . . . PARANORMAL ATTRACTIONS (my first boxed set!) is still just $0.99 (FREE with Kindle Unlimited!). Here’s what readers have to say: “A steamy smorgasbord of PNR Heroes/Heroines!”, “A Super Steal!”, “Something for everyone and some new twists and ideas”, “A captivating collection”, and my favorite, “The best $0.99 I’ve ever blown!” Sizzle! Boom! Enjoy!



AMAZON


Happy Holiday and Happy Writing to all my firecracker WeWri Warriors!


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.