May 2018

Main Posts Background Image

Main Posts Background Image

Sunday, May 27, 2018

WeWriWa: It’s In The Cards . . .


Remember the expression “It’s fate!” I always thought that was a cop out, meaning you’d might as well give up, there’s no bucking the system, so why try? Why resist? But in today’s Weekend Writing Warrior’s excerpt, it’s just the excuse my WIP characters need to stop fighting the pull they feel between them . . .

“I don’t want to lose you. But I already have, haven’t I? You’re a million miles away right now and almost out of reach.” 

“I’m right here.” 

His argument brought her to him, her knee stepping over his lap to straddle him, arms circling his shoulders, face nestling against the curve of his throat where she felt his hard swallow. He held tight, trying to believe they could make this moment last, this glorious, fiery, tender moment that offered so much and promised so little. 

“You are my prince,” she whispered, breath moist and soft against his neck, “my Prince of Cups. You rode into my life bringing romance and shaking my world to its foundation that first night I met you. It was in the cards.

Funny, she didn’t bother to tell him the card after the Knight of Cups was the Tower, bringing destruction to all she knows and loves . . . but I guess I can leave that for another post.


Finally, good weather and a good loooong weekend. I’m using mine to add to the 75K on PRINCE OF DREAMS and celebrate my birthday. And to remember . . .


What are your weekend plans, fellow 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.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Love In Bloom Blog Hop!


I LOVE Spring! It's my favorite season because after a long cold winter everything blooms again. Book publishing used to be (before e- and self-pubbing) a lot like that. Your title enjoyed a fresh run on the shelves (a month, if you were lucky!) then went into hibernation until you were able to get the rights back 3-10 years later, to either sell to another publisher or, these days, indie pub it, yourself.

My first published romance, SWEET TEMPEST, a sexy Regency-set historical, was released under my first pen name, Lauren Giddings in a time where Regencies were still almost exclusively sweet. It bloomed and flourished with nice enough sales to get a second printing. But then, seasons changed, and my book went into a looooong hibernation, until 30 years, two more pen names (plus my own) on 65 more books later, SWEET TEMPEST was able to see print again (and e-book!) with a new house, Tell-Tale Publishing, a gorgeous new cover, and even a book trailer! It came a long way, baby! 




To help celebrate Love in Bloom, I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky Hop participant, chosen at random! I'll be announcing the name of the winner here on my blog on June 3, as well as sending out an e-mail confirmation. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to follow along with the HOP to see what other participants are celebrating! Happy Spring!!

Sunday, May 13, 2018

WeWriWa: Dark and Deliciously Deadly - MIDNIGHT GAMBLE Sale!


Why do readers find vampires so seductive? They're technically deceased, blood-drinking ghouls. Nothing in that description screams "Hot!", yet romance fiction and films have portrayed them as such forever. Is it an illusion they cast, a shadow of what they were when they moved among the living? Or is it a carefully crafted, beautiful snare, like those deadly plants and predators in nature, to draw their meal in so close they can't escape the truth when it's upon them. My heroine is in such a dangerous position in today's excerpt:

Who was this man who could move her emotions as easily as the moon did the tides? 

He was all that was dangerous and desirable, that much she intuited at first sight, but what else was he? When she tried to see deeper, something clouded her perceptions, making her unable to read him clearly. Was it the sheer force of powerful vibrations within the room or something finely focused from the man himself? She couldn’t tell and because she couldn’t, her confusion held her helpless. 

Was he quixotic mortal, or all dark and unnatural malevolence? 

She could hear his heartbeat, and when he extended his hand, she did the unthinkable, placing her own within it, needing to know even at the risk of exposing what she was. 

His palm was warm, smooth, his fingers strong yet gentle as they enfolded hers for a firm press. 

“Miss Lavoy, how good of you to join us,” he murmured, his subtly accented voice hinting at evening breezes and the smoldering heat of a smoky fire, enveloping, intangible, assaulting all the senses at once. And undeniably erotic.

Probably a little backstory would level the playing field a bit more, because Rica Lavoy is hardly a helpless victim. In fact, our suave vamp better be on his guard because he's just become her prey.


Will the hunter . . .

Against the uninhibited decadence of 1920’s New York, where bootleg liquor flows until dawn to the sound of hot jazz and rolling dice, day-walking vampire, Frederica Lavoy stalks those of her kind to bring them to her father’s court for crimes against humankind. A series of careless murders leads her to an exclusive club where patrons drink more than champagne from unsuspecting guests. Drawn to the club’s owner, the enigmatic Darcy Edwards, Rica’s loyalty is torn when she suspects he’s the man her father has sent her to find.

. . . become the hunted?

Tricked into embracing the night during the time of Pharaohs, Eduard D’Arcy struggles to bring peace to those who are damned by what they must do to survive. Yet he’s found no forgiveness for himself - until he’s captivated by the unique and spirited Rica. But in this game of cat and mouse they’re playing, the stakes are not just heart and soul, but life and death itself . . .

"4 1/2 Star Top Pick: Readers will want to sink their teeth into this hypnotic and compelling tale." — Kathe Robin, Romantic Times

"Nancy Gideon is one of the best supernatural writers on the market today." — BookBrowser

"Fun, entertaining vampire romance that makes the supernatural seem natural." — Under the Covers Book Review

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MIDNIGHT GAMBLE is still on sale until Tuesday so if you like hot supernatural heroes out to save their kind, strong heroines with something to prove, ruthlessly clever villains who hold one heck of a grudge, all in a rocking 1920's setting, this is a great place to jump right into the middle of my "Touched by Midnight" vampire romance series! It's one heck of a suspenseful ride!

Next week, I'll be back with snippets from my shapeshifter WIP, PRINCE OF DREAMS which has final reached the 60k milestone! Love it when things start coming together!!

Happy Mother's Day to those who are them and those who are thankful for them!!


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, May 06, 2018

WeWriWa: It’s a Dead Man’s Party for my MIDNIGHT GAMBLE Sale!


I love a party and I LOVE a sale. So, when my vampires throw a party when their books go on sale . . . Dead Man’s Party time!!

That’s where the heroine of MIDNIGHT GAMBLE finds herself when half human, half vampire Daywalker, Nicole Lavoy is tracking down the undead murderer plaguing 1920’s New York to bring him to her father’s tribunal to be tried for his crimes against humanity. Her hunt leads her to a club where the guest are . . . unusual.


Time flowed toward dawn on a seemingly endless supply of champagne and Crème de Menthe, the bouncy strains of “Ain’t We Got Fun,” blending into the steady hum of conversation as Frederica listened on an entirely different level. As she moved between the elegant fox trotting couples, she wasn’t hearing the scuffle of their feet flying across the lighted dance floor, she was focused on a more basic rhythm, one that beckoned to her on a subliminal level in a hot, hurried tempo.

Heartbeats, fast, flurried, human, the blood of their existence pumping in time to the flinging elbows and twitching hips. The unmistakable tune of life.

But as she wove through the crowd of close to eighty bodies pressed tightly together in the artificial moon-drenched glow, not all greeted her with that resounding pulse of the living. Some met her mild queries with another force so strong and fierce it was almost physical.

Hunger.

That relentless surging need to feed pounded as purposefully beneath an Ivy League jacket or within a shimmering panel of pastel silk as the human heart did within the normal breast.

Vampires. The glittering room was filled with them.


Revisiting this scene, I can’t get this song out of my head:


Okay, so I adore “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield and a very young Robert Downey. But it was Oingo Boingo’s tune that really caught me, especially when I discovered lead singer, Danny Elfman is the music guy behind most of the biggest movies in Hollywood, including MEN IN BLACK, all things Tim Burton, The Simpson and SPIDER MAN 3. Who knew?


MIDNIGHT GAMBLE will be on sale for $.99 until May 15 so it’s a great time to sink your teeth in for a taste of vampire romance. I’ll be sharing another tease next week.

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of my Warrior pals are up to now that I have a weekend at home.


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, May 02, 2018

IWSG: Spring Ahead . . . in Your Writing


"It's Spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?" That is the Insecure Writers Support Group question for May. This month's topic has been a looooooong time coming for this author in the Never-ending Winter state of Michigan. No way I should STILL be scraping my car windows during the last week of April! But then Spring arrived on May Day at 81 whooping and long-awaited degrees. Yes! I feel renewed!

As a self-proclaimed member of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), I spend at least half the year yearning for my hit of Vitamin D. Then, like a grizzly bear emerging from its den, I tip my groggy creative mind toward those first warm rays (my windows open when it hits 55!) to feel that rush of spring-spiration. With my gravity recliner facing the light, headphones on, I bask in its comforting embrace, feeling my thoughts begin to stir and stretch toward the heat, pushing through the dark sluggishness of my winter plots to push through with bright new twists and turns of dialogue. Spring has sprung and I'm in imaginative full bloom at last.



The only thing better than enjoying a spring day is enjoying it with writer friends at a weekend retreat on the water. Even though it was only in the 40s-50s, I found myself on the balcony of my room, warming my hands on my coffee cup to watch the sunrise. Ahhh. It just doesn't get any better. I turn back to the keyboard reluctantly, but with new vigor, as my pages fly and word count soars during a morning break alone.


That burst of energy followed me home and even impatiently waits for my lunch hour at work so I can get back to my WIP. So, yes. Spring is all about revitalization of the writer's soul in my book, and on my ever increasing number of pages. Soak it up (and don't forget sunscreen!)!



Another good thing has popped up this month: MIDNIGHT GAMBLE, from my vampire series "Touched by Midnight" is on SALE for just $.99 through the 15th. Sink your teeth in and wear those sunglasses at (mid)night.

Can't wait to find out what my fellow IWSG pals think of my favorite growing season. Bloom where you're planted!


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.The awesome co-hosts for the May 2nd posting of the IWSG will be E.M.A. Timar, J. Q. Rose, C.Lee McKenzie, and Raimey Gallant!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Twitter hashtag is #IWSG