New Release Spotlight: "Christmas at Blue Hydrangeas" is Now Available on Amazon

I'm pleased to announce my latest story "Christmas at Blue Hydrangeas" is now available in the Amazon store for Kindle.

C@BH, as I like to call it, is the prequel to "Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer's love story." So many readers said they were enchanted with Jack and Sara and their bed and breakfast that I was inspired to write more stories about the Harmon's and their welcoming home.

It’s Christmas Eve, and while Sara waits for Jack and their son David to arrive home to Blue Hydrangeas, their Cape Cod bed and breakfast, a blizzard threatens to close the bridges, stranding all travelers to and from the Cape. As she prepares for the holiday, a few unexpected visitors arrive at the inn, all sharing the common bond of grief. Sara is determined the storm and sadness will not spoil Christmas, and that Santa will find his way to two fatherless children far from home. A sweet slice-of-life story about loved ones and strangers coming together to share the spirit of Christmas.

I must admit it took me a very long time to write this story, which consumes all of 49 pages. Many obstacles got in my way: My chronic repetitive strain issues which prohibit writing on a regular schedule, and caregiving for my mother and stepfather, which came to its own natural end. Perfectionism also held me up because I wanted this story to be as special as "Blue Hydrangeas," to be "beautiful," as so many readers said it was. I hope I have succeeded.

I love the short story form. It's a challenge to include all the details of the plotline and qualities of the characters and tie it up tight in a few pages, which may also be a reason that it took almost two years to complete this one. My last book, "Swim Season," weighs in at two 2 pounds, 593 pages and took five years to write. Hopefully I'll get a little faster in 2019.

Purchase C@BH here.

New Release Spotlight: D.G. Driver's YA Novel “Ghost on the Water”

One girl’s daring adventure turns into a 

long frightful night lost on the water.

Forced to leave the California beach behind to spend the summer with her grandma in rural Tennessee, Dannie is certain this will be the most boring summer of her life. Things start looking up when a group of local kids, mistaking her short hair and boyish figure, invite her on their ‘no girls allowed’ overnight kayaking trip. Obviously, her grandma refuses to let her go. But Dannie suspects the real reason is that the woman is afraid of the lake, only she won't tell Dannie why.

Longing for freedom and adventure, Dannie finds an old rowboat hidden behind the shed and sneaks off on her own to catch up to her new friends. It seems like a simple solution … until everything goes wrong.

Dannie soon discovers this lake is more than just vast. It’s full of danger, family secrets, and ghosts.

Who is Dannie?

Dannie is an almost 15-year-old girl who likes to keep her hair super short so it doesn't get in her face when she goes skate-boarding. Most of her friends are boys back in California, and that's just fine with her. She hasn't grown much of a figure, and she's okay with that, too. She prefers to wear over-sized T-shirts and boys' jeans. They're more comfortable and better for moving around. She thinks staying in a cabin by a lake would be fun if it were with her dad or her friends, where she could go jet-skiing or fishing. However, she's stuck on this lake with her grandma, and she predicts it's going to be a long, boring ten days of doing nothing. She's wrong about that.

Read this excerpt from Lost on the Water, A Ghost Story

New Release Spotlight: "Heartsong," by Annie Douglass Lima

Two alien worlds.

One teen emissary.

No reality she can trust.

Thirteen-year-old Liz Smith has been ripped away from one foster family after another for years, so the idea of a permanent home is tantalizing. Who cares if that home is a colony sixty-five thousand light-years from Earth? The friends in her trusty e-reader will keep her company just fine on her interstellar relocation.

But when the adventure of a lifetime turns into the disaster of the cosmos, Liz can only retreat so far into the books that have always sheltered her from loneliness and loss. Trapped in half-truths and secrets that leave her questioning reality, can one orphaned bookworm find a way to stop two races from destroying each other … and somehow write a happy ending to her own story?

If you like books about space travel, aliens, or cross-cultural transitions, you’ll love this poignant science fiction adventure. Click here to get your copy of Heartsong now and start the journey today!

New Release Spotlight: Lia London's " A Bid for Love," a Romantic Comedy

 He got way more than he bid for ...

Ladies' man and mid-tier model, Crawford Andrews has a hunkalicous reputation to uphold. That means working out and making out but making no commitments.

Philanthropic (and very chaste) heiress Maris Conway would rather be passing out warm rolls and words of encouragement than working in her father's swanky real estate development company, but it's hard to be generous without a lot of money and connections.

When Crawford and Maris meet during a publicity photo shoot, they decide to attend a charity auction together. Crawford bids on a romantic getaway using both of their names, hoping to score points with Maris for helping to drive up the auction prices for her pet fundraiser. When they accidentally win, he gets much more than he ever imagined.

Self-absorbed meets selfless sweetness, and both find room to grow in this romantic comedy set in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

New Release Spotlight: "The Nameless Soldier," a Young Adult Fantasy by Annie Douglass Lima

The Nameless Soldier is book 4 in the Annals of Alasia young adult fantasy series. Haven't read all (or any) of the others? That's okay! The books can be read in any order, and each one can stand on its own.

Blurb:

What do you do when you’re the only survivor?

Nineteen-year-old Tarvic bears the name of a mighty hero from Alasia’s past. However, the young soldier feels anything but heroic when he regains consciousness to find himself the lone survivor of a brutal attack by invaders from the neighboring kingdom.

Forced to leave his identity behind, Tarvic is thrust into civilian life in the role of protector to three war orphans. When the four of them encounter a mysterious stranger, he must choose between keeping the young girls safe and taking on a mission that could help free his kingdom. Can Tarvic live up to his noble name and find a way to balance his duty and his dreams?

New Release Spotlight: The Tick-tock Between You and Me, A Canterbury Romance (Canterbury Romance Series Book 1) by Kristy Tate

Darby thought she had love all figured out

 until she heard the tick-tock of a clock

Darby Elliott thinks she’s in love with her long-distance boyfriend until he arrives on her doorstep. Now, she’s not so sure about him or how to get her car and money back. Which is embarrassing, because she’s a hot-shot accountant and money isn’t supposed to slip through her fingers... or into her boyfriend’s wallet.

Chad George and his girlfriend, Jessica have been together since they were kids. The trouble is, Jessica thinks Chad should convert his grandfather’s dying horse ranch into a cosmetic surgery recovery spa, and Chad thinks his grandfather should maintain the ranch as he wishes.

When Chad’s grandfather hires Darby, she discovers the ranch is full of untapped potential and hidden treasures including a clock that only seems to tick when she and Chad are together. Does the clock have a hidden message? Can Darby and Chad save the ranch before time runs out?

USA Today bestselling author Kristy Tate returns with another clean and wholesome romance that will be sure to warm the hearts of Hallmark movie fans. If you like sweet romances with a touch of magical realism, be sure and pick up your copy of The Tick-tock Between You and Me today. You'll never look at your clock the same way again.

New Release Spotlight: Engaging Mr. Darcy, an Austen Inspired Romantic Comedy by Rachel John

“Angry people are not always wise.” – Jane Austen

After a standoff in the pizza parlor, Elsie Bennet has decided Fitzwilliam “I-Throw-Fitz” Darcy is the worst customer she’s ever encountered. Also the best looking, but that’s beside the point. She’s horrified to discover Will is not just passing through her small town, he’s her new neighbor.

Will Darcy has all the money and time he could ask for, and yet life never seems to meet his expectations. When his best friend, Charlie, starts dating Jane Bennet, Will becomes their unhappy third-wheel. The solution? Bring along Jane’s sister, Elsie, a girl who challenges him, makes him laugh, plagues his thoughts, and unfortunately, hates his guts.

Will might control a lot of things, but he won’t control her. Elsie’s already been warned away by her new friend, Jeff Wickham, who found out the hard way that Will is not someone to be crossed. Things would be so much simpler if she was attracted to Jeff. But she’s not. She’s attracted to Will, and the tug-o-war between her mind and her heart is going to drive her mad.

New Release Spotlight: Halcyon, YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fiction by Caroline Akervic and Ruth Rankin

It’s hard enough to always be the new girl at school for Hailey Schick. She’s managed to irritate the ruling clique and Trevor, the boy she sort of likes, is a total social outcast. 

Nothing is as it seems at University. Preston and Chelsea rule the school with an iron fist and are obsessed with stomping out all nonconformity. There is more going on here than the usual cutthroat high school games.

Eternally young sentinels from the parallel universe of Halcyon have infiltrated their school and plan to use it as a launching pad for a planned takeover of Earth. Hailey and Trevor may be all that stands between Earth and a takeover by the militaristic Juventus.

New Release Spotlight: "In a Jam" by Cindy Dorminy

I fell in love with the cover of this book and its sweet premise, and just had to invite the author to visit the blog. Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Cindy! 

Andie Carson has to do three things to inherit her grandmother’s lottery winnings—sober up, spend a month running her grandmother’s Georgia coffee shop, and enter homemade jam in the county fair. If she can’t meet those terms, the money goes to the church, and Andie gets nothing. She figures her tasks will be easy enough, and once she completes them, Andie plans to sell the shop, take the money, and run back to Boston.

After a rough breakup from his crazy ex-fiancée, Officer Gunnar Wills decides to take a hiatus from women. All he wants is to help make his small town thrive the way it did when he was a kid. But when wild and beautiful Andie shows up, Gunnar’s hesitant heart begins to flutter.

New Release Spotlight: Lara Wynter's "Ignite, The Band Book 2"

A broken heart

A shattered dream

A chance to love

I am a fraud. People think I have it all together. I have fame, money, and millions of adoring fans. How can I still feel so alone? Wes Bowman, founding member of world famous rock band Infusion Deep, has never felt lower. His little sister Sophie is safe under his care. His best friend is now happily married. Wes has spent his whole life fixing other people’s problems. He doesn’t have time for a relationship of his own.

When Jemma Jones is offered a job as Sophie’s nanny, it’s exactly the opportunity she needs. Left horribly scarred by her ex boyfriend, she has to get her life back on track. Wanting to avoid the spotlight, she is relieved when the job means staying at Wes’s Portland mansion and not touring with the band. What she doesn't expect is to discover herself falling for the gorgeous rock star.

Two hearts not looking for love. But is love just what they need?

New Release Spotlight: Wise Before Their Time, by Ann Richardson

“As Powerful As Any Great Classic Of Fiction”

So said Sir Ian McKellen in his Foreword to my book. And it is.

Do you remember the terrible times of AIDS and HIV in the 1980s and 1990s? If not, are you curious to learn what it was like for those diagnosed?

Wise Before their Time, first published in 1992, shows in moving detail what it was like to live with HIV/AIDS when there was no real treatment for this life-threatening illness. It tells the true stories of over forty young men and women from all over the world, attending an international conference of people with HIV and AIDS in London in 1991.

New Release Spotlight & Author Interview: Paul Toolan and "A View From Memory Hill," short stories

We live life forwards, but understand it backwards. Either way, it's a personal journey.

The characters in this collection are looking back into the half-shaded landscapes of memory. Most are "of a certain age", but young voices appear too, in stories uplifting and regretful, comic and sinister, poignant and optimistic.

Common ground is that moment of realization - eventful, fleeting or veiled - unearthed during a journey into the past. 

• Will "Ruby, the Silver Surfer" learn to cut and paste and save?
• Who is "Mrs. Melanie?"
• Should "Billy the Quid" sell up?
• Can Frank Smith cope with being an "Old Man in a Young Pub?"
• Why is Lydia "Sleepless in Southampton?"
• "What's in your bag, mister?" asks the small boy in "A Bag for Life."

See for yourself.  

New Release Spotlight:The 25 Days of Christmas Devotional

Many of us get caught up in the commercialization of Christmas. One way to prevent that is to focus on the reason for the season. Taking a few minutes each day with this different kind of devotional book will help your family think of others. Each day focuses on one word and includes a story from Daniel and Holly's family, a Scripture reading with the devotional, the YouTube link to a Christmas Carol, and an activity that the entire family can be involved in.