Monday, December 26, 2011

Cassie's Christmas Wish - A Mini Christmas Story on Kindle!

I wrote a Christmas mini story (a chapter that might have been) for Cassie and Jed from TAME THE WILD WIND. We finally get to meet the elusive Uncle Abe and find out what Cassie got for Christmas! If you enjoyed TTWW and can't get enough of the characters, then this mini is for you!

Cassie's Christmas Wish on Amazon.com

I hope everyone got their own Christmas wish answered this year. I'm looking forward to 2012 and all the possibilities and wonders that it holds! Blessings and peace to all.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!

I can't believe another year has flown by. It seems that the years pass quicker since I had my kids. Was it only yesterday I was telling stories about the Nativity and Santa Claus? Now, I have one more night to go until I'm putting out cookies and milk and urging my 7 yo son to go to sleep so Santa can come.

My Christmas gift to myself was finishing my latest novel, a Regency historical romance. My New Year's resolution is to find a publishing home for it! I also want to finish the Tame the Wild Wind sequels (I planned 4) and maybe write some shorter stuff. What are your resolutions and plans?

Thanks to all our soldiers who served in the Iraq war and are now coming home. May they all have a safe and happy holiday at home. Peace on earth!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen! 236 years young!

I hope my readers and fellow authors adore the incomparable Jane as much as I do. Her novels (along with the Bronte sisters' Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre) sparked the romance genre that we all know and love today. If you haven't read Emma or Pride and Prejudice yet, do your heart a favor and start reading! The movies of the books are all wonderful, but my favorite is the Keira Knightley version.

My current "work in progress" is a Pride and Prejudice-based novel, and in honor of Miss Austen as well as begging her pardon, I'm giving you a sneak peek at one of the scenes. Hope you enjoy it!


     She closed her eyes, exhaling on the window so that her breath bounced back into her mouth, as warm as his had been. Confusion swirled through her, igniting all variety of emotion. She’d sensed a connection between them. Somehow, beyond the difference in their ages and stations, not to mention life experiences, she’d felt a kinship. As if she’d known him all her life.
     Nonsensical dreaming was all it was. Girlish fantasy and listening to Lucinda’s romantic nonsense. That was the source behind her confusing thoughts. She suddenly did something she had never done before in her life.
     “Frederick,” she whispered. Her lips relished the shape of his name, the way they parted on the consonants, as if preparing for a kiss. Her tongue pressed the back of her teeth on the d. Her breath misted the glass as she spoke his name, and she stared at it until it evaporated.
     Though she wasn’t the least bit sleepy, she climbed into bed beside Lucinda, pulling the quilt up to her chin. Colonel Parker had offered her a solitary room at the start of her visit, but she, who had always shared a room with her younger sisters, found the large, drafty house a little frightening at night. She scooted close to Lucinda, taking some comfort in her friend’s sleepy warmth.
     Lucinda mumbled in her sleep. The sweet tones of the pianoforte filtered through the closed door and the layers of carpeted floors and walls. It was a variation of his symphony. She wondered if he thought of his former love as he played.
     It was too much to think that a man such as he would ever consider playing for a simple country girl like herself.