I got this from Sue Fitzmaurice's Facebook Page and I love it. Those are my New Year's Resolutions. I have others, of course. I want to thank all the authors who showed up on my blog this year. I linked their pictures to their interviews on the blog. 

(Some day, maybe in 2015, I will learn a better way of doing pictures and links. This took a ridiculous amount of time due to Blogger erraticisms.) I would also like to thank them for their books and for the recipes they contributed to my Recipe page.

If any of you would like to join me next year on the blog, please contact me.

 Cheryl Yeko

Jayne Anne Krentz

  Bethanie Avery

         
             Beth Carter                                           

Kristan Higgins

Maggie Mundy  

Christine Ashworth

Robyn Carr  

CD Hersh

Elle Hill

MJ Compton

Lani Diane Rich

Tami Lund

Leanne Banks

I am travelling and left my blog calendar on my desktop PC in Los Angeles. So I don't know who's up next. I do know Sarah Addison Allen and Laryn Ford are visiting in January and Linda Lael Miller in February.  I have a a mystery giveaway - A never opened hardback copy of one of these authors' books. Why was it never opened? I love this author so much I pre-ordered two copies by mistake. - One on Barnes and Noble and one on Amazon.

Happy New Years to all. 

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Blog Hop for Writers

Blog | This Writer's Life

#BlogHop, #MyWritingProcess, #NightWriter, #thiswriterslife

I’m participating in a Romance Writers Blog Hop.  Not only do you get to know a little about me and my writing process, but I get to introduce you to fellow romance authors and learn their individual writing styles and processes.

My fellow author, Claire Davon has tagged me to be next on the “My Writing Process Blog Tour” (#MyWritingProcess). Claire writes urban fantasy, paranormal and contemporary romance.Right now Beginning Time is 99 cents on Amazon

Visit Claire on her blog to see her writing process

Website.

Facebook

Let’s move on to the four required blog questions:

What am I currently working on?

I’m working on Kate’s Hero. Kate’s a romance writer who doesn’t believe in real life happy endings. Her second book is stalled because she broke up with the guy she’d planned to model her hero on. Now everything her hero says, comes out snarky. She makes a wish and ends up with a chance to take the trip she’s always dreamed of - to Ireland. The catch is she’s acquired a rather odd travelling companion who promises to help her find a hero.

Michael is a doctor who believes in happy endings, but not for himself. He’s taking his favorite patient back to Ireland to see her family for the first time in fifty years. What he doesn’t know is Nessie’s the last of a line of true matchmakers and she’s determined to find Michael his true match.

How do my romances differ from others in the genre? 

My first novel, Time and Forever is about two women in their sixties time travelling back to 1969.

In Kate’s hero, Michael is Sherry’s son from Time and Forever. I cannot seem to write a book without a touch of magic.

Why do I write what I do?

I love stories with a touch of magic. I also write children’s books as Susan J. Berger. I am drawn to humor and I think everything I write has humor in it. It seems to me I was born to wonder and to laugh.

How does my writing process work?

All my adult works have started as NaNoWriMo projects. I say all, because there is one more out there waiting for revision. When writing a longer work, I need a goal and motivation. NaNo provides that for me. At the end of a month, I have a first draft. And then comes the real work. Revision.

I am way better at character and dialog than I am at plot. My MS goes through at least two drafts before anyone else reads them. I thought the first forty pages of Kate were in great shape. I entered the first twenty five pages in The Golden Palm. I also asked fellow LARA member, Christine Ashworth to critique the first forty pages. I made all the changes they suggested. But the biggest and hardest change is that my story starts in Ireland, so I need to lose the first five chapters. That hurts. I am hoping the next draft will be much better.

Where you can find me besides here:

Children's Lit Blog: Pen and Ink

Facebook

Twitter

I’m now tagging my fellow Soul Mate Author, Becky Lower. Becky is a gifted and prolific author of Historical and Contemporary romance. I am currently following her Cotillion Ball series with great pleasure.

Where to find Becky:

Blog

website

Facebook

Twitter

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Merry Christmas to All and a Joyous New Year.

Last year I turned 70. (I know I should spell that out, but I like writing 7. It's my lucky number.) I know this is a lucky decade for me. I think my first year of the decade has proven that in spades.

In January I traveled to Portage, Michigan for my granddaughter, Eleanor's second birthday. As you can see, her parents are raising a reader.

Two days after her birthday, my debut romance, Time and Forever came out. You know what a gift that is.

Blurb:
1969. Love was free, man walked on the moon, and Sherry and Lorena found the loves of their lives. Sherry shared a kiss that dreams were made of, with a stranger on the tube in London, and ran away. Lorena found the love of her life in Los Angeles and married him.
2014. Sherry’s a successful businesswoman with two grown sons. Lorena’s an actress on a popular sitcom. Sherry’s husband dumped her for a younger woman eighteen years ago. Lorena’s husband died of cancer. Sherry wants a second chance at love. Lorena can’t imagine loving anyone but Dave.
When Lorena finds The Castle, which specializes in Virtual Reality adventures to any point in time, they both jump at the chance to play. But when the door opens to 1969’s London, it’s apparent they’ve walked into more than just a game.

I started sending it out for reviews. So far I have 44 with a 4.9 star rating. I am over the moon about that.

I came home to Los Angeles and took my first course in Musical Improv from UCB's Tara Copeland. I fell in love with the form. My son, Christopher Corbin, decided we would be the only Mother/Son musical improv group. We hired a coach and did our first show. Chris belongs to the Musical Improve group, Meaningful Touch. Stephanie Bentley, one of his team mates, read Time and Forever and loved the characters so much that she offered to do the narration for the audio book.
I think she did a wonderful job.


In May I began traveling, First to Chicago for  a wedding, then back to Portage to visit my granddaughter. From there I went to Burlington for my cousin's graduation from college. She's 79 and has already started graduate school.

Luiz Guzman and Ansley Carnahan

On Memorial day weekend, my critique group staged a reunion at our partner, Lupe Fernandez's wedding.

Pen and Ink and adjunct correspondents.
Victoria Krol, Lupe Fernandez,  David Krol, Susan Berger, Kris Kahrs, Angel Fernandez, Hilde Garcia Krol and Sam Krol

I had two months to concentrate on writing and revising. before leaving again.
I submitted a picture book, Mom Is There A Santa? to Guardian Angel Publishing and Lynda Burch accepted it. Hooray. One of my favorite illustrators, K.C. Snider will be illustrating.

In July I went to Brazil to see John of God with a group from my church. A profoundly lovely experience. After that, in rapid succession, I went to Honolulu for a memorial service for my beloved friend, Cynthia Mooney, Seattle, where I attended a Jayne Anne Krentz book signing and Port Angeles to visit my sister, Kelly.

When I came home, I attended the SCBWI Writers retreat - One of my favorite writing events.
I attended the meetings of my local RWA chapter, LARA and met some wonderful encouraging fellow authors. And I discovered some great new reads.

This year I learned that my best revision tool is reading aloud. This tool helped me through the latest revision of my multicultural mid-grade MS, Tasha the Magnificent.
I submitted my WIP, Kate's Hero,  to four people. Biggest lesson: My story starts five chapters in, I finished a second draft during NaNoWriMo. There will most definitely be a third draft before I send it out into the world to Beta Readers,

On December 9th I flew to Baltimore to be my friend Donna's chemo partner for nine days. I am amazed at how well she handles it.

While I was there, Time and Forever came out in paperback. I immediately ordered a copy for Donna. She is a voracious reader and prefers real books. Donna had already been through the first fifteen books I sent her, She read the book in two hours! If I could read that fast, my life would be a lot simpler. Donna had read a beta version and wasn't impressed. I am happy to say this time she loved it. I loved holding my first paperback.







On December 18th I flew to Portage to spend Christmas with Jim, Mary and Ella.  We are having a wonderful, but tiring time. Ella's sleep schedule has turned erratic.

If you'd like a Christmas bit of Doggerel, I also post at Pen and Ink and this week, it's my turn.

I wish all of us Holidays touched with magic and a bright and creative New Year.
Of course I have a giveaway:

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Love funny and suspenseful romance? Meet J.L. Hammer

I read J.L. Hammer’s NOTHING BUT TROUBLE and immediately asked her if she would appear on my blog. Here's why:

“Nothing But Trouble is everything I love… hysterical, sexy, page-turning fun!”– USA Today bestselling author Samanthe Beck

Blurb:

With an angry loan shark hot on her heels, Frankie Delenski flees a Vegas gentlemen’s club with one thought in mind: hide before she’s nothing more than a chalk outline. Now on the run…she finds herself stranded in a sleepy Colorado town during a storm. Her only salvation becomes the suspicious and gorgeous deputy sheriff determined to arrest her…

From the get-go, Wes Malone must restrain his lust for this stunning, unpredictable woman in a sequined bra and rely on his instincts as a cop. As he sifts through the haze of lies, the truth about her predicament is like a sucker punch to the gut. She’s in serious danger and getting involved with her means nothing but sweet, irresistible trouble…

Excerpt:

She took a moment to study the virile man before her. The strippers worked their clients into a mouth-drooling frenzy by a few shakes of their hips and a little lip-gnawing. If Frankie could work her charms on Deputy Malone, he would be at her beck and call. A strange thrill zinged through her.

With a sexy strut, she approached, giving him her best heated look. She brushed the tips of her polished nails across his chest. Hopefully, he hadn’t noticed the mud smeared across her hands or her missing pinky nail. His dark brows lifted and his expression was…amused. Determination squared Frankie’s shoulders. With a thrust, she pushed out her well-padded female attributes.

“Can’t we just forget about all this? Couldn’t you just help me get my car out of the ditch and then let me go on my way?” She tried to purr, but it sounded more like she needed a throat lozenge.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

She frowned and then remembered she was being seductive and smiled shyly. “Hungry?”

“Yeah. The way you keep chewing on your lower lip I figured you must be starving.”

 I loved this book. J.L., Please tell us a little about yourself. And inquiring minds want to know – What does the J. L. stand for. 
I’m a California girl and enjoy living in my small mountain town with my hubby and two teenagers. My name is a bit extreme, being the product of hippie parents and all, so I went with my initials. I couldn’t see Justice Love Hammer on the cover of a novel. Okay, I’m completely full of it…about the name and hippie parents. But J.L. are my real initials.

 I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when you found you’d made your first sale.  

When I received the email from a publisher offering me a contract, at first it was suspended disbelief and then I danced with excitement. It was nice to finally get a “yes” after so many rejections. Even after five contracts, I still get excited when I receive one.

 How about the first time you kissed your true love?

I’ll never forget meeting my husband. I was with a girlfriend on a barefoot cruise in the Caribbean when our ship was overtaken by pirates. The leader took a fancy to me and hey, he was downright handsome so when he said we would marry, I agreed. As you can see from our wedding photo I was still in shock but our first kiss was magical. Hmmm. Can you tell I’m a fiction writer? You have to admit fiction is so much more intriguing than reality. In truth, my hubby kissed me on my front porch, and I remember grasping his biceps and thinking “nice muscles.” As you can see from the picture (costume ball) after fourteen years of marriage we still have fun together.

 Fabulous picture. 

Other than your own, who are your favorite (heroes/heroines/writers) in your genre? 

I’m a fan of Karen Robards and Sandra Brown. I love their ability to weave intricate plots and keep the romance sizzling. 

What is the most exciting moment, so far, in your writing career? 
When my latest novel, Nothing But Trouble, released in November it ranked #80 on the Amazon bestseller list for a romance series and #20 for romantic suspense on KOBO. It was nice to reach a milestone, and I look forward to many more.

What is your favorite pastime, other than writing?  

I love to read and drink wine. I also enjoy traveling with my husband. Some of my favorite places are France, Scotland, Fiji, the big island of Hawaii, and New Zealand.

 Any advice for new writers just starting out? 

Finish the book and find critique partners who write well and listen to their advice. I also recommend taking a class. I took three online classes from Gotham Writers’ Workshop. I learned a lot from the published authors teaching the courses.

 What genre or genres do you write?  

 Romantic suspense. Gotta have my danger and hot guys.

Tell us about your latest release.

My latest release is the Vegas Vixens series which is centered on a bold, yet quirky group of heroines who live in the same Vegas trailer park next to the airport. Now these girls find themselves in high-stakes danger and drag the most gorgeous heroes into their messes. In NOTHING BUT TROUBLE, my heroine Frankie is working at a gentlemen’s club when she flees Vegas with a loan shark hot on her heels. She ends up in a small Colorado town with a sinfully handsome sheriff just itching to arrest her. Sigh. Some girls have all the luck.

Nothing, But Trouble introduced Lily and I can't wait to read her story.

What’s your current WIP?

I’m currently editing the next book in the series. The excitement of the Vegas Vixens continues in book 2, DEADLY TROUBLE (releasing May 2015), when Frankie’s best friend Lily takes the spotlight as she faces off with a drug lord in the jungles of Belize. Of course, she drags a drool-worthy doctor into her plight, but hey, after all a girl needs a hero. 
And finally, what would be your best Christmas present ever? 

 I would love to have another white Christmas. There is something about snow on the ground with all the lights that makes the day even more special. I live at four thousand feet, and we had a white Christmas about five years ago.
 

Thank you so much for being here. Where can we find you?

Website: http://www.jl-hammer.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HammerJL

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HammerJL  

Purchase link: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/nothing-but-trouble/ 

Giveaway alert! One lucky reader will win an ebook copy of my novel BLUE HORIZON, an exciting story with a secret government project and a hot mercenary. Good luck and happy reading!

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