Friday Excerpt: Stuck in the Middle
This week’s theme for Romantic Friday Writers is really interesting! I’m going to quote directly from their page: This prompt is about the others in the romance couple’s lives during the break-up. Inlaws, best friends, siblings and other immediate family – including the kids – the parents. Anyone who has connected with the couple and is expected to choose sideswhen the relationship ends. What we want to see is how “the others” feel or is changed by the ending relationship, and what they see as the strengths/weaknesses of the couple. We want to live the romance through a second party. (This is also not a love triangle.) This section is still very much in rough draft form, but this is the novel that I’m currently polishing. Word count: 300 ###...
Read MoreMonday Book Review: Cowboy Down
Cowboy Down by Vanessa Gray Bartal Review… Summary: In typical rom-com fashion, the plot set up is far fetched but fun. Layla, a foster kid just leaving the system, witnesses a murder and is sent into witness protection at a ranch with four brothers (cousins of one of the police officers). She goes from Chicago to Montana and it’s an adjustment, but she loves housekeeping for the four cowboys. She falls for Cade, who has recently been paralyzed in an accident involving a bull. While Layla and Cade fluctuate between enjoying and misunderstanding each other, the murderer is busy tracking her down to eliminate her as a witness. The tone of the book is much lighter than one might expect from a plot involving murder. The Good: There’s a lot of good!...
Read MoreFriday Excerpt: The Empty Stage
From my work-in-progress, Be(Longing)… ### Dylan knew where he was going. Despite the whirlwind leaving, he had paid attention to where they were and he knew how to get back to the theater. It was quiet now, but the door was unlocked. There were men in the lobby sweeping the carpet. Even though it was a low pile carpet, it was still challenging to push on and Dylan felt the muscles in his upper arms starting to burn. Past the lobby, he took the back way to the audatorium. He rolled onto the stage, empty now, and the wooden floor made his movement instantly easier. He glided smoothly out to the center. The dust from earlier in the night was quiet and still, no longer vibrating from the music. He could imagine the lights, imagine the crowd. If he strained he...
Read MoreMonday Review: Devoted
Devoted (edited by Lee Nilsen) Review… Summary: This is another anthology that I participated in. In a way it is a sequel to Paradox. It’s another collection of short stories and a novella with new authors and, I personally think, an even higher level of writing than the first collection. I have one story in it, a story which is not available anywhere else. It’s called Faster and it is a more bittersweet story than I usually tell with a main character whose voice is very strong. The Good: It’s hard for me to pick a favorite story from so many interesting ones. I find the richness of the language in the one that takes place in historic Italy beautiful. Diary of an Ugly Girl has been a favorite story of mine since it appeared on the paradevo...
Read MoreBig News
I am starting to work on creating a publishing company to provide you with more great love stories than I can write alone! I’m going to need authors, so if you have a book or an idea for a book that involves a physically disabled hero, please get in touch. Here are the submission guidelines: http://devlovepress.com/submission-guidelines/ (Please let me know if the link works, that website is still a work in progress) It would be enormously helpful if you could share this too: twitter, facebook, any way that you can. Need to get the word out! Okay, link isn’t working, so here’s the text… We’re a small press not taking on too many projects at once, but we are currently open for submission. Please follow these guidelines. What...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
