Hurry! Hurry hard!

Holy cow, only two weeks until Christmas Eve!!!

On Friday I wrapped up revisions on Lethal Pursuit (Maya and Jackson's story), the third and probably final installment of the Bagram Special Ops series. I sent it off to my editor and likely won't see it again for at least a month or two. Hope she likes it! It's very fast paced and dark, even brutal in spots.

Between now and Christmas I plan to get my holiday preparations finished and hopefully do a bit more drafting of my new R/S project. In early January I have to do heavy revisions (AKA a major rewrite) of my Civil War romance, The Vacant Chair. I have the most gorgeous cover for it but I don't want to show it until I have a better handle on a release date. The book is due to my editor February 1st, and I'm pretty sure that despite all my work before handing it in, I'll still have lots of work to do once I get it back from her. *cough*

I'm sure a lot of you are wrapped up in the middle of Christmas madness right now. This coming weekend is my hubby's staff party. Every year the office goes to a local curling rink, and every year my hubby's team seems to be pitted against mine in the final. He's beaten me the last two years, even though I taught him everything he knows about curling. Gah. I have to step up my game!

Cover Reveal

Woot! I just got the final art work for the cover of Tactical Strike, Ace and Ryan's book, and I love it. If you want to imagine Ryan with a scruffy russet-colored beard though, that's quite okay by me since that's how he looks for most of the story. But there is one particular scene at the end of the book where he's clean shaven (and oh, it's a steamy one if I do say so myself), so it's all good. It comes out March 11th!

This weekend is the start of the Christmas madness, and I'm sure it is for many of you as well. Our December calendar is stuffed full. Stuffed, I tell you. Parties, gatherings, concerts, dinners, more parties... You guys should see our house right now. It's all decked out for the holidays so I'll try to post some pictures.

Book Giveaway!

Today I'm participating in Paloma Beck's birthday blog hop and giving away a digital copy of Deadly Descent to one of the winners. Click here to go to her blog and enter!Some other authors participating are Laura Kaye, Kallypso Masters and Keta Diablo. Happy birthday, Paloma!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Going To Print!

I got the most awesome email today from Angela James, executive editor for Carina Press. She told me that Harlequin has decided to pick up Darkest Caress as one of their June direct-to-customer program titles. So, I'm going to print! Not in stores, though any leftover copies from the program will be available for sale on the Harlequin website, and I get author copies as well. Woot!

I know a lot of my readers don't love paranormal books, but I've received a surprising number of emails asking when the next book in the series is coming out. I feel so torn! I'm working on another single title romantic suspense right now (featuring military contractors in Pakistan), but I'm definitely interested in writing both Cade's and Vaughn's stories. Especially Vaughn's.

I'm about a quarter of the way through the draft of this next book, and Lethal Pursuit (Bagram Special Ops #3) is due to my editor in mid-December. It's all done, so I'm going to start revisions in early December. In the meantime I hope to hammer out most of this draft.

Read any great books lately? Would love to hear some recommendations.

Holiday goodness

Being that we're now into November, that means it's the start of the Christmas season here at our place. And, according to tradition, the first wave of decorations went up this weekend. Added to my collection this year is this Grinch quilt, which I finished up last week. It's so cozy and snuggly.

My father and step mother arrived home safely after their three month trek across all the -stans (Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, etc--they even dipped across the border into Afghanistan!), so I'm relieved. I wasn't too crazy on them being over there, but they managed okay. My father said again he wished I'd gone with them, especially the leg across Tajikistan and the border of A-stan. You know, since I write about that stuff.

I'll be honest--I'm quite happy to look at their trip through pictures, rather than experiencing it firsthand. Some of the places they traveled to were extremely rough (they slept in tents in the desert, no running water or plumbing or heat, and even had to kill a goat at one point), and there have been kidnapping and shootings between the locals and the military. At any rate, they're home safe and sound and that's all I care about. My Christmas wish came early this year!

And, if you're looking for some holiday reading right now, Katie Reus has another installment of her Red Stone Security romantic suspense series out. Miami, Mistletoe and Murder is only 99 cents!

Blurb: Fierce and sexy, former Marine Travis Sanchez has always held himself back from the rest of the world, using his tattoos and piercings as armor. But when the woman he’s wanted for months is threatened, he knows it’s time to strip away the bad boy image and show her just how much he wants to be with her. As one of Red Stone Security’s best contractors, Travis is trained for almost any situation. But nothing prepares him for the most dangerous threat of all: the one to his heart.

Kind-hearted Noel Baskov’s only wish for the holidays is that her Miami coffee shop has a successful Christmas season. But her focus on work is interrupted when the family of the young girl she mentors is threatened, and the man she’s been lusting after for months steps in to handle it. Unfortunately the danger is far from over. Can this sexy and mysterious warrior protect Noel? Or will he be the one to shatter her heart.

Warning: features a heroine determined to fight for those she cares about, a protective hero with a very interesting piercing, and some holiday magic.

Fall Recap

It's been forever since I posted here, so I'll do a quick rundown of what I've been up to for the last while.

A couple of weeks ago we pulled a big surprise on our kids. We drove them to the airport and announced we were going to Disneyland for a week. They were thrilled, except my big guy (8) was really ill with a high fever and sore throat the day we traveled, and it was too late to cancel all our reservations so he had to tough it out. He was a trooper, but a few days into the trip he broke out in a weird blistery rash that we later found out was hand, foot and mouth disease. Yeah.

The rest of the family was spared, but then I got sick with a really awful cold and passed it onto my little guy (6). Running fevers and going through boxes of Kleenex is not my idea of a good time and certainly put a damper on our trip, especially considering the crowds and the temperatures being in the mid to upper nineties. The best part of the trip was the night before we came home, when we were mostly on the mend and attended Mickey's Halloween Party. The kids dressed up in costume and actually got to trick-or-treat in the Magic Kingdom that night. Expensive, but worth it to see their excited smiles.

Since returning home I've started the draft of my next book, received my gorgeous cover for my Civil War romance I'm self-publishing next year (Not sharing it yet! I'm turning it into a freelance editor in February for a thorough critique), and finished most of a Grinch Who Stole Christmas quilt. Since we're Christmas fanatics around here, we pull out the decorations the weekend following Halloween, which of course is this coming weekend.

The news reports coming in about the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy are unreal. If you live on the eastern seaboard, I hope you're safe!

Counting My Blessings

It's the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada and I have a lot to be thankful for. On Saturday night we hosted 18 people for dinner (including 7 children--yes, it was loud!), yesterday was my 12th wedding anniversary, and today we're having my side of the family's dinner at my aunt's house. I love turkey dinner :)

The other great thing about this weekend is that I finished the draft of Jackson and Maya's book! It's not due for a long time but this gives me a chance to put it away for a while and revisit it with fresh eyes when I dig into it before sending it to my editor. We're leaving next weekend on a surprise trip to Disneyland with the boys, so it'll be nice not to worry about deadlines or anything for a while.

Do you remember that old Civil War manuscript I wrote a long time ago? I've decided to get out my red pen and take another crack at it. I plan to self publish it next year, maybe late spring. I know it's really different from my other books but I love the story and want to put it out there.

In the meantime, what the heck should I write now???

And, Katie Reus has yet another new release in her Red Stone Security series. Fatal Deception is book 3 in this hot romantic suspense series, and it's only $2.99. This story is dark and edgy and I love the chemistry between the hero and heroine.

Blurb: Mara Caldwell is a woman with a dark past. She made a clean break from her old life, never imagining her secrets could come back to haunt her. When an old enemy surfaces and threatens the world she’s created for herself Mara is prepared to give up everything, including the husband she loves if it will keep him safe.

Harrison knew his wife had secrets when he married her, but when he discovers the truth, it’s far worse than he imagined. He's determined to protect her from a deadly enemy who wants to destroy her, but her lack of faith in him infuriates and wounds him. They must work together to keep her safe, but the man they're up against seeks to destroy everything they've built together. Including their lives.