I can't wait for you all to meet these characters. My schedule is full for the next few months as I prepare for this release (as well as work on the subsequent books.)
I've experienced a lot of changes in the last six months, and unfortunately I have to cancel several public appearances I had booked. It sucks and I'm not happy about it. I was really looking forward to this tour and all the exciting places it promised to take me, but life had other plans. It is with a heavy heart that I will no longer be attending the following:
January 16, 2015 - Indie Author Event Phoenix Mashup, Phoenix, Arizona.
February 7, 2015 - Deep in the Heart Author Event, Austin, Texas.
March 20, 2015 - Indie Author Event Detroit Mashup, Detroit, Michigan.
April 18, 2015 - The British Book Affair, London, England.
April 25, 2015 - Tattooed Bad Boys Author Signing
The good news, however, is that more and more of my books are being released wide, with the full catalog coming online by March of 2015. You can purchase/read them via the following:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Google Play
Kobo
Oyster
Scribd
Since social media is also going to experience an overhaul next year, I've had to canvas everything to keep everyone current. Here are my official accounts:
Tumblr
Tsu
The easiest way to keep up to date is to subscribe to my mailing list that will keep you up to date on special promotions, freebies, giveaways and new releases. Please use the link to sign up as soon as you can. I know that Facebook is changing the way it handles post distribution, so I can ONLY guarantee you'll be up to date if you sign up for the newsletter, which will give you exclusive access to all the good stuff, including sales and freebies.
BEST of all, the first 100 who subscribe to the newsletter will be entered to win a signed copy of either GROUPIE, FIERCE, ENTICED or THE UNDISCIPLINED BRIDE, winner's choice. (Hint: You MAY choose more than one.) I'll announce a winner through the newsletter by mid-January, so join TODAY! :)
I've dropped the prices of several books down to $0.99 for a super sale to start the new year off right. For a limited time only, you can buy the following for $0.99 across ALL platforms.
And in honor of my son Brandon's birthday, I've made PICTURE POSTCARDS ***free*** January 6, 2015! If you don't know Brandon's story, click here. I wrote two books in the wake of this loss, the story that would ultimately become THE FULLERTON FAMILY SAGA, and PICTURE POSTCARDS. To balance the angst, I wanted to write something lighthearted and fun - my own little version of a romantic comedy. And that's what PP became.
Excerpt
Together we poured over the program, picking out horses by their names since that seemed as good a strategy as any. We discovered that picking all three horses that came in first, second and third was called a trifecta bet. It was during the post parade that I made my decision. A beautiful chestnut mare with a perfect white star on her face tried to walk right up to where I stood by the rail. Her beautiful chocolate brown eyes locked with mine and I knew instantly she wanted me to pick her.
“She ‘told’ you she was going to win?” Robert asked, his trademark skepticism seeping into his playful tone.
“Look at her name. Picture Perfect Destiny. She’s going to win, I’m telling you.”
“Care to make it interesting?” he asked.
“More interesting than the money we’ve already bet, you mean?”
He laughed. “Money schmoney. I’m talking about a real wager.” His brown eyes glittered as he smiled down at me. “And no. I won’t sell my car.”
I giggled. “Okay. Name your terms.”
“If your horse doesn’t win, you reconsider going to Paris with Reuben.”
The seriousness of his tone caught me by surprise. “What?”
“You are the one who believes in fate. Let destiny decide if you take this next step.”
“Jeff talked to you, didn’t he?” I asked immediately. This smacked of the aforementioned intervention.
He shrugged. “If it were me, I would take my time before I jumped headlong into an affair with someone I barely knew, especially with someone who went so far out of their way to be too good to be true. When you get hurt, you learn to be more judicious. More practical. But you’re not me. You’re you. You believe in the fickle hand of fate working to the greater good. So I see no other alternative than to let the horse decide.”
It was really starting to wear on me that the people who claimed to love me most were the ones who least trusted me to make my own decisions, specifically such a personal and important one. “So are you saying you don’t trust me to know when and whom to love?”
“Do you trust yourself?” he wanted to know. “Or do you trust a postcard?”
That cut me to the quick, mostly because it was truer than I wanted to admit. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll take your bet because I do believe in fate. And that’s why when my horse wins you’re going to have to go out on a date.”
He laughed. “With who?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But we’ll figure that out later. If Picture Perfect Destiny wins it’ll be the universe’s way of saying you’ve nursed your wounds long enough. It’s time to move on. To be happy.” I stuck out my hand. “Deal?”
He looked at my hand, then out at the horses. Finally he placed his hand in mine and held it for a second or so after he shook it. “Let’s let destiny decide.”
“I always do,” I said with a smile of smug self-satisfaction.
When it came time for the race Robert and I ran up to the fence, watching on the big screen as the horses sprang from the starting gate. My heart beat fast as I searched for my beautiful girl and realized she was right up in front. Together we screamed for our horses to come in, albeit in different places. Since we had “boxed” the trifecta bet it really didn’t matter which order, only that the three horses we picked were the ones to win, place and show.
With only a minor duel at the 3/4 pole, Picture Perfect Destiny bounded away to win by a good three lengths. With one look at the tote board we realized that all three of our horses had come in, that we had won. Even better, the winnings totaled more than a thousand dollars which was large enough to momentarily distract us from our earlier private wager.
With a victorious whoop I jumped up into Robert’s waiting arms, and he spun me around happily. As he set me back down his lips landed upon mine for an impulsive but celebratory kiss.
At first I was so surprised I couldn’t move. Seconds dragged as I realized that the kiss had lingered longer than any other chaste and platonic kiss we had ever shared. All I could think about was the warmth of his mouth on mine and his hard body pressed up against my own.
In one fell swoop Robert ceased being my buddy and became a flesh-and-blood man. I stumbled away when he released me, looking for any signs that he had been equally affected. But he had a huge smile on his face as he looked down at me. “We did it, baby!”
“We did,” I breathed, though I had to wonder what exactly we had done.
So that's it for now. I hope everyone has a healthy and happy new year. Onwards and upwards... for everyone. <3
