I’m part of a fabulous boxed set called Crossroads with 20 other amazing authors. The theme is being at a crossroads or major decision point in one’s life. Serious stuff. In my story, Look Into My Eyes, we’re talking life and death. But turning points don’t necessarily put the bedroom into a deep freeze. In fact, crises can be quite spicy! What better way to make a big decision than with a hot, complex hero who makes you think the same time he makes you weak in the knees? Gina and Ryan have serious choices to make, but their passion pulls them through fear toward closure.

Laverne Thompson adds, being at a serious crossroads in life isn’t mutually exclusive of having a hot and sexy love/lust life. 😉 Just because someone is at a crossroads doesn’t mean they didn’t have love along the way, Angela Kay Austin points out.  A crossroads only means a critical decision needs to be made. It’s about deciding if you want to continue on the path you’re on or not.

Enjoy!
Afton Locke

CROSSROADS (boxed set)

Release Date: 23 April 2018
*universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/4EywV0
iBooks: https://apple.co/2P42r26
Nook: https://bit.ly/2Rf12HS
Web: https://interracialexpo.wixsite.com/crossroads
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Crossroads-Anthology-372572096883325/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42960443-crossroads?from_search=true

Every decision may cost you.

Join 21 bestselling and award-winning authors as they bring you action, adventure and drama in these 20 multi-genre stories that will keep you entertained even after you finish the books.

These stories run the gambit of the paranormal, other worlds, contemporary millionaires, military themed, alpha males, romantic suspense and even a touch of intrigue. There’s something for everyone and enough for all.

Get your copy today.

Authors

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Eve Vaughn
USA Today Bestselling Author Ailyah Burke
USA Today Bestselling Author Latriva Welch
Bestselling Author S.K. Lessly
USA Today Bestselling Author LaVerne Thompson
Bestselling Author Phoenix Daniels
Bestselling Author Kassanna
USA Today Bestselling Author Afton Locke
Bestselling Author Angela Kay Austin
Bestselling Author Reana Malori
Bestselling Author V Vee
Bestselling Author Dahlia Rose
Bestselling Author Ancelli
Bestselling Author Sage Young
Bestselling Authors Jayha Leigh & Jeanie Johnson
Bestselling Author Naleighna Kai
Bestselling Author Savannah J. Frierson
Bestselling Author Shara Azod
Bestselling Author Olivia Gaines
Bestselling Author Ursula Sinclair

LOOK INTO MY EYES
by Afton Locke

Single mother Gina Cole will do anything for her daughter. She even accepts a hospice assignment to improve her chances at getting a promotion. But caring for a terminally ill patient stirs up painful memories and guilt about her late husband.

Ryan Atlee, disillusioned by his failed business, has stopped caring whether or not he gets a new kidney. But when an irresistible hospice volunteer battles her deepest fear to open her heart to him, he wants to live.

The threat of death casts a shadow on their newfound love, but anything can happen at the crossroads—if they dare to step across.

Excerpt

Look Into My Eyes ~ Copyright © Afton Locke, 2018

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

“I can at least load the dishwasher.”

She glanced at the living room. “After a big meal, you need to rest.”

“I told you, I want to be useful. It’s the least I can do.”

“Well, don’t wear yourself out. I don’t want to send you to your grave any earlier than necessary.”

The remark hit him like a sucker punch. Because, during the entire meal, he’d actually forgotten he was about to die.

She gripped his shoulder, regret flashing in her eyes. “Ryan, I’m sorry. My mouth runs away from me sometimes.”

“Well, maybe we should keep it occupied.” Before he could stop himself, he gripped her chin between thumb and forefinger and pressed his lips to hers.

After the quick contact, they stared at each other. Her lips remained parted, making his groin stir to life. The shock in her eyes, sharp and bright, grew hazy…with desire. He kissed her again, drinking deeply from her beautiful mouth. As if she were the only medicine on earth that could save his life.

God, she felt soft. Her mouth. Her body. Like a favorite pillow. A home. Her hands coasted over his shoulders, gliding to the back of his neck. Until he ached to feel her gentle fingertips all over his scalp.

Instead, she let go and backed up.

“What are we doing?” she whispered, brushing her fingers across her damp lips. “This is completely inappropriate.”

He shrugged as he tried to catch his breath. “We’re not breaking any rules, are we?”

“Well, a kiss like that is going to break something.”

#itunes #nook #anthology #boxedset #99cents #eroticromance #paranormalromance #contemporaryromance #romanticsuspense

universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/4EywV0

The second day of 2019 has come and almost gone! I’m chugging along, working with my new journal. I’ve finished tweaking my plans. Now the real work has begun. Yay!

I thought you might like a little stress relief. I know I already need it. Play the puzzle, and then tell me whether you’d like to see more stories with this theme.

Have fun!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who heeded yesterday’s call to action! We’re getting there!

A Request

Most times, I show up here and babble on about what I’m doing, what I’m writing, or some silly thing that’s going on in my life that I want to share. Today’s a little different. I have a request—a call to action.

The last book I’ll have on pre-order for an entire year is Animal, which releases January 22nd. How did I lose the ability to set up pre-orders on Amazon? Life interfered—my grandmother got sick and died and then my father broke his hip. I missed my pre-order dates for two books and Amazon withdrew the privilege. Why does that make me nervous? Well, pre-orders have been hugely important to my success. People see mention of the next story at the end of a book, follow the link, click Buy, and don’t think about it again until the story appears on their device. Or, they see me mention it, think it might be cool to read, and quickly arrange to purchase it before they forget.

Now, I will have to hope readers see my mentions on my website or my ads on Facebook on the day of release. I’m assuming this will result in a huge downturn in my sales. And face it, I write full-time, this is my only job, and the last thing I can weather is a huge pay cut. So, I’m looking for new ways to advertise new releases.

Some of you already follow authors on BookBub. You hear about new releases, hear about free reads or greatly reduced prices on books. I can use them to notify readers, but only if I hit a magic number of followers through BookBub. I need 250 new followers to make that happen.

So, if you have time, and you want to hear about great deals and want to help me out, follow me on BookBub. I’d be forever grateful!

Follow me on BookBub!

Here’s me, wishing everyone a happy 2019!

Thanks Delilah for another opportunity to visit your fun and informative blog. I love being here!

Today I’m talking about HOME.

Home. Homesick. Right at home.

The hackneyed “Home is where the heart is” is hackneyed for a reason. It’s true.

For me, home means loved ones, friends, family. Or that certain loved one, the significant other.

With him, I might be in a tiny apartment or stranded on a deserted island, or camping under the stars, but together… we’d be home.

Still most of us have been thrown, alone, into unfamiliar places and circumstances where we’re forced to adjust and try to settle in. Feel at home. I’ve moved a dozen times. Maybe you’ve been a student or a soldier or transplanted worker far from home. In those situations, how do you get from homesickto at home?

Maybe home becomes a photograph or a painting, or a ring, or a book? It could be the soothing sound of a familiar accent, the snoring of a pet, an old song played on a guitar or piano or blasted from a car radio? Is it a favorite movie? Maybe it’s a TV show where you can recite the episodes line by line. Friends anyone? The Office?

Is home the sound of the dawn train in the distance or the smell of chicken roasting in the oven?

Someone asked me what the overarching theme of my stories is. At first, I had no answer. My stories are born from a spark of an idea that I turned into a story. A romance. But the more I thought about it the more I knew the people in my contemporary romances are searching for home. Home as a place. Home as a calling or career. And because these are romances home as a person.

Where is your heart? What means home to you? What do you bring from place to place to give you comfort and joy?

My talismans have changed over the years but right now to feel at home I need my dad’s wedding ring and a photo with me and my husband, my daughters and their partners on vacation in California.

CONTEST

Tell me in the comments and leave me your email address (or send it directly to my email address, charlotteoshay@gmail.com), and I’ll gift two random commenters with an ARC of one of my two soon to be released books Their No Strings Affair or my novella Forever in a Moment, OR an ebook copy of one of my first two books, The Marriage Ultimatum or A Model Engagement.

By the way, my publisher, The Wild Rose Press is offering 40% off their entire ebook catalog until December 31, 2018. Check out my contemporary romances and other great stories by my fellow authors there. Just till tomorrow. Click below for the SALE ~ Best deal in town.

Thanks for reading!

charlotteoshay@gmail.com

Click here for The Wild Rose Press Sale
Click here to sign up for news about upcoming books Charlotte O’Shay Author
Click here to Follow Charlotte on BookBub for info about releases and sales

UPDATE: The winner is…Michelle Levan!
*~*~*

I’m a planner by nature and education. I make lists. FOR EVERYTHING. That doesn’t mean I’m super-organized. It just means I track my achievements and know all too well where I fall short.

I teach a free goal-setting class every December to other authors, hoping that while I kick their butts to think about what they want to achieve that I’m inspired to do the same.

So far, I have listed everything I want to do writing-wise. I started out with a goal of making my life a lot easier next year with a sedate writing pace… Yeah. By the time I figured in everything I NEED to write, that easy plan went out the window. Crazy as it is, I have my 2019 writing plan mapped out. But work’s not everything, right?

What about real life? Family fun and obligations. Fitness goals (ha!). My artistic goals (paint for fun, re-open my Etsy store, produce something to sell…). Build my savings. Get ready for retirement (like that will ever happen!).

To get all my goals in alignment, I set up a Bullet Journal. I’ve kept one for about three years now. It’s time-consuming. A pain in the ass to set up and maintain, but everything I need to do is captured in one little journal book. That’s what I’m trying to wrap up today.

So, my question to you is whether you worry about the coming year. Do you plan? Set resolutions? Set up journals or calendars? Answer for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

I’ve spent some time this last month thinking about being an author and what it means to me. A few weeks ago an aspiring author was telling me she models herself after me.

What?

My career is a work in progress. The more I learn, the more I find that I don’t know a thing. Publishing is constantly changing and the demand for Romance is high, but so is the output from authors. I love that Indies have broken through the barriers and can give readers what they want and what they didn’t know they needed. The days of Gatekeepers are done and readers can find a story about almost any combination of partners and players. We are also faced with a tough economy, declining sales, sky-rocketing advertising costs, and a genre that is filled with many sub-par to downright crappy books. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and some feel the need to not only state in a review they didn’t like the book, but to attack the author personally.

So What’s A Writer To Do?

1. You create a village of support. Find your tribe. This doesn’t happen overnight; you will gain and lose members of your circle. You hold on to those that are kind to you and then repay them with the same.
2. You get over your damn self. This world is filled with ego. I believe that you have to have a healthy one in order to survive. However, diva-like ways are not acceptable. Think before speaking and then think again. Do not become a professional victim, instead be the one that others turn to for strength. Please know that in order to succeed and survive that you have to hustle every day.
3. Give back. When I was starting this journey, I had author friends share great advice with me. I was disheartened to find that one of my favorite authors, and friend, was not helpful. In fact, she looked at me as someone who was trying to take money from her pocket. She is an award-winning author who hits lists with almost every book in no way was I her competition. I decided not to be like her. If you are new, ask me and I will try to give you a good and very honest answer. I’m a cheerleader—I want you to succeed because then I can enjoy your victories.
4. Like REO Speedwagon says, “Roll with the Changes” (Google the 80’s band). Enjoy the highs and trudge through the lows. In this business, it can change within the next hour. Turn off social media, talk to your trusted friends, take a walk, love on your pet. It will get better!
5. Get a Team and treat them well. In the beginning, I had “people.” It took me about two years to figure out that they weren’t giving me their best effort. So I broke up with them and I found other people. My Admanistrative Assistant dropped into my life because we both worked the overnight shift and were bored out of our heads. He read and wanted to learn more about how a book is created, and I have the talent of breaking a computer, so he taught me how to do things without making the screen go blank. I use two cover artists for different series and I adore them both. I speak their creative language and designing covers is a joy. Finding the right editor took time. I started with a highly recommended company, but the critiquing style nearly broke me. I lost my confidence and dreaded the day when the returned edits hit my inbox. When I finally had enough, I started looking around. The relationship with your editor is one of faith, guidance, and a good bit of hand-holding. I trust this person with my most intimate thoughts regarding my ideas. I took an online class and loved how the instructor handled some pretty zany ideas. She never said, “That sucks,” or “Are you insane?” Instead, she gently offered a different direction or explained how the idea could be better served. I mustered my courage and asked if she was taking on new clients, she was, and we are still together. She knows I will never handle commas correctly and I trust that she will make my story better, so I listen when she shares her thoughts. She is a nurturer and that is exactly what I need.
6. Know when it is time. If you are unhappy, dreading “writing time,” or cringing anytime you think about your career—get out. Life is too short to do something that makes you miserable.

So yeah, I’m an Author. I love what I do even through the tough times, the uncertain times, the days where I reread what I wrote and wonder how I could have done it any worse. To me, all of that is part of the deal. The good outweighs the bad. Because of writing I have made friends all over the world, traveled to events where we discuss books, I’ve met artists that I admire, seen more than my share of stupidity, and listened to hurtful comments and wondered if I belonged. Still, every morning I wake up and look forward to sitting down with my laptop, sharing the scene that plays over and over in my head, and telling you my story.

Stay Strong and Remember what REO preaches.