Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin
HomeMeet Delilah
BookshelfBlogExtrasEditorial ServicesContactDelilah's Collections

Archive for 'contemporary romance'



Reina Torres: Get your FREE copy of Sublet–Part 3!
Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

Download your FREE copy of the latest Love in Lockdown short story!

Reina Torres is back with another installment of her series, SUBLET! If you haven’t read the first and second parts—no worries! She’s combined all three in this installment to make it easy for you.

Enjoy! And have you subscribed to this blog? You might want to do that so you don’t miss a single story! More are on the way!

In a nutshell, this is what SUBLET is all about…

What happens when two exes have to live in an apartment built for one?

Follow this link!

Debra Parmley: My Next Chapter – Writing on the Road (Contest)
Monday, October 19th, 2020

UPDATE: The winner is…Buttonsmom!
*~*~*

One thing 2020 has done is to force everyone to examine our living environments. Staying at home for long periods of time will do that. I suspect when we look back on 2020 we will see mass migrations of people. Maybe they should have waited until 2021 to hold a census.

My husband and I decided not to wait any longer on a dream we’ve had. So, we are beginning the next chapter in our lives and will be moving into the motorhome we just bought and we will be going full-time. I will soon be writing from the road as we travel. Our house is on the market as I type this, and the second showing is tomorrow. Things are moving fast! And I am excited!

Our new home is a 2010 Tiffin Allegro bus. It’s a forty-three-foot motorhome with a residential size fridge, a dishwasher, microwave/convection oven combo, an induction stovetop, a washer and dryer, bath and a half, desk with computer set up, and a couch with hide-a-bed. Oh, my goodness it is huge. There are three different places I can set up with my laptop. So, I will be in writers heaven. Especially if we can park the motorhome somewhere near a beach.

I will be writing about full-time RV living on my blog  https://beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/ And I will share videos of our travels over on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/DebraParmleyRomance.

What about the books, you ask? Here is a sneak peek of the cover for Montana Delta Rescue which will be out in Dec. All these housing changes forced me to push the release back a bit. But once I am RVing full time I will have more time to write.

Since you are all having to wait on the next book, for a Halloween treat, 12 of my eBooks are just 99 cents on Amazon through Oct 31st here: https://www.amazon.com/Debra-Parmley/e/B002BM9H4A%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

And I will give away one eBook to a lucky commenter, if you comment below.

Have you ever traveled in an RV? If you were to travel in an RV where would you like to go? What would you want to see? And if you love Halloween as much as I do, what is your favorite part about the holiday?  I love seeing the children in their costumes. That is my favorite part. Happy Halloween and happy reading!

Debra
www.debraparmley.com

Which do you prefer?
Sunday, October 18th, 2020

I’m late posting today. So, I thought I’d just pop in and share the cover for my upcoming story, Preacher.

Preacher

Actually, this was the first version, but I wasn’t quite happy with it, so I asked for a change. Tell me what you think…

Bernadette Jones: Lonely Eyes (6-FREE Reads)
Wednesday, October 14th, 2020

Hi! My name is Bernadette Jones, and I write romantic suspense.

I’m also one of seven authors in the Aspen Gold Series.

Last time, we talked about the hard work of writing in a multi-author continuity series—how we are building the town and how each author is creating their set of characters. I told you we had 320 characters. Well, as of this month we have 340. Remember, we have six authors all writing new stories and all growing the town—it can all progress quite quickly.

My first book started with Hunter Jakob Lawe, one of the grandsons of the town patriarch. He made friends that now surround his personal family nucleus. Cheryl St.John started with the Cavanaugh cousins. Each of the authors is gradually forming their own entourage of characters, but we all meet up in the town of Spencer at the bank, grocery store, coffee shop or saloon.

We call our town / character playbook the “Aspen Gold Series Bible”. This is a conglomeration of Word and Excel documents. There is an Excel sheet with every character that has been named, which author “owns” the character, and what book they appeared in. Because we are trying not to have ten John Doe’s, we have filters to separate the list alphabetically by characters’ first name, and another one sorting last name as a quick reminder not to repeat names. We also have a document listing all the children, their ages and when they were introduced or born. It has been over a year since we started and we are having babies!

There are also characters we all use. In an effort to not have six grocery stores or gas stations, we have a list of shared characters, their occupations and business names. We have policemen, firemen, a sheriff and deputies, bankers and construction companies. We also keep track of our resident bad guys and troublemakers.

Confused yet?

If you want the real low down on the town, the first six Ebooks in the series will be free at Amazon, October 12 – October 16.  Come discover Spencer, where our characters find inspiration, passion, love, and for many, a new home.

Lonely Eyes

There is an art to pursuit.

Keira is running out of time. The handsome stranger with a dragon tattoo says he can keep her safe, but he doesn’t know the demons on her trail… Will her mysterious past lead her to escape, or drag her back to living hell?

Owen Strong has suffered tragedy, but he’s made a new family in Spencer, Colorado—one he will protect at all costs. When he finds determined Keira Hoa, she rouses more than just trouble. Looking into her lonely eyes, he sees that everyone’s in danger.

But she’s come to the right place. He’s the monster hunter.

Get your copy here!

About Bernadette Jones

Romantic Suspense Writer, Never Give Up-er,
First Wives Club-er, Lifelong Dream Achiever & Mom

Bernadette Jones has been making up stories since she learned to read on her daddy’s lap. She has imagined casts of characters everywhere she’s called home: Texas, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, Massachusetts, and now New York.

Books and music filled her life as she, her dad and two brothers traveled the country. She would sit in the back seat of the car—her older brother always got to ride shotgun—listening to the current music on the radio, looking out the window and spinning a story based on a phrase she’d heard in the lyrics. As you can imagine, traveling the country, the music changed from state to state, as did the stories. To this day, she enjoys a wide variety of music and book genres.

After a career in corporate writing, she’s decided to settle down and put pen to paper doing what she loves. Living the dream in her NYC apartment with her canine companion, she’s bringing her stories and characters to life.

You can find Bernadette at:
https://www.bernadettejones.com/
https://www.bernadettejones.com/newsletters
https://www.facebook.com/BernadetteJonesAuthor/

My Bad-Boy Deputy is here!!!
Tuesday, October 13th, 2020

Book #5 in my Cowboys on the Edge series is here! If you didn’t know, I named the series that odd name because the town of Caldera (fictional!) sits on the rim of a canyon. Lawless is the 5th book, but it can be read as a standalone. Yes, if you’ve read previous stories, you’ll see other people who’ve had their own stories pop up. Plus, you’ll meet people you might want to see get their own stories. If you read Lawless, let me know whose story you’d like next!

These cowboy stories are sexier than my Montana Bounty Hunters. Just so you know. And yes, there’s plenty of humor, sexy times, and a fun HEA at the end. I hope you’ll pick up your copy today!

Lawless

Lawless

When a Texas deputy’s motorcycle club trashes a bar with him leading the brawl, the sheriff decides his punishment will be serving as the bouncer/enforcer for the pretty owner while she runs a booth serving bikers during a weekend-long motorcycle club convention.

Get your copy here!

Check out my next cowboy-deputy in LAWLESS, coming Tuesday! (Contest)
Saturday, October 10th, 2020

UPDATE: The winners are all 8 commenters!
*~*~*

Lawless comes out next Tuesday! Well, Monday night just after midnight! Can you tell I’m excited?

If you want to read the opening scene of Lawless, you can check it out here! I had a blast writing it. The story is very sexy, funny, and has a bit of danger to keep you worried about the heroine and let you enjoy the sigh-worthy kiss when her deputy comes to her rescue. Not that she needs a lot of help! Be warned, there are lots of sexy bits in this story. I just can’t help myself when it comes to cowboys. 🙂

Lawless

Lawless

Come on, baby. Break a few rules…

When a Texas deputy’s motorcycle club trashes a bar with him leading the brawl, the sheriff decides his punishment will be serving as the bouncer/enforcer for the pretty owner while she runs a booth serving bikers during a weekend-long motorcycle club convention.

Get your copy here!

For a chance to win your choice of one of these Cowboys
on the Edge stories, answer me this!

Do you love cowboys who are also firefighters and lawmen?

Wet Down Controlled Burn Cain's Law Flashpoint

(Click on a cover if you’d like to learn more!)

Cheryl St.John: Take a Bite Out of Self-Doubt
Wednesday, October 7th, 2020

Along our writing journeys, it’s not uncommon for writers to struggle with confidence. One of the things we can do to build confidence is to recognize and overcome self-defeating behaviors, like negative self-talk. Negative thinking can be detrimental to our performance, make us doubt ourselves, and inhibit our creativity.

We all wonder if we have the stuff it takes. As beginners, we wonder if we have an inkling of talent. Once our talent is validated by other writers and readers, we still wonder if it’s good enough, if we have what it takes. It’s good to acknowledge that we don’t know it all and to have a desire to learn and grow, but doubt can hold us back. We shoot ourselves in the foot by creating and feeding feelings of inadequacy.

Being unprepared can leave us feeling inadequate, so reading, attending workshops, and staying informed on the craft of writing and the market is another way to help us feel prepared. When positive thinking is paired with common sense, we can stay open to possibilities.

Confidence can be built by setting and achieving goals, so it’s pretty important how we choose to set goals and measure them. Short term and long terms goals should be realistic and achievable. Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting a goal like, “I will be published by this time next year.” Unless you’re independently publishing, a goal like that is out of your control, and the result will leave you feeling helpless or like a failure. Set goals with smaller steps. A long-term goal might be to produce a polished product for submission with the next ten months. Then set short-term goals to make it happen: Two new pages a day or two hours of writing a day, for example. Perhaps take an online class or find a critique partner.

“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” – William Shakespeare

Most of us were raised in a competitive and comparative environment, where our achievements were profiled and graphed into percentiles; where we were matched up against our peers as a gauge to see how we were doing. It’s no wonder so many of us have self-esteem issues and doubts about our abilities. Thank goodness teachers, counselors and parents have learned to work in teams to choose learning methods suitable for children of all capabilities. Students are treated as individuals and encouraged to learn at their own speed and in the manner best suited for them.

Sometimes, we make mistakes. Sometimes, a project crashes and burns. Sometimes, we have to do something wrong before we figure out how to do it right. And that’s okay—as long as we’re moving forward.

You have to be willing to make mistakes.

I know writers who never get started because they’re always planning, plotting, and talking about the book instead of putting words on pages. Know anyone like that? There are writing students (not actually writers yet) who read every book on the craft and attend all the workshops and conferences and ask questions and take notes and plan, plan, plan.

It’s a good thing to be teachable and eager to learn, but you can’t learn to write until you put words on paper. The people who don’t get that far want everything to be perfect before it gets on the page – or they want it to come out perfect on the first try, so they wait until they’re good enough. Guess what? Ain‘t gonna happen.

You have to be willing to make mistakes. You have to be willing to write badly in order to learn to write well. Ask yourself: What’s the worst that could happen?

“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.”  – Peter T. McIntyre

I’ve been a worship leader for quite a few years, and I always say to my team of singers, “If you’re going to make a mistake, make it with confidence, and no one will know you didn’t intend it that way.” I have been known to sing the wrong notes or words, but I sing them with such authority that everyone follows along. Confidence grows with practice and with maturity.

I wrote a how-to-write book. It was a pretty big deal. Who was I to write a book that would be marketed beside admired and credible instructors? It was a lofty goal to write an instructional book, but I’d been leading workshops and teaching online classes for years, and I had a lot of encouragement from other writers, which built my confidence in my ability. I always ask myself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Writing this type of book was something I’d thought about for a long time. It was as big of a step as writing or submitting my first book. My long-term goal was to submit it for publication. My short-term goals involved gathering my notes and thoughts, preparing the manuscript, and getting feedback.

Imagine my delight when the publisher I had dreamed of made an offer. The process was so different from my other publishing experiences that it was a stretch. The editor of Writing With Emotion, Tension and Conflict told me I should be proud of this project. And I am. I did something I had only dreamed of doing.

I have high hopes for the future generations of students and young adults receiving recognition for intrinsic value. We should all know that our value lies inside of us, not in our performance.

Some things just can’t be measured. What makes one book better than the next or one writer better than another? Only perspective. Only the reader, when you get right down to it. Because story-telling can be so subjective, I might enjoy a book you can’t finish, and a story I think is drivel could land on your keeper shelf.

No one can tell you whether or not you’re going to sell a book, publish fifty more or be a success. Another writer can read your work and assure you it’s good, but that’s not a guarantee. There are no guarantees when you start writing, and that can get frustrating.

As much as we’d love for there to be, there’s no writer’s crystal ball to foretell the future.

Take a man with a desire to run a hundred-meter race. He buys a pair of Nikes, goes out and gives running a shot, but he doesn’t do very well. Why not? He didn’t practice! He didn’t study how other runners achieve endurance through diet and exercise. He doesn’t know how good he really is until he’s trained by learning all he can, eating properly for energy and muscle and all that—and after he’s ready, after he’s prepared, by stretching to limber up and then running.

Then running again and again and again until he’s fast and he’s confident that he’s fast, and he’s ready to compete.

In many ways submitting a book is a lot like that. Your manuscript will be compared to all the others that cross an editor’s desk. It will be scrutinized for its ability to make the publishing house money in the marketplace—bottom line in this business. The only way you can have the confidence to know you’re submitting something with a chance of making it past that test is to learn your craft and practice, practice, practice. Work at writing and work at it until you get better, until you hit your personal stride. Then share it and get feedback from people you trust.

So how can you grow your confidence?

Confidence is gained by successfully completing a task and recognizing the accomplishment—repeatedly. By acknowledging a success, your brain processes, “I can do this again.”

We can’t nurture confidence if we don’t recognize or even appreciate what we’ve done. Don’t ever demean an accomplishment by saying or thinking, “I was just lucky” or “Anyone could have done it.”

Don’t look at a project as too large. Break it down into steps and accomplish them one at a time. If it’s helpful, record your page/time goals and accomplishments in your planner. Check them off as you reach and overtake each one. It’s like that joke, “How do you eat an elephant?”

One bite at a time.

Celebrate each success along the way.

Have a chapter one achievement award party or treat yourself to something special for milestones reached. Give yourself fun stickers or hearts on your calendar—something visual to note progress.

Learn from your mistakes. This might sound simple, but if one method didn’t work, try a different one. You can’t expect a different result from the same behavior.

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz

 Confidence is conditioned behavior.

Many years ago, a study was done at the University of Wisconsin. A scientist tied a mouse’s front feet together and placed the animal into the cage of another mouse. The mouse whose cage was being trespassed easily beat up the mouse with its feet tied. After that happened several times, the scientist put mice without tied feet into the cage. The mouse who’d won repeatedly was so confident by then that it took on and defeated mice even larger than itself. Under ordinary circumstances, that mouse would have run when it saw a larger opponent, but it had been conditioned until it believed it couldn’t lose. And it didn’t.

Condition yourself.

Congratulate yourself.

Celebrate your successes.

Sure, sometimes self-doubt is much deeper, it’s inadequacies we’ve carried with us from childhood and relationships and past hurts and experiences. But there’s help for those things, too, in recognizing it and getting help if need be and working on it. You’re a valuable person. You’re worth it. You deserve to give yourself the gift of improving yourself and reaching for your dream.

“If you want confidence, act as if you already have it.”  – William James

Whisper My Name

Ripped from the headlines…

Laurel Whitaker has spent her entire life burying her infamous past and becoming a normal person.

Joe Cavanaugh suspects she’s in trouble. His job demands honesty, and it’s his nature is to protect.

Will Laurel’s truth be her undoing…or his?

BUY LINK: https://amzn.to/3hl5a5g

About the Author

Cheryl is the author of more than fifty books, both historical and contemporary. Her stories have earned numerous RITA nominations, Romantic Times awards and are published in over a dozen languages. One thing all reviewers and readers agree on regarding Cheryl’s work is the degree of emotion and believability. In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real-life situations.”

Amazon and Goodreads reviews show her popularity with readers.

With a 4.9 star rating on amazon, Cheryl’s bestselling non-fiction books, Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict and Write Smart, Write Happy by Writers Digest Books are available in print and digital.