Using Your Hometown As Setting

First, a big thank you to Delilah for having me here. I’m Lynn Crain and I love to talk about my hometown. Both of them.

I’m sure that has you curious but first a little background. My home is a small town in southern Nevada. It’s one of those artsy places that gets really hot in the summer. I’ve lived there since I was a kid and never thought I’d leave for any reason. Sure, I’d been begging my husband for years to take me to a place that had seasons. I was tired of just having two: hot and cold. I kid you not. There is very little time where the climate is beautiful where I live.

There are very hot southwest summers where temperature soars to over a hundred on any given day. In the winter the wind can chill you to your bones. It seems that there is a month where spring and fall should be when it’s absolutely beautiful but not much more than that. Yet in the winter it is a mecca for older folks who no longer like living in harsher climates.

Yet, it is a wonderful place to set a series. And I have but it’s on a back burner for the moment. Why? Because in May of 2011, I got my wish to move somewhere that has four seasons. Count them. Spring, summer, fall and winter. There’s snow on the ground at least some of the time. The place gets barren and I get to see the spring bringing forth life after the cold winter. The summer has rain and while it is hot, it’s a different hot. Fall is a congruence of color that I can watch outside my window. What girl could ask for more? It was what I wished for…right?

Well, sort of, as I really wanted to stay closer to home. We moved to the interesting city of Vienna, Austria. The move was hard on me to say the least. I had to get used to a different language, a different lifestyle and living in a flat. I had to get used to a husband who traveled a lot and being alone a lot.

At first, I sulked. I didn’t like it here and I would tell anyone who would listen. The people are stoic and sometimes rude here. I got a dog and people started noticing me suddenly. There was weirdness all around and I was flustered and frustrated by my new life. So I did what any red-blooded American writer would do…I started a series about my new hometown…as a way of self-preservation. I figured if I learned more about my new home, it would become easier to live here. And it has in many ways.

Still, there are some rules when using your own hometown as a place to set a novel or even a series. Here are a few guidelines to help you on your way:

Decide if you’re writing a stand-alone novel or a series of books.

This will help you in planning your strategy for plotting and writing. If it’s a stand-alone book, there’s usually no problem as you continue to work it like you would any other story. With a series, especially in romance, you need to have something that links them be it characters or place. In my case, I’ve chosen Vienna as the basis for a short series of romance books. Romance books are unique as far as series goes as they don’t necessarily follow the same characters throughout the series. Usually, the next book is about a new couple. Again, that couple or situation or setting needs to be linked to the first book in the series in a manner that will be repeated through the entire series. Also, decide on the series title if you can at this stage. Most of the time, I know what the series will be called before I finish the first book. The series set in Nevada is called the Nevada Night series whereas the books set here in Vienna are all part of the A Taste of Vienna series because all of them take place in or very close to the city.

One thing to note, science fiction and fantasy series are usually about the same characters with the addition of new characters to make the story fresh. Many involve a quest or a search for something that the characters need or want to make life pleasant. Many are called to the quest not because they want to be but because of circumstance. This is what makes these genres very different from romance as far as series goes.

Do your research even though you know about the place you live in.

There is nothing I hate worse than to see a series set in Las Vegas where they get nothing right. I’ve lived in that area for over 40 years and some things remain the same after all this time. If you are going to use real places and real historical people, make sure you get them correct. I remember reading a book about Vegas where the person was describing the Strip and they had every hotel on the wrong side of the road. I did this for Vienna as well. I did a lot of historical research and current research into customs, how people live and what they do. Yet, I wrote the first story from the perspective of an American experiencing it for the first time. Why? I wanted to get that awe and wonder factor in my character. Sure, some of it is opinion but a lot of it was based upon actual experiences from the first year of living in the city. I used the Christkindlemarkts and the Adventmarkts because they were some of the things I love about the city during the holiday season. I collaborated with native Austrians to get the feel and the setting right. There will always be something you don’t know about where you live. It’s those obscure little facts that readers love. Use them to your advantage.

Define your characters.

Whether doing a single book or a series, whether using your hometown as a setting or not, you have to know your characters. When I wrote the series about southern Nevada, I wrote about what I knew and have a very unique character. She is an off-road racer in a field dominated by men. I could do this because I had a brother and a son who were well-known in their class of off-road racing. They were willing to let me in on secrets and other aspects of racing that only insiders knew.

When I started my series in Vienna, I knew the setup was completely different. I knew I wanted at least one of the main characters in each book to be American, the others were up for grabs. In the first book, A Viennese Christmas, they are both Americans who work for the UN. In the second book, to be released in November, the heroine is American and the hero is Greek. This city has a plethora of foreigners who live and work here. I have to do my research very carefully because I don’t necessarily have an insider’s view but again, I have an American view of someone living here.

Find inspiration.

Sure, sometimes it’s hard to find inspiration if you’ve been in the same town for 40 years. But take a good look at where you live. Does it give off the small town vibe? Mine does. It’s a small town who touts the fact that gambling is illegal inside its city limits. Only town in Nevada to have that moniker. That in itself makes my hometown unique. It also has a renaissance faire, an art show called Art in the Park that has an estimated 50k a year visiting, is the town that built Hoover Dam and a host of other interesting tidbits. All this in a town of only fifteen thousand people.

In Vienna, all I have to do is to look out my office window and think about how it was here a couple hundred years ago. This place oozes history from Roman times to today. I love going to Carnuntum, the site of a Roman gladiator school to rival Rome. I love going to the palaces and the museums and all the other places close to this city of nearly two million. Yet, things happen here that don’t happen elsewhere in the world. It’s a UN city with lots of dignitaries running around, it’s a city known for music, has a palace to rival Versailles and has taken a pact of neutrality. It is prime fodder for a series, be it mine or someone else’s, but I plan on giving it a shot.

Brainstorm with your critique group or writing partner or even good friends.

Once you have some of the basics down like setting and characters, do some plot planning before you start to write. This is easiest done in a brainstorming session with your writing buddies or whoever supports you while you write. I usually put the basics down and maybe a chapter or two then present it to my group and ask if they think this will even work. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes a maybe and sometimes a no way. I get honest and great feedback from my group, which allows me to make a decision and move forward, no matter what the decision. After all, a writer needs to write.

Start writing.

This is above and beyond the general proposal mentioned in number six. This is where you plant your butt to the chair and put in the time to get out a good story. I say good because it’s rare that someone will have an excellent first draft. The idea is to get it down on paper, or in most of our cases, on-screen and then start the finessing part of making it great. I agree 100% with Nora Roberts when she says, and this is me paraphrasing it, to get your story down on paper first and worry about the rest later.

Submission.

Once your book is complete and you’ve dotted all your i’s and crossed all your t’s, check it one more time to make sure your setting is as correct as possible. Again, readers will let you know if something doesn’t sound right or if they know it to be absolutely wrong.

Whether this book is for submission to a traditional publishers, large or small, or even if you’re going to self-publish, you want it to be the best it can be. Either way, you will have one more chance to verify facts and again, do so just to be sure. It never hurts.

Then start writing that next book because the faster you get the next one out, the better.

Those are my basic guidelines for using your hometown as the setting for your next novel. Hopefully, I’ve helped some of you…and don’t hesitate to email if you have any questions…good luck with your story!

Lynn

A Viennese Christmas

A Taste of Vienna Book 1

Amanda Kranz, alone in Vienna, Austria at Christmas, meets sexy, historian Henry Jager, who convinces her true love is real and within her grasp. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hero Makes the Book

In my opinion the hero makes the book, maybe because I’m a chick (shrugs). I don’t think I’m alone when I say this, but when I read a story, I like to imagine myself in the heroine’s place and the hero is pining after me. Because of this, the hero has to be someone that I’m attracted too. Someone that I could see myself with given whatever situation the story is set in. It doesn’t matter, where the setting may be; outer space, a small town or a fictional city, I am there and he is all over me like white on rice.

This is the very reason that I like my hero’s to be strong willed, muscular and a little on the cocky side (snort). A little arrogance is always helpful. The more the female plays hard to get, the more he makes his intentions clear—he will have her and she can’t do a thing about it (shudders).

I’ve read stories where the hero is full of emotions and inner turmoil. Those stories really aren’t for me. A hero that cries at the drop of a hat or starts having all that chicky-inner dialogue “Does she like me?” and I put the book down. Now on the other hand if a hero can have the heroine wanting to drop her panties at the first hello, well, then we have a story worth reading.

In my science fiction series, Loving Dangerously, I created a race of humanoid aliens where the males are arrogant, cocky and used to getting what they want. They also have the warrior bodies to make any female melt—no matter how much she tries to resist (because as we all know, resistance is futile). I’m not saying my heroes are always perfect (what heroes are?), they are filled with imperfections and should learn to put their foot in their mouths sooner rather than later, in order to keep them from saying anything insensitive, but usually my heroines can forgive them (maybe because they’re drooling and going goo-goo-ga-ga over rippling muscles).

I love my heroes and hope you enjoy them too!

King Taio Xochis of Sonis ~ Taio is disgusted with the idea of owning a slave—until now. From the moment he sees her, he knows Eva is his for the taking. Torn between lust and duty, Taio knows nothing will stop him from protecting his little warrior.
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Dangerously-Mine-ebook/dp/B00AO5CWSY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355511533&sr=1-1&keywords=dangerously+mine

Captain Kane Epps ~ Kane Epps divides his life into two distinct parts—before the alien invasion and after. Before the invasion, he had a pregnant wife and a high-powered job. After the invasion, he’s left with only himself and his hatred for all things alien. He channels his bitterness by captaining a vessel of renegade humans—space pirates who don’t think twice about taking what they  need.
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Dangerously-Yours-Loving-ebook/dp/B00CZBHA4Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369491547&sr=1-2&keywords=dangerously+Yours

And coming October 9^th, Rasha, Captain of the Sonis Royal Guards ~ Rasha, Captain of the Sonis Royal Guard, is a warrior through and through. He’s huge, sinfully sexy and could have any woman on Sonis—but the woman he wants is Jess. He’s very much an alien and Jess knows she should hate him or at least be wary, but whenever he’s around, she loses control. She tells herself it’s only sex—amazing, mind-blowing sex like nothing else she’s ever experienced—but there’s something about Rasha that shakes her soul. The feel of his skin against hers, the look in his eyes as he touches her—they make her want to believe it’s possible to find love and begin again.
Buy link: https://www.ellorascave.com/dangerously-hers.html

About me:
A. M. Griffin is a wife who rarely cooks, mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She’s a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.

Now available from Ellora’s Cave

You can find out what else I’m working on by visiting my website: https://www.amgriffinbooks.com

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Describing What Didn’t Exist

Hi, I’m Jill Hughey and I write a historical romance series set after Charlemagne’s death, so I am WAY back there in the 830s. One of the challenges of writing in the medieval period is that there were inventions and materials that we take for granted that didn’t exist, and objects that we consider mundane or disposable that were very important and special in the middle ages.

When you picture a saddle, it includes stirrups, right? I mean, how are you going to get on the horse if there are no stirrups? Good question. Imagine my surprise when, studying medieval horseback riding, I learned that some genius invented the stirrup AFTER the time period I write in. I never figured out how to show a reader that the saddle didn’t have stirrups. How would you do that, after all, without using the word “stirrup” and then completely jarring the reader right out of the story by explaining that there wasn’t one?

In my first book, Unbidden, I decided to use the lack to my advantage by making the heroine’s ability to mount a horse important. She has always been aware enough of her surroundings to make sure she has something to use as a mounting block nearby. When she meets the hero and he consistently helps her mount her horse she gets a little complacent, resulting in a situation where she needs a log or rock to get herself on her own horse, can’t find one, and is endangered because of it. She rails at him that this kind of dependence is exactly what she is trying to avoid.

Also absent in medieval times is an important part of most historical homes: fireplaces. In the middle ages, most homes had one central fire pit in the main room of the house and a hole in the roof to vent the smoke. Not exactly conducive to a private love scene on a rug in the bedroom. So, in my second book, Redeemed, I make that hearth an important place in the household my heroine is trying to set to rights and define her position in. When she first arrives, she notes that the fire seems to be the only thing functioning properly in the entire place.

Simple objects like needles were made from whatever materials were available. Peasants would use bone or thorn. Only wealthy people bought brass needles. In my third book, Vain, the heroine is a tailor — a member of the merchant class — who marries an aristocrat. She does not want to ask him for spending money, her need for it hasn’t occurred to him, and eventually she can’t afford to buy needles at the market. Of course, one of his friend’s wives notices and alerts him to the oversight, which creates the opportunity for him to start the conversation about money and home management that they really need to have.

Romance treads a fine line within the medieval period. After all, romance has to be romantic at some level, but, back then, existence for all but the very wealthiest was hard and dirty and not very glamorous. The heroine in the fourth story, Little Witch: Historical Romance Novella, yearns to escape her mundane life of farming and gathering. She leaves her family home, knowing she needs a life with more variety, more people, more everything!

I hope you’ll give my Evolution Series a try. Unbidden is free at most ebook vendors. I also have a book bundle that includes the first three novels plus a bonus short story. The links for it are included below. Thank you for the opportunity to visit here, Delilah!

Evolution Series Bundle buy links:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Apple/iTunes

If you’d like to keep up with Jill Hughey, she blogs at https://jillhughey.blogspot.com, is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jillhugheyromance, and tweets @jillhughey.

I’m very happy to be here on Delilah’s blog today.

Where Do Ideas Come From?

As a writer, I get this question a lot.   And it’s a hard one for me to answer, because I get my ideas come from my characters..

I start developing my characters first, then I play the what if and why game with myself and the characters.

For example: More Than One Night —I have the heroine out celebrating her thirty birthday with her girl friends.  Then I decided, what happens if I drop  the hero in at the same bar and my heroine’s rules are “No dating men.”  And then he asks her to dance, they flirt and by the end of the night they want nothing more than to spend the night together.

From there I went— What if:

The heroine leaves the next morning without saying good-bye. What would happen?

Would the hero track her down?  If he did, how would she react?  What happens after that?  Why is the hero interested in her?  How do her friends push her into acting out of character?

The first scene practically wrote itself and the book just flowed from there.

Another example is from my story in an anthology: Silver Screen Dom.

The original characters for this story, decided they needed their own longer story which left me wondering who the heck I was going to use.  A secondary character popped up his head—Michael.

That was all I knew, his name.  So I started delving into his character.

What if:

I go back to before Michael got this movie role?

What happened for him to get the role?

Does he have a leading lady in his life?

What is she like?

Answers flew at me faster than I could write, and the story was born.

As you can see, the what if and the why, play a big part in my ideas.   It helps me determine the conflicts, the motivation and the characters for the book.

I’ve heard it say ideas can be found anywhere, but for me I being by creating my characters, then putting them in a situation that is going to do nothing but cause them trouble.

Bartender Beth Grant has sworn off men after yet another failed relationship, but when a friend dares her to dance with a handsome stranger, she’s tempted by the fantasy.  Jake turns out to be dashing, charming and very rich, everything Beth avoids.  But she can’t resist, and one dance turns into an evening of exquisite passion.  Beth vows not to repeat a night like this, despite liking the mysterious Jake – a lot.

Successful business owner Jake Masters knows he’s met his dream girl the minute he lays eyes on Beth across the crowded dance floor.  But the next morning she disappears and all he has is her first name.  Jake vows to go to any length to get more than one night with Beth, and when he discovers she has a jaded past, he puts his heart and soul at risk to prove he’s the one.

Available at Amazon

Available at all other e-book retailers on Sept. 20th.

Michael Levin is a rising Hollywood start up for a career-making role.  The pressure is intense, but thankfully the leading lady in his life, Kelsey Pierce, knows just how to wield the whip and ease his tension.  However, when his potential co-star schemes to take Kelsey’s place in his off-screen life, Michael has to switch to Master mode, a role he’s more than comfortable with, and assume command.

Can Michael and Kelsey’s relationship withstand the strain, or will they survive the games and find long-lasting love?

Book will be available Sept. 24th at Amazon, your favorite e-retailer or at Sybarite Seductions.

On Co-Authoring

Co-authoring is something that I’d vaguely thought about, but never really in any great detail. That is, until, towards the back end of 2012, my good friend and fellow writer Lily Harlem suggested co-authoring something together. I explained I had a few projects on, so I couldn’t start right away, but I would definitely be interested. She was busy too, so we said we’d start in the early part of 2013, when all the Christmas and New Year festivities were over and done with, and life was back to normal.

The writing bug bit Lily, however, and in December she sent me a chapter that had just come to her, so she’d written it down. I managed to read it quickly, but knew I still wouldn’t be able to do anything with it until January. I was eager to try out co-authoring, but other commitments had to take priority.

Then 2013 arrived. I’d cleared my commitments and was free to start something new – hurrah! I read the chapter again and then bombarded Lily with a million and one questions about the process of co-authoring, how she thought it would work, our intended publisher, and so on. I was very lucky in that a) Lily had co-authored many times before so knew how it worked b) she was very, very patient with me and answered all my questions c) that our writing styles are quite similar, so that although we wrote from separate character viewpoints, our respective sections would still fit together well and d) we know each other well enough to give constructive and honest feedback that will be truly helpful, rather than trying to sugar coat anything for the sake of being nice.

And so we began. The chapter Lily had written back in December was from the female perspective and I was happy to write from the male perspective. I’ve done it many times before and enjoy it very much. We’d already agreed that if things didn’t work out, we wouldn’t worry too much about it, so I opened the document and began to write without thinking too hard. We had no plan, no idea what on earth the book was going to be about, really, just that it would be an erotic romance. Despite this, the words came. Fast.

After writing a chapter of roughly the same length as Lily’s, I skim read it and sent it back to her. And thus the mad email exchange began. Prior to this project I’d only written one full-length novel by myself and found it a learning curve, albeit it a fun and very satisfying project, but often I had to force myself to carry on and not procrastinate. With this book, however, it was totally different. It was full of surprises – because we hadn’t planned it, the chapters we sent back to one another were a total surprise, and we both had to think on our feet to work out where the plot would go next. We’d agreed not to rush one another for chapters as we both had other things on, too, and although we didn’t pressure one another, we still produced the words at lightning speed (for me, anyway!). I grew eager to read Lily’s next chapter, to see where the characters – which I’d quickly grown very fond of – would go next, what they would do. There was very, very little procrastination! None, really. Just lots of use of Google Street View.

The only thing we’d really planned was that the book would be longer than 50,000 words – to make it novel length. We did discuss how it would end, but never made a set decision, we just decided to keep writing and hope it came to a natural conclusion. We agreed that because Lily had written the first chapter, that I would write the last. That was the only time throughout the project that I felt pressure – and it was from myself, not my co-author. I had to write the last chapter, therefore the ending, therefore it had to be good, and satisfying! I put my fingers to the keys of my laptop and hoped that what came out would be good. When I finished the final chapter I read it again and made tweaks, then decided that no benefit would come of me staring at it – so I sent it to Lily. And waited with bated breath for her reply. Read the rest of this entry »

Friday the 13 – scary or just like any other day?

My pen name was supposed to be blogging today about her erotic paranormal short story collection but I muscled in because it’s Friday the 13th! A day synonymous with horror, especially the series of movies by the same name, and my current release is a horror short story.

I love Friday the 13th. Weird, I know, since most people stay away from anything with 13 in it. But I was born on the 13th. And I do love horror movies. And when the 13th happens on a Friday I want to cozy up on the sofa with my fiancé, with a big bowl of popcorn, the lights turned off so the only light is the flickering of the images on the TV, and watch a few of the Friday the 13th movies. I loved the first one. Really liked the second one too. They were still sort of fresh back then. And slightly (slightly) plausible. The killer in both had a believable motive for killing over-sexed camp counselors. With each sequel they just got ridiculous though. But still, I watched them. Because if there’s something better than a really good horror movie, it’s a really bad horror movie. 

Although I’m against remakes (there are too many brilliant new screenwriters trying to break in to be reusing old material) I did watch the remake of Friday the 13th. And no it wasn’t just because Jared Padalecki was in it. Okay, well maybe it was a little because of that.  😀  But I did want to see how they redid the franchise and if they could breathe some new life into the movies. I was disappointed. Of course if a franchise is working, Hollywood will keep making movies so eventually there will be a Friday the 13th Part 13. Do I think it will be horrible? Yes. Will I watch it anyway? Of course. 🙂

What about you? Do you like horror movies? Will you be watching any of the Friday the 13th movies tonight?

My current release isn’t a Friday the 13th wannabe but it is about a group of friends who end up in the wrong place and end up fighting for their lives.

Stay away from the mirrors

A road trip without a plan sounded like a good idea when Lena and her friends hit the road. A mini vacation and support for Steve, recently dumped, have the friends travelling through small towns and back roads. After hours of driving in the heat in a cramped car they’re all ready for something to eat and a good night’s rest.

Reflections Inn looks perfect for the group of friends. Though a little run down, it hides a supernatural horror.

Don’t read the curse

Everything looks normal when they check in, except an old woman yelling about a curse. Intrigued, some of the friends decide to investigate. Some stay behind and learn about the curse first hand.

Run

A curse that replaces people with their repressed alter egos forces the friends to fight for their lives. And they realize they didn’t know each other as well as they thought.

Buy Link:

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Amazon Canada

Check out my website: https://www.cindycarroll.com
Follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CindyPCarroll
Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCindyCarroll
Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.cindycarroll.com/blog/newsletter

About Cindy: Cindy Carroll is a member of Sisters in Crime and a graduate of Hal Croasmun’s screenwriting ProSeries. Her interviews with writers of CSI and Flashpoint appeared in The Rewrit, the Scriptscene newsletter, the screenwriting Chapter of RWA. She writes screenplays, thrillers, and paranormals, occasionally exploring an erotic twist. A background in banking and IT doesn’t allow much in the way of excitement so she turns to writing stories that are a little dark and usually have a dead body. She lives in Ontario, Canada with her fiancé and three cats. When she’s not writing you can usually find her painting landscapes in oil or trying space paintings with spray paint.

Inspiration in the Details

Before setting down to get my blog on, I took a quick Q&A on my Facebook page.  Turns out people were curious about two things.  My obvious doggy love and where my inspiration comes from.

Since I aim to please, I thought we’d discuss both topics.  In my debut release, Morning Light, we meet Bo.  A yellow Labrador our heroine Tennyson has rescued.  When I sit down with a character, I like to develop them into someone I’d actually be friends with.  All of my favorite heroes and heroines are people I’d actually like to know, and I use this rule of thumb when writing them as well.  Also, if Jim Butcher is reading this, I’d really like to meet Harry Dresden—just sayin’.

Tenn is a likeable chick; she’s downright awesome, and I certainly didn’t need to work hard to make her more likeable.  She was a fully formed heroine from the moment she popped into my head.  More importantly Tenn has a heart of gold, she’s certainly the type of woman that would feed and rescue an abandoned dog.

When Bo arrived on the page, I knew Tenn would take him in and love and pamper him.  Abandoned and neglected pets are my weak spot.  Ask my husband, he’ll tell you all about how I’m a total sucker for a needy animal.  He likes to grumble, but when it comes down to it he’s the one on the floor wrestling and rough housing with them.  He’s all bluster.  With four dogs ranging in size from one hundred ten pounds all the way down to eleven, he’s quite the expert at my soft spot.

When we bought our home, many moons ago, it was a matter of a few measly days before I came home with my very own yellow Lab mix.  No furniture to speak of, freshly painted walls, and a brand new puppy.  We named him Truman and he’s still kicking, just a bit slower than he used to in those early days.  He’s a rock star.  And I’m totally biased.

But there’ll be a day he’s not with us and I’ll be a heartbroken disaster.  So, when the time came to write a big oaf of a Lab into my very first book, it only made sense that Truman would be my inspiration.  I mean, really, it wasn’t even a conscious decision.  He’s just that awesome.

I loved Bo so much in the first book that he’s making quite the appearance in the second in the series.  I also have it on good authority that he’ll be around in book three.

And you can expect to see appearances from my other three heathens some day too.  With a chocolate Lab mix that looks like she’s part brown bear-beaver, a Husky mix that outweighs every other dog in the house, and a little runt Doxie that’s all big dog attitude, I’ll never run out of inspiration for fun dog characters.

We might be maxed out on rescues at our house, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a good pet story.  Leave a comment telling me all about your pet(s) and their personalities and I’ll give away one free ebook of Morning Light to a lucky reader!  Contest will end September 14^th at midnight and the winner will be randomly chosen and announced the next day.

You can find me at: www.coracade.com or join me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/CoraCade.

*****

His toughest battle is ahead—the battle for one woman’s heart.

A Day of Pleasure, Book 1

During Noah Harper’s ten years as an Army Ranger, Tennyson Sharpe’s letters were his lifeline. With each mail call, the bright and vibrant girl of his youth slowly became the woman of his dreams.

Now he’s home—and he’s in hell. The problem? Tenn is his little brother’s best friend. Claiming her risks all kinds of collateral damage.

Tenn is getting nervous. Since Noah came home, they’ve been circling each other, neither willing to risk the status quo. It’s time to kick things up a notch and make a play for the man she’s loved since she was sixteen—before someone else does.

Dressing to impress works better than she could have dreamed. After a scorching interlude leads to a steamy morning wrapped in each other’s arms, reality comes crashing down. Shining a devastating light on Tenn’s deepest fears…and forcing Noah into scramble mode to convince her forever was always on his mind.

Warning:  This book contains some serious foreplay in the great outdoors; stand-up sex with a hot, stand-up guy; and a wounded Army Ranger who’s determined to leave no heart behind—especially the one belonging to the girl of his dreams.