Last week…

• I finished writing, formatted, and uploaded Malcolm to KDP! Yippee! Can’t wait for you to read it!
• I worked on two editing projects for two other authors. I’m not nearly done with either!
• I only read a handful of the stories submitted for my next anthology, Secret Identities.

This next week looks insane for work and play!

• Malcolm releases on Tuesday! I have to promo it—ads, blog, newsletter. That’s all work you don’t see!
• I must write the opening chapters of my next book, What Happens in Bozeman…  
• I need to complete two editing jobs!
• I’d like to read another five to ten stories for my next anthology, Secret Identities.

That’s enough, right? Ha! I also have Art Guild responsibilities, like getting the word out about our membership drive, the drop-off for a special exhibit we’re sponsoring at the center, and I have a class to teach on working with Gelli plates on Thursday! So, yes, I have a crazy-busy week ahead of me.

Open Contests

1. Happy Groundhog Day! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Tell me what’s happening here… — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. My Perfect Day (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
4. Word Search: Random Malcolm Things & an Excerpt! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Send a Card to a Friend Day! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a hand painted card!
6. Flashback: Bad Moon Rising (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Coming Next Tuesday — Pre-order Malcolm Now! (Contest & Excerpt) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Getting ready for Valentine’s Day! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Katherine Horvath!
*~*~*

I hate running up to a deadline and losing sleep over whether I’ll get to “The End” of a book on time, but it happens more often than I’d like. I finished yesterday! Not today, so I actually had a day to spare. That’s only because I looked at today’s forecast and saw a bunch of rain and thunderstorms heading our way, and I was worried about there being a power outage in the middle of my run to the finish line! There’s nothing like adrenaline to fuel the race to the finish. 🙂

Anyway, I made it. The book is locked in. If you pre-order the bitch, er, book, you’ll have it sometime late Monday night.

I love my bounty hunters in Dead Horse, Montana. I’m not sure, but Malcolm may be the last unless I miss my cast of characters so much that I have to revisit them. That could definitely happen. For sure, we’ll see them now and then popping in to help out at the new MBH office in West Yellowstone. I like my MONTANA bounty hunters but after Yellowstone…? I may have to rebrand and set up an office in Wyoming or Texas or somewhere else I can build myself a crazy little town like Dead Horse. It’s been a ride. The one bright spot is that I do have my We Are Dead Horse, MT series to satisfy my need to see more of Nadine (my crotchety waitress in the Dead Man Walk-in Diner).

You can “meet” the hero, Malcolm, here.  It’s a fun excerpt at the opening of the story. Below, I’ve included an excerpt that showcases my heroine, who’s also a bounty hunter. The book talks about the new office in Yellowstone that they’re getting ready to open. You also get hints about who might be hired to join them. Their first hire is someone who’s appeared in a couple of the Dead Horse stories.

Malcolm

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: DEAD HORSE, MT
Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

Two fiercely independent bounty hunters, newly hired by the Montana Bounty Hunters, must learn to trust each other’s abilities as they work together to bring in a dangerous skip.

Former SEAL Malcolm Winslow was looking for a change. He’s been bounty hunting on his own since leaving the teams and has missed the camaraderie of fellow warriors, so he accepts a job with the Montana Bounty Hunters. His first hunt takes a turn when the MBH team discovers that another lone hunter has found their target first. Not wanting to infringe, they stand by just in case their competition needs help.

Darleen Crockett has things well in hand. Sure, she’s alone, without a weapon (because where would she hide it in her skimpy outfit?), and the skip she’s determined to take down is one mean MF, but Darleen likes to ride that dangerous edge between victory and disaster. She’s an admitted adrenaline junkie.

When her skip attacks, she has things well in hand but is suddenly rescued by a rugged, tattooed man who makes her heart pitter-patter. What’s up with that? She’s quickly recruited by Malcolm’s agency and finds herself on the biggest hunt of her career. Denying her attraction to her temporary new partner isn’t possible when they spend so many hours alone, but what she doesn’t expect is finding something more with the equally footloose and independent Malcolm. Things get thorny between them when Malcolm can’t seem to get past the fact she’s a woman to trust that she can handle herself.

When the agency prepares to track an old adversary preparing to flee justice, Malcolm and Darleen are quickly folded into the team heading to Lander, Wyoming, to find their dangerous skip.

Pre-order your copy here!

 

Excerpt from Malcolm…

Our heroine, Darleen, is inside an isolated cabin with her target, his girlfriend, and the skip’s best friend, waiting for the right moment to take Cameron Kitchens into custody. She saw someone peek into the window and suspects another hunter is trying to scoop (steal) her skip…

“Where you goin’?” Cam growled.

“Too much beer,” she said, rubbing her belly. “Thought I’d use your bathroom.”

He grunted but sat back in his chair, his glare moving to Paulie.

She crossed the kitchen to the bedroom and beyond it to the bathroom. Once inside, she turned on the faucet to mask the sound of her sliding up the small window. Then she climbed on the toilet and went headfirst out of the window, breaking her fall with her hands. When she stood and shook leaves from her hair, she found herself staring into the dark, curious eyes of none other than Chase Kudrow. She’d have known him anywhere because she’d laughed herself silly at his and Cowboy’s antics whenever she’d had time to catch their cable TV show.

She groaned softly as he raised a single eyebrow.

“Our little hunter snuck out the window,” he whispered, no doubt signaling to the bearded man she’d seen in the window.

She leaned close to speak into his earpiece. “I snuck out because some knucklehead let himself be seen. I came out here to tell you guys to back off.”

Chase chuckled softly. “We’re just here in case you need us. Cameron Kitchens has a short temper and hard fists.”

“You think I can’t handle him?”

Chase looked her up and down. “Just where are you hiding your piece, sweetheart?”

“I’m heading to my car to get it now,” she said. “I’ll stash it close by.”

Chase bent, pushed up the leg of his jeans, then slid a small handgun from a holster he had strapped to his ankle. “You don’t have time now. How long do you think you have before he gets curious about why it’s taking you so long to pee?” Chase froze, tilted his head, and his eyes narrowed. “Malcolm says Kitchens just headed to the bedroom. You’re about to be busted.” His eyebrows rose. “You want our help?”

She grimaced. “Have your Malcolm go through the front door after you boost me back inside.”

He gave her a nod. “You hear that, Malcolm?” he said as he bent and cupped his hands together. When she stepped onto his laced fingers, he lifted her easily to the windowsill, and she climbed back inside, turned off the water, and stuffed the gun into the waistband of her shorts at her back.

When she swung open the door, Cam rushed her, one hand going to her throat and the other gripping her hip. “Why the hell are you really here?”

She wrinkled her nose and stretched her neck. “Let go, and I’ll tell you, asshole.”

Beyond the bathroom, a loud crash sounded from the living room, and heavy footsteps thudded inside. The cavalry had arrived, and none too soon. Still, she wasn’t going to let them get her skip. She might have to share the bounty, but Cameron Kitchens was hers.

With his hand tightening on her throat, her vision was narrowing. She reached behind her for the weapon tucked into her waistband, then shoved the nozzle against his side.

He froze for a moment, and his eyes narrowed to terrifying slits like he was pondering whether he could outlast her or whether she’d have the guts to pull the trigger.

But the pounding through the living room was getting louder and closer. He snarled, released her throat and hip, and raised his hands a second before a large, bearded man, Malcolm, she assumed, threw an arm around his neck and torso and dragged him into the bedroom.

She tried to tell him she already had it handled, but her throat wasn’t cooperating. She couldn’t get out more than a croak. So, she waved her handgun, or rather Chase’s, just so he’d know she hadn’t been defenseless.

Malcolm shook his head and took Cameron to the ground with a heavy whomp that shook the floorboards. Then he drove a fist into the man’s side. “You don’t choke ladies.”

“She ain’t a fucking lady,” Cam said, his voice tight and little breathless.

Darleen had to admit that seeing the big guy with his knee on Cameron’s ass after he’d flipped him to get his wrists into cuffs was a satisfying sight.

Contest

Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Let me know if you’ve read any of my Montana Bounty Hunter stories, and whether you’d like to read more stories set in West Yellowstone, Montana!

UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C!
*~*~*

I’m getting close to “The End” of Malcolm! Good thing, too. It releases next Tuesday! Since the story is on my mind constantly—I kind of live it in an alternate reality in my head—today’s Word Search puzzle is filled with random elements of the story.

Enjoy the puzzle and the excerpt from the story below! And if you leave a comment, you’ll be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Excerpt from Malcolm…

Malcolm Winslow knew he stood out in this crowd. How could he not? With his longish, uncombed hair, thick beard, and the tattoos displayed by the rolled-up sleeves of his plaid shirt, not to mention the fact he was armed and wore a Kevlar vest, he drew every eye the second he entered the fancy barn that was lit up like the Fourth of July.

Those closest to the open doors were the first to fall silent. Hands touched shoulders and then pointed toward him as he resolutely made his way toward the trellis constructed between horse stalls on either side of the wide space and strung with white lights and roses, where a couple in their wedding finery stood before a preacher.

A groomsman tapped the groom on the shoulder, and he tore his gaze away from his stunning bride to glance down the aisle Malcolm strode down.

The groom’s eyes widened, and he turned to his bride, dug something from his pocket, and then said, “Candy, here are my keys—run!”

The groom slapped keys on her palm, straightened his shoulders, and stepped in Malcolm’s path.

Malcolm gave a single shake of his head, smacked away the groom’s raised fists, then bent to ram his shoulder into the other man’s chest.

The groom flew backward as Malcolm picked up his pace and ran toward the smaller back door of the barn through which the bride had just escaped.

Outside in the dusky gloom, he caught a glimpse of bright white as the bride, Candy Bodine, almost Carmichael, climbed a corral fence. He was surprised at the number of people standing on either side of the door outside this end of the barn but didn’t have time to figure out why they were there because Candy had just jumped down from the fence to the other side, snagging her long train on a nail. She ran forward, but her train held fast, springing her backward and onto her butt on the dirt.

She rolled, tangling herself in petticoats and torn train, and got to her knees. She stared back at him as he jogged toward the fence, planted a hand on the cedar fencepost, and sailed sideways over the top. Yeah, his feet skidded a bit in horse poop when his boots hit the ground, but the bride wasn’t so pristine now either, kind of like her rap sheet.

This time, she’d failed to appear before the judge for a drunk driving/failure to yield at a stop sign/fleeing the scene set of charges. And if Malcolm had anything to say about it, she was not heading to the private airport where Daddy had a plane waiting to fly her to some resort vacation in the Caribbean. As soon as Malcolm snicked the cuffs on her wrists, she’d be spending what should’ve been the first night of her honeymoon inside the detention center in Bozeman.

No amount of crocodile tears was going to dissuade him from his purpose.

UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
*~*~*

Okay, so maybe I’m just sharing some eye candy today, but this looks pretty hot, right?

I found art for a little story I’m refurbishing that I don’t think more than a handful of people have ever read. My sister worked her cover magic to make it pretty. I’ll publish the story before the end of the month, maybe next week if I can manage to sit my butt in the chair long enough to do the work. It’s a time-travel tale. My hero and heroine head to ancient Scythia, which is thought to be the place where the legend of the Amazons originated. It’s fun. Short. A novelette—so longer than a short story, but shorter than what I normally write. Be looking for it if you want a fun, sexy, shorter read.

And just to remind you, I have two other stories in the works, too. Three actually, but until my sister loads the pre-order (it’s a Brotherhood Protectors story), I’m not going to talk about it, but I’ll have another lovely cover to share soon.

Here are the two coming your way in the next couple of months. Click on the covers if you want to put them on pre-order.

The kids are on their fourth day of “snow days” so they’ll be underfoot today. I rose early, not only to make sure the trash made it to the roadside, but to get a little work in before chaos resumes. We dodged the bullet with the kitchen pipes freezing. When we had a brief thaw, no water gushed from the walls. Thank God. The frozen pool is still a possible disaster that we have to wait to see if there’s damage. Next week, we’ll have a long enough thaw the ice floe on the top of the pool should melt entirely, then we can turn on the pump and see if disaster awaits.

I hope everyone here in the northern hemisphere is staying warm and toasty. We’ve lucked out with only a short three-hour power outage so far. I’m okay with wearing socks, a sweater, and thermal underwear for the drafts. Not a pretty picture, I assure you. 🙂

If you’re in the mood to chat, tell me 1) do you like the new cover? 2) And what does your weekend look like? I’m planning to stay hunkered down and maybe watch a movie with the family. 3) Any suggestions? Answer for a chance to win a FREE download of one of my books!

Does this not sound like the most delicious holiday ever? So, what if it’s obscure? We can make it a thing, right? If you’re not lucky enough to have your own wild man at home, find a story you can read or a movie you can watch to celebrate some hot, wild man. And if you’re not quite finding the man to scratch that itch, I have a suggestion (because, of course, I do 🙂 )…

Get your FREE copy today only!

Animal

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

A rough-around-the-edges bounty hunter takes a nature photographer on a wild ride.

Former SEAL, Russell “Animal” Hathcoat, retreated to a remote mountain cabin after leaving the Navy. Haunted by horrific images that replay in his nightmares of his last mission with his SEAL brothers, he intends to renovate the dilapidated cabin as penance and therapy, and to avoid rejoining the world around him. But then, someone who understands what he needs better than he does arrives to offer him a job.

Allie Travers loves the freedom and solitude of being a nature photographer and journalist—until the day she stares through her lens at a charging black bear. With her heart in her throat, she can only stand watching in horror, knowing she’ll never escape in time. But rescue comes in the form of a wild man who risks his life to frighten away the animal.

Once the danger is past, she’s told by his team of bounty hunters that she has more to fear than any animal in the woods. A felon is on the loose, and she has to accompany them to safety. Seeing an opportunity, Allie shadows the team as they hunt their prey deep in a national forest. Much to Animal’s chagrin, more than just his protective instincts are aroused by the pretty photojournalist.

Get your copy here!

UPDATE: The winner is…Diane Sallans!
*~*~*

December

 

1. I continued to work on Malcolm (Book #10 of Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT).
2. I completed 5 editing projects for other authors in December.
3. I didn’t write a lot in December, between the craft fair and getting ready for the holiday/having kids underfoot, but I don’t care. It was a fun month!

Health-related:

1. I have been concentrating on drinking more water, plus, I added drinking water mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar twice a day to improve my liver health. It’s weird, but after the first couple of times of drinking it while wrinkling my nose, I actually like it.
2. I’ve managed to keep my blood pressure down to 135-155, despite the holiday excesses.

Happiness-related: 

1. I finished some last items for the Christmas craft fair and participated in early December. It was so much fun!
2. Here are some examples of things I completed before the fair. And yes, I painted tags for potholder sets. 🙂

January

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete writing Malcolm, my next Montana Bounty Hunters book and publish it!
2. To begin work on What Happens in Bozeman, my next We are Dead Horse, MT, book!
3. To complete 4 editing projects in January!

For health related, I plan:

1. To start back on my Weight Watchers diet, because it’s time to get serious!
2. To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas) and my liver (apple cider vinegar, flax seeds, sunflower seeds).
3. To pay attention to my daily steps, trips up and down the stairs, and to incorporate some chair exercises and more walking.
4. To do more housework because my art room isn’t finished! Cleaning is exercise, too.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To participate in the Gel Print January challenge where I’ll be making painted pages for collaging—at least one every day!
2. To assume the presidency of the local art guild, much as I don’t want to, but someone’s got to keep the organization going!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in January…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winners are…Misty Dawn, Jean White, and BN!
*~*~*

We authors have our favorites. It’s not like your love for your children where you have to love them equally (or should!). It has to do with the characters you wish you could meet in real life and the experience of writing the story. If a hero can make me laugh and swoon then I’m hooked.

So, here comes Knox Ramsey. Just the name stayed in my head for the longest time. His story was supposed to be the first in the We Are Dead Horse series, but he was still percolating, still being an A-hole in the back of my brain, so I skipped to Cash Whitaker who wants to run the town. Cold Hard Cash was certainly a blast to write. His sudden, logical desire for a wife sparked a challenge in his PA, Lila Hanson, and as soon as her sister Nah-Nahs dug in to help her, it was all over for poor Cash. Knox and Carleen played in the background of that story, with Carleen’s antics, trying to get Knox’s attention, providing a lot of humor.

But then it was finally time to give Knox the thing he didn’t know he needed. Oh yes, he wanted Carleen, but for many reasons he thought he could never have her. It was up to clever Carleen to show him how wrong he was—and Carleen doesn’t have a shy bone in her body. As it turns out, neither does Knox.

So, from the list of stories I wrote this year, here’s my favorite, Hard Knox.

Hard Knox

After relentlessly pursuing the biggest badass around and failing, Dead Horse, Montana’s wild child offers him an irresistible proposition—one night of passion, one and done, and she’ll walk away forever…

Dead Horse, Montana’s wild child, Carleen Crossley, knows what she wants—or rather—who. She’s spent years chasing after Knox Ramsey, the biggest badass in Dead Horse, MT. However, she’s resigned herself to the fact that her methods of gaining his affection aren’t reaping any rewards. Yes, her antics keep the townsfolk amused, and Knox definitely knows she’s alive, but she has yet to break through his cold, hard heart to claim her man.

For Knox, Carleen is impossible to ignore. She’s everywhere he is. The sexy vixen has made him uncomfortably aware that she’s his for the taking, and Lord knows he’s tempted. However, he knows he’s not the man for her. He’s his father’s son with his father’s temper, and he won’t succumb to Carleen’s charms because she deserves better than him.

In one moment of frustration over his refusal to really see her and everything she’s offering, Carleen proposes a deal Knox finds impossible to resist. One night of passion—one and done—and she’ll never bother him again.

When she keeps her promise afterward, Knox’s pursuit begins because once was not enough.

Contest

For a chance to win your choice of one of my Dead Horse, MT, stories—hunters or townsfolk—let me know in the comments if you’ve read any of my Dead Horse stories and what you might like to see me write more of in the future.  I’ll choose 3 winners!