#ThrowbackThursday My Lucky 7 Ladies & a new release!

I truly believe that one God closes one door, he opens another. In my case, it wasn’t really a fully closed door, but God kind of nudging me to do something different. That happened many years ago after the birth of my daughter which led me to becoming a writer.

In 2012 it was going to a fabulous retreat in South Carolina where I was introduced to a number of ladies who were taking a different path in their writing careers, namely indie publishing. I’d been thinking about doing that for some time, especially since I had books to which the rights had reverted. I also had ideas for some novellas that I knew would be hard to sell in the traditional world.

I started by getting back the rights to several of my early contemporary novels. From there I worked on getting them ready for release and also, writing some new stories. The next big step was getting together with some friends to try out the new box set craze and the result of that was the very successful Lucky 7 Bad Boys Box Set.

Thank you all for embracing that set and making it a NY Times and USA Today bestseller! We could not have done that without your support and it is truly appreciated.

Here is a picture of some of my Lucky 7 writing buddies. This picture was taken when we were all together for the Romantic Times Convention in New Orleans. It was so awesome to get to spend time with them since most of our communications were via phone or electronic.

From left to right, that’s me, Virna DePaul, Susan Hatler and Sophia Knightly. I’ve actually known Sophia for nearly 15 years since we used to write for the same line at one time. It is awesome to be able to work with her again as well as all the other fabulous Lucky 7 Ladies.

Well, the Lucky 7 Ladies have a new release – Lucky 7 Brazen Bachelors. The box set includes seven contemporary romance novellas that range from sexy to sweet and have all kinds of interesting bachelor heroes! The set is specially priced at 99 cents and is now available for pre-order. You can get it here:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/7BrazenAMZ
Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/7BrazenUKAMZ
Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/7BrazenCAAMZ

Additional retailers are coming shortly.

Lucky 7 Brazen Bachelors

January 22, 2015

#ThrowbackThursday My Mom – Best friend and Mentor

My mom was my best friend and mentor and I know my daughter feels the same way about me. My daughter is my best friend and I am blessed to have her in my life.

This is another picture of my mom as a toddler. She’s wearing the traditional Galician dress and I’ve even got a little doll at home with this outfit. I’ll have to snap a picture of that for you to see it. The dolls were sent from our family in Spain for my sister and me. My doll has green eyes like me and my sister’s doll has blue eyes, like her.

Anyway, my mom. She was so cute as a kid and my sister looked just like her then and now as an adult.

January 21, 2015

#WriteWed Plotting with Friends & Lucy the Elephant

This weekend I got together with some writing friends from the fabulous Liberty States Fiction Writers. If you write genre fiction, you should really check out this organization. They’ve also got a great conference coming up in March with a number of workshops as well as editor/agent appointments.

I’m in the process of writing ONE NIGHT OF PLEASURE and wanted to bounce some ideas off my friends. They were awesome in helping me firm up some issues that I had and right now I’m chugging along on the first draft of this novella. I’m loving Bridget who is my kind of girl. Laid back and more comfortable in jeans and work boots than a fancy gown or high heels.

Of course, her first sexy encounter with the hero, retired Navy Captain Mark Smith (who you met in STAY THE NIGHT) will put her out of her element and into those girly clothes she just hates.

Actually, you kind of hear about Bridget in ONE LAST NIGHT and you get to meet her at the end of STAY THE NIGHT.

I’m having fun so far in setting the opening of this story in an Atlantic City casino and researching where I’ll take Bridget and Mark in Margate. I got to stay in Margate once many many years ago and it’s the perfect setting for Mark’s home. If you are ever down in that area, make sure to check out Lucy the Elephant. Lucy is a national history landmark and is one of the last animal-shaped buildings in the world (I believe). It’s been used for several different things such as a restaurant and tavern and it had a nearby hotel. Here’s a photo of it and it’s sure to get a mention in the book.

I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at my writer inspiration.

January 16, 2015April 28, 2021

Egg Creams & Business Trips

Sorry for being silent, but I was away on business and it was impossible to blog. The trip went nicely. Business accomplished, delicious Kansas City BBQ tasted and even more awesome, I got to visit with some friends! Of course my little kitten Slate was not happy to see me go and wanted to sneak away with me!

While I was away the topic of egg creams came up. Egg creams are a Brooklyn tradition and include neither eggs nor cream and are quite easy to make! Where does the name “egg cream” come from? Theories abound that it is because fountain sodas of that time sometimes had eggs and cream or that the name is a bastardization of either French or Yiddish words. Regardless, it’s a tasty treat.

Ingredients

1/2 cup 2% or Whole Milk (skim or 1% do not foam enough)
2 tablespoons Chocolate Syrup (Fox’s U-Bet is the most commonly used in Brooklyn)
Seltzer

Directions

Some people will tell you to put the milk in the glass and then add the seltzer, stir and add the chocolate after.

I think it’s more fun to put the chocolate in the bottom of the glass, add the milk and then pour in the seltzer while stirring. What you’ll get is a foamy chocolatey soda that’s lighter than an ice cream soda.

My family used to have a Cuban variation of the egg cream that involves putting about 2-3 tablespoons of condensed (not evaporated) milk in a glass and then adding a cola while stirring. Very tasty also, but very very sweet!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! See you Monday!

Thanks to Jason Perlow for releasing these photos into the public domain.

January 13, 2015July 9, 2019

#TeaserTuesday FIGHT FOR LOVE #Vampire #Romance Coming in Late Spring 2015

I don’t normally share a WIP, but I am excited about continuing Diana and Ryder’s story for you! This little teaser is from FIGHT FOR LOVE which I hope to have for you in late spring 2015. This continues the story from VAMPIRE REBORN, although you do not have to have read that novella to read FIGHT FOR LOVE.

If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can click here to read the teaser from FIGHT FOR LOVE.

January 9, 2015July 9, 2019

Upside Down Cornbread Cake and BE MINE Erotic Romance Release & #Giveaway #FoodieFriday

Happy Friday! Woo hoo we made it to the end of the week. I’ve got a busy weekend planned and I hope you have a great one.

Today I’m sharing a recipe that helps handle some of the leftovers from Thanksgiving. I love the Penguin Cornbread Mix from Costco, but always have a lot of it left over after the holiday. While we love cornbread in my house, I wanted to find a way to mix things up.

After checking out a few sites, I came across an upside down cake recipe from the fabulous Sunny Anderson and decided to adapt it to deal with the cornbread mix as well as the fruits I had handy, namely pears, apples and blueberries. You can actually make this with any fresh or canned fruit which is why I didn’t put any specific fruit name in the title. If using canned fruit, make sure to drain it well so you don’t water down the sauce for the topping.

Ingredients

2-3 cups fruit, sliced (except small fruits like blueberries)
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 cup rum/amaretto/or other sweet liquor
1 cornbread mix

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, melt butter, add 1/2 cup brown sugar and still until dissolved. Add liquor and slow boil until the liquid is a little syrupy.

Make cornbread according to the mix and add the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Oil 9×13 inch pan. Layout the fruit in the bottom of the pan. Once the butter/sugar/alcohol mixture is syrupy, pour over the fruit. Then pour the cornbread mix over the fruit and syrup.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until knife comes out clean from the cornbread. Let cool. Once cool, invert the cake onto another plate.

Serve with ice cream and/or whipped cream. The cake is dense and not too sweet. For those who need gluten free, this is a perfect recipe since corn does not have gluten. Just make sure to check the label of your cornbread mix to make sure there are no other products containing gluten.

BE MINE Valentine’s Day Erotic Romance Set

As I mentioned the other day, we’ve got an awesome box set for you for Valentine’s Day and it’s only 99 cents for a limited time. Check it out at these retailers:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/AMZBeMine
Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/AMZUKBeMine
Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/AMZCABeMine
Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/AMZAUBeMine
B&N: http://bit.ly/BNBeMine
Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboBeMine

BE MINE — Ten Erotic Romances for Valentine’s Day features contemporary romance, paranormal romance, military romance, and BDSM romance from today’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors. This boxed set is ONLY available for a LIMITED TIME so get your copy before it’s gone.

So…won’t you Be Mine?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

January 8, 2015

#ThrowbackThursday Lucky 7 Bad Boys

Good morning! Hard to believe it’s Thursday already and time for a throwback! This one is not that far a throw since it’s from the 2014 RT Conference in New Orleans. Check out some of the Lucky 7 Bad Boys authors enjoying breakfast at the awesome Cafe du Monde. It was such a treat for us to get together to celebrate making the NY Times and USA Today lists with our Lucky 7 Bad Boys box set. Guess what? We’re doing another set for you in March of 2015! I won’t spill the beans about the theme just yet, but I promise you will enjoy the seven stories in the set.