Valentine's Day Specials

Are you ready for a little love? How about a lot of it? Have I got a deal for you! To celebrate Valentine's Day, I've put all of my romance novels on sale for just 99 cents each. I've got historical to contemporary, sweet to sexy, serious to satire--definitely something for everyone. Take a look below, read the blurbs and see which one(s) sound good to you. Then load up that tablet and find a comfy corner to hide in. I won't tell!

Remember Me 
(Contemporary Romance)
Elly Cole wakes up bruised and battered in a hospital-and has no idea who she is or how she got there. Her brooding giant of a husband informs her that she had been fleeing with her lover who was killed in the car accident that left her injured, that she is pregnant with that lover's child and that she has nowhere else to go but home-with him. Struggling against the threat of her husband's dangerous rage and jealousy, Elly strives to regain her memory and reconstruct the life she left behind, wondering how she could ever have loved this man who hates her.

LightningStrikes
(Contemporary Romance)

Jessie Evans is a free-lance journalist, emphasis on the "free," with no plans to tie herself down. While researching a story in Flagstaff about Indian influences in Arizona, however, she encounters Lucas Shay, a smoldering paradox who is part Indian, part architect and all man. Whether igniting her temper with his arrogance or challenging her beliefs with his laser-like insight, Jessie can't deny that Lucas sets fire to her soul as well.

TheRare Breed
(Historical Romance)

The daughter of a white woman and an Indian brave, Catherine Boudry had spent the first thirteen years of her life among the Cheyenne. Restored at last to her mother’s wealthy parents, Cathy blossomed into womanhood surrounded by all the “civilized” comforts of the white man’s world. But at the age of twenty, the lure of her Indian heritage drew her back to the western plains. It was a journey that would awaken her to the joy and agony of passion in the arms of two very different men—Jory, the virile young trapper, and Barred Owl, the Cheyenne brave to whom she had been pledged in marriage long ago.

SuperstitionGold
(Historical Romance)

Married and widowed within a 24-hour period, beautiful Leigh Banning watches as her storybook New Orleans life crumbles away piece by piece. In a heartbroken attempt to start over, she travels to the wilds of frontier Arizona in an effort to understand the father she never knew and is rewarded with gold from the legendary Lost Dutchman gold mine in the Superstition Mountains. The gold comes with a price tag, however—the murder of innocent people. Leigh’s quest for justice leads her to a remote Apache camp in the company of a proud Pima Indian and a handsome cavalry officer. Torn between the fiery kisses of the Major and the respectful love of the Pima, Leigh joins forces with the Apaches to battle gold-hungry killers and in the process discovers her true self and her one true love. 

Love's Savage Armpit
By Amber Flame (Satire)
Sealed to the man in an arranged marriage, Elizabeth rides the surging tide of shock and denial, lust and love, as she is swept from the manicured gardens of England to the savage shores of Africa and the wilds of the New World, never quite sure which Captain Elliott is the man she loves. Warning! This satiric romp is NOT your mother's romance novel!

The sale lasts through February 14, 2019. 

You can see all my books on my Amazon author page here.

Malapropisms: Writing the Wrong Word

“Texas has a lot of electrical votes.” –Yogi Berra

A malapropism (or acyrologia) is the use of an incorrect but similar-sounding word in place of the correct word. It was coined from the name of a character, Mrs. Malaprop, who constantly misused and abused her words in the comedy The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In turn, Mrs. Malaprop’s name ultimately descended from the French phrase mal à propos meaning badly placed or inappropriate.

There are two reasons writers (and others) may get their words mixed up. The first, of course, is the similarity of sound. In the quote above, Yogi Berra was actually referring to electoral votes, but electrical is pretty close. Close, but no cigar.

The second reason is that very often words get modified in common usage, especially old words whose original meanings no longer have a relevance for us today, yet the word has evolved into a new usage and often a new spelling. An example of this is tenterhooks.

Many people say (or write), “I’m on tenderhooks,” believing the word refers to the hooks used by butchers to hang meat so it can tenderize. Actually the word goes back much further than that, back to the middle ages when people used mainly woolen or linen cloth. As the cloth was processed and washed, it was stretched on wooden frames, called tenters, to keep it from shrinking as it dried. The hooks on the tenters that were used to hold the cloth in place were, of course, tenterhooks. The colloquial meaning came to allude to the tension of being forcefully tacked and stretched, and has now evolved to mean any kind of suspenseful tension.

Any word, however, can be accidentally twisted into an inappropriate usage. Some examples of malapropisms might include:

After a detailed investigation, the police comprehended two suspects.

I do believe that man is having a nervous shakedown.

King Omar is the exhausted ruler of his rich kingdom.

If you’re smart, you won’t upset the apple tart.

We had great fun riding together on a tantrum bicycle.

Many people have benefited from joining Alcoholics Unanimous.

There is one place where malapropisms can be used and are not only appropriate but can add to a story, as well: comic relief. Mrs. Malaprop herself added this funny, if painful, dimension to the original story. Shakespeare has used similar characters in several of his plays. In my own satire of romance novels, Love's Savage Armpit, I have one very naïve character who constantly misspeaks, and the results can be quite comical. As with any tool, writers need to know the rules before they break them, but every tool has its exceptions.

So now let’s lay a reef on the grave of accidental malapropisms and make sure we’re using the correct words. Not sure you completely understand the meaning and spelling of a word? Look it up! No matter how many books we’ve written, we’re never too old to learn!

Originally published by Indies Unlimited on June 9, 2015.

New Releases: Mystery Walk and Ghost Walk Audio Book

Happy New Year! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and are looking at a promising new year. I wish every one of you health, happiness and meaningful work. I can't think of anything more satisfying than accomplishing something that we feel passionate about. 

And speaking of that... I have two announcements to make. The first is that Book 16 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series, Mystery Walk, is now available. This book is a slight departure from the others in the series in a very fun way. Here's the blurb:

When paranormal investigators Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud are on a case, they are all in, and don’t rest until the haunting is resolved. Now they’ve been invited to a Murder Mystery Weekend of role-play, sleuthing and fun. Lacey thinks they’ll have an advantage because they’re such practiced investigators, and the tangled trail of clues, motives and red herrings creates a fierce competition to find whodunit.  Lacey fully intends to solve the mystery and win the prize, but the weekend turns out to be surprisingly different on very many levels.

Sound like fun? I think it is. And to celebrate the new book and the new year, ALL the Sam and Lacey ebooks are just 99 cents thru January 13, 2019.  That's right; you can pick up the entire series for less than $16.00. Did you get a new Kindle or tablet for Christmas this year? If so,  here's your chance to load that puppy up with these paranormal mysteries.

In addition to that, I'm excited to announce the release of Ghost Walk, the audio book, now available on Audible and Amazon. Laura Wilson has done a fabulous job of voicing Lacey and Sam, and she's agreed to do the rest of the series as well, so we'll be adding a new audio book every few months. We're currently producing Skin Walk, Book 2 of the series, so stay tuned!

Finally, I want to thank all of my family, friends and fans for their support in the last years, and wish all the best to you in this coming year. Annie, my Airedale, hopes you take the time to play in the snow and enjoy the seasons!