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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Welcome Shaunna Gonzales


School started for us here in the Puget Sound Area after Labor Day. Some of you may be jealous at hearing that and knowing you were already in class for a few weeks. Your first tests of the year may have even been behind you. But don't fret. Remember that next June when your summer is well underway, we will still be in the classroom.

Some teens may even be looking forward to the day they never have to attend class again. I remember that feeling. My gut still cavorts when my children bring home that back to school packet with tons of papers for parents to read and fill out. (I hand them back to my children with, "You fill them out, I'll read when I have time and sign where necessary.") My daughter didn't mind, but my son is another story (so is his handwriting). And I must admit there are a few years that I didn't read the handbook from start to finish.

Don't be so anxious to get out of school because that is when the job starts in earnest, even for a Mom or a stay at home employee. I used to think writing was the perfect answer--until my first book was accepted. That is when the editor's demands (with time schedules attached) began. And it doesn't end. Once you get the publishing date, the promoting begins and continues for eternity (okay, just until it is no longer in print.) and all this time you are supposed to be writing yet another, even better book. Talk about pressure! Who's doing the grading? The readers. So I have to get better with every book… really? Yes, really.

With school in full swing that means it is time for me to go to work, writing in earnest. No more "Mom, can you?" "Mom, can I?" "Mom, can we?" All those things that break one's concentration and interrupt the writing muse. I'm so excited! I love my children but I love writing too!
First WIP to get my attention is Talisman: Crisscross in Time. This is a Time-travel romance and depending on the publisher/editor input, the first of a Trilogy or Series.
After that? That will depend on publishers and contracts.

So here's sending my schooled best wishes to you. Enjoy your school season whether learning or working and hopefully both! Feel free to share what you are learning with those around you and live today to it's fullest. (Tomorrow never comes.)


Dark Days of Promise
Thirty-four year old Vicki Laramie must learn to trust before she can love, but she might die trying.
While Vicki’s children grapple with the death of their father -- a man whom she’s successfully fabricated as loving, a lie her rebellious teenager recognizes -- she must find a way to support her family and find a role model for her boys. She never intends to fall for Staff Sergeant Chase, her best friend’s son, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She’d much rather choose a safer man to love, but her children have a voice in the decision she makes. With two deaths to deal with, a suitor after her money, a rebellious son, and Sergeant Chase’s repeated attacks, she can only hope to survive the danger she faces. If she doesn’t, her children will be left without either parent.
ISBN: 978-1-61252-218-0

Excerpt

 I managed to plaster a pleasant expression on my face before the door burst open letting in a gust wind, hinting of dying weeds and grasses. The boys bustled in with their usual horseplay, not sensing my somber mood. Krista soon arrived, dropped off by Marge Graddock after afternoon kindergarten. I mustered my strength, steeling my fragile resolve and gathered the children around me in the living room. One by one the children abandoned their childish antics, growing somber to match my mood. Janine hovered in the background of our tight knit circle, offering her support with her familiar crooked smile.
"I love you, Mommy," eight-year-old Carter whispered and sat beside me, putting his arm around me.
"Mom," Phillip ventured. "Are you okay?"
I patted his leg as he sat on my other side while managing a weak smile to reassure the children. Krista wiggled her way between Phillip and me, looking for familiar safety.
"We...a...some men ..." I closed my eyes in an effort to regain my composure and shut out visions of death. I began again. "Children, there's something I need to tell you...Some men came by today...They brought news of your dad."



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