May 2023

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Sunday, May 28, 2023

WeWriWa: A Knight’s Paranormal Tale

May 28, 2023


My two favorite vacays were to Las Vegas – a glittery fantasyland where time and belief is suspended. While staying at the medieval-themed Excalibur the first time, it was easy to pretend you’d slipped back into the past (nothing says medieval like eating chicken with your fingers!), into a world of gallantry and honor where brave knights participated in tournaments and carried the colors of their fair ladies. Just the kick I needed to develop the last book in my paranormal romance contract with BelleBooks, MIDNIGHT CRUSDADER, the final book in my vampire romance series, “Touched by Midnight.” Nothing says romance like a lovelorn noble who damns himself in order to follow his love through centuries to save her and, hopefully, break his curse. Now a detective on leave in the City That Never Sleeps to find and reclaim the future he was denied, Gabriel must do more than rescue his fair Naomi – he has to get her to remember him. As a new Peruvian temple rises on the Strip, the evil it houses stirs to life, becoming not only a threat to the star-crossed pair but to humanity, itself. Enjoy a taste . . .

Midnight Crusader (Touched by Midnight Series - Book 9)

Published: May 4, 2011
Length: 228 Pages

A love without end . . .
Having given up his mortal life to search for his lost love through the centuries, vampire Gabriel McGraw begins his final crusade to free her from an enemy’s grip against the glittery backdrop of Las Vegas. But is she the same woman he loved and lost or an equally dangerous foe who could betray all that he believes in?

Naomi Bright’s memories go back no farther than her arrival in Sin City. Does her hidden past conceal madness or a truth too terrible to be believed? Compulsion draws her toward a medieval fantasy world, and obsession to a man she instinctively knows but can’t remember.

Will finding the answers release her from her prison of fear? Or will it ensure that she loses everything - her life, her love . . . her soul?

“ . . . another enthralling and soul-stirring vampire romance.” —BookReview.com


 The Excerpt 

He sank back into the shadows, watching her confusion as she scanned the sidewalks for him. He stayed out of sight with an anguished purpose. He hadn’t meant to reveal himself to her, not so soon, not so spontaneously without planning the result.

But he had, and he had his answer.

He passed his hand across his eyes, covering the tender torment that came with beholding her image. The sound that escaped him was half strangled sob, half moan of longing.

She didn’t know him.

No recognition sparked her gaze. No awareness leapt at the sound of his name.

He meant nothing to her.

(. . . and a bit more . . .)

How could that be when she was the very breath in his body, the very reason for his heart to continue beating in its unnatural rhythm somewhere between heaven and hell?

The scent of her lingered. The perfume she wore had passed from her tender skin to his hand, and he inhaled deeply until intoxicated by fragrant memory. Violets. Her favorite. The delicate bouquet had teased him through centuries, quickening his hopes, his desires, his dreams.

She was here. And she would be his at last.

And he would never, ever let her go again.

I’ve just gotten back from a wonderful weekend filled with friends and fiction at a writers’ retreat in Grand Haven, Michigan. It reminded me of how much I need my writing time (even though I spent the weekend editing a romantic suspense that I started at LAST year’s write in!). It was a small group this year, just seven of us all working on vastly different projects but the energy was palpable. I came home with a completed revision and, unfortunately, a miserable cold. Worth it!

Now, to get back to work at my own desk . . .



Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their #8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.


Sunday, May 21, 2023

WeWriWa: What Must I Do? . . . MIDNIGHT CRUSADER $0.99 S*A*L*E!!

May 21, 2023


I love the opportunity to introduce readers to the paranormal . . . especially to my first love, vampire romances! It started with a kiss . . . MIDNIGHT KISS, to be exact, one of the first vampire romances to mesmerize readers with an out-of-this world (that being the human world!) hero back in 1994. MIDNIGHT KISS was the first in my nine-book “Touched by Midnight” vampire romance series (all since reissued by BelleBooks). I was the second author to seduce readers with the idea of a supernatural love that started with a “kiss” and lasted an eternity . . . and once they sank their teeth into these dark, passionate books, they couldn’t get enough of them. Welcome to the “Touched by Midnight” world with this snippet from MIDNIGHT CRUSADER, now on S*A*L*E!!

Preview Book
Published: May 4, 2011
Length: 228 Pages

 The Excerpt 

“Tell me what I must do.”

“You need only survive, young sir. Survive to conquer the years, the centuries, however long it takes for you to seek out her tortured soul.”

“However long it takes,” Gabriel affirmed, not truly understanding the magnitude of his pledge.

“Then you will be transformed this very night so you might begin your search in an existence where time holds no meaning.”

He never saw her physically move.

One instant, she was staring at him with an almost hypnotic intensity, distracting him from the fact that the three of them were no longer alone in the room. Shadows shifted from within the unnatural stillness to become figures looming just out of the light.

He heard Rolland’s briefly uttered warning and the rasp of his sword, but Gabriel had no time to react with alarm or instinct. The crone was upon him, knocking him flat upon his back. 

(. . . and a tasty bit more . . .)

His hands were gripped before they could find sword and dagger in his own defense. And then came the pain, swift and sharp, at his throat, at his wrists and elbows. He tried to cry out, but no sound of protest came either to mouth nor eventually to mind.

So this was death, this slow, chill sinking into dark oblivion.

He surrendered to the sapping weakness of body even as a part of him clung to the strength of his resolve.

For Naomi.

I’m in heaven this weekend (translation: at a writers’ retreat!) and hope to recharge my creative energies in the presence of like-minded wordsmiths. It’s my favorite escape not only for the actual butt-in-chair time, but also for the chance to talk writing during the drive there and back. A half-dozen (or more) of us rent a house for the weekend over by Lake Michigan and we write – well, we also go out to eat in lovely Grand Haven and we talk (when not at said writing tables), and, laugh and relax. Sigh . . . Just the kick in the creativity I needed to take my WIP to the next level toward publication.


Good friends, good food, good conversation, and best of all, a good deal of writing. What more could you ask for from a weekend? Hope yours has been equally productive.


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their #8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

Nancy on the Web



Sunday, May 07, 2023

WeWriWa: Loyalties . . . HUNTER OF SHADOWS, “By Moonlight” Book 5 and a $0.99 Contemporary S*A*L*E!

May 07, 2023


Who can you trust? This question rears its head throughout my “By Moonlight” shapeshifter series. No one is who/what they seem to be. Each has a dangerous agenda that weaves tensions and troubles from chapter to chapter, book to book. Family loyalty . . . or the lack thereof provides a dangerous undercurrent beneath seemingly harmless motives as a game of pretend and true purpose brings my characters together again for new alliances, deceptions, and treachery. The game is afoot in this scene from HUNTER OF SHADOWS, Book 5 in my “By Moonlight” series.


NANCY GIDEON RETURNS TO HER STEAMY NEW ORLEANS PRETERNATURAL WORLD WITH AN IRRESISTIBLE NEW SHAPE-SHIFTER ROMANCE.

The secrets he knows about her could get him killed.
Transferring to the New Orleans Police Department, Detective Silas MacCreedy has a hidden agenda: to secure his clan’s place once again in the Shifter hierarchy. What he didn’t count on was stumbling upon a sexy assassin who could shred his best intentions and lead him into a dangerous dance that threatens to engage his heart.

But the ones he doesn’t know . . .
Monica Fraser knows just how to make a man beg—for his life. But she has no clue how to fight her attraction to the fiercely intense detective who seems determined to get in her way, both professionally and intimately.

. . . could kill them both.
When emotional attachments to the past and an unexpected glimpse of a different future have her questioning her deadly purpose, Nica must discover the truth about her secret abilities in order to free herself from the forces that control her. But that freedom comes with a price—trusting those she’s been ordered to eliminate.

 The Excerpt 

As they left the sprawl of clustered communities behind for long stretches of tangled wilderness, Silas used all his concentration to control his breathing, his heartbeat, even his perspiration lest Savoie scent something was wrong. If the ruthless clan leader sensed the darkness swirling through his soul at being within reach of the cause of his ruin, Max would act without mercy. As his father had before him. So Silas calmed his respirations, quieted his fevered thirst for revenge, and played the role of cop and submissive rather than that of avenger, even as it beat savagely in his heart.

Wait. Patience would be rewarded.

He had to be very, very careful in his game of diplomacy. By making this offering to Savoie, he hoped to gain a level of trust that would give him access to other key opportunities.  And if Nica became too great a danger, having Savoie as an ally wouldn’t be a bad thing. She wasn’t afraid to go boldly after him, but Savoie’s presence might give her pause. Silas didn’t want to be the one to take her life . . . and truth be told, he didn’t care to order it done. 

(. . . and a bit more . . .)

If an alliance with Savoie could get her to stand down and give him room to finish his business, he would make it, temporarily. He would see to his family’s future first, then satisfy his own need for restitution. And maybe both he and Nica would walk out alive.

“Where do your loyalties lay, MacCreedy?”

Savoie’s question startled him. Had the mobster sensed the direction of this thoughts?  “What do you mean?”

“Are you a cop or are you of the clans? Which comes first if you have to choose?”

“I enjoy being a detective, but it doesn’t define what I am inside.” He glanced next to him to find Savoie’s intent stare upon him. “Just like you’re a criminal but that’s not who you are down deep where it counts.”

 A smile quirked Savoie’s lips at that cynical comparison. He gave a nod. “Then we are much the same. On the surface.”


I adore Silas MacCreedy. My publisher wanted more books in the series but after four revolving around Max and CeeCee, they didn’t want to continue with the same couple. So a seemingly harmless and heroic detective appears in New Orleans to help Charlotte Caissie with a new case. While complications abound and loyalties fray, he can’t seem to help himself around a particularly dangerous enemy.

I’m busy going through my original manuscript from 2011 that was purchased by Pocket Books and am surprised by how little was changed during the editing process of this tight, twisty-turny tale. I’ll be bringing it back to print and ebook this summer with a fresh cover around a tense, sexy PNR romance.

I’m also excited about a $0.99 S*A*L*E!

Published: May 27, 2014
Length: 190 Pages

LOVE’S OWN REWARD, my first Dana Ransom contemporary to be re-released by Bell Bridge Books with a gorgeous new cover, is now on sale for just $0.99. More info to come next week . . .

So, how’s your almost summer going? 


Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their #8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

Nancy on the Web



Wednesday, May 03, 2023

IWSG: What Turns on the Story Light?

May 03, 2023

Our Insecure Writers’ Support Group question for May is totally open ended where I’m concerned:

When you are working on a story, what inspires you?

My answer: Anything and everything but hopefully not nothing!!

I’ve taken inspiration from Fortune Cookies, cloud shapes, TV commercials, and random conversations in the grocery store. Inspiration is that unexpected tug that turns the on imagination light bulb.
It can be anything: A line of dialog that flips character dynamics on his/her ear. That one tiny quirk that perfectly (though not irreparably) mars the hero. The snippet of a backstory clue that defines the villain’s motives. Any of those things can, and has, totally rewritten a story ending. But that’s the challenge and the fun of writing, isn’t it? Even with the best outline, you never know what’s going stir a sudden “Ah-HA!” that ups the stakes and changes all your hard work into a quick scramble of rewriting.

And in my writing life, I’ve had more than a few of those moments. When an editor suddenly asked if I’d consider writing a vampire romance (HECK yeah! Eight of them!) or when my agent asked how long it would take me to come up with an idea for a new line of contemporary romances one of my publishers was going to be opening. (Answer: Pitched it that evening to the head of the romance line at a mixer and was fine tuning four books for my editor when I got home.

When opportunity knocks, in any of its mysterious and unexpected forms, be ready. Yank that door open, invite the project in and have a looooong sit down discussion of where you can take each other in your publishing future.

And that pitch at a conference to my editor . . . this is one of the four books that was sold in the 1990’s years ago then found renewed shelf life with another house twenty-two years later! LOVE’S OWN REWARD is on S*A*L*E for only $0.99 through May 15th!

Published: May 27, 2014
Length: 190 Pages

Off to find out about YOUR lightbulb moments!



Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. The awesome co-hosts for the May 3rd posting of the IWSG will be Joylene Nowell Butler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Meka James, Victoria Marie Lees, and M Louise Barbour!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Twitter hashtag is #IWSG

  

To join the IWSG Blog Hop and view the List of Hop Participants!


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