Weekly excerpt at Slip Into Something Victorian

I'm posting the opening of my short Civil War vampire story, Eternity Waits, over at Slip Into Something Victorian today.

Back to work on my time travel novella

I just polished up a new short story and sent it off on Monday. Now, I've got three submissions out at once. Yay! Haven't had that many out for a long while.

Now, I'm back to the time travel novella I had to stop work on a while back to finish up my novel. I had to go back and finish up the plot outline, but now it's done. Today I moved around the opening scenes and  wrote an additional 1131 words. I want to keep moving forward until I finish the first draft.

This novella is an offshoot of my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel. But the novella takes place 20 years after the war. The hero and heroine of Erin's Rebel are the parents of the novella's heroine, the hero is from our time.

It's fun to work on a piece taken from an existing story. My latest novel is too. Characters and situations already exist from the original story, so it's sort of like moving forward through time and seeing the characters grow.

Revision's done!

I finished up the revision for Cassidy's War and put the manuscript aside for a week before giving it a final look over. I hope I now have a stronger version of the original story that my editor and, down the line, readers will love.

I put a lot of work into this sequel to my out-of-print young adult Civil War story, Under the Guns. I loved these characters and had a great time revisiting them. Although Under the Guns is no longer available to readers, this new story can stand alone. It's set five years after the war ends.

For this week, I'm working on a few short pieces. Since it's been 5 months since my last release, I can't be a slacker. I think short stories will be a way to keep fans happy and keep those releases coming.

For any writers out there, do you like to write long or short, or do you like to mix it up?

It's a beautiful day!

Finally, after months of bone-chilling, buried in snow, or drowning in buckets of rain weather, we're experiencing our first real touch of spring. The temps are supposed to rise to 72 degrees here.

And it's making it all that much harder to stick at my desk and work. But I put in more than a solid hour of plotting out my science fiction romance story. For now, I'm calling it Jason's Honor, although that might change. I have the general plot worked out and for now, am working on a scene by scene outline. Although I have a lot of blank pages right now, the beginning and end of the story are really starting to jell. Just have to work on that darned middle.

I've also been working on an idea for a short comtemporary romance and ideas were flashing through my head early this morning, while I was busy with my workout and household things. Just have to sit my butt in the chair with my pad and write them down. That little story is starting to come alive too. It always seems the ideas come when I'm doing non-writing related things.

Win a copy of Eternity Waits!

For the first day of my spook spectacular, I'm posting the opening of my short story from The Wild Rose Press, Eternity Waits.

Anyone who leaves a comment will be entered in a drawing to win a pdf copy of the story.

North of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

July 1, 1863

Caleb Weathers tensed at a rustle behind him. He swung his Enfield rifle in the general direction. A hoot, followed by the flutter of wings left him staring into the wide-eyed gaze of a Barn owl. When the bird took flight, he breathed a sigh of relief. The scents of pine and fetid soil calmed him a bit.

The thickness of the forest made him all too aware of how vulnerable he was to attack despite the weight of his weapon. Caleb sensed a presence behind him. He broke into a sweat and the hairs on the nape of his neck rose. He whirled and aimed the barrel at the form that appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Where'd ya come from?"

The woman smiled. Blood-red lips and luminous blue eyes captured his gaze. Her raven hair glinted in the moonlight."I am Alexandra." Her low, throaty voice held a guttural accent.

What is a beautiful woman doing in camp alone in the dead of night? She couldn’t be up to any good. And yet, as he watched her, a thrill of anticipation raced through him. Something about her seemed familiar. A memory he couldn't quite reach.

He swallowed. "You'd best skedaddle, ma'am. You can't come through camp without a pass."

"I came for you, my darling." With one fluid motion, she moved closer.

He cocked his rifle. "Stop right there."

Her exquisite lips drew into a pout. "I would never harm you, Dimitri."

At the sound of the name an eerie sensation swept over him."Who the hell is Dimitri?" he asked. "My name's Caleb."

To purchase Eternity Waits http://www.thewildrosepress.com/eternity-waits-p-787.html?zenid=1fa6e5a796c6160a1807c7ef3501c9f6

Come back tomorrow for the blurb and an excerpt from my upcoming Civil War vampire novella, Sweet Redemption.

Just Okayed My New Cover!!

And I couldn't wait to get it up here, so I could show it off. This is for my latest short vampire story, Sweet Redemption, coming out with The Wild Rose Press.

Isn't it cool?

Here's the blurb:

On a cold December night, Union infantry captain, Jonathan Hackett, is pinned down on the Fredericksburg battlefield trying to escape Confederate fire. But a creature of the night, more dangerous than any enemy soldier, stalks him. Jon must fight for his life as well as his soul.

Maddie Emery has lost everything dear to her. Her husband and parents have passed on and her brothers are off fighting in the Confederate Army. She’s alone, trying single-handedly to hold onto her family’s farm, when a Yankee soldier collapses across her stoop.

Maddie and Jon form a bond of love and desire, but as Jon exhibits signs of becoming the creature he fears most, is their love enough to fight off the evil of a centuries old vampire bent on destroying them?

2009 Goals

So, what do I want to accomplish in 2009?

First of all I want to finish the projects I'm working on at present.

• complete outline for short Christmas story
• write first draft
• revise and polish, then submit by April 1st
• complete first draft of science fiction romance, Moons of Cynara
• after a long break from it, I'd like to revise, polish and search out publishers to submit to
• submit partials to selected publishers
• revise short vampire story, Sweet Redemption and resubmit to editor
• finish proofread of galley for Confederate Rose
• work with editor on contracted anthology story
• start on promo for Erin's Rebel close to the release date of July 17th

Well, that's my list for now. All of these are projects already contracted or in development. It looks like a lot, so I'll see how it goes.

Trying to Get Back in Gear

The holidays aren't over yet, but I haven't been doing much writing over the last few weeks. The reason wasn't entirely Christmas though. The galley for Confederate Rose came in and I had to proofread it and mark mistakes. I just turned that in today and started back on the Civil War Christmas story I'd started outlining. I put in 2 1/2 hours on it this afternoon and feel like I'm back into the story. I still want to try to finish the outline this week, so I can start on the first draft after the holidays. I'll see how it goes.

Free Christmas Story!

My free Civil War Christmas romance, A Kiss Under the Mistletoe, has just been released from The Wild Rose Press.

Samantha Harrison is preparing for her wedding day. Trouble is, she’s marrying the wrong man. The man she loves and whose child she carries, has disappeared months ago in battle in the last days of the American Civil War. On Christmas Eve, Doug Mitchell shows up at her door only to learn she’s marrying another man in two days.

To get your free download, visit the TWRP site at: http://thewildrosepress.com/ and click on FREE READS. If you don't have an account there, you'll have to set one up, but the story is completely free. You can also check out all the other free reads at the site.

Another TWRP contract!!

I just sent off my fourth contract with The Wild Rose Press. This one's for my short story titled Angel of My Dreams, which will be part of an American Civil War romance anthology.

I'm really excited about this one, because members of my critique group have written the other stories.

I've talked about this story before, but to give a reminder, this one's about a present day Civil War reenactor, who falls in love with the ghost of a Civil War nurse.

Monthly Goals

Well, I managed to meet my October goals, one by a hair.

1) Edit, proofread and submit Sweet Redemption, my new vampire story.
I've done this and am just waiting to hear back from my editor.

2) Finish outline for Moons of Cynara, my first science fiction romance.
Also finished. I actually didn't finish until November 1st, but it's close enough.

Be back with my November goals.

October Writing Goals

Okay, figured out what I want to accomplish writing-wise for the month of October.

1) Edit, proofread and submit my short vampire story, Sweet Redemption.

2) Finally finish the outline for my full-length science fiction romance.

I think I can work both these projects in among the work I have to do with all my contracted stories. So, we'll see how I do.