Win a Copy of Civil War Anthology!

My story, Angel of My Dreams, is part of an American Civil War romance anthology, Northern Roses and Southern Belles, coming July31st to The Wild Rose Press, along with authors Caroline Clemmens, Isabel Roman, Jeanmarie Hamilton, Jennifer Ross and Mary Ann Webber.

And if you leave a comment on my blog today, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a copy!

In a country torn asunder--from the Canadian border to Texas, from Maryland to Arkansas, from the battlefield of Antietam to the Red River Campaign, brave men and loyal women see their lives turned upside down.

Peril lurks behind every tree and near every homestead, but the hard-fought love of a man and a woman surpasses all.

Six talented writers provide stories of romance and danger centering on Union and Confederate soldiers, spies, blockade runners, renegades, and battlefield nurses during a period of corsets, hoopskirts and gentlemen callers.

To give you a taste of the stories in this anthology, here's the blurb and a short excerpt from my story, Angel of My Dreams.

Civil War reenactor, Kyle Dalton, keeps seeing a beautiful woman on the battlefield tending to soldiers, he thinks she's another reenactor. But when she disappears into thin air, he starts to believe he's seen a ghost. Did he have a past life with this woman?

Exceprt:

"Where am I?"

"Shh." She placed a finger on his lips. The scent of lavender invaded his senses.

He frowned when he realized he was lying on a cot wearing his reenactor clothing. Had he dreamed he’d come home?

"The doctor says you'll be fine. He dug out the bullet and stitched up your leg."

"My leg?" Kyle reached down. His pant's leg had been cut apart at the seam. Heavy bandages wrapped around his thigh."This doesn't make any sense. I twisted my ankle. It's fine now."

She took his hand and stroked his forehead. Her touch sent warmth and desire through his body.

"I have to know..." He swallowed. "...your name."

She smiled. "You haven't forgotten me already?"

"I...you never told me."

"Of course I did." She leaned away.

He held tightly to her hand, fearing she'd leave again."Don't go."

Her hand dissolved. He couldn't hold her.

To purchase go to www.thewildrosepress.com/

And if you leave a comment here today, July 31st, you'll be entered for a chance to win a pdf copy. Winner will be announced tomorrow, August 1st.

For more information on this anthology go to www.susanmacatee.com/americancivilwaranthology.html or www.nrandsb.wordpress.com/

Another Gorgeous Cover to Show Off

Look at the beautiful cover Nicola Martinez designed for the American historical Christmas anthology, An American Rose Christmas!!

My story, The Christmas Ball, will be part of this anthology, along with stories by Tori Anne, Donna Dalton, Lauri Robinson, Carol A. Spradling and Beth Trissel.

We don't have an official blurb yet, but here's one for my own story:

Sara Brewster, a young woman disguised as a man to serve as a soldier in the Union army, is secretly in love with camp surgeon, Kirk Ellison. When Sara is wounded, the doctor discovers her secret.

Once the shock of discovering the soldier Kirk thought of as a boy is a young woman, his protective feelings evolve into a growing attraction. When he's transferred to Washington D.C., he arranges for her to be transferred as well, to keep her by his side.

At a lavish ball on Christmas Eve, Sara is transformed into a ballroom beauty, and Kirk’s passions are aroused. He has to have her for his wife. But while farm girl Sara would love to marry the handsome doctor, she doesn’t feel worthy of him, fearing he'll ultimately be ashamed of her when she can’t live up to the task of being the wife of a prominent Washington physician.

Signed off on the galley

We signed off on the galley for Northern Roses and Southern Belles today, so we should be getting a release date soon. We already know it's coming out in July, but I'd like to know how close it will be to the release of Erin's Rebel on July 17th.

I'll keep everyone informed when news comes in, but in case you missed it, here's the blurb again.

Northern Roses and Southern Belles

coming July 2009 to The Wild Rose Press

In a country torn asunder--from the Candian border to Texas, from Maryland to Arkansas, from the battlefield of Antietam to the Red River Campaign--brave men and loyal women see their lives turned upside down.

Peril lurks behind every tree and near every homestead, but the hard-fought love of a man and a woman surpasses all.

Six talented writers provide stories of romance and danger centering on Union and Confederate soldiers, spies, blockade runners, renegades, and battlefield nurses during a period of corsets, hoopskirts, and gentleman callers.

I'm So Excited!

The authors and stories that will be in the American historical Christmas anthology are posted on the Wild Rose Press American Rose line blog. Here's the link: http://americanroseline.blogspot.com

Another contract!!

Just got word that my Civil War Christmas story, The Christmas Ball, has a place in The Wild Rose Press American historical Christmas anthology. While immersing myself in my new full-length projects, it's been fun to see the contracts come in for my three new short stories.

But alas, I now have no more submissions out. Got to get back to work on those full-lengths.

Another Cover to Show Off

Here's the cover for the American Civil War anthology, Northern Roses and Southern Belles, that my short story, Angel of My Dreams, will be a part of.

In a country torn asunder--from the Canadian border to Texas, from Maryland to Arkansas, from the battlefield Antietam to the Red River Campaign--brave men and loyal women see their lives turned upside down.

Peril lurks behind every tree and near every homestead, but the hard-fought love of a man and a woman surpasses all.

Six talented writers provide stories of romance and danger centering on Union and Confederate soldiers, spies, blockade runners, renegades, and battlefield nurses during a period of corsets, hoopskirts, and gentlemen callers.

Beautiful cover, isn't it?

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.

A Brand New Year!!

It's the last day of 2008 and I'm thinking ahead to a brand new year. But first, I thought I should review my writing goals for 2008 and see how much I accomplished. Here are a few of the goals I did make.

• cut scenes from my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel


• sent the query to The Wild Rose Press


• got a request for a partial, then the full


• signed contract for Erin's Rebel and it will be a July 2009 release!


• entered my other CW romance, formerly titled Katie Rose in contests


• completed line edits for Katie Rose


• after changing the title to Confederate Rose, gave it a final proofread and sent the query and synposis to my editor & got a request for the full


• signed contract for Confederate Rose


• wrote short story for Civil War romance anthology called Angel of My Dreams


• submitted AMD to editor


• signed contract for AMD!


• outlined science fiction romance titled Moons of Cynara


• started first draft of Moons


• started outlining short Civil War Christmas story for historical romance anthology

I've got a good start on that first draft. By today's count, my word total is 36,525. I'm almost at the midway point. And although I started the outline on the short story, I haven't yet finished. But otherwise, I think I accomplished a great deal in 2008. Now, to figure out what I'd like to accomplish in 2009.

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.

End of the Month Already

Well, I checked out my writing goals, or should I say goal, for this month. I wanted to try to finish up the outline for my science fiction romance. But, I didn't get it done.

I don't feel bad, though, because it was other writing obligations that got in the way. And did I accomplish a lot.

I got through the galley of Erin's Rebel and found quite a few boo-boos we missed during edits, so those are now being fixed. I also got a contract for Confederate Rose and filled out all the manuscript and author forms for that.

I also completed my anthology story and submitted that. I wrote a very short Civil War Christmas story that I submitted to TWRP as a free read and I finished revisions on my newest vampire story.

So, although I didn't complete my stated goal, I accomplished a great deal writing-wise. Maybe I'll get that outline done in October.

September Goals

Haven't posted my September goals yet, mainly because I can't figure out what I want to do.

Currently I'm waiting on the galley for Erin's Rebel. When that comes in, my main goal will of course be to get that done so I can get my release date.

I'm also waiting for word on two full-length manuscripts I've submitted to The Wild Rose Press.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for critiques from my group on the last chapters of my anthology story and I'm purposely waiting before I start revisions to the first draft of my new vampire story.

A lot of waiting!

So, the only project I'm not stuck waiting on right now is the outline for my new science fiction romance. For now, my goal will be to complete the outline by the end of this month, if nothing more urgent comes in.

August Is Over Already?

I can't believe this month is over.

Time to see how I did with my August goals.

1) Finish revisions on outline of Sweet Redemption and write first draft.

Since SR is a short story of about 70 pages, I was able to get this one in. I just wrote the ending of the first draft on Wednesday. Now, I'll let the story sit for a little while.

2) Go over anthology story again.

I did a final revision and edit of my anthology story and now my critique partners are going over it.

3) Complete proofread of Cassidy's War.

This is my full-length young adult that was formerly published as Under the Guns. I finished the proofread and got a request for the full. Now, I'm waiting to hear back on it.

So, I think I deserve a few days of R and R. But I did do some updating on my website. If you'd like to see the results click the link: http://susanmacatee.com/News.html

August Goals

Finally figured out my August goals.

First and foremost, I have to complete final edits for Erin's Rebel, but I'm almost finished. So, here they are:

1) Finish revisions on the outline for my new vampire story, Sweet Redemption and write the first draft.
Since this is a short story I should have no trouble completing the first draft by month's end.

2) Go over my anthology story, Angel of My Dreams, again.
I already did one revision, so will mostly be doing final edits.


3) Complete proofread of Cassidy's War.
The editor is reading the first three chapters, and I'm almost finished proofreading the remainder of the manuscript.


So, I think I should be able to complete these goals by the end of the month, especially if my home typing business continues in a lull. Frees up that much more time for writing.

My Goals for July

I checked over the goals I'd set for July and have gotten them all done early.

1) Revise anthology story.
Done.

2) Proofread Confederate Rose.
Done.

3) Complete self-edits for Cassidy's War.
Done and I've sent the query and synopsis to The Wild Rose Press, gotten a request for the opening chapters and sent them out.

So, next up I'll be listing my goals for August.

My July Goals

It's getting more complicated. I have so many projects in the works, I've decided to concentrate on a few this month.

1) Revise my anthology story. This is the one I've titled Angel of My Dreams. It's a Civil War ghost story.

I finished the first draft mid-June and decided to take a break away from it before I start revisions. It shouldn't be too hard because I used an outline and it's a short story. So, I'm going to get the revisions finished by the end of the month.

2) Proofread Confederate Rose.
I actually started on this, but ended up doing more editing. I really want to get this story done and send out a query. I already have a synopsis written, since I'd been entering it in contests that required one.

So, I want to get the proofreading and query written by month's end.

3) Complete edits for Cassidy's War.
This is my young adult out-of-print book formerly called Under the Guns. I decided to re-title it before approaching another publisher. I'm about halfway through edits and am really getting caught up in the story. I haven't read it in a long time.

I want to get the book completely self-edited by month's end.

So, there are my writing goals for July.

Goals for June

Since we're nearing the end of June, I thought I should review the goals I made at the beginning of the month.

My only goal was to complete the first draft of my Civil War anthology story, Angel of My Dreams. That's finished and waiting for revision.


Despite all my computer problems, I'm pleased that I've also kept up with the edits for Erin's Rebel. I have until July 14 to complete those. And I also finally started self-editing my young adult out-0f-print book, Under the Guns. I've retitled it Cassidy's War and am almost halfway through editing the manuscript.


I'm also getting ready to proofread Confederate Rose. My critique group still has few more chapters to go over, but I thought I could at least start on the proofreading.


I'll be back next with my goals for July.