My Holiday Gifts to YOU!!! Gift Card, books and swag!

I love Christmas. I really do. And when I'm asked about my favorite story, one in particular always comes to mind.
When my son was about five, we lived in Ohio in this beautiful multi-level cedar sided house. It had decks on both ends of the house. That year, we had our Christmas Tree in the sun-room on the south side of the house.
At five, our son was curious about Santa. He was worried that the reindeer wouldn't be able to land because our roof was shrouded in trees. We promised him that the reindeer would make it work. They'd get Santa here somehow.
Christmas morning we woke up and had our celebration. After a little while, my husband stepped out to the deck for firewood. Within a few seconds he called me out to look at what he'd found.
Reindeer prints in the snow! They were deer prints, of course, (I think) but it so totally backed up our street cred with our boy when he saw them. Santa and the reindeer had made it to our house!
The deck was 2 stories up! If you look in the background, that's my jeep down below.
Check out the pics! I do apologize for the quality- these are pictures of pictures, but I think you can get an idea.

The even crazier part is where these prints actually were. This side of the house was set into the hill, and the deck was L-shaped. The 'reindeer' walked UP four steps then turned the corner of the L. We couldn't believe them when we saw them. 

So, that's my Christmas story. It added some unexpected magic to the day.

Real quick, I have to mention I have a new release! It would be a wonderful gift!

In the harrowing prequel to The Lost and Found series, three embattled Marines must deal with their devastating physical and emotional injuries in a world that seems to have turned against them. 
When the rescue helicopter crashes into his convoy in Iraq, Marine First Sergeant Duncan Wilde struggles with the loss of men, his career and the use of his body. Things can't get much worse. Until his fiancée decides she has to move on with her life, and that of her unborn child by another man.
Sergeant Chad Lowell knew when he went to war that it would come with a price. And it did. A young Marine under his command is killed by a landmine. Chad's left with one less leg and a mountain of recriminations. That doesn't mean he wants to be a pitied by every female he comes in contact with.
Gunnery Sergeant John Palmer is furious at the hand he's been dealt. He's served his country faithfully, if not without antagonism, for many years. Now they're turning him out like a relative who has overstayed his welcome. And, since he's not even a real man anymore, maybe it is time to move on permanently. 
Can these wounded warriors use a friendship borne out of adversity to form a partnership rescuing others? And can they find real love in spite of their challenges?

Now, on to the prizes!!!

Tell me about your most favorite Christmas story. One person who leaves a comment will win a $10 Amazon or B & N gift card, a free download of ANY of my books and a gift pack of swag. The swag bag is for US residents only, but the GC and download can be for international residents. If you ALSO sign up for my newsletter, your name will be entered 2X! I will draw the winner December 17th.

And don't forget about the GRAND PRIZE!!!

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $200 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

Be sure to leave your email!!!! That's how you're entered! And click the hop button at the top to return to the list. Good Luck and Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!

Am I Your 'Next Big Thing?'

There are the books everyone has heard about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.

This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags up to five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.

I was tagged by Robyn Peterman, a fabulous friend and writer. You can learn more about her hilarious book How Hard Can It Be? on her website, and it will be out mid-January. I’ll tell you, I’ve never read anything funnier. Pee-your-pants kind of funny. You need to make note of her name.
Taryn Raye is the first author on my list you need to check out. She's been a good friend for many years and has released her first book, a fabulous, sweeping historical titled Castaway Hearts through Turquoise Morning Press. It's in print and ebook!

This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project:

1: What is the working title of your book? Embattled Love

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? Well, really, it came from all the veterans we have returning from war right now. I don't think anybody has written this type of storyline before.

3: What genre does your book fall under? It will be romantic suspense.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Hmmm, for the male I think I’ll dream big and say Hugh Jackman, mostly because of his look and ability to slip into any role. This would be a hard one for him though because the hero is wheelchair bound. As for the female, maybe a Mila Kunis or Natalie Portman look.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Wow. Ok. Wheelchair bound hero struggles to keep love-interest safe from vengeful ex-boyfriend/stalker. 60,000 words in one sentence.

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Self-published, of course. Traditional probably wouldn’t even look at something like this.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Still going. On the final chapters though. In total, I’ve worked on this series a couple of years.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Hmmm, a lot of people have tapped on the military aspect, but I don’t know anyone who’s done a vet series like this.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? The vets returning from the war. It’s not as bad as when the Vietnam Vets came home with all the protests, but the same disregard still seems to pervade the public about what they’ve had to do to serve their country. It’s easy to go along with our daily lives and forget we have people dying (and killing) for our safety every single day. They need to be recognized. And appreciated. And of course they need love.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? This is going to be a multi book series and the prequel, Embattled Road, is already out on Amazon. It goes through the men’s background and fills in the back story of their friendship and how they recovered from their devastating injuries.

And a portion of the proceeds of the books will be donated to a wounded veteran charity.

Here is a list of fabulous authors who will be joining the hop for week 26 on December 17th. I hope you’ll visit their blogs next week and learn more about their wonderful books. Maybe one of them will become your new favorite author!

1 Taryn Raye

2 Jesse Coffey

3 DL Jackson

4 Krista Ames

5 Teresa Reasor

A Needful Heart is FREE 12-06 and 12-07!!!

I can't believe I almost forgot to announce this!

I'm leaving the Select program on December 18th and this is the last time the book will be free on Amazon.

The program worked well for me but readers want diversity, so after the 18th it will be available on all platforms.

If you've already read the book, Thank you. If you've read AND reviewed the book, Many, Many Thank-you's.

If you haven't read it yet, pick it up. Please. I'm told it's a really good read. ;-)))