Fridays Firsts with ERIN McCAULEY

The first five lines of... THE CONFESSION

Aimee gripped the steering wheel, her stomach churning as she stared at the mansion in front of her and the reality of where she was sank in. She still couldn’t believe she’d come all the way to California, and she didn’t have any idea what to do now.

The towering front door opened, and a tall man in a T-shirt and tattered blue jeans emerged. His dark hair caught the light from the sun as he stepped off the porch, giving the impression of a glowing halo. She gasped when he smiled and waved at her.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Crimson Romance

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Crimson Romance

Available now!

 

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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT ERIN

1. What was the first Rated R movie you ever saw?

It was my birthday, I was either turning 12 or 13, and we told my parents the group of us were going to a Disney movie, but instead snuck into Halloween. I’m not sure you can even say I actually “saw” the movie, because I had my hand over my eyes the whole time (I still watch scary movies that way). After it was over and we met my parents out in the lobby, I was still shaking and told my mom I had the caffeine shakes. So when we were all loaded into the car, my mother mentions that they’d decided to go see the “new scary movie,” and how they couldn’t hear a word of it because of the group of teenagers sitting in the front row screaming their heads off. Sigh, yeah, she knew it was us. Luckily, she let the nightmares we all had that night be our punishment.  Don’t go see a scary movie for the first time when you live in the middle of nowhere and your mother doesn’t believe in curtains in the living room to block the view. Michael Myers was everywhere that night!

2. What’s the first thing you do when you sit down each day to write?

I read. I have to go back one to two chapters of my WIP and pull myself back into that world. I also find it helps me tremendously with the editing process. I’ve read each chapter a zillion times before I even start to do the serious edits.  For me, it’s a terrific way to catch some of the little things, and it does help me get a feeling for the flow of the story when you pick it up in the middle.

 

3. If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d buy?
I dream of this moment constantly! I’m beginning to wonder if I would have a better chance of it happening if I actually bought a lottery ticket. The first thing I would buy is a house on the beach, somewhere relatively close, but a place with no television, small and easy to maintain, that I can run away to write. My girlfriend, who is also an author, rented a place on the beach and about once a month I run away with my perma-puppy (he’s only 3 pounds, so it doesn’t matter that he’s 7) to join her and write. I get more done there in two to three days than I do in a month at home. It is amazing, and I would love to have the ability to run away to my own place anytime I felt like it.

More about Erin: I was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, but as a military wife, I was able to experience the beauty of Alaska, the tundra of Iceland, and the warmth of North Carolina and California, and am able to use all of these locations in my writing. In the years that followed, I worked as a Bank Officer, and a Regional Sales Manager for a local winery, before settling down to work towards my dream of being a writer. 

I’m an active soccer mom, who spends hours in my car driving my little jock around. I currently live in the Pacific Northwest with my three children and my dedicated writing partner, Maxx, a three-pound Yorkie who never leaves my side.

You can find Erin online here:

Website: http://Erinmccauley.com

Facebook: Erin McCauley

Twitter: @ekmccauley

FRIDAY FIRSTS with...Kathryn Knight

The first four sentences of... SILVER LAKE

Three hours. She would see Jason in three hours, if he left for the lake house when he said he would. A potent mix of apprehension and excitement hummed through her veins, causing her to grip the steering wheel with enough force to turn her knuckles white. “You’re ridiculous, Rain DiMarco,” she mumbled to herself as she ordered her nervous hands to relax.

Genre: Paranormal, fantasy romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

 

Available now!
Amazon | The Wild Rose Press

 

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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT KATHRYN

1. Who was your first grade teacher? Any funny/interesting memories?
I actually don’t even remember her name, because first grade was such a strange year for me. Apparently I did so well in kindergarten (doing what, I wonder? Probably reading – I started early and never stopped!) the school decided I needed some kind of advanced placement. But since they didn’t have that type of class, they settled on having me attend second grade each morning, and then go to first grade after lunch.

Well, I had no idea what was going on in the second grade classroom, so mostly I just fooled around and learned very little. Then when I went to first grade in the afternoon, I would finish my work very quickly. So usually then I would ask to go to the bathroom and just go back to the playground by myself. Thankfully that would never fly these days (I hope, anyway, as a mom!). As you can imagine, my mom petitioned and succeeded in getting me switched to the better school in the neighboring district, and things went much better in second grade.

2. What was the first meal your significant other ever made for you?
On our first date, my husband made me a nice Italian dinner. The thing I remember the most, though, is that three years later, when we were packing up to move to a new house, I held up these dingy candle holders and asked him if I could toss them (we had received about 10 new pairs for our wedding). He said sure, but then added, “Those are the ones I bought for my apartment before our first date, so we could have a candlelit dinner.” Needless to say, I still have the candle holders, in a place of honor on my bedroom dresser!

3. Tell me about the first novel you ever wrote? Whatever happened to it?Well, the first story I wrote was in second grade (at that better school!), and it was about a little girl who finds a wild (but somehow quite tame!) pony and gets to keep it. That was my dream at the time, and that “book” is still tucked in my baby book. Silver Lake actually is my first novel, although it has been through major alterations and improvements since I initially completed the first draft. My second novel, Gull Harbor, recently received a contract from The Wild Rose Press.

More about Kathryn: As a child, Kathryn Knight kept her parents on a constant quest to find enough reading material to last her through each week. An early fondness for books about horses later gave way to a lasting preference for both love stories and ghost stories; as a writer, the paranormal romance genre is a perfect fit. Silver Lake is Kathryn's first novel; her second novel has also received a contract from The Wild Rose Press and will be released in 2013. She lives in New England with her husband, her sons, and a number of rescued animals.

You can learn more about Kathryn on her website, Facebook and Twitter.  

Boy, does time fly...

My beautiful daughter Kendra (my oldest child) turns 20 years old today. My mom warned me when she was born that I should appreciate every single moment, because before I knew it, she’d be 20 years old.

She was right. These past 20 years have just flown by. I can remember almost every detail of her birth, just like it was yesterday (don’t worry, I’m not going to share them LOL). But it did make me wonder how life has changed since she was born.

In 1992...

• A gallon of gas cost $1.05 (I just paid $3.82/gal today).
• The average cost of a new car, $17,000 (today, it’s about $31,000)
• Average house price, $67,000 (today, it’s $274,000)
• Ross Perot announced he was running for President against Clinton and Bush
• Mafia boss John Gotti was sentenced to life in prison
• Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida (the day before my daughter was born)
• Bill Clinton became President (now THAT makes me feel old)
• The Summer Olympics were held in Barcelona
• Rioting breaks out in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four police officers who were accused of beating Rodney King
• Prince Charles and Princess Diana separate
• Windows 3.1 released by Microsoft (where are they at now? Windows 246? :)
• AT&T released a video telephone for $1500
• Popular films were A Few Good Men, Basic Instinct and Sister Act.
• Popular TV shows were Home Improvement, L.A. Law and Married...with Children

So, listen to my mom—appreciate every single moment today, because 20 years from now we’re going to look back and say, “Gas was under $4 in 2012. Can you believe that?”

Meatless Mondays: Where's the Beef?

Happy Monday to you!

I'm going to try a new feature on my blog. I've been toying with the idea of becoming somewhat of a vegetarian for various reasons. One, cutting up and preparing meat totally grosses me out. If I make it, I often can't eat it...but I have no problem eating meat at someone else's house or a restaurant. Yes, I'm weird. Two, I feel better when I eat less animal protein (I look better, too). Three, going meatless would really help with the grocery budget. Four, I'm reading a couple of books that have scared the #$@% out of me regarding animal protein consumption (The China Study and The Starch Solution).

If my family included just me, I'd go cold turkey and try a vegan diet for 30 days or so to see how I feel and look. I did this about 15 years ago and have never felt so good--people told me I looked 10 years younger. Then I cheated and started eating dairy again and that was that. These days if I went all vegan, I think my family would divorce me. So, I'll settle for Meatless Mondays...for now.

Those of you who know me or follow me on social media know I'm a personal fitness trainer in my other life. :) Eliminating animal protein is mostly contrary to everything I've ever learned about nutrition. I encourage my clients to include a good protein with every meal because you need sufficient protein to build muscle. I've always heard that whey protein and eggs are the best protein source for muscle growth. Animal protein is more concentrated, thus a better option for our muscles than vegetarian protein. These are the beliefs I've "lived" by. But I'm starting to question these long-standing beliefs.

But because I'm still a bit skeptical about what I've been reading, and because I can't imagine never eating a cheeseburger again, and maybe because I'm a Gemini and just can't make up my mind, I'm going to start by going meatless one day a week. On Mondays. Not necessarily animal-protein free (I still may eat yogurt, eggs and cheese), but meatless. No flesh (is that a disgusting way of looking at meat? As 'flesh'? Blech.) I think this is called Lacto-ovo vegetarianism--no meat, but you can eat eggs and dairy products.

I have three cookbooks I'll cook from: The Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook,  How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. I'll also try recipes from my various magazine subscriptions. Because of copyright laws, I won't be able to exactly reproduce the recipes I'm trying on this blog. Apparently, you can't copyright the ingredients, but you can copyright the directions. So I'll give you the ingredients, and rewrite the directions. And hope I don't get sued. LOL. 

My family says they're willing to go along with this experiment, but I can hear the comments now during our first Meatless Monday dinner: "Where's the meat?" "Mom, did you forget to thaw something for dinner again?" or my favorite, "This is dinner? Seriously?" 

I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck. Anyone care to join me????

Friday Firsts with Sandra Dailey

The first five sentences of... THE CHIEF'S PROPOSAL

“911, what’s your emergency?”

Ginny Dearing wiped blood from above her left eye. “I’ve had a car accident. I’m on the county road between I-75 and Three Trees, Georgia. My car is stuck in a ditch and my doors are blocked.”

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Amazon|The Wild Rose Press

Available now!

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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT SANDRA

1. Who was your first love?

I’ve been in love many times. I truly believe that’s possible. My first, however, was Ricky. He lived next door and we were five years old. I was excited when he proposed marriage. My heart was soon broken when I found out that he’d made the same proposal to my twin sister. Believe it or not, this has happened a few times in our lives.

2. Tell me about your first date (ever).

I was twelve years old the first time I went out with my steady boyfriend John. That may seem young, but we were driven by his dad, went to the skating rink, where his mom worked, and accompanied by his three younger brothers. No kisses but lots of handholding.

3. What was your first date with your significant other?

My husband Lee and my first date was a play-date, literally. We were each single parents of two preschoolers. His daughter was 4 and his son was 2. My daughter was 3 and my son was 2. Lee cooked a fried chicken dinner for all of us. I was impressed by his tidy housekeeping, capable parenting skills, and sweet disposition. That was thirty-two years ago.

More about Sandra:

I live in a small town outside of Gainesville, Florida, with my husband. Our combined four children are all grown and live in Florida as well. They’ve given us seven beautiful granddaughters, no grandsons, which hardly seems fair. I love to read, write, play games and watch football.

Sandra's Website|Facebook|Blog

FRIDAY FIRSTS with...Rebecca J. Clark

Happy release day to me! My new book, DELIVER THE MOON, is officially out, and I'm so excited. This was a book of my heart (I have another book of my heart I'll be self-pubbing later this year, fingers crossed), so I'm delighted to finally share this one with readers.

The First Five Sentences of... DELIVER THE MOON

Louisa D’Angelo smoothed her long satin skirt for the third time in as many minutes as she waited for her cue to walk down the aisle.

“Don’t be nervous, dear,” the wedding coordinator said in a voice that had probably honeyed the nerves of many a bride. “Just keep your eyes on the altar, and you’ll do fine.” With that, she gave Louisa a gentle nudge forward.

Louisa wasn’t nervous, nor was she the bride.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Amazon|The Wild Rose Press

Available now!

FRIDAY FIRSTS with Stephanie Queen

The first five sentences of... PLAYING THE GAME

“Damn it,” Roxanne muttered. Her drink had splashed on her dress. Looking right, and then left, at the partygoers around her, she took a surreptitious glance down to inspect the damage.

A very large, dark, wet spot spread over her left breast. Luckily it was only ice water—or maybe not so lucky, on second thought. 

Amazon|Barnes & Noble
Available now!
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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT STEPHANIE

1. Who was your first love? 
He was a summer love. We were 17, lived on a lake and water skied every day. He got to be real good and wanted to become a professional water skier--he even learned to ski barefoot. We were engaged at age 18 but the following summer he was in a terrible water skiing accident and shattered his elbow. The doctors told him he'd never water ski again. He fell apart. We were dis-engaged by the age of 19. Tragic and True. Of course now every time I tell the story over a margarita I can't stop laughing at the youthful absurdity.

2. What was the first Rated R movie you ever saw?
My tragic water-skiing hero and I, on our first date, went to see Live or Let Die, a James Bond movie, at the drive-in no less. He was hot to see it because there was a speed boat chase scene and he and James Bond happened to have the same speed boat. Geesh. I should have known then...

3. If you could live your life over again, what’s the first thing you’d do differently or change? 
Mostly I've had a wonderful life so far--although it's far from over yet! But maybe I would skip the engagement to the tragic water skiing guy... just saying.

More about Stephanie: Stephanie Queen is a romantic at heart, a writer by nature, and has the soul of a cheerleader. She enjoys creating stories where her rose-colored glasses-view comes to life and the good guys always win. Spending most of her life in New England, she's attended many of the area colleges, including Harvard, and even earned a couple of degrees along the way. Although she lost count of all the jobs she's had before she settled on being a Novelist, her favorite was joining with the Keebler Elves to sell cookies.

Playing the Game is Stephanie’s latest release. Other novels by Stephanie Queen include a romantic comedy, The Throwbacks, first in the Scotland Yard Exchange Program series, and a contemporary romance, Between a Rock and a Mad Woman. Both are available atAmazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Her next release, The Hot Shots, the second book in her romantic comedy mystery series, will be out this summer.

Visit the author at www.StephanieQueen.com or at her Stephanie Queen author page on Facebook and follow her @StephanieQueen on Twitter.