Sweet Saturday Samples

Another teaser from The Warden’s Lantern:

“Is someone down there?” the driver called. A male voice, all too familiar. If she could dig herself a den and hide out in it, she’d scrape the ground until her fingers were raw. Elmer Derecho. This wasn’t on the list of ways to get him to notice her butt.  He was the last person she wanted to discover her in this predicament. Telling him about the light Monday morning was one thing. He already thought she was strange. Discovering her tumbled in a ditch, blind as a bat with prickers in her hair was doubling down on that perception.  He’d laugh little harder behind her back at the office. This wasn’t exactly how she wanted him to notice her.

Visit the other Sweet Saturday Samples.

You can also purchase my books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Astraea Press, All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand and Smashwords.

Bubble Baths and Steamy Romance Blog Hop

Welcome to the Bubble Baths and Steamy Romance Blog Hop!

Love can find us at any time. 

At any place. 
At any age.

Hoping Love finds you this February. 

Leave a comment about your Valentine’s Day plans along with your email address for a chance to win a PDF of Hauntings of the Heart.

You can find me on Facebook (http://facebook.com/joselynvaughn) and Twitter (@joselynvaughn) or you can email me at joselynvaughn at gmail.com.

TOUR RULES!

1) HAVE FUN!!!

2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3) THIS TOUR STARTS: Friday, January 27, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
THIS TOUR ENDS: Sunday, January 29, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
***Winners will be drawn and posted Monday, January 30th! ***

4) MEET AND MINGLE WITH ALL THE AUTHORS & BOOK PAGES! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY BLOG CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!!

5) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? WHOO! HOO!! HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!


***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***

Click here to return to the blog hop list. 

Thursday Snippets – Featuring Jennifer Comeaux

On Thursdays, I am going to feature fellow authors and a little snippet of their books. Hopefully, you will be able to find some great new authors and books.

Let’s welcome Jennifer Comeaux and Life on the Edge to the first Thursday Snippet!

LIFE ON THE EDGE

Nineteen-year-old Emily is new to pairs skating, but she and her partner Chris have a big dream–to be the first American team to win Olympic gold. Their young coach Sergei, who left Russia after a mysterious end to his skating career, believes they can break through and make history.

Emily and Chris are on track to be top contenders at the 2002 Winter Games. But when forbidden feelings spark between Emily and Sergei, broken trust and an unexpected enemy threaten to derail Emily’s dreams of gold.

 

EXCERPT:

The wind picked up, rustling the trees and sending my empty cup skittering over the table. Sergei snatched it and noticed the time on his watch.

“Oh, wow, it’s two thirty. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stay this late.”

“No worries. I can sleep till noon tomorrow.”

He rose from his chair, stretching his arms. “Do you think they all killed each other downstairs?”

“My guess is they played so hard they passed out at some point. That’s been known to happen.”

I got up and smoothed my skirt. I’d kicked off my sandals hours ago, and the weathered wood of the patio was cool under my bare feet.

Sergei took a step toward me. “Thanks again for the great meal. And the even better company.”

“You’re very welcome. I’m so glad you came.”

I stood on tippy-toes to give him a quick hug, but Sergei’s strong arms held me against him, enveloping my small frame. His body exuded warmth. I closed my eyes and breathed in the woody scent of his cologne. We’d shared plenty of hugs at competitions, but this felt so different, like we belonged nowhere else but in this embrace.

After what seemed like both an eternity and a split second, Sergei pulled away, his hands brushing down my back. He glanced downward and gestured to the door.

“I can let myself out.”

My head bobbed weakly. “Okay. I’ll see you Monday.”

“See you.” He held my gaze a moment longer than necessary. Then he was gone.

I stood paralyzed, listening to the blood pulse in my ears. My heart beat so fast I thought it might pound out of my chest. I couldn’t have imagined the electricity I’d felt in Sergei’s arms. It was too real. And I had no idea how I could ever forget it.

Get your copy of Life on the Edge:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Life-on-the-Edge-ebook/dp/B006T89A4Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325724001&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/life-on-the-edge-jennifer-comeaux/1108128017?ean=2940013689534&itm=2&usri=life+on+the+edge

Astraea Press: http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=8347323

Where to find Jennifer on the web:

My blog: http://jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennifercomeauxauthor

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/#!/LadyWave4

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5368434.Jennifer_Comeaux

Jennifer, thank you so much for sharing with us.

Weather Predicting Kids

The weather this winter had been odd for West Michigan. We didn’t have any accumulating snow until the beginning of January. But in the last week, we’ve had a couple of inches every few days.

My mom always says that when the kids are rambunctious there must be a storm coming. I’m starting to believe they can predict the weather. The night before the last storm, they were horribly cranky and wild. They wrestled, they bounced off the walls, they translated ‘go in the bathroom and go potty’ as ‘take markers and color all over the bathtub’. (Thank goodness Crayola markers are really washable.)

We ended up with five inches of snow and no school.

This afternoon, everything was opposite. ‘Don’t play with the door’ meant swing it back and forth and slam it repeatedly. ‘Do  you have to go potty?’ was answered with an irritated ‘no’ and a puddle fifteen minutes later. My daughter and the little one were jumping out of their skin.

My guess is that the meteorologists are wrong and that the storm predicted for tomorrow afternoon is going about twenty miles farther north than they expected and we are going to get dumped on.

Either that, or the kids are off the wall tired.

I’m Gonna (beep) You.

My son, as all preschoolers do, is rapidly picking up new words. Some good, some not so good. Sometimes he pronounces the word correctly and sometimes it gets mangled.

After watching an episode of Sid the Science Kid about decaying fruit, he learned the word ‘decay’ and stopped eating dented grapes. However, pronouncing ‘decay’ often came out at ‘decave.’

He also –oh dear–discovered car racing games and that they are available on the Play Station, the computer, and my Kindle (Thanks Dad for showing that.). This has introduced him to the concepts of winning and finishing first and beating his opponent. However, ‘beat’ has been mistranslated as ‘beep.’ He runs around the house, yelling “I’m going to beep you!” or “I beeped you!”

It’s sounds like he’s censoring himself for words he better not know.

Sweet Saturday Samples

Here’s another snippet from the short story about Barbara and Elmer.

She squeezed her eyes shut to shove away the pain, then carefully patted the ground for her glasses. Unfortunately, they had landed somewhere not within the swoop of her arm. “Fudge!” Without them, she was as blind as a marble statue.

Gingerly, examining every bone to ensure their unbroken state, she pulled herself into a sitting position with her back against the tree. She looked toward the road, but wasn’t even sure that she was looking in the right direction. What was she going to do? Without her glasses she wouldn’t be able to find the two-track, let alone drive home.

You can also purchase my books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Astraea Press, All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand and Smashwords. Hauntings of the Heart and Sucker for a Hot Rod are still only 99 cents.

Check out the other samples at Sweet Saturday Samples.

A Fabulous Writers’ Retreat

Last weekend, W. S. Gager, Tess Grant and I arranged our first writers’ retreat. It was fabulous (and not just because I didn’ t have to wipe anyone’s bum for twenty-four hours.).

We had time to catch up on all the things going on in our lives, the progress on our current works in progress, and even some time to write. I had hoped to finish the Warden’s Lantern and I think I got really close to finishing the rough draft. It just needs some good critiques.

At another writers’ meeting, someone asked how I find time to write. She had kids and a full time job and is exhausted every night. Yes, I understand. Most nights, I just want to sit in front of the television and watch Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs to remind myself that changing diapers isn’t so bad.

But if you want to do something, you have to make time for it. An hour, an afternoon, a weekend. I think W. S. Gager, Tess Grant and I will be making more time for our next writers’ retreat.

Guest Interview at Kristina’s Books & More Blog

I’m doing an interview at Kristina’s Books & More Blog (http://kristinasbooksandmore.blogspot.com/) today. Hope you can drop by.

In the continuing saga of the haunted sewing machine…

Last summer, my sewing machine was haunted.

Okay, it wasn’t really haunted. We had a faulty extension cord which caused it to run at full speed by itself, then make a popping sound and smoke.

Sigh.

My husband fixed the part that caused the smoke and everything seemed to work okay. That is, until I tried to sew something. The stitching and the stitch selector were all messed up. DH tried to look at it again, but Viking sewing machines are rather complicated and difficult to fix as I am coming to realize.

So I brought it to a local place before Thanksgiving. Two weeks later, they called and said they were no longer doing sewing machine repair because they weren’t happy with the repair person they had contracted with. They recommended I try another local place. I called them. They only do non-computerized machines – Yay! – but not Vikings. Sigh.

My next options were both an hour away, but one was near my daughter’s physical therapy appointments, so I wouldn’t be making a special trip. That’s not so bad. I dropped the machine off along with my mother’s which also needed repair. They said it would be two weeks to get them repairs, maybe a little longer because of the holidays.  They called a week later with estimates. Ouch. I decided to only fix mine and we could fix my mom’s ourselves. (It was a repair my husband had done successfully before.) I picked up her machine on our next trip down and then I waited for them to call and say my machine was done.  Two weeks after Christmas, they still hadn’t called, so I called them, hoping I could again combine trips with my daughter’s appointment. This time they informed me that their repairman doesn’t do Vikings and has someone come in to fix them, but they don’t call him until there are several for him to fix. It could be two months, or more. It would have been nice to know that any of the four times I talked to someone at the store or the repair guy himself.

Needless to say, I picked up my broken machine and searched for another repair place. My sister has an in with a repair guy, so I sent the machine off with her and hoped for  better luck.

It was not to be found. He found more things wrong and recommended that the money be put into a new machine rather than repairing a forty year old one. And Mom’s machine had something else broken for which there were no longer parts available.

So while mourning the loss of my sewing machine, a wedding gift from my parents, and shopping for a new one.

And I’m trying not to be frustrated by the cute ideas I’m finding on Pinterest until I find one.

Sweet Saturday Samples

Here’s another snippet from the short story about Barbara and Elmer.  I’m leaning toward The Warden’s Light as the title. Or maybe the Warden’s Lantern. I don’t know yet.

The light swerved and inched closer. It flashed against her glasses. Barbara held her breath. This was it. She was actually going to document a local legend. She’d be brave enough to speak up at the local paranormal investigators’ meeting and with their backing, Elmer would have to believe her. Her feet wanted to jump and kick with excitement, but she forced herself to remain calm, analytical, like she was studying a column of numbers for the anomaly.

The legend claimed a gold glow like an old lantern wandered the forest and Barbara suspected it was somehow connected to the prison that had been abandoned over a decade ago Some said it was a warden out searching for an escaped prisoner who ended up disappearing himself. Others that it was the inmate himself trying to escape.

But no one had ever allowed the light to get close enough to see what produced it. Most accounts referenced wetting themselves, then running like heck.

She didn’t understand the fear. It was a floating light not Freddy Kreuger.

You can also purchase my books at AmazonBarnes and Noble, Astraea Press,All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand and Smashwords.

I’m also guest blogging at the Grand Rapids Region Writers Group blog about why I don’t bake. Stop by and say hi! (And as an added bonus, the picture of my attempt can be used as an appetite suppressant. lol.)