Saturday, September 29, 2012

A Cover for A Stolen Chance

At last I can show off the beautiful cover for A Stolen Chance, my paranormal romance set along old Route 66 in New Mexico. Isn't it beautiful? Cover artist Diana Carlile did a wonderful job? It will be published by The Wild Rose Press as a Faery Rose--no pub date yet, but I'll be shouting it out as soon as I hear.

Here is a short blurb about the book.

Mystery and danger lead two people on a path of discovery.

Running from an ex husband bent on revenge, Susan Lawton finds refuge at a small motel along old Route 66 in Siesta, New Mexico. Albuquerque police detective Carson Rhodes can’t live with the atrocity he committed, so he resigns his commission and returns home to run the haunted Siesta Motel and Café. As they battle their demons, and locate a lost Zuni treasure, will Susan and Carson win their war against evil and will a lasting love be their reward?

Thanks for reading my news!

Linda
www.lindalaroque.com

Monday, September 10, 2012

Cruzin' With the Girls

On August 26, 2012, two cousins (one from each side of my family) and my sister-in-law (who happens to be Kay's best friends from high school) left for Galveston, Texas to spend the night before boarding the Celebrity Triumph the next day. We ate at Guido's Restaurant and all had delicious seafood. Here is a picture of the Galveston seawall.

Then, on Monday morning the 27th, we piled into the shuttle to take us to the pier. After waiting in line for check-in, we had our picture taken as a group. As you can see, I never leave home without a computer in case I get the urge to write. They do have internet, but it's $29.95 for 45 minutes. Rather high.

Anna Muriel, Cheryl, Linda and Kay
 On board, we headed for our cabins. We'd opted for balcony rooms and had the partition between ours opened so we could visit back and forth in our pajamas. We'd intended to spend more time outside but it was too humid and hot.

The sea was a little choppy as a result of Isaac, but Kay is the only one who got seasick but only for a short while. We all staggered as we walked but fit right in with everyone else.

First full day was at sea we checked out the on board shops, hit the casino, and did pretty much nothing. Our first stop was in Progresso. Everyone but me took the Salsa and Salsa tour. They had a good time, learned how to make authentic salsa  and danced. It was so hot, two of them, along with another participant jumped into the pool fully clothed. I'm sure if I'd gone along I'd have been right in there with them.

Day three was a stop in Cozumel. My sister-in-law swam with the dolphins and then met the shopping group. The two you see in the pool had a wonderful time at the stores and came back with a bag full of goodies, mostly jewelry and rather tanked on margaritas. They had a wonderful time and were braver than Kay and I. She'd survived the heat the day before and said, "No more." I'd done the shopping thing before and wasn't interested in spending my money in the jewelry shops.

From the balcony at night. Isn't it beautiful!
Larry and I had taken this same cruise is November of 2009 and I don't think it was near as hot. We could sit on the balcony and enjoy the waves, but on this trip it was so humid out it was stifling. In 2009 we'd visited a Tequila factory, toured the old market and the first church on the island, toured Mayan ruins, had lunch at a ranch and were later treated to a horse show. Now, I can't remember what we saw at which port and unfortunately I didn't label my pictures, but you can look back to my 2009 posts where I blogged not only about this cruise but the one we took to New England and Canada.

Here we are the last night of the cruise. As always, our waiters were loads of fun and made sure we had everything we wanted to eat. The food was delicious! They also entertained us each night with singing and dancing.

We four girls had a wonderful time together and I think it was the first of many trips to come. Several other cousins have mentioned their interest so hopefully our group will grow.

Thank you for reading my musings today.

Happy Reading and Writing!



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Champagne Books is Having a Big Sale


Until September 10th all ebooks are on sale at 50% off. For their print books, you get free shipping and that's a big chunk of change these days.

Of course, I want to add that I have 5 books out with Champagne and if you haven't read them all, this would be the perfect time to order. I'm listing them in the order they were published.

1. Investment of the Heart
2. Forever Faithful
3. When the Ocotillo Bloom
4. A Way Back
5. Born in Ice

All are available in both ebook and print.

Photobucket

Champagne Book Group has a large number of talented authors. Browse their website. You'll find some great reads!

Thanks for stopping by today and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
www.lindalaroque.com

Friday, August 24, 2012

So Much to Do, So Little Time

That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. Actually, I have plenty of time but often don't want to spend it on some of those mundane things... like income taxes. Yikes, it's due October 15th, for late filing that is. And somehow, a few years ago, this job became mine. Probably because of my writing expenses.

I've been busy judging a contest, editing my upcoming release, A Stolen Chance, to be released by The Wild Rose Press sometime in 2013, and working on my latest venture, Birdie's Nest. I started chapter seventeen last night and have about 50,000 words. It's another time travel and I'm having loads of fun researching 1890s Waco, Texas and life in general in the nineteenth century.

Next week I'm taking a break. Two cousins, my sister-in-law, and I are going on a Western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston. I plan to sit on the balcony, watch the waves, and maybe write a little. Oops, I forgot spending time in the casino playing the slots.

The picture to the right was taken from our balcony on our last Caribbean cruise. We were aft so the view was quite different. Though we enjoyed the location, we did receive some soot on the rails from the smokestack.

We have cabins side-by-side so we hope to get the balconies opened up to where we can visit back and forth and all sit outside together. It will be fun to laugh and tell tall tales of our growing up years in the 1950s and 1960s.

Oh, I forgot to mention I'll be people watching. It's always fun to see a person who'd be an interesting character in my next book. I hope you'll join me the first week of September when I'll have pictures and share our adventures.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Saturday, August 4, 2012

The LOOK Challenge from Jacquie Rogers

I've been tagged in the "look" challenge by Jacquie Rogers. According to the rules, you're supposed to do a search in your work in progress for the word "look" and then paste the surrounding paragraph(s) and tag as many people as possible.


I Tagged -
http://patyjager.blogspot.com/
http://terithackston.blogspot.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/686106.Jude_Johnson/blog
http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com/
http://onewomanswrite.blogspot.com/
http://www.jerriealexander.com/
http://sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com/



A Love of His Own is my latest release. It's a short time travel set in the Texas Panhandle in 1892.

Rifle cocked, she stepped in the direction of the snoring. Thomas always said she could sneak up on Satan himself. She hoped her skill served her well today.

Lying on her precious wheat, breaking the stalks flat and making it useless, was a big, burly man. Wrapped in someone’s finely stitched quilt, he had a brown felt hat over his eyes. One arm lay across his chest, the other cradled a new-fangled model Winchester, so new the shine hadn’t yet worn off.

She snatched the rifle from his arm. The dang fool didn’t open his eyes. Dipsey thumped him on the shoulder with the butt of his weapon. He farted and rolled to his side exposing a muscled butt and legs encased in denims. She stumbled back a few steps. Disgusting man!

She fired off a couple of bullets sending wheat flipping into the air two yards above the man’s head. Darnit. More of her precious crop damaged. If the waste continued, her animals would go hungry this winter, and she didn’t have the money to buy feed.

The man lurched to his feet. “Holy hell.” He started toward Dipsey. “What the hell are you doing, woman?”

She cocked the rifle. “Stay put, mister.”

He halted and eyed her weapon before turning his gaze to her. His stare traveled from her boots, past her worn, brown wool dress to her face; his eyes widened when they landed on her scar. She expected to see aversion. Most people shunned her because of her past profession. If they didn’t know of her life as a whore, the ugly scar on her forehead caused them to look away. The man didn’t appear put off. He actually smiled before his expression sobered.

“Could you lower your rifle?”

She snorted. Did he think she was crazy? “Who are you and what are you doing on my land?”

“Your land? I’ll have you know....” He turned in a slow circle while taking in his surroundings.

I've tagged

Paty Jager http://patyjager.blogspot.com/
Teri Thackson  http://terithackston.blogspot.com/
Jude Johnson http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/686106.Jude_Johnson/blog
Emma Lai  http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com/
Linda Rettstatt http://onewomanswrite.blogspot.com/
Jerrie Alexander  http://www.jerriealexander.com/
Sandra K. Marshall http://sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com/

Have fun!

Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
http://www.lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com

Monday, July 30, 2012

1/2 Price Sale at Champagne Books

Now is the time to stock up on reading material. Everything is 1/2 off through August 1, 2012. Here's the info.

July 28-August 1, 2012

Christmas in July sale-all ebooks 50% off using coupon code XeJul12 at any of our stores!
Champagne Books - which includes mainstream, historical, romance, paranormal, etc. On the front page you will see the links to the Carnal Passions (erotic line) and BURST (sci-fi line).

Just in case you want to get a copy of my books, here are the direct links.

When the Ocotillo Bloom

Investment of the Heart

Forever Faithful

A Way Back

Born in Ice

Thanks for reading and Happy Shopping!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Friday, July 13, 2012

A New Contract for My Route 66 Story

The Wild Rose Press has contracted my Route 66 story, A Stolen Chance, as a Faery Rose. Edits haven't begin so I don't have a cover or a release date. Of course, I'm thrilled. As you all know from some of my posts, my husband and I have traveled all of Route 66 now. Well, I say all, we missed the part in downtown Chicago and instead of spending a day driving through LA, took the loop and found 66 downtown. We loved every minute and the old businesses that line the road are breeding grounds for future stories.

Here is the working tag and blurb for A Stolen Chance.

Mystery and danger lead two people on a path of discovery.


An old Route 66 motel.

Running from an ex husband bent on revenge, Susan Lawton finds refuge at a small motel along old Route 66 in Siesta, New Mexico. Albuquerque police detective Carson Rhodes can’t live with the atrocity he committed, so he resigns his commission and returns home to run the haunted Siesta Motel and Café. As they battle their demons, and locate a lost Zuni treasure, will Susan and Carson win their war against evil and will a lasting love be their reward?

Thanks for Reading!

Linda