Grand Rapids Region Writers Group: Better Writing With a Harder Job?

Check out my guest blog where I talk about my new writing schedule and why I've been quiet lately.

Grand Rapids Region Writers Group: Better Writing With a Harder Job?: By W.S. Gager I started a new job on July 1 and must admit that it is kicking my butt energy-wise but is fulfilling and I love it. It...

Romancing the Heart Interviews: W.S. Gager

I am guesting on  a romance block. See how I make the conection.

Romancing the Heart Interviews: W.S. Gager: W.S. Gager Searches for Volatile Deeds W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race ca...

Guest blogging on marathons

I'm a guest author on my publishers blog: Oak Tree Press. I talk about biking, training for a marathon and killer swamps. Stop by and weigh in on your personal marathon.

Happy Birthday to a Very Special Woman - My Mom

Today is my mother’s birthday. I won’t divulge her age partly because I don’t want to think about her advancing years (that increase at the same rate as mine). She has never acted her age for as long as I can remember. She has always had tons of energy and taken on herculean tasks and accomplished them well.

   Don’t get me wrong, you always knew how she felt on most issues. However,  she never harped on our wrong decisions. She always let us make the decision. I know how hard that must have been as I find myself wanting to preach to my kids who are in college. 

In recent years I have seen her slow down just a little. My mom has always been a shining example for me to follow of doing what’s right and never about doing anything for money. Another thing I love about my mother is she has never been preachy.

My mom is always generous to a fault. My earliest memory of how much impact she has had on others’ lives was on a cold snowy day on our way home from church. A man was getting out of his car with steam rolling out from under his hood. My mom slowed and when a woman with a small baby got out, she slammed on her brakes and pulled over. She drove an old station wagon and us kids (there were three) were relegated to the way back to give our guests room. 

My Mom took them home, which was only a few miles out of our way. I’ve never forgotten that lesson even though my dad was mad we were late when we got home and even  madder when he found out she picked up somebody on the side of the road because that wasn't safe. My mom’s only comment was: “It was what I would want to happen if it was me.” I’ve always tried to remember that lesson. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My Story, My Way - An Indie Adventure: Excerpt from W.S Gager's A Case Of Volatile Deeds

See where I am guesting today

My Story, My Way ~ An Indie Adventure: Excerpt from W.S Gager's A Case Of Volatile Deeds: Wednesday, you met W.S Gager, and today I bring you the excerpt from her latest book, A Case of Volatile Deeds . Read on ...  

Local Authors Kick Off Summer Reading Season

To kickoff summer and great vacation reads, four homegrown authors will talk about their road to publishing at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, at the Newaygo Area District Library community room in Newaygo, Michigan.

The authors all live in Newaygo County and have more than 16 books including several new releases. Each author will discuss how their books are published in different genres and mediums including children’s, young adult, mystery, and romance books.

Joselyn Vaughn has her newest release called Climbing Heartbreak Hill. Vaughn writes sweet romance with her latest featuring a would-be accountant and former cheerleader from her first book, CEOS Don’t Cry. An emergency maternity leave in the last weeks of tax season leaves Tara running the office and trying to help former school friend Ryan with his taxes and depression from a career-ending knee injury.  Together they try to determine career goals that won’t land them in jail. Other books by Vaughn are Hauntings of the Heart, Warden’s Lantern, Courting Sparks and Sucker for a Hot Rod.

Former Fremont business owner J.Q. Rose released her latest electronic mystery book. Coda to Murder features Pastor Christine Hobbs who is accused of murder when the music director is found dead in the church basement. Her flock grows when a pig and kangaroo need rescuing. She also has a non-fiction middle-grade, interactive electronic book called Girls Succeed that showcases several women in nontraditional careers who have mastered their craft. Several of the women have roots in West Michigan. Her first book was Sunshine Boulevard about a retired Florida couple.

Kelly A. Tinkham works at the Newaygo library. She is a native of Newaygo and currently is working on another novel. Her first picture book, Hair For Mama, was published in 2007. The title and storyline flowed from her son’s offer of giving her some of his hair if she lost hers. She has been cancer-free for more than 12 years.

And me. My fourth mystery book in the Mitch Malone Mysteries was released in February entitled A Case of Volatile Deeds. Reporter Mitch Malone blows off his date to cover an explosion in downtown Grand River only to find his girlfriend is the only casualty of a botched bombing. As he investigates, a woman from A Case of Infatuation returns to tempt and torment him. Other books in the series are A Case of Accidental Intersection and A Case of Hometown Blues which was a finalist in Daphne Du Maurier national awards contest last summer.

           Please join the lively discussion in the library’s community room. Copies of books will be available for purchase and signing. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the library. For more information, contact the library at 231-652-6723 or the website.

Support Boston With Great Romance Read!

My friend and critic partner, Joselyn Vaughn, is a runner. I don’t understand runners but I respect that she fits running in between writing fantastic sweet romance books, managing a household with three preschoolers, and doing volunteer work. I imagine the solitariness of running is the only time she can think up new plot lines. But that is only my guess.

Today her latest is out but it is a bittersweet release. The Boston Marathon bombing hit her hard. With her running, she would have been due to finish about the time the devices exploded and been training for a marathon closer to home. That coupled with her latest romance release is about running. Climbing Heartbreak Hill is about Ryan,  a professional runner at a crossroads because of an injury. He returns home and meets Tara, who he met years earlier. She is trying to finish the last of tax season’s filings when her boss goes into labor early.  Can they coach each other into believing in their future filled with romance? Or will the tax Grinch have them running from an audit?

Because of her compassion for the families affected by the Boston bombing, Joselyn is donating a portion of the proceeds from Climbing Heartbreak Hill to One Fund Boston.  Her books can be read in any order but many characters make appearances from book to book. Her first book, CEOs Don’t Cry, was just an Amazon best seller in Great Britain. I suspect Courting Sparks, her second book, will soon follow.

Tara Mansfield who is the main character in Climbing Heartbreak Hill has a small appearance in CEOs Don’t Cry.  Here is the official book blurb for Tara and Ryan:

Professional runner, Ryan Grant, blows out his knee training for another attempt at the Boston marathon and the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. Ryan retreats home, not looking for anything more than a fast recovery, but he finds solace in the arms of his tax preparer, Tara Mansfield.

Tara’s cheerleading career ended abruptly and she faces an upward climb beating the stereotype as dumb blonde in her new calling as an accountant. Framed with defrauding the IRS during the last weeks of the tax season, Tara’s tentative confidence is shaken, but Ryan coaches her in ensnaring the true perpetrator. She cheers him on in discovering his identity as a coach rather than an athlete.

Check it out here:

Amazon

or

Astraea Press

Contact Links:

Email: joselynvaughn@gmail.com

Website: http://joselynvaughn.com

Blog: http://joselynvaughn.wordpress.com

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/joselynvaughn

Twitter: @joselynvaughn

Facebook: http://facebook.com/joselynvaughn

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joselyn-Vaughn/225825554094665?fref=ts

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2907038.Joselyn_Vaughn