It's My Publishing Anniversary!

 

 

 

 

Today marks my 12 year anniversary as a published author. On this day, twelve years ago, Hidden Threat (now published as Strictly Professional) was published by a small publisher based out of Australia called The Writer's Coffee Shop. 

 

At the time, I had no idea where this journey would take me, the people I would meet, and the friends I would make. This has been an incredible experience so far and I can't wait to see where it takes me next.

Happy Book Birthday to Strictly Professional!

 

A phone call from her father sends Cali Stanton back home to Chicago to look after the family business. Being CEO of Stanton Enterprises is never something she wanted to do, but when her father tells her she’s the only one he can trust to run the company in his absence she can’t say no.

Within hours of stepping into her father’s office she comes face-to-face with her father’s head of security, Matthew Andersen. The attraction is instantaneous and undeniable. Unfortunately, Cali can’t act on it. She’s his boss for the next three months and it wouldn’t be appropriate to cross that line.

Little does she know, fate is determined to throw them together at every turn. Someone is after her father’s company and now they've set their sights on her. Can Matthew and Cali figure out who’s behind the threats before it’s too late and still keep things strictly professional?

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The Evolution Of Zelda

I introduced Ali's mother, Zelda, in the third book of my Serpent's Kiss series, His Forbidden Kiss. She was a minor background character, showing up briefly when Kim visits her best friend. We don't get to know much about her other than the fact that she can't seem to hold onto a man. She comes off a flighty and needy.

 

Because we're in Kim's point of view, we don't get a lot of insight into Zelda or her relationship with her daughter, either. It isn't until Ali and Daniel's story, Claiming His Kiss, that we begin to see more.

 

Ali lets it slip fairly early on she doesn't have a great relationship with her mom. The flightiness we glimpsed in His Forbidden Kiss is confirmed when Ali shares she was raised by her grandmother because her mom wasn't around much.

 

At this point in the story, I didn't know what I was going to do with Zelda. I knew she was going to make an appearance in Claiming His Kiss, but I had no idea what her role would be.

 

Being an author that writes by the seat of her pants, I let the story unfold naturally. This includes characters.

 

When I began the story, the only things I knew about Zelda was she had been absent much of Ali's life because she was constantly chasing after men. But there is always more to it than that.

 

In order to figure out Zelda's motivations, I dug deep, asking myself why was she constantly chasing after these men? I needed to determine the why in order to know how she would react to finding out her daughter was in a relationship with a man 23 years her senior.

 

The internet is a glorious thing. You can find out information on just about anything if you can locate the right sources.

 

I watched videos and researched women who hop from relationship to relationship as Zelda does. It was fascinating and a bit disturbing at the same time. People are complicated, but we can't deny our primal instincts.

 

In the end, Zelda turned out to be both a complex and a very simplistic character all wrapped up in one. Her motivations were simple, but her logic was flawed.

 

To read Ali and Daniel's story, check out Claiming His Kiss through one of the retail links below.

 

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What I'm Currently Reading - Speak From The Heart

 

Next on my TBR list is Speak From The Heart by L.B. Dunbar.

 

When a small town, single father becomes enemies with the new girl in town, it’s either keep fighting her or give in to what his heart wants most.

Emily Post isn’t staying. Back at her grandmother’s summer home, she’s only in Elk Lake City for a visit which can’t end soon enough. Especially when she can’t seem to get away from one grumpy repairman who shows up everywhere. Fortunately for him, his daughter is sweet even if she refuses to speak.

Jess Carter is a hometown favorite and a hot single father. Sworn off love for several reasons, foremost is the silence of his daughter. His little one has a secret and he doesn’t know the why behind it. Unfortunately for him, his six-year-old has taken a liking to the beautiful new woman in town visiting her nana. And everywhere he goes, there she is, invading his space and his heart.

While silence might be golden, the voice in lonely hearts refuses to remain quiet.

 

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