Time Has Whooshed By! by Paty Jager

It's a sad but happy goodbye to the other authors on this blog and to the readers. I've been a Genreista since Sarah and Judith started the blog. It has been a fast 14 years! 

This has been a place where I introduced myself and many of my writing friends to you. I also shared my books and my change of genres as I wrote

I believe I've talked about all 60 of my books at some point during the journey of posting on this blog every month, and sometimes twice a month on certain topics.

I started as a member of this blog when I became an Indie Author. At the time, I had 10 books at a small press and was nudged by many of my fellow writers to go Indie. The main reasons I picked to go Indie were to be able to say what was on my covers and to be able to put books out faster than one a year. I can write 3-4 books in a year, and I wanted them to come out in a more timely manner than a publishing company can do. 

When I started here, I was writing and publishing Western Romance. Then I wrote an Action Adventure/ Romantic Suspense trilogy, and I decided that I was ready to write the genre I truly wanted to write and had tried to write when I wrote my first novel- a murder mystery. 

After 32 books and 7 novellas in the western romance genre, I switched to murder mystery and now have 36 murder mystery books published. 

Coming out in June will be book 7, Crapshoot, in the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery series. This book has a cool cover thanks to my cover designer. 

Here's the working blub: 

A Fentanyl death.
A missing woman.

Dela Alvaro, head of the Spotted Pony Casino security, and Heath Seaver, a Umatilla Tribal Detective, join forces with the FBI to find Dela’s missing basket-weaving instructor and put a stop to a lethal drug flowing onto the reservation.

The investigation turns deadly when an undercover FBI agent goes missing and the drug cartel’s girlfriend is out for Dela’s blood.

Then in July, I'll have book 1 of my new cozy mystery series releasing at my Christmas in July event on my Facebook page. I'll be giving out gifts and talking with everyone about the interesting sidekicks my main character Andi Clark will work with. The series is titled Cuddle Farm Mysteries. 
Book one is Merry Merry Merry Murder. Think of the Christmas song Carol of the Bells and the title will be playing in your head all day long! LOL Here is the blurb for that book.

In the close-knit town of Auburn, Oregon, Andi Clark’s therapy animals bring comfort to the community, especially during the holiday season. When a young girl seeks solace from Athena, Andi's therapy dog, after witnessing an unsettling scene behind the sleigh, it marks the beginning of a much darker holiday.

As the town gathers for the Tree Lighting Ceremony, a scream shatters the festive atmosphere. Cocoa, Andi’s loyal Border Collie, pulls her toward a chilling sight: a woman standing over the lifeless body of the girl's mother, strangled with Christmas lights.

Determined to help the grieving girl and her town recover from the shock, Andi, her therapy animals, and her niece, a county deputy, take it upon themselves to investigate. As they uncover secrets and untangle clues, they stay one step ahead of the new sheriff and worry that the killer lurking in their midst could be someone they know.

If you want to stay up to date on what I'm doing, you can find my twice-a-month posts on my blog; Writing Into the Sunset, or once-a-month posts on my Mystery blog; Ladies of Mystery. This blog has 9 other Mystery authors who also blog monthly and we have Mystery/Suspense/Thriller guest bloggers 2-3 times a month. 

Another way to discover what I'm up to is to get my monthly newsletter. It not only tells you what I'm writing and where you can find me, I give away a mug a month. https://bit.ly/2IhmWcm

Or pop by my website and see what I have to offer in print, ebooks, and audio. You can also purchase all of those directly from my website. https://www.patyjager.net

Thank you, Judith and Sarah for a wonderful time on Romancing the Genres. 

In the comments, tell me which of the new covers you like best and your name will go in the drawing for your choice of one of my books. 

Happy Reading! 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of murder mystery, western romance, and action-adventure. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes in eastern Oregon, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

Contemporary Western Romance with Stephanie Berget

I met Stephanie years ago at an author unconference.  Another author told her about a Western romance author who lived in Oregon (Stephanie lived in Idaho at the time) and who would be at the conference. When she introduced herself she said she was looking to connect with that author. I raised my hand and we've been friends ever since! We've even had stories in the same western romance anthologies.

Paty: Why do you write Western Romance?

Stephanie: I've been a cowgirl and an avid romance reader since I was in my mid-teens. As I started training and competing on barrel horses, it bothered me that the rodeo scenes in the romance books weren't true to life. The love stories were good, but I couldn't find authors who studied rodeo and ranching and wrote real cowboys and cowgirls. I started writing to put reality into my western romance.

Paty: The realism of rodeo life comes through in your books. How many series do you have? Do you only write series or do you have standalone books?

Stephanie: I have three series published, Harney County Cowboys, Rodeo Road, and Sugar Coated Cowboys. I'm working on the second book in my Change of Heart Cowboys series and hope to have it out by February of next year. I also write standalones. I just published Balancing The Books. It's an enemies to lovers story featuring an accountant and a small-town sheriff.

Paty: I've read at least one book from each of your series. But I'll have to get Balancing the Books.  Your books are mostly in rural settings. Why did you pick those settings?

Stephanie: I was raised in a fairly large city but was always horse crazy. Since becoming an adult, I've chosen to live in very small towns. I love the friendly atmosphere and people and to have room to keep my horses.

Paty: I know that draw to having horses. How do you make your cowboys so real? They all have the swagger and the toughness of a cowboy.

Stephanie: I'm married to a former bareback bronc and saddle bronc rider who has become a team roper. We've lived the rodeo lifestyle, so I've had lots of role models for my heroes.

Paty: And it comes through in your stories. Do you have an ongoing character (main or secondary in a series) that is your favorite?

Stephanie: This is a hard question, but if I had to pick, it would be Sean O'Connell in Dancing Creek Ranch, the second book in my Harney County Cowboys series. I like the fact that Sean was willing to make major changes in his life to win Catherine's heart.

Paty: He is a definite hero. Who are some other Western romance authors you enjoy reading?

Stephanie: One of my favorite western authors is Kari Lynn Dell. She was a good friend, but I love her books because she was the best at putting reality into rodeo romance. I also really like Katie Lane and D'Ann Lindun's books. I usually read contemporary western romance, but for historical western romance, I've really enjoyed your books.

Paty: Ahhh, thank you! What is the one thing you hope readers take away when they finish one of your books?

Stephanie: I hope they'll take away a smile at my happy endings and maybe I can teach them about rodeo and ranching.

Paty: They should do that, since you write so authentically. Just for fun – Tell us what is your favorite thing to do besides writing and reading, because we know that’s a given.

Stephanie: I love to run barrels and ride in the mountains on my horse, Cisco. He's a fifteen-year-old dun-colored registered Quarter Horse and if I do say so, he's the sweetest and prettiest horse around.

Paty: Thank you for answering my questions and being a guest on Romancing the Genres.   

Stephanie: Thank you for asking me to participate. 

Here's more about Stephanie:

Finding romance beneath a rodeo moon. That’s what Stephanie Berget had in mind when she began writing--adding a realistic view of rodeo and ranching to her Contemporary Western Romance.
She was born loving horses, developing a lifelong love of rodeo when she married her Bronc Rider. They traveled to rodeos throughout the Northwest while she ran barrels and her cowboy rode bucking horses.
Stephanie and her husband live in the mountains of Eastern Oregon, where they raise and train Rodeo horses with the help of Cisco, the wonder horse, and Dizzy Dottie, the Border Collie.

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephaniebergetwrites, or Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/stephanieberget. Check out all her books on Stephanie's Amazon Author Page

This box set of three stories is about cowgirls falling in love and the men who capture their hearts.

Tied to a Dream – Frannie O’Connell was taught to be self-sufficient, but being Superwoman was harder than it looked. On a lonely stretch of road as she rests and dreams of rounding the barrels, a stranger knocks on her window. By the look of his black Stetson, he’s a cowboy. Life had taught her to be wary but his deep blue eyes and sexy smile has her reaching for the door latch.

Dancing Creek Ranch – Catherine Silvera, manager of the Dancing Creek Bar finds a waterlogged, unconscious man sleeping in the only vehicle left in the parking lot at 3 a.m. She recognized the cowboy. This man had helped her years ago, when she couldn’t help herself. It would only take a few minutes to repay his kindness then make tracks like a coyote-shy rabbit with hot breath on her tail.

Rocky Road Home – Sissy Leviny couldn’t let the man who saved her from the pack of jackals at the bar. When she found him beaten up alongside the road, she picked him up. He’d been beaten because of her. She liked cowboys but there was something about this Harley-riding hero that she couldn’t shake.
Buy link:
https://bit.ly/HarneyCountyCowboys

 

Stephanie is giving away an ebook of Tied to a Dream to one lucky commenter. 

2018 - A great year for books

  In 2018 I did something I've NEVER done... I took a personal retreat. A time in nature (well, not hard core - I mean there was running water, a flush toilet, and a bed) where I could relax and read!
...

With this scenery how could you not enjoy a book???? I read 5 books just that weekend. My overall goal for 2018 was to read 50 books with 20 of them being new to me authors. So to say which ONE was the best, well that's sort of like picking between doughnuts...

How can you pick just one?

My favorite young adult is Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton

In the ancient river kingdom, where touch is a battlefield and bodies the instruments of war, Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood. The same women who killed her mother without a single scratch.

But when Mia's father announces an alliance with the royal family, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Determined to forge her own path forward, Mia plots a daring escape, but could never predict the greatest betrayal of all: her own body. Mia possesses the very magic she has sworn to destroy.

Now, as she untangles the secrets of her past, Mia must learn to trust her heart…even if it kills her.

My favorite 'self-help' book...which I generally don't read because usually they want to give up doughnuts and vodka and well that isn't happening. But Jen Sincero never said that!!!!
 In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, Make some damn money already. The kind you've never made before.

By the end of You Are a Badass, you'll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can't change, how to change what you don't love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

And my best fiction book... is by a 'I'll-buy-everything-she-writes' author... Rebecca Zanetti 

 Hide. That's all Pippa can do to escape the terror chasing her. But now that she's off the grid in a safe house, she finds plenty of interesting things to watch through the window. Like her new neighbor, with his startling green eyes, killer smile, and sexy bad-boy tattoo . . .

 
Run. Malcolm West is fleeing the hell he unleashed in his last assignment as an undercover cop. A backwoods bungalow sounds like the perfect place to start over. Until he discovers he's been set up . . .
 
Fight. Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to bring them together. No matter how much he resents that, and his own driving needs, Malcolm will have to dig deep and let loose the banished killer inside himself, or Pippa's fears could come true faster than the flip of a bolt in a lock . . .

And while I was reading really great books, I developed a taste for coffee. Well my hubby was it's not coffee but I say yes. It's Donut shop k-cup– coconut mocha mixed with 2 tablespoons Hills Brother Mocha Cappuccino with a really really hearty splash of Coffee Mate coconut cream creamer – yummmmmmmyyyy!" I'm doing a give away on my young adult facebook page - Tasarla Romaney. Drop by sometime and tell me what is in my cup for a chance to win a coffee or tea sampler.

Until next month!

Seven Year Itch by Paty Jager

I am proud to be a part of this wonderful blog put together by our blog queens- Judith Ashley and Sarah Raplee. I was one of the first bloggers and was honored when they asked me to join. Over the years there have been some great posts from awesome writers, our monthly contributors and spectacular guest bloggers the blog queens have rustled up.

To commemorate the 7 years this blog has been in existence, the topic this month is to blog about something that has happened to me in the last 7 years.

What hasn’t!

It was 7 years ago that I took the Indie Author plunge. I had 10 books published with a small press when other writer friends started suggesting and pushing me toward an Indie career. At first, I was scared and dubious I could handle all the hats it takes to be an Indie Author. But gradually, I came to cherish the ability to put books out when I wanted, get book covers I loved, and to price books and have sales how I wanted.

With Indie publishing comes deadlines, publishing, marketing, and the ever-present social media.

Some days there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. I want to make my word count, get a book ready to publish, and market. And while I’m doing this I’m also managing a household and helping with the ranching.

Even though I’m behind already this year with my projected books and releases, I wouldn’t change a thing about the path I’ve taken to be a published author. I now have 32 books, 8 novellas, and a dozen short stories published. I enjoy writing my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, collaborating with other authors in box sets, and coming the end of this year, a shared world series.

I’ll have the first e-novella of my Tumbling Creek Ranch series, a contemporary western romance to give to one person who leaves a comment. What has been a big event in your life the last 7 years?

8 Seconds to Love

Book one of the Tumbling Creek Ranch series

Lacey Wallis has put blood, sweat, and tears into her dream of making it to the National Finals Rodeo and isn’t about to let an injury stop her. However, she didn’t expect the ER nurse to be the man she had a crush on years ago, or to discover that crush hadn’t been one-sided.

Jared McIntyre lived through loving and the death of one thrill-seeking woman, and wasn’t about to let that happen again. Especially not to Lacey. But that would mean he’d have to allow himself to love again.  

Which will it be, a life-long dream, or the love of a lifetime?

Universal  link: https://www.books2read.com/u/b5M1Ep

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 32 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. This is what Mysteries Etc says about her Shandra Higheagle mystery series: “Mystery, romance, small town, and Native American heritage combine to make a compelling read.”
blog / website /  Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest   / Bookbub

AWESOME Hunting Outlander and Favorite Scottish Hottie Giveaways coming on July 15th!

It's not too late to participate! You can take part in one or both event activities. 

OFFICIAL OUTLANDER STARZ
MAGNETS

For the Hunting Outlander scavenger hunt, at least one name will be drawn each day to win a large Official Outlander Starz magnet.

Michelle Monkou's Guest Authors are donating additional items.

K.M. Jackson - $10 Amazon gift card

LaShaunda Hoffman - an autograph copy of Building Online Relationships: One Reader At A Time and a 45 minute Virtual Tea Session w/ her for a fellow author

Tanya Michaels - three paperbacks (and she acknowledged the int’l possibility)

Shelia Goss - complimentary ebook of Rules of Love.

Eden Butler - a $5 gift card and 2 signed paperbacks of Thin Love.

Xio Axelrod - ebook of The Calum

Laura Kaye and Stephanie Dray - eBook

There will be one overall giveaway for Favorite Scottish Hotties.

AWESOME SHIRT FOR
FAVORITE SCOTTISH HOTTIES!