Crazy About Dogs

by Madelle Morgan

If you've been reading my posts, you know I love dogs. 

I grew up with dogs, but as an adult I had cats. Notice I didn't say I owned cats. Cat lovers will understand why. 

Cats are easier to care for when you have a job. Cats are self-sufficient while their human is away for long days or even a weekend. No walking is needed, and cats don't gobble up the day's kibble the minute the dish is filled.

For the longest time I enjoyed dogs vicariously by creating dog characters in my Hollywood in Muskoka series.

MOPETTE

Mopette stars in Caught on Camera, a rom-com and first novel in the series. Mopette's a lovable white Maltese who is Trouble with a capital T. 

That lavender ribbon from the bridesmaid's bouquet in her mouth on the cover? The Black Moment is all Mopette's fault. After she clamps her sharp little teeth into the ribbons and drags the bouquet away where Rachel can't find it, all hell breaks loose.

TITAN

Seduced by the Screenwriter's dog character is a retired German shepherd police service dog. He's based on a real canine hero named Titan owned by a Canadian police dog handler.

Catrina abandoned a career as a police diver after a horrifying case left her with PTSD. She relies on Titan. He's not only her best friend and partner in her security business, he's also her therapy dog.

When Catrina falls for Chett, a Hollywood screenwriter, he's quick to warn her that he is terrified of dogs, especially this particularly massive beast. She has to choose: it's either him or the dog. What an impossible quandary for Catrina!

BRANDY

Hollywood Hero, the third in the romance series, is in development, as they say in the movie biz. Meanwhile, readers want to know what happened to Mopette after the end of Caught on Camera. My arm was twisted to include her in Hollywood Hero as a secondary character, so I did! She has a trot-on role.

Hollywood Hero introduces an old Chesapeake Bay Retriever. She lives at Boondocks Lodge in Muskoka, which will be the setting for Hollywood Hero as well as the fifth in the series. 

For this book, I held a contest, asking subscribers of my blog at MadelleMorgan.com for name suggestions. The winner who proposed the name Brandy won a paperback copy of Seduced by the Screenwriter.

Brandy of Boondocks Lodge

Our family had two rescue Chesapeakes, Cindy and Taffy, at different times in my childhood and teen years. They were both gentle, intelligent females who were protective of us kids. They loved swimming at the Muskoka summer cottage.

And now for the big reveal

My husband has retired, so.....

A bouncy, energetic puppy joined our family on May 3!

Raven was born March 8. She's a hypoallergenic Australian Labradoodle, the smallest in a litter of 10 pups. She'll be 30 pounds fully grown.

Raven at 8 weeks

And guess what? Right now she's the size of a cuddly cat.

Happy spring!

Madelle

CAUGHT ON CAMERA BUY LINKS 

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com.au | Kobo | Apple Books | Walmart

SEDUCED BY THE SCREENWRITER BUY LINKS

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com.au

Kobo  | Apple Books | Walmart

Madelle's romantic thriller DiamondHunter is a free read in Kindle Unlimited.

Follow Madelle on  Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Wattpad. For giveaways and new releases, subscribe to Madelle’s blog at www.MadelleMorgan.com.

Winter Can Be Wonderful...or Deadly

by Madelle Morgan

On a sunny Saturday in mid-January, I walked along a trail by a frozen lake and thought about what I'd say in this post on the topic of writing a novel with a winter setting.

I was visiting my mother who lives by Lake Simcoe, located between Toronto and Muskoka, Ontario. The lake was dotted with dozens of ice fishing huts and people enjoying the unseasonable above-freezing temperature. Warm sun had melted snowdrifts on the ice surface, making it easy for families to walk their dogs or pull children in sleds. Skidoos and four wheelers zipped at top speed between the ice huts.  

All were enjoying a beautiful, spring-like day.

Ice fishing huts on Lake Simcoe, Ontario

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I experienced very strong déjà vu, because I'd described a similar winter scene in my newest release, Seduced by the Screenwriter, set in January in Canada.

Exactly like the Muskoka winter carnival scene in my novel, snowmelt poured from underground streams into the lake. Lake ice had melted and retreated from land, leaving narrow stretches of open, very cold water.

Drainage pipe emptying into Lake Simcoe

I watched a mother and a little girl in a pink snowsuit walk across the lake ice. In my novel, Lilly, a little girl in a pink snowsuit, wanders onto dangerously weak ice and has to be rescued.

Mother & daughter in center of photo

The coincidence iced my blood. Life imitating fiction? Yikes.

Weak Ice is Deadly

Canadian winters are becoming warmer on average, with more thaws and fewer weeks-long stretches of frigid temperatures that thicken ice. Snow cover reflects the sun. Bare ice absorbs the heat of the sun, and melts. In consequence, Canadians are falling through weak ice more frequently. During my January visit, the CBC news reported that a snowmobiler died in cottage country when he fell through the ice.

Catrina, the heroine in Seduced by the Screenwriter, is a former police diver who was traumatized during a recovery dive. When a snowmobiler falls though weakened ice and drowns in the frigid depths, Catrina must face her worst fear for the sake of his family.

Grim stuff, eh?

Obviously Seduced by the Screenwriter is significantly darker than the fun-filled romantic romp that is Caught on Camera, the first book in the Hollywood in Muskoka series.

And it's because I set Catrina's story in winter.

In winter, everything is frozen and dead, like Catrina's heart. Long, dark nights represent the dark night of the soul. I subconsciously linked winter to Catrina's emotional struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  

Winter Symbolism, Motifs & Games

The freezing cold at the beginning of the novel symbolizes Catrina's emotional state. The story moves through time from the dead of winter, through the spring thaw, to the summer HEA in parallel with the opening of Catrina's heart.

I carefully selected songs for the Seduced by the Screenwriter YouTube playlist to reflect Catrina's emotional journey. The images in the YouTube music videos add another layer of symbolism and reinforce the motifs.

For example, several videos have a water motif, which connects to and reinforces Catrina's turbulent love/fear emotions about being underwater. She loves diving, in fact belongs in water like a mermaid, yet fears it. That dichotamy is reflected in the name of the Toronto, Canada band Mermaids Exist versus their lyrics in this song.

The video of Demi Lovato singing Stone Cold has both water and winter elements that perfectly mirror Catrina's emotionally devastation in that particular scene of the novel.

I also included a music video that showcases the winter sport of curling, for the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with the curling game that is described in the chapter Getting His Rocks Off. Curling rocks, that is!

Winter Awards Season

Setting a Hollywood-themed story in January allowed me to include a plot point about the Golden Globe Awards that intensifies pressure on the screenwriter hero.

I'm Canadian. I love winter. I really do. However, I intend to stay off the ice.

Madelle

Madelle is the author of three romance novels set in Canada.

Her debut romantic suspense, Diamond Hunter, is a free read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Buy the paperback or ebook at Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Amazon.au 

Caught on Camera, a romantic comedy, is available at Amazon, Kobo and iTunes. Buy the ebook or paperback at Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Amazon.au 

Seduced by the Screenwriter, a steamy contemporary romance, is a free read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and is $0.99 through February, 2018. Buy the ebook at Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Amazon.au

Subscribe to Madelle's occasional newsletter at www.MadelleMorgan.com for a free short story and to be alerted to new releases and paperback giveaways.

My Novels Have Soundtracks!

by Madelle Morgan

As I write this, Seduced by the Screenwriter is being formatted. It'll be available on Amazon by December. It's the second book in the Hollywood in Muskoka series, and is definitely the most emotional, hottest romance I've ever written. Needless to say, I'm very excited about the release.

The Soundtrack

I plot using the screenwriting three act structure  approach, as described in my April 2016 post. I imagine these contemporary romance novels as movies. Movies have soundtracks! Therefore I created playlist "soundtracks" for Caught on Camera and Seduced by the Screenwriter.

Within a chapter, there's a cue to listen to a song that matches the emotions of the scene, just like in a film soundtrack. Each song in the playlist reflects and enhances that stage of the hero or heroine's emotional journey.

It was a challenge to find songs that would appeal across generations and had the right visual (YouTube) and auditory resonance with the characters' emotions. It took me ages, but I'm passionate about film and music so it was a labor of love. I discovered fabulous artists—too many to include in a 19 or 20 song playlist. Fortunately there will be at least six books in the series! By the way, each can be read as a stand alone romance.

Playlist Options

Readers who subscribe to a music streaming service such as Apple Music, Spotify or Google Play Music can create a playlist from the song list in the front matter of the novel, or on my website. 

Alternatively, readers can open my Seduced by the Screenwriter playlist on YouTube in their browsers. The video format allowed me to include in the playlist two YouTube movie clips that fit with the story.

Smartphones, Tablets, MP3 Player...

You'll need a device with Internet access or an MP3 player to listen to music while reading. That's the downside. For convenience, readers would likely prefer to be able to click on a link to the song within the ebook. Unfortunately that's against Amazon rules.

Yes, it's a little more work to listen to music at specific points in the novel. On the other hand, every time the reader listens to the playlist, they'll recall the emotional roller coaster of the love story and the HEA!  Worth it, right?

Seduced by the Screenwriter Blurb

Traumatized by a deadly underwater dive, police diver Catrina Turner abandoned her career and escaped to Muskoka, Canada’s upscale, private vacation destination favored by wealthy celebrities. She and her retired police dog Titan provide security services to safeguard empty luxury homes over the winter. Her PTSD is a tightly-held secret… until an affair with a visitor changes her life.

Hollywood screenwriter Chett de Groot needs a hit to save his career. He accepts a movie star’s offer to use her secluded lake house as a writing retreat, and discovers a closet full of her old movie costumes.

Lonely, freezing in Muskoka, and out of ideas, Chett entices the beautiful security guard to wear costumes and role-play in love scenes for inspiration. They discover how satisfying acting can be. Soon Catrina’s ad-libbing passionate lines in scorching “performances” that knock his thermal socks off.

Chett secretly writes Catrina’s terrifying dive into a spec script. Then a film producer makes Chett an offer he can’t refuse. But when Catrina finds out, will he lose her forever?

Ebook available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited in December 2017.

About Madelle

Madelle Morgan is a Canadian author who writes romance set in Canada. 

Caught on Camera is a Hollywood wedding romance set in Muskoka, Canada—summer playground of the rich and famous. It's Book 1 in the Hollywood in Muskoka series.

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 Madelle's romantic thriller Diamond Hunter is available on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited.

Subscribe to Madelle’s blog to be alerted to the release of Seduced by the Screenwriter and launch giveaways.

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The Adventure in Writing Romantic Thrillers by Maggie Lynch

EXPENDABLE was my first traditionally published novel. I had published four nonfiction books with NY and London, and many SF short stories with magazines and anthologies over two decades. But this was my first published novel.

All my stories whether short or novel length, are written from my heart. That means it reflects my joys, concerns, and questions at that time in my life. When I wrote EXPENDABLE, two things were keeping me up at night. The first was my eldest son was in the Marine Corps and serving in Iraq on convoy duty. I was concerned if he would come home at all. If he did make it home alive, I was concerned about PTSD. Fortunately, he came home alive and well. The second thing keeping me up at night was all the protests and discussion around using fetal cells for research. I worked at Oregon Health & Science University then, and they were one of few research universities that had a research grant. (Now most medical universities have them). 

I’ve always loved reading thrillers. I love the complex puzzle of the plot, the character backgrounds, including the villain’s character (if he isn’t all bad). Of course, the excitement of turning pages to get to the next scene and the emotional investment in staying up all night to see if the hero and heroine survive have always made me think that was a great read. In spite of loving to read them, I had never written a thriller in my short stories (hard to get it into a short story format) and certainly not in a novel.  I’d written action scenes in an SF novel, and a villain or a nemesis in short stories. The thought of writing a thriller AND a romance was both exciting and very scary. In the end, it is my most challenging and rewarding writing experience.

On the surface, writing a thriller appears to be easier to write than my Women’s Fiction or Contemporary Romance novels. In a thriller the external plot keeps the pages turning. Once I had the inciting incident and the problem to be solved, I never had a problem with wondering what high stakes conflict I had to develop. The entire situation is a high stakes conflict where both the hero and heroine are in constant jeopardy, and in this series other people need saving too. However, the challenging part is to add in the romance and the emotional journey of the characters.

SHADOW FINDERS SERIES 

A romance requires equal time to exposing the inner journey, the romantic relationship, all while the hero and heroine are involved in this high stakes where they can barely take a breath. In my story, a twist that is different from the usual thriller relationship of violence begets violence mentality, is that the heroine is someone who hates guns and has never used one, nor does she want to even touch a gun. The hero is a former Marine who has used them expertly both in training and in war. He has guns in his home and he won’t think twice about killing to save a life. The heroine isn’t weak. She is strong and will fight to save a life, but killing someone in the process is not acceptable. These two different worldviews—non-violence vs. violence—was as interesting to explore as the action and getting the bad guy. The acceptance of those differences and being able to live with them is critical to these two people having a relationship and finding their HEA.

Romantic thrillers/suspense, as a genre, is still hot. I quickly learned that when readers love your story, you better have a series planned. When this book was initially released with a traditional publisher, I had a plan for three books. But I left the publisher, went indie, and then had to wait for my rights to be returned. The good news is during that time I conceived an ongoing series (more than three books originally planned). When I released the second edition of EXPENDABLE, I included the set up of the Shadow Finders ongoing series in the ending of the book. The three heroes and their wives will work together to find and save those who have been forgotten or abandoned—people doomed to the shadows. I hope to continue to write books in this ongoing series for as long as readers will buy them.

MAGGIE LYNCH

BIO:

Maggie Lynch is the author of 20+ published books, as well as numerous short stories and non-fiction articles.  Her fiction tells stories of men and women making heroic choices one messy moment at a time. Maggie is also the founder of Windtree Press, an independent publishing cooperative with over 200 titles among 20 authors.

Maggie and her musician husband live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and are the slaves of two demanding cats. In 2013, after careers in counseling, the software industry, academia, and consulting worldwide, Maggie started writing full time. Her adult fiction spans romance, suspense, and SF titles under the name Maggie Jaimeson. She writes YA under the name Maggie Faire.  Her non-fiction titles are found under Maggie Lynch.

Visit Maggie on her Website: http://maggielynch.com/ 

Getting to Know Lynn Hammond

Because one of the Blog Queens who shall be nameless goofed and put Lynn Hammond up under the wrong name, she-who-has-no-name is republishing Lynn's post from 09/23/2017. I'm particularly drawn to Lynn's story as I know so many readers who become fans of romance novels during times of strife and grief. For many of us to turn our attention to writing romance is an obvious next step. Please welcome again: Lynn Hammond.
 In love and light, Judith
P.S. You'll note comments from 09/23/17 are included. Just scroll on down to leave yours.

Romancing the Genres was started by two not-yet-published authors and while both Sarah and Judith are now multi-published we do have a soft spot for writers who are on the cusp. We are pleased to introduce you to Lynn Hammond who is not-quite-yet-published. She is doing it the ‘right way’ and her first book “Risky Lies“ is at the editor's. 

May 11, 2011 my life changed.

My father left my house on a motorcycle. 

About five minutes later we heard several different siren sounds.

An ambulance went down our road several times with the sirens on. My husband decided he wants to go find out what was going on.

That day I lost my father and I lost myself.

It took two years to recover from his death.

I went to a facility for seven weeks to do Cognitive therapy. These classes help recovery from PTSD. My assignment was "pick one hobby to do". I picked reading. After seven weeks’ I could read a whole book without distractions.

I have been reading one book every two days. I notice that this helps me relax and imagine myself in the romance stories.

When I started reviewing books on Amazon I notice the authors were sending me Facebook request. I really enjoyed talking with them, playing games on their sites, and just helping them with characters in their book.

I went to my first RT convention in Atlanta, GA. I decided why not try to write. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I ask several authors about my ideas and they loved it and encouraged me to write.

Lynn Hammond

I like New Adult Romance because it is exciting. At the beginning adult stages, the teenagers are experimenting. They want to be grown-ups. As a teenager once myself you are so full of life and you have so many obstacles to face.

I have a lot of stories to tell and one day I hope to get them all out. 

Thanks for Listen,

Love,

Lynn Hammond

Check out Lynn's website:

LynnHammondAuthor.wordpress.com

Friend her on FB at LynnHammond.

You can also contact her at lynnhammondauthor@gmail.com

Ring of Fire

by Diana McCollum

I read Susan Fox's book RING OF FIRE a couple of years ago and have never forgotten the story or the excellent characters she drew.

The heroine, Lark, is a single mother of a young boy who has Cerebral Palsy. Lark is the fire chief of the local fire dept. Her mother lives with her and helps care for her son, Jaden. I fell in love with this little guy.

The hero is Major Eric Weaver. Eric is suffering from PTSD. He lost his leg and his best friend to an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

Both Jaden and Eric are attending Sally Ryland's Riding where they are taking therapy horseback riding lessons, to help with their respective disabilities.

The author portrays Jaden's disease, Cerebral Palsy, so as not to over whelm the reader, but so one gets a clear idea of what this child goes through on a day to day basis. Jaden reaches out to Eric and they become buddies.

Eric and Lark's love story is dealt with in a respectful way. As an amputee, Eric has to learn that he is still a man in every sense of the word. 

When an accident happens on the horse trail, it is Eric who gives Jaden the responsibility of going for help. And Jaden blooms as the hero of the day.

Every bit of this story is believable. Well worth reading.

Personally I have a few people in my life who are disabled in one way or another. I live with two of them. One is my 91 Yr. old mother. She is deaf, but do to a cochlear implant she had done in February she is learning to hear again. She uses a walker and has lots of back and leg and knee pain, none of which can be helped. So good days are few and far between.

My husband has been on disability for about nine years now. He has severe problems with his spine and knees. This is a man who loved to hike the mountains for hours carrying a backpack for camping.

He could carry shingles up a ladder to re-roof a roof job he was working on or carry his aluminum canoe to the lake from the parking lot. Now he can’t do any of that. He can’t paddle a canoe or kayak anymore because of lung issues. Ten strokes and he is done. He pushed the garbage cans out to the street, and came in to the house out of breath.

Needless to say my big strong husband has trouble adjusting to not being the man he was, and this brings on depression issues. He’s in his 60’s, but said he feels 90.

For me, I’m physically okay. Living with two people who have issues sometimes brings on blue days for me.

Do you have a mentally or physically disabled person in your life?

Death, Taxes, and a real-life Hero

Hi everyone.
B. A. Binns here, spending Tax-time with the genre-ista's.


I still have to do my taxes. Next week, I swear!

Taxes have been around forever. I am certain that back in prehistory, when mankind first forged a civilization, someone--obviously the guys who took in charge--said, "lets tax everyone else."

Death, on the other hand...

Sometimes that can be, if not stopped, at least delayed. As long as there are heroes.

True story here.  Ten-year-old Zachiah found his mother in bed, having trouble breathing. She wasn't his birth mother, but she had taken care of him for years. His foster father was nowhere around. The man, who suffers from PTSD, was later found hiding under a table, fighting off a flashback. This little boy used the 911 training we give kids to call for help. Then he stayed by her side, talking to her, encouraging her to live. He even got her a robe when he heard the approaching sirens, because he knew she wouldn't want to be seen undressed by strangers.

It would be easy to say that all he did was call 911. But the doctor said the woman would have been dead in less than six hours without help. She went to the operating room where they intended to do a quadruple bypass. It ended up being a quint.

I guess she will have to do her taxes this year, thanks to the little hero she took in when no one else, not even his parents, wanted him.  I love hearing stories about ordinary kids who go that extra step, do just the right thing at the right moment. And this one is the kind of real boy I also love to write about in my books.

Contest

This week is your last chance to enter the contest celebrating the release of my third book, Being God. The winner gets a $25 Amazon gift card.  Leave a comment to be entered into the raffle. And check out my personal blog for more contest details including additional chances to enter AND to learn more Being God. Winners will be announced on 3/18 at my blog http://barbarabinns.com and on my website, http://babinns.com/

 






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Wrongful Death

By Diana McCollum

I’ve spent a great deal of time pondering what I should write about this month.  The subjects that were suggested by our Blog Queens were Death and taxes.

I realize death is a sad subject to discuss.  It’s going to happen to all of us at some point in time.  The hope is we live long, healthy, happy and productive lives.  The sad truth is that many lives are cut short by accident, illness or war.

War brings me to the subject of this post on death.

Not all casualties of warfare come home in a flag draped coffin.

While watching “60 Minutes” last weekend I was stunned to hear the Veterans Association state that the average number of suicides per day for vets is twenty-two.  Every 65 mins a vet commits suicide. That is eight thousand and thirty lives per year.

Most of these are young veterans, men and women who survived Iraq and Afghanistan--but who saw such atrocities that their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was more than they could live with or who were injured so severely, death seemed better than life.

The young vet, Clay Hunt, who was the featured story, survived the war.  He won a Purple Heart, watched his buddies die in front of him and was wounded, sent home, recovered and went back to war.  When he finally was discharged from the Marines, he told his mother the events of his buddies’ deaths (and there were many deaths) kept playing over and over in his head like a horror movie.  He had PTSD.  Clay told his mother and father, “Marines are at war, and America is at the mall.”

He was disillusioned with America and the nonchalance and lack of concern about the men and women fighting the war.

Clay tried to make a difference in the world.  After the Marines he joined humanitarian efforts traveling to Haiti after the earthquake to help the people there.  He traveled to Chili after another earthquake to help.  Clay had a purpose and seemed to be adjusting to life after war.

But he wasn’t healed or adjusted.

Even with therapy and the support of a loving family and friends the war took Clay Hunt’s life.  He committed suicide at the age of twenty-eight.  Clay was unable to overcome survivor’s guilt and the never ending playback of death in his mind.  This is an American tragedy played out twenty-two times a day.

This young man won a Purple Heart.  He fought heroically for America.  He was brave.  He came home and the war took his life on American soil.

My heart goes out to Clay Hunt’s family.

To all the veterans I say thank you for your service, and God bless.  May you find peace of mind in this life. 

“Live in the moment.  Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.” unknown