Coming in Hot, Passport to Romance Cover Contest Winner! and CONTEST

I'm thrilled to let you know that Coming In Hot won the Passport to Romance Cover Contest!

HUGE thanks to everyone who came out in the wind storm that wasn't (thanks for that news people) and voted.

Right now the book is in edits, so I'm hoping for a February release. I'll be sure to let you all know when that happens.

In the meantime I participated in an author event at Crucible Winery over the weekend with authors Gina Fluharty, Clare McKay & Anna Alexander. We had a ton of fun and I wound up winning the raffle basket. Which means YOU wound up winning.

Just comment below that you'd like to win the prizes (including the House of Rosenorn canvas bag, Theo chocolate bars, books and more) and tell me what your favorite type of wine is. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter too. That's it! I'll have one of the kiddos pick a winner on Thursday.

Have a wonderful week!

Carmen

News! Some now, some later, but we're moving forward!!

Be sure to stay turned for more information!! I can't wait to share it with you all!

Thanks for taking this crazy journey with me.

Carmen

The balancing act

Hi Everyone!

I know I've been terrible about updating the blog, which is okay. I think I mentioned here that I was working on creating a better balance. To stop trying to be all things for all people and figure out what I could do for me. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? But it's not. At least not for me.

I have a tendency to say YES! To volunteer any time I see an open position. And this isn't a bad thing when it's done in moderation. It's led to some amazing experiences and I've met some really fabulous people. 

But, time to find balance. 

So, in that effort, I've been working out & eating better. I've gone back to the basics on my writing, really figuring out what was tripping me up so I can fix it. (I'll go into that another time. It's been really interesting!) And, I've accepted a promotion at the day job that has led to more opportunities and responsibilities. Some of that completely counters my attempt at balance, but that's part of the process, right? Part of being able to grow as a person.

Yesterday I was in a meeting and for the first time in a long time, I felt under dressed. I'm sure I looked fine in my black & white striped pencil skirt and my black sweater. No one made me feel this way but myself. So, I came home and told Hubby that I need to invest in a suit. Not for everyday wear, but for the days I have these meetings with men who are older than me and all give me the side eye when I walk in. (Yes, it still happens. It's obnoxious.) I live in very casual Seattle. I think having a suit to wear in these situations (which, admittedly, don't happen more than once a quarter) will help. If nothing else, it'll help me.

Hubby's response was, "What type of suit?"  Huh. I don't know. I was thinking about a skirt and blazer. Skirts because I feel very comfortable in them over trousers. A blazer because...isn't that what makes up a suit?

Apparently I've been living under a rock when it comes to suit options. 

So, I ask you, what type of suits should I look for?  

Notes from my walk

This isn't a "New Year, New Me" type of thing. I think I mentioned before that 2016 is a big birthday year for me, so I decided at my last birthday that I needed to step up my game.
Part of that is actually walking the dog more often. He'll be happier, which will make me happier, which will make everyone else happier...see where this is going?

Well, since we live so far North we have about 6 hours of daylight at this time of year. All of those hours are during the day job, so I'm walking the dog in the dark. (Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit about the number of hours of sunlight, but not about walking in the dark.)  I've been noticing a few things while we're out walking.

1. High schoolers go to school REALLY early. Good grief. Those kids are barely upright before their loving parents are shoving them out the door so they can catch their bus. Plus, most of them don't appear to drink coffee yet, which is a double shame. If you have to be up that early, you should at least get the benefit of coffee.

2. Some people are afraid of dogs. Typically they send out a warning sign of some type; they'll cross the street, start walking in traffic to avoid the dog, or they'll simply yell for me to keep my ferocious beast who is peeing on everything that will stand still long enough away from them. (Now that I think about it, I wonder if they're really afraid of the dog, or just of being peed on...) Those are all fine ways to let me know, and I'll respect your wishes. The woman this morning did none of those things. She was bundled up as though she was about to do the Iditarod, looking straight ahead and walking at a pretty fast clip. When I said good morning she didn't respond at all. I figured somewhere under all those layers she had ear buds in and didn't think about it. But, when she got up next to Taz she pulled some fancy side-stepping dance move and squeaked like a mouse.

3. Our neighbor, the odd ones that are nice enough, but if the FBI ever showed up and said they had a freezer full of human bodies in their basement we'd all probably nod our heads and say things like, "Makes sense." like to clean at oh dark thirty in the morning.  They were scrubbing their windows.  This in itself wouldn't be so bad, but I'm pretty sure she was naked (yes, standing in a lit room, scrubbing the windows). I need to attempt to bleach my brain to unsee what I saw before I whipped my head around to look anywhere BUT there.

Thankfully, I'm safely back in my house, with the my coffee. The dog is resting at my feet having successfully scared the mouse-woman and I'm going to pretend I never saw anything.

I hope you all have a fabulous morning!!

Carmen

It's the most...craziest...time of the year!

I hope things are going well for all of you during this crazy time of the year.

Around here, I figured I'd take this week off from the day job in order to get things ready for our holiday. And by take the week off, that, of course means that I've answered several day job emails so far and have two meetings scheduled for tomorrow. *insert unimpressed look here*

And the kids have been to two parties so far, with another happening later today, Hubs is heading to the dentist and I have to hit the post office to ship off that one package that I forgot all about until late last night.

But, aside from all the craziness, I'm really looking forward to when things grind to a halt with the outside demands and we all take some time to hang out and enjoy just being able to spend time with one another.

So, here's me, wishing you and yours a very relaxing (as relaxing as it can be) rest of the  year. I hope your holiday celebrations, whatever they are, bring a ton of joy and laughter.

It's almost time for New Years Resolutions. Have you given those any thoughts yet?

I've been quiet...sort of.

It's been much longer than intended since I've updated the blog. And now I'm sitting here in front of the dreaded blank screen wondering where to start.
My Spring and Summer (so far) have been packed full with all sorts of adventures and planning for the next one. We've been doing the typical suburban parent thing of running the kids everywhere--side note, do think other parents would get behind me if I signed up as an Uber care and charged them to transport their darlings all over the place? And would that mean I could keep my own kids allowance money to pay for their trips? Hmmm....
I'm kidding. Mostly.
Hubs built me an amazing garden set up which has quickly taken over everything. I'm loving all the fresh veggies! The oldest kid is in football (of course) the youngest is swimming and I discovered I turned the Stud in my novel into a Dud.
*deep sigh*
It took a lot of hair pulling, teeth gnashing and more than a little wine to get me to admit it, even to myself. But my wonderful Hero is now a Beta-man with absolutely nothing interesting about him. He was playing it too safe to get the girl. When I was speaking to an editor about what I'd done she looked me dead in the eye (with her husband sitting on the other side of her, I might add) and said, "Here's the thing. All men are assholes. You can't get rid of it."
So, I'm re-writing. A lot.

That's why I've been so quiet lately. What have you been up to?

And, since it's National Book Lover's Day, I'd like to be the first to officially invite you all to the Emerald City Writers' Conference Reader Appreciation Event! It'll be held October 17 from 6-8pm in the Bellevue (Washington) Westin Hotel grand ballroom (on the 3rd floor).
We're working on the official flyers for the event, but in the meantime, this is the program ad. Isn't it pretty?

Hope to see you all there!

Taking the time for yourself

Hi all,
I've been taking a little break from blogging (as you've probably noticed) and this past week I called a time out on pretty much everything else. Like most of us, I've been burning the candle at both ends and really needed to regroup. I was burning out due to the increased demands of the day job, the kids constant requests, the feeling that I needed to write more and more and move up my timeline for publication. Toss in the fact that any goofing off I was doing on social media was filled with the hard selling "Buy my book! Look at my book! Review my book!" type posts and I needed to step back.

The past several days have been filled with family & friends. No writing, no social media (except for what had already been scheduled) and no pressure. I helped my Hubs & kids load wood from the 150-ish foot tree we had cut down. It may not sound like fun, but we were together, laughing while we worked. (And I'm still sore from doing it...I need to work out more) We headed North to the tulip fields, one of my favorite things to do. My boys are getting to the age where they no longer find it quite so fun to tromp through the fields while I take all the photos I can, but they were pretty good sports about it all. We went out to eat, drank quite a bit and laughed.

These are the moments I've been missing. The moments that I've stuffed so full of everything that I was forgetting to enjoy.

No more.

Now I'm back. I may not blog every week, but I'm back to doing what I want to do and having fun while I do it.

I hope you all have had a great Spring Break (if you get one) and get a chance to take a few moments for yourself too.

If you want to steal a few minutes on FB, I'm featuring 25 Days of Cowboys over on my FB page. Stop by and say high. I'd love to see you. https://www.facebook.com/authorcarmencook

Carmen

Flowers, romance and the 'oh my!' factor

Earlier this week a few of the local romance writers (members of Greater Seattle RWA) were asked to judge at the NW Flower and Garden show. Anna Alexander, Olivia Waite and I were thrilled to agree--once we got over the initial shock of being asked. I mean, a garden show? really? My master-gardener mother-in-law had a much harder time accepting that this is something I would be asked to do because of my writing, but we were excited. We were to judge the displays before the show opened to the public to help pick which of the displays spoke to the theme of "Romance Blossoms."

We were given our clipboards and set to work...and quickly realized that while we might not be master gardeners or landscape artists, we were very critical when it came to the subtleties of the displays telling a story. We spent a lot of time checking out the details, reading the descriptions and discussing if the various display lived up to their promises.

And, as a person who loved to dabble in the garden myself, I felt incredibly humbled by some of these displays. The gardens were gorgeous, all across the board. We wished we could have awarded them all something, just for the sheer amount of time and effort all the artists put into each display.

Overall, it was so much fun and we loved every minute of it.  Rather than try to narrate my way through all the photos, I'll share bits and pieces...

This steampunk inspired garden captured all of our imaginations. It was a spectacular display. We later discovered it was a first time designer who put this together. My cell phone photos doesn't do justice to the level of details in this display (or any of them really).

This rustic cabin display really captured our imaginations. It wasn't until our second pass through that we discovered the very subtle nod towards the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. (When we mentioned it to the coordinator she hadn't realized the tie in at all. At the time, we were the only ones to see it.) Ultimately, we all decided we'd love to spend a weekend here.

I called this one my "happily-ever-after" garden. And, again, my cell phone photo doesn't do it justice. There were so many really wonderful things happening in this display, with an assortment of textures, mediums and levels. I would love to have this garden in my back yard. (There's a Valentines Day gift idea! LOL)








There were so many really wonderful details in the various gardens:

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into the garden show. Which is your favorite so far?

And lastly, I'll show you one more really spectacular garden. This one was huge, but every angle you looked at it you discovered more really wonderful details:

 

 

Resolutions-time to make 'em

I've been down and out with a nasty bug this week (yeah, I know, Merry Christmas to me!) so this is going to be short and sweet.

It's that time of year where we all start thinking out resolutions. The good, the bad, the ugly...they come back every year. And typically the same ones: I'm going to grow 6 inches so my weight matches my height. I'm going to work out every day. I'm going to eat right, get a promotion, go on a fabulous trip...something. Something wonderful.

Well, this year I decided on a resolution as I was digging through the thousands of photos I've taken looking for a family pic to use on our Christmas card.  I found one. ONE. That's it.
Pathetic.
How about a pic with just me and the Hubs? Again, one. Ok, there were about a zillion pics of that one pose thanks to my friend holding down the shutter button on the camera, but what equated to one picture.

So, this year, I'm vowing to get more family photos and more pics of me with my guys. Essentially, I will be in more pictures.

How about you? Any resolutions, no matter how small?

I wish you all a fabulous New Year!!

Christmas prep in full swing!

I don't know about all of you, but Christmas prep is in full swing at my house. And by that I mean I've cut back on a lot of what I typically do to decorate because, "How is it already the week of Christmas?!" has hit me big time.

So, the basics...the tree is up:

I'm doing what I can to keep the cat out of the tree:

And I've baked some cookies. Mine don't look nearly this nice.

But, when it all comes down to it, I just can't wait to spend some quality time with my guys later this week.

How about you? Are you all ready for the holiday celebrations? Or are you still circling the mall looking for parking?

Remember When?

Do you remember the first time you saw things in public that you were sure your mom would flip out about, but she didn't?

I remember giggling over the National Geographic magazine showing the tribal people of some distant land, painted, pierced and delightfully, disgustingly, nude. Then having that same magazine arrive at our house in the mail. I kept waiting for my mother to throw her hands in the air and declare the whole thing dreadful before tossing that publication in the trash bin, muttering about decency and propriety the whole while.

Much to my surprise, she didn't. Instead she read the whole thing and even discussed parts of it with my father. Over dinner! (Oh the horror)

Well, this weekend, my youngest son had such an experience. Hubs and I took the boys to Buca di Beppo after finishing the last of our shopping. Anyone who has been to Buca knows of their over the top Italian decor and I didn't think anything of it.

Right up until Alex motioned me to his side, eyes wide as saucers. I was a bit concerned that he'd hurt himself somehow, so was woefully unprepared when his stage whisper of, "That statue has privates!!" reached my ears.  I turned and spotted a small replica of The David tucked in an alcove behind me. Turning back I assured him it was supposed to be like that. "But why?" Because it's art.

And I completely lost it when he muttered, completely disgruntled, "Well, it's art when you tell me to put my shorts back on too."

I've really got to get him to a museum.

WINNER of the Angel Nicholas giveaway!

Congratulations to ALISON, the winner (drawn from random name picker thing) of 

SWEET DECEPTION!

Thank you so much to everyone to stopped by to comment. Don't forget that you can purchase the book at all major retailers now.

Thanks again Angel and Congratulations ALISON!! 

Introducing Angel Nicholas and her debut novel SWEET DECEPTION and GIVEAWAY!

I'd like everyone to meet Angel. We met a couple of years ago through Facebook believe it or not. I can't exactly remember the details, but before I knew it I'd connected with a kindred spirit from the next state over. Isn't the internet fun?

And I am THRILLED to announce her debut release SWEET DECEPTION, which is available now. 

I've asked Angel to stop by and answer some FAQ so everyone can get to know her and get a taste of her new book. One lucky person will be gifted a copy of SWEET DECEPTION, to be drawn on Friday, December 12 at 12:30pm PST. 

Now to be all official....

The only girl in the midst of four brothers, Angel Nicholas spent her childhood hiding behind romance novels. Now the mother of four overly-energetic children, a Whimsy kitty and slobber-flinging Great Dane, fiction is still her refuge. Excessive caffeine fuels her typing, stiletto heels maintain her sass, and the splendors of Idaho alongside its gregarious people inspire her muse.

Find Angel on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and on her website! You can also favorite her Amazon Author Page to receive emails when new books are available!

Here's the back copy blurb for the book:

Ally Thompson’s life is perfect. Calm, quiet, some might even say boring. The sole survivor of a tragic accident, she’s not the adventurous type—something she’s decided to change.

One roller-coaster ride…

A murder and a detective in disguise shatter Ally’s first attempt at “fun.” Detective Greg Marsing is everything Ally knows better than to want. The gun-totting, tattooed scumbags trying to kill her are almost a welcome distraction from her pointless attraction.

Blows her world wide open…

A contract on Ally has every lowlife for miles gunning for her. Sparks fly while she and her unlikely hero scramble to unravel clues. As the deadly game escalates, Greg has to decide if self-preservation rates higher than a love worth dying for.

FAQ by Angel:

Have you always been a writer, or is there a pivotal moment that started you on your journey?

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. Writing was how I expressed all my teenage angst. I have a folder full of dark prose and weepy poetry! There was a long period where I set it aside, however. Instead of pursuing my dream of becoming a freelance photojournalist after high school, I pursued life. Children came along. Who knew the little darlings were so distracting? I found hobby after hobby to occupy myself with as they grew—in number and years. Then one night I had a dream so vivid that it would not leave me alone. So I sat down at the computer I used to maintain my then husband’s business and began writing. And wrote and wrote and wrote. I was like a woman obsessed. It started out horrid and was writing completely wrong, but I kept writing. I finished that story, and moved on to another. Then another. In the process, I educated myself about writing and the publishing industry. I’ve always believed that anything worth doing is worth doing right. Four and a half years later, here I am. I must have done one or two things right, don’t you think? ;-)

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?

The marabou slippers, feather boas, bon bons, and pink champagne of course, dahling!

Oh, you were being serious? Hmm… I have always enjoyed the ability to create something from nothing, whether I was doing heirloom sewing or knitting or anything else. Writing is an extension of that. You sit down to a blank screen and you weave this intricate story. You create real people out of thin air, breathe life into them, and send them on this incredible journey that gives them even more depth. Then you send it out into the world, and pray it moves people just a little. It’s truly the most incredible thing I’ve ever done, aside from giving birth to and raising my munchkins.

Do you prefer dogs, cats, or none of the above?

Ha! More like ALL of the above! I’m an animal lover to the core. I currently have three cats, which was unintentional, I swear. I’m no longer allowed anywhere near the Humane Society for fear I’ll come home with more. Home feels wrong without a dog though! Rental properties are oddly against their renters owning 170 pound Great Danes. I think it’s an unfair restriction, personally. An ill-behaved dog is destructive no matter their size. So the Dane is still with the ex-husband at the ex-house. I miss him desperately.

Last question:  Do you have any shameless addictions—Starbucks, shoes, sunglasses, coins, books?

*snort* Everyone who knows me is well-aware of my addictions! Coffee, ridiculously high heels, and books. I’m not the least bit shy about indulging or sharing. I’m less vocal about things like my enjoyment of excellent food and fine weaponry of any kind.

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today, Carmen! You’re a doll! If you don’t mind, I’ll say farewell by giving your readers a taste of my new release, Sweet Deception. Hugs & kisses!!

Excerpt

Oh, God! He was shooting at her. Actually shooting. In broad daylight. In her neighbor’s backyard. Didn’t they have rules about that sort of stuff?

Nerves shredded, Ally gritted her teeth. Three more feet. Two. Another crunch. She swore the heat of the bullet singed her shoulder. Arms extended, she jumped for all she was worth. Up, braced her arms and pushed off. She landed with an oomph on the other side, followed by another crunch and a hole in the wood fence.

For a split-second, she crouched panting, staring in disbelief at the fence towering over her head. Had she really done that?

Cursing from the other side got her up and moving again. Squealing tires and a revving engine brought her head around. A car tore into the alley and raced toward her. More bad guys? Had he called in reinforcements?

Ally froze.      

Did I do something horrible in a past life to deserve this?

Truly, I’ll help the poor. Serve food at the soup kitchen. Go to church every Sunday. Donate money to the shelter. I’ll even babysit my friend’s bratty kids.

Just please, please, please get me out of this alive.

The shiny black Camaro careened to a stop with the driver’s side door facing her. Heavily tinted windows revealed nothing. In a last desperate bid for freedom, she darted past the door. Strong arms encircled her waist and dragged her back toward the idling car.

 

“No!” Ally screamed like a banshee, flinging out her arms and legs, scrabbling for purchase. Hard hands sent her flying across the front seat.

“Ally.”

“Let me go!” She dove for the door handle.

“Ally!” He grabbed her elbow and pulled her back, away from the passenger door. “Damn woman, you are way more trouble than you’re worth.”

Almost blind with panic, she twisted around and crouched on the seat, prepared to draw blood.

Shocked hazel clashed with furious aqua. Her mouth fell open. Muttering under his breath, Detective Marsing threw the car into gear and spun out of the alleyway. She whipped her head around in time to see a blocky head pop up over the privacy fence as they disappeared around the corner. She’d done it. Escaped. Stayed alive. Like an atomic bomb, the events of the past hours and the emotions she’d worked so hard to control mushroomed up, exploding inside. Tears stung.

“Can’t you stay out of trouble for five minutes?”

BUY LINKS:  Amazon    Barnes & Nobles    Google play    Kobo    iTunes

Prepping for our Thanksgiving

The US is celebrating Thanksgiving next week, which in my house means two things. Food & Football. 

I grew up in a pretty traditional family full of girls, so there was no football. Just a lot of fancy table settings and us being expected to behave like ladies and remember our social graces. I can hear my sister groaning from here as I type those two phrases.

I still like a nice table setting...but not so full that there's nowhere for the food to go. I mean, where's the food?? How can you pass the potatoes if they're still in the kitchen? But, I admit, it looks lovely.

And then there's the food. Enough to feed the neighborhood--or the addition of the random single guy Hubs works with that doesn't have family in the area that finds his way to our table--and have some left overs as well. Because there's nothing better than Thanksgiving left overs. 

But now that the boys are old enough to voice their opinions, they've let me know they don't like green bean casseroles. (My mother-in-law still refuses to believe this.) They also aren't big fans of pie. (Go ahead, I'll wait while you all gasp in horror.) So this year when I was making the menu I made sure I had the traditional basics of turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, along with some of the non-traditional favorites of my family: butternut squash risotto, roasted carrots and parsnips and for dessert, strawberry shortcakes.

There will be plenty of laughter while we run around the yard playing our own version of touch football while we wait for the food to finish cooking and after we come back in I'm sure the guys will be cheering on their favorite NFL teams in their games. 

We have a small family, but it's rich with our own special traditions and I love the fact that my boys look forward to this holiday every year. 

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions? Do you do it up big, with a huge extended family gathering, or keep it simple? And, since we won't have pie this year...tell me your favorite. I'll be living vicariously through you all.

Movie Marathons

I had planned a different post for this morning but changed my mind at the last minute.

My boys had a movie marathon this week. It was fabulous.

Much better than the movie marathons from a few years ago.

Although I never mind when Hubs puts on the movies of his choice either.

So, how about you? If you are sitting down for a movie marathon, what would you pick?