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

My Writing Process

First off, I need to thank Angel Nicholas for inviting me to participate in this blog tour. You can read all about Angel's process here.

So, to keep in line with the parameters of the blog tour, I'm to answer four questions. I'll probably go off on some tangents. It seems to be what I do.

1)     What am I working on?

Currently I'm working on the first book of my Skyhawk Security series. I've finished the first draft and am currently working on editing the draft and threading a secondary story line in.  It's my first full length novel and as such it offers challenges that smaller pieces haven't presented before. It's also the first time I'm going into a story knowing that it will be the start of a series. I'm building a world that needs to be sustained through at least another two books, if not longer. Hopefully much longer.

Lily Myers is determined to enjoy every second of her life. Lord knows she's sacrificed enough. She firmly believes she can have-and do-it all. So when she's attacked and her family insists she hire a body guard, she does so grudgingly.
Clint Sloane is tying up loose ends. One of those loose ends happens to be Lily. She's smart, sexy and has the power to break him. The men after her won't stand a chance, because he's going to take care of things first.

2)     How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work skates the line between dark romantic suspense and more humorous, contemporary romance. I take the approach that we're just seeing a snippet of the character's lives. Their entire life can't be a suspense novel, so there are elements of the mundane, day-to-day tossed in. Not enough to make it drag on and be boring, but enough to really connect with the characters and feel like you know them. They have dreams and regrets. They don't always to the right thing and they make mistakes.

I suppose that's not necessarily different from others of it's genre, but the way I talk about it seems to be a little different.

3)     Why do I write what I do?

Back when I graduated from college I remember being thrilled at the thought of reading a book just because I wanted to. No more trying to figure out what an author meant when they said the curtains were blue (I'm still convinced that 90% of the authors simply meant that the curtains were a lovely shade of indigo rather than whatever it was the professor decided it meant) or reading books that I simply didn't connect with. As a result I read everything I could get my hands on. I fell in love with historical romances and devoured everything I got my hands on. Along the way, as an avid reader, I met some authors. Some really wonderful women who opened up the world of romance to me, beyond the ballrooms and period dress. Suspense and mysteries that have happy endings. Two of my very favorite things all rolled into one! How could I resist?

There were a few characters (not my own) that would haunt me. I simply needed to have more of them, so I would up writing a few short stories staring these characters. And I started writing. And talking to more authors who encouraged me to keep writing. To listen to my own characters and put them on the page.  The lure was too great to resist, so I started to dabble. A little bit here, a little bit there. I'd ask my husband about plot points and character details and generally drove him crazy. He encouraged me to join RWA and started me on this amazing journey.

4)     How does your writing process work?

My process has been a work in progress to figure out what works for me. It seems as though I'm surrounded by writers that don't have to do an exhaustive plot outline and edit as they go. To say I'm not one of them is an understatement.  It's taken me a couple of years, but I finally seem to realize that I must have an outline. I don't necessarily have to follow it, but I have to have it so I know where I'm trying to go. Otherwise my romantic suspense might wind up being an apocalyptic fantasy.

So, I start with an outline. A huge poster board covered in sticky notes outlining the characters and plot.  From there I do a fast draft where I write. No editing. No going back and fixing that part that just didn't quite work out. Just write.

Then I edit. I delete half of what I wrote before and re-write it. It's bitterly painful, but oh so rewarding because this is when the story starts to really shine. It had a shape before, but now it comes alive. 

In terms of day-to-day writing, I get up at 5 AM nearly every day to write. It's the only time my house is silent, with the critters (both two and four legged) are otherwise occupied (aka asleep) so I can get a string of at least two thoughts to piece together.

Most of all, I've learned I have to laugh at myself. So many people take themselves so seriously, that they seem to lose the joy in doing something so amazing. And, really. Writing is amazing.