Cover Reveal Announced

Less than two weeks until the cover for book 5 of the Ackerman Security Consultants series will be revealed for all to see.

Yours to Have will be released July 2016 but the cover will be shown on June 4th.

Join me on Facebook for the event.

Faith Restored

My faith has been restored!

It was wonderful to be back in "my" coffee shop this week, writing once again. But what really made me sit back and say, "It's good to be 'home'," was the fact the shop's crew were back in harmony. A couple week's ago I was strongly voicing my concerns about the staff changes that had been made, as the service had been affected by the alterations.

Now, I am happy to announce, they are back in action. 

I stopped by today, to spend some time (okay, a LOT of time) writing. Starting my day out with high fiber oatmeal and the sinful must have turtle latte, I grabbed a table and began my work. I'm pleased to say, Riann Leigh joined me, today and we are dutifully working on our joint effort series that will be written under the name "JQ Beron".

While I might have my eyes glued to the screen, it doesn't stop me from observing the surrounding area, which includes the counter. In walks in a duo with a page of orders. I couldn't help but cease my writing efforts to watch the baristas in action. They worked like a well oiled machine. The drinks, food, and extras were created, warmed, packed, backed, poured, and out the door within a matter of mere moments. No muss. No Fuss. It was like watching a musical, the actors in perfect synchronization.

I am proud to support my local Scooter's (I should be a partner, as much time as I spend here. HA! HA!) and even more proud to be able to give them KUDOS once again. Well done!

Love the world of authors and their fans

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend at the most amazing reader's appreciation event and met some incredible people, both fans and authors. What I don't think non-readers understand is the close knit group authors and their fans are, sometimes. It was so incredible to sit down, share a meal, and swap stories with the people in attendance.

As an author, I feel it's important to keep that connection with the fans (and fellow authors). Not only to you find out what others are reading or what they want to see, but you also get to find out suggestions for books to add to your "to be read" list. I now have about twenty new books listed in my Kindle wish list and a suitcase full of paperbacks to dig through. I mean, who needs clothes in the bag when you can have books instead? Am I right? The clothes are stuffed in a bag.... somewhere. The books are prized possessions. They deserve the best packing.

The other thing I noticed this weekend was the group of authors attending were fun and personable and so were the fans. Together, we made up a whole group, not individuals. Fun was had by all.... Or at least if you didn't have fun it was your own darn fault.

I look forward to many more events like the one I just attended.

Give Something New A Try

Under the advisement of a life coach friend of mine, I am attempting to make better choices when it comes to food consumption. So, today, while I'm working at my favorite coffee shop (see pic), I decided to switch from my usual morning green tea (gunpowder) and opt for a "surprise" drink. The wonderful barista, who just happens to be one of their best employees (in my opinion) asked what fruits I like and created a strawberry/peach 'n' ice drink. To my utmost shock (as I really wanted my tea) the flavors burst onto my tongue like a crisp summer breeze. I can make out the hints of each fruit flavor along with the coolness of the frozen goodness.

This is a drink I would highly recommend and proves to me that you are never too old to try something new. And it just might give me the kick start I need to jump into writer mode for a few hours, as I hear the ASC crew beckoning me as I type these words. 

Does this mean I will be avoiding my caffeinated favorite latte? Or my green tea that I so dearly enjoy? Nope! But it does mean I will be choosing them less often and opting for a healthier variety beverage. And for those of you who want to fuss at me about my drink choices, let me tell you that I am an all day, every day water drinker, so don't be hatin' on me for indulging in the yummy goodness of a turtle latte, gun powder tea, or fruit 'n' ice.

How do you spell RELIEF?

No! It is not ROLAIDS®, although I have taken my fair share of those over the years. Ha! Ha!

My question refers to that feeling you get when a large project has come to an end and you have met the deadline.

Recently, I have been working on a volunteer project that was a major undertaking. I discovered that my extensive history working with this same type of project didn't help very much, at first. As time went by, I was able to fall into more of a routine about how to be manipulate several software programs to unite one project. As in, I had to create an image in one program then bring it over to the publishing program. It made life much easier doing this, although it was somewhat time consuming.

One thing I learned for sure is if I plan to undertake this project again, I will be implementing multiple ideas to help streamline the process. I figure if there is a way to make things run more smoothly, why not give it a try. Am I right?

Also, I discovered I have a whole new respect for the person who formerly lent their time and energy year after year after year. I understand why she "passed the hat" and I had some very big shoes to step into. The bar was set high, that's for sure. Of course, deep down, I love the challenge, even if I gripe and grumble about the steps it takes to get to the end.

I will admit that I had to put my training in stress management to work, several times during this project. Especially when you are this close (holds thumb and forefinger close together) to being finished with something and the Internet decides to refresh your browser. Or you move your mouse to save your work and the computer does a restart (because you didn't see the notice that it was going to update, but that's not YOUR fault, it's the computer's). Yep, had that one happen last night after I reached the end of the project and it restarted making me lose everything I had done over a two hour period. Which, too late, reminded me that you should save your work OFTEN!! Of course, there are always programs that saving doesn't do any good if you're in the middle of an edit. (For example: picmonkey, which I love as a photo editing program, but hate that you can't go back later to re-edit or continue editing.)

Now that I can take deep, calming breaths again, I can move forward on the Ackerman Security Consultants (ASC) series. While I have part of Yours to Have (book five) written, the characters have been constantly letting me know they are being neglected. At least that's how they feel. Personally, I think they are doing just fine because they spend an awful lot of time arguing with each other "in my head".

If you're following along with the series, you know that this book will be centered around Cole Munson, Hannah's administrative assistant. There are going to be some interesting things revealed about Mr. Munson. Some of them shocking. (Or at least they were to me.)

Then there is Halston Davies. She first appears in Mine to Have (book four) where hints of her past are mentioned. She's a tough as nails, former military, kick ass female who spends her spare time reading Guns & Ammo.

Will she overcome her hatred of Cole? Will Cole be able to break through Halston's hard shell and convince her of what he's known from the first moment his eyes gazed upon her?

Stay tuned to find out the answers to these and other questions that have been left unanswered as the lives of the ASC crew continue to progress.

Modern Men.... Are they worth DATING?

That's the question of the day... Are they worth it? Is the dating game worth it?

Now, I'm not talking about young couples and "first" love, then again, maybe I am. Just because someone has crossed the "30" mark (or even "40), does that mean there is no one out there for them to date? Does that mean there isn't a chance of finding love again (or real love, a first time)?

I like to think the world is a vast place, filled with possibilities. However, I'm discovering that the dating pool is slim to none....

You find a guy, think he's great, then BAM! The truth shall set you free... Or maybe that's RUN! RUN! RUN! far away!

I don't really have the answers to these questions, but in the time I've been launched back into the excitement of dating, I've discovered that today's "dating men" have rather odd qualities.

Let's start by talking about those who just want you to "send me a pic" and I don't mean of the budding blooms in the Spring sunshine. Nope, they want to see YOUR "flowers" and other "bits". Well, sorry peeps! One day I may choose to run for an elected office, don't really want my body parts buzzing around the net for all to see. I mean, let's be real, I'm over forty and body parts tend to shift around a bit when you're not a All-Star athlete (or work out for hours on end, which I admit, I don't).

Now we move on to the guys who only have one thing on their mind. Granted, I'm all about having a good physical relationship. I mean my mind tends to stay in the gutter more times than not, but that doesn't mean I don't want an intellectual side to things, as well. I mean really, there is more to life than being literally glued pelvis to pelvis. Am I right?

Next, let's expand on the physical side of the fence... This will be a bit contradictory to what my above statement indicates... When you do get to the point of wanting a physical relationship (along with the intellectual things) then how about making sure we women folk get a bit of pleasure, too?

Here's a note to the men out there.... We need more than a "minute-man" to take care of our needs and it is not all about YOU, contrary to what you might think. It's the modern times, guys. Women (most that I've spoken with) want to explore their sexuality and I'm not talking about the "missionary" position. There are so many things out there to do and try and you don't know if you'll like them until you try them.

This leads to the key word... TRUST... You must be able to trust the person you're with and frankly, I haven't found that in the dating game these past couple of years. I would really like to know where all the good "bad" guys have gone. Because you can be a good person and still have a bit of "bad" boy in you that wants to come out and play, sometimes.

So, is it worth it in the end, to get out there and plunge into the depths of dating? Or is it better to just dip your toes in and get a feel for things? Honestly, I prefer the plunge, but haven't found anyone worth taking the dive for.

Exciting News!

It was quite an honor to discover, this morning, that I had been included among the top ten books that were nominated for the Preditors & Editors Reader's Poll for books released in 2015. Just being nominated for the poll was a privilege, but to find out that Mine to Have fell in at 5th place was incredible. To all of those who took time to vote, I certainly appreciate it.

As an author, we all feel a certain way about each of our books, or at least I do. Each of the four books in the Ackerman Security Consultants Series has touched me in a different way. However, even I will admit that book four is by far my favorite of the series, so far. Although, there are more to come, so we'll see if that remains true in the future.