Y is for Year in Review

Debra reflects on her writing year.

In many ways, 2016 has been a successful writing year for me.

*I released four (out of the five) novellas in my Holidays at The Corral series. And although none flew off the shelves, it was nice having a release every few months or so.

*In the spring, I participated in the BadRedHead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge which had me create a Twitter account (Which I need to be better at using.) and to rethink how I use my Facebook page (I still need to work on that.) among other things.

*Valentine's Day at The Corral took third place in the IDA short contemporary category.

*This Feels Like Home was part of Amazon's July romance sale, which increased sales on that title greatly. (Still not enough by any stretch of the imagine to consider it to be 'making a living' with my writing, but it was nice to see bigger numbers in sales, at least for that title.)

*A Christmas to Remember was offered for free this past weekend as part of The Wild Rose Press's tenth anniversary celebration. (Always good for publicity.)








*And just this week I launched my crazy #sellathousand challenge for New Year's Eve at The Corral.
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*As always, I've enjoyed blogging here at HWH to share tidbits, insights, posts, encouragement, and excitement with my fellow bloggers. I am most grateful to have you all in my life.

When I look at that list, I feel pretty good. :)

However, the latter part of the year, as I've mentioned before, has been a bit frustrating in the 'getting something written' area of life, but I have high hopes that will turn around soon. It's been really nice this week delving back into 'writing life' as I've worked on getting my challenge ready. And while it hasn't (yet) nudged me enough to sit down and work on a WIP, like I said, in this season of hope and miracles, anything is possible!

As we head into the last week of the year (WHERE did the time go?!) I look forward to ushering out the old and welcoming the new with a bright new outlook.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Y is for Yuletide

Debra shares blurbs from her three Christmas stories.

Maggie Pearson has no time in her busy life for love, but an immediate attraction draws her to a mysterious stranger at The Corral, a local bar. However, any romantic feelings are ruthlessly squashed when he accuses her of having an affair with his brother.

As a divorce lawyer, Van Rawlings has seen the ugly side of marriage too many times to believe in love. But having gotten off on the wrong foot with Maggie, and genuinely contrite over his faux pas, he offers to help her with an upcoming Christmas charity dinner. The more time they spend together, the more he realizes he’s never met anyone like Maggie, who gives so generously of her time.

Can Maggie and the magic of the season help Van believe again? In Christmas and in love.

Newly single, Heather Morgan gathers her courage and decides to take a Christmas ski vacation on her own. However, the festive holiday atmosphere reminds her how dispirited and alone she feels. When she meets a mysterious stranger, her lonely vacation takes an unexpected turn.

Sam is at the resort at the urging of his brother, who thinks he needs to get out and have a little fun. Having no desire to get involved with anyone, Sam needs a way to get his brother off his back. The intriguing Heather seems like the perfect solution to his dilemma, so he makes her an offer she can't refuse.

Sam restores the joy of the season to Heather. Their time together is magical, something she'll never forget. Soon her feelings for him deepen beyond their romantic holiday fling. But Sam has a secret, one that could prevent the fantasy from ever becoming real.

A chance meeting. A friend of a friend. Mia Preston hasn’t been able to get Ethan Chase out of her mind. A cozy coffee house leads to a night of romance. But will their kiss under the mistletoe lead to heartbreak or the love of a lifetime? (This is a FREE read from The Wild Rose Pres.)

Merry Christmas!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Sundy Snippet - A Peek at Debra's "A Christmas to Remember"

Prelude

Did she really expect him to be there? She hadn’t seen him since last year. She had no way to contact him. No way to know if he meant it when he’d said they should meet again next year.

Yet through the long months in between, she’d hoped. Even when the snow melted and the tulips bloomed announcing the arrival of spring, she hoped. On those sultry summer nights when it was too hot to sleep, she hoped. And when autumn turned the leaves to burnished gold and russet, she’d hoped.

Through the changing seasons, her thoughts, her heart, had never been far from snow covered mountains, cold, crisp air, and a cozy ski lodge.

She made her flight reservations in late October. Hoping.

As the days grew colder and the nights grew longer, her anticipation heightened. When the first snow fell, a giddiness overcame her. The pristine blanket of white made the memories more vivid. More real. Many times over the past year she wondered if she’d dreamed the whole thing.

Heck, for all she knew he had a wife or a girlfriend at home. Or both. Maybe everything he’d said to her had been a lie.

She told herself he wasn’t the reason she hadn’t gone out with another man in the past year. It had nothing to do with him. She simply needed a break from dating.

All the while she hoped.

Now she was here and anticipation warred with nerves. She couldn’t really expect him to show up, could she? Theirs had been a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Yet here she sat. Waiting. Hoping.

More than likely she’d wind up alone in this place. As she’d expected to be last year.

Only it hadn’t turned out that way. She touched the pendant hanging around her neck as her mind drifted back.

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

I is for Ice Skating

Sam and Heather go for a skate in Debra's A Christmas to Remember.

I'm running short on time these days, so I'm going to cheat a little here and post an excerpt. Sam and Heather meet at a ski lodge, and in this scene, it's Christmas Eve and they've been exploring the village at the bottom of the mountain all day.

After dinner they headed to the ice rink. As if she’d ordained it by wishing it into being, the light snow had stopped and stars were visible overhead. White lights twinkled in the trees lining the frozen
oval. The crowd, less boisterous than earlier in the day, consisted mostly of couples skating hand in hand.

Heather tugged at the laces of her skate to tighten them. After tying a neat bow at the top, she stood, testing her balance on the slippery surface. She slid one skate experimentally forward, then the
other, pleased when she didn’t immediately fall down.

Sam slid to a smooth stop next to her. His skates sent up a small spray of ice. “You all set?”

“I think so.”

Even though it had been years, like the old adage of riding a bike, she soon fell into the remembered rhythm as she glided over the surface. Her first turns were wobbly to say the least, but after a few laps around, those too, smoothed out, and she gracefully maneuvered the oval ends of the rink.

Sam skated by her side, looking as comfortable on the ice as he had on the ski slopes. Was there anything the man couldn’t do?

He shifted in front of her, then turned so he now skated backward, facing her. “Want to try something fancy?”

“How fancy?”

“Here. Give me your hand.” He held his out.

She placed her hand in his. Their feet glided in a synchronizing scissor, hers going forward when his slid back.

“Okay, now follow my lead.” He raised their joined hands, then twisted his wrist. She spun in a circle before facing him once again.

Her eyes popped wide. “Did I just do that?”

He laughed. “Very gracefully, too.” He snaked one arm around her waist to draw her closer. With the other he took her hand in the conventional dance position. She laid her free hand on his shoulder. They coasted across the ice. With expert precision, he guided her through a series of turns.

“How do you know how to do all this stuff?” she asked breathlessly.

He winked. “If James Bond can do it, so can I.”

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

H is for Heather

Heather Morgan is the heroine in Debra's A Christmas to Remember.

Heather has just been dumped by her boyfriend. They'd planned on spending the Christmas holiday skiing. Instead, he decided to go to the Caribbean with his secretary. However, since she'd already paid for an airline ticket, a room at the lodge, and copious amounts of new ski gear, Heather decides to take the trip on her own. However, going down to dinner...alone...on her first night, is a bit more humiliating than she bargained for. She feels like everyone KNOWS. It took her forever to work up the courage, and then the hostess tells her there are no tables available without a reservation.

Enter Sam.

He's handsome and mysterious. And he persuades Heather to have dinner with him. He happens to have a reservation at the restaurant, and since his brother ditched him for a ski bunny, he also happens to have an extra spot at the table.

And thus begins our love story.

A quote from Heather:
”You know.” She gestured toward him. “A mysterious stranger asking me to dinner. Stuff like that only happens in romance novels. It’s not something that happens in real life.” Not to her.

And a bit more about her from the blurb:

Newly single, Heather Morgan gathers her courage and decides to take a Christmas ski vacation on her own. However, the festive holiday atmosphere reminds her how dispirited and alone she feels. When she meets a mysterious stranger, her lonely vacation takes an unexpected turn.

Sam is at the resort at the urging of his brother, who thinks he needs to get out and have a little fun. Having no desire to get involved with anyone, Sam needs a way to get his brother off his back. The intriguing Heather seems like the perfect solution to his dilemma, so he makes her an offer she can't refuse.

Sam restores the joy of the season to Heather. Their time together is magical, something she'll never forget. Soon her feelings for him deepen beyond their romantic holiday fling. But Sam has a secret, one that could prevent the fantasy from ever becoming real.

And, finally, a glimpse of Heather through Sam's eyes, the first time we're in his POV:

At eight forty-five the next morning, Sam glanced at his watch for the thousandth time since he’d sat at the small table in the corner of the coffee shop.

He grimaced. The damn thing was shock resistant, water resistant, the hands glowed in the dark, it could measure elapsed time and split time, and tell him to the nanosecond what time it was in twenty-nine different time zones. What it couldn’t do was speed up time.

Would Heather show? She still had fifteen minutes until the proposed deadline. How long would he wait once the hour had passed? He imagined himself sitting in the same spot all day. Staring at the pine boughs draped across the front of the barrister’s stand. Slowly going insane from the endless tracks of Christmas music playing subtly in the background.

After all, chances were good she wouldn’t accept his offer. Who in their right mind would? She probably figured he had several thousand ulterior motives. He still wasn’t quite sure what prompted him to ask her to have dinner with him. Offering to teach her to ski in exchange for spending time with him had been nothing short of lunacy.

Which was exactly what she must think of him. A raving lunatic. Who else would propose such a preposterous idea? Of course she wouldn’t show for breakfast. Most likely she’d spend the rest of her vacation in her room to avoid the chance of running into him at all costs.

Still, he hoped she’d accept his offer, as crazy as it must seem. He couldn’t say why. He didn’t know her. Had only spent a couple of hours with her. But for some reason he wanted to get to know her better. He admired her courage in coming to the resort on her own even after her asshole of a boyfriend jilted her. She deserved better.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Christmas to Remember - from The Wild Rose Press

D is for Downhill Skiing

Debra did quite a bit of research for A Christmas to Remember.

The inspiration for A Christmas to Remember came from a song of the same name sung by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Every year at Christmas while listening to the song, ideas for a story would spin in my head. One year I finally sat down and got around to writing it. The theme of Christmas was easy. I love Christmas so it was a delight to play up all of my favorite things about the holiday to include in the story.

The setting, however, was a bit trickier. A line from the song goes: "curled up by the fireplace in a Tahoe ski chalet". I didn't want to copy the song exactly, so I moved the chalet to Colorado, but I definitely wanted to stick with a ski resort.

Problem was, I'd never skied a day in my life. Normally I use settings I'm familiar with, as in I've been there before, so this was new territory for me. What did I do? Headed to the trusty library, of course. When I do need to research, my reference books of choice are usually found in the Youth section. Youth non-fiction books have lots of pictures and easy-to-understand text. They break things down into simpler terms, without getting bogged down with too much detail. So, I found a few of those and then also checked out either "Skiing for Dummies" or "The Idiot's Guide to Skiing". Again, for the basics: simple, clear, not too detailed.

After doing my research I really, really wanted to get brave and head out on a ski holiday...maybe one of these days.

In writing the skiing scenes, I used lots of the information I'd gathered. Perhaps a tad too much. One of my editor's comments said those scenes read a bit like an instructional manual. Oops. I got so carried away and excited about the things I was discovering that I forgot to focus on the relationship that was developing. Instead I was aiming to share all of the wonderful things I learned about skiing.

After some creative editing, I shifted the focus of the scenes back to the romance, while still keeping many of my newly-found details about this popular winter sport.

And I learned something else, too, getting the details right and authentic is super important, but even those super-interesting and newly discovered facts shouldn't overshadow the main focus of the story: the romance between my hero and heroine.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Ten Sentences from my WIP

Since I have Jake and Amber on my mind a lot lately...and that's a good thing!...I thought I'd share a short excerpt from their story, "This Feels Like Home". This is the first time the couple meets.

“You look like you’re new in town.” The slow, husky drawl penetrated the background din and distracted her from her task.

She looked up with a frown. The shadow from the brim of his cowboy hat obscured most of the man’s features, but a dimple winked in his cheek when he smiled. A black T-shirt stretched tight across his shoulders, and well worn jeans hugged his lean hips.

She bit back a groan and disconnected the call instead of punching in her code. She wasn’t in the mood to be hit on by one of Gail’s 'nice' cowboys, but she plastered a smile on her face. “Not really. I’m visiting my cousin.” She avoided his gaze and took a sip of her drink. The tart flavor slid over her taste buds.


Any thoughts?!

Until next time,

Happy Reading and Merry Christmas!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

For your holiday reading pleasure:

A Christmas to Remember
Mistletoe and Folly

Still At It

I've been working on a second round of revisions on "This Feels Like Home" for a couple of months now. When I first got the e-mail asking for more revisions, I really didn't know what to do. After reviewing the editor's comments (several thousand times or so it seemed) I went at what I thought she was looking for. I made some progress. But the flow didn't seem quite right. So I left the mss alone for a while.

Later I went back to it and got into a little bit of a flow. But nothing was really shouting out at me to really keep working on the project. So I stopped looking at it again.

Recently, I've been back at it. Ideas are flowing, and I'm having those "Aha!" moments even when I'm not sitting in front of my computer. That's a good thing.

In theory.

Trouble is, we're in the middle of the Christmas season. And between work, shopping, Advent services, wrapping, baking cookies, and Christmas cards, I haven't found much time to work on the mss. So what's bumming me out is I feel like I've finally found a direction (I hope) to go in, but I have no darn time to work on it.

I'm almost there. It's almost ready for a read-through. My goal is to have the revisions done and to the editor by the end of the year. TWRP does an end-of-the-year shut down...think back to your school days and Christmas break. With this, I finally caught a lucky break. It reopens January 2, which means I have the whole week after Christmas (because I'm on vacation) to do some final polishing before sending it off (again). All of the shopping, wrapping, baking, etc. will be done, and I can devote my time to this.

It's like a Christmas miracle!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com


For your holiday reading pleasure:
A Christmas to Remember
Mistletoe and Folly - a FREE read

Are You a ReReader?

My TBR pile is overflowing. Literally. This is what the area next to my rocking chair in the library looks like.

Not to mention that I've downloaded a bunch of new books to my Kindle. Some of them I'm saving for my cruise in March, but I do want to get to the Christmas ones this season.

So what am I reading? The Twilight series. For like the dozenth time. And I'm not exaggerating. I picked them up after seeing the final movie (twice) when it premiered a couple of weeks ago. I'm almost done with Breaking Dawn. We're not talking short stories here. These are big books, 500, 700, 800 pages plus.

I'm not sure what it is about these books that makes me come back to them time and time (and time) again. Yes, I love vampires. And yes, I have a huge crush on Edward. There are lines and sections of each of the books that I literally have memorized. Yet every time I sit down and read them, I love them.

I've reread other books, too. Probably not as many times as these. But there are books I always come back to. Why is it that with a huge pile of books I've never read before and revisions to do on my own mss waiting for me, I pick up something familiar? I think that must be the ultimate compliment to an author. To enjoy something s/he has written so much that you return to it again and again.

I had a compliment like that once. Last year in a review for A Christmas to Remember the reviewer said it was a book she'd read again. "I know I will keep this and read it over and over again every year." - MDobson, Sizzling Hot Book Reviews.

So, how about you? Are you a rereader? Or is once enough for you?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

First Lines

It's been a busy week, so I'm going to go with an 'easy' blog today and simply share the first lines from my books. As we've discussed before at Heroines with Hearts, first lines can be oh so important for setting up the story...so here are mine:

From This Time for Always: She'd once carried this man's baby.

From Wild Wedding Weeked: "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

From This Can't Be Love: There was a naked man in her grandfather's bathtub.

From A Christmas to Remember: Did she really expect him to be there?

From An Unexpected Blessing (Coming soon): Katy Roth refrained from kicking the ceramic turkey planter on the porch.

From "This Feels Like Home" (under consideration with TWRP): Jake Hawkins spotted the newcomer right away.

From "Family Secrets" (under consideration with Harlequin): "Why didn't you call me?"

And from "One Great Night" (WIP): "I want you to be my sex tutor."


Now it's your turn to share some of the opening lines from your stories...

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com