The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop--blame Kimberly Rose Johnson, www.kimberlyrjohnson for this great idea. The thought provoking questions are hers.

What is the working title of your book?

PROJECT HOMECOMING

Where did the idea come from for this book?

Last year I wrote a book, WIN'S WAR, about a Marine who lost both legs in Afghanistan and the therapist who helped him find life and love. One of the characters, Nat Rodriguez a woman Marine who also lost both legs, kept bugging me for her own story. Then I saw an article about a group called The Mission Continues that helps vets get services, jobs and other things they need and PROJECT HOMECOMING was born.

What genre does your book fall under?

PROJECT HOMECOMING is a sensuous contemporary romance where Nat learns to deal with a past that damaged her more than the loss of her legs and Brian O'Neill learns to take a chance on love.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Ann Hathaway would be great as Nat and I'd never turn down Hugh Jackman.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Surgeon Brian O’Neill returns from Afghanistan with a tremor and leaps at the opportunity to work at Project Homecoming with vets, but Nat Rodriguez proves more of a challenge than his PTSD

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am working very hard to get this baby in by my March 1, deadline with Desert Breeze Publishing. PROJECT HOMECOMING will come out in July.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About four months, but I also slipped in a short story during that time.

What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?

LOVING MICK by Jill Limber.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I love in Southern California near a large Marine base so I'm constantly seeing the people who work to protect us and wanted to write about them.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

A cast of interesting characters who work at life and love.

The full moon hovered over the waves. White froth ruffles decorated the incoming surge. A perfect day to meet my Mermaid Muse.

No!

The tide was in so Mermie (She said I could call her that.) had gone to play with the dolphins. I have to time it exactly right to see her. If the tide is out, I only see the traces of her long hair where she slept. If the tide is in—well, I already covered that. But if the tide is just starting to come in there’s a moment when she wakes and slides into the water. If I catch her then, she loves to tell me her adventures, her ideas, her dreams.

Mermie brought me the idea for FIRST IMPRESSIONS, my short story up at Buroughs Publishing and Amazon where the heroine loves the beach and the hero loves her scanty attire. (Of course Mermie thinks even the small amount of clothing Dani wears is superfluous. I keep telling her we girls don’t have beautiful scales to cover our bottoms, so we have to improvise.)

The tide is about to go out, so I have to leave you and try to catch Mermie. She wants to be the heroine of her own story so I need to talk to her about what kind of hero she’d like to have—tall, dark and handsome or blond with broad shoulders or a red-headed devil?

I’ll let you know.

Shall I zip or not?

One of the little difficulties about writing stories set in a real place is that readers can easily call you on mistakes. My characters are going to do the zip line at the Safari Park near Escondido, California. Do I need to go on the zip line to make it authentic? Please follow my blog and comment with your advice. I have done a zip line in Chile. Muy scary. I have a fear of jumping off things and this particular zip line turned out to have fourteen platforms to jump off. By the twelfth one, the young man helping us looked at me and said, "Are you going to make it?" Just what the alternative would have been if I'd said no, I never figured out. We were up in the trees over a ravine. Climbing down didn't seem much better. When he told me there were only two more to go and then we'd have a delicious lunch, I jumped. No, jumping doesn't bother my stomach. Nothing does, unfortunately. So there you have it. Shall I zip or not?

I'm adding a bigger version of my exciting new cover so you can get a better idea of Win.

WIN'S WAR, my story about a double amputee will be coming out June 21. In San Diego County I'm constantly aware of the men and women protecting our country. Just north of me lies a huge Marine base at Camp Pendleton. South of me the Marines have Air Station Miramar. The Navy has Naval Air Station on Coronado peninsula and a submarine base on Point Loma. Then there is Naval Medical Center San Diego where a lot of my story takes place and the Veteran's Hospital in La Jolla. The Marines are building a huge new hospital at Camp Pendleton. Many of my friends either served in the military or have family members who did. We check the paper and watch TV to get the latest news on what's happening. We just christened a ship named the San Diego and built here. The population in Oceanside swells and shrinks depending on how many troops are deployed from Camp Pendleton. Reading about these brave warriors gave me the idea for a hero who has to overcome more than the usual problems of our heroes. I hope you like and respect Win as much as I do.

An apology and a new contest
First, the apology. The contest for NINA'S NICHE deconstructed. First someone hacked into the email so I couldn't access the people who signed up for my newsletter. Then the restaurant I offered a gift card for closed. That's one of the dangers of writing about real places.
Well, I have a new contest for CAROL'S CHOICE. If you sign up for my newsletter, I am offering a gift certificate to the Falcon Gallery in Julian.
In CAROL'S CHOICE there is a robbery in a jewelry store, which Dan handily takes care of in his role as deputy sheriff, but I named that store after a fictional Judy because I didn't want the Falcon Gallery to get robbed.   
I'm busy working on SHERRY'S SUCCESS, the third book in the Julian Treasures trilogy. It is due out in November. I've already introduced Sherry and Tom and his children, Kristie and Kevin, but now I'm getting to know Beth, Sherry's mother. Part of the fun of writing is dreaming up new characters and finding out their hopes and dreams.
I was at the Orange County Festival of Women Writers last Saturday and Mindy Greenstein, one of the authors told about when she knew she was a writer. She was going under on the operating table to have her breasts removed and she thought of a great line for a book. She knew she was an author because instead of worrying about the surgery, she worried she'd forget the line.
I can't remember a time I didn't love to write, but I knew I was different when I was reading the paper one day and a terrible murder made me think: Now there's a story.
On a happier note, I followed the story of a Marine who'd lost both legs (not that I'm happy about that) and his recovery. His attitude moved me to write WIN'S WAR, which will be out in June.
Now, go to my website, sign up for my newsletter and take a chance on winning the gift certificate to the Falcon Gallery.

I'm back!

After a frustrating month of cleaning out spam from one of my email accounts and resetting my blog password so I can actually communicate, I'm going to do just that.

I'm back in Julian again for the second book in my Julian Treasures trilogy. CAROL'S CHOICE brings back the heroine of my Christmas short. She has two men in her life to choose from, so everything should be wonderful. Right? Well, of course as readers you know there will be problems aplenty.
Carol is the second of the three J's, Nina Jones, Carol James and Sherry Johnson, who sat in a row all the way through their school days in Julian. Now that Nina's found true love with Jake, Carol wants some for herself.
As in NINA'S NICHE, I've taken a few liberties with the real Julian. Although the real sheriff's substation in Julian has only one deputy, I've given Dan a buddy, so Dan can get away when a secret from his past pops up.
Tom, the other man in Carol's life, is busy with his business of cabinet making and raising his two children after the death of his wife. Part of his work is down in San Diego helping Sherry Johnson Hill, a realtor, rehab homes for sale.
Nina and Jake, the couple you met in Nina's Niche are still around and Nina's pregnant. When her mother and Carol help Tom out with babysitting, Carol's love for children is reinforced.
So will she go for the big strong sheriff with a secret or the equally strong father of two?

The sense of sight

I'm really trying to do this blog and Facebook stuff, but I'm really, really untechy so bear with me. During the month of March, or well, the rest of March, I'm going to blog about using the 5 senses in writing. Drop in and tell me your take on this important writing topic.

The sense of sight.

Amy opened the door onto velvet blackness. No stars to twinkle down at her. No moon to light the steps to the street. No porch light. She'd replace the bulb tomorrow.

A single taillight shone red halfway down the block. What was Zeke doing here at this time of night? He should be home, getting ready for work. She stepped onto the small porch to see if he would turn right toward home or left toward the highway and her toe hit something stiff. She knelt down, searching by touch for what she couldn't see in the dark. A small tongue licked her hand. A puppy? Had Zeke brought her a replacement for Trouble? Lifting the soft, furry animal out of the box, she carried it inside to the light. Black curls covered the small body. Dark eyes stared at her and the pink tongue reached out to give her a kiss. "I'll call you Black Velvet, Black for short."

She opened the door wider and the light revealed a box with a pink blanket, a can of dog food and a bottle of water. "I don't know how Zeke thought you could get at that food and water, but his heart was in the right place."

Amy could see the puppy mouth open wide showing white teeth and red tongue.

"I suppose you're barking. That won't do you any good around here, but we'll learn to communicate."

Black licked Amy's nose and she laughed.

"We're communicating already."

February--the romance month

Where have I been, you ask? Writing, traveling, thinking about what to talk about. Now, I'm back.

Since this is February and I write romance, I've decided to talk about hero, heroines and happy endings.

Do you remember your first real boyfriend? Maybe you met him in college or on the job. Maybe you ended up marrying him. This is my story.

I was a senior in high school and I'd only had an occasional date when I met Dick at a church social. We hit it off immediately. I mean, what's not to like about a guy who was a foot taller than my 5'6 with broad shoulders, dark hair that flopped onto his brow and dark eyes that sent messages just for me. Soon we were going steady. He went to school in a town about fifteen minutes away from my home, so we had a great excuse to practice our driving. We went to parties at both of our schools, hockey games (where I had a shoulder to lean on and big strong arms to protect me when the fights got too intense) and we spent a lot of time on the couch in my living room. I guess I should tell you about that couch.

When I entered my junior year, my mom bought a new sofa, a sectional. Each piece was about four feet long. After the delivery men had positioned it to her liking and departed, she smiled at me. "Isn't it great?" she asked me. "It's okay." "Did you notice the length?" I nodded. "It's not an accident that it's too short to lie down on." I gulped. "Now you can have your boyfriends over, and I won't have to worry about them going too far."

She didn't have to worry about Dick. He was a gentleman. Me, on the other hand, well, I guess that's why I grew up to write romance novels where every hero is wonderful, every heroine is someone you can identify with and everything comes out right in the end.

Nina's Niche

In 1869 people found gold in Julian, California.

Today they find treasures of the heart.

That’s the setting for my new trilogy. NINA’S NICHE, the first book, will debut November first. So I want to welcome you to the world of Julian, California, or at least the Julian where my stories take place. I’ve changed the main street a little so Carol and Nina can run the Julian Junque Shoppe the way I want them to. That’s one reason being an author is so much fun. If I want Carol to sell Double Dutch Chocolate ice cream, she sells it alongside the antiques Carol views as treasures and the flowers Nina loves to arrange.

Every town’s flavor really depends on the people who live there Julian is no exception. The daughter and nephew of the Julian Hotel’s proprietor were raising money for a trip to Washington, D. C. Two walkers took pity on a lowlander and helped me find the elementary school after I mistook the library for a school.

In my Julian, the people shape the town, too. Nina’s father, the pastor of a church I’ve placed in the middle of the town, starts out more concerned for his flock than his family, but learns to bend like we all do in real life. That’s what I like to do in my stories—combine fiction and real life. I hope you will enjoy learning about the hidden gem of Julian where the snow piles up in winter, the daffodils burst with color in spring, the sun brings lazy days in summer and the apples ripen in the fall.

Let me know what you’d like to learn about the hidden gem of Julian. JACKIE