First Fridays with the Crew - Groundhog Day, Stories of Redemption and More

Happy Groundhog Day! 

In the United States and Canada, Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2. It all started with a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog came out of its burrow and saw its shadow, it would retreat to its den and winter would continue for six more weeks. If no shadow and no retreat, then spring would arrive early.

In 1993, the Groundhog Day movie (starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell) put a great spin on the superstition and created a timeless story with classic themes such as redemption, selflessness, self-improvement or rebirth (breaking through to your true self), and more. It's one of my favorite movies. I've heard many say the same.

So I thought I'd ask the Get Lost in a Story Crew to SHARE a favorite story they've written with a THEME or SCENE of redemption, selflessness, self-improvement or rebirth...  




Jacqui Nelson

In Between Love & Lies (book 1 in my Gambling Hearts series) on the trail from Texas to Dodge City, my hero, Noah Ballantyne’s longhorn cattle herd trample and destroy my heroine, Sadie Sullivan’s farm and livelihood. He tries to compensate her with money, but due to her unredeemable father, Sadie ends up homeless and penniless in Dodge City.

A year later, when Noah comes back to Dodge with a second herd, he looks for Sadie - and finds her in the employment of the pitiless madam of the Northern Star Saloon.

When he realizes he's responsible for Sadie's downfall, he chooses to stay in Dodge City and make amends, at all costs, rather than return home to Texas. Here's his redemption vow: Noah made a promise—to God, to himself and the whole forsaken town of Dodge. He wasn’t leaving until he fixed the wrong he’d done.

Amanda McIntyre

In Rugged Hearts, the first book in the Kinnison Legacy trilogy, my hero , Wyatt Kinnison-oldest brother of three--is attempting to be the patriarch of the family. To be the man his deceased step-father trusted to carry on his ranch legacy.  He's been burnt by every woman in his life, starting with a mother who abandons him and his younger brother. His fiancee betrayed him and Wyatt retreats into his world at the ranch, determined not to fall in love, determined not to rely on anyone or anything, but himself. Until he meets Aimee Worth , a hard-headed, optimist who recently moved to End of the Line as the new third grade teacher. Both have baggage in their past. Both need to trust again. They need each other, they just don't know it yet.
With a little Christmas magic and the guidance of family and friends, these two will discover that no matter what, love can find a way.

Avril Tremayne

2014 novel Turning the Good Girl Bad, personal assistant Catherine North has been hiding her real self from her new boss Max Rutherford – scraping her hair into a tight bun, dressing dowdily, and adopting a prim and proper persona. Why? Because Catherine’s learned the hard way what happens when your boss puts his hands where they don’t belong, and it’s well known that gorgeous Max, whose PAs almost always fall for him, isn’t the type to resist an office affair. But despite her best efforts, Catherine can't help being attracted to Max, and as though reading her silent signals, he's growing increasingly intrigued by her. In desperation, she tries to work her Max-fantasies out of her system by writing them into a steamy novel, but when he inevitably discovers her secret… Well, I won’t say any more because spoilers! All I'll say is that as they learn each other's secrets, they go through a kind of rebirth – sometimes the path to get there is funny, sometimes it’s painful, but they tread it determinedly and emerge at the end better and stronger. Today, I personally find boss/assistant romances troubling; I seriously don’t know if, in 2019, I’d write this same story with its flawed hero needing redemption and its hesitant heroine finally coming to see that she wasn't to blame for the harassment she experienced in the past – but I can’t in all honesty regret having brought Max and Catherine together, because they needed each other to tread that path.

Lizbeth Selvig
My novel The Bride Wore Starlight is the third book in my "Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys" series, and even though you're not supposed to pick a favorite child, I have to admit that is my favorite book in the series. It centers around Joely Crockett, the third of six Crockett sisters who inherit their family home Paradise Ranch. Joely has spent her life as the family beauty--from being crowned Jr. Rodeo Queen, to Rodeo and Homecoming Queens to Miss Wyoming, she's always been able to rely on her looks to get her from scholarships to marriage. Although she's never been a diva, she is a little spoiled by her easy path in life. When, after a painful divorce, she is in a horrific car accident, her life is forever altered by permanent injuries. A scarred face and a limp she'll have forever force her to face the realities of what beauty really means. When she meets Alec Morrissey, a former rodeo champion, she believes she's found a man as perfect as she used to be. The truth is, Alec is an amputee who has merely learned to put a perfect face on an imperfect life. Together Joely and Alec have to learn not only to face their pasts, but to embrace the accidents that have made them who they are today. And only if they can find peace and beauty in their "imperfections" do they find real love and rebirth.

E.E. Burke

Purchase today

Jolie LaFemme has been a working girl at La Maison for four long years...ever since being betrayed and left penniless. She’s jaded, distrustful and blind to the possibility of love. As far as she's concerned, being the madam of a popular parlor house is the best she can hope for, and nothing will convince her to give up the coveted and lucrative position.

Hank Donavan arrives in Noelle with a plan to ensure his sister's financial security and regain his pride. He’s a man in his prime, handsome by any measure, but an accident ruined his vision, and his future. Now, he travels with his dog Bear, and sells beautiful handmade Valentine cards. His big opportunity comes when he's offered a chance to invest in the richest silver mine in the state. There’s only one catch: he has to be married first. Who would marry a blind man with little to recommend him when there are plenty of hale and hearty men to go around?

Angi Morgan

Purchase

I love Groundhog Day the movie and I love true redemption stories. SHOTGUN JUSTICE is a favorite of  my second chances stories--I seem to have quite a few of them. My very first book was a second chance story. SJ was a best seller and top pick from RT. I'm especially proud that my fans helped develop the serial killer.

Jesse in Shotgun Justice messed up horribly. No one thinks he's going to get a second chance or will even be given time to explain himself In the story, he's sent to guard Avery from the serial killer. The hitch is that ONE...she doesn't need his help (she's a deputy). TWO..why would she want an ex who threw her under the bus. And THREE... she especially doesn't need her big brother's best friend who threw her in jail. 

What's your favorite redemption story? 

Denise Grover Swank Gets Lost in a Story

Hi everyone, Susan here. Today I'm thrilled to host Denise Grover Swank on Get Lost in a Story.

Denise Grover Swank lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri. She writes urban fantasies without vampires and werewolves. She also writes romantic comedy mysteries set in the south. Denise has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading, or writing her next book. You will rarely find her cleaning.

 

 

 The book...

Redemption is the fourth and final book in The Chosen series.

The first book, Chosen, starts the series off: Emma will do anything to protect her precognitive son Jake, even accept help from Will, a stranger with a dark past. But Will's been hired to deliver Emma to a powerful group. Even though the job screams trouble, nothing prepares Will for Jake's declaration: Will is The Chosen One, prophesied protector of Emma.

 

 

 

What They’re Saying...

 

It is the final book in Swank's The Chosen series and let me tell you, it takes you on the most emotional ride of all of them. You will laugh, you will cry, the pages will seem to fly by, and you WILL be left wanting the series to go on and on. --Gothic Mom’s Book Reviews

As with the three previous books, the action, plotline and ingenious premise dragged me into Redemption before I could even take a breath… This was a brilliant conclusion to a phenomenal series. --Just My Opinion Book Reviews

 

  

Get your copy...

 

 

 

 

                             Amazon          B&N          Kobo

 

 

  

Let's chat with Denise...

 

Susan: Denise, thank you so much for joining us today here at Get Lost in a Story. I have to ask you straightaway—I’ve never been good with math—how many hours do you get in your day? I’ve only ever gotten 24. But you’re a single mom to six children, and you’re writing three—no, wait—four different series, plus a few shorts here and there. Do you simply not sleep, or have you figured out some mathematical formula for extending your day?
Denise: Sleep? Sleep is for the weak. LOL Okay, I sleep, but not a lot. I get a lot of my writing done from 9 pm to 1-2 am. But I’ve been trying to write more in the afternoon, which usually means trying to turn off my internet. I never say I’m bored. I’m always doing something. I juggle the business side of writing with the actual writing—throw in my kids and their activities—and there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Susan: How many hours a day do you write? Do you have a schedule?
Denise: When I’m writing a book it usually takes me a week or so to get into it. I know some authors can easily switch from series to series, but I’m not one of them. It usually takes me several chapters to get back into the character’s head(s) but once I’m there, it’s like a sprint to the finish. I’m pretty consumed by the story and I spend the last couple of weeks writing five to eight hours (or more) a day. I wrote the last 65,000 works of Redemption in three weeks. But it took me over a month to get the first 30,000.

 
Susan: Do you reward yourself with a treat when you reach a writing goal? What kinds of treats?
Denise: Ha! Yes. My writing reward is whatever my current TV series obsession is and I watch it on Netflix. With Redemption it was “The Big Bang Theory” and the Korean soap opera “Boys Over Flowers.” I give myself a word goal (on big writing days it might be 2000 words) and then I get to watch an episode (or two it’s shorter) when I meet my goal.
 
Susan: You are very reader-focused. I’ve noticed on your blog, you actually have a poll asking what your readers want. Very cool! Have you been surprised with the results?
Denise: I love my readers! They are loyal and they love to share their love of my books with their friends. The reality is that I’ll never please everyone. I have plenty of one and two star reviews on all of my books to prove that. I appreciate and valuable the trust my readers have put in me and I’m interested in what they want to read. This summer I wrote three prequel short stories in The Chosen series. I knew what two of the stories would be and I had several ideas for the third. So I ran a poll on my blog asking my readers what story they most wanted to read. I wasn’t surprised with the results of that poll. The majority picked the story I thought they would. 
But some things do surprise me. One of the most frequent comments I get it is to “write faster.” I’m releasing four novels plus multiple short stories a year. I don’t know how I can write any faster. So I posed the question on Facebook: Would you rather I write full length novels less frequently or would you rather have shorter books published more often? Every single person who answered said they wanted full length novels. That surprised me. 

Susan: Have you given any thought as to how many Chosen books there will be?
Denise: There are four novels in the series and three short stories. I want to write two or three more prequel short stories. I also want to write a prequel novella. But I might continue the series in another year or so with different characters. I asked my readers if they were interested in this idea and the overwhelming answer was yes. It’s not easy to accept new characters in a series so I love that they trust me.
 
Susan: Do you travel much? What is your favorite place you’ve visited so far?
Denise: I love to travel. I’ve been to China, Vietnam, Croatia, and then multiple places in the United States. My favorite? That’s hard. I love New York City although I’d never want to live there. I also love any place that is next to an ocean. 

Susan: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
Denise: Stories about relationships, whether they are romantic or between friends or a mother and her children. Relationships are never black and white so I love to read about complicated ones. I also like a story with some kind of mystery.

Susan: What are the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?
Denise: This pile grows larger and larger every day.
Girl Under Glass, science fiction, by Monica Enderle Pierce
Bloodfever: The Fever Series, urban fantasy, Karen Marie Moning
Rage Within (Dark Inside #2) a YA apocalyptic thriller by Jeyn Roberts
Shadow and Bone, a YA fantasy by Leigh Bardugo
The Marriage Pact, contemporary romance, by MJ Pullen


Susan: What was the first story you remember writing?
Denise: My first novel, still unfinished. I wrote it in fourth grade and filled up seventy pages in a wide ruled spiral notebook. It was based on a dream I had. LOL That was when I realized that I wanted to be an author when I grew up. 
Susan: What is your biggest vice?
Denise: I can only pick one? Probably my Diet Coke addiction. Or my Starbucks addiction. No, wait. I think it’s my love of Chipotle.
 
Susan: What do you do to unwind and relax?
Denise: By getting lost in a TV show or movie. On Friday nights I hang out with my friend and critique partner, Trisha Leigh, and we eat Chipotle, drink wine and watch Fringe. Totally girls gone wild. *snort*

Susan: What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?
Denise: People are reading my books and not only like them but want more. THAT is a dream come true for me. 
Susan: What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?
Denise: I’m just a normal, albeit overly caffeinated, person. I’m always amazed when people get a little “star struck” when meeting me in person or if I talk to them on Facebook or Twitter. I’m just a regular person living my dream. I don’t consider myself any better than anyone else.

Susan: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?
Denise: My kids. They can drive me crazy some days, but most of the time they are pretty awesome. I love when my older boys are around with the younger ones and they all get goofy.
 
Susan: What turns you off like nothing else?
Denise: People who are disingenuous. If you don’t like me, don’t pretend you do. I can live with that.
Susan: What would you say is your most interesting quirk?
Denise: Quirk? Maybe that it’s that I like to laugh a lot. Every day. Life’s too short not to laugh.

 
Susan’s GOTTA ASK: What is your favorite scene in Redemption? Denise’s GOTTA ANSWER: This may surprise people who know the series, but it’s probably the scenes with Jake and his nanny Antonia. Especially the scene when they are on the hill looking at the vineyards. It’s a quiet scene, but very tender, and shows the reader a deeper level to Jake’s emotional state as well as Antonia’s affection for Jake.

 
Susan: What's next for you?
Denise: THERE, the final book of my young adult science fiction/romance series, ON THE OTHERSIDE is my next book and will have a late December release.

You can find Denise at...

Her website: www.denisegroversank.com

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeniseGroverSwank and https://www.facebook.com/deniseswank

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/dms052564/

And Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DeniseMSwank

Denise has a question for you…

If I could only write one more book, which series would you want that book to be in? The Chosen, Rose Gardner Mysteries, On The Otherside or my new upcoming series, The Curse Keepers? OR if you’ve never read my books, do you prefer darker stories or light and funny?