First Fridays With The Crew - What's Your Motto?

February is the month when Australians shake the sand of the long summer holidays from our feet and prepare to get our noses back to the grindstone. I always view February as the time I really start testing my New Year Resolutions, which are usually a combination of writing up a storm, getting my unfit self into better shape, and taking on an extra challenge - not too easy, but something that is not unreachable either. I also like to adopt a motto for the year ahead, so this year, I decided to challenge the other crew to articulate and share a motto for themselves for 2017!

AVRIL

Fortune Favours the Brave

The attribute I admire in people more than any other is courage - to be themselves, to take a chance, to stand up for their beliefs even if those beliefs aren't popular, to live the life they want instead of the one they're told they should want. The only regrets I have in my life are the times I let fear hold me back from doing something - usually fear of making a fool of myself, or fear of failure, or fear of rocking a boat or two.

Well, in 2017, I'm saying goodbye to regrets and hello to bravery in all aspects of my life. In my writing, I'm going to lay all the emotions out - no holding back; I'm going to dare myself by writing more complex stories and push the character envelope. In a way, I've already started treading this road with my current book - just out this past week. The heroine has lived a safely unadventurous life in Boston, but when she meets a beautiful Arab Muslim in the Arabian desert and he follows her home, she has to make a decision: whether to stay safe, or take a leap into a life different from anything she could have ever imagined.

NAN

Be Grateful--Count your Blessings


This year I am trying to step back each day and find what I'm grateful for. If are you interested in starting to document what you are grateful for, use #Grateful365 on any of your social media.

I'm documenting my gratitudes on my Facebook Page. Stop over and check them out. Sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are serious. But taking the time to document why I am thankful gives me a moment to slow down and realize how blessed I am.

LIZBETH

What you Think you Become

I am the queen of self-put downs. I am also the queen of lazy thinking! Oftentimes I can expend as much energy finding someone to solve my problems as I would simply learning to solve them myself. Whether it's "I don't know how to fix my Website," or "Nobody would want to read this drivel--it's time to retire," on any given day I am more than capable of living--as our 100% Scandinavian family likes to joke--like an undeserving Norwegian.

The problem is--those statements, over time, are no longer jokes. They take on lives of their own and become self truths. I often feel unequal to my peers and believe I'm not smart enough to be who and what I want to be. So--this year my goal is to end the negative thinking and be positive about me! I am embarking on a self-publishing journey, so I can't think of anything I need more than to be confident I CAN do it! That's already a theme in all my books--like my most recent "The Bride Wore Starlight," and my soon-to-be-released "Betting on Paradise" (watch for cover reveals soon!) It's time for me to think and become smart and successful!

REGAN

Courage moves ahead in the face of fear

One of the qualities I have always valued is courage. It's right up there with honesty and loyalty. The truly great among us are not always the fearless. They just appear that way. In fact, they may have harbored great fear, but that did not stop them. 

Most of my characters, too, have feared one thing or another: battle, loss, even love. Of course, that's what makes romance worth reading... a good story with some history added to make it authentic and a bold warrior, spy or ship captain who faces the odds against him and triumphs to find love.

Ah, yes. Courage. Winston Churchill, one of my heroes, once said, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”

E.E.

Mark Twain wrote, “Life is short. Break the rules.” 
That's my motto for this year. 

Here is his complete quote, which is even better: “Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I want the next decade of my life (which starts March 29) to be filled with adventure. I'm ready and willing to break out of old molds--especially the ones that have held me back from realizing my dreams--all the while, never forgetting to relish the very best things in life: slow kisses and uncontrollable laughter and forgiveness and true love, all of which go hand-in-hand. 

This theme of breaking rules and finding your life's greatest adventure is reflected in what will be my first Contemporary Romance, Maybe Baby. In this story, both characters must break more than a few rules--mostly those they impose on themselves--in order to find happiness. 

I hope you'll break a few rules this year and throw off whatever is holding you back from life's greatest adventure.

JAN

Actions speak louder than words

I've always told my girls that instead of standing around talking about doing something, why not actually do something?  Any action you take is always valued more than the words that are spoken.

Don't stand on the sidelines this year. Jump in, take action and make things happen!

AMANDA

What is your legacy

It doesn’t take much to get one thinking about the future when you’re facing a milestone birthday—especially if you can’t seem to remember where all those years have gone and at such a fast pace! There’s a song by Tim McGraw that speaks about “living like you were dying” and I think more than ever, its lyrics hit home for me. So, what do I wish to leave behind? What is the legacy I am creating? For one, I’m a late-bloomer to writing and have miles to go before I sleep in reaching my goals, but more important to me is how my stories touch hearts. I hope my children will look back on an artist mom with no formal training, no college education who decided with grit and desire to start ‘painting pictures’ with words. And that they will look upon my tenacity as they discover their gifts, and realize whether their success is far-reaching or local—how incredibly important they are to use them for good.

To touch the heart of one person is more than millions sometimes can accomplish. I hope my writing shows tenacious, strong men and women who despite their struggles, achieve the happiness they deserve, proving as always, my personal belief that no matter what, love will find a way. Inspire. Be Kind. Be more grateful. Eat a Good Breakfast. It all matters!

My current book, GEORGIA ON MY MIND, exemplifies many of these attributes in the story of a young couple whose circumstances years before lead to a bitter break-up and tear two brothers apart. Life continues and as fate quite often does, makes it possible again for these two lovers—now mature—to realize what life has taught them. The experiences they now bring to the table as they reevaluate the past and face the hurt will challenge them to make choices about what they want in the future. They are writing their own legacy. What legacy are you creating?

CLOVER

Find balance

I recently took a new job at a university. Which I love, don't get me wrong, but I go into work before the sun comes up and rarely make it home before sunset. My current book I'm writing, the final book in my HIGHLAND SORCERY series, that I promised would be finished months ago, well, it still isn't. 

I'm too mentally exhausted to write, which for me, doesn't make for a happy camper, because I know something is missing in my routine. I crave writing like chocolate. 

So my goal is to find that balance between the day job and squeezing back in my "me" time, which for me is carving out that time somewhere and getting some writing done. 

In RULES OF THE HEART jilted bride Constance is also in desperate need of balance between doing what is expected of her or throwing expectations to the wind and going with her heart. Where better to find her balance than small town Chapel Pines, Texas at the McCagan Inn? Maybe I could book a room there and find my balance.       

JILLIAN 

Being a goddess is a joyous, badass addiction

As goddess of my novel little universe, I decide who succeeds and who fails, who lives and who dies, and best of all—who falls in love. This year, I'm writing a series of adventure novels with paranormal elements. My favorite kind of heroes are unexpected ones. From characters who are flawed and unworthy to characters who leap into the fray and quickly learn they're in way over their heads.


Beyond the sheer fun of writing, this goddess learns a lot from her characters. Like when they muster up the will to fight one last battle—the one that will likely kill them. Or when they sacrifice for another, maybe even an unworthy person, but they do it because underneath their brooding exterior, beats a gentle heart. And I love it when they thrill me with their moral courage—especially when they disobey the orders of a tyrant! 


Expect three novellas in different anthologies this year, and (shock!) at least one full length novel written under a new pen name. More on that novel in the upcoming months. I want to surprise all of you as the books roll out—so get ready! 

Love to all our loyal GLIAS readers—here's to a brave new year for all of us. To get all the news on upcoming books go to www.jillstone.com 

ANGI 
Be the person my dog thinks I am 

Sounds simple enough. I don't try to be someone else for my pups. We play, have fun and love unconditionally. There's a reason man's best friend is a dog. And it's no mistake that dog is God spelled backward. I want to be a person my friends can count on, love unconditionally, and be dependable. I draw the line at wagging my tail.

I too, am venturing into publishing my own work in 2017. My new series is a smash-up of what I love to read: a little comedy, a little romance, a little suspense, and a little magic. 

BODYGUARDS in HEELS has been a lot of fun to write. I hope readers will enjoy the first release HIT & RUN HALLIE later this month. LICENSE to CARRIE follow shortly after and the third book in the series, BREAKAWAY BROOKE will follow on March 21st in the HOT ON ICE anthology for the HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS charity. Stay up-to-date on all the releases and receive exclusive content by signing up for my newsletter.

~ ~ ~
We'd love to hear if you have a mantra of your own - please share it with us if so, and let us know if its a tried and true one that has stood the test of time or something new for 2017!

Tell us in the comments and go into the draw for a 
Colour Me Artsy Colouring book...

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Harlequin Desire Author, Lauren Canan!

ONE NIGHT WITH THE TEXAN

For wealthy real estate CEO Cole Masters, a weekend in New Orleans means meeting a beautiful woman and blowing off some steam. No names. No strings. So, months later when the same woman shows up on his doorstep, it’s a shocker. Even worse, she’s an anthropologist with a court order to access his property and temporarily shut down his current project.

For Tallie Finley, this mission is both professional and personal and Cole could prove too tempting a distraction. Will her efforts to uncover her family legacy be derailed? Especially when she discovers she’s expecting his child?

**GIVEAWAY BELOW**

One Night With The Texan is part of the Masters of Texas series.

READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK

Lauren Canan has always loved the written word. Her first stories about dragons and puppies will never see a bookstore shelf, but writing has been a life-long love affair. Add in a great romance and she's hooked. She can’t really see herself doing anything else.

Lauren lives in Texas with her hubby, Terry, her Tennessee Walker, Tobias (Toby), two Wire Fox Terriers and a mouthy parrot named Bird.

Jan Schliesman: Do you ever get lost in your own stories?

Lauren Canan: Yes, I do! I don’t think I could write the story otherwise. I have to get in the character’s head, become part of their life and experience the emotions they feel as the story develops. Happiness, sadness, completely in love, the devastating grief when they can’t be together and the emotional swell when the miracle happens and they work it out – I’m right there with them every step of the way!

Jan: Name three things on your desk right now.

Lauren: My cell, a picture of my horse, and dust bunnies growing in one corner.

Jan: Do you struggle to find fresh ideas or do they come naturally?

Lauren: It does take quite a bit of thinking to create the basics of a story. Once I have an idea and get the first few chapters down on paper I generally let the characters tell me the rest. It’s just a matter of keeping up!

Jan: What do you love most about your latest release?

Lauren: The heroine is an anthropologist who believes she may find proof of her family’s heritage on the hero’s land. I’ve always loved things from the past. I’ve found razors, compasses and belt buckles from the Civil War era. American history intrigues me. It always has. Then, of course, there is the hero…  J

Jan: What are you currently reading?

Lauren: A manual on how to put ink in a new printer! It isn’t very romantic.

Jan: Do you believe in love at first sight?

Lauren: Absolutely.

Jan: If you had the skills to be in any other profession, what would it be?

Lauren: Oh gosh. This is a tough one. I’m doing what I’ve always dreamed of doing. I guess maybe a pilot. A bush pilot in Alaska. I love the mountains and I love to fly!

Jan: Best vacation you’ve ever taken?

Lauren: Back packing around Europe one summer. Met some great people and saw some wondrous things.  

Jan’s GOTTA ASK: My hubby works for Tombstone/DiGiorno. What do you like on your pizza?

Lauren’s GOTTA ANSWER: Anything and everything EXCEPT those little fish. J

Find LAUREN CANAN:

 Website Facebook Goodreads

THANKS SO MUCH, Lauren, for sharing your writing world with us. Check out the Rafflecopter below for you chance to WIN a copy of One Night With A Texan!

PREVIOUS RELEASES: Terms of a Texas Marriage 

                                                Lone Star Baby Bombshell

                                                Redeeming the Billionaire SEAL

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Amy Andrews Will Make You Laugh, Cry and Tingle

Back in 2013, when I became a top 10 finalist in Harlequin's So You Think You Can Write competition, I was assigned a Harlequin author mentor – and I hit the jackpot by landing the ridiculously talented Amy Andrews, who is not only a great writer, but an amazing supporter of the newbies in the industry. I’m understandably ecstatic, therefore, to welcome Amy to Get Lost in a Story. Amy is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance and medical romance. Her books are always sexy, always sassy, always fabulous. Her latest novel, Playing the Player – the third in her Sydney Smoke rugby series, published by Entangled – is just out.

About Amy...

Amy is an award-winning, best-selling Aussie author who has written sixty plus contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets. She is a USA Today best-seller who writes books that feature lots of sex and kissing. She likes to make her readers tingle, laugh and sigh.

She loves good books and great booze although she'll take mediocre booze if there's nothing else. At sixteen she met a guy she knew she was going to marry and she did. They’re still together. They have two grown kids who are stretching their wings to far flung shores.

She lives on acreage on the outskirts of Brisbane with a gorgeous mountain view but secretly wishes it was the hillsides of Tuscany.

Connect with Amy via her website, or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads, and subscribe to her newsletter.

After a long history with crappy guys, high school teacher Em Newman is going man-vegan. Four months of revirginization has opened her eyes to her doormat imitation but, baby’s got spine now, and some smooth-talking—even if he is sinfully hot—rugby player, won’t be adding her as a notch anytime soon.

Lincoln Quinn loves rugby, women, and poker. And he likes to win at all three. When his team mates bet him he can’t break through Em’s resolve, he’s more than up for the challenge. But this lady has a shoebox of stipulations before she’ll even go on a date with him, much less use that mouth for kissing instead of giving orders.

Something’s gotta give but this time Em’s not settling. And Linc’s questioning everything he ever knew about matters of the heart.

Read a little, buy the book...

Linc rang Em at the same time he had the day before. Every part of him ached from a morning of gruelling training, but in a good way. The kind of way that made him grateful for his fitness, that made him feel alive. And pumped. 

Pumped to make this phone call. Pumped to hear Em say yes. 

“Hi, Em Newman speaking.” 

She had one of those teacher’s voices. Firm but kind, with just enough fuck-with-me-and-I’ll-send-you-to-the-principal edge to keep a guy in line. That kind of voice that had never really worked on him when he’d been in high school, but then he’d never had a teacher as sexy as Em Newman, either. 

He might have turned up more often if he had. 

“I think I’ve been going about this all the wrong way,” he said, picturing her sitting at her desk, her mouth pressing close to the phone receiver so she wasn’t overheard. 

“I’ve been going for traditional names. But it’s not Ermintrude. Or Emma. Or Emily or Emmeline. So I’m thinking now your parents might be hippies, and it’s actually something like Ember. Or Emerald.” 

There was a long pause then a deep sigh. “Why do you care?” 

“I want to be able to call you by your real name.” 

“Well, the kids call me Miss Newman.” 

Linc chuckled. “Oh. Don’t tempt me.” 

Another heavy sigh. “Are you just going to ring me every lunch hour?” 

“Sure. If I have to.” 

“Don’t you have...push-ups to do? Or something? Balls to kick. Tries to score?” 

He grinned. “Training finishes at twelve, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to score right now.”

“Linc...” He’d have to have been deaf not to hear the exasperation in her voice. “I have papers to mark.” 

“You are hell on a man’s ego, Miss Newman.” He loved the way “Miss” rolled off his tongue, and a dozen dirty thoughts about naughty teachers with crazy curls bending over to help a student with a problem, their shirts gaping to reveal pretty bras flitted through his head with a predictable effect on his dick. Who knew teachers could be such a fucking turn-on? 

Certainly not a guy who’d spent a good portion of his life avoiding them at all costs. 

She snorted. “I have a feeling your ego couldn’t be brought down with an elephant gun.” 

He laughed, not even bothering to try and dissuade her from the accuracy of her statement. “The Nerd Chicks are in town on Friday night.”

She didn’t say anything for a beat or two. “You know who the Nerd Chicks are?”

“I do now.”Linc had spent a long time online last night trying to come up with something that’d blow Em’s mind. He’d finally found An Evening with the Nerd Chicks. Apparently they were three women with science backgrounds who ran a popular YouTube channel discussing all things science and had taken their show on the road. 

“We should go together.”There was another pause, but he thought he could hear her breath hitch. 

“Top marks for trying, Linc. But it’s sold out. It sold out in about half an hour.”

“Lucky for you I have two V.I.P. tickets.”

He definitely heard her breath this time. Hissing slowly out in a long exhale. “Thank you but...no.”

“No? Did I mention you get to meet them afterwards?”

A soft noise that sort of sounded like a whimper or maybe even a low growl caressed his eardrum. “I said no.”

But it was the most unconvincing no Linc had ever heard. He could practically feel her conflict. “Come on, Miss Newman,” he pressed. “Why deprive yourself?”

“Because, Linc,” she muttered, her voice terse, “afterwards I’ll probably fuck you in your ridiculously sexy car.”

Linc’s pulse spiked at her direct prediction. Even if she had sounded utterly depressed over it. He laughed. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. What if I promise to not let you fuck me in my car? Or anywhere else?”

It wasn’t going to win him the bet—but he really didn’t give a fuck anymore. Linc just really wanted to take her to the show. Because she obviously wanted to go. 

She snorted. “I can be very persuasive.”

Buy it on Amazon. 

Let's talk...

Avril: What’s the attraction of rugby?
Amy: To be honest I’m *not* a sports person at all although I had accidentally written a couple of bigger books with heroes who were sports stars. Not sure how that happened really… But anyway, my Entangled editor approached me about a rugby series they wanted me to write. I said hell yes, without batting an eyelid. I knew squat about rugby (other than that weird kind of osmosis we have in Australia for any sports that involve balls and full body contact) but I also knew that sports romance was very popular and writing about buff men in tight uniforms wasn’t going to be any kind of hardship.

Avril: How does being an Aussie influence your writing?
Amy: I guess any writer brings their own life experiences including where they’re from, to their writing. I don’t think being an Aussie influences my writing necessarily, I think I’m the sum of my parts and everything I am influences how I write.

Avril: What are some of the most common comments reviewers make when talking about your books? 
Amy: Reviewers tend to either love or hate my books. But for those who do love them they usually say that I can write funny, hot *and* emotional. Which I love. If you can make a reader laugh, cry and tingle in all the good parts then that’s a huge compliment.  

Avril: How easy is it to switch between contemporary and medical? 
Amy: Not that difficult really. After all, medicals are just contemporary romances set in a medical world. I used to grapple with the medical to romance ratio when I first started but I honestly haven’t thought about it in years, each story seems to find its own balance without any conscious engineering.

Avril: Who are some of your favourite authors and what do they have in common?
Amy: All my favourite authors are women who write funny. If you can make me laugh then you have me for life (which is one of the things I love about Avril’s books!). Writers like Jennifer Crusie, Rachel Gibson, Victoria Dahl, S.E.P. and Helen Fielding from an international perspective. From this side of the pond Kelly Hunter, Sarah Mayberry and Ainslie Paton. Also my sister, Ros Baxter. Yeh, she’s my sister but man her books always crack me up. I’ve also found a couple of new-to-me Aussie authors last year who I adored. Madeline Ash and Eve Dangerfield are awesome writers and know how to bring the funny too!   

Avril: What does 2017 hold for you? 
Amy: A lot! Four more rugby books. A fire fighter and a bull rider for Tule Publishing. The second book in my Limbo series and a bigger medical romance set in a rural locale is in the works too.  

Avril: As a romance reader, what’s your pet hate?
Amy: Women who giggle in books. Grown women don’t giggle. Unless it’s a trait you want to give to a character to demonstrate how annoying they are, then you’ve nailed it.  

Thank you so much for inviting me on the blog Avril. What Avril didn’t mention though, dear readers, is what I told her after I first read her SYTYCW story. I was supposed to give her advice and feedback on the book. Instead I said - this should already be published, you don’t need me! I was not remotely surprised she was contracted soon after! But I was very proud and excited for her.

A question from Amy:
 Are you a sports fan? If so what’s you favourite? 
If not, what would you rather be doing!

Tell us in the comments and enter the giveaway to win an Amazon Kindle copy of the fabulous first book in Amy's Sydney Smoke Rugby Series, Playing By Her Rules.

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