Showing posts with label Dance Away Danger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dance Away Danger. Show all posts

1/26/2015

Favorite Book...Favorite Child

Good Morning, Folks! I'm so glad you've decided to join me for the last day of my new book celebration! Today I want to share with you my favorite books of my own. Now, I think this would be like someone asking which is my favorite child. I don't have children but I imagine there are specific things to love with each child. (Parents, am I right?) So yes, I love all my books, but here are my choices:

Dance Away, Danger:

Sensible dance instructor Tessa Gage likes her life organized, risk-free and on her own terms. When her cop brother goes missing, his crooked partner tries to kill her, and a handsome stranger claims he’s come to protect her, she’s forced to leave her comfort zone. With more dance and business sense than survival skills and no idea who to trust, Tessa has no choice but to rely on this man who’d rather be anywhere but by her side.
When carefree carpenter Matt Rylan gets a late night call from an Army buddy who once saved his life, he finds himself where he never again wanted to be—responsible for someone else. Honor demands Matt cooperate, but he never expects his simple babysitting job to test the limits of his self-control. Nor does he expect it to explode into a race against time for his very freedom.

As Tessa and Matt get closer to the truth, and to each other, Tessa learns to step outside the safety of her world to help set the wheels of justice in motion. For Matt, supporting this courageous woman suddenly becomes everything to him.  Yet, his biggest challenge remains sharing his closed-off heart with her before the danger silences them both forever.

***This story was my first one I ever thought was good enough to get published. I'd worked on the story on and off for a couple of years and came close to getting a contract for it only to lose out in the end. (Until Fated Desires offered me a contract!) It was the culmination of all I'd learned as a writer.
 
Carry Me Home:
After six months in the city, Mary MacDougall returns to the Scottish Highlands to finalize her divorce. Because of a past tragedy, she doubts her husband Jamie can possibly love her with the same unbridled passion as before and insists ending the marriage is best for both of them. But Jamie has other ideas….

Jamie MacDougall has no intention of letting his bonnie lass go. At least not without a fight. Aye, they’ve suffered heartache, and she may be ready to call it quits, but he refuses to throw away the partnership they’ve built since they were children. Instead, he’ll remind her they were meant to be together, forever.
Can this marriage survive pride and grief to allow love to carry them home?
***This story was tough to write. An editor had asked me to write and of course I wanted to make a good impression. I had 4weeks to finish it (but it took 5 1/2 weeks) and the pain often had me wanting to cry. But I think my feeling so connected to the characters and the story is what made it as special as I believe it to be.
 
Liar, Liar
Unable to protect her mother from her father as a child, Devin McQueen has made it her mission as an adult to protect as many abused women and children as she can. The rare moments she’s not consumed with work as a victims’ advocate, she limits her involvements to safe, predictable men….until she meets bounty hunter Grady Cooper. He is big, bold, brash, and has no problem speaking his mind.
Growing up in a broken home, Grady realized early on that good deeds had a price.  To survive, he learned to weigh every decision by what he could gain. Unfortunately, the successful, solitary life he’s worked so hard to create spins out of control when demons from his past shake his confidence. His boss has given him one last chance—bring in Devin’s latest client quickly, and quietly and maybe he’ll still have a job. It didn’t sound unreasonable until he met Devin.
Suddenly, Grady must make a decision: save his career or follow his heart?
***Grady was soooooo much fun to write. He came into my brain based off one of my favorite movie characters and when I started really getting into this story he had no problem steering me in the direction he wanted to go. And Devin...wow, she is my first really kick-ass heroine. These characters were so perfect for each other, but getting them to realize that was fun, frightening and frustrating. With both the hero and heroine so tough (which was hard enough), finding their gentle sides was a challenge. They're definitely not perfect and they even annoyed me at times, but in the end we all kicked-arse.
 
My fourth favorite of my books is my current one, Chasing Gold. I can't even tell you how well this story flowed as I wrote it. I can't explain how writing a light-hearted adventure story (as opposed to a heavy suspense) felt, how it made me seriously excited to sit down and work on it. These characters, this plot gave me no trouble at all. 
 
Okay, people! Today is my last day with you. Remember I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift card & some other treats to one commenter from this 4 day party. I'll choose a winner tomorrow morning & post the name in today's comments! In the meantime, come find me and my books!
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Blog     |     Email     |    Amazon
 

1/09/2014

2014 Danger Challenge...Are YOU Strong Enough?

Welcome, welcome! It's Alexa here and I'm so excited to share my latest book, DANCE AWAY, DANGER, with you!



Blurb:

Sensible dance instructor Tessa Gage likes her life organized, risk-free and on her own terms. When her cop brother goes missing, his crooked partner tries to kill her, and a handsome stranger claims he’s come to protect her, she’s forced to leave her comfort zone. With more dance and business sense than survival skills and no idea who to trust, Tessa has no choice but to rely on this man who’d rather be anywhere but by her side.

When carefree carpenter Matt Rylan gets a late night call from an Army buddy who once saved his life, he finds himself where he never again wanted to be—responsible for someone else. Honor demands Matt cooperate, but he never expects his simple babysitting job to test the limits of his self-control. Nor does he expect it to explode into a race against time for his very freedom.

As Tessa and Matt get closer to the truth, and to each other, Tessa learns to step outside the safety of her world to help set the wheels of justice in motion. For Matt, supporting this courageous woman suddenly becomes everything to him.  Yet, his biggest challenge remains sharing his closed-off heart with her before the danger silences them both forever.




And now for The 2014 Danger Challenge
Are YOU strong enough?

You’re probably asking yourself what this is. Maybe you’re wondering what I’m trying to get you to do. Well, I can help take out the mystery. Come on. Join me. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

With the release of my latest full length romantic suspense book, Dance Away, Danger, I decided to put myself to a test. You see, the heroine in the book, Tessa, is shoved completely out of her comfort zone by both the circumstances surrounding her brother’s disappearance and by the hero, Matt. Tessa wants nothing more than to be left alone to live her quiet, stable life. But soon she’s making split-second decisions, learning how to shoot weapons, and hunting for the truth. So, I thought, “I should take a step outside my own comfort zone as well.” That simple concept led to the 2014 Danger Challenge.

For every month of 2014 I will choose one activity to try that is completely new to me. I will share the event with you, discuss why I chose that one, and then after I’ve completed it I will reflect on my 2014 Danger Challenge Facebook Group. Some of the activities will include kayaking, visiting Turkey and trying new Turkish foods, participating in a race for charity, volunteering for an organization that means something to me. Yes, this is a short list so far, but I didn’t want to come up with 12 things right away. Some FANTABULOUS ideas to add to the list might pop up throughout the year.

Now, here’s your part. I’d like to see as many people join me as we can get. Why? Because you’re not really living if you stick to your own, comfortable world every single day, year after year. Life is too short not to take chances or to lend a hand to the people around you. If you accept this challenge and become part of the 2014 Danger Challenge Crew, I’ll have you share your own reflections with us and from the names of people who participate I'll choose one winner each month to receive a prize.

My Facebook group (which I'm learning to "do") is closed. Members will use the group to share their experiences each month and to cheer each other on. If you would like to participate and push yourself out of your own comfort zone (what's outside my comfort zone might be too easy for you. In that case you choose activities that push you) then please email me and I will add you to the group.
Or...

If you leave a comment here stating you want to join the 2014 Danger Challenge, you'll also put yourself in the running for a Dance Away, Danger prize pack! I'm touring several blogs and sharing something different about Dance Away, Danger each day. (You leave comments anywhere along the way and increase your chances for the prize.)


1/7-8- Just Romantic Suspense
1/9- Get Lost in a Story
1/10- RomCon
1/11- JF Ridgely’s Blog
1/12- Happily Ever After Thoughts
1/13-SJ Maylee’s Blog                       
1/14- Gretchen Rix’s Blog
1/15- All Romance Ebooks


Other places you can find me:

12/20/2013

A Very Merry Holiday...Alexa Style!

My family has always celebrated Christmas together and I was lucky enough to often get what presents I really wanted. Once I left Santa behind with the little girl I used to be, the list of presents grew shorter until I stopped giving gift ideas all together. As an adult, I've learned the point of the holidays is to spend time with those I love and any gift people share is like icing on my favorite cupcakes.

This year, though, I think I got the most humongous cupcake with gobs of frosting. Why? Next Friday, December 27th, my very first full-length romantic suspense book will be released!
 
LIAR, LIAR

Unable to protect her mother from her father as a child, Devin McQueen has made it her mission as an adult to protect as many abused women and children as she can. The rare moments she’s not consumed with work as a victims' advocate, she involves herself with safe, predictable men. 

Everything is as good as it can be…until she meets bounty hunter Grady Cooper.  He is big, bold, brash, and has no problem speaking his mind.
 
Growing up in a broken home, Grady realizes early on that every good deed has a price.  To survive with as few scars as possible, he learns to weigh every decision by what he can gain.  But the successful, solitary life he’s worked so hard to create spins out of control when demons from his past shake his confidence.  His boss gives him one last chance—bring in Devin's latest client quickly and quietly and maybe he'll still have a job.
 
Suddenly, Grady must make the ultimate decision: follow his career or follow his heart?

Now if that wasn't awesome enough, guess what? Only 11 days later, on January 7th, my 2nd full-length romantic suspense book will be released!

DANCE AWAY, DANGER 

Sensible dance instructor Tessa Gage likes her life organized, risk-free and on her own terms. When her cop brother goes missing, his crooked partner tries to kill her, and a handsome stranger claims he’s come to protect her, she’s forced to leave her comfort zone. With more dance and business sense than survival skills and no idea who to trust, Tessa has no choice but to rely on this man who’d rather be anywhere but by her side.

When carefree carpenter Matt Rylan gets a late night call from an Army buddy who once saved his life, he finds himself where he never again wanted to be—responsible for someone else. Honor demands Matt cooperate, but he never expects his simple babysitting job to test the limits of his self-control. Nor does he expect it to explode into a race against time for his very freedom.

As Tessa and Matt get closer to the truth, and to each other, Tessa learns to step outside the safety of her world to help set the wheels of justice in motion. For Matt, supporting this courageous woman suddenly becomes everything to him. Yet, his biggest challenge remains sharing his closed-off heart with her before the danger silences them both forever.

I've got lots of great plans for sharing lots more about each of these books in the next couple of months and I hope you'll join me. I'll be traveling on book tours, discussing how each book began, having contests (including The 2014 Danger Challenge and The Hunt for Justice) for cool swag and prizes. The details for each contest will soon be on my website. Plus, you have a chance to win one of three copies of DANCE AWAY, DANGER if you visit this page on Goodreads.

Okay, I'm off to find me some mulled wine. I'm starting my celebrating early...before I get back to edits on ANOTHER book due out soon! I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday! 

10/18/2013

Sooooo, What's Up With Alexa?

Hi there! Happy Friday! I'm taking a break to spend time with you. I love LOVE spending time with other people who love books. I had hoped to have a new cover to show you today, but it hasn't been delivered yet. So you'll have to wait. In the meantime, I'll fill you in on the kinda busy world I'm living in.

For my day job, I work as a middle school English teacher. Yep, I put up with hormones and attitude and people who think I'm stupid because I'm over the age of 20. Why do I do it? Because I love it....most days. This last week I've been focused on grading papers so I could be ready today for turning those grades in for report cards. Whew! I'm almost done!

When I'm not researching projects or writing lesson plans or grading papers, I'm usually busy writing or doing some work related to writing. At the moment, I just finished another round of edits for my next book, DANCE AWAY, DANGER. That comes out in January.

Tonight I'm going to start another round of edits on a different book that will come out in the spring. It's called LIAR, LIAR. (This is the one I was hoping to have a cover for.)

Neither of these books is set in the UK, like all my other books, but I do have another contracted UK book that I'll be working on soon.

Oh yeah, and I'm writing a brand new novella with a bit of a paranormal twist to it. I'm only writing a few words a day on that one, but it's coming along. Then next month I intend to revise a holiday story I wrote 2 years ago and haven't had a chance to get back to.

So, a real world for fun and relaxation? What's that????? But I do try to read or watch TV for at least an hour each night. AND I'm starting to get myself back to the gym AND I'm making plans with friends. Plus, there are a couple of movies I want to see. Hmmm, I better be careful here or I won't be getting any work done!

I hope your world isn't as busy as mine and I hope you get a chance to stop and smell the roses, as they say. If you're interested in holiday romantic suspense stories, take a peek at my SIMPLE TREASURES. It's a contemporary story set in Edinburgh, Scotland during Hogmanay (which is also called New Year's). Whatever you do have a great weekend. Me? I'm off to do my edits!

9/07/2013

My New Cover!

Celebrate with me, folks! Here is the cover of my very first FULL-LENGTH romantic suspense book! It will be coming to you in a few months from Fated Desires Publishing.

 
 
Well? What do you think? Leave me a comment and you'll be in the running for a swag prize from me! The contest runs through the weekend, with the winner(s) chosen and announced on Monday.