Posts Tagged ‘dogs’

 

I’m totally tickled to bring you Zoe Dawson for this installment of Workspace Wednesday. Zoe is the alter ego of Karen Anders, award winning, multi-published author. Her writing journey started with poetry and branched out into fiction. With a couple of college English courses under her belt, she penned a historical, then moved on to contemporary romance fiction.

 

 

She is the author of the very cool Going to the Dogs Series (Leashed, Groomed for Murder). She also has a six-book police procedural series (The Misfit Squad Series) featuring a group of troubled homicide detectives who have landed in the “last chance” squad. Watch for it from Entangled Publishing in 2013.

Zoe is a woman after my own heart. Not only does she write romantic suspense and romantic mystery, she’ll soon be publishing paranormal and urban fantasy novels. I love all those genres, and as a writer, I totally get the urge (need?) to be spinning stories in multiple genres.

Okay, Zoe, take it away!

 

ZOE DAWSON:   Thank you, Norah, for having me on your blog and sharing my workspace with you.  When I first started writing seriously, I lived in Virginia and my workspace was literally in a walk in closet.  Great cosmic writing power/itty bitty writing space.  The bedroom had two walk in closets so I could fit both my clothes and my writing passion into one room.  It was a tight confined space that only accommodated my desk and chair.  But it was perfect.  I could close my bedroom door, then the door to my small space and cut out all the noise from the household.  I loved that space.

When I moved to North Carolina, I lived in a two bedroom apartment with my daughter and I wrote in my bedroom again.  But this time I had to put the clothes in the only walk in closet.  Not as conducive to writing, but then I was developing ideas and had no contracts at the time.

I then moved to a three bedroom single family home where I had a dedicated office to work out of and it was huge, but with the change in the economy, I moved into a townhouse where I now currently write.  As you can see, the view is simply wonderful at all times of the year.

 

 

Even though we live right off a busy road, you wouldn’t know it by looking out the window.  Looks like we live out in the country.

 

 

 

I share the room with my daughter and when I need some quiet time, I take my laptop into my bedroom and produce away.

I have written seven books in this space and expect to produce a lot more as I have now diversified into self-publishing.

 

Thank you for that tour, Zoe. I’m so impressed by how clean your desktop is! And don’t you love having dual monitors? And is that a dog on top of your CPU?  🙂

Okay folks, it’s your turn. Leave us a comment for a chance to win one of two electronic copies of Leashed.

 

And they call it puppy love!

When Jack falls head-over-paws for cute and cuddly Jill next door — that creamy coat, those soft brown eyes, and, yowza, those long legs, he simply cannot help himself.  Bing, bang, boom, a few weeks later, Jack has some ‘splaining to do when that cute female is with puppies.  Jack’s going to be a father, trouble is his lady love’s owner and his owner need a little shove into love.  Being a large and in-charge Great Dane, that’s no problem for Jack.  With a little cooperation and a little matchmaking, some nudging, whining and puppy dog eyes, hopefully, everyone will live happily ever after together.

 

Can a dog have a bad hair day?

Brooke Palmer owns Pawlish, an exclusive doggie spa and grooming business in upper Manhattan, but when a client’s champion poodle gets a bad poodle cut and has to undergo therapy to recover, the client sues.  The lawyer they send is drop dead gorgeous, but Brooke won’t be wooed by a corporate shark in a sharp suit.

Corporate lawyer Drew Hudson has better things to do then take on this ridiculous lawsuit, but since he works for the client’s husband, he has no choice.  After meeting the beautiful, sweet-tempered owner, he can’t keep his mind on the silly case.  But when the client turns up dog gone dead, Brooke may be a conflict of interest when she’s charged with the murder.  All Drew wants to do is prove that this sexy entrepreneur is not dangerous, except to his heart.

Can she take a chance on him?

My run of awesome Montlake Romance authors continues! This week it is my pleasure to welcome Barbara Longley. Barbara writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Her latest Montlake book, a contemporary romance titled Far From Perfect, sounded so delicious, I snagged it for my Kindle. I hoped to have read it by now, but life sort of got in the way.   Welcome, Barbara!

 

Barbara Longley: First of all, I have to apologize because I’m a lousy photographer. I did try several shots, and this is the best. Sad. I know. This is where I work. I don’t own a desk. I have a laptop and an ottoman. Everything I need is close by, including my reference books.

 

 

Having an office is a relatively recent development for me, and all of the furniture is new except the futon. Yep. My office does occasionally turn back into a guest bedroom, which is what it has  been since my two children flew the coop. Now that I’m writing under contract, and I have deadlines, I figured I’d better get more professional about my writing. It is really nice to have everything in once place. I feel so much more organized. I work a full time day job, so I really need to be organized. That’s my challenge this year—learning to manage the demands of my day job with the demands of my writing career. I’ve made my deadlines for both, so I’m getting it down. I do run into the occasional wall of overwhelmedness, though. And that’s when I take my little dog for a long walk, or watch a cheesy movie on the Hallmark channel.  

 

I’ve included a picture of my writing buddy, Sophie, a basset hound/cocker spaniel mix. If she’s not snuggled up on the couch next to me, she’s gazing up at me as I write. I also have a cat named Fred. He also likes to keep my lap warm, which is tricky when I’m trying to write.

 

 

My October release with Montlake is a small town contemporary romance with military elements. Here’s the blurb:

 

FAR FROM PERFECT  – Noah Langford narrowly survived the roadside bombing in Iraq that killed five of his men and took his leg, leaving him haunted by flashbacks and riddled with guilt. When his stepbrother Matt dies in a car accident, the loss feels like the final blow to Noah’s shattered soul. But then he learns about the girlfriend and baby Matt abandoned years earlier, and suddenly Noah has a new mission… Ceejay Lovejoy was nineteen and pregnant when her boyfriend walked out, disappearing from her life just like her parents did. Since that day, Ceejay has devoted herself to giving her daughter a better life, avoiding any man who could threaten that security—until the day Noah Langford shows up on her doorstep. His gentle spirit has an unexpected effect on Ceejay’s guarded heart, tempting her to take one last chance on love. But when a painful secret comes to light, it threatens to break the fragile bond growing between them…and to destroy a love powerful enough to heal them both.

 

The second book in the trilogy, THE DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES, is coming out April 23rd.   Once lucky commenter will win a $10 gift card for Amazon, which will be delivered electronically. Thank you so much for stopping by.

 

Thank you, Barbara. That is one sweet dog. Sophie, I mean! The one on your cover is a different matter. That’s a whole lotta dog! Can’t wait to read the book. I love dogs in books.

 

Readers, you can learn more about Barbara at her website. You can also follow her on Twitter and friend her on Facebook.

 

Now, let the commenting begin!

My guest today is Alice Duncan. One of the very best things about having published with Dorchester Publishing was meeting a passel of fellow authors on the “Lollie” loop (Lollie being a take on Ladies of Leisure, Leisure being one of Dorchester’s imprints. I was actually pubbed by the Love Spell imprint, but I think I’m still a Lollie…). Anyhoo, seven of us seemed to have a lot in common, so we wandered off and created a little sub-community of our own. Alice is an integral member of that community. She’s also a birthday sister (we’re both Sagittarians, born on November 29), a fellow dog-lover, and a helluva writer. Welcome, Alice.

ALICE: Thanks, Norah! Happy to be here. And (ahem) believe it or not, it was I who suggested we call ourselves the Lollies. Not that I want any credit or anything <g>. Anyhow, it was another Alice (Alice Gaines/Chambers) who started the loop in the first place.

NORAH:  We also have another unusual connection, don’t we, Alice?

ALICE: We certainly do! I live in Roswell, New Mexico, home of the aliens from the 1947 flying saucer crash. You, on the other hand, live in Fredericton, NB, home to Dr. Stanton Friedman, Nuclear Physicist and UFOologist, the original civilian investigator of the Roswell Incident (I didn’t know that until Norah told me, by the way). Not that I have any interest in UFOs or aliens, but living in Roswell is cheaper than living in Pasadena, California, where I’m from. Roswell’s also ugly and boring, but you can’t have everything.

NORAH:  Alice is my hero in so many ways. She is such a champion of animal rights. And she backs it up. Alice fosters Dachshunds. That’s right, wiener dogs. She belongs to the New Mexico Dachshund Rescue League, and at any given time, has as many as seven of the little beasties in her care and control.

 ALICE: Aw, thanks, Norah. Yes, it’s true. I attract dachshunds kind of like a magnet attracts steel shavings. It’s a curse. Or a gift. I haven’t decided which. Let me tell you, walking three or four dogs at a time can be really tricky, too, although the dogs need the exercise, so I do it. Slave to duty, that’s me. But truly, some of the stories of the dogs we get are truly horrifying (I’m fostering a wiener who came to us because of a murder/suicide, for instance). But we at NMDR get all our dogs shot and spayed or neutered and try to find them wonderful homes. I’m talking rabies shots, by the way. Heck, the last dog I fostered went to such a nice home, I was tempted to ask his adopter to adopt me, but I restrained myself. At the moment I’m caring for six wiener dogs and a ringer (part Chihuahua, part miniature pinscher). Sigh.

NORAH:  Okay, enough with the love-in. I’ve asked Alice here today because I want to bring to your attention the fact that she has a freakin’ amazing backlist of terrific romance and mystery titles. They were a steal at $2.99, but Alice has some breaking news.

ALICE: Yes, I do! During the entire month of June, I’m selling every single one of my e-books for 99 cents each! These are full-length novels, folks (well, except for one short story I wrote specifically for Kindle when I got sick of the book I was writing). They’re all historical novels, some mysteries and some romances. 32 of them! Heck, you can get all 32 of them for less than $32! Here’s the Kindle link: http://aliceduncan.net/page5.html and here’s the Smashwords link: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/aduncanzianet . If you have an e-reading device other than Kindle, use the Smashwords link. Smashwords provides books for NOOK, Sony, Apple, and every other e-reader known to man. Or woman.

NORAH: Did you get that? Every one of her backlist titles for 99 cents! Having read a bunch of Alice’s books, I can assure you this is one of the best deals you’ll ever find. I mean, 32 books for less than $32! I’ve spent more than that on one or two books. If you’re thinking that’s too much to bite off, try one for $0.99 and see what you think. No, these books weren’t written yesterday, but here’s the thing – Alice knows where all the volts are packed. It may be a more leisurely journey than you’re accustomed to with your off-the-rack purchase, but she makes it soooo worth it.

ALICE: Thank you, Norah. It’s not actually my entire backlist. There are two books that have yet to be scanned (a tedious task performed by Norah, bless her heart) and then re-formatted (a tedious task performed by me, who needs all the blessings I can get). Then there are my two “Trailsman” books, written as Jon Sharpe. I don’t own the copyrights to those. And there are also three novellas I might get around to putting in e-book format. Someday. Maybe. And my current books aren’t up there and won’t be until at least a year after their first printing. Still, there are THIRTY-TWO books to choose from! Heck, get ‘em all! Whatta deal!

NORAH: For all my fellow Indie writers and aspiring writers out there, I’ll ask you, Alice, to tell us about your freelance editing/book doctoring service (a service I plan to avail myself of before going to press with my next Dix Dodd Mystery).

ALICE: Indeed, I do have a freelance editing service. I’m also a professional editor and have been for the past six years. However, if you’re interested, you can read all about my service here: http://aliceduncan.net/page2.html. I charge a cent per word, and I must say (although it’s immodest to do so) that I’m pretty good at this editing thing. After all, I’ve had nearly 50 books published, all of which had to be edited, too. Not only that, but I’ve received two (count ‘em) letters from copy editors complimenting me on my books! Mind you, I’ve also had copy editors who tried to change my footpads to foot paths and my pole beans into bean poles. But I won’t do that to anybody. Promise. And I’m also (almost) always happy to negotiate.

NORAH: Holy crow! A cent a word? You’re hired for my paranormal romances too! Can we talk about a birthday sister discount?

ALICE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, I’ll do pretty much anything for you, Norah. You’ve performed so many kindnesses for me. Honestly, guys, Norah is one of the world’s best people. It’s true.

NORAH:  Aw, thank you, Alice! <Blushing> And thank you, too, for being here and enlivening my blog. Sags rock!

ALICE: How do you pronounce that???? Well, never mind. I know I sag, so that’s not a revelation <g>. Thanks for having me, Norah!