Get Ready To Meet the Heroes of AFSOC
I feel like I’ve been waiting for this forever, but on Monday Deadly Descent is finally “out” in the world. I’m so excited for you all to meet Air Force Tech Sgt Cam Munro, my delicious PJ hero. I cannot tell you how much I admire and respect these men and what they do.
Blurb: Devon Crawford is an officer; Air Force Pararescueman Cam Munro is enlisted. Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives. Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.
Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can’t ignore the feelings she’s hidden for so long. Cam’s sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she’s too afraid of losing him to give in.
When Dev’s helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team. What he doesn’t know is that the trap is set for him.
This week is nuts for me (in a good way), so here’s a list of places and dates where you can find me if you’d like to try and win a copy of Deadly Descent.
Monday, September 5th: Fresh Fiction
Tuesday, September 6th: Carina Press blog, SOS Aloha blog
Wednesday, September 7th: Smexy Books, Writers Gone Wild
Friday, September 9th: Cynthia Eden’s blog
Monday, September 12th: Book Lovers Inc.
Whew! That’s a lot, huh? Plus both my kids are starting school Tuesday, and I have another set of edits due back by the end of next week.
I hope you’ll enjoy Cam and Dev’s story. PJs truly are amazing. They live and die by their motto “That Others May Live”, and deserve our respect and our gratitude.
New Book Contracts!
I thought this picture was especially appropriate considering the writing slump I’ve been in recently. However, I’m pleased to announce that Carina Press has offered a contract for the first of a paranormal trilogy I’ve written. I’m excited about this and hope to strengthen my world building in the book during edits, and with any luck my military romance fans will like it too. Darkest Caress is based on some Lithuanian folklore I learned about during my tour of the Baltic States in 2009, specifically to the idyllic village of Nida on the Curonian Spit. The book will be out sometime next year.
I also received word that same day that The Wild Rose Press wants to contract the second erotic romance I wrote (as Callie Croix) for the Dumen Ranch Series. The first book, Deacon’s Touch, will release August 26th, and the second, Dillon’s Claim, will probably be out sometime this winter.
It’s the August long weekend here in BC, and we’ve been celebrating with family that have been in town since last weekend. Right now I’m cooking a big dinner for 15 of us: sweet glazed meatloaf (hubby’s absolute fave), cream cheese mashed potatoes, spinach salad with fresh fruit and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing, a vegetable medley baked in homemade cheese sauce, and for dessert, a very decadent chocolate mousse layer cake. A totally low cal dinner for their last meal here in Vancouver 🙂 I think a long family walk after dinner is in order, maybe down to the Spirit of the Sea Festival here at the beach to watch the fireworks later on.
Fingers Crossed…
Yesterday was one of those rare days when everything went right. I sent off edits to my Carina Press editor in the morning, and got an e-mail just over an hour later saying that not only had she read and approved all my changes, but she was going to send it straight to copy editing. In the publishing world, that’s light speed fast. I’m kind of proud that we didn’t need to do a second round of edits.
Later on I came home after running errands to find two more e-mails from my editors, both asking for new stories from me. That tickled me immensely. I even received the preliminary cover for Deadly Descent yesterday. It’s very hot, and I’ll show it to you as soon as it’s approved.
Last but certainly not least, I found a message on my answering machine from the coordinator of the Kiss of Death RWA chapter’s Daphne du Maurier Award contest. This is pretty cool, because she was actually my cabin mate last year at the Wild Rose Press’s retreat in Texas.
Anyway, she’d personally called me to say that Cover of Darkness was a finalist! The winner will be announced at RWA Nationals in NYC later this month, just like the National Readers Choice Award winner will be. Had I known I would final in these prestigious contests, I would for sure have attended Nationals! I’m so bummed. To think I could have sat with Roxanne St. Claire and Brenda Novak–twice–and schmoozed with NY Times bestselling authors.
I’m thrilled by this, and sales have been going very well for my little series this past month (truly, ever since Osama bin Laden was killed), especially Cover of Darkness. I assume it’s because my hero is a SEAL, but maybe word of mouth has spread from readers who judged my entries for the Daphne? Not really sure, but I’m loving it!
Kaylea Cross week !
I’m finally home, safe and sound after all the excitement of my trip, and I’m glad to be able to put my feet up for a while. That was a wild vacation, for sure. A tsunami, a 4.6 earthquake on the big island, then exposure to some low level radiation all the way from Japan in California the day we left. Yup, home’s looking pretty good right now.
In writing news, I got word last week that Carina Press has acquired my latest naughty novella I sent them, tentatively titled Touch Me. Very excited! I love being accepted 🙂 Have to say, writing these spicy novellas has been really fun, but after finishing this next project for TWRP, I’ve got to get back to my Bagram Special Ops trilogy and finish Crash and Burn. I’ve left my poor hero in the midst of a night-time HALO jump deep behind enemy lines, and that’s just not right.
Starting today, the fabulous bloggers over at Guilty Indulgence Bookclub are featuring me on their blog for the entire week! I’m very flattered by that. I’d love some company over there, so feel free to drop by and visit with me. They’re going to feature the books in my romantic suspense series and I’ll talk more about why I love to use special ops soldiers as my heroes. But really, what’s not to love?
Also, I’m being featured at author CR Moss’s blog as well, and I’m giving away a copy of Cover of Darkness there.
Last but not least, both Cover of Darkness and No Turning Back have been nominated for best romantic suspense of 2010 by The Romance Reviews. If you’d like to vote for either of them, please follow this link.
Hope to “see” some of you at these sites this week!
Kaylea 🙂