Screenwriter Robert Gosnell ~ Your Belated Easter Egg

Your Belated Easter Egg

I try to keep this blog confined to the subject of screenwriting, but today, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to promote someone who really doesn't need promoting.

The gentleman in question is Chuck Lorre, the writer, producer and creator of numerous situation comedies; my first love in the industry. If you aren't familiar with Mr. Lorre's name, you will certainly be aware of his track record. He is the creator of such shows as "Dharma and Gregg," "Two and a Half Men," "Mom" and "The Big Bang Theory," among a host of other credits. In the world of situation comedy, Mr. Lorre is a show-runners show-runner.

At the end of his currently airing shows "Mom" and "The Big Bang Theory," Mr. Lorre leaves us a gift, called a "vanity card." The object of a vanity card is much the same as that of a blog, in that it serves to express opinions, thoughts or observations about pretty much anything. In Mr. Lorre's case, it might be industry related, personal or political. It runs from a single line of text to several paragraphs. It is sometimes insightful, sometimes ironic but always humorous.

Before I go on, a word of warning. On the political front, Mr. Lorre leans left, so if you're conservative in your politics, you may be rankled by some of his statements. His first vanity card following the election of Donald Trump consisted of one word:

"Uh-oh."

He is never offensive or mean-spirited, but he is not afraid to tell you how he feels. That's what vanity cards are for.

Finding this little Easter egg can be a challenge. It arrives when the show is over. I mean over, after the last frame has faded from the screen, and you're expecting a commercial to pop up, which it will, almost instantly. Before it does, though, Mr. Lorre's vanity card "blips" on the screen for less than a second.

You can only access the vanity card if you have a DVR and can find just the right second to freeze the frame. If you manage, though, you'll likely be rewarded with a smile.

There is an index of past vanity cards, hundreds of them, on his production company website: http://www.chucklorre.com/index.php so this isn't really a big secret. Still, they don't advertise it, either, so I'm sure many people don't know about it. I consider it a rare gem and felt the need to pay it forward.

Enjoy. 

~Robert

"The Blue Collar Screenwriter and The Elements of Screenplay" is currently available at:
Amazon digital and paperback

CreateSpace 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Find Robert at:
Website (with information on classes)
Email

BIO: 

A  professional screenwriter for more than thirty years,  Robert Gosnell has produced credits in feature films, network television, syndicated television, basic cable and pay cable, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of Canada.

Robert began his career writing situation comedy as a staff writer for the ABC series Baby Makes Five.  As a freelance writer, he wrote episodes for Too Close for Comfort and the TBS comedies Safe at Home andRocky Road.  In cable, he has scripted numerous projects for the Disney Channel, including Just Perfect, a Disney Channel movie featuring  Jennie Garth. In 1998, he wrote the  Showtime original movie, Escape from Wildcat Canyon, which starred Dennis Weaver and won the national "Parents Choice Award." Robert's feature credits include the Chuck Norris/Louis Gosset Jr. film Firewalker, an uncredited rewrite on the motion picture Number One With A Bullet starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams, and the sale of his original screenplay Kick And Kick Back to Cannon Films. Robert was also selected as a judge for the 1990 Cable Ace awards, in the Comedy Special category.

In 1990, Robert left Hollywood for Denver, where he became active in the local independent film community. His screenplay Tiger Street was produced by the Pagoda Group of Denver and premiered on Showtime Extreme in August of 2003. In 1999, Denver’s Inferno Films produced the action film Dragon and the Hawk from his script. In 2001, Robert co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature Siren for Las Vegas company Stage Left Productions. His feature script Juncture was produced by Front Range Films in March of 2006. 

Robert  is a principal member of the Denver production company "Conspiracy Films." He is frequently an invited speaker for local writers organizations,  served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in 2002, and in 2007 was chosen to participate as a panelist for the Aspen Film Festival Short Screenplay Contest. Robert regularly presents his screenwriting class "The Elements of Screenplay," along with advanced classes and workshops, in the Denver area.

Take Five and Meet Author V.S. Kemanis

I'm pleased to bring you another new-to-me author, V.S. Kemanis. A charming women and an author that lives her subject matter-legal, and her passion-writing. 

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, V.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book Love and Crime: Stories?

Each story in this collection had a unique source of inspiration. The stories first reveal themselves as small ideas that remain dormant for months or even years in the back of my mind. For example, the opening story, “Rosemary and Reuben,” features characters who are challenged emotionally and physically by their heightened senses of smell and taste. That story was inspired by my own extreme sensitivity to smell and a question: how might two people with sensory challenges interact? The idea developed slowly, acquiring scenes and characters until I woke up one day and said, “I’m ready to write this one!”

If you were not a writer, what vocation would you pursue?

Besides fiction writing (a real passion!), I’m fortunate to have many vocations that are all still part of my life in varying degrees. I’m the mother of two amazing daughters, now young adults. I’ve taught, performed, and choreographed ballet and contemporary dance, and even owned a dancewear shop! But the mainstay has been the law. My experience in criminal law as an assistant district attorney inspired my legal mystery novels, Thursday’s List, Homicide Chart, and Forsaken Oath.

Do you prefer to read in the same genre you write in, or do you avoid reading that genre?  Why?

I read many kinds of fiction, but my favorites include the genres I write: literary (both novels and short stories), and legal thrillers. Much of my writing involves psychological suspense, and this is the kind of story that attracts me. Besides the pure enjoyment of becoming fully immersed in a story, I also pay attention to the techniques other writers use to achieve mood and feeling.

How do you create internal and external conflict in your characters?  I find conflict often the hardest to create when I start planning a book.

In my short stories, each protagonist is battling his or her own demon, whether it’s a subtle internal force or an external event. Self-delusion and moral dilemma are some of my favorite themes. To create suspense, I don’t give the problem away immediately. It creeps up on the reader, just as it creeps up on the protagonist, who isn’t always self-aware. For example, in the story “Journal Entry, Franklin DeWitt,” an aging ballet critic on his death bed comes to terms with a decades-old source of guilt, remembering events that slowly lead to his final admission of betrayal. In the novel format, the conflicts in my legal thrillers tend to be more external, and they’re very easy for me to find. Courtrooms and lawsuits and criminal trials are rife with conflict!

If you could live during any era of history, which one would you choose?

I’m fascinated by so many different eras! It’s enthralling to let the imagination go back in time. But, bottom line, I’m happy to be living now. Change occurs so quickly, both socially and technologically, that our lives might seem to span several eras! Most of all, I’m grateful to be living in a time and a society in which women have the freedom to do and to be whatever they want.

Give us a brief summary of Love and Crime: Stories:

Loves big and small, crimes forgiven or avenged. These are the themes that drive the eleven diverse stories in this new collection of psychological suspense.

Meet the husband and wife team Rosemary and Reuben, master chefs known to sprinkle a dash of magic into every dish. Lucille Steadman, a dazed retiree who can’t explain why she’s left her husband, only to discover, too late, the meaning of love and commitment in the most surprising place. Franklin DeWitt, an esteemed ballet critic who witnesses—or abets?—a bizarre criminal plot to topple a beautiful Soviet ballerina. Rosalyn Bleinstorter, a washed-up defense attorney whose stubborn belief in her own street savvy leads her unwittingly into a romantic and criminal association with an underworld figure.

These are just a few of the colorful characters you’ll get to know in these pages, where all is fair in love and crime. While the endings to these tales are not always sweet or predictable, and self-deception is rarely rewarded, the lessons come down hard and are well learned.

Love and Crime: Stories has received a Starred Review from BlueInk Reviews and a Five-Star rating from Foreword Reviews

Buy Links: 

Available May 1 in paperback and ebook:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple

Bio:

V. S. Kemanis grew up in the East Bay Area of California in a family with six amazing siblings and parents passionate about politics, social issues, theater and music. Mealtimes were often raucous, stimulating, intellectual and fun gatherings in a household full of family and interesting guests, musicians, actors, artists, professors and university students.

Ms. Kemanis holds a B.A. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, and a J.D. from the University of Colorado, School of Law, at Boulder. In her legal career, she has been a criminal prosecutor of street crime and organized crime for county and state agencies, argued criminal appeals for the prosecution and defense, conducted complex civil litigation, and worked as a court attorney for state appellate courts.

She is also an accomplished dancer of classical ballet, modern jazz and contemporary styles and has performed, taught and choreographed in California, Colorado and New York.

Dozens of short stories by Ms. Kemanis have been published in noted literary journals and award-winning collections. Her three novels in the Dana Hargrove legal mystery series draw on her personal experience in criminal law, juggling the needs of family with a high-powered legal career. Ms. Kemanis is a member of the Mystery Writers of America.

Find V.S.: 

V.S. Kemanis Website | Facebook | Twitter

Last Friday of the Month Recipe from Author Joy Smith ~ GLUTEN-FREE Pumpkin Pecan Squares

I love these Last Friday of the Month recipes, I try them and they are truly delicious.  We've had a few GLUTEN-FREE recipes recently, and you all have told me you're so pleased with them. So, here is another and as I love pumpkin, it sounds perfect. 

Hi L.A. Thanks for hosting me today, and for giving me the chance to spend time with my daughter, who has celiac disease. Like the heroine in my book, she loves making desserts and has developed some great gluten free recipes. I chose to make pumpkin squares as they are mentioned in the first chapter of HEAR ME ROAR, plus the fact that I love anything pumpkin. We worked together, enhancing her basic recipe with pecans. I managed to snap these pictures before our tribe wolfed them down. These cake-like squares are lusciously moist and delicious, and you would never guess they are gluten-free. The cream cheese icing compliments the pumpkin, and the sugared pecan provides a nice sweet crunch. S-o-o-o good!

THE RECIPE

Gluten-free Pumpkin Pecan Squares

Ingredients:

Oil spray

1 8-ounce package pecan halves, divided

4 eggs

1 15-ounce can pumpkin

1-1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour*

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Sugared Pecans

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 ounces pecan halves

Cream Cheese Icing

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound confectioners sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan with oil spray. Chop 4 ounces of the pecans, and set aside the rest. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil until well blended. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chopped pecans. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to Cool. Meanwhile, make the sugared pecans and the icing. Sugared pecans: Heat the sugar and remaining pecan halves in a 10-inch skillet until the sugar liquefies and the nuts are coated and shiny. Stir constantly as this happens quickly. Remove nuts from pan and cool in a single layer on a piece of foil or waxed paper. Set aside. Cream Cheese Icing: Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the sugar and continue to beat until blended. Frost the cooled cake and decorate with the sugared pecans. Cut into squares and serve.

Blurb for Hear Me Roar: 

Jan Simmons never expected trouble to move into her quiet Charming Way cul-de-sac. Nor did she expect her husband Jeff’s weakness for fast money to drag their once happy family into danger.

When her husband turns to crime, Jan, a people-pleaser with little self-worth, must release the death grip she has on her failing marriage for the sake of her children and draw on her inner strength.

As Jan fights to free her family from a web of lies and deceit she also battles to save herself.

Buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Wild Rose Press

Bio:

I've authored a mish mosh of genres. The truth is my nonfiction books have followed my life’s learnings. Thirty-five years ago, when we bought our first boat, I began collecting info that might make cruising easier for other boaters, new and old. When my to-be-married daughter asked for my recipes, I started a cookbook, and then a Lord-help-me book for mom’s going through the wedding planning process.

So fiction writing? How about that? Well, I needed a little fantasy in my life. Did you know writing a novel is more challenging than a how-to book? When I’m not contriving a plot or doing heavy research, you may find me aboard our boat enjoying the salt air or fighting heavy seas with my handsome captain. Oh, and I crochet like mad—prayer shawls to be donated to those in need of a hug—at dock, underway, or at home. I’d love to hear from you! Email me at joywriter1226@gmail.com

Find Joy: 

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

Take Five and Meet Author Anne Louise Bannon

 

Once again I'm lucky to find a new-author-to-me. 

Wait until you read the new challenge she's undertaking!! 

And you should love answer to question four, I did.  

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Anne Louise Bannon.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book The Last Witnesses?

My research for the first two. It’s kind of hard to explain here, because it involves a potential spoiler. But as I was learning more and more about the 1920s for Fascinating Rhythm and Bring Into Bondage, I heard about this weird conspiracy theory that was going around at the time. Can’t say more, sadly, but I couldn’t help thinking “What if..?”

Also, my two characters, Freddie Little and Kathy Briscow, they kept talking to me and I kept getting more and more interested in them and their lives and the people around them. The only problem I’m having now is that the cast is getting a little on the large side for book number four, Blood Red.

Have you been a lifelong reader of mystery?  What are some of the first books you remember reading?

You know, I think I have been. One of the first chapter books I read all by myself was a book called Key to the Treasure, about some kids who find clues from an old treasure hunt left by (I think) their great-grandfather. I also did some of the classics, Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach. I didn’t really discover Nancy Drew until I was 11 or so, but I was definitely reading mysteries before then. And ever since.

What do you do to rev your creative juices?

I walk. I mostly prefer to get from Point A to Point B when I walk, and sometimes I end up focusing on what I’m going to do when I get to Point B. I’m working on a distance walking challenge, and even when I’m in urban areas, there aren’t a lot of distractions, I’m not falling asleep, and on really good days, my brain just kicks into high gear and I’m solving plot problems and developing character twists.

To you what makes a great romance hero or heroine?

I like people who are real in my reading. Nonetheless, my favorite romantic hero is Professor Emerson from the Amelia Peabody series. Emerson is completely passionate about his wife, Amelia, but he also respects her intelligence and challenges her even as she challenges him. And I love their ongoing relationship through the series. That, to me, is almost always more interesting than the happily ever after thing.

You’re having a dinner party.  What character from your novel do you hope doesn’t show up? Why?

You mean besides the bad guy? But, actually, there is also another minor character who I would not want at my dinner table for any amount of money and that’s Father James Callaghan. He’s one of Kathy’s many uncles in New York, and unlike the rest of them, he’s a sour old man. It’s not that he’s a priest – and I have several priest friends. It’s that he’s old and cranky and more than a little self-righteous. Not at all fun as a dinner guest.

Give us a brief summary of The Last Witnesses:

It's back to the 1920s with socialite author Freddie Little and his editor and not-so-blushing bride Kathy Briscow. In fact, Freddie and Kathy are happily enjoying their newly-married bliss when Freddie's sister, Honoria, finds a dead body in her apartment. Honoria had taken the young woman in as a favor to a friend but it soon becomes clear that the favor caught up. Honoria goes into hiding and Freddie and Kathy take up a chase that will lead all three of them across the country and into a conspiracy that, no matter how unbelievable, could get them all killed.

Buy: 

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Smashwords 

Bio:

Anne Louise Bannon is an author and journalist who wrote her first novel at age 15. Her journalistic work has appeared in Ladies' Home Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Wines and Vines, and in newspapers across the country. She was a TV critic for over 10 years, founded the YourFamilyViewer blog, and created the OddBallGrape.com wine education blog with her husband, Michael Holland. 

She also writes the romantic fiction serial WhiteHouseRhapsody.com, Book One of which is out now. She is the co-author of Howdunit: Book of Poisons, with Serita Stevens, as well as the Freddie and Kathy mystery series, set in the 1920s, and the Operation Quickline series and Tyger, Tyger. She and her husband live in Southern California with an assortment of critters.

  

Find Anne Louise: 

Facebook | Twitter | Smashwords | Newsletter | LinkedIn | Website | Google+ |

Pinterest

Five Secrets From Author L.A. Starks and Her Novel ~ Strike Price

Dear Readers, you know me well enough to understand that I simply had to have L.A. Starks on this blog. After all, who can resist another L.A.?  Not me, and I'm glad I didn't. Her books sound awesome and her secrets are provoking and revealing. 

Please welcome L.A. Starks!

Brought to you by L.A. Sartor :)

Thanks for hosting me today, L.A.

You asked for a bit about me to start off the post. Well, I've learned my parent brain, left brain (engineering), and right brain (thriller writing) experiences developed in me the heightened ability to find (and sometimes deflect, but at least articulate) risky behavior and situations. How high is that zip line you’re hanging onto with just one hand? Which colorless gas is deadliest in a refinery? Would one of my characters accidentally lock herself into a cooling tower? Or could she have been murdered and left there?

Both books in my Lynn Dayton thriller series-to-date, 13 DAYS: THE PYTHAGORAS CONSPIRACY and STRIKE PRICE, have received 5-star reviews. STRIKE PRICE also received the Texas Association of Authors’ First Place award for best mystery/thriller. I’m writing the third book in the series. Four of my short stories have also been published.

Hi, L.A., very cool news about your awards. Will you please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about STRIKE PRICE or you, but will after today!

1) History secrets: Strike Place is all about secrets. Since it’s a current-day thriller, I had to relegate some fairly stunning history to endnotes. For example, while I thought I had a good grounding in Oklahoma history—I grew up there, heard stories from relatives, and was even required to take a high school class on the subject—a long-held secret I learned in the course of researching this book was the Tulsa Riot of 1921. A riot supported by the Ku Klux Klan. Part of that secret was the range of groups the KKK opposed—African-Americans, Jews, Catholics, Asians, Republicans, Congressional “radicals”, and union members. The uprising was shamefully provoked by a local newspaper that no longer exists. In several days of rioting, white citizens destroyed the Greenwood area of Tulsa that had been known as a “Negro Wall Street.” At least three hundred people, mostly African-American, were killed. Many thousands more fled town. The city government refused outside rebuilding offers but did nothing. African-Americans who remained eventually rebuilt Greenwood. The rioting was covered up and the stories of the survivors silenced until Tulsa state representative Don Ross pushed for and led the Oklahoma Legislature to authorize the Tulsa Race Riot Commission in 1996.

2) Cherokee language secrets: The Cherokees are one of the biggest and most influential tribes in the Oklahoma, with a tribal budget of nearly a billion dollars. Their rich history and language includes the continuous publication since 1828 of North America’s first bilingual newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix (published in Cherokee and English). Cherokee leader Sequoyah is honored as the inventor of the written Cherokee syllabary. Out of respect to the nation and to my readers, I thought it was important to authentically represent this language in Strike Price. In fact, use of the Cherokee language gives rise to key clues. Not only was I able to use actual Cherokee syllabary in the print edition thanks to the Cherokee Nation and to the first editors of the book at L&L Dreamspell, but I was also able to include the syllabary phrases in the most recent e-book edition, thanks to the efforts of my fearless book designers at 52 Novels.

3) Business secrets: What goes around comes around: Oklahoma first attracted attention from the United States government as a candidate for statehood when oil was discovered near Tulsa in 1901. More than a century later, the shale revolution again awakened interest in Oklahoma’s oil and gas reserves with prospectors even drilling some of the same areas that made the Osage the richest people on earth in the 1920s.

4) Osage murder secrets: The story of the Osage has attracted much interest. Among the nearly thirty Native American nations now headquartered in Oklahoma—most forcibly moved there at the tip of a gun—only the Osage retained their mineral rights. When oil was discovered on their land in the early 1900s each member of the Osage tribe, through his or her “headrights,” received a share of the royalties. The headrights became so valuable that outsiders married Osage women and then killed them to inherit the headrights. The newly-formed Federal Bureau of Investigation took on the Osage murders as its first case.

5) The final secret is that: Jesse Drum, one of the lead characters of Strike Price initially came to life in my short story, “A Time for Eating Wild Onions” under a different name, Mitch Oowatie. (Digging for and eating wild onions is a Cherokee tradition.) The short story is set much earlier than Strike Price: the early 1970s as the Vietnam War is winding down, and in a very different place: the intellectual cauldron of San Francisco with its war protests, Alcatraz occupation, and mix of the country’s most idealistic, and in some cases most dangerous, dreamers.

For example, Jim Jones and his cult were in San Francisco at that time and they appear in one of the scenes of A Time for Eating Wild Onions. Later Jones and his group moved to Guyana where, in 1978, Jones directed the massacre of over nine hundred of his followers. In A Time for Eating Wild Onions, Mitch/Jesse’s deadly interaction with his fellow soldier is foreshadowed when they cross paths with Jones. The events and culmination of the story serve as hidden (for a time) background between Jesse and another key character later in Strike Price.

Blurb :
Murder disrupts a billion-dollar oil deal. Strike Price is a story about a business deal turned deadly, concluding with a plot to destroy a hidden, crucial US oil center and bring the US into confrontation with another global power. To stop the plot and save lives, up-by-the-bootstraps Lynn Dayton must trust a Cherokee elder who carries a corrosive secret.

Strike Price features authentic Cherokee syllabary text in clues that tie fascinating Native American history to global high-stakes drama today.

Endorsements:
"If you're looking for big business wheeling-and-dealing, international intrigue, murder, mayhem, and high-geared action, you've come to the right place. Toss in a charming and nervy protagonist like Lynn Dayton and L. A. Starks' Strike Price is right on the money. Well-written, well-plotted and well worth a reader's time."--Carlton Stowers, two-time Edgar winner
                                 
"Strike Price takes the reader from Oklahoma Indian reservations to the streets of Florence, in an imaginative and well informed fusion of oil refining economics, Native American politics, and the potential for lethal mayhem in the global energy market."--Michael Ennis, author of New York Times bestseller, The Malice of Fortune

Buy: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  Amazon - A Time For Eating Wild Onions

Find L.A. Starks:

Goodreads | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Author Page 

Take Five and Meet Author Donna Schlachter

Today we get to meet one of the authors in the "Pony Express Romance Collection". 

I can't wait to see what it's all about. Come meet Donna Schlachter

Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Donna.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book  Echoes of the Heart?

Thanks for having me as your guest today, L.A. I discovered since I started writing seriously that I love history. I hated it as a subject in school, where I’m from, it seemed history meant memorizing dates of reigns of Monarchs. I met up with Mary Davis at an ACFW conference (here’s a great reason to go to conferences) and asked her what she was working on. She said she and three other authors were putting together a proposal on the Pony Express. I said if there was an opening, I’d love to join. A month later, she emailed and said one of the ladies had to drop out and now there was an opening. In the meantime, I read everything I could about the Pony Express, visited a couple of stations within a day’s drive of where I live, so I was ready. I wrote about a subject I knew nothing about at the beginning, but I know a lot now! 

When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?

The plot comes for me first, and then the character to fulfill that plot. I love asking those “what if” questions.

What is most difficult for you to write?  Characters, conflict or emotions?  Why?

Emotions. Especially romance. Which is funny, since I write historical romance. I have no problem with writing conflict, bickering, fighting – which probably says a lot about me.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

Write a synopsis. Then go back and fill in the holes, add in the romance—if it’s a romance—and then make sure there is a spiritual thread. The synopsis gives me the structure for the book, keeps me on track, but gives me enough room for creativity and surprises—even for me.

If you were a TV, film or book character, apart from one you've created, who would you be?  And why?

Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s little old lady amateur detective who lives in St. Mary Mead. I’m fairly observant, and I love knowing the story behind the story. However, I’m not white haired, and I don’t knit fluffy pink baby outfits.

Give us a brief summary of Echoes of the Heart:

This is a 9-in-1 novella collection from Barbour Books centered on the Pony Express, which ran from April 1860 through November 1861. The Pony Express already seems to be a romantic snippet of Americana, and so it seemed to make sense to write a collection of historical romance set on the trail. My story, Echoes of the Heart, features a mail order bride responding under an assumed name, a crippled station master who thinks no woman will want him, and their search for a future—together or separately.

Buy:

Donna's Amazon Books | The Collection


Bio:

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick, her first-line editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts. She is a hybrid publisher who has published a number of books under her pen name and under her own name.

Her current release, Echoes of the Heart, a 9-in-1 novella collection titled "Pony Express

Romance Collection" released April 1. Donna is also a ghostwriter and editor of fiction and non-fiction, and judges in a number of writing contests. 

She will be teaching an online course for American Christian Fiction Writers in June 2017, “Don’t let your subplots sink your story”. Donna loves history and research, and travels extensively for both.

Find Donna:  

Blog | Website |  Facebook Author | Twitter

Author Spotlight Featuring Terri Reed's New Release, Guardian

Terri Reed's latest Release from Love Inspired Suspense. 

I can't wait to read this, and I'm hoping you won't be able to resist it either. 

Thanks L.A for having me as your guest today.  Did you know that dogs can literally taste the air?  In doing research for my K-9 officer, a water search and rescue dog name True for my book Guardian, I discovered that dogs not only have wonderful noses that can detect human scent from the bodily gases rising to the surface in or under water, they also have an organ inside their nasal cavity and into the upper part of their mouth that also is used to smell the air. This special receptor is called Jacobson’s Organ. Many animals have this organ but in dog’s it is highly sensitive, which is why dogs are so good at searching and rescue, both on land and in water.

Excerpt From Guardian:

When they were within shouting distance of the rocks, Leo noticed fishing poles and a tackle box. This must have been where Alicia and her son had been when they’d seen the killer.

Alicia pointed upstream and yelled, “He came from that direction and stopped about three hundred and sixty feet straight out from here.” She gestured to the rocks beneath her feet.

“That’s helpful and gives us a place to start.” Leo stared, admiring the pretty lady. Her hair lifted slightly in the wind that had kicked up. Sunlight reflected in her piercing blue eyes. “You and the officers can head back to the station.” He didn’t want her here to see the body when they found the victim.

Alicia shook her head. “I want to make sure she’s found. Someone has to stand up for her.”

Respecting her decision, he saluted her then turned to Craig. “You heard the lady.”

Craig slowly turned the boat toward the middle of the river. True stood on the bow, his head up, gaze alert. Leo tuned into the dog’s nuances the farther away from shore they traveled. He documented the time and distance from land on the notepad he carried. They circled the area where Alicia had pointed. True showed no signs of alerting.

“Head downstream,” Leo instructed Craig.

Since the body hadn’t been weighted down, it most likely had been swept along by the river’s current.  Craig zigzagged the boat from one shore to the other, moving farther and farther away from the spot. Leo wondered if maybe the suspect had come back and removed the woman’s body. Frustration curled in his stomach.

Then True shifted. He licked his lips and shuffled his paws, clear signs he was picking up a scent. Leo’s pulse jumped. The dog’s tail went down as he craned his neck, dipping his nose toward the water. He pivoted, and then leaned over the starboard side. Keeping his snout at the surface of the water, True walked the length of the boat and stepped easily over the bench seat.

Anticipation revving through him, Leo gestured for Craig to make a slow turn. True retraced his steps, barking an alert. He scratched and nipped at the water. Knowing the animal had scent glands in the roof of his mouth, Leo interpreted these actions as the sign this was the spot.

“Good boy.” Leo grasped True’s life vest to keep the dog from jumping in.

Leo nodded at Craig, who shut off the motor, then strapped on a buoyance compensator, his mask and oxygen tank. The man sat on the side of the boat and fell backward into the water. True barked and lunged for the water. Leo continued to hold him back.

“No, boy,” Leo said adjusting his grip on True. “We’re staying here.”

Leo and True both watched the surface of the river. Leo pulled on latex gloves in anticipation of handling the body and prepared the large, waterproof plastic body bag. His gaze darted back to the shore, where Alicia stood sentinel on the rocks, flanked by the two officers.

She held her head up and her shoulders back like a fierce warrior. She was tall and so very appealing. He admired her commitment to being a voice for the victim. Most people would want to bail the second they could. Not Alicia. He liked that about her. 

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The Blurb:

PROTECTING THE SINGLE MOM

When a fellow FBI agent is kidnapped and a protected witness vanishes, Leo Gallagher will stop at nothing to find them both. So when he discovers a link between the case and a single mother in Wyoming, Leo and his trusty K-9 partner rush to question Alicia Duncan. 

Could she be the key to locating the missing persons? Not if a killer has anything to say about it. Someone is determined to keep Alicia from talking, so Leo and his chocolate Lab must keep her and her little boy safe on their family ranch. With danger lurking around every corner, Leo must work overtime to not lose another person who’s important to him.

Classified K-9 Unit:

These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners.

  

Bio:

Terri Reed’s romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publisher’s Weekly top 25, Nielsen’s Bookscan top 100 and featured in USA Today, Christian Fiction Magazine and Romantic Times Magazine, finaled in RWA’s RITA contest, National Reader’s Choice Award contest, ACFW’s The Carol Award contest. 

Contact Terri: P.O. Box 19555 Portland, OR 97224

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