Nailbiting!

We are coming down to the final days before my first romance novel drops. Fun, sexy, adventuresome, I hope that reads find it an engaging read and come back for book two later this year. 

Writers have a love/hate relationship with their work. We often love our stories; even if we know it's not the next great American novel, lesser novels had still made their impact. We think its a good story, but we worry, what if it's only a good story to the writer?  And we hate that - opening our souls to the judgment of readers.  Then, by the time our book has a cover and passed final edits, we almost hate the story, having read it so many times! 

As an English professor, I only have so much time for writing (much to my chagrin) - I have to parse out my time in class, in prep time, and most of all, grading - the largest time suck of all.  However, I do have some hope that, as an English Prof, perhaps I was able to write something with a sharper turn of the pen, a differently engaging line or quote, that catches my readers.  

In my final proof review last Friday (where I HOPE TO GOD I caught all the last little fixes), what I noticed the most is that I still liked my story. I liked my characters, their assessments and zingers, their decisions and emotions.  Any maybe, just maybe, other will like the story, too.

We will find out this week.  

Happy Reading!   
Michelle

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On Amazon’s Author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07C784SJ6

 

My daughter's interior cover for the book:

And my Amazon Kindle Cover Reveal:

Pre-Release Excerpt!

💓💓Introduction - To Dance in the Glen    Pre-Release September 5! 💓💓

The thrum of the horses’ hooves on the ground made the earth vibrate in announcement. The horsemen scattered all about the land, searching for a woman who had been missing for nearly a day. The woman’s husband, Laird of the clan MacLeod, Colin MacLeod, was beyond distraught, bordering on insanity in his search for his wife, the Lady Caitir MacLeod of MacLeod. A tall, strong beautiful woman in hair blacker than the night sky and the most piercing blue eyes a soul had ever seen, it was rumored that God himself crafted her body in addition to her soul, carving her out of the most coveted jewels found on earth -- sapphires, diamonds, onyx.

            More than her appearance, however, was her very nature.  While she practiced Catholicism as all good Christians did, she was raised with a deep-rooted belief in the old religion and tied it to her Catholic beliefs. She used herbals and prayer to heal the sick, advice and prayer to help the souls of clansmen and women who came to the Laird for help. She was genuine and honest and would give her very last shift to a poorer soul if they needed it. It was oft said that she kept Colin grounded since Colin, though he was a full-grown man reaching nigh two score of years, could still be a rash and hot-headed man much of the time. However, just a movement or gesture from Caitir was usually enough to calm the storm that was her husband.  All these reasons and more made her the most loved person in the clan MacLeod.

            No one, however, loved her more than Colin. He was infatuated with her and did everything in his power to spend most his waking moments in her presence. He scheduled hunts, farming, even his business for accounts on Market Day around Caitir and how often he could be with her. Friends and family made jokes about how Caitir led Colin around by his nose, or other body parts, but instead of growing angry, Colin just laughed at the comments. He knew them to be true.

            But today, it was not laughter the Colin felt, it was anger and concern, more concern than he had ever felt in his life. Even more than when his oldest had fallen off a tree and landed awkwardly. They feared that the future Laird would be crippled from a broken leg, but it turned out to be naught more than a twisted ankle, and the lad healed fine. This time, however, there was little hope that all would be fine.

Trailer for my new book.  Pre-Release date Sept 5. Official release date Sept 12!

https://www.facebook.com/MDDauthor/videos/286655848590552/

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Book One Sneak Peak!

I'm in the process of publishing my first historical romance novel: To Dance in the Glen - hopefully in the next month! The second in the series is already in the works, and I am also working on a more serious book of contemporary fiction, inspired by actual events.

 As I get all my ducks in a row (quack, quack, waddle, waddle, as I used to tell my kids!), I thought I should start on a few preemptive tasks - namely a snippet from my first novel and a sign-up sheet for my newsletter.  Here is the link to the newsletter sign-up on Google forms: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ol6BfXkCNMuda5QScDu6419ck-ghHwn0FQ7TNLKLqDw/edit

And here is an except from my upcoming historical romance:  To Dance in the Glen! 

        Grabbing her around her waist, he lifted her onto his horse then swung up behind her, nudging the horse forward. He wrapped one arm around her and held the reins tightly in his other hand. She marveled at how well he handled the beast. Not having been on a horse before, she awed at the height and speed at which she traveled, and shortly they arrived at her family’s small croft.

               The croft was typical of most clansmen and women, with short, squared-off sides and a single open door. The wood and peat roof hung low, helping to keep in the heat during the even the coldest winters. Meggie’s croft, however, was much farther off the main road to the village and up to the Laird’s house. It was the northernmost croft of the clan, surrounded by large tracts of grass and trees, buttressed by rock, which was fortunate for Lachlan, who mainly raised sheep. At the front of the croft sat a trough of water for easy household access and heaps of peat to throw on the fire when necessary. Ewan caught sight of a small garden off to one side, where the family raised some onions and cucumber. Overall, the croft was fairly isolated in this location, so Ewan could understand how a family could feel secure in their surroundings. That left Meggie more open to an attack up on her person. What Ewan could not understand was how such a large family, like Meggie Lachlan’s, could fit in so small a house. Perchance it made them closer as a family?

 Meg began to wiggle in an attempt to slide off the animal, but the laird’s son grasped her more tightly around the waist and held her on the horse. He moved his arm up and grasped her breast as he forced a rough kiss on her unyielding lips. She strained against him, pushing against his chest until he pulled away. He grinned at her with a boyish look on his face, as though he had done nothing wrong. Meg straightened her clothes, then turned more fully in the saddle and slapped Ewan as hard as she could. She finished her slide off the horse, angry as a bee. She glared up at his feigned surprise, then whacked him on the leg for added good measure.

               “What?” he asked innocently.

               “What do ye think ye were doing?”

               His grin widened. “I’m the Laird’s son, soon to be the laird. Most lassies would be honored to be in your position.” He was almost leering at her. She was appalled.

               “An honor, ye say? In the eyes of the Lord God, ‘tis a sin! My mother says that a woman’s body is a privilege, and that privilege is for her husband only! Ye would no’ put your hands on an honorable woman that way!”

               “The position ye were in with the English might indicate ye are something other than honorable,” he insinuated.

               Her eyebrows rose nearly off her face at his statement. “How dare ye? Ye think yourself so great that women should lose their honor ‘acause ye are the Laird’s son? Ye leave your less than honorable hands to yourself.”