Tuesday Teaser 3/14/17 Victoria’s Cat Part 11
I’m getting closer and closer to my moving date. Part of me is reluctant. I’ve been going through my stuff –and I have a LOT of stuff!– one room at a time and sorting things into Keep, Throw and Donate piles. No sense moving stuff I don’t need. But another part of me cannot wait. At this moment that kid upstairs is thumping. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I imagine him jumping with all his might at measured intervals of about 5 seconds. He can’t help it. He is autistic. But really, it will be wonderful to not have upstairs neighbors. I was going to write tonight (lord knows the move is putting me behind!) but I just can’t concentrate. So here is what I have. Like last week’s snip, this is a bit slow and draggy. Mainly, I want the reader to see what kinds of men are in Omaha, and especially Brother Saul. Things get a little more exciting in the next chapter when the Clan and the Madisons are at supper with the McGraths. 🙂
Victoria’s teeth ground together. I’m representing the Lakota Wolf Clan. The delegate from the Lakota Wolf Clan should not slap the other delegates. She forced a smile as she sat down. “Good morning. I am Victoria Wolfe.”
The other men introduced themselves. Mr. Finley came to their group and held out several sheets of paper and a pen. “Who will be taking notes for your group?” he asked politely.
Brother Saul pointed to her. “The woman can do it.” He raised an eyebrow at Victoria. “You do know how to write, don’t you?”
Instead of snapping out of any of the rude replies bouncing around inside her head, she nodded. “Yes, I know how to read and write.”
The other men in her group looked at her, some appearing almost embarrassed and others dismissive. Victoria wasn’t used to that. She was the daughter of the alpha of the Lakota Wolf Clan. No one treated her with even a hint of disrespect. She uncapped fountain pen and maintained her smile with some effort. She recalled her father’s words. He had said that she would learn more by listening than by speaking, so she kept her mouth shut and waited for the discussion to begin.
One said, “Look, I’m Hank Fuller from Chadron, way out west. This doesn’t really pertain to us.”
“Yeah, same here,” said another man. “This President Todd guy won’t have any interest in a little place like Mullen. Hell, most people have no idea where it is. I’m Gary Katt, by the way.”
Brother Saul leaned forward. Victoria took a moment to examine him. He had a bony frame with long arms and long legs, and a long, narrow face topped with thinning light brown hair worn in a ponytail. He would have looked nondescript, but his brown eyes were ferocious. She tilted her head to one side to look at him again. Maybe ferocious wasn’t the right word. Insane? Maybe that was going a little too far, but there was something mesmerizing about his eyes, something not quite normal.
“That’s all very well for you to say, but Falls City is only a few miles from President Todd’s territory.” Those brown eyes brightened with fervor. “Whatever decision we make, Falls City will be the first to feel it.”
A man on the opposite side of the circle nodded. “I’m Tom Valentine from Nebraska City, and I agree with Mister Allersen. Maybe those of you who don’t live on the river won’t feel the effects the way we will. Not right off, at least. From what I can see, Todd is a maniac. He’s like a grease stain on the ground, shiny and slippery and you can’t see below the surface.”
It was interesting that although Saul hadn’t introduced himself, this man knew who he was. Victoria shuffled the papers on her little desk. “Have you met President Todd, sir?”
Valentine jerked his chin in a half nod. “Once.”
Everyone in the group waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. Brother Saul jabbed a finger in Victoria’s direction. “You writing any of this down, girl?”
“Was there a question you wanted me to record?” she asked in her sweetest voice.
He glowered. “What is your husband thinking to let you come here?”
Victoria noticed that a couple of the other men looked embarrassed again, but she directed her smile at Brother Saul. “I don’t have a husband.”
“Then your father.” There was a sneer in his voice. “What man would allow a woman to represent him? He must be a weak sister.”
Laughter snorted out of her before she could catch it. “You haven’t met my father, have you?”
The glare he raked over her screamed with derision. “And where are you from, Miss?”
“I am Victoria Wolfe, of the Lakota Wolf Clan.”
A few of the men drew audible breaths. Saul Allersen’s expression didn’t change. She lifted her pen and smiled genially around the circle. “What questions do you have for the mayor?”
For the next thirty minutes the group discussed and decided which questions they wanted to submit to the Mayor. Victoria faithfully recorded them on the paper she’d been given. She thought most of them were good questions. How soon did Todd expect Omaha’s answer? How much would the taxes to Todd be? How large was Todd’s army? Did the mayor believe Omaha could defeat Kansas-Missouri?
The mayor spoke from the stage. “Ten minutes, gentlemen. Ten more minutes and then we need to wrap this up.”
Victoria was glad to hand her paper to Mister Finley when he came to collect them. After everybody had dragged their seats back to their original places and sat down, the mayor spoke again.
“I want to thank everyone for coming. I will be spending the rest of today and tonight reading your questions, and the city council will join me in preparing answers. We will meet again tomorrow morning at nine o’clock and we will move forward with our deliberations at that point. Good day.”
It took a while for all of them to leave the room. Victoria waited with Quill and Hawk for the congestion to clear, but before they could leave, the mayor raised a hand to beckon them toward the stage. He jumped down easily and shook Quill’s hand with enthusiasm.
“I’m glad to see you,” McGrath said. “How is Mrs. Ellie? And Mrs. Sara? It’s been how long? Twenty years?”
Quill was smiling. “You’ve been mayor for nearly twenty years, so a little longer since you rescued my mate.” The smile dimmed a little. He was probably thinking about Aunt Ellie and how she had been stolen and abused by evil men before she was found and helped by Rye McGrath. “She’s doing well. So is Sara. I’ll let them know you asked.”
“Good. Good.”
“And how is Miss Cayla?”
“My wife is doing great. She remembers you with a lot of affection. In fact, she’s insisting that you come to supper.” He aimed a small smile at Hawk and Victoria. “All of your party are invited. Are you free tonight?”
“Sure.” Quill smiled easily. “But you don’t want all of us. We’re quite a mob.”
“Yes, all of you,” the mayor insisted. “There’s only nine of you. We’re inviting the Madisons from Kearney too. Please come.” He gave a little chuckle. “Cayla insists. My wife has a way of getting what she wants, so don’t say no. Six o’clock.”
“You have the questions and answers to deal with tonight,” Hawk protested.
“Yeah, so I won’t be able to spend as much time with you as I’d like.” The mayor appeared sincere. “We’ll have all the representative for formal dinner parties over the next week, but we want you tonight. Just an informal supper. Please come.”
“Well, alright.” Quill shook hands again. “We’ll be there.”
My Book Boyfriend
Book Boyfriends. We all have them, don’t we? Z from JR Ward’s Lover Awakened is one of mine. And Curran from the Kate Daniels series. Cat from the Windflower. Oh, and Roarke from the In Death series! *happy sigh*
But finding new book boyfriends can be expensive. Here is a great promo that can help you find that perfect hero. Just click the image and answer three questions. A link to a book featuring your dream man will appear. And the books are free!!!
Tuesday Teaser 2/14/17 Victoria’s Mate Part 7
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine’s Day. It just happens to be Tuesday, so that means a new teaser from Victoria’s Cat. We haven’t gotten to the actual romance part of the story yet (although Vic does her best to let Marty feel her attaction to him), but I’m giving you a slightly longer than usual bit so you can see Colby meet his mate and … *cough* … show her how tender, patient, and sweet he can be. Yeah, let’s go with that. LOL
Chapter Five
“This is the city center,” said Marty. “Too bad it’s only March, because the fountain is beautiful in the summertime.”
The wide sidewalks in this part of town where clear of any ice, leaving Victoria with no excuse to lean on Marty’s arm. She had declined the offer of riding in the bus. First of all, she hated that contraption, and secondly, she wanted a chance to actually talk with Marty. Walking at his side would be the best way to do that. Besides, when she had to walk over any ice, she laid her hand on his arm to supposedly steady herself. She felt positively infantile getting a thrill from having her fingers rest on his coat sleeve, but she would take her thrills where she could find them.
She walked between Marty and Eagle into a wide open area and looked around at the architecture of the Times Before. Ray, Rock, and Colby were behind them. Even in March, this section of Omaha was impressive. There were tall buildings on three sides of an open square whose centerpiece was the fountain. Nothing was growing yet, but she could picture colorful beds of flowers and velvety green lawns. They must have been here yesterday, because the building behind them was the railroad station, but Victoria had no memory of the fountain.
“I bet it’s real pretty,” she agreed. “Those stone benches would be a nice place to sit and watch the fountain on a hot day. What’s that building over there?”
“That building is the City Hall, where we’ll go tomorrow for the start of the legislative session.” Marty turned his head so the three behind him could hear. “The ground-level holds jail cells. The next floor is where the court meets to try criminal cases. The legislature meets on the top floor. I’m not sure how they’ll get everyone in there. There’s not that much room even when it’s just the usual representatives in attendance. I bet there’s another fifty or sixty people to fit in there now, with all the delegates from the towns here in Omaha.”
The thought of standing in the legislature chambers to represent her clan was almost as exciting as having Marty brush against her. Her breath caught in a pleasurable shiver when he bumped into her hip.
“Sorry,” he said immediately. “Are you cold? The building opposite City Hall is the Cultural Center. There’s a coffee shop there if you’d like to get a coffee or hot chocolate.”
Victoria wasn’t actually cold, and her brother and cousins certainly weren’t, but at the mention of hot chocolate, they all headed for the Cultural Center. Marty insisted on paying for all of them, which was good. Victoria had no cash. Her brother and cousins didn’t either. Currency was a city thing. The Wolf Clan had cash, but normally they bartered for what they couldn’t produce themselves.
Victoria and the clan men took the largest table in the shop, the one in front of the big window in front, while Ray and Marty went to the counter and ordered.
“This is a nice little place,” she observed to Eagle. “A few little tables and chairs, nice view of the square, and a fireplace with big fat armchairs in front of it. I’ll have to come back again.”
Her brother inhaled deeply. “Smells good too.”
Colby closed his eyes and sniffed. “It does. Too bad coffee doesn’t taste as good as it smells.”
Marty and Ray came back each carrying a tray loaded with cups and donuts. Victoria made room for Marty on the padded bench beside her. Eagle and Colby, sitting on the other side of the table, paused a moment while they appeared to debate whether they should protest this seating arrangement, then reached for cups and donuts.
The hot chocolate was the good kind: thick and rich, with a small mountain of whipped cream on top sprinkled with shaved chocolate. Marty watched her enjoyment of the beverage with a smile that looked almost envious.
“You like chocolate,” he commented. “You know they say chocolate is the way to a woman’s heart.”
Normally that sort of remark would have brought the snarling wrath of her brother and cousins down on him, but they were deep into their chocolate. Victoria let her free hand slide down beneath the table to brush over Marty’s thigh. It was the barest touch, but red flowed into his cheeks and he drew in a sharp breath.
“You know what else?” She leaned a little closer to him. “There were two things that the Wolf
Clan loves to eat: raw meat and chocolate. Personally, I could leave the raw meat, but I do really like chocolate. I like watching the sunset over the plains, and I like finding prairie roses in the green grass in the spring.” She watched his Adam’s apple go up and down as he swallowed and lowered her voice to a purr. “And I like you.”
Colby’s head came up with a glare. It would have been more effective if he didn’t have a whipped cream mustache. Victoria gurgled with laughter.
“Vic.” Her brother sounded pained. “Please behave.”
Well, that was an astonishingly mild rebuke. She walked her fingers down Marty’s thigh to his knee, trying to look innocent. A naughty part of her wanted to walk her fingers in a different direction, but stroking his fly would be a little much. A girl had only so much control. But someday, she vowed silently, I will stroke every single part of him. Marty’s hand grabbed hers and held it pressed tightly against his knee. He tried to speak, failed, and cleared his throat to try again.
“There’s a, uh, a …” Marty coughed. “A museum on the floor above. Would you like to go up there next?”
“What do they have up there?” Rock set his cup down and swiped a hand over his upper lip to clear away the remains of the hot chocolate. “Is it like the stuff in the library at Kearney?”
“Some of it.” Marty drank the last of his chocolate, his fingers playing with hers under the table. “Some of it is much older, like from the early nineteenth century.”
There was a trace of chocolate at the corner of Marty’s mouth and Victoria forced herself to look away. If the others weren’t here, she could kiss it away. Would it taste even sweeter from Marty’s lips? She made herself remember the history lessons she had been taught as a child. “That was before the Times Before, right? After the Civil War? Or is that before the Civil War?” She had never been very good with dates.
“The Civil War was in the eighteen-sixties, so before. But there are some Indian artifacts from the eighteen-seventies and eighties that you might enjoy seeing.”
“Lakota?” Like all of them, Colby was very aware of their heritage.
“Yes, Lakota, and Pawnee, Cheyenne, and I think some Kiowa items.”
They all voted that the museum would be their next stop. Before they could get up, the counter girl came over with a large carafe.
“I don’t have any more whipped cream,” she said apologetically, “but there is more hot chocolate. Would anyone like a refill?”
Victoria held out her cup with a smile. “This is great hot chocolate,” she said. “Thanks.”
Surprised that more cups weren’t being held out, she turned to look at the rest of the table. Her brother and Rock were both staring at Colby, who was staring at the girl with an expression Victoria had never seen on his face before. Longing? Fear? Awe?
She glanced back at the girl. She wasn’t especially pretty. Her chin was pointed, her nose long. She was taller than aunt Ellie, but not especially tall. Her hair was mousy brown, scraped back in a limp ponytail that hit her spine a few inches below her shoulders. Her figure was painfully thin, not softly rounded. Victoria was baffled by her cousin’s interest.
Colby’s nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply and for one moment Victoria could almost see his wolf deep inside him. Uh-oh. It couldn’t be… No, this couldn’t be Colby’s mate. Marty held his cup out to the girl and Victoria prepared to defend him from her cousin. But Colby didn’t move. He watched, white faced, as the girl took Marty’s cup with a cheerful smile and refilled it. Victoria let out a breath. That meant either the girl wasn’t Colby’s mate, or Colby’s wolf considered Marty part of his pack. A mated wolf, especially a newly mated wolf, would violently object to a man outside the pack touching his mate.
Victoria went back to watching her cousin. “Hey, Cole? You want some more hot chocolate?’
Speaking slowly, still staring unblinkingly at the girl, Colby said, “Yes, please.”
The girl lost her cheerful, friendly smile under the intensity of Colby’s stare. She held the carafe in front of her like a shield. Impatient, Victoria plucked Colby’s cup from his hand and held it out to the girl.
“Pay no attention to him,” she advised the girl. “We don’t let him out very often so he’s not really socialized.”
The girl gave a nervous laugh and filled Colby’s cup. He reached out quickly, trapping the girl’s fingers between the cup and his hand. “Are you married?” he demanded.
The girl gasped. Victoria huffed. “You see what I mean? No social skills at all.” She said out of the corner of her mouth, “Cole, are you crazy?”
“Mate,” he said simply.
“Wow.” Victoria looked at the girl again. “Are you sure? She doesn’t look any older than sixteen.”
“Eighteen,” the girl flared. “Your manners aren’t much better, are they?” She aimed an impressively cool glare at Colby. “Now let go of my hand. The cup is hot and it’s burning my fingers.”
Colby released her at once. “Sorry. Are you okay?” And with barely a pause,” What’s your name?”
She put his cup on the table with enough force that the liquid slopped over the edge. “You can call me Miss Summer, if you need my services as your waitress. Other than that, you don’t get to call me anything.”
“Summer.” Colby let out a slow breath. “That’s a beautiful name. I’m—”
“I don’t care who you are.” Summer wheeled around and stalked off.
There was silence at their table for a long moment before Colby cleared his throat. “That went pretty well, don’t you think?”
Tuesday Teaser 1/24/17 Victoria’s Cat Part 4
Okay, this is a little later than I had hoped, but it’s still Tuesday, at least here in North Dakota, so this still counts as a Tuesday Teaser 😉
Before we get to the teaser I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you who bought Brave Hearts and especially those who left a review. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And now, here is the next little snip in Victoria’s story. Again, parts of this are flat and more “telling than showing”. I am considering having Colby find his mate in Omaha. I can’t decide though. What do you think?
Chapter Three
Victoria started toward Marty’s corner, but was cut off by her cousin Colby. She couldn’t smack him here, with all the witnesses in the room, so she gave him a smile. Hopefully no one would notice her clenched teeth.
“Cousin,” he greeted her silkily. “Come say hello to the rest of the family.”
She saw that Hawk and Rock had stayed against the far wall. Obeying the pull on her arm, she went with Colby to greet them. She gave Rock a hug. He was the elder son of Des and Connie, the Alpha and Lupa of the Plane Women’s House. A little younger than she, he was painfully shy with women, but just as belligerent as any other wolf warrior of the clan. His hair was long and so dark a brown that it looked black. She stepped back and turned to the older man in the group. Hawk was one of the oldest of her uncles, and had been her surrogate father while she stayed at the House last fall. She’d always thought of him as calmer and less aggressive than the Alpha males in the clan. His embrace was warm.
“So, Victoria,” he murmured in her ear. “You are the delegate from the clan.”
His voice was carefully neutral, but she was sure she could hear amusement in it. Since they were nearly the same height, she could look him right in the eye.
“Is there something wrong with that?”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Absolutely nothing. I’m just wondering how you convinced your father to send you.”
Victoria slumped a little. “It wasn’t me. Mom spoke for me. But I think the person who really swayed him was Aunt Sherry.”
His brow hooked up. “Sherry?”
“I know. I don’t think she’s ever spoken in council before.”
“Huh.” He smoothed his silver-streaked hair behind his ear. “When a quiet hearted person like Sherry lifts her voice, the wise listen.”
At the sound of Colby growling, she turned away from Hawk. The two brown haired men from the little couch had approached. They stood elbow to elbow with nervous expressions on their faces.
“We, uh, we thought we’d like to, uh, welcome the lady.” The one on the left seemed relieved to have gotten the sentence out. When Colby and Rock continued to growl, the young man swallowed hard and looked at Colby. “No offence.”
“Of course not.” Victoria smiled at him but didn’t try to step around Rock or Colby. She had been dealing with over protective males her whole life. She’d learned long ago that fighting this particular battle was useless. “I am Victoria Wolfe.”
The second of the two men poked the first. “I knew it,” he whispered. “See?”
“Shut up.” He took a deep breath and tried a smile at Victoria. “I’m Jon Aller-Jensen from Falls City. This is my brother, Tanner. We’re real happy to meet you, miss.” He extended his hand to shake, but when she didn’t move from behind Rock and Colby, he dropped it. She was a little sorry to disappoint him, but who knew what Colby would do if she touched a stranger?
“Pleased to meet you.” Victoria looked the brothers over. They were tidy and well dressed, but going by the tans that hadn’t completely faded and the callouses on Jon’s hand, they weren’t soft townsmen. “So, what do you do in Falls City?”
“Farm, mostly. Run some cattle. Brother Anthony is here for the legislature, but me and Tanner came along to see Omaha. Never been here before. We’re—uh, hoping to meet some ladies.”
He was nervous. Victoria hid a smile. Nervous men tended to ramble on, and it seemed men were always nervous around her. If her heart wasn’t already given, she might have enjoyed a little flirtation with Jon. “My first visit too,” she said. “Have you met my cousins? This is Colby Wolfe and Rock Wolfe, and my uncle, Hawk In Flight Wolfe.”
No one shook.
“Falls City,” Hawk said flatly. “That’s the Brotherhood Commune?”
Both young men nodded. “Yes, sir.”
To her complete surprise, Hawk took Victoria’s arm and steered her firmly away from the brothers without even telling them good bye. “What are you doing?” she demanded in a low whisper. “I was only talking to them.”
“That’s all you’ll be doing with them, and it’s the last time you’ll do it.” He let her go when they got to the bottom of the staircase between the big rooms. “Let’s go up to my room until supper is ready.”
She blinked up at her uncle. Had she thought Hawk was the reasonable one? Colby caught up to them at the first step. “What’s the Brotherhood Commune?” he asked.
Quill, Rock, Eagle, and Stone joined them. Victoria went up a couple of steps to get away from the testosterone. It gave her an elevated view of the reception room. Jon and Tanner were standing with their heads close together, whispering furiously. Marty was still in his corner chair, smiling at her. She smiled back, tempted to wave, but not wanting to draw her menfolk’s attention.
“The Brotherhood Commune?” Stone said with a frown. “I think I’ve heard the name, but I can’t place it.”
“Brotherhood,” spat Hawk. “They say they are all brothers and share everything.”
Rock looked confused. “We all call ourselves brothers.” He glanced at Victoria. “And sisters. Even though most of us are cousins, and some only distant cousins at that. Some of us aren’t blood related at all. Is that what they mean by brotherhood?”
Hawk looked up at her. “Why don’t you go upstairs, Vic? We’ll call you when supper is ready.”
“Ha.” She folded her arms and stared him down. “One of the reasons I’m in Omaha is to meet men. If those two aren’t suitable husband material, I need to know why.”
“An Omaha man wouldn’t be suitable,” Colby stated.
“Oh?” She tilted her head. “Isn’t that why you are here? To see if your wolf will claim a mate?”
“That’s different,” he growled.
Eagle opened his mouth with a frown, glanced toward Marty Madison, and closed his mouth without saying anything. Victoria smiled sweetly at her brother.
Hawk cleared his throat. “The Brotherhood Commune,” he began with a quelling frown, “Is a farming community about five miles south and east of Falls City. They share everything. No man owns anything. Everything belongs to the commune and the commune belongs Brother Anthony Jensen. Everything.”
“Like the plows?” asked Rock.
“And the harvest?” put in Eagle.
Colby frowned. Somehow, frowning made him even more handsome. That thought irritated Victoria. Such a stubborn man shouldn’t look so handsome. His frowned deepened, making him look darkly handsome instead of sulky. “Their clothes and furniture belong to this commune?”
Hawk shrugged. “Maybe not their clothes. The men sleep in bunkhouses. They share everything else.”
Quill sounded thoughtful. “That doesn’t sound so bad. Lots of single men stay in dormitories or bunkhouses. What aren’t you telling us?”
“Wait.” Eagle had forgotten about Marty to stare at Hawk. “What about the married people? They don’t stay in bunkhouses, do they?”
“There aren’t any married people at the Brotherhood Commune.”
Rock chuckled a little at Hawk’s statement. “They won’t be around long without any children to continue their line.”
Hawk was silent for a long moment. “There are women and children, but the women aren’t married.”
“Well, what’s wrong with the men in this commune?” Rock demanded in disgust. “They don’t need to go to Omaha to find wives, not if they have women right there.”
Hawk allowed himself a sigh. “The Brotherhood share everything,” he began patiently.
Eagle made a choking sound, head swiveling to stare from Hawk to the brothers below, and back to Hawk. “They share their mates?”
Hawk nodded. “The women there are treated just like any other communal property.”
Victoria slapped a hand over her mouth and turned her back on the brothers. “I am going to throw up.”
Colby looked like he was about to launch himself over the banister at the Aller-Jensen boys. “Excrement of diseased dogs,” he snarled in Lakota.
It was his own made up curse word, since Lakota didn’t have the wealth of swear words that English enjoyed. Victoria used to hide a smile when he said things like that, but right now it had never sounded so appropriate.
“Women abusers,” Eagle agreed, scowling fiercely, obviously prepared to back Colby in his attack.
Hawk laid a restraining hand on Colby’s shoulder. Quill grabbed the collar of Rock’s flannel shirt with one hand and Eagle’s with the other. “Just hold on,” Hawk said. “I’ve never heard that the ladies aren’t happy with that arrangement.”
Victoria made a gagging sound. “Really? They probably aren’t allowed to talk to strangers.”
Stone chuckled. “Some women like having the attention of a lot of men.”
Victoria cast a glance of loathing at the two brothers. They must have noticed, because they quickly turned away, shoulders hunched. “That’s disgusting,” she snapped. “And they are here in Omaha to meet ladies? Ha! Probably looking for new blood for their harem.”
Eagle shook off Quill’s hand. “They won’t get it.”
Quill sighed and looked at Stone. “When did we get so old that we are the voice of reason?” He turned back to the younger generation. “No. We are not here to pick fights with the other delegates. Just cool down.”
Eagle bristled. “If they so much as smile at my sister…”
“Smiling is acceptable,” Stone said. “No fighting unless they step out of line.”
Victoria waited for him to define what constituted stepping out of line, but he didn’t. She tapped her chin with a forefinger as a wicked idea came to her. Compared to the Aller-Jensen boys, Marty must be much more acceptable to her menfolk. She smiled.
“You’re right, Uncle Quill. Dad told us we should present ourselves well here in Omaha. Beating up strangers because we don’t like their lifestyle would be wrong.” She swallowed and forced the next words out. “We should invite them to sit with us at supper.”
Every one of her relatives snapped his head around to stare at her. “What?” they chorused.
“Well, you know, just to be nice. I mean …” She faltered under their combined outrage. “It would be neighborly. Right?”
Hawk voiced their collective response.” No,” he said with flat finality.
Brave Hearts Cover Reveal!
The day has come at last when I can show you the cover of Brave Hearts, my newest book. This releases on January 19. It is a stand alone in Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. The hero is the great uncle to Shadow, Taye, and Tracker from the After the Crash series.
Brave Hearts
Isabel Ybarra. A soldier who lost her leg in Iraq.
Dusty Wolfe. The medic who saved her life.
When they meet again in Dallas twelve years later, they’re not who they were. Dusty is an EMS with Dallas Fire & Rescue, with dreams of someday having a wife and family. He just needs to find the right woman. Isabel, now the owner of a yarn store, has left her dreams of love and a family firmly in the past. She’s happy with the peaceful life she’s built. She doesn’t want any reminders of what she left behind.
Dusty has finally found the right woman, and he refuses to be ignored. Her quiet courage and brave heart are irresistible to him. He will do whatever it takes to win her love. If that means signing up for her knitting class to get her attention, he will. Can he figure out the difference between knitting and purling? More importantly, can he convince her that he is her future?
Happy 2017!
I hope this new year will bring you all the desires of your heart.
For me 2016 was a bit of a challenging year. I was diagnosed with diabetes in May. My blood glucose wasn’t sky high, but my fasting level was 170-189. Normal is 80-99, and pre-diabetic is 100-125. Diabetic is anything over 126. So you see, I was well into diabetic territory. Diabetes can have terrible complications. Nerve damage. Kidney failure. Eye damage. Cardio Vascular disease. Stroke. My grandmother lost most of her feet due to it. I was understandably freaked out. The doctor put me on metformin and sent me to a diabetes educator and a dietitian. I spent the rest of the year learning how to eat and exercise. And I did pretty good at it. So good that my blood glucose regularly crashed (that is, dropped too low), and after I started passing out, I was taken off the medication metformin in August. Since then I’ve been struggling again to control my eating habits. It is a very hard thing to do! And my writing has suffered from it.
OK, that’s the bad news. The good news is my blood glucose is doing much better. Even the holidays didn’t throw me too much off track. My fasting blood glucose is between 95 and 105. So just barely tipping into pre-diabetic range. I need to do better, but this is a good change.
That is probably WAAAAY too much information. Sorry! I’m just proud of myself. 🙂
I have good news on the writing front, too. I finished writing Brave Hearts, a contemporary stand alone novella for Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. I am really happy with it. I fell in love with the hero, and the heroine is someone I’d like to know. The hero is Taye and Shadow’s great uncle, Dusty Wolfe. It will be released on January 19, 2017, and I’ll be doing the cover reveal on January 10 in the Facebook page. You can see that here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/966241843518224/
I began writing Victoria’s Cat. Starting tomorrow, I will post short Tuesday Teasers. I hope you’ll enjoy Victoria. She’s a bit headstrong, brash, and has a loud mouth. I love her! Off to write some more tonight. Find something good to read!
Hello, World! – An Update
“Hello, World!” is usually the title of the first blog post anyone makes on WordPress. It’s been so long since I made a blog post that I thought that title was appropriate.
I wanted to make posts, but I didn’t have anything to say. I didn’t think anyone wanted to hear me whine about the day job, or complain about my health issues, or grumble about my upstairs neighbors, or gush about how adorable my cats are. OK, maybe posting about the cats would have been alright, if you like cats. But if you don’t … well.
Here is what I’ve been up to these last few months:
- Sneezing and hacking. Stupid sinus infection is back and it likes living here. It’s not moving out, no sir. Biaxin? Augementin? We laughs at your puny antibiotics! And hey, as the cherry on the top of your misery, here’s a yeast infection. Have a lovely day.
- Writing. Deleting. Changing the middle. Changing the end. Re-writing. Deleting some more. Re-writing… Brave Hearts was supposed to be a quick little story for fun. Somehow it took me months to find the story. That hasn’t happened to me before, and it was hard on me and my self confidence. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but after writing about 70,000 words and deleting 50,000 of them, the story finally came together. I am really happy with it now. It is with the editor at the moment. That story releases in January.
- Knitting. I completed a glamour wrap, and some hats, and and wrote a hat pattern. The heroine of Brave Hearts owns a yarn store and she teaches the hero to knit. One of the things he knits is a simple hat for his mom. That pattern will be included in Brave Hearts. I’ll also post it here when the book releases.
What is up next?
Tomorrow I start my Christmas novella Under A Christmas Star. This book is going to be published under my own name, Terese Cascio, and it will be an inspirational contemporary romance. I plan to write from November 26 through December 31, 2016. If it’s done, yay!! If it’s not, it gets put away for a few months. The story begins the day before Thanksgiving and ends on Christmas. I thought writing it between those times would make it easier to get into the spirit of it. So far it is too warm and sunny to feel Christmas-y. *sad face*
On January 1 I begin writing Victoria’s Cat. Victoria has her sights set on Marty Madison. It’s not that Marty is running away from her. He thinks she is absolutely gorgeous. But after a “subtle” hint from her dad and brothers, he decided it was better for his health to keep a little distance between them. He figures that won’t be hard, since he has to go to Omaha for the legislative session which lasts 4 months. But the mayor of Omaha/President of Nebraska has called for all the communities in the area to send a representative to the legislature. Guess who goes (along with a bodyguard of brothers) to represent the Clan?
I hereby swear to post more often. Even if it is just pictures of my cats. 🙂 I hope everyone has lots of good books to get you through the holiday season!
Happy Reading!
Back From RAGT!
I’m back from Lori Foster’s
Reader & Author Get Together!
As always, I had a fantastic time. My first time at RAGT was in 2011, so that makes 6 for 6. If this was baseball, that would mean I was batting 1000. I think this is one of the best reader events out there. This is the only one I’ve ever been to, but I still think it is the best. Why is it the best? It’s small enough that there is time and places to hang out with authors and readers. It’s big enough that there is always something going on to do, but if you want to just sit down in the ballroom and relax you can do that too. I got to spend time with some of my favorite people like Paige Tyler, Janet Juengling-Snell, Monette Michaels, Joni Anderson, Janet Rodman, Wendi Zwaduk, Jennifer Sapa, Linda and Mary Ellen Faneuff… There are just too many to name! And this year Tina Holland, my fellow LSB author and local critique group member, came to RAGT for the first time. I think she liked it a lot. Who wouldn’t?
The raffle baskets are awesome! The Science Fiction/Fantasy basket my friend Jessica and I put together was pretty popular. It had the Star Wars quilt I made, the first season of Sherlock on DVD (not specifically fantasy, but Benedict Cumberbatch!!! Need I say more?), a Firefly Monopoly game, and gift cards to both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Jessica and I both put in a large number of tickets but didn’t win anything. I was disappointed, but as Jessica said, it was a great donation to One Way Farm, and how would we fit any winnings into the car for the drive home? It was already stuffed to the gills.
I did my third fashion show at RAGT. Lori Foster caught us and did an impromptu filming of each model. Fun! Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/lorifoster/videos/10153648932642966/
And of course Paige and I had to play with Dean and Sam! Most of 
us had our picture taken with one or more of the hunky cut outs. 🙂
Another super fun thing is the goodie bags. Everyone who registers and comes gets a tote bag full of swag. Pens, mirrors, lip balm, BOOKS, screen cleaning cloths, notebooks and more stuff! More than I can use. Stay tuned for a newsletter going out later this week. I’ll be having a contest to win some of that swag.
And now I need to kick my writing into high gear. Dusty Wolfe and Isabel Ybarra, prepare to fall in love!
That’s the wrap up of the 12th Annual Reader & Author Get Together. I’m already counting the days until next year!
An Update From Maddy
Once again it has been too long since I made a post. I have not fallen off the end of the earth, I promise!
Life has been a little crazy lately. I was diagnosed with diabetes a few weeks ago, and since then my life has revolved around exercise and learning how to eat. I can’t tell you how much I mourn the loss of eating half a package of cookies at a time. But on the other hand, I’m feeling much better already. I have more energy, more enthusiasm for things, and I’ve already dropped a few pounds. I’m doing fairly well with managing my blood glucose. I started out with my numbers in the 120s to the 170s, and now it is usually in the 90s to 120s. That’s practically normal! I don’t even flinch anymore when I have to press the button to poke my finger. 🙂 Of course, I’m not happy to be diabetic, but I’m glad to have the chance to make changes in my lifestyle. I’ve feeling pretty well these days. Except for work. The day job is just a teensy bit stressful right now. Just a teensy bit. *cough*
Anyway, just wanted to drop a quick line to let you know I’m still alive and kicking, and to give you a heads up that I’ll be sending out a newsletter tonight with a super quick contest. I will introduce the new website (Ta-Da! Isn’t it beautiful?) and gave a giveaway for TWO $10.00 Amazon gift cards. Who can’t use an Amazon gift card, huh? If you’re like me you’ve been buying birthday, shower, wedding, and graduation gifts left and right for the past couple of months. You deserve a gift too! So if you get my newsletter, check your email tonight. If you don’t get my newsletter, why not? It’s easy to sign up; just look on the right and fill out your info.
Ciao for now, and Happy Reading!
Catch Up Post
It’s been quite a while since I made a post, so I thought it was time I let everyone know what I’ve been up to!
Warning! Pictures ahead!
WRITING:
Olivia’s Mate-I got the edits back from Athena at Wandering Minstrel Press. I’m taking a break right now from editing to write this post. I have a wedding to go to this afternoon, but I plan to finish the edits before bed. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll read through it one more time before sending the manuscript to the proof readers.
I’ll be sending out a newsletter in a few days with instructions on how to win an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) . The release date is April 28, 2016.
My next project is Brave Hearts, part of Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. This will be a contemporary romance between a Latina yarn store owner who lost her lower leg in Iraq and the medic who saved her life. When they meet again a decade later, can she embrace a future with him or will she stay in the safety of the past?
Crafting:
You know I love to spin and knit and sew. So far this year I’ve finished a few little knitting projects like this sweet summer cotton cowl. It’s made with cotton yarn with strips of shiny rayon. This will show up in a future Mystery Giveaway.
I’ve also been busy sewing and repairing costumes for the Fashion
Show at Lori 
Foster’s Reader & Author Get Together. (More about RAGT16 later). One of them is this steampunk. I bought the corset, but the skirt and blouse and hat I made myself. What do you think?
I am looking forward to #RAGT16 SOOOOO much! It’s the only author event I go to. I can’t wait to see some of my author friends again, and every year I get to meet some of you. If you are at RAGT in June, please come find me! And bid on my raffle basket! My friend Jessica Pease and I always try to put together a fun and unique basket. This year our theme is Sci-Fi Fun. I have a Firefly Monopoly game to put in, and I’m making a Star Wars quilt, and Jessica is adding a season of Dr. Who dvds and a gift card to either Barnes & Noble or Amazon. The quilt is ready to sew together. I have completed the blocks and squared them up. I plan to add some narrow sashing to sort of break it up. What do you think? Is that the sort of raffle basket you would be willing to bid on?
Well, that’s what I’ve been up to lately! I better get back to Olivia’s Mate and get those edits done. Have a great day, and
Happy Reading!
