A young woman trying to find a safe haven in a new clan, once again the subject of abuse. A young man who fell in love when he first saw her, chose to bide his time to give her some space, all while the two of them deal with the memories of past relationships gone wrong.
James’ family is a leading family in the clan and owns the lumberyard. But they have a special relationship with the forest. One that makes people a little uncomfortable. Morgan is amazed when she is first shown his Talents and nicknames him the Green Man. And that Talent of his is a lifesaver later, quite literally, when they are being hunted through the forest.
Come to Esperance for a little magic, some fantasy, intrigue, folklore, and of course, Romance…
The sale is from September 1 through September 5, so get ready! A full novel for only $0.99. Less than a cup of coffee. Available at Amazon and most other retailers.
It’s a wet and rainy Thursday here, so I thought I would share one of my worlds with you. I don’t know how much you know about this series, so come with me and learn more!
Esperance was settle from Earth after it was discovered by the Seekers looking for habitable worlds to colonize. These individuals had psychic abilities that allowed them to explore the universe without leaving Earth.
At first everything was great. The world was lush, in a British Isles sort of way, with a lot of highland type environments in the more temperate regions. Earth supplied them with whatever they couldn’t yet produce on their own, while they got established. But when those shipments suddenly stopped, the young colony was at a loss. Not only could they not repair equipment which broke down, when a new virus swept through, they had no medicines to fight it. Over half the colony perished.
Those left were scattered and developed an “every man for himself” attitude, taking even more of a toll on their civilization, or what was left of it. But during their years on Esperance, descendants of the Seekers who had come with them had continued to develop their abilities. To safe the settlers fro themselves, they used those abilities to force a rule of law back onto their society. Dividing into clans, each family with the abilities or Talents to hold their clan together gave their name to their clan.
A few centuries later we come to Clan Brannach, ruled by the latest in the lineage, Jareth, the First Lord of the clan. The neighboring clan is Clan Belfort, which is where our story begins.
Jareth is a young ruler, widowed and with no heir as his wife died in childbirth. It has been two years, but he’s not sure he’s ready to seek another woman to be his First Lady. On top of this, thieving parties from Clan Belfort have been stealing from his storehouses. As harsh as the winter is, his people will be seriously short of food and grains if it isn’t stopped. Though he has communicated with the other First Lord, he has heard nothing. It seems the only way to settle it is to make a trip through the ice and snow to demand restitution in person.
Viviane is a young widow in Clan Belfort. Though her family begs her to come back home, she has gotten used to being independent. But without a means of support, once the stock in her late husband’s shop is gone, she needs another option. She had never considered it would come from another clan.
As part of the restitution and penalties, Jareth demands his rights under an old law–the right of Choosing. He can clam up to 10% of the women of marriageable age to take back to his clan. When the women are gathered, one catches his eye. Then and there he decides she will be his First Lady, if he can win her heart. But she has a secret which threatens to throw their clans into armed conflict.
Picking up the story from book 1, Viviane begins to settle in to the routine in Jareth’s house. But these new abilities she seems to be developing have worried Jareth. Once tested for Talents, both Jareth and his head instructor agree. She must begin training at once before all those abilities get out of hand. She never asked for these Talents and doesn’t want the. But it seems once they appear there is no going back.
The headaches are monstrous and the medicine to tame their is horrible, but her companion, Annie does her best to sympathize with her. At least she and Jareth are doing well together. And all those Talents tend to lead to some exciting times behind closed doors! Between his Talents as First Lord and her surprise Talents, tings heat up rather quickly.
Unfortunately they have to go back to her home clan for her brother’s trial for treason, which is where trouble raises its head. In anger, she uses her Talents to lash out at her brother when he attempts to influence her through his mental abilities. Realizing what she’s done, she disappears fight in front of Jareth’s eyes, meaning she has even more Talents to worry him. Now if he can just find her…
When Jareth went to Clan Belfort to confront the First Lord there in Book 1, Morgan volunteered to go to Clan Brannach and leave her homeland. From an abusive background where it seemed every man in her life had hurt her in one way or another, she hoped for a fresh start. But shortly after the move she is attacked on her daily rounds and very nearly raped, saved only by two young men who heard her cries. She was offered another jog in a market, where she wouldn’t have to be anywhere alone. The couple who owned the store were older and quite protective.
One day a young man came in to buy something for a snack. She remembered him from her previous ordeal. He had come to her rescue several months previous. He introduced himself, asked for he items he wanted, and threw a mischievous smile her way on parting. Soon his visits became daily as did his invitations for coffee of tea.
Finally, Mrs. Kennoway, her employer, asked why she never accepted his invitations, to which she answered she couldn’t. Fear of men wouldn’t let her go, even across the street. But James came up with a solution. He brought coffee and scones over to the market, along with a cafe table and chairs from in front and invited her to sit down for tea.
Come with me as these two navigate the perilous waters of romance on this fantastic world. Be prepared for magical abilities, spirit guides, and a bit of folklore!
After her traumatic experience at her brother’s trial, Viviane wants to banish her Talents. Maybe if she doesn’t train them they’ll just go away. Even with Jareth and her instructors explaining why it won’t work, she trains reluctantly feeling that the less she trains them the less danger they will present.
Unfortunately her trainers are right. After a few accidents involving her Talents she relents.Digging deep, she finally agrees to give it her all, even when frustrations get her down, leading to a bizarre game of tag in the snow and the weirdest chess game ever.
Meanwhile, in her home clan, Belfort, her nephew, Connell, is beginning to train his Talents as he steps in as heir to the ruling house. He doesn’t understand why Talents are necessary and he doesn’t like the headaches he gets during training. When his grandfather, the First Lord, suggests he reach out to his Aunt Viviane telepathically, he is amazed. How could they communicate from so far away?
His Aunt Viv was one of his favorite people. But her husband, First Lord Jareth, scared him half to death. The man had never been cruel or harsh toward him. He had tried to reach out and speak with Connell. It was just the incredible amount of energy swirling around him, which seemed scarcely contained at times.
Connell also has difficulties controlling his Talents. And when on of his old friends from home hurts a young girl who is his friend, his anger and need to talk to someone who might understand unexpectedly lands him in Jareth’s front hall. He had no idea how he’d arrived there and was even less certain about how to get home.
Come join the fun and games on Esperance. Another book is in progress, so catch up on the series before its release.
I hope this gives you a little overview of my world Esperance. It’s a great place to visit and dream about Talents and magic.
You know how it is. You go away for a week to visit family and friends, and when you come home, chaos descends. And that’s where I am today. I didn’t have the time or energy to blog while I was gone with everything else going on. So yesterday, while trying to catch up on all my email and social media, my monitor decided to die on me.
Thankfully–sometimes–my husband is a pack-rat when it comes to electronics, so he had some monitors in storage. Now I’m trying frantically to catch up on everything.
So how is everyone today? Here, summer has finally arrived in full. I’m not sure I was ready for it… But there’s always a good book to read. Right?
If your a fan of fantasy worlds, interstellar vacation spots, a little bit of mob connection, some hunky shifters in law enforcement, and a whole lot of fated mates, you’ll enjoy my stories set on Gambler’s Folly.
Gambler’s Folly Book 1 introduces Damiano and Karianna. He’s a hotel/casino owner and a major player in the underworld on Gambler’s Folly. But he has a secret life few have heard of. He won Karianna from her husband on one hand of cards to settle a million credit debt owed to his casino. How can they make this all work out?
Dante’s Angel, Book 2 introduces Dante and Angela. Dante works with Damiano and goes with him and the rest of the wedding party to Earth for Dam and Kari’s formal wedding. A loner, Dante hasn’t had much luck with romance, until he meets Angela, Damiano’s cousin. And then the sparks fly as they try to wait for a wedding before bonding as fated mates.
The Russian, Book 3 brings in Dmitri and Danni. Dmitri, known by many as the Russian, has lived over 500 years. Two hundred years ago, he lost his soulmate and has chosen to be alone ever since. Traveling to Gambler’s Folly for Interpol, he meets Danni, a young woman who works for the agency. Talk about an age gap… With both of them, it is love at first sight. But she has a past which comes to call after they are mated, which nearly ends in Dmitri losing another fated mate.
Old Flame, Book 4 brings us Kort and Elizabeth. They met at university thirty years ago and lost touch after graduation. He is now a billionaire CEO and unfortunate in love. She is a widow, who isn’t sure she wants to find a new relationship. They meet on their way to Gambler’s Folly and sparks that were missing at university begin to turn into flames. A second chance, mature couple romance, along with the usual assortment of past issues cropping up, a bit of intrigue, and some humor along the way.
And shifters? Book 1 and two feature leopards. Book 3, wolves. And Book 4 is about bears shifters. Of course, as the series progresses, all the previous characters join in the fun.
Next up, with any luck before Christmas, is Scotch and Soulmates. Back to wolves again. This time from England.
Have a great week, enjoy your summer, and happy reading!
If you like fantasy worlds, magical abilities, and a bit of intrigue, you’re in luck. I have just the world for you.
Two hearts hurt by relationships, hesitant to trust again. To souls destined to be together. Each afraid to take the next step until the forest insists they must.
Meet Morgan and James. She’s been hurt by every man in her life, even changing her clan to escape. He gave his heart once before and his secret Talent scared the woman he loved so much she was nearly killed trying to get away.
But there is something about each other they just can’t escape. Morgan’s black hair and eyes the color of the sea draw James in. And for her, it’s those darling dimples and green eyes.
And you can get it all for FREE this weekend! Over at Books2Read, you’ll find all the links you need for an escape this weekend.
So come with me to a magical world, where Talents show up in the most unusual places.
Can you help me? I need a little advice from someone on the other side of the reader/writer line.
As an indie author, I do everything myself, not just the writing. The writing is the easy part. Afterwards comes the editing, and it takes time and effort. I am sometimes able to have someone help me with the editing after I’ve been through a book several times myself. And there is a program I sometimes use which helps point out words I over use, or which tone down the emotion of the book.
Now let’s talk about book cover art. I can’t afford to pay someone to put together the cover art. And the few times I’ve tried, I didn’t like the results. So I use an online program, sometimes with AI assist, to create a book cover I feel portrays the story I’m telling inside.
After all the editing is as finished as it can be, and I have the cover art, there is the formatting so I can publish it through Amazon or Draft2Digital–which links all my books to retailers through Books2Read. All the keywords to come up with to help place it correctly for people to locate it. I’m not necessarily the best person to decide this. People who read the books and offer suggestions come up with categories and tropes I would never have dreamed existed in those pages.
And once I get to Amazon or Draft2Digital, I have to decide what price I want to ask for. What is my book worth? There are suggestions in the documentation for each site, which I use to gauge my list price. I don’t want to charge so much people are afraid to take a chance on the book. But at the same time, I don’t want to give it all away for free. I do have sales several times a year. During some of those, I do list a book or two for free, and generally I give away quite a few. While I’m happy when people want to read my books, it is disappointing when they only want them for nothing.
With my last book–Old Flame–I paid several people to help with the promotion and marketing aspects and got absolutely nothing in return. I did just as well by myself. Now with Sultonna Nadine’s new release, Lady Calloway, I am besieged by promoters and marketers wanting to help me get my book out to readers. For anywhere from $200 on up.
I’m not made of money. Never have been. And if throwing money at it worked, you would think Old Flame would have sold like hotcakes.
You might ask why I don’t hire some of this work out. And the answer would be the expense of it. For an editor to do a final editing for me would be over $1000 per book, minimum. Cover art? Anywhere from $150 on up to as much as I want to spend. Formatting? Several hundred dollars. And then there are the book trailers and all the social media posts to put together. Trailers start at around $200 and go up from there. By the time I paid for all that, I would have several thousand dollars invested with no guaranteed return.
So tell me, what am I doing wrong? I get great reviews, when I get them. Most are 5 star reviews. Everyone says the writing is excellent, the tropes are popular, the categories are popular as well. And I’ve reworked the keywords and categories on all the outlets to take advantage of them.
What am I missing? I’m not complaining about the work, except the editing… It’s doing all the work with nothing to show for it, while getting all kinds of emails and reviews with people who love it, but apparently love it only if it’s free.
Go take a look at my author pages and books. And then come back and give me your opinion. Why would you buy or not buy my books? What turns you away?
Yes, my alter ego, Sultonna Nadine, has been at it again! LADY CALLOWAY will be out on March 1, so if you are a fantasy lover, this is for you.
Set in an alternate timeline in turn of the century London, this fantasy has a strong romantic side as well as religious conflict and political intrigue. Liora Calloway, recently married to Kerrick, was raised believing women must not find pleasure in sex, even in marriage. They must give themselves to their husbands to keep them from seeking outside pleasure. But for the wives to enjoy the act was the same as prostitution. They also said women had no real sexual drive, so it wouldn’t be a problem. They were wrong and she was afraid she would be damned for her evil thoughts.
Kerrick worked for the church and thought his marriage would be fulfilling in every way. But no matter what he did, he couldn’t bring passion into his bedroom. And then he found he was married to a heretic. He was duty-bound to report her to the church, but his heart demanded he protect her from the church he served. Taking a holiday from work, he rushed Liora to the seaside cottage to reason with her over her beliefs.
Her heresy soon became a minor issue when they both began to develop mental abilities the church had forbidden. Not knowing what to do at this point, they receive a message from an unexpected quarter and set out for Wales in the middle of the night to escape a church determined to bring them back to London for questioning.
Can they escape the reach of the church? Are there others, like them, who have forbidden talents? And can their marriage survive the turmoil the face?
Did everyone survive the holidays? It was little crazy around here, but we’re all present and accounted for.
So what were you reading last year? It seems I read way more than I thought I had.
What are you starting your reading year with?
If you haven’t finished one of my series yet, from now until January 10 all of my series ebooks are on sale over at Books2Read. Well, everything but Old Flame, which is available through Kindle Unlimited! So you can complete either series for only $0.99 per book! It’s hard to beat that price.
Just go over to Books2Read and pick the series you’re looking for. And then click on the book you need to find the buy links. It’s that simple.
Looking for my alter ego, Sultonna? She’s over there, too, with books for sale. If you need a little more magic in your life, go on over and choose from alternate reality, magical flat mates, or paranormal goings on in the American Rockies.
Start your New Year with a little magic and romance. Maybe a little fantasy and intrigue, too.
Yes, Old Flame is finally live in the world! It has been a long journey, but we made it!
Today is Release Day for Book 4 in my Gambler’s Folly series, and it’s still on sale!
But don’t put it off any longer. The sale price of $0.99 ends tonight, so get it while you can.
For now, only the ebook is available, but the print will be along shortly.
So, what is this book about?
If you’ve read any of the books in the series, you’ll remember all my MCs are shifters, of one kind or another. In the case of Old Flame, Kort and Elizabeth are bear shifters. He’s a billionaire, a bit of a dom, and tired of dating women who are only interested in his money. She’s a widow, an energy healer, and doesn’t even want to think about dating, let alone relationships.
But you know how Mother Nature can be, especially where shifters are concerned. She can’t keep from meddling. So as these two are heading to Gambler’s Folly, she makes plans for a surprise.
Join Kort and Liz, as well as most of our other couples, on Gambler’s Folly once again. And let the games begin!
To find your the link to your favorite retailer, just click here and go to Books2Read. For some reason Amazon isn’t showing up yet, but here’s the link!
You can still take advantage of the Pre-Release pricing on my latest novel–Old Flame. Only $0.99 through Sunday night!
Want a bit of a preview?
So don’t miss it! Release Day is tomorrow, June 1! If you’re a fan of fantasy romance, second chance romance, fantasy worlds, and shifters–with a bit of spice between soul mates–join me on Gambler’s Folly!
The rest of the series is on sale now at Smashwords as well! Join us in welcoming Old Flame to the group!
