Update on things to come

Last Train to Clarkdale is submitted and tentatively set to come out in November. We'll see. Of course I will let everyone know as soon as I do. This one is a special story to me for the chance to "go back home" in a different way and honor the little rail line that grew out of a significant part of my past! I don't know if there are any rail fans among my readers and friend-fans but I hope there are! I'll share some more train-related stuff in the next month or two leading up to the release of this story and the others in the All Aboard PAX of which it is a part.  Here's one very bad shot from the tourist excursion that I took a few years back and another of the scenery, which is awesome and well worthy of photography!

Now I have a WIP that has been set aside for a time to work on and then another PAX story for the 'It Happened in a Garage" themed PAX that is due in by 1 December. I have one hero clear in my mind now and he'll be talking to me so I can get that one underway. The working title is "Wrenching" and it has a double meaning of both the work of a mechanic and the way emotions can hit you at times. I hope it will be as powerful as my title implies. More on it as it develops.

I've been working in odd moments on my own memoirs plus scanning zillions of old photographs. Right now I'm reading my journal for a period of about three years that seems more like a novel now than real, sadly not a romance per se. The period covers some of the most traumatic and yet also amazing months of my life 'way back when' and wrenching is a word that fits there very well. First loves tend to be that way; mine did not have a happy ending but perhaps we will have another chance in the next life. Anyway, I can see from revisiting my long-ago self that becoming a romance writer was almost inevitable and inescapable! Love has always been the focus of so much of my time, efforts and thoughts that of course I would have to write about it. Now I am glad I do and also thankful for the strange and twisting path of my life that provides much fodder for stories.

The other tale I think I have mentioned before--about a wildfire fighting slurry bomber pilot and the young journalist-reporter who develops a crush on him. The working title for it is "Red Tails in the Sunset" since the fire fighting planes are all marked with the identifier of a tail section painted red. The plot is starting to shape up now that I have both the characters clear in  my mind. They come in odd ways and times and once I can see and 'hear' them, they will start telling me their tale. That's where this one is right now, the opening scene written and more to come soon, at least hopefully!

I'm also working on some minor revisions of another Gwynn Morgan book that has been out of print for a time and hope to submit it to Amber Quill to be reissued sometime next year. Titled Deal for Love originally--and I may keep that title--it's about a young woman from Boston who is working as a financial planner with an investment and real estate firm and an anthropology profession she first takes for a blue collar type guy when they get stuck in a blizzard together. And yes, there can be blizzards in Arizona! This one is a fun romp and may end up a bit hotter than it was but probably not quite to the X rated level for the Heat line so it will likely be released on the regular Amber Quill side of the house.

The writing never stops and I am soooo thankful for that. It's been so much a part of my life for so very long and sharing these stories that are given to me is one of my greatest joys. That at least a few readers enjoy and appreciate them is my gift too. I pray I never stop. And I just got the Dragon Naturally Speaking software that will allow me to dictate work when my eyes are not up to snuff. It's kind of daunting to start to learn it but I shall! I'll begin by reading in a bunch of stories that were written by my father and then my husband since I intend to self-publish an anthology book of these for each of them. Dad's were outdoor hunting and fishing adventures and Jim's were borderline urban fantasy/nostalgia/historical since they take place around some mining camps and nearby ranches about a hundred years ago but feature some paranormal aspects! Retyping was going to be so daunting that I decided this method would be a lot faster and easier for me. I hope I can get this going soon.

So that's what I'm up to right now. More news as things advance. BTW, Dark and Stormy has done really well and got a couple of good reviews, one actually very good-- a '5' level rating and many kind words. I think I posted that link last time. Happy reading all!