Month: October 2023

Scary October & Scary Witch: the fantasy Autumn Spells

Posted on by writer35_bg

Scary October needs a scary witch, and the fantasy Autumn Spells by Edie Roones offers us Neehla.

Eager to re-embody herself in a younger woman, Neehla builds her sorcerous spell.

Prologue

In this life her name was Neehla.  Over many lives, she had lost some things, gained others.  Through them all, her sorcery remained tangible evil, woven from the elemental air and the incense of her spells.

Her fingers flew across the loom, weaving a snare for the unwary.  She snatched a spiral of smoke from the air and twisted it deftly before joining the sorcered strand to the thread on the shuttle.  As it shot across the warp threads on the loom, the gray smoke deepened, becoming as darkly hued as the power that shaped it.

Continue reading “Scary October & Scary Witch: the fantasy Autumn Spells” →

A Game of Hearts

Posted on by Emily Dunn

A Game of Hearts

In Regency England, red-blooded commoners have difficulty opening the doors of the blue-blooded haut ton. 

The Self-Made Man

Self-made man Rafe Lockhart needs a titled wife to give his daughter Connie the society debut she has dreamed of. A quick marriage to Lady Margaret Symonds, widow of an earl, is the answer to his problem.  Her beauty and wit sweeten his plan.

The Damaged Widow

Maggie Symonds suffered through twelve years of an emotionally abusive marriage after a rake ruined her during her debut.  She hesitates to enter another marriage, especially to a man whose wealth is the sole reason that society accepts him.  Financial difficulties and her own budding attraction to Rafe drive her to accept his proposal.

A Rosy Future Turns Blood-Red

Neither expects passion to fire up their marriage.  Neither expects that surprising passion to last.

Maggie’s confrontation with Rafe’s mistress is the first blow.

The second comes with Rafe’s suspicions that the rake has lured Maggie back into his bed with protestations of a resumed love.

An Unexpected Love

Falling in love with his employer’s daughter Connie was not Roger Denby’s biggest mistake.  No, that mistake was giving her a taste of passion.  When he rejected Connie, he then had to watch her pursue a gentleman who might be charming her into a snare.

Did Roger drive her into that relationship by awakening her desires?  All he knows is that he still yearns for Connie.  How can he prevent her from ruining herself?

Her Heart Refuses to Break

Connie Lockhart knew the walls between her and Roger Denby:  She was not yet eighteen.  She was the boss’s daughter.  She was as far out of his reach as marriage into nobility was out of hers.

She thought those walls had tumbled down when he kissed her.

Yet he rebuilt them even higher than before and returned to being only her watchdog.  Believing their relationship hopeless, Connie pursues a titled gentleman who is no longer out of her reach since her father’s marriage to an earl’s widow.  And revenge on the snobbish society darlings seems especially sweet.

Then this Game of Hearts turns more dangerous

Rafe is suspected of murdering a valuable employee, and this Game of Hearts twists into unexpected trouble that Rafe & Maggie and Roger & Connie could never have anticipated.

Readers may also enjoy the preceding A Game of Secrets and A Game of Hearts.

 

The Trailer

How to Purchase:

Ebook and Paperback

 

*A Game of Spies* & Indie Trials with Tribulations

Posted on by writer35_bg

First Off:  a new cover for A Game of Spies,

the second book in the Hearts in Hazard series

by M.A. Lee. 

Originally published in November 2015, the cover needed updating after M.A. Lee’s HnH books 4, 5, and 6 came out in Spring 2017.  Here’s a first look at the new cover.

Giles Hargreaves is hunting a French spy who somehow manages to steal government documents.  Josette amuses herself playing whist at salons hosted by her sister-in-law.  When Giles and Josette met, they are attracted immediately. 

But he believes she is connected to the French spy.

And she thinks he will break her heart.

Giles and Josette have their first serious conversation on a settee under a stairway in the Sourantine house.  The cover models perfectly capture that scene from the book.

The cover designer at Deranged Doctor Design combined the old cover with the new in a clever way.  The playing cards and the sealed letters from the old cover along with the dominant color image transfer from the old to the new while the focus is on the couple.

Here’s the former cover image.  I still love it, but I love the new one more.

A Game of Spies by M. A. Lee

After Publishing, What’s Next?

For a writer, it’s freaky hard to go to a site that has THE BOOK for sale, type in the name of the author, and nothing comes up for three or four pages.

A writer with part of my name shows up first in the Amazon Kindle store.  And then, oh the ignominy, the other writer with exactly my name shows up before my books do . . . and this after I did research before my first published book to ensure that no other Amazon writer was using my name.

Oh well.

Okay, all is not lost.  We can do a search for the title.

Digging into Death . . . Bam!  Got it in one.

A Game of Secrets . . . not on the first three pages.

A Game of Spies . . . 2nd page!  Yippee!

A Game of Hearts . . . Wow! 1st page.

The Danger of Secrets . . . 1st page.  Yippee!  Yippee!

The Danger for Spies . . . Success!  1st page, second one listed.  Wait, the first book doesn’t even have The Danger for Spies as a title.  🙁

The Danger to Hearts . . . 1st page, first one listed.  2nd Coming of Happiness!  Bliss Again!

But my author page doesn’t come up quickly unless you find one of my books and then click on my name.

And you can find the Hearts in Hazard series just by typing “Hearts in Hazard”.

Indie Challenges

Indie Writers face many challenges long after they have a story they believe is ready for print.

We want to present the best manuscript, one that is polished and as error free as possible.  100% perfection is not possible . . . so we strive for the highest level that is.

Then we can make a cover for ourselves or find someone who can do it at a cost we can afford.

I knew I couldn’t make a good cover.  I am artistically creative as well as verbally so, but a professional designer knows to look for things and add things in and use balance and proportion in ways that I never thought.

Plus, a professional designer knows the photoshop program they are using.  I would have a huge learning curve.  Shouldn’t I spend my time writing?

It took me 18 months to find a cover designer that fit my aesthetic.  I found Deranged Doctor Design by sheer luck . . . for a “God wink”.  They are life savers, believe me.  During my 18-month search, I worked on other books, which enabled me to put out three books back to back, all on one day in October of 2015: my first three books, the first three in the Hearts in Hazard trilogy, a one-two-three punch.

DDD is the BEST!  I love working with them.  Their covers are lovely, no matter in which genre they are working.  They provide options and previews, and they are willing to switch things around.  They are clear in what they can and cannot do.  DDD works within a time frame that I understand.  They have a great template that pulls from the author the information they need to work with.  DDD is brave for working with Indie Writers.

Discoverability

After the writing and the editing and the cover designer, the job of an Indie Writer is not over.  Marketing comes next.  I am still working on this one.

Discoverability is now on my bookshelf.  By Kristine Kathryn Rusch, it discusses what a writer needs to know about getting their works to the audience in the current state of the reading marketplace.

Getting the book out there, getting the name out there, attracting attention with the right cover and the right blurb and the right audience, these are the five essentials for all Indie Writers.

But I’ll keep writing, and hopefully the discoverability will happen soon. 😉

I did drink the water in Greenville, MS!

~ M.A. Lee

 

A Game of Spies

Posted on by Emily Dunn

A Game of Spies

A Card-Sharp in Skirts

With a talent for whist, Josette Sourantine has charge of the card room at every Sourantine salon.

She flirts with the cynical rake Tobias Kennit and the handsome society prize Lord Gordon Musgrove.  Yet it is the mysterious Giles Hargreaves who intrigues her.

The Hidden Spycatcher

Col. Giles Hargreaves, son of the Marquess of Grasmere, has found the émigré spying for Napoleon, but he cannot arrest her until he locates the source feeding her vital government secrets.

He attends the Sourantine salons hoping to locate the man stealing the information for Celeste which she then smuggles to France.  He decides to dally with Celeste only to be distracted by the lovely Josette.

Can a Spycatcher love a Spy?

Has Giles blinded himself to the extent of the spy ring?  As sister to the French spy, Josette must be embroiled in the betrayal of England.

Is Josette giving her heart to a rake who merely dallies with her?  How can Giles love her when they have known each other so briefly?

A Net Closes, but Giles didn’t cast it!

When Josette is caught in a net designed to tangle up the English as the French spies escape, will Giles lose her just when he’s given his heart to her?

 

To the Reader:  A Game of Spies follows A Game of Secrets, which is a complete novel with no cliff-hangers.  While readers may find that reading the first novel creates a fuller experience, it is not necessary to read it in order to enjoy this book.  And while the trilogy concludes with A Game of Hearts, another novel that stands on its own, A Game of Spies does not end with a cliff-hanger.

The Trailer

How to Purchase: Ebook or Paperback.

 

A Game of Secrets

Posted on by Emily Dunn

A Game of Secrets

No Damsel in Distress

Kate Charteris never expected to become a damsel in distress, yet she becomes just that when she must flee her cousin’s unwanted attentions.

While she might be alone in Regency England, her parents deceased and family friends still with Wellington’s army in Portugal and Spain, she is no damsel who faints at the first sight of a dragon-like trouble.

Seeking a Spy

On the hunt for the lair of smugglers and spies for Napoleon, Tony Farraday never expected to fall hard for a damsel not quite in distress.  He collides with Kate on a city street and feels instant attraction.

Yet Kate must catch the mail coach before it leaves, and Tony still needs orders from the spycatcher Giles Hargreaves.

Re-United in a Nest of Smugglers

Neither expects to meet again at a run-down inn on the English coast.  On a crumbling cliffside, they vow to keep each other’s secrets and pretend to be strangers.  Yet that initial spark of attraction catches flame strongly and obviously, jeopardizing their pretense.

The French spy arrives, demanding immediate passage across the Channel to take vital information to Napoleon.  Kate befriends the spy, but she is playing a dangerous game.

  Tony hopes to delay the spy long enough for Giles Hargreaves to arrest her and the smugglers—only to be caught in a trap.

Yet More Trouble Arrives

When Kate’s cousin arrives, can she evade him long enough to help Tony escape?  Or have they both lost this Game of Secrets?

A Game of Secrets is a complete novel without a cliff-hanger, but the danger continues in A Game of Spies.

The Trailer

 

The Purchase? in Ebook or Paperback.