Category: M.A. Lee

mysteries and romantic suspense

Hearts in Hazard: Which Book Should I Read?

Posted on by writer35_bg

The Hearts in Hazard series
12 books set in the English Regency Era
Mystery & Suspense with a Dash of Romance

October 2015

That’s the Release Date for the first three books in the Hearts in Hazard series.

The Game of Secrets

The Game of Spies

The Game of Hearts

August 2020

the final Hearts in Hazard book released: The Hazard with Hearts.

Now ~

Time for the annual Celebration of Hearts in Hazard.

Which book is right for you?

I’ve never actually written down all this information. I’ve written snippets, but never the whole thing. So here it is ~
  • how the books are interconnected without being sequels.
  • which books have common characters.
  • which books follow a similar plot or a similar trope.

With Hearts in Hazard~

Each novel is complete and stands alone, but the series has interconnected characters among the books. Not ALL the books and not ALL the characters.

New couples confront the primary conflict for each book.

What are the 12 books in the Hearts in Hazard series?

Visit M.A. Lee’s page on this website for links for more information, to view a trailer, and to buy!

 

1. A Game of Secrets

Cover by Deranged Doctor Design

2. A Game of Spies

3. A Game of Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Games.

 

4. The Danger of Secrets

5. The Danger for Spies

6. The Danger to Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Dangers.

 

7. The Key to Secrets

8. The Key for Spies

9. The Key with Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Keys.

 

10. The Hazard of Secrets

11. The Hazard for Spies

12. The Hazard with Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Hazards.

 

How are the Novels Interlinked?

1/2 ~ A Game of Secrets 1 leads to A Game of Spies 2. These two are the most like sequels: Kate & Tony and Josette & Giles will become good friends. The friendship of Tony and Giles started when they served in the military together and were both wounded.

2/3/11 ~ A Game of Hearts 3, featuring Rafe & Maggie and Connie & Roger, mentions one of the treacherous English traitors from A Game of Spies 2. That treacherous traitor will recur in The Hazard for Spies 11.

  • Also, the time frame for A Game of Hearts covers a month before A Game of Secrets to after A Game of Spies, and GSpies’ characters are mentioned in GHearts.

2/4/5 ~ Building on the characters in A Game of Spies 2 are The Danger of Secrets 4 (Gordon & Maddy) and The Danger for Spies 5 (Tony & Melanie).

  • The Danger of Secrets 4 was a joy to write. I laughed often at the repartee between Gordon & Maddy.
  • The Danger for Spies 5 has as its primary couple Eugenie & Charles.

1/6 ~ The Danger to Hearts 6 brings back Jess Carter from A Game of Secrets 1. Jess becomes protector of Agatha.

6/7/10/11  ~ The Key to Secrets 7 features Constable Hector Evans (in love with Bee). Hector first appeared as a secondary in The Danger to Hearts 6.

  • Hector re-appears as a side character (chief constable!) in The Hazard of Secrets 10 and The Hazard for Spies 11.

1/2/3/5/10/11 ~ The Hazard for Spies 11 concludes the “Capture French Spies” conflict of Game/Secrets 1, Game/Spies 2, Game/Hearts 3, and Danger/Spies 5.

  • The Hazard for Spies 11 features Conrad and Phinney. She was barely mentioned in The Hazard of Secrets 10.

10/11 ~ The Hazard of Secrets 10 and The Hazard for Spies 11 have a secondary plot with the children Vic, Elise, and Hank. The three are not the main focus.

  • Corrie & Jem carry the main plot in The Hazard of Secrets.

6/9 ~ A character mentioned in The Danger with Hearts 6 becomes one of the primary leads in Key with Hearts 9. Greville Myers has married Liza Corbett to access her wealth. This convenient marriage inconveniently causes murder.

8 ~ The Key for Spies 8, one of the least-connected of the 12, is a stand-alone novel set in Spain. No interconnected characters. We do have spies, but I wished to break the constant focus on England. I justified my wish by saying, “Well, it has spies.” Let’s pretend our Simon Pargeter is friends with Hector Evans.

  • Simon & Miriella carry the plot, but Jesus & Elixane are strong secondaries.

9 / 12 ~ The Hazard with Hearts 12 is another stand-alone, with no interconnected characters. With The Key with Hearts 9, The Hazard with Hearts 12  is most like the vintage gothics of Victoria Holt and Dorothy Eden, from the 1960s.

  • It’s another marriage of convenience, this time with Vivienne & Max.

What Else will Help me Pick a Great Read?

 

Do You Like Couples falling in Love? (Not Lust.)

All the books are for you.

Want a Strong Heroine? Or a Strong Hero who is not an Alpha Dog?

All the books are for you.

Do you like Murder Mysteries? A Puzzle to Solve?

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard of Secrets (begins as suspense then morphs into a murder mystery)

 The Hazard with Hearts (both murder and suspense)

Do you like Suspense more than Murder?

A Game of Secrets

A Game of Spies

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

The Hazard of Secrets (which morphs into a murder mystery)

The Hazard for Spies

The Hazard with Hearts (because murders happen long before the novel begins)

Like Former or Current Soldiers? Or a Story in Wartime, on the battlefront?

A Game of Secrets

Simon Pargeter
Cover by Deranged Doctor Design

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

Like Early Law Enforcement?

A Game of Secrets

A Game with Hearts

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Story with Spies?

A Game of Secrets

A Game of Spies

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

The Hazard for Spies

 Want a Smuggler Story?

A Game of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

Want a Story with Nobles? (Earls and Marquesses and Barons are one of the primary characters: hero or heroine)

A Game of Spies

A Game with Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Key for Spies

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a Story without Nobles? (Not the hero or the heroine)

A Game of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Hazard of Secrets

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Marriage of Convenience Story?

A Game of Hearts

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a High-Low Story? Someone of High Social Standing marries Someone Lower in Rank than them.

Something for Everyone
Nobles. No nobles. Law enforcement. Law breaker. Something for Everyone

A Game for Spies

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a Story with a Runaway ?

A Game of Secrets

Want a Story with Children?

The Hazard of Secrets begins the story with Vic, Elise, and Hank, and it concludes in The Hazard for Spies.

Want a Story with a Young Couple?

A Game of Hearts

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Story with a Couple Approaching Middle-age?

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets 

The Key for Spies

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard of Secrets

Want a Story set in a Foreign Land?

The Key for Spies

Want something like a Vintage Gothic?

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

This is all of the ways

to classify the 12 books in the Hearts in Hazard series.

If you can think of another, do write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

Read them all, a book a month. (Wasn’t that a book club?)

 

Merry Mystery for Christmas

Posted on by writer35_bg

Have a Merry Christmas with a Free Mystery!

Listen for Free to the 1st short story in the Sailing with Mystery anthology.

cover by Deranged Doctor Design

Here’s a Christmas gift for you! Listen for free to the audio files of the first short story in the Sailing with Mystery  anthology.

The first short story is “Amber Dreams” :: Blackmail threatens a young bride when her secret diary is stolen. Her marriage of convenience is threatened if the contents are revealed to her new husband and his autocratic mother.

cover by Deranged Doctor Design

Can Isabella recover the diary before the bride loses all hope?

Use this link to find the first episode after 5:30 a.m. on December 26, 2023. The other episodes post five minutes later and later and later and later. All five episodes are available for free on various podcast services, including Apple, Google, YouTube, Samsung Podcasts, iHeart, Tune-In, and many many more.

The collection is available in ebook and paperback at the following links.

Zon, ebook and paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJL28Z5W

Worldwide Paperback https://books2read.com/u/3R5QJR

Worldwide Ebook https://books2read.com/u/3R5QJR

View the trailer https://youtu.be/csAe72b5X2I

The audiobook became available from various distributors on October 30, 2023.

Happy Mystery Listening from The Write Focus.

cover by Emily R. Dunn

Celebrations: November into December

Posted on by writer35_bg

Celebrate! The Holiday Season Is Upon Us!

We’re past Halloween.

image in public domain

Thanksgiving!

Christmas!

New Year’s!

All Important Times for Family & Friends.

Here at Writers Ink Books we will Celebrate Five Anniversaries … and Two New Releases still to Come.

Five to Celebrate in November ~

published in 2016
cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

Autumn Spells

The corrupt dame Neehla wants the swordsman Hethan to bring a Green mage to Senric Keep.  There she will reincarnate herself in Saisha’s younger body.  She bespells Hethan to rip away Saisha’s power.

Hethan and Saisha first met in Baien Castletown. Although they were attracted, her magic prevented him from pursuing any connection.

Now the dame’s dark spells brings them together.

Can Saisha disentangle Hethan from the sorcery?  Or will she be trapped and turned into a wraith while the dark dame inhabits her body?

Back in 2016, Edie Roones published her second book (which is actually the first book she wrote — and rewrote — and reworked — and revised — then totally gutted and wrote again — then revised one more time during 2016 to publish it ~ on the 5th! And we celebrate it now!

Discover more at this site: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MFHDUOZ

Discover more on Edie Roones’ page: Edie Roones | Writers’ Ink Books (writersinkbooks.com)

Edie’s currently working on the final book in the Seasons in Sansward quaternary. A corrupt invading army. Gitane Witches working dark spells. Scattered mages and swordsmen determined to fight evil. [But she’s distracted by Wild Sherwood, so this keeps being pushed back. Oh well.)

Book 1: Summer Sieges https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014OMJBFY

Bk 2: Autumn Spells https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MFHDUOZ

& Bk 3: Winter Sorcery https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BK88CDV

with Bk 4: Spring Magicks — coming for real, just not soon. Gives you time to read the others.

Dream a Deadly Dream

published in 2017
cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

The exiled wizard Alstera wandered into Vaermonde, seeking an opportunity to rid herself of the Fae marks that shackle her power. The nightmares of the fugitive comtesse Cherai offer the chance to serve one of her penances and free one element of her power.

Can Alstera stop the poisoned nightmares before they kill Cherai? Or will she fall into the tainted blood magic before she frees Cherai from those sorcerous deadly dreams?

Published in 2017, the dark epic fantasy Dream a Deadly Dream is the second book in the grim Fae Mark’d Wizard series.

Bk 1: Weave a Wizardry Web  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074HJG1P7

Bk 2: Dream a Deadly Dream  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077CTRD9V

And Bk 3: Sing a Graveyard Song  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BK9DYDK

The opening trilogy is a best-bargain bundle of this epic fantasy, released this summer as Tangled Spells. Available as an ebook or a massive paperback here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0973LXLC2

View the trailer at this link: https://youtu.be/zwWFb11GP1g

“The Lion’s Den”

J. Heyendecker
cover design based on a public domain image

This novella, intended to be a short story, brings to the forefront two secondary characters from Christmas with Death. (See below. It’s also a 2017 November publication to celebrate.

Jack Portman had never forgotten Filly Malvaise.

Then she walked into his local pub and into the clutches of a loan shark.

Can he rescue her before she falls victim to evil?

Published in 2020, “The Lion’s Den” is set in the London of the early 1920s with the Bright Young Things. The returned soldiers of the Great War — like Jack Portman — have settled uncomfortably into their lives.

You can join M.A. Lee’s newsletter to receive a free copy of this novella. Then you can celebrate a bargain! Email us at winkbooks@aol.com.

Christmas with Death

published in 2017
cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

A November 2017 publication for the Christmas market, Christmas with Death was never on the plan until M.A. Lee’s sister wanted to see the next book with Isabella Newcombe and Madoc Tarrant.

Christmas is for miracles, merriment, and murder.

An English country Christmas in 1919 should be a joyful celebration.  Isabella Newcombe, however, discovers only petty sniping and bitterness when she and her friends are invited to Emberley.

Rumors of affaires and drug addiction as well as accusations of blackmail sour the holiday atmosphere.  Then the four friends discover the body of a fellow visitor, shot dead and left lying in an ice-skimmed pond.

With multiple motives and suspects, will Scotland Yard solve the crime before Isabella is the murderer’s next target?  Will an imperfect murder be impossible to solve?

Christmas with Death is the second novel in the Into Death series. Each novel of the Into Death series is complete and not a cliff-hanger.  Enjoy a richer experience by reading all three books in the Into Death series. All three books are available in paperback and ebook.

Bk 1: Digging into Death 

celebrate for it is publishing soon
cover designs by Deranged Doctor Design

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXPRKHM

Trailer   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1BPx6VUnU

Bk 2: Christmas with Death

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077SBB4DN

trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgr99ForHpA

& Bk 3: Portrait with Death, published this past summer.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0973GVKSQ

https://books2read.com/u/b6vrjZ

Trailer available July 1, 2021 https://youtu.be/6cfEOGy-fXQ

Celebrate with a best-bargain bundle of all three books, which should come out on December 1st. No links yet. Ebook only.

Into Death

This collection contains the first three novels with artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant, solving murders as she paints away.

It’s a Best-Bargain Bundle to Celebrate!

Digging into Death

trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1BPx6VUnU 

Christmas with Death

trailer https://youtu.be/Cgr99ForHpA

Portrait with Death

trailer https://youtu.be/6cfEOGy-fXQ

Get the bundle at this link: https://books2read.com/u/baDN1L

Find it everywhere. Find it at the Zon.

celebrate for it is publishing soon
cover images by DDD

Only One Publication for December ~ So Far.

Plans for More Books!

We would not be Writers Ink Books if we didn’t also celebrate a nonfiction publication.

Discovering Your Plot

On the 29th of December, barely making 2019, DiscPlot released.

published in 2019
cover by DDD — who else?

What do writers want from plot?

What do writers need from plot?

Are those questions the same? Not really.

As wordsmiths, we writers know that want and need are two different words.

  • The want is a circumstance that we writers can control. We want plot specifics to help us craft story and exceed reader expectations.
  • The need is a circumstance of obligations from reader expectations of story. While readers may want the comfort of the genre elements (the tropes), they also wish to have their interest and curiosity piqued.

Can we writers deliver on the expectations and the surprises in order to please our readers?

That’s the involved question that Discovering Your Plot hopes to answer.

This guidebook covers plot structure and the necessities of genre expectations so we writers can anticipate what readers want.

  • It is NOT a list of tropes by genre or even a list of tropes that every novel should have.

DiscPlot explores the six most common plot structures.

  • It is NOT a list of characters for plot or story. It is not a list of the “17 characters your novel needs” or the “characters used by famous authors”, as listed on social media sites.

It’s a detailed examination of the major sections of a novel.

  • It’s NOT a word-based or page-based formula of a novel’s structure.

    celebrate this published in April 2020
    cover designed by — guess who?
By the end of Discovering Your Plot¸ writers will have the tools to construct a story as well as diagnose problems with pacing, tension and suspense, and sequencing events.

Discovering Your Plot is Book 6 in the Think like a Pro Writer series and the second of the Discovering set of how-to guidebooks for writers at all skill levels. While the approach is for newbies, every writer can benefit from this fresh look at any novel’s framework.

The Discovering set covers Characters, Plot, Author Branding, and Sentence Craft as well as completing a Novel—from the seeds of idea to publishing the manuscript.

Find DiscPlot at this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0838PTN49/

DiscPlot is part of the Discovering Your Writing four-book best-bargain bundle, available in ebook and paperback. As of this writing, the paperback cover has not arrived … although it is close. I will add a link when the ppb releases … and then I’ll celebrate another Best-Bargain Bundle!

Here’s a link for DiscWriting:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S

View the Trailer: https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk

TTFN! Celebrate your holidays!

 

 

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