January 2015 Newsletter

1/3/2015

This month's contest has ended. I will announce the winner Friday, January 9. Thanks to all who entered!

Photo by David A. Dent

My brother David took this photo up in Washington, near the Columbia River a few weeks ago. So pretty that I wanted to share. I really think I need to use it for a book cover one day!

Happy New Year to all of you—and yes, this is the January newsletter and for once I’m getting it out on time. And, there will be a contest! I’m doing something different this month—giving away a signed copy of a book by one of my favorite authors, Jessica Scott. This one is called ALL FOR YOU, and it’s absolutely terrific.

Jessica writes military romances that deal with the issues of men and women returning from active duty in the Middle East—something she has experienced first hand as a captain in the US Army who deployed to Iraq in 2009 and served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas. I am so glad I’ve gotten to know this amazing young woman—she represents everything good about our military, and her stories not only offer a wonderfully intimate look into the lives of returning soldiers, but they are deeply emotional, compelling romances as well.

I will only accept entries from the entry form at the lower left on my website—it may appear at the very bottom of the post on your mobile devices. DO NOT enter in the comments section—that will post your personal information (mailing address) publicly. I try to delete those as soon as I see them, but I’m not on my computer 24/7, even though it often feels that way! I want you safe on the Internet. Giving out your home address in a public forum is not safe.

I hope your holidays were absolutely wonderful—ours were crazy fun with our son and his family here for two weeks of absolute chaos. Since our daughter lives here in town with her three, it meant that we had all six grandkids together, something that doesn’t happen very often. Luckily the weather was mostly good—cold but clear with only a couple of damp days. One of the highlights was going to see the movie ANNIE with all six of ours, including two cousins of our son’s three, and all three grandmothers. That's eight kids from three to thirteen! I’m Dabba, our son’s mother-in-law is Tutu, and their cousins’ grandmother is Grandma. At least one traditional one in the group! We had a wonderful time--I was shocked that so many reviewers panned the movie. The show was entertaining from beginning to end, I loved Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie, (and no, I can't pronounce her name!) and Jamie Foxx was terrific as Will Stacks, an updated version of Daddy Warbucks. Even our 13 year old grandson managed to stick it out!

The three on the left are our daughter's critters--Cole is 8, Gracie almost 11, and Luca is 13. On the right are our son's three--Ella almost 9, Owen 6 and Alice 3. This was taken after the movie, so they're all a bit sticky!

I took two weeks off from writing during the holidays, only spending one day doing page proofs for TANGLED, the novella coming out in HOT ALPHAS in May. I’ve got extensive edits to work on for INTIMATE, which might set back the next SPIRIT WILD story. I apologize, but will definitely get to it a.s.a.p. I’m rereading all four of the first Spirit Wild books to make sure I have my story idea right—which reminds me--DARK SPIRIT is on sale for $.99 at all online retailers through January 5, and DARK REFUGE is marked down to $2.99, also through January 5. Click on the covers below for a list of buy links to the various online sellers.

I’m not sure if any of you have read Paige Tyler’s books, but I’ve gotten hooked on her X-ops series—in fact, I did a quote for her first in the series, HER PERFECT MATE, and recently finished the second, HER LONE WOLF—both are excellent. I just read HER SECRET AGENT last night, which is currently free online and really well done. Here’s the link to Amazon, but I believe it’s also free at other online retailers as well.

In the back of the novella is an excerpt for the first in her new SWAT series, HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF about a SWAT team of werewolves. It comes out on January 6, and I’ve already ordered my copy. I’m really enjoying her writing! Anyway, if you're looking for a way to spend those Christmas gift cards...just a thought!

Another book coming out on the 6th is TRUST NO ONE by Jayne Ann Krentz. I’ve never hidden the fact I’m a huge JAK fan—she is one of the few authors I buy in hardcover, (Nalini Singh is the other!) and I’ve never once been disappointed in any of her stories, whether they’re written as JAK, Amanda Quick, or Jayne Castle. Jayne always manages to include a wonderful romance, humor, emotion, and enough spine-tingling suspense so seamlessly in her stories that she manages to push all my happy reader buttons.

I absolutely love the fact that she writes such tough, kick-ass heroines, and they're always just a little bit quirky and totally unique. I just know this one will be good.

And that is just about all the trouble I can think of to get you into right now. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2015--it's going to be interesting for me. I'm turning 65 next week and my inner 35-year old is having a fit! But she's still hanging on by tooth and nail, though as my loving spouse said when I was filling out my application for Medicare, "When the government says you're old, you're old." IMHO, that's a load of BS, but it is a reminder that life passes by so quickly, we really do need to take time to enjoy every single second.

In my case, that's finding time to read, to spend time with friends, to connect with readers and, whenever I can, to give away books!

I want to wish you all the very best in the new year--

Kate

Sara

1/3/2015 07:03:38 am

I love the picture! I keep seeing one of the Chanku (in wolf form) peeking out from behind a tree ;-}

Is always nice having family to stay, but it's also nice when they go home!

I'm glad you had a nice xmas and wish you a very happy new year

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:28:34 am

Sara, they don't stay with us--we have a teeny, tiny house, so they stay with our daughter-in-law's family where there's more room, but it's so much fun having them here in town!! And thank you--the same to you.

LINDA BASS

1/3/2015 07:19:06 am

NICE PICTURES KATE AND YOUR COVERS ARE SMOKING HOT, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:29:27 am

Thanks, Linda! I love my covers!!! Happy New Year to you, too!

Holly Miller

1/3/2015 07:22:16 am

Love the Washington photo

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:52:44 am

Thanks, Holly. I thought it was just beautiful--love the light and shadows.

Frank Krentz

1/3/2015 08:36:23 am

That picture is magnificent. I loaded it up on a big screen TV to show to Jayne. Thanks for sharing!

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:35:59 am

Thank you, Frank--my brother lives in Portland and has a cabin on the Washington side of the Columbia. He took that before the snow a few weeks ago. Tell Jayne I'm waiting impatiently for her new book!

Caffey

1/3/2015 09:12:10 am

So makes me think of your wolfies books with that forest picture. You definitely need to use as a cover some day. The pic of the kids was beautiful. I want to see Annie too when it's out captioned.

Happy new year to you too. Cathie

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:40:05 am

It does, doesn't it? When I saw the picture, I asked Dave for a high-res shot for my files. It's exactly the feel I like for my cover art! You will love Annie, though I wish you could hear the music--the kids are just so cute!

Jaime Feltner

1/3/2015 11:26:51 am

Happy new year

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:30:22 am

You, too, Jaime!

Erinf1

1/3/2015 11:31:44 am

what awesome pics!!! Your grandkids are so handsome!!! Glad to hear that the holidays were so fun for you! The recommendations are awesome :) Definitely going to be adding to my wishlist. And I picked up Dark Spirit! Can't wait to dive in :) Ummm... am I the only one that's getting the "I had to remove the contest form due to spam" message? I can't see any other way to enter :( Thanks for the fun newsletter!

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 11:42:08 am

No, Erin, you're not. I blew it! Thought it had loaded, and the blog post went up fine, but I neglected to check on the entry form. It needed to be loaded separately, and I'm such a doofus that I didn't realize it wasn't up. It's working now. Just when I think I know what I'm doing, I realize I haven't got a clue!!!

Erinf1

1/3/2015 12:03:01 pm

computers and software are awesome... as long as it works! I blame the software, not the user :) Thanks so much for the awesome giveaway!

Kate Douglas

1/3/2015 12:18:42 pm

Thanks, Erin--I'd love to blame the software. Unfortunately, I know exactly what happened, and it's all on me.

Patsy

1/3/2015 03:40:09 pm

I love the pictures Kate. Especialky the Grandkids. I cant wait for the next Spirit Wild. Happy New Year.

Kate Douglas

1/4/2015 04:21:00 am

Thank you--they're all growing up so fast! Luca was shorter than me at the beginning of the summer, and now he's about two inches taller. Ella is surfing and playing piano--all of them are fun and smart and really nice kids. We're very lucky and can't wait to see what their lives will be like.

Pat Fordyce

1/3/2015 10:15:37 pm

So glad you had a wonderful holiday! Great picture of the grandkids, I love to see Luca growing so tall and strong. Spent the holidays in Colorado with my son, DIL and precious Isla. I love Jessica Scott and have ALL her books, so not signing up for your contest. good luck to all. Happy New Year Kate💕

Kate Douglas

1/4/2015 04:23:20 am

Thank you, Pat. Jessica and I were just talking about all the wonderful people we've gotten to know through "The Romance Man." I wonder if he has any idea what he started? I never would have met you or discovered Jessica's amazing stories if not for his wonderfully warped sense of humor! I'm so glad to see pictures of Isla looking so healthy. She's a beautiful little girl.

Pam howell

1/3/2015 10:28:27 pm

I joined the Discover a New Love ebook club -- they have 6 books for $10 -- u buy six pack -- get 6 credits
I got the Paige Tyler books that way :)

Kate Douglas

1/4/2015 05:42:29 am

Hi Pam--that's a great book club. Since it's run by the publisher, you can be assured of getting "legal" copies. There are way too many pirate sites offering "really good deals," but this one IS a really good deal! Plus, they do some really terrific books. I'm a fan of Paige Tyler's and Cheryl Brooks, both Sourcebooks authors.

Kate

1/4/2015 12:52:33 am

The pic is gorgeous! It would be wonderful as a cover:). I have just discovered Jessica Scott and have signed up for the signed book. She's great. I will have to look for the sales but probably already have the ebooks as I tend to get them as soon as they are published😊.

Kate Douglas

1/4/2015 05:34:25 am

LOL...ebooks are a terrible thing--I now find myself buying two copies of books I like: ebooks and print. There's probably a 12-step program for this problem, but I'm not certain I want to be cured...

Cheryl Lemon

1/4/2015 01:21:50 am

Love the picture of the grandkids. I know how you feel about turning 65. I just turned 60. I don't feel or look 60, but there are days. My New Years resolution is not to fall (as I did this quite a bit in 2014) as recent as last Monday. Never hurt myself to badly but have really pretty bruises. I one click the free book you suggest can't wait to read it. Have a great year. Cheryl

Kate Douglas

1/4/2015 05:37:56 am

Learn to tuck and roll, Cheryl. I fall a lot and have for years, all part of the balance issues from MS. I've learned to go down fairly limp and tuck the important stuff out of the way...like my rather hard but crackable head. As far as staying younger, I think the secret is to stay active both mentally and physically. I've been down with a headcold for a couple of days, but feel better today and I'm planning to get out for my 3 miles. That makes a huge difference in how I feel. I run until it hurts and then walk until it stops...seems to work. Let me know what you think of Paige's story. I loved it! Have a wonderful new year!

trins

1/4/2015 12:33:21 pm

Beautiful picts....here where i am everything is covered in snow and still going lol.....cheers

Kate Douglas

1/4/2015 01:21:10 pm

That's why I love California! We live close enough to the coast that the weather is really nice--it gets cold in winter, and the nights can go below freezing, but when I went for my run today it was a balmy 60 degrees out. Cold tonight, though, but so clear with a full moon. Hard to complain.

Sharon Beauchemin

1/13/2015 05:48:29 am

Love the pic and it would be great on cover

Kate Douglas

1/15/2015 02:25:20 am

Thanks, Sharon. Yep--big brother done good on that one! I'm hoping to use it for the next book, but have to get it written first!

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I'm a romance author--I really love those happy endings, though I don't mind putting my characters through pure, unadulterated hell before they get there...

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 Newsletter Contest:
Contests are back! I'm not totally settled, but really miss giving away books, so ready or not, I'm going to start slow. International entries are welcome, though I will have to limit International winners to ebooks. Postage costs are just too high. Your addresses will not be shared or sold--I respect your privacy. I will only collect addresses if I am giving away print books. That way I don't have to search for the winner after the contest.
I have these contests for fun, because I love to share my books.

January 2015 Newsletter

I'm a romance author--I really love those happy endings, though I don't mind putting my characters through pure, unadulterated hell before they get there...

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