Oh, how great things were going. I was almost ready to submit The Coming Storm and have it ready for a New Year’s release. All was going great. In my haste, I made a vital error – I did not keep uploading the edits to the mysterious cloud, where everything is kept safe. Ah, the one time I didn’t do it. The one time I foolishly continued to save the document on my laptop itself. Guess what?

Yes. The absolute worst thing ever possible happened.

Imagine my surprise when I went to power up my laptop and it shut down again. Well, the laptop I was using was old. I’ve had it since 2011, and it has already had the hard drive replaced once. However, with that in mind, I didn’t think much of it. I believed I needed to order a new battery. After all, the notices popping up every day upon booting told me that the battery health was poor. So rather than panicking and trying to backup the hard drive while I could, I called Directv, who kindly offers insurance on your electronic products. Since I’m on my laptops a lot, I thought it was a worthy expense. Well, sure enough, it was. After setting aside the laptop for the weekend, I called them to request a new battery. Part of their insurance coverage is a yearly replacement of the batteries. I had yet to take advantage of that little benefit and figured I’d better get on it so I could submit my newest novel.

Well, the kind man on the phone asked me what was going on. As we were talking, he also asked me to boot up the laptop. Imagine my horror when I pressed the power button and nothing happened! When I told him that, he said the words that brought my world crashing down. It was not just the battery. The computer would not power up at all, even with the power cord plugged in.

Great, I’m thinking. Can they fix it?

I’m still not in a full panic because I’m confident that it’s never an issue to retrieve data from broken laptops. In my mind, the government can do it; surely Directv can too. I decide to send it in for a small fee and postpone the release of the novel. They can decide if my battery is that messed up (yes, I still thought that was the problem) while I wait.

Weeks go by with no technology. That’s the most horrible feeling, I must admit. In addition, my daughter’s laptop had to go in under warranty because hers was sending up messages to reinstall an operating system. Was Mercury retrograde? I think it was! We have no computers working in my house. How can that be? I’m back in the Dark Ages. Meanwhile, Directv has a policy that they will refund the fee if they cannot fix the laptop within three days. Of course, that’s my situation. I’m waiting and waiting. I’m also starting to panic because the only version of The Coming Storm in the cloud is an earlier copy before my edits, so I’m counting on getting my laptop back with an intact hard drive.

Finally, I get the email. It’s been repaired and will be shipped back to me! Yay! I can have my trusty computer back. Imagine my joy (and my daughter’s too. Her laptop was being fixed as well, but HP was kind and sent the box with expedited shipping since they were so busy a technician forgot to call me back). Of course, the email doesn’t say what was done to the laptop, so I have to wait another three business days for the box to arrive. I tore into that box like a kid opening a Christmas present. Believe me. I was so excited… only to have a silver-cellophane wrapped device drop into my hand along with the power cord. I’m thinking, what the…?
The first tendrils of dread start to form in my head. Why are they sending me a sealed hard drive? I pull out the papers next. “Hard drive replaced. Unable to save data.”

WHAT?! Are you kidding me!?

I’m still not in a full panic, because the first time the hard drive was replaced, I was the dork who did it. Go me. I’m so utterly electronic ignorant that I should earn a medal for successfully replacing it once, but I must admit that it was not entirely me. I was lucky enough to have help from a little device from Apricorn called a Universal Hard Drive Adaptor with Cloning Software included. I also kept my old hard drive from the first time I replaced it. Good for me.

I’m thinking now that Directv just didn’t want to get the data off the hard drive and sent it back to me out of laziness rather than necessity. So, I hook up the hard drive they kindly returned to me and try to clone it over. It doesn’t work.

Panic.

I try it again.

Increasing panic.

I get online and spend a few days Googling and looking for help. Finally, I learn with Apricorn’s help (yes, I emailed them) that since Directv reinstalled Windows 7 for me that I have to try the cloning from safe mode. Okay, so I try that. It doesn’t work. The hard drive is officially done. However, my first hard drive does work. At least I don’t lose all my programs like Office 2010, Photoshop, games, etc. That several hundred dollar loss was almost as frightening as losing my novel and book cover.

So, here it is March now. I’ve spent weeks rebuilding the novel and lamenting the loss of two years of photos, songs, movies, and games. All those wonderful things as well as my kids’ Sims games were lost in addition to my copy of The Coming Storm’s cover and the final draft. However, I’m down but not out. I’ve been working very hard to redo it all, and I’m back online again – wow, that was the strangest feeling. (Isn’t it amazing how easily technology overtakes our lives?) Furthermore, I have the great pleasure of revealing that lovely cover today with the promise that The Coming Storm is coming soon to a retailer near you!!  

At last! The long-awaited follow up to Hannah's Blessing is coming soon!


I am so pleased to announce that haughty supermodel, Roxanne Lemieux, is ushering in a new trio of books that introduces a new family series, the Jacksons. Now they will not be completely replacing the Evans, of course, but they should have plenty of fun, excitement, love, drama, and thrills to keep you entertained for plenty of time to come.


So first we start with Roxanne. For all my Hannah's Blessing readers who adored the Cinderella story of Diana and Devlan, they know that Roxanne was not a very nice character. However, as you will find in her story, Finding Roxanne, she has quite a few secrets of her own, and they come to light in her tale with the help of a wonderful, altruistic, and sexy hero, Jimmy "Finn" Finnegan, and his household of needy children. We all learn how different Roxanne is behind closed doors, and she finds what she has longed for her entire life - love. Ah, but doesn't everyone?


Following Roxanne's story, we will take a visit into her younger sister, Aimee's life. While Aimee has a secret crush on her best friend's partner, a secret admirer has a crush on her, and that crush ends up being a little too obsessive. Aimee never thought she would fall prey to a stalker, but it just goes to show that it can happen to anyone. The only good thing that ends up from her ordeal is that Detective Rick Ballard finally notices Aimee, and he takes it upon himself to keep an eye out on her, causing sparks to fly between them and her infuriated stalker. Look for more updates in early-2016.


Also in 2016, the third member of the Lemieux family appears in the form of Roxanne and Aimee's cousin, Tyler. The talented dancer and professional cheerleader who goes by the name of Tyla loses everything in a tragic car accident that snatches the life of her younger brother. She believes she is safe hiding out in the Mogollon Rim of Arizona's high country and tries to come to terms with her physical and emotional scars. However, her quiet life away from the public scrutiny comes to a screeching end when the ranch bordering hers is purchased by none other than the pro-football player who made an irresponsible tweet about her car accident without knowing the details and caused the public to turn on her. Though not a day has passed in the two years since her accident that Duke Jackson has not regretted his single tweet, Tyla is not easily convinced. She had been ostracized by the public for it, and the harassment continues, even in the quiet town she now calls home, and it only gets worse when her new neighbor decides to make things right no matter what the cost, even if it includes his heart.


For my Evans family fans, this fall will also see The Coming Storm, where Hayden goes down to Colombia to reunite with his old handler, Special Agent James "Shep" Shepard, who was promoted following the arrest of Rocky Alvarez. However, the men end up with more on their plate than searching for two of the missing girls Hayden is intent on rescuing after Hayden and Davis are waylaid by a frazzled woman in their hotel lobby who is convinced they are CIA agents. When she secretly follows them to Shep, he learns that Dr. Olivia Hastings is in bigger trouble than she realizes, and he cannot in good conscience leave her alone in the dangerous city his case has led him to, especially since it appears as though fate has led her to him. Surprisingly enough, she is the missing key he had been searching for to wrap up his case, but he cannot reveal that to her in case the cartels snatch her before he and Hayden can smuggle her to safety.


Stay tuned for future updates, but keep in mind that we'll have two new stories this fall - just in time for the holidays! 
 

Hello my dear friends!

I know it's been a while between posts, but I'm doing my best to finish up the rough draft of the new Evans series. Yes, they are not done yet! Yay! I received so many requests to keep it going that I couldn't find the heart to put my beloved friends away forever. I'm just about done with the rough draft of the Evans Domination Series, Book One. As the readers of Sunshine Rising learned, there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, and sure enough, they have not finished their battle with the Mexican cartels.

So, what's the new book about? Well, without giving away the entire plot, I will say that they are searching for El Padrino (who, by the way, is not the real El Padrino who was arrested some time ago. I did not base my character on him at all, and I had never heard of him until I began researching this new book. I wanted to put that out there, just in case, LOL). Book One will be introducing some new characters who will be relevant in future books, but our favorite Evans characters do make an appearance. Zach is trying his hardest to handle El Padrino the legal way while Hayden, Andrew, and Ian are planning to go rogue. When Zach is called into a human trafficking case based in Tucson, he works hard to tie it back to El Padrino. Stay tuned for a frightening, yet very real, story to come.

With that being said, please watch out this summer for the new book, Hope Is Calling, The Evans Domination, Book One. We're looking at a late-June release date, but I'll post once it's ready to go.

I hope all of my friends are doing well, and thank you for your patience with me last year. I know I was only able to release two books instead of three, but I'm trying hard to make up for that this year. If only I could fix my back! Ugh.

Don't forget to stay tuned. I'm sending the information to my cover artist today, and hopefully she'll be working her magic in time for the June release. 

Hugs to my readers out there! Take care.

Greetings everyone!

I have been offline for quite some time, and I apologize for that. My second surgery in June took quite a bit out of me physically. What they found when they went in was a misplaced screw that was pushing on the herniated L4/L5, and a lot of scar tissue had built up around my sciatic nerves (ouch, I'll tell you). The damage has brought out some herniation at L3 and bulging at L2 and L1, although that's not too bad at all. I hope by continuing to use the inversion table, I can fix that. I just need to wait for clearance to hang upside down again.

At any rate, those first few months were agonizing. When I saw my surgeon in October, I was sobbing so hard by the time I reached his office that he sent me home and said, "come back next month and we'll see about starting PT then." I had to see my pain management doctor, and we tried a Flector patch for the fusion site itself. I did not find that useful at all, but it might work for others. What I have found was a website. I did a Google search in desperation and stumbled upon the McKenzie Method. It's an institute based out of New Zealand, and he runs a PT program specifically designed for us with extreme back problems. He also has a set for neck issues too. I mentioned him to my pain doc when I saw him, and he was surprised that I found him. He said that in his opinion, McKenzie is the best way to manage severe back problems, and I agree with him. The exercises are simple, and I saw an improvement almost immediately. It hurt at first, and my range of motion is nowhere near that of those in the videos, but I'm getting there little by little. I can now move forward and backward more than a half inch, and I can lean forward and backward a little. My biggest problem right now is the tightness of my muscles. I believe that if they would stop with the spasms and loosen up a little bit more, I'd be in much better shape. But I still do the exercises multiple times a day, especially after I have to run errands or drive for any distance, and I stretch every chance I get. My kids find it hysterical when I walk in the door and immediately get down on the floor. But I have found something that works for me, and I hope it continues to help. Thank you McKenzie Institute!

So Sunshine Rising was very delayed. For that, I apologize, too. I have finally finished it, and it's a long novel. Since it has characters from the entire series in it, there is a cast of characters, and I highly recommend using it so you don't get confused. Now that Sunshine Rising is complete, I'll be working right away on my next novel. I hope this year to publish four to make up for last year (barring any further back surgeries). Please keep your fingers crossed! I have several ideas popping in my head already, and I'm anxious to get them down on paper to keep you all busy. In the meantime, I do hope you all enjoy the new book, and I thank you again for your support and patience!

Most importantly, remember to take care of your back! You only have one, and it is completely devastating when you lose it. 

Hello, my dear friends!

Well, it's been back to the hospital for me... another four days of luxury but lots of pain, ugh. I am home and back on a walker for a while. The same restrictions as before - fun fun! Anyway, I'm on a lot of medications again, so Cooper's Choice has been taking a bit longer than I hoped. I'm terribly sorry about that, and I can't thank you, my dear friends, for your patience and support. It's been a slow process, but my beta readers are working on it, too. Every day, I get a little bit further before my vision blurs, and I have to shut down the computer. So frustrating!

Back to the back! Okay, so my wonderful surgeon took out the rods and screws that he put in last September, so I have to wear this giant corset that looks and feels like a bullet-proof vest (without the weight, lucky me) until my previous fusion is more secure. He also found a tremendous amount of scar tissue around my L5/S1 nerve roots. He said, rather sternly, that it's from doing too much too soon. My response was, "well, I'm a mom!" Then I hobbled out feeling very chastised. I'm doing my best, with my children's help, to take it easy and focus on work. 

On the plus side! I have my lovely new cover, and here it is! Charming Cooper and beautiful Brianna with a lot of symbolism with them. You'll understand when you read it.. as soon as possible :D.

Once again, please let me thank everyone for your kind comments, emails, postings and messages. It's been so heartening to know that you're impatiently but encouragingly waiting for Cooper and Brianna's story. That helps so much when I hear from you. I'm almost there, so stay tuned!!!

XOXO

Surprise!

Some unexpected – but hopefully good – news. I saw my back surgeon on Thursday last week, and he scheduled me for another surgery tomorrow. It’s been quite a rush, but I’ve deteriorated rather quickly and he was quick to act. Once again, I’ll be visiting the beautiful hospital I went to last September and experiencing their five-star dining after enduring an exploratory surgery with a "bilateral foraminal decompression and laminectomy with additional levels and procedures as needed." Now those are my doctor’s words, so I’m not 100% sure what they mean. I’m thinking he might fix the herniation at L4 while he’s exploring the L5/S1 nerve root.

Alas, for all of us back sufferers, there is always that gleam of hope that this will fix it completely, and I admit I am feeling a little bit of hope with the normal fear. I keep chanting to myself, "the end is in sight!" :) I’m still working on Cooper’s Choice and remain optimistic that this will not prevent it from coming out next month. However, if something does happen, I will post here and let everyone know.

As always, thank you all for your continued support! You’ve been amazing at keeping me motivated, and I appreciate everyone’s kind words. There truly are some wonderful people out there, and every note, message and comment helps a lot! Thank you, thank you to all!

Although a little late in posting, here is my continuing series of scenes from my books. I've chosen Eyes on Tango, one of my favorites to feature next. A jungle adventure, a vacation gone awry, and the beginning of the mystery is falling into place. 

Please enjoy seeing some of the scenes where Dani and Hayden began their road to love, where Rocky and Micaela reveal their plans, and where Zach begins to find the information he needs to catch the bad guys he and Ian have been hunting for months.

From the ruins in Tulum, Mexico, up the Mayan Riviera to Playa del Carmen and finally Cancun, Mexico, the two lovers run for their lives in search of escape from a beautiful land turned deadly.

I hope you have a fun time exploring the sites with Dani and Hayden!

It’s been a very long time since I posted an update, but I do have good reasons for it.

After the busyness of the holidays, I began moving house. Remember the doctors warned me not to lift more than 5-10 pounds, right? Well, with no other choice in the matter, I did lift more than I was supposed to. It took me over a month moving very slowly to transfer everything – three kids and eight years of stuff… isn’t it amazing how much we accumulate? :o)

At any rate, starting in February, I noticed I was deteriorating. I took to bed first, thinking I had strained something. A few days later, there wasn’t much change, so I went back to my doctor for a stern lecture and some oral steroids. He referred me back to my surgeon, who reminded me firmly that I should not have done so much. He ordered a new set of x-rays and a CT-Scan. Three rounds of oral steroids and two exams later, I returned to my surgeon, and here are the results:

The fusion is healing. Although we feared I damaged the new bone, it held up and is growing. That was a relief – I can’t even begin to tell you – especially after that horrible surgery. However, it’s come to light that more of my discs have deteriorated. I’m back at square one again with degeneration, stenosis, nerve compression, etc., and that just about broke my heart. L2 and L3 are bulging, and the herniation at L4 has progressed further. It’s a different set of problems now, where I can’t move the toes much in my left leg, and it’s very weak, so “heavy” at times that I have to use my cane. I had to increase my dose of Percocet again (that was such a bummer after I had started weaning off all the medications), and the tears started coming daily again.

So after feeling this overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and teetering on the edge of depression, I did an Internet search and found this terrific website called Spine-Health. They have a bunch of forums in there, and many of the stories I read were so similar to mine that I felt better. I guess it's true when they say misery loves company, LOL. I haven’t posted in any yet, but just reading through them has helped.

I’m sure many of you in the same situation can relate when I say it’s difficult when people don’t understand exactly what you’re going through. You look somewhat normal (unless you’re trying to move, LOL), so they have a tough time sympathizing with the pain you’re in. Friends want to know why you can’t hang out and don’t understand how sitting for more than five minutes at a time is excruciating. Family doesn’t understand why you can’t just pick up a laundry basket and carry it into the bedroom for folding when it only weighs a few pounds, etc. etc. They feel bad but can’t fully comprehend. So this website is a must visit if you’re in a situation like mine. It will help, trust me!

Anyway, so being back to square one means another round of injections. I had my first one last week and will have the second one tomorrow. It hasn’t helped much. I’ve also begun to use the inversion table again (boy, does it hurt!) in the hopes of sucking those bulging discs back in. I'm still doing the exercises daily, and I love the pool! Just dangling there is like heaven. My pain management doc believes that all those discs will have to be fused eventually, and that was a hard blow, but I’m trying hard to stay away from that. Time will tell, I suppose. I’ll be back to the surgeon again next month, so we’ll see if surgery is coming...

How is the writing coming along?

I’ve had so many emails asking about book six. It’s a huge honor to hear of everyone’s excitement for the next release, so please write away! I promise, I’m still planning on having it ready this summer. With everything else going on, it’s been hard to keep up, but I already sent the cover information to my cover artist, I’ve done a read-through, and next will be final edits and beta-readings. I’ve also started working on Cher’s story and the culmination of the Evans series. Book seven might end up being a bit longer, but it will have closure. Whoo hoo! Everyone will make an appearance in that story, and I’m hoping to have an exciting and suspenseful adventure bringing the bad guys to justice. If I can stay out of surgery, I’m aiming to have that ready to go this fall. I usually have my books done a year in advance, so I’ll be cutting it close this time. If that’s the case, I might postpone at the risk of quality. I want the final installment to be perfect! I’m sure you all understand. :o)

Thank you to everyone for keeping in touch. I love hearing from you, and it keeps me motivated to continue working. For those who follow my back progression, I hope you’ll continue to keep positive, no matter how overwhelming it all feels. You are not alone. There are others like us who feel the same way we do. Check out that website and maybe you can find some helpful tips and more hope.  

Hello Everyone!