For those who serve

   Growing up as the child of a service member, days like today mean something different to me. To some it's the day the pools open, to others it's their official start of summer. While those are all very exciting things especially in the Midwest where summer means heat and humidity, to me Memorial Day is about my dad. In the post- 9/11 world we live in, people tend to say thank you more often to the peole who keep our country safe than they did before our counrty was attacked and innocent lives taken for no reason other than that people didn't like us. But I want to ask that every one say thank you not just on national holidays when you think about it. Say it every day because every single day service men and women give us the gift of freedom.
   I've learned recently things about my father's job that as a child would have baffled and confused me, things that would have made it hard to sleep at night. But then I think that if I had known then what I know now maybe I would have slept just as peacefully knowing that my dad and the men he worked with were keeping us all safe.
   So from my little corner of the world I want to tell them all thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for sacrificing so much so that I am able to share my thoughts freely with anyone who cares to read them. Thank you for missing holidays and birthdays, anniversaries and births, so that we all may live free from oppression and terror. Thank you to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that others may come home to their families. Also, thank you to the families who serve alongside the memebers of the military. We know they do not serve alone and that the families also make great sacrifices for the protection of our country. Thank you and God bless each and every one of you.

Stalled out but still writing. Sneak peek ahead.

   Hi everyone. It's taken a while to get past that writer's block I had going. But I (and the voices in my head) needed a chance to regroup and relax, to work out how to get my next story going. I think I got it now, so I am getting antsy to start writing again. And it feels amazing. These next characters better watch out.
   Not so amazing is that sales of Saving Tate have stalled. I know it happens to everyone but I just don't know how else to get the word out there. So anyone still holding out, or anyone who has read it, please let people know. I hit 51 total sales at the end of April but nothing since. I'm anxiously waiting for my talented brother to create the cover for Fielder's Choice (hint, hint, nudge, nudge) and will put that on sale as soon as it's ready. I was also thinking maybe putting the first two books together in one to sell would be a good idea. But that's all a bit further down the road.
   Summer is just around the corner and apparently love is in the air. I have several weddings to attend starting in a few weeks. It seems like everyone is either getting married or having a baby. And congratulations to them all. Hopefully someday my time will come. Until then, I can write as many happy endings as I want, with myself in the starring role. Or someone that closely resembles me.
   Now for all of you who are also waiting very patiently for Fielder's Choice, I decided to give you a little sneak peek. It's not much but it comes in the days just following the end of Saving Tate. And for those of you who haven't met Mallory and Denny, or even Cam and Tate, head over to Barnes and Noble.com and purchase Saving Tate for only $.99.

My Little Bookshelf:  I just finished re-reading and completing the entire Troubleshooter/SEAL Team Sixteen series by Suzanne Brockmann. I love all these books but my favorite couple would have to be Sam and Alyssa. Maybe Eden and Izzy, too. But it's close. Definitely recommend this series especially if you like your heroes in uniform. Also, I've read the first three books in the Sullivans series by Bella Andre, courtesy of my Nook. Sweet love stories with your happily-ever-after-ending, they are nice, relaxing reads. And I  just finished Whisper Falls by Toni Blake, part of her Destiny series. I love her books and always try to pick up the new one.
   I'm looking forward to getting the two new Nora Roberts' books that were released last month, but I put them on hold because I was reading the Navy SEAL books. And Carly Phillips' new book Karma is also on my summer reading list.

   Well, that's about all from my little corner of the world. May your summer be filled with excitement and adventure, true love and romance. And may it not only be in the pages of a good book. Good night, my friends. See you again soon.

******************** SPOILER ALERT************************
                       Sneak preview of Fielder's Choice.
           
          **This excerpt contains strong language. Readers be advised.

            “Denny, we need to talk.”

            Mallory Carlyle looked at the man that she had been sharing a bed with for the past three weeks. The man she loved. The man she could no longer see.

            “Mal, what’s wrong?” Denny asked as he set down his beer and turned the TV down. Without their ace pitcher, Cam Carlyle, Mallory’s younger brother, the team he and Cam played for didn’t make it to post-season play. Denny was watching the division wild card game.

            Mallory looked funny, almost sad.

            “Baby, talk to me,” Denny said as he pulled her down onto the couch beside him. “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”

            She shook her head. “We can’t.”

            Denny’s mind started racing. He couldn’t think of what could have gone wrong. They’d been going along smoothly since they got back together a few weeks ago. “What is so bad that we can’t fix it, Mallory? Whatever it is, we’ll get through it. Together.”

            Mallory had yet to speak, leaving Denny to come to his own conclusions. He wrapped her in his arms, despite her weak attempts to get away. “Honey, are you pregnant?”

            She jerked back out of his arms, her eyes wide. “What? Why would you think that?”

            “Well, you’re not giving me much to go on here, Mal. What am I supposed to think?”

            Mallory stared at him, wanting to be upset with his assumption, but he was right. She wasn’t being clear. “No,” she finally said. “I’m not pregnant.”

            Denny released a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “Okay, then what’s going on? I haven’t seen that look on your face in a long time.”

            She closed her eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. She couldn’t sit next to him, especially with what she had to say. “Denny, I can’t do this anymore.”

            “Do what?” he asked carefully, praying his instincts were wrong.

            “This,” Mallory said motioning between the two of them. “Us.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            She began pacing to avoid the angry look on Denny’s face that she knew would be there. “It’s just not going to work.”

            Denny rose slowly from the couch. “That’s bullshit, Mallory, and you know it.” The barely controlled rage in his voice broke her heart. “Tell me what changed your mind because you seemed pretty happy with me last night when I was fucking you.”

            “Stop it,” Mallory said quietly.

            “I will when you tell me where your head is at, because something had to have happened for you to change your position so quickly. And I know I sure as hell didn’t mess up this time.

            “Did you meet someone else? Are you just bored? Is this payback for whatever you think happened two years ago? What? Tell me what I have to do to fix this!”

            Mallory didn’t want the tears to fall but she couldn’t stop them.

            “Talk to me, Mallory, please.”

            “Denny, it’s just too hard,” she sobbed.

            “What, baby? What is so hard? I thought we’d been doing pretty good.”

            “It’s Cam. You should see the way he looks at me when he comes into a room. I haven’t talked to him since he got out of the hospital. He wouldn’t even take my call after the whole episode with Gary. He’s disappointed in me and it’s killing me.”

            Denny turned away not able to listen anymore. “You want to end this because Cam isn’t happy?” he asked quietly.

            “Denny, you don’t understand. Cam is one of my best friends and it hurts that he won’t even talk to me. And he’s my brother. I need to fix things with him before I can even think about a serious relationship.”

            “A serious relationship with anyone or just with me?” When Mallory had no answer, Denny continued. “So I was just a pastime?”

            Mallory sighed and shook her head. “No, you weren’t, which I think is Cam’s biggest problem.”

            “For fuck’s sake, Mallory, do I look like I care what Cam’s problem is?”

            She didn’t know what else to say. “I’m just gonna go back to Cam’s. I fly out tomorrow morning anyway and I need to pack.”

            “So you’re just going to run again?”

            “I’m not running anywhere. I have a life to get back to.”

            He laughed sharply. “A life I’m not going to be a part of?”

            “Denny, please.”

            “What, Mal? What do you want? A hug and a kiss and a ‘see ya’ around’? Not going to happen, sweetheart.”

            Mallory nodded and walked to the door. Her purse was on the side table and as she grabbed it, she spoke very softly. “I wish things were different, Denny. I really do because I would choose you. Every time.”

            Before he could respond, Mallory shut the door and was gone. The sound of his beer bottle breaking punctuated the silence she left behind. That night Denny got completely wasted and stayed that way for a week.