But I really like this cover!

As a self-published author, I am responsible for my own covers. I have to be aware that covers sell the books. Yet at the same time, I am one to buck the rules. I was a soldier a long time ago, and I must confess, I bucked them back then, too, even though it was drilled into me to shut up and obey. Perhaps that's why I don't want to follow trends. 
So this tension has taken me to this point. I made my own covers or my Bay of Fundy Romantic Suspense series, and I love them. I took the photographs myself, enjoyed the travel to those mysterious places, but frankly, nice sunny shots of famous locales don't really scream suspense.
Here is the cover for Cape of Secrets.

Cape of Secrets

Do you see what I mean? It's a great cover. Nice, interesting shot, good, sunny colours and a balanced layout, but would you get mystery/suspense from that? 
I don't think so.
What are your thoughts?  Is it time to redo the cover? Let me know.

New Cover, new content, powerful book

Trust No One. 

I mean it.

Helen couldn't and Nick wouldn't. 

But somehow they managed to figure out the love they shared.

But would the killer get to them first?

 

Trust No One

https://amzn.to/2We59qG

This book originally published in 2002, but has been totally updated, refreshed and ready for you to enjoy.

It's almost here!! Better than ever!

The long-awaited Romance Super Bundle IV is almost here! Isn't it a gorgeous cover?
Excitement is building for Monday, when we launch this incredible bundle, the one I can say is better than ever! Can you imagine, TEN great stories for only $0.99 cents? Who sees a great deal like that anymore?

From small towns and secret babies to Navy SEALs and nasty villains, we have danger, love, excitement all rolled into one wonderful romance bundle just for you!

Endless Love at amazon 

For all my epub version readers out there, please head over to 

Endless Love and Barnes and Noble

or if you're a Kobo fan, try

Endless Love at Kobo

Like Google, try this link 

Endless Love at Google 

Which one are you going to read first?

The Logic Behind a Good Suspense Title

When your titles mix feelings
 
Have you ever wondered where authors get their titles? With big publishing houses, titles are often chosen by the editorial staff, and are designed to reflect that publisher, author and genre.
Indie authors, that is those who publish independently, have a bit more freedom, but that doesn't always preclude an awesome title. 
But for suspense stories, titles have got to grab and speak the genre. One way to do that, is for the author to consider mixing two opposite elements. 
Think of Tess Gerritson's The Bone Garden. While bones offer up a taste of pain and death, gardens suggest pleasant retreats, beautiful flowers, rich produce. The two incompatible elements make for a mystery, a suggestion of things hidden. A suspense story.
My book, Deadly Trust, also suggests that. Deadly is self explanatory, and so is trust. Juxtaposing these two words creates a question, which suggests suspense. Even my latest Love Inspired Historical, also a suspense, has a title that asks a similar question. Undercover Sheriff (not yet released) asks the obvious question, why is the sheriff undercover? We all know the answer; because he is solving a crime. But the word undercover means a person is a mystery, hidden, while the sheriff is an outward authority figure, one is plain view. 
The title Hidden in Plain Sight reveals a number of fiction and non fiction books that not only suggest two opposites, but even my next point.

When words have different meanings

A number of books with the above title have Amish themes. The word plain means both obvious, and simple, unadorned. 
UnderCovers can also suggest both sensual themes and pretending to be someone you're not. This book has both, so the single worded title does double duty. 

What titles can you think of that suggest a mix of meanings or feelings? What title do you like best?

Wonderful, Money-saving News for all!!

Romance Super Bundle only 99 cents!

My husband always likes me to save money, and I thought I would pass along the savings to  you. At ten cents a book, we have your fall reading all wrapped up in one neat and easy to grab bundle! With must-read writers like Amy Gamet Dale Mayer Lois Winston Pamela Fryer Edie Ramer, Kate Kelly and Donna Marie Rogers we've got a terrific bundle going on! 
And later this week, I hope to give you the other formats, (still the same great price) so no one misses out! Enjoy!

Romance Super Bundle (Contemporary, Romantic Suspense & Historical)

Promote Winter Out!

Okay, when the military wants to get rid of someone, they often promote them and post them far away. So that's what I'm doing here. I'm going to promote winter off the calendar! (in a very unique way!)

Hard Target

See this book? It's part of my evil scheme to rid this hemisphere of winter. Because this book is set where winter is warm and palms trees rule!

Let's get rid of winter

Soooo, Hard Target has been reduced to just $1.99 for a couple of weeks. It's a kind of 'Let's hurry spring along' promotion. 

Because, frankly, I'm getting sick of winter. Let's promote it and post it far away!!

#SuspenseSunday

"It's always a dark and stormy night somewhere...." And for award-winning author and PI, Pam Beason, writing mysteries has her thinking that all the time!

          The Only Witness                    

                                                                           
KIDNAPPING...OR MURDER?

A MISSING BABY
Seventeen-year-old Brittany Morgan dashed into the store for just a minute, leaving her sleeping baby in the car. Now Ivy's gone and half the town believes Brittany murdered her daughter.

A HAUNTED DETECTIVE
Detective Matthew Finn, a big-city fish out of water in small-town Evansburg, Washington, struggles with his wife's betrayal as he investigates Ivy Morgan's disappearance. The clock is ticking and he can't find any witnesses.

AN UNUSUAL RESEARCH SUBJECT
Imaginative, manipulative, and volatile, with the intelligence of a five-year-old child, Neema cannot speak, but she knows enough sign language to invent jokes and insults. She can also hurl a grown man across the room. Neema is a gorilla.

A DISTRESSED SCIENTIST
After a psycho murdered one of her "talking" gorillas in Seattle, Dr. Grace McKenna relocated to the Evansburg area. Now with the economy on the rocks and her funding cut, her beloved gorillas Neema and Gumu are in jeopardy. When Neema repeats a story of a crying baby, a cucumber car, and a snake, Grace realizes her gorilla is the only witness to whatever happened to baby Ivy.

Does Grace dare go public with Neema's sketchy clues? Can she afford not to?

#SuspenseSunday

In today's installment of #SuspenseSunday, we feature Lina Gardiner's fabulous novel, What She Doesn't know.

Raven Gale can't put the past behind her. A year ago, her husband tried to kill her in a car accident and killed himself instead. And, as if that wasn't bad enough; she finds out someone is pretending to be him on an isolated island in the Bay of Fundy. What if it's really her husband? What if he's still alive? She'd been in hospital when the funeral was held. For the first time in her life, she finds the strength to track down the imposter to find out what's going on.

Now stranded on an island with no way back to the mainland, she's in the worst trouble she could ever imagine. The imposter claims to want to help her and keep her safe from the other visitors on the island, a group of men who want her dead. And she has no idea why. She quickly learns everyone wants the same thing her husband wanted. Her family's secrets. Secrets that she doesn't know, or can't remember.

Everyone wants secrets she either doesn't know or can't remember, and they're willing to kill for them.

And at only $2.99 I'd say it's a great deal!

Welcome!

I changed my email address, and now I can't get at my old post! Never mind. I've been too busy to deal with that anyway.
With the kids back to school, and myself having a deadline, I haven't put too much into any but writing. But last night, I got to attend a dinner theatre where it was literally a mix of live acting and taped characters. And the story was wonderful.
The theatre group is called Seedlings and they are missionaries of sorts, but the story they told was fabulous and what I want to tell about today. It's called The Prodigal Missionary. A prodigal son type gets marooned on an island near Fiji, and the only way off the island is on a drug runner's boat. But those same drug runners are killing the children of those who saved our hero's life. At a crossroads, our hero is forced to face his past, deal with the present, and find the strength to look forward to the future.

Live theatre is tough enough, but this crew deal with interaction with videotaped performances, not to mention setting up and tearing down their huge sets everyday!