Kauai Love

Just got back from our vacation to Kauai on Tuesday, and I'm sad to be home. I've never been sad to come home from a holiday before, so that tells you how much I loved Kauai. It was just magical, and we did so many fun things, including a catamaran sail where we saw two humpbacks swimming toward the setting sun, tubed down an irrigation canal at an old sugar plantation, attended a luau, rode bikes on a path along the ocean, rode horses along the beach, kayaked down a river then hiked to a secret waterfall for a picnic lunch. Hubby and both the weasels loved it as much as I did.

We stayed at a gorgeous hotel in the south of the island. Here's the view from our covered lanai.

And here's a shot of me and little weasel out at the beach. Yes, I know I'm white, but I actually got a little color while I was there.

While I was away I got my cover for Let Me In, which comes out May 21st, and I really like it. Will post it soon, along with the blurb.

SEAL Sale!

I did it. I did the requested revisions and just found out Carina Press has acquired my latest manuscript, Covert Seduction. It features a delicious SEAL hero, and it has a suspense plot that I'll be expanding during edits. Can't wait for you to meet Reid!

Do you all remember that horrific Chinook crash last August in Wardak province, Afghanistan, that killed so many DevGru SEALs, several AFSOC members and the entire air crew? I've touched on that in the book. By now you all know how much I love doing research on my military characters, and this book was no exception. While I don't go into heavy military detail and skill set descriptions in this story like I do in my Kaylea Cross books, I hope I've given just enough detail to make Reid leap off the page. The book will release early next year.

The other happy news I have is that I'm leaving for Kauai this weekend, and I'll be taking a Kindle full of books by an amazing new author I've just found--Charlotte Stein. Have you read any of her work? I finished Sheltered today and literally couldn't put it down. The author does such an incredible job with the characterization and heat mixed with tenderness that the book earned a huge five stars from me. As such, I went out and bought half a dozen books from her back list to take with me on holiday. If they're even half as good as Sheltered, I'm in for a treat.

Aloha, everyone!

Oh Captain, My Captain

If you're a rabid sports fan, then you'll understand where I'm coming from in this post. There's a heaviness in my chest right now, has been all weekend, and I'm not sure when it will go away. On March 1st my hero, my very favorite baseball player of all time, retired from the game. I'm heartbroken.

Jason Varitek wasn't only my hero, he was the appointed captain of the Boston Red Sox and the hardest working catcher in all of Major League baseball. I've never idolized an athlete as I did him, and watching the Sox this year without him will leave a hollow feeling inside me. Knowing he'll never be behind the plate again makes me sad beyond words, but I hope he'll stay on in the Boston organization in some capacity, whether as a coach or some sort of management position. God knows he's got the talent and he's earned the right. He led by example both on and off the field, and in doing so he's won the devotion of both his teammates and the faithful members of the BoSox Nation.

"Tek"smiled and winked at me once when I watched him from outside the bullpen fence at Safeco field in Seattle, and a friend got him to autograph a ball for me. Those two things are treasured mementos, and they'll just have to sustain me through the baseball seasons to come.