HAPPY SATURDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hi, All!

I hope you are having a great weekend. This is Day 4 in my Kindle Countdown Deal for The Eyewitness, Book 1 The D'Azzo Family series. 

Here is what you need to know...

FOUR DAYS LEFT

ON SALE FOR $0.99

Don't forget to grab a pre-order copy of The Analyst, Book 2 for the same price—just $0.99. 

Happy Reading! If you enjoy these two books, I would really appreciate a positive, honest review.

Thank you!

Nancy C. Weeks

BOOK COVER REVEAL THE ANALYST- BOOK 2 THE D'AZZO FAMILY SERIES --AND SALE!

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Today is the official Book Cover Reveal for my new release, The Analyst, Book 2 of The D'Azzo Family series. I love this cover and so very proud of the story. This is what my wonderful editor, Julie Sturgeon, has to say about it. 

"Every career has a high point, and it’s rarely the glitzy moments. It’s that moment of deep satisfaction, a personal joy, something that awes you. This story is that for me."

AMAZON

You waited a long time for this story. It's been an interesting road since March 2018 when Simon & Schuster closed the doors unexpectedly to my imprint, Crimson Romance. The Eyewitness and The Analyst sat for months in the mess that followed. But that's in the past. 

Thank you for your patience. I'm placing The Analyst is up for PRE-ORDER for only $0.99. It will return to its normal price right after it releases. 

In honor of this book cover reveal, I have also placed the digital version of The Eyewitness on a Kindle Countdown Deal for only 7 days at $0.99. 

AMAZON ONLY--GET YOUR COPIES HERE

The Analyst Blurb:

Fans of Blue Bloods won’t want to miss this chapter of the D’Azzo family. 
FBI analyst Tessa D’Azzo has been tasked with a tough job even for her unusual skills: tear decorated police officer Oliver Gates’s life apart to find out why he went on a killing rampage before the Beltway sniper put a bullet through his heart. Anyone else would have missed the one link Tessa uncovers that connects Gates’s death, the sniper, and her own father’s murderer. 

But she reports to the one detective whose goal in life is to bury her career. Just let him try to distract her from using her advantage to hunt down this murderer. 

Gates’s replacement, Captain Eric Logan, has had his fill of Tessa’s brilliant but erratic mind, her unfounded theories, and the way she haunts his dreams. He owes Joe D’Azzo a great debt and is determined to find who’s behind his friend’s murder without Tessa’s interference destroying his case. 
Yet when grief overwhelms Tessa’s focus, Eric’s closeness is the only thing that centers her. And he can’t squelch the desire to convince her that life is about more than working the case.  Maybe this time, she doesn’t have to fight the battle alone. 


With the killer close enough to touch and Tessa the target, will love transform them to true partners?

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Come back tomorrow for Chapter One excerpt, but before you go, I have an exciting contest on my newsletter this month. Have you ever dreamed of becoming a character in a book? I will pick one of my newsletter subscribers and recreate him/her into a secondary character in my next release, The Protector which releases this winter 2020. To learn more about my newsletter, clink HERE.

~~~

That's it for today.  Don't forget to drop by tomorrow for Chapter One of The Analyst. I have one more contest I can't wait to tell you about. I hope you can find a few stolen moments to relax and read a wonderful book. 

Hugs to all, 

Nancy C. Weeks

*** Don't forget to join my Facebook Fan Page, Nancy's Corner, join my Newsletter and follow me on BookBub. 

THE PROTECTOR QUEST: WRITING THE NEXT NOVEL

"Nothing worth doing comes easy." 

Happy Friday, Everyone!
I'm beginning a blog series, The Protector Quest. What the heck is that? Well, The Protector is the title of my ninth novel. Each new post will be presented in chapter form--because I'm a writer and I love getting through one chapter and going on to the next. This series is a bird's eye view of what I put myself through with each new novel. So lets get to it! 

Chapter One--The Beginning

I have nothing!

Well...that's not exactly true. I have an amazing title that the members of my wonderful Facebook group, Nancy's Corner, helped me select. The image above depicts the road I have ahead of me. It's that disorganized, unpredictable, and at times, so disheartening. AND...I constantly hear my sweet, wise mom's voice in my head. 

Nothing worth doing comes easy." 

I'm not overstating when I say I have nothing planned for The Protector.  This is how every new novel of mine begins. While I have a soft foundation for my hero, Nathan D'Azzo, Emersyn and Tessa's older brother, that's where things get sticky. I haven't a clue what comes next at this point.

You met Nathan for the first time in chapter two of The Eyewitness, and he has a much bigger role in The Analyst. The Protector will be the third book in my The D'Azzo Family series. Here is what it looks like: 

The Eyewitness--starring Emersyn D'Azzo and Alec Pearce

The Analyst-- starring Tessa D'Azzo and Eric Logan

[More to come about The Analyst below.] 

The Protector--starring Nathan D'Azzo and ???

Another truth: I know that The Protector is Nathan's journey, and that the man I introduce you to in the first sentence will not be the same man on the last page. I don't know how Nathan will change, but if I do my job, he will have envolved in ways I can't even imagine today. That is the magic of writing, the reason I love what I do so much.

So.... no name for my heroine. I'm thinking about Olivia, again, a name suggested from Nancy's Corner. It is beginning to fit the image I have of her in my head. What I can give you is by the end of chapter one, Nathan will put up every shield he built over the years and protect himself against her. 

But this is a romantic suspense with an HEA, right? 

I'll get there somehow. Next post, I hope to get your help choosing what she looks like---and what Nathan looks like, the inspiration I will use to create two amazingly strong characters. I know my villain, and they are going to need all the help they can get. 

This is your front row seat on my quest, writing of The Protector. I hope you will stick around and invite your friends too. As you can see, I have a lot of work to do. I want this book done by October. 

Unsettling News: The Analyst

I know you have been waiting patiently for  book 2, The Analyst. A month ago, out of the blue, Simon & Schuster closed the doors to my publisher, Crimson Romance, effective immediately. This came as a shock to everyone. I signed a contract on Friday three days before, and was so excited to announce it to you. Monday afternoon, The Analyst's contract, gone. All my books are still being sold by S&S, but I'm looking for another home for The D'Azzo Family series. Until I find it, I'm going to do something positive, write the next book.  I hope you will all be a little patient with me as I figure this out. It's time to take a deep breath and allow the dust to settle. I love what I do, and I love living my dream--even after this last month. 

That's it for today. Next week, I have invited the wonderful Bethany-Kris to sit down for an author interview. I'm so impressed by Bethany's confidence and drive. I can't wait for you to meet her. Until then, I hope you can take a break in your busy life and read a great book.

Hugs to all,

Nancy C. Weeks

***If you haven't heard about Nancy's Corner or joined Nancy's Newsletter, please do so today.  I would love to have a closer relationship with my readers.

WELCOME DEBUT AUTHOR ERIN KANE SPOCK AND COURTLY PLEASURES

"The storyteller in me was born that way, but the writer in me came from learning how to work hard and follow through."

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

I am thrilled to introduce you to a debut author who just join our Crimson Romance family, Erin Kane Spock. 

Erin's first novel, Courtly Pleasures is out for all of us to enjoy! And can I say, the reviews so far are wonderful: 

• "A real pleasure to read."
• " Engaging characters, real struggles and a bit of intrigue makes for a satisfying romance"
• "Full of great imagery, entertaining dialogue, a touch of humor, and a whole lot of sexy."

Erin, I would love to start off this interview with you telling us a little about yourself--the real Erin behind the writer. How did you come to write Courtly Pleasures? 

I majored in history partly because of my love of historical costuming. My costuming brought me to Renaissance Faire and I became part of a living history group portraying the court of Queen Elizabeth. 

Here is a glimpse of costumes modeled by my girls ... So adorable ... RIGHT!

My character was a real person from history, Frances Pierrepont. In researching her I found very little so I created details. The character, as I chose to portray her at that point, was a flibbertigibbet and a lot of fun. Years later, after the birth of my second daughter, I took a second look at Frances from the perspective of a young mother. I thought about how life would have been, how she would have dealt with the infant deaths recorded in her history, and this became the starting point of the story that would eventually be Courtly Pleasures. After the first draft (written entirely in dialect!), I changed her name to Frances LeSieur and modified her genealogy so I could call her a truly fictitious character.

That is a wonderful way to begin your career as a writer. Completing a book is an enormous challenge. What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it? In other words, what do you think drove you to complete this enormous project?

I wrote the book in stages and kept putting off the end (and the sex scenes). The Elizabethan world grew and grew but the story stagnated. My first challenge was ending the book. The next was streamlining the actual story and pruning out the fluff. I think I probably cut about 75,000 words. 
Writing the next books was smoother. I had a direction and an understanding of the process. By then I’d also started to research the Romance industry. After writing three more books, I came back to Courtly Pleasures and rewrote it with a focus on the romantic elements and brought it to the place it’s at now.

You're very brave to admit that you cut 75,000 words. I cut about 40,000 words on my novel, In the Shadow of Greed. FYI Readers: One of the hardest things for a writer is hitting that delete key and erasing parts of the story that's become a part of us. But it's an necessary evil.
So, I have an interesting question I like to ask new authors. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I always liked to write – journaling, poetry, short stories, plays… nothing I ever took seriously and never with the intention of making them public. Courtly Pleasures started out just for me as well. It wasn’t until I finished the first draft that I realized I had a real book and could think about publishing.

Erin, I write first for myself. That ideal keeps me grounded. Since we have mentioned Courtly Pleasures often in the last few minutes, lets give everyone a peek at your first novel: 

Drum roll.....

What’s a neglected wife to do when her husband doesn’t know she exists? Create a scandal, of course, in this delightful Elizabethan romp.

After ten years of marriage, Frances LeSieur has faded into her role as a lady wife and mother. She has no idea who she is as a woman. So Frances joins Queen Elizabeth’s glittering court and discovers a part of herself she never knew existed—and one she’s sure her neglectful husband would never notice.

Henry has always done his duty to family and crown despite his own desires. When Frances asks for a separation then transforms into a confident and vibrant courtier, he’s floored—and finds himself desperate to learn what makes her tick, both in and out of the bedroom. After years of silent alienation, can he woo her back, or will he lose this intoxicating woman to one of the rakes hell-bent on having her?

As Frances and Henry come to realize that living is not merely surviving, can they create a second chance at love before it’s too late?

Amazon

Such a sweet moment, right? You can read an excerpt here. Courtly Pleasures's Excerpt.

On with the interview. Here's another question I love to ask new authors? Do you believe writers are born or made?

I think writers are born creative, raised in a place that fosters imagination, and shaped by experiences into men and women of determination with the ability finish what they start. I’ve heard many people say they have great ideas for a book, but they’re not writers if they don’t write. I’m not necessarily more creative or skilled in writing than the person next to me, but the difference is that I actually sit down and write. The storyteller in me was born that way, but the writer in me came from learning how to work hard and follow through.

That's the best explanation to date. You're so right. Writers write. How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for a writing career?

WELCOME STONI ALEXANDER, AUTHOR OF THE WILDE TOUCH

"I’ve got a closet-full of ghosts waiting for their fifteen minutes of anonymous fame!"

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Today, I'm thrilled to introduce to a first timer on my blog, the lovely Stoni Alexander. 

Stoni has agreed to sit down for a quick interview and tell us a little about her amazing life before she became an author and how it's changed now that she spends her days in her writing cave. Welcome, Stoni Alexander. I personally can't wait to hear about the ghosts in your closet.

~~~ 

Thank you for having me, Nancy. I’m thrilled to be featured in your blog post!

Hello, hello! My name is Stoni Alexander and I’m a romance author! I cherish the opportunity to be creative and am grateful that I get to write every day. When not writing, my husband and I are avid power-walkers and we love watching our son play football.

Most of my pre-writing career was in corporate and government sales. Talk about a pressure-cooker! I also spent several years as an actress doing local theatre, television spots, training videos, and some gigs on Unsolved Mysteries, too. It was a fun time in my life! These days I can be found in my writer’s cave crafting angst-filled stories about couples finding their happily-ever-afters.

My debut novel, THE MITUS TOUCH, released in March of this year. I was ecstatic to receive Night Owl Reviews “Top Pick” and Scandalicious Book Reviews “The Cherry on Top Pick.” In October, I published the second in the series, THE WILDE TOUCH. This story also garnered Night Owl Reviews “Top Pick.” The third book in the series, THE LOVING TOUCH, is currently with the editor. This novella will be published in January/February of 2018.The Touch Series is not a light read. There’s betrayal, mystery, suspense, eroticism, and of course, true love. 

What an amazing year you have had. Congratulations! There is nothing like the feeling of your first book being released to the world. So, can you tell us the origins of your stories? 

I’m often asked, “Where do your story ideas come from? That’s a great question! They begin with a single image or incident. For THE MITUS TOUCH, the novel blossomed from a photograph and a movie scene.