Busy. Busy. Busy

It's summer and everyone is talking about taking a vacation or at least time off, but for a writer there doesn't seem to be any such animal. I've had my nose to the grindstone for the last month. No rhinoplasty necessary. No nose left.

FINALLY, the rewrite of my western historical, the naughy novella, is complete. I wrote the synopsis this morning and now all I have to do is read that sucker and find the typos, missing quotation marks. Oh yeah, I need to see if it still makes sense after all the rearranging I did in the rewrite. And there's just one thing, the novella is too long to be a novella. It's 43.5k words so technically it's category length.

So now, I can take a break--right? Wrong. Then I have to go back and finish the proofread on a previous rewritten ms so that I can resubmit it. I can take a break after that--right? Wrong again. Then I need to start something else. Something new. Something I haven't rewritten so many times, I'm SICK to death of it.

Would I feel compelled to do all this if I hadn't farted around and put off doing the work on the two recent manuscripts that I'm finally doing. Okay--one done and one half done. Both are in the final proofreading stage. So I"m going to get busy on re-reading the historical western, so I can send it off ASAP.

Marie-Nicole

http://marienicoleryan.com

To Our Fallen Heroes

To our fallen heroes and their families, Thank You for your sacrifices.

Marie-Nicole

Holding Her Own--Mixed Reviews

Today I took time to Google my name to see if any new reviews popped up, and what do you know there were two: 5/5 and Top Pick! from Night Owl Romance and 2/5 Hearts from The Romance Studio. I guess you can't please everyone and that's just how it goes in this business. Even the negative review had some nice things to say, so who can complain--certainly not me.

Here are a couple snips from each one.

"Holding Her Own is just an overall awesome read. " Heck, I couldn't have put it better myself. Melinda from Night Owl Romance has a lot of other nice things to say too, and if you want to take the time to read the rest, here's the link.

Now for the 2/5 heart review from Theresa Joseph who reviewed HHO for The Romance Studio.

"This was a book full of strong, wonderful characters. I can't wait for Alex to have a story of his own and I just love Charlotte who seemed to jump right off the pages. I really liked Jake and Caitlin, they were both interesting characters but I found it hard to believe that the two would actually end up together under the circumstances." There's more and here's that link, too.

What it boils down to is that some reviewers/readers love me and some don't. And that's how I feel about some books myself, too. After all, I was a reader long before I was a writer.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Marie-Nicole

Holding Her Own--Today!

This has to be the hottest cover I've ever had and I'm so thrilled to have it in my hands and doubly thrilled that my readers can too. Of course there's more than the cover: there's a great story. If you'll go to the Holding Her Own page at my web site, you'll find a multitude of direct links to buy it online.

Here's a blurb: (Yeah, I know you've seen it before, but I can't resist.)

May 2009 for Print version
Print ISBN: 978-1-60504-285-5

Electronic Formats

e-ISBN: 1-60504-068-1
Also available in Amazon's Kindle


Pretending to be newlyweds is a dangerous game…particularly when you’re falling in love.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Caitlin Chaney believes in doing things strictly by the book, and she’s determined to prove her father’s position in the federal government has nothing to do with her new appointment. To her way of thinking, Agent LeFevre is a screw up and bound to trash her operation and career.\


Agent Jake Lefevre is used to running undercover ops his way, and he’s not too happy with his new boss, Caitlin Chaney, an FBI accountant, whose undercover experience is limited at best. He needs a partner who can hold her own, not a prima donna.


Jake and Caitlin’s cover as newlyweds at a New Orleans casino is tested from the very beginning as they learn to live together and convince everyone else they’re madly in love. Their mission to investigate money laundering is almost compromised from the moment Jake discovers Caitlin’s boss and CFO is someone he loved as a teenager.

Warning, this title contains the following: hot nekkid sex, shower sex, an evil voodoo priestess, grisly remains in the bayou, graphic language, and violence.

Mother's Day with Cassie

Okay, here are Cassie and I on Mother's Day at my mom's apartment. Cassie truly makes me feel like a mom again--must be why I call her my "Baby" all the time. It's a wonderful thing to have someone to care for and love without reservation and to have someone love you the same way, even if she's raising Cain about the two big dogs who just invaded the cul-de-sac a minute or so ago.

Who could not love that sweet face of hers? And her disposition is even sweeter. Many thanks to Ann Acuff and the other volunteers at the Middle Tennessee Sheltie Rescue for taking care of this little gal for several months before I adopted her...and she adopted me.

It took me a long time to get over losing my Chow Chow Tazz, and Buffy Miller, the sweetest little Maltese in upstate NY, certainly helped me realize it was time I brought another dog into my life. For some reason I kept being drawn to the Middle Tennessee Sheltie Rescue page, and now I know why: Cassie was waiting patiently for me to fill out that application. I can't imagine why anyone would give this little girl up, but tough economic times or maybe someone elderly couldn't care for her anymore. She's certainly very well-balanced and socialized. At least she's won every heart she's met and adjusts quickly to a variety of circumstances.

One more picture: she loves to chase squirrels and bark at the birds in our fenced backyard. And yes, she's trying to climb that big old maple.



A Happy Belated Mother's Day to everyone.

Marie-Nicole

First Booksigning for Holding Her Own

Every year the Heart of Dixie chapter in Huntsville, AL, has a reader's appreciation luncheon followed by a book signing. I was privileged to be invited to participate along with several other of MCRW's published authors: Shannon Dauphin/Gwen Masters; Trish Milburn/Tricia Mills; Ramona Richards; and Janice Lynn.

I always enjoy meeting readers like the young lady in the photograph with me, Ms. Dianne Hart, the winner of my Summer Sunshine basket. It was an exciting event and I heartily recommend it to romance readers because there was a wide variety of romance genre authors represented from the famous NYT bestsellers like our featured guest speaker, Vicki Lewis Thompson, or the awesome Linda Howard to nearly unknowns like yours truly. From inspirational to erotic romance, the reader can choose her faves.

And the gift raffle baskets...OMG, so many baskets, so many books, so many goodies! And next year will be just as fabulous. NYT best selling author Julia London will be the featured guest speaker.

Marie-Nicole
Believe in the dream... Beware the danger.