Author Spotlight week - K Dawn Byrd shares her favorite author

Author Michelle Sutton

Michelle Sutton is my favorite author and for more than one reason. I absolutely loved her Danger at the Door. I found her e-mail address on the Desert Breeze site and e-mailed her after reading the blurb and asked how to buy it in print. I just had to read that book, but didn’t want to do the ebook thing. Ebooks threatened the very existence of my beloved print books and I wouldn’t have that.

When Michelle responded and said that it was available only in eformat, I thought about it for a few days and finally purchased it. It's because of Michelle Sutton that I'm an ebook junkie. I read them on my BlackBerry on the go.

Shortly after I met Michelle, agent took a look at Killing Time. She liked the book, but said it might be hard to sell because she wasn’t sure how many women would read a book that was partially set in a jail. Michelle recommended that I try Desert Breeze and the rest is history.

I read all of Michelle's new releases and enjoy them tremendously. She's good at bringing romantic tension into her work and when I'm in the mood for something edgy, only her books will do.

Author Spotlight Week - K Dawn Byrd shares her favorite movie

If you ask me one day what my favorite movie is, I may say, "Gone with the Wind." Another day, I may say, "Titanic." Today I'm saying Titanic because I just watched it on TV. Again. I love almost anything historical and as I stated earlier, I'm a huge suspense fan. Titanic provided the suspense I love with enough romance to captivate me.

I tend to navigate toward psychological movies such as A Beautiful Mind, The Aviator, and Shutter Island due to my interest in mental illness. These movies were absolutely fascinating. I've had several people ask about the mental asylum in Queen of Hearts and how I came up with the idea of sending my heroine into hiding there. I was browsing the web one night researching frontal lobotomies since one of my secondary characters had been subjected to this surgery and ran across this site.
http://www.opacity.us/locations/#site13 . I found it be so intriguing that I spent a lot of time going through the pictures, which gave me much insight into what the setting was like as my heroine was in the basement of the asylum running for her life.

As you can see, chick flicks don't rank at the top of the totem pole for me, but some people aren't crazy about suspense either. I can watch just about anything except for horror movies. I don't care for those at all. My imagination is so vivid that I'm not comfortable being alone in a dark basement after watching one. Thank God, there's something out there for everyone...even fraidy cats like me.

Author Spotlight Week - K Dawn Byrd shares her passion for Inspirationals

Inspirational authors could just as easily write for the secular market if they chose. After all, a story is a story. I choose to write for the inspirational market because I'm a born again Christian and like to bring the fact that even Christians aren't perfect into my writing. For example, when my heroine in, Killing Time, is wrongly accused and incarcerated, she becomes angry with God. Haven't we all been there at some point? It doesn't do us much good, but it's human.

I enjoy reading good, clean books and I know when I choose to read inspirational novels, the story will be free of the sex, smut, and gore of the world. We're bombarded on all sides with it, but I can choose what to fill my mind with when I read. When I write, my goal is to provide a clean story that's suitable for all readers while entertaining them at the same time.

Since I write mainly suspense, my characters are plunged almost instantly into danger and intrigue. Sometimes the obstacles seem insurmountable. There are times when their faith in God is all they have. I like to show in my plots that even though God doesn't always rescue us out of the middle of the storms, He's there to lead us through it.

Author Spotlight Week - Q&A with K Dawn Byrd

Desert Breeze welcomes author, K Dawn Byrd in the spotlight this week. Her latest released is "Killing Time." Welcome K Dawn!

STEPH: What's the inspriation behind your story, "Killing Time?"

K DAWN: I've always been an avid reader and planned to write a book "one day." When I began work as a counselor in a jail, I thought that would be a neat setting for the book. I began to jot down notes about the environment such as sights, sounds, and smells. Before I knew it, my heroine had formed in my mind, begging me to tell her story.


STEPH: I don't know much about the book. Can you tell us a little about it?

K DAWN: I began to wonder what would happen if a strong Christian woman was wrongly accused and incarcerated. Would she lose her faith? Would she crack under the pressure? Here's the blurb from Desert Breeze Publishing:

Mindy McLaurin, thinks it's the end of the world when she's incarcerated on trumped-up embezzlement charges. While in jail, she investigates the death of an inmate who allegedly died of an overdose. Mindy suspects foul play when her cellmate dies and she learns that both women had ingested the same drug. Mindy trusts no one, including Drew Stone, the handsome counselor she can’t stop thinking about. She faces many challenges, including constant interrogation by the Major and emotional abuse from the other inmates. Upon release, someone is stalking her and framing her for the murder. Can she prove to Counselor Stone that she’s innocent of all charges before she loses him forever?

STEPH: How long have you been writing?

K DAWN: I've been writing for about three years and have written five books. Killing Time is my first book. I must have edited it a dozen times as I studied the craft. I'd learn something from a new book and tear it apart again.

STEPH: What attracts you to inspirationals?

K DAWN: I'm a Christian of the Baptist faith and even though I don't "preach" religion in my books, my faith in Jesus Christ is evident because at least one of my characters is a Christian or becomes one by the end of the book. I enjoy reading and writing clean novels that would be appropriate for all ages. This is a must for the Christian market. Even though I write primarily for the adult market, my novels are clean enough for anyone.

STEPH: Have you written any other genres?

K DAWN: I have written one romance (no suspense), but haven't tried to place it with a publisher. I'm such a suspense junkie that it was hard for me to write that one. I absolutely love suspense and it's hard for me to keep it out of my books.

STEPH: Do you cast your characters? If so, who are your lead characters?

K DAWN: I use character worksheets to develop my characters. However, I do scour magazines in search of photos that look like my characters. Isla Fisher, in my mind, looks the most like my heroine. My husband looks like my hero (and he is my hero!). If you take a look at my video trailer, that's my husband on the Harley Davidson at the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncljBid61g

STEPH: Care to share any hobbies with us?

K DAWN: I love to take long walks with my husband and our two Chinese Crested dogs. I enjoy planting flowers. My husband I both like antiques and love to scour antique shops together.

STEPH: What was the last movie you saw?
K DAWN: Shutter Island. I'd read the book and it left questions in my mind. I had to see the movie to clear them up.

STEPH: Have you read Stephenie Meyer's series? If so, Team Edward or Team Jacob?

K DAWN: I've read the first couple of books in the Twilight series. I really liked both Edward and Jacob. They each had some good qualities and they both loved the heroine. There were times I rooted for both of them. I guess I'm in equal camps on that one!

The Reviews are in for Desert Breeze

SUMMER WINE
"Helen Ravell shows in her elegant, expressive prose the stresses of a modern relationship...I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend Summer Wine."

Lindsay Townsend - Classic Romance Revival Reviews
Rating = 5 Wings

"... a very griping book, one that will hold a reader's attention until the very last page... most especially for the beauty of the author's writing style... Summer Wine is a perfect summer book, and one I definitely recommend."

You Gotta Read Reviews

I'LL DO ANYTHING
"I want to say wow, but I'm not allowed. So I will say that the passion and intensity of feelings portrayed appeals to that special place we all have locked inside us. Julia and Cade are both strong in public, but when behind closed doors, it is their vulnerability that makes them lovable. Ms. Kincaid has provided a rare story that needs not one but a box full of tissues.

Holly - Reviewer/Coffe Time Romance & More
Rating: 5 Cups!
Recipient of the CTRR Award!

THREE HEARTS

"Sue Perkins has written a lively story about a little girl who didn’t know any life except the one Darcy struggled to provide. They were both detailed in the book and were so loveable it was impossible to not be on their side. The chemistry between Darcy and Travis was electric... This book was a pleasure to read and I recommend it to all. It is light hearted and fun. It warms the heart. The happily-ever-after definitely presented some surprises."

Brenda Talley - The Romance Studio
Rating = 4.5 Hearts


THE SECOND TIME AROUND
"I couldn’t put the book down. I highly recommend it to anyone—even young adults. There is a beautifully sweet storyline. I can’t wait for the upcoming book to see who is next. Great job, Ms. Levigne!"

"Brenda Talley - The Romance Studio"
Rating = 5 Hearts!

Featured August Release - What the Heart Sees by Janice Zick

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Ansel, an aspiring stand-up living in L.A. uses what he considers his unfortunate looks and his sad memories of childhood -- particularly Christmases past as fodder for his comedy routines. Often rejected on the basis of his looks alone, he is only attracted to tall, beautiful, svelte women he can only get by default compliments of his handsome, best friend Kirk, who “goes through women like socks.” When he dumps them, he gives Ansel their phone numbers; and because they’re devastated and on the rebound, they agree to go out with him because he makes them laugh.

When Greta, a slightly chubby, slightly stout, Midwestern girl moves into Ansel’s apartment building, they become ‘buddies.’ Or that’s what Ansel thinks. Greta has other ideas.


EXCERPT:
My name is Ansel Deusledorf, so you can see how I had a strike against me from the very beginning. I can't blame everything on my name. I realize that. There's the way I look, too. I look just like you'd expect someone to look with a name like Deusledorf. They should have named me Icabod instead of Ansel. Icabod Deusledorf -- it has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Except that every bully who ever picked on me during my entire childhood probably would have called me 'Icky' for short. I don't think I would have liked that.

Anyway, I have a rather skinny neck, a prominent Adam's apple and a somewhat beakish nose, both of which stick out farther than my whatzit does when it gets excited. My teeth are a little too big for my face and slightly buck. Suffice it to say, I never get the girl. Unless you count the ones I get by default -- compliments of Kirk Hanson.

If I sent my picture to the producers of that Extreme Makeover plastic surgery show on television, they'd take me straight away. Or that's what I thought, because I've heard the more work you need done, the more likely it is they'll choose you. They like dramatic changes in the after picture.

Actually, I sent a video to that program a few months back. They said and I quote: "We generally like to select people who have some potential."

I used this incident in my monologue once thinking I'd get a laugh. Instead, the entire audience said, "Awwwww." It wasn't the response I wanted. It was laughter I was after.

I saw a psychic on television the other day -- Saliva Tan I believe her name was -- who claims a soul picks its own parents. But, I can't imagine being allowed to select any two people from maybe a billion candidates and saying, "I'll take the homely ones standing over there by that tree -- the woman with the humungous nose and the skinny guy with buck teeth". Evidently, that's what I did.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I began my writing career as a free-lance journalist. I've written six novels in the last six years. I often work on more than one novel at a time. When I hit an impasse with one, I simply set it aside for a spell and work on another. Eventually, I know I'll break through my block. I cannot not write for any extended length of time.

Desert Breeze Congratulates Janice on her latest release!

Featured August Release - Killing Time by K Dawn Byrd

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Mindy McLaurin, thinks it's the end of the world when she's incarcerated on trumped-up embezzlement charges. While in jail, she investigates the death of an inmate who allegedly died of an overdose. Mindy suspects foul play when her cellmate dies and she learns that both women had ingested the same drug. Mindy trusts no one, including Drew Stone, the handsome counselor she can’t stop thinking about. She faces many challenges, including constant interrogation by the Major and emotional abuse from the other inmates. Upon release, someone is stalking her and framing her for the murder. Can she prove to Counselor Stone that she’s innocent of all charges before she loses him forever?

EXCERPT:
Mitch was waiting for her in the visitation area. Mr. Blair, his attorney, at his side. Delacy ushered her to a glass-front cubicle. Mindy longed to touch Mitch, to draw strength from someone stronger than herself, but the glass made this impossible.

Mr. Blair smiled and nodded toward the phone. Mindy picked it up, anxiety making her a little light headed. She shivered as the cold hard plastic of the receiver came into contact with her ear.

"Hello, Mindy," the elderly attorney said. "It's good to see you again. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Me, too." They'd come to get her. She was going home.

"I can't represent you. I'm semi-retired and handle mostly real estate transactions. This is out of my league, so I'm going to call a good friend of mine, Bill Sands, and ask him to get in touch with you. He's a good attorney."

"Thank you." Tears threatened to overflow.

"I need to ask you some questions though. Okay?"

Mindy nodded.

"What led up to your arrest?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. Dawn Byrd has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. Her mother once said that she 'never knew she was on the place' as a child because she was always off somewhere reading quietly in a corner. She's a book collector and had over 2,000 titles at last count and even though she loves print books, she's fallen head over heels for ebooks, downloading several at a time into her Blackberry to read on the go.

When not reading, she enjoys spending time with her husband of 14 years, walking their dogs beside a gorgeous lake near her home, and plotting the next story waiting to be told. Writing everything she's plotted will take decades, leading her well into retirement. Her retirement dream is to live on a golf course near Myrtle Beach and write novels while her husband plays golf.

Desert Breeze Congratulates K Dawn Byrd on her latest release!

Featured August Release - End Game by Gail R. Delaney

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Nick Tanner set out months ago to find the Umani, and now he's on his way home. But things aren't the same. Not by a long shot.
Michael Tanner has struggled to find his place in his new worlds. He still questions his past, his existence, and the man he is becoming. And he has found a kind of love like no other -- a father's love.

Jacqueline wants more from him, more than he knows he can give. She wants to understand the haunting shadows behind his eyes... wants to understand the scars that mark his body. The battle to survive comes to a crescendo, and Michael must choose.

EXCERPT:
He bolted down the hall after her, nearly bowling over a tall, stunning woman with a mass of wavy, brown hair tied in a sky blue scarf. She stepped back, flattening her shoulders against the wall as he gripped the doorjamb of the first exam room and used it to propel him into the room as a barely muffled scream reached him. For half a second, his heart dropped into his gut.

Jacqueline was on the exam table, her knuckles white as she gripped the edge. Lacerations -- old ones rimmed red with infection -- crossed her bare arms and her clothes were dirty and torn. A more recent wound on her arm seeped dark red through the white bandage. Her neck arched off the pillow, her body shaking as she clenched her teeth, hissing sharply.

"Oh, God, Doc... please!" she screamed.

Michael moved to Jacqueline's side, hunching over her to hold her face in his hands. Her eyes were closed, her skin glistening with a fine sheen of perspiration. The tension in her body was enough to snap her in two.

"Jacqueline," he said softly but firmly. "Jacqueline, look at me."

Her eyes snapped open, her gaze immediately on him. Unshed tears made her eyes glisten and she sucked in another sharp breath. A tight groan forced its way through her teeth.

"I'm giving her a massive dose of Morphezine, Benzapriline and a fast acting NSAID," Lilly said softly as she loaded the infusion syringe in her hand.

"Jacqueline," he said again, not looking away even to acknowledge Lilly's words. "Jacqueline, hear me. You need to let the medication help you."

A choked gasp vibrated in her throat as she rapidly sucked in air, her eyes still locked hard on him. A drop of moisture escaped the corner of her eye and Michael brushed it away with his fingers.

"Look just at me."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Gail R. Delaney has been actively writing 'for publication' since 1996. The first novel she ever wrote is still sitting on her computer, waiting for the major rewrite that will make it acceptable. She says she has learned a great deal since writing that book, and it shows when she looks back at that rough draft.

Gail has had eight novels published in the genres of contemporary romance, romantic suspense and futuristic romance. Her novels have received several nominations and awards since she was first published in 2005.

Gail and her family recently moved from the cold and blustry east coast to Southern California, and is loving every moment of sunshine she can soak in.

Desert Breeze Congratulates Gail on her latest release.

Featured August Release - Detours by Michelle Levigne

ABOUT THE BOOK:
A year in the life: Bekka, Kat and Amy share an apartment and each other's ups and downs, tragedies and dramas and dreams. Bekka doesn't envy her roommates' various romances, considering herself too busy with work, school, and writing for a relationship, but she can't help wishing when Shane shows up – to date Kat. Shane is busy with work and school and some relationship problems of his own. He can't seem to catch a break, or catch up with Bekka long enough to get to know her better. One way or another, he's going to ask her out, if she'll sit still long enough for him to ask her.

EXCERPT:
Amy and Kat went grocery shopping that evening, leaving Bekka totally alone in the apartment for the first time in what felt like days. She had just pulled out her cover slick and the letter from Chuck Winters, her first real chance to study the packet he had sent, when the doorbell rang. It was Shane.

"Kat's not here," slipped out before Bekka could really think.

"I know." He tipped back his Stetson off his forehead and lounged against the doorframe. "Where have you been hiding?"

"Me? Hiding?" Bekka blushed when her voice squeaked.

"Yeah. I never see you anywhere."

"I'm usually somewhere in Kat's shadow."

"Oh." Now it was his turn to color a little. "Sorry about that. Hey, I was thinking about you and those swords..." He looked over her shoulder into the apartment, but the piles of costumes and props had finally vanished after a long afternoon of sorting and folding and ridding. "A lot of things, actually. They're having a silent movie festival at the Cinematique at the Cleveland Institute of Art tonight. All the swashbucklers, mostly Fairbanks. Want to go?"

"What about parasailing at the islands?"

"Just said that to rile up Kat. You think I want to spend the day with some guy who wears a stupid pancake hat and uses a fake accent to pick up girls?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michelle has been a book addict since picking up 'The Cat in the Hat'.

She started writing her own stories in junior high, when TV shows didn't turn out like she thought they should. Her first rejection letter came the summer after high school graduation, her first published story was in connection with fan fiction, and her first sale was in the Writers of the Future anthology.

With a BA in theater/English and an MA in Communications, focused on film and writing, she has worked for a local newspaper, then in advertising, and now works as a freelance editor. She is published in multiple sub-genres of romance, as well as SF and fantasy. Awards include being a finalist in the Dreamrealms and EPPIE competitions, with an EPPIE win in 2006.

Desert Breeze Congratulates Michelle on her latest release!

Featured August Release - Beyond a Viking Horizon by Tami Dee

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Balmung Nabbodderson is a man whose feet are as firmly planted in the year 908 as the roots of his thriving crops.

Until, that is, he makes an unexpected discovery within the very soil he had vowed never to leave…

Iris Johnson is a woman of color living in the time of the Great Depression. Suddenly widowed, she is left to raise four children against all odds.

With the security and well being for her children her utmost concern, will she be able to trust and open her heart to a man who claims to have come from a Time one thousand years past?


EXCERPT:
"Good sleep, Iris."

Balmung tucked a gentle finger under her chin and tilted her face as he lowered his lips to hers. Sweet heat seeped through her as she returned his kiss with an urgency that left her breathless. His lips were firm yet soft, demanding as well as accepting. Her skin broke out in goose bumps when his big hands skirted over her back, then moved to her waist, caressing, stroking, easing their way over her ribs with tenderness and passion. They stopped just short of her breasts, a brief hesitation, as if waiting for a sign from her that they could continue their exploration. She briefly thought of her children sleeping just on the other side of the door, yet her body yearned. Yearned for something which she had taken for granted for so long, yet had ended so suddenly, so unexpectedly, so completely, when Noah had died.

She didn't realize that she was crying until he pulled his lips from hers and moved them to her damp cheeks. With a gusty sigh, he dropped two light kisses onto each of her closed lids, then tucked her under his chin and hugged her tight.

"I want you, Iris," he said, his voice thick with need. "And it is clear that you want me, also. But when we share a bed, it will be only you and I in that bed."

She gasped, jerking her eyes open to stare at him.

He gave her a soft smile. "It's okay, Iris," he soothed. "I can only imagine how difficult it is for you to have once loved so completely, knowing that you were loved so completely in return, and then suddenly find that your body can hum for another man. That you can have feelings for another man."

He trailed a finger down her cheek, following the path of a fresh tear. "I respect what you and Noah had. I will not ask you to try and have the same bound with me as you did with him. But I do want a part of your heart, and your body, Iris, a part which only belongs to me."

He sighed, pressing his forehead to hers.

"When you're ready, I will be waiting for you."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tami is a member of Romance Writers of America, Desert Breeze Connections, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Her hobbies include reading, writing, going to the movies and taking weekend trips to Half Moon Bay, CA. She loves reading time travel romances and writing one myself has been very enjoyable.

Desert Breeze congratulates Tami on her new release!