Digital Release Day!

I'm so excited! Today, A Little Bit of Holiday Magic, the final book in the Hood Hamlet Christmas Magic series, comes out today in digital format. The print version goes on sale next week for those who prefer paperbacks! Here's the back cover copy:

A new family…for Christmas? 

All widow Grace Wilcox wants is a fresh start for her and her young son, Liam. When her truck spins off the icy road, her rescuer turns out to be the hottest firefighter in Hood Hamlet, and even wary Grace can't say no to his offer of help!

Bill Paulson has stuck to his no-dating rule so far this Christmas, but having Grace in his home is testing his chivalrous side to the limit! Her little boy is melting his heart, even asking for a new daddy from Santa...

But Grace has already loved and lost one hero. Can she really let herself get close to another?

 You can buy the book at most eBook retailers including Amazon, BN, iBooks and Kobo.

If you're new to my Hood Hamlet books, they feature mountain rescue volunteers on Mount Hood in Oregon. Each book is standalone, but they were published in the following order:

1) Rescued By The Magic of Christmas (digital)
2) Snow-Kissed Reunion (free on-line read at harlequin.com. Click here. )
3) Christmas Magic on the Mountain (digital)
4) Firefighter Under the Mistletoe (digital and large print paperback)
5) Winning Back His Wife (digital and paperback)
6) A Little Bit of Holiday Magic (digital and paperback)

I'll be celebrating the release with various contests through my newsletter for subscribers, Facebook events and guest blogging. I'll be posting a list next week!

Home For Christmas

It's only October, but I'm already in the Christmas mood. Why? This November I'll have two Christmas romances out!

I've mentioned the first...A Little Bit of Holiday Magic from Harlequin Romance. This is the final story in my Hood Hamlet Christmas Magic series.

Now I want to show you the cover from the second release. Home For Christmas is a Copper Mountain Christmas novella part of Tule Publishing's Montana Born imprint. The book will first be release digitally on Amazon, then a print version of the anthology with authors Jane Porter and Katherine Garbera via Amazon also.

Needless to say, I'm very excited. What better place to spend Christmas than in the mountains?

Mount Hood, Oregon & Copper Mountain, Montana.

I've started Christmas shopping. I bought my first present back in July. How about you? Or are you a last minute shopper?

Mount Hood Rescue

My Hood Hamlet series of books deal with volunteer mountain rescuers on Mount Hood. Right now, there is a real life rescue mission going on up there. The missing climber, Kinley Adams, happens to be my parents' dentist. A very nice guy, according to my mom.

Unfortunately weather has been hampering the rescue efforts, but they may get a break up there soon. I can only imagine the frustration of the rescuers when Mother Nature gets in the way.

One rescuer who helped me with research questions for most of the books was quoted in the media. A friend, an associate member of the group who answered questions for me when I wrote the first Hood Hamlet story, let me know her husband was heading up there. There are many others who are (or will be heading) up there.

Please pray for all involved and their families, too!

Happy Friday!

Why am I happy? We've had a couple of days of sunshine and warm temperatures. A much needed taste of spring after so much rain, gray clouds and cold! I'm not happy about that I'm thrilled! I haven't heard the weather report, but I'm crossing my fingers the sunshine continues through the weekend. Of course the nice weather is not helping me reach my page count. Must write first, then play!

Fellow Harlequin Romance author, Jennifer Faye, talks about my March release Winning Back His Wife on her "My Friday Read" blog post today. Jennifer's debut book, Rancher to the Rescue, comes out in July. I remember when my first book was coming out. Such an amazing time! I'm very excited for her!

Hope you have a very happy Friday!

A Little Bit of Holiday Magic

I woke to good news in my inbox this morning! The revisions on my final Hood Hamlet story have been accepted. And the book has an official title now: A Little Bit of Holiday Magic.

The only thing left for me to do on this one is read the AAs/page proofs. That won't be for a couple of months though.

Needless to say...big sigh of relief! Now I can recycle all my drafts and empty my revision binder and move on to the next story!

What are you up to?

A Volcano Guy's Take On A Romance Novel

One of my favorite parts of writing a story is doing the research. My books are short (50-55K words), but I like knowing details about my hero and heroine's work, hobbies and life.

Sometimes the stuff I learn makes it into the story. Other times it's info for me to build their world in my head. Either way research is a big part of my writing process and where many scenes end up coming from.

I've been very fortunate to have lots of different people answer my questions. Mountain rescuers, climbers, computer guys, physicians, attorneys, firefighters, soldiers, soccer players and coaches. The list goes on.

One of my go to sources for help is a climbing forum I belong to. Sometimes I ask publicly for help. But when I was writing WINNING BACK HIS WIFE, I had a specific need...volcano info...so sent a message to someone I didn't know, but who thought would be a good guy to approach. I was right!

John Scurlock is a pilot and an amazingly talented photographer. Click on his name if you want to see some gorgeous photos of the Cascades, Columbia Mountains and Canadian Rockies. He's also super nice. He not only answered questions and provided me with links and other great stuff, but he also introduced to Dave Tucker. Both are involved with Mount Baker Volcano Research Center (MBVRC).

John admitted he had reservations getting Dave involved, but I'm so happy he did. Dave helped me navigate my way through the unfamiliar world of volcanology.  I took Geology 1 at Stanford, but my biggest memory from that is standing on two plates of the San Andreas Fault during a field trip. I can see three volcanoes from where I live so I knew a little, but Dave told me some really cool stuff about volcano research, geologists/scientists and Mount Baker. He answered a ton of questions and more than one scene in my book resulted from our discussion/emails. Granted I take artistic license (I do write fiction) in books in spite of my research, but my hope is things are at least plausible.

I sent both John and Dave autographed copies of my book to thank them for their assistance. Yesterday, Dave emailed me a link to his "review" of my novel. I'll be honest. I don't normally read reviews except for the ones from RT Book Reviews (or if a someone I trust tells me I should read something), but I did read Dave's and had a good laugh. Here's the caption underneath the book cover.

Volunteer to help MBVRC carry loads to the crater! They really should be wearing MBVRC t-shirts, though. Her shoes are perfect for field work at the crater, but I don’t know about fitting crampons. But, that guy…he CAN’T be a geologist, no facial hair. Hey! Wait! That’s Mount Hood!

Yeah, crampons might not work too well with those shoes. Given her injuries I was wondering how my heroine Sarah was walking around in them myself until I realized there was a reason she was in my hero Cullen's arms. But in the cover artist's defense, the majority of the story does take place in Hood Hamlet on Mount Hood.

If you have a few minutes, check out Dave's review at the MBVRC blog (click here). It's worth a read. Whether you're a fan of romance novels or not, you'll probably end up smiling. Maybe even laughing!

Oh, and MBVRC would love to find a donor like MBVI has in my book. If you can't afford to mysteriously and anonymously support the entire center single-handedly, smaller donations would be just fine. If you'd like to make a tax deductible contribution, here's the link.

eBook Release Day!

Today is release day for the digital version of my latest book, WINNING BACK HIS WIFE! The print version will be released on Tuesday.

This book is set in Hood Hamlet, but doesn't take place at Christmastime. It features Dr. Cullen Gray, who appeared in FIREFIGHTER UNDER THE MISTLETOE, my November '11 release. I wasn't sure why Dr. Gray didn't smile much when I wrote that story, but I had fun figuring it out. Here's the back cover blurb:

Her first love…

When Sarah Purcell ends up in hospital, she's shocked to find the dreamy doc by her bedside is her soon-to-be ex-husband, Cullen Grey!

Sarah's reluctantly released into Cullen's care, but he's as emotionally distant as ever, and her old insecurities bubble over. Surely the new life he's forged for himself in Hood Hamlet proves he can live without her?

Their second chance?

Caring for his wife 24/7, this time Cullen won't bury his feelings. As the tremors of their old attraction erupt, he has one thing on his mind: it's time to bring his wife back by his side—where she belongs.

The book received a 4.5 rating from RT Book Reviews:

WINNING BACK HIS WIFE (4.5) by Melissa McClone: Rescue volunteer Dr. Cullen Gray is faced with his most important mission yet when he ends up saving his ex-wife, volcanologist Sarah Purcell. In critical condition after surveying the second most deadly volcano in Washington and suffering a nasty fall, Sarah thinks she is dreaming when she awakens in a hospital bed and finds Cullen comforting her. The two eloped after knowing each other for only two days, but when they both became too absorbed in their work, the couple drifted apart and agreed to divorce. Now Cullen is promising to never to leave her side again. McClone has penned yet another original story of love lost and found. Her characters have depth and wear their hearts on their sleeves in this magical tale of second chances and healing from the inside out.

Reviewed By: Jaime A. Geraldi

Hope you have a great Friday! I'll be spending mine with the kids and revising the final book in the Hood Hamlet series!

Done!

I emailed the complete of the final Hood Hamlet series book! Such a relief to be finished. Of course, I'm only really starting since I have to wait for revisions then after that page proofs!

But getting this complete in was a big deal for me. I love this series so much, but writing about a character who's been in my head for six years meant he took over, and sometimes in a big way. I'm normally a stick to the synopsis type, but Bill Paulson didn't agree with that. Needless to say, I'm a bit nervous what the revisions might be. Only time will tell!

Not much else to say except now I can get caught up on giving out the giveaway prizes, sending autographed books and cleaning. All things that got shoved aside the last few weeks so I could write!

My weekend was spent writing until my head hurt. What did you do?

Friday!

I haven't been blogging or on-line much. My latest manuscript is due next Friday so I've been saving all my words for the story!

I wish I could spend my Friday writing, but there's a field trip to OMSI I've got to take the kidlets, too. I'm bringing my MacBook just in case I can find a few minutes to write. The last two weeks of a deadline are always like this, but I've got a very sick cat (Rocket) and am ready to be finished. Even if it means closing the book on Hood Hamlet literally.

What have you got going on this Friday?

Weddings

I am writing, writing, writing. Trying to get the middle part of the book where it needs to be and also write a few of the missing chapters. I have until next Friday. I keep telling myself that's plenty of time.

The one thing I can't wait to write is the wedding scene. Not between my current hero, Bill Paulson, and heroine, Grace Wilcox, but the wedding of Leanne and Christian from Firefighter Under The Mistletoe. My current work-in-progress is the last book in the Hood Hamlet series so I figured there really should be a Christmas themed wedding. And everyone will be there, including Cocoa and Rex from Snow-Kissed Reunion, my free on-line read at Harlequin.com.

Speaking of a themed wedding...

I love all Star Wars. I figure if hubby and I ever renew our vows I want to do it on the balcony where Anakin married Padme in Attack of the Clones. Yeah, I'm a total Star Wars geek/fangirl/whatever you want to call it. But that happens to be at Lake Como in Italy which would be a lovely place to have a second honeymoon.

BuzzFeed had an article called The Most Insanely Detailed Disney-Themed Wedding Ever. They aren't kidding. You can see the pics here. Wow! The bride and groom must really be huge Disney fans, like the biggest fans ever. What do you think? Which bridesmaid or groomsman would you like to be?

Oh, and that Lake Como vow renewal thingy I want to do someday with hubby. It wouldn't be that much like the scene at the end of the movie. Why? There wouldn't be droids for witnesses!

 Have a great day! I need to get writing a wedding!

Proposal off!

I emailed my proposal to my agent around midnight. I love this story. I feel the same way about it as I did all the other Hood Hamlet ideas, but it's a touch bittersweet since this will wrap up the mountain rescue series. I always knew Paulson's story would be the last one.

Though even though this is the final book, it's not quite writing itself as I'd hoped! I had the wonderful idea yesterday to rewrite Chapter 3. Okay, not just rewrite, but start over. I didn't like what I'd had. Not the best idea given it needed to be sent later that night. Oh, well...

It's off.

Now I can work on the rest of the story and get the house ready for Christmas. The kids didn't want to do anything without me. Which is odd because they decorated for Halloween and Easter without me. Guess Christmas is different. Tonight, we're making a gingerbread house, too!

It's time for some puppy pics.

 Cato is really growing. He's getting better with the potty training, but still not quite there. We've moved him from the X-pen to crate training, too. Lots of barking and sleepless nights. This is the longest we've had a puppy. I'm waiting for it to get easier!

But Cato really is a cutie!

Rose dressed up the puppy in a costume. He didn't seem to mind too much unlike the cats who act like the end of the world has arrived and they will kill you. Yeah, dogs and cats are very different.

I love the picture to the left of grandma Chaos and her grandson Cato. The two don't always get along that well, but they're doing pretty good. Chaos will keep the pup in line and she's oh-so-patient with the nibbling and climbing all over her.

On my To Do list for today:

1) Post office visit
2) School with kids
3) Vet visit
4) Decorating house

What do you have going on?

Christmas Romances!

I don't have a new Christmas book out this year, but I thought I'd tell you about my past Christmas stories in case you're new to my writing.

I have a series of Christmas books from Harlequin Romance that feature a group of mountain rescuers who live in fictional Hood Hamlet. The stories are set on Mount Hood, about an hour and a half from where I live and a place I love. Each book is standalone, but characters do reappear in the other stories.

The first book is called RESCUED BY THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS.

I never intended to write a series about mountain rescuers. This was more of a book of a heart. But after I got to know a couple member of Portland Mountain Rescue, who helped me with my research, and local climbers who got me climbing, I wanted to write another and another and...you get the picture!

Here's the back cover blurb for that first book:

Carly Bishop hasn't celebrated Christmas for six years—not since icy Mount Hood claimed her fiancé's life and left her a widow before she was a bride.

But this year, handsome Jake Porter is determined she'll enjoy herself. Jake is a mountain rescuer, big-hearted and courageous, but Carly is too scared of loving him in case she loses him. In a whirl of festive fun, sleigh rides and snowball fights, Christmas starts to weave its magic. Though it's Jake who is melting Carly's heart.

Then there's SNOW-KISSED REUNION, a free eight chapter on-line read at Harequin. It's not set at Christmas time, but pre-Thanksgiving. Here's the teaser for that story:

Cocoa Marsh had resigned herself to giving up her dreams. She might never be a competitive snowboarder again, but at least her job as a designer for Hughes Snowboards gave her the opportunity to ride whenever she wanted. And as for that pesky hope of a happily ever after…well, the love she'd felt five years ago for snowboarding superstar Rex Billings hadn't been real, anyway. He'd proven that when he'd left and never spoken to her again.

Until now, that is. Because Rex Billings was back, and looking more devastating than ever. Not that she was going to let herself fall for his charm and knee-weakening smile again. Even if he seemed more grounded, more committed, more…like a dream that might actually come true….

If you'd like to read the novella, click on the title above or here. This story reintroduces mountain rescue team leader and hero of the next book in the series, Sean Hughes.

That book, CHRISTMAS MAGIC IN THE MOUNTAINS, is also my Romance Writer's of America's 2011 RITA® finalist Book in the Contemporary Category Romance category. Here's the blurb:

When snowboard designer Sean Hughes sees Zoe Flynn hitchhiking at the bottom of Mount Hood he recognizes a free spirit—much like himself!

They hit it off, and Zoe ends up agreeing to pose as Sean's girlfriend at his family's Thanksgiving. But following an accident and a misunderstanding they're soon stuck with each other for the Christmas holidays!

Zoe's girl-next-door looks make Sean wish their charade was a romantic reality, but Zoe is hiding something…and he has until the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve to discover her secret!

FIREFIGHTER UNDER THE MISTLETOE came out last Christmas and features the lone woman on the rescue team. She also happens to be a firefighter paramedic. This is the blurb:

Christmas magic in Hood Hamlet...

For Leanne, infuriatingly charming firefighter Christian Welton is out of bounds. Not only is he too young for her, but his trail of broken hearts is legendary. Leanne's fought hard to be one of the boys, and won't let anyone see that Christian's smile makes her want to melt into his arms!

Christian wanted to discover the softer side of the tough-talking paramedic, but hasn't counted on how much the real Leanne affects him. He's vowed never to settle down, but under the mistletoe it's certainly the season to be tempted.…

I'm not finished with the series, either! In March a new Hood Hamlet story, WINNING BACK HIS WIFE, will be published, and I'm currently writing another Christmas book in the series!

What is your favorite Christmas themed novel?

November Giveaway Winner

Another full weekend ahead. The two youngest kidlets swim in the morning at a meet while our oldest swims in the afternoon. That means hubby and I will be two ships that pass in the night. Actually two cars who will pass on I-5!

Making progress on the proposal, but it's slow. I was deterred slightly by a rescue that happened on Mount Hood. The climbing forum I belong to was and has been discussing it.

The climber posted his situation on his Facebook page. Turns out he belongs to the climbing forum, too. Thankfully he's safe and made good choices while stuck up there. Kudos to the friend who told him to stay then drove from Bend to Timberline to be there when he got down and to the rescuers from PMR who got him down safely. The climber wrote a very detailed post about what happened and his decision making progress. Very interesting!

This month's winner of a $10 gift card to either Amazon or bn.com is Quilt Lady. She commented on my post "Happy Thanksgiving." Quilt Lady, please use the Contact button on the menu bar above to send me your email address and which gift card you want. You have seven days to contact me or I'll choose another winner. Thanks!

What do you have planned for this weekend?

Writing & Cat Links

I took Monday off to relax and play with my new Kindle Fire. Tuesday I did some edits/critiques for an online writing class I'm in and caught up on the assignment I missed the first week due to revisions. Now I'm back to writing. Next up...

Twelve Days in Hood Hamlet!

Okay, that's the working title, but I think it's cute and I hope they keep it. This is another one of my Mount Hood Mountain Rescue Christmas Magic stories and it features a fireman hero, Bill Paulson. He's the last of the original group (one was already married.) It's hard to believe I've gone through them all when I was only going to write the one story. And my next release in March features another mountain rescuer who was new to the group.

On the kitty front, Miss Mousie's stitches are out. She's doing well. There's an update here if you want to know more.

I also found two very funny cat links I have to share:

The first one came across my Facebook page yesterday. It's on enpundint and is called If Fonts Were Cats. Definitely worth a click. Here's the link.

The other I found through my Twitter friend Eliza Evans, who is a big Miss Mousie supporter. She'd tweeted about a cat who was his own uncle. Of course, crazy cat lady that I am, had to click on the link and came across Cat-Shaming on Tumblr. It's similar to the Dog-Shaming one and hilarious. Worth a visit, too! Here's the link.

RIP Nick Hall

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Poor LOLkitty! I'll have plenty of time to tickle my furbabies today! Revisions on my newest Hood Hamlet book are off. I emailed them to my editor last night. Yay!

Of course, I have another book to write. The proposal is due in July so I don't really get much of a break, but I won't have to work quite as intensely as I did on this one. At least I hope not.

With the trying to get the revisions finished, I never had a chance to mention what happened on Mount Rainier last week. If you've read any books in my Hood Hamlet series, you know mountain rescuers are near and dear to my heart. Well, tragedy struck on Mount Rainier this past Thursday.

Photo: National Park Service

Mount Rainier climbing ranger Nick Hall was killed during a rescue of four climbers, two who had fallen into a crevasse. This Seattle Times article has some details about what happened. They are still waiting for the weather to clear so they can recover his body.

Every mountain rescuer I've talked to since I started writing the Mount Hood books in 2007 has told me the same thing. Rescuer safety is the priority. And though it's rare something like this happens. It does. What mountain rescuers do to help climbers in need is risky. Dangerous. Brave. And Nick Hall paid the ultimate price while trying to help those four climbers.

He was a member of the climbing forum I belong to, but the only post I saw from him was four photographs in response to a request for pics. Another forum member who had been helped by Ranger Nick on Rainier when she was having some health issues during a climb and needed oxygen posted pics and wrote about him. He sounded like a really good guy who was a former Marine and loved the outdoors. He wasn't married and had no kids. Sounds a lot like the guys (Jake, Sean, Bill, Tim, Cullen, etc) I write about in my Hood Hamlet books. Very sad.

RIP Nick Hall. Thank you for your service, for all you did on Mount Rainier to save climbers and keep them safe and everything off the mountain, too. My condolences to his family and all who knew him.

The Plot Thickens

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I'm writing the end of my book. I wish I could say that's all I have left to do on the manuscript, but my writing process doesn't work like that. After I finish the first three chapters, I write the end then I'll go back to chapter four and write the rest of the story.

Sometimes I only write the final scene. In this case, I've written several scenes, including a couple that lead up to the black moments for each of the characters. I thought I'd get to the end yesterday, but as sometimes happens life threw a curve ball that kept me from reaching my word count. I'm praying today will be better.

But there's another reason the ending has been coming a little slower than usual. I want the plot to thicken. I've been going back and forth in my mind about an external element in my story, trying to figure out what to do with it exactly. Should I go for a big dramatic event as the backdrop for my hero and heroine to overcome their obstacles and admit their love for each other? Or do I go with something more realistic and less...movie of the week/disaster film.

I write genre fiction, pure escapism, but I do like things to be plausible. One question I always ask people who help me with research is, "Is that possible?" Even if it's highly unlikely.

One reason for my hesitation (and I didn't figure it out until writing this blog just now) is that I've done this before. I used a natural disaster as the backdrop to a love amongst the ruins ending in one of my 2011 releases. (I'm writing published story #24 so you do tend to forget what you've done in the past. I wonder how writers like Nora Roberts with hundreds of plots do it!)

No wonder this dilemma has been slowing me down! Wish I would have figured it out sooner. Oh, well. Now to figure out another way to thicken the plot. Funny, but I think this may be the first time blogging has solved a writing problem for me! Thanks!

So a question for you...what book that you've read has the best ending? It doesn't have to be a romance, either!

Drive By

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I heard another song on the radio that's perfect for my book soundtrack. It's Train's song Drive By. The video tells a little story which are my favorite kind of music videos!



Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Proposal accepted!

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I would love to be kicking back in a tub full of bubbles right now! I woke to an email from me editor. My revised proposal has been accepted. Hero's personality transplant worked so did the new chapters. Huge sigh of relief. And I'd love to celebrate! But unfortunately I have zero time to lounge around in hot, bubbly water right now. I'm going on a field trip with the kidlets to a bat exhibit at the World Forestry Center.

What are you up to today?

I Won't Give Up

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The dog might not be able to sing, but Jason Mraz sure can. I was driving when his new song came on the radio. I knew immediately I Won't Give Up was perfect for the soundtrack of my current story (working title The Doctor's Wife.) It's a fractured marriage story. I couldn't believe how well the lyrics of the romantic ballad fit the story. Take a listen...

Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up - I Won't Give Up - Free Music Videos

This story is set in Hood Hamlet on Mount Hood, but unlike the Christmas Magic books it does not take place in December. I've set it in springtime. May-June to be exact, which happens to be prime climbing season on Mount Hood. The hero, Cullen Gray, is a doctor who I introduced in my November 2011 release, Firefighter Under the Mistletoe.

My editor has the revised proposal. I've got my fingers crossed that it works better for her this time! While I wait to hear back from her, I'm working on the complete. The end actually, since I write the first three chapters than write the end, then go back to Chapter Four. So far so good!

What are you up to?

Returning to Hood Hamlet

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I must admit to having days like the anxiety kitty above. Everything is going great, but a part of me is waiting for a piece of the sky to fall. I've been doing better with that though!

I've been working on my new proposal. I rewrote Chapter Two yesterday. I finally figured out what was bugging me. Now to get Chapter Three written. The first chapter and synopsis are good to go so I'm almost there.

This story is set in Hood Hamlet and features a mountain rescue volunteer as the hero but unlike my other Mount Hood stories it's not set at Christmastime. I wanted to try writing the setting in a different season. I'll be curious to see what my editor thinks of it.

I've mentioned how I never expected this to be a series when I first came up with the idea for a fictional mountain rescue unit, OMSAR. But whenever I write about Hood Hamlet, it's like coming home. The place might only exist in my mind and on the page, but I love visiting there.

Speaking of Hood Hamlet, the photo below came across my Facebook feed and reminded me so much of Christian, my hero from Firefighter Under the Mistletoe , especially given one of the firefighter related scenes!



I've got a busy Friday ahead. What about you?