Yes, it’s that time! The Melting, Book 1 – The Infection   is coming out June 3 and I have my cover. This story is very special to me. I do put a lot of sustainability and green living in my stories because it’s important to me. I’ve been recycling since 1975 – back then I had to carry my newspapers to the fire department to put them in the bin. Of course I have to do that now as well as my county doesn’t have a recycling program. I’m workin’ on it.

This story starts out as science fiction but shifts to paranormal as the series continues. It’s an evolution for humans I’d like to see. Some of my long time readers have known about this story since its conception. It might be hard to categorize but they’ve listened to me think it out over its coming of age.

How about an excerpt —

More than tired of being hauled out for these events, David Morrow had joined the party under protest. The donor had probably made his money in oil or coal or deforestation, somehow raping the land. David hadn’t bothered to look him up this time. The man would no doubt try to corner him somewhere and attempt a debate on how wrong David’s theories were. The planet wasn’t heating up and even if it were, it was probably some cyclical thing. Nothing that the congressman’s industry could be condemned for. And certainly nothing he would spend funds to fix.

Projecting much?

He wandered toward the ballroom where he heard the noise and stepped inside. He scanned the room and immediately his eyes were drawn to a young woman in blue, her long blonde hair spilling past her shoulders. And she looked at him.

He took an involuntary step forward, inexplicably drawn to her. But the hand on his arm stopped him. It took a heartbeat before he recognized Phyllis Lawrence as the owner of the hand.

“I didn’t know you’d be here tonight. We could have come together.” The woman fussed coyly at him. Was she flirting?

If he’d known she would be here he’d have worked harder not to be. “Sorry, I barely had time to get here from the lab. I won’t be staying long,” David replied.

“You will if the Provost sees you. Drinks later?”

He managed not to sigh. Phyllis had been a mistake and it looked like he’d be paying for it forever. She had been a good tutor in all things sexual, but the attraction no longer existed. David could see her now for the—oh, hell, say it—the star fucker she was.

“I need to make it an early night. Let’s see how long this thing takes.”

She nodded but seemed disinclined to leave his side until a professor joined them and distracted her. David silently wished the man luck and scanned the room for the woman in blue.

****

      Amanda joined a small clump of people, recognizing one of the doctors in the group. She could look occupied but preferred to remain on the fringes, listening. Pasting a smile on her face, she found herself looking around the room until she spotted the hunky party guest she’d ogled earlier. Yes, over there with a luscious brunette. She should have known. Had they come in together? It didn’t matter. Men who looked like him had groupies, something she could never be.

As she watched, an older man approached and took the brunette aside. She glanced at the hunk to see if the woman’s defection bothered him, and realized he surveyed her. Good lord! She turned away abruptly and tried to pay attention to the conversation around her.

When she chanced a glance in his direction again, tall and gorgeous had moved away and she relaxed a bit. Amanda returned to the table for more substantial food to soak up the alcohol she’d already imbibed. This time she took one of the small plastic plates and placed several of the hot hors d’oeuvres on it, then reached for a chocolate covered strawberry.

“They’re my favorites.” The voice was low, gravelly and sexy as hell. It seemed to vibrate deep inside of her. She looked up into the hazel eyes of the male model she’d been drooling over.

But I have a good excuse!  La Daughter was here visiting for a week and just left this morning. I already miss her and her roommate. Nice to have young people in the house (especially those that are adults). But I do have a winner for the third bag ‘o books, which will go out Monday!

Ta da – Debra Jones Wright – please get in touch and I’ll get this bag on the way.

Thanks so much everyone for participating and helping me celebrate April. And who knows, there’s four more days, I might do something else before the end of the month.

I’ve been celebrating it since before it became a real thing. I remember on long trips as a kid I’d see people throw trash out of car windows. Even then I asked, who’s going to pick that up? We now have the ability to adopt a highway, but not back then.

Maybe part of it comes from having parents of the Depression. Nothing got thrown away back then, it was all recycled until it fell apart. My mother’s house burnt to the ground when she was only five years old. They pulled some bureaus and a sewing machine out of the barn and put them back to work. They used water power and even solar power back then (though they didn’t call it that) to move things and heat things. The sewing machine was a pedal model, no electricity and it still works.

Maybe that’s why I write green stories. They mean a lot to me. Rth Rising, my first novel had this message. My upcoming trilogy The Melting does as well. I hope you enjoy them both.  Remember, we can’t use this planet as though we have another one to go to . . .   

Cover Revel coming May 1!

Yep – 35 years ago today I hitched up with Darwin and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Okay that’s kind of an exaggeration (you know if you read about my romantic honeymoon earlier) but we’re still together and even still like each other.  And that’s a major achievement in this day and age. 

He’s a big reason I do write about women strong enough for love.  I certainly never saw myself as a strong woman. I mean, I handled whatever was thrown at me but I didn’t see that as strength, just coping. Then he tells me that one of the things that attracted him to me was my strength. I had to ask what the heck he was talking about. But once he pointed it out and nurtured it a little (okay a lot!) turns out he was right. Now I’m no doubt perceived as positively asserted in some areas. Okay Roomies, Sis, when you get your breath back, bite me!  

Back to the contest, the second bag of books winner is Tiffany K! Get in touch! And remember, one more bag to go on the 25th!