Meet Author C.B. Clark

Athena Cooper’s tragic past drives her to seek solace in a bottle. The addiction threatens her legal career, and she risks spiraling out of control. When her dog engineers a meeting with an all-too-handsome hunk, it’s lust at first sight…until she discovers his identity.

Businessman Russell Crawford is desperate to find the woman who cheated him out of his inheritance. His shock when she turns out to be the gorgeous redhead he had a brief encounter with is only surpassed when she claims his father was a murderer.

Athena and Russ declare a truce and join forces to investigate the mystery of her parents’ disappearance from an isolated island off the rugged Northwest Coast of British Columbia. Russ promises to be her safe harbor as they uncover long-buried secrets that rock her very foundation.

Can she overcome a lifelong distrust and open her heart to love?

 Wild Women Authors is pleased to feature author C.B. Clark as she celebrates the release of her latest romantic suspense, Twisted Lies. She recently spent a few minutes with us, talking about her process and this book. 

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I love to read, and I read in multiple genres, but my favorite books are mysteries and thrillers with a touch of romance. I love a suspenseful read, but I also want a happy ending. As a child, I read the entire Nancy Drew Mystery series. Later, I moved on to Harlequin romances, and then I discovered Daphne Du Maurier’s classic gothic romance, Rebecca. I never looked back…Linda Howard, Mary Stewart, Catherine Coulter, and of course, the unstoppable Nora Roberts. These authors, and many more, taught me what I like in a good story, and I hope I’ve conveyed that in my own writing.

What event in your private life were you able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? Twisted Lies is my seventh romantic suspense, but it’s the first where a dog is a central character. No mystery how that happened. My husband and I adopted a puppy a year ago. I was in the middle of writing Twisted Lies, but with all the uncertainty and chaos of the pandemic, I found myself glued to the news. I didn’t/couldn’t write for a long time, but Penny, a Brittany with tons of energy, wasn’t putting up with that. She needed and demanded a long run every day. Her sad, puppy dog eyes (and some serious whining) dragged me out onto the wooded trails behind my house.

          Her joy in chasing butterflies, birds, and squirrels took my mind off the news and reminded me of all the good in this world. Thanks to Penny, I found my muse again and finished the manuscript. Dogs can do that. That’s their superpower. The heroine in Twisted Lies struggles with an alcohol addiction, and her dog, Otis, much like my Penny, helps her.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I have seven books published by The Wild Rose Press. TWRP is a small publisher with a big heart. A friend recommended them, and when I researched the company, I discovered they’ve won several awards for best publisher. They respond promptly to submissions, they’re supportive and professional, and the lines of communication are always open. If you’re looking for a home for your manuscript, I highly recommend TWRP.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? Billy Summers, Steven King’s latest’ Touching the Void by Joe Simpson, a true story of miraculous survival after a mountain climber’s trek in the Andes goes horribly wrong; Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown.

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I just signed a contract for my eighth book with TWRP. Forging Forgiveness is another romantic suspense, and it should be released sometime in the spring.

 Excerpt:

How was it possible? After all these years? The past she’d been running from had found her. The nightmare was back. The envelope fell from her shaking hands. Her legs wobbled as she rose and stumbled out of the living room and down the short hall to the kitchen.

Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window above the sink. The cozy kitchen, with its walls painted a cheerful butter yellow, and the well-scrubbed laminate countertops, gleamed. The steady hum of the refrigerator and ticking of the antique clock on the wall were the only sounds in the silent house. The pungent smell of fried onions and roasted garlic from last night’s homemade spaghetti sauce hung in the air.

The efficient kitchen, with its breakfast nook and view of the tidy, fenced backyard and the rolling, grassy foothills and snow-crested Rocky Mountains beyond, was the reason she’d bought the small rancher. This was her favorite room—the place she sought refuge when life overwhelmed her. How many times had she sat there in the evenings after work, sipping a glass of chilled white wine, watching the birds at the feeder on the back porch, breathing in the sweet smells of flowering Saskatoon bushes, regrouping until she was ready to face the world?

These days, her drink of choice was a cup of herbal tea or unsweetened apple juice. Alcohol was off the table…had been for twenty-one unendurable days.

But today, all bets were off.

To purchase Twisted Lies, go to:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Twisted-Lies-C-B-Clark-ebook/dp/B09CGBFHN6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=twisted+lies+cb+clark&qid=1629053127&s=books&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twisted-lies-c-b-clark/1140006831?ean=9781509238613

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/search?query=twisted+lies+cb+clark

iBooks:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781509238620

Books2Read Universal buy link:

https://books2read.com/u/3Lw8LX

 

To learn more about C.B. Clark and the stories she creates, go to: :
Facebook: cbclarkauthor@facebook.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbclarkauthor

Blog: https://cbclarkauthor.wordpress.com

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15029617.C_B_Clark

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbclarkauthor/

Amazon Profile Page: https://www.amazon.com/C.-B.-Clark/e/B01BK61TQG/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1517868402&sr=1-2-ent

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/c-b-clark 

Killing Dreams by Donnette Smith

 Wild Women Authors is pleased to welcome author Donnette Smith who is celebrating the release of Killing Dreams, book one in The Spirit Walker Series, a paranormal romantic suspense published by the Wild Rose Press. With Donnette is Jenna Langley who will go first.

Good morning, Jenna. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Let’s begin with where you’re from. Farmersville Texas

Tell us a bit about Killing Dreams. It is the story of what happens to me when I came back home to Texas for a business deal at the age of twenty-seven, after being gone for ten years, and discover my psychic abilities have cultivated. I start having visions and out-of-body experiences where I see brutal murders being committed, and it isn’t long before I discover the detective working those homicide cases is none other than my old high school flame, Cole Rainwater. Things ended very badly between us years earlier when his father made headlines for being a notorious serial killer. After that, my parents forced us apart and swept me away to Georgia.  So, you can imagine my surprise to find he was investigating the very murders I was witnessing.     

What did you think the first time you saw Cole Rainwater? I was fifteen the first time I saw Cole standing in line behind me at the rodeo concession stand. He purposely bumped into me. He must have thought he was really something the way he and his buddy snickered when I glanced back at them. I thought he was rude and immature.

Typical teenage male. What was your second thought? God, he was hot. All that dark hair and those piercing gray eyes. I imagined what it would be like to be swept up in the embrace of those strong arms and kissed by those irresistible lips. Of course, I wasn’t about to let him know just how sexy I thought he was. Instead, I called him a jerk. He responded by asking for my number. I ignored him. But he followed me and my best friend around for the rest of the evening, taunting me and asking why I refused to go out with him.     

Again, typical male response, particularly a teenager. Was it love at first sight? Hey, I was seventeen at the time. What does a kid know about love anyhow? As it turned out, a lot. I fell head-over-heels in love with that boy. When my parents tore me away from him two years later, I swore my heart had been stampeded by a herd of bulls, just like the ones we used to watch bursting out of the chutes at the rodeo.  

What do you like most about Cole? The sound of his husky voice when he’d call me just as I was slipping off to sleep at night.  

How would you describe him? Tender, with the heart of a lion. He always put me on a pedestal. I think at the time he believed I could do no wrong. Until I did, and it all fell apart.

How would he describe you? Completely stubborn. Always seeing the good in people, even when there isn’t any good at all.

What made you choose business consulting as a career? After owning a business of my own, and selling it some years later, I couldn’t see myself going back to working for the man. Heck, I was the man, so to speak. So, I took the bull by the horns and decided I could be useful by showing others how to start their own businesses.

What is your biggest fear? Being buried alive. But that’s literally another story. Yes. It actually happens to me in book two of The Spirit Walkers series.

How do you relax? I love to read, but then Cole came along and showed me how much fun it is to ride horses.

Who is your favorite fictional character? I love Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey. Why? Because she has such patience for the man she loves. She never gives up on him because her love for him is so deep. Before my parents tore me away from Cole, I felt this same way about him.  

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Not to let the sins of others become my sins, even if the person or people committing those sins are people we love and trust. I learned this the hard way blaming myself for ten years after my parents ripped me away from the only guy I ever loved.

Thanks for talking with us, Jenna. Now we’d like to chat with Donnette.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I’m a true romantic, always looking for an adventure. The story of Noah and Allie in The Notebook really got me. It was the story of young love that never died and was strong enough to stand the test of time. Even when Allie was at her weakest, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Noah read their story to her every day, in hopes of rekindling the love they had for one another. I also loved The Twilight Series. Bella loved Edward so much she was willing to become a vampire so that she could be with him forever. For me it’s stories that showcase such unconditional love between two people that there is no boundary they won’t cross for the one they love.  

What event in your private life were you able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? I met my husband when I was fifteen years old. The same age Cole and Jenna were when they first met. Although Jenna and Cole have their hurdles, in the end, the unconditional love they have for one another will always shine through. I know what it’s like to love someone so much that you are willing to make the biggest sacrifices and are willing to love that person through the most trying times of their lives. I view Cole and Jenna as Allen and I were at that age. Young, and still growing and learning, but doing it together.   

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I had The Wild Rose Press in mind when I wrote Killing Dreams. I’d heard about them after my second novel, Cunja had been published through a different press. And I always knew when I sat down to write another book, TWRP would be the one I’d submit to. A lot of authors had nothing but positive words for them.  

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I’m not going to lie. I’ve been doing so much writing that reading has become a thing of the past. However, I’m picking reading back up again. I’m in the middle of reading Tangled in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell. So far so good.  

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I’ve completed the second book in The Spirit Walkers Series, Buried Alive. And if you thought Jenna and Cole’s nightmares have come to an end, let me assure you they have not. I am hopeful it will be available from TWRP within six to eight months.

Please tell our visitors where they can learn more about you and the stories you create.

Visitors can always reach me by email @ romance@donnettesmith.com

And I love to add friends to my Facebook, where I give constant updates, as well as announcing cool contests and other book information. I can be found on Facebook @ Romance Writer Donnette Smith | Facebook

And I can also be reached via my website: www.donnettesmith.com

 

To purchase Killing Dreams, go to:

Amazon.com: Killing Dreams (Spirit Walkers Book 1) eBook : Smith, Donnette : Kindle Store

Barnes and Noble: Killing Dreams by Donnette Smith, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

 

In From the Cold by Susan Payne

 After a significant time away, Wild Women Authors is back and ready to roll. Today we feature Susan Payne’s historical romance, In From the Cold, a current release out of the Wild Rose Press. With Susan is former Nebraska rancher turned merchant, miner, and furniture maker Matthew Foster.

Good morning, Matthew. Let’s begin with where you are from. I was born on a small Nebraska ranch and lived there until I felt it best to leave my older brother, Luke, and his new wife, Lorelei, the space they needed. With the rest of my five brothers living at home, it was a little tight.  Newlyweds need their privacy and I felt it time to do something I’d been dreaming about doing – heading to Alaska to make my own future.

Tell us a bit about In From the Cold. I left my family under strained conditions.  I sort of got a crush on my new sister-in-law who I still have special feelings for – just not those kind of feelings. At the time Lorelei tried to explain it to me, but I was restless and feeling as if no one saw me for myself.  Only another pair of hands to work around the ranch.  It didn’t take me long once I left them to figure out how special my family was and how special I was to have such a close family. I appreciate all of them much more than I would have if I had stayed, plus I wouldn’t have found my princess.

What did you think the first time you saw Katarina, your Russian Princess? I didn’t know the frozen pile of rags I found outside my trading post contained a person and once I did, I thought it was a young boy.

What was your second thought? Hmm, can we skip that part?  My mind might have gone to carnal thoughts once I knew she was going to be all right.

Did you feel it was love at first sight? No, certainly not love but you have to remember, I’d been out on my own for a long time. She was the first seemingly available female to come within reach. The fact we were stranded in a blizzard alone didn’t help keep my thoughts purely altruistic.

What do you like most about Katarina? She is so passionate about everything.  Maybe that’s part of her culture…I mean, you ever meet her father? She is also tender hearted and feels we should give back to the serfs and other people living in poverty in her homeland and Alaska where I’ve been so lucky.

How would you describe her? Physically? She’s small. So small, I worried about her doing some of the things she insists on doing – like run her own dog team when we’re in Alaska. She has the most splendid silky dark hair and her eyes – I get lost in her eyes.

How would she describe you? Probably as uneducated and rough around the edges. I know how to wrangle a horse and brand a calf and mend a fence…but she speaks and reads several languages and has more knowledge about history than I ever will. She fences and dances and plays musical instruments. Her father tolerates me because Katarina loves me. If we had met anywhere other than Alaska, we probably would never have been able to be together.

What made you choose mining as a career? It kind of chose me. I sort of had an interest in mining, or rather getting rich quick only so I could get on with doing what I wanted to do which was make furniture. Good furniture that people would be proud of making and proud of owning. Pieces to pass on down in a family. I can do both now although I turned over the mining to others. Spreads the wealth around, you know?

What is your biggest fear? That Lorelei, Luke or one of the boys will get hurt.  I’m with Katarina so I know she’s always safe with me, but the others… There are so many dangers to ranch life.  I wish there was a way for us to remain together, but I need to keep Katarina close to her father. I promised.

How do you relax? I take time to work on a piece every night. Sanding or carving…anything to keep sawdust on my hands. That’s what Katarina says I’m doing. She doesn’t mind and keeps track of all the smaller pieces I’ve been working on.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Lorelei got all of us reading more than we had. She brought me some Jules Verne. So I guess, Captain Nemo because he built what he needed to travel the world. He went from one place to another in record speed.  I sometimes wonder if his ship, The Catalyst, could be really built.  It catches my interest at times.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? It was from Lorelei, of course. She said something like I may think that I loved her at the time, but I only loved what she and Luke had found together. She encouraged me to become my own man.  Not that she wanted me to leave like I did, but she understood me better than I did myself at the time.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to speak with us. Now we’d like to chat with Susan.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I would skip school to stay home so I could watch old black and white movies on TV. I loved seeing all the places and that set the stage, so to speak. I still love old towns and cities. Historical events and in particular, the old west. Alaska became our old west when the western territories were becoming states and getting safer and more respectable.

What event in your private life were you able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? That Matthew came from a loud, messy family mimics my own. That he was open to learning new things and could empathize with so many different types of lifestyles and yet remain true to himself.

Tell us a bit about your publisher. I found The Wild Rose Press through a friend I made on line.  She had a book under contract and I thought to query a few of mine to see if they had an interest. As I studied their web site, I found they would help self-publishers on an ala carte basis which is what I did. I found them very helpful going through the process and allowed me to get my stories to the public in a relatively short time.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? Too many to list.  I still have a wide taste and interest so I keep adding to my eBooks in my Kindle.

Lastly, what's up next for you and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? For the first time since I began publishing, I don’t have anything under contract although I hope to have my first contemporary novella become part of the One Scoop or Two series for Wild Rose Press.  We’ll have to wait and see since they were complete for this year by the time I sent it in. I am also working on getting a new Regency completed.

 

Susan brought an excerpt from In From the Cold for us:

        “Katarina, my love, we have discussed this and agreed Alaska is not a place for you. This trading post is not a place for you. Your place is with your father wherever that may be. St. Petersburg sounds like a grand place to me, and you should return to the life you were born to have.”

        Sobs shook her shoulders, and he looked over to the man he hoped would help him say the right things to drive Katarina back to Russia. She would never believe Matthew had changed his mind about loving her. Glancing across the room, Matthew could see the bear of a man surreptitiously wipe a tear from his cheek and realized there would be no more help from that quarter. It would be up to him to convince her to go home.

        “Listen, you know about my early life and I tell you truthfully I would do anything, give-up anything, to spend a little more time with my pa. He died suddenly without any of us being able to tell him a proper goodbye, to thank him for all he gave up for us, to promise him we would work hard and be grateful for what the good Lord provided. I envy you your father. He may be fit and hearty now, but things change, and you still have the time to spend with him doing all those wonderful things he keeps talking about.” He pushed her away from his body so he could stare into her eyes. “You know I love you, but that won’t go away. You have the chance I never had to spend time with your father. Take it, grasp it to your heart, hold on for as long as you can.”

To learn more about Susan Payne and the stories she creates, go to:    

http://www.authorsusanpayne.com

Email:  authorspayne@gmail.com

 

To purchase In From the Cold, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Susan-Payne/dp/1509237488  

https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Susan-Payne-ebook/dp/B0994P5D88

 

URL: https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Payne/e/B001JXROQK       

 

TWEET:  http://twitter.com/susanreid460