Obsession - Coming Soon!

Since several of you asked what this book is about, here's the backliner. Obsession will be available this September.

Pop singer Kendra Blake grew up in the spotlight as the daughter of a prominent actor. Now famous in her own right, she's had enough with bodyguards shadowing her every move. So when a bomb goes off backstage at one of her concerts, she gives in to her urge to flee. In search of the privacy she's lacked her whole life, Kendra escapes to a remote cabin in Arizona. Little does she know, FBI agent Charlie Whitmore has been assigned to keep her safe and is staying right across the street. 

Stranded in severe weather, the two develop a friendship that hovers on the verge of romance—with Charlie frantically trying to keep his personal and work life separate and Kendra enjoying a new-found freedom from her glamorous world. But when law officials discover that there may be a link between a notorious serial killer and Kendra, she has far greater concerns that her independence.

Sneak peek

I just received a preview of the cover for my next book, Obsession. What do you think?

Foggy with a Chance of Murder

When I was asked to review G.G. Vandagriff's latest novel, Foggy with a Chance of Murder, I had two purposes. One was to sit down and enjoy a good book, and the other was to see if G.G.'s main character, Chloe Green, reminded me of anyone. You see, G.G. had e-mailed me a couple of months earlier to tell me that to her surprise, Chloe had taken on several Traci-like qualities.

Here's how the comparison came out:

• Chloe is a former lifeguard and strong swimmer. Yes. Definite similarity.
• Chloe is a best-selling mystery/suspense author. Well, I'm not a New York Times type of best selling author like Chloe, but we definitely write in the same genre.
• Chloe is an excellent shot and enjoys releasing tension on the shooting range. I know how to shoot, but I think I'll stop there with that comparison.
• Chloe is considering renewing a relationship with a man who had left her for another woman years earlier. Nope. Definitely NOT like me. If a man had betrayed my trust to that extent, I'm quite certain that if he showed up years later the only thing I would be considering would be which door I could show him to the fastest.

As for the storyline itself, personally I found Foggy with a Chance of Murder to be less of a suspense novel and more of an emotional journey by the characters. Both Chloe and the other main character, Rob Stevens, are dealing with a lot of emotional struggles as well as the challenges that come from having close family members who are alcoholics.

Romantic tension between the characters is complicated when Chloe's old boyfriend emerges on the scene and a suspense element complicates Rob's life. In the midst of their struggles, Chloe and Rob both begin a journey of spiritual enlightenment and several attempts are made on Rob's life.

Overall, I found Foggy with a Chance of Murder to be an enjoyable way to spend a few hours as I journeyed with the characters on their paths to self-discovery. G.G. is a talented writer and she showcases her abilities particularly well in the depth of her characters.

LDS Storymakers Conference

Just a quick note that the registration deadline for the LDS Storymakers writers conference is April 15th. I will be teaching two classes at the conference, one on writing action and the other on writing mystery/suspense. If you want to sign up for the conference, you can find all of the information here.

Highlights

As evidenced by my lack of posts over the past few months, life has been a bit crazy for a while. Here are the highlights to what has been going on in my little corner of Virginia:

1. The high school swim team that I co-coach had an amazing season. Both teams only suffered one regular season loss, and my girls' team repeated as district champions by a narrow margin -- only one point. Best of all, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing people and the girls' district title was the result of some impressive teamwork.

2. My daughter who is graduating from high school this year made it into the only college she applied to: BYU. Yeah! Despite her wonderful grades and strong ACT score, I admit that I was on pins and needles waiting for the news that she had earned the right to go to her first choice school, especially since she refused to consider a second choice. I've got to love her confidence!

3. In celebration of my son's seventh birthday, his pet guppy had babies...37 of them. We now have two fish tanks instead of one.

4. My novel Crossfire was selected as a Whitney award finalist this year so thanks to everyone who nominated it!

5. Last but not least, I have finally figured out which book I'm going to write next. I would tell you, but I'm afraid my characters will stop cooperating if I do. I promise to update the status on this adventure within the next week or two if those pesky characters will let me. I think I hear them calling me again, so I guess it's time to post this and get back to work.

Latest news

I'm a bit late in sharing the news, but right before Christmas I received word that my latest manuscript has been accepted for publication. Yeah! Obsession is the story of Kendra Blake, a famous singer, and Charlie Whitmore, the FBI agent who has been assigned to protect her without her knowledge. For those of you who have read some of my previous works, you may remember Charlie. His older brother, Matt Whitmore, was one of the main characters in the Undercurrents trilogy and his younger sister, Amy, was a main character in Freefall.

Unless something changes (which is always possible), Obsession, will be released in October 2011.

I am also excited that my newest novel, Smokescreen, has already been sighted in a few stores in the western U.S. The official release date is Monday, January 3rd 2011 but rumor has it that it made it into the stores early. Maybe this means my author copies will be arriving soon. :)

Coming up for air

Life has been crazy over the past several weeks as I wrapped up my book signing tour, started swim season and finished rewriting a manuscript. Now I'm looking forward to planning for upcoming swim meets, setting up more book signings in anticipation of Smokescreen coming out, and preparing for my nephew's wedding. Oh, wait. Isn't Christmas this month too. Yeah, I might need to do a little shopping before too much longer.

The good news is that my swim team looks great so far this year, a lot of great kids who have untapped potential and are generally fun to be around. Thanksgiving brought all of my family together, which was wonderful. Oh, and my books are now coming out on Kindle. Yeah! Here's are the links if you want to check them out:
Backlash
Smokescreen.