Friday, December 6, 2013

New Release Coming Soon

I'm finally coming out of my writing/editing cave to reveal the cover and excerpt of my newest novella, Murder in Paradise, from Secret Cravings Publishing, due out later this month. It's a romantic suspense, which takes place at a writer's conference in Hawaii.

The story was born as a picture prompt on Tuesday Tales blog, which is a great place for writers to experiment with writing prompts.

Story Blurb
Romance author Claire Jenkins thought the Hawaii Writer’s Conference would be the perfect break she needed. A chance to hang out with her writing buddies, maybe take a workshop and explore Hawaii. She didn't dream she’d walk in on a murder scene involving Hawaii’s most famous honeymooners, wind up as the guest of the suspect or pretend to be the girlfriend of her handsomely sexy writing partner, bestselling thriller author Sam Stewart.


Sam’s got his hands full trying to keep Claire safe and figure out if their host, the newlywed architect, Dan Harris, is indeed a murderer. His job just got even more difficult as he and Claire pose as a couple. Sam has to protect Claire without smothering her or risk ruining their professional relationship. Will it be too tempting for the both of them to act on the attraction they share, or will they give in to their feelings, throw caution to the island breeze and begin a new chapter in their lives? 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Fall Story Picture Prompt


Glad to join the Tuesday Tales gang! This week's writing prompt is the picture below.

Leslie Gaines drove her green mini cooper, singing along to Sheryl Crow’s song “A Change Will Do You Good.” She slowed down and turned off the Interstate, entering Ulster County, New York, her hometown.

When she was a teenager all she could think about was leaving the Bed and Breakfast and the town behind. She had big plans, other people to see and more interesting things to do. Whenever she watched the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” she always connected with George’s character, she longed to shake the dirt of this town off her shoes, run away and see the world. She did. She was a travel photographer.

All she needed was her Nikon, laptop and suitcase, and she was gone. Off on an assignment for one of the several magazines she freelanced for until being picked up as a lead photographer for National Getaways Magazine.

Leslie was returning home for two reasons, to close-up her mothers B&B after her death a few months earlier, and to do a fall photo spread her editor had begged her to do. She hoped the latter would help her deal with the first task, which she wasn’t looking forward to in the least.

She reached for the volume knob and lowered it when she turned left off of Front Street onto Main Street. Unlike George’s Bedford Falls, Unionville looked cheery and bright with updated awnings and landscaping mixed with familiar storefronts.

Still early morning, and the street was empty. She pulled over to the sidewalk, put the car in park, and reached over and took out her camera. She took a few shots of the street, and zoomed in on the coffee shop. The door opened, and a few people walked out.
“Oh my god.” She almost dropped her camera when she spotted him.



Monday, April 1, 2013

My Writing Space

Right now in my life I'm living in a smaller quarters while I figure out where I would like to live next...oh and by the way I need a job too to help me get there. So while I'm figuring all that out, I take a break from it all and delve into the fiction worlds I love to create.

This is my main desk and computer and where the majority of my writing takes place. I share this space with my fiancĂ©. When he's home I sometimes plug in my net book, and move to another side of the room. My cat Gizmo is laying on the power source box next the desk, one of her many daily hangouts. She likes it because it's warm, cats love the heat.



I also enjoy writing on my AlphaSmart. It's easier to travel with than the net book, it runs on batteries only that last forever. Transferring the file to the computer is a breeze. The words appear on the screen like a magic trick. It's fun to watch, and very fast.


I have tried writing in hip places like coffee shops and restaurants, but they're usually too distracting for me, sometimes I've written a quick outline of a story, but never real story writing in public. I have taken my AlphaSmart to the beach and wrote while sitting in my car looking out at the surf. That was nice. I love Jones Beach, I'm a Long Islander at heart. :)

If you're a writer, where do you usually work? Do you have any alternate writing places when you need to hide out? Drop me a comment, I'd love to hear where other writers do their writing.

I also have a new website where you can read an excerpt of Love and the Economy. http://www.carolyngibbsbooks.com/




Tuesday, March 12, 2013

And The Just Desserts Winner Is...

Kenzie Michaels!!

Kenzie has won a copy of the novella Love and the Economy! Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by and commented. And thanks to all the SCP authors who participated in the hop, I've got plenty of fantastic desserts to try out. Then I'll have to hit the gym again :)

Now its back to work and back to the writing cave where I'm torturing my characters in my latest work-in-progress.

Happy writing everyone!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Just Desserts



My Grandmother's birthday is March 12, she left us years ago, and I thought I'd pay tribute to one of the many desserts she made that I loved. One of my fondest memories growing up was visiting my Grandmother, she would always whip up my favorite dessert back then, tapioca pudding. When she didn't have time to soak the tapioca she made the Minute Tapioca, topped with her homemade whipped cream. She knew I loved tapioca and made sure to make it whenever my mother and I visited her.

photo and recipe by WildFlour


Tapioca Pudding

Servings:  4
Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
2 ¾ cups milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1.       Mix sugar, tapioca, milk and egg in a saucepan, let set for 5 minutes.
2.       Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, till mixture comes to a full boil.
3.       Remove from heat, then stir in vanilla.
4.       Cool 20 minutes, then stir.
5.       Serve warm or cold,
Top it off with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, just like Grandma’s.




Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite dessert was growing up, and the great memories that come with it. A winner will be drawn from the commenters and one will receive an PDF copy of my novella Love and the Economy.


Just when Andrea Elliot thought life was getting back to normal after the divorce, her ex, Daren is moving back home. While the ink on their divorce papers dried up, so did the U.S. economy, and Daren’s architecture firm. Since Daren can’t afford to support two households and a floundering business, his accountant advises the couple live together in the family home – just till the economy improves. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Andrea. She's just started to date again.
Daren still loves Andrea, and sees their new living arrangement as his opportunity to make things right. Once home he takes off his suit and puts on his work clothes, and gets busy re-building his reputation and his ex-wife’s home office. Can Daren see what Andrea desires, and be the present take-charge man she’s always needed, and can Andrea put her pride away and let him?


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Monday, January 14, 2013

Writer's Retreat


This week Tuesday Tales are writing to this picture prompt, with a 300 word limit. Thanks for stopping by my blog.


It was the perfect getaway, with the perfect guy. Claire sat cozy in the passenger seat of Sam’s black Lexus SUV, on their way up to his cabin for a short writer’s retreat. It was Sam’s idea, and she thought it was a great one. She’s hoped they’d finish their first draft of their second book, and of course have some alone time. The roads were clear, but snow still clung to the trees and countryside, giving the feel they were driving into a winter wonderland.

Sam reached over and gave her hand a short squeeze. As they approached a scenic look out, Sam slowed the car and steered into a stone circular single car roadway.

“You’ve got to see this view.” He stopped the truck and unfastened his seat belt, then got out.

Claire grabbed her camera from the back seat and followed him outside. The muffled thud of her car door cut through the snow blanketed silence. She joined him by the lookout’s stone ledge.

“This is so beautiful.” She reveled in the snow hanging on the pine trees, weighing their branches down. She adjusted her camera, and then looked through the viewfinder. She took a few shots, and then shot a sweeping panoramic shot moving right to left.
“Oh, rats.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing major, I just noticed some people in the shot. Two men. I wanted it people-free.”

“Don’t worry, you can cut them out later.”

“I know, I’m just being nit-picky.” She shut the camera down.

Sam stood next to Claire, and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into his arms, and for a moment felt the warmth of his body even as a cold breeze blew around them. She felt safe in his arms. He bent down a bit and kissed her cheek softly. 


Click here to return to Tuesday Tales to read more stories.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

SCP 2nd Anniversay Blog Event - My Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Dawna N winner of a copy of Love and the Economy! Thank you to everyone who stopped by and commented during the SCP 2nd Anniversary Cruise!


Happy Second Anniversary Secret Cravings Publishing! May you successfully sail for many more years, launch the writing careers of new voices while providing great romance stories for our readers. Rock on Secret Cravings!

To celebrate SCP’s anniversary our publisher is having a Second Anniversary Cruise Contest! 
The prizes and rules are as follows:

Grand Prize- iPad2
First place- Kindle Fire
Second Place- $50 SCP gift card
Third place- $25 SCP gift card

The contest will run from Friday January 4 through Sunday January 6. To be eligible for the grand prizes, you must answer and match a minimum of 25 of the 30 participating authors to their “location”.  You must email your answers to Dawne Prochilo, Review Coordinator for SCP at  reviewcoordinator@secretcravingspublishing.com Winners will be contacted by Dawne Prochilo.

A commentor on my blog will win a PDF copy of Love and the Economy. To be eligible, just leave a comment telling me where you'd love to cruise to. The winner of my blog event will be announced on Tuesday, January 8th. Happy Cruising Everyone!

Love and the Economy
blurb:
Just when Andrea Elliot thought life was getting back to normal after the divorce, her ex, Daren is moving back home. While the ink on their divorce papers dried up, so did the U.S. economy, and Daren’s architecture firm. Since Daren can’t afford to support two households and a floundering business, his accountant advises the couple live together in the family home – just till the economy improves. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Andrea. She's just started to date again.

Daren still loves Andrea, and sees their new living arrangement as his opportunity to make things right. Once home he takes off his suit and puts on his work clothes, and gets busy re-building his reputation and his ex-wife’s home office. Can Daren see what Andrea desires, and be the present take-charge man she’s always needed, and can Andrea put her pride away and let him?








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