Exciting News - and Thank You

I'm very excited to announce that I've reached one million units sold!

Releasing my digital backlist and reconnecting with my stories, characters, and new readers has been an amazing experience. I look forward to releasing more of my previously published stories in the coming months as well as ebook originals.

Thank you to all my readers, and you can view the full details in the news section of my website.

GARDEN OF SECRETS - Book Five of the Angel's Bay Series - Releases Today

Back in June, I blogged about getting back to my writing and how I was working on story minutiae and needed help naming a river. Now I'm on the other end of that journey and am so pleased to share Charlotte, Andrew and Joe's story with you in GARDEN OF SECRETS, the fifth installment of the Angel's Bay series.

Garden of Secrets continues to explore the community of Angel's Bay. You can read more about its history on my website.

The paperback is available at bookstores and online with Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound and other retailers. The ebook is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple and other retailers.

I hope you like Garden of Secrets, and I hope that in addition to joining Charlotte, Andrew and Joe, you get a glimpse of some favorite Angel's Bay residents along the way.

SILENT RUN and SILENT FALL hit the bestseller's lists!

Thank you for putting SILENT RUN and SILENT FALL on the USA Today List as well as the BN Top 10 and Amazon Top 100!

Brothers Jake and Dylan Sanders fight for their family and their freedom in these linked romantic suspense novels.


In SILENT RUN,  a woman wakes in a hospital bed with no idea of who she is. Her memory is gone, her baby missing. All she has is the gripping certainty that she is in mortal danger. Then a handsome, angry stranger barges in and makes a terrible accusation. He was her lover--and her child's father--until she disappeared seven months ago.

In SILENT FALL,  Dylan Sanders is attending a wedding in the mountains when his trip takes a terrible turn. A former lover appears out of nowhere, demands a private conversation, and lures him into the woods, then leaves him there, drugged and disoriented. The next morning, the woman has disappeared, and Dylan is accused of her murder.

I'm excited both books are doing well and hope you enjoy them!

Join Me For a Live Online Chat!

I'm pleased to release my latest e-book, LOVE WILL FIND A WAY, now available online at Barnes and Noble and am celebrating with a live chat at Barnes and Noble PubIt this Wednesday 7/20 at 5pm PST/8pm EST.

Please join me on the BN PubIt Facebook Page for an in-depth discussion on self-publishing.  Bring your questions on marketing, indie publishing or writing in general!

I hope to see you there.

Back To The Writing ...

After a week of fun and list making ... I'm getting back to work.  Mondays are good for that!

But before I officially do - Summer Secrets was officially in the #1 spot ...  on the top of the NYT!

It's so exciting.  And if you scroll down, you'll see that in addition to Summer Secrets, Don't Say A Word shows up at #24.  I can hardly believe it.

And one last bit of good news ... ALL SHE EVER WANTED is now #1 on B&N's Top 100!

Okay, but my blog is supposed to be about getting back to work.  As writers, it's easy to get distracted by the business of publishing.  So much of our work is done in isolation, that when something more public happens, it's fun to take a moment to enjoy it and share it with friends.  Because every writer knows these moments don't come around that often.  But when the hoopla dies down, it's back to the next book.

I remember a line from a movie about ballet - Center Stage - and the head/retired ballerina tells the young dancer that when things go wrong, when life gets too crazy, you always go back to the barre -- the barre is home (okay, I'm paraphrasing). But I think as writers, home is always the book, the writing, the next story, the next scene, the next sentence.

So that's what I'm doing today -- as soon as I finish this blog.  I'm working on a new book and there are so many decisions to make, what each character looks like, the setting, the time of year .... all those little things that tend to bog me down when I'm racing ahead to the big scenes I see coming up in my plot.  But life is in the details, and books are the same.  Thoughtful decisions about the little things always add color and depth to any story, so I persevere.  Then when I get to the big scenes I can't wait to write, I have a lot more to work with.

Whether traditionally publishing or self publishing, all writers have to remember that it's always about the book. And all the other distractions of the business of publishing or even life in general are just what we have to fight through to get back to the book.

So my decision today -- what to name the river that's an important part of my story.  The book is set in Northern California, there's some wild white water rapids, but also some peaceful, lazy parts ... any ideas?

SUMMER SECRETS hits #1 ON THE NYT E-Books Bestseller List

Wow!  Lots of exciting news today.  SUMMER SECRETS hit USA Today at #13 and on June 19th will be #1 on the New York Times E-Books Bestseller List.  I saw a preview copy yesterday and couldn't believe my eyes.

To make it even sweeter, DON'T SAY A WORD hit USA Today at #84 and on June 19th will be #24 on the New York Times E-Books Bestseller List.

To say I'm stunned would be an understatement, especially because these books are self-published backlist titles.  I got the rights back to the books last year and went into publisher mode.  I designed the covers, got the books scanned, formatted and uploaded to all the E-book sites, which was quite a labor intensive undertaking.  This is one reason I haven't been blogging much the past few months.  I've been putting up my backlist (12 titles and counting ...)

When I started the self-publishing experience, there wasn't as much information as there is now, so there was a lot of trial and error involved.


I soon realized that I was wearing a lot of hats, not just writer, but art designer, proofreader, copy editor.  I was in charge of marketing and tweeting and posting on Facebook and generally shouting my books and name to the universe.  I became very familiar with html and codes and even accidentally signed up to be an App developer at Apple when I really meant to sign up to upload my books to the IBookstore!  LOL. But hey maybe one day I'll do an app.

Everything seemed daunting at first.  Every time I went to a new site, I had that sinking feeling that I hoped I wasn't about to screw everything up when I hit upload.  Those of you who have been through this know exactly what I'm talking about.  The one great thing about doing everything myself was that I really learned how to do it all.  And I felt empowered!

I love being able to see my numbers in real-time.  I love being able to tweak a cover that isn't working.  I love being able to change a price and give readers a one day special here and there.  I'm thrilled that some of my favorite books that went out of print after only a few weeks are now available again.  That's the absolute best part.

I'm very excited that Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders/Kobo, Smashwords, Apple and Sony have made themselves available to self-publishing and have embraced my books.  All the booksellers have been very responsive and supporting, and I've had great experiences with all of them.

A lot of my friends are asking me what's next.  I'm still publishing books with Pocket.  My 5th and last book in the Angel's Bay Series, GARDEN OF SECRETS, comes out on Sept. 20th, 2011, and I'm really excited to bring Joe and Charlotte's story to life. I will have another book for Pocket after that so I definitely have my feet in both traditional and self-publishing and certainly appreciate the support I've had from my publishers.

Who knows what the future will bring? The book world is changing so fast.  I think for readers having more books to choose from is a win!  And for writers having more opportunities to get books into a reader's hands is also a win. I've also become a big fan of the Nook and the Kindle -- yes, I have both, and they're amazing.  I never thought I'd enjoy reading electronically, but I do.

I can't end this blog without giving a shout out to my friend Bella Andre/Lucy Kevin who gave me a tremendous amount of advice when I was getting started in this new endeavor.


Thanks for sharing my wonderful news.  If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer ...

Summer Secrets hits #2 on Amazon's Top 100 Kindlebooks

Hi everyone - I'm thrilled to report that Summer Secrets has risen to #2 on Amazon's Top 100 Kindlebooks List.  I love this story and I'm so excited that readers are loving it, too. 

The book is a fun summer read, as indicated by the title!  It's about the McKenna sisters who years ago as teenagers won an around the world sailing race with their bigger than life father.  But something happened during that race, a secret that no one has uncovered.  Kate, Ashley and Caroline now live in the San Juan Islands.  Kate runs the local bookstore, Ashley is a photographer and Caroline is a hair stylist.  Their lives have moved on.  

And then Tyler Jamison comes to town, a reporter who seems determined to unravel every last secret.  But he has a secret of his own ... 

If you're interested in an intriguing and sometimes emotional read with a few surprises, I hope you'll give Summer Secrets a try.  

Buy it from Amazon

Buy it from Barnes and Noble