What We Are Writing

By Margaret Daley

Author:   Pamela Tracy

Title:  TBA

Hero and Heroine: Emily Hubrect and Donovan Russell

Line:  Love Inspired

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  

The architect, one Donovan Russell, had taken to giving her covert looks should she come close.  Well, that was preferable to the irritable looks he gave her the last time she’d filed a protest.

Due date:  June 30, 2015

Word count goal today: 1000

Something cool learned recently from research:  Most bodies unearthed in the Arizona desert are from drug deals gone bad.  And, Navajo Indians will not touch the dead. 

Author: Carolyne Aarsen

Title: Meet Me In Montana #2 - working title

Hero and Heroine: Vic and Lauren

Line:  Love Inspired Contemporary

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  

But as they drove back to the ranch she couldn't shake the feeling that she had caught a glimpse of another life. A life that held light and joy.

Due date:  August

Word count goal today: just editing now.

Something cool learned recently from research:  A quote - “Dogs look for love. Horses look for a leader."

Author:  Jean C. Gordon

Title: I'm calling it "Josh" for now

Hero and Heroine: Josh Donnelly and Tessa Hamilton

Line:  LI Romance

One paragraph from the page you are currently on: 

Whatever it was, she was game. Tessa stood and offered Josh her hand. “You’re on.” If it would humor Josh for her to make a fool of herself in front of everyone she knew in the area by dancing the silly chicken dance and make him more agreeable to what she needed from him, she’d do it. For Grandma.

Due date:  November 2, 2015

Word count goal today: 109

Something cool learned recently from research:  There are very few civil engineering positions in the Paradox/Schroon Lake area of the Adirondack Mountains. (Probably cool only to me because it fits a need in my story.)

Author: Patricia Johns

Title: A Second Chance at Forever

Hero and Heroine: Ben Blake and Sofia McCray

Line:  LI Contemporary

One paragraph from the page you are currently on: 

"Mike Layton, you are under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney..."

Due date:  NOW!

Word count goal today: None, I'm at the editing stage

Something cool learned recently from research:  Police officers have spotlights that shoot out to the sides of their vehicles to aid in searches at night.

Author: Patty Smith Hall

Title: TBA

Hero and Heroine: Jefferson Muster and Kallie Huffman

Line: Contemporary

Paragraph from the page you're currently working on:

Frantic moments passed as the man lowered Mr. Anderson's limp body to the floor. Kallie knelt beside him, her eyes trained upon the old man's chest, her fingers moving instinctively to the soft tissue of his neck. No respirations, no pulse. Kallie titled his head back gently, plugged his nose between her fingers, and blew two quick breathes into his lungs. As she moved into position to start chest compressions, Kallie called out to God in a silent rage.

Due date: May 31

Word count goal today: working on edits

Something cool learned while doing research: the technology used in hospitals now is a far cry than what we had in my nursing days!

Author:  Barbara Phinney

Title: The Heiress and Proud Ranch

Hero and Heroine: Victoria and Mitchell

Line:  LIH

One paragraph from the page you are currently on: 

Victoria Templeton sank into the Queen Anne chair, her arms hanging over the delicately carved wood. Her mouth fell open in a most unfeminine manner as she gaped at her mother. “What do you mean, we’re broke?”

Due date:  N/A

Word count goal today:  1,000

Something cool learned recently from research:  That the curtains of a house are closed during mourning and invitations were sent to funerals in Victorian times.

Author: Mindy Obenhaus

Title: Healing the Warrior’s Heart

Hero and Heroine: Kaleb Palmer and Grace McAllen

Line:  Love Inspired

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  She quickly turned away, reminding herself that Kaleb was her boss. Ouray was only temporary. Come the end of the summer, she’d never see either of them again.

Due date:  June 1

Word count goal today:  1500 words

Something cool learned recently from research: The abandoned mining town of Ironton, Colorado was once and important transportation junction and a stage and supply center.

Author: Merrillee Whren

Title:  Working title:  The Hope’s Healing

Hero and Heroine:  Melody Hammond and Hudson Paine Conrick, IV

Line:  LI Romance

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  

Melody shaded her eyes as the first parachute opened, its rainbow of colors brightening the sky. A second one opened, then the third as the skydivers maneuvered their parachutes in a zigzag pattern, following each other toward the earth. Melody waited for the fourth one, but the diver continued to plunge earthward, his chute not opening.

Due date: April 20

Word count goal today: Doing revisions

Something cool learned recently from research: What RICE stands for when you have a sprained ankle. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate  

Author: Teri Wilson

Title: Alaskan Sanctuary 

Hero and Heroine: Ethan Hale and Piper Quinn

Line:  Love Inspired 

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  

Someone had tried to kill one of her wolves. How could she go on after this? Even if Koko survived—and right now, survival hardly seemed like a given—how could she stay in a place where her wolves were so despised that someone had done this? It was over. Her sanctuary. Her dream. All of it.

Due date:  Tomorrow (!!!!)

Word count goal today: I don't have a specific word count today. I'm completely reworking the ending, because that seems like a normal thing to do the day before the book is due.

Something cool learned recently from research:  Alpine aconite, a flowering plant that grows in snowmelt, is sometimes called wolfs bane because it was once used to poison wolves.

Author: Terri Reed

Title: TBD—Working title Northern Border Patrol Book #4

Hero and Heroine: Liz Cantrell-owns an antique shop on Hilton Head Island. ICE agent Blake Fallon works to protect our northern border

Line: Love Inspired Suspense

Due date: May 8, 2015

Word count goal today: 2000

Something cool learned recently from research: Uncut diamonds are ugly, they look like ordinary rocks, but they have the potential to be worth millions.

Author: Sandra Orchard 

Title: Serena Jones Mysteries, book 2

Hero and Heroine: Serena Jones

Line: Revell publishing

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:

Nate led me down a set of steep, poorly lit stairs into the basement of a dry cleaning business. “You sure the place is still open.” 

         Due date: October 1st

Word count goal today: 1500

Something cool learned recently from research: How to forge paintings.

Author: Linda Goodnight

Title: THE RAIN SPARROW

Hero and Heroine:  Hayden Winters & Carrie Riley

Line: HQN

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:

Hayden rubbed a weary hand over his face. Dora Lee had called again last night but he hadn’t answered. The voice mail still lingered on his phone, also unanswered, haunting him, reminding him that he was a liar and a fraud.

Due date: July 15

Word count goal today:  I'm editing, trying to figure out where I took a wrong turn.

Something cool learned recently from research: During the Civil War, southerners sometimes used ground, roasted persimmon seeds to make a coffee substitute.

Author: Jolene Navarro

Title: Clear Water # 4 Surprise Dad

Hero and Heroine:  Angelica Ortega & Garrett Kincaid

Line: LI Contemporary

Due date: Just Turned in the proposal

Word count goal today: 500

A snippet:

Didn’t she realize how dangerous it was to be anywhere near the apartment let alone on the roof without any help? He rubbed his palm over his face. Getting upset would not help, but he did need patience. Getting out of the car he felt years older than twenty-eight.

Something cool learned recently from research: Children that have experienced violent domestic trauma can have the same symptoms of soldier returning from a war zone. Not very cool more on the sad side.