Hi, my name is D. V. Stone. I am a multi-genre author who also enjoys reading across genres. On this page you'll meet a great group of writers and get an insider's view into their lives and books. I hope you enjoy this special peek and find new and exciting reads.
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![]() Who: I’m Judythe Morgan. If you read Judy – the, no worries. It happens a lot. The spelling has been a blessing and a curse all my life. I live in a small Texas town with my hubby dear. We had our first date on my fifteenth birthday, and we’re still in love. I’m a full-time writer, who pens sweet romances with military heroes (The PROMISES series) and preacher kids (Fitzpatrick Family series). I’m also published in women’s fiction romance (CLAIMING ANNIE’S HEART) and romantic suspense (SEEING CLEARLY). All are available in paperback and eBook. Interests: My interests are many and varied. I’m an avid reader and binge viewer of movies and series on Netflix, Brit Box, and Amazon Prime. I garden, mostly flowers, though the deer often enjoy the tender budding morsels before they can bloom. I adore Old English sheepdogs. The bearlike gait and silly antics make me smile. Mine is big—95 pounds. That’s why we named him Finnegan MacCool after the legendary Giant’s Causeway figure, Fionn mac Cumhaill. Network: I’ve been tutored and taught by so many outstanding editors and agents over my years. I hold those folks dear. I also work with the best-ever critique partners. I love the support and fellowship of like-minded people. Desk description: Picture an oval pedestal dining table with a large screen monitor and a laptop and you’ll be looking at my desk. Guests now eat in our kitchen. No one seems to mind. Our kitchen is large and you’re closer to the food. Outrageous talent or something fun like that: I adore Victoriana… collect tchotchkes… and stockpile ephemera from that era. I have hair receivers, figural napkin rings (which I use when folks come to dinner), a 1901 Northwood epergne, a basket of postcards from the early 1900s, and so much more. For years, I had an antique shop that focused on Victoriana. Hubby dear always said more stuff came home than went to the shop. Window: What's outside yours? From my front window, I see a 200-year-old oak tree that shades our little farmhouse yard. From the side window, which faces the driveway, I can see the red blooms on my Texas star hibiscus plant and a birdbath with yellow lantana circling the flower bed around it. Our house is a Certified Wildlife Habitat so squirrels, deer, and opossums wander through from time to time and birds gather for a cool dip at the birdbath or waterfall feature that’s in our back yard. Looking for a summer reading? Escape to Ireland with Claiming Annie’s Heart, the book of my heart: ![]() An Irish Love Story Annie Foster stays in Ireland after boarding school to nanny a widower’s infant daughter. Five years later, the widower proposes. Weeks before the wedding, Chad Jones, her first love, arrives in Belfast on an undercover assignment probing her fiancé’s connection with IRA terrorists. Chad’s determined to change Annie’s mind because he’s never stopped loving her. But Annie still believes he deserted her. She’s moved on without him. Can he reclaim her heart before it's too late? Buy Links: AMAZON (US): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O6BOEPQ/ AMAZON (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Claiming-Annies-Heart-judythe-morgan-ebook/dp/B00O6BOEPQ/ NOOK: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/claiming-annies-heart-judythe-morgan/1120481337 BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/books/claiming-annie-s-heart-by-judythe-morgan GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24238045-claiming-annie-s-heart A further Peek Learn more about Judythe on her website www.judythemorgan.com or her Amazon (US) Author Page https://amazon.com/author/judythemorgan or her View from the Front Porch Blog https://judythewriter.com/ Sign up for her newsletter at https://judythemorgan.com/contact/ One more Peek Connect with her on social media: Twitter https://twitter.com/Judythe2 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JudytheMorgan/ Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6450879.Judythe_Morgan BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/judythe-morgan ![]() Who Although I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA, and will always be a ‘Burgher in my heart, I have lived in southwest Florida for more than 20 years. Among Floridians, that makes me nearly a native. I earned an undergraduate degree in English at night school while working fulltime in the insurance industry. This was a square-peg-in-a-round-hole career choice. In my forties, I went back to school and got a master’s degree in educational psychology/counseling. The career change I hoped for didn’t materialize for quite a while. I worked as the editor of our town newspaper, the administrator at the chamber of commerce, and a shelver at the library before I finally landed a job at the local community college. At the college, I started tutoring remedial and non-native English speakers. Then I did academic coaching with first year students. Eventually, I became an adjunct professor and taught a class called Cornerstone. This is required for all first year students and covers study skills, time management, career development, working in groups, and the like. While all the above was happening, I started to write five or six romance books. In 2016, I finally finished one. This was the first novella in my Calusa Town Tales series. Interests Besides romance books, I read a lot of nonfiction of the self-help variety. I’m interested in theories about personality differences: Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, but also astrology and numerology. I also love to sing. Before Covid, I was a member of the chorus at the college. We never got to sing our spring concert, Mozart’s Requiem. I’m hoping the chorus is able to start again in the fall. I was able to perform with my previous chorus last December. We sang wearing masks outside on a baseball field. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? The concert raised money for the local food bank. Another interest that went by the wayside in the pandemic was my dance class taught at the Elk’s Club by a former Rockette for a class of four. Sadly, no sign that this will start up again. A few years ago, I danced with a senior women’s troupe called Calendar Girls Florida. They raise money to provide service dogs for veterans. I had such fun dressing up and dancing my little heart out. I really hope another dance opportunity presents itself soon. Network My network is online. I am a big fan of The Writing Gals who have a YouTube channel and an annual conference. Desk Confession time. My work habits are atrocious. I don’t have a desk. I do all my writing sitting on my sofa with my laptop on my lap. Worse yet, I generally have the television on. Outrageous talent I enjoy cooking, but I almost never make a recipe as written. I add, subtract, and substitute ingredients at will. I often take the basic idea of a dish from The Pioneer Woman and tweak it to suit what I have handy. According to my patient husband, I mostly succeed. What’s outside my window? I live in Florida, so I can see two palm trees and a frangipani or plumeria out my window. ![]() Blurb for The Lady Is a Mayor: Her town is going broke. He plans to build a new hotel. It should be a perfect match. Geneva is relieved to be back in her tiny Florida hometown after her budding political career in the state capital and her romance with a big-city guy come to an end. She’s content to hold a seat on the local council until the mayor flees in the middle of the night, and the job of fending off bankruptcy falls in her lap. Pittsburgh-born Seth arrives in Calusa with architectural plans in his polished briefcase. His family firm already owns a prime piece of land, and he can hang with his college buddy while the building is erected. But what should be a slam dunk faces opposition from the quirky residents. Geneva is willing to partner with Seth to find a solution. What she won’t do is risk her heart. The Lady Is a Mayor is the first book in the Calusa Town Tales series. If you love clean romances filled with southern charm, you’ll love The Lady Is a Mayor. Buy on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GYUON8O Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B07NPXFSDR Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/FranThomasAuthor Website www.FrancesOThomas.com ![]() Who I am: A California girl at heart, I bid a tearful goodbye to the beach and laid-back San Diego to move to the Colorado mountains. My love for reading must have expanded my imagination because I constantly have stories playing in my head. The only way to stop it was to start putting these stories on paper, but that’s only a temporary relief as the stories keep coming so I keep writing. Interests: When I’m not reading or writing, I indulge in music, which is easy because my husband is a retired piano professor. We met many years ago, when I decided I wanted to start studying piano again. When I learned that he had performed and had taught at the university level, I knew I wanted to study with him. Over the years, a friendship grew into love and now I have music in my life every day. Network: Over the years, I’ve developed a great group of beta readers and advance readers for my books. Because they’re readers, they can tell me right away when the plot and characters work or if something doesn’t ring true. It’s wonderful to have these great people in my life and cheering me on when I wonder why I’m still writing, but I love writing books for readers and as a writer knows, once you start writing, you can never stop. Desk: We live in a small house which seems smaller because of my husband’s grand piano. I’ve converted the family room into my “office,” but because I have an aversion to junk, the office is limited to a chair, a foot stool, my laptop and a music stand where I balance my writing notes. The family room is small and used to be the breezeway between the house and the garage. It has two large windows that look over a patio filled with flower planters. When I’m not writing, I like to spend time in the garden, weather permitting. As it’s a hot June right now, I’m look out at peonies and roses. The cone flowers, echinacea, and rudbeckia are sprouting but won’t bloom until later this summer, which is wonderful because with the crocus, tulips and daffodils blooming in the spring, I can see flowers for eight months during the year. Other: My husband and I are great lovers of nature. We’re happiest when we can escape the rat race and camp and enjoy the quiet. We’re both interested in ghost towns and drive the jeep along some of the old wagon trails. We’ve found a few ghost towns that are still standing with some household items the previous owners left behind. It’s fun for me to imagine what life must have been like back then. These miners worked hard as did their wives and children and sadly many had short lives, but their determination fascinates me. Window: Surrounding myself with the beauty of our back patio and the brilliance of my husband’s playing, I have a view inside and outside of the of the wonders of life that sparks creativity and imagination. I feel very blessed. ![]() Beaumont Brides Boxed Set Books 1-3 Here come the brides! Book 1: Wherever Love Finds You It’s his game. He makes the rules. Rule number one – only he can break the rules. Zach Lowe lives his life without relationships in business and personally. Getting involved doesn’t work well when you’re the Black Knight of Wall Street. Ellora Duvall, the sweet kid who crushed on him in high school, waltzes into the world of corporate finance with the same wide eyed innocence she had in chemistry class. He hadn’t expected her to affect him the way she did, but he’s in control. A few weeks with Ellora will be pure pleasure, then he’ll move on. She’ll understand. He should, too. Who broke his rules? Book 2: When Love Whispers Sometimes, love comes in packages. As the top ranked student at Charleston’s military academy, Preston Lowe excels in class, in sports and with women. Only Willow Dockery, a barmaid at the city’s trendy nightclub, sees the pain in his eyes when he’s out with friends having a good time. But Willow doesn’t know how Preston inwardly struggles to forget a past that could derail the career he’s worked hard to achieve. Willow wrestles with her own secrets. After a disastrous relationship leaves her broke and disillusioned, she vows never to let anyone rob her of her dreams again. But as she gets to know Preston, it’s as if their tumultuous pasts meld together into something so startling it transforms their relationship and their lives forever. Book 3: Call It Love A kiss isn’t just a kiss … Struggling actress Addison Duvall hustles background acting jobs at the Hollywood studios in hopes for her big break. When she’s cast as the stand in for the lead actress in a blockbuster spy film, she can’t believe her luck. The surprises rush in―her first test shot is with Hollywood heartthrob Spencer Kingsley. Her even bigger surprise is when the director yells, “Action!” and Spencer presses his lips to hers in a kiss. Behind Spencer’s Hollywood façade hides the secret pain no one suspects. He’s the first to take a risk except when it comes to his heart. He can’t deny he and Addison have chemistry―chemistry onscreen and off―and he’s tempted to lower his guard. She seems real, not like the women he usually meets. Once Addison’s star rises, so do Spencer’s doubts. She’s no different than the others looking for the connection to catapult their careers. He won’t let another woman damage his heart. His decision made, Spencer wishes her success. But it’s already too late. How does he heal this Addison shaped hole in his heart? Should he risk more heartbreak for another chance at love? Beaumont Brides Boxed Set Books 1-3 Buy Link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HYB96RZ A further Peek A native of California, Laura Haley-McNeil spent her youth studying ballet and piano, though her favorite pastime was curling up with a good book. Without a clue as to how to write a book, she knew one day she would. After college, she segued into the corporate world, but she never forgot her love for the arts and served on the board of two community orchestras. Finally realizing that the book she’d dreamt of writing wouldn’t write itself, she planted herself in front of her computer. She now immerses herself in the lives and loves of her characters in her romantic suspense and her contemporary romance novels. Many years later, she lived her own romantic novel when she married her piano teacher, the love of her life. Though she and husband have left warm California for cooler Colorado, they enjoy the outdoor life of hiking, bicycling, horseback riding and snow skiing. They satisfy their love of music by attending concerts and hanging out with their musician friends, but Laura still catches a few free moments when she can sneak off and read. https://laurahaleymcneil.com/ @laurarmcneil https://www.facebook.com/LauraHaleyMcNeil/ ![]() Who: I live in a small town in central New Mexico. I’m a full-time writer, and my home office looks out on nature, complete with distracting wildlife such as roadrunners and foxes. I enjoy walking, hiking, and archery. The Southwest infuses my romantic suspense novels, from a treasure hunting series to What We Found, a mystery inspired by finding a dead body while hiking. This blog post shares more about my Southwest Inspiration. Interests: I love animals, both wild and domestic. I noticed lots of sweet, small-town romance series involving dogs, but few with cats. I think it's because dogs clearly bring people together – think dog parks, walking your dog, obedience training – while cats don't, or at least didn’t. The recent trend of cat cafés, where people can visit adoptable cats in a café setting, inspired my Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series. Network: My brother, Douglas J Eboch, is also a writer. He wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama (yes, the movie starring Reese Witherspoon). We’re cowriting a young adult comedy series features “Felony Melanie,” Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. It’s a lot of fun to work with a writing partner, especially one I’ve known my whole life. Desk: I continue traveling the world, making trips to Wales, Turkey, Australia, and other destinations. Life eventually took me to New Mexico, where I've lived since 2002. She works from home office with a view of the beautiful New Mexican landscape and the pleasant distraction of birds, lizards, and occasionally a fox parading past her window. New Mexico year-round’s sunshine and temperate weather lets her hike year-round in the mountains, deserts, and canyons. Other insights: I prefer the German white wines. I also love a rum and coke on a warm evening. Wine or cocktails are an occasional treat, but I like to start every day with tea. I have a cabinet full of selections. I can’t stand coffee. If you visited me, depending on the season and time of day, we might have tea on the patio with a view of the mountains or a glass of wine in the shade of the trees. Window: If you visited me, depending on the season and time of day, we might have tea on the patio with a view of the mountains or a glass of wine in the shade of the trees. ![]() Furrever Friends by Kris Bock Cupcakes and Confessions at The Cat Café Sweet Romance Twenty-three years ago, Fiona gave up her baby when her teen fiancé abandoned her. A chance meeting with Sean, former tech company founder and now a cat café barista, leads to a startling revelation: his coworker, Holly, looks like a younger version of Fiona. Sean helps Fiona through the emotional roller coaster of getting to know her grown up daughter. Fiona’s life is too complicated for romance, and Sean doesn’t want to get between mother and daughter. Still, something sparks between them. Should they stay just friends or risk their hearts? The Furrever Friends Cat Café helps people find furry forever friends – and just might lead to romantic true love too. Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. Get a free 10,000-word story set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café when you sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter. You’ll also get a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels, plus fun content about cats, announcements of new books, sales, and more. Peek Further Twenty years ago, I started writing for children, using the name Chris Eboch. I have eight middle grade novels (for ages 9 to 12) published under that name. I also write a lot of educational nonfiction and fiction under the name M.M. Eboch. When I started writing for adults, I used the name Kris Bock, to separate it from my children’s work. Find the first two books at Amazon US or other e-book retailers, or sign up for our Rom-Com newsletter and get a free short story sample. I know you are 👀 for more Learn more at www.krisbock.com or visit Kris Bock’s Amazon US page or Amazon UK page. (For other countries click here.) Kris Bock Blog: The Southwest Armchair Traveler Kris Bock’s Newsletter signup Kris Bock on GoodReads Kris Bock on Facebook Kris Bock on Twitter Kris Bock on Pinterest ![]() Kris also writes romantic suspense set in the Southwestern U.S. If you love Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels, try Kris Bock’s stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue in the Southwest. “Counterfeits is the kind of romantic suspense novel I have enjoyed since I first read Mary Stewart’s Moonspinners.” 5 Stars – Roberta at Sensuous Reviews blog. |
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October 2021
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