RELEASE WEEK! A New Bachelor is Released: Jake

On Tuesday, we release Book 3 in the Band of Bachelors series (part of the overall SEAL Brotherhood series). I've had a great time writing this hero.

I have a printable book list on this website, if you go back to the Home page. That will give you the reading order, and the series, as well as other books, box sets, and novellas.

So here's how I got the Band of Bachelors. I was going to do a SEAL for Cat Johnson's Kindle World. Cat is a good friend of mine, and a great writer. I got Lucas' story done in novella format, and then had to change plans. So this book became a full length novel, Book 1 in the Band of Bachelors.

All my books are part of the overall SEAL Brotherhood series. My publicist at the time told me that I shouldn't have long series. So I decided to break up the titles to focus on the unique group of SEALs in each group. In real life, there are different types of SEALs. Ones that stay in for twenty years, married and divorced SEALs, SEALs who get out after six years, ones who are single, ones who are happily married, ones who have to roll out due to injuries, and everything in between.

So my Bachelor SEALs then are those who have been married before, and either get married multiple times with kids all over the place (like my Jake), or go through messy divorces. The one thing they have in common is that they rely too heavily on their own form of Bachelor advice. They live like a bunch of bachelors, and haven't yet figured out what all the fuss is about housekeeping and decorating a home. In fact, they are enjoying the fact that they don't have to do that anymore.

But one by one, they fall. I love the concept.

In contrast, my Bad Boys of SEAL Team 3 are men who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, from often foster care or tragic family lives. Men who found their true calling by becoming a SEAL. Of course, one by one, they each find their Happily Ever After, and rise to become the warrior they were destined to be.

True Blue SEALs is going to be a series of injured warriors, starting with Book 1, Zak. This story was based in part on the story of Adam Brown, who lost an eye and then have to re-qualify to go back on the SEAL Teams. Very inspiring true story. I used the idea of what impact a freak injury can have on the life of a warrior. Zak of course opens the door to the winery life in Sonoma County. I wanted to be able to include that in the future for some of the guys who get out and go on with their lives.

Nashville SEALs was inspired in great part by my narrator, J.D. Hart, sort of as a romanticized version (although J.D. needs no enhancement) of his early life as a country-western star in Nashville. In getting to know him over the twenty plus audio books we have done together, his story came out, and I asked for and received permission to tell an exaggerated tale of it, tailored to my SEALs. He could have been a bad boy, but I don't see J.D.'s young single life as being bad at all. But that's just me. My hero is the same. He gives more than he takes, but he decides there's more to life than backstage hookups and short term relationships, and rises to the call.

And now I have the Trident Legacy, my first paranormal SEAL. Tay Demmett makes your acquaintance on 3/28/17 when Kathryn LeVeque and I release the duet Trident Legacy. I hope you will go buy that book as soon as you finish Jake.

What's next? It will be another SEAL story, in one of these series. It might be Bad Boy #4, Bachelor #4, Tay's full length story, another SEAL Brotherhood story in the original series, a continuation of Lizzie and Jameson's story, or a continuation of Fredo's Dream with Fredo and Mia.

In any event, I hope you use this as a reference to what has come before, and where I'm going. After all, it's been a fun journey and I couldn't do it without you, the readers, and my wonderful sister authors, who have taught me so much.

Thank you for a great year so far. I've only just begun!!

Zak and Amy's Proposal Scene

I'm participating in Tawny Weber's MARRY ME Facebook event on 3-21-16 to help promote her books and to celebrate National Proposal Day. Several authors are posting marriage proposals from our most recent books.

Here's my proposal scene from Zak and Amy:

Zak paused, stopped caressing her shoulder and upper arm, and patted her instead.

“Usually the drama surrounds some guys, like Joel, who get injured or never come back. That’s when the community closes ranks, comes together, and helps the spouse and family. It’s just what they do. And I’ll be honest and tell you, some guys, when they go overseas, are unfaithful. There can be drama there, too. The ladies stay close to home, form this network of strength. They usually can dig it out of anyone if something’s going on. There aren’t too many secrets. All the joys and pains are shared communally.”

“Okay. I can see that.”

“But as for Connie, I think she’s just a mental case. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn’t like this when they first got together, but she did demand Lucas leave the teams, and he’s not ready to.”

“That happens a lot, too? Wives beg their husbands to get off the Teams?”

“I don’t know. Not been around it enough to really know. That’s why I wanted you to come down here to meet everyone, to talk to whomever you wanted to talk to, answer all your questions. I want you walking into this thing with your eyes wide open.”  

“I think I do a pretty good job of that.”

He glanced at her face. “You do, honey. I think you have great instincts. You’re good under pressure. Remember, I’ve seen that.”

How could she forget the look on the terrorist’s face when his bloody handprint was left on the glass door of her office or later when she thought her life would end in that bomb blast?

But there was one lingering question she had to ask. “So, Zak, how often do SEALs get divorced? Is it a chronic problem?”

“What do you think?” Zak had pulled into the parking garage. Shutting the Hummer off, he turned in his seat to face her again. He focused on her hands folded neatly in her lap and gently covered them with his. His warm fingers wrapping around hers was comforting. She could see he was trying to formulate words for something difficult to say. He perused her chest, up her neck, and then met her face to face. “I think the statistic is better than sixty percent. That’s all military, too. Maybe the SEALs are a little higher, but I’m not sure.”

She broke eye contact and stared at the walls of the garage, swallowing hard.

“Thing is, Amy, it’s hard on the families when the guys go overseas. That stress takes several forms. I guess Connie went on a spending bender, and then they had money problems. I just think she was weak and decided she couldn’t handle it. We all wish she could have just been honest about that—she wasn’t made for this life. No harm in that. But the way she’s going about it is all wrong.”

“Terrible for the kids.”

“Tears Lucas up. It really does.”

“I won’t lie to you, Zak. I really don’t know how I’ll feel when you go overseas.”

“I know that. That’s being honest.”

“But I want to support you. I know this was what you were made to do.”

“That’s absolutely for certain. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear. My dedication to this job will always come first as long as I am a SEAL. If that changes, then I get out. You need to know that.”

It was one of the things that scared her the most. No matter how much he loved her, being a SEAL would always come first.

“And?” Amy knew there was something more he was leaving out.

“Let’s go inside.” He took her hand. She slid off the seat into his arms, and they walked hand in hand up to the elevator and to his apartment beyond.

He directed her to sit on the couch while he brought in some mineral water for both of them. Instead of taking his place beside her, he knelt in front of her. “Amy Dobson, you know me. You don’t know the community yet, but I do, and I think there is a place here for you. I’ve got the green light from your dad.”

Amy’s expression must have registered shock because Zak hurriedly explained how he’d called Chief Allister Dobson and her father had given him his approval.

“Kind of old fashioned, but I wanted to do it that way. I knew what your father thought was important to you, Amy.”

The tender expression on Zak’s face left her speechless. He’d planned this ahead of time. This was more than a just meet and greet with the other members of his SEAL Team; this was a planned course of action. Very intentional. She saw for the first time how he’d bared his soul to her. He’d set all this up.

“Marry me, Amy. You already said yes, but I wanted you to know that your dad is in agreement.” He took her hands in his. “I want to make it formal. I don’t want to wait for some day.”

She didn’t have to think about it. She went to bed every night and woke up every morning envisioning being his wife, sharing a life with this man. “Of course, just like I said before, I’ll marry you, Zak. And in time, I’ll learn how to support you the way I need to. I think I’m good with it all.”

Her smile would usually bring a kiss, but he was still hesitating.

“What is it?” Now she was getting worried.

“I want us to get married before I deploy.”

“Like when?”

“Soon. How about next weekend?”

I so enjoy bringing you these marriage proposals, as each one of my SEALs finds his happily ever after. In Zak's case, this is the most beautiful part of the story, the proposal and wedding. And then the strongest and most beautiful part of their love follows after his difficult tour. 

Enjoy!

Canary Island Tale - Using places I've traveled in books.

Many of you know we've traveled on some long cruises, usually starting in Italy, and going across the Atlantic. These are not nearly as exclusive as they sound, and are quite affordable. Since there are a lot of days at sea, and the weather is warm, it's perfect for writing. I could hardly stay in a hotel anywhere for the price of these long distance cruises. They have to move the ship from Europe to the Caribbean, or South America when the seasons change and their routes expand, so they take on passengers for a very affordable price. I think the cheapest was like $800 for 21 days, believe it or not!

We opted not to do one this winter, so these pictures are from the 2014-2015 trip. I needed a location that was away from Europe (the Secretary of State meets with a Moroccan leader secretly), wanted the meeting to look like a vacation, and needed it to be close to Africa. The Canary Islands was one stop we've made a couple of times. This was perfect!

I like writing about places I've visited because it not only gives me a point of reference to be accurate with some details, but also because it gives me a focus if I can feel I'm in the place as I'm writing it. Sometimes I search the net for pictures of properties for sale, with lovely photos to choose from. Often we can use these in our book trailers. Getting a "feel" for a place is important. One speaker told me that the location becomes a character in your book. I think that's right.

I try to give variety to my books, not have the same theme, except the arc of the whole series, which is that these SEALs learn to overcome everything: from international events, to local home grown terrorists, to just plan evil bad guys. They save the day. They get thrown into things they didn't expect.

So I guess I use the place as the anchor, and then weave tales around these points, like spinning a spider web, hoping to snag readers and bring them into my world of the Brotherhood. Traveling gives me lots of dreams for my muse. It's fun to bring all my readers along on these adventures, both real and imagined.

Here's a snippet of the new book, which releases next month, and is on preorder, True Blue SEALs: Zak. It is Book #13 in the SEAL Brotherhood Series. Enjoy!

Where have you always wanted to travel? If you could go anywhere, where would it be?

See book trailer here.