For Christmas an Audiobook Giveaway plus The Saved Series, The Complete Collection NOW AVAILABLE!

December 2014 View this email in your browser Author LORHAINNE ECKHART ~ 99CENT CHRISTMAS BOOK SALE ~ Treat yourself to an early Christmas present (or two)! Check out two of my holiday titles, on sale now at the following eRetailers.  THE AWAKENING A young woman who has lost everything, and the wealthy rancher who must choose between his family's power and his conscience to help her. Amazon:  http://smarturl.it/TheAWKG   THE GIFT A devastating plane crash and a father's only hope are the dreams connecting him with his son. Amazon:  http://smarturl.it/ThGift Barnes & Noble:  http://bit.ly/TGifBN Nook UK:  http://bit.ly/UKBNGift Apple:  http://bit.ly/1qC2aGx Kobo:  http://bit.ly/KBGift Google Play:  http://bit.ly/GGift Smashwords:  http://bit.ly/1AmYWGJ   AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY! Every week until December 28, 2014, I'll be giving away copies of four of my titles currently available on Audible including THE DEADLINE, LOST AND FOUND, SAVED and THE ONE. Click here to enter this week's contest! Four lucky winners will be selected at random per week, and each winner will receive one of the aforementioned titles. Good luck and happy listening!   FIND MY TITLES AT THESE ONLINE RETAILERS: Amazon Barnes & Noble Apple Kobo Smashwords Google Play Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*

Audiobook Giveaway

AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY!

Every week until December 28, 2014, I'll be giving away copies of four of my titles currently available on Audible including THE DEADLINE, SAVED, LOST AND FOUND and THE ONE.

Click here to enter this week's contest! Four lucky winners will be selected at random per week, and each winner will receive one of the aforementioned titles. 

 

Good luck and happy listening! 

Apple #iBooks features some of the best in Romance Series

Yes Apple is doing it again! Today they rolled out their brand new feature for Romance Series Bundles. Now these are not collaborations and multi-author boxed sets. These are the complete series from some of the best authors in the industry today. The series being featured in this promotion by iBooks includes some of the most sought after series in the industry. This feature is currently available  in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland. Simply click here to check out all the series being featured.

This is a great opportunity for all you romance series fans to try a new author.  The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection, this sizzling, emotional family saga which includes all the books and short stories of the hot and sexy Friessen Men and the strong vulnerable women they love, is one the selected series that is being featured by iBooks in this limited time promotion.

Friendy Fire Release Day Book Blast

Friendly Fire (The Wilde Brothers)
Author: Lorhainne Eckhart
Publication: May 20, 2014
Genre: Adult/Contemporary Romance/Women’s Fiction/Western Romance

**CONTENT WARNING: Although this series is filled with ideals of family, love and loyalty, the Wilde brothers are strong sexy alpha males. Each book and short story in this series is filled with sexual tension, steamy romance, rough language, and passion. It is for those who enjoy adult contemporary romance, women’s fiction, western romance.






SYNOPSIS
“I wish I could find a man like the Wilde Brothers.” - Tina

“Read the whole thing in 1 day. A page turner from start to finish. Makes me wish I lived in Idaho.” – Diane

In FRIENDLY FIRE, after a roadside bomb ends his career in the marines, Logan Wilde struggles to put his life back together. When he takes a job as a sheriff in a small Idaho town, he expects a quiet, peaceful life that will bore him to tears. However, Logan hides a painful secret: He suffers from sleepless nights and flashbacks that come out of nowhere, and anything can be a trigger.

From the moment the new sheriff walks through the door of Julia Cooper’s cafe, she fights the attraction between them, especially after Logan shoots a carafe right from her hands when he’s startled by a car backfiring in the street outside. Julia has seen that wild look before: She saw it in her father’s eyes right before he shoved a gun to his head and killed himself.

Julia decides she needs to meet someone average, someone who has never handled a gun. Everyone is convinced that her daughter’s teacher is the perfect match for her, but when she’s with him, she misses the sparks that always sizzle between her and Logan—and when her daughter goes missing, it’s Logan who’s there for her, Logan who searches with her, and Logan she leans on.

Worse, Logan suspects that the teacher knows something about the disappearance, and he may not be the safe, dependable guy Julia believes him to be.


THE WILDE BROTHERS:
The One (Joe & Margaret)
The Honeymoon, A Wilde Brothers Short
Friendly Fire (Logan & Julia)
A Matter of Trust (Ben & Carrie) Coming Summer 2014<

THE OUTSIDER series:
The Forgotten Child (Brad & Emily)
A Baby And A Wedding (An Outsider Series Short)
Fallen Hero (Andy, Jed & Diana)
The Search (An Outsider Series Short)
The Awakening (Andy & Laura)
Secrets (Jed & Diana)
Runaway(Andy & Laura)
Overdue (An Outsider Series Short)
The Unexpected Storm (Neil & Candy)
The Wedding (Neil & Candy)

THE FRIESSENS: A NEW BEGINNING:
The Deadline (Andy & Laura)

WALK THE RIGHT ROAD SERIES:
The Choice
Lost And Found
Merkaba
Bounty
Blown Away, The Final Chapter




EXCERPT

Logan saw the sign over the door, a big oval carved with a tree and roots. A plastic sign on the door said “Open.” Logan pulled in front, angling into a parking spot.

When he stepped out, Clinton shut the passenger door and pointed to his phone. “I generally go home for lunch,” he said. “Let me give my wife a call. I’ll be right in, Sheriff.”

Logan took in his deputy. The gun strapped to his side should have given him confidence, but the way he spoke about his wife made his courage seem fleeting.

“I’ll be inside,” Logan said.

He took in the coffeehouse, with about half a dozen tables and a glassed-in counter holding baked goods, sandwiches, and deli meats. He scanned the chalk menu board and strode up to the counter, where a woman with cropped dark hair had her back to him. She wore a white apron over a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, and she turned around and glanced up at Logan with a bright smile and round face—and the most stunning green eyes he’d ever seen.

She hesitated, holding a plated sandwich. “Hey, there. I’ll be right with you,” she said. She had a killer smile as she strode around the counter and over to a table, setting a sandwich in front of an older man wearing a cowboy hat. She said something and then hurried back behind the counter. She had a neat and trim figure, with a small, rounded ass, and she wore sneakers.

Logan couldn’t take his eyes off her. He sat on one of the stools and took in her figure. Something about her had captivated him. She glanced his way, her wide eyes rimmed with long, dark lashes, all natural and so exotic. She wore not a stitch of makeup. Natural beauty, he loved it. He couldn’t help himself from taking in her round face, those soft, pink lips. She cleared her throat, setting both her hands on the counter, and his eyes went right there. No ring.

“You must be the new sheriff,” she said. As she watched him, all the light in her eyes vanished, replaced with something hard, as if she had figured him out in two seconds flat.

“I’m Logan Wilde,” he said. There was something about the way she was standing, so ramrod straight, that kept him from sticking his hand out to shake hers. No, what he wanted to do was put his hands on her, but that would definitely get him slapped. “And you are?” he finally asked, raising an eyebrow until she finally relaxed—almost, anyway. He realized this lady was not one to be toyed with. She was a difficult woman, strong, who reeled in his interest.

“Julia Cooper,” she replied. She clutched a dish rag and then tossed it down, extending her hand. “I own this place.”

Logan couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips as he took her tiny hand in his. Her soft, firm handshake stirred his interest further and scrambled all his good sense, too. “Nice to meet you, Julia.”

“So what can I get you, Sheriff?” she asked. He could tell she was still holding on to something. She had put up a wall and seemed ready to scurry behind it at any time. Logan couldn’t help wondering what that was all about. Did she have some trouble, or had something made her naturally cautious? That wasn’t necessarily such a bad thing, though it bothered him to think something had scarred her. He realized it wasn’t safe for her to take anyone at face value, anyway.

“Heard you make a mean sandwich. What do you recommend?” he asked, taking in the wide selection she gestured to on the chalkboard.

“Well, I have to say today’s special is pretty good: chicken and goat’s cheese on focaccia with a side of soup, your choice of minestrone or spinach and bean.”

He tapped his fingers on the counter. “Either sounds good. Why don’t you choose for me?”

She gave him a quick nod. “You got it, Sheriff,” she said, turning and opening the cooler, lifting out chicken, vegetables, and other fixings.

He couldn’t take his gaze off her back, with her slim curves—and that butt. Logan had never considered himself one of those guys who was a breast or ass man, but there was something about this woman. He wanted to figure out a way to get to know her a whole lot better. She was far from a super model, but she filled out a pair of plain old jeans. She wasn’t tall, either, and he was pretty sure he probably had a foot on her, but she’d sure fit nicely in his arms.

He wondered, for a moment, how responsive she’d be to his touch, or to him whispering to her in the dark. A tightening in his groin overcame him, and he swore under his breath. There had to be something wrong with him. Hell, he’d gone stretches before without a woman, but this last time…well, it had been over a year. Maybe that was his problem. He cleared his throat, trying to clear his head as well, forcing his thoughts to the meeting with Stan and Johnny Rhodes, but he just couldn’t shake the thought of Julia, who was such a distraction. The door chimed, and Logan glanced over his shoulder as Clinton strode in.

“Hey there, Julia,” Clinton said, also nodding to the older man eating a sandwich in the corner. “Slow today?” he asked as he took a seat beside Logan at the counter.

“Hi there, Clinton. Yeah, it’s been a little slow, but it should be picking up, with tourist season coming. I hope so, anyway. How’re your wife and that new baby of yours?” she asked. She had a sweet, soft voice, and Logan thought he could listen to her talk all day.

“Oh, they’re great. Annie is sleeping through the night now. She’s so sweet, and she has such a pretty smile,” Clinton said. He was already pulling out his cell phone, showing off baby pictures, and Julia leaned across the counter, taking in the photos with a natural excitement, as if she really was happy to see pictures of someone else’s baby. Maybe that was a female thing. To Logan, seeing baby photos was about as interesting as seeing some realtor’s face plastered across a billboard. He couldn’t even pretend interest.

Julia actually took the phone and touched her chest. “Oh, look at her! You have to bring her in. Tell Jenny to bring that baby over next time she’s in town.”

“Will do,” Clinton said, taking his phone back, a big smile on his face.

Logan could tell that his deputy was constantly distracted. With all the marines he had trained, he had hammered into them that they had to get their heads in the game. Clinton had two pretty faces waiting at home, but there was a time and a place for those thoughts. Logan couldn’t help wondering, if and when trouble hit, how Clinton would respond. He was soft, and the last thing Logan needed to worry about was having to knock on Jenny’s door and tell her she was a widow—and that her baby no longer had a father.

“What can I get for you, Clinton?” Julia asked, wiping her hands on a red and white dishtowel.

Clinton glanced over at the chalkboard and gestured to the special. “Special looks good, with minestrone. Would love one of them cappuccinos, with cinnamon on top, too, if you don’t mind.”

Julia nodded with a big smile. “You got it, Clinton,” she said, but when she faced the sheriff, her whole demeanor changed. She was back on guard, her smile now gone. “Sheriff, do you want something to drink?”

“Just a regular coffee would be great,” he replied, and she turned away, poured the coffee, and set it in front of him.

“Cream, sugar?”

“Just a little milk,” he said. She set a creamer in front of him, and he watched her as she turned away again and started fixing his lunch.

“I’m just going to wash up, Sheriff. I’ll be right back,” Clinton said, disappearing through a door in the back.

Logan slid around on the stool, taking in the big front window. Cars and a couple pickups drove by, a few people walking past here and there—unhurried, nothing like the way people were in the city. Everyone wore cowboy hats and blue jeans, and the way they all walked and talked said “Midwest ranching community.”

He sniffed the air at the hiss of the espresso machine, frowning out the window at an older white Cadillac that drove past. His heart was racing, his hand shaking on the counter as if he knew what was about to happen. There was a high-pitched whistle, then a bang as the car backfired in the street, and his chest squeezed as he waited for the explosion. Everything was moving in slow motion, everything louder. Where had the explosion come from? He heard the sound of gunfire.

For a moment, it felt as if he wasn’t even there. Julia was screaming, shouting at him, and he stared and stared, blinking, hearing only his breath, long and loud. Her face was terrified, and his hand trembled around his pistol—aimed toward her. It took him a minute to take it in: the shattered glass, the handle she was holding, all that was left of the carafe. There was now a hole in the espresso machine.



AVAILABLE FROM:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | Kobo |

AUTHOR BIO:
Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter |
Lorhainne Eckhart is a 2013 Readers Favorite Award winner, frequently a top 100 bestselling author on Amazon in Romance, Westerns and Police Procedural. Author of 25 titles which includes novels, collections, and short stories. She writes three genres, western romance, romantic suspense and military romance and has sold more than 250,000 eBooks since her bestseller The Forgotten Child landed on the Amazon #1 Bestseller list for Westerns and Western Romance.
The German Foreign rights for The Forgotten Child have since been acquired by a major publisher, retitled The Forgotten Boy and released March 18, 2014, now a top 100 overall bestseller on Amazon. Lorhainne lives on sunny Salt Spring Island with her family where she is working on her next book.


RAFFLECOPTER: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Changing the Bad Into the Good

If you use gratitude everyday your life will change in ways you can’t imagine. It will dissolve negativity. Gratitude is the bridge to love and nothing negative can exist in love. So when bad thoughts occupy space in your head you have the power to change this by simply being grateful for things in your life. You can’t be sad, or depressed or angry when you're grateful.  When you find yourself taking that slide to cranky, and irritated, stop and look around you for things to be grateful for, look for things that make you happy. Once you start looking, keep looking for another and another and what happens is those bad feelings that have crept up on you will suddenly dissolve. You can change anything negative into positive by doing this.

When problems crop up during your day, learn to not give them any energy, look for things to be grateful for and what will happen is those problems will disappear. And the reason they disappear is because you are not giving them  energy.

I remind myself often, and my kids that  everything negative and problematic in our life, we’ve created  by our thoughts. And we don’t even realize sometimes we’ve done it. Because what we think and what we believe are what we create in our reality. And it’s not about the other person, you may believe that challenging person you’ve met  or who is the source of all your misery is the problem. Well, they’re not. It’s you, the energy you give to the situation. If you focus  your energy on the problem you will make the problem bigger. Simply turn away from it, give it no energy and start looking for things to be grateful for.

One of the things I’ve learned and I stress to my kids, don’t talk about problems, or gossip about people because this isn’t being grateful or loving and will come back to you in ways you can’t imagine, and nothing good. It comes down to, you get back what you put out. I certainly don’t want people gossiping, making up stories about me, or dissecting my skills as an author, as a parent, as a community member. So I make a point if someone is gossiping about another person, I change the subject and end whatever is being said about that person with something positive.

If you are angry with someone, a spouse, loved one, friend or someone you met start looking for something to appreciate about that person and don’t focus on the problems. Feeling the need to vent about a person to a friend isn’t helping the situation for you. And all you're doing is giving energy to a bad situation and making it worse. When you start to recognize what you’re doing with these patterns you can change your entire life for you, for the better. 

Check out Blown Away, The Final Chapter, now available at all online Retailers.

Imagine that the man who's been the source of all your misery shows up on your doorstep. Imagine this man wants your forgiveness for every bad thing he's done to you and your friends. Would you believe him?

Marcie, Maggie, and Diane all have one thing in common: Dan McKenzie, an unscrupulous man who uses women. His motto in life is "Lie, cheat, and steal." He faked his death and tried to frame Maggie's husband with his murder. He blackmailed Marcie to run drugs for him. And Diane, a cop, had to stand by, knowing he was responsible for planting drugs in her partner's locker. He's always walked away scot free. Until now.

As the friends move on with their lives, Maggie and her husband plan for another child after surviving the loss of their daughter. Zac asks Diane to marry him, though he hides a secret from his past that could destroy the future they have planned. And though Marcie and Sam are expecting their second child, their relationship teeters on the brink of disaster.

What these three friends don't expect is that sometimes, life has a way of evening the score.

Order Blown Away, The Final Chapter here:

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble 

Apple ibookstore

Kobo

Smashwords 

Paperback *Coming Soon

How to romance your Lady

I thought it would be fun to create a post about all the Alpha’s, the cops, the cowboys and the military captain that I write about, and how each one of them would put together a romantic dinner for his special lady.

Let’s start with sexy Joe Wilde from The One. A man tucked away on his rural acreage in Post Falls Idaho a cowboy barely getting by, and the one woman who he realized is The One, Margaret Tanner a former surgeon who has a gift with horses. Since Joe, is the backyard barbeque type, beers and burgers, and no love for fancy restaurants, he is more likely to try and whip up a dinner, something simple a meatloaf or burgers with a couple beers. This man is not a wine drinker. Then he’d take his girl out on the deck perched on his lap and take in the stars and keep her warm his way.

Now sexy big brother Brad Friessen who you met in The Forgotten Child, has grown up from his days of being a fast talking hot sexy rancher who appreciates beauty vs brains hanging off his arm. No with Emily, the first woman to ever show him what true love meant. He’d hire a sitter and take his sweet wife out to a nice steak dinner in Hoquiam, and maybe finish the evening off with some ballroom dancing, before taking her home and surprising her with whatever new lacy negligee he bought her from Victoria Secret.

Neil Friessen the extravagant middle brother is all class with his million dollar deals and not a hair out of place. No he’d insist on the finest dining experience with no expense spared. He’d whisk his sweet Candy off to Paris to one of the finest dining experiences then on to the theatre for a musical or play or something that’s received a lot of praise, and finish off the evening with an eight thousand dollar bottle of wine. Rose petals scattered to the bedroom and candlelight in the background.

Now baby brother Jed Friessen walked away from his family fortune. A cowboy who insists on doing things his way with no help from anyone. You met him in Fallen Hero and again in Secrets with his sweet wife Diana, the woman he loves more than his next breath. The mother of his children, and a woman he’ll go to his grave protecting. No Jed, would saddle up their horses and whisk Diana off for a picnic in the meadow. Hold hands and lay with her on a blanket under the deep blue sky. With no one around them to interrupt them.

Their wealthy cousin Andy Friessen is a man with a dark side that you first saw in Fallen Hero, but when he rescued his wife Laura this alpha is definitely a force to be reckoned with. You saw this in The Awakening, and then again in Runaway, he’s a man who doesn’t give his heart easily. Andy is a man every woman wants, but few could handle. For his romantic evening he’d make all the arrangements to surprise Laura, including ordering her a stunning cocktail dress that she’d find laid across the bed for her to slip on. He’d arrange for a limo to whisk them away to some out of the way dining experience, a four course meal, and then later dancing would be Salsa and something slow and sexy where he could have his hands all over his wife.

And then there is Eric Hamilton a US Navy Captain from Saved and Vanished, a man who fills many woman dreams of taming. A difficult, strong willed and opinionated man. He’s a military man in the blood, and loves Abby deeply. He’d surprise her with dinner. And it would be something special and creative some cuisine he’d learned from one of the many ports he’d been stationed around the world. He’d cook at home where the kids would be tucked in bed for the night and he’d slip on some romantic music something low and soft and he’d take her in his arms after dinner and dance with her.

Now, let’s move on to Sam Carre the cop and DEA agent you met in, The Choice. He pined for his dead wife for years even though she’d been a dishonest woman on the take. But when he met Marcie she stirred something in him he never dreamed he’d feel. With Marcie, he’d plan a romantic beach getaway, somewhere hot, sandy and exotic where she’d be in a bikini and he could appreciate the view.

Richard McCafferty from Lost And Found, a dark haired sexy man who could turn every woman’s head. A man in partnership with a dishonest scumbag, and really walks a fine line between truth and lies. Richard only has eyes for Maggie, his dark haired wife. Richard is a difficult man to read and you really wouldn’t know what he’d plan, but it would be somewhere private, where he could have his wife alone and his hands all over her. Dinner would be romantic a dark private booth in a restaurant a bottle of red wine and maybe a hotel room for the night.

Now last but not least, Zac, the gorgeous sexy scarred trauma surgeon who carries his own secrets and baggage from his years in the military. Diane’s new man you met in Bounty. He’d keep Diane at home where he could have her all to himself. He wouldn’t take her to his place, he’d cook dinner for her at her place and then he’d put on some soft music and he’d listen to Diane, let her talk and then show her how special she is to him.

There is only one thing all these strong Alpa’s have in common and that is they are strong willed men who are by no means a pushover for anyone. But each one of these sexy complex men has their own story, their own baggage, and each one of them is fiercely protective of his lady.

SECRETS ~ Next in Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES

Sorry everyone for the long gap in between blog posts. This has been a hectic spring, not only did we take time out for Disneyland, which was awesome. I've been working every spare minute on finishing two books from two series. Today marks the release for SECRETS. Secrets follows The Awakening in Finding Love~The Outsider Series. And here it is, available now at Amazon: 

 

"Jed always told me he'd take care of everything. And I believed him, I trusted him, I loved him." 

For Diana, Jed was the first man she trusted. He was the first man to show her what true love was. He was the father of her child, the one man she could always count on. Until one spring day Jed falls from the roof of the barn and Diana's world as she knows it begins to unravel. 

Diana is forced to face two things, her husband's secrets, and what if... there was no Jed.

Danger ~ Deception ~ Devotion

In my new romantic suspense series, Walk the Right Road, I've introduced some interesting characters one of which is Dan McKenzie, a man who is not as he seems. But as a man he is in fact a predator. If you've read The Choice you may identify with how Marcie was preyed upon and maybe you too had at one time in your life been the victim of a predator? Or could you be now?

There are many species of predators. Do you understand the difference? A predator is something that hunts prey. Prey is something that is attacked. A predator feeds off his prey.

There’s a particular predator that has the ability to slip in under the radar and prey on women’s vulnerability. With an ability to cloud the invisible barrier of right and wrong. From my novel, The Choice, Dan McKenzie is the epitome of this type of predator.

This is a moral dilemma, a social problem. At which point does it become criminal? Who holds these predators who flood society accountable? How does society fuel a predators power? Would you recognize the signs? Predators have the ability to focus solely on you with that intense charm, charisma--that gifted ability in an instant to transfer all their attention on you.

Who’s their target?

The special needs, smart educated women, professionals, single mothers, married women, children, a specific race. No one’s immune. And they choose their victims carefully going after the weak that lack self esteem and are filled with self doubt. They read your thoughts. They know how to feed your ego with compliments. The attention is bewitching. They feign interest in everything you do. But make no mistake this an illusion.

They seem to understand and completely get you. They reel you into their web of lies with a gift to make you want to do anything for them. What would you do for someone you love?

Who are they and where are they? Don’t be fooled they’re everywhere, and they can present themselves as respectable members of society. They can be careworkers, politicians, teachers, contractors, church workers, and police officers. They are gifted with an ability to mimic emotions without feeling them. They have an explosive charm that seduces you. Reeling you in.

Then they hurt you. And this can be done in any subtle form. Physical, emotional or spiritual. And remember, after, their genuinely sorry. They do this to keep you off balance for what they truly are. Someone with no remorse--no conscience, and no sense of responsibility.

They’ll take the credit; but never the blame. And when they hurt you again, it was your fault, or you made him do it. They truly believe you are fortunate to be given their time and attention.

Why do they need to hurt you? It is their sole purpose. To them it is pleasure to create much emotional turmoil, guilt, self-doubt and depression. They practice this trickery--honing their skill.

Similar to darkness, the only way for it to survive is to destroy the light. The goal is to destroy you emotionally.

Ask yourself if you have what it takes to stand up to a predator?

Remember Rosa Parks? She is known as the woman who refused to give up her seat to a white man. Her quotes:

The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.

I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.

At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of people joined in.

As times change so do predators. They come in many forms and not always the same skin.

And remember a predator will come again and repeat the performance.

So what is a predator? Someone whose sole purpose is to eliminate your power. Like Marcie in The Choice, have you ever had to stand up to a Predator?

 "From the Pacific Northwest to New Orleans, with its rich Cajun heritage, dialect, food...and voodoo, comes this spellbinder from Ms Eckhart. From drugs to the DEA, all combines into a masterful book of suspense...you cannot put down, or look away from." Elysabeth Fasland

A Freak Accident.
A Drug Bust Gone Bad. 

One Haunting Question. What would you do for someone you love?

The Tarot by Jim Miller

We're back with day six of the Summer Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & BookHounds.My Guest Blogger today is Jim Miller a retired Canadian Army officer with over forty years service who is now writing full time. He has been writing all his life, as time permitted. And has sold a number of humour columns to local markets, but Mined Your Own Business is his first published novel. He served in the Canadian Armed Forces for over forty years, moving through the ranks from private to warrant officer and then taking his commission. He worked with the Canadian Rangers and retired as a Captain. Married to Bev, they have two children, Camille and Michael.

He has a BA in history and philosophy from University of Manitoba and an MA from Royal Roads University.

As of right now, Jim has a portfolio of manuscripts that includes a mystery series of four novels and two short stories and a series of outlines for another ten books, which are all about Rabbi. The books follow Rabbi as he moves up the ranks and describe his adventures as an amateur detective and professional troublemaker, at least that’s how his Sergeant Major sees him.

He also has a military farce manuscript and a romantic comedy novel that are complete but still being polished. One of Jim’s goals is to win the Leacock medal for humour. He now writes daily and intends to write a book a year. 

Remember to leave a comment with your contact information. Jim is giving away six eBook's of his new release Mined Your Own Business.

The Tarot

“Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.”                        Steven Wright

The above quote is probably the only tarot joke in existence. The whole concept of the tarot is not one that reeks of humour or frivolity. I believe it’s time for a change, which is why I am writing this blog. And despite all the bad press the Tarot has received, you can forget about disappearing into a cloud of smoke because you dared handle a tarot deck.

This blog is not designed to give you the basics, the history or even teach you how to read tarot cards. All that is available on the internet. I would like to suggest that the tarot can be of help to all writers. But it’s not a magic device or an instrument of Satan. And before you ask, the tarot will not make you happy, healthy, wealthy or find you the right man/woman/pet. 

The initial concept of predicting the future, back at the dawn of time, was to use a sheep’s entrails. That idea died a natural death because it was too messy for some, mostly the sheep. Crystal balls came next and they were a glassy handful to have to lug around on pilgrimages. Once paper had been invented and then stolen from the Chinese, the tarot deck was born.

 Around about the 15^th century the tarot came into being mainly as a way of playing card games. Not content with poker, solitaire or bridge, the odd ones in society decided to use the tarot as a means of divining the future, answering unanswerable questions and for scaring the pants off unbelievers.

Tarot decks can be used by those of us who lodge somewhere in between the card game players and the fortune tellers. I use my decks to create options or potentialities. Somebody somewhere took a great deal of trouble to assign each card with a series of attributes, qualities and even matched them up with astrological signs. After all that work on their part why shouldn’t we at least take a look at them. But, prepare to get the pants scared off you. Something about the way they work, or don’t work can be astonishing.

Today there are over a thousand different kinds of tarot decks. You name it and someone has created a tarot deck. I have seven decks, one of them is a baseball tarot deck.

As writers we can employ the tarot in a safe and helpful manner. One very simple, but excellent method of getting the juices flowing is the one card reading. Pick the card and set it down where you can see it. Pick up a pen, a pencil, or start keyboarding. Describe the contents of the card, leaving nothing out and don’t stop at the first sentence. You know how it works, or if you’re like me, you don’t know how it works. You start writing and the next thing you know, you’ve got a grocery list of stuff and a dead end. Dang it! 

Okay, do it again. Pull another card. If after 78 times, (the number of cards in the deck) all you’ve come up are lists, maybe you shouldn’t be a writer. The object of exercise is to create a little story from the scene on the card.

Once that little story has been written, study it, because it’s here that the tarot will show it’s stuff. Something in that description will be pulled into your subconscious and mixed with all the other flotsam and jetsam of a life experienced to the fullest. Or not. Out of that evolves a nugget. It’s not an outline, but it could be. It may be a plot point, a story twist, a story starter, a story ender or even a road-block smasher that’ll get you back on track and writing. Once you’re deep into it, and the words are tumbling out onto the page, you’ll find yourself wondering where the hell those sentences came from? I no longer wonder, I just accept. 

Another method of combining the tarot and writing is to select a card each for your protagonist, antagonist and two or three other characters. By studying the cards based on how you already see the character you’ll begin noting details that pull more of that character out of you. You’ll have a head, or better yet, a computer full of ideas, descriptions, personalities, attitudes, likes and dislikes, and most valuable, an idea of how each character will react in a certain situation. Give it a try. I promise that by doing so the only cloud of smoke you’ll disappear into will be one created by your fingers frenzy-ing along the keyboard. 

And in case you have forgotten, writers are the descendants of those sheep’s entrails-prodders. Only instead of evisceration, we envision. We foretell of worlds and dreams. We populate them and bring them to life in a future or past or a ‘Never-was-never-will-be’ that we have chosen. But we do it with words. The tarot helps us. Besides, it saves on sheep, right? 

Out of nothing but our brain cells we create the truths and lies of our character’s lives for our readers. The tarot, a bunch of brightly coloured cards, greases those cells and jump starts our imagination. If you’re a total sceptic, the tarot is nothing more, or less than an idea-grinder. A harmless almost mnemonic tool. And if you aren’t then the tarot is…Magic. 

Happy Tarot-ing, Jim.

He found the body with his toes. Little did Private Donald “Rabbi” Hawkins know that an innocent little dip on company time would lead to a web of intrigue, a treasure map, more murder, proficiency with a bayonet, and the opportunity to solve a decade old crime. All while trying to stay out of trouble.

While in training with the army Rabbi Hawkins, neophyte sleuth, discovers the death of a fellow solider may be linked to a treasure map he was harbouring. The goal soon becomes to discover the nature of the treasure, and to evade those willing to kill to keep that secret buried.


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