Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Don't Blink

Ever have one of those moments when you stop and ask yourself, “Hey, where did the time go?” I’m many of us were glad to see 2009, with its financial uncertainties, fade behind us, but 2010 brought a really bittersweet reality check with it.

Top Time Suckers

I swear there’s a black hole somewhere between my bedroom and my kitchen . . . I lose five minutes there every morning as I struggle to get the Monsters and me out of the house. Leave the bedroom, travel ten feet to the kitchen . . . and BAM! Lose five minutes.

The older I get (no, I’m not sharing that number!), the more I notice lost time. Maybe it’s because I’m hyper-aware of how little time I have left before Monster #1 leaves home. Maybe it’s because I see where I’ve wasted precious time in the past. Whatever the reason, I treasure my time, and losing it bugs me (even if the reason I lose it is fun).

Below are my top ten time suckers. Join me in the comments and share your top list!

The Summer List

After a very long, almost painful, ten months, school is out! Monster #2, my youngest son, has been counting down the days for the entire month of May, and honestly, I have as well.

On the way home from dinner Friday night, Monster #2 announced that since school was behind him until August, he needed to sit down and make his summer list.

“Summer list?” I asked, glancing at him in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, Mama, it’s like a bucket list, only it’s what you do during the summer.”

Ahhh. Makes sense to me. So much that I’m including my own summer list below. Feel free to share yours in the comments section.

Help! I'm Melting!

My brain is officially fried.

I’m not sure exactly when it happened. I think it began in December, when I was teaching four English preps, editing one book, revising another, laying flooring in our living room and completing the grad course from hell. The brain melt continued into January and February as I started teaching research projects in both my eleventh and ninth grade classes. Once we got into March, I thought, “Hey, my brain will have a chance to recuperate.”

No such luck.

Releasing Today: FALL INTO ME by Linda Winfree

She’s finally falling for the right man…at the worst possible time.

Fall Into Me by Linda Winfree
A part of the Hearts of the South series.

After two back-to-back romantic disappointments, bar owner Angel Henderson isn’t looking for love. In the past month, she’s been passed over twice by men she’d pinned her hopes on, both times in favor of a younger woman. She’s ready to swear off men for life. The only problem? A certain younger man determined to prove he can be her right man.
Sheriff’s deputy Troy Lee Farr is tired of being the department screw-up. The harder he tries to prove himself, the worse it gets. The only thing that’s gone right recently is getting a second chance with Angel. Except she’d rather jam on the brakes than rush into a new relationship. Now he has to work hard to prove his worth as a romantic prospect.
Troy Lee is a patient man, and it isn’t long before Angel is falling into him as hard as he’s fallen for her. Just as Angel begins to think of him as more than a fun date, her past—and Troy Lee’s dangerous reality—threatens the tentative happiness they’ve found in one another.
Reminding them both that security is tenuous…and unconditional love is the biggest challenge of all.

Warning: Cops who talk like cops, explicit older woman-younger man lovin’, and two-boxes-of-tissues emotion.

Stay tuned after the jump for some of my favorite snippets from Fall Into Me and an excerpt link.

With a Little Help From My Friends

I wish I could say 2008 had a been a great year. Actually, the last two years or so have been really, really rough. Great things have happened, of course, but at the same time I’m looking forward to 2009, hoping maybe it won’t batter me as much as 2006-2008 did.

However, a couple of challenging years have revealed a number of fantastic blessings to me.

My friends.

HOLD ON TO ME by Linda Winfree -- In Print!

She keeps a secret buried in the past. He wants the truth—now. But an unknown killer could destroy their future.

Hold On to Me by Linda Winfree
Book Three in the Hearts of the South series.
In print October 28

For FBI profiler Caitlin Falconetti, immersing herself in her job is the only way to quell the memories of a vicious, near-fatal attack and what it cost her, including the only man she ever loved. Better to let him think she simply rejected him, rather than reveal a painful secret that she’s certain would have destroyed his feelings for her.

Investigator Lamar “Tick” Calvert is determined to clean out the corruption-riddled sheriff’s department in his hometown. While he understands Caitlin’s drive to excel at her job, that doesn’t mean he’s happy about the prospect of working with his former lover, the one woman he tried and failed to hold onto.

A rash of unsolved murders, including a politician’s daughter, brings them together to find the murderer before another woman dies. Daily contact re-ignites the lingering attraction between them, but Caitlin won’t risk opening herself and revealing her secret. She plans to complete the killer’s profile, make an arrest and get out of town for good.

Tick plans to solve this case, too, but now that Caitlin’s back in his life, he also plans to finally dig up the truth about why she left him.

But there’s an added complication—the killer isn’t done, and Caitlin could be the next target.

Stay tuned after the jump for an excerpt and giveaway info.

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up"

My ninth grade Lit/Comp class is beginning a study of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. From long experience, I know frontloading ideas is the key to successfully teaching contemporary teens a fantastic book that really starts slow. They’re impatient by nature and not willing to wade through a lot of background-building. They want to be in the action immediately.

HEARTS AWAKENED Releases Today!

It’s not the past that wounds us…it’s the ghosts we hold onto.

Hearts Awakened by Linda Winfree
Book Six of the Hearts of the South series

A lifetime ago Mark Cook’s pregnant wife vanished, taking everything and leaving an empty, aching hole in his life. Since then, as penance for his failure as a husband and father, he’s refused to allow himself to live. Refused to lay his sleeping heart on the line for any woman.

For more info and Mark’s letter to Jenny, stay tuned after the jump.

Living Another Life

Have you ever wanted to live another life? .

I admit to having a creative and, well, people-obsessed mind. I drive down the road, wondering about the people in the vehicles around me. Who are they? Where are they going? What kind of lives do they lead? I people-watch everywhere I go.