Happy New Year's Eve!

I loved this list from Bree Bridges SO MUCH, that I'm posting it here for everyone else to enjoy. Click on the link to see the whole list.

Goodbye 2013...HELLO 2014!

Writer-y Things I (Re)Learned in 2013 - A List: http://t.co/0XPBLulogD
— Bree Bridges (@mostlybree) December 30, 2013

Happy New Year's Eve!
Lisa

Family Stone Romantic Suspense novellas, #1 and #2 available now!

So I've been working on a new series of novellas about a set of four half-siblings in a blended family. Three brothers and a sister.

The first book is Stone Cold Heart

Stone Cold Heart:

Jess Stone, former FBI sniper, always felt like the kid who looks in the candy store window but could never afford to go in. But on a humanitarian mission to aid an earthquake ravaged country, finally she finds a place where she fits, in Colin Davies' arms, and working for Global Humanitarian Relief, her big brother's company. But can the former SAS thaw Jess's stone cold heart?

Carved in Stone:

Connor Stone has always been odd man out in his family. Not the oldest, not the most charming, he'd had a lock on the youngest until another half-sibling came to live with them, so he raised hell in his youth. Con knows now the only way to redeem himself is with deeds, not words and sets out to prove once and for all he is worthy of the Stone family. When his older brother asks him to take care of business, Con finally will have redemption he craves. Except when Ava Sanchez, his brother's assistant, is threatened, he must choose between saving the girl or protecting his family. Will his choice bring him love or break his heart?

I love everything about this series. It combines my love for romantic suspense, romance, and my interest in philanthropies around the world. The settings vary, Jess's book takes place mostly on a fictional Caribbean island, while Connor's book is set solely in Monterey, California. 

Right now they are just available on Amazon but they will be coming to Kobo, BN, and ARe romance soon.

And Riley's story is due to be released in the next week. With the final story about Jack due out mid-January. Hope you enjoy and Happy New Year!!

Lisa

perfect winter chili

It's been really cold in Nor Cal this week (for here), perfect time of year to make a big pot of chili. The basis of the recipe is from epicurious.com and a restaurant in Hawaii but I changed it so much that I'm calling it mine. :) This is great for a few nights of family dinners or if you are having a crowd for dinner.  

Perfect Winter Chili

1 lb ground beef - browned

1 lb ground pork - browned

1 29 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 cans tomato paste

1 onion chopped

3 cloves garlic crushed

1 1/2 TB cumin

1 1/2 TB chili powder (or more to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Dash of Cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of beef broth

After browning the meat in a pan, throw all ingredients in a crock pot and let it cook for hours. You can also add 2 cups chopped bell peppers but I do this infrequently. About an hour before you are ready to serve, add to crock pot:

2 cans of beans (drained), black, pinto or kidney 

More broth (if needed)

Serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. I usually make a salad to go along with the chili.

The best part of this meal is it takes very little time to prepare, about 20 minutes, and then you let it simmer in the crock pot for hours while you get a myriad of holiday tasks accomplished or curl up with a good book. It's even better on day two. Yum!!

Lisa

ps. I have been trying to switch to a Primal diet (similar to Paleo) and finding dinners that do not incorporate bread, pasta, or rice has been an ongoing challenge. This has some dairy which is technically not allowed but not as forbidden as gluten :) 

Night Owl Review of Archangel Rafe

I'm horribly behind on everything after 'the lost month' which is what I've dubbed November. I had the cold from hell that just would not die.

Anyway, I received an absolutely lovely review of Archangel Rafe from Night Owl Reviews and I wanted to post a link here.

http://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Reviews/Bookgirl-reviews-Archangel-Rafe-by-Lisa-Hughey

Honestly, every time a reader comments on how much they can relate to Angelina, I want to fist pump in triumph. In an earlier post I wrote about how the publisher I initially wrote this book for wanted me to change Angelina into a twenty-something heroine. I did and they rejected the story again, and then I ultimately ended up changing her back to her original thirty something mom, ex-wife, daughter, sister, grand-daughter with a million responsibilities and no time for herself.

I am currently working on the next Archangel book, with a tentative release date in February. I'll keep you posted when I have an update.

Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Lisa

Love on Main Street: A Snow Creek Christmas is available NOW!!!

I'm so excited to let everyone know that Love on Main Street is available for purchase today!! And it is on sale for the next two weeks for only $0.99  (then it will return to the retail price of $3.99) Love on Main Street is a collection of holiday novellas that are set in the fictional town of Snow Creek, California.

This project has been almost a year in the making, from the kernel of a Christmas story idea, to a group lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (our current go-to lunch place for gathering), to several meetings to create our town and the townspeople for our stories. It was a lot of fun to write interconnected stories. Each is a little different, ranging from a touch of paranormal, to a sentimental holiday romance, to a heart-wrenching reunion story, but all share a love for the town of Snow Creek.

I hope you'll take advantage of the reduced price and buy a copy! If you like the novellas, consider leaving a review at your purchase site. :) Right now it is for sale on Amazon and Smashwords. The book should be available soon in the balance of retailers, BN, Kobo, Apple, etc.

Below are short descriptions of the stories:


QUEEN OF HEARTS BY JULIET BLACKWELL 
Serafina Rogers is not an impulsive person, but lately something’s gotten into her. She walked away from warm San Diego, her scumbag ex-fiance, and her teaching job in order to come to Snow Creek and take over her deceased aunt’s witchy supply store. Unfortunately, her hunky cowboy landlord, Joe, has other plans for the space, which hasn’t turned a profit in years. Neither Joe nor Serafina believe in magic, much less romance. But when a Yule log is tossed on the fire, Serafina begins seeing things in her aunt’s deck of cards, and Joe’s niece goes missing…they might just have to change their minds. 

THE HOLIDAY SHOW BY LGC SMITH 
Christy Monroe hates Christmas. The excess, the inevitable disappointments--bah. Dan Rose loves Christmas. The fun, the way his bakery smells—it’s all a little magical, especially in Snow Creek. When their first-grade daughters decide they want to be sisters, Christy and Dan had better watch out. The girls maneuver their parents into organizing the elementary school holiday show together. It doesn’t take long for Dan to make it his goal to change Christy’s mind about Christmas—and taking a chance again on love. 

LET IT SNOW BY CECILIA GRAY 
After losing her parents, Jessica can't bear to lose her childhood home and family bookstore, too. When they're taken from her, she has nowhere to go…except the arms of Daniel, Snow Creek's resident hero paramedic. It's not be the Christmas miracle Jessica wanted, but it might the one she needs…. 

SECOND CHANCES BY ADRIENNE BELL 
There’s no doubt in Eileen Ledger’s mind that the last time she saw hockey superstar Paul McAlester she made the biggest mistake of her life. Only, she’s never been sure if the mistake was in kissing him, or in running away. But ten years later, Paul is back in town for Christmas, and Eileen has a second chance to make things right…as long as she can keep herself from falling in love again. 

A CHRISTMAST YARN BY RACHAEL HERRON 
Knitting has always served as a distraction, something that Clara can hide behind. After a significant weight loss, though, she's still not sure if she wants to be noticed. When sexy Lincoln ends up on the front porch of her yarn store, he seems to see everything clear as day. Will Clara finally be seen for her true self? 

MISS BONNY'S BURIED TREASURE BY RUBY LASKA 
Caroline Bonny has always known about her family curse: no Bonny daughter will ever marry until her great-great-great-grandfather's buried treasure is found. Caroline has made her peace with her life as a spinster-turned-cosmetologist, until easy-on-the-eyes schoolteacher Lance Carter comes to town determined to drown his recent breakup in holiday festivities. 

ONE SILENT NIGHT BY LISA HUGHEY 
Nick and Ally Carpenter split up months ago after years of infertility treatments crushed their marriage and their dreams of children. When the couple reunites for the holidays to make a dying woman happy, can an unexpected miracle show them the way back to love or is it too late? 

Happy reading!!
xo
Lisa 

Christmas Anthology Cover Reveal!

Some friends and I got together and wrote a Christmas Anthology. A group of short stories all around a central theme. Our theme was Christmas in the fictional town of Snow Creek. We had a blast. We have maps, and common characters who pop up in more than one story, and an annual Fezziwig Ball at the Mitten Inn.

And today we got our cover! Isn't it pretty??

Christmas, the most magical season, is almost upon the small mountain town of Snow Creek. For seven couples, holiday wishes mean more than just gifts or parties. Can Snow Creek pull off its annual holiday miracle of bringing love to town? 

Snow Creek, where love begins on Main Street and ends happily ever after....

The book will be released on October 20, 2013. The list price is $3.99 but for the first two weeks we are offering the ebook for $ 0.99

As they say in my hometown, buy early and often. ;) (Kidding!) But for real, this is a wonderful collection of heartwarming Christmas stories. I hope you enjoy!

Lisa

a reflection on time

This is a reprint of a post I wrote for my PensFatales grog. I was going thru my files looking for technical information and found this. So I thought I'd share. :) Good news for those who miss the Pens. We are getting the band back together, minus a few friends and adding a few new friends. First post should be up soon.
www.pensfatales.com


Lisa’s Theorems of Time (as helped along by Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison)


I’m a bit of a geek. I like science. I like solid, physical evidence and proof that things exist. So when I started thinking about our topic, Time, I decided research was necessary. Turns out that time is a pretty complicated subject. Possibilities hover in the metaphysical realm as well as the physical.

Albert Einstein postulated that time is relative. It speeds up or slows down depending on how fast one thing is moving relative to something else. He also theorized that the closer we come to traveling at the speed of light, the more time would appear to slow down for us from the perspective of someone who was not moving. He called the slowing of time due to motion, time dilation.

In the 1970's some scientists used atomic clocks to test Einstein’s theories. Two clocks. Both starting at exactly the same time. One clock set up on the ground. One clock flown around the world on a jet. When the jet landed back in the same place, it’s clock was behind the clock on the ground.

Einstein was right. Time had actually moved slower.

But I think Einstein’s theory misses out on an important fact. At the end of the experiment, both clocks ended up back on Earth in the exact same place. Proving Lisa’s first theorem of time: Even if the goal is to end up in the same place, everyone’s path (and the time to follow the path) is different.

Sophie (A Bad Day For Sorry) and Juliet (Secondhand Spirits) both have books out on the shelves right now. Their paths to publication were radically different. Not better or worse, just different. But they still ended up in the same place at the same time.

Lisa’s second theorem of time: Time is never wasted. The journey is as important as the destination because everything we do and every experience we have leads us to where we are now.

Thomas Edison (to steal from National Treasure) tried and failed over a thousand times before inventing incandescent light. He has many things to say about failure but this one is most profound: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

It is never the time to give up.

You’ve probably guessed by now, I’m also a very big fan of the power of positive thinking and the importance of motivation. Einstein and Edison are both examples of people who tried and failed over and over but also succeeded over and over.

Which leads to Lisa’s third (and final) theorem of time: Time passes. Whether you put your effort toward your dreams or you just keep wondering and wishing you could... take a class in anthropology, learn to speak Farsi, travel to New York City, do a hundred pushups (www.hundredpushups.com), color your hair purple, or...write a novel. You won’t know unless you try. And whether you’re moving or standing still, you’ve got time.

Lisa

ps. I didn’t realize I had theorems of time until I started working on this blog post which helped me to define in my own geeky way, the relativity of time.

Night Owl Reviews Halloween Hunt

Hi all--
I'm participating in the Night Owl Reviews Halloween Hunt.

Follow this link: Night Owl Reviews




And you can win a variety of prizes. There are LOTS of excellent giveaways going on. My basket is Romance on the Edge:

I'm giving away digital copies of All Three Black Cipher Files: The Encounter (A Prequel to Blowback), Blowback, and Betrayals; and a $50 Amazon gift card.

To enter my specific contest, you need to fill in this blank:

Lisa Hughey - Blowback - Together they must expose the connection between agents’ _____, a missing teenager, and a sixty-year-old government conspiracy.

http://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Authors/Lisa-Hughey

Good Luck!!!

Lisa

do a good deed, get entered in a drawing to win an amazon gift card

I'm on tap to prepare dinner for a good friend's family. He is going through fairly intensive chemotherapy right now. 

What I need: A recipe for chicken that is relatively bland and uses NO DAIRY
What You Can Do: Email me your recipe at lisahughey@pacbell.net

I'll enter everyone who sends me a recipe in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.

Drawing to take place Tuesday, August 13th.

Thanks for helping me out!
Lisa

friday motivation courtesy of alec baldwin

I was looking for an inspirational quote, something to really motivate today. Instead my mind kept returning to this scene from Glen Garry Glenross. It's harsh, obnoxious, and in your face, but for whatever reason, it fits my mood. This will either motivate you or piss you off.



Although Alec Baldwin is talking about selling real estate, it will work for anything. Take the sentiment and apply it to whatever you are working on today.

Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Lisa

Prequel to Blowback now available!

So if you've read Blowback you know that Jamie and Lucas have met before the book begins. I wrote most of this scene while I was writing the original book and I decided that readers might like to see how they actually met. If you are interested....

The Encounter is available at Amazon, BN and Kobobooks. Right now it is FREE on Kobo and $ 0.99 at Amazon and BN. I am trying to get Amazon to price match. Let them know if you want the book free at Amazon by telling them about a lower price. (there is a place to click on the Amazon page)

One sexy espionage agent on a mission. One smoking hot P.I. searching for a missing person. One combustible encounter.

For the first time in print, the stunningly sensual first encounter of Jamie Hunt and Lucas Goodman from the novel Blowback.

This short story is not suitable for readers under the age of 18. 

Here is the cover:

Enjoy!
Lisa

ps. Please feel free to pass this information along to your friends. :)