Snow!

Don’t tell my editors, but I’ve been playing hooky all week. I’ve been up in snow country visiting my sister and her family. We’ve had a weirdly warm year here (much like Bullet Hole’s), so there wasn’t a whole lot of snow, but there was enough to make the ground white, which was a total novelty for California people like us. My 11 year old got to try snowboarding (on manufactured snow at the resort) for the first time (along with my brother, who ended up limping and groaning for Advil the entire rest of the trip), and Baby Boy say snow for the first time in his life. Oddly enough, thanks to cartoons, he knew exactly what it was. He even laid down in the most pathetic little pile of slush ever (more mud than snow really) and moved his arms and legs up and down saying “Angels!”. Slush angels? Then he decided he was going to make a snowman. A very teeny tiny snowman. (I guess they look smaller on TV.)

Then we went sledding. It was a hit at first, until Baby Boy thought it would be more fun to pull Mommy in the sled than have Mommy pull him. He’s two and I’m pregnant. As you can imagine, we didn’t go very fast after that.

Next, Big Boy had to have a snowball fight. Here he is crafting the perfect snowball to pelt his mother with. (Luckily, I have good reflexes. I ducked. Unfortunately, my poor boyfriend was behind me. What ensued was an all out snowball war.)

After I couldn’t take the cold anymore (and I won’t say how embarrassingly short an amount of time that was), we went inside the lodge and played pool. This is probably my fav picture of the entire trip. My sister cleaning up at pool with her 6 month old strapped to her in a kangaroo pouch. The child has a total future as a pool shark.

So how was your week? Anyone else getting snow in their part of the country?


~Trigger Happy Halliday

Where's winter?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about this winter--or lack thereof. In fact, I'm almost giddy that we've made it to the last week of February and not once have I had a white-knuckle commute to work or back home. Not one.

Okay. I'm probably going to jinx myself and next week we'll end up with the worst blizzard on record. But until then, I'm going to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather and ground cover that is your basic brown rather than blinding white.

I had to run my Jimmy up to the garage for the fifth time for an oil leak. (Amazing isn't it how every time it's something else that's leaking and has to be fixed??) Anyway, on the walk back home as I made my way up the front driveway--observant person that I am--I noticed several spots of green sticking out from the wood mulch. Upon closer observation I discovered that the green in question happened to be the tulips and crocuses I have on the south side of the house.

Now I'm no plant expert. Far from it. But isn't it a wee bit early for these guys to be poking up out of the ground?



What's up with this weather? What has your winter been like? Are you seeing signs of spring at your place? If winter took a holiday where you live, did you miss it?

Next week is our girls' state basketball tournament. And historically we have LOUSY weather. I'm gonna knock on wood that old man winter is on a white sand beach somewhere enjoying a beverage that comes with a cute little umbrella.

~Bullet Hole~

Welcome Guest Blogger and Debut Author Cynthia D'Alba!

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to introduce my friend Cynthia D'Alba to everyone here at Killer Fiction. Cyndi and I met six years ago at a conference in Florida and have been meeting up at conferences ever since--she's one of my all-time favorite people. Please make her feel welcome, she's such a doll, I knew she'd fit right in! I can't wait to read Texas Two Step so I'm off to preorder it right now.



This post is proudly a stop on the TEXAS TWO STEP Blog Tour. For a complete listing of all stops on this tour, please visit here. All contests are for U.S. residents only unless otherwise noted. Comments left on this blog will be counted toward the Texas Two Step Faithful Follower Gift Certificate. To see a complete listing of Blog Tour Prizes, click here. Be sure to check out the freebies. Yours for the asking as long as they last.

Thanks and BIG HUGS to Robin Kaye for hosting me today. I met Robin way back in 2006 when we were both unpublished. Since that time, I’ve watched Robin become a major contemporary author and I get to say…I knew her when! ☺ Thanks Robin.



Today marks the seven-day countdown to the release of my debut, Texas Two Step. If this is the first time you’ve stumbled across my OMG-I-HAVE-A-BOOK-BEING-PUBLISHED tour, I’m glad to see you! For the past week, I’ve been posting installments of Texas Two Step-The Prequel. In today’s episode we continue The First Date. Click here if you want to read today’s episode and for links to earlier installments.

Mitch and Olivia (my hero and heroine from Texas Two Step) meet and date during college so I thought today we should talk about college dating. It can be brutal, can’t it?

When I was a freshman at the University of Arkansas, all the girls were required to live in dorms and could not pledge sororities until their sophomore year. Freshman guys could pledge fraternities, so there was no lack of fraternity parties to attend and lots of pledges needing dates. The freshman class came from all over the state. Sure, some people knew others in the class but mostly we were strangers to each other. Honestly I didn’t make that many friends in classes I took. I was pre-nursing so classes with guys were limited. When it came to dating, blind dates were commonplace. But remember, we didn’t know each other so how did we link up for the date?

The dorm I lived in was four stories. Guys weren’t allowed in our rooms except for certain times of the day or week. (I don’t remember the criteria that governed boys in our rooms but yes, it was a long time ago!) When a guy came to pick up his date, he would call her room to tell her he was downstairs. Since the vast majority of these dates were for frat parties, the lobby would be packed with guys picking up dates. But remember, lots of these were blind dates. We didn’t have a clue what the date looked like. So you’d hear lots of clothes descriptions. “I’m wearing a yellow shirt and a pair of khaki pants”, then the girl would describe what she was wearing, “I’m in a denim skirt and tan top.” So when she hit the lobby, she’d be searching for a yellow shirt and khaki while he was looking for a girl in a tan top and jean skirt. They’d connect and off they’d go.

However, it was not unheard of for the guy to lie about what he was wearing. He wasn’t in a yellow shirt and khaki pants but he knew what she wore to look for her. Why would they do this? Can you guess? The guy was checking her out FIRST. If she wasn’t to his liking, he wouldn’t “claim” his date and could sneak out the door! Seriously. Here’s this girl wandering around looking for a guy in an outfit that didn’t exist. Horrors!
Luckily this never happened to me. But I know plenty of guys who used this ruse to slip out on a date. Cads, don’t you think?

So what was the worst date you went on or heard about? Make us laugh. Or Cringe. Or go hunt up some guy from college who left you standing in the lobby as he sneaked out.

Today’s TTS Blog Tour Prize
Many guest bloggers can offer a copy of a backlist book to be given away as a potential prize for a blog commenter. As a debut author, I don’t have a backlist. But I do have some awesome author friends who have stepped forward and offered one of their books as a prize.


Today’s TTS Blog Tour Author Sponsor is Indie Press Author Margery Scott. Margery is offering her book, Devil’s Harvest, to one lucky person who leaves a comment. To find out more about today’s Blog Tour Sponsor, you can visit her Website, Twitter or Facebook.


To learn more about me check out these links:

Website , Facebook, Twitter, Group Blog, and Personal Blog
And if those aren’t enough, sign up for inside scoops and special contests by receiving the newsletter I share with my blog buddies.

Remember! Leave a comment for a chance to win Margery’s books!

Texas Two Step is available for preordering at Samhain, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

I will be forever in your debt if you would buy it!

Tomorrow, I’ll be at Romance University talking about finding names for your characters. The Prequel will continue on Thursday. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.

Guest Blogger: Aimee Thurlo

Today, fabulous mystery writer, Aimee Thurlo is guest blogging and will tell us all a bit about her work and her process. Aimee writes for Harlequin Intrigue as well as single title mystery series, some of which have been optioned for television. I have to apologize up front, because despite my best attempts, blogger is insisting on putting too many spaces between paragraphs. I finally gave up and had a glass of wine. :)

Take it away, Aimee!

We've had some crazy weather here. Cloudy and gloomy but it's a great time to hunker in and write.

Right now we're working on the last few drafts of Secrets of the Lynx, next year's summer release. It's book three of our Copper Canyon series, and I've got to say, I particularly enjoy Paul Grayhorse. He's relentless, and passionate, and well, you get the idea. His spiritual connection to Lynx, a discerner of secrets, makes him the perfect former lawman and romantic hero.

Our current book - Power of the Raven is one of my all time favorites. That was a story that came to my co-writer and husband, David, and me when we were walking around Old Town in Albuquerque and saw a small, beautifully carved fetish in a storefront window and stopped to admire it. According to tradition, a fetish is more than just a carving. It's a symbol that is said to capture the essence of the animal and impart those qualities to its owner.

Out of that moment came a storyline about a hataalii, a Navajo medicine man, Hosteen (mister) Silver, who fosters troubled Navajo boys, giving them a new life and future. On their sixteen birthday, each of the boys receives a gift - a special fetish carved for them. Gene Redhouse, the hero of Power of the Raven, carries a bear fetish. A bear fits Gene because bear's power is made strong in solitude. Though Bear has a dark side, he also stands for confidence and inner stillness.

“Power of the Raven” centers around Gene, now a man, on a path that will test the limits of his courage.

I've always had a special affinity for animals, and the lore that surrounds each fetish is something I find particularly fascinating. One of my favorites is Raven.Raven's magic brings the power needed to take your dreams, give them time to form, then make them a reality. Raven belongs to the inner world, that place where we protect the part of us that's often injured by the sting of rejection. Raven becomes a powerful ally who encourages us to embrace the shadows because they're also part of who we are.

I find that especially beautiful, because as authors we have to dig into memories of pain as well as triumphs to make our characters come alive. The process can be difficult and leaves you feeling vulnerable at a time when you most need to protect yourself. Not everyone will see what you want to do in the story you create and the words you use to do it. There will be harsh comments, and judgments. You have to be able to take the blows, smile, and keep going. It can hurt - badly - but like a famous teacher once said, 'It doesn't matter how many times you fall down - only how many times you get back up."

Each of the Copper Canyon stories will feature a hero and heroine who has, or will receive, a very special fetish in the course of the book. As the characters learn about their new spiritual brother, the reader will go on their journey with them, and maybe some will find their own fetish - an animal carving that will remind you of your own uniqueness, and the power that resides in each of us.

To celebrate its publicaton we're having a very special giveaway - a handcarved raven fetish signed by the artist, Amos Pooacha. Mr. Pooacha is confined to a wheelchair and makes his living carving these very special fetishes.

Please comment here, then write me at ADThurlo@aol.com specify you want to enter our drawing, then Feb. 29th we will have the drawing. The winner be immediately notified by e-mail and will be listed on our web page.

Thanks again to Jana, for letting us guest blog. And make sure to check her latest, The Lost Girls of Johnson's Bayou.

And a huge thanks to Aimee for blogging on Killer Fiction! Have a great week, everyone!

Deadly DeLeon

Guest blogger: Stephanie Queen, author of The Throwbacks!

Stephanie Queen Interviews David Young, the not-so-young hero of The
Throwbacks, a romantic comedy mystery.

SQ: So tell me…

David: What’s with that “not so young” crack anyway?

SQ: Let’s face it, you’re middle-aged.

David: No need to belabor the point. You have me spending the entire novel trying
to face that fact.

SQ: It’s important since you’re trying to romance a much younger woman.

David: You mean she’s trying to romance me, don’t you? Hey, maybe you should go
back and read the book again.

SQ: Nonsense. What’s wrong with Grace romancing you?

David: You mean aside from the fact that I’d have to fight off every young buck that
lays eyes on her and she has this notion about raising a swarm of children, living in
the suburbs and having me retire from my crime-fighting career?

SQ: Yes, aside from all that. And aren’t you too old and too serious to be playing
Batman?

David: I thought I was supposed to be the dashing crime-fighting hero of this story?

SQ: Yes, but you’re the dashing, yet long-suffering with a self-deprecating wit type
of hero.

David: Great. How many books are in this series?

SQ: Tell me about the Scotland Yard disgrace?

David: You’re full of fun questions aren’t you?

SQ: Stop your whining. Let’s hear some of that self-deprecating wit.

David: [Long-suffering sigh] If I must. I went rogue and murdered a bad guy, but
since I had good reason, the Commission took pity and exiled me to the one place on
earth I could go back to and call home. Boston.

SQ: That wasn’t very witty.

David: Where I met the one woman who was like kryptonite to my career and my
well-being. Grace. She was not simply a charmingly clueless knockout, but possessed
a disarming genuineness, and was naturally and unselfconsciously sensual. In short,
she was the most dangerous human being in the world for me. She had to be a
good twenty or so years my junior, and not the sort of woman I could enjoy a nice
comfortable, tidy, uneventful semi-retirement with, calmly relaxing and gliding
through my golden years.
No. She would give me a heart attack—after torturing me with her energy and
enthusiasm while I try to keep up with her. She wouldn’t understand a thing about
me—and I would know nothing of the youthful generation she came from.
We had nothing in common.
Except mutual excitement

SQ: I see. Sounds dire.

David: Oh, don’t worry. In the end…

SQ: Stop! Have you never heard the word SPOILER? Interview over.

Please leave a comment on your thoughts about May-December romances and why
they work or don’t work. Include your e-mail address and you could win a free e-
copy of The Throwbacks!


Author Stephanie Queen writes romance novels while lying on a pink velvet divan
popping chocolates all day. (Well, not really, but I love the visual.) For more
information check out her website at www.StephanieQueen.com.

Me and my buddy Carolyn Keene

As I ever-so-often do, I was Googling myself yesterday. (cue the chorus telling me to set up a Google Alert for my pen name)

I was actually looking for some new reviews, but instead I came across something that I think is way cooler than a review.

Diesel E-bookstore lists Codename: Dancer as one of two books in the "More From This Category" on the listing for The Secret of the Old Clock! Yes, THAT Secret of the Old Clock...as in the very first Nancy Drew book EVER!

Raise your hand if you've read this one. (I should see all hands in the air...if you haven't, you should definitely do so, since it's a classic. I think it should be required reading as a young girl for all women who grow up to read or write mysteries.)

Needless to say, my jaw dropped when I saw that. Seriously? WOW! Now, I happen to think that my heroine Dani is a little hipper than Nancy and that the books would appeal to a slightly older age group, but if you write mysteries for teens, you can't really do much better than to be compared to Nancy Drew. Whoohoo!

As we all know, the author responsible for the Nancy Drew franchise is not actually any one author, but rather a number of authors ghostwriting under the pen name Carolyn Keene. Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired writers, beginning with Mildred Wirt (later Mildred Wirt Benson), to write the manuscripts for the Nancy Drew books. The writers initially were paid $125 for each book and were required by their contract to give up all rights to the work and to maintain confidentiality. Benson and Harriet Adams (Stratemeyer's daughter) are often credited as the primary writers of Nancy Drew books under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, but many others have used the pseudonym as well.

Over the years Nancy has undergone many changes and updates. Originally she was 16 years old (although a high school graduate), then in later years her age was changed to 18. Different series over the years have included the original books ("The Nancy Drew Mystery Series"), as well as "The Nancy Drew Files," "Girl Detective," "Nancy Drew on Campus" (where she finally goes away to college and breaks up with Ned) and "Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew" (which is the chapter book version aimed at 7-year-olds).

The other day I attended the grand opening of the American Women Writers National Museum, a new museum that is opening in Washington DC to honor our nation's most distinguished women writers. As the president of Washington Romance Writers, I was asked to introduce myself and name my favorite American woman writer. I always hate that question. It's like asking you to pick your favorite child. But being a mystery writer I decided I had to go with Carolyn Keene, which elicited a sigh of agreement from many of the people in attendence.

The founder of the museum is most excited about her "50 State Project" where she features a different state each week. When I mentioned I would be blogging about the opening, she asked if I could ask my readers to nominate women writers from their states to be showcased.

So who would you nominate? Leave a comment by 9 pm EST on Sunday and you'll be entered to win an e-book copy of both The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene and Codename: Dancer by Amanda Brice!

Preparing For My Self-Publishing Adventure!

Last time I posted here I mentioned that I was getting ready to release my first self-published novel. I'm scared and excited and overwhelmed. I have six books published to date, all by the traditional means. This is my first time doing this completely on my own.  Taking ownership of this project feels akin to taking ownership of my life. If this fails it will be completely on me. If it succeeds it will be my success. I won't be able to blame anyone else for a bad cover or bad promotion or bad editing.

And that's what I want. I want to feel in control of my life. I don't want anyone to hand me anything or prop me up.  Next to my son, this book has become my primary focus.  As a single mom who works at home I tend to crave social interaction with other adults but lately I've been turning down invitations left and right so I can spend more time with my characters.

Oh, and I've stopped dating. That may not sound like a big deal but it is for me. I've come to realize that I frequently use dating in the same way other people use drugs and alcohol. When I'm wrapped up in a budding romance that involves trying to figure some guy out and stressing over  my nails, my hair, my make-up, my waxings and so on, I'm not thinking about the things that scare me...like launching my own book. It's probably why I've always been so fond of "transition men," too. When I leave a relationship that means something to me I tend to look for someone who can distract me from that pain...just like an alcoholic who tries to fix a hangover with a Bloody Mary.  So no dating until I get this thing released. Not only will the temporary absence of men make me more productive but it will ensure that when I do go out with the next guy I'll know that I'm with him because I genuinely like him, not because I'm using him as a means of not dealing with other issues in my life.

So men of LA? You're going to have to look elsewhere for a while, at the very least until March 2nd. That's the day I'll be launching my next book: Vanity, Vengeance & A Weekend In Vegas. I've been playing with the title but I'm going to be sticking with this one. I like it and it was a collaborative effort between me and my twelve year old.  I'll give him a cut of the revenues...which is to say that I'll pay for his private school tuition...which is to say I'll be spending all the revenues on him.

To date my top selling book has sold 70,000 copies (some of those being paperbacks & hardcovers, others being ebooks and audiobooks). My goal is to sell at least half of that this time around. It's actually a huge goal for a self-published novel but if I'm going to do this I might as well aim for the stars.

If you haven't checked the book out yet, go to The Vanity, Vengeance And A Weekend In Vegas Blog Site and read the prologue and chapter 1 and 2. On Friday the 17th I'll be releasing chapter 3 on that same site and then on Friday 24th, chapter 4. If you like what you read I hope you'll share it with your friends (if you don't like it, shh!).

And then, as I stated earlier, on Friday the 2nd the book will be available in its entirety. I plan to spend that day hiding under my covers and praying.  Obviously I only want you to buy the book if you like the first few chapters...but still, you should probably keep in mind that if you don't buy my book you might be pushing me into another bad relationship with the first random idiot who offers me dinner. You don't want that on your conscience, do you?

--Kyra "Fashionista Fatale" Davis