New Release!

ALWAYS 

by Deb Stover

Contemporary Novel of Romantic Fiction

Available for download now at Amazon for Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B13DXTU

"Erotically charged and emotionally heartwarming..." 

~ RT BOOK REVIEWS

Dr. Dolittle meets Northern Exposure....

Gordon closed the door behind her and walked woodenly to the bed.

He wanted to forgive Taylor. Desperately. But he couldn't trust

her. If he allowed himself to trust her, she'd have the power to

hurt him. No matter what, he couldn't give her that power ever

again.

The floor creaked just beyond Gordon's door, and he held his

breath as the doorknob turned. His heart thundered and he wanted

desperately to call out to her.

Slowly, the door opened, and Taylor stood framed by firelight.

"Dear God." His gaze drifted down the length of her, savoring

every inch of bare leg. His body sprang to life even as his mouth

formed the words, "Taylor, don't..."

"I've been lying awake, and I can't stop remembering." She padded

barefoot to his bed. "Look at me, Gordon."

He raised his lashes and met her gaze. Something bright and hot

and dangerous burned in her eyes. "Do you know..."

She put her knee on his bed and cupped his cheek with one hand,

then brought her other knee onto his bed and framed his face with

both hands. "I only know this," she whispered, leaning closer to

cover his mouth with hers.

Gordon held his breath as she pulled him closer, stroking his

lips with her tongue until he growled and wrapped his arms around

her to tug her down on top of him. 

He should hate her. He should fight this.

He couldn't.

Read Chapter One Now!

The F Word

My name is Deb Stover and I'm a genre slut--technically, a sub-genre slut.  My published novels, short stories, and novellas all fall under the romance and/or women's fiction umbrella.  However, from there they pretty much run the gamut.

Time travel, historical, paranormal (ghosts, reincarnation, angels, curses, witches, devils, fairies), fantasy, contemporary, suspense/mystery, western, sexy and not-so-sexy, humorous and serious, scary and not-so-scary, and...so forth. 

Yep, I'm a serious sub-genre slut....

My brilliant literary agent advised me a decade ago that I should focus.  I cringed.  The "f" word?  F-f-f-f-focus?  Only write one kind of book?  Seriously?

Yes, seriously.  In order to build my readership, I should f-f-f-f-focus on one sub-genre for several books and stop being so, er, promiscuous with my muse.

This is like the desert island question.  If you were stranded on a desert island with only one book to read, what would it be?  Voracious readers consider this a special level of hell.  One book?  Yikes!  What a nightmare...

So, just as I decided to try f-f-f-f-focusing on contemporary paranormal romance for a while, my personal life went into the tank.  My husband's cancer came out of remission and became terminal, my health took a horrible turn, and I spent approximately six years pretty much unable to work.  I finally finished The Gift, which is a paranormal contemporary romantic suspense psychic empath ghost story (big grin), and realized, after losing my beloved husband, that I did not want to f-f-f-f-f-f-focus on this type of book.

Life is too short, and writing is too hard, not to follow our muse.  Yes, I absolutely agree with my brilliant agent's F-word advice.  She's wise far beyond her years.  However, I realize now I need to f-f-f-f-f-focus on the books of my heart.

I need to practice what I preach.  I often tell beginning writers not to write what they don't enjoy reading.  I ask them what type of book first made them sit down at the keyboard and type that first manuscript.  So I asked myself those same questions.

I've just completed a proposal I warned my brilliant literary agent is "classic Deb Stover."  Bless her, she said, "That sounds wonderful."

Let's hope she still feels that way when she reads it.  :)

Writing is hard work--really hard work.  Before we publish, we do it for love, and because our Muse demands we breathe life into the characters who haunt us day and night.  There's no money, no royalties, no deadlines.  It's all for the passion and pleasure of storytelling.  And, if we get lucky, we get both.

I got lucky back in 1995 when my first book was published.  I have to say that almost every one of my published novels have been books of my heart.

I'm ready to get lucky again.

Happy writing and reading!

Love,
Deb

The Goddess of Fried Okra

I loved this book! Pea O'Brien is warm, witty, charming, loyal to a fault, and downright irreverent as needed. Her journey often moved me to tears, but equally as often made my heart sing with hope. Jean Brashear has created a memorable tale that will stay with me. I highly recommend THE GODDESS OF FRIED OKRA.

Welcome Guest Terri DuLong!

Author Terri DuLong has been gracious enough to stop by and answer some questions about her new release, Spinning Forward.

Welcome, Terri! Please tell us about your new book (I love the cover!).

Terri: Thanks, Deb. A New Englander born and bred, the last place Sydney Webster expects to find herself starting over is on an island off the west coast of Florida. Yet here she is in Cedar Key, trying to pull herself together after her husband's untimely death, and the even more untimely revelation of his gambling addiction. Syd takes shelter at a college pal's bed and breakfast, leading her to discover her true identity and feminine soul. Her passion for spinning and knitting draws attention due to the unique composition of her wool and a door is opened. She finds herself in the embrace of a community rich with love, laughter, friendship . . . and secrets. A tale of new beginnings, old friends and lives forever bound.

Deb: It sounds fascinating. What pulled you into the story and made you think "I have to write
this?"

Terri: The actual people of Cedar Key, the small town where I now reside, made me feel I wanted to write about the closeness and caring of a small community. As far as my main character, not all women have the final say-so when it comes to decisions or financial matters in their marriage and although it may seem fine and easy at the time, my story deals with the fact that women owe it to themselves to be aware of these issues. For Sydney, her uninvolved attitude came back to bite her.

Deb: What is your favorite thing about writing? What is your least favorite thing?

Terri: I'd have to say my favorite thing about writing is all the feedback I get from my readers. Their comments on my characters, plot, how my story affected them, etc. Least favorite? Call me Pollyanna, but I really don't have one. I love writing and the feeling of accomplishment when I finish a story.

Deb: How do you fight writer's block?

Terri: I've never really had "writer's block." I've had episodes where I momentarily get stuck about where to go and what will work to take my plot forward, but when that happens I get away from the manuscript for a few days. Give it time to percolate a little. However, I'm constantly thinking about it the entire time and somehow I find my way back to where I want to go.

Deb: If your novel were made into a movie, who do you envision playing your main character? The love interest? The villain? And what part would you play? And why...?

Terri: For Sydney, my main character, I envision a few actresses. Sally Field is the major one but I could also see Michelle Pfeiffer or Rachel Ward being my Sydney. For the love interest, Noah, I envision Richard Gere or Kevin Costner. I honestly can't see myself as any of the characters. Ah, I know. Maybe Miss Polly, the hairdresser in town because she gets all the gossip and as a writer, I love gossip and details!

Deb: Please name the five movies and the five books you want with you if stranded on a desert island.

Terri: 5 books would be: A Woman of Substance, To Kill a Mockingbird, The House at Riverton, The Shellseekers and The Thornbirds.

5 movies would be: Casablanca, Pretty Woman, Saving Private Ryan, Ghost and Steel Magnolias.

Deb: What is next for you?

Terri: My Christmas novella that I'm doing in the anthology with Fern Michaels headlining will be released November 2010, the same time that my second book in the Cedar Key series will be out.

Spinning Forward released by Kensington Publishing Oct. 27, 2009
Book #2 in the Cedar Key Series and a Christmas Novella with Fern Michaels headlining the anthology to be released November 2010.

Thank you for joining us today, Terri. I look forward to reading Spinning Forward. For more information, I invite my readers to visit your site and blog: http://www.terridulong.com and
http://www.islandwriter.net.