Happy Birthday, Desert Breeze Publishing

Desert Breeze Publishing has reached the Terrific Twos and to celebrate the authors are staging a blog tour from April 15 to the 30th. I hope you made it here from the previous stops. If not you have missed some interesting and dramatic posts. I will list the previous stops at the end of my blog today along with the next blog to visit. Leaving a comment anywhere along the trail can win you a prize. The more comments the better your chance of winning.

My experience with Desert Breeze Publishing began at the beginning-- actually before the beginning.  DBP Editor-in-Chief Gail Delaney were both writers at another publisher. She had a number of books published by that publisher and also worked as an editor for them. In that capacity, she edited my first book with them, Cast a Pale Shadow.  I enjoyed working with Gail. She got my work and together we carved out a book that would later win an EPIC Award in Romantic Suspense.

Unfortunately, powers were at work which eventually crashed that publishing house, to the surprise of many of its writers. My book was published 2 weeks before the fatal crash, so I had to keep explaining the end was not my fault. To help us through the ensuing legal wrangling to get our book rights back and the feelings of abandonment and betrayal many of us felt, some of the writers began calling us survivors. A loop was started so we could keep in touch over the legal issues and encourage each other to move on.

One by one, the writers announced their successes with other work and other publishers. Eventually, Gail announced her plans to start Desert Breeze Publishing. By that time, I had recontracted Cast A Pale Shadow.  I queried her with an historical, Listen With Your Heart.  A short time later, Gail gave me the happy news that she would like to include Listen in her initial launch.

Now, two years later I'm happily back with another historical, West of Heaven which is now on sale. Here's a brief excerpt in which our hero, Jean Luc (Lucky) first sees the heroine, Marcella.

With his attention occupied, the station master could not tend to the next passenger to alight. Jean Luc watched as the sweetest turn of ankle followed by a flutter of periwinkle blue hem and a froth of white petticoat appeared beneath the coach door. His smile wavered. He looked down at his frayed cuffs and wished he had worn his Sunday shirt today. Then he remembered that this was his Sunday shirt, his only shirt, since he’d let the other one float away down Onion Creek when he’d tried to do his laundry too drunk to see straight.

The old man’s coughing spasm shifted into a staccato wheezing and snorting that reminded Jean Luc of Fraulein Netta’s attempts to play the pipe organ at Sunday services. The second passenger was now in full view, and Jean Luc settled back to watch the pleasant sway of her bustle as she rushed to fetch a dipper of water for the afflicted gent. She wore a silly frou-frou of a bonnet, just the kind Jean Luc liked, adorned with fluffy feathers and chiffon veils that gave tantalizing peeks at her saucy chin and pert little nose. 

Well, his imagination could sketch in the sauciness and pertness. From this angle and at this distance, all he could really determine was that the chin and nose existed. In fact, the lady seemed lavishly endowed with all the necessary parts a man could appreciate, in spite of their demure concealment under bustles and swags and buttoned-up collars

He let his imagination take full rein as the lady soothed the old man. She patted his back with her lacy-gloved hand and the man, no fool, tilted forward and rested his shaggy head against the sweet comfort of her soft bosom. Immediately his coughing quieted as the lady gently stroked and patted him. 

Jean Luc dug his heels into the porch and set the swing rocking. He tested the scratchiness of his own throat to see if he could get a coughing jag going, but, as usual, no luck. His gullet was too well lubricated by the malt liquor Adolph supplied him.

Available at Amazon for Kindle, Barnes & Noble for the Nook, Sony, Kobo and Apple's iBookstore".

DBP buy links:

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-150/Barbara-Scott-West-of/Detail.bok
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-19/romance-ebooks-e-dsh-books-e/Detail.bok

You can win a free download of either West of Heaven or Listen With Your Heart by commenting  on this blog some time before April 30.  

Now, as promised, here is the next stop on the Birthday Blog Tour for April 21:

 DANIELLE THORNE  Blog: http://thebalancedwriter.blogspot.com/

The previous stops:

>15 APR

> DIANE CRAVER

> Blog: http://www.dianecraver.com/blog/

>

> 16 APR

> AR NORRIS

> Blog: http://sci-fiadventures.blogspot.com/

>

> 17 APR

> NIKE CHILEMI

> Blog: http://crimefictionandfaith.blogspot.com/

>

> 18 APR

> THERESA STILLWAGON

> Blog: http://tstillwagon.wordpress.com/

>

> 19 APR

> TONI NOEL

> Blog: http://www.toninoelauthor.com/blog.html