Would You Rather with Jessica R. Patch & Giveaway

Posted on: January 2, 2016December 26, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I’m delighted to have author Jessica R. Patch and the hero and heroine from her debut Love Inspired Suspense, Fatal Reunion, with me today. I’ve had the privilege of being a guest on Jessica’s blog a few times, answering her “Would you rather” questions on behalf of myself and my characters, so I’m thrilled to now be able to turn the tables on her and ask the questions of her!

To orient us, here’s the back cover blurb for Fatal Reunion:

Fatal Reunion WRONGLY ACCUSED

When her beloved grandmother is almost killed during a home invasion, Piper Kennedy isn’t surprised that she’s a suspect—especially since Luke Ransom is on the case. The handsome detective she once loved thinks she knows more than she’s telling about the attack. And given her crooked past and the heartbreaking way she’d been forced to betray Luke years ago, Piper understands why he doesn’t trust her. But when attempts are made on her life, Luke insists on keeping her safe and finding out who wants her dead. And Piper and Luke soon realize a remorseless criminal will do anything to keep them from the truth…or an unexpected second shot at a future.

Piper is such a cool name! And let me just add: I had the chance to read this book last week. Two things that made it particularly interesting for me were Piper’s unique occupation–she’s a karate expert and dojo owner, a skill that comes in handy a few times in the story 😉 –and Jessica managed to add twists I didn’t see coming, which is always a fun surprise!

Okay, on to my questions for Jess and her characters:

Would you rather have loved and lost or never have loved at all?

Luke: That’s tough because I have loved and lost. I guess loved and lost because I can’t imagine not ever loving Piper.

Piper: I’d say love and lost since I never really experienced romantic love before Luke. Just people who said they loved me but only wanted to manipulate me.

Jessica: Loved and lost. I think everyone needs to experience love. And heartbreak can be healed.

Agreed. 😉

Would you rather change the past or be able to see into the future?

Luke: Well, asking me that today I’m saying change the past so I could have done things differently concerning Piper. Had you asked me that before Piper came back into my life, I’d say see the future—I’d want to know if I was ever going to fall in love again. Not that I believe I ever could have.

Piper: Luke, you are so sweet, but I know you’re buttering me up for a puppy. Okay, now to answer the question. I don’t want to know the future. But there are so many things in my past I would love to have done differently. For one thing, not getting involved with Chaz Michaels and his crew.

Jessica: I’m with Piper. I don’t want to know the future, unless I can change something bad that might happen to one of my children. But I would like to change a few mistakes I’ve made.

Ooh, do tell… 😛

Would you rather get stuck in a broken elevator or stuck on a broken ski lift?

Luke: Ski lift. I want to snuggle with my honey under a blanket….and with our puppy. wink wink

Piper: LOL! Elevator. With a puppy we’re only watching for one day. Then when you have no way to clean up the mess, you’re reminded of why I said I didn’t want pets. (Luke: You’re harsh.)

Jessica: Definitely an elevator because I hate the cold and heights. Although, if I happened to get stuck with Luke, Piper, and a puppy…scrunches nose

Hmm, I’m with Luke, although a squirming puppy up there could make it a tad dicey!

Here’s more about Jessica:

JessicaRPatch Jessica R. Patch lives in the mid-south where she pens inspirational contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels. When she’s not hunched over her laptop or going on adventurous trips in the name of research with willing friends, you can find her watching way too much Netflix with her family and collecting recipes to amazing dishes she’ll probably never cook. Her novel, Fatal Reunion, releases with Love Inspired Suspense in January, 2016. She is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such Literary Management.

Links:

Get Patched In! Jessica’s newsletter subscribers get first looks at book covers and excerpts as well as receive notifications of new book releases and other cool news. Sign up at www.jessicarpatch.com

Join in the conversation on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jessicarpatch

and Twitter! https://twitter.com/jessicarpatch

Check out Jessica’s Pinterest story board where you can meet the cast of Fatal Reunion and peruse some of the scenes set in the book. https://www.pinterest.com/jessicarpatch/fatal-reunion/

Your Turn: Answer one of the questions I posed to Jessica and her characters for a chance to win a copy of her book. (winner will be randomly drawn from comments made before midnight EST Jan 9, 2016

Have a Blessed Christmas

Posted on: December 22, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

Wishing you and yours a joyous, peaceful and blessed Christmas celebration with family and friends.

Nativity

Today on the More to Life Magazine blog,

I’m sharing St. Nicholas traditions.

Port Aster Secrets by Sandra Orchard

And if you or a loved one gets an Ereader, tablet or iPad this Christmas, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to download Deadly Devotion for FREE from online retailers. The offer and discounts on books 2&3 extend through January.

Join Me…

Posted on: December 8, 2015December 7, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

Hi Everyone,

I returned late last night from a research trip to the beautiful Martha’s Vineyard and I’m sharing pictures and tidbits about it on the Craftie Ladies Blog today. Hope you’ll stop by.

The winner of Permanent Vacancy by Katy Lee is Patti Gelner. Patti if you don’t see my email in your inbox, requesting your snail mail address, please contact me through the website. Thank you so much to all who participated!

A Sure Thing and A Christmas Cookie Recipe

Posted on: November 30, 2015December 3, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

I’m delighted to welcome back one of my favourite romantic suspense authors, Katy Lee, who has an intriguing new book coming out. Promise Preorder

Isn’t that dog adorable?!

Okay, take it away, Katy!

Hi Everyone,

I hope you brought your sweet tooth. Tis the season to be covered in flour and chocolate as I stand among the tastiest holiday treats from my generation’s past. My kitchen has been turned into a cookie factory made from my too-numerous-to-count recipe cards that I really should rewrite sometime. However, there is just something about an old, yellowed index card with batter stains dripped on it from previous years that tells me the holidays are here.

My gift to you today is my tasty and colorful Church Window recipe, so stay tuned for that. They not only taste yummy, but they brighten up your plate and stand out from all those tan and brown cookies. But before I pass it along, and as yummy and colorful as they are, I have to admit there is something to be said for those tan and brown cookies.

They are a sure thing.

My favorite cookie of all time is the basic homemade chocolate chip. You can’t go wrong, and when you are trying to be “good” by only taking two cookies from the table of assorted treats, you know you’ll be happy with your choice.

I like to equate a chocolate chip cookie to a favorite author. Time is limited. Money is limited. You have to be selective in your purchase, and at the bookstore with so many books to choose from, I still will grab a book by an author I know and trust. They’re the sure thing…just like that light and crispy, warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie.

The chocolate chip cookie has been branded in our minds, homes and culture since 1930 when the owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts ran out of baker’s chocolate and substituted broken up pieces of a Nestle bar. She created a mixture all her own, and voilà, the cookie was found.

But only because the baker tried something new and proved there are lots more new favorites out there to be found.

So, this season I encourage you to try a new cookie recipe, and maybe even try a new author. You never know, you might find a new sure thing.

Now here’s that recipe I promised you:

Church Window Cookies

Melt 1 stick of butter/margarine and a 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler

Once melted, remove from heat and add colored marshmallows and chopped walnuts. Mix up until chocolate covers everything.

On your counter have ready aluminum foil with coconut sprinkled in the middle. Pour marshmallows onto the coconut and form into a log. Roll to spread coconut evenly around whole log.

Wrap log up in foil and freeze. When it hardens, unroll foil and slice into ½ inch cookies.

Bonus: Make a bunch to keep in the freezer for when you need to make a dessert for a bake sale or an impromptu visitor. People will wonder where you find the time!

Sandra here again, first with a tip: keep that foil log away from the dog. That’ll be too tempting to resist! 😉

Katy, thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Now… Christmas will come early for one lucky participant. Katy’s giving away a copy of her June release Permanent Vacancy (US residents only).

Here’s the question we’d like you to answer to enter:

Your Turn: What authors and cookies are your sure things?

And be sure to check out Katy’s newest novel:

RACE AGAINST TIME

Lacey Phillips believes Captain Wade Spencer knows something about her brother’s mysterious death. So she throws caution to the wind and tracks him down on Christmas Eve looking for answers. Wade tries to turn her away—until bullets start to fly. He doesn’t want to take the stubborn beauty on his life-or-death mission to find out the truth about how Wade’s past may have cost her brother his life. But with killers lurking everywhere, he has to protect her—especially when she breaches the walls around his heart. Can Wade and his faithful service dog keep Lacey alive long enough to figure out who’s targeting them?

Katy Lee is the author of six published novels. She writes suspenseful romances that thrill and inspire. She believes all of her stories should stir and satisfy readers—from the edge of their seats. A native New Englander, Katy loves to knit warm wooly things. She enjoys traveling the side-roads and exploring the locals’ hideaways. A homeschooling mom of three competitive swimmers, Katy often writes from the stands while cheering them on. Her 2014 book, Grave Danger, received the highest honor in romance: a RITA® nomination in the Romantic Suspense category, as well as a nod for the Daphne du Maurier award for excellence in mystery and suspense.

Visit Katy at: www.KatyLeeBooks.com

Breaking News…

Deadly Devotion, book 1 in my Port Aster Secrets mystery series, is currently free as an Ebook at online retailers:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1bxYfCN

Nook: http://bit.ly/16nmsaJ

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1SxxxeI

iBooks: http://apple.co/1MX0KxW

Join me on the More to Life Magazine’s blog for “Five Tips on Staying Healthy This Holiday Season”.

A Writer’s Christmas List

Posted on: November 23, 2015November 23, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

Well, it’s that time of year again when the family is asking for Christmas gift ideas. So…I thought I’d help out all of you out there with writers in your lives.

1) Chocolate

This really shouldn’t need further explanation. It both consoles and re-energizes overtaxed brain cells.

2) A Pet

Another no-brainer. Walking the dog is a great time to dream up the next scene in a book. Not to mention an excuse to leave the desk. After all, too much sitting is not good for one’s health. The bonus is a pet gives a writer something to post on Facebook. 😉

3) Post-it Notes

Go for the multicolour stacks. There’s no better way to procrastinate writing, ur work at solving a plot problem, then jotting down summaries of every scene you’ve already written and of those you plan to write, in a different colour for different points of view, and moving them around on a story board until they work the way they’re supposed to.

Storyboard — as you can see, I’m in dire need of more post-it notes!

4) Chocolate

The importance of this essential nutrient to a writer’s creativity cannot be underestimated.

5) Research Trips

Writers are always told to write what they know, so…let them see, hear, smell, touch, and taste the adventure. Yes, that’s the car from Back to the Future. What can I say? My honey bunny spares no expense to ensure I get the details right, by going to the source…whether it happened 200 years ago or 200 years in the future. 😉

Or a nice card works too!

Happy shopping!

Introducing Rising Darkness by Nancy Mehl

Posted on: November 12, 2015October 31, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

RT Book Reviews calls Nancy Mehl‘s newest release “Romantic suspense at its best, with an engaging plot that’s not overpowering. Mehl is an amazing author who writes believable stories, knows what fans expect and does not disappoint.”

And who could resist that cool cover?

It was Nancy’s covers that first drew me to her books, when my publisher asked me to provide examples of the type of covers I’d like for my Port Aster Secrets series. At the time, Nancy had another series out with similar type covers, depicting the hero or heroine at the top of the page and a scene at the bottom.

I love them! And I was happy that my publisher did to and produced something similar. 😀

But back to this cool book. I asked Nancy if there was anything unique or unusual about it and this is what she had to say:

“Yes, there is! My main character, Sophie Wittenbauer, actually appeared in a different series–UNBREAKABLE, book two in my Road to Kingdom series. I always felt her story was left hanging, and I wanted to bring her full cycle. My editors allowed me to move her into this new series and give her new life!”

That is so fun!

Gathering Shadows and Deadly Echoes are the first two books in this Finding Sanctuary series. But don’t worry, each book is a standalone romantic suspense.

Here’s the Back Cover Blurb for Rising Darkness:

Sophie Wittenbauer left her strict Mennonite hometown under a cloud of shame and regret. After a rough childhood, her teenage poor choices harmed others, leaving her with no choice but to change her life. Her entry-level writing job at a newspaper puts her in the right place at the right time to overhear office gossip about a prisoner who has information on a decades-old unsolved crime. While the other reporters write off the tip as the ravings of an angry criminal, Sophie can’t ignore it because she knows the name of this prisoner from her old life.

Upon learning from the man that one of the other suspects is hiding out in the Missouri town of Sanctuary, she takes on a false identity to investigate and meets the young pastor of a local church–the very man she’d loved as a troubled teenager. As she gets closer to finding the suspect, will the truth of her own past come out before she discovers the identity of the criminal–or the very person she’s seeking puts a fatal stop to her investigation?

Are you intrigued?

All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch – something for your spirit as well as your soul.

“I welcome the opportunity to share my faith through my writing,” Nancy says. “God is number one in my life. I wouldn’t be writing at all if I didn’t believe that this is what He’s called me to do. I hope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important message I can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. He has a good plan for your life, and there is nothing you can’t overcome with His help.”

Learn more about Nancy and her 20 books at: www.nancymehl.com.

She is also part of The Suspense Sisters: www.suspensesisters.blogspot.com

And on Facebook

Love Inspired Suspense Backlist is On Sale

Posted on: November 10, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

Great news for those with Ereaders or who enjoy reading on their phone, tablet or iPad, in celebration of 10 years of digital publishing, Harlequin had put 10,000 backlist titles on sale for $1.99–several of mine included!

I found Fatal Inheritance, Perilous Waters and Identity Withheld

marked down to $1.50 on Amazon and $1.99 on Barnes and Noble (Nook). They weren’t marked down on Kobo (they are supposed to be). Although the Epub versions are available directly from Harlequin. iBooks is also participating.

Amazon, bless their heart, is also offering great deals on the rest of my backlist ~$3 each for Deep Cover, Shades of Truth, Critical Condition and Emergency Reunion.

So…if you’ve missed any, it’s a great time to stock up.

Even my longer mystery titles–Deadly Devotion, Blind Trust, Desperate Measures and A Fool and His Monet (preorder)–are on for under $4!

Clicking the vendor names above will take you to my books at the vendor. Clicking the book title names will take you to the book description on my website, which also has buy links. So be sure to take advantage of this great deal!

It ends November 17th.

Bonus…click here to see which titles of your other favorite Love Inspired authors have been included in this deal.

Please share this limited time sale with your friends!

A Taste of Autumn Tea

Posted on: October 28, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

Kate Adams—the I-have-a-tea-for-whatever-ails-you sleuth of my Port Aster Secrets series—shares this tea to get us into the autumn spirit. 😉

To your favorite pot of black or rooibos tea, add:

-a finely chopped slice of dried apple

-a pinch of ground vanilla bean

-¼-½ tsp of pumpkin spice to taste (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, allspice)

Then add boiled water and steep for 2-3 mins, sweeten with honey, and enjoy.

The aroma alone will set you dreaming of pumpkin pies and holiday meals.

Your Turn: What hot drink do you enjoy most in the autumn season?

Click here to check out more bonus features for Port Aster Secrets.

Teacup image courtesy of aopsan at freedigitalphotos(dot)net

Promotional Freebies – the fun side of marketing

Posted on: September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

With a new mystery series set to debut in March, I’ve been perusing the gamut of products out there that can be personalized with book and author info. Bookmarks, of course, are a given, but I love to be able to share something unique with my readers, too.

Which is why I’m super-excited about what we’ve created for the Serena Jones Mysteries.

The first is a very unique USB key embossed with the series’ logo and my web addy.

These are from USB Memory Direct and the salesman I worked with there was awesome at answering my questions and providing quick delivery of a well-constructed product. I’d highly recommend them. They have a phenomenal range of USB style choices and accessories, as well as, options to include preloaded content on the keys, or what I did, configure it to appear in the Windows viewer as an art frame logo.

I plan to share these with my editors and critique partners; bookstore owners who have me in for signings; as a thank-you to the authors who endorsed A Fool and His Monet; and in gift baskets at events.

But…

I also wanted to have something I could economically mail to lots of readers or give away at events that would:

be useful for years to come and
be related to the series.

This is what we came up with:

It’s a mini-first-aid kit for your purse or briefcase, complete with bandaids, antiseptic wipes and a quick reference guide. The plastic pouch is credit card sized and can easily be restocked as needed. I figured my heroine is an FBI agent. Law enforcement are supposed to help people…so now my readers can, too. 😉

If you’d like me to send you one, email me your address and I’d be happy to do that. I can even include a couple of extra for you to share with friends.

If you’re looking for similar items for your own promotional needs, I found them at Hit Logic. Darryl, the owner, was another awesome guy to deal with. I met him at Write Canada and we talked about a lot of different things–no high-pressure sales tactics, at all, and a great selection at economical prices.

For Deadly Devotion, the first book in my Port Aster Secrets mystery series, I shared marigold seed packets, since the victim was believed to have died from drinking the wrong kind of marigold tea. One of my Facebook fans actually proposed the idea and even sent me links to a site that sells them!

These proved very popular with readers. Many of my newsletter subscribers contacted me to receive packets for themselves and to share. Bookstores were also happy to include them in bags. And browsers at book signings enjoyed having something to take home to plant. Several emailed me pictures of their flowers at the end of summer.

For Blind Trust, we created whistle key chains with a light–something every amateur sleuth, putting her life in jeopardy, could use, right? 😀 These were a lot of fun to share. The kids especially loved the whistle. But they proved to be pricey to mail, due to their thickness, so I wasn’t able to share them as widely.

So…I’m learning to balance the fun, the usefulness and the affordability.

Your Turn: What is the most useful or appreciated promotional freebie you’ve received from a company or author?

Counting Blessings!

Posted on: September 1, 2015September 1, 2015 by Sandra Orchard

With the arrival of September, you’d think my mind would be turning to the routine of Fall, but here in Niagara, we’re enjoying one of our most “summery” weeks yet, after a peculiar roller-coaster ride in the weather department over the last few months. Would you believe I actually had to turn the heater on in my office last week?!

So…I’m planning swim dates every afternoon with the grandkids.

Always a splashing good time!

Did I mention we have a new grandson?!

He’s a big hit with his big brother.

And is the reason I haven’t been too talkative around here lately, as I’ve been enjoying having my two eldest grandchildren visit. Of course, many of you caught my odd post to FB, when I managed to snatch a few minutes to share a picture. I do so enjoy celebrating these blessings with all of you.

My autumn is showing no sign of slowing down with a wedding for my son in the works, but I promise to keep writing, between all the tempting distractions. 😆 Babies are so fun too cuddle and they grow up so fast.

I hope you have also enjoyed a blessed summer (winter for my friends in the Southern hemisphere).

Your Turn: I’d love to hear about your summer escapades or plans for the upcoming season!

P.S. If you missed it, I was also blessed to be interviewed with the Christian Fiction Online Magazine last month. If you’d like to read the interview, please click the cover image below.