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Cronin’s Key; by N.R. Walker—Book Blast and Giveaway
Enter my Pride Promotional giveaway!
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Guest Post ~ Louise Lyons on One Snowy Night
Originally released within Wayward Ink Publishing’s anthology Stranded, in October 2014, my short story One Snowy Night is now available as an individual short story.
One snowy night, Keith Brambles learns that appearances can be deceptive.
After yet another disastrous date, Keith drives home much to fast for the snowy conditions. When his car skids and crashes, he thinks he’s going to spend the night freezing in his car, until a man in a white van stops to help him. But Keith fears his rescuer may not appreciate his rather obvious preference.
Excerpt
Another half hour went by, and at last Keith heard the sound of an engine. As he looked out of the window, headlights blinded him, and he blinked and squinted. He unfolded his arms and legs, and groaned as he tried to put his feet down on the floor. His limbs had stiffened and everything hurt. He fumbled for the door handle with numb fingers. As he struggled, suddenly the driver’s door jerked open, and a face appeared.
Keith stared at the hulking figure, stooped over to look into the car. He could make out a moustache and goatee, and bright eyes, but the rest was obscured by a beanie and the collar of a heavy winter coat.
“You alright, mate?” a gruff voice asked.
“Y-y-y-yes,” Keith stammered. He was shivering so badly, he doubted he could utter another word.
“No injuries?”
He shook his head in response.
“Can you get out?”
“I…d-d-d-d…” Keith meant to say I don’t know. He shoved the other door open, and extended one leg, until his foot reached the snowy ground outside. He groaned as he tried to move the other leg. His knee was locked and he couldn’t feel his foot at all.
“Fuck. Wait there.” The driver’s door slammed and seconds later, the man appeared at the other side of the car. Large arms reached out and scooped Keith up. He clutched at the thick neck of his rescuer, as he was plucked from the Audi and carried to a waiting white Transit van. White Van Man. Keith cringed, and hoped the man wouldn’t recognize him. His type probably wasn’t very tolerant. Then again, it wouldn’t really matter whether he knew who Keith was or not. Keith was wearing a purple silk shirt, heeled boots, earrings and eye makeup. He thought his preference must be fairly obvious.
“There you go.” White Van Man managed to pull open the passenger side door of the van and hoist Keith up onto the seat without much effort. He slammed the door closed, went around the other side, and climbed behind the wheel.
The heating in the van was blowing at full blast, and Keith leaned forward and placed his frozen hands over one of the vents. The interior of the vehicle was like a furnace, and he knew he would thaw out quickly, but painfully.
“What happened?” White Van Man asked.
“Um…I…um…I came up to the bend too fast and braked. Stupid.”
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“Bruised, maybe, from the seatbelt. The airbag went off. I’m okay, just frozen.”
“How long have you been there?”
“An hour and a half, or thereabouts. Thanks for stopping.” Keith glanced at the man, as he unzipped his coat and pulled the beanie from his head. He had thick, dark hair and dark eyes. Keith could see something on his skin above the neckline of his T-shirt, which could have been a tattoo. Oh, God, White Van Man is probably a biker or a head banger as well.
“Here.”
Keith looked down, and took the plastic cup from the man’s hand. It held strong black coffee. Keith hadn’t noticed him pick up the flask and pour it.
“Thanks.”
“You’re Kent Brambles,” his rescuer said; a statement rather than a question.
Shit. “Uh…yes. Keith, actually. Kent’s just my…um…my…”
“Stage name?” The man grinned, but then grimaced a little.
“Yeah. I’m guessing my…uh…my music isn’t your cup of tea,” Keith said nervously.
“I’m into my rock and roll.” He smiled again and extended a large hand. “Mike Talbot.”
Buy Links
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Going it Alone 2: Con Riley on self-publishing
Great perspective on why we self-publish 🙂
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RDH4 Contest Giveaway!
I’m doing another giveaway! This time there are 2 x $20 Amazon gift cards to be won, AND 5 x ecopies of RDH4!
The contest will run from the 2nd (tomorrow) until the 10th of January, Sydney time.
But as per usual, Rafflecopter won’t work on wordpress (I’ve tried EVERY step they recommend to no avail) so you’ll have to click the Rafflecopter icon
Or try this link http://is.gd/ffVFNI
One option to enter is to leave a blog comment. Please leave the comment on this post but use the rafflecopter to direct you here! I’ll pin this post to the top of my blog for the duration of the contest 🙂
NOTE: Please use the Rafflecopter link above to direct you to the blog post to answer – it makes your entry valid. I know this is backtracking and a huge PITA, but it’s how rafflecopter works.
If you’ve arrived here from the Rafflecopter link, please comment below 🙂
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A new year and all that…
It is a new year already and I should mark this occasion with a post <3
2015 will be a year of change for me. Not all of it great, but all of it moving forward and that’s what I will keep focused on. I don’t do resolutions (I’m far too lazy lol) but I want 2015 to be better. I want to be better. A better person, a better parent, a better writer.
I have lots planned this year. I have 8 books penciled onto my calendar (though this may change, depending on real life priorities). So far it includes a two-part vampire novel series, a novella trilogy and three stand alone novels. But as writers know, what we plan to write and what we actually write are not often the same thing.
As of January 1st (today) I have done first round edits on RDH4, due to come out in just 8 days (Yes, I’m cutting it fine, I know.) and I’m 66K words into the first book of the vampire series. I have a working title of Cronin’s Key: Book One, though it may very well change as well (please don’t anyone add it to Goodreads yet). It’s very different to my normal writing but I’m loving it so far. I’m hoping to have it finished soon and in the hands of my beta readers before handing it over for edits. I would love to have a March release for Cronin’s Key, but that is yet to be finalised.
Finally, I want to thank all of my readers who have bought, read, reviewed my books! <3 I can’t have done any of this without you! <3
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Sixty Five Hours Christmas Outtake: Twelve Days of Christmas
This little freebie has been around for a while, but I’ve revamped it, added a little cover and added it to All Romance eBooks so it’s easier for readers to access <3 It still is, and will always be, free. <3
You can find it here
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-twelvedaysofchristmassixtyfivehoursouttake-1693175-145.html
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To Will Parkinson… Twelfth of Never – Blind Faith 3.5
Over the last year, Will Parkinson (the man, not the character from Blindside) has
pesteredhoundedharassedencouraged me to write a little more of the Blind Faith series. And while it might not be a full novel, I have done a very short (as in only 8500 words) FREE Christmas story instead toshut him upmake him happy. 🙂Will has
demandedrequesteddemanded Mark and Will (the characters, not the men) become parents. But we all know Mark doesn’t have acluepaternal side, and truthfully I just didn’t see Mark filling that role. He is, after all, a child himself.So what we have, is this…
The very beautiful cover was made my the VERY talented and awesome Sara York. I am so blessed to have her skills representing my books.
BLURB:
Will Parkinson has been with Mark Gattison for five years and, in his words, there has never been a dull moment. Will has always been the serious one, the responsible one. Mark is the irresponsible man-child who loves nothing more than to make people smile.
But Will has an ache for something Mark won’t give him.
Until he does.
Join Will, Mark, Carter, Isaac and Brady, Hannah and her family (and some other special guests for Christmas) and have yourself a Merry Twelfth of Never.
Now, what’s with the title you ask?
Well, Will bloody Parkinson has asked me so many times when the next Blind Faith book was coming out, that I eventually gave him an expected release date of, yes you guessed it, the Twelfth of Never. Which, for those who don’t know, means
IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, WILL, SO STFU ALREADYit’s not likely to happen.But it did happen.
And I hope you love this little insight into the Blind Faith family’s future.
Oh, and there’s a guest appearance in this book from another couple of mine who some people have been dying to see more of. It’s only very brief, but we see how happy they are, and I must extend a very warm thank you to Totally Bound for allowing these characters to turn up in another book.
Disclaimer: This book has NOT been professionally edited. My very awesome writing buddies looked it over for me and fixed it, but any and all remaining errors and typos are mine. This little story is also free. So if you do find a typo or a continuity error, just smile and wave, k?
Another disclaimer: This is it, Will. There is no more. Their story is done. Kaput. Fin. Just because I like you doesn’t mean I won’t inflict bodily harm.
This book will be available from All Romance eBooks HERE from December 12th.
It will not be on Amazon, because I don’t want anyone to have to buy it before Amazon will reduce the price to zero. I will also be adding it here to by blog after December 12th. Check the pages menu under Books > Blind Faith.
Much, much love <3 <3 And please, have yourself a very safe and merry Twelfth of Never.
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Back Into the Outback with N. R. Walker and her Red Dirt Heart Series! (tour and contest)
Fabulous review of RDH3 and interview <3
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**Red Dirt Heart 3 Update**
Please note that due to circumstances beyond my control, Red Dirt Heart 3 will now be released October 17th.
I apologise if this causes any inconvenience, and I appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter. I would like to extend special thanks to Erika (my Editor and saving grace) for not flying to Australia just to kick me in the shins, and to Will Parkinson (blog tour manager) and all participating bloggers who have been more than accommodating and patient.
To my readers, please accept this cute guy holding a puppy as my sincerest apologies…
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Red Dirt Heart 2 Giveaway
I’m giving away 4 digital copies of Red Dirt Heart 2, and 2 digital copies of any book from my backlist!
Click on the pic to go the Rafflecopter page! There are 6 chances to win a book!! You need to click on the Rafflecopter picutre/link (my wordpress won’t allow javascript so the actual giveaway button won’t show here) but you can also find it on my Facebook Author Page. (scroll over)
Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed Red Dirt Heart 2, and enjoyed a little more of Charlie and Travis. The reviews on Goodreads and Amazon have been fabulous, and I thank you!! <3
Please check out the Rafflecopter options for entering to make sure your comment on my blog will gain you an entry 🙂
And good luck!!
Here’s a little picspiration…
Charlie Sutton 
Travis Craig 
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