Welcome!

Follow my journey toward publication. Laugh, cry, point and stare-- it's all good. I'll leave a trail so that you, my fellow author, may have a straighter path to finding your own elusive publishing contract. Adventure awaits. Let's travel together...



Friday, February 19, 2016

COTT Spotlight and FREE Historical Romance!


The first three books in April W Gardner's Creek Country Saga have just hit the Amazon shelves! They are now available for purchase, but every subscriber to her newsletter gets the first in the series for
FREE!

Scroll to nab your copy!

Beneath the Blackberry Moon will sweep you away to another time, then make you sigh and wish you could stay just a little longer.


I cannot put this book down! April Gardner crafts the scenes and character interactions so well, you are there! What a powerful story. 
~Amazon reviewer


This newsletter goes out only a handful of times each year to announce new releases, so no worries--your inbox won't be bombarded. April is generous to her email subscribers. Next month, each will receive another novel, absolutely free! See below to learn more about Better Than Fiction.


About the book:
War, captivity, hunger that will not be denied. And a blackberry moon with enough pull to endure the test of time.

Frontierswoman Adela McGirth has never feared her neighbors, the Creek Indians, but a suspicious encounter with a steely-eyed warrior shakes her confidence. As dreaded, a skirmish with the natives sends her family fleeing into a hastily constructed fort. But no picket is strong enough to hold off a party of warriors who fear nothing but the loss of their ancient ways.

Totka Lawe, a Red Stick bound by honor to preserve his heritage, will do what he must to expel the whites from Muscogee soil. But in the midst of battle, he is assigned to protect those he’s expected to hate and kill. One of whom is the copper-haired woman who has haunted his thoughts since that strange night under the blackberry moon. The war was simpler before his enemy became a beautiful face with a gentle warrior’s spirit he cannot resist.

But what woman would have a warrior whose blood-soaked hands destroyed her life?

Then again...does she have a choice?

PREVIEW BOOK BY CLICKING IMAGE


Learn more about this saga at 
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Coming soon...

To get your FREE copy of Better Than Fiction
(releases April 2016)

Better than Fiction
by 
April W Gardner and Michelle Massaro

Romance novelist Meghan Townsend’s marriage is slipping, and no amount of prayer seems to help. She aims to recapture her husband’s waning attention by getting in shape and finds escape by crafting her own fictional love story. Taking inspiration for the hero from a new friend—the attractive, spiritual, and attentive Curtis Jameson—she pours her yearnings onto the page, and craves the kind of pulse-pounding romance found in her book, Racing Hearts

In 1916 Corona, California, motorcars are all the rage, and racing them is what Meghan’s hero, Russell Keegan, does best. But when his competition vandalizes his car, the only mechanic available is a greasy woman in a man’s overalls.

After a racing accident claimed her father’s life, Winifred became the sole breadwinner for her family. She is disdained as a female mechanic, but her daddy's trade is all she has left. Can she swallow her hatred of the races and take up Russell's offer of big bucks to fix his car, or will she lose everything to mounting debt?

Under Meghan's skillful pen, these two embark on a thrilling, adventurous romance. But she finds that writing those love scenes with Curtis’s face in mind takes her heart places it shouldn’t go. Will she realize in time that real life can be better than fiction?


Thursday, February 11, 2016

Book News!


It's been years coming...
I've toiled and I've learned.
I've taken steps forward and steps back.
I've written and rewritten until my fingers bled on the keyboard (okay, slight exaggeration.)


But it's finally here. My book baby is going to leave the nest!


But first, here's a quick look back at my Adventures in Writing, my journey thus far. =)


Entering my first contest.

It didn't win. =)

But I was introduced to some incredible industry professionals that year.

And met some wacky writer friends.

I kept going to conferences, kept making friends.

Kept working, finaled in a major writing contest.
Believed I could do this, I was a "real" author.
Registered my publisher imprint: Orange Grove Press will be releasing books to Amazon and the world VERY VERY SOON!
You'll have to wait for another post to see my cover! But let's just say I'm in love!

Next step in the journey? Publication! And part of that is assembling a Launch Team (aka Street Team) to help me with letting people know about my books! (Yes, that is plural. Details coming in another post!) People who are dedicated to spreading news via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blogs, Goodreads, small group studies, women's ministry groups, health club, MOPS, civic organizations, Scouts, PTA, etc., wherever you can think of.

Want to join my tribe? Just let me know--comment here, tweet me, FB me. Everyone gets a free electronic copy of my book, entrance into our special Facebook Group, and periodic drawings for prizes!

Thank you for being part of my adventure.
I truly believe the best is yet to come.

I would love to invite you now to join my mailing list. I'm afraid that I don't have much time for blogging these days, so signing up for my list ensures you'll be up to date on the latest. I only send out for "big news" like release dates, sales, freebies, and cover reveals, because I hate spam. You can sign up here: 


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So, hey, you might think... you gotta at least tell us what the book is about!
You're right! I do! Here is the back cover copy for
Grace in the Flames:


Three people. One God of Grace.

John Douglas thought he knew the future God had for him--raise a family and grow old with his bride, Hannah. But then a deadly house fire incinerates his faith, destroying the man he’d been.

Worship leader Jenni Dupont conquered her demons years ago and has the scars to prove it. But temptation strikes when her world is shattered, and this time she's not sure if God can carry her through.

Bar waitress April Johanson lives with the secret trauma of an abusive past. Desperate to stay off the streets of Vegas, she’ll do whatever is necessary to pay the rent.

When their lives intersect, God will ask them to do the impossible. To love Him even if…

***

You can also connect with me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MichelleMassaroBooks and on Twitter @MLMassaro. I'll be doing drawings and contests in those places periodically as well, so please stay connected.

Remember, if God has planted a dream in your heart, called you to a task, stay obedient! Even if it seems to take forever. God is never late.

Blessings!!
 

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Spotlight on "Anything for a Story" by Cynthia Hickey


Stormi is delightful as the accident prone and bumbling wanna be detective. What she lacks in skill she makes up for in nosiness. Add in the sexy detective and a slightly nutty family and our lead character has her hands full.
~Amazon reviewer



About the book:
Stormi Nelson, best-selling romance author, moved into her huge Victorian house in the private community of Oak Meadows Estates. When her agent tells her that her characters are becoming too cardboard and that she needs to get out and mingle with people, she comes up with the idea of a Neighborhood Watch Program. The only problem is … she’s the only member. On her first night of patrol, she stumbles over a dead body, meets a hunky detective, who happens to be her neighbor and clearly frustrated with her, and her mother, sister, niece and nephew arrive to shake up Stormi’s peaceful life. As she is immersed ever deeper into the mystery surrounding a neighbor’s murder, she decides to change writing tactics and write a romantic mystery based on her experiences. What follows is a frolicking good time as Stormi finds herself the nosiest neighbor of them all. Can she find the killer before she becomes the next victim?

PURCHASE

A note from the author, Cynthia Hickey:

"Why I Became a Writer"

Funny how this roller-coaster business can tug on someone until it’s either write or die. A bit dramatic, yes, but that’s how most writers feel.

I started reading at the young age of five and became hooked on words and stories. Being a shy child, I would make up stories to act out, but it wasn’t until Junior High when an English teacher assigned a
writing project that I realized how much I loved putting the story to paper. I began writing short stories in which my younger brother was featured as the hero, or I’d write a romance featuring me and whatever boy I had a crush on at the time.

When I turned fifteen, I wrote my first “real story” about terrorists taking over a high school. Funny how I have now seen that very plot made into a movie. I couldn’t be stopped after that first “book.” I kept writing, keeping my stories in a notebook, which I unfortunately lost when I married and moved out of state. Then, life happened and I didn’t take up writing again until the age of forty when my children were older and I had time to devote to it.

In 2007, I published my first cozy mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, with Barbour Publishing and haven’t slowed down since. Forty books later, and several genres added to the mix, I have no intentions of stopping this crazy career any time soon. It’s as much a part of me as breathing.

About the author:
Multi-published and Amazon Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. She had several historical romances release in 2013, 2014, 2015 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and has sold half a million copies of her works. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads, and is a contributor to Cozy Mystery Magazine blog and Suspense Sisters blog. She and her husband run the small press, Forget Me Not Romances, which includes some of the CBA’s well-known authors. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs, two cats, three box turtles, and two Sulcata tortoises. She has seven grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com