The Secret Is Out--FINALLY!

Do you have any idea how bad I am at keeping secrets?  No one talks to me during the month of December; they all know I’ll blurt out Christmas secrets without meaning to.  I don’t mean to be a blabbermouth—it’s just that I'm extremely truthful.  So, imagine how uncomfortable I was when I got the fab news my military homecoming holiday novella, A CRAVING FOR COOKIES, had been accepted at CarinaPress, with one teeny request from CP’s executive editor, Angela James:

Don’t tell anyone.

The effect was instantaneous. I came down with the worst case of diarrhea of the mouth the world had ever seen.  Suddenly I wanted to tell EVERYONE.  People online.  People at work.  Random people in the street.  To make matters worse, this wasn’t an ordinary contract being offered.  Oh, no.  A CRAVING FOR COOKIES represents my 10^th contract since I got published in 2011.  My TENTH, dammit!  I considered hiring a frigging sky-writer to let the whole world know!

But I didn’t.  I kicked myself off Twitter and FB the moment I received that wondrous acceptance email on April 16th.  I barely said a word to anyone for ten long days (this was easier than I’m making it sound since I had to get my skaters ready for a competition); it was entirely possible my online buddies forgot I existed.  Then, on the 26^th, Angela made the official announcement—yay!  At last I could talk about it.  I was happier than Dobby the house elf when Lucius Malfoy presented him with a sock. *squeals “Dobby is freeeeeee!”*

 

 

This means I can also talk about how much I loved the letter Angela sent me.  Acceptance letters are always a beautiful sight as far as I’m concerned, but this one really got to me.  What was it that she said?  Well…

I think this is your best book so far, and you know I've loved your others.

*sniffle* Those are words that can make a grown writer cry.  So bring on those editorial notes, I’m ready to hit them as soon as I get back from RT Con (I’m leaving tomorrow *bounces*)!

Unofficial blurb for A CRAVING FOR COOKIES:

Bitterthorn, Texas might not be big enough for baker Lucy Crabtree, now that her ex-husband is back in town in time for Christmas.From Lucy's senior year in high school, she and Sullivan Jax had been inseparable, dreaming of happily-ever-after. Little did Lucy know that when Sully entered the Army Rangers to serve and protect his country, that decision would kick off the beginning of the end.

In hindsight, Sully supposed the second tour of duty he’d volunteered for hadn’t been the best idea he’d ever had.An IED—or improvised explosive device—scrambled his brains and left him finishing up his military service in various hospitals stateside.But all things considered, he had it luckier than most.He was still in one piece and had either relearned or recalled the majority of what his old life had been.There were only two nagging issues hanging fire—the complete loss of memory when it came to a blue-eyed, smart-mouthed woman everyone said had once been his wife, and an insatiable craving for cookies.

Sully had wanted to do right by Lucy, and insisted on setting her free.But now that the divorce is final and he’s back in a town so small they can't avoid each other, his craving for cookies is taking a backseat to his craving for Lucy.But will the pain of being forgotten and a past he can’t remember keep them apart?It might take a special cookie—and some Christmas magic—to bring about the happily-ever-after they’d dreamed about so long ago.

 

For a closer look at A CRAVING FOR COOKIES, feel free to look through its Pinterest storyboard.

 

 

*gifs taken off of various Tumblr pages. I don't own them and will take them down upon official ownership request.