Motive, Opportunity and Means

Welcome to another Suspenseful Seven Sentence Sunday. This excerpt is from DEFENDING GLORY, first book of the Piedmont Island Trilogy series.

The hero, Mac, has worked hard to keep his past a secret. Now, it's out.

Mac’s leg throbbed as he watched the last of the police vehicles drive out the lane, but he ignored the pain. Much to his chagrin, his past career was now common knowledge. He’d caught the pastor’s ‘I-knew-it’ reaction, Glory’s wide-eyed surprise, and the sheriff’s disbelief--along with Smith’s distain. Mac had no doubt the sheriff would delve deeper into his past, mainly because if he were in the sheriff’s shoes that’s exactly what he would do.

The goal in any murder investigation is to find the person with motive, opportunity and means, and chances are that he--or she--is guilty.

Even Mac could see he had all three.

To read more excerpts, visit Suspenseful Seven Sentence Sunday for a complete listing of other mystery and romantic suspense authors. Happy Sunday and happy reading!

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Kudos to Author Cecelia Dowdy

Since becoming a blogger, I subscribe to a lot of blogs. I've replaced reading the morning newspaper with blog posts. They're a wealth of information, and allow me to follow some amazing, talented people.

Author Cecelia Dowdy is one of those individuals. We've emailed a few times. Commented on each other's blogs. We're both authors.

This week she wrote on her blog Cecelia's Christian Blog that a reader had compared her to Debbie Macomber. What a compliment and honor to be associated with one of the romance industry's most loved, read and prolific authors.

Kudos, Cecelia!

A few years ago I attended a writers conference where Ms. Macomber was keynote speaker. She scanned the room of hundreds of wannabe writers. Smiled, and then mentioned a good friend had once asked how she could stand up in front of all those people conference after conference, and encourage attendees to continue writing when in reality only a few would ever get published.

Ms. Macomber's response? Which ones would she discourage? She mentioned her own struggles to publication. Her trials and tribulations of being the world's worst speller, of desperately needing a second income to make ends meet. Despite everything, the odds, the bleak state of the economy, the pile of rejections, she knew she was destined to be an author.

I imagine Cecelia has felt that same raw and yet, invigorating emotion. I have. It starts deep down in your bones, and invades your very soul.

Congratulations, Cecelia, on achieving your dream. Kudos too, on a well deserved compliment. Chesapeake Weddings is definitely on my TBR list!

Are you a published romance author? 

Want your latest release featured?

Email - annekalbert AT gmail DOT com

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A New Dream by Elaine Cantrell

The following is an excerpt from author Elaine Cantrell's latest release from Astraea Press, entitled A NEW DREAM.

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Prologue

The red convertible cut a path through the moonlight, its headlights dancing along the arched limbs of the trees above the road.

“Oh, Matt, it’s such a beautiful night,” Stacey declared with a sigh. “I’m going to miss you when you leave tomorrow.”

 Matt reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ll miss you too, but if I don’t report on time, I’m in trouble with the coach.”

“That’s what I get for falling in love with a pro football player,” Stacey teased, her blonde hair turned to frosted silver by the light of the full moon above them.

Matt squeezed her hand that wore his engagement ring. “It’s too late to back out now,” he teased. “You’re mine.”

“Mmm, do I like the sound of that!”

The car rounded a curve, and without warning a deer bounded across the road.

“Look out!” Stacey screamed.

Matt braked sharply to avoid the animal.  The tires slid on a patch of loose gravel in the road, and he lost control of the convertible. It fishtailed and started to spin in the road.

Matt hauled the steering wheel to correct the slide, but it was useless. The car turned around once more and skidded backwards for a short distance before it charged off the road. It jumped a steep ditch and went airborne. All Matt could see was a blur of trees and darkness as the car careened into the woods. It made a lazy turn in the air and came to rest bottom side up.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of Stacey’s screams.

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Want to know more about Elaine? Read my interview with her HERE. And don't forget to leave a comment. Elaine would love to hear from you. Plus, your name will be entered in the draw to win a e-book copy of A NEW DREAM!

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Survivor's Guilt

Welcome to another Suspenseful Seven Sentence Sunday.

The following excerpt is from DEFENDING GLORY, first book of the Piedmont Island Trilogy series.

Suffering from survivor's guilt, Mac, the hero, misses his mentor and FBI partner.

A true hero and all around good guy, Ben should have been the one to survive the ambush. He had every reason to live. A loving wife. Two adorable children.

Mac’s fist tightened around the spent ammo. If only he could remember what went wrong that day. He had snippets of blurred images, fragments of shouted warnings, but nothing concrete.

To read more of DEFENDING GLORY, click HERE. For more excerpts from other mystery and romantic suspense authors visit the Suspenseful Seven Sentence Sunday blog. Happy Sunday reading!

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Emotional Reads that Touch Your Heart

Drop by Diane Craver's blog today to take part in her
EARLY SPRING GIVEAWAY.

Five, count 'em, FIVE great books are up for grabs!

-Light of the Heart by Regina Andrews
-Letting Go by Michelle Sutton
-Where Love Once Lived by Sidney W. Frost
-Summer Love by Linda Swift
-Defending Glory by Anne K. Albert (that would be me! ;-)

Click HERE and enter today!

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E-book Giveaway

I'm visiting author Connie Mann's site today where I'm giving away an e-book copy of DEFENDING GLORY.

All that’s required is for you to leave a comment regarding:

(1)   If you have an e-reader, what one feature do you like best about it?

(2)   If you do not have an e-reader, are you considering purchasing one? Why?

Easy-peasy, right? So, what are you waiting for? GO. THERE. NOW!

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Read an Ebook Week

You've probably heard that March 6-12, 2011 is "Read an E-book" Week.

But did you know the first e-book was created by Michael S. Hart forty years ago? That's right. E-books are 40. They're older than me. ;-) Well, okay, e-books are older than my daughter!

In celebration of "Read an E-Book Week" my publisher, Vanilla Heart, is offering 25% off featured books, including DEFENDING GLORY. Download your FREE catalogue HERE.

If you'd like to read more about the history of e-books, click HERE. Have a super day, and happy e-book reading!