I'm in the midst of cranking out my Christmas novella. (See picture above...that's me at the moment).
Here are some super quickie updates...
1. I had an amazing visit with Lexxi Callahan and Laura K. Curtis...
Lexxi brought me gifts from the "Southern World"...hee hee!
Laura and I introduced Lexxi to lobster roll...
...A Maine lighthouse!
New England Fall Foliage!
(I took these photos around my house...enjoy!)
...and a girl's night out with Jen Porter!
Selfie!
2. A TASTE OF HEAVEN is still available for 2.99!
Here's a great review at ALL ABOUT ROMANCE:
"Sparks fly on and off camera in this delightful romance."
3. SWEET CINDERELLA (Klaus Brothers #4) is coming soon...here's an excerpt!
THE KLAUS BROTHERS boxed set: at Amazon (books 1-3)
EXCERPT (unedited):
Ice. Cold.
Gregor Alric Klaus, fourth son of
Nicholas and Alena Klaus, Director of Finance for Klaus Enterprises, knew what
his colleagues whispered behind his back.
Cold,
calculating, ruthless.
Unemotional, detached, relentless.
There
was a reason he was a formidable opponent in the boardroom, and it wasn’t
because he was a nice guy.
Gregor Klaus never lost the game. He
played to win, every time.
Because of his financial expertise,
Klaus Enterprises had established itself as a powerhouse in the industry. The
company that produced hand-crafted toys was unparalleled in quality and
distribution. The company that brought so many children happiness owed its success
to the most cold-hearted brother in the Klaus family.
Even as a child, Gregor displayed an
uncanny talent with numbers. While his brothers baked gingerbread and carved
toys, he poured over the books with their elfin accountant. Assessing each
season, calculating ways to cut overhead, predicting trends. His father didn’t
know quite what to do with him, so he set him up as Director of Finance and
moved him to New York.
It was a perfect fit.
Gregor thrived in the urban environment.
He loved the architecture, the cutting edge technology, the competition within
the industry. He lived in a sparse apartment, adorned with a minimalist décor.
He dressed in the height of fashion and enjoyed his gadgets. Even his
dates—when he found time to squeeze in a social life—were elegant, tasteful. Cold. His brothers enjoyed an
old-fashioned lifestyle in the North Pole, but Gregor had assimilated into the
affluent world of Manhattan, a world away from Pfeffernusse cookies and elfin magik.
He
lived for two things…his job and his family. Family loyalty was everything. He
knew how much his parents and brothers depended on him. He was a rock in a sea
of chaos. And how could Glasdorf—their town in the North Pole—be anything but
chaotic? They lived within a magical ice wall, hidden from the rest of the
Sudenwelt, with hundreds of elves. His brother Oskar did his best to control
the unruly bunch, but it was a daily challenge. Between unpredictable magik
spells and an unlimited supply of eggnog, the elves in Glasdorf were quite a
handful to manage.
All of their lives were mired in
turmoil at the moment. Nicholas and Lucy had just welcomed their first baby
into the family. Sven was secretly planning to open a furniture studio—and only
Gregor knew the truth. Oskar and Kiana had adopted an elfin Bändiger and were building
the North Pole’s first library. And his parents—Santa and Alena—had a full
schedule packed with triathlons and philanthropic projects. Tonight was one
such event, which his brother Wolfgang had been organizing for months. The New
York Childrens Literacy gala promised to be a huge success, thanks to
Gregor’s financial support and Wolf’s attention to detail.
Gregor wove through the crowds on
Fifth Avenue, dodging shoppers and Salvation Army buckets. Bitter winds tugged
at his coat and reddened his cheeks. He stopped and glanced at a window display.
A fat Santa smiled at him and waved, its robotic arm twitching with Christmas
cheer.
Mocking
him.
It stood to reason that the Klaus
family had some natural holiday generosity in their DNA. His father was filled
with compassion, his mother was sympathetic to children all over the world, his
brothers poured their hearts and souls into the toys and sweet treats and acts
of philanthropy and care-taking of the elves.
Emotional, kind, and thoughtful.
Those were traits appropriate for the Klaus family. Those were traits nestled
firmly in the genetic code of his parents and siblings. In some ironic twist of
fate, those characteristics had skipped right over him. Nothing about Gregor
Klaus was warm or cuddly.
He was the polar opposite of Santa
Claus in every way.
He’d promised to meet his family at
the affair. He needed this walk first, striding along the icy Manhattan
sidewalks. He did this every day. The bracing wind reminded him he was still
alive, not a robot but a man. He kept hoping that immersing himself in a sea of
humanity would help him to find his own humanity.
He kept hoping.
His family hadn’t noticed that
anything was wrong. They were distracted by life’s adventures, and none of them
knew what Gregor hid behind his impeccable clothes, well-trimmed goatee, and
self-confident expression. That now, in addition to ice cold, he felt numb. He
peered into the frosted holiday windows on Fifth Avenue, and felt absolutely…nothing.
Yes, it certainly was ironic.
Santa’s son was a cold, hard
bastard, with nary an ounce of Christmas cheer anywhere to be found.
❊❊❊❊❊
Happy November!
Penny
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