I think I say this every month, but where has 2025 gone! We are headed into the fall months with holidays around the corner. This year has flown by for me. With so much going on with my writing and family life, I feel like some of the months are a blur.
Good news with my writing. Book 14 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels is releasing on September 19th. You can pre-order it from here: https://books2read.com/u/bWO1dD
In the remote, snowbound wilderness of Oregon’s Eagle Cap Mountains, a sled dog race turns deadly.
State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is teaching winter survival to Search and Rescue recruits when he’s called in to find a missing musher. Arriving at the race camp, he discovers the musher isn’t just a name on a list—she’s someone his friend Justine cares about deeply.
As Hawke searches rugged trails and icy backcountry, the case quickly shifts from a rescue to a murder investigation. Then a second body turns up, and it’s clear the killer is hiding among the racers, handlers, or volunteers. The deeper Hawke digs, the more he uncovers buried secrets and dangerous rivalries.
Now, with a killer on the loose and Justine possibly in the crosshairs, Hawke must navigate blizzards, betrayal, and bloodshed—before the race ends in even more tragedy.
I’m proud of this book. I did a lot of research and interviewed people involved in the Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race to make this book come alive for my readers.
Next month, you’ll be able to purchase the first book in my Cuddle Farm Mystery series. I’ll tell you all about it and have a link to purchase the book when I post on October 1st. This book had to be pushed out to October because when my beta readers say there is something off about the book, I listen and rework it. Now my beta readers like it.
I believe the reason they didn’t like my main character the first time was because I hadn’t had enough time with her in my head to get to know her before I started writing the book. All my other mystery series, I’ve thought about the main characters for over a year or more before I began their books. I’d only had Andi in my head about four months when I started writing Merry Merry Merry Murder.
When I started writing the book, I didn’t know her well enough to make her come alive. After writing the book, getting feedback, and thinking about the story, and Andi, I now know so much more about her and was able to show her on the page with more clarity.
Here’s a teaser from the book, Merry Merry Merry Murder:
“Good, you two made it,” Mom said, linking her arm through mine. It had been twenty-five years since I’d witnessed this event. I was excited and happy to be with my family.
“Wouldn’t miss the tree lighting,” I said, gazing up at the dark tree highlighted by the streetlamps behind it.
“I’m going to find Monica,” Rudy said and disappeared.
“When is he going to ask that woman to marry him?” Mom asked.
“Are you ready to get rid of your roommate?” I asked.
“He might as well get married. He’s not sleeping in his bed that much anyway.” Mom huffed and I giggled.
“I’d know that giggle anywhere,” said a voice behind me.
I spun around and stared into the unseeing eyes of my childhood friend. “Betty!” I shouted and pulled the slender, dark-skinned woman into a hug. There was no mistaking the short-cropped curls with a touch of gray, underneath a wide-brimmed hat with Christmas decorations around the crown. Even as a girl, she’d worn outlandish hats. Her mom would give her the hats, and Betty would decorate them.
Betty whispered in my ear, “I’ve missed you.”
Leaning back, I peered under the brim of the hat. Tears glistened in her eyes. “I’ve missed you, too. Tell me how to get a hold of you, and we’ll catch up.” I looped an arm in hers as Cocoa pressed against her legs.
“Who is this?” Betty asked, her hand touching the top of Cocoa’s head.
“One of my therapy dogs. Her name is Cocoa.”
Betty moved her hand down Cocoa’s forehead between her eyes and down her snout. “You are a beautiful creature. I can tell by how calm you are and the aura about you.”
I said quietly. “You see an aura? Have you had surgery on your eyes?”
Betty smiled. “No. But I have a lot to tell you.”
“Let’s meet tomorrow at Bow Wow Brew, say one?” I said, wanting to find out what was up with Betty and seeing auras. “It’s a date.” Betty stood beside me as the mayor appeared on the pavilion
Yes, there is a bit of a paranormal element in this series. It didn’t start out that way, but Betty showed up in Andi’s backstory, and I liked her. So I gave her the ability to see auras even though she is blind. Something unique to her and makes her a bit of a help when Andi is talking to people.
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