What a fun day yesterday!!

I was home sick. Not a great way to start the day but… In the afternoon, I received a phone call from Jackie Fleming, paranormal category coordinator for the GOTCHA! contest. The Reluctant Amazon won! I was so very pleased because Maureen’s wonderful assistant Katie and I had just revamped the opening to tighten it up. Since GOTCHA! is supposed to be judged on how strong the hook is and how quickly a reader was pulled in, this win told me we were successful! Mega thanks to Katie! And mega thanks to the judges — three of which who gave me scores of 100, 99, and 98 out of 100! ***hugs***

Not done yet… Right before I turned in for the night, an email arrived that told me The Reluctant Amazon — the revised edition! — also won the Where the Magic Begins contest.

Sick or not, it was a helluva day!

I had a beautiful 5-cup review from Cherokee at CoffeeTime Romance today!

Thank you so much, Cherokee! And I’m thrilled you enjoyed the story so much!

Here’s what she had to say:

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Joshua Miller is trying to get over the death of his dear wife. As an investigator reporter he is finding it difficult to write stories. His friends are concerned about his welfare.

Sarah Reid never thought being struck by lightning would change her life, enabling her to aid the sick and dying. After meeting a sympathetic journalist, her life takes on new meaning.

It has been a year since Josh lost his wife, and Ross, his good friend, needs his help. His sister, Cheryl has been taken advantage of by a faith healer and he wishes Josh to expose the woman as a fraud. Since Ross and Cheryl are good friends, Josh allows the journalist in him to come out. The moment he and Sarah meet, something clicks inside their hearts. At first Sarah refuses any interview feeling, tired of being exposed as a fraud, but moments with Josh prove him to be honest and caring. The more time spent together makes it difficult to find anyone to take Josh off her mind. With the fascination and love that he has found with Sarah, what will it do for them once the real story is told?

Faith of the Heart is an unforgettable poignant read. I love the way the story cements the two characters together. Both souls ache within their hearts as they reach out for the other. I enjoyed watching their relationship blossom as the concrete within their hearts slowly cracks and breaks away. I could relate to Josh in many ways. The ending captivated me. Sandy James creates in-depth characters that engage the reader. It was hard letting go once the story was finished. She captured the expressions of the players tremendously and I must admit, Josh and Sarah’s first kiss was melting in this precious read.

Cherokee
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

Fictionwise and Amazon Kindle are being very, very good to me.

I know it’s probably a counterproductive thing to do, but I check my sales on several of the book/print outlets where you can find my Damaged Heroes and Turning Thirty-Twelve. Some days, those numbers make me smile all day. Some days, they make me frown. I do love that I get feedback from readers, both in their willingness to take a chance on my stories and in the comments and ratings they leave when they are finished reading.

My stories have been releasing slowly on Fictionwise for the last couple of months. The last of my Damaged Heroes, Faith of the Heart, should pop up in the next week or so. I am tickled that Fictionwise readers have been so kind to me! I had been in hopes my ebooks would do better on a more mainstream site like Fictionwise than they’ve done with my publisher since Siren-BookStrand is better known for erotica while Fictionwise carries all genres. So far, I’ve managed to push into the romance top 100 with every book that has released to Fictionwise. I’m even happier to know that three of the four were on the Recent Bestseller list while they were in their first thirty days of release.

When I look at sales rankings, I have to acknowledge that my books are all backlist now. However, if I watch my Amazon Kindle sales, you’d never know that. I’m constantly selling ebooks to Kindle readers, and heavens, does that make me happy!!

Now, I’m concentrating on finishing the fourth book of the urban fantasy series and juggling three other projects in various stages of development. I’m trying to take my overabundance of angst and redirect it toward being creative. The nice thing is that the utter joy I felt when I started writing is back. I find myself waking up at 4:30 AM with ideas, and I couldn’t be happier.

As my wish for all my family, friends, and students for 2010, I borrow an Old Irish Blessing: May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.