Welcome to the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. A neat way for readers to find new authors and perhaps a whole stash of books you haven't checked out before. My Gratitude to Kellie Sharpe for inviting me and to Vicki Hinze who invited her.
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About this Blog Hop, I and my fellow authors, in their respective blogs, have answered ten questions about our book or work-in-progress (giving you a sneak peak). We've also included some behind the scenes information about how and why we write what we write -- the characters, the inspirations, plotting and other choices we make. I hope you enjoy it. 

My first published non-fiction, WHATEVER IT TAKES, came out in June - available at Wings Press.com, Amazon.com and B&N  Three Men are in a very close race for the White House. Each will face a tough decision. Decisions that will determine the caliber of the man, the kind of leader he might be and possibly even the outcome of the race.

Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions. Here's my Next Big Thing!

I'm actually working on a Women's Fiction series with strong romantic elements. Two of the books in the series have been written and four more are in various stages of plotting. WORRY STONE and WHAT TO DO ABOUT ZOE are the first two. To be followed by A HEART IN HARM'S WAY, OWEN'S PROMISE, BROKEN SOULS and DARE TO LOVE. In addition to this being a family saga, the books deal with the agony of soldiers learning to live as civilians again and men and women who serve as firefighters and policemen, and the scars left by PTSD. The first book, Worry Stone was inspired by the struggle many of the young men I came of age with who returned from the ravages of war in Vietnam to a country that scorned them and the sacrifices they had made. The rest of the books in the series are contemporary. Our soldiers return to a much different welcome, but the struggles they face on every other front are the same. Here's a teaser for my current WIP:
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Meg shrugged her backpack higher up onto her shoulder as she joined the stream of passengers filing past the empty chairs of the waiting area and toward baggage claim.  Her scuffed and dusty boots made a hollow sound on the tile floor.  A man in a navy blue suit jostled past her, then stopped and thanked her for her service.  She took the proffered hand absently and accepted the thanks in spite of the feeling she didn’t deserve it in the least. 

As she approached the top of the escalator down to baggage claim, she halted abruptly.  Her heart began to thump painfully.  Ben would be at the bottom of the escalator watching for her.  Maybe the boys as well.  It had been 358 days since she’d last seen them.  358 days that had changed her forever. 

The crush of people flowed around her like water flows around a boulder in a riverbed.  For a moment she felt like she couldn’t even breathe. 

All those days ago when she’d been walking the other way with tears in her eyes, she’d been an innocent.  An idealistic innocent.  She wasn’t the same woman who’d said goodbye to Ben that day.  She was no longer innocent.  And her idealism had fled in the face of the things she’d seen.  And done.

Would Ben notice?

Would he see it in her eyes?  Feel it in her touch?  Surely he would hear it when she called out in her nightmares.  Would he still love her if he knew the whole of it?  If he knew how far she’d grown away from the woman she’d once been?

Meg drew a deep breath and stepped out.  He was waiting however much she had changed, and she couldn’t put off the moment of their reunion forever.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ben shifted his weight from one foot to the other in order to peer farther up the descending staircase.  He’d left the boys at home so he and Meg could have these first few moments alone.  Or at least as alone as it gets in a crowded baggage claim area.  The buzzer announcing the arrival of the luggage had sounded several minutes ago and already there were people crowding several lines deep around the carousel.  He’d been keeping half an eye on the moving jumble of luggage, boxes, golf clubs and carseats, watching for a camouflage duffle bag.

But so far, none had appeared.  Neither had Meg.  But she would.  Soon. 

She had called after she’d boarded this plane in DC to let him know it was on time and she had made the connection.  Her voice had sounded matter-of-fact and unemotional.  Very military, he conceded.  She was a Marine, after all. And she’d been in a war zone for almost a year.  A place where emotions didn’t belong.  At least not those reserved for the husband you left behind.

He glanced back at the carousel, then again at the escalator.  And there she was. 

Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, but he could see the black sheen of it glistening under the harsh fluorescent lights.  Head up, she looked straight ahead.  Shoulders back.  Very squared away.  His Marine.  His Meg.

Ben’s heart leapt in his chest and shuddered into a staccato rhythm.  His Meg was back.  Whole and unharmed.  And as beautiful as his memory had promised.  He couldn’t wait to haul her into his arms and kiss the daylights out of her.  He couldn’t wait to feel her arms circle tight around his neck.  To feel her lips returning his hunger and longing.  It seemed to take forever for the escalator to bring her down to him.

At the bottom, she stepped off, turned sharply right and almost ran him down before her gaze finally connected with his.

Be sure to check back here often - I'll be sure to let you know when the book is coming out.

Other authors on this Blog Hop...

Nancy Quatrano - Co-author of The Method Writers, Snowbird Christmas and more...

Sharon Drane     Touch the Sky and Swept Away (WIP) 

Kellie Sharpe - author and publisher - Salt Run Publishing, where romance lives on.