There's Always Something Special About Your First

We all have memories of a lot of firsts in our lives. Our first bra; we were growing up! Our first kiss: two guppies smacking lips. Our first pregnancy; ugh, the morning sickness. Our first homemade Thanksgiving turkey...you mean we had to thaw it first??? Please tell me I'm not the only dummy out there. And, for writers, our first published book. 

Mine was a contemporary western, STORM'S INTERLUDE, that released with The Wild Rose Press five years ago. I was overjoyed. I'd dreamed of being published since I was in the sixth grade back in the day when we were crawling under our desks for bomb protection during the era of the Cold War. So we're talking about dreaming for something for a lo-o-o-ong time.

Since then, I've moved on to HarperImpulse and Random House Loveswept with 16 more books. Number 17 is due out the end of November. I've gotten the rights back to 3 books with Wild Rose and entered the world of self-publishing. My first self-pubbed book? STORM'S INTERLUDE, of course. After all, there's always something special about your first book. It's the culmination of years of wishing and the story is embedded deeply within your heart.

The original version earned the HOLT Medallion of Merit for best romance and best book by a Virginia author. It was also voted book of the year at Long and Short Reviews the year it came out. For a writer who had so much to learn, all the accolades were quite humbling. I didn't think anyone would like it or the way I'd written it or my characters or.....self-doubt is an awful thing, isn't it?

So my first Indie book is standing tall and proud in the back of the pack of so many others, but I'm hoping Storm and Rachel will win some more hearts. It's now the first book of a planned series "Rosefire, Texas Romances."

Nurse Rachel Dennison comes to Texas determined to prepare her new patient for a second round of chemo. What she isn't counting on is her patient's twin brother, Storm Blackhawk. Despite her initial attraction, Storm has two things Rachel can't abide: a domineering personality and an ex-fiancée who won't leave him alone.

Half Native American, with the ability to have "vision dreams," Storm dreams about Rachel for three nights before her arrival. Both are unprepared for the firestorm of emotions their first encounter ignites. Ultimately, it is Rachel's past--an abusive, maniacal ex-boyfriend--that threatens to keep them apart...and Storm's dreams that brings them together again.

AMAZON BUY LINK: http://a.co/43HDtOp

Learn more about Vonnie Davis at www.vonniedavis.com 

Coming Soon--Love is in the Air--It's Among the Snowflakes by Vonnie Davis

I'm writing this on the 22nd and the snow is falling in Lynchburg, Virginia, like crazy. Considering we rarely wear a winter coat, this is "big doin's" for us.  Few cars have dared travel our street since we live on a hill. No one is stirring except for a man near the bottom of the hill, who is shoveling out his car and occasionally shaking his fist heavenward. It's quite the sight.

On February 1st, a romance bundle I'm part of releases. For me, this is my first foray into the world of self-publishing. Thank goodness one of the authors knows how to make covers, do the formatting, and get the bundle listed on book selling sites or we'd be lost--shoveling caa-caa and shaking our collective fists like the man down the hill.

"Love is in the Air" is a special bundle for me. It includes the first book I ever had published--Storm's Interlude--winner of the HOLT Medallion Award of Merit (a nice way of saying runner-up) and Book of the Year at Long and Short Reviews, five years ago. I'd gotten the rights back from The Wild Rose Press, made some changes that needed dire attention--like a set of twins, three years apart in age. I'd decided partway through writing the book, I wanted the hero three years younger and meticulously went through the book looking for any age references for him. I just forgot to do the same for his twin sister and, although her age was only mentioned once, there it was in all its glory. Some readers didn't like he was already engaged when he met the heroine, so I had the engagement ending a month earlier with the ex-fiancé refusing to accept the break-up. Somehow, with everything I took out, the book grew another 2000 words. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

Working with these fabulous, fun-loving authors on this project was a trip. We did a lot of chuckling over facebook messaging. Some of them were hard to control at times, but I managed to do it. Quick! Hand me a mirror! Did my nose grow on that lie?

 

We're donating all our proceeds to the "Wounded Warrior Project" and will offer the bundle for 4 months before splitting into single books. Amazon buy link is: http://amzn.com/B0181NC92E

 

 

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And because Grandma can't help herself, my grandson, Ryan, was accepted to MIT in their early acceptance program and he's having a great wrestling season. His next win will be his 100th high school career win. How can he be a high school senior already when it was just a couple years ago he'd crawl onto my lap with an armful of books for me to read to him?