Some real Marine action

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   Here's some Marines in action. Visit the official Marine website and find out more about the US Marine Corp or find them on Facebook.

   
   

   Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) land on a beach in an Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) as part of a mechanized raid in Thailand. 

   Designed to transport Marines and cargo through hostile territory on land or sea, AAVs define the distinction and purpose of Marine Corps expeditionary capabilities.
   
   
   

   
   

   Photo by Cpl Jonathan Wright

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   “My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy.” –The Rifleman’s Creed

   
   Photo by Cpl Reece Lodder.

   
   

   “Every Marine a rifleman.”
   
   With less weight and a shorter barrel, the M4 Carbine rifle ensures the Marines’ credo is just as appropriate at shorter distances and in confined spaces as it is from 500 yards out.

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   
   

Some background on Sentinel Securities

Ever wondered what the Sentinel Securities office looks like?

So...picture this                                                                and this

 But renovated with a kitchen area, workshop and office. Kinda like this....

 Only....better! But you get the general idea!

and something like this for the office building...

Upcoming assignments

In book two the guys are on an assignment to Africa.

Mission: locate and bring home missing Australian aid worker.

Possible threats: Irate fiancé, past history with said missing aid worker, pissed off rebels, corrupt Government officials who want, said aid worker, dead…..

Suspected Mission Outcome: No worries! Just another day in the office for the Sentinel Security guys.

I've been BLINDSIDED

As some of you know, I've recently finished writing the last book in my Operation series and have been a little sad about saying goodbye to the characters I've had with me for well over twelve years...but today I'm so happy to say I've been working on a brand new series and Blindsided is the very first to be released!

So who are these new guys?

Sentinel Securities is a private security company made up of five ex-SAS (Australian Special Forces) soldiers.

In the upcoming weeks I'll be posting some more info about these guys, where they live, what they do, the kind of assignments they take on...places they travel....I'm very excited about this series and cant wait to share more about the books with you! 

Sentinel Securities, have been hired to retrieve stolen information for a client, only to find themselves caught in the middle of a drug war.

When a violent biker gang capture Briella’s ex, her life and that of her daughter, are immediately placed in jeopardy. Oblivious to the fact she’s in possession of the stolen information, Briella’s world is about to get turned upside down and a chance encounter with Jason Nash will be the beginning of the end for life as she once knew it.

Here's the blurb:
His mission: infiltrate the woman in possession of the information—retrieve said information – don’t look back.

Her mission—survive the sudden invasion that is Jason Nash—remain in control of her senses and don’t fall in love with the bad boy!

Jason Nash had the life any testosterone fueled male would envy; a job he loved, freedom and the income to buy whatever new plaything took his interest. The last thing he needed was a woman who came with a ready-made family to mess up his plans.

Briella Matheson found out the hard way that bad boys were bad news. What she needed was someone reliable, safe and well…boring. Boring was good. Unfortunately, what she got was Jason Nash and he was anything, but boring…he was trouble!

Buy Blindsided here :D

Indie Authors Rock!

They sure do... they've rocked my world! 

I write under two names, romantic suspense titles under Karlene Blakemore-Mowle and rural fiction under Karly Lane. I've been fortunate to work in both Indie and traditional publishing and I have to say both have given me unique experiences.

My very first book ever published was with a small press publisher and I can recall at the time, certain people in my Romance writers group making their thoughts VERY clear that this wasn't REAL publishing. It was a cop out… I should be working hard to get noticed by REAL publishers…big publishers…and THEN I could say I was a real published author. This got me a tad defensive…why was my book any less of a real book than a traditionally big named published book? People were buying it… it was available in print... people were telling me they loved it, so why was my book considered to be less, than theirs?

I decided to ignore those negative kind of people and I went on to publish three more books with my overseas small press publisher and then low and behold one day I DID get published by a BIG NAME publisher.

 However, as amazing as that was, I continued to write under my other name writing my romantic suspense, because deep down that’s what I love to write. My only problem with this was I wasn't selling books… ok, so when I say wasn't selling…I was selling but maybe only 15 ebooks per quarter. I think the most I ever made was around the $103 mark and that was for four books totaled over three months. This was the highlight of my paid American published career, usually I was making between $11 and $30 per quarter…to say it was a little Underwhelming was an UNDERstatement! Then one day ….

 I discovered my phone had the ability to download apps (yes, I was dragged into the here- and-now!) I stumbled upon an Amazon app and shock! Horror! You can download books to read on your phone!!! OMG! So this was the beginning of the end for me... actually it was the beginning of something amazing…I was discovering books and authors I’d never heard of… books I couldn't buy in book shops… authors who I began chatting to on Facebook and some who have become lifelong friends…

Now, while this was all amazing and exciting for me as a reader…the me as an author was beginning to work out a few things…

Firstly, readers like me can get through a book in a day or less…my books through a publisher take around 12 MONTHS to be scheduled for release by a publisher big or small…this was rather annoying. I was waiting for months and months before my books were available to the public.

 Secondly, the small press publisher had my books priced way too high. No one was buying them because they were priced upwards of $6. Now I’m a reader too... I DON’T BUY BOOKS OVER $3.99…so how can I expect other readers to pay that much for a book?

Thirdly, Books placed on special were selling!

SO after numerous emails to my small-press publisher, and being told repeatedly they were not prepared to lower the prices of the books, I gave up. I’d had enough. It was a waste of my time and effort I put into promoting my books if I could only sell a handful each quarter.

That’s when I decided to take the scary plunge and self-publish my next books by myself…what did I have to lose? I couldn't do any WORSE than I already was, right? SO I did it… I put out my first book, Operation Swift Mercy, followed by Operation Date with Destiny and soon to be released Blindsided…IT WAS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE!

In less than 3 months I've sold 1311 copies of my two titles. Bit of a difference isn't it! And why? Well, mainly because of the pricing is what I can put it down to. I've always tried to promote all my books, and so I wasn't doing anything different there, but the books are now more in line with other book prices and so, are competing! It’s not rocket science! I am free to discount my books and run sale days, and this stuff sells books! It’s how you get your books noticed!

I am PROUD to be an Indie author. I’m PROUD to be an author—full stop! There is a big shift happening in publishing and Indies are leading the way into this brave new world—but it doesn't mean it’s a bad thing.

People still want books…authors still want to write...

Readers want choice and reasonably priced books— they've got it.

 Authors want to sell books—they can!

Print books are still available—that won’t change.

 However now maybe readers will have a say in what they want and no longer will their choices be limited to what publishers think should be out there. FREEDOM OF CHOICE, people...that’s what Indie means to me.

Keep CALM!!!!

WHY INDIES ROCK

Blog tour coming from 1^st November – 20^th December 2012. Keep an eye out for some great posts and giveaways!

Grab my hand- Indie Authors Against Bullying

Grab my hand- Indie Authors Against Bullying

Watch the YouTube video here that started this campaign by Indie Authors to stand up against bullying. 

This made me so sad. As a mother, the thought of my children going through hell day in and day out because of bullying makes me feel ill. Many victims feel alone. This makes me sad too. 
What can we do? It's been happening since the beginning of time right? Well right...but in my opinion, now days with technology expanding at the rate that it is, there's now an opportunity for Bully's to torment their prey 24/7. There's no escape and nowhere to hide from them, and not only can the bully's attack in person and online, but they can also take it to a global audience--imagine that? 

Grab my hand is a very timely and simple gesture.

Reach out and offer a hand to someone who might need it and anyone who's suffering in silence--reach out and grab that hand! There is help and there are people who care...REACH OUT. 


KIDS HELPLINE 

Lifeline Australia 13 11 14

Find a list of helplines here 

Beyond Blue

Reach Foundation 

The 4 step guide to a great weekend!

Are you in a reading slump? Do you have a hankering for a hot hero and a feisty heroine? Well follow these 4 simple steps and your boring weekend can instantly be elevated!!! (Click on the book titles.)
 
Step 1. Operation Summer Storm

 Tate Maddox is a wanted man, accused of a crime he didn't commit.

 Summer Sheldon holds the key to his freedom-for a price. Her demands are simple--rescue her journalist sister from a rebel hostage camp and she'll hand over the evidence to clear his name. There's just one small catch. He has to take her with him. From the depths of a Cambodian jungle to the tropical paradise of the Philippines, two unlikely allies are forced to learn how to coexist or lose everything each holds dear.

Together they must expose a truth that leaves them both vulnerable to the ruthless killer behind Tate's nightmare. Murder, blackmail, and injustice brought them together. Will Tate and Summer save Willow and restore Tate's reputation in time, or will they pay the ultimate price for honor?

 Step 2. Operation Willow Quest

Peter Delaware is a man on a mission. His job is to save Willow Sheldon's delectable, but antagonizing butt, before she gets herself killed. Unfortunately, she has no intention of making his job easy.

As a photojournalist, Willow Sheldon’s job has often taken her to some dangerous places, but when Peter 'Del' Delaware comes to her rescue, suddenly it's no longer the hostile environment that poses the greatest threat to her safety.

 On the trail of an elusive weapons dealer, Willow is determined to bring the man responsible for the nightmare of her past, to justice. If in doing so she also gets the scoop of the decade, then all the better.

From the tropics of the south pacific, to the jungles of South America, these two unlikely allies must learn to let down their defenses in order to make it out alive.  

Step 3. Operation Swift Mercy

She needed help…someone brave…someone tough…someone like a rough and ready Marine.

For Chase Maloney, everyone around him seemed to be moving on, while he was simply marking time.  When he decided to take a short break from groomsmen duties to go fishing, the last thing he expected to catch was a beautiful woman!

 It wasn't in his nature to turn his back on anyone in distress—especially not a woman… and especially not one who made him want to rethink his entire future.  But protecting Mercy would prove somewhat difficult when she fought him every step of the way to keep him from getting mixed up in her problems.

Can they outrun a vicious killer, and hand over the evidence to convict him, in time? Or will he find them first and inflict swift vengeance?  

   Step 4. Operation Date with Destiny

Johnny Tupperoni; US Marine and infamous ladies’ man has found himself naked and tied to a bed with no memory of how he got there! The one thing he does remember though is the sassy woman in the red satin dress with angel wings tattooed across her back.

Destiny is a desperate woman. Her younger brother’s been abducted and she knows exactly who has him. She’ll do anything to get him back—even kidnap the one man with the experience to pull off her dangerous plan. Why? Because next to her, no one wants to avenge Samuel Tre’ago against the crimes he’s committed more than, Johnny Tupperoni.

A common enemy will unite them…but will Destiny’s secret be the weapon that ultimately destroys them?               

Cover up!

 Covers, covers and more covers!

                                                                             

Prepare to be BLINDSIDED

I have my brand new cover for the upcoming Blindsided!

Just thought i'd give you a sneak peek!

I've been BLINDSIDED

What an amazing few months!! It's been 6 weeks since Operation Swift Mercy was released and I couldn't be happier with the way it's going.                          

In the next week or so, the fourth and final book of my Operation series, Operation Date with Destiny, will be released.

Now, I'm working on a brand new book. New characters, new stories and I can't wait to reveal the cover for BLINDSIDED.

Guest blog

Louise Wise’s books

I love romance but I also like it with a little something else be it sci-fi or comedy. I also demand realism. I like to keep it real, as they say. With my first novel I mixed science-fiction with romance, but because I don’t like hard-core sci-fi with strange, unpronounceable names and anything machinery (mention something metallic and shiny and my eyes glaze over) I thought I’d find readers for my sci-fi difficult to find. But I was wrong. Eden is selling extremely well, which, for an indie author is pretty good!

Here’s the blurb for Eden:

Imagine being stranded.
No way of getting home. 
No telephone, no computer, no shelter. 
No food. 
Now imagine the place you're stranded is another planet. 
Then you realise you're not alone after all...

Amazon.com:

Amazon.UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eden-ebook/dp/B0052DN2YG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346152022&sr=1-1

My true fluffy chick lit is A Proper Charlie. She’s annoying as hell, but you can’t help loving her. It was fun to write and I could let the comic in me out!

Here’s the blurb for A Proper Charlie:

She's losing her job.
She's losing her boyfriend.
She can only afford to eat spaghetti hoops on toast.
She's called Charlie... or Charlotte, or ginger, ginge, Duracell,
carrot. Yet with all these odds against her, she pushes forward to
take the lead story on her paper at London Core. 
Shame no one knows. Shame she's the office general assistant and not a real journalist.
Shame it's on missing prostitutes and Charlie thinks pretending to be a 'tart
with a heart' will get her that story. She doesn't just get a story. She becomes the starring role.

Amazon.UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Proper-Charlie-ebook/dp/B004NSV6NK/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346152022&sr=1-2

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/A-Proper-Charlie-ebook/dp/B004NSV6NK/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346152248&sr=1-3&keywords=louise+wise

My latest release is another chick lit with the big title The Fall of the Misanthrope: I bitch, therefore I am. With this I’ve mixed depression into the pot. Most of us have suffered with this illness one way or another, from mild baby-blues to full blown Fluoxetine depression. My main character, Valerie, thinks she’s a hard-as-nails business woman. She looks at everyone with contempt, and snarls instead of talks. She needs chick lit love, doesn’t she?

Here’s the blurb for The Fall of the Misanthrope: I bitch, therefore I am.

Valerie Anthrope lives alone and works alone. She is a bitch that no one wants to be around, and that suits her fine.

But busybody, Ellen, is watching her and wants to ‘mend’ Valerie. In fact, she makes it her mission. She thinks she’s a struggling broker for Sunny Oak Brokerage and coerces her rich nephew into buying insurance. But nephew Lex wants Valerie to become another notch on his bedpost.

While Valerie brings Lex down a peg or three, Lex teaches Valerie that life is for the living. Only neither Lex nor Ellen realise that Valerie is cursed, and the very reason that she is a bitch is that it keeps people from dying.

Welcome to the dark side of chick lit.

Amazon.UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Fall-Misanthrope-therefore-ebook/dp/B008ATGF4I/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346146781&sr=1-3

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/The-Fall-Misanthrope-therefore-ebook/dp/B008ATGF4I/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346146805&sr=1-4&keywords=louise+wise

Louise also blogs at: http://louisewise.com and she’s accepting guest posts and other indie books for her Book Junkies library. Follow her blog, fire her an email and she’ll gladly add your book to the many others.

Images of Los Cavernas

When I created Los Cavernas, in book one of Operation Summer Storm, it was only a figment of my imagination--a beautiful, remote tropical island somewhere deep in the South Pacific someplace. When I wrote it back into Operation Swift Mercy, we'd moved away from the caves, where Tate and the boys had lived and further around to the other side of the island.
 When I pictured this part of the island, childhood memories came back to me in the scene where Mercy discovers the rock pools at low tide. As a child I was always fascinated by rock pools and am now passing the wonder of these small magical worlds down to my own children. It makes me so happy to be able to share with them the same beach and rock pools I used to explore as a child and we are so fortunate to live where we do, with the spectacular beaches that we have on our doorstep.

 I thought I'd post a few of the gorgeous photos of where my inspiration for some of the beach and rock pool scenes came from...enjoy!
 P.S...I keep waiting for Chase and Mercy to show up in some of these!

Above is where I pictured Chase standing to fish
 from the rocks for their dinner. 

                                           One of Mercy's rock pools

 Maybe the opening to Los Cavernas? 

Meet my Marines

I'm so excited because as you may already know, I've been writing the Operation Series which actually didn't start out as a series! However after each story, these guys just kept lining up and demanding their own book! Pushy or what? 

Luckily for them I'm rather fond of all of them and it's no great hardship to get to know each of them a little better in their own books. 

The next book out will be Operation Swift Mercy which see's Chase Maloney meet his match with yet another of those sassy darn Aussie women!

So, stay tuned for the big announcement of the launch date but in the mean time, have you read the other titles yet? If not, now's the best time! Operation Summer Storm started it all and is available here  and Operation Willow Quest is on sale here for $3.99


Go here and discover the real life attributes that make up my Marines  here 

It's here!!!!!!!!!

I've been waiting for such a long time for this book to be released and finally, it's here! The Cottage by the lake is now available on Amazon and all good online stores.

This is my black sheep of the book family. I don't love it any less than my other book children--far from it, but it was such a strange story line for me, venturing into romantic fantasy. I've been a little unsure of how readers would embrace it...but embrace it they have! Thank goodness!!! Two days after release and I have two 5 star reviews already!

This is the story of Burk and Lucy. Don't let the cover put you off--hopefully it will intrigue you, but the story isn't quite as dark as the cover implies! I actually love the cover--if you look closely it has all kinds of hidden secrets that relate to the book.

In the background there's a castle...the lake house is also in the background and then the lake itself is in there as well. It also shows the tie between contemporary and fantasy with Lucy (not quite the Lucy I was picturing) in modern attire and Burk (holy hotness batman!) in armor....go on, take the plunge...have a read of The Cottage by the Lake and let me know what you think!

A guest blog with Rhonda Dennis

Rhonda Dennis

I haven't done a guest blog for a long time, but I found this lovely series and have since become good friends with the author, so I want to share her books with you. So if you haven't already read this series, here's a little bit of an insight into the books and the characters.

Welcome Rhonda! So what’s your background if any with the paramedic industry that’s so relevant throughout this series?

I spent several years working as a medic in rural South Louisiana. It was supposed to be a temporary thing until I got into nursing school, but I ended up staying longer than I intended. My partner and I hit it off so well, I married him!

Now there's a story right there!!! Were any or many of the strange calls your character, Emily, goes out on based on real life experiences?

I can say that the calls described in my books are mostly fiction. As I write, I might take little bits from actual calls and then I challenge myself to twist it up to make it more intense or even funny. I had some really strange calls during my time on the ambulance, but I’d feel funny writing about them. Good or bad, the actual events are someone else’s story, not mine.

Tell me about Alphonse- I adore this character- how did he come about? Was he based on a particular person you’ve known? Give us Alphonse’s happy ever after in a brief bio (if it isn’t going to be a spoiler for the rest of the series)

Alphonse is one of my favourite characters to write for! I think everyone knows their own personal “Alphonse”. His character is a conglomeration of several people I’ve run into or met over time. Alphonse’s happy ever after will come in Unforeseen: A Green Bayou Novel Book Four. If you’re an Alphonse fan, you’ll definitely want to read it! Alphonse plays a major role.

I am so reading book four the minute it comes out!

What kind of genre do you usually read for enjoyment?

I think it all depends on what kind of mood I’m in. I’m all over the place as far as genre is concerned. One of my favorite books is “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. If a story entertains me, I’ll read it.

What prompted you to say “this is it- I’m going to write a book!”

That’s a funny story. I was sitting around one afternoon and felt this overwhelming urge to write. I intended to type out a short story and move on, but the story kept flowing. A few days later, I realized I had a book. My aunt is an avid reader and one day I confided to her that I had written a manuscript. She asked if she could read it, and although I was leery, I handed it over. The next morning, she showed up at my office looking like a mad woman! Her eyes were bloodshot from reading all night and she kept telling me that I had to do something with it. I owe so much to her for encouraging me to pursue my passion.

What are you working on at the moment?

Book four of The Green Bayou Novels series, Unforeseen, is pretty much done. I’m about to start work on book five! I’m often asked how many books will be in the series, but I can’t honestly say. As long as Emily has a story to tell, I’m going to keep writing!

here's a link to book one

you can find Rhonda on face book and twitter too @GreenBayouBooks   



The Cottage by the Lake

Very pleased to announce that my romantic fantasy, The Cottage by the Lake will be published with Eternal Press! I don't have a date yet, but I'll be back to report once I get one!
I haven't written any Fantasy before so this was a bit unusual for me- but it was one of those weird dream type things I had that made me get up early and start writing it down before I forgot! And now it will be published! I have to say that's a really great feeling :) anyway, here's a look at the trailer I made for it- I love the music on this- it's the same music I wrote most of the book to!

Happy book launch Willow Quest

Well this is a nice post to kick off the new look Blog and web page for my romantic suspense page!

Today I had a book launch for Operation Willow Quest at my favourite coffee place with the gorgeous Castle girls hosting once again.






Thank you to all the lovely old and new friends who came along to help celebrate! It was a great afternoon.