New Book Release…an opportunity to become a part of it and save money

Well the long process of launching my new book will be over in just more eleven days.  This started a month before the book was actually completed but probably should have started earlier.

Before I get too far…if you want a free, pre-release ARC of the book the last week of the month please leave you email address in your comments.  Let me know if a PDF would work okay for you.  All I ask in exchange for a free book is you review on Amazon on or after July 31st of my latest book.

The Book is BION, for believe it or not, and is book #3 in the CUL8R [See you later] Time Travel Mystery Series.  BION will be released on July 31, 2013.

The series was developed to change the young adult – new adult market book, film and TV markets away from books being zombie, magician, comic book and super-hero driven.  Instead everyday men/boys and women/girls, ages 15 to 19, who can through their own energy and talent, outwit, out work and outlast the forces of evil to solve the problems of their time and age.  The heroes of the stories are so everyday teens they could be the readers and vice-versa. The placement of the problem to be solved in another time in the past adds to the risk, humor and learning that had to take place.

The first book, OMG, was released in late 2012, and was named The Best Indie Book of 2013 for Young Adult Fiction and was a Finalist in the Beverly Hills Book Awards.  The initial time travel tip was back to 1966 to investigate and right the wrongs of adult who was involved in the reported suicide of the high school student Wendy. The Amazon link is http://www.amazon.com/CUL8R-Time-Travel-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00AF2Q30E/ The current ranking for 27 reviews is a 4.9 out of 5 stars!

BLURB-

WINNER OF BEST INDIE BOOK OF 2013! Finalist in the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards! This is book #1 of the series. Book #2, BRB published in April, 2013.

Kelly, a teenager from Texas has recently been orphaned and sent to live in Florida with her aunt Jane, a busy lawyer. Right away Kelly meets her tall, nerdy neighbor Scott, and they bond over a shared love of a video games and a mysterious gadget they find in Aunt Jane’s garage.

The gadget turns out to be a lost invention of Thomas Edison’s called the “Telephone to the Dead”.  The mystery begins when Scott gets the Spirit Radio to work and a girl named Wendy comes through, pleading for help . . . from beyond the grave. Is Wendy a ghost? And if she didn’t kill herself, who did? Kelly, Scott and his best friend Austin must find a way to go back to 1966 to help her . . . without getting killed.

The second book, BRB [Be Right Back], was released in April, 2013 and is one of three finalists in the Reader’s Choice Awards for 2013.  The awards will be given out on 9/1/13.  Their second trip to the past was to 1980 and they get caught up in the Cuban refugee and South Florida drug wars as they attempt to help out a young girl and her family. The Amazon link is http://www.amazon.com/CUL8R-Time-Travel-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00C8SK9JO/ The current ranking for 14 reviews is a 5.0 out of 5 stars!

BLURB-

Book #2 in the award winning CUL8R series! Book #1 OMG was named the Best Indie Book of 2013.

“It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.”

Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey have just returned from changing a girl’s life in 1966 and are a little battered and bruised from their adventure. But when a small voice pleads for their help to save her family from a murderer, they know they must respond.

They research the story, but there is very little information to be found. All they know is that it takes place on Crystal Key, a small private island off the Florida Keys. Since it appears to be deserted, they decide to pop in, gather clues, then pop back. It was a good excuse to spend a lazy day on a beautiful beach.
But from the first step, their journey back to 1980 goes horribly wrong. The area is crawling with drug traffickers and tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Cuba. They meet the young girl and her family, but their intervention puts them in the direct path of the killer.

Can they find out who he is in time to save the girl, her family . . . and themselves? Or are they destined to be a madman’s latest victims?

If you buy the book please leave a review.  Nothing helps promote a new book on line more than good honest reviews.

The book is titled BION [Believe It Or Not] and is book #3 in the Time Travel Mystery Series CUL8R {See you later].  It is tagged as young adult fiction but the vast majority of reviews are adults, age 20 to 60.  The log line of this book is the last line of the blurb. Can she give up everything she has in the present for true love in the past?

BLURB-

Believe it or Not . . . “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls …welcome to the best entertainment money can buy, the Maxwell Brothers Circus!”

Four high school friends are able to do two things no one else on the planet can do . . . talk with dead people and time travel to that past. 

As they slowly turn the dial of their Sprit Radio Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help.

A young woman asks them to find her twin brother Jesse who had run away to the circus in 1927, then disappeared and was never heard from again.  Going back and living with a circus sounds like fun.  Plus an old book provides a glimpse into the past . . . as well as a photo of Jesse.

They discover that circus life is not all glamour and fun; it’s a lot of hard work.  As usual, they jump in and quickly find jobs, places to sleep and new friends.  But most importantly, they find Jesse.  Now all they have to do is keep him alive.

For Zoey, it’s love at first sight.  If they are successful and save his life, will she be able to let him go?  Can she give up everything she has in the present for true love in the past?

And before I tell you about me here is the dedication to BION that would not have happened had it not been for Jackie…

Each book in the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery Series challenges our main characters in different ways and to solve different types of problems.  Some teenagers find themselves as a threat to another person and depending on the situation; could be at risk.  With nothing familiar around them but their friends, their challenge is to take control in order to handle the problem.

 

We set this story in the roaring twenties in the middle of Texas and on the road with the circus playing two shows a day and traveling in luxury by train in converted hospital cars, to the next town.  It is the author’s job to bring the plight of teenage troubles into the light and create a positive role for doing the right thing in their life and for themselves and those around them.

 

This book is dedicated to Showfolks everywhere, especially The Showfolks of Sarasota, an International Alliance of Circus Artists and Executives.  Their generosity and friendliness made us feel like family.   Showfolks are amazing, interesting and talented people and the statement on their website sums it up.  “From performing artists, to office staff, from concessionaires and riggers, to promoters, from circus fans, to local friends, Showfolks members can honestly be proud when they exclaim “This Is What We Accomplished Together.”

 A special thanks to the world’s greatest clown and an adorable gentleman, Jackie LeClaire.  Without his wonderful stories and extreme kindness, this book wouldn’t have the authenticity that we wanted.  It would have been easy to just go on line and research the circus in 1927, but without Jackie, it wouldn’t have had a soul or a heart.  Much love and thanks to you, Jackie.

 

Here’s a little about me.  I am Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat has written romance, young adult, romantic suspense and new adult romance for 25 years.  She’s had 23 books traditionally published through Harlequin and others with sales over 3.25 million in total and has indie published her most recent 4 books.  She will release 3 more books in 2013, book #2 in the Romantic Suspense series Denver After Dark, book #3 in the Young Adult Time Travel Mystery Series and book #1 in the New Adult romantic suspense series.  She has been a NY Times Best Selling author, a USA Today recommended author, an RWA RITA award winner and her indie books have won two Best Indie Book of 2013 Awards, a finalist in that competition, a finalist in the Beverly Hills Book Awards and two books are in the finals of the Reader’s Choice 2013 book awards being issued on 9/1/13.

Her website is at http://www.nightwriter93.com

The time travel mystery series website is http://www.cul8rseries.com

Her blog site is at https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

All of Kathy’s books on Amazon including the Romance Collections is at http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20

TWITTER: @93nightwriter

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

An excerpt from COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Hello…I’m Kathy Clark, author.  Welcome back to my blog site.

Some of you may remember me from long ago…like last century…when traditional publishers such Harlequin published my romance novels and printed them on paper and sold them through bookstores! No?  Maybe you have purchased one of my more recent novels that were released in 2012 and 2013.  No doubt my over 3 million in sales worldwide in paperback were one measure and one cause of the popularity of my new books.  And yes, they’re digital and trade paperback.

Today, I write my Romantic Suspense series, Denver After Dark under my name Kathy Clark and the young adult mystery series, CUL8R^TM [See you later] under the pseudonym of Bob Kat.  CUL8R^TM is co-written with my husband Bob Wernly.  Starting this fall, the New Adult Romantic Suspense series, Scandals, will be under Kathy Clark.

I am going to take space in this blog to publish excerpts from my romance novel back list to provide as they say, a deeper cut, into the stories beyond the samples provided by Amazon.  I did this last weekend at the virtual eBook Fair and I got great feedback to do more of this. So I will.  Readers rule!

Thank you for stopping…each blog post will have-

• The summary of the featured book
• The excerpt from that book
• A summary of my recent books
• All the links needed  to find additional information including how to order any of the books

Best wishes,

Kathy Clark

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS BLURB

Luke Calloway is a turkey farmer in the heartland of Iowa. He has survived the loss of his wife, and is learning to cope with a drastic change of career (from big city dentist to the owner of Wishbone Acres in the small town of Greenhaven) while raising three rambunctious sons. He’s doing an admirable job and isn’t looking for love. But that’s exactly what he finds when Darcy Carson returns to town.Darcy Carson, a successful Los Angeles television reporter, had fled from Iowa as soon as she was able. Small towns held no appeal for her, but the glamour and excitement of Southern California certainly did. Following a suspension by the station where she’s employed, she returns home, telling herself that she’ll only stay until she wins her court case and can return to work.

But Darcy hasn’t planned on meeting Luke. She fights her attraction to him, telling herself he represents everything she ran away from. Luke, too, fights his growing love for Darcy. He knows he’s only a temporary stopover in her life, that soon she’ll return to California, breaking his heart, and those of his sons.

Neither Luke nor Darcy are prepared for the way love sweeps into their lives, changing everything.

REVIEWS:

“ROMANTIC TIMES” – (4) – “Watch as Kathy Clark creates two endearing characters who know they’re being manipulated, but are helpless to stop it.”

“HEART TO HEART” – Selected to be a Highlight of the Month – “COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS is great fun.”

“COLORADO ROMANCE WRITERS PAL” – “COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS is a perfect story to enjoy during the holidays since it will fill your heart with the wonder and joys of learning that love truly conquers all.”

THE EXCERPT

Darcy and Luke stood a step apart, putting a cushion of neutrality between them. But as they turned and began to walk wordlessly toward the truck, their fingers brushed together and somehow became entwined. Separate, they would have been jostled apart, but united, they had no difficulty maneuvering through the crowded walkways to the parking lot.

Luke glanced at Darcy as the truck’s engine sputtered to life and backfired a couple times, drawing a dozen sympathetic stares.

“I’m sorry about this truck,” he began.

Darcy settled the goldfish bowl on her lap and smiled at Luke. “No one could accuse you of trying to impress me.”

With an unnecessary degree of concentration, he studied the narrow space that was illuminated in front of the truck by its headlights. His tone was casual as he asked, “So what would it take to impress you?”

Darcy sensed her answer might be very important to any future relationship, however temporary, that might exist between them. “Actually, I don’t impress easily,” she admitted.

“I guess you wouldn’t. Living in L.A., you’re surrounded by Mercedes and movie stars.”

She glanced at him sharply. “That’s not what I meant. Cars and actors don’t impress me.”

“Yeah?” he questioned skeptically. “What sort of car do you own?”

“Uh…,” she hedged. “Well, that’s not important…”

He challenged her with a steady look.

“Okay, so I drive a Corvette…”

“Red, I’ll bet.” He turned his attention back to the road.

“Okay, it’s red,” she conceded defensively. “So what? The station gave it to me. I wouldn’t care if it was a Toyota.”

Again, he pierced her with an unconvinced glance.

“All right, I’ll admit it.” She threw up her hands in defeat. The motion upset the brandy snifter, and she had to grab it to keep the fish from pouring onto the floor. “Yes, I enjoy driving that car. It’s a great car. But I’m not so shallow that I care what sort of car someone else drives.”

“So you don’t mind riding in this truck?”

She peered at the thick layer of dust on the dashboard and the worn blanket covering the seat. There were turkey feathers on the floorboard and a scattering of corn kernels as if a bag of feed had broken sometime in the ancient vehicle’s questionable past. Then she looked over the fluffy barrier of stuffed animals to the man behind the steering wheel. Only hours ago, she had never seen that face. And now she knew she’d never forget it. It was the man, not the truck she found disturbing.

“No,” she answered honestly. “I’ve ridden in worse. In fact, I learned to drive in a truck that belonged to my grandfather. But I will say that Gramps did wash his truck on occasion.”

They turned into her parents’ driveway and Darcy had to hold the brandy snifter up so the water didn’t bounce out when they crossed the cattle guard.

“And you could use a new set of springs,” she added.

A low, appreciative chuckle vibrated across the darkness. “Springs? This old pile of bolts wouldn’t know how to drive if it had springs. Why, there probably isn’t even anything left to attach them to.”

He stopped the truck in front of her door, but didn’t turn off the engine. When he began unloading the stuffed animals, Darcy reached out and pushed aside one of the panda bear’s ears so she could see Luke.

“I don’t need any more stuffed animals in my room. My mother seems to think everything should be left exactly as I had it.” Darcy shook her head. She had long ago given up trying to convince her mother she wouldn’t be moving back home. “Why don’t you give them to your boys? Greg may be a little too old, but Scott and maybe Adam would give these guys a good home.”

She nestled the brandy snifter in between a big bear and a fluffy dog.

“And the fish?” Luke asked.

“And the fish,” Darcy confirmed, laughing at his unenthusiastic expression.

“Great. Thanks,” he stated with good-humored sarcasm.

“Goldfish are terrific pets. They don’t make any noise, and they never make a mess on the carpet.”

“Or we can feed him to the turkeys.”

“Luke!”

He held up his hands to calm her. “It’s a joke. Besides, turkeys don’t eat meat.”

“I’ll bet they wish more people felt that way.”

“You’re not one of those animal rights’ activists, are you?”

This time Darcy’s chuckle was wry. “Funny you should mention that…animal rights is exactly why I’m on suspension, remember? But I was just reporting it, not participating. Actually, I can see both sides of the issue. I don’t like to see animals tortured for unnecessary experiments, but I don’t have a problem eating chicken … or turkey.”

“So how long do you think it’ll take to clear up your case?”

Darcy led the way up the porch steps and Luke followed. “My attorney thinks it’ll go to court after Thanksgiving.” She glanced back at the noisy truck. If he hadn’t left it running, she would have invited him to sit for a while on the porch swing.

“That’s a month away,” Luke commented nonchalantly as he stopped with one booted foot on the top step.

Darcy turned to face him, and, because of her higher position found that they were eye to eye. “More or less,” she replied. “But I don’t know how long I’ll be here. I have to fly back Monday or Tuesday for some depositions and the grand jury hearing, which means I’ll be gone most of the week.”

He thrust his hands deep into his pockets. “Then maybe I’ll see you around.”

“It’s a small town.” She responded with equal casualness, but inside she cried out, But I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you while I’m here.

“Well … I guess I’d better be going,” he said and backed down a step.

“I had a nice time this evening.” Don’t leave. I want you to kiss me again.

His eyes burned into hers, as if searching for an answer to an unspoken question. His gaze was so perceptive, Darcy began wondering if he might have heard her silent request. When he gave her one last little smile, then turned to leave, she felt her spirits droop with disappointment. On the dance floor, there had been a flash of magic. Had it been a fluke? A reaction to the circumstances around them? A moment of madness?

All she knew was that she wanted to feel his lips on hers one more time and to have him hold her tight in his arms. “Luke…” She moved toward him just as he wheeled around and bounded up the steps two at a time.

“Darcy…” he breathed as he cradled her face in his hands and covered her mouth with his. “I must be crazy,” he muttered against her lips an instant before they crushed against hers.

Darcy’s arms wound around his neck, her fingers feathering into the soft, dark hair at his nape. The banked fires that had built and died back…but never out…roared to life again. It had been a long time since a man’s kiss had affected her so much. Her body molded to his, automatically seeking the boldness of his response.

If she hadn’t been standing on her parents’ porch . . . if he hadn’t been a widower with three kids . . . if she hadn’t been so anxious to get on with her life in California . . . if he hadn’t been a livestock farmer . . . she would have asked him to turn off his truck’s engine, rev up his own engine and stay for the night.

Then, as abruptly as he had approached her, he let her go. After one last, lingering look that took away what little strength she had left in her knees, he pivoted on his heel and vaulted down the steps.

Darcy leaned against the heavy support post at the top of the steps and watched him leap into his truck, grind the gears into reverse, then head toward the road. She realized her hand was clenched against her chest as if she was trying to steady her rampaging heart. Somehow she knew that kiss would come back to haunt her during the long, lonely nights in her bed in L.A.

I hope you enjoyed this sample from my book.  All of my romance novels are available individually as eBooks on amazon and they have also been republished as Romance Collections with similar books in their original full length and unabridged.  The Romance Collections are at a reduced price and available by going to http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20 . 

Here are a few important links for your use.  Have a great rest of your day.  Again…thanks for stopping.

My author’s website is at http://www.nightwriter93.com

To order any book on Amazon go to http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20

To contact me my email address is info@nightwriter93.com

Recent books:

Romantic Suspense series:           After Midnight, a Denver After Dark Suspense      Book #1

What started as a routine contact stop turned into a brutal double homicide.  Hooker to lover or low-life to no-life. It’s all in his hands.

Young Adult Mystery series:          OMG, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery      Book #1

Albert Einstein said about time travel “People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

Young Adult Mystery series:         BRB, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery     Book #2

It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

 

Life’s What Happens is a New Adult Romance for ages 18 to 25 and beyond.

New Adult Romance:                   LIFE’S WHAT HAPPENS

How did one night change over a million lives of new adults forever?

TUTORIAL: OMG = Oh My God, BRB = BE Right Back

All four books are available on Amazon at http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20

Additional details on the CUL8R^TM time travel series is at http://www.cul8rseries.com

 

2013 Awards

After Midnight, a Denver After Dark Suspense

First place in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for suspense

Finalist in the Reader’s Choice 2013 Award  for young adult [9/1 final decision]

OMG, A C CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery

First place in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for young adult

Finalist in the Beverly Hills Book 2013 Awards for young adult

BRB, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery

Named finalist in the Reader’s Choice 2013 Award  [9/1 final decision]

Life’s What Happens

Finalist in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for literature

TUTORIAL: BION =Believe It Or Not

CURRENT PROJECTS

BION, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery [Bob Kat]

Estimate a July 28, 2013 release

Cries In The Night, a Denver After Dark Suspense [Kathy Clark]

Estimate a October 1, 2013 release

Scandals, a New Adult Romantic Suspense [Kathy Clark]

Set in Austin, Texas

Estimate a December 1, 2013 release

Check the progress on this blog or Kathy’s website at http://www.nightwriter93.com

Its’ Time To Add another Excerpt to my Romance Back List…CODY’S LAST STAND

Hello…I’m Kathy Clark, author.  Welcome back to my blog site.

Some of you may remember me from long ago…like last century…when traditional publishers such Harlequin published my romance novels and printed them on paper and sold them through bookstores! No?  Maybe you have purchased one of my more recent novels that were released in 2012 and 2013.  No doubt my over 3 million in sales worldwide in paperback were one measure and one cause of the popularity of my new books.  And yes, they’re digital and trade paperback.

Today, I write my Romantic Suspense series, Denver After Dark under my name Kathy Clark and the young adult mystery series, CUL8R^TM [See you later] under the pseudonym of Bob Kat.  CUL8R^TM is co-written with my husband Bob Wernly.  Starting this fall, the New Adult Romantic Suspense series, Scandals, will be under Kathy Clark.

I am going to take space in this blog to publish excerpts from my romance novel back list to provide as they say, a deeper cut, into the stories beyond the samples provided by Amazon.  I did this last weekend at the virtual eBook Fair and I got great feedback to do more of this. So I will.  Readers rule!

Thank you for stopping…each blog post will have-

• The summary of the featured book
• The excerpt from that book
• A summary of my recent books
• All the links needed  to find additional information including how to order any of the books

Best wishes,

Kathy Clark

                                              

HERE’S THE SUMMARY OF CODY…

e had the wildness of the prairie in his eyes…the gentleness of a lover in his lips. And on that fateful day at Little Big Horn, Cody took Elizabeth Lawrence captive without firing a shot.

Elizabeth searched high and low for the raven-haired stranger after their timeless encounter. When she met him by chance, she almost wished he was the ghost she’d believed him to be.

Descended from the great chief Sitting Bull, John Cody was as ferociously proud of his Indian heritage as Elizabeth was of her ancestor, George Custer.

A hundred years after the most famous battle of the West, was there any hope that the descendants of two bitter enemies could at last make peace?

In this modern-day Romeo & Juliet tale, Cody and Elizabeth must defy generations of bad blood and families who cannot accept the possibility of their romance. Can the star-crossed lovers survive a war that still rages?

EXCERPT Of CODY…ENJOY!

The friction that had been building during their conversation immediately dispersed, neutralized by her unexpected capitulation and the concentrated power of her smile. Cody rolled onto his side. With his elbow planted on the rock, he propped his head up on his hand. His move had closed the distance between them until he was near enough to see the black spikes radiating from the pupils of her eyes, piercing through the cornflower-blue irises. They were the eyes of a seductress, yet he could see a vulnerability in their depths.

She had removed her hat and left it on the ground next to the rock. A gentle breeze whispered through the pine needles and sent the large, floppy leaves of the cottonwoods into motion. It also feathered through her hair, lifting the strands that had strayed from her ponytail and depositing them across her cheek.

Automatically his free hand moved to brush them away. But as soon as his fingers touched her skin, his control wavered. She was too close and he wanted to taste her lips, lips he knew would be as sweet as honey. Suddenly the differences between Elizabeth’s life and his didn’t seem so important. The fact that she was white and he was Native American was irrelevant when weighed against the overwhelming desire he had to kiss her.

If she had made even the slightest protest, if she had made any move to turn away, he could have stopped. But encouraged by the expectant look in her eyes, he leaned closer. His attention was drawn to the pink tip of her tongue as it raced around her slightly parted lips, leaving behind a moist, shiny trail he could no longer resist.

His fingers tunneled into the hair at her temple, sweeping it off her face and out of his way as his lips touched hers. He meant the contact to be brief. All he wanted was to satisfy his curiosity whether or not anyone or anything could taste as good as she looked.

But once he felt her full mouth beneath his, he knew one kiss would never be enough. His mouth moved over hers, memorizing the shape, savoring the texture and never wanting to leave. How many kisses would it take to satisfy him? Ten? Twenty? Fifty million?

Elizabeth was not remaining passive beneath his caress. There was a passion that rivaled his in the way she returned his kiss. Her hands had found their way to his body, her fingers stroking the tensed muscles of his back. He inched over until his body partially covered hers.

If he thought that would make him more comfortable, he was wrong. The sensation of her firm breasts pressing against his chest made the pressure in his groin almost unbearable. He could not keep from pushing against her, feeling his hardness nuzzle into her softness, even if there were several layers of clothing in between.

Cody didn’t know how much more of this torture he could take. There was a limit to a man’s ability to resist temptation, even a man who prided himself on self-control.

It was time he faced the truth. Cody wanted more than to sample Elizabeth’s lips. Whether it was wrong or right…whether it was temporary or permanent…he had to make love to this most desirable, most inappropriate woman.

The rock was hot and hard beneath her back. The man lying partially on top of her was almost as hot and hard. The excitement of the latter made her forget the discomfort of the former.

His kisses were as wild and passionate as she’d imagined. They were awakening in her sensations that she hadn’t known existed. She’d thought all those stories of being swept away, beyond all control were pure fiction. Until this moment…with this man.

His tongue teased the tender skin of her lips, slipping deeper until it met and mated with her own tongue in seductive strokes. His breath swirled into her open mouth as he refused to break the contact even for the necessary act of breathing.

Elizabeth’s own breaths were coming in shallow gasps. She could have blamed the pressure of his chest on hers, but she knew it was more than that. This was what she had been waiting for from the first time she had seen him, standing before her.

When it came to pure sexuality, her attraction to him was as primitive and unrestrained as the savage she had originally thought him to be. Now that she knew better, she knew how wrong the “savage” moniker was. The man was more intelligent and better educated than most of her very civilized friends.

The memory of his near-naked body glistening in the sunlight heated her from the inside out. Anxious to feel that flesh beneath her fingers, her hands tugged at his shirt until she freed it from his pants. The snaps popped open, leaving his broad chest accessible to her exploratory touch.

As her fingers splayed over the muscled ridges of his rib cage, she could feel the immediacy of his reaction. Lifting his head, he peered down at her, searching her eyes for the depth of her feelings.

“Lady, do you know what you’re doing to me?” he moaned.

Instead of directly answering his question, she demanded in a fervent whisper, “Kiss me….”

I hope you enjoyed this sample from my book.  All of my romance novels are available individually as eBooks on amazon and they have also been republished as Romance Collections with similar books in their original full length and unabridged.  The Romance Collections are at a reduced price and available by going to http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20 .

Here are a few important links for your use.  Have a great rest of your day.  Again…thanks for stopping.

My author’s website is at http://www.nightwriter93.com

To order any book on Amazon go to http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20

To contact me my email address is info@nightwriter93.com

Recent books:

Romantic Suspense series:           After Midnight, a Denver After Dark Suspense      Book #1

What started as a routine contact stop turned into a brutal double homicide.  Hooker to lover or low-life to no-life. It’s all in his hands.

Young Adult Mystery series:          OMG, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery      Book #1

Albert Einstein said about time travel “People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

Young Adult Mystery series:         BRB, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery     Book #2

It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

 

Life’s What Happens is a New Adult Romance for ages 18 to 25 and beyond.

New Adult Romance:                   LIFE’S WHAT HAPPENS

How did one night change over a million lives of new adults forever?

TUTORIAL: OMG = Oh My God, BRB = BE Right Back

All four books are available on Amazon at http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20

Additional details on the CUL8R^TM time travel series is at http://www.cul8rseries.com

 

2013 Awards

After Midnight, a Denver After Dark Suspense

First place in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for suspense

Finalist in the Reader’s Choice 2013 Award  for young adult [9/1 final decision]

OMG, A C CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery

First place in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for young adult

Finalist in the Beverly Hills Book 2013 Awards for young adult

BRB, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery

Named finalist in the Reader’s Choice 2013 Award  [9/1 final decision]

Life’s What Happens

Finalist in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for literature

TUTORIAL: BION =Believe It Or Not

CURRENT PROJECTS

BION, A CUL8R^TM Time Travel Mystery [Bob Kat]

Estimate a July 28, 2013 release

Cries In The Night, a Denver After Dark Suspense [Kathy Clark]

Estimate a October 1, 2013 release

Scandals, a New Adult Romantic Suspense [Kathy Clark]

Set in Austin, Texas

Estimate a December 1, 2013 release

Check the progress on this blog or Kathy’s website at http://www.nightwriter93.com

Wowee! We’re Finalists In Two Categories of the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards for 2013!

TAKEN FROM THE PR WEB PRESS RELEASE OF JULY 1, 2013

Life on Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado where the story begins.

Time Travel can be murder.

2013 Reader’s Choice Award Finalists announced for Kathy Clark’s After Midnight, a romantic suspense novel and is book #1 in her Denver After Dark series. Kathy co-writes with her husband under the pen name Bob Kat and their second book in their CUL8R [See you later] teen time travel mystery BRB [Be Right Back] was also named a finalist in the Young Adult Mystery category.

“Awards from a professional competition are a great way to help establish credibility
with potential readers,” Kathy said when contacted. “We have been so fortunate to have won or placed as a finalist in all of the contests we have entered this year.”

“We are thrilled to announce two of our books are finalists in the Reader’s Choice Awards for 2013,” Bob added. “These awards give readers an independent recommendation that the books contain a good story, well-told, compared to the other books in the genre. I, too, am very grateful as it validates our work…our creativity.”

BRB [Be Right Back] has been named a finalist in the Young Adult Mystery category and After Midnight in the fiction Adult Suspense in the Readers’ Choice Awards for 2013. The final awards will be announced September 1st.

BRB is the second book in the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery series and joins OMG, book #1, which was a first place winner in The Best Indie Book of 2013 in the Young Adult mystery category. OMG was also a finalist in the Beverly Hills Books Awards in 2013. Book #3, BION [Believe It Or Not] will be released in July, 2013. “This series has been awesome to write and we have several new books plotted and researched,” Kathy noted.
After Midnight had won first place in The Best Indie Book of 2013 earlier in the year. The second book in the Denver After Dark series, Cries In The Night, will be released in late 2013.

All these books can be seen on the author’s website at http://www.nightwriter93.com/ .

The CUL8R Teen Mystery series has its own website at http://www.cul8rseries.com.

All books can be acquired through Amazon at http://astore.amazon.com/nightwriter93-20

Kathy Clark’s first 23 romance / women’s fiction novels were published by several publishers, including Harlequin and Dell and sold more than 3.2 million copies globally in at least 11 different languages. Her books have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Recommended lists and have received numerous industry awards including Romantic Times Readers’ Choice Awards and numerous regional and state awards.

After several years of writing screenplays she came back to the novel-author role with new skills, insight and storytelling capacity. Kathy Clark still writes adult books but now they are focused on romantic suspense. Book #1 in the Denver After Dark suspense series, After Midnight is about one of three brothers, a cop, and takes place in Denver. The next two books will be about the fireman and the paramedic, all public servants in Denver and will be released during 2013 and early 2014. After Midnight won The Best Indie Book of 2013 award and is a finalist in the Reader’s Choice awards in 2013.

Under the name of Bob Kat, Kathy now writes with husband, Bob Wernly. OMG was first in their new young adult-centered CUL8R Time Travel Mystery series and was recognized as The Best Indie Book.

Book #1 in the CUL8R Teen Time Travel Mystery series, voted best Indie Book in 2013 for young adult / teens

Also in late 2012, Bob Kat published a New Adult Romance that takes place in 1969 – 70.  Every New Adult Romance criteria is fully met and Life’s What Happens is unique in that it is one of the few to not be set in today but is contemporary is very respect.  The story centers on the tumultuous times of 1969 and 1970 at Kent State University and how the New Adults then dealt with the issues and changes of the times.

Life’s What Happens is a New Adult Romance for ages 18 to 25 and beyond.

2013 is a busy year with third CUL8R young adult mystery time travel series being released in April and book #2 in the Denver After Dark series, Cries In The Night   being worked on daily for an end of year release.  A prolific writer, Kathy, with Bob in a research role, will be releasing a New Adult age novel in a new series SCANDALS  in the fall.

Another Excerpt For the eBook Virtual Book Fair, A New Adult Romance

Before the fair closes up today we wanted to make everyone aware of our first New Adult Romance…and here’s an excerpt from the book..It is available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/LIFES-WHAT-HAPPENS-ebook/dp/B00A14STPS/

And to taste the times here’s the trailer…We also wanted to introduce readers to a New Adult Romance, Life’s What Happens. The excerpt is on our blog at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTibRqRL4o

 

FROM LIFE’S WHAT HAPPENS by Bob Kat

From the outside, the coach house appeared to have undergone more renovations than the exterior of the fraternity house itself.  Don pulled open the door and allowed Jennifer to enter the building and climb the single set of narrow wooden stairs.  A wave of aroma from years of beer-soaked boards flowed down the stairs and hit them as they entered the building.  As Don walked up the fifteen steps, he automatically counted them.   The exact number had been a pledge test on oddities and trivia about the fraternity property.  He also recalled the number of windows in the house, the steps leading to the front porch and how many trees were in the backyard.  All critical knowledge needed to be recalled at times of duress like hell week and was, even after all this time, still stuck in his memory.

The stairs entered the second level through the center of the floor.  The old basketball half court remained on the left side and the right side had been carpeted since he had been here forty years earlier.  There were folding tables arranged in a giant rectangle shape for meetings.  The far wall was covered floor to ceiling with the signatures of all the seniors who had ever graduated Kent State as a Phi Psi brother.  Jennifer and Don gravitated toward it, drawn by all the voices from the past.

Together, they stared at the signatures written with scores of ball point pens, felt tip markers, colored pencil and even quill pens that had been the weapon of choice by those who had graduated from the very demanding architecture school.

“What’s this all about?” she asked as she walked along the wall.

“It was a tradition that all seniors had to come up here on graduation day and sign the wall.  As you could guess, there are hundreds more now than when I left.”

Don slowly shuffled his way along the wall, carefully touching the inked signatures with his fingertips.

“You’re looking at those names like you’re at the Vietnam memorial in DC.”

Don turned to Jennifer and blinked against the tears that welled up in his eyes. “You really get to know someone when you go through college, growing up with them.  Being with them as they met and lost girlfriends, pass and fail classes and especially the hell we all went through our senior year.  They were always there for me.  But we’ve lost touch.”

“Did Mr. Harrigan sign it?” she asked.

“Sure.  He’s way over to the left and toward the top,” Don said as he pointed her in that direction.  “He was in one of the first classes to live in this house.  I guess he bought it after he graduated and got rich.”

“Whose is this?”  Jennifer pointed to a mostly illegible autograph that included a rough drawing of the iconic Playboy bunny logo.  “What’s with the rabbit?”

“That was Cliff Baker.  His nickname was Hef.”

“Ahh, I see.  After Hugh Hefner, right?”

“Yeah.  Cliff used to be a photographer.”

One perfectly waxed eyebrow arched with the unasked question that would naturally follow such a confession.

“They were art shots,” he defended his brother without apology.  “Remember, it was the Sixties.  It was all about freedom and beauty and love.”

“Where’s yours?”

Don pointed to a spot about five feet off the floor and left of the window overlooking the parking lot.  “Right there.”

“The one with the little rocket?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”  He smiled at the memory that invoked.  He hadn’t thought about that in years.

“You’re living in Texas now, aren’t you?”

“Yes, for the last few years.  My wife grew up in Austin.  She had to stay behind with our daughter who’s expecting our first grandchild any minute.”

“That must be nice.”  Jennifer glanced at her watch, clearly moving her focus back to the meeting.  “Do you know who is planning on making it?”

Don shook his head and shrugged.  “I have no idea.  I never even heard who was invited.”

Jennifer walked over to the meeting tables, and laid her briefcase on one of them.  “I didn’t send you the list?  My assistant must have forgotten to put that into your package,” she told him as she shuffled through her briefcase.

“I guess we’ll both know soon enough,” Don commented.

“I left my phone in the car.  I’m going to run down and call the office and make sure the food I arranged for is on the way,” she told him.  “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Don turned back to the wall.  He moved slowly, looking for familiar names and stopping to touch the inked signatures with his fingertips.  With each one he recognized, he’d stop, smile and sometimes nod as he recalled his experiences with every brother whose name he found.

Larry Reed with a small baseball drawn over his name.  Stanley Freeman.  Jeff Tallmadge accented by the faces of comedy and tragedy.  Frank Pucci.  Ted McCoy.  Barry Smith next to a drawing of two sticks that no one but the class of 1970 would understand.  Ira Schwartz.  Rick Rogers.  Alfonso Garcia and a paw print of a monkey with the name Carlos, inked above it.  Someone, probably Jeff, must have added the tiny paw print after Alfonso signed because Alfonso and the monkey’s hatred for each other had been legendary.  There was Kevin Nash and Mike Anderson with an airplane drawn near his name.

Those guys had been his best friends, and yet he hadn’t heard from any of them for years, not since the day they closed the campus.  He was overcome with all the memories that flooded back.  It was as fresh as if it was . . .

Suddenly he heard the sound of a basketball bouncing, then something hit him in the back of his knees so hard his legs almost buckled.

“Hey,” Don yelled as he whirled around to see who else was there.  “Watch what you’re doing.”  He hadn’t heard anyone come up the stairs.

From the dimly lit basketball court about fifty feet away he heard someone yell “Come on, Don!  A little help here.  We want to finish our game before registration.”

It’s Time To Share; An excerpt from book #1

Hello readers and fans,

With book #3 in the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery series [that’s see you later…] coming out in July we thought it important to share with you excerpts of earlier books.  Today, we’ve updated our author website http://www.nightwriter93.com.  The really big change the announcement of a new series in the fall, 2013.  SCANDALS is a New Adult Romantic Suspense and after 60 pages of writing we can share with you that the millennials are amazing.  A peak at that page is at

Now, to the first excerpt from book #1, OMG and the reason for the blog this week…

CHAPTER SIX

 THURSDAY

It took every ounce of her resolve, fueled by another look in the mirror at her chubby waistline for Kelly to force herself to do laps.  She had been so tired, that she had slept through her macaw alarm, if he had shown up today.  Aunt Jane was long gone by the time Kelly made it downstairs.  The muscles in her shoulders and legs ached so much, it hurt to reach into the cabinet for a cereal bowl.

But, oddly, after about ten laps, the cool water and the exercise worked out the worst of her soreness.  In spite of her late start, she was still the second to arrive at Scott’s lab shortly before 10 a.m.  Figuring she was expected and after being there the two prior days in a row she went through the gate and opened the lab door rather than knocking.

“Hey Kelly.”

“Sorry I’m late.”

“Are you limping?”  He studied her curiously.

“Austin’s Kon Tiki adventure nearly killed me.”  Kelly grabbed and rubbed her left thigh.  “I know why you stayed back.”

“Kon Tiki?  Isn’t that a little dramatic even for a girl?  How far did you go?”

“We started at the Point Park on the northern end and paddled to the Fishing Pier, then back.”

Scott looked impressed.  “That’s about a mile each way.  How was it?”

“The boarding wasn’t all that hard.  I fell only twice, which I think was pretty good.  It’s a lot different than surfing.”

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“I used muscles I didn’t know I had.  But don’t say anything to Austin about that.  I don’t want him to think it was too hardcore my first day out.”

“So, you’re going to go back?”

“Yeah, I enjoyed it.  I’ve just got to get into better shape, I guess.”

The door opened and Austin entered.  “Hey guys.  Man, I was sore last night stocking shelves.  I thought I was in shape to board a couple of miles.  How about you, Kel?”

“I thought that football players were tough guys.”  Kelly smiled and winked at Scott.

Austin gave her a suspicious look.  “Are you telling me that you aren’t sore today?”

She laughed.  “I’d be lying if I did.  But it was a lot of fun.  I want to do it again . . . just not today . . . or tomorrow.”

Scott had lost patience with the discussion.  “When you old folks can stop talking about your aches and pains, I’m ready to get to work.  I was at the antenna thing until midnight.”

“What did you do?” Austin asked.

“I redid the antenna on the roof of the shop and made it exactly the length needed to match the radio’s tuner.”

Kelly noticed Austin wasn’t following Scott’s explanation.  “He meant the three to five kilohertz frequency band that Edison figured spirits communicated on,” she tried to clarify, although she only knew the facts, not the science behind them.

Scott looked at Kelly and raised his eyebrows and nodded.  “That’s right.  I think we’re all set.  The tubes are hot.”

“I think Kelly should do the talking,” Austin commented.  “That girl or whatever she was seemed to respond well to her.”

“Okay.”  Kelly sat down near the microphone.

As the Spirit Radio tubes glowed red, Kelly could feel the heat radiate from the vacuum tubes.  Just like before, the static and whistles and scores of voices began to fade in and out as conversations began and ended mid-sentence.  It was like walking through Grand Central Station at rush hour and trying to pick up on a single voice from the crowd.

Kelly depressed the microphone button.  “Wendy . . . Wendy can you hear me?  This is Kelly, Wendy, are you there?”  She released the button.

Austin, Scott and Kelly waited patiently for Wendy to answer back.  Kelly tried again and again.  Austin began to pace around the small room and Scott checked and double-checked his antenna connections.

Suddenly a voice separated from the rest.  “Kelly . . . Kelly?”  The voice faded, then surged again.  “Kelly . . . this is Wendy . . . I’m sorry . . .”  Her voice was overtaken by a younger man’s voice who sounded as if he was crying and apologizing for something.

“Is there anything you can do, Scott?” Austin asked.

“Kelly, ask her where she lived and when,” Scott prompted.

“Wendy, are you dead?” Kelly asked, needing to have some sort of conformation.  She still wasn’t sure she believed this whole talking to the dead premise.

“I died in . . . 66.”  The static swelled, crackling from the speakers.  Wendy’s voice pushed its way through, “. . . South Beach . . .”

“Wendy, was that in Fort Myers?”

More voices, then Wendy’s surged, stronger than ever. “. . . I couldn’t graduate . . . I thought he loved . . .”   Wendy’s voice fades.

“Was that South Beach High in Fort Myers?  Did you live here?  Wendy . . . please answer me!”  Kelly let her head fall against her hand, exhausted emotionally and physically.

A burst of static and the voices ebbed.  Wendy’s voice came forward. “South Beach . . . . Fort Myers . . . help me.”

In unison Scott, Austin and Kelly turned and faced each another. Their eyes were wide and mirrored their shock and confusion.

“Is it possible?” Kelly asked.  “How can we check this out?”

Austin threw his hands up in exasperation.  “It could be 1966 or 1866 or 1766.  Or that might have been some sort of address.  Where do we start?”

“It’s probably not 1866 or earlier because Fort Myers wasn’t established until around 1886.  The original South Beach High School was built in 1926.  All grades from kindergarten through high school were all in the same building.  They separated into separate campuses in 1959, so it has to be 1966.”

Austin and Kelly stared at Scott.  “How do you know all that stuff?” Austin asked incredulously.

Scott didn’t appear to hear the question.  He was deep in thought and trying to mull through the mystery.  “If we could get a whole name, we could look it up on the internet.”  Suddenly, his expression brightened.  “1966, South Beach High?  Kelly, weren’t there some old yearbooks in your garage?  Your grandmother would have been about that age.”

“This is sick,” Austin said with growing excitement. Even he was beginning to buy in to the possibility that they had been talking to a dead girl.

Like ants to sugar Scott and Austin followed Kelly as they paraded out of Scott’s lab, down the drive, across Aunt Jane’s grass and to the garage doors.  Her aunt had given her the combination to the keypad outside, and she punched in the code.  They waited anxiously as the door slowly rose in front of them.

Scott walked straight to the exact row and box holding the South Beach yearbooks.  “It’s the third one from the top in that stack.”

“Mind like a steel trap,” Austin muttered, but he was clearly impressed with his friend.

Austin ignored his sore muscles as he removed the top two boxes and set them aside.  He picked up the third box and placed it on the floor where Kelly had made a space.  They all three crowded around as Kelly opened the lid off the storage box.

“1964 . . . 1965 . . . here it is, 1966.”  She handed one of the earlier ones to Austin and the other one to Scott, and she took the one from 1966.  They unfolded three lawn chairs, sat down and started the tedious task of looking through every class for someone named Wendy.

“I found her,” Kelly exclaimed.  “Look, here’s a whole page in memoriam to a Wendy Summers.”

Austin and Scott leaned over to see the page.

“It doesn’t say why she died,” Scott noted.

“She was hot,” Austin said.  Kelly and Scott frowned at him.  He picked up his yearbook and started looking for her in it.

Kelly flipped to the appendix in the back of the book and looked down the columns of names for Wendy Summers’ name. “She was pretty active in school.  She’s on five other pages.”  Kelly searched for the pages listed.  “Cheerleader.”  A couple pages forward.  “Homecoming queen.”  Kelly found the third page.  “President of the drama club.”  She found the fourth page.  “Debate team.”  Kelly leafed through to where her senior picture was.  “And her senior picture.”

“She was on the homecoming court when she was a sophomore,” Scott said as he pointed to a picture of a smiling young woman being presented with a bouquet on the football field at half time.”

“She was junior prom queen in May, 1966,” Austin said.  “That means she died in the fall of her senior year.”

Kelly had turned back to the memoriam page and read aloud, “In Memoriam, Wendy Summers, 1949 to 1966.  We will never forget her life and the joy she brought to all of us every day.  She will remain in our thoughts and prayers forever.”

They sat there in silence.  The warm South Florida sun now angled into the garage and they were all lost in their own thoughts.

“Don’t you wonder why she died so young?  What happened?  Why did she keep asking for help and saying she didn’t do it?”  Kelly asked.

Check back and an excerpt to book #2, BRB [Be right back] will be up…and look for BION [Believe It Or Not] in July.

Two Ways To make Your Weekend Wild

This weekend there are two ways to be wild!

Free is good or be wild and then some for $3.99

Born To Be Wild is free on Amazon. Over 75,000 sold in paperback the hero in Born To Be Wild follows the Jimmy Buffett approach to life…changes in latitude changes in attitude.

As guardian of a menagerie of wild animals, veterinarian Jenny Grant loved her life. The day that marine biologist Garrett Reid first met her she was knee-deep in the surf, caring for a beached dolphin. Garrett was intrigued by the stubborn beauty who could soothe the wildest beast. Although his research project on the Texas Gulf Coast would last only a few weeks, he planned to spend every spare minute with Jenny. Garrett had always been a wanderer.

In less than a month, his sailboat would be motoring out of the harbor and heading southeast. Until then, there was only the sultry heat of a South Texas summer . . . and the sensual rhythm of two hearts beating as one. If Jenny wasn’t careful, she could end up falling in love with this golden-haired man. And she knew better than to lose her heart to a man who was born to be wild. Garrett prefers the water and Jenny is tied to the land. She wonders if he can give up his dreams of travel to far away places. He wonders if she can ever form a permanent relationship because it seems so easy for her to give up the animals she loves. If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, then it’s yours forever. Will Garrett come back?

For the free book Born To Be Wild go to 

or for all three books find them at 

And don’t forget if you love a good time travel mystery with a touch of the paranormal don;t miss book #3 in the CUL8R [See you later] series in late July, BION [Believe It Or Not].  Get ready with books #1 and #2.

WINNER OF BEST INDIE BOOK OF 2013! Finalist in the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards! This is book #1 of the series. Book #2, BRB published in April, 2013.

Kelly, a teenager from Texas has recently been orphaned and sent to live in Florida with her aunt Jane, a busy lawyer. Right away Kelly meets her tall, nerdy neighbor Scott, and they bond over a shared love of a video games and a mysterious gadget they find in Aunt Jane’s garage.

The gadget turns out to be a lost invention of Thomas Edison’s called the “Telephone to the Dead”. The mystery begins when Scott gets the Spirit Radio to work and a girl named Wendy comes through, pleading for help . . . from beyond the grave. Is Wendy a ghost? And if she didn’t kill herself, who did? Kelly, Scott and his best friend Austin must find a way to go back to 1966 to help her . . . without getting killed.
Well plotted and fast paced. Martha Bryce
The best time-travel novel I’ve read yet, and I hope there’s more to come. A big thumbs up! C
WOW! I’ve been thinking about that book for a week now since I finished reading it. It kept me engrossed with intelligent writing, depth of characters and a fast pace. Overall, a very satisfying novel. Jasmine

ATTENTION READERS: Check out the CUL8R Website for details at http://www.cul8rseries.com

Book #2, BRB [Be Right Back]

Book #2 in the award winning CUL8R series! Book #1 OMG was named the Best Indie Book of 2013.

“It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.”

Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey have just returned from changing a girl’s life in 1966 and are a little battered and bruised from their adventure. But when a small voice pleads for their help to save her family from a murderer, they know they must respond.

They research the story, but there is very little information to be found. All they know is that it takes place on Crystal Key, a small private island off the Florida Keys. Since it appears to be deserted, they decide to pop in, gather clues, then pop back. It was a good excuse to spend a lazy day on a beautiful beach.
But from the first step, their journey back to 1980 goes horribly wrong. The area is crawling with drug traffickers and tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Cuba. They meet the young girl and her family, but their intervention puts them in the direct path of the killer.

Can they find out who he is in time to save the girl, her family . . . and themselves? Or are they destined to be a madman’s latest victims?

“It’s an exciting mystery with plenty of surprises to keep you guessing.” Danielle Marie

“The “CUL8R” series stands out and shines as something unique that manages to mix fantasy with realistic characters and situations.” Erica Lucas

“I literally could not put this book down.” K. J. Pierce

New Adult Romance Genre? New Adult Genre in general.

I’m amazed at the amount of interest concerning the “New Adult” fiction genre.  Blogs, book blurbs and redefining what it means to grow up has been taking over the books and the news about the books over the past year..

It’s interesting what happens when the rules of the game change.  For example, a book about college life and romance set in 1969 -1970 and the struggles of the 20 – 22 year olds seniors about to graduate was published as a book about kids or adults depending on who’s talking and listening, and their lives in 1969 – 1970.

Viola!  Ta Da! The New Adult genre comes to town.

And I have to admit that I like it.  A lot.  This same book is much more interesting.  Yeah it’s still about the obvious –

• Boys and girls transforming into men and women, ages 21 to 23 years old
• College life
• Drugs, sex and rock and roll
• Consequences of making one decision over another

But, the emergence of the New Adult genre and the inevitable list of criteria that follows anything new as we try to understand it, the novel, Life’s What Happens, has been pushed to the forefront of interest for one reason.  It looks at what it means to be a new adult in another time.  Here’s the NA Romance “Life’s What Happens” and some insight into the book.:

ü  College life – Life’s What Happens is told in flashback and the flashback is 100% the senior year for nine fraternity brothers and  their friends.  It’s all college all the time.

ü  Moving out of your parents’ house and living alone for the first time – Most of  the characters in the Life’s What Happens story live on campus or in town and not at home and all for the first time.  What’s interesting is the character arc of those that maintain a weekend tie to their families and those that are immersed into the on-campus life.

ü  First jobs – By senior year they have studied and majored in the classes necessary for their first real job as an adult.  This criteria is part of the angst that some of the characters go through. What happens if you’re not allowed to start your career?  What will you do about it?

ü  Deciding who you want to be, career-wise, and in general. Identity issues. Existential issues. – By senior year they have made these decisions and are actively trying to make their decisions come true.

ü  First serious relationships, finding love – Anyone who has gone through college knows that it was very rare that anyone retained any opposite sex relationships by the time they reached their senior year.  In Life’s What Happens one of the nine fraternity brothers set out in their senior year to accomplish this.

ü  Sex – It’s less important that it be a “first time” as it is in YA. But the character should still be figuring stuff out. Since our readers can watch R rated movies, we can also be a little more explicit here without as much controversy. –  Because this is all about New Adults in 1969 and 1970 and despite the publicity or history of the sex in the sixties, sex then was different than sex in the 21st century especially compared to the beliefs and actions of the millennial generation, the target market to a degree of the New Adult genre.

ü  Experimentation – Sex, drugs, alcohol. Of course, not all new adults engage in experimentation, but the phrase, “I experimented with “x” in college,” is a phrase for a reason. –  Drugs were relatively segregated to some of the class of 1970 but wine, beer and hard liquor were center stage.  Even states were confused back then with the application of blue laws and 3.2 beer.  Fake IDs were a cottage industry for one purpose and that wasn’t to outsmart and outwit the TSA.

ü  Isolation – Living alone for the first time can be difficult –  Most of the characters in Life’s What Happens lived in the fraternity house where living there was more difficult to living alone.

ü  Single life – New adults often do not have life partners and families yet, so their main relationships may be with friends and boyfriends/girlfriends. –  Many stories centered around the characters living their life with their brothers and girlfriends on campus and no longer at home with family.

ü  A struggle to “find yourself” – This was the mantra of the 1960’s.  No further comment needed.  Yes there is actually.  The major plot point in the book is what happens when everyone finally is on the path to fining themselves and someone totally blocks the path.

ü  Change – Moving out, going to college, finding a job…it’s a lot of transition. –  Triple check and then add the draft road block thrown at them with a last minute Thanksgiving Eve congressional vote.   You never can say enough about Nixon.

ü  Money challenges –  Goes without saying.  In some cases in the story a temporary shortage of money and the decisions made can lead to a life time change in goals.

Don’t let the term romance and new adult fool you.  Experts today are still explaining how the book series Fifty Shades of Gray qualifies as a new adult romance but a comparison with the preceding checklist and it becomes obvious. What’s interesting is what passed for normal and beyond normal in this arena in 1969.

Here’s the book.  Enjoy!