A Slice of Life by Amber Leigh Williams

Sometimes I like to flash forward in my characters’ lives even after the completion of their book and their happy-ever-after. As we all know, the journey doesn’t simply end with a proposal of marriage or the “I do’s.” This is why I’ve found so much enjoyment in writing my contemporary hometown romance series for Harlequin Superromance. I love the characters of these books. Bringing a hero and heroine like Briar Browning and Cole Savitt (from A PLACE WITH BRIAR) back as secondary characters for the second book in the series, my October 2014 release, MARRIED ONE NIGHT, was great fun! I enjoyed giving readers a peek into their married life. Not only that, I liked that although Briar and Cole are married, their relationship never stops evolving. Whenever I read a series of books that brings back characters from previous titles, these people feel so much more real to me if I can see their lives unfold a bit more, even if it's just in small ways, and I see them grow as individuals and together as a couple. 

 

Book One (Briar & Cole's story)

When I completed work on the third book in the series, HIS REBEL HEART (due on shelves July 2015), I got to do it again – bringing back the whole clan, including the hero and heroine from MARRIED ONE NIGHT, Gerald Leighton and Olivia Lewis. The laugh-out-loud moments between these two and their furry Irish wolfhound, Rex, definitely play a part in HIS REBEL HEART.  But sometimes even this isn’t enough. Sometimes the characters don’t stop talking to me after the series wraps. Sometimes I have to go back to the page to make those voices rest. On my website, I have a special EXTRAS feature which includes an “after-HEA” exclusive scene starring some of my western romance characters, cowboy Casey Ridge and his heroine Josie Brusky from BLUEST HEART. Now, in honor of my favorite holiday – Valentine’s Day – I’m doing it again with my hometown series….


The following scene takes place somewhere between my first Superromance novel, A PLACE WITH BRIAR, and the second, MARRIED ONE NIGHT. It takes place at Hanna’s Inn, the setting for A PLACE WITH BRIAR, on none other than Briar and Cole’s wedding day! I hope you enjoy this after-HEA snippet….

“Oh, dear God. You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Olivia Lewis, dressed in her canary yellow bridesmaid dress, asked. She set aside the second glass of champagne she’d been ready to down and peered closely at Briar’s face. “I can get you out of here. But it’s not going to be easy with all the guests milling around the place.”

Briar rubbed her lips together. The warm light of humor made her want to smile at her first cousin and maid of honor. Still, she folded her hands together in front of her and kept a straight face. “I’m not getting cold feet,” she explained. “I promise. My toes are plenty warm, as a matter of fact. I just need you to do me this one favor.”

“If it’s his feet you’re worried about, I can sneak some hard liquor into his drink,” Olivia offered. “Just say the word and it’s done.”

Briar did smile now but only a little before her lips fell back into a straight line. “Liv,” she said, lowering her head and eyeing her cousin. “Please.”

Olivia combed Briar’s face once more before giving in. “All right. But it’ll have to be quick. If Roxie gets wind of this, we’re all up a creek.”

“It’ll be quick,” Briar promised. She carefully stopped her hand from squeezing the other. Her wedding planner, Roxie Honeycutt, had worked so hard to schedule a mani/pedi session for her earlier in the week. It hadn’t been easy with Briar’s duties as innkeeper at her second-generation bed-and-breakfast, Hanna’s Inn, and all the last minute wedding details that had to be seen to. She smoothed her palms down the front of the empire-waisted wedding gown Roxie had designed for her. There was no veil to contend with. Her hair had been carefully braided down her back and strewn with white blossoms. Still, she had been instructed not to sit in order to avoid wrinkling the gown’s linen train.



Book Two - Olivia & Gerald's story

As Olivia left her alone in the grand dining room of the inn, Briar walked carefully to the window, keeping herself hidden behind the drape. Her heart rapped nervously when she saw how many guests were indeed milling around the garden where the ceremony would take place. She took a deep breath to tamp down the flutterings under her skin when she thought how soon she would be walking down the makeshift aisle to the jasmine arbor where her groom and their officiant would be waiting.

Briar closed her eyes for a moment and pictured the view from the front of the inn – the one she couldn’t see from this vantage but knew was there beyond the picturesque garden sanctuary she kept well-tended.

It would be sunset when the vows were spoken. Roxie had timed it down to the wire so that the kiss would take place just as the sun was sinking toward the horizon. Sunset was Briar’s favorite time of day. At sunset just weeks after he had come to Hanna’s Inn, Cole Savitt had kissed Briar on the dock overlooking the tepid waters of Mobile Bay. Briar remembered exactly how golden sunlight had slanted perfectly across the water’s surface in a blinding sheen of gilded pinpricks. It had made her feel like they were floating amongst the stars….

Her mother had had a name for the spectacle. Fairies dancing. Briar remembered, too, how as a girl she had stood with her mother on that very same dock, admiring the breathtaking sunset vista. She’d easily been able to imagine that those shiny pinpricks were fairies dancing over the waves.

Her mother wouldn’t be with her today. Hanna Browning had passed away several years ago after battling cancer. But Briar had wanted to take a moment shortly before the ceremony to gather the warmth of her mother’s presence around her. Hanna’s serene countenance was something Briar had always desperately wanted to emulate for herself, especially on days like today. She wanted to keep the feeling of Hanna close so that in some way she could be a part of the nuptials. If not physically then perhaps spiritually….

Footsteps broke her out of her reverie. Briar sucked in a breath and turned to find the man standing in the archway across the room. The dark suit and tie made Cole’s shoulders appear even wider, his waist lean and trim. It suited his dark hair and she knew when she looked into his eyes, they would appear darker, denser.

Her heart rapped again, but not with the nerves she had felt before. All semblance of bridal jitters disappeared as the love she felt for him beamed to life inside her. It spread from her fingers to her toes. It danced against her breastbone as her lips spread into a wide grin at the sight of him. She chuckled quietly when she saw the blindfold over his eyes. “Oh, Liv,” she muttered.

“She made me wear it,” Cole said, his lips curling up at the corners in amusement as his head tilted in the direction of her voice. A moment’s silence passed over them before he added, “Hi.”

“Hi,” she said, beaming still. She tried to tamp down on some of the joy cresting inside her and couldn’t quite manage it. Here was her groom. The man of her dreams. On the verge of marrying her. She indulged in a blissful sigh. “Oh, Cole, you look wonderful.”

“You do, too,” he replied quickly. “I’m sure you do. If I could see you, I’m sure you’d knock me flat.” The smile slowly faded. “Is everything okay? Liv said you had something to tell me.”

Briar’s smile froze on her face as she thought over what she wanted to say to him. She cleared her throat. “It’s fine. I’m fine. We are getting married today, Cole,” she hurried to assure him.

“I know,” he said, his faith in her – in them and what they had already built together thus far – radiating through the simple words. “I know we are, and I couldn’t be happier.”

She sighed again, unable to help herself. “I couldn’t be happier either.” She crossed to him slowly, her heels clacking across the hardwood floor. “But before we do get married, there’s something…” She lost her breath, nerves beating their way back to the forefront. She cleared her throat and tried again. “There’s something I wanted to…” When she faltered again, she searched his face. She scoffed. “I can’t do this. Not like this. Please take off the blindfold.”

His lips parted. “Are you sure? Roxie will tan my hide if she finds out I saw the bride before the wedding.”

“Please,” Briar insisted, the plea wavering as emotions she didn’t know how to tuck behind composure spread clean through her. “I need to see you, all of you. And you’re probably going to need to see me, too—after I tell you.”

He let out a careful exhale. “All right.” He reached up, loosening the knot on the back of his head. The blindfold lowered.

She blinked as his dark eyes latched onto hers. In them she saw all the love and faith she felt as well as trust and a few nerves of his own he was trying to wrangle. His gaze arrested on her face and widened before it ranged over her hair and the flowers in it. He took a step back, stunned, as he glanced over the dress, taking in her full appearance. “Wow,” he said, his voice lost. “I was right. You look…incredible.”

She gave him a small smile. “You're still on your feet.”

 

"Only just."

 

Swallowing against the tide of emotions, she reached out with both hands.

He instantly took them, wrapping his warm around them and giving them a squeeze. His eyes had gone soft by the time they locked on hers again. “Now,” he said, his voice lowered to match hers, “what was it you wanted to tell me?”

She took a gulp of air, needing it to clear her head. “Before we speak our vows, there’s something I wanted you to know.”

“Oh?” he said. Concern broke across his face. “You’re all right? I thought you might have looked pale yesterday morning. And you’ve been tired.” When she began to protest, he shook his head. “I know you have. I just assumed it was the wedding on top of everything with the inn.”

Briar lowered her eyes to the lapels of his suit jacket—finely pressed with the boutonniere affixed on the left. She licked her lips and forced herself to keep going. “I…I have been tired,” she forced herself to admit. She hated admitting weaknesses, those of the physical variety in particular. “But it’s not the wedding.”

When she paused, she heard him swallow and saw his Adam’s apple dip as he did so. He tensed, his hands unknowingly squeezing hers again. “Briar,” he said when again she hesitated. “I’m, uh…I’m getting a little worried here. Tell me what’s going on. Are you…” He stopped and had to start again, just as she had before. “Are you sick?” he asked, wrenching the last word out.

Her gaze rose to his. His concern had mounted into fear. She closed the small bit of space between them, lifting her hands to his face. They framed his jaw as she raised her mouth to his for a brushing kiss, desperate to comfort him. “No,” she said and found herself laughing a little as the tense line of his body went slack against her with relief. “I told you I was fine and I am. Perfectly healthy.”

“Thank God,” he said, eyes closed tight as his hands closed over her waist, bringing her closer. He breathed a sigh of relief. “For a moment, I thought—”

He’d thought she was really sick, as her mother had been. She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. I promise. I’m sorry I made you think for even a moment that there was something that troubling going on.”

“It’s not,” he said as much to reiterate the fact for himself as for her. He gave a tight nod and opened his eyes to search her face again, steadier. “What is it then?”

"Since we’ve been planning the wedding, I’ve let the fact that I’ve been more tired than usual go unnoticed. Earlier this week, I dozed off while I was folding sheets. They were fresh and warm from the dryer and I couldn’t seem to help laying down in them and closing my eyes, just for a few moments. When I woke up a half hour later, I realized that I needed to talk to someone about this. I went to Liv and…she said that maybe I should take a test.”

“A test?” he asked, brows coming together.

She beamed when it didn’t click for him automatically. “A pregnancy test, Cole.”

Again, his jaw slackened and his lips parted in surprise. “A pregnancy test,” he repeated. The hands gripping her waist tightened by a fraction when she paused once more. “And?” he asked, features taut with anticipation as he waited for her answer.

Book Three - Coming Soon!

She broke into a full-fledged grin. “Yes,” she said. “I’m pregnant. We’re pregnant, I mean. Nine weeks already. I should’ve realized sooner, but we were so busy—”

“Briar,” Cole said, his eyes still searching hers desperately though beacons of hope were beginning to bubble up for her to see. “This is real? This isn’t some wedding day prank Liv’s trying to pull on me before I officially become a part of the family, is it? I wouldn’t put it past her. She tried spiking my drink earlier....”

She laughed, unable to contain another moment’s happiness or mirth. “That does sound like something she would do, but no. This is real. We’re going to have a baby. We’re going to be a family!”

He made an unintelligible but no less gratifying noise in the back of his throat and wrapped her in his arms as he buried his face against the column of her neck. He held her, breathing her in as she wrapped her arms around him in return. “Briar, ten months ago when I came to Hanna’s as your guest, I thought I’d lost hold of what family I had. But you changed that. If I’ve learned anything since last summer, it’s that you are my family and nothing is ever going to change that. And now we’re having a baby together….” He trailed off in disbelief as he lifted his head to touch his brow to hers. “I don’t have the words to tell you how lucky and happy I feel right now.”

"You're doing just fine." She sniffled, trying her best to blink away tears. If she cried, she would ruin her makeup. And then they’d really be up a creek, as Liv had suggested. "I’m sorry I didn’t wait until the honeymoon. But it felt right to tell you now.”

“I’m glad you did,” he said, grinning. His lips lowered to hers once. Then again. They lingered the second time as he inhaled her, his chest inflating, seeming to grow in size as he swelled with love and pride. “I’m really glad you did. This way when I see you coming down that aisle, I’ll know more than ever I’m looking at my family.”

“Okay, you have to stop now,” she told him, raising a hand to her cheek when a tear slipped past her guard. “Roxie’s going to kill me.”

“Not a chance.” He chased the tear with the pad of his thumb. The faint sound of a string quartet and “Canon in D” wafted through the walls from the garden outside. “Speaking of Roxie…I’ve got to sneak back upstairs. I’m surprised Liv hasn’t come after me already with her bat.”

“Go,” she said, reluctantly letting him back away. She pressed a hand to her heart when he didn’t turn away, just stood looking at her, drinking her in. In turn, she gazed at him. He wasn’t just the man of her dreams, she realized. He was every dream she’d ever had come to life. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Soon,” he nodded and gave her one last, promising smile. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” she said softly.

The sound of Roxie’s chirpy voice made them both snap to attention. Cole dodged through the swinging door into the kitchen and disappeared. Briar covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud when she heard Olivia shrieking at him as the door swung closed silently behind him and Cole fumbled through an explanation. Moments later, Roxie entered the dining room through the archway, looking brisk and only slightly harried. “Are you ready?” she asked, handing Briar her hand-tied bouquet of sunflowers. “The procession’s about to start.”

“I’m ready,” Briar said, clutching the blooms. Her hands were steady. Her heart was full. “You have no idea how much.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this bonus “slice of life” from Briar and Cole’s wedding day! Down the road, I’ll be adding more for each of the couples from my hometown series. (I can’t wait to write Olivia and Gerald’s. They’re a riot!) Stay tuned for upcoming details on HIS REBEL HEART’s launch in July. You can add the book to your TBR list on Goodreads. Until then, check out the Inspiration Boards for the first two books on Pinterest!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my fellow Roses and our readers! If you're looking for some love-themed reads, the books from my hometown series are on sale this month for Kindle readers for $3.79. If you're in the mood for a little historical romance, FOREVER AMORE is on sale this month for $2.99 as well as the first two books in my western romance trilogy.

 Happy reading!

Amber Leigh Williams

5 Keys to Surviving A Successful Revision by Amber Leigh Williams

New Author Headshot!

This month is all about success and failure so I’m going to talk about something I know: revision. A Place With Briar, my Superromance debut on shelves now, went through no less than five revisions before it was contracted by Harlequin last summer. Recently, I underwent more revision when they contracted two more books for the Superromance line, the first of which went through intense revision last month. (Special note: at the end of today’s post, I’ll be revealing the title of this book, which will be on shelves in October.)

Over the years I’ve learned that revision is oftentimes necessary. My historical romance, Forever Amore, went through major rewrites and revisions before it was ready for publication. Many authors who have experience with Harlequin have also been asked to do quite a bit of revision to make their work ready for their targeted imprint. It’s almost a way for the editors to test how your working relationship with them will be. Bearing this in mind, I cannot stress how important it is to learn to accept revision and roll with it.

Here are my five keys to surviving a successful revision….

#1 – Caffeine! Not everybody drinks coffee. I’m one of them. In the mornings, I’ll have some hot tea with my Wheaties and get cracking on my editor’s revision notes. During the day, Coca-Cola is my friend. Particularly since I am serving double-duty as writer and mommy at home with my little one during the weekdays. (I don’t know how in the world I got through the revisions for A Place With Briar. Most of them took place while I was either pregnant or nursing and tea and caffeinated soda were no-no’s. Let’s just say it was much more slow-going.) Even if you’re not a caffeine-consumer, it’s important to get the right amount of fuel at the beginning of the day by eating a healthy breakfast in order to super-charge those brainwaves. I’ve found that when I eat right in the mornings, my body and mind are much better prepared for the day – whatever it may bring…from revision madness to toddler-sized shenanigans.
 

#2 – Old Adages! I did a guest blog post a while back called “Writing Axioms That Work” at Prairie Chicks Write Romance. It lists the five writing adages that have gotten me through nearly ten years of full-time writing. They work for all genres and some of them could even be applied to everyday life. When I know I’m about to tackle a tough revision, I dig my adage print-out out of the filing cabinet and pin it to the bulletin board over my desk. The muse is not always there for me, especially when I’m up against a deadline and have to write with or without her. This list of adages really motivates me (in addition to the caffeine!) and inspires me. “Never, never, never give me!” I actually have this one on a plaque on my desk, but it simply cannot be said enough. The second is a quote by author J.R. Ward: “Plots are like sharks. They keep moving or they die.” When you’re trying to figure out how to rebuild story structure, remembering this tidbit is imperative. “Scientific workability!” This is a quote from Julia Child who was not just a famed chef but a devoted writer. She believed that in cooking and in writing no small amount of attention could be paid to detail. For me, this applies mostly to the editing process that comes after the revision. Before I let my editor see anything, I pick through the entire manuscript at least twice with a fine-tooth comb so that when I present it to her, it’s as grammatically correct and as professional-looking as I can make it. (I set aside at least three days at the end of the revision process just for editing.)
 

GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict

#3 – Character Driven Notes! Before I can proceed with a first draft or a revision, I must know my characters. Can you tell I’m an ingrained plotter? I think it’s important for any writer, plotter or pantser, about to undergo a character-driven story like any romance must know his/her characters. When I first began writing, a friend in the industry did me a huge favor that wound up being instrumental in my career. She gave me notes from a workshop she had attended called “Creating Believable Characters.” The workshop was modeled after the book by Debra Dixon called GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction. It gives you essential tools to figuring out your characters’ strengths and flaws and building your story around them so that they and the story as a whole are that much more believable. Believability is a big thing in the romance business, whether you write contemporary or historical, paranormal or sci-fi. Usually by the revision process, I’ve already sat down and written out my hero and heroine’s goals, their strengths and weaknesses (which in turn must line up or contrast with their significant other’s in order to create story conflict), their core needs (these also can contrast, creating conflict to drive the story), where their core needs come from, backstory, even their sexual history and secrets. For revision, I also go back and use these workshop notes to better adjust the important emotional high points, low points, and peaks like the all-important climax (or "third-act dark moment") of the story. Usually the reason I am forced to revise is because something with the characters doesn’t line up or because something just isn’t believable enough and I have to rework the story in order to make it so. It all goes back the hero or heroine and their GMCs (goal, motivation, and conflict). (If any of my writer friends are interested in these workshop notes, I would be happy to send you a copy. Just shoot me an email request for them at amber@amberleighwilliams.com!)

#4 – Back-Up Harddrive! However you choose to back up your work, DO IT! Do it every day. Let it be the last thing you do before you turn off your computer or work tablet and rejoin the real world. There is nothing more off-putting than getting well into a successful first draft or in-depth revision and losing all your work due to a system glitch or human error. Take it from someone who knows very well. Nothing makes me want to throw in the towel faster than having to start over from scratch. As much stress as a computer or data failure might be, knowing the bulk of your work and/or progress is backed up safely on one or two back-up hard drives or other devices makes it much less of a disaster.
 

Tools for Revision :-)

#5 – Wine Time! Yep, you heard me. For me, it’s a nice, cool glass of Pinot Grigio. For my latest heroine, it’s a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Whether you’re a fan of red or white, chilled or room temperature, at the end of a frazzled day of revisions, nothing quite does it like wine…and, if I can sneak it in amidst the little one’s bath time and prepping dinner for the family, a warm bath. Ah…detoxing. My favorite part of any hard writing day in the office. Just remember: it was Hemingway, I believe, who said that you can write drunk so long as you revise sober.... So for revision's sake, definitely save that glass until the day's end :-)
 

So there you have it, readers! My 5 Keys for Surviving a Successful Revision! Writers, I hope you found it helpful in some way. Now for the fun part – the title announcement for my next Superromance novel, the second book in my hometown series that will follow A Place With Briar in October 2014. The name of the book is MARRIED ONE NIGHT! If you’ve had a chance to read A Place With Briar already this month, you’ll remember the heroine Briar’s cousin, Olivia Lewis. Married One Night will feature her and a charming, British hero who is very Tom Hiddleston-esque. Intrigued? Stay tuned for the back cover blurb and cover which are in the works!
 

On Shelves Now! 4 Stars from RT BOOK REVEIWS!

Amber Leigh Williams lives on the Gulf Coast. A southern girl at heart, she loves beach days, the smell of real books, relaxing at her family’s lakehouse, and spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their sweet, blue-eyed boy. When she’s not running after her young son and three, large dogs, she can usually be found reading a good romance or cooking up a new dish in her kitchen. She is represented by Joyce Holland of the D4EO Literary Agency. Visit her on the web at www.amberleighwilliams.com!

C'est L'Amore!

Happy Romance Awareness Month! I've recently been working on revising a contemporary romance series, which takes place in my homtown here on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. As long as I can remember, I've loved romance and the white sands of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and the picturesque quality of the Eastern Shore of the Mobile Bay seemed like the perfect place for romance to unfold. I planned eventually to set one of my love stories against this tangible backdrop.

Funnily enough, before I could find the characters and premises I needed to do just that, I found love of my own. And it turned out, I was right: this is the quintessential place to fall in love. So much so that when I finally found the characters and premise I needed for my first contemporary romance novel, I harkened back to those sweet, summer days with my first love and future husband. There's a two-lane highway along the Eastern Shore called South Mobile Street or Scenic 98 that overlooks the bay and goes on and on for miles underneath a tunnel of ancient oak limbs and lazy Spanish moss. This is where my husband took me on my first motorcycle ride. (And, ah, the look of horror on my parents' face when he rolled up in the driveway on that speedster with a second helmet just for me....)

There are no words to describe the intense beauty of a sunset on the Mobile Bay. It's just breathtaking. Imagine experiencing it from the back of a motorcycle with a very fine-looking man in the driver's seat. C'est l'amore! My heroine found herself in a similar situation on the same highway with her hero in the driver's seat of a Harley Davidson.

So often romantic fiction reflects real-life romance. Even for those of us writing it, we just don't always realize its influence on our storytelling. I was inspired to write my first novel, Forever Amore, after reading love letters from World War II. Amidst the longing words penned by men and women decades ago I heard the voices of another hero and heroine and was moved to tell their story. Whenever I lose my way in the storytelling process, I go back to those love letters and it doesn't take much to remember why I write romance to begin with.

I'm convinced readers reach for romance novels because they want to be connected or reconnected to feelings of intense love and longing. To love and to be loved are two of the purest needs of the human spirit. Is it any wonder so many people read romance novels - and at such a high rate, too!


This month, let's not shy away from celebrating real-life romance as well as the romance genre. Readers, I want to know why you read romance! Take it away....


Amber Leigh Williams is a multi-published romance author, a member of Romance Writers of America, former Secretary of the Gulf Coast Chapter of RWA, and a monthly contributor to The Roses of Prose and Sweethearts of the West. Her first western romance, Blackest Heart, was the 1st Place More Than Magic Novella in 2009 and her historical romance, Forever Amore, was nominated for Best Book of 2009 by Long & Short Reviews. She is represented by D4EO Literary Agency and lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband and their three labs. Read more at www.amberleighwilliams.com!

Keeping up with the Roses...

Hi readers! I’m excited about The Roses of Prose’s new direction and new members. My name is Amber Leigh Williams and I’ve been blogging with The Roses of Prose since it began. For those who don’t know me, I’m a multi-published romance author, a member of Romance Writers of America, and former Secretary of GCCRWA. I’m a passionate writer, reader, and blogger here at The Roses of Prose, western romance site Sweethearts of the West, and my personal blog The Cozy Page!

When I was a child, I had difficulty learning to read so in third grade I was enrolled in a reading program designed to accelerate my reading skills. I owe that program both my love of reading and writing. Not only did reading become easier, I developed a keen interest in storytelling itself. The next year, my teacher gave a book-writing assignment. I chose to retell Cinderella. The resulting story was created on construction paper with Crayola markers and it was then laminated. The finished product gave me a tingly, champagne-bottle feeling and I spent the rest of my childhood chasing that sensation with several short, young adult manuscripts that I hope never see the light of day. In high school, my mother gave me a romance novel by Nora Roberts to read. From that point on, I wanted to write and publish my own romance novel.

I’m happy to say that my first romance manuscript, after being revised several times, has been published in the last several years. The historical romance, Forever Amore, based in World-War-II Italy was nominated by Long & Short Reviews for Best Book of 2009! It is published with Black Lyon Publishing.

In the last five years, I've discovered a new passion: western romance! I published a contemporary western romance trilogy called the Ridges of Wayback, TX. The trilogy follows the ranching family, the Ridges - primarily siblings, Stella, Casey, and Keefe Ridge. The first book, Blackest Heart, was the 1st Place Novella in the 2009 More Than Magic Contest. Silent cowboy, Judd Black, also happens to be my favorite hero! Last year, a follow-up entitled Bluest Heart and the final book in the trilogy, Bet it on my Heart were published back-to-back. The ebooks are available at The Wild Rose Press.

In addition to ebooks, the trilogy was chosen by The Wild Rose Press to be published as an audio book collection with newly redesigned covers. All three audio books are available now at AudioLark.

Blackest Heart was also chosen to be published in a paperback anthology, The Way Back Home, with two other western romances by Marguerite Arotin and Abbey MacInnis. The Wild Rose Press has published my romantic suspense novel, Denied Origin. I’m represented by D4EO Literary Agency. In progress are my paranormal romance series, a Regency romance, and a contemporary romance revision.

This year I redesigned my official author website, www.amberleighwilliams.com. There you can sign up for my exclusive reader newsletter. Subscribers get a treat every month in the form of an interview with a hero or heroine from my backlist. My EXTRAS page was updated this month to include bonus material from a few of my books: read a sexy, short story called “Wayback Valentine” and a fun deleted scene from Bet it on my Heart here: http://www.amberleighwilliams.com/extras.

Readers, I’d love to connect with you on Twitter! I’m also on Facebook and Goodreads. Visit my blog, The Cozy Page, this month for the 30 Days of Promo Goodness event where readers can learn about new books, guest authors' takes on the promotional process, and win tons of book-related prizes!

Currently, I live on the Gulf Coast of Alabama with my husband, Jacob, and our three labs! I'm looking forward to getting to know our new Roses and getting settled in again here at The Roses of Prose! My question for readers today is where in the world is this post finding you today?