What a Month or Three New Babies!

What A Month or Three New Babies! by Debra H. Goldstein

May proved to be a crazy and wonderful month. It was so exciting, I want to share it with you.

The month began with my husband and I being on pins and needles anytime the phone rang for fear our daughter, Jennifer, whose first child was due on May 25^th had gone into early labor. We breathed a sign of relief at the end of the first week.

Then, the doorbell rang. It proved to be a different kind of delivery. Two boxes from Harlequin . I tore into the box and held the new Harlequin Worldwide Mystery version of my second baby (book).

Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery.

Here’s the history of my second book. In 2014, Five Star purchased Poker. Because its 2015 calendar was filled, the book was scheduled for publication in 2016. A hardback version was released in April 2016, but to my dismay shortly thereafter Five Star ended its mystery line. Instead of a series, Poker became a standalone. Then, a nice thing happened. Harlequin Worldwide Mystery bought the book’s mass market rights. That meant it would be distributed to Harlequin’s book clubs and mystery subscribers and would also become part of its catalog for the general public to buy in a reasonably priced paperback format. With joy, in May 2019, I held the new edition of Poker, which officially releases on August 6, but already can be pre-ordered for the special discounted price of $6.39 - https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335455468_should-have-played-poker.html.

Despite my happiness of the rebirth of this book, my attention still was on when Jen’s baby would   Another week went by – nothing. Her due date came – still nothing. She appeared to be no closer to delivery than I was. The doorbell rang again. When I opened it, no one was there. I looked down and was surprised to see a box. Confused, I carried it inside and carefully opened it. The box contained ARCS of Two Bites Too Many, the second book in my Sarah Blair series, which will be available on September 24 (but can be pre-ordered for delivery on that date at https://www.amazon.com/Bites-Many-Sarah-Blair-Mystery/dp/1496719484 or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/two-bites-too-many-debra-h-goldstein/1130055243 .


Again, I was excited, but my mind was on Jennifer. Would her baby ever arrive? Of course, on May 31, 2019, Eliza Rose Feld entered the world. As happy and excited as I was at the other two May deliveries, neither topped Eliza. I’m over the moon at my third May delivery … and I think it will be a few days until I come down long enough to write anything that isn’t gibberish. Do you blame me?

Due Dates

by Bethany Maines

It's the new year! And you know what that means? That's right, we’re drawing ever closer to my due date. Not my actual due date. I'm alternatively pretending a baby not going to imminently be spawned from my body and wishing the date would hurry up so I could stop feeling like a ship under full sail.  (She’s coming about – tack starboard, avoid, avoid!!)  No, I'm referring to my next book - Tales From the City of Destiny. My ARC is due tomorrow and I'm starting to watch for the mailman with the same intensity as my dog (see picture – we call him the dogoyle.) Every new ARC is like a present. Will it be perfect? Will I wish to re-gift it? What's it going to be??? Ahhhhhh!!

Meanwhile, the crib isn't put together, we haven't picked a name, and my baby shower turns out to be at the same time as the Seahawk’s first playoff game. A fact that practically all of my friends have complained about. (Seriously, friends, seriously? It’s not like we knew that ahead of time.  And honestly, I like football better than baby showers too, but I swear it’s going to be fun – there’s going to be booze, and we’re not playing any of the stupid games.  Suck it up people!) But do I care about these things? Well, yeah, a little bit. But right this minute, what I really care about is seeing the fruition of all my hard work in print. 

Tales From the City of Destiny is a collection of short stories that track a character over the course of a decade. It’s something that has been years in the making and I have to say that I’m very proud of it. I feel that I have both challenged my writing skills and honed in on how I really wanted to write. I can’t wait to share it with my fans, friends and family! 

So as the date gets closer, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that all goes well, that typos vanish and the cover shines.  And as for the other due date… well, if worse comes to worse the baby can sleep on the dog bed – I’m sure he’d rather be on the couch anyway.  (I'm kidding - I swear!!)

    

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.